Disclaimer: The characters in this story belong to Joss Whedon and anyone else who owns rights to them. This story is non-profitable, it's just for fun. Any other characters that you don't recognize from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" are mine.
Author's Notes: This is kinda a weird story based on a dream my friend Jessica R. had. It takes place in the future... my way, and it involves B/A having kids.
Distribution: On my webpage, . Anyone else, please just ask me.

*Buffy*

I came home to find my husband and my son sitting together watching TV. Smiling at the sight, I set down my jacket and walked over to them. They were too engrossed on the basketball game to really notice me. With a smirk, I walked over and stood in front of the television.

"Hey!" Angel cried.

"I come home from a hard day of work, and this is the greeting I get," I teased.

Angel sighed and motioned for me to walk over to him. "Sorry," he muttered as he pulled me in for a kiss.

"Ew!"

I giggled as our six year old son, Justin, grimaced and turned his head away. "Hello to you, too!" I replied. I tussled his hair and stood up again. "I'll leave you two 'men' to your game. What do you guys want for dinner?"

"Spaghetti!" they both answered in unison.

I sighed in frustration. What obsession those two had with Italian food was beyond me. I quickly went into the kitchen and started getting the materials. As I worked, my mind started to drift.

The picture of our wedding day hung over the useless fireplace. Angel had finally decided to ask me to marry him when Willow had "accidentally" stumbled upon a spell that would make Angel be immune to daylight, holy-water, and immortality. Everyone else wasn't sure what to make of it at the time. They knew it was too good to be true, and were frantically looking for a catch.

But there was none.

They accepted that maybe, just maybe, the Powers That Be were laying off and letting us be happy for a while. But that maybe was big, and we were still on the lookout for the big catch. For now, though, we decided to by happy.

As I reached down to get the tomato sauce, I frowned. We were out. I could've sworn I had at least one more!

"Angel?" I called out into the living room.

"Yeah?" his voice drifted back to me.

"Is there a second choice? We're out of tomato sauce..."

I heard a sigh come from the living room and then the rustling of clothes as he stood up. "I'll go to the store and get some."

I giggled. He just had to have his weekly supply of spaghetti, didn't he?

"Sure, hon," I answered. "You taking Justin?"

There was a pause, during which I assumed he was asking our son. "Sure," he replied.

I walked out of the kitchen and went over to Angel. "Be careful," I murmured as I kissed his lips lightly.

"You know me," he answered with a grin.

"Exactly," I teased. "So, be careful."

******

*Justin*

I had to turn my head away as Mommy and Daddy did that thing where their lips touch. Yuck. I think it's weird.

When they were done, Daddy turned to me, help me put on my jacket, and took my hand. He lead me out the door and into the winter night. It was cold, but at least I knew that Santa Claus would be coming soon, so the cold was worth it. We got in Daddy's car and he drove to a local supermarket.

We went into the store and Daddy quickly got what Mommy had asked him to get. I simply walked beside him until I got too tired and he had to carry me. As soon as we were out of the store, Daddy hurried to get me to the car. I had sensed his wariness the second we were outside, so I tried to obey and get inside the car quickly.

Too late.

I saw one of the bad men sneak up on Daddy.

"Justin, run!" Daddy told me as he whirled around to face the man.

My eyes widened when I saw the bad man's face. It was scrunched up and had ridges on it forhead. I wasn't sure what to do, but I obeyed what my daddy told me. The last thing I saw as I turned around to run was Daddy fighting the bad man as more sneaked up from behind. Instead of running far, since I wasn't really allowed to go anywhere without my parents, and since I really didn't know where to go, I hid behind some bushes in the near empty parking lot.

And I watched helplessly as I saw my Daddy's head turn at a weird angle and he fell back on the ground with a thud. He didn't get up and I wondered why wouldn't fight the bad men anymore. Tears rolled down my face as I realized >he might not get up after all...

