A/N: Here it is, chapter 3. Many thanks to everyone that reviewed chapter 2: Kitty, Fred, Gigi13, pumpkinbelly, freezyboncoolipants, and cherrygurl1225. I really appreciate your comments and support for the story.

This chapter is dedicated to the little AOL translator thing...keep in mind that I don't speak Italian. Also I have never been on an airplane so sorry if I glazed over the more technical parts. Hope you like this chapter, turned out to be long. Please review again, I need job suggestions for Connor! :-D

Chapter 3: Bon Voyage

Four days later

"Now boarding flight 109 to Houston, flight 109 to Houston."

"I guess this is it," Dawn said nervously, holding Connor's hand tightly. They were all standing in the airport waiting area, waiting to board their various flights.

Willow shook her head, tears in her eyes. "I just can't believe it's over. No more Sunnydale. God I'm going to miss you guys!" she cried.

Kennedy gave her a sympathetic smile. "Stay strong. It's not like you'll never see each other again."

"Definitely. We are all going to stay very close," Buffy said strongly. "We're still the Scooby Gang."

Xander smiled at the mention of the familiar nickname. "We have to. But this is also a new chance for us. And this time I am flying, not driving, so I can't end up in any Ladies' Night Club," he said with a shudder.

Buffy suppressed a giggle. She had never found out that whole story...

"We are all going to need to stay in constant contact. We are all going to be doing our part in training the new slayers," Giles reminded them.

"Now boarding flight 110 to New York, flight 110 to New York."

"That's us," Faith said, helping Robin to his feet. He was doing much better, but still moving a little slow due to the stab wound he had suffered.

"Bye. Thank you. For everything." Buffy said. She moved to hug her fellow slayer, but Faith took a step back, hands raised.

"Don't you remember B? I don't hug," Faith said with a smile.

Buffy smiled back, nodding with understanding. "Well take care of yourself, okay? You too Robin."

He smiled wryly. "Going back home. Strangely, I'm a little excited."

"Final boarding call for flight 110 to New York."

"We'd better go." Faith turned to Angel, who was standing slightly off to the side with the rest of the LA gang. "I'll see ya Angel."

"Goodbye Faith," Angel said.

They turned and started to head toward the gate. At the last minute Faith turned around, looking at Dawn and Connor. "Good luck to the two of you," she said suddenly.

Dawn looked at her in surprise. "Thanks. You too." When Faith had come to Sunnydale only weeks ago she had practically loathed her. But that night in the Bronze had changed things between them.

With one last wave Faith and Principal Wood handed in their tickets and went through the door to board the plane.

Everyone stood there in silence for a moment, looking around at each other sadly.

"Hey, why the long faces? We're free, and we're off to take on the world," Xander half-joked.

When Dawn had suggested it, Buffy had invited Xander to join them in Rome. However he had turned them down. He said that he needed some time alone to "find himself." Dawn could tell that he was still struggling to deal with Anya's death, and figured that maybe a fresh start and some time to think would be the best thing for him right now. He had decided to head to Africa, and round up the new slayers there. Willow and Kennedy had chosen to go to Brazil. Kennedy had gone there on vacation back when she was a rich kid and she said it was beautiful there. Giles, Andrew, and most of the girls were headed back to England to set up a headquarters of sorts.

"I know. It's just...so weird. We've been together now for seven years, I can't believe it's over," Buffy said.

"It's not over. It has only just begun," Andrew said dramatically. Everyone ignored him as usual.

"Now boarding flight 112 to London, flight 112 to London."

"That's our flight," Giles said, picking up his bag. "Come along girls. Andrew."

"Now that my time here has ended, I want to say how much it means to fight evil with all of you, and I promise to continue down this humble road-"

"Goodbye Andrew," Buffy said pointedly.

"Yeah. Bye then." He hurried over to the gate.

Giles hugged Buffy tightly. "You know that I'm always available if you need me."

"I know," she replied.

The rest of the gang took turns hugging Giles and saying their goodbyes to the girls formerly known as potentials. Giles shook hands with Wesley and the rest of the LA gang before turning to Angel. "Thank you. For your hospitality."

"It was a pleasure," he replied sincerely.

With one last nod Giles followed the others to the gate before disappearing behind the door.

"This is like deja vu," Willow commented. "He must really be racking up those frequent flyer miles, with all the times he's left and come back."

"Except this time, no crappy convenience store goodbye gifts," Dawn added, remembering that day.

"Now boarding flight 114 to Rome, with layover in New York. Flight 114 to Rome."

"That's us," Buffy said. She turned to Dawn and Connor. "Are you ready?"

