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The day after Graduation
Willow tossed and turned in her sleep. Visions and voices glared before her. Horrible monsters roared up out of the depths of darkness. Faces swirled in and out of her vision. The faces of Buffy crying and saying that she would die. The look of pain in Angel's eyes. The strain and the tension between them. "Please, help us," they called. Hundreds of voices called out to her. Voices that came from unknown origins and yet seemed to be from all around her. Soon the faces became bloated, turning into computer screens and disks started flying about like confetti. One of the computers came to sit in front of her and she found that she was sitting. She found herself staring at something on the computer screen she couldn't quite make out. The lines were wavering and running into each other. "Please," a voice called, "There's more. Finish the spell."
"What spell? How?" Willow cried.
"Find the meaning," the voices called out. Willow fumbled at the keyboard trying to get the computer to work as the lines seemed to run all over the screen, dancing and laughing at her.
"I can't!" she called. "I don't understand." Suddenly everything seemed to snap into focus. She was in the computer room, Ms. Calendar teaching at the front. She was standing in front of her old desk, but the computer was smashed and burning at her feet. A pile of paper beside it.
"What do I do?" Willow asked.
"Finish the spell."
"Which spell?"
"Mine."
"Your spell? You mean the one that gave Angel his soul back?"
Ms. Calendar nodded. "Now it's up to you. You have to finish the job."
"But I cast the spell! It's done! I can't do anymore."
"Figure out what you cast and you'll have your answers. First rule of witchcraft is know the spell you're casting," Ms. Calendar said walking towards the door, "Second rule is, if you didn't follow rule one and cast a spell anyway, figure out what you did so it doesn't come and nip you in the butt."
"Are those old Wiccan rules?" Willow asked.
Ms. Calendar turned in the doorway and shook her head. "That's what we technopagans call experience." Ms. Calendar smiled. "Help them Willow. Please, see that it's finished." Ms. Calendar turned and walked out of the classroom.
"Wait!" Willow called, running out of the classroom. She ran down the halls, endless, endless halls, where computers and voices called out to her.
She started awake, trying to yell at the voices. She looked around her room groggily. She glanced over at her alarm clock, which read 1:08 at her. She laid back down, but was soon up again her clock still telling her that it was shortly after 1 in the morning. "I must be crazy," she muttered to herself as she wrapped her robe around her and turned her computer on. She turned her light on and rubbed her eyes as the computer booted up. She brought up Ms. Calendar's file and began the slow process of picking up where she had left off figuring out what the spell did a little over a year ago.
A few hours later, Willow stopped and sat back staring at her computer. She absentmindedly picked up the phone and dialed.
"Hello?" a groggy voice asked, after about the 20th ring.
"Oz, you've got to get over here right away," she said.
"Willow? Is that you?"
"Of course it's me."
"Get over where? It's almost 4 in the morning."
"My house. I've got to make sure this is right."
"Make sure what's right? Willow what's going on?" Oz asked.
"Just please come Oz. It's urgent."
"Okay."
"Oh, and come through the window," Willow added, "My parents are probably still asleep.
A few minutes later, Willow and Oz, both sat staring at the computer screen. "I'm right aren't I?"
"Yup," Oz said staring at the screen.
"Humanity and love shall bind him, so that the spell may never be broken," Willow said, half reading.
"Unless it's by a stronger wicca," Oz said. Willow looked up at him shocked. "Just keeping a good perspective."
"But … Then someone could-"
"No one tried to break the spell before. I just wanted to point out that the spell could be broken. Just not accidentaly."
"Right," said nodding.
"Are you going to call them?"
"No," Willow said standing up, "Let's tell them in person."
"What is this all about? What's so important that I have to get up at four thirty in the morning?" Buffy asked groggily, as Willow led the way up to the mansion. Willow went up and pounded on the door to the mansion Oz beside her. Buffy shook her head as she came up to stand beside them. "You know if we took the side entrance we could have gone straight in." The door to the mansion opened and Angel opened it up and stared at the the three of them.
"Willow? Buffy? What-" Angel asked as Willow pushed by him. Angel looked bewildered and Buffy just shrugged. Oz motioned her to go in first and all three followed Willow into the living room, Oz had a half smile on his face.
"You and you. Sit," Willow commanded pointing to Buffy and Angel. Buffy and Angel sat down next to each other on the couch, Buffy resting her head on his shoulder tiredly.
