"I love you."
"No you don't. But thanks for saying it."
Buffy shook the voices out of her head as she looked out over what once was
Sunnydale.
"You okay, Buff?" Xander stepped up to stand beside her.
"Yeah." Buffy tried to be happy that this was all over. That they had won.
But she kept thinking of him. How, in their last moments together, he still
didn't know how much she loved him. Even when she'd said it.
"We won. We..won." Giles whipped his glasses off on his shirt, completely flabbergasted. The girls also wore similar expressions of surprise and excitement.
Buffy swallowed hard, looking around her. She should be happy. Look at all of her friends. They were all here. They had made it through hell. Literally. Why do I feel like this?
Why do I feel like this? Spike thought as the light consumed him. Why did he feel this heavy weight upon his chest? He had ended it-he stopped the world from ending. Still, somehow this wasn't enough. He needed more. He heard her voice in his head, her gentle 'I love you' echoing through the everlasting silence of death. "I love you."
There was no pain. There was no anything. Simple blinding white surrounded him as he drifted without rhyme or reason. However, it wasn't he who drifted. He didn't exist. His body wasn't there-he could not see or smell or touch or hear. But he knew. He who was nothing could sense being nothing, could sense the warm light washing over him. Could sense her. "I love you."
He traveled through this place and yet remained; he tried to cover his face from the light, but couldn't raise an arm that didn't exist. He hummed when he couldn't, just to make the memories lower their volume. "I love you."
Buffy looked around at her troops. Like lost pets they appeared, looking to her of all people for guidance. Wanting to follow her home when she in fact did not know the way. She had to be strong for them. But fate had taken her strength.
Giles walked to the front of the group and cleared his throat. "Alright everyone. First thing's first. We must get our injured to a hospital. Come on, back on the bus." Amidst good-natured groans and complaints, the Slayers and civilians once again climbed aboard the trusted school bus.
"Buffy?" Dawn reached out and gently laid a hand upon her older sister's shoulder.
Buffy turned to Dawn. She tried to smile, but couldn't force her lips to such a lighthearted expression. One thought continued to flow through her mind. "He's gone."
Dawn looked down at the pavement, and nodded. "He saved us. He saved us all." She gestured to the bus, in her mind gesturing to the entire world. For that was what he had saved.
Buffy blinked hard. She would not cry. How dare she be selfish? How dare she, even for a moment, wish that he had come with her, and died with her, rather than died saving them? She had no right. Slowly, she turned and went with Dawn back to the bus.
"We won. We..won." Giles whipped his glasses off on his shirt, completely flabbergasted. The girls also wore similar expressions of surprise and excitement.
Buffy swallowed hard, looking around her. She should be happy. Look at all of her friends. They were all here. They had made it through hell. Literally. Why do I feel like this?
Why do I feel like this? Spike thought as the light consumed him. Why did he feel this heavy weight upon his chest? He had ended it-he stopped the world from ending. Still, somehow this wasn't enough. He needed more. He heard her voice in his head, her gentle 'I love you' echoing through the everlasting silence of death. "I love you."
There was no pain. There was no anything. Simple blinding white surrounded him as he drifted without rhyme or reason. However, it wasn't he who drifted. He didn't exist. His body wasn't there-he could not see or smell or touch or hear. But he knew. He who was nothing could sense being nothing, could sense the warm light washing over him. Could sense her. "I love you."
He traveled through this place and yet remained; he tried to cover his face from the light, but couldn't raise an arm that didn't exist. He hummed when he couldn't, just to make the memories lower their volume. "I love you."
Buffy looked around at her troops. Like lost pets they appeared, looking to her of all people for guidance. Wanting to follow her home when she in fact did not know the way. She had to be strong for them. But fate had taken her strength.
Giles walked to the front of the group and cleared his throat. "Alright everyone. First thing's first. We must get our injured to a hospital. Come on, back on the bus." Amidst good-natured groans and complaints, the Slayers and civilians once again climbed aboard the trusted school bus.
"Buffy?" Dawn reached out and gently laid a hand upon her older sister's shoulder.
Buffy turned to Dawn. She tried to smile, but couldn't force her lips to such a lighthearted expression. One thought continued to flow through her mind. "He's gone."
Dawn looked down at the pavement, and nodded. "He saved us. He saved us all." She gestured to the bus, in her mind gesturing to the entire world. For that was what he had saved.
Buffy blinked hard. She would not cry. How dare she be selfish? How dare she, even for a moment, wish that he had come with her, and died with her, rather than died saving them? She had no right. Slowly, she turned and went with Dawn back to the bus.