So many years have passed
since I saw her last. But not a day had gone by where I didn't think about her;
and what we told each other that last night. It was the right thing to do for
the both of us. We always knew our love was forbidden. I couldn’t give her the
life that she finally was able to have. But I told her one day I would.
Unfortunately it took me 40 years to find it, but I did; and now it's time that
our love should be a reality.
I had to hire a
private investigator to find her location, for I had lost touch with any of the
people closest to her. I was puzzled to find out that Buffy moved to
She stood a few feet
in front of me; she was 5'2" tall, no more than 105 lbs... She was a
spitting image of her mother, beautiful blonde hair, which would sparkle in the
sunlight. When the young woman realized that I was staring she said, “okay sir,
if you're here to sell something, usually the idea would be to start talking.
Well unless of course, you have no voice, and I would be caught with the foot
in mouth syndrome. So I’m just going to stop talking and hope you can
speak."
She saw me smile and
laughing and a puzzled looks surfaced on her face. “You sound so much like your
mother did when I first met her."
“You know my
mother," the young woman shockingly stated as her attention was now
caught. “I didn't know my mother knew hot younger guys."
“Well…” I tried to
reply, but the young girl talked over me. “I thought the only hot guy my mother
knew was my father. Man, she's been holding out on me.”
“Your father," I
shockingly and rudely yelled, which caused the girl to take offense.
“Yes my father,"
the young girl began explaining with an evident and nasty scowl. “The love of her life. The man who gave her a life when she
only new of one. Yes my father, Riley!"
“Riley Finn," I
said quietly to myself as the hard drive to the floor. “Riley Finn is Buffy's
husband. I didn’t see that coming. I better g…”
“was her
husband," the girl sullenly I began explaining.
“What,” I quickly
blurted for I was anxious to hear what had happened?
“I said he was my
father," she answered with sorrow yet again. I felt bad because I made her
say it twice, but I needed to know I wasn’t hearing things. “He died five years
ago. And...”
Before the girl could
explain her father's death any further, a recognizable voice interrupted, “who
are you talking to? It doesn't take that much time to answer the door. Tell
whoever it is that we have no interest in what they are selling. Unless of course, it's a lifetime supply of cheese. Then
take your time.”
“No mom," Anne
answered. “He’s not selling anything. He says he's a friend of yours from a
long time ago, and he seems to know Dad."
“There was no answer
from the other room. I listened carefully and finally I could here footsteps
drawing near, but they stopped just from behind a wall in back of the girl.
Finally she asked, “what’s his name?"
The young girl turned
to me and asked me, even though she didn't have to for I heard the question.
“Angel,” I said as my heart leapt from I body.
I could hear her
break down into tears, a moment or two past when finally she came into sight
and said, “Angel! I don't know... I can't..."
“Don’t worry
Buffy," I said as I smiled, and fought the tears away. “All I need you to
do is invite me in so I can hold you.”
Buffy shook her head
as if she had forgotten the rules. “Yes, come in come in!”
We hugged and didn't
let go. We had to make up for the 40 years of no embraces. Anne was a little
confused. First of all, here’s this person hugging her mother like only her
father ever did. And lastly her mother was doing something she’d never seen
before, crying. Buffy noticed her daughter’s reaction so she backed off, wiped
the tears away, and said, “Oh, I'm sorry honey. It's just been so long since
have seen him."
Buffy looked at me,
positive, then continued, “Anne this is Angel! He and I, we.
Well we…”
“that’s OK a
mom," Anne who sensed her mothers reluctance to explain the situation
interrupted, “I understand you and Angel, cool name by the way, were close. No
need to be all self-conscious about it. I am 16 now."
“Don’t remind me,” Buffy
replied. “Angel network close back in Sunnydale. Then he moved to LA and took
over a law firm."
“Wait your
lawyer," and began. “I thought you said never trust lawyers mom!”
“Well he's not exactly
a lawyer honey," Buffy tiptoed around so she wouldn't lead her daughter to
Angel's truth. “He just runs the company, and helps the evil people in this
world get what they deserve.”
“I used to run
Wolfram Heart,” I told them, so they’d know I was more than just a figure headed.
“Why did you stop
Angel," Buffy asked while eagerly waiting for my answer.
“It got too be very predictable,
I was losing my grip on my mission,” I tried to explain so Anne wouldn't know what
I really did for living. Something inside me said that Buffy probably hadn't
told Anne about our past. “I needed to let go, so I decided to search for the
one thing I've always wanted.”
Buffy remained quiet
but I could tell that the young ears of Buffy’s daughter wanted to know what it
was that I needed to find. Her politeness held her from asking what that was.
