Oh, man. What an awesome thing to find in the inbox. *blushes* You're going to give me delusions of grandeur. :)

I am so glad that you like the way I book ended the piece with his memory loss.

I do feel for Ben, and I'm not sure I even realized that until I started writing this piece. I think I myself am much more like him than I am Buffy or Giles or even Spike. I don't know if I have it in me to be noble and heroic and self-sacrificing. Survival is a pretty strong motivator, you know. I'm really glad that came together for you here. :)