Anya is at a crossroads; will she fall to the plotting of darkness, or can the BB gang save her from a fate worse than death? And at what cost?

**********

This story is copyright by the author. It is protected by licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

"Hi, Greg," Anya purred as she slid into the booth beside Greg at the campus diner.

Greg turned, surprised. "Oh, hi," he replied. "I didn't expect to see you here."

Anya took his face between her hands and kissed him, a sight that attracted more than a little attention in the dining hall of the student union building. She released him, and a frown flitted across her pretty features. "Aren't you happy to see me?" she asked, disappointed that he hadn't responded more passionately.

"Well, yeah," Greg said with a gulp, "but ... this is kind of ... public."

"So?" Anya asked, a bit annoyed. "That never stopped you before."

"True," Greg sighed. Right then, he didn't want to deal with Anya. Then again, Grandmother had told him what he had to do. "But other times, I wasn't studying for a test or working so hard on the park's expansion."

Anya wrapped her arm around Greg's shoulder. "You know," she cooed, "I could help you with your studying so we have more time together."

Greg recoiled, a stunned look on his face. "I thought ... you said you'd never do that, even if I asked."

"Well," Anya began, trying but failing to sound sheepishly apologetic, "those times I wasn't missing my boyfriend so much because he was always busy studying and working."

"It's a big test tomorrow, and I've been so busy that I haven't had a lot of time to study, so tonight is crunch night – after I get off work at the project."

"Are you sure?" Anya said, running her fingers up and down Greg's chest. "I could make it worth your while."

Greg shuddered inwardly. 'Yeah, like the last time was so worth _my_ while,' he thought to himself. 'Like I'm just aching to do _that_ again!' "That'll just distract me from studying," he said aloud.

For the briefest of moments, Anya's eyes burned, but she quickly put her 'friendly, sexy' face back on. "If you want to take a break, I'm not doing anything tonight," she whispered into his ear.

"Oh? Is Oksana doing something else without you?" Greg asked, and instantly he regretted his words.

The angry look was back in her eyes. "You make it sound like I spend _all_ my time with her," Anya snapped.

"Sometimes," Greg said hesitantly, "it seems like it."

"Oh?" Anya asked, standing up and glaring at him. "And just _who_ is turning down whom tonight?"

Greg wanted to argue, but he gulped when he remembered Grandmother's words. "I don't want to fight, Anya," he said softly.

"You're doing a poor job of showing it," she countered fiercely.

Greg took a deep breath to steady himself. He knew they were making a scene, and even though it was embarrassing, he needed to say some things. "I _miss_ you," he said simply, looking into her hard eyes. "We used to do everything together, but lately ...."

A little of the fire died from Anya's eyes. "I ... I suppose I could see how you feel neglected," she tried to ease the tension.

Greg relaxed visibly – a bit. "Yeah, some."

"I promise I'll make it up to you. Maybe tomorrow night we can have a nice ...." She broke off, frowning. "Can't do tomorrow night. We're going to a concert in LA. But the night after? Maybe a nice dinner, some wine, a nice movie at home ...." She left it pretty plain what she was suggesting.

"Uh, maybe," Greg stammered, suddenly thinking of the other night when Anya had cast a spell on him so that _she_ was the only one who got any enjoyment out of their sex. He couldn't help but frown.

Anya noticed. "What's wrong?"

"It's ... nothing," he tried to slither out of a discussion that he knew wouldn't go well.

"No, there _is_ something," Anya scowled. "What's ...?" Her eyes widened. "You're still mad about the other night, aren't you?"

"Wouldn't you be? I mean, that was pretty ... humiliating!" Greg hissed, his anger and embarrassment at the incident having displaced any conciliatory feelings he had.

Anya stiffened. "Well, I _was_ thinking about how I could make it up to you," she snorted.

Grandmother's warning was echoing loudly in Greg's ears. Even though he was very angry with Anya at the moment, he had to remain calm, and show her that he cared, if he was to have any hope whatsoever of helping her, let alone trying to regain her love. "I'm sorry," Greg apologized softly. "It's ....." He shook his head, uncertain what he wanted to say. "I don't like fighting. I'd rather do something fun."

Anya felt her anger and determination waver. She hadn't expected an apology, but more confrontation. "I guess I was pretty selfish," she said softly. "If you need to take a break, I'm going to be around." She leaned over and gave him a kiss, then smiled and walked away, pausing to smile over her shoulder at him.

Behind her, Greg shuddered. His apology had been very difficult, and he wasn't completely certain that Anya's response had been genuine. And he still wasn't convinced that they'd ever regain the magic that they'd once had in their relationship. He sighed heavily, letting his head loll forward, as he had the crushing feeling that he really had lost Anya, that she'd changed far more than he'd previously thought. And he wasn’t certain that he was willing to climb out on a limb emotionally to fight for her again, knowing that he might be – once more – dashed to the ground and having his heart broken again.

**********

A thick, gray fog enveloped the entire area, making it impossible to see anything more than five or six feet away. Clad in a nighty and fuzzy bunny slippers, the dark-haired girl stumbled blindly about, her eyes darting about wildly as she looked desperately for something of a landmark or guide. Alas, there was none to be found, and she meandered about more, her sense of unease growing with every passing moment.

"Join me," a seductive voice purred from off to one side. Anya spun, peering into the thick fog as a figure slowly slipped, wrath-like, through the mists, becoming more solid with every step. "Join me," she purred again, "and I'll help you."

"Who are you?" Anya demanded.

The figure smiled as she took another step toward Anya. Now she was visible as more than a shadow, even though wisps of fog wrapped occasionally around her. She was much shorter than Anya – perhaps five foot if even that, and she had pure white skin. She seductively licked her jet-black lips, tossing her head in a sexy fashion to get a few strands of her ebony hair from her face. A youthful hand reached toward Anya, alabaster skin emerging from the form-fitting red dress that clung to the girl's every curve, accentuating her generous bosom and sexy figure. "I can help you," the teenaged girl purred again, reaching her hand, the fingers tipped by black claws, toward Anya. "Join me."

Anya felt an almost overwhelming need to give herself to this strange girl, a lust she hadn't felt in ages burning within her, and the seductive voice promising to help her. "Who ... who are you?"

The girl smiled, and Anya could see the points of small fangs in her mouth. "Give yourself to your feelings. I feel your lust. I feel your need to be satisfied. Give yourself to me." Her blood-red, slitted eyes should have alarmed Anya as being non-human, but she felt powerfully drawn to this enigmatic young girl.

Anya felt herself taking a hesitant step toward the girl, even though she knew, intellectually, that she shouldn't. But the girl was so sexy, and she was making Anya feel so alive with passion.

"No!" another voice cooed from behind her. "You don't want her. I can help you find the peace and tranquility you have always needed."

Anya spun again, and found another figure emerging from the fog. This shape was several inches taller than the alabaster girl, and it seemed that she glided across the fog rather than walked through it, with a movement that was both graceful and purposeful.

"You want peace, and that I can give you," the girl, now revealed as another teenager, purred. Her long, flame-red hair danced mischievously around her breathtakingly gorgeous face, parting to reveal long, pointed ears like a Vulcan – or, Anya realized, a sidhe, an ancient elf, or fey. She was clad in a tight-fitting dress of earthtones, which clung like a film to her extremely generous breasts, narrow waist, and perfectly-proportioned flared hips. The dress ended a few inches above her knees, showing a little of her nearly-perfect skin; below her knees, she wore brown, knee-high, calf-tight boots. Her deep violet, almond-shaped eyes gazed at Anya with a soothing, almost magical, calming effect. "I can give you the peace you seek."

"You want to give yourself to your lust," the other girl sang, causing Anya to turn her body, so that her shoulders were aligned between the two, and her head could pivot to look at either. "You want fun, adventure, passion. You want power."

"Who are you?" she demanded again, less sure of herself this time.

"I can give you your lust, your passion, your adventure, and more. Join me." Her voice alone could have ensnared dozens of men to do her will – and Anya realized that it was having the same effect on her.

"Come to me," the sidhe said in her calm, soothing, melodious voice. Anya spun, and saw the girl's arms reaching for her. "You need peace and tranquility. I offer that to you."

Anya looked back and forth between the two of them, confusion on her features. She stepped back, to avoid both of them, but she turned suddenly when she bumped into someone behind her.

A lithe, black, teenage girl stood, blocking Anya's way. As Anya took a step back, the girl moved with cat-like grace toward her, matching Anya's move, but with a studied determination in her every step. "Choose," she said in a neutral voice.

Anya tried to move past her, but the girl sidestepped with surprising speed. Frowning, angry at the impediment, Anya pushed at the girl ... and before she knew what had happened, the girl sidestepped the push, took Anya's arm, and used it to lever her back toward the two girls who were beckoning to her. "Choose," the black girl said again as she thrust Anya between the two temptresses.

Anya gritted her teeth; this was foolish. She began to incant, which brought laughter from the two girls. Practically snarling, Anya loosed her magic.

And gasped when nothing happened. "You fool. Do you think your magic works in this realm of dreams?" the alabaster demon-girl laughed.

Anya darted forward, away from the black girl, and smacked into a short girl with a tiny waist and broad hips, but a small bustline. Her hair was dark, in a spikey punk style, and she wore a distinctive blazer atop a pair of perfectly-tailored pants. Despite the size difference, Anya rebounded from the punk girl like a ping-pong ball ricocheting from a brick wall. "Choose," the punk-girl echoed from her perfect, kissable lips. Her deep green eyes gazed at Anya with a determination that was unnerving.

Her heart racing as panic began to envelop her, Anya sidestepped the punk girl, and began to run between the punk girl and the demon-girl. Not surprisingly, another figure blocked her, a pre-teen girl, with Asian features, shoulder-length, straight black hair partially covering her face, giving her a shy look. The girl sat, cross-legged, on a floating blanket, almost like a guru in meditation, but she gazed at Anya with a surprising intensity. Beside the girl, a pink disk floated, a few odd instruments extended menacingly from it. It looked like a cross between a Hello Kitty toy and the torture droid from Star Wars.

In a full panic now, Anya dashed back across the forming circle of teenagers, right into the grasp of a young, buff boy who was peering at her with a charming smile. Though he was only as tall as Anya, his body was toned, like a dancer, with well-defined, if not overly-large, muscles. Another teenager, he looked the part of a heartthrob, his light-grey eyes giving him an exotic appeal. He grasped her arms in a vice-like grip, and Anya's eyes widened at the realization that he wasn't even trying to hold her tightly, that he could probably crush her like a paper cup. "Choose," he said, turning her back to the center and giving her a nudge.

Anya looked around again, feeling uneasy. Between the demon-girl and the strong boy, a girl straight out of an anime comic appeared, with blue hair in an impossible spiky hairdo that swept back and up, cat-like, golden eyes with vertical, cat-slit pupils, and pointed feline ears that stuck straight out from the sides of her head. She grinned maliciously, and displayed sharp, long canine teeth. In one of her hands, a tiny, glowing ball of energy floated near her palm. "Choose," the cat-girl said.

Gasping at the sight, Anya stepped back into the center and watched as two more teenagers completed the circle; an Asian girl that looked like she was straight from the set of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", with verdant jade-green eyes and straight black hair. She wore a pair of simple pants under a long-necked, sleeveless Mandarin top. The most striking feature of this girl, however, was the green sword with strange etchings held in her hand in a way that suggested that she knew how to use the blade, and wasn't afraid of using it.

Another girl sidled up to the punk girl, this one taller and chocolate-skinned, with a figure that was showing promise of extreme beauty and curves in a few years. She put her arm around the waist of the punk girl and leaned her head on the punk-girl's shoulder, never taking her gaze from Anya.

Anya turned in a slow circle, and realized that the teenagers were slowly closing in on her. "I'm an adult," she snapped. "You're just kids. You have to listen to me."

"Oh?" the sidhe girl asked with a smirk. She waved her fingers, and instantly, Anya felt herself shrinking, losing height and weight quickly. She felt braces from her sophomore year in high school form in her mouth. She didn't need a mirror to know that the elf-girl had just made her the age of the rest of the group.

"Choose your path," the group called to her in unison.

"I offer you a path of peace and tranquility," the elf-girl said again in a soothing, mellifluous voice.

"You want passion and adventure. You crave power. Give yourself to me, and it will be yours," the alabaster girl purred seductively.

The group took another step toward her, and Anya felt a tingling around her. Looking down, she saw a circle with mystic runes form around her, a magic circle which would stop her magic, and imprison her.

"You must choose," the sidhe and the demon-girl intoned together again.

Anya woke in a cold sweat, her pulse rapid as her heart raced wildly. She sat, working to control her breathing, until she felt a small measure of calm come back to her. "Damn you, Greg!" she snapped to no-one in particular. "You and those stupid on-line stories!"

She glanced at the clock, and, sighing, slipped from bed, putting on her fuzzy bunny slippers. A moment of dread realization hit her, and her heart pounded again. In the dream, she'd been wearing those same slippers. Recoiling as if struck by a snake, Anya kicked off the offending slippers. She padded softly to her kitchen, where she nervously fixed herself a cup of chamomile tea. As she drank the tea, sitting at her table, she winced or outright flinched at every little creak or bang in the building. Finally, she turned off the kitchen light and plodded to the sofa, where she lay down, pulled a blanket over herself, and eased her head onto a pillow, her eyes darting about the room uneasily.

