The Boys Are Back In Town- Chapter Two
***
The day Riley chose to propose was also the year anniversary of hearing the news that Angel was dead- September 25th 1943. She couldn't help but mope around the house that day. Joyce knew the root of Buffy's troubles, but wisely didn't say anything. She hoped that Buffy's date with Riley that night would make up for it, cheer her up. At six o'clock, with the precision that comes from being in the army with only a desk to keep him occupied, Riley arrived, dressed smarter than usual in his full dress uniform.
"Good evening, Mrs Summers. Is Buffy ready?"
"Yes. Come on in." She led the way into the living room.
"Why, you look very handsome today, Riley."
"Thank you ma'am."
In a moment, Buffy came down the stairs in a black dress Joyce recognised as the one Buffy had worn while in mourning for Angel. But Buffy smiled brightly at her supposed beau and thanked him graciously for the flowers he brought. Then, they were gone, onto their date. Joyce smiled, she did like that boy.
***
Riley had booked a table at Senor Vitelli's, the finest restaurant in Sunnydale. Angel had taken Buffy there after her Senior Prom. Then, Riley drove her to the beach and pulled out a blanket for them to sit on. He also had a small hamper containing drinks and snacks. Their only illumination was from the lights of the Country Club not far away.
"Have you had a good evening so far, Buffy?" He asked eagerly hoping to get a resounding yes.
"Yes. It was nice." Buffy managed. Riley's heart sank. She was retreating to her old distance she'd had when they first started courting.
"Well, I'm glad. Because I have something to ask you. Something important." Riley began. He pulled a tiny box from the hamper. He opened the box.
"Buffy Summers, would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?" He said grandly. Buffy's eyes widened in horror. She leapt to her feet and ran off down the beach leaving Riley behind, a confused look on his face and a cheap ring in his hand.
***
After she left Riley, Buffy ran down the beach, almost down to the boardwalk. She collapsed onto the cold, damp sand and cried. She cried for herself and she cried for Angel. She stayed here on the sand for what was probably hours, crying and watching the waves crash onto the beach before receding back into the ocean.
Finally she returned home to find Joyce out of her mind with worry. She said she was fine and headed straight for her bed, none the wiser as to the answer she would give Riley. She didn't love him, but Angel was dead. Did she want to be alone for her entire life?
***
"Hello Buffy," A soft, smooth voice called.
"Angel?" She asked frantically. It was too dark to see anything.
"I'm here Buffy, I'm in here." He said, but still she couldn't see him.
"Where?"
"I'm in here. I can't get out. I have to go. I'll be back but I can't get out."
"Angel!"
"I'm here. I'm always here." Then, his voice faded. Buffy shot up in bed, beads of sweat forming on her brow. What did it mean? It was nonsensical and contradicting. He had to go but he was here? Confused, Buffy fell back down onto her pillows and after much tossing and turning, she fell into a thankfully dreamless slumber.
***
"Good morning, Buffy." Joyce said chirpily when her daughter emerged the next morning. She put a plate of pancakes in front of Buffy and hoped that she would explain the previous night to her.
"Did you have a good evening with Riley?"
"It was nice." Buffy mumbled. She drained her cup of coffee and stood up.
"I have to go." She really didn't want to get into the details of the night with her mother.
"What about your breakfast?"
"Not hungry. I'll see you later, mom." She mustered a grin from somewhere for her mother's benefit and then ran out of the house.
***
She worked at the munitions factory that morning before speeding over to the canteen. She dreaded going in as she knew that in all likelihood Riley would be there. She couldn't face him, not until she worked out what her decision would be. But of course, as soon as she arrived she was confronted by the sight of Riley and Willow sitting by the window, deep in conversation.
"Buffy!" Willow called. Damn, she'd been spotted. She'd hoped at least to get her coat off before being noticed.
"Oh, hey." She called back lamely. Riley jumped up and approached her.
"Where did you run off to? I was worried." He demanded.
"Worried enough to run after me?" She shot back. She realised that they had a captive audience of lunching soldiers.
"I won't talk to you about this here." She said to him quietly.
"Outside then."
"I have work to do. Not now."
"When?" Riley said, clearly becoming frustrated.
"Later. I don't know. Would it kill you to give me some time?" She asked, putting on her apron.
"Fine. Call me. I'll come running." Riley said sarcastically before stalking off out the room.
"What did you do that for?" Willow asked.
"He asked me to marry him." Buffy said through gritted teeth.
"I know. Isn't it great?"
"No!" Buffy barked back at her angrily.
"Why not?"
"Because of Angel." Buffy said. She'd expected Willow of all people, to understand. She'd been waiting for Danny Osbourne to return. Now it was Willow's turn to get angry.
"Yeah? Well, I've got news for you, Buffy, Angel is dead!" I'm sorry, I know you loved him, I adored him too, but Angel is dead and you have to move on."
"No I don't" Buffy yelled back, no longer caring about the audience.
"Yes you do! I really don't think Angel would want you to spend your entire life alone."
"You think so? Well, as you say, Angel is dead," Buffy spat. "So it only matters what I want. I'd rather die alone with Angel in my heart than live fifty years with someone I don't love." Buffy felt tears begin to form and ran from the room.
***
How did everyone forget so easily? Did they think her so fickle as to give up Angel and take up with Riley without another thought? Didn't they know her at all? She realised that most people thought what she had with Angel was just a high school romance that would have ended with or without a ward. Well, she'd show them. She knew now what she needed to do.
***
"Thank you for seeing me, Mrs. Flynn." Buffy said. Mary Flynn smiled kindly at the young woman.
"Not at all. I rather miss our mornings together." She said. Before Angel went missing, and for a long while afterwards Mrs Flynn had Buffy over for coffee two mornings a week. Since trying to focus on Riley, Buffy had dropped by much less frequently.
"So do I. I need to ask your advice, Mrs Flynn." Buffy said, recounting the whole story.
"He proposed." Mrs Flynn said
"Yes." Buffy looked down, embarrassed. Mrs Flynn took her firmly in her gaze.
"Do you truly believe that Angel is dead?" She asked. Buffy didn't know how to answer.
"Put it this way, do you think there's any chance that Angel might return one day?" Buffy nodded. She still thought it. They had never recovered his body or any part of it. Maybe he was still alive, she thought. Mrs Flynn thought for a moment.
"If you believe Angel will come back then I think you have your answer right there." Mrs Flynn smiled comfortingly at her.
"And if you believe it Buffy, then so do I. I always believe that love had a stronger connection that anyone suspects. It must be the Irish superstition in me. And I expect to see you on Tuesday and Thursday mornings again. I need my gossip." She laughed.
"OK, Mrs. Flynn. You're right." Buffy stood up. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go and see someone."
***
"Is Captain Finn available? It's quite important." Buffy was now standing at the main gate of Camp Sunnydale.
"Yes ma'am." The young soldier, surely not more than eighteen, telephoned to Finn's office.
"If you'll follow me." Another soldier appeared to escort Buffy. Riley's face lit up when he saw Buffy enter his office.
"Hello darling," He said and she winced, sitting straight down in front of his desk.
"We need to talk. I need to tell you some things." She said, her face sombre. He sank into his chair, a part of him already knowing the answer to his question.
"I can't marry you Riley. I'm already engaged."
"But he died! Willow said he died!"
"Perhaps. But my heart still believes he'll return. He's still listed as missing, you know." She paused. "You see, I never told you how much I love him. I was unfair to you and I'm sorry. The fact is, I still love him and I now know that I always will whether he comes home or not. And I can't be unfaithful to him and I won't be unfair to you." Buffy stood up.
"That's it?" Riley demanded.
"Yes."
"You have been unfaithful to your Captain America! You've courted me for months!"
"No Riley, I accompanied you to places. I was never really your girlfriend or your sweetheart or your darling."
"Yes! Yes you were!"
"No." She decided she needed to be blunt and pulled the chain she always wore from under her sweater. She held the ring up.
"My engagement ring. I'm afraid I was never really yours. I'm sorry Riley."
"Yes, me too." He hissed. "Why? Answer me why?"
"I held on to you because I was terrified of being alone again. First Angel, and then I got Xander back but he left again. I could lose anymore people I cared about. And I do care about you Riley. I just don't love you." She shuddered. Her own words sounded so cruel in her ears.
"Get out."
"All right. Good bye Riley." She said softly, before leaving him alone in his office.
