Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They belong to the God known as Joss and I promise to return them as soon as I'm finished. The song "Who Wants to Live Forever" is by Queen and I am only borrowing that too.
Author's Notes: This story takes place 10 years after Angel gave up his humanity to save Buffy's life. Characters? Riley who? Anya who? Does that say it all? These < > denote thoughts. These << >> denote song lyrics. FEEDBACK PLEASE!!!! Even if it's mean!

"She looks paler than yesterday." Xander Harris said softly as he, Rupert Giles, Willow Rosenburg and Oz watched Buffy Summers sleeping restlessly in her bed. Giles looked up to him, his throat tight with greif.

"It won't be long now." He whispered gruffly. The guilt he had felt since Buffy had fought the Kirock demon and had consequently been poisoned by it was overwhelming. Try as he might, he couldn't find a cure for it. Now, because of his own personal failure to protect her, the slayer would die.

Willow took Buffy's hand while she slept and held it tightly.

"Why Giles?" She asked him sadly. "All she ever did was fight for others. Why should she die for it?"

"Sshh," her husband Oz soothed, wrapping his arms around Willow's waist and kissing her neck gently.

"I don't know Willow." Gilws admitted. "I'd hoped she'd be the exception to the slayer's short life span, I really did. I suppose more than fourteen years as the slayer was a gift as it is."

"Didn't you say Angel was coming?" Xander asked, showing no traces of hatred or venom towards the vampire whatsoever. At this point, he realized that hating Angel would do Buffy no good. She deserved her friend's support at a time like this. Xander refused to show her no less.

"Yea," Willow sniffled. "He said he would be here as soon as he could." It was then Buffy's still form began to stir.

"I wonder what she was dreaming." Giles murmured absentmindedly as Buffy awoke.

Angel watched the entire scene, heartbroken in the shadows. Willow, Xander, Giles and Oz had no idea he was there and he didn't plan to reveal his presence just yet. All he wanted to do was gaze at her awakening form and pretend this was all a dream. As soon as her eyes opened fully however, he knew he had to reveal himself.

Buffy's eyes fluttered open, but her expression remained dazed. The poison was beginning to take effect now and half the time she wasn't sure whether she was conscious or dreaming. She knew however, as soon as she took in the sight of her friend's loving, concerned faces, that this was real.

"Angel?" She murmured groggily. She wanted nothing more than to gaze into his gentle, soulfull eyes one more time before she went. "Angel?"

Unable to see her friend so confused, Willow spoke up.

"He's not..."

"I'm here." Angel stated, stepping into the light, much to the others' astonishment. They had pretty much forgotten that Angel's invitation to Buffy's home had been renewed a long time ago.

His face was a mask of pain and anguish as he stared at her frail, frightened form. Willow had told him on the phone that her parents had died the previous year in a car crash, while trying to reconcile their relationship. This made the Scooby Gang all she had left. Yet she still went on, tough as ever...until now. < She was once so lively. > He thought sadly. < Now, she's dying. >

Willow was the first to stand up and embrace Angel.

"Thank you for coming." She whispered. "I wish the circumstances were better."

Angel felt his throat constrict, but managed to hold his composure.

"So do I."

"Perhaps we should leave you two alone?" Giles suggested softly. The others agreed. Each stepped toward the bed to say their own, personal good-bye's to Buffy before she went.

"You'll always be my hero Buff," Xander told her with a weak, forced smile. Buffy despite that, felt herself smile in return.

"Bye," Willow whispered barely able to keep the tears from rolling down her cheeks. "I love you Buffy."

"There never was a finer chosen one than you." Giles told her with a father's love in his eyes.

"See you." Oz murmured, unsure of what else to say to her. Buffy smiled at all of them and felt the tears gather in her eyes.

"Thank you." She whispered. "I love you all. I just hope you know that."

Buffy allowed one solitary tear to slip down her cheeks as she took him in. Ten years later, and he still looked the same to her...perfect.

"How long have you been here?" She asked him.

