The Next Best Thing

Rating: NC-17

Disclaimer: Joss Whedon et al own everyone in this story except Lexie, Gab and Tara, because those three are mine all mine.

Distribution: The Mystic Muse http://mysticmuse.net

If you want it, please ask me first.

Spoilers: None

Feedback: Please!

Pairing: Willow/Buffy

"We have to find her."

"No one is disagreeing with you, Buffy."

"Fine! Then quit with the talking and help me find her! She's been missing for two weeks! There's got to be a spell or something we can do!"

Buffy was pacing madly in her living room, staring at Anya and Xander, who were both looking at her as though she'd lost her mind.

"Buffy…" Xander tried again. "Buff, all I'm saying is, maybe she doesn't want to be found."

"Then she needs to tell me that when I find her."

Buffy was seated in the floor of her bedroom. Dawn had gone to sleep some time ago, and Buffy had the solitude necessary to do what she needed to do. She left a note on her bed telling Dawn what she was doing and not to worry, that she'd be back as soon as possible. "I don't know where I'll end up. If I'm not back by the evening, call Xander. I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise. I love you."

In a backpack, Buffy packed two changes of clothes, some food, and enough herbal supplies to do the spell again four times. She slung this backpack over her shoulder and sat down in the chalk circle she'd drawn on her floor, set fire to the herbs in the little bowl before her, and chanted the cantrip that would transport her to wherever Willow was.

"Earth, air, fire and water bend to my will. I seek the one called Willow Rosenberg. Let no barrier stand before me as I search for her. Take me to her."

She was falling. She was insanely pleased that she'd slung the backpack over her shoulders instead of just holding it: she might have dropped it otherwise. Colors, lights and sounds assaulted her as she fell past them. Sometimes a face popped out of the whirling chaos which surrounded her. Sometimes she saw an event clearly that she knew she had no business seeing, such as the Gettysburg Address. Music filtered past her, then sounds of war, screams, even the crying of babies. Sometimes for long moments, all she saw around her was an endless vista of stars.

She didn't know how long she fell for, or what finally caused the fall to stop, but she fetched up hard against something soft. For a long moment, she sympathized with cartoon characters who see little birds flying about their heads after they've had a nasty knock. Then her vision cleared.

The first thing she noticed was that she was on a couch. It was not a super-nice couch, but it was clean, and the dimly lit living room it occupied was the same: not rich, but neat and well kept. Photographs hung all over the walls, but the light was too diffuse to see them clearly.

She stood up, carefully finding her land legs, and left the living room through one of the two doors to find herself in a kitchen. The appliances were old but sparklingly clean, and several dishes were stacked in a draining board in the sink. From the kitchen, she progressed into a dining room. Here, she saw what appeared to be schoolbooks and homework stacked on the table. One set of books seemed to be more advanced than the other, indicating the presence of two children.

From the dining room, she saw two doors leading out. One went back into the living room she'd just left, the other led into a darkened hallway. She quietly entered the small space. To her immediate left, a doorway led into a tiny bathroom. In front of her, a second door stood slightly ajar and she walked toward it, pushing it slowly and silently open.

This room was trashed, and she immediately saw why. Sleeping in a set of bunk beds were two young girls. This was obviously their bedroom. She could just imagine the fights they must have with one another and their mother about keeping the room clean. She backed away from the children's room and turned to the last door, to her right. This door was pushed to but not shut completely, and she gently swung it open enough to look in.

Moonlight streamed in the half-open window and across the face of two women in their late thirties who slept peacefully in its shine. One of the women was dark haired and had a strong face, unfamiliar but attractive. The other woman, though…

She felt her knees go weak and slumped into the floor. "Willow?" she whispered. "Oh, my God… Willow?"

At the sound of her name, Willow sat up, blinking at the open doorway and the figure silhouetted in it. "Hm? Tara? Is that you, sweetie? Did you have a bad dream?"

When she got no answer, Willow slipped out of bed and walked toward the figure in the doorway. As she got closer, she realized that, despite the small height, it wasn't Tara. She got close enough to see the face and gasped in surprise and shock. "Buffy?"

"Okay, wait, let me get this straight. You're the Buffy that Willow keeps telling me about? The vampire slayer?"

Buffy nodded.

"And you used a magic spell to find her and bring her back to Sunnydale?"

Buffy nodded again.

The dark-haired woman sat down suddenly on a chair. "This has got to be the weirdest night of my life."

"Gab! Even weirder than the night we met?" Willow asked teasingly, wrapping her arms around the dark-haired woman's shoulders.

Gab laughed. "Okay, the second-weirdest. What is it with me and girls popping out of the sky?"

"You're magnetic."

Buffy stared at Willow as the red-haired woman engaged in gentle banter with Gab. Certainly it was the same Willow, there was no doubt. But this Willow was… old. Lines of age and worry creased her face, and there was a maturity there that Buffy wasn't used to. This Willow had obviously lived. And, judging by the silver hairs at her temples, raised children.

Buffy stood and walked around the living room, examining the pictures on the walls. Willow as Buffy remembered her, with a younger version of Gab, ice skating at a rink. Willow and Gab at a concert. Willow and Gab in front of the house she now stood in. A very pregnant Willow and a very proud Gab kneeling before her, obviously talking very seriously to Willow's stomach. Willow holding a baby. Willow in a chair with a six-year-old standing beside her and another baby in her lap.

