Part Fifteen

For ten time ten time ten years the Darkness will seep. And at the end the world shall erupt into Fire. The End of Days shall come upon the Earth, and when that is done, who can say?

But the Balance will be restored. The Light will return. And all the world will dance in the sunlight.

‹Prophecies of Eusebios, 167 A.D.

Angel

It was sunny. Warmth spread over us like a blanket and Buffy nuzzled deeper into my arms. If this was Heaven, I wanted to stay. Not that I really deserved to be there, but maybe they got me mixed up for someone else. At the moment, I didnıt really care. I was in bed with the woman I loved, in the sunshine.

Except the bed was hard.

And why would there be a bed outside anyway?

Reluctantly I opened my eyes. And sat up. And started to wonder why I wasnıt dust.

"Bloody frigginı Hell!" Spike yelled. I looked over to see my childe beginning to catch on fire, running for cover.

Cover. Which seemed to be amazingly available in a place I distinctly remember the buildings being leveled.

"Angel?" Buffy murmured sleepily. "Are we dead?"

"This is an odd idea of Heaven if we are. I never thought Spike would be here," I replied. She sat up, running a hand through her hair.

"The Hellmouth is closed," she remarked, "And the skies back." She looked over at me, and then up at the sky. "Something seems off here."

Around us the others were waking up. We were lying on the concrete of the foundation for the new high school library. As I recall hearing, Giles had lobbied to have it moved, but no such luck. Spike was hiding under a few beams, swearing.

I took a deep breath. "Iım alive," I said softly. Buffy seemed torn between a smile and a demand to know what was going on.

"Iım with you on the whole Spike-in-Heaven thing," she replied. "But Iım having trouble with the Sunnydale-is-back part too. Didnıt we just die?"

"Uh, I for one‹yes!" Xander exclaimed, sitting up behind us.

"Iıd be wigging out if I werenıt so tired," Willow yawned. She did a double take when she saw Angel. "UmŠwhy arenıt you dead?"

"I think thatıs the question we all need to ask," Doyle said. "What happened?"

"I stabbed that guy," Buffy replied. "And he vanished and thenŠpoof, whitenessŠand then here."

"So are we dead, or did we save the world?" Cordelia asked.

"And if we are dead, why isnıt Heaven full of fluffy white clouds?" Xander asked.

"Letıs assume weıre allŠall alive," Giles said, putting on his glasses, then glanced over at the blond vampire. "Except Spike of course." Spike growled, and cursed again as his foot started to smoke. Buffy smiled vaguely.

"Can I go back to sleep now?" she asked. "I mean, Iıd love to freak out over the fact that somehow weıre all still alive and Sunnydaleıs back, as is the sky, and look, Angel in the sunlight but," she yawned, "can we get some sleep first? Iım back in fire bad tree pretty mode."

"Good idea," I said. It all seemed a little surreal. Looking back on it I canıt believe we just sat there, as if nothing had happened. Shock, I suppose. It didnıt last long.

"Sleep then," Giles suggested, struggling to his feet.

"You can come over to my place," Buffy said to me, including Cordelia and Doyle. "Plenty of extra room for all."

I was human. I was alive orŠor not. We didnıt really know. We didnıt really care at the moment. We mostly wanted to sleep. I took Buffyıs hand and we walked back to her house, marveling at the warmth of the sunlight and the simple beauty of life.

Buffy

The phone woke me up. I moaned and rolled over, reaching for it, before I realized Angel was in the way. My eyes widened and his opened. I blushed and reached for the phone, sitting up.

What can I say? There wasnıt enough room after all.

"Hello?" I said, grateful to find my voice in semi-working order.

"Merry Christmas!" my motherıs voice exclaimed. I sagged against Angel in relief and held up my finger for him to be very, very quiet.

"Hi Mom. Merry Christmas!" I glanced at the clock. It was almost one. Weıd come home at about eight that morning and gone right to sleep.

"How is everything?" Joyce asked.

"Good!" I replied quickly. "Everything isŠgood. Mom, can I call you back? Weıre uhŠworking on dinnerŠIıll call you in like a half an hour, okay?"

"All right sweetie. I love you."

