Disclaimers;
It's Joss Whedon's world, I'm just playing with it.
If we all play nice together and put the toys back where we found them,
everything will be lovely.
This story's rated between a PG and PG-13. No
explicit sex, some sensuality, some language, normal levels of slayer-ish
violence. Nasties attack, Slayers slay, wackiness ensues. And if the thought of
two women(Buffy and Willow in this case) being in love with each other wigs you
out, then what are you doing on this web-site anyway?
Classification; Action/Romance
Archives; Let me know, and I'm liable to say yes.
Feedback; give me a happy, and e-mail me at Jim_D_Means@prodigy.net
Synopsis;
One year into the future, the Hellmouth is wide open and the vampires
have taken
over the Earth.
A maimed Buffy travels back through time to stop the unholy bargain
which
was responsible for her world's destruction, and
help her younger self face the truth about her
feelings for Willow.
The Dying of The Light
Written by Kirayoshi
Chapter
7
Class
Protector
"Elizabeth
Anne Summers," Belial, the demon who wore the shape of former high school
principal Roland Snyder hissed through gleaming teeth as he tossed Buffy’s body
around like a rag doll, "you don’t know how much pleasure I’m deriving
from this moment!" Buffy managed
to roll as she landed to minimize any injury, but the force of the impact with
the ground still knocked some of the wind out of her. "I thought that merely expelling you was the height of bliss
for me, but actually killing you, oh, that’s the ultimate rush!"
Xander
threw himself at the demon Belial, desperately trying to stop his assault on
Buffy, only to be shrugged off like a spit wad. "Pathetic as always, Xander," Belial responded to the
attack. "Don’t be impatient, I’ll
get around to killing you soon enough!"
As
Xander fell back, Spike took his turn.
Sword in hand, he approached the demon almost casually, saying in a
conversational voice, "’Ere now, gov, that’s no way to act. If you’re gonna take over this mudball,
you’re going to have to get along with the local-UNGHH!"
"You
shame your kind, whelp," Belial hissed, as he cracked Spike’s skull with
one blow, knocking the vampire unconscious.
"Hanging around with the cattle!
That’s all they are, do you hear?
Cattle!" He returned his
attention to Buffy, who had managed to stand up and dodge his next blow. She was getting stronger, in part the result
of the anti-toxin Willow had given her and in part the result of her confession
of love for her. But Belial was a tough
one, maybe even stronger than what Mayor Wilkins became after his
Ascension. She didn’t know if she could
hold out long against him.
"I
remember conferencing with your mother, when I tried to enforce your
expulsion," the demon continued, "and her pitiful efforts to have you
reinstated. She asked me how I could be
so caviler about your future."
Buffy tried to duck his outstretched arm, but he proved too fast for
her. He grabbed her by the hair,
pulling her face up toward his.
"Your future! Don’t you
see? My sole purpose in being on your
miserable dirtball of a planet is to insure that you and your entire species
didn’t have a future! That fool Wilkins
thought that he could eliminate me, but I showed him! This world is mine!
MINE!" He laughed
gleefully, assured that no one could stop his conquest.
As
she struggled to release herself from Belial’s grip, Buffy was peripherally
aware of Giles firing several bolts from his crossbow with point-blank
accuracy, only to watch them bounce off the monster’s hide. She noticed Willow about to fire another
crossbow at Belial, only to watch as the fiend raised his left fist and landed
it on Willow with the force of a club.
Buffy
screamed as she watched her newly discovered love fall, and managed to twist
her body upwards to connect a high scissor kick to Belial’s jaw. The demon was sent reeling, briefly
loosening his grip on Buffy’s hair, but with enough time for Buffy to gain her
freedom. She immediately ran to Willow’s
side, calling out to her; "C’mon, Willow, don’t die on me, not
now!" Instinctively she checked
for a pulse and breathing and was relieved to find both. "Will?
Are you okay? How you
feeling?"
Willow choked and wheezed as she tried to regain her composure. She looked at Buffy and said, gasping, "I--feel as though--a very large
demon--used me for a punching bag.
Other than that, not too many complaints. I think that the last of my herbal spell cushioned the blow, but
my shields are down. I don’t think I
can take another blow like that."
"Don’t
try, love," Buffy murmured as she took her Willow into her arms. "I’m not going to lose you now that I
found you." She kissed her on the
forehead, and turned toward the battlefield.
Belial had been suddenly occupied by the forces of the Initiative, who
had concentrated their firepower on the demon.
