Standing back in front of the many paintings of the Hart family, Buffy found her way to the one of Angel's great grandfather and stood before it, her head tilting to the side slightly as she focused on the man. He was older here in the painting than in most of the photos she remembered of him as well as the backlog of nightmares that he had been a part of.

Older, angrier.

Buffy thought of her last conversation with Rupert Giles and felt a shiver run through her., he'd told told her more of how the curse on Wolfram and Hart had affected this family. While he had managed to come to his senses at the right time, seemingly due to her own great great grandmother, and had gone out of his way to save his land and rebuild everything back up, he had lost a good part of himself.

He had changed, he had slowly sunk into a dark hole that would haunt everyone in this family.

His entire world had been attacked by evil, his land had been destroyed, lost, changed forever. The people here mostly all killed during the utter chaos. The entire Ram and Wolf families now gone, his whole family gone as well. He was the only one left standing at the end of it all. It fell on him to go after the witch, to snap the others out of it, and to later rebuild everything from the ground up as the new, sole leader.

But it had all taken its toll on him. Slowly, the king had begun to change, to darken. And by the end of his reign, he was hardly anything of the man he used to be.

A dark cloud ran through this land, and not just in terms of the weather, but of the cold king. He became more known for his temper and ruthlessness than much else. He struck fear in every heart in this world, and no one was safe from it.

He had taken a new wife in order to leave an heir behind when his time came. She was nothing to him. He used her as an example to the public when he saw fit, abused and humiliated her. Her life would end in more tragedy after the child was born, protecting her young on one of her husband's more wicked nights.

There was a third and later a fourth wife as well. All being taken away in one horrible tragedy or another.

Buffy stepped over to the next ruler, Angelus' grandfather.

Angel and he shared a few physical attributes, their eyes and nose similar, though you had to look closely to see it. The Hart's all looked angry and cold, hardened faces, nothing all too pleasing. That was why she had made the remark of how he must have taken after his mother's side as there was very little of Angelus Hart to be shared with these people. That and their dark hair was all that the current king seemed to share with any of these monsters.

Angelus' grandfather followed in his own father's footsteps in many ways. He had been a troubled child from the start, many illnesses through his young life on top of a bad attitude. He'd been accused of many things through his young life... everything from torturing animals to starting fires to drowning classmates.

When he became king he had an arranged marriage, though that did not stop him from straying. It was kept under wraps as best as it could be, but he was known for having forced himself on several women. When his wife tried to leave him he killed her family and locked her up. She spent her years after this locked away, mostly forgotten.

She had become very ill from her new way of living though had eventually fallen pregnant and later gave birth to a baby boy, Angel's father. Her death was long and painful but she had done her best to raise her son in the hell they were in.

Buffy swallowed as she made her way to Angel's father's portrait.

He had taken the throne, killing his father and becoming king. He continued the Hart tradition of being an awful leader. Yes, he made some good choices and he kept things afloat, but he was also ruthless and terrifying as they had been. He carried the dramatic flare, lording over everyone that he was in control at every possible chance presented before him.

Once more, a woman was brought into the picture, a son was born. The wife lost her life, the son abused, and the darkness only growing.

Buffy closed her eyes for a minute, picturing the current leader. "Why are you so different?" she whispered out loud.

OoOoO

"There is darkness inside of him, there is no denying that, but Angelus has always been different from them," Giles had told her during their talk.

"Do you think that has to do with how things are now?"

The watcher nodded. "Not sure of the details, but I think there's been more to it than just luck of the draw. I have said he must be the key to something many, many times since getting to know him. He may not have stopped the rain as you did, but he's made countless changes to everyone's lives since he took over the crown. He has done his best to fix the mistakes his bloodline left behind and to keep anything like that from happening again."

"He told me he was cursed."

