Disclaimer: I own no one, most especially the characters in this story. I'm merely borrowing them and deliberately confusing them.

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June 19, 2011

Anyanka eyed Xander almost shyly. The traces of human emotion she was feeling were almost foreign to her after all this time.

"Xander, I'm so sorry. I thought you'd left me." Xander winced at the strange gravelly voice, nervous for the first time in her presence. He realized he might be in trouble here.

"I would never do that...ummm, you're not gonna, ummm, vengeance me, or anything, are you?" She morphed her appearance into her human form, and he could tell how upset she was. Even before she spoke again he began to relax.

"No! I mean, at first I did kind of go looking for you, I'll admit...but I got over that years ago. I was sure you were dead until a little while ago." Anyanka glared at Willow as she said the last few words, and the red headed witch huffed defensively.

"I didn't do it! Well, okay, I did, but it wasn't my fault. The Powers that Be did something that affected my spell. They didn't want us to know what we know before now, I guess."

"How could you know now before it was now?" Wesley offered in a serious voice, only his eyes betraying his madness. "Here wasn't here, and now wasn't now, not then. Even now it's not now, it's never." He smiled widely, and began to sing. "It's now or never...come hold me tight..."

"All in favor of ignoring Wesley in favor of an explanation from my best friend Willow?" Xander asked, holding up his hand. Spike's arm shot up as if he was the star pupil. Willow favored Xander with a wan smile.

"Okay, I can explain. See, you disappeared from the hospital."

"A little further along in the story, pet. We've covered that part," Spike interrupted, earning an annoyed look from the witch.

"Anyway, you were missing, but you were able to contact me. It was like mental telepathy." Xander leaned forward excitedly.

"Are you saying that future me has some kind of superpowers? Can I bend spoons with my mind?" Spike snorted as Willow shook her head, smothering her own smile of amusement.

"I don't think so. I don't believe it was you doing it, Xan. I think the Powers were already manipulating the situation."

"Why?" Willow's brow furrowed as the thought about her answer.

"Because Menckar's not playing by the rules, I guess. I think there are rules. There ought to be rules." Willow tossed her head indignantly, and Xander had to smile at his friend.

"Not that I've seen, pet," Spike purred.

"Go on, Will. What happened after you and I had a meeting of the minds?"

"Oh. We left the hospital. I don't know why they wanted us out closer to you, but they did, I guess, cause we were out in the middle of nowhere when you told me to get out of the car."

"I told you to get out of the car. How did I get in the car?"

"No, you were missing. And therefore not in the car. Actually, it was Mrs. Summers' jeep, so I'm not sure you can call it a car-"

"So I wasn't there, but I told you to...oh, yeah, right. Mental telepathy thing. Okay, so who is we? You and...?"

"Me," Anya chimed in.

"And Tara, Buffy, Giles and Dawnie. We were together."

"We were together until Willow decides to leave the car while it was still in motion and take me with her. I thought I was going to die."

"I thought I did." Willow shuddered. remembering. "But I wasn't dead...it was more like..."

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December 10, 2000

"...astral projection." Tara said, her calm expression belied by the tremor in her voice. All of them were shaken by Willow's still appearance.

"But she's not dead?" Buffy said. She'd already asked the question three times, but it didn't hurt to be sure. Seeing Willow like that had been almost more than she could bear. *I never want to go through something like that again.*

"And she'll be okay?" Dawn asked in a small voice, hugging herself. Tara quickly put a comforting arm around her slim shoulders.

"I think she will, as long as we don't move her. She has to be able to find her body again." The five of them were sitting in a kind of circle around Willow almost as if she was a campfire. She had been out for at least fifteen minutes by Giles' watch. Anya sighed deeply in frustration.

"How much longer do you think she'll be doing this? We need to find Xander."

"Yes, well, as Willow is apparently our only lead to finding Xander, I believe we have to wait for her to, umm, return."

"I wish she'd hurry up," Anya said. She sounded annoyed, which got Buffy's ire up. She was going to yell at the former demon, stifling the impulse by reminding herself how frightened Anya was for Xander, just as they all were. Anya brought herself up onto her knees and leaned over Willow, peering into her pale face. "Come on, Willow, get back in there!" At that moment Willow's eyes opened, causing Anya to pull back with a little shriek. Willow's right hand shot up and grabbed Anya's left hand, pulling her forward so that she was practically lying on top of her. Willow's eyes were wide and unseeing, and within seconds of the physical contact Anya's eyes looked the same. The others had scrambled to their feet uncertainly. Tara reached out to touch her girlfriend, then thinking better it let her hand drift back to her side. Buffy clenched her fists in frustration.

