When Polgara returned from putting Buffy to bed, she looked over at the inanimate object that was Spike. She sat down and returned to her mending and said, "She gone to bed. You can open your eyes now."
Spike opened his eyes and for the first time really looked at Polgara and asked, "How long have I been a sleep?" Not bothering to look up from her task she replied, "Only a few hours. How are you feeling?"
"Still weak. Only a few hours? Do you just age fast at certain times or what?" Spike queried. Then he quickly added, "Don't get me wrong, pet. You still look good for being over 3,000 but you have aged a few years since we last spoke."
Realizing that he was mistaking her for Sydney, Polgara couldn't help but chuckle. Spike looked at her strangely and it only made her laugh harder. "Oh, William, you flatter me. I forgot you were unconscious when introductions were made. I'm Polgara, not Sydney."
Now that she had pointed it out to him he was able to see the differences between the two. Not only could you tell Polgara was older but she carried herself differently. She was a bit more formal and regal than Sydney. He was broken out of his inspection when she began speaking again.
"Like I said, you do flatter me for I was over 3,000 when Sydney was born."
"So you've known Sydney her whole life then?"
Polgara nodded but added, "Expect for the times she goes into isolation." At Spike questioning look, she elaborated, "Sometimes life in this world gets too hard for her. She gets too stressed or her heart's been broken and she just leaves, sometimes for decades at a time. She won't tell anyone where she's going and try as we might we can never find her. She can only be found when she wants to be. Sometimes I hate Silk for teaching her that."
Not having heard that name before Spike asked who he was. Polgara's response was that he was an old friend of the family. The mention of family reminded Spike of their relation. He had heard Sydney refer to Polgara as Aunt Pol but there was too much similarity in appearance for that relationship. They couldn't be sisters. He already knew what Sydney's sister looked like. So that only left mother and daughter. Before he had a chance to ask Polgara began with her own questions.
"Why were you pretending to still be asleep while Buffy was here?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "Guess I'm not quite ready to face her yet. I mean she saw Sydney feed me and, well, I'm sure you know what happened then." Polgara nodded so he continued, "I feel bad because I love her. But, she doesn't love me and will never want a relationship with me again. I think what we had is in the past but I'm still obligated to it. I'm just not sure what I'm going to do."
"I think you're finally growing up," Polgara said. Spike responded with an objecting 'hey'. Whether he was objecting to the implication that he wasn't grown up before or the idea that he had, Polgara wasn't sure. She continued on, "I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Buffy. Nothing is going to change tonight so we will just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings. Things always look better in the light. Now we need to get you fed and resting again. Sydney is too weak for her to feed you again so soon, so I'm going to have to do."
Polgara but her mending down and was starting to stand when Spike spoke, "I'm still feeling weak sure but I don't need to feed again so soon and I certainly don't need to sleep anymore."
Polgara sat back down and looked Spike square in the eye. "I don't think you understand exactly how badly you were hurt. This isn't something like busted ribs or catching your hand on fire. This isn't like any physical injury. I know Sydney doesn't want to tell you how bad it is because then she will have to admit it to herself and I don't think she can do that."
Polgara paused and sighed, muttering "I'm going to pay for this later" before she continued speaking to Spike. "First I need to know what you know about the amulet and then I'm going to tell you everything else you need to know. Then I hope that you can trust me enough to let me help you regain your full strength. As I'm sure you already know you are very important and we cannot lose you now. Besides if we don't get you well, then we will have the full wrath of Sydney rained down upon us and, god, that would be bad for everyone involved."
Spike smiled at that. "Yeah, I'm sure she can be a right bitch."
"You don't know the half of it," Polgara said. "Now, tell me what you know about the amulet."
Spike thought back to the conversation he had with Buffy in the basement. She had called him a champion, given him the amulet and her trust. He had been so overjoyed at that moment he really didn't listen to the rest of the explanation she gave. His hopes where completely crushed when she told him her feelings for him.
Not wanting to dwell on that memory and the feelings that accompanied it, he said to Polgara, "I don't remember exactly what Buffy told me but I know that it was suppose to be worn by a champion and had cleansing properties."
Polgara nodded then began, "Yes, the amulet was meant to be worn by someone strong what you are calling a 'champion'. Basically, it amplifies the light to block out the darkness. Unfortunately for you, you are composed of both light and dark blended seamlessly into one. That is the difference between you and Angeleus. Your demon welcomed your soul in; his is a curse upon him. But that is beside the point. The point is the amulet destroyed your demon. It was so weak it was even able to keep your body from collapsing. So you see, this a metaphysical wound and much more devastating than any physical one. I'm of the opinion that if you had continued to wear it even a moment longer we wouldn't be having this conversation."
