Author's Note: Well this is it. The final chapter! Another fanfic done. Many thanks to everyone who has submitted a review, I appreciate it more than you know. And of course to my wonderful guild members. I love you guys! The song is Breathe by Melissa Etheridge. And yes, I did leave it very open for a sequel, which will most likely be written in the near future. Enjoy!

Chapter 6: Just Breathe

Vampire Dimension

Buffy ran to her sister and hugged her tightly. "Dawn! Oh my God. We have been so worried! What happened? Where were you? Are you okay?" she said, pulling away to examine Dawn.

Dawn forced a smile. "I'm fine." She turned to Angel, who was standing awkwardly near the door. "Hey Angel."

"Hi Dawn. I'm glad you're back," he said.

Buffy stroked her sister's hair protectively. "So where were you?"

Dawn took a deep breath. "It's a really long story, and I only want to tell it once. So can we go to the Magic Box?" she said. She prayed her sister would say yes, because she needed time to decide exactly how much to tell them.

Buffy obviously did not want to wait, but she agreed anyway. "Okay. Let's go," she said.

A few minutes later Buffy, Angel, and Dawn entered the Magic Box. Everyone jumped to their feet.

"Dawnie! Oh thank God!" Tara exclaimed.

"You're back!" Willow said, beaming. "See Buffy, I told you it would all work out."

Spike was very relieved to see Dawn. "Hello Little Bit," he said. He was even more happy when he realized that this meant that Angel would have no reason to stick around any longer.

Buffy held up a hand and silenced everyone. "Dawn said that she wanted to tell us all at once what happened. So can we please let her?" she asked.

Everyone took their seats again, and stared expectantly at Dawn. They were a little afraid of what she was going to say.

Dawn had thought it over on the way, and she had decided to tell them everything. She decided that perhaps it would comfort them a little, to know that somewhere they were all happy. She knew it had comforted her. She was already missing that dimension, and the beautiful normality of it.

Dawn took a deep breath, and began to speak. "It all started when I found this necklace here, in the Magic Box," she said carefully. She also had to be careful to not reveal how she had really come by the necklace.

"Dawn, it's okay." Buffy stood up and looked at her seriously. "We know how you got the necklace. We found everything." Dawn felt her heart sink right to the floor.

Anya glared at Dawn. "We all know how you robbed my store. But what do you mean by everything?" she said to Buffy suspiciously.

Buffy gave Anya a stern look. "We'll talk about it later." Dawn had just been through a terrible ordeal, and the last thing she needed was the wrath of Anya. The former vengeance demon looked suspicious, but shut up.

"Well I'm guessing you know about the necklace then," Dawn said, thinking of how much trouble she was in. She took a deep breath. "I...I wished that everything was back to normal. It's just that...well we all know that things haven't really been the same since Buffy....since she came back. And I just wanted a break, you know? But I didn't know that the necklace would do that," she added quickly.

Everyone looked uncomfortable. Angel and Spike, the only two who really knew where Buffy had been, glanced at her nervously, then glared at each other for doing so.

Dawn continued. "The next thing I knew I was at home, only it wasn't home. It was different. Everyone was acting really...normal." She paused a moment, and looked down. "You...I mean they were having an engagement party for Buffy and Angel.

Buffy sat up very straight. Angel closed his eyes for a moment. Spike tried to retain the urge to kill something.

"No one there knew anything about the supernatural. But I knew I had to find a way home. So after school, I came here. Only it was different, and it was owned by this guy named Rob. He knew a lot about portals and stuff, and he helped me."

"So he didn't think you were crazy? You actually told him you were from another dimension and he believed you?" Giles asked.

"I would have told her she was crazy," Anya muttered, causing Xander to kick her under the table.

"He believed me totally. And he was the one that found the spell for me, so I could come home. And that's pretty much it," she said quietly. Everyone was silent for a few awkward minutes.

"Were we...I mean how were the rest of us?" Willow asked.

Dawn smiled. "You and Tara were together. And so were Xander and Anya," she said. "Giles and Spike...you weren't there, because...you know, normalness." There was another awkward pause. Finally Dawn looked at Buffy. "I'm really tired. Dimension hopping and all. Do you think we could go home now?" she said quietly.

Buffy nodded, still a little dazed from Dawn's speech. "Of course."

"I'll drive you," Angel said. Buffy looked up to thank him, but then avoided his gaze.

"Thanks. Then you and Wesley should probably head back to LA." She took Dawn's arm and headed towards the door.

Wesley stood up. "Perhaps I'll come with you, and then maybe we can get back before the sun comes up." Angel nodded.

"Buffy, do you still have the necklace? It should probably be destroyed, don't want it to..." Giles said.

Buffy nodded. "I'll take care of it."

