As she rode the bus out of Sunnydale, Buffy did not look back,
She had to leave Sunnydale, she had to leave everything there,
Buffy had never neglected her duties as the slayer, even if it
The bus pulled into New York about nine am. Buffy had lost track
From around the corner Whistler watched Buffy walking. He said
Someone else watched Buffy walking down the street. Anna was
Anna went down the street after Buffy, "Hello" she called softly.
"My name is Anna, and I run the soup kitchen down the block" said
Buffy was surprised as herself, she was hungry. She didn't
Anna fixed Buffy a big plate of food. Buffy ate slowly. Anna
Buffy shook her head no. "This can't be fixed."
"Well if you really feel that way, the least I can do is offer
Buffy was deep in though for a little while, then finally spoke
Anna nodded her head happily "Lets go see the apartment."
Buffy followed her upstairs, Anna was right, the apartment was
"I'll leave you to get settled now." Anna said as she left.
Below on the street, Whistler looked up at the apartment window.
Buffy went downstairs to help with the soup kitchen, as she had
"I know that" said Whistler "But you've got to tell me exactly
"Okay, Okay, will you leave me alone, if I talk to you? I will
Anna noticed that Buffy looked a little upset as she dried the
Buffy and Whistler walked to the park. "Here are all your sordid
"What exactly happened? Come on Buffy, he was a demon, by now
"It should have been easy, but as the vortex was opening. Angel
"His soul was restored before he entered the vortex?" Whistler
"Yes" she replied quietly.
"You're sure?" Whistler looked puzzled.
"I am sure Whistler, I was there."she answered him sadly.
Whistler seemed to be in a hurry now. "Okay, thanks for the
Buffy headed back to Annas it would be almost time for the lunch
When lunch was over, Buffy and Anna went to their perspective
Upstairs, Anna went to check on Duncan, he was sleeping in their
It was time for dinner at the soup kitchen. They served a
Buffy went upstairs and tried to relax, she took a hot bath, she
She had knocked the vampire over and was about to stake him.
Buffy stopped in her tracks "What, do you know what he is?"
"Yes, Buffy. I know what he is and who he is, Buffy meet my
"Buffy, I know this will be hard for you to understand, but he
"Yes" said Buffy "I am or I was the slayer."
"There is no was, unless your a dead slayer" Duncan said "A slayer
Anna was confused, Duncan had never told her of slayers. They had
actually lived peacefully. She knew what Duncan was and had
But she had chased him down and asked him to walk her home. He
"What is a slayer?" asked Anna.
"She is the chosen one to kill the vampires, demons, etc." said
Buffy was still amazed that Duncan was a vampire. She also felt
Duncan smiled "Angelus was older then me, but we had something
Buffy replied "Yes, I am sure. Trust me it haunts me every night."
In the dark basement of a warehouse, Whistler was talking to
The sad figure replied "I know she loved me, why?"
Whistler replied "All in good time, Angel my boy, I'll explain
Whistler could see Buffy from the window. She looked okay,
Meanwhile back in Sunnydale-
Xander was moping in the library. Buffy had been gone over a
Xander was feeling some remorse over not telling Buffy that
Giles interrupted his brooding. "Xander, have you heard?"
Xander cut him off before he could finish his question. "No, I
Willow entered the library with Cordelia at her side. They were
"Well, she'll come back. She has to, shes the slayer!" said Willow
Giles had not been himself since she left. With Jenny gone and
Giles assured everyone that he was okay. He just wanted to do
Xander walked in at that moment, "Can I talk to you Giles?" he
Giles looked at him impatiently. "I'm very busy Xander. I'm
"Are you going to find Buffy?" asked Xander excitedly.
"Maybe" said Giles as he explained about New York.
"I'm going. I owe it to Buffy, I've got money, I'm going"
Giles and Xander headed off together. Giles knew better then
"Where do we start?" asked Xander. Giles didn't have the heart
The next morning Xander and Giles started walking the streets
Buffy was wiping down table when Anna came in. Anna explained
Xander and Giles spent an exhausting day looking for Buffy, with
Whistler checked on Angel, he was getting stronger every day.