The funeral had been horrible, but I had remained emotionless. In fact, I had barely spoken three words or shed one tear since my daddy's death. I can't remember what happened, but soon after Daddy's death, Mommy had showed up and was crying and trying to turn my head away from the scene. After that, everyone had been trying to "comfort" me and get me to talk. I had heard the pity conversations from everyone-- including Aunt Willow, and Uncle Oz, and Uncle Xander, and Aunt Cordy, and Grandma Joyce. After a while, Mommy started getting worried.

It wasn't really until one night-- about a month after Daddy's death-- that I had that strange dream. Or maybe it wasn't a dream. Maybe all of this had been a dream, and when I woke up, Daddy would be there to take me to school like he did every morning. I'm still not clear on that, but whatever it was, I'm not gonna question it. Instead, I'll just be thankful.

******

"It was not his time."

"If he's gone, then the Powers decided it was his time. Who are we to argue with..."

"It was not his time."

"We do not decide that."

They argued like this for a while, and my made my head ache. Finally, the woman's persistence got her somewhere and the man reluctantly agreed.

"What shall we do about it then?"

The woman paused and glanced at me, as if seeing me for the first time. "The boy..."

The man blinked and turned to me. "What are you pondering?"

With a small smile, the woman stepped forward and rested a hand on my shoulder. Suddenly, I was no longer in that strange room, but in another strange room. And I saw Daddy sitting in a chair only a small distance away from me with a worried expression. I opened my mouth to speak, but I saw Aunt Willow, followed by Uncle Xander and Grandma Joyce hurry into the room.

"Angel!" Aunt Willow cried. "What happened, is she alright?"

Daddy frowned. "I think so. They said they couldn't really tell me anything specific until a family member got here."

I looked up to see a middle-aged man come in. "Are any of you related to Buffy Summers?" he asked, looking at the people in the room.

I opened my mouth to say something, but Grandma Joyce beat me to it.

"I'm her mother," she stated.

The man nodded and stepped closer to her. "I'm Dr. Simons," he greeted. "Your daughter is doing well. She has a broken leg and several bruises, but other that, there was no serious damage." He stopped and turned to Daddy.

"You brought her here?"

Daddy nodded wordlessly.

"And you are?"

"I'm her boyfriend. Angel."

I blinked in surprise. Boyfriend?

"What happened?" Dr. Simons asked.

Daddy looked uncomfortable as he tried to answer. "Um, well, we were walking home from a date and we were attacked by men with uh, knives."

"And you fought them?" the doctor asked in disbelief.

Daddy nodded, still looking uncomfortable.

The doctor sighed and shook his head. "Kids," he murmured under his breath. "Well, you can all go see her now." He glanced briefly and absently at me for the first time since he had been there and then left the room.

Suddenly, Daddy looked at me, noticing me for the first time. "Hey there," he told me, crouching down in front of me. "Are you here by yourself?"

I cocked my head sideways and nodded.

Daddy pursed his lips. "What's your name?" he asked me.

"Justin," I answered as if it were obvious. My voice sounded strange to my ears.

"Well, hello there, Justin," he said holding out a hand to me. "Very nice to meet you. My name is Angel."

I shook his hand awkwardly, still wondering what was going on.

"Angel, lets go see Buffy," I heard Aunt Willow say impatiently.

Daddy nodded and stood up. He was about to leave, when he stopped and looked at me. "We can't just leave him here by himself," he said.

Uncle Xander sighed and motioned for me to go over to him. I obeyed.

"Come on, little guy," he told me. "We're gonna go see a friend." He turned to Daddy. "We can report it to the hospital later."

Daddy nodded in agreement and took my hand. I glanced up at him and saw he had a small frown, but I didn't say anything. From the conversation with the doctor, I figured we were going to see Mommy. I hoped maybe she would know what was going on. And why nobody seemed to know me.

*Angel*

"Hey," I said softly when I entered Buffy's room and saw her awake. Willow, Xander, Joyce, and Justin trailing not far behind me.Buffy smiled at me. "Hey."

"You okay?" I asked.

