All characters belong to Joss Whedon, The WB Network, and 20th Century Fox. I am just a fan.

After about ten more seconds of turbulent struggle, Buffy finally gave up. Her leg felt broken, and she had a very small amount of strength left. Also, in about one minutes she would be come a big pile of dust.

“Spike!”

Spike was in the ajoining room, searching for a way out, when he heard Buffy’s relentless cries. He immediately whipped around and ran back into the bedroom. There was his Slayer, trapped beneath a large peice of wood. He rushed over to her.

“Buffy, are you alright?”

“What does it look like? Or do you want to ask questions for the next 30 seconds? Then maybe you’ll get your answer.”

Spike frowned and began lifting the heavy plank off of her tiny body. He was surprised it didn’t crush her to death. He could barely move it himself.

“Hurry!”

Spike saw the line of fire coming towards them out of the corner of his eye. Then he felt it on his legs.

Bloody hell.

In one last attempt, he used all of his strength to finally completely lift the board off of her. Pain shot through his body as the flames ate away at his skin...but he didn’t say a word.

Buffy scooted herself from under the wooden board, as quickly as she could without aggravating her leg. She looked up at Spike who was now furiously trying to repress the flames that were moving up his legs.

“Jesus Christ, you’re on fire!”

Buffy tried to stand up, but couldn’t. She was helpless.

Spike stood up, the flames gone, but his legs were all battered and bloodied.

“Stand the hell up, Slayer. We have to out of here fast.”

“I can’t.”

“What do you mean you --”

He glanced down at her leg. Broken.

Great, just great.

“Bloody hell...” he grumbled as he scooped her up into his arms for the second time.

But, this time she didn’t fight to get loose. They stood there as the fire surrounded them.

“Which way?” She asked, her voice finally revealing how scared she was.

She started choking on the smoke and began feeling light headed.

Spike looked down at her. The only way out was through the window, but if they jumped she would probably die. They were on the sodding top floor.

As he began feeling the heat of the fire nearing towards them, he had no other choice. Without another thought, he ran towards the window, dodging the flames, and took a flying leap.

“Spike, no!”

Too late...they were already falling. Spike immediately turned her around so she was on top and he would be the one to land first. This way, she had a chance.

Buffy held onto him for dear life, as Spike turned her around. She closed her eyes tight. This wasn’t how she planned to die. This wasn’t how she wanted to die. Hell, she didn’t want to die at all! But this was it. Her final moments. Her final breaths. Her final...

And then they hit.

Minutes passed and Spike slowly opened his eyes. His head was pounding like a bleeding freight train. But that wasn’t the first thing he felt.

Spike lifted his head, and looked up at the blonde girl, laying peacefully in his arms. Her head rested on his chest and her hands were placed gently on his shoulders.

And she was breathing.

He took a moment to take in the scent of her, and then put his arms around her and rolled her onto her back. He removed a strand of sun-kissed hair out of eyes and just stared at her. She was so beautiful.

Buffy was at the beach. She was walking along the sandy shore, watching the waves roll in. She was with her mother. They walked side by side and talked about life...and death.

“Mommy, what was it like? What was it like to die?”

Her mother gave her a warm smile.

“It was like being born.”

Buffy looked up at the bright blue sky and listened as the seagulls sang a beautiful song.

“Am I going to die?”

“No,” her mother told her. “Not now. It’s not your time.”

“But, I don’t want to leave this place. I want to stay here with you!”

Joyce put a finger to her lips, trying to calm her down.

“I’ll always be with you, sweetheart. And someday we’ll be together again. But, not now. Now you have to watch over Dawn, you have to protect her. You need to live your life and not worry about me. I’m safe here. And I’m always watching over you. Never forget that.”

Buffy nodded.

“I love you, Mom.”

“And I love you. Always and forever.”

Joyce kissed her daughter on the forehead. Buffy smiled, as she gazed over the sparkling blue waters.

“Remember, Buffy. Don’t take anything...or anyone for granted. Life’s too short. Sometimes you just need to look past reasonable and take a chance. You don’t want to leave with any regrets. Promise?"

Buffy thought about her mother’s words.

“I promise.”

With that, Joyce pulled Buffy to her and gave her a loving embrace. Buffy closed her eyes, taking in the last moments with her beloved mommy.

“I love you.”

Those words echoed in Spike’s ears. She couldn’t possibly be talking to him. Was she dreaming?

“Buffy?”

“I love you, Mommy...please don’t leave me...”

Spike’s undead heart reached out to her. So, yeah, she wasn’t talking to him, but she sounded so sincere. So hurt. He sighed and laid own on the grass next to her, looking up at the stars. He knew the sun would be up soon. Probably in less than an hour...he should go.

As he began to stand up, a hand touched his knee. He immediately looked over at Buffy, who was now awake.

“Why did you come back, Spike?”

“The sun’s gonna be up in an hour. I should get goin’.”

He continued to stand up.

“Sit,” she commanded.

Spike cocked his head, wondering what she was doing. Why did he come back? He thought he had made himself pretty damn clear. But, he obeyed and sat back down, not taking his eyes off of her.

“Why did you come back?” She repeated.

“You know why.”

“Then refresh my memory.”

Spike just looked at her. What was she getting at?

“I never left.”

“Why?”

“Buffy --”

“Why, Spike? Why didn’t you just leave? I thought you were going to LA, but here you are...with me.”

“I couldn’t. I couldn’t leave. Even if I have to look at your face every bleeding day and not have you, at least I’m looking at it. At least you’re there. I can’t live without you, Buffy. I don’t know why. I don’t what’s come over me. It’s like I woke up one day, and there you were.”

“But, I’ve always been here.”

Spike shook his head.

“I woke up and there you were. Not just the Slayer. You. Buffy.” He sighed.

“Look, I love you. But, if you want me to sod off, right then. I will. But --”

And then she was kissing him. Why? He had no idea. He pulled back in shock and stared at her, a bewildered statement on his face.

“What the bloody hell are you doing?”

“Taking a chance.”

“But....why?”

She shrugged and smiled at him.

“Change of heart.”

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