Fic: Three's The Charm - Epilogue

[mommanerd.livejournal.com]

And finally the end. I'm off to bed. Goodnight, everyone!

- Mommanerd



Epilogue

The grass was wet with dew, meaning that morning was close. She must have fallen asleep out here, waiting for Riley. She couldn't believe that she'd fallen asleep on the ground, in a graveyard of all places. It was creepy.

A movement to her left told her that she wasn't alone.

"Spike?" She walked over to nudge him with her foot. "Spike, wake up. What are you doing?"

"Wha...?"

She sighed and reached down to haul him back to his feet. "You fell asleep out here. So did I."

He was finally alert enough to take it in. "I don't remember," he said.

"Me either," she said.

"We were fighting," he said. "You had a stake."

"Yeah, that's the last thing I remember too." Her stake was gone now. She didn't see it anywhere. Something else was gone too.

"Almost sunup," he noted. "Better get moving."

"Uh, Spike," she called after him. He stopped and turned toward her, looking somehow different from before. "Where's your shirt?"

He looked down. "Dunno. Don't remember losing it."

He left, and Buffy looked around some more. No stake, no shirt, and no bracelet either. Dawn was going to be so mad.

***

Neither of us triumphed this time, Calypso. I shall best you with our next champions.

You'll need to choose wisely, Artemis. My lovers have been resourceful.

As have my warriors. They all keep falling in love. It makes me wonder if Aphrodite is interfering in our games again.

One of these millennia, you will finally come to the truth that love is a more powerful thing than war.

You dream, Calypso, as always. I'll leave you to those dreams now, until next time.

Yes, Artemis was right, dreams were powerful. With that in mind, Calypso waited a few weeks, and when no one was looking she made a visit to a certain crypt down on Earth, and bestowed the gift of a dream on her champion. He'd earned it, after all.

Fini

Comments

[jerusha]

Hee! Very clever. I salute you!

[mommanerd.livejournal.com]

Dang, girl. You read FAST!

Thank you so much for reading, and for commenting. This story took an incredible amount of thinking out. The typing was the easy part.

And, hey, I finally wrote a sex scene. Rather R rated, but still...

(And I'm not even blushing)

[kcarolj65.livejournal.com]

Wonderful!

[mommanerd.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much!

[ayinhara.livejournal.com]

Wonderful fun! Super clever ending.

[mommanerd.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I tend to psych myself out when I write these things, and I'm so afraid of making the story cliched. Clever is good.

:o)

[cindergal.livejournal.com]

Now that's just neat. :-)

[mommanerd.livejournal.com]

Thank you for all your support!

{{hugs}}

[confusedkayt.livejournal.com]

*scratches head* This one? Definitely some food for thought!

[mommanerd.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry if it was confusing. I'll work on that.

Thank you for reading it!

[ladycat713.livejournal.com]

Great story.Loved every bit of it. Ya gotta wonder if there'll be any latent memories that'll make Buffy break up with Cardboard. And what? Or did she take out that nasty chip. did Calypso give Spike

[mommanerd.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. When I read over the ending last night, I thought that it needed a bit of clarification, and I'll fix that.

The gift she gave his was the dream he had at the end of "Out Of My Mind". Just a tiny flash of memory that changed everything for him.

[basilio-the-cat.livejournal.com]

This one, too, has that half-empty feeling that rushing leaves. I heard you really were busy, so I'm guessing that's why it feels like this. I liked the idea you had, though :) It's just, that the writing suffered a bit towards the end...

[mommanerd.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry that the end was a let down for you. I was rushed to get this done a day early, but I always planned on having it done Saturday. Honestly, this is pretty much the story and pace that I'd had plotted out, but I'll definitely take a look at things that need more content.

Thanks for reading it and for letting me know.

[timeofchange.livejournal.com]

Lovely, and you made it cannon...clever you!

[mommanerd.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I wanted to play with the idea of what might have precipitated some of Spike's feelings that came out in Season 5, so this was a fun way to do it.

