My thanks go to everyone who ever sent feedback for this story, short or long. It was much appreciated and treasured. Feedback always keeps me going. Not getting any can be absolutely depressing, I can tell ya! Fortunately there was no depression here! So thanks again!

My special thanks go to Deb, who let me take her idea about Angel's curse. To Kate, who said I was evil, although I'm not (I swear!). To Sara-Lee and Nina, who sent feedback after every single part, Sara-Lee even kept my spirits up with her great poems. Thanks, sweetie!

And of course to all the great friends as the lists, at the Babbleboard, and at ffnet. Your are wonderful.

And last but not least to my mom, who doesn't even watch Buffy or Angel, but who bears with my obsession. You are the best mom on this planet. I love you.

Hope you all enjoyed the story. Here's the rest of it.

Love's Gift – Part 15

By Jill

"Okay, let's get this straight. So this Dario-guy had a soul, the same kind you have?" Xander leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, still trying to get used to the sight in front of him.

"Had," Buffy corrected instantly, snuggling deeper into Angel's embrace. "The same kind he had."

"Well, actually," the vampire gave her a smile, "it's the same soul all along. It's just …"

"… glued in and all," the Slayer completed his sentence, returning his smile.

"Hell," Xander exclaimed and rolled his eyes, "Are we damned to watch this all the time now?"

"Yes. Get used to it." Buffy stuck out her tongue at him, then kissed Angel soundly on his mouth.

The vampire chuckled, too relived to feel even a bit uncomfortable at this public display of affection. But as nice as it was to have Buffy sitting in his lap, it was also dangerous. Her constant, even if unconscious, wiggling was going to cause a big problem soon. Angel tightened his arm around the blond, and when she looked and smiled at him, he could see it in the wicked glimpse in her eyes that she was perfectly aware of the situation. Unfortunately with all their friends present there wasn't an awful lot he do against it short of completely embarrassing himself.

"So … uhm …," Willow coughed slightly, her face still flushed, still not able to look at the couple in the love-seat, "You knew this Dario-person well?" She turned to Jenny.

"Yes," the computer teacher confirmed. "We grew up together. He was … the best friend I had."

"It must be a relief to know he was good after all." The redhead gazed compassionately at the older woman.

"It is," Jenny said, "After what Angel told me," she blinked, again feeling tears well up in her eyes. She felt Giles take her hand in his, and gave him a tremulous smile. "I still can't believe how I misjudged him."

"Jenny, don't," the watcher's voice was gentle. "He didn't give you any indication to think differently."

"But I should have known," she insisted, "I knew him all my life. I should have known he wouldn't do it. He isn't like the rest of my clan."

"To know he did it for you," Willow said, a dreamy look in her eyes, "Wow. That's so romantic."

"He did it out of friendship and loyalty," Giles said. "He wanted to help Jenny because he believed her and trusted her. He was convinced his people were wrong. He didn't believe in vengeance."

"I'm really sorry he died," Angel's voice was grave. "I only met him once, but he had kind eyes, and he really loved you, Jenny. It was important to him that you knew."

"Yes, and I'm glad. I … I mean it's still hard, to know, to think he's gone. But … as strange as it sounds … it's also a good feeling to know that he didn't turn against me like the rest of them."

"I'm sorry I never met him," Giles squeezed Jenny's hand. "He must have been a very special person. To think that he wanted to help a vampire, he was taught to hate, because he trusted your judgement," he shook his head in amazement.

"But I still don't understand why he killed himself," Buffy frowned. "There was no reason. I mean, he had anchored Angel's soul. He could've stayed, and helped."

Giles let go of Jenny's hand, reached for the printed sheets lying beside him, "I can only guess," he said, "This print-out Jenny brought to me before you came, it says that there are several magicks used by gypsies that can suck the life-energy right from the person using it."

"You mean … you can die from using magick?," Willow asked, clearly shocked.

"Of course," the watcher nodded. "It depends on the person of course. And … well, there are things …,"he looked suddenly concerned, not certain what to reveal and what not.  Then he remembered something, "Think about Eygon. It certainly defines as dangerous magick. But there are things … none of us can imagine. So what I'm guessing is that completing this spell took all the energy he had. I'm not sure if a mere human would've been able to do a spell like that. Soul magick is potent. And dangerous. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that only the fact that he was a vampire gave him the strength to do it at all."

