I CAPTURE THE SUN
Pairings: Buffy/Legolas. I might as well point out that at this point, it will be eventual
Teaser: Buffy ends up in Heaven, which happens to be Middle-Earth. But not everything is as heavenly as it seems as she's come in the middle of a war and finds a piece of Heaven worth fighting for.
Rating: T, by the new fanfiction standards. There is a little blood and gore, but that is about it. It should be suitable for anyone who has ever read Tolkien or watched the show.
Revised Summary: Buffy Summers had been given a new life and for thirty years she lived as the powerful, feared leader of a warrior clan of women… and then her friends pulled her out of Heaven. Now she lives in a world she no longer understands surrounded by people who cannot help her. Friendships will be tested and loyalties will be stretched to their limits but she will never rest until she fulfills her last promise and fights in the war she knows has come.
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon. The 'Lord of the Rings' book series belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien. The plot is (hopefully) my own.
Timeline: The story is currently set approximately fifty years before the start of the Fellowship.
Gratitudes: At long last, we are progressing forward.
Anna - It was never my intention to just set Angel aside. He comes into play in the future and not just within this chapter. And I guess it was my own goof that you caught... whoops. I'm glad you're enjoying this!
sparky24- It hasn't been more than maybe three chapters that they weren't seen, and suddenly they are in the open again. I actually love the character of Siri, for reasons that you will soon see. And Tara's role is about to get a lot more complicated. And Angel's gang is nothing more than moral support. Buffy needed an outlet for her frustration and she finally found one.
Toniboo - Oh, she is definitely going back...
General Mac - of course.
Lorency - There is a first time for everything. It will likely be the last cliffhanger I'll ever write because I do not tend to favor them, but the chapter just fit the way it was.
Sukera - of course. Thanks :)
TortureofPersephone - well... they did help, in a way. They can tell her what she already knows. There is only one person who can act on it and that person is about to wake up and smell the coffee, literally. And, thank you. I hope you enjoy the end of this story!
goldenshadows - I tried, honestly, to update sooner. But real life just gets hectic, you know?
Part Summary: Buffy makes a few confessions.
Notes: This is another Buffy-centric chapter. We can already assume that Legolas will be busy on his travels to Rivendell now. But things are picking up on both ends, as you will soon see. Lastly comes the question of who Tara really is. It will be explained in the next chapter moreso. I had to leave some intrigue.
x-x-x-x
Part XVI
x-x-x-x
"You came to the right place."
Buffy felt only slightly more relaxed as she settled onto a chair in a large, rather ornate conference room. She had a feeling it hadn't been used in quite some time. There was a thick layer of dust on every surface but the small set of chairs surrounding a large fireplace. And yet Angel took the seat across from her, waiting for her to speak. Just as she opened her mouth, there was a knock on the door. There was a head that poked inside, followed by Cordelia's slim figure. "I figured you could use the mediation," she said in a comfortable tone, taking the third chair and settling in. "I didn't want you dusting my employer."
"Ah, noted," Buffy said dryly, crossing her arms.
"She was just about to tell me what was going on," Angel said, a hint of a whine in his voice as he glared at Cordelia.
"She can stay," Buffy said quietly. "Besides, weren't you just telling me of some dimensional travels you just got home from?"
"Oh, Pylea!" Cordelia said, her face breaking into a wide grin. "Yeah, they loved me so much, they made me a Princess."
Buffy leaned on her chair, her fingers drumming her jaw line. "Hmm."
"Did you have any fancy names?" Angel asked.
"A few," Buffy replied, looking inquiringly at Cordy. "I think my favorite was Lady of Shadow."
"What sort of name is that?" Cordelia asked, leaning back in her own chair.
"Something fit for a queen."
"They made you a Queen?" Cordy asked in disbelief.
"I earned that role," Buffy replied. "It was given to me by a dying ruler."
"Who made you a Queen?" Angel asked her, just as Cordelia spoke up.
