The Golden Queen Series:
The Golden Queen
by Damia

Chapter Nine

EARTH

Nimisha’s head was spinning, completely out of control. Black darkness surrounded her as she floated down an invisible corridor. She faintly recognised that people were talking somewhere, she could hear voices, all around her it seemed.

She thought she knew some of them....

Willow....Oz...Giles....Angel?

She smiled with that thought, wondering if this was just some wonderful dream where she was finally aloud to hear her beloved father’s voice.

Then as she felt herself being sucked back into consciousness, the memories returned. She cried out, knowing that her mother was going to be well and truly pissed at her for this one.

But there was something she knew she should be doing...something else. And why was there darkness?

Maybe I should try and open my eyes, she thought.

And she did.

Faces swam in her blurred vision and she moaned in pain. Her hand flew to her forehead, making sure for some horrible moment that her moon wasn’t uncovered, and clutched her head between her palms.

Nimisha felt two or more people place their hands on various parts of her body and gently try and sit her up. She moaned again, this time with the sudden movement, as she reached out behind her to steady herself even as she looked around and found that someone, Angel probably if Willow had anything to do with it (that thought made her smile) had picked her up and placed her unconscious form on the library table.

A face peered across at her and Nimisha had to rack her brain carefully before she recognised it as Xander. Anya wasn’t to far behind, although she looked as if she couldn’t be bothered if Nimisha died or not. Spike was standing behind them with Willow, watching her in concern.

“You okay, kid?” he asked and Nimisha bristled. She hated being referred to as a ‘kid’.

But she tried to smile for him, he looked generally concerned with her wellbeing. “Yeah, Xan. I’m fine.” She smiled sheepishly. “A little embarrassed, but i’ll live.”

Xander grinned broadly. “Hey, think nothing of it.” he told her. “I’ve been unconscious in this place *hundreds* of times!”

She laughed, seeing Giles disapproving look that the Watcher shot Xander for that piece of information. Information that she didn’t necessarily need to know.

But then Willow and Spike were pushing Xander out of the way, a look of deep concern on their faces as they studied her face. Nimisha smiled, shaking her head to tell them that she was fine.

Willow smiled in relief as Spike chuckled, finding the whole situation hilarious. Nimisha shot him a stern look and he backed off, going back to his seat of the stairs with a broad smile on his lips.

“You gave me a heart attack, Nimi.” Willow told the girl, giving her a quick hug. But when she pulled away Nimisha saw that her face looked troubled.

Remembering why, Nimisha quickly scanned the room and found Angel, Cordelia and Doyle standing off to the side, talking softly. They weren’t looking in her direction but Nimisha gasped when she saw Angel tense, seemingly noticing that someone was watching him, and turn his head to regard her.

Their eyes locked.

Nimisha gulping as she tried desperately not to grin or burst into tears. She gave him a little smile, as if to say hello, and Angel returned the gesture. But still the looked at each other, Nimisha unable to break the gaze. Finally, after Willow thumped her on the leg to get her attention, she sighed and regretfully looked away.

Angel didn’t know what the hell was happening. One minute they were walking through the library doors, fully expecting to see only the original members on the gang, plus Anya of course, but they get in there only to find a weird looking teenager sitting off to the side with *Spike* of all people. Oh, they knew that Spike was working with the Sunnydale group, had been of over four years now, but it was still a shock to see him having a civilised conversation with a human girl. Only to have her get one look at the three of them walking through the door and faint dead away on the floor.

She was a strange one, Angel decided, discreetly watching her talk to Willow across the room. He unconsciously blocked out what Doyle was saying to Cordelia and let his hooded eyes travel up her body from where she still sat - bare legs dangling off the side - on the study table.

His eyes locked on her face, opening wide when the took in the fine details of her eyes, lips and nose. She was incomparably beautiful, thats for sure. He watched her, unable to tear his eyes away from her enchanting face. He noticed her eyes were a startling shade of green, so like another person’s eyes he used to know...

He swallowed, thoughts of Buffy invading his mind unwantedly as he watched the girl laugh at something Xander said to her as he leaned behind Anya and leered friendly at her.

Who was she? Angel wondered. Never had he felt so strongly for someone he had only just met...if thats what you called it for he didn’t even know her name. Only Buffy had made him feel this way, but there was just something about this staggeringly beautiful girl that made Angel’s head spin. Made him want to get to know her better, know everything about her life, who she was....

Nimisha was the first one to notice Angel walking over to them, his hands stuffed nervously in his duster pockets and his eyes locked on her face, filled with curiosity. She gulped and flew her eyes around to meet Willow’s, the Witch freezing where she stood when she finally caught sight of the tall, dark Vampire walking slowly over to them.

Their conversation drifted off as Angel moved to stand before Nimisha, her legs stilling their swaying. She locked her eyes on his chest, trying desperately to get control of herself and not let her emotions run awry. For a horrible second Nimisha thought all she would have to do was lift her eyes to his and all her secrets would be at once public knowledge, her father instantly knowing the true meaning of their meeting and just who her mother was to him.

But knowing she had to, Nimisha slowly raised her head and met his dark eyes, only to find that his face was filled with concern.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice low and hypnotic.

Nimisha tried not to catch her breath with the sound of his voice...just what she had always thought it would sound like...and smiled brightly, pleased that he was concerned about her, even though they had only just met. “Yeah. Thanks, i’m fine.”

He looked relieved as the two of them fell into a awkward silence, Nimisha all to aware of Willow who stood just of to her side, tense and ready to jump in at any time if the conversation got to personal or difficult to explain. Nimisha was glad she was there, even if she bristled at first when she realised just why she was standing there. Did her and Oz think she was so stupid that she would let something slip? Nimisha surly hoped not because she didn’t intend to do anything of the sort.

Knowing she had to say something, Nimisha smiled brightly and held out her hand to Angel who had been painfully aware of the silence and was looking around the library - even though he had been there countless times over the past seven years - with bright attention.

“I’m Nimisha.” she told him, feeling her legs melt when he reached out and grasped her hand in return.

They both jumped.

Angel’s mouth fell open in shock with the sudden contact with her skin, feeling the sweat, innocent, *powerful* jolt that her hand had sent shooting through his body. He felt his head jerk up, eyes gluing on her face for any trace that she had felt it as well. But he found that she had masked her emotions well, the only hint that she too, had received the jolt was that he saw her visibly wince the moment their hands had touched. But then, quickly, she had covered it up.

Angel felt himself frown, realising that this girl just kept getting more suspicious, more strange the longer he knew her. Seeing how quickly she had masked her face, he knew she must have been doing that a lot to have gotten so good at it. Either through her entire life or just recently.

But he smiled for her benefit, noticing that she hadn’t picked up on where his thoughts now lay. “It’s nice to meet you Nimisha.” he replied.

“I’m Angel.”

Nimisha knew now what hell felt like.

She was living it this very moment.

