Later that night, after everyone had settled in, Xander found himself sitting in the infirmary beside Willow's bed. Ethan had already been moved to his and Giles' rooms. Madam Pomfrey had told them that Willow and Ethan would not wake until later the next day, but Xander had been unswayed. As much fun as it had been to tour the castle, Xander had soon lost interest in anything that would keep him from Willow. The mediwitch had been exasperated, but had had no choice but to le t him stay.
Xander knew that he had a lot to think about. In a matter of hours his life had been turned upside down and he had been given a true chance at happiness. If only he and the others didn't end up killing each other first, or as Harry said, they didn't end up killing the two old gits. That had made both Buffy and Xander laugh.
Xander wished that Willow were awake. She should be with him, casting aspersions and making jokes about his unending parade of strange lovers. The fact that one of them had ended up being Spike was only one more oddity in the love life of Xander Harris. He knew that Willow was a strong witch, and even the Headmaster had told him that Willow was one of the most powerful witches he had ever met. With the spell on her removed she would be able to perform magic again, but would not become lost in the darker aspects of it. Xander had been thrilled to hear this, but all in all, he just wanted his Willow back.
The more he thought about what he had learned from Wes, about what had been done to both Willow and Giles, the more he began to see patterns to the Scoobies' involvement with the Watcher's Council. It was disheartening to see all that they had done to destroy the life of his friends and loved ones. Xander wondered if they had done something to Faith to drive her into madness and blood lust. Had they known that her second Watcher was evil? Xander had often wondered if they hadn't set out to destroy the dark Slayer. Until the Council refused to help heal Angel, Buffy had followed their rules and had done most of what they told her. However, Faith had always been a lone wolf.
It enraged Xander that there was no one left alive for him to punish for the crimes committed against those he loved. If he ever found out that any of them were alive, he would do everything in his power to punish and destroy them. Xander wasn't quite the White Knight everyone assumed him to be. He ha d lied to Buffy and sent Angel to hell without a qualm, and while he had felt justified in doing it at the time, he had always regretted punishing Angel for Angelus' crimes.
This sense of guilt only got worse after Spike had come to live with him in the basement. They had gotten into a discussion about Angelus, and Spike had been livid about Xander's remarks about his Sire. It was then that he learned that the vampire that they all knew as Angelus was not the vampire that Spike had been raised by until the death of the gypsy girl. Angelus had still been evil when Spike was first turned, but hello, demon. He had treated his Childer as though they were his precious gift. Angelus had been the one to send Dru after William. He had known that Darla would not allow him to turn the beautiful young male and so Dru had brought him into the night.
That had led to the final truce between himself and Angel. Xander had asked the older vampire to meet him in a quiet, neutral place and proceeded to tell him everything. He had also apologized. They had begun to make their peace, and that had led them to where they were today. Not quite friends, but no longer enemies.
Xander was drawn out of his musings by a shimmering light making its way over to the bed. Xander was stunned to see Tara's spirit standing at the end of Willow's bed.
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