Disclaimer: These characters belong to Joss,the WB,Mutant Enemy,etc.
I claim all rights to other people such as Ali,Theresa,the past and future characters(I.E. Christian, Future Buffy,etc.),and a lot of others."A Christmas Carol" belongs to Charles Dickens.The book helped me get to sleep the night of our big test last week,so watch "The Muppet Christmas Carol".Same thing,only less boring and it has the Muppets in it! "TMCC" belongs to Jim Henson Productions.
*N SYNC belongs to their gorgeous selves and RCA.I'm only borrowing them and a few songs,I promise to not hurt them. Plus,in the first part,there's reference to "Armageddon".I don't own that,nor the lyrics to "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing".Touchstone Pictures and Aerosmith own those. Pity,though...

Notes: This is my rendition of "Amends". Ms.Calendar's not evil and those Priest guys don't exist.Actually,they do,but not in the story.You get the idea.Oh yeah...say the last 10-15 minutes of "Lover's Walk" with Cordy,Oz,Xander and Willow never happened.Oz and Will are still together,as are Cordy and Xander.And Buffy and Angel are an item,too.Buffy never said she never wanted to see him again.(But that was kind of blown over,huh?)

Summary: Buffy,Angel,Xander and Willow are haunted by ghosts.The Ghosts of Christmas' Past,Present and Yet-To-Come.Can they keep their sanity while being subdued by their embarrassing and painful Christmas'? Find out...

Feedback/Distribution: Please.Send feedback to slayer_2000_@hotmail.com,and tell me if you're going to use this on another site.I'd probably say "Yes! Oh yes!",but just check to make sure.

And now for the story...

"I just love Christmas! The presents...the food...the presents...the decorations...hey,did I
mention the presents?" Xander Harris joyfully quipped as he and his friends trudged
through Sunnydale after the bell had released them for two weeks for Christmas.

"Xander! Christmas isn't just about presents! It's about love...and giving...and being able
to see your family!"

"How would you know,Willow? Your Jewish!" Cordelia Chase,Xander's
girlfriend,snapped at the red-head harshly.

"Well...That doesn't necessarily mean I can't and don't celebrate Christmas and
Hanukkah.My mom's Catholic!" Willow shot back.

"You know what I love about Christmas? No school,no dusty library,and no vampires or
demons! Which equals no messed up out-fits and broken nails!" Cordelia chirped.

"Yeah,but they usually show up around New Year's in time for the new year and a few
drunken partiers..." Buffy Summers mumbled,stuffing her hands into her pockets and
looking at the puddles the night before's rain had created.

"I take it around Christmas you're the Scrooge of Slayers,huh?" Oz,Willow's
boyfriend,asked of the blonde.

"Ha-ha."

"Hey,I wonder what vampires actually do for Christmas.What does Angel do?" Willow
pondered,walking closer to Oz.

"I don't think vamps celebrate the Yule Season,even vamps with souls."
Xander said,looking at the couple and wrapping his arm around Cordelia's shoulder.