Yes, nodded Whistler.
"Buffy will never forgive me" Angel said sadly, "I can't
Whistler spoke sincerely to Angel "Angel, buddy, you are wrong
Angel looked at Whistler with hope in his dark eyes.
Whistler continued "You do have one problem, you can't go back
Angel wasn't sure if he could face Buffy. But he knew Whistler
Whistler knocked on the door of Buffys apartment. Buffy answered
"Wait,Girlie" said Whistler putting his foot in the door. He
"Decide what" she asked annoyedly.
"Decide if you want to remain a pathetic wreck, or be the slayer
"Don't even mention his name please, show me this thing, then
"Follow me to the alley, please" and Whistler led her to the back
When she got there, she saw a familiar back facing her. It couldn"t
Whistler stepped forward, all he said was "Work it out" and then
"Angel, is it really you?" Buffy asked in total disbelief.
"Yes, its me" he replied gently, "I love you Buffy, and if I
"I don't care Angel, I love you. I thought I had lost you forever.
"You don't need my forgiveness, and you never will. But you are
"We'll go back together!" Buffy said excitedly.
Angel spoke sadly, but with determination. "I can't go back, not
Buffy was crying softly as Angel led her back to the apartment.
"You will see me again, I love you Buffy Summers" he repled tenderly.
"I love you Angel" she said softly and fell asleep in his arms.
Whistler knocked on Giles hotel room door. Giles answered asking
Whistler replied "Your girl is at the soup kitchen on 5th Street
An hour before sunrise, Whistler knocked on Buffys door again. He
Buffy nodded her head "Yes, I am the slayer, I am going home. I
Whistler looked at Angel "We've got to say our goodbyes now, I'll
Angel looked at Buffy long and hard as if he were memorizing
"Its time Buffy, I love you and I always will. We will see each
Buffy sat down back on the couch. There was another knock at the
"Yes, let them in" said Buffy.
Giles and Xander ran into the apartment overjoyed at the sight
"I'm fine" she answered "I'm really okay, I'm ready to go home,
Xander had been exceptionally quiet, he went to Buffy now, he
Buffy went to her room and gathered her few belongings into her
Buffy went to Anna and explained everything and thanked her for
Buffy was headed back home, back to her destiny, back to the world
The End
Back to Becoming Series
not even once. She knew what she was leaving behind, she didn't
need to look back. She did have one regret, her Mom, she was
going to think that her leaving was her fault. It wasn't. They
had said some harsh words to each other last night. She knew
her Mom didn't mean them. Thats why she had left the note, but
she knew a note wouldn't be much comfort.
get rid of her memories of him. As if that would happen. She
knew that Giles would have tried to talk her out of leaving,
bringing up her sacred duty as the chosen one, the slayer. Well,
she had slayed her last vampire. What did they expect of her?
She had lost friends, she had lost the love of her short life.
She had sent the man she loved to live with a demon in hell.
had meant the ultimate sacrifice - Angel. She had saved the
world for the last time. She was going to search for peace, if
it was out there.
of how many days she had been on it. She got off the bus and
started walking, she didn't know why she had been drawn here.
Maybe peace was here.
to himself "She's not ready to see me yet. I'll give her some
time."
in her mid thirties, petite, pretty in a quiet way. She ran
a soup kitchen for the homeless. She watched Buffy and thought
she had never seen someone look so sad in her life. And in her
line of work that was saying something.
Buffy turned around to face Anna. Buffys hair hung limply and she
looked more like a five year old in her baggy overalls then her
seventeen years. Her eyes showed every bit of sadness that she had
seen over the last few months. "Hello" repeated Anna. Buffy
thought a moment and cautiously returned the greeting "Hello"
she offered in a small sad voice.