Angel and Wesley waved goodbye to the others, and left with Buffy and Dawn.

After they had left, Tara looked around. "Where's Spike?"

Xander shrugged. "I think he skipped out when Dawn started talking about Buffy and Angel being together...there." The five of them sat in silence, silently reminiscing about a world without vampires and demons.

Angel pulled up outside of the Summers home. Buffy and Dawn climbed out of the car, and Angel got out after them. "I'll just be a minute," he said to Wesley. Wesley nodded, understanding.

The three of them walked up to the house. Buffy opened the door and turned to Dawn. "I'll be up in a minute, okay?" Dawn nodded.

"Bye Angel. Thanks for coming to help," Dawn said. Then she disappeared upstairs.

Buffy and Angel looked at each other for the first time since Dawn's speech at the Magic Box. Neither one seemed to know what to say.

"I'm sorry," Angel said finally.

Buffy frowned. "What for?"

"That I can't be with you," he said simply.

Buffy felt tears coming to her eyes. "Please, we've been through this-"

"It's just important that you know. I hope you know that I wish that I could give you the life you had in the dimension where Dawn was."

She smiled slightly. "I know." She paused. "Thank you. For coming."

He smiled. "Anytime." He leaned in and kissed her gently on the cheek. She clasped her hand around his. They shared one more moment, just enjoying being close to one another. Then he walked back to the car, leaving Buffy to stand there on the porch, touching her cheek where his lips had just been.

I played the fool today.
And I just dream of vanishing into the crowd.
Longing for home again.
But home is a feeling I buried in you.
I'm all right, I'm all right.
It only hurts when I breathe.

Dawn sat up in her room, writing in her journal. She hadn't done this since she had found out she was the key, but it just seemed crucial for her to remember every minute of the past two days. As she wrote, she smiled as images from that dimension filled her mind. Buffy and Angel kissing, Tara dancing...herself smiling in the mirror. She already missed it. But she knew that she had to learn to be happy here. And who knows, maybe someday, they would all be happy, and everything would be normal. But a part of her knew that this could never be true. She kept writing, ignoring the tears that were landing on the page, blurring her words.

And I can't ask for things to be still again.
No I can't ask if I could walk through the world in your eyes.
Longing for home again.
But home is a feeling I buried in you.

Spike sat in his crypt, finishing a bottle of beer. It was too much for him to take, seeing them together, and hearing about their perfect happiness in some land far away.It saddened him when he realized that it would always be Angel. No matter how hard he tried, her heart was taken. He opened another bottle. Perhaps it was better off.

I'm all right, I'm all right.
It only hurts when I breathe.
I'm all right, I'm all right.
It only hurts when I breathe.

Angel drove home silently, the cool breeze blowing his hair back. He hadn't spoken since they'd left Sunnydale, and Wesley knew enough to keep quiet. His mind kept floating back to the kiss they had shared in Dawn's room, so full of passion and longing. And then he would see the expression on her face when Dawn had mentioned their engagement party. He wanted so badly to give that to her, but he knew he never could. And that was what killed him.

My window through which nothing hides.
And everything sings.
I'm counting the signs.
And cursing the miles in between.
And home is a feeling I buried you.
That I buried in you.

Buffy sat on the porch, crying silently. She didn't know if she could keep living before all this had happened, and now that she knew that there was a better life somewhere out there it only made it harder. It was all she'd ever wanted. Just a happy, normal life with Dawn and Angel by her side. She touched her cheek, and then her lips, where his had met hers yesterday, in Dawn's room, and the day before that, at their meeting between Sunnydale and LA. If only...her mind wandered to the necklace in her pocket. She pulled it out and looked at it. She grasped her fist around it tightly. Maybe things weren't so hopeless after all. She carefully placed the necklace back in her pocket, and headed inside.

I'm all right, I'm all right.
It only hurts when I breathe.
I'm all right, I'm all right.
It only hurts when I breathe.
When I breathe.
Yeah, it only hurts when I breathe.
When I breathe.
Oh, it only hurts when I breathe

"Normal" Dimension

"You look beautiful," Dawn said. She was standing next to her sister, who was looking gorgeous in a plain, white gown.

Once the Dawn who belonged there had been restored to her proper place, she was left with few memories of the days where she was in limbo between dimensions. She hadn't mentioned it, because Angel and Buffy had made up and she wasn't about to cause trouble again. They had talked it over, and decided to get married right away. They were ready to spend the rest of their lives together. Plans had been made for a small, simple wedding. And now the day was here.

"The guests are waiting outside. It's time," Dawn said excitedly, smoothing her maid of honor gown. "Are you ready?"

Buffy smiled. She took Dawn's hand, and together they headed down the stairs to the future.

The End