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"I-is it ok?" Angel asked Buffy as they walked in companionable silence down the streets of Sunnydale. "Th-that I love you?"
Buffy smiled slightly, the corners of her mouth turning up perceptively. "Yeah. It's ok."
They continued for another few blocks before Buffy brought up the psychological tests. "Angel, did you learn anything talking to Dr. Jacobs? Or remember anything?"
"The…the word g-game was fun," Angel answered her. He smiled brightly. "A-a-and that I l-love you-you."
"Nothing else?"
"Um…n-no," Angel said. "Sh-should I?"
"No," Buffy said, laying a hand on his arm. He looked down at her hand, face still plastered with a large smile. "Why are you smiling so big?"
"I'm happy," Angel confessed. "Happy…happy th-that I-I-I feel safe w-with you-you. It doesn't m-matter that I-I can't re-remember my life. Al-although you c-could tell me about it."
Buffy's smile turned sad as she went over his words in her mind. *How can he feel safe with me when I'm the one who caused him all his pain?* she asked herself.
The two arrived at Angel's apartment and went inside. Buffy immediately noted that it was like a sauna. "Hot much?"
Angel, dressed in another sweater, faced her. "N-no. I-I am still c-cold."
"You are nuts," Buffy said, then immediately clamped a horrified hand over her mouth. "Sorry."
Angel smiled, then looked around the room. If Buffy left, he'd be all alone with no memories. He tried to think of something to keep her there. "Would you-you tell me a-about, well, m-me?" He asked her, making a small joke.
"Uh…I don't think that's a good idea. Wouldn't you rather wait until your own memories come back?"
"Please?"
Buffy could never resist his puppy dog eyes. She sighed. "Ok. Have a sit down and I'll fill you in on The Wonderful World of Angel."
"Giles, look at this," Willow said from her seat at the library table. In front of her lay two printouts written in Romany. Giles looked over Willow's shoulder. "See, here," she told him, underlining some words on one of the sheets, then the other. "They're different. The curses are not the same. Whatever I cast was not the original vengeance spell."
"Good work, Willow," Giles told the red head. "Now we can concentrate on deciphering the meaning behind the one you cast."
"Buffy will be so happy," Willow said.
"Angel, I am not happy," Buffy told her companion.
"Wh-what did I do?" Angel asked her, sitting back on the bed. Buffy was seated on the couch, telling him stories about their times together in the past.
"You keep looking at me like you want to gobble me up," Buffy said. "Stop it."
"Huh?" Angel said.
"Are you hungry?"
"N-no," Angel replied.
"Then what's with the staring game?" Buffy asked.
"I…I like l-looking at you," Angel told her. "You-you're beautiful."
Buffy blushed a very interesting shade of red. "Oh…sorry. My bad." She stood and stretched. "I gotta bail," she told him. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"O-ok," Angel said, standing as well. He walked her to the door. "'N-night."
"Goodnight," Buffy replied. She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek, then left.
Angel closed the door, then put one hand to the cheek that was just kissed. He smiled at closed the door.
Angel woke the next day, his body not aching for once. Standing, he went over to the kitchen table. A container was sitting out with a note taped to it.
"Drink me," Angel read aloud. He laughed. "I wonder if I'll shrink." After swallowing it's contents, he took a shower, dressed and decided to head over to the library.
Buffy had told him the night before that he was a part of a mythology club at the high school. She said that someone would come up with strange 'symptoms' and the group would research and try to find out what the particular mythological creature caused the occurrence and how to dispatch it. For some reason, this did not seem odd in Angel's mind.
Angel locked the door behind him and headed down the short hall to the access door to his lower level apartment. He opened it and was surprised to see Buffy standing on the opposite side, bathed in sunlight.
"Angel! What are you doing!" Buffy yelled, pushing him back and shutting the metal door.
"I was g-going to the lib-library," Angel explained as Buffy herded him back to the apartment.
"During the day? You would have gotten yourself fried…oh!" Buffy stopped what she was saying and turned to the vampire. "You don't know! Of course he doesn't know, idiot, you didn't tell him," Buffy the second part to herself.
"D-don't know wh-what?" Angel asked.
"I'm sorry. I forgot to tell you. You're…um… allergic to the sun," Buffy said. "You can only go out at night."
"Then what d-do I do all d-day?"
"Usually sleep," Buffy responded. "There is a sewer system that runs all over town, but without your memories, you probably should go down there."
"Ok," Angel said, removing his leather jacket. "Would you…like to k-keep me com-company?"
"I can for a little while," Buffy said, dropping her bag. "I have a big test tomorrow on top of patrolling."
"Pat-patrolling?"
"Work. I meant work," Buffy corrected quickly. "I work."
"Where d-do you work at?"
"Where do I work at? Um…at…at the mall! I work at the mall."
"Oh. Ok," Angel said. He watched as Buffy nervously chewed on her lip. "Tell…tell me more about us?"
Buffy smiled, glad for the reprieve. "Sure! Have a sit down. I left off last night at the skating rink, didn't I?"
"Hello, Willow," Angel said in greeting to the young hacker sitting behind the computer. Angel had decided to go to the high school after the sun set, per his allergy. He was getting bored staying home all the time, and since Buffy was busy, he figured the more he involved himself in his old life, the better.
"Aah!" Willow screeched, pushing back in her chair and whipping out a cross from her pocket. She held it out in his direction, her hand shaking.
Angel stepped closer. "Wh-what's wrong?"
"You scared me!" Willow said, lowering the holy object slowly.
"I'm s-sorry," Angel said.
