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Anon: Thanks for the feedback! I'm glad you're enjoying this so far. Hope these next two chapters haven't disappointed.
PART SEVEN
Willow exhaled as she leaned back in her chair to rub her tired eyes. Angel had returned several hours ago with the Aiterion Scrolls, and everyone had quickly set to work on deciphering the prophecies.
"Okay, there is not a single part of this that makes sense," Cordelia proclaimed from her seat next to Willow, "you wanna switch?"
Willow smiled as she acknowledged Cordelia's question, memories of late-night Sunnydale 'research parties' surfacing in her mind, and she realized that no matter how different things were for Angel and Cordelia in Los Angeles, there were still some things that hadn't changed.
It was very reassuring.
"Sure." The two exchanged their sections of the scroll, and Willow gaped as she read what Cordelia had translated so far. 'Fire.'
"That's all you've got?!" she exclaimed.
"And what part of 'there's not a single part of this that makes sense' did you not understand?" Cordelia replied.
Angel chuckled to himself as he listened in on the girls' verbal exchange. Though he doubted either of them would readily admit it, they seemed to be enjoying each other's company.
"And just what are *you* smirking at?" Angel, unaware that his amusement had been outwardly displayed, lifted his gaze to see Willow glaring playfully at him.
"Me?" Angel gave her his best innocent look.
"Do you see anyone *else* in this room smirking?"
"Uh..." Angel trailed off as he glanced in turn at his companions, and Willow followed his gaze. Wesley, Gunn, Fred, and Cordelia were all focused on the two of them, amused smiles lighting their faces.
"Ok, never mind then," Willow conceded.
"I'm guessing you guys did this a lot in Sunnydale," Gunn smiled at the redhead.
"You have no idea," Willow grinned back. Although she didn't know Gunn or Fred all that well yet, she was really enjoying getting to know them. For the first time since she had arrived, she was really beginning to feel that she had made the right decision in accepting Angel's offer to come to L.A.
Wesley looked slightly perplexed, "Strange, I don't seem to recall--"
"That's 'cause no one liked you," Cordelia cut in automatically, knowing what he was about to say.
"Well, except for you," Willow teasingly whispered to the brunette.
Gunn scoffed in disbelief, "Wait, you mean no liked *Wes*?"
"Why thank you, Gunn," Wesley's tone was grateful.
"It's just that...you were so different back then," Angel supplied.
Her curiosity peaked, Fred inquired, "Different how?"
"Oh, please, let's not discuss this right now...or ever, for that matter," Wesley pleaded.
"No, I wanna hear this," Gunn also voiced his interest.
"It's nothing big really," Cordelia spoke almost nonchalantly, "he was just one of those snobby, snooty, girly-man wimps."
"Again, coming from the girl who had the biggest crush on him," Willow grinned.
"Cordy and Wes?" Gunn exclaimed, "that is just weird!"
"I don't know," Fred shook her head, "I just can't picture Wesley the way you described him. I mean, he's just so..." she trailed off when she noticed the looks everyone was giving her. Blushing slightly, she finished, "Well, he's just very different now."
Wesley beamed at Fred's words. After finally getting his voice back, he attempted to get the discussion off of him. "As much as I really didn't appreciate this trip down memory lane, can we please get back to the issue of the scrolls?"
"Sure, ruin our fun," Cordelia retorted.
Wesley shot her a glare, but was promptly backed up by Angel. "Wesley's right. We really should get back to work."
"Fine, fine," Gunn sighed in disappointment. He had always been mildly interested in learning more about Sunnydale, considering his friends had such complicated histories rooted there, but no one ever seemed that willing to talk about it.
Still smiling from the group's brief bantering, Willow returned her attention to the task at hand. She sighed as she re-read the meager fruits of Cordelia's labor, then once again focused her mind on research mode. As tiring as it was, it still felt good to be able to concentrate on something other than her own problems.
Quickly losing all track of time, Willow immersed herself in the pile of scrolls and reference texts littered about the table, piecing together the translation bit by bit. However, as the meaning behind the complicated characters began to unravel, Willow felt herself growing inexplicably nervous...
