Angel POV

As I lean into her shoulder, I remember that day. I remember feeling like something had just burst in my stomach and filled my entire body with something incredibly pure. Everything that I had been before that moment vanished instantly in the pure energy that filled my body.

The tears that spilled were because I was overwhelmed, afraid, and amazed. In mere second, everything that I had been was gone and when I opened my eyes again, the energy was still reverberating in my mind, keeping me from thinking about anything else except the present. And when I looked up, the only thing that could dull the energy in my head was standing right above with a sword in her hand and a look of somebody on quest for vengeance.

"If I stay with you," I whisper. "I could lose my soul."

"That's not going to happen," Buffy replies in a resolute tone.

"And when I get it back," I continue. "I'll remember every awful thing that I had done. And there won't be just guilt." I lift my head from her shoulder and stare at her, "I'll remember every awful thing I did to you."

She takes her hand from my face and grabs my hand. "What do you mean?"

"Everything I felt that day I got my soul back was because of not every awful thing I did," I explain. "It was because of the things I did to you."

She stays silent, her green eyes willing me to continue.

"That was because I loved you," I mutter quietly. "And because… I still do."

The flash of hope in her eyes just adds to my dread.

"I'm getting so happy, even after everything that has happened over the past year," I explain. "And I can't risk it again. My best friend, my… my…" I want to tell her so badly. "And now you. If I lose you…"

"You won't," she replies. "Ever since I died, I haven't seen the world in the same way. And I managed to figure out something."

"What?" I ask her, hoping she can convince me that all my worry is for not.

"That angelus tortured me emotionally, but he never killed me," she replies. "That was because I made him feel human. I made him feel love."

"Are you saying," I can't believe how right this question sounds, "Are you saying that… he loved you?"

She nods and the solid look in her eyes scares and sooths me at the same time.

Logan POV

They are still there… I still have a chance… nightfall will vanish… the sun… summer solstice... tomorrow…

THEY ARE MINE!

I wake up with a start. Dawn had let me sleep in place because she was going to stay up with the others for a little bit. I sit up and look around the camp. They are all gathered by the school bus, staring at something.

I can feel my power under my skin, trying to break free. I take a deep breath… Summer solstice… tomorrow is the summer solstice.

The power is so strong. I need Dawn to calm me. I do.

But the thing that I can now feel crawling into my brain is not mine. It's not bright enough. My mind is battling with this new feeling. I can feel it in every fiber of my being. The only thing now that I have left is my soul and my mind. All of my five senses can detect it.

And it tastes kind of chalky.