"This is just so abnormal! We both get transported to these new places and they make us royals! I knew Sunnydale would dish out something positive after all that negative stuff."
"Why don't I just tell you both the whole story," Buffy said, lowering her hand, suddenly looking weary. "It might be easier on all of us."
And they both closed their mouths and gazed at her as she began to tell them everything.
x-x-x
Sunnydale
Willow watched as Tara continued to scrub the same place on the table. Glancing up from her textbook, she saw that Tara looked more than preoccupied. "Are you okay?"
"Don't I look okay?" Tara asked in an edgy tone.
"You haven't been yourself in the past few days," Willow replied, watching as Tara continued to run the sponge over the same corner. "And you're going to rub the table away if you keep doing that."
Tara glanced up and Willow was taken aback by the anger in her girlfriend's face. She had never seen Tara look like this. It was as though this fury gave her a savage inner fire. "Maybe it would look better," she said in an uncharacteristically hard tone. "Maybe it would make me feel—"
But Tara cut herself off, just as Willow glanced over at her. "Make you feel what?" she asked, as though she didn't want to know the answer.
"Guilty," Tara replied softly. "I feel guilty, okay? It wasn't supposed to happen."
Willow stood up and walked over, examining the table. "It doesn't look too bad. I could just whip up a little spell, and—"
"No, Willow," Tara said firmly, turning to her. "You're using too much magic!"
"But I'm not!" Willow protested. "I haven't done anything that big since I brought Buffy back. A lot of good that did. She's been acting like a brain-dead zombie."
Tara's eyes narrowed as she flung the sponge onto the table. "It was never up to you to decide for her," she snapped, before flouncing from the room. Willow glanced up in confusion as she heard Tara pounding angrily upstairs. For some reason, Tara's behavior over the past week had been growing stranger and stranger. Something was definitely up.
Once securely upstairs, Tara reached their bedroom door and closed it behind her. Moving towards the bed, she held up her palm. Whispering a few choice words, she could hear a soft, melodic tone echo around her, as though speaking instructions. As the soft glow spread from her hand and expanded, Tara's body fell to the side, as though lost in a deep sleep, while her soul was brought back to a previous land she had once left behind.
x-x-x
Los Angeles
"Wow."
"I don't even think 'wow' covers it."
"You said that already."
"I can't help it," Cordelia replied, blinking. "I mean, even you can't come up with some load of hooey like that."
"Well," Buffy said coldly. "I just did."
"Wow."
"Will you please shut up?"
Angel looked at Buffy's irritated face and at Cordelia's bemused expression. Somehow, words couldn't describe how he felt right now. He had gone after Cordelia, trapped in a demon dimension for maybe two days. He had lost Buffy for thirty years? It didn't seem possible!
"Wow." He just couldn't help it.
He was rewarded for his third straight comment with an annoyed look, but he felt as though she should have been more lenient. After all, she had just spent the past hour spilling her soul to him, and it had been months since he'd last seen her. She'd been alive for months now and had yet to even speak to him. Suddenly she was at his hotel, looking as though she were seconds from falling apart. Instead, he had pulled her aside and asked her to talk to him. Unlike the cautious Slayer he knew, he found that she was willing to talk. Apparently, she had a lot on her mind. Cordelia just drew her knees to her chest and quietly watched them, her head tilted.
She wouldn't look at him, still. He wondered why she avoided his gaze, but she had been staring at her knees for the past hour. She still hadn't moved from this position, although her voice never wavered. He kept staring at her, hoping that she would at least acknowledge the person she'd been spilling her heart out to.
"I know," he said quietly. "It's just that… you know… this isn't something you'd hear everyday."
He saw her wince as she played with the bottoms of her jeans. "But you went through it."
"We did," Cordelia replied, speaking up for the first time in awhile. "But that doesn't mean you should have gone through it alone."
"Who was going to come and save me?" Buffy asked irritably. "As I told you, I didn't exactly need saving."
Angel rolled his eyes while Cordelia let out a rather unladylike scoff. "That's for sure."
