Angel looked out over the very bay where Dana had died, watching the sun set on the horizon. It still seemed odd to him that he was coming now to the end of his day, when for a quarter of a millennium, he would have just been beginning to stir.

He sighed. He still thought of Dana often, and mourned her sincerely. It seemed the least he could do after all she had done for him, to remember her...

All this happiness... even with the daunting responsibilities of being the only human on the Council, nothing could over shadow all the blessings he received every day because of Dana's sacrifice.

The past three years had been difficult -- there were adjustments to be made that Angel had never begun to imagine...even he and Buffy had struggled, sometimes. But those struggles were the relationship problems almost any two extraordinary mortals with an uncommon past might have to face. Rather than facing an eternity of self-torture and guilt, Angel now sometimes had to face an eternity of self-torture and guilt, plus the wrath of the Slayer, upset by his forgetting to pick up a pint of Ben and Jerry's on the way home.

His new life was a beautiful, spectacular, precious gift, and even in its most trying moments, he cherished it. He wished with all of his heart that Dana could have experienced even one minute detail of this joyous experience called mortality... a heartbeat, a sun shower, sweat, seeing your reflection in the mirror or a photograph of yourself... or the feeling of spending what short time a human being had with another human being who was the other half of you.

Buffy approached him, then, coming to stand behind by his side, at the edge of the cliff. She took his hand and Angel felt their wedding bands clink together softly. He squeezed, and turned to smile at her. The setting sun made her already rosy cheeks nearly shine, and he could see its blazing red reflected in her beautiful eyes...

He put his arm around his wife's slender shoulders and held her to him. She snuggled up to his side and they both gazed out at the Ravens and gulls flying together over the bay.

`Do you know what you've given me?' Angel thought, speaking to Dana's spirit, whose presence he always felt, watching over him and his family. `Did you know then how happy I would be?'

He reached over and rested his hand on Buffy's bulging belly. `How incredible' he thought, feeling his son kick. Buffy beamed up at him and put her hand over his... their claddaugh rings laying next to one another over the living manifestation of all they had been through together... a symbol of their union, and of the future which made up for all their past.

Angel thought that future looked pretty damn bright. Brighter than sunshine... he took his wife into his arms, kissed the tip of her nose, then rested his cheek on the top of her head. He looked out over the waves, remembering his first sunrise again. He thought about Dana... about his son, the great leader, yet to be born -- the son of the people of the day and the walkers of night... the boy who would change the world...

Their miracle child...

He felt the golden vial of Dana's ashes pressed against his chest by Buffy's embrace. She was with him, always, as were the gifts she had bestowed upon him. He only hoped his life would bring her honor and make her death worthwhile... he prayed to whatever gods would listen that he and his family could live up to all Dana had dreamed for them, for a two hundred centuries...

He could almost hear her voice on the wind, whispering his name...

What is your name? E-mail address? Homepage Address? What did you think of "The Reluctant Ancestor"?

 

Thanks for reading!