Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Heartwarming

Season One
"Amy: My dad is so impossible! He doesn't ever want me going anywhere! He wants to spend total quantity time together. And I'm, like, "Dad, I can go out, it's perfectly safe!" But he's got all this guilt about leaving me with my mom. And he's being a total pain. Buffy: (smiles) You're loving it. Amy: Every single minute."
 * The end of "The Witch":

"Buffy: "That's not how it goes. I'm the slayer." Giles: "I don't care what the books say. I defy prophecy, and I'm going. There's nothing you can say to change my mind." Buffy: "I know." (Buffy knocks out Giles)"
 * The moment at the end of "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date" where Buffy expresses her concern that her job put Giles in danger and Giles answers that he went to the funeral home of his own free will and that Buffy isn't to blame.
 * The Master's breakdown over Darla's death and the Anointed One's subsequent pep talk in "Angel" is pretty much the definition of Ugly Cute.
 * In the season 1 episode "Nightmares", the nightmares of everyone in Sunnydale are brought to life. A particularly emotional scene reveals that Giles' nightmare is that he will fail as Buffy's watcher and she'll die because of it.
 * Giles gearing up to take Buffy's place against The Master in 'Prophecy Girl'. He knew it was a suicide mission, but after he read the prophecy that The Master would kill Buffy (eliciting a temporary Heroic BSOD on her part), Giles was determined to die in her place. In the end, Buffy literally had to punch him out to stop him.

Season Two
"Joyce: I have a daughter who can take care of herself. Who's brave and resourceful and thinks of others in a crisis. No matter who you hang out with or what dumb teenage stuff you think you need to do, I'm gonna sleep better knowing all that."
 * The ending of "When She Was Bad" - Buffy is anxious about facing Xander and Willow in class after being an alienating bitca to them...she then finds they saved a seat for her and are happy to put it all behind them.
 * From the end of "School Hard":

"Buffy: Don't be a baby. I'm not gonna hurt you. Angel: [in Game Face] No, it's just... you shouldn't have to touch me... like this. Buffy: Oh. [pause] ...I didn't even notice."
 * "What's My Line, Part One"

"Xander It's not that I don't want too. Sometimes the remote, impossible possibility that you might like me was all that sustained me. But not now. Not like this. This isn't real to you. You're only here because of a spell. I mean if I thought you had one clue what it would mean to me ... But you don't ... so I can't."
 * That part in "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" where Xander demands the heart pendant he gave Cordelia as a Valentine's Day gift back, and Cordelia is visibly hurt and offended, but puts on a bold front, pretending she hadn't liked it anyway and says something along the lines of "Fine, I'll get it. It's in my locker". She opens her locker, and behind the locker door where Xander can't see what she's doing, instead of taking the pendant from the locker where she said she'd put it, she surreptitiously removes it from around her neck, where she'd been wearing it under her collar, proving how much the gift had actually meant to her. There's even sentimental piano music playing in the background when she does this.
 * Xander heroically turns down a sexually agressive Buffy (she came in to saxaphone music) - the same girl he's been pining over for 28 episodes - knowing she's an unwitting victim of a love spell he cast. Nicholas Brendon expression and delivery effectively conveys the conflicting emotions of concern for his friend, and the "I can't believe I'm actually saying this!" as he refuses Buffy's advances.