He was here, finally. After 16 years of hoping, wishing, dreaming of the day where she would finally meet the legendry figure who had unbeknown to him held such a huge part in her life. The man of who her beloved mother Buffy and her would spend countless hours talking about, remembering, and envisioning for Nimisha’s entire life. And now, after totally humiliating herself in front of him and his two closest friends, she was facing him, talking to him...and she didn’t have a clue what to say.

But looking up into his darling dark face, Nimisha could see visibly as if they were painted straight onto his face, the feelings he felt towards Buffy. She smiled with that thought, seeing how proudly he wore them, how lovingly.

Nimisha knew he probably didn’t even know they were there himself. But she could see them as clear as the day.

And what she saw could have made her weep.

The love she found in his eyes astounded her. As she watched him watch her right back, Nimisha looked deep into his eyes, knowing she was seeing Buffy dance behind them, as she did every waking moment of Angel’s day. And of course, for many hours after that.

She was right there. Just inches from the surface, dancing with a beautiful smile on her face, her blonde hair flying around her shining face. The way Angel wanted to remember her....*had* to remember her. Now that she was gone....

Nimisha ripped her eyes away from his, unwilling for her father to see the sudden guilt that filled them. For she knew the only reason Buffy was not laying in his willing and loving arms right now was because of the Queen’s undying love for her, for her only child. For her body heir and only link she now had to Angel.

Nimisha didn’t like how that felt. But she knew it was the cold, hard truth. For she would always be a substitute for the dark Vampire with Buffy. She could remember clearly how many times as a child she had woken in the cold of the night only to find her mother sitting on the side of her bed, weeping silently into her hands as she had been gazing down at the sleeping child who looked so like her father. And Nimisha had always known Buffy was dying inside every day that passed without Angel by her side. But the truth was there was nothing a small child could do to ease her pain. Only gather the sobbing Slayer in her little arms and rock her as she cried for what she had lost, for the lives of the ones she loved beyond everything else who she was forced to abandon so her little baby could live the life she was destined to live, the life and luxury and pleasure.

The life without her father by her side.

“I’m Angel.” His words played through her mind time and time again before she fully understood what he had actually said to her. But seeing that he was looking down at her, a confused expression on his face for her lack of comment, Nimisha raised her head and smiled at him.

She had just started to open her mouth when Willow beat her to it.

“Hi, Angel.” she said, nudging Nimisha’s side.

< Hey! > Nimisha shot at her telepathically, knowing she could say whatever she wished and Willow could not answer her.

< Don’t worry, Will. They can’t hear me > she added when she caught sight of the Witch’s startled look as she heard the sudden voice in her head even as she learned over and gave Angel and warm hug in greeting. But Nimisha kept her face neutral, as if she was mearly watching two old friends reunite and was not having another one-way conversation with one of them in their heads.

< Were in deep karbeesh now, huh? > she said in a laughing voice as the two of them broke apart, her face not even twitching. < Don’t worry Willow. I won’t say a word and i’ll be on my best behaviour > Then, as if she couldn’t help herself, she opened the link to Oz and Spike as well and gave all of them a loud mental cheer.

< THAT”S MY DAD!! > she screamed happily in all their minds, trying not to laugh when she saw Oz suddenly choke on the cup of tea he was drinking while talking to Cordelia, Doyle and Anya. They looked at him oddly but he just smiled and Nimisha saw him mouth that it was hot.

Spike grinned broadly, shooting Giles a hard look when the Watcher stopped what he was doing and turned to look at him strangely, seemingly baffled at just why he was acting so happy.

Willow on the other hand had the most stupid smirk on her face, the Witch relaxing when she finally got over the initial shock of seeing him here and she realised that Nimisha wasn’t going to do anything drastic.

So maybe having Angel here wasn’t to bad, she thought, watching Nimisha’s beautiful face with a soft smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. The way the girl had been hanging onto every word Angel had said, the way her eyes were huge with emotion as she gazed up with shear adoration at the dark figure in front of her.

But then her and Angel separated and he returned to look down at the flushed girl, a confused look on his silent face.

“Oh!” Willow yelped, finally picking up on why he was confused. Both Nimisha and her father turned to look at her.

“Angel, Nimisha is my cousin.” she told the Vampire, trying not to wince when she saw Nimisha’s face fall slightly. She too, wished she could tell Angel just who Nimisha was to him.

“She’s staying with me and Oz for the rest of the week while her mother is overseas.” Then Willow turned to Nimisha, explaining things to the girl that she already knew off by heart but that would look odd to everyone else if she didn’t.

“Nimi, Angel was living here in Sunnydale a few years ago before moving to LA.”

Nimisha smirked, knowing what she was doing.

“He was a friend of Buffy’s.” Willow continued, having no idea what everyone’s reaction to what she just said was going to be.

The room when quiet as Angel’s head shot around to regard Willow with raised eyebrows, the same for Xander, Giles, Cordelia, Anya and Doyle. They all looked at her, stunned as she said that with no trace of the usual emotions she had with talking about Buffy. But seeing how their friend wasn’t about the burst into tears anytime soon as they saw her turn back to Nimisha, totally unaware of the effect she was having on everyone else, they turned to each other for an explanation

Xander looked at Giles. Cordelia looked at Doyle. Anya looked at Xander...

...And Angel looked down at Nimisha.

And that was when the door burst open.

All head turned towards the door just in time to see a flushed, and panting Sita burst through the door, searching the faces desperately for her young charge. Finding her across the room with Willow she let out a huge breath of relief and bent over to try and ease the stich in her side. Nimisha was just about to leap of the table and run over to her when Willow saw her attention and clamp a hand down on her upper arm to still her.

She shot an annoyed looked up at her mother’s closest friend but let it drop when she saw that Giles was already walking over to the tall brunette.

Of course, Nimisha thought. I can’t act like I know her because she’s meant to be a new teacher at the school.

Instead she settled just to watch Giles push his glasses up higher on his nose as he neared the panting woman.

“Miss Reijik?” Giles asked in surprise.

Sita raised her flushed brown head, noticing the Watcher for the first time. Her mouth fell open as she silently raked her eyes over each and every figure in the room.

Figures who were in turn, staring right back at her.

She blinked. But quickly getting in control of herself she eased her breathing back to normal and straightened. She smiled at Giles as she took his helping hand to steady herself.

“I was just down the hallway finishing off some work.” she told Giles and anyone else who was listening. But seeing the Watcher visibly relax Sita carried on. “I heard someone scream, so I thought i’d come and investigate.”

She shrugged her shoulders, as if the rest was obvious.

“Ah, yes.” Giles exclaimed, turning to Nimisha. “Nimisha here just got a fright and fainted. She’s alright now though.” he added when he saw the surprised look Sita shot Nimisha.

But Nimisha herself was trying to hide a smirk. < Calm down, Sita. I’m fine > she pathed to her close friend quickly.

