Okay, this chapter is dedicated to redrider6612, and BlackbAngeL, who pushed me (nicely) into posting tonight! I hope this chapter is to your liking, and I'm sure you'll let me know!

"Me?" Buffy shook her head, trying to get her mind around what the Powers That Be had just told her. "I...I don't understand."

'You are the key' // 'It has always been you' // 'The answer you seek lies within you'

Buffy felt the anger bubbling up inside her again. "Riddles! Why is it that I can never get a straight answer?!" She started pacing the cavern.

Angel tried to grab her arm, but she slipped away. "Buffy, stop. We'll figure this out, you just have to..."

"You know, this is just unbelievable!" Buffy went on as if he she didn't hear him. "I have the power. That's just great! Really great, except I never knew anything about it! Nobody saw fit to tell me!" The more she spoke, the angrier she became. In her head, she knew she shouldn't be, that this was what she had been hoping for. Angel could become human, and they could be together, but she just couldn't seem to control all the anger within her. Anger that had been building for 8 years.

"You watched as I fell in love with him. I was 16 years old, and apparently it wasn't enough for you that I was the slayer! I had to fall in love with the one man I couldn't have!"

Angel watched her, knowing she had to get this out, that the pain had been inside her for too long. He knew, but it still broke his heart to see her face, hear her words. To see the tears start to form in her eyes.

"You allowed me to think that we could make it work, that we could be together, then you just watched as I took his soul!" Tears were running down her cheeks, but she made no effort to brush them away. "And it wasn't enough that he was no longer Angel, the man I loved! No, then I had to kill him! And it couldn't have been Angelus I'd killed, oh no, that wouldn't have been any fun, now would it?!"

Buffy stopped her pacing and stood in the center of the room, staring up at the ceiling. "I had to make the ultimate choice, and kill the only man I've ever loved. And you watched it all happen." She shook her head. "You couldn't even be bothered to let me know. You let him sacrifice his happiness for me, countless times, even though it broke his heart, and mine too. You know, just one word, to say 'hey, don't worry, somewhere down the road, when I get done screwing with your lives, and your hearts, he's gonna get his reward'!"

"Buffy, please, don't do this." Angel took her in his arms, and this time she let him. All the fight seemed to go out of her as she felt his arms around her.

"Since the night of my 17th birthday, I've never had a single moment of true happiness, but you couldn't even at least give me hope." Her voice broke, and she lay her head against his shoulder for a moment. She took a deep breath, trying to get herself under control, then she pulled away from him, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

'This is your destiny' // 'We cannot answer any more' // 'We can help you no longer'

"Wait! I don't understand! How..." She stopped as a bright light lit up the cavern. Buffy and Angel both raised their arms, shielding themselves from the glare, and closed their eyes. When they opened them, they were no longer in the cave, but back in the hotel, in Angel's suite. Standing in front of them was a figure dressed all in white, a soft glow emanating from her.

"Cordelia?!" Buffy stared at her. She knew that Cordy had become a higher power, but seeing her this way...well, she just hadn't really believed it until now.

Angel watched as Cordelia walked toward Buffy. She smiled at him, then turned her attention back to Buffy.

"I know you're angry, Buffy. I don't blame you. But you have within you the power to make this right." She smiled at her. "I know I was never really a friend to you, but I want you to know, I did admire you. Working with Angel, I became a different person than I was back then."

She turned to Angel, and he stared back. "Angel. You've done well. Wolfram and Hart will return, but it will take time, and they will never be as strong as they were, thanks to you. Get prepared. Continue to train the slayers, and you will be ready when the time comes." She smiled at him, and he thought of her, of all the things they had been through together, since they had come to LA.

"Cordelia, I...I don't know..." She looked at Buffy, then reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. Buffy gasped, feeling the power flow through her.

"This is as much your reward as it is Angel's. You have the power in you, Buffy. The power of love. Only you can fulfill the prophecy, because only you have had his heart, his soul." She leaned down and whispered in her ear. "Always, only you."

She stepped back, and Angel moved beside Buffy. "Together, you will be stronger, and you will fight, because that is who you are." Suddenly she was gone.

Angel looked at Buffy, who was still staring at the place where Cordelia had disappeared. "Buffy?" She didn't move, and he touched her arm. "Buffy, I..."

Slowly she turned and met his eyes. She smiled, the first smile he'd seen from her in a long time that actually reached her eyes, and if he could breathe, it would've taken his breath away. She took his face in her hands, and she kissed him, their lips meeting softly, then she pressed her body against his, and deepened the kiss.

Angel's arms went around her, pulling her closer, one hand caressing her back, one entwined in her soft hair. She broke the kiss, and he stared into her eyes. He leaned down to kiss her again, when he suddenly fell to the ground on his knees in front of her. Something went through his body, not exactly pain, something he didn't recognize, then he gasped, catching his breath for the first time in 250 plus years, if he didn't count the day that wasn't.

Buffy fell to her knees beside him. "Angel" she whispered. He looked into her eyes and smiled, and she felt the tears start to fall again. He leaned in and kissed them away. "I love you, Buffy."

Okay, I hope that will hold you until tomorrow, at least!