**********

Grandmother glanced around nervously, expecting trouble. She was gathered with many of her employees and their friends in a very sumptuous meeting room which, based on how ostentatious it was, was very obviously not associated with Bikini Beach, where Grandmother used a modest, understated tone on everything. Grandmother forced a smile to the woman seated at the head of the table. "Thanks for a room on such short notice, Ronnie," she said.

"Based on what you told me on the phone, I figured it was very important," Ronnie answered.

"It is," Grandmother answered slowly. She glanced around the table, at the figures sitting with somber or even grim expressions, not touching the soft drinks which had been set out for them. There was Jenny, the park's red-haired beauty of a mechanic, her partner Melinda, Jenny's niece and thirteen-year-old troublemaker Natty. Vicky sat stiffly, as did Holly beside her. Only Liz appeared less than nervous, but Grandmother realized that was probably a lot more from her long years of experience of hiding her nerves. Greg, too, sat in the room, looking sullen and dejected, already knowing what Grandmother had to say. "I suppose you all wonder why I asked you to meet me here?"

"Anya," Liz said with certainty, voicing the answer that everyone knew but hesitated to say.

"She's getting very ... unpredictable," Jenny added.

Natty shook her head. "No," she replied firmly. "She's turned nasty."

Melinda, closest to the girl, tried to hush her, but Grandmother shook her head. "There's no beating around the bush here. Natty's right. Since Oksana came, Anya's judgment is ... gone. She's not acting with the morality and ethics that she always beat on me about."

There was a long pause, and then Holly piped up, "What can we do? How do we help her, when Oksana is always around, and always seems to be egging her on?"

"Can't you, you know, get rid of Oksana?" Melinda asked hopefully.

Grandmother shook her head. "I will _not_ stoop to murder," she said firmly. "And even if I were that immoral, I doubt that I could stop Oksana. Worse, if I did anything to Oksana, with Anya's current confused state of mind, it might anger her, and push her to the darkness." She sighed. "I can't take that chance, even if I would let myself."

"So what _can_ we do?" Liz asked bluntly.

Grandmother took a box from her purse and took off the lid. "I want each of you to put on this pin. Wear it as a pin, or a medallion, or anything, but I want you ... I _need_ you ... to wear them at all times." She passed the box to Jenny, who took one and then passed the box down.

"What ... what are they?" Jenny asked as she pinned the small metal object on her T-shirt.

"They're ... protection for you. In case Anya loses her temper, or her judgment, and tries to do something to you."

"Like shields or something?" Natty asked, wide-eyed.

"Not quite. One thing I have to tell you is that the protection will guard one-hundred percent against dangerous attacks, that would injure or kill you. Other attacks or magic will appear to change you, but the spell will wear off after a few minutes."

"Ah," Liz said, "decoys. If Anya does something, she'll think it worked, but we'll be protected."

"Exactly."

"Do you have a supercharged one for Greg? He's probably the most vulnerable, and the one Anya would most go after if she gets angry," Holly observed.

"And he's had a protection charm for a while now," Grandmother replied. As the box was passed around the table, including to Ronnie, Grandmother continued. "The matron of my clan, Nadezhda, told me that the best thing we can do for Anya is to let her know that we all love her and care for her, and use those caring feelings to distract her from angry ones."

Vicky scowled. "That's easier said than done. She really hurt me when she blew off all the wedding prep stuff we'd planned."

"And all the times she's blown off dates and stuff with me. And ..." Greg stopped suddenly, shaking his head and blushing at the memory of how Anya had humiliated him. There was no need for the others to know those details.

"I know she's been a pain in the rear, uncaring, and even mean to some of you. Nevertheless, if we care about her, we have to try to let her know that we love her and support her. That's the one sure-fire way to defeat the darkness."

**********

Natty and Megan piled out of Megan's mom's car, eager for a fun day at their favorite waterpark. Both girls were bubbly-happy, even giddy, as they considered all the fun that they'd have, especially once their friends joined them at lunchtime. "What are we going to do first?" Megan asked eagerly.

"Wild River Run?"

Megan grinned. "I _love_ that ride!"

As they walked toward the gate, Natty slowed. She saw Anya in the ticket booth, and Oksana entering the booth from the rear. "Go on ahead," Natty said, her joy suddenly vanishing.

Megan glanced at Natty and saw her worried frown. She followed Natty's gaze to the booth. "I don't like that Oksana girl," Megan said bluntly. "She's ... I don't know. I get the feeling that she wants people to be unhappy like she is."

"Yeah. Me, too."

Natty heard some guys behind her, and she glanced over her shoulder. Sure enough, three older guys, probably college-age, were walking toward the ticket booth, joking and laughing lightheartedly as they walked.

"Come on so Anya doesn't see us," Natty urged. She grabbed Megan's hand and pulled her to the gate, where they swiped their cards and stepped inside. "Over here," she called softly, directing Megan to a spot where they could see the ticket booth. As the two tween girls watched, the guys strolled to the booth and began to talk with Anya. Through the glass, the two girls could see a puzzled look flit across Anya's features, while at the same time, a malicious, even evil, grin formed on Oksana's face as she stood behind Anya, looking over her shoulder like she was Anya's supervisor – or master.

"Let's put our towels away, and come out here. I want to see what Anya did," Natty said as she pulled Megan by the hand to the women's locker rooms. "Hurry." The two girls dashed into the large changing room, while nearby, the three college guys, oblivious to whatever Anya and Oksana had planned for them, strode happily, laughing and joking, into the men's locker room.

In moments, Natty and Megan were out of the room, in their cute swimsuits. Natty pulled Megan to a small bench sitting outside the gift shop where the girls could watch. Due to good sound dampening and some magic, no-one in the entrance plaza could hear the screams from the men's locker, but everyone could see Anya walking determinedly toward the exit door, tugging it open so she could go inside.

"What do you suppose she did?" Megan asked in a fearful, hushed voice. She knew of the magic, and she'd heard Natty talking about how Anya seemed to not care what she did to people anymore.

"I don't know," Natty whispered back. "But I bet it's bad."

"Holy cow!" Megan and Natty said simultaneously as Anya led three very curvy, very busty girls in very skimpy bikinis out of the men's locker room. Natty peered, but all she saw on the guys' faces was a bit of confusion, and a lack of intelligence, as if only the pilot light was lit in their brains. Slowly, the confusion faded, and the trio began to giggle like total bimbos as they turned and strolled, their nearly perfect rear-ends swaying seductively, into the park.

Natty and Megan sat, their mouths agape in shock at what they'd seen. After a moment, Natty realized that Anya was not only looking at them, but was walking their way, her expression calm and happy. She walked right up to Natty and stretched out her arms. "Can I get a hug from my favorite girl?" she asked, sounding like absolutely nothing had happened.

Natty stared at Anya and her outstretched arms, and then something inside her snapped. "No!" she cried aloud. "I saw what you did! You ... you know better than to be so cruel!" she screamed, before she grabbed Megan's hand and tugged her, at a dead run, away from Anya.

Anya stood, turning to watch the girls flee from her, a look of total surprise on her features. She was stung by Natty's rejection of her affection, and wounded by Natty's accusation that she was cruel and malicious. The girls ran from her as if she were a monster. Anya was hurt, wondering why Natty had been so frightened of her and angry at her. She sank onto the bench, shaken to the core. Natty had always been loving and friendly with her. She'd helped Natty before, and after her 'change', and Natty always wanted to do things with Anya whenever possible. In a way, Natty treated Anya like a favorite aunt, or godparent, or just plain friend. But not that day. Something hurt inside Anya, a stirring of conscience, or a broken heart, but it pained her greatly, and as she sat, tears began to trickle down her cheeks at the anguish of Natty's rejection.

**********

Selena burst into the employee's hut unhappily, not caring that she banged the door open with great force, nor that she slammed it shut behind her so hard that it threatened to break the glass. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Selena demanded of Anya.

Anya, sitting on one of the sofas in the hut, almost dropped her soda when Selena started yelling at her. She stood, suddenly looking very angry. "What do you mean, what's wrong with me? What's wrong with _you_, barging in and yelling at me?" She stood at full height, her arms tensed like coiled springs, ready to strike out, and her fists balled in anger.

"I didn't change three guys in ways that are going to ruin their lives," Selena hissed. "So I'd say that there's something wrong with _you_!" She put her hands on her hips, her weight cocked mostly to her left leg.

"I didn't ruin their lives!" Anya defended herself. "They were looking for a good time. I gave them that!"

"You gave them a weekend of being sex-starved, air-headed bimbos. And if that weren't enough, you made it so they'd remember!"

"So?"

"Were you too busy to check to see that the blonde is going to be so confused and distraught that he's going to try to kill himself? Or didn't you even care to check? And he'll try, not once, but three times, before he's institutionalized for a few months. If that doesn't ruin his college career, what does?" She glared at Anya as the other girl digested her words. "And the tall guy – he's going to be so confused that he'll break off his engagement to his fiancé. Did you think about that? Or was he just another mortal plaything for your amusement? Is that what you're thinking, Adyna?" Selena hissed.

"I'm not your mother!" Anya screamed at Selena.

"No? You're sure as hell acting like it," Selena snarled. "What you're doing is just plain wrong! It's long past confused, or messed up. You're a bitch!"

"I am _not_ wrong! Anya screamed. "Why is everyone accusing me of being vicious and mean? Or are you just jealous of my new powers? Is that it?"

"Jealous? Hah! If that's how you use your new powers, you can keep them! Because I sure as hell don't want them if they'd make me as wicked as you're becoming!"

Anya leaned a little forward, her arms drawing up and her fingers unclenching. Selena knew that Anya was very close to being irrational. "You need to apologize to me _right now_, or you can leave the park – permanently!"

"I think your grandmother makes all the staffing decisions," Selena replied, crossing her arms defiantly in front of her.

Anya was visibly fuming. Selena knew that she'd pushed, maybe a little too hard. Softly, she began to sing the song that Grandmother had taught her, feeling the energy flowing through her and around her.

Anya froze, startled, her arms starting to raise, when she felt the shield form around Selena. Was the girl that frightened of what Anya might do that she felt the need to shield herself? She felt something inside her twinge yet again, just as it had when Natty had run away from her embrace. Her arms fell limp at her side, her mouth hung open in astonishment at what was happening.

Sensing that the immediate danger was past, Selena stopped the chant. "Anya," she said, a lot more softly, "you're my friend. When no-one else was there for me, you helped me more than you could know, and it seemed that you were always thinking of my well-being before your own. But something has changed, and I'm worried about you. This behavior isn't like you at all. I'm worried about my friend."

"You've got a hell of a way to show it, if that's what it is," Anya snapped, her irritation and annoyance resurfacing after her shock at the shield had worn off.

"So maybe I'm not so good at the tough love thing," Selena said.

"No shit!"

"But I do care about you, and I don't want to see you go down the path that my mother went."

"You've got a funny way of showing it, if you do," Anya spat. She started to lift her arms again, but not in an offensive posture.

"Where are you going?" Selena asked as soon as she realized that Anya was starting a teleport spell. "You're supposed to be working this afternoon."

"The otherworld," Anya said haughtily. "This morning has been too stressful, and I need to unwind some."

"So I have to pick up the slack from your work, and do my own?"

"Just wave your fingers a bit. It's a lot easier that way." Anya disappeared.

The sound of a door creaking open startled Selena, who'd been standing, stupefied, staring at where Anya had been. She nearly jumped before she recognized the intruder. "Oh, you scared me!" Selena said to the old woman.

Grandmother sighed. "I saw what happened."

"Did I ... did I go overboard?" Selena asked, frightened.

"No, I don't think so," Grandmother answered softly, putting her arm around Selena's shoulder. "You did get through to her, at least for a moment."

"I did? Because it sure didn't seem like it."

Grandmother nodded. "She was startled when you started the shield spell. You made her question what she was doing or becoming."

"It must have been a pretty quick question and answer period, then," Selena said dejectedly, "because she was back to her snotty self so fast that I didn't notice."

"You wouldn't have seen it, but Natty saw her sell the passes this morning, and after the boys changed, Anya acted like nothing was wrong and wanted to give Natty a hug."

"Oh? I take it that didn't go well?"

"Natty insinuated that she was evil and ran away without giving Anya a hug. That really got to her, at least for a bit." Grandmother rubbed her eyes, fatigued. "We just have to keep up the love part. We'll get through."

"You hope."

Grandmother nodded. "I hope." She sighed heavily. "By the way, what did you do with the boys Anya changed?"

Selena shrugged. "I couldn't take off the bimbo effects, so I just added a layer to it. When they start to get ... aroused, they'll get very sleepy. Very, very sleepy."

Grandmother permitted herself a smile. "Nice. So they'll be too tired to do any mattress mamba until the change wears off. Clever solution."

Selena walked with Grandmother back toward the office. "Did I do the right thing? Confronting her like that? And then using the shield spell?"

Grandmother shrugged. "Who's to say? You did get through to her a little. That's a lot more than I've been able to do. And the shield spell was a good precaution." She shook her head sadly. "I'm afraid that I don't know when she might go off the deep end."

"Kind of scary, isn't it," Selena observed.

"Yeah. And that's why I need you. If she does go ...." The rest didn't need to be said aloud.

