Part Three
Angel stayed up all night watching over her, making sure she needed nothing during the night and protecting her from anything that reared its ugly head while she slept. It was almost dawn and Angel was about ready to surrender to sleep. He had kept himself occupied, by reading and watching her. He never left Mariah’s side for more that a minute, but now he was tired.
Mariah began to stir on the bed and her eyes opened slowly to reveal Angel, laying on the bed next to her. She smiled. < He always was too protective for his own good. > “Have you been sitting there all night? You really should get some rest, you need your beauty sleep.”
Angel jumped, startled by the voice of the woman laying beside him. He hadn’t realized that she was awake. “I wanted to make sure you were all right. So I watched over you while you slept.”
“That is so sweet.” Mariah rose up and kissed him lightly on the lips. “But I need to go to school now and don’t even think about talking me out of going. I’m fine. There’s nothing else that’s going to bother me. Now you get some sleep, so we can spend some time together once the sun sets.” She got out of the bed and Angel noticed that her clothing was different than what she wore last night.
Mariah had on a pair of loose-fitted designer jeans and a sports bra cover by a blouse that was unbuttoned and tied around the waist. “Mariah, why do you have to use your magic to change your clothes? You could just keep them in the mansion. There's lots of room." Angel questioned confused why this was the only thing she didn't do like a normal teenager.
Mariah smiled at Angel. "You'd have to buy me another house to keep all the clothes I have. I never wear the same thing twice and my clothes change as the fashion on the day changes. I have to stay in style." She stopped speaking. "I'm starting to talk like Cordelia, aren't I?"
"I just noticed that, too." Angel got up off the bed and felt how stiff his muscles were. "I must have been sitting there too long. All my muscles hurt."
Mariah walked over to him and made him sit back down on the bed. "Here, let me give you a massage." She sat down behind him and slowly began to work the knots of his back. Angel began to relax and the tension in his back left him. "See, I am good for something."
Angel turned and stilled her hands. He kissed the sensitive part of wrist and Mariah shuddered. "You've always been good for something. Why would you ever think that you weren't?"
"It's just that everyone was so mad at me last night for not telling them that particular piece of information. I would have used my position as Gatekeeper to help them in any way I could, but so far there has been nothing for me to do to help." Mariah lowered her head, not wanting to look Angel in the eyes.
He lifted her head and looked directly into her eyes. She had been hurt by her friends' reactions, but she tried to hide it from him and everyone else. "Mariah, go talk to them. You can work through this." Angel looked at the bed side clock. "You better go, if you don't want to be late."
Mariah smiled. "Just remember, Angel, I will love you forever." With that, she got up and left the mansion.
All Angel could do was sit there and wonder how he could be so lucky to find a woman who loved him, even with all his faults.
* * *
Mariah entered the library and saw Giles, sitting at the table, deep in thought. He had an old book sitting in front of him and his fingers skimmed the words. Mariah smiled and walked into the library, her shoes making a soft noise against the floor. Giles looked up from the book before him and smiled.
"I've been looking through my books and have finally found information about the Gatekeeper of the Hell-mouth. I should have read up on you more, once I found out that you were the Supreme Being." Giles smiled at her, but Mariah was shocked.
Mariah cleared her throat. "So, you're not mad at me?"
"Of course not. Some things are private and shouldn't be revealed unless it's absolutely necessary. Did you think that we were mad at you?" Giles stood up and walked over to her. "You should never have thought that. We were all just a little shocked last night when we found out. It's good to have such a powerful person on our side as well as a wonderful friend."
Mariah ran over to Giles and gave him a huge hug. "Thank you so much for believing in me. You don't know how much that means to me."
"Any time." Giles gave her a little squeeze before he released her. He didn't wish Synder to see him acting so friendly towards a student. It could get him in trouble or worse.
Buffy stood in the doorway to the library and puzzled over the emotional scene that had been played out before her. < What was Mariah so worried about? We would never hurt her feelings. It's just kinda strange how she always seems to surprise us, one way or another. >
Mariah must have felt Buffy's presence, because she turned and wondered just how much Buffy had heard of her conversation with Giles. "Don't just stand there Buffy. You're free to come into the library at any time you wish."
