Rating: PG-13
Summary: After the Angel season finale, Angel falls asleep, and dreams.
Spoilers: End of 2nd season on Angel, Fifth on Buffy's.
Angel was exhausted, mentally and physically. The first thing he did, after making sure everyone was safe, was collapsing in a stupor, trying not to break down in the wake of Willow's message.
When he reawoke, it was to a misty plain. Dim light shone somewhere in the mist. It smelled dark and cold. The vampire shuddered. He _knew_ this place somehow...
/Angel..../ a golden voice sang in his ears.
"Who's there?" he yelled, whirling. There was no answer, and he ran towards the light. "Where are you?"
/Angel..../ the voice seemed to sing. /Where are you?/
"I'm right here. Buffy?" he shouted. "Is that you?" He kept running. The light seemed to be brighter now, and the voice seemed to be louder.
"Buffy!" A scream. A girl's scream. He stopped, and turned in the direction of the voice. He recognized it...
"Dawn, is that you?"
Something flashed out of the mist past him. Dawn... dressed in a ornate dress. He reached for her. When his fingers brushed her arm, she evaporated into mist.
/Angel.../
He turned around... and the vision he saw took his breath away.
Buffy hung in midair, hair long and flowing. She wore a long gown of white, and there was a faint impression of wings. Then he blinked, and she stood before him, in a plain black outfit. Her arms were outstretched as if embracing something. Then she blinked, and stared at him. "Angel." she breathed.
"Buffy? You're...?"
"Alive." she breathed, then hugged him. "Oh, Angel, I'm sorry... I love you..."
"I know. I do. I always will." He hugged her back, rocking her softly. "What's going on?"
A look of sadness crossed her face. "Summers blood was needed to close the rift between dimensions, to keep things from melding. It was me or Dawn, so I chose."
"Like we always choose." He closed his eyes. "Oh Buffy..."
She pulled away from him. "I... I can't stay here, Angel."
He closed his eyes tightly, then opened them, and captured her hand. "I love you." he told her.
Buffy smiled. She looked radiant, and far more like a goddess than any other being would ever look like to him. "Wait for me." she told him. Then her hand slipped out of his, and she was gone into the mists.
"Buffy!" he screamed, and ran after her.
/I will return.../ A golden voice floated to him. /It's a promise./
"I'll wait!" he screamed into the fog, tears flowing down his face. "I promise. Buffy?"
/I love you.../
"Buffy!" And then he was awake, her name on his lips. Sitting up, he opened his clenched fist.
And through his tearfilled eyes, he saw a single silver ring. Two hands held a heart, and above the heart was a crown.
"I'll wait for you." he vowed, clenching the claddagh in his fist. "Forever... I promise."
Go to the companion, On the Edge of Forever