“Not so fast.” Giles cautioned. “We don’t know that she is indeed the Forever Slayer”

“But if she is. . .”

“Then Buffy is immortal.” He pickd up one of his volumes and showed her a passage. “The Forever Slayer is a legend. It’s not a prophecy.”

“But vampires are legends too.” Willow added.

“Peecisely. The Forever Slayer is supposed to come at a time of extreme peril.”

“The Master?”

“I think so. “ He turned the page. “A-ha! The slayer shall be killed but she will not die. She will return to stop the evil and because of her death she will become strong. And she cannot die.” Giles read from the page.

“Sounds like Buffy to me. Giles this would be so good for her. She could really live her life for once instead of worrying about which vamp it was that was finally going to ace her.” Willow hoped it were true. She could see the sadness that Buffy tried to hide and it made Willow ache for her.

Willow found what she was looking for in one of the scanned volumes on her computer“ She can still be killed by beheading, fire or removal of the heart. Othe than that, Buffy take nose dives off of skyscrapers and get up without a scratch. Why didn’t we figure this out before Giles?”

“I suppose that Buffy’s tremendous skill has prevented us from noticing but frankly we should have known long ago. “

“Giles she hasn’t aged a day since she was sixteen! Look!” Willow pulled a picture out of her wallet of her and Buffy in high school. Then she showed him a recent picture aken at the Bronze. With the exception of a more mature look, Buffy’s features were still that of a sixteen year old girl.“She looks the same”

“As enlightening as all this is-it proves nothing. The only way to know is if Buffy were to die and rise again.”

“We’re not going to kill Buffy, Giles.”

“I wasn’t suggesting it. Until she does by some other means however, we should keep this from Buffy. We wouldn’t want to get her hopes up.”

“And if we’re wrong she’ll be dead.” Willow grumbled. She hated this part of being a Watcher. The uncertainty and the possibility of losing someone she loved. She really hated it.