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“And more juice too, please!” Buffy called down the hall.
“Okay!” Willow called back with a smile. In the kitchen of their small apartment, she carefully prepared the sandwich just the way Buffy liked it: crunchy peanut butter, extra raspberry jelly, no crusts, and cut diagonally. Then she poured a glass of juice - one part grapefruit to two parts orange - from the pitcher that she had mixed earlier in anticipation of her lover’s demands.
As she then made her own lunch, Willow couldn’t help but smile, because if Buffy was in this demanding a mood, that meant that she was finally feeling better. Two weeks before, a few of the potentials first became sick with a wicked strain of the flu that someone had bio-engineered specifically to target Slayers. (Though they were all Slayers now, it was hard to kick the habit of calling them Potentials). Buffy had been searching for a young potential girl and had left the day before the others began to show symptoms. Giles, Dawn, and Willow had been so swamped by the sick potentials that they didn’t find Buffy until three days later, delirious with fever in a fleabag motel.
Every moment that Willow did not spend with Giles and the Coven working on a cure was spent by Buffy’s side, nursing her. Despite the best efforts of the Coven, two of the former potentials, Caridad and Laurie, died from it, and Willow was desperately afraid for Buffy. Slowly, as Rona, Vi, and some of the others recovered, they took over nursing the sick, and Willow was able to devote all of her time to Buffy.
And now, finally, the blonde Slayer was on the mend. Her fever had broken yesterday, she had actually recognized Dawn last night, and today she was being picky about her lunch. Willow could have danced down the hall if she wasn’t carrying a carefully balanced tray. After all the worry and fear of the last few weeks, Buffy could kibitz about her comfort foods as much as she wanted!
Willow slipped back into their bedroom and gently put the lunch tray on Buffy’s belly, but didn’t release it. “Now you’re sure your throat isn’t too sore for this? I didn’t give you the smooth peanut butter,” she teased.
“Nope!” Buffy declared. “Crunchitize me!”
“Say ‘ah!’” Willow chided.
Buffy stuck her tongue out ridiculously. “Aaaaahhhhhh!”
“Very good,” Willow gave her a kiss on the cheek and relinquished the tray. “So what are we watching now?” she asked cheerfully.
“Sleeping Beauty!” Buffy declared.
“Alright.” The VCR had finished rewinding, so Willow pulled out Aladdin and put it back in its case before popping in the next Disney movie. After pushing play, she quickly crawled back into the bed and cuddled up with Buffy, needing the contact.
Buffy took a sip of her glass and then smacked her lips. “Mmm, just the way I like it!” She gave Willow a tangy kiss. “Thank you, Wil.”
Willow returned the kiss enthusiastically as the previews began to roll.