Creative Works   

Memories Recalled (Page 8)
By Jessi Knorr

Disclaimer: Not mine, never were, never will be. They're Joss', aka The Devil. I own Sage, Summer, Tia, Cora and all the other weird people, plus the plot.

. . .

Chapter 7

2 Weeks Later

Buffy arrived home early enough, Willow and Oz knew how sensitive she was now. But even though she'd insisted she was okay, they'd still called Lynda, the fat woman with the annoying smile, in. Sage was over at a friends' house, and so she had the place to herself for three hours. She pulled the untouched San Francisco Chronicle off the foyer table and walked to the couch in the den. She opened up the news and right in the middle of the newspaper was two blue, corrugated envelopes, facing backwards.

Her heart stopped, again. They were the kind of envelopes you send wedding invitations in. And the only two people she knew who had been talking of marriage were... She cupped her head in her left hand and flipped them over. 'Mr. and Mrs. Rosenberg plus Guest' and 'Ms. Summers plus Guest' were written in gold across the front. Buffy debated whether to open them until her fingers did the thinking for her, and the next thing she knew she was tearing away at the seal. She shook out the invitation and plucked it up gently. Sure enough, inside the card were the details of the wedding.

"You are cordially invited to the wedding of Daniel Cooper and Cora Davidson on the sixth day of the sixth month of the year two thousand nine. To be held at..." She shut the card. Her worst hopes were confirmed, that he'd moved on. Even after her outburst at him when he'd come to talk to her, she'd still wished he'd come back and just... end everything with her. She wished he'd come back to her, get his memory back, and that would be the end of it. Happily ever after, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. She picked a note out of the envelope written in Cora's writing and read down it. Great, not only was her heart breaking, but the bride was begging her to be there. Now, the only question left in her fried brain was, would she go?

. . .

The day had arrived and Daniel shook with excitement and nervousness as he straightened another cufflink. His best friend and Best Man Lance stood modeling in front of the mirror, flexing his muscles.

"Hey Dan, do you think I look hot in this? Cora's got some pretty foxy friends out there... " Daniel laughed and he twisted into several different poses.

"I don't think I'm the guy you should be asking Lance."

"Rob's not gonna be here, remember? He's at some whacked convention... and I need another guy's opinion. C'mon, I won't tell Cora," Lance puckered his lips and slid his head onto Daniel's shoulder, looking at him with big eyes. Daniel laughed again and pushed him away.

"Get the hell away from me. What would Sasha think?"

"Hey, we're cool. But, just in case she happens to find a guy hotter than yours truly, as if that's possible, I've got to be looking. Scouting... There's this pretty hot little blonde sitting near the front... "

"You wish man. How do I look?" Daniel stood in front of the egotistical stud for inspection.

"Seriously, or in the goofing off, fake sense?"

"Which ever."

Lance smirked and slipped into his Mom Impression. "My little Danny's all grown up!" He wiped away a fake tear and went to hug his friend. Again, Daniel laughed and shook his head.

"No more of that crap man, this is my wedding. Seriously, how do I look?"

"You really want to know the truth?" Lance dropped the act and straightened out. Daniel nodded. "Really? You look like a penguin who's had more caffeine to drink than sleep in the past month." Daniel turned back and faced the mirror, and sighed. He fiddled with his cuff again.

"That's what I thought."

. . .

"Why do we have to be here?" Xander complained as he, Cordelia, Willow, Oz and Buffy all reached an empty pew. The church was filled with wealthy individuals and members of the local press, all dressed elegantly. Cora had specifically requested Buffy's presence at the wedding, reasons being they were best friends and it was only proper, and had also asked if Sage could be the ring barer. Buffy had debated whether or not to come, because she would most certainly loose control at sight of the groom, but Willow and persuaded her to attend. 'It'll help you get over him,' she'd said. Buffy hoped she was right.

"I hated Dead Boy when he could actually remember who we were. Now I'm expected to sit through a two-hour ceremony so Cora could be happy that she ripped the Buffster's heart out and trampled it?"

"Xander, stop making such a fuss!" Willow chided. "Try to at least look happy, please? You can bitch all you want when we get back to the house." Silenced by the look that accompanied her thrashing, Xander sat beside Cordelia at the edge of the pew and didn't say another thing.

