-Buffy-
I stretch and yawn. I know it's early afternoon before I even glance at the clock. I work until almost 5 in the morning; I never wake up before early afternoon. I shower and dress. I've got a date with espresso, pastry and the newest Nora Roberts book.
"Ciao, Francesca," I say walking through the kitchen where the little old lady I rent from is sitting.
"Ciao, Anne. Avere un giorno buono," she says.
I smile as I walk out into the sunlight and down the street. She always wishes me a good day, every day. The man at the coffee shop greets me. He tried to set me up with his son last year. It's not an uncommon thing. I think everyone with a son, nephew or grandson anywhere near my age has played matchmaker here. They can't stand the idea that a young, American girl is unattached. I've been warned against becoming a spinster. I can't tell them that I'm so much older than I look, that my heart is so shattered there's not a chance of it ever being healed. I just laugh, smile, blush and tell them I'm not interested in a relationship right now. They'll try again in a few months.
I take my espresso outside to the little patio and sit at a corner table under the big umbrella. I'm right in the middle of my second cup of coffee and a romantic love scene when I'm jolted by a name I haven't heard in five years.
"Buffy?"
I sit up quickly, bumping my knee and sloshing coffee onto the table. I glance around.
"Oh, God! It is you, I thought it was you, but it is," a familiar redhead rambles as she steps closer to me.
"Wil-willow?" I finally manage.
The woman nods enthusiastically. "Oh good, for a minute there I thought maybe you had amnesia. Buffy, what happened? We thought you were dead. No one has heard from you since the thing in LA," Willow says.
I gnaw on my bottom lip. I vividly remember the thing in LA. I also remember the fight that came after the thing in LA, the final battle that killed Buffy Summers.
"Yeah, sorry about that. I-I needed to get away for a while, you know," I mumble because I can't tell her the truth. I can't tell her I quit being the slayer, I quit being Buffy Summers. I'm Anne now. I knew if anyone found out they'd drag me back into it. I had a chance at a somewhat normal life, no slaying, no vampires and no one stepping on my already broken heart.
I take a deep breath and smile. "What are you doing here, Willow?"
"Oh, well Oz and I are sort of here on our honeymoon, but that's not the point! The point is you let us all think you were dead! Giles...Giles drank for months. Xander kind of went crazy. I don't know what he would have done if Dawn hadn't been there," Willow says. She pauses a moment and then looks at me sheepishly. "Dawnie and Xander got married a little over three years ago. They've got a little girl."
I sit back, all the air taken out of me. Dawnie got married. My baby sister has a baby. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around that when Willow drops her next bomb.
"Angel's getting married in a little over a month."
I stare at Willow mouth agape. My Angel. Getting married. Apparently he's not my Angel anymore. Willow is saying something else, but the world is spinning too fast for me to hear her.
"Buffy, are you okay?" Willow asks. She's leaning over me, holding onto my hand.
I nod. "Sorry,I-" I stop. I don't know how to finish the sentence.
"I know. It's a shock. You look kind of pale though."
I shake my head. "Wh-what about the curse?"
"Oh, yeah I asked him about that too. I tried to fix it a few years ago. I don't know how the gypsies did it but I couldn't. If I removed the loophole, the soul not only got removed, it got destroyed somehow. Anyway, turns out I didn't need to remove the curse. There was this prophecy Angel thought he'd signed away but it turns out you can't sign prophecies away, which makes sense when you think about it. It all boils down to the fact that in a month, Angel's gonna be human."
Something deep inside me clenches and everything gets darker. I struggle against passing out. Willow is crouched by my chair, holding my hand and calling my name. She's trying to anchor me here so I don't float away. With great effort, I shake my head.
"I'm-I'm okay," I whisper, but it's a lie. I'm not okay. Angel is getting married and he's going to be human when he does it.
-Angel-
"This is an awfully short guest list," Liv says.
I glance over at the woman I'm engaged to be married to. "It's got everyone that's important to me on there," I say.
She passes the list to me. "Look at it again, please. I want to make sure it's complete before I send it off to the caterer," she says.
I sigh and take the list from her. I glance over it. Liv doesn't know that I had other friends and that those other friends died, friends like Doyle, Cordy, Wes and...I shake my head and go over the list again.
Willow
Oz
Dawn (and by force Xander)
Spike (if I didn't invite him he'd show up and raise Hell anyway)
Gunn
Anne (yes from the shelter, his wife now)
Illyria
Connor
Giles
Faith
I hand the list back. "That's it."
Liv grumbles. "Alright, we can probably add anyone else you think of at the last minute. The cater will scream, but he's being paid plenty for this. I'm going to look at dresses today; do you want to come with me?"
I am very careful not to show on my face how much I don't want to go dress shopping with her. "I've got a lot of work to do here, besides isn't there a superstition about seeing the bride in her dress?" I say.
Liv makes a face. "Oh yeah, I forgot how superstitious you are."
"I'm two hundred and fifty six years old, it kind of comes with the territory," I say.
"Alright, then I'm going. I love you," she leans over and kisses me lightly on the lips.
"Me too," I say and watch her retreating form.
I turn back to my papers on the desk. I might get them done sometime today if I can go a half hour without someone stopping in to ask me something about the wedding or congratulate me. For some reason my thoughts turn to Willow and Oz. They finally got married two weeks ago and are spending their honeymoon touring Italy. I used to know someone who lived in Italy, but not anymore-- not for a long time.