Delicious. Especially liked these:

"Looking back now, it looked exactly like a goodbye. ...She'd been too caught up at the time with what it wasn't to even notice what it was."

"Spike was different now, self-contained and confident and strong in a way he hadn't been since... well, since he'd first stepped into that alley behind the Bronze and threatened to kill her. And honestly? There was more than a little thrill in it for her to see him that way, almost as if they were resuming their dance where they'd originally left it off, so, so long ag."

Yep! That Spike was unsouled, unchipped - and the chip destroyed him; forced him to become A New Man (the real meaning of that episode --- not only Giles is a New Man - so is Spike becoming one.)

"It was ...Much better that he could stand on his own two feet without her."

Thereby demonstrating, once again, that Buffy was the man in the prior setting, and Spike was the woman. They're back - - on different turf, now, and the roles are again reversed.

loving this. (clearly)