Sweet Bit
Disclaimer - Chapter 1...see that one, dammit! Notes - I tend to like writing things that happen in the early morning...lol
Ch 6 - The Very Confusing Truth
4:53am - Early Friday Morning
Spike was starting to wonder about his daughter and her sanity. She had come down nearly an hour ago and climbed into bed with him, crying. He was also beginning to wonder if she listened to anything he said. Hadn't they had the talk about crying already? Yes, actually, about twice now. Spike was sitting up, Lydia in his lap. He had his arms around her and she was leaning over onto his chest. They had been like this for about ten minutes now, silence filling the room except for the occasional sniff from the little girl. Now all Spike had to do was get her to tell him what the hell it was that she was crying about. "Lydia..." Spike whispered.
Lydia lifted her head, "Yeah, daddy?" She rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times.
Spike smiled a little. She was tired, he could tell, but she was either too determined to not fall asleep or the crying that she had been doing was keeping her up. "Mind telling me what you've been crying about for an hour for?"
She bit her lower lip, wondering if she should really tell him. However, being seven, even if she was an exceptional seven year old, Lydia didn't focus on this for long. "I want my mummy...and my daddy...or...the daddy I know...and I want my Auntie!"
Spike decided that since the child had brought it up, he would ask her now. "Who...is your mother, sweets?"
Lydia opened her mouth, as if to speak, but stopped herself. Maybe this was a bad idea, telling him. She wasn't sure if he should know, or if she should tell him right now, or ever. Maybe she should just let him continue on like this until he found her Mum. That seemed like a good idea to her. She nodded at her thoughts. "I don't know her name...she's just mummy!"
"Oh...Well, who's your Aunt?"
Lydia had to think about this. How was she going to get out of this one? She couldn't say she didn't know her name, is was part of the title, but she couldn't let him know, not right now. It was too early to let him know about it all. "Daddy...." She whined.
"Yes, luv?"
"I'm tiiired...."
"You want to go to sleep, sweets?"
She nodded slowly. "Please?"
It was Spike's turn to nod. "Alright. You going to Dawn's room?"
"Do I have to?" She asked in a languid tone.
"No, but that's where you're supposed to be staying."
"Ok..." She said souding disappointed now as she started to climb down off the bed. Before she had scooted off the edge of the bed, Spike caught her by the shoulers. "That's not what I meant, Sweet Bit."
"It's what you said." She stated, looking over her shoulder at her father.
She almost had him there, that is what he said, however, he was used to people understanding what came out of his mouth. He really had to remember that, though she acted smarter and knew more big words than most seven year olds do, Lydia was only seven. "I know, but...it's not what I meant."
"Well...what'd ya mean, then?"
"I was just saying that Dawn's room was where you were usually sleeping, I didn't mean you couldn't stay." He knew he should stop being a sucker for the kid's crestfallen face, but he couldn't help it. It killed him to see her sad, disappointed, crying or anything of that nature. Spike shook his head as he thought about how ironic this was. He couldn't believe how he acted when he was around this kid.
"So...I can stay?" Lydia asked tentatively, hoping that this was what he was saying. She knew what he was and what he wasn't, but this didn't matter to her; she really wanted to be with her father right now.
He nodded, "Yeah...you can stay."
She smiled and crawled back over to him, laying down on her side next to him. "G'night, daddy."
"Good night, pet."
Not much time had passed and Spike knew that Lydia was asleep. He could tell from the slow, rhythmic breathing. He knew it was going to be awhile until he drifted off. Spike was mulling the new information that Lydia had let slip. It really didn't make much sense to be honest. Not being the daddy she wanted and wanting her mum...and the ever-mysterious Aunt that had sent her here. Spike was starting to question some of the things Lydia had told him. He tried to put the pieces together, but the pieces of this puzzle didn't fit. It was kind of like someone had taken four puzzles of similar color and whatnot and threw some of the pieces and he'd ended up with nothing that was the same.
She wants her mum...Well, I can't very well give her or take her to her mum if I don't know who she is, now can I? For some reason, something suddenly struck him as a bit odd. The first night she was here...didn't she call Buffy her...future mummy? Now this just confused the man even more. Wait...how... He shook his head. That simply has to be what I told Buffy; She's seven, I told her all that and she made the connections, thinking that something could actually happen. Spike shook his head and smiled. Sorry, sweets, but that won't ever happen. The Slayer is a bit too stubborn for that. He shrugged, "Don't want her to change, though...I like her just the way she is." He muttered before actually drifting off to dreams of the ever-present blond beauty and the relationship that he knew would never happen.
8:00am - Friday Morning
Buffy sighed when she entered the kitchen. Where the hell was Willow? She wanted to know how her baby was doing. She rolled her eyes and poured herself a cup of coffee and slowly started to sip it.
"I really hope that coffee isn't to Buffy as candy is to a child..." Xander said, standing in the doorway of the kitchen, "Because if it is...you are going to be very hyper. That's something like your sixth cup, isn't it?"
"Yeah...something like that."
"Did you plan on drinking the entire pot of coffee on your own?" She shrugged, "I don't know, Xander. I just want Will to hurry up. She said she'd be here and she's not. She's the only way I can know how Lydia is doing."
