Disclaimer: Second verse, same as the first.

*********

"Who are you?" Willow repeated at Buffy's shocked look, then glanced at Xander. "Xander, is she...do you know her? And the other girl...are they in our class? I don’t know them, do I? Oh God..."

"Willow," Giles stepped in evenly as the redhead was beginning to get agitated. "Willow, this is Buffy Summers. And this is her sister, Dawn. They're friends...of mine, here to visit." He gave Buffy a significant look and the pale blonde managed to twist her mouth into a smile. Dawn stretched her lips in a parody of one as well but couldn't disguise her trembling. Giles put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"Th-that's right," Buffy said faintly. "I-I'm sorry...I scared you. It's just...G-Giles has said so much about you."

"Oh," Willow said, accepting that although her eyes were still slightly troubled. She turned back to Xander. "I can't believe you're here! Giles said you couldn't come. What happened?" Xander's mouth fell open stupidly, and Giles stepped over in haste.

"That's a rather, er, long story, which I`m sure we`ll get to telling...later. Willow, why don't you go back to your room with Nora, and I'll bring Xander over in a little while? Yes?"

The young witch's face fell, her eyes fixing Xander`s almost desperately, as if he'd vanish if she took them away. Xander tried to smile in a way that was reassuring, even though his mind was reeling.

"B-but I wanted to...to..." Willow faltered, and Giles cleared his throat, drawing her attention back.

"Xander will be along, not to worry. But I need to talk to him first...explain how things work around here, the rules and such...it shouldn't be long."

"Oh. I'll wait then," Willow said, relief in her tone. Giles frowned worriedly.

"No, no, there's no need for you to wait...it'll be terribly boring for you...really..."

"B-but I can help...and Xander's here..." Willow protested meekly.

"Willow," Sonora interjected, "Why don't you come with me and we'll prepare a special surprises for Xander. From your last lesson..." Willow's eyes lit up ecstatically.

"Can we? Wow!" she said, bouncing with happiness, then hesitating as she looked at Giles. "I mean, is it okay...?"

"Yes, certainly. If Sonora thinks it's alright."

"Okay...wait until you see this Xander, it is so cool! You are gonna freak!" Willow chortled, then froze. "You'll come, right? Promise you'll come see." She looked up at him meekly, pleading, and despite his shock Xander smiled.

"I promise, Will," Xander said in a low voice, and she threw her arms around his neck again.

"Yay! Oh, okay, I gotta go and...and get ready...this is so great! You're here! I don't believe it! Ummm...okay..." Willow bounded out of the room with Sonora at her heels. The older witch paused in the doorway to give Giles a meaningful look, then followed her charge.

"Giles," Buffy said, and he winced at the icy pinched sound of her voice. "What's going on here?"

"I'm afraid it's rather complicated," Giles sighed. "You'd all best sit down."

"I can't believe that Willow doesn't know me," Dawn said in a hurt, dazed voice. Xander put a comforting arm around her as he frowned at Giles.

"She's acting so young. Like time warp Willow."

"Yes...I realize this has been quite a shock. Please, let me try to explain." He approached Buffy and she stiffened, holding up her hand to keep him from coming closer. Stung by her rebuke, he held out a chair to her instead. Reluctantly she sank into it, as Xander deposited Dawn in a chair next to hers. He stood behind Buffy, his hands on her shoulders as Giles paced back and forth, struggling through his explanation.

"When I brought Willow here, she was still in a bad way. The coven feared that there was nothing that could be done for her...even though she turned away from her deepest destructive urges at the last minute, thanks to Xander...she was still quite far gone. There was no way to cleanse her of those magicks she'd been using without killing her, and the coven was reluctant to take that step anyway. The innate power that Willow has...it's very rare to find it in someone who was not a natural born witch. The coven...and I...believe that there is a reason that she has it, a reason that likely has everything to do with you, Buffy."

"I thought the object here was to get Will off the magicks," Xander interjected. Giles seemed surprised.