Spike took this new information is and processed it. "So, if Buffy or Faith had worn it..."
His question trailed off but Polgara knew what he wanted to know. "No harm would have come to them. Although, I think then we could have officially declared Faith rehabilitated. But the player on the other side knew Buffy would not wear it herself or give it to Faith. They knew they just had to get it to her and she would give it to you."
"So this was just a big scheme to assassinate me?" Spike asked.
"Well," Polgara began thinking how much she should share. Deciding it was best to as upfront and honest as she could continue, "That was part of it. The other part was to destroy Sydney and leave the Key unprotected. Do you know of your role in the Prophecy?"
"Sydney explained some of it to me and I've always felt a strange connection with Dawn, like I'm suppose to care for her." Spike paused then continued, "Let me rephrase that. I've always loved Dawn and want to see her safe."
Polgara smiled. "And with you as her Protector, she will be. That is one of the reasons why we must get you back to full strength. By now word has gotten out that Sydney was victorious and there will be many more schemes to get her to the other side. For the team with the Key is almost assured victory."
"So to protect the bit, that's why I have to eat and sleep." Spike asked before he realized that Polgara had said that was just one of the reasons. "Why else?"
"For Sydney, she's not ready to lose you." At Spike's dumfounded look, Polgara laughed. "Surely you've noticed how she looks at you, how she acts around you?" Spike seemed to get even more lost. "Oh my. I guess she's gotten better at hiding it then I had realized."
"Hiding what?" Spike asked.
"Her feelings. She loves you." Realizing that Sydney probably didn't want him to know that yet and the trouble she was already going to face, Polgara quickly added, "But if anyone asks, you figured it out yourself and I didn't have anything to do with it."
Spike let this new information sink in before his lips quirked up, "Are you really that scared of her?"
"I don't think 'scared' is the right word. It's more like I know the tantrums she is capable of and don't want any more to be directed my way. I exceeded my quota when she was growing up." Polgara said and picked her mending back up, knowing that this conversation was far from over.
Spike watched as Polgara continued her mending and thought back on when Sydney had comforted him after Buffy had spoken with him. "Why do you do that? The mending, if Sydney is any example you could have that fixed in a moment."
Polgara continued her task and said "It keeps my hands busy. Besides my husband is a very practical man and thought we should only use our abilities when absolutely necessary. He thinks things are better done if it's by hand."
"Will he be coming with the others?" Spike asked.
Polgara stopped her mending and stared off. She adopted an expression of longing and acceptance Spike had seen on Sydney before she spoke, "No, he was lost many years ago. Sydney was still a child."
Not knowing how to respond, Spike said, "I'm sorry to hear that." Then he asked, "I've heard the term lost used several times. Why don't you just say that someone's died?"
"Because we understand how the universe works," Polgara began. "Nothing can cease to exist. Once created it will always be. There are many different worlds and dying only moves you from one to another. Some are heavenly, some hellish, some are just resting points and some like this one are battlegrounds. I say he is lost because I don't know where he went when he died. I searched for him for many years but there are an infinite number of worlds he may have gone to and moved on from. Now I can only hope that one day we will be reunited, but that is unlikely so I live my life as best I can without him in it. I hope he has done the same."
He liked the idea that those he has cared about are not gone simply lost in another world. Spike remained silent for a while contemplating love and loss. He was jerked out of his musings, because he would never brood, when Polgara spoke again.
"Why don't you just ask what you want to ask and be done with it?"
Marveling at the similarities between mother and daughter, he asked, "Sydney said that we had met couple times in this world, when did she begin to love me?"
"Oh, this is a good story and you get a first hand account because I happened to have been there." Polgara sat her mending down in her lap so she could give the story its proper attention. "I was visiting Sydney in London. She was there to check on one of her seers and the Key had been traveling with her for some time now. The Key has always had some strange fascination with the British I can't even pretend to understand."
At that point, Spike interrupted her. "Why do you always refer to Dawn as the Key?"
Polgara sighed and said, "Because the pain of losing a child is never lessened, even by time. I can't put a name to something walking around in her form. It is too painful."
This confirmed Spike's suspicion that Sydney was her daughter. He said, "I'm sorry, please continue."
