In the year I have known Buffy, she has not ceased to amaze me. After the difficult ending to the end of her previous school year, I must confess that I had concerns over how she might process the death of the Master as well as herself once the whole matter was settled and she set off to take some time away from the Hellmouth for the summer.
My concern increased as the fresh term grew closer, Willow and Xander stopped by to 'check in' and yet no one had heard from Buffy. Two days had passed from her expected arrival date when, lo and behold, in she walked, not seeming to be under any mental or physical strain whatsoever.
Good as all that may be, collective eyebrows were raised at just who accompanied her in through my library door – none other than William the Bloody!
Miss Calendar confided in me no less than one week ago the true nature of her appointment here in Sunnydale, stating that not only was she to keep an eye on Angel – with good reason! – but she'd received word that Spike (the aforementioned William by a more unconventional moniker) was headed to town and that his fate was somehow linked to that of Buffy.
Having dug deeper into the implications of Angel's curse and conveyed them to him, I had the unpleasant task of trying to glean information from the Vampire about this Spike, having learnt from previous Watchers' diaries that the two were somehow mystically related.
Angel rather hesitantly informed me that he had killed Spike's sire – Drusilla – in an altercation the previous year and that he feared Spike may come after Buffy in some kind of act of retribution. I must say he was quite irate when we were forced to admit that we were having trouble tracking either of the pair down. He was quite insistent that Buffy would need swift and immediate help.
Hence my surprise when in they walked, seemingly bright eyed and bushy tailed. Really, I should have learned not to assume anything where Buffy is concerned, but the nasty habit of falling back on assumptions does leave the inevitable surprise that much more pleasantly… surprising.
At any rate, Angel had to be forcibly removed from the school after his display of what Buffy rather cleverly termed "testosterone poisoning", but not before she had some strong words for him that seemed to have been informed by some things Spike had been telling her.
As for the apparent absence of the Slayer to that point, she accounted for it simply by stating she and Spike had been "tied up" – based off the look that accompanied the turn of phrase, I shall not comment on that point further.
Buffy assures me that she and Spike have formed some kind of alliance and that she is sure of his loyalty. Having consulted with Jenny on the matter, we cannot rule out that the prophecy regarding their fates being entwined could be as simple as this and have no negative connotations at all.
As it stands, I am going to trust in Buffy's judgement and plan to welcome her new paramour with open arms, figuratively speaking. It must be noted that, aside from his apparent enjoyment of physical contact with the Slayer, Spike does not seem the hugging type.