**********

Grandmother looked up at Anya's empty desk and rolled her eyes. "Damned girl," she muttered. "And I need to get that paperwork done today!" This was the fourth time in a week that Anya had missed work, and it was taking a toll on her and the other employees who had to cover for work that Anya should have done. If she'd been a regular employee, Grandmother would have long since fired her.

Almost coincidentally with Grandmother's thoughts, Anya popped silently into the office. "Hi, Grandmother," she said cheerfully.

"Where have you been?" Grandmother asked, struggling mightily to keep a civil tongue despite her immense frustration with Anya.

"Oksana and I were out dancing."

Grandmother's eyes nearly bugged out. "At two in the afternoon?"

"It's almost midnight in Berlin," Anya said nonchalantly as she strolled to the refrigerator to get a soft drink. "Fantastic club. We'll have to go there again sometime."

"You know you have responsibilities around here, don't you? Everyone else is having to pick up the slack because you're gone so much."

"That's so boring," Anya yawned. "I wanted to have some fun. Speaking of which, I better pop over to see if Greg wants to get in a few hours of skiing before it gets dark."

"Skiing?" Grandmother's jaw dropped.

"Sure. Oksana and I've been skiing in Chile. They have a fantastic ski resort, with good runs, even this late in the season, and some of the instructors?" She got a twinkle in her eye. "Talk about built, and with that Latin accent. Wow!"

"You're dating Greg pretty steadily," Grandmother reminded her. "You shouldn't be fooling around like that. It's not fair to him."

"Oh, don't get your panties in a bunch!" Anya said dismissively. "I wasn't doing anything bad. Just window shopping."

"Even that's not very polite to Greg," Grandmother chided.

"Okay, whatever," Anya sighed. "Speaking of Greg, I think I'll pop over to see him rather than calling. I bet he'll be surprised." With a flourish of her hands, she disappeared again, leaving Grandmother shaking her head in disappointment and disbelief.

**********

"You can take off the afternoon and evening," Anya said, sounding more like a directive than a plea. She stood, arms crossed almost like a mother scolding a wayward child.

Greg, seated at his desk in his room at the Nu Rho Delta fraternity house, sighed. "Sorry, Anya, but I've got a test tomorrow, and I'm behind in my independent project – which happens to be the park expansion, you know. I'll probably be pulling an all-nighter."

"It'll be fun, though. And I can tell that you need a break," Anya continued, switching to a seductive tone as she began to massage Greg's shoulders.

Greg's eyes drifted closed as Anya's fingers soothingly chasing away his tension. "Mmm," he purred. "You know I'm putty in your hands when you do that."

"So, you'll take a break and we can get some skiing in?" Anya asked hopefully. "Just you and me?"

Greg was torn. On the one hand, this would be a fun outing with Anya, like they used to do before Oksana showed up. But on the other hand .... "I really wish," he said regretfully. "You don't know how tempted I am." He shook his head. "But you know I've got homework, studying, and the project that have to take priority." He glanced up and saw the disappointment on Anya's face. "Maybe we can do something like that this weekend?" he offered hopefully.

The look on Anya's face, almost as if she was angry that he dared to turn down her invitation, unnerved Greg enough that he flinched. "I might be free," she said icily. In that moment, Greg forgot about pulling her into his lap for a little cuddle and kissing time.

**********

Anya walked into the Coconut Club by herself, pausing to look around. She spotted Liz, Melinda, and Jenny sitting at a table; from the four drink glasses on the table, Anya figured that Kyle was probably with Liz. Despite the fact that the table was full, she didn't have many options in the crowded nightclub, so she sauntered over to the table, taking a little extra effort to put a sexy sway into her walk, knowing that many eyes were going to be riveted on her and her low-cut, tight-fitting blouse, and tight jeans that showed off practically every curve on her body.

Liz looked up first as Anya approached. "Damn, girl!" she whistled. "You're dressed like you're on the prowl!"

Jenny frowned when she saw Anya. "Yeah. You're going to get in trouble with Greg if guys start hitting on you."

Anya shrugged. "It's not like he's here to object, is it? Besides," she said as she pulled a chair up to the table, uninvited, "he's so busy lately that I never see him. And things are a bit ... icy between us. I don't know why he's getting so distant."

"Are you sure it's all his fault?" Melinda asked, and instantly regretted it. Comments like that were apt to set Anya off.

Anya frowned, as expected. "He's ... turned me down for some outings, like he doesn't want to spend time with me anymore. He claims that he's always busy with homework and projects and stuff. I'm starting to wonder if he's looking somewhere else."

"Are you sure?" Melinda asked, surprised. "You know he's been crazy about you since, well, probably seventh or eighth grade from what he tells me."

Anya shook her head, her eyes narrowed. "No," she insisted, "there's something more. When I'm around him, it feels like, I don't know. Cool, or even cold, deep inside him, like he doesn't care for me anymore."

Jenny shook her head. "I think you're reading more into this than the fact that he's busy. He's got his regular studies, that stupid senior project, and he's coordinating the project for Grandmother. Frankly, I don't see how he manages all that."

"It'd be nice if he'd show that he cares by making time for me," Anya complained bitterly.

"And maybe it'd be nice if you could make time for _him_, too!" Melinda snapped without thinking.

Anya's eyes were narrow slits, a deep frown on her lips. "What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

Melinda saw the warning signs of intense anger. "Nothing. Just that you always have time to do stuff with Oksana, but not with him. Maybe he's feeling neglected and hurt, too. Did you ever think of that?"

"What?" Anya stammered, amazed that someone would even suggest that _she_ was in the wrong, even a little bit. "I make time for him, so why would he feel neglected?"

"I don't know," Jenny said. "Maybe it's because you're spending ...." Her words halted abruptly, her eyes wide as she stared onto the dance floor. Quickly, and all too obviously, she turned her eyes back to Melinda and Liz. "... too much ... time with Oksana." There was no mistaking that she was quite rattled by something, and no matter how much she tried, she couldn't erase the fear and surprise from her expression.

Anya's eyes narrowed when she realized that something had startled Jenny quite thoroughly. Her back was to the dance floor, so whatever Jenny had seen was behind her. She turned slowly, deliberately, away from the group toward the main action where people were dancing. Recognition dawned slowly as she peered, her eyes widened in disbelief, and then slowly narrowed, one corner of her lip turning up in a nasty sneer and her lip trembled. Her fists were suddenly balled, reflecting the anger which burned in her eyes. "I'll kill that shit!" she hissed furiously, standing slowly as she spoke.

"Anya, don't!" Liz practically screamed as she leaped to her feet and held Anya's shoulders. "Don't do something rash!" She stared, like her table-mates, at the sight on the floor. Greg, Anya's boyfriend, was dancing in time with the music, grinding his body against with a young, busty blonde girl in a clingy, low-neckline dress that ended far above her knees; she was reciprocating the sexually-suggestive dancing with a very lusty look in her eyes.

Anya stood, her face a mask of rage, as the music ended and Greg led the girl off the floor, his hand pretty explicitly groping the girls ass as they walked toward the exit of the club, while she clung tightly to his waist. It didn't take a seer to know what both of them had in mind. "That two-timing son-of-a-bitch! Studying, my ass!" she hissed malevolently.

"Anya," Liz said urgently, "that can't be right! Something has to be wrong!"

"That was Greg, wasn't it?" Anya demanded, spinning toward Liz.

Liz recoiled at the fearsome sight of Anya's fury displayed. "It _looked_ like Greg," she admitted, "but I've never known Greg to do something like that!" she said, trying to defend the indefensible.

"Something's wrong here," Jenny added quickly and no less urgently. "That _can't_ be Greg. He wouldn't do something like that!"

"He's never lied to you, has he?" Melinda added. She glanced at Jenny momentarily. "Call Grandmother, now!" she whispered to her partner.

"He told me he was upset, and he's been getting more distant." She shook her head angrily, her teeth grinding together as her jaw clenched tightly. "So he thought he could just cheat in front of me, or break off our relationship without telling me? We'll just see about that."

Jenny was standing beside Anya, her arm on Anya's to steady and calm her. "Anya, please calm down and take a deep breath. You've known Greg for a long time. Has he ever done anything like this to you before?"

"All it takes is once!" Anya snarled. She turned to walk out, shaking off the hands of Liz and Jenny who were trying to sooth and slow her. "He's going to pay!"

***********

With a very puzzled – and concerned – frown, Greg pulled into the parking lot at Bikini Beach and eased his car into the first available open spot. Beside him sat his friend Rob, and behind them was Chuck, another friend and member of the NRD fraternity. The trio crawled out of the car and strode toward the office.

"Any idea what this is about?" Rob asked Greg as they walked.

Greg shook his head. "No idea. Anya just said she wanted me to explain last night, and she sounded pissed."

"That sounds weird," Chuck said. He was a couple years older than Rob and Greg, having spent a hitch in the Navy.

"Yeah, I know. She _knew_ I was going to be studying all night. I told her when she invited me to go out with her."

"Something weird is going on here," Rob observed nervously. "Does this have anything to do with the foreign girl and Anya acting strange?"

Greg's jaw dropped. "How ... how did you know?"

"Vicky told me that Anya's been getting weird ever since that Oksana girl came. I wonder – do you suppose she's doing something to Anya?" Rob asked.

Greg shrugged. "I don't know. If she is, Grandmother can't detect it."

"Yeah, well her magic is kind of weak."

"Neither could her friend Jozef."

"Who's Jozef?" Chuck asked.

"Descendant of an old friend," Greg answered. "He's got some kind of ability to detect magic, even better than Grandmother. He said he got it because Grandmother cast a lot of spells on his great-grandmother when she was young, and something caused some of the magic to stick. He's like a magic-detector."

"So it's _not_ Oksana?" Rob asked.

"Nobody knows. From what Grandmother said, she's got a very powerful aura. And Grandmother said that something seems familiar, but she can't place it."

"I guess we'll find out in a few seconds."

Greg nodded. He paused at the door, typed in the code on the number pad, and then pulled the door open. He started inside, and then froze. Anya stood in the center of the room, her arms crossed and a deep scowl on her face. Beside her stood Oksana, trying also to frown, but unable to prevent a bit of a smug smile from showing. "Come in," Anya ordered.

Gulping nervously, Greg came in, followed closely by Chuck and Rob. The door closed behind them with an ominous thud. "You wanted to talk to me?" Greg asked simply.

"I want you to explain yourself," Anya snarled. "What were you doing last night?"

Greg cocked his head, puzzled. "I was at the house, studying, just like I told you I was going to."

"Liar!" Anya screamed at him. "How come Liz, Melinda, Jenny, and I saw you at the Coconut Club then?"

Greg's mouth hung open for a moment as he tried to make sense of what Anya had said. "But ... I was at the house. I didn't go to the club."

"We were all in the common room, studying around the TV," Rob said to defend his fraternity brother.

"Quiet!" Anya barked at him, so fiercely that he recoiled in shock.

"But that's where we were, Anya," Chuck tried to assure her in a calm, reasonable voice. "Almost all the guys were there, and we know Greg was in the house."

"They're just like a pack of rats," Oksana sneered, "defending each other even in their lies."

"So, you were at the house? Then how do you explain this?" Anya held up her cell phone, shoving it in Greg's face.

"But ... that's impossible!" Greg stammered. "I was at the house!"

"You were dancing with some hot blonde whore, who you took home!" Anya accused. "Oksana got these pictures of your little adventure."

"That can't be!" Greg protested. "I was at the house!"

"Cowardly shit!" Anya yelled. "If you wanted to break up, you could at least have been man enough to tell me face-to-face!"

"I don't want to break up, Anya," Greg countered. "I love you. You know that!"

"Hmm," Oksana thought, sneering. "Maybe he isn't man enough. Or shouldn't be!"

Greg was getting a very bad feeling about the whole situation. He forced back some panic, remembering what Grandmother had told him. "Anya, I would _never_ cheat on you. You know that. You know that I love only you!"

"You know what you should to do him," Oksana said smugly. "To punish him for trying to hurt you so."

Anya glanced at her, and then turned back to Greg, her expression slightly calmer, but with a strangely calm determination. "I think that's a very fitting punishment." She raised her hands and began to chant.

Greg, Rob, and Chuck began to back toward the door, frightened at the angry display before them. A curt word from Oksana, though, froze them in place, unable to move.

"Anya, please!" Greg pleaded. "Use your senses. Touch my thoughts and memories! You know I wouldn't deceive you!"

It was too late. Anya finished her chanting and let loose with a volley of magic, multi-colored motes of raw magical energy swirling around the trio of college boys and sinking into their bodies.

The changes were profound and rapid. Clothing morphed, skin flowed to rearrange itself, bones reshaped. In moments, all of the boys had lost height and weight, their waists becoming slender while their chests blossomed outward. Hair exploded in cascades down their shoulders until it touched and danced about the bounteous, newly-formed breasts. Their hips widened as their legs became curvy and shorter. Tennis shoes morphed into high-heels. Jeans and Dockers flowed across their new shapes until they were short skirts, barely legal and quite indecent. Masculine T-shirts and a polo shirt transformed into low-cut shirts and a shirt with tails tied beneath breasts, exposing voluptuous curves held only slightly by the daring, lacy bras the new girls were wearing.

"Anya, why?" Greg protested again, in a much sultrier, more feminine voice. "You know I love you and would never do something like that to you!"

"What ... what did you do to us?" Chuck asked fearfully.

"You guys, er, gals, know of the parks' magic? Well, welcome to a healthy dose of that spell."

