"Dammit!"

She slapped her hand down hard on the desk, even the heavy Spell Book jumped a little.

She stared accusingly at the leather-bound text that had failed her once again. She hated it when this happened...didn't happen! Yet another attempt, still no success.

It must be the book, she told herself, I did everything it said. She had carefully followed the spell, gathering together all the ingredients it required. Well, most of the ingredients, some things even Sunnydale's more unusual emporia couldn't offer up. But she had improvised.

What a waste of a lunch break that had been! She sighed, determining to try again first thing tomorrow.

***

It wasn't a pleasant experience, definitely not pleasant, unpleasant much.

Buffy lifted herself from the floor of the library, setting aside the books she had displaced as she collapsed.

She felt...odd. Her body not quite right, like pulling on a sweater that had shrunk in the wash.

"Will?"

And the voice was wrong, all wrong. It sounded like...

The Slayer looked down at herself. But it wasn't herself. It was...

Willow?

There was a groan from the floor, a muttering that involved words like 'headache' and 'bad' and 'why am I on the floor?'. All said in her own tone, the voice not quite as she heard it in her head but close enough.

Buffy ducked down, stumbling slightly in the ill-fitting body, to find she was looking at herself sitting under the table.

It was like looking in a mirror but a lot scarier. That skirt looked much better in the mirror, Buffy tried to ignore that thought, informing herself that it really wasn't the issue at the moment.

"Will?"

There was a pause as the familiar face looked up into...

"My face!", she squeaked. Buffy was really glad she didn't panic often, it wasn't a good look on her. She calmed her friend with a weak smile.

"Will, I think that's you in there, yes?"

A faint nod and the eyes opened even wider.

"And I know this is me in here", she indicated the body that she had taken possession of.

She sat down next to herself, not sure what to do or say.

"This would go down as weird, I think", Willow still hadn't commented further and Buffy looked at her best friend with growing concern, "You OK?"

The library doors swung open and Xander strode in, a self-satisfied smirk on his face, "Good day my fine friends", there was a pause as he registered their unusual sitting arrangements, "hey, playing house?"

Buffy helped Willow up, noting the way her body seemed to sag under it's weight, like her friend hadn't figured on having to control a shorter but much stronger form.

Xander was startled to see Willow assisting a dazed looking Slayer, "Buffy, what is it?"

Willow saw the concern in his eyes, tinged with a look of desire that she had wanted to find there for most of her adolescence. But it wasn't for her, it was for Buffy. And it was the kind of look she and Buffy had been sharing recently but had determinedly ignored.

The implications of what had happened to them made her loose concentration and let the body slip in it's stance.

Buffy caught her quickly, forcing the weaker body to support her own, "Will, just sit down for a while."

"Will?", Xander looked from one to the other, "are we playing some strange game here?"

"No Xander", the voice was Willow's, the face was Willow's, but the stare was definitely not his oldest friend's, he made a guess at it, "Buffy?"

"Go get Giles, will you?"

***

"Well, I'd say it's a spell gone wrong", Giles cleaned his glasses as he concentrated his thoughts, "quite wrong."

"And the Understatement of the Year Award goes to Giles", Buffy was getting ratty.

"Yes, well", the English voice was apologetic, "I'll have to look a few things up."

He reached for a stack of books that he'd fetched from his office, this wasn't the strangest thing that had happened in Sunnydale - though he didn't plan to say that to Buffy at the moment - and he was certain they'd find a way to reverse it. Eventually.

"And in the meantime?", Willow made Buffy's voice seem more vulnerable than they'd ever expected to hear, it was like looking at a lion and hearing it meow.

Buffy had been thinking about this, hence her mood, and knew the big thing was to lie low, "My Mother's away tonight, you should stay with me."

Willow looked relieved, Buffy watched her own eyes soften and realised that they were different, as if a little bit of Willow was showing. She wondered if the same was true in the eyes she saw through, hoping that Willow could recognise her love in them.

"Tell your parents we're studying together and you'll stay over", she ignored the looks of disbelief at her choice of excuse, idly considering the punching power she could get out of Willow's slight body.

"Come on Will."

Buffy watched as Willow raised her body from the chair, moving closer to be of assistance if it was needed. They refused Xander's offer of an escort and made their way out of the library and through the school's corridors, leaning together for support.

