Fic: Again 7/8

["Jay" <Swanrvr80@xxxxxxx>]

Title: Again

PART SEVEN

"Kennedy?" called out Willow, knocking twice on the door before 
entering. Kennedy emerged from the bathroom and smiled.

"Hey."

"Hey," nodded Willow. "You okay? I thought I heard you talking to 
someone."

"Talking? No. I was just..."

Kennedy nodded towards the bathroom.

"Oh," nodded Willow, wrinkling her nose. "What's that smell?"

"Smell? Um...well, Xander was in here before," suggested Kennedy, 
hoping Willow would believe her.

"Say no more," sighed Willow, though she glanced one more time at the 
bathroom.

"Yeah," nodded Kennedy, shutting the door behind her. 

"Here, sit down," insisted Willow, walking over and taking Kennedy's 
arm. "You should be resting."

"Willow, I am a Slayer. That renowned healing ability is kicking in," 
laughed Kennedy. "Still, I wouldn't mind if you sat with me for a 
while."

"Oh. Sure. We'll, um...sit," nodded Willow. They sat down together on 
the edge of the bed. 

Kennedy continued to smile.

"What?" asked Willow.

"You're nervous, like this is a first date or something," teased 
Kennedy.

"What? I'm not nervous," protested Willow.

"If you say so," laughed Kennedy.

"I'm not," insisted Willow, smiling herself now. "Okay, okay. Is it 
really that obvious?"

"Only to someone who really knows you," answered Kennedy, taking in a 
deep breath. She reached up and gently brushed Willow's hair away 
from the side of her face, then let her palm rest against Willow's 
cheek. Ever so lightly, Willow leaned into the touch. Encouraged, 
Kennedy tilted her head, hesitated, then found Willow's mouth with 
her own. She felt Willow's body tense...but Willow returned the kiss. 
Only when Kennedy's hand brushed across Willow's waist did she pull 
away.

"Sorry," whispered Kennedy. "I know, I know, I'm rushing things. It's 
just..."

"Kennedy."

"It's just, you're so close and..."

"Kennedy," winced Willow.

Kennedy closed her eyes and slowly inhaled.

"You're not rushing things. I think...I think you're getting the 
wrong impression here," sighed Willow. She reached for her hand and 
Kennedy let her take it.

"But you kissed me back," whispered Kennedy, opening her eyes. "You 
did!"

"I know. I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"No, don't be sorry! See, there's still something there," grinned 
Kennedy excitedly. She clasped Willow's hand with both of hers.

"Of course there is," answered Willow slowly. "But, Kennedy...it's 
not enough."

Kennedy didn't move as Willow let go of her hands. 

"So...what is this?" asked Kennedy timidly. "Some kind of 
intervention?"

"Kinda," nodded Willow. "But it's only because I really care for you."

"You...you care for me?" repeated Kennedy, her voice rising. "And 
that's it? You care for me!?"

"It's more than that. You know that," pleaded Willow. Kennedy stood 
and walked to the other side of the room with her back to Willow. 
Willow immediately followed, placing her hands on Kennedy's shoulders.

"Why? Willow...what did I do?" said Kennedy softly, flinching at 
Willow's touch. 

"You didn't do anything. I don't know why this happened. It just 
did," shrugged Willow. She felt Kennedy's shoulders sag under her 
touch as Willow turned her around. Kennedy wouldn't look at her.

"This relationship you had, with Leigh. Kennedy...it wasn't healthy. 
Not for either of you," implored Willow.

Kennedy slowly raised her eyes to meet Willow's stare.

"Had? What do you mean by had? I don't care if you can't understand 
it," answered Kennedy with an edge to her voice. "It's what I needed. 
And Leigh loves me."

"You're using her," reminded Willow.

"She loves me," repeated Kennedy.

Willow inhaled slowly, taking in a deep breath.

"Leigh's dead," said Willow quickly, knowing that if she hesitated it 
would only be harder for both of them. 

"Leigh's...dead?" managed Kennedy, stepping back away from her. 

"Kennedy, I only did what was best for you. For us. Kennedy, you 
couldn't trust her. She was a vampire!"