"But wouldn't it be cool if Angel did? I mean,I can just picture him baking cookies,and
putting up ornaments..."

~~~

Angel was busy putting the last few glass ornaments on the Christmas tree when he heard
the door to the mansion open and a voice call out,
"Hey.I didn't know vampires decorated for the season! Looks like Xander was proven
wrong..."

"Buffy!" He gasped,spinning around and almost knocking over the tree.
The slayer came through the hall into the main room.

"No,I'm an elf from Santa's workshop at the North Pole disguised as Buffy Summers
come to tell you which of the lists you made!" She quipped,taking off her coat and
back-pack,setting them on the couch and walking to Angel.

"You are?" Buffy rolled her eyes and looked at the mountain of glass,lights and pine
needles.

"Wow have you got free time!" Angel chuckled and led her back to the couch.

"Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful.No star,though.I know,why don't we hang you by the top and you can be the
Christmas Angel!" The vampire laughed again.

"So,which list did I make?" He asked,brushing a bit of hair from the side of Buffy's face
to see her eyes better.

"It all depends what you bought your ravishingly beautiful slayer girlfriend for the
holidays.If it's food,shoes,clothes or jewelry,Nice list.Anything else,Naughty list."

"What did you get me?" Angel asked.Buffy looked at him,smiled and dug into her
back-pack,producing a brown paper-bag tied with red and green ribbon.He took it and
untied the ribbon,then put his hand in and pulled out...A little gingerbread vampire
complete with yellow Smartie eyes and red and white icing fangs.Angel looked at her
puzzled,then told her,"I appreciate the thought,but I don't eat gingerbread.Even before I
was brought over,I hated it."

"Oh.Oops.That's *my* present from Will and the gang." She dug again into her bag and
produced a similar bag."*Here's* your present."

Angel opened it and brought out several bags of dark red blood,with glitter glue messages
across them:

Merry Christmas!

"There's more,but it's at my house.Plus,I scored A positive,see? Your favorite!" Buffy
smile died when she realized her topic of discussion."Look at me,I'm talking about
blood.At Christmas."
Angel set the bags down and got up quietly without word.Then he went to the tree and
bent down underneath it."Angel.Look,I'm sorry.I didn't mean to-" He came back holding a
small golden gift-wrapped box.He had a slight smile on his face and handed the box to
her.

"Here.Merry Christmas." He said as she took it.

"What is it?" She shook it,and only heard a small *thud!*.

"Open it!" He told her,sitting down again.Buffy eyed him,then carefully tore off the
paper.Under it was a velvet case,and inside that was a beautiful gold necklace with a
little heart pendant.She gasped as she picked it up and saw how lovely it was when it
reflected the light from the tree.

"Oh-my-God! It's so beautiful!"

"Open the locket." Angel said.She did,and on the inside,on one side and continued onto
the next,were the words:
"I could stay awake just to hear you breathin'
Watch you smile while you are sleepin'
Far away and dreamin'

I could spend my life in this sweet surrender
I could stay lost in this moment forever
Well, every moment spent with you
Is a moment I treasure"

Buffy smiled at him lovingly after having read the inscription and pulled him into a soft
kiss.Angel returned it,wrapping his arms around her.The kiss grew in passion until Buffy
broke it.

"You know,if you want to really make this a merry Christmas,we could do the animal
cracker thing AJ and Grace were doing..." They both laughing softly.

"So,which list am I on,Ms.Elf?"

"Huh? Oh.Na-Ni-I don't know.I'll have to consult with the head elf.I think that's classified
information,though." They laughed again,then Buffy stood up and placed the necklace in
the case,then the case in her bag."Listen,I've got to go.Come by around 7,and we can go
to the Christmas party at the Bronze.Okay?"

"Okay." Angel assured her,handing her her jacket.Her *leather* jacket.
*His old* leather jacket...

"It's settled.Bye." Buffy gave him a quick kiss,grabbed her back-pack and walked
out.Angel stared after her,then turned and put the star up on top of the tree.

~Chapter 2~

DING-DONG! The doorbell rang shrilly through the Summers' residence,announcing
someone was outside.

"I'll get it!" Hank Summers called coming from the kitchen.He opened the door to reveal
a tall young man with dark brown eyes,brown hair and carrying gifts.

"Uh,hi.Is Buffy home?" He asked in a deep voice.Hank decided he was only a bit older
than the girl he asked for when looking him over.

"Buffy!"

"Yeah dad?" called a young ladies voice.

"There's a boy here to see you!"

"Hold on!"

"Hank,who is-Oh,hello Angel." Joyce Summers greeted the boy coming out of the
kitchen.

"Hello J-Ms.Summers.Merry Christmas." Angel returned warmly with a small smile.

"Who is it dad?" called the girl's voice again,diverting the three's attention upward.The
owner came into view on the second floor,and Angel's eyes lit up.Buffy Summers
descended the stairs,her blonde hair giving off a glow and her green and red velvet dress
fitting her form perfectly.

'Wow.' Angel thought to himself as she reached the landing.

"Hey.Are those the presents I asked you to wrap? Thanks. Let me grab a bag...And you
can come in." Buffy told him,hurrying into the living room with the gifts. Angel stepped
in and closed the door behind him,then he,Hank and Joyce stood in silence.

"So,what do you do for a living,Angel?" Hank asked,breaking it.

"Uh.Well..." Angel stammered,searching for an alibi.A lie.Anything.
"I...paint.Draw.I'm an artist."

"Oh.You know,I have a friend whose an artist." Hank replied,buying it.

"That's great Dad.And if you're done boring Angel to death,he can give me that ride to the
Bronze." Buffy said,reemerging and opening the door.

"Well,alright.Nice to meet you Angel.Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas Mr.Summers!" Angel called back,closing the door.
Hank and Joyce stood there for a few seconds then headed back into the kitchen.

"Joyce,are they *together*?"

"No,Hank.Angel's just a friend of Buffy's."

"Are you sure? That look he got when she came down,I know that look! Besides,I didn't
even see a car-"

***

"Wow.That's your dad?" Angel asked as the two trudged down the streets.

"Yeah.He's nice,but sometimes you have to hit him over the head to let him get what
your saying..." They laughed and continued their way to Willow Rosenburg's house in
silence.

~Chapter 3~

"So,when are they going to be here? It's past midnight!" Xander persisted,sighing and
staring outside into the darkness from Willow's front window.

"Xander,it's only 7.And I'm sure Buffy and Angel will be here soon!" Willow urged in
her cheerful
voice.There was a knock on the door,and Willow ran to it."See? Here they are!" She
threw open the door,and before seeing who it actually was,she proclaimed,"Merry
Christmas Buffy-" Instead of
the petite slayer and her boyfriend,she found a boy,shorter than her with blazing red
hair."-and Angel.Oh,hey,Oz! I thought you weren't going to be here!"

"Our plane got snowed in over in New York,so I thought I'd spend Christmas with my
girlfriend." Oz replied,stepping in and handing her a red gift-wrapped
present."Merry-er-Happy Hanukkah,hun."

"Oh Oz.That's so sweet!"

"What's so sweet?" Xander asked,walking into the foyer."Oh.Hi,Oz."

"Hey.Here,Merry Christmas."

"Ooh...Oz Claus is here!" Xander grasped the red wrapped gift the werewolf had given
him,then he started dancing and singing,off-key,his version of 'Deck the Halls':

'Tis the season for presents
Fa-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la
It's the holiday Dead-boy res-ents
Fa-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la
What a loser-"

"Xander,you sing worse than Cordelia does." Buffy called from the open door as she and
Angel reached it.

"Oh,hey Buff.Dead-boy." Angel glared at Xander,and waited on the doorstop while
Buffy went in.

"Sorry,Angel.Why don't you come on in?" Willow chirped.The vampire nodded and
