Buffy looked at Angel as if he were a ghost. Dumbfounded she could only
  stand there her mouth hanging open.

  "Buffy." Angel approached her slowly, taking in her shock.

  She walked slowly over to him taking in his presence. Abruptly she threw
  herself into his arms in a huge rib-cracking hug. Angel almost smiled at
  her exuberance.

  "Oh my god! What are you doing here? Is Willow with you?" she asked still
  recovering. Then she started and backed away. "What's happened?" The
  question spilled out of her in a panicked manner.

  Angel hedged, "You know what happened to Willow last summer?"

  "Yes, I...Xander and I found her diary. We know what happened with the
  Anointed One." Buffy looked down at the ground as she said this and then
  back at him with intense desperation in her eyes, "But how is she now? Is
  she alright? I need to know if Willow is alright. Please, tell me!" she
  begged.

  "The last time I saw Willow, she was more than alright," he said trying to
  reassure her.

  "Oh thank God!" She heaved a sigh of excited relief. "Tell me about her.
  What has she been doing?"

  "Let's go somewhere where we can talk," he said, knowing that there were
  many more questions she would have.

  Even as completely frazzled as she was, Buffy didn't forget Xander and his
  equally desperate need to know about Willow. She said hurriedly, "We have
  to get Xander. Oh and Giles and Ms. Calendar of course. They're going to
  want to know everything. I want to know everything!"

  Angel almost sighed but nodded. It would save on repeated explanations
  later.

  She found a phone booth and made calls to Xander and Giles. It took a
  superhuman effort on Buffy's part not to start asking Angel all the
  questions that were dying to be asked, but she managed. As it was, she
  didn't have to wait long. Buffy had been vague, merely saying that they had
  to get the library ASAP because there was news
  about Willow. To say that they all had hurried over was an understatement.
  Xander practically flew to get there in record time. But it was Giles,
  exceeding all legal speed limits, who came in first with Ms. Calendar right
  behind him.

  With Willow no longer there, Giles had turned to Jenny for computer related
  help. Eventually, by picking up bits and pieces, she learned what had
  really happened to Willow. Lending her understanding and resourcefulness,
  she had come to be an invaluable part of their little group. Not to mention
  an invaluable part of Giles' personal life. It was a development that Buffy
  and Xander found very amusing.
  They had found ways to subtly and not so subtly rib the two adults
  mercilessly.

  As they came into the library, both Giles and Jenny were stunned to see
  Angel. At the same time Giles' eyes also searched out for Willow as well.

  Understanding, Angel said apologetically, "She's not here, Giles."

  At that moment Xander came running in as well. He nearly toppled over when
  he came to an abrupt stop upon seeing Angel. It was apparent that Angel was

  the last person he had expected to see, yet at the same time his whole face
  lit up expectantly, "Where's Willow?" he demanded.

  "Now that you're all here, I can begin." Angel started, ignoring Xander
  altogether.

  Buffy, however, went over to Xander's side. Touching his shoulder she said,
  "She's not here." Taking in his crestfallen look, she hurried to continue,
  "But Angel has news about her." She and the rest of them turned to Angel
  eagerly.

  When he decided to come back to Sunnydale, Angel knew that questions
  about
  Willow were going to be inevitable. He even wanted to tell them. He wanted
  to relieve them of the worst of their apprehensions - not knowing. It was
  something Angel understood.

  Angel began with the basics. "When Willow and I left for Europe, we decided
  to go to Rome and try to contact Brother Lugo." He saw Ms. Calendar's eyes
  widen in recognition of the name. "About two months ago we found a way to
  anchor her soul. To destroy her demon. Willow is still a vampire, but she's
  never going to have to worry about her bloodlust again."

  They all looked at each other and in their expressions was a mixture of
  relief with an equal amount of sorrow that there was no absolute cure for
  Willow. Then Giles asked the question that sprang immediately to all their
  minds, "How did she anchor her soul?"

  "She had to drink holy water to destroy the demon," Angel said carefully.

  Giles gasped. "How-how did you know it wouldn't kill her?" he asked
  incredulously.

