Chapter 10

 Sunnyvale 2009

 Angel sat and held his wife in his arms, comforting her. He knew that the assault she had just endured by Buffy had taken a lot out of her. He still couldn’t believe the anger that had radiated from the former slayer when she discovered that Willow and Angel were married. (How could she think that Willow would marry me just to spite her. And what right does she have in assuming that just because she has decided that she wants me back, that I would willingly go running back to her. She sent me to hell and then ran away, leaving everyone who cared about her behind, without so much as a second glance.) So caught up in his anger at his former love, Angel didn’t noticed that Willow’s crying had lessened.

 "Angel," she said tentatively, "she’s not going to accept us being together, is she?"

 "I don’t know little one," he replied truthfully. "But nothing she can do will separate us. I love you too much for that to happen." Angel gently pulled Willow away from his chest and kissed her. Finally, her lips left his as she settled her head back into his chest.

 "I know you do. And, just so you know, if you even thought of seeing if there was any of that magic left between you and Buffy, I’d understand," Willow said, squeezing Angel’s waist. He couldn’t help but be touched by her gesture, but also knew how much it took out of her to say those words.

 "There isn’t anything between Buffy and I, no matter what she thinks. I have what I want right here," he said, kissing the top of her head. (And I don’t plan on letting it go anytime soon. I can promise you that.) "Willow, how do you feel about Buffy being back?" Angel knew how hurt Willow was originally by Buffy’s absence and how much she had wanted for the blonde to return to Sunnyvale and her friends. He also knew how that hurt had turned into anger when it became apparent that the slayer wasn’t going to return. He wasn’t sure how this latest development would affect his wife and he was concerned at how Buffy’s return had seemed to bring back the self-conscious teenager that was unsure of how he felt.

 "I don’t know how I feel," she said as she got more comfortable. "I mean, I’m glad that she’s still alive and all, but I’m angry that she thinks that she can just come back here and everything will be the same." Willow curled up in Angel’s lap, twisting her body so that she looked like a little kitten. Angel found himself stroking her hair. "The way that she just kept holding you, I don’t know, it bothered me." (Yeah, bothered me all right. Admit it, it made you want to rip her heart out right there and then.)

 "Why didn’t you say anything then?"

 "I don’t know," Willow confessed. "I just was so surprised to see her standing there at the door."

 "I think everyone was. Poor Rupert was white as a sheet."

 "I know. He always blamed himself for Buffy’s disappearance," Willow continued. "I think that was one of the reasons he didn’t allow Faith to become that close to him when she first arrived in town. He was too afraid of getting close to a slayer again in case something happened to her."

 "Yeah, well Faith got to him all the same. (With a little help from Cordelia.) Just like she got to all of us," Angel said. Willow nodded her head in his chest.

 "True, especially when we all accepted the fact that Buffy didn’t want anything to do with us. And we all became better friends because of it. We had to."

 "But now Buffy’s back," Angel stated.

 "Yup and things are not going to be the same," Willow sighed. "We aren’t the same people we were back in high school. We’ve all changed so much, you especially, and I don’t know if she will be willing to accept us as who we are now." (And who we are with.)

 "She will, if she really wants to be a part of our lives."

 "Angel, are you truly happy?" Angel looked down at Willow, surprise and confusion clearly written in his eyes. "I mean, are you really happy with your life now?"

 "I couldn’t be happier," he answered without hesitation. "There is not a single regret with how my life has turned out. You have given me so much, between my becoming mortal and then the girls, that I will willingly spend the rest of my life showing you how much you mean to me."

With that sentence, all of Willow’s last remaining doubts about her relationship with Angel were erased. She knew that no matter what Buffy may do or say, nothing would come between her and Angel. She lifted her head and kissed her husband. Those were the last rational thoughts in Willow’s head before she lost herself to the passion that came.

 The Next Day

 Buffy was walking around Sunnydale, taking in the changes that had occurred since the last time she had been in town. The town seemed to have thrived in her absence. The evil that had always been present seemed to have diminished. She found herself absently heading towards her old high school, only to be stopped short. In place of the school, was a park. She saw a plaque at the entrance and stopped to read it.
 
