"Is this a trap?" Willow said warily. "Which of you sent the letter? Who
ever did was... Mean."

"I thought... I thought perhaps you sent it," Giles said hesitantly. "Not
that I was assuming you were mean. Not at all. Just that you might need to
purge...." He trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"We thought you sent it too, Will," Xander said, clutching Cordelia's hand
tightly.

Oz glanced at Willow with raised eyebrows and then turned back to the rest of
the group. "Well, I didn't send it and I know Willow didn't... Angel?"

"Yes, where is he?" Giles mumbled, looking around. "It could have been him,
I suppose. We haven't... That is to say...."

"Buffy sent it," Angel said quietly, stepping out of the shadows.

Tears filled Willow's eyes and Oz put his arm around her, clutching her to
him tightly. She sniffled, her expression full of muted rage. "That's
cruel, Angel."

"It's true." He sat down at the edge of Buffy's grave, stroking the grass
lovingly. "I just copied it added the time to meet here at the bottom. I
have some things that I want to say to you all. I... I'm sorry I was so
mysterious about it, but considering... Well, I wasn't sure any of you would
come if you knew it was from me, and I needed to speak with you."

Xander was the first to step forward, to sit down next to Angel. "What?"

Angel smiled painfully at him before turning his eyes up to the rest of the
group. Willow wiped away some of her tears with a trembling smile and sat
across from them, pulling Oz down with her. Cordelia and Giles exchanged a
look, and then they were part of the circle, sitting on the grass over where
Buffy laid. When he was sure that they were listening, when the silence
began to hurt too much, Angel spoke.

"I found this letter a month ago," he admitted. "I didn't want to believe
that Buffy was right. I didn't want to see... Now, I've always been the
outsider in this group. I know that. I don't resent it or anything, it's
simply a fact. Most likely the way it should be. But you guys are my
friends, and I don't have many. I don't like to think that anything could
happen to you. Any of you. So when I saw that she was right, that..."

"She wasn't right," Willow denied in a small voice, picking at the ground.

"Willow." Angel's voice was firm. "I've been watching all of you. It's
been over a month since her death and you've drifted away from each other.
Even you, Willow, and Oz. Even Xander and Cordelia. Where did the wedding
plans go? And Giles. Even after the Hellmouth was closed, you called each
of them all of the time. What happened? Are you going to tell me that
Buffy-- who loved you all so much-- tore your friendships apart when she
died? Or are you just going to admit that you've been cowards?"

Giles flashed a steely, angry glare to Angel. "I'm sorry that you don't feel
the pain of her death like we d--"

"Don't finish that sentence, Giles." Xander's voice was quiet, but firm.

"What?"

"Just don't." The dark-haired man shook his head quietly. "You're not mad
at Angel. You know that Angel feels it maybe worse than the rest of us, if
it's possible. You know that he loved her as much as anyone can love
someone. So don't. He's..."

"Right," Willow supplied softly. She blinked back her tears. "He's right
that we've drifted away. Oz and I can't touch each other the way that we
used to... It doesn't seem right to either of us, I'm guessing, to feel
passion or... Anything when she's gone. And I haven't called Cordelia or
you, Giles. And... Xander..." Her voice broke.

"I know your grief is hard to deal with," Angel murmured. "Mine is too. In
all my years, I never thought I would be able to feel this kind of loss.
I've felt pain and regret for so long that I was sure that nothing could be
worse. But no one can live with such grief on top of such loneliness. Buffy
was a lot of a things; daughter, sister, lover, friend... And not one of you
has really spoken about her since she died."

Willow continued weeping and Cordelia slowly rose, walking over to the
shaking redhead. She slipped down beside her and took Willow in her arms,
letting her own tears go. "I miss her too," Cordelia mumbled. "I miss her
too. And so does he. You need to be with him, Willow. Please... He needs
to..."

Willow didn't bother asking who she was talking about, simply choosing to
pull out of the embrace. She touched Oz lightly, lovingly on the shoulder
before standing. She moved over to Xander's side, who was looking off into
the distance, his eyes vague. Slowly, the first two Slayerettes caught eyes
and slipped into each other's arms. Xander stiffened for a moment, but as
soon as he was holding Willow, he broke. Gut-wrenching, dry sobs tore out of
him and he gasped for air. "Oh, God," he said, his voice low and raspy.
"Oh, God. Please no."

