Chapter 11
Sunnydale
Willow and Angel woke up at the same time that Buffy was meeting with Xander. He left the house to go and pick up their daughters from Spike and Drusilla’s, so Willow found herself going through some boxes in the attic. When she found what she was looking for, Willow went downstairs and made herself some tea. Just as Willow was about to sit down, there was a knock at the door. She went to answer it, only to find Faith standing there.
"Faith, what are you doing here?" Willow asked surprised.
"Well, hello to you too, Red," Faith joked back as Willow let her in the door.
"Sorry. I just wasn’t expecting you today," Willow apologized.
"I know," Faith shrugged. "Heard about what happened last night. Thought you might want to talk about it."
Willow nodded her head, as she led Faith into the living room. "Would you like some tea?"
"Sure," Faith replied as she picked up a photo album that Willow had left on the coffee table. She flipped through it and looked at the pictures of Willow, Xander and Buffy. Willow noticed Faith’s browsing when she came back in.
"Pictures from sophomore and junior year. The original slayer and slayerettes," Willow recalled sadly. "We were the best of friends. I didn’t think anything could break us apart, we had been through so much."
"And then Buffy left," Faith stated. "You never really told me how you felt about that."
Willow just shrugged, "Not much to tell really. At first I was hurt. I mean, she just left us to fend for ourselves. After awhile, especially once we got Angel back, I grew angry."
"Because she never bothered to let you know how she was?"
"Exactly. I couldn’t believe that she didn’t care about us. Didn’t care about what happened to us. I knew she was hurt because of what happened with Angel, but we all were." Faith watched as all of the emotions that Willow had carefully hid for the part eleven years came crashing down. Faith had never had a family, having been abandoned at a young age, and she thought of Willow as a sister.
"And now she’s back, and apparently still in love with Angel," Faith said, not bothering to hid the contempt in her voice for her predecessor. (Blondie thinks that she can just come back and everyone will be five by five. God, conceited much. If she does anything to hurt my friends, human or not, I will kill her.)
"Yup, and now she’s back," Willow replied, holding back tears. "I mean, I’m glad to see her and all, but I won’t let her interfere in the life that Angel and I have made for ourselves."
"Do you think she will?"
"Oh yeah. She won’t be able to stop herself," Willow laughed hollowly. "You should have seen her last night. Once she realized that Angel was alive, she never let go of him. If she sat any closer to him, she would have been in his lap."
"If she did that, you would have kicked her ass."
"You know it. Friend or not, no one messes with my hubby," Willow said, this time her smile reaching her face. "She’s going to go after him, I know it. He was her first love. Her first lover. You never get over that. Heck, why do you think I still put up with everything Xander does." Faith laughed at that.
"Yeah, I knew there had to be a reason." Faith gave Willow a quick hug. "Well, I’ll tell you one thing. That girl is fighting a losing battle. I wasn’t here when she was, so I don’t know what the two of them had together, but from everything that you’ve told me, it would never had worked out between them. What you and Angel have together is real. It’s tangible. All it takes is one look at the two of you to know that you were meant to be together."
"Thanks Faith. It’s always good to hear that from someone else. I just hope that this doesn’t turn into a war between Buffy and myself. I don’t want the others to have to choose sides."
"Oh please, like there’s any question as to who would come out the winner," Faith said. "And just to let you know, Oz and I talked about it last night. If Buffy does make everyone choose up sides, we’ve already made our decision."
Willow looked at her friend and silently thanked her. She knew that her friends would support her and Angel, but it was always nice to here it coming from one of them. (I remember a time when I wouldn’t have been this confident of my friends’ loyalties. But that was a long time ago and we have proven that we will do anything for each other.) Willow looked over at the grandfather clock in the hall and noticed the time.
"Faith, I don’t want to rush you or anything, but since this is the first night of Oz’s cycle, I know that you two have a lot planned."
Faith grinned at Willow’s statement. "Yeah, you could say that. We’re going to have a picnic at the beach. Giles and Cordy have the kids this weekend so we can spend the time alone. I just wanted to let you know how we feel."
"Thanks and I’ll call you tonight. Maybe come over and keep you company while you’re Oz watching." Willow got up and walked Faith to the door. The two women gave each other a brief hug and Willow watched as Faith walked away. (Thanks Faith. You have no idea how much your support means to me.)
