Love and everything that goes with it
by Bwriter
Part sixteen
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Part sixteen
~You'll remember me when the west wind moves
Among the fields of barley
You can tell the sun in his jealous sky
When we walked in fields of gold~
Willow heard Angel's voice, asking where she was, from Buffy's room.
Jumping up, she ran into the main room, jerking to a stop, and searching for Buffy.
Angel saw her first. He saw as her mouth opened and closed before she rushed past them, looking for someone.
Looking for Buffy.
Silent tears ran down Willow's face. Faith hobbled over to her best friend and wrapped the heartbroken girl up in a hug.
Angel paced the floor, wishing he could go back, change what had happened.
Looking over at the crying redhead, he averted his gaze, unable to watch the tears he was responsible for.
~So she took her love for to gaze awhile
Among the fields of barley
In her arms she fell as her hair came down
Among the fields of gold~
She was gone. That was the only thought running through Willow's head.
Buffy was gone.
Dust.
She felt like her heart had been ripped out.
Willow looked up to see Angel pacing the floor, and knew that he was hurting too.
Moving out of Faith's arms, she closed the distance between them.
Angel stopped pacing when he saw the redhead approach, wondering if she was going to hit him.
He would let her.
He deserved it.
He let Buffy die.
Not once did it cross his mind that he had been in no position to save Buffy, but even if it had, it wouldn't have mattered.
Angel...Angelus, blamed themselves for the death of their most favourite Childe.
A Sire was supposed to protect their Childer.
Willow surprised him. Throwing her arms around him, she broke down fully.
Collapsing to the floor, Angel held the sobbing redhead in his arms, his own silent tears falling.
~Will you stay with me will you be my love
Among the fields of barley
And you can tell the sun in his jealous sky
When we walked in fields of gold~
Giles returned from the bathroom with the first aid supplies.
His job had been simple. He was to provide the transport to get Angel, Buffy and Spike out of the sun and to safety and to stay out of harms way until he was needed.
He had failed. Sure, Angel and Spike had made it.
Buffy hadn't.
Looking up, he focused on the people before him.
Faith was bleeding from several places and would need stitches.
Spike was on the floor, passed out from the pain.
Fang was whimpering in a corner, licking his wounds.
Lou was trying to contact the Powers.
And Angel, he was holding the sobbing redhead.
~I never made promises lightly
And there have been some that I've broken
But I swear in the days still left
We will walk in fields of gold
We'll walk in fields of gold~
"What happened?" Angel could barely hear the words, the sobs distorting them.
"The sun rose." He didn't know the rest himself.
One minute, she was there, running behind him and Faith, the next, she was gone Spike was there.
"She saved me."
Willow turned to face Spike.
He had passed out on the way home. The pain from his wounds and burns becoming too much.
"What?" That didn't make sense to Willow.
Buffy hated Spike. Why would she save him at the risk of her own life?
"I fell just as we were closing in on their shelter. I thought I was gone. Then she was there. She grabbed me and threw me, when I turned around, she was gone."
Willow stared at him before breaking away from Angel and moving over to Spike.
She fell on top of him, punching anywhere she could. Shouting at him, a voice full of hate, everyone present looked on in shock.
Strong hands pulled her off and she turned around, crying into Giles chest.
~I never made promises lightly
And there have been some that I've broken
But I swear in the days still left
We will walk in fields of gold
We'll walk in fields of gold~
That had been eight hours ago.
Willow was still in Buffy's room, refusing to leave. Angel was there with her while Faith was getting checked out at the hospital.
He had wanted to stay with his mate, but the sun was still out and wouldn't be going down for a few hours.
He closed his eyes as an image of Buffy flashed through his eyes.
He had never felt the loss of a Childe until today.
He hoped to never feel it again.
~Many years have passed since those summer days
Among the fields of barley
See the children run as the sun goes down
As you lie in fields of gold~
Willow had finally fallen into a restless sleep, whimpering every now and then.
Angel didn't know how she was going to cope.
He had seen the mark on her neck. Knew what it meant.
Buffy and Willow had Mated.
Angel wouldn't be surprised if Willow had felt Buffy die like he had.
Looking up, he saw Spike by the door.
"You better not come in. You seen what she was like today. If she wakes and you're here..."
He trailed off, knowing Spike got the message.
"Was just wondering if you've fed again?"
Angel shook his head no. He had fed earlier, but he'd been too busy looking after Willow to feed again.
Spike disappeared and returned with a mug of blood and gave it to his Sire before leaving the room.
As Angel drank the blood, he gaze travelled to the picture frame on the dresser.
It was one of Angelus, Buffy, Darla, Dru, Penn and Spike when they had been in china in
Buffy had wanted a drawing of them all together. Darla hadn't wanted to get it done, but Angelus had talked her round by promising her the drawer as a thank you.
~You'll remember me when the west wind moves
Among the fields of barley
You can tell the sun in his jealous sky
When we walked in fields of gold
When we walked in fields of gold
When we walked in fields of gold~
Willow rolled over and looked at Angel, who had finally fallen asleep.
It was dark, she didn't know what time it was as she climbed from the bed and walked over to the window before pulling back the heavy drapes.
The cool night air hit her face and stung her eyes.
Last night, she and Buffy had been making love.
Now, Buffy was dust.
Leaning heavily against the window, Willow missed the bedroom door opening, or Angel stirring up on the bed.
She missed his look of shock registering on his face.
The first clue she had that there was someone else in the room, besides her and Angel, was the whispered voice calling her name.
Turning, she stared in shock at who she saw.
Buffy stood there, dried blood caked her clothing, but there was a smile on her face.
"Buffy?"
No-one was there to catch Willow as she fell. Luckily, she slid down the wall, landing in an unconscious heap at the bottom.
Tbc
lyrics by Sting - Fields of Gold