Title: The Plague II: The Black Death
Author: Joyce Renee
Rating: Pg-13
Disclaimer: Joss owns all, I own nothing!
Summary: It's been 9 years since Anya, Xander, Buffy, and Spike went back in time to stop an evil sorceress from destroying mankind with a magical disease.
The Plague II : The Black Death
Sunnydale CA -2009 AD
"Honey! We're gonna be late!" Xander called, while trying to walk with two eight year old girls wrapped around his legs.
"Daddy, don't leave us all alone!" Aristona cried as she tightened her grip on Xander's leg.
"Don't be sthupid, Ari, mom thold uths that Uncle Sthpike and Aunt Buffy we're gonna wath uths thonight!" Alexandra told her identical twin sister.
"Then why are you holding on to my leg?" Xander asked her.
"Cauth' ith's fun!" Alex gave her father a big, toothless grin.
Xander sighed and shook his head as he remembered why she was missing ten of her front teeth. Alex seemed to think that she was bigger and stronger than she actually was. She was always picking fights, and losing.
It was all Spike's fault. He had insisted on teaching the girls to fight. Spike had had good intentions. Living on a hellmouth, they never knew who or what the girls may run into. Ari hadn't been interested, but Alex had been an apt pupil.
Yesterday, she had wanted to try out some of the new moves Spike had taught her on a group of sixth grade boys. A concussion and ten missing teeth later, she still believed she hadn't done anything wrong.
"We can't leave yet, Xander. Buffy and Spike aren't here." Anya said, joining her family in the small living room of their apartment.
"Wow mommy, you look beautiful!" Ari said, letting go of Xander's leg, and reattaching herself to Anya's.
"Thank you, Aristona, I.. hey! You're clinging to my leg again. Why do you do that?" Anya asked her daughter.
"I don't know."
"Daddy? Uncle Sthpike sthaid you had to kill a penguin." Alex blurted out suddenly.
"What?!" Xander reached down and tickled the girl.
As soon as Alex let go of his leg, Xander swung her up into his arms and noisily kissed her cheek.
"Why would he say something like that?" he asked.
"He said daddy had to wear a penguin suit, not kill a penguin, dummy!" Ari corrected her sister.
"Well to make a penguin sthuit, you have to kill it, sthupid!" Alex argued.
"No, no! It's called a tuxedo. Some people call it a penguin suit because it looks like a penguin." Xander tried to explain.
"It's not meant to be taken literally." Anya added.
"Yeah! It's not meant to be taken literarily!" Ari exclaimed.
"Sthod-off!" Alex responded.
"Okay! Enough of that! We really need to start limiting the time you spend around Spike!" Xander said, putting Alex back on her feet.
"Who wants pizza?" Spike called out as he came in the door, followed by Buffy.
"Speak of the devil..." Xander said.
"I do, I do!" Alex cried, running to him.
"Uncle Spike!" Ari let go of Anya and wrapped herself around Spike's leg.
"You guy's better get going!" Buffy told Anya and Xander, pushing them toward the door.
Xander and Anya were going out to celebrate eight years of marriage. They had almost canceled because of the fiasco with Alex, but Buffy and Spike had insisted that they could handle it.
"Okay, but don't let them watch 'Jaws' again. Ari wouldn't even get near the water when we went to the beach last weekend." Anya told the slayer.
"Don't worry, we've loaded up on Disney movies. Nice, safe G-rated animation." Buffy assured them.
Xander and Anya began to leave, when Anya suddenly turned back and called the girls to her.
She gave each a hug and kiss, then turned to Xander.
"You okay, honey?" he asked her, noticing how pale she was.
"Yeah, I just... I got a weird feeling..." she trailed off, looking at her daughters as they helped Spike set up the VCR.
"We don't have to go."
"No! I want to, C'mon." Anya grabbed his hand, and drug him out the door.
*********
"And so the vampire became human and spent the rest of his life with the slayer who loved him. The end." Spike finished his bedtime story.
Buffy had had tears in her eyes throughout the whole thing, as she relived their adventure in her mind.
