A Christmas Surprise

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“She’s not going to like this.”

“Well, we’ll just have to make her like it.”

Xander seemed far from convinced, and the look on his face told Willow as much. She sighed and curled her feet under herself as she sipped a mug of coffee.

“You think it’s a good idea, don’t you Xander?”

“Sure. I mean we could all use a break, especially Buffy. I just don’t know if it’s safe. I mean look what happened to Spike.”

Willow’s eyes drifted upwards. In one of the bedrooms Spike lay unconscious, his body littered with wounds and his mind tortured with the memories of what had happened to him. The screams from his nightmares had woken them all on several occasions and this had only unnerved the Potentials even further. If The First could do this to Spike, a vampire, then what could it do to a young human girl?

It was then that Willow had had her idea.

“I know we need to prepare for battle. Trust me, Xander, I’ve seen what’s coming, but we’re going to be no good to anyone if we all run ourselves into the ground trying to prepare. The girls are scared and tired, and to be honest so am I. One day off, that’s all we need. It could be our last chance to spend some time together.”

Xander smiled and Willow knew she’d won him over. Now all they had to do was convince Buffy.

* * *

As always Buffy was in the training room with the Potentials. They barely stopped these days except to eat and sleep and it took her a few minutes to realise Xander and Willow had joined them.

“Keep practising what I just showed you,” she instructed as she moved over to her friends. “What’s up? I’m kinda busy here.”

“Uh…can we talk to you upstairs for a second?” Willow asked, looking for a moment as though she feared Buffy would attack her. “It won’t take long.”

Buffy sighed and cast a glance over her shoulder at the training potentials. “Ok, but it needs to be fast.”

The three of them headed upstairs into the kitchen. One they were all stood around the table Willow decided it was best to get straight to the point.

“The girls need a day off, Buffy and so do you.”

Buffy’s answer came immediately. “Can’t.”

“Do you know what day it is?”

“Wills, I don’t have time to think about stuff like this.”

“It’s December 23rd. Christmas is in two days Buffy, these girls are away from their families and they’re scared. I know the training is important but you can spare them one day surely.”

Buffy lowered her head. “I didn’t realise Christmas was so soon.”

“One day, Buffy. Let them rest, have a little fun and enjoy a nice meal. We’ll cook so you don’t need to worry about that. Just show up and eat.”

A small smile quirked at Buffy’s lips as she remembered telling Willow that those were two things she was really good at. It seemed a lifetime ago.

“Ok, one day. Don’t tell the girls. It can be a surprise.”

Willow almost did a dance on the spot. “Thanks Buffy. Just leave it with me and Xander.”

* * *

Buffy sat with Spike that night, as she had done every night since she’d rescued him. He’d woken a couple of time, just long enough to take some blood but other than that the only signs of stirring he gave were the flinches and cries during his nightmares. The first time he’d screamed Buffy had done everything she could to wake him but it had been no use. So she’d sat there, holding him as he screamed and wishing there was something she could do to take away his pain.

At least tonight he appeared to be sleeping peacefully and for that she should be grateful.

Her mind turned to the conversation she’d had with Willow and Xander earlier in the day. Was it really possible that Christmas had arrived without her even realising it? It was true her mind had been on training the Potentials ever since they’d arrived, but she didn’t think she’d withdrawn from life that much. She wondered if Dawn would be expecting a gift on Christmas Day or whether she’d understand that her mind had been on more important things.

This could be their last Christmas together

The thought hit Buffy hard. This could be their last Christmas together and not only had she not bought Dawn or anyone else a gift, but she’d have trained right through it if Willow and Xander hadn’t spoken to her about it.

“I’ve got to do something,” she whispered, half to herself and half to Spike.

So while she kept watch over him she started hatching a plan

* * *

Willow was the one to find the note in the morning. It was from Buffy saying she’d had to go out and that the girls were to train with Giles until she got back. Willow thought it a little strange but assumed that Buffy knew what she was doing. Once she had spoken to Giles she then turned her attention to preparing the Christmas dinner. Anya and Dawn had offered to help as well, feeling a little left out of the training side of things and Andrew kept getting under everyone’s feet until finally they gave him a job to do just to keep him out of the way.

While Willow and Dawn went shopping for food, Xander, Anya and Andrew prepared the kitchen. They didn’t realise Buffy was home until she came into the kitchen to see how things were going.

“Willow and Dawn are on food duty. We’re just getting the pans and things ready.”

Buffy nodded. “Good. I’m gonna go and carry on with the training now.”

And she disappeared before any of them could say anything.

“Does anyone else think Buffy is acting weird?” Andrew asked. “Like maybe she’s possessed or something.”

Anya responded by cuffing the back of his head. “Nobody asked you. Now get cleaning those dishes.”

