Chapter 2: Reunion

Buffy stared at the white clouds through the small window of the plane. She was on the edge of her seat. She could not sleep nor relax as her mind continued reminding her that Spike was indeed alive…and breathing. A smile tugged at her lips when she realized that her faith in him finally paid off. She hadn't given up on him, still believing that someday he would return into her arms. And he would, in a few hours.

A lone tear slowly made its way down to her cheek as she blinked. Spike is alive, her mind reminded her again for the thousandth time. The moment Angel told her the miraculous news, her heart skipped a beat. She was sure that she would've had slumped into the floor if her hand didn't grip on the edge of the counter in a blink of eye. As soon as she hung up, she asked her boss for several days off due to family emergency and he was kindly enough to give it to her. Buffy fled the restaurant once the permission was granted and packed her bag the second she arrived at home.

And now, she was on the way to Los Angeles, anxious to be reunited with the man she loved. She hadn't moved on and she was grateful to that. Willow had tried to reason with her that Spike had gone and wouldn't come back every time she gave her a call. However, Buffy was adamant to her belief and she would hear none of it. She knew each of her friends had gradually moved on to have a normal life but she wasn't ready yet. She wasn't ready to accept the fact that Spike wasn't returning to her. Sighing, Buffy looked back to the window as she reflected how every one of her friends moved on after Sunnydale was destroyed.

Giles went back to England and planned on rebuilding the council of watchers. Though all of the books in the council as well as the ones he brought to Sunnydale were destroyed, he still had some of his collection at his apartment in England and they were good enough as the sources of demon information for the starter.

One time, Willow visited him and the coven with Kennedy; alas a flight crash separated her and her girlfriend apart. The redhead witch survived but the former potential slayer didn't. Buffy thought that with the death of Kennedy, Willow would understand how it felt to be left alone by the person one loved. Willow did though, for a while. But she had slowly moved on ever since she decided to live in England and joined the coven.

Xander. Buffy smiled ruefully as she remembered her oldest male best friend. She knew that behind his jokes and smiling face, he still felt the pain of losing Anya. He still loved her very much and Buffy didn't doubt it for any second. Yet, he too had made a good progress in living a normal life. Residing in Boston, he now became a well-respected building constructor and had bonded with Andrew who shared the care for Anya.

Buffy hadn't heard from Faith, Wood and the rest of the former SITs for a while. She only knew that Faith and Wood moved to New York where Wood was born and that they agreed to give each other a chance in a serious relationship. All of the former SITs returned to their respective family since there was nothing for them after Sunnydale was gone.

And Dawn, she was rather forced to move on by Buffy. The slayer left her in their father's care and hoped that her sister would have a better life without her. She admitted that it was selfish of her but she didn't want to drag her sister into dwelling in misery of missing Spike.

She took a long deep breath. Looking at the screen in front of the middle column of seats, she silently counted the hours left before she met the man who had been haunting her dreams every night.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

She looked frantically around the lobby, eyes searching for a certain blond man.

"Buffy, I didn't expect you to-" Angel's greeting was cut off as she grasped his arms and looked up to him.

"Where is he? Tell me where he is?" She asked impatiently.

"He's in-"

"Do you people realize that putting blood in the fridge is just-" Spike stopped himself once he saw the young woman standing in front of the double doors. His mouth was agape, his tongue hung in the air as he stared at her. What a beautiful creature. His brows drew into a frown when she strode towards him, eyes fixing on his. Do I know her?

Buffy and Angel snapped their heads to the blond man who just walked in. She clasped her hands over her mouth. It's him. It's really him! It's Spike, her Spike. Her lower lip began to quiver as she tried to contain her cry. She didn't dare to blink, afraid if she closed her eyes just for one millisecond, he would vanish.

Buffy stepped slowly towards him, then increased her pace when the fact that he was really there finally sank in. She flung her arms over him and began raining kisses over his face, tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

"It's you. It's really you. Oh god, I miss you. I miss you so much, Spike." She choked out her words, still planting kisses on his forehead, cheeks, eyes, nose, and finally lips. Buffy stopped her ministration when she felt his body rigid. She leaned her head back, looking up to him with confusion marred her features. "Spike?"

He gave her a tight apologetic smile. He had frozen ever since the girl in front of him threw her body against him, hugging him tightly and kissing him wildly. Spike couldn't understand it. This beautiful woman was joyfully in tears, or as he presumed, once she saw him. What did he mean to her that had caused her miss him terribly?