Spike caught her eye and winked as he picked up the sleeping Ari, and carefully tucked her into bed.
"Were you really a vampire Uncle Sthpike?" Alex asked, fighting to keep her eyes open.
"Yes, luv. For one hundred and twenty years." he told her.
"G'night, Uncle Sthpike and Aunt Buffy." Alex said as she drifted off.
"Good night sweetheart." Buffy said as she kissed the girl's forehead.
Buffy and Spike stood at the door, just watching the sleeping girls for a moment. Spike wrapped an arm around Buffy and pulled her close for a quick kiss. Turning off the light and shutting the door, the ex-vampire and Slayer made their way back to the kitchen to begin cleaning up.
No one noticed the slim, dark-haired woman who had been watching the whole scene with vengeful, obsidian, eyes from outside the bedroom window.
*********
Buffy and Spike sat curled up together on the couch, watching television. Both we're lost in thought, ignoring the brand new set Xander had recently purchased.
They had been together for nine years, engaged for seven. Sometimes it seemed to Spike as if they would always just be engaged. After being on this earth for over a century, he was more than ready to settle down and have children of his own. The problem was Buffy.
She was scared, she wasn't ready, it wasn't a good time, etc.. Her list seemed to grow with every passing day. Buffy had finally found what she wanted. A man who loved her and wouldn't leave. And if she wanted to stay engaged for the rest of her life, Spike would gladly oblige.
Unfortunately, Spike wanted more. After he and Buffy had gotten together, he'd been so happy, he didn't care about anything else. After watching Xander and Anya get married and have children, however, he envied them. He wanted him and Buffy to have the things that they had.
It was when Spike overheard Alex call Xander 'daddy' for the first time, that Spike had asked Buffy to marry him. Buffy had accepted, but had insisted that they not set a date. Seven years later, a date had yet to be set.
It wasn't that Buffy didn't want to get married, she did. When Spike had proposed, she had been happier than she'd ever been in her life. Unfortunately, whenever Buffy got happy, fate always slapped her in the face with something horrible. If she and Spike stayed the way they were, they would be safe. But if they moved forward, she just knew something bad would happen.
Buffy was the Slayer! Slayer's don't get to have husbands, children, or white picket fences. She battled the forces of evil on a daily basis, Spike of all people should realize how difficult it was to protect everything they already had. How dare they tempt fate by trying to have more.
Buffy sneaked a look at Spike while he pretended to watch the television. He was upset with her. Buffy had tried to explain to him why they couldn't be like Xander and Anya, but they had ended up getting in a huge fight. That was two months ago. Buffy wasn't sure how to make things right with him, and now, she was afraid that she may be falling out of love with him. Or maybe she'd never really been in love with him in the first place.
That quick kiss he'd given her earlier had been the first in weeks, they hadn't made love in two and half months.
Buffy and Spike were jolted out of their depressing thoughts by the front door banging open.
Willow and Tara rushed in, out of breath.
"What's wrong?" Buffy asked them, springing up from the couch.
"Zombies! Th-they're stalking through town, killing people." Willow panted out.
"Let's go." Buffy said as she headed out the door.
"What about the kids?" Spike asked.
"Willow and I can take care of them." Tara assured him.
**********
Buffy was exhausted, sore, and covered in zombie goo. She and Spike had been tearing up bodies for well on three hours now.
"I hate zombies! The only way to stop them is to kill their creator." Spike complained.
All around them, body parts moved, trying to get back together.
Suddenly, all of the zombies disappeared. Buffy and Spike stood in shock as a very familiar face appeared in front of them.
"What..H-how are you h-hear?!" Buffy stammered.
"Foolish children! You think only you have the power to travel through time?!" Eurosa cackled, evilly.
"Why now?" Spike demanded.
Eurosa seemed to consider his question a for moment.
"Because now the twins are old enough to suit my purpose!"
"Don't bother running! You're already to late!" the evil sorceress called to their retreating forms.
**********
"NO!" Anya yelled, jumping to her feet.
