I can smell her blood. It has tainted the forest. The trees whisper of it and the snow reveals it's crimson color. Somewhere nearby is my baby all grown up. Am I leading Buffy to our daughter's frozen corpse? Spike snapped out of these pessimistic thoughts. He looked to his right as Buffy kept little Emily wrapped in her fleece winter coat and snuggled close to her chest. It was better that Buffy hold her so Spike could fight quickly if they were ambushed. Emily's nose was pink as was her mother's. His vampire hearing could pick up the chattering of their teeth. They're freezing. Emily is out there lying in the snow and bleeding. If the attack hadn't killed her the frostbite will. Pessimistic thoughts, again. The strange thing was Spike wasn't cold. His body had to be, yes, but he could not feel it. Not like they do.

"Spike it's too cold for her." Buffy's voice was full of concern for their child.

"Buffy it cant be much longer. She's out there and she's alone and…she's alone Buffy. She asked for help and I'm damn well gonna give it to her. After what I've put her through last—" Spike stopped himself. I never told her.

"Last time? What are you talking about?" Buffy stopped dead in her tracks.

"It's the cold. It's getting to me. It's nothing." Spike said, looking Buffy in the eyes.

She looked him back in the eyes and she saw pain and sadness. His cool blue eyes were icy with worry and fear. "What are you keeping from me, Spike?"

Spike's eyes drifted from Buffy's eyes to the snow beneath his black combat boots. He did not answer her.

"Spike we are supposed to tell each other everything. Good or bad. Is there something you know that I don't?" Buffy's eyes kept on Spike's as he looked her back. He watched her gorgeous eyes for a moment as he thought. I don't want to see the hurt in her eyes as she sees in mine. It's the cross you have to bare, Spike. Be a man and suck it up. Soul or no soul you cannot tell her—not for a moment's weakness.

For a moment too long, Spike's feelings formed at the tip of his tongue and he let it out. "Buffy you are my one and only. You have my soul and my body Buffy, you always have. Emily is the proof of our love. Our love grows with her and in her day after day. It's my responsibility to her to protect her as her father. You know, when I first found out you were pregnant I was angry and scared. I was angry at myself for letting it happen and scared because I didn't want a child to have me to call Dad. But something happened, Buffy. I had a dream that I believe was real. The night Emily was born I dreamt I met the girl we are looking for here in this forest. She told me that I left you when she was a toddler and because of that you were caught off guard and killed in the great battle. Buffy, she was so full of pain and fear—"

"Like the kind you are carrying now." Buffy said, cutting him off. She pulled closer towards him and placed her left hand over his chest. "Spike, you didn't leave me and I didn't die." He pulled her hand away and folded it into his.

"Who says I wouldn't have if I hadn't had that dream?" He whispered softly.

Buffy leaned in and kissed Spike forcefully then pulling away to take a good look at him. "I say. Now let's go find Emily." She turned to start walking again.

"Buffy. Are you sure you're okay with this? She could be—she could be gone." He asked her hoping she would tell him everything would be fine.

"We need to keep looking." Buffy spoke, her voice raspy as the wind began to pick up speed. Emily shrieked and looked up into the sky.

"She's cold." Emily whimpered as she drew herself closer to her mother's warm chest.

"She?" Spike asked, not thinking about it too much. After all she's too little to know proper English. "You mean you, little bit. You are cold." He corrected her kindly.

Emily's face grew impatient and serious. She shook her head. "She's me. She's cold. I'm cold. In the snow. Everything is white and cold. And red. Wet red covers me and it stings me but the snow just keeps coming. The wind talk to her like it talks to me."

Spike and Buffy watched the small child's eyes search the forest of which everything looked the same as everything else. They were surely lost.

"Where is she baby? Where's big Emily?" Buffy asked frantically. Emily lifted her finger to a tree set off in the distance and Spike ran as Buffy shuffled her way through the heaps of snow.

Spike reached the tree first but could not see anything. He could smell it though. The smell of blood was everywhere. Buffy was at the tree soon after but she too could not see anything except the snow. "Let her down, Buffy." Spike said, having an idea. As Buffy let Emily down onto the quickly packing snow, Emily knew what she was doing. She walked around the tree as her parents followed intently. She reached her hand out in front of her and wiped snow from what was revealed to be a woman. Buffy gasped. "Is she—is she—" She couldn't get the words out. Emily continued to wipe away the snow from the woman's face but was disappointed when she realized it wasn't Emily.

"It's not her. This one's been dead for days." Spike protested.

"Then where is Emily?" Buffy asks as they all hear something coming from a tree just a foot away. They silence as they wait for a sound again. A cough. Sounds human.

Buffy leaps through the snow as Spike carries little Emily. When she gets to the other side of the tree she sees another woman. Although she had never seen adult Emily before she knew her own child's face when she saw it. "Emily." She spoke softly as she wiped snow from her face. Her lips were cracked and her eyelashes were frozen solid. Breathing seemed to be a difficult task for her. Spike caught up with little Emily in his arms as he placed her on the snow floor to help Future Emily to her feet.

"I cant stand." Her voice crackled a whisper.

"Try." Spike urged. "If you don't move then your blood will freeze."

She placed her ice cold hand on Spike's arm. "I need to slow the bleeding."

Buffy helped Spike life her. They brought her to her feet and she coughed up blood. "I'm going to die here. There's nothing you can do. There's no way out but I figured that out too late. I shouldn't have called you."

"About that. How did you—" Buffy asked curiously.

"Willow and Tara taught me. People have prophetic dreams all by themselves. In this time, controlling dreams is easy with Wiccan knowledge. It's simply planting a message into someone's unconscious. Kind of like mind reading or telepathy." Future Emily said, taking seconds between sentences to catch her breathe and work through the pain running through her fragile body.

"Who was the woman back there? The one we had seen before finding you?" Spike asked. He stayed close to her just in case she needed support.

"She was my best friend. She was a strong witch who's will was stronger than her fists. I told her not to come but she insisted. I thought I could protect her but the demons, they're too strong." Emily coughed as she held back tears. They would be meaningless. She's not coming back. She mustered up all the strength she could as she turned and took her mother and father into a hug. She whispered in her father's ear. "I love you Daddy." She pulled away and kneeled down to little Emily's height.

"You're a smart girl. Although Aunt Willow will teach you that smarts are important, strength is important also. You're strong. Always remember that." She said, hugging her. Little Emily smiled and then ran to her Daddy so he could carry her.

"These demons. What kind are they?" Buffy asked. She let Emily lean on her shoulder for stability as they walked deeper into the forest. Out of nowhere a hairy beast-like demon came up and knocked Buffy to the ground.

"That kind!" Emily said, panicking.