"Not long." He replied. "I got here while you were still asleep. I couldn't bear to wake you."

"I would have liked to be woken." Buffy told him. "I had weird dreams."

Angel gently stroked her forehead, pushing the hair out of her face and smiled a bittersweet smile. Sure, she was pale, and weak looking and ten years older to boot, but in Angel's eyes, she was still the beautiful, innocent sixteen year old he fell in love with so long ago.

"What about?"

"You'll think I'm crazy if I tell you." Buffy replied. Angel shook his head and spoke simply.

"Tell me."

"I...I dreamt you became human." Buffy confessed weakly. "I dreamt that instead of leaving LA after you killed that demon like I did ten years ago, you became human and we...got involved again. It was amazing Angel. Then, something went terribly wrong. The dream was sort of vague about what happened, but in short, to save my life you became a vampire again and had the day reversed so that I wouldn't remember what we lost."

She looked up to Angel's eyes tentatively and noticed an odd expression lay in them. Ignoring it for the moment, she sighed.

"I know it was only a dream Angel but it felt so incredibly real. I can't help but think of the future we may have had...if only..." She let it go at that. She really didn't have to say any more. She could tell he got the picture.

Angel was silent a moment, wondering to himself why Buffy would be dreaming something she wasn't supposed to remember. Should he tell her that what she had experienced in the dream was real? Looking into her eyes, he felt his heart soften. He could never hold anything back when he was with her. It just wasn't his way.

"It wasn't a dream Buffy." He told her gruffly. "It was real. I really did make that decision and time was really reversed, only you weren't supposed to remember it. Only I was."

Buffy's eyes widened at the realization. Although half of her suspected as much, actually hearing it from his lips was another matter. It was true. Ten years ago, they had shared twenty four hours of un-interrupted bliss. Then, they were torn apart, as always and forced into a life of lonliness and pain.

"I'm sorry." Angel murmured to himself, lost in thought. "You weren't supposed to remember that. Maybe I shouldn't have told you."

"No," Buffy replied, her first genuine smile in days playing upon her face. "I like that memory Angel. I want to have it with me when I go."

The reminder of why Angel was here weighed heavily on both their spirits. Buffy watched as the mere mention of the inevitable caused Angel's eyes to cloud over in pain.

"Sssh," he told her gently. "Please, don't talk about it."

"I don't mind Angel." She told him honestly. "I'm frightened, but I know it can't be avoided. As a slayer, I've lived too long already. Since my parents died, there's been nothing here for me. I'm ready to go now."

Angel grasped her hand and held it, his eyes blazing with the determination to hold onto her life with all he had.

"I'm not ready to let you!" He whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "This can't be it. There's got to be an antidote for the poison. Giles must have missed something, or read it wrong, or..."

"Angel please!" Buffy pleaded, once again near tears. "Don't you think I've thought the same thing a thousand times? Don't you think Giles has done everything he possibly can? It's over Angel. Please accept it and let me go."

"I can't." He told her brokenly. "I may not have seen you for over ten years Buffy, but I've always loved you. As long as you've been alive in Sunnydale, I've firmly believed that something would happen that would allow us to be together. I can't let go of that hope and I can't tell you that I'm OK with you dying."

"Then why did you come?" Buffy asked him, her voice a deadly calm. "Willow made it quite clear to you that I wanted you here to say good-bye. If you're not here to do that, then why?"

Angel shook his head, unable to fully grasp the entire situation before him. Why must they talk about this? Why wouldn't she just let him hold her?

"I don't know." He finally admitted. "I thought maybe I could save you."

"Don't think." Buffy urged. "Just stay with me. It won't be long now and I want you to be with me when it finally happens."

"Oh Buffy, no!" He exclaimed in a heart wrenching sob. Pulling her close to him, he buried his face into her neck, not feeling even the slightest bit of vampiric temptaion and quietly weeped, holding her close until the tears no longer came to him. When he finally pulled away, Buffy gazed at him tenderly.

