Buffy’s POV

Shortly after NFA

Buffy smiled weakly and rolled her eyes at her little sister.

It had been twenty-six years since Buffy had that conversation with Angel.  She had talked many times on the phone with the ex-vampire.  It was usually just before Dawn and she made a cross-country move without leaving a forwarding address.  In all that time, Angel and she hadn't met face to face.  Rupert Giles' funeral was going to change that though.

Buffy stared at herself in the mirror.  She had gained a few needed pounds over the years.  She no longer looked like the anorexic waif of the last years in Sunnydale. Her hair was cut short and had been allowed to return to its natural color. Other than those small changes, she looked exactly the same as she had when she crawled out of her grave after Willow's resurrection spell.

"Cellular sunburn, my ass," Buffy muttered.  She smoothed down her black dress with nervous hands. Buffy thought about all the Slayer funerals she had attended since she had shared her powers with the others.  Many good and wonderful women had died in the fight against evil, and she treated each death as if it was one of her own relatives.

"Are you ready, Miss Summers?"  One of the younger Council employees peeked through the door of Buffy's office.

"Just a second, Alexis."  Buffy grabbed up the hat and veil she planned on wearing to the funeral.  She settled the hat on her head, pulled the veil down to conceal her face, and went to the door to greet Alexis.

"I'm really sorry about Mr. Giles," Alexis said politely.  "His leadership has always been an inspiration to me."

"Yes, he was."  Buffy smiled sadly at the younger woman.  "I don't know what I'm gonna do without him."

"Hey Buffster."  Xander entered the hallway from his own office.  He smoothed his graying hair down with one hand.  He smiled down at the little girl holding his hand.  "Issy and I are ready."

"Hey Xander," Buffy replied.  She smiled at her best friend and his daughter, Ismene.  There were days when she just couldn't get over the fact that he was a father.  Not to mention who he'd had Issy with.  "Is Faith gonna make it in time?"

Xander shrugged before his gaze darted down at Issy.  "She's really busy.  I'm sure she will be if she can."  He tried hard not to let the other Scoobies know about his failing marriage to the second most senior Slayer.  He thought he had moved on after Anya's death, but Faith had recently pointed out that she felt like she was competing with a ghost.

"Okay, no problem," Buffy replied after she saw the fleeting look of hurt on Xander's face.  There wasn't any point in pushing him about it in front of his daughter.  "This just means I have the best little girl in the world as my escort."

"That's me, right?"  Issy suddenly spoke up.  She had been abnormally quiet since her mother had left on her latest mission.  The nine-year -ld girl knew that something was wrong between her mother and father, but instead of fighting they were being silent.

"That's right, sweetie."  Buffy held out her hand to the girl.  "Now let's go tell Grandpa Rupert how much we love him, and how much we're gonna miss him."

Buffy and Issy walked towards the stairs at the end of the hallway, trailed by Xander and Alexis.  Once the four of them were on the first floor, they turned to the right where they entered the Council auditorium.  Buffy saw Willow and Oz sitting near the front, and she led Issy and Xander over to the witch and werewolf.  By then, Alexis had moved off to make sure all of the arrangements were in order for the funeral.

Willow held a handkerchief to her wet eyes.  She somehow had thought that Giles would always be with the Scoobies.  For the most part they never thought about how much older he was then the rest of them, having a youthful air about him most of the time.  However, the stress of the Council leadership had caught up with him, and he had suddenly had a fatal heart attack the week before.

Oz took Willow's hand in his own, and he gently squeezed it in reassurance.  They had found each other again several years after Sunnydale had fallen.  Willow had come to the conclusion after several failed relationships that only two people were ever going to complete her; Tara, who was dead, and Oz.  The red-haired witch sought out the werewolf to let him know this little fact.

"Hey, guys," Buffy said quietly.  "Have you seen Dawn yet?"  She slipped into the chair next to Willow.  Issy and Xander sat down on the other side of Oz.

"No, but there's Angel," Willow whispered in return.  She nodded towards where the ex-vamp was standing at the edge of the room.  "I think he's been looking for you.  He keeps glancing in this direction."