"Giles: It's not over. I suppose you know that. He'll come after you, particularly. His profile, uh, well, he's likely to strike out at the things that made him the most human- Buffy: You must be so disappointed in me. Giles: (shocked) What? No. No, I'm not. Buffy: (tearfully) But this is all my fault! Giles: (gently) No, I don't believe it is. Do you want me to wag my finger at you and tell you that you acted rashly? You did. And I can. (pause) I know that you loved him. And he, he's proven more than once that he loved you. You couldn't have known what would happen. The coming months are going to be hard, I suspect on all of us, but... if it's guilt you're looking for Buffy, I'm not your man. (looks her straight in the eyes) All you will get from me is my support. And my respect."
 * Fittingly Buffy expresses her appreciation for his discipline at the end of the episode.
 * Cordelia standing up to her friends about her relationship with Xander at the end of "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered."
 * The scene in "Surprise" where Buffy and Angel make love. Not just for the act itself, but for the buildup, where Angel was taking care of Buffy, and Buffy was terrified about having almost lost Angel to the Judge.
 * Even more heartwarming may be the fact that while it has the single most brutal subversion in the history of television (the entirety of the episode "Innocence"), the buildup and denouement has continued to elicit hardcore Bangel shippers to this day.
 * And yet even "Innocence" had a Heartwarming moment at the end, as Giles reminds us that he was ten times more Buffy's father than Hank Summers ever was.


 * The expression on Buffy's face at the end of that scene, with her eyes full of tears and her nose all puffy and yet she's still about to give a little smile simply because she knows that Giles still loves her despite all that's happened, is just worth a million words all by itself.
 * And speaking of Innocence: "Sometimes, I'm sitting in class, and, well, I'm not paying attention, cause that would never happen. And I think about kissing you. And it's like time... stop. Willow kissage... Oh, I'm not going to kiss you. Because to the untrained observer, it seems like you just want to make Xander jealous, or even the score, or something. And that's a little on the empty side. See, in my fantasy, when I'm kissing you... you're kissing me. It's okay. I can wait."

Season Three
"Buffy: "We'll talk?" Giles: "Of course.""
 * A smaller, but just as heartwarming Giles moment, when Buffy returns from Los Angeles in "Dead Man's Party." After settling in she goes to find her friends and they head to Giles house. While Xander, Willow and Buffy joke in his living room Giles goes to the kitchen to get tea. While there he listens to them laughing in the next room, takes off his glasses, leans against his cabinets and smiles. One of the most genuinely heartwarming moments in the series for this troper.
 * This troper broke down and cried. It's not a Tear Jerker moment but it so perfectly forms Giles' character.
 * For reference, note that in episode 1x09 Buffy's death is revealed to be Giles's greatest nightmare. One can only imagine what he went through that summer, only to find her alive and well in the fall. I'd smile too.
 * The end of the episode "Beauty and the Beasts". David Boreanaz. One word. "Buffy?" This troper, a twenty-year-old male college student, openly admits to weeping like a little girl.
 * I always found one of the most heartwarming moments to be a somewhat smaller one in the third-season episode "Helpless" when Giles is forced by the Watchers' Council to render Buffy powerless and alone against a vampire - the head Watcher's concluding comment to Giles that he ultimately failed because he "has a father's love" for Buffy is just... awww.
 * In Wesley's first appearance ("Bad Girls" in the third season), when Buffy begins to report to Giles on her patrols, Wesley tells Buffy that Giles is no longer her Watcher and the only reason she should need to talk to Giles is about overdue book fees. Buffy turns to Giles.

""I have two words that are going to make all the pain go away: Miniature. Golf." (Faith cracks up) "
 * The ending of "Amends." Buffy tries to stop Angel from killing himself by standing in sunlight. Out of nowhere, it starts snowing, and the sun doesn't come out that day. The episode ends with Buffy and Angel walking through the snow holding hands.
 * For that matter, Willow tries to make up with Oz after she was with Xander. After several rejections he does, which leads her to pull out all the stops in a bid to seduce him. Despite Barry White, low lighting and a Little Red Dress, he turns her down, but it was a much needed CMOH after, y'know, the previous episode.
 * Similarly, any scene with Faith and Mayor Wilkins in season three. This one is both heartwarming and weird, considering that the Mayor is the Big Bad.

