Creative Works   

Once Again (Page 9)
By Amy Mina
amymina(at)yahoo.com

Disclaimer: Characters such as Buffy, Angel, Xander and others belong to Joss Whedon and the WB. The few characters that I have made up such as Marissa and Jeff belong to me.

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Part 9

Buffy looked at the man before her. He looked like her Angel, the one whom she had loved for so many years. She looked into his face, and couldn't resist reaching out and waving her hands around it. She watched as he became annoyed with her actions. She remembered that face very well, the one when he felt he couldn't protect her long enough. "Who's with you?" he asked. Buffy wanted to cry, he couldn't see her, know that she was back.

"Angel," she said quietly. "It's you, you're really blind." Buffy could feel her heart break. She hadn't prepared herself for this.

She watched Angel's face go through a period of surprise and shock. His weight shifted to his cane. Before she could stop it, his hand shot up and captured her face. "Buffy?" he questioned.

"Angel," she said, feeling her voice breaking. She threw his arms around her, and he hugged he back just as fiercely. She began to cry, enjoying the feel of his arms around her. Angel was crying as well, and neither wanted to let go of the other. "You feel warm," she said quietly.

Angel gave a dry chuckle. "I thought it was time for a change of pace," he said.

"I've heard there have been a lot of changes," she said into his shoulder. "You're blind, you're human, and our daughter is staying here."

"She's an angel," he said. Buffy laughed and backed up to look at him.

"How could she not be?" she asked, taking pride in her daughter. "She's andangel, just like her father."

"I wouldn't go that far," said Angel, laughing.

"What's going on out here?" asked Xander, rubbing his eyes and coming out of his room in boxer shorts and a T-shirt.

"Hey there, Xander," said Buffy. He looked in surprise at her, and she ran over to give him a hug. He held her for a few seconds before letting go.

"Hey, Buff. You're back."

"You bet," she said, disentangling herself and walking back over to Angel. Leading him over, she told both of them what had happened from the time she woke up.

"You mean Willow knew?" asked Xander, "and she didn't call us?"

"I don't think it crossed her mind," replied Buffy. "We were so busy catching up on what had been going on that we talked till we went to bed."

"If you two went to bed," asked Angel logically, "does she know you're here?"

"No," admitted Buffy slowly. Angel's face broke into a smile, and he had to give a small laugh. "I'll call her soon, I just couldn't wait to see you," Buffy said, reaching up to give Angel a quick kiss on the cheek, and put her arm around his waist. "I thought I was going to go stir crazy waiting till tomorrow."

"It is tomorrow," said Xander. Buffy groaned and Angel smiled.

"Uncle Xander," came Marissa's voice from the doorway. "What's going on? I'm trying to sleep."

Xander moved so that Buffy would have a clear shot of her daughter. As soon as she saw her, Buffy's breath caught in her throat. She was beautiful, with Angel's coloring and Buffy's face. Buffy let go of Angel and slowly made her way over to Marissa. The young girl looked up at her in surprise. "Mommy?" she asked quietly. Buffy kneeled to her height and took a good look at the girl.

"Marissa?" she said. "You're my girl?" Marissa nodded.

"You're back!" Marissa squealed, jumping into Buffy's arms. Buffy held her daughter closely as she cried for the third time since she had woken up. When she let go and Marissa backed up, she looked at her. "I look like you, mommy," said the girl.

"You do," she replied, amazed at the similarity. "But you look like your daddy too."

"Who is my daddy?" asked the young girl. Buffy looked at Xander and Angel, who were standing behind her. Buffy raised her eyebrows at them.

"We didn't tell her," said Angel.

"I figured that out, Hon," she replied. "I think she should know," said Buffy.

"Are you going to tell her?"

"Are you chicken?" she retaliated. Angel gave her a sheepish grin and rubbed his hand through his hair. "I'll take that as a yes," she responded. He nodded and she turned back to Marissa who was watching all of this with interest.

"Are you mad at Angel?" asked the girl.

"No," Buffy replied quickly. "I'm not mad at Angel."

"Good."

"Why? Do you like Angel?"

"Yes, I love Mr. Angel." Angel let out a quick chuckle before slamming his hand over his mouth.

"Mr. Angel?" Buffy asked.

"He told me to call him Angel, but I used to call him Mr. Angel."

"Angel is better, don't you think?"

"Yes, I do. He's really nice, mommy."