Buffy sighed as a small coil of tension rose in the pit of her stomach.  She wasn't ready for this face to face meeting, but she figured she had better get it over with.

Willow must have noticed Buffy’s reluctance to leave their little group.  She reached over to squeeze Buffy’s arm in reassurance.

Buffy rose from her seat, and she muttered, “I’m not ready for this.  Please feel free to rescue me if I start looking like I’m about to commit murder.”

“He hasn’t aged well,” Xander hissed, making Buffy smile.

Looking at Angel, she had to agree with her friend.  It was funny, even though Xander had forgiven Spike for everything; the one thing she could count on was his unending dislike of Angel.

As she got closer, she could see that the original assessment that Angel hadn't aged well was true.  His hair was prematurely gray, his face was heavily lined, and he now carried an extra fifty pounds on his larger frame.    Truth be told, Angel looked like he was closer to having a heart attack than Giles had been.  "Hello, Angel," Buffy said.

"Buffy."  Angel smiled happily.  He had hoped that this meeting would help the Slayer realize that her cookies were finally baked, and that they could grow old together.  "How have you been?"

"Alright, I guess."  Buffy studied Angel from behind her veil.  "Been busy.  Giles wanted me to take over the Council after he was gone.  I've been training to do that."

"I thought for sure you would have retired by now," Angel replied softly.  He tried to grab Buffy's hand, but the petite woman swiftly stepped back.  "What's wrong?  Why are you being so distant?  I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to get reacquainted."

Buffy stared at Angel in shock.  "This is a funeral, not a single's cruise.  If I wanted at any time to get 'reacquainted' as you call it, I would have phoned you or something.  I've been really busy lately."

"Aren't you done baking yet?" Angel whined.  "I'm ready for cookies."

"I'm sorry, Angel.  There's no way we can be cookies together, and what was I thinking using that analogy?"  Buffy raised her veil to show the ex-vamp her unaged face.   "I really did come back wrong."

"Buffy?"  Angel's jaw dropped, making him look like a gaping fish.

"Ms. Summers."  Alexis appeared at Buffy's elbow.  "The minister would like to speak to you for a few moments about the eulogy."

"That'd be fine, Alexis."  Buffy lowered the veil again.  "I'm sorry, Angel.  I've been trying to come up with a way to tell you about this ever since you were turned human, but I couldn't think of a way.   I still miss Spike, too.   You might have been my soul mate, but he was my everything.  He was a hell of a man.  He was the one."  She turned to walk away from her ex-boyfriend.

"You really did a number on them, didn't you?"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

Angel’s POV

Angel turned to find Andrew Wells standing behind him.  The once geeky boy was now a nicely dressed gentleman.  The years had been better to Andrew than they had been to Angel.  "I don't know what you mean," the taller man said haughtily.  Like Buffy had said, they were soul mates, and that was the only thing that mattered.

"I've spent the last twenty-five years searching for Spike.  Just so I could make her happy."  Andrew jutted his chin out towards the retreating Buffy.  "I know he's alive."

"Spike's alive?"  Willow and Xander had come up behind Angel.  "You knew this, Angel, and you never said anything?"

"It's just Spike," Angel defended himself.  Who were they to question his decisions.  "It's not like he's anything important."

"And you profess to love her?" Xander hissed in disgust.  "I always knew there was a reason I liked Spike better than you.  I don't know what you've been doing the last two and half decades, Angel, but it hasn't been doing anything to help Buffy."

"I couldn't find Buffy."  Angel shrugged helplessly while he seethed inside.  "You thwarted my every attempt, Harris.  I sure as hell wasn’t going to let you find Spike."

Xander spluttered with indignation.  His lone remaining eye filled with hatred, but Angel didn’t care.  His only goal was to get back into Buffy’s pants… no, her good graces.

"Wasn't that a clue?"  Willow shook her head.  "Good Goddess, Angel, I didn't think you were so darned dense.  If you have any idea where Spike is, you better tell us now before I get really upset with you."

"I don't know where that stupid little upstart is," Angel growled, not as menacingly as he could when he was a vampire of course.  "I haven't seen the idiot since we defeated the Senior Partners.  He realized I was human and slipped away.  He knew he didn't have a chance with Buffy."

