Chapter 2
 
Giles dragged the unconscious body of Ethan Rayne to his house, tying him to a chair and heading up to bed. He had remembered Ethan after he left; he was grateful that he had arrived in time to prevent his departure.
 
................
 
 
Rikku sat on the floor of the airship, weeping quietly in front of what had been Spikes’ bed. All of this, everything they had done, everything they had gained, was it worth what they had lost. She sniffed, noticing a small box beneath the bed; she pulled it out, examining it. It was locked tight, but she was an expert with a lockpick and in moments she was pulling back the lid of the box. A pair of black pants, two shirts in red and black and a long, leather coat sat in the box. There was also a small leather pouch, holding some strange coins and flimsy looking pieces of paper. Rikku placed everything back in the box, picking it up and carrying it to her room where Buffy’s belongings were already stashed. A large sword leant against the wall, a chip taken out of it by a stone fiend that Auron had attacked. Rikku looked sadly around at the memories she had collected.
 
Rikku leant over, taking hold of a small sphere that sat on her chest of drawers. She pushed the small button on it and a scene flashed to light around her.
 
“Wakka, Wakka.” Rikku’s voice called, the recording showed the garden outside of an inn, the waves crashing in the distance. “Wakka, say something.”
 
“Oh, uh... Good luck for tomorrow, ya?”
 
“Not that.”

 
“Um...”
 
“Let’s go play ball on the beach?” Rikku suggested. “You can teach me some of those Blitzball moves!”
 
“Yeah!” The scene spun around, Tidus stood there. “We can all go down to the beach. Together.” His eyes seemed to flash sadly for a second, before his face returned to its normal happy grin. “One last time, okay?”
 
“Silly.” Rikkus’ voice answered. “We can play ball heaps after we beat Sin, tomorrow.”
 
“Focus on the battle to come. All after that can wait.” A gruff voice spoke. The door of the inn opened and Auron walked out, clad in his red coat as always.
 
“Meany.” Rikku said. “Hey! You can’t play ball dressed like that. Go take that coat off.”
 
“No,” came the short answer.
 
“Why not? Please? Pretty pretty please?”
 
“Very well,” Auron said finally, with a little more reluctance than Rikku would have liked.
 
“I am not sure that this is entirely appropriate.”
 
The sphere turned again as Lulu walked from behind the building, her usual long, heavy dress replaced by a light cottony dress in black, with a slit up the side. “I refuse to run around.” Lulu warned. “I will... watch and keep score.”
 
“Okay.” Rikku said. “Buffy, Buffy. Oh, you look so cute.” Once again Rikku turned as Buffy walked from the inn dressed in a black bikini and a sarong.
 
“Rikku, shh, come over here.” The sphere followed Buffy to behind the building. “Spike and I are going to the beach over there.” Buffy pointed far down the beach, past a pile of rocks. “Can you keep everyone away from there for the afternoon? I’d like some time alone with him.”
 
“Yes ma’am!” Rikku answered enthusiastically. “Do you have anything to say?”
 
“Uh, okay... Um, Yuna, you had so better invite us to the wedding this time, I’m sick of having to parachute drop into your weddings and... Tidus, if you do anything to upset Yuna, ever, I’m gonna kick your ass. And Rikku will help.” Buffy looked into the camera for support.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah!” Rikku replied. “Are you going to invite us to your wedding, Buffy?”
 
Buffy turned incredibly pink, “Wedding? Um... What..?” She smiled softly. “Maybe.”
 
Rikku squealed and the sphere began recording grass as she dropped it to throw her arms around Buffy’s neck.
 
“Rikku, you’re strangling me,” Buffy began to fake choking noises.
 
A yellow painted fingernail came towards the sphere and then everything went dark.

Rikku was sitting on her floor. She sighed, once again pulling Spikes’ coat from the box. She pulled it on then walked through the halls of the airship to where the shop keeper, Rin had set up his stall. “Hello. Um... I would like to buy a bikini.” She said.
 
...............
 
Buffy came down to breakfast the next morning, Dawn sat at the table, eating rice pops. Buffy poured herself some as Joyce came walking in. “Buffy, did you sleep well?”
 
“Yeah, fine, Mom.”

“Mr Giles just phoned; he said he has something important to talk to you about.”
 
“Oh...” Buffy suddenly felt her appetite leave her.
 