'Gate'. A gate on fire? No, there was more to the phrase than that. Something else... The gate to a dimension, some type of hell dimension... Hell! Was the gate to hell on fire?
Butterflies began to form in the pit of her stomach, even as she continued her work.
Another gate, to another dimension. A peaceful dimension, a heavenly dimension. Heaven. The gate to Heaven.
Willow's heartbeat began to accelerate, yet she continued on.
A summons. The gate to Heaven, responding to a summon.
Willow's previously even breathing steadily transformed into shallow gasps as she stared in horror at the words written before her.
'When the gate to Hell is on fire, the gate of Heaven will obey her summons.'
Oh, Goddess. Sunnydale. Buffy. *Her* summons.
Pushing herself awkwardly to her feet, Willow fought to control her body's sudden violent shaking as she hurriedly made her way out of the room, panic, fear, and sorrow threatening to overwhelm her.
"Willow?" Angel's concerned voice reached her ears, but she couldn't bring herself to respond.
"Willow!" he called out again as she fled from him.
"Is she okay?" Fred's eyes were wide with worry as she watched the trembling girl half-run, half-stagger away from them.
"Willow!" Angel leapt to his feet and chased after her.
Cordelia stood as well, prepared to follow, but was stopped as Wesley placed a firm hand on her arm. "Wesley?" she questioned.
"Let Angel handle this."
Cordelia took one last look at the couple, watching as Angel gently ushered a shaken Willow into Wesley's office and closed the door behind them. She sighed as she sat back down, her eyes still fixed on the office door.
"What do you think just happened?" Gunn asked.
"I don't know," Cordelia's voice was laced with worry. "It was just..."
"Very sudden," Wesley nodded, his eyes mirroring her concern. "I wonder..." he trailed off as he gathered the materials Willow was working on, and began to read.
***
Angel was at a loss for words as sat in a rather awkward cross-legged position on the floor, holding the sobbing redhead in his arms. "Willow?" he gently prompted again as she pulled away from him a few minutes later, wiping away the last of her tears.
"I'm so sorry, Angel," her voice still shook as she spoke.
"You don't have anything to apologize for," Angel turned Willow back around to face him and took her hands in his own, "just please tell me what happened out there."
Willow stared into his eyes for a moment, letting his concern and friendship wash over her. Knowing she'd have to tell him sooner or later, she took a deep breath and tried to explain what she had no idea how to put into words.
"I think I know what Cordelia's visions were about," she began tentatively. "The pieces of the scroll I was working on...it was talking about that other Warrior that Wesley mentioned, and..."
When Willow didn't continue, Angel began to tenderly massage smooth circles over her hands with his thumbs, urging her to continue.
"And he said they'd be on opposite sides, and..."
"And what?"
"I'm not evil, am I?" Willow ended in a whisper.
Angel's brow furrowed in confusion as he heard her question. "Come again?"
"The scrolls, Angel!" Willow exclaimed as she suddenly wrenched her hands away from his. "They mention Sunnydale, a fire in Sunnydale, and this Warrior summoning someone from Heaven. Sounds vaguely familiar, doesn't it?" Her tone became almost venomous, and though she instantly regretted sounding that way, she couldn't seem to calm herself down.
"Willow, you must be mistaken--"
"I'm not!" she snapped again, getting to her feet. "When I did the spell to bring Buffy back to life, there were these biker demons that were rampaging around Sunnydale, and they practically set the entire town on fire. Those scrolls were talking about me, when I summoned Buffy out of Heaven."
"You don't know that," Angel, too, got to his feet and attempted to reason with the hysterical woman, "Sunnydale...who knows how many fires have happened in Sunnydale in the last however many years. And do you think that you're the only person who's ever tried to a spell like that? Especially on a place like the Hellmouth?"
"You're reaching, Angel," Willow shook her head sadly, having calmed down slightly. "Don't you think it's odd that Cordelia suddenly gets these strange visions about me, and at the same time you have this problem with some prophecy that talks about some evil Warrior that you're supposed to fight against? This Warrior that happens to be connected to the Hellmouth, that performs a spell to pull someone out of Heaven? Don't you see? Her visions were *warning* you about *me*!"