"I'll live," she answered with a shrug. A shrug she seemed to regret making as she winced in pain.

Joyce walked past me and unto Buffy's bed. "Don't you ever scare me like that again, you here me? What were you thinking taking on all those vampires like that? You could've been killed!"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "I'm fine, Mom," she replied. "And I didn't think there were more than two. Angel and I were doing just fine until their back-up showed up."

With a sigh, Joyce nodded. "If something like that happens again, I want you to run, okay? I know your pride is important to you, and as the Slayer it's not your job to run, but..."

I suddenly remembered that Justin was standing right there with us in the room. Slashing my hand across my neck as sign for Joyce to stop, I cleared my throat. Joyce frowned slightly and then saw Justin. She nodded in understanding and tightened her lips together.

"Who's that?" Buffy asked.

"He was down there all by himself and I figured we should tell someone about it so that they can find his parents," I explained.

I crouched down in front of Justin and looked straight into his eyes. What I saw startled me. His eyes were a chocolate brown, and just like mine, had a penetrating, almost brooding look. I felt a sudden, unexplainable connection to him that overwhelmed me.

Blinking myself out of my reverie, I tried to focus on him again. "What happened to your parents? Do you remember anything? How you got here?" I questioned.

He frowned slightly and considered. I studied his face, which look disturbingly like Buffy's when she was pensive. "Two strange people," he said finally.

I glanced at Buffy, who was staring at him just as intensely as I must've been before, and then turned to Justin again. "Strange people? Were you kidnapped? Taken away from your parents?"

Justin's frown got deeper. "I guess," he replied with some uncertainty. "I was sleeping, and then I saw a man and a woman talking. And then the woman leaned down, put a hand on my shoulder, and I was here."

"What were they talking about?" Buffy asked.

Again, Justin considered. "They said something about it not yet being his time or something."

I stared at him for a moment. It seemed strange that this kid-- this little boy-- could be so smart. He looked barely older than five, yet he seemed incredibly perceptive of everything.

"Who's he?" Willow spoke up, breaking into my thoughts.

Justin shrugged. "Daddy?"

I frowned. "Did your daddy die?"

An abrupt, confused sob escaped Justin as he nodded. "He was supposed to."

"What do you mean?" Xander asked as he crouched down next to Justin and me.

Justin's face looked so confused, that I just wanted to hug him to me and comfort him so that he wouldn't have to talk about it. But I knew I had to get him back home.

"My daddy died," he said softly. "Only, he's not dead."

I looked at him strangely. That had made no sense whatsoever. Well, except maybe if his father was now a vampire. That could be a reasonable explanation. I shook my head and glanced at Buffy to see her even more confused than I was.

I figured the little boy was too confused to really let us know what has happened, so I stood up again. Just as I was about to tell Xander that we should report this to the police, Justin tugged on my pants and looked up at me with a haunted expression. I knew that a kid his age should never have expressions like that.

So I crouched down again, sensing he had more to say.

"He was killed by bad men with weird faces," Justin whispered. "Only, he's here. Not gone."

I looked up at Buffy again.

"Angel, we can't hand him over," she told me quietly. "The police can't help him."

Willow walked over to sit on Buffy's bed. "You think we can?"

Buffy nodded. "I think his daddy was killed by V-A-M-P-I-R-E-S."

"Vampires?" Justin questioned.

I glanced at him again. So he could spell. I guess he was a lot smarter than I had realized.

"So what do we do?" Willow asked.

"I think we let him get some rest," I answered. "Then, tomorrow, when his head is a little clearer, we can get more out of him so that we can help."

Everyone in the room seemed to agree with me.

"We might wanna let Giles know about this," Buffy said. "He is my Watcher. Or kinda, anyway."

I smiled. "Of course."

Suddenly, all of my worry over whether or not Buffy would be okay vanished. I walked over to her bed and kissed her lips softly. She smiled up at me and touched my cheek. I knew there were other people in the room, but lately, I hadn't really been caring about displaying public affection.

