Note: The story starts shortly after "As you were" (S6 of Buffy) and "Sleep tight" (S3 of Angel). It then becomes a rewrite of S2 and 3 of Buffy and later goes AU (at least that's the plan for now).

Chapter 1 – The waiting is over

"Okay, I think I have everything together."

"Good. And just in time. Otherwise we would have had to wait another year."

"How do you intend to approach them about our plan?"

"Being too forthright with them might scare them off. They are too selfless for their own good. That's why we have to deceive them a little bit at first. You will have to write something down for me, Janice. And we will need that twice."

The person addressed as Janice got pen and paper and wrote what was dictated.

"Great, now use the spell we marked a while ago in "Transformations for everything, everybody, everywhere" on the notes together with the writing samples."

"Oh, I see," Janice said, smiling. "You sure this will work? It's not very specific."

"I think it will be enough. We can't risk more in case the notes get intercepted. They could have people watching them."

When Janice had cast the spell, the two notes written in one and the same hand writing turned into two completely different ones.

"Perfect. Do the same with the addresses and then send them off."

Before Janice put the notes in the envelopes she read them again:

I would really like to see you.

I will be at the motel, room 34, next Saturday, after sundown.

I will wait there for you.

I hope you will come.

I miss you.

"Thank you for helping me, Janice. I know you risked your life by doing this. But it is the right thing to do."

"Don't worry about it, Aunt Jenny. Family has to stick together."

"Well, the rest of the clan wants us dead for what we are trying to do. And since I am already dead, I have nothing to loose. But you do."

"I've told you before, I believe in what we are trying to do. After you told me their story… they deserve a second chance. You already feel guilty enough about them. Please don't feel guilty about me, too. There's no need. It is my life and it was my decision to help you."

"Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Believe me, Aunt Jenny, I do. Because it means just as much to me by now. Otherwise I wouldn't have spent the last three years trying to find a way to make this happen."

Jenny Calendar of the clan of the Kalderash, formerly known as Janna – she had dropped that name permanently to signify that she had left her clan once and for all – had died by the hands of Angelus the vampire. Her death had been the result of her clan's punishment of a man for sins he hadn't committed. In order to get vengeance - as they liked to call it - for the murder of one of their clan by a demon, they had forced a man's soul to live with the memories of the demon's sins for all eternity. And then they had neglected to mention that this vengeance was quite a tricky thing and came attached with conditions. And when the soul had been lost – again – Jenny was the one who had to pay the price. And Buffy. And Angel, once the soul had been returned – again.

When Jenny had come to, she had been neither in heaven nor in hell. She had been still on earth. And she had been a ghost. She had been restless, feeling guilty about her own death, about how in the aftermath of it all someone who hadn't had any part in her murder had to suffer again for sins he hadn't committed. Jenny wouldn't have been surprised if she had woken up in hell, as she considered it her own fault that she was dead now. She could have prevented everything. But the obligations to her clan had made her hesitant. She should have simply listened to her heart. She should have confided in the man she loved, she should have told Giles. She shouldn't have kept secrets from Buffy and Angel, when those secrets had concerned them. Even though she had felt that her clan was in the wrong, Jenny had deceived her friends and loved ones. And because of that, they had despised her almost until her death. But now she was listening to her heart. It told her to make amends, to make up for what had happened, to offer Buffy and Angel at least some degree of peace of mind. Jenny had seen them suffer so much over the last few years, her heart bled for them. And she couldn't help but wonder, if Angelus hadn't killed her, would things have happened differently?

Jenny had searched for months to find something to help them, to ease their pain. But as a ghost her options and resources had been limited. She had needed help. She still had a niece she trusted, Janice. After hearing Jenny's story, Janice had been close to tears herself and felt ashamed for what her clan was capable of doing in the name of vengeance. She had agreed to help Jenny. When they had started, they didn't even know what they were looking for. And the more time passed, the worse everything got. Gradually, Jenny came to the conclusion that only finding a way to turn back time would do. Again it had taken them months to find a powerful enough spell to achieve their goal, to collect all the requisites and ingredients. And then they had had to wait, because the spell could only be performed once a year, when the planets were in the right alignment. And then Buffy had died. Jenny had been devastated that they had been too late. She had blamed herself for everything all over again.

When Buffy returned from the dead, they had already abandoned their plan, since Buffy had to be alive for the spell. Janice had gone back to her normal life. And Jenny had resigned herself to watch Giles mourn his Slayer. So they had been completely caught off guard by Buffy's return and the time was ticking as that one suitable day for the spell was approaching fast. They had hurried to prepare anew for the spell and get everything together again as fast as they could. They didn't want to risk having to wait another whole year if they missed the date. Who knew if everybody would survive until then. So here they were now, ready to go, only needing two more things, two more people to be exact: Buffy and Angel.

TBC