Wishin' and hoppin' and thinkin' and prayin'

"A vengeance demon?" asked Willow. "Are you nuts?"

"Heck, no," said Anya. "I'm as sane as you are. But we gotta do something or else this town is going to be crawling with giant bunnies."

"I wish Buffy were here," said Willow.

"Hey, no more using the w-word until Halfrek gets here," said Anya. "And even then, she's my friend so I get the first wish."

And with that, Anya turned her eyes downward, held out her hands in a palms-upward position and started chanting a brief spell that Willow could barely hear.

Suddenly there was a clap of thunder and then a burst of black smoke that smelled of sulfur appeared in the center of Buffy's living room. When the smoke cleared, there stood in the center of the room a curly-haired brunette in a tight black dress.

"Damn it, Anyanka!" cried the figure. "Do you have any idea what time it is? Some of us have work to do in the morning."

"I'm sorry, Hallie," said Anya. "But I have urgent need of your help."

"Don't tell me," said the woman Anya called Hallie. "That cad Xander finally dumped you and went back to Cordelia. The bastard!"

"No, Hallie," said Anya. "It's nothing like that."

"Worse yet," said Hallie. "He went back to that brazen hussy he calls Willow."

"Er, hello," said Willow. "So-called brazen hussy standing right here. I'm pretty sure Anya didn't summon you to deal with me."

"Hey, don't be so sure about that," said Hallie. "The night's not over yet. So who is the target, Anyanka? Giles? Buffy? Oz? Joyce?"

"Joyce?" asked Willow. "What could you possibly have against Joyce? Or Oz? Or Giles? Or Buffy?"

Anya ignored Willow's questions and said, "I need you to track down a rabbit for me."

"A rabbit?" asked Hallie. "Is that all? Are you still on that anti-bunny kick?"

"Yes, but this time it's different," said Anya. "We're talking about a giant rabbit. Maybe even a demon."

"Hmm," said Hallie. "That's different. Where is it?"

"It jumped right out that broken window," said Anya, pointing to the front living room window. "It should be outside some place."

"That hardly narrows it down," said Hallie.

"Perhaps if you made a wish," suggested Willow.

"Shut up, Willow," said Anya. "Anyway, if you could go out and look for it --"

"Oh, for Hades' sake, Anyanka," said Hallie. "I'm only here because I'm your friend and I thought you were in trouble. I'm not going to go out hunting for some damn rabbit -- especially at this time of night."

"I kinda wish you would," said Anya.

Then she paused and said, "Sorry, Hallie. I didn't mean to --"

Hallie gave Anya a dirty look before saying "Wish granted" and then disappearing in a cloud of black smoke.

Five minutes later, she was back with the giant rabbit in her arms.

"Oh, cool," said Willow. "You captured it unharmed."

"It wasn't easy but I did it," said Hallie. "Now what?"

Anya replied, "Now I wish -- "

"No, wait," said Willow. "Now I get a wish. I wish Buffy were here."

Nothing happened after Hallie said "Wish granted."

"Okay, it's my turn," said Anya. "I wish that --"

"No, wait," said Willow. "How come my wish didn't work?"

"How should I know?" asked Anya. "Anyway, I wish --"

"No, please," said Willow. "Stop. Something's wrong here."

"Oh, really?" asked Anya. "What?"

"I don't know," said Willow. "But I really wish Buffy was here. Just as she was earlier tonight."

"Wish granted," said Hallie.

And just like that, Buffy was back in human form. And wearing the same outfit she had worn when she had taken a shower earlier in the evening.

"What the hell, Willow!" cried Buffy.