Chapter Text
~~~
Buffy and Spike held hands as they walked through the Renaissance Faire. It was nice to get away from the slayer school and just have some time to enjoy each other. It was late spring and things on the Cleveland Hellmouth had quieted down. The fair seemed like a nice date, a place where they could be Buffy and Spike instead of Slayer and Champion.
The cold winter that Buffy shivered through was over. Buffy always thought snow would be fun, until she had to walk through it and shovel it. Not that shoveling was hard work for her, it was just boring and cold. But now the snow had melted and it would soon be full summer.
Buffy leaned her head on Spike’s shoulder as she ate the last of the sweet cake Spike had bought for her.
They stopped for a moment and watched two men dressed in armor swing broad swords at each other.
“They don’t have much technique,” Buffy said with a scoff.
“They’re actors, just out to make a little money. There’s not many people today who would notice their technique.”
Buffy sighed, “I suppose. The dancing was nice. I liked the dancing. Oh, what’s that over there?” She pulled on Spike’s hand as she hurried over to the gathering crowd.
A couple held hands while two women threw flower petals over their heads and someone played a flute. When the music stopped an elderly man with a gray beard stepped forward. “Friends and family, we are gathered together today to witness the handfasting of Harold and Beatrice. Please take each other's hands.” He took a ribbon that had been laying over his shoulders and wrapped it around their hands and tied a loose knot. “Do you Harold take Beatrice as your wife?” he asked
“I do,” Harold answered
“And do you Beatrice take Harold to be your husband?”
“I do,” Beatrice said as she gazed into the handsome young man's eyes.
“You may tie the knot,” The elderly man stepped back.
Harold and Beatrice removed their hands from the coil, each held the end of the ribbon. They pulled and the knot tightened.
“The knot has been tied, you are now husband and wife.”
The actors began to clap and cheer and the audience joined in.
“That’s it, the whole wedding? They didn’t exchange rings.” Buffy asked as they walked away.
“It’s the renaissance, Love. These people are farmers and sheep herders. Jewelry is for the rich.” Spike told her.
“Is it legal?” Buffy asked.
“It was then. There wasn’t always a priest around so the town elder would do the handfasting ceremony with the townspeople as witnesses. Now you can do whatever ceremony you want, but you have to sign a marriage license to make it legal.”
“Being married in your heart is more important than a piece of paper.”
“I agree,” Spike said. He had been committed to Buffy since he had the dream informing him he loved Buffy. Sure he made a few really colossal mistakes. But since coming back from the burning and Buffy wanting him by her side he was determined not to make any more.
“Let’s do it,” Buffy said.
“It?” Spike asked, not sure what she was talking about.
“The handfasting,” she said with a squeeze of her hand.
Spike stopped walking. “Are you asking me to marry you?”
“I’m just tired of this constant go round of misunderstandings.”
Spike tilted his head in the way that always makes her heart melt.
“I know the champion has the slayer’s back. I just want to be as sure that Spike has Buffy’s back and I want you to be sure that Buffy has Spike’s back. I just want all the… bollocks to stop. So the next time something happens, because it will be a committed relationship and stuff happens, we can go to each other and say, what the bloody hell was that? Instead of running off and being all mad and broody.” Buffy looked into Spike’s blue eyes. “So?”
“So, you want us to have a committed relationship?”
“Well, yeah. I mean, that's what marriage is, I know it can’t be legal but if it’s in our hearts…”
Spike pulled her to him and kissed her. “Of course it’s yes, Love. But I want a few days to get you a ring.”
“Same here,” she told him.
~~~
Next Morning - Breakfast
~~~
“Hey, Buffy, how was the Renaissance Faire?” Willow asked.
“It was great. Um… There’s something I need to talk to you about,” Buffy bit her bottom lip, leaned in, and whispered. “BFF, your ears only.”
Willow's eyes got big, it had been a long time since she and Buffy had a best friend's talk. “Sure. Just let me get a tray and we’ll go to my office. I promise no one will overhear.”
~~~
Willow closed the heavy door and turned the latch. “I linked the sound-deadening spell to the lock. As soon as I turn it the spell is activated, we can talk. No one can get in or overhear.”
Buffy started to pace and wring her hands. She stopped pacing and looked at Willow. “First of all you can’t tell anyone about anything I tell you. I want to tell Giles and Xander myself so I can deal with it right away and not get blindsided. So I need your promise.”
“Buffy, it’s okay. You can tell me anything. I’m no judgy girl. Not anymore. It’s just between the two of us. I promise.”
Buffy let out a huge puff of breath. “I kinda, sorta, um…
IaskedSpiketomarryme.” she blurted out.