"I don't know if your statement is a good one or not." Buffy grinned at her friend's antics. Everything was back the way it should be or at least most of it.
"Oh, it's definitely a good one. Who wouldn't want to spend time with a weapons, old books and a rather British librarian?" Mariah made sure her statement was loud enough for Giles to hear.
"What do you mean 'rather British'? Of course, I'm rather British. I grew up in England after all." Giles knew that the two friends were being sarcastic, but it was fun to show them that he had a lighter side too. "Are you two just going to stand in the library all day or are you going to actually go to one or two of you classes for once?"
"Giles, you do have a sense of humor." Buffy laughed as she linked arms with Mariah and they slowly left the library, chatting away.
"Well, you two look happy with yourselves." Xander said as he approached two of the three most important women in his life, the third being Willow.
"Xander, if we were to take that literally, that would be a really disgusting comment, that should never be repeated in any way shape or form." Mariah smiled, as she gave Xander a small dressing down.
Xander smiled back. "You're your old self again. You have no idea how happy I am that you're sane again. That means I won't have to baby-sit you any more."
"Didn't you enjoy spending time with me?" Mariah put on her pouting face just to annoy Xander some more.
"Yeah, but, um, well, you, um, weren't quite yourself, which just, um, lead to more and more problems. I care for you and all, it's just that-" Xander tried to find the words to explain the situation to Mariah.
"She's playing with ya, Xander. Don't you know by now to never take every single solitaire word of Mariah's to heart?" Buffy patted him on the back and continued to walk with Mariah to their respective lockers. Xander caught up with them and leaned against the lockers beside theirs. He knew that as long as he was somewhere near Buffy and Mariah nobody would even try to remotely hurt him.
Willow and Oz walked up and greeted their friends. "What's up you guys? One more not and the wolf within can rest, then I can help you all with what needs to be done." Oz was relaxed and easy going, but a little more than usual.
"I filled Oz in on everything that happened last night. He took it all rather well, I have to say." Willow looked shyly at Mariah not sure if she should have said that out loud.
Mariah breathed an aggravated sigh. "It's all over and done with, now we can go on with our lives. Let's go to class and start the day with a fresh slate, pretending that the last three days never happened, except for the good parts, of course."
Buffy laughed. "Of course, Mariah. Let's get to history, why don't we?"
"Oh, joy of joys. Learning about the turn of the century, been there, done that, bought the tee-shirt. Oh well, I think I'll survive." Mariah and Buffy started down the hall, but were stopped when Cordelia walked into their path.
Cordelia gave them a satisfied grin. "Well, Mariah, all I have to say is that Neil will be going to the Bronze with me, tonight. So don't try to convince him to go with you."
"I hope you have fun Cordelia and I wish you all the joy in the world with your basketball boyfriend." Mariah started to go around her, but was stopped with a glare. "What's the glare fo,r Cordelia? He's all yours. I don't want him, you can have him."
Cordelia was speechless. "What do you mean? I don't want used goods."
"He's not used. I already have a boyfriend, so why would I need Neil. I was just in a mood yesterday and I lead Neil on." Mariah looked bored with the conversation and wanted Cordelia to wrap it up.
"Fine be like that, but I'm going to tell everyone that you're a. . . a. . . hussy." Cordelia stormed off. Buffy and Mariah looked at each other and burst out laughing.
Buffy broke the laughter first. "I think today is going to be a really good day."
Mariah smiled. "I think you're right."
* * *
Another day was over and the Scooby Gang was tuckered out. They had to catch up with their classes, because no one had seen the necessity to pay attention in any of their classes the past few days. And Mariah just hadn't been herself. Giles smiled as he saw his student, his friends if he weren't a member of the school system, drop slowly into each of the chairs at library table. After a few moments, Giles decided it was time to go out and wake them all up.
Once he emerged from his office, he noticed that Mariah was reading an ancient manuscript, instead of snoozing in her chair. She looked up at Giles. "Oh, Giles, this is for you. It's a book on the Hell-mouth. There are only three of them left in existence. Here's your copy." She rose and handed the book to Giles with a historian's care. She then retook her seat. "I have the second copy back at the mansion and the third is held by a sorcerer somewhere on the east coast. I think you're going to like it. It has prophecies and spells. All of which have to deal with the Hell-mouth and since you live on it, I thought you could use it."