"Us? You did it for us!? There is no us, is there? And, and Spike was 
a vampire, Angel was a vampire..."

"They had souls! There's a big diff," insisted Willow sharply.

"Leigh didn't have a soul but you knew what she was about. What's 
more, you knew I had feelings for her!" snapped Kennedy. "Damn it, 
you knew!"

"Feelings for her? Then why did you call her by my name, why did you 
dress her..."

"Yes! It's true! It's all true. But what gave you the right to decide 
what was best for me, huh? Are you telling me that you want me back?" 
challenged Kennedy.

Willow didn't answer but she didn't look away. Kennedy stepped 
forward so that she was standing right in front of her. Willow didn't 
back down and this surprised Kennedy.

"You don't, do you" whispered Kennedy, her tone revealing the 
finality of her words, her acceptance.

"I just...I just didn't want you to get hurt," winced Willow.

"Kinda late for that, no?" demanded Kennedy weakly, sniffing back 
tears.

"Kennedy, I do still care for you. I'm sorry if that's so hard to 
understand," said Willow, reaching out to touch her even as Kennedy 
pulled away.

"Understand!? Do you know what you put me through? Do you!?" shouted 
Kennedy.

"No. I can only imagine...Kennedy, please..."

"How?" demanded Kennedy.

"Huh?"

"How did she die?" asked Kennedy, clenching her teeth.

"Magick. It was quicker that way. I promise you, she didn't feel..."

Just then the door behind them flew open and in stumbled Buffy with 
Xander leaning against her with most of his weight.

"Xander! You're hurt!" cried Willow, running to Buffy's side to help 
her ease Xander onto the bed.

"Not so much," muttered Xander as he sat down.

"What happened?" asked Kennedy. Buffy glared at her but only for a 
moment, then turned her eyes to Willow.

"Leigh. She's still alive," said Buffy.

"But...no. No, that's not possible. I, I killed her. I..."

"Will, look at me," said Xander. He turned slightly so that both 
Willow and Kennedy could see his neck. Willow looked down, glanced 
back up at Xander then turned to face Kennedy. Kennedy stared right 
back at her.

"She wouldn't," began Kennedy, shaking her head.

"She did," insisted Xander. Their eyes met briefly before Kennedy 
turned to walk away. Willow quickly stepped in front of her, blocking 
her. She kept her voice very low so that the others wouldn't hear.

"Now do you understand what you were with?" seethed Willow, her face 
almost touching Kennedy's. Kennedy kept her voice to barely a whisper.

"You know, I'd rather be with her, in her world, than to be without 
you in this one," spat Kennedy, glaring at Willow, although he eyes 
were clouded with tears. She pushed past Willow into the next room. 
Willow just stood there with her mouth open. 


"We have to find her," insisted Buffy.

"Um, yeah. I'll, I'll do a locator spell. It won't take long," nodded 
Willow, glancing back over her shoulder in the direction Kennedy had 
gone.

"And then what?" asked Xander.

"I'll kill her the old fashioned way. With a stake," answered Buffy. 
She looked at Willow and was shocked to see her shaking her head.

"No," said Willow.

"What!?" yelled Xander. "Hello, she tried to..."

"Kill you?" finished Willow. "No. She could have but she didn't...and 
I know why. We can't...nevermind, we'll deal with Leigh later. The 
first thing we need to do is find out why my spell didn't work."

"Because you did it wrong?" suggested Xander innocently.

"No. That's not it," replied Willow, trying to ignore the looks of 
doubt on both Xander and Buffy's faces. "It's not! Something or 
someone is blocking me."

Willow turned and stared at the closed bathroom door.

"What is it?" asked Buffy.

"Not sure yet. I need to ask Kennedy something," answered Willow as 
she walked into the next room. Xander looked at Buffy but she only 
shrugged. Willow came back into the room with a worried look on her 
face.

"Kennedy's gone," announced Willow.

