PART 2

Leo returned from his bosses and found Emma standing at the living room window staring out at the neighbourhood. "Sweetie... I'm back," Leo said.

Emma turned around and faced her father, then asked, "Well... what did *they* say?"

"You were meant to get all of Buffy's memories and there is apparently a prophecy in the Book of Shadows we are supposed to read" Leo told her. Leo had barely finished speaking before Emma orbed her way up to the attic. Leo followed quickly and then chastised her. "You know that you're not supposed to use your power to orb unless it's an emergency or *they* want to see you" Leo reminded her.

"*They* never want to see me face to face and it is an emergency... sort of" Emma replied standing in front of the Book of Shadows. She went to reach for it and the pages started flicking of their own accord, it opened to the page she wanted. "Thanks Grams" she said as she started to read out loud.

During the night that signals her nine and ten year

Her memories shall be returned

She will see herself as a new part

Waiting for the fallen Angel to be whole

With the return of old loved ones

And joined with the new

He and she shall fight side by side

For together they are strong, apart they shall fall

"Well..." Leo was shocked into silence. It seemed to be a straightforward prophecy that gave absolutely no useful information and confused the hell out of him.

"It refers to an upcoming battle that I'll fight with Angel, with help from the family and the Scooby gang" Emma told him, seeing the confusion etched on his face.

"Angel? Scooby gang?" Leo was still confused, "Who are these people?"

"The Scooby gang consists of friends of min… Buffy's, who helped her last time when she was the slayer, plus Giles, Dawn and mo... Joyce" Emma replied.

"And Angel?" Leo pushed.

Emma took a deep breath, she knew this wasn't going to go well... her dad had problems with her dating Andy and he was at least normal. "Angel... he is an ensouled vampire that Buffy... had a relationship with."

"VAMPIRE!" Leo screamed. "They want you to join with some vampire. How do they mean join?"

"Maybe they mean fight side by side" Emma said, "That's the only way anyway... Angel has a clause in his curse, one moment true happiness and poof... then the return of Angelus - the Scourge of Europe."

"True happiness? How do you even know that to be true?" Leo asked.

Emma took another deep breath, "Buffy's seventeenth birthday."

Leo paled; his daughter in a past life not only fell in love with this vampire, but apparently also gave him true happiness. No way was that ever going to happen again, this time his little girl was staying away from that vampire except during the battles... she isn't going to join with anyone until she was at least forty. Besides she is a slayer, they're supposed to slay vampires' right? Leo ignored the niggling little voice that reminded him that she'd been a slayer last time and that hadn't stopped it.

"Daddy, don't worry... he's one of us, a good guy. He has a soul and he wouldn't hurt me or anyone else" Emma replied, trying to settle her father's fears.

Leo decided to let the Angel subject drop for now, they could talk about it later when he was calm. He hugged Emma and asked her, "So how are we going to tell your mom about this? I mean she didn't take you inheriting my powers as well as hers so well and when she found out about the slaying..."

"Yikes! I'd kinda been repressing those particular memories. She's just gonna have to deal with it... like we are" Emma said.

"How come you're so wise?" Leo asked.

"I'm a lot older than I look" Emma teased as they left the attic.

That night Angel went to Caritas, talking to the host and listening to a Kalazy demon butcher the song 'I will always love you'.

"So what are you planning to sing tonight?" the host suddenly asked him suspiciously.

"Why do you want to know?" Angel countered.

The host looked at him and said, "Because I cannot take you singing one more Manilow song."

Angel tried not to laugh, he usually sung them to annoy the host... however tonight he just want information and decided to sing something else. "Don't worry... tonight I'm not singing anything by Barry Manilow" Angel assured him.

"So?" the host pushed. Angel caved in whispered the song title in the host's ear. The host murmured something that sounded like 'Thank the Gods' and went up to the stage to introduce Angel. "Folks... do I have a treat for you tonight. Angel is going to sing something that didn't come off a Barry Manilow album." The host waited until the applause died down, "So here he is with 'I can still feel you'... our very own souled vamp, Angel."

Angel took the stage and grabbed the mike:

//It's that feeling that someone

Is standing behind me

And I turn around and there's no one there

And it's the sensation

That someone just whispered

Yeah and I still hear your voice, but you're not really there

Your memory is like a ghost

And my heart is its host//

//I can still feel you just as close as skin

Every now and then

All by myself in a crowded room, or my empty bed

There's a place you touched with your love no one gets close too

I can still feel you

I can still feel you

I can still feel you

I can still feel you//

When Angel finished he came down from the stage and before he could even ask his question, the host said, "You want to know about Buffy?"