Willow swallowed her mouth full of scrambled eggs and gave a little giggle. “I don’t think I quite got that. It sounded like you said you asked Spike to marry you.”
“We were at the Faire and we watched this demonstration of a handfasting ceremony and one thing led to another and…”
“Woe, Buffy, give me a minute to process. I assume he said yes. I mean he’s so in love with you he gets tunnel vision whenever he’s in a room with you. And you were so devastated when he burned up. I know you love each other. What I’m trying to say is I’ll have your back. If you need me there, to hold your hand when you tell Giles and Xander, I’m in.”
“Thanks, Willow, I may take you up on that. But there is something else I need to ask you. How are you at conjuring?”
“I pulled a flower through the Earth from Paraguay to England once. Why, what do you need?”
“I want to give Spike the Gem of Amara for a wedding present. I was wondering if you could, you know wisk it away while it’s sitting on Giles’ coffee table. I was thinking that we would think the Powers took it because it was too dangerous for Angel to have.”
“It might be better if I called it here just as Angel was smashing it. That way he’d think it just went poof and no one would worry if it fell into the wrong hands.”
“Can you do that? I mean the timing, you’re cutting it kind of close.”
“Time is a perception we have living on the Earth Plane. It’s not a factor.”
“When can you do it? I’d like to have the gem reset into something nicer if I can.”
“I can do it today, I just have to get the right meditation crystals.”
“Do you need me to help?”
“No, I want to do this for you, but it's better if I do this alone. I saw the ring and touched it so I have a connection. I’ll need to get in touch with that memory. It’s better if I don’t have any distractions. I’ll let you know when it’s done.”
Buffy hugged Willow. “Thanks for this. I thought you’d try to talk me out of it or just plain refuse.”
Willow shook her head. “He saved the world, Buffy. He deserves it.”
~~~
One hour and twenty-seven minutes later, Willow held the Gem of Amara in her hand. Buffy was right, the setting needed to be changed. Willow got out her computer and found a masculine pave setting with a braid effect on the band. It looked like it could be used as a wedding ring. Willow held the ring in her hand and said “Metamorphose.” She could feel the metal instantly rearranging itself into the desired shape. Now all she has to do is show it to Buffy. She put the ring in a small felt pouch, locked it in her desk and went out to find Buffy. She knew she was most likely working out or teaching a slaying class.
~~~
Willow was heading for the workout room when she heard Spike call her.
“Red, you got a mo?”
Willow took a deep breath and blew it out. She turned with a broad smile. The last thing she wanted was for Spike to sniff out something was going on. “Sure, Spike, what can I do for you?”
“I was wondering if I could talk to you alone. I have something private I want to discuss.”
“Um, sure, we can go to my office. I have it warded against eavesdroppers.”
Both the vampire and the witch were quiet as they walked to her office. Willow did breathing exercises to try to keep her heart rate low. She knew Spike would hear it pounding. If he was going to ask her about Buffy she would refuse to answer. BBF rules applied. When they got to her office she locked the door and turned to Spike. “Okay, what’s up.?”
“How are you at conjuring?” Spike asked.
If Willow had been eating or drinking anything she would have choked. This was surreal. She just had the same conversation with Buffy. “Why do you ask?”
“I lost everything when Sunnydale fell. I had a small keepsake box. It held a few items of sentimental value. I’d like them back. I thought if anyone could do it you could. So, can you?”
Spike looked worried, as if he were pleading with her. He was trying to hide it, but Spike was never good at hiding his emotions. “Well, when you strongly desire something, that thing strongly desires you. I’ve never seen this box or had any connection with it at all, you do.”
“Bloody hell, Red, are you saying you can’t do it?”
Willow suspected this has something to do with the upcoming wedding and she didn’t want to say no. But not having any emotional connection to what he wanted was a complication. She would just have to work around it. “Not exactly. You can do it with my help. You’re the one with the emotional connection.”
“I don’t have any soddin’ magic ability.”
“That’s why you need me. Look, you want the box back and I want to help you get it back. Those are the two most important factors. The rest is just tuning into the right energy to get the box here.”
Spike was skeptical but Willow was his only chance. “What do I have to do?”
“Come back after moonrise. That’s when a vampire’s life force is at its strongest.”
“I’m dead,”
“You are undead, ergo alive. You walk, you talk, you eat, you think. Therefore you are.
“Descartes, Willow, I’m impressed.”
“Oh please,” Willow said with a roll of her eyes. “You're the one that just let it slip that you’re better educated than you let on.”
“You’ve got me there, Red.”
