Part 4
Buffy lay her head down amongst the cool swirling clouds. She knew,
technically, that she didn't need to sleep but she was seeking to escape rather than rest. Buffy closed her eyes and without knowing it, she was rewarded with a gift from Saint Peter.
Angel stood surrounded by a sea of billowing clouds, dressed in a simple white shirt and black pants. His hair was once again back to its full spiky glory and his dark chocolate eyes shone with light.
Buffy moved slowly toward her love, expecting him to disappear at any moment.
" Is this my dream or yours?" she asked softly smiling up at his beautiful face.
Gazing back into her hazel eyes, Angel cupped Buffy's face in his hands and softly stroked her cheek with his thumb.
" It must be mine. You're dead, Buffy. The dead don't dream" Angel
continued to stroke her skin.
" When I'm with you I don't feel dead" Buffy's eyes brimmed with tears.
Being held in this man's arms was all she had ever wanted.
** Was it really too much to ask for ?** her soul cried out at the
injustice.
" Why did you leave me?" There was no anger in Angel's voice only
confusion.
" It was a mistake, I couldn't stop them" she replied truthfully.
" I've lost everything" the pain reflected in Angel's eyes at that moment
made Buffy shiver.
"No, Angel. You only lost a little direction" she tried desperately to
reassure her lover that things were not as bleak as they appeared.
"Buffy, you were always my direction. Can I stay here? It feels so safe"
Angel lowered his head and kissed her hair, then he dropped to her neck, his soft mouth pulled at her skin. Buffy closed her eyes and sighed at the feeling of his warm lips on her flesh.
**Flesh that she no longer possessed** her soul bitterly reminded her that this was only a dream.
" No, Angel. You must go back, you don't belong here"
" I belong with you. I just want you back, you're all I ever wanted" Angel
slipped his hands down her arms
" I feel the same" Buffy leaned her head back against his hard chest and felt his heart beat.
" It's never over, Angel. We'll be together again somewhere, someday"
" I want to find you so much. Show me the way" Angel's eyes pleaded for answers.
Buffy looked at their surroundings and knew his broken heart was telling her he wanted to join her. Reluctantly, she pulled away from his arms and turned to face him
"Angel, please believe me, It's not meant to be here. You must never give up, Someday I'll find you." Buffy knew she had to convince her lover that no matter where she was, his future was on earth. No matter how hard it was, that's where he had to stay.
Angel lifted her chin and then brought his lips to her mouth"
" I hurt so much" he whispered as his lips brushed hers.
" So do I "
" I love you" Angel kissed her mouth tenderly, almost afraid to break the dream.
"I love you too" Buffy pulled away knowing that their time together was
coming to an end.
Angel started to fade away.
" How will I know?" his voice pleaded as the clouds swallowed him from sight.
"Believe me, when you see me you will know. Just open your eyes, Angel. "
Angel shot up in bed, his heart racing in his chest.
** A dream? A prophecy? A wish? What did it all mean?**
*******
Saint Peter appeared at the front desk while Jordan was admitting the most recent arrivals. The new souls stood patiently waiting to sign the register and once completed, they were led off to start their new lives in heaven. As the last soul left, Saint Peter turned his attention to a more pressing matter.
" Where's the girl?"
Jordan carefully closed the book and stored it safely under the desk.
" Same place as always, she sits at the top of the golden stairway watching the newcomers. She reaches out to him in her dreams, I think she waits for him" Jordan replied sadly.
" Does she know that if he takes his own life he can never enter heaven this way, he will automatically be reincarnated, The rules are very clear about that." Saint Peter asked with real concern.
Jordan nodded.
" I tried to tell her, but I think she no longer cares. She has refused to
look at any more bodies, she won't consider reincarnation and I still can't persuade her to sign to register, she won't enter heaven. Buffy no longer trusts us to help her.
"Well, I had better speak to her, clear this mess up once and for all. A mistake like this can never be allowed to happen again. *HE* has made that very clear." Saint Peter walked out of the gates and made his way towards the stairway.
Buffy sat watching the top stair continually rollover and then disappear
into nothingness. The thought of trying to run down the rising stairway had crossed her mind on more then one occasion, but in all honesty, even if she could get to the bottom, where would she go? The though of being a ghost didn't hold any real joy.