"Ya know, I'm kind of starting to miss that girl."
"It's not like she could have stayed or anything."
"Of course not. Not with everything going on right now."
Buffy was about to respond when the door flew open, revealing a very annoyed Willow. "Oi!" Was the only thing Buffy or Xander could make out.
"Will! Finally, what took so long?"
"I didn't think it was possible for so much traffic to build at eight in the morning. Apparently, someone had an accident and the traffic was horrible!" She shrugged, "I just got my stuff, shoved it in my bag and walked here."
"Why didn't you call? We could have come and picked you up."
Willow looked a little confused, "Well...I guess I just didn't think about it."
"Well, let's get to it. I wanna know how my baby's doing."
Willow nodded and started digging through her bag.
"Is red finally here?" A heavy british accent asked.
"Yes, Spike, Willow's here."
"Well she better do whatever it is she has to do down here! I want to know how my daughter's doing!" He yelled.
Willow and Buffy both rolled their eyes, but the two women, as well as Xander walked down to the basement.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Spike asked, giving Xander an odd look.
Xander frowned, "To tell you the truth, I'm not really sure."
"Right..."
As Willow dug through her bag and got everything out, she had an idea. "Oh, no! I can't believe I left that cloth at my house!" She exclaimed.
"WHAT?" Buffy and Spike both shouted.
"I can't believe I left it! I made a check-list and everything!" Willow had become quite the actress over the years. She just loved seeing those two squirm and took advantage of making it happen whenever the opportunity arose.
"Willow! Are you serious?" Buffy asked.
Willow shook her head, "No. You guys are so gullible."
"Why's that?" Spike asked.
"No reason really, other than the fact that the cloth I was speaking of it right here." She held it up.
"Oh." Buffy and Spike chorused.
"Yeah. I just like seeing you two flip out. It's fun." She grinned and set everything up the way she needed to in order to perform the spell.
When the spell was complete, there was a place in the center of the cloth on the floor that looked similar to a puddle of water. The rest was simply like watching TV.
"Daddy! Wake up!" Little Lydia was bouncing up and down on her father's bed.
"I can't believe she's calling him daddy!" Spike yelled.
"I told her to, you moron. They aren't supposed to know about you yet." Willow said.
"Right, I knew that."
"Lydia...why must you always wake me up so early?"
"Because..." She said, exasperated, "It gets boring being all alone!" She grinned.
"Right...of course..."
"He's such a git!
"Spike, hun, that's you...about eight or nine years ago." Buffy raised an eyebrow at him.
"I know...but I was such a git, then!"
"You also didn't have a daughter then." Xander put it.
"Shut it, would you?"
"Daddy...where's my jacket?"
"What?"
"My leather jacket that you got me that one day when we were at the mall with mu--I mean...Buffy. Where is it?"
"Well, I don't know! What did you do with it?"
"I gave it to you." She said, simply.
"Oh...you did, didn't you?"
"Yeah..."
"What were you going to say earlier?"
"Hmm?" She titled her head in confusion. "You were about to say something...then you corrected yourself and said Buffy. What was it you were going to say?"
"You're a silly man. I wasn't saying anything!" She laughed.
"Hey, Will, didn't you say there was a way to talk to them or something?? Buffy asked
"Well...I was just thinking that...they could kind of use some kind of explanation."
"I'd have to contact myself and walk me through it in order for them to talk to us."
"Oh. you do that?"
"It'll take awhile, but yeah, if you want me to."
She sighed, "Alright, then. TV time is over."
Lydia had been sitting in the living room watching TV when she heard something. It was her Mom's voice, but it was like she was in her head. "Mummy?" She whispered, slightly confused as to where her mother's voice was coming from.
"Lydia, darling. Hello."
"Mummy...where are you?" She asked, looking around to find her mum.
"I'm at home but...my voice is kind of in your head."
"I noticed. How is your voice in my head?"
"Aunt Willow did a special little something."
"Oh."
"Lydia, Sweet Bit,"
Before the Spike in her head could continue, Lydia squealed, "Daddy!"
"What is it, Lydia?"
She giggled, "Nothing, daddy!" She continued to talk to the voices in her head in a whisper. "What's goin on?"
"What do you mean, sweets?"
"Why did Aunt Willow have to have you guys get in my head?"
"Well, honey, we needed to talk to you." Buffy said.
"Yes, we needed you to do something for us, luv."
"Oh. Well...what is it?"
"Frankly, luv, we need you to tell the others why you're there."
"But why? You, and Uncle Xander, and mummy, and Aunt Willow and Aunt Anya and everyone insisted so much on me not telling anyone before I left!"
"Yes, but, honey, your going to be able to come home soon and...well, to be honest, you've been letting things--small things--slip lately and you've confused them." Buffy said.
"Especially me...well...the other me...er...uh..."
"I get what you mean, daddy."
"Good, because I'm not sure that he could explain it to you." Buffy teased him.
"What are you talking about? She's always been an exceptional child."
"Of course she has, think of her parents and who her 'uncle' and 'aunts' are, darling."
"Mummy....daddy...get on with it, what do you want me to tell them?"
