Prologue

Buffy couldn’t believe it, she wasn’t dead. Sure, she was sore as hell, but that was nothing to what she had been expecting.

She could feel someone hovering near her and willed her eyes open. What she found surprised her, sheer darkness.

“Um, hello?” Buffy said as loudly as she could, which wasn’t very since her throat was extremely dry.

The woman must have heard though.

“Oh wow, you’re awake,” she said, as Buffy felt her coming nearer. “Do you need anything? How are you feeling?”

“Water,” Buffy choked out.

“Oh of course, I promise, I’ll be right back.”

Buffy heard the woman walk quickly out of the room and she tried to sit up but found her strength sapped to nearly the point that it was nonexistent.

A few seconds later a different set of footsteps reached her and gently put a cup in her hands and helped her drink.

“I’m Kathryn,” a voice that sounded almost grandmotherly said.

“Buffy,” she got out as Kathryn put her head back down. “Who…”

“Oh, the other girl is Rachel, she volunteered to stay in your room just in case you woke up.”

“Just in case?”

“We had a bad scare with you. You went into cardiac arrest when you arrived and we barely were able to save you.”

“Should have died,” Buffy disagreed.

“Why?”

“Jumped off tower and went through rift with lots of electricity to save my sister. They’ll think I’m dead. Where am I?”

“Let’s leave that till later,” Kathryn said with a sigh. “Don’t worry though, you’re safe and we’ll take care of you, help you get better. Is there anything else you need?”

Buffy shook her head as she felt sleep overcome her.

++++++++++++

The next couple of days were the same way, Buffy would wake up, either by herself or with a little prodding from someone and eat, drink and/or use the bathroom.

At the end of the week, she had enough strength back that she could sit up in bed and carry on a long conversation so several women joined her in the room to discuss where she had come from and where she was.

“Well, you already know I’m Kathryn, but I’m going to have each person introduce themselves so that you know how to recognize their voices.”

Rosie, Rachel, B’elanna, Wade, and Dianne proceeded to introduce themselves.

“I guess not. I’m Buffy Summers, though I think you guys already knew that. Where I come from I’m the Slayer, the Vampire Slayer, there’s one in every generation, blah blah blah. Anyways, basically our job is to fight evil for however long our life is, which generally isn’t very, in fact I broke the record and I’ve been the Slayer for five years. Anyways, there’s something called a key, which will open up all the walls between the dimensions, horrible thing. A group of monks turned it into a girl and made her my sister, complete with fake memories and the whole shebang. We only found out she was the key six months ago.

“To make a long story short, Glory, a goddess, was searching for her so that she could use Dawn to return to her own dimension. She got a hold of her but in order for the portal to open the key has to bleed. Well, the only way to close the portal is with all the key’s blood, or basically to be killed. I didn’t want her to die so I jumped in. I thought it was for the best, you know. She had her whole life ahead of her, while I’d probably die within the next few years. Well, at least she’s not alone.”

“Wow,” Phoebe commented quietly. “That’s an amazing story, even for here.”

Buffy smiled shyly. “Where am I?”

“Well, that’s sort of complicated. We call this place Luna, but that’s only the very tip of the iceberg. We don’t know why but it seems to be almost a magnet for those why are accidentally, or in one case, intentionally traveling between dimensions. We welcome everyone though, no matter if they’re here for a year or a lifetime.”

“Why?”

“All of those who live here have had to sacrifice something in order to stay here. For me, it was the chance to ever go home again. But, I have a wonderful husband and daughter, and an incredible extended family that I wouldn’t give up for anything.”

“How long have you lived here?” Buffy asked.

“It’s close to ten years,” Kathryn admitted.

“What did you mean when you said that everyone sacrificed something to stay here?”

“Mostly the chance to go home or return to their own dimensions. We just don’t have the tools to send everyone home. I really wish we did. We’ve only ever had one group return home and that wasn’t even really great, because it was seventeen children, and their parents took their place.”

“Oh wow,” Buffy said, thinking about that. “What do you mean by group?”

“Well, even though we really are one big family, we all arrived in our own groups. I’m part of the first group to arrive and colonize Luna, Wade was in the third, Rosie’s in the fourth, Rachel’s in the fifth and next to last group, before Dianne and her family. They’re a wonderful group of people who are all extremely reclusive, but that more has to do with their way of life than anything else. The second live in their own areas and hardly ever associate with us, so it is unlikely that you will ever run into them.

“My full, but mostly unused, title is Captain Kathryn Janeway, former Captain of the Star Ship Voyager.”

“Mostly unused? And for that matter Starship?”

Kathryn smiled. “We live in the 24^th century. Unfortunately, we seem to be the only ones here coming from that era…”

Rosie cleared her throat.

“Except for Rosie’s group, who seems to have their own way of keeping the years,” Kathryn acknowledged. “Everyone else seems to be from the twentieth century though.”

Author’s note: I don’t really know about the date, so don’t send me emails about this, please.

“It’s now the twenty-first century for me now, but just barely,” Buffy commented.

“Oh. Anyways, I led a ship of over one hundred and fifty people through a sector of unknown space for five years before it started breaking down and we were forced to settle here ten years ago. The man who was my second in command became my husband, and our Chief of Engineering and main pilot got married and joined us here in beginning the ranch here.”

