Fortunately, both Buffy and Willow had seen him in action before. Willow had begun sighing incessantly, and Xander had taken it upon himself to take her mind off their troubles. Dancing was a sure-fire distraction. For self-defense from flailing limbs, if nothing else. One had to pay attention, or risk physical injury.

Willow and Buffy lay upon Buffy's bed, giggling at his insane gyrations, while Willow made comments about how she could never make her body move the way Xander was making it go.

Buffy was scraping the bottom of the brownie pan with her fingers when the phone rang. Flipping deftly backward over the bed, the way only a slayer could, she landed on her feet and grasped the phone before it could ring a second time. "Hello?"

"Buffy?"

"Hi, Giles," she said, recognizing his all-too-familiar British tone. "How goes?"

"I have the solution," he said.

"Really? How'd you find it?" she asked.

He sighed. "That's a long story. Could you all just come to the library right now? Then we can get this fixed and go home."

Buffy winced. "Well, we kinda told my mom we were staying for dinner, so she's cooking for four right now. We can come right after," she suggested brightly.

Giles rolled his eyes. "Of course. Far be it from me to interrupt you meal schedule with important breakthroughs." He glanced at the bracelet in his hand and thought about wishing Jenny back permanently again. It would serve them right. But no, Jenny wouldn't want that.

"You know, Giles, sarcasm doesn't really become you."

He sighed. "Just come as soon as you can, Buffy."

"Okay."

He was about to hang up when he heard her voice again. "Hey, Giles?" she said in a serious tone.

"Hmmm?" he asked.

"You're the best."

Suddenly his heart knew why Jenny was right.

Xander, Willow and Buffy rushed through dinner, hoping that their haste would be mistaken for youthful exuberance. Joyce stared and shook her head as they veritably inhaled their food. Buffy threatened them before they sat down not to use names during the meal, afraid that Xander was going to call his own body Willow, especially. With the threat of physical violence from the slayer hanging over them, the Slayerettes found themselves remarkably able to remember all the details of who was supposed to be who. No slip-ups were made.

Buffy herded them towards the door as fast as she could without raising her mother's suspicions. She grabbed her bag and checked for supplies. And lipstick. She'd forgotten that last night. She slipped on her jacket and was about to open the door when her mother's voice stilled her.

"Buffy?"

Buffy exchanged worried glances with Willow and Xander. "Yeah, Mom?" she called back nonchalantly.

Joyce suddenly appeared in the hallway. "Where are you going?"

"To the Bronze!"

"To study!"

The two phrases rang out simultaneously. Willow and Xander stared at each other in horror. Buffy rolled her eyes at them. "We're going to the Bronze to meet Cordelia, and then we're going to her house to study," she answered carefully.

Both Willow and Xander began nodding vigorously, happy with the explanation.

Joyce smiled. "Well, don't be too late honey." She bestowed a kiss on Buffy's forehead and Buffy turned to leave.

Once safely on the sidewalk and out of earshot of her mother, Buffy turned to her friends. "Could you two be a little less helpful, please?"

Xander and Willow looked apologetic. "Sorry," they mumbled, almost in unison.

Buffy suddenly smiled. "'S okay. We'd better hurry."

They were about two blocks from the school when Buffy stilled them with a hand. "I hear something."

Xander sighed. "Is it an ohh-give-me-a-stake-quick kinda noise?"

"Shhh!" she replied, waving her hand at him for emphasis.

Willow leaned closer to him. "Less helpful, remember?" she whispered.

She shrieked as Xander suddenly disappeared. Buffy, a few feet in front of them, whirled around, a stake appearing from her sleeve instantly.

She faced down a vampire who had Xander pinned in his grasp.

"Buffy," Willow said fearfully. "Don't let him eat me."

"Eat you?" Xander cried from the vampire's grip. "What about me? What happens if I die?"

"It's my blood!" Willow argued.

The vampire laughed. "I'm no where near you, stupid," he sneered at her, not realizing that the body he held was actually hers.

Buffy tried to tone them out as she considered possible attacks. The vampire definitely seemed to have the upper hand, here.

The vampire leaned forward, and licked Xander's neck.

"Ewww," both he and Willow moaned simultaneously.

"When exactly did you two start sharing a brain?" she mumbled to herself.

"Taste testing is not allowed," she said louder to the creature. "You know, you're ugly and your sire dresses you funny," she added, taunting the monster, hoping to make it angry enough to let go of Xander and attack her.

It worked. In spades. The vampire threw Xander to the side and leapt towards her, all claws and fangs and undead agility.

Buffy ducked and rolled, and thrust upward with the stake as the vampire flew over her. She smiled in satisfaction as she felt the wood hit home, and watched as the vampire exploded into ash and dust.

She turned to check on her friends. Xander was lying on the ground, Willow at his side, lightly patting his face.

"Is he okay?" Buffy asked, as Willow brushed the red hair away from his face.

"He hit his head when he landed, I think," Willow said. "Or, maybe he fainted. I'm not sure."

Buffy felt cautiously around his head, until she found a small bump on the back of his skull. "Uh-Oh. Found an ouchie," she said. Willow felt around to the bump as well. "Oh, that's not that bad. I was hit harder than that with a baseball once. The egg was *this* big." She was demonstrating with her fingers when Xander moaned.

"What happened?"

"Buffy dusted the vampire. He's just debris now," Willow replied, helping him to sit up.

