Chapter 13: The Wishes

"What?" Dawn asked, her voice squeaking in disbelief. "Sorry, but can you please repeat what you've just said. Because I've understood that we can resurrect Buffy with those spheres."

"It's true, Dawn;" Pan said, still beaming at the younger girl.

"But that's not possible;" Willow said. "I mean, we've looked through every book at least twice and there wasn't a way to bring her back. Why should those magical spheres be able to do that?"

"Believe me Will. Almost all members of my family and friends have died at least once and were brought back with the Dragonballs. It is possible."

Dawn saw the sincerity in Pan's eyes and after all her memories told her what she had experienced since Buffy became the Slayer, there was nothing she couldn't believe anymore. They were living on top of the Hellmouth after all. "We can bring Buffy back…" she mumbled, but then, a huge grin spread over her face and happy tears sprung into her eyes, as she exclaimed, much louder than before, "We can bring Buffy back!" Hugging Pan, the same girl she had just resented a short moment ago for planning to leave her, she mumbled again, "Thank you Pan… And when can we call this dragon?"

"At once, if you want," Mirai Trunks now said. "But we have to go somewhere else to do this. Shenlong would never fit into this shop."

"But won't the people get suspicious when they suddenly see how the sky goes black and a huge Dragon appears out of nowhere?" Goten wanted to know.

"Don't worry," Faith said, with a shrug. "The people here in Sunnydale are used to those things. I guess weirder things have happened here."

Xander grinned. "Oh, you mean like things that go bump in the night, sudden eclipses, exploding high schools, tears in the fabric of reality and things like that… Yep, welcome to Sunnydale, the town, where denial isn't just a river in Egypt."

Pan chuckled, feeling really glad to see all the happy looks on the faces of her Sunnydale friends. At least now, leaving them wouldn't feel as if she were abandoning them. No, before she left, she would give them back the one person they had missed the most over the past few months. Still, it hurt a bit to know that, as soon as Buffy was back and she was gone, they would most likely forget all about her. Pushing those thoughts quickly out of her mind, Pan got up from her seat and said, "Well, I think we should go now. We could summon him on one of the cemeteries, the best would be near Buffy's grave."

The other Scoobies quickly agreed to this and gathered their stuff. None of them wasted any time, as they headed towards the door, as soon as they were ready. Only Angel retreated to the door to the backroom, telling them that he would meet them at Buffy's grave.

"What is he doing?" Goten wanted to know, as he watched the dark haired man leave. "Why isn't he coming with us?"

"Because the sun would burn him," Pan told her uncle. "You must know, Angel's a vampire."

"A-a vampire? As in 'Grrrr, I will bite you'?"

"Yeah, but don't worry, he doesn't bite," she said grinning and walked past him. "Are you coming now?"

"Hey, wait! I'm coming already."

~*~

On the way to the cemetery, Dawn didn't calm down and was nearly dancing around the Scoobies and Saiyajins. The Scoobies all exchanged knowing glances, especially as they were just as excited as Dawn was and had a hard time to contain this excitement. Xander was smiling so brightly that one would think that he had just won all episodes of Star Trek on DVD, and Willow was talking to Tara so quickly that she had long ago broken her own ramble-record, while Giles was cleaning his glasses so often that it was a miracle they still had lenses to polish. They only regretted that Spike wouldn't be present, but Pan realized with a grin that the surprise would just be much bigger for him that way.

When they finally arrived at Buffy's grave, they saw that Angel was already standing there, under a tree in the shadows. Once they had gathered around the grave, Dawn standing between Xander and Willow and clutching their hands, Vegeta put his bag on the floor and took out the Dragonballs, placing them all next to each other and after he did that, they began to glow.

"Wow," Willow simply said. She was too impressed to say more.

"And what do we do now?" Xander asked nervously. He still couldn't believe that those spheres could bring someone back to life, no matter what Pan had told them.

"Just watch," Mirai said with a wink, and then turned to Pan. "Do you want to do the honors?"