stepped forward onto the cherry floor.

"Here guys.These are for you." Buffy smiled warmly,handing Willow the bag she'd been
carrying.

"Ooh...Slayer Scrooge has turned into Slayer Santa!" Xander quipped,grabbing a present
with his name on it before Willow could pull them away from him.He shook it vigorously
but couldn't hear
anything."Whatchya get me? Please don't let it be clothes."

"Don't worry Xander.I got you a cute little stuffed clown for your room." The boy went
pale at the thought of it's wide,black eyes watching him as he slept,the grin forever
plastered on it's face...

"H-here Will.Y-y-you can have it." He gave the gift to the red-head,
still pale.

"See.I know how to stop him snooping.Come on,let's go.I want to grab a table before it
packs up." Buffy urged them.

After a few minutes,a still shocked Xander,a sugar-cookie hyper Willow,Oz,Angel and
Buffy were off to the Bronze.

***

When they got to the club,the place was already packed with the majority of the town's
teenagers.Even the dork who sat at the back by himself in Buffy's algebra class was there.

"Okay.Forget what I said earlier about being here before it filled up..." The slayer
quipped as she walked around,the others having to follow in single file.

They finally found a spot out on the dance floor,since the tables were all taken up.After a
few minutes,the band on stage started packed up as the bouncer came on stage.

"Aw.We missed the carols." Oz said,disappointed.

"If you want to listen to carols,go outside." Xander told him.
"How can you call this a dance? I mean,you can't even *move* let alone *dance*."

"Thanks guys.Sonic Scream everybody! Okay.For our next act,I have *no* idea how we
scored these guys.We *somehow* caught them on their way up from San Diego to Los
Angeles to preform here tonight.Please welcome pop sensation 'N SYNC!!!"

All the girls,well *almost* all the girls went wacko and started screaming as the five
walked on stage.

"Hello Sunnydale!" JC yelled out.They all screamed louder than before,making Buffy and
the others,along with a lot of other people,cover their ears to block out the noise."Been
such a long time since we preformed in a club,huh guys?" The four behind him nodded.

"Yeah.Wow,for such a small town you guys have a *lot* of teenagers in here.There are
probably about half from LA too." Justin quipped."Tonight,we'll be singing songs from
our Christmas CD because,duh! It's Christmas!"

The Bronze was filled with screaming and cheering.

"Let's start off with the most popular one,Merry Christmas,Happy Holidays,shall we?"
Chris asked.More screaming.The intro came on and they started singing,

"Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Ooh yeah.
We've been waiting all year for this night
And the snow is glistening on the trees outside-"

Buffy looked over to Angel,who still had his ears covered,had his eyes squeezed shut and
was paler than usual.

"Are you okay?" He didn't respond,but she saw him vamp-out then change back again."I'll
take that as a 'no'." Buffy turned to Willow,who was looking too."Will,I've got to
break.Angel's not feeling good."

"Okay."

"We'll catch up with you outside when you guys come out." With that,Buffy led Angel to
the door and outside.

"-And all the blessings from above
God sends you His love-"
***

For some reason,once he hit the cooler air,Angel took a deep breath and appeared to be
sweating.

"What was that about?"

"Just...lust pumps more blood,and you can understand,that much blood going through
that many girls...It's enough to even drive humans nuts..." Angel explained,leaning
against the wall of the Bronze to
concentrate.

"Yeah.I guess.Come on,lets go walk around and you can cool off." Buffy offered.Using
her as a semi-support,the two walked out of the alley and into the night.

~Chapter 4~

Several hours later,they found themselves in front of Buffy's house.

"Oh no! I told Willow and the others to wait for us! Oh well,they probably walked
home.No danger tonight." Buffy slapped her head,remembering her friends.

"Are all you Christmas' this fun?" Angel asked,following her to the door.

"No.Usually it's just bake and decorate cookies with mom,to bed early." They chuckled
quietly and then were surrounded by an awkward silence.

"I guess...You should get to bed.Your mom's probably worried about you." Buffy nodded.
Then as he turned and walked down the stairs,she ran up to him and kissed him
hard.Angel was so taken by surprise that he lost his balance and fell backwards on to the
ground.

"Oh God! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" Buffy asked,starting down the stairs.

Angel got up and dusted himself off."I'm alright.What was that about?" Buffy pointed
up,and hanging by the over-hang was a string of mistletoe.He smiled at her and she
smiled back,then went back to the door,unlocked it and went in.

After she'd closed the door behind her,Angel stared at the wreath hanging on it then
turned around to head off.But stopped dead when the form of a young girl dressed in a
long night gown and hugging a tattered teddy bear materialized on the lawn just in front
of him.

"The First shall come when the bell tolls one Angelus." She whispered in a heavy irish
accent,barely audible but loud enough for him to hear.

"A-Ali?" But before he could get a good look,she disappeared in a wisp of breeze.Angel
shook his head slightly at first,then more vigorously,and took off fast down the street
towards the mansion.

***

Buffy had reached her room just in time to see the girl disappear and Angel run off.

'Weird...' She thought to herself.Then she shook her head,slipped on her pajamas and
climbed into bed.'I've got to talk to Giles about him making me slay late at night.I need
my beauty sleep.' As soon as her head hit the pillow,she was out.

***

Unlike Buffy,Angel had some difficulty getting to sleep.He'd ran all the way
home,narrowly missing getting hit by a semi,and had ran straight into his room.There,he
collapsed on the bed and tried to get the girl out of his head...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Galaway,Ireland
Christmas 1753
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh my stars! You're finally home son!" Cried a red-haired woman in a peasant's dress
and apron as she opened the door to reveal a tall,handsome young man.

"Who is it,Grethchen.Oh,Christian! Glad to see ye son! Back from university and looking
all the wiser." A tall chubby man greeted his son as he waddled into the main
room,smoking a pipe.

"Aye father.I have grown wiser.And I've been courting." The boy told them,his Irish
accent filled with mystery.He stepped back,and where he stood was a ravishingly
beautiful young lady.She had on a long,revealing white dress and her bleach blonde hair
was tied into a bun."Mother,Father," The boy turned to a small girl in a nightgown
hugging a teddy bear,"Ali,may I introduce my courtess,Darla.Come in m'love."

"Thank you,darling." Darla replied.She took a graceful step in and smiled
broadly,showing a perfect row of sparkling white teeth.

"'Tis enchanting,Christian,but what happened to Theresa? Weren't ye to wed?" Christian's
father asked,looking over Darla's radiance.

"Theresa...had an unfortunate accident." The young lady said,hiding a smile.

"Oh.Poor lass.Her father is certainly heart-broken I imagine." Christian's mother
breathed.

"He truly is at the loss of such a lovely daughter.Now,shall we eat?"
Christian changed the subject,more directed at Darla than Ali and his parents.

"Yes.You two must be hungry after such a long trip!" The old man exclaimed,turning and
leading the way to the dinner table,his wife with him

"That we are father." Christian responded,his voice slurred.His mother and father turned
around to see what might have made his voice change,and they screamed.Instead of their
handsome young son and his lovely courtess,there were to demons.They had identical
wicked smiles on their faces,drawing back their lips,showing an identical set of razor
sharp teeth.Fangs.

Christian's mother kicked and screamed as Darla drew her near and bit into her neck,and