"This is the most wonderful gift I have ever received and I'm quite sure that it will be useful in Buffy's fight against the evil in this world. But I have a question, why do you wish to part with such a valuable book and how did you come by it?" Giles pulled another chair over and sat down beside her.
"I'm willing to part with it because I have another copy, plus Angel's making me move all my things into the mansion in their visible form. It's going to be a little crowded until I get rid of a few things." Mariah grinned to herself. < I wonder what Angel thinks of the first load that appeared out of nowhere. Oh, well. >
"I can imagine, but where did you get two copies?"
"One is the copy I got for myself and the other was a gift from someone you met in the past. I think Buffy knows him rather well, the Master." With that Buffy jumped awake. The very name of the man, who killed her, could do that and more to her.
Buffy looked around. "Who said the Master?"
"Calm down, my friend. I was just telling Giles about something the Master gave me a very long time ago. He's not here and he will never hurt you again, I swear upon that." Mariah rose and rested her hands on Buffy's shoulders.
Buffy visibly calmed upon receiving her friend's comforting touch. "You'll have to tell me about it sometime."
"I promise I will. Angel doesn't even know about my thing with the Master and it better stay that way." Mariah scanned her sleeping friends. "I think we should wake them up, don't you?"
"Allow me." Giles said, once again regaining control of the situation. He rounded the table and found a section that no one was resting on. Carefully he sent down the gift from Mariah and slammed his hand down on the table. Everyone jerked awake. "I'm glad to see that all of you are awake now."
Xander rubbed his sleep filled eyes and stared at Giles. "You could have just yelled at us, no loud noises were necessary. So, what did you want, G-man?"
"Besides telling you to stop calling me that, I wanted to plan how we are going to deal with the whole Pilgrimage, since it is already half over." Giles was a little indignant, but he knew that more important things had been happening around Sunnydale, more specifically with all of them.
"Mariah and I already have plans with Angel tonight." Buffy said quickly, before anything else could progress.
Giles looked at Buffy, then a confused Mariah. He grinned. "Well, Faith will then do the patrolling for the evening, that is if she ever decides to come back to the library."
"Buffy, what are we doing tonight?" Mariah decided to see if she could get an answer.
"You'll find out later." Buffy liked keeping Mariah in the dark.
"I'm not sure if I want to."
The sun had just set and Mariah was waiting outside the school for Buffy. She didn't know why, but she did so none the less. Her friend had something planned and she might as well go along with it. Plus Angel was coming and she liked having as much time with him as she could, even if it was only at night. Mariah turned when she heard footsteps behind her and saw Buffy leaving the school.
Slowly they began to walk down the sidewalk. "So, where exactly are we going? Or are you just trying to get out of patrolling?" Mariah was extremely curious about what Buffy was up to.
"You know me too, well. I'm not going to tell you where we're going, only that Angel's going to meet us there." Buffy glanced sidelong at her friend and saw that puzzlement.
Mariah watched every turn they made, but her mind wandered and she followed Buffy blindly. She looked at the trees that were just starting to bud and she knew that's what her life was going through at the moment. Mariah was starting over and she knew it all too well. But it wouldn't be hard, she had friends and a very supportive vampire to help her get through it. < Why is my life staring over? It can't be just because I killed Zortorian. It's more than that, but I can't think why. Maybe it because I'm finally settling down and coming to grips with who I am. Or perhaps I've finally put my past behind me. > She realized all of a sudden where Buffy was leading her and it shocked Mariah to death.
"Please, Buffy. Not here, not now." Mariah's voice was barely a whisper, but Buffy heard it loud and clear.
Buffy sighed. "You said that you came to Sunnydale to visit Gustav and now is the time to do it, since the man who killed him is dead."
"I can't. I've betrayed him in more ways than you know." Mariah turned to leave, but Buffy stopped her.
"Don't go. You have to face this." Buffy saw Angel, coming up behind Mariah.
Angel stared at the two of them. Buffy had called him during the school day. He had wondered what the reason was she had for waking him. At first, Angel thought something had happened to Mariah, but Buffy assured him nothing had. All she said was to meet them at the graveyard that she had started her fight with Zortorian and so he came. "Hey, what's going on?" He saw the tears forming in Mariah's eyes. "Don't cry, Mariah. Tell me what's wrong."
