Title - You must remember this... (1/?)

Sequel to "What He Has to Do" - which can be found at my website (link below)

Author - Andrew Parkinson ([email protected])

Summary - Xander returns to the present, with the memories of his last year gone

Spoilers - Minor till end of season five. I assume Buffy comes back, but I'm not going to guess as to how.

Rating - TV14 (if that)

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. I'm just borrowing them for a

little bit.

Feedback: Yes Please

Dedicated: To Jewel - for whom without her, there would be no sequel

Archive: http://www.powerup.com.au/~parkinson_aw - will be

there soon. If you want it - take it and let me know where it is going.

*************

Part One

"Xander!"

Buffy's shout echoed through the clearing, as she stared at the spot Xander had disappeared from. She kept staring for almost a minute, hoping by sheer force of will that she could make Xander re-appear. She was shaken out of her state, when a gentle hand touched her shoulder. She turned to see the very worried face of Giles looking at her. Buffy could read every wrinkle in his brow. He thought it was useless to stay.

"I can't give up on him," Buffy pleaded.

"There's nothing that can be done here, Buffy. Maybe, with some research.."

"Stuff research," Buffy replied, interrupting her mentor's words and shrugging his hand off her shoulder. "I won't leave him."

Giles could tell that Buffy was in shock. He took her by the shoulders and forcibly, with care, tried to get through to her. "We have no idea what has happened to him and as much as I would like to believe so, you can't bring him back by staying here."

Buffy was about to protest again, when she noticed the sorrow in Giles eyes. "I...," she paused for a moment, "we've lost too much all ready."

"There's still a chance," Willow added, her and Tara having joined the other two.

"If we can find out what happened, right?" Tara added, hoping her optimism would be contagious.

Giles gave her a warm smile, appreciating the effort she was putting into her words. "There's always a chance. We need to start straight away..."

"Dawn," Buffy softly whispered.

"Oh," Giles gasped realising what Buffy meant. It had been no secret to anyone that Dawn had a crush on Xander, but in the months between Buffy's 'death', and her return, Xander had become her most solid support. When Buffy returned she could see clearly the family bond that had been established in her absence.

And while Buffy felt the same sort of bond to Xander, she dreaded the conversation that she would have to have now. Dawn had experienced far too much grief in her young life.

"And Anya," Tara added, noticing the slightly embarrassed look Buffy showed having, for a second, forgotten Xander's fiancée.

"Willow, could you and Tara go and tell Anya, and Buffy and I will go and see Dawn," Giles suggested. When her saw them nod in agreement he continued. "We'll meet at the magic shop in an hour."

Willow and Tara were about to move away when suddenly the night sky lit up, blue streaks of energy revolved around the spot where Xander had disappeared only minutes ago.

"Giles?" Buffy asked, hoping against hope.

"It could be Krostoff, back away," Giles replied, yelling, as the noise from the forming energy ribbons reached a crescendo.

Suddenly with a bang, not unlike a small explosion, but with no shock wave, there, standing in the clearing, was Xander. The energy dissipated from around him, leaving the woods bathed only in natural moonlight. But to the assembled foursome, they would not mistake who had appeared to them.

"Xander!" Willow yelled.

At the sound of her voice, Xander turned to face them but didn't seem to see where they stood. His eyes didn't seem to be focusing on any one person.

"Dawn!" he croaked out between weary lips, before his body collapsed to the dirt. He used what energy he had left to protect his face as he impacted with the ground.

The others rushed over to him, their joy at seeing him alive and well, over-riding them taking in the obvious changes to Xander's appearance.

"Is he alive?" Buffy asked as Giles knelt down to feel for a pulse.

"He is," Giles replied delighted at the sudden change in their luck. "We need to get him to a hospital though."

Buffy nodded, "Can you take him. Willow and Tara go and get Anya, and I'll get Dawn."

The four of them lifted Xander up and carried him to Giles's car, not noticing the small object that fell from Xander's back pocket. It dropped to the ground, silently landing and folding open to reveal a picture of a young couple.