***

Kennedy stopped, hands on knees, gasping for air. She was both 
shocked and a little scared about how weak she was, almost angry that 
she had barely been able to run here at all. Now all she had to do 
was wait. Leigh would find her here. She always did. Kennedy looked 
back over her shoulder again more out of habit than concern, knowing 
that Willow hadn't followed her.

Not yet.

Still feeling lightheaded, Kennedy focused on the red flashes 
emanating from the mouth of the harbor, willing her eyes to sharpen 
the blurry image of the lighthouse. She took a step forward and 
realized that she was falling...and yet the sand beneath her somehow 
never came closer. Only then did she feel the two strong arms holding 
her up.

"Leigh?" muttered Kennedy as she felt herself being gently turned 
around. And then she smiled.

"Hey. Um, ya know what? You're not looking so good here, kid."

"Leigh," smiled Kennedy, collapsing into her arms. They slowly sat 
down, Kennedy cradled in Leigh's lap.

"Kennedy, are you okay?" asked Leigh, concerned.

"Am now," nodded Kennedy almost drunkenly. Leigh shook her head and 
smiled, holding Kennedy's head close against her chest. The windless 
night was quiet around them. Even the waves were silent as they 
lapped against the shore.

"I knew you'd be here, find me here," whispered Kennedy almost to 
herself.

"Well, this beach has a special meaning for us, doesn't it? It's 
where we first..." 

Kennedy tried to push away but Leigh held onto her just a little bit 
longer, not wanting to let go.

"Are you...I mean, how do you feel?" asked Kennedy.

"Hmmm...kinda like somewhere between here and gone," frowned Leigh, 
watching Kennedy to see how she would react.

"Huh?"

"Kennedy, I know what Willow tried to do."

"But, but how?" managed Kennedy.

"I met your new friend," winked Leigh.

"Oh. Oh!" winced Kennedy as she squirmed out of Leigh's grasp. She 
sat down beside her and put her arm over her shoulder. "So, um...what 
exactly did he tell you?"

"Only that Willow tried to kill me but he blocked her magicks," 
shrugged Leigh. "Oh, and something about an offer he made to you."

"What about it?" asked Kennedy just a little too quickly.

"Kennedy, what's wrong?"

"Just tell me what he said!" shouted Kennedy.

"Okay," frowned Leigh. 

"Sorry, it's just..."

Leigh took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"I know. Um, he said that he wants you to become a Vengeance Demon. 
That's why he blocked Willow's spell. Called it a favor that he hopes 
you'll repay."

"And that's it? That's all he told you?" asked Kennedy nervously.

"Pretty much," nodded Leigh. "Well, he did make it clear that all of 
Willow's magick is blocked. At least until sunrise. That's why I bit 
Xander, figured it was a free pass. And I was kinda pissed too, ya 
know?"

"Got that," smiled Kennedy.

"Plus if I did kill him I know both of them wouldn't rest until I was 
dead. Couldn't have that, now could we?" said Leigh almost sadly, 
brushing Kennedy's hair away from her eyes, letting her hand caress 
Kennedy's cheek.

"No," agreed Kennedy.

"So?"

"So....what? Oh, you mean am I gonna take him up on the offer," said 
Kennedy flatly.

"Well, yeah! I mean, what's the big? You already have some demon in 
you, girl. A little more shouldn't hurt. Variety is the spice of not 
only life but unlife. Haven't I shown you that much?" laughed Leigh.

"It's not that simple," replied Kennedy, pulling away just a bit.

"Sure it is!" insisted Leigh. "Hey, sounds like fun to me. Still, 
it's your decision either way. No harm in turning him down, right? 
Though I'm thinkin' if you pass then maybe we should get out of 
Dodge. At least until Willow leaves."

Kennedy didn't answer. She simply turned away and looked out into the 
surf.

"Right. It's that word again. We," sighed Leigh. Kennedy quickly 
turned and reached for her.

"No. No, it's not that at all," insisted Kennedy. But now Leigh 
pulled away.

They sat there in silence. 

"Kennedy, she tried to kill me. Doesn't that mean anything to you? It 
would, if you...if you really loved me," whispered Leigh, not looking 
at Kennedy now. She began sifting the sand in front of her, tracing 
patterns in it with a finger. "It's all about choices now."