Andrew sighed. “I didn’t agree to be your slave, you know.”

“Well, you should have thought of that before you killed Jonathan.”

“That is so unfair!”

“Just shut up and clean.”

* * *

“Is everything ready?” Buffy asked that evening while she, Xander and Willow sat quietly in the kitchen.

Willow smiled. “Yup, it’s going to be a great meal. I hate to say it but Andrew is actually pretty good in the kitchen.”

“Well, I suppose at least he’s good for something. I was starting to wonder why we were still keeping him around.”

Buffy drained her mug of coffee and rose, stretching before heading for the stairs

“I’m just gonna check on Spike before I head to bed.”

Once she was gone Xander and Willow shot a look at each other. They both knew that Buffy wouldn’t sleep that night. They knew that she would sit at Spike’s bedside, just as she had every other night since he’d been rescued. They’d thought about speaking to her about it, but in the end decided that this was something she needed.

They went into the kitchen, washed up the mugs and headed to bed themselves. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day

* * *

A shriek rang out through the house the next morning, waking all the occupants bar Spike instantly. Footsteps thundered down the stairs immediately as the whole house hurried to investigate, everyone carrying weapons in case there was an attack. What they found caused them all to nearly drop their weapons in surprise.

The whole living room seemed to sparkle and glitter with baubles, tinsel and streamers. In the corner of the room sat a Christmas tree which touched the ceiling and beneath it sat a pile of neatly wrapped gifts.

Dawn was the first one to move, kneeling beside the tree and examining one of the gifts. “They have our names on them.”

“How did they get here?” Molly asked. “Do you think it’s a trick?”

Dawn shrugged. “I guess there’s only one way to find out.”

After a moments searching she found the package with her name on it and carefully removed the paper. Inside was a photograph of Buffy and Dawn in a beautiful gold frame. They were both smiling, a snapshot of times past. She blinked back her tears before turning to show it to the others.

“Not a trick then,” Molly said, once she had examined the picture.

“Did you do this?” Kennedy asked Willow, but the stunned look on both Willow and Xander’s faces told her that neither of them knew anything about this.

Dawn in the meantime was handing out everyone’s gifts and soon an excited chatter filled the living room. Once Xander, Anya and Willow had opened their gifts they dragged Andrew into the kitchen to make a start on dinner.

“I can’t believe someone thought of me,” Andrew babbled, cradling his Gandalf action figure. “It’s just so sweet.”

“It’s not like you deserve it or anything,” Anya retorted as she put on her new earrings. “Now we need to start cooking so put down your silly toy.”

“Hey,” Buffy said with a smile as she entered the kitchen. “How’s it going?”

“We’re just getting started. Did you see all that stuff out there?”

Buffy smiled again. “Yeah, I did.”

Xander’s eyes widened. “You did it!”

Buffy shrugged. “You guys just got me thinking. This might be our last Christmas together. I just wanted it to be nice.”

Xander and Willow moved over to hug their friend, knowing how much it must have taken her to do all this.

Buffy pulled back after a few moments. “I love you guys. I just wanted you to know that. I know I’ve been all warrior-Buffy over the last few weeks but that doesn’t mean I stopped caring.”

“We know,” Dawn replied from the doorway. “We love you too, Buffy.”

The two sisters hugged, and the rest of the gang began to work on dinner so as to give them a little privacy.

“I love the photo.”

“I’m glad.”

“I’m starving.”

“Me too.”

* * *

A few hours later and everyone was sat in the kitchen, using every inch of space available and enjoying a fine Christmas meal.

“This is delicious,” Dawn mumbled around a mouthful of food and there were general murmers of consent from everyone else as they ate.

“The secret is in the temperature of the oven,” Andrew explained with pride. “It shouldn’t be too hot but not too cold either or we’d all be spending the next week barfing.”

“Andrew?” Buffy asked sweetly, “would you like to be gagged?”

“No, how would I eat?”

“Well, I suggest you be quiet then.”

Everyone else giggled as Andrew pouted and ate the rest of the meal in silence.

Dawn finally stood up and tapped her glass with her knife. Everyone stopped to look at her.

“I’m not very good at speeches and stuff, but I just wanna thank Buffy for our gifts and things. None of us expected any of this and it’s just really nice of you.”

“I’ll second that.” Kennedy said, raising her glass. “Let’s have a toast to Buffy. Without her we’d have all had our asses kicked months ago.”

Everyone else followed suit and raised their glasses. “To Buffy.”

It was then Buffy’s turn to stand. “I know I’ve been hard on you all over the last few weeks, but I just wanted to say that you’re doing really well. It might not seem like it, but I’m proud of you. All of you.”