"He's your daddy, sweetheart."

. . .

Marissa felt her mouth drop. She loved Angel very much, but he had never said anything about being her daddy. Her mom must have seen the surprise on her face. "Come here, Marissa," she said. Marissa walked over to her mom. She felt Buffy carry her over to the sofa. "Angel, come here," Buffy ordered. Marissa jumped up from her mom's lap and took Angel's hand in her own. Marissa led him over to the sofa and let him sit. She sat in-between Angel and her mom.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Marissa asked.

Angel's head dropped to look at his hands. "I don't know. I was afraid if I told you, I'd have to answer questions that I wouldn't be able to handle. I know you wonder what happened to your dad and why he wasn't with your mom."

Marissa nodded, still confused and trying to sort through everything she had just discovered. "I love your mother very much, Marissa. If things had been different, I would have married her the minute we knew about you and been by her side every minute."

"What happened?" asked Marissa.

"We'll tell you another time," said Buffy. When you're old enough to understand it.

Marissa nodded again, not wanting to make her mom mad. She turned back to Angel. "Do I still call you Angel or daddy now?" she asked.

"It's up to you," said Angel. "Which would you rather call me?"

"Daddy," she said, immediately. She grabbed Angel's hand and jumped up. "Can we have another sleep over now?"

Angel and Xander burst out laughing. Dan and Lita had left something during all of this. Buffy looked between the two men confused. "Okay, who wants to explain?"

"We'll tell you another time," said Marissa, smiling. Buffy grinned and scooped her daughter up into her lap, tickling her. Marissa began to squeal and laughed. When Buffy finished, Marissa got off her lap. "I need to go back to bed. Night mommy, night Daddy." She gave each of them a kiss and ran back to her room.

"I'm going to head in too," said Xander. "I have to work tomorrow." He leaned down and gave Buffy another hug. "Glad to see you back, Buff."

"Glad to be back," she replied. Xander left and went back to his room. Buffy looked at Angel and immediately moved next to him and leaned on him. Angel put his arm around her, and they both relaxed.

"Do you mean what you said?" Buffy asked Angel.

"What?" he asked.

"That you still love me?"

Angel drew back a little, wishing that he could see her face. "Of course I still love you," he said. "I never stopped. Even when the demon was in control, I still loved you."

Buffy leaned forward and kissed him. When they finally broke the kiss, she stared at him. "Let's get married, as soon as possible" she said.

Angel looked surprised for a moment. "I love you Buffy Summers, but are you sure you want to do this so soon?"

Buffy nodded quickly. "I've been gone for almost six years. I'm not wasting another day. I want to get married, and you, Marissa and I can live like a real family." She gave him another kiss. "And we can make up for lost time," she said with a smile.

Angel smiled back. "Are you sure?" he asked. "I mean, a lot happened after I lost my soul. I did a lot to hurt you."

"I knew this would come up," said Buffy, backing up and looking at him. She took his hands and placed them on her face. "You listen to me Angelus, the demon did some nasty things and they hurt me, but it wasn't you. Let's remember that, and from this point on, we don't need to mention it. I love you, Angel, and I'm not willing to let you go again. Unless that is what you want."

Angel gathered her in his arms. "Never," he said. "I never want to let you go again."

. . .

Angel waited at the end of the aisle for his bride. Joyce, Willow and Cordelia had put the wedding together within two days. It was a simple wedding, Buffy had made sure it was all right with him. Buffy had her dream wedding dress, Cordelia had seen to that. Angel was wearing his tuxedo that he was planning to use for Xander's wedding. Willow and Cordelia each worn nice dresses that they had owned for years. There were very few in attendance to this quick wedding. Joyce, Giles, Marissa, Xander, Cordelia, Willow, Jeffrey, Lita and Dan. Giles was asked to be the one to give Buffy away, and Angel knew how honored he felt. With the money that Angel had been saving for almost one hundred years, his soon to be family would have enough to live on for a time. Once Buffy went back to finish her senior year in high school, she planned to get a job.

Angel returned his attention to Buffy, whom he knew Giles was walking down the aisle. Marissa sat in the front pew with her grandmother, and felt so proud of her parents. Buffy took his hand firmly in his own once she reached him. Before he knew what had happened, it was over. The vows had been said and they had been pronounced man and wife. He heard the cheers of the small crowd behind him and beamed. The long, hard haul was finally over. Once again, he and Buffy had triumphed.

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