** Hey! Maybe I could room with phantom Dennis** she thought bitterly.
"So, Buffy. What do you intend to do, just sit out here on the celestial
doorstep for the rest of eternity? " Saint Peter's voice broke through her melancholic thoughts.
Buffy didn't answer; she had nothing new to say. By now, they all knew her feelings on the matter and it was still up to them to make it right.
" I have some news for you, the higher power has become aware of this case and is far from pleased. He has decided on a quite remarkable compromise." Saint Peter's gentle face smiled at the girl
Buffy finally looked up; her dull hazel eyes no longer held the light of
hope. Like Angel, that had been lost over the time they had been kept
apart.
" Unless you can turn back time we have been over this a thousand times. Angel said *No body on earth* remember?" Buffy turned her head back toward the stairs
" Buffy, on Earth almost a year has passed since your death, we are not allowed to change a year of Earth's history even if we wanted too. Only once before did we allow a day to be taken away and it was a big mistake, you wouldn't believe the amount of paperwork it created. Babies had to be reborn, souls had to be recollected, it was a nightmare. Anyway, as a result of this day, new legislation was issued from the highest level. *He* made it very clear that the changing of time must never happen again. So as I said, we cannot change Earth's history as you know it but we do have a suggestion, a very strange one at that. Come with me " Saint Peter held out his hand
Buffy slowly got to her feet. She looked hesitant at first, after the Faith
disaster Buffy was no longer sure if she wanted to go anywhere with these people. But what choice did she have? On that thought she reluctantly accepted the hand on offer.
*****
" That's me.....That's not me" Buffy was totally confused as she watched the scene in front of her unfold.
" This is not real, what is it, some kind of sick joke?" she demanded
angrily as Xander embedded a crossbow bolt deep in to Angel's chest, the vampire cried out Buffy's name as he exploded in to dust.
"It's not a dream Buffy, but you are right, it's not from your world. This
world was created by Cordelia Chase and Anyanka. The young girl you're watching is Buffy Anne Summers, or whom you would have evolved into if circumstances in your life had been different. Genetically you are identical in every way; her body is the same as your body, only slightly younger." Saint Peter explained very carefully so that the slayer would fully understand what she was witnessing
Buffy was speechless; she watched as her identical twin staked a vampire version of Xander without a second thought.
" She looks so cold, she feels nothing" Buffy couldn't believe how the
other Buffy had walked so calmly through Angel's ashes. She raised her hand to her mouth and unconsciously traced the other girl's thin scar across her own lips.
" We have special authorisation from the highest level to lift this body
and bring it forth into your world. It's not something we do in normal
circumstances, but these are hardly normal circumstances, are they?
" You mean this Buffy dies" Buffy whispered still not quite believing her
eyes as vamp Willow was executed by Oz and Larry. Something then triggered a memory; this Willow was the doppelganger that had returned to Sunnydale all those years ago. **So that's what had happened to her** Buffy felt slight saddened by her death knowing she had played a small part in it.
" Yes, I'm afraid she does. Because this wish was cancelled it never
actually affected your world, apart from the small slip with Willow. We can remove this body and history will stay the same. There will be some problems of course, you turning up out of the blue so to speak, but we can cope with them. Buffy, you have to decide quickly, as soon as the soul leaves the body we will do the transference and get you out of there. This is your last chance"
Buffy turned her attention towards the Master and shivered. She watched how in this other world he grabbed her double by the shoulders and pulled her back to him. He then raised his hands to her head and snapped..
" It's now or never" Saint Peter issued the final warning.
******
Buffy's eyes flickered as she adjusted to the change in light. She found herself back on Earth, breathing fresh sea air, she felt the warm sun on her bare skin and heard the noise of birds in the blue sky above. Buffy was home, this time she really was home.
She slowly raised her hands and marvelled at the feel of live flesh, her
own live flesh. Every blood cell, every nerve ending connected with her
soul, becoming one again. This was not like before with Faith, no, that had a foreign feel to it, like looking through a window. This was no window she was looking through, this was real.
" Are you happy?"
Buffy looked up and saw the archangel.
" I think I finally can be" she nodded at the realisation that her future
was now back on course and she could once again be with Angel.
" We aim to please, especially when we made such a bad mistake in the first place" Jordan grinned. He too was relieved that everything had worked out as well as could be hoped for.