"But ... it's in the water!" Rob observed, the logical functions of his brain still engaged.

"And that same spell can be summoned _without_ the water." Anya grinned maliciously. "Welcome to hell, girls." She glared at Greg. "Your punishment for lying and cheating. And you two," she turned her vicious sneer to Chuck and Rob, "for trying to cover for this cheating weasel!"

"Anya, they're telling the truth. So am I."

"And a couple more things," Anya added with a sneer, "do you remember Allison? How she became a super-horny bimbo whenever she was around a guy?" The former boys' eyes widened in terror at the implication of Anya's words. "Exactly. You get the same." She sneered as the boys' jaws dropped at her pronunciation, since they all knew what had happened to Allison. When Grandmother had gotten through with Allison, she was a very busy sex machine around men, sounding like a bimbo and unable to say no. And now, Anya said that was their fate as well.

"How long are you going to do this to us?" Chuck's voice had a bit of defiance in it.

"That's the best part. You guys thought you could fuck with me? Well, you can't. I win. Permanently!" Anya turned and stormed out of the office by the other entrance, into the park, with a grinning Oksana at her side. Behind her, three shell-shocked former boys stood, nearly in tears. Anya barely heard Chuck whimpering that she was turning malicious and wrong, but she _did_ hear him, and it stirred something deep down inside her.

**********

As Anya and Oksana lounged in hammocks by the Tropical Lagoon, sipping drinks, Holly stormed up to Anya. "You ... bitch!" she screamed at Anya. "What the hell gives you the right to do _that_ to my boyfriend?" She looked like she was going to slap Anya, which, given Anya's mood, would have been a very bad idea.

"Boyfriend, eh? I didn't think you'd get to that stage." Anya grinned. "Okay, I can fix this." She waved her fingers and chanted. "There. Problem solved. Why don't you go meet your girlfriend? I'm sure you two will have a lot to talk about. If you're not busy doing something else, that is!" she added with a leer.

Holly wanted to slap Anya even harder, but she knew that she was dealing with a very powerful, angry, and out-of-control magic user. She glanced up at Chuck, standing beside Rob and Greg back by the path, looking forlorn – and very cute. She felt a sudden rush of lust, a powerful sexual attraction to Chuck, so strong that she almost forgot about her objections to the magic that Anya had used with such dark, malevolent intentions. She knew that she should be furious at Anya, both for turning Chuck into a girl, and for messing with her and Chuck's sexuality, but she found herself rushing to sweep Chuck into a passionate, lust-filled embrace, her lips eagerly seeking Chucks, and he was responding in kind. Her primal passions pushed away, temporarily, her hatred and loathing for Anya for having done something so vicious and evil, as she thought of nothing more than to get Chuck alone in a bedroom.

**********

Vicky stomped up to Anya and Oksana, with Holly a step behind. "You bitch!" she screamed at Anya as she slapped Anya hard, so enraged that she momentarily forgot about Anya's magical power. "You fucked up our lives, you cunt!" Her eyes were red and puffy, indicating that she'd been crying, and she seemed torn between anguish and anger. "Fucking bitch!"

"Your boyfriend ..."

"Fiancé," Vicky snarled. "He _was_ my fiancé, until you fucked that up! You fucking self-centered, evil bitch!"

"Your fiancé and Chuck were lying to cover for Greg's little indiscretion. He cheated on me, and then had those two try to lie to cover for him. They _earned_ their punishment!"

"You have no RIGHT to fuck with people's lives! You ..." She swing at Anya again, but Anya grabbed her arm, holding it vice-like as she stared angrily at Vicky. Vicky didn't back down. "You were my friend! You were my _best_ friend! Now, you're just an evil bitch! I wouldn't EVER want to have you in my wedding, ever again, even if you hadn't fucked that up!"

Vicky saw the anger in Anya's eyes, a raging fury that she would _dare_ to confront Anya, let alone slap her. How easy it would be to use her power to turn Vicky into a pile of ash. And yet, that was so simple and too obvious. "Oh, you want to be engaged still, is that it?" She saw the frightened look on Vicky's face as the girl beheld the awesome and terrifying look Anya was giving her. "Very well." Anya began to incant, and then thrust a finger toward Vicky. A bolt of lightning shot from her finger.

Vicky thought she was dead, that Anya had fired lethal magic at her. She felt her body convulse at the electrical shock, but the shock was short lived, replaced by a strange feeling that things were shifting around inside her, and in an agonizing way, like parts of her body were being physically ripped apart. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out, because she was unable to inhale or exhale through the searing pain.

With her eyes closed, she couldn't see that her long hair was shortening, or that her body was growing taller and larger, breasts deflating and feminine curves bulking and filling in. Inside, she felt the agony of her internal organs descending and rearranging, a pressure of something growing painfully from her crotch.

Around the park, a rolling wave of thunder sounded, causing patrons to look up, confused, at the cloudless, clear blue sky, trying to find a source for the strange sound. A host of strange things began, mostly unnoticed by those who were watching. A girl on the diving board vanished into thin air, the only clue she'd been there was a momentary flash. The diving and swimming coach vanished, too, replaced by an older, out-of-shape woman with a stern face and hawk-like nose. In the concrete corner of the entrance plaza, a bronze plaque appeared, with the simple name "Norma" and a date etched on it. In the college, a bright young girl of Polynesian descent vanished, while across the campus, in the NRD fraternity house, a shy, depressed young man appeared suddenly in a bedroom, lying on the bed and suicidally contemplating how shitty his life was, as he always did.

In what seemed like an eternity, but was only a few moments, the pain faded, and Vicky opened her eyes – only to find that she was now looking down at Anya by at least four inches. Panic began to set in as she realized that she felt – wrong. She couldn't feel weight moving on her chest as she gasped for breath. Long hair was not swirling in her peripheral vision. She looked down, and screamed, and even that sound was all wrong. With dread fear, she lifted her hands, and instead of the fine, delicate, feminine hands, with a diamond ring gracing one finger of her left hand, she saw rough, masculine hands. Without looking, she knew that she had junk in her swimming trunks as well.

Vic looked up at Anya, his expression a mixture of rage and horror at what she'd done. "You ... you bitch! Look what you've done! You _know_ what I wanted! Why the hell did you do this to me?"

Anya's smile was smug and, at the same time, intimidating. "You were upset that you weren't engaged to Rob. Now, since she's a girl, you can be the man in the relationship, and you two can still get married!"

"You fucking bitch!" Vic swore.

Anya was stunned, but only briefly, as Vic leapt at her. She made a quick sign, and a shield went up in front of her, blocking her so effectively that Vic rebounded and landed on his rear in the sand. She stood, her face in shock, as she began to see all that she'd done. It wasn't pretty.

Grandmother ran to the scene, staring, like many patrons, at the male lying on his rear end, possibly unconscious. Grandmother stooped over Vic to check on him the medallion clearly visible, unable to prevent the removal of the wizards spell. "You're perilously close to touching the darkness, Anya," Grandmother admonished her. "Do you know what you've done?"

"I ... I just made it so Robbie and Vic can be engaged," Anya stammered defensively.

"You fool, Grandmother said, mortified by Anya's callous behavior at having removed the wizards spell that had transformed Vic to Vicky. You killed David! Without Vicky's intervention, he changed back from being Mel, and he died! Lisa left here, too! You've changed everything!" She turned her glare toward Oksana. "And all because of this meddling witch who isn't really even from the old country!"

Anya turned slowly to Oksana, her jaw open in disbelief. "It isn't true, is it?" she asked, looking for denial of Grandmother's accusation.

Oksana stood imperiously, a disdainful sneer on her face. "They're all jealous because we're friends. Because I'm helping you learn more magic," she said.

Anya's head swam; she was visibly confused at how things were going. Her conscience, which had been dormant, was stirring strongly, and she hated the feeling it was giving her. But as she began to regret what she'd done, Oksana's fingers moved slightly, as did her lips, and another massive wave of confusion crashed over Anya, leaving her visibly dazed.

Grandmother stood and turned to Anya. "This has to end," she said firmly. "Anya, you're straying far too close to the darkness, and becoming the evil that you so dreaded. Oksana is bad for you. She's corrupting you, but you can't see it."

"No!" Anya screamed, holding her head between both hands and looking down, fighting the confusion and anger bubbling within her. "No!" she said again, looking up at Grandmother with a frantic, almost panicked look on her face. "You can't tell me who my friends are!"

"Anya, please," Greg pleaded from where he stood, "don't do this. I love you, and I don't want to see you get hurt."

Anya didn't deign to even glance his way. Her angry glare toward Grandmother deepened, and her hands lifted. "Quit interfering in my life!" she hissed to the old woman.

"Anya," Grandmother said calmly as she traced an intricate pattern in the air with her fingers, "you're my granddaughter. You're all the family I have. I love you, no matter what, and I don't want to see you turn to the darkness and lose yourself to evil."

"No!" Anya screamed, clutching at her head like she had a massive headache.

"They're trying to hold you back, Anya," Oksana said in a seductive, calming voice. "They're all jealous of your power, and want to hold you back." She saw Anya turn slowly toward her. "End this, and claim your rightful power." She pointed at Grandmother, who stood defiantly with her hands on her hips. "You have the power. End this and set your power free."

"No, Anya, please!" Greg cried. He stood and walked to his beloved's side, wrapping his arms around her. "Please. I love you! Don't give in to her and her anger!"

Anya looked at Greg's pleading expression, then at Grandmother, and then back to Oksana. Her mind was awhirl as she tried to fight through the confusion. As she looked, Greg suddenly snatched the medallion from her neck, breaking the chain, and hurling the hated thing away from her, hoping that if what Grandmother and Jozef suspected was correct, the focus for Oksana's dark energy would be gone, and Anya could fight the confusion.

Anya felt her mind starting to clear, even though the fog was still present and clouding her judgment and sight. She turned angrily toward Oksana. "No!" she snarled. "I won't fight my grandmother!"

Oksana sneered at her, and then, without warning, lashed out with a tremendous bolt of energy toward Grandmother. "If you won't, then I will."

Grandmother was ready, thanks to the training from Nadezhda. A magic buckler formed in her arm, and she intercepted the bolt, reflecting it harmlessly into the sky. "You'll have to do better than that," she said confidently to Oksana.

"Oh, I will," Oksana sneered. "I'm more powerful than you are, old woman."

A flash of insight suddenly hit Grandmother. "You!" she said in disbelief as she read the aura of Oksana. "It's ... you're related to Eldor, my old master!"

"I'm his only daughter. The man you murdered was my father!" Oksana said with an angry snarl. "I've been hunting for you for decades! Now you're going to pay for murdering my father!"

"He attacked me. My spell was self-defense," Grandmother said levelly. She didn't think that reasoning would help; Oksana was quite thoroughly insane with her need for revenge – and that made her doubly-dangerous. "I didn't murder him. He killed himself by attacking me."

"Liar!" Another incantation brought forth a fireball, which hurtled toward Grandmother, large enough to completely envelop her.

Grandmother's small buckler grew instantly, stretching up and down, and wrapping around her, until it completely surrounded and protected her from all sides, making the fireball dissipate harmlessly on the magical protective screen.

Oksana sneered at her. "I'll get you," she said. Without warning, she turned and launched a vicious blast at Anya, catching the girl unaware and hurtling her backward until she hit a tree and crumpled to the ground. "But first, I'm going to hurt you by making you watch your granddaughter die!"

Greg dashed to Anya's side, squatting down beside the fallen girl. Her bathing suit was scorched badly, and he could see the burns on her skin through the burned hole in the fabric. "Anya," he pleaded, "don't give up! Use your magic to protect yourself! I know you can – I love you!"

Oksana easily deflected the counterattack from Grandmother; maintaining the shield to protect herself sapped energy that she should have put into her attack. Oksana lashed back, another, more powerful bolt, but the shield held firm. Once more, Oksana turned toward the injured Anya. Just as she was about to loose another blast at the defenseless girl, Grandmother blasted at Oksana, forcing her to use some of her energy to defend herself again, while Greg dove in front of Anya. The bolt which should have hit Anya was weak because Oksana had been distracted, and he only partially blocked it, crumpling into unconsciousness, like Anya beside him.

**********

Anya floated in the dream world, the foggy nothingness of her confusion. Slowly, though, the mist started to clear. She saw two figures approaching her from opposite sides, and she backed up a step, her gaze darting fearfully back and forth between the two shadowy phantoms coming toward her through the hazy fog.

As one figure drew nearer, Anya slowly discerned that it was wearing flowing brown robes, with a hood raised to cover the face. High boots and a lighter tan set of garments beneath the robe completed the ensemble, except for the strange short rod in the figure's hand. There was a calm confidence about this person. She was sure that she recognized the figure.

Anya glanced the other way, and gasped. She instantly recognized the tall, dark figure as he seemed to materialize from the gloomy vapors that surrounded her. He wore all black, from the shin armor, to the leather-looking garment, with black shoulder armor, a long, flowing black cape, and long, dark gauntlets. A distinctive mask and helmet covered his face, also in black. On his chest was a familiar box, with flashing lights and a few switches, and a few silver box-like shapes were fastened at his waist. He, too, carried a strange rod-like device. Heavy, raspy breathing could be heard through his face mask. Anya shuddered as she cowered before the figure.

"Join me, and together we can rule the otherworld," the Vader figure intoned through the deep, mechanical voice of its life support system.