Silverware and desert had gone flying with her outburst. The restaurant was silent as everyone watched Xander and Anya.
"Honey! What's wrong?!" Xander ignored all of the curious stares and glares as he gathered his shaking wife close.
"They're gone, Xander! I can't feel them anymore." she said before going limp in his arms.
**********
"Willow! Tara! " Buffy yelled, rushing into the apartment.
"Spike! I can't wake them up!" Buffy cried as from her place beside the fallen witches.
"The twins are gone." Spike said after searching the rooms.
**********
Xander paced the room, restlessly as Buffy tried to comfort a sobbing Anya on the couch.
Giles, Spike, Wesley and Angel were performing some type of waking spell on the sleeping witches.
Wes, Angel and Cordelia had immediately come to Sunnydale after Buffy's frantic phone call.
Cordelia stood by the door, unsure of what to do. She didn't know Anya, and hadn't actually seen any of the Sunnydale gang in about three years.
Sighing, she turned to study the photographs that lined the living room walls. Almost all of them were of the twins. Two dark-haired, brown-eyed girls grinned up at her from behind an enormous birthday cake proclaiming that they had reached seven years.
Xander walked up behind her, and ran a hand over the picture.
"They're beautiful, I can't wait to meet them." she told him.
"Thank you." he said, sincerely.
"You will meet them." Spike said, coming over to them.
"Are they awake?" Buffy asked.
"Yes." Spike answered her.
"Xander, what are we going to do?" Anya asked through her tears.
"They only thing we can do." Xander answered.
"Go back to Galatissa." Spike firmly finished Xander's thought.
**********
415 B.C. Athens, Greece
Galatissa watched as the smoke cleared the room. Her spell had been successful, she had known it would be. Sighing she sat down in her favorite chair to wait for what was to come next. She didn't have to wait long.
A bright flash filled the room, and when it was gone, six people were standing in front of her.
Twenty-eight year old, Buffy Summers immediately hugged the woman.
"Galatissa! It's so good to see you again!"
"I'd say the same, my dear, but it has yet to be an hour since I sent you back home." Galatissa said with a smile.
"We need your help."
*********
Part 2
Buffy and Spike were overwhelmed by the memories of their last trip to ancient Greece. As they sat hand-in-hand on Galatissa's roof, it was hard to remember that things were not right as rain between them.
Anya and Xander, however, were to preoccupied with finding their daughters, to dwell on the the pleasant memories.
Erousa had not returned home. In fact, Galatissa was sure that her sister had no intention of returning, ever.
The good sorceress was able to encourage the group by promising to do a spell that would help locate the girls. The spell was very complex, and she'd kicked everyone but Xander and Anya outside so that she could concentrate.
Galatissa's entire house was filled with the aromas of the herbs within her cauldron, and the many lighted candles that were spread throughout.
Taking blood from both Xander and Anya, she allowed herself to become entranced, so that she might look through time and find the twins.
**********
An Abandon Warehouse on the banks on the Mediterranean Sea, North East Tunisia- 1347
"Don't be frightened my dears." Eurosa told the scared little girls in her possession.
Ari was too afraid to do anything, but cry out for her parents.
Alex, on the other hand, was very angry. Angry that she'd been kidnapped from her bed, angry that she was more scared than she'd ever been in her young life, and angry that Ari was crying.
Putting a comforting arm around her younger, by five minutes, sister, Alex glared at the captor.
"Can you cut the bloody chit-chat and just tell us what the hell you want?!" she shouted, and then gasped as she realized that her mouth had completely healed. All of her teeth had grown back.
"Such horrid language from such a small child." Erousa said with an evil grin.
She reached out and yanked Alex toward her, getting up in the girl's face.
"I did you a favor, you little brat! Now it's your turn to help me out." she snapped.
Alex swallowed hard, trying desperately not to cry. Ari nearly passed out in terror.
Erousa released the girl, and began waving her hands in the air.
Thunder boomed from out side, and a flash of blinding white light filled the room. When it was gone, a simple brown box with some writing on it appeared before them.