“Wow. I’m still confused though. We’re not on Earth?”

“No, unfortunately. We’re about ten years away from our version of Earth.”

“How do you know about Earth then?”

“I’m from Indiana originally,” Kathryn admitted with a grin.

“Wow. How weird.”

“It might seem so. You haven’t been blind all your life have you?”

“God, no. It’s kind of hard to be the slayer when you’re blind. Though I can still sense people, it’s hardly the same. There isn’t anything you can do for it, is there,” she said as less of a question and more of a statement.

“The Doctor wants to try and replace the nerves. Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee that will work, we can only hope.”

“What will happen to me now?”

“Well, that’s up to you. We have lots of things you can do here even without sight but there are other places you can go.”

“I…I might stay here. I never did know what I was going to do with my life,” Buffy admitted with a grin. “Besides, it’ll probably be easier to learn my way around just one place instead of learning one place and then moving to another and having to learn that one too.”

“That’s not a bad point,” Catalina admitted. “I’m actually blind too and part of the reason I stayed here was the same as yours, so that I wouldn’t have to learn someplace new.”

“Can you give me some idea of what happened to my eyes at least?”

“The nerves all got burned out when you fell through that electrical storm. Don’t worry though, I’m sure it won’t be too hard for you to get used to it.”

“I…I’m not worried about that. I’m just thinking about how this changes everything for me.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s never been a blind Slayer. It’s unheard of. On top of which for the last five years I’ve been almost completely a warrior. I always wanted to take a vacation, but this isn’t exactly what I had in mind,” she added with a grin.

“Somehow, it never is,” Kathryn said.

“What did you want to do?” Rosie asked.

“I don’t know, go to the beach for a week or something, but there was always this new big bad or the world needed to be saved again and never could for more than an afternoon.”

“Well, that sucks,” Rachel said, making Buffy raise her eyebrows. “Well, it does. Here she is, a warrior for five years without a decent break, stuck on a world with strangers, blinded as she arrives… the list goes on and on.”

“It gets worse. I have a younger sister, Dawn. A couple months ago, our mother died. Which…which wouldn’t be so bad if I was there, or if I had left them something to bury, but no, now Dawn’s by herself.”

“Completely alone? What about your father?”

Buffy snorted. “He’s been out of our lives for years now. My parents got a divorce when we were young. He’s deadbeat too, never comes to see us, didn’t even come to my mother’s funeral, so I really doubt he’ll want anything to do with Dawn.

“I do have some close friends, but one of them I have no doubt returned to London when I died. Willow and Tara will no doubt take care of Dawn though. Willow and I have always been really close friends.”

“Well, that’s better than being put in a foster home or something,” Rachel said softly.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Buffy said with a sigh. “I still wish I was there for her though.”

“What about the slaying?”

“Well, since I did die, another Slayer will be called no doubt, so I think they’ll be left alone, I hope.”

++++++++++

Buffy spent the next week getting used to finding her way around the house first with the help of one of those canes she remembered seeing on Earth, but she had hers done in blue and white instead of the traditional red and white, and then around the ranch as Kathryn, Wade, and Rachel helped her find her way around at first and then as she started doing some exploring on her own.

It was a couple weeks later that she climbed a hill off to the side of the hill and literally ran into the small cemetery that she had been told about but hadn’t actually found it until that point.

Using her fingers to trace the letters, she was amazed to find out how loving the epitaphs were despite what she had heard about those buried there.

It was there she found herself spending her afternoons from then on, somehow drawn to the place as she was, at first to just sit in the sun and then as she found the joy of books on tape and CD and spent some of her free time listening to them and found several authors she would never had had the time to read back in Sunnydale.

Chapter 1

A year after arriving on Luna, Buffy was thrilled when another group arrived.

It had been a rather stormy night, forcing everyone indoors and away from the usual bonfire.

Buffy thought it was just before dawn when something compelled her to leave her bed.

Grabbing her shoes and her cane, she made her way down the stairs and outside as she let her instincts guide her, hearing thunder still off in the distance, the ground smushing under her feet.

After a minute of walking, her cane hit something soft and she heard a distinct “ouch” from the object.

Knwoing it wasn’t likely that someone would be awake and lying down outside at the hour, Buffy took a small step forward and knelt down next to the person.

“Umm, hello?” she said tentatively.

“Someone’s there?” a familiar voice said, making Buffy’s heart jump in her throat.

“D..Dawn?” Buffy said carefully.

“How do you know my name?” Dawn asked, obviously unable to see her sister.

Buffy swore silently to herself for having not thought to bring a flashlight or anything similar with.

“Do you mind waiting a minute? I’ll grab a light for you,” Buffy said quietly.

“Umm, yeah, ok,” Dawn said, obviously confused.

Buffy left her cane near Dawn, knowing it would do her no good to carry it as she ran back to the house knowing exactly where she would find a flashlight, despite never having the need for one.

She stood in the hall for a minute, considering waking up Kathryn and finally realizing it was probably the right thing to do, despite wanting to get back to Dawn right away.

She walked over to where Kathryn and Chakotay’s bedroom and knocked on the door, knowing that they slept lightly.

“What is it?” Kathryn said with a sleepy groan.

Buffy opened the door gently. “Umm, a new group just arrived,” she said softly.