"Once you start down the path toward the Dark Side, it will forever rule your destiny," the other figure rebutted with the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi. "Turn away from the dark side."

Two lightsabers hissed into being, one blue, and the other red, glowing and illuminating the foggy scene in a strange bath of lights. The figures stepped forward and clashed, tentatively at first, their lightsabers impacting in a bright glow and strange clashing sound.

"Your powers are weak," Vader said.

"I have power you cannot imagine." Obi-wan replied calmly. Their lightsabers clashed again, as Vader attacked viciously, but every time, Obi-wan parried the blows with remarkably little motion.

"Anya, join me. It is your destiny." When Vader spoke, a chill went through Anya's very soul, a dark, icy grip on her throat and heart. Vader took a step back from the confrontation, and ripped off the helmet and facepiece.

"Mom!" Anya gasped, looking at the face of her lovely mother.

"It is your destiny to rule at my side, my daughter." Chessa's voice was soothing and seductive in her promises.

"Only a destiny of darkness and evil," Obi-wan said. He took a moment, and threw back his hood – to reveal Grandmother, looking calm and collected and very self-assured. Without warning, Grandmother attacked again, but Chessa wasn't surprised, and parried the blows. While she was on the defensive, she couldn't counterattack though, giving the edge to Grandmother – at least temporarily.

"I am your mother," Chessa said to Anya, beckoning her with her mind to join her. "I bore you, and raised you. Join me."

"You're nothing but darkness embodied," Grandmother replied. "You're controlled by the darkness, and it has obliterated your soul." She glanced at Anya. "If you join her, you, too, will give yourself to the darkness, and be controlled forever by it."

Anya looked, torn between the two as they clashed, both fighting to persuade her to join one side or the other.

"Join me. I am your mother." Chessa said as she viciously attacked Grandmother.

Anya saw the ebony blackness of her mother's aura, and felt its icy coldness, an unfeeling iciness which she could see reflected in Chessa's expression. There was no love, no happiness, no positive emotion. All there was was hatred and anger. She shuddered inwardly at the thought of ending up like her mother. "No!" she yelled at her mother. "You're evil! You've always been evil!" She ran to Grandmother's side. "I'll never join you! You've failed!" She clung tightly to Grandmother, even as the old woman made a final, exquisite attack. She parried a counterblow, and her lightsaber slashed through Vader, who vanished into the mists.

**********

"Anya?" The voice called to her, tugging her away from the mists of unconscious thought. "Are you okay Anya?" She felt hands holding her, cradling her head. She opened her eyes, and saw Greg staring in concern at her. "Are you okay?"

"You ... you blocked the bolt that was meant to kill me," she said, incredulous.

"I couldn't let you die," Greg answered. "I love you."

"Even after what I did?"

"No matter what, I love you."

Anya felt her eyes moisten; she didn't deserve Greg's love after she'd been petulant and mean. She glanced toward Grandmother, to the sound of bolt after bolt of magical energy crackling through the still air. Overhead, the skies were almost blackened by the thick clouds which had formed – somehow – around the magic duel, leaving a darkness punctuated by bolts of lightning above, and magical energy dueling below. Around them, park patrons fell back away from the terrible spectacle of the magic battle, afraid of the power, and yet so curious that they kept watching.

Oksana turned suddenly, glaring at Anya. "You live!" she sneered, before she glanced once more at Grandmother. Slowly, deliberately, she turned back to Anya, her intentions clear – she was going to kill Anya.

"Sing that song," Greg urged her. "The shield spell. Sing it!" As Anya peered at him, still dazed, he began to hum what he thought the tune was.

The tune was so familiar to Anya that she began to sing softly out of reflex more than conscious thought, and it was a good thing. Seconds after she began to sing, a massive bolt of energy smashed into the shield, causing it to flicker and waver, but it held firm – barely. And then Grandmother stepped easily through the shield, moments before another blast hit it. She knelt beside Anya, and stroking her forehead, began to chant. Anya's eyes fluttered, and then opened. "Grandmother?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yes, dear," Grandmother said with a smile, and then she added her voice to the song, reinforcing the shield against Oksana's relentless assault – bolt after bolt of magical lightning, ball after ball of magical fire.

Anya looked at Greg, at the concern on his face, and then she stood, her face resolute. A scowl formed as she stepped toward Oksana, stepping easily through the magical barrier. Oksana grinned; she had Anya right where she wanted her – angry, defenseless, and oh-so-vulnerable. She let fly another magical blast – and it stopped inches from Anya's body. Oksana's lips curled in anger and frustration, and she loosed another bolt, but it too stopped short.

"You tried to corrupt me!" Anya screamed at Oksana. "You lied to me, and made me do things that were evil!" She stepped slowly, deliberately toward Oksana, realizing for the first time in her life just how much magical energy she had within her. She'd never before needed to reach for her full capabilities. "Now you're going to pay, bitch."

Oksana's eyes widened in surprise. Anya was brushing aside her most powerful energies as if they were annoying pests, and still coming closer. Once more, Oksana summoned her dark energy, and let fly a massive electrical blast at Anya.

"Enough of this play!" Anya cursed. She raised her own hands and chanted, and launched a magical blast that dwarfed anything that Oksana had done to that point.

"Anya!" Grandmother cried out, seeing what was happening. "Do not use your magic in anger, or for revenge!"

"You made me hurt my true friends," Anya snarled. "You deceived me, and confused me, so I hurt people who care for me! For that alone, you deserve to die!"

Greg saw Anya's determination and read the anger in her voice. He ran to her side, slipping his arms around her. "Anya, please. Don't do this! Don't attack her in anger! It's what she's been trying to get you to do."

Anya hesitated, then looked at Greg. In his eyes was a pleading for her to calm herself, and not corrupt herself further.

In that moment, Oksana saw her opening. With Greg clinging to Anya, her shields had to be down. She drew every bit of reserve energy she had, and channeled it into a huge ball of energy, then hurled it toward Anya and Greg – and then gasped in surprise. Anya extended her bare hand to the ball of pure magic, and reflected it easily to Oksana. The girl stood, stunned, her mouth agape, as the dark energy surrounded and consumed her, leaving nothing of Oksana behind.

Anya stood for a moment, looking at where Oksana had stood, and then turned slowly to Grandmother. She glanced at Greg, horror-stricken to see that all of them had been changed by her malicious, reckless magic, and when she realized that she'd used the park's magic, in a permanent spell, on Chuck, Rob, and Greg, she was overcome with grief at what she'd done. Tears on her cheeks, she turned and fled into the park, away from her friends and loved ones whom she'd betrayed so completely.

**********

Grandmother and Selena found Anya, curled in a fetal position and bawling her eyes out, behind one of Jenny's machinery sheds. Grandmother sat down beside Anya, placing her hands tenderly on the girl's shoulders. "It's okay, Anya," she tried to assure the girl.

Anya didn't move, except for the shaking of her shoulders as she sobbed uncontrollably. "I'm sorry," she said softly, over and over. "I'm sorry. I hurt everyone, and I'm so sorry."

Greg caught up to Grandmother, with the others close behind. He squatted down beside Anya, who was inconsolable. "I know you didn't mean it," Greg said softly, but Anya still wouldn't look at him.

"I ... ruined ... your lives," she cried, guilt-ridden over what she'd done with her magic.

Grandmother lifted Anya and cradled her in her arms. "You didn't ruin everything," she assured Anya. When the girl looked at her, puzzled, Grandmother waved her fingers and chanted.

Slowly, Greg's form began to change as the effects of the parks magic melted from him. As Anya watched in astonishment, Greg changed back to his normal male form.

"Wha ...?" Anya stammered, confused that Greg had shrugged off the supposedly unbreakable spell.

Greg took a medallion from around his neck. "Grandmother gave me an amulet which is kind of like Teflon against magic. The spell didn't sink in, so it could be reversed."

"So, I didn't mess things up for everyone?" Anya asked hesitantly. She saw the looks on Grandmother's and Greg's faces, and her heart sank. "No!" she cried. "You can't reverse Chuck and Rob?"

Grandmother merely shook her head no, her eyes reflecting her intense heartache. "I'm sorry. I couldn't protect everyone."

"And Vicky?"

Grandmother shook her head again. "You unraveled the spell, so there was no protection."

Anya wailed in anguish at what she'd done, dropping her face into her upturned palms as she bawled. Chuck and Rob were stuck, as was Vicky. Then a memory intruded, a memory of what the unknown old woman had done in the old country when she unraveled the spell on Vince / Vanessa. It looked difficult, but Anya had paid close attention, trying to memorize the spell. She knew what she had to do, or at least try. She stood suddenly, startling those around her, facing her erstwhile friends, closing her eyes to focus her energy and her mind. "If this works, get Vic a lifetime pass. I'll pay - from my savings." When she opened her eyes, burning with a fierce determination, she began a very complicated incantation.

Grandmother recognized immediately what Anya was doing. "Anya, no! It's too dangerous!" she cried.

Anya waved a finger, momentarily interrupting her spell, and a barrier came up between Anya and the others, before continuing the very difficult incantation.

"Anya, the only reason Nadezhda could undo the spell is that it wasn't complete!" Grandmother pleaded. Greg started toward Anya, but the old woman held out her hand and stopped him.

Anya ignored the old woman, continuing the extremely complex incantation, directed toward Chuck and Rob. The two were standing, stunned, surrounded by swirls of magical energy, while others backed away from them in fear of what Anya was doing.

"Anya!" Greg screamed, stepping forward, but Grandmother caught him by the shoulders so she wouldn't interfere.

"You can't stop her," Grandmother admonished, being very familiar with Anya's magical incantations. "There's too much magical energy now." Greg's lip trembled; he understood exactly what Grandmother was saying. Anya had summoned an incredible amount of magical energy, and was now carefully crafting it to do what she wanted it to. If it were suddenly released because Anya was distracted, the results could be chaotic at best, and devastating at worst. All they could do was stand helplessly, watching as Anya created an extraordinarily complicated spell.

Greg couldn't see, but Grandmother could see the strain in Anya's aura, the dimming and flickering as she channeled ALL her energy into the spell. Greg was right; she dared not do anything, but what Anya was doing was incredibly dangerous to herself.

"What's she doing?" Vic asked softly, having sneaked up behind Greg and Grandmother.

"She's invoking a spell to reverse the park's magic."

"But ... I thought that was impossible," Selena stammered from the other side of Grandmother.

"It is," Grandmother said sadly. "It is."

"But ... didn't the matron reverse the spell on Vince when they were in the old country?" Greg asked.

Grandmother nodded. "Yes, but that was under special circumstances. Anya watched, and is trying to repeat the spell."

"Can that work?" Vic asked, hopefully.

Grandmother shook her head. "No. Nadezhda succeeded only because the spell was incomplete. Once it's complete, it can't be reversed. I've never heard of anyone able to successfully reverse it – and live." She added the final two words in a hushed tone; she, better than anyone, knew of the grave danger Anya had placed herself in.

As they watched, silent except for whispers, the energy began to coalesce around Rob and Chuck into a glowing red sphere. Anya continued to incant and focus, and through the translucent sphere, accentuated by swirls of brighter energy, the crowd could see changes slowly beginning. Both began to grow in height, while their generous bosoms deflated. Hair shortened, and changed from ditzy blonde to their natural colors. Their clothing flowed until it was masculine, including their shoes, which grew and changed to fit their growing, more masculine feet. For several agonizing minutes, they changed, Anya's magic visibly battling with the park's spell, with the result that their forms see-sawed several times until Anya could draw in more magic. Finally, the red sphere began to fade, as the magical energy dissipated, leaving two male students, Rob and Chuck, standing semi-conscious in their original, male bodies.

Anya looked at them, nodded slightly, and then collapsed to the ground.

Greg dashed to her side, kneeling beside her, cradling her head in his hands and sobbing her name over and over, trying but failing to get a response.

"Holly, get Dr. Chastity now! Hurry!" Grandmother barked as she, too, knelt beside her granddaughter. She waved her fingers and made a quick incantation toward Holly.

Holly glanced, confused, at Chuck, confusion on her features. She still had the lesbian attraction from another of Anya's spells, and while she was happy for the two young men to be restored, all attraction for the male form of Chuck vanished instantly. She turned and sprinted toward the medical hut, momentarily forgetting about the issue of her modified sexuality.

Grandmother waved her fingers over Anya, incanting the major healing spell that Nadezhda had taught her, but when she was done, there was no change in Anya. Tears streamed down her cheeks; it looked like Oksana had won after all, destroying Anya and hurting Grandmother desperately.

"Stand back, please," Dr. Chastity ordered as she ran to the scene and knelt down beside Anya, a large medical kit in her hand. She physically pushed Greg away and laid Anya's head on the ground, turning her so she was on her back. "What happened?" she asked as she began to examine the stricken girl.

"She was casting a very complex spell, and ...." Grandmother began.

Dr. Chastity wasn't listening to Grandmother anymore, but to Anya's heartbeat through her stethoscope. She ripped Anya's shirt open, then quickly pulled some pads from the medical kit and fastened them on Anya's right upper chest and left side. "She's in v-fib. Stand back," she ordered, switching on the AED device. The rising tone beep signaled others that this was a very serious event; despite forming almost a circle around Anya and Dr. Chastity, they kept a good distance, the staff from knowledge and training in AED use, and the curious patrons held back by the staff and friends.

