“There is no curse.”

Xander stopped mid-sentence and the words that had silenced him seemed to hang in the air for a moment.

“What?” questioned Giles in a voice that was little more than a whisper.

“There is no curse,” Buffy repeated, “or rather, there’s no longer any way of breaking the curse.  Angel’s soul is here to stay.”

“Are…are you quite sure?  When did this – how did this – happen?”

“The Oracles amended the curse just before we called you in Sunnydale.”

“The…Oracles?” Giles repeated in awe, “They’re supposed to be a myth!”

“So are vampires, to most people,” pointed out Angel, dryly.

“Yes, that true,” Giles admitted, “but…the Oracles!  You’ve actually spoken to them?  All of you?”

“Only Buffy and Angel have met them,” Cordelia informed him, “apparently they’re kinda snobbish about only seeing ‘Warriors’ and Wesley and I don’t count!  They just send me head-splitting visions whenever they want Angel to do something,” she added a little bitterly.

“Visions?” questioned Xander incredulously, “You have…visions?”

“Uh-huh, I’m Angel’s link to ‘The Powers That Be’, and believe me, I didn’t ask for the job!” she looked at him disdainfully, her expression pure Queen C, and added, “But at least I’m doing something useful, which is more than you can say!  Still fetching donuts are you?”

Xander glared at her indignantly and opened his mouth to give her an angry reply, only to realise that he couldn’t think of anything to say and close it again.

Buffy gave a slightly watery giggle at the sight of Xander’s outraged expression and Angel threw Cordelia a grateful look, which she returned with a smile, for distracting Buffy from Xander’s earlier accusation.

“It doesn’t make sense,” said Giles, having barely noticed the exchange between the Xander and Cordelia, “the Oracles are supposed to further the plans of the Powers That Be, not help individuals!  Why would they make an exception for the two of you?”

“Because they need us, and because we’re stronger together than we are apart and they know it.”  Buffy told him, “They said that we were ‘two who were one’ and the balance had to be restored or Faith would win.”

“‘Two who are one’?  They actually said that?”  Giles questioned intently, and when Buffy nodded he lapsed into silence, trying to absorb what he had just learned.

Willow and Xander watched him in confusion, unsure of the significance of what Buffy had said.

After a long moment, Giles looked across to where Buffy and Angel sat and said, “I…I owe the two of you an apology.  All this time I’ve been thinking that you had some kind of…choice about the way you feel, that it was just the lure of the forbidden that made you…” he broke off and shook his head, “I’m sorry.  And I’m glad that you can finally be together.”

His eyes warmed as he took in Buffy’s peaceful expression and the trust with which she lay in Angel’s arms, “Be happy Buffy, no one has ever deserved it more.”

Buffy’s eyes filled with tears and she started to get to her feet, only to sink back against Angel with a gasp of pain, which she swallowed so quickly that only Angel realised how much the movement had hurt her.  He looked at her in concern but, seeing her determined expression, said nothing and instead stood up, still holding her and carefully lowered her to her feet.  With Angel’s strength supporting her, Buffy held out her arms in a silent request for Giles to come closer and, when he did, she reached up, ignoring the pain the motion caused her, and gave him a hug.

“Thank you,” she said softly in his ear, “that means a lot to me.”

Giles held her awkwardly for a moment and then stepped back, obviously uncomfortable with the unfamiliar display of emotion, “Yes, well, I…I assume that you’ll be staying here?  At least for a while.”

Buffy looked up at Angel, and the question in her eyes was answered immediately by the hopeful expression in his.  She looked back at Giles and nodded, “We’ll come back to Sunnydale in a couple of days to explain things to mom.”

“What?!” demanded Xander incredulously, “You can’t be condoning this Giles!  Nothing good has ever come from the two of them being together and even without the curse I doubt that’s changed.  Buffy’s place is in Sunnydale – with us!”

“You’re wrong, Xander,” Wesley said quietly, “Buffy’s place is wherever Angel happens to be, just as Angel’s is wherever Buffy is.”

“She’ll get over it!” he snarled in frustration.

“No, she won’t,” Giles told him quietly, “neither of them will.”

“Why?  Why are you suddenly so sure that it’s right for them to be together?  A few minutes ago you were as against the idea as I am!”

“Because the oracles said so; Buffy and Angel are ‘two who are one’, Xander, one soul divided between two bodies – soul mates.   We’ve been trying to break a bond that can never be broken, something more eternal and enduring than the stars themselves.  We have a choice between accepting that fact, or losing Buffy forever because of our refusal to do so and I, for one, have no intention of doing that.”