“What?!” Kathryn said obviously waking up at that. “When?”

“Umm, I don’t know actually, can’t be too long,” Buffy said. “There’s something else, I don’t know how, but it’s my friends, or at the very least, my sister,” she added, her voice getting quieter with each word. “I just had a feeling that I was needed out there.”

“That’s all right Buffy,” Chakotay said gently as she heard the two of them getting out of bed. “It’s almost time to get up anyways.”

Buffy nodded. “I’m going back out there, Dawn’s awake, and she didn’t know it was me, hence the flashlight,” she explained, waving the flashlight.

“Do you want me to go with you?” Kathryn asked.

“I think it might help. I don’t even know how many are out there,” Buffy admitted.

“Can you estimate?”

“Umm, if it’s just my old family it could be anywhere from three: Dawn, Xander and Willow to 7 adding Spike, Giles, Anya and Tara. There’s also a small possibility that the guys from LA somehow got mixed up and that would add four more.”

“Ok. Chakotay, do you mind taking care of waking people up?”

“Of course not,” Chakotay said gently.

“Here, let me have the flashlight, I’ll need it, the sun’s only just starting to rise.”

Buffy nodded and held the flashlight out for Kathryn to take.

“Let’s get going then. I’ll follow you.”

Buffy led Kathryn out near the barn where she kneeled back down next to Dawn as Kathryn shined the flashlight around.

“Can you bring the flashlight back here Kathryn?” Buffy asked.

Kathryn did and kneeled down on the other side of Dawn. “Hi, I’m Kathryn,” she said, shining the flashlight in such a way that it illuminated all three of their faces.

“I’m Dawn,” she said before she shrieked as she looked at her sister’s face, wrapped Buffy in a hug and knocked them both over onto the ground.

Buffy could hear Kathryn laughing softly behind them as Dawn’s body shook with sobs.

“Hey, come on, what’s with the tears?” Buffy asked quietly, jokingly.

“You’re alive. I can’t believe it, you’re alive,” Dawn repeated, unwilling to let Buffy out of the bone-jarringly tight hug.

Buffy giggled. “I wish I could see you Dawn,” she said with a sigh.

“What the heck do you mean? A…Are you blind?”

“Have been since I traveled through that damn electrical field,” Buffy admitted as Dawn sat back up.

“God Buffy, I’m so sorry,” Dawn said softly, still holding Buffy’s hands tightly.

“I’m the one who’s sorry Dawn. I left you guys with no real defense against the dark side of Sunnydale.

“We actually have gotten along all right,” Dawn said softly. “A new slayer was called and has been working with us.”

“How many have come with you?” Kathryn interrupted gently.

“Umm, let’s see, me, Xander, Willow, Anya, Angel, Cordelia, Gunn, Wesley, and Fred. That makes nine.”

“Wesley? As in Wesley Wyndam Price? That Wesley?”

“He’s actually changed a lot, Buffy. He’s not nearly as wimpy as he used to be. In fact, he’s Fred’s Watcher.”

“Wait, Slayer’s can only be women.”

“It’s short for Winifred Buffy.”

“Oh.”

“She’s actually got a pretty interesting story. She was called only days after Angel and his gang rescued her from slavery in another dimension.”

“Weird.”

“She’s really nice though. So where are we?”

“Please, don’t,” Kathryn said with a groan. “Not yet at least. There’s so much we have to do.”

“What do you mean?”

“She means that it’s an incredibly complicated story that we don’t really have the time for right now,” Buffy explained. “I promise we’ll explain though.”

“Oh okay.”

“Do you mind getting a bonfire going Buffy? It’ll help us a lot,” Kathryn suggested.

“Of course not,” Buffy said, standing up and giving Dawn a hand at the same time.

“Where are we going?” Dawn asked, obviously confused.

“Not far,” Buffy promised, leading her to one of the logs and helping her to sit down before moving over to the box that held the flint and tinder to light the fire pit which was filled nearly every morning with fresh firewood.

It took a couple tries for her to get the fire going due to the semi-wet condition. A minute later, she sat back down next to Dawn.

“I was wondering something. You didn’t mention Giles when you listed off who came with you.”

“He returned to England a couple weeks after you died Buffy,” Dawn admitted with a sigh, taking her sister’s hand again. “How did you manage lighting the fire like that?”

Buffy grinned. “Lots of practice, believe me. It took me six months to get to this point.”

“Wow.”

“So what happened. How did you get here?”

“It was weird. Wesley called us yesterday saying they needed our help because Angel’s son stuck him down at the bottom of the ocean. Don’t ask. Ask Angel, it’s a really weird story,” she said quickly before Buffy could ask about Angel having a son. “Anyways, we get there and pull him out of the ocean, but that isn’t the end of it, because when we go to open the box he was stuck in, a bright light surrounded all of us and I found myself lying on the ground in pure darkness. Then you arrived.”

Buffy nodded. “It’s so weird you know? I never thought I would get to be able to talk to you guys again. I wish Giles was here too,” she said with a sigh.

“Yeah, I know, we didn’t want him to leave but we understood it, you know? He needed a life of his own without four teenagers around,” Dawn said with a laugh.

“Yeah, he deserved that,” Buffy agreed with a sigh.

“It doesn’t help the fact that he’s not here though, does it,” Dawn said with a sigh.