If they had noticed the wallet, they would no doubt have been shocked to see the two people in the picture. While there would be no doubt to them that they two people were Xander and Dawn, the fact that Dawn looked 10 years older, would have been over shadowed by the embrace the two of them were captured in.

****************

Twiddling the pen between her fingers, Dawn pondered what more to write in her journal. She had pretty much exhausted the day's events, but until Buffy got home, she didn't want to go to sleep. It was her own superstition that had started since Buffy's return. She did not sleep until Buffy was safe at home each night. This was first met with protests from Buffy. She was worried her lack of sleep would affect her schoolwork, but Dawn quickly silenced her on that point. Dawn cared nothing about her schoolwork, when compared to her sister's safety. So she made Buffy promise, that if she came home safe each night, Dawn would do well at school, even with a little sleep deprivation.

She heard the front door open and jumped up from her bed, ignoring the diary that fell to the floor as she walked out of her bedroom. When she reached the top of the stairs she was surprised to see Buffy already half way up to her. Dawn was about to give her a welcoming hug, when something in Buffy's eyes made her stop.

"What is it?" Dawn asked nervously.

"It's Xander," Buffy replied, instantly wishing that she had chosen her words better when she saw the reaction to them on Dawn's face.

"Oh, god.." Dawn gasped, as her hand went to her mouth.

Buffy pulled her into a hug. "He's at the hospital," she gently said hoping to soothe her sister's worries.

"He's alive," was the muffled response Buffy heard from her chest.

"Yeah," Buffy replied, "but he's unconscious."

Dawn pulled back from her sister. "What happened?"

Buffy had no easy answer to that. To be honest she hadn't given any time to digesting how Xander returned. She was just glad that he did so. "I'll explain later," she replied, hoping by then she would have some answers.

"You kept him safe," Dawn said, not really expecting a reply. She still clearly remembered the conversation she had with Buffy not long after her sister returned. In the middle of discussing Xander's new role in Dawn's life, Buffy had told her that she would keep him safe. It was said as a calming gesture, but wasn't a lie. Buffy would do whatever was necessary to keep all of her friends safe.

"He saved me," Buffy admitted. "Just like always, he jumped in and saved me."

For a minute Dawn wanted to be angry with her sister. Xander wasn't meant to be risking his life for Buffy. It was meant to be the other way round. But a combination of the look of guilt on Buffy's face and Dawn knowing in her heart that Xander would so anything to save his friends, caused the anger in Dawn's heart to ease.

"That's why we love him," she added giving Buffy a hug.

Buffy laughed a little. "Just don't let him know that, we'll never hear the end of it."

*****************

They arrived at the hospital just as the heavens opened and the parking lot was awash in a summer storm. Running quickly from the car to the entrance, they succeeded in keeping mostly dry. After finding out which area Xander was in the made their way quickly through the corridors, till they saw the familiar figure of Giles at the nurses station filling out forms, while Willow, Tara and Anya were sitting in the waiting area nearby.

Buffy and Dawn walked straight over to Giles. "Is there any news?" Buffy asked.

"Oh Buffy," Giles said as he turned around not expecting them at that exact point. "The doctors are in with him still." He cast a glance at Dawn, not wanting to talk about some of his theories while she was there. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

Dawn nodded a little unconvincingly. "Yeah."

Giles gave her his best encouraging smile, before directing them to the waiting area. When they arrived there Willow and Tara immediately got up to greet them, while Anya stayed a little behind.

Dawn felt a little guilty that Anya still didn't feel an equal with everyone. None of the Scooby Gang tried to make her feel unwelcome, it just seemed to be so. Dawn had not had that high of an opinion about her for a while, but over time it had slowly changed. Added to that Xander loved her and with upcoming marriage, everyone excepted Anya's future was very much tied with their own. But when Dawn looked at Anya, she could tell, Anya still felt like an outsider.

She walked over to where Anya stood and wrapped her arms around her. As far as Dawn was concerned now was the perfect time for Anya to feel welcome.