Electro-rifles and other energy discharging weapons fired heavily at
Belial, but if they had any effect on him, he didn’t show it.
"Pour
it on, men!" Riley shouted.
"Everything you got! Fry
that bastard!" Bolts of
electricity, gouts of flame, beams of concentrated photons, all converged on
their target. With each passing second,
the demon Belial slowly shed his human guise, resembling his true form, or as
close to his true nature as mere mortals can fathom. Willow thought he resembled the demon from the "Night On
Bald Mountain" sequence from Disney’s "Fantasia". Buffy recalled the Tim Curry character from
"Legend", while Xander saw it as an anime monster.
As
the fiend transformed, however, he laughed.
His unearthly laughter rolled across the battlefield like the thunder of
doom. "You can’t stop me," he
shouted, mocking the soldiers.
"I’m eternal! I am the
author of all misery! I will foul this
planet with my seed! I will sear the
mountains, I will boil the oceans, I will..."
"YOU
WILL SHUT YOUR STINKING PIE-HOLE!"
A swift flying kick to the jaw caught Belial off guard, as Alt-Buffy
pressed her attack against the demon.
The monster who destroyed her world wasn’t going to get his chance, not
if she had anything to say about it.
She kicked, gouged, bit, clawed, attacked with feral savagery. "I’ve spent the last years of my life
fighting scum like you!" Foot to the ribs. "You think you’re so damn hot?" Fist to the jaw. "You’re just another demon with
delusions of grandeur!" Heel to the groin. "And I’m just the girl to send you back to Hell!" She delivered another scissor kick, directly
to his hideous head.
Belial
grabbed her ankle in mid-flight, and her inertia tossed her flat on her
back. "Fool," he grinned at
Buffy. "A hundred Slayers cannot
stop me now. Get the message yet,
Summers? Invincible. Look it up." He stamped his cloven hoof down hard on Alt-Buffy’s torso,
severing her spine. "I’d like to
stay and chat, Summers, but I have a world to destroy. Sorry, I’m swamped." He turned away from the fallen slayer, and
rose his muscular arms, the contract clutched tightly in his right hand. With his gesture, a maw opened in mid-air. The flaw in space widened further, casting a
baleful light over the field. The two Buffies,
Giles, Xander, Anya and Willow all knew what the maw was; the Hellmouth was
opening, at Belial’s command. And soon,
all that was foul would rush forth onto the world.
Riley
rushed to the fallen Buffy, joined by her younger counterpart. "My god," he murmured as he looked
at the wounded slayer’s face, and then back at younger Buffy. "How...how..."
"I’ll
tell you later," Buffy answered as she tended to Alt-Buffy’s slashed
face. "Assuming one, that there is
a later, and two, that we’re still on speaking terms, considering that I’ve
just dumped you for Willow."
"I’m
still your friend, if you’ll have me," Riley answered, as he examined
Alt-Buffy. "Oh, God, Belial did a
number on you," he said to the older Buffy, as he took in her injuries. "I’m afraid you’re looking at permanent
paralysis, friend. I’m sorry."
"Hey,"
Alt-Buffy half-smiled at Riley. "Right now, that’s the least of my
problems. How do we stop Belial?"
"It’s
the contract," Giles, who had emerged from his cover behind the bleachers and
gathered around the two Slayers.
"That’s the key; ‘As long as the contract is in my hand’, that’s
what Belial said! The contract is the
conduit by which he’s opening the Hellmouth!"
"So
we destroy the contract, and then--" Buffy started, looking at Alt-Buffy.
Alt-Buffy
took the young slayer’s hand in her own, and coughing, said, "Do it."
Buffy
nodded at her other self, then said, cold determination in her voice; "Giles, take care of her, keep her as
comfortable as you can. Riley? Do you have a spare flame-thrower?"
-------------------------------------------------------
"Be
patient, my brethren," Belial cried out to whatever unholy beings lurked
on the other side of the opening Hellmouth, "our time of waiting is nigh
at an end! Soon the world that once was
ours will be ours again!" So
absorbed with what he was doing was he that he didn’t notice four lone figures
planning against him. Suddenly, a blast
from a flame-thrower seared the demon’s back.
He shrieked in brief pain and turned to the direction of the blast. "Summers?"
"Hey,
Your Ugliness!" Buffy taunted the monster, waving her flame-thrower around
like a sword, and shouting trash.