Nodding, Pan tried to calm down and stepped forward. She had never before called the mighty dragon and was a bit nervous, especially seeing the results using the Dragonball had had the last time. But she was sure that her grandfather wouldn't have given them the spheres, if there was a chance that evil dragons would want to destroy the world again.

"Shenlong! Come forth!" she yelled, and the Dragonballs began to glow even more, the sky went black and a glaring light emerged from them, so that everyone had to shield their eyes.

~*~

Little did they know that the one they wanted to resurrect was momentarily in Sunnydale, torturing one of their Scooby Gang. Buffy was slowly circling Spike, playing with the stake in her hand. "Well Spike, you don't have much time left." She smirked and kneeled down next to the vampire. Grabbing his jaw, she forced him to look up at the skylight, where it was getting steadily brighter. Soon the sun would be visible through the window. "Just a few more minutes and then you'll go poof." However, just at that moment the spot on the floor disappeared. Irritated, Buffy looked through the window in the roof and saw that not just the sun was gone, but also the sky was pure black. "What the hell…" she cursed as she got up, letting Spikes head roll back.

Spike groaned in pain and when he opened his eyes again, he saw the reason for Buffy's cursing. "Looks like… the sun doesn't… want… to burn me…luv…" he muttered weakly with a small satisfied smirk on his face, but the Slayer didn't react. She just kept staring at the sky.

~*~

The Scoobies were staring in awe at Shenlong. Even though they were living at the Hellmouth, they had never seen something like that.

"Wow! He is just… fucking huge!" Faith exclaimed excitedly.

Willow's eyes were so wide that it was almost comical, as she nodded numbly. "I second that."

"Even bigger than snake-mayor was," Xander mumbled shocked. He, just like the others, couldn't take his eyes from the dragon in front of him.

Cordelia grinned smugly. "I knew that the dragon from my vision wasn't evil." This earned her a surprised look from Angel and Wesley, but she just shrugged. She wouldn't tell them more or spoil her surprise for then.

"You've summoned me. I will fulfill you two wishes within my power," a deep voice thundered and they looked back at Shenlong, whose head had descended in the meantime, so that it just was a few yards above the people.

"Come on Dawn," Pan said and pushed the girl a few steps forward. "You can make your wish now."

"O-okay…" Dawn didn't dare to go even nearer. Shenlong was really filling her with respect, but then she took a deep breath, gathering all her courage and told him her wish. "Shenlong, my wish is to bring my sister, Buffy Summer, the Vampire Slayer, back to life."

She was nervously chewing on her lip and was rolling back and forth on her feet, waiting for Shenlong to fulfill the wish. It seemed like an eternity until the dragon finally spoke up. "I can't fulfill your wish."

Stunned silence met this declaration, even Pan didn't know what to say. This was just horrible! This just couldn't be, it had never happened before. And she had promised them. Her eyes found Dawn's and what she saw tore her heart apart. All the hope she had seen before in her friend's eyes was gone and tears were streaming down the girl's face.

"I don't understand," Mirai finally decided to break the silence. "Why can't you bring her back?"

"I can't resurrect someone who is already alive," Shenlong elaborated.

Confused, Dawn looked up again, wiping the tears away. "What?" she whispered, her heart slowly filling with hope again.

"Buffy's alive?" Giles wanted to know. "How? We saw her jump off the tower. She-she died and we buried her."

"The Slayer called Buffy Summers is alive and in this town. And now please tell me your other wishes," Shenlong told them.

Giles was cleaning his glasses again, as Dawn mumbled in disbelief, "Alive? And here in Sunnydale?"

"It must be true," she heard Trunks say. "Shenlong doesn't lie."

"Pan, is it true? Buffy is alive?"

"Yes, Dawn. I think so," the semi-Saiyajin said, now smiling. Trunks was right. Shenlong just didn't lie. When he said that Buffy was alive, she really was. It didn't make any sense, especially as she was supposed to be in Sunnydale – if she really was here, why wasn't she going to her friends? Clearing her throat, she turned to the others. "Do you have any other wishes? Shenlong is waiting."

Dawn thought for a moment and then her face lit up. "Yes, I know two other wishes. Shenlong, can you remove the chip out of the head of the vampire Spike, also called William the Bloody?"

