The Sitch: This is set a few years into the future, how everyone's life changes after Buffy's death. From Angel's POV.
I couldn't quite describe how I'd felt that day, holding her lifeless body in my arms. I'd been back from L.A. that day to help her fight an evil I had feared she might not win against alone. But it was too late..I hadn't been able to get there in time to save her from death. I felt the world slip through my fingers, exceeding my grasp, as she left me - and the world - behind. My name had been the last thing to grace her sweet lips..the last sound to ever be uttered from her lovely voice. Lifeless though she was, I held her to me through the tears..hoping that could make the pain go away and keep her here. My world had been shattered with the loss of my only love.
And although she'd moved on over the years I'd been gone, from what Willow has said she'd never once stopped loving me...and I her. Everyone - Giles, Willow, Xander, Oz, Cordelia, Joyce, her father(Hank) - was utterly devestated by the loss of the woman who had touched each of their lives in a very deep way. In time though, they learned to move on..as is part of life.
Giles' way of dealing was to spend time alone, going through those old, musty books of his. Willow had dealt by finding comfort from Oz, Xander, and everyone else, and then going right back into her studies. Xander mostly dealt with it alone - keeping it inside - trying to come to terms with what had happened after he found no one left to blame. He couldn't blame the demon responsible..for she'd managed to kill it before dying herself...her last battle. Oz hadn't know her quite as well as the others had, but he had known her as a kind, loving friend, and as a generally good-hearted person. He had been there to comfort Willow and help ease some of her pain. Cordelia had let her true emotions go, crying and mourning with the rest, before cutting off contact with them entirely. She'd had more of a heart than any one of them could ever know..one she was afraid to expose, for there was always the chance of getting hurt. Joyce had left Sunnydale soon after her daughter's death, moving up north to Carolina.
Sunnydale just held too many bad memories for her. Her father had mourned like the rest, but had never totally understood the cause of her death, for they'd managed to keep him in the dark about her slaying all these years. And me..well...I'm living. I never went back to L.A. after that, I couldn't. Sunnydale was where all of our memories were..and they're all I have left now.
But as time moved on, everyone of us did as well..even though we'll never forget the Slayer that had touched our lives. Giles moved back to Englad, where he now studies history and literature. He's among family and old friends now, and has even found love again. I hope he's finally found the peace that was robbed of him so long ago, with the death of his love and then his Slayer. Willow had went through college and had earned a degree in Teaching. From what I've heard she's now a professor at a high school in Michigan, and living with her fiance. Of course I mean Oz. Xander had moved to Toronto last I'd heard, and was studying to become a doctor. I'd never thought he - of all people - would have a knack for medicine..but hey, miracles do happen. I haven't heard from Cordy in quite a while, directly anyway. I saw her on TV the other day though, where she was being interviewed by a news station for her role in a new movie coming out. It was a big break for her, after many wasted auditions. Joyce had continued
on in the art business, starting a new art gallery in North Carolina. She was finally moving on after her only daughter was taken by a destiny she hadn't wanted. Hank apparently remarried, and was still living in L.A.
And me..I'm about to see the sunrise again for the first time in a very long while, and I'm kinda nervous about it actually. I'm standing outside, looking down over a small town that holds so many memories. I can see the sky growing lighter, and the sun begins to peer over the horizon, slowly spreading its light. It's the most beautiful sight I've seen in a while, as its rays chase away the darkness of the night. I close my eyes now as the light nears..and I soon feel it hit my face, bathing me in its warmth. I open my eyes to stare at the beauty that's been for so long absent in my dark world. Didn't I mention? Willow had come down for a visit just the other day. She was still avidly studying the black arts, and had found a ritual she had wanted to perform. She'd said it would give her a sense of peace, and closure..like she was righting a wrong. So yesterday night it had been performed..and she'd left right afterwards with total confidence that it had worked. She'd made me human again. The only condition
was that I promised not to waste my life, and I'd agreed. I will live as long as I may, no longer having to fear the loneliness that comes with immortality. I know I can live for I know it's not forever..and I believe that, someday, I will be reunited with my love. I'm not really sure what happens when you die, but I believe the soul - the part of you that makes you *you* - lives on even after death. Sometimes, even now, I think I feel her near..for I get that same feeling of hope, joy, love, and so much else that I used to get whenever we were near. Sometimes I could swear I hear her whisper my name, or hear her voice say 'I love you' on the wind. Maybe it sounds crazy, but it's not so crazy when it actually happens to you. And sometimes I can swear I feel her touch, and get that same feeling of aliveness she could always bring even when I wasn't. It's all these things - and something in me that just *knows* - that causes me to believe in someday. We *will* be together someday. How do I know? Because I feeli it in my heart, and in my soul..which are both the very essence of who I am. Someday, my love.