"Clear!" Dr. Chastity yelled, and then pushed the trigger button on the AED. Anya's body convulsed slightly as the electrical current raced through the pads and into her chest. "Greg, do you know CPR?" Dr. Chastity demanded.

"I'm fully certified," Holly said, stepping forward.

"Two person. I'll get the compressions, you take the breathing."

"Got it." Holly leaned over Anya, checked for breathing, and cleared the girl's airway. She gave two rescue breaths, as she'd been trained. Meanwhile, Dr. Chastity put her hands together, palm of one to the back of the other, and placed the heel of her hand on Anya's sternum. As soon as Holly had completed the breaths, Dr. Chastity started compressions.

While they worked, Grandmother looked at Holly and did an incantation directed at her. She owed it to Holly to undo the change in sexuality that Anya had put on her.

Holly glanced up at Grandmother, and mouthed the word 'thanks. Then she glanced at Greg, noticing how distraught he was. Tears poured from his eyes and down his cheeks as he wept for his beloved Anya. She turned her attention back to the CPR. As soon as Dr. Chastity finished a set of compressions, Holly gave two more rescue breaths, and Dr. Chastity then resumed compressions, hearing a loud crack as one or more of Anya's ribs broke under the necessarily violent chest compressions.

The AED beeped at them, signaling that it was time for another check. "Clear," Dr. Chastity ordered. She and Holly sat back on their heels, waiting for the machine to do its work. Moments later, it beeped again, then started the rising beep. In a moment, it signaled Dr. Chastity again. "Clear!" she shouted once more, checking around her to ensure that Anya was clear, and then she pressed the trigger.

Again, Holly checked, and gave Anya two more rescue breaths. This time, though, Anya coughed, and a spasm twitched her entire body. "On her side," Dr. Chastity ordered. As soon as the two of them had Anya on her side, in case she vomited as a result of the CPR, Dr. Chastity pulled a small oxygen bottle and mask from her bag, turned on the valve, and slapped the mask across Anya's face.

Grandmother breathed a huge sigh of relief as she and Greg hugged to try to comfort one another. She saw two more staff members running to the site with a stretcher. Knowing that Dr. Chastity was in control of the situation, she turned to Vic. A slight wave of her hand produced a pass to the park. "Take this and run to the showers. Now!"

"But ..." Vic was confused.

"Lifetime pass. Go!" Grandmother said having removed the medallion from Vic.

Vic turned and high-tailed it toward the men's locker room, dodging curious patrons as he ran flat-out. Grandmother glanced up and saw the thanks and joy in Rob's eyes.

"But ... her memories?"

"All the changes were today. Her old memories – including dating and getting engaged to you – will be intact." She closed her eyes momentarily, feeling completely fatigued. When she looked back, and saw that Dr. Chastity and the staff members had rolled Anya onto the stretcher. Still holding her arm around Greg, she followed the litter through the stunned crowd, toward the medical hut. Grandmother felt it when the shower spray hit Vic, and the changes began. Around them, things that had vanished or had been altered returned to the way they had been; the girl on the diving platform appeared, and the diving coach was again walking around the pool. The fabric of reality had been patched up.

**********

The crowd in the medical hut was far larger than was normal, or that should have been there, but nothing could have persuaded anyone to leave. Anya lay unconscious on an exam table, her complexion sallow, while Dr. Chastity fretted over the injured girl. Everyone else watched, silently, fearfully, weeping, knowing that they were powerless. Dr. Chastity looked up at Grandmother, and in that moment their eyes met, Grandmother knew just how bad Anya was. Dr. Chastity didn't say it, but she didn't think Anya's chances were good. Not good at all. Dr. Chastity quickly lowered her eyes, her head shaking almost imperceptibly as she kept trying to keep Anya alive.

"How is she?" Greg bawled unashamedly, kneeling beside the table and holding Anya's hand.

"I ... I don't know," Dr. Chastity said, sounding exhausted and ancient, worn by the struggle to heal the girl from maladies of which he knew nothing.

"Vic ..." a soft voice sounded from Anya's lips. Her eyelids fluttered a moment, before closing again. "Vicky," she murmured again.

Vicky, held tightly by Rob despite the fact that she was dripping wet, pressed forward and leaned over Anya. "I'm here, Anya," she said, dripping tears onto Anya's face and neck.

"Did ... did it work?" she asked. Even that simple question seemed a herculean effort.

"Yes," Rob sobbed. "It worked."

Anya sighed, her worried features relaxing as the news brought her a bit of peace. "Good."

Greg continued to clutch her hand, and he leaned over, crowding Vicky and Rob away. "Anya, it's me. Please hold on. I love you! Please don't leave me. I don't want to ever be without you." His last words were lost in his sobs of anguish.

Anya tried to smile, but failed. Instead, she looked sad and full of regrets. "I'm sorry ... Greg," she whispered. "I ... I'm sorry. I'm ... not worthy ... of your ... love." Her words faded as her eyelids drifted shut, but her breathing continued, ragged and increasingly shallow, the only sign of life in the brunette. Greg collapsed on her chest, bawling like an infant at the thought of losing Anya.

As this was going on, Grandmother eased herself to Dr. Chastity's side. "How bad is she?" the old woman whispered softly, not wanting to upset all of their friends.

Dr. Chastity shook her head. "Physically? She had a massive cardiac event. Probably the strain of casting that spell. She's stable, but I'm betting an EKG would show a lot of damage. I don't know what else without some scans and better equipment, although I strongly suspect there's other internal damage as well. Whatever she did was an enormous systemic shock to her. And emotionally, she sounds like she's feeling a huge amount of guilt at what happened. But that doesn't explain why she's fading."

Grandmother nodded, and then stepped to Anya's side. She closed her eyes, her arms outstretched over Anya, and began to chant. When she finished chanting the spell, she paused for a moment, and then turned back to Dr. Chastity. At Dr. Chastity's look, Grandmother shook her head. "Her aura is pretty badly ... shredded. She cast a spell that was way too powerful for her to cast, and it ... damaged her magical life-force. Without that magical life-force ...." She shook her head. After a moment, she turned back to Anya, and then glanced around the room. "Selena, I need you with me," she ordered as soon as she spotted the other magic user. Then she saw her old friend, the wizard, who had somehow managed to appear without anyone realizing that he was present. "And you."

Baffled, glancing around at her friends hoping to get some clue, Selena walked to the table. "I ... I don't know anything about healing this kind of thing," she stammered.

Grandmother smiled sadly. "You don't need to. I want you to channel all your magical energy to me. Focus on the energy, and make it flow to me." She reached down and stroked Greg's cheek. "Greg, dear, I need you to step back for a moment."

Vicky and Rob guided Greg a step back from the table, with Vicky hugging him tightly so he could cry on her shoulder, turning so Greg could watch Anya on the table.

As Grandmother began to chant, awe struck the room. Her aura was glowing visibly, outshining the lights in the room. Still, she continued, and as she did so, they saw a glow forming around Selena and then connect to Grandmother's aura. In a similar manner, the wizard's aura began to burn brightly, and then it sent a tendril to the aura of the old woman. Grandmother continued to chant, moving her hands deftly, and as she did so, a ragged, torn, fragmented, and extremely dim glow began to show around Anya. A collective gasp sounded from everyone when it became visible how badly Anya's aura looked in comparison to those of the other three magic users.

Slowly, inch by painstaking inch around the glow of Anya's tattered aura, energy flowed, from Selena to Grandmother, and then from the old woman to Anya, pulling together the rends and tears, and patching the holes in the girl's aura. Finally, as the last ragged tears were repaired, Grandmother and Selena both nearly staggered. Chuck and Brandy caught Selena before she was completely unconscious, and guided her to a chair, while Dr. Chastity eased Grandmother to a sitting position before returning to Anya. Someone alertly caught the wizard, and eased him to a chair as well. Dr. Chastity's stethoscope touched Anya's skin gently as she listened to the girl's heart and lungs, then to the arteries on her neck. She gave a huge sigh and let her stethoscope back to her neck. She looked up, directly at Greg, and nodded. "I _think_ she's out of immediate danger," she said, "but with the magic stuff?" She shrugged, looking at both Selena and Grandmother, who sat, totally exhausted from whatever effort they'd just expended on Anya's behalf.

Anya's eyes fluttered and opened slowly, and she took a deeper breath than the tiny, shallow breathing she'd been doing. "I'm ... I'm so sorry," she said, her words weak, but stronger than before the three magic users had healed her. Immediately, Greg was back at her side, clutching her hand again and leaning over her. "You ... you should have let me go," she whispered softly.

"No, Anya," Greg cried, suddenly fearful of what she meant by her fatalistic words. "I'm never going to let you go. I love you too much."

"I'm ... corrupt. I'm ... evil. I ... hurt ... everyone ... that cared for me," Anya whispered with great effort. "I'm ... not worth it." She opened her eyes and looked at Greg. "I ... I'm not ... good enough for you. You ... deserve ... better." She spoke as if every word was an effort to say, and when finished, she reached across her body with her free hand and weakly pried her other fingers from Greg's clutch. "I'm ... I'm so sorry. I didn't ... mean to ... hurt you. To hurt ... anyone." Her fingers waved a bit, and her lips moved to some words heard only by her, and then she vanished from the table before anyone realized what she was doing.

**********

Anya staggered as she popped into being a long ways from the park. She was exhausted, and had almost no magical energy left. She was bruised, and wearing a swimsuit with a hole burned in it and in the skin beneath. Her hair was thoroughly mussed from the fight, and she had sand and dirt mud smeared on her legs, arms, and swimsuit. It felt like every nerve in her body was lit up with pain, causing her every motion to be a new adventure in agony.

She glanced around; she was in a darkened alley somewhere in the city; she was certain that she hadn't teleported very far, given the depleted state of her magical energy. But where in the city was she? Thank goodness the clouds caused by the magical fight hadn't dissipated yet; it gave her a little more cover, almost like the middle of the night. She staggered out of the alley, and glanced up and down the street to try to get her bearings. She frowned; she wasn't in the best part of town; dilapidated buildings lined the streets as far as she could see. There were shops in most of them, but they were definitely not upscale. Anya felt a stab of fear at her surroundings, vulnerable as she was with no magical energy, but then she reminded herself what she'd turned into as her self-loathing returned with a vengeance. If something bad happened to her, it was probably still better than she deserved.

She spotted a shopkeeper – a butcher, from his apron, she guessed – standing in front of his store and gazing at the sky. She decided to see if he could help her. She snorted derisively to herself; she had no plan. All she wanted to do was to escape the well-deserved condemnation and scorn of those she'd once called friends – before she'd messed up their lives. Stiffly, fighting the residual pain of all she'd been through, she stumbled to the shopkeeper. "Excuse me, sir?" she asked.

The man turned to her, and his eyes narrowed instantly in suspicion. "Yes, miss?" he asked hesitantly.

"I need ... to find a shelter," Anya stammered. She saw him eyeing her figure, and wondered for a moment if he was harboring thoughts about her.

"A shelter, hmm? Let's see – there's the Mercy Women's Shelter. I think it's on Elm and Seventh."

"Where is that from here?" Anya asked, feeling helpless like a child. "I don't know where I am."

The shopkeeper eyed her warily again. "At the end of the street, go left until you hit Elm. Then go right on Elm, and you can't miss it. It's about six or seven blocks."

"Thanks," Anya said and started to walk where he'd directed her.

"That's a pretty nasty burn you have there," the butcher observed. Anya turned, and saw that he was gawking at the hole in her swimsuit and the burned flesh beneath it. "Do you need some medical help?"

"No!" Anya answered – too quickly, she realized. "It looks ... um ... worse than it is. I'll be okay." She turned and walked as fast as her aching body would allow. Only when she paused to look back at the storekeeper, to see if he was doing anything suspicious, did Anya's gaze dart past a window, where her reflection was plainly visible.

"No wonder he seemed so wary," Anya said softly. "I look like a junkie or something." Her hair was disheveled, and she was dirty and bruised from the battle. She was paler than she'd ever seen herself, and her eyes seemed sunken and hollow from her extreme fatigue. She was walking, or staggering, like she was on drugs. Anya sighed, and then resumed her journey.

Seven agonizing blocks later, Anya opened the door of the women's shelter and stepped inside. The woman at the desk looked up, and gasped. "Can ... can I help you?" she stuttered.

"I ... need a place to stay for a bit," Anya answered simply.

"Why are you here?"

Anya saw that she was staring at the burned hole. "I ... was in an accident," she lied.

The woman nodded knowingly. "Okay, take this application and fill out what you can." She handed Anya a clipboard. "Is there someone we should call?"

"No!" Anya snapped, again too quickly she realized. "I'm ... I don't want to see them."

The clerk sighed. Another domestic abuse victim. This one was so young, and probably very pretty, before she'd probably been beaten and burned. She hoped the girl would give her enough information that they could find the perpetrator.

As she filled out the application, being careful to write 'Jane Doe' for a name, Anya realized that she'd forgotten something. She sighed, drew up what energy she could, and cast a quick spell. She hoped that it was good enough to hide her aura.

**********

Greg and Grandmother sat, side-by-side, in the office at Bikini Beach, on one of the sofas. Two police officers were present, sitting in the wing chairs beside the sofa. Neither looked cheerful.

Officer Jana, a long-time friend of Anya and Grandmother, shook her head slowly. "We've got her picture out as a missing person. So far, though, we haven't gotten any response."