his father did the same as Christian bit into his neck.When the two vampires were done
their dinner,they turned to see Ali,cowering in a corner.

"Well,Ali.Congratulations.You're dessert." Darla told her,advancing and grabbing the
girl.And with one swift moment,the demons' fangs where in her neck.Christian drew
close and did the same,but stopping to whisper,"Merry Christmas Ali." before doing so.

***

Angel awoke with a start.No demon-girl beside him,no little girl getting her life
drained,no dead bodies,no brightly lit cabin on the edge of a small Irish town.Just
darkness and himself in a mansion.
Well,he thought he was alone,until he saw another figure.

This one had was on it's side,only showing Angel it's light-blue covered back.'Who the-'
as if answering his mental question,the figure
rolled onto it's side,making Angel gasp at the recognition of the face.

"Buffy?" At that second,she woke up.Not to the peaceful butterfly wallpapered room
she'd fallen asleep in,but to a dark room.The only thing that was visible was another
person in the bed in front of her.

"Wha-what am I doing here? Angel?" She asked confusidly.Angel walked to her,but
passed right through her."What the hell is going on?!"

A bright flash of light lit up the room that instant,and there were two more people: A tall
young man with croppy brown hair and large ears and a shorter red-head girl..They
stirred and rubbed their eyes.

"What the-? Where are we?" The boy asked,looking around.He looked down and realized
he was three feet off the floor.

"Hey! This isn't my room!" The girl beside him proclaimed,spinning around."Where's
Oz? Buffy!" she ran to the blonde,but passed right through her,like Angel had.

"What the hell is going on?!" The boy demanded.

"I'll answer that Xander." called an airy voice.In another flash appeared a woman with
short dark brown hair that fell to her slightly crooked neck."I brought you here because I
have to show you something."

The four stood silent before all asking together,in unison,"Ms.Calendar?!"

"Hey."

~Chapter 6~

"Wha-wha-wha-" Willow stammered,shaking her head disbelievingly at the
form of the dead techno-pagan in front of her.

"What am I doing here?" Ms.Calendar asked.Willow nodded,unable to speak.

"Yeah,what are you and *us* doing here in Dead-Boy's room? And...Why's
Dead-Boy there,and in bed?" Xander questioned,seeing Angel's body.

"Simply,you're ghosts.I'm a ghost too.Ever read "A Christmas Carol"?"

"We've *heard* of it." Buffy said."Does that help?"

"Okay...Basically it's like that.I suppose you all met Ali?" Ms.Calendar
asked,eying the four.

"Who?"

"Oh,Ali! Sh-she came into my room.O-Oz-"

"What was Oz doing in your room?!" Xander cut the hacker off.

"Well,we were watching movies,and we fell asleep.Together.In bed."
Willow explained hesitantly.

"You go Will! Now,back on topic," Buffy turned to Ms.Calendar,"What are
we doing here?"

"As I said before.It's like "A Christmas Carol".Ali was kind of like
Marley's Ghost.I'm The First,Ghost of Christmas Past."

"Oh.So,what do we do? Go look around at people in the past? Jeez,this is
a waste of good sleep time.Hey! I want to be home in time to sneak a
stocking!" Xander said,not liking the idea of following the orders of a
dead gypsy.

"Too bad.It won't take long.I have an hour,anyway.Let's go." Ms.Calendar
pointed at the window and it flung open,letting in a cold-er-warm draft.

"Wha-what? We go out the window?" Angel asked,walking to it and looking
down at the ground.

"Yep." Ms.Calendar responded.

"You do know we can't fly! Angel probably won't get hurt a lot,we,being
mortals,would either end up in intensive care or die."
Xander told her.

"Don't worry,you won't get hurt on this trip."

"Why should we listen to you?!" Xander blurted out."You're nothing but a
dead broad!" Ms.Calendar's expression went from cheery to pissed.Very
pissed.

"Does this look like something a 'dead broad' can do?!" She picked up
the boy by the night shirt and flung him through the window.

"Xander!" Willow and Buffy yelled after him as he tumbled to the
ground.And disappeared in mid-air.

"What? Where is he???" Willow asked franticly,turning around to face the
techno-pagan.

"He's gone to the past.Now it's your turn." Buffy and Angel turned
around as the teacher charged them and flung them out.Then they
disappeared,just like Xander.

"See? You didn't get hurt!" With that,Ms.Calendar followed,the window
shutting behind her.

~Chapter 7~

A bright light lit up the sky as the remaining four time travelers
arrived in the past and landed heavily in a snow bank,sending snow
flying.

Buffy groaned and got up,looking around."What the heck? Where are we?"

"Welcome to the past." Ms.Calendar told the four.Willow struggled up and
looked around also.

"Oh my God! Snow!" She yelled joyfully,throwing up a bunch of the
foreign fluff.

"Uh Angel?" Came Xander's muffled voice."Can you get off me? It's *so*
cold,and you are *so* heavy!" Angel apologized and stood up out of the
snow bank,dusting off his long coat and top hat.

"Okay,what are we dressed in?!" Buffy demanded,noticing the girls'
identical dresses in different shades of red,Angel's coat and Xander,who
was still face down in the snow."How far back are we exactly? This looks
like my Halloween costume from last year!"

"Guys,welcome to Ireland.Christmas 1752." Ms.Calendar introduced them.

"WHAT?!" All four yelled,Xander standing up.And slipping on a sheet of
ice and falling into the snow again.

"Not only are we in the past,but *Angel's* past???" Buffy bellowed.

"I brought you all here to show you all what Christmas was like when you
were all young.But in your cases,not born." Xander got up again and
heard happy laughter as something rammed into his back and knocked him
down again.

"Ali! I told you to watch out!" called a male's voice from behind
them.Buffy and Willow looked up,along with Angel,and all three gasped.
There stood a younger vintage of Angel with his hair pulled into a small
pony tail,a tattered peasants coat over his shoulders.

"I'm so sorry sir." He told Xander,helping the girl up,then helping
Xander gain his balance."My sister gets excited around these times.Are
ye okay?"

"Uh,yeah." Xander said,checking to see if all his teeth were in
check,then catching the other boys face."Hey! Dead-Boy! It's your
not-so-dead-self!"

"Come Christian.We have to get to church." Ali told the boy,grabbing his
hand and pulling him away.

"Nice meeting ye.M'ladies." Christian bowed his head to the girls and
walked after his impatient sister.

"Christian? Your name was Christian?" Xander questioned Angel,who just
shot him a glare,then burst into laughter."What kind of dorky name is
'Christian'?" Buffy glared at the giggling idiot,then tripped him,making
him land once again on his back.

"Come on.I'm going to speed this up a bit." Ms.Calendar told them.She
snapped her fingers and there was a flash,then it was night.But they
weren't surrounded by the buildings of a city,but merely by small farms
several acres large.They stood in front of a fair sized cottage with a
barn and a garden in back and smoke coming from the cobblestone
chimney."I want to show you what Christmas dinner was like back
then.Or,rather now." Ms.Calendar gestured towards the wall.

"Won't they see us? I mean,if Christian and Ali could,and Ali could hit
Xander,won't they be able to tell that there are strangers in their
house? And we can't go through walls-"

"Willow,these are shadows of the past.They don't remember a thing of us
being here.They won't even sense us,since we're no longer whole.Try
shaking each other's hand." The gypsy explained.The four tried it,and
their hands passed through each other's."See? Now let's go." They nodded
and followed her in.

Inside was the soft glow of numerous candles and roaring fire.Smells
wafted in from the small kitchen set off to the side.To their right were
three couches and a fire place.On one of the couches were the familiar
pair of Christian and Ali,Ali bugging her older brother with her new
teddy bear.

"Oh,Christian,Ali.How could you ever afford this?" asked an older man's
voice.The siblings looked up.

