It was night and the full moon lit everything but the shadows. Dark shadows, of which some hung under Buffy's eyes. Angel entered to find her staring out the window, watching the moon from her hospital bed. His stomach turned with the sight of her obvious anguish.

"I'm sorry." Her voice was broken and interrupted by a fresh sob. She had been thinking about what had happened to her, to Angel and to their unborn babies. Twice she has been through this. Twice she has lost a child before birth. Twice it was due to the cruelty of the Powers That Be...Twice she has lost the chance to have a family with Angel, her soul mate.

Angel rushed and sat on the bed beside her, hugging her tight. "For what? You didn't do anything, Buffy."

"Yes, I did." Another large sob lunged through her body.

"Listen to me." He lifted her head up by the chin and held it facing him between his hands. "You did nothing wrong. The Powers That Be said you couldn't have it because it was a threat to yours and my concentration. Its near, Buffy." She had stopped crying now, her expression made serious. "They said that The Buach must prepare for the worst and to expect it to happen." He took a deep breath. "This is probably going to be the most difficult thing we've had to deal with." Turning shy, he looked away from her. "Not to mention emotionally wise." His voice was lower but intended for her entirely.

A single tear slowly trailed down her cheek, resting just about the chin. "Do you know when? Did they tell you? What did they say about Orin?" Angel was overwhelmed by her list of randomly selected of course.

"No. They didn't tell me exactly when it is supposed to happen." He looked down, focusing on nothing but his pained thoughts. "But..." He lifted his head to meet his eyes with hers. "I could tell that they felt it was soon. Less than a few months but more than a few weeks." Although he knew he seemed to make no sense he, too, knew that she understood.

"Now," he sighed as he pulled her head down to rest against his chest. "All we can do is train...Prepare...Wait." Buffy just blankly stared to the side from her place in his embrace. Contemplating on what this meant. They were approaching the fight of, possibly, their lives. Everything before this began to appear minuscule.

Part Twenty-Four

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