***
"You what?" Joyce shrieked.
"I said I wouldn't marry him." Buffy replied calmly. They were sitting in the kitchen of the Summers house when Buffy dropped her bombshell.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't love him. Because I'm in love with Angel."
"Angel is dead!"
"We don't know that for sure." Buffy said serenely. "We don't know. Miracles can happen. The Nazis haven't banned miracles altogether." She said, remembering the line from Casablanca, one of the many movies she, Willow and Xander had watched at the Sun.
"Yes they have!" Joyce shot back. "You've been watching too many movies. Angel won't come back. Angel is dead. Riley is a good man who isn't about to run off and get himself killed."
"Good. I hope he'll make some girl very happy."
"Why can't some girl be you?" Joyce pleaded.
"I'm in love with Angel." She repeated quietly, before leaving the room.
***
After breaking off from Riley, Buffy found herself feeling oddly liberated. She no longer had a pretence to keep up, and she found being on her own much more pleasant that her irrational fear had let her believe. She found she now had the time to visit with Mrs. Flynn more often, to go to the movies with Willow and perhaps most importantly, return to her hectic war effort.
She had neglected all these things in trying to keep Riley nearby. She returned to doing the rounds of the womens' groups offering support and asking for donations. She returned to her afternoons at the Sunnydale Playgroup and everyone commented on how well she was doing since that 'nice Captain Finn' left. Riley had, five minutes after she exited his office, gone to the base commander and requested a transfer. As it turned out, his services were of more use at a base on the East Coast.
***
Buffy returned to her early wartime routine which consisted of the canteen, various drives, the Playgroup and work at the munitions factory. But this time, she found herself enjoying and finding worth in what she did. She no longer worked just to get her mind off Angel's absence or to somehow win the war through paper drives and get him home.
She did it now to be use to the bigger war effort and the fascism. She had never really understood the bigger picture before. Recalling once again Casablanca, she realised she had only ever seen the hill of beans- just Angel and herself. Now she saw it all. She opened her eyes to the newsreels and began finally to read between their lines. She open her eyes to the realities and atrocities of war and was appalled. She realised that there were women in Europe being forced into ghettos and camps, most likely then killed.
But most importantly to Buffy personally, was the newfound knowledge that, even if Angel did not return, she would have a full, even happy life on her own. She had been so consumed by her fear of being alone that now she was alone, she found it hugely relieving to find it to be a good existence. It would never be as good as being with Angel, but she would survive.
***
Her twenty-first birthday came only nineteen days after they rang in the new year of 1944. Once again they drank a toast to the end of the war. Yet this time it seemed evermore likely that the war would be over soon. On the 6th July, the Allied forces, combining British, Canadian, American, and Free French troops began Operation Overlord- the long awaited (and one day late, due to the usual British weather) invasion plan in Normandy. The very next day, the British captured Bayeux and five beaches were captured.
As they watched reports on the newsreels, Buffy and Willow realised that this would be a turning point of the war. They guess from Xander's letters that he was probably involved there, and as soon as the movie finished, they ran to St. Monica's church to pray fervently for their friend. They watched as German generals were replaced rapidly, as Caen was reduced to mere rubble before the allies finally captured it. By the end of August, De Gaulle was back in Paris.
By the end of October, Aachen was the first German town taken. As was expected, the Germans fought back, but the allies were flush with victory and the push into Europe from the west, east and south continued on as Sunnydale watched from the front pages of newspapers and the velvet seats of the Sun Cinema.
***
Buffy celebrated her twenty second birthday in January of 1945- the latest of many birthdays celebrated without Angel. But unlike her nineteenth, twentieth and twenty first birthdays, she managed to have a good time. The children at the playgroup had thrown her a party in the morning, complete with balloons and cake. Of course by the time she had handed out cake to them, there was none left for her, but she didn't mind.
They had played all kinds of birthday party games before she then headed to the canteen, where the soldiers all sang Happy Birthday to her. The sight of fifty or so grown men in khaki uniforms enthusiastically singing a loud, horrendously off-key version of the song would remain with her forever. In fact, the photographer for the Sunnydale News had snapped a shot of it, and promised to give her a copy. Then she had a quiet dinner at Senor Vitelli's with Willow, Joyce and Mrs. Flynn.
They had celebrated her birthday and drank a toast to 1945, which had begun just nineteen days earlier, and all hoped fervently that 1945 would be a year of peace. This time, after the victories of 1944, they could see victory, and more importantly, peace in the near distance.
***
On 30th April 1945, Hitler and his wife of less than a day Eva Braun committed suicide in his bunker. Then on 7th May, General Jodl signed the unconditional surrender of Germany, with all operations to cease 1 minute after midnight on the 8th May, a date which became immediately known as VE Day.
But despite celebrations on a huge scale, Sunnydale couldn't relax just yet. Then the Enola Gay dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on 6th August. The Japanese surrender came quickly after that, and for the first time in years, the people of Sunnydale and everywhere across the world were able to discover what peace felt like.
The plans for the soon famous victory party began small. Buffy and Willow simply started inviting people to the scheduled return of Xander and several other Sunnydale men in the forces. This was due to be held just before the weather turned cold, and it turned out to be just as well. News always had travelled fast in Sunnydale and so many people wanted to come to the party that it became impossible to find a place big enough. Until, that is, Buffy came up with the solution:
"What about the beach?" The mayor agreed to give permission and the Sunnydale Victory Beach Party began the planning stages. The people of Sunnydale, who had given so much during the war, now gave for peace. Senor Vitelli donated food from his restaurant and waiters to serve it.
Sunnydale High School provided tables and chairs for hundreds of people. The Sunnydale Women's Institute supplied even more food and drinks and more people to serve. Joyce Summers and the gallery donated decorations while the hardware store gave outdoor electric lights for when the sun went down.
The remaining men at Camp Sunnydale provided the labour force to set it all. And at the centre, organising it all as she had for the entire duration of the war, was Buffy. Her heart was filled with joy at the newfound peace, while her heart was also broken at the loss of Angel.
Xander would return. Daniel Osbourne, Willow's old high school sweetheart, would return. Larry the jock would return, Hogan Martin would return, Jonathon the brain would return. Angel would not. Many of Sunnydale's brightest young men would not return. Even the Mayor's son Richard Jr. had perished at Anzio. But for now, Buffy would not think about this. Now, it was time to celebrate.
***
The party began in the early afternoon but by the time the sun began to set, Xander had not yet arrived. Buffy had been told he was arriving at the airstrip at Camp Sunnydale before being driven down to the party. He should have arrived already, according to the Colonel at Camp Sunnydale. His family were all there, ready to greet their heroic son. Of course, true to form, Rory Harris was so drunk already that he'd mistaken Mrs. Whitaker's chair for his nephew.
"Buffy! Buffy!" Willow cried out. Buffy looked up from ladling punch to see a Jeep pull into the parking lot at the top of the beach.
"He's here!" Someone, Buffy guessed Xander's sister, called. Buffy stood, not wanting to run.
The light was fading greatly by now and she strained to see across the beach in the dying sunlight. Silence descended upon the entire party as everyone turned to see the passengers in the Jeep get out. The first was unmistakably Xander- the horrors of war and his injuries not able to take the bounce from his step. He jumped down onto the sand and ran to hug Willow, then his mother. Then he grabbed Buffy and threw her up in the air to make her laugh.
"I said I'd be back." He said, before then running to his sister. Buffy then turned her attention back to the Jeep. The little guy who got out was Danny Osbourne, who also headed for Willow.
Buffy smiled. Regardless of all her attempts to set Buffy up, Willow had waited for Danny all this time. Unexpectedly, a third figure got out of the car. The light was truly dying now, and Buffy strained to see, wondering who it could possibly be. Whoever it was walked slowly, a slight limp evident. He was tall, commanding even just in shadow.
As the Jeep pulled away, it's headlights caught the young man's face and Buffy thought her heart would explode inside her chest. She couldn't believe it. She wouldn't. Whoever it was continued down the beach towards the party. Then, someone began turning on the lights. The young soldier was then illuminated entirely.
"ANGEL!" She screamed, finally believing what she'd seen. He grinned and she shot towards him.
"Angel! Angel!" She shrieked, launching herself at him.
"Buffy," He breathed softly, holding her tightly.
"Angel, you're alive!"
"I seem to be." He joked. She swatted him on the arm.
