And you thought you and your mother had awkward conversations...

"So what did you want to tell me, Mom?" asked Buffy as she walked out into the Parisian night.

It was still cool outside and while it was not totally unbearable, Buffy hoped that she would not have to be outside for very long. She looked back at her mother who seemed to have her head hung down for some reason.

"What's the matter?" Buffy asked.

"It was a choice, Buffy," said Joyce.

"I beg your pardon?" asked Buffy.

"My being turned into a vampire... it was a choice," said Joyce. "If I had not decided to accept the Dark Gift, I would have died of an aneurysm several months later. I know this because the person who turned me took me to worlds where I had made a different choice and in each of those worlds, I died."

"I don't think I want to hear this," said Buffy.

"I don't think you want to, either," said Joyce, "but you should."

"Okay, supposing all that is true," said Buffy, "why did you decide to become a vampire? Why not go find a world where your condition has been cured and go there?"

"Because there was no such world," said Joyce. "At least not one that could be easily found. Believe me, I looked. So did the person who turned me. We keep looking and looking for such a world but we never found one and then we started running out of time."

"We?" asked Buffy. "Who's we?"

"Me and the person who turned me," said Joyce. "I'd tell you his name but you would never believe me. But it wasn't the girl in the room that you tried to stake just now. It wasn't her. I'd swear to that on a stack of Bibles."

"Can you still do that?" asked Buffy. "Swear on a Bible, I mean? And who is this mysterious 'person' you keep referring to? Is it Angel?"

"No, it isn't Angel," said Joyce.

"Is it Angelus?" asked Buffy.

"No, Buffy," said Joyce. "It isn't Angelus."

"Then who is it then?" asked Buffy.

"It's someone your friend Drusilla knows," said Joyce.

"Drusilla is not my friend," said Buffy, "and anyway, there are only two male vampires she knows that I would know. One is Angel -- whom we just ruled out -- and the other -- oh, hell no!"

"Yes, Buffy," said Joyce.

"But he hates me," said Buffy.

"Eventually he comes to love you, Buffy," said Joyce. "I didn't want to believe it either. But because of him, I got to watch Dawn graduate."

"Wait!" exclaimed Buffy. "Dawn?"

"Yes, Dawn," said Joyce. "Your younger sister. You might not remember her yet in your world but you will."

"I heard Jenny mention that name," said Buffy, "but I thought she just existed in her world."

"Oh, you'd be surprised how many worlds have a Dawn Summers," said Joyce. "Almost as many as those that have a Buffy Summers. And because I was turned, I got to watch her grow up. I got to watch her get married. I got to see my grandchildren be born and then I got to see them grow up."

"You make it sound like being a vampire is just one big vacation," said Buffy. "It isn't. Don't you feel the craving to drink blood? Don't you feel the temptation to attack somebody? How can you be different than any other vampire I ever kil--er--fought?"

"For one thing, I have a soul," said Joyce. "It was hard to retain but Willow and your friend did their best to make sure that I crossed over with one when I got turned."

"Wait a minute!" exclaimed Buffy. "The Willow in your world helped you become a vampire?"

"No," said Joyce. "She helped me become a good vampire."

"There's something you're not telling me, Mom," said Buffy. "Surely things can't be going that smoothly in your life, so to speak."

"Well, I did have a really bad experience a few months after I got turned," said Joyce.

"I knew it!" exclaimed Buffy. "What was it?"

Joyce stared at Buffy with a haunted look. "It was the day I attended your funeral."