Disclaimer: I do not own Buffyverse or anything else you may recognize
Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed or reviewed this fic so far.
Also, this chapter is gonna be Spuffy centric, specifically Season 7 Spuffy, since I love Season 7 Spuffy (Season 6 Spuffy is a toxic mess), so if it's not your thing, you're free to skip this one.
Chapter 116- Break XXIII
The Scoobies returned to the dining room, where the future Scoobies waited for them, and then all of them sat down together, the food already laid out for all them to eat up.
"So, you saw him?" Summers asked with a naughty, conspiratorial smirk.
"Yes", Buffy nodded, sharing looks with the rest as she smiled at Summers. "I did. He's back."
"And he is also incorporeal", Willow added from her side.
"Yeah, but not for long", Rosenberg assured. "Not too long at least."
"So, is he gonna come back then?" Tara wondered.
"No, actually he will stay", Maclay revealed.
"But why?" Buffy asked in shock. "Why would he stay after he is corporeal again then?"
"Let's just say he actually ended up wanting to help Angel see through what he was doing at Wolfram and Hart", Summers told her.
"Wait, Spike actually wanted to help Angel?" Dawnster asked, since that was even more surprising.
"Yes, as much as he denied it, he did want to help Angel out", Dawn said with a nod. "And he did."
"So, he is gonna stay till year's end?" Buffy asked, just to be sure.
"Yeah, now he is gonna be in all of these recordings, alive and well, well not exactly alive but you know what I mean", Harris said. "As alive as a Vampire with a soul can be, which is more than a Vampire without a soul."
"Well, at least he's alive", Buffy muttered, though she still wasn't pleased that he wouldn't come to her after becoming corporeal.
"Well, better there than here", Xander shrugged, and now Buffy finally had it.
"Okay, what's your problem with him?" Buffy asked Xander, then turned to Giles. "And yours too? I have been ignoring your remarks about him so far, but that doesn't mean I didn't hear them."
"Buffy", Giles tried to counsel. "He wasn't a good person, he was an evil being, do you not remember what he tried to do to you?"
"Without a soul", Buffy reminded pointedly. "You have come around Angel now after watching these recordings, but I'm guessing you've not forgotten what Angelus did."
Now Giles winced as he realized he had no counter-argument for this, and Summers decided there was one way to fix this. "You know what? I am gonna show you exactly the kind of man Spike is", she turned to Buffy, "and how much he really loves us, once food is done."
"You've recordings of him?" Buffy asked.
"A lot of them", Maclay confirmed. "We can all watch those."
Giles and Xander shared a look, wondering what would be different in those, while they finished their food as well, and so did the rest.
"Come on", Rosenberg said as they got up and started walking to the dining room.
"Now you will see for yourself", Buffy told the two, and they sat down as Summers got the remote and started skimming through recordings before finding the one she wanted to show.
"There it is", Summers said as she turned it on and fast-forwarded it till they were near the end.
Buffy was walking through a moonlit cemetery alone, looking around for Spike. She saw the chapel, with lanterns lighting the front door. She headed toward it, walking inside. An oval painting on the wall was lit with moonlight streaming into the small chapel. It appeared to be a medieval painting of Mary holding baby Jesus and standing in front of a fringed white drape. The chapel was set up with a dozen wooden pews arranged on either side of a central aisle. There was a large, simple, gothic crucifix at the front of the chapel that could be seen by looking directly down the central aisle. Buffy looked around. There were three stained glass arched windows on each sidewall of the chapel. She walked forward and jumped when Spike spoke to her from the shadows behind her. "Hello." Buffy started. "What the hell are you—?" Spike was bare-chested, holding his blue shirt out to her. "It didn't work. Costume. Didn't help. Couldn't hide."
"When did this happen?" Willow asked as Buffy had a lump in her throat as she remembered this bit.
"This was when you were in London", Buffy said, then turned to Xander. "After we'd convinced Anya to turn Nancy's boyfriend back to normal."
"Right, so it was then", Xander nodded, as he and Giles wondered what they would see about Spike there.
