A/N: Chapter 3 now up. Thanks for the reviews! Yay! Lol. Okay, so this one is gonna be from SunnyDale for the most part, then skip over to the wizarding world etc....And remember, everything after Buffy jumping into the portal, I'm going AU with. So that whole thing with Willow going to see Angel... I'm rewriting it my way lol....

Chapter 3 : Life Goes On

In SunnyDale, California

Dawn Summers began walking the halls of her highschool, carrying books and papers under her left arm. A girl, about sixteen was walking with her. Dawn had a solemn expression on her face, staring straight ahead.

"How are you? Honestly..." The girl started. Dawn didn't even blink, nor look to the girl.

"Fine." Dawn knew it was a lie. She knew that Janice, her friend, would pick up on that sooner or later. The funeral was the next day and Dawn really didn't want anything to do with it. She had let Giles and Willow do all the planning. Janice had tried to get Dawn to speak to her, to open up, but it didn't work. All she could do was be the best friend she was.

"I have to go." Dawn began to turn the dial on the locker that she now stood in front of, Janice next to her with concern etching her features.

"Alright. Um... see ya tomorrow?" Janice asked hopefully. Dawn began to load books into her baby blue backpack, still not having looked at Janice once.

"No. The funeral's tomorrow." Her voice was so hollow and dank.

"Oh, well, It's at seven right? I'll stop by."

With that, Janice patted Dawn's shoulder and headed outside the school. Dawn glanced at the retreating back of her long time best friend, and then hitched her bag over her shoulder, turning toward the open doors.

When she got outside, Dawn saw Xander driving the 'Mom-mobile' to pick her up. He honked and tried to smile, but it forced. Dawn tossed her bag in the backseat and buckled her seatbelt, and slammed the car door closed.

"Hey Dawnster! How was school?" Xander, not one for silence, tried to make some sort of conversation to work with. Dawn stared blankly at the road as Xander drove down the street.

"Fine."

Xander sighed, knowing it was hard to get Dawn to speak in 'full' sentences these days. She, of all people, was taking Buffy's death harder than ever.

"Where's Willow?" She asked softly. Xander turned down the radio, even though he could barley hear anything coming from it.

"Huh?"

"She was supposed to pick me up today."

"Oh." Xander thought then licked his lips absently, turning left onto Revello Drive. "She went to L.A."

"Why?" Dawn scrunched her face up oddly.

"To tell Angel."

Dawn said nothing more, just nodded. She understood. When they pulled into the driveway, Dawn and Xander hopped out of the car and headed up towards the house. Once they entered, Dawn dropped her backpack on the floor by the coat closet and walked into the kitchen, Xander closely following.

Los Angeles, California

Willow chewed on her bottom lip as she stared up at the large hotel before her. It looked old, yet elegant and she noticed that it kind of suited Angel. In the back of her mind, the red-headed Wicca knew she would have to go in sooner than later. It had to be sooner, of course, considering a tall black man about her age just walked up to her.

"Hey Red!" He called out, stalking towards her with his hands in the pockets of his denim jeans. He had on a grey hooded sweatshirt and was bald. "Need some help?"

Willows' green eyes grew wide and she shook her head frantically. "Uh.. No. Well, yes but no. I mean, uh..."

The guy raised an eyebrow smirking a little. "Slower. And in full sentences, please."

She swallowed and nodded, slowly. "I'm here to see A-Angel." Willow smiled to herself, glad she had only stuttered a little bit.

The man gestured towards the door. "Come on in. I'm Gunn, by the way. I work with Angel."

Willow cautiously began to follow the built man inside, not really listening to him. "Right. I'm Willow. Rosenburg, yes. Willow Rosenburg."

Gunn, as he said his name was, held open the door for her, which she entered over the threshold.

"Yo! Angel! Get your ass down here! Got a visitor!" Gunn called through a small doorway. Sure enough, Angel came out of some sort of office briskly and groaned.

"Gunn, what is it? I'm bus-" He stopped short at sight of Willow. She smiled nervously at the vampire who looked quite shocked to see her.

"Like I said, visitor." Said Gunn, now walking towards the desks, piled with papers and manilla folders. "Nice to meet ya, Red."

Willow nodded towards Gunn. "Y-You too. Hi Angel."

Angel eyes her carefully. "Willow." He nodded his greeting. "Is something wrong?" Concern suddenly filled his eyes and Willow began to bite her bottom lip again.

"Can we uh, go and talk somewhere?"

The vampire noticed her nervousness and nodded, holding out a hand towards the office he just came from. Together, they walked inside and Angel closed the door behind them. Willow took a seat in the chair in front of the window, shades drawn. Angel leaned against his desk.

"Willow?" He asked desperatley.

Willow took a few moments to think and she slowly stood up from the chair.

"It's Buffy..." Trailing off, she took a few steps to reach the other side of the room, a foot or so away from him.

