“In the flesh,” Isobel replied with a shrug. “I’m guessing from the whole ‘seen a ghost’ expression you have going on, the Powers have been playing dream genie with you, too.”
“Yeah, they… Wait, too?”
Isobel chuckled at Buffy’s confused expression. “I’ve been having dreams about you all week. My best guess is the PTB felt like facilitating a meeting.”
“I…I’m not really understanding any of this,” Buffy said, looking warily at Isobel. “You were dead, and… And why was I even dreaming about you? Why would the Powers want me to dream about you? It doesn’t make any sense.”
Isobel looked Buffy over for a moment before she glanced back at Spike. “You have my sincere sympathies.”
Spike chuckled. “Thanks, pet. Glad someone understands my pain.”
“Your…” Buffy stomped her foot. “Would someone please just explain to me what’s going on here?”
“We need to have a little chat, sweetie,” Isobel said, taking a step closer to Buffy. “From what I’ve seen over the past few nights, well… Is there somewhere we can go and talk in private?”
Buffy knew she should be more wary of going off with a woman claiming to be a Slayer who had died roughly six and a half centuries earlier, but somehow she knew it was Isobel – and, thanks to the dreams – Isobel felt like someone she’d known for years. “We could go back to my house,” Buffy suggested.
Isobel nodded. “That’ll be fine.” She reached out and touched Edmund’s arm, “Honey, why don’t you stay here with Spike? Have some vampire bonding time. You can lament how annoying we Slayers are.” She gave him a wink.
Edmund smirked down at her. “If we start on that, we’ll be tied up for the next few years, baby.”
“Oh, very funny,” Isobel replied, though the stern look she tried to give him quickly melted away and she kissed him instead.
Buffy watched their interaction with a sense of awe. Had they really been together all these years? Could two people – a vampire and a Slayer no less! – actually forge a relationship strong enough to stand such an extreme test of time?
And if Isobel and Edmund could make it work…
“I’ll come find you when we’re done,” Isobel promised Edmund, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. He leaned down to kiss her again.
“All right. Love you, Slayer.”
“You, too, vampire,” she replied with a wink. Then, Isobel turned back to Buffy. “Let’s get a move on. We have a lot to discuss.”
Buffy nodded, knowing Isobel was right there. And if the woman had this whole crazy dream thing figured out, well, she wanted to know the answer.
As the two Slayers started to walk off, Isobel looked over her shoulder, giving the vampires a wink. “You boys behave yourselves,” she teased with a laugh. Then, she turned back around, following Buffy out of the graveyard.
For several moments, Spike and Edmund were both silent, standing with their hands shoved in their pockets as they rocked back on their heels. “So…” Spike said, finally breaking the silence. “In love with a Slayer, too?”
“Yeah. Woman got a hold of me in 1353, and I haven’t been the same vamp since.”
Spike chuckled. “I know the feeling, mate.” He cleared his throat. “So, um, Isobel… Does she ever, uh, punch you in the nose?”
Edmund sighed. “All the damn time.”
Buffy was silent the entire walk back to her house, unsure of what to say to Isobel now that she was here. Her first thought was that Edmund must’ve turned Isobel and the dream simply hadn’t shown it, but she was getting none of the usual vamp tingles, and Isobel’s breathing seemed more regular than habitual.
That and she was wearing several silver crosses on chains of varying lengths around her neck. Usually a sign you weren’t dealing with the undead…
“Well, this is it,” Buffy said as they walked up the porch at 1630 Revello Drive. “My house.”
“I figured that from the whole thing where you were fishing your keys out of your pocket.”
Buffy blushed slightly. “Sorry. I’m just all nervous girl. I mean, I woke up this afternoon dreaming about you being all dead back in the 1300’s, and then here you are, standing in front of my house. Alive.” She frowned. “You are alive, aren’t you?”
