Disclaimer: Its Joss's world, we just play in it (aka, I don't own anything, Joss Whedon does, so please don't sue me, I am just doing this for my own enjoyment. There is no money involved, and trust me, I don't have any anyway. I mean, like, none.)
Author's note: Wow, last chapter!! This is the first one that I have ever finished, I feel somewht accomplished. There is an epilogue, so don't forget to read that too. Thanks for all of the reviews, I am so glad that you like it!
When they were all back in the central meeting room, the room that they seemed to use the most, and the room where the two vampires had awakened over a week ago, Keira sat in the corner. It almost looked like she was meditating, but there was a pained look on her face.
Spike decided not to talk to Buffy at that moment. He was still a little sore about her not being very trusting towards Keira, and the fact that she blatantly disregarded his opinion on the subject. It was over an hour before Buffy couldn't take the glaring any more.
"Spike, could I talk to you for a minute."
"I suppose." He said reluctantly. He got up and followed her out of the room.
"Look, I'm sorry about what I said, alright? Its just that, after fighting the first, and everything, it's a little hard to trust someone who just pops up out of the blue and says, 'hey, you're part of this big prophecy, come on, lets go fight!' You know what I mean."
"I understand, Buffy." He said, leaning back against a wall. He then let out a small, self-deprecating chuckle.
"What?"
"You know, anyone else said anything to me, and I would've just told them to sod off. You are one of the only people that I care what they say to me. I never thought that would happen."
"Really, I mean, you care what I say, I mean, my opinion?"
"You really have to ask that? Course I do, Slayer, I have for a long time. The nibblet, she was the first friend that I have had in a long time, but you, I think you are probably the first best friend I have ever truly had. And you have never stopped believing in me. Ok, well, maybe for a short period of time there, but I kinda deserved that..."
"Lets not go back into history. It was the past, remember, and you were totally different."
"I know. I know."
"Well, so here we are again, another ominous fight between good and evil, and once again we are the only ones that can save the world. You'd think by now they'd let us take a break or something."
"Now, technically, isn't that what you were on, for the last year or so."
"Oh alright, I guess it was, but still, we've saved the world more than once..."
"True, but you know what they say, right?"
"What?"
"Third time's a charm."
"It better be."
"C'mon, lets get back in there before Peaches blows a gasket. Seems to get even broodier whenever we leave the room by ourselves and he isn't invited."
When they reentered the room, they saw Keira pacing back and forth, and Dawn and Angel watching her. It looked like they were at a tennis match, watching the ball being hit back and forth.
"Keira, no offence or anything, but if you keep doing that, I think I am going to get dizzy." Dawn stated.
"Oh, sorry." Keira said, sitting down once again.
"Why don't you take your mind off of this whole, impending doom." Angel suggested.
Keira sighed, "Alright."
They all looked around at each other, hoping someone would start a conversation.
"Ok, then," Spike stated, walking over to where Keira was and sitting down next to her, "Lets see if we can't get these things off."
He reached out and grabbed her arm lightly. With his fingers and with vampire strength, he tried prying the wristbands off of her, only to get shocked and thrown a few inches away. "Bugger," he exclaimed.
"Yeah, I tried that once, nothing works. I hate these things, I just wish I could take them off and finally be free."
"I understand that." He said comfortingly.
"Thanks. What are your wishes?" she asked the others sitting around.
"To be happy." Angel said quietly, looking down at his hands. "But to be more specific, I don't know, or know how."
"Its hard to say." Buffy said, looking thoughtful. "Do we have to know what it is?"
"I don't think so. But whatever it really is, that's what it will be."
"That's a bit cryptic."
"Sorry, these things rarely come in the easy to understand text."
Suddenly, Keira became rigid again, and she shook uncontrollably.
"What, what is it?" Spike asked.
"They...they're here." She whispered.
"Weapon's room." Angel stated.
"Dawn, stay here with Keira." Buffy said, getting up and following Angel out.
"But..." Dawn said.
"Stay here, Bit." Spike said, bringing up the rear.
"We should..." Dawn started.
"Yeah, come on." Keira finished, knowing exactly what she was going to say.
