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Disclaimer: Buffy, Angel, Willow, and Oz don't belong to me they belong to Satan, I mean Joss. Also The WB, Mutant Enemy, 20th Century Fox, so please don't sue me.
Author's Notes: Okay, die-hard B/A, W/O fans turn back now, this is an angsty Buffy/Angel story, also a Buffy/Oz story. It deals with Buffy's wedding day, and the sacrifice Angel made to make her happy. Enjoy.
Spoilers- Graduation Day Pt2 and back, big ones for G2 so be warned.
He watched from a distance, watched the smile on her face.
She had moved on, it was what he had wanted for her.
But it still hurt like Hell. She was over him, and he still loved her. He smiled as she hugged Willow.
This was her big day, and he had to watch. He didn't go to the ceremony, he didn't have that much guts. But the reception he could do, he had years of blending into the shadows.
Besides he had been invited. Willow had invited him, she knew he needed to do this.
To watch her, make sure she was happy. He smiled sadly, she was, happier than he had ever made her.
He watched her beautiful face light up in a smile, and remembered a time when he had done that. When she had smiled for him, when she had loved him.
He turned away, not needing to see anymore. She was happy, she had what she needed, now he needed to go. He paused at the doorway, taking one good look at her, knowing it would be his last.
Today he would step out of her life again, this time forever. She wasn't his any longer, she had moved on. He took one last look, and sighed, then he walked to the door and left.
This was truly the end.
Once he was outside he walked to the mansion. Inside his old home, he allowed the memories to come back.
He smiled as he remembered, and then lost that smile as he realised that was all he would ever have.
Memories.
Buffy was lost to him, forever. Yet, as much as it hurt, he felt glad, she had what he always wanted for her.
A normal life, what he could never give her.
"Goodbye." He whispered, as he pictured her.
But not as he had seen her a half an hour ago, no, this image was of a different Buffy, the one who had loved him, he closed his eyes, remembering the way she had looked the last time he had seen her, as he had walked into the smoke.
As he left her life for good.
She had been so sad, she had wanted him to stay. He could still remember the way she had looked when he told her he was leaving, how she had begged him to stay, but he couldn't.
Wouldn't.
He was glad he hadn't, as much it hurt, he had been right. She would eventually want a normal life, children, he would have just been holding her back. No, he couldn't do that.
Instead he had set her free, let her live, move on.
All it had cost him was a broken heart, yet it was worth it. Just to see the smile that had been missing from her eyes for so long.
She was truly happy, and that's all he wanted.
That's why he had left.
He had been here, she could feel it.
He had come, she had hoped he would. She needed him to be there, she didn't know why, but she did.
She smiled softly as she remembered the last time she had seen him, the night of the ascension. He had faded into the smoke, and she had watched.
Had shared one last look with him, a look which possessed three years worth of memories. With that look they relived everything, from their first meeting to her giving him her blood. They had shared so much, had loved so hard, and yet they had let it go with one look.
But it was more than a look, it had been more, it had been a release. She had known that he was letting her go, and she allowed herself to be free, she moved on.
She learned to love again, yet she never learned to forget. There had been times when she wanted to, but mostly she never regretted loving him.
Nor did she regret moving on, she couldn't hang on to the past forever, no matter how painful it got. That's why she allowed herself to love again, to move on.
She glanced up at her new husband and squeezed his hand, letting him know she loved him. That this was what she wanted, the future, not the best.
She smiled sadly as she thought of Angel one last time, remembering him from a night long ago. The night he had left her life for good. How handsome he had been, how perfectly suited for his name. He had looked like and angel, and in a way he had been one, he had been her guardian angel.
Coming from the shadows to warn her, doing everything in his power to save her, and in the very end leaving her because it had been the best for her.
She smiled the smile he had loved so much, a smile just for him. The last smile she would smile for him, but one so like the ones he had caused years before.
He had let her go because he loved her, and by doing that he put a smile on her face.
He let her be happy.
Willow watched Buffy with a smile.
She knew that her friend was thinking of Angel, knew he had come. She was proud of him, he had done something that hurt him to make Buffy happy.
How many men would do that? Not many, but Angel was one of a kind.
He had come from the darkness, yet had given Buffy so much love, so much happiness. It hadn't been easy, they had been so through so much, but they had loved each other.
Yet he had realised that he couldn't stay, and he left, he did what he knew was best. He hadn't thought about himself, only Buffy.
That's the way it had always been.
He had truly been her guardian Angel. He had given her everything he had to give, including the best gift of all.
He let her go, he gave her the chance for a future. For the life he couldn't offer her.
Willow gazed over at Buffy and her new husband, Oz, and smiled.
It didn't hurt at all seeing them together, even though she had loved him. She had, but she had changed, so had he. He fell in love with Buffy, she back in love with Xander.
She was just glad he had found happiness, and that Buffy had too. Oz made Buffy smile in a way he had never done for her. He had made the hurt over Angel go away, made her stop feeling like she was going to die.
He had given her the life she could never of had with Angel, and for that Willow was grateful.
She was glad things had turned out this way, she only wished that Angel could be happy. That he didn't have to be alone.
But she knew this was what he wanted, that he couldn't handle loving again, not after Buffy. It had hurt too much loosing her, he couldn't do it again. But she knew that as much pain as it had caused him it had been worth while, by letting Buffy go he had made her truly happy.
He had given her the chance for what they could never have.
Willow smiled slowly, he had gotten what he wanted. She was happy, she had healed, she had learned to love. She had what he wanted for her, the great gift he had given her.
The freedom to move on, to let go.