" I just hope Angel accepts all this. Do you think he will know me? " A
small doubt crept into Buffy's head. Would she believe it if Angel had
suddenly come back from the dead? The answer then made her smile. ** Of course she would, after all, he once did just that.**
" The two of you have a very long, and very happy life left to live. I got
that from the highest authority" Jordan grinned again.
" I guess I better go find Angel" Buffy closed her eyes and reached out for him.
"Wait! There's one more thing that has to be put right" Jordan looked
towards the heavens and then smiled back at the Slayer.
**Once this mistake has been rectified, things will be as they were once meant to be** Buffy heard the words of Saint Peter clearly in her head. Her eyes opened in wonder as she placed her hand gently on her stomach; once more she felt the presence of her unborn child.
Looking back, she wasn't at all surprised to find the archangel had
vanished.
Buffy raised her eyes to the sky and whispered a heartfelt *thank you*, then set off to find her love.
*****
Angel stood on the hilltop over looking the sea, in exactly the same spot as a year earlier. His mind was lost deep in thought as his eyes gazed out over the waves. All morning he had been receiving phone calls from friends, each full of concern that he wasn't spending the day alone. Cordelia had been the most insistent, she had argued for over an hour that he should be with friends that day. Even though she was now eight months pregnant she was quite prepared to just stand and hold his hand. Angel had thanked her but made it perfectly clear that today of all days he should be allowed to be alone with his memories, today he was finally going to say goodbye.
Angel watched as the waves crashed in the distance, he slowly raised the single red rose to his lips and softly kissed the petals.
" Goodbye, Buffy" he whispered as he dropped the rose into the sea below.
He then felt a strange, and yet very familiar, tingle travel the length of
his spine, it caused all the small hairs on the back of his neck to stand
on end. His heartbeat increased and for a second Angel forgot how to breathe. Squeezing his eyes closed he allowed the feeling to wash over him.
**Believe me, when you see me you will know. Just open your eyes, Angel** the words from his dream swam inside his head.
Angel turned slowly; he was almost afraid to face the disappointment that he knew had to be there. Everything in his heart and soul screamed Buffy.
He opened his eyes and watched in wonder as the love of his life slowly walked towards him, a slight smile turning the corners of her mouth.
" Hello, Angel, I've come home"
The End.
Buffy lay her head down amongst the cool swirling clouds. She knew,
technically, that she didn't need to sleep but she was seeking to escape rather than rest. Buffy closed her eyes and without knowing it, she was rewarded with a gift from Saint Peter.
Angel stood surrounded by a sea of billowing clouds, dressed in a simple white shirt and black pants. His hair was once again back to its full spiky glory and his dark chocolate eyes shone with light.
Buffy moved slowly toward her love, expecting him to disappear at any moment.
" Is this my dream or yours?" she asked softly smiling up at his beautiful face.
Gazing back into her hazel eyes, Angel cupped Buffy's face in his hands and softly stroked her cheek with his thumb.
" It must be mine. You're dead, Buffy. The dead don't dream" Angel
continued to stroke her skin.
" When I'm with you I don't feel dead" Buffy's eyes brimmed with tears.
Being held in this man's arms was all she had ever wanted.
** Was it really too much to ask for ?** her soul cried out at the
injustice.
" Why did you leave me?" There was no anger in Angel's voice only
confusion.
" It was a mistake, I couldn't stop them" she replied truthfully.
" I've lost everything" the pain reflected in Angel's eyes at that moment
made Buffy shiver.
"No, Angel. You only lost a little direction" she tried desperately to
reassure her lover that things were not as bleak as they appeared.
"Buffy, you were always my direction. Can I stay here? It feels so safe"
Angel lowered his head and kissed her hair, then he dropped to her neck, his soft mouth pulled at her skin. Buffy closed her eyes and sighed at the feeling of his warm lips on her flesh.
**Flesh that she no longer possessed** her soul bitterly reminded her that this was only a dream.
" No, Angel. You must go back, you don't belong here"
" I belong with you. I just want you back, you're all I ever wanted" Angel
slipped his hands down her arms
" I feel the same" Buffy leaned her head back against his hard chest and felt his heart beat.
" It's never over, Angel. We'll be together again somewhere, someday"
" I want to find you so much. Show me the way" Angel's eyes pleaded for answers.
