AN: I'm sorry this took so long but my computer got corrupted and I lost the part I was writing, and it took a while to fix. I'm really sorry, but I hope you enjoy this part :) Please r/r, feedback makes the world go round :). To marys-a-thinker, thanks for the review and I re-read the ending and tried to fix it, I hope it makes more sense now :)
Disclaimer: Not mine
Spike drummed his fingers against the pillar he was leaning on; as he stared fixedly at the door. *Where the hell is she? I can't believe she's going to stand me up*. He growled softly to himself. He was focusing on being angry at her, because if he stopped being angry he would feel his heart breaking.
Buffy stared at the entrance way *Oh shit, he's going to think I stood him up* *You are going to be standing him up you moron if you stay out here much longer* She took a deep breath *Shit…..No, ok….. I can do this*.
Spike's head swung back towards the entrance way at the sound of the door opening; his jaw dropped and a stolen breath caught in his throat. It felt like his heart was being squeezed in a vice. His eyes followed her movement across the room, he couldn't tear them away *When did she get so goddamn gorgeous?* he thought *……since always*. Dawn sitting in the eaves of the Ballroom caught the thought and giggled.
Her head turned backwards and forwards trying to find him *Oh god, what if he's already left*. She looked back in front of her and a gasp caught in her throat, he was leaning against a pillar only a foot in front of her. She swallowed hard as her eyes met his.
Spike felt his knees buckle as her eyes connected with his, and he leaned heavily against the stone behind him. He was breathing hard, he'd forgotten he didn't need to, as his world had shrunk so only he and Buffy existed.
Dawn grinned at the scene below her, Buffy and Spike couldn't take their eyes off each other. *Finally!* she thought *It took them long enough*.
Spike shakily got to his feet, running a hand nervously through his hair. As he opened his mouth to speak to her, he was interrupted by the King's declaration "Ladies and Gentlemen please be seated for the final announcement of the evening". Spike glanced anxiously at Buffy, and offered her his arm *Well here goes nothing* he thought as they made their way up to the Royal Box.
King Giles stood up to make the Royal Announcement, when Spike was distracted by the clock. *Huh, almost midnight* he thought, then his mind seemed to freeze *Bloody Hell! Midnight!* He glanced quickly around to find Buffy, he spotted her on the other side of the stage and ducked around the back to warn her.
"That means my dress is going to disappear" Buffy whispered in horror. "Er, yeah" Spike retorted staring at her, his line of thought suddenly derailed by her statement. Buffy noticed the glazed look in his eyes and slapped him around the head. "Hey" he cried out "we said truce remember" he complained rubbing the side of his head where she'd struck him. "I could see what you were thinking" she glared at him, and Spike blushed, nervously running his hand through his hair. *Spike's blushing* Buffy thought in shock *I didn't even know that he could blush, he looks so adorable when he's flustered*. She shook her head trying to focus on the problem at hand.
As the whole Ballroom cheered in response to the announcement of the marriage of the Crown Prince of France and the Countess of Rome, the clock began to strike 12. Buffy stared at Spike a look of horror on her face, "I've got to get out of here, or they'll realise I'm not a 'Countess' and the marriage will be off and we'll be stuck here forever!".
Spike's head whipped round as he looked for an exit. "I think there's a back door over this way" he said dragging Buffy behind the curtains surrounding the Royal Box, they felt their way along the wooden panelling that the curtains concealed, looking for a door. Spike turned around and bumped straight into Buffy. He swallowed hard, the feel of her pressed up against him was sending his head spinning. Buffy heard Spike swallow above the sound of her unexpectedly heavier breathing as she tried to recover from the sudden rush of heat through her body. Buffy quickly turned away to look for an actual exit, hoping Spike hadn't noticed the blush marring her cheeks. Spike took a deep breath to steady himself and then followed behind her.
Another minute of futile searching of the back area of the ballroom was broken when Buffy glanced down and gasped "My gown is disappearing" she whimpered, staring down at the crinkling edge of the dress and the now disintegrated slippers. Spike grabbed her arm "Luv it's just a dress" he said trying to soothe her. "Spike that's not the point" she said exasperatedly "everything is going wrong. What if we never get home? What if I never see my Mom again?". Spike's breath hitched in his throat as he stared into her anxious face. "I'll get you home pet, I mean, there's got to be a door in the palace somewhere right?" He asked a wry smile pulling at the side of his mouth. Buffy rubbed the tears off her face and smiled back at him "sorry" she apologised. "S'all right luv, lets find an exit" he replied.
"It looks like I'm not going to end up naked after all" Buffy said as she gestured to the fast appearing peasants garb underneath her decomposing gown, grinning with relief. "Oh" Spike replied. Buffy stared at him in shock as the disappointment in his voice had been obvious. Spike ducked his head in embarrassment. He cleared his throat "I think this is the way out" he said.
Suddenly in front of them twinkle lights appeared. "Dawn!" Buffy cried out, grinning widely. Off Spike's confused look she explained "My fairy godmother, she must be showing us a way out".
Spike stared nervously at the priest. Obviously his nervousness had nothing to do with the fact that he was about to marry the slayer, it was caused by the large concentration of crucifixes and holy water in his vicinity. Even though in this realm he knew they couldn't hurt him, he'd been a vampire for too long not to get uneasy around them.
