Buffy’s eyes drifted open and she found herself lying on a cold hard surface. A look around told her that she was in her basement. She sat up and pushed the hair out of her face. Spike was laying a few feet from her and she crawled over to where he was.

“Spike,” she said, shaking him slightly. “Spike, wake up.”

The vampire slowly drifted back into consciousness. “Buffy?”

“Yeah.”

“Are we back?”

“I think so. I can hear everyone upstairs.”

Spike listened to the sounds coming from above and knew she was right.

“Think anyone missed us?” Buffy asked.

“I don’t hear anyone panicking up there, so I'm gonna say no.”

‘That’s good,’ Buffy thought. They didn’t want to worry anyone with mention of yet another demon who was after them. They’d figured out who or what had hired the swimming shoe demon thing. And apparently that demon thought she and Spike would bring about the end of the world, but she frankly didn’t have time to worry about it now. They were back and seemingly all was well. For now. They would get through tomorrow and then worry about that.

They both stood up from the floor and Buffy dusted her clothes off.

“That was the craziest night ever.”

“And I’ve had some crazy ones,” he added.

She smiled. “I'm sure you have.”

He returned the smile. “It did actually happen, right?”

“Unless we just happen to have the same dream.”

Unlikely. Very unlikely. Or maybe not. This was Sunnydale.

“At least the trip was almost entirely painless. Just a little tingle in my left foot,” Buffy said, shaking her foot.

“Or that could be from where we’ve been laying on the floor for God knows how long.”

She made a face at him and he laughed.

“Anyway…we should probably go upstairs and check on everyone. Make sure everything’s alright. Plus, Faith and Wood probably want their room now.”

“And to think I’d almost forgotten that.”

She laughed. “Sorry, but like I said, changed the sheets.”

They headed towards the stairs, but she stopped right in front of them and turned back to face him.

“Do you think we’re gonna be alright?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

She smiled before leaning up and putting her lips to his. “Me too.”

He smiled back at her and they began walking up the stairs. “Should we tell them about our little adventure?”

Buffy contemplated the thought for a moment. “Nah. It’ll be our little secret.”
---------------------

Buffy stood, gazing into the giant hole that had swallowed Sunnydale. Gone forever were all of their most valuable possessions, and those things they probably should have gotten rid of but thought maybe one day they might need. Her mother’s grave, Tara’s…they were gone too. Every picture ever taken of any of them. Mr. Gordo. Everything.

And yet, somehow they would manage. Because they were alive, and that was the most important thing. At least, most of them were. She felt her heart break for Xander. He’d lost the love of his life and hadn’t really gotten the chance to say goodbye. And the girls, they had lost friends and many families around the world had lost a daughter. She felt sorry for all of those people. But not for herself.

Spike was gone. He had stayed behind to “clean up” the mess they had made. Was it the best plan to take a bunch of amateurs into a hellmouth full of uber vampires? Maybe not, but it’s what they’d done. And from the looks of things, it had worked. No more hellmouth.

“There’s another one in Cleveland,” she heard Giles say.

Oh well, who cared? They would cross that bridge when they came to it.

Buffy let her mind wander back to the night before. She would eventually tell Willow, and maybe Dawn, about her trip through time. They would get a kick out of it. She may even tell them about her realization about Spike. That he was indeed worthy of love, and she’d given it to him. Not when it counted of course. But in that moment, the moment their hands had caught fire, she knew. And maybe it hadn’t even really happened until that moment, but now she was certain. She was in love with him.

And he’d known she was telling the truth when she’d said those words. He’d felt it too. She was sure of that. He just wanted her to leave, to get out with the rest of them so she could have the life she so desperately wanted. He’d wanted that for her. And even though the thought of never seeing him again was surely going to hurt once this aftershock wore off, right now her heart felt light in her chest.

“Yeah, Buffy, what are we gonna do?”

Such a good question. What were they going to do? She didn’t know. Go to L.A. maybe. Tell Angel and his crew they didn’t have to worry. Then, who knew? Maybe she’d go to Rome. She’d always wanted to go there. And of course there was England. Spike had told her once about where he’d grown up. Maybe that was the place for her.

The demon had said she and Spike would bring about the apocalypse. And they had. Because of Spike she’d had the strength to not give up. And because of that strength, she had found the scythe and came up with the plan to make many slayers. And that had brought them close to the end. If they had failed, the First could have potentially fulfilled its master plan to destroy all things good. So yes, the demon had been right. Because of them there was apocalyptic danger. And because of them, it had been stopped.

In the brightness of the morning sun, she could almost see his face, smirking, but not to annoy her, just to let her know he would always be there. Her champion.

Their last night together had been strangely…perfect and in that moment she knew everything would be alright. No matter where her life ended up, it would be alright.

And she couldn’t help but smile.
---------------------

THE END