“I’m not going.”
“You have to.”
“No, I don’t.”
Angel got angry. “Yes, you do! You don’t have a choice in this. Don’t you think I want you here?”
“But I will be here, Angel! You’ll have me! I get to go into this alternate reality where I don’t know what’s going on. You might not be there, and I love you far to much to be somewhere without you.”
“Buffy, you don’t know what’s in the alternate…”
“Exactly. Just let me stay.”
He had to say it. “Buffy, you’ll die.” Buffy stared, but her expression didn’t change. She was determined to stay. He had to explain further. “In both places. You’ll die here and you’ll die there, because this isn’t the way things are supposed to be. The switch made your Slayer powers go away, and that’s no good. I love you, Buffy, and I know that you love me, but this switch is something you’re going to have to take.” He sighed. “You won’t even remember this day. Not from there, and not from here, either. I don’t want you to leave, you have to believe me in that. Today has been too amazing for me not to have you remember. I couldn’t do it a year ago and I can’t do it now. But I’d rather you not remember than have you dead.”
Buffy stared. She didn’t blink. She couldn’t. She couldn’t process this. So she chose not to.
Tears rolled down her face as she kissed Angel passionately, gave him her ring, and popped out. One fluid motion that lasted about ten seconds.
Buffy’s body went limp, and Angel caught her and laid her down on the sofa. He knew she’d wake up soon.
Riley watched from the bushes, and popped out himself in total disbelief. This way, he knew he wouldn’t remember that Buffy was engaged.
***
Buffy awoke with a start.
Buffy awoke with a start.
She shook off the unusual feeling of being asleep for 24 hours and accepted the feeling of being really hungry. She sat up in bed and stated as Dawn and Joyce sighed in relief and came at her suddenly with hugs.
She shook off the unusual feeling of passing out suddenly and sat upright on the couch. She smiled as she saw Angel staring into the fireplace, looking broody.
They interrogated her if she was okay. She told them she was really hungry. Joyce hurried away to get her food, and Buffy felt very sad about something. She couldn’t place what it was, though, and tried to cheer up. Hey, at least she was the Slayer again. Wait… was she ever not the Slayer?
She crept off the couch and looked at her left hand as she did so. Where was her ring? Had she given it to Angel before…
She felt better after she’d eaten something. Xander and Anya appeared a short time later, both holding on to each other tightly and eating what looked like pretty major burgers from Doublemeat Palace.
She wrapped her arms around Angel after standing still for a moment. He stiffened, but relaxed once he realized who it was. He turned to face her and Buffy saw that he was strongly upset about something.
Buffy got up and led her friends downstairs to discuss possible slayage of the Musical Vamps who had made them sleep for an entire day. She was soon joined by Giles, who was eating various forms of Britain-related food, and Riley, whom she greeted warmly but then totally ignored. He looked depressed, but she had bigger things to worry about than an upset boyfriend.
“Hey,” she whispered, “where’s my ring, mister?” Angel looked down at her in disbelief and she smiled tiredly back up at him. “You remember,” he whispered. “I do,” she answered. “I’m the Slayer, remember? Supernatural girl.”
They made a plan. She approached Riley and took his hand. “What’s bothering you?” she asked. “I don’t remember,” he responded. He looked down at her sadly and noticed she wasn’t quite right, either. “Do you?”
They made love. The next day, Angel explained everything about alternate realities to his fiancée, and Buffy told the gang that she and Angel were engaged. They lived merrily for a good while.
Buffy looked away. “I don’t,” she answered, and left Riley’s side to lead the way to The Bronze.
***
“So you’re telling me,” Tara repeated in astonishment through a mouthful of pie, “that I’m not supposed to be here.”
“That’s right,” Willow assured her.
“And you and I are together in this other world?”
“Right again,” Willow said with a smile.
Tara stared for a second, dropped her fork, and nodded. “Okay. Just let me tell Wesley and Cordelia that I’ll be going home.” She took out her wallet. Willow smiled and stopped her.
“I’ve got it. Now, I have to pop over to my house in this universe so that when we wake up here it’s not all awkward again, okay?”
Tara smiled happily. “I’ll see you on the other side.”
Willow dropped some money on purpose and crawled under the table to get it, disappearing as she did.
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