rating: PG
content: A tiny bit of violence
spoiler warnings: Everything up to becoming pt.2
summary: Buffy joins the roller derby and the gang tries to bring her and Angel back.
disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Buffy skated smoothly around the rink once again, catching up with the pack from behind. With a swift swipe of her leg, the woman blocking her progress fell with a crunch to the floor, her layers of padding softening the blow just a bit. Buffy victoriously skated past her and her team members nudged her forward as she made her way to the front of the pack. The woman Buffy had just knocked down had gotten back up on her feet and was coming after her. Buffy could have easily outskated her, but, after all, a fight was what the crowd wanted to see. She slowed down and let the middle-aged woman skate up behind her. The crowd shouted words of warning to Buffy as the woman hit her over the head with her fist. Buffy momentarily lost her balance, but she regained it, and tripped her attacker. The woman flew downward to the rink and came to a stop. Buffy went over to her and bashed her in the head. Of course, she didn't injure her badly (although she certainly could). The referees (whatever good they did) approached and Buffy allowed herself to be hauled away, but not before she delivered a kick to the woman's shin. Her team won of course, and the females hugged each other and congratulated each other on their victory. Buffy and her team went to a nearby ice cream store that happened to be open at 11:00, and they all sat down and talked. Buffy was the star of the night, but she was slightly withdrawn. As her teammates bonded around her, Buffy wondered how she had ever gotten here.

She had gotten on a bus to leave Sunnydale two weeks ago after Acathla had been put to rest. She had sent her one true love, the only one who understood her, to hell, where he was doomed to an immortal life of pain and torture. Just when they had found each other again, she had to destroy him. She decided it would be best not to lead any more people she cared about down her path of destruction. Buffy couldn't even say goodbye in person, she didn't feel like she could say anything without breaking down into tears. The guilt was overwhelming. First she had caused Angel to become evil again, then Theresa and Ms. Calendar were killed, then Kendra, Willow fell into a coma, Giles was tortured almost to death, Xander broke his arm, she had roughly dismissed her mother, and Angel was burning in hell. And all of it was her fault. She couldn't face any of them, so she got out of there as fast as she could. When she finally found the will to get off the bus, she found companionship by joining the roller derby. Her teammates became her friends. They supported her in a very motherly way (they were all older than her), but gave her space and didn't know her secret. Roller derby was the perfect sport for her, combining her superior fighting skills and her previous knowledge of ice skating. Plus, after competitions she could go hunt vampires before going to sleep in her cheap hotel room.

* * * * *

"And on my command, open this portal into the fiery other realm," Willow chanted. Energy swirled above the mirror, sending sparks into Willow's face. But she did not waver. "Open the gate. Now!" The energy converged and created a swirling vortex of fire. Giles, Willow, Cordelia, Xander, and Oz watched as it grew larger and larger, threatening to consume the table over which it swirled. "Stop your progress, keep the portal open! The fire shall grow no more." The vortex stopped growing and remained that size, crackling and twisting. Willow stopped chanting and took a breath of relief. "Almost done," she told the others.

* * * * *

Angel had known something was different when he regained his soul again. Buffy was hesitant to come to him, and she kissed him desperately, holding onto him tightly. He had the feeling he had forgotten something, and could not remember how he had gotten to this place. He had been very confused until the moment the sword shot through him. His eyes snapped open, and he suddenly knew. He remembered everything he had done. Buffy could not even look him in the eye, she was so full of guilt. He felt the vortex's tug on his body and felt himself being drawn in. His love's name escaped his lips before the vortex closed around him. Had he been able to continue he would have told her how sorry he was for everything he had done. He would have said that he forgave her for sending him to hell. He understood her duty to the world.