"I guess you're right Will," Buffy shrugged her shoulders and sat between the two other women. "Try to at least look happy... I know he can, but I don't know how I will be able to." At that moment, the groom and another man came out from the back, and her eyes followed him all the way to the altar. It was a lucky thing the ceremony started right then, or else she'd need shackles and a gag to keep her from running to him before Cora even came out. She tried to be happy and proud, to smile when Sage and the flower girls, Tia and Summer naturally, walked past. And she resisted the urge to punch Cora to death when the bride walked down towards her future.

. . .

Chapter 8

Author's Notes: The songs belong to Amanda Marshall and Melanie Doane,in that order.

"Do you, Cora Mae Davidson take Daniel to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in indigence and in wealth, until death do you part?" The minister addressed the bride, who had a large and loving beam from ear to ear etched on her face. Buffy wanted to storm up here, slap it off her and take Ang-Daniel from her grasp.

"I do."

"And do you," the old reverend appealed to the groom, "Daniel Aaron Cooper take Cora to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in indigence and in wealth, until death do you part?" The words were on the tip of his tongue, the two little words that would forever bind him and his fiancée together, but they just simply wouldn't come out. Daniel cleared his throat and gave a nervous chuckle, glancing out at the audience; members of the press and Cora's family, the Davidson's friends, Lance and the bridesmaids, the ring barer and flower girls whom were his two twins. Then out to the stands of the grooms' side where the girls' doctor and his secretary sat along with his wife and two other young people. Daniel latched eyes with the secretary and his heart both fluttered and sank.

"What's he doing? Just say the damn words, crushing Buffy's heart ruthlessly in the act, and we can get outta here!" Xander whispered impatiently. Cordelia smacked him in the leg and glared. Buffy stared at the groom a little longer then cast her eyes down at her peach summer dress she'd chosen.

"Mr. Cooper?" the elderly minister asked, bringing Daniel back.

"I... " he finally pushed out, gazing down to Cora, who had worry in her eyes.

"Daniel, come on. It's not that hard. 'I-do'," she said softly.

"I... " Daniel heard Cora's father sigh loudly and the crowd starting to get restless. He glanced back out and found his gaze on Buffy once more. He bit his lip, closed his eyes softly and dropped Cora's hand along with the ring he was holding. It clattered to the stairs with no more than a dull clunk. "I can't. I'm sorry." He finally said gently. He kissed Cora's cheek and once more let his gaze traveled over the assembled crowd, to the three confused children in the front row, and walked off the altar to the back room. The guests gasped and began whispering amongst themselves. Cora stood in her spot, making small whimpering sounds. Mr. and Mrs. Davidson ran to console their daughter, then Mr. Davidson stormed away to deal with Daniel.

"What did I tell you? And I thought Buffy would be the one left standing," Xander sighed, straightening his slightly wrinkled tux. Cordy slapped him again and the Rosenbergs and the Harrises walked out of their pew to join the milling mass exiting from the church, leaving Cora and her mother at the front and Buffy to get Sage.

. . .

Daniel sat, alone, in the shadowed garden behind his house and pool deck. This was where he often ventured to think, and he needed to do that right now. Something was so soothing about the dimly lit space, the dark called out to him like a mother to a child. It was awkward but at the same time comforting. *I've finally gone nuts.*

Inside the house the lights were from the strobes and lasers that the DJ, a very intoxicated Lance, had set up. Lance's voice was slurring through the microphone, talking over the blaring music. Daniel shook his head sadly and pulled his eyes up to the star dotted sky.

Daniel mentally went over everything that had happened in the past few weeks. The dreams had stopped since he'd proposed to Cora. But now, he wished they would come back to take him away from the Hell that was the present. He was so deep in thought brooding about his life that he didn't see or hear the five people approaching him from all sides. He brought his head back to eye level and watched them stop. The two doctors, the secretary and their friends trapped him on the bench, all with questions in their eyes. Daniel gave a small smile and stood up.

"Hi," he greeted. They nodded and gave their greetings.

"Hey. You look pretty out of it. Why are you out here?" The twins' doctor, Oz, asked.

"I usually come out here to be alone... it gets really dark and I guess it kind of helps me. Just looking at the stars. And such... " They nodded in silent understanding.

"Now I do believe the next question is," the man holding the chestnut haired beauty to Buffy's right hurried on before they could stop him, "why didn't you do it?"

"Do what?" he asked instantly. They stared back and forth, a queer intensity rising within their eyes at the other.

"Xander," Oz's wife, Willow, chided. "Don't be doing that."