"We saved up for it,Father.Ali got a few pounds from helping out
Ms.Reaily in the town,and I worked overtime at the tavern for money." A
chubby hand held up an expensive looking pipe.

"Gretchen! Come look at what the children got me,and open your present!"

"What's the point? Angel's dad got a pipe.Big deal." Xander asked.

"The point is,they were happier with only a few gifts.They spent more
time with family.They had a true Christmas.The point of this is to help
you three rekindle the Christmas spirit."

"Then why is Willow here?" Angel asked.

"When she came,Ali told me that the ghosts would need help,since you
guys are so stubborn and non-believing."

"I am not stubborn!" Buffy proclaimed angerly."Am I?"

"All right ye three." Called Christian's/Angel's mother from the
kitchen."Dinner's ready.Christian,Montgumery,come help me.Ali,you set
the table please."

"Yes mother." Ali replied,walking to a small cabinet,opening it and
setting the long table to the ghosts' left.A few minutes later,the men
reappeared from the kitchen carrying assorted bowls and bottles.

"She's supposed to be here.She always keeps her promises." There was a
knock at the door,Christian set down his dishes and walked through
Willow and Ms.Calendar,to the door.He opened it wide to reveal a tall
young woman with long brown hair and glimmering coffee brown eyes.

"Theresa! Ye made it!" Christian proclaimed.

"Merry Christmas m'love." Theresa replied,giving him a kiss on the cheek
and handing him a bag.Christian kissed her back and setting the bag
beside the door,leading Theresa inside and closing the door.

"Mother! Theresa's here!"

"Okay,this is boring.Can we fast-forward it?" Xander asked impatiently.

"I think we've seen enough of this kind of Christmas to get the message
into your brains.We've got to more stops to make..."

"Where are we going?" Angel asked.

"Present Past." Ms.Calendar said crypticly. She snapped her finger and
there was an extremely bright flash of light.

~Chapter 8~

After the glare subsided,the five could see that they were closer to the
present.The teenagers were dressed in the clothes they had worn to the
party,and Angel was in his infamous leather jacket and a white tank-top.
Ms.Calendar was in a simple,flowing white dress.

"Where are we?" Willow asked,looking around at the large neighbourhood
lit up by the numerous streetlights."This isn't Sunnydale,we don't have
houses this big."

Buffy looked through the fairly large windows of the surrounding
houses,and her gaze fell on a house just to their left.Inside there was
a large tree,and underneath were two small children,a little blonde girl
and slightly taller brown haired boy,looking through the presents.Around
the tree facing outside were four adults,a curly blonde drinking egg-nog
beside her brown haired husband,and the other two had mocha brown
hair,sipping wine.

The girl ripped the wrapping off a present and revealed a pink and
plastic carton containing a doll. Ms.Calendar flicked her wrist,the
slayer and slayerettes could hear the parents' conversation.

"Since Hank was laid off,we could only afford to buy Buffy a few
presents.I hope she's not too heartbroken." said the blonde haired woman
sadly.The little girl,Buffy,ran to her and gave her a hug.

"Thanks mom! It's what I wanted!" Then the girl ran off after the
boy,who'd opened a bucket of solders and had disappeared from view.

"Well,we could only get Pike those solders.He seems happy enough."
replied the other woman.Then the four walked off into the next room.

During this,Xander had fallen over in laughter.Again.

"The all-mighty slayer played with Barbies!" he laughed again.
Buffy and Angel glared at him,and Willow shook her head,turning.

"Well you played with them too,to my understanding!" Buffy shot
back.Xander stopped laughing.

"I did not! I never!" Ms.Calendar snapped her fingers yet again,and
again there was a flash.
When it subsided,they found themselves in a smaller neighbourhood.
Xander put his face in his hands and turned away from the house they
were in front of.Buffy and Angel looked into the window and saw two more
small children.Another brown-haired boy,and a red-haired girl,fighting
over another doll. The techno-pagan flicked her wrist again,and their
conversation could be heard.

"Willow,I wanna play with it!" The boy proclaimed,yanking on the box.

"Xander,it's my present! You got those GI Joes!" The girl shouted
back,yanking it equally hard.

"No! I don't want those!"

"What is the point of this?" Xander asked,blushing bright red when his
younger self ripped the package from Willow's hands and jumped up and
down,then took off.

"This? I just want to embarrass you,Xander." Ms.Calendar said."The point
of the trip,is that you guys have to rekindle the Christmas Spirit,and
act like you did when you were younger.Try to re-trap the magic of being
with family.And you Xander," she pointed at the blushing
slayerette,"Have to learn Christmas isn't about presents.It's about
celebration and being with family!"

"Plus you get to bake cookies and decorate stuff!" Willow added.The
other four looked at her."What? I like decorating stuff! We're not that
big on presents any more,anyway.And my parents are barely ever home,so
it's the only time we really get to spend time together."

"Well,my time's almost up." Ms.Calendar stated,gesturing to the fact
that she'd become somewhat see-through."So I'd better take you guys
back.Remember what I said!" A wind sprung up from nowhere and enveloped
the five,sending them back to the present."And tell Giles I said hi."
Ms.Calendar added,before darkness covered them again.

***

Buffy awoke with a jolt.In her own room again.She jumped when the sound
of the ringing phone snapped her from her thoughts.She felt around her
bed side and found the phone,then picked up and asked into the
receiver,"Hello?"

"Buffy?" asked a frightened voice on the other end.

"Willow? What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry for calling you so late,and on Christmas-" Buffy checked her
alarm clock: 1:50 it read in bold digital numbers.
"-But...Did you just have a dream? About Ms.Calendar?"

"Y-Yeah.Why?"

"Because I did too.And so did Xander,he just called me.It was the same
for both of us."

"This...Is really weird.But Giles isn't at here.He's in England.Damn!"

"Why don't you check with Angel? See if he had the same dream? I
mean...remember the first part? We couldn't have known anything!" Willow
sounded persistent.

Buffy thought over what she was going to do for a few minutes,then
answered,"Y-yeah.I'm heading over there right now.I'll..call you back
tomorrow and tell you what he said."

"Alright." There was a click and a dial tone.Buffy grabbed her
clothes,took off her pajamas and slipped the clothing on,grabbed her
shoes,jacket and bag,opened the window and slipped out into the night.

~Chapter 9~

"Angel!" Buffy called from the front of the mansion.She ran into the
main room.The finished tree glittered brightly,still plugged in.She ran
straight to the bedroom and flung open the door."Angel?"

"What?" Angel looked up,still dressed in his clothes.He looked like he'd
just saw a ghost.Literally.

"Well...I-I had a dream.So did Willow and Xander,and-"

"I know." He cut her off."I had the same one.Jenny,and our pasts?"
Buffy nodded vigorously.

"That's the one.It really spooked out the other two,and it's starting to
creep me out.I just came to see if you had it too.Well...I'm sorry to
disturb you,so late.I-I'd-"

"-Better get back home." Angel finished for her.

"Uh-huh.Well...Screw this.Can I stay here? I know it's weird,but...I'm
scared."

Angel was taken back by this,but nodded and guided her to the bed.
"I'll sleep on the couch.If you want." He said,taking a pillow from the
bed.

"Yeah-No! I mean,I'll have the couch.I mean...Oh damn I don't know what
I mean." There was a blinding light that illuminated the room again.And
Willow and Xander appeared.

"Oh.Not *again*!" Xander proclaimed,letting himself fall on the bed.
He got back up and tested the bed."Hey.I can...feel it." He pulled a
hair out of his head and instantly regretted it.

