Three Wishes

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three wishes - 4
December 25, 2012
9:00 pm
    Willow was getting annoyed. They had been following the vampires around in circles for the past half
hour and they weren't getting anywhere. "They're stalling," she thought angrily as they once again
passed by a now familiar-looking clump of trees. "But why? What are they waiting for?"
    Seemingly in answer to her unspoken question, the quiet was suddenly shattered by a blood-curdling
scream. Breaking off her chase of the vampires, she headed toward the sound with her friends
following behind her. As she emerged from the shelter of the trees, her eyes were greeted by the most
repulsive sight she had ever seen. She heard David gasp behind her and turned around to see his
reaction. He stared numbly at the sight before him as if he had expected it to look like this.
    Willow, on the other hand, had not expected this. She saw before her a sight that she had only
before seen in war movies. Chaos reigned in the plaza, with people screaming and running to get
away from the stage at the center. Peering through the mass of people, Willow understood why. The
area directly around the stage was littered with the dead and the dying, and as Willow made her way
slowly toward them she could hear them moaning and crying pitifully.
    Someone whimpered behind her and Willow looked around to see Melissa holding her hands over
her ears, trying to shut out the sound of the crying so she could concentrate on shutting out the shrieking
of the dead that echoed in her mind. She stood in one place for a few moments, rocking slowly back
and forth with her eyes closed. When she opened them again and looked at Willow there were tears
pouring from her eyes and down her cheeks but she nodded to indicate they could continue.
    Drawing a fresh stake out of her bag, Willow stalked slowly towards Lestat. Her mind was filled with
only one purpose: to stop this slaughter. If that meant killing Lestat, then that was what she was going to
do. As she reached the area directly behind him and prepared to lunge in for the kill, she froze.
Listening carefully and looking around, she realized the reason she had stopped so suddenly. The
dying people weren't moaning any more. In fact, the area that she was standing in had become
completely silent. Her eyes darted from one person to the next, searching for the cause of the silence.
"They're all dead," she realized. "God, there must be a hundred of them. And they're all dead." Her
arm dropped limply to her side as she realized just what that meant.
    Hearing a scream behind her, she whirled around and saw her friends staring at something at the
edge of the plaza. She hurried over to where they stood to get a better view and then wished she
hadn't. Across from them stood the group of vampires they had been fighting earlier and in front of
them stood Giles, bound with ropes and gagged. His face was bleeding from gashes made across his
cheeks and his arm hung limply at his side, obviously broken. Drusilla screamed again in a voice that
seemed almost on the verge of plunging into madness again.
    "Oh good," Lestat said from the stage behind Willow. "Our guest has arrived. Show him to the stage
please gentlemen. We wouldn't want his friends to miss this, now would we?"
    Willow watched, confused, as the vampires dragged Giles up to the stage and placed him before
Lestat, who undid the gag and loosened the ropes.
    "Stand up, Watcher," he ordered, dragging Giles to his feet gasping and coughing. "Yes," he said, at
the confused look Giles shot him. "I know who you are. Kendra told me all about you before you guys
killed her. I was actually surprised that you figured it out in time to kill her. She was usually much more
convincing than that. Oh well, it doesn't really matter. The Slayer's going to die tonight anyway."
    "Kendra?" Melissa asked, latching onto the name Lestat had used. "You guys met Kendra?" she
asked, turning to Willow and Buffy. "When?"
    "Yeah," Buffy answered. "It was before Angel lost his soul. And then she came back a while before
Angel took Willow. Why?"
    Melissa didn't answer, though. Instead, she turned to the stage and glared up at Lestat. "You
bastard!" she called. "You were trying to kill her! Even then! You sent Kendra to kill my best friend?"
    Lestat chuckled softly. "She didn't succeed so don't worry. Apparently your friends are more
intelligent than I thought they were. I really didn't expect them to suspect Kendra. When she didn't
return the last time I sent her out I was surprised to say the least. And then I found out that Willow was
still alive. So, I concluded that they killed Kendra."