Buffy told him. "No more mind games, Spike." Spike was looking down at the ground even though he was standing right in front of her. "No more mind games. No more mind." Buffy reached for his chest, where she could see some scars. "Tell me what happened to you." Spike flinched, recoiling violently, and looked her into her eyes. "Hey, hey, hey! No touching. Am I flesh? Am I flesh to you? Feed on flesh. My flesh. Nothing else. Not a spark." He nodded. "Oh, fine. Flesh then. Solid through." He started unzipping his pants. "Get it hard; service the girl." Buffy was disgusted and smacked his hands away from his pants. "Stop it!" Spike reflexively reached up and grabbed her by the throat. Buffy grabbed his shoulder and threw him across the room.
"I don't see much of a change so far", Giles said without any sympathy.
"Shut up and let the scene play", Summers said firmly, and her tone made him flinch.
Spike landed on top of some pews, breaking them into pieces. He sat up a little, propped on his elbows behind him. "Right. Girl doesn't want to be serviced. Because there's no spark. Ain't we in a soddin' engine?" Spike was looking around the room. Buffy walked over to him. "Spike, have you completely lost your mind?" Spike was lucid. "Well, yes. Where've you been all night?" Buffy asked incredulously. "You thought you would just come back here and... be with me?" Spike said. "First time for everything." Buffy told him. "This is all you get. I'm listening. Tell me what happened."
"Don't interrupt now", Tara told the rest, realizing this was going to be the important bit, and Buffy gave her a nod of appreciation at that.
Spike then started narrating. "I tried to find it, of course." "Find what?" Buffy asked. "The spark. The missing... the piece that fit. That would make me fit. Because you didn't want..." Spike started to cry. "God, I can't... Not with you looking." Spike stood and walked away to a nearby window. He stood there, mostly in shadow, his body directed away from her. He looked back over his shoulder at her. "I dreamed of killing you." Keeping an eye on him, Buffy bent down to pick up a large splinter from the broken pews at her feet to use as a stake, if necessary. Spike started pacing. "I think they were dreams. So weak. Did you make me weak, thinking of you, holding myself, and spilling useless buckets of salt over your…..ending?"
Even Giles and Xander could not deny this, they remembered Spike had sobbed bitterly after Buffy's death as if he had lost a part of himself, and they hadn't expected him to behave like that considering he was soulless.
Dawnster used to like Spike a lot but she was mad at him after finding out about the rape attempt, but she and he had never attempted to reconnect after Spike had his soul back, so she didn't know if he was better then.
But here, he didn't look evil, just confused, and guilty.
"Angel—he should've warned me." Angel's mention made Buffy realize what was going as her face contorted in disbelief. "He makes a good show of forgetting, but it's here, in me, all the time." Spike walked around toward her from behind. "The spark. I wanted to give you what you deserve, and I got it. They put the spark in me and now all it does is burn." Buffy's face showed shock, disbelief and, finally, comprehension. "Your soul." Spike laughed. "Bit worse for lack of use."
Lack of use, yeah, that was true, not being in him meant it hadn't been used so far.
Again, Giles and Xander did remember human Spike from before, so they could admit he was good then, though they still had reservations about Spike with a soul.
Tara was feeling sympathy for him here, due to the guilt he was displaying. It didn't make what he did okay, but with his soul he was truly repentant of it all.
Willow now knew she wasn't in a position to judge people after what she had done, and Spike was soulless so he had more of an excuse than she did, so she understood when someone was genuinely sorry, and Spike was.
Buffy turned to face him. "You got your soul back. How?" "It's what you wanted, right?" Spike looked up at the ceiling. "It's what you wanted, right?" He pressed his fingers to his temples, looked down, and walked toward the altar. "And—and now everybody's in here, talking. Everything I did...everyone I— and him... and it... the other, the thing beneath—beneath you. It's here too. Everybody. They all just tell me go... go..." He looked back over his shoulder to Buffy, "to hell."
Buffy was teary-eyed now once more as she remembered Spike's breakdown from back then, and Summers too was barely controlling herself.
Now Dawnster was unable to stay mad at Spike for much longer after seeing this, this didn't seem like a guy who would boast about killing innocent people.
Xander couldn't believe it. He thought Spike with a soul was literally the same as Spike without one, but here he was, proving him wrong. He was feeling guilty.