There were a number of people neither girl wanted to meet at the moment but as they turned a corner one of them stood blocking their way.

"Miss Summers", Principle Snyder turned from talking at a terrified student.

Buffy was about to respond when a dig in her ribs reminded her who she was. She watched Willow stiffen her body and heard her voice unnaturally deep as she attempted to mimic her friend.

"Principle Snyder."

"Are you unwell Miss Summers?"

Buffy watched her body deflate slightly and decided to step in, "Yes, yes she is", please let him buy this, "Mr Giles has just excused us so I can take her home."

Willow threw in a half-faint that was more convincing for her discomfort in Buffy's body and even Snyder had to acknowledge how pale she was looking.

"All right", he wasn't certain but didn't want to risk a student getting seriously ill on the premises, much better if they got sick at home then their parents could deal with it, "go ahead."

He dismissed them with a wave of his hand and both tried to hurry away without looking like they were hurrying away.

***

Buffy stood in her room, trying desperately not to look in the full-length mirror. She and Willow had spent the entire afternoon discussing anything but the obvious problem of being in each other's bodies. Literally.

Buffy clamped down on a stray thought, glad that Willow wasn't in the room to see her blushing. She'd had a number of thoughts about the redhead's body recently but none involved actual, permanent residence.

Now here she was, trying not to take the opportunity to ogle her friend's lithe form while she was in the bathroom. Experiencing a strange sense of voyeurism. Voyeurism and narcissism all at the same time. Sometimes life on the Hellmouth was beyond weird.

Willow returned to the room, her face glowing red, almost matching the colour of her hair, "I...I had to go...to the...so I did, coz I had to...and I brushed your teeth too."

It was said in a jumble and Buffy needed a second or two to decipher it all but Willow knew when she had.

"Oh...well...thanks", escape route, look for an escape route, "I'll brush your teeth now...brushing is good, you should always brush."

She headed for the bathroom quickly, leaving Willow to sit heavily on the edge of her bed. This was ridiculous, she and Buffy were best friends - who obviously had feelings for each other - they should be able to deal with this.

Willow thought about that some more. She and Buffy were best friends who might spend the rest of their lives in each other's bodies. Her mind - was it hers?, she wondered - drifted vaguely through a philosophical discussion of what made a person who she was before the worries became too much for her and she threw herself back on the bed.

Buffy returned to find her lying there, arms over her eyes, shaking gently with her sobs.

"It's OK Will", she lifted her own body and curled them together in the middle of the bed, "We'll be fine."

"Will we?", Willow choked, wiping the tears from the face she was wearing.

"Sure", Buffy held her even tighter, noting the feel of her hard muscles from the other side, "Giles will find a way to get us out of this."

"And if he doesn't?"

Buffy paused, she had no idea what would happen if they stayed like this. Would Willow have to take her place as the Slayer? Would they just carry on?

Oh God, she thought suddenly, how do I explain this to Mom?

She suppressed her concerns, looking hard into her own eyes and hoping that Willow would find strength there. Just as she always found strength in Willow's eyes.

"We'll be fine."

They lay together for hours, dozing and waking, saying little but comforting each other nonetheless. Buffy woke in the early hours, feeling soft fingers gently stroking her forehead.

"I love you", it was said with absolute conviction, the voice more Willow than it had been all day, "I think you should know that."

"I do know that."

"No, I mean really love you", Willow had been awake for some time thinking about Buffy and her feelings for the Slayer. The more she thought about it the more important it became to tell her friend. She had to be absolutely honest, now, before this whole thing got any more confusing.

Buffy moved to look directly in to her eyes, the scant light from her lamp just enough to see the love and hope and fear shining in them.

"I do know that", she knew her voice carried the same certainty, "I love you too."

The smiles they exchanged spoke the rest of their feelings, there was no need to say more. They cuddled closer and felt their tears of relief mingle, knowing that it would be alright, that they would deal with this as they dealt with everything...together.

Finally, they slept soundly, wrapped up in each other's bodies.

***

"Dammit!"

The Spell Book jumped again, it's owner staring hard at the brown parchment as if the answers would write themselves on the pages.

Well, getting up early had been pointless! She'd tried the spell again, done everything she could think of and it still hadn't worked.

"Dammit!", all she wanted was a chance to find out what it was like to be the Slayer!

END

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