“I…I’m happy for you and Angel, Buffy,” said Willow hesitantly, “but what about your life in Sunnydale?  You can’t mean to just thrown all that away!”

“What life, Willow?” Buffy asked gently, “I can’t go back; Buffy Summers died today.  Do you think they’ll welcome me back to college if I go in and explain that I’m still me, I’ve just changed bodies?  Do you think the police will stop looking for me?  Sunnydale’s too small to hide in for long unless you stick to the tunnels and I don’t want to spend the rest of my life hiding in sewers.”

“So why did you kill Faith?”  Questioned Xander, his tone cutting, “You had her beaten and you must have known that we’d find a way to switch you back.”

Buffy flinched at the reminded of what she had done and looked away from Xander, only to find the same question written on the faces of Willow and Giles.

“She…she was human, Buffy,” Willow pointed out, “Surely there was some other way… You could have just chained her up and then handed her over to the police after we switched you back.”

Giles didn’t speak; the pain in Buffy’s face, combined with the memory of how they had misjudged her twice that day already, kept him silent and when Buffy began to speak he was grateful that he had not.

For a moment she just looked at them, her expression both bitter and hurt, and then she asked scornfully, “Do you really think that I would kill my own body on a whim?  Do you think that little of me?”

They didn’t answer, but of the three of them only Giles was able to meet her eyes and the pained apology in his soothed her anger a little, allowing space within her for the pain to flood back full force.

“I had no choice,” she whispered, her voice shaking, “the Oracles said…  If Faith had fulfilled her destiny…” she stopped, fighting not to cry, unwilling to show weakness in the face of her friends continuing hostility and mistrust.

Angel felt her tremble and lifted her into his arms once more, surrounding her with the strength and comfort of his presence as he resumed his seat.  Sensing her pain, Cordelia and Wesley moved closer, flanking her and Angel as they had done earlier that night, silently offering their support.

“The-the Oracles told you that Faith had a destiny?  That’s why they agreed to speak with you and Angel?” asked Giles, quietly.

“Just me.  They only summoned me.”  Buffy corrected, “I don’t know when Angel met them,” her eyes met Angel’s for a rueful moment, “we haven’t had much time to talk.”

Her gaze returned to Giles so quickly that she missed the discomforted expression that passed fleetingly over Angel’s face as he realised that sooner or later he was going to have to explain to Buffy about the forgotten day and his previous experiences with the Oracles.

“They…summoned you?  You mean they actually sent Cordelia a vision specifically asking you to come to them?  You didn’t just…go to them for advice?”

“No.  What I mean is, one moment I’m standing upstairs with Angel and the others and the next thing I know I’m in some sort of temple or something with a couple of weirdly dressed people, with blue and gold skin, standing in front of me.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

“My God!” Giles breathed, “Why?  Every legend I’ve ever read suggests that they never allow anyone to see them without the proper spells and some sort of offering.  What could be so important that the Oracles found it necessary to transport you to them?”

“Balance.”

“Balance?  I-I’m afraid I don’t understand,” he admitted.

“There was only ever supposed to be one Slayer,” she explained, “when Kendra was called she was a ‘true’ Slayer because she was called by my death, but when Faith was called, there was already a Slayer – me.  Having two of us upset the balance of things, so instead of being called to fight the forces of darkness, she was called to support them.”

She drew in a shuddering breath and continued brokenly, “The Oracles told me that one Slayer had to die at the hands of another, it was the only way to keep another from being called…  And the winner determined the path of future Slayers – if Faith had won, the Slayer line would have turned to darkness for thousands of years.”  She looked blindly down at her own hands and concluded, her voice almost inaudible and ravaged by tears she refused to shed until she and Angel were alone, “So I did my duty…and now her blood is on my hands and I’ll never forget the look in her eyes as she realised what I was about to do.”

Xander, Willow and Giles stared at her in horror as they finally realised at least some of what she had been forced to endure.

“Buff…I’m sorry…”

“Buffy, I…”

“Oh, Buffy…”

All three began to speak at once and Willow and Xander began to move towards her, only to be halted when she held up her hand to stop them.