"Poor deluded Daddy," a new voice scoffed in a singsong voice.  "You really are stupid, Father."

"Connor? What are you doing here?"  Angel peered at his youthful looking son.  He was jealous of how well his son had aged.  Clearly the boy had gotten those genes from Darla.

“I've been a Council consultant for years, Father.  You'd know that if you hadn't cut yourself off from me."  Connor nodded his greeting to Andrew, Willow, and Xander.   "Andrew recruited me just after your big fight with Wolfram and Hart."

"Best consultant we have," Andrew said with pride. 

Connor nodded in agreement.  “Damned straight.”  He turned his head towards where Buffy was standing next to the minister and the young woman, Alexis.  “I need to go give my condolences.”

Angel watched his son abandon him and cross the room to where Buffy was standing.  Connor took Buffy’s hand, spoke a few words, and then kissed her on the cheek.  Angel fumed with jealousy.  Was Buffy dating Connor?  Had she traded in on a younger model?

Angel didn’t notice that Dawn had entered until Connor left Buffy’s side to greet the young woman where she’d just entered the auditorium.

Angel was so busy with his own thoughts he didn’t notice Andrew and the Scoobies also abandoning him for Connor and Dawn.  His curiosity was almost peaked when Connor put his arm around Dawn’s waist before he leaned down to kiss her on the lips.  However, Angel’s attention reverted to Buffy.

Plans of getting Buffy alone and convincing her that he was still her true love swirled in Angel’s brain.  He continued to watch Buffy, and ignoring his son, while he stumbled to a chair.

“When you turned human again, she remembered.”

Angel realized that he had sat down next to a little girl who he recognized as Faith and Xander’s daughter with the odd name; Issy or whatever. “She remembered what?” he asked.

“The day you took back,” Issy said.

Angel turned his head so fast that his bones creaked.  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said in a haughty voice.

“You’re such a silly, naughty boy,” Issy replied.  She folded her hands in her lap while she looked at the ceiling.  “I’m naming all the stars.  I can see them, but I’ve named them all the same name.”

“You can’t see the stars,” Angel scoffed.  “That’s the ceiling, you idiot child.”

Issy looked at Angel.  “Spike told me the same thing.  Poor deluded Daddy.”

Angel reared back when the little girl repeated his son’s earlier words.  “Who the hell are you?” he hissed.

“Miss Edith wants to talk to you.  You might hurry along before she gets mad.”  Issy jumped up from her seat, and she rushed over to Harris.

Angel was left wondering when the girl could have ever had the chance to talk to Drusilla.  He knew that she had been dusted years before by several of the younger Slayers, long before Issy was even born. 

Angel had never believed in reincarnation.  He still didn’t.  Someone, Harris or Connor, must have coached the girl on what to say.

It was time for some drastic measures.

Angel made and discarded plans on ways to make Buffy pay attention to him.  He figured that if she was focused on him that she’d forget about everyone else, making her remember that Angel was her one true love.

Post NFA

Angel smirked at Spike.  “I’m human now, William.  You don’t stand a chance with Buffy now.  She doesn’t want to be with a pathetic lovesick vampire.  Not when she can have me, her one true love, as a human again.”

Spike gave Angel a belligerent glare, but he didn’t say anything. 

“You are not the stalwart Champion that you used to be,” Groo commented.  The half-demon had shown up half way through the fight with Wolfram and Hart.  He had proved to still be handy in a battle.

Angel couldn’t understand how Groo and Spike could have become such bosom buddies since they had never met before.

“Don’t worry about it, mate,” Spike said over his shoulder.  “Angelus has always been a self-absorbed ponce.”

Angel sneered at the duo.  He leaned in close and he whispered, “If you show up anywhere near Buffy, I’ll tell her all about your little slip with Harmony.  Try talking you way out of that one.

“She forgave me for Anya,” Spike replied with a snort.  “I didn’t even make it to first base with Harm.  You have nothing.”  He turned and walked away, followed by Groo.