< You gave me a heart attack, Nimi > Sita shot back in a stern voice. Then the blinked when she noticed Angel standing by her. < Who the hell is that? > she asked.

< It’s Angel > was Nimisha laughing reply. Sita started, her eyes turning to Willow when Giles started to offer her a cup of tea. Willow met her silent gaze - for she had been watching Nimisha face and had seen her eyes glaze over as she Pathed - and nodded her head slightly, not attracting attention. Sita opened the link suddenly to Willow, Oz and Spike, sending them all a mental groan.

< What the hell is *he* doing here? > Of course only Nimisha could answer, but Sita looked at all the faces and saw them all wince with the tone of her voice.

“Miss Reijik?” Giles asked, noticing that she had yet to comment on his suggestion of tea. She turned to him, confused, but then remembering what he was talking about she raised her eyebrows.

“Oh!” she yelped. “I’m terribly sorry, Mr Giles. I’ve been here too long.” She chuckled. “My mind doesn’t work probably at this time of night. Yes, tea would be lovely.”

He smiled, and turned towards his office. Delighted that someone new was willing to try his English delicacy. Seeing that he wasn’t watching her anymore Sita turned back towards Nimisha and Willow, trying to do it discreetly when she noticed Angel was watching her little charge when a frown on his face, as if he was trying to figure out a puzzle.

< Sita we don’t have a clue why he is here > Nimisha exclaimed, not bothering to wait for her to start. < But we are going to have to do something pretty quick >

< Why? > was Sita’s startled answer even as Willow, Oz and Spike simultaneously turned in Nimisha direction.

< Cause if you guys haven’t figured it out yet, that is Cordelia Chase over there by that wall > She continued even as she saw Willow grimace and Sita groan quietly as she picked up on what she was going on about.

< Yeah. I don’t know if she recognised me yet, but as everyone continues to tell me I have a unique looking face she it’s not gonna take her long. Sooner or later she going to realise i’m the girl who was looking through her windows a few days ago, and she gonna want to know why >

They broke the link as Giles came back with Sita’s tea. Nimisha brought her hand up to rub her forehead in pain, the Path taking more out of her than she realised. It was only meant to be a small gesture but Angel noticed it and looked down at her.

“You alright?” he asked, reaching down to touch her shoulder as Willow turned to her, hearing Angel’s question.

“Yeah, I must have hit my head harder than I thought.” Nimisha told her father, hating the lie as soon as if left her mouth. Angel smiled kindly and moved so he was leaning against the side of the table beside her. She tried not to look surprised at the movement as she scooted around so she was sitting crosslegged on the surface of the table and half in Angel’s direction. Seeing that they were only talking, Willow took a hint and quietly left them to it, going over to walk with Sita who was on her way over to Oz and Spike.

“So, how long have you been in Sunnydale?” Angel asked Nimisha in a warm voice, surprising himself at how much he wanted to talk to the girl. He usually wasn’t the most open person in the world, well not since Buffy died anyway. But here he was, sitting in Giles’ Library talking to the weirdest, kindest, oddest person he had ever met.

But what surprised him the most was the fact that he couldn’t get enough of hearing her talk, the sweet, angel like voice that flew from her mouth every time she took a breath.

He just wanted to talk and talk and talk.

Willow was frowning when she intercepted Sita and they both continued towards Oz and Spike who were still sitting on the far stairs. Both men were unusually silent, their heads tilted the side as they watched something across the room with mixed emotions on their faces. Oz looked worried, or as worried as his layed back face would allow. Spike on the other hand looked as if he had just won the lottery. He had a huge, smart-ass grin on his pale face, his eyes sparkling.

Both woman joined them, Spike reaching out and gently taking Sita’s tea cup out of her hands so she could sit down beside him. She shot him a bright smile of thanks as she got comfortable and he gave the cup back to her.

The group then all lifted their heads to gaze across the room in silence.

Nimisha was sitting crosslegged on the table, her long black hair falling down her back and the ends just touching the polished wood. She was fiddling with a loose tendril unconsciously as she looked across at her father seriously, soaking in everything he was saying.

Angel was leaning comfortable and relaxed against the side of the table, his legs straight with his long arms holding onto the sides on the table for balance. He was smiling for a change, his eyes glued on his daughter’s face as he talked. Disbite the fact that they barely knew each other, the were both totally engrossed in the conversation, Nimisha’s face so unusually calm while Angel’s so happy and bright.

Willow frowned, not taking her eyes off the beautiful pair. “Were gonna have to do something, guys.” she said quietly to the three people beside her. Who in turn hadn’t even breathed a word in the last four minutes.

Sighing, Willow went on. “They can’t stay there talking like that. Someone is going to look over soon and see how much they look like each other and start getting suspicious.”

This time they seemed to hear her, and as if breaking out of a spell they all shook their heads slightly.

“Jesus, Will.” Spike breathed in awe. “Would you just shut up for a bloody minute and *look* at them?”

Willow huffed, but doing as he asked, she turned and looked at Nimisha and her father, sitting there on the table, ignoring everyone else but themselves.

She blinked.

The similarities between them were amazing. The could have almost passed as twins if it wasn’t for the age difference. They both had the dark coloured hair, the same strong nose and pale skin. Even their eyebrows were similar, the strong arch on their powerful cheek bones reaching them so they curved exquisitely. Only their eyes were different. Nimisha’s so bright and alive like her mother’s, the jade colouring making her look somewhat like a gypsy they were so startling. While Angel’s were a dark brown, hooded and deep, just like his soul. Willow had no doubt that Angel was getting more and more confused as the minutes ticked by as to where he had seen the exact same eyes before.

Willow groaned. “Come on, guys. They can’t sit so close together like that!” she hissed, getting worried that either Cordelia or Doyle would stop their conversation long enough to spare their friend more than short, confused looks as to why he was talking in such depth to the girl and actually *look* at the pair and notice that things just weren’t right.

Oz sighed, knowing Willow was right. As so, together the four friends got up and walked over to the two dark Warriors, wishing they didn’t have to disrupt their first meeting in 16 years.

Nimisha smiled at his question.

“Just a few days.” she answered, trying to keep to the story Willow, Oz and her and been sticking to. “It’s a pretty nice place actually.” she continued and Angel grinned.

“Your dead bored?” he guessed and Nimisha laughed.

“Willow’s been taking me shopping quiet a lot, so thats okay.” she told him, chuckling when his eyebrows shot up. “Willow? Shopping?” he asked in a disbelieving tone and Nimisha giggled.

“She said Cordelia got her into it.”

Angel’s smile twitched, as if it all made sense now why Cordelia had always insisted the Witch come shopping with her. He looked down, his smile disappearing. Nimisha winced, knowing she shouldn’t have said that, but reached out and touched her father’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry.” she whispered and he slowly raised his head again. “You really miss her, dont you?” she asked, feeling terrible for she was indirectly responsible for making him feel as bad as he did.

