Epilogue

"Wow!" cried present Amy. "That Dark Amy sounds badass!"

"Yeah, I thought so too," said Faith.

Then she noticed Buffy glaring at her.

"Hey, why are you so upset, B?" asked Faith. "Your nudity curse is over. You can wear clothes again. You can talk again. I can talk again. The other Amy and Kennedy would have stayed if anything was still wrong but they didn't. So everything is good."

"But for how long?" asked Buffy. "And don't you think it's less than helpful to encourage Amy here to follow in Dark Amy's footsteps?"

"Hey, it's all good, B," said Faith. "Dark Amy straightened out in time thanks to Kennedy and anyway, it's not like this Amy here is a child. She's about your age."

"But still," said Buffy. "The idea of a Dark Buffy was frightening enough. The idea of a Dark Amy and Dark Buffy together -- ooo -- makes my skin crawl."

"Oh, I don't really intend to follow in Dark Amy's footsteps, Buffy," said present Amy. "I was just pulling your leg."

"Thank God," said Buffy. "You had me worried there for a minute, Amy."

Present Amy just smiled and nodded.

Sure, present Amy thought. Now you worry. But do you ever go out of your way to talk to me? No, that's okay. I don't really need you, Buffy. Nor Willow. Nor anybody.

If I was more like Dark Amy, I would not need anybody. But you grew up with a nice mom, Buffy, so you wouldn't understand.

Dark Amy turned away from Buffy and looked out across the school cafeteria to the windows beyond.

Imagine me being the mistress of all I could see, present Amy thought. Me. The Witch's Daughter. No, not the Witch's Daughter. The future Dark Amy.

If Dark Amy frightens Buffy so much, then perhaps I should look into that, she thought. After all, I have been messed with quite enough in my life. Perhaps it's time that I learn to start messing back.

Later in the bathroom mirror, present Amy would notice that her hair was one shade darker than it used to be. She should have been embarrassed about that but no, she thought. Let them be embarrassed. Perhaps she should go to the local gun range after school and practice stopping bullets.

Yes, that seemed like a thing to do. Find one thing that the Slayer can't do -- and then top her at it. It's not like it would be a bad thing to be five foot seven and bulletproof. And after that, she can work on protecting herself against fire, poison, knives, stakes, crossbows...

Oh, yes. It was going to be an interesting school year...