Buffy had noticed
that my attention and never left her face I was staring at the sight of pure
beauty a beauty that might be older but hadn't faded. She then realized that we
were still standing in the hallway, and grabbed my hand and led me into the front
room; where we sat on the couch and continued staring at each other. Again it
was Anne who broke the stare and asked, "Mom, it's time for your pills. I'll
make some tea, and get your pills."
Buffy told her
daughter thank you as my awareness was in full swing. I wanted to ask what
pills, but I was unable to for Buffy quickly asked about me. “Now that Anne
will be away for a few minutes, tell me why you really left Wolfram Heart. The
last time we talked you were so happy. You Fred, Gunn, Wesley, and Spike were
doing some real good. What happened?”
“Honestly, time
happened Buffy,” I answered while the memories of the gang swirled around in my
head. “Ten years past and we took down some real evil. And we started to see
the signs of it; La was cleaning up. Those guys worked so long and hard on our
mission without letting up. They didn’t have much of a life. You would’ve
thought that was exactly my plan, but it wasn’t what I wanted for them. I couldn’t
go on knowing that I was keeping them from other things, like getting married
and starting families.”
Buffy sensed my pain,
as I relayed these painful memories to her. She grabbed my hand and held it
tight as I continued, “It felt like everyone that I came to know and love
became darker and more depressed. I was happy but they wee miserable; and I couldn’t
let that be the case any longer. I went to each of them and told them I was
scaling back there responsibilities, so they could have a life. They were
confused at first, but when I explained that time was going by way to fast,
they saw what I meant. They understood that I had all the time in the world,
and they didn’t. We kept working together, but as months, and years past, each
of them worked less. We used to see each other everyday, but then it was like
we only saw each other two or three times a month.”
“But that’s what you
wanted Angel, wasn’t it,” Buffy asked while rubbing my hand?
“Yes it was,” I answered.
“But, it was painful. I missed Gunn’s sarcastic humor, and Fred’s cute stutter.
Heck, I even missed singing to Lorne so he could put me on my path.”
“You didn’t miss Wesley,”
Buffy seriously inquired?
“Of course I did,” I
replied as Buffy let go of my hand so I could get up and pace the room. “After
Cordelia lost her battle with her coma, Wes and I were the only ones left from
the very beginning. We had that bond, it was an unsaid bond, but it was there nonetheless.
When he and Fred started getting serious, we didn’t talk much. He was the last
one to leave W&H, well the last one before me. That was the second hardest
goodbye I ever had to deal with.”
Buffy nodded her head
for she knew what the first was. “Wes came into my office and told me he was
leaving. And that he and Fred were getting married. He said thank you for my
friendship and loyalty through the years. That he loved every minute he fought
by my side to protect the innocent. And that he never forgot the eggs I made
him and Cordelia that morning after we saved Cordelia from getting her visions
ripped out. I gave him a path and that if it weren’t for me, he probably
would’ve been dead. He then asked me to be his best man! That was a task I was
more than proud to be a part of.”
“That’s so wonderful
Angel,” Buffy echoed while a tear slowly rolled down her left cheek. “You were
and are such a great man Angel. You might feel like you made everyone’s life
more depressing, but that’s not the truth. You gave them a purpose to their
lives. These people loved you Angel, and wanted to be a part of your life. They
saw the man you are, and that brought warmth into their lives.”
“Thank you for that
Buffy,” I graciously accepted her kind words. “After the wedding, the gang and
I started to lose touch. Fred and Wes moved to
“When was the last
time you talked with them,” Buffy asked?
“It’s been a good
five years since I talked with Wesley,” I started to explain. “He was thinking
about sending his son to the watcher’s council. I don’t know if he did or not, I
was sort of, out of reach.”
“What were you doing
that kept you away for that long,” Buffy asked as she began coughing. I waited
for her to stop and clear her throat. She motioned for me to answer, so I did, “I
was keeping a promise that I made forty years ago. And it looks like you kept
yours.” I said as I looked at Anne who was still in the kitchen waiting for the
tea to finish.
“Yes I did Angel,”
Buffy replied as she noticed my glance at Anne. “I had to Angel. I finally had
a chance at a real life; it was so hard convincing myself
that you and I couldn’t be together. But I had to do it, so I could live. But I
never forgot you Angel. You always had a huge piece of my heart.”
“I shook my head and
painfully smiled, “I know Buffy. I don’t blame you for a second. I’m glad you
moved on. So what did you end up doing? Did you continue slaying? Or something else? I guess what I’m trying to ask is, “Were you happy? And are you happy?”
“Yes to both,” Buffy
began and continued. “But I’m even happier now that you’re here.”
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