  Remembering his own dread when Willow was going through with it, Angel
  responded evenly, "We didn't."

  They were all gravely silent at this. Angel's succinct words telling them
  all they needed to know or guess about the desperation that drove Willow to
  undergo such a drastic measure.

  "I must talk with you, uhm, more in depth about this later," Giles said
  finally in Watcher mode. Angel nodded in agreement.

  Xander refused to be ignored for long. "Where is Willow now?" he asked.
  Buffy and Giles too looked at Angel hopefully.

  "Europe," Angel said, conveniently leaving out that he had no idea where in
  Europe. < I'm not lying. At least, I'm pretty sure she's still in Europe,
  > Angel thought to himself.

  "Wait," Xander pressed on. "She's not in Rome anymore?"

  Angel didn't answer.

  Buffy asked softly, "She still doesn't want to be found, does she?"

  "No, she doesn't," Angel said with dismal finality. He added to himself, <
  Not even by me. >

  *~*~*~*

  They all stayed at the library for a long time playing the question and
  answer game with Angel about Willow. Finally it was in the wee hours of the
  morning when Ms. Calendar pointed out how late it was.

  "Goodness, so it is." Giles agreed. "Xander, Buffy let me drive you home.
  Angel do you have a place to stay in town?"

  "Don't worry about me. I have my old place."

  "Ah, well excellent." Giles said. They all made a move toward the doors but
  Buffy still hadn't gotten up. Giles asked, "Are you coming Buffy?"

  Xander too had turned back expectantly. His eyes locked with Buffy's for a
  moment. Then he walked out the doors not needing to hear her response. He
  understood all too well.

  Buffy looked at his retreating figure for a moment before answering Giles.
  "No, you go ahead without me," she said quietly.

  "I'll walk you home," Angel said to her but it was more for Giles' benefit
  than Buffy's.

  Looking back and forth at the both of them, Giles nodded. "I'll see you
  tomorrow then."

  Automatically Buffy and Angel started walking the way to her house. Alone
  now Buffy regarded him uncertainly. Her initial reaction had been to pelt
  him with questions about Willow, but now she had other questions, personal
  questions that had to do with just him...and her. But she didn't know how
  to bring them up.

  "How have you been?" she asked. < Oh great, wonderful question. Why not
  talk about the weather while I'm at it? > she berated herself. It was a
  banal question, yet it hadn't been asked with any amount of casual curiosity.

  "I've been good." The response was empty, almost guarded and it led to an
  awkward sort of silence between them. In an effort to break it,Angel added,
  "You know I've regretted leaving the way I did. At the time I couldn't even
  begin to think of what I would write to say to you. I'm sorry if I hurt
  you." Angel's soul-filled eyes sought
  hers asking for her forgiveness.

  Buffy stopped walking. "It was hard," she began. "When you first left and
  we found out about...what happened to Willow, I realized why you left. I
  couldn't be mad at you. But I did miss you." Buffy said softly.

  "I missed you too. It's been a long time," Angel said looking at her
  intently. "A lot of things have changed, haven't they?" It was more of a
  comment than a question.

  "Uh, yah I guess they have." Buffy said, feeling as if his words held a
  double meaning, speaking on a level that she didn't quite have a handle on.

  They started walking again while Buffy floundered once again for something
  to say. Then she hit on the question that had been hovering in the back of
  her mind ever since she had first seen him again. "You never said why are
  you're back in town."

  "No, I guess I didn't." Angel's tone was devoid of even a hint. "We're
  here," he pointed out.

  Buffy looked around realizing that they were already standing in front of
  her house. She sighed knowing that he had deliberately avoided her
  question. He obviously wasn't going to be forthcoming about it either. But
  she was tired, too tired to wrangle a straight answer out of him. The
  evening's excitement had taken its toll. Nevertheless, she hesitated to go
  inside. "You-you're not going to take off again without saying good-bye are
  you?"

  "No. I won't," Angel promised.

  On impulse Buffy raised herself to her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.
  "Night Angel. I'm glad you're back," she whispered.

  She had already unlocked her door when she heard him call out, "Buffy,"
  Angel's voice sounded weary and unsure to her. "There are some things I
  need to talk to you about. Not now. Tomorrow."

