The Carnival's Spell

AUTHOR: Laura lightning_goddess@hotmail.com

RATING: PG

SETTING: Remember when there used to be friendship?

DISCLAIMER: All characters are copyright Joss Whedon. Since he won't fix things, I guess I have to

DISTRIBUTION: Ask and ye shall receive This, and my other fics, are archived at http://members.dencity.com/romantical1/

AUTHOR'S NOTES: For Tracy - queen of the beta, the Amys - bestest buds and for Terry - because I can. :)

"C'mon! It'll be fun!"

Willow shook her head sadly. "I have a huge test on Monday, Xander. I need to study."

"Wills, you're the brilliant-est person I know. Besides, you can study all day Sunday. Today's the last day." He looked at her, his large, dark eyes pleading. "Pleeeeease?"

"What about Buffy?"

"Doing a girl day thing with her mom. Come on, Wills! Oz is out of town, Buffy's busy, the Hellmouth's only spewing vamps at us. It'll be fun. You remember fun?"

"I don't…"

"I miss being friends, Willow." His eyes grew serious. "I've accepted the whole you and Oz happily ever after thing. Can't we go back to being lifelong best buds?"

Guilt brought a soft flush to her cheeks. She'd deliberately not thought about how difficult things had been for him since their dalliance. But he'd been great. He'd been supportive, helpful and had stopped with the werewolf jokes. He hadn't even flinched when Buffy had let it slip about her spending the night with Oz.

Maybe they could be friends again.

"All right. Microbiology be damned! Let's go."

***

Xander opened Willow's door and helped her out of the car. She stared at the enormous spread in front of her and took a deep breath, inhaling the mixture of sawdust, burnt sugar and sweat that permeated the air. "Shall we, my lady?"

She hooked her arm through his and smiled up at him. "Lead on, kind sir."

He hugged her arm close to his body and they started toward the gate. There were very few cars in the parking lot and, consequently, very few people at the gate. "It just opened about twenty minutes ago. It should get busier later."

"The quieter it is, the more times we can go on the rides." She grinned as the music kicked in over the sound system, bleating out a crackly version of the Looney Tunes theme song. "You know we're riding the Ferris wheel and the carousel, don't you?"

"But Willow…"

"No buts, Xander Harris. I'm sacrificing prime study time. You're going to give into my whims no matter what." Her green eyes danced with excitement as the reached the ticket gate. Xander paid their way in and started for the ticket booth. She let her arm slide down his and grasped his hand in her own. "I'm glad we're doing this."

"Me too." He smiled over at her. "It's been too long."

"Way too long." She nodded and tugged him closer to the booth. "How many tickets should we buy?"

He pretended to think about it then shrugged. "All of them?" He leaned in toward the window. "Can we get two free ride passes?"

Willow watched him as he paid for their passes, marveling at how easy it was to fall into old habits - old, good habits - with him. They'd always had fun together, even when she was pining away for him. Xander's home life made him want to enjoy the time away from it, so he made every second count.

"What's first on our agenda, Miss Willow?"

"Well, I thought we should walk around first and see what struck our fancy."

"How about the haunted house?" He asked sarcastically. "We never get enough scares."

She slapped his arm. "All the haunted house is good for is cooling down after a long day in the sun." Grabbing his hand, she started off toward the rides. "Let's go."

***

Willow stepped off the ride, struggling for breath. Xander stumbled down behind her, bumping into her as he wove dangerously close. "That was…I think I'm going to be sick."

Managing a sickly grin, Willow nodded. "I told you not to upset him, but no, you had to be the smart aleck to the attendant."

"He was looking at you…in that way."

"What way?"

"The way that I used to look at Buffy."

"You mean like he was about to fall in love with me at any second and would be willing to drop anything if it meant I might notice him?" She grinned at Xander's stricken look. "Not that I ever noticed you looking at Buffy that way."

He laughed, taking her hand and leading them both to a deserted bench. "Was I that obvious?"

"You've always been obvious to me, Xander. Well, except for Cordelia. I didn't see that one coming."

"Neither did I. Which is strange, since Cordelia is anything but subtle." He draped his arm around her shoulder. "I was just trying to defend your honor. I mean, what would Oz do to me, do you think, if I let some skanky carnival bozo put the moves on his girl?"

"Looking isn't the same as putting the moves on me, Xander."