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

Yes, Artemis was right, dreams were powerful. With that in mind, Calypso waited a few weeks, and when no one was looking she made a visit to a certain crypt down on Earth, and bestowed a gift on her champion. He'd earned it, after all.
Hee! Yes, he certainly did. Very clever idea and great execution with some killer lines.

[mommanerd.livejournal.com]

Thank you Petzi! You're so good for my ego.

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

Very nice! I like the way you tied it back into canon!

[mommanerd.livejournal.com]

I really like when stories fold in with canon, and it's always a challenge to find a new place to inject some good old Spuffy lovin'.

Thanks for commenting. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[kathyh]

Really clever story. I liked the challenges and the way you managed to make it canonical. Lots of fun. Thanks.

[mommanerd.livejournal.com]

Oh, I like that icon -- it's perfect for the dream (Calypso's little "gift" to our fangy guy).

I'm glad it was fun. That was my goal.

[spikereader.livejournal.com]

Great fun, clever story. Really liked the dream ending tying into canon, and the early glimpse of Andrew.

[mommanerd.livejournal.com]

I wanted to get the story off to a fun start, and the idea of bringing in Andrew before he officially appeared on the show was irresistible.

I was also hoping to give some tie-in to the characters' later actions on the show. I'm glad you enjoyed the effort!

Thanks.

[treadingthedark.livejournal.com]

Very nice story! Unique. Thanks for writing.

[mommanerd.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'm so glad you found it unique. I was afraid there would be massive eye-rolling over this one. Happily, that doesn't seem to be the case.

[missus-grace.livejournal.com]

Now we just need for Buffy to remember...thanks for the story!

[mommanerd.livejournal.com]

That silly Buffy, she'd probably lapse into her nice, comfy denial, and then punch him in the nose.

Thank you for reading this story, and for being so supportive of it.

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

Great story with brisk pace, clever plotting and perfect characters voices. Thanks!

[mommanerd.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much!

::basking::

[sweet-ali.livejournal.com]

What a wonderfully clever tale. A real joy to read.

[mommanerd.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm so glad you had fun reading this.

[quietpoet.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed this! It was original and fun, and I liked the way it tied back into canon. Thanks for sharing it!

[mommanerd.livejournal.com]

Thank you! That's exactly what I ws going for.

[deretla-skoob.livejournal.com]

All four parts were excellent. Thanks for writing!

[mommanerd.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[brunettepet.livejournal.com]

The first chapter had me laughing out loud. Your Andrew voice was spot on, and so was Dawn's bored teen act. It's too bad that Spike and Buffy can't remember the circumstances of their charm bracelet trip, Dawn would have loved being part of something mystical. That last paragraph is a corker!

[mommanerd.livejournal.com]

Thanks! The Andrew and Dawn bit was a lot of fun to write, as I'm sure you could tell.

I'm glad you enjoyed this - thanks for commenting.

[morgantree.livejournal.com]

Really loved this fic! The writing was excellent, with so many great moments between Buffy and Spike... an inventive plot, and a lovely meta-story: being messed with by the Gods! Brava.

[mommanerd.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the wonderful comments - you've got me feeling all glowy!

:o)

[redcirce]

Very much enjoyed!

[mommanerd.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[tom-all-alones.livejournal.com]

Delicious. This is a fabulous story. I loved the different challenges and the charms was lovely. Wonderful stuff! (And great use of Greek myth and legend too :))

[mommanerd.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Way back when I was in sixth grade I developed a love for Greek mythology, and I thought it would be fun to incorporate some of that in the Buffyverse. Most of the September was spent thinking through how to pull off these challenges and make it all fit together, so I'm thrilled that you enjoyed it.

[megan-peta.livejournal.com]

Well done. Well thought out.

[mommanerd.livejournal.com]

Thank you for reading - and for your comments. It means a lot. There was a ton of thinking that went into this story -- I only wish I'd allotted myself more time to write it!