She ran into his arms and squeezed him close. "Buffy wants me to do what I came to Sunnydale to do."
"What's that?" Angel questioned, but she didn't respond.
Buffy did for her. "She came to Sunnydale to visit Gustav, because she missed him. Zortorian fought you in this graveyard on purpose. He wanted to kill you in front of the man, who you loved and he killed. I know it's hard, but you have to come to terms with his death."
“You don’t understand. I betrayed him. I never told him the truth and it hurt so much when he was gone, just because I didn’t tell him.” Mariah would have crumbled to the ground if Angel hadn’t been holding her tight.
Buffy seemed confused. “What didn’t you tell him? How could you betray someone you loved? Whatever you did can’t seem as bad as it did all those years ago.”
“Mariah, tell us what you did and we’ll tell you if it was such a betrayal to Gustav.” Angel wanted to support her, but he didn’t know if he could.
Mariah regained control of herself and brought herself upright. “When Gustav died, I was pregnant with his child and he never knew. The day Zortorian attacked us was the day I was going to tell him, but after that I never got around to it.”
“Oh, Mariah.” Buffy went to her friend and hugged her.
But Buffy was pushed away. “That’s not the worst of it, Buffy. It was a little girl, who was just like you.” Mariah had tears running down her cheeks, but she didn’t seem to notice.
Angel spoke up. “You can’t mean what you’re saying, Mariah. Your daughter was a. . . .” His voice trailed off. He couldn’t say what he knew was true.
“She was a Slayer. When I told you before I had only heard of the legendary slayers, I lied. Anne was such a treasure, but she was stronger than she should have been and one day when I was attacked by a demon, she defended me. I contacted the Watcher Council and told them. They wanted to send a Watcher for her, but I said I would train her. The Council got rather angry and almost sent somebody else. However, I kept a journal of what she did and sent it to them. It was so complete that they were shocked and let me stay on. But two years after she became the official Slayer, they found who would be the next Slayer and I knew my baby was going to die soon. She lasted three more years, before a vampire got the better of her and took her into the vampire fold.” Mariah stopped, her pain was building.
“Tell us what happened.” Buffy urged her.
“Anne died in my arms, but she said right before her last breathe, ‘Promise.’ I immediately said ‘I promise.’ Then she died. Anne woke up as a vampire and I staked her, my own child. She had always made me promise, if she became a vampire I would be the one to kill her and I kept it. She died when she was only twenty-three, five years being the Slayer.”
“I’m so sorry, Mariah, but it wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have stopped anything from happening.” Angel engulfed her in his arms once again, rocking her back and forth as she began to sob. “Okay, it’s time for you to face him.”
“Please. . . “ She couldn’t say it all, but hoped that her plea was enough.
Buffy lead her to the grave that beared the name Gustav Wilheim. Under his name their was a short message, that read, ‘Loving Husband and Father. We will love you always.’ A short but sweet note, that Buffy knew came from Mariah’s heart.
“Say something to him, even though he’s not here.” Angel stood behind her, a comforting presence as always.
Mariah thought for a moment as she stared down at the grave of the man she had married so long ago and loved even as she stood there, two hundred years after he had died. "Gustav, I'm. . .um, sorry that I never told you about our child. It never seemed to come up and the time was never right. Then everything went down hill and Zortorian killed you." Tears slid down her cheek, but she went on. "I should have saved you that day, but I was so scared for myself and for our child that I did nothing to prevent your death. I could have tried at the very least." Mariah dropped to her knees, her tears hitting the ground in front of the grave. Slowly, two small vines began to grow up from the ground. They twined themselves around one another and the grave as well. Roses blossomed. Angel and Buffy gasped, but the vines were the symbol of the eternal love Mariah had for Gustav. "Remember Gustav, I will always love you." She leaned forward and kissed one of the newly formed buds.
Angel helped Mariah to rise and gave her a comforting hug. A wind swept by the trio and a voice was heard. "Ich lieben du immer, Mariah. Und Ich vergebe du." As quickly as the voice came it was gone, along with the wind.
