Year In, Year Out Series:
Christmas Charm

by KNS

Disclaimer: Okay now, sing after me - Jingle Joss, Jingle Joss, Jingle all the way, I'm going to borrow his characters now, but they don't belong to me and I have no rights to them. (I know, it doesn't rhyme - that's why I don't write poetry!)

Author's notes: Here we go again, people, the continuing adventures of the slaying gang twenty years after Graduation Day. This fic and the ones that follow are a sequel series to the Years Later Series - the same rules and regulations apply. Song lyrics (::) are by Vince Guaraldi. Special thanks to the betas, Em and Anja - you're the best, guys! And one more thing - this series is for Felicity and Jewel, my inspiration.


...If the sages ask thee why
This charm is wasted on earth and sky,
Tell them, dear, that if eyes were made for seeing,
Then Beauty is its own excuse for being...

~Ralph Waldo Emerson - "The Rhodora"


This, then, was what it all came down to. This was it. The final sacrifice. The last battle. And Angel knew how it would end. It was over before it even began. He was broken, completely without hope. Still, after nearly three centuries of dwelling on the earth, he knew that miracles sometimes happened, impossible odds were sometimes overcome. After all, hadn't fate brought him back to the woman he'd loved since the time he first saw her? Hadn't he been given the gift of humanity so that he could grow old with the woman he loved? Hadn't fate itself intervened so that they might live together for years and years and years?

Yes, miracles happened. And that was why Angel dared to beg for one more.

"Please, Buffy," he said, his voice low. "Please, don't make me do this."

Buffy Summers turned away from the pile of laundry on the couch to give him an exasperated look. "Oh Angel, it won't kill you. I'm not asking you to cut off a limb or anything."

He took a step towards her, his eyes pleading. "Buffy, have mercy." Desperation colored his voice - desperation, and a little bit of sheer panic.

She sighed and turned to face him again, a sock in each hand. "Where is your holiday spirit?" She glanced down at the socks in her hands, then held them up for his inspection. "Do these go together? Or, at least once upon a time, did they go together?"

Angel snatched the socks from her grasp, balled them together and threw the ball back onto the couch. "This is serious, Buffy. You know how I feel about malls. I was good about helping you find the ‘perfect' tree, wasn't I? And wasn't I good about helping you put up the ornaments? And haven't I kept a good attitude about all the junky stuff you put up all over the house? Give me a break here, beloved."

Buffy put her hands on her hips and slanted a look up at him. "First of all, the stuff *we've* put up around the house is *not*, I repeat, *not* junky. It's Christmas-y. We put it up because we have the holiday spirit. And people who have the holiday spirit go shopping. Which is why I'm going to the mall tonight with Willow and Xander and the boys. And that's why you're going, too." She smiled triumphantly at him.

Angel knew what she was going to say next. "Don't you dare," he began, shaking his head warningly.

But she said it anyway. "If you love me, you'll go."

"Dammit!" he exploded, spinning away from her. "You always say that!" He glared at the smiling snowman hanging from the over-ornamented Christmas tree.

Behind him she laughed. "That's because it always works! Would you rather that I threaten to make you sleep on the couch?"

Despite himself, he smiled. The threat was so ludicrous that he had no choice but to smile. He reached out and snatched the smiling snowman from the tree, then turned and tossed it at her.

She caught it easily and flashed him a brilliant smile. "Sore loser."

"That threat was low, even for you," he returned, but he was smiling too. "You couldn't do it."

She brushed a strand of stray hair out of her eyes, then arched an eyebrow at him. "Oh yeah? Wanna try me?"

"Right now?" he asked slyly, turning her words.

She threw the ornament back at him. "You wish. We've got to get this laundry off the sofa incase Giles and Marianna want to come over after dinner." She turned back to the pile of shirts and socks and pants layered across the couch. "What would they say if they came over and found our clothes in the living room?"

Having carefully replaced the ornament, Angel crept up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist. "That we spend our time wisely?" he whispered in her ear.

She laughed but continued to fold the white shirt in her hands. "Come on, give me a hand."

"You should give me a little motivation for being dragged to the mall," he suggested, using more than just words.

Again she laughed, but this time she also dropped the shirt.


 -


Later that evening Angel found himself seated in the black BMW, accompanying Buffy to one of Miami's largest malls. The sun was just beginning to sink as he maneuvered the car through the busy lanes of after-work traffic the sky was turning brilliant shades of orange and pink even as the dying light reflected mercilessly off chrome bumpers and metal buildings surrounding them.