"Why me?"
Cordelia eyed Angel, but Buffy still wouldn't look at him. He thought he saw a darkness cross her face as she appeared to think over her words. "Because you know what it's like to thrive in the dark," she said softly.
"Are you sure this isn't some vengeance thing?"
"What?" she asked, choking out the word as though it were poisonous. "Have you completely lost your mind?"
"I'm not the one talking about trans-dimensional time travel," Angel replied quietly. "You just told me you spent thirty years leading some peasants to freedom and fighting off ugly trolls."
"Didn't she call them Orcs?" Cordelia asked quietly.
She appeared to bristle. "I have been," she snapped. "And yes, they were Orcs. They're a cross between goblins and… why the hell are you laughing at me?" Then she began to realize how juvenile her words sounded.
"I'm sorry," Cordelia said, barely able to hold in her laughter though her hand covered her mouth. "I'll just… I'll be out there. Just holler or something if she pulls a stake, okay?" Turning, she left the room. Once the door was closed, they could hear her laughter on the other side.
"It is pretty unbelievable," he admitted, shaking his head at the whirlwind behavior of his associate. "I mean… Elves and half-Trolls and destinies… it just doesn't seem like the type of thing Heaven is."
"I don't think it was Heaven," Buffy sighed. "It wasn't a happy place, but it wasn't Hell, either. There were good things, there. There are good people." She looked back at her hemline and gave a particularly long string a hearty twitch. "But it was different, you know? I felt like I belonged there."
"You belong here," Angel protested. "You're the Slayer, Buff."
"You don't understand," she said, her face darkening. "And I thought you would understand best of all what it feels like to feel helpless. I seem to remember your complete breakdown on Christmas!"
"That was different," he argued.
"Oh, you're right," she said angrily. "That's because your best friend didn't use the blackest magic to bring you back!"
For a moment, there was silence between them.
"Forget it," she said, getting to her feet. "I'm obviously not going to find help—"
"Excuse me."
Buffy glanced up as a tall, green-skinned demon slipped into the room.
"I couldn't help overhearing your little soirée," he said, giving Buffy a charming smile before holding out his hand. "I'm Lorne. You must be Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. Have to say, Angel… she's pretty."
"Thank you," Buffy said sweetly. "Now, how long have you been standing there?"
"Careful, Lorne," Angel said, quickly standing up and placing his body between the demon and the Slayer. "She bites hard."
"I just like to play." There was no sad look in her eyes now, nor any playful smile on her face. In fact, she looked hard and angry.
"That's sweet," Lorne said, giving her a placating smile. "You might want to keep your voices down. They can hear you in the lobby."
Buffy sighed and crossed her arms. "I remember when privacy actually meant something."
"When you were spending thirty years in the wilderness?" Angel asked lightly.
Buffy sent him a scathing look. "Fine… don't believe me."
"I just find it hard to believe that you're telling me, of all people, that you just spent—"
"Just because you're too thick-headed to even see the truth—"
"Angel… she's getting agitated…"
"All right, stop," Angel said, placing both hands in the air.
"I have never lied to you about something like this," Buffy said, her voice simmering slightly. "I wouldn't lie to you now."
"There is one way to find out," Lorne said slowly.
"Oh," Angel said, a look of dawning comprehension on his face. Turning to Buffy, he saw the confusion on her face.
"What do you mean?" she asked fearfully. "If you're gonna use some wicked magic…"
"There's nothing like this kind of magic," Angel said easily. "He just wants you to sing."
"Sing?" Buffy asked in disbelief.
"He reads people when they sing," Angel explained, shrugging.
"Oh," she said softly, slowly sinking back to Angel's abandoned chair. "What do you want me to sing?"
"Anything you want," Lorne replied.