    "We didn't," Willow answered. "Drusilla did. Is that why you killed her?" she asked, turning to Dru.
    Drusilla nodded numbly, staring straight ahead at her husband standing on the stage. She knew
what Lestat was planning to do, but she felt powerless to stop it. She watched in horror as Lestat
leaned toward Giles and put his lips to his neck. "NOOO!" she screamed, her numbness shattering.
"Rupert!"
    Giles heard her cry, but it was too late. He felt Lestat's teeth sink into his neck and then the most
exquisite pain he had ever felt washed over him. His mind reeled with the intensity of the feelings that
washed over him. Then he felt his hold on reality slipping as the world around him grew dim and then
black. At the edge of his awareness he could hear Drusilla screaming his name, but he couldn't
answer her. "I love you Dru," he thought as he lost all consciousness.
    "I love you, too," she sobbed, blood tears streaming down her cheeks.
    She lifted her gaze from the still body of her husband to the monster who had just killed him. Her
eyes flashed with a rage as intense as lightning and she launched herself onto the stage and toward
Lestat. She slammed into the other vampire, sending him sprawling off the edge of the stage and
landing on the body-strewn ground next to it. Drusilla followed, landing squarely on her feet and leaning
over Lestat. Drawing a stake out of her sleeve, she lunged at him.
    Then, all of a sudden, she was being pulled away from him before the stake hit its target.
Screaming, she whirled her head around to see Angel holding tightly to her arms. She glared at him
for a moment and then dropped the stake, sobbing into his shoulder. "Angel?" she asked, looking up at
him with lost eyes. "Why? Why wouldn't you let me kill him? He killed my Rupert! Angel?" she
demanded, banging her fists against his chest.
    "Dru," he answered softly. "Do you remember the night Melissa killed her first vampire? She told
me about it shortly after we met. Do you remember what happened to her when she killed him? What
do you think killing Lestat would have done to you? It would have broken your sanity in an instant," he
explained, hoping to make her understand. "You're my friend. I can't let that happen to you."
    Drusilla opened her mouth to answer but then she heard the sound of Melissa crying behind her.
She shook off Angel's grasp and headed to where she kneeled next to Giles' still body. She kneeled on
the other side and gently touched his cheek as her tears continued to fall.
    "Rupert?" she said softly, desperately hoping that he might be alive.
    He didn't respond though and she could see that he wasn't breathing. She stared into his face for a
few moments and then a last, tentative hope seized her. Looking up at Melissa, she cleared her throat,
trying to master her emotions. "Bring him back," she ordered.
    Melissa returned Drusilla's gaze with tears in her eyes. "What?" she asked.
    "Bring him back. You can do it. I know you can. Please," Drusilla answered, her voice desperate.
"Please, Melly."
    "I...I can't. Dru, I don't know if I can. I've never actually tried it before," Melissa said in a small,
terrified voice. "I love him, too, but I don't think I can."
    "Try!" Drusilla screamed. "Please just try. It's all I ask. Just try."
    Lestat jerked free from Spike, who had taken hold of him after Angel dragged Drusilla off him, and
jumped back onto the stage. He stared for a moment at the still form of Giles and then swore. "Damn
you!" he swore at Drusilla. "Now he's dead! I can't very well bring him across now, can I? I guess
you'll just have to do," he continued, lunging at Melissa. He pulled her toward him and pinned her
against him, one hand at her throat and the other arm encircled around her waist. Leaning down, he
placed his lips to her throat and bit his teeth into the soft skin. He pulled the tangy, powerful blood out of
her body in a gulp and paused to savor it. Then he gasped as the stake Willow held in her hand slid
neatly through his back and into his heart. He had a split-second of awareness to realize he had been
beaten before he exploded into particles of dust, showering down on Melissa and creating a fine film on
her clothes.
    "Thanks, Wil," she said when her rapidly beating heart returned to normal and she could speak
again.