Angel happened to glance at one of those buildings. A large ‘Season's Greetings' sign hung across its front, blocking a multitude of office windows below the worn-out saying ran the phrase ‘Count Your Blessings - Every Day Is A Gift.'

The last phrase was at least interesting, he found himself thinking as he swerved around the little white car that had dodged into his lane. It wasn't too bad for a sign, really. He certainly had a few blessings to count.

He glanced at the woman seated beside him. She was his greatest blessing, his greatest gift. It had only been a few short months since that rainy night they'd sworn never again to part, and even less time than that since they'd left London and all the tragedy that had happened there. Fifty-three days, to be exact. Buffy had refused to leave until Willow and Xander had sold their house and agreed to come with her. Ah, that had not been a pleasant time.

But then their collective luck had changed. He still wasn't sure how they'd settled on Miami - Florida, for God's sake. Xander had wanted to go to New York City. Giles had made a bid for Boston. Willow had wanted to go to Colorado, anywhere in Colorado. Buffy had suggested Mexico, specifically somewhere where it was always warm. He himself had been leaning towards Oregon, perhaps Portland, or even some tiny little town. But then someone - he couldn't remember who - had said something about Miami, and suddenly that's where they were - buying houses, finding jobs, renting apartments, slaying vampires and demons.

And things had worked out, for once. Willow and Xander moved into a large, elegant house in an upper class suburb, a house with a big back yard and next door neighbors with kids around the boys' ages. Willow had signed on with a software company before even setting foot in the states Xander, for his part, found a nice job with a stock trading firm a week after submitting applications.

The move had also been good for Giles and Marianna. As new head of the Watchers' Council, Giles was currently in the process of moving the headquarters to America while this was keeping him busy almost full time, he had Marianna there to help him. Although they both moaned over their loss of free time, it was obvious to anyone who cared that they both reveled in the responsibilities of leadership. The two of them lived in a cozy little apartment not far from the building they'd designated as the new Council offices.

"Why don't they play any Christmas songs?" Buffy demanded, interrupting his thoughts. She reached down to punch buttons on the stereo. "Come on, it's Christmas time - somebody's gotta be playing Christmas music!"

Angel turned his eyes from the road long enough to flash her a smile. "You're really into the holiday scene, aren't you? Don't worry, I'm sure all the songs you know and love will be blasting at full level for all the shoppers at the mall."

But Buffy kept switching the stations until she found one playing a remake of the old song "Jingle Bell Rock." Then she settled back against the leather seat in satisfaction, a triumphant smile on her face.

She'd been smiling a lot since they'd left London - even more since they'd moved into their house on the beach two weeks before. He supposed he'd been smiling a lot, too - there was just so much worth smiling about. Their house was ‘incredibly perfect', as Buffy put it, with its three bedrooms and big library. And the location on the seashore was just as Buffy had wanted it - it hadn't really mattered to him, but what made Buffy happy made him happy, and there was something to be said for long walks on the sand.........

This would be not only their first Christmas in the house, but their first Christmas together since that one in Sunnydale so long ago. They had so much lost time to make up for - the only thought that made that fact bearable was the hope that they would indeed make up for the ‘lost time' by doing everything together from now on.

Every day was a gift.

He reached out and caught her hand, squeezed it gently. He loved the feel of her hands - soft, calloused, tough, strong. Like her.

"I love you - dammit!" he snarled, swerving around the blue truck that suddenly dodged into his lane.

Buffy laughed. "Well, dammit, I love you, too. I'm glad we've got that all cleared up. But you still have to go to the mall."

Angel sighed dramatically. "You're very stubborn, Slayer."

"That's why you love me," she returned, then began to sing the words to "Jingle Bells" as it came on the radio.

She didn't know how right she was, Angel reflected.


 -


The gang was waiting for them at the mall's southern entrance, just as planned. Willow and Xander's sons Angel and Oz were busy playing tag among the crowds of people flowing in and out of the giant doors of the shopping mecca while their parents watched carefully but with tolerance.

"Is Xander wearing a Santa hat?" Angel asked incredulously as they neared.

"Yep," Buffy answered, suppressing a giggle. "I'm glad he's going with you and Giles."

Angel automatically began to shake his head. "No way."

"Hey guys, what kept you?" Xander asked, flashing them both a brilliant smile as they neared. "Check out the hat. Isn't it Santa-y?"

"Very," Buffy laughed.

"It was an early gift from the boys," Willow explained, looking just a tad bit embarrassed to be providing an excuse for her husband.

