A/N: SO sorry for the delay in updating! Hm….Haven't been on the computer with inspiration lately. *bows* Gomennasai!
Epilogue: The Aftermath
Faye stood up and wiped the tears from her face, though the stream didn't stop. She turned her face toward the sky and shouted, "WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE HIM? IT WASN'T HIS TIME TO GO!!!" She shut her eyes tight, clenched her fists, and stared back down at the ground, whispering, "It wasn't his time…"
Julia remained stricken on the ground, now soundlessly mourning. Salty tears flowed freely from her eyes; she did nothing to wipe them away. Instead, she simply got up and began walking back towards the border between Heaven and Hell.
Faye, hearing footsteps, whipped around. "WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?" she shouted at the retreating figure.
"I'm going home…" Julia whispered, her voice quivering. "This is no place for me, now…"
As Faye was about to scream at Julia to turn around and face her, their surroundings materialized. Julia looked up, confused and bewildered. In place of a desolate stretch of desert land, they found themselves in a room. The floors were made of brilliant bronze tile, the ceilings decorated ornately with paintings of angels and cupids. Standing against the walls were bronze statues of the prophets and the Apostles, and there, sitting in an elaborate golden chair, sat…
"St. Peter??" Julia asked incredulously. "The one who…"
"Yes, yes, yes, I'm the one who gave Spike directions to you," Peter said hastily. "Now, we have some business to take care of." He looked down his spectacles at her. "You are his former partner, correct?"
"Partner?"
"Girlfriend. Lover. Mate. Paramour. Significant oth—"
"Yes, yes, of course. That's me," Julia said. "Why?"
He raised his eyebrows. "Well you can't expect me to just let you into Heaven with no background, correct? I mean, I do need to find out a LITTLE about the person Spike Spiegel sacrificed his soul for."
"I-into Heaven? What do you mean?" Faye asked curiously. "She's been sent to Hell already."
Peter gave an exasperated sigh. With an air of someone who has had to explain the same thing for the hundredth time, he pulled out a scroll and began to read. "Any person or persons thought worthy of sacrifice by one of God's Chosen (namely, the people whom God chose to allow into Heaven) may be allowed to take up residence in Heaven in exchange for the soul of the Chosen in question."
"Huh?" asked Faye and Julia together.
Peter rolled his eyes. "If someone in Heaven sacrifices his soul for you, then you can come to Heaven."
"Oh," said Faye. She looked at him. "Why didn't you just say that instead of babbling gobbledy-gook about residence and Chosen and stuff?"
Ignoring this, the saint focused on Julia and continued. "Therefore, by law, you are allowed to enter Heaven because Spike sacrificed himself for you." He looked at her, a softened expression in his eyes. "I think that's what he would have wanted, too…" He paused for a moment, remembering Spike's visit to him, being the only person ever to have the audacity to call him "Pete".
Julia stared at him. "I-I'm allowed into Heaven now? Is that what you were saying?"
Peter blinked. "That was the general idea, yes." He shrugged. "Unless you would prefer…"
"Oh, no!!! Absolutely not!" Julia interrupted. She laughed. "Wow! That's great! Thank you, sir!" She turned to Faye, excited. "I get to go to Heaven, Faye! I get to stay in Heaven!"
Faye rolled her eyes. "Oh, joy…" she said sardonically.
The blonde woman's expression turned icy, as both of the women refused to consent to the fact that they had both just formed an unspoken agreement of friendship through Spike's death. She turned back to Peter. "Is there anywhere I can stay?"
Peter looked at her. "This is Heaven, dear. You can go stay wherever you'd like. God knows we have enough room." His eyes traveled back and forth between the two women. "Why don't you two stop acting like a couple of elementary-school students and get over yourselves? You could both use a roommate now, and you're not seeming to see that there's one standing right in front of you."
"But she—" both of them sputtered, but were silenced as Peter held up a hand.
"Don't tell me about it. Sort out your differences on your own time, and don't waste mine with them. If anything, go see the High Counselor Himself. But I'm no advice-giver. Not my department. However, I will tell you this: it would be better if you both would swallow whatever pride you are clinging to, get rid of the sticks up your butt, and just move in together. A not-so-little birdy told me that there will be a lot you two will find in common, and you'll find better friends within each other than you've ever known before."
They simply stared at him, then looked at each other, turned around, and stalked out of the room, shoving each other on the way out.
Peter shook his head and returned to his paperwork…
_____________________________________________
Several weeks went by, and Julia and Faye, having decided to follow Peter's advice and move in together, were still bickering like a cat and a dog over every little thing.
"If you hadn't left, Spike wouldn't have come after you, and none of us would be dead!"
"Well, if YOU hadn't decided to try and make him cheat on me, he wouldn't be REdead!"
"You still think you two were TOGETHER? Honey, we were all DEAD, for one thing, and for another, YOU WERE GONE FOR WHO KNOWS HOW LONG!!!"
"STILL!!! UGH I hate you, Faye Valentine!"
"The feeling is MUTUAL!!!"
"I WISH SPIKE WERE BACK!!!"
"NOT AS MUCH AS I WISH YOU WERE GONE!"
At that moment, a knock sounded at the door, and they both rushed to it and opened it to find a very scared-looking man with messy blonde hair and a white robe on. "Um…am I interrupting something?" he asked, a worried look on his face.
"No, no, no, not at all," Faye replied, grinning. "We were just sorting out some…er…differences."
"I see…" said the man, looking rather uncomfortable. "Well, anyway, I'm here with a letter from St. Peter. It seems there was a loophole in the law of the Realm of Havenless Souls that permits you two to bring the man who sacrificed himself for you back."
The two women looked at each other, blinked, and suddenly started bombarding him with questions.
"How?"
"When did you find this out?"
"Do we have to work together?"
"Does it involve another sacrifice? Because she's more than willing to!"
He held up his hands defensively, looking even more flustered than before. "I don't know the details! But here's the letter." He reached into a small bag at his side and drew out a silky scroll, which the two women promptly dove for.
To whom it may concern:
It has come to my attention that a certain soul by the name of Spike Spiegel has been cast into the Realm of Havenless Souls. I have been unable to get in contact with you, as I have been occupied with many people dying and such. Anyway, I discovered a way that you may be able to bring his soul back, free of charge. You both must travel to the other side of Hell and confront Narthus, the Ruler of the Realm of Havenless Souls, but you must do it as a team. If there is any dissension between you, he will see it immediately and has every right to deny you your request. So not only must you travel together, you must learn to overcome your differences and gain perfect harmony with one another. I realize that this will not be an easy task for you, but you must either do that or Spike remains lost to you. If you need assistance, send word back with Mike here. He's an angel-in-training.
Sincerely,
St. Peter
Faye and Julia stared at each other, ignoring the angel on their doorstep, a look of utter consternation on their faces. After about ten minutes of silence, they bid Mike goodbye, telling him that if anything went wrong, they would alert Peter, and went back into the house.
A/N: I'm not sure if I should make a sequel. This is the end of this story, but I'm going to wait and see what the public opinion is before I start the sequel. Might kill the original story, but I want to satisfy all the Julia-haters/Spike-lovers. :P