"I’m the one you want, right?
You want a piece of me? Here I
am, Snydely Whiplash! C’mon,
Creepo! Isn’t this what you
wanted? You and me, the big
throwdown?"
"You’re
that impatient to die?" Belial howled.
"I shall rend your flesh, I will use your skin for a drumhead, your
bones as my mallets as I shout my victory march!"
"Yeah,
yeah, I’m so shaking, your Skankyness!" She beckoned with her
hands. "C’mon! You talk the talk, can you walk the
walk? Hit me with your best shot!"
"You
will suffer as none before you," Belial promised. He advanced toward Buffy, not noticing Riley
sneaking around behind him. Suddenly,
Riley made his move; he grabbed Belial’s right wrist, and with
adrenaline-fueled strength, managed to loosen his grip on the contract and
snatch it from his hand.
Suddenly
aware that he had lost the contract, Belial turned his concentration from Buffy
toward Riley, who was running from him fast and furious. "Give me the contract, you
fool!" he bellowed in rage,
lunging at Riley, grabbing his legs.
As
he fell, he held out the contract, calling out, "Xander! Catch!" Xander immediately grabbed the contract from Riley, and ran off
in a zigzag pattern.
"Harris
receives from Finn and is charging down the field," he shouted as he
crumpled the contract into a ball, "looking for a long bomb!"
"Xander!" Willow shouted, waving her arms
frantically. "I’m open!"
"Harris
throws a bullet to Rosenburg!" he shouted as he tossed the crumpled
contract to Willow.
Willow
ran toward Buffy, crying out, "Rosenburg takes it to the offensive glass
and slams it in for two points!"
As
she took the contract from Willow, Buffy said, "That’s basketball! Xander was going for football
metaphors!"
"So
I don’t know sports!" Willow shouted.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Oh,
I’ll think of something later tonight!"
Buffy promised, her smile turning into a leer. She strode toward Belial, who was still wrestling with Riley. "Yo, Snyder!" she called out,
displaying the contract, which she had un-crumpled for display purposes. "Looking for this?"
Belial
turned toward Buffy, letting go of Riley.
Riley fell to the ground in an inglorious heap. "Give me that contract, girl!"
Belial screamed as he stalked toward Buffy.
Buffy
simply stood her ground, directly opposite of the wound in the sky behind
Belial. She held the contract in one
hand, the flame-thrower in the other.
"Snyder!"
she called out, grinning from ear to ear, then waited a beat. "You’re expelled!"
She
tossed the contract into the air, and as it started to drift lazily to the
ground, she pointed the flame-thrower at the parchment and fired. The document was ash before it hit the
ground.
Belial
screamed in agony, as the aperture to Hell started to contract. A violent gust of some unholy wind blasted
the battlefield, and Buffy and the others braced themselves for the blast. Belial however was pulled toward the vortex
by the unearthly gusts. Frantically he
clawed the ground with his hands, desperate to fight the pull, but the vortex
would not be denied its catch. Within
seconds, Belial lost his grip on the sod and was thrown, spiraling, tumbling,
into the portal, which suddenly snapped shut behind him, like the iris aperture
on a camera.
The
wind and the lightshow ceased. A
profound silence remained, as all those assembled processed what they saw. The calm after the storm was then shattered
by the riotous cheering of the Initiative troops. Buffy and Willow led the rest of the Scooby Gang to where
Alt-Buffy was lying. Giles, who had
been looking after the brave young woman, turned toward Buffy and said to her,
"It doesn’t look good, I’m afraid.
Too many internal injuries."
"Hey,
Buff?" the injured Slayer coughed, trying to smile. "You--did it--"
"We
did it," Buffy smiled back, holding her hand firmly. "You gave us the time to come up with
the plan. You saved us all."
"Yeah,"
she groaned, smiling through her agony.
"But there’s still(ugh)--still one thing--I have to do. Behind the bleachers--" Buffy nodded, and ran to where she
indicated. She fetched the tattered old
duffel bag, and returned quickly to the fallen Slayer.
Willow
had cradled Alt-Buffy’s head as she had done with her Buffy not long before, as
Giles was trying to steady her, saying, "Please, Buffy, try to hold still,
or it will only hurt more..."
"No,
Giles," she stopped him. "You
don’t understand. I need the staff--to
finish--the spell--I’m not supposed to exist anymore--"
"No, Buffy!" Willow wailed.
"You can’t die, not now!"