"I was just explaining to Xander that he can't wear that in the mall," Giles said, eyeing the businessman warily.

"I can too wear it in the mall," Xander returned. "Look - that guy's wearing a hat."

Giles glanced at the dark skinned man wearing a baseball cap into the mall. "You don't understand," he said with exaggerated patience. "A hat may be worn into the mall, but *you* may not wear *that* particular hat."

Xander glanced at him askance. "Why not?"

"Because it makes you look like an idiot, dear," Marianna said honestly. "Angel, Oz, let's go!" she called to the children.

For a moment Xander seemed to slip back into his cool businessman persona. "It does not make me look like an idiot," he told them all firmly.

Willow and Mari exchanged glances, then deliberately turned away from him and began to herd the two boys into the mall. For her part, Buffy glanced at her watch, said, "Meet you back here in two hours," and was fast on the heels of the two women.

"Well, looks like it's just us men," Xander announced, slinging an arm over Giles and Angel's shoulders.

As one Giles and Angel shrugged off his hold and entered the giant building, leaving him staring after them.

"Okay, guys, you win, I'm taking it off," Xander called. The pair halted and waited for him to catch up. "Grinches," he accused them easily. "Where are we going first?"


 -


"I can't believe it's Christmas time again," Marianna said, smiling up at the strands of lights hanging from the mall's dome ceiling. "Don't misunderstand me - I love Christmas, it's just that it feels like this past year has gone so fast. . ."

"I know what you mean," Willow agreed. Although she herself was Jewish, Xander was not and had insisted years ago that they follow the Santa Clause tradition. Thus the shopping trip. "This past year just flew by. Don't you think so, Buffy?'

Buffy shifted her bags to the other hand. "I guess

so."

"You guess so?" Marianna echoed, hearing the note of laughter in the Slayer's voice.

"I seemed like it was going pretty fast at first," she admitted, smiling. "But then......"

"Angel came back," Willow supplied. "And time suddenly stood still. That's so sweet!"

Buffy looked up from her bags, the smile on her face giving her away. A brown haired man happened to see her and smiled encouragingly back. Willow could have told the poor gut that the smile was reserved for one man in all the world, the man who held her heart.

"It's just that - well, I feel like one minute I was a teenager with a broken heart, and the next I was a woman who had everything she could ever want. Like there was nothing between the two. Does that make any sense?" Buffy asked, laughing at herself and her fumbling explanation.

"Perfectly," Willow answered. "I remember when -"

"Willow, I'm sorry to interrupt, but Buffy, I think I just saw a woman get pulled into that office against her will," Marianna said, suddenly halting in the middle of the mall.

"What? Where?" Buffy asked, looking around.

Marianna pointed. "Over there, the door that says ‘Mall Staff Only.'"

"I see it, it's by Sears," Willow said excitedly.

People parted and flowed around the trio like a human sea. Buffy handed her bags to Willow and pushed herself into the living tide.

"Where's Aunt Buffy going?" Oz asked, appearing at his mother's side with his brother only a step behind him.

Willow and Marianna exchanged glances. "I'll try to call Xander on his phone," Mari said, taking the bags from Willow's hands. "Go."

"Stay with Mari and be good or else I'll return your gifts," Willow told her boys before dashing after Buffy.

Although the witch had almost immediately followed her friend, the holiday shoppers were out in droves, and it took Willow a few precious minutes to cut through the crowd and reach the door. It was obvious Buffy had made it inside - the knob was lying on the floor. Willow put her shoulder to the door and pushed, ready for anything - except the door abruptly being shut against her.

She stumbled backwards into a mass of shoppers. The shoppers, two women and two men, asked her repeatedly if she were alright in multiple languages Willow had to insist that she was fine in both French and English before the people would let her go.

Again she rushed back to the door this time she simple spell-cast it open, prepared to jump out of the way if necessary. The sight that greeted her eyes sent her springing into action. Racing into the suite of offices, she snatched up a coat rack standing beside the doorway and yelled, "Hey, leave her alone!"

Two armor clad, sword wielding creatures turned away from Buffy and the fallen woman she stood over. Buffy's eyes fell on Willow, and the Slayer frantically began to shake her head.

"No, Will! Get Angel - they're Mora demons!"


 -


Three man raced through the mall, dodging around and pushing through the masses of holiday shoppers. Angel was in the lead but only by a few inches, Xander and Giles fast on his heels.

"Mari, we're by Dillards - do we go right or left?" Xander demanded of the phone at his ear. He pointed to the right and yelled, "Go right, right! We're coming, Mari, hang in there."