Angel narrowed his eyes.  Strangely, it appeared as though Spike was surrounded by black wings.  That was weird.  However, Angel dismissed it as a trick of the light.

Defeat wasn’t in Angel’s plans to get Buffy back.  It was time to hunt down a witch or two to do a spell on Spike.  If the little upstart wouldn’t keep away from Buffy, then Angel was just going to have to do something drastic.

It hadn’t even occurred to Angel to do a spell on Buffy too.  He was so sure of her love for him that he didn’t even think that he would fail in his goal.  It was always about keeping Spike away from Buffy.

Angel finally settled on cornering Buffy and whisking her away on a whirlwind vacation to as many exotic locations as possible.

What a brilliant idea!

Everyone took their seats as the ceremony started.  The minister started his eulogy about the rich life of Rupert Giles.  Angel snorted.  What a joke!  The man never married, never had children.  There was no legacy left by Rupert Giles.

When the minister finished his speech, Buffy stood at the podium.

She is so beautiful and sweet, Angel thought, just a bit dreamily.  She will be mine.  All mine.

“Reality never was your strong suit, Peaches.”

Angel turned to see Spike sitting in the chair next to him.

“Getting a bit delusional in your old age there?” Spike asked.

Angel narrowed his eyes at Spike.  “What are you doing here?” he hissed.

A nearby mourner, a young Slayer that Angel didn’t recognize, turned towards him.  “I’m here for the funeral.  Now, shut up.”

Angel let out an angry huff.  What right did that little girl have to tell him to shut up?  He’d been saving the world long before she was even a twinkling in her grandfather’s eye.

“Still charming the ladies, I see, Gramps,” Spike said in a loud voice.

Angel should have been suspicious when the young Slayer didn’t turn around at Spike’s comment, but the blond vampire always had a way of making him irked beyond reason.  He grumbled under his breath before ignoring Spike and turning his attention back to Buffy.

“You are blind.  You’ve grown old and decrepit.  Buffy’s still as young and beautiful as she was when you last saw her.” 

Angel’s attention was startled away from the golden beauty standing at the pulpit.  “Darla?”  He shook his head.  “No.  No.  No.  You’re dead.  I know you’re dead.  You’re dust.  Just dust in the wind.”

The blond woman smiled.  “Why, yes, I am.”

Angel pointed a finger at Darla.  “I know who you are.  You’re the First Evil.”

“No, I’m not.  I’m the Inevitable.  For everyone.”  Darla looked towards the pulpit where Buffy was finishing up her speech.  “Well, maybe not for her, but definitely for you.”

Pain shot through Angel’s chest, and his hand clutched at his heart.  He took a gasping breath, squeaked, and slumped over onto the chair in front of him.  “Help,” he whispered in a strangled voice.  “Help me.”

As Angel’s eyes drifted shut, he struggled to gaze at Buffy.  She stood at the podium, staring at him in horror.  Maybe this is what it would take for her to realize that she still loved him.  Much to Angel’s surprise, he could see giant white wings surrounding Buffy.

Chapter 2

Connor’s POV

Connor approached where Andrew, Xander, and Willow were speaking with his father where he overheard Angel alluding to the fact that Buffy would pick Angel because he was human.

Wow! What an ego!

“Poor deluded Daddy," Connor scoffed in a singsong voice. "You really are stupid, Father."

"Connor? What are you doing here?"

Angel seemed surprised to see his son at the funeral. Not that Connor cared anymore. It had been too many years since Angel had cared about anything except getting into Buffy’s pants again. Connor wasn’t even sure his father had loved the lead Slayer in the first place.

“I've been a Council consultant for years, Father. You'd know that if you hadn't cut yourself off from me." Connor nodded his greeting to Andrew, Willow, and Xander. He liked his colleagues. "Andrew recruited me just after your big fight with Wolfram and Hart."

"Best consultant we have," Andrew said with pride.

Connor nodded in agreement. “Damned straight.” He turned his head towards where Buffy was standing next to the minister and Alexis. “I need to go give my condolences.”