The watcher nodded again. "We're all cursed here, in one way or another," Giles said. "And yes, the one set on the Hart family is certainly there with him, but it's not affected him in the same way. He has a temper, and he has had his moments, but he's not the walking evil that the rest were. He's made mistakes, but none of them compare. His mother died during childbirth and his father was... well, you get the idea. Angelus was raised by staff when he was younger and everyone did their best to protect him. Everyone always seemed drawn to him for some reason. He was a bright young boy, he loved to learn anything and everything. He never liked to complain, just sort of rolled with the punches. It only made his father more upset it seemed. It was like he wanted to break him and never could. His father finally just tied him up one day and that became his life. Everyone was forbidden to go see him, to take care of him, anything... though there were more than a few instances where those rules were broken and staff members would go check on him and try their best to comfort him or care for him. When his father had taken his life, they almost couldn't get to Angelus. His father had bolted the hell out of that door. It was nearly impossible to get in there."

"His father didn't want him found," Buffy said, horrified.

"No, he didn't. And it's a miracle he was got to in time. He was nothing more than a shell of that bouncing dark haired boy he was once was. He was deathly ill, no one thought he would pull through at first, he was but skin and bones, and most of those bones broken. He was tattered, bloody, thin, pale, sick, malnourished, starved, broken, bruised and beaten. You could barely make out it was him."

Buffy felt tears stinging her eyes, her heart aching for King Hart and the trials he had been forced to face in his own life.

"Angelus was taken to the hospital and given the best care that anyone here could provide. When he was stable enough, he got to come home and continue his treatments. And he began to be prepped to become the new king. Officially, anyway. He was bound and determined to change things and he made that very clear from the start. It took some time, but everyone here began to accept him like he hoped they would. As time continued on, that only grew. Everyone is beyond thankful for him now and for all that he has done for the people of Wolfram and Hart. He has tried to help out with everything he can and he is respected for that. He's protected this land and these people, not been the very thing they've been hiding from or what has been keeping them down. He was the sun here, before the one you brought."

OoOoO

Buffy felt as though she now knew quite a bit about the Hart family, that including Angelus, and yet she found herself searching for more on into the wee hours of the night. She groaned as she uncrossed her legs, moving piles of paperwork, books, newspaper clippings and more off of her in the process. She wasn't exactly sure what it was she was hoping to find or even what she was looking for with all of this.

Groaning again, Buffy rubbed her legs, then her eyes. She glanced around the room, her eyes again falling on the massive pile of large bags that had been sitting there for a few days now. She knew one of the workers here at the mansion, Olivia, had brought them in and had been part of the buying brigade as had Willow and Tara. That she knew of anyway. With a sigh, Buffy forced herself up off the floor of her bedroom and made her way over to the pile.

She was careful as she began to go through each of the bags before her, pulling out one item after another, looking each item inside over.

Buffy felt her chest tighten as she went through everything. Everyone here was going above and beyond anything she'd expected and sometimes it was a little too overwhelming. Having been alone and living as she had for so long... there was so many things she'd lost... so many things she would never take for granted again in her life.

Buffy neatly folded the clothes they had brought her up and put them away. They'd gotten her just a few pieces of jewelry along with a handful of accessories, including a new bag, a few belts and scarves, and a few pairs of shoes. There were two bags full of books, which surprised her given how many libraries the house alone seemed to have, but she glanced them over before finding a spot to place them up on.

There were many toiletry items which made her smile brightly. Everything from health products to simple pleasures. She read over the items and then put them back in the bags to start carrying them toward her bathroom.

Now seemed as good of a time as any to do one thing she'd been craving for so very, very long.

Buffy started to undress, wrapping a towel around herself as she set her new items up around the large restroom adjoining her new bedroom, then quickly brushed her hair out. Reading over some of the labels, Buffy started to run the water in the shower and placing a few items along the shelves and grabbing some washcloths.

With a sigh, she put the towel up on one of the racks in the room and stuck her hand in under the water once more before climbing inside the shower stall.

She had showered and bathed several times since arriving here but tonight she planned to actually get clean. Bathing hadn't always been easy in the past decade and that life she'd been leading had taken its toll on her in every way imaginable. So as she stood, enjoying the hot spray of water, she began to attempt at rinsing away years of grime and dirt off of her. She wound up scrubbing herself nearly raw in the process, but it felt like heaven to her when she was done.