And then Kennedy, unseen, smiled. She bit her lip hard, immediately 
feeling the bitter metallic taste of blood on her tongue.

"Yes, it is," nodded Kennedy.

"Huh?" 

"Kiss me, Leigh."

Leigh looked at her, a smile just barely forming on her lips, a smile 
held back only by fear and hope. Kennedy pulled her closer, her check 
brushing Leigh's cheek as they embraced.

"No more Willow. Never again," whispered Kennedy into Leigh's 
ear. "I'm yours now. Only yours."

Leigh pulled back, wanting to smile even though she was blinking back 
tears.

"Really?" whispered Leigh almost inaudibly. Kennedy nodded and wiped 
the tears away from Leigh's eyes as she closed her eyes.

"Only you. Leigh...look at me."

Leigh leaned forward so that their foreheads touched but wouldn't 
open her eyes.

"It's okay. I can be what you need," promised Kennedy. Leigh opened 
her eyes, letting their lips touch ever so slightly, the hint of 
blood making her dig her nails into Kennedy's shoulders.

"Say my name," said Leigh excitedly, almost laughing. "Say it!"

"Leigh," answered Kennedy proudly. Leigh found Kennedy's mouth and 
kissed her hard, fierce as if claiming her, moaning softly as she 
accepted Kennedy's blood. Kennedy pulled back and touched Leigh's 
cheek with her palm.

"How do you do that? Not change, I mean. Even after tasting blood," 
said Kennedy, once again finding Leigh's mouth with her own.

"Magick?" offered Leigh, almost laughing. Kennedy was no longer 
smiling.

"Hey, what's wrong?" asked Leigh.

"That word. Magick. Not really a fan," sighed Kennedy. She raised her 
knees and rested her chin on them, wrapping her arms around her legs.

"Go on," encouraged Leigh, moving closer to her side.

"Willow used me once. I mean, to do a spell," explained 
Kennedy. "Magick is all about power...power and pain. I felt it. 
Willow used me because I was the most powerful person in the room. 
That's how it works. It hurt in more ways than one...made me feel 
dirty somehow."

"So?" shrugged Leigh.

"So?" repeated Kennedy.

"She had to do this spell, right?"

"Yeah. But..."

"She made a choice, one that she needed to make. You said it 
yourself. It's about power. What are you afraid of? The power or the 
choice?" asked Leigh.

"Didn't say I was afraid," argued Kennedy weakly. 

"You're a Slayer, you already have demon within, what's the big diff 
if you have new one? Are you losing a soul or giving up free will? 
No. Go for it!" encouraged Leigh.

"You wouldn't mind, me being...different?" pouted Kennedy.

"Your girlfriend is a vampire. You already got different," replied 
Leigh, shaking her head.

"There's that," acknowledged Kennedy, somewhat amused now.

"Yep. No gettin' around that!" laughed Leigh, glad to see Kennedy's 
sullen mood lifting.

"I need something from you," whispered Kennedy, smiling.

"I know," grinned Leigh.

"Down girl! Not that. Well, not just yet," laughed Kennedy. "First 
thing is I'm starving but I don't have any money on me. Why don't 
we..."

"Let me guess. Chinese food?" guessed Leigh.

"Am I that predictable?" pouted Kennedy.

"Yes. But it's one of the things I love about you. Should we even 
bother getting the chopsticks? You're never gonna learn how to use 
them," teased Leigh.

"I'll get the hang of it, just have a little patience!" protested 
Kennedy. 

"My girl can shoot a crossbow but she can't balance chopsticks!" said 
Leigh, shaking her head. "Go figure." 

"I'm ignoring you now," announced Kennedy. "Let's go. And somewhere 
between the wanton and the egg roll, we need to talk about what we're 
going to do. I want to have some fun with Willow and her friends."

"I love it when you scheme," laughed Leigh. "See, you'll fit right 
into this Vengeance gig."

Kennedy nodded but looked down at the ground. Mad at herself for 
upsetting Kennedy after just getting her out of her funk, Leigh 
reached over and took both of her hands into her own.