Angel pushed a middle aged man who was window shopping out of his way and ran on.


 -


In a flash the two demons returned their attention to Buffy who, without a weapon, somehow managed to stand her ground over the woman that lay unmoving behind her. "Stay back, Will!"

But Willow rushed forward and swung the coat rack at one of the demons. At the last instant the creature turned and neatly sliced her make-shift weapon in half so that Willow was forced to release it or have her hands cut off. Then, its attention caught, the demon advanced on her, swinging its sword first at her legs, then at her head.

"This is the last time I let Xander pick the day to go shopping," Willow muttered, backpedaling at a high speed even as she looked for a weapon. She spotted a heavy looking paperweight on the desk behind her. She turned, reaching for it, only to jerk her hand back an instant later as the demon's sword imbedded itself between her fingers and the paperweight.

"Leave her alone!" a voice said. Willow would have laughed for joy if one of the demon's armored hands wasn't choking the life out of her.

"Xander, watch out!" Buffy called in warning.

Willow couldn't turn her head, but suddenly the hand was gone from her throat and she could again draw breath. As she gasped for air her eyes turned towards Buffy, who now had Angel to help her fight off her demon.

The creature made a swipe at Angel with his sword amazingly at the last moment he managed to change his momentum and pull the blow. The flat of his weapon caught Buffy on the side of the head. Without a word she dropped to the floor.

So did Angel.

"This is so not good," Xander said as a white light filled the room.

Giles stood up from where he'd been crouched over the other demon. "Crush the jewel in it's head, Xander!"

Xander looked at him. "Huh?"

Willow picked up the paperweight. Stumbling forward, she made a dash at the demon. Surprised, it turned to attack her. She threw the paperweight, her aim true. The room was again enveloped with light.

Willow dropped to her knees beside the Slayer, gently tuning her over.

"Good God, he's out cold," Giles said, leaning over

Angel.

"Sissy," Xander returned, still slightly out of breath. "The demon didn't lay a hand on him."

"It's the spell," Willow told him. "The spell that keeps him human, the one that ties them together."

Angel abruptly groaned and put a hand to his head.

Buffy's eyes flickered and opened, gazed up at Willow blankly. "What happened?"

Giles gave Angel a hand up. "Amazing. The demon hit Buffy -"

"- And I passed out," Angel finished, sounding not at all pleased. "‘Amazing' would not have been the word I chose." He turned and saw Willow helping Buffy to her feet. In two strides he was at her side, looking carefully at the side of her head where she'd taken the blow. "How do you feel? Are you alright?"

Buffy pulled away from him, glanced at him askance. "I'm fine. How are you?"

Angel nodded. "Good. How many fingers am I holding

up?"

She looked at him as if he were crazy. "Three. Jeez, lighten up."

"She seems to be fine, Angel," Giles said dryly.

"Angel?" Buffy repeated, looking at the man standing before her. "Is that your real name?"

"Good one, Buff," Xander laughed, his humor restored.

And then Buffy looked at him, confusion clear on her face. "Who's ‘Buff'?"


 -


"Nothing?" Xander asked skeptically. "Not anything?"

The group stood in a small alcove between two stores. After handing over to the paramedics the unfortunate woman who had served as bait, Giles had fetched Marianna and the two boys from a nearby pretzel stand. Now Marianna stood before Buffy and gave her a quick examination, checking her pulse, the dilation of her eyes, her respiration rate among her many talents, Mari had briefly served as a nurse when she was younger.

Buffy gave Xander an annoyed look. "Look, buddy, if I say I don't remember anything, then I don't remember anything." She turned her gaze on Angel. "Is he always this annoying?"

"Hell, yes," Angel answered, laughing.

"Hey," Xander protested.

Mari turned to look at Giles. "She's got a big bruise on her head, but other than that she's fine. She'll probably get her memory back in a few minutes, maybe an hour. Just to be on the safe side, I wouldn't let her sleep for at least five hours."

"Oooh, I know a memory revival spell," Willow said excitedly.

"Down, Will," Xander said.

Giles slipped off his glasses, pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, and proceeded to wipe the lenses. "L-let's hold off on the spells for a while," he said easily. "No need to jump the

gun."

Oz, the older and more reflective of the two boys, looked up at Buffy with concern in his wide eyes. "Do you remember me, Aunt Buffy?"

Buffy looked down at him. Her eyes narrowed in concentration, but slowly she shook her head. "Sorry. I'm your aunt, you said? Who's sister am I?"