"Love you too. Bye!" I hung up the phone and looked up to meet Angelıs eyes.

"Was it a dream?" I asked. He shook his head.

"It was real. What I donıt know is if this is real." My hand reached involuntarily for his face and traced his mouth. I felt his breath on my hand and shivered. Tears sprung to my eyes.

"I remember Angel. I remember everything about ThanksgivingŠand I remember the last four days. I remember them dying, and the darkness, andŠand I remember all that terror and pain and horror. I remember Hell. I remember darkness."

"You remember winning," he told me softly. I bit my lips to hold back tears. "You can cry." I shook my head.

"Not until I know. I have to know if this is real. If weıre safe. If youıre really human," I whispered. "We have to talk to the Oracles." He nodded and took my hand.

"Come on." We got out of bed and tidied ourselves up. I called Giles to tell him what we were doing, and then Willow and Xander just to hear their voices. They said everything was all right. The world was just the way we had left it. No one knew anything about a black sky though, or prophecies. Everyone was celebrating Christmas (well, Willowıs family wasnıt).

Angel and I drove to L.A. in his black convertible. He had this funny amazed expression on his face as he drove down the highway in the sunlight, the wind ruffling his hair.

I wanted to be happy, but I was so afraid it would all be taken away again. I knew, if I was alive, I wouldnıt survive that. This had to be real, orŠI couldnıt even imagine the other.

It turned out the entrance to the Oracles was under the post office. Thereıs irony for you.

"We donıt have a gift," Angel said as we stood outside the portal, readying to go in.

"Who cares?" I said. "We went to Hell. On Christmas. Who needs a gift?" And I stepped into the portal. Couldnıt be as bad as the other places Iıd been that day.

It was the same room that we found everyone in when we stepped into the Hellmouth, except this one seemed solid. No flickering walls, no glimpses of fire beyond. Just white marble. And the Oracles.

"What have you brought us?" the woman asked.

"Questions," I replied. There was a pause and then she smiled softly.

"Very good. Ask away."

"What happened?"

"To what?" the man asked.

"The world! What happened?"

"You restored the Balance," the female Oracle replied. "For hundreds of years the balance has been tipping, slowly but surely. No one noticed a few more vampires, a little more evil in the hearts of men. And by the time it was increased significantly, no one thought to look back on what it had once been. The world has been warped, skewed into another, darker dimension. The world you knew was not the world the Powers had created. The End of Days was only the finale to hundreds of years of careful planning by the Darkness."

"So what happened?" Angel asked.

"You two defeated the Lords of Hell, thereby banishing them back to their dimension. The earth you woke to was the true one," the male Oracle answered.

"So everythingıs the same, except no End of Days?" Buffy asked, frowning slightly.

"Itıs not exactly the same, but for the most part. There will be less demonic activity than you are used to, and the Hellmouth is closed once and for all. Other things will be different, but they are small things, and you may never run across one, or if you do, you may not know it for a change. Only the ten who faced the Darkness shall remember the other world."

"And Angel? Is he really human? And how?" I asked, unable to look at him for fear the news would be bad.

The female Oracle looked upon Angel with almostŠkindliness. "You have served the Powers That Be well," she told him. "You gave up all happiness to fight against the Darkness, and because of that action, and your success in stopping the Lords of Hell, they have granted you your humanity." Angel opened his mouth but she held up a hand, forestalling it. "Do not worry. No harm shall come to anyone because of this. You have fulfilled your destiny. Now your life is your own. Use it well."

I wanted to collapse at their feet and weep tears of thanksgiving. I wanted to scream.

I stood there and watched them turn away. They paused and looked back. "The Powers wish you happiness," the female Oracle said. Her male counterpart continued, "You are not lower beings."

And then they were gone. And seconds later we were too, back in that cave.

It all came rushing at me. All the pain and loneliness of losing them, all the terror and despair of Hell. All the joy and love of Angel. We sunk to our knees together and held each other and cried for all that we had lost and everything we had found.

Epilogue

They walked through time together. Through pain, through joy. Through hope and despair. They walked through darkness together, and through fire. They walked through death, and emerged hand in hand.

And then it was time live.