Without waiting for a response, Connor crossed the room. Andrew, Willow, and Xander understood the animosity he still held for his father’s high handed ways. It was true that Angel wasn’t the killer that he’d been when Holtz was around, but there were other flaws that ran too deeply to be ignored.

“Buffy, this is a terrible loss for the Council,” Connor said, taking his sister-in-law’s hand. “Rupert will be missed a lot.”

“Thank-you, Connor,” Buffy replied while Connor leaned in to kiss her cheek. “What was Angel talking about over there? Willow and Xander don’t look at all happy.”

“No, they don’t.” Connor hid a grimace. “He’s badmouthing Spike, like usual.”

Buffy glanced past Connor. “Dawn’s here.”

“Let me go greet my wife.” Connor left Buffy to her business with the minister and Alexis. He crossed the room to greet Dawn.

Connor put his arm around Dawn’s waist before he dropped a kiss on her lips. Then, he whispered in her ear. “I think he did something to cause Spike to think he didn’t have a chance with you.”

Post NFA, Just after Connor joined the Council.

Connor sat across the table from Angel in a dingy Los Angeles diner. He waited for Angel to speak, but he knew whatever his father wanted, he was against. Angel’s obsession with Buffy Summers had reached new heights.

“Son, I want you to join the Council as my spy,” Angel said.

“Nope, don’t think so, Pops.” Connor shook his head. He knew that Angel hated to be called Pops.

Angel growled, but it was a weak human growl rather than a frightening growl of a master vampire. “You will do as I say! I’m your father, and don’t call me Pops.”

“Yes, you are. I’ll give you that, but you’re gone off the rails, Pops.”

“They know where Buffy is, and they won’t tell me!” Angel pounded the table, making the dishes rattle. “I didn’t do all that I’ve done to be thwarted.”

That didn’t sound at all good to Connor. “What exactly did you do, Pops?”

Angel leaned forward, and he hissed, “What I had to do! Spike didn’t do anything to deserve Buffy! Not like I have!”

After a futile conversation with Angel, Connor returned to his new job at the Council where he warned Buffy about Angel’s ongoing obsession with her whereabouts. He knew for a fact that this prompted the Slayer to move again. This time, she sent her sister back to headquarters where Connor met the young woman.

The rest, as they say, was history. They were married within six months of their first date, on a little beach on a tropical island with Buffy as their only witness.

“You mean beside the whole turning human thing?” Dawn asked.

Connor nodded. “Yeah, more than that. I’m thinking some kind of magic spell. It’s what he alluded to back when he asked me to be his spy.”

“That would explain a lot,” Willow interjected into the conversation as Andrew, Xander, and she came up to the group.

It was clear that they had also abandoned Angel. The ex-vampire was clearly distracted by something. After Angel sat down in a chair, Xander’s daughter sat down beside him.

Xander started towards them, clearly wanting to make sure that his daughter wasn’t tainted by Angel.

“Don’t.” Connor grabbed Xander’s arm. “Issy is channeling Drusilla.”

Xander shuddered. “I hate when she does that. Why does Drusilla have to talk to my daughter?”

“Maybe she remembers how she felt about you after you did that spell where all the ladies chased you,” Buffy teased. She gave Xander a sad smile as they remembered Giles’ reaction how Jenny Calendar reacted to Xander.

“Yeah, good times.”

“You’ll have to tell me later,” Connor replied. He hadn’t heard about that little adventure.

At that point, Buffy paused by the group to greet her sister before the preacher waved her away. After she left the group, Connor turned to Willow. “Angel did something. I don’t know what it was, but my gut says that he is behind why Spike hasn’t tried to contact Buffy.”

Andrew grinned. “Don’t worry about it, guys. I’ve got it covered.”

“You found Spike?” Willow exclaimed, her voice filled with surprise.

“Yep. After the funeral, I’ve arranged for Buffy to take a mini vacation.” Andrew’s grin turned to a smirk. “My boyfriend has arranged for Spike to take a vacation to the same place.”

“Boyfriend? I didn’t know you had a boyfriend?” Dawn said. “When did this happen?”

“I met him while searching for Spike. He’s a half demon named Groo.”

Willow gave Andrew a considering look. “Didn’t he used to date Cordelia?”