Giles too was shocked at this, as he thought Spike was unrepentant and just used his soul as a shield to protect himself from the consequences for his actions, but he was repentant.
Willow and Tara just felt bad for him now, as they knew all he had done as evil was coming to haunt him now.
"Why?" Buffy asked, almost in a whisper. "Why would you do that—" Spike sounded guilty. "Buffy, shame on you. Why does a man do what he mustn't? For her. To be hers. To be the kind of man who would nev—" He looked away, ashamed of his rape attempt, "to be a kind of man."
Buffy and Summers exchanged a look, knowing exactly what Spike was talking about, and the others realized it too, and while there was no excuse for that, he did seem to be truly sorry.
Spike walked toward the 6-foot-tall crucifix altarpiece at the front of the chapel. "She shall look on him with forgiveness, and everybody will forgive and love. He will be loved." Spike was standing only a foot away from the crucifix, staring at it. "So everything's okay, right?" Spike sighed and embraced the crucifix, resting one arm over each side of the cross bar, and resting his head in the corner of the vertex. His body was sizzling and smoke is rising from where it touched the cross. "Can—can we rest now? Buffy...can we rest?" Buffy was crying now. From where she stood, Spike's exhausted body was hanging limply on the cross.
Summers stopped the recording, wiping a few of her own tears as Giles said. "That was…..unexpected."
"Told you", Buffy said as she turned to Giles and Xander.
"Again, he wasn't a perfect guy with a soul, but he was good, and showed remorse for what he did", Harris said to his past self. "Now I see that."
"I think after this, he did deserve a second chance", Tara said in agreement with the rest.
"Yeah, he worked for his own redemption as well", Maclay nodded.
"So he and Angel are different in personality, but their final goal isn't too different", Willow realized.
"I can't stay mad at him anymore after this, he seems to be actually good and guilty now", Dawnster said.
"Right you are", Dawn agreed.
"And if this wasn't enough, there's more", Summers said as she opened another recording and fast-forwarded some stuff.
Buffy walked over to Spike, still carrying the wooden handle. She stood in front of him. He looked at her, knowing his fate, and scooted out of the cubbyhole he was hiding in. He held open his shirt. He was crying. "Do it fast, OK? He said you'd do it."
"When's this from?" Xander first asked.
"When I found out he was killing people from Holden", Buffy responded to him, remembering his breakdown again.
"Who said?" Buffy asked. Spike replied. "Me. It was me. I saw it. I was here the whole time, talking and singing." He sobbed. "There was a song." Buffy asked. "What are you talking about?" "I don't know. Please, I don't remember. Don't make me remember." He turned to an invisible person. "Make it so I forget again! I did what you wanted!" "There's something here." Buffy threw away the wooden tool handle. "Oh, God, no, please. I need that. I can't cry the soul out of me. It won't come. I killed, and I can feel 'em. I can feel every one of them."
"The First?" Giles asked, now realizing just how badly it was affecting Spike, so it made sense why he was afraid of it.
"Yes, it's the First, trying to control him and make him do things he doesn't want", Summers told him pointedly. "Because he is good now."
"Yeah, and you shall see it", Rosenberg added in agreement.
Buffy realized. "There's something playing with us. All of us." Spike asked. "What is it? Why is it doing this to me?" Buffy sighed. "I don't know." Spike begged. "Will you... Help me. Can you help me?" Buffy assured. "I'll help you."
"Poor Spike", Dawnster muttered sadly, seeing how badly the First was playing with him for so long by using his guilt and vulnerability to its advantage.
"So it wasn't him this time", Xander muttered.
Spike was lying on the floor in shackles, both hands and feet chained to the wall. His eyes were closed. Buffy walked downstairs with a bowl of water and went over to him. She dipped a towel in the water and washed the blood off of his face. Spike woke up. "Did I hurt anybody?" Buffy replied. "You took a good bite out of Andrew." "Who?" "Tucker's brother." "Oh."
"Nobody even knows who he is, shows how relevant that guy is", Dawnster said with a scoff.
"Yeah, he just has a habit of making himself out to be much more important than he actually is", Summers nodded in agreement.
"And it doesn't turn out well, does it?" Buffy asked and got nods. "The decision to kick him out is gonna stand."
