-1Disclaimer and everything else in part 1.

AN: The Ghost Roads come from the books The Gatekeeper Trilogy. If you haven't read them, I would recommend them, but all you need to know for this story is that the Ghost Roads are where people go who either have unfinished business or don't know where they want to go after death.

Also, this part is dedicated to those people who consistently review my work. Whether you love it or hate it, and it is gratifying to know most of you love it, feedback is one of the things that both keeps me writing and allows me to improve my style. It's also nice to know what you like so I can write more stuff like that. So thanks to you all.

Till Death Leaves Us Alone

By Lady Callista

Part 2: Ashes to Body, Dust to Feeling

"Okay, start the circle." Willow, dressed all in black and looking slightly scary, said to the group. She stood in the center of Buffy's grave, the other four at compass points around it.

Xander turned to face the East, all the others facing it with him. He raised his arms over his head and called out in a loud voice, reciting hesitantly the words Willow had given him. "Powers of the East, we invite you into this circle. We invoke Air, the wind of inspiration, creativity, and imagination. Be present in this place between worlds. Lend your powers to our rite. Air, send us her mind."

"We raise the Mind." All five of them intoned.

"Powers of the South, we invite you into this circle." Angel began as soon as the four of them had turned to face South. Willow remained kneeling in the middle of them, facing the ground. "We invoke Fire, the flames of creativity, passion, and righteous anger. Be present in this place between worlds. Lend your powers to our rite. Fire, send us her emotions."

"We raise the Emotions!" They all called.

"Powers of the West, we invite you into this circle." Anya and the others turned West, the ex-demon's voice ringing out loud and clear. "We invoke Water, the waves of love, compassion, and understanding. Be present in this place between worlds. Lend your powers to our rite. Water, send us her spirit."

"We raise the Spirit." All four chanted.

"Powers of the North, we invite you into our circle." Tara chanted loudly, her arms raised and head thrown back. "We invoke Earth, radiant Mother and place of stability and health. Be present in the place between worlds. Lend your powers to our rite. Earth, send us her body!"

"We raise the Body!" The four chanted.

Then they began to repeat those four lines over and over, as Willow began to start the spell.

"We raise the Mind. We raise the Emotion. We raise the Spirit. We raise the Body. We raise the Mind. We..."

Willow tuned the four of them out, their chanting fading out of her well-disciplined mind. She poured the deer's blood into the urn of Osiris.

"Osiris, Keeper of the Gate, Master of All Fate, Hear us." She put blood on her forehead and cheeks. "Before time and after, before knowing and nothing." Willow turned the urn over, spilling the rest of the blood unto the ground in front of her. She then set the urn on top of the bloodied grass. "Accept out offering. Know our prayer." Slashes suddenly appeared on her arms and Willow bucked in pain, trying to hold her concentration.

"Willow!" Xander called out, stopping his chanting.

"No, she told me she'd be tested." Tara turned on Xander, motioning for Angel and Anya to keep chanting. "This is what's supposed to happen. Keep going!" They joined the other two in chanting.

"Osiris. Here lies the warrior of the people. Let her cross over." Willow cried out, her eyes beginning to glow an odd and indescribable color. Her veins suddenly bulged out all around the slashes on her arms, and it appeared as if living snakes were in her body, crawling all around and causing her skin to move oddly.

"Willow!" Tara called out as the red-head cried in pain.

"She needs help." Xander urged.

"Xander, she's strong." Angel said, stopping his chanting for the first time. Everyone else had stopped before, and now looked at him in fear and silence. "She said not to break the circle no matter what. If we stop now it's over."

Willow continued to shake and moan, and a vertex of light began to grow around her.

The earth shook.

"What's that noise?" Anya asked suddenly.

Anya and Xander both started to move even as Tara yelled out to them, "No, don't break the circle!" Her and Angel both stood firm as the sound of motorcycles got nearer and nearer.

"Osiris, let her cross over." Willow screamed. "Return the warrior to us that love and honor her. Let her cross over!"

"Will! Oh my God, oh my god." Tara stared in horror as a giant snake came out of Willow's mouth. The huge boa slithered around on the earth in front of her, and then burrowed itself down into the ground.

"It's a test, it's a test..." Tara began chanting as a mantra. It was the only way she could keep herself from breaking the circle.

The circle of light around Willow expanded and turned bright red, spiraling around her and into the ground.

"Osiris, release her!!!!" Willow screamed as all hell broke loose.

The BuffyBot ran into the clearing, a herd of motorcycles on her tail. "Willow, I need service."

Angel headed towards the BuffyBot without thinking even as Xander pulled Anya and Tara away from the motorcycles. The circle, which had already weakened from the lack of chanting and people almost moving out of it, broke.

Willow still sat in the circle of lights. "Release!!!"