"Kennedy, there's something you need to know about Willow."

"Oh?"

"About Buffy and Willow."

Kennedy's head tilted slightly to one side as she looked at Leigh. 
With the slightest nod of her head Leigh was able to make Kennedy 
understand. And then Leigh felt Kennedy's grip tighten with anger as 
she realized what Leigh had said.

"That's better," said Leigh approvingly.

***

"Can we eat yet? I'm starving!" complained Xander.

"Xander, not now! We have to figure out why my locator spell didn't 
work," snapped Willow.

"Um, maybe because..."

"If you even hint that I did it wrong I'll, I'll...well, whatever I 
decide to do, you won't like it!" growled Willow.

"Easy, Will. Take a deep breath. We'll figure this out. And we'll 
find her. We can always do it the old-fashioned way and hoof it," 
comforted Buffy, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I guess," pouted Willow.

"So what now?" asked Xander.

"Um, okay, the first thing we need to do is...uh, follow me. It's 
easier to show you than to explain it," said Willow, grabbing her 
pocketbook. Buffy and Xander looked at one another and shrugged, then 
followed Willow out into the parking lot. She fished her car keys out 
of her pocketbook, unlocked her rental car and got behind the wheel.

"You want us to get in?" asked Buffy.

"Yeah, where we going?" added Xander. 

"Nowhere. Just listen," answered Willow. She turned the key in the 
ignition and flipped on the radio, pushing the search button until 
she found an AM station.

"You give your hand to me and then you say hello,

And I can hardly speak, my heart is beating so,

And anyone can tell, you think you know me well,

But you don't know me..."

Willow's eyes instantly found Buffy. Buffy tried not to smile.

"Oh, this is bad. Real bad. Willow, what kind of evil are we facing? 
Not only is that AM radio but it's a country station!" whimpered 
Xander.

"Just listen," silenced Willow.

"No you don't know the one who dreams of you each night,

And longs to kiss your lips and longs to hold you tight,

To you I'm just a friend, that's all I've ever been,

No, you don't know me..."

Buffy had to turn away from Willow but only because she didn't want 
Xander to see that she was blushing. Even Willow had to stifle a 
laugh.

"Xander, sometimes if magicks are being used you can hear static on 
AM radio," said Willow, reaching for the radio. She hesitated, 
listening to one last lyric. 

"...my heart aches with love for you,

Afraid and shy, I let my chance go by,

The chance that you might love me too..."

"So much for that little trick, it didn't work," shrugged Willow, 
reluctantly turning off the radio.

"So every time I go under a bridge and lose the station someone could 
be putting a spell on me?" winced Xander worriedly.

"Xander, stop being such an angst queen!" sighed Willow.

Xander grinned from ear to ear, proud that his teasing had gotten to 
her.

"Oh, slap yourself on the forehead!" commanded Willow, snapping her 
fingers at him. Nothing happened, although Xander, just for a moment, 
seemed nervous as he stared at his hand. "Damn it! I can't even do 
the simplest spell! What the hell is going on?" 

"You know, that song reminds of the dream I had," said Xander, 
looking first at Buffy, then Willow.

"What dream?" asked Willow.

"When Leigh attacked me, I, uh, I guess I passed out or something. I 
tried to tell Buffy about it but we were in kind of a rush to get 
back here," shrugged Xander.

"And you're just telling me this now?" said Willow more as a 
statement than a question. She put her hands on her hips, a warning 
sign of impending anger that Xander immediately recognized.

"Hey, she wouldn't listen!" protested Xander, pointing a finger at 
Buffy. Willow interrupted before Buffy could respond.

"Xander, the dream? Now?" demanded Willow.

"Right," winced Xander, taking a step away from Willow and hoping she 
wouldn't notice. "It was vivid. Big time vivid, emphasis on the viv. 
Buffy, remember that time, oh, say a hundred years ago, when I asked 
you to the Spring Fling?"

"Sure," nodded Buffy unenthusiastically. "Not that I dwell on it or 
anything."

"Thanks," sighed Xander, rolling his eyes. "Well, I relived that. I 
was there, word for word, blow for blow. Except guest starring in the 
lead role was Willow."