"Now what's happening?" she almost wailed. Both Tara and Giles appeared as confused as the rest of them.

"At least they haven't stopped breathing," Dawn noted.

"I need a bit more positive in my positive sides. Giles? Anything?" Buffy grabbed her Watcher's arm in desperation. He removed his glasses, shrugging.

"Extraordinary."

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"Extraordinary? Something of the highly weird and possibly dangerous variety is happening to Willow and all you can say is extraordinary?" Buffy's outburst left Giles looking appropriately chastised.

"I am sorry, Buffy, but I can't give you an easy answer to what's happening here. I've begun to entertain the possibility that it could be a case of possession." While he was speaking both Willow and Anya abruptly broke out of their trance like state. Willow looked up at Tara in confusion.

"Who's possessed?" she asked as her girlfriend practically tackled her, pulling her upright and giving her a fervent hug. Anya rocked back onto her heels and stood up, pointing at Willow.

"You are. Possessed or on some kind of trip out of your body or something. But now you're back. Right, Giles? She's back, and we can find Xander now?"

"You kind of took a trip yourself, Anya," Buffy said slowly. Anya frowned at her, shaking her head emphatically.

"I've been here the whole time, I didn't go anywhere."

"Willow, what happened to you? Can you describe your experience?"

"I don't think so, Giles. Everything's a bit fuzzy." Willow rubbed her shoulder and winced. "And there's having of pain. Did I have an accident?"

"What's the last thing your remember, honey?" Tara asked gently. Willow's brow furrowed in thought for a moment, then her eyes widened.

"The hospital...Xander! Xander's missing, we were trying to find him."

"Right, and you were kind of our homing beacon. You led us out into the wilderness, then decided you needed a closer look," Buffy prompted. Willow shook her head, clearly not remembering these events.

"You jumped from the car," Dawn summarized.

"I did?" The group all nodded in unison, and Willow looked embarrassed. "Oh. Oops."

"Oops! You dragged me with you, too, I could have been killed." Anya was nearly hysterical again. "But I don't care about that now. Where's Xander?" Willow closed her eyes, concentrating. She opened them, her eyes filling with tears as she shrugged helplessly.

"I don't know. I don't feel him anymore."

"Oh God, Will. He's not..."

"I don't know, Buffy! I just know I don't know."

"He's not dead," Anya sobbed. "We'll find him, he's got to be around here somewhere." Willow shook her head, allowing Tara to help her to her feet.

"I don't think so. He's not here anymore." She took a deep shuddering breath, swaying a bit. Buffy and Tara both reached out to steady her. "Xander's gone...somewhere else. I don't know if that means he's dead, but we won't find him here."

"We'll return to the hospital. Willow and Anya need medical attention, and perhaps there's been some word...we can continue to search in the morning." Giles' gentle pronouncement stirred them to action, and they slowly returned to the car. None of them could help looking about the darkness, hoping for a glimpse of their fallen friend. Through accident or design, no sign of Xander Harris was to be found...

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June 19, 2011

"...until now. The spell I did worked, but the memories didn't kick in until just a little while ago. Which wasn't what I meant to have happen."

"But it had to happen," Wesley offered emphatically, his eyes momentarily clear and lucid. "Knowing what the future holds, and should hold, and doesn't hold...that sort of thing can drive you mad." He gazed into their faces for a moment before cackling. Their mad host then wandered to a pile of papers stacked to one side, picking up a few with that were covered with strange scribbled writing.

"Really? Drives you mad?" Spike asked nervously. "I don't much fancy that."

"You needn't worry, Spike. I imagine you have some protection as a vampire. And you see this world as illusion and the other as real. The others see this as real and the other as..." Wesley trailed off, looking at Willow pointedly.

"Like a fantasy," Willow said. She took Xander's hand in her own, wondering. "I know it's real, but it feels like a fantasy."

