*****

Willow opened her eyes. Giles was asleep on the couch and Xander was sprawled at her feet in front of the television, also asleep. She wondered how long she had slept, and if she had missed anything interesting. She looked at the television screen for a few moments and saw men running around with guns in a forest, bodies breaking apart in slow motion beneath the force of random explosions, bodies and trees disintegrating in one careless mass of limbs. She looked over at Giles again, or rather, beside him, where Buffy should have been, but all that remained of her presence was a bowl of cold popcorn nestled in a group of cushions on the couch.

She stood up slowly, aware of the immense silence that filled the room. The television was silent. Sound seemed to have been sucked out of the house completely, and as she stepped around Xander's prone body she felt herself only faintly anchored to the floor, her body ready at any moment to float away from the ground.

She was moving, but Willow was not thinking of where she was going, she wondered only where Buffy might have gone. She walked toward the kitchen, looking down at the floor in mild surprise as she did so. It seemed to be flowing beneath her feet as she moved. The silence in the kitchen was stifling and there was no sign of life in there, the large table and chairs rigid like expectant guests at a formal dinner. Willow looked up at the ceiling thinking that Buffy might be upstairs and looked along the hallway toward her bedroom. She looked around in mild surprise - had she not just been in the kitchen below? Moving slowly down the hallway to Buffy's room she knocked lightly on the door.

'Buffy?' There was no reply, and she knocked again, stopping to listen with her ear to the door. She thought she heard the sound of giggling behind the door, faint, like a child's gentle laughter. She knocked again and called out, 'Buffy? Buffy, are you in there?'

The sound of laughter increased behind the door and Willow reached out to turn the doorknob, staring in surprise as the door swung open in front of her. The hallway behind the door was the hallway at Sunnydale High, the one leading to the library. She stepped through the door, walked past the stairs and pushed open the library doors. Buffy and Tara sat at a desk reading intently and they did not look up as she entered the room. She smiled in relief and started to walk toward them but she could not get close. She looked down in panic at her feet, which were walking beneath her, but she remained in exactly the same position. She looked up at the two women sitting at the table, unaware of her presence.

'Buffy!' she called out in an urgent whisper. 'Buffy!' she repeated more insistently when she received no response. Buffy looked up at Tara, who returned her look and they shared a warm, friendly smile.

Tara closed her book and said to Buffy, 'She doesn't know, does she?'

Buffy smiled again. 'No, she doesn't,' she replied.

'Time passes like the rain,' said Tara, but Willow only heard her voice, did not see her speak.

'What do you mean?' she asked, as loud as she could, ceasing to walk, getting nowhere. 'What don't I know?' Willow's voice rose as she continued to speak, desperately trying to find a way to communicate with the two women sitting at the table.

'Willow? Willow, is that you?'

She turned around in surprise, not wanting to believe what she had heard. Surprise turned into panic as she saw the smiling face looking at her expectantly. She tried to smile, her anxiety increasing, but she could manage only a pained grimace. She looked back at the table but Buffy and Tara were gone, and the desire to smile was replaced by an intense anger. Turning slowly back to look at the newcomer, her eyes were bright with emotion, her lips a nearly imperceptible pink line.

'Oz,' she said, and a cold wind seemed to emanate from her body, 'you made them disappear.' He stepped toward her, smiling, but as he moved the distance remained between them and he could not get close to her, just as she had been unable to reach Buffy and Tara.

'You made them disappear, Oz,' she said again, 'Buffy and Tara. You have to go, I have to find them, before it's too late.'

'Why?' asked Oz.

'I don't know,' she said, 'but you have to leave.'

'No, Willow, I'm back. I'm not leaving again,' and he smiled reassuringly at her as he tried to get closer.

'Leave!' Willow shouted at him in angry frustration, and her skin begin to tingle as she felt goose bumps rise unseen all over her body.

Suddenly the werewolf was where Oz had had been standing and he growled menacingly at her, moving past the invisible barrier that had separated them.

The tingling increased and Willow felt her entire body rippling lightly with the sensation which was strongest in the palms of her hands. She looked down at her palms and saw small silver sparks dancing in them, a miniature electric storm in each hand. She looked up at the approaching werewolf and felt herself rising above the ground. They were surrounded by trees, their leaves waving briskly beneath a cool wind. Willow's hair reddened perceptibly as she held out both palms toward the creature in front of her, balls of light rotating in them.

The light spun off her hands and met the growling creature as it neared, lifting it off its feet and dissolving it in a silent explosion of light that illuminated the trees. She closed her eyes against the glare, her body relaxing in the cool breeze as she felt her skin cease its rippling and regain its usual smoothness.

Willow woke to Tara's voice softly calling her name and she opened her eyes slowly, still feeling tired and wanting to go back to sleep. She was aware of a disturbing dream which had only made her feel more exhausted.

'Willow, Willow, wake up,' Tara called again, persistent.

She looked up from the couch to see Buffy standing above her, and she shook her head and looked around, confused. Had she dreamed Tara's voice?

'Wake up, Willow, it's time to wake up,' and it was definitely Tara's voice, and also definitely Buffy who leaned over her, whose mouth was moving, the two things together like a very crossed line.

Willow was silent as Buffy/Tara reached down and took her hand in hers, gently pulling her from her place on the couch. She stepped around Xander, looking back at Giles as she was led into the kitchen, wondering if she should wake them to explain everything to her.

'Sit down, sleepy head, I'll get you a drink,' and Buffy/Tara went to the refrigerator as Willow sat down silently, not knowing how to put the random words into questions, not sure even whom she would be addressing.

Buffy/Tara opened the refrigerator, looking inside for something. 'I wondered when you were going to wake up,' she said, 'I've been waiting such a long time. Everyone is still asleep, but it was time for you Willow.' She removed a jug of milk from the refrigerator and opened a cupboard, taking down a glass from a shelf. Willow looked at her back as she moved around the kitchen. Tara's voice was full of concern as she spoke, a melancholy undertone to every word. Willow could feel herself increasingly confused by the situation, which Buffy/Tara did not seem to have noticed, judging by the smile on her face as she returned to the table and placed a glass of milk in front of Willow.

'Drink,' she said simply, and stood above her as though she thought Willow might not drink it if she left her alone. Willow looked at her in bewilderment but took up the glass and drank, disconcerted by the smile on Buffy's/Tara's face as she watched her. When she finished drinking, Buffy/Tara said, 'Now, let's go up to my room,' and Willow looked at her, puzzled. Which room, she wondered? But Buffy/Tara had no such doubts and took her hand as they walked out of the kitchen into Buffy's bedroom. Willow looked behind her in surprise, but instead of the kitchen she saw only the blank wall of the hallway behind her.

'Come in,' and Buffy/Tara led her into the room, closing the door behind them.

*****
tbc