a/n: This is the final part I have planned in the "Love and You and I" mini-arc, which is why I put "last" in the description. But fret not: I'm not ruling out the possibility of other Angel/Gaige stuff in the future.

Have a safe and happy holiday, folks, whichever and however you celebrate.

"No one has ever loved but you and I."

— William Butler Yeats, "The Ragged Wood"

"You wanna see a magic trick?"

Angel gazes down at Gaige and giggles. "You're gonna do that thing with your arm again?" She brushes a stray strand of red hair out of her face; it falls down onto the pillow.

"No, not that." Gaige presses her lips together, her eyes sparkling. "I can make everything else in the world disappear."

Angel studies the hopeful arch of her brow, her teeth sinking into the swell of her bottom lip. "Show me."

Her lips part in a toothy grin, and Gaige starts massaging small circles into Angel's temples. "Now, it only works if you relax. And close your eyes."

Smiling, Angel shuts her eyes, lets her muscles relax, and sinks down against her. The cool steel of her hand sinks into the back of her neck, and Angel gasps, leaning down into her.

Gaige's cheek presses against the metal port in the side of her head. Her lips brush the shell of her ear, and a puff of warm air washes over as she whispers, "I love you."

Angel takes in a sharp breath of the cool night air, inhaling the sweet lavender essence of Gaige's hair. Suddenly she isn't in their bed: not falling, but soaring weightless over all, feeling the entire world stretched out and frozen in time below her. She opens her eyes and gazes upon Gaige's face for the first time, drinking in the rosaceous glow of her cheeks, paralyzed by the sincerity in her eyes.

Her heart stops and her body trembles when delicate fingers trail over her cheek, then brush against her lips. Twenty-two years are gone with three words. This is the first day of her life. And the first person she sees, the first person she knows, is Gaige.

Breathless, Angel grasps for words. "How did you do that?"

"Shh..." Gaige quiets Angel with a kiss. "A magician never reveals her secrets."

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

Angel lifts her head off the pillow and gives Gaige a small squeeze. "I think I figured it out."

Gaige turns her head and glances back at her, an amused smirk on her face. "You're not supposed to figure out a magic trick. You're just supposed to let yourself be amazed by the wonder and the mystery."

She chuckles and nudges Gaige's shoulder. "Indulge me."

Humming, Gaige rolls over and faces her. "Let me hear it, then."

"You know how Jack would say those words to me every time he came down to see me. You know it's what my mother told me while she was watching from the safety of the other side of the glass. I heard it so much from them, I thought the words had lost all meaning."

There's a pained twinge in Gaige's eyes for a brief moment. She nods, cupping Angel's cheek in her hand.

Angel clears her throat, tracing her fingers over the back of Gaige's hand. "For the first time in my life, that doesn't matter to me anymore. Finally being able to say it to you is more liberating than the day you freed me. I love you, too. That's why it feels like the only people who exist are you and I."

Gaige's hand trails down to Angel's chest and lays flat against the teardrop-shaped tattoos over her heart. She inches in for a kiss, then smiles at her. "I don't think that's all, though. If you really want to understand it, think about what it meant to you when I said it. It's simpler than you think."

Angel takes in the sweet scent of her hair as Gaige rests her head against her chest. She allows herself to become lost in the rhythmic rise and fall of her breathing, the relaxing warmth of Gaige's touch on her skin. Her gaze wanders to the open window. A cold rush of tingles shoots down the back of her neck when the silvery clouds part to reveal the glowing face of Elpis.

She holds her tighter. All at once, she understands. For all the times her mother and father said those exact words to her, when Gaige told her "I love you," it was the first time Angel believed it.