CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: AZURE
The reunion between Buffy and Xander had been fairly similar to that of Buffy and Willow's and Buffy and Dawn's. Disbelief, suspicion and finally over-joyed acceptance, followed by a bone-crushing hug. Willow had watched each reunion thoughtfully, still a little confused by Buffy nearly not recognising Tara or Anya. What surprised her even more was the almost blank look on Buffy's face when Spike had shown up one night.
"Hey, Nibblet?" Spike had called, banging the door loudly behind him, letting the household know that he was there. "Anyone home?"
Stephen, predator and protector to the core had raced to the foyer to see the peroxide blonde in black leather coming out of the empty living room. Spike had looked taken aback by the new figure in the house and had been near ready to pounce before the young man had spoken to him.
"Who are you?" Spike was shocked by the almost polite manner of the young man. Not exactly the usual profile for someone that may well be a serial killer who had done in his family.
"Name's Spike. Who the hell are you?" Spike had replied angrily.
"Stephen, who was at the door?" Buffy had asked, coming out of the kitchen, her hair tumbling around her shoulders messily. She hadn't had it straightened since returning and the water from her shower had made it wavy. Spike had been shocked into silence.
For a moment, he had thought it was just the Buffybot, but he hadn't seen that out for more than three months. He had listened carefully and heard the distinct heartbeats and something else faint there as well. He shook off the smaller noise and leapt towards the small Slayer, hugging her tightly.
Buffy hadn't been expecting the attack and had tensed, but he hadn't hurt her. He had hugged her. This man with the shock of peroxide blonde hair in the black leather was hugging her tightly. Stephen looked at them in alarm, feeling an intense wave of jealousy until he took in his wife's expression of complete shock and confusion.
"God Buffy...it's you," Spike had whispered, tears in his eyes. He had just held her, not even noticing the way that she hadn't even responded at all to him.
Buffy had politely pulled herself away from him. She racked through her memories and found a large blank when it came to this man in black. She could feel something in her gut about him though. Something that screamed at her that he wasn't safe. But it wasn't usual for unsafe creatures to bound up to her and hug her in the friendliest of ways, clutching at her as though she would disappear if he were to let go.
Dawn had appeared and had smiled at Spike. He had still been staring at Buffy in shock, and Stephen and stepped forward, putting a possessive hand on the small of her back, a gesture that Spike didn't miss at all. His face fell as he saw the complete trust that was between Buffy and Stephen. This certainly hadn't been the way he had dreamt of all their reunions to go.
"Isn't it great?" Dawn had asked, giving her sister another hug. Buffy hugged her back tightly, having grown accustomed to the seemingly random hugs her sister had been giving her over the last two days. In fact, it wasn't uncommon for anyone of the gang to give her a hug as though to reaffirm that she was truly there with them. She had quickly grown to enjoy the hugs and found them incredibly soothing to her soul.
"How?" Spike choked out, tears still in his eyes.
"Magic, portals, blah, blah, blah," Dawn said glibly. "What does it matter Spike? She's home."
Spike. That one name. She had read it over and over in Giles' journal. Spike, the Slayer of Slayers, William the Bloody (Awful Poet). Her nemesis turned ally who had confessed his love to her by chaining her up and threatening to feed her to his ex. How could she have forgotten? Her eyes narrowed and then she had just let her face relax. Four hundred years on and she couldn't find the effort to pick a fight with him on this. Not even about him touching her.
Spike had hugged Dawn quickly and had swallowed the lump in his throat.
"You're right. Don't matter." He flashed a teary smile to the Slayer. "Welcome home love."
Love. That one word. He had thought it over and over for the last seven months. Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Elizabeth Anne Summers. His nemesis turned obsession who had rejected him in the worst of ways by telling him he was beneath her. How could he have stopped hoping for her to come home? His eyes watered and finally he could just smile. Seven months on and he couldn't find the words he wanted to say to her. Not even about his love for her.
Buffy had stepped back towards Stephen and had taken his hand in a show of affection and possession. She was his and she wanted Spike to know that without a shadow of a doubt.
"Thank you William."
Willow did a double take at that. Buffy had never addressed Spike as 'William' except when she had been taunting him with his humanity. But this new use of the name seemed to be something completely different. She didn't know what it meant, she knew she would probably never understand it, but she still pondered it.
Buffy's reactions to Tara and Anya had been what had baffled her most though. Both women had been warned that Buffy was back and that she was very much alive and kicking with a husband to boot (though not literally of course). When Tara and Anya had walked into the living rooms without their significant others, Willow had watched Buffy look extremely confused until both Tara and Anya had sat beside Willow and Xander respectively.
It was only then that Buffy had completely worked out who they were and why they were there. And Willow instinctively knew it wasn't because she didn't have the memories of them in her mind. It was because the memories of them were so old, so unused that Buffy had practically forgotten them.
Willow had choked back a sob at that realisation and had promised herself that she would have to have a talk with the one person who would be able to get Buffy to confess.
(Can you tell I'm a B/Ser trying to NOT make it B/S)