"I think so," Dawn said, hugging Willow, Kennedy, and Xander. "I'm going to miss you guys!"

"Take care of yourself, please," Cordelia said, giving Connor a quick hug.

"I will," he said. He turned awkwardly to his father. "Thanks. Dad."

Angel fell still at Connor calling him that. "Thank you. And good luck. Be happy."

Connor nodded, still looking at his father. It was strange, but in that moment he felt like they came to some kind of understanding. Breaking himself away, he reached out for Dawn's hand when she finished hugging Cordy and Fred. "Ready?"

"Yes," Dawn said, taking his hand. She picked up her bag. "Bye everyone. We'll miss you!"

"Bye Dawnie," Willow said quietly, tears in her eyes as she and Xander said goodbye to Buffy.

"Let's go," Dawn said. They started to walk towards the door to board.

"Go ahead. I'll be there in a minute," Buffy said.

Dawn nodded, understanding.

Buffy slowly turned to Angel. Everyone else sort of moved away without needing to be told. "I can thank you enough for everything you've done for us. Welcoming us to your home, giving us that money..."

He reached out and gently touched her lips. "Please. I would do anything for you."

Buffy closed her eyes at the feeling of his touch. "You have no idea how badly I want to kiss you right now."

He cupped her face in his hands. "It's mutual." After staring at her for a moment he leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Fly safe."

Buffy couldn't move, just frozen there in time with her Angel, so close to her, touching her. She opened her mouth to speak but decided against it. She faintly heard the final boarding call for her flight, somewhere outside this little private world they were inside. Finally she backed away slightly, taking his hand and squeezing it. With a wordless smile and tears glistening in her eyes she slowly turned away. She mouthed a quiet goodbye to everyone before picking up her bags and hurrying away to the gate.

She gave the flight attendant a shaky smile as she pushed her way through the aisle. Dawn and Connor were already in their seats. There was one empty one by the window. "We saved you the window seat," Dawn said.

Buffy nodded, placing her carry-on in the overhead rack and stepping around them to her seat. "Thanks." She turned away and stared out the window, hoping that Dawn wouldn't see the tears in her eyes. But it was too late. Dawn touched her arm.

"Buffy? Are you okay," Dawn said sadly.

She nodded, frantically wiping at her eyes. "I'll be fine once we get there." As soon as he's not close enough to feel anymore.

Angel stood there in the lobby of the airport, leaning silently against a pillar. They had said goodbye so many times, but each time it seemed to get harder.

Xander hugged Willow goodbye as they both prepared to board their respective flights. He picked up his bags and started to head for the gate when Cordelia called out to him. "Xander, wait," she called, walking over.

He turned around, perplexed. "You want a souvenir from Africa? Because I can arrange that."

"No, it's not that." She looked down for a minute, choosing her words carefully. "I hope that we see each other again someday soon."

He stared at her, realizing that he wished the same thing. "I'm sure we will," he said, managing a small smile. Without waiting for her to reply, he walked away.

By the time Cordelia turned around and made her way back to the group, Willow and Kennedy had left as well. "Are we ready to go?" she asked, speaking more quietly than usual.

"Yes," Angel said, glancing one more time at the door that the love of his life and his son had disappeared through only a few minutes ago. "I'm ready."

The three of them sat in silence for several minutes as the plane took off. No one spoke until they were flying peacefully in the air, thousands of feet above ground. "So what's the plan once we get there?" Connor asked. It was going to be a long flight already, and it would be better if they were all talking.

"What time is it going to be when we get there? We land in New York at 7:45...but wait is that their time?" Dawn asked, confused.

"That's their time. But they are three hours ahead of us, so it will feel like it's only 4:45," Buffy said. "And then we have an hour and a half layover, so we take off again at 9:20, but it will feel like 6:20. Then the flight to Rome is 8 and a half hours long, so we will get there at 11:40 am tomorrow their time, but they are 9 hours ahead of us so it will feel like 2:40 in the morning for us, California time."

Dawn and Connor stared at her openmouthed. "Wha...how did you..." Dawn stammered.

"I've been brushing up on my math skills since the apocalypse," Buffy said seriously. Then she cracked a smile. "Okay, Willow explained it to me before we left the hotel."

Dawn laughed. "I was gonna say..."

"So bottom line is that we are going to be on airplanes for the next day," Connor concluded in dismay. It was his first time flying. He was very thankful that he had the aisle seat, safe from the view of the long way down...

"Do you have flying jitters?" Dawn asked incredulously.

"No, of course not. It's just weird. They didn't exactly have airplanes where I grew up," he reminded her.