"But
it’s not--not death, Wills," Alt-Buffy answered her dearest friend,
lifting her hand with great effort to stroke her cheek. "The Buffy you love--is right
here. She’s not going
anywhere." Alt-Buffy took Willow’s
hand, and placed it in Buffy’s, who reached around Willow with her other arm,
holding her closely. "Please. Promise me--that you’ll love each
other."
"We
will," they said in unison, and looked at each other as the words were
spoken. For all intents and purposes,
they realized, they had made a lifetime commitment of love and trust, as
binding as a wedding vow. A commitment
they both knew they would honor for the rest of their lives together.
No
more words were said, as Buffy handed her time-lost other self the Staff of
Hermes. The brass rod glistened in the
dim streetlights around them, and then seemed to come alive in Alt-Buffy’s
hand, with an incandescence of its own.
Alt-Buffy
held the staff aloft, closed her eyes one last time, and said in as clear a
voice as she could muster, "Mutatis Mutandis." Her arm gave out its last iota of strength,
as she slumped in Willow’s arms. Her
body then seemed to shimmer, to ripple, to fade, until only the memory of those
whom she had met remained to testify that she existed.
Willow
wept openly now, her face buried in Buffy’s shoulder, as Buffy stroked her
lover’s red hair and whispered assurances to her. Her unconditional love for Willow kept the girl from crashing,
from falling into the abyss. Watching
the time traveler simply accept her fate and fade from reality was closer to
seeing Buffy Summers die than she ever wanted to get.
Xander
coughed an ‘ahem’ to get their attention.
"I hate to break this little lover’s moment up, girls," he
said quietly, "which, incidentally, I’m entirely cool with, in case you
were wondering," Anya nodded in silent agreement with her boyfriend. "But what happened to Spike?"
They
turned around, and Buffy nodded, "He’s headed out, toward Wetherly
Park. Let him go, Xander. He’s still got that chip. He won’t be putting the bite on anyone
tonight." Her lame pun got a smile
out of Willow, a smile which melted Buffy’s heart like ice-cream on a hot day.
"Giles,"
she turned to her mentor and asked, "Just what did Alt-me say just
before--" she couldn’t finish.
"
‘Mutatis Mutandis’," Giles explained somberly. "Old Greek. Meaning,
‘The necessary changes have been made’."
The others nodded
Riley
Finn watched these events unfold, realizing two things; First, that there were
truly some events that modern science could not begin to explain; and Second,
that Buffy Summers and Willow Rosenburg were as much in love as any two people
that he had ever known. And whatever he
had hoped for in his relationship with Buffy, he had neither the right nor the
desire to interfere. Buffy looked at
Riley as he started to walk away, taking his men away from the field, and felt
sympathy for him. She offered a silent
prayer to any god in the vicinity, that Riley would find someone who could make
him as happy as Willow Rosenburg made her.
Another
thought took hold of Buffy at that point.
"I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m hungry enough to eat a
sled dog team!"
"Omigod,"
Willow exclaimed, "the antitoxin.
Giles said that it would cause you to become hungry!" She turned to the Watcher with a sinister
grin, adding, "He also said something about springing for a
post-world-savage pizza party."
"I
did, didn’t I?" Giles laughed at the young wiccan. "I’d be delighted." Giles’ announcement was greeted with cheers
from all concerned. "So long as
nobody orders anchovies!" he amended.
-------------------------------------------------------
The
pizza party was the social event of the season, Scooby-Gang-wise. A karaoke system was available at the
pizzeria, and the gang were pleased to monopolize its use. Anya started things rolling, with a rousing
chorus of the DiVinyl’s "I Touch Myself", amid catcalls from several
other tables.
Xander
requested Don McLean’s "American Pie" but true to form, sang the
"Weird Al" Yankovic lyrics.
Buffy, Willow and Anya gleefully sang along with the second chorus;
"My,
my, this here Anakin guy
May
be Vader someday later, now he’s just a small fry,
And
he left his home, kissed his mommy goodbye,
Saying,
Soon I’m gonna be a Jedi,
Soon
I’m gonna be a Jedi!"
Even
the normally reserved Giles got into the act, belting out a surprisingly decent
version of David Bowie’s "Heroes", followed by "Take Me To The
Pilot" by Elton John. On the
second track, Buffy and Willow got on stage with Giles, dancing close together
and singing backup vocals. Willow then
took the stage, saying, "Okay guys, this is a John Hiatt song. Jewel sang it in the soundtrack for
‘Phenomenon’, that John Travolta thing.
