"Cherished Memory"

Author: Michelle
Email: michellabella52478@yahoo.com
Dedication: To everyone who sent me feedback for Don't Cry For Me. I promised you a sequel, and I wrote it.

"How is she doing?" Elizabeth Osborne asked her mother as she descended the stairs.

Willow Osborne shook her head. "Not good, Liz. She's in and out of it. There's not much time left."

"Should we bring her to the hospital?"

"She wants to be at home with her family. With us."

Elizabeth sobbed. She understood how sick her Aunt Buffy was, and felt it wasn't fair that she had to die. She had always been so full of life. Now that life was quickly coming to an end.

"Willow took her daughter into her arms. "It's okay, Liz."

"It's not fair, Mom. Aunt Buffy is so young. Why does she have to die?"

Willow felt a tear trickle down her cheek. "It's her time. There's nothing we can do."

"She'll be all alone."

"No, she won't. He'll be there with her," she said, trying to comfort her fifteen year old daughter.

"Angel? The one she asks for all the time?" Elizabeth had heard her aunt calling for him. She didn't know the story of their love, only that Angel was someone her aunt deeply cared about who had died.

"Yes. Angel." A small smile crossed Willow's lips.

Elizabeth wiped her eyes. "Aunt Buffy loved him, didn't she?"

Willow nodded her response. "Very much."

Buffy was dreaming, she knew it. Angel held her close, resting his chin on her head, telling her that everything would be fine. She felt completely safe in his embrace, being able to feel herself there, as if it were reality.

There are times I swear I know you're here
When I forget about my fears
Feeling you, my dear
Watching over me
My hope seeks what the future will bring
When you wrap me in your wings
And take me where you are
Where you and I will breathe together once again
We'll be dancing in the moonlight just like we used to do
And you'll be smiling back at me
Only then will I be free
When I can be where you are

In the twenty years since Angel ended his immortal life, Buffy always felt his presence. He became her guardian angel -- silent and invisible, but always there. It was what kept her going all those years without him.

That, and the memories. Buffy kept those precious memories of her love buried deep inside. There, Angel had never died, he was the handsome, loving man she fell in love with. He never changed in her memories. Buffy cherished them with every fiber of her being. Among her favorites were of the nights when she and Angel would patrol together. Between slays, they shared stolen kisses. Just the mere memory of his body touching hers, his lips touching hers, his strong hands roaming her body sent tingles down Buffy's spine. He could still affect her with memories.

She lived alone, never married. No man compared to her first love; no man could instill such emotions in her as he had. She remembered Angel telling her to move on and find someone new. She tried with Riley, but after Angel's death, Buffy no longer wanted to move on. She would rather live alone with her memories of her true love than throw herself into a relationship with a man she would never love.

Every night for twenty years she dreamt of him. Dreams of them watching the sun set together, slow dancing in the moonlight. Dreams of seeing him in heaven, waiting for her but telling her it wasn't her time yet. That they'd be together someday. All these dreams felt so real to Buffy, as if she were living them.

And I can see your face
Your kiss I still can taste
Not a memory erased
Oh, I see your star shining down on me
And I'd do anything
If I could just be right there where you are
Where you and I will breathe together once again
We'll be dancing in the moonlight just like we used to do
And you'll be smiling back at me
Only then will I be free
Then I will be free
So take me where you are Willow entered the room where Buffy lay sleeping. SHE LOOKS SO PEACEFUL. She assumed her best friend was dreaming of Angel, noting the upward turn of Buffy's lips. AT LEAST SHE IS HAPPY, she thought. She knew how difficult it had been for Buffy to move on after Angel's death. Willow understood what Buffy went through, having lost Oz in a car accident two years ago.

"Mom?" Elizabeth began from the doorway. "Is she--" She couldn't bring herself to say it.

"No, she's sleeping. Come in and sit next to me."

Elizabeth did as her mother asked. "Do you remember what I told you after your father died?"

The teenager nodded. "That it's okay to cry."

"I know your Aunt Buffy said not to cry. But I'm telling you that you can. It's not healthy to hold your emotions inside of you."

"Okay, Mom."

"Angel," Buffy muttered.

Willow sighed sadly. His name was the only thing Buffy said anymore. She hoped that they would be together when Buffy passed on.

Now, baby, there are times when selfishly
I wished that you were here with me
So I could wipe the tears from your eyes
And make you see
That every night while you are dreaming
I'm here to guard you from afar
And any time I feel alone
I close my eyes and dream of where you are

Buffy's eyes opened. She no longer lay in her bed covered with blankets. Instead, she stood in an apartment. Arms wrapped around her from behind. Buffy instinctively knew who they belonged to.

"Angel," she said softly.

He kissed her neck gently. "Welcome to heaven, my love."

"This is heaven? It looks an awful lot like your old apartment," she mused.

"Heaven lies within your most cherished memory. You live in that memory for all of eternity," explained Angel. "Yours is in this apartment."

"My seventeenth birthday. The night we made love. The night you told me you loved me." She turned around to look at Angel. "So I was brought back to that night? I get to be young again? Everything is the same?"

"Yes. I've waited twenty years for you, Buffy. But I never left you."

She kissed him. "What's your most cherished memory?"

"You, Buffy. You are my most cherished memory. For two decades, I have watched you live. I've seen you in the sunlight, watched over you as you slept, entered your dreams every night."

"You were real? That was really you?"

Angel scooped her up in his arms, carrying her to the bed. "That was me. Always me. Your dreams were my only physical connection to you. Until now."

She looked up at him with questions in her eyes. "Am I dead, Angel?"

"You must decide that, Buffy. If you choose to stay here with me, then you will be."

Buffy brought his face to hers. "Take me where you are, Angel. Take me to heaven."

Willow watched with great sadness as Buffy exhaled her last breath. She gave her best friend a kiss good-bye. "I hope you are happy wherever you are. I hope you found Angel again."

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