"Exactly. It's just as I thought. All has happened according to..." Wesley trailed off as he sorted through the papers, tossing them aside in frustration as he searched for what he was looking for.

"Don't say prophecy, don't say prophecy..." Xander muttered under his breath.

"Eureka! According to the prophecy!" Wesley announced grandly, triumphantly waving a piece of parchment in front of their faces. Xander groaned.

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"I think it's time," Amy moaned following the contraction. "That was the worst one yet." She was fully in labor now, and Tara and Frankie had managed to put up some of their blankets to give her a bit of privacy and to shield them from the curious eyes. Tara mopped her forehead, her eyes sympathetic.

"Not yet. There's still a while to go." Amy eyed her fellow witch incredulously.

"Tell me something, Tara...you actually want to do this again?" Tara smiled at the disbelief in her fellow witch's voice, but was stopped from responding by the approach of an excited child.

"Aunt Tara, someone's coming!" Ross whispered, eyes widening when he got a better view of what was going on behind the makeshift curtain. Tara bit her lip, vexed. She didn't want to leave Amy, but she couldn't leave the children unprotected. Amy hissed at her for hesitating, giving her a weak push with her hand.

"Go. The kids need you. I'll survive till you get back." Tara joined the children just in time to see Menckar enter with a large number of his minions. She hurried to get in front of the children; to her dismay, they were too spread out for her to get them all safely behind her. The demon was grinning broadly in a parody of human happiness that sickened the witch. He clapped his clawed hands together several times for attention, even though the children were already as still as statues.

"The show's about to start, time for everyone to take their places."

"I think we'll just stay here," Tara replied. She was amazed at how calm her voice sounded. The demon simply made a gesture, and Tara's heart leapt into her throat at the sound of Savannah's scream. One of the minions had scooped up her daughter, who was now struggling desperately, her arms pinned to her sides. Jesse tried to help her and quickly found himself being held by another of the minions.

"I think you'll do what I say," Menckar said in an almost pleasant tone. Tara nodded, pleading frantically with her eyes. At the demon's signal his minions released the squirming children. Savannah ran like a bullet for her mother, who scooped her up into her arms, reassuring herself the child was unharmed. She looked around at the whimpering children.

"Okay, kids, we're going for a walk. Everything's going to be fine. Line up in front of me."

"Fetch the infant," Menckar ordered one of his minions, and Tara's head shot up. She glared at the demon with so much anger it actually made him pause.

"No! We're coming. Frankie, get the baby, please."

"But, Aunt Tara, what about-"

"Frankie. The baby. Please." Moved by the strained pitch of her voice, the boy made no further comment. She held back her tears with difficulty, then spoke to the children gently but firmly. "Jenny, take Danny's hand. Ross, you hold on to Joy. Jesse, take your sister's hand. And Savannah, honey," she cooed to her daughter as she placed her back on the ground, "you take Frankie's hand and you don't let go. Be Mommy's big girl." The children followed her orders without making a sound, other than an occasional sobbing breath. Wordlessly, Frankie handed the sleeping infant to Tara and took Savannah's hand, squaring his shoulders. They moved forward in a grotesque parody of a children's parade. Menckar chuckled happily as they passed him. Tara prayed that he had forgotten about Amy, and that she would be okay. The demon gestured to one of his minions to stay behind as the rest followed the grim procession.

"What of the other witch, my lord?" the minion asked.

"She is birthing her child as we speak. Let her finish, then kill her. Save the child for me, however. I believe I'll be hungry later." Menckar chuckled to himself. "Everything is happening exactly as it was written...and our surprise guest has been secured. The fool will do what he must to save his spawn, and it will spell the doom of his pitiful race."

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"It's all here," Wesley crowed. "All here, and you're here, so the prophecy is coming to pass!"

"I really hate prophecies," Xander groused. Spike and Anya grunted agreement in unison.

"Wesley, can I see it?" Willow asked, reaching for the paper. Wesley snatched it away from her grasp and cradled it to his chest petulantly.

"It's mine!"

"I know, Wesley," she said slowly, as if she was speaking to a child, "but that paper looks awfully new. I just want to make sure it's-"

"Real? Authentic?" Wesley sniffed, outraged. "I can vouch for that, Miss Rosenberg. I know everything there is to know about its origins." He smiled toothily, leaning in as if to tell them a joyous secret. "I wrote it."

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