"Dawn!" Giles exclaimed, shocked, but the girl just smiled at them.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. So, Shenlong, can you do that?"

"Yes, I can do it."

"Good. Then is this my first wish. Do it, please."

~*~

"Mmh, okay Spike. I give you one last chance," Buffy said seductively, when she turned back from the window. She sat down on his stomach, forcing him to suppress a painful hiss, as she touched his wounds, and leaned over, so that their noses almost touched. "You've already killed two Slayers, but have you ever bedded one? Work with me, then you can have me." After she said that, she leaned over even more and kissed him hard.

Spike was totally stunned by this action. His first reaction was to kiss back – feeling her lips on his one more time was everything he had ever wanted - but he eventually remembered that this woman wanted to kill him and began to struggle. As he forcefully raised his head, he was able to hit Buffy and she stopped kissing him.

"Damn! You shouldn't be able to hurt me. What's with your chip? Why doesn't your head hurt?" the Slayer asked him exasperatedly, rubbing her forehead and getting up. She shook her head, trying to clear it from some cobwebs, which she attributed to the hit she had just received. Somehow, kissing him had seemed familiar, and it had felt right, but this just wasn't possible. Frustrated, she climbed back to her feet. "Argh, whatever… I don't have time for this now. I have a job to do. Some time or other the sun will come back and burn you. I'll leave you at her mercy…" Buffy grabbed her bag with the weapons and walked through the door without looking back.

~*~

"I have fulfilled your first wish," Shenlong said. "What is your second wish?"

Dawn was once again almost giddy with excitement. "Is it within your power to make vampires human?" This question earned many gasps, but Shenlong's answer earned even more.

"Yes, it is."

"Okay, then," Dawn said, loud and clearly, "listen to my second wish…"

~*~

Spike didn't know what had happened. At one moment she was kissing him and he was kissing back, but as he defended himself, something happened that he hadn't expected. He had been able to hurt Buffy, without his head trying to explode. That made him think. Maybe the chip was defect… or Buffy came back wrong or was a dem…. He shook his head. No, he didn't want to think about that. Instead he focused on trying to get free until the sun came back. It would only be a matter of time and he really didn't want to end up as dust. He still needed to warn the Scoobies. They needed to know that Buffy was back and that she wasn't herself.

~*~

"It's done."

Dawn smiled and looked over to Angel, as well as the others. Angel raised his hand to his heart and began to smile as well. Carefully, he took a step forward and into the sunlight. Everyone held their breaths, waiting for something to happen, but nothing happened. Angel didn't burn. "I'm human," he mumbled in disbelief. "I-I can breathe, I'm warm… Unbelievable…"

"I knew it!" Cordelia yelled and nearly jumped at his neck, and before both of them knew it, they were kissing. They first broke apart a few seconds later, when they both realized what they were doing and that all the gazes were on them. Angel and Cordelia quickly let go of each other and were now both deeply blushing, which was a new experience for Angel. "Uhm… yeah… Did I already say that I knew that Angel would become human?" Cordelia tried to talk herself out of it, but no one was able to say something, because Shenlong interrupted them.

"I've fulfilled all your wishes. Goodbye." A bright light once again engulfed him, as he disappeared. The Saiyajins quickly caught the seven spheres, now made of stone, before they could be spread over this planet, as the sky began to lighten again.

~*~

Shortly after Buffy left, Spike was able to get his left arm free, by using pure force to tear the rope. Now he was somehow trying to open the knot at his other arm. Now and then he threw a glance at the window, to see if the sun would come forth again and suddenly he saw how the sky got lighter. "Bloody hell." He was tearing with all his strength at the other rope, but it didn't want to give in. His gaze was going from rope to window every second and when he saw the sun coming back, he just squeezed his eyes shut, shielding his face with his free arm, preparing for the pain that was about to come.

But it never came.

