Buffy and Lydia arrived at school late. In fact, it was close to lunchtime when Lydia's registration was complete. After several hours of telephone calls, Joyce had finally been granted temporary custody of Lydia, much to everyone's joy. There would be an as of yet unscheduled hearing to determine more permanent arrangements for her, but for now, Joyce was the one responsible for Lydia's well-being. After determining that Lydia's transcripts would be sent over from her old high school, Lydia became a matriculated student at Sunnydale High School.
Buffy, being Buffy, decided that since there was barely any of fourth period left anyway, it wouldn't hurt to miss it and go straight to the library to find out what Giles had unearthed about their unusual situation. Although Lydia seemed reluctant, especially since it was her first day, Buffy finally managed to convince her that it didn't matter and just dragged her along.
As the two girls entered the library, Giles glanced up from the stack of books he was slowly but surely paging through. Even though he was still struck by the uncanniness of their resemblance, he found it much easier today to discern which twin was which. Buffy was dressed in one of her, well, Buffy outfits, which covered only the minimum required to be allowed to walk around in public school, whereas Lydia was a bit more conservatively dressed in jeans and a tight T-shirt, obviously borrowed from her sister. Giles had to chuckle to himself. They may have had the same face, but it was quite obvious that they did *not* have the same personality.
"So G-Man," Buffy said, plopping down in the chair across from him "what have you found?"
"Well, actually, not too terribly much...." Giles trailed off as his eyes were inadvertently drawn to Lydia, who was pulling up a chair next to Buffy.
"Really? I would have thought that with the all-nighter I'm sure you pulled that you would have at least unearthed *something*. But zip, huh? Too bad. Well, Lydia and I sure discovered all kinds of things last night."
"Oh? And what would some of those be?" Giles asked, not too subtly.
"If you're asking if I know about Buffy, then the answer is yes," Lydia piped in.
"Oh, well, I- uh," Giles stammered.
Buffy just laughed at how flustered Giles appeared. One thing she was quickly learning about Lydia was that not only was she astute, but she was direct. Or maybe blunt would be a better way to put it, Buffy thought. Either way, Lydia's comment had disarmed Giles, which Buffy always found amusing.
"Chill Giles," Buffy finally said in response to her poor Watcher's stutters. "Lydia's totally cool with it all. In fact, she's always had a fascination with the dark side, which is just another testament to our twinly connection. Oh, but this is the best part, and you're not gonna believe it. Lydia has super senses. Like she can hear and see things that other people can't. Not even I can do that. Sure I've got super strength, but I still think that's pretty cool. I guess that some of the Slayer stuff must have been passed on to Lydia...."
Buffy trailed off as she noticed the sudden light in Giles eyes.
"Of course!" he exclaimed, jumping out of his chair. "I should have known it all along. Oh why didn't I see it to begin with? It was right there in front of me!"
"Excuse me when I say `huh', but what are you talking about?" Buffy asked, by now completely confused.
"Buffy, think about what you just said," Giles said.
Giles watched as Buffy mentally retraced over the words which had just come out of her mouth. Giles knew the exact moment that she had reached the same conclusion as he, because her eyes filled with both excitement and fear at what she now realized must be true.
"You mean-" she began, her voice full of surprise.
"I do," Giles replied.
"Um, I hate to interrupt, but what's going on here?" Lydia asked.
Buffy slowly turned to look at her twin. But try as she did, she could not speak. Could not tell her sister of the fate that was awaiting her.
Giles had to do it for her. "What's going on here is that all prophecy, all lore that we have ever known to be true about slaying, is wrong, because you too, Lydia, have a destiny as a vampire slayer."
* * *
"How is this possible?" Buffy asked, pacing back and forth in front of everyone.
Lunch had just started, and Buffy was wearing a path in the floor in front of Giles and Lydia, as well as Xander and Willow, who had rushed over as soon as the bell rang. All eyes unconsciously followed her until finally Giles yelped "Buffy! You're driving me mad! Sit down!"
Buffy gave a startled jump at Giles words, but hastily pulled out a chair at the table. Glancing around to make sure he had everyone's attention, he began.
"Although there being two Slayers does go against everything I've ever been led to believe, it's the only explanation I can find for any of this. And strangely enough, it makes perfect sense. Buffy, I've often wondered at your inability to develop your instincts. Not that they're absolutely terrible, but they've never been up to par with what a Slayer's should be. But when you mentioned Lydia's `super senses,' as you so put it, everything clicked into place. You see, Slayer instincts come from a heightened awareness of the world, which would manifest itself as very keen senses. However, it would appear as though Lydia received that aspect of being a Slayer whereas you were blessed with the Slayer abilities of strength and speed."
"But why?" Buffy asked. "Why not just give it all to one of us? I mean, if I'm so lacking in that area, wouldn't that mean I've pretty much been vampire bait this whole time?"
"I- uh, technically yes. But as I said, you're not *completely* lacking in that area. And from what Lydia just mentioned, she's not completely lacking in the area of strength and speed either. It would seem that it was just how it was partitioned."
"What do you mean, partitioned?" Lydia asked curiously.
"This is what should have tipped me off to the situation sooner," Giles sighed. "Last night, in my readings, I came across several references to identical twins being of one soul. Now, all the rest of us have our own individual souls, but many cultures believe that that is not the case with identical twins. It is believed that they are of the same soul, which is just housed in two separate bodies, and that if one half of that soul should die, then the other should soon follow. Basically, a twin would be only half a soul with their brother or sister gone, and according to all other lore, everyone must have a complete soul to survive. This is not counting vampires of course, because they are not truly alive."
"Okay, so what you're saying," Xander said, "is that when Buffy and Lydia's soul split, it just gave different parts of the slaying abilities to each of them?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying Xander," Giles said. "I don't think Buffy and Lydia were ever supposed to be separated. Technically, the other one was not dead, but when the halves of the soul are too far away from each other for too long...well, I doubt that is the best circumstance for either of them. In order for either of them to reach their full potential, they must be near each other so they can draw on each other's energy, on the other half of their own soul."
Everyone was silent after Giles' last comment. Buffy and Lydia looked at each other for a long time, trying to assimilate all this new information. It was Willow who finally spoke.
"So what happens now?"
"Well, I can't say for sure, but my guess is that with the two of them reunited, they will start to enhance their slaying abilities. Hopefully Buffy will be able to raise her own instinctual abilities when learning from Lydia and the same for Lydia with regards to her strength and speed."
"I have another question," Buffy said, seeming to yank herself out of her own thoughts. "Why was *I* the original Chosen One? Couldn't it just as easily have been Lydia?"
"Again, I can't say for sure. Probably because you were given the strength and speed, which is the most obvious indication of a Slayer. I do know for sure though that no one knew that you were adopted. Had it been known, then Lydia's existence would also have been known and this all could have been figured out and dealt with sooner."
"Boy this is weird," Buffy said.
"Tell me about it," Lydia responded.
Just then, the bell rang, and all the students groaned.
"C'mon Lydia, I think it's time you got your first taste of the true Hellmouth- Sunnydale High School." With those ominous words, the teens exited the library, off to slay their own demons.
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