"No, Willow, you're wrong," Angel said firmly. "You're not evil. You never have been, and you never could be. Those scrolls are not talking about you. Cordelia's visions are not warning me about you."
"Then how do you explain this?"
"I can't," Angel shrugged slightly, "at least not yet. But we will figure this out, and you will see that this has nothing to do with you."
"I hope you're right," Willow's voice was much softer now. "But I just can't help feeling like things are about to go so horribly wrong. I thought I had hit rock bottom after everything that had happened with Dawn, but--"
"Ssshh," Angel hushed her, placing his arms around her and drawing her into his embrace. "I know this seems impossible, but just try not to think the worst. You're Willow, remember? One of the good guys. One of my best friends. Nothing's ever going to change that."
Hearing his words, Willow tightened her grip on the vampire as she tried to lose herself in the comfort of his arms. When had her life spun so dreadfully out of control? When had it gotten to the point that she could no longer tell who she was, or even who she was supposed to be? Could she really be this Warrior from the scrolls? Or was Angel right, and she was just jumping to conclusions? But it all seemed to make sense, and yet...she could never turn against her friends, right? She could never be evil...
No. Of course not. Angel was right: she was Willow. No matter how much she had changed over the years, deep down, that kind, innocent, compassionate young girl still lived inside of her, and as long as she remembered that, as long as she had friends like Angel and Buffy and Xander and Tara, she would be all right. As long as she held onto the belief in her friends, and in herself, everything would be all right.
Willow had no idea that those beliefs were about to be shattered.
END PART SEVEN
Author's Note: I realize that everyone's coming across that one prophetic line about Sunnydale in the midst of everything that could be written in the scrolls is a bit contrived, but it makes this part of the plot so much easier to write, and helps to get the ball rolling for the rest of the story, so I hope my readers will be gracious enough to overlook the fault. Thanks.
Anon: Thanks for the feedback! I'm glad you're enjoying this so far. Hope these next two chapters haven't disappointed.
PART SEVEN
Willow exhaled as she leaned back in her chair to rub her tired eyes. Angel had returned several hours ago with the Aiterion Scrolls, and everyone had quickly set to work on deciphering the prophecies.
"Okay, there is not a single part of this that makes sense," Cordelia proclaimed from her seat next to Willow, "you wanna switch?"
Willow smiled as she acknowledged Cordelia's question, memories of late-night Sunnydale 'research parties' surfacing in her mind, and she realized that no matter how different things were for Angel and Cordelia in Los Angeles, there were still some things that hadn't changed.
It was very reassuring.
"Sure." The two exchanged their sections of the scroll, and Willow gaped as she read what Cordelia had translated so far. 'Fire.'
"That's all you've got?!" she exclaimed.
"And what part of 'there's not a single part of this that makes sense' did you not understand?" Cordelia replied.
Angel chuckled to himself as he listened in on the girls' verbal exchange. Though he doubted either of them would readily admit it, they seemed to be enjoying each other's company.
"And just what are *you* smirking at?" Angel, unaware that his amusement had been outwardly displayed, lifted his gaze to see Willow glaring playfully at him.
"Me?" Angel gave her his best innocent look.
"Do you see anyone *else* in this room smirking?"
"Uh..." Angel trailed off as he glanced in turn at his companions, and Willow followed his gaze. Wesley, Gunn, Fred, and Cordelia were all focused on the two of them, amused smiles lighting their faces.
"Ok, never mind then," Willow conceded.
"I'm guessing you guys did this a lot in Sunnydale," Gunn smiled at the redhead.
"You have no idea," Willow grinned back. Although she didn't know Gunn or Fred all that well yet, she was really enjoying getting to know them. For the first time since she had arrived, she was really beginning to feel that she had made the right decision in accepting Angel's offer to come to L.A.