The two of them reached the doorway that led out of the fortress just as the three others ran out of it. They all saw huge billows of smoke descending from the cloudy sky in front of them. From within the smoke appeared the demons. The Wolf- a humanoid creature with red glowing eyes, pointed ears and razor-like teeth, the Ram- also humanoid, but with hard, curling horns that surrounded his grotesque face, and the Hart- humanlike and hideous, with large antlers atop his head.
"Wait, there's only one!" Angel exclaimed, "And it has horns."
"No, it has really nasty teeth." Buffy argued.
"You're both wrong, it has antlers, and is bloody ugly."
All three looked at each other, and ran towards the demon that they saw, all of them a different one. Dawn and Keira watched from the door, a look of surprise swept across Keira's face.
"What, what is it?" Dawn asked.
They both heard the voices, and suddenly realized what was happening:
'Being the slayer made me different, but I chose to stay that way.'
'I'm not known for being a thinker, I follow my blood...'
'You have no idea what its like to do the things that I have done...and to care.'
"They're fighting..." Dawn started.
"Their weaknesses." Keira finished, once again.
In nature, a lone wolf will live a solitary life, a ram will be stubborn, and a hart, a male deer, will follow instinct alone, and not think before he goes. The difference between what it is in nature, and what these demons were, was that an animal could change its behavior.
As the champion's fought, visions of memories flooded their brains, of points when their weaknesses showed. To truly defeat this evil, they had to confront what it was about themselves that held them back. Every punch, every swing of their weapons, was met exactly by their opponent.
"Oh, to hell with letting them fight this alone!" Keira said in frustration.
With that, she tore off down the hallway. Dawn was quickly on her heals.
"What are you going to do?" Dawn asked, when she reached the weapon's room, where Keira was.
"I'm going to help." She said, grabbing six small, but very sharp, knives.
The two then ran as fast as they could to the entrance. Upon reaching it, Keira took a deep breath, and two by two, with lightening speed, threw the knives at the eyes of the demons. The first two hit Buffy's adversary. "Trust in the strength of your friendships, you are not alone." Keira said in Buffy's mind.
The next hit Angel's.
"Let other's help carry your burden," is what Angel heard.
And, then, it was Spike.
"Think, Spike, just think."
The demons were furious at the intersession of this outsider in their battle. The Wolf reached out his hand and made it so that Keira was lifted from the ground. She was now outside of the fortress, but the wristbands were not strong enough to repel the monster's dark magic. Next, the Ram slammed her body against the outside wall, and the Hart removed one of his large antlers from his head, and propelled it straight towards Keira's torso. Angel, Buffy and Spike all turned and saw what was happening, but none were able to stop it, no matter how much they tried. They all turned back, furious, the most of which was Spike, who started wailing in on his opponent. But, he kept hearing her words in his head, just think, just think. He stopped, if only for a moment, and looked up at the demon. Then, it hit him. With the sword that he had at his side, he swung it to throw the demon off his feat, and as he was going down, he grabbed the other antler. Before the Hart was able to stand again, he used the antler to stake him down to the ground, and used the sword to decapitate it. His movements were swift, calculated, and his foe had not expected it. The Hart decayed where it lay.
Spike ran as fast as he could back to where Keira and Dawn were. Dawn was trying to stop the bleeding where the antlers had impaled the other, but it was no use.
"It's not healing, why isn't it healing?" he asked.
"Look," Dawn said, pointing to the one wristband, which was cracked and barely on. Angel glanced over to his right, where Spike had been fighting. It was now that he saw the corpse of the other demon, the one that he had not seen before. He also saw the sword that had been left abandoned on the ground. With cat-like movements, he slid over and grabbed the other sword, so that now he held two weapons, the other a battleaxe that he had had before. Using both of them, he swung furiously at the Ram, and successfully disarmed it of its own weapons, and proceeded to cut its body in half.
Buffy thought of all the people she knew, and everything that they had taught her throughout her life as she fought her antagonist. The two of them were already fighting hand to hand, their weapons having been discarded early in the intercourse, and it seemed that when every memory of her friends came to her, she got that much stronger, and she had gained the upper hand. Now, the beast was down on the ground, and Buffy struck the final blow, clearly breaking the demon's neck. He turned into dust in front of her. Angel and Buffy ran toward the other three, but stopped a few feet short when they saw what was happening. Spike was kneeling next to Keira, her head now rested in his lap. Dawn still sat there, her hands still futilely trying to stop the bleeding.