"Angel: You still my girl? Buffy: Always."
 * Bonus points for the Mayor here, since your typical Evil Overlord would be delivering a You Have Failed Me, since what has Faith so upset is not just that she was tricked, but that she revealed information the Mayor wanted hidden in the process. Instead, he shows he cares more about her feelings than the threat to his plans.
 * Faith boasting about jumping of the quarry. This is what really showed me the relationship they have.
 * Buffy, Xander and Giles all hugging Willow in "Doppelgangland".
 * Also hug-related from the same episode, Willow hugging Vamp Willow before sending her back to her own reality. Even after she tried to kill Willow's friends, and Willow herself (twice; not to mention the creepy "wanna be bad?" bit), Willow shows that she can be the bigger person, and sends her vampire self on her way with a friendly hug in a brief, but genuinely sweet and touching moment.
 * After Angel acts like he's been turned back into Angelus and Buffy needs some time to deal.

""You guys are gonna have a prom. The kind of prom everyone should have. I will give you all a nice, fun, normal evening... if I have to kill every single person on the face of the Earth to do it.""
 * Toward the end of the third-season episode "Choices," Buffy is depressed that she's forced to stay in Sunnydale. Willow ends up approaching her and starts talking to her. During the conversation, Willow casually reveals that she's going to UC Sunnydale and shows Buffy that she's still going to have her best friend by her side. Cue tackle/hug from Buffy and some sweet romantic friendship moments.
 * Buffy gets a CMOH, as well as a CMOA and CMOF, in The Prom. Hurting from Angel breaking up with her, she is disinterested in a student, Tucker, training hell hounds to attack the prom, until the Scoobies begin getting scared and upset about their night being ruined, driving Buffy to action.

""Yay?""
 * The script says Buffy is looking determined. Full of new purpose. And a little bit crazed, which Xander comments on.

"Willow: We can't just leave you, Buff- Giles: Buffy, they're right. You need- Buffy: To see tail lights. Hit the door. I've got everything under control. Oz: Buffy, it makes sense to - Buffy (deadly): Have. A. Nice. Time. Willow: Okay then. Xander: See ya."
 * Later, after finding Tucker, we get this exchange.

"Giles: You did good work tonight, Buffy. Buffy: (holding award) And I got a little toy surprise! Giles: Yes, I had no idea children, en masse, could be...gracious. Buffy: Every now and then, people surprise you. Giles: ...Every now and then."
 * The moment where Buffy receives the "Class Protector" Award from her schoolmates, and the speech that preceeds it.
 * Jonathan giving Buffy the "Class Protector" award in "The Prom."
 * That episode was just full of them. Xander buying Cordelia a prom dress after the IRS strips away her family fortune. Giles' smile when he sees Buffy show up at the prom. "I believe this situation calls for ice-cream of some sort." And Buffy insisting on giving her friends one happy, safe, normal night of fun "if I have to kill every person on the face of the planet to do it." I think the entire point of that episode was to turn the whole audience into schmoopy messes.
 * "The Prom", after Buffy is named 'Class Protector', when Giles finds her.

"Oz: Would it help if I panic? Willow: Yes, it'd be swell! Panic is something people can share in times of crisis, and we could all die tomorrow so if you would just act like you care---[he kisses her]--what are you doing? Oz: Panicking."
 * He then takes the trophy and nods behind her...and there's Angel in a tux, come to dance with her.
 * Before the Prom itself, when Buffy has sent them all packing, Giles has one of his typical "I'm basically Buffy's father" moments when he realises that Angel has left her. Perfectly handled, and a brilliant example of their relationship at its finest.
 * Especially when you consider that Giles has more reason than Xander to hate Angel and think he's nothing but bad news for his Slayer; all that matters to him is that Buffy is in pain.
 * Anything with Willow and Oz. Especially the animal crackers.