"You're going to open my box."
**********
415 B.C. - Galatissa's House
Several hours had passed before everyone had been allowed back inside. They could all see that Galatissa had been greatly disturbed by what she had seen.
"What is it, Galatissa? Did you see my girls? Are they okay?" Anya begged of the woman.
"The girls are okay, Anyanka." She said kindly.
"However, I have seen something that I had not anticipated. My sister has the box."
"Box? You mean the box that holds the deadly Plague?!" Xander demanded.
Galatissa nodded, her violet eyes troubled.
"But only Xander can open the box." Anya reminded them.
"You mean Anyanka's true love." Giles corrected.
"The girls!" Buffy gasped, realizing Erousa's intent.
"The human embodiments of Xander and Anya's love." Spike explained.
Everyone took a moment for this to sink in. It was Cordelia that finally broke the silence.
"Well, where are they? We have to get there, and stop them from opening it."
**********
An Abandon Warehouse on the banks on the Mediterranean Sea, North East Tunisia- 1347 AD
"All we have to do is open that stupid old box?" Alex asked, curiosity breaking through her fear.
"Alex! Whatever is in that box must be bad if she wants us to open it!" Ari whispered into her sisters ear.
Alex turned toward her.
"You wanna tell the evil witch, 'no'?" she demanded.
Ari shook her head, lowering her eyes.
"Then we'd better do it."
Each of the girls placed a hand on the latch, and slowly opened it.
"Girls, NO!!!!" Anya's voice rang out as she appeared on the other side of the room along with Xander, Buffy, and Spike.
Everyone watched in horrid fascination as a green, glowing ball of light was released into the air and dispersed.
Erousa quickly waved her arms over the girls, making them disappear.
Then she turned and spoke to the group, who she had frozen in place.
"I know you have the reversal spell, but if you want to keep your girls alive, Anyanka, you will not use it."
Then she disappeared, her evil laughter trailing behind.
**********
Sunnydale, CA-2009 AD
"You're back! Where are the girls?" Willow asked
as the gang appeared in Xander's living room where
she and Tara had been waiting.
Anya began crying again at Willow's question.
"Eurosa released the Plague in 1347." Xander told
her, his voice scratchy.
Everyone found a place to sit and rest.
"This is worse than jet-lag." Buffy muttered,
stretching her tired limbs.
A quiet settled over the room, as no one knew
what to say.
"Willow! Your arm is gone!" Cordelia gasped.
Sure enough, Willow's arm had become almost
completely transparent.
"Wha..?"
A look of horror crossed the young witch's face
as she stared at her friends.
Willow, Tara, Giles, Xander, and Cordelia seemed to be
literally 'fading out of the picture'.
"I was afraid of this." Giles said, his voice
deceptively calm.
"What's going on?!" Buffy yelled.
"Our ancestors from Europe, if they die back in
1347. Then we'll never exist."
**********
Part 3
"I have an idea." Cordelia said suddenly.
"Well I'm all ears." Xander said, impatiently waving his transparent hand at her.
"We have to go back to right before Eurosa kidnaps the girls, and stop her." she said, trying not to panic at her own rapidly fading body.
"Only Spike, Buffy, Anya, and I will be able to go." Angel said
They were the only ones not fading.
Anya gave Xander a kiss goodbye, and then they left, their eyes drinking in what might be the last time they ever saw each other.
**********
Sunnydale CA-2009 AD- Earlier that evening
The four of them appeared in the hallway outside of Xander's apartment, and had to quickly duck behind a corner, as the Buffy and Spike from that time period raced out the door to fight the zombies.
"Good, only Willow and Tara should be there now, C'mon!" Anya called, rushing for the door.
"Anya! You're back..." Willow greeted, but the ex-demon rushed quickly past her to get her girls.
"B-buffy? Did you guys get all the zombies? What's Angel doing here?" Willow's questions were ignored as the group watched Anya drag her sleepy daughters back toward them.
"Angel, get Anya, Willow, Tara, and the twins over to Giles' then get back here. We're going to need your help." Buffy instructed him.