"You did it William, I'm proud of you, all of you." Keira said, weakly.
"Thanks to you, love. Don't worry, you're gonna be fine." He said, through tears that he willed not to shed.
Keira smiled, but her eyes closed.
"No," Spike said, "No! That's not fair! Do you hear me!? She doesn't deserve this, it's not fair!!" he yelled, looking up to the sky
A small glow started to come from Keira's body, and she began to be lifted up from the ground. Spike's face was covered by his hands. Buffy and Angel started to walk to them, but a flash of light hitting their eyes made them stop.
After the flash, Buffy saw, instead of her surroundings, all of her friends and her sitting around in a cozy living room, enjoying each other's company. Xander was there, and Willow, Dawn, Giles, even Angel and Spike. But, just as soon as the vision had appeared, it left, and she was once again on the island, looking at Keira's floating, lifeless body. Angel saw something completely different. He could see people he knew all around him, it almost looked like it could have been a party, and Connor came up to him, smiled, and gave him a hug, he felt warm inside. And then, just like Buffy, he was back on the island.
Keira, surrounded by the mystical light, came back to consciousness and heard a whispered voice.
"And what is your wish?" it said.
"My what?" she thought back.
"Your wish. You helped good prevail. What is your wish?"
"I..." she started.
Then she saw what Angel and Buffy has seen, and she heard what Spike kept muttering to himself, 'Let her live, she deserves it,'
"They, they all wished for something for others, happiness, friendship, its all something that they share. I, I wish for their humanity. Let Spike and Angel be human again. They've earned it. And let Buffy live again, really live."
"As you wish." The voice said.
With that, Keira's eyes opened, and she descended to the ground, the light was gone. Angel stopped, surprised, when he suddenly felt a pulse and his heart beating. He took in a deep breath, and he needed to expel it. Buffy ran over to Spike and Dawn, who was now next to Spike, her arm around his shoulder. She was trying to get him to open his eyes.
"Spike, Spike!" Dawn repeated.
"No, just," he muttered, still not looking.
Buffy looked at Keira's shocked face, a bit astonished herself at what had just happened in front of her. Buffy shook her head and turned her attention to Spike.
"Hey, Spike, c'mon William," she said, shaking his shoulder.
"That's it," he said, looking down at the ground, "What's the use of being good if the people you care about either leave or die."
"Of for goodness sake, Spike, look up." Keira said, walking closer to them and crouching down in front of the three.
Spike jumped at the sound of her voice, and looked up in surprise.
"Keira, but, I thought...you were dead."
"Yeah, so where you." She said, smiling.
"Huh?" he asked.
At that moment, he realized that he was breathing, and that he needed to. In astonishment, he touched his face and his chest, and felt the warmth return to his skin and the beating of his very own heart.
"What?" he said again, dumbfounded.
"You never were the smartest one in the group." Angel said, joining the rest of them.
"Angel." The three women admonished him
Buffy shook her head, and then looked at Keira, "So, what just happened, after we fought, I saw, something."
"Me too." Angel said.
"Those were your wishes. Which, I believe, have come true."
"Wait, I didn't see anything." Spike said, confused.
"You kept muttering to let me live. That's why I'm here right now." She whispered to him, smiling.
Spike smiled back. "So, how am I human?"
Keira's smile got even wider. "Because, that was my wish. For you, Angel, and Buffy. I wished for you three to really live, you all deserve it more than anything."
Keira, Dawn, Spike and Buffy stood up. Spike gave Keira a warm hug, and then put his arm around Dawn. He looked over at Buffy and smiled gratefully at her. All five of them stood there, in an amiable silence. Well, for a moment, anyway.
"Um, I hate to break the whole party feeling we got going on here, but, how do we get off of the island. The ship disappeared." Buffy asked, looking around.
Keira smiled even brighter. "I know." She said.
She ran towards the door, but stopped a few feet short. "Wait a minute, am I outside?"
"Yeah," Dawn said.
"Wait, that means..."
"The spell's broken." Spike said, smiling back at her. "See, I told you we'd get those things off of you."
"Though, that was probably due more to getting thrown against the wall." Angel said, thoughtfully.
"Hey, any way is a good way." Keira said, entering the building that had once held her captive.