As the organist struck the first chord Buffy stepped down the aisle, desperately trying to stop the fit of giggles brewing up inside of her. She was marrying Spike, William the Bloody, the undead, soulless killer of her kind; who over the course of their stay in this realm she'd had more than a few pleasant thoughts about. In fact that thought sobered her up pretty quickly. She was not falling for Spike, that would be stupid, *yeah and I'm known for my intelligence* she frowned at that last thought, it sounded too like the sort of thing Spike would say. *Great now he's infesting my brain as well as my life*.
Buffy almost tripped over as she finally spotted Spike through the rows of people. *Oh wow* she thought. She almost didn't recognise him at first, his hair was non-bleached and he hadn't gelled it back either. *How the hell did that happen in the three days since I last saw him?* Buffy wondered. How the hell was she meant to drag her thoughts away from the blea….er….un-bleached wonder when he was looking like that?
Neither the Slayer nor the Vampire paid any attention to the ceremony; they were both trying to covertly watching each other. "What did you do to your hair?" Buffy hissed at him. Spike could feel the blush spread over the back of his neck, *Damn* when had he started to blush? *Stupid realm* he thought *God I sound like Buffy*. "The bleach was attracting attention; not exactly fitting with this period is it luv? I had to get rid of it". "How do you get rid of bleach?" Buffy whispered back. They were startled out of their private conversation by the priest's announcement "You may kiss the bride".
Spike took a calming breath, that didn't really have any effect and he turned to face Buffy *God she's beautiful* he thought as he lifted her veil. A grin pulled at the side of his mouth as he watched a blush spread across her cheeks.
Spike dipped his head to caress her lips with his own. This was nothing like their previous kiss, now they were only thinking of each other, neither was wondering who the other was imagining them to be. The passion and love between them was real. Their lips parted to allow Buffy to breathe, their foreheads resting against each other. Suddenly blue lights swirled around them and they started to fade away.
Buffy and Spike materialised in a graveyard in Sunnydale, still kissing fervently, his hands were entangled in her hair and hers were sliding down his back. Abruptly they pulled back from each other both panting hard. Buffy's hand slapped other her mouth "Oh god!" she cried, disgusted, her expression was matched only by the revolted look on Spike's face.
As their eyes met they hastily turned around and ran in opposite directions, the same thought running through both their minds *it was just the spell, just the spell*. Dawn stepped out from behind a mausoleum a horrified look on her face. *What the hell does it take?!* she thought.
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Buffy turned away from the pool showing her sister's face. "What the hell was that?" she demanded, glaring at the oracle. "Enlightenment" the golden being replied simply. "Yeah right then in was a complete waste of time" Buffy snorted "like I need a mystical creature to tell me that Spike and I hate each other and the only way we'll ever get a long is through a spell".
Dawn stormed out from behind one of the pillars in the oracle's chamber *Why am I always hiding behind something?* "What is wrong with you?" she asked Buffy incredulously. "What is wrong with me!? What is wrong with you? How the hell did you get here?" "She is our emissary" stated the oracle quickly, before this could turn into a full blown sister spat.
"Your what?" Buffy demanded glaring at Dawn. "We never meant for you to get ripped from heaven" said the oracle quietly, as Buffy's eyes flew to Dawn in horror *Oh God, she must know*. Dawn nodded "I knew Buffy, I'm so sorry" she whispered. Buffy ran a hand through her hair and tried to shrug it off. "We decided you deserved true happiness on earth so we enrolled your sister in our cause" At Buffy's outraged look, the oracle continued quickly "Because of what she is, she was the only one who could enter our blessed chamber and therefore be a part of our plan". "I wanted to do it Buffy, you deserve to be happy" Buffy let a small smile pull at her lips, at her sisters words.
"I don't understand" Buffy queried "How was that…" she gestured vaguely at the pool in the centre of the room via which she'd watched the alternate world "meant to show my happiness?". "Spike is your match" the oracle replied. Buffy's mouth gaped open "What?!" she yelled indignantly "what sort of sick joke is this? You're telling me I'm meant to be with the soulless undead?". "Well not all of the them" Dawn giggled "Just Spike". At the appalled look on her sisters face, Dawn reached forward in Buffy's direction, and blue lights shot from her fingers towards Buffy, causing Dawn to receive a sharp glance from the oracle. However, Dawn just grinned as a look of pure bliss swept over Buffy's face.
The oracle nodded at Dawn in understanding and started to explain to Buffy what Dawn had done "What you are feeling now is how you felt in the other world, it was not the spell that caused your love for the Vampire but your true feelings. For some reason both you and William fought against them, eventually he did finally succumb to them even though he fought it every step of the way". Buffy grinned at the realisation that Spike must have hated falling for his mortal enemy as much as she did. Her eyes widened in horror, as her mind ran over what she'd just thought.
Dawn raised her hands in the air in triumph "Yes!" she yelled punching the air, while the oracle's ever present smile widened. "No, no, no, no, no!" Buffy shrieked while waving her hands furiously *I did not just think that I'm falling for Spike*. Dawn raised one eyebrow at her, a gesture very reminiscent of a certain bleached member of the undead. "What you felt in the story world was real, you could feel it again if you just let yourself, surely you've imagined what it would be like if you did?" Dawn questioned, Buffy blushed crimson. "Only in passing!" she defended herself quickly. Dawn simply threw her a 'yeah right' look.
Buffy stood there in silence chewing her bottom lip. After, what to Dawn, seemed like forever, Buffy finally looked up at the oracle. "I want you to send us home" she said firmly.
AN: there will be a short next chapter but I really wanted to post something tonight, so I had to leave the story unfinished, sorry *author looks contrite*. Will post it soon :)