Title: A Mile In His Moccasins 21/26
Author: Gileswench
Feedback: Constructive criticism always welcome. Praise abjectly sought.
Disclaimer: It all belongs to Joss, Mutant Enemy, etc., etc., etc. I just let them have all the fun Joss won't. I own nothing except my twisted mind which you really don't want. Please don't sue.

Buffy took a deep breath and followed her friends out to the main room where Giles continued to read avidly. He moved from one volume to another with a surety that made Buffy's heart skip a beat. She hated to think that he might not be able to do what he loved best if they didn't find the answer to his eyesight problems.

The others held their breaths and waited for him to glance up from his research. At last he looked up and sought out Buffy's eyes. He smiled warmly.

"I've got it," he told her.

"What? What have you got?" she asked eagerly. She moved to sit next to him.

"I can't quite believe it myself. Here I've been reading and rereading these Watcher diaries for any information I can find, and the answer has been staring at me for two days at least. The first clue was in the diary of Augustus Greer, a Scotsman from Aberdeen with the most appalling handwriting. Anyway, he and his Slayer, Wilhelmina, met up with our fiend in 1856 in Bavaria..."

"Giles. I don't have time for War And Peace, here. Just tell me, already."

"Oh, yes, of course," he stammered. "Well, it seems from several accounts of meetings with the creature, that if the Slayer wasn't killed outright by the spell, it was reversed in a few days on its own. We don't have to do anything. Just wait it out for another day or so and we'll wake up in our own bodies."

"Just like that? No spells, no fuss, no muss?"

"Not even a bit of muss."

Buffy couldn't sit still. She stood and grabbed Giles into a bear hug. Giles glared as his feet dangled a foot off the ground.

"You're enjoying this entirely too much, you realize," he grumbled affectionately.

"Portable Giles. It's a good thing, on a temporary basis."

She held him tighter. After a moment of hesitation, he returned the embrace with enthusiasm. Willow and Tara grinned. Xander goggled. Anya returned to the register as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"Okay, this is some sort of victory over the monster thing, right?" Xander asked. "Am I right?"

"No, Xander, as a matter of fact, you're quite wrong," Giles assured him as Buffy lowered him to the ground.

"So...you two are..." Xander gestured vaguely with his hands so as not to have to say the words.

"Breathe, Xand," Buffy advised. "And yes, we are."

"But you're not...not while..." again, Xander used a vague gesture to get his meaning across.

"I really think that's none of your business," Giles said firmly.

"Oh God. That means you are. While you're all backwards."

"I don't see what the problem is," Anya piped up helpfully. "You said you would if it happened to us."

A chorus of raised eyebrows met Xander. He giggled nervously, then turned on his fiancée.

"I said maybe, An. Maybe. Not the same thing as yes."

"Okay, hetero boy, we hear you," Buffy teased. "And we're still doing the one from column A, one from column B thing. We just switched columns is all. Shakespeare wrote a whole poem about it."

"Yes, well, I'm not entirely sure this was the situation he had in mind," Giles corrected her.

"I know, but it works. And hey, if the sonnet fits, I say wear it."

"Come on, Xander," Willow cajoled. "Tell them you're okay with this. You know you will be."

"On one condition," Xander said. He approached Buffy and Giles with a fierce look on his face. "You two are the best friends I have, along with Will. You have to promise never to break up, because I don't think I could ever choose sides, here. Besides, whichever one of you I didn't choose, could hurt me. So, is this a forever thing?"

Giles smiled up at Buffy as she answered for both.

"Yeah, Xand. It's a forever thing."

"Then in that case..."

Xander hugged Buffy tightly. When he finished he turned to Giles and hugged him, as well, lifting him off the ground.

"Whaddya know! Buffy's right. Portable Giles is a cool thing."

"Xander, I may be half your size right now, but I have Slayer strength."

Xander put Giles down. He gave a sheepish grin.

"Sorry, man. I just got carried away in all the good news."

Buffy gave Giles a hard look. He did his best to ignore it, but he found he couldn't. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at the floor. The others watched in consternation.

"There's some not so good news, too, isn't there?" Xander asked.

"You don't have to tell us now if you don't want," Willow assured Giles. "You could wait. Or not tell us at all if it's not our business."

"No, Buffy's right. If I'm to stay, you'll know pretty quickly anyway. You'd better all sit down."

Buffy gave his hand a reassuring squeeze as they all returned to their seats. He smiled tightly at her, but squeezed back gently.

A few minutes later, everybody was scanning books again. Willow sniffled as she read and the others all sent worried looks to Giles when they thought he wasn't looking. When Giles stood to get himself another cup of tea, Buffy followed him into the corner of the room.

"You okay?" she asked him quietly. "I know that was sort of rough, telling them."

Giles poured his tea and added the milk and sugar. Buffy could tell from the set of his shoulders that he was still uncomfortable after the confessions of the last half hour.

"I'm okay," he told Buffy at last. "Or I will be, at any rate."

"Liar. Come on. We need to talk."

Buffy ushered Giles into the training room. The Scoobies watched the couple until the door shut behind them. At last Willow gave in and burst into tears. Tara moved to take her hand.

"It's not fair," Willow declared brokenly. "This shouldn't have to happen to Giles. Not now, when he just got together with Buffy."

"When should it happen, then?" Anya asked tartly.

"An," Xander said, "I don't think that's what Willow means. And we're not gonna let this happen. Giles is gonna be okay. We'll find something."

It was left to Anya to bring up the question nobody wanted to answer.

"What if we don't? What if there isn't anything we can do? If Joyce died, Giles can go blind and we might not be able to stop it. What happens then? He can't be Buffy's Watcher if he can't see."