"Okay," she said, looking down again before a wary smile fell across her face. Lifting her chin, she began to sing, albeit slightly off-key. "Land in shadow, land forsaken… stone and fable past is hidden… darkness clouds the road's safe haven…"
As she sang, Lorne was suddenly caught with flashes, brilliant white lights. He saw a small blonde in shredded clothing protecting a small boy from advancing swords. He saw a woman taking a sword from a dead man's hand before lifting it to strike and kill. He saw a flash of a woman leading other women in some sort of strange exercise. He saw a fight between a tall, broad figure and the woman. He saw a woman on her knees, near death, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, egging something on. He saw fell creatures soaring from the sky, advancing on a woman who stood alone, abandoned by a group of women who had run at first sight. He saw a pair of cerulean eyes and pointed ears and heard a gentle, soothing voice. He saw a figure riding hard as winged creatures ahead swooped down, screeching. And, at last, he saw a flash of light, heard a scream, and saw darkness. Lifting his head with a start, he heard her singing on.
"Land of home, land of family… land where all our hopes are found… we will go home across the mountains… we will go home, to the skies… we will go home… we will go—"
She suddenly cut herself off, seeing the look on Lorne's face. He was staring at her, obviously flabbergasted. "Angel?" he asked quietly. The vampire moved closer to help Lorne regain his footing. The demon wasn't sure when he'd lost it.
"What did you see?" Angel asked.
"The truth," he said, watching Buffy's eyes carefully. Her gaze never left his face. "It was you."
She nodded ever so slightly.
"How did you…?"
"I don't know," she admitted in a low, worried voice. "But now you know."
"What do you know?" Angel asked, looking between Lorne and Buffy. "What aren't you telling me?"
"She doesn't belong here," Lorne said, as though trying to find the words to express how he felt.
"You read that from me?" she asked. "I knew if I came here, I'd find what I was looking for."
"You found it," Lorne said uncertainly. He turned to look at Angel, who was still looking rather edgy. "Would you give us a moment?"
Angel nodded and after making sure Buffy was okay, he left the room. "What do you know?" she asked him.
"Power," he said, lifting a hand to massage his green temple. "I felt a lot of power."
She looked pleased to hear this. "I had some."
"There was someone," Lorne said, glancing at her. "I saw him more than once."
A sad look crossed her face. "Pointy ears, sea-foam eyes, killer smile?"
"That's the one."
A sad smile lit her pretty face. "I…"
"You feel something for him, don't you?" Lorne asked. "I sensed it. And I haven't been wrong yet, sweetie. Is there anyway you can go back?"
"I could try dying again," she said bitterly.
"I would go against it."
"Me, too."
The two unlikely allies shared a smile. "What was that song?" Lorne asked her.
"Something I was forced to learn. I used to sing it to the girls before they went to bed at night…" Her voice trailed off as she looked away. "I miss them."
"Well… Angel will know that you're telling the truth soon enough. But you should know that there's always a way back. Believe me, I know," he said, seeing that she was opening her mouth to protest. "Don't lose hope, girl. There's always hope."
A brilliant smile spread warmly across her face. "I was hoping you would say that."
x-x-x
MirkwoodForest
3018
"They made it!"
Siri gave a great breath of relief as a large number of Elves on horseback suddenly crossed into their own realm. The villagers barely glanced up, they were so accustomed to seeing Elves pass by their village. But they had not seen Thranduilion for quite some time. Siri herself was pleased to see him. At last, perhaps, he would have his father's answer. Instead, she found a silver chain being dangled in front of her face, despite her best efforts to bat the irritating object away. "What in blazes is that?" she asked angrily.
"Your mother once possessed this," Legolas replied, dismounting and holding the silver cross in his hand. "She revered this object above all others, including your mother's crown."
"Somehow I never expected to see this again," Siri said, taking the object from his outstretched hand and holding it to the light. "Where was this found?"
"In the forest near where she was last seen," Legolas said quietly.
"He has spent the past few months in that part of the forest," a second Elvish guard spoke up snidely.
"You miss her," Siri said, realizing.