Buffy looked at their surroundings and knew his broken heart was telling her he wanted to join her. Reluctantly, she pulled away from his arms and turned to face him
"Angel, please believe me, It's not meant to be here. You must never give up, Someday I'll find you." Buffy knew she had to convince her lover that no matter where she was, his future was on earth. No matter how hard it was, that's where he had to stay.
Angel lifted her chin and then brought his lips to her mouth"
" I hurt so much" he whispered as his lips brushed hers.
" So do I "
" I love you" Angel kissed her mouth tenderly, almost afraid to break the dream.
"I love you too" Buffy pulled away knowing that their time together was
coming to an end.
Angel started to fade away.
" How will I know?" his voice pleaded as the clouds swallowed him from sight.
"Believe me, when you see me you will know. Just open your eyes, Angel. "
Angel shot up in bed, his heart racing in his chest.
** A dream? A prophecy? A wish? What did it all mean?**
*******
Saint Peter appeared at the front desk while Jordan was admitting the most recent arrivals. The new souls stood patiently waiting to sign the register and once completed, they were led off to start their new lives in heaven. As the last soul left, Saint Peter turned his attention to a more pressing matter.
" Where's the girl?"
Jordan carefully closed the book and stored it safely under the desk.
" Same place as always, she sits at the top of the golden stairway watching the newcomers. She reaches out to him in her dreams, I think she waits for him" Jordan replied sadly.
" Does she know that if he takes his own life he can never enter heaven this way, he will automatically be reincarnated, The rules are very clear about that." Saint Peter asked with real concern.
Jordan nodded.
" I tried to tell her, but I think she no longer cares. She has refused to
look at any more bodies, she won't consider reincarnation and I still can't persuade her to sign to register, she won't enter heaven. Buffy no longer trusts us to help her.
"Well, I had better speak to her, clear this mess up once and for all. A mistake like this can never be allowed to happen again. *HE* has made that very clear." Saint Peter walked out of the gates and made his way towards the stairway.
Buffy sat watching the top stair continually rollover and then disappear
into nothingness. The thought of trying to run down the rising stairway had crossed her mind on more then one occasion, but in all honesty, even if she could get to the bottom, where would she go? The though of being a ghost didn't hold any real joy.
** Hey! Maybe I could room with phantom Dennis** she thought bitterly.
"So, Buffy. What do you intend to do, just sit out here on the celestial
doorstep for the rest of eternity? " Saint Peter's voice broke through her melancholic thoughts.
Buffy didn't answer; she had nothing new to say. By now, they all knew her feelings on the matter and it was still up to them to make it right.
" I have some news for you, the higher power has become aware of this case and is far from pleased. He has decided on a quite remarkable compromise." Saint Peter's gentle face smiled at the girl
Buffy finally looked up; her dull hazel eyes no longer held the light of
hope. Like Angel, that had been lost over the time they had been kept
apart.
" Unless you can turn back time we have been over this a thousand times. Angel said *No body on earth* remember?" Buffy turned her head back toward the stairs
" Buffy, on Earth almost a year has passed since your death, we are not allowed to change a year of Earth's history even if we wanted too. Only once before did we allow a day to be taken away and it was a big mistake, you wouldn't believe the amount of paperwork it created. Babies had to be reborn, souls had to be recollected, it was a nightmare. Anyway, as a result of this day, new legislation was issued from the highest level. *He* made it very clear that the changing of time must never happen again. So as I said, we cannot change Earth's history as you know it but we do have a suggestion, a very strange one at that. Come with me " Saint Peter held out his hand
Buffy slowly got to her feet. She looked hesitant at first, after the Faith
disaster Buffy was no longer sure if she wanted to go anywhere with these people. But what choice did she have? On that thought she reluctantly accepted the hand on offer.
*****
" That's me.....That's not me" Buffy was totally confused as she watched the scene in front of her unfold.
" This is not real, what is it, some kind of sick joke?" she demanded
angrily as Xander embedded a crossbow bolt deep in to Angel's chest, the vampire cried out Buffy's name as he exploded in to dust.
"It's not a dream Buffy, but you are right, it's not from your world. This
world was created by Cordelia Chase and Anyanka. The young girl you're watching is Buffy Anne Summers, or whom you would have evolved into if circumstances in your life had been different. Genetically you are identical in every way; her body is the same as your body, only slightly younger." Saint Peter explained very carefully so that the slayer would fully understand what she was witnessing
Buffy was speechless; she watched as her identical twin staked a vampire version of Xander without a second thought.
