Raksha was led to a platform in front of several seats by two guards. She was forced on to her knees. To her right, the gods who were speaking for her seated themselves and to her left, those against her. In the middle, directly in front of her, Maat and Amun seated themselves, so they could preside over the trial. Behind her were those who were to defend her. Or speak against her.

Maat produced a scroll and handed it to Amun. He unrolled it and began to read out loud in a booming voice that rang through out the room. "Raksha, daughter of Isis, is charged with abusing her powers, removing an essence from the underworld and restoring it to its vessel. She has fraternized with a demon -- one of the creatures she has vowed to rid the world of. She has restored the soul of one who did not deserve it and should have been killed at first site. She has betrayed us."

Raksha did not twitch during Maat's spiel but as she heard the last words her head shot up. She had listened to the rest of the charges without looking up from the floor. She could not deny any of it. But the last line was false. Raksha longed to speak in her defense, but held her tongue fastly. She would be severely reprimanded for speaking without being asked. Killed, at the least.

Spike looked on at Raksha. She held herself rigidly as though her tense muscles would protect her from what was going to happen. Even though Spike knew she would embrace death, even welcome it, she did not look forward to the contents of the hearing. He could only imagine what it was like to see people who you -- if you cared, that is -- had failed.

Spike's attention was caught by the first witness those against Raksha had called. He was shocked to find it was his mother -- Or at least, an image, mirage rather, of her.

"And she was in love with your son?" Maat asked the woman.

"Yes," she replied. "It was obvious to all that could see it."

"But she destroyed him," a god against Raksha added.

"Yes. She made him what he is," the woman agreed. "And worst of all, she couldn't undo what she did. She couldn't kill the demon. She couldn't set William free. She even wanted the demon like some kind of...," the woman stumbled over the word but in the end rage, prompted by the gods against Raksha, won over her sensibilities. "Whore." The word came out as a soft whisper. "She was the cause of the unnecessary loss of a child. She took half of my world away. Soon after, my other son was drained of all his blood -- by a demon that she should had killed. The other half of my world went. I died with no one to mourn me. It's all her fault." The woman stepped down.

Another speaker was brought out to speak. And another and another. Spike lost count. All of them spewed contempt and hatred at Raksha and ended with the words 'It's all her fault.' But all through that time, Raksha hadn't show any sign of hearing them, except a few rogue tears that moistened her cheeks from time to time.

Finally there was a break. The goddess that had been with Raksha earlier came over to the group -- the ones who came from Sunnyhell -- but Raksha remained on the platform.

"When you are called, speak your hearts," the goddess told them. "Just tell them what she has done for you, how she has treated you." Her eyes turned toward Spike. "Spike, I know you and Raksha act like there is nothing to your relationship but I know there is. You care for each other. Please tell the truth." She withdrew two amulets on chains. She slipped one over Angel's neck and one over Spike's neck. "Tuck them inside your shirts. They'll protect you."

"Protect us from what, Dark Mother?" Angel asked.

"From Set -- the god of darkness," Isis answered. "Each of you are at least in part his creatures. He'll try to control you. He harbors impenetrable hatred for Raksha. She was his creature but in the end she turned on him. He'll try to use you."

With that the goddess walked away, leaving each of them to prepare what they were going to say.

Half of them had already spoke. Oz, Cordelia, Giles and Xander had each spoken of the same things. How intelligent Raksha was. How she had given Buffy back her world. How she had brought some sanity...a direction back to their lives. What else did they have to say?

Willow was called to speak. She slowly stepped forward. Willow took a deep breath to calm herself. She was very nervous and scared. Unlike her peers, she had decided to do something a bit differently with her allotted time. Taking another composing breath she began to speak:

"In the short time I have known Raksha, I have seen some amazing things. Things that you rarely see happen -- even on the Hellmouth. She did bring us back together and gave us hope, but more importantly, she gave us herself. She was willing to do the spell at great risk to herself. She was willing to fight along side us, even though she had no reason to. She rescued Buffy, the Slayer, for no reason benefiting herself." Some of the gods began to move in their seat, as if agitated by her words. "When I heard the charge of betrayal, I was disturbed. Raksha, in my eyes, has done nothing worthy of such a charge. She has served you well. She slayed the demon, so to speak. She restored Angel's soul permanently. Angelus will never be again."