"Sydney came home one evening after attending a social obligation that women of her age and station were required to appear. Normally she hated goes to those gatherings. She would only go to keep up appearances so she didn't make any waves in the society she was visiting. This night however she came home elated. I questioned her mood for she was a giddy as a schoolgirl. She promptly informed me she was in love. Now, I've had many conversations outlining the dangers of becoming attached to someone outside our circle for no other reason than it is difficult to hide what is going on beneath the surface of the world. Also, if you love someone then it's important to be honest with them and most mortals don't like to find out that they don't know about everything that is going on around them. Not to mention the age differences and the fact that she will outlive everyone else and pain that goes along with death. As always, she brushed off my concerns and proceeded to tell me all about the young man who had captured her heart. She told me how handsome he was, what a beautiful heart he had and that he was shy. She also mentioned he wrote poetry and it left a lot to be desired. But, she was convinced that with the proper muse and guidance it could be greatly improved. She talked about the woman that currently held his attention but she was convinced he would soon see her for who she really was and move on to greener pastures, hopefully Sydney."
Spike listened intently and concentrated on try to remember if he had ever seen Sydney at some stupid party. He couldn't remember ever seeing anyone who even remotely resembled her. As if reading his mind, Polgara interrupted his pondering.
"Oh, she wasn't in the form she wears now but another. Since she was traveling with the Key it was imperative that she remain in disguise. She looked forward to her social obligations with more enthusiasm then I had seen in centuries. She would cherish each new tidbit of data she could get even if it was from gossip. She also tried to catch your eye but nothing she could do would divert your gaze from the other. Frustrated beyond her limits she decided that she would just be bold and forthright and come on to you in hopes of getting your permission for courtship. The night you died she had some other business she had to attend to before going to the party and it made her late. She walked in what must have been a humiliating scene but before she could comfort you, you had fled from the house."
Remembering the embarrassing scene and the cruel words that caused him to bolt from the party brought bile up in Spike's throat. He was still hurt and angry but he had gotten his revenge. Polgara continued on with her story.
"She searched for you all night long. Then right before sunrise she spotted Drusilla carrying your body. She knew immediately what had happened. She has a past with your family and knew what she had to do. She lost Drusilla so she was forced to return home. She came home very angry and proceeded to have one of those tantrums I mentioned earlier. None of our dishes survived that one. I had to send the maid out to get more just so we could have breakfast. Then she broke all the replacement dishes. I'm really sorry of all my bad habits to pick up that one had to be the one that stuck. It does get to be very expensive."
They couldn't help but chuckle over that but the story wasn't over yet.
"After her tantrum she went upstairs to get some rest. She knew she would spend the night hunting. She couldn't live with the fact that there was a demon walking around in your body. She didn't see you that night. She came home before sunrise and went straight up to her room without a word. This continued on for several nights. Finally one morning I cornered her to find out what was going on. That's when she told me that she had found you and you weren't as gone as she had originally thought. She said you hadn't lost your heart and that's what she loved. She just couldn't end you. A few weeks later she confided in me that she still loved you and after observing you thought you might be the Protector in the Prophecy. We of course laughed at that but she turned out to be right in the end. She kept a close eye on you from that day on. When her other business kept her away should she would make sure someone was there to keep her updated. So, you see, she has loved you since the beginning."
Spike thought back to the comforting words that Sydney had said to him after Buffy crushed his hopes and he smiled. He was loved. He had been searching for it his entire life but he had it all along. He still wasn't sure what he was going to do. He didn't love her. Hell, he barely knew her. Contemplating the choice he would have to make soon he didn't notice Polgara standing beside him until she spoke.
"Now I made a promise to care for you to the best of my abilities and that means getting you fed and resting. You're not going to fight me on this are you?" Polgara asked.
Spike shook his head. "Good." She bared her wrist to him and asked him to drink. Spike took her wrist in his hands and smiled up at her before his face changed and he bit into the tender flesh. As with Sydney, the moment the rich substance hit his tongue he was lost in sensations. This was a little different. He still felt the warmth and completion but there wasn't any passion. He hadn't felt loved like this since he was a young child sitting in his mother's lap as she read to him. He looked up at Polgara and she just smiled and nodded at him encouragingly.
When she decided he had taken enough, Polgara told him to stop and he did. He was feeling a little groggy from the pleasure but not sleepy. In fact he was feeling downright hyper. But he knew that he needed to rest so he didn't try to resist when she told him to sleep.
Spike drifted off into unconsciousness, Polgara sat back down to continue her mending. Only a few minutes had pasted when Sally came bounding down the stairs and took up residence on Spike's chest. Polgara gave her a slight nod and Sally meowed before she settled down to sleep. The rest of the night was quite and uneventful.
