Angelus felt like the world was spinning and his legs threatened to give out from under him. It was still early so the chaos was not at high alert yet but he knew they needed to get ahead of this and reach out to the people of Wolfram And Hart as soon as possible. He tasked Wesley with setting that up and promised he would be ready to make a personal announcement soon.

Wes hurried out, Angel barely registered it. His eyes locked with Buffy's once more and he felt like his heart was being blown apart.

Rupert hurried to put one of the small white chairs that sat in the corner of his little patio balcony behind him and he quickly fell into it. He tried to control his breathing and to stop his leg from bouncing nervously. It was too much... too much all at one time... he was having a rough time keeping it together.

"What exactly happened?" Rupert dared to ask, his eyes casting a little back toward the bedroom behind them.

He let out a hard breath of air and he just stared out aimlessly off the edge of the balcony for the longest time. "Imagine... that you can feel hate and anger and all things evil to the highest level inside of you. Every day. And you fight it, but it's what you can feel, it's part of your every being. That's jut what it is. Other things... you get maybe ten or twenty percent but there's a lock on it. Those other feelings and emotions are untouchable except on the very surface... things may make you happy but not really, there's laughter but it always feels misplaced, you care for people but it's like there's a wall... Then, one day, no warning at all a tiny blonde girl comes along and you can... you can feel more. Not a lot, but you notice it... And because of this girl... one day you wake up and and there's no lid anymore. And it's not even... oh, suddenly the rage is less and there's happiness you can taste or whatever... but every bit of it comes crashing into you. In the moment, in finally having the chance at that but all of it you ever missed is just there... in a second... all at once."

"That must be... nice," Giles said softly. "Confusing. A hard adjusted me to take on all at one time."

"There was Wes just standing there, like he always does. And part of my brain is doing what it's supposed to, get this handled mode. The other part of me is looking at someone who's been my best friend, my brother and I finally know what exactly that means. Wes killed his own father to protect me. Years ago. And it's finally reaching full impact on me. And there's you... You have been with me just about every step of the way. You're my friend, you're my family. Who I am is indebted endlessly to you..."

Giles smiled. "I've always believed in you, Angelus."

"Everything feels different. There's you, there's her... there's people that I am responsible for and who I love and care about. And their whole lives are once again being shook up. There's an entire new world right there. And they can go to it, it can come to us. Everything we have known is about to change."

"And we will figure it out... all of it. We will assure everyone that everything is going to be fine. We will protect our people. We will support them. Just as we always we have. You will lead them, better now than ever."

Angelus looked over to the utter openness. "She broke the curse, Giles." He still couldn't really believe any of this.

"Together, you both did."

A moment of silence fell between them. He knew he needed to handle things elsewhere in the castle but he just couldn't seem to move yet. "She came to my room last night... and it was as if she just knew.

"All you had to do was give in."

Angelus swallowed. Really, that was all it took.

"We're going to get things sorted out. I'll give you a few minutes then you should find Wes. I will get a team together to make sure things are safe... and also keep researching what all this means between you and Miss Summers. It ended the curse but I have a feeling what is between the two of you is going to play a big part in a lot of things yet to come."

Angelus saw him out, closed the door and then he was alone with Buffy once more. Turning around, his eyes went to her. She was still there, still naked and only covered up with a sheet, still beautiful and perfect in his bed.

He was sure his mind would never be able to wrap around what had happened between them.

His entire being seemed to hurt yet be patched back up at the same time. If the walls being down hadn't confirmed the breaking of his realms' curse, the way his heart tugged at the sight of her would. He had never felt anything close to this in his entire life. Nothing he had even felt for her since laying eyes on her the very first time out in the woods could even compare.

True Love.

How in the hell was he someone's true love?

Hers, no less.

Swallowing hard, he managed to get the words out to tell her what was going on.

Angelus watched her go through the emotions. She blushed first, knowing exactly why the walls were down. Their actions, their... whatever this bond they were apparently born into having caused all this. Her face shone with hope, you could almost read her mind. They were free, no more endless turmoil to the people here, they weren't trapped... they could go as they pleased, they could have whole new lives. She saw hope for the two of them, that they could be together. Contentment. Her plan had work. The risks had paid off. Then came the worry. The anger. And, the fear.

The king went to her as soon as that one hit. He pulled her into his arms and told her that everything was going to be okay. Her small body shook some against him and he knew exactly where her mind was. Hank. She no longer had protection against him, no walls to keep him out, no way for him to know where she was. "I promise nothing is going to happen to you," he whispered, smoothing her honey colored locks.

"You can't promise me that," she responded, tears threatening to fall.

"I can. I did. And I will. For the rest of my life, I promise I will protect you against anything."