She was only gone a few moments before she ran back out, a small bag in her hand.
"What is it?" Buffy asked.
"A signal." Keira said, retrieving three small, bright white stones from the bag. She took them in her one hand, and with all of her strength, she threw them high into the air.
"So, what kind of signal is that?" Buffy asked.
"You'll see, in a few minutes." Keira answered.
And she was right. Within a few moments, three griffons, two large, one smaller, came flying down, and landed right in front of the five people standing there.
"Wow, what are those?" Dawn asked.
"Um, I'm guessing those are the griffons?" Angel said.
"You'd be correct."
"Wait, how'd it get in the fortress, they're the size of elephants?" Spike said incredulously.
"Well, Brutus here, that's the really big one, he's pretty agile. He kinda half floated over by the balcony."
"He's the one that brought us here?" Angel asked, walking up to the large, beautiful creature and tentatively putting his hand out to touch it.
Brutus nuzzled his hand.
"Yup. The other large one is his mate, Hestia, and, is that little Rufus?" Keira said, the last part directed to the male griffon.
Brutus nodded his head.
"Oh, he's gotten so big, he looks just like you." Keira stated.
"Their child, I'm guessing." Angel said.
"Yeah. He's a sweet little thing."
As if he was demonstrating what Keira had just said, Rufus walked up to Dawn and nuzzled her shoulder. Even though he was still quite young, he was already the size of a horse.
"Well, looks like you just made a friend." Keira said to Dawn.
"Oh, he's so cute!" Dawn exclaimed, petting the little griffon.
"They'll take you wherever you want to go." Keira said, backing away from the group. "Just tell them where."
Keira turned away from them then, and tried her hardest not to start crying. She knew that this was going to be the last time that she ever saw them. But just when she thought that they were on their way, she felt two hands rest on her shoulders.
"Hey, Stripes, what is it?"
"Nothing, Spike, I'm fine." She said through the lump in her throat.
"No you're not." He said, turning her around.
"I'm, I'm just going to miss you all so much..."
"Hey, what are all the tears for?" Buffy said, walking over to them.
"Its nothing...I'm just going to miss all of you when..."
"What do you mean?" Buffy asked. "Aren't you going to come along?"
"Huh?" she asked, surprised.
"Don't you want to?" Buffy asked.
"Of course, I mean, I wasn't going to presume..."
"Nonsense." Spike said, and then he leaned towards her ear and whispered, "I couldn't just leave you here."
Keira really started crying now, but they were tears of joy instead of sorrow. She threw her arms around Spike and hugged him tightly.
"Ok, there, I need my lungs now, you know." He said, chuckling.
Keira smiled as she let him go, but before she did, she brought her hands up to the sides of his face and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.
"Oh, sorry, I keep doing that." She said, slightly embarrassed.
Buffy looked as though she was trying not to laugh, and Spike had a surprised, but not unpleasant look on his face.
"Thank you Buffy." Keira said, hugging her too.
"Ok, but no kissing." She joked.
"Ok, I won't."
"So, are you three coming with us, or not?" Angel asked, walking over to the group, Dawn close behind him.
"Yeah, we're coming." Buffy said.
"Anything you want from in there?" Spike asked, motioning towards the old building.
"Well, maybe..." she said, and then she walked over to Brutus, "Could you three wait a few minutes?"
The griffon chortled and nodded his head.
She entered the building and picked up only a few things, some of the weapons that she had made all those years ago, and the large book that was her only constant companion for a millennium. When she got back out, she saw that everyone was ready to leave. Angel and Buffy were already on Hestia, and Dawn was on Rufus.
"C'mon then." Spike said, motioning towards Brutus, of whom he was already sitting atop.
Keira smiled and rushed towards the griffon. Spike held out his hand and helped her up onto the animal's back.
"So, are we ready?" Angel asked.
"I think so." Dawn said.
"So, where are we going?" Keira asked.
"How about LA?" Buffy said.
"Sounds good to me." Keira said, smiling.
"LA it is." Angel said, "Uh, how do you get these guys to move?"
"Easy, just tell them to." Keira said, suppressing a laugh.
With a word, they were airborne, flying high in the night sky. It wasn't long before they saw a light starting to come up over the horizon in front of them.
"Keira, that's..." Spike said in a stunned voice, tapping her hand, which was around his waist.
