Choose
by sailor80
Twenty
[reviews]
They piled into Xander's car and headed to the hospital. It was late afternoon. The sun was still above the tree line, but not for much longer. They trooped into Willow's room. It was still quiet and dim. Buffy was exactly where they had left her. Dawn had folded herself into the chair and was quietly watching her sister.
Since it was Xander's idea, he presented it to Buffy. Before he could finish all of his suggestion, Buffy said, "Let's do it."
After a few moments, they decided that Aislin would anchor Tara and Dawn would anchor Buffy. Xander and Giles moved the chairs to either side of the bed. Buffy climbed in beside Willow and carefully slid one arm under her neck and around her shoulders and put the other across her. She kissed the redhead's temple. Dawn laid her hand on her sister's ankle, and Tara slid her hand under Willow's. Aislin sat cross-legged on the floor at Tara's feet and pulled them into her lap. Anya, Giles and Xander stood at the door.
It was easy for Buffy to slide into that gray area. Tara appeared beside her, and Dawn appeared at her other side. Tara frowned, remembering the prophecy. Willow's mind looked to them like a circular room ringed with identical doors.
"What now?" Buffy asked.
"It's your call. I'll wait here for you."
Buffy nodded slowly. Her eyes scanned the doors again as she turned in a slow circle. "Which one, which one?" she asked herself quietly.
Dawn pointed. "That one."
"You sure?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah," Dawn answered.
They moved to the door. Buffy opened the door and went through first. Dawn followed. The door closed behind them. They found a corridor lined with doors, all but one neatly labeled in Willow's writing in different colors. The sisters saw it at the same time. "That's the one, isn't it?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah."
"Wish I brought a sword."
"You did," Dawn told her.
Buffy felt the weight of the sword in a scabbard on her back. "Cool." She drew the sword and immediately recognized it. It was the one she had used to kill Angel. The sword was as bright and sharp as when it had first left the smith. "Stay behind me," she instructed Dawn.
The room the door opened into was a mess. It was dark and dank and smelled of something that had been moldering in the dark for a long time. "Figures," Buffy muttered as the door shut behind them.
"So nice of you to come, Slayer," the demon hissed. "And you brought that sweet, young thing."
"She's not here for you. This," Buffy said, brandishing the sword, "is for you."
"You want to play before I kill you? Fine with me." Gienah leaped toward Buffy.
She held her ground until the last second, then stepped into its attack. It was comically easy. She impaled the demon on the sword, pushing until the guard prevented it from going further, then twisted the sword as she withdrew it. The demon fell to the ground, and Buffy beheaded it. She kicked the head away from the body.
Dawn came to her side and kneeled. She touched the demon's corpse and it incinerated in a flash that left the room clean and empty and bright. When Dawn stood, her sister was staring at her. Dawn prodded her. "We need to find Willow."
Buffy nodded. She put the sword, again bright and unsoiled, into the scabbard. They left the room and went back into the corridor. The walk seemed endless. The last door in the corridor was also unlabelled. Dawn opened it slowly, and Buffy entered first.
It looked to Buffy exactly like the room in the Council's manor house that Buffy had carried Willow from. The only thing missing was Travers' body. Willow was in the corner, rocking herself, her head striking the wall regularly. As she had before, Buffy knelt beside her and placed one hand on the wall to cushion Willow's head. "Will?" Buffy asked hopefully.
"I'm bad, I'm bad, I'm bad," Willow repeated. She clawed at her face.
"You're not bad, Willow," Buffy told her. She slid her arm between Willow's forearms and her body and gently forced Willow's arms down. She wasn't surprised that Willow's eyes were solid black. "You're not bad," Buffy repeated. "You made some mistakes," she added gently, "but they don't matter." She tried to turn Willow's face toward her own.
Dawn approached them. She was glowing, and dispelled the gloom around Willow when she knelt in front of her. Willow stopped rocking when Dawn put a hand on her knee.
"Are you going to kill me?" Willow asked hopefully.
"No," Dawn answered.
Willow turned to face Buffy. "Are you going to kill me?"
"No," Buffy told her.
"Why not? I'm bad," Willow said again.
"You're not bad," Buffy and Dawn said in unison.
"You don't know what I've done," Willow cried.
"You're not bad, Will," Buffy repeated. She moved her hand up to hold Willow's cheek.
"Willow," Dawn said gently, and Willow looked up at her. "You can come home with us now, if you'll give up your magick."
"Or?" Willow asked.
"Or you can stay here and keep the magicks. It's your choice."
Willow looked from one of them to the other. "You're not going to kill me?" she asked.
"No," the sisters answered together.
"Home?" Willow asked hopefully.
"Home with us," Buffy answered. "With me. I love you, Willow. I want you to come with me, but if you can't, I'll still love you."
"Really?" Willow asked in a small voice.
"Really," Buffy affirmed.
Willow squinted at Dawn. "Can you make it stop hurting?"
"Yes."
"Even if I keep my magick?"
"Even then." Dawn's voice was low. "But you have to decide what you want."
"I want to go home," Willow said finally.
"Close your eyes," Dawn directed. "You, too, Buffy."
The flash of whatever Dawn did was blindingly bright to their closed eyes. After a few moments, Dawn told them, "It's okay now."
Buffy opened her eyes. They were in the hospital. Willow was in her arms. She looked at Willow and broke into a huge smile. Her arms were completely healed. The gauntness was gone from Willow's face, and when her eyes opened, they were the green that Buffy loved.
"I thought we were going home," Willow said softly.
Buffy kissed her frantically. Willow wrapped her arms around Buffy and kissed her back. Applause made them separate. Willow was bright red. She pushed herself up. Buffy slid off the bed and landed in Dawn's lap. Dawn pushed her to the floor, then helped her up before standing up herself. Xander nearly knocked them both down in his hurry to reach Willow. He hugged her so hard that she squeaked. Anya was behind him, and piled on. Soon, everyone but Aislin was in on the group hug.
Giles was the first to peel off. He left the room in search of a doctor who would discharge Willow. Soon everyone but Buffy had detached themselves from Willow. Buffy held on to Willow's hand. Willow's thumb stayed in motion on Buffy's hand.