“Historical awareness is a kind of resurrection.” - William Least Heat Moon

Edo, Japan: Genroku Year 4

Takeshi had waited one month to ask her, one whole month before even trying to broach the subject. The weeks following their marriage had been too perfect to disrupt, but he had felt that it was time to make his request. He had thought that she would protest or cite his human weakness. He was prepared with arguments and bribes.

He wasn’t prepared for her answer.

“I was wondering how long it would take you to ask.”

Takeshi stared at her with amazement. His Kaede was certainly full of surprises.

*****

“This is a picture of Sano, but it’s not very accurate anymore.” Kaede indicated a sketch from Ichiro’s diaries. He knew that she had taken to stealing the scrolls in the dark hours of the night when only the two of them were awake. She would return them by morning after spending time educating him in the ways of vampires.

“How so?” he asked with curiosity. He wanted to know his enemies, down to the very smallest details.

“This was drawn before he lost his right eye.” When Takeshi pinned her with a questioning glance, Kaede elaborated. “I stabbed him there with a stake.”

“I… Oh.” The simple way that she described the act was somehow more shocking than if she had boasted or provided him with lurid details. Takeshi knew that she was a powerful warrior, he had seen her fight before, but he often wondered if he had even scratched the surface of the mystery that was his wife. He was more determined than ever to join her on the hunt, if only to further explore her many contradictions.

“Here’s a picture of Akane and Katsuo. Ichiro says that she was a child of one of the shogun’s cousins and he was a poor actor. When her family discovered their relationship, the two decided to perform a shinjū, but not in the usual way. They sought out Sano and had him turn them both so that they could be together forever.” Such ritualistic double suicides were not rare, but Takeshi could not imagine someone voluntarily choosing such a manner of death. “That was over fifty years ago. They are two of his most powerful fighters,” Kaede continued.

For the next hour, she flipped through the pages of the diary, introducing him to the members of Sano’s gang: Isamu, the old fisherman; Cho, the former geisha; Naoki, the fat son of an unsuccessful merchant; Sichiro, the disgraced samurai. Takeshi memorized the faces of the gang of vampires that had plagued Kaede ever since she had been Chosen, filing them away for future reference.

Later that night, after Kaede had returned Ichiro’s scrolls to the library, they lay together in the darkness, listening to the wind brush the branches of a maple tree against the dojo’s outer wall. Kaede’s head rested on Takeshi’s shoulder, and her hand ghosted along the line of his collar bones.

“So, when am I going to get to actually meet some of these vampires?” he asked quietly, absently caressing her bare shoulder.

“Soon enough,” she replied. There was a sadness in her voice he had never heard before. When he opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong, she pressed her fingers against his lips to silence him. Her hands soon found other ways to drive the question from Takeshi’s mind.

He had forgotten it by morning.

*****

With a cry of victory, Takeshi sank his katana into the vampire’s stomach. Kaede had taken him to one of the many seedy bath houses in Edo, a place that was surrounded by rumors of illegal prostitution and other, darker transgressions. She had explained along the way that most of the bath attendants were actually young vampires who exchanged the addicting sensation of their bite for money. He had not believed her at first, but when they were attacked by two vampires within moments of entering the dark alley that abutted the building, he could not deny the truth.

The fledgling pulled itself off of the sword and launched itself at Takeshi again before the warrior saw the error in his attack.

“Head and heart, Takeshi!” his wife called, reminding and teasing him all at once. She had finished her own opponent easily enough and was watching his fight from the shadows.

With an irritated growl, Takeshi sidestepped the vampire’s wild attack and brought his blade up and around, through its exposed neck as the fledgling stumbled past. As the dust settled around him, Kaede stepped to his side and offered him her own oil cloth to clean his blade.

“Head and heart. Keep cutting until you see dust,” she murmured under her breath with a small smile.

“What is so funny?” Takeshi asked.

