Release

By Michelle McKague

Disclaimer- Buffy and Angel belong to Joss Whedon, The WB, Mutant Enemy, and 20th Century Fox. The song Angel is by Sarah McLachlan, I thought it was appropriate for this story, also it’s one of my favourites.

Summery- Fifty years after Buffy’s death, Angel goes to her grave and they both find peace.

Author’s Note- I did it. I finally wrote a depressing story with a happy ending. I know my stories tend to go heavy on angst, so I tried for happy. Tell me how I did.


He walked through the dark graveyard, amazed by how little it had changed in fifty years. His eyes wandered to the once familiar sites as he walked to a specific spot. The nicest spot in the cemetery, or it had once been. It like everything else he had once cherished had changed in the last fifty years. He stopped in his tracks once he reached his intended spot. A beautiful tree which had been “their” spot, now it was her spot for all eternity.

You spend all your time waiting
for that second chance
for a break that will make it okay.

He rarely cried, the last time had been fifty years ago on that day, the day of her funeral. But tears of blood spilled down his cheeks as he thought about her. He laid down a dozen white roses on the grave in front of him. As he looked at the name highlighted by the full moon, he thought back to a day fifty years before. The last time they had been together before her death. She had been so happy and full of life, and they had been so in love. They thought they’d have more time, but it wasn’t meant to be.

There's always some reason
to feel not good enough
and it's hard at the end of the day
I need some distraction
oh, beautiful release
memory seeps from my veins
let me be empty.

He was filled with all the emotions he hadn’t felt in fifty years. Pain, loss, need, remembrance, love, and regret. Pain at loosing her. Loss for that emptiness that he felt without her. Need for closure after all this time. Remembrance for the woman who once meant the world to him. Love for her which would never die or be replaced. And Regret for all the pain he had caused her. He thought about the others, they were all gone now too. He was the last, but soon he two would be gone. He looked up at the sky knowing that tonight would be the last time he ever saw it. He was going to see the sun for the first time in almost Two-Hundred and Seventy-Five Years.

well, weightlessness and maybe
I'll find some peace tonight
in the arms of the angel
far away from here
from this dark, cold hotel room
and the endlessness that you fear.

It was time, it was finally his time. The only thing that had stopped from going when she did was that he needed to wait until his time, to do enough good to make up for his evil. He had done that, now he was going where he belonged, with her.

you are pulled from the wreckage
of your silent reverie
in the arms of the angel
may you find some comfort here

He waited for what seemed like an eternity, but was only a few days, and then the sun rose. He felt no pain, only release.

so tired of the straight line
and everywhere you turn
are vultures and thieves at your back
and the storm keeps on twisting
you keep on building the lies
that you make up for all that you lack
it don't make no difference
escape one last time

As the light surrounded him she appeared before him, not the tired, worn-out woman she had been. But the beautiful sixteen year old girl he had fallen in love with. “Angel” she called to him her voice full of the love that not even fifty years apart could change, she reached out her hand to him and he took it, then together they disappeared into the light.

it's easier to believe
in this sweet madness
all this glorious sadness
it brings me to my knees
in the arms of the angel
fly away from here
from this dark, cold hotel room
and the endlessness that you fear
you are pulled from the wreckage
of your silent reverie
in the arms of the angel

Leaving only a small pile of dust on the grave that read Buffy Summers 1981-2004, and a sense of peace all around. The vampire with a soul and the slayer who had loved him were both at peace now. They were finally together, they would have in death what they never got in life. The chance to be together.

may you find some comfort here
you're in the arms of the angel
may you find some comfort here.

The End