"Just tell them that they all need to be down in the basement by six o'clock tonight. Then, they need to wait. We'll deal with the rest." The child's mother told her
"Oh...ok...but...what if they ask me why?"
"Tell them it's a game you want to play or something."
She shrugged, "Alright. Are you going to be out of my head, now?"
"Yes, Sweet Bit, we can't have them thinking your insane or something." Spike's voice said.
"Talk to you in a little while, sweetie." Buffy's voice said before they were both gone.
"Mummy? Daddy?" Lyda was checking to see if the voices were still there. "Ok...good, they're gone." She sighed.
By six o'clock, Buffy, Spike, Willow, and Lydia were all down in the basement. The two adults were still completely clueless as to why they were there; Willow had a vague idea, since her other self had contacted her and walked her through the steps of everything; And Lydia, of course, knew only what her mother and father had told her. Willow shrugged at the bewildered looks that she was getting from Spike and Buffy and set everything up. The spell only took a few minutes, and it was done.
"The other me? The...old me? You there?" Willow's voice, as well as the rest of her, came from the small place near the center of the cloth."
"Yep! We're all here, see?" She motioned for the others to lean in. She grinned at her future self.
"Good. We're all here, too." Willow said as Spike and Buffy waved at Lydia. Lydia said nothing, but waved furiously at the mirrored Spike and Buffy.
"Ok...what's the big deal? They're mirror-versions of us." Buffy said, confused.
"Ok...see...we have a lot of explaining to do." Buffy in the puddle of water said with a sigh.
"Obviously...why are you two standing so close together?" Spike asked his mirror-self.
Spike rolled his eyes, "Good LORD, isn't it obvious?"
"Well, no, obviously not, or I wouldn't be asking!"
"Remind me why I was such a git, darling."
"To be honest, I don't know. It was just the way you were."
"Darling?" Buffy and Spike chorused.
"Yes, darling." Mirror-Buffy and Spike said.
"Why?" Spike asked.
Spike sighed. "We're gonna be here for awhile...get comfy."
Everyone did just that; Lydia sat in Willow's lap, looking at her future aunt and waving with a big grin on her face; Spike and Buffy sat on either side of Willow. "Alright, we're all ready." Willow said, looking at her future self.
The three mirrored ones looked around at each other. "How do we explain all of this?" Buffy asked.
"I'd say a short synopsis would be best." Spike nodded.
"But how we prevent extreme confusion?" Willow had a 'You guys know I'm going to be right, so just stop talking now' kind of look on her face.
"I like that me. She's cool...kinda bossy with her looks, but that's ok." Willow said, pointing at her other self.
Lydia looked at the physical people around her and down at the people in front of them all. She sighed, "Can I try and explain for lack of sitting here for three hours?"
"Go on, Sweet Bit, give it a shot."
Lydia nodded and stood up, standing on the other side of the cloth and puddle-like section. She put her hands behind her back and looked at the three adults in front of her. "Ok...Those three...aren't technically you." She motioned to the puddle. "I mean...I guess they are really...but...oh! You aren't them...or...not yet."
"What?" Buffy asked, eyebrows raised.
"See...that's mummy and daddy, and Auntie!" She shouted, pointing at the ones in the puddle. She looked at the physical forms, "See...they," Lydia motioned to the puddle, "Are you," She pointed at the three others in front of her, "In the future."
"What?" Spike asked.
Lydia sighed, already exasperated. "The three people in the puddle and the future forms of you, Buffy, and Willow, silly daddy."
"I still don't like that she's calling him daddy." Future-Spike said.
"Well, we couldn't tell her to call him Spike when she'd been calling you daddy all the time." Puddle-Willow said, "It was hard enough to get across that she could not, under any circumstances, call that Buffy by any form of mother."
"Will has a point, honey. "
"It doesn't make me like it any more than I did before you went into all of that." He muttered, to which the two women simply rolled their eyes.
"Do you guys get it?" Lydia asked, hopefully.
"Yeah, but...why did the future me send you here?" Willow asked.
"Well...I don't really know. I just know that something real dangerous was happening and...I dunno, I remember Uncle Xander saying that it had happened before and they had stopped it twice. Something about the appoca- something-or-other not standing a chance as long as mummy is around." She grinned.
Buffy smiled slightly and sat up a little straighter. That was kind of encouraging, you know?
"So, you three are future...us...and what exactly was going on?" Spike asked.
"The apocalypse, what else?" Buffy asked sarcastically.
"And...your done...it's over...and the end has yet to come...again?" Buffy asked.
"Basically." Mirror-Spike said.
"Well...that apocalypse defeat didn't seem to take long." Buffy said.
"Yeah, it was strange, but it was really easy this time." Future-Buffy said, "I think it had something to do with having done it twice before...and maybe the fact that the evil leader guy didn't expect much."
"Personally, I think the guy was bored and decided to declare the end of the world." Willow shrugged.
"You're probably right, Willow." Spike agreed.
"Did you--I--er--yeah...just call her Willow?"
"Yes....I did."
"Why?"
"Because....after several years, I finally manage to beat it into your head that my name is Willow not red." The red head nodded. "That took some work, too." She looked up at her past-self, "Get ready for it, it's hard work getting our name into his head!"