Buffy let out a huge breath of air and slowly looked at him. Her sparkling green eyes met him and it felt like his heart was going to yank its way right out of his chest. His thumb and forefinger worked together to reach her smooth chin and pull her gently to him, his lips finding their way to hers and nearly melting at the touch.

A warmth spread through his body, starting at his lips and quickly moving as though it was fire in his veins. Pulling Buffy into his lap only stirred it more. One hand tangled in her hair, the other made a path down her bare backside, shoulder to the the small of her back. Her naked breasts barely touched him with how she was sitting but anytime one of her hard nipples brushed against his own bare chest it would make her shiver.

Angelus pulled her closer after about the fifth time of this happening and they both groaned as she made rough contact with his throbbing member. Having only thrown some boxer shorts on to answer the knock at the door earlier, it was little effort to slide back inside the tiny blonde who'd flipped his world on its head. Lacing their fingers together, Buffy used the pressure on his palms to balance as her hips moved her body up and down his length. She started at a slow tease but it wasn't long before her moves were driven purely by need and his own hips would thrust up to try and match hers.

His mind screamed that he loved her, needed her, and his orgasm that followed felt near violent.

After cleaning himself up after their lovemaking, and after trying to assure Buffy everything was going to be fine once more, Angelus ran through the castle until he found Wes.

OoOoO

Angelus felt like this day would never end. He was pulled in a thousand different directions it felt by the minute. He had talked endlessly to the people of WOlfram And Hart, he'd tried to explain what had happened, tried to ease their fears, tried to make plans for what was going to happen now. He'd hated being apart from Buffy but there was no way he could be in two places at once. He'd much rather have stayed with her and figured out their what to do next but he was still king of this land and he still had people and a land to protect, too.

Buffy was dressed when he was finally able to return to her. She was looking nervously off the balcony when he found her. "Other people are going to start noticing the lack of wall," she said when he came up behind her. "People next door. Or, people are going to venture out from here. And they will be asked or just straight up tell one person then the next and the next. People are going to find out what has happened here. And soon."

"I know," he told her, his voice soft.

"My mind races as I think of endless things that might happen. Things we have discussed, things that just keep coming... and selfishly I always come right back around to Hank."

"That is far from selfish... of course you're worried about him. I'd be more concerned if you weren't worried."

"He's going to know that I'm here."

"I know."

"He's going to come, Angel."

Angelus closed his eyes. "And we will be ready for him," he promised. "Or, we might even take the fight to him first. We will figure this out." He kept replaying what Joyce had told him about "True Love" and how it could be used as a weapon, how it could help free both of them from the evil in their lives. He hadn't entirely worked out how that was supposed to happen but he was determined more than ever to.

OoOoO

Everyone in their circle went into overdrive trying to learn all they could about the man known as Hank Summers, to learn all they could about what exactly it meant for Buffy to be the "product of True Love," and what it meant to be coupled with Angelus in the way she was.

Training began, spells were cast, every last bit of information that could possibly be found was... And yet, Buffy couldn't stop the uneasy feeling that surrounded her. She had been on the run from Hank for half of her life, he had murdered her family, her mother, her father, he had been hunting her as hard as he could for a decade and all he wanted was to see her perish as well. There was no way to prepare for that, or to see him again.

OoOoO

Buffy smiled, Angelus wrapping his arms around her and pulling her near. He had been working so hard with her to build up their power, working so hard on keeping his kingdom safe and running, these moments where they could just be themselves were harder to find but when they could, she cherished every last bit of them.

She could forget about the rest of the world for awhile.

She could forget her worries, forget about Hank.

Angelus would take her mind off of everything by talking about anything else... she had been having fun teaching him more and more about the world outside of the walls that once stood. She would tell him about every kingdom she had been through, and they would talk about future plans to visit each of them together. He would distract her with taking her out hunting, dancing, just hold her and kiss her like the world depended on his show of affection.

Together they were learning how to be part of the world again, how to be a couple, how to use whatever power that was woven into their very being to make sure they would have that future they spoke of.

Closing her eyes, her body hummed with the familiarity of him as his mouth met hers. She had missed him today.

They walked along where the walls once stood. As he had every other time, his feet stayed on the side of his kingdom, still not daring to step over. He kept saying he wanted to make sure Hank was taken care of first, then... then they could see the world. She could damn near taste how much he wanted to though and once more tried to convince him it was okay. Even if he just took one step over that invisible line, she knew what it would mean to him.

Stopping, she gathered closer in his arms, cuddling close to his chest. "Please?" she asked him, as she did every other time. "Just one step? For me?"

"Soon," he promised.

"Mmm, your soon and my soon are very different. Yours could be anywhere from weeks away to years. Mine is more... like in the next few minutes."

He smiled and kissed the top of her head. "I will happily explore every world, realm, kingdom, land... everywhere and anywhere with you," he told her softly. "When the time is right."