“How much did Willow tell you?” he asked in a low voice, but Nimisha could tell he was very surprised that she knew as much as she did.

Nimisha bit her lip, trying to decide how much to reveal. “Just that she was Willow’s best friend and that she loved you. And that one day she disappeared and no one ever saw her again.”

Angel sighed. “Well, thats the cliffs-notes version of it, I guess.” He let out a deep breath and turned to her, a small smile on his face again.

“But enough sad talk, how about me and you go on a delayed tour of Sunnydale tomorrow night? I could show you all the sights.”

Nimisha’s mouth fell open.

But she couldn’t help herself and her face broke out into a stunning smile as she nodded her head vigorously. “That’ll be great!” she told him, grinning like a fool as Angel smiled back.

Well, Nimisha thought. If i’m going back to Allrelen soon, this might be the only chance i’ll have to spend some time with him. Her mother couldn’t be mad at her for that, could she?

But then the girl’s smile drained off her face as she caught sight of Willow and the others getting up from their seats and walking over to them. Looking at all their faces in turn she could tell they weren’t very happy and that they didn’t want to have to butt in, so Nimisha didn’t feel to bad.

They came to stand in front of Nimisha and Angel. “Well, Nimi.” Willow started. “Time for us to be heading home, let Angel and the others talk to Giles like they came here to do.” She had a bright smile on her face to mask her words. Looking over her shoulder Nimisha saw Sita standing with Spike.

Willow followed her gaze and noticed how strange it would look if the new teacher left with them. “Where giving miss Reijik a ride home, she walked here and didn’t really wish to walk home in the dark.” the Witch thought up quickly.

And with that, she reached down and gathered Nimisha’s hands in her’s and gently eased her off the table top. Once she was standing on her own two feet again, Nimisha turned to her father and - surprising not only herself but everyone else - she reached out and let him gather her in a hug. They stayed like that for a while, Nimisha somehow comforted by the lack of heart beat in Angel’s chest before breaking apart.

They smiled at each other. “See you tomorrow?” Angel asked and Nimisha grinned. She nodded her head. The next thing she knew Willow was pulling her out of the library.

As she neared the swinging doors, Nimisha turned her head back and the last thing she saw before being pulled through was Angel’s smiling face, his eyes still watching her leave.

The Next Night...

Day 5

“So, what did you think?” Angel asked Nimisha with a lopsided grin on his face. They crept through a dark, dirty alleyway towards The Bronze, Angel having just giving Nimisha the grand tour of the Sunnydale Campus that Willow, Oz and even Buffy briefly had attended. Actually Nimisha had been meaning to go there since she first arrived in Sunnydale but between Sita’s arrival, school work and her new friends she hadn’t had time.

It had been bigger than Nimisha had originally thought it would have been, and hadn’t bothered to hide her surprise from her father as they had entered the main gates. Angel had laughed, telling her Buffy had the exact same reaction.

Actually, the pair had spoken of Buffy quiet a lot this evening, much to Angel’s surprise. But he found that the girl was such a good listener, he felt as if he could tell her anything. So, with Nimisha listening more intently than he could have ever imagined, Angel told her about some of his and Buffy adventures - leaving out the Vampires and Demon parts of course, for he didn’t know Nimisha knew of those things - and she had loved it. Her whole life Buffy had been telling her the same stories of course, but to hear them from Angel’s side, his views and perspective’s, was just amazing.

“I think the music of this place gets worse the more I come here.” Nimisha said tartly. “It’s horrible.”

Angel laughed.

“Buffy used to drag me here all the time when her and the other’s were still in high school.” Angel told her, smiling softly with the memory. Nimisha remained silent, so silent in fact that Angel looked over at her and found the girl looking down at the ground, a sad look on her face. Angel frowned, she had been having that look quite often tonight, even if she didn’t realise he knew. And she seemed to get it whenever they talked of Buffy...

“Where are the other’s meeting us?” Nimisha suddenly cut in, and Angel had the sudden strange feeling that she knew just what he had been thinking. But he nodded anyway, and told her, “At the Bronze, we have to go patrol...er, do some stuff afterwards.”

He watched her let that sink in, waiting for her to say something about where they would be going. But to his surprise, Nimisha only nodded, as if she hadn’t expected anything else. Angel tried to shake of a feeling to total deja vu.

But instead he turned his head slightly to watch her as he had been doing so often tonight as Cordelia had asked him to do when her and Doyle had discovered he was showing her around town tonight. She hadn’t said why to either him or Doyle but Cordelia had been quite adamant that he would have to watch her, she would tell him why when he got back.

And so, he watched her.

She was dressed in a comfortable pair of dark blue Levi jeans and a white muslin t-shirt with long sleaves. Her hair was up, fixed in a odd style Angel had never seen before. The top layer was done in tiny little plaits and the rest was piled up on the top of her head in a loose, elaborate coiffure that reminded Angel of 18th century France. But as he looked closer he found that the when her hair had been put up all the tiny plaits had mixed and threaded their way through her black hair and in turn, helped it stay up. Even though when it was finished it looked rather innocent and simple, Angel thought it looked beautiful with her regal face, it made her look extremely exotic.

But as they walked in silence through the deserted alleyway, stepping over trash cans, a figure stepped out from the shadows, her hands folded across her chest and her legs planted firmly on the ground.

They both stopped abruptly, their eyes opening wide as they both recognised the girl in front of them.

“Now, what a surprise to find you two together in Sunnydale.” Faith told them, smiling as they were forced to stop as she now stood right in front of them.

“Faith?” Both Angel and Nimisha said at the same time, their mouths handing open in surprise to see Buffy’s sister Slayer standing in the alleyway with them. But even as Nimisha just continued to gawk at the dark haired girl, Angel clicked at what she had said and turned to looked at her, frowning in confusion.

“How do you know Faith?” he asked, suddenly thinking that this girl might not be as perfect as she seemed to be.

Nimisha gulped, her eyes flitting from Faith’s towards her father’s, not knowing what to say to that one.

But it was Faith herself who saved the day. “It’s okay, Angel.” she told the sputtering Vampire, walking up to them and laying a calming hand on his arm. “Me and Nimisha go way back.”

Nimisha gaped at the girl as Faith turned and winked at her, smiling broadly. But then the younger Slayer turned back towards Angel and said in a low voice, “Angel can you get lost for a few minutes so I can talk to Nimisha here?”

Angel sent Nimisha a look of his own, but seeing she was surprised as he was, he sighed and nodded his head. Turning back to Faith he told her, “Five minutes then i’m coming looking for you, is that clear?” he looked sternly down at the brunette Slayer.

“Then your going to tell me why your not in jail where you were two months ago when I came to visit.” He cocked his head. “Are the cops looking for you?” he asked, but Faith only shook her head.