Legolas nodded. "I miss her more than I did when she first disappeared," he admitted. "However, a call was made from Elrond in Rivendell and the time has come for my presence to leave this forest. My father has acquiesced to your proposal and is awaiting your presence in his city. He fears that Sauron is already amassing a great number of forces."
"We are quite ahead of you," Siri said, a hint of pride to her voice as she waved Mauve forward. Her mother's former Lieutenant came forward and spread out a scroll, her palms pressing the map down so that Siri could explain how dire their situation had become. "The numbers of Dol Guldur have swelled. It would be an unfortunate error to send my forces to wipe the resistance there, for it has grown too far. Our best hope is to remain hidden and hope that Sauron does not know that the kin to his precious Shadow has returned to claim history's place."
"They gear to strike hard," Mauve said, gesturing to two places on the map very near to Dol Guldur. "They will strike Lórien hard and the Woodlands even harder. They carry with them a great and vast firepower and creatures the Orcs speak can breathe fire."
"Surely not dragons," an Elf spoke, frowning at Maeve's tactical report.
"They are far smaller than dragons, but from our informant who was quite informative at the end," she said with her wicked smile, "they have the firepower to destroy this entire wood and the woods of Lothlórien. We have no choice but to fortify what we are able. They have large numbers of Orcs and wicked men from the south. We believe them to be the dark Elves that once plagued our forefathers. We are no match for their strength, for the last time we fought many perished. But we are more able to parry the Orc."
Legolas turned to confer with his Captain. "The Elves will fight these dark creatures."
"We will handle the others," Siri replied.
"Do you not recall your last words to Strider?" Legolas asked Siri quietly.
"You have a point," Siri replied blithely, turning to her sister. "Daire, Mauve, come forward."
The two women stepped forward and Siri paused, uncertain on whether she could ask these two loyal women to do what she was about to ask them to. Before he had left the previous year, Strider had asked her to send aid to the south, where the warriors of her village could easily assist the warriors of Gondor. After all, they were all relatively related in some way or another.
"Prepare your forces," she told Daire quietly. "You will go south towards Osgiliath. I believe you recall the promise I made with the Ranger."
Twenty years ago, Siri would have killed any Ranger or Elf where he stood. It amazed Daire to see what her sister was capable of now. "Yes, my lady." Turning to Mauve, who came forward, Siri added, "I wish for you to keep my cousin safe. You are the eldest and most able Amazon and you are the bravest woman I have ever met. Despite the harsh words I once reserved for you, I ask for your forgiveness now."
"You had my forgiveness ere we crossed the mountains," Mauve replied. "As for Daire, she knows to protect herself. There is little I can do to sway her spirit."
"No, but it would appease my soul," Siri replied. "I entrust you both with this task. Do it for Buffy."
Mauve nodded and said little else. She and Daire both swept off, calling Daire's small band of archers with them.
"This battle, when it comes, will be the grandest of battles," Legolas told her. "Will you prepare your people for the worst of what may come?"
"There are caves in the hills yonder," Siri replied, pointing. It gave her some pleasure to know that she wasn't as pregnant and waddling as she had been the last time Legolas had seen her. She had returned to her smaller, muscular physique and she rather enjoyed it. "I will ask Jarron to remain behind. In the beginning, he will question my order, but our children mean the world to us both. If anything were to happen to them, I would not forgive myself and neither could he."
"I myself will travel under guard to Rivendell," Legolas replied. "We have been called for a reason I cannot speak of."
"Then you must go," she said quietly. "I will honor my agreement with you and your father and when you return, you can look upon this land and smile."
"I only hope that you speak the truth," he said, giving her a faint smile. And then he was gone, riding away on his horse. Most of the Elves remained and Siri broke out a feast. But inside she was resting uneasily. If Buffy had been there, would she have stood by Legolas and ridden with him to Rivendell, as many believed she would have, or would she have remained in the forest? It was a choice between love and honor and after spending many years believing that Buffy was capable of honor above love, she had no idea what Buffy would have done. And, seeing her small daughter giggling in her eldest brother's arms, Siri realized that she didn't either.