Spike opened his eyes and for the first time really looked at Polgara and asked, "How long have I been a sleep?" Not bothering to look up from her task she replied, "Only a few hours. How are you feeling?"
"Still weak. Only a few hours? Do you just age fast at certain times or what?" Spike queried. Then he quickly added, "Don't get me wrong, pet. You still look good for being over 3,000 but you have aged a few years since we last spoke."
Realizing that he was mistaking her for Sydney, Polgara couldn't help but chuckle. Spike looked at her strangely and it only made her laugh harder. "Oh, William, you flatter me. I forgot you were unconscious when introductions were made. I'm Polgara, not Sydney."
Now that she had pointed it out to him he was able to see the differences between the two. Not only could you tell Polgara was older but she carried herself differently. She was a bit more formal and regal than Sydney. He was broken out of his inspection when she began speaking again.
"Like I said, you do flatter me for I was over 3,000 when Sydney was born."
"So you've known Sydney her whole life then?"
Polgara nodded but added, "Expect for the times she goes into isolation." At Spike questioning look, she elaborated, "Sometimes life in this world gets too hard for her. She gets too stressed or her heart's been broken and she just leaves, sometimes for decades at a time. She won't tell anyone where she's going and try as we might we can never find her. She can only be found when she wants to be. Sometimes I hate Silk for teaching her that."
Not having heard that name before Spike asked who he was. Polgara's response was that he was an old friend of the family. The mention of family reminded Spike of their relation. He had heard Sydney refer to Polgara as Aunt Pol but there was too much similarity in appearance for that relationship. They couldn't be sisters. He already knew what Sydney's sister looked like. So that only left mother and daughter. Before he had a chance to ask Polgara began with her own questions.
"Why were you pretending to still be asleep while Buffy was here?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "Guess I'm not quite ready to face her yet. I mean she saw Sydney feed me and, well, I'm sure you know what happened then." Polgara nodded so he continued, "I feel bad because I love her. But, she doesn't love me and will never want a relationship with me again. I think what we had is in the past but I'm still obligated to it. I'm just not sure what I'm going to do."
"I think you're finally growing up," Polgara said. Spike responded with an objecting 'hey'. Whether he was objecting to the implication that he wasn't grown up before or the idea that he had, Polgara wasn't sure. She continued on, "I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Buffy. Nothing is going to change tonight so we will just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings. Things always look better in the light. Now we need to get you fed and resting again. Sydney is too weak for her to feed you again so soon, so I'm going to have to do."
Polgara but her mending down and was starting to stand when Spike spoke, "I'm still feeling weak sure but I don't need to feed again so soon and I certainly don't need to sleep anymore."
Polgara sat back down and looked Spike square in the eye. "I don't think you understand exactly how badly you were hurt. This isn't something like busted ribs or catching your hand on fire. This isn't like any physical injury. I know Sydney doesn't want to tell you how bad it is because then she will have to admit it to herself and I don't think she can do that."
Polgara paused and sighed, muttering "I'm going to pay for this later" before she continued speaking to Spike. "First I need to know what you know about the amulet and then I'm going to tell you everything else you need to know. Then I hope that you can trust me enough to let me help you regain your full strength. As I'm sure you already know you are very important and we cannot lose you now. Besides if we don't get you well, then we will have the full wrath of Sydney rained down upon us and, god, that would be bad for everyone involved."
Spike smiled at that. "Yeah, I'm sure she can be a right bitch."
"You don't know the half of it," Polgara said. "Now, tell me what you know about the amulet."
Spike thought back to the conversation he had with Buffy in the basement. She had called him a champion, given him the amulet and her trust. He had been so overjoyed at that moment he really didn't listen to the rest of the explanation she gave. His hopes where completely crushed when she told him her feelings for him.
Not wanting to dwell on that memory and the feelings that accompanied it, he said to Polgara, "I don't remember exactly what Buffy told me but I know that it was suppose to be worn by a champion and had cleansing properties."
Polgara nodded then began, "Yes, the amulet was meant to be worn by someone strong what you are calling a 'champion'. Basically, it amplifies the light to block out the darkness. Unfortunately for you, you are composed of both light and dark blended seamlessly into one. That is the difference between you and Angeleus. Your demon welcomed your soul in; his is a curse upon him. But that is beside the point. The point is the amulet destroyed your demon. It was so weak it was even able to keep your body from collapsing. So you see, this a metaphysical wound and much more devastating than any physical one. I'm of the opinion that if you had continued to wear it even a moment longer we wouldn't be having this conversation."