Willow nodded and calmed herself. She pulled her chair back over to the computer and sat down. "What are you doing here?" she finally asked, composed once more.
"I…I wanted to h-help," Angel told her. "L-like Buffy said I-I used to d-do."
"She did?" Willow asked. "Um…ok. Can you read Romany?"
"I-I don't know," Angel said, sitting in an empty seat. Willow observed that Angel was wearing way too many clothes for the still hot California weather.
"Here," Willow handed him a printout of the curse she cast. "We're trying to translate this, to get to the meaning behind it."
Angel accepted the paper and looked down at it. He was amazed to find he could easily read it without stuttering. "Not of the dead, nor not of the living, spirits of the interregnum I call. Gods, bind him. Cast his heart from the demon realm. I implore you, Lord, do not ignore this supplication. Let this Orb be the vessel that will carry his soul to him. It is written, this power is my people's right to wield. Let it be so."
"You can read that?" Willow asked in a awed voice.
"I g-guess so," Angel replied, setting the paper down on the table. "Now, wh-what are w-w-we trying to do?"
Willow shook herself, getting back to the task at hand. "We're trying to figure out the meaning behind the curse and if it can be broken or not."
"The…the m-meaning is easy," Angel said, pushing the paper to her. "It g-gives someone b-back their s-s-soul."
"I already knew that," Willow said. Angel quieted her with a look. "Sorry. Go on."
"This l-line here," he said, pointing to the paper. "'C-cast his heart from the d-demon realm.' Th-that's re-removing all evil from th-the person."
"Really!" Willow squealed. "That's great! Wait, you'd better translate this line from the other curse." She gave him the original curse and pointed to the underlined phrases which were the only differences between the two curses.
"It-it says: Restore to the corporal vessel that which separates us from beast. Use this orb as your guide," Angel translated. "I w-wonder why I-I-I did not st-stutter when I r-read them."
"Probably because you're not thinking," Willow told him. "Just reading." She stood and ran over to the phone. "I'm gonna call Giles and tell him the news. This is so great!"
"Glad I-I could help," Angel told her, pulling an open book that was on the table to him. He began to read the Latin text as Willow talked excitedly into the phone.
"Giles will be here as soon as he can," Willow told Angel. She hugged him. "Welcome back."
Angel was surprised. No one, other than Buffy, had touched him at all. He hugged the small girl back. "Thank y-you," Angel replied.
"Get your hands off her, Deadboy!" Xander's voice yelled at the two from the doorway.
Willow quickly turned. "Xander! It was a hug!"
"That's what he wants you to believe, Will," Xander said, storming over to pull her away from Angel's reach. "Just before he sucks your life away."
"Xander, this is Angel. Angel not Angelus. That demon is gone for good," Willow told her friend.
"How do you know?" Xander said, snidely. "Last time, all Buffy had to do was give him a happy and wham-o! Instant killer."
"The curse I cast," Willow said. "It was different than the original curse. It doesn't matter if he's happy or not, it can't be broken."
Angel watched the fight between to two friends. Xander was a coil of restrained hatred, while Willow radiated happiness. "I c-can go," he interrupted them.
"No," Willow said, moving to keep the vampire in his seat.
Xander grabbed her arm. "Get lost, fang face," he said. "And stay lost."
"Xander, that's enough!" Willow yelled, extracting her arm from his grip. "One more comment out of you, and I won't be held responsible for what I do."
"It's not gonna happen, Will. This guy is bad news and he needs to…" Xander's sentence was interrupted by a fist in his face. It was not as powerful as Buffy's hit, but it had more meaning behind it.
"Get out," Willow hissed, her voice deadly. "And don't ever come near me or Angel again."
"Willow…" Xander said, rubbing his eye. She turned her back to him. Angel watched the fight with sad eyes. Spinning, Xander left the library.
Willow seemed to droop and Angel stood quickly, engulfing her in a hug as she began to sob. "It'll be ok," Angel cooed. "Y-you'll see."
Giles entered the library. "What's wrong?" he asked sharply. "Xander stormed past me and now I f-find Willow crying."
"I…I'm not s-sure," Angel replied. "It h-had something to d-do with curses, de-demons and me."
"Giles," Willow said, wiping her face with her sleeve. "The curse can't be broken. Ever. That's all that is important."
"Are you certain?" Giles said.
"As certain as anyone can be living on the Hellmouth," Willow responded. "Thanks, Angel." She told the vampire, moving out of his arms.
Angel nodded and smiled affectionately at her.
"Hey, Giles! I bagged a biggie tonight," Buffy said, coming through the doors of the library. "Woah. What's going on here?" she asked, seeing Willow's red eyes and Giles' worried face.
"Oh, um, Buffy," Giles said. "Good news. It w-would seem the curse is permanent."
"Really?" Buffy said, hope in her voice. "No 'You made me happy so now I'm gonna kill off all your friends?'"
"Er…no," Giles replied.
"Angel translated those different lines and one of them meant that all the evil was gone from the person," Willow informed Giles and the Slayer. "He didn't even stutter when he read them."
Buffy stood still, an expression of pain and joy on her face. She let out a choked sob and launched herself at Angel, holding him close and raining kisses on his face.
"H-hey," Angel said. "Wh-what is this for? N-not that I don't l-like it, be-because I do."
"I'm happy!" Buffy exclaimed, continuing her ministrations. "I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you!"
Angel looked at the other two in the room with embarrassment. "Uh…Buffy. W-we have an aud-audience."
"Oh," Buffy said, blushing. She turned to Giles and Willow. "Sorry, guys."
Willow smiled largely at the Slayer. "It's ok. I've been waiting for what
seems like forever to see you so happy."