When she finally came out of the shower, Buffy wrapped one large towel around her body then found another to put around her hair.

She couldn't remember how to make a wrap out of it as she did when she was younger for the life of her, but she made due. She waited a few minutes then wiped away at the hot steam on the mirror to look herself over before washing herself with a few more washcloths and the sink. And then started with the details of her face, down her neck, cleaning under her fingernails, and continuing on from there until she was satisfied.

Buffy sat down on the edge of the tub for a long while, giving herself a break as she started to feel a tad dizzy from the heat, before she started to run a bath next. She was damn near giddy as she ran her fingers over her new goodies, deciding on what to use with it.

When the tub was halfway full with water and bubbles, Buffy once more unwrapped the towels from her body and sunk into the warm water with a sigh. She pulled her hair up in a ponytail and sunk herself lower into the water to get more comfortable. The water coming from the faucet sounded soothing, as did the vibrations it caused in the porcelain. It helped to numb her mind from all the rushing thoughts and questions for awhile and she savored that feeling.

When the water was about to spill over, Buffy used her feet to turn the water off. She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes.

OoOoO

Giles had talked with her about Angelus Hart for some time earlier, about his young childhood where he'd been living in a certain hell, through his recovery and taking his place as Wolfram And Hart's new leader, on through his era of being king.

He told her of all the wrongs he tried to make right here, of all the good he had done, not to mention the research she'd dug up on her own. He had tried to make things right with families his own had scorned, set new laws, erased old ones as well. He tried to do right, the best that he could. Not everyone agreed with every step he took, but the general thought here was he was doing his job better than anyone had in a long, long time.

Angel had gone out of his way to make sure everyone would be taken care of. No one was homeless in his land, unless they so chose, but he made sure that housing was available to anyone who needed it, as was food and currency. There was a set amount that every person here was entitled to by default, he had made sure of that. He used his own fortunes and put it out to his citizens.

Angel had been on the front lines to tear old buildings down when needed, and right there in front to rebuild something new. If there were concerns that came to his attention he was on top of it, always the best that he could be.

He did his best to work with his people, to listen to them, protect them.

Angel was smart, still loving to learn everything he could. And that helped them with being more modernized here than she had been expecting. He took ideas that had been shared with him with other lands during his five year meet ups with the other leaders as well as his own ideas and those of the citizens here. He tried to learn everything so he could help with anything. Be that reading to children, helping to build new homes or buildings, helpful medical tricks, studying the law, and everything in between.

Giles had told Buffy that Angel had always done his best to simply accept things as they were. And how the king saw that as one of the reasons he had stayed sane, unlike the others. And not just with his family but others in this world who had spent their whole lives trying to change the fate they had been dealt. He told her how Angelus' relatives had lined people up years and years ago, giving them a chance to fix the cursed lives, and slaughtering them when they failed. How men and women would spent their lives, lose their lives, trying to break through the walls surrounding them. Yes, Angel supported it being looked into, but he didn't obsess over it by a long shot.

Angel refused to follow down that route. As he did with many others, not wanting history to repeat itself.

He'd stayed as far from romantic relationships as he could, she was told. He had no desire to find himself in a relationship let alone married to someone, not with his family's history there.

Women who got involved with the Hart's had a tragic curse all of their own it seemed and he'd never wanted to be the cause of anything like that. Same with any notion of children. Angelus refused to have their line continue after him, that it wasn't worth it, how when he was gone, he wanted the people here to just figure something else out on their own.

He had also told her that he believed she was going to change that.

Giles had left her with one hell of a theory that her brain couldn't seem to shake away.

OoOoO

Buffy closed her eyes, tightening the grip she had on her bow ever so slightly, just enjoying the warm sun hitting her and the cool breeze that came through. She felt more relaxed right now than she had in a good, long while.

She heard an arrow whiz by her and opened her eyes in time to watch it meet its target. She smiled then looked back behind her, seeing Angelus' large form come out of the tree he had been in and start moving closer. "Nice shot," she said as he passed her, mirroring their previous interaction in the woods. He smirked some. "Who taught you how to hunt?" she asked, following behind him as they headed toward the animal.