Wesley looked slightly perplexed, "Strange, I don't seem to recall--"
"That's 'cause no one liked you," Cordelia cut in automatically, knowing what he was about to say.
"Well, except for you," Willow teasingly whispered to the brunette.
Gunn scoffed in disbelief, "Wait, you mean no liked *Wes*?"
"Why thank you, Gunn," Wesley's tone was grateful.
"It's just that...you were so different back then," Angel supplied.
Her curiosity peaked, Fred inquired, "Different how?"
"Oh, please, let's not discuss this right now...or ever, for that matter," Wesley pleaded.
"No, I wanna hear this," Gunn also voiced his interest.
"It's nothing big really," Cordelia spoke almost nonchalantly, "he was just one of those snobby, snooty, girly-man wimps."
"Again, coming from the girl who had the biggest crush on him," Willow grinned.
"Cordy and Wes?" Gunn exclaimed, "that is just weird!"
"I don't know," Fred shook her head, "I just can't picture Wesley the way you described him. I mean, he's just so..." she trailed off when she noticed the looks everyone was giving her. Blushing slightly, she finished, "Well, he's just very different now."
Wesley beamed at Fred's words. After finally getting his voice back, he attempted to get the discussion off of him. "As much as I really didn't appreciate this trip down memory lane, can we please get back to the issue of the scrolls?"
"Sure, ruin our fun," Cordelia retorted.
Wesley shot her a glare, but was promptly backed up by Angel. "Wesley's right. We really should get back to work."
"Fine, fine," Gunn sighed in disappointment. He had always been mildly interested in learning more about Sunnydale, considering his friends had such complicated histories rooted there, but no one ever seemed that willing to talk about it.
Still smiling from the group's brief bantering, Willow returned her attention to the task at hand. She sighed as she re-read the meager fruits of Cordelia's labor, then once again focused her mind on research mode. As tiring as it was, it still felt good to be able to concentrate on something other than her own problems.
Quickly losing all track of time, Willow immersed herself in the pile of scrolls and reference texts littered about the table, piecing together the translation bit by bit. However, as the meaning behind the complicated characters began to unravel, Willow felt herself growing inexplicably nervous...
'Gate'. A gate on fire? No, there was more to the phrase than that. Something else... The gate to a dimension, some type of hell dimension... Hell! Was the gate to hell on fire?
Butterflies began to form in the pit of her stomach, even as she continued her work.
Another gate, to another dimension. A peaceful dimension, a heavenly dimension. Heaven. The gate to Heaven.
Willow's heartbeat began to accelerate, yet she continued on.
A summons. The gate to Heaven, responding to a summon.
Willow's previously even breathing steadily transformed into shallow gasps as she stared in horror at the words written before her.
'When the gate to Hell is on fire, the gate of Heaven will obey her summons.'
Oh, Goddess. Sunnydale. Buffy. *Her* summons.
Pushing herself awkwardly to her feet, Willow fought to control her body's sudden violent shaking as she hurriedly made her way out of the room, panic, fear, and sorrow threatening to overwhelm her.
"Willow?" Angel's concerned voice reached her ears, but she couldn't bring herself to respond.
"Willow!" he called out again as she fled from him.
"Is she okay?" Fred's eyes were wide with worry as she watched the trembling girl half-run, half-stagger away from them.
"Willow!" Angel leapt to his feet and chased after her.
Cordelia stood as well, prepared to follow, but was stopped as Wesley placed a firm hand on her arm. "Wesley?" she questioned.
"Let Angel handle this."
Cordelia took one last look at the couple, watching as Angel gently ushered a shaken Willow into Wesley's office and closed the door behind them. She sighed as she sat back down, her eyes still fixed on the office door.
"What do you think just happened?" Gunn asked.
"I don't know," Cordelia's voice was laced with worry. "It was just..."
"Very sudden," Wesley nodded, his eyes mirroring her concern. "I wonder..." he trailed off as he gathered the materials Willow was working on, and began to read.
***
Angel was at a loss for words as sat in a rather awkward cross-legged position on the floor, holding the sobbing redhead in his arms. "Willow?" he gently prompted again as she pulled away from him a few minutes later, wiping away the last of her tears.
