Buffy was awake and dressed by the time Willow crept into their room. Oz had returned from his trip late last evening and stayed in their guestroom rather than returning to the noisier house he shared with the Dingoes. Or at least that was the excuse he and Willow gave.
"So, did Oz get any sleep?" Buffy asked with a sly grin as the witch tiptoed into the room.
"Eep!" Willow squeaked. "What are you doing awake?"
"Good morning to you too."
Willow glared at her and began moving around the room gathering up the things she would need in the shower.
"I take it by the non-reply that you got smoochies." Buffy grinned at her now blushing friend.
"It's none of your business," Willow replied with as much dignity as she could while her face fluoresced. "And why are you awake?"
"Couldn't sleep."
"Ah. Flashback?"
"Oh yeah." Buffy smiled dreamily.
"Do I want any details or . . ."
Buffy gave her an even briefer outline than Giles had, including the details of their meeting in the kitchen during the night. For a long moment Willow was silent.
"I . . . that . . . why . . . how do you feel?" she eventually managed.
"Surprisingly unembarrassed, although that's probably because compared to everything else that's happened over the past few days this was quite tame. I still can't believe that I, uh . . . seduced Giles. I guess that's the only way to describe what I did."
"Seduced is such a strong word," Willow began, "but, yup, that's what you did. You hussy."
"Willow!"
"I meant that in a good way."
"Is there a good way to call someone a hussy?"
***
Willow and Buffy were the first people to return home that afternoon. Giles had to finish up at college and Xander was covering the afternoon shift at the hotel as well as the evening one. Willow put her coat neatly on a hook and set her bag under while Buffy slung her coat in the general direction of a hook and hung her purse on the railing of the stairs. For a while they sat in the kitchen, drinking sodas and gossiping, enjoying the rare chance to be teenagers not worried about the future of the world or demons. Eventually Buffy looked at the clock and suggested they get down to some research.
"Buffy, what are you hoping to find? There are so many spells, and there's no way to know which one was used," Willow asked. "You know how you feel about him, and I know he feels the same, so . . ."
"I don't know," Buffy confessed. "I want my memories back. I want to know why we got married so suddenly. Not that I wouldn't marry him again in a flash, but it's just not like him. And most of all I want to know who did this."
"I can see your point," Willow commented. "I'll get the snacks, you get the drinks. Your husband will be home any minute now."
My husband. I like that Buffy thought, feeling a thrill of happiness at the thought.
On the way to the Basement Buffy snagged the mail to sort through. She and Willow were just sitting down when they heard the front door opening, and Buffy smiled to herself at the knowledge that Giles was home. She was slightly amazed at how much she missed him during the day, and had done ever since the school was destroyed. Now that she could think about these things rationally she knew she had come to count on being able to see him all the time at school, and despite being on the same campus at college it was not the same. Somehow going to see him in his office is different to seeing him in the library, she thought to herself.
She began sifting through the mail sorting it out into piles for the various members of the household. Giles got all the bills (naturally) and Xander had three circulars offering him credit cards. Evidently they did not know anything about his finances. Buffy was fairly surprised to receive a hand written letter postmarked in Nevada. Curiously she opened it.
Giles came down the stairs in time to see Buffy blush and throw a piece of paper on the table. She looked up and saw him and if it was possible her blush grew deeper. For a moment she sat in thought, debating what she would do, then she thrust the paper into his hand and ran up the stairs.
When Giles read the letter he could immediately see why she was behaving so strangely.
'Buffy,
I'm sure you'll understand why I'm not telling you this in person - your husband tends to be somewhat irrational about me. Before you start accusing me of anything I would like to reassure you that I had nothing to do with this. That's not to say I wouldn't have done this if I had thought of it, but someone beat me to it. Pity. It's been such fun.
Where to start? I was passing through Sunnydale for a meeting (I'm sure you won't hold it against me if I don't give names) and happened to pass your house. You can imagine my surprise when I saw you and Ripper come out and share rather a passionate kiss. If that taxi hadn't arrived when it did . . . you get the picture.
I decided to follow you and see what you did. You were rather good fun on the aeroplane and your wedding ceremony was quite touching.
My point? I believe you may want to look up the Rite of Atani. Just a suggestion of course, after all I'm a mere dabbler in these things.
I hope I've helped,
Ethan Rayne
PS. Welcome to the mile high club!'
As Buffy had earlier Giles sat for a while in thought then said, "Willow, can you try to find some information on the Rite of Atani?"
Before she could ask what was wrong he followed his Slayer up the stairs. Ever curious, Willow quickly read the letter that Giles had left on the table. As she read the final comment she began blushing.
"Wow. Why didn't she tell about that? Not that I want to know . . . or at least, know details. You always hear . . . I'm talking to myself. This is not good. Research. Right. I can do that. I wonder if Oz likes flying . . ."
***
Buffy was noisily washing up when Giles found her. Considering they had a perfectly good dishwasher he guessed she was using it as a distraction so he got a towel and began drying up. She was not so deep in her thoughts that she had not noticed him entering the kitchen this time, so she managed not to jump when he spoke.
"I'm going to kill bloody Ethan the next time I see him," Giles stated.
"Need a hand?" Buffy joked weakly.
There was an awkward silence broken only by the clank of dishes.
"You know," Buffy began after a few minutes, "I'm more embarrassed that Ethan saw us than about anything else in that letter. Strange, huh?"
Giles simply gaped at her. Again. This is getting to be habit. And she seems to enjoy it.
***
"I found something!" Willow cried excitedly as Buffy and Giles came down the stairs.
"You did?" Buffy sounded almost as excited as her best friend.
"Giles, can we trust what Ethan said?" Willow asked. "I mean, he's Ethan and . . . well, that's about it. He's Ethan."
He considered for a moment. "A-all things considered, I think he's telling the truth. He has no reason to lie and in this case the truth would be more fun for him. Ethan only cares about two things; himself and his fun. Even if he's lying about not casting the spell he'll have told the truth about the rest of it."
"Good. 'Cause this spell is actually a fairly simple one and I'm not sure why we overlooked it. Well, apart from not having looked in this book yet. And it being so simple."
"Will, you're babbling again," Buffy told her.
"Oh. Well, the Rite of Atani just releases all your inhibitions and fears of the consequences, and then kind of plays around with your memory when it wears off. Temporary amnesia sort of thing. You're already having flashbacks, so give it time and you'll remember it all."
"So this means that everything we did . . ." Giles began.
". . .we wanted to do anyway." Buffy finished.
"That's about it." Willow agreed. "No-one forced you to do anything. It was all you. Uh, Giles? Are you ok? You look kind of comatose."
*finis*