Oz pointed at Willow. "Mom's. But you're not her real sister, just her pretend one. Or something like that."

"Oh." Buffy smiled at Willow. "For a minute there I thought I was *his* sister," she said, nodding towards Xander.

"Scared?" Angel teased.

She turned a brilliant smile on him. "You know it."

"Again - hey," Xander protested.

"But why would Mora demons come here, now, to attack her?" Willow asked Giles. "Why in the middle of a mall?"

Giles shrugged. "I don't know. I suppose I can have the Council do a bit of research."

"Does this mean we're not having dinner now?" Angel jr. asked, retrieving his JC Penny's bag from the floor.

The Slayerettes looked at each other, each person waiting for someone else to answer.

Buffy was the one who answered. "Yes, yes we are. I'm starving. Anybody know any good restaurants?"

Giles slipped his glasses back on and returned the handkerchief to his pocket. "Actually, we have reservations at a place not too far from here."

"At Vinici Gardens," Willow added.

"Yum, Italian food," Buffy said, approval in her voice. "What smart person made the reservations?"

"That would have been you," Xander answered. "You're starting to remember things, aren't you?"

"Like I'd ever forget that Italian food's the best food on earth," the Slayer scoffed. She reached out and caught Angel by the hand. "Come on, lover - I'm starving."

She halted when she realized that event he two boys were staring at her. "What?" she asked, turning to look at Angel. "Oh god, you're not my brother, are you?"

Willow laughed nervously, and after a moment the other joined her.

"What are you laughing at?" Buffy asked defensively.

"The way you said that - you sounded like you were seventeen again," Giles answered her.

"So we're *not* related?" Buffy stressed, looking at Angel.

Angel shook his head, smiling. "Not at all."

She smiled, slowly letting her eyes travel down and back up to his face. "Lucky me."

"Okay, children present, enough of that," Xander cut in, but didn't sound too upset. At least this proved that she could remember something, although it was possible that she would forget how to breath before she would forget how to love Angel.


 -


Giles knew Buffy's memory lapse was going to be a problem the moment they sat down at the table and the waiter appeared with a wine list.

The group looked nervously at each other when Buffy accepted her copy of the list, smiling her thanks at the waiter. Their nervousness turned to borderline panic when she asked him was the house's specialty was.

The thing was, Buffy had a problem with alcohol - or she had until a few months ago when Angel had returned to her life. Before that, she'd used alcohol (among other things) as a way to escape from her solitude and memories - and it had worked, but with devastating effects. Since Angel had come back, she hadn't touched anything alcoholic, not even beer. And that was best for everyone involved, not least of all herself.

"Tell her," Willow whispered, nudging Angel.

Angel really didn't look all that thrilled with the idea of telling the Slayer what to do.

Xander frowned darkly at the ex-vampire and mouthed ‘Tell her'.

"Tell me what?" Buffy asked without glancing up from her menu.

"Um, you - don't drink," Angel stumbled, embarrassed.

She arched an eye at him. "I don't drink? Not anything? How do I survive?"

Her banter set him at ease. "You know what I mean. You always go non-alcoholic."

"Oh," she answered. "Do you?"

"Of course," he lied. Sometimes he had a glass of red wine, but she wouldn't remember that, would she?

Apparently not. She closed the list - a sign the waiter had obviously been waiting for, for he was at her side in an

instant.

"What can I get for you this evening?"

When she asked for a soda, the others sitting around the table were visibly relieved.

"So I must be an alcoholic," Buffy guessed after the waiter had departed.

"What does that mean?" Oz asked curiously.

"An alcoholic is someone who drinks too much alcohol and whose body can't handle it," Xander explained. "Which you aren't," he added to Buffy. He realized ruefully that that was only half true - she had drank too much, but her body had had no trouble handling it. That had been part of the problem - the fact that she could drink until she passed out and be fine in the morning.

"Then why don't I loosen up and have a beer?" the Slayer asked curiously. It was odd the way she was asking questions as if they were talking about someone else.

"Because it gives you a headache, dear," Marianna answered smoothly, so smoothly that it was a full minute before anyone realized that she had lied. The four pairs of adult eyes looked at her unbelievingly.

But Buffy did not notice, and when the waiter brought their drinks she smiled at him and winked, which set Angel on edge and made the others laugh, forgetting about the lie.


 -


Dinner was uneventful. The conversation revolved around what was happening in current affairs - somehow Buffy hadn't forgotten those particular facts, odd though it seemed, although she had forgotten why exactly she liked Italian food. She accepted Angel's advice and ordered eggplant parmigiana with spaghetti. When the meal was over she playfully teased him about how well he knew her.