‹The Story of an Angel by Ariana Osbourne, 2069

Spike

"I still donıt get the whole everything-is-normal routine," Xander muttered, throwing a piece of popcorn into Buffyıs fireplace. "I mean, we died. Shouldnıt we get some kind of prize? A medal or something?"

"We did get a prize," Buffy said softly, her eyes going all glow-y as she looked at Angel.

Oh God. Kill me now.

"Speaking of prizes, why did Angel get his humanity?" I demanded. Bloody unfair if you ask me. "I canıt even bite anyone and he gets to be all walkinı in the sunlight and all?"

"You were thinking, what?" Faith asked, "The Powers That Be were going to give you back your ability to harm innocents?"

"WellŠnoŠ"

"And would you want to be human?" Buffy asked. "I mean, no immortalityŠbye bye demon Spike-yŠ"

When she put it that wayŠ

"Bloody hell, I was just making a point," I muttered. Buffy grinned, like sheıd won a point off me or something. Why was I there anyway?

"Anyway, I think it all turned out pretty well," Willow said happily, gazing at Oz. "I donıt really mind not getting anything. Weıre alive, right? And we saved the world."

"For which we should be compensated!" Xander exclaimed. Anya gave him a look.

"I canıt believe I didnıt know about any of this. Why was he included and not me?" she demanded, gesturing towards me. I growled at her and Faith arched her eyebrows at me. Damn Slayers. I settled back in my chair.

"Believe me, not a thing to regret," Cordelia said firmly.

"In fact, thank every God youıve ever heard of," Buffy agreed fervently.

"I wonder if weıll ever notice any of those changes," Willow said thoughtfully.

"There are sure to be someŠsome minor things," Giles replied, looking up from the fire for a moment. He had a chair of his own. Besides that Buffy was sitting on top of Angel‹good riddens‹Anya and Xander were on the floor, Willow and Oz were on one corner of the couch and Cordelia and Doyle sat next to each other on the other. I sat in the middle and glared at all of them. Every couple had a bowl of home made popcorn in their lap. I just never got the appeal. Itıs corn. Popped. Give me a nice warm neck any day.

"Ooh, I found one!" Buffy exclaimed, getting this silly grin on her face. Gad, I donıt know what Angel sees in her.

"We noticed the Angel thing," Xander said dryly. She rolled her eyes.

"I wasnıt talking about that. I ran into Professor Walsh today when I was getting food. I asked her if we could meet sometime to talk about coordination and I mentioned something about Riley‹"

"That annoying guy?" Angel asked.

"The very one," Buffy replied. My eyes narrowed, contemplating that idiot. Who did he think he was tracking me down like that? Thinking he could get the better of me through some frigginı implant?

Okay, so he could. Damn the man.

"Anyway," Buffy continued, "She gave me this weird look. And then she said she had a student named Riley Finn two years ago‹and heıd died."

Willowıs eyes went wide. I decided this was a good world after all.

"How?" the little witch asked. Buffy frowned, a smile playing around the corner of her lips.

"Apparently some girl went psycho in the cafeteria one day and stabbed him to death with a spork! Of all the random thingsŠ"

There was a moment of silence. And then Willow giggled. Buffy began to grin, then giggle and a moment later they were all laughing.

Okay, so I may have let out a little chuckle.

What the hell was a spork anyway?

"Itıs almost midnight," Doyle remarked once theyıd all calmed down.

"Merry Christmas," Angel said softly.

There was this bonding moment. I hate those. Buffy and Angel started kissing. I shuddered.

"Would you two stop already?" I asked, and was immediately seconded by, letıs seeŠeveryone.

"Yeah," Xander said, "Get a room!"

"Or a house," Faith suggested. "I donıt want to listen to them!"

Buffy and Angel exchanged glances. Then they threw popcorn.

Buffy

Giles let us have champagne. How magnaminous of him. I threaded my fingers tighter into Angelıs as we lifted our glasses for a toast.

"To the End of Days!" Xander exclaimed. I shook my head, and turned to look at Angel. I could feel his chest rising and falling against my back. I could hear his heart beating. Weıd spent the day in the sunshine and Iıd never been happier for a California Christmas.

"No," I said softly. "To the beginning."

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