Before Andrew could elaborate, the minister announced that the funeral was about to start. Everyone took their seat. Issy flounced away from Angel, and she joined her father.

“Angel’s being a bad boy, Daddy. He needs a spanking.” Issy turned to look towards the former vampire. “I guess it’ll be up to the Powers That Be. The Inevitable is here for him.”

Xander looked clueless. “The Inevitable? What’s that?”

“What comes for all of us,” Issy replied, turning to her father. “Except, Aunt Buffy. She’s been there, done that.”

The little girl started to hum the old Kansas song, ‘Dust in the Wind’.

In light of Issy’s odd words, Connor kept his eye on Angel who appeared to be talking to himself. He didn’t know what his father was planning, but it couldn’t be anything good. Angel had been a pain in the ass for the past two decades; not only for Buffy but for the council too.

Polly Farina, the Slayer assigned to Las Vegas for the last seven years, turned to speak to Angel. She looked like she was about to smack Angel a good one, but the former vampire never noticed while he continued to talk to thin air.

The minister and Buffy finished their eulogies for Giles. Connor noticed that Angel turned around in surprise before he slumped over the chair in front of him. Connor was confused for a moment before he jumped to his feet to rush over to Angel.

Connor checked Angel’s pulse. It was non-existent. Then, he laid his father down on the floor while he yelled, “Someone call an ambulance.”

Connor started to do CPR on Angel. Someone joined him on their knees. Connor vaguely realized it was Andrew. It seemed like it took forever for the paramedics to arrive. Connor watched in a daze as Angel was loaded into the back of the ambulance.

Buffy stood next to Connor, watching the ambulance leave. “It’s weird,” she said in a soft voice. “Angel’s dead, and I don’t feel a damned thing. Anything I felt for him, he killed with his over zealous pursuit of me.”

“Me too.” Connor nodded. “Me too.”

“Andrew mentioned a sunny filled vacation he has planned for me. I think I’ll be taking it. I need to adjust to life without Giles,” Buffy replied. “You and Dawn hold down the fort for a few weeks?”

“No problem, Buffy.”

“Thanks.” Buffy turned away.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Spike’s POV

Spike looked out at the bright sunshine. Why on earth had Groo sent him to Hawaii? The half demon knew that as a vampire, Spike had a teeny-tiny sun allergy.

Idiot.

True, Groo had booked several night time activities. Was Spike really expected to enjoy a meteor shower and catamaran ride, or a tour of the tide pools after dark? What about a romantic moonlit horseback ride? Not only had it been decades since Spike had ridden a horse, he didn’t have a romantic partner.

A luau? Really, Groo?

Last but not least, a massage and mud bath.

“Groo is off his bleedin’ rocker,” Spike grumbled. He strolled over to the bed, and he flopped down on it.

Time to wait for the sun to go down, he thought as he dozed off.

When Spike woke, he showered and drank some of the provided blood. As he left his room, a very familiar, very powerful feeling made him shiver.

Somewhere in the hotel was a very powerful Slayer.

Why a Slayer was at the all demon hotel, Spike had no idea.

“Just bloody great,” Spike muttered. Then, he shrugged. It shouldn’t be too hard to avoid a Slayer. After all, he’d been avoiding the best Slayer of all time for the past two and a half decades.

As he walked towards the elevator, Spike looked over the timetable of events that Andrew and Groo had scheduled for him. Why on earth did they think he wanted to for a moonlit horse ride or to check out tide pools?

Spike strolled into the lobby where the desk clerk spied him.

“Mr. Jamison,” the clerk called out. “Your ride is ready at the front of the hotel to take you to the catamaran dock. “

On the ride to the dock, Spike considered ditching the itinerary laid out by the travel agency. However, he’d never hear the end of it from Groo. Spike resigned himself to just going with the flow for the vacation. Maybe when it was over he’d do something really stupid like contacting Buffy to let her finally stake him.

He was just so tired.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Once Spike was out on the water, under the stars, he marginally relaxed. He doubted that even if the Slayer he’d felt was on the same outing as him that she wouldn’t be able to feel him due to the other demons. The demon that paddled the catamaran was a very human looking Uixa demon. Spike leaned back to watch the meteor shower.