He nodded and swooped Ari up into his arms, herding the others out the door.
"Good luck." he called, disappearing around the corner.
**********
Erousa looked in shock at the two blondes standing in the girls' bedroom.
"How can you be here? I just saw you on the other side of town!" she demanded.
"I guess we beat you at your own game!" Buffy lunged at her, and was quickly thrown back against the wall by some invisible force surrounding the sorceress.
Erousa laughed.
"Buffy! Are you alright?" Spike asked, helping the winded slayer to her feet.
"Yeah." she muttered, glaring at the other woman.
"My revenge is against Anyanka, get out of my way!"
**********
Angel hurried as fast as he could back to the apartment. He tried desperately to ignore the voice in his head telling him that he was already too late.
He entered the apartment and rounded the corner to the girls' room just in time to see Spike push Buffy out of the way, taking the blast that Erousa had sent her, hard in the chest.
Laughing at the fallen man, the sorceress disappeared.
"Buffy! Is he.."
"No, no, no, no, no!" Buffy screamed, as she shook Spike desperately.
"Don't leave me, please, please, please!" she sobbed, over his pale, lifeless body.
Angel's dead heart lurched at the anguish in her eyes.
Spike was dead.
**********
Part 4
Sunnydale, CA -2009- AD
Angel hoped against hope that this would work. Concentrating on a certain moment in time and space, like Galatissa had taught them, he felt himself begin the journey.
"I have an idea... ahh! Angel? And Angel? I'm seeing two Angels!" Cordelia cried.
Angel opened his eyes to see everyone, including himself, staring curiously at him.
Quickly, he turned to Cordelia and grabbed her by the shoulders.
"Your idea won't work. Think of another way!" he implored.
Then, he faded quickly away, and was no more.
"Okay..." Xander said.
"What was your idea." Angel asked Cordelia after the shock of seeing himself began to where off.
"I was going to suggest going back to stop Erousa from taking the twins." she told him.
"I have an idea." Buffy said.
All eyes turned to her, and she shook her head.
"No. If I tell you, you won't let me do it."
She kissed Spike and whispered into his ear, " I love you." then disappeared.
"Buffy! Wait.." but she was already gone.
"Damn it!" Spike said, then had an idea of his own.
"I'm going back to Galatissa. Maybe she knows what to do." he said.
"What'll we do?" asked Cordelia, who was now barely visible.
"Wait here, and I'll come back to right after I leave." Spike said.
"Good luck." Angel said to his disappearing childe, feeling the strangest sense of dejavu.
**********
Terle, Greece- 415 BC
Buffy appeared just in time to watch herself get captured by the demon Anyanka. It was the strangest thing she had ever experienced. Like watching a video tape of a memory. Only it was live. Quietly, she settled down to watch.
Buffy uselessly struggled against Anyanka's tight grip, while mentally berating herself. Why had she not tried to use her strength the whole time they had been there? If she had known she didn't have her slayer powers in this time, she'd have never tried to seek the Slayer out.
"I don't know why I didn't realize that you wouldn't have your powers. If I had, I wouldn't have gone through the trouble of pretending I was her." Anyanka said.
"But you are her! Or you will be her, one day." Buffy pleaded.
"I know, mortal. Yuck! Eurosa has promised that I won't lose my powers if I help her out now, so you're wrong. I will not be her one day." the demon laughed at the look of despair on Buffy's face, and tightened her grip on the girl's arm.
"I refuse to become a mangy human! I'm very happy with my demon status."
"No, you're not!" Anya called as she finally caught up with them.
"What? How did.." the demon looked at her other self in confusion.
"You're lying! You're not happy being a demon. In fact, you happen to be very lonely."
Anyanka had loosened her grip on Buffy's arm, allowing the girl to pull free.
"And you're happy? As a mortal?" the demon questioned her, no longer caring that Buffy had gotten away from her.
"Yes! I'm in love. I have friends. Life has meaning to me now. I didn't know such satisfaction could exist in life. If I had to choose between getting my powers back and a life with Xander, I would break the amulet myself."
