Disclaimer: Not mine. I'm tired of coming up with catchy ways to say so. The song is I Will Remember You, written by Sarah McLachlan, Seamus Egan, and Dave Merenda. (Most people know it as a Sarah McLachlan song, but I prefer the version that Solas does.)
A/N: This part set after IWRY. This series was supposed to be all within canon, but for some reason it was like pulling teeth to get my muse to do IWRY, so I took what I could get. Which is, incidentally, why I broke my promise to myself never to write another songfic - and come on, it's a song that the episode was rumored to be named after (and when you look at the lyrics, it's obvious why). Lyrics are in bold italics, to distinguish them from the thoughts and memories in italics.

Part 11: Weep Not For the Memories

Buffy flipped through stations on the radio as she sprawled on her dorm bed and tried to concentrate on homework. Country – ick!… metal – too loud… Celtic – ooh, kinda pretty. She listened for a minute or two, her mind wandering idly, and then the opening chords of a new song sounded.

Remember the good times that we had
We let them slip away from us when things got bad

Now that sounded familiar, she thought, remembering a certain dark vampire. Gives up everything we had, and the worst part is he's convinced he's doing the right thing. Damn Angel and his damn nobility complex. She shook her head. She really shouldn't be analyzing her relationship with Angel. That chapter in her life was over. And I'm lying to myself and everyone else trying to think that I can ever get over him. She tried to shake that uncomfortable thought away as well, and determinedly turned her mind to other things.

How clearly I first saw you, smiling in the sun
Want to feel your warmth upon me, want to be the one

Unbidden, a fragment of memory flashed through her mind. Kissing … on Santa Monica pier … in the bright sunlight … wait a minute, what?! That never happened – that was impossible.

I will remember you
Will you remember me?
Don't let your life pass you by
Weep not for the memories

Memories. Why was she having false memories?

I'm so tired, but I can't sleep
Standing on the edge of something much too deep

"I want to stay awake so this day can keep happening."

It's funny how we feel so much, but we cannot say a word
We are screaming inside but we can't be heard

Sitting at his kitchen table, calmly making inane conversation, desperately avoiding what they really wanted to say, all the greater issues that were suddenly so relevant again.

I will remember you
Will you remember me?
Don't let your life pass you by
Weep not for the memories

This was getting really odd. She'd been through a lot of creepy things, but some random song triggering memories of things that had never happened was a new one. What was going on? And why did these so obviously impossible events have such a ring of truth to them? Buffy began to wonder if she was going crazy.

I'm so afraid to love you, but more afraid to lose
Clinging to a past that doesn't let me choose

"So we'll just … take things slow."

"It's a good thing I haven't dreamed of you turning human about a million times, because I'd be really disappointed."

Hands brushing … losing control … a table breaking.

Once there was a darkness, a deep and endless night
You gave me everything you had; you gave me light
I will remember you
Will you remember me?
Don't let your life pass you by
Weep not for the memories
I will remember you
Will you remember me?
Don't let your life pass you by
Weep not for the memories

"There's not enough time!"

"I'll never forget … I'll never forget … I'll never forget."

She remembered. Everything about that lost day came flooding back, and she remembered.

She barely thought to leave a note telling Willow what she was doing before she took off for LA. She was so mad, she could just about kill Angel for this stunt.

She mused with an ironic laugh that she was right about where she'd started in her thinking. Damn Angel and his damn nobility complex.

"I Will Remember You", Solas (or Sarah McLachlan, take your pick, it's the same song; the McLachlan version is better known, but I prefer the Solas version)