    "No problem Melly," Willow answered with a smile. "Now, save Giles while I go kill three more
vampires. Then we can get this ritual over with. Oh, Nick," she continued, looking over at her
husband's boss. "Could you try to get as much of that dust as possible? Thanks."
    Melissa walked slowly over to Giles' still body and placed her hand on Dru's shoulder. "Okay, Dru,
I'm gonna try. I just hope this works."
    She knelt next to him and placed her hand on his cheek, searching with her mind for any sign that he
was still in his body. Finding none, she widened her search, concentrating on Giles' unique mind
structure and praying she could find it. "Giles," she called softly, reaching out with her mind until it hit a
boundary of some sort. Cautiously she tested it and found it to be solid, almost like a wall. She pushed
with all her might at the wall but could not make it budge. Gasping, she stopped and opened her eyes.
Seeing no change in Giles' still form, she tried another tack. She reached out again with her mind, but
when she encountered the wall she slowly made her way along it, testing it frequently, until she found a
softer spot. Pushing gently, she felt the wall give a little and continued happily, eventually breaking
through.
    On the other side, she encountered a mass of swirling, confused minds. There were so many she
could hardly distinguish one from the next. Calling softly she tried again, "Giles, are you here?" For a
moment there was nothing but the din of the millions of people gathered there. Then she heard a note
of recognition in a voice calling above the rest.
    "Melissa," it said distinctly. "I'm here."
    Pushing her mind toward the sound, she continued to call until she found Giles, or rather the bright
ball of light that represented his soul. "Okay Giles. We're going back. And if anybody has a problem
with that," she called out above the din, "they can take it up with me!"
    Guiding the ball back to the chink in the wall, she pushed it before her through the wall and back into
the world around her. In her mind she saw the ball of light return quickly to Giles' body and then saw
that body take a deep, ragged breath.
    "Rupert!" Drusilla called, smiling at her now breathing husband. She looked over at Melissa, who
opened her eyes and smiled wanly at her. "You did it," she told her. "He's alive. Oh God, he's alive,"
she said, tears streaming down her face again.
    "Drusilla?" Giles asked groggily, turning his head from side to side. When he saw his wife, he raised
his hand to brush away her tears. "What happened?" he asked weakly.
    "You died," Buffy said from her position a few feet away. Relief washed over her as she looked
down at her Watcher. "I should have known that wouldn't stop you though," she added, echoing the
statement he had made fifteen years earlier when Buffy died and came back to life.
    "Willow! Where's Willow?" Giles asked, his duty once again coming before anything else.
    "I'm right here, Giles," Willow answered, smiling broadly. "I've got ten. Time to start the ritual I
guess," she said and then broke off, looking sadly at David who stood at the edge of the stage crying
softly.
    Pandora stood next to him trying to comfort him, but he continued to cry. Willow walked over to him
and put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I know that's not good enough and I
wish there had been another way, but he was going to kill my friend. I hope you can understand."
    David looked up at her with eyes full of pain and then nodded. "I know. My friend was gone a long
time ago anyway. The monster who died here today was only a fragment of the man who was my
friend. I understand that. You did what you had to. Now, go perform the ritual and save the world.
That's your job, right?" he added, smiling weakly.
    "Yeah, that's my job. Thank you for your help. And thank you," she said, turning to Pandora.
"Without you, we wouldn't have been able to do this."
    "You're welcome," Pandora answered. "I always liked Dru, so I figured I would help her out.
Besides," she added smiling, "I wasn't looking forward to taking orders from Lestat."
    "I'm sure you weren't," Willow agreed and then headed back to her group of friends. "Well Nick, let's
get this show on the road," she commanded. "Bring me a bowl full of dirt and hand me that bowl of
ashes."