Season Four
"Buffy: Let's promise to never not talk again. Willow: I promise, I promise. (they hug) (Xander lands in between them, and they both glomp him) Buffy: Xander! Willow: Oh, wonderful Xander! Buffy: You know we love you, right? Willow: We totally do. Xander: (panicking) Oh God. We're gonna die, aren't we?!? Willow: No! We just missed you! Xander: (busts out in an ecstatic grin) Giles! Hurry up! You definitely wanna get down here for this!"
 * Xander: "You're my hero."
 * Buffy asking Giles to walk her down the aisle in "Something Blue".
 * Giles is even flattered by this, dispite his objections.
 * The moment in "Hush", when Buffy and Willow come in, and Giles just puts his hand on Buffy's shoulder and squeezes it and gives her a big smile, showing relief and love and reassurance all at the same time. Willow also tries to get in on the action, but doesn't quite get it.
 * Willow writing "Hi, Giles" in "Hush".
 * That one choked up this troper, too. I really went "Awwwwwwww.....". Bonus points for Alyson Hannigan because she pulls off the entire moment with a simple expression; and she just looks so completely huggable in it. This troper wished to just reach in and hold her and say everything was going to be all right, sweetie.
 * Another one from "Hush" - before the Gentlemen roll into town, Anya and Xander were fighting because she thought he only cared about the sex, while he was unable to find the words to tell her it wasn't like that. Later, when everyone's voices have been stolen, Xander mistakenly thinks Spike had somehow beaten his chip and been drinking from Anya, and promptly starts beating the shit out of Spike. His relief and hug when he sees Anya is okay, and the look on Anya's face as she realizes she was wrong and he does care for her deeply, are too sweet for words.
 * Same episode, Willow and Tara's first meeting. How come this hasn't been mentioned yet? When the combined wicca-mojo hits the scene you KNOW there's something more than what meets the eye between these two. Cemented further in their conversation at the end of the episode.
 * When she and Willow get together and Tara says, "I am, you know." "What?" "Yours."
 * This is labelled as a Wham! Line with good reason, it makes you all warm and fuzzy and tingly inside.
 * When Willow admits her love for Tara at the end of "New Moon Rising" in the fourth season.
 * The Mayor's postmortem video journal message to Faith in season 4, especially. To think that the man who devoted his entire life to become an immortal snake demon at the cost of hundreds or thousands of lives over a century would care about a glorified minion so much that in his own twisted way he tried to ensure that even without him she could have a better life. Also, when Faith was in a coma, he actually swore the only time in the entire season - and his own impending death couldn't get anything but "well, gosh" out of him!
 * The fact that Buffy can recognize Giles by his eyes even when he's turned into a Fyarl demon. (Season 4, A New Man) (Oh geez all this is making me )
 * Also in 'A New Man', when the Scoobies think Giles has been kidnapped. Buffy goes after the one lead they have, telling Willow and Xander to stay and man the phone in case there's a ransom call. "Give them anything they want."
 * "Primeval" - as the gang is breaking into the Initiative HQ, Buffy and Willow resolve their growing apart and they end up hugging. When Xander meets up, they include him in the hug.

Season Five
"Mr. Maclay: We are her blood kin. Who the hell are you? Buffy: We're family."
 * When Buffy at the beginning of season five.
 * The moment in "Family", when the whole Scoobie gang stands up for Tara against her bigoted abusive relatives, even though she earlier deceived them and put them in danger. Best part? "The whole gang" included Spike!
 * Despite Spike's insistence that he doesn't care what happens, who was it that stepped forward of his own volition to prove that, then call her father out for  ?
 * On that note: After the revelation that Tara is part demon, what is the gang upset about? The fact that she didn't tell them so in the first place. Nobody even seems to care about the part-demon issue.
 * Furthermore, the reveal that Tara is human only comes after they've already made it plain that Tara leaves the Magic Box only of her own free will or over their dead bodies. Throughout the entire sequence that they're defying Tara's relatives to do their worst, they think they're fighting to defend a demon. And that doesn't matter to them at all, because non-evil demons are people too.
 * The whole last ten minutes of "Family":

"Buffy: You want to take Tara out of here against her will, you've got to go through me."
 * Just before that:

"Tara: (dancing with Willow) Every time I...even when I'm at my worst, you still make me feel special. How do you do that? Willow: Magic. (They embrace, then float a foot above the floor, because they're cool like that)"
 * And who's the first person to step up beside her and say "And me"? Giles, the father figure? Xander? Willow, who loves Tara more than life itself? No - it's Dawn. Everyone, not just the "heroes", cares about Tara.
 * Not to mention the very end of that episode:

"Donny: Tara, if you don' get in that car I swear by God I will beat you down. Xander: And I swear by your full and manly beard, you're gonna break something trying."
 * The whole episode, obviously--Xander gets in on the heartwarming as well.