Spike took this new information is and processed it. "So, if Buffy or Faith had worn it..."
His question trailed off but Polgara knew what he wanted to know. "No harm would have come to them. Although, I think then we could have officially declared Faith rehabilitated. But the player on the other side knew Buffy would not wear it herself or give it to Faith. They knew they just had to get it to her and she would give it to you."
"So this was just a big scheme to assassinate me?" Spike asked.
"Well," Polgara began thinking how much she should share. Deciding it was best to as upfront and honest as she could continue, "That was part of it. The other part was to destroy Sydney and leave the Key unprotected. Do you know of your role in the Prophecy?"
"Sydney explained some of it to me and I've always felt a strange connection with Dawn, like I'm suppose to care for her." Spike paused then continued, "Let me rephrase that. I've always loved Dawn and want to see her safe."
Polgara smiled. "And with you as her Protector, she will be. That is one of the reasons why we must get you back to full strength. By now word has gotten out that Sydney was victorious and there will be many more schemes to get her to the other side. For the team with the Key is almost assured victory."
"So to protect the bit, that's why I have to eat and sleep." Spike asked before he realized that Polgara had said that was just one of the reasons. "Why else?"
"For Sydney, she's not ready to lose you." At Spike's dumfounded look, Polgara laughed. "Surely you've noticed how she looks at you, how she acts around you?" Spike seemed to get even more lost. "Oh my. I guess she's gotten better at hiding it then I had realized."
"Hiding what?" Spike asked.
"Her feelings. She loves you." Realizing that Sydney probably didn't want him to know that yet and the trouble she was already going to face, Polgara quickly added, "But if anyone asks, you figured it out yourself and I didn't have anything to do with it."
Spike let this new information sink in before his lips quirked up, "Are you really that scared of her?"
"I don't think 'scared' is the right word. It's more like I know the tantrums she is capable of and don't want any more to be directed my way. I exceeded my quota when she was growing up." Polgara said and picked her mending back up, knowing that this conversation was far from over.
Spike watched as Polgara continued her mending and thought back on when Sydney had comforted him after Buffy had spoken with him. "Why do you do that? The mending, if Sydney is any example you could have that fixed in a moment."
Polgara continued her task and said "It keeps my hands busy. Besides my husband is a very practical man and thought we should only use our abilities when absolutely necessary. He thinks things are better done if it's by hand."
"Will he be coming with the others?" Spike asked.
Polgara stopped her mending and stared off. She adopted an expression of longing and acceptance Spike had seen on Sydney before she spoke, "No, he was lost many years ago. Sydney was still a child."
Not knowing how to respond, Spike said, "I'm sorry to hear that." Then he asked, "I've heard the term lost used several times. Why don't you just say that someone's died?"
"Because we understand how the universe works," Polgara began. "Nothing can cease to exist. Once created it will always be. There are many different worlds and dying only moves you from one to another. Some are heavenly, some hellish, some are just resting points and some like this one are battlegrounds. I say he is lost because I don't know where he went when he died. I searched for him for many years but there are an infinite number of worlds he may have gone to and moved on from. Now I can only hope that one day we will be reunited, but that is unlikely so I live my life as best I can without him in it. I hope he has done the same."
He liked the idea that those he has cared about are not gone simply lost in another world. Spike remained silent for a while contemplating love and loss. He was jerked out of his musings, because he would never brood, when Polgara spoke again.
"Why don't you just ask what you want to ask and be done with it?"
Marveling at the similarities between mother and daughter, he asked, "Sydney said that we had met couple times in this world, when did she begin to love me?"
"Oh, this is a good story and you get a first hand account because I happened to have been there." Polgara sat her mending down in her lap so she could give the story its proper attention. "I was visiting Sydney in London. She was there to check on one of her seers and the Key had been traveling with her for some time now. The Key has always had some strange fascination with the British I can't even pretend to understand."
At that point, Spike interrupted her. "Why do you always refer to Dawn as the Key?"
Polgara sighed and said, "Because the pain of losing a child is never lessened, even by time. I can't put a name to something walking around in her form. It is too painful."
This confirmed Spike's suspicion that Sydney was her daughter. He said, "I'm sorry, please continue."