We stayed several more minutes in the room with Buffy, then it was decided that Justin could stay with me in my new apartment. Buffy and I had picked it out several weeks back and I had moved in just last week. Sometimes, Buffy would stay with me when she was too tired after parol to walk back home. And for some unexplainable reason, Joyce didn't seem to mind.

As we left, I took Justin's hand and I once again felt that strange connection. His dark brown eyes and dirty blonde hair, his pouting lips and intense look... it was-- as Buffy would say-- wiggy

Part 4

*Justin*

"It is not working."

"The boy is six years old. You thought it would?"

Again, I watched the strange man and woman as they paced back and forth in the white room. This time, I looked around, trying to get a clear look of where I was so that I could tell Daddy, or whoever the man I was staying with was, something he could use.

The room I was in was simple. The floor and walls where made of white tiles with gray designs. There was an opening-- no doorways-- in the middle of the back wall. After that, it was a long corridor of which I could not see the end of. The corridor walls were really lots of archways one after the other made of the same tiles as the walls.

I then turned my attention to the man and woman. They were both dressed in black. The woman had curly black hair, adorned with a golden accessory, and the man had blonde hair, slicked back as if with gel.

But what called my attention the most was their skin. Were they really human? I started doubting my referring to them as man and woman. They had golden skin, streaked with blue designs. As they talked to each other, they walked slowly in zigzags across the room.

The... female... stopped walking and turned to me. "You do not know your purpose," she stated. It was not a question.

I shook my head wordlessly.

She rested a hand on my head and closed her eyes. "He is confused," she said as she turned to the male. "He knows nothing of what to do."

The male raised an amused eyebrow. "That was obvious. Humans are so simple."

Ignoring him momentarily, the female turned back to face me. "It was not his time yet," she said.

"You must stop him from dying," the male continued.

"The Powers do not yet realize this, but they will."

"You must warn him."

"He is crucial to the survival of your Earth."

"Without him, the Slayer does not function properly."

"Besides," the female added. "It's Christmas."

By the time I finally found my voice to try and ask some questions, I was awake again. Or back in the apartment, depending on what it is that happened. I shook my head to clear some sleep and got out of the bed. I found Daddy asleep on the couch, snoring softly.

I didn't want to, but I gently shook him, trying to wake him. "Daddy?" I called softly.

At first, he didn't respond, but after several moments, his eyes opened. He looked at me with a frown and then blinked the sleep out of his eyes. With a small chuckle, he stood up. I wondered why he chuckled. He must have seen the question in my eyes because he smiled and answered.

"I could've sworn you just called me 'Daddy,'" he explained.

I nodded, but didn't really respond. "I saw the strange people again," I said.

Daddy blinked in surprise. "Did you now?"

Again, I nodded eagerly. I explained to him everything I could remember about what happened and he listened in rapt attention. Realization suddenly seemed to dawn on him. Did he know what it was now?

"The Oracles."

I cocked my head to the side. "What's that?"

I really didn't care. I just wanted to do whatever it was they wanted me to do and go home with my real mommy. Despite what everyone had said about me being really smart for my age, I was just a little kid inside who wanted his parents. I see this now that I have time to sit and think about it.

Daddy smiled and shook his head. "Forget about it." He glanced out the window and I turned to look outside with him. The sun was just barely starting to go up. Besides that, I saw nothing of importance and turned to look at him again.

"Come on," he said. "We have to get to the rest of the guys now before the sun comes up."

I frowned but didn't question it. We got to a house about five minutes later. Daddy was going fast, as if worried about something. He knocked urgently on the door. It didn't open until about two minutes later. It was Grandpa Giles.

He seemed to awake completely at that very moment and let us inside. "Angel, what a surprise. How may I help you?" He stole a glance at me, but said nothing.

"Has Buffy told you what happened?" Daddy asked.

Grandpa Giles nodded. "Vaguely, yes. I frankly don't see what we can do to help. If his parents are... gone, I think we should hand him over to the police and have them do whatever it is that they're supposed to do."