Hell was awful. Demons wandered around torturing the unfortunate human souls that happened to be there. But Angel was left alone. His torture was much worse. He was forced to watch, on an enormous TV screen, the days when he was evil. Each individual death he caused replayed with surround sound, so his victim's screams assaulted his ears and made him wince. When Angel slept, he got no relief from the horrors. All the killing would replay in his dreams, or sometimes he would dream of Buffy. Not happy dreams of their good times together, this was hell after all, but nightmares of killing her friends and family and everyone dear to her. The worst was when he would eventually sink his teeth into her neck and make her into what she hated most - a vampire. He would wake up calling her name only to have holy water splashed in his face to shut him up. Every day he was forced into a shower stall where holy water rained down upon him. His own pain and the screams of other demons made it almost intolerable. But he never blamed Buffy for sending him to this nightmare. Angel remembered so vividly the love they shared, he know he would willingly jump into a hell a million times worse than this for her. He suffered day after day, his guilt constantly growing, for there was nothing he could do to make amends. He was incredibly weak and was listlessly watching one of his violent killings, when he felt something pulling him upwards. He looked up and saw white light shining through the dank ceiling. The white light tugged at him, and he floated gloriously up toward the opening.

"Grant he who does not belong release. Come, Angel. You are freed." Willow spoke, concentrating hard. She pulled him up and up with her willpower, out of the grasp of the hellmouth. Angel emerged into the room through the twirling energy mass. He was spat out and lay curled up and unconscious on the floor.

Giles took a sledgehammer and brought it down on the mirror, smashing it into shards. The vortex began spreading without a focus point. "Passage from our world to yours, you are closed." he said, then turned his attention to Angel. Willow examined him and found his whole body covered with burns.

Angel's eyes slowly opened and he lifted his head and looked around. "Buffy...?" he murmured groggily.

"Shh Angel, it's Willow. Just lay down and rest," she soothed. Angel slipped back into unconsciousness. "He's really weak," she told the group. "He needs nourishment."

"I was prepared for this. Blood!" Xander said triumphantly. He held up a bag of blood.

"Good thinking, Xander." Cordelia congratulated her boyfriend.

"First we have to get him to bed." Willow directed.

Xander and Oz carried Angel outside to Oz's van. They all hopped in and Oz drove them over to Xander's house. His mom was out of town, so there was no fear of being discovered. They lugged him inside and lay him down in Xander's mother room. They set up a cot and chair next to the bed.

"I'm going home. Do you need anything?" Cordelia asked. Willow shook her head.

"I need to leave, too," Oz said. "Will you be okay here?"

"I'll be fine. In fact, you can all go. Thanks for your help. See you tomorrow." Willow said ushering everyone out of the room. "He needs his rest." She gave Oz a quick kiss. They all said their goodbyes and headed home. Xander went to sleep in his own room, while Willow came in with Angel. She covered the worst of his burns, Angel still very unconscious. Willow climbed into the cot and snuggled up under the thin covers. She began to fall asleep. Through heavy eyes she watched Angel sleeping peacefully, his chest rising and falling with slow, peaceful breathing. "Breathing?" Willow thought fleetingly as she drifted off into slumber.

* * * * *

"Tomorrow we're having a competition down the coast in San Francisco. Everyone get to the bus at 4:00 and we'll ride down the coast. See you all tomorrow!" Angie, the team captain told the team. Angie was a forty year old roller derby favorite, with bright red hair and a fiery personality to go along with it. Buffy said goodbye to her teammates and stepped out of the ice cream shop into the crisp night air.

"Hey Buffster, you need a ride?" Kim called out from her rusted Oldsmobile.

"No thanks, I'll walk. See you tomorrow," Buffy called back, and waved before turning down a dark street to her cheap motel. She got to her room with no vampire trouble and got ready for bed. She was very exhausted and fell asleep immediately. But she wasn't left in peace for long, for dreams came to her. She dreamed about the good times she had had with all her friends. Mainly, she dreamed of Angel. She spotted him across a sunlit field of flowers, and they ran to each other in slow motion, like it happens in the movies. Their bodies met and they threw their arms around each other. Buffy woke up suddenly and scanned her room for the cause. But there was nothing unusual, unless you count the unnatural layer of dirt on the window sill. The dream still vivid in her mind, she lay back down and tried to shake the feeling of Angel's presence.