"Sunrise." She finished, smiling at the man in front of her.
"Its...its beautiful." He said quietly.
It sure is."
Author's note: Wow, last chapter!! This is the first one that I have ever finished, I feel somewht accomplished. There is an epilogue, so don't forget to read that too. Thanks for all of the reviews, I am so glad that you like it!
When they were all back in the central meeting room, the room that they seemed to use the most, and the room where the two vampires had awakened over a week ago, Keira sat in the corner. It almost looked like she was meditating, but there was a pained look on her face.
Spike decided not to talk to Buffy at that moment. He was still a little sore about her not being very trusting towards Keira, and the fact that she blatantly disregarded his opinion on the subject. It was over an hour before Buffy couldn't take the glaring any more.
"Spike, could I talk to you for a minute."
"I suppose." He said reluctantly. He got up and followed her out of the room.
"Look, I'm sorry about what I said, alright? Its just that, after fighting the first, and everything, it's a little hard to trust someone who just pops up out of the blue and says, 'hey, you're part of this big prophecy, come on, lets go fight!' You know what I mean."
"I understand, Buffy." He said, leaning back against a wall. He then let out a small, self-deprecating chuckle.
"What?"
"You know, anyone else said anything to me, and I would've just told them to sod off. You are one of the only people that I care what they say to me. I never thought that would happen."
"Really, I mean, you care what I say, I mean, my opinion?"
"You really have to ask that? Course I do, Slayer, I have for a long time. The nibblet, she was the first friend that I have had in a long time, but you, I think you are probably the first best friend I have ever truly had. And you have never stopped believing in me. Ok, well, maybe for a short period of time there, but I kinda deserved that..."
"Lets not go back into history. It was the past, remember, and you were totally different."
"I know. I know."
"Well, so here we are again, another ominous fight between good and evil, and once again we are the only ones that can save the world. You'd think by now they'd let us take a break or something."
"Now, technically, isn't that what you were on, for the last year or so."
"Oh alright, I guess it was, but still, we've saved the world more than once..."
"True, but you know what they say, right?"
"What?"
"Third time's a charm."
"It better be."
"C'mon, lets get back in there before Peaches blows a gasket. Seems to get even broodier whenever we leave the room by ourselves and he isn't invited."
When they reentered the room, they saw Keira pacing back and forth, and Dawn and Angel watching her. It looked like they were at a tennis match, watching the ball being hit back and forth.
"Keira, no offence or anything, but if you keep doing that, I think I am going to get dizzy." Dawn stated.
"Oh, sorry." Keira said, sitting down once again.
"Why don't you take your mind off of this whole, impending doom." Angel suggested.
Keira sighed, "Alright."
They all looked around at each other, hoping someone would start a conversation.
"Ok, then," Spike stated, walking over to where Keira was and sitting down next to her, "Lets see if we can't get these things off."
He reached out and grabbed her arm lightly. With his fingers and with vampire strength, he tried prying the wristbands off of her, only to get shocked and thrown a few inches away. "Bugger," he exclaimed.
"Yeah, I tried that once, nothing works. I hate these things, I just wish I could take them off and finally be free."
"I understand that." He said comfortingly.
"Thanks. What are your wishes?" she asked the others sitting around.
"To be happy." Angel said quietly, looking down at his hands. "But to be more specific, I don't know, or know how."
"Its hard to say." Buffy said, looking thoughtful. "Do we have to know what it is?"
"I don't think so. But whatever it really is, that's what it will be."
"That's a bit cryptic."
"Sorry, these things rarely come in the easy to understand text."
Suddenly, Keira became rigid again, and she shook uncontrollably.
"What, what is it?" Spike asked.
"They...they're here." She whispered.
"Weapon's room." Angel stated.
"Dawn, stay here with Keira." Buffy said, getting up and following Angel out.
"But..." Dawn said.
"Stay here, Bit." Spike said, bringing up the rear.
"We should..." Dawn started.
"Yeah, come on." Keira finished, knowing exactly what she was going to say.
The two of them reached the doorway that led out of the fortress just as the three others ran out of it. They all saw huge billows of smoke descending from the cloudy sky in front of them. From within the smoke appeared the demons. The Wolf- a humanoid creature with red glowing eyes, pointed ears and razor-like teeth, the Ram- also humanoid, but with hard, curling horns that surrounded his grotesque face, and the Hart- humanlike and hideous, with large antlers atop his head.
