Angel felt Cordelia stiffen beside him as he brought his fist up to knock. He
knew she was nervous about being back in Sunnydale. Strangely, after all
their years fighting demons and vampires, they had only lost one of their
own. Willow. What hurt worse was that the girl had been a link that tied them
all together. Upon losing her, he and Cordelia had stayed away, keeping in
touch with Giles by email but never setting foot in Sunnydale again. Until
now. The door opened and he saw Anya smiling at them.
 

"Oh my god....I must be seeing things" she said, a smile on her face as she
hugged Cordelia. She looked at Angel, the smile fading as she saw the look in
his eyes. She glanced back into the room, seeing that the adults had stopped
talking and were trying to see who she was hugging.
 

"Anya" Cordelia said softly, stepping into Giles' new apartment. He had
purchased it a few years before, saying the other one held too many memories.
She saw the others watching, their expressions growing serious as Angel
stepped into the room. "Hey guys. Having a party?"
 

"My birthday" Giles said, knowing that the two had not returned from LA for
this event. He saw Buffy stand, her breathing ragged as she moved away from
their visitors and went to sit beside Andrew, her son, who was playing with
Anne and William. "And Jesse's."
 

"Jesse?" Cordelia said, smiling a bit. "He's already twelve months?"
 

"Growing fast" Xander said, noticing the tension in the air. He wasn't sure
why Deadboy had returned, but he could tell from the pained look on the
vampire's face that he wished he hadn't. That scared him. He had kids now...a
wife. There had been no great evil to fight for years, since the Hellmouth
had been closed. Most nasties stayed away from Sunnydale now, knowing what
they would face. Two slayers and a group that had been slaying for over ten
years. "How are you Delia?"
 

"I'm fine, Xander" she said, her eyes on the children who were playing,
oblivious to the adult's behaviour. She smiled sincerely as she listened to
them, "Gawd, they are so big."
 

"It's been six years" Riley reminded, his eyes falling on the children.
 

"I remember" Cordelia said softly, laughing as William told his story.
 

Angel moved behind Cordelia, his hand seaking hers for strength. Buffy had
not spoken, ignoring them both completely. With the children around, he
couldn't very well blurt out why they were back. He smiled as he listened to
William tell a story that had Anne and Andrew completely enthralled in
moments. Soon, even the adults were listening to the child.
 

"And then the evil nasty demon tried to kill the butiful princess. But she
was too fast for him. She swirled and she danced, putting him under a spell.
Soon, he was sleeping and she was able to kill the mean thing. Of course, the
mean old witch wasn't happy" William said, watching as his sister's eyes
widened. He loved scaring Anne.
 

"What did she do?" Anne asked, her soft voice a whisper.
 

"She made the princess disappear." William said, nodding sagely.
 

"Disappear?" Andrew said. "But, what about the prince? He saved her didn't
he?"
 

William shook his head sadly, "No. The princess is still disappeared, lost
until the prince saves her. But she likes being lost. She smiles alot. And
she watches out for us."
 

"I don't like that story" Anne said, her lower lip trembling. "I want the
pretty princess to have a happy ending...."
 

William realized that Anne was going to cry. His sister crying usually meant
he got into trouble. He hastened to add, "But, the prince found out about the
mean old witch. He killed her and then the princess was able to be happy. He
joined the princess in the disappeared place, cause she liked it there. Then
they both watched over us, keeping us safe." He saw Anne's dark brown eyes
smiling at his new ending and felt relief spread over his six year old body.
He hated getting in trouble. Mother was always mean and made him listen to
history lessons. Problem was Anne cried about everything it seemed to him.
Girls, he thought in disgust. "And the pretty princess and the prince lived
happily ever after."
 

"Why would they watch over us if the witch was gone?" Andrew asked, his blue
eyes confused.
 

William scowled at the five year old. "Because, they love us. Now, quit
asking dumb questions."
 

"William" Anya threatened, a smile in her voice. She loved hearing her son's
tales of the pretty princess. Every day it seemed the princess was living
another adventure. Last week, she had fought off evil robots from someone
named Murdioch or some such thing. Her son had a wonderful imagination and
she cherished that. He also loved trying to scare his little sister which
wasn't so good. But, his talent for story telling had kept the other children
quite for over a year now. Quiet children? Who was she to complain. "Maybe
you and the other kids should go in and get ready for bed."
 

"But ma" William whined in the voice he had heard his father use. He blinked
his eyes at his mother, unaware how much like his father he looked. He heard
his aunt Buffy laugh at his expression.
 

"Uh oh, Anya. The infamous puppy dog eyes" Buffy said. "Andrew, go on in and
try to sleep. Mommy and Daddy are going to be here a little longer" she said,
kissing her son. He smiled and kissed his father before going into his
grandpa's guest room.
 

"Goodie goodie William said, making a face at Andrew. He yelped as Anya
grabbed him, laughing as she took him into the guest room.
 

"Come on, storyteller. Maybe you can tell them another Pretty Princess story
before bed" Anya said with a smile.
 

"I wanna be carried" Anne said, looking at her daddy.
 

Xander sighed, picking up the girl and tickling her. "You want? Come on
rascal. Let's get you into bed."
 

"After Anya and Xander return, I trust you will tell us why you are here?"
Giles said, looking at Angel.
 

"Yes" he said simply, that one word scaring the adults more than anything
they had heard lately.

next