Summary: Post NFA She wants to fold him into her arms and guard the last piece of Angel left on this earth.
A/N: Written for 15minuteficlets. The word was true. I argued with my muse for a week over writing this piece. I finally gave in.

The old fashioned skeleton key fits perfectly in the lock, the beginning of reality crashing down. She turns the key, listening as the pins and tumblers fall into place with a clank. The door swings open on well oiled hinges, evidence he was here just a little while ago. As she walks into the lobby of the hotel, the numbness begins to drain away starting from the inside out. This place, that key makes it true. She falls to her hands and knees as her stomach purges itself of her breakfast. She kneels there panting, the air rushing down her throat and inflating lungs that feel as if she is taking her first breath. Her lungs constrict with the same pain. It is only minutes later that the numbness is completely sapped away. Her knees, the heels of her hands, ache from the impact with the stone floor.

"So you're Her."

She gets to her feet and turns catching sight of the boy (man?) that looks nothing like his father and yet he feels like his father. This boy resonates something deep inside her. She wants to fold him into her arms and guard the last piece of Angel left on this earth.

Their introductions are brief, wooden and unnecessary. They knew who the other was before words were spoken. Angel had explained him in a letter he'd left for her, along with two claddagh rings, a skeleton key and half of his estate.

There were provisions to that half, one of them being that his son would always have a place in this hotel. She was glad to comply with the provisions. If she has her way this boy will never be out of her sight again.

She makes tea because it is how she has been taught by Giles to cope with things. There is very little, according to the watcher that tea won't mend. Her heart is one of them. She sits at the opposite end of the table and they regard each other uncomfortably.

"My adopted family, the one he made for me.after the Orlan Window was broken.they remembered I wasn't theirs. The Reilly's are good people, they said I could stay with them anyway. They said I still felt like their son, they still loved me. It didn't feel right though."

She nods. Angel had explained the Reilly's and the normal life he'd tried to create for his son. He'd also explained how it had failed.

"What were you to him?"

Her head snaps up at that question. She furrows her brow, unable to explain.not sure she knows. She finally shakes her head.

"Okay, then what was he to you?"

She pauses, unsure how to explain her soul mate, her love, her friend, warrior, protector. A smile touches her face, her first since hearing of his death. "My everything."

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