Prologue

He was a man with no name - or at least not one he wanted to remember. He traveled, running to escape the guilt that plagued his soul. He traveled from Prague to England, finding solace nowhere. He finally boarded a ship in England, stowing away. Wearing rags of another time, he survived on rats, not daring to be seen by others--by anyone, not even those of his own kind.

When he disembarked from the ship he discovered himself to be in the Americas; New York to be exact. Surrounded by the masses of people he lost himself, and drifted. He did his best to remember nothing - especially not his name. The name that struck fear into people's hearts.

Angelus: the Angel of Death, Scourge of Europe.

Part 1

60 Years After Curse--San Francisco

It was night, of course. It was always night. He was sitting on the ground at the end of an alley, his head bowed, resting in his hands. Hunger gnawed at his thin body. He felt nothing of the guilt that had been his constant companion over the past sixty years. The hunger consumed him, raged through him, taunting him, whispering incessantly in his ear to assuage the hunger. To kill. To soothe its fire.

A muffled scream caught his attention, the noise so soft that it would have sounded as a mere squeak to a mortal man, was as clearly heard by him as if it had been a gunshot. The part of him that hungered forced him to investigate. What he saw made his soul scream in protest, for there against the alley wall, was one of his own kind sucking the life's blood from an attractive redhead.

"Stop! Let her go! Now!" he cried out.

His shout unheeded by the girl's attacker, Angelus ran at the vampire with all the force he could muster, intending to knock him away. But the other, without even looking, slapped him away with such force that he was thrown against the opposite wall. Undaunted, Angelus tried again - with the same results. This time he was forced to watch helplessly as the vampire drained his victim.

Finally finished, the vampire looked up, his demon showing.

"Let me give you some advice," he growled. "Don't try that anymore - on me or anyone else you encounter in this city. Word will get around and you'll be killed for 'interference'. As a matter of fact, I think you should run. Run far away."

Angelus stared, shocked. If anyone had dared to speak to him in that manner they would have been killed - in the old days. At that thought Angelus winced. (The old days.)

He ran.

Part 2

1986

Angelus had run as far as he could. He was halfway around the world from the place that he wanted to get away from, and if he travelled any further he'd just be going toward it again. And so, he had to stop. In California. Sunnydale.

She sat on the living room floor, quietly playing with her "ABC" blocks. Her nanny was snoring gently, having fallen asleep watching TV. A crack of thunder suddenly sounded. Startled, Willow looked up at the window.

Angelus walked down the street of an upper-middleclass neighborhood. Lost in his thoughts of regret, he had no warning of the attack. The vampires that attacked him were very young, but they outnumbered him three to one. He was too weak for a long drawn-out fight, so he did the best he could.

The first one to touch him died as Angelus snapped his neck. The second he threw into the third; knocking one unconscious and the other to the ground. Without checking to see if he was followed, Angelus ran down the street, around the corner and into someone's backyard. He saw a tree and sat down under it to rest until the sound of thunder made him look up. He sighed. It looked like it was going to rain.

Angelus looked down and saw that a light was on in one of the house's windows. Curious as to who would be up so late, he walked over and looked inside. What he saw made him catch his breath. There, sitting on the floor, was a beautifully innocent little girl - a redhead. Entranced, he stared.

The thunder crashed again as the rain suddenly poured down. He saw that the sound had made the child look up and ducked back, not wanting to scare her.

Willow was very smart, everyone said so. She had heard it said so many times that she knew it to be true. She knew that she'd seen someone outside. She knew it. (It's going to rain. Nobody should be outside. Why is someone outside?) She got up and, carefully not looking at the window, put up her blocks. She turned the TV off and went out the room.

Once out of the room, Willow walked to the front of her house. She grabbed her coat from the rack and put it on. Then she quietly opened the door and went outside.

She crept around the house to the back. As silently as she knew how, Willow walked up to the man standing in her yard. (He looks so sad. And wet. He's gonna catch a cold.)

Angelus was sorry when the child went to bed. He stood a few minutes hoping she would come back, but when she didn't, he turned to leave. Although where he would go, he really didn't know. He was surprised, to say the least, to see the child standing before him.

"You're gonna catch a cold," she warned.

"What?" Angelus asked, a bit incredulously.

"Nanna says that if you stay out in the rain you catch a cold," she stated patiently.

"Oh, but I can't get a cold," he told her.

"Well, you're still outside, and it's dark. Somebody might hurt you," she declared.

"You're very right," he agreed. "Why don't you go back inside, and I'll go on home." He started to leave.

Willow panicked a little. She didn't want him to go home. She might never see him again and she was lonely. "No," she cried, "You can't go!" It was then that the strangest thing happened. This little girl, this innocent redheaded little girl, commanded him....and he didn't leave.

"Why?" he asked. "Why can't I go?"

"Because I don't want you to!" she replied.