" She looks so cold, she feels nothing" Buffy couldn't believe how the
other Buffy had walked so calmly through Angel's ashes. She raised her hand to her mouth and unconsciously traced the other girl's thin scar across her own lips.
" We have special authorisation from the highest level to lift this body
and bring it forth into your world. It's not something we do in normal
circumstances, but these are hardly normal circumstances, are they?
" You mean this Buffy dies" Buffy whispered still not quite believing her
eyes as vamp Willow was executed by Oz and Larry. Something then triggered a memory; this Willow was the doppelganger that had returned to Sunnydale all those years ago. **So that's what had happened to her** Buffy felt slight saddened by her death knowing she had played a small part in it.
" Yes, I'm afraid she does. Because this wish was cancelled it never
actually affected your world, apart from the small slip with Willow. We can remove this body and history will stay the same. There will be some problems of course, you turning up out of the blue so to speak, but we can cope with them. Buffy, you have to decide quickly, as soon as the soul leaves the body we will do the transference and get you out of there. This is your last chance"
Buffy turned her attention towards the Master and shivered. She watched how in this other world he grabbed her double by the shoulders and pulled her back to him. He then raised his hands to her head and snapped..
" It's now or never" Saint Peter issued the final warning.
******
Buffy's eyes flickered as she adjusted to the change in light. She found herself back on Earth, breathing fresh sea air, she felt the warm sun on her bare skin and heard the noise of birds in the blue sky above. Buffy was home, this time she really was home.
She slowly raised her hands and marvelled at the feel of live flesh, her
own live flesh. Every blood cell, every nerve ending connected with her
soul, becoming one again. This was not like before with Faith, no, that had a foreign feel to it, like looking through a window. This was no window she was looking through, this was real.
" Are you happy?"
Buffy looked up and saw the archangel.
" I think I finally can be" she nodded at the realisation that her future
was now back on course and she could once again be with Angel.
" We aim to please, especially when we made such a bad mistake in the first place" Jordan grinned. He too was relieved that everything had worked out as well as could be hoped for.
" I just hope Angel accepts all this. Do you think he will know me? " A
small doubt crept into Buffy's head. Would she believe it if Angel had
suddenly come back from the dead? The answer then made her smile. ** Of course she would, after all, he once did just that.**
" The two of you have a very long, and very happy life left to live. I got
that from the highest authority" Jordan grinned again.
" I guess I better go find Angel" Buffy closed her eyes and reached out for him.
"Wait! There's one more thing that has to be put right" Jordan looked
towards the heavens and then smiled back at the Slayer.
**Once this mistake has been rectified, things will be as they were once meant to be** Buffy heard the words of Saint Peter clearly in her head. Her eyes opened in wonder as she placed her hand gently on her stomach; once more she felt the presence of her unborn child.
Looking back, she wasn't at all surprised to find the archangel had
vanished.
Buffy raised her eyes to the sky and whispered a heartfelt *thank you*, then set off to find her love.
*****
Angel stood on the hilltop over looking the sea, in exactly the same spot as a year earlier. His mind was lost deep in thought as his eyes gazed out over the waves. All morning he had been receiving phone calls from friends, each full of concern that he wasn't spending the day alone. Cordelia had been the most insistent, she had argued for over an hour that he should be with friends that day. Even though she was now eight months pregnant she was quite prepared to just stand and hold his hand. Angel had thanked her but made it perfectly clear that today of all days he should be allowed to be alone with his memories, today he was finally going to say goodbye.
Angel watched as the waves crashed in the distance, he slowly raised the single red rose to his lips and softly kissed the petals.
" Goodbye, Buffy" he whispered as he dropped the rose into the sea below.
He then felt a strange, and yet very familiar, tingle travel the length of
his spine, it caused all the small hairs on the back of his neck to stand
on end. His heartbeat increased and for a second Angel forgot how to breathe. Squeezing his eyes closed he allowed the feeling to wash over him.
**Believe me, when you see me you will know. Just open your eyes, Angel** the words from his dream swam inside his head.
Angel turned slowly; he was almost afraid to face the disappointment that he knew had to be there. Everything in his heart and soul screamed Buffy.
He opened his eyes and watched in wonder as the love of his life slowly walked towards him, a slight smile turning the corners of her mouth.
" Hello, Angel, I've come home"
The End.