Things Change And Stay The Same.: I Wish So Much
by inlovewithangel
The three of them were awkwardly sitting in Angel’s office.

Surprisingly, Tara was the first to speak. “Aren’t you kinda young to be the CEO of a major law firm?” she asked Angel.

Angel’s face grew pained. “Um,” he started. He looked at Buffy whose eyes were wide, warning him not to divulge his true age. “Yeah,” he finally said. “I am.”

Tara nodded, and they relapsed into silence.

“So,” Angel said after a few more moments, “What’s the first thing you remember?”

Tara sighed. She squinted, searching her memory. “Shoes,” she said.

Angel and Buffy frowned. “What?” Buffy asked.

“Shoes,” Tara explained. “The last thing I remember… or the first thing… is that I was staring into a shoe store. I must have walked around for a few hours after that before you two found me.”

Angel approached her. “And you don’t remember anything before that?”

Tara shook her head. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” he said. He glanced at the clock that hung over his desk. “It’s late.” He turned to Tara. “I’m sure you’re tired. Would you like to go to sleep? We have many rooms that are available for guests to stay in.”

Tara nodded and stood. “That would be great,” she said. “Thank you.”

Angel called in Harmony to take her up to a room.

Before Tara left the office, she gave one last look at the couple. “Tomorrow… I’d really like to know about my past.”

Angel and Buffy glanced at each other, and then nodded. “Of course,” they said.

She smiled and left.

Angel took Buffy into his arms. “I know how hard this is for you,” he whispered to her. “You’re being really strong. I’m proud of you, Buffy.”

Buffy sighed. “I just wanna know what the hell is going on here.”

Angel nodded, and slowly pushed her away from him. “I didn’t know you kept a picture of Tara in your wallet.”

Buffy smiled sadly. She went over to Angel’s desk, where she had placed her purse, and tug out her wallet. Opening it, she retrieved a bunch of papers and handed them to her beloved.

Angel looked at each one carefully, his face growing sad and soft.

“Jenny, Kendra, Mom, Tara, Anya and Cordelia.” Buffy shrugged. “I keep them to remember.”

Angel looked up at her. “And this one?”

Buffy brought a hand up to her mouth as she looked at the photograph that he held up. “I forgot about that.”

“Why do you have this in here?” he asked her softly.

Buffy looked at the ground. “I know he was important to you,” she murmured.

Angel let his eyes roam over his lover. Her head bent so that her long golden hair fell over her face, concealing her beautiful hazel eyes. “It’s hard for me to think about him. I’m glad that you do.”

She raised her head and met his eyes. “I wish I’d known him,” she said quietly. “I wish Cordy’d had a chance with him. I wish… so much.”

Angel walked over to her. “Doyle was a great person.” He gestured to the pile of photographs. “They all were. And, Buffy, I promise you, from now on, we’ll take more time to think, and remember. But right now, we have more pressing business to take care of.”

“Tara,” Buffy said.

Angel nodded. “Buffy, whoever did this… brought her back, it was probably done by magic. And our resident magic expert is…”

Buffy looked into Angel’s dark eyes. “We have to call Willow,” she said quietly. “God damn it,” Buffy whispered, running a hand over her hair, thinking about the pain this would cause her best friend.


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