"Sorry, I forgot that you still aren't exactly down with the modern technology," Dawn said, remembering one incident involving the tv and the Style Network.

"But you are teaching me," he said simply.

"Well even I might not be so hip and modern once we get to Italy," Dawn said, taking the book that Buffy had bought at the mall out of her bag. "Remember, none of us exactly speaks Italian."

"But isn't going to a foreign country the easiest way to learn?" Buffy asked hopefully.

"Well, yeah. But a few basics might help," Dawn said, opening the book. "Okay, ready for Italian 101?"

"Ciao!" Buffy said. "That means 'yes', right?"

Dawn bit her lip. "Actually it means hello." They all burst out laughing.

"Well how do you say 'yes' then?" Buffy asked, once they had calmed down.

"Si," Dawn said. "That seems simple enough. And 'no' is....'no.'"

"Okay, hello, yes, no, what else do we need to know? Oh, oh, where is the food?" Buffy said excitedly. "We're going to be hungry when we get there."

Dawn flipped the pages. "Dove รจ l'alimento," Dawn said, sounding it out as best she could.

"Si?" Connor said. They all started laughing again, causing some of the other passengers to give them strange looks.

"Okay, okay," Dawn said, calming down. "Okay, we need to concentrate. What are some other phrases you think we need to know?"

"How about 'how much'? We need to be able to shop," Buffy insisted.

"How much is...quanto. That's pretty easy. Oh, here's an important one. 'Do you speak English?'" Dawn said. "That is...parlate inglese."

"Hopefully the answer to that is Si," Buffy croaked. They all burst out laughing again.

"How about shut up? There's one for you to look up," the man sitting in front of them said rudely, turned around in his seat.

Buffy gaped at him. "Well excuse us for living. We can't help it if we're excited," she said defensively.

"Chiuda in su," Dawn said triumphantly, reading from the book. "Sir, I just told YOU to shut up. In Italian." The man huffed and turned back around.

"Go Dawnie!" Buffy said, impressed. "I think that will make him leave us alone."

"Leave us alone: lascili soli," Dawn read. "That's good to know. In case we meet any Italian stalker types."

"Oh! We are probably going to need to stay in a hotel when we first get there, so look up hotel stuff," Buffy suggested.

"Okay....room service: servizio di stanza," Dawn said. "Hey, Italian's kind of cool."

"Hopefully the people at the hotel will speak English," Connor commented.

Dawn thought of something all of a sudden. "Buffy, am I going to have to go to school there?"

"Of course! But it'll be cool, spending your senior year in Rome," Buffy encouraged.

"What's Connor going to do while I go to school?" Dawn complained.

Buffy looked at him, thinking. "Well I suppose he could get a job."

Connor raised an eyebrow. "I've never had a real job before."

"You mean, a lavoro," Dawn corrected. "And I think that's a great idea. You could meet some people, make some money."

"But what could I do? I've never been to school. I don't even know what I'm good at," he said.

I can think of a few things you're good at, Dawn thought with a smile.

"I'm sure there are lots of things you could do. Hey, you're super strong. You could like unpack boxes or something," Buffy suggested.

"Buffy!" Dawn exclaimed. "Connor could do a lot better than that." She took his hand protectively.

"No, she does have a point. I don't really know much about business or anything," Connor said.

"But you know other things. Things that count," Dawn said, smiling at him.

"Okay, I definitely don't want to know what you just meant by that," Buffy said, turning back around in her seat. The whole thought of Dawn and Connor being...intimately involved was still a little weird. And she was sure that once they all moved into the same apartment things were only going to get more awkward.

"Buffy, get your mind out of the gutter," Dawn said with a giggle. "Wow, this is weird. We leave LA all somber and now we're really hyper."

"I guess it's just the excitement," Buffy said with a smile. Her mind drifted back to Angel, and she shook her head to clear the thoughts. Think positive, she told herself forcefully. You'll be able to relax once we get there.

"Okay, we have an hour and a half until we get on the next plane," Buffy said, as the three of them stood in the lobby of JFK International Airport in New York City. "I vote we get some real food. It's dinnertime. Well, feels like," Buffy said with a frown.

Dawn glanced at the clock. 7:50. "This time difference stuff is a pain in the ass," she complained. "And that airplane food tasted like expired cardboard."

"There's a Pizza Hut over there," Connor pointed out.

Dawn's eyes instantly brightened. "Yes, please!"

"Here, go get whatever you want. And get me something too. I'm going to the bathroom," Buffy said, handing Dawn a twenty.