"Wes' father," he answered her.

Buffy's eyes scrunched up a little. "Don't really see a long line of hunters there, but it seems he taught you well."

Angelus glanced her way quickly, then continued with the animal on the ground. "Wes and Roger shared many of the same qualities, but were very different from one another," he told her. "Roger was a little more outdoorsy, a little more hands on. He started training me almost as soon as I was well enough to." Angel looked down with a sigh. "He was a great teacher. Maybe a little too great. When the time came, he told me he had only done all of this in order for it to be a fair fight when he ended the Hart line."

"What happened?"

He sighed again. "I was ten years old when I became king. Roger took care of me, he helped train me in combat, hunting, everything. He and Giles did. They taught me everything from the law to cooking. They had been my family. And then, when I was barely thirteen, Roger came to me one day and told me it had all been part of his plan to end the reign of terror that the Hart's had been party to. It didn't matter that I was night and day when it came to those before me, I was still a Hart."

Buffy remembered being told the only kill Angelus had made was with Glory, but it was pretty obvious something must have happened to Roger Wyndam-Pryce as well.

"He had been showing me how to fight, how to hunt, how to properly use every weapon we have here. But he was also training Wes, too," Angel continued. "Roger was the Head Watcher and knew Wesley would be following in his footsteps one day, so he was killing two birds with one stone, as they say. Roger challenged me and I had refused to fight him. He tried to provoke me into it but I was still young, naive, and shell-shocked at the time. He paid no mind in the end, coming at me... and then there was Wes."

"He saved you?" Buffy asked, surprised.

The king nodded. "I don't think anyone saw that coming, least of all Roger. It all happened so fast..." Angel paused and then shook his head. "Wes never went hunting again. For some reason, it still felt therapeutic to me... so when I get a chance I come out here."

Right now, she could certainly understand that. This hadn't been a choice for her, just survival. But right now it didn't feel like it had for the past ten years, it just felt nice, safe. It felt like home.

OoOoO

Buffy had been surprised when Angelus had asked her if she wanted to come out with him but also thrilled at the idea. The past several days, hell the past several weeks here, had been so stressful and busy that a break sounded like heaven. They had gone over everything over and over, traveled all over Wolfram and Hart, and had decided to release more information about her to everyone. They had yet to say exactly who she was, but had brought up her connection to this world and what else they knew.

All of Wolfram And Hart now had light touching it. Days were bright and sunny on every inch of land now that they had traveled far enough in every direction. It still seemed to glow brighter with her, and near blinding whenever she and the king were close to one another.

Getting away from everything and everyone was wonderful. They'd come out to a very secluded area and made their way through the tangled mess of woods and began to hunt and talk. Angelus would tell her about different animals here, what to hunt, what to look out for... same with what berries and such were safe, plants, and more. He seemed almost as much in his element out here as she was.

OoOoO

Feeling his eyes on her again, Buffy felt her heart skip a little, her skin starting to turn red. She focused on keeping her breathing calm as she stared off into the other direction, afraid to look in his direction. She swallowed, letting her eyes follow two birds up in the sky, flying from one branch to another.

Several times throughout the day this had happened, she would feel him staring at her.

When she had come back out of her room to join him he had nearly choked on his glass of juice he'd just taken a sip from. Her hair was up in a tight ponytail but now that it was finally tamed from the wild mess it'd been the golden strands were gleaming. Her skin had nearly been rubbed raw to get all the grime off of her but it was finally looking a little less like an ugly red mess these days. Finally getting a little more sleep in, plus having a regular diet was helping her out in many ways as well, which became quite evident when she put on her new hunting outfit which clung to her in all the right places.

She looked almost like an entirely new girl than the one who had stumbled into this new world.

And as much as she tried to deny it, the attention, the heat from his eyes when he looked at her stirred something inside of her that she couldn't explain.