“Hey, when did you get so wise?”

Dawn was silent for a few seconds. “Do you really want me to answer that?” she finally said sadly.

“No,” Buffy admitted gently. “I’m sorry I asked, I meant it to be a joke.”

“I know Buffy, but… That’s just a sore spot for me.”

Buffy nodded her understanding. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that, Dawn. You didn’t even have a body to bury.”

“All we could do was report you as missing. That caused some problems with the state since you were my legal guardian, but Giles stepped in and helped Tara and Willow become my legal guardians so I wouldn’t go into foster care or any such mess.”

“That was another thing I was meaning to ask you. You didn’t mention Tara either.”

“She…She was killed a week ago in a car accident Buffy. Willow was devastated, they were so close. We buried Tara just a couple days ago. I think having you around will help a lot though. You guys have always been close.”

“Yeah, but that’s pretty awful,” Buffy said softly, already mourning her friend.

“Xander’s been helping a lot, so has Anya, but it’s just not the same you know?”

“I know exactly what you mean.”

“Just get over here Xander,” Dawn said a second later, obviously flustered.

“B…Buffy?” Xander said as Buffy stood up and heard Dawn do the same next to her.

“Hey,” Buffy said softly as Xander ran up and threw his arms around her neck, holding on tight and unwilling to let go, even with she giggled. “I can’t believe you’re alive,” he added when he finally let her go.

“I get the feeling I’m going to be getting that a lot in the next couple of hours,” Buffy said with a grin she couldn’t keep off her face.

“Wh..what’s wrong? Something is different with you.”

Buffy let her head drop. “I was blinded when I fell into that electrical storm or whatever it was,” she admitted softly. “My eyes were a mess of black and the nerves were all shot to hell too, but despite replacing both eyes and all the nerves, my eyesight still hasn’t returned.”

“That’s awful, why didn’t you tell me?” Dawn asked.

Buffy blushed. “I don’t know I sort of want to save you that detail.”

“Do you trust these people? I mean, they could have lied to you…”

“No, I don’t think so. The family here on the ranch is over twenty members strong, more like thirty. Talk to any one of them and you’ll realize that all of them are in a similar situation here: unable or unwilling to return home and absolutely welcomed by those who established this place. As is oft said, there’s a reason we live on Second Beginnings Ranch,” Buffy said with a bit of a grin.

“Oft? You said oft?” Dawn said, teasing her sister, who was still blushing.

“At the very least, it’s been a vacation for me, no vampires, no demons, not even any crime.”

“So it’s a Utopia?” Xander suggested.

“Unfortunately, no,” Buffy said with a shake of her head. “Like I said, everyone’s been displaced in one way or another and a lot have been separated from family members. One group lost three of their members en route, another was at war with invading aliens in theirs,another lost their wold to a group of semi-human invaders/slavers, so they all differ in stories, but none of them are happy, not totally at least.”

“That’s pretty horrible,” Xander agreed.

“What’s the worst? Yours?” Dawn asked.

“It ranks up there certainly,” Buffy agreed. “But I think the Bates family is worse off.”

“Really? How?”

“Well, their family is nineteen members strong thanks to some major adoptions over a couple years.

“Fifteen of the children in the family aren’t human, though they’re pretty close though.

“Jason and Brett the two human children, located Neri living by herself on an island off the coast of Australia several years ago. That’s where the core family’s from originally, Australia. Anyways, after a couple of years, they found out Nerihad a younder sister which set off the search for the other thirteen kids, all of whom they were eventually able to locate.

“A few years after that they ended up here for a year after a spaceship malfunctioned. The major problem was that Dianne and Winston, the mother and father, didn’t travel with them. They arrived here when the others left.”

“Buffy?” a new voice called hesitantly.

“Willow? Hey,” Buffy said, turning and letting her friend embrace her tightly.

Willow pulled away, obviously looking Buffy over, before slapping Buffy across the cheek.

“Why didn’t you let us know you were alive?” she asked, noticeably mad.

Buffy pulled away,unsure how to even anwer that, and just ran, hearing several people call for her to return.

A few minutes later she found herself in front of the barn, and slipping through the door, hurried to the hayloft’s farthest, darkest corner.

She sat down with a sob, wrapping her arms around her knees and resting her head on them.

++++++++++

Everyone turned on Willow as Buffy ran off, glaring at her.

“What? You had to be thinking the same thing,” Willow said.

“You idiot,” Xander said, slapping her arm. “Did you even think about what she might have been going through this past year?”

Willow thought about that for a second and then hung her head. “You know how I feel about her, Xander,” she said softly. “I just lost Tara and it was hard enough that I lost her too.”

“You think I don’t feel the same way Willow?” Dawn hissed, mad as heck. “I didn’t hit her though. I found out what the heck had happened to her.”

“No, that was stupid,” Willow agreed. “I’m sorry.”

“We’re not the ones you have to apologize to,” Xander pointed out.

“Come on, we better go find her,” a voice said behind Willow.

“Who are you?” Willow asked the older woman.

“You can call me Kathryn. We’ve become friends since she’s been here and I know where she’s most likely to hide out.”

Willow reluctantly followed Kathryn away from the rest of her family, though knowing that it was something she was going to have to face with Buffy.

“I’m going up to the loft to see if she’s there. Stay on the ground, all right?” Kathryn said when they reached the barn door.