Later that day
On the other side of town, Buffy was doing some investigating of her own. In the time that she had been gone, Buffy had learned a little about using a computer, and luckily, the information that she wanted was readily available. Buffy was surprised to find that Angel had opened a restaurant in Sunnydale that was quickly becoming one the best in the country. (Who would have thought that a former vampire with a soul would know how to cook?) She decided that she wanted to go see for herself the kind of life her love had made for himself.
She walked into the restaurant and was stunned by it’s decor. The tables were individual booths with walls that were high enough to guarantee privacy for its occupants. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling that, mixed in with the candles on the table, gave off a soft lighting. (Nice. Very romantic. Wonder who did the decorating.)
"Buffy?"
"Cordelia? What are you doing here?" Buffy asked the former cheerleader that greeted her.
"I’m partners with Angel," Cordelia explained. "He does the cooking and I do the management. Perfect arrangement."
"Yeah, sounds like it," Buffy said absently, her eyes searching for Angel.
"So what brings you here? Hungry?"
"Yeah. Just in the mood for some food."
(Yeah right, why do I so not believe that.) Cordelia thought. She had never been fond of the blonde, and after everything that had happened, she was even less impressed. "Well, right this way and I’ll show you to a table." Cordelia led Buffy to a table and handed her a menu. You’re waitress will be Kim. Hope you enjoy your meal."
Buffy nodded her head as she watched Cordelia make her way to the other side of the restaurant. She saw her whisper something to one of the waitresses, before disappearing into the kitchen. (Probably going to tell Angel that I’m here.) Buffy got up to follow the brunette to find herself stop by her waitress.
"Hello, my name is Kim and I’ll be your server. Can I get you something to drink while you are looking over the menu?" Buffy looked over the waitress and saw something that she didn’t like. (She’s the girl that Cordelia just spoke to. She was probably told to keep me away from Angel. Fine, two can play at that game.) Buffy relaxed in her seat.
"Yes, I’ll have a amaretto sour please." Buffy watched the waitress go to the bar and place the order. When the Kim came back, Buffy decided to find out some things.
"Excuse Kim, can I ask you something?" Kim nodded her head. "I’m an old friend of Cordelia’s and Angel’s. I was just wondering, how long has Angel been a chef?"
"For about 8 years," Kim replied warily. Cordelia had told her about Buffy and Kim wasn’t sure she liked where Buffy might be going with her questions.
"Do you know his wife?" Buffy inquired. She could tell that the waitress didn’t like her for some reason, but she didn’t care. All Buffy wanted to know was information on Angel.
"You mean Willow," Kimberly answered. When Buffy made a slight affirmative action with her head, Kim continued. "Oh yeah. I baby-sit a lot for Angel and Willow. They like doing that whole romance thing. It’s really sweet. I hope I can find someone to love me like that." (Take that blondie. I know more about you than you think. Why do you think I’m your server.)
"You mean like how Willow loves Angel?" Buffy probed. She wanted to know what an outsider thought of Angel’s relationship with her former friend.
"Well, yeah. But also the way Angel looks at Willow. I mean all you have to do is glance at them and you can see how much he loves her," Kim added. "But, if you’re an old friend of theirs you have to know this. I mean, they’ve been together for something like ten years."
"Well, I haven’t seen them in awhile," Buffy said quietly. "When I left, they weren’t together."
"Well they are definitely together now," Kim stated flatly. "Umm, look, I have to go help another table. I’ll give you a few minutes to look over the menu." Kim left, glad to be away from the other woman. Kim was very protective of Angel and Willow, the two of them having taken the girl under their wings when she came to town originally.
Buffy took a sip of her drink, lost in her thoughts. (Okay, so maybe Angel does love Willow. I can understand that I think. I mean, she’s always been caring and compassionate and that’s something Angel hasn’t had a lot of in his life. It would make sense that he would turn to Willow. She was there when I wasn’t.) Buffy felt the usual guilt that came when she thought about her leaving Sunnydale all those years ago. She knew that she was leaving her friends and family to fend for themselves, but she just couldn’t handle dealing with the whole slayer thing and needed time for herself. (They had to understand that. Angel had to understand.) But, now, she was back and she was going to make up for lost time. She was going to regain her friendships with everyone. (Well almost everyone. I don’t think Willow will be happy when I get Angel back, but she’ll understand. She knows that Angel and I are soulmates.) Suddenly a shadow fell upon the table and Buffy looked up to see the face that haunted her dreams every night.
"Buffy."
"Angel."