Rating: PG-14
Spoilers: I don't think so, but then, I don't think come to think of it...hehehe
Summary: Angel sits by Buffy's grave and talks to her...
Disclaimer: Do I look like Joss Whedon to you???
Notes: This is the sequel to 'Goodbye'.
Dedication: To Audrey, who wanted a sequel...Ü

The lone man ventured through the graveyard, looking for any sign of a fresh grave, glancing over the names on the headstones, searching for one name in particular. And there it was...

Buffy Anne Summers
1981 - 2001
Beloved Daughter
She Saved the World
A Lot

Angel grimaced at the words that said so little and so much. Yes, Buffy had indeed saved the world a lot. Not that the world knew that, not that they cared that she was dead. To them, she never really existed. Only he felt immeasurable grief at her passing. Only a member of the undead could fully know her, only someone she had saved could appreciate her, and only someone with a soul could ever really love her. That made him doubly grateful. It made him unique, for only he could fully know, appreciate and love her.

He carefully sat beside the mound of dirt covering her coffin and stared at the earth that separated him from her corpse. Angel remembered her early fear of death and dying young...

I'm sixteen years old, I don't wanna die...

Do you think I want anything to happen to you? Do you think I could stand it??

He closed his eyes as the words echoed in his mind. No, he couldn't stand it, but he knew that Buffy had accepted her impending death. It had been her choice to sacrifice herself for her sister. When they had last spoken, the night of Joyce's funeral, he had known then that it would one day soon would come the time when Buffy had to make the choice. Buffy herself had known it, but she hadn't been sure if she could do it. He'd told her to trust in herself, that she'd know what the right thing to do was when the time came.

She'd made her choice and it had taken her away from him. Angel placed his hand on the mound of dirt displaced by her coffin. "I'll always love you, Buffy. I'd always believed that I'd know when you died, the exact second." Angel recognized the beginnings of an impending brood. "I'm sorry that I wasn't here to help you, but I was in another dimension at the time, if that counts for anything." He grimaced once more at his attempt to absolve his guilt.

"I'm sorry, Buffy. Not just for not being here, but for everything. I know that eventually I'll have to get on with my life, that you'd want that more than anything, but you're a part of me, Buffy. A part that no one else can touch, that no one else can take away. No matter where you are, you're still in my heart and I love you..."

Angel's eyes were still closed and so he didn't see the first stirrings of movement beneath his fingers, but he felt them. His eyes snapped open as dirt was displaced by a rising. He froze in sheer horror of what his senses were telling him and prayed to the Powers that he was wrong.

He just watched as first one hand broke through the earth and grasped his hand. Angel held on to it as another hand broke through, followed by a familiar blond head. She spat out the dirt in her mouth and looked up at him with a grin. "That's nice to know..." Her mouth twitched as she tried to hold back her laughter. "You know, you could give a girl a hand. Being dead really takes it out of a person..."

"Buffy..." Angel couldn't believe his eyes. He also couldn't believe what he was about to do. He helped her out of the grave and let go of her hand. Angel patted down the dirt so that her rising was undetectable. He turned back to her. "I don't care how this happened, but I want you to leave. You know I can't kill you..."

She smiled up at him and cupped his cheek. Angel placed one of his hands over hers and savored her touch. She still felt the same. "You don't have to, Angel. I wasn't technically turned, not really. I was killed by a multitude of energy, not a vampire, but the Powers gave me a choice." She brought his other hand to her lips and pressed a reassuring kiss to the inside palm of his hand. "I chose to come back as I am now, like you, a vampire with a soul."

Angel shook his head. "Buffy, no! You shouldn't have done this! It's not possible. You shouldn't have to go through life like this."

Buffy suddenly found the ground at her feet fascinating. "It can be reversed. You drained me of my blood two years ago, but they said that you need to complete the process so that it will last. It's up to you, Angel. You can either give me your blood, just a taste will do it, and not let death part us, or you can deny me and I will return to my grave knowing that you made that choice."

Angel placed a finger beneath her chin and lifted her gaze to his. "I never wanted this for you, Buffy, no matter how much I need you with me."

Buffy closed her eyes and silently asked the Powers That Be to give her a few hours with him before they came for her. She felt Angel's lips brush her own.

"But I also know that I need you with me..." Buffy's eyes shot open as hope blossomed. Maybe she could talk him out of being so righteous, just this once.

"Angel, please..." she begged.

His gaze was focused on her bright eyes. "What do you want me to do, Buffy?"

Triumph changed her expression. She stepped out of his embrace and hit him once.

He reeled back. "Buffy, what-?"

Twice.

Nothing.

Three times.

There. Buffy laughed as his true face was revealed. His mouth was open, showing his elongated fangs, glistening in the moonlight. She placed her hands on either side of his face and pulled him closer. Her thumb rubbed over one of his fangs. It was sharp enough to draw a tiny amount of blood. Angel growled at the sudden taste of the fluid. The former Slayer smiled at the sound. "Kiss me..."

Angel groaned in complete surrender as he possessed her mouth. That one taste of her blood had sent him over the edge. In it he had tasted her love for him, and her trust. He withdrew his tongue from her mouth ever-so-briefly and sank his fangs into his bottom lip. Buffy moaned as his blood filled her mouth. Their tongues dueled as she swallowed the liquid in deep gulps.

Buffy smiled as darkness took over and she collapsed in his arms.

Angel held her close as he felt only a twinge of shame for his selfishness. He picked her up and laid her gently on the back seat of his car. He drove them to the mansion where he set to wait for her to rise properly...

Go to the next story Bonds

Send feedback to Alicia

Back to the Fanfiction Archive