"What.. what about her?" He asked, trying to keep the worry clear from his voice, his face, but was failing terribly. Willow looked down at the floor and then back into Angel's deep brown orbs, full of two hundred years of torture.

"Angel..." Willow paused and tears built up behind her eyes, but she tried not to let them fall. "She's gone."

Angel frowned and took a step backward, hitting his desk. He shook his head disbelievingly. "Wh-What do you mean 'gone?"

The hot tears began to spill down Willow's rosy cheeks and Angel pulled the girl into a hug. "Angel she's really gone! She saved the world and for what?! She's dead! She's gone..." Willow sobbed in Angel's arms, he himself having trouble holding in his tears. He wouldn't cry in front of Willow.

Angel hadn't cried in front of anyone except for Buffy in a long while. And when he did, it was only a few tears. When Willow had spoken those few words, etched in sobs, 'She's dead!', Angel felt his whole world tumble down, crashing into the waves of Hell.

Over an hour later, Willow erupted from Angels' office, without Angel. Her eyes were red and puffy from all the tears she cried and she was shaking. The redhead closed the door behind her and tried to avert from the gazes of several people in the lobby.

Cordelia stood up immediatley, taking in Willow's condition. She had never really liked the girl, but things had changed. She had changed.The man known as Gunn had also stopped cleaning the axe he was working on to look up at the new addition. Wesley quickly closed the book he had been reading and stood, but did not move, unlike Cordy who rushed to Willow's side. Fred was writing something down, but stopped and frowned.

"Willow! Willow are you okay? What happened? What's wrong?" Cordelia's frantic voice caused Willow to look up at the brunette girl, then around to the others in the room.

"Um, Willow? Where is Angel?" Asked Wesley, his voice thickly coated in a British accent. Willow looked at the door to Angel's office and nodded in that direction.

"In there. You might wanna leave him alone for a while. He needs time." Everyone, including Fred, who had not met this small girl with fiery hair, gave a confused look. Willow sighed and closed her eyes. "I really need to get back to SunnyDale so I'll just say it." She gulped and felt tears rebuilding. Whenever she said the few words she was about to say, it just dawned on her that Buffy was really dead. She wasn't coming back.

"Buff- Buffy is...She's.. dead."

Cordelia gasped and hugged Willow. Wesley moved to the side of the girls' also, leaving Fred and Gunn glancing at eachother clueless. They both shrugged but figured it was someone special, someone that Angel loved dearly.

Angel's Office

Sitting in the corner with his knees pulled up against his chest, his head in his hands, Angel wept. It was the first time in a while and he hated it. He felt so distant and obscure.

Thoughts kept plaguing his mind and he couldn't help but blame himself for the death of the girl he loved. Loves. In two hundred and forty something years, Angel had only loved one person, and he let that person go.

Maybe.. Maybe if I stayed she would still be here. I could have protected her. I could have saved her from ... from death. It isn't fair. She doesn't know how much I love her. How much I want to be with her. God I'm such an idiot. How am I suppose to live? She's.. she's gone. My Buffy is gone.

More tears spilled from beneath his dark lashes as he thought of how much of this was his fault. Angel knew he shouldn't blame himself, but it was one of those things that was super hard not to do.

Flashback

Angel turned and fixed his gaze upon Buffy. She was staring at him intently from the dining room table. She was angry and he knew it. He needed to tell her the truth.

"Do you love me?"

"What?" Buffy's look was incredulous and confused at the same time.

"Do you?" He prodded gently, waiting for his girlfriend to answer. She took a moment to consider her answer.

"I love you. I don't know if I trust you." She seemed satisfyed with her answer. Angel growled slightly and clenched his teeth as he spoke.

"Maybe you shouldn't do either." He turned away from her and Buffy raised her voice angrily. She felt like he was treating her like a child.

"Maybe I'm the one who should decide!"

"We can't know, Buffy. Nobody can. That's just the deal." Nervously, Angel reached inside his pocket and pulled out a small silver ring. "I have something for you. For your birthday. I... I was gonna give it to you earlier, but..."

The ring was a heart in the middle, a pair of hands, and a crown on top. He held it so Buffy could see it.

"It's beautiful." She murmured, staring at the glittering peice of jewelry.

"My people -- before I was changed -- they exchanged this as a sign of devotion. It's a claddagh ring. The hands represent friendship, the crown represents loyalty... and the heart... Well, you know... Wear it with the heart pointing towards you. It means you belong to somebody. Like this." Angel held out his hand so she could see his own ring, the same as hers.

She touches his hand, leaned over and kissed the ring on his hand.

"Put it on." He insisted gently, sliding the ring onto her slender finger.

Buffy gave a soft sob, holding Angel's hand. "I don't wanna do this."

Angel sighed and rested his forhead against hers. "Me either."

"So don't go." And with that, their lips met in an intimate, soft kiss that represented their love, precious, neverending love.

End Flashback