"Buffy: "Why didn't the Watchers keep fuller accounts of [the Slayers' deaths]? The journals just stop." Giles: "Well, I suppose if they're anything like me, they just find the whole subject too-" Buffy: "Unseemly? Damn. Love ya but you Watchers are such prigs sometimes." Giles: "'Painful'... I was going to say.""
 * In "Fool For Love."

"Xander: "I've gotta say something, 'cause I don't think I've made it clear. I'm in love with you. Powerfully, painfully in love. The things you do, the way you think, the way you move... I get excited every time I'm about to see you. You make me feel like I've never felt before in my life. Like a man. I just thought you might wanna know.""
 * The way Tara tends to play with Willow's fingers makes me melt. Very small, but very beautiful.
 * From "Into The Woods": After an emotional confrontation with Buffy, Xander goes home and tells Anya what's what.

"Buffy: Maybe I could change. You know, I could, I could work harder. I could spend less time slaying, I could laugh at his jokes, I mean, men like that, right, the, the joke-laughing-at? Xander: Or you could just be Buffy, and he'll see your amazing heart, and he'll fall in love with you."
 * Joyce, about to go into life-threatening surgery, asking Buffy point blank if Dawn is really her daughter... and upon being told "no" telling Buffy she doesn't care, and begging Buffy to take care of her as her own daughter anyway. And Buffy agreeing.
 * The end of "Blood Ties," when Buffy tells Dawn that even if Dawn is the Key, she's also Buffy's sister.
 * Back in season 5, after Riley has left Buffy:

"Buffy: It's gonna be light soon. Angel: I can stay in town as long as you want me. Buffy: How's forever? Does forever work for you?"
 * The end of "Checkpoint," where Buffy stands up to the entire friggin' Watcher's Council, belongs more in CMOA, but the support she shows her friends during her speech, especially Xander, brings a smile to this troper's face every time.
 * When  and Anya gives a speech about how she doesn't understand how humans deal with death and how  will never have any more fruit punch. It was just such a great moment watching Anya cope with human emotions and grief.
 * There's something about "The Body," and that part in particular, that is able to make me weep. I spent the entire episode in tears and just reading this entry made me tear up again.
 * WORD. Emma Caulfield acts the hell out of this scene - but I must say it's more of a Tear Jerker for me.
 * Tara kissing Willow in the same episode. A lesser show would have made the lesbian couple's first onscreen kiss an object of shock or titillation (i.e. a ratings grab), but here it is a tender affirmation of love and support and was not even shown in the WB network preview.
 * This episode also presents a few heartbreakingly sweet moments of Willow and Xander's friendship, especially when Xander is angrily looking for someone to blame and Willow holds up her fists and half-pretends to challenge him to a fight, causing Xander to calm down and kiss her softly on the forehead. There's something about how well Willow knows Xander, that such a random little gesture can provoke such a display of affection, that is incredibly sweet.
 * The gentle, fatherly way Giles comforts Buffy throughout this episode, running to hold her while she's in shock after he realizes what's happened, an later, at the hospital, taking care of all the paperwork that needs to be done so that Buffy doesn't have to be disturbed. There are no grand gestures, but he still seems so much like a parent.
 * It's somewhere between CMOH and Tear Jerker, but Angel showing up in "Forever" to be with Buffy after Joyce's death:

"Spike:Buffy... the other, not-so-pleasant Buffy... If anything happened to Dawn, it'd destroy her. And I couldn't live, her being in that much pain. Let Glory kill me first. Nearly bloody did."
 * I can't belive no-one's mentioned "Intervention" yet. Where the soulless demon was willing to let himself be tortured to death to spare Dawn, not because there was anything in it for him, but simply because it would have hurt someone he cared for.