"Yeah."

"She's dead" the host replied, but when he saw Angel's expression he added, "But isn't reincarnation a wonderful thing."

"Then she's really back?" Angel asked hopefully.

"For the last nineteen years... just as a different girl" the host told him in his usual cryptic manner. It was annoying, but he finally understood why his same act had driven Buffy nuts all those years before.

"She's okay though?"

"Yeah and don't worry, you'll see her again one day" the host told him.

"That's it?"

"What do you want? Her address? Her number? Forget it, I can't give it too you" the host said, "Come back soon."

Angel watched the host get up and walk over to some new customers and left Caritas feeling extremely unsatisfied.

When Angel returned to the Hyperion, he found Cordy doubled over in pain from a vision. "Cordy... are you okay? What do you see?"

"It was weird... Buffy, but not Buffy" Cordy told him.

"What do you mean?" Wesley asked his wife as he came back into the room with Cordy's aspirin.

Cordy took it from Wes and sat down. "I saw Buffy... looking exactly like she did last time I saw her and then all of a sudden she was different... she looked totally different."

Angel pulled a sketch out of a draw, "Did she look like this?"

Cordy looked at the sketch. "She looked exactly like that," she said.

Angel quickly picked up the phone and Wes asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm calling Giles."

**

Giles was awoken by the telephone and upset about being pulled away from his dream of Jenny, he answered it gruffly. "What?"

"Giles... its Angel. Cordy just had a vision and it affects us all" Angel said.

Giles' anger faded as concern took over, "What's going to happen?"

"Buffy's back" Angel told him.

Giles sighed, "Angel... she died almost twenty years ago and I think that it's time that you moved on."

"No Giles... I mean that she's been reincarnated."

When Giles heard Angel say that, something in his memory clicked and he gasped. "Oh my... the prophecy."

"The prophecy? What about it?" Angel asked remembering that Buffy had said something about a prophecy in his dream.

"It'll be easier to explain in person. I'll call the gang and we'll come to you" Giles said.

"Sure... bye Giles" Angel said hanging up.

Giles hung up his end and began to wonder what Buffy would be like now. She was most likely a teenager and could be anywhere. What Giles really wanted to know was... did she remember them and if so, did she still want them in her life. Giles sighed and picked up the phone again, this time it was to summon the Scooby gang.

The next day Angel was hiding in his room brooding when the gang arrived. Instead of going down to greet them he stayed put, needing time alone before he had to face them. He knew that everyone with the exceptions of Willow and Dawn blamed in some degree for Buffy's death. In their eyes by leaving her alone in Sunnydale he signed her death certificate, all conveniently forgetting that they'd wanted him to leave... hell, even he felt guilty over that and mad as hell at the oracles for promising Buffy wouldn't die if he turned back that day... the way things worked out, he may as well have stayed Human. Angel sighed and got up and headed slowly downstairs, he could hear them all talking about him. The most vocal of the group was of course Joyce, she was raving about how Buffy would have come to her first if she were truly back. Angel entered the lobby and everyone fell silent, except for Willow and Dawn who hugged him and said hello. He sat down next to Cordy and Wes, and then Giles began his interrogation of Cordy.

"What did you see in your vision?" he asked her.

Cordy just looked at him, "Buffy."

"And?" Joyce pushed.

"She changed from *old* Buffy into *new* Buffy" Cordy said. "If you want more info than that ask Angel, he's the one that had the Buffy dream."

All eyes turned to Angel. "She said to call Giles and something about a prophecy and then she morphed."

They all fell into an uncomfortable silence and Cordy could see they were bothering Angel and she did something nice by showing them to their rooms far away from her friend. Angel was grateful to Cordy for saving his sanity and he went into his office, to do some work. He couldn't concentrate, all he could do was stare at the wall and wonder where she was and if she ever thought about him.

Emma was sitting on her bed staring out of the window, thinking about Angel. Leo walked in and sat down next to her. "Hi Emmie" he said smiling at her.

At her father's use of her childhood nickname, one that hadn't been used in ten years, she knew something was up, all that remained was to find out how bad it was or was gonna get. "What now?" she asked sarcastically, "Did *they* decide that I need to be a blond again or something?"

"Nice sarcasm. Haven't you heard of not shooting the messenger?" Leo asked.

"When it comes to news from them... I not only shoot the messenger, but I stuff him and place him proudly above the mantle" she replied.

"Actually they just told me that the battle is to be fought here in San Francisco" Leo told her, "That means your friends will arrive soon."

Emma hugged her father. "Daddy, don't worry, it'll all work out... it always does somehow" she told him.

"I really hope so, Baby-girl."