Cander (Cordy/Xander)

Once More, With Feeling

It was a beautiful day, as Buffy rolled over in bed when the clock went off, hitting seven am. She glared at the clock. She reached over, picked it up, and looked at it.

Meanwhile, Willow walked across her bedroom and then turned and went back the way she had come. She grabbed a sweater from a chair and exited into the bathroom. As she went, Tara went to making the bed. She found the herb that Willow used to do the "forgot" spell.

She picked it up, sniffed it, and smiled.

Dawn ran out of her room and over to the bathroom door. She knocked on the door while jumping from foot to foot as if she had to pee. Willow came out of the bathroom brushing her hair. Dawn rushed into the bathroom.

Buffy continued to lay in bed, awake.

At the Magik Shoppe, Xander and Anya were looked at a bridal magazine, smiling and talking. A customer came over and Anya escorted her toward the cash register.

Dawn stood by the bookshelves looking at a book. Giles came over and took the book away. Dawn looked annoyed. Giles gestured with the book and walked off.

Willow and Tara were at the round table looking at a book together and taking notes. Buffy was sitting beside Tara, sketching on a pad.

Giles came over and held a large one in Buffy's line of sight. Then he gestured with his hand toward the back and walked away.

Buffy put down her sketch pad, got up, and followed Giles toward the workout room taking off her sweater as she went.

That night, Buffy was patrolling in the graveyard. She walked along, looking around.

Suddenly, she began to sing.

"Every single night, the same arrangement

I go out and fight the fight

Still I always feel this strange estrangement

Nothing here is real, nothing here is right."

A vampire appeared from behind a gravestone. It rushed Buffy.

She spun him around and continued to sing.

"I've been making shows of—"She punched the vamp. "trading blows, just hoping no one knows—" she kicked and grabbed the vamp. She threw him behind her. "that I've been going through the motions. Walking through the part—"

Buffy pulled a stake from her jacket pocket. The vamp attacked her from behind and she staked him without looking back.

"Nothing seems to penetrate my heart

I was always brave, and kind of righteous

Now I find I'm wavering—"

Two vampires and a demon were gathering near a tree with a human tied to the tree. The vamp saw Buffy and attacked.

"Crawl out of you grave, you'll find this fight just—" She punched a vamp.

"Doesn't mean a thing—" She punched vamp two.