It took a second for Anya to respond, not believing at first that Dawn had done such a thing, but then she hugged her warmly back, a tear falling down her face.

"Are you okay?" Dawn asked as she let go.

"No. Xander is not meant to get hurt. He breaks his arm occasionally but that is all."

Dawn couldn't decide if this was just another case of Anya's unique communication or serious denial, but whatever it was, Dawn could see the worry behind the words.

"He'll be okay," she offered supportively.

"Yeah," Anya replied, looking to the room where Xander was being examined. When she did she noticed one of the Doctor's came out and started walking towards them. "Giles," she quickly said alerting her boss to the approaching Doctor. She may have wanted to know what was happening already, but even Anya knew Giles would be better off talking to them.

"How is he?" Giles asked.

"Are you his father?" the Doctor asked.

"No, but we are his family," Giles replied, hoping that the Doctor would not want a history in bad parenting, which was Xander's parents, recited to him.

"He's still unconscious, but stable," the Doctor replied, seeming to accept Giles' explanation. "You say he just fell down?"

Giles nodded. While not exactly the truth, it did describe the last 5 seconds of Xander's consciousness.

"Well he seems to be exhausted. His body has basically shut down to recover, but apart from some superficial abrasions, there is no outwardly signs of why he is in a coma."

"Can we see him?" Giles asked.

"Okay, for a little while, but only one at a time."

"Thanks," Giles replied. He waited to the Doctor moved away, before addressing Anya. "You okay?" he asked warmly.

"Yeah, thanks" Anya replied, grateful they were letting her go in. Dawn followed Anya to the room, but stayed outside while Anya went in.

Once the others were gone, Giles turned back to the others. "What to you make of it?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Buffy responded.

"Did you not notice that Xander was wearing different clothes that the ones he was wearing before he disappeared?" Giles asked.

Buffy shrugged. "It was dark and I was just happy to have him back."

"Well I had the whole ride to the hospital to see. That's not all. They were different, not like the sort of thing that Xander usually wears."

"But he was only gone for a few minutes?" Tara ventured.

"True, but Krostoff's magic harnessed energies from different dimensions and time. Who knows where Xander went and for how long." Giles replied, thinking seriously about the implications.

Willow sat wondering about what Giles had said. If Xander had been somewhere long enough to change his clothes than he had been there for more than a few minutes. If that was the case, there would have to be clues.

"Maybe there is something in his clothes?" she asked.

"Maybe," Giles replied.

"A little bit of paper, anything," Willow offered as suggestions.

"You're right, I'll go and check," Giles answered, before getting up and going to see where they had stored Xander's belongings.

After he had gone, Willow turned to Buffy. "Are you okay?"

Buffy smiled warmly at her best friend's concern. "I'm alright."

Tara nodded over to where Dawn was still standing at the door to Xander's room, looking in through the small pane of glass. "How was Dawnie?"

"She was scared, still is I think. I don't know if she could handle any more bad news," Buffy responded.

"She's strong, Buffy. She's a Summers," Tara offered trying to comfort her.

"Sometimes I don't feel that strong," Buffy replied, at that moment feeling rather weak.

Willow snapped to attention, as if she suddenly remembered something. "So, you have any idea why Xander called out for Dawn just before he collapsed?" she asked in a whisper so Dawn couldn't hear.

Buffy cast an eye over to where Dawn was still standing at Xander's door. "I don't know, Will."

******************

The rain continued to fall down at a tremendous rate, causing drains to fill up and overflow, run off's forming all around the town. In a clearing on the outskirts the ground had at first been transferred into mud, then as the soaken ground refused to take any more water, the rain just ran off down the slight incline towards a already overflowing creek.

Any little bits of the forest were carried away in the run off. Little twigs, leaves, topsoil all became victim of the sudden rain. A small leather case survived a bit longer than the twigs around it, but slowly and surely the water carried it away, the photo of a young couple floating on top, till it met the creek and disappeared from view.

End Part One