The Wheel
Book One: The Hanged One
by Cynamin

They lay together as if joined in a lovers' embrace, content to simply be together as they rested from their walking. There was no fatigue in this place, but they had decided without speaking to rest in the shelter of the love they had created. After all, there was no time here. It did not matter if they stopped along the way. The same final destination would still await them.

Angel did not bother to think about those final destinations. It lurked in the back of his mind that he and Buffy would not end in the same place. He was not dead, per say he could wander the ghost roads forever, a lost soul. That knowledge and the despair over Buffy's death constantly lurked like a dark shadow, but as long as they rested here that end need not arrive.

They lay in tender silence for a long time before Angel spoke of something that had been on his mind, since… "It wasn't supposed to be this way," he whispered.

Buffy looked at his with odd seriousness. "Who's to say how it should be?" she said.

Angel shook his head, floundering for words. "No…the…choice I made…you were supposed to live."

Buffy smiled sadly. "I'm the Slayer, Angel. This is my fate," she explained. "Nothing…not where you were, not *what* you were…made any difference in the end."

Gazing at the sympathy in Buffy's gaze, Angel came to a realization. "You remember."

"Yes," Buffy said clearly. "I remember…that day. The day you were human."

"But…"

Buffy interrupted him. "Maybe I blocked it out. Maybe it was buried in my subconscious. But do you really think the soul could forget something like that?"

Angel shook his head, once again hovering at the edge of despair. "No," he whispered brokenly. "I could never forget."

"And neither could I," Buffy replied. She held him close, comforting him and lending him strength. "Treasure that day, Angel," she said. "It was a beautiful thing. Don't weep over the days we didn't have. Love the one we did."

Angel kissed her lightly, warmed by her words. "I always will."

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