Farewell, My Heart
Buffy drifts through the wreckage, wreaths of smoke wafting around her as the wail of sirens and the calls of the wounded surround her. She feels numb, like her mind has finally seen too much. Everything seems to slide off of her mind like trying to hold onto a slippery silver fish – everything except the thought of her vanished lover.
People about her sob, clutch at their beloveds, or just stare into space. Firemen and police officers are everywhere, dazed and confused by the chaos at what was once Sunnydale High School. The world is loud, hot and crowded, but nowhere in the crush does Buffy see her Angel – until, suddenly and abruptly, there is a black-cloaked figure in the distance.
Buffy freezes, breath caught in her throat, as a slight breeze disturbs the haze and allows her to see Angel's handsome face one last time. His dark eyes are tortured, and wet with tears, but the set of his mouth is firm, and the way he holds his shoulders is determined, even if his hands are trembling subtly.
Like golden threads of light between them, Buffy can feel the ties that bind them quivering. They have been drawn so tight since the two star-crossed lovers first met that now, as they begin to snap, Buffy imagines that she can hear them cry out long, somber notes that echo through the empty air between her and him. Their eyes are locked for a long moment, while the rest of the world just falls away.
Then, finally, just before the tears sparkling in his eyes fall, Angel stumbles back a pace, and then another. The violin-strings between them sing farewell, then break and fade completely when Angel turns away. Buffy stumbles back, for there is nothing to hold her up any longer. Hot tears prick at her eyes, and she mourns the loss of her heart as the corners of her mind grow sharp and empty.
Goodbye, my Angel, she whispers to the silence of her soul, as a veil of smoke descends upon the heart-broken, and forever hides her love from sight.