AUTHOR'S NOTE One quick thing…Buffy and the others have been the DA time period for a year now. They got there just as season two was beginning (when Max lets everyone out) and now it's post-battle, which is way post-end of season two. So that's why they turn the Time Turner 17 times to go back as opposed to 16 times to get there. Also, when Dawn says she's only been gone a week, it really means she's been gone a year and a week.

There also will be an epilogue to this story, coming soon!

DISCLAIMER Don't own them. Unfortunately. If I did, I'd be much richer than I am.

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Chapter TwentyEight: In Which New Friends Say Goodbye

Max watched Buffy and Angel fondly. Their happiness felt like the last piece to a perfect puzzle. Softly, she heard Zane come up behind her. "Is this the end, Maxie?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

Zane nodded toward the battlefield. "What about White and the Breeding Cult and the Coming?"

"There was no Coming. That Holden guy made it all up."

"They were still a cult, though," Alec said. "They had that whole snake ritual. What was that?"

Max shrugged. "Beats me. But it looks like humanity doesn't have to worry about them anymore."

Original Cindy led a shaky Willow over to where Max stood. "Especially since that demon had White and all his cronies for supper," OC added, smirking. Max laughed.

"What about us?"

Max turned around to see Jem behind her – the X5 whose baby Normal had delivered during the Breeding Cult's siege on Terminal City. Jem and the baby had stayed barricaded in the City with little Max. Jace and Jem had bonded over being two of the only X5s with small children in the group and Max had been entrusted to her. "What do you mean?" Max asked.

"Are we safe now too? From humanity, I mean."

Turning her eyes once more to the sunlit battlefield, Max only said, "I don't know."

Wyoming Forest

"Are you sure you have to leave so soon?" Logan asked.

"Our work here is done," Buffy said sadly. Max, Logan, Alec, Original Cindy, and Jondy had all accompanied them to the place they'd arrived – the place they would now leave.

"It's not really," Max said. "I'm still alive and kicking it."

Buffy shrugged. "I guess the Watcher's Council will just have to deal with that."

Max grinned at the Slayer. "You were a big help," she said nonchalantly, studying her sparkling engagement ring that had once belonged to Logan's mother. "Thanks."

Buffy shrugged. "No big." Cocking an eyebrow, she added, "Good luck, you two. Congrats on the whole wedding thing."

Logan grinned. "Thanks. Good luck getting home."

Buffy nodded. She took out the Time Turner and put it around her head. "Will?"

But Willow hung back. "I'm not going back, Buffy."

"What?"

Tears forming in her eyes, Willow shook her head. "There's nothing for me back there. Tara was the only woman I ever cared about before. Without her, I felt like there was a whole part of me gone. I can't ever bring her back. But here, with Original Cindy, I'm starting to feel like me again. I can't leave her."

Buffy looked to where OC was standing a little way off and nodded. "I'll miss you, Will. Take care of Lorne in Terminal City. You never know what will happen to him there."

"Hey!" Lorne protested. Willow laughed through her tears and nodded.

Spike and Illyria had already made it clear that they weren't intending on returning to 2004. Jondy and Alec stood with them, watching as now only Buffy and Angel prepared to return to their real time.

"Look for me in a little while, okay?" Buffy said.

"Where should I look?"

Buffy looked at Angel, smiling happily. "Los Angeles."

Willow sniffed. "Can do."

The two embraced, hugging each other for dear life. "Oh Buffy, I'm sorry I'm abandoning you!" Willow cried.

"You have to be where you're happiest! I only want you to be happy. And if happiness is here, then I'll come back and look for you when I'm forty." Buffy grimaced at that and Willow laughed.

In a small voice, Willow asked, "Explain this to Xander? And Dawn?"

Buffy nodded. Then, softly, she started to sing. "What can't we face if we're together?"

Willow joined in. "What's in this place that we can't weather? Apocalypse, we've all been there. The same old trips, why should we care?" They laughed sadly together. They didn't notice Lorne's head perk up and tears sparkle in his red eyes.

"Let me rest in peace," Spike sang softly behind them. Buffy walked over to him and kissed his cheek softly.

"Goodbye, Spike."

Spike didn't say goodbye in return. Lorne, however, did walk over to Buffy and hug her goodbye. "Have a good life," he said. He looked at her with intense sorrow. She gazed back curiously before picking up the Time Turner from around her neck.

"Ready Angel?" she asked. He nodded and took her hand. She turned the hourglass backward 17 times for 17 years and the friends they had made disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

Los Angeles 2004

"Buffy?" Dawn ran to hug her sister as she approached Xander's LA apartment. "Buffy, you're back!"

"Hey!" Buffy hugged her sister tight. She immediately knew that she'd made the right choice to return.

"You're done with your mission already?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah." Buffy thought for a minute. "Why, how long have we been gone?"

Dawn answered, "Only a week and a half. Where did you go? What happened?"

Buffy looked at Angel. "It's a long story. Why don't we go inside?"

Dawn shrugged. "Okay." She craned her neck to look around Buffy and Angel. "Where're Willow and Spike?"

Tears stung Buffy's eyes, but she didn't cry. "We'll see them soon."

Dawn seemed to accept that. Buffy dreaded telling her how far away "soon" was. Begrudgingly, Xander invited Angel inside. Buffy stood alone on the stoop for a few minutes, finding a deep sense of peace in the beauty of the Pre-Pulse world. Then, heeding her sister's impatient calls, turned and walked inside.

…

The Answer To The Last Trivia Question

Doyle tells Angel that he's "been sent by the Powers That Be" the first time he breaks into Angel's apartment in the series premiere of Angel.

The LAST Trivia Question Is:

This is an easy one. What is the importance to the lines that Buffy, Willow, and Spike sing as they're saying goodbye?

…

Review Responses

General Mac As you wish!

Anna Yep, very good! And I had to get rid of the curse in order to get Buffy and Angel together. ..grin..

Gylzgurl I loved Doyle too. I cry during Hero every single time I watch it. ..sniff.. And it's actually something that Doyle says to Angel, not Whistler. But good guess anyway!

Samantha That's right! Bye bye curse! Yeah, I watched seasons one and two, then season five because Spike was on it.