"Wait, there's only one!" Angel exclaimed, "And it has horns."
"No, it has really nasty teeth." Buffy argued.
"You're both wrong, it has antlers, and is bloody ugly."
All three looked at each other, and ran towards the demon that they saw, all of them a different one. Dawn and Keira watched from the door, a look of surprise swept across Keira's face.
"What, what is it?" Dawn asked.
They both heard the voices, and suddenly realized what was happening:
'Being the slayer made me different, but I chose to stay that way.'
'I'm not known for being a thinker, I follow my blood...'
'You have no idea what its like to do the things that I have done...and to care.'
"They're fighting..." Dawn started.
"Their weaknesses." Keira finished, once again.
In nature, a lone wolf will live a solitary life, a ram will be stubborn, and a hart, a male deer, will follow instinct alone, and not think before he goes. The difference between what it is in nature, and what these demons were, was that an animal could change its behavior.
As the champion's fought, visions of memories flooded their brains, of points when their weaknesses showed. To truly defeat this evil, they had to confront what it was about themselves that held them back. Every punch, every swing of their weapons, was met exactly by their opponent.
"Oh, to hell with letting them fight this alone!" Keira said in frustration.
With that, she tore off down the hallway. Dawn was quickly on her heals.
"What are you going to do?" Dawn asked, when she reached the weapon's room, where Keira was.
"I'm going to help." She said, grabbing six small, but very sharp, knives.
The two then ran as fast as they could to the entrance. Upon reaching it, Keira took a deep breath, and two by two, with lightening speed, threw the knives at the eyes of the demons. The first two hit Buffy's adversary. "Trust in the strength of your friendships, you are not alone." Keira said in Buffy's mind.
The next hit Angel's.
"Let other's help carry your burden," is what Angel heard.
And, then, it was Spike.
"Think, Spike, just think."
The demons were furious at the intersession of this outsider in their battle. The Wolf reached out his hand and made it so that Keira was lifted from the ground. She was now outside of the fortress, but the wristbands were not strong enough to repel the monster's dark magic. Next, the Ram slammed her body against the outside wall, and the Hart removed one of his large antlers from his head, and propelled it straight towards Keira's torso. Angel, Buffy and Spike all turned and saw what was happening, but none were able to stop it, no matter how much they tried. They all turned back, furious, the most of which was Spike, who started wailing in on his opponent. But, he kept hearing her words in his head, just think, just think. He stopped, if only for a moment, and looked up at the demon. Then, it hit him. With the sword that he had at his side, he swung it to throw the demon off his feat, and as he was going down, he grabbed the other antler. Before the Hart was able to stand again, he used the antler to stake him down to the ground, and used the sword to decapitate it. His movements were swift, calculated, and his foe had not expected it. The Hart decayed where it lay.
Spike ran as fast as he could back to where Keira and Dawn were. Dawn was trying to stop the bleeding where the antlers had impaled the other, but it was no use.
"It's not healing, why isn't it healing?" he asked.
"Look," Dawn said, pointing to the one wristband, which was cracked and barely on. Angel glanced over to his right, where Spike had been fighting. It was now that he saw the corpse of the other demon, the one that he had not seen before. He also saw the sword that had been left abandoned on the ground. With cat-like movements, he slid over and grabbed the other sword, so that now he held two weapons, the other a battleaxe that he had had before. Using both of them, he swung furiously at the Ram, and successfully disarmed it of its own weapons, and proceeded to cut its body in half.
Buffy thought of all the people she knew, and everything that they had taught her throughout her life as she fought her antagonist. The two of them were already fighting hand to hand, their weapons having been discarded early in the intercourse, and it seemed that when every memory of her friends came to her, she got that much stronger, and she had gained the upper hand. Now, the beast was down on the ground, and Buffy struck the final blow, clearly breaking the demon's neck. He turned into dust in front of her. Angel and Buffy ran toward the other three, but stopped a few feet short when they saw what was happening. Spike was kneeling next to Keira, her head now rested in his lap. Dawn still sat there, her hands still futilely trying to stop the bleeding.
"You did it William, I'm proud of you, all of you." Keira said, weakly.