Willow nodded before Kathryn opened the door slightly and they slipped in.

++++++++++

Footsteps ascended the ladder, and Buffy felt Kathryn sit down next to her, though she stayed silent.

“Willow was at my side for all five years I was Sunnydale,” she finally choked out. “We ere so incredibly close I love her and not just like a sister either,” she managed to admit, mostly to herself more than anything else. But between Oz and then Tara, and Angel and Riley, and now this, I don’t think she feels the same way.”

“Buffy have you ever told her this?” Kathryn asked gently.

“How could I? She and Oz were together for so long and then when they broke up I was with Riley and she and Tara got together so quickly I never really had a chance to even try,” Buffy admitted with a shake of her head.

“You have a chance now. There must have been a lot of conflicting emotions inside her head; confusion, amazement, anger, love…”

“But why did she hit me?”

“Because I didn’t understand what was going on,” Willow said as she climbed the last couple or rungs of the ladder to the hayloft.

“How much did you hear?”

“All of it,” Willow admitted. “Kathryn brought me with. Do you mind?”

“No, not really,” Buffy said, shaking her head and blushing. “It saves me from having to repeat it.”

“I love you too Buffy,” Willow admitted softly, cupping her friend’s cheek. “I have been for years, but like you said with Angel and then Riley I never realized you felt that way about.”

“It took me a long time to admit to myself that I was in love with my best friend,” Buffy agreed, hearing Kathryn backing down the ladder to give the pair some privacy.

“What happened to you?” Willow asked softly.

“I ended up here, instead of heaven or whatever. It’s not a bad place by any stretch of the imagination, just sad.

“I was blinded when I fell into that field, and I also died. They were able to revive me with CPR, thankfully, and have replaced my eyes and the nerves behind them, both of which were black holes from what I’ve been told, but it didn’t work, I haven’t gotten my sight back. I can’t even see a finger in front of my face, let alone you or anyone else.”

Willow grabbed her hand. “Hey that’s nothing. You’re alive, we’re here, all back together, that’s what matters, not that you can’t see us,” she assured Buffy.

“Really?” Buffy asked, unsure.

“Buffy, you have no idea how incredibly thrilled everyone is to see you.

“When I saw you sitting next to Dawn and Xander, I couldn’t believe it. It’s awesome and I’m sorry I hit you. I got a really good talking to from both Dawn and Xander,” she said with a laugh.

“I know Will. I guess that was just the last thing I expected.”

“So now what?”

“We return to everyone else?” Buffy suggested.

“Sounds good to me,” Willow said as Buffy stood up and helped Willow to her feet.

“Haven’t lost much of that slayer strength have you?” she teased.

“I’ve gained a lot of it back,” Buffy agreed. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course, but Whhh…” Willow trailed off as Buffy picked her up and walked off the edge of the hayloft, landed gracefully on the lower level, and put Willow back on her feet.

Willow slapped her shoulder lightly. “Why the hell did you do that?”

“Because I can, and do regularly,” Buffy said with a grin. “Besides it’s a lot faster than going down the ladder, at least for me. I have to find it first.”

“Please tell me you at least use the ladder to go up,” Willow asked.

“Of course. I don’t even attempt that,” Buffy said as she led Willow out of the barn, unwilling to let go of each other’s hand.

“So what should we do now that we know we love each other?”

“I understand if you want t take it slow Will, I mean you just lost Tara…” Buffy said quietly breaking off as Willow kissed her solidly on the mouth.

“Oh wow,” Willow said, her mind reeling from the fireworks going off in her head, as she rested her forehead against Buffy’s gently.

“Oh god, that was incredible,” Buffy agreed. ‘I guess that was a no, right?” she added breathessly.

Willow giggled. “Definitely. We better get back to the others now,” she said reluctantly.

“Yeah, come on,” Buffy said reluctantly, still holding onto Willow’s hand.

“It’s true, I don’t want to take it slow,” Willow admitted. “Tara and I…we had a wonderful time together and I wouldn’t trade the time we had together for anything but… she’s dead, and that isn’t going to change.”

“No, it isn’t likely that will change,” Buffy agreed sadly.

“So where did we end up?”

“Luna, or at least that’s hat the founders named it.”

“Not Earth?”

”Nope, though Kathryn’s from Indiana. She and Chakotay are two of the founders of this place.”

“Huh, that makes sense.”

”Why?”

“Everyone around here seems to look to them for guidance.”

”Yeah, they’re also the leaders among their own group.”

“So, you guys are all right?” Dawn asked as they rejoined the rest of the group.

“Yeah, we’re good,” Willow said.

“No one else has woken up?” Buffy asked as she and Willow sat down next to each other.

“Nope, not yet,” Xander answered.

++++++++++

It took nearly an hour for everyone to wake up. They had stuck Angel in the Halliwell sisters’ basement since it was the only area that could really properly shield him from the rising sun.

Once everyone was awake, Kathryn explained about Luna.

“My full title is Captain Kathryn Janeway, formerly of the Starship Voyager.”

“Starship?” Dawn asked, perking up a little. “Like in traveling through space?”

“Exactly,” Kathryn said with a grin before continuing on with the much-practiced speech.

When she finally finished a half-hour later, she got down to the weird news.