But they would be ready for whatever Sauron had for them to face. The Lady of Shadows had prepared them for that. And it was time to dish out a bit of the revenge the Dark Lord had been waiting so long to possess.
x-x-x
The dark mist refused to lift from the bed of the valley, the sharp rocks glinting red in the bloody sunset. Rising, the leader of the Nine gazed to the north, smiling a cold, bloodless smile. Turning, he saw his greatest accomplishment, the Black Elf, to his right. The figure remained, his dark hair and eyes turned north. Despite the torture and manipulation, he had yet to turn into an Orc and still retained his once handsome stature. It was true the Elf was coldly beautiful, but a fierce, priceless killer he remained as well. His small army would be essential in destroying the irksome woods to the north. Thranduil would never know what had struck his hand.
And to his left was Sauron's prize. There were only eight of these creatures and Sauron had yet to fulfill his promise of a hundred more. They were stooped figures, what once must have been hobbits or Stoors. They were hideous creatures, as black as the pathetic form of Gollum, with scaly skin, red eyes and a hiss for a breath. Their forked tongues snaked out from between bleeding lips. Sauron had created these beings in the Shadow for the intent purpose of having his third hand lead them into battle against the dreaded Eldar. But their hideousness made up for their cruelty, malice and will. They breathed flames, which crackled around him, warming his cold heart. Despite the fact that the Lady of Shadow no longer remained to lead them, the Lord of the Nazgûl would only have to take her place.
The pieces were set. The plan was in motion. They were just waiting for the most opportune moment to strike. Turning to the Black Elf, he handed over the reins to his once formidable stronghold before lifting on his winged creature and taking flight, turning south towards Mordor.
His Master was calling.
x-x-x
Tara felt her body ease back into consciousness just as she heard loud voices outside the doorway. One was Dawn's. The other sounded like Buffy.
"I can't believe you just took off to Los Angeles without telling anyone!" Dawn was shouting.
"It's not like it wasn't legal," Buffy replied sarcastically. "Besides, it was time to see Angel."
"Does it really matter?" Dawn screamed.
Buffy didn't answer. Tara had just opened the door and forced her face to assume a calm, relaxed expression. "Oh, I'm s-sorry," she said, quickly leaning to close the door.
"Don't bother," Dawn snapped, shoving Buffy aside as she walked down the hall to her bedroom and gave the door a heavy slam. Buffy seemed to recoil at the sound, her eyes meeting Tara's.
"I had to go," she said at last, as though trying to come up with a feeble excuse as to why she had just run from Tara.
Tara gazed at her silently before closing the door. The time had not come yet to even let Buffy in on what she knew. She heard Buffy sigh and walk downstairs. She heard the front door open and close. And then, before she could expect it, she heard a light tap-tap on the other side of the door she was holding closed.
"Tara? Tara, honey… whatever I've done, I'm sorry. I didn't know."
Willow.
Tara slowly let out a long breath and pulled the door open, smiling an apologetic smile as she pulled Willow into the room. "I'm sorry too," she said, glancing down and tucking a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. "I didn't mean to be so rude, it's just that…"
"I get it," Willow said, attempting to smile as she took Tara's hand. "And it's okay."
But how could Tara explain to her that it wasn't okay anymore? How could she tell Willow what was really going on? How could she tell the woman she loved the truth?
Buffy walked out into the darkness, the inky chill soothing her jangled nerves. After she had left Lorne, feeling slightly freaked out, she had come across Cordelia again. And then Angel and the rest of his gang had to put their two cents in. It was all so very confusing. All she wanted to do was go home. She hadn't been alive long enough to appreciate this one. Thirty years was actually semi-permanent to her. She had belonged there.
She lifted her hands to massage her neck when she felt a presence approach. "I so don't want to deal with you right now."
"Sooner or later you're going to deal with me, pet."
"Spike…"
"I know when I'm not wanted or needed, but right now you look like you need to talk."
