I do not own Buffy: The Vampire Slayer.

"Are you going to be OK?" Angel asked as he and Spike visited Buffy and Faith in the hospital.

"We'll be fine." Buffy said as she smiled at Angel and Spike.

She had tried it with them both but Angel's problem was that he often treated Buffy more like a child and babied her, rather than respecting her enough to allow her to make her own decisions and Spike, at first it was more about sex rather than anything else and while they both did try to make it work with, neither one of them was in the right mindset to the real commitment and by the time Spike was ready, Buffy had already moved on with Faith, which, while it was hard to process for both of them, with Angel caring about Faith like a little sister and Buffy being his ex and Spike more like had a time to process Buffy being with a girl, even though he jokingly suggested a threesome more than once, they both respected Buffy's choice and they could tell that Buffy was happy with Faith… but the question was how long it would last.

"Thank you. For helping us. All of us." Faith said.

"Look out for each other." Spike said as he hugged Buffy.

"And call us if you need something." Angel said as he hugged Faith as both men received kisses on cheeks.

"You hurt her, I'll kill you." Angel said jokingly to Buffy, while pointing to Faith.

"You hurt her, I'll kill you." Spike said jokingly to Faith, while pointing to Buffy.

Both men then widened their eyes and then glared at each other.

"Hey, that was my line." Angel said.

"No, it was my line." Spike said.

"I said it first." Angel protested.

"That's always your excuse, 'I was before you!'" Spike snapped.

"That's because you're rarely original!" Angel sneered.

"Oh, how's this, at least I can bloody sing, you butchered Barry Manilow!"

Buffy and Faith laughed and shook their heads at Angel's and Spike's antics. Some things never change.

Xander, Cordelia, Joyce, Dawn, Tara and Willow were in the park, sitting on a sheet, with a basket of food prepared.

"Can I talk to you in private?" Tara asked and Willow nodded as they got up and walked a few yards away to get some privacy until they were sure that they were out of sight of anyone around. Tara then took a breath and looked down, unsure. "I… I'm not sure how to say it but… I know we have known each other for… months and not as long as you know Buffy, Faith, Xander and Cordy and others but… you're making me feel happy like I haven't felt in… forever." She took a breath, looking embarrassed now. "And I don't know where we're gonna end up but I want to see it through until the end. Through thick and thin, no matter how far apart we are, I want to be with you until it lasts."

"Tara, I…" Willow was unsure what to say as she felt this nervousness she had never felt ever before but for some reason she knew where this was going as Tara knelt down and held Willow's hand and Willow was left speechless as Tara reached for her pocket, about to pull something out.

Xander, Cordelia and Dawn could swear they heard Willow sobbing but it wasn't because of trauma or sadness but they suspected it was something very emotional, deciding to leave them privacy, when Willow and Tara returned, holding each other's hands and clearly seeming happier than earlier, actually, the happiest they could be as Willow wiped the tears of joy off her face.

"Is everything OK?" Dawn asked.

"It's OK, Dawnie." Tara assured as they sat down.

"Where are Buffy and Faith?" Xander asked.

"They're getting discharged today, they'll be here soon." Willow said as Tara held her hand and kissed, while they and Joyce were fondling Dawn's hair and Xander had hugged Cordelia from behind.

"It's finally over, right?" Cordelia said as Xander kissed her on her cheek.

"Finally." Xander said.

It was then, when Buffy, Faith, Angel and Spike arrived and they sat down, enjoying the picnic.

"Food's ready, shall we eat?" Willow asked.

They all laughed and agreed and soon they were all gathered around, getting some food and ready to enjoy themselves. After all their trials, they had come through stronger than ever before and could now look to the future with hope, rather than trepidation and the group had even more reasons to be happy as their smiles widened upon seeing the engagement rings Willow and Tara were wearing.

This is the end of the story. Creeps are arrested and all the pairings, save for Angel and Spike, get their happy endings and Tara and Willow engaged is an icing on the cake. Willow/Tara is my favorite pairing in Buffyverse and I still get upset upon seeing Tara's death and the scene with Dawn finding Tara's corpse. Stupid Whedon. He gives all good pairings a tragic ending, as much as I don't care about Buffy/Angel, Buffy stabbing Angel in Season 2 finale is always emotionally wracking to see from the storyline perspective but what annoys me is how it got dragged out into a love triangle with Angel/Buffy/Spike, even more in comic books as well, without Buffy getting a definitive love interest at the end. Buffy/Spike after Season 6, when he got a soul had much more potential and Spike was finally the man Buffy could love and the one she deserved but Whedon had to drag out the love triangle, just like with Stefan/Elena/Damon in The Vampire Diaries, *sighs*

Buffy/Faith, I could see the appeal to it, since Sarah and Eliza had that kind of chemistry and Eliza purposefully played Faith to be bisexual and I think after BTVS Season 4/Angel Season 1, Buffy could teach Faith to be more responsible with the Slayer duties, while Faith could help Buffy loosen up, plus, given that Buffy had a brief fling with a Slayer named Satsu and was more like sexually experimenting than anything, Buffy/Faith could work, if only short-term, since I don't really see them working out in the long-term.

Angel/Cordelia is also great, since they are crucial to each other's character development and growth and they help each other on their paths to champions and are there for each other whenever each of them struggles and they are unafraid to call the other one out on their crap and care about them, with Buffy/Angel, it was more like forbidden love with no hidden depths and it was pretty shallow and bland and I had no reason to like it, plus, the fact that Angel often stalks Buffy from a distance and goes behind her back to make decisions that can impact them both without discussing it with her, babying her in the process shows how little respect he actually has for her, unlike Spike, when he was soulless, it was more obsession and lust than anything from both sides but with a soul they grew to care for each other as realistically as real lovers would, with genuine care and respect for the other but as I said, Whedon is a jerk.

Xander/Cordelia was probably not going to last due to it being cliched high school romance with "nerdy loser/popular hot girl" but the only issue I have with it is how the breakup was handled. Really, when you're about to die and profess your feelings to your childhood best friends, knowing that you're cheating on your girlfriend, is stupid as hell. If they were going to break Xander and Cordy up, then at least don't make Xander and Willow act like idiots and don't do Cordy so dirty, given how much she was crapped on in Angel (Demonic pregnancies and Charisma's real-life pregnancy, stupid Whedon).

Rant over, anyway, hope you liked this story.

My first decent story after years and I would like to thank Bl4ckHunter and Assassin master ezio 91 for some help with this story and I hope I managed to make this enjoyable.

Stay tuned for more stories.

R4ik3n