Title: Spike's Gift
Author: Amber
Pairings: would I actually write something that wasn't S/B eventually? I think not
Spoilers: definitely up to and including "The Gift"
Rated: umm... PG, I guess, not really sure, maybe even G
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, meanie-mo Joss owns 'em all, but at least he's kind enough to share(at least, he doesn't say not to use themeg)
Distribution: please? I wanna see my name on a web site, take it, put it up on the wall(or webpage), just tell me where, so I can go and stare at my name for hours at a time(ego? me? naaaaawdisbelief really? naaaaaawmore disbelief)
Feedback: feed that ego I deny having, he's hungry, he wants lotsa yummy, nummy feedback, and maybe some chocolate Spikes for me...
Author's Note: *This* is thoughts, and parts in Italics are flashbacks (maybe memories too, I guess)
Dedications: to my damned muse, for giving me this instead of total writer's block, like she usually does, and, as always, to Bu, for being so cool, Debsie, for being just as cool, and the people I call friends in the Buffy chat room
Summery: I re-wrote "The Gift", the end at least. Anything I tell you would give stuff away, so it's a re-written Gift and post re-written Gift story(no groaning, this one is different, as far as I know)

Spike's Gift(part three)

Wiping the tears off her face with the sleeve of her shirt, Buffy tried to stop crying, After a few minutes, she succeeded. She picked the remote up off the couch, and turned on the tv. *I hope there's a good comedy or something on. I could really use a laugh. It's been since...*she didn't finish the thought. She knew if she did, her tears would start right back up again. She channel surfed for a few minutes, finally settling in on an old Saturday Night Live re-run. It was a good one, back from when all her favorite cast members were still on the show.
A few minutes into the episode, she heard something make a noise behind her. Her slayer instincts kicked in, and she put aside her now-empty bowl and jumped over the couch. She was about to kick the crap out of the figure, when she realized who it was.
She screamed. "No! You're not here! You're dead!" She grabbed her head. "I'm not going crazy, I'm not going crazy," she told herself.
Spike looked surprised at first, then started making calming gestures. "Shh, luv, it's alright. You're not going crazy, I really am here. I got a five minute pass from the Powers to come visit you."
She looked at him, tears still dripping out of her eyes. "It's really you, isn't it?" she said, the tears starting to slow down.
"Yep, it's me luv. I came back, if only for a few minutes," he told her, his heart swelling with love for this little blond girl with tear-streaked cheeks. She rushed over to hug him, but found that he was not fully there. He was like thick mist, she could feel him but not grab ahold of anything.
She settled for just staring at him. "I was so lost without you, I just didn't know what to do," she told him, her lip quivering. But this time she held the tears in, not wanting to blur the vision before her.
"I know luv, I was watching you the whole time. It broke my heart to see you so sad. So I finally made those windbags up in heaven let..."
She interrupted him. "Heaven? You made it to heaven?"
"Yep luv, I did. They said I earned a soul, what with all my good deeds and such," he said, smiling the whole time.
"I just missed you so much." She tried to smile for him, but it broke before it reached her lips.
"Don't cry luv. I'm right here for now, and after I'm gone, I'll be watching you till the day you die. I promise on my soul." He giggled at the thought of him being able to say 'on my soul', and, remarkably, Buffy giggled as well. "See? You can still smile, I knew it. Please try to smile some more? For me? You never did look very good crying, it makes your eyes all puffy."
She swatted at him, out of habit, but only hit mist. *Same old Spike* She smiled at that thought. She looked at the living room window, and she pointed out the sunlight to Spike. "Look, you're in the sunlight. Too bad you had to die to see the afternoon sun again." *She didn't even choke up on the word 'die'. That must mean she's getting better* Spike thought to himself. He looked over at the clock. His time was up, but he had made her feel better, he could go back knowing that he helped.
But he would still miss her. And she would miss him. But there was nothing to be done about that, it was just the way it had to be.
"Luv, don't cry, but my time's up. I'll see you again in about fifty years or so." He had tried to sound light, but it came out sounding dull and heavy.
She stopped at those words. She sighed, then remembered something important. "Spike, I didn't get to say this before you jumped, but I love you too." She smiled shyly at him.
"And I love you Buffy. More than all the stars in the sky. Remember that." He smiled back at her, but then he started to fade. "Looks like my time is up. Remember, anytime you have something to tell me, I'll be listening." He smiled sadly at her, and she smiled back, equally as sad.
But then something happened. Instead of disappearing completely, he started to fade back in. Spike started feeling funny, and realized that he was becoming whole again. He stuttered, "I'm... I'm... I'm back." He stared down at himself in amazement. Then he looked over at Buffy. She looked as if she had gone into shock. *Only one way to cure that* Spike thought, as he leaned over and kissed her. She came back just in time to kiss him back. The kiss lasted until she ran out of breath.
What is this Spike? One last kiss, courtesy of the Powers?" she asked, puzzled as all get out. But he wasn't listening to her, he was listening to the voice in her head. It was his Guide.
"We talked to the Powers, us Guides," she told him. "The powers said it was okay to let you come back. They saw just how true your love was, and decided that you shouldn't be separated for over half a century. So they gave you back your life. Enjoy." She started to leave.
"Wait, before you go, this is permanent, right?" he asked, just to make sure. Those Powers were tricky buggers, never to be trusted fully.
"Yep, you're here until you die a third time. Umm... She's talking to you. I'll leave you two alone for now. Goodbye for now." her voice said, then disappeared.
"Spike? Spike? You in there? Wake up." Buffy couldn't understand why Spike had suddenly went coma-patient, and she was trying to snap him out of it.
Spike shook his head, and looked at her. "All here luv. I was just talking with a representative from the Powers' upstairs branch. She said I get to stay!" he screamed in joy.
Buffy mimicked his scream. "Oh my God! You get to stay! You get to..." she stopped talking when she saw where Spike was standing. Or, more precisely, what he was standing in. "Spike," she gasped, and pointed to the window. The window that was streaming sunlight all over the two of them.
"Holy... I'm human, I'm human!" he screamed, grabbing Buffy and jumping for joy. "I'm alive! I can't believe I'm a..." he was cut off by Buffy's kiss. They stopped jumping, and surrendered to the passion of the kiss. Buffy put all her emotions into that kiss, her joy, her happiness, but most of all, her love. The kiss was the best either had ever known. It was almost heaven on earth.

*****************************************************************************
"I'm so glad they got together," said Spike's former Guide, watching from the viewing portal. She sighed. "My daughter deserves a little happiness in her life, after all she's been through." With that, Joyce, Spike's former Guide, turned and walked away, wanting to give the couple some privacy.


*****The End*****