“Buffy, please come back to me. Wake up.” Angel cried gently shaking her. Then he remembered the old fairytales. The princess could only be woken up with a kiss. Angel slowly bent down and gave a kiss, praying it would wake her up.
“Mmmm” moaned Buffy. “Angel?”
“Yes, I’m here.”
“Oh, my head! Angel? Where are you? Help me please!” cried Buffy in a panic.
“Buffy, I’m right here. Shhh, calm down.” But Buffy was not listening. She was fighting off something in the darkness, and it would not let her go back to the arms of the man who loved her. There was an eerie silence and Buffy settled down. But that was soon shattered with a blood-curdling scream that was ripped from Buffy’s lips.
“Aaah!” screamed Buffy in the hospital room and Angel was immediately at her side, cradling her best he could. He could her soft whisperings of pain and horror as she watched something in the darkness of her mind.
“Shhh, Buffy. Everything is going to be alright.” Angel said as he rocked her slowly, trying to calm her down. Giles, Willow, and Xandar were in the room, trying to see what was going on.
“No…Angel! No, please. Don’t leave me.” Buffy whispered softly with a voice full of pain and sorrow
“Even in her sleep, you hurt her! Why don’t you just leave?” yelled Xandar as he stormed out. Willow rushed out to get a doctor when Buffy sat up wide-eyed and screamed “Angel!” so suddenly, that Angel fell from the bed in shock. However, before he knew what happened, Buffy was lying back down, softly crying out his name.
“Buffy, Buffy wake up please.” Angel urged the slayer as he quietly sat back on the bed.
“A-Angel?”
“I’m here.” Angel saw the most beautiful sight; Buffy’s eyes were open and looking into his.
“Angel, I couldn’t fight them! I couldn’t move or-“ But Angel silenced her with a tender kiss that made Buffy forget her worries for a minute. Giles, Willow, Dr. McChay, and Xandar rushed in the doorway and stopped suddenly, afraid to intrude. Angel sensed the four and pulled away from Buffy, as she put on a fake pout, making Angel laugh.
“Buffy! Thank God you’re okay!” cried Williow as she rushed to hug her best friend. When Willow hugged too tight, Buffy gasped in pain.
“Ow!”
“Oh, sorry, ah Buffy. Sorry.”
“Easy Willow, I’m not going to brake. But I will get cranky if I don’t get some sleep.” Buffy said with a small smile on her face. She was determined not to let her friends know how much pain she was in and how scared she really was.
“Quite right. Come on you three, lets let Buffy get some rest.” Stated Giles, thinking everyone was going to listen. However, Angel never moved from his spot.
“Angel, don’t make me ask twice.” Angel would have none of the sort. He felt himself angered at the thought of Giles making him leave. Angel stole a glance at Buffy who was smiling as he decided to have a little fun with Giles. So Angel put on his game face and just glared at him. He had forgotten all about the doctor until he heard him gasp in fear.
Angel morphed back into his human form and looked to Buffy for help.
“Angel, how many times must I tell you not to do that in public?” asked Buffy, who was quite amused. However, Giles was not, and neither was the doctor.
“Ah, Ms. Summers, I think that I will, ah leave you alone.”
“No, it’s alright. I’ll scold Angel when I get out of this bed.” Angel heard this and bent down to whisper, “I hope you do.” Buffy just looked into his sparkling eyes.
Giles cleared his throat and looked impatient. “Angel, I am not a patient man when it comes to the undead. Let’s go!” Angel just looked at Giles and growled. At that moment, the doctor made a mad dash for the door, which left a very mad Giles.
“Angel, if you weren’t already dead-“ but he didn’t finish, just stormed out leaving Angel laughing.
“You really shouldn’t do that, you know.”
“I just like to see Mr. Giles get his feathers all ruffled up.” He said with a smile. Then his expression changed and held Buffy closer. He laid his chin on the top of Buffy’s head and softly whispered, “ Buffy, what happened? Why couldn’t you take those clowns?” concern written in his voice.
“I don’t know, that is what bothers me.” Said Buffy as she tried to get free of Angel’s grasp. Angel knew what she was doing and held her tighter, making her admit defeat. “I was walking through the graveyard when I heard someone call my name. I started to get dizzy. Then a song evaded my thoughts until I could barely remember who I was. Two vampires jumped out of nowhere. I started to fight, but I barely had enough energy to keep my eyes open. I heard that voice again, calling to me, taunting me.” By this time, Buffy was close to tears. She didn’t want to remember any of this.
“What did the voice say?” When Buffy didn’t answer, he held her closer, “Buffy, please. This is important. What did it say?”
“It said that my time…my time was running out. And that there was nothing that….that you could do…to…save me.” The dam holding back the tears broke as they started to cascade down her face. “Angel, I feel so helpless.”
“Shhh, it’s going to be okay. First, did he call you a name that might stick with you? Did you call you anything to do with royalty?” he asked in a worried voice.
“Yeah, he called me something like…dark princess.” With those two words, Angel’s body went ridged, as his mind started to race. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it. Just sleep.”
“Don’t leave, please?” Buffy asked in a small voice that reflected how vunarable she was.
“I’m not going anywhere.” He reassured her as she snuggled in his arms. Soon her breathing became long and steady. Angel looked down and gently got off the bed. Buffy was in trouble, and this time, Angel didn’t know if he would be there to save her. Angel stood, just staring at her, memorizing every detail of her face. Little did they know, they were being watched.
“Rest now, my child. Enjoy these few moments with Angel. Be aware, your time is about to end."