"Thanks to you, love. Don't worry, you're gonna be fine." He said, through tears that he willed not to shed.
Keira smiled, but her eyes closed.
"No," Spike said, "No! That's not fair! Do you hear me!? She doesn't deserve this, it's not fair!!" he yelled, looking up to the sky
A small glow started to come from Keira's body, and she began to be lifted up from the ground. Spike's face was covered by his hands. Buffy and Angel started to walk to them, but a flash of light hitting their eyes made them stop.
After the flash, Buffy saw, instead of her surroundings, all of her friends and her sitting around in a cozy living room, enjoying each other's company. Xander was there, and Willow, Dawn, Giles, even Angel and Spike. But, just as soon as the vision had appeared, it left, and she was once again on the island, looking at Keira's floating, lifeless body. Angel saw something completely different. He could see people he knew all around him, it almost looked like it could have been a party, and Connor came up to him, smiled, and gave him a hug, he felt warm inside. And then, just like Buffy, he was back on the island.
Keira, surrounded by the mystical light, came back to consciousness and heard a whispered voice.
"And what is your wish?" it said.
"My what?" she thought back.
"Your wish. You helped good prevail. What is your wish?"
"I..." she started.
Then she saw what Angel and Buffy has seen, and she heard what Spike kept muttering to himself, 'Let her live, she deserves it,'
"They, they all wished for something for others, happiness, friendship, its all something that they share. I, I wish for their humanity. Let Spike and Angel be human again. They've earned it. And let Buffy live again, really live."
"As you wish." The voice said.
With that, Keira's eyes opened, and she descended to the ground, the light was gone. Angel stopped, surprised, when he suddenly felt a pulse and his heart beating. He took in a deep breath, and he needed to expel it. Buffy ran over to Spike and Dawn, who was now next to Spike, her arm around his shoulder. She was trying to get him to open his eyes.
"Spike, Spike!" Dawn repeated.
"No, just," he muttered, still not looking.
Buffy looked at Keira's shocked face, a bit astonished herself at what had just happened in front of her. Buffy shook her head and turned her attention to Spike.
"Hey, Spike, c'mon William," she said, shaking his shoulder.
"That's it," he said, looking down at the ground, "What's the use of being good if the people you care about either leave or die."
"Of for goodness sake, Spike, look up." Keira said, walking closer to them and crouching down in front of the three.
Spike jumped at the sound of her voice, and looked up in surprise.
"Keira, but, I thought...you were dead."
"Yeah, so where you." She said, smiling.
"Huh?" he asked.
At that moment, he realized that he was breathing, and that he needed to. In astonishment, he touched his face and his chest, and felt the warmth return to his skin and the beating of his very own heart.
"What?" he said again, dumbfounded.
"You never were the smartest one in the group." Angel said, joining the rest of them.
"Angel." The three women admonished him
Buffy shook her head, and then looked at Keira, "So, what just happened, after we fought, I saw, something."
"Me too." Angel said.
"Those were your wishes. Which, I believe, have come true."
"Wait, I didn't see anything." Spike said, confused.
"You kept muttering to let me live. That's why I'm here right now." She whispered to him, smiling.
Spike smiled back. "So, how am I human?"
Keira's smile got even wider. "Because, that was my wish. For you, Angel, and Buffy. I wished for you three to really live, you all deserve it more than anything."
Keira, Dawn, Spike and Buffy stood up. Spike gave Keira a warm hug, and then put his arm around Dawn. He looked over at Buffy and smiled gratefully at her. All five of them stood there, in an amiable silence. Well, for a moment, anyway.
"Um, I hate to break the whole party feeling we got going on here, but, how do we get off of the island. The ship disappeared." Buffy asked, looking around.
Keira smiled even brighter. "I know." She said.
She ran towards the door, but stopped a few feet short. "Wait a minute, am I outside?"
"Yeah," Dawn said.
"Wait, that means..."
"The spell's broken." Spike said, smiling back at her. "See, I told you we'd get those things off of you."
"Though, that was probably due more to getting thrown against the wall." Angel said, thoughtfully.
"Hey, any way is a good way." Keira said, entering the building that had once held her captive.
She was only gone a few moments before she ran back out, a small bag in her hand.
"What is it?" Buffy asked.