"Buffy: I'm counting on you. To protect [Dawn]. Spike: Till the end of the world. Even if that happens to be tonight."
 * The end of "Tough Love," when Willow promises to take care of Tara even if she never regains her sanity, because "she's my girl. She's my always."
 * Also, in "The Gift," Willow healing Tara is both this and an Awesome Moment. "I will always find you."
 * From "The Gift"

"Buffy: (walking in the front door of her house) The weapons are in the chest by the fireplace. Spike: (stopping in the doorway) Buffy... (Buffy turns back to look at him confusedly, not thinking that she'd had Willow do the disinvite spell after Spike's creepy stalking earlier this season) Spike: (matter-of-factly) Look, if you just want to pass them out over the threshold... Buffy: (softly) Come in, Spike. Spike: (pauses in shock, then slowly steps inside, visibly overcome with emotion) Presto. No barrier."
 * Oh, hell, just the entire interaction between her and Spike in that scene:

"Spike: I know you'll never love me. (Buffy stops and turns to look back at Spike) I know that I'm a monster. But you treat me like a man, and that's- (stops, swallows hard) Get your stuff. I'll be here."
 * And the wrap-up:

"Then the last thing she will see is me protecting her."
 * Giles is trying to steel Buffy for the possibility of having to kill Dawn, describing the end of the universe that would occur if she doesn't. Buffy's having none of it.

"Buffy: Dawn, listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will *always* love you. But this is the work that I have to do. Tell Giles... tell Giles I figured it out. And, and I'm okay. And give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world... is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me."
 * Whatever faults you can make of her here Buffy was the greatest sister anybody could ever wish for.
 * When Buffy chooses to throw herself into the portal instead of letting Dawn do it? I cried.

Season Six
"Spike: Buff... Slayer... are you OK? Buffy: (insincerely) I'm here. I'm good. Spike: Buffy. If you're in... if you're in pain. Or if you need anything. Or if I can do anything for you... Buffy: You can't."
 * While watching the episode, it's pretty creepy and unsettling, but in retrospect, the lengths Willow was willing to go to to get Buffy back. It was obvious that she would cross any line, sink to any depth, endure any agony, accept any horror, compromise any principle, risk any corruption by dark magic, if it meant saving Buffy from hell. Not very pure or moral, but the sheer amount of love palpable in her demeanor, especially during the ritual and her breakdown when she thinks she failed, is astounding. Plus, the bit earlier on, when Tara and Xander voice some concerns about the possible risks, and her only response is a blank stare and a "...but it's Buffy".
 * Spike and Dawn throughout the same episode. Spike tells Dawn in no uncertain terms that he is going to keep her safe, which teeters on the edge of Tear Jerker territory when you see the sheer amount of guilt on his face. And then later in the second half of the episode when he holds her hands and calms her after he sees how scared she is of the Hellions.
 * Dawn taking care of the recently resurrected Buffy in "After Life".
 * The "Every night I save you" conversation from After Life.
 * Although its immediately followed by the Tear Jerker of Buffy's revelation of having been ripped out of Heaven, the first half of the conversation with Spike she has at the end of After Life is a Heartwarming moment simply because of the sheer amount of compassion that Spike, the soulless vampire, is channelling here. James Marsters acts the hell out of this scene.

"Tara: There's just so much to work through. Trust has to be built again on both sides. You have to learn if--if we're even the same people we were. If you can fit in each other's lives. It's a long and important process, and can we just skip it? Can you just be kissing me now?"
 * "Once More, with Feeling" when Spike convinces Buffy she has to keep on living (and in song, no less).
 * Even though it is later given a heart-wrenching Dark Reprise, "Under Your Spell" is very touching, especially with the references to Tara's past with her abusive family. Basically, she's saying that when she's with Willow, she can finally get beyond the past that left her a shy, fearful young woman and just be happy.
 * Giles and Spike's "fatherly" hug in "Tabula Rasa".
 * The moments in "Entropy" where Buffy and Dawn are just bonding. Especially when Buffy makes a joke about Dawn technically being one and a half. You can tell that Buffy has coped with her death and resurrection and Dawn is fine with her origins. It's just... heartwarming.
 * Willow and Tara, right up to the bitter end.

