Buffy grinned weakly at her ex-lover as he sat up, and the sheet fell even lower about his hips. “Hey,” she waved slightly and he raised his eyebrows.

“Buffy?” he repeated, his tone incredulous, and then he flushed as he realized he was virtually naked. “Um…hi.”

“Hi,” she said, and turned. “Could you put some clothes on? I have to talk to you and nakedness makes me not be able to think…well—I mean, I can think—but it's hard—“ she clapped her forehead at this Freudian slip and attempted to rectify the situation. “I mean, it's not hard. God, I would never talk about that or anything—“

“Relax,” he said from behind her, and she whirled, glad to see he was now clad in black pants and a loose black T-shirt. Although the fine cotton did cling to the muscles of his chest…and the short sleeves did reveal the strength of his arms…concentrate Buffy she thought angrily, and faced him with what she hoped was a casual smile.

He looked suspicious and gestured for her to sit down on one of the chairs. “What are you doing here Buffy?”

“Well…” she hesitated and his eyes flashed with anger.

“Did you come to rescue me?” he sneered and stood up, walking over to the window and staring blankly at the closed black curtains. “Cause I don't need it.”

Suddenly furious, Buffy snapped, “No, I didn't, and frankly, from what Cordy and Wesley tell me, I don't even know if your ass is worth saving, Angel.”

Spinning around, he stared at her, his face contorting with anger. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Firing Cordy and Wes?” She ticked off on her fingers. “Getting all screwed over some vampire slut-“

“She is not a slut,” he said furiously, and she laughed, her mouth twisting.

“Not a slut? Give me a break. Uh…what was her profession before she died? Hooker comes to mind. Angel, get over her okay? She is not someone you have to save. And by the way? Letting her eat innocent people hardly fits into what you have been trying to do here.”

“You don't even know what I've been trying to do here,” he reminded her and she shrugged.

“Saving souls? Playing the broody act for all it's worth? Getting your precious redemption? Am I ringing any bells here, Angel?” Buffy threw up her hands in disgust. “Seriously, I used to think you were so strong. And now here you are, letting some whore screw you up!”

“You know who screwed me up?!” he shouted, all reason gone, finally losing it from her mocking. “You want to know who screwed me up? Really?! YOU!”

Wilting, Buffy gazed at him. “Oh,” she said in a small voice and watched his face crumple wearily as he walked back to his position by the window. “I'm sorry,” she continued. “I just came here to tell you something.”

“And what is that?” he asked, his tone blank and dull. She stood up and wrung her hands, trying to think of the best way to tell him. Should she just jump right into it? What if he didn't believe her? Or worse yet, what if he just thought it was some cheap way of getting him back? Oh god. She didn't know what to do. He turned, and stared as she paced, her face a mask of concentration and concern.

“What is it Buffy?” he asked again, his voice shaded with worry.

“Okay…” she took a breath and then began. “I had this dream last night. A really long dream actually…felt sort of like a whole lifetime squeezed into a few hours sleep. Um…in this dream…I was this Goddess called Surya, and I had a family and a whole lotta responsibilities and all this. And I also had a…well…boyfriend type thing.”

Angel's eyes widened and he nodded encouragingly. Her gaze shifted from his as she paced the room, feeling caged by the darkness. “Anyway…his name was Shahla. And he was a Shapeshifter. He killed himself for me at the end because he didn't want to be all evil and have to kill me…but see the thing is…” She paused and lost some of her confidence. She was too embarrassed to tell him. How could she? He was going to think she was stupid.

“Go on,” he said gently, and she noticed that she had his rapt attention.

“Well…in the dream…he was you.”

Angel jerked as if he had been struck and stared into her green eyes. “What?”

“He was you,” she flushed and then continued, “and when I woke up I was freaked so I went to Giles…and he told me that the Powers must have granted me the ability to see a past life…so that I could realize my true destiny or something.”

“And that would be?” Angel inquired after a long silence. She shifted balance from one foot to the other and mumbled,

“Well…I guess…” chickening out, she said weakly, “I don't really know. But I thought I should come up here and tell you because you were such a large part of it.”

He almost seemed to deflate and his chocolate brown eyes were torn from hers as he sat down on the bed and stared at his hands, obviously deep in thought. “Well…if the Powers wanted you to see it must be because of something important. Maybe…” he hesitated and then spoke, “they want us to fight together again?”

“That's what Giles said,” Buffy exclaimed eagerly and sat down beside him, their bodies only inches apart. “But…I said that probably wasn't true. I mean, why would the Powers care?”

He instinctively slid closer to her, and felt the heat from her tiny body radiating and touching his cool flesh. “They might…if they thought we were powerful enough together. Fighting…I mean.”

“Of course,” she nodded emphatically, staring at his mouth. “I mean…what else could there be?”

“What else?” he agreed, his tongue flicking out and moistening his dry lower lip. She watched the movement, her thighs tensing, and her throat suddenly parched.

“Really…the Powers don't care…what we do,” Buffy said, inching closer until her leg touched his. His head bent and he felt her breath on his lips. Panting, Buffy could feel her flesh burning, and could almost taste the sweet softness of his lips crushing hers…

“Water!” she cried, jumping up, and Angel reared back, breathing hard as he blinked, staring up at her, and with growing horror, they both realized what they had been about to do. “I need water,” she said decidedly, but he grabbed her hand, forcing her back.