The motorcycles circled around her, drawn by the power they sensed. They roared and circled closer, one of them crossing in front of Willow and smashing the vase that sat on the ground in front of her.

The red light vanished. "NO!!!" Willow screamed. Then she fell to the ground.

Angel immediately shifted his focus from the Buffy he knew was a robot to the witch who was now helpless. He pulled Willow into his arms and ran towards Xander and the other girls. "Let's go!"

The five of them took off. When they were a short distance away, Angel called to the others to halt. He passed Willow to Xander, which woke her just enough for her to ask if they had done it or not. When Xander shook his head no, she slumped back to sleep.

"Split up and get back to the Magic Box." Angel directed.

"The BuffyBot?" Xander asked.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go back and try and save it." Angel affirmed, noticing Tara supporting Anya, who had been injured when she caught the tail end of the magic Tara had used to knock one of the demons off his motorcycle.

"Be careful!" Tara said softly, knowing there was no way of talking Angel out of this, even though it wasn't the real Buffy he was going back for. When he turned to look at her, she locked eyes with him. "I'm sorry." She whispered.

"It's not your fault." Angel replied sadly as he headed back towards the gravesite. When he reached it, he found all the motorcycles were already gone. So was the BuffyBot. He was just about to try and pick up it's trail when something crunched under his foot. "What the.."

Angel looked down, finding a small piece of the urn of Osiris under his foot. The other pieces were scattered about the grave.

He bent down to pick one up, when suddenly he heard a sound under the earth. Angel froze in confusion for a moment, then suddenly started to panic. "Buffy!" He called, starting to dig down into the earth.

He suddenly encountered a hand, and grabbing onto it used all his strength to pull the hand and the rest of her to the surface.

"Buffy?" Angel asked when she finally emerged, her hands bleeding and bruised and her clothes covered in dirt.

She looked at him in confusion, only the slightest traces of who she had been visible in her eyes. "Where am I?"

"You're in Sunnydale, Buffy." Angel told her gently, looking into her eyes to see if she comprehended what he was telling her.

She looked at him for a long time without speaking, and he was about to try and talk to her again when her hand suddenly reached out to touch his face.

"Angel?" She asked in a whisper.

"Yeah, it's me baby." Angel covered the small hand on his cheek with his own larger, but colder one.

"Is this heaven?" She asked, looking in his eyes.

"This is Sunnydale, Buffy. Earth." Angel was confused.

"I'm not on the Ghost Roads anymore." Her voice cracked and tears came to her eyes.

"Ghost Roads?" Angel asked in horror. "Gods, Buffy, is that where you were?"

Buffy nodded, unable to speak as a sudden rush of tears flowed down her face and Angel took her into his arms.

How long they stood that way, wrapped in each others arms while one tried to stop crying and the other waged a losing war with not starting to, neither of them knew. But when they finally pulled apart, most of Buffy was back in her eyes again. She looked at Angel with understanding.

"You, you brought me back?" She whispered in awe.

"Willow did." Angel clarified. "Me, Xander, Anya, and Tara just helped. It was all their idea, I didn't even want to at first, but..."

Buffy almost laughed. "You finally did something selfish." She whispered.

"Yeah, I guess I did." Angel said truthfully. "Letting you go was hard enough, but I still hoped that someday...then you were dead and that hope was suddenly gone, and I just couldn't handle knowing that there wasn't some chance that one day..."

"We would be together." Buffy whispered, taking his hand in her own.

Angel brought their hands up to his lips and kissed her hand gently.

"I love you." Angel whispered, using their joined hands to pull her close to him again.

"I love you." Buffy answered without hesitation, leaning into him as he slowly brought his head down.

Angel kissed her, gently and reverently, almost as if he was afraid she would vanish in an instant.

When she didn't, the kiss changed, Angel's face showing pure joy at the simple touch, something he had thought he would never know again.

Angel tried to pull back, but the Slayer in his arms wouldn't let him. She deepened the kiss until finally she had to pull away, panting.

Angel took off his leather coat and draped it over her trembling shoulders, the dress she had been buried in wasn't much in the chilly October night.

"Let's get you home." He whispered.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

When Willow, Tara, and Dawn slowly made their way into the house hours later, they found Angel sitting on the sofa with a sleeping Buffy's head on his lap.

"You found the BuffyBot?" Tara asked even as Dawn just stared at them.

Angel shook his head, and it was then that Tara and Willow both noticed what Dawn had the instant she walked in: what the sleeping girl was wearing.

"Buffy?" Willow asked in awe, her hand clasping Tara's for support.

"The spell worked." Angel said simply, stroking Buffy's hair.

"Is...is she okay?" Willow asked at the same time as Dawn said "What spell?"