"We can't do that, Giles," Daddy disagreed. He looked at me with a slight frown. "He talks to the Oracles."

Grandpa Giles' eyes widened considerably. "The Oracles?" he said in awe. "Why... oh, my. Not anyone can talk to the Oracles. You must be pure. A... a true warrior. They... the Powers..."

"I know," Daddy said.

I blinked, feeling way too confused. Oracles? Powers? It was normal for Grandpa Giles to stutter, but this... well, let's just say he was awed. He looked directly into my eyes, as if trying to read my thoughts.

"What did they say to you?" he asked me.

"It was not yet his time," I answered.

Grandpa Giles frowned. "His? Who, um, who is he?"

I shrugged. They hadn't told me. They had just assumed that I would know. I figured they might be talking about Daddy, but they had said something about a Slayer. Who was the Slayer?

"Justin," Daddy said, setting me down on the couch and crouching down in front of me. "Who was your father?"

******

*Angel*

I was surprised to see him point at me. "You."

I looked up at Giles with a frown and then back at Justin. "Me?"

Justin nodded. "And my mommy is called Buffy. We live in a big house in Sunnydale, California," he said, as if feeling proud.

"I think you're confused," I told him. "Buffy and I don't have any kids. Certainly not a six year old."

Justin shrugged. "We wanted Mommy to make us spaghetti for dinner," he said. I turned my head to the side, waiting for him to continue. "But she had no sauce, so she sent us to get it. Only when we were leaving the store, we were attacked and..." he stopped with a sob, "the bad men with weird faces twisted your neck. You fell and never woke up."

I glanced up at Giles. "You think he's from an alternate dimension?" I asked.

Giles shook his head. "I think he's from the future."

I would've laughed if the situation had been any different. The future? What kind of sick joke was Fate playing on us? I was a vampire, I could have no children. Yet, here he was, standing in front of me, telling me of my final death. Why was he here?

Running a hand over my face, I stood up and walked over to one of Giles' books. I took it and handed it to him. "Read, research, do whatever you do. Just... figure this out. I wanna know what's going on, and I wanna know now."

Giles looked down at the book. "I think there is an easier way to figure this out," he said softly.

I raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to tell me.

He looked up at me with a serious expression. "You must speak to the Oracles."

I was too shocked to speak.

"You have to," Giles said. "And I know you can do it. Your soul is pure, you are a warrior." He hesitated. "And you told me you've spoken to them before."

With a shake of my head, I snatched the book from Giles' hand and started looking through it myself. It wasn't even a demonology book. It was a recipe book that Giles had been using to make himself a chocolate cake. And we would've laughed, if the situation hadn't been so serious. Gently, he took the book away from me and set it down. He looked me straight in the eye.

"The boy spoke to them," he said quietly. "If they summoned the boy, it must've been very important." I still wasn't convinced. "Angel, you died. I believe the Oracles are trying to prevent this from happening for a reason. You must ask them."

I shook my head, stubbornly. "No."

"Angel..."

"I said no!" I cried, a little louder than I meant to.

Giles was taken aback for a moment. He sighed and shook his head. "Fine," he told me. "Figure it out by yourself then."

I stared at him for several more seconds before storming off to an extra bedroom to get some sleep and to clear my head. I certainly couldn't go outside...

******

*Justin*

I watched in surprise as Daddy stormed out of the room and then I turned to look at Grandpa Giles. His forehead was wrinkled in thought. He gently set the book back on the table and walked over to me, sitting down next to me.

"Justin," he said. "Tell me everything you can about your trips to the Oracles and where you come from."

I sighed, annoyed that I would have to explain everything again, and began my story. I told him about how happy I had been living with both my parents, how Mommy had sent us to the market to get some things for her, how Daddy's neck had been snapped as I watched, and how, while I was asleep, the male and female-- the Oracles, Grandpa Giles told me-- had spoken to me.