* * * * *

Willow woke the next morning with a crick in her neck from the hard cot. She got up and looked at Angel. He was sleeping peacefully, his mouth pulled up into a tiny smile. In his dream he and Buffy leaped toward each other across a sunny field. They came together in a warm embrace. It was then that Angel was startled awake. His eyes struggled to focus on the figure looming over him.

"Buffy?" he whispered hoarsely.

"Hi Angel. It's Willow."

"Willow? What's going on?" Angel asked, confused.

"We retrieved you from hell. How are you feeling?" she asked.

"My body burns. Why...I was in hell?" Angel asked, confused.

"Don't you remember? Acathla, Spike, Drucilla, Ms. Calendar? Ring any bells?" Willow asked.

Angel's mind raced to remember. Slowly the memories came to him, smothering him as they had done before, and he was filled with guilt for his murders. "Why bring me back?" Angel croaked out. "I killed so many."

"We forgive you, Angel. All of us."

"All of you?"

"Yup."

"Xander?" said Angel, disbelieving.

"Yes, eventually."

"Buffy?" Angel managed. This was the most important question. It determined whether or not he would kill himself.

"Um, we don't know. She left, after Acathla had been put back to sleep. We don't know where she went."

"She must hate me," Angel said sadly, tears welling up in his painfilled eyes.

"I'm sure she doesn't hate you. She could never hate you. She loves you so much," Willow comforted the tearful man.

"We have to find her," Angel said determinedly, struggling to sit up. Willow gently pushed him back down to the bed. He was too weak to resist.

"We will. First you have to get strong again. We'll find her, I promise," Willow assured him. "You need food." She held a blood bag up to his face. "Open wide," she said.

Angel made a face and pushed the blood bag away from him. "Maybe some soup," he requested.

Willow put the blood bag down with a confused expression on her face. "Okay," she said, and left the room to get him some soup.

Angel stared remorsefully at the ceiling waiting for Willow to return with his soup when a hesitant knock sounded at the door. Giles poked his head in the room.

"Willow?" he called. His eyes fell upon Angel. "You're up." he said curtly, entering the room.

"Hi Giles," Angel said. After a pause, he spoke again. "I'm sorry about Jenny and all the pain I've caused you."

"Quite all right. It wasn't you, I...I realize that now."

"Thanks for giving me a second chance," Angel said.

"For Buffy," Giles said, with a quick smile. "We have to get her back. Those damn vampires are organizing again." The men were silent for a moment when Willow came back into the room carrying a steaming bowl of soup.

"Hi Giles," Willow greeted the librarian as the set the soup on a tray in front of Angel.

"What is this?" Giles asked, waving his hand indicating Angel.

Willow looked at him sipping the soup. "What?" she asked.

"Angel is eating soup." he stated. "Are you all out of blood?"

"No, he wanted it," Willow responded.

"Angel, do you not like blood anymore?" Giles asked.

"I don't know. I just wasn't hungry for it this morning."

"Very interesting. I'll have to consult my books. Meanwhile, Willow, we should begin our search for Buffy."

"Okay, I'll come down to the library later and start looking," she agreed.

"Good. I will see you later then." Giles said, and left the room.

* * * * *

Later that afternoon Willow left Angel sleeping at Xander's house and went to the library. She booted up the computer and searched for hours. She found Buffy had been checking into cheap hotel rooms, and she moved around. She searched for hours more until she found enough information to pinpoint her friend's exact whereabouts.

It was late by the time Willow finished and she went back to Xander's house and headed up to Angel's room. When she came in he stirred from his sleep and looked up at her.

"Hi," Willow greeted him, throwing her bag down.

"Willow," Angel said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm going to stay with you," she replied, opening the curtain. She looked out at the dark street and up at the half moon.

"You don't have to do that," Angel told her.

"I know." Willow said. There was a pause. "It's weird how I pay so much more attention to the phases of the moon now, with Oz. He's got a few more weeks. Then we break out the chains." She turned from the window to face him. Changing the subject, "I found Buffy."

"You did? Great! When do we go?" Angel sat up excitedly.

