By: Swan

It was like waking up from a dream.

At first, there was only blackness, and then the disorientation that sometimes

comes with waking up in a strange place. But that's exactly where I was and

how I felt.

The last thing I clearly remembered was lying in bed with the love of my life,

Buffy Summers, in my apartment, after we had just made love for the first

time. But that certainly wasn't where we were now.

*How did we get here?* I wondered as I looked around at our unfamiliar

surroundings. The most I could determine was that it looked like we were in

the middle of a battle, for the room was in complete disarray. Plus, Buffy

was holding a sword in her hands as she stood over me, staring at me almost in

disbelief.

I stood, feeling all confused and scared. There were a million questions I

wanted to ask her. Who were we fighting? Why did she look so withdrawn from

me? And if we were in the midst of a battle, why were things so quiet?

Instead, I settled for the more base inquiries. "Where are we?" I asked her.

"I... I don't remember."

Buffy lowered the sword, taking a step closer. "Angel?" she asked, a doubtful

note in her voice. But doubt over what? I knew I was missing something here,

but I couldn't quite figure out what. Desperately, I searched my mind for the

answers, but came up with nothing.

What stopped me from concentrating fully on it was the smell of blood. I

looked for the source and found that her arm was cut. Gently, I reached out

to touch her, wanting to examine it closer for the extent of the damage. But

what halted me this time was that she fell into my arms, her body melding with

mine in a way that felt right.

I held her close, wondering at the sensation that I hadn't embraced her like

this for a while. Again, there was that nagging feeling that there was

something I had forgotten. But I didn't pursue the lost memories further;

right now, I just wanted to have her in my arms.

It didn't last though. I felt her stiffen after a few seconds, felt her

pulling away. Confused, I looked at her, at her gloomy eyes. *What did she

have to be sad about?* I wondered. *When my presence always worked to make

her happy?* Aloud, I asked her what was happening, suddenly struck with

another image of her crying in my presence, one that was unfamiliar. *Where

did that come from?*

Buffy reached up to touch my face, a large amount of melancholy emanating from

her. It was almost as if her heart was being broken, and even as she kissed

me, almost desperately, I wished I could understand what was causing it. Oh,

how I wanted to comfort her! I would do anything, give anything to see her

smile once more.

Finally, Buffy pulled away, whispering softly how much she loved me. I

whispered back the same words, another buried memory scratching to be let out

as I voiced them. "Love you too," I could almost hear myself saying, in a

somewhat ridiculing tone.

"Close your eyes," Buffy said, once more distracting me before I could pursue

it. I hesitated briefly, then did as she commanded. A second later, I felt

her lips on mine once more, felt her hand on my face. Then, in an instant,

all contact was gone.

When I felt the sword go through me, my first thought was that someone had

come in and attacked without warning. *Buffy!* I screamed silently, my eyes

searching frantically for her. But what I saw was much worse, if that were

even possible, than watching her die.

We were still the only two in the room, and I knew in that instant that it had

to have been her who stabbed me. I reached a hand out to her without

thinking, begging her to help me, but she only backed away, each step hitting

me hard and breaking my own heart.

I wanted to go to her, but something held me back. It was then that I became

aware that some kind of portal had opened around me, and it was giving off

angry flashes of light, signalling that it was perhaps on the verge of being

closed.

I only spent a second focusing on it, then looked back at Buffy once more, my

thoughts threatening to tear me apart as they searched frantically for an

acceptable answer. *Why did she do this? How could she do this? Why would

she want to get rid of me like this?*

That was the worst part, not knowing why. Perhaps now, I never would. But,

as I was being pulled away into the portal, as the world around me grew

smaller and smaller, my eyes remained focused on her face, seeking some kind

of solution.

Then, that world was gone, and there was only blackness once more...

The End.