"What? It's on everyone's minds. The richest guy in California so hastily proposes to his girlfriend after eight years and ends up dumping her. The question is, why?" he turned back to Daniel. "I mean, you had a pair of twins. Why get rid of her, and in front of who knows how many members of the press and her family. She's inside, and damn is she not looking good. This exact same thing happened when-"

"Xander. Shut up," the others shouted at him.

"On second thought... Buffy, where's Sage? Wanna show him this new move I learned. With a few easy twists you can make a guy a human pretzel and pin 'em. Sage should know it, should he ever find himself in the position where he'd have to defend himself."

"You're not teaching him that. You already got karate lessons in his head," Buffy shot, then looked to Daniel. "Sorry, it's just my friend gets a little carried away with his mouth sometimes."

"Still, after a decade?" Daniel chuckled, then furrowed his brows. "What the-"

"How would you know?" The woman in Xander's arms asked.

"It just slipped out. Uh, sorry."

"Right... " Oz trailed off.

"C-could you guys go? I mean, like find Sage or something? I'm going to go soon." Buffy asked over her shoulder. Xander gave her a salute and the lady beside him pushed him away. Willow and Oz laughed at them silently and accompanied them.

"So," Daniel started with an uneasiness. They remained locked in each other's eyes. "Beautiful night, isn't it."

Buffy nodded in agreement. "It is." Daniel gestured back to the bench. She sat down and smoothed out her peach summer dress. They averted their attention from each other, trying to avoid the unpleasantness of the situation. Buffy gave a small sigh and turned to Daniel, who was trying to pretend he wasn't looking at her. They're eyes locked and she felt a shot of warmth go through her. She was sure her cheeks were bright red. "So... "

Daniel suddenly had an interest in his polished shoes and he broke the gaze. This was not the time or place to be having these thoughts. He didn't want them, but they had crept up out of no where and caused him to not marry Cora. Something kept whispering inside his brain for him to pull the young lady into his embrace and kiss her until the end of time. But his common sense, and manners, prevented him from doing so. He hadn't seen his fiancée at the reception that he'd thrown just to cheer him up, but he was sure her parents and all their friends were there looking for him. Hunting him like a wild animal, waiting to rip him open from inside...

He groaned loudly at the thought that had sprung up from no where. Not only did visions of Mr. and Mrs. Davidson yelling at him flash before his eyes, but also visions of and blood and gore and swords and whips. And fire, lots of it. They were there too, mixed in with the glowing scene inside his mind, or what was left of it.

"Daniel?" Buffy's beautiful voice brought him back down. Her golden hair framed her sloping face as if it were a picture. Her peach dress hung over her small frame in a flowing wisp like the white gown she wore in his dreams. Her eyes sparkled with worry like a pair of emeralds. It hurt him to see her in so much pain, much of which he'd afflicted. He still fought the urge to wrap her in his arms and kiss her like there were no tomorrow. "Daniel, are you all right?"

"Sorry, I'm just... really been loosing it lately," Daniel rubbed his hand through his hair and threw his head back to look at the stars.

"Me too," Buffy said quietly, almost a whisper. He brought his gaze down to her and their eyes locked once more. She saw tremendous chaos behind the brown swirling depths. And what did he see through the windows to her soul? He saw a deep love rooted somewhere for whoever the Angel in her life was. And all through this soul searching neither noticed how close they'd gotten.

The distance of the stone bench had been covered by both and they met in the middle. Hand on hand, not only did they meet but their lips met as well. It was everything she'd always imagined in a kiss that would reunite her with her long lost lover. It was almost perfect, he hadn't lost anything except his vampirism.

... Or, it was almost perfect until the others came back and Xander started clearing his throat out like a madman.

. . .

Epilogue

Buffy and Daniel reluctantly but quickly broke the kiss and scooted to their original places. Buffy blushed deep scarlet and Daniel found interest in his shoes, again. Xander had a wide, annoying grin plastered on his face and Willow was biting her lip with a slight smile.

"Oh-kay, who wants to explain that little display. Buffy, what if Cora finds out? You can bet she'll be starting a revolution."

"No she won't, because she's gone," Daniel spoke up, hiding his face with his hand.

"Was I talking to you? Oh, wait... rich guy, we're on his grounds... I'm sorry. Please don't send the dogs out, I take it back Mr. Cooper, really!"

