A Romantic Past

"I got Xander's Christmas gift today." Willow said happily.
"You did? What did you get him?" Buffy asked, her curiosity rising. She was hoping Willow would give Xander something that says 'I Love You!' but she knew that would never happen.
"Well, as a gag gift, I got him a giant stuffedpreying mantis to make out with and for a real gift-" Willow started, but she was cut off by Buffy's outburst of laughter.
"Preying mantis?!?" Buffy exclaimed inbetween giggles, "Oh he'll love that! Maybe he'll throw the mantis beside and make out with you"
A nervous laugh came in Willow's response. "I don't think that would happen." She mumbled.
"I still don't know what to give Angel, though." Buffy complained. It has to be something great, something that he'll never forget."
"You could give him you." Willow suggested.
"Oh yeah! I could show up at his door with a ribbon tied around my waiste and a giant card that says 'Take me, I'm yours!' That could work." Buffy responded. Willow giggled on the other end. "Or better yet, we could get Xander and Angel in there and then we could both show up! We cound have a little par-tey, maybe some making out..."
"That's not, and I repeat NOT gonna happen!" Willow said defensivly.
"You're right, we could never get Xander and Angel in the same room with out a: Xander staking Angel or b: Angel sucking Xander dry. And I don't think I could give myself to Angel, I'm not in the mood to hear a 'we can never be a couple, it's too dangerous' speach from Angel." Buffy responded.
"Didn't you have to make the rounds tonight?" Willow asked.
"Oh! That's right! duty calls. I'll see you tomorrow?"

The girls said thier goodbyes and hung up the phone. Buffy turned to gaze out the window. Snow had been falling all day, giving everything an ethereal glow. Buffy turned to grab some stakes and when she face the window again she was looking at Angel, her Angel. Remembering her plan, she walked over and tenderly kissed him on the mouth savoring the taste of his flesh. Angel gave her a look that said 'what in hell was that for?' Buffy simply gestured toward the top of her window. "Mistle toe" she said, answereing his unspoken question.

Angel just rolled his eyes figuring she had put it there for that purpose. "Remind me to come in through the door next time."
"You don't like my kisses?" Buffy asked, and over-done pouty look on her face as she looked up at him.
"You want me to answer that?" Angel said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Not really." Buffy answered, already knowing the answer. "Angel, I have to fight vampires tonight, and the paranormal has been extremely para lately and you wouldn't wanna come along and fight beside the slayer would you? I could really use the help." Buffy looked up at him with a puppy dog look, batting her eyes.

Angel couldn't refuse. As much as he didn't want to, he reluctantly agreed. 'Just don't let yourself fall deeper in love.' he mently noted, 'Don't let yourself go far with her.' Angel turned to head out into the paranormal avtivity of the night, but slipped on a patch of ice that had formed. As he fell to the ground, the tree gave him a cut on the side of his face. Landing with a thud, he closed his eyes a moment, already feeling a headache comming on. When he looked back up, he saw Buffy looking down at him. A look of embarrassment came over his face, a look wich he did not allow her to see. She landed beside him on her feet quietly.

"Angel!" she exclaimed, helping him into a sitting posion, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I think the snow broke my fall." he answered.
Buffy reached out to exanine his cut, but he pulled away. He knew her touch and he knew all too well what it could do to him. Buffy turned his face towards hers, looking him in the eyes. "Hey, come on, let me see."
"You gonna play nurse Buffy and kiss it to make it all better?" he quipped.
"Is that a dare?" Buffy questioned with a smile. Angel just smiled down at her, expecting her to back off. Never one to refuse a dare, Buffy leaned forward and very gently pressed her lips to his cut. Angel closed his eyes and sighed. Caught up in the heat of the moment, Buffy moved into his lap and kissed his cheek again, then his nose, then his other cheek, then his chin, and she ended with a long lingering kiss on his lips. When her tounge wished entrance into his mouth, he refused. But Buffy was not one to give up and persisted. Finnaly, Angel gave into her demands, parting his lips. Buffy explored the inside of his mouth, running her tounge across his teeth. Slowly, when Buffy had to breath, they pulled apart. Buffy looked deep into his eyes. "Does that make it feel better?" she asked flirtatiosly.

