Trama

When relatives arrive in Sunnydale, to celebrate her birthday, Tara uses a magic spell on her friends to keep them from learning her "secret." Meanwhile, Glory unleashes a horde of demons to hunt down Buffy.

Buffy tells Giles the truth about Dawn and they decide to keep the secret about her origin. Buffy moves back home to stay together with her sick mother and Dawn. On the eve of Tara's birthday, her big brother Donny, her father and her cousin visit her to bring her back home, since she would have a demon inside that would unleash in her twentieth anniversary. Meanwhile, the Beast forces Lei-Ach demons to chase and kill Buffy. Tara casts a spell on her friends to make demons invisible, bringing trouble to her friends.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Buffy tells Giles that Dawn is the Key that Glory is hell-bent on finding. They decide to protect Dawn without telling the others about it. Buffy moves back to her house with the help of her friends, whom Willow reminds about Tara's birthday party.

At the hospital, Ben enters the locker room. A moment later, Glory is there and captures a Lei-Ach demon, who tells her that Buffy is the Slayer. Glory sends it and its friends to kill her.

While researching Glory in the magic shop, Buffy and Xander admit that they do not really know Tara, though they both agree that she is definitely "very nice." They wonder what kind of a present to get for Tara. Meanwhile, in his crypt Spike fantasizes about fighting with Buffy while having sex with Harmony (assuring her that he was only thinking of her). Xander explains that he doesn't really know Tara. The only thing he knows that she likes is Willow, and "she already has one of those." Giles enters their conversation, asking how they could sit in a magic shop and not have a clue what to get a witch for her birthday, finally concluding that they are "profoundly stupid." A young man comes into the Magic Box and disparages magic. When Tara enters, it is revealed he is Tara's big brother, who has come to town with Tara's father and a cousin for Tara's birthday. While Tara is clearly not thrilled at their presence, she agrees to have dinner with her family that evening.

Tara returns to her room to find her father there. He expresses disappointment that she has not quit magic and berates her for being out of reach for months. He tells her she is going home before her friends find out about her evil self. After he leaves, Willow returns and wants to repeat the demon location spell that Tara had secretly sabotaged before. Tara fakes fatigue, so Willow returns to the magic shop without her. Tara follows her and casts a spell to prevent her friends from seeing demons.

Meanwhile, Riley is drinking in Willy's old demon bar after another argument with Buffy. Sandy hits on him, but he recognizes her as a vampire. Harmony returns to the crypt and tells Spike that the Lei-Ach demons have been summoned to kill Buffy. Spike leaves, saying he wants to catch a decent seat.

Tara's cousin finds her on campus. When Tara refuses to go home, her cousin derides her for being selfish, leaving her father and brother to "do for themselves", and realizes that Tara has cast a spell on her friends. She tells Tara to tell her friends before she does.

Thanks to Tara's magic, the Lei-Ash enter the Magic Shop unseen. They search for the Slayer and attack everyone in their path. Giles hides Dawn under a desk. Only Buffy manages to put up a decent fight. Spike gets there and defends her, too. Since he was not present when the spell was cast, he was unaffected and can see all the demons (although, being demon himself, Buffy is unable to see his efforts).

Tara reaches the shop and quickly ends the spell. The demons are beaten. Tara's family arrives, claiming that, because of demonic heritage, all of the women in their family turn evil when they become adults. Willow is visibly hurt, thinking their love had been fake but Tara insists that it was true. When Tara's family insists on taking her away, all her friends make it clear they will fight to defend her.

Spike, while making sure to clarify he doesn't care about Tara, punches her. Spike himself is hurt as the chip in his brain causes pain only when he hurts a human being. Bolstered by this knowledge, Tara declares she will stay with her new family. Her relatives leave. Her cousin scornfully asks if Tara is happy. She smiles in reply.

Riley arrives at the birthday party and kisses Buffy. Willow saves Tara from Anya by asking her to dance. They embrace on the dance floor and begin to levitate.