"You're back." She said. He nodded, smiling. Suddenly, everyone at the party began to applaud and cheer. Then, he kissed her.
***
"Is it really you?" She asked, probably for the thousandth time. They had moved away from the party and were now settled onto the sand further down the beach.
"Yes, Buffy." Angel laughed a little.
"Are you all right?" She asked as his laugh died almost immediately. He had a haunted look in his eyes she'd noticed straight away. She'd hoped it was just nerves at being scrutinised by so many people at the party. But now they were alone and the look remained. She realised that the war had left Angel with more scars than just those visible.
"What did you do?"
"In the war, you mean?" He asked, getting her meaning straight off as always.
"Yeah."
"Well, I got captured first. My unit was parachuted into occupied France, a top secret mission, you know the kind. Well anyway, we were dropped in the wrong sector and those of us who didn't get hung when our parachutes got caught in the trees were captured by the Germans."
"Top secret. Is that why they told Mrs Flynn you were in a car crash?"
"Probably." His brow furrowed at the thought of his mother being told he was dead.
"But they thought we were all dead. Only three of us survived to be taken to one of the German prisoner of war camps. A stalag." He paused for a moment. "I don't know if you know this, but it's an officer's duty to try and escape. So we tried. Josh and I. He was one of the guys in my unit. We tried to escape so many times I'm amazed that they didn't throw us in the Cooler permanently."
"Cooler?"
"Solitary confinement." Angel translated from the army slang.
"Oh." She shuddered at the thought of Angel all on his own in one of those little concrete rooms.
"Wasn't that bad. I got out of having to do anything. I could just sit there for days and think about you." He grinned at her, the old Angel shining through for a moment.
"Well, then there was a bigger, more organised escape attempt. A tunnel."
"We heard a story about the Nazis killing a lot of men who escaped in a tunnel. Was that you?"
"No. I know you're thinking of the fifty men from Stalag Luft III. They were airmen. And that was only last year. And they put us in a makeshift camp in France, not Germany."
"Oh. Did you get out then?"
"Yep. Ten of us did. We split up and went off any way we could. Some took the train, some walked, one guy stole a car. I found a motorbike which I liberated from the German army. It meant I could take off across fields instead of using roads. Well, I made it to the English channel eventually and was able to get back to England."
"Wow."
"Not that great." Angel said modestly. "The bike ran out of petrol halfway there. I ended up walking for the better part of two days before I could get onto a train."
"There were no stations for two days?"
"Not that weren't swarming with SS." He said. "I jumped off the train just before the last stop and walked the rest of the way. I found the local Resistance fighters and they got me food- which I hadn't had for some time. Then, they got me onto a boat to England."
"There were boats to England even during the war?"
"No. Not that were meant to go there anyway. A local Resistance man, I'll never forget his name: Michel-Pierre, had a fishing boat which we sneaked past the Germans at night time. The hard part was convincing the British Home Guard that I wasn't a German spy." Angel smiled wryly at the memory of somewhat elderly British men cross-examining him before finally handing him over to the army. Who were just as thorough.
"Then what?"
"Well, I was already listed as MIA and nobody believed I was alive. After talking with MI5 and the army, I became a spy."
"A spy?"
"Yeah. It was easy. We switched my status to killed in action. If everyone thought I was dead, I didn't exist. I took on a new identity entirely which allowed me to spy for the allies."
"I was perfect. I can speak Italian, French, German. After almost a year in a German POW camp, I was even fluent in German colloquialisms and swearing. I was first parachuted into Sicily to get some information on troop movements and public feeling in Italy. Then I was sent to Greece, to the islands. But I couldn't speak any Greek, I didn't even look Greek, so as soon as they got another guy in, I was sent right into the Third Reich itself."
"Into Germany?" Buffy's heart began pounding as she realised exactly how much danger Angel had been in.
"Yes."
"Was it terribly dangerous?"
"More for the people living there. The German people were treated as badly as the French or the British or the Italians. Possibly worse."
"Then what?"
"When D-Day was launched, I stayed in Germany to relay troop movements and such. But as it became clear that the operation was a success and it got too dangerous for anyone to be in Berlin, I travelled to the front and joined in the fighting. Then, we liberated Dachau."
"Dachau." The name of the concentration camp echoed in her mind and made her shiver.
"Don't tell me what you saw." She whispered, understanding why the haunted look in his eyes remained. He had seen true horror. Everyone had heard about the concentration camps.
"I wasn't going to. But everyone should know what happened. We found rooms full of shoes and suitcases and glasses and clothes that were taken from the people there. And the biggest crematorium I've ever seen." Angel began to shake as he remembered what he saw that day.
"Then we continued into Germany." A sob rose up in Angel's chest. "You have no idea of the horrors I've seen. And I don't want you to know." Buffy nodded solemnly.
After everything, he was still trying to protect her. He was her hero. She put her arms around him and he began to cry for all the horrors, all the injustice, cruelty and murder a war provides. He cried for the friends he lost, for the dead piled up in railway carriages at Dachau, for all the people who would remain forever scarred by the war. In that moment he realised that there were never survivors of a war, only people who lived.
***
They returned to the party some time later, where Buffy knew Angel would immediately be grabbed and taken to regale them all with tales of his heroic survival.
He was, and she found herself watching him with a bittersweet smile. She had been eighteen years old when he left for the war and now she was twenty two and much older even than that. She wasn't the young, carefree high school graduate he had left behind.
She was Buffy Summers, one of the most valuable members of the Sunnydale community, a mature young woman she hadn't realised she could be. These deep thoughts were pushed from her mind by the sound of Mayor Wilkins' voice calling for attention. Slowly silence fell upon the people.
"I have been asked to say a few words on this celebratory occasion. Today we not only welcomed back loved members of our community from serving on the front lines, but we also celebrated the end of a long, hard war and the victory of democracy and freedom over fascism and oppression." He paused to let everyone applaud and shout approval.
"We have all lost relatives, friends, loved ones to this war. My own eldest son was killed in battle, fighting for freedom. But his life was not given in vain. Had we not risen to the challenge, Adolf Hitler and his evil message would have spread across the globe. As our own President said, we would not have survived as an oasis of democracy in a desert of dictatorship. We celebrate those brave young men tonight. And we celebrate those brave young men who, we are thankful, came back to us." He paused again for applause and Buffy realised that, up and down the country, similar jubilant patriotic messages were being spread.
"And I would like to personally thank a young woman without whom, Sunnydale itself would not have survived this war. She was eighteen years old when the war first reached us, but that didn't stop her from organising us all into an efficient war effort. She organised the Sunnydale Playgroup so that mothers could work not only for the war effort, but to feed their children with their husbands away. She organised the canteen which kept our locally stationed servicemen fed, watered and entertained. I don't think it's too big an exaggeration to say that Buffy Summers' hard work helped the allies win the war." There was an explosion of applause and hooting, screaming and shouting of the name Buffy.
Angel hugged her tightly, proudly. He still had no idea of the extent of what she'd done in Sunnydale, although Xander had given him an idea.
"You're a hero, Buffy."
"So are you." She said over the din.
"Oh, I have something for you." He said. He reached into the pocket of his greatcoat and pulled out a small box.
"I found this at Asprey's in London just after I got back from Germany." He told her, opening the box. Inside was the most beautiful ring she'd ever seen, gold set with a dazzling diamond, which was surrounded by a cluster of emeralds. The stones twinkled in the dim lights on the beach.
"I promised." He explained simply. She smiled sweetly and pulled out the chain around her neck from under her sweater. On it hung the ring he had given her in June 1941.
Now it was October 1945.
"So did I." She said. He smiled back, for the first time without a thought for anything else.
"So you'll marry me then?"
"Yeah. Had no better offers."
"Gee, thanks."
"You're welcome. You know, you're a pretty lucky guy." She said, taking his hand and leading him down the beach away from the throng.
"I am?"
"Sure. Lots of handsome soldiers wanted to marry Sunnydale's Golden Girl."
"Oh they did, did they?"
"Sure. Well there was Riley..."
"Riley? Who's Riley?"
"I'll tell you later. First we should go see your mother..........." She said, letting go of his hand and breaking into a run.
***
Mrs Flynn had been at the beach party earlier, but had retired early, telling Buffy she was feeling a little under the weather. Truth be told, she wasn't sure she would be able to stand there and be pleased for Mrs Harris, or Mrs Osbourne. She wasn't getting her son back, and although she was glad for the mothers who had, it was still hard.