"Huh?" said Willow suspiciously.

"Yeah. Same speech, same results. I...I mean you, not me, told Buffy 
how you felt about her and, well, we all know where that went," 
frowned Xander.

"What did you say?" asked Willow, now looking at Buffy instead of 
Xander.

"It's really not important, is it? I just...I just didn't feel the 
same way," cringed Buffy.

"No, it might be important, especially if magicks are involved. 
Buffy, this was no ordinary dream, it's significant somehow" said 
Willow, now turning to Xander. "Xander, what exactly was said?"

"Will, it's like Buffy said..."

Xander was silenced both by Willow crossing her arms and a nasty 
glare that made him take another step away from her.

"Okay! Um, well...Buffy said that she didn't want to spoil the 
friendship that we had. I agreed but said that wasn't the point, that 
you either feel a thing or you don't. And then Buffy said that she 
didn't. Feel a thing, I mean. And that she just didn't think of me 
that way."

Willow looked at Buffy but Buffy would only stare at the ground so 
Willow looked back to Xander.

"Yep, just as much fun this time around. Only weirder," added Xander.

"Willow, it was just a dream," said Buffy.

"Yeah," whispered Willow, nodding. "Just a dream." 

"Can we eat now?" pleaded Xander.

"Xander!" scolded Buffy, shaking her head, her eyes still on Willow.

"No, he's right. Let's take a break," said Willow dejectedly.

"Willow, we'll find Leigh. I promise," assured Buffy.

"It's not Leigh I'm worried about," answered Willow quickly.

"Oh," blinked Buffy.

"No, Buffy, it's not like that," corrected Willow. "I think Kennedy's 
in trouble and she has no idea how much."

"Um, care to expound on that logic there, Will?" asked Xander. "I'm 
thinking Leigh isn't going to hurt her."

"Leigh's not the threat. D'Hoffryn is," frowned Willow.

"Huh?" managed Buffy.

"It makes sense. What with my spells not working, him mad at me for 
not accepting his offer to become a Vengeance Demon and the whole 
vengeance angle of the scorned woman thingy? Need I remind you that 
I'm the scornee?" winced Willow.

"Uh, kinda flimsy evidence there, no?" asked Xander.

"Maybe. But I thought I smelled him before when Kennedy came out of 
the bathroom," explained Willow.

"Okay, I believe you, now let's change the subject. Conversations 
about bathroom smells aren't going to help my appetite any," sighed 
Xander.

"Can you contact him?" asked Buffy.

"No. I don't have his talisman with me and even if I did? Hello, da 
magicks ain't workin'," shrugged Willow.

"Fine, there's another player in the game. So what's it gonna be? 
Pizza?" suggested Xander.

"No, not again. Too many carbs. How `bout Chinese?" offered Buffy.

"Sounds good, and we passed one on the way into town," nodded Willow.

"I'll go, you two stay here," said Xander, already heading for his 
car.

"Xander, wait! You don't even know what we want," said Buffy.

"Doesn't matter. I'll bring back so much there'll plenty for all," 
smiled Xander, waving.

"Maybe we should stick together," began Buffy, but Willow touched her 
arm to stop her.

"Let him go," said Willow. "We need to talk."

Buffy hesitated but then agreed. They watched Xander drive off and 
then went back into the motel room. Willow sat on the edge of the bed 
but Buffy went to the window, staring out into the night with her 
back turned to Willow.

"When did you know?" asked Buffy, pushing aside the curtain.

"Know?" repeated Willow, getting up to stand behind Buffy.

"That you had feelings for me," said Buffy, knowing Willow was there 
but unwilling to turn around.

"Guess I've always known, Buffy. Guess I just wouldn't admit it to 
myself," answered Willow, gently placing a hand on Buffy's shoulder. 
Buffy finally turned to face her. 

"So it was more than just that kiss?" asked Buffy warily.

"Now you're being silly," smiled Willow. "Of course it was. We go way 
back, you and I. We used to hold hands, you used to touch my 
hair...we used to have sleepovers..."