Willow buried her face in his shoulder, soaking it with her tears.
"Giles..." she called pleadingly through her tears, relieved when the
ex-Watcher moved over to them. Without hesitation, Giles wrapped his arms
around both of them, cradling them to him warmly. Comforting and being
comforted. Loving and being loved. Mourning the loss of his daughter, and
rejoicing in the reunion of his family. Their quiet sounds of weeping filled
the quiet cemetery, and Angel smiled with relief.

He had just wanted to do this one thing for her before he left. Just this
one thing to bring her family together, so that he would know that she would
have peace. Oz and Cordelia quickly joined the group hug after it was
assembled and Angel smiled more widely. All of them. How Buffy would have
loved to have been a part of that hug.

Finally their tears resided and they pulled away from each other, laughing
slightly with pleasure. The hurt might subside some in time, they realized,
looking at each other. If they stayed together.

Giles turned and saw Angel's retreating back. Without thinking, he called
out to the vampire. "Angel!"

Angel paused mid-step and turned around, his eyes questioning.

Giles smiled. "What did you love about Buffy?"

Angel grinned, letting the tears slip down his cheeks. He walked back over
to the group, who waiting in expectant silence for his answer. He thought
for a moment. "I loved how she wore her heart on her sleeve. Even if she
wouldn't tell you what she was thinking about, you could see right away if
she was happy or sad or upset. I always knew where I stood with her. She
loved me when I didn't deserve it." He distractedly wiped some of his tears
away. "What about you guys?"

The group lowered themselves back down onto the grass and were quiet for a
moment. Angel sat, too, looking around, waiting for someone to speak.

Finally, Xander did. "Her eyes. I think that's why I used to have such a
crush on her, you know? She had those big, pretty eyes. Made me want to
protect the person who didn't really need protection."

"She was a good friend," Willow said softly, warmly. "She taught me a lot
about myself, you know? Even up until... She died, she was teaching me. She
always said that I was the smart one, but she had smarts that I still can't
even comprehend. She was so loyal. She made me feel good about myself."

"She was completely disobedient," Giles smiled. "At first I hated that about
her, then grew to love it. It was what set her apart. What gave her a
personality. She had so much character. She was so generous with her love,
with her forgiveness. The people she loved came first, and her duty came
second."

Cordelia laughed suddenly. "She was one of the only people-- Xander excluded
because I like to exclude him-- who could match me shot for shot. She always
gave it as good as she got it and I have to admit that sometimes I was
horrible to her. But she was still my friend. She looked past it and was my
friend. I respected her a lot."

Oz smiled, squeezed Willow's hand. "Buffy and I would sometimes talk about
what it was like. You know, to be the way we were. As accepting as you all
are-- which, by the way, is appreciated-- she understood. She had a part of
that in her too. A part of that 'I can't change who I am,' thing going for
her. And she was strong. Really strong."

"Strong," Angel whispered. He nodded. "She was strong."

And they talked through until it was almost sunrise. Laughing and crying
over the best and worst times they had shared with Buffy. Missing her
together and wishing that they could see her again. Smiling at some of the
things that she had done since she had known them. Loving her, and each
other. Healing together.

A few minutes before the sun rose, Angel stood. No one questioned where he
was going; they simply threw him smiles and turned back to their conversation
about Buffy's fight with some vampire named Sunday, and Angel began to walk
away. His soul felt lighter than it had in a long time, as light as it could
without being taken away.

He missed her, yes. But he had done something she had wanted, and anyway...

They would all meet again someday.
* * * * * * * *

Dear... All of You,

I'm not going to come out of this alive. I know that now. I've been having
dreams, you see. Dreams of my own death. I know we will win-- we always
do-- but when the triumph is done, I won't be there to celebrate with you.

I'm giving this letter to Angel, knowing that he'll find it someday and give
it to you. Because I'm not just having dreams about myself. I'm having
dreams about what will happen after I die. It's cool. Sort of like being
psychic without the head-splitting migraines. Anyway, in my dreams, I see
you all.

But what scares me is that I see you separated.

I don't want my death to tear you apart. Mourn for me, yes, if you have to.
Love me forever, I hope. But don't let your grief get in the way of our
family. Because that's what you guys were to me. My family. My dearest
friends and closest confidants. Meeting you was the best thing that could
have happened to me. Ever. Please don't forget about one another because
it's too painful to remember.

Do you want to know how I see us? I see us as petals. All petals of the
same perfect flower. Just because one of the petals wilts and drifts down
doesn't make the flower any less beautiful than it was. When I look down on
you, I want to see the beauty that I saw in my life. I want to see the
closeness that made my life worth living.

I had such a good life.

Thank you all for that.

I love you,

Buffy