"Thanks for the heads up." She grinned, "Ya know, I'm glad this was something to do with the future instead of an alternate reality..." "Last time we dealt with alternate realties...we ended up with a vampiric- us!"
"That was weird!"
"Alright, Aunt on, out with it, what's going on? And why are we tellin' everyone about all this?" Lydia had taken her place in her past- father's lap now.
"To be honest, hun, I was planning on bringing you back."
"But I like this daddy! He's new to being a daddy! It's FUN! AND, he buys me stuff." The little girl had a huge grin on her face.
"Like what?" Buffy asked, looking squarely at the old Spike that she hadn't seen in awhile; not that her Spike looked any different or anything.
"A leather jacket! It's just like daddy's! Both of their's!" She grinned, "It was fun!" She turned to the man who's lap she had invaded, "Daddy...can we go to the mall again?"
"Um, no, pet....not...right now."
The young girl shook her head, "Of course not now, silly!"
"So, have you fallen for the crestfallen look, yet?" The other Spike asked.
"Yes...ever since she got here..." He muttered. "It's insane! I was never like this before!"
"Get used to it. You fall for that look from the time she's two...I still fall for it, occasionally."
"That's because, as years go on, you get softer and softer, darling." Buffy teased.
"No, it's just...you've see the look, Buffy!"
"Yet I still tell her no. I don't fall for her crying, either."
["How can you stand that? The child crying and everything?"] Both Spike's said.
"The same way you control impulse buying for yourself. I just do it with the kid."
"Yeah, and spend the money on yourself." Spike muttered.
"Hey! I deserve the stuff I bought yesterday, Spike!"
"Just like Lydia deserves the leather jacket that the other me got her." He smirked.
"Mummy..." Lydia looked down at her mother, head to the side. "Do I have to come back?" The simple question silenced everything in both times; The past- adults looked around at each other, then to their mirror-selves, all six exchanging shocked and worried glances. "Quit looking around and tell me something!" She shouted, "Please?" She added as an afterthought, smiling innocently.
"Well, honey, you don't...you don't belong in that time. We only sent you there for the time being for safety issues." Buffy said, "If we had known that it would last such a short time...you could have just stayed home."
"But...I like it here." "Lydia...you can't stay there." Willow smiled sympathetically up at the girl. "You'll confuse all kinds of time-related things."
"But...I like it...I don't wanna leave!"
"Sweets...you can't stay there...you have to come back with us. You don't have to worry about those two, darling, they'll figure things out in time and...you'll be there as well as here." Spike said, "You'll just...be younger there because...well, we are the future and they are the past--er-- present...or something like that."
"Do I have to come back, Aunt Willow?"
"Two Lydia's would confuse time, hun. Not to mention drive everyone there absolutely nuts. On top of that, who knows what kind of things might happen. You really need to come back to your own time and let us live our other lives to get to where you are here."
Lydia sighed, "Ok..." She looked at the puddle-like place on the cloth. "When do I need to come back?"
"Tonight would probably be best, since everything is already set up in both times." Willow said.
"But...can't I stay one more night?"
"Honey, your father and I miss you...we want you back." Buffy said.
"But...mumma...it's just one more night...why can't I...just stay...just one more night..."
"Why are you so adamant about staying just this one more night, Sweet Bit?"
"I just...I dunno..."
"I know you know, quit lying."
"You're real blatant, aren't you?" Spike asked.
"Daddy....please...I just..."
Spike looked down at the little girl sitting in his lap. He could almost feel the sadness radiating from the child and this...was killing him, just like it did every other time he had seen her cry. "Lydia..."
She looked up at him, "Hmm?"
"Why do you want to stay? Just last night...you were saying that you wanted the daddy you knew...know you can have him back and...you don't want to. Why?"
"I dunno...I just...It's only one more night! I don't see the big deal! It's not fair!" She leaned against the man she had been calling daddy for the past several weeks. "Why can't I just stay?"
"Listen, pet...Look down there in that puddle, look down there." The girl leaned over and looked, then leaned back into him. "You see...see your parents?" She nodded. "They miss you...can't you see it? You don't want to make your parents sad, now do you?" She shook her head. "Then why don't you go back...go back to the time where you belong."
"Because...I wanna stay here!"
"You want your mum and dad to be happy, luv?"
She nodded, "Uh-huh..."
"Well, I think that your mum and dad would be really happy if you go back to them." He whispered in her ear.
She giggled, "But--"
"No buts..go on..."
"But, I--"
"No."
She was going to start again, but she stopped, then her brain didn't seem to be able to figure out another word, so she simply stuck her tongue out at the man. "Mmm! Not fair!"
"Life isn't always fair, pet."
"Fine..." She muttered. She went over to sit in Willow's lap again. Looking straight at her parents, she said: "I'm coming home!" She said, a big smile plaster on her face.
Notes - The next chapter will be the last, guys! I know, I know...sadness and tears...or not. Oh well...laughs Anyway, this was "technically" I guess...the "last" chapter. The next one is more of a whole-wrap up. Kind of like a showing of the lives of the "Current" versions of above-mentioned people without Lydia in their lives and the "Future" versions of aforementioned people with her back home. nods Yep, yep...Later!