 
Buffy rummaged through her clothes. She looked at a pair of cream pants, no. A cowl necked red top, no. Somehow everything she owned just seemed so... She shook her head. Eventually she found a white top, backless but for three strings which tied up, and a long, white, cheesecloth skirt beach skirt which only really covered one leg, tying up at the left hand side, it was a ‘present’ Cordelia had given her once, while telling her that at least now she had something decent to wear to the beach, not that anyone would wear it anywhere near sand or water. She wore a blue, pleated miniskirt underneath that and tied a black scarf loosely around her waist, the tasselled ends hanging down on the left. She wore her long earring and black lace up boots. She looked in the mirror, to admire the effect; at least these clothes weren’t as boring as everything else she owned.  
 
She walked out of the house, heading towards Giles’ house. She found herself wondering how Spike was, where Spike was, what Spike was wearing... She cut off her thoughts. It had been made pretty obvious to her that no-one wanted her with Spike, even the fates didn’t seem to, why else would she be back here in Sunnydale?
 
“Hey check out the ‘fit. Girl’s shaking it up in the clothes department.” A voice said from behind her.
 
Buffy’s eyes widened. She knew that voice... She turned, behind her stood a girl, a few years younger than herself. Brown hair hung down past her shoulder blades and her heavily made up lips pulled into a smirk that Buffy supposed was a smile.
 
“Hey, you got your own look, good for you.”
 
Two weeks ago Buffy would have kicked the other girls’ ass back to prison. “Faith, what are you doing here.”
 
“Me, I’m here to kick ass, avenge the death of the last slayer and help break in the newbie.”
 
Buffy’s eyes narrowed, Faith held up her hands. “Hey, no kidding. What, you think I broke out on my own? Some ‘stick up the ass’ came to me, all 911, Buffy’s gone, new slayer’s been called.”
 
Buffy’s eyes became very large. “Another slayer’s been called?”
 
“That’s what they say, don’t look at me.”
 
“So, why are you here ?”
 
“You don’t know, the other slayer got into Sunnydale last night. Hear she’s been holed up in your watchers’ house.”
 
………
 
“Giles?”
 
“Buffy, there is something I must speak with you about, rather urgently in fact.”
 
“What’s her name? Where’s she hiding?”
 
“Well... What?” Giles removed his glasses.
 
Buffy stepped aside, letting Faith enter. “Hey, Watcher, bro - long time, no see.”
 
“Faith? They didn’t tell me you were to be here, this is very... Unprecedented. You are... well, I assume?”
 
"Hey, you know me- five by five." Faith gave a lopsided grin.
 
“So, the other slayer?”
 
“Oh, um, yes... Krist..”
 
“Hey, just Kris, okay?” A voice answered, walking towards them.
 
Buffy blinked twice, then, just to be sure her eyes weren’t playing some trick on her she blinked again. The slayer before her had bright purple hair, it came down to her shoulders and flicked out dramatically, running through her hair were black and white streaks.
 
“I thought there was only s’posed to be one of them?” The girl asked.
 
“It’s a long story.” Giles said.
 
“I came back.” Buffy explained.
 
“Apparently not that long.” He sighed.
 
“I hear you do that a lot.” Kris answered, ignoring the watcher.
 
“Every now and again.” Buffy shrugged.
 
“I love the threads.” The girl answered. “You must be Faith.” She added, turning to Faith.
 
Faith arched an eyebrow. “How’d you work that out?”
 
“Buffy- blonde. Faith- brunette. It’s about all the slayer history I learnt.”
 
Buffy suppressed a small smile, Faith, however, did not. “Hey, I like this chick.”
 
Giles sighed. “I had a feeling you may.”
 
Buffy gave Kris a wry smile. “He’s, ah...”
 
“Not big on the concept of ‘fun’? Yeah, kinda got that, he’s okay though; my last watcher was totally OTT with the ‘slayer’ thing.”
 
“Your last watcher? What happened to him?” Faith asked as Giles walked back into the room.
 
“She retired.” He answered.
 
……….
 
“Kris, pin him, that’s it, no, too low...” Buffy and Faith called out directions as they stalked through the moonlit graveyard, hunting down vamps.
 
Buffy and Faith ran forward as Kris fell to the ground, they placed one kick on each of his shoulders, throwing him to the ground. Kris ran forward, sticking the stake through his heart.
 
“Okay.” Buffy said, dusting off. “That’s three down, I reckon we call it a night.
 
“That’s fine by me.” Faith shrugged.
 
“I’d better get back to Mr Giles.” Kris said.
 
“See you, B.” Faith called, heading towards Giles’ house with Kris.
 