While Tara was explaining things to Dawn, Willow slowly approached the couple on the couch and knelt beside Buffy.

"Goddess, it worked!" She exclaimed softly as she felt the life in Buffy, even sleeping she could tell it was her friend.

"It did." Angel replied. "You brought her back, Will. You saved her."

"Where was she?" Dawn asked as her and Tara came over.

"The Ghost Roads." Angel answered, causing Willow to gasp. She remembered the last time the group had been there - before Tara or Dawn.

"Why? What could..."

"I don't know." Angel said. He had been thinking on that very thing since Buffy fell asleep. "I mean, technically she did commit suicide, but because of the reasons...plus with being the Slayer and all...she should have been in a better place."

"That's why you didn't want to do the spell." Tara said suddenly as it dawned on her.

"Yeah." Angel whispered. "She was at peace, I knew she had to be. She had to be in heaven; where else would a Slayer go? How could the Powers not have a beautiful afterlife waiting for her? But I was wrong. Will, if we hadn't brought her back..."

"She would have gotten off the Ghost Roads eventually." Willow said with a certainly she didn't feel. The thought she had, that Buffy didn't move on because she was in some way bonded to Angel, was one she didn't dare voice. She knew very well the power of love, was it possible that was why Buffy didn't land in heaven? Because without Angel there, it wouldn't be heaven to her?

She looked over at Tara, and could tell the witch was having similar thoughts, but also knew better than to voice them.

"Yeah..." Angel responded, although he didn't sound too convinced.

Willow was saved further comment as the girl in his arms began to stir.

They thought she was waking up, but she didn't. She began to move more and more, but the look on her face showed she was having a nightmare.

"Buffy." Angel said, shaking her shoulder. "Wake up!"

After a moment of him trying this, she did, coming awake with a start. "ANGEL!" She cried out even as she awoke.

"I'm here, I'm right here baby." Angel said as she clung to him.

"Buffy?" A small voice spoke suddenly from behind her.

"Dawnie?" Buffy whispered, turning around and finding the three girls standing there.

"Oh, Buffy." Dawn launched herself at her sister, ending up half on top of Angel in the process.

"Willow, Tara." Buffy smiled, seeing them over her sister's shoulder.

Willow came behind Buffy, hugging her from behind, while Tara was content to put a hand on the Slayer's shoulder.

They were still like that when they heard the front door open.

"Niblet, how you..." A British voice called out, stopping suddenly at the picture in the living room. "What the bloodly hell?"

Tara and Willow drew away from Buffy, and finally Dawn did too, leaving Buffy and Angel alone on the couch.

Buffy stood up and slowly approached Spike, who looked at her in disbelief.

"Slayer?" He whispered, total love evident even over the shock on his face.

"Hi Spike." Buffy said softly.

Spike reached out a hand to touch her face, but pulled back, unsure of himself, especially with Angel in the room.

"It's okay." Buffy whispered as she noticed the tears gathering in his eyes. She slowly moved to hug him, and after a moment his arms wrapped tightly around her, crushing her to him.

"I'm sorry." Spike whispered into her hair, his words for her alone. "Sorry I couldn't save her, sorry you..."

"It's okay." Buffy repeated, her hand coming up to wipe away the few tears moving slowly down his face.

Angel had stood up during this time, and looked incredibly confused. Willow whispered backstory to him, and he found himself feeling a mixture of anger and happiness. His childe had changed, had finally become good instead of being a pain in the ass. But falling in love with Buffy?

He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice that Buffy had returned to stand beside him until she spoke, "Angel? You okay?"

Angel looked at her, then Spike, whose face was half filled with defiance but also with fear, and then nodded slowly. "Yeah, it's okay." He said, his words meant as much for Buffy as for Spike.

Spike nodded to him, understanding the double meaning, and surprised that Peaches was taking things as well as he was. Of course, the way Buffy was looking up at him right then, Spike knew he would have said he was okay with anything just to keep that light in her eyes.

OoOoOoOoOoO

"You really have to go back?" Buffy asked a few days later as she and Angel stood by his car.

"I do." Angel replied. "I have a business there, and friends, and you have a life here."

Buffy nodded slowly, knowing that for now this was how it had to be.

"I love you." Angel said, kissing her gently.

"And I love you." Buffy replied, going up on her tiptoes, expecting a longer kiss and not being disappointed.

Angel got into the car then, knowing that if he didn't leave then he never would. Then he rolled down the window.

Buffy leaned into it expectantly.

"You still my girl?"

"Always. Call me sometime, okay?"

"I will." Angel smiled, knowing that this time he actually would. After months without her, he'd probably call every day.

And one day he'd drive back and she'd be waiting, and they'd walk hand in hand in the sunlight.

Nothing, not even death, could separate them or conquer their love.

And that was all that mattered.

FINIS