Never Did Run Smooth
Disclaimer: Buffy, Angel, and all the rest are owned by Joss, Fox, and some other people.
Continuity: Spoilers up to and including the 5th Season: the first three are "future fics," the last one is set in season 2
Note: This fic is actually four separate stories. There's no plot to speak of and the idea isn't all that original and I'm not even sure if the stories fit together, but hopefully you'll at least have fun reading them. I wrote this on a whim. I edited it and such, but I apologize in advance for all the typos I'm sure I missed and solemnly swear on the scripture of your choice to start looking for beta readers.
1. Moment of Truth
"Angel."
Her heart skipped a beat when she said the name, his name, the name of her first and last and only lover, from this moment until forever.
Time, which had been slow since Angel had entered the room, froze. A diamond containing all that her life had ever been and ever would be, that cut through her entire past and into the future with the precision of light. A genuine moment of truth.
He was as handsome as he'd ever been, if not more so.
The black coat, the silk, wine-red shirt contrasting so well with the pale of his skin, the dark hair and those eyes, deep brown eyes that carried pain, fear, expectation, and even love. The smear-trails of sweat on his face. The smell of his blood spreading across the floor like spilled milk from the hideous wound where his leg had once attached to his right knee.
He was smiling, a half smile that showed his pain but also
"You always did manage to sweep me off my feet."
Buffy didn't say anything.
Instead, with the swift swipe of his own katana blade, the one that had killed too many, she swept his head off with a blow so strong and swift that his head literally flew off his shoulders as everything that had once been Angel turned to dust. Only the blood, on the floor and the weapon, remained as confirmation, as evidence the memory was true and that her lover was dead at last.
Buffy sank to the wet floor silently weeping for all that she had lost.
2. Something New
"I do."
Buffy smiled a grin that seemed to stretch for miles, almost as long as the strange road that had brought her to this wonderful day. Angel looked more gorgeous than ever in his wonderful black tux with the gray tie and the pink corsage that Cordelia had absolutely insisted on despite Angel's objections that it looked "too girly," as if that was even possible on him.
And Angel smiled too, something he did a lot more now, but this was an especially large smile of the sort she'd only seen before with evil behind it, never joy: it was something new.
She had never thought this moment would come to pass, could never have even guessed it. But then, life had been full of surprises since the Powers that Be had finally seen fit to restore Angel's humanity. There had been so many dark times before then, Buffy had been amazed that fate was finally allowing them joy he'd strived so long to earn.
And, mercifully, the brides-maids dresses weren't sea-foam green or frilly. Cordelia wouldn't have stood for the green and Faith would have torn the frills off or simply gone naked, so it had been a wise choice on the bride's part.
". . .I now pronounce you husband and wife."
Angel swept his bride into a long, deep kiss, the type of kiss Buffy herself had shared with Angel so many times before. Of course, things hadn't worked out for them: their love had been passionate but poorly timed, and Buffy had found someone else worth loving just as much.
And although they'd had their differences in the past, she was glad that Xander and Angel were getting along so well now. The family gathering tensions she'd feared so much had never materialized, another wonderful surprise.
She honestly couldn't think of anything that could have made the new lives of Angel and Dawn Ferguson get off to a better start.
3. Last Rites
He rested one hand on the cold granite of the headstone, feeling the smooth polish of the stone while brushing his other across the grooves in the stone where her name was cut.
Buffy Summers: 1981-2003
Chosen One, Loved One.
He couldn't help but smile at the epithet. Willow must have thought of it.
Angel sighed as he dug his hands into the fresh earth of her grave and let the damply soft dirt fall through his fingers.
"Dust to dust. Immortality aside, I always thought I'd be the one to go first Buffy. God, how am I supposed to live in a world without you? You were my reason, the reason for living, for finding redemption. I know this isn't what you'd want me to do, but I don't care. I just want us to be together, even if it is just for a short time before the breeze picks up. I love you."
He kissed the damp earth of her grave as the first light of day began to spread across the sky.
4. The Course of True Love
"Angel."
"Yeah?"
"You ever think about the future?"
"Sometimes."
"What do you see?"
Angel paused for a long time. "I don't think it's that important."
"Do you think we'll be happy?"
"Why all this talk about the future?"
"Well, after everything that happened with Ted the killer robot, I've been thinking a lot. About my parents marriage, about how it all seemed to fall apart without warning."
"We're not married Buffy. Even if we could be . . .."
"I try and think about it: hurting you, you hurting me. Maybe us dying."
"Dying."
"It has to happen eventually, to me at least."
"Don't think about it, Buffy. The future will take care of itself."
"Yeah, I guess. We're young and in love. Well, I'm young and in love, you're really, really old and in love, but that's not the point."
"There's a point?"
"Very funny, you're in danger of becoming a comedian. What will happen to your image?"
"My agen will take care of it."
Buffy laughed, music to Angel's ears.
"Will we be happy?"
"Most of the time, I think. I can't think of how we wouldn't be but . . .."
"But what?"
"The course of true love never did run smooth."
"Bastard, you know I've got a paper due on that play." She paused. "Whatever happens, will you promise to never forget? Will you love me, no matter what?"
"Of course I'll always love you. I couldn't stop if I tried."
Buffy smiled. "That's all the future I need."