Grandpa Giles once again looked pensive as he removed his glasses and polished them. He glanced and seemed to inspect me closely. "You are Buffy and Angel's son. His eyes, her hair, her expressions, his look..." He looked at me, amazed. "Justin... did they tell you what you are supposed to do here?"

Again, I gave an exasperated sigh. "I told you, Grandpa," I said. "They told me I had to stop him from dying."

Grandpa Giles smiled warmly. "Of course. And we assume that he is your father, Angel."

I nodded.

He sighed and stood up. "So, how do we get you back?"

I looked at him helplessly and shrugged.

He nodded. "Yes, well, why don't you, um, go back to sleep. I'm quite sure you must be tired. Waking up so early..."

I smiled and happily obliged. Even lying down on the couch and stretching myself, there was still a bit of space left of the couch, since I was so small, so I was pretty comfortable. I closed my eyes, and tried to forget where I was. At least for the time being...

******

*Angel*

I couldn't sleep. Thoughts of Justin and Buffy's and my future plagued my mind to no end. And of course, when I did fall asleep, dreams of Justin and Buffy's and my future plagued my sleep. It wasn't until about an hour later that I finally calmed down and slept. And that's when they showed up...

"Hello, again, Angel."

I frowned. I was in the room with the Oracles. The female raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to respond. "Uh, hi," I muttered.

"You are confused, I presume," the male spoke.

I nodded.

"You wonder why your future son is in your present," the female added.

Again, I nodded.

"It was a mistake," the female stated.

"Mistake?" I asked, confused. "You sent him back in time by mistake?"

"You were not meant to die yet," the male said as if I hadn't spoken.

"Your son is there to warn you."

"Why send him?" I asked. "Why not Buffy or Willow or someone older?"

The male shook his head. "Your son is a reminder of what you have to fight for."

"He is a symbol of your love for the Slayer," the female continued.

"A miracle of Fate."

"You must heed to this warning."

"You must change what happened, or else the Powers will never realize."

The female stopped pacing and looked me in the eye. "The fate of your world depends on it."

I blinked in surprise, but before I could ask what they meant, I was once again in the bed in Giles' house. And I was hearing more than Giles' and Justin's voices in the living room. I glanced at the clock in the room to see that more than an hour had actually gone by. With a soft groan, I got out of bed and headed out to the living room to join my friends.

Giles must have called everyone, because there was Willow sitting on Oz's lap on the couch, Buffy sitting on the other side of the couch with Justin on her lap, her broken leg up on the coffee table, Cordelia on a chair by the table arguing about something with Xander, who was on the other side of a table. Anya sat next to him, defending him once in a while and siding with Cordelia other times. There were books strewn all around the room. Everyone looked up at my arrival.

"Hey," I greeted as I made my way over to sit beside Buffy and Justin. She looked just as uncomfortable as I felt, sitting by the son we hadn't even conceived yet. I received an absent-minded greeting from everyone else before they turned back to the books they read.

"I spoke to the Oracles," I stated.

That got everyone to look again. They all looked and listened in rapt attention as I told them what they had said.

"So was it like, a dream?" Cordelia asked me. "'Cause you did say there was some special process or something to get to them."

I shrugged. "I don't know. And I don't care. All I know is that I'm important for some plan of theirs and they don't want me to die. That my death was a mistake."

"Creepy," Willow murmured.

"So, what do we do?" Buffy asked. "I don't send you out for spaghetti sauce, or you run away from the vamps instead of fighting them?"

I considered briefly. "I guess. Whatever we do, just make sure I don't get killed."

"Sounds simple enough," Oz commented.

"Tsk," Xander said with a snap of his fingers. "And here I was, wishing I'd let you die that time last month that we got outnumbered."

"Uh, Xander?" Willow said. "I think that was Angel that saved you. Not the other way around."

"Sssshhhh!" Xander replied, waving at her with both hands. "Technicalities. That's between you and me."

Everyone rolled their eyes at the exchange and turned back to me. "What they didn't tell me though, was how to get Justin back to his own time," I pointed out. "I think that instead of worrying how to save me from dying, we should be figuring out how to get him back home."