 

(What in the world? What happened when my class graduated? I’ll have to ask Giles about it, or maybe Angel.) At she thought of her ex-boyfriend, Buffy’s memories of the night before came flooding back to her. (I can’t believe Angel’s alive. Really alive.) Then she remembered the two little girls that had made their presence known to Buffy by running in and jumping on top of Willow and Angel. (Willow. Why in the world did Angel marry her? Was it pity? Did he think he needed to marry her out of a sense of obligation for restoring his soul and bringing him back from hell?) Buffy wasn’t sure why Angel had married Willow, but she was determined to find out. She was positive that the marriage wasn’t made out of love, and now that she was back, Buffy was sure that her and Angel were meant to be together.

 Buffy walked into the park, watching all of the happy families spending time outside on a beautiful Saturday. Her heart broke at the thought of everything that she had lost so long ago. She thought about the things that she used to dream about when she was growing up, Having a loving husband and children. That was all she ever really wanted out of life, but that wasn’t to be. She had to be a slayer and having a normal family life didn’t come with the territory. (I wonder if that girl Faith has found it just as difficult as I did to have a normal life.)

 She wasn’t lying to her friends the night before when she told them that she hadn’t really had any lasting relationships in her life. She just didn’t want to deal with the pain that came when the men in her life eventually decided that they didn’t want to deal with her mood swings and left. They never understood why she was always so secretive because she refused to let them get close to her. (Only one man has ever been that close to me, and I had to send him to hell. But now he’s back and I have a second chance at happiness. So what if he is married to Willow. Why would he want little ole Willow when I’m here.) Buffy was so absorbed with her thoughts that she never noticed Xander and Anya in front of her.

 "Earth to Buffy, come in Buffy," Xander said, waving his hand in front of her.

 "Hey Xander." Buffy noticed Anya at his side, "Hello again, Anya." Anya didn’t say anything, she just nodded her head. Anya knew about Buffy, of course, and the closeness that her husband had once shared with the blonde, but Anya considered Willow family and she didn’t like the way that the former slayer had treated her friend. Xander knew how Anya felt because he felt the same, but he still had feelings for his old friend.

 "So what has you so deep in thought?" Xander asked, trying to break the silence that hovered between the old friends. Buffy smiled at his attempt.

"Just thinking about old times," she answered wistfully. "About everything that happened All that we went through back in school." She smiled at Xander. "You know, I’ve actually missed this town." Anya snorted and Xander looked at her sharply.

"Well, I guess the two of you have a lot to catch up on," Anya said. "I’m going to go watch Jessie." Xander gave his wife a brief kiss and watched as she went over to join their 6 year old son.

 "I take it, he’s Jessie," Buffy said, watching Anya playing with the little boy. She and Xander started walking away from the other families at the playground.

 "Yup, he turned six this past Christmas," he replied proudly. "Him and Kathy are the best of friends, just like me and her mother were when we were that age." Xander regretted mentioning Willow, even if not her name, as soon as it was out of his mouth.

 "Speaking of her mother, what happened between Willow and Angel?" Buffy asked as innocently as possible. Unfortunately, Xander wasn’t buying it.

 "She got him out of hell and they fell in love. Pretty much covers it," he answered, not wanting to anger the blonde at his side.

 "There’s got to be more than that," Buffy argued. "I mean, nothing against Willow, but she’s not exactly Angel’s type."

 "Buffy, I am not having this discussion with you," Xander stated defensively. "The two of them have been through a lot and have gotten through it together."

 Buffy was surprised at the tone in Xander’s voice. (Xander hated Angel the entire time that we were together. Why is he suddenly protective of him?)

 "Why are you defending him, Xander?" Buffy asked curiously. "I would have thought you would have liked nothing better than for Angel to stay as far away from Willow as possible."

 "Originally I did," Xander admitted, "but then Angel proved himself time and again and I got over it. Especially since he was human and one hell of a cook." Buffy looked up startled at that revelation. (Angel cooks? He never cooked for me.) "And when Giles forgave him for what Angelus did, I figured it was time to get over my anger also."

Buffy just shook her head. "But, we’re talking Willow and Angel. My Angel."

 Xander stopped and took Buffy’s arm. "No, Buffy, not your Angel. He hasn’t been your Angel since your 17th birthday." Buffy looked sharply at Xander, and hated seeing the anger in her eyes. "I’m sorry if that bothers you, Buff, but it’s true. When Angel came back, he wasn’t the same. His time in hell changed him almost as much as being mortal did. And Willow was there for him."