"It still hurts a little." Angel said as his arms encircled her, pulling her close once again.
"Then we better get it some more medicine." Buffy said just as thier lips met in another passionate kiss. Buffy held onto this kiss as long as she could, but Angel abruptly got up, sending Buffy toppling into the snow. "I thought we were going hunting-" Buffy said, using it as an excuse for him to stay.
"Not tonight. I need some asprine. Or 50." Angel said, walking away.
"Fine. You've gotten good at running away. One more time shouldn't matter, huh?" Buffy shouted after him.
Angel turned to face her. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked defensively.
"It's weird, you're 241 and you still havn't learned to listened to your heart?" Buffy asked, determined to make a point.
"I do listen to my heart."
"Then why can't we be together?" Buffy asked, though she knew the answer.
"The obvious. You're 16 years old, I'm 241 and a vampire. We've been through this."
"And your heart told you that?"
"Buffy I could hurt you! And I don't want to lose you!" Angel shouted.
"You'll lose me anyway!" Buffy countered, "A vampire could come up behind me with the next five minutes and I could be dead. It's not like I have a long life expectancy. I try to live for the moment, cause' the next minute, I could be gone."
Angel counldn't argue that, so he turned and walked away.

Buffy just watched him walk away with tears in her eyes. Suddenly, Buffy recieved a sharp blow, knocking her into a groggy condition. She fell to the ground. The demon who had attact her stood over her. "Angel!" she tried scream his name, but she was barely audible. She held onto his name, knowing he couldn't hear her. She let out a cry of pain as the demon kicked her side.

The last sounds she heard were mumbled words by the demon as it pressed it's index and middle fingers to her temples, and Angel's desperate cries as he ran towards her. Then everything went black.

When Angel had reached the place where Buffy lay, the demon had vanished. He knelt beside her, cradling her in his arms. He checked for signs of life. She wasn't breathing. She didn't have a pulse. She was dead. A tear fell down Angel's face, stinging where he was cut, as he looked at her bruised, broken body. He refused to let go, but he knew he would have to. He swore vengence on the demon who had taken away the most precious being in his life, who had taken her from him. He held her lifeless body through the night, refusing to let go until he had to. He wondered if she had any premontition when she had said 'I could be dead with in the next five minutes' well, as much as he didn't want to believe it, the slayer was dead, and no slayer, he knew, could compete for the love he had held for this one.

Buffy awoke in a dismal alley with much disoriantation and one hell of a headache. She wasn't sure what had happened. She got up to leave the alley with great difficulty. When she passed a window, she caught her reflection, but the girl in the window wasn't her. The girl in the window did have the same face, but she also had long hair flowing down her back and wore a white old looking dress, much like the one Buffy had seen Drusilla wear, plain and simple. Buffy reached up to touch her face. So did the girl in the window. It really was her reflection. Now Buffy was beyond confused. She was frightened and longed to be in her room with Angel holding her.

When she walked out into the streats, she was nearly blinded by the light reflecting off the snow. She shielded her eyes and looked at her surroundings. She was in a small town, very old looking. It had wooden buildings, and no electricity from what she could tell. The town was decorated for Christmas with a wreath above every door, a candle in every window, and garland wrapped around the streat lights. There were red faced people bussling about everywhere carrying packages that would soon be given to loved ones. The town was beautiful. Buffy gazed at a horse and carriage. The horse had a sleek black coat and the carriage looked like one of the beautiful buggies you could have found in a Sunnydale museum. Her mind anywhere but on where she was going, Buffy bumped heavily into an older woman, sending both the woman and herself flying into a mound of snow.

"Oh! I'm sorry miss!" Buffy exclaimed in apology.
"No need to worry, little one! Accidents do happen!" the woman said in reply. She had a rough Irish accent and wore Irish garb. She was a stout woman with rosy cheeks and a kind face. She was the kind of woman that you would imeadietly like.

Buffy began to shiver and goose bumps formed on her arms. "Why look at yourself!" the woman excalimed, "soaked to the bone and bare arms at that! Come into me' shop and we'll draw you a nice warm bath."
"Oh, that's not necessary-" Buffy started.
"I insist." the woman said sharply, cutting Buffy off short.
Buffy figured she wasn't in any place to argue so she instead helped to gather up the fallen packages and followed the woman. "It's very kind of you to invite a stanger into your home, miss."
"Think nothing of it, lass." the woman responded, "what be your name?"
"Buffy." Buffy answered. "And yours?"
"My name be Rachel. Come along now. The sooner we get you inside the sooner we can dry your garmets and get you something warm to eat."
Buffy entered the small home. She saw material strewn about. "You're a seamstress?"
"That I am." Rachel replied. "Now, change into this and we will hang your garmets to dry."
Buffy obeyed and came back out into the room wearing a plain lavender dress. She approached Rachel and watched her cook. "May I help?"
"You may if you want." Rachel replied. With the two of them working together, they had a delicious dinner ready in almost no time at all. Buffy took time to examine the fine dresses, feeling the material of each. She came across a beautiful dress. It was a maroon color, off the shoulder style with a long belle skirt. With it came a hunter green wrap and hunter green gloves. Rachel came up behind her and held the dress up to her body. It fit her form to perfection. "Looks like we've made a match." Rachel said with a smile.