"You call me Spike, too. Do…do I know you?" Confusion etched her façade even more as she looked into his eyes.

"What?" Buffy asked softly.

"Um, Buffy, I need to tell you something…now." Angel interrupted. He gently pulled Buffy by the arm. She didn't want to let Spike go, but a force in Angel's grip made her reluctantly drew her body away from him. Her gaze though still set on him.

"I-I don't understand. H-He asked me if he knew me? W-What's happening, Angel?" Buffy finally tore her gaze and looked up to the brunette vamp. At a beat of silence he gave her, fear slowly crept over her and her face hardened. "What. Did. You do to him, Angel?" The man in question looked anywhere but her, evidently having trouble in answering her. His head snapped to look at her when the slayer's delicate hands gripped his arms firmly. "Tell me, Angel! What is going on?" A hint of anger flashed in her eyes as she insisted.

"I…I'm not really sure. The prophecy said that a vampire with a soul would redeem himself and eventually shanshued. We have done research but nothing good came up. My guess is, he somewhat lost his memories gradually as he was returned to earth. It happened to Cordy before." Angel explained.

Buffy covered her mouth with her hands, shaking her head when the news hit her. "Your guess? What—No! This can't be happening! I-I've lost him for three months and now he comes back without even knowing who I am?"

"Buffy…" Angel tried to reach her but she backed away and shook her head more feverishly.

"I need to talk him." She looked around the lobby for Spike but he's already gone. Looking through the glass doors, she could see his silhouette by the fountain.

"And what are you going to tell him? That he tried to kill you before? That you were his mortal enemy? Yeah, that'll make him jump in joy." Angel's question stopped her instantly. Her body became tense as she contemplated his words.    

Without looking back to him, she replied quietly, "I just want him to get to know me."

*^*^**^*^*^*^*^*^*

Buffy took a long deep breath, trying to find some courage to talk to the blond vamp…or human more properly. It still felt odd to her that this man used to be the strongest ally she'd ever had, the only man with the biggest faith in her, the man who gave her the strength she never knew she could possess, the man who loved her so much he'd give anything to her…the man who had sacrificed himself to save the world. And now, he was a human being, who had no memories of her, of them, of their sweet moments they shared days before the final battle.

She bit her tears back. She thought missing him everyday was bad, but this time, seeing him without being able to touch him was beyond worse. Angel might be right. Telling him everything about his past while he still tried to adjust to this world would freak the hell out of him. How could one tell the person one loved that they were once mortal enemies?

Buffy heaved a desperate sigh. She needed to tell him everything, but she didn't want to scare him away. She wanted to touch him, feel him in her arms, and watch him sleep in her bed. It hurt to know that she ached for him yet she was hopeless to do anything about it. The man she had been watching flicked the cig with his thumb and watched the ashes fell down to the ground.

"You know you can have lung cancer now that you're human." Buffy commented, stepping slowly to him. Spike chuckled.

"Yeah, so I've been told." A curious frown washed over his handsome face. For some weird reasons, he had this crave for smoking though he still couldn't remember anything at all. The only thing he had acknowledged was that he was once a vampire and that fact had blown him away real hard. He stomped the butt with one sole, and turned his head to her, tilting it slightly. "Were…" He began tentatively. "...Were we...involved?" Buffy gave him a smile.

"Yeah, we were involved when..." She paused for a moment, deciding that continuing with '...when I was really depressed and I beat the shit out of you' wasn't such a good idea. "We were involved for a while." She amended her sentence.

He flashed her a faltering smile and she smiled back. Buffy tried to gain as much control as she could, knowing that she couldn't jump into his arms while he was only within a foot away.

"Were we happy?" He asked again in a soft voice. She didn't answer him immediately as she drifted her eyes to her feet. Were they happy? How could they be happy when they had such a messy relationship?

Looking back to him, she gave a weak smile, replying quietly, "Yes, we were happy." She knew she wasn't supposed to lie like that. But she couldn't bring herself to do any explanations. Not now, not after what he had gone through and especially not when he didn't recall anything about himself and everyone he supposedly knew.

Spike nodded in understanding. An awkward silence then fell between them.

"Buffy…" Angel's voice broke the silence. The slayer turned to its source. "Dawn is on the phone." Nodding at the vamp briefly, she turned around and started for the lobby. The man, who was still sitting by the fountain, stopped her with another question.

"Am I going to remember my past again?"

Buffy was silenced momentarily before glancing over her shoulder and answering him softly, "We'll see about that."

to be continued.