"No arguments from any of us", Willow told her.
Buffy assured. "He'll be okay." Spike sighed. "I don't remember." "It's okay", Buffy stood and walked to the sink. "Buffy, I don't know why." Buffy sighed. "We think we do. Something's playing you. Some ghost or demon has figured out how to control you. Got the gang researching it right now." Spike pulled himself up into sitting position using the chains. "Xander has this theory that you're being triggered."
"Well, wasn't wrong about that", Xander said proudly.
"Yeah", Harris nodded in agreement.
"Kill me." Buffy turned to face him. "What?" Spike begged. "Buffy, you have to kill me." Buffy started. "You don't understand. When I left the room earlier, I heard you talking to someone—" Spike asked. "Do you have any idea what I'm capable of?" Buffy reminded. "I was in the cellar with you. I saw what you did." Spike revealed. "I'm not talking about the cellar. The people in the cellar got off easy. I'm talking about me. Buffy, you have never met the real me."
"Now I have", Buffy said. "William is the real you."
"He wants to die too", Tara noted, remembering Faith. "But it's the easy way out."
"Yeah, he will soon learn to face his Demons", Maclay told her.
Buffy crossed her arms. "Believe me, I'm well aware of what you're capable of." "No, you got off easy too." Spike stood. "Do you know how much blood you can drink from a girl before she'll die? I do. You see, the trick is to drink just enough to know how to damage them just enough so that they'll still cry when you—" He choked up. "'cause it's not worth it if they don't cry." Buffy assured. "It's not your fault. You're not the one doing this." "I already did it. It's already done." Spike paced, then stepped purposefully toward Buffy. "You wanna know what I've done to girls Dawn's age? This is me Buffy. You've got to kill me before I get out."
"What has he done?" Dawnster asked with a gulp.
"Better we don't know", Dawn sighed. "But he was saying that to make Buffy kill him."
"And that didn't happen", Summers shook her head.
Buffy suggested. "We can keep you locked up. Keep you here and we'll figure out—" Spike asked. "Have you ever really asked yourself why you can't do it? Off me? After everything I've done to you, to people around you. It's not love. We both know that." Buffy reminded. "You fought by my side. You've saved lives. You've helped—" "Don't do that." Spike rolled his eyes. "Don't rationalize this into some noble act. We both know the truth of it." He looked down and away. "You like men who hurt you."
"Oh come on! Why does everyone keep saying that?" Buffy shook her head.
"Yeah, never made much sense", Summers nodded in agreement.
"Yes, you just don't like men who hurt you, you like women who hurt you too, like Faith", Rosenberg said naughtily and was shot looks by them both so she shut up.
"Maybe you just like someone who can be your equal, and so is capable of hurting you, just capable, not one who actually does it", Tara rationalized it.
"Huh?" Buffy said. "Makes sense."
"Thanks Tara, knew I could count on any version of you", Summers smiled, looking between both versions of her.
"No." Spike looked at Buffy. "You need the pain we cause you. You need the hate. You need it to do your job, to be the Slayer." Buffy assured him. "No. I don't hate like that. Not you, or myself. Not anymore. You think you have insight now because your soul's drenched in blood? You don't know me. You don't even know you. Was that you who killed those people in the cellar? Was that you who waited for those girls?" Spike told her. "There's no one else." Buffy now assured him once more. "That's not true. Listen to me. You're not alive because of hate or pain. You're alive because I saw you change. Because I saw your penance." Spike lunged violently at her, but chains held him back. "Window dressing."
"Is it?" Giles asked, unsure again. "An act?"
"No", Buffy said firmly. "That wasn't an act. This is."
"Because he wants you to kill him, doesn't he? To be stopped?" Willow asked and got a nod again.
"And he didn't get that", Dawn concluded.
"Be easier, wouldn't it, it if were an act, but it's not." Buffy walked towards him. "You faced the monster inside of you and you fought back. You risked everything to be a better man." "Buffy..." Buffy was now in his face. "And you can be. You are. You may not see it, but I do. I do. I believe in you, Spike." Spike looked at her with a face full of hope and amazement.
Summers stopped the recording and said. "It all goes to hell after this."
