TITLE: Something sacred
AUTHOR: Prophecy
EMAIL: darlinggrrrl@hotmail.com
RATING: PG-13
SUMMARY: Buffy's back, much to Giles' delight. A tale of Buffy Summers & Rupert Giles
SPOILERS: Vaguely 'The Gift'.
FEEDBACK: Pretty please!!
DISCLAIMER: Not Mine. Joss's.
DEDICATION: To Rebecca, who asked me to write her some B/G!
NOTE: The song is "Kiss the Flame" by Jewel

...please love let's make no impartial vow
let all fall away
that's not crucial now...

Almost the second she steps out of the portal, his arms are around her, crushing her slender frame against him. Rapidly his glasses are fogging up with the warm tears that run freely down his face and into her golden hair. She is battered, and bruised. Her clothes are ripped and bloody.

She's never looked more beautiful to him. Ever.

"Buffy!" The rich, velvety baritone is so choked with emotion that Giles' accent is almost indistinct. "A-and you came back to me, love... You came back..."

She breaks away just enough to pull back and take his glasses from him - wanting to see his eyes. Wanting to know if what she thought she heard in his voice was there in his eyes, in his soul.

"I did," the Slayer nods once, a smile curling her lips with infinite tenderness.

His hand - the one with the onyx pinkie-ring - comes up to gently cup her face, and he looks at her with such love. Such worship. Like God took everything that Rupert Giles would ever consider precious and sacred in the whole universe and shaped it into one creature. Into her.

...i want a brave love,
one that makes me weak in the knees
i want a crazy, crazy love
one that makes me come undone at the seams...

Buffy's breath catches in her throat. No one has ever looked at her like that before. Not with such unreserved adoration - such unconditional love. The last words they'd spoken before this were world-weary. Two warriors tired of the uphill struggle. Two old comrades that may end up on opposite sides of a fight.

She wonders why she never saw this in him before. Why she'd been so eager to accept the "father's love" label that Quentin had stuck on their relationship. Why she'd never considered her partner in the Dark to be her equal and her other half in the Dark, in the Light and in the myriad of grey in between.

...cause i'm tired of all these pilgrims,
these puritans, these thieves
of all these unbelievers
who whittle love down at the knees....

"Oh, Buffy... I thought - I-I was convinced that... that I would _never_ see you again." In the early years of their relationship, she'd been convinced that her steadfast, noble Watcher was the personification of stuffy, English restrait and control. Tears prickle in her eyes at the raw emotion in his voice and in the shaking hand on her face.

He draws her into his embrace again - breathing her in so deeply, placing a kiss on the top of her head and trying to muffle the sob that wracks his whole body. "God... I-I... P-part of me just - j-just shut down, Buffy, when I thought you were... When I lost you." Another sob and a muttered curse.

Buffy turns her head a little to rest her cheek against his chest, letting his chin rest atop her head. "You're not that lucky, Giles... I'm not through with you, yet."

The warmth and humour in her voice almost makes his heart skip a beat. He'd been so afraid - so convinced - that he would never, ever feel that again. The crushing weight on his chest that he'd gotten used to since seeing what he'd thought was the body of his Slayer is gone. He feels at least 30 years younger - and has the insane urge to yell, and dance and never, ever let her go again.

...let these swift roads destroy themselves
let the world fall into its sleep
for we shall be spared
we shall be left standing
to face what's left of concrete and honey...

"B-Buffy, *love*..." Longing... relief. Tenderness. A tear runs down her cheek - how had she not seen this exquisite man? How damn stupid had she been? "I-I... I have to tell you something. I can't let you go again... a-and risk never telling you how much I-"

Her fingers gently rest on his full lips. So gentle, warm and soft. She wonders for the first time how they'd feel on her own. Wonders how he'd taste. How he'd kiss her.

"I know," her voice is gentle. Soft. So warm. "Me too. I-I think -deep down- I always did. And I never knew..." Giles started, and pulled her back a little to look at her, incredulous. Buffy stuck her hand in her pocket and held up his glasses. "Maybe I'm the one who really needs these."

Blinking, slowly... mind grasping for understanding, he gazes at her like a slow-witted child. She couldn't -wouldn't- reciprocate. Perhaps she didn't realise what he meant... she couldn't guess. Not in a million years. He'd hidden how he had come to feel about her for years. Still... she was looking at him as if she'd never truly seen him before. His Slayer had a look on her face he'd never seen before.

She looked... touched. And more than a little apprehensive? Why on Earth would Buffy be nervous with him...?

Her mouth curls in a slight smirk. "You think too much, Rupert..."

His mind didn't have time to latch onto her odd use of his first name because her arms were back around his neck again and her lips -_BUFFY'S LIPS_- brush his own. His arms encircle her waist of their own accord, and he pinches himself hard on wrist. So utterly afraid that this was just another vivid dream. And that he would wake up alone again.

...kiss the flame
let's run with the hunted, the untamed
kiss the flame
embrace the faceless, the unnamed
kiss the flame...

That first, incredible kiss exploads with the love she'd never truly been aware they'd been kindling for five years. With a heat and power that sends a tingle of pure electricity through her veins and shocks them both.

Slowly parting, they regard each other openly, neither speaking but both understanding every word that is never said. Every word that doesn't need to be said.

Which of the two reaches for the other's hand first is unclear. And unimportant. There are broken bones in her small hand, and his grip is gentle to compensate. The uneven feel makes her seem more real to him and he raises her hand to his lips to place a kiss on her palm.

...there are nightmares on the sidewalks
there are jokes on tv
there are people selling thoughtlessness
with such casualty...

The sun is rising, spreading a golden warmth over the earth. The darkness slowly retreats from the path of Watcher and Slayer as they walk -hand in hand- from the outskirts back towards town.

Vampire and demon danced and reigned since she died. But now she's back. And nothing will ever be the same.

...but wherefore art thou, romeo
where have all the brave men gone?
show me one man who knows his own heart
to him i shall belong...

The silent journey ends at the door of the Magic Shop. Their sacred space - a substitute for the Library that witnessed the birth of the team and three years of tears and laughter. This place has seen entirely too much grief, Giles muses, a wicked grin playing upon his lips.

"Penny for your thoughts, Watcher Mine?" Buffy's eyes sparkle in answer to his smirk. He needs to smile more often...

"Just a penny?" With a chuckle, Giles sweeps Buffy into his arms and carrys her, laughing, over the threshold.

He spins her around and around, his laughter mingling with hers, creating a pure, brilliant sound. When Buffy tilted her head back to let her hair catch the breeze from the spinning, he kissed her throat, feeling the bubbling up of happiness. They're both giddy, dizzied from the spinning and the newly realised emotions. She's perfect... It's been too long since he'd heard her laugh. Far too long.

Dancing, laughing, kissing and finally making love with a reckless, happy abandon - they baptise the site of too much despair with sunlight and joy at long last.

... kiss the flame
let's run with the hunted, the untamed
kiss the flame
embrace the faceless, the unnamed
kiss the flame ...

Time for a new beginning. Another chance to fight their timeless battle. And, at long last, both have a reason to do so. Neither of them say 'forever'. There are no whispers of 'eternal love' from either. This is a new love - one for today. One based in every moment, each heartbeat.

A love to rediscover with each tomorrow.

... please love let's make no impartial vow ...

END