Quietly, Angelus watched her. Suddenly she shivered. "Come on," she said, "follow me."

Thinking she meant to invite him into her house, Angelus protested. "I can't go in there."

"Where?" she asked him. "Oh, the house? I know that - I'm not supposed to bring strangers inside. Now, come ON! I'm cold!" Again that strangest of things happened. She commanded...and he obeyed.

Curious now as to where she wanted to bring him, Angelus followed her.

Willow was surprised that the man had even thought she was going to bring him inside. Nanna had said to never bring a stranger into the house. She had a completely different solution: her treehouse.

Willow wasn't supposed to play in her treehouse until she was bigger - but she was almost six! And this was for a good reason...really it was. Her father had it made it for her, on one of his infrequent visits home, when she'd asked for it after seeing one on TV. Willow thought hers was much nicer than the one on the movie, "Swiss Family Robinson." Hers had almost everything. It even had electricity and water - just not a bathroom.

Angelus was very surprised when the girl led him up to the tree. He was even more surprised when she went around to other side and began climbing it. He traced her progress with his eyes and saw where she was headed. (A treehouse?!)

Part 3

Willow was almost all the way up when she glanced down to see how the stranger was doing. She knew that some grown-ups had trouble climbing trees. The man was just standing there! She sighed with exasperation. "You gonna come up here or not, mister?"

Resigned, Angelus started up after her without replying. Entering the treehouse he stared around in wonder. It was like a one-room house. It had a TV, a sofa, a bed, carpeting, a bookshelf. (Granted all the books look to be by Dr. Suess, but hey!) It appeared to be quite comfortable. He had seen real houses that were worse.

The child had turned the lights on. She stood watching him nervously as he looked around. "Do you like it?" she inquired.

"Yes," he answered her softly, "it's very...nice."

Willow gave him a quick smile and walked over to a chest. She opened it and removed two blankets. Willow held one out to him.

"Here. You can use this to dry off," she offered.

He took her suggestion and they dried off in silence. When finished, he hung the blankets over a chair. At last, Angelus looked up, straight into the greenest, most honest eyes he'd ever seen. For several endless seconds, neither of them moved. He had the awful feeling she was looking clear to his soul and seeing far more than he wanted her to. Eventually she spoke.

"You're very...pretty." she announced. "Are you an angel?"

"No," he replied. (Far, far from it, little girl.)

"Are you a witch?" he demanded.

Willow regarded him in bewilderment. (A witch? Does he mean like on TV?)

"I don't think so." she responded.

They silently surveyed each other for awhile, listening to the rain that was still drumming on the roof. Finally Willow dared to break the quiet to ask his name.

Angelus tried to think of what to tell her. It had been a long time since he had needed or even wanted one. He came up with nothing. He didn't want to give her his birth-name. The name under which he had committed so many horrific crimes. He also didn't want to lie.

"I don't have a name," he told her, regret in his voice. "I haven't had a name for a long time now."

"Oh." Willow sighed. (No wonder he looks so sad.) "Didn't your mother give you one?" Angelus didn't answer. He just looked at her.

"My name's Willow, and you could be my friend." she said tentatively. "Do you want to be my friend? I'll call you Angel. You really do look like one, you know. I went inside a church once and saw a picture that kinda looked like you. The angel had brown hair and everything..." Willow trailed off, out of breath.

Angelus was looking at her in amazement. He hadn't known that a girl so small could have that much breath in her. Then he focused on what she'd said. (A friend...would I be her friend?) He remembered suddenly, that night, years ago, when he had failed to save that red-haired women. He looked back to the innocent child standing before him. (I will protect her. I won't fail again)

Willow looked at him questioningly.

"Yes," he said at last. "I will be yours."

"Really?!" Willow asked happily. Then, turning serious, asked, "You won't leave me?"

"No," Angelus replied, "I won't leave."

Walking up to where he was sitting, Willow looked into his eyes. "Do you promise?"

"On my honor. I swear I won't leave."

"Oh, good," she sighed, ecstatic. Finally she had a friend. Someone who wouldn't go away and never come back. Someone besides that weird boy that lived down the street.

Willow leaned back and looked him over. "Angel...your mother really ought to dress you better. Doesn't she take care of you? Do you have a nanna too?"

Angel gave her a little smile. "No, I don't have a 'nanna'."

Willow looked at him sadly. (No nanna. Nobody to take care of him. Well, he has _me_ now! I'm gonna look after him. But first things first: sleep and then some new clothes. Definitely needs some new clothes!)

"Angel, you go to sleep now. I'll come wake you tomorrow, and we'll go get you some new clothes." When Angel looked like he was going to protest, Willow determinedly pointed out, "Yours are falling apart, you need new ones."

Angel sighed, and she knew that he'd given in. "I'm gonna go inside and go to sleep too. You'll be fine in here." She gave him a quick hug and ran to the door, where she looked back. Angel stood watching her go.