It was only as she was about to sit down that Buffy realised everyone was staring not at her, but at the doorway to the living room. She turned, and that was when she saw him.

Spike was leaning against the wall looking dishevelled and only half awake, with purple bruises on his face and arms, but he was smiling.

“This a private party or do you have room for a vampire?”

Buffy moved over to him instantly, wrapping one arm around his waist and helping him to limp over to her chair.

“Do you want some blood?”

“Wouldn’t say no.”

As Buffy went off to get some and heat it up, the rest of the Potentials could only stare at Spike. They’d been told about him of course, that he was a vampire but that he wouldn’t hurt them because he had a soul. However, they’d never been this close to a vampire before and naturally they were curious.

“I thought you were supposed to have fangs,” Molly finally said.

“Don’t you know anything?” Kennedy scoffed. “They only have fangs when they’re about to bite someone.”

“Why?”

“So we can pass as human and lure people in.” Spike answered, his voice weary but a look of faint amusement on his face. He allowed his fangs to slide forward

“If you saw me walking down the street looking like this what would you do?”

“Run away.” Molly answered truthfully.

“Exactly. Eating’s a lot less fun when you have to chase across half the town just to catch it.”

Buffy came back in and set a mug down in front of Spike before addressing the girls. “You can ask Spike anything you like when he’s healed a bit more. Now you guys can go and watch some TV or something while I sort out the dishes.”

“You want some company?” Spike asked as he sipped his blood.

“Sure, but you’re not helping. Just sit there and rest.”

For once Spike did as he was told. “Saw the decorations. Whose idea was that?”

“Mine,” Buffy replied. “Just wanted to do something for the girls.”

“I’m sure they appreciated it.”

“The truth is I didn’t even realise it was nearly Christmas until Willow told me.”

They fell into silence for a while as Buffy cleaned and Spike tried to think of something to say.

“How long have I been here?” he finally asked.

“Nearly a week.” Buffy replied

“Oh.”

“How are you feeling?” Buffy tried to hide the concern in her voice, she didn’t want him to see how much his injuries upset her. If she’d only managed to get to him more quickly then it might not have been this bad

“I’m healing.” Spike replied. “Few more days of sleep and blood and I’ll be fine.”

Buffy smiled. “Good.”

She knelt down beside him and began to unbutton his shirt. Spike flinched and pulled back, his eyes suddenly wide with fear.

“It’s ok, I just wanna check your bandages.” She was stupid to have forgotten how jumpy he still was around her. The soul would never let him forget what he tried to do to her, even if she’d forgotten it herself.

“I’ll do it,” Spike replied shakily and unbuttoned the shirt with trembling fingers.

Carefully Buffy ran her hands over the strange markings that had been carved into his chest. They were still red and swollen but the bleeding had stopped and they were definitely starting to heal. His ribs, however, were a different matter. The bruise stood out a deep shade of purple in comparison to his pale skin. If they were healing they were doing so very slowly.

“I think maybe I should wrap these,” she said, rising to her feet. “Can you take off your shirt while I get some bandages?”

With a bit of effort Spike managed to do as he was asked and he lowered his eyes as Buffy wound the bandages around him. He didn’t like her to see him like this, bare and exposed. It only reminded him of last year.

“All done.”

Buffy helped Spike back into his shirt before taking a seat beside him.

“Thank you for saving me,” he whispered softly.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get there sooner,” Buffy replied equally as softly. “I knew that thing was hurting you and I didn’t know where to look. I tried so hard and—“

She choked back a sob as Spike guided her head to his shoulder. “It’s ok, Buffy. I’ll be fine.”

“If you’d been killed before I could tell you…”

“Tell me what?”

She raised her head and wiped the tears from her eyes. “That I’m sorry. For using you last year. For messing everything up.”

“You?” Spike replied. “You’re sorry. Buffy, I’m the one who tried to—“

“Don’t. Don’t, Spike. I want to forget about it. I’m trying to, but I can’t if you keep beating yourself up about it. It happened and we need to move on.”

“I don’t know if I can.”

Buffy leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips. “I forgive you Spike. Now you need to forgive yourself if we’re going to try again.”

“Try what?” Spike seemed totally bewildered now and Buffy wondered if she’d sprung too much on him at once.

“Do you still love me?”

“Of course I do.”

“I want you by my side, Spike. As an equal. No more using you, no more abuse. Let’s have a go at a normal relationship. Well, as normal as a vampire and a Slayer can be anyway.”

“Are you serious?”

Buffy leaned forward and kissed him again, a deeper kiss this time and one which Spike responded to.

“Merry Christmas, Spike.”

“Merry Christmas, Buffy.”

Buffy might not have had a present under the tree like everyone else, but what she had was far better

The End