  "Wha...Angel?" But he had already disappeared. "I hate it when he does
  that," she muttered. Cryptic man was back in full force she realized, as
  she was left to only wonder what on earth those 'things' he wanted to talk
  about might be.

  *~*~*~*

  Buffy was in a very thoughtful mood the next morning and not at all
  strangely her thoughts were centered around Angel. Her initial burst of
  shock and excitement had subsided into an another, odd feeling. She didn't
  know how to describe it. It certainly wasn't what she thought she would
  feel if she ever saw Angel again. She had had images of them ecstatically
  kissing as music soared in the background. < O.K., so maybe the romance
  novel scene isn't realistic,but this feels wrong somehow. >

  Angel seemed like the enigmatic stranger from the early days of their
  relationship, not the caring man that had captured her heart. But all that
  seemed a lifetime ago.

  When Xander came over to her house for lunch before their afternoon
  training session, he noticed her distracted mood. "Thinking about Willow?"

  Buffy blushed guiltily, "Yes. Well and Angel." Biting on her lower lip she
  choose her words carefully. "Angel said that there was something else that
  he needed to talk to me about. But he didn't want to say anything about it
  last night. Its just driving me crazy thinking about what it might be."

  Xander shrugged and said pragmatically, "He already dumped a lot of stuff
  on us about Willow. I'm sure he didn't want to overburden you by adding
  something else."

  Buffy nodded, "Yah I suppose so."

  "So is this just a visit by Angel, or a more permanent thing for you two?"
  Xander asked without any perceptible signs of sarcasm or joking. He said it
  without any jealousy and he sounded for all the world like someone merely
  asking for general information.

  "That's what I don't know," Buffy said a little disconcerted. She couldn't
  believe that she was having this conversation with Xander. She hadn't
  wanted to bring up Angel with him, somehow thinking that he might be
  jealous. Xander never really made it a secret that he'd been jealous of
  Angel before. Yet instead Xander seemed to be
  lightly assuming she'd be willing to pick up right where she and Angel had
  left off. It certainly wasn't the attitide that Buffy had expected from
  Xander.

  < Well, jeez, it's not like I want him to be jealous. > This made her shake
  her head and she frowned. Buffy suddenly wasn't sure what threw her more -
  Angel's presence back in Sunnydale or Xander's calm acceptance of her
  renewing a relationship with Angel.

  Switching gears Xander said, "I was up thinking about things all last
  night. Thinking about Willow," he clarified. "Of course I'm thrilled, I'm
  all out jumping for joy that Willow's o.k. The thing is, I can't help but
  feel frustrated that she still doesn't want us
  to know where she is." Xander's mouth tightened, "If she sent Angel to let
  us know how she's doing then why wouldn't she want us to know where she
  is?" His dark eyes unconsciously took on a whipped puppy-dog look.

  "I don't know," Buffy said softly. She took his hand in hers as it seemed
  she had done a hundred times, but suddenly Xander seemed self-conscious
  about her gesture and gently withdrew his hand. He had done it tactfully,
  nevertheless, she was aware of his retreat and was hurt by it.

  "Actually, I'm sorry, Buff, I-I guess I don't feel much like training
  today. I'm going home," Xander said getting up. "But I'll meet you tonight
  at the cemetery."

  "Xand...," Buffy started to call his name but he was already out the door
  and out of hearing distance. < What is it with the guys in my life?!? >
  Buffy wanted to shriek. < If they keep on pulling that same disappearing
  move, I'm going to lose it. I swear! >

  *~*~*~*

  Xander's radio was on in his room, blasting out soulful tune, after soulful
  tune. Things were very wrong in Xander-land. Things usually were when he
  turned to the country music station.

  Sprawled on top of his bed, Xander was deep in thought. He had gone home
  and spent all afternoon trying to make sense of things. It was amazing how
  24 hours could turn someone's life upside down. Things had finally just
  started to feel normal again when Angel showed up. Well as normal as things

  can get after your best friend
  has been turned into a vampire and was gone forever.

