Der Zauber Kasten. Giles breathes, "There," with a sense of satisfaction. "It's not over," he explains, and takes Anya's hand. Kiss her, you fool! Uh-oh, now I've really outed myself as a Giles/Anya 'shipper.

Dawn and Buffy fight rooty monsters. Dawn handles herself pretty well, and when Buffy looks surprised, she holds her head up and says, "What? You think I never watched you?" Buffy looks proud. It's so nice of the monsters to take a little break to give these sisters a chance to bond and share a moment. That's some Old World charm right there. Right about here, I groan and shake my head, because I am so not looking forward to Dawn the Vampire Dater. But I might tune in to see Spells, Inc.! featuring the romantic couple Rupert Giles and Anya Emerson, or After Dark, the further adventures of Spike, a rent-boy in Rome. More monsters attack. The sisters fight back-to-back.

More boob bolts from Cruella D'Will. Xander clambers up and again blocks the bolts, which flutter into confetti. Willow tells him he can't stop her from destroying the world, but apparently he can, just by standing up. Xander says he understands, but if the world is ending, he wants to be by his best friend's side. "Is this the master plan?" Willow sneers. "You're gonna stop me by telling me you love me?" "Well, I was gonna walk you off a cliff and hand you an anvil, but it seemed kinda cartoony," Xander replies. He keeps her attention, explaining that he understands she must be in so much pain. And even though he knows she's going to end the world, he still "want[s] to hang." "You're Willow," he explains, and Willow demands, "Don't call me that!"

But Xander has more to say. He launches into a story about how, on the first day of kindergarten, Willow broke a yellow crayon. Shame on her. The problem with youth today is that they don't show a proper respect for molded wax. Anyway, apparently Willow cried and was too afraid to tell anyone about the crayon. As Xander continues, saying he loves "crayon-breaky Willow" and "scary-veiny Willow," Willow shifts uncomfortably from foot to foot. She looks very conflicted, but doesn't say anything. Thank you, Xander, for shutting her up! Xander clichés that if she wants to end the world, she has to start with him. Looks like a bit of a miscalculation on his part, because Willow tilts her head as if she's heard a very intriguing notion. "You think I won't?" she asks. Xander tells her it doesn't matter -- he'll still love her. She blasts him with a bolt across the face, but he stands back up and tells her again that he loves her. She blasts him in the chest, and a single tear rolls down her face. He stumbles up and pants, "I love you." "Shut up!" she yells, and tries to hit him again, but her power crackles and has no effect. Did she use it up, or can she just not access it because she's finally feeling human emotion? Xander repeats over and over that he loves her, and walks towards her as she shakes her hands, looking for the power. As he comes close to her, Willow demands, "Stop!" and then begins to beat her fists on his chest. She breaks down into sobs, pummeling him ineffectually. She then drops to her knees, and Xander drops with her. He hugs her close, and Willow sobs. Her hair CGIs back to red.