Willow noticed Buffy's eyebrows go up ever so slightly.

"In an innocent pajamy sorta way," added Willow. "All pure, harmless 
stuff, ya know? But it meant something. Well, at least to me it did."

"Me too! Willow, you know, um, about that dream that Xander had, I 
would never...."

"I know," nodded Willow, getting Buffy to nod in agreement. 

"So why the dream? Why now?" wondered Buffy almost as if to herself.

"Well, I'm thinkin' that if D'Hoffryn's the one that messed with my 
spell on Leigh, it follows that feelings of betrayal, hurt and anger 
would surface."

"Betrayal?" repeated Buffy in a whisper. "That's kinda harsh. I only 
said no to you..."

Willow looked at Buffy as if she had been slapped.

"Xander! I mean Xander. I said no to him, not you!" cringed Buffy.

"And now you know a little more about how magick works. Emotions are 
powerful, Buffy, and..."

"And you think I'll reject you," finished Buffy.

"No! No, I don't think that. But hey, sure, somewhere back in here," 
said Willow, pointing to her head, "I fear that. Who wouldn't? 
D'Hoffryn picked up on that."

"But I wouldn't. I won't!" insisted Buffy. 

"I know. But...

"But?" repeated Buffy, wide-eyed. Willow smiled. 

"When did you realize that you had feelings for me? Was it that kiss 
in Rio? That almost kiss back here in the motel?"

"Will, I didn't really think about it. I only know that it felt good. 
No, it was more than that. It felt right," nodded Buffy, as if she 
just realized what she had said.

"Still, you must have...

"It feels right," interrupted Buffy. "Let's leave it at that for now. 
Please?"

"For now?" wondered Willow. Buffy nodded once and then leaned 
forward, waiting for Willow to initiate the kiss.

***

"Thanks. Keep the change," smiled Leigh. She quickly left and met up 
with Kennedy in the parking lot.

"You could've come in," scolded Leigh. "It's cold out here tonight."

"I'm okay," shrugged Kennedy, pushing her hands deeper into her 
pockets. "I didn't want to deal with the stares and having to explain 
the bandage on my neck."

"So don't explain," suggested Leigh. "You stare back hard enough, 
they look away."

Kennedy put one arm around Leigh's waist and rested her head on her 
shoulder as they walked back to the apartment.

***

Xander sneezed and immediately reached to turn on the window wipers, 
amused by his own joke. He wished Willow was here with him now as he 
knew it would make her smile if not even laugh out loud, something 
she hadn't done much of recently.

"We're drifting apart again, just like when she went away to 
college," sighed Xander, shaking his head. He pulled into the parking 
lot of the Chinese restaurant and made a silent promise to himself 
that he'd spend more time with Willow. Xander practically ran inside. 
Grabbing a menu, he circled half a dozen selections and handed it to 
the smiling girl behind the counter.

"It'll be about ten minutes, okay?" asked the girl.

"Sounds great. Um, I'll be right back. I left my wallet in the car," 
said Xander.

***

"Damn it!" sighed Leigh.

"What?"

"I forgot the chopsticks. Do we really need to go back?"

"How am I ever going to learn to use them if you're not going to let 
me practice?" teased Kennedy.

"My leg is still sore. All this walking ain't fun!" protested Leigh, 
drawing a pout from Kennedy. "Okay, we'll go back. Just don't 
complain to me about your food getting cold."

***

Xander paid for the food and practically ran back to the car, 
grabbing a few dry noodles from one of the bags even as he opened the 
door. He tossed the bag onto the passenger seat, put the key in the 
ignition, started the car and glanced into the rearview mirror. 
Turning around to back out, he looked directly into the eyes of 
Leigh, sitting in the back seat.

"Turn the car off, Xander. Now," ordered Leigh coldly..

Xander nervously swallowed and turned around, not surprised at all to 
see Kennedy standing next to the car with her hand out. He turned off 
the ignition and opened the door, handing her the keys.

END OF PART SEVEN






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Willow: "It's a good fight, Buffy, and I want in."
Buffy:  "I kinda love you."
                     'Choices'

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