"No," Xander said, wincing. "I mean what happened to ME?"

Buffy smiled. "You got hit in the head. You'll be fine in a few minutes."

"Do you feel sick?" Willow asked, concerned.

"No. I feel dizzy."

"How many fingers?" Willow asked, holding up three in front of his face.

Xander stared at her hand. "That is a trick question. Ask me how many hands first."

Buffy and Willow exchanged a glance. Wordlessly, they picked him up and began carrying him toward the school.

"Oh, this is fun!" he enthused. "Do we have more tickets to go on this ride again?"

Giles watched, somewhat dismayed, as he saw Buffy and Willow carrying Xander into the library.

"Do we need my first aid kit?" he asked anxiously.

"He hit his head. Hard," Buffy said.

Xander allowed himself to be sat on the table. "Hi Giles," he said, grinning and waving at the Watcher.

"Er, hello."

"He has a bump back here," Willow said, parting the red hair to show Giles.

Giles inspected it for a second. It really wasn't very big. Both Xander and Willow had endured worse, he was sure. A sudden idea came to him. He turned to Xander. "You were milking this to get them to carry you, weren't you?"

Xander grinned wider. "No one ever carries me."

Both Willow and Buffy reached out and smacked him.

"That's not funny!" Buffy cried. "We were worried about you!"

"And I appreciated it. Truly," he replied, placing a hand over his heart.

Giles sighed and rubbed his temples. "I'm tired, and I think we should get to the task at hand."

Willow grabbed the bracelet from the table. "You said you figured it out?" she asked.

"Well, from what I understand," he began cryptically, "The stones in the bracelet are the key to the wishes. When you make a wish, you must have actual skin contact with an enchanted stone for the wish to work. When you made your wish earlier today, you weren't touching the right stone."

"So, which stone do I have to touch?" Willow asked, examining the remaining ones left on the chain.

Giles carefully touched the right one. "This one. It's the only one left. Please be careful with it."

"Okay," Willow said, nodding. She turned to Buffy and Xander. "Ready to give it another try?" she asked.

"Jane, get me off this crazy thing!" Xander said enthusiastically, waving his arms in an imitation of George Jetson.

Buffy rolled her eyes and linked arms with Giles, leading him outside the library. "We'll be down the hall again," she said.

Giles looked back, only once, at the bracelet that could bring back Jenny.

With a sigh, he firmly walked forward, and went to the student lounge down the hall.

"Are you going to put it on?" Xander asked, indicating the bracelet with a toss of his head.

"No. I'm going to hold on to this stone. No mistakes this time." She smiled nervously at her friend. "Ready?"

He nodded, closing his eyes.

Willow closed her own eyes and waited to see if he would interrupt again, like last time. After a few seconds of silence, she lifted her hand and spoke clearly, "I wish for me to be back in my body, and for Xander to be back in his."

Bright green light filled her senses. She could almost taste the magic surrounding her. She felt light, weightless, and when the light faded, she was reluctant to open her eyes.

She was engulfed in a hug. Her eyes flew open. "It worked!" Xander said, standing in front of her. She looked down at her own body, trying to remember what Xander had dressed her in earlier that day. She reached up and touched her hair, bringing the red strands to in front of her face.

Xander looked puzzled. "You're not Buffy, are you?" he asked fearfully. "Or Giles?"

Seeing a perfect opportunity to pay him back for making her carry him, she lifted her chin and said in her best Giles imitation, "Mr. Harris! Get your hands off of me!"

Xander immediately stepped back, horrified. "Oh, God. And no more wishes." He ran to the door and thrust it open. "Buffy!"

Willow smothered a laugh as the Slayer burst through the door. "What?" she asked, spinning around in a circle, looking for the danger.

"She's GILES!" Xander exclaimed, pointing at Willow.

Giles hurried through the doors. "I'm what?" he asked, baffled.

Xander looked back and forth between them, clearly confused.

His eyes finally rested on Willow. "You got me, didn't you?" he breathed.

She nodded and bounced on the balls of her feet, delighted. "Gotcha," she declared.

Xander approached her and wrapped her in another hug. "I guess after the last few days, I deserve it."

Slinging their arms around each other's shoulders, they shared an amused look before turning to the Slayer and her Watcher. "We're baaaaaaccckk."

Buffy laughed and even Giles smiled.

Buffy moved in to hug Xander and Willow joined the Watcher at the entrance to his office.

"Giles?" Willow asked, laying a hand on his arm. "There were two stones missing when we came in. What did you wish for?"

Giles looked at the petite redhead with warm affection. "The answer," he replied softly.

Willow rewarded him with one of her heart-felt smiles, and a brief hug.

Giles watched as she returned to Buffy and Xander and the three joined in what they liked to a call a 'group hug'.

He sighed, knowing that they would never know exactly what he had given up for them. It was better this way. He didn't want them to feel awkward or guilty, and he knew Willow especially would feel that way.

The Watcher. But, he wasn't the only one watching, he knew now. He grinned as they laughed and hugged. He watched, all right, and he worried. Not just when they were in physical danger or fighting the forces of evil.

He worried about them when they were sick, when they were unhappy, when they failed a test. He thought about how his own school friendships had fallen away with time and he hoped they always had each other.

He hoped they would all have long and happy lives.

"They're going to be okay, aren't they, Jenny?" he whispered to the air around him.

He took the comforting warmth that enveloped him as he stared at his slayer and her friends as a yes.