"You mean that he would have died anyway?," Xander asked.

"Yes," Jenny confirmed sadly. "And I'm sure he knew."

"Yes." Angel nodded, stroking Buffy's hair. "He knew."

"He did it for you, and because he believed in what he was doing." Giles smiled warmly at the computer teacher. "He really was your friend and a truly remarkable man."

"Well, this is all very nice and … I really don't want to be a spoilsport here. But does anyone know what happened with Spike and Drusilla?"

"We don't know," Buffy straightened on Angel's lap. "And honestly, I didn't really pay attention. After Angel was unconscious I didn't care what happened to them."

"So it's probably a safe bet to say they are still out there, somewhere." Xander reached for his coffee.

"Yeah," Angel nodded, "But I don't think they'll come back. Spike and I …," he looked at Buffy, "came to an understanding."

"You still didn't tell me why he was so eager to get rid of the soulless version," she said.

The vampire cleared his throat, and she giggled.

Xander rolled his eyes, but then chuckled.

Willow leaned against Oz's shoulder, sighing inwardly.

Jenny looked at Giles. He was smiling. She reached for his hand. Their eyes locked. And when the others left the apartment a while later, she didn't go with them.

Epilogue

Four weeks later.

"You think," Buffy said, looking at the moon and the stars, her hand entwined with Angels, "Spike and Dru will ever come back?"

A low growl came from her side, and she stifled a giggle, "They better not." She felt Angel's hand tighten around hers.

"He didn't kill you after all," she pointed out, " and anchored your soul in the process. You should be grateful."

"Sure," he chuckled, sarcasm in his voice, "and he did it for completely unselfish reasons."

"You know," her eyes were still directed at the sky, but her whole being was focussed on the man beside her, "you still haven't told me the real reason Spike hates you so much. I mean, yeah, you said all vampires think a soul is filthy, but … somehow … There has to be more."

He sighed loudly. After a moment, he pulled her close, his arms coming around her waist, his eyes locking with hers. "Let's just say, we had, on occasion, similar taste in women."

"Oh?," one of her brows came up. "Do tell."

He sighed again, quite obviously not comfortable with the subject. But there was no pain in his eyes, and so she pushed on. Poking a finger in his chest, she wrapped her other arm around his neck. "Well, tell me."

He grinned, "I'd rather kiss you. Your pouts are adorable."

She narrowed her eyes, not responding to his attempt to seduce her, "Don't try to evade the question, mister. Distracting me …," she sighed when his teeth nibbled at her earlobe, "… will get to everywhere."

Angel's laugh was low and seductive and she felt shivers run up and down her spine. "Angel," she breathed, his lips now travelling a path from her earlobe to her chin. She'd read in one of the women's magazines that some men could do magic with their lips. Well, Angel certainly was one of them. "God," she managed, her knees going weak. "You certainly know how to do this." But dammit, he was not going to distract her like this. Not again. Whenever she'd tried to approach the subject he'd managed to find a way out. Well, no more.

Taking a deep breath, she summoned all her remaining will – there wasn't really a lot left – and pushed her palms against his shoulders. Obviously surprised at the sudden change in her, he raised his head. "What?"

Her chin came up, daring him to try anything like that again, "Tell," she demanded.

He looked at her intently for a moment and he must have seen something in her eyes, because after a moment he straightened, but without loosening his embrace, "This isn't a comfortable subject for me, Buffy."

"Who would have guessed," she joked, but her eyes were serious. Realising there was more behind all this, she put a hand on his cheek, "Hey, I'm not going to condemn you, Angel. "

He laughed at that, but it was a nervous sound. "Well, you might," he said, his arms tightening around her waist. "Alright then." He took a deep breath, "You know I'm Dru's Sire, right?" When he saw her nod, he went on. "Angelus in general had a … more than healthy sexual appetite … and …"

"Oh …," she surprised him completely by grinning suddenly. "You mean you and Dru …," another laugh, "Oh, wow. You had a thing for loony-tunes Drusilla?"

