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Author's Chapter Notes:
I'm hoping I captured the moment alright.
Truth

By 5:00, Buffy was too jumpy to just sit and talk. Willow and Tara, now speaking easily with each other, followed her into the training room as Anya counted the till for the day so far.

The redhead had her laptop set up, and connected with the internet while talking with Tara. She was about to sign off when a new e-mail appeared in her box. Expecting the same short message she had gotten before, she opened the mail.

"Buffy!" Willow yelled. "Angel, he's back in LA. Fred just sent this."

Buffy walked over and leaned in to read the two words on the screen. "He's back." She stood back up. "That means Spike passed, too.” Then with some confusion added, “So where is he?!"

Buffy headed to the weapons area and took six knives in hand, and she began throwing them towards the practice board from habit. All hit their marks. At least the waiting and frustration weren’t affecting her game any.

Tara whispered to Willow, hoping that Buffy couldn't hear, "Who is Angel's Imposable Love?"

Willow just shrugged. "Apparently not Buffy...not anymore, anyway. Maybe it's Fred."

"I-isn't Cordelia, the girl you guys all w-went to school with, working there now?" Tara asked quietly.

"Cordelia?!" Buffy laughed having overheard their conversation. "Not in her dreams." She squelched her giggles and returned to her target practice.

The time was moving too slow for any of them. Anya kept peeking back through the door to announce that no one was back yet every five minutes.

Finally the bell rang over the door and the three ladies in the back room heard Anya's exclamation. "Xander!" They headed back into the shop, Buffy had the gait of a woman walking towards the verdict of a very long and exhausting criminal trial where she was the defendant.

Her stomach suddenly became tighter as she looked at Xander, who seemed surprised at his girlfriend's extreme excitement over his arrival considering her attitude he last few days. "Hey, Buff. Anya said something about a Scoobie meeting at 6:00. New demon in town?" He asked while Anya kept her hold on his arm, smiling with vigor and nearly vibrating with an uncompromising excitement.

Buffy walked up to the table and sat in the seat she'd occupied earlier so that she could easily see the front entrance. Xander sat beside Anya, who took the seat next to Buffy.

Tara and Willow sat next to each other across from the couple. "We really should wait until Dawn gets back," Buffy explained and read the clock. 6:05.

Dawn chose that moment to walk in. "Sorry I'm late, Buffy. I wanted to get a drink to bring with me, and the waiter was totally ignoring me." The girl came in and sat on the stool at the counter. "So, what's the what?"

Buffy had promised but would have given anything to take it back. She really had wanted Spike to be here by now. This was making her crazy.

~~`~~

Spike drove past the 'Welcome to Sunnydale' sign without a sideways glance. He headed into the town's main shopping area and watched Dawn walk into the store, drink in hand. "Must be a meetin' for bit to be strollin’ in at this hour." He pulled into the alley and climbed out of his car. The remains of candy bar wrappers, and bags of chips along with several empty cola cans covered the seats and floor of his Desoto.

~~`~~

Buffy stood up and began pacing in front of the stairs that led to the loft. "Ok." She kept pacing.

Xander watched worriedly as his friend moved furiously back and forth. "Buffy, whatever it is, we'll figure it out. Calm down."

She stopped pacing and looked over at Xander, then her sister. "Alright...so..." She began pacing again and talking to herself. "This is so much easier when I'm saying it to an empty crypt."

"Crypt?" The brunette male's brow furrowed. "Have you been going to Spike's, Buffy?"

Again she stopped and looked at her friend. The first emotion that built in her was anger, so she decided to just go with it. "What if I have been? I mean it, Xand, what can you really say about him?" Her resolve began to strengthen when she looked over at Tara and Willow who were nodding with support.

"What if being with Spike was one of the few things that helped me get back to living? What if Spike was the one person that made me feel like I used to? What if it was Spike who saved me?"