"Whoa! You're not nearly strong enough yet. Soon though." Willow changed for bed and crawled into her cot. Angel faced her sleepily.

"Willow, thank you."

"I didn't do anything."

"Of course you did. You restored my soul, got me out of hell, found Buffy. I really owe you. Thank you."

"Well, it was nothing, really. But you're welcome." Willow said modestly. They both fell asleep.

* * * * *

The next morning Willow opened her eyes a crack against the sunlight. She sat up and yawned, allowing the sunlight to stream onto her face to wake her up. 'Angel' she thought desperately, fear gripping her. Her eyes made their way to the bed, expecting to see a pile of ashes. But instead Angel lay peacefully sleeping, the sun's rays caressing his face for the first time in a very long time. Willow's jaw fell open in shock.

"Angel! Angel, wake up!" Willow said excitedly, shaking him.

His eyes opened and he lifted his head from the pillow and looked at her. "Willow? What's the matter?" he asked groggily.

"Look!" she exclaimed, pointing at the window out of which she could see the sun rising.

Angel sleepily turned his head in the direction his finger was pointing. He looked at the window for a moment before it registered. "What the...?" On instinct, he dove under the thick blankets. Slowly his head peeked out. In a moment of bravery he tore the covers off his whole body. "The sun!" he pointed. Willow nodded, affirming. Angel looked down at himself. "I'm not dust!" he said excitedly, looking from the sun, to Willow, to his still-present body. He got out of bed and made his way to the window. He threw it open and stuck his his whole body out, spreading his arms. Willow watched happily, jumping up and down. "I'm alive!" he yelled to the sun, basking in its glory. He ran to Willow and tackled her, giving her a tight bear hug chanting, "I'm alive, I'm alive!" He pulled away from her and danced around the room, laughing constantly. He was like a little boy getting exactly what he wanted for Christmas. Eventually he calmed down and the others came. Giles was shocked at seeing Angel in the sun.

"This is an interesting turn of events," Oz commented as he entered, giving his girlfriend a kiss on the nose.

Cordelia and Xander followed right behind. When Cordelia saw Angel her eyes widened. "Damn! He's even better looking in the sun," she said, receiving a punch in the arm from Xander.

"So Willow, what happened?" Giles asked, impatient to get on with the important stuff.

"I'm not dust!" Angel said happily.

"Thank you for stating the obvious," Xander said, rolling his eyes.

"I left the curtains open last night by accident, and this morning he was, well, still here." explained Willow.

"So what does this mean? Is he still a vampire?" Cordelia asked. All heads turned to Giles.

"Well, um, by all laws of nature vampires explode to dust when exposed to sunlight, so, well, I don't know. We should try to find out exactly what he is now. It...it's quite possible the demon has left him," Giles said.

"So that leaves a body and a soul," Oz stated.

"Yes. But he's not alive. Technically, I believe he should still be dead...or undead...um, immortal." Giles said.

"We need to find out for sure," Willow stated.

"We can check for a pulse," Oz suggested.

"We can check for a reflection," Cordelia said.

"See if he has a reaction to crosses, garlic, and holy water," Willow said.

"We can stake him and see if he explodes into dust," Xander suggested. Angel glared at him.

"I could see if I can still kill someone with a flick of my hand," Angel challenged, staring daggers at Xander.

They checked for a pulse and found one. Angel had no reaction to holy water, crosses, or garlic. They held a mirror to his face and found a reflection. He seemed exited to see what he looked like after all those years.

"Ha! I am better looking than you, Xander," Angel gloated.

"Well Giles, we've done the tests. What's our conclusion?" Willow asked.

"He, uh, definitely is not a vampire. I believe he is human. Although I would like to see if he retained his vampiric strength," Giles said.

Angel looked at Xander with an evil look in his eyes. "I'm sure Xander would like to volunteer for that test," he said.

"No! No, I think it would be best if we did not break Xander's head open." Giles said, coming between the two men.

"This would work," Oz said, holding up a thick steel bar that just happened to be in the room.

