Part 23:


"So, explain to me again, whose Drusilla?" Buffy asked, breaking the silence that had settled since Spike spoke Drusilla's name in a hush, and then proceeded to chain the unconscious women to the wall, to make sure she didn't wake up and decide to attack.

"She was…" Spike began, stressing the was, "the love of my un-life. She was my sire, she rescued me from mediocrity, made me the demon I am. But then she died and I was devastated. That's when I got offered the job to kill you." Spike said, looking down as he muttered the last sentence. Buffy brushed his cheek gently, to remind him that she was trying to forgive him. Spike spoke once more "Mercaptil, the demon who sent me to kill you offered me the chance to bring Drusilla back. I was angry and upset, I was stupid. I took him up on the offer." Spike said, once more angry at himself. Buffy reached for his hand and held it comfortingly. Spike looked up and smiled slightly at her. However, the clanging of chains broke the mood and Buffy and Spike turned to look at an awakening Drusilla.

"My Spike." Drusilla said sweetly, rising to her feet and walking toward Spike and Buffy. However, the chains stopped her and she pouted.

"Do you remember what happened Dru?" Spike asked gently.

"Mercaptil said you needed me, he whispered in my ear, calling out for me to come back to you. The stars were dancing and the flowers were dying, but I knew my Spike needed me. I knew you needed to dance."

"I made a mistake Dru. You will always matter to me, but not the same way we once cared for each other. I need to send you back baby." Spike cooed softly. Buffy watched how tenderly Spike spoke to Drusilla and felt a twinge of jealousy. However, when Spike turned back to Buffy he saw this and motioned for the slayer to follow him into a different room of the mansion, leaving Drusilla pouting and talking to herself.

"What is it?" Buffy asked.

"Slayer." Spike began. "I want you to know that you're the only girl for me. And I know that Dru and I have a history, and I know that the way I act around her is sweet and gentle, and loving. But I need you to know that it's you. I love you, and you're it. You're the one slayer." Buffy didn't waste a moment before she leaned over and hugged Spike tightly to her, not caring that she was breaking the self imposed rule about touching each other until she was ready to start their relationship once more.

Spike reluctantly broke the hug, allowing Buffy to keep her arms hung loosely around his neck. "If we start our relationship again right now I won't be able to say no. And then one day we'll fight about me lying to you. We need time, you said it yourself. And until your sure that it's time for us to try it again, nothing's going to happen to us." Spike reminded Buffy, gently removing her arms from around his neck.

Buffy rolled her eyes but smiled when Spike turned his back. He could be so sweet…he WAS so sweet, always able to see right through her, and always respecting her, and the emotions and feelings she had.

"Found it." Spike said, turning back to Buffy, in the vampire's hand was a syringe filled with some sort of liquid medicine. The slayer backed away from Spike cautiously and the bleached blonde laughed, the sound coming from deep in his belly. "I used to give this to Dru all the time, to keep her calm. I thought if I gave it to her now it would be helpful, keep her from getting into trouble while we tried to summon Mercaptil. I want him to take Drusilla back. As much as I missed her it was a mistake. I know that now." Buffy nodded, feeling a wave of compassion for the vampire as he seemed so calm on the outside, though Buffy knew firsthand how hard it was to let someone you loved go, in favor of doing what's right, or in favor of a knew love. Spike gave Buffy a quizzical look, as he saw the expression she was giving him. However, Buffy shook her head, showing him she didn't want to talk about it.

Spike walked out into the room where Drusilla was chained, she was still babbling incessantly to herself, however when Buffy and Spike approached Drusilla growled.

"What is it Dru?" Spike asked.

"The slayer's taken you away." Dru whispered, a pained expression on her face.

"You were dead, ducks." Spike reminded Drusilla.

"But the stars, as long as they shined we were together. The fire crashed and lightening rumbled, and the world opened up and brought us together." Drusilla said softly. However, Spike sensed that she was getting worked up so when Drusilla had turned away from him to talk to the wall, Spike stuck the needle gently into her arm. Buffy watched, her mouth wide open as Drusilla immediately calmed down.

It was as if her sanity had suddenly returned. Spike was able to unchain her, and Drusilla simply stood waiting for him to lead her out of the mansion. The sun had just begun to set, and Spike figured it was dark enough for a short outing.

"Where too?" Buffy asked, standing on the side of Spike that Drusilla didn't occupy.

"Well, I was hoping that we could go to the library. I thought maybe your pals would resist the urge to stake me" Spike said with a smirk "and help us find a way to get Dru back to where she came from."

"I think the gang could manage that." Buffy said. And she reached over and gently took Spike's hand, the one that he was not using to help guide Drusilla. Spike tensed slightly at the contact, but the moment Buffy leaned her head on his shoulder, Spike relaxed, ignoring the fact that they weren't supposed to be touching, Spike basked in the feeling of warmth and love it gave him to have the slayer once again touching him. It felt like hope.








Birth of the Red Rose:

Once upon a time there was a nightingale who loved a white rose against the will of Allah... And night after night, the nightingale would come and beg the rose for her love but even though the rose trembled at the sound of his voice, her petals remained closed to him. Flower and bird - two species never meant to mate. Yet at length, the rose learned to overcome her fear. She finally let him come close enough to touch her, opening her petals. The nightingale was so moved by the beautiful white rose that he offered her his song, his beauty. As he sang to her, the nightingale's breast was scratched on a thorn, and his blood fell on her soil. And it was from that single forbidden union was born the red rose that Allah never intended the world to know...

abridged from a Persian fairytale