“We found a rather odd anomaly among all he women in your group,” she said with a sigh. “All of you are pregnant.”

“What? How?” Cordelia asked after a moment of stunned silence.

“I don’t know,” Kathryn admitted. “It’s never happened before.”

“Weird,” Xander said with a shake of his head.

“We were able to figure out who the fathers are,” Kathryn added softly.

“Who are they?” Cordelia asked immediately.

“Xander and Anya, Willow and Wesley, Cordelia and Angel, Fred and Gunn, and Dawn and Xander.”

Xander gulped loudly. “Eep,” he said.

“Relax Xander, I’m not going to kill you,” Buffy said with a grin. It’s hardly your fault Dawn was impregnated .”

Xander sighed in relief, Buffy had obviously hit on his biggest fear at the moment.

“So what will happen now?” Dawn asked.

“Well, there are several options. If enough of you decide to stay on the ranch, we’ll more than likely build another house. There are more opportunities for employment elsewhere though, especially in San Francisco. But I’d like you to all stay here on the ranch for a couple of days,, so you can get used to life here, since as I understand it, you’re all used to a pretty hectic life.”

“How much has Buffy told you about us?” Wesley asked.

“Actually not a whole lot, mostly that she was a vampire hunter with a large extended family. She wasn’t willing to share any stories other than the one surrounding her ‘death’ and arrival here. We’ve respected that decision and haven’t pried. It just wouldn’t be fair.”

“And I appreciate that, believe me,” Buffy said with a smile and a nod. “I just wasn’t comfortable talking about my ‘secret’ life. It just didn’t feel right.”

“It is unusual though. We regularly gather around a bonfire, taking turns telling stories about hour lives before coming here,” Kathryn added. “Quinn, Rembrandt, Wade and Maggie are actually writing a book about all their experiences.”

Chapter 2

Three months passed by quickly. Buffy and Willow’s relationship had become incredibly deep in only a month and when they told Xander, Dawn and Anya in private they had all been very supportive and understanding. Dawn had even said that she definitely wouldn’t mind having Willow as a sister.

Willow was already starting to show a little, which Buffy could feel when they spooned at night, and was generally immune from mood swings but had horrible morning sickness. Anya on the other hand was just the opposite with horrible mood swings. Dawn was lucky in that she only suffered mild morning sickness, so was Cordelia; Fred on the other hand was just plain sick, having nearly miscarried two months in,she was having a horrible time of it, staying in bed most of the time with Gunn at her side.

Wesley had been quick to point out that two conflicting factors probably accounted for this: her former life of slavery and her life of slaying.

One afternoon, Kathryn was walking across the area in front of the houses with Catalina and Rachel when there was a flash of light and a group of about ten people arrived back to back and armed to the teeth.

“Oh for the love of…” Kathryn said under her breath. “Rachel, go see if Wesley’s available to talk to these people, will you?”

“Yeah, no problem,” Rachel said before running off.

Kathryn walked calmly up to the group, Catalina slightly behind her.

“Can I help you?” she asked, watching as several people relaxed slightly, lowering their weapons so that they pointed at the ground instead of outward.

“We’re looking for several people who disappeared three months ago from San Francisco,” a crisp English voice stated.

“Let me uses, you guys are the Watcher’s Council,” Catalina guessed with a grin and was rewarded by several surprised glares.

“Cat,” Kathryn said to get her attention. ‘Can you go find Willow and Buffy and then Gunn and Cordelia, and if she’s up to it Fred?’ she signed.

“Yep,” Catalina said before moving off.

“I’m Kathryn Janeway, one of the leaders here.”

“I’m Quentin Travers,” the man who had spoken before said as he shook Kathryn’s hand. “And as your young friend suggested, we do represent the Watcher’s Council.”

“You’re here to recover Fred?”

“Yes.”

++++++++++

Catalina found willow and Buffy quite easily on the hill sunbathing in bikinis, Willow’s being red and matching her hair and Buffy’s being a dark blue, their towels spread out underneath them.

“Hey, you guys have visitors,” she called to get their attention.

“What do you mean?” Buffy asked, not bothering to raise her head, though Willow did.

“I mean your Watcher’s Council just arrived,” Catalina stated.

“The Watcher’s Council? Here?”

“Fred didn’t die, they need her,” Buffy pointed out with a sigh.

“What about you?” Willow asked as she sat up.

“I don’t know, I’m not much use to them blind,” Buffy said with a shrug.

“Iv’e got a few more people to find,” Catalina said. “Kathryn’s with the, and Rachel’s getting Wesley to help deal with guys.”

“Good, they can be pushy.”

“Come on, let’s go see if Giles is with them,” Willow said, standing up and helping Buffy to her feet before wrapping the towel around her waist.

They rounded the side of the barn a minute later, hand in hand.

Willow stopped abruptly, taking in the group.

“So?”

“I see him,” she said, a grin evident in her voice.

“I’ve got a sneaky idea if you’re willing to give me a hand.”

“Always. He’s at the back of the crowd if that helps.”

“It does…”

++++++++++

Two minutes later, Willow and Buffy sneaked up on the group, Willow taking Buffy’s hands and lifting them to cover Giles’s eyes, making him jerk in surprise.

“Guess who,” Buffy said, dropping her voice a couple notches.