"What are we doing back here? And this time,in full form?" Willow
asked,testing her walking skills.By the window,in a flurry of light and
color,appeared a figure.She was tall and looked as if she were
Caribbean.

"Nice to see you again." The figure spoke in an accent.Jamaican this
time.

Buffy took a close look,and saw faint scratch marks across the the
neck."Kendra?"
“Glad to see ya too.” Kendra replied,smiling.

“Why are we being haunted? Again? On Christmas?” Xander asked, pulling down the arms and legs of his Mickey Mouse pajamas.

“Why do you have such ridiculous pajamas? I’m here to so you what others are doing, or will be, on Christmas morn. Come on, we have lots to see in an hour.”
Kendra walked, or rather floated over to the four and put their hands together, then clapped and in a mass of colored light, they were gone.

~Chapter 10~

When they reappeared, they were surrounded by snow again. And mountains. And ski cabins.

“Dis is Colorado.” Kendra informed them. She pointed to a large cabin, and they went from the snowy mountains to a warm, cozy room.

“This is better than how Ms.Calendar got around!” Xander quipped, rubbing his eyes absentmindedly.

“Mommy! Daddy!” Came two voices. Two small boys bounded down the stairs behind the ghosts and ran to a couch. There they shook the couple that had fallen asleep on it awake. “Mommy! Daddy! Santa came! He left us chocolate, and” one boy stopped so the other could continue. “, And toys, and money!” The couple on the couch smiled at their sons and got up.

“Oh, Cordelia!” proclaimed the young woman, looking through the ghosts behind them. The spun around and Angel was the first to ask, “That’s Cordelia?”

At the base of the stairs stood a teenage girl with flowing brown hair who was smiling at the behind the ghosts.

“Weird, huh? She has no make-up and that robe’s not one-of-a-kind!”
Xander tried to laugh at his joke, but his eyes were transfixed on his girlfriend.

“I’m going to speed dis up. And Xander? You have a string of drool down your chin.” Kendra informed him. She clapped her hands and the scene with the boys, the parents and Cordelia sped up. Kendra clapped her hands again, and now the room had more people in it: an elder woman sitting on a walker, the young couple and the boys, an elder couple (obviously Cordelia’s parents) and Cordy herself holding an unwrapped present. She pulled out a dark blue, pink and purple knitted
sweater and held it up.

“Oh Nana, I love it!”

“I knitted it myself!” The old women replied, smiling through chapped lips and gums. Kendra waved her hand behind Cordelia, the air rippled, and suddenly her voice could be heard.

‘I wish I could actually wear it to school. It’s so beautiful and Nana spent so much time on it! I wonder what everyone’s doing at home…I wonder what Xander’s doing…’ Xander’s eyes went wide. “She wonders what I’m doing? I’m floating around in my pajamas behind her with a dead slayer, Dead-boy, and our two friends!”

“Come. Let’s go see someone else, shall we?” Angel, Buffy, Xander and Willow held hands again and there was the colored light, then they disappeared. Cordelia looked behind her to the stairs. “Did you guys hear something?”

“Like what, darling?” Cordelia’s mother asked.

“I thought I heard X-some one say my name. Oh well.”

***

They reappeared in another warm room, but this one wasn’t as happy as Cordelia’s cabin. The windows were covered in a black shroud and the only light came from a fireplace, in front of which were two figures.

“Is this place giving you the wiggins too, guys?” Buffy asked, uncomfortably holding her arms to her chest and looking around.

“W-why is a vampire over there?” inquired Willow, pointing to the demonic figure in the corner.

“Luv, can I open my presents now?” asked a female’s British accent.

“In a minute pet. They just have to get wrapped.” Replied a male’s voice.

“Goody. I hope Santa brought me what I’ve asked for. I was a good girl, I ate all my cake and drank all my tea…” the girl looked behind her so the five by the other wall could see her face, and their eyes popped and their mouths hung wide.

“Drusilla?! What the hell are we doing at Drusilla’s?!” Buffy demanded.

“Showing you not only humans celebrate Christmas.”

“Isn’t Christmas technically religious?” Willow asked, her voice high with fright.

“What is it, pet?” Spike spun around and started playing with her hair.

“Don’t you feel it? The power? We are being haunted. By daddy and the slayer…”
Dru dawdled, closing her eyes.

“Dru, the slayer’s not dead. Neither is Angel, well, permanently anyway.”

“Sure, make fun of my living status you peroxide-high son of a- ”

“-Angel?” Buffy questioned, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Sorry.” Angel apologized.

“I found you.” Drusilla called. They looked back and saw Drusilla draw close. She walked along the line of ghosts and revealed who it was. “The red girl, pretty thing. Her hair reminds me of strawberries. The boy. His big ears made me laugh.”

“What’s wrong with my ears?” Xander asked, putting his hands to his lobes.

“Then there’s the slayer. Again. Stupid thing, she ruined our ceremony.
And here’s-” Dru smiled as she closed in on Angel. She grabbed him by the arm of his coat and flung him into the room. “-Daddy!”

“Angel!” Buffy dove after him and ran into Dru’s back, knocking her down too.

“Is there ever a day when we don’t have to kill vampires?” Xander sighed, jumping onto the floor.

“I thought Christmas was supposed to be a happy day!” Willow said, following him.
Angel got up, and along with Buffy, backed up to Xander and Willow.

“Kendra, why can they see us?” Buffy asked behind her.

“I know I’m supposed to fade, but not this quickly. Hold on, I’ll get us out of here…” Kendra replied, unseen to any of them.

“And the other slayer. Is your throat okay, luv? I hope you like the after-life.”
Drusilla dawdled again.

“Because your friends are going to join you.” Spike finished. He was vamped-out and advancing.

“Kendra!” yelled the four as Spike dove for Buffy. But she disappeared before he reached her, along with the others.

“What the bloody hell was that?!” Spike demanded, getting back up and looking for his prey. Drusilla pouted and started crying fakely. “Oh Dru. Don’t worry, let’s go open those presents.” Dru looked up happily. “Goody!”

* * *

“That was close!” Buffy sighed when they materialized in another large room. This one had another fireplace, the fire burning bright. The light reflected off a brilliant crystal chandelier in the middle of the ceiling. By the fireplace was a beautiful Christmas tree lit with small candles. Buffy, Xander and Willow walked around in amazement at the room. In one corner was a case that could be opened, and inside was a thick and dusty book marked “Watcher sign-in” in elegant gold letters.

“So this is the watcher retreat.” Xander observed. A door closed down the hall, startling them.

“Yes. Merry Christmas to you two, Iris.” Said a voice. Then there were soft footsteps and through the corridor to the left came a man in a tweed vest and pants.

“Does Giles know of anything else than tweed?” Kendra asked.

“Nope. Never has, never will.” Xander replied as Giles walked towards them. He brushed Angel just barely and stood in front of the tree, gazing at the light and smiling.

“I always loved Christmas here.” The librarian said to himself. “Perhaps when Buffy outgrows her slaying, I’ll move back.” Giles chuckled to himself and started for another hall, passing through his slayer. The air rippled around them as he stepped through her transparent body, and he stopped and turned around to face the opposite hall. “Odd. There’s nothing there. Unless…” Giles stuck his hand out and touched Buffy. Her eyes went wide and she slapped his hand, making it recoil. Giles looked frightened for a second, but shook his head and turned back headed down the hall. “Too many late nights researching, that’s it. No sleep.” He mumbled to himself as he turned into another hall and disappeared.

“Giles is moving back to England?” Willow asked to no one.

“He said ‘perhaps’ Will.” Buffy replied, walking to them. “What happened. Why did the air to that shudder thing?”