Anyanka nervously fingered the amulet that held her power as she considered Anya's words.
"I don't understand." the demon looked at her mortal self with a mixture of trepidation and curiosity.
"You're not supposed to. Not yet anyway. Go back to Asia. Resume your work there and let History play itself out. I promise you won't be disappointed."
"But Eurosa..." the demon protested.
"Erousa will die soon. Besides, she has no power over you." Anya breathed a sigh of relief as she watched Anyanka begin to shimmer and disappear.
"See you later." the demon said, and then was gone.
Buffy looked at Anya with a new found respect.
"I'm glad you're on my team." Buffy told Anya as she pulled her into a hug.
"Me too."
Suddenly, a tall blond girl with blue eyes and fair skin, came running toward them.
"Who is that?" Buffy asked.
"It's Leaina, the Vampire Slayer." Anya told her
Anya and Leaina conversed for a moment in Ancient Greek.
"What are you talking about?" Buffy asked, feeling a little left out.
"She wanted to know where Eurosa is. So I told her."
"No, wait a minute! Tell her that Eurosa will kill her, she needs to get out of here." Buffy pleaded with Anya.
Anya sighed knowing it would do no good, but told the Slayer what Buffy had said.
Leaina turned and looked at Buffy with a sad smile. Reaching her hand out, Leaina stroked Buffy's cheek where a tear had fallen.
As Buffy stood there looking into the eyes of this Slayer who was about to knowingly go to her death, she was startled by the realization that this girl wanted to die.
Leaina said something that Buffy didn't understand, before turning and marching, head held high, to find Eurosa, and her own death.
"Anya? What did she say?" Buffy asked, although in her heart she already knew.
"I told her that we were from the future, and that she would die at the hands of Eurosa this very night. And all she said was, 'Finally'"
Buffy broke down crying then. She cried for this Slayer whose life had been such a burden that she had welcomed death. Were all of the slayers like this? When it was her time would she be welcoming death as well?
Suddenly Spike was there, and she was in his arms.
"Spike? I want to go home."
"All right. Let's go."
He cradled her to his chest, being mindful of her broken hand, and began carrying her back to Galatissa's.
**********
Future Buffy had to turn her eyes away from that heart-breaking scene.
"Get a grip." she muttered to herself.
Her plan was simple, catch up to Leaina, and help her to defeat Erousa.
Okay, so it probably wouldn't work, but she had to do something!
As soon as the coast was clear, Buffy sprinted off in the direction Leaina had disappeared into.
Without her Slayer powers, fighting Eurosa was useless. And so it was two slayers that died by Eurosa's hand that fateful night.
**********
Part 5
Athens Greece- 415 BC
Spike appeared in front of Galatissa, who had been expecting him.
Taking in his tired and distraught countenance, she pulled him into a hug. Spike allowed her to hold him for a moment, finding comfort in her embrace.
"It's almost over, my child." she whispered soothingly into his ear.
Spike pulled back and asked, "What do I do?"
Galatissa gave a weary sigh, and sank down into her favorite chair.
"First you must stop Buffy from making a huge mistake, and then, then you must end this mess." she told him.
She proceeded to tell him what Buffy had done.
"This is the last time that you and I shall see each other vampire. I'm afraid that the worst has yet to come for you, and the slayer. You already know what it is you must do, but I think there is one more thing you need to know."
Spike forced himself to remain patient, and calm, although he was dying to get to Buffy.
"Love is stronger than anything, even time."
And then she dismissed him, and he was gone.
She pulled out a book she'd been writing for a very long time, and, with a sad smile, started to write the last chapter. The simple brown cover held a short, yet spine-tingling title. The Plague by Galatissa
**********
Terle, Greece-415 BC
Spike watched himself carry Buffy away, Xander and Anya following behind him.
His eyes searched the landscape until they rested on his Buffy, who was about to follow that other Slayer to her death.
"Buffy wait!" Spike called, grabbing her arm.
"Spike?! H-how did you find me?" she said.
