We begin in the waiting room of Sunnydale Memorial. Dawn is napping with her head on Buffy's lap. Riley sits beside her, wearing a gray turtleneck to cover up the scars on his neck. Giles approaches the duo nervously and wonders if he can get them anything. They decline. Meanwhile, Willow and Xander, seated next to each act all fidgety and banter about the time. Everyone's nervous. Got it? Buffy is worried that Joyce's surgery is taking too long, but Riley does a good job of reassuring her that it probably means the doctors have been able to excise the tumor. In the distance, Buffy catches sight of Dr. Doom, who has a really funny mushroom-head in his scrubs. He doesn't at all look like he's been performing brain surgery for the last few hours. Not a speck of blood. Buffy rouses Dawn and stands expectantly while the doctor approaches and evil Marti Noxon makes us wait through the credits.

We're back, and the doctor tells Buffy that the operation was a big success. Yay! Everyone hugs everyone else except Xander and Giles, who engage in a man hug. You know, they pat each other's biceps and backs effusively. But they can't hide their overjoyed grins. Buffy thanks the doctor and surprises him with a rib-cracking hug.

Over at Xander's new digs -- which will be known as the Non-basement of Non-debasement, at least until I can come up with a catchier name -- Xander, Dawn, and Anya sit near the remains of what once was Chinese takeout. Dawn tells an adorable anecdote from her childhood involving her running around with chop sticks in her mouth like vampire fangs while Buffy would give chase and pretend to stake her. Aw. How nice of the monks to plant such charming fake memories. You can't beat that old-world craftsmanship, I'm telling you. Xander clears away the containers and asks Dawn what she'd like to do now, "keeping in mind that [he] won't chase [her] because [he] is old and stuffed full of Moo Goo Gai starch." Heh. Xander suggests a movie. At the mention of a chimp-playing-hockey movie, Anya becomes excited. "That's hilarious. The ice is so slippery and monkeys are all irrational. We have to see this." I totally agree. Monkeys are comedy gold. Dawn doesn't want to see it because it looks sad, and I for one would really like to know how one goes about making a sad movie about a chimp who plays hockey. Monkey + Ice = Laughter. Maybe the chimp has a brain tumor? I guess a terminally ill chimp would be pretty sad. But it might lack a bit of punch since monkeys aren't exactly aware of their own mortality. ["I beg to differ; I sobbed all the way through Project X." -- Sars] Sorry. Back to Buffy. Xander tells Dawn that she gets to choose the movie since it's her celebratory night. Anya tries to swing the odds in her favor by whispering, "Go monkey. Choose monkey." Heh. Dawn protests that she doesn't care, since the only reason she's at Xander's is because Buffy and Riley need time alone, "which always translates to 'get Dawn out of the house so we can have loud obnoxious sex.'" Count your blessings, sister.