"A signal." Keira said, retrieving three small, bright white stones from the bag. She took them in her one hand, and with all of her strength, she threw them high into the air.
"So, what kind of signal is that?" Buffy asked.
"You'll see, in a few minutes." Keira answered.
And she was right. Within a few moments, three griffons, two large, one smaller, came flying down, and landed right in front of the five people standing there.
"Wow, what are those?" Dawn asked.
"Um, I'm guessing those are the griffons?" Angel said.
"You'd be correct."
"Wait, how'd it get in the fortress, they're the size of elephants?" Spike said incredulously.
"Well, Brutus here, that's the really big one, he's pretty agile. He kinda half floated over by the balcony."
"He's the one that brought us here?" Angel asked, walking up to the large, beautiful creature and tentatively putting his hand out to touch it.
Brutus nuzzled his hand.
"Yup. The other large one is his mate, Hestia, and, is that little Rufus?" Keira said, the last part directed to the male griffon.
Brutus nodded his head.
"Oh, he's gotten so big, he looks just like you." Keira stated.
"Their child, I'm guessing." Angel said.
"Yeah. He's a sweet little thing."
As if he was demonstrating what Keira had just said, Rufus walked up to Dawn and nuzzled her shoulder. Even though he was still quite young, he was already the size of a horse.
"Well, looks like you just made a friend." Keira said to Dawn.
"Oh, he's so cute!" Dawn exclaimed, petting the little griffon.
"They'll take you wherever you want to go." Keira said, backing away from the group. "Just tell them where."
Keira turned away from them then, and tried her hardest not to start crying. She knew that this was going to be the last time that she ever saw them. But just when she thought that they were on their way, she felt two hands rest on her shoulders.
"Hey, Stripes, what is it?"
"Nothing, Spike, I'm fine." She said through the lump in her throat.
"No you're not." He said, turning her around.
"I'm, I'm just going to miss you all so much..."
"Hey, what are all the tears for?" Buffy said, walking over to them.
"Its nothing...I'm just going to miss all of you when..."
"What do you mean?" Buffy asked. "Aren't you going to come along?"
"Huh?" she asked, surprised.
"Don't you want to?" Buffy asked.
"Of course, I mean, I wasn't going to presume..."
"Nonsense." Spike said, and then he leaned towards her ear and whispered, "I couldn't just leave you here."
Keira really started crying now, but they were tears of joy instead of sorrow. She threw her arms around Spike and hugged him tightly.
"Ok, there, I need my lungs now, you know." He said, chuckling.
Keira smiled as she let him go, but before she did, she brought her hands up to the sides of his face and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.
"Oh, sorry, I keep doing that." She said, slightly embarrassed.
Buffy looked as though she was trying not to laugh, and Spike had a surprised, but not unpleasant look on his face.
"Thank you Buffy." Keira said, hugging her too.
"Ok, but no kissing." She joked.
"Ok, I won't."
"So, are you three coming with us, or not?" Angel asked, walking over to the group, Dawn close behind him.
"Yeah, we're coming." Buffy said.
"Anything you want from in there?" Spike asked, motioning towards the old building.
"Well, maybe..." she said, and then she walked over to Brutus, "Could you three wait a few minutes?"
The griffon chortled and nodded his head.
She entered the building and picked up only a few things, some of the weapons that she had made all those years ago, and the large book that was her only constant companion for a millennium. When she got back out, she saw that everyone was ready to leave. Angel and Buffy were already on Hestia, and Dawn was on Rufus.
"C'mon then." Spike said, motioning towards Brutus, of whom he was already sitting atop.
Keira smiled and rushed towards the griffon. Spike held out his hand and helped her up onto the animal's back.
"So, are we ready?" Angel asked.
"I think so." Dawn said.
"So, where are we going?" Keira asked.
"How about LA?" Buffy said.
"Sounds good to me." Keira said, smiling.
"LA it is." Angel said, "Uh, how do you get these guys to move?"
"Easy, just tell them to." Keira said, suppressing a laugh.
With a word, they were airborne, flying high in the night sky. It wasn't long before they saw a light starting to come up over the horizon in front of them.
"Keira, that's..." Spike said in a stunned voice, tapping her hand, which was around his waist.
"Sunrise." She finished, smiling at the man in front of her.
"Its...its beautiful." He said quietly.
It sure is."