“You said five minutes, Angel. And i’m not starting counting until your ass is behind that corner over there.” She pointed towards the far pathway leading towards the Bronze door.

He sighed and looked at his daughter, his eyebrows raised in a silent question. Nimisha halted for a moment then knowing she could take Faith down anytime she wished if the girl suddenly decided Nimisha wasn’t friend material after all, she nodded at Angel, telling him everything was okay.

Angel still didn’t look okay with the situation but without looking back he turned around and walked into the shadows.

The two girls watched his back until he was out of sight. Then silently, they both turned to stare at one another. Faith was grinning from ear to ear, looking like she was having the time of her life, totally ignoring the fact that Nimisha was ready and capable on kicking her Slayer ass back to LA.

Nimisha on the other hand was furious. And she didn’t mind letting Faith know it.

“Why the *hell* did you have to go do that for!?” Nimisha screeched, waving her hands in the air in a frustrated gesture. She saw Faith’s smile fault for a moment, as if she was suddenly wondering if confronting Buffy’s daughter was such a good idea after all.

Nimisha turned on her. “Do you have any idea what you might have done?” she yelled, bringing her hands down to rest them on her hips. “You might have just blown the cover that took us three bloody days to think up!”

Nimisha was so angry she totally forgot to watch her eyes, which when she thought of all the time they had wasted if Faith blew their cover, started to flash a bright yellow. Faith had been watching her the entire time she was yelling, leaning up against the side of the dark building with her hands crossed across her chest, cocking her dark head to the side and listening to everything she was saying. But the minute Faith saw Nimisha eyes start to flash she was off the wall in an instant and had the teenager in a throat hold in a matter of seconds. But Nimisha surprised her and didn’t cry out. Faith thought it was almost as if she had been expecting her to do that all along. But bringing her head down close to Nimisha’s so that they were eye to eye, Faith stared into cool, jade glass and narrowed her own eyes.

“And i’m sure that’s got nothing to do it?” Faith asked in a low voice, relaxing the hold on Nimisha’s neck when she saw that the girl wasn’t even going to struggle. When Nimisha didn’t answer her, Faith let her go completely and took a step back, watching the beautiful, dark girl wearily.

Nimisha just stood there, her eyes back to their natural colour and were narrowed slits as she looked coolly at her mother’s replacement without even batting an eyelid. She was totally calm, her powerful legs ready to crush Faith’s chest if the need be.

And Faith was not foolish enough to doubt that she could in a matter of seconds.

“So?” Nimisha snapped in a crisp voice. “What are you doing here in Sunnydale?”

Faith grinned suddenly, as if forgetting the danger she was in if she angered the powerful girl in front of her. “Are you kidding?” she asked, ignoring Nimisha growl of warning and started to pace back and forth.

“I’ve been having these really weird dreams lately.” Faith told Nimisha, deciding the sarcastic path may not really be the safest. “Dream about Buffy.” she continued, smiling when she saw the flicker of doubt in Nimisha’s eyes as she heard her.

“Then a few nights ago I was asleep in my cell - lovely places by the way - when I wake up to find these two weird looking, golden people standing by my bed.”

She cut off when she noticed the surprised look on Nimisha’s face. She looked confused as she stood there, watching Faith pace back and forth across the dirty alleyway floor.

“Sati and Jadis?” she muttered to herself and Faith shot her a startled look.

“You on a first name basses then?” she asked, her eyebrows raised. When Nimisha nodded, she whistled.

“Wow. That’s a thing you don’t see every day.” Faith exclaimed.

Nimisha frowned. “I’ve known them since I was child, why shouldn’t I be on a first name basses?” she asked, a bit annoyed with Sati and Jadis herself for not informing her of what they were doing.

Faith just held up her hands in a gesture of peace. “Hey, i’m not saying a word.” She licked her lips. “So, anyway they’re standing in my cell, creeping the hell out of me when I suddenly realise their Angel’s Oracle people that he keeps telling me about. Then the next thing I know i’m not in my cell at all but standing on the grass outside the police station with them telling me to get my ass into gear and get to Sunnydale cause i’m gonna be needed or something.”

Faith shrugged and spread her arms, telling Nimisha that the rest was history.

Nimisha looked at her intently. “Then i’m to believe that you know who I am then?”

Faith laughed, but it was a kind sort, and stopped her pacing. Turning so they both faced each other, Faith cocked her head and smiled gently.

“Your B’s kid.” she told Nimisha, grinning when the girl rolled her eyes in frustration. “Is their anyone who doesn’t know that?” Nimisha breathed. “Mama is gonna be pissed as it is with Spike knowing, now you...” Nimisha sighed.

Faith laughed again and walked over to Nimisha. Reaching out she touched Nimisha’s forearm and gave it a warm rub. “It’s gonna be fine, kiddo. You leave your mom to me.”

They both smiled slightly. “So your not gonna kill me?” Faith asked and Nimisha burst out laughing, surprising the older girl.

“Kill you?” she asked. “Mama would *kill* me!”

They both stopped laughing, falling into a comfortable silence until Nimisha asked her new friend, “Sati and Jadis didn’t say why you would be need, did they?” But Faith only shook her head, saying no they didn’t.

Nimisha shrugged her shoulders in a ‘oh, well’ gesture and Faith told her, “But I bet it’s sorta the same reason you daddy dearest is suddenly in town.”

Nimisha nodded, agreeing, as they both walked over and took a seat on a crate that was sitting on the side of the alleyway. When they got there Nimisha turned her head to look at Faith, who was wrapping her leather jacket around herself and rubbing her hands on her leather pants.

“What are you going to tell everyone about you being here?” Nimisha asked, hoping she wouldn’t decided to blow their cover completely. Faith seemed to know what she was thinking and her head snapped around in surprise.

“You mean, am I gonna tell everyone about your mom, you mean?”

Nimisha bit her lip, knowing she was being shallow. But Faith only sighed and put her arm around the girl’s shoulder. “Nimi, i’ve done a lot of things in my life that i’m not proud of, most of which you probably know about with Buffy being you mom, but your dad’s being helping me a lot, so has Cordelia and the others.” She turned to look into Nimisha’s eyes with a small smile. “This is going to be the first thing I do right, I’ll tell you that.”

She shrugged her shoulders and looked down at her clothes. “I’m done with the whole bad girl look, anyway.” she told Nimisha, who was smiling kindly at her, always knowing just like her mother had that Faith was a good soul deep down.

“So if the Oracles think that i’m good enough to have on the home team again that’s just what i’m going to tell Angel. That the Oracles got me out of jail to come here for a reason I wouldn’t have a bloody clue.” She smiled across at Nimisha and gave the other dark haired girl a warm hug.

“Your mom is going to be proud of me again if it’s the last thing I do.”

But then they saw Angel walking towards them and they quickly changed the conversation, knowing Angel wasn’t ready to hear what they were saying. Nimisha raised her head to say hello but the word died on her red lips as she looked over Angel’s shoulder and saw Giles, Willow, Oz, Xander, Anya and Spike walking up behind him.