"That face, he looks like he took your words to heart", Maclay said as she looked at Spike's face in there.
"Because he did", Buffy told them all. "He did. He was a better man."
"And he really loves you?" Giles asked.
"Yes, him with a soul loves me without any kind of toxic obsession", Buffy said. "Without a soul, he was obsessed, but with it, he does love me."
"If you don't believe that, watch these", Summers said as she put on another scene from another recording.
Shackled to the rocky cave wall, Spike saw someone walking toward him and scoffed. "A knife, now, is it?" White-shirted, cut and bruised Buffy was standing before him holding a Bringer's knife in her hand." Spike said weakly. "What'll...what'll that...you—you can't hurt me. You're—you're just a bloody figment, you are. You're just..." Buffy approached him slowly and cut him loose of his tethers. He collapsed forward and braced himself with his hand on her shoulder. When he touched her and realizes she was real, he smiled and squinted, searching her face intently. She looked into his eyes, tapping an emotional connection between them. "You. Oh." He put his arm over her shoulder, and she put her arm around his waist. Although Spike was weak and limping, they walked out of the cave together.
"Is this after he was tortured?" Willow asked, and Buffy nodded again.
"It tortured him in my form, and played this game with him once", Summers confirmed.
"So when he saw you, he thought it was the First again", Tara realized.
"But then he realized it wasn't", Dawnster finished, and once more, his reaction was noted. He was happy, and the way he touched her face.
There was no lust there, just happiness and love.
"And here is some more", Summers said as she continued.
Buffy was sitting on the couch alone in the living room. Spike walked in and sat next to her. "Did anybody tell you about what happened around here tonight?" Buffy confirmed. "Willow did. The First is back in the mix." Spike told her. "It, uh, it talked to the little boy. Said it wasn't time for me yet. I should move out. Leave town before it is time for me." Buffy vetoed the idea. "No, you have to stay." Spike pointed out. "You've got another demon fighter now." Buffy then told him. "That's not why I need you here." Spike asked. "Is that right? Why's that then?" Buffy confessed. "'Cause I'm not ready for you to not be here." Spike looked at her a moment.
Summers stopped the recording and said. "He stayed because he knew I needed him."
"He was your confidante at that point, wasn't he?" Rosenberg asked.
"Yeah, he was", Summers sighed. "Not the best one, but one I could trust. And love."
"He did love us", Buffy agreed. "He changed into a better man because of it."
"Yeah, and he was there when we really needed him", Summers said as she turned on another recording. "Like here."
Buffy was sitting on the edge of the bed. Spike was standing up in front of her. "No?" "No." "You mean no as in eventually?" Buffy asked. "You really have problems with that word, don't you?" Spike encouraged. "You can get them back." "Can, maybe. Should?" Buffy sighed, holds her head in her hands. "I'm just so tired." Spike told her. "They need you." "Well, I..." Spike made things up. "It's bloody chaos over there without you. "It is?" "Yeah! Yeah, it's, uh... There's junk... You know? Food cartons, sleeping bags not rolled up, everyone's very scared and, uh, unkempt."
"Uhh, it wasn't that bad", Willow said with narrowed eyes.
"Just him trying to encourage, you know?" Buffy smiled. "This was after you kicked me out."
"Sorry about that", Dawnster said.
"No need to apologize, I was being pretty unreasonably myself", Buffy assured them all. "So I kind of deserved it."
"Yeah, but our way of kicking you out was bad", Harris added.
"Instead of criticizing, we attacked personally", Dawn agreed there. "So, we're all sorry."
"Except Tara", Rosenberg and Willow spoke up together as both Taras smirked.
"Yeah, except Tara", Summers smiled. "All of us made mistakes there."
Buffy smirked. "Sounds dire." "I didn't see a lot." He sat on the edge of the bed beside her. "I came, hit Faith a bunch of times, and left." "Really? I mean, not that I'm glad, but—" Spike assured. "Oh, you say the word, and she's a footnote in history. I'll make it look like a painful accident."
"Now she's a footnote in my dating history", Buffy said as laughter followed.
"Things change", Xander shrugged.
"Those things include Spike", Tara told him, and this time, he nodded with a sigh.