Isis nodded, approving the girl's speech. The girl had a lot more spirit than she had originally thought.

"As for her being with Spike," Willow continued. "Why object? I'm sure Raksha will keep him in line and they care for each other. Raksha has served you for five thousand years. Don't you think she deserves some source of happiness?"

Willow turned and walked back into the crowd and over to Oz. Oz engulfed her in his arms and pulled her to him. Her speech had stirred the crowd and gods. Even the ruling bodies looked at the girl with a measure of respect.

Buffy and Angel stepped forward with their arms locked around each other. They had decided to talk together. Buffy was intimidated by the gods; Angel was awed and afraid of their power. They were stronger as one body than they were as two.

Angel spoke first. "Raksha has done the unimaginable for me. She has given me back my soul. Given me a second chance -- one that I plan on taking full advantage of."

"Are you foolish enough to believe that things can ever be the way they were?" one god asked.

Angel smiled sadly. "No, things will never be the same. I don't disillusion myself with the belief that they will be anything like they were. I doubt that I'll ever be able to redeem myself..." Angel trailed off and frowned.

"I remember the first time I got my soul back," he began. It was hard for him to speak. The story he was telling was painful and he was not a very eloquent speaker. "I wanted nothing more than to be killed by some Slayer. And then Raksha found me. I thought she was there to give me the death that my demon wouldn't allow me to commit. But she wouldn't let me. She tried to help me. And she did to some extent. I never would have survived my first years with a soul, if not for her.

"Raksha showed me my potential but it rolled off of me. I was foolish and wallowed in self-misery. But she kept trying. Every once in a while I would hear from her. Eventually Whistler was sent by her to me. She knew I was to play a part in this Slayer's life." Angel gestured toward Buffy. "I will be grateful to Raksha for the rest of my days."

"And so will I." All eyes turned toward Buffy.

She took a deep breath and began to speak. "Raksha saved my life. I would have died the night that I fought Angelus, if it would not have been for her. Angelus would have killed me or even worst, turned me. Raksha has also given me back a friend. Angel and I will never be the same, that's a given. But she has given me back a friend. My voice of reason. My bright spot in my wacky world of darkness. Someone I care about. Someone who I will love forever."

Buffy and Angel left the front of the crowed and fled to the safety of their friends. Willow embraced Buffy in a tight hug. Her cheeks were wet from the power of Buffy and Angel's speech.

Spike slowly slinked through the crowd. Holding his head high, he stepped forward. Instead of stopping in front of the gods like the others had done, he continued up the pedestal where Raksha knelt. He halted beside her.

"I know that I am here to defend Raksha's and my relationship. I could tell you that I love her, just like I did when I was human. Undeniably. With my entire soul. I could tell you that there is nothing between us except passion. But I won't. Don't get me wrong, there is passion. Passion that burns hotter than any I've ever have felt before. And there is affection between us. An affection that could be called love in some sense of the word.

"But we are so much more than that. I have never felt as connected to someone as I have felt to her -- not even to my sire. She does something to me that I've never have felt before. She touches something that no one else does.

"I know you object to our relationship, but you're wrong..."

"Who are you to tell us we are wrong?" asked a god, cutting Spike off. He was draped in black and sat at Raksha's left; he was against her. "Do you have any idea who I am? You should bow before me."

Spike's eyes narrowed. "I bow for no one, you bloody pillock," he spat.

The god made a gesture with his hand. A bolt of black light sailed toward Spike. Raksha rose to her feet. Jumping in front of Spike, she reflected the bolt with her magic-ed bonds.

The room erupted. People started talking; Isis jumped to her feet; guards surrounded the pedestal. But Raksha was oblivious to this. She remained stock still, glaring at the dark cloaked god with hatred.