“Hello, Faith.” Giles smiled at the dark haired Slayer politely and Faith smiled back, taking her arm off Nimisha’s shoulder to stand on her feet. Nimisha knew everyone was looking at her, wondering just how Willow’s cousin knew the Slayer. But as if Faith knew what they were thinking, she reached down and offered Nimisha her hand, which she took. Hauling the younger girl to her feet Faith turned towards everyone and told them,

“What? You guys wanna know how we know each other?” Giles nodded, and Nimisha saw that Willow was biting her lip while Oz looked incredibly worried.

“Willow and Nimisha here came to visit me in LA last week while Willow was there picking Nimi up from LAX.”

Nimisha could have laughed out loud at the relieved looks that flashed across Willow and Oz’s faces with that lie. It was quite clever actually, with Faith only having a few minutes to think it up.

Even Giles looked relieved. “Yes, well.” He sputtered, pushing up his glasses. “That’s very well, but we need to talk about just why your here.”

Angel firmly second that with a nod of his head.

“Well!” Willow said a bit to brightly for Nimisha liking. “That’s our cue to leave, don’t you think Oz?” she asked her boyfriend, who nodded his head vigorously. Then without waiting for her to disagree Spike walked over and firmly latched his large hand over her arm, pulling her away from Angel and Faith.

She rolled her eyes at their protectiveness, but turned around just in time to give Faith and wave before she disappeared into the shadows.

The Next Morning...

Day Six.

The sun was bright and heavy in the middle of the sky, blanketed by a vast blue nothingness that stretched on forever, surrounded by fluffy white clouds. Lying back on the grass Nimisha couldn’t stop looking up at the sky. The endless, beautiful blue sky that warmed her pale face as she smiled and closed her eyes in pleasure.

It was Saturday and Nimisha was taking full advantage of the holiday by relaxing by herself on the hills just behind Angel’s mansion. The same ones where he had almost given himself up to the rising sun gods years before, only to have the sudden snow save his life. Nimisha winced, thinking of the consequences that may have come to pass if the Powers hadn’t intervened and gave her father a second chance.

Unsettled with that thought, Nimisha pattered her firm belly that could be seen for she wore a baby blue halter top and a faded pair of short jeans shorts of Willow’s. It was just to hot to wear anything else. Sighing, Nimisha knew it was times like these that she wished she could just cut all her hair off, but after Willow’s reaction to that comment this morning at breakfast, Nimisha knew her mother would have a fit. So to compromise, Willow had helped her put the thick, black mass into two long plaits that fell down either side of her neck.

She grinned up at the sky, her eyes closed as she felt herself slipping away...

“Sasha?”

A voice broke into her train of thoughts and Nimisha gave a startled cry. She shot up into a sitting position and looked around for the owner of the voice. But seeing Ash walking up the side of the hill she raised her eyebrows in surprise. It seemed everyone was feeling the heat today for Ash had on a thin green T-shirt and white board shorts. Nimisha tried not to grin, he looked incomparably wonderful in casual wear.

But not wanting to scare him off, Nimisha tried not to show her nervousness while she shielded her eyes from the sun with one hand and gave Ash a little wave with the other. She saw him smile broadly with her reaction, probably thinking that she was going to run off again. Silently, Nimisha watched the dark haired boy reach her and take a seat on the grass beside her.

They didn’t talk, only continued to look out onto the peaceful town of Sunnydale and at the darting birds that flew in the sky. Both of them staring in awe at the small planet’s beauty and how different it was from the places they called home.

Nimisha could tell the boy sitting beside her was nervous, the way he sat there, perfectly still was proof of that. “I’m sorry for ditching you like that the other day, Ash.” Nimisha told him, shrugging when she saw him flinch in surprise.

“I don’t know why I did it, I swear..” But whatever she was going to say was cut off as Ash turned towards her with a lopsided smile edged on his dark face.

Nimisha stared. She hadn’t actually noticed how good looking he was before at the Bronze, but now she couldn’t tear her eyes of his face. His strange blue eyes were sparkling in the sun, looking down at her with what Nimisha could only interpret as possessive longing. She smiled up at him, her green eyes flitting over his strong jaw bones and proud forehead. But surprising herself, she reached out a shaking hand and ran her soft fingers down the side of his face slowly and came to rest them on his smooth chin.

She looked across at her fingers as if she had never seen them before, looking with fascination how her smooth, pale hand stood out with his darker one. She slowly raised her eyes, locking them with his, only to find Ash watching her intently, his blue eyes unreadable.

Nimisha looked down shyly, not knowing what had come over her. But she felt Ash lift and reach out a hand, put it on her bare arm and slowly make his way up towards her beautiful face.

Ash was flying. As he watched the stunning little mystery in front of him look down at his travelling hand, he was struck by how beautiful she was, how innocent. It was if she had never been in this situation before. The way her sea-green eyes lit up when he touched her, the nervous way her lips had twitched as his hand moved...Ash knew he would never let her go.

They were both silent as his hand travelled up her arm, across her collarbone and up her smooth neck. He let it rest under her chin, pushing slightly to raise her head. Her eyes were still cast down shyly even as her head was pointed upwards. He chuckled at her innocence, reaching out to lightly tap her nose to get her attention.

Her green eyes flashed as they flew up to meet his, and Ash laughed with her response. It was how his mother had got his attention as a child countless times. But then, as if she suddenly remembered what she was doing, Nimisha lost her smile and looked down again.

Ash frowned, seeing her body go still and the tears that fell from her green eyes. “Sasha?” he asked. “You okay?”

Nimisha sniffled, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand as they both sat on the tall, sunny hill behind the building where her father was probably sleeping, dreaming of her mother. “Ash, I can’t do this.” she whispered, not looking up at his face.

He inclined his head to the side, watching her with a small smile on his dark face. “Why ever not?” he asked her.

Nimisha sighed in frustration, raising her head finally to look steadily at him. She waved her hands in the air, “Ash, i’ve got a *boyfriend*.” she said in a frustrated voice, wincing when she noticed him go still out of the corner of her eye.

He didn’t say a word so Nimisha took the opportunity to charge ahead. She swallowed and played with one of the thick plaits that had fallen over her shoulder.

“I’m going to break if off anyway.” Nimisha explained in a soft voice, not wanting to hurt Ash any further. “It wouldn’t be fair to Thian, not after this...” she broke off and sighed again.

“What I feel for you is so *different* from what I thought I felt for Thian.” She looked across her him. “How can I continue to have a relationship with someone when I know there is something better?” she asked, smiling slightly when Ash finally turned his head to watch her try and explain. His face was blank, what he was feeling so carefully hidden inside him that Nimisha was stuck at the similarities between Ash and her father.

Then she saw him reach out a hand and take one of her’s in his own, squeezing encrouagingly.