Buffy said with guilt. "That's my problem. I say the word, some girl dies...every time." Spike reminded. "There's always casualties in war." Buffy now knew her problem. "Casualties. It just sounds so...casual. These are girls that I got killed. I cut myself off from them...all of them. I knew I was gonna lose some of them and I didn't—" She shook her head, standing up. "You know what? I'm still making excuses. I've always cut myself off. I've always—" She sighed. "Being the Slayer made me different. But it's my fault I stayed that way. People are always trying to connect to me, and I just slip away." Buffy chuckled. "You should know." Spike reminded. "I seem to recall a certain amount of connecting." Buffy shook her head. "Oh, please! We were never close. You just wanted me because I was...unattainable."
"Maybe it was the reason then, now its not", Summers told Buffy, who couldn't disagree there.
"Well, at that point I was not in my right mind either", Buffy pointed out.
Spike stood up angrily. "You think that's all that was?" "Please, let's not go over the past." Buffy sat down. Spike wasn't having it now. "Oh, no, no. Let's hold on here. I'm hummed along to your pity-ditty, and I think I should have the mic for a bit." Buffy shrugged. "Fine. The stage is yours. Cheer me up." Spike said. "You're insufferable." Buffy said sarcastically. "Thank you. That really helped."
"That didn't sound cheery", Xander said.
"He really doesn't know how to do that", Giles shook his head.
"I think we should let it finish", Maclay pointed out.
"Yeah, because he did succeed", Buffy said with a nod.
Spike said. "I'm not trying to cheer you up." Buffy asked. "What are you trying to say?" Spike replied. "I don't know. I'll know when I'm done saying it. Something pissed me off, and I just— "Unattainable." That's it." Buffy gave in. "Fine. I'm attainable. I'm an attain-a-thon. May I please just go to sleep?" "You listen to me." Spike kneeled in front of her. "I've been alive a bit longer than you, and dead a lot longer than that. I've seen things you couldn't imagine, and done things I prefer you didn't. I don't exactly have a reputation for being a thinker. I follow my blood, which doesn't exactly rush in the direction of my brain. So I make a lot of mistakes, a lot of wrong bloody calls." He looked into her eyes. "A 100+ years, and there's only one thing I've ever been sure of: you." Buffy looked away; he reached toward her face. "Hey, look at me. I'm not asking you for anything. When I say, "I love you," it's not because I want you or because I can't have you. It has nothing to do with me." A tear rolled down Buffy's cheek. "I love what you are, what you do, how you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you. And I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are. You're a hell of a woman. You're the one, Buffy."
Everyone was speechless now as both Buffy and Summers had bittersweet smiles with tears.
Spike had described exactly the kind of person Buffy was, everything good and bad that he had seen, and they had seen it as well.
She did try, she was kind, she had strength, and she was a hell of a woman.
Spike could understand that, and he had said it at last. There was no doubt now, he truly loved Buffy, and she loved him too.
"He knew exactly what to say, and it worked", Summers said with a smile, and all nodded, now getting the depth of this relationship at last.
Buffy quietly said. "I don't wanna be the one." Spike quipped. "I don't wanna be this good looking and athletic. We all have crosses to bear." Buffy chuckled as he said. "You get some rest now. I'll check in before first light. You can decide how you want..." He walked toward the door. "Spike?" He turned to face her. "Could you...stay here?" "Sure." Spike looked at a chair. "That diabolical old torture device, the comfy chair." He took off his coat. "It'll do me fine." "No, I mean...here." She touched the bed beside her. "Will you just hold me?" Spike sat on the bed beside Buffy and put his arm around her. She curled up on him, cuddling up to his chest as he put his arm around her shoulder, holding her head with his hand.
"He is so sweet", Dawnster said, now completely liking him again. "He brought your confidence back in time for the big fight."
"And we needed just that at the time", Willow told Buffy in agreement with her.
"Yes, especially since it helped in getting the scythe", Giles added.
"So now you see?" Summers asked. "Spike is a good man, and he loves me, and I love him too."
With that, she showed them the last one to end it all.