OoOoO

Deciding to take a rest before heading back, they found a stream closest to them and got fresh water, ate some of the snacks they had on them and just take it easy for awhile.

"I wasn't sure about asking you to come along, but I'm glad I did," Angelus told her. "I didn't know if this would be the last thing in the world you'd want to do given it's pretty much been your life for the past ten years or if..."

Buffy smiled a little at him. "It's nice," she cut in. "This is all a huge part of my past, memories-great memories I had with my family, and a big part of who I became after I lost them. I can honestly say I am more than happy to not be living like this any more, but taking some time to just get back out in nature and all is very dear to me. I'm glad you invited me."

Angel nodded, stretching his arms out next and then laying down on the ground and looking up at the world above him.

"Giles had told me more about your family history, the curse and all," she said after some time had passed. She'd been on the brink of bringing their conversation up so many times it was ridiculous. And why she chose now of all times...

Angelus sat up and looked at the ground then, letting out a slow breath. "I'm not them."

Buffy nearly blushed and shook her head quickly. "I know," she told him. She knew he'd had their memories hanging over him his whole life so she understood the quick reaction he had to them being brought up. His jaw was still clenched tight when she continued, "It's obvious that you haven't followed in their footsteps. I was just wondering what you thought the reasoning was to why it's been so different with you."

She saw him relax slightly, laying back down. "There's a lot of theories on that, but I have no idea, no one seems to. Have I ever wondered about it? Absolutely, quite often even. But I don't obsess over it. It is what it is. I'm just thankful and try to continue on with my life."

A silence fell between them before she laid down as well, then commented on how beautiful she thought it was out here.

"I've always loved this little corner of this world," he told her. "It's always felt different than anywhere else. The rain never touched it the same way as it did everywhere else. But now that things have been clearing up since you arriving here, I can say that about several other places around Wolfram and Hart as well. Everything always looked so bleak and depressing, but now it's so night and day. It's almost like seeing everything for the first time again."

This reminded Buffy of something she'd told him before and sat up, asking him if he wanted to take her up on the offer to tell him about some of the other lands she had been to.

OoOoO

Angel had obviously enjoyed talking some about the other lands with her, Buffy took pleasure in that. He had been engrossed in the conversation listening to her talk about the looks of other lands, the current statuses as far as she knew, their traditions and more, he'd asked questions and would give his opinion on various things. She thought it was by far her favorite conversation she'd had with the king thus far and it was one of her favorite memories she'd made her as well.

When they reached the barrier separating The Dark Realm from all the other worlds Buffy watched him. A sadness and longing passed across his face before he had a chance to shut it back down as he stared at the endless wall. His hand reached out to touch it then he turned around. "Guess we should be heading back now. I think we stayed out here longer than we planned as it is."

Buffy nodded, then looked at the wall her own self. "What would you do? If the curse was broken? If the walls keeping you in here came down?"

He'd taken a few steps away but stopped when he heard her questions. He turned back to face her, leaning against a tall tree and shrugged. "I honestly have no idea. I have thought about that many times but it still comes back to 'I don't know.' People here would be worried, some would refuse to leave, some would be crossing the line out of here as fast as they could. I don't know how they would react as a whole, nor how the rest of the worlds would. Who knows what would happen there. We've been kept out of most things because of the curse so that would be a new experience. We could be welcomed with open arms to some, have a line at the gates with others ready to attack. No idea."

"What about you personally?"

He shrugged again. "I would like to think I would handle myself, get to the bottom of everything, make sure everything was in good order. But yeah, when it was doable I think I'd be overjoyed to walk out of here, travel, see new places, new people. But I haven't put much thought in anything as it goes along with everything else... it's not something I felt the need to worry about in the grand scheme of things. I've always been trying to live more in the now than the past or too much in the future, wanting to deal with the what is rather than the what could be or what if's."

Buffy nodded, her fingers digging into the collar of her suit to play with the necklace laying inside. "I-I still have some fairy dust," she blurted out after a few seconds had passed.

He had a look of surprise. "What you used to get through the wall?"

She nodded. "N-not a lot, but there's a little left."