    Taking the two bowls Nick offered her, she placed them atop the makeshift table Nick and Spike had
constructed from a couple of crates. She picked up the bowl of dirt and raised it above her head. "May
the earth be cleansed of all impurities," she recited and poured the dirt into a larger container sitting in
front of her. Then she lifted the bowl of ashes above her head. "And may the ashes of demons be
cleansed by the earth," she recited and then poured the ashes into the same container. Placing her
hands into the container, she swirled the two together with her fingers and recited, "From hell into being
and back into hell. Earth and demon combine and return evil to its rightful home." As she spoke, a
wind began whipping the leaves of the trees, sending them swirling to the ground. Her hair streamed
behind her as she continued. "Hellmouths I command thee to close!" she cried as the wind increased,
nearly knocking her over in its intensity.
    With a great scream, the earth bucked beneath her feet and Willow collapsed to the ground, careful
not to spill the contents of the container. She watched in amazement as the earth slowly rent itself apart,
leaving a gaping hole in the ground before her. Taking the container, she rushed to the hole and
poured the contents into it. "Demons, I return thee to hell!" she concluded her recitation.
    She heard a scream of frustration coming from the hole and grinned in satisfaction. Then Lestat's
minions, who stood at the edge of the plaza near the shelter of the trees, screamed as well as they
were lifted off the ground and dragged into the gaping ground. She watched in horror as David and
Pandora were also lifted off their feet and pulled into the hole although they didn't seem surprised at all
that it was happening. She looked around her to see Spike, Drusilla, and Angel desperately trying to
hang onto anything in sight with the people who loved them also holding onto them for dear life.
    Realizing what was happening, she screamed. "NOOO!" she cried, looking down into the hole.
"Leave them alone! They're good! You can't have them!"
    She watched in satisfaction as the wind died down, allowing the three vampires to place their feet
shakily on the ground, but was disappointed to see the ground still gaping open. Looking around in
confusion, she spotted something coming towards her from the trees and watched in fascination as it
approached her. It looked like a great beam of light making its way slowly towards her. As the thing
neared, she realized that it was not a light at all but a group of people who glowed with a strange
luminescence unlike any other Willow had ever seen.
    When they stopped before her, she stood before them staring at them. Then she realized what they
were and sank to her knees in humility. "Angels," she breathed softly. For a moment curiosity warred
with humility in her mind but curiosity won out. She looked up boldly, a look of awe on her face.
"Wh-what are you doing here?" she asked them.
    "Why do you try to stop that which you yourself have started?" the apparent leader of the group asked
her, ignoring her question.
    "What do you mean?" Willow asked, confused. She looked around to see how her friends were
reacting to the sight before them but they all seemed to be in some sort of stupor. "What happened to
my friends?" she asked in a panicked voice.
    "We needed to talk to you alone so we put them to sleep. Do not worry. They will be fine. But we
are curious as to why you attempt to stop the demons from being taken to hell when you initiated the
ritual yourself," the angel answered her.
    "These three here," she said, indicating the sleeping forms of Spike, Drusilla, and Angel, "are my
friends. They don't deserve to be swallowed into hell."
    "But they are demons," the angel responded, clearly perplexed. "It is your duty to destroy them, not
to befriend them. They will be returned to hell where they belong," he concluded and motioned for the
other angels to pick up the sleeping vampires.
    "No, wait!" Willow screamed, throwing herself in front of Spike, Dru, and Angel. "You can't just
decide that. There are people here who love them. They'll be devastated!"
    "They will just have to suffer. It is not our fault if humans love demons. They will just have to deal
with the loss," the lead angel answered.
    "No!" Willow bellowed. "They will not just have to deal with the loss! The people who love these
vampires have devoted their whole lives to helping good conquer evil! They have done your work for
you! So, you will not take their happiness away from them. Melissa became a Slayer when she was
ten years old! Giles has been a watcher for fifteen years even though he never wanted to be in the first
place! And poor Buffy lost Angel twice! You're not going to take him away from her again. Buffy died
to save this world. Giles lost the woman he loved. And Melissa has lived her whole life protecting me.
The least you all can do is let them be happy for a little while. They deserve at least that much." By the
time she was finished her voice was hoarse from screaming and tears streamed openly down her
cheeks but she knew she had to make these angels understand what her friends had given up.