Giles gently removed her hands and Buffy couldn’t keep a grin off her face as Giles turned around and gasped, stopping short.

“Oh, for the Goddess’s sake Giles, just hug her,” Willow said exasperated.

Giles did just that, throwing his arms around Buffy and enveloping her in a massive bear hug.

“I can’t believe this,” he whispered. Everything pointed to you being dead,” he added unable to stop the escape of a couple of tears onto Buffy’s shoulder.

‘She needed this didn’t she,’ Kathryn signed to Willow.

‘They both did it looks like,’ Willow agreed.

“Miss Summers, this is an unexpected privilege,” Quentin Travers said after Giles and Buffy broke apart a minute later, walking to what was now the front of the crowd, followed closely by Kathryn.

“Mr. Travers, I should have realized you’d be here,” Buffy said a small grin gracing her face as she managed to look like she was looking directly at Travers, her hand still ensconced in Giles. “I’m afraid I have to resign my place as a slayer,” she added, causing quite a hubbub among the watchers ranged behind Travers and even Giles put in a mild protest before Willow whispered in his ear.

“This wouldn’t have to do with there now being a third slayer, whould there?” Travers asked smugly, obviously sure of being able to deny Buffy for any reason she gave.

“Hardly, I’m not that stupid,” Buffy said, rolling her eyes.

“Then why?”

“Well see, since you last saw me, there’s been a slight change in my physical condition,” Buffy said.

“You aren’t pregnant are you?”

The comment caused a snort from behind her, presumably from Willow.

“No, not at all. This is permanent I’m afraid. When I fell into the electrical field to save the world and so on, the electricity ruined my eyes. I’m blind.

There was a short silence before several people protested or called for proof.

“All right that’s enough,” Giles said, quieting the crow quickly.

“I can give you the proof and first hand account you want,” Kathryn said. “When she first arrived here, the first thing we did was take care of the fact that her heart wasn’t beating. After taking care of that small problem, we realized that her eyes were black pits and our doctor replaced them and then we eventually replaced the nerves behind them. Unfortunately, that didn’t fix the problem,” Kathryn explained as she pulled out a tricorder.

“What is that?” Travers asked.

“It’s a scanner we use to take vital signs and other information about a person. Willow, do you mind if I take a quick scan for comparison?”

“Of course not,” Willow said as she stepped forward, offering a quick grin to Giles.

Kathryn did a quick scan of Willow’s face and showed it to the crowd, explaining what they were looking at. She then scanned Buffy and did the same.

“Well that’s good enough proof for me,” Travers said with a sigh. “I hereby officially retire Buffy Anne Summer’s status as a slayer. Congratulations, you’ve just achieved something no other slayer ever has.”

“So that means that you won’t bother me again? Good.”

”I think Buffy, Willow, and Giles will want some time alone to get caught up. I have someone locating Wesley, Cordelia and Gunn so they can talk to you.”

“What about Miss Winifred?” Travers asked.

”She has been sick recently and is currently bedridden.”

“Wait, what would cause a slayer to be bedridden?”

“We think it’s a combination of being a slayer and her history as a slave,” Wesley said as he walked up. ‘Have they been told of the pregnancies yet?’ he signed to Kathryn.

‘No, otherwise they wouldn’t be asking that question,’ Willow pointed out.

“If you want to follow me gentlemen, I’ll take you to see her,” Wesley offered, leaving Buffy, Giles and Willow standing there.

“Why don’t we go get something to drink before we start explaining everything,” Willow suggested after a second. “I think we can find some tea to brew.”

“That sounds excellent,” Giles agreed, still holding Buffy’s hand.

As they walked to the house Buffy and Willow shared with the rest of the Scoobie Gang. They had moved Fred and Gunn to the main house to keep a better eye on her and Angel and Cordelia had decided to move to Memory, where there was more of a night life.

“I noticed several times people using hand signals, but they’re nothing I’ve ever seen, certainly not American Sign Language,” Giles asked.

“It’s actually something that one of the families that arrived here a couple years ago invented. They had need of one and just started putting it together, since they didn’t have any way to learn an established one.”

“And you know this how? You weren’t joking about being blind?”

“For God’s sake Giles, no. Everyone around here uses it and it’s hard not to notice long gaps in conversation.”

“Everyone uses it?”

“I even know how to sign a few things: my name, Sunnydale, I’m blind, that kind of thing,” Buffy said, demonstrating each one.

“Here we are,” Willow said as they reached the right house. “Fred is actually roomed in the main house where they can keep a better eye on her, so it should be quiet,” she added.

“What’s wrong with her?”

“She’s pregnant,” Willow admitted with a sigh. “And having an awful time of it.”

“How?”

“Well, that’s the odd thing. When we got here, we were all pregnant,” Willow said softly.

“Except for me, I wasn’t,” Buffy amended.

“Everyone, even Dawn?”

Buffy nodded.

“How odd. Why is Fred having so much trouble?”

“We’re not completely sure, but we think it has something to do with her conflicting background as a slave and her current status as a slayer,” Buffy suggested.

“It’s possible, certainly,” Giles agreed as Willow started a pot of water for tea. “What happened to you, Buffy?”

“I’m not really sure,” Buffy admitted. “I woke up here here after I was sure I’d be dead. I was not thrilled to find out that there would be no way to let you guys know I was alive.”