"Okay. We better get in line," Dawn said. The line circled around three times. "By the time we get our food we'll be back on the plane!" They joined the long queue.

Connor slipped his arm around her waist. "I've never seen this many people in one place before."

"We're in New York. It's always crowded here," Dawn sighed, leaning against him. "Too bad we don't have time to go shopping."

Connor silently thanked his lucky stars that he didn't have to endure yet more shopping. He looked at his girlfriend. "You look tired," he commented.

She yawned. "It's been a long few days."

"It has," he agreed. "You can sleep on the plane."

"Hopefully." She turned around so she could look at him. "I wonder how long before we get some alone time again..." She ran her fingers up and down his chest.

"Too long," he said with a smile. He kissed her softly.

"Hey, move it along!" came an angry voice from behind them. They looked up and realized that the line had moved considerably.

"Sorry," Dawn said, as they scurried forward.

A few hours later, Connor sat on the quiet plane, smiling. Dawn was curled up in her seat, sound asleep. Next to her, Buffy was staring out the window in silence. At first Connor had thought she was asleep as well, but he had realized that she just appeared to be deep in thought, and he hadn't disturbed her.

Dawn moaned slightly, moving around, attempting to find a more comfortable position. Connor reached out and put an arm around her shoulders. "Here, baby. Relax," he said. A smile formed on her lips as she leaned into him.

Soon the pattern of her breathing changed, indicating that she was asleep again. She subconsciously moved closer to Connor, her head resting on his shoulder. He delicately relaxed his own head on top of hers. Right now there was nowhere in the world he would rather be.

The sun was shining brightly as they exited the threesome trudged tiredly into the first hotel they had seen in Rome since leaving the airport. Even though it was late morning in Italy, their bodies were telling them it was three AM.

They approached the front desk, where a woman sat. She smiled brightly at them. "Ciao. Benvenuto all'hotel Roma. Come posso aiutarlo?"

The three of them stared blankly at her. All they had understood was 'ciao,' 'hotel,' and 'Roma.'

Dawn opened the dictionary. "Parlate inglese?" she asked hopefully.

The woman's smile didn't break as she switched seamlessly from Italian to English. "Yes. Would you like a room?"

Buffy sighed with relief. "Yes, please."

"Cash or credit card?" she said slowly, with a thick accent.

"Cash," Buffy said.

"How many nights?" the receptionist asked, punching keys on the computer.

Buffy glanced at Dawn and Connor. "Um, we'll take three for now." She hoped that it wouldn't take too long for them to find a more permanent residence.

They finished the transaction and she handed Buffy a room key. "Room four twelve. Thank you."

"Thank you," Buffy said with a smile. They all lugged their bags over to the elevator and pressed the button for the fourth floor. "Right now I want to sleep for about a week."

"I won't argue with that," Dawn said, yawning loudly.

The elevator stopped and they walked down the hall to their room. Buffy opened the door and they entered, dropping their bags on the floor. "Okay. I say we all get some rest, and then later we can go out to eat. Tomorrow we can start looking for an apartment." She rummaged in her suitcase, pulling out pajamas and a toiletry case. She started to head for the bathroom when Dawn stopped her.

"Uh, Buffy? Can Connor and I...can we share a bed?" Dawn asked nervously, glancing at the two double beds.

Buffy frowned tiredly. She hadn't slept in over 24 hours, her internal clock was all screwed up, and the last thing she wanted to stress about was sleeping arrangements for herself, her 16 year old sister, and her boyfriend. "Sure, whatever. But no monkey business!" She trudged into the bathroom and closed the door.

Dawn raised her eyebrows. "That was easier than expected."

Connor smiled. "Not like we can actually do anything, but it's a step in the right direction." He kissed her shoulder.

"Just our luck, she's probably so sleep deprived that she didn't even realize what she said," Dawn commented, rummaging in her own bag.

Buffy emerged from the bathroom, dressed in pajamas. Connor went in next. Buffy sighed and crawled into one of the beds.

"Are you okay?" Dawn asked, her back turned to her sister as she changed. "You were kind of quiet on the flight."

"Yeah, I just needed to think," Buffy replied.

Dawn nodded, pretty sure of what her sister had been thinking about. "Well, just remember, that this is a fresh start. For all of us."

Buffy smiled, her eyes already closed. "I know. Night."

"Good night," Dawn said, climbing into the other bed, clad in a tank top and shorts.

Connor came out of the bathroom, a little surprised to see both girls already in bed. He went over and slipped into the bed next to Dawn, sliding his arm around her to pull her close. "I love you."

"Love you too," Dawn said happily, relaxing into his arms. Before long all three were sound asleep.

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