She'd held out the hope that she would at least receive news by now. She had hoped he was in a POW camp or something, but they had all been liberated. He would have been in touch by now. For the first time in her well-brought up life, Mrs Flynn allowed herself to truly break down and sob.
***
Buffy's car slid up to the front entrance of the Flynn mansion. Angel stepped out, his leg still troubling him a little. He looked up at the large, finely made English oak door that was so familiar to him. Buffy fished around in her bag for the key Mrs Flynn had given her. She always rang the bell, but this time she wanted it to be a surprise.
"Mrs Flynn?" She called out as she and Angel entered the hall.
"Buffy?" Mrs Flynn's cultured voice floated into the hall and to Angel's ears, which found themselves immeasurably comforted by the sound.
"May I speak to you?" Buffy called.
"Of course. I'm in the drawing room, dear." Buffy took Angel's hand and led him to the doorway. She stopped him there, but went in herself.
"Hello Buffy dear. Is everything OK?" Mrs Flynn asked. To Buffy's well- trained eye it seemed that Mrs Flynn had been crying.
"Well no ma'am. I'm afraid I have to give you back your ring."
"But Angel gave it to you. It's your engagement ring."
"No Mrs. Flynn. Not anymore."
"What? What happened? Did some soldier propose again?"
"Sort of. I have a new ring. This fine young hero gave it to me." Angel recognised this as his cue and walked into the room. His mother's mouth dropped open and the ring Buffy had just given her fell to the floor.
"Angel?" She asked softly.
"Hi Mom. Miss me?" He joked before hugging her tightly.
"Don't joke, Angelus!" She said sternly, using his entire first name. "I'm extremely displeased with you." She said, a couple of tears slipping from her eyes. Angel's face fell.
His mother was angry with him? Then, the most surprising thing happened. Mary Flynn grinned. Angel looked shocked.
"I'm afraid I've been spending too much time with Buffy." Mrs Flynn said, laughing.
"Buffy!" Angel exclaimed. "You've turned my mother into a comedian!"
"I try." Buffy grinned, remembering the staid, prim, austere woman Mrs Flynn had once been. Angel beamed brightly. After everything that had happened, all he had seen, it made him so glad to see that if some things changed, it wasn't always for the worse.
***
After all was said and all was done, after those Nazis who survived were held accountable at Nuremberg and those Nazis who died were vilified, life returned, but not to normal. Over one hundred thousand people had been killed by the bomb at Hiroshima, hundreds of thousands of troops and civilians on both sides had been killed in six years of war.
But in Sunnydale, everyone tried to gain some semblance of living. Angel and Buffy formally announced their engagement, as did Willow and Danny Osbourne, who had come back from the forces with a nickname: Oz. In fact, they were lucky to be home so soon. Many soldiers had to remain in Europe as part of the occupying force, many were still caught up in the bureaucracy of demobilisation. Many returned with limbs missing, eyes, ears, anything.
Everyone had their scars. Some returned with war brides, women they'd fallen in love with while Over There. Many young British women now made their homes in Canada or America after the war with their new husbands. Many of these would find their way back across the Atlantic within a few years. Many people found themselves having to rebuild their lives entirely from scratch.
In England, bombed out houses were replaced with cheap prefabs, while in Germany people found their country divided into four sectors: British, French, Russian and American. And in Japan, the horror of nuclear war hit home as those not killed by the Bomb came down with mystery illnesses or were left permanently scarred by their burns. America, compared to almost the entire rest of the world had got off light.
***
Buffy and Angel married at St. Monica's Church in the Summer of 1946 after his scars had healed and his leg mended. On their wedding night, Buffy discovered the patchwork of scars across Angel's body- the parts she had not seen before. Willow and Oz were married two weeks later, while Xander stunned everyone by sending for his wife, a young British woman by the name of Anya.
In 1949, Angel and Buffy's first child was born. He was named Joshua, after Angel's close comrade during the war, who had made it out of the POW camp but perished at Omaha Beach. In 1951 their daughter Mary was born, followed finally in 1952 by Angelus Flynn, Jr. Their family and their lives, were complete at last.
***
Normandy, France. 1995.
The sun was shining, casting a bright glow onto the sands below the group of American students. Among them was sixteen year old Lilyella Flynn, daughter of Angelus Flynn, Jr. To honour the fiftieth anniversary of VE- Day, Sunnydale High School had held an essay competition all about the Second World War. The twenty lucky winners were then given places on a school trip to Normandy: The beaches and battlefields of the D-Day invasion.
***
Lilyella's essay had won first prize overall. This pleased her most because what she really wanted to be was a writer. When the competition had first been announced, she had no idea where to begin. Then her grandfather had told her the story of the Flynns during the war. He found the trunk of things from wartime, including a large box of medals he'd won.
After all, Angel Flynn had won not only the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Service medal, but the Soldier's Medal and had even been awarded the Medal of Honor. He told her all about his service in the war, but the winning element of her essay had been the work on her grandmother, Buffy Summers Flynn, five times Lady Mayor of Sunnydale. She won her place on the trip easily and now stood, hand shielding her eyes from the bright sun, on the cliffs above Omaha Beach.
"Lily!" A voice called. She turned and grinned. When Angel had asked to accompany the group on the trip, Principal Snyder had been only too happy to accommodate Sunnydale's great war hero.
"What?" She asked.
"We're going now." He reminded her. She looked up to see everyone else getting back on the coach.
"Oh good. Because we don't spend enough time on the coach." She said sarcastically.
But really, she was relieved he was here. He was, even at 74, youthful at heart. In many ways he was in better health now than he was fifty years ago and he moved with youthful vigour. His eyes still sparkled and his grin was still bright. Her friends were not on the trip and she would have found it rather lonely without him.
***
In truth, Angel was glad to be in France. While Buffy had always been happy to remain in Sunnydale, in California, he had picked up a love of travelling during his time in Europe. In the last fifty years he had dragged Buffy to all kinds of exotic places- Egypt, Greece, Argentina, Japan, everywhere he could find. His passport was full of interesting stamps and visas.
This time, however, Buffy remained in Sunnydale while Angel told the people on the trip all kinds of tales of his times during the war. When they arrived at the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, while most of the group were content to mill around, marvelling at the size of the cemetery and the number of graves, Angel went straight to the directory- he was looking for someone.
***
The cemetery was both beautiful and grotesque in its size and prettiness. It was incredibly well kept, neat lawns and clean paths, yet the number of grave markers- crosses or Stars of David, only served to remind visitors how many people died on the Normandy beaches alone.
Angel and Lilyella walked down the paths in silence reverence, counting, finding what they were looking for. Then, a simple white stone cross announced in simple writing
JOSHUA GARDNER.
"He was my best friend in those years." Angel explained. "We served together, we were captured together and we escaped together. While I rode a motorbike to freedom, Josh went by train. He had to bail out halfway when German guards began to inspect passengers. But he got back to England not long after I did. We spent a while together in the military hospital recovering. Then when I went to Sicily for intelligence, he returned to the army. He was in the first wave of soldiers who landed on Omaha." Angel paused for a moment, suddenly overwhelmed by where he was and why he was there.
"He was the same age as Buffy." He told Lily. She listened silently as he told her stories of the two of them, before, during and after spending time in a POW camp.
"You know, I joined the army to be a hero." He laughed hollowly, a bitter sound Lily didn't think her grandfather capable of.
"I left Buffy, I left everything to fight a war and be a hero. But the only heroes are lying here." Angel said softly.
"You're my hero." Lily whispered, taking her grandfather's hand.
"I am?"
"Sure. There's more to being a hero than dying with valour on the battlefield." She told him. "You wouldn't have been much of hero if you'd have left Grandma all on her own, would you?"
"I guess not."
"You helped. One man can make all the difference." She said, unconsciously repeating his words from so many years ago.
"He can, huh?"
"Yeah, he can." Lily smiled. "Come on. We're off to Arromanches. Then, Mr Simon said we're off to see the Bayeux Tapestry."
"Yeah?" Angel smiled slightly.
"Have you seen it before?"
"No. If you recall, last time I was in this neck of the woods, I was rather busy." He joked.
"Granddad?"
"Yeah?"
"Was life the same when you got back home?"
"Lily, life was never the same. Not for anyone." He said solemnly. "But we survived."