While everyone busied themselves on that, I leaned back against the couch and closed my eyes. It was ironic how I hadn't wanted to contact the Oracles, yet they had contacted me anyway. Buffy and I had gotten back together not long ago. She was twenty-one now, and after a lot of talking, I had finally agreed to move back to Sunnydale and give it another try.

I had told Giles about my day as a human. I'm still not sure why I did it. Giles had commented it to Willow, and Willow to Oz. Before he had died, Dolye had told Cordelia, and Cordelia had told Xander during one of their trademark arguments. And of course, Xander had told Anya. So now, everyone except Buffy knew, and I knew that it was a matter of time before she figured it out.

For some reason, I was still a bit touchy to the subject of the Oracles and my one day of humanity. So, when Giles had suggested that I go speak to the Oracles, I had been obviously reluctant. And now that I knew that Buffy and I did get a shot at happiness, it made me even more uncomfortable. I wondered how it was that it finally happened. How it was that I finally got the ability to create children, to marry Buffy, to actually be with her in ways that I still wasn't able to. The Oracles were right... Justin was a symbol of everything that was Buffy and me as one.

I was brought out of my thoughts by a gentle hand on my arm. I opened my eyes to find Buffy smiling at me. "Hey," she said. "You awake?"

With a smile, I nodded and brought her forward for a soft kiss. "I love you."

She blinked, startled but nodded. "I love you, too." We gazed at our son. Our son. Wow. I guess I still find it hard to believe.

Suddenly, I got a strange urge to sleep. I closed my eyes, still holding Buffy close to me, and did as my body asked.

*Buffy*

I'm not sure why I fell asleep, but I did. I rested my head against Angel's chest and closed my eyes... only to find myself in a huge room, my leg no longer broken. The walls of the room were made out of white and gray tiles, with an opening in the middle of the back wall. Past that was a corridor made out of lots of archways. Beside me, stood Angel. Only he didn't seem as surprised as I was.

As I turned back to admire the room, a strange male and female, definitely not human-- I could tell by their skins and the aura they projected-- appeared in front of me. They examined me for a moment before nodding in approval.

"She's the one," the female stated.

"She is," the male confirmed.

"I'm what one?" I asked. Angel rested a hand of my shoulder and squeezed it gently. He looked at me meaningfully and I realized that these... these were the Oracles. With newfound respect, I waited for them to speak.

"You are the Slayer," the female said in a matter-of-fact voice. "You have fulfilled your duty." But I noticed she hadn't spoken that last sentence to me nor Angel. She had spoken to Justin.

Justin nodded with a small smile.

"Go back," the male said. "Go back to your world and be happy with your father."

Suddenly, Justin was gone. I blinked in surprise and looked at the Oracles.

"Remember," the female told me.

I gasped as a flash of memories assaulted my mind. A flash of memories I had been seeing as dreams, but suddenly realized were real. Angel human. Angel and me in bed, eating chocolate and peanut butter. Angel and me, kissing in the sun...

"I..." I stuttered. "I... I can't believe it..."

Angel wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head softly.

"Everything shall be as was," the female continued. "Only you two shall remember today and yesterday's events. Only you two will prevent your death, Angel."

"Only you two shall remember your day as human," the male added.

"Only you two shall know of your future and change it," the female replied.

"Only you two will make the Powers That Be realize your power together."

"This is why we give you the spell."

"Spell?" Beside me, Angel frowned.

They ignored us as they paced back and forth, giving us instructions.

"You shall use it to your best judgment, of course," the male continued. "Do as you will."

He waved a hand carelessly and we were back at Giles' on the couch. I vaguely heard a last statement by the female Oracle, "You are true warriors of light, and for that you will be rewarded."

Willow was in front of us, waving a hand in front of our faces, as if trying to see if we were awake. Everyone else was behind her, staring at us anxiously. I blinked rapidly and shook my head to clear it. Gingerly, I reached down and felt the cast on my leg once again.

