“Are, a, are, are y-you sure it was, B-B-Buffy?”

“Of course I’m sure. She’s me, I’m her.”

Spike swallowed as he looked into Dawn’s eyes. Suddenly he saw Buffy. Dawn was gone. The whole room was gone. And there she was. She was thin, so thin, and he could almost see Dawn behind her. Her eyes, stronger and vibrant, more than ever, they stood out. Dawn’s eyes were the only part of her that was left. Somewhere he knew her voice was calling to him. Spike stopped, he tried to listen, but only a part of him could hear. Only a part of him wanted to hear, the rest of him, saw Buffy. Saw his love, and they wanted her more than ever. “Buffy,” was all he could make out.

Was it really her? How could he tell? He didn’t know anything about ghosts or magic. He didn’t know anything about life or death. He’d lived 200 years, and yet he still knew so little. He could still hear Dawn in the back of his mind. He could see her eyes; her eyes were now in Buffy’s. Was that some sort of clue, some key? Or was it just the fact that Buffy and Dawn were the same person? Spike was so clueless now; he didn’t understand any of it.

Was he awake or sleeping? Too many questions arose in his mind. There had to be some way he could get back to Dawn. He tried, pushing his own mind towards Dawn’s eyes, but it was too hard. He could barely see her eyes any more.

“Buffy,” he said. His vocal cords seemed to work now. “What, why are you here?”

She stood before him, as if she had, seconds before she jumped the portal. “I’m not really here Spike,” the voice spoke at last. It sounded like Buffy’s only it didn’t. Someone’s voice was mixed in with it. Was it Dawn’s voice, Joyce’s voice, Willow’s, Xander’s, or was it Spike’s own voice, that created the echo through the room.

“Why do I see you?” Spike got the courage to ask at last. Was his own mind playing tricks on him? Or was she there, standing before him. Had he wanted her to come? Had she wanted to come? Could she read his thoughts, if she was just something from the depths of his mind? If she was a ghost, why was she there?

“Because you want to.” Spike could hear so many voices in Buffy’s. He tried to focus, to hear his love’s own voice. But it was hard, as the others washed down upon her own. “This is a gift Spike.”

Suddenly Buffy faded a bit, and Spike could see Dawn again. “Buffy, no, wait,” he gasped.

“This is just a dream Spike. A dream that you’ll eventually wake up from.”

“Who’s dream, yours or mine?”

“Spike!” Dawn’s voice called. Suddenly it was louder and more vibrant than before. Buffy was slowly fading away. A look of peace touched her face and she started to drift and the room came back.

“Dawn?” Spike asked and looked around the room. He could still see Buffy in the back, or the ghost of Buffy, or whatever she had been, behind Dawn. Fading by the second. “Buffy,” he whispered. “I saw her.”

“Like a ghost?” Dawn asked. “In a dream?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Spike nodded, his accent thicker than ever.

“Spike, it’s so strange, it’s as if she’s with me now,” Dawn whispered. “And I don’t know what to do. I’m the key, and yet I’m part of Buffy, and without her, I feel so hollow. I don’t know what to do.”

“None of us do, but it’ll all be okay Little Bit. Tomorrow’s another day. You are Buffy, you have her inside of you, remember that, carry her with you, cause she’ll always be there. And you’ll always have some of her courage,” Spike said. He wished he could make himself believe some of that. He could still see Buffy’s shadow in the room, and it worried him.

“Thanks Spike,” Dawn smiled. “It was so strange, it was as if she was trying to give me a message.”

“Try to rest,” Spike smiled at her. Dawn nodded and left the room with out another word.

Spike glanced around the room. Everything seemed to be so normal again. Except for the fact that he could still see Buffy, he could still feel her all around him. Not like he felt her when he was with Dawn, with Dawn, he felt a part of Buffy that would never die, but now he felt all of Buffy. And yet, he still knew, Buffy was gone.

“I love you Buffy Summers!” Spike cried, and then she was gone.