He took her hand and together, they walked away into the sunshine of the afternoon. THE END
***
The day Riley chose to propose was also the year anniversary of hearing the news that Angel was dead- September 25th 1943. She couldn't help but mope around the house that day. Joyce knew the root of Buffy's troubles, but wisely didn't say anything. She hoped that Buffy's date with Riley that night would make up for it, cheer her up. At six o'clock, with the precision that comes from being in the army with only a desk to keep him occupied, Riley arrived, dressed smarter than usual in his full dress uniform.
"Good evening, Mrs Summers. Is Buffy ready?"
"Yes. Come on in." She led the way into the living room.
"Why, you look very handsome today, Riley."
"Thank you ma'am."
In a moment, Buffy came down the stairs in a black dress Joyce recognised as the one Buffy had worn while in mourning for Angel. But Buffy smiled brightly at her supposed beau and thanked him graciously for the flowers he brought. Then, they were gone, onto their date. Joyce smiled, she did like that boy.
***
Riley had booked a table at Senor Vitelli's, the finest restaurant in Sunnydale. Angel had taken Buffy there after her Senior Prom. Then, Riley drove her to the beach and pulled out a blanket for them to sit on. He also had a small hamper containing drinks and snacks. Their only illumination was from the lights of the Country Club not far away.
"Have you had a good evening so far, Buffy?" He asked eagerly hoping to get a resounding yes.
"Yes. It was nice." Buffy managed. Riley's heart sank. She was retreating to her old distance she'd had when they first started courting.
"Well, I'm glad. Because I have something to ask you. Something important." Riley began. He pulled a tiny box from the hamper. He opened the box.
"Buffy Summers, would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?" He said grandly. Buffy's eyes widened in horror. She leapt to her feet and ran off down the beach leaving Riley behind, a confused look on his face and a cheap ring in his hand.
***
After she left Riley, Buffy ran down the beach, almost down to the boardwalk. She collapsed onto the cold, damp sand and cried. She cried for herself and she cried for Angel. She stayed here on the sand for what was probably hours, crying and watching the waves crash onto the beach before receding back into the ocean.
Finally she returned home to find Joyce out of her mind with worry. She said she was fine and headed straight for her bed, none the wiser as to the answer she would give Riley. She didn't love him, but Angel was dead. Did she want to be alone for her entire life?
***
"Hello Buffy," A soft, smooth voice called.
"Angel?" She asked frantically. It was too dark to see anything.
"I'm here Buffy, I'm in here." He said, but still she couldn't see him.
"Where?"
"I'm in here. I can't get out. I have to go. I'll be back but I can't get out."
"Angel!"
"I'm here. I'm always here." Then, his voice faded. Buffy shot up in bed, beads of sweat forming on her brow. What did it mean? It was nonsensical and contradicting. He had to go but he was here? Confused, Buffy fell back down onto her pillows and after much tossing and turning, she fell into a thankfully dreamless slumber.
***
"Good morning, Buffy." Joyce said chirpily when her daughter emerged the next morning. She put a plate of pancakes in front of Buffy and hoped that she would explain the previous night to her.
"Did you have a good evening with Riley?"
"It was nice." Buffy mumbled. She drained her cup of coffee and stood up.
"I have to go." She really didn't want to get into the details of the night with her mother.
"What about your breakfast?"
"Not hungry. I'll see you later, mom." She mustered a grin from somewhere for her mother's benefit and then ran out of the house.
***
She worked at the munitions factory that morning before speeding over to the canteen. She dreaded going in as she knew that in all likelihood Riley would be there. She couldn't face him, not until she worked out what her decision would be. But of course, as soon as she arrived she was confronted by the sight of Riley and Willow sitting by the window, deep in conversation.
"Buffy!" Willow called. Damn, she'd been spotted. She'd hoped at least to get her coat off before being noticed.
"Oh, hey." She called back lamely. Riley jumped up and approached her.
"Where did you run off to? I was worried." He demanded.
"Worried enough to run after me?" She shot back. She realised that they had a captive audience of lunching soldiers.
"I won't talk to you about this here." She said to him quietly.
"Outside then."
"I have work to do. Not now."
"When?" Riley said, clearly becoming frustrated.
"Later. I don't know. Would it kill you to give me some time?" She asked, putting on her apron.
"Fine. Call me. I'll come running." Riley said sarcastically before stalking off out the room.
"What did you do that for?" Willow asked.
"He asked me to marry him." Buffy said through gritted teeth.
"I know. Isn't it great?"
"No!" Buffy barked back at her angrily.
"Why not?"
"Because of Angel." Buffy said. She'd expected Willow of all people, to understand. She'd been waiting for Danny Osbourne to return. Now it was Willow's turn to get angry.
"Yeah? Well, I've got news for you, Buffy, Angel is dead!" I'm sorry, I know you loved him, I adored him too, but Angel is dead and you have to move on."
"No I don't" Buffy yelled back, no longer caring about the audience.
"Yes you do! I really don't think Angel would want you to spend your entire life alone."
"You think so? Well, as you say, Angel is dead," Buffy spat. "So it only matters what I want. I'd rather die alone with Angel in my heart than live fifty years with someone I don't love." Buffy felt tears begin to form and ran from the room.
***
How did everyone forget so easily? Did they think her so fickle as to give up Angel and take up with Riley without another thought? Didn't they know her at all? She realised that most people thought what she had with Angel was just a high school romance that would have ended with or without a ward. Well, she'd show them. She knew now what she needed to do.
***
"Thank you for seeing me, Mrs. Flynn." Buffy said. Mary Flynn smiled kindly at the young woman.
"Not at all. I rather miss our mornings together." She said. Before Angel went missing, and for a long while afterwards Mrs Flynn had Buffy over for coffee two mornings a week. Since trying to focus on Riley, Buffy had dropped by much less frequently.
"So do I. I need to ask your advice, Mrs Flynn." Buffy said, recounting the whole story.
"He proposed." Mrs Flynn said
"Yes." Buffy looked down, embarrassed. Mrs Flynn took her firmly in her gaze.
"Do you truly believe that Angel is dead?" She asked. Buffy didn't know how to answer.
"Put it this way, do you think there's any chance that Angel might return one day?" Buffy nodded. She still thought it. They had never recovered his body or any part of it. Maybe he was still alive, she thought. Mrs Flynn thought for a moment.
"If you believe Angel will come back then I think you have your answer right there." Mrs Flynn smiled comfortingly at her.
"And if you believe it Buffy, then so do I. I always believe that love had a stronger connection that anyone suspects. It must be the Irish superstition in me. And I expect to see you on Tuesday and Thursday mornings again. I need my gossip." She laughed.
"OK, Mrs. Flynn. You're right." Buffy stood up. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go and see someone."
***
"Is Captain Finn available? It's quite important." Buffy was now standing at the main gate of Camp Sunnydale.
"Yes ma'am." The young soldier, surely not more than eighteen, telephoned to Finn's office.
"If you'll follow me." Another soldier appeared to escort Buffy. Riley's face lit up when he saw Buffy enter his office.
"Hello darling," He said and she winced, sitting straight down in front of his desk.
"We need to talk. I need to tell you some things." She said, her face sombre. He sank into his chair, a part of him already knowing the answer to his question.
"I can't marry you Riley. I'm already engaged."
"But he died! Willow said he died!"
"Perhaps. But my heart still believes he'll return. He's still listed as missing, you know." She paused. "You see, I never told you how much I love him. I was unfair to you and I'm sorry. The fact is, I still love him and I now know that I always will whether he comes home or not. And I can't be unfaithful to him and I won't be unfair to you." Buffy stood up.
"That's it?" Riley demanded.
"Yes."
"You have been unfaithful to your Captain America! You've courted me for months!"
"No Riley, I accompanied you to places. I was never really your girlfriend or your sweetheart or your darling."
"Yes! Yes you were!"
"No." She decided she needed to be blunt and pulled the chain she always wore from under her sweater. She held the ring up.
"My engagement ring. I'm afraid I was never really yours. I'm sorry Riley."
"Yes, me too." He hissed. "Why? Answer me why?"
"I held on to you because I was terrified of being alone again. First Angel, and then I got Xander back but he left again. I could lose anymore people I cared about. And I do care about you Riley. I just don't love you." She shuddered. Her own words sounded so cruel in her ears.
"Get out."
"All right. Good bye Riley." She said softly, before leaving him alone in his office.
***
"You what?" Joyce shrieked.