"In case you needed back out?"

She nodded again. "What if I gave it to you?" Buffy pulled the small jar holding the dust out and unhooked the necklace from around her neck.

The king took it from her when she offered, looking curiously at the magical ingredients. "I would thank you for the offer," he said slowly, "but tell you to keep it," he said, handing it back to her. "You may need it. And for right now, Wolfram And Hart is where I belong. If I left it would be like I abandoned everyone here and I can't do that. Who knows if it would work for me or work for me to come back. But I appreciate the gesture."

They walked for awhile, Buffy having put her necklace back on. "What would you do?" he asked.

She turned to the side to glance at him. "If the walls came down?" He nodded. "I think I am in the same I don't know boat as you," she answered. "This place being so locked away from everything was a big ass selling point on coming here. I feel safe here because of that, for the most part anyway. Those walls keep Hank from being able to get to me, from being able to know where I am. They come down and all bets are off on that. We could continue with the notion of telling everyone who I am and word get out by that, or even if we didn't tell I am sure the news would get out one way or another. And then it'd be back to the same ol' life I had before. Always running, somewhere."

"I would do anything to keep that from happening," he told her suddenly. "I would-will-do anything to keep you safe, Buffy."

She couldn't help but feel a warmth at his words. "G-Giles told me he thinks it'll happen though, that the entire curse will get lifted," she said before her brain could tell her mouth to shut up.

Angelus' fist clenched then unclenched some at his side. "He did?"

Buffy nodded. "H-he had quite a theory about y-you and me," she said, starting to blush and was yelling at herself mentally for bringing any of this up with him.

"He told you about that?" he asked, then sighed when she confirmed it. "Sorry. He doesn't need to try to be putting those type of thoughts in anyone's head."

"What if it were true?" she asked, then felt herself turn a bright red.

Angelus stopped again, looked at her. "Are you in love with me?"

"W-what? No..." she stuttered out.

"See? The whole thing is ridiculous, as I tried telling him. I am sure there is some reasoning for things happening as they have but his large story of the how's and why's is a little too much. Too many pieces not fitting it like the perfect little package he wants it to be."

Buffy was thankful her mouth didn't get ahead of her, telling him what was on the tip of her tongue about that. To tell him that True Love worked in some mysterious ways sometimes. Yes, two hearts and two souls were meant to be together from the getgo but it wasn't a sealed deal upon birth. It could happen at first sight like it had with her own parents but that's not how it always worked. Sometimes it took days, weeks, months, years or even longer. But it boiled down to fate, their hearts being linked in the grand scheme of things but also a moment. Just some moment that would happen with the two of them and change everything, setting their life's course as soul mates.

It wasn't as though she really believed she and Angel were destined to be soul mates their own selves, but she wasn't ruling it out either. It was a lot to wrap her head around but there was obvious signs pointing in that direction she couldn't ignore.

Was she in love with Angelus? No... But there was something, she just wasn't sure what that was. Maybe it was just some connection through their past, or maybe their hearts were recognizing one another and starting to build towards something more. Who knew?

She was aware that she was quite attracted to the king and he made her feel safer than she'd felt in a long, long time and enjoyed being in his company.

Anything more than that was harder to get a grasp on though.

OoOoO

Buffy was about to open the door to her room when she heard Angelus call out her name. She turned around, facing him as he finished the short walk over to her. "Thanks again for today," he told her.

Buffy couldn't help but smile. "It was a pleasure, Angelus."

There was a brief silence then his face looked more serious. "You are obviously someone very special, Miss Summers," he told her. "And not just because of who your parents are and what they made you or what power it is you might have because of that. All on your own you are pretty amazing, Buffy. You're beautiful and smart, a deadly combination. You're also very kind, very funny when you want to be. And I am sure there's love out there for you, hell maybe even this True Love everyone's all on about, but don't let Giles or even Wes get your head all clouded up about it including me."

Buffy was still blushing but she felt her jaw clench by his last remark. It had stung.

