All Buffy related things are owned by Joss Whedon, etc, etc. All things related to Final Fantasy are owned by SquareSoft, etc, etc. In short, I own nothing except the idea for this story.
***
"Willow--"
"Angel--" the words were spoken simultaneously. Willow blushed and said, "You go first."
"No, you go first," Angel told her.
Willow smiled for a moment, trying desperately to calm the nerves that were wracking her body. She opened her mouth only to realize how erratic her breathing was, then promptly shut it, unsuccessfully trying to return to homeostasis. Finally she decided the best course would be to just plunge into it. "Angel," she began, "I've wanted to tell you this for a long time, but I guess I never really had the guts."
"Yes?" Angel asked, feeling something build up inside of him that he hadn't felt for a long time. He stepped closer to Willow until there was barely any room between the two of them, and took her hands in his own.
Willow felt an electric current run through her at his proximity, then continued, "Like I said, I've wanted to say this for awhile. So, here goes--"
"Hey!" Xander said, coming up behind the flustered couple, "here you guys are--we were wondering where you ran off to. What, are you too in the middle of some liaison or something?"
Upon seeing the expressions on his friends' faces, Xander immediately asked if he'd said something wrong. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" he asked. He had always known that the two of them had it bad for each other, hell everyone knew, but if they were actually about to spill the beans, and then he came barging along…
"You know, I think I'll just be on my merry way," Xander continued, feeling more like the fool each passing minute, "and leave you two to finish talking about whatever it was you were talking about."
Xander didn't even wait for a response as he turned and hurried away from the couple, ducking his head in embarrassment. "Whew!" he muttered to himself when he was sure he was out of the hearing range of even Angel.
Willow laughed nervously at Angel once Xander had gone, then said, "So where was I?"
"You were saying that you had wanted to tell me something for a long time," Angel prompted her, a hopeful note in his voice. This could very well turn out to be the best day of his undead life.
"Right," Willow said. And as soon as she said the word, she knew she wouldn't tell him. "I just wanted to say that I think you're one of the best friends I've ever had, and that I care about you, and that I hope we all get through this intact," she finished with a smile.
Angel's heart plummeted so fast he thought he heard it as it hit the floor. Friends. She thought of him as a friend.
"So what was it that you wanted to say?" Willow asked him hurriedly, ashamed at her own weakness.
"Oh," Angel was startled back into the present, "just that you're a great friend, too."
"Oh," Willow said, breathing a sigh of relief that she hadn't said anything, considering that was how he felt. But the relief was quickly overpowered by sadness. Sadness that he didn't feel for her the way she felt for him. But who was she kidding, anyway? It's not like she was all that special anyhow.
"Well," she spoke up, "I guess we should get back inside now."
"Yeah," Angel agreed.
The couple returned to the cave to find that a meal had been prepared, as well as a campfire, and that some sleeping bags had been arranged.
"We've decided that it would be best to rest the night, then confront Zemus in the morning," Giles told the two.
"Good idea," Angel said, heading for the sleeping bag farthest from the fire. He didn't want to take any chances.
"So we'll rest up and head out first thing in the morning. Any questions?" Buffy asked, emerging with a bowl of something Willow couldn't identify, but smelled good nonetheless.
Everyone nodded in agreement, then took to their own affairs.
***
The following day proved to hold more anxiety than anyone had anticipated. Any sound, any movement caused everyone to jump. Nerves and adrenaline mixed in an odd combination as the Warriors prepared their weapons for battle.
When all was ready, Buffy, falling almost instantly into her Slayer role, led the others out of the cave and up to the entrance into Zemus' lair.
"All ready?" she asked, turning around and surveying the expressions on the faces of her dearest companions.
"Let's do it," Xander said.
Everyone nodded in agreement and headed into the lair, finding it unexpectedly well lit. The light proved to be coming from a large fire roaring below a pitfall at the other end of the lair.
Willow was immediately bombarded my the stench of Evil, and spoke, "I don't like this. We're approaching him at full power…"
"There isn't any other way to approach him," Angel reminded her.
When the Warriors reached the edge of the pitfall, they heard a loud rumbling that grew constantly in sound. Finally, a large figure emerged from the depths, and the Warriors beheld the most hideous sight they had ever seen. This was the taint of Evil. No, this WAS Evil.
"Warriors," the Darkness rumbled, "at last you have come. But it is no use. You will suffer and perish. My Hatred will last until I destroy all. Come, step into my Darkness!"
"The Darkness is no match for the Light!" Angel spoke up, remembering the Crystal of the Light Golbez had given him. He held it up to Zemus, and the five Warriors of the Light concentrated their Wills through the crystal, in an effort to weaken Zemus.
"No!" Zemus yelled, "I will not perish! Not again!"
There was a large blast of light from below, so bright that the Warriors had to shield their eyes. When they were finally able to look again, they saw that where the figure of Zemus once stood, there was nothing.
Angel looked down at the crystal in his hand and saw that the light it had previously glowed with was gone. It would be of no use to them now. He pocketed the crystal once more.
"He's dead?" Xander wondered aloud.
"He can't be…" Giles spoke.
"It was too easy," Willow added.
Suddenly a violent trembling of the ground shook the Warriors off balance.
"Fools!" the Darkness bellowed once more, "You cannot destroy me! I am the Absolute Dark Substance, the product of Zemus' hatred. My name is Zeromus and I am the Hatred!"
"Death only increased Zemus' hatred," Giles told the others frantically.
"Uh-oh," Xander breathed.
"This is definitely not of the good," Buffy agreed.
"Now, perish!" Zeromus yelled.
And so the battle began.
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