"I said I wouldn't marry him." Buffy replied calmly. They were sitting in the kitchen of the Summers house when Buffy dropped her bombshell.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't love him. Because I'm in love with Angel."
"Angel is dead!"
"We don't know that for sure." Buffy said serenely. "We don't know. Miracles can happen. The Nazis haven't banned miracles altogether." She said, remembering the line from Casablanca, one of the many movies she, Willow and Xander had watched at the Sun.
"Yes they have!" Joyce shot back. "You've been watching too many movies. Angel won't come back. Angel is dead. Riley is a good man who isn't about to run off and get himself killed."
"Good. I hope he'll make some girl very happy."
"Why can't some girl be you?" Joyce pleaded.
"I'm in love with Angel." She repeated quietly, before leaving the room.
***
After breaking off from Riley, Buffy found herself feeling oddly liberated. She no longer had a pretence to keep up, and she found being on her own much more pleasant that her irrational fear had let her believe. She found she now had the time to visit with Mrs. Flynn more often, to go to the movies with Willow and perhaps most importantly, return to her hectic war effort.
She had neglected all these things in trying to keep Riley nearby. She returned to doing the rounds of the womens' groups offering support and asking for donations. She returned to her afternoons at the Sunnydale Playgroup and everyone commented on how well she was doing since that 'nice Captain Finn' left. Riley had, five minutes after she exited his office, gone to the base commander and requested a transfer. As it turned out, his services were of more use at a base on the East Coast.
***
Buffy returned to her early wartime routine which consisted of the canteen, various drives, the Playgroup and work at the munitions factory. But this time, she found herself enjoying and finding worth in what she did. She no longer worked just to get her mind off Angel's absence or to somehow win the war through paper drives and get him home.
She did it now to be use to the bigger war effort and the fascism. She had never really understood the bigger picture before. Recalling once again Casablanca, she realised she had only ever seen the hill of beans- just Angel and herself. Now she saw it all. She opened her eyes to the newsreels and began finally to read between their lines. She open her eyes to the realities and atrocities of war and was appalled. She realised that there were women in Europe being forced into ghettos and camps, most likely then killed.
But most importantly to Buffy personally, was the newfound knowledge that, even if Angel did not return, she would have a full, even happy life on her own. She had been so consumed by her fear of being alone that now she was alone, she found it hugely relieving to find it to be a good existence. It would never be as good as being with Angel, but she would survive.
***
Her twenty-first birthday came only nineteen days after they rang in the new year of 1944. Once again they drank a toast to the end of the war. Yet this time it seemed evermore likely that the war would be over soon. On the 6th July, the Allied forces, combining British, Canadian, American, and Free French troops began Operation Overlord- the long awaited (and one day late, due to the usual British weather) invasion plan in Normandy. The very next day, the British captured Bayeux and five beaches were captured.
As they watched reports on the newsreels, Buffy and Willow realised that this would be a turning point of the war. They guess from Xander's letters that he was probably involved there, and as soon as the movie finished, they ran to St. Monica's church to pray fervently for their friend. They watched as German generals were replaced rapidly, as Caen was reduced to mere rubble before the allies finally captured it. By the end of August, De Gaulle was back in Paris.
By the end of October, Aachen was the first German town taken. As was expected, the Germans fought back, but the allies were flush with victory and the push into Europe from the west, east and south continued on as Sunnydale watched from the front pages of newspapers and the velvet seats of the Sun Cinema.
***
Buffy celebrated her twenty second birthday in January of 1945- the latest of many birthdays celebrated without Angel. But unlike her nineteenth, twentieth and twenty first birthdays, she managed to have a good time. The children at the playgroup had thrown her a party in the morning, complete with balloons and cake. Of course by the time she had handed out cake to them, there was none left for her, but she didn't mind.
They had played all kinds of birthday party games before she then headed to the canteen, where the soldiers all sang Happy Birthday to her. The sight of fifty or so grown men in khaki uniforms enthusiastically singing a loud, horrendously off-key version of the song would remain with her forever. In fact, the photographer for the Sunnydale News had snapped a shot of it, and promised to give her a copy. Then she had a quiet dinner at Senor Vitelli's with Willow, Joyce and Mrs. Flynn.
They had celebrated her birthday and drank a toast to 1945, which had begun just nineteen days earlier, and all hoped fervently that 1945 would be a year of peace. This time, after the victories of 1944, they could see victory, and more importantly, peace in the near distance.
***
On 30th April 1945, Hitler and his wife of less than a day Eva Braun committed suicide in his bunker. Then on 7th May, General Jodl signed the unconditional surrender of Germany, with all operations to cease 1 minute after midnight on the 8th May, a date which became immediately known as VE Day.
But despite celebrations on a huge scale, Sunnydale couldn't relax just yet. Then the Enola Gay dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on 6th August. The Japanese surrender came quickly after that, and for the first time in years, the people of Sunnydale and everywhere across the world were able to discover what peace felt like.
The plans for the soon famous victory party began small. Buffy and Willow simply started inviting people to the scheduled return of Xander and several other Sunnydale men in the forces. This was due to be held just before the weather turned cold, and it turned out to be just as well. News always had travelled fast in Sunnydale and so many people wanted to come to the party that it became impossible to find a place big enough. Until, that is, Buffy came up with the solution:
"What about the beach?" The mayor agreed to give permission and the Sunnydale Victory Beach Party began the planning stages. The people of Sunnydale, who had given so much during the war, now gave for peace. Senor Vitelli donated food from his restaurant and waiters to serve it.
Sunnydale High School provided tables and chairs for hundreds of people. The Sunnydale Women's Institute supplied even more food and drinks and more people to serve. Joyce Summers and the gallery donated decorations while the hardware store gave outdoor electric lights for when the sun went down.
The remaining men at Camp Sunnydale provided the labour force to set it all. And at the centre, organising it all as she had for the entire duration of the war, was Buffy. Her heart was filled with joy at the newfound peace, while her heart was also broken at the loss of Angel.
Xander would return. Daniel Osbourne, Willow's old high school sweetheart, would return. Larry the jock would return, Hogan Martin would return, Jonathon the brain would return. Angel would not. Many of Sunnydale's brightest young men would not return. Even the Mayor's son Richard Jr. had perished at Anzio. But for now, Buffy would not think about this. Now, it was time to celebrate.
***
The party began in the early afternoon but by the time the sun began to set, Xander had not yet arrived. Buffy had been told he was arriving at the airstrip at Camp Sunnydale before being driven down to the party. He should have arrived already, according to the Colonel at Camp Sunnydale. His family were all there, ready to greet their heroic son. Of course, true to form, Rory Harris was so drunk already that he'd mistaken Mrs. Whitaker's chair for his nephew.
"Buffy! Buffy!" Willow cried out. Buffy looked up from ladling punch to see a Jeep pull into the parking lot at the top of the beach.
"He's here!" Someone, Buffy guessed Xander's sister, called. Buffy stood, not wanting to run.
The light was fading greatly by now and she strained to see across the beach in the dying sunlight. Silence descended upon the entire party as everyone turned to see the passengers in the Jeep get out. The first was unmistakably Xander- the horrors of war and his injuries not able to take the bounce from his step. He jumped down onto the sand and ran to hug Willow, then his mother. Then he grabbed Buffy and threw her up in the air to make her laugh.
"I said I'd be back." He said, before then running to his sister. Buffy then turned her attention back to the Jeep. The little guy who got out was Danny Osbourne, who also headed for Willow.
Buffy smiled. Regardless of all her attempts to set Buffy up, Willow had waited for Danny all this time. Unexpectedly, a third figure got out of the car. The light was truly dying now, and Buffy strained to see, wondering who it could possibly be. Whoever it was walked slowly, a slight limp evident. He was tall, commanding even just in shadow.
As the Jeep pulled away, it's headlights caught the young man's face and Buffy thought her heart would explode inside her chest. She couldn't believe it. She wouldn't. Whoever it was continued down the beach towards the party. Then, someone began turning on the lights. The young soldier was then illuminated entirely.
"ANGEL!" She screamed, finally believing what she'd seen. He grinned and she shot towards him.
"Angel! Angel!" She shrieked, launching herself at him.
"Buffy," He breathed softly, holding her tightly.
"Angel, you're alive!"
"I seem to be." He joked. She swatted him on the arm.
