“I can’t believe that you did that!” Willow yelled at Mrs. Summers. “How could you kick your own daughter out on the streets?”
“We had a fight,” Joyce murmured. “I told Buffy that if she walked out on me, that she could never come back.”
“You made Buffy choose between her mother and saving the world?” Xander asked, “That's sick man.”
“Xander!” Giles chastised, “You shouldn’t speak to Joyce like that.”
“No, he’s right,” Willow said coldly, “We all love Buffy, apparently she doesn’t. Buffy saved the world! Buffy always saves the world!” Willow stalked closer to Joyce, pointing her finger's wildly.
“You have no idea what Buffy goes through! You have no idea how many times she’s called me crying because her mother thinks that she’s stupid because she can’t pass her tests. If you stayed up all night long fighting for your life you mind have a problem with that too!”
Willow started pacing back and forth, ranting. Her guilt for giving Angel his soul back, for making Buffy send him to hell, was manifesting on Mrs. Summers.
“You don’t know how bad she feels when you tell her how irresponsible she is! How immature. Buffy died in the master’s lair. She knew that she was going to die, but she still went. When Snider punished her by making her organize parent teacher night, and all the vamps attacked, Buffy came through. She was willing to give up her life to save a few measly people who have no idea what’s happening in the world. She was ready to die for you!”
Willow started crying, all eyes fixed on her. “You kicked her out, you let her down.” Willow’s big doe eyes circled all occupants of the library. “We all let her down.”
A small pair of arms encircled Willow, holding her while she cried.
“Shhhssh. It’s okay,” the voice belonging to the arms said softly. No one had noticed Buffy walk into the room.
“Buffy?” Willow asked, sure that she was wrong. Sure that Buffy couldn’t be back with them. That Buffy wouldn’t be there to make it all right.
Buffy smiled shyly, “It’s me. Hate to disappoint, but I’m back.”
“Oh my God,” Giles rushed over to her, and gave his slayer a deep hug. He rocked her back and forth, letting all of his tension and worry out. Giles pulled away suddenly.
“Never ever do that again!” he said vehemently. “Never ever do that again!”
The power of his statement was overwhelmed by the power of Xander’s running charge. Even with a broken arm, he ran over to Buffy and picked her up, twirling her around.
“The Buffster’s back!” he shouted. Buffy giggled.
“Nice cast.”
Xander sighed happily, “Yeah, wanna sign it?”
For some reason, Mrs. Summer’s hung back. She stood back and watched all of these people who loved Buffy so much. All of these people who Buffy felt could be trusted with her secret. Who Buffy loved too.
Joyce scanned her eyes around the room, trying to do anything but meet Buffy’s eyes. For this reason, she was the first one to spot Pike waiting quietly in the door way. But, before she could say anything, Pike stepped forward and grabbed Buffy’s hand.
“Don’t you want to say hi to your mom?” he asked, painfully soft. Buffy gulped and nodded. She let Pike lead her over to where her mother stood. Joyce reached out to hug her, and Buffy broke down in that embrace crying. Both mother and daughter stood there for a long time. They held each other till every thing was okay.