"Whoa!" Xander exclaimed. "That was creepy. Your eyes were open, but you weren't responding to anything."

"And Justin just... disappeared," Willow added.

"Were you uh, with the Oracles?" Giles asked nervously. Typical Giles. Always wanting to know about the supernatural stuff.

I nodded. "Yup. They took Justin back and told us to live and be happy, or whatever."

Angel sat up and blinked rapidly. He glanced up at Giles. "They said something about a spell, too."

Willow held out a book. "It was like magic. It just appeared. Which is pretty cool, since it is a magic spell and all. I wonder how the Oracles do that..."

I snatched the book from Willow's hands and stared at the open page.

A spell.

To make Angel human.

"It technically makes him a human with vampire strength," Willow explained. "Well, there's more to it. See, the frog eye makes the demon..."

"I don't wanna know the technicalities, Will," I interrupted. "What exactly does this do?"

"He's still a vampire," Willow answered. "Only he's immune to crosses and holy water and the sun, and all that stuff. He can age, a bit slowly, but he can age. He can have children, and he doesn't need blood to survive. I mean, he does need it, but only like, once a month or something. It's to keep the vampire thing going. You see..."

I smiled. Willow always got excited when it came to magic stuff. I held up a hand, signaling her to stop. "It's okay, Will. I get it."

Willow nodded in excitement. "Can I do the spell now?" she asked.

I looked at Giles for permission. "Well, he said. I think we should look it over and make sure it is alright. But I suppose we can perform it soon..."

I jumped up and wrapped Giles in a tight hug, then repeated the same thing with Willow. "I love you guys," I said.

"Aaaawww!" Xander cried. "Group hug!"

I immediately regreted my phrase as Willow, Xander, and Anya all jumped on top of Angel and me. Oz, Cordelia, and Giles stood back with raised eyebrows.

"I'd join you," said Cordelia, "but I have this policy against hugging tweakos and wrinkling one-of-a-kinds..."

Xander jumped up and pulled her into the hug.

******

*Angel*

Finally, it was Christmas day and we were all sitting around the tree. All being the Scooby gang-- Willow, Oz, Cordelia, Xander, Anya, Giles, and of course, Buffy-- and Joyce. We were at her house, exchanging presents. As promised, no one except Buffy and me remembered Justin. All they knew was that they had encountered the spell to make me half-human by accident and had used it after some reluctance on Giles' and Xander's part. I was glad that now I didn't carry the memory of my day as human by myself. Now, I had someone to share it with. And that same someone to make new memories with.

"We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!" they were all singing and laughing as they opened their presents and found strange gifts from each other.

"Hey guys, look!" Willow cried from her place by the window.

"It's snowing," I said in amazement.

"Remember the last time that happened?" Buffy asked me softly.

I looked at her and nodded. "Sure do."

"It's a sign," she said.

"Oh?" I asked her playfully. "Of what?"

"Well," she said. "It means that we will have a long life of happiness and saving the world from bad guys, get married, and have a son named Justin."

"Really?" I said. "Wow, Ms. Summers. You're good at this."

She grinned. "I know."

I reached into my pocket and glanced at the others to make sure they weren't paying attention. They were all busy, either staring out the window, or heading outside to play with the snow. I brought out our a small velvet box. "Marry me."

I wasn't really worried that she'd say no-- I knew what her answer would be-- but my heart still skipped a beat when she nodded. "Of course."

I grinned and opened the box to reveal a diamond, white gold Claddagh ring. She held out her finger and I slipped it on.

I was so happy, that I think I would've lost my soul, had I been able to. I opened my arms and she threw herself into them, burying her head on my neck and straddling my hips with her legs.

"Oh, come on guys," I heard Xander say from the door. "Get a room."

I would've taken him seriously, but Buffy stood up, grabbed my hand, and dragged me outside to play with the snow.

As I ducked snowballs and threw some of my own, I silently thanked the Oracles and the Powers That Be for giving me this second chance. And I thanked Justin for righting the wrong.

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