Colliding with him, her body went between his thighs, and his head knocked against her breasts. As she looked down, their eyes locked and burned. “Buffy…” he murmured wonderingly, and reached up to touch her golden hair. Weakening, she sighed under the caress and leant into his hand. How could something that she knew was wrong, feel so damn right? God…why did it have to be Angel?

All thought flew from her head as he cupped her cheeks and drew her down and their lips met. It was like taking a long , cool drink of water after dragging yourself through the Sahara for days. Buffy melted onto Angel's mouth and felt his arms wind around her, and she was lost. Their lips clung and burned and everything rushed together in a swirl of colours. She couldn't think of anything but his cool lips and his strong arms and suddenly the covers against her back…the weight of him on top of her.

“Angel…” she moaned and her fingers tangled in his hair, as he gasped, tearing his lips from hers and almost flinging his body away in an effort to put distance between them. Disoriented, she sat up, and her body shrieked in protest, hungering for his skin, his lips, his tongue…she shuddered and focused on him. His eyes were wounded.

“We can't do this…that…what we were doing,” he reminded her hoarsely, as he gazed at her red, swollen mouth. “No matter how much we want to. You know that, Buffy.”

“I know,” she said wearily, and cleared her head with a little shake. “I just came to tell you about the dream, ok, Angel? I had no intervention or…curse-snatching plans.”

He half-smiled and regarded her with a look of tenderness. “I know, Buffy. Look…to be honest…things are tense around here. Or they were…suddenly…it must be seeing you or something. I can't even remember why I fired Cordy and Wes and Gunn.”

Buffy grinned and enjoyed their moment of peace. “Well, I'm glad. But to remind you, I think it was about Darla and Dru.”

His good humour vanished and he scowled, but then sighed. “Oh yeah, that's right. I know that I have to stake Darla. And I will…sometime. Anyway, Buffy…this dream, it might be significant. It must be actually, for the Powers to have let you see it.”

“Giles thinks…well, he thinks that it was the Powers telling me our true destinies.”

Angel looked uncomfortable. But she continued on. She was going to tell him the truth if it killed her. He deserved to hear it. “Riley and I aren't together anymore.”

“Oh,” Angel said, startled, and his expression softened. “I'm sorry, Buffy.”

“Liar,” she grinned, lost in thought. “He had some issue stuff that he had to deal with, so he split. Yep, all the guys leave Buffy.” She held up her hand when he went to protest. “No, Angel. Let me talk. I…I realized tonight that I've never forgiven you for leaving me. I guess I just couldn't comprehend how you could give us up, when it was obvious to me that we were meant to be together. Now, I guess you could say I've moved on. I found the boy toy and I had lots of sex…but it never lived up to what you took away.” Buffy saw the pain flash across his face. “This dream…tonight…it was so strange. I woke up and I forgot why we weren't together. I just couldn't remember what reasons we came up with why we couldn't work. I think…that the Powers are giving us a third chance here, Angel. To finally make amends.”

His whole body appeared drained as he slumped into the chair next to hers and bowed his dark head, his eyes lost, his mouth a pained slash across his face. “You don't know how many times I have almost picked up the phone to call you, Buffy. So many times I've wanted your help, the peace you brought me. I…I've fought the pain of leaving you. I've fought the demons of my past. Sometimes I just feel so tired. When Darla came back, it gave me a glimpse into my past. And even though much of it is filled with horror, there is also the numbness that I don't have now. She represents all that I have done wrong, and yet for some reason I can't kill her. I wanted her to have a chance to live. A chance that I never had…” he trailed off and his eyes were bleakly sad as he gazed at her. “I want you, Buffy. You can never know how much I love you…and need you…and yearn for you each and every day. I fight my daily battles with your picture in my mind…my sweet golden girl…always there…just out of my reach…” his eyes filled with tears, as did hers, and she reached over to take his hand.

“But Angel… don't you see? It doesn't have to be over. I'm not out of your reach…we have to find a way to be together, because…” she sniffled and tears streamed down her face. “I refuse to live another day without you.”

“Buffy…” he protested, but she heard the weakness in his voice, and stood up, sitting on his lap and wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Nope…no use fighting me. Look…the Powers want us to be together. I want us to be together…so the only person here who is so not getting with it, is you. What do you say?”

He couldn't help smiling through his tears as he looked at this beautiful woman who he had loved for so long. “I guess I say this is obviously a fight I can't win…so why even resist?”

Laughing, she bent down and kissed him. As their lips touched, he felt the heat crackle between them and wanted to shout from joy. But still, there were things they needed to discuss. “Buffy…I still can't give you a normal life.”

“Yes you can,” she reminded him. “My kind of normal.”

“No kids.”

“We'll adopt.”

“I'll never get old.”

“Great…everyone will be so jealous.” She kissed him and arched her eyebrows.

“No sex.”

“We'll find out how to bind your soul. Will's a great Wicca now. There has to be a spell somewhere.”

“I can't live in Sunnydale right now. I have commitments in LA.”

“Weekends.”

Helplessly, he laughed and gave himself up to this wonderful woman who he loved so much. “Fine…” he uttered, as if it was the greatest chore in the world. She giggled and kissed him again.

“I love you, Angel,” she told him seriously.

“I love you, Buffy.”

She didn't know why he had even tried to protest.

She was the Slayer, for crying out loud.

And he was her Angel.

end

epilogue