But still he didn’t say a word.

“I’m leaving soon anyway.” Nimisha carried on, wishing with all her heart that she could stay on Earth longer than a few weeks. She breathed out a frustrated breath of air and raised her eyes towards the heavens.

“So there’s no point of getting into something serious...” she lowered her head and looked at him, raising her black eyebrows. “...and i’m telling you that this could be serious if we let it.”

She shrugged. “There’s no point when i’m going to be leaving soon. We’ll only get hurt.” She broke off, dreading what his reaction was going to be.

But Ash only burst out laughing. She shot her head around to stare at him, her mouth falling open in surprise.

But still Ash continued to laugh, leaning over her to put both hands on the sides of her face. He stopped laughing, but Nimisha noticed that he still had a smart-ass grin planted on his lips as he bent down over her and gently kissed her on the lips.

His voice was husky as he whispered, “Honey, we have all the time in the world.”

And with that, the prince of the greatest Vanquisher alliance in the galaxy latched his hands around Nimisha’s waist tightly and pushed her down to lay on the grass. Leaning over her, Ash looked at her face intently, running his hand gently over her smiling lips and up her slanted check bones. One hand played in her hair, bringing one thick plait up to admire its texture in the sunlight.

“Such beauty...” Nimisha heard him murmur and she grinned. He saw her smile, and returned the gesture. They locked eyes, silent until Nimisha whispered.

“I barely know you...” She said it lightly, laughing softly. Ash made no reply, only leaned on her fully and rested his head in the crock of her shoulder, idly unplaiting the braid he still held in his hand.

They stayed like that for a moment. Both feeling content and safe for the first time in days. But then Ash raised his head, leaning most of his weight on an elbow which he planted on the grass beside Nimisha’s face. He wasn’t smiling this time, she saw as she watched him. But without talking, Nimisha sensed the mood change and she looked into his eye with curiosity. A smile tugged on the corner of his mouth as he gently lowered his head and their lips meet, Nimisha closing her eyes as all thoughts fled her mind.

They forgot everyone but themselves as two of the most important beings in the galaxy ignored their destiny, forgot their quests and troubles...as they fell into each other.

And off to the side, hidden by thick bushes that made him invisible to the naked eye, Zanial watched to pair. His face blank, dark and unreadable...and he knew the time for action had come.

Meanwhile inside the mansion....

Cordelia yawned, wiping the sleep out of her eyes as she padded down the huge, *cold* corridor and into the room that Angel swore was a dining room. Cordelia looked around with a grin on her face, if you asked her it was more like a hall.

But she only shrugged, it being to early in the morning for detailed thoughts for Cordelia’s sleep filled brain as she wrapped her dressing gown around her body more firmly and stepped further into the room. Doyle and Angel were already there, Doyle stuffing his face with what Cordelia could only hope were pancakes while Angel stood in the kitchen, off to the side so he was out of the sun, an apron around his waist and a flipper in his hands as he expertly fried the frying pan’s contents to a proverbial crisp.

They both saw her at the same time, Angel giving her a warm smile and Doyle raising his fork in greeting. She looked down at him in disgust. There were times when he reminded her so much of Xander.

“Uhh, that’s disgusting.” Cordelia told her boyfriend as she flopped herself into one of the table’s chairs and sighed.

Doyle stopped his eating and looked up at her. “Hey! I’m eating the stuff, aren’t I?” he complained. “If I like it, then you got nothing to worry about.” He grinned when he noticed her turn slightly green.

But then Angel was coming out of the kitchen - careful to step in the shadows - with a plate of his own. He saw her sitting down and offered her some. But Cordelia only screwed her face up and waved him away.

“No thank you. I, for a fact, respect my skin enough not to drown it in oil!”

Angel only grinned, not expecting her to doing anything else with his offer of food. But then Cordelia was looking at him so strangely that Angel stopped in mid chew. “What?” he asked, confused.

Cordelia sighed in annoyance. “How did it go last night? Did you get anymore out of Faith as to why she’s here?”

Angel only shrugged as he put his fork down to give his friends full attention. Doyle did the same. “She swore she didn’t know anything else.” Angel explained. “Just that the Oracles got her out of jail and said to get down here for she would be needed.”

Cordelia frowned. “Well, they’ve taken the cryptic award this time, haven’t they?” she raged. “I mean, if they want us to do a good job then it wouldn’t kill them to give us some more freak’n info once in a while, would it?”

They had nothing to say to that, so Doyle and Angel went back to their breakfast.

“Did you watch that girl like I asked, Angel?” Cordelia suddenly put in and Angel looked at her in surprise.

“Yeah, I did.” he replied slowly. “Although I don’t see what can be so wrong with her, Cordy. She’s actually really nice.”

Cordelia only rolled her eyes skyward. “Have you guys completely lost it?” she asked in a loud voice, getting up from her chair to pace the floor.

They both only shot her baffled looks which only made her screech in frustration. “Have you both forgotten the meaning were all here in Sunnydale in the first place?”

They both just stared.

Sighing in annoyance at her stupid companions, Cordelia muttered, “Oh, what the hell.” before explaining, “She’s the girl from the office, you guys. The black haired chick that was looking in the windows and asking questions about Buffy!”

They both blinked.

“Your kidding.” Angel said in a stunned voice as he suddenly dropped his fork in his pancakes, causing strawberry syrup to splash onto the table. Cordy grimaced and looked at him gently, seeing that he had really taken a shine to the girl.

“Yeah, you guys. I’m positive. Didn’t you see her reaction when she first saw us in the library? I mean, she was so surprised she fainted for Christs sake!”

Angel looked down at the table, picturing the beautiful girl as they walked through the Campus the night before, the way she smiled with such brilliance, such innocence....

“I don’t think she anything evil, Cordy.” Angel told her, looking up when she gave a cry of surprise.

She had her hands firmly latched onto her hips, her eyes flashing in anger and she stopped her pacing and turned on him. “Come one, Angel! Why would she be asking questions about Buffy then?” Then she saw his wounded look and softened. “I don’t want her to be evil either, my friend. That girl could make millions on the cat walks, but it’s just to much a coincidence that she’s here at the same time as us and Faith.”

Doyle had been silent throughout the exchange but he sudden spoke up, “I think you guys are forgetting something here.” They both turned to regard him. “Isn’t she Willow cousin?”

“Oh, please!” Cordelia huffed in disgust. “With Willow having red hair and her’s black? I don’t think so.”

Angel frowned. “Well, my brother had red hair.” he told her, grinning when she shot him a betrayed look.

He held up his hands in acceptance. “Okay, okay. We’ll watch her over the next few day, see what she does.” She saw Cordelia smile smugly and added quickly, “Although i’m not going to be writing her off straight away, I’ll see if I can get to know her a bit better, see if I can get anything out of her.”