"Makes me wonder what else you know about me," she laughed.

"Just about everything," he returned. For having taken a severe blow to the head, she was in an incredibly good mood.

For that matter, so was Angel. He felt no pain, not even a lingering stiffness from his sudden encounter with the floor. His spirits were high, buoyant even - he wondered if his connection to Buffy had something to do with it. Probably.

After dinner the group headed back into the mall where the holiday shoppers had yet to surrender. The two boys ran ahead while the adults watched them with a mixture of envy and disbelief.

"However do they manage to run like that after the amount of food they just consumed?" Giles wondered, shaking his head.

Hand in hand with Angel, Buffy laughed easily. "I could do that once. I bet you could, too," she teased, glancing up at the man beside her.

"That would have been a *long* time ago," Angel answered, smiling down at her.

She laughed. "That's not true. I know -" She stopped walking suddenly, and the smile faded from her face.

"What's wrong?" Angel asked, although he had a few guesses.

Buffy looked over to Willow, confusion clearly written on her face. "Do I have a daughter?"

Willow froze. Physically and mentally, every movement ceased.

Xander felt as if a hand had suddenly squeezed the breath out of his chest - he couldn't breath. A giant wad of cotton had been shoved down his throat, so he couldn't make a sound, either.

Buffy looked at Giles, saw the way he was looking at the floor. Her gaze switched back to Angel. "She's dead, isn't she,' she said calmly, so calmly that Angel knew she didn't remember anything else. Little Buff's death was one of those subjects that never crossed her lips.

So Angel merely nodded, kept his voice as calm as hers. "Yes," he said simply. It was amazing how much that one word covered.

Before more could be said, Oz and Angel ran up to Marianna and began to pull her down the mall.

"Come on, Mari, let's go ice-skating," Oz said

excitedly.

"It'll be fun!" Angel jr. cried, pulling her along.

"Oooh, that does sound fun," Buffy agreed. She caught Angel's hand, began to pull him after the children. "Come on, come

on!"

Willow and Xander stared after the pair, silent. Giles came to them, placed a hand on each of their shoulders.

"She truly doesn't remember, you know," the council head said gently. "She never, never would have said that otherwise."

"I know," Willow said, her voice rough. "She never talks about it, not even when I try -"

"She doesn't remember anything, does she?" Xander mumbled, sounding as if he'd just realized it. "Giles, what happens if she never remembers?"

Giles bent to pick up the bags Marianna had left behind. "She will," he answered. Neither Xander nor Willow heard the half-hidden uncertainty in his voice.


 -


"This was a good idea," Buffy said, taking Angel's hand as they slid out onto the ice. "Did I think of this too?"

Angel negotiated them around a couple that had fallen only a short space in front of them. "I think this was more a spur of the moment thing," he said, making an effort to keep his voice light. Her question of only a few minutes before had thrown him. "Planning meals is more your thing."

Beside him Buffy sighed. "I sound so boring."

That startled a laugh out of him. "How do you figure?"

She started to answer, then paused. Angel looked at her, thinking that she had perhaps remembered something else, but found that she was listening to something. He listened closely, but heard only a few chords of a Christmas song.

"Don't you recognize it?" Buffy asked. When he shook his head she said, "It's the Charlie Brown song. I love this song!"

"You don't remember what you like about Italian food, but you remember the Charlie Brown song?" Angel teased.

:Christmas time is here
Happiness and cheer
Time for all that children call
Their favorite time of year
:

She swung in front of him he automatically caught her around the waist, and she settled her arms around his neck.

"We've done this before, haven't we? Gone skating, I mean," she clarified, a dreamy quality in her voice.

Angel chanced to take his eyes off what was happening before them to glance down at her. "Once," he answered, remembering. "A long time ago."

:Snowflakes in the air
Carols everywhere
Olden times and ancient rhymes
Of love and dreams to share
:

"Tell me," she began, then paused for a moment. "Tell me," she began again, her voice soft, "do I love you?"

He tried to keep his tone light, tried to keep the fear out of it. "I certainly hope so."

She laughed softly. "And do you love me?"

Now he did look down at her, disregarding the danger. Her face was turned up towards him, curious her eyes were both bright and deep at the same time. The light played over her skin, lingered on her cheekbones and the curve of her lips.

He felt a swell of emotion somewhere in his chest. "I do," he said, his voice no longer light and easy. "I always have, since the very first moment I saw you, when you were just a girl without a chance of living through the year."