Angel took it, and without even a grunt of effort the bar was twisted and broken clean in two. The group was amazed.

"Well that pretty much settles it," Giles declared. "Angel is immortal."

"What's that mean? Like a super human who'll live forever?" Cordelia asked.

"Well sort of. You see, he's alive, but very strong and cannot be killed." Giles explained.

"So what I said." Cordelia clarified.

"Yes," Giles responded.

"Wow," Oz and Willow said in unison.

"Cool," Angel said. "Can we see Buffy now?"

"Oh yeah, Buffy," Willow remembered. "I know where she is. She joined the roller derby. There's going to be in San Francisco tomorrow night."

"We'll take my van," Oz said. Everyone agreed and went to pack.

* * * * *

The next day the gang was piled into the van and heading down to San Francisco. Oz and Willow sat in the front seat talking quietly. Xander and Cordelia were cuddled up in the middle and Giles and Angel stared out their respective windows, exchanging few words.

'I wonder if she'll forgive me. Maybe we can start over, now that there are no more risks. I've missed her so much,' Angel thought as the towns zoomed by. 'Are we there yet?'

Oz navigated the busy streets and came to a stop outside the building in which the events would take place. They had a few hours until the events started, so Cordelia dragged Xander off to go shopping and Willow and Oz wandered around. Giles trailed after them. Angel opted to stay in the van and worry. He tried to plan out exactly what he would say to the woman he loved. 'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to try to drive you insane. It wasn't my fault, really. Now let's get back together.' Angel shook his head in frustration. 'Why did I even come? She'll never forgive me for what I've done.'

It was beginning to get dark so the group came back and retrieved Angel from the van, and they all went to buy their tickets. They entered the building along with burly men and young exited kids and every kind of person imaginable. Giles had a sudden flash of embarrassment being the only one in the whole place wearing a tweed suit. They passed two of the skaters on Buffy's team on their way to find seats. The skates saw Angel and stared at him, lust in their eyes. Angel was too preoccupied with his thoughts to notice.

* * * * *

Buffy laced up her roller skates in the locker room. Her slayer sense was tingling, but not from evil. Just a familiar...presence. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something was different. Two of the women from her team came into the locker room gushing.

"Wow! A hottie in our audience!" the first exclaimed.

"Tall, dark, and extremely gorgeous!" the second said. Buffy perked up at that. 'Could it be?' she thought fleetingly, then shook it off. Of course not. There were plenty of guys who were tall, dark, and extremely gorgeous. Not just Angel.

"Shanna, you're married!" the first scolded.

Buffy ignored where her thoughts were leading her and headed toward the rink.

* * * * *

The group sat high up in the bleachers in a little group. Their eyes desperately searched for Buffy in the crowd of skaters entering the rink. Willow spotted her first. She stood up and pointed.

"There she is!" Willow said triumphantly. The rest of the group rose from the bench to look. They were about to go to her, but Giles stopped them.

"Let's wait until after this is done," he told them. They were disappointed, but sat down to watch the show. Angel couldn't keep his eyes off her. She looked very fit in the extremely short shorts and tights, and even the shoulder pads, kneepads, and helmet didn't inhibit.

The team formed their pack and began to circle the track. Buffy waited for her chance to break away, and when it came she glided fast and smooth over the rink past the other skaters. She knew Glinda, a very violent player for the other team, was right behind her. Buffy let Glinda catch up to her, and when she was near enough, knocked her on the back of the head, causing Glinda's helmet to fall off. Glinda was mad now, and Buffy broke down the rink and tore through the pack once again. The crowd's yells of 'watch out' told her that Glinda was right behind her. Buffy grabbed the arm Glinda was about to use to hit her, and flipped the older woman over her head so she landed on her back on the rink.

Giles watched his slayer win points for her team, covering his ears to block out the incessant cheering of the crowd around him and the incoherent babble of the announcer.