"Sydney came home one evening after attending a social obligation that women of her age and station were required to appear. Normally she hated goes to those gatherings. She would only go to keep up appearances so she didn't make any waves in the society she was visiting. This night however she came home elated. I questioned her mood for she was a giddy as a schoolgirl. She promptly informed me she was in love. Now, I've had many conversations outlining the dangers of becoming attached to someone outside our circle for no other reason than it is difficult to hide what is going on beneath the surface of the world. Also, if you love someone then it's important to be honest with them and most mortals don't like to find out that they don't know about everything that is going on around them. Not to mention the age differences and the fact that she will outlive everyone else and pain that goes along with death. As always, she brushed off my concerns and proceeded to tell me all about the young man who had captured her heart. She told me how handsome he was, what a beautiful heart he had and that he was shy. She also mentioned he wrote poetry and it left a lot to be desired. But, she was convinced that with the proper muse and guidance it could be greatly improved. She talked about the woman that currently held his attention but she was convinced he would soon see her for who she really was and move on to greener pastures, hopefully Sydney."
Spike listened intently and concentrated on try to remember if he had ever seen Sydney at some stupid party. He couldn't remember ever seeing anyone who even remotely resembled her. As if reading his mind, Polgara interrupted his pondering.
"Oh, she wasn't in the form she wears now but another. Since she was traveling with the Key it was imperative that she remain in disguise. She looked forward to her social obligations with more enthusiasm then I had seen in centuries. She would cherish each new tidbit of data she could get even if it was from gossip. She also tried to catch your eye but nothing she could do would divert your gaze from the other. Frustrated beyond her limits she decided that she would just be bold and forthright and come on to you in hopes of getting your permission for courtship. The night you died she had some other business she had to attend to before going to the party and it made her late. She walked in what must have been a humiliating scene but before she could comfort you, you had fled from the house."
Remembering the embarrassing scene and the cruel words that caused him to bolt from the party brought bile up in Spike's throat. He was still hurt and angry but he had gotten his revenge. Polgara continued on with her story.
"She searched for you all night long. Then right before sunrise she spotted Drusilla carrying your body. She knew immediately what had happened. She has a past with your family and knew what she had to do. She lost Drusilla so she was forced to return home. She came home very angry and proceeded to have one of those tantrums I mentioned earlier. None of our dishes survived that one. I had to send the maid out to get more just so we could have breakfast. Then she broke all the replacement dishes. I'm really sorry of all my bad habits to pick up that one had to be the one that stuck. It does get to be very expensive."
They couldn't help but chuckle over that but the story wasn't over yet.
"After her tantrum she went upstairs to get some rest. She knew she would spend the night hunting. She couldn't live with the fact that there was a demon walking around in your body. She didn't see you that night. She came home before sunrise and went straight up to her room without a word. This continued on for several nights. Finally one morning I cornered her to find out what was going on. That's when she told me that she had found you and you weren't as gone as she had originally thought. She said you hadn't lost your heart and that's what she loved. She just couldn't end you. A few weeks later she confided in me that she still loved you and after observing you thought you might be the Protector in the Prophecy. We of course laughed at that but she turned out to be right in the end. She kept a close eye on you from that day on. When her other business kept her away should she would make sure someone was there to keep her updated. So, you see, she has loved you since the beginning."
Spike thought back to the comforting words that Sydney had said to him after Buffy crushed his hopes and he smiled. He was loved. He had been searching for it his entire life but he had it all along. He still wasn't sure what he was going to do. He didn't love her. Hell, he barely knew her. Contemplating the choice he would have to make soon he didn't notice Polgara standing beside him until she spoke.
"Now I made a promise to care for you to the best of my abilities and that means getting you fed and resting. You're not going to fight me on this are you?" Polgara asked.
Spike shook his head. "Good." She bared her wrist to him and asked him to drink. Spike took her wrist in his hands and smiled up at her before his face changed and he bit into the tender flesh. As with Sydney, the moment the rich substance hit his tongue he was lost in sensations. This was a little different. He still felt the warmth and completion but there wasn't any passion. He hadn't felt loved like this since he was a young child sitting in his mother's lap as she read to him. He looked up at Polgara and she just smiled and nodded at him encouragingly.
When she decided he had taken enough, Polgara told him to stop and he did. He was feeling a little groggy from the pleasure but not sleepy. In fact he was feeling downright hyper. But he knew that he needed to rest so he didn't try to resist when she told him to sleep.
Spike drifted off into unconsciousness, Polgara sat back down to continue her mending. Only a few minutes had pasted when Sally came bounding down the stairs and took up residence on Spike's chest. Polgara gave her a slight nod and Sally meowed before she settled down to sleep. The rest of the night was quite and uneventful.