I read this first and then the original. I love yhlee's premise, but I found the stark poignancy of your remix very effective, the idea that you can't go back again, the sense of innocence lost. Yours is a very grown-up Buffy, both yearning and pragmatic.

It was only after that she realized that a part of her had hoped for gypsy magic. A curse to take away this overwhelming humanity.

...Wow. A great insight on something that wasn't made explicit in the original. Amazing and heartbreaking story.