Buffy was just glad that she hadn’t had any more confrontations with her friends; in fact Giles hadn’t said anything about Spike. She giggled to herself slightly, recalling on the events of the night, the vampire hits- and misses, by Kris. She was still smiling when she walked through the front door to her house.
 
“I knew it.”
 
Buffy spun around, Xander stood just inside the doorway, a reproachful expression on his face.
 
“Xander, what are you doing here?” Buffy said, tiredly.
 
“You just can’t keep away from him, can you?”
 
“What are you talking about.”
 
“Spike, I know you were out with him, again. You know it’s wrong, Buffy. Why do you...”

 
“Xander, I wasn’t out with Spike.”
 
“Of course.” Xander spread his hands. “You were just walking around by yourself at night.”
 
“Have you never heard of patrolling?”
 
“So you were all smiles about the happy vampire dusting?” Xander looked disgusted. “Buffy, I know you better than that, besides, look at what you’re wearing, do you ever go patrolling dressed like that?”
 
Buffy looked down at her clothes. “There’s nothing wrong with what I’m wearing. I’m allowed to change my fashion, you might try it sometime,” She added, nastily, lashing back at him.
 
Xander blinked. “What’s that supposed to mean? See what he’s done to you?”
 
Buffy closed her eyes, what was she supposed to do, it was like, no matter what she did she couldn’t make them happy. She found herself wishing she was back in Spira, for about the hundreth time since she got back, or if not Spira at least with Kris and Faith. They didn’t expect anything more from her than she was happy to give. They didn’t judge her; they certainly didn’t try to change her.
 
She had given up Spike, she hadn’t seen him for an entire day, each moment had torn at her but she had done it- for them. And this was her reward?
 
Deep in the back of her mind a memory flickered, like a small flame at first- in danger of going out. As she focused on it, it burst into life, drawing her into it.
 
William stood before her, golden and innocent as he had been in life. He looked deep into her eyes and spoke.
 
“One more thing, if I may, Buffy, there are times when it is better to follow that which you know inside yourself to be true, logic notwithstanding and regardless of that which those around you may deem to be untrue. To hold strong against those who mean the most to you requires more courage and strength than to stand against all the armies of hell.”
 
Buffy blinked, what had once been mere words suddenly came into being, bringing their meaning into the light and filling Buffy’s soul with a surge of hope and joy.
 
Xander blinked in surprise as she suddenly beamed, the smile seemed to come from every part of her, pouring from her and flowing through her. Then, in a movement too quick for him to follow she had him pinned against the wall with one hand.
 
“Xander...” She dropped him. “I love Spike, I do. I love Spike and I am going to be with him no matter where I am. No, I’m not under any spells, no I’m not turning evil, and no he is not going to kill me. You and anyone else who has a problem with this will simply have to deal. I’m not going to talk about it any more.”
 
Xander argued his mouth to argue. But she cut him off.
 
“Xander, what I do with my life is my business. I can do what I want, love who I want and wear what I want. It’s not your business, not Giles’ business, no-ones’ but mine. Now please leave, I’m going to get changed, I’m going out.”
 
She gave him no real choice in the matter, pushing him out the door and closing it in his face.
 
“Oh, Buffy, Xander’s here to see you,” Joyce called down as she heard the door closing.
 
“He just left,” Buffy called back up.
 
...................
 
Spike flicked a peanut to Kirrel, throwing one in his own mouth and crunching on it. He heard someone approaching the crypt, his eyes brightened and his senses reached out, one word filled every part of his being. Buffy.
 
The door to his crypt opened, and Buffy stepped into the crypt. She seemed to be glowing with an inner light which reflected from her white, Spiran dress. She ran towards him, throwing her arms around his neck, “Spike, I love you so much, I can’t be away from you.”
 
She showered him with kisses before he could respond. When she finally stopped Spike smiled down at her. Even though she was blurry through the misting of tears that had sprung to his eyes, she was still beautiful, “Buffy, I love you.”
 
“Never stop telling me,” She whispered.
 
“Never,” He promised.
 
“Kuweet!” Kirrel announced, leaping joyfully towards Buffy.

 
“Oh my God, Kirrel, I thought you were back in Spira.” She giggled, “Don’t worry, I love you to.”
 
Spike looked aghast, “I have to share my Buffy? Bloody hell!” He grinned.
 
“Spike,” Buffy stood up, frowning slightly.
 
“Yes, Buffy?” He asked.
 
“Have you been eating peanuts?”

tbc