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They were close.
The Slayer and the Eletti, closer than they thought.
The demon had quickly realized that demons and physical violence
weren’t going to stop them. They both were strong and very
determined.
They had dispatched the first set of demons and vampires very
easily.
The demon looked toward the two humans, trapped in the purple
mist.
They had been fighting, despite the sorrow they had been facing,
and the echoes of their losses had reverberated throughout the
gallery, reaching the Slayer and the Eletti.
The two of them weren’t giving up, though.
The demon smiled before blowing again at the purple mist. The two
humans trapped inside of it screamed.
The demon could feel their pain…and the heart-ache it was
provoking on the Slayer and the Eletti.
Its smile grew wider. Things were going to get very interesting.
~~*~~*~~*~~
She wished Spike remembered.
Willow closed her eyes, trying to focus on the book she was
researching on.
Another day of endless sorrow was ahead of them. Just like the
other times she had gone at Giles’ house finding the others.
Just like the other times Giles and she had gone through the
heartbreaking process of explaining what was happening.
She hadn’t even looked at Giles so far. She was afraid to. She was
afraid to see the pain in his eyes.
A pain, she was sure, that was mirrored in hers. Last night had
been the worst.
The Spike who had turned into ashes the night before to save her
had been her lover.
He had launched at the demon that was holding her, with a force, a
rage that she had never seen before. A tiny glimmer of hope had
surfaced; she had hoped that perhaps, that time things would have
been different.
Different…
She recalled how he had held her after they had made love in
Giles’ kitchen. She now realized, she had wanted him the day
before, not for love…not for passion, but because she had needed
to feel alive…she had wanted the cold, the emptiness to go away.
< Stupid, stupid, stupid!>
She kept repeating to herself. She hadn’t even thought about the
outcome. She now knew how Spike tasted like, how soft his skin
was, how well she fitted in his arms.
She now knew that it didn’t matter he didn’t have a heart-beat,
and that although his skin was cold, it stirred a fire within
herself like she had never felt before.
She now loved him more than before. When the night before his body
had turned into ash, for an instant she had been sure she was
going to die too. The sorrow had been so strong, so intense that
it had almost broken her.
Almost was the operative word.
She blinked away some tears and cleared her throat. Was she really
ready to watch him die again?
< Have I ever been?>
She thought shaking her head. She slightly raised her head,
meeting Giles’ look. The man’s eyes looked haunted. She shrugged
trying to smile at him, wondering whether they were ever going to
be able to make that nightmare stop.
<Nightmare? These are our worst nightmares…>
“Giles?” she said getting up from the couch with a start, her book
fell on the floor but she didn’t even realize that.
“Yes, Willow?” he tiredly asked.
“We’ve been treating this matter as a temporal anomaly…we’ve been
researching over these kind of phenomena…but…but what if we’ve
been searching in the wrong direction?”
“We’ve been searching for spells about time delays and…”
“What do we remember of the first time Buffy and Spike died?” she
asked, ignoring for a moment the pain those words brought to her
heart.
“A demon was holding me, it was almost snapping me in two…and then
a purple mist enveloped us… when it dissipated both Spike and
Buffy had been hurt…”
“How and when exactly? The last thing I remember is Spike
launching at the demon which was holding me…”
“You are kidding, Red, right? Why should I do, that?” Spike chimed
in
“Shut up, Spike!” both Giles and Willow said ignoring him.
Willow got close to Giles and said, “How did exactly happen? And
why Spike and Buffy?”
“Uh, because I’m the Slayer?” Buffy said closing her book
and crossing her arms over her chest.
“That would explain you…and Giles…the chosen ones, but not Spike…”
“What exactly are you implying, Willow?” Giles asked, taking off
his glasses and weakly rubbing his eyes.
“So far, we’ve considered a given, that Spike and Buffy were the
targets of this thing…and that we had to stop their deaths,
right?”
Giles nodded at her, Willow took a deep breath then said, “Well,
what if ....*we* are the targets? Let's think about it,
Giles...whatever we do to stop their deaths during the day...we
always end in the graveyard...and we always faint or lose
consciousness after they die...this spell, doesn't want us to save
them...hell, how many times have we tried to?”
"I'm not sure I'm following you here, Will." Xander said, talking
for the first time, "Usually on Star Trek time repeats itself
because the good guys have to stop the major badness from
happening..."
"But what if it is the major badness which is forcing us to repeat
the same day over and over?" Willow said.
"You are saying that.... what exactly are you saying?" Buffy
asked.
"She is saying that someone is using their feelings, their fears
against them...but why?" Anya said.
"To get us?" Buffy chimed in.
"But....why Spike and I?" Willow said, "I mean you are the Slayer
and Giles is your Watcher...but I'm just a witch...and Spike is
just a vampire!"
"Actually" Giles started.
Willow turned to look at him and caught a look between Spike and
the ex Watcher. Giles nodded slightly, then turning to look at her
said, "That's what we have to find out...if we understand the whys
and hows, we will be able to finally stop this"
"Sounds like a plan" Xander said shrugging
"I second that" Buffy added
"I third that" Anya chimed in, shifting for the fist time since
Willow had arrived from Xander's lap
"Passion should be on...I'll go and watch the telly" Spike added
in a low voice.
For the first since longer than Willow could remember a genuine
smile crossed her lips.
Freedom and Peace looked closer.
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