"Buffy, Galatissa sent me here to stop you... Why are you going to kill yourself?!"
"We don't know that.."
"YES WE DO! Bloody hell, woman! I just told you that Galatissa sent me after you." he shouted at her.
"Why?"
"Why?! Because if you die, we all lose. I love you, Buffy. Please don't leave me." he begged, wrapping her in his embrace.
Together they left to return to their friends.
It was time to save the world. Again.
**********
Sunnydale CA-2009 AD
"Well, what did she say?" Anya demanded as soon as they appeared.
Anya and Angel were the only ones left. Everyone else had simply ceased to exist.
"Galatissa said that we already know the answer." Spike told them.
He felt Buffy let out a weary sigh from her her place wrapped tightly in his arms.
"Well, what is it?" Anya asked.
"Time travel, like the Plague itself, is dangerous and unnatural. It should never be done." Buffy quietly told them.
"The only way to make this right, is to go back to nine years ago, and stop ourselves from ever finding that box."
**********
Part 6
Sunnydale, CA- 2000 AD
Buffy and Spike decided to go back alone. Everyone knew that the couple would be losing more than the rest of them. In all probability Anya and Xander would still get married and have their children, but Buffy and Spike fell in love only after Spike had been turned human. Since they would never go to Galatissa, Spike would remain a vampire. Any chance of the two of them getting together was slim to none.
They arrived with three hours to find the box, and hide it from their past selves.
They unearthed it, and headed for the pier. Sitting with their legs hanging off the end and the box in between them, they watched their last sunrise together.
'My last sunrise ever.' Spike thought, bitterly.
Spike stood up, ready to toss the box in. Buffy jumped to her feet and flew into his arms, sobbing at the unfairness of it all.
Spike had to blink back his own tears as he held her shaking body close.
"Oh God, Spike! I hate this! I love you so much. I wish I had married you, and had your babies. It was so selfish of me to think we couldn't have what Xander and Anya have...
And now, we never will. We'll never be together..." she dissolved into another fit of tears.
"Shh... Buffy, there is one thing I'm more sure of than I've ever been of anything in my entire life. Love, our love, is stronger than time." He held her head in his hands, gazing into her eyes.
Buffy watched the tears fall silently from his eyes, and had to take a deep breath to keep from screaming in anguish.
Looking down at the box, she tried to mentally prepare herself for what they had to do. She had had to sacrifice her love for the world once before. Although now it seemed as if that was ages ago, and hadn't hurt anywhere near as badly.
"I thought sending Angel to hell was hardest thing in the world. I was wrong." her voice was steady and strong.
A true testament to her character. Telling Spike that she had accepted her destiny, and his heart swelled with pride.
"Buffy, I don't know if we'll be able to find our way to each other without Galatissa's help. But I want you to remember something, okay?"
She nodded, looking up at him again.
"We've had nine years together..."
"But if we...." she interrupted.
"No. Luv, listen to me. Somewhere, in some alternate world, you and I went back in time and fell in love. We had nine beautiful years together, and were very happy. Did you hear me, Buffy? We were happy! It's possible for us to be happy, and together. It can be possible again. It will be. I know it." he solemnly kissed her, hoping she was encouraged by his words.
With one well-placed kick, Buffy sent the box flying over the edge and into the water below.
The couple turned and held each other so close, it was impossible to tell where one ended and the other began. Beautiful words of undying love we're whispered as they became transparent, and finally faded away.
It was then that the heavens opened and a torrent of rain spilled down to the Earth as if the skies were crying over the loss of such a beautiful love from existence.
**********
Epilogue
Athens, Greece-415 BC
'The End'
Galatissa had to wipe away a tear as she wrote the two words that ended the tale. Waving her hands over the finished book, she sent it through time. It was her gift to a very special couple that wouldn't be born for a few millenniums.
What a wonderful 20th birthday present for a certain Slayer. It would all be in Buffy's hands now.
Galatissa smiled, not at all concerned. For she alone knew that, book or not, their love was stronger than time.
For it had defeated the Plague.
The End