  In the last few months, as much as he thought about Willow almost every
  day, he had learned to laugh again without guilt. If Xander ever began to
  feel guilty for having gained a measure of peace and moments of happiness,
  he just brought out Willow's letter. The letter she had left had been a
  source of torment for him at first. But now he read it to be comforted by
  Willow's sweet, simple words: 'Please, be well, live well and be happy, for
  me? I love you now, and I'll love you later.'

  Seeing Willow just once more was something that Xander dreamed about. He

  wanted to be able to say things to her, things she should know. Things that
  he should have told her a long time ago. The good news of Willow's success
  in destroying her demon had lifted his spirits, even while he struggled
  with his keen disappointment that it wasn't Willow herself who had come to
  tell them. That brought him to the whole matter of Angel. More specifically
  Buffy and Angel.

  Xander loved Willow. Yet, while it had been difficult acknowledging it to
  himself, he wasn't IN love with her. He would never be able to return
  Willow's feelings the way that she might have wanted. His feelings for her
  would never be more than the dearest love of one friend for another. And
  the reason for it was because, well, it had always been Buffy for him.

  What he felt for Buffy had never just been a crush. < Maybe in the very,
  very beginning it was just the blind hormonal thing, but I got over that a
  long time ago. O.k., maybe not completely over the hormonal part, but
  that's not just all that I feel for Buffy. > With all the things they had
  been through together, he knew all there was
  to know about Buffy Summers. He admired, respected and liked her. He knew

  her faults as well, but they were the kind that only endeared her more to
  him. He was as sure of his love for her as he was of anything.

  He had never spoke to Buffy again about his feelings after she had turned
  him down for the Spring Fling. Plus after Willow had gone, he clung
  fiercely to his friendship with Buffy. He had vowed that not even his
  deepening love for her would get in the way of their friendship.

  Not that it was easy. Especially with times like last night when they had
  been dancing at the Bronze. He almost made an idiot of himself. < But I
  really thought for a minute there that she - ah never mind. Buffy's in love
  with Angel. She's made that clear and
  that's that. I'm fine with it. Really. >

  Xander shook his head. < God! I'm so not fine. But I'm going to put up a
  good front for Buffy. She might not love me the way I want her to, but I'll
  be damned if she ever finds out that I'm still jonesing for her. I won't
  show her how miserable I am about all
  this. It would just make her feel bad. It would make her feel sorry for me
  and I couldn't stand that. >

  He gave a huge sigh. Then glancing out his window he realized that it was
  already past dusk. < Time to go and beat the crap out of some bad guys. >

  He left his house and walked toward the cemetery to meet Buffy there, but
  he was dragging his feet. His thoughts kept going back to Buffy. It was
  going to be hell watching her and Angel together. He had had to sit by and
  watch them before. < And I guess I'll do it again.>

  But Xander vowed that this time, he wouldn't be such a pain for them. < I
  won't be bitter. No more picking on Angel and not just for Buffy's sake. >
  Angel had redeemed himself completely in Xander's eyes. He had proven
  himself by taking care of Willow. Besides any insults that he might think
  of hurling at Angel now applied to Willow and NO ONE, but no one insulted
  his Willow.

  He had just reached the cemetery and spotted Buffy but right alongside her
  was Angel. < Talk about the devil. > Xander thought. It looked as if they
  were completely involved with each other.

  < Oblivious to the world. She probably forgot that I was supposed to be
  here. Hell she probably forgot that I even exist now that Mr. Wonderful
  Dead-boy is back. Dead-BOY certainly doesn't apply to Willow so I'm still
  allowed to use that insult...Oops! O.K. so even my best intentions are
  short lived. >

  Xander was about to head back home and leave the lovebirds alone when
  something caught his attention. He never knew exactly what it was, but he
  was just in time to catch a glimpse of something just beyond the trees,
  behind where Buffy and Angel were standing. As he took a closer look, his
  heart dropped with terrifying realization.

  There was a vampire with a cross-bow. And he was aiming directly at Buffy
  and Angel.

  "Buffy!!!!" he screamed a warning and ran toward her, knowing that he would
  be too late.

  End of Part Eight

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