"I could't possibly except this. You've done much for me already." Buffy insisted.
"Of course you can't. I just don't know what to do with it. It fits no lady in the town. They're all much too big boned." Rachel sighed.
"Well, my dress should be dry by now." Buffy said, exiting the room. She came back and returned the lavender dress to Rachel. They then sat for dinner. There wasn't much conversation during the meal. An uneasy silence hung over the room. There was a word here and there but other than that...

When she had finshed dinner, Buffy excused herself and headed towards the door after saying goodbye. "Buffy!" Rachel called after her, "You are not going anywhere without a coat!" Rachel thrust a coat and scarf into her hands along with gloves. Then Buffy was gone.
Because her dress was still damp, the bitting cold was nearly unbearable. Since she had no where to go, Buffy just wandered the streats till' dark. When night fell upon the town, it was really dark. If it had not been for the stars and moon, Buffy would not have been able to see two feet in front of her face. She wandered into an alley wich ended with a wall. When she turned to leave, she ran straight into a man's chest.

"I'm sorry, sir." she apologized. She would have left the alley right then if it had not been for for his hand upon her wrist. He had a strong grip and refused to let go. She struggled to get away but the man just stared down at her with cold harsh eyes. In the blink of an eye, the man's fist connected with her face, sending her to the ground. Buffy feared for her life. She knew not what this man planned to do to her nor did she know if she still had her slayer streangth in this strange place.

He advance on her, but before he could inflict more pain on his victim, her received a fist to his own face. "Did your mother never teach you to treat proper ladies with respect?" asked a strangly familiar voice comming from the shadows. Buffy's attacker lunged in the direction of the voice and grabbed someone by the throat. Buffy instinctively got to her feet and delivered a roundhouse kick. Her attacker went running into the night knowing he couldn't handle two people.

Buffy turned to face the man who had 'saved her life'. "Thank you." she said, not knowing who she was thanking.
"For what?" asked the voice from the shadows.
"For hitting that guy back there." Buffy answered.
"Well then I guess I should thank you too. Where did you learn to kick like that?" he asked, emerging into the light.
From Buffy there was no response. The color drained from her face to match the snowy surroundings. She found herself looking into the eyes that knew her so well, though they held no recognition. She was looking at an Angel, _her_ Angel. Confused, she took a step to leave, but the step was akward, causing her to fall. Angel was quick to help her to her feet, but once his support was gone she found herself back on the ground.

"You can't walk." Angel commented, applying snow to her ankle.
"I think I already knew that." Buffy replied sarcasticaly.
Before she knew what happened, Angel swept her into his arms as if she weighed absolutly nothing. "You can stay with my family and me until your ankle heals." he offered.
"That's quite all right. I'll manage by myself."
"Let me rephrase that, you _will_ stay with my family until your ankle heals." he damanded.
"I guess I'm in no position to argue, huh?"
"My name is Angelus" Angel offered.
Buffy took this as a que to tell him her own name. "Buffy... is... me"
"Buffy" Angel mused, "Unusual name."
"Well, if you don't like it, deal with it." Buffy responded in a give-me-a-reason-and-I-will-kick-your-ass-so-hard-your-grandkids-will-feel-i t attitude.

Angel just smiled down at the girl he held in his arms. He was immedietly attracted to her. He slowed his pace, wanting to hold her as long as possible. Buffy just locked her arms around his neck and cuddled against his chest, grateful for a familiar face. She closed her eyes and let his heart beat lull her into a sweet delirium.

Neither Buffy nor Angel noticed the woman in the shadows. Darla watched the gentle way Angel held Buffy and the loving look he gave her. 'Even in the past that little bitch is gonna take him from me.' Darla thought, 'Well, not this time. She will not steal him from me again. This time, the little hoe is going down for good. And Angelus _will_ be mine. This time I won't make the mistake I made the first time.' An evil smile came over her face. She was eager to drain the slayer and have Angel to herself...

Next part comming soon.....