 "So, what, he married her out of a sense of duty right?"

"No Buffy," Xander replied, "I already told you, he married her out of love. I should know. I was there when he proposed. We all were."

 Buffy was confused. "What do you mean, you were all there when he proposed?"

 Xander pulled Buffy over to a nearby bench and sat down, signaling for her to do the same. "It was at out graduation party. We had just defeated the mayor and Angel was hosting a big blow out at the Bronze. You know he owns it right?" Buffy shook her head, showing that she didn’t. (And what does he mean, defeated the mayor? Does this have something to do with the plague at the entrance?) Well, Angel grabbed the microphone and started saying how much Willow had done for him and how much she meant to him and he got down on bended knee and in front of everybody, asked her to marry him."

 Buffy was shocked. (Angel asked Willow to marry him in front of a crowd at the Bronze?) Everything that Xander just said made no sense to her. The man that he was describing to her was nothing like the man she remembered. (Must have been because he wanted everyone to see his gesture. Yeah that’s it.) Having convinced herself, yet again, that Angel was still hers and only involved with Willow out of friendship, she decided to ask Xander a few questions about Sunnydale.

 "Xander, what happened to the school? I saw the plague at the entrance to the park, does it have something to do with the whole defeating the mayor thing?"

 Xander glanced away for a moment, apparently recalling the events that had occurred at graduation. By the look on his face, Buffy could tell that they were not pleasant memories. "The mayor a major demon that was sent to ascend on graduation day. It wasn’t going to be pretty from the descriptions that Anya gave us." He turned back to look at Buffy, "She had seen it happen before. She was scared, which is saying a lot. We had come up with a plan to defeat the mayor but it involved the whole student body. So, we got everybody together, armed them with stakes and crossbows and any other weapons that we could find, and we went to graduation prepared for a fight." Xander stopped when he saw the shocked expression on Buffy’s face.

 "How come you had to get everyone involved? I mean, that was asking a lot of them wasn’t it? How did you know that they would even believe you?"

 "Well, as it turned out, the student body was not quite as blind as we thought to the hazards of Sunnydale," Xander continued. "At prom, they kind of honored the Scooby-gang with a little award because they knew that we had something to do with the fact the Class of 1999 had the lowest mortality rate in Sunnydale High history. As for why we needed them involved, the mayor had employed the local vamp population to help with the ascension. So while, Faith and Giles went after the mayor, who had turned into this huge snake, the rest of us attacked the vamps."

 "And the school?"

 "The only way to destroy the demon was by a powerful explosion. So we blew it up and poof, no more demon. Then it was time to party at the Bronze," Xander finished. Buffy digested the information that was just given to her. (Their classmates knew about the vampires? They blew up the school to destroy the mayor? Wow, they really have gone through a lot together, haven’t they?)

 "Wow. I can’t believe all that’s happened since I’ve been gone. Doesn’t seem like you even had time to miss me."

 "Buffy, of course we missed you, but you left and we had to go on. Until Faith came, only the Slayerettes were left. And after that, we helped her like we had helped you. And we all grew up."

 "So you did," Buffy said sadly. Before Buffy could say anything more, she’s interrupted by Jesse running over.

 "Daddy, mommy said we could go over to Aunt Cordy’s to play with the puppy. Can we go please?" Xander laughed at his son.

 "Yes, Jesse we can go," Xander turned to Buffy. "Jesse, this is an old friend of your daddy’s named Buffy."

 "Hi," Jesse replied shyly. (He looks so much like Xander.) Buffy stood up and looked down at Xander.

 "Thanks for talking to me Xander. I have missed you," she said meaning it.

 "No prob, Buff. You know you can. Call anytime,’ Xander reached into his pocket. "Here, take my card. It’s got my home and work number on it. Call me, okay."

 "Sure." Buffy watched as Xander and Anya led Jesse out of the park. She had a lot to think about considering everything that Xander had just told her, the least of which was how to get Angel back. She knew that Xander was being protective of his best friend, but she knew that Angel still loved her, no matter what the others said.

 "Don’t worry Angel. I’ll make sure that Willow understands that you only married her out of a sense of duty but they you really love me." With that last thought, Buffy headed back to her hotel to plan her seduction of Angel.
 
 

Next