~~~
A Half Hour Later
~~~
Willow handed the Gem of Amara to Buffy. “I redid the setting. I didn’t think it was a good idea for a jeweler to be using tools on it. If you don’t like it I can change it. She handed Buffy the pouch.
Buffy took the ring out and gasped. “Willow, it's beautiful!” She threw her arms around her friend and gave her a hug.
“All the magic is still there. The conjuring and the setting change didn’t affect it.”
“It’s perfect, Spike will love it.”
Willow smiled. “I got some research I need to get done, so I’m going to run along. I’m glad you like it, Buffy.”
~~~
Late Evening - Willow’s office
~~~
Willow had just finished setting up the spell when Spike knocked at her door.
“Hi, Spike,” she said as she opened the door and let him in. “Everything is all set.”
Spike looked at the office floor. There was a tuning fork stuck in a deep bowl of sacred sand and a circle of rose quartz.
“Is that circle large enough for your box to fit in? I can make it bigger without affecting the spell.”
“It’s good,” Spike told her.
“Okay, you sit down in the east, there and I’ll sit opposite you in the west.”
“This is more complicated than I thought it would be.”
“That’s because we’re not just pulling it from the ether or from say, Outer Mongolia. The box was destroyed when Sunnydale fell so we have to pull it from a time when it was still intact. Don’t worry I did my homework. So the cosmic fact is that when you long for something, that something longs for you. You have a strong sentimental connection to the box. The tuning fork and the rose quartz will magnify those feelings through time and the box will come. What I need from you is to close your eyes and picture the box in your head. Let yourself feel how much you want it returned. I’m going to tap the tuning fork and then take your hands. Let the vibrations flow over you like a warm summer breeze. Keep picturing the box and let yourself feel.” Willow tapped the tuning fork and took Spike’s hands adding her power to the call and blending it with Spike’s.
Spike didn’t know how long he sat on the floor, it could have been an hour it could have been five minutes.
Willow shook his hands. “Spike, it’s here. You can stop now.”
He let go of Willow’s hands and opened his eyes. “You did it,” he said.
“I thought it was a long shot at best.”
Willow beamed at him and shook her head. “You did it, mister. All I did was give you a power boost.”
“Can I touch it?”
“It’s here, it’s solid. It’s not going to go poof on you.”
Spike picked up the box and looked inside. The ring box was there. He opened it without letting Willow see. There it was, the ring his mother had given him to pass on to his wife. There was a square cut emerald with small red garnets on either side in a pave setting. Perfect! He snapped the box closed and stood up. He had to leave before he was overcome with emotion. “Thanks, Red, I owe you one,” he told her as he left the office.
~~~
The Next Evening.
~~~
Spike stood in front of Buffy. “I have your ring, Love.” He handed her the ring box. “If you don’t like it or want something a bit more traditional, we have time to get you something else.”
Buffy took the box and opened it. “She looked up into his eyes. “Spike, It’s beautiful.”
Spike smiled. “It was my grandmother's, to be passed down from daughter to daughter. I didn’t have a sister, so Mother gave it to me to give to my wife. The center stone is an emerald and the side stones are garnets, your birthstone. Try it on, make sure it fits.”
“Do you want to put it on my finger? Buffy asked.
“On the day, Pet. When I put it on it will go on with the intent to stay.”
Buffy smiled and nodded. She took the ring out of the box and slipped it on her finger. It was a perfect fit, as if it was made just for her. Buffy gave Spike a chaste kiss on the lips and then stepped back. “I’ve got your ring,” Buffy said as a matter of factly as she could muster. She went to her sock drawer, dug into the back, and pulled out the little flannel pouch. She handed it to Spike. “I hope you like it.”
Spike opened the pouch and pulled out the ring. “It’s beautiful, Love, but an uncut emerald that size…”
“It’s the Gem of Amara.”
“The gem? Thought Peaches smashed it.”
“So does he. Willow conjured it away a moment before it would have been crushed. He thinks it went poof. Try it on, I want to see it on your finger.”
“Are you sure, Pet? I mean this is…”
Buffy put two fingers over Spike’s lips. “Shush. I love you and I know I can trust you. So stop with the doubts and try it on.”
Spike slipped it on his finger. It was a perfect fit. He held up his hand and watched as the light played off the gem. “Willow conjured it, hmm. The little minx. What did you have to threaten her with?”
“Not a thing. She wanted to do it. She said you saved the world and you deserved it.”
Spike dropped his hand and looked at Buffy. “Bloody hell, I’m surprised ol’ Rups didn’t forbid it.”
“He doesn’t know. The three of us are the only ones that know.”
