Willow snapped the switch, sending the room into darkness, broken only by the soft glow of the fire. "Better?"

"Darker," Buffy allowed.

Willow nodded, sitting across from her friend. "Wonder what's taking the guys so long?"

"Giles said there was spell they needed to do and he needed Xander's help."

"Oh."

Willow's voice sounded so hurt that Buffy couldn't help but smile. "It's not a spell you would have wanted to help with, Wills. Since this was a demon related to a Satyr, it had to be done in the nude…the nude demon, not the nude Xander and Giles."

"Oh." Willow nodded, turning to stare into the fire. "You okay?"

"Tired." Buffy managed to sit up, groaning as blood rushed to her head. "This saving the world gets a little painful sometimes."

"But it's better than there being no world," Willow pointed out. "With no world, we'd all be out of jobs…and lives, but that's not the point, I don't think." She got off her chair and went into the bathroom to wet a washcloth. Bringing it back out into the living room, she wiped the blood and dirt from Buffy's face. "You're a mess though."

"And I had such a big date tonight too." Buffy grinned, taking the cloth from Willow. "Don't you get tired of it, Wills?"

She shook her head. "But for me, it's mostly theory. I mean, yeah sometimes I fight, but for the most part, I'm research girl, hiding in the background. I'm not out on the front lines like you."

"You have been more lately. I mean, you're doing the magic and you've slain a few baddies in your day."

"I know, but it's not what I *have* to do, except for you. It's what I want to help doing, because it needs to be done."

Buffy nodded, shrugging slightly. "But I guess you could say that I must do it because I want to, since I quit the council but still keep with the slaying."

Willow shook her head. "There's still an obligation, even if it's just implied."

Buffy didn't respond, instead she sat staring into the fire, thinking about what Willow had said. After a long moment, she looked over at her friend. "I get tired sometimes. I wonder why I should keep fighting when it seems like everything else in my life is falling down around me. I mean, I'm the Slayer. Shouldn't I get some good perky type things out of that?"

"I would think." Willow leaned back against the cushion, yawning widely. "Maybe we'll have to borrow Giles' Slayer handbook and read through the benefits brochure?"

"Maybe."

Giles and Xander were quiet as they entered the apartment, neither wanting to wake the girls. Willow was curled up in the armchair and Buffy was sprawled out on the couch. "You can shower, if you'd like," Giles whispered to Xander.

Looking down at his clothes and body, Xander nodded. He was covered in soot, goat hair and some substance he was sure he didn't want to identify. Just his luck they finally got a sex demon in Sunnydale and it had to be male.

Giles walked into the living room and stoked the fire, adding more wood to the small flame. Taking a blanket off the back of the chair, he draped it over Willow. "Sweet dreams, Willow."

She mumbled, turning slightly and pulling the covers close to her. Giles smiled and grabbed a second blanket off the couch. Laying it over Buffy, he reached down and brushed a lock of hair away from her face.

She seemed so innocent in her sleep. So free of trouble and cares of the world. Faith had the look of a Slayer, hard and edgy, ready to take on whatever evil was thrown at her. Buffy looked much more the child, the worries of her life and her job not showing in the soft lines of her face.

"Isn't it funny?" Xander whispered. "She's the strongest girl in the world and when she sleeps she looks like she couldn't hurt a fly."

"The weight of the world is on her shoulders, but she doesn't bow beneath it," Giles stepped away from the couch, somewhat sadly. "I spent so much of my time wishing I could save all of you from this. Perhaps especially Buffy."

"That's because you care, Giles." Xander put his hand on the older man's shoulder. "And we all know it."

"Thank you Xander, but it doesn't change anything, does it? She's going to have to keep up this fight until she…until she can fight no more and there's nothing we can do about it. It must be so wearing on her. When I was with the Council after…after Ethan, it was drilled into us that the Slayer does what she has to, she is Chosen, she would be grateful for the opportunity to live up to her destiny."

"Yeah, well the Council is full of bull."

"I realize that now," Giles agreed. "But back then, it sounded almost romantic. I guess so many of us forget that these are teenage girls doing the work that no one else can and no one else will."

"Not no one, Giles," Xander reminded him. "She's not alone."

The first light of dawn was creeping over the windowsill when Buffy opened her eyes. Willow was asleep in the chair across from her, tangled in a blanket, with Xander at her feet. She couldn't help but smile at the picture. It was nice to see them being best friends again.

Turning her head slightly, she saw Giles standing by the mantel, reading a book. "Hey Giles, you do know you're allowed to sleep, right?"

"What?" He looked up, pushing up his glasses as he did so. "Oh, yes. I'm sorry, Buffy. Did I wake you?"

"No." She swung around so that her feet rested on the ground. Standing, she walked over to the window and looked out at what she could see of Sunnydale. "Whatcha reading?"

"Nothing much."

"Watcher diaries?"

He grinned. "I'm afraid I can't fool you."

"Nope. Not about this." She smiled at him before turning back to the view. "What are you looking for?"

"Nothing really. I was just wondering…"

"Giles?"

"Yes, Buffy?"

"Come here."

He set the journal down and joined her at the window. The sun was slowly spreading out over the grass, bathing everything in its warming light. The day was dawning bright and the colors of nature seemed intensified. He stared out, barely noticing when Xander and Willow, woken by their conversation, came up behind him.

"Do you see it?" Buffy asked.

"What?"

"Everything." She grinned, the melancholy of the night before completely gone. "I did that. Not like created it or anything, I'm not suffering from delusions of grandeur, but I did it. I made sure that this morning it was there, one more time for us to all enjoy." She giggled. "Well, with a little help of my friends, I did it."

Giles shook his head, still not comprehending. "Did what, Buffy?"

Her smile shone brighter than the sunlight. "I saved the world."

"I Saved The World Today" - the Eurythmics

Monday finds you like a bomb
That's been left ticking there too long
You're bleeding
Some days there's nothing left to learn
From the point of no return
You're leaving

Hey hey, I saved the world today
Everybody's happy now
The bad thing's gone away
And everybody's happy now
The good thing's here to stay
Please let it stay

There's a million mouths to feed
And I've got everything I need
I'm breathing
And there's a hurting thing inside
But I've got everything to hide
I'm grieving.

Hey hey, I saved the world today
Everybody's happy now
The bad thing's gone away
And everybody's happy now
The good thing's here to stay
Please Let it stay

Let it stay
Let it stay
doo doo doo doo doo The good thing