He couldn't help but being slightly annoyed by her lax attitude towards a subject he'd thought would be painful for her. "I wouldn't really call it a 'thing', but yeah, Dru and I …"

She laughed again, but seeing him frown darkly at her, she raised on her tiptoes, planted a firm kiss on his lips, "Well, all I can say is, good you have your soul now. Because having a thing for Dru … honestly, it's pathetic."

He managed a weak smile, still hardly able to understand why she didn't mind the least. But maybe, other than he, she'd already understood the difference between ensouled and soulless version. "Pathetic, huh?"

"Yeah," she grinned, "You're way better off with me."

His responding grin was genuine, "I agree. With all my heart."

They kissed, then pulled away from each other, yet their hands were still entwined when they continued to walk. They were silent for a while, before she spoke again, "So … this similar taste in women, you and Spike had. Did it happen more than once?"

"Yeah," he shot her a sideways glance, not sure what she was up to.

"And you always won the girl?"

"Uh … most of the times I just took her."

"Uh-huh."

Another silence.

And then she finally started to laugh, so hard, she had to stop walking, her whole body shaking with it.

He stared at her, taken aback. "What?"

"I …," laugh, "just had a thought."

"And that was so funny?"

"Way funny," she confirmed. "I thought ….," more laughter, "what if Spike had a thing for me?"

Well, he didn't think that was funny at all. Because deep inside he already had had the same thought. The way Spike looked at Buffy, there was more than just casual interest in his eyes. "That's not funny," he growled.

"Oh," she tried to catch her breath, but couldn't stop laughing, "I think it's hilarious."

"No," he replied firmly, grabbing her shoulders. "It's not."

"But it is. It is," she insisted.

"Stop it, Buffy," he demanded, his jealousy getting the best of him.

"Man, that must drive him out of his mind, a soulless vampire having the hots for the Slayer of all people," she said, her forehead falling against his chest. "Poor Spike."

He looked down at her blond crown, and his lips twitched. "Well, if you put it that way. Still," his scowl was back in place, "I don't like the thought of it."

At that her head came up, her eyes suddenly dark with passion, "I like you all manly and jealous."

In response his eyes darkened as well. "Do you now?" His voice was low, rough.

"Hmmm," she made, licking her lips.

He felt himself harden in an instant. "Buffy," he hissed, looking around. "That's not really the place to-"

"Oh, stop it," she pouted, "You're such a bore."

"A bore, huh?"

"Uh-huh," she grinned, then shrieked when he grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder. "And behaving like a caveman is so out."

"You wanted it," he replied mercilessly.

"I did, didn't I," she giggled. In response he laughed.

*

The two vampires who'd been watching them for the last ten minutes, retreated behind a bush, looking at each other in confusion.

"That really was the Slayer?," the first said.

"Yeah. That's her," the other replied.

"And Angelus?"

"Yeah."

"Are you really telling me that's the girl who put Spike in a wheelchair?"

"Yeah."

A moan came from near by, accompanied by a male growl.

"What the hell's wrong with them."

"They're in love."

"Love?" The first vampire raised a brow, then shook his head, "Man, I think you're living here too long already. Love? Such a stupid-"

The words died on his lips when a stake suddenly pierced through his heart, and he and his companion turned into dust.

Buffy brushed off her shirt, sighed, "Why do they always have to disturb our privacy?"

"Why don't we call it a night," he suggested, searching the ground for his stake. "Doesn't seem as if a lot is going to happen tonight."

"Yeah," she agreed, taking his hand again, "Did I tell you that mom's in San Francisco until tomorrow night?"

"No. So what are we still doing here?"

"That's what I was asking you," she replied, giving him a devilish grin, letting go of his hand, starting to run towards his apartment. He easily caught up with her.

They barely made it to his bed.

*

In his apartment, Jenny snuggled deeper into Giles' embrace. The watcher smiled down at her, listened to her even breathing. He thought about his father who once had told him forgiveness was the greatest gift.

Giles closed his eyes. There was no doubt, his father had been a very wise man.

END

Hope you liked it. Thanks for reading. Give me feedback one last time! Tell me what you think of the whole story. [email protected]. Or write a review.