    "And what of you, Slayer?" the angel asked her softly. "You have not spoken of what you have
done."
    "I don't matter," Willow answered, averting her eyes. "I just did what I had to."
    "That is not what we saw, child," one of the angels in the back said, stepping forward. She was a
woman with streaming golden hair and her voice was soft and musical as she said, "We have watched
since the day you met Buffy and we know how much you risked and sacrificed to help her even before
you knew about your duty. You have spent the past fifteen years doing our work for us. You are right.
We are just sometimes reluctant to admit how much the Slayer does to protect the world. I suppose that
it makes us feel guilty," she said smiling softly. "I hope that you can forgive us. Allow me to speak with
my friends for a few moments and perhaps we can come to an agreement."
    The woman beckoned to the other angels to follow her a few feet away from Willow. They huddled
closely together and spoke in hushed tones for several minutes before finally breaking apart and
returning to stand in front of Willow. "We have come to a decision," the lead angel said to Willow. "We
all ask your forgiveness for being insensitive. We wish to make amends so we believe that we have
decided upon a fitting compromise. You may have three wishes to be granted by us to use as you see
fit. We will only grant three, though, so choose wisely."
    "Are you serious?" Willow asked incredulously. "I get three wishes? What is this? Have you read
about Aladdin and the genie a few too many times?"
    "Have we offended you?" the angel asked, confused. "I believed that humans were always in search
of someone to grant them three wishes. I assumed that you would be happy."
    "Sorry," Willow laughed. "You just caught me by surprise. Okay, three wishes," she said
thoughtfully. "All right. My first wish is that Spike, Angel, and Drusilla get to live but the demons have to
return to hell. I want them to be able to live like normal humans with normal lifespans beginning from
this point. I want them to be able to get married, have children, grow old, and eventually die. That's my
first wish," she said, smiling broadly. She had packed as much as she thought she reasonably could
into one wish.
    The angels spoke quietly among themselves for a minute before the leader answered, "We will let
them live and we will remove the demons. They will have normal lifespans but they will not be able to
procreate."
    "No," Willow protested vehemently. "They won't have normal lives if they can't have children.
Besides, Melissa, Buffy, and Giles do deserve to be parents even if their spouses don't in your view.
Spike, Dru, and Angel have to be able to procreate."
    "It will be as you say," the female angel spoke up, giving the lead angel an admonishing look. "What
else would you like dear?"
    "They'll be able to go out in the sun and everything, right? They'll just be like normal humans?"
    "Yes, of course," the female angel answered. "What is your next wish?"
    "There will be no more Slayers. If the demons are gone we don't need them, right? I don't want my
daughter to have this duty even if there is nothing for her to kill. Having the fate of the world on your
shoulders is an awfully big burden for a teenage girl to bear," Willow responded in a matter-of-fact
voice.
    "That is reasonable enough," the lead angel agreed.
    "And you will let me, Buffy, and Melissa live normal lifespans. I know that the Slayer's body doesn't
normally hold out long. What's the longest a Slayer has lived?" Willow asked, looking up at the angels.
    "No Slayer has ever reached the age of thirty-five," the female angel informed Willow. "We have not
quite discovered why the Slayers die so young. Even the ones who are not killed by vampires die from
heart failure or something similar at a young age. We think it is because the bodies are changed in
order to make the Slayer stronger and faster than normal humans. This causes the organs to
deteriorate more rapidly."
    "Well, you're going to have to figure out a way to reverse it, because I want my friends and I to live
past thirty-five. I'm thirty-one now! I want to live to see my little girl grow up."
    "We know how to reverse it but we are not permitted to manipulate human bodies after you are
born," the lead angel protested. "I am sorry."
    "Well, you had better get permission because I'm not taking no for an answer. You said I could have
three wishes. And that's my third wish," Willow answered obstinately, flipping her long red hair behind
her.
    "But, but," the angel sputtered. "I cannot just demand to be given permission. Do you have any idea
who I have to get permission from?"