Anna as she pointed the way. She continued "You look like you
could use a good meal."
remember the last time she had actually eaten, it didn't seem
important, nothing did. In the same sad voice she answered
"That would be nice, thank you." She followed Anna back to the
kitchen.
thought a moment then said "Whatever is wrong, I'm sure it can
be fixed."
you a job. Not a paying job, but you can have room and board,
if you will help me out in the soup kitchen" offered Anna
hopefully. "My grandfather left me this building, this bottom
floor is the soup kitchen, the second floor has a tiny apartment
that you can stay in. My husband Duncan and I live on the third
floor. You'll like Duncan. What do you say?"
"I accept your offer."
small, but neatly kept. It reminded her of Angels apartment.
"Stop, Buffy. Don't think about it" she said quietly to herself.
He said to himself "She's going to be okay, with a little time."
done for the last three days. She was serving breakfast to an
elderly man, when she heard a familiar voice. "Hello. Prom Queen!"
It was Whistler. Buffy turned away, she said bitterly "I don't
want to see you or talk to you or be anywhere near you."
what happened. I need details."
meet you outside at ten am when the breakfast dishes are done"
Buffy said with a sigh.
last of the dishes. But she didn't want to pry. Buffy turned
to her and said "I'm going for a walk, I'll be back soon."
As she left Anna prayed she would be careful. She went upstairs
to check on Duncan.
details Whistler." Buffy spit the words as him.
it couldn't have been hard to kill him" questioned Whistler.
regained his soul, he told me he loved me, and I," Buffy sobbed
and then continued "I ran a sword through him, enough details
for you? Or would you like to make me relive again and again,
like I do every night?" Tears were rolling down her cheeks now
and people were staring.
asked quietly.
details, take care of yourself kid." And with that he left,
saying to himself "I've got work to do."
crowd. She wanted to help, Anna had been good to her and not
asked a lot of questions.
apartments. Buffy lay down for a short nap, her dreams were
filled with Angel. His last words to her, the sound of the
sword as she plunged it into his body. She woke up in tears.
room. She never go tired of looking at him while he slept. His
golden hair fell across his forehead, she loved him as she loved
no other. They had been together since she was seventeen almost
twenty years now.
large crowd that night. It was getting dark when the last dish
was put away. Anna told Buffy "Go on upstairs, you look tired."
even tried to read something. But nothing worked, so she decided
to go back downstairs to offer her help anyway. As Buffy went
downstairs she heard sounds in the kitchen, her worst fears were
realized, she would never escape them, there was a vampire coming
up behind Anna in the kitchen. Buffy found a broken stool, pulled
off the leg to make a stake and charged into the kitchen on the
attack.
Anna was screaming, "No, Don't, Stop Buffy, don't hurt him!"
she shouted.
husband, Duncan" said Anna as she bent down to help Duncan up.
is a vampire and not all vampires are bad."Anna started to
explain but Duncan interrupted her "Anna, I don't think you have
to explain vampires to her. If I'm not mistaken, she knows them
well."looking at Buffy he said "You are the slayer, aren't you?"
is always a slayer. You don't get to choose, just like I didn't
get to choose what I am."
accepted that long ago when she was Buffys age. Duncan had saved
her from a mugger one night scaring him off with his vamp face.
She had been frightened at first, but quickly realized he meant
her no harm, when his face returned to normal form, he started
to run away, knowing she was safe from the mugger.
did and she fell in love with a 100 year old vampire that night
and he fell in love with a 17 year old girl. They had been
together ever since. He wrote, so he always worked at home and
strange hours were expected of him. They did miss children
sometimes though. And she knew that sometime in the future,
people would wonder why she looked so much older then her husband.
But she didn't want to think about it now.
Duncan "And Buffy is a good one, it looks like."
for Anna, someone had something in common with her. She told
Anna and Duncan in a calm voice everything that had happened with
Angel.
in common. 17 year old girls." He then got serious again "Buffy
are you sure his soul was restored before he entered the vortex?"
She silently wondered about his question. Whistler had asked the
same thing.
someone, someone special. "You've got to get your strength back
and I'll answer all your questions."
it in good time. Right now you need to rest." With that he left
to go check on the prom queen.
she would be more okay when he could tell her the good news.