"And I haven't been able to detect any magic, apart from yours and Selena's," Officer Jozef added.

"Are you certain that she's even in town anymore?" Jana asked uneasily.

Grandmother nodded, fighting back tears. "Her magic ... was pretty badly damaged. It'll take time for it to heal, and until it does, she won't be able to save enough magic energy to do much magic at all. She certainly couldn't travel."

"She could take a bus."

Grandmother shook her head. "There haven't been any withdrawals from her bank accounts since the ... event."

"You're certain?" Jozef sounded skeptical.

"We have our own way of protecting against identity theft," Grandmother said softly. "And it lets us monitor our accounts ... remotely."

"Have you come up with anything, Greg?" Jana asked. Greg looked like he hadn't slept in days, since Anya's disappearance.

Greg shook his head sadly. "No. We got word out on campus, but there's no response."

"We'll keep looking. She's around somewhere – hiding perhaps, but she's here."

"If ... she hasn't left, or been kidnapped, or ... or ...." Greg started bawling at the thought that something bad might have happened to Anya.

Jana shot a worried glance to Jozef. They'd already thought of that, and had the coroner's office watching for a 23-year old brunette corpse. It was better that Greg and Grandmother not know how much _they_ were worried about that outcome.

**********

Vicky pushed the combination and cautiously opened the door into the office. "You wanted to see me?" she asked nervously.

Grandmother nodded. "Yes. Come in and sit down, please. Can I get you something to drink?"

Vicky started toward the chairs by Grandmother's desk, but the old woman shook her head and pointed to the informal area. "Diet Coke," she answered. She eased herself onto the sofa, her every move grace and poised, while Grandmother put some ice in a pair of glasses and poured two sodas.

"Here you go." Grandmother handed one of the sodas to Vicky and sat down on the sofa at the other end, taking a sip of her drink when she was seated.

"What do you want to see me about?" Vicky asked nervously. "Is it about the pass? Because I'll pay for it if I have to ...."

Grandmother shook her head. "No, dear," she said reassuringly. "It's not about the pass. Anya paid for that." She saw Vicky's expression harden when she mentioned he granddaughter's name.

"Then what?"

"It's about Anya," Grandmother said with some hesitation. "I know she hurt you ..."

Vicky's nostrils flared and her eyes narrowed to slits. "She deliberately hurt both of us! She almost ruined our lives!" she snapped.

Grandmother nodded. "I know. And I can't excuse her actions. Only she knows why, and whether she'll do anything to make it up to you and Rob."

"There's nothing to make up. When a friend betrays you like that ...."

Grandmother sighed. "I know you're upset. I know that she got things really messed up."

"And why _shouldn't_ I be upset? She damned near ruined our lives! She _knew_ that I didn't want to go back ever, but she just undid the spells and _forced_ me to go back! That's not a little thing that I can easily dismiss."

Grandmother closed her eyes to shut out the distractions around her. She took a slow breath, trying to let the tension out of herself. "You have every reason in the world to be angry at Anya, and to never want to deal with her again, let alone forgive her. And I can't say that I'd blame you."

"Then what?"

"I want you to try to hush your anger for a bit, and to think about what Anya _did_ do. She damned near died casting a spell that was far too powerful for her, in order to set things right for you and Rob. I bet she knew how dangerous it would be to her. I know she understood the strain once she started. But she didn't stop, even at the risk of her own life."

Vicky started to reply angrily, but she stopped herself. She had to admit to herself that she hadn't considered what Anya had done to set things right. "How ... how bad was she?" Vicky finally asked after a few silent moments.

Grandmother shook her head sadly. "If I hadn't had my friend and Selena to help my magic ..." She couldn’t continue as her voice choked at the thought of how close she'd come to losing Anya.

"She would have died?" Vicky asked, to which Grandmother merely nodded.

"She damaged her body pretty badly, too. You know she had a massive heart attack. She also tore up her internal organs badly. Trying to use too much magic can do that. What I don't know is whether ...." She looked away, sniffling and wiping at the tears that had leaked from her eyes.

"Brain damage?" Vicky asked hesitantly.

"Yes."

"Does she have any?"

Grandmother shook her head. "We won't know until we can examine her. And every hour that passes makes it harder to heal any damage that she did sustain."

Vicky sat in silence, contemplating what she'd heard. Grandmother was worried sick about Anya, for both her physical and mental well-being.

"Please think about it, Vicky, before you condemn Anya completely. She knew what could happen. She knew she could die, or be severely mentally or physically crippled, but she felt that she had to do this for you and Rob, because she knew she was wrong. She was willing to give her life for you two. Please, give her a chance. That's all I'm asking you to do." She looked away while she wiped at more tears. "I'll understand if the hurt is too deep. But please try. As a favor to me?"

Grandmother looked so helpless and vulnerable, Vicky thought. Anya's disappearance, after her serious injuries, worried her sick. Anya would need very good friends to help her recover emotionally, and possibly even physically and mentally, but Grandmother was worried that her friends would turn their backs on Anya instead of forgiving her and trying to be friends again. If that happened, Vicky suddenly realized, Anya might do anything, including suicide. The thought of her own near-death rattled her. Her friend, whom she'd so badly wronged, came through to help her and be the friend she needed. Shouldn't Vicky do the same for Anya? "Okay," Vicky answered softly. "I'll try."

Grandmother turned, leaning forward, and clutched Vicky in a hug. "Thank you," she sobbed. Vicky knew that Grandmother's tears were wetting her shirt, but she didn't mind. Instead, she returned the hug, hoping that she could comfort Grandmother a little bit in her anguish.

*****

Anya lay on the bed, staring at the bare fluorescent bulbs in the fixture and feeling totally devoid of emotion or drive. She knew that, eventually, someone would think to look in a women's shelter, or post her as a 'missing person', which would alert the staff of the shelter. She'd be cornered, trapped, made to go back ... to face them. She whimpered at the thought; she'd had wonderful friends, a boyfriend who she was convinced was about to propose, a good job – and she'd blown it. She'd let another lead her astray, confusing her and pushing her toward the darkness. She'd thrown it all away in a bout of stupidity. She'd missed touching the darkness, but the cost in friends had been staggering to her. She understood, finally, how painful it must have been for Grandmother to have been banished, to have left her home, family, and friends, and travel to a new continent to try to start over.

Anya wallowed in self-pity for several hours, like she'd done for almost a week. Except for eating – on those rare occasions she actually felt hungry – and bathroom duties, she'd just laid on the bed. The staff checked in on her from time to time, but she said little, leaving them confused and worried, because she looked exhausted and like she was losing weight rapidly. She was obviously in severe emotional distress, but she talked to no-one. She didn't _want_ to talk to anyone. She was damaged goods, scorned and shunned by those who'd been friends, not worth their time or friendship, bringing only pain and misery to their lives. She'd never be worth anything to anyone. It was time to make a clean break, like Grandmother had done, and say goodbye to her old life.

She needed a plan, but serious thoughts escaped her. The dominant thoughts in her mind were how worthless she'd been as a friend, and that everyone would be better off without her. She couldn't see, from the depth of her anguish, how dark her thoughts were becoming, or that she was seriously depressed, and only a few steps from suicidal thoughts and impulses.

She pondered her options. She could get cash, but Grandmother would note the change in her bank account instantly, and she'd know not only how much, but where Anya had made a withdrawal. She trembled at the thought of having to face her Grandmother again after being such a major disappointment. She couldn't. Nor Greg. In return for all the love he'd shown her, she'd been petty and mean and spiteful, and had ignored and used him. Greg was better off without her. He could find someone he truly deserved, not a damaged, broken, dangerous magic-user who'd hurt him so badly.

If cash was out, she could use her credit cards. Grandmother might not have put screens on the regular transactions. She could get a bus ticket .... She stopped. Grandmother probably had Jana and Jozef watching for her at the police station. Her car! But if she took her car, they'd know she'd gone. But they wouldn't know which direction, or how far. That's it – she'd take her car, and then drive whatever direction she felt like. She'd escape her former friends.

**********

Megan was bubbling with joy as she rushed into the lobby of the condominium to greet Natty. "Hi!" Megan said excitedly, hugging her best friend. She noticed that Natty was subdued, her grin not as enthusiastic, her gait not as happy. "Let's go play for a bit, and then my mom will take us shopping after lunch!" she said, trying to cheer up Natty. She knew why Natty was so down; Anya was still missing, and Natty was taking it pretty hard.

"I guess," Natty said, her voice devoid of her usually zest for life.

"No word?" Megan ventured cautiously.

Natty just shook her head.

"She'll be okay," Megan said with conviction. "I know it." She took Natty's hand and led her out of the building, toward the water park a few hundred feet away.

Natty shook her head. "I wasn't supposed to hear," she sniffled, "but when Anya was on the table in the medical hut, she told Greg and Grandmother that they should have just let her go." She wiped at the tears which appeared suddenly.

"She'll be okay," Megan reassured Natty again, even though Natty's report chilled her to the bone. Megan had seen her uncle battling depression; many, many times, her mother had had to talk to Uncle Evan to assure him that there _was_ something worth living for. She began to silently pray that Anya wouldn't ever do something so desperate.

As the girls walked across the parking lot of the condo, Natty thought she saw something moving at the back of the property. She frowned, halting suddenly and surprising Megan.

"What?" Megan blurted out.

"Look!" Natty said. "Who is that?"

Megan shook her head. "I don't know. And why is she going for the back entrance?"

Natty pulled Megan behind a car, where they ducked to stay as hidden as possible. The person was looking around carefully, obviously not wanting to be seen.

Megan and Natty gave a collective gasp when they saw the person closer. "Anya!" Natty whispered insistently. "Is it really Anya?"

Megan nodded. "It looks like it to me."

"What's she doing?"

Megan shook her head. "I don't think she wants anyone to know she's here." A plan formed instantly in her head. "You follow her – but be careful that she doesn't see you. I'll run over and get Grandmother!"

"K," Natty whispered back. When Anya wasn't looking, Megan dashed away, toward the water park, while Natty considered her moves. She could go around to the back entrance, but if Anya was coming into the building, maybe she wanted to get to her condo unobserved, which would mean that she'd take the stairs. Natty sprinted to the front door of the building and positioned herself so she could see down the hallway to the emergency fire stairs. She was late enough that she didn't see Anya, but heard the sound of the stairwell's fire door clunking closed. Now Natty had a choice – to follow Anya up the stairs, which would be a dead giveaway, or to try to beat her to her own floor, which was a gamble. Natty chose the elevator, hoping and praying that it wouldn’t stop anywhere on its way to the eighth floor. She emerged and ducked out of the hallway on the eighth floor, finding an alcove partially hidden by a large planter box. She peered through the plants.

Natty's gamble paid off; she saw Anya emerge into the hallway from the stairwell, glancing around nervously, before she walked cautiously toward her condo unit. Once Anya was in her condo, Natty wondered what she should do. Should she confront Anya, or watch and wait until others arrived. She decided to wait, no matter how painful waiting would be.

**********

The photos in the album glided across the screen, distorted slightly in spots by the fresh tears on the electronic device's surface. So many memories, of her and Grandmother at work, of her playing with Liz, of time at the Coconut club with the girls, of her playing happily with Natty, and most of all, of all the things she'd done with Greg. Anya started to toss it to the side, but then thought again. "What better way to remind myself of how much I threw away?" she asked herself. Beside her, on her bed, a small backpack sat, half-full of simple clothes like jeans and T-shirts. A small toiletries bag, full of her essentials, capped the pile of goods she'd been laying out on the bed with significant effort. She was exhausted and beginning to look emaciated after a week with little food, but she knew she had to finish the task at hand. She couldn't face any of them again, not after what she'd done. She had to pack and leave before they found her.

Anya knew she'd have long since been done, but she was hurt and exhausted, both physically and magically. She hadn't completely recovered from the spell she'd cast over a week ago; she'd have to rest for quite some time to even do a simple teleportation spell again. Despite her fatigue, she knew she had to hurry in case she'd been seen, so she would be long gone before someone decided to check her condo. A few more items in her backpack, and she'd slip down the stairs to the back door, and then out to her car. She'd leave everything else, including her bank accounts, to those she hurt, as a pitifully small gesture of her atonement for all the misery she'd caused. She deserved nothing more than the little she was taking, and those she'd hurt deserved far more than what she could offer.

She sighed once more, starting to feel angry at herself for having been so gullible and to have been so deceived. Surely someone with more experience and wisdom wouldn't have been so taken in, and wouldn't have been fooled by the tricks and traps. That thought reinforced her dark thoughts that she was worthless, flawed, and a dangerous burden to those around herself.

The unexpected sound of the knock on the door startled Anya enough that she dropped the underwear she was stuffing into the backpack. Her heart leaped into her throat; should she pretend she wasn’t present? Should she look to see who was at the door? She knew that her magic senses weren't working; she tried them instantly, and knew she hadn't recovered enough power.

The knock sounded again, more insistently. "Anya, open up please," she heard Greg's voice. She stood, uncertain what to do. "Anya, open up, or I'll get the super to open the door!" Greg called.

Anya felt like crying. She couldn't face Greg, not after what she'd done. If her powers had been working, she'd have simply teleported away.

"Anya, I know you're in there." It was Selena's voice. Damn, the girl probably sensed what little magical energy left in Anya, or someone had seen her and had reported to Grandmother. "Open up, or I'll open the door myself."