Angelus seemed to sense that and his eyes quickly softened and he sighed. "That... that's not how I meant that," he said then sighed again. "You are an amazing girl," he repeated, "and you deserve the best someone can offer you. Someone much better than me. As you've been told... Hart's are a disaster when it comes to life, family, relationships and everything else. You deserve more than that."

Buffy was again having issues with her mind and mouth's communication. "W-what if the curse would then be broken?"

His eyes seemed to burn a hole in her, making her heart skip. "That's still a far fetched what if in my view, Miss Summers," he finally answered. "And too much of a risk to lay anything on. This curse doesn't just touch those in my blood line but also the poor souls they bring into it. I know the stories about the relationships held with my ancestors. That's why I've steered clear of anything close to that happening. I don't need something like that to happen to anyone, let alone you, Buffy. You're destined for more than what my dark cloud of a life could offer to you. Don't let any of this," he said waving a hand around the space, "make you think any differently. You don't owe anything to anyone here. You're not facing the barrel of a gun in the sense of going to be stuck shacked up with me or something. There's ideas many have, but they are nothing more than that."

"What if the curse was broken?" she asked again, her eyes cast downward, her voice softer.

His hand came up, brushing a strand of hair off of her cheek. "Risks are too great," he said, his voice sounding a little sad. "I could never do that to you."

OoOoO

"The flash of light that filled the sky and the room woke Buffy out of her slumber. Her eyes darted to the window as she sat up, she could hear the storm happening outside now that she was awake. Buffy let out a deep breath, her mind going to the people of Wolfram and Hart, sure that this was worrying all of them out of their ever loving minds.

It hadn't stormed once since she'd arrived.

It was just moments after she'd gotten up when she heard pounding on the other side of her door. She had a feeling she knew exactly who it was and hurried over there.

Angelus breathed a sigh of relief upon her opening the door. "It's storming," he said, a little breathless. "I thought maybe you had left after all."

pBuffy shook her head. She knew she couldn't even if she wanted to at this point, she'd already used all of her fairy dust days ago. Buffy saw throngs of worried people gathering in the halls and she tried to give everyone a reassuring smile. "Angelus, I am sure it is nothing," she told him softly. "It rains and it storms in every single kingdom. I understand you are worried given your history here but it is a natural part of life, too. Truth be told, Wolfram and Hart could probably use some right now."

Buffy gave him a moment to ponder that over. She did her own self as well, hoping it wasn't something more deep down. She had been avoiding Angelus for almost a week now and if everyone's hunch about him and her were right there was no telling what forces were being screwed with by them being together or apart.

If one believed in that stuff, anyway...

OoOoO

Angelus had done a broadcast to his kingdom hoping to calm everyone's elevated tension as the rain continued to fall through the night. Everyone in the mansion had slowly tried to find something else to do, keep their minds occupied, tried to go back to sleep and whathaveyou. Buffy returned to her room for a long while but soon found herself up and trying to help in little ways.

She brought some warm tea to Rupert, a book about weather science and patterns to Wesley, extra candles were passed out to some of the kitchen staff... She didn't think anyone would stop being on edge until the rain ceased though. She couldn't blame them though, not one bit.

Buffy stood in front of Angelus' door more than once and let out a shaky breath, trying to decide about knocking or not. And not for the first time or probably the last she found herself walking right back away and back toward her room. She didn't think she had anyone else left to check on nearby and trying to steal her mind off of the king she made her way back.

Buffy was sure she wouldn't be getting any sleep anytime soon either but she laid down on her large bed and stared up at the ceiling, listening to the rain.

Surprisingly, she found herself drifting off not too long after... until she heard someone say her name. Buffy's eyes opened quickly and she looked around, not seeing anyone. She swallowed as she did another look. "Buffy," the voice said again.

Buffy's forehead crinkled up, her blood turning colder. She slid back off of the bed and started walking around. She heard her name again and she started for a mirror Angelus had placed in her room the night they'd come back together from the outer walls when she'd attempted to leave.

As she got closer, Buffy's eyes widened and she felt like she was about to faint as she made it around to the front of the large piece of glass. "Mom?" she whispered.