Confused, Spike spread his fingers and opened his eyes, looking through the space between his fingers. He could see the glaring light of the sun and when he looked around, he saw that he was lying directly on the spot, where the sun was shining at. He could feel the warmth of the sun on his skin and didn't burn. Unconsciously he took a deep breath and much to his surprise he saw how his chest rose and fell and felt how his lungs filled with much needed air. Spike lay back down and put his hand on the spot on his chest where the heart should be and he could feel it. He could feel his heartbeat. He could feel his heartbeat, he could breathe, and the sun was directly shining down at him. He tried to vamp out, but noticed that he couldn't do it. "Okay… either I'm dreaming all of this… or I'm…" He felt the wounds on his chest and winced as he felt the pain. "Okay, no dream… But that could just mean… I'm human…" As the realization slowly began to sink in, he began laughing uncontrollably. "I'm bloody human!" However, he suddenly stopped dead, when he remembered that he still had to tell the others about Buffy.

Knowing that he was human, he suddenly felt new strength and with a yell he was able to also tear the other rope. He slowly sat up and untied his legs. After that, he slowly got to his feet, almost wincing with each move, because of the wounds all over his body. Spike stumbled over to the table, where Buffy had put his duster and put it on. He then went to the door, and opened it carefully. He had to blink a few times, before his eyes had adjusted to the light, but the feeling of the warm sunbeams made him almost forget that. It was something he hadn't felt in over a century (not counting the short stint with the Gem of Amara) and he had almost forgotten this feeling.

Spike looked around and immediately recognized where he was. He wasn't far from the Magic Box and he guessed that Buffy would also be on her way there, but he knew a short cut, which Buffy probably didn't know. And if he ran fast, he could make it to the shop before her. He took another deep breath, ignoring the pain, and started to run.

~*~

Buffy didn't know what she was doing. She hadn't taken care of Spike personally. She trusted that the sun would do that, or didn't she? She somehow had the feeling that she didn't want to kill Spike, but she didn't know where that feeling came from. It had been the kiss that had made her leave. This kiss scared her. It was as if something in her had awoken that wasn't supposed to wake up. Buffy shook her head. She would think of that later, but now she had a mission to fulfill. The Key was still alive.

~*~

The Scoobies and Saiyajins were now on their way back to the Magic Box and were almost there. Angel was enjoying every moment of being human on his way back. He enjoyed the warmth of the sun, felt his heartbeat and was chewing on a chocolate bar he had bought on the way.

"And now please tell me Dawn, why did you also wish for Spike to become human?" Giles wanted to know.

"That's easy. I think he earned it as much as Angel did. He protected me the whole time for the last six months and helped you with the slaying. I guess it was not just the chip that made him stop killing. His love for Buffy did this. The chip just showed him the right way. And being a vampire stopped him from being with Buffy. If he were human, it would have been totally different between them."

"Well, Dawn… You could be right. I must say I'm impressed by your arguments…"

"This is our little Dawnie," Faith said as she put her arm around Dawn's shoulder. "I wish I could've seen Spike's face, when he noticed that he became human. I'm sure he said something like 'I'm bloody human!'."

Dawn laughed at Faith rather badly done imitation of Spike, and it was at that moment that they arrived at the shop and Giles unlocked the door, so that everyone could step in.

They were just sitting for not even a minute, when they heard the back door making a racket. Alarmed, Faith, Dawn and Pan quickly got up, ready to attack, but luckily they noticed in time that it was Spike who came in from the back. Dawn was extremely happy to see him, but as she saw the wounds on his chest, she immediately grew worried, as well as the others.

Panting heavily, Spike fell on his knees, directly in front of Dawn. "Dawn…"

"Spike… what happened?"

"It… it was…"

"Spike, calm down. Wait a second, we'll help you," Pan said and looked at Faith. They helped him up and sat him down on a chair.

Dawn sat down next to him and let him take off his duster. As she thought that the wounds before were bad, she could now see much more and felt tears in her eyes. "Spike… Who did that to you?"

Spike looked at her, eyes wide. He could impossibly tell her that her own sister had done that to him. At that moment the door opened, unnoticed by everyone but Spike. "Buffy."

"What?" Dawn asked confused, but then she followed his gaze to the door, as the cheery chime of the bell hanging above the door announced a new customer.

"That would be me," Buffy, who had just come through the door, answered coolly.