"You have to admit it made the ride more fun."

"I have to admit it's a good thing we hadn't eaten lunch yet." She leaned into him, smiling as his arm tightened around her shoulders. "But thank you, anyway."

"Well, you're my friend. Can't let anything happen to you."

She closed her eyes, trying not to enjoy the feeling of being close to him, being comfortable. "Thanks Xander."

"Anytime, Will."

***

Xander tugged on Willow's hand, leading her tired body across the carnival grounds quickly. "You've got to hurry, Will!"

"Xander, I'm exhausted. Why is there running?"

"Trust me."

She smiled, despite the aching in her limbs from covering every inch of the carnival about five times. The arm that wasn't dangling from her best friend's grasp was filled with every imaginable toy he had been able to win her. They'd had a wonderful time, without once mentioning vampires, demons, Slayers or…except for the trouble with the carnival attendant, significant others.

She wondered why that thought should make her happy although fighting with Xander usually involved one, if not all, of those things. Today had been so much like being kids again, except that Xander's aim had improved considerably, if the toys were anything to judge by.

"Close your eyes."

"Xander…"

"Will."

She relented, not wanting to argue with his tone. Puppy dog eyes always accompanied that tone of voice and she was powerless to resist. "All right. Eyes closed."

He walked her through wherever he had led her, telling her when to step, when to turn, when to sit. When the metal bar closed around her waist, she jumped. "Xan?"

"Right here." He squeezed her hand in his, moving it to his lap. "Not going anywhere."

She nodded, keeping her eyes closed despite her curiosity. "Not peeking."

The car started moving, causing her to start once again. "It's okay. Just a few more seconds." She nodded, wondering what was going on. Finally, his voice, whisper soft, reached her. "Okay. Open your eyes."

The world glowed golden. Willow gazed out at the vista spread below her, the town, the carnival, the people. Everything seemed normal, even in Sunnydale, from over 200 feet in the air. The setting sun gave everything a magical sense to it, sparkling in the fading light, changing from gold to lavender to the first fingers of the dark. Willow swallowed hard against the tears lodged in her throat. "Xander?"

He smiled over at her, watching the light play across her beautiful features rather than watching the sunset itself. "Yeah?"

She turned to meet his gaze, her emerald eyes dancing with emotion. "Thank you."

He nodded, not wanting to break the spell being woven between them with the wrong words. He lifted the hand that didn't hold hers to her cheek and brushed a tear away. His brown eyes seemed molten in the dying light, watching her with an intensity that almost hurt. He leaned forward, closer than he should be, but not close enough. "You're my best friend, Willow."

"And you're mine," she whispered.

"I don't want to lose that again, not for anything." He smiled softly. "But I want to kiss you so much it hurts."

She nodded, leaning into him, brushing his lips with hers. It was a soft kiss, gentle and filled with promise. Pulling back she managed a smile through the tears that now coursed down her cheeks. "It never stops hurting, Xander."

He nodded, sighing deeply. "No, it doesn't. And it doesn't change anything, either."

"At least now…well, now we're back to being friends. And this," she smiled out at the view he'd obviously paid to give her, since they were still teetering at the top of the wheel. "This proves to me that magic doesn't always go wrong on the Hellmouth."

He grinned. "You mean I got a magic spell right? Wow."

She touched his lips, capturing his grin against her fingers. "And this, this magic stays between us. No one knows. No one needs to know."

"Not Oz?"

"Not Oz. Not even Buffy. Just you and me."

"Just like it should be."

***

When they finally reached the bottom of the wheel, Xander smiled his thanks to the worker. It had been worth the $50 it had cost him, worth more than that, if he was honest. "What now?"

"We should probably get home. It's dark. And dark equals not safe." She looked down at the dirt and sawdust at her feet. "It's sad to leave here, though."

"We might not have to." Xander pointed at the ball of bouncy, blonde Slayer that headed for them. "Hey Buffy."

"Hey, got your message. Talked Giles into the fact that vampires would feast here like nobody's business. Well, nobody's except mine. So here I am. Having fun, slaying vamps and riding the rides. You guys still game?"

Willow smiled at Xander and nodded. "Sure. What could be better than spending the day and the night with my best friends?"

Xander returned her smile, his eyes reminding her of what was better, and promising her a much better future.

END