“That is one of Ichiro’s favorite quotes. He used to repeat it over and over again when he was first training me. It got irritating after a while, but it's still good advice. I think it's from the handbook.”

“There is a handbook?”

Takeshi’s heart skipped a beat when Kaede turned a wide smile towards him. “Maybe I’ll ‘borrow’ that one next.” She glanced up at the stars beyond the tightly packed eves and sighed. “We should be getting home.”

“But why? The night is still young.”

“Ichiro wants to meet with me first thing in the morning. He mentioned something about a disturbing report from Kyoto. It is probably just another angry river spirit or possessed farmer’s daughter.”

“I understand.” Takeshi was disappointed, but he would not ask Kaede to compromise her sacred duty.

“Don’t look so thwarted. I promise to take you past some of the gambling halls tomorrow night.”

*****

Sunnydale, California: 1999

“You soddin’ bastards! You’ve been workin’ with them all along!” In light of the slayer’s abrupt retreat, Spike had managed to work himself into an impressive fit of anger. “When were you plannin’ on sellin’ me back down the River Styx?”

Giles had shrunk against his desk where he was less than discreetly fumbling with a drawer Spike knew held a vial of holy water and a cross. “Spike, please. We are just as surprised by this news as you. Please try to see reason.”

Spike threw a half-filled highball glass against the far wall. “No, damn it! I will not ‘see reason.’ When, Ripper?! After you managed to soften me up for them?” Gold eyes burned and his fangs itched to sink into something. Anything. “After you made me…” trust you?

When the front door of the apartment swung open, Spike whirled, fully intending to take out more of his rage on whoever was interrupting his tirade. However, it was only his quick reflexes that let him catch the casually tossed stake before it bounced off of his forehead. “Oi! Watch it!” He found himself standing toe to toe with the slayer, her hip cocked to one side is a challenging pose.

“Stop complaining you big baby. It’s not like it would have hurt you. Now come on!”

“Come on where? Back to your boy-toy’s buddies? No thank you.”

“Don’t be stupid. We’re going patrolling.”

“I’m not goin’… wait. What?” Spike’s anger dissipated in a cloud of confusion.

“Patrolling.” She enunciated every syllable slowly and distinctly. Spike glowered at her.

“Buffy, I don’t think this is a good idea.” Giles’ voice had regained a bit of its previous surety. Spike did not need to turn around to know that the watcher had finally managed to retrieve his weapons.

“Giles,” she said in a tight voice. “He needs to kill something. I need to kill something. It’ll be like a warm-up act for our assault on Fort Knox, or Fort Abercrombie, or whatever. I can catch him if he tries anything.”

“He attacked me with a glass of alcohol.”

“All the more reason to get him out of the house. And if we’re getting technical about it, it looks like he attacked your wall with a glass of alcohol.”

If there was one thing that was guaranteed to make Spike’s mood worse, it was being talked about as if he wasn’t standing right there. Knowing full well that he was behaving like a child, and made all the more angry by that knowledge, the vampire stomped over to the door under the surprised eyes of the others.

“Are we gonna do this or what?” he growled.

*****

“I’m really not in the mood to talk about this right now.”

“Oh no, slayer. You dragged me out on this little midnight stroll, and now I want some answers.”

“Look, I really didn’t know that he was one of those army guys. I thought he was just my psych T.A.”

“That’s insane. How could you not know?”

“It’s not like I do background checks on potential boyfriends. Plus? I don’t think he would have put ‘secret agent man’ on a resume if I had asked for one.”

“That’s not the point.”

“Well, what is your point then?”

“I don’t know!”

“Oh thank God.”

“What?!”

“Vampires.”

*****

It was amazing how a good dose of violence could instantaneously put Spike in a better frame of mind. After the dust from his last opponent settled around his boots, he decided to take up a post on one of the larger tombstones and watch as the slayer toyed with the last of the fledglings.