”I did die, don’t get me wrong, they were just able to revive me through CPR.”

“What about the loss of blood?”

“I was unconscious for about a week, or so I’ve been told, and they had to do a lot of work to get me all the way back up to normal.”

“And you trust them?”

“Yes. They’re an incredible group of people. They’ve all been through quite a lot before getting here. One group was fighting a war with only five people.”

“Oh my.”

“It wasn’t a normal war,” Willow pointed out.

“Hardly,” Buffy agreed.

“Do you want to stay here, or return to Sunnydale?”

“I don’t know,” Buffy answered honestly. “I would love to stay here, it’s so peaceful, but if everyone ants to go home, I’ll go too.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that,” Giles said. “So how is everyone?”

“Other than being pregnant? Pretty good,” Willow said as the teapot whistled and she stood up to tend to it.

“Cordelia and Angel moved to Memory, one of the bigger cities here, but otherwise everyone is living here on the ranch.”

“Where are we?”

Buffy gave him a quick rundown of Luna and a few of the other groups that lived there.

“How odd,” Giles said afterwards sipping his tea that Willow had brought while Buffy was talking.

“We have a lot of fun, but it’s hard to forget what was left behind,” Willow admitted.

Just then the front door opened and Dawn came in, Rachel following right behind.

“Giles!” she exclaimed, squeezing him from behind.

“It’s good to see you too Dawn,” Giles said, patting the arms that were wrapped around his neck.

“I think you better release him Dawn, before you strangle him,” Buffy said with a grin.

“Why didn’t you guys let me know he was here? I heard that the Watcher’s Council had arrived but no one told me Giles was with them.”

“We didn’t know until we joined the group, otherwise we would have,” Willow said gently.

“How are you doing Dawn?” Giles asked as Dawn joined them at the table and Rachel let herself out.

“Other than being three months pregnant? All right, I guess. It’s cool that I don’t have to attend school all day,” she added with a grin.

“They don’t have schooling here?” Giles asked, obviously perturbed.

“They do, it’s just that it’s not quite the same as in Sunnydale. School doesn’t run all day for one thing,” Dawn amended. “And since I’m pregnant, I have private lessons here on the ranch instead of going to actual classes.”

++++++++++

They talked through the afternoon, with Xander and Anya joining the group.

“We need to discuss where we end up,” Giles said during a break in discussion.

“Why now?” Anya asked.

“Because the spell that brought us here has to be reactivated tonight to return to England,” Giles explained. “We have to decide if we’re going to stay here or return to Sunnydale.

“I want to stay here,” Anya said. “It’s nice and quiet, not like the hellmouth.”

Dawn, Xander, and Willow murmured their agreement.

“Buffy?” Giles asked.

“I go wherever you guys go,” she said. “I’m not being left behind again. I agree with you guys though, I’d much rather stay here.”

“Will they allow me to stay?” Giles asked.

“I know they will,” Buffy said. “We’re not the first group to have a choice, it’s just incredibly unusual, and they let the other group stay.”

“I’ll go tell Kathryn,” Xander offered.

“Will they welcome me too,” Giles asked as Xander left.

“Absolutely,” Willow said.

“What are the others going to do?” Dawn asked.

“I think they’re going to return to LA,” Anya suggested. “They have a lot to do there, and Angel still wants to try and gain his soul for good,” she pointed out.

“She’s right,” Dawn agreed with a nod. “I think that’s been foremost on his mind quite a lot since we got here.”

“Will they force Fred to return even though she’s sick?” Buffy asked.

“I don’t know. It sounds like she’s in bad shape from what you’ve told me, I think they might leave her here.”

“Will you stay?” Dawn asked hesitantly.

“Of course,” Giles answered gently. “I think I’m needed here more than on Earth where I don’t have much of a social life anyways.”

“What about Olivia?” Anya pointed out.

“She and I haven’t really been connecting lately,” Giles admitted. “I’d been thinking of calling it off with her anyways.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I thought you guys made a good pair,’ Willow said sincerely.

“Thank you Willow, but I think it’s time I move on with my life. I’ll write a letter for the council to mail when they return tonight.”

“Will they be annoyed that you’re staying?” Dawn asked as Xander reentered, and tookhis place next to Anya again.

“I doubt it. Travers and I have never gotten along so he’ll be glad to hear we’re staying, and the others will follow his lead.”

“Kathryn said she’s glad to hear we’re staying, and will gladly welcome Giles into the family.”

‘Family?”

“We’re like one big family here,” Buffy said. “Everyone gets along really well.”

“We’ve all made good friends here,” Dawn added.

“I’m glad to hear that. They really don’t mind?”

“I think they have a philosophy of the more the merrier,” Buffy said. At least as far as arrivals go. They almost have to.”

++++++++++

That evening the watcher’s council left with little grumbling, Angel, Cordelia and Wesley with them. Giles sent a letter for Olivia with them along with a request to have all of his books brought to him the next time they had the chance to return, three months from then.

They had left Fred and Gunn with some unhappiness, but with the understanding that a few of them would be back in a year to reclaim their slayer.

Author’s note: this isn’t the end of the story. I just decided that it would be easier to split it in half (approximately). I’m still working on the other half so it might be a little while, but I’ll try to get it out asap. Please read and review, thanks!!