“My powers are weakening. My time must be almost up.” Kendra told her, gesturing to the fact, like Ms.Calendar, she had grown slightly transparent.

“What happens after your powers go?” Xander asked.

“I leave, and da Third comes.”

“What’s ‘the Third’?” Angel inquired, adjusting his leather jacket on his shoulders.

“Da last ghost. Da Ghost of Christmas Yet-To-Come.” The slayer replied, fading with each second. “We’ve got to get going, unless you four want to spend Christmas with Giles and the other watchers.” The others shook their heads, saying “Uh-uh. No way.” and Kendra told then to hold each other’s hands, tightly. She clapped her hands repeatedly before the colored light enveloped them. She continued to clap until they dissipated intirely.

~Chapter 11~

A feeble light illuminated the cemetery by the edge of Sunnydale as the five reappeared.

“Does anyone else feel disoriented by that?” Angel asked, holding his head with one hand. Willow looked at Kendra and gasped. There was barely anything there any more.

“I guess my time is up.” Kendra quipped, them barely able to make-out the smirk on her face. A small fog had built up behind her as a church bell in the distance rang out that the hour was over and the next had started. “Always remember. Like
Ms.Calendar, I’m always with you.” The slayer’s voice echoed into the night as she faded from view.

“Bye Kendra.” Buffy whispered, her eyes cast down to the fog covering the ground as Angel hugged her tight.

“So, aren’t we supposed to go home and end up back at the mansion again?” Xander asked, waiting for the darkness to engulf them again.

“I don’t think we’ll be going back.” Angel replied, looking forward behind the boy and Willow. Materializing out of the fog was a cloaked figure, its robes long and flowing and its face covered in a dark hood.

“Doesn’t this guy look like Ben Willis?”

“Xander, do I have a hook on my hand?” asked a familiar voice. Buffy’s, but she hadn’t spoken.

“How do you know my name?” The figure reached up, the robes falling off it’s hands revealing long, slender fingers with purple nail polish and a ring on the left hand. A claddah ring. Angel’s and Buffy’s eyes transfixed on the ring as it brought them to the hood and slowly pulled back the hood. Letting it drop, the figure smoothed out it’s ruffled blonde hair and pulled it around her neck. Across her throat and her top lip were two light scars, the one on her lip barely showing through the red lipstick on them. Her sea-green eyes were accented by the glitter on her eyelids, her bangs falling in parts across her straight forehead.

The other four’s jaws hung open, their eyes wide. The girl smiled and wrapped them in a tight hug. “God I thought I’d never see you guys again! Even if you are me, and a year younger…” She smiled at Buffy, their identical green eyes meeting.

“Y-you’re…me.” Was all Buffy could say.

“You when you’re 19. Cool, huh? I can believe I wore those pants back when I was 17, though.” They didn’t laugh at her attempted humor. “Come on, I’ll show you what happened.” The older Buffy pointed forward, and a swirling black and gray vortex appeared. She ushered the others in, and followed.

~Chapter 12~

When they reemerged, the Sunnydale before them was bleak and cold. Many sections had been burned, and sirens sounded into the night.

“What happened?” Willow asked, her voice high and her face as pale as Angel’s.

“An earthquake.”

“I never saw an earthquake do this! One may have totaled the library, but one’s never demolished the whole town and left it like this!” Xander exclaimed.

“Hold on…we just have to go back a few days…” Buffy’s ghost pointed at the town and suddenly in became…sunny. There were Christmas decorations all over and there were many cars driving down the streets in a desperate scramble to get shopping done. The ghost pointed again and they were inside a house. Buffy’s.

“Well, when are you coming home?” asked an elderly woman over the phone.
There was a silence as she listened to the person over the other line. “I know you don’t want to come back, but Willow and Xander miss you! Mr.Giles misses you! Faith misses you! And so do I.” Another silence. “Okay, if you have paper work for Mr. O’Hanson. Can you at least try to come up on Boxing Day or New Years? Alright. I love you darling. Merry Christmas.” The woman hung up the phone and picked it up again, dialing a number.

“What’s going on?” Buffy asked.

“Well…I was too stubborn to come home for Christmas. I was scared of seeing everyone else, since I’d taken off to a university in New York. Amazingly, I actually made it to university.” The slayer’s ghost replied, shaking her head sadly at her mother.

“So, you didn’t come home. Why is Sunnydale in shambles?” Angel asked.
The ghost laughed shortly at an unknown joke and replied, “I was about to get to that.” She pointed again and the scene changed to night, and a cemetery.

There were sounds of a struggle, and ghosts floated over to where they were coming from: A tall, dark brown-haired girl fighting a taller, more muscular demon. And loosing.

“Is that all you got?” sneered the demon.

“Nope.” The girl shot back. She pulled a crossbow from her jacket and shot, getting him in the chest right beside the heart. “Damn!”

The demon chuckled evilly at her and pulled the bolt out. He snapped it like a twig and lightning quick caught hold of the girl and drew her close. She struggled from his strength, but couldn’t get free. The demon smirked evilly at her and thrusted the splinted bolt into her chest, not missing the heart. The girl screamed in pain and went limp. As she fell, the demon held her neck and bit into it, sucking the blood from it.

Suddenly, the ground around started shaking with force more powerful than the Hiroshima bombing. A light shot out of the ground in the distance, reached up to the clouds and spread, soon engulfing the whole town. After the glare died, Sunnydale was on fire. Screams could be heard all around, so could gun shots.

“What happened?!” Willow demanded, staring in horror at the surroundings.

“Faith got killed by a powerful vampire. Since I wasn’t here to help, he reined the city, eventually killing her. The third slayer death in three years upset the mystical balance on the Hellmouth, and an earthquake hit, splitting the mouth wide open. Or so Giles said.” Ghost Buffy explained.

Again she pointed, and the scene changed. They were now in the midst of the carnage reining through Sunnydale: bodies were everywhere, vampires and other assorted demons sucking the life out of them. Other demons were using coals and burning those who were kept alive. Three vampires that were having dinner looked up, yelled to the others and fled. After them came three crossbow bolts, one nailing a vamp in the back. The ghosts turned to see a small group of humans. Well, six humans and a vampire.

“Xander, Cordy, check to see if they’re okay. We need to get these guys back to the hospital.” Commanded a girl, who ran over an inspected an elderly man. “Oh damn. This one’s dead. Angel, Oz, come here. This one…” Two boys ran over, picked up the old man and took him away to where another girl and a man were setting a fire to burn the dead bodies.

“Buffy, they’re all dead.” Called a girl, running back to her.

“Crap. Okay, let’s get these guys cremated before the Suck-Patrol come back.”
Buffy sighed.

“You can’t save everyone. It’s not your fault.” Older Angel whispered to her, kissing the top of her head and hugging her.

“Glad to see Dead-Boy gets some fashion sense!” Xander quipped. The vampire shot him a glare and Ghost Buffy slapped him in the back of the head. “Ow! I never knew ghosts could hit so hard.”

“This wouldn’t have happened if Buffy were here to kill Tylifus!” Xander’s elder self snapped at the others, walking up and wiping his hands on a towel Giles had handed him.

“You’re saying this is my fault?!” Buffy demanded, walking from Angel to the boy.

“Yeah, pretty much. If you had actually come home, or gone to collage in LA-”
Buffy punched him hard, silencing him.

