Part 6
Two Nights Later

Willow sat up in bed, feeling strangely light...like she'd lost about ten pounds. She warily examined her surroundings, finding it difficult to place where she was...probably because she'd never been in Angel's bedroom before--and she'd certainly never been in Angel's bed before.
She threw the sheets back from her body, enjoying the cool rush of freash air over her bare legs. . .<my bare legs?!?!?> she thought in a panic. <Oh. My. God. Someone undressed me.> Closer inspection revealed her to be wearng a man's shirt that was about eight sizes too large, and boxers that were almost as bad. Seizing her clothes around the waist to keep them from falling off, she leapt out of bed half-panicked.
Once she left the bedroom, she realized where she was and half-remembered what had happened...like breaking up with Oz.
Tears bit at her throat <I'm so alone..> Guilt flushed her body...<After everything we'd been through. . .I cheated on him and he forgave me. . . he bought me pez. . .> She shook herself and demanded that she stop feeling sorry for herself. She knew damn well she didn't want to be in that relationship anymore, because she just wasn't the same person that entered into it. She was tired of it and if getting out of it meant being alone, then so be it.
All brave thoughts of independence left Willow at the sight of Angel's bare back, sillouetted against the blazes in the fireplace. . .
***
"Angel?"
Willow's tenitave voice came from behind him. He turned, suprised, and walked towards her as if he expected her to collapse at any minute.
"How do you feel?" he asked, searching her eyes.
"Different . . .Good, but strange." she looked at him. "What happened to me?"
He lead her over to a chair by the fire, smacking a sleeping Giles's feet on the way. He sat up in a confused flurry, and took a minute to focus on his surroundings.
"Oh, Willow. You're awake. How are you feeling?"
She smiled. "Better than I ever have, but different. . Must have been some flu, huh?"
The two men looked at each other.
"Willow," they began. Angel nodded to Giles to finish. "What happened to you wasn't the flu, it was an. . .awakening of sorts--an awakening of something that's been inside of you for a very long time."
"Which is?" she asked, feeling quesy. Without even thinking about it, she reached out for Angel, and found his hand ready to take hers.
"Your immortality," Giles said.
***
"So wait a minute-- because of whatever was releasd when the binding failed, some secret slayer gene I have woke up to fight it?"
"Um, yes," Giles said. "The Eternal Child is the ultimate warrior-- a slayer, yes, but much more than that. She is only called when the Darkness has become too powerful. One hasn't been awakened in well over four hundred years."
Angel grinned. "You're older than me, kiddo."
"What a minute," she said. "If I'm immortal, than how come I'm not already here?" <Yeah, that makes sense.>"I mean, why isn't the one from four hundred years ago here?"
"Well, you will die, Willow, probably of old age. Certainly not of disease, though. And you will live longer than a normal human would. But your body won't age--Hence the 'Eternal Chlid' bit. 'She will keep the mask of innocence for all years'" he quoted.
"So you're eighteen for the next, 200 years or so," Angel informed her.
"How do you know it's me?" she asked, staring into the fire."I mean, I get a fever and all of a sudden I'm a warrior princess? Giles, I'm not-- Battles never been my thing. Research girl, remember? No danger and all that. I don't have the strentgh to fight the world's darkness. I can't even kill spiders."
Giles stood, and read out of one of the volumes he had brought with him:
"When Dark takes light,
the Slayer will fall.
The Child is Called.
Hair aflame,
heart alight
shall rise from human
to take the fight."
"That still doesn't necessarily mean--" Her voice died as Giles ran her through with a fencing foil.
***
Willow screamed before she realized it didn't hurt.
Angel reached over and pulled it out of her chest.
"Christ, do you have to be so dramatic? You scared the hell out of her,"he said calmly.
"Yes, well, sorry. Was that proof enough for you, Willow?" he asked, with just an ensy bit of smuggness.
Willow looked down at her not-bleeding torso. "I'm going back to bed," she announced."This is obviously a bizarre dream and I'm leaving before I'm taking my history final naked."
Giles watched as she pranced from the room. "This is impossible to believe," he said, damn near giddy.
"No,"Angel said,looking at her. "Not for me, it's not."