The die was cast. Selena had left her no choice. Anya walked into the living room, looking angrily at the door. "Go away! Just leave me alone!" she screamed, sobbing even before she finished her last words.

As the doorknob started opening, in defiance of the locks, Anya dashed into her bedroom and locked the door behind her. She was near panic, and with her state of mind that alternated between self-loathing and depression, she was feeling desperate, and not thinking clearly. She lunged at the glass door which opened onto her balcony, eight stories up, desperate to do anything to escape facing her friends again in her shame and humiliation. The door, though, refused to budge. She tugged harder, but it still remained shut. Behind her, the lock on her bedroom door opened, and she heard footsteps padding across the carpet. Without looking, Anya let herself collapse into a heap on the floor, sobbing hysterically as she was denied an exit from the pain of dealing with those who'd been her friends before she hurt them so badly.

"Anya, you had us all worried about you," a soft voice called to her from beside her. "It's okay now. I love you, and I'm not going to let you go." Greg's hands rested on her shoulders, shaking as they were from her crying.

"Go away!" Anya said through her sobs. "I'm not worth anything. All I do is hurt people!" She didn't resist when Greg rolled her up so she was in his arms with her head on his shoulder. She didn't have the energy to resist.

"No, you don't," Selena said. "And you know it. You've got a good heart."

"All I do is hurt people," Anya retorted softly. "My mistakes cost my friends too much. I can't take the chance on hurting someone again."

"I remember someone having a similar conversation," Selena said solemnly. "And do you remember what you told me?" She didn't wait for Anya to reply. "You told me that I had a good heart, and that being afraid of making a mistake was the first step in not making that mistake, or not repeating it. You thought I was worthy of a second chance, even when I didn't. Aren't you worth the same?"

"You didn't deliberately hurt people who thought you were their friends," Anya countered.

The strange wizard in the bathrobe stood in the doorway, Rob and Vicky sat down on Anya's bed, Jenny and Melinda stood with Natty by the closet, while Grandmother sat on the floor beside Greg and Anya, gently rubbing the girl's shoulder. She could read Anya's mental state as being extremely depressed and full of self-doubt and self-recrimination. "You couldn't help it, Anya," Grandmother said softly. "You were given a charm that funneled a very powerful confusion spell from a very powerful enchantress and clouded your reasoning and your sight."

"Anya," Vicky said firmly, "please look at me."

Anya shook her head, sobbing softly.

"Look at me!" Vicky said again, more insistently. She squatted down and physically turned Anya to look face-to-face at her. "I was mad at you. Hell, I was furious. But then you disappeared, and I realized how important you are to me. It took a while, but I figured out that not having you as a friend would be far more painful than you getting confused and making mistakes. So if I could get a second chance, shouldn't you? If I could get my life back together, after all the mistakes I made, can't you?" Vicky gently wiped at the tears on Anya's cheek. "You didn't do this on purpose, and even if you did, you risked your life to make things right." She nearly choked with emotion at how near Anya had come to death. "That's not what someone who's worthless does."

"But ... I touched the darkness," Anya wailed. "I'm not strong enough!"

"You didn't touch the darkness," Grandmother said firmly. "You came close, but you resisted the temptation. You did far better than I did with my first temptation."

Greg lifted Anya gently, and guided her to her bed, displacing Rob. "You aren't worthless, or mean, or vindictive. You are worth everything to me," he said, stroking her cheek as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"I'm afraid of the darkness," Anya whimpered. "It's ... so powerful and tricky."

"Fear is the beginning of wisdom," the wizard said philosophically from the doorway. "The darkness is always there, but as long as you fear it, you will avoid its snare and traps. It'll always be there. Evil always is. But now you know it, and can fight it."

Natty stepped forward and sat down beside Anya. "Anya," she said meekly, "I'm sorry I was so mean to you," she whispered in her pre-teen little-girl voice. "I thought I was losing you as a friend, and I didn't know what to do."

Anya looked at the innocent little girl, and shook her head sadly. "You didn't do anything," she said as she kissed Natty on the forehead. "You were right to tell me that I was getting mean." She looked around the room, and felt overwhelmed at the sympathetic and forgiving looks directed her way. "I'm so sorry," she sobbed again as she let her gaze drop from any of the faces that she was sure hated her for what she'd done. "I can't even ask for forgiveness, because I don't deserve it after what I did."

"Enough with the self-pity," Selena said sharply, grasping Anya's shoulders so Anya had to face her. "You wouldn't let me wallow in my self-doubt and self-pity, and I'm not going to let you. We _all_ make mistakes. Someone once told me that the measure of a person is how they respond to their mistakes. It's up to you. Forgive yourself, like we forgive you, or go through your life full of needless doubt, self-pity, and guilt."

Grandmother rose from her spot on the floor and bent over Greg, whispering something in his ear. His eyes widened, to which she merely smiled and nodded. Then she discretely put something in his free hand. Greg looked around the room, at all of Anya's friends, and wondered if Grandmother was right. When he saw the knowing nods from Vicky and Rob, he knew that she was.

To the delight of Vicky, Rob, and Grandmother, and to the surprise of everyone else, especially Anya, Greg slid forward and turned, sliding off the bed to land on one knee beside Anya. "Anya," he said solemnly as his hand opened the box that Grandmother had given him, "I love you more than anything else, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don't want to ever lose you again, like I was afraid I had."

Anya started bawling again. "Greg," she said through her sobs, "I ... I can't take a chance on hurting you again. I was too tempted, and I almost hurt you permanently." She shook her head. "I ... I can't do it."

"But you didn't," Greg replied softly. "You have too much good in you. I trust you, because I know that you love me, too." He took her hand, and held the box with the ring toward her. "I want to marry you."

Anya wiped at a tear, and then glanced around the room. Grandmother gave her approval with a simple smile. Vicky smiled and nodded, as did Rob. Natty was nodding enthusiastically. One by one, she looked at her friends, and saw that, one by one, they nodded. "I don't deserve this," she sobbed as she looked back at Greg.

"Would you let me be the judge of that," Greg said, playfully scolding her, "and just say yes already?"

She stared at him, and then at the ring, and back at Greg. She knew, in her depressed state, that he deserved better, that she wasn't worthy. And yet, through it all, Greg had been there, reminding her that he loved her, trying to keep her from going down the dark path, despite what she'd tried to do. She looked down, to where he was holding the ring toward her hand. Slowly, her hand lifted, as if of its own accord. She looked back at Greg, and nodded nervously, feeling the pressure on her finger as Greg slid the ring on her.

Greg immediately sat back on the bed beside Anya, turning her as he wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her passionately. For a moment, she didn't respond, but slowly, her mind accepted that Greg forgave her, and still loved her. She began to return the kiss, hesitantly at first, but with more and more assurance the longer they kissed. Around them, their friends were cheering and clapping, but neither of the two seemed to notice. Finally, they broke the kiss. "I love you so much, Anya," Greg said softly to her.

"And I love you," Anya echoed. "But ..."

Greg put his finger across her lips. "Shh!" he said softly. "No buts."

In the doorway, the wizard grinned. "Good! At last I get to give my granddaughter away at the altar!"

To say that jaws dropped at his revelation would have been the understatement of the century. Even more stunning was when Grandmother slid to his side, wrapped her arm around his waist, and leaned her head on his shoulder. "We both do," she said warmly.

Vicky stood on her tiptoes and whispered something to Rob. At first, he looked surprised, and then he began to grin as he nodded. Vicky took two steps to the bed and sat beside Anya. "Anya," she said slowly, "Rob and I would be thrilled, and honored, if we could have a double-wedding, you and I, Rob and Greg."

Anya's mouth dropped open again. "But ...." She shook her head, feeling tears again. "I ... I ruined our friendship by hurting you both so badly," she sobbed. "I ... I don't want to spoil your special day. I can't."

Vicky put her hands on Anya's. "Anya, you're like a sister to me. You always have been, helping me through thick and thin. Sisters don't always get along, but they're still sisters. You've been the best friend I could have ever hoped for. And you risked your life to make things right for Rob and me. If that's not the love of friends, I don't know what is." She smiled warmly. "How are Rob and I supposed to ignore that?"

"But ... it's your special day!"

"It'll be _our_ special day," Vicky said firmly. "And you know how stubborn I can be. I'm not going to let you say no!"

Anya looked at the serious determination in Vicky's eyes, and then looked at Greg. Greg glanced at Rob, and saw the grin on his face. Looking back at Anya, Greg nodded.

"There's one more thing," Grandmother announced as she stood so she was in the center of the group. "I recently traveled to my home, as you know. I received a gift that I'd like to share." She reveled in the silence, taking pleasure in the hidden guessing games that were going on in everyone's minds. "You all have been wondering something for a very long time. It's time I shared it with you." She saw the puzzled looks. "Innochka," she said simply. Again, the puzzlement. "I received my name back. You can still call me Grandmother if you want, but if you prefer, I'd be honored if you called me Innochka, my given name."

Stunned wasn't a strong enough word to describe the reaction, except for Greg, who was grinning silently. He'd already been told the secret.

"But I like calling you Grandmother," Natty protested.

"And you still can, my child," Grandmother said sweetly. "But someday, you'll be old enough that maybe you'll want to call me Innochka."

Everyone took a turn hugging Grandmother, acknowledging her good fortune, and now knowing the secret she'd kept for all those years. Eventually, those who'd been sitting sat back down. "Who's up for pizza?" Grandmother asked with a grin. "I'm buying."

No-one objected, so Rob wrote down the preferences and called the pizza place for a delivery order.

Vicky grinned to Anya. "We'll have a lot of fun, picking out wedding dresses, getting the banquet lined up, maybe getting a band to play. Flowers. Everything! It'll be so much fun!"

"I ... I guess so," Anya said hesitantly.

"You _guess_ so? That is _so_ not what I wanted to hear! A little more enthusiasm, if you please, girl!"

Anya was sobbing, but this time because she was overwhelmed by the love and forgiveness of her friends. "Yes."

Vicky's grin broadened. "We'll have a lot of time to plan things."

"And I promise I won't blow you off when we do things."

"But you realize we may have a problem," Vicky said cautiously, but with a smile.

"Oh?"

"We're not going to fight over bridesmaids, are we?"

Anya sputtered, trying not to laugh, but failing. "Dibs on Natty!" She looked at her young friend. "If you'll do it for me, that is."

Natty ran to Anya's arms and hugged her warmly, catching Vicky in the group embrace. "You'll have to flip a coin," she said mischievously. "Loser can ask Megan if you want! Or Mel."

Liz smiled. "And I've got the perfect idea for a bachelorette party. Something that we can guarantee won't get anyone in trouble!" She was staring quite pointedly at Rob and Greg.

Greg looked at his fraternity brother. "Uh, Rob? I think we're going to have a very interesting few months before the weddings."

Rob gulped. "Yeah, I was thinking the same. Look at them, plotting and scheming already. Why do I get a bad feeling about what they're going to plan?"

Greg smiled. "Somehow, I don't think we're going to have a lot of say in what they plan, either." Around them, the room was filled with guffaws and chuckles at the boys' plight.

***** EPILOGUE *****

The large metal doors opened slowly and ominously, seeming to swallow the light from the antechamber rather than adding to the illumination. "Come in," a woman in dark robes, with her face mostly obscured, said in a very neutral tone.

The old woman rose nervously, and followed the dark woman into the chamber. It was everything that she remembered, from the three figures at the high bench before her, staring down dispassionately, to the dark and intimidating setting. To one side, a girl and an old man sat, watching, trying to keep emotion from their faces.

"You were charged with murder of Eldor the Lesser," one of the faces intoned in a slow, booming, unnerving voice.

"Yes," Grandmother answered. "It was self-defense."

"Based on the plea from these two," he gestured to where Anya and the wizard sat, "we have considered the recent evidence of your behavior, and the fact surrounding Eldor's death."

"And?"

"And this panel finds you ... not guilty. The parole is lifted. Banishment from this world is lifted. You are free to go as you please."

Anya leaped to her feet and ran to embrace Grandmother. The wizard was slower, but he, too, wrapped his arms warmly around the old woman.

"Adjourned," the man boomed again, rapping a heavy gavel to signify the close of the panel.

"Who's up for dinner to celebrate?" Anya asked as they walked, smiling, from the hearing room. "I know a nice Japanese restaurant where they have the best teriyaki and sushi!"

**********

Thus concludes the tale of the Temptation of Anya
Her tale, however, is far from complete.

Author's Note:
This story has been a long time in coming. Thanks to a couple of ideas from Ibi, I managed to make a simple one-part story into a complex, hopefully-engaging tale for your enjoyment. I have long felt that it was time for Anya to grow up, to face dark choices, and to overcome the temptation. I know there are those who loved Anya as a carefree, innocent girl, and I know you're probably hurt at what I did to her on these pages, but rest assured that it was as painful for me to write as it probably is for you to read.

This is NOT the end of Bikini Beach. I have about a dozen stories in the queue, including a 'reflective' piece of several years in the future, a sort-of reunion, and playing kids. That should be enough hints. I'm also going to write the tale of the bachelorette party and wedding. Beyond that, my output of Bikini Beach stories will probably slow, but rest assured that it will not stop. I've been writing in this universe for over fourteen years, and I need to branch out a bit as an author, but I will always have a desire to write more about my beloved friends Anya, Greg, Vicky, Rob, Natty, Jenny and Melinda, Innochka, and the others.