Buffy and Spike were the only ones left in the Hellmouth. Spike was still glowing from the amulet, sending rays of light out into the Hellmouth, dusting the Turok-Han within. Buffy stood in front of him, staring, still holding her scythe. "Go on, then." He urged. "No. No, you've done enough." Buffy told him. "You could still—" Spike cut her off. "No, you've beat them back. It's for me to do the cleanup." The walls were crumbling around them. Buffy was worried. "Spike!" Spike told her. "I mean it! I gotta do this." He held out his hand to stop her, Buffy laced her fingers through Spike's, and his hand started burning up. Looking at him, she said genuinely. "I love you." Spike replied to her. "No you don't, but thanks for saying it."
"I think he said that so Buffy would leave", Willow told the future people.
"And right you were", Summers confirmed. "That is why he said we didn't love him."
"He didn't want us to go down with him", Buffy said, proud of his sacrifice.
There was another earthquake as Buffy let go of Spike's hand and he said. "Now go!" Buffy ran up the stairs. "I wanna see how it ends." Spike stood in the crumbling Hellmouth with light shining down on him from above, grinning from ear to ear and laughing as he burned up from the sunlight. He dusted slowly—first his skin singed, then his muscles, then his bones—then he was gone. The Hellmouth crumbled in around him.
Summers turned the recordings off as both she and Buffy wiped some tears from seeing that, though Buffy knowing Spike was alive now reduced her pain, fortunately.
"So, what do you two say now?" Rosenberg asked Giles and Xander.
"He is a good guy", Xander confessed with raised hands. "Yeah, he is a good guy, I was too angry with him to see it."
"I still have some reservations but I believe he is repentant and not what I thought he was", Giles agreed too and then said to both the Buffies. "And he does love you both."
They smiled as Summers said. "Knew this would get you two to listen."
"Well, it did", Giles nodded.
"It did the same for us all too", Harris added.
"Yeah, I hated him for what he did until seeing this made me come around him again", Dawn said with a nod.
"Same here", Dawnster nodded in agreement. "I like him a lot again."
"I guess this is it for today, right?" Tara asked.
"Yeah, we're done for the day now", Maclay said. "More tomorrow."
"Let's go then", Buffy said as all got up and walked off, with everyone finally understanding the kind of person Spike was, and that the love Spike and Buffy shared was true.
Finally done here.
Hope the Spuffy fans enjoyed this chapter, since Ensouled Spike/Buffy was just awesome in the final Season. Now Season 7 isn't among my favorites, though I think it was decent, but Spuffy and Spike's redemption arc was definitely a highlight of the final Season. Other highlights were Dawn's character growth, Faith's return and all of her scenes, the action scenes, Anya's character arc, and obviously the Series finale.
What I hated about this Season was- Kennedy, Willow/Kennedy, Andrew, Giles being a moron, Robin (after the reveal of his mom) and the writers being dicks since they didn't acknowledge that Tara mattered to characters outside of Willow too, the most prominent of them being Dawn, and she mattered to Buffy, Spike and Anya as well, since she was there for Buffy over her toxic relationship with Soulless Spike, and out of all Scoobies she was the only one who treated Soulless Spike well long before the others did, and I can say with absolute certainty that she was Anya's only real friend in the group. The rest only tolerated her at best for being Xander's girlfriend.
And I also didn't like how Willow's arc was handled in this Season, since she has one of the best arcs in the Buffyverse right up there with Wesley, Spike, Cordelia and Faith. Large part of why they messed up with Willow's arc this Season was because they paired her with the horrible unlikeable bitch called Kennedy who should have been killed in the final fight instead of Anya and Amanda. They should have focused more on her dealing with her magic and her properly grieving and moving on from Tara, or, better yet, bringing her back, because fuck Joss and Marti for killing her off!
Plus, Kennedy's advances towards Willow were like that of a sexual predator, if she was a man, I'll bet my head there'd have been outrage over how she behaved with Willow in 7x10.
And Willow too was uncomfortable with her advances but then did a 180 in 7x13 and responded to Kennedy's advances.
So what I am trying to say here is that FUCK KENNEDY!
Tillow forever.
Well, rant over.
Oh! And I did the Bully Maguire dance publicly a week ago. Imagine the reactions, LOL!
But anyway, hope all enjoyed the Spuffy here and see you all next time with another chapter.