Disclaimer - Chapter 1...see that one, dammit! Notes - I tend to like writing things that happen in the early morning...lol
Ch 6 - The Very Confusing Truth
4:53am - Early Friday Morning
Spike was starting to wonder about his daughter and her sanity. She had come down nearly an hour ago and climbed into bed with him, crying. He was also beginning to wonder if she listened to anything he said. Hadn't they had the talk about crying already? Yes, actually, about twice now. Spike was sitting up, Lydia in his lap. He had his arms around her and she was leaning over onto his chest. They had been like this for about ten minutes now, silence filling the room except for the occasional sniff from the little girl. Now all Spike had to do was get her to tell him what the hell it was that she was crying about. "Lydia..." Spike whispered.
Lydia lifted her head, "Yeah, daddy?" She rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times.
Spike smiled a little. She was tired, he could tell, but she was either too determined to not fall asleep or the crying that she had been doing was keeping her up. "Mind telling me what you've been crying about for an hour for?"
She bit her lower lip, wondering if she should really tell him. However, being seven, even if she was an exceptional seven year old, Lydia didn't focus on this for long. "I want my mummy...and my daddy...or...the daddy I know...and I want my Auntie!"
Spike decided that since the child had brought it up, he would ask her now. "Who...is your mother, sweets?"
Lydia opened her mouth, as if to speak, but stopped herself. Maybe this was a bad idea, telling him. She wasn't sure if he should know, or if she should tell him right now, or ever. Maybe she should just let him continue on like this until he found her Mum. That seemed like a good idea to her. She nodded at her thoughts. "I don't know her name...she's just mummy!"
"Oh...Well, who's your Aunt?"
Lydia had to think about this. How was she going to get out of this one? She couldn't say she didn't know her name, is was part of the title, but she couldn't let him know, not right now. It was too early to let him know about it all. "Daddy...." She whined.
"Yes, luv?"
"I'm tiiired...."
"You want to go to sleep, sweets?"
She nodded slowly. "Please?"
It was Spike's turn to nod. "Alright. You going to Dawn's room?"
"Do I have to?" She asked in a languid tone.
"No, but that's where you're supposed to be staying."
"Ok..." She said souding disappointed now as she started to climb down off the bed. Before she had scooted off the edge of the bed, Spike caught her by the shoulers. "That's not what I meant, Sweet Bit."
"It's what you said." She stated, looking over her shoulder at her father.
She almost had him there, that is what he said, however, he was used to people understanding what came out of his mouth. He really had to remember that, though she acted smarter and knew more big words than most seven year olds do, Lydia was only seven. "I know, but...it's not what I meant."
"Well...what'd ya mean, then?"
"I was just saying that Dawn's room was where you were usually sleeping, I didn't mean you couldn't stay." He knew he should stop being a sucker for the kid's crestfallen face, but he couldn't help it. It killed him to see her sad, disappointed, crying or anything of that nature. Spike shook his head as he thought about how ironic this was. He couldn't believe how he acted when he was around this kid.
"So...I can stay?" Lydia asked tentatively, hoping that this was what he was saying. She knew what he was and what he wasn't, but this didn't matter to her; she really wanted to be with her father right now.
He nodded, "Yeah...you can stay."
She smiled and crawled back over to him, laying down on her side next to him. "G'night, daddy."
"Good night, pet."
Not much time had passed and Spike knew that Lydia was asleep. He could tell from the slow, rhythmic breathing. He knew it was going to be awhile until he drifted off. Spike was mulling the new information that Lydia had let slip. It really didn't make much sense to be honest. Not being the daddy she wanted and wanting her mum...and the ever-mysterious Aunt that had sent her here. Spike was starting to question some of the things Lydia had told him. He tried to put the pieces together, but the pieces of this puzzle didn't fit. It was kind of like someone had taken four puzzles of similar color and whatnot and threw some of the pieces and he'd ended up with nothing that was the same.
She wants her mum...Well, I can't very well give her or take her to her mum if I don't know who she is, now can I? For some reason, something suddenly struck him as a bit odd. The first night she was here...didn't she call Buffy her...future mummy? Now this just confused the man even more. Wait...how... He shook his head. That simply has to be what I told Buffy; She's seven, I told her all that and she made the connections, thinking that something could actually happen. Spike shook his head and smiled. Sorry, sweets, but that won't ever happen. The Slayer is a bit too stubborn for that. He shrugged, "Don't want her to change, though...I like her just the way she is." He muttered before actually drifting off to dreams of the ever-present blond beauty and the relationship that he knew would never happen.
8:00am - Friday Morning
Buffy sighed when she entered the kitchen. Where the hell was Willow? She wanted to know how her baby was doing. She rolled her eyes and poured herself a cup of coffee and slowly started to sip it.
"I really hope that coffee isn't to Buffy as candy is to a child..." Xander said, standing in the doorway of the kitchen, "Because if it is...you are going to be very hyper. That's something like your sixth cup, isn't it?"
"Yeah...something like that."
"Did you plan on drinking the entire pot of coffee on your own?" She shrugged, "I don't know, Xander. I just want Will to hurry up. She said she'd be here and she's not. She's the only way I can know how Lydia is doing."