Here we go. This one’s for you,
Buffy." Buffy smiled beatifically
at the mention. The music started,
Willow waited for her cue, and sang;
"When
the road gets dark,
You
can no longer see,
Let
my love throw out a spark, baby,
Have
A Little Faith In Me.
When
the tears you cry,
You
can no longer believe,
Give
these loving arms a try,
Have
A Little Faith In Me.
Have
A Little Faith In Me,
Have
A Little Faith In Me.
Have
A Little Faith In Me,
Have
A Little Faith In Me.
When
your secret heart
Cannot
speak so easily,
Come
here darling, whisper a start,
Have
A Little Faith In Me.
When
your back’s against the wall,
Turn
around, you will see,
I
will catch your when you fall,
Have
A Little Faith In Me.
Have
A Little Faith In Me,
Have
A Little Faith In Me.
Have
A Little Faith In Me,
Have
A Little Faith In Me.
I’ve
been loving you for such a long time, darling,
I
expect nothing in the world but for you to have a little faith in me.
You
see time is our friend, for you and me there is no end,
All
you gotta do is Have A Little Faith In Me!"
She
sang with full throat and diaphragm, and from the heart. Any doubt that Buffy had concerning the
emotions they shared was eliminated by her heartfelt display. At the close of the song, Willow bowed
deeply, smiling broadly. Buffy met her
at the stage, and hugged her close, kissing her cheek. "I love you, Wills," she whispered
into her ear.
"I
love you back, Buffy," Willow answered.
"Y’know,"
Xander quipped, his mouth full of Canadian bacon and pineapple pizza, "It
seems to me that we’ve heard from everyone at this party, except a certain
Vampire Slayer we all know and love," he leered at Willow, "some more
than others." Willow threw a straw
at Xander, as Anya chuckled.
"Yeah,
Buffy, let’s see you humiliate yourself in this cultural display of
vanity," Anya purred.
"Oh
no," Buffy protested. "You
don’t want to hear me sing, really." But her protests were drowned out by
Xander and Anya chanting, "Buffy, Buffy, Buffy!" She turned to Giles for support, but he
merely shrugged, "I’m sorry Buffy, but you’re on your own."
"Please,
Buffy?" Willow entreated, giving a
deadly combination of her Resolve face and Big Puppy Dog Eyes face. Buffy looked at her amazed.
"You
play dirty, you know that, don’t you?"
"Wait
until I get you alone, Slayer," Willow grinned, winking. Anya whooped with glee at Willow’s efforts
at seduction.
Buffy
threw her hands up, saying, "Okay, okay, before this conversation gets
aired on late night Cinemax, I’ll do it!"
The Scoobs applauded as Buffy looked at the playlist. Selecting a song she thought appropriate,
she took the stage, announcing, "This one’s for you, Willow. A little Natalie Merchant. You have been warned." The song started, and Buffy sang out a
surprisingly clear string of ‘la-la-las’ leading up to the song;
"You’ve
been so Kind and Generous,
I
don’t know how you keep on giving,
For
your kindness,
I’m
in debt to you.
For
your selflessness, my admiration,
For
everything you’ve done, you know I’m bound,
I’m
bound to thank you for it,
La-la-la,
la la la la, la-la-la, la-la-la, la la la la---
You’ve
been so Kind and Generous,
I
don’t know how you keep on giving,
For
your kindness,
I’m
in debt to you.
And
I never could have gone this far without you,
For
everything you’ve done, you know I’m bound,
I’m
bound to thank you for it!
La-la-la,
la la la la, la-la-la, la-la-la, la la la la---
I
want to thank you for the many gifts you gave,
For
the love and tenderness, I want to thank you.
I
want to thank you for your generosity,
For
the love and the honesty that you gave me.
I
want to thank you, show my gratitude,
My
love and my respect for you, I want to thank you,
I
want to thank you, thank you,
Thank
you, thank you,
Thank
you, thank you,
Thank
you, thank you..."
The
song ended, friends cheered, and the party went on for several hours
after. When the party wound down, the
two girls went back to their dorm to finish packing for winter break, a task
they started just that afternoon, a lifetime ago.
Buffy
took Willow in her arms again, and kissed her soundly. Willow reciprocated, and their mouths and
tongues sought to taste, to feel each other.
Breaking away reluctantly from the kiss, Buffy smiled to the love of her
life, saying, "You know, I never quite felt like this before."
