Paths
By Guchguy

Author's Note: This is from Angel's POV at the end of Graduation part 2. It's sort of short and I was sort of up late when I wrote it.
Spoilers: Graduation part 2
Disclaimer: Never owned 'em, never will.
Feedback: Sure. Tell me how I did. e-mail me at guchguy1@yahoo.com

I stare at her, drinking in every line and feature of her face. I know that I should go, that staying, even for a few moments, will make leaving her all the more difficult. Yet I stay, watching her, wishing that I did not have to go.

She turns, noticing me. I gaze into her green eyes, eyes that were once so young, filled with hope and innocence. Now her eyes look weary, tired. They are filled with sadness, a sadness that I know I have had a hand in making.

I know, however, that hidden beneath the sadness is the young girl I first fell in love with three years ago. Much has changed since then, she has been forced to grow up, she has been hurt by loved ones, by me. Despite all this, she can heal. She is hurt right now, and her wounds run deep, but she can heal.

She will forget about me. She won't do it knowingly, perhaps not even willingly, but she will forget. She'll move on, meet a nice guy, someone who can take care of her the way I know I cannot, and...she will fall in love.

I can see that she doesn't want me to go. I can see it in her eyes, the way she is standing, as if everything about her is begging me to stay. And I know that I have two choices, two paths in front of me. One leads back to her arms, to a future filled with regret and pain. The other leads away from her, to a world filled with loneliness and the agony of love lost. One leas to my restoration, the other to her salvation.

I make my decision. With one final look at her, I turn and walk away, into the night.

The End