DISCLAIMER IS ON FIRST PAGE

A/N: To answer a question, no, Illyria didn't know that Dawn was the Key, that didn't even cross my mind. She saw Dawn as a prominent figure in Spike's life (like how Fred is valuable to Wes, you know she uses that to her advantage) and she was gathering information. She saw into Dawn and saw how precious she is to Spike. I'll be elaborating more with my next piece.

Birthday Girl "The Greatest Gift"

Buffy slipped inside the seemingly occupant-free house, slid down the door into a crouch and began to weep. Everything she had gone through the past few minutes, the past few days, the past few years had bore a hole through the slayer, and all she wanted to do now is crawl into a hole somewhere and cry.

"Buffy? Is that you?" a voice called from the kitchen. She managed to get to her feet and start creeping toward the kitchen. It couldn't be her, it just couldn't, she thought to herself. As she cautiously entered, she recognized her right away. She couldn't forget her that easily, even after all this time apart.

"Mom?" Buffy managed to squeak as the woman turned toward her. She was exactly as she had remembered, beautiful and soft-spoken. Joyce held her hand towards one of the stools at the counter, offering her to sit down.

"I just made pancakes. You always felt better when I made you pancakes," she said with the same warm smile that made everything bad in Buffy's life seem to melt away.

Buffy obliged and took a seat as Joyce plated up the breakfasty treat and placed a stack in front of her. Of course, she couldn't help but dig in, she hadn't eaten since the horrible airline lasagna. They were exactly as she remembered from her childhood, light and fluffy, served with butter, sugar and lemon juice instead of syrup. Joyce took the seat next to her daughter, modestly ecstatic that Buffy was here enjoying a long but forgotten Summers treat.

"I have missed you so much," Joyce said as she pushed Buffy's hair behind her shoulder. She looked up from her plate and beamed. It had been so long for Buffy. The one person she never thought she would lose was her mom, and now here she was by her side, and she couldn't even think of what to say. She sat silently munching on a bite of pancake when she thought about Dawn.

"This isn't right," Buffy blurted out, shaking her head. "Dawn should be here. She'll kill me if I-"

"Taken care of," Joyce replied, cutting her off. She rose and opened the cabinet near the fridge and pulled out a small package. "There's one in there for both of you," she said as she handed it to Buffy. Inside were two necklaces, the pendants each adorned with blue jewels shaped like a star. "Wear these always, and if you or Dawn ever need to talk to me, just say the word and I'll be there. I am always with you."

"Is this the last present? The one the oracles talked about?" she asked as she fastened the necklace behind her neck. Joyce sighed and sat back down next to her eldest daughter.

"No. You have to make a choice, and it's not an easy one," Joyce began.
"So, that's the whole office," Wesley announced as he led Dawn and Spike back downstairs into the lobby. "Oh, and it's two. You're supposed to see Angel."

"Oh, yeah... I forgot," she stammered. She looked at Spike, who was lighting another cigarette, his fourth since they had been reunited in the training center. She really didn't want to be anywhere else, now that she, and soon Buffy, had him back in their lives.

"Go on Little Bit," he said softly to her. He gave her another big hug, and stroked her hair lightly with his fingertips. "I've got a bit of work to do, then we'll go out. Buy you and sis a big dinner, and we'll do some more talkin' then."

She pulled away and watched him stalk off back towards the training center. She turned and knocked lightly on Angel's office and entered.
"Okay, let me get this straight, I get to choose, but I can't tell them, they have to figure it out for themselves."

"Yes," Joyce replied as she took Buffy's hand.

"And I have to give them time, it won't happen right away, right?"

"I'm afraid so," Joyce said sadly. "I wish I could change things so that... but I can't, the Powers have that control, not me."

"Mom, you know what it's going to be. Just tell me one thing, is he?"

Buffy watched her mom as she looked up as if having a really deep thought about the question. She brought her head down and looked in her daughter's glistening hazel eyes.

"Yes, he's there," she said with a sweet Mom-smile. Buffy took the last bite of her pancake and blotted her mouth lightly with her napkin so as not to smear her MAC lipstick.

"And if we ever need anything..."

"Just say the word and I'll be there."

Buffy jumped from her seat, gave her Mom an overjoyed hug and ran out the door.
Whistler checked his watch for the third time since Buffy went through the archway. She had been gone ten minutes by this dimension's time, much longer than expected. Normally, the summoner returns upon entry, but something may have gone awry. As he gave up and started for the door to leave, Buffy stalked out of the realm with fire in her eyes.

"So, how'd it go?"

"I've got to go," she said, passing him up and not turning back. She held the red jewel up for him to see and retorted, "Got a present for Angel."