***
"Giles left," Angel said from the doorway of his bedroom.
"I've never seen him giddier,"Willow replied.
"It's a big discovery for a Watcher,"Angel said, sitting next to her on the. . .on the bed. "Add into it this mess with Wesley--"
"What about Wesley?"
Angel cleared his throat. "Having one Slayer die and another go clinically insane when they were perfectly healthy a month and a half ago doesn't do to much for your record. The Council has recalled him back to England for a hearing. Meanwhile, the man who was 'unfit' to be a Watcher has found the ultimate Slayer, who, oh, yeah, Wesley was willing to let die at the hands of the Mayor two weeks ago. . .hmmmm. I'd say he has a right to be happy."
"Wesley's in England? Cordelia must be dying."
"Uh, Cordelia kind of went...with him."
"Are you serious?!" she smacked him with a pillow. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Baffled, Angel babled, "I thought. . .I mean, Eternal Child and all!"
"Ugh. Gossip always preceeds super powers."
"I'm sorry. She stopped by to say goodbye, but you were a little..."
"Hallucinating? Unconcious?"
"Something like that. She. uh, helped you into some more. . .comfortable clothing." Angel looked extremly uncomfortable.
"Oh," Willow said, three-fourths relieved, one-fourth disapointed.
"She told me to tell you to 'Get well Soon' "
"Two acts of compassion in a row. That's gotta be a record for Cordelia."
"She didn't exactly look like herself." He paused "She took the news about Xander hard, Willow."
"I guess. . . I think she still loved him." Willow swallowed hard. A tear slipped out of her eye. "I know that feeling,"she whispered.
Angel hugged her, as if it were the most natural thing in the world to be holding Willow in his bed while she was wearing his boxer shorts.
"I miss them so much," she sobbed.
He just held her tighter.
***
Angel watched Willow sleeping, sprawled across his bed where he had lain her back when her tears had stopped.
"Stay," she had mumbled.
There was no other option for him.
He looked at her. Lonliness radiatied off of her in waves. He took a mental tally in his head.
The boy who was practically her brother, whom she loved with her whole heart, was dead.
Her best friend from the past almost four years, the one person who would probably understand what finding out you were destined to save the world was like, was dead.
Her relationship with her werewolf boyfriend was, according to Giles, over.
The one girl who was left in her circle of friends was in England.
Angel could see the tight lines of solitude around Willow's eyes and it damn near broke his heart.
***
Willow stirred and opened her eyes. It was still night time, the wicca in her could feel that, despite the heavy black-out curtains Angel had hung.
Speaking of Angel, he was still perched on the end of the bed.
<He didn't leave,> she thought, and felt just a little bit warmer.
"Angel," she said, voice thick with sleep.
"I'm here," he soothed, leaning in closer. She could see his face a little bit better now. She sat up.
"I'm sorry," she appologized. "I didn't mean to go to pieces on you. It's just, that's a heck of a thing to learn about yourself, and you top that off with being sick and everything else that's happened--"
Angel leaned in and kissed her.
She sighed, leaning into his body. His arms tightened around her and pulled her gently into his lap. His lips were soft but passionate. His tounge filled her mouth with comforting strokes that she welcomed desperatly. She leaned her head onto his shoulder when the kiss broke.
"What was that?" she whispered. The hand that wasn't locked warmly around her waist buried itself in her hair, sheltering her against him.
"I don't know," he said hoarsly. She looked up into his face. He looked a little bit scared, but his eyes were filled with pasion.
So were hers.
"Neither do I," she murmured.
Then she reached up and pressed her lips against his.
***
Angel leaned back into the softness of the pillows, and felt Willow's head lay to rest on his bare shoulder. The coolness of her hair spread across his chest sent fire throught his body. Her small arms held him across his stomach, and he listened as her heartbeat and breathing slowed to normal. She gave a little baby noise, like a coo or a sigh, and he knew her eyes were closing.
<What just happened here?> he thought wildly. <You and Willow just made love, you lucky bastard> his brain answered.
The thought filled him with tenderness, and a light joy. He tightened his grip on her body and closed his eyes too.
Only to have them fly open again moments later, as they filled with a golden light, and pain ripped through his body. . .

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