Dublin 1843--Angel is dreaming of his past, where he kills a man that supposedly was indebted to him. When he wakes up, unable to fall asleep again, he walks the streets of Sunnydale and runs into Buffy. They exchange a few words and then Angel freaks out, seeing the ghost of the man who he killed in his dream. The next day, Buffy tells her friends about her freaky encounter with Angel. They fill eachother in on holiday plans and then Oz shows up, ready to talk to Willow. He tells her how much he misses her and that he's willing to give their relationship another shot.
Buffy and her Mom go shopping for a Christmas tree and decide to invite Faith to Christmas dinner, but not Giles. Angel's nightmares continue to haunt him, and he finally resorts to going to Giles for help. Armed with a crossbow, Giles invites him in and listens to Angel tell him about the dreams and how he wants to know why he came back from hell. Their conversation is cut short when Angel sees Jenny, and runs off.
In another one of Angel's dreams, he attacks a service woman but as he finishes her off, he looks up and see's Buffy there in his dream. They both wake up, realizing that they're in eachother's dreams. Buffy goes to Giles and they plan to research so they can find out what force is taking over Angel. Xander offers to help as well since saving Angel is a better option than being at home. Willow having joined in on the research party fills Buffy in on her getting back with Oz.
Angel is still unable to sleep and encounter's Jenny's spirit at the mansion. He tries to apologize, but she doesn't want to hear it, she just wants to make him suffer. He is then visited by the many ghosts of his victims, including the man and service woman he had killed. Finally nearly crazy from being reminded of what a monster he was, Angel begs for it to stop. Jenny offers him comfort and tells him to rest. At the library Buffy also falls asleep and both she and Angel are in the same dream, again. This time, the two are making passionate love on Buffy's bed. Looking over his shoulder, Buffy notices a creature with it's eyes sewn shut just before Angel vamps out and bites her. They both wake up. Jenny tells Angel he needs to kill Buffy.
Giles has found out that the force that is taking over Angel is called the First. It's very powerful and impossible to kill. However, there are three priests (the creatures with their eyes sewn shut) which Buffy can kill, and hopefully put an end to the mental torment Angel is suffering from. Buffy and Xander visit Willie the Snitch, but he only says that the First may be underground. Oz arrives at Willow's house with videos and finds she has a bit more planned for the night. He tells her he's not ready to take their relationship that far, which she's fine with and they just kiss.
At home, Buffy and her mom are trimming the tree when Faith shows up. There was no party. Buffy goes upstairs to her room to find that Angel is there waiting for her. Blind with the need to find peace of mind, he fights the urge to kill Buffy. He jumps out of her window, desperate to not kill Buffy. Buffy leaves Faith in charge of watching her mom while she goes to Giles for immediate help. At the mansion, Jenny tries to convince Angel that he must kill Buffy. When he has made it clear that he can't, he knows that his only other option is to kill himself with the sunlight.
After some more research, Buffy discovers that wherever the priests are, nothing will grow above or below. Buffy remembers the bunch of dead trees at the tree lot. She goes there and in the middle of a circle of dead trees, she makes a hole into the ground which then leads to the priests. She tears the place and the priest apart, then encounter's the First in Jenny's body. They attack eachother verbally and then Buffy runs off to the mansion to save Angel from killing himself with the sun.
She finds him atop of a hill, the sun only minutes away from rising. He tells her that he loves her and wants her so much that he'd be willing to loose his soul just to be with her. Buffy desperately wants him to come inside but he believes very strongly that he is evil and he's got to be strong for once, and die. They yell, and hit eachother, and cry and tell eachother how much they love eachother. Then, after Buffy is giving him his last chance to prove how strong he really can be and to come in from the sun. Then, out of no where, snow begins to fall, covering the previously sunny and hot Sunnydale, in a beautiful white Christmas.
Willow and Oz wake up on Willow's bed (they were just sleeping) to the snow. Xander wakes up in his backyard covered in snow. Giles notices it from his apartment, while Faith and Joyce see it from the Summer's home. Buffy and Angel walk hand in hand together through the snow.
