Tel'aran'rhiod
Pairing: B/S (is there any other way?)
Rating: R (to be safe)
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon and a bunch of other corporations own Buffy The Vampire Slayer and related characters, not I. I'm only borrowing them for my own nefarious purposes. The title and a bit of the concept was borrowed from Robert Jordan's series The Wheel Of Time.
Spoilers: Yet another Post-gift story.
"Be brave. Live... for me."
She was still falling, although forever had come and gone. Eternities and worlds flew past her at speeds described in the richest of colors. With each beat of her heart, another world flashed before her eyes.
The first to pass had been all the levels of hell. She had seen all forms of torture known to man and demon alike. Beasts of indescribable evil brushed their poisoned claws scant inches from her face as she plummeted through their worlds. Fear squirmed its way inside her heart, locking her mind to the beauty of worlds to come.
Hell came and went, followed by world of magic and fantasy. Fairies, elves, dragons and the elusive unicorn plunged past her dead eyes, their magic reaching out to her as they recognized a fellow creature of light.
Passing through all material planes, she came swiftly to places where the rules of the flesh did not apply. Although bendable, rules could not be broken. As she plunged into a realm where the physical was not allowed, the rules were enforced. Dazed, she remained in a starry sky and watched her body fall away without her.
This realm had no gravity, there was no direction or points from which to orient. Sparkling points of light floated all around her. Thousands upon thousands stretched near and far. The ones closest to her were the size of basketballs, and they boiled and writhed with fantastic colors. Stretching as far as she could see, the balls of light filled the inky void she had come to rest in.
As she gazed at the striking mosaic of stars before her, she felt a magnetic force pulling her deeper into the strange realm. It felt warm and loving, caressing her astral form while pulling her towards a dim point of light in the distance. She let herself be pulled towards the distant light and was shocked when only a few moments passed for her to come to a smaller, charcoal gray star. It was dim and fuzzy around the edges, in stark contrast to the brilliance of the stars around it. She wondered why it had attracted her and reached out to touch it...
*****
Buffy started, wondering why she was standing outside Spike's crypt. Glancing around the graveyard, she was shocked to see how horrible it looked. Weeds choked gravestones lying broken and crumbling on the ground. The graveyard continued forever, stones broken and slanted sticking from the dry ground as though they too were weeds. Shaking off the feeling of cold death the graveyard gave her, Buffy pushed open the door of the crypt and walked confidently into the dark interior.
Before her, playing in larger-than-life color and surround-sound on the wall of the crypt was her plunge from the tower, as seen from Spike's view. Buffy watched, shocked, as again and again she embraced Dawn and leapt into the white light of the portal Dawn's blood had opened... only to fall lifelessly to the ground moments later. She tore her eyes away from the painful sight and noticed a figure cloaked in shadows sitting in Spike's chair.
"Spike?" Buffy whispered, stepping closer.
"Guess I couldn't do anything right." The figure spoke, revealing itself to be the blond Vampire.
"What are you talking about?" Buffy asked, stepping closer, but still unable to see Spike through the black shadows he was covered in. The scene playing on the wall suddenly switched to Spike's fight with Doc and his plunge from the tower.
"I couldn't save her... or you." Spike's shadowed form explained.
"That's not true. You did everything you could." Buffy stood as close to Spike as she could get without sitting in his lap. Still, she couldn't see him.
"Not enough." Came the bitter reply. "Not nearly enough."
"Why? I'm here, aren't I? I'm alive and Dawn's alive and everything's alright."
"No!" Spike yelled, surging from his chair to finally step into the light. His face was again the mass of bruises and welts it had been after Glory's torture. He was shirtless and his chest was as battered and broken as his face.
"You're not here!" He screamed at her. "You're dead and I'm dreaming."
Buffy stepped back, swallowing the fear that had bloomed in her with Spike's revelation.
"Dreaming?" She whispered, unable to comprehend how she had traveled from the portal to Spike's dreams.
"Yes, dreaming. Do I have to explain everything to you, Summers?" Spike spat out, his voice full of pain and self-loathing. "Now would you be so kind as to sod off? The witch'll give me something if I don't sleep right and personally, I'd like to remember."
"I don't want to leave." Buffy responded, her voice laced heavily with fear. "I don't know how I got here. I don't know where I am or what's going on and you want me to leave?"
"Buffy, I - " Spike began to reply harshly, when suddenly the replay of Buffy's death on the crypt wall stopped and the black shadows lifted from the crypt. "Shit." Spike muttered as the welts and bruises on his face and body melted from him.
"What's going on?" Buffy asked as the pained look in Spike's eyes was replaced with joy and love.
"She gave me something." This new Spike replied happily. "I can sleep better, now."
"I'm really in your dreams, aren't I?" The question came unbidden to her lips as she watched red silk wall coverings spring from nowhere to cover the gray crypt walls and the sarcophagus Spike called his bed to melt into a large four-poster king-size bed with red silk sheets and mountains of pillows.
"Always." Spike whispered in her ear.
Cool arms reached around her from behind and drew her flush against his body. Although she knew she should break free from Spike's hold, she didn't want too. Feelings of love and warmth infused her as Spike began to drop kisses down her neck. She felt her rational side flee into the shadows with her fear and apprehension. Spike and his dream overwhelmed her and took control.
*****
"I love you, Buffy." Spike whispered in her ear, as they lay entwined in each other's arms. After what seemed like days of lovemaking, the couple had finally succumbed to exhaustion. They had spent the day curled up in each other's arms, gently holding one another. Buffy felt a strange tingle in the pit of her stomach and somehow she knew the sun was about to set.
"Spike, I..." Buffy began, feeling strangely compelled to return the declaration of love as she had felt compelled to give in to Spike's advances days before.
"WAKE UP, SPIKE!"
The world shook and Buffy was flung from the comforting warmth of the bed and Spikes arms, into...
Blackness surrounded her once more. Buffy emitted a startled yelp as reality slammed into her dream-addled mind. She had... Spike had... They had...
"Oh, God!" Buffy cried, realizing what she had just spent hours doing, and with whom. "What the hell was that?"
Nothing answered her.