“No!  No more!”  If she had had the strength the words would have been a scream but as it was they were little more than a whisper, “You have the answers that you wanted, now go back to Sunnydale!  You claim to know me, you claim to be my friends, but in the last few hours you’ve made it clear that you think I’m capable of behaving like the worst kind of monster!” her eyes burned, and she prayed that they would leave before she broke down completely.  She had cried more in the last twenty-four hours than she had in all the months since Angel had left but the combination of grief and pain and betrayal and even her joy over being reunited with her love, had her emotions reeling and her usual control was beyond her.

They hadn’t moved.  They just stood there, staring at her wounded, guilty eyes.  “Please,” she begged brokenly, “just leave!”

Giles met her eyes for a moment and then nodded slowly, “I am deeply sorry, Buffy,” he told her sadly, “you are quite correct in saying that we should have known you better.  If there is anything that you need…?”

“I’ll call.”

He nodded and then turned towards the elevator, gesturing to Xander and Willow that they should follow him.  Willow took one long look at where Buffy was cradled in Angel’s arms, whispered, “I’m so sorry,” and followed.  Xander didn’t move.

“Xander?” questioned Willow from where she and Giles waited in the elevator, “are you coming?”

“Just a minute,” he answered without looking at her “Buffy…please, I need to talk to you!”

Angel’s eyes flashed yellow, he could tell from the tension vibrating through Buffy, just how close she was to breaking point and after everything he had done that day, he was not inclined to give Xander any more slack.

“Don’t you think that you’ve already done enough?” he snarled, “Get out!  Now!”

Xander retreated a step in the face of Angel’s anger but after a moment he realised that there was little the vampire could do to him as long as he still held Buffy in his arms and that gave the boy the courage to stand his ground.  “Not until Buffy talks to me,” he insisted stubbornly, “I have to make her understand…”

He broke off as, moving as one, Cordelia and Wesley each grabbed one of his shoulders and shoved him backwards until he stumbled into the elevator and then entered after him to block his exit.  He would still have tried to shove past them but Giles’ tight grip on his arm told him that it would be three against one and while he was still debating the odds, Giles reached out with his other hand and pushed the button to take the elevator up to street level.

When the elevator began to move, Angel dismissed it from his mind, knowing that Cordelia and Wesley would see to it that Xander did not return.  They had got rid of him just in time; only a few seconds after they had disappeared from view, Buffy’s control broke and with a wrenching sob she buried her face against his shoulder and once more gave in to her grief.

Her chest heaved beneath the force of her emotions and pain shot through her injured ribs but she couldn’t stop, couldn’t grasp the tattered edges of her self-control.  All she knew was that the pain within her was tearing her apart and that Angel’s arms were all that was holding her together.  But that was enough; knowing that he was there, she abandoned herself totally to his care, knowing that, for once in her life, it was all right for her to be weak.

Buffy cried until exhaustion claimed her and then fell asleep in Angel’s arms, her expression peaceful in the aftermath of the storm.

Angel looked down at her face and felt his heart turn over with love for her.  Her face was blotchy and red, her skin stained with tears and marked by bruises but to him she was beautiful.  Her face was no longer the same as the one in the photo that he had kept with him for almost four years, ever since he had found it in her room after they had faced the Three, but the change barely registered.  All that he saw was the woman he loved – the soul that he loved.

With infinite care, he got slowly to his feet and carried her sleeping form into the bedroom.  Buffy stirred as he placed her gently in the bed, her sleep disturbed by the fact that he was no longer holding her.

“Angel?” she called, reaching for him.

“Shhh,” he murmured softly as he tucked her into bed and turned out the light, before climbing in beside her and taking her back into his arms, “just relax and let me take care of you.  You need to sleep.”  He brushed a tender kiss across each of her eyes, closing them, “I’ll still be here when you wake up.  We have time now.”

“Time,” Buffy whispered, snuggling against him as sleep claimed her once more, “I never realised what a precious gift that was before.”

Angel lay awake all through the night, guarding her sleep from anything that might disturb it, soothing her out of her nightmares before they could wake her.  As he watched over her, Angel thought about what Buffy had said and realised for the first time, that her words were as true for him as they had been for her.

Time.  For a hundred years it had seemed like his enemy; an eternity of despair had stretched out before him like a nightmare from which he could never awaken.  But, instead of the pain he deserved, it had ultimately led him to her and in doing so had become a blessing.  Angel’s eyes burned as he savoured the feel of her in his arms and listened to the steady beat of her heart and the soft sound of her breathing.  It was the sound of a future had had never dared to dream possible.

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