:Sleigh bells in the air
Beauty everywhere
Yuletide by the fireside
And joyful memories there
:

She smiled up at him, hardly more than a slight upturn of the lips. "Did you save me, then?"

He laid his forehead against hers for a moment it seemed as if they were alone - on the ice, in the rink, in the world. "I think it was the other way around."

:Christmas time is here
There'll be joy and cheer
Oh that we could always see
Such spirit through the year
:

"And have we been together forever?" she whispered. "Have we always known it was right?"

Angel was going to tell her exactly what she expected to hear, for in that moment, it was true. "Yes-"

Suddenly Buffy let out a squeak and dropped, releasing her clasped hands from around his neck but not fast enough, and in a moment Angel found himself sprawled on the ice, flat on his back.

"Omigod, I'm so sorry," a strange woman said, bending over him. "Are you okay?"

Angel blinked, squinted up at the woman with the dark hair and dark eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Slowly he sat up, rubbing the back of his head. God, that ice was hard. "Where's the woman I was with?" he asked, looking around.

"I'm here," Buffy answered for herself. She sat half sprawled on the ice only a few feet from him. A worried looking man knelt beside her, but she wasn't paying him much attention. She was too busy looking at Angel and rubbing the back of her head. "God, that ice is as hard as a rock," she grumbled, then noticed that he had started to laugh. "What?" she demanded, then began to laugh with him.

"You two are so weird," Xander commented, skating up to them. Willow was only a few paces behind him, but what she was doing in all honesty couldn't quite be called skating - it was more like walking with skates.

"Buffy, are you okay?" she asked, offering her friend a hand.

Buffy took it and slowly climbed to her feet. "I'll live."

Angel glanced at Xander.

"You'll live if she will," Xander said, then watched as Angel pulled himself to his feet without any help.

"Giles needs to speak with you about business," Willow explained, then looked pointedly at the man standing beside Buffy. "Now."

"Business?" Buffy echoed, clueless.

"Yes, business," Xander agreed. "Business about our friends that hate sharp-pointy-wooden things and have no tans."

"Oh," the Slayer said blankly.

"Come on," Angel said, taking her hand. "I'll explain as we go."


 -


Giles and Marianna were sitting at a table in the mall's fast food court. Marianna was keeping an eye on the two boys, who were playing tag among the groups of holiday shoppers, but Giles was staring down at the table, absently wiping the lenses of his glasses.

"The weird guy said you wanted to talk to me," Buffy said, sitting down across from the ex-librarian.

"What's wrong?" Angel added, taking the chair next to her. He recognized that something was amiss by the expression on Giles' face.

Slowly Giles slipped on his glasses. "Rosario has been killed."

Angel's eyes narrowed. "The Slayer in Argentina."

"Yes," Giles nodded. He glanced at Buffy. "Apparently she died about a month ago, but for some reason her watcher decided not to tell me."

"It's because of the whole thing with Wesley, isn't it?" Willow asked, appearing at the table. She sat down on the chair between Giles and Angel.

"I think it is," Mari agreed without looking away from the boys.

"Can someone please tell me what we're talking about?" Buffy asked.

"I think the watcher's reasons may include, as you say, ‘the whole Wesley thing,' but I think there may be other reasons as well," Giles said. "Whatever the reasons, a new Slayer was called. Council members found her in Arizona, in Phoenix. She was - living in difficult circumstances."

"Hey Alex, what are they talking about?" Buffy asked, nudging Xander.

"Don't call me that," Xander complained. "They're talking about the new Slayer. Remember, Angel explained what a Slayer is?"

Buffy frowned at him. "I thought I was the Slayer."

"You're one of them," Mari offered.

"Why do I think something's going on with the new girl," Angel said, looking to Giles.

Giles nodded. "Apparently she's - a bit difficult to deal with. Headstrong, short sighted, uncooperative. She grew up on the streets, as far as we've been able to gather."

"Sounds like Faith," Angel commented.

"Faith," Buffy echoed, an off note in her voice.

Giles looked to her. "Do you remember Faith?"

Buffy gazed blindly out at the waves of moving people passing from store to store. "Oh yes. I remember Faith," she said quietly, her lips set in a hard line.

Willow snorted. "And there are so many wonderful things about Faith to remember....." Her voice was heavy with sarcasm.

Buffy's gaze slid to her. "It wasn't all her fault," she said softly. "There were good things about her. She had a lot of potential."

"Are we talking about the same Faith here?" Xander asked skeptically.