    "God?" Willow asked casually. When the angel nodded she said, "Then you'd better go have a chat
with God."
    "Well, I...I," the angel protested again.
    "Gabriel," a booming voice said from the sky above their heads. "I told you she would be stubborn."
    "Is that God?" Willow asked, incredulous. She would almost swear that the voice was laughing, but
that wasn't logical. God would most certainly not be laughing.
    "Yes," the angel named Gabriel answered her question. "Yes sire," the angel called to the sky. "She
is indeed stubborn. Are we permitted to give her all that she asks for?"
    "Of course my son," the voice of God answered. "She has certainly earned anything she pleases.
Do all that she asks with my blessing."
    "Yes sire," Gabriel responded. Then he turned his attention to Willow. "Mrs. Harris, we thank you for
your service and we thank your friends for their service as well. Your wishes are hereby granted," he
continued. He looked at the three vampires laying on the ground and concentrated, pulling the demons
out of the bodies. Then he cast the demons into the hole and closed it. Then he and the other angels
walked back towards the trees and disappeared.
    Willow stared after them until she heard soft sounds coming from her friends. They opened their
eyes and looked around groggily. Angel, Spike, and Drusilla sat up and looked around at the plaza
around them. "I feel strange," Drusilla, the first to regain some sense of order, said dazedly.
    "So do I," Angel and Spike said at the same time, causing Willow to giggle. "What's going on?"
Angel added, looking at Willow curiously.
    "It's a very long story," Willow began.
    "Wait a minute," Spike interrupted. "What time is it?"
    Glancing at her watch, Willow answered, "About 4:30. Why?"
    "Jesus! How long were we asleep?" Spike demanded.
    "I don't know. I guess it was longer than I thought. Why does it matter?"
    "Because the sun is about to rise and I really have no desire to be dust any time soon. We've got to
find a way to get underground or else Dru, Angel, and I are going to fry," Spike said in an annoyed
voice.
    "Well then, we'd better be going," Willow answered, a cryptic smile touching her lips.
    She motioned for Spike and the rest of the group to follow her out of the plaza, intentionally slowing
her pace so that they wouldn't reach shelter before the sun rose. As the horizon began to lighten the
three former vampires began to panic, trying to speed up in order to reach shelter in time. Before they
could go underground, however, the sun broke free from the horizon and began its slow ascent into the
sky.
    Squinting at the brightness of the sun, Angel, Spike, and Dru braced themselves for the inevitable.
After a few moments passed and they were still alive they looked around dazedly, confused beyond
belief. Collectively Buffy, Melissa, and Giles let out a sigh of relief as they realized that they were not
about to become widowed and the paniced looks on their faces subsided.
    "Why didn't we incinerate?" Angel asked curiously.
    "I don't know," Willow smiled. "Maybe it has something to do with the Hellmouths closing." She
wanted to tell them what had transpired, but she figured it would be more fun if they discovered
everything for themselves. "All I know is that there aren't any demons inside you any more. You
should be able to go out in the sun all you want."
    "Really?" Dru squealed excitedly. "I can go out in the daytime and pick flowers or go to a river and sit
by the water or go to the beach or..."
    "Yes Dru," Willow interrupted before Drusilla really got going. "You can do all of those things."
    "Hmm," Spike said thoughtfully. He pondered the situation for several moments and then nodded his
head. "Cool," he said finally, causing the rest of the group to laugh merrily.
    Willow smiled and continued walking, listening to her friends talk about all the things they could do
now that they could go out in the sun. As she steered the group in the direction of their hotel, her
thoughts turned to her waiting husband and daughter and a spring came to her step at the thought of
getting back to them and the warmth of their love. "I'm almost there," her mind called out to them. "And
then we can go home."

Author's note: I'd like to say that I did not originate the idea of angels being
held accountable for what they make the Slayers do. It was done first (and
much better) in Melinda Dawney's story "Friendship". I just wanted to give
her credit for that.

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