Dawn's eyes scanned the group as she listened to her sister yell at Xander. She wasn't quite sure what she was hearing, but she was a smart girl and had a pretty good idea. While her sister let in on their friend, Dawn’s eyes wondered around the shop. Her eyes caught something around the corner of the training room entrance. Spike's head peeked out just enough for her to see him.

The look of shock was clear on his face as he brought one finger to his lips so that she understood not to reveal he was there. She nodded slightly as a smile spread across her face.

"What if I told you I loved Spike?" Buffy continued. "How long did he help you last summer? Did he complain? How often did he stay and watch over Dawnie?" She looked back at her sister, who was grinning from ear to ear. Buffy took that as another sign of support.

Xander took the break in the Slayer's rant to cut in. "How often did he try to kill us, Buff? This is Spike. Big evil Vampire, remember?"

"Who could have hurt me any time he wanted in the last two months and didn't."

"Huh?" Xander was lost. "He can't hurt any of us. He has that chip."

"Which answers your own question. He can't kill you, Xander. He can't even hit you without the chip punishing him." Buffy paused. "But he's been able to hit me ever since you brought me back. He just didn't find out until the night the security guard was frozen."

"Hate to repeat myself here, but, huh?"

Tara cut in, "When we did the spell, it changed Buffy's molecular structure. Not a lot, but enough to confuse the chip in Spike's head."

Dawn watched Spike as he listened, checking the group to be sure no one was watching her watching him.

"And look," Willow pointed to Buffy, "still alive. Not killed by Spike."

Spike didn't know any of them knew he could harm his Slayer, but the fact that Willow and Tara were defending him made him feel accepted. If only a little.

With her friends now defending her, Buffy began to calm down. A familiar feeling ran up her spine and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. With a smile, she looked directly at Xander. "I love him. It's that simple. He's been gone for a week. Do you have any idea why?"

Spike's ears perked up.

"You remember the story Anya told us?" Her friend nodded. "He went to Akoshta, just like the other Slayer did with her love. He is being tested. I'm not sure what for, but when he comes back, there is nothing, not even my friends, that will stop me from letting him know. I love him!"

Xander sat back, unable to speak. Shock overwhelmed him.

Buffy walked behind the counter, careful not to look in the direction of her training room, and grabbed Sam's Diary. "This is the Diary of the Slayer that Anya told us about. The same one that Spike met." She dropped the book in front of Xander with a thump as she sat in her previous seat. "The wish, for her and her love to live out their 'natural' lives, was not just so she wouldn't be the Slayer." Xander looked up at her. "It was to make him human."

She opened the book to the page marked with the prophetic symbol of the Council.

Xander read the area Buffy pointed out. After a few minutes, he looked up. "He was a
Vampire?"

"A Vampire. A cruel one, then he changed. He wasn't forced to. He just changed," Buffy explained.

"There you go," Xander cut in again. "Spike has only been helping to impress you. Ulterior motives."

“Pfft, Yeah, he spent all summer trying to impress my corpse."

Dawn snorted at that.

This time Anya chimed in. "The other Vampire, he was called to Akoshta long before this." She pointed at the passage in the book. "He was shown a new path. One that led him to her."

Xander stared at Anya. "You knew about all this?" Anya was shamefaced.

"Don't be mad at her, Xander. I asked them all to keep the secret, at least until today."

“And I truly dislike keeping things from you, but in this instance, there was no choice.” Anya frowned.

Xander met his fiancé’s gaze then shooked his head and looked over at Dawn. "Did you know, too?"

Dawn still smiled, then thought of the perfect answer considering who was listening in.

"No, she didn't tell me. I thought she was all dressed up for Richard." She noted the look on Spike's face turn to a grimace out of the corner of her eye. "But it makes more sense than her screaming 'Spike!' in the middle night because she's dreaming about punch with alcohol."

Dawn giggled as Spike cocked an eyebrow. The secret exchange went unnoticed by the group seated at the table.

"Punch?" Buffy asked Willow.

"You know I'm no good at lying."

"Yeah, maybe...but who has noisy dreams about punch...even with alcohol?" The Slayer looked over to her friend.