Angel looked to Giles. "Bring the girl here," he told the Council head. "She can spend some time with Buffy and me. Maybe we can straighten her out."

"How old is she?" Willow asked.

"Older than usual," Giles answered. "Seventeen."

"What was I doing when I was seventeen?" Buffy asked them all suddenly. "Did I have a family? A normal life? Do you know?"

The group fell silent at that. Buffy glanced at each of them, but no one would meet her eyes.

Finally Giles looked to Willow. "You said you know a spell to return memory?"


 -


The great shopping trip was over. Willow knew that when Buffy got her memory back, she would be terribly disappointed and judge the idea a failure. But in Willow's eyes, it hadn't been a failure - it had actually been rather fun. Buffy hadn't seemed this content since she was sixteen, when she had Angel and was completely unsuspecting of what the next twenty-odd years held in store for her. And her good mood had effected everyone, even straight-laced Giles, who was currently playing follow the leader with the two boys.

"What's Buffy doing?" Xander asked, interrupting Willow's thoughts.

Willow looked to where he was pointing. Buffy was avidly talking with a horn player from the band preforming Christmas songs in the center of the mall. Angel was standing a little off to the side, pretending that the woman arguing with the band member was no relation to him.

Finally the horn player nodded and returned to his band members. Buffy walked over to Angel and linked her arm through his, a smug look on her face.

"Looks like she got what she wanted, whatever it was," Willow commented.

A moment later the band's lead singer activated his microphone and announced to the shoppers, "Folks, we've had a special request. This next song is one that should bring back memories - it's an oldie but a goodie." He signaled to the men and women behind him together they played a few disjointed notes, paused, then began to play the opening notes to an old Christmas song.

"Haven't heard this one in a while," Xander commented, sliding an arm around Willow's shoulders.

"Neither have I, and it's not because I'm Jewish," Willow agreed. Her glance slid back to Buffy and Angel. "Look, look! That's why she wanted that song. Oooh. They're so cute - I wish I had a camera!"


 -


Buffy walked back to Angel, planted herself in front of him. "I knew he'd give in," she said triumphantly. "I didn't even have to threaten him with physical violence."

Angel arched an eyebrow. "Must be your magnetic charm. You have a way with people."

"Do I have a way with you?" she asked, her voice suddenly serious.

He caught the change. He was silent for a moment his eyes locked with hers, and when the mini-orchestra started to play he hardly noticed. "Yes," he answered, his own voice low. "I'd say you do."

She smiled up at him. "Will you dance with me?" she asked, stretching out her hands.

"Of course," he said, not caring where they were or who was watching.

Her hand seemed absurdly fragile when she slipped it into his, and the pressure from her other hand on his shoulder was gentle but not hesitant. It took him a moment to realize that they were actually preforming a dance with prescribed steps.

"When did you learn how to waltz?" he asked in surprise.

She laughed quietly and laid her forehead beside her hand on his shoulder. "You tell me."

As the old song played on, Angel closed his eyes and thought about the first time he'd ever seen the woman in his arms, and all that had happened since then.


 -


When he heard the clapping, Angel's eyes snapped open. He realized that the music had stopped and a ring of shoppers had formed around him and Buffy while they were dancing.

Buffy. He looked down at the woman that stood before him, and she honestly met his gaze. Her eyes were not the way they had been a moment before - now they had shadows in them, and secrets, and bits of emptiness that flickered and flared deep within. But they were still bright for the most part - and the love was still there, as strong and clear as it ever had been.

"You guys are pretty good," Xander said, appearing next to them with Willow at his side.

"And we aren't the only ones who thought so," Willow added as she gestured to the people moving away.

"I think we should all go dancing," Buffy announced. "Wouldn't that be fun?"

"Perhaps another night," Giles said, joining the group. "Right now Willow needs to work that memory spell on you."

"No need," Buffy answered brightly. "I remember everything."

Xander and Willow exchanged glances. "Everything?" Xander asked with a remarkable degree of tact.

The Slayer looked up at the man beside her.

"Everything," Angel answered for her.

"How is that possible?" Willow asked.

"Who knows," Buffy said easily. "Maybe it was the music, or the dancing, or that fall on the ice. . ." She trailed off, slyly glancing up at Angel. "Maybe it was just a little Christmas charm."

Angel grinned down at her. "Anything's possible at Christmas time. It could even be snowing in Sunnydale."

The two smiled at each other. The others looked at each other in confusion, but neither Buffy nor Angel offered an explanation for their cryptic words.


The End

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