Glinda pursued Buffy around the rink and finally caught up to her. With a swipe of her leg, Buffy fell to the rink. The slayerettes got up from their bench and yelled warnings to Buffy. Glinda wasn't finished yet. She kicked Buffy in the stomach and legs. Buffy decided to lie there for a while and let Glinda have her fun. Glinda got on top of Buffy and violently punched her in the head. The referees came to drag Glinda off Buffy, but she refused to be budged. She continued to beat on Buffy. The crowd was going crazy. They loved this.

Angel had watched up to this point rather nervously, but he couldn't stand the fact that she was getting beat up by a woman decades older than her. What if she was getting hurt? He jumped up and leaped over people and obstacles in his way and got into the rink where Buffy was under attack. 'Please let her be okay,' he thought. He reached her and hurled Glinda across the rink. The referees tried to intervene, but Angel knocked them away with just a swat of his hand. He reached down, grabbed Buffy's hand and pulled her to her feet. "Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

"I'm fine," she replied. Then she looked up to see who had stopped the fight. "Angel?" she asked, shocked to see him standing in front of her. "But you're, I mean, I sent you to...what?" she stuttered, before flinging her arms around him. They held each other tightly, tears flowing from both their eyes. "How?" Buffy managed to ask between sobs.

"Willow," Angel answered simply.

"Angel, I am so sorry," Buffy cried into his shoulder. "It was all my fault."

"Nothing was your fault," Angel soothed. "It was all mine. I'm so sorry for what I did to you."

"It was too my fault," Buffy protested. "I made you loose your soul in the first place, and then I sent you to hell..."

Angel broke the embrace and took her shoulders and looked straight into her teary eyes. "You made me happier than anyone had ever made me before, and that's nothing to be sorry about," he told her softly and intensely. "And then you had to save the world."

Again Buffy threw herself into Angel's embrace. They hugged each other fiercely, completely oblivious to the world around them.

Up in the bleachers, there were people yelling all over the place. Giles sat, trying to protect himself from the strident screaming. Right next to him a woman stood on the bench and was yelling loudly.

Giles felt like his eardrums were popping. "Would you shut up!" he yelled to the woman, very annoyed. She sat down and looked straight at him.

"Sorry Rupert," she said.

Giles was puzzled and looked over at her. "Jenny?" he asked incredulously.

"Hi."

"But you're dead!" Giles exclaimed.

"Yeah, well, it happens." she said off-handedly.

"What are you doing here?"

"You know I'm a sports fan," then changing the subject she said, "So how does Angel like his present?"

"What?"

"Immortality. Hey, it was the least I could do."

"You, you did that?"

"Yup. No demon, no curses, just a super human who'll live forever," Jenny said.

"You know, Cordelia said exactly the same thing. How unsettling." Giles said.

"I let him keep his strength. A guy's gotta be tough to be Buffy's boyfriend."

"That's wonderful! I...I'm sure he'll be very grateful," Giles said.

"Actually, I'd like to do the same for Buffy," Jenny said, scrutinizing Giles for his reaction.

He leaned closer to her. "You want to make Buffy immortal?" he verified.

"Only if she wants it. Ask her. If she does, she'll become immortal on her 18th birthday," she said.

"Well, okay, I'll, um, ask her."

"Great," Ms. Calendar said. "You know Rupert, I'm really sorry for everything."

"I've missed you," Giles said. "Never got to..."

"Never got to see you squirm," she said with a coy smile.

"Yes, no, no, that's too bad," he said.

"I've got to get going. Tell them what's going on. Ask Buffy." Jenny instructed him.

"I will," he said. Jenny leaned closer and kissed him firmly on the lips. They parted and Jenny began to fade. "Goodbye Jenny. I...I love you," Giles managed to say before his love's image disappeared completely.

"I love you too," she whispered as she faded into thin air. Giles sat facing where her image was before turning back to the others to find them staring at him with strange expressions on their faces.

"No I was not hallucinating." he said sharply. "I think it's our turn." He nodded to Buffy and Angel. The slayerettes nodded and rose from their seats, and headed to the rink.

Buffy and Angel broke away from their hug just enough so they could see each other. They kissed softly.

"I love you," Angel said.