“Wow, it’s so beautiful,” a female voice drifted over the water. “I’ve been so busy lately that I’ve forgotten how beautiful the night sky can be.”

Spike jolted and sat up. “Buffy,” he whispered.

“Spike?!”

There was a splash.

Then, a sleek, wet head appeared in the water next to his boat.

“It is you! Where have you been hiding all these years?”

It was a good thing Spike had such excellent eyesight or he would have missed the disgruntled look on his Slayer’s face. He was unsure what to say that wouldn’t get him in trouble.

“I know what Angel did.” Buffy offered. “I know about the spell he used against you.”

“Spell?”

“To keep us apart. It should be broken now that he’s dead.” Buffy kept a firm grip on the edge of the catamaran.

Spike’s mouth dropped open in shock. “Angelus is dead? How’d that happen?”

“He had a heart attack at Giles’ funeral.”

“Hey, Millie, the meteor show is a bit of a bust,” the demon paddling Spike’s boat called out over the water. “I’m taking them back to shore.”

“No problem, Billie,” Millie called back. “There’s only about twenty more minutes before the shower is over anyway.”

Billie turned back to speak to Spike. “Pull her up into the catamaran.”

Spike reached out to Buffy, and she grabbed his hand. It only took a few seconds for him to have the Slayer in the boat and positioned in front of him. His heart lurched when she leaned back against him.

The ride back to shore was surprisingly quiet. Neither Spike nor Buffy wanted to air their business in public since demons tended to be the worst gossips ever. Once they arrived back at Spike’s room at the hotel, it was a different story.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike turned around to look at Buffy, who stood just inside the hotel room. Before he could tell her how good she looked, she started to speak.

“It wasn’t me with the Immortal that time in Rome,” Buffy blurted out. “It was a decoy.”

“After all this time, that’s what is on your mind, Slayer?”

Buffy shrugged. “Angel harped on it a lot, even after everyone explained to him that it wasn’t me. I never could figure out why. It was like he was stuck in one gear or something.”

“His one gear was getting you.” Spike plopped down in an armchair, and he gestured at the one across from it for Buffy to sit in. Now that they were alone together, he didn’t know what to do with himself. Oh well, there was things that needed to be hammered out between the two of them.

“Yeah, I know.” Buffy sat down in the indicated chair with her hands in her lap. “So, where do we go from here?”

“How about we go on an old fashioned date?” Spike replied. “Next up on my itinerary is a moonlit horseback ride.”

Buffy looked surprised. “What? Me too. How weird is that? After that, I’m scheduled for a massage and mud bath.”

“Yeah,” Spike grimaced. “Then the tide pools at night and a luau.”

“Huh, I wonder … Andrew made this whole trip possible for me along with his new boyfriend.”

“Groo and his new boyfriend scheduled mine,” Spike said.

They looked at each other in surprise, before they both burst out laughing. “Groo and Andrew are dating,” they said as one.

“Good for Andrew,” Buffy replied, leaning back. “He needs someone to take care of.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The moonlit horse ride was romantic. Spike and Buffy held hands, not wanting to rush their found again relationship.

The massage and mud bath was therapeutic. To the dismay of the masseuse Spike and Buffy got in a mud fight while giggling like children. It was the most fun they’d had together outside of patrolling.

The tide pools after dark with their glowing sea creatures was iridescent. Spike stared at Buffy in rapt attention while she oohed and ahhed over the water animals.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Spike and Buffy watched the hula dancers perform for the luau attendees. When the music quieted and the dancers exited the stage, Buffy turned to Spike. Before she could talk, Spike spoke.

“I’ve had a great time this week, Slayer,” Spike replied. “You’re going to be living in London when you take over the Council, and I …” He trailed off when Buffy covered his mouth with her fingers.

“I’m not taking over the Council. Dawn is. I’m living whereever you are.” Buffy smiled. “Can we just be kissing now?”

Spike’s return smile was as bright as the sunrise. He leaned in, and their lips met for the first time in over two and half decades. It was perfect.

The End