"She's going at it full steam ahead, isn't she?" Xander asked quietly. He'd taken to helping Giles with the training sessions since he had some free time after his job. "I mean, talk about kicking some ass."

"Her emotions aren't always under her control though." Giles sighed. "One vampire so much as mentions Angel and she's going to do more than stake him, I think."

"She does more than stake 'em now, Giles. She beats the stuffing out of them before turning them into stuffing." Pausing, Xander listened as his stomach growled. "Oh great. Now I'm hungry."

"Eww," Buffy said as she stopped in mid punch. "Talking about vamp stuffing makes you hungry? Xander, you're a sicker man than I ever thought before." She wiped the sweat from her forehead as she walked toward the two of them. "And that's saying an awful lot."

"I work hard to exceed your expectations." He grinned and waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Buffy picked up a towel and wiped her face and neck before twirling it and snapping it at Xander. "That's not always a good thing, you know." Looking at Giles, she tilted her head. "All righty, boss man. What's up for the night? Prophecies? Demons? Death and destruction?"

"Sounds like a party."

"Ooh! Will there be hats?" Willow smiled as she and Oz walked into the room, ignoring the wood chips that Buffy had caused to fly off the dummy. "I like hats. And the snappy elastic band thing is fun." She stopped walking and glared at her life-long best friend. "Well, except when a certain someone is trying to impress some girl."

"It wasn't just some girl, Willow. It was some girl that was completely ignoring me. You know what a turn on that is for me." He grinned at her, ignoring her mock glare. She let a smile slowly spread across her face, lighting it beautifully. "And it hurt me more than it hurt you."

"Only because when I bent down in pain you rushed forward and got a party hat in your…" She gulped and closed her mouth tightly. "That's a story for another time."

Xander blushed a delicate shade of red and nodded enthusiastically. "Very another time." He cleared his throat and focused his attention on Giles. "So, skipping the hats, what is up for tonight? Normally we're scrambling for our battle stations before the sun goes down."

Giles leaned back against the table behind him and crossed his arms over his chest. "Nothing."

"And by nothing you mean…?" Buffy stared at him as if he'd grown another head.

"Well, there is one thing."

"I knew it!" Willow bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. "No rest for the wicked. Or not wicked in our case."

"One thing being…?"

"You'll see." He grabbed his jacket off the chair beside him and walked toward the door. "Oz? Might we borrow your van for this?"

"Sure."

The teenagers followed behind Giles, much quieter now that there was something they had to do. Though none of them was required or obligated to do the job they did, they still felt they owed Sunnydale and all the others who had fought and died…and the ones who had just died, something.

And that meant, even though she'd given up her job as the chosen one, Buffy Summers was still the Slayer.

And the close friends she had gathered around her were still the Slayerettes.

Giles held out his hand for Oz's keys and unlocked the vehicle. The four teens piled in and Giles got behind the steering wheel. "Do any of you have plans for the rest of the evening?"

Four soft moans greeted him, followed by four quiet "No"s.

"Excellent. You might as well make yourselves comfortable. This is going to take a while." Giles left the engine running. "Hold up just a moment. I need to get one last thing."

"This sucks." Xander whispered, his whole demeanor saddened. "I mean, not that I had anything to do, but I certainly didn't anticipate spending my weekend hanging with the G-man and you guys. No offense."

Buffy looked at him questioningly. "What did you anticipate spending your weekend doing?"

Furrowing his brow, Xander sighed. "Spending it with you guys and hanging with Giles."

Willow smiled at them all. "Well, I think it's bound to be good. In a bonding way or something. I mean, it doesn't seem too dire or else we'd be running really quickly. Into the fray."

"Why do we always have to run into the fray when everyone else is hightailing it the opposite direction? I get confused about that sometimes," Xander asked.

Oz grinned. "Lousy sense of direction?"

"Or in my case," Buffy said with a smile as Giles climbed back into the van. "A lousy sense of destiny."

Willow awoke five hours later when she felt the movement of the van stop. She very carefully removed her head from it's resting place on Xander's shoulder, not wanting to think how it might have gotten there, and moved to the front seat. Giles was leaning against the steering wheel, staring out at the night.

"Giles?" She whispered.

"Shh," he said softly. "Just look at the night for a moment."

She turned and stared out as well, noticing how immense the stars looked. She felt peaceful. Turning, she saw him smiling at her. "Why did we stop?"

He pointed to the bottom of the hill. "Gas. But I wanted to check out the layout of the store before I got out of the car. You can't be too careful."

"Where are we? And where are we going?"

"Trust me."

She just stared at him for a long minute before nodding. "Okay. I will. I do."

"Go back to sleep, Willow. It will all make sense in the morning."

She yawned, despite not feeling tired. "All right, but if it doesn't make sense, you've got some explaining to do."

Sunlight filtered in through the tinted windows, dancing across Buffy's skin. She was lying on the floor of the van, her head resting on Oz's thigh. She sat up slightly, sighing in relief as she noticed Willow on his other side. Xander was lying against Willow and Buffy couldn't help but smile at the sight they made. Looking toward the front, she noticed Giles leaning against the back of the front seat. "Are we there?"

"Yes. I just didn't have the heart to wake any of you."

"I'm awake." Oz said softly.

"Me too." Xander added.

Willow sat up and nodded. "Me too. Too. And Buffy is, so…"

Giles shrugged and moved to the side door of the van and swung it open. Sunlight flooded the dark area, bringing warmth and something intangible with it. Xander followed Giles out and then disappeared. Oz and Buffy went next, and then Oz helped Willow out. The four teens stood in shock, staring at the sight before them.

"Where are we? Are we where we think we are?" Xander smile stretched across his face, and for a moment, he looked very close to a young man again. "And if we aren't, don't wake me up, because I'm so liking this dream."

Oz nodded, barely noticing Willow squeezing his hand. "That's right. No pinching allowed."

"Giles?" Buffy looked up at her Watcher, her eyes wide with surprise. "You did this?"

"I did."

"Why?"

Willow smiled as she stared up at the hotel in front of them. "For us." She glanced shyly at Giles. "This is our summer vacation, isn't it?"

"You could consider it so." He could barely hide his satisfied smile. "I had your parents pack your luggage and send it down earlier. I would think we should check in, shower, change and perhaps do a little sightseeing?"

Buffy shook her head before launching herself into her Watcher's arms. "You are so the best."

"Forget the sightseeing!" Xander took Buffy's hand and tugged her away from Giles. "We've got rides to ride."

Oz started off after them, giving Willow a quick smile of understanding as she lagged behind.

Turning to Giles, she stepped forward and hugged him as well. "She's right you know. You are. And this is the nicest present ever."

"I figured you all deserved a little respite from all that you've been dealing with the past three years." He started walking, falling into step with her easily. "I could think of no better place for it."

"Well of course you couldn't," Willow grabbed his hand and tugged on it, urging him to hurry. "This is, after all, the happiest place on Earth."