"I've been talking," she replied coldly. "That isn't the problem. You morons don't know how to listen."
"Did you ever learn?"
She smiled suddenly. "Took a while."
He let her walk a few more paces before he shouted out, "It wasn't Hell, was it?"
She stopped and half-turned back towards him. Her hands left her neck and fell limp to her sides. Turning, he saw her hazel eyes glistening in the moonlight. "No."
"Did you want to tell me about it?"
"What does it matter? You wouldn't believe me if I did."
"I might not, but I know how it feels to be ripped, torn from one world and sent to the next."
"It wasn't like that," Buffy said quietly. "Everyone thinks that just because I was dumped somewhere that it was Hell and I suffered and longed to be back here. I never once thought of this place. I didn't care if I ever saw it again. That world had enough problems to be getting along with. It didn't need a lost little girl!"
Spike placed his hands up, looking surprised. "You're right," he said quietly. "Someone has been pushing your buttons."
"What does it matter?" she moaned, turning away from him and stomping down the other direction. "You want to know what that world was like? You didn't know if you were going to live to see tomorrow. Every sunrise and sunset was a blessing because you didn't know what you could face between the darkness and the light. There was a war being fought between good and evil, not for a city and not just for a world. It was for history, for everything that mattered. There was more at stake. There was so much more that I can't even begin to tell you, because I just can't remember that now. It's hard for me to see what I've lost."
"How long?" he asked slowly. He remembered his original question. She had once said 'longer' when he had asked this before. But suddenly he had to know.
"Thirty years," she said honestly. "It was so different from living here. There was nothing that you count on here like cars, cell phones… adequate housing. But there was something you could count on. I wasn't the only chosen one anymore. There were others like me, willing to die to defend the world of good. And sometimes it took a sacrifice, like making yourself appear bad. But I was never evil. I didn't want that, no matter how much they wanted it for me. And…" she said, pursing her lips for the biggest revelation of all, "I was immortal. No matter what happened, no matter how bad it hurt or how much more they pushed… they couldn't kill me. And that's one gift I wouldn't want taken away. Can you imagine being able to push the boundaries of who you really are without having to worry about the mortal consequences?"
This wasn't the Slayer he had fallen in love with. This was someone else. The more he listened to her, the more he began to see that she truly didn't belong there.
Before they knew it, they were sitting outside the front door as Buffy stared at the sky.
"Thank you," she said after a long pause. "You're the first person who hasn't questioned my sanity or asked me to do stupid things like sing for my supper."
"Who made you--?"
"The point is," she said, cutting him off politely, "it means a lot that you're here now. I don't know what would've happened if that didn't get out. I wasn't from an evil land that kidnapped me. I was from someplace else. And I want to go back… home."
He saw the longing in her eyes and knew then that the Slayer he had loved was dead. Leaning over, he lifted her hand into his. "No problem," he said quickly. "You saved me once, I saved your sanity. We'll call it even."
She gently moved her hand away from his and stared outwards. "I'm going to bed," she said at last, getting up. Spike watched as she walked inside and closed the door. He could see her shadow moving upstairs and the different lights flickering on and off. At last, he saw the light in her bedroom snap off and sighed, reaching into his pocket for a cigarette. God, did he need one with women like her around!
Upstairs, Buffy found herself lying in bed for hours, unable to sleep. She knew that if she did, the nightmares would only start again. Watching her women die was one thing, but watching them succumb to torture, physical harm and death was another. Rolling onto her side, she reached into her nightstand and removed her Elvish clip. The small object fit perfectly in the palm of her hand and that alone was a comfort to her. She was just drifting off into an easy doze when the door suddenly sprang open. Buffy sat up, gasping as Tara stepped inside.
"We must speak," she said, holding up her hand. "Don't say a word. I can't stay long because the others might find out I'm here, but I had to come. The only problem is we don't have a lot of time."
x-x-x-x
In the next part… sacrifices are abound as both sides make significant contributions to the same promise.