"Xander: I don't know what I'd do ... without you and Will. Buffy: (teary) Let's not find out."
 * In "Seeing Red", Dawn's reaction to finding out that Willow and Tara are back together is utterly adorable.
 * That episode also has this sweet exchange between Xander and Buffy:

"Dawn: (tiny smile) What...you think I never watched you?"
 * After Tara's death, Willow loads up on dark magic. Does she go after Warren at this point? No, she goes to the hospital, where Buffy is critical after being shot, and uses magic to save her life. Willow then uses the bullet used on Buffy to torture Warren.
 * The bit at the end of season six in "Grave," when Giles has not just had a Crowning Moment of Awesome, which already makes you very pro-Giles, but in the midst of all the trauma and drama, he suddenly stops and looks at Buffy and says "You cut your hair!" Both are just tiny moments that make it clear a) how strong the bond is between Buffy and Giles and b) what a fricking awesome actor Tony Head is. As in "Hush", someone else (Anya) wants what Buffy has with Giles, and doesn't quite get it.
 * Anya's reaction to Giles coming is rather sweet too. When Giles turns and comments on Buffy's hair and they hug, Anya timidly mentions that she's blonde now, clearly wanting attention from Giles, who hugs her too.
 * Giles and Buffy catching up and laughing off a year's worth of intense psychological trauma in the season six finale.
 * For the entirety of Season 6, Buffy is mired in her own angst, self-absorbed and neglectful of her sister; much of that same season, Dawn behaves like a prototypical Annoying Younger Sibling (shoplifting, running with the wrong crowd, etc). Then, in the season finale's final act ("Grave"), the two women find themselves alone--and surrounded by a horde of demons. Trapped, Buffy has no choice but to throw Dawn a sword and ask her to fight. Dawn takes a hit and goes down, losing her sword; Buffy sees her fall, but is unable to help. Then, just as the demon moves in for another attack on Dawn... she somersault-rolls past it (in a very Buffy-like move) and lands next to her sword--which she uses to decapitate the beast in a single stroke. Buffy can only stare in disbelief.

"Buffy: I don't wanna protect you from the world... I wanna show it to you."
 * Also a CMOA for Dawn.
 * Xander saving the world from Dark Willow at the end of season 6 by repeatedly saying "I love you" and standing his ground, enduring her attacks. Also qualifies as a Crowning Moment of Awesome.
 * And then she finally breaks, as The Power of Friendship overcomes her rage and pain and grief, and ends up just crying and hugging him.
 * Also, the subsequent scene between Buffy and Dawn.

Season Seven
"Buffy: No guy is worth your life, not ever! Dawn: RJ is! And don't say he isn't, look what you were willing to do. Buffy: Dawn, I would give him to you in a second if I could. That's how much you're scaring me. Dawn: But I-I thought you wanted him for you. Buffy: Nah. Well, yeah... my God that boy is hot... *shakes her head* Sorry, I think I might be under a spell here."
 * Buffy and Willow healing together at the end of "Same Time, Same Place." In their jammies, no less!
 * At the beginning of the same episode, Buffy, Dawn, and Xander are waiting to pick up Willow at the airport. Buffy and Dawn are clearly more than a little nervous about what it will be like seeing her again, wondering whether she's really gone back to the way she was and unsure of what to say to her. Xander says, slightly pointedly, that he plans on saying "Hi, Willow." And he's holding a sign saying "Welcome Back, Willow" in yellow crayon.
 * Buffy telling Dawn not to kill herself over RJ in "Him". Buffy (and Dawn) were under a massively powerful love spell towards RJ during this moment, and yet next to Dawn's life it meant nothing.