"Ya know, I'm kind of starting to miss that girl."
"It's not like she could have stayed or anything."
"Of course not. Not with everything going on right now."
Buffy was about to respond when the door flew open, revealing a very annoyed Willow. "Oi!" Was the only thing Buffy or Xander could make out.
"Will! Finally, what took so long?"
"I didn't think it was possible for so much traffic to build at eight in the morning. Apparently, someone had an accident and the traffic was horrible!" She shrugged, "I just got my stuff, shoved it in my bag and walked here."
"Why didn't you call? We could have come and picked you up."
Willow looked a little confused, "Well...I guess I just didn't think about it."
"Well, let's get to it. I wanna know how my baby's doing."
Willow nodded and started digging through her bag.
"Is red finally here?" A heavy british accent asked.
"Yes, Spike, Willow's here."
"Well she better do whatever it is she has to do down here! I want to know how my daughter's doing!" He yelled.
Willow and Buffy both rolled their eyes, but the two women, as well as Xander walked down to the basement.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Spike asked, giving Xander an odd look.
Xander frowned, "To tell you the truth, I'm not really sure."
"Right..."
As Willow dug through her bag and got everything out, she had an idea. "Oh, no! I can't believe I left that cloth at my house!" She exclaimed.
"WHAT?" Buffy and Spike both shouted.
"I can't believe I left it! I made a check-list and everything!" Willow had become quite the actress over the years. She just loved seeing those two squirm and took advantage of making it happen whenever the opportunity arose.
"Willow! Are you serious?" Buffy asked.
Willow shook her head, "No. You guys are so gullible."
"Why's that?" Spike asked.
"No reason really, other than the fact that the cloth I was speaking of it right here." She held it up.
"Oh." Buffy and Spike chorused.
"Yeah. I just like seeing you two flip out. It's fun." She grinned and set everything up the way she needed to in order to perform the spell.
When the spell was complete, there was a place in the center of the cloth on the floor that looked similar to a puddle of water. The rest was simply like watching TV.
"Daddy! Wake up!" Little Lydia was bouncing up and down on her father's bed.
"I can't believe she's calling him daddy!" Spike yelled.
"I told her to, you moron. They aren't supposed to know about you yet." Willow said.
"Right, I knew that."
"Lydia...why must you always wake me up so early?"
"Because..." She said, exasperated, "It gets boring being all alone!" She grinned.
"Right...of course..."
"He's such a git!
"Spike, hun, that's you...about eight or nine years ago." Buffy raised an eyebrow at him.
"I know...but I was such a git, then!"
"You also didn't have a daughter then." Xander put it.
"Shut it, would you?"
"Daddy...where's my jacket?"
"What?"
"My leather jacket that you got me that one day when we were at the mall with mu--I mean...Buffy. Where is it?"
"Well, I don't know! What did you do with it?"
"I gave it to you." She said, simply.
"Oh...you did, didn't you?"
"Yeah..."
"What were you going to say earlier?"
"Hmm?" She titled her head in confusion. "You were about to say something...then you corrected yourself and said Buffy. What was it you were going to say?"
"You're a silly man. I wasn't saying anything!" She laughed.
"Hey, Will, didn't you say there was a way to talk to them or something?? Buffy asked
"Well...I was just thinking that...they could kind of use some kind of explanation."
"I'd have to contact myself and walk me through it in order for them to talk to us."
"Oh. you do that?"
"It'll take awhile, but yeah, if you want me to."
She sighed, "Alright, then. TV time is over."
Lydia had been sitting in the living room watching TV when she heard something. It was her Mom's voice, but it was like she was in her head. "Mummy?" She whispered, slightly confused as to where her mother's voice was coming from.
"Lydia, darling. Hello."
"Mummy...where are you?" She asked, looking around to find her mum.
"I'm at home but...my voice is kind of in your head."
"I noticed. How is your voice in my head?"
"Aunt Willow did a special little something."
"Oh."
"Lydia, Sweet Bit,"
Before the Spike in her head could continue, Lydia squealed, "Daddy!"
"What is it, Lydia?"
She giggled, "Nothing, daddy!" She continued to talk to the voices in her head in a whisper. "What's goin on?"
"What do you mean, sweets?"
"Why did Aunt Willow have to have you guys get in my head?"
"Well, honey, we needed to talk to you." Buffy said.
"Yes, we needed you to do something for us, luv."
"Oh. Well...what is it?"
"Frankly, luv, we need you to tell the others why you're there."
"But why? You, and Uncle Xander, and mummy, and Aunt Willow and Aunt Anya and everyone insisted so much on me not telling anyone before I left!"
"Yes, but, honey, your going to be able to come home soon and...well, to be honest, you've been letting things--small things--slip lately and you've confused them." Buffy said.
"Especially me...well...the other me...er...uh..."
"I get what you mean, daddy."
"Good, because I'm not sure that he could explain it to you." Buffy teased him.
"What are you talking about? She's always been an exceptional child."
"Of course she has, think of her parents and who her 'uncle' and 'aunts' are, darling."
"Mummy....daddy...get on with it, what do you want me to tell them?"
