Distribution: If you had permission to take any of my other stories, you can use this one as well. Just let me know where it's going. Others, just ask and I will most likely give permission.
Feedback: Do you even have to ask by this point?
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Joss, the WB, Mutant Enemy, (the evil)FOX, and whoever else came up with them. If they belonged to me the show would be drastically different. Please don't sue, I'm only a high-schooler without a job anyways.
Rating: Same as the TV show
Spoilers: Set at the end of the third season episode "Faith, Hope, and Trick." Small spoilers for that episode, nothing else after that has happened.
Concept: What if Buffy hadn't walked away before Angel came back? What if he hadn't come back acting like an animal?
Author's Notes: Hi again everyone! This is my thirteenth fic in the I'm-changing-a-third-season-episode-so-that-BuffyandAngel-end-up-together series. I realize it's really short and not exactly my best work, but my muse seems to have taken the day off and I really needed to get this story out of the way. Hopefully my next one will be up to my usual standards. Oh, and this changes the end of the episode very slightly to fit my purposes. Work with me here.

Buffy walked slowly into the mansion, twirling her claddagh where it hung from the chain around her neck. She had worn it this way, under her shirt, ever since she came back to Sunnydale.

Now she decided she needed to move on. She didn't really want to, but it was kind of a necessity. It wasn't like there was any chance that Angel could actually come back to her. And she knew he'd want her to be happy, at least as happy as she could be without him, without her soulmate.

She reached up slowly and unhooked the chain, sliding the ring off of it. She let the chain drop to the floor and held the claddagh between her fingers, exactly the way he had when he had first given it to her. "I love you." She whispered, bringing the ring up to her mouth and kissing the heart softly. She knelt down then, over the exact spot where Acathla had been, and set the ring on the ground, the heart pointing down where she knew he was.

"Goodbye." She said softly, her voice breaking.

She started to get up to leave, but couldn't. She just sat there, her body choked with sobs and tears streaming down her face.

Suddenly her Slayer sense went off in a huge way. She stood up quickly, trying to see through her tears what demons or vampires had dared to disturb her. She was already planning how to make their deaths as painful as possible. But she saw nothing.

She shrugged and was about to move away when the chamber behind her lit up with a bright white light. The earth shook.

She turned around quickly and saw her ring floating in the air above a huge rip in the air that swirled out different shades of light, mostly white.

Suddenly she saw a person in the middle of the light. The body floated there for a second, then fell to the floor. Her ring fell to the ground as the rip closed, and it fell right next to the figure's hand, which wore a matching claddagh ring. Both rings glowed white for a moment before returning to their normal silver color.

The naked shape looked up at her, confusion all over his beautiful face.

"Angel?!?" Buffy said in shock.

"Buffy?" He looked up at her, just as shocked. "How did I get back here?"

"I...I'm not sure. I set my ring down on the floor and the next thing I knew there was this flash of light and there you were."

"Your ring...." He picked it up from where it had fallen by his hand and handed it back to her. She looked at it for a moment as if she didn't know what to do with it.

"Put it on." He insisted gently.

"Angel, do you even remember what happened?"

"Your birthday...we made love. Then the next thing I knew we were here, and you were standing over me with....with...." He trailed off, unable to believe it.

"With a sword." Her voice broke as she knelt beside him.

"You sent me to hell!" He accused.

"And you had me there for a few months too!" She said just as angrily, even though she knew he didn't remember his time as Angelus. He would in a moment though, if what Willow had told her about the spell was true.

"What are you talking about Buffy? What did I..." He trailed off suddenly, doubling over in pain. She saw his shoulders start to shake as the memories flooded back to him.

Her anger drained away and she moved to put her arm comfortingly around him, but he pulled back. "How can you even look at me?" He snarled.

"Because it wasn't you. It was Angelus. And you're nothing like him." Buffy tried to make him look at her.

"But I am. I remember everything, everything that I did to you. I left you with no choice but to send me to hell...."

Even as his words acknowledged what she had been trying to tell herself for the past months, she could no more believe it. "Yes, I had a choice. It wasn't a good choice, but I...."

"Buffy, you couldn't let the world be sucked into hell. Not even for me." He said with a bit of gallows humor.

"But it wasn't even your fault. Angelus was..."

"Was me, Buffy. Everyone has both good and bad in them, mine are just a little more pronounced. How you can ever forgive the things I said and did to you...."

"I can't." Buffy said simply, looking down into her lap.

If she had looked up she would have seen his heart shattering. But she didn't, continuing to speak, "I can't forgive Angelus. But you're not him. I know it wasn't you that said any of those things to me or..." Buffy trailed off as she burst into tears remembering the things he has said.

"Buffy, I..." Angel began as he gathered her into his arms. She went gratefully. "Whatever you're remembering, it's not true. What Angelus said, it was meant to goad you, to throw you off balance. It was all lies."

"Was it?" Buffy whimpered. "Even what you said the first time you saw me after we...."

Angel thought back for a moment, remembering what he had said to her. His face took on an even more pained expression. "God, yes. Yes, it was all a lie. Buffy, how could you even think....you were wonderful Buffy. It was beautiful and...."

"How do I know you're not just saying that?" She wanted to believe, but she had been so hurt.

"Buffy, do you know what made me lose my soul?" Angel asked her.

"Yeah. Jenny said it was one moment of true happine.....oh...." She trailed off as she got the point he was trying to make.

"You just answered your own question. True happiness. Perfect contentment. Do you understand how rare that is in life? Especially after all I've done."

"All Angelus has done." Buffy corrected. He chose not to argue with her this time.

"I love you Buffy. I just wished there was some way for me to show you...."

"There is." Buffy whispered as she put the Claddagh ring back on her finger with the heart facing in. "Willow's spell, it wasn't a curse Angel. She gave you your soul, nothing else. You can be as happy as you want."

"You...you're sure?" He sounded like the drowning man who had just been offered a life raft.

"I wouldn't say it if I wasn't." Buffy said as she moved closer to him.

Angel kissed her slowly then, almost with reverence. He couldn't believe he had gotten a second chance. And this time, there was no way they could mess it up.

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