“Oh no, I’m a zombie.” Isobel was only able to hold her straight face for a moment, as Buffy’s shocked expression made her burst into giggles. “Yes, I’m alive. That’s actually one of the things we need to talk about. But inside would probably be better. There’s…there’s a good bit we need to discuss, and I’m going to go out on a limb and guess you’re going to think it’s pretty personal and best kept private.”
Buffy nodded. “Yeah, okay. Come on.” She unlocked the door and stepped inside, hoping she could get Isobel quietly up to her room without being seen.
She wasn’t so lucky, and she wanted to scream when Willow popped out of the living room and looked Isobel over with a discerning eye. “Who’s this?” the redhead asked.
“She’s rude,” Isobel said, turning to Buffy, and Buffy bit the inside of her lip to keep from laughing.
Willow blushed. “I…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…” She paused and let out a deep breath. “I’m Willow.”
“Isobel,” the dark-haired Slayer replied, her expression nonplussed.
Suddenly, Dawn came bounding into the foyer. “Omigod, Isobel? Really?” Dawn said, running over to get a good look at her. “The Isobel that Buffy…”
“Has been working with at the Doublemeat Palace,” Buffy said quickly, cutting her sister off. “That Dawn and I were talking about earlier, because she’s now my new…work buddy.”
Dawn frowned and started to ask what the hell Buffy was talking about before she glanced at Willow and got the picture. “Right. Isobel from the Doublemeat Palace. It’s good to meet you, Isobel…from the Doublemeat Palace.”
Isobel couldn’t help her small chuckle. “And it’s nice to meet you, too, Dawn. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Dawn started to ask what she meant, since she doubted she would’ve had much of a chance to hear things from Buffy, but then remembered now wasn’t a good time. She couldn’t exactly say she blamed Buffy for not wanting to announce to Willow at the moment that they had a Medieval Slayer in their house, and she wasn’t about to blow her cover. As a matter of fact…
“You know, I actually came out here because I’m having the biggest milkshake craving. Willow, are you having one, too?”
“Huh?” Willow replied, looking confused. “Milkshakes?”
“Willow, would you mind taking her?” Buffy asked, deciding her sister deserved something nice when this was all over for being such a little genius. “I would, but I really have to talk to Isobel about the new grills we just got in. It’s important Doublemeat Palace safety stuff.”
“Um, okay, I guess,” Willow replied. “Just, uh, let me get my purse.”
“Thank you,” Buffy mouthed to her sister as Willow left to get her bag.
“You owe me a chat later,” Dawn whispered in response.
When Willow came back into the foyer, Dawn all but dragged her out of the house, and Buffy tried not to chuckle too loudly at her sister’s antics. However, as soon as the door shut, she sobered again, realizing now she’d have to have a serious talk with Isobel.
As much as Buffy did want answers to what was going on, she knew that once this conversation was over, things weren’t ever going to be the same for her again.
“The couch is in here,” she said lamely, pointing towards the living room. “Should I get drinks or something? Maybe sandwiches?”
“Buffy, unless Dawn and Willow are going to get milkshakes in Canada, we don’t have all night, so stalling isn’t going to get you anywhere.”
Isobel had a knowing smirk on her face, and Buffy started wondering just how good of a look she’d gotten at Buffy in her dreams. When she thought about how vivid and graphic the dreams she’d had about Isobel had been… Buffy blushed a deep red.
“Quick question, Isobel. In your dreams, did you see me, um…”
“Having wild and crazy sex with Spike?” Isobel replied with a teasing grin.
Buffy blushed darker. “Wow, those Powers sure are intrusive…”
“They can be,” Isobel said. “Come on, let’s sit. Discuss things.”
Buffy knew she couldn’t put this off. It was time for her to get her answers – whether she wanted them or not. She sat down on the couch, taking a deep breath and letting it out as Isobel joined her.
“Edmund resurrected me.”
The statement came so quickly, without any preamble, that Buffy wasn’t sure she’d heard it right. “Huh?”