"Just tell them that they all need to be down in the basement by six o'clock tonight. Then, they need to wait. We'll deal with the rest." The child's mother told her
"Oh...ok...but...what if they ask me why?"
"Tell them it's a game you want to play or something."
She shrugged, "Alright. Are you going to be out of my head, now?"
"Yes, Sweet Bit, we can't have them thinking your insane or something." Spike's voice said.
"Talk to you in a little while, sweetie." Buffy's voice said before they were both gone.
"Mummy? Daddy?" Lyda was checking to see if the voices were still there. "Ok...good, they're gone." She sighed.
By six o'clock, Buffy, Spike, Willow, and Lydia were all down in the basement. The two adults were still completely clueless as to why they were there; Willow had a vague idea, since her other self had contacted her and walked her through the steps of everything; And Lydia, of course, knew only what her mother and father had told her. Willow shrugged at the bewildered looks that she was getting from Spike and Buffy and set everything up. The spell only took a few minutes, and it was done.
"The other me? The...old me? You there?" Willow's voice, as well as the rest of her, came from the small place near the center of the cloth."
"Yep! We're all here, see?" She motioned for the others to lean in. She grinned at her future self.
"Good. We're all here, too." Willow said as Spike and Buffy waved at Lydia. Lydia said nothing, but waved furiously at the mirrored Spike and Buffy.
"Ok...what's the big deal? They're mirror-versions of us." Buffy said, confused.
"Ok...see...we have a lot of explaining to do." Buffy in the puddle of water said with a sigh.
"Obviously...why are you two standing so close together?" Spike asked his mirror-self.
Spike rolled his eyes, "Good LORD, isn't it obvious?"
"Well, no, obviously not, or I wouldn't be asking!"
"Remind me why I was such a git, darling."
"To be honest, I don't know. It was just the way you were."
"Darling?" Buffy and Spike chorused.
"Yes, darling." Mirror-Buffy and Spike said.
"Why?" Spike asked.
Spike sighed. "We're gonna be here for awhile...get comfy."
Everyone did just that; Lydia sat in Willow's lap, looking at her future aunt and waving with a big grin on her face; Spike and Buffy sat on either side of Willow. "Alright, we're all ready." Willow said, looking at her future self.
The three mirrored ones looked around at each other. "How do we explain all of this?" Buffy asked.
"I'd say a short synopsis would be best." Spike nodded.
"But how we prevent extreme confusion?" Willow had a 'You guys know I'm going to be right, so just stop talking now' kind of look on her face.
"I like that me. She's cool...kinda bossy with her looks, but that's ok." Willow said, pointing at her other self.
Lydia looked at the physical people around her and down at the people in front of them all. She sighed, "Can I try and explain for lack of sitting here for three hours?"
"Go on, Sweet Bit, give it a shot."
Lydia nodded and stood up, standing on the other side of the cloth and puddle-like section. She put her hands behind her back and looked at the three adults in front of her. "Ok...Those three...aren't technically you." She motioned to the puddle. "I mean...I guess they are really...but...oh! You aren't them...or...not yet."
"What?" Buffy asked, eyebrows raised.
"See...that's mummy and daddy, and Auntie!" She shouted, pointing at the ones in the puddle. She looked at the physical forms, "See...they," Lydia motioned to the puddle, "Are you," She pointed at the three others in front of her, "In the future."
"What?" Spike asked.
Lydia sighed, already exasperated. "The three people in the puddle and the future forms of you, Buffy, and Willow, silly daddy."
"I still don't like that she's calling him daddy." Future-Spike said.
"Well, we couldn't tell her to call him Spike when she'd been calling you daddy all the time." Puddle-Willow said, "It was hard enough to get across that she could not, under any circumstances, call that Buffy by any form of mother."
"Will has a point, honey. "
"It doesn't make me like it any more than I did before you went into all of that." He muttered, to which the two women simply rolled their eyes.
"Do you guys get it?" Lydia asked, hopefully.
"Yeah, but...why did the future me send you here?" Willow asked.
"Well...I don't really know. I just know that something real dangerous was happening and...I dunno, I remember Uncle Xander saying that it had happened before and they had stopped it twice. Something about the appoca- something-or-other not standing a chance as long as mummy is around." She grinned.
Buffy smiled slightly and sat up a little straighter. That was kind of encouraging, you know?
"So, you three are future...us...and what exactly was going on?" Spike asked.
"The apocalypse, what else?" Buffy asked sarcastically.
"And...your done...it's over...and the end has yet to come...again?" Buffy asked.
"Basically." Mirror-Spike said.
"Well...that apocalypse defeat didn't seem to take long." Buffy said.
"Yeah, it was strange, but it was really easy this time." Future-Buffy said, "I think it had something to do with having done it twice before...and maybe the fact that the evil leader guy didn't expect much."
"Personally, I think the guy was bored and decided to declare the end of the world." Willow shrugged.
"You're probably right, Willow." Spike agreed.
"Did you--I--er--yeah...just call her Willow?"
"Yes....I did."
"Why?"
"Because....after several years, I finally manage to beat it into your head that my name is Willow not red." The red head nodded. "That took some work, too." She looked up at her past-self, "Get ready for it, it's hard work getting our name into his head!"