"I'm so sorry, Angel," her voice still shook as she spoke.
"You don't have anything to apologize for," Angel turned Willow back around to face him and took her hands in his own, "just please tell me what happened out there."
Willow stared into his eyes for a moment, letting his concern and friendship wash over her. Knowing she'd have to tell him sooner or later, she took a deep breath and tried to explain what she had no idea how to put into words.
"I think I know what Cordelia's visions were about," she began tentatively. "The pieces of the scroll I was working on...it was talking about that other Warrior that Wesley mentioned, and..."
When Willow didn't continue, Angel began to tenderly massage smooth circles over her hands with his thumbs, urging her to continue.
"And he said they'd be on opposite sides, and..."
"And what?"
"I'm not evil, am I?" Willow ended in a whisper.
Angel's brow furrowed in confusion as he heard her question. "Come again?"
"The scrolls, Angel!" Willow exclaimed as she suddenly wrenched her hands away from his. "They mention Sunnydale, a fire in Sunnydale, and this Warrior summoning someone from Heaven. Sounds vaguely familiar, doesn't it?" Her tone became almost venomous, and though she instantly regretted sounding that way, she couldn't seem to calm herself down.
"Willow, you must be mistaken--"
"I'm not!" she snapped again, getting to her feet. "When I did the spell to bring Buffy back to life, there were these biker demons that were rampaging around Sunnydale, and they practically set the entire town on fire. Those scrolls were talking about me, when I summoned Buffy out of Heaven."
"You don't know that," Angel, too, got to his feet and attempted to reason with the hysterical woman, "Sunnydale...who knows how many fires have happened in Sunnydale in the last however many years. And do you think that you're the only person who's ever tried to a spell like that? Especially on a place like the Hellmouth?"
"You're reaching, Angel," Willow shook her head sadly, having calmed down slightly. "Don't you think it's odd that Cordelia suddenly gets these strange visions about me, and at the same time you have this problem with some prophecy that talks about some evil Warrior that you're supposed to fight against? This Warrior that happens to be connected to the Hellmouth, that performs a spell to pull someone out of Heaven? Don't you see? Her visions were *warning* you about *me*!"
"No, Willow, you're wrong," Angel said firmly. "You're not evil. You never have been, and you never could be. Those scrolls are not talking about you. Cordelia's visions are not warning me about you."
"Then how do you explain this?"
"I can't," Angel shrugged slightly, "at least not yet. But we will figure this out, and you will see that this has nothing to do with you."
"I hope you're right," Willow's voice was much softer now. "But I just can't help feeling like things are about to go so horribly wrong. I thought I had hit rock bottom after everything that had happened with Dawn, but--"
"Ssshh," Angel hushed her, placing his arms around her and drawing her into his embrace. "I know this seems impossible, but just try not to think the worst. You're Willow, remember? One of the good guys. One of my best friends. Nothing's ever going to change that."
Hearing his words, Willow tightened her grip on the vampire as she tried to lose herself in the comfort of his arms. When had her life spun so dreadfully out of control? When had it gotten to the point that she could no longer tell who she was, or even who she was supposed to be? Could she really be this Warrior from the scrolls? Or was Angel right, and she was just jumping to conclusions? But it all seemed to make sense, and yet...she could never turn against her friends, right? She could never be evil...
No. Of course not. Angel was right: she was Willow. No matter how much she had changed over the years, deep down, that kind, innocent, compassionate young girl still lived inside of her, and as long as she remembered that, as long as she had friends like Angel and Buffy and Xander and Tara, she would be all right. As long as she held onto the belief in her friends, and in herself, everything would be all right.
Willow had no idea that those beliefs were about to be shattered.
END PART SEVEN
Author's Note: I realize that everyone's coming across that one prophetic line about Sunnydale in the midst of everything that could be written in the scrolls is a bit contrived, but it makes this part of the plot so much easier to write, and helps to get the ball rolling for the rest of the story, so I hope my readers will be gracious enough to overlook the fault. Thanks.