"I love you," Buffy said, kissing him again.

Willow, Oz, Xander, Cordelia, and Giles approached the pair and stood beside them. Xander coughed. Angel and Buffy broke apart and looked at the little group surrounding them. What ensued was a flurry of greetings. Buffy hugged everyone, even Cordelia and Oz. When they were all done with that Buffy said goodbye to her teammates and got her stuff from the hotel, and they all climbed into Oz's van and headed back to Sunnydale.

"Angel, I know the cause of your condition," Giles said.

"Condition?" Buffy asked, puzzled.

"Jenny made you immortal as a way of apologizing, and let you keep your strength." Giles told them.

"You're immortal?" Buffy shrieked. "Like a super human who'll live forever?"

"That phrase is being used too much. It's uncanny," Giles muttered under his breath.

"Yup. No more vampire," Angel said.

"There's more," Giles said. "She offered to make you immortal also, Buffy."

"Me? Immortal?" Buffy queried. She glanced at Angel. "Okay."

"Forever is a really long time, Buffy," Angel warned her.

"Forever with you isn't enough," Buffy told him. He swept her up into a kiss.

"Gag me with a fork," Xander said, disgusted.

When they got back to Sunnydale Buffy confronted her mother and apologized. She got re-enrolled in school after Mr. Snyder was in an unfortunate accident involving a mob of Star Trek fans.

* * * * *

Buffy arrived at Angel's apartment at 7:00 in the evening. She was very exited from all the soda she drank at the party her friends threw for her. Angel swung open the door and Buffy stepped inside.

"Happy Birthday," Angel said, kissing her.

"10 more minutes until I'm 18!" she said, looking at the clock.

"Are you nervous?" Angel asked.

"No. I'm too hyper to be nervous." She sat down on the couch. "So, what to do until it's time?"

"We'll think of something," Angel said. Time passed slowly while they kissed. Angel broke away and pointed to the clock. "It's time." They both looked apprehesively at the ceiling.

"Hey, down here," Ms. Calendar called from where she stood in front of them.

"I'm sorry I didn't forgive you," Buffy said.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys about the curse," Jenny said.

"I'm sorry I killed you," Angel said, hanging his head.

"Now that that's over with, let's get on with it." Jenny said. "Are we ready?"

"I guess," Buffy replied. Angel squeezed her hand. Ms. Calendar muttered some words and white light splashed from her fingers and hit Buffy. She tipped over and fell into Angel's lap.

"She'll be fine. Just give her a minute," Jenny said. "Bye, and good luck." With that she disappeared.

"Thank you." Angel turned his attentions to the unconscious slayer he held. She began to stir.

"Did she...," Buffy asked. Angel nodded. Buffy stood up and stretched. "I'm finally 18! Free to vote, free to get my drivers license, free to move out of my mother's house, free to..."

Angel cut her off with a hungry kiss.

"That too," Buffy said breathlessly into his mouth. Angel swept her up and carried her over to the bed, never breaking the kiss. He lay her down gently and gazed at her as she smiled up at him.

"I love you," he said. He leaned over and brought his lips to hers, and kissed her long and slow. Taking their time, they explored each other's bodies and made love for the first time since the fateful night of Buffy's 17th birthday. They fell asleep, exhausted, curled up together.

Angel awoke the next morning to find Buffy snuggled up against his chest. In a moment of panic he did a mental check on himself to make sure there was no demon controlling his body. He kissed the sleeping slayer softly on the forehead. She let out a contented sigh before opening her eyes.

"Good morning," she murmured sleepily.

"Hi," Angel responded. Buffy stretched her head up to kiss the underside of his chin, nuzzling his neck. "How are you?"

"I feel wonderful," Buffy said. She looked to the window, where the sun bathed the couple with warmth.

"Today is the first day of the rest of eternity. What are you going to do?" said Angel with a smile.

Buffy looked up with shining eyes at the man she loved and took a moment to thank Jenny and the stars for giving them another chance at a life together. She gazed up at him and gave her answer. "Spend it with you."

End

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