Angel just stood there gaping at him, and Xander started laughing. "Oh man, I never thought I'd see the day when Deadboy didn't know what to say."

"Xan...Xander? This that you?"

Xander turned when he heard Willow's hesitant voice. He grinned when he saw his old friend. "Hey, Wills. Long time no see. How're ya doing?"

Willow burst into tears and hugged Xander tightly. "Don't worry, Xander. We'll fix it. We won't leave you like this. I promise."

Xander pulled Willow off and took a step back. "What are you talking about, Willow? Fix what?"

The witch waved a hand at him. "That. Whatever it is. We'll fix you and get the demon that did this to you."

Xander frowned at her. "There's nothing to fix, Willow. The change was my choice and I'm going to stay this way. Don't even think about messing with me."

Willow looked totally confused. "But, Xander, you're home now. You can't stay like that. You'd get locked in a zoo or something."

Xander laughed. "What makes you think I'm going to stay? I'm just here to take care of that little problem with the blonde and then I'm going home. If she hadn't have started causing trouble, I never would have come back here."

Buffy pushed Willow aside. "What are you talking about, Xander? And what the Hell happened to you? You look like some kind of freak."

Giles tried to calm Buffy down, but he never really got a chance. The little girl and the wolf beast pushed their way to Xander's side while the white haired man stood at his back. The wolf beast growled at the Slayer and Buffy pulled a stake out of her jacket.

Xander turned to the wolf and frowned, "You guys knock it off, right now. And shift back, if you stay like that any longer you'll be exhausted for hours."

The wolf shimmered and five young boys now stood in its place. The smallest one leaned against Xander's leg and whined, "Daaaddd. She's being mean."

Xander ruffled Farlan's hair, "Nah, she's just like that. She doesn't always think before she opens her mouth."

Buffy's mouth opened and closed several times in shock. She finally grabbed Xander by the shoulders and shoved him down on the floor. Pushing a stake against his chest she said, "All right, who are you and what have you done with Xander. He would never talk to me that way."

Buffy screamed as white hot pain coursed through her body. She blinked to clear her eyes and found the little girl standing over her. "You don't touch my daddy!"

Xander stood up with the help of Wintermoon, "Ghost. Behave. Buffy will calm down in a minute. She doesn't handle surprises very well. Now back off before this gets any uglier."

Giles stepped over Buffy's body and held Xander at arm's length. "Xander. Is it really you?"

Xander grinned, "Yeah, G-Man, it's really me."

Giles hugged Xander tightly for a moment, before releasing him and wiping the tears from his face. He looked into the star filled eyes and smiled. "You look wonderful. Now please, introduce me to your companions."

Xander grinned and led Giles over to his family. He introduced them one by one. "These are my sons, Farlan, Sharn, Mika and Flin are the twins and this is Barac. The girl with the attitude is my daughter, Ghost." Xander said with a grin and a wink at his oldest. Ghost giggled and leaned against Wintermoon. Xander put his hand on his mate's shoulder. "And this is Wintermoon. We've been married for five years now."

Giles didn't show the slightest bit of shock at hearing his former student was married to a man. The Watcher clasped the man's outstretched hand and said with a straight face, "You have my deepest sympathy."

Wintermoon smiled slightly, "It's not that bad, really."

"Hey!" Xander shouted.

Giles grinned and then realized what Xander had said. "Five years? But Xander, you've only been gone for little over a year."

Xander shrugged, "Yeah, I know. Time moves differently on my world. I've been living there for over five years now."

"Are you happy?"

"I've never been happier, Giles. Never." Xander said seriously. "Now, why don't you tell me who blondie is and what's going on here."

**********

Giles told Xander the entire story, much against Buffy's wishes. When he got to the part about Dawn, Xander asked is daughter to join them. He explained to Giles that Ghost was a mage, and despite the fact that she was only ten years old, she was one of the most powerful mages in their land and had been practicing for five years.

Ghost asked intelligent questions and seemed to understand exactly what the monks had done. "Mr. Giles, if we got rid of the Key part, would Dawn be safe?"

"What do you mean?" Giles asked.

"Well, I think I can separate the Key part from the human part. Dawn would be just a person, then Glory wouldn't have any reason to mess with her would she?"

"If we can prove to Glory that Dawn no longer holds the Key, she might be safe. But I'm not sure how we can prove it to her."

Xander clapped Giles on the back, "You guys worry about Dawn, I'll take care of Glory."

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