These two had a rough go in front of them no matter what. He
though he should talk them out of this love thing. But the
strange thing was he felt good about this love thing. He knew
it wasn't going away, no matter what he said.
week and all they had was the note she left for her Mom. Which
just explained that she had to go and she would be okay.
Willow was restoring Angels soul. He didn't know what had
happened, but somehow felt responsible.
haven't heard anything."
also discussing Buffy.
full of an optimism that no one else in the room felt.
now Buffy, he was lost. He was a watcher without a slayer. They
were all worried about him. "If I only knew where to look for her"
he thought to himself. Giles thought "Where would she go - Angel
he's the key - maybe she's gone somewhere Angel has been. I'll
do some research about where he was before he came to Sunnydale."
some research, he pulled out the books to start research. He
didn't realize how many hours passed, he had found what he was
looking for. Angel had been in Manhattan at one time. Giles
thought "Would Buffy go there?" It was worth a try.
asked "Its about Buffy."
leaving on a trip.
Xander was adamant.
to argue with the boy. They departed the plane in New York and
and took a taxi to the hotel.
to tell him that he had no idea. So, he just said "We'll get
some sleep and start tomorrow."
with Buffys picture in hand. They asked everyone they met if
they had seen her. They ran into Anna outside a grocery store
and she assured them that she had never seen the girl in the
picture. She hurried home to warn Buffy.
to her about the man and the boy looking for her. Buffy
immediately knew it was Giles and Xander. She was not ready to
see them yet.
no luck. They went back to the hotel to call it a day.
Whistler decided it was time to tell him everything. Angel sat
and listened to the whole story without saying a word. Then
finally he spoke slowly "I killed Jenny Calender?"
forgive myself."
there, she told you she loved you and she meant it. She had no
choice but to send you into that vortex, and believe me, for awhile
she was looking worse then you did when I found you, stink guy!"
to Sunnydale yet, you have some penance to do, you will have to
let her go for now.
was right, he had to try. Whistler said "Follow me" and then
they left for the soup kitchen.
the door she started shouting "Not you again! I want absolutely
nothing to do with you, nothing!"
continued "I've got something I want to show you and then you can
decide."
that you are supposed to be. This speec is deja vu. I had this
same talk with your guy Angel once." replied Whistler.
leave quickly, before I decide to some slaying of the demon kind."
She said sarcastically.
of the building.
be, he was gone, her heart was beating so hard, she could hear it.
Angel must have heard it too, he turned around, their eyes met and
they stared at each other in disbelief.
he left them alone.
could change anything that happened I would, but I can't" he
finished sadly.
Can you ever forgive me?"
the slayer and you have to go back to Sunnydale. They need you."
now. I have to atone for some of the things I've done. But you
have to go back, Buffy."
They sat down on the couch, looking into each others eyes. Buffy
put her hand on Angels cheek and they kissed for the first time
since the vortex ordeal. It was a long, slow kiss, full of passion.
She leaned against him and spoke "I'll go back Angel, but I have to
know that I will see you again."
"Do I know you?"
she is gonna need you in the morning."
quickly asked "Did you decide?"
am going alone."
be waiting outside" and he left.
everything about her. The smell of her hair, her eyes, her lips
that smile.
other again. Take care and be happy." with that said he bent
down and kissed her gently on the lips. She touched his cheek and
tears in her eyes softly said "I love you, goodbye." And then he
was gone.
door. This time it was Anna, "Buffy your friends are here, should
I let them come up?" she asked hopefully.
of Buffy. Giles started speaking "We have missed you, please
don't worry me like that again. I want a full explanation later,
but now I just want to know that your are okay?" he asked somewhat
emotionally for Giles.
lifted her off the ground in a giant hug. "I don't care what
happened, just please don't scare me like that again!" he hugged
her again.
backpack. She found a small object in the bottom of the pack.
She pulled out the small silver claddagh ring, she looked at it
lovingly, kissed it and placed it on her finger, where it belonged,
the heart facing towards her.
all of her help and kindness. Anna with tears in her wished Buffy
the best of luck. Buffy asked her to tell Duncan goodbye and she
left with Giles and Xander.
of the slayer.
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