“When he finds out…”
“He’ll have to deal. He’s not allowed to dictate my life, or yours, not anymore.”
Spike pulled Buffy into a kiss and they spent the rest of the night making love. They didn’t take their rings off until morning.
~~~
The days leading up to the ceremony were both more peaceful than Buffy thought possible and more hectic.
More peaceful because the confrontation she thought she was going to have with Xander and Giles didn’t happen.
Xander looked at her and gave a deep sigh. “The heart wants what the heart wants. Spike and I will never be buddies, but I won’t count him as an enemy anymore either.” He hugged her and whispered, “happiness,” in her ear.
Giles was stoic. “I know you may not believe this Buffy, but I am deeply sorry for my part of what I did in Sunnydale.”
“You tried to have him killed.”
“Yes, I did. Since then I have seen the error of my ways. He seems to make you happy and…”
“Not seems to, Giles, he does make me happy and he gives me strength to get out of bed in the morning and face one more day.”
“Some time ago, just after the incident with Rayne, it occurred to me that the chip may have set Spike on a path with a higher purpose. I let my Council teachings color my judgment and pushed the thought away. Now I see that it wasn’t the chip, it was his amazing humanity. The chip just let him exercise it. Congratulations, Buffy, you have my best wishes and my love.”
Buffy knew it was as close as Giles would ever come to saying. I love you. There was still so much pain in those last two years in Sunnydale. But maybe now she could begin to heal those wounds.
~~~
The whirlwind of activity started when Dawn arrived. Buffy insisted she just wanted a quiet ceremony. Dawn and Willow double-teamed her saying that there was no reason quiet couldn’t be elegant. They insisted she get a new dress and shoes. Then there was the handfasting ribbon, flowers, a wedding cake, food, and a DJ for the reception. Buffy threw up her hands and asked them politely to respect her wishes and not go overboard.
They tried, sort of. But with lots of work and a little help from magic, everything came together for Buffy and Spike’s big day.
~~~
The ceremony was held in the school's chapel. The area was triple-checked to make sure any holy artifacts that could hurt a vampire were removed.
Buffy was a vision in her white cocktail dress with lace trim. She wore a wreath of flowers in her hair as she had seen the bride do at the Faire.
Dawn had worked on Spike, demanding he wear a tux. He gave her a hard time, even though he had planned to wear one right from the beginning. He was a Victorian gentleman after all.
Willow officiated the ceremony. Dawn called herself the basket maiden. She carried a large basket decorated with flowers identical to the crown of flowers in Buffy’s hair. The basket was divided into three sections. The largest section held rose petals that Dawn scattered as she walked down the aisle. A second section held a small pillow where the wedding rings rested. The third section held the two handfasting ribbons, the colors blue and green were chosen to match Spike and Buffy’s eyes.
Buffy followed Dawn down the aisle, she carried a bouquet of red roses and white calla lilies, interspersed with babies breath and trails of ivy.
Willow originally had strongly encouraged Buffy and Spike to write vows. Buffy put her foot down, insisting that she and Spike wanted to keep things simple. Willow had no choice but to acquiesce. She stepped forward. “Friends and family, we come together today to witness the handfasting of Buffy the vampire slayer and William the bloody, Spike.” She turned to the couple. “Maiden Dawn, do you carry the rings?”
“I do.” Dawn stepped forward and Buffy and Spike took the rings from the basket.
Willow continued with the service. “Spike, do you take Buffy to be your wife, with all the responsibilities and obligations that implies?”
“Until the twelfth of always,” Spike said as he slipped the ring onto her finger.
“Buffy, do you take Spike to be your husband, with all the responsibilities and obligations that implies?”
“Until the twelfth of always,” Buffy echoed as she slid the ring onto Spike’s finger.
Willow took the ribbons from the basket. “Please take each other's hands.”
The couple laid their hands together, right, right, left, left. Willow took the two ribbons and wrapped them around twice, she spoke as she wrapped the ribbon. “With this ribbon let the knot be tied.” She tied a loose knot on top of their hands and then held the ends. Buffy and Spike removed their hands from the coil and pulled the knot tight.
“The knot has been tied,” Willow announced. “By the power given to me by the love in their hearts, I now pronounce Spike and Buffy, husband and wife.”
Spike let go of his end of the ribbon and pulled Buffy into a deep and loving kiss.
~~~
The reception was a whirlwind for Buffy. There was food and dancing and many knives tapping glasses demanding the couple kiss. Spike was more than happy to oblige. The moon was high in the sky when the couple left for their honeymoon suite at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
Life with Buffy was good.
~~~
TBC
~~~