"No need to get formal with me Cordelia, I worked with you for nearly a year, I'm used to you," he laughed behind his shield.

"Huh?" Buffy was just as puzzled with the comment as Mrs. Harris. Daniel lowered his hand and she saw the deepened look of her old boyfriend's eyes. *Did it... could it have... * "How do you know my name? You don't even know who we are, except for Buffy! With whom, might I add, you were getting pretty hot and heavy with. Thank God there's a party going on still, or your ass would have been kicked across the border!"

"Cordelia, shut up," Buffy watched the man she couldn't identify as a fellow parent and the would-be husband of her best friend, or a former lover who had had his memory wiped away on the night his mortality had been restored.

"Well, okay, but either he's screwing with our minds as much as you're screwing with his, or... "

"Dead Boy's back?"

"Dead Boy's back."

"Damn straight," Angel smiled at Buffy. Buffy matched it and squealed, throwing her arms around him.

"You're a loophole magnet, aren't you Angel?" Oz rubbed his goatee and wrapped his arm around his befuddled wife. Angel nodded, his mouth rejoined with Buffy's.

"Did I miss something else in that book? Because I have it back at home in my private collection, and... "

'You missed something, yeah Willow," Angel spoke against Buffy's lips. "At the bottom of the page, that scrawled Latin mess Giles probably spilled tea on." He held the kiss for another few beats. "I translated it out just randomly... What I got was first embrace bestowed upon by ancient love where after humanity should be granted, thy life story be placed within thy walls of white mist nothing. Made no sense, so," he paused to kiss Buffy again, "I didn't think I'd mention it. Now I know what it meant." He broke the kiss off finally and smiled again.

"I don't know whether to kill you Angel, or kiss you until the sun comes up," Buffy giggled like a schoolgirl.

"I choose the latter, thank you." They leaned in for another when something hard clunked Angel right in the head. "Ow, what the-!"

The three children laughed as they ran around down the stone path from the house. Sage and Summer were teasing Tia by having stolen her satin shoes, and throwing them around above her. That's what had hit Angel.

"Sorry Daddy," Summer called sheepishly, stepping to the side to avoid her sister's lunge.

"Give it back!"

"Gotta reach Tia," Sage went for a long pass and caught the other shoe before it slammed into the back of Cordelia's head.

"I'm warning you Sage Summers!"

"I'm scared," he hopped up onto the bench between his parents and held the slipper above Tia's head. She glared anger only a seven year old knew and lunged for his feet. Both children went down hard on the other side and Buffy and Angel reached in to stop them. Sage still clutched the shoe and he stuck his tongue out at her.

"Sage!" Buffy scolded, pulling the shoe away from him. Tia wrestled to get away from her father, thrashing and scratching with her nails.

"Tia, stop!" Angel told her. She calmed down slightly, still glaring at the teasing boy. He took the other shoe from Buffy and slipped them, the one that had smacked him and the other, both over her feet. Tia calmed right down and pecked Angel on the cheek then hopped down and sauntered to her identical sister. She huffed in Summer's face and walked back. Xander raised an eyebrow at her snooty attitude and turned to Angel, who shrugged. Sage slid out of his mother's lap, took a long glance at the ex-vampire, and along with Summer, followed the girl. They heard a loud shriek and the wood gate to the pool deck swing shut, Tia yelling that they were going to die. The adults laughed and Buffy and Angel stood up from the bench. It had definitely been a long night.

"So, this is it?" Xander heaved a sigh. "You guys kiss, Daniel Cooper turns back into Dead Boy, we all get drunk and you two end up wandering off leaving us with Sage? Hey, what's going to happen to the girls? Where is Cora?"

"She left a note," Angel stated as they began a slow walk to his estate. "She said she was going on a trip and told me to watch the girls for as long as it took for her to regain her sanity. She took... what happened at the wedding hard. I just hope she's not so blinded as to... end the pain."

"She probably isn't that weak Angel," Buffy rested her head against his left shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her like Oz. "We've known each other since sophomore in college, Cora's a strong woman. She just needs time."

"Which we have plenty of?"

"Plenty. All the time in the world, even."

As they entered the house and the wild party Lance had made it out to be, Angel was reminded of one particular Xanderism he'd heard muttered by the slayerette once upon his return to Sunnydale after his trip to LA. That life wasn't complicated. And that was true. Life was not complicated, even for a complicated individual like himself. Not at all.

. . .

Page 8 of 8
The End

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