Pictures of the two children from birth to their current ages. Willow pointed at them. "Tara's the older one. Tara Dawn. She's twelve now. And the baby is Buffy. Buffy Alexis. She's six."

Buffy blinked back tears. "They're beautiful."

"It's been a long time for me, Buffy. Eighteen years."

Buffy sat down again on the couch. "Tell me what happened, Willow. Please. Please tell me what happened."

Willow took a deep breath but before she could start, a small bombshell flew through the dining room, into the living room, and landed in Gab's lap. "Mama! I had a dream!"

Gab, attempting to get her breath back, nodded. "O-o-okay, Buffy," she choked. "What did you dream about?"

The small Buffy, with hair as flame-red as Willow's and the same wide grin, settled into Gab's lap. "I dreamed I was falling forever and then I woke up."

"Well why don't you go back to bed, sweetie?" Willow said. "You've got school tomorrow."

"I don't want to go to school. Billy Whittaker tried to kiss me yesterday so I punched him."

"Buffy Alexis."

The little girl scowled, then slid off Gab's lap and walked over to Buffy, looking her in the face. "I know you. You're me." She turned, then, and scampered back to her bedroom.

Willow turned to Buffy. "After Tara died, I couldn't stand it. I thought I was going to die, myself. So I did a spell to find someone else I could love the way I loved Tara. And the spell brought me to Gab. And I'm happy, Buffy. I've been so happy here, and I have the children and I love them so much, and I love Gab. You see? I miss you, Buffy, I really do, and I miss Dawn and Xander and Giles and, God, even Spike and Anya. I miss everyone in Sunnydale. But this is where I belong. This is my place."

"The next best thing?"

Willow shrugged. "It's good here, Buffy. I've lived here for eighteen years. Eighteen beautiful, happy years and I have two beautiful, happy children and a lover I'm supremely content with. I have a good life." She looked around. "We're not rich. We don't have everything we could ever want. But we have each other and the kids, and we're happy here. I know why you came, Buffy, I know you came to take me back. But I'm not going to go."

Buffy nodded. "I can see that. And I wouldn't ask you to. I'm glad that you're happy." She turned to Gab. "You're a lucky woman. Take care of her for me."

Gab shrugged. "Been doing it for eighteen years, kid. Not likely to stop now."

Buffy looked back at Willow. "Anything you want me to tell anyone?"

Willow nodded. "Give them all my love. Take them this." She went to the coffee table, opened a photo album and pulled out a picture. Buffy looked at it and realized it was a recent family portrait. "Tell them that I'm happy. And… take some flowers to Tara for me?"

Buffy nodded. "I'll do it." She reached into her backpack and pulled out some of the spell supplies. She laid out enough on the floor for herself to do the spell to carry her home, then handed the rest to Willow. "Look. If you ever need us, come to us. Or send someone. We're always here for you." She leaned forward and gently kissed Willow. "I love you, Will."

"I love you too, Buffy," Willow said, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Buffy lit the herbs in her bowl and waited for the vortex to take her, watching as Gab stepped forward to hold the sobbing Willow tightly.

And then she was falling.

What remained of the Scoobies gathered in Buffy's living room. She had been gone two days and they were anxious to find out what had transpired. Buffy showed them all the picture Willow had given her, then slipped it into a frame and set it on the mantle. "She's happy there," Buffy told them. "She's got a good life. She-"

Buffy was interrupted by the sudden opening of a spinning vortex which was strangely familiar to her, and the dropping of a body onto the floor.

The young woman who lay on the floor looked strangely familiar, but none of the Scoobies who gathered around her could figure out why until she sat up, rubbed her head, and looked around at them. "Which of you is Buffy Summers?" she asked.

Buffy waved a hand. "That's me."

The girl stood up and extended a hand. "Lexie Rosenberg. We met once, briefly, some years ago." She looked Buffy up and down. "Actually, it doesn't seem to have been that long for you. Mom told me time moved differently. She didn't say how differently. It's been twenty years for us."

"Lexie? Oh, my god - you're Willow's daughter!"

Lexie nodded. "She told me to come to you."

"What's wrong? Does she need us?"

Lexie shook her head. "No, Buffy. Relax. There's nothing you can do for her now."

One by one, the Scoobies all found places to sit. "Tell us," Xander whispered hoarsely.

Lexie looked at him with sympathy. "You must be Xander. I'm named for you, you know. Buffy Alexis. She always spoke very highly of you. She loved you." Lexie sat down herself and took a deep breath. "Mom died last night. She and Gab both. They um… they were killed in a car crash.

"My sister Tara was driving the car that they hit. She died too." Lexie's strong façade broke and she began to cry.

The silence in the room was simply stunned. No one knew what to say. Lexie finally gathered her wits and controlled herself. "Mom… Mom always told me that if anything ever happened and I found myself alone, there was a place I could go where I would have friends. She taught me how to use the herbs that you left when you came, Buffy. She taught me everything that she knew. I'm a witch just like she was. And they're all dead and now I don't have anybody, but she said I could come to you."

Buffy launched herself across the room and took Lexie in a tight hug. "Of course you have us. Willow was our family, and that makes you our family too. We're always here for you."

Lexie nodded and began to get herself back under control. "I'm so glad. I don't know what I would have done."

Buffy nodded decisively. "You're one of us," she said. "You've lost your birth family, and we've lost our friend, but for each other, I think we can be the next best thing."

And Lexie looked up at her and smiled.

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