"I’ll bet you say that to all the girls," Willow said, trying to
sound sultry. Buffy had to admit she
was getting close.
"No,
Wills, really," she tried to explain her thoughts, despite the distraction
of Willow’s blowing on her ear.
"It’s like I finally know what my life is all about. Sure, I’m the Slayer, the one girl who can
stand against the vampires, the demons, yadda yadda, but now there something
more. Being here with you, holding,
touching, kissing..." she couldn’t resist taking another sip from Willow’s
lips before continuing, "it’s like I’m renewed. Like this is what it’s all about. The reason I keep fighting the nasties. Why I keep saving the world.
Because you’re a part of that world.
You’re my world, Willow. I don’t
know how to explain it any better than that."
"I
understand, Buffy," Willow answered, moved by Buffy’s confession. "It’s like Oz, Xander, anyone I thought
I was in love with before, that was all just a rehearsal for loving you. I do love you so much, Buffy." She kissed her again, and this time, the
kiss grew in tempo and in heat.
Willow’s hands felt around Buffy’s back, reaching under her tee-shirt,
slowly tugging at it. Buffy backed away
just enough for Willow to slip the shirt off, revealing a black sports
bra. Buffy started to unbutton Willow’s
shirt, and within two minutes, their passion began in earnest.
For
the rest of the night, two lovers explored each other’s bodies, memorizing
every curve, every nuance, every sensation they could elicit from each
other. After their initial frantic
lovemaking, and the first fiery orgasms, they still cuddled, still touched,
still groped, until the erotic cycle started again, and again for hours.
They
were fully aware that the world would crash in on them later on, and there
would be challenges to face in the cold light of day. There was still the Initiative to deal
with. Despite their assistance in the
final battle with Belial, Buffy still didn’t know what to make of them. There was the problem of how others on
campus would take their newly defined relationship, once it became public
knowledge("And it will" teased Buffy, "because you’re such a
screamer!"). And there was the
constant parade of demons, vampires and assorted monsters to deal with on a
nightly basis.
But
for this one night, none of that mattered.
There were only two young women, who had been burnt by first loves
before, only to find in each other the love that they had been searching for
all along.
And
for one beautiful night, there wasn’t a thing wrong in Sunnydale, California.
Epilogue;
An Angel’s Blessing.
Los
Angeles, New Year’s Eve, 1999;
"Hey,
Boss," Cordelia Chase greeted the youthful looking man who walked into the
office that night. "How’s
life--uh, so to speak."
"Fine,
Cordy," Angel answered. "Any
plans for tonight?"
"Oh, not really," Cordelia answered.
"Just me and a bottle of cheap champagne, waiting for the computer
to crash. Oh, speaking of which, I got
an e-mail from Willow."
"Hey,
that’s good," Angel perked up.
"How’s our favorite hacker?"
"Still hacking," Cordy started.
"Uh, you may want to sit down for this," she added nervously.
"What’s
the what, Cordy?"
"Well,"
she started, "Willow’s found someone new."
"That’s
all?" Angel asked, puzzled.
"I knew about her and Oz splitting, but if she’s found someone
else, isn’t that good news?"
"Uh, it’s who that someone else is that’s problematic," Cordy
started.
Angel
looked directly into her eyes, and asked, "Is it Buffy?"
Cordelia
sat slack-jawed at the vampire’s observation.
"How-how did--"
"Hey,
I’ve been around for more than a few years," Angel smiled. "A couple hundred years of
people-watching, you pick up a few things.
Buffy and Willow have always had this connection, I’ve been aware of it
from day one. That’s why Angelus kept
threatening Willow when he was out to get back at Buffy. He knew that Buffy would die before letting
anything happen to Willow."
"And
this doesn’t bother you?" Cordelia asked.
"Not
at all," Angel replied. "I
knew that Buffy and I had no future, that’s why I left, to give her the chance
to find someone who could give her what I couldn’t. If she has, I’m happy for her." Grabbing his duster jacket, he announced, "Come on, Cordy, I
am taking you dancing. We’ll celebrate
Buffy and Willow’s happiness, and ring in the new year right."
"What
the hell," Cordy answered.
"Can we swing by my apartment first, so I can find a dress?"
"Sure," Angel quipped, "Then we’ll have just enough time to ring
in the year 2001."
"Hey!"
Cordy complained as they left his office, "That’s why I left
Xander..."
FINIS