He cocked his head to one side and watched her fight. She really was a sight to behold, fists and golden hair flying as she beat the scrawny vampire to within an inch of its unlife. Spike smirked with appreciation. The younger vamp had never stood a chance. When she finally tired of her game and put her stake to good use, Spike broke the ensuing silence with applause.

When the slayer whirled around, face twisted in a scowl as if she thought he was mocking her, Spike hopped down from his perch and grinned. “Nothin’ like a little mayhem to get the juices flowin,’ eh slayer? Where to next?”

The anger dissipated from Buffy’s face to be replaced by a lopsided smile. “I was thinking more about plotting some violence, but we can walk and talk at the same time. The Ensloe Street Cemetery is usually good for a demon or two this time of the week.”

“Makes sense. A rinjal demon named Chloe runs a little business out of one of the crypts there. Thursdays are her pick-up nights.”

“What kind of business?” The slayer’s tone was tight, accusatory. Spike grinned in anticipation of her disappointment.

“Laundry.”

Buffy stopped in her tracks. “Laundry?”

“Think about it, slayer. What do you think would happen if eight feet tall, slimy and/or spiny demons started hangin’ out at the local laundermat?” At the look of consternation on Buffy’s face, Spike rolled his eyes and continued. “Never thought of that, huh? We like a clean set of sheets or pair of pants as much as the next guy. So you bag up your dirties with your name and ten bucks, leave them in the crypt she uses as her drop-off point, and she returns them Friday evening: washed, pressed, and folded. All very civilized. And while we’re on the matter, why don’t you leave Chloe alone tonight, huh? She’s harmless and so are most of her clients.”

Buffy’s scowl had returned. “And what does this Chloe do on her off hours?”

“She’s a paralegal.” At the slayer’s shocked expression, Spike couldn’t help but laugh in her face. “Not every demon out there is interested in eatin’ babies and takin’ over the world you know. Lots of ‘em just want to get a job, find a mate, maybe raise some spawn. I’d go so far as to say ‘white picket fence,’ but I’ve got this sneakin’ suspicion that you wouldn’t believe me.”

The expression on Buffy’s face was priceless, but Spike lost all thoughts of teasing her about it when her own response floored him. “Check, ixnay on Ensloe. Shady Oaks?”

*****

After finding a few more vampires and a molting gr’nish, which had even managed to turn Spike’s stomach, the slayer and the vampire found themselves wandering back towards Giles’ apartment. Their main topic of conversation, aside from teasingly mocking each other’s fighting styles, had been how they were going to deal with the military guys and Orochi in particular. Despite himself, Spike was impressed with the slayer’s plan. It was devious and underhanded, while maintaining an edge of violence and bloodshed.

He loved it.

But he did have a few reservations. “It can’t be that easy.”

“Why not? A couple little spells and some high-tech handiwork that I’m sure Willow will be glad to supply, and we’re in. Then there’s the fun breaking and entering, maybe some looting. Stir in some high level slayage and serve over ice. I thought you’d be all about this plan.”

“I have to admit, it sounds like a right good party, but what happens if I get captured again? You’re human, they won’t do sod all to you.”

She eyed him critically. “Even though you haven’t admitted it, I’m betting you got the same memory upgrade I did from our Japanese Romeo and Juliet. You know I can’t kill this thing without you.”

Spike wasn’t about to reveal all that he had talked about with Takeshi on his trip inside the swords, but he couldn’t help but wonder what all the slayers had discussed. He decided to sidestep those questions for the time being and cut right to the point. “And after?”

“After what?”

Spike sighed at her intentionally dense behavior. “After I help you kill this thing, what happens if they nick me during the escape?”

“I’ll get you back.”

“And if I don’t believe you?”

“Look, Spike. I protect my,” the slayer’s mouth hung open for a second before she continued in a rush, “allies. I promise I’ll get you away from them if it comes to that.”

To that, the vampire could only nod. He was far more interested in what the slayer had almost said than in what she had.