"I know, but I really couldn't think of another excuse for the noises you've been making at night." She tried to defend herself.

Spike was snickering quietly as the banter continued. Dawn smiled at him. She wanted to let him know that his being with Buffy was fine with her. He nodded to her in thanks.

Xander watched the exchange between the blonde and the redhead who were his best friends, then began waving his arms in the air. "Hello...losing track of the subject here."

He got their attention after a few more waves. He was still trying to take all this in. Too much, or too little, information. He wasn't sure which. He did know that he really didn't want to hear about lusty dreams of Spike and Buffy. "How long have you two been...whatever you've been doing?"

Buffy thought about it. When had all this started? The attraction had been there for awhile, but nothing happened until..."Since the song and dance demon," Buffy remembered.

Xander ran the last three months through his mind, trying to remember some hint or clue he could have picked up on. Nothing came to mind. Spike was hanging around a lot, but that wasn't unusual.

Buffy wasn't different. She was still fighting with him.

Spike volunteered to help like usual. Almost at beck and call. The only exception he could recall was the time Buffy was invisible. Spike wanted to finish his exercising...

"OH, GOD!!" Xander jumped up knocking the chair backwards. "You were there...in his crypt...Oh, God...I saw you and him...blinvisible.” And suddenly all vampires were tan in comparison to Xander’s new pale hue. “Oh, God."

Buffy just stared at him, then over at Dawn. "Xander, before you say another word, I want you to remember my little sister is over there." She motioned toward the counter.

He turned around and gave Dawn a shaky and very nervous wave. "Oh, hey there, Dawnie." He let his hand fall and looked back at Buffy. "You have got to see how this is all freaking me out?"

"Never seen a bloke do push-ups before?" a deep accented voice said from the back room.

Spike took a few steps into the shop to let the rest of the group see him.

Buffy had known he was there, but wanted to let him hear the conversation. It was somehow easier, with Spike in the shadows, but still here, she could say everything she needed, and somehow she felt this would allow Xander to say what he needed. She had no intention of letting her friend stop her, or talk her out of her decision, but she didn't want to loose a friend, either.

Actually seeing him again was the cement in her decision. In the instant she turned and could take in his full presence her lungs emptied. Her chest felt empty yet heavy with emotion. She couldn’t breath for a full minute and her face felt unreasonably warm.

The group all looked at the Vampire. He was smiling just slightly and staring straight at Buffy. The two's eyes were locked.

"Hey, Spike," Willow said. "Glad to see you're not dead... or anymore dead than you were before.

"Appreciate that, Red," he said, not taking his eyes off Buffy.

Time stood still for the two. They scanned each other slowly. Not knowing until then just how much they had missed each other. Buffy broke the standstill as she ran the short distance between them, wrapped her arms around Spike's neck, and kissed him with a freedom and a fervor he hadn't expected.

His eyes remained open long enough to be sure no one was going to protest, then he held her and returned her kiss with all the passion he'd held back until this moment. No one was going to stop them. Not even Xander now.

A small growl shook him. It took a moment to figure out it was Buffy making the noise.

He pulled back a little and looked down at her flushed face. "Exactly what are those dreams about?"

Her face was ragingly red but leaned to his ear and whispered. Spike's eyes widened as did his grin. When she stood back he put his arm around her waist and pulled her back to him. "It can be arranged, luv."

“Yeah, I really didn‘t think you‘d have any arguments.” She smiled up at him still unable to let go of him.

He leaned down and captured her lips, slowly reminding her how much he loved being with her and possessed by her. He suckled her lower lip tracing it with his tongue and loving her flavor.

"Um, under aged kid here. And as cool as I am with all this, I so totally don't need any imagery. OK?" Dawn tried to get their attention, and save herself from having any pictures burned into her brain that may cause a need for therapy.


Chapter End Notes:
Just the epilogue to go and were done with book one. Hope the last 2 chapters answered some of those questions I've had about exactly what Akoshta was for.



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