Tara took one look at the set of Willow's jaw and decided it was time to intervene.

"We'll think about that when the time comes, Anya. Right now, let's just assume there's something we can do and look for it. If there isn't, then we'll all look for ways to help Giles adjust. Willow, I think it might be helpful to check out some medical websites. Maybe there's a new treatment Giles' doctors just haven't heard about."

Willow pulled her laptop out and booted it up as Xander and Anya returned to their books. Tara moved to the counter.

"What are you doing?" Anya asked. "We're all working. Why aren't you reading?"

"Because I have a phone call to make."

"If it's long distance, you'll have to pay for it when the bill comes."

Tara rolled her eyes.

"Okay, Anya. I'll pay for it."

She turned to the phone and dialed.

*****

Buffy sat on the couch and watched Giles prod at the punching bag with a contemplative finger.

"Was I wrong?" she finally asked. "Shouldn't I have said anything? Did I violate the guy code or something?"

"No, no, it's alright," he said in a distracted manner.

Buffy sighed.

"Okay, I obviously screwed up. Could you just tell me how so I don't do it again unless it really, really needs doing?"

Giles didn't answer this time. Buffy stood and moved to his side.

"I know you're not heavy into the sharing, and I know you don't want them to feel sorry for you, but it's not like they wouldn't notice after a while. This way they get to help us look for a cure. And if...if we can't find one..."

"Then Willow can cry every time she sees me and Xander can pull obstacles out of my path while I can still see them, and Anya can shout at me because she doesn't understand that blind and deaf are different things."

Buffy flinched at the bitterness in his tone.

"I'm sorry, Buffy," he sighed. "It really was the right thing to do, I know. It just makes things...so..."

"Real. Yeah, I know," she told him. "I took away your place where you could pretend things were okay, didn't I?"

"With the best of intentions, I know, but yes."

Without another word, Buffy took Giles in her arms and kissed the top of his head. She held him close, hoping that her arms could express what her words never seemed able to convey. From his answering embrace, she knew he'd accepted her apology, and offered one of his own. At her warm caress in return, he relaxed. At last, Buffy pulled back and led Giles to the couch. They sat very close and continued to hold one another.

"I wish I knew what was to be done," Giles said miserably.

"We'll figure it out. It's what we do."

"Now who's lying?"

"Come on, you know it's true. We'll find a way to fix your eyes and kill that stupid demon for making me know the humiliation of wearing your shoes."

"Hey!"

"Shh. I'm lying to you. And then we'll go away somewhere on a nice, long vacation where there's a beach for me and musty museums for you and a five star hotel with big soft beds for when we get together at night. And while we're gone, Faith will be taken out in a prison riot so a new Slayer will be called and sent to the Hellmouth. She'll be majorly kickass, but really dogly so I don't have to worry about her stealing my guy. Then the Council will send me a gold watch and I can retire and make pretty babies by the overflow method with you."

"Really? How many babies is that, precisely?"

"How many would you want it to be?"

"That many? You'll never see your feet again."

"Of course, you get all the diaper changing and butt wiping duties."

"Poor Junior will have to settle for being an only child."

"Thought you'd see it my way," she giggled as she cupped his cheek. "Everything will be great. Honest."

"I almost believe you."

Buffy bent down and kissed Giles softly.

"Whatever happens, it's you and me. Believe that."

"I'm beginning to."

A soft tap came at the door, followed almost immediately by Tara's head peeping into the room.

"Is it okay if I come in for a minute?"

"Sure, Tara. What's up? You guys find something already?"

"Maybe."

Giles blinked.

"That was fast. What have you discovered?"

"It's not so much a what as a who," Tara explained. "Mrs. Wilmot. She was a friend of my mother's, back home. She knows things. Healing things."

"A witch?" Buffy asked.

Tara shook her head quickly.

"An herbalist. She knows how to can cure all sorts of things. And she knows a little magic, too. She helped me learn after my mother died, but mainly she knows herbs and things like that. Depending on the cause, she might be able to fix this."

"Why didn't this come up when my mom got sick?" Buffy wondered. "You all said magic and medicine don't go together. How is this different?"

"We don't know that it is yet," Tara answered. "She might not be able to do anything. She's never been able to cure a tumor with herbs, so I didn't even bring it up then. There were better things to try. Things that worked. This time, it may be the only option we have."

"And you think a pinch of tarragon will fix Giles' eyes?" Buffy asked skeptically. "I was thinking more there might be an operation or a pill. Or a chant. Chants work for some things."

Giles' hand moved to his nose to remove his glasses. He fluttered his fingers in frustration when he found, once again, they weren't there. He stood, ran his hand through his hair and began to pace.

"Of course!" he exclaimed. "I ought to have thought of this avenue of inquiry before."

"Sticking spices in your eyes? No offense, Tara, but I don't get how this is gonna work when medical science is baffled."

Giles returned to Buffy's side and gave her a bemused smile.

"I know this seems a bit strange, Buffy," he told her, "but some folk remedies have been found to have a solid medical basis. Not everything, of course, but a surprising number of the old poultices and mixtures can be quite effective when used properly. This just might work."

"Then we'll try it," Buffy said quietly. "If you think it can work, I think it can, too. And hey, if it doesn't cure you, maybe it'll be yummy on a salad."

"I rather doubt it; most of these concoctions taste quite foul," Giles said with a smile. He turned to Tara. "Can you get in touch with your friend?"

"I already did. She's on her way. She'll be here in a few hours."

"That fast?" Buffy asked. "How's she getting here? Magic carpet?"

Tara shook her head.

"Private jet. Her son made a killing in real estate in the eighties. Not a literal killing, though. Nobody died for real."

"It's sad we have to spell that out, isn't it?" Buffy mused.

*****

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