"Thanks for the heads up." She grinned, "Ya know, I'm glad this was something to do with the future instead of an alternate reality..." "Last time we dealt with alternate realties...we ended up with a vampiric- us!"
"That was weird!"
"Alright, Aunt on, out with it, what's going on? And why are we tellin' everyone about all this?" Lydia had taken her place in her past- father's lap now.
"To be honest, hun, I was planning on bringing you back."
"But I like this daddy! He's new to being a daddy! It's FUN! AND, he buys me stuff." The little girl had a huge grin on her face.
"Like what?" Buffy asked, looking squarely at the old Spike that she hadn't seen in awhile; not that her Spike looked any different or anything.
"A leather jacket! It's just like daddy's! Both of their's!" She grinned, "It was fun!" She turned to the man who's lap she had invaded, "Daddy...can we go to the mall again?"
"Um, no, pet....not...right now."
The young girl shook her head, "Of course not now, silly!"
"So, have you fallen for the crestfallen look, yet?" The other Spike asked.
"Yes...ever since she got here..." He muttered. "It's insane! I was never like this before!"
"Get used to it. You fall for that look from the time she's two...I still fall for it, occasionally."
"That's because, as years go on, you get softer and softer, darling." Buffy teased.
"No, it's just...you've see the look, Buffy!"
"Yet I still tell her no. I don't fall for her crying, either."
["How can you stand that? The child crying and everything?"] Both Spike's said.
"The same way you control impulse buying for yourself. I just do it with the kid."
"Yeah, and spend the money on yourself." Spike muttered.
"Hey! I deserve the stuff I bought yesterday, Spike!"
"Just like Lydia deserves the leather jacket that the other me got her." He smirked.
"Mummy..." Lydia looked down at her mother, head to the side. "Do I have to come back?" The simple question silenced everything in both times; The past- adults looked around at each other, then to their mirror-selves, all six exchanging shocked and worried glances. "Quit looking around and tell me something!" She shouted, "Please?" She added as an afterthought, smiling innocently.
"Well, honey, you don't...you don't belong in that time. We only sent you there for the time being for safety issues." Buffy said, "If we had known that it would last such a short time...you could have just stayed home."
"But...I like it here." "Lydia...you can't stay there." Willow smiled sympathetically up at the girl. "You'll confuse all kinds of time-related things."
"But...I like it...I don't wanna leave!"
"Sweets...you can't stay there...you have to come back with us. You don't have to worry about those two, darling, they'll figure things out in time and...you'll be there as well as here." Spike said, "You'll just...be younger there because...well, we are the future and they are the past--er-- present...or something like that."
"Do I have to come back, Aunt Willow?"
"Two Lydia's would confuse time, hun. Not to mention drive everyone there absolutely nuts. On top of that, who knows what kind of things might happen. You really need to come back to your own time and let us live our other lives to get to where you are here."
Lydia sighed, "Ok..." She looked at the puddle-like place on the cloth. "When do I need to come back?"
"Tonight would probably be best, since everything is already set up in both times." Willow said.
"But...can't I stay one more night?"
"Honey, your father and I miss you...we want you back." Buffy said.
"But...mumma...it's just one more night...why can't I...just stay...just one more night..."
"Why are you so adamant about staying just this one more night, Sweet Bit?"
"I just...I dunno..."
"I know you know, quit lying."
"You're real blatant, aren't you?" Spike asked.
"Daddy....please...I just..."
Spike looked down at the little girl sitting in his lap. He could almost feel the sadness radiating from the child and this...was killing him, just like it did every other time he had seen her cry. "Lydia..."
She looked up at him, "Hmm?"
"Why do you want to stay? Just last night...you were saying that you wanted the daddy you knew...know you can have him back and...you don't want to. Why?"
"I dunno...I just...It's only one more night! I don't see the big deal! It's not fair!" She leaned against the man she had been calling daddy for the past several weeks. "Why can't I just stay?"
"Listen, pet...Look down there in that puddle, look down there." The girl leaned over and looked, then leaned back into him. "You see...see your parents?" She nodded. "They miss you...can't you see it? You don't want to make your parents sad, now do you?" She shook her head. "Then why don't you go back...go back to the time where you belong."
"Because...I wanna stay here!"
"You want your mum and dad to be happy, luv?"
She nodded, "Uh-huh..."
"Well, I think that your mum and dad would be really happy if you go back to them." He whispered in her ear.
She giggled, "But--"
"No buts..go on..."
"But, I--"
"No."
She was going to start again, but she stopped, then her brain didn't seem to be able to figure out another word, so she simply stuck her tongue out at the man. "Mmm! Not fair!"
"Life isn't always fair, pet."
"Fine..." She muttered. She went over to sit in Willow's lap again. Looking straight at her parents, she said: "I'm coming home!" She said, a big smile plaster on her face.
Notes - The next chapter will be the last, guys! I know, I know...sadness and tears...or not. Oh well...laughs Anyway, this was "technically" I guess...the "last" chapter. The next one is more of a whole-wrap up. Kind of like a showing of the lives of the "Current" versions of above-mentioned people without Lydia in their lives and the "Future" versions of aforementioned people with her back home. nods Yep, yep...Later!