"I never stopped loving you Angel." She murmured. "After you left, I tried to find somebody else but I couldn't. I know now you are all I wanted. You're all I ever wanted."

"If I had the chance to be human, I'd do it differently I swear to you." Angel vowed. Buffy smiled and shook her head.

"No you wouldn't." She replied knowingly. "You did what you did to protect me Angel. I don't blame you for that."

"I'd do anything to protect you." He admitted softly. "In all my 254 years, there's never beein anyone else. You're the only thing that truly mattered to me. The only thing I would die for."

Buffy gently squeezed his hand, the fog in her head gradually growing greater and greater. It was almost time, that she knew. There was so much more she wanted to say to him! Why did it seem they never had enough time?

"Maybe...in another lifetime...I'll find you again?" She questioned, her voice barely a whisper. Feat in Angel's eyes intensified as he watched her struggle to hold on. < No! > His mind screamed. < It's too soon! >

"Count on it."

"Make...sure the others....are OK?" Buffy managed. "Sunnydale...is still...dangerous."

Angel's heart had never been so full of love for her as it was right now. < My Buffy > He thought lovingly. < Always thinking of her friends over herself. >

"I'll keep them safe." He vowed. Her eyes began to close. Angel felt the tightness in his throat returning. "Oh Buffy, don't do this." He pleaded. "Don't leave me!"

"It's time." She whispered wearily. "I...love...you."

Three simple words were all she could manage as her eyelids closed forever. Three words. There was no production, no fanfare. Buffy Anne Summers left the world the same way she'd lived in it; hidden in the shadows, protecting those nearest and dearest to her, yet never recieving the hero's credit that was due.

"No," Angel whispered desperately. "This can't be it...Buffy!"

<< There's no time for us >>
<< There's no place for us >>
<< What is this thing that builds are dreams >>
<< Then slips away from us? >>
<< Who wants, to live forever? >>
<< Who wants, to live forever? >>
<< Oooh, oooh >>

Sobs overtook him as he sat there, holding her lifeless body in his arms and feeling all will to live draining from him as the seconds passed. His heart became empty, void of all feeling and emotion. She was gone. Nothing else mattered.

"Thank you." He whispered to her, when his vocal powers finally returned to him. "Thank you for everything. You treated me like a man Buffy. You were my partner in the night and I'll never forget you for that.Though my soul may have been returned to me, you were the one that truly set me free."

<< There's no chance for us >>
<< It's all decided for us >>
<< This world as only one sweet moment >>
<< Set aside for us >>
<< Who wants to live forever? >>
<< Who wants to live forever? >>
<< Who dares to love forever? >>
<< Oooh, ooh, >>
<< When love must die >>

"Good-bye love." He said gently. "Wherever you are, I hope you're happy." Reaching into his trench coat pocket, he removed a blood red rose and placed it into her already pale, white hand.

<< Then touch my tears >>
<< With your lips >>
<< Touch my world >>
<< With your fingertips >>

"Red for love Buffy." He whispered hoarsely. "Whether alive or dead, love never dies. In that, we are immortal."

<< And we can have forever >>
<< And we can love forever >>
<< Forever is our today >>

Gently, he lowered her still form onto the bed and went to find the others to deliver the news. They were waiting outside in the backyard for him. As he left the house, the sky darkened and the rain began to fall. He told the others and watched them leave the yard and enter into the house to make the funeral preparations leaving Angel alone in the rain. Looking up into the sky, he gave a bitter laugh. For once, it seemed that he and the heavens were feeling the same pain.

<< Who wants to live forever? >>
<< Who wants to live forever? >>
<< Forever is our today >>

Then, as suddenly as the storm came, it dissapeared, leaving only sun. For one breif moment, Angel thought he saw Buffy's face smiling down on him, with the promise that they would be together again someday in a place more divine than this. Until then, Angel would carry his love for her in the safest place possible...his heart. With new hope, he headed back for LA. He didn't tell the others where he was going, but he knew they'd understand.

"Someday Buffy." He murmured to himself. "Someday."

<< Who waits forever anyway? >>

END.