"You're back." She said. He nodded, smiling. Suddenly, everyone at the party began to applaud and cheer. Then, he kissed her.
***
"Is it really you?" She asked, probably for the thousandth time. They had moved away from the party and were now settled onto the sand further down the beach.
"Yes, Buffy." Angel laughed a little.
"Are you all right?" She asked as his laugh died almost immediately. He had a haunted look in his eyes she'd noticed straight away. She'd hoped it was just nerves at being scrutinised by so many people at the party. But now they were alone and the look remained. She realised that the war had left Angel with more scars than just those visible.
"What did you do?"
"In the war, you mean?" He asked, getting her meaning straight off as always.
"Yeah."
"Well, I got captured first. My unit was parachuted into occupied France, a top secret mission, you know the kind. Well anyway, we were dropped in the wrong sector and those of us who didn't get hung when our parachutes got caught in the trees were captured by the Germans."
"Top secret. Is that why they told Mrs Flynn you were in a car crash?"
"Probably." His brow furrowed at the thought of his mother being told he was dead.
"But they thought we were all dead. Only three of us survived to be taken to one of the German prisoner of war camps. A stalag." He paused for a moment. "I don't know if you know this, but it's an officer's duty to try and escape. So we tried. Josh and I. He was one of the guys in my unit. We tried to escape so many times I'm amazed that they didn't throw us in the Cooler permanently."
"Cooler?"
"Solitary confinement." Angel translated from the army slang.
"Oh." She shuddered at the thought of Angel all on his own in one of those little concrete rooms.
"Wasn't that bad. I got out of having to do anything. I could just sit there for days and think about you." He grinned at her, the old Angel shining through for a moment.
"Well, then there was a bigger, more organised escape attempt. A tunnel."
"We heard a story about the Nazis killing a lot of men who escaped in a tunnel. Was that you?"
"No. I know you're thinking of the fifty men from Stalag Luft III. They were airmen. And that was only last year. And they put us in a makeshift camp in France, not Germany."
"Oh. Did you get out then?"
"Yep. Ten of us did. We split up and went off any way we could. Some took the train, some walked, one guy stole a car. I found a motorbike which I liberated from the German army. It meant I could take off across fields instead of using roads. Well, I made it to the English channel eventually and was able to get back to England."
"Wow."
"Not that great." Angel said modestly. "The bike ran out of petrol halfway there. I ended up walking for the better part of two days before I could get onto a train."
"There were no stations for two days?"
"Not that weren't swarming with SS." He said. "I jumped off the train just before the last stop and walked the rest of the way. I found the local Resistance fighters and they got me food- which I hadn't had for some time. Then, they got me onto a boat to England."
"There were boats to England even during the war?"
"No. Not that were meant to go there anyway. A local Resistance man, I'll never forget his name: Michel-Pierre, had a fishing boat which we sneaked past the Germans at night time. The hard part was convincing the British Home Guard that I wasn't a German spy." Angel smiled wryly at the memory of somewhat elderly British men cross-examining him before finally handing him over to the army. Who were just as thorough.
"Then what?"
"Well, I was already listed as MIA and nobody believed I was alive. After talking with MI5 and the army, I became a spy."
"A spy?"
"Yeah. It was easy. We switched my status to killed in action. If everyone thought I was dead, I didn't exist. I took on a new identity entirely which allowed me to spy for the allies."
"I was perfect. I can speak Italian, French, German. After almost a year in a German POW camp, I was even fluent in German colloquialisms and swearing. I was first parachuted into Sicily to get some information on troop movements and public feeling in Italy. Then I was sent to Greece, to the islands. But I couldn't speak any Greek, I didn't even look Greek, so as soon as they got another guy in, I was sent right into the Third Reich itself."
"Into Germany?" Buffy's heart began pounding as she realised exactly how much danger Angel had been in.
"Yes."
"Was it terribly dangerous?"
"More for the people living there. The German people were treated as badly as the French or the British or the Italians. Possibly worse."
"Then what?"
"When D-Day was launched, I stayed in Germany to relay troop movements and such. But as it became clear that the operation was a success and it got too dangerous for anyone to be in Berlin, I travelled to the front and joined in the fighting. Then, we liberated Dachau."
"Dachau." The name of the concentration camp echoed in her mind and made her shiver.
"Don't tell me what you saw." She whispered, understanding why the haunted look in his eyes remained. He had seen true horror. Everyone had heard about the concentration camps.
"I wasn't going to. But everyone should know what happened. We found rooms full of shoes and suitcases and glasses and clothes that were taken from the people there. And the biggest crematorium I've ever seen." Angel began to shake as he remembered what he saw that day.
"Then we continued into Germany." A sob rose up in Angel's chest. "You have no idea of the horrors I've seen. And I don't want you to know." Buffy nodded solemnly.
After everything, he was still trying to protect her. He was her hero. She put her arms around him and he began to cry for all the horrors, all the injustice, cruelty and murder a war provides. He cried for the friends he lost, for the dead piled up in railway carriages at Dachau, for all the people who would remain forever scarred by the war. In that moment he realised that there were never survivors of a war, only people who lived.
***
They returned to the party some time later, where Buffy knew Angel would immediately be grabbed and taken to regale them all with tales of his heroic survival.
He was, and she found herself watching him with a bittersweet smile. She had been eighteen years old when he left for the war and now she was twenty two and much older even than that. She wasn't the young, carefree high school graduate he had left behind.
She was Buffy Summers, one of the most valuable members of the Sunnydale community, a mature young woman she hadn't realised she could be. These deep thoughts were pushed from her mind by the sound of Mayor Wilkins' voice calling for attention. Slowly silence fell upon the people.
"I have been asked to say a few words on this celebratory occasion. Today we not only welcomed back loved members of our community from serving on the front lines, but we also celebrated the end of a long, hard war and the victory of democracy and freedom over fascism and oppression." He paused to let everyone applaud and shout approval.
"We have all lost relatives, friends, loved ones to this war. My own eldest son was killed in battle, fighting for freedom. But his life was not given in vain. Had we not risen to the challenge, Adolf Hitler and his evil message would have spread across the globe. As our own President said, we would not have survived as an oasis of democracy in a desert of dictatorship. We celebrate those brave young men tonight. And we celebrate those brave young men who, we are thankful, came back to us." He paused again for applause and Buffy realised that, up and down the country, similar jubilant patriotic messages were being spread.
"And I would like to personally thank a young woman without whom, Sunnydale itself would not have survived this war. She was eighteen years old when the war first reached us, but that didn't stop her from organising us all into an efficient war effort. She organised the Sunnydale Playgroup so that mothers could work not only for the war effort, but to feed their children with their husbands away. She organised the canteen which kept our locally stationed servicemen fed, watered and entertained. I don't think it's too big an exaggeration to say that Buffy Summers' hard work helped the allies win the war." There was an explosion of applause and hooting, screaming and shouting of the name Buffy.
Angel hugged her tightly, proudly. He still had no idea of the extent of what she'd done in Sunnydale, although Xander had given him an idea.
"You're a hero, Buffy."
"So are you." She said over the din.
"Oh, I have something for you." He said. He reached into the pocket of his greatcoat and pulled out a small box.
"I found this at Asprey's in London just after I got back from Germany." He told her, opening the box. Inside was the most beautiful ring she'd ever seen, gold set with a dazzling diamond, which was surrounded by a cluster of emeralds. The stones twinkled in the dim lights on the beach.
"I promised." He explained simply. She smiled sweetly and pulled out the chain around her neck from under her sweater. On it hung the ring he had given her in June 1941.
Now it was October 1945.
"So did I." She said. He smiled back, for the first time without a thought for anything else.
"So you'll marry me then?"
"Yeah. Had no better offers."
"Gee, thanks."
"You're welcome. You know, you're a pretty lucky guy." She said, taking his hand and leading him down the beach away from the throng.
"I am?"
"Sure. Lots of handsome soldiers wanted to marry Sunnydale's Golden Girl."
"Oh they did, did they?"
"Sure. Well there was Riley..."
"Riley? Who's Riley?"
"I'll tell you later. First we should go see your mother..........." She said, letting go of his hand and breaking into a run.
***
Mrs Flynn had been at the beach party earlier, but had retired early, telling Buffy she was feeling a little under the weather. Truth be told, she wasn't sure she would be able to stand there and be pleased for Mrs Harris, or Mrs Osbourne. She wasn't getting her son back, and although she was glad for the mothers who had, it was still hard.
