Rating: G
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Summary: Angel gets a visit from a loved one
Distribution: This site, and anyone else, just ask.
Disclaimer: The characters or the show do not belong to me, they belong to Joss Whedon, the UPN and those lucky people. Please don't sue.
Angel tossed and turned in his sleep. He didn’t need sleep, but now he knew it was the only way to escape from thinking and dealing. He had never been good at dealing. But now his sleep was wrecked with fitful dreams, or not-dreams. He didn’t know. All he was certain of was that he knew there was someone special in his dreams, and they were trying to tell him something. But it was Cordelia who had the visions, not him. Angel didn’t understand, and it frustrated him. Wesley had said to ask the oracles. But what if it was something trivial? Like...nothing that had ever happened to him had ever been trivial. Angel's sleep went peaceful again, then troubled, on and off like a light. He tossed and turned again.
Suddenly he awoke with a start. Something was there, he could feel it, he could sense it. All his senses alert, he peered around the room, and then at last the disembodied voice spoke.
'Angel.' It said. Angel knew that voice. It was like heaven. But it couldn’t be...
'...Buffy?' he said, astounded, his voice boarding on reverence.
'Yes,' the voice answered. 'Angel, I am here, but...'
'Where, let me see you, Buffy!' he said, looking around the room.
'I cannot let you see me. Angel, I want to so much, but if I do, I leave.'
'I understand.' Angel said, dejectedly. 'Why are you here?'
'I am not here as you are. I think I am in heaven.' Buffy spoke wonderingly.
Angel replied, 'I wouldn’t know.'
'Heaven is the greatest gift. I am complete. Finished. Whole. And you are here. That makes it heaven.'
'Buffy, I...'
'You don’t know. But you will. Let me take you.'
Angel didn’t hesitate for a moment. He reached out for her.
'I will take you.' Buffy’s voice was heard again, and her profile appeared, shrouded in light. She reached out her hand. The very air seemed to pause still for this moment. Angel reached for her- their fingers touched; he reached out more...FLASH! A crack of light appeared from nowhere, the room plunged into darkness, and Angel knew no more.
When he woke, he was lying in a bed. A bed with soft sheets and silken pillows. What? He wasn’t used to this. And he was wearing...well, nothing. Angel saw his clothes lying on a chair nearby, and he put them on, then looked about at his surroundings. He had never been in a place this...well...holy before. Why would he be in a place like this? And who had placed him in the bed? Then the memories came flooding back, from, he presumed, the night before. Buffy! What happened to her? Was she here?
Angel went over to the gold ornate window, and looked out. He could see, in the near- twilight, green field and trees. It looked...well, perfect. But this couldn’t be right, Angel thought. He didn’t deserve perfection after all the things he had done. Angel buttoned up his shirt and walked out the door. He saw...Willow walking towards the room he had come out of, dressed in an elegant dress the colour of royalty.
'Angel!' she said, smiling. 'You’re awake! We were worried for you.'
'Willow. What the hell's going on?'
'What?' Willow’s friendly smile creased into a frown.
'Where’s Buffy?'
'Who is Buffy?' Willow asked, still frowning.
'Oh, this is fun,' Angel muttered. 'Do you know who I am?'
'Of course- Elizabeth!' Willow broke off and smiled again. A beautiful young woman was walking down the steps wearing a flowing gown the colour of beauty. Angel gasped. Her voice broke out like a song while all is quiet.
'Willow!' The woman said. 'Is our stranger out of sleep?'
'Yes,' Willow answered, 'He is walking, but not quite healed, it seems. He asks for a lady named ‘Buffy’.'
At the mention of the name Elizabeth’s eyes glassed over for a split second. Willow didn’t notice, but Angel did.
'Buffy,' he said, turning to Elizabeth. 'Don’t you know me?'
'I think you may be mistaking me for somebody else.' Elizabeth smiled kindly. 'You need to rest, but first you must take a walk with me in the gardens. They have powerful healing properties.'
'Daniel will be practicing until midday, I’ll serve dinner, if that suits?' Willow asked Elizabeth.
"That will be fine," Elizabeth said, smiling.
Angel settled into bed that night. It had been the strangest day. The sunlight on his face! He remembered the warmth of it and smiled. But the very fact that he was here, in this place, troubled him. Why was he here? Why didn't Buffy know him? Why didn't the others? All they seemed to know was that he had appeared out of air, in the room he woke up in one night. Angel knew something wasn't right. Did something happen to him when Buffy's fingers touched him? He decided to go and see Buffy. He must make her remember.
He crept down the corridor stealthily peering into doors then gliding away like a ghost. Then he reached a different room, and knew instantly that it was Buffy's. It was...different from all the others, it felt different, more gold and ornate, and Angel could smell Buffy's naturally sweet scent. She was sitting at her dresser, brushing her golden hair. Buffy smiled when Angel entered.
"I thought you'd come." It wasn't a question. Angel was silent. Then-
"Buffy." He said her name, and noticed the flicker across her eyes that he had noticed before. "Do you know who I am?"
"I will name you," she said, "Angel."
"You don't know me." Buffy smiled that paper smile again. Angel reached up and touched her face. It felt like Buffy... "Do you remember?" Buffy's smile was fixed now. Angel knew something strange was going on. Then it hit him.
"Buffy."
Angel's face contorted into his vampire style. His fangs bared, and his eyes shrunk. Buffy was staring at him in wonder...
"Angel." Buffy said, and this time, he knew it was she. "How...where am I...I knew you would be with me..." Buffy stared wildly at her surroundings. Angel knew she didn't know where she was. She looked shaken, shocked and confused.
"What's the last thing you remember doing?" he asked her.
"I...was protecting Dawn," Buffy's face split into an inane grin, "She's special you know...a pretty, shiny, little key."
"Shhh..." Angel held Buffy against his chest, and she wept. Then-
"I love you Buffy, you must never forget that." Angel told her.
"I love you." She said back.
FLASH! White light shimmered and bubbled around them, and then a wave of pale blue appeared between them. Buffy held her hand out, but Angel knew his time with her was over. She had to walk alone; she could protect herself now.
"Angel...stay with me," Buffy asked helplessly. Angel looked at her, but did not say a word. The blue light between them crackled like the white around them then disappeared. One solitary tear slid down Angel's cheek. Then the black fire came around Angel and he felt himself being lifted away...the room slowly disappeared, Buffy and her tears fading into blackness...
Angel's next sight was his room. He could feel himself here in L.A. just as he was before Buffy came to his room...but he could sense himself over the rainbow with Buffy sailing away into the moonlight. He knew that wasn't real. Suddenly he was brought back to LA by the sound of Cordelia coming into his room.
"Angel? Are you okay?"
"Fine." She nodded, and left. Angel knew he had been somewhere out of this world tonight, and it wasn't hell. And he couldn't even consider the possibility of...heaven?
A phone rang...the ring sounding far away and muffled. He picked the phone up.
"Angel." He said.
"Hello? It's Willow." She sounded bright and cheerful. "Hey, we've brought Buffy back from the dead! She said she was in hell! We saved her!"
Angel lowered the phone slowly. He knew Buffy wouldn't tell her friends where she had been. Angel recalled the time he became mortal and lowered his head in sadness.
It was one of those things...