return

Remembering that you had once been (and still were) Buffy Summers was one thing. Remembering that you had once been (and still were) Buffy Summers, and that one of the guys you had dated was named Xander, was quite another. Especially when that Xander had also been cutely nerdy, funny, and a little sweet, like a certain other Alexander.

What if it had been him? Wasn't it the most Xander thing to have the same name? Carrie caught herself hoping too hard that it would be her best friend. That he would see her and remember, and she would touch his face and admire his two eyes, and they would face this thing together, and things would feel more right. Carrie didn't know how to be Buffy without Willow and Xander. Without Giles and Dawn.

Thank god, yes, for Faith.

So Carrie was looking forward to coffee with Xander, and she dressed like Buffy, in a baby-blue top and the kind of skirt that was popular now after being popular in the 90s (wow, wasn't time such a construct?) in case it jogged any memories. (Carrie hadn't seen Nori all day; who knew what she would have to say about the outfit later).

It didn't take Carrie long to spot Xander at Phoenix Effect, and she walked over to him like a woman on a mission, coming up behind him.

Okay.

Moment of truth.

She tapped him on the shoulder.