"'Night Angel"

"Good night, Willow." (My friend.)

When Willow left, Angel looked around. Seeing the windows were open, he watched her go back inside, then pulled the shutters closed and hung the damp blankets over them. Tired and hungry, Angel decided to take to girl's advice and go to sleep. He looked at the bed. (I am never going to fit in that.)

Late the next morning, Willow woke. She ran downstairs, intending to make sure her friend was okay, only to run into the problem that was her Nanna. First, she had to eat breakfast. Then, she had to clean her room. After that, she had to help dry the dishes. Her whole day went like that. She would finish one thing, only to have Nanna want her to do something else. By the time evening arrived she was so anxious that she skipped dinner and told Nanna that she had a stomachache, and could she be excused for bed?

The nanny, knowing that her charge didn't usually lie, was a little worried. After checking for a fever, and not finding one, she sent Willow off to bed.

Once out of sight, Willow ran to her room. She put her pillows under the covers. Grabbing most of her allowance money from the jar under her bed. The twenty dollars a week that her parents had ordered the nanny to give her really added up since she had nothing to spend it on.

She went outside to her balcony, and looked over the rail down at the ground. A bit scared at what she was going to do, Willow climbed down her trellis for the first time. Vastly relieved to reach the ground, she stood still for a moment to calm herself then ran to her treehouse.

Upon entering, she saw Angel sleeping...on the floor. She looked at her bed, then her sofa, then back to him. (Gosh! I didn't realize he was that long!) She watched him a few minutes trying to decide if she should wake him. He looked really tired but, on the other hand, she was bored. She woke him.

"Angel? Angel?" she whispered. He didn't even open his eyes. Worried, Willow spoke a little louder. Still no response. "Angel!" When she yelled Angel grabbed her and tickled her unmercifully.

"Stop! Stop!" *gasp* "Angel _please_! I can't *gasp* breathe!" When Angel finally stopped, she hit him. "Why did you do that?", she demanded to know when she had caught her breath.

"You made me worry. I thought you said that you'd be here sooner."

"I'm sorry but I tried to!", she protested, "Nanna wouldn't leave me alone!"

"It's all right Willow." Angel tried to calm her. "What did you want to do?"

"New clothes!," she replied excited. "You need new clothes! Come on Angel, let's go to the mall before it closes!"

(Oh Lord Above! What have I gotten myself into?)

Part 5

(Shopping, shopping! We're going shopping!) Willow sang inside as she and Angel walked down the street - well Angel walked, she skipped. They were almost there. She loved to go shopping. She'd loved it ever since her Mother had taken her on her last birthday. She wanted to get Angel something pretty to wear. And some ice-cream to make him feel better. She really hadn't _meant_ to make him worry.

When they reached the mall, people looked at them strangely, the little girl in a red jumper walking - now sedately - with the glaring man in rags. But not one of those people said anything. Strange things were always happening here. No good ever came of talking about it. Even if the man didn't have a reflection. This was Sunnydale.

Willow dragged Angel all over the mall looking for the most prettiest outfit ever. She wanted _her_ Angel to be the prettiest looking man anyone ever saw. They went through Sears, Dillards, Macy's, and a dozen other stores. Willow wouldn't even consider anything. She didn't quite know what she was searching for - but she'd know it when she found it!

Then about an hour to closing, Willow spotted an out-of-the- way store called "The Leather Den". In a daze, Angel was pulled after her. (I never knew there were so many stores in one place! And the people! And how in the world can one little girl have so much energy?! She reminded him of....) Angel didn't complete the thought.

Once inside the store, Willow looked around curiously. This place sure had some interesting things. ( Why hadn't Mother or Nanna ever let me come in here?) Then she saw it. She walked over to get a closer look, still dragging Angel behind her.

It was perfect. The shirt was the most darkest blue she had ever seen! It was almost black - almost. She reached out a hand to touch. It was so soft! (This one! I have to get him THIS one!) She looked up at Angel and saw that his attention was elsewhere - on a pair of black leather pants.

"Angel? What do you think of this shirt?" she asked.

"It's nice," he told her. He still wasn't looking, but that was good enough for her. She took it off the rack, then followed his gaze to the pants again. (He must really like them.)

Angel couldn't seem to take his eyes off those pants. He had owned pairs of leather pants before. He remembered them to be very comfortable. But they'd never been such a glorious color - black!

Willow pulled Angel over to the pants, since he didn't look like he was ever going to move. She took them off the rack and held them up to him.

"Do you think they'll fit you?"

"No," Angel put them back and took out the pair behind them. "But these will!" He sounded elated. Willow silently laughed at him. She didn't want to hurt his feelings, but she sure did grin. "Come on, Angel. Let's go buy the clothes!" Angel, happy to comply, followed her.

They quickly checked out and headed for the ice cream parlor.

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