He turned to Doyle. “I want you to keep an eye on Oz for me. Cordelia, you’ve got Willow. See if you can get as much information about Nimisha out of them as you can, see if she is *really* Willow cousin and if not, why they are hiding her.”

Both his friends nodded, happy with that decision. Then as he saw Doyle’s mouth start to open he held up his hand and sighed, knowing what the half demon was going to say.

“No, we don’t tell Giles. He’s odd around her as it is. If he and the others find out they’ll act weird around her and if we are completely wrong about this, I don’t want Nimisha’s relationships with them to be damaged.”

Well, they didn’t look overly happy with that comment, but seeing the truth in the matter they again nodded.

And with that, all three friend went back to their breakfast, getting ready for a day of investigation on Cordelia and Doyle’s half and well needed sleep on Angel’s. But the whole time Angel finished his breakfast, the image of Nimisha’s face filled in his vision, her beautiful smile that reminded him so much of Buffy....

He shook his head. Oh, how he hoped she had nothing to do with this.

On Allrelen a few hours before....

Buffy sighed in pleasure and leaned back against the back of her sun seat and pushed her sunglasses back onto her nose. The sun was warm and inviting and Buffy just couldn’t help herself, she had told Captain Asten and the rest of the Council that she was taking a well earned break for a few hours. They had nodded, knowing how tired she must be.

Her and Afraya had been Porting space ships for three days straight and it was starting to take its toll on Buffy’s mind. After her vision had started to sway so badly that she had to reach out for Afraya’s support she had giving up and demanded this break, the first one she had gotten all week.

So here she was, laying back on her bedroom balcony, the swinging French doors open wide letting what breeze there was filter the huge bedroom. She was wearing swimming gear. A light purple top that Afraya told her quite bluntly looked more like a bra than an actual piece of clothing. It was short, ending with a curve that shaped the underline of her breasts, and one of her favourite sarongs. It was made of light satin, a pale silver colour with little black stitched flowers on the hem. It had been a present from Nimisha a few birthdays ago, her daughter going all the way to Chandras with Sita to retrieve the precious gift.

With that thought of her beloved daughter, Buffy reached up and picked up a pile of Holograms that had been sitting on her lap, unlooked at and untouched till now. She raised the pile, blocking out the sun and started to sort through them.

Buffy smiled at the first. It was of her, Nimisha and their close friends in Semarritte’s garden. Nimisha looked about seven at the time, her childish face happy and serine with the simpler days of her childhood as she sat on the swing with Afraya pushing her. Buffy looked at herself in the hologram for a moment with a sad face. She had been sitting under a tree, not to far away from the swing with Sita, talking away happily while the two of them sunbathed quite similar to she was doing now.

Buffy felt the tears start to form and forcefully willed them away, there was no need to cry she told herself. Nimisha was fine, having a great time at Willow and Oz’s on Earth. Willow had told Buffy that she was making new friends, a fact that Buffy had to smile about. Her daughter was the queen of charm, she could find friends even if she didn’t want to. Buffy smiled with that, looking closely at Nimisha’s face in the Hologram.

Her head shot up when she heard the unmistakable sound of someone walking through her bedroom towards the doors that led onto the balcony. Buffy waited for the person to appear and visibly relaxed when she saw Afraya walk through the twin doors and stop to lean on the door frame.

“Having a nice time?” he asked with a laughing smile on his blue face as he watched her.

Buffy grinned back and snuggled deeper into her chair. Lying on her back she looked up and stuck her tongue out at him. “Yes, actually i’m having a wonderful time.”

He laughed and pushed off the door to come sit crosslegged on the marble floor beside her seat. They didn’t speak, falling into a comfortable silence that pointed out their long friendship. As Buffy went back to her sunbathing Afraya idly picked up the fallen Holograms and started sorting through them himself. Even with her eyes closed Buffy could hear him chuckling when he must have come to a particular funny one. She grinned.

Then suddenly a piercing pain shot through her head. Buffy screamed and shot up into a sitting position on her sun-seat, clutching her head between her palms.

Afraya had gotten such a fright with her scream that he had dropped the pile of pictures and fallen back. Looking up at his close friend from where she now sat, rocking back and forth, screaming in pain, Afraya jumped to his feet and rushed towards her, even as he heard the unmistakable sound of the guards pounding feet as they rushed towards her room, hearing her painful screaming.

“Evie!” Afraya called, bending down so they were face to face and grabbing her hands to stop her rocking. “What’s wrong!?” he yelled, getting more and more freaked the longer it went on.

But his friend didn’t seem to hear him and even as she stopped her loud screaming, she started to whimper, Afraya getting the fright of his life when he forcefully lifted her head and saw that her moon was flashing a terrified bright red, a colour that Afraya had never seen before. Not of his beloved Shari *or* her daughter.

But then she stopped, going so still and quiet that for a horrible second Afraya thought she was dead. She went limp in his arms, her head falling to the side as the guards finally rushed into the room and out onto the balcony, only to find their screaming Queen laying in her 2IC arms.

They stopped, wondering if they had misinterpreted her screams. But Afraya caught one of guards mental cry of surprise and clicked as to where their thoughts now lay.

He looked up at the five men in disgust. “For gods sake, men! Where are your senses?” he yelled, nodding when they finally broke away and rushed towards him.

Afraya ignored them, turning back to Buffy who was still limp in his arms. He gently layed her back down on her seat, softly slapping her check to try and get his Queen to wake up.

Then suddenly, just as she had gone to sleep, she was awake, her brilliant green eyes snapping open so fast that Afraya heard the guards fall back. She didn’t say a word, only fumbled to get out of the chair and was bolting through her bedroom in a flash, Afraya and the guards stumbling to catch up with her.

“Evie, where are you going!?” Afraya yelled after her, willing his legs to move faster as he sprinted through the palace hallways, almost smashing into a woman with bright blue hair as he skidded around a corner, the five guards not far behind him.

Finally Buffy came to a stop, bending over to latch her hands onto her knees, breathing in huge gasps. Afraya paused beside her, grabbing her shoulders to spin her around.

“What’s wrong!?” he practically screamed at her, getting seriously freaked by her odd behaviour.

Buffy looked at him, her eyes wide and wild. “It’s Nimisha, Affe. She’s in trouble!” she screamed back at him. Afraya barely noticed people stop what they were doing and stare at them as they screamed at each other in the marble hallway.

“How in the world do you know that?” Afraya gaped. But Buffy only reached up and tapped her head.

“It was a vision, Affe. There were Vanquisher’s there! It was Earth, I know it was! I swear I saw Giles’ Library, and there was Vanquisher’s there!”

Afraya knew she was getting herself extremely worked up, but he knew from experience to trust any of his friends dreams and visions.

His blue face drained of colour as his mouth slowly fell open. “What are you going to do?” he asked her stupidly. But he didn’t hear her reply for she was off again, sprinting down the hallway....

...towards the Gate.

Next

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