"Xander: They'll never know how tough it is, Dawnie, to be the one who isn't chosen. To live so near to the spotlight and never step in it. But I know. I see more than anybody realizes because nobody's watching me. I saw you last night. I see you working here today. You're not special. You're extraordinary."
 * Wennedy's first kiss showing (in spite of the wackiness that ensued) that even though Willow misses Tara, she's not going to be miserable for the rest of her life, and their second kiss showing her that she doesn't need to feel guilty, that she's not betraying Tara by falling in love again
 * Xander's speech to Dawn in season 7's "Potential."

"Spike: You listen to me. I've been alive a bit longer than you, and dead a lot longer than that. I've seen things you couldn't imagine and done things I'd prefer you didn't. I don't exactly have a reputation for being a thinker. I follow my blood, which doesn't exactly rush in the direction of my brain. So I make a lot of mistakes. A lot of wrong bloody calls. A hundred plus years and there's only one thing I've ever been sure of. You. Hey, look at me. I'm not asking you for anything. When I say I love you, it's not because I want you, or because I can't have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are, what you do, how you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you... and I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are. You are a hell of a woman. You're the one, Buffy.""
 * Spike's "you're a helluva woman" speech from "Touched". It seems a little more powerful with every re-watch, in no small part because this troper is very familiar with the emotions Spike is feeling here.

"The Mayor: I'll always be with you, firecracker. In everything you do."
 * And afterwards, when Buffy asks Spike to stay with her and hold her while she sleeps.
 * Still from "Touched", you wouldn't really expect it, but when The First appears to Faith as The Mayor, it seems that some of the late Big Bad's affection for his former minion still remains.

"Anya: Last time there was an apocalypse, I skedaddled. I was kind of new to being human then. But now, I've been around them a lot more, and I've realized how... screwed up they all are. I mean, really, really screwed up in a monumental fashion. Andrew: Oh. Anya: And they have no purpose that unites them, so they just drift around, blundering through life until they die. Which they know is coming and yet every single one of them is surprised when it happens to them. They're incapable of thinking about what they want beyond the moment. They kill each other, which is clearly insane, and yet, here's the thing. When it's something that really matters, they fight. I mean, they're lame morons for fighting, but they do. They never... They never quit. And so I guess I will keep fighting, too. Andrew: That was kind of beautiful. Oh my god, you... you love humans. Anya: I do not. Andrew: Yes you do. You lurrrrrve them. Anya: Shut up! I don't love them and if you tell anyone I'll kill you. Andrew: I'll probably die here anyway. Anya: I don't know, you might make it through. Andrew: No, you might make it through. You know how to handle a weapon, and-and you've been in this world for, like, a thousand years. I'm not so... I don't think I'll be okay. I'm cool with it. I think I'd like to finish out as one of those lame humans trying to do what's right. Anya: Yeah [pause] Andrew: So, wheelchair fight? [shot of them having a wheelchair fight]"
 * Anya and Andrew's whole scene while getting medical supplies in End of Days. It's just full of genuine sentiment delivered in a brilliant and offbeat way, and features one of the most affecting Patrick Stewart Speeches in Buffyverse history:


 * Though this scene is rather sad as well, seeing as how
 * Actually, that's a lie Andrew told, using his bad habit, making it a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming for Andrew.
 * From a certain point of view, maybe. Anya was a good distance in front of Andrew, fighting off the übervamps. How long do you think he would've lasted if he was in front of her? Sure, maybe Anya didn't mean to save Andrew's life, but she probably did do it.

Season Eight

 * A somewhat dark one for Wolves at the Gate. Throughout the season Buffy had been trying to steer Xander and Renee together. When it looks like it might happen Renee is brutally murdered, after Buffy had declared war for the death of another Slayer. After Xander kills the vampire responsible Buffy orders every last one of them slaughtered, while trying to comfort Xander.
 * Dracula declaring that Xander was not alone in the battle and going borderline Papa Wolf also counts.