“Edmund resurrected me,” Isobel repeated. “He sought out some demon in Africa after I died, one who was supposedly able to perform miracles to anyone who proved himself worthy. I’m still not sure exactly what Edmund had to endure in order to do that since he’s never been big on talking about it, but I know he did.” She paused and met Buffy in the eyes. “I was in Heaven. Like you were.”
Buffy gasped, her heart beating a bit faster at Isobel’s revelation. Was she truly not the only Slayer ever to be ripped from Heaven? And if she wasn’t, then what did that mean for her now? “Aren’t you angry at Edmund for that?” she asked softly.
“No,” Isobel answered simply, yet the word full of truth. “I never have been. I was in Heaven, that’s true, but how could anything truly be paradise without the person who makes me whole? I’d rather spend a day here on Earth in Edmund’s arms than an eternity in Heaven.”
“How can you really feel that way?” Buffy asked. “I mean, I know how much you love Edmund, and I get the whole romantic notion thing, but it was Heaven, Isobel. I remember what it was like.”
“Do you?” Isobel asked, her eyebrow raised.
“Well, yeah. It is nice. Peaceful. I felt…done.”
“No, you didn’t.”
Buffy frowned, not knowing why Isobel would argue this with her when she’d been there, too. “Yes, I did.”
“No, you didn’t. Buffy, if you’d truly been done, you wouldn’t be back here.” Isobel took a deep breath as she tried to decide how best to describe something she hadn’t really given much thought to in centuries – and to someone who could be as dense as Buffy chose to be at times. “When you travel through the planes, things can get jumbled, memories can get hazy. Sometimes things come back to you. Sometimes they don’t. And sometimes, well, you remember things the way you want to remember them.”
“What is that supposed to mean? Heaven’s really a suck-fest, and I’m just misremembering the whole paradise thing?”
Isobel chuckled. “No. Not at all. Heaven was lovely. And I know there’s a definite sense of loss when you leave, but… Well, it’s not the right place for everyone.”
Buffy looked down. “Because not everyone is good enough.”
“Wow. You really do have self-esteem issues, don’t you? We got into Heaven in the first place, Buffy – that alone says we’re ‘good enough.’ It’s not like you can slip past the Pearly Gates, then someone takes inventory and boots you out. Once you’re in, you’re in. But, well… God, how do I explain this to someone as hardheaded as you?”
“Hey!” Buffy exclaimed, looking up sharply.
Isobel held up her hands. “I call ‘em like I see ‘em.” She paused for a moment before folding her hands in her lap, her tone growing gentle again. “There are some people in this world who aren’t meant to be alone. There’s someone else out there that they’re simply meant to be with. And for those people, the passion, the love is so strong the Heavens themselves part for them.”
Isobel paused again and met Buffy firmly in the eyes, needing her to really listen for once. “For me, that other person is Edmund. For you, it’s Spike.”
“But Spike didn’t resurrect me. My friends did.”
Isobel fought the urge to scream. What exactly did it take to get through to this woman? A neon flashing sign? A five-act play?
“I know he didn’t, but he’s why the Powers allowed it to happen – or rather your love for him was.”
“But I don’t love Spike.”
“You can cut the bullshit with me, Buffy,” Isobel said sternly. “I’ve been inside that blonde head of yours, and I know exactly what you feel for Spike. You need to quit fighting it – and you need to stop fighting your memories from Heaven.”
“What memories from Heaven?”
“You really can’t remember, Buffy? You can’t remember how you used to watch him weep?”
“Watch him…”
Buffy’s words trailed off into a gasp as she opened her mind, let the memories come rushing back. She remembered now, remembered watching helplessly as Spike had sobbed over her broken, lifeless body.
Remembered watching him cry for her every night after that…
He had been broken and aching, and she’d yearned to hold him, to tell him it was all right, that he had never failed her.
From Heaven, she had wept with him…
Buffy now remembered the moment when she’d truly felt complete, whole.
Let me go back… Let me go back to him…
Without another word, Buffy jumped up from the couch and ran from the house.
A smile on her face, Isobel did nothing to stop her.