Giles felt her move, felt her hands trail down his back to the band of his boxers and froze, using both of his hands to cup her face and end the kiss.

“We can't. I love you more than you will ever know…but we can't do this.”

A part of Buffy choked with emotion at his first words, and a part of her crashed with the second.

“Why?”

“A thousand reasons. A thousand reasons why I refuse to cause you more pain, simply because I happen to be in love with you,” he told her hoarsely.

“What if I don't care about any of them?”

He closed his eyes. “You don't care that I'm nearly fifty years old? You don't care that when we get back you might discover that this was a just a pleasant dream…that you still have feelings for that…that vampire? You don't care that your sister will likely need therapy after she finds out? Or you don't care that half of Sunnydale will think I'm a pervert and that you are not fit to raise a teenage girl? Or perhaps…”

Buffy laid fingers on his mouth to shut him up. “I. Don't. Care,” she repeated. “I didn't care about Angel and Spike being very, very dead or very, very evil…so why should I care that I love someone who is warm and alive and good? I worked at the Doublemeat Palace and they didn't take Dawn away from me. I gave myself to Spike in public places, in filthy places…because I didn't care…and they didn't take Dawn away. Willow almost got her killed because I wasn't taking proper care of her.” She raised her free hand. “Still got her. So I really, really doubt they're going to storm the place because a good…a very, very, good…man has come into my life. A very, very good man who loves me as much as I love him.”

Moved beyond words, Giles couldn't speak for a moment. Then his eyes grew warm again. “This from the woman who said she didn't know what love was.”

She touched his mouth and caressed his jaw. “You're a good teacher.”

They kissed again, this time slowly and passionately, moving into each other's arms, claiming each other in every way…until finally they separated again, each aware that they were now poised on a knife edge.

Giles let his fingers trail down her cheek, her throat, and caress the curve of her breast above the damp bra.

“You are so beautiful.”

“Yeah, and I'm black and blue and you've got a fever of about a hundred and three again. You don't know how much I want this, but I'm going to let you win this time because there's heat…” She touched his brow. “…And there's heat. And I am *not* going back in that stream again any time soon, especially not to stop you from bursting into flames.”

He chuckled, his body aching for her, but his soul more relieved than he could say. Slowly, he bent his head again and kissed her, as though he could show her how much he adored her, and all of his heart, in that long sweet touch.

*********

“Oh…my God. I'm *not* seeing this.”

“Yes you are. And so am I. A-and strangely enough I don't find it at all disturbing… Well, okay, maybe a little. But it's a good thing, right? He's not a vampire. We know they love each other.”

“Yeah, but not like that!!”

“Why not like that? A sexy guy, a gorgeous girl…bam! Love. Why not?”

“Because it's them. Because it's hurting my eyes.”

“Because it's not you?”

Xander's head snapped around. “That was uncalled for. I'll have you know I've moved on. Moved a long way…across the continent, actually…across the species divide even…”

Willow watched him fondly. He was still in love with Anya. Anyone could see that, but he never really did get over his crush on Buffy. Not completely. He wasn't the only one, she realised with a pang of nostalgia…a part of her would always be owned by Oz…forever. She suspected that it was the same with Buffy and Angel. Maybe even Giles and Jenny…but people moved on. They all moved on. Except maybe with Giles and Buffy, they weren't so much moving on, as much as coming back to the beginning…

“Are we going to break this up before it gets ugly? They're in their underwear, Will. You know when you decided not to bring Anya with us? Good call.”

Willow giggled, thinking about the ex-vengeance demon's reaction. “We'll give them a couple more minutes. I can't believe we found them.”

“I can't believe Willy wasn't lying about 'knowing a guy,'” Xander added, still amazed.

“Willy's not such a bad guy, for a scaredy cat. Thank God he heard that demon bragging about getting rid of the Slayer…” She giggled. “And that he believed you when you said you had a nail gun with his name on it.”

Xander smiled sheepishly without taking his eyes from the other couple, then shifted uncomfortably, his voice rising a couple of octaves. “Will, I…um…I don't think they're going to stop.”

Willow shook her head and looked across the clearing at her friends. She knew them far too well.

“Patience,” was all she said.

Reluctantly, Giles lifted his head. He didn't want to relinquish the sweet fire or the illusion of having her, even just for these few short minutes, but if he didn't stop now, he didn't think would be able to stop at all…

“Giles!”

Both Buffy and Giles snapped their heads up and turned towards a voice they had both privately never expected to hear again.

“Oh my God! Willow!” Buffy exclaimed.

“My God,” Giles said softly.

A split second later they both realized the position in which they'd been caught. Buffy looked down at Giles' boxers, dragging his gaze with hers.

“Oh, Lord,” they said in unison. Then Buffy was wriggling around, ignoring the pain of her bruises, until she was sitting between his legs, her back leaning, or possibly more like collapsed, against his chest and providing him with the perfect cover for the disorder she'd caused…disorder that she could now feel pressed into her tailbone.

It wasn't until Willow and Xander were only a couple of feet away that his ardour had completely subsided.

“Jeez, you guys are a mess,” Xander announced as he came to a halt, his voice filled with emotion.

Buffy made a face. “You guys look great. You'll have to excuse us. We've had a bad day…and night and day…and night. It's kind of a long story.”

Giles sighed. “A very long story.”

Willow's eyes narrowed. “Giles, are you okay? You look awful.”

“He almost died,” Buffy announced matter of factly, “and he's still got a fever.”

At that point Xander zeroed in on all the bruising down Buffy's right side, which in turn prompted him to register how scratched and cut she was.

“Buffy? You go three rounds with a grizzly or something?”

Once again Giles and Buffy found themselves answering in unison.

“Or something.”

Willow, realizing things might not be quite what they seemed ten minutes ago, decided to get things moving. “Time later for campfire stories and stuff. You guys, we can take you home now.”

Buffy beamed. “Way to go, Will.”

“Wonderful,” Giles agreed with feeling, before Buffy continued sheepishly:

“But I'm not sure either of us can move right now, much less walk back to...”

Willow shook her head. “It's okay. You don't have to walk anywhere. I can open a new portal right here.”

Buffy and Giles turned as one to look back at their camp and the shelter they'd built together, their clothes still drying by the fire and the turtle shell they'd found. Buffy thought of the fish she'd worked so hard to catch, but only briefly. At least they'd eaten all the crabs…

After a long beat, they looked at each other, each of them nodding in turn before turning back to the others.

“We're ready.”

Giles and Buffy, supporting each other to keep from falling over, looked around when reality solidified again. They were in Xander's apartment.

“Why here?” Buffy couldn't help asking.

Xander shrugged. “We didn't want Dawn to know. If it didn't work…or you were…it was better to just let her think you were still missing.” Willow touched his arm in silent support.

Giles and Buffy looked at each other. “How long…?”

“Two months.”

Buffy finally exhaled. “Well, it could have been a lot worse.”

“It…it has only been a few weeks for us…if that,” Giles added, relieved.

The atmosphere became unexpectedly awkward.

Xander finally broke the silence. “You guys wanna get cleaned up before we take you home to Dawnie? To be honest, you look kinda scary right now.”

Everyone laughed softly, but the tension remained in the background.

After a beat in which there was another silent exchange between Buffy and Giles, both of them nodded and headed for Xander's bathroom.

Xander watched the door close behind them, before turning, visibly un-nerved.

“I don't remember saying together. Did I say together?”

Willow giggled.