The Five People Angel Meets In Heaven: The First Person Angel Meets
by Icequeen
Just wanted to say thank you for all those who have reviewed, it has made me more motivated to write this story. This chapter was really hard to figure out but after this I know exactly what I'm going to write...it was just this one chapter. But finally I have it :) So, expect a lot more updates.

Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns everything in the world...except the book. Mitch Albom owns that.



Angel woke up in a dry bed of hay. At first he tried to slowly get up, but he soon realized that he had no soreness or stiffness in his joints. He examined his fingers and flexed them in amazement. He glanced around making sure no one was around, and started jumping up and down, leaping forward, testing his new found capabilities. Then it hit him.

He remembered a vampire. A vampire going after something. Anne. He remembered Anne. A stake. A stake towards the vampire, and hands coming towards him.

Did I save her?

What happened?

He couldn't see it clearly, like a camera that wasn't focused. His brain tried to muddle through the events, but something made Angel stop and think about something else. No guilt, agony. He felt a calm that flowed through him. The peaceful feeling was a foreign serum that he hadn't felt in a long time.

Where am I?

Did I save her?

...Where is my guilt?

My pain?

Suddenly, Angel realized everything that he had suffered had vanished. No agony, no pain, no sadness. He felt no guilt. Which had never happened...except on her 17th birthday. No, this was different. This feeling was serene and that feeling was happiness.

Angel finally took notice of his surroundings. He was definitely in a barn of some sort. He opened the large doors and blinked twice when he recalled the setting. He rubbed his eyes even harder when the image didn't fade. He stepped onto the cobbled street, and glanced towards the right, then to the left. He had finally lost it. He was officially an old crazy man.

He was in his old Irish town. He tried not to remember the last time he had been back to his hometown. And for a remarkable reason, he didn't. His memories that had haunted him for his life didn't come flashing involuntary before his eyes.

He tried to yell for anyone, somebody. Being back here didn't suit him and was hoping someone would explain. He mouthed a "Hello?" but nothing came out. He tried again. And then a third time, but his voice had failed him. He walked aimlessly throughout the town. There was the baker's and blacksmith. And his Uncle's Inn.

The shops and houses looked a little different than when he was sired. He figured it was about 15 years before, around the 1760's. Upon walking to the town's fountain, he stopped. There he saw the only living thing since he had been in the town. Sitting at the fountain's edge was a lone man. Angel recognized him by the abnormally large mole right under his right eye and the other multiple moles that covered his face.

"Hello Liam." He suddenly said. "I've been waiting for you."

Angel was beyond confused. He was mystified, bewildered, bamboozled. He didn't understand why of all the people he would see someone who knew only briefly.

"Don't be frightened." He smiled. "You feel young? Like a child?"

Angel nodded.

"That's because that was when you knew me. You get to start all with the same feelings you had Liam."

Angel stiffened at the sound of his old name being used. The Man sensed something and smiled. He quietly got up and walked towards Angel. He softly touched Angel's arm.

Angel felt his thoughts leak from him like sentences.

My name is Angel now.

"Really?" The Man questioned. "I'm sorry; you see there is none of that looking down on the Earth here."

Here? How did I die?

"Vampire." The Man replied

For how long?

"A second. A year. A century."

Where am I? Where is here?

The Man seemed to finally get the question he wanted. He stepped back and smiled. He walked past Angel, repeating the question. "Where are you?"

"Where do you think? Heaven."

Angel felt his heart drop. He shook his head. No.

"This can't be Heaven?" He seemed amused.” Why? Because this is where you were born? Started?"

Angel knew he wasn't talking about his first time. Or his second. No, The Man was talking about that fateful night he had met Darla. Angel nodded.

"Ah, well Heaven can be found even in the most unlikely spot. Heaven is intricate itself. It has many steps. This is my second. You, your first."

He led Angel past the little homes and alleys.

Heaven? Angel thought. Impossible. This was the one place he had never wanted to remember. Or even see for that matter. This town represented everything he wanted to shed from his former life. Before Angelus. Laziness, lust, alcohol. He wasn't that man anymore and didn't want a reminder. No, this couldn't be Heaven. Just some trick.

Angel tried to question him, but no sound came out. Only a strangled murmur caught in his chest. He looked at The Man curiously.

"Your voice? We all go through the same thing. Don't worry it'll come."

He merely smiled. "It helps you listen."

The Man let that settle over Angel, and then suddenly said, "There are five people Angel. These five people were in your life for a reason. A reason you might not have understood at the time and that is what Heaven is for. For you to understand."

Angel was even more confused then before.

"People when they are on Earth, they wish to be someplace else with nothing but a paradise garden or clouds to sit upon. But scenery without solace is meaningless."

While Angel thought it over, they continued to walk on forward. After a moment The Man went on.

"Angel, don't you see? The greatest gift God can give isn't a place to laze around in gardens. It's for you to understand what happened in your life. To have all of it, finally explained. To find what you've been looking for."

Peace. Angel struggled trying to speak. He was tired of just standing here. He wanted his voice back.

"I am your first person, Angel. When I died, my life was illuminated by five others, and then I came here to wait for you, to stand in your line, to tell you my story, which becomes part of yours. There will be others for you, too. Some you knew, maybe some you didn't. But they all crossed your path before they died. And they altered it forever."

Angel couldn't take it anymore. With all his might he tried to push his voice past his throat.

"What..." He couldn't finish, and ashamed he tried harder.

"What....killed...." Angel tried again while The Man waited calmly.

"What...killed...you?"

And for the first time, The Man was surprised. After a beat, he answered, "You did."



AN: okay so I know The Man doesn't have an Irish accent...but I can't write that so...quality or quantity? I don't know if that really pertains but...I'm using it.

AN2: The part of where The Man talks about when he died and he got enlightened, that excerpt is fromt he book....that part was so concise and one of the heart pieces of the book I had to put that in there...so thats my disclaimer for that. and this line -But scenery without solace is meaningless. is also from the book...that line is just so meaningful and I don't know but it hit me when I read it so I had to use it here.

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