She'd held out the hope that she would at least receive news by now. She had hoped he was in a POW camp or something, but they had all been liberated. He would have been in touch by now. For the first time in her well-brought up life, Mrs Flynn allowed herself to truly break down and sob.
***
Buffy's car slid up to the front entrance of the Flynn mansion. Angel stepped out, his leg still troubling him a little. He looked up at the large, finely made English oak door that was so familiar to him. Buffy fished around in her bag for the key Mrs Flynn had given her. She always rang the bell, but this time she wanted it to be a surprise.
"Mrs Flynn?" She called out as she and Angel entered the hall.
"Buffy?" Mrs Flynn's cultured voice floated into the hall and to Angel's ears, which found themselves immeasurably comforted by the sound.
"May I speak to you?" Buffy called.
"Of course. I'm in the drawing room, dear." Buffy took Angel's hand and led him to the doorway. She stopped him there, but went in herself.
"Hello Buffy dear. Is everything OK?" Mrs Flynn asked. To Buffy's well- trained eye it seemed that Mrs Flynn had been crying.
"Well no ma'am. I'm afraid I have to give you back your ring."
"But Angel gave it to you. It's your engagement ring."
"No Mrs. Flynn. Not anymore."
"What? What happened? Did some soldier propose again?"
"Sort of. I have a new ring. This fine young hero gave it to me." Angel recognised this as his cue and walked into the room. His mother's mouth dropped open and the ring Buffy had just given her fell to the floor.
"Angel?" She asked softly.
"Hi Mom. Miss me?" He joked before hugging her tightly.
"Don't joke, Angelus!" She said sternly, using his entire first name. "I'm extremely displeased with you." She said, a couple of tears slipping from her eyes. Angel's face fell.
His mother was angry with him? Then, the most surprising thing happened. Mary Flynn grinned. Angel looked shocked.
"I'm afraid I've been spending too much time with Buffy." Mrs Flynn said, laughing.
"Buffy!" Angel exclaimed. "You've turned my mother into a comedian!"
"I try." Buffy grinned, remembering the staid, prim, austere woman Mrs Flynn had once been. Angel beamed brightly. After everything that had happened, all he had seen, it made him so glad to see that if some things changed, it wasn't always for the worse.
***
After all was said and all was done, after those Nazis who survived were held accountable at Nuremberg and those Nazis who died were vilified, life returned, but not to normal. Over one hundred thousand people had been killed by the bomb at Hiroshima, hundreds of thousands of troops and civilians on both sides had been killed in six years of war.
But in Sunnydale, everyone tried to gain some semblance of living. Angel and Buffy formally announced their engagement, as did Willow and Danny Osbourne, who had come back from the forces with a nickname: Oz. In fact, they were lucky to be home so soon. Many soldiers had to remain in Europe as part of the occupying force, many were still caught up in the bureaucracy of demobilisation. Many returned with limbs missing, eyes, ears, anything.
Everyone had their scars. Some returned with war brides, women they'd fallen in love with while Over There. Many young British women now made their homes in Canada or America after the war with their new husbands. Many of these would find their way back across the Atlantic within a few years. Many people found themselves having to rebuild their lives entirely from scratch.
In England, bombed out houses were replaced with cheap prefabs, while in Germany people found their country divided into four sectors: British, French, Russian and American. And in Japan, the horror of nuclear war hit home as those not killed by the Bomb came down with mystery illnesses or were left permanently scarred by their burns. America, compared to almost the entire rest of the world had got off light.
***
Buffy and Angel married at St. Monica's Church in the Summer of 1946 after his scars had healed and his leg mended. On their wedding night, Buffy discovered the patchwork of scars across Angel's body- the parts she had not seen before. Willow and Oz were married two weeks later, while Xander stunned everyone by sending for his wife, a young British woman by the name of Anya.
In 1949, Angel and Buffy's first child was born. He was named Joshua, after Angel's close comrade during the war, who had made it out of the POW camp but perished at Omaha Beach. In 1951 their daughter Mary was born, followed finally in 1952 by Angelus Flynn, Jr. Their family and their lives, were complete at last.
***
Normandy, France. 1995.
The sun was shining, casting a bright glow onto the sands below the group of American students. Among them was sixteen year old Lilyella Flynn, daughter of Angelus Flynn, Jr. To honour the fiftieth anniversary of VE- Day, Sunnydale High School had held an essay competition all about the Second World War. The twenty lucky winners were then given places on a school trip to Normandy: The beaches and battlefields of the D-Day invasion.
***
Lilyella's essay had won first prize overall. This pleased her most because what she really wanted to be was a writer. When the competition had first been announced, she had no idea where to begin. Then her grandfather had told her the story of the Flynns during the war. He found the trunk of things from wartime, including a large box of medals he'd won.
After all, Angel Flynn had won not only the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Service medal, but the Soldier's Medal and had even been awarded the Medal of Honor. He told her all about his service in the war, but the winning element of her essay had been the work on her grandmother, Buffy Summers Flynn, five times Lady Mayor of Sunnydale. She won her place on the trip easily and now stood, hand shielding her eyes from the bright sun, on the cliffs above Omaha Beach.
"Lily!" A voice called. She turned and grinned. When Angel had asked to accompany the group on the trip, Principal Snyder had been only too happy to accommodate Sunnydale's great war hero.
"What?" She asked.
"We're going now." He reminded her. She looked up to see everyone else getting back on the coach.
"Oh good. Because we don't spend enough time on the coach." She said sarcastically.
But really, she was relieved he was here. He was, even at 74, youthful at heart. In many ways he was in better health now than he was fifty years ago and he moved with youthful vigour. His eyes still sparkled and his grin was still bright. Her friends were not on the trip and she would have found it rather lonely without him.
***
In truth, Angel was glad to be in France. While Buffy had always been happy to remain in Sunnydale, in California, he had picked up a love of travelling during his time in Europe. In the last fifty years he had dragged Buffy to all kinds of exotic places- Egypt, Greece, Argentina, Japan, everywhere he could find. His passport was full of interesting stamps and visas.
This time, however, Buffy remained in Sunnydale while Angel told the people on the trip all kinds of tales of his times during the war. When they arrived at the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, while most of the group were content to mill around, marvelling at the size of the cemetery and the number of graves, Angel went straight to the directory- he was looking for someone.
***
The cemetery was both beautiful and grotesque in its size and prettiness. It was incredibly well kept, neat lawns and clean paths, yet the number of grave markers- crosses or Stars of David, only served to remind visitors how many people died on the Normandy beaches alone.
Angel and Lilyella walked down the paths in silence reverence, counting, finding what they were looking for. Then, a simple white stone cross announced in simple writing
JOSHUA GARDNER.
"He was my best friend in those years." Angel explained. "We served together, we were captured together and we escaped together. While I rode a motorbike to freedom, Josh went by train. He had to bail out halfway when German guards began to inspect passengers. But he got back to England not long after I did. We spent a while together in the military hospital recovering. Then when I went to Sicily for intelligence, he returned to the army. He was in the first wave of soldiers who landed on Omaha." Angel paused for a moment, suddenly overwhelmed by where he was and why he was there.
"He was the same age as Buffy." He told Lily. She listened silently as he told her stories of the two of them, before, during and after spending time in a POW camp.
"You know, I joined the army to be a hero." He laughed hollowly, a bitter sound Lily didn't think her grandfather capable of.
"I left Buffy, I left everything to fight a war and be a hero. But the only heroes are lying here." Angel said softly.
"You're my hero." Lily whispered, taking her grandfather's hand.
"I am?"
"Sure. There's more to being a hero than dying with valour on the battlefield." She told him. "You wouldn't have been much of hero if you'd have left Grandma all on her own, would you?"
"I guess not."
"You helped. One man can make all the difference." She said, unconsciously repeating his words from so many years ago.
"He can, huh?"
"Yeah, he can." Lily smiled. "Come on. We're off to Arromanches. Then, Mr Simon said we're off to see the Bayeux Tapestry."
"Yeah?" Angel smiled slightly.
"Have you seen it before?"
"No. If you recall, last time I was in this neck of the woods, I was rather busy." He joked.
"Granddad?"
"Yeah?"
"Was life the same when you got back home?"
"Lily, life was never the same. Not for anyone." He said solemnly. "But we survived."
He took her hand and together, they walked away into the sunshine of the afternoon. THE END