“You’re exactly why I never came back you annoying-” The slayer didn’t finish her sentence, she was too busy punching the crap out of the boy.

“Buffy!” Giles yelled to her, but she ignored and delivered a sharp roundhouse to Xander’s face, knocking him down.

“This is not my fault! Say it!” Buffy commanded. Xander looked up at her, his nose and teeth bleeding from where he’d lost a few.

“Okay. It’s not your fault!” Xander yelled back. Buffy walked away, tense as ever. Angel started to follow her, but when she held up a cross behind her, he backed off.

“What’s her problem?” Cordelia demanded, helping Xander up.

“She’s just tense from what happened.” Willow informed her. “Come on, we have to-” She couldn’t finish because a group of vampires and other demons ambushed them. The majority took on Angel and Oz, and the others picked off the leftover humans.

One particularly fat vampire made an easy dinner of Cordelia, throwing her into the fire.

“Cordy!” Xander proclaimed. He staked his attacker and jumped after fatty.
Buffy heard Cordelia’s screams as she incinerated and came rushing back, in time to see Xander slump to the ground. Her eyes turned black and hard, in a glare down with Tubby.

“You’re going down, Pillsbury Dough-Boy!” The vampire that had claimed the lives of Cordelia and Xander never felt a thing, because he was dust faster than any other vamp. Buffy looked up in time to see two strong demons come up behind Angel and Oz. “Look out!” However, her warning came too late. As Angel turned to look, he was clubbed, as was Oz.

“Oh man. This isn’t a very good future.” Xander whispered in horror as the unconscious vampire and werewolf were dragged away and Giles was thrown into the fire that had grown considerably.

“Understatement. Come on. We need to see one more thing.” Against their wishes, Ghost Buffy changed the scene, and they were at another cemetery. This one was peaceful, with a small hill over looking a river. The ghost pointed again, and they were at the base of the hill. On top was a large marble mausoleum. The four exchanged looks and passed through the wall inside.

There, they found eight beds each adorned with a velvet case and gold plates below. Each of the plates had the names of the buried: “Christian McMalist”, “Buffy Summers”, “Alexander Harris”, “Cordelia Chase”, “Willow Rosenburg”, “Oz Baslen”, “Rupert Giles” and “Faith Richards”. On the door were the words;
‘These eight died defending the world against the vampires, demons and the forces of darkness. May they rest in peace and reunite in the bliss above’

“We died?” Willow squeaked, going twenty shades white.

“Unfortunately, yes. Before I died, a new slayer came to Sunnydale and…set stuff straight. She avenged out deaths. She was cool, but I never got to know her.”

Buffy turned to see Angel staring past his girlfriend’s ghost into a corner. Xander was looking to.

“Whoa! I never knew I looked that damn good when I was 17!” came Xander’s voice. The three girls looked to the corner and saw six other ghosts materialize. Buffy’s Ghost smiled broadly and flung herself into Angel’s arms, and the kissed.
Both Ghost Xander and real Xander gagged at the act, and both couples glared at him.

“What?”

“Shut-up Xander.” Cordelia told him, or them.

“Can you guys go? We need to talk with them.” Buffy asked of her, Giles and Oz.
The werewolf and the librarian nodded and disappeared. Cordelia took offense, as usual.

“Why should I listen to you? Listening to you got me killed! I’m never listening to you again!” The other four ghosts groaned and said in unison, “Cordy! Go!”

“Okay, okay. You don’t have to shout!” Cordelia faded away, leaving Angel, Buffy, Willow and Xander to talk to their younger versions.

“Can we stop this?” Angel asked.

“Cox Buffy into staying. Try promising a few hours of smooch time…”
Ghost Xander replied.

“Probably work.” Xander added. Both Buffies and Angels groaned annoyedly.

“Actually he is partially right.” Ghost Willow said. They all looked at her.
“What? He is! If Buffy stays and saves Faith from dying, Sunnydale won’t go hay-wire!”

“So you’re saying this was my fault too?” Ghost Buffy asked. “Great! Everyone thinks this is my fault! I did not do this!”

“Buffy I didn’t say that. I meant-” But Buffy had disappeared before she could finish.

“Damn. Buffy!” Ghost Angel called after her, disappearing also.

“Bravo Will! You got the slayer pissed again!” Xander told her.

“I didn’t mean to!”

“Okay, we hate to interrupt this, but is our little haunting session done? Christmas is going to be gone before we’re done, and my cousins are only going to be up for today.” Xander cut into their conversation. Ghost Willow spun around from arguing with his ghost, smiling and applauded him.

“Xander! You’ve got past your greediness!”

“Huh? No I didn’t. I want my presents from those little brats!” Xander replied, trying to cover up what he meant.

“Uh-uh! You wanted to get home to see your cousins, but you know they didn’t have any money to get you anything!”

“Wow. Xander’s actually thinking with his heart.” Buffy retorted.
Both Xander’s glared at her as a watch beeped somewhere.

“Well, it’s time for you guys to head back. Remember that Christmas is about love and family. Don’t forget that…” Willow’s voice echoed as she and Xander faded and an *extremely* bright light enveloped them.

~Chapter 13~

Buffy opened her eyes and looked around. ‘This isn’t my room…’ She sat up and found herself at the mansion. In bed with Angel beside her. She gasped and stood up. Looking around, she found Xander and Willow on the floor in front of the bed.
‘It was real. We really were haunted…’ Angel groaned and woke up, then gasped when he saw Buffy standing in front of him.

“Buffy! What are you doing here?”

“Uh…Nothing! I was just-”

“Oh man! I gotta get home! Aunt Vicki’s supposed to be at home, and mom’s going to be wondering why I’m not at home!” Xander proclaimed. He scrambled to his feet and ran out of the bedroom.

“Xander! Wait for me!” Willow yelled after him, following.

“I guess he didn’t forget. Wonder how long that’s going to last.” Angel quipped.
Buffy smiled at him and grabbed her bag.

“I’d better be off. My mom’s going to freak, like theirs’ are. Dad probably spent the night, and the rest of my family is supposed to come over later. I want to greet them.”

“Okay. I’ll walk you to the door.” Angel offered. He got up and walked her out.

***

“I guess you’ll want to spend time with your family, so I’ll see you in a few days.”

“Yeah. I’m going to miss you.” Buffy smiled at him and they kissed, unintentionally under an unnoticed string of mistletoe. The stood like that for several seconds then broke off as Buffy opened the door. She stepped out and was met by a shock of cold.

“Heads up!” Xander called. Buffy wiped off the stuff that had been thrown at her face and gasped happily. Covering the yard and the street around them was a heavy blanket of snow. Xander and Willow were having a snowball fight by the door, giggling and getting creamed by fluff.

“How? Why? When?” Buffy asked, looked to Angel, who was in almost as near shock as she was. “I’ve got to get home.” The slayer gave Angel a quick peak and ran off towards the rest of the town.

“Buffy! Wait up!” Willow called. She and Xander ran off after her, leaving Angel amazed at the white around him, then closing the door.

~Chapter 14~

Buffy slipped in through her window undetected and unchanged then ran down the stairs to find her father and mother in the living room looking out the window.

“Wow.” Joyce breathed, then noticed her daughter. “Oh, Buffy. Merry Christmas! Look, isn’t it beautiful? The weatherman said that El Nino’s sister thing dumped snow all over California!” Buffy stared at the snow unbelievably, then smiled and joined her parents at the window.

“I love it. But I love you guys more.”

“We love you too Hun.” Hank whispered. He kissed her cheek and they started out the window again as the fluff continued to fall as a family. And that’s all Buffy wanted for Christmas. Her family.

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