Maybe letting Riley in on their secret hadn’t been such a great idea, Willow thought. She had been so convinced that he would understand. He had always understood before, but he seemed different now. And now she had one more person to persuade, one more person to prove her skill to.

It had been difficult enough persuading those closest to her – Tara in particular had her doubts. She had won them over though, eventually, and everything seemed to be going right. She was so close, she could feel it. She had brought Riley in because, to her, it had made sense. He would understand like the others wouldn’t. Like Spike wouldn’t. Like Dawn definitely couldn’t. But then he had surprised all of them with his reaction, his anger, his shock. And he had left without a word, promising not to tell – but she was wary.

And if word got out – to Giles, to Spike, to anyone – then everything she had been working towards could be ruined. Buffy would be left in that horrible place to suffer. And it would be her fault. She wasn’t going to let that happen.



She couldn’t stop Riley’s doubt niggling at her though, making her already restless nights even more so. She lay next to her girlfriend, unable to sleep, thinking everything through. She just knew she could do this. That it was the right thing to do. It was what Buffy would want her to do, she was sure.

“Hey you.”

Tara’s low murmur and the touch at her arm startled her and drew her eyes to her girlfriend.

“You’re all thinkey. It’s bad for you at this time of night, you know.”

Tara ran a hand over her forehead and she closed her eyes with a sigh, enjoying the caress.

“I can’t stop thinking about what Riley said,” she murmured.

“He was just thrown,” her girlfriend reasoned, “I mean, it’s a pretty huge thing.”

“I know,” she replied, “But I know I can do this.”

Tara said nothing but shifted closer, resting her head against Willow’s shoulder and wrapping her arm around her. Willow wrapped her hand around her girlfriend’s arm and smiled ever so slightly.

“I am doing the right thing, aren’t I?” she asked with a frown, her eyes fixed on the ceiling.

Tara hesitated for just a moment before she spoke up, her fingers tracing soothing patterns against Willow’s arm.

“If you think so, sweetie.”

She turned onto her side, meeting Tara’s gaze.

“She’s suffering, Tara. And I can save her.”

“I’m sure you can,” Tara soothed, brushing a hand over her hair, “It’s just-“

“What? What is it? Not you too.”

“Sweetie, please,” Tara murmured, taking her hand and drawing it to her lips for a kiss, “I just worry about you. It’s… it’s a whole load of magic, you know.”

“I can do it, Tara.”

Tara held her gaze for a long second and then smiled slightly, leaning forward to kiss her briefly before settling back in her position.

“I’m sure you can,” she whispered.



Despite her own confidence, and Tara’s reassurance, she still couldn’t get rid of that nagging doubt caused by Riley’s own doubt. It didn’t help that when she saw him the next day as he dropped by the shop to say hi, he was quiet and avoided her gaze. He was gone a few minutes later, leaving her to fidget nervously until Tara placed a calming hand on her shoulder. She looked up at her girlfriend and smiled, placing her hand over hers.

She then turned to Xander as he sat down opposite her, looking unusually worried.

“I’m worried about Riley. He’s still freaking out about… you know, the thing.”

He lowered his voice, even though they were alone in the shop, and looked around nervously.

“He’ll get used to it,” Willow said firmly, “I mean, he’ll have to once she’s back, won’t he?”

“Yeah,” Xander replied absently, still looking uncertain.

“I’ll bring her back, Xander,” she whispered, reaching out to touch his hand where it rested on the table.

He looked up and met her eyes and she saw all the hope and anxiety warring in his expression.

“I promise,” she declared.

He gave her a slanted smile and squeezed her hand, before rising to his feet and going to join Anya. As he left, her bright smile faded and she sagged a little, jumping when Tara’s hand brushed her arm. Tara sat beside her and took her hand, twining their fingers.

“I believe in you.”

She smiled sadly and rested her head against her girlfriend’s.



There was no more time to keep worrying, she knew that. It was time to act, time to bring back her friend. She had a few last minute errands to run and then she would be ready. Anya had procured the Urn of Osiris and now it was time to do this thing. She couldn’t keep waiting to bring everyone around: the longer she waited, the longer Buffy suffered. They would thank her when it was done. Even Riley, who still doubted her.

He had pulled her to one side earlier today and asked her if she really knew what she was getting into.

“I’m a powerful witch, Riley,” she had told him, “I know what I’m doing.”

“And are you… prepared?” he had asked.

“Of course I’m prepared.”

“I mean for if it goes wrong,” he murmured, looking around quickly to see if anyone was listening, “If it doesn’t work or… or worse.”

“I’ll handle it,” she whispered, forcing
herself to hold his gaze.

He had not seemed sure, but he had not said a lot more. It seemed he had kept his word and remained silent too, because no-one outside of their circle seemed to suspect anything. When she had asked Spike to watch Dawn in a few night’s time, he had made no comment out of the ordinary. So she was out of the woods. She could do what it was time to do. She could bring Buffy back to life.