"No, not at all. What we wished was to show Willow had to use her power wisely and have the proper respect for what she was doing. To only use white magicks, to know when and where such spells were appropriate...to provide her guidance." Giles stopped and rubbed his eyes. "No, trying to keep Willow from using magick was a tremendous error. It was my responsibility what happened, all of it, and I have no excuse, except to say I was simply unaware." He grimaced ruefully. "My own naiveté. I thought the Council was aware of all prophecies related to the Slayer. Like the Peragrum Codex didn't teach me how faulty that assumption can be."

"You've totally lost me," Buffy protested, and Xander nodded, throwing up his arms in frustration.

"Me too," Dawn offered meekly. "What does any of this have to do with the Slayer?"

"The Coven has a legend, passed down through generations, about a witch that would come from, well, an unconventional background from a magickal sense. `From a family untinged by magicks.' `She who would come to aid the Slayer...she whose magicks would save her.'" Giles laughed bitterly. "The Council must have destroyed any record of it, likely to preserve their own positions. 'The Slayer must act alone.' Utter rubbish!"

"But...Giles...if this legend or whatever is talking about Willow, well, she already did that...she helped Buffy, a lot," Dawn said. Buffy started pacing slowly in a circle, almost seeming to be stalking Giles, like she was conducting a police interrogation.

"Doesn't bringing me back from the dead fall under the heading of saving me?" she asked, then added ruefully, "At least, that was the intent."

"Yes, very probably, but unfortunately there were consequences. Willow...all of us...we were unprepared for her power. She lacked the guidance and training she needed in those magicks...and she made up for it by using shortcuts."

"The dark mojo," Xander stated, and Giles nodded gravely.

"Took a toll. We couldn't be certain she could be...rehabilitated is as good a word, I suppose."

"Still waiting for the part where she doesn't know me anymore," Buffy barked. Giles started, then sighed.

"Yes, well, the Coven had a rather radical idea. If we could suppress Willow's memories of...of magicks, of ever having known magicks at all, we could train her properly." Giles wrung his hands.

"It was a temporary memory regression, a simple spell really, but we didn't count on Willow's...well, her will to cling to her memories, especially her memories of Tara."

"She fought you," Dawn whispered, shuddering unconsciously. She looked at Buffy, who had the same haunted look. They’d all seen Willow fight with her magick now, and if she’d used her dark power again...

"Yes," Giles answered simply, then registering their expressions added, “But not like you think. It wasn’t intentional on her part.”

"What happened?" Xander asked.

"In her resistance, she...attacked the coven...it was a defensive response, as I said, but she was so strong...we were all in danger, and so Sonora - the high priestess - Nora and I immediately attempted to bind Willow's powers, to save the Coven...but we were already in the midst of the memory spell. When the binding was complete, Willow's memories..." Giles trailed off, clearly fighting his emotions. "Willow's memories were bound as well."

"So what exactly does Willow remember now?" Xander asked. Giles looked down guiltily.

"Everything in her life until her sophomore year of high school...till right before Buffy came to Sunnydale."

Buffy stood, horrified.

"So not just her memories of magick. Her memories of me. You think she went dark because she met me. That's why you didn't want us to come here, you wanted to keep her away from what made her all bad in the first place. Knowing me." Buffy’s voice had steadily rose, and she started to shake.

"Lord no, Buffy. That wasn't...that wasn't how it was at all," Giles said, walking to his charge and gathering her in a hug. She was stiff in his arms for a moment before clinging to him desperately.

"But its okay, right?" Dawn said softly. "Because...the spell is just temporary?" Giles pulled out of Buffy's embrace, shaking his head.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple. The memories are bound, not repressed."

"But they're still in there. Somewhere. Right?" Xander asked with a frown.

"I imagine so," Giles said absently. Buffy grabbed his arm fiercely.

"So then you can undo this. Open her mind, unlock them, whatever...as soon as it's okay for Will, I mean. Once she`s all trained and ready." Giles shook his head sorrowfully.

"Buffy, I'm terribly sorry. The binding is permanent. Willow's memories are gone."

***********