"Willow, what is this all about? And why did we have to-" Buffy asked.
"Shh. Just. Look," Willow said pacing back and forth in front of the fire place, "I'm not quite sure how to tell you two this okay. That's all."
"Has something happened?" Angel asked.
"What? Oh no. No ones dead or anything," Willow said.
"Or no one new at least," Oz added.
"It's just. It was an honest mistake. I mean we were in a hurry. And I was only back-up. And then there was the whole coma thing and then you were in Hell so there was no need. And no one even thought about it when he came back. And then there was the Asscension- and it just never crossed my mind until tonight. And then I just figured it all out less than an hour ago"
"Figured what out?" Buffy asked.
"I'm just going to say it and then we're going," Willow said, "We'll tell everyone else for you tomorrow-"
"Today," Oz ammended.
"Today, later, daylight today and you guys can just talk and- whatever."
"Tell us what?" Angel asked.
"One year ago, I cast a spell on Angel giving him his soul back. Not a curse, a spell. It's permanent."
"What?" Buffy asked, blinking at her and sitting up straighter.
"The spell's permanent. No happiness clause."
Angel and Buffy were silent. Willow smiled at them. "Thank you for telling us," Angel murmurred absently as Willow and Oz left. Angel sat staring at nothing for awhile, his mind trying to register. When what Willow had said finally started to register he looked over at Buffy. She was looking at him, tears streaming down her checks.
"What's the matter?" he asked, brushing her tears away and taking her face in his hands. "I thought you'd be happy."
Buffy kissed him, capturing him and pinning him to the spot by the sheer force of her will and love. She pulled away a little, staring into his eyes and laughing just a little. "I've never been so happy, in my whole life," she told him, "Now there's nothing that can take you away. Unless you of course decide to be really … wait, I know the word, daft again. That's the word right?"
"Right," Angel said, laughing and pulling her close.
"See. I've been brushing up on all the old English or real English or whatever. Thee, thou, thine and daft," she said, smiling up at him from the circle of his arms.
He pulled her closer. "I love you."
"I love you too," she told him. "And now I'm allowed to." She raised her eyebrow at him and gave him a daring look.
"Careful. You never know what comments like those might lead to."
"True, but I can guess. And I want to find out."
He smiled for a moment, before becoming serious again. "Are you sure we aren't moving a little too fast?"
Buffy sighed. "Considering all we've been through, I think snails move faster than us," Buffy said leaning back against him.
"Yeah, but we weren't working up to anything."
"You're right. I mean after we're on this step for awhile then we'd have to start thinking of mirrors and drawers."
"I'm serious."
Buffy sighed again, holding him closer, scared that he was going to pull away. "Do you remember last Christmas?"
"Of course I remember. It snowed," Angel said.
"Do you remember those shared dreams we were having? And there was the one where it was just me and you and we-"
"I remember," Angel said shortly, cutting her off.
"Do you remember, when we talked about it? You said that part of you knew that if we … did that you would lose your soul and that part of you didn't care."
"Yeah"
"I remember the last part of the dream too. I remember the part where you fed off me and I knew in that instance that if that was happening you had lost your soul and I would die. And I remember that for that split second when you were feeding in the dream, but before we woke up … I remember wishing that you would take me with you. Not let me die, but take me with you."
Angel was quiet for awhile. "I never knew that. I hardly remembered that last part."
"I guess we've both love a little too much."
Angel was quiet for a long time, looking down at his love. She had grown so much older and so much stronger since her seventeenth birthday. She had aged so much more than a simple year and half. She had seen far too much pain and so had he. And yet she loved him more now than she did then, and he knew that the same was true for him. "Maybe," he replied, "But now, it looks like there is no such thing as loving too much."
Buffy turned around to look at him, hope shining in her eyes. He kissed her and she wrapped her arms around his neck happily. A lone spirit watched as they gave each other forgiveness and made their way to the bedroom. Happy as they had not been in a long time. She smiled down on them, disapearing into the night before she saw too much. The spell had been completed and her penance made. This was how it was supposed to be. Now there was only one stop left to make.
"They're going to be alright," Jenny said, leaning over Giles' sleeping form. "It's my last gift to you. I promised I'd make things right … They need you Rupert. Take care of them."
Giles made a sort of affirmative sound in his sleep. Jenny smiled and leaned down to whisper in his ear. "I love you." Giles smiled as he slipped into peaceful sleep.