"Please tell me you both heard that." Buffy quizzically looked around for the owner of the voice but saw no one.
Angel looked down at Mariah and saw her smile. "Buffy, I think it was Gustav say good-bye in his own way to Mariah. He said, 'I will love you always, Mariah. And I forgive you.' I think his spirit will rest in peace now." Angel kissed Mariah's forehead. "And I think you can too, Mariah."
"I know that now." Mariah turned from Angel and looked thankfully at Buffy. "Thank you so much for making me come. I think I can move on with my life now and I won't have to worry about Gustav's death coming back to haunt me. I have gained his forgiveness. That is the most valuable gift I could receive from him."
"Especially since he's dead." Buffy looked at her watch. "I better go on patrol, however Mariah, you have to promise to tell Giles about that whole Anne, the slayer, thing. I think he'll be interested."
"I think he will be, too and I won't forget to tell him. Bye, Buffy." Mariah watched as the Slayer walked off into the distance and the shadows of the night. She, then, turned back to Angel, seeing the love and warmth he held for her in his eyes. Before she knew what happened, Angel's lips were locked with hers and heaven had surrounded her. The passion they shared was evident as was their love. Angel knew that she still loved Gustav, but it was nothing compared to what they had, even though they could not show it to one another in all its forms.
"That was nice." Angel saw that she was stunned by his straight forwardness, but she had enjoyed it as much as he did. He dipped his head to plant another kiss upon her slightly bruised lips, but she pushed away from him.
Mariah looked frazzled and she combed her hand through her hair. "I think we were getting a little too into that." She saw the hurt in his face and she turned from him, unable to bear it.
"Mariah, talk to me. What's going on?" When she didn't respond, Angel continued. "Why are you so close one minute and distant the next? Don't you know I'd do anything for you.
"I know you'd do anything for me. I'm distant because that way I'll never lose you. You'll never have one moment of true happiness. I couldn't watch you lose your soul and know that I was the cause of it." Mariah was frustrated and had no idea what to say to him.
Angel tried to understand. "We know that we need to be careful and to limit how far we go, but that doesn't mean we can't kiss and be happy in each others company."
"I know the pain of losing someone far better than you Angel. I've lost significant others, children, friends. More than even the number of years that you've been alive." Mariah turned and started to walk away, but a sigh from Angel stopped her. She turned back to face him.
Angel walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. When she didn't push him away, he knew she wasn't as mad as she seemed. < I know you want us to be together in the way we use to be, but you want to look out for me and I love you so much more because of that. >
"Angel, I'll always be a little distant, that way I'll never lose you. It may not be in the same way as Gustav, but it will hurt just as much. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?" Mariah leaned her forehead against Angel's chest and took in a deep breathe of him. She smiled, Angel always smelt the same to her and he most likely always would.
Angel delved in their closeness. "I understand what you're saying to me, Mariah. And the fact that you want to protect me makes me love you all the more. Some day, I know that we'll be as close as we once were, but of course we'll both have good natures, so we can enjoy our happiness."
Angel slipped his hand under Mariah's chin and lifted her face for him see. She was crying again and Angel didn't know if her tears were tears of joy or tears of sadness. Her tears stung as they hit him, most likely because they had some kind of holy quality, but he didn't turn her away.
Mariah noticed the little puffs of smoke rising from where her tears landed on Angel. She knew that she was hurting him. "I'm sorry, Angel. I'm hurting you, and that's something I can't bear."
"I little physical pain never did much permanent damage to me. I think I can take it." Angel paused and looked down into her eyes. "So, are we back on friendly terms once more?"
"Of course. I can't stay mad at you." She wrapped her arms around Angel's neck and reached up to kiss him softly. Her accepted her kiss and deepened it to show the new respect and love he felt for her.
Slowly, their single kiss multiplied to many, many more. Angel broke off first, but continued to hold her in his arms. "That's what can lead to other things, even though I'd like very much to continue."
"I don't think that's such a good idea." Mariah rubbed her nose against his shoulder. She looked into his eyes and saw that he's passion was as great as hers. It made her smile, but she knew that more kisses would be a bad thing so she chose the next best thing. "For now, Angel, just hold me, hold me close."
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