oooooooo This is the last chapter. Hope you enjoy it. Thanks for the reviews and support. Let me know what you think of this one.

"Bring Angel back," Dawn said. "You have to bring him back. I've read every stupid book there is and all it says is that it's a life for a life. Bring him back to Buffy and you can take my life. I'm offering you a life... Bring him back," she said.

"What do you have to offer young one?" a male voice asked.

"All the books say that you can make a supernatural birth happen, but that you have to take a life. A life of someone with some kind of powers or abilities. I'm not so bad with the magic thing, so that counts as abilities or powers. I'm telling you to take me and give Angel back to my sister, and if you so-called Powers had any sort of heart, you would give him back to her as mortal. You'd let them have a real life together. And even if you don't have hearts, I know about the whole Shanshu Prophecy thing. Angel deserves it... Bring him back and take me," Dawn said.

Buffy had finally gotten up and had Danica in her arms. She saw Shayla and Dawn leave the cave and knew something was up. She had just heard what Dawn said and Buffy nearly threw up.

She couldn't let her sister do that, no matter how bad she wanted Angel. "No Dawnie. No. You're not going anywhere. You're staying with me," Buffy said, barely above a whisper.

"Very well then, we're done here," the voice said, seemingly without a care in the world.

"Since you're here, you might as well know that as of right now, I am no longer your Slayer," Buffy said angrily, in response to the male's flippant answer. "I will protect me and mine, and that's it. My family and my friends are the only who benefit from this Slayer, you mark my words.

"All you big powers do is take. You've taken too much from me, I'm not giving you any more... You've got ten Slayers here in Rome, and you've still got 150 around the world. You'd better get busy, and organize your troops if you want to keep the world safe from the rest of the normal evils, because I'm done with you. You took Angel even though he fought for you, you took him even though all we've ever done was fight for good. I asked you if you were going to take him away from me and you avoided the damn question. You are a liar with no heart...So here it is, you bring Angel back to me or else I'm done with you for the rest of my life... And my daughter, she won't ever fight for you either."

Oz, Dayna, Ong-Lee, Maya, and Sheri had all come out of the cave to see what was going on, and they were all shocked. But they understood. They understood where she was coming from.

The voice finally became something visible, a man. "I am sorry for you, but surely you don't mean what you just said."

For a couple seconds she couldn't believe what she had said, but just hearing this voice made her sure. He didn't care about her feelings. He didn't care about Angel.

"I meant every word," Buffy said steadily, truly meaning it. "I'm done."

"And what about the Shanshu prophecy? If you hadn't decided to take Angel away, that would have been his, should have been, anyway," Giles said, joining in.

"That prophecy has nothing to do with this. And need I remind you, that Angel himself, destroyed that," the male power said.

Another one of the Powers appeared. A woman. "Angel destroyed the Shanshu Prophecy, but he did it for good reasons. In actuality all he destroyed was a piece of paper. The Prophecy still exists."

"He destroyed it, sister," the other power said.

"Don't be like this."

"It is of no matter, Angel is gone."

"I've died for good twice. Does that not count for anything with you?" Buffy yelled. "There's your damn life for a life."

"That was the past," the male said.

"Myself, and our sister do not agree with what you have done, brother. You went behind our backs. You are trying to make a decision without our knowing, without our consent."

"What's done is done," he answered.

"Not if it's Two of the Three Powers against One," his sister answered.

"I was following rules," he insisted.

"Life for a life is not a set in stone rule of the Powers, and you know this," she answered back.

Dawn thought that two made up the Powers, but a third one had just arrived. She looked much younger than the others, and had a sweet face. A smile spread across it.

"Two Powers beat one, brother," the youngest one said. "You have no right to take Angel and no authority...Slayer, Angel will be returned to you, by the power of two" she said, looking at Buffy.

"Do you realize you just nearly made us lose one of our Slayers, our best Slayer?" she said angrily.

He did not answer.

"And Dawn, is it?" the young power said, now looking at Dawn. "At times, we may do things that seem cruel, but in the end, everything is always for the greater good. Our brother may not have a heart, but my sister and I do. We did not know about what he was doing until only moments ago.

"This is not something we have done, this is a stupid decision made by our brother, and nothing that would result could be considered to be for the greater good. Our brother's decision does not stand...My brother, he lost his heart many years ago... We have power that doesn't concern him when we band together... I will show you all my heart in my decision."

Everyone stared at the young woman.

"Angel has fulfilled the Shanshu Prophecy and I am granting him his mortality," she said to the group, but then she turned to her brother. "I recognize what Buffy and Angel have both done for the forces of good. There is no reason to not allow them to be happy.

"Angel and Buffy belong together. Belong to each other. We have seen that since the day Angel changed the way he wore his ring, even before he gave her hers. He belongs to her. And the ring she wears and the marks on her neck say that she is his... Brother, you understand this. You used to have a heart, and you used to love with it. Just because you lost your love, doesn't mean you have to fight to try to make others have the same fate. You are one of the powers, you are supposed to be above this type of behaviour."

"It seems that my brother and sister have been making decisions. I am here to do the same," the second of the three powers said. "Angel has been given his mortality. His immortality is gone, but we will not take his strength. He will continue to fight side by side with you in the good fight. This is my decision.

"While my sister mostly thinks with her heart in her decision, I have also looked at facts. You and Angel have both fought for us for a long time, and you have fought hard. I grant you my part because we owe you. This is our gift to you. This is your reward... And because you won this war, I grant you this day, Miss Summers.

"You were promised that if the war ended in our favour, you would get to be with your friends again. I keep my promises. I bring your friends Willow, Xander, and, Faith, for today... I don't believe my siblings have said it, but I must say thank you for saving this world. Enjoy this day in it. You must give us a few moments to set everything in order and give you your people."

And with that, they were all gone.

Buffy didn't know if she could speak. What the hell just happened? They had just given her everything she wanted. This had better not be a joke.

The male of the Power trio came back, with Angel.

At first, she just stared at him for a minute. He was really there, he was back. Buffy felt her feelings of anger at Angel come back for not telling her that he was going to be taken away, but then he slowly walked to her and Danica, and just reached out. She couldn't be angry, this was just too much of a good thing. Buffy went to him, and wrapped her free arm around him, without a word, just a sigh of relief.

He hugged her back.

Buffy couldn't believe what had just happened. She put her head against his chest, and heard the rarest of sounds. Thump Thump Thump.

"It's beating, Angel," Buffy whispered. "Your heart is beating," she said in awe.

"They're here, Buffy," Angel smiled. "Go to your friends. Have your day."

Buffy turned and saw Willow, Xander, and even Faith. A huge smile spread across her face, and once again, she began to cry.

Xander and Willow ran to her, hugging her at the same time, being careful not to squish the baby.

"Hey guys," she whispered, holding onto them. "I've missed you so much."

"Hey B," Faith said from a distance

"Can I hold my niece?" Willow asked.

"Of course," Buffy said, gently passing Danica to Willow.

"What's the princess's name?" Xander asked.

"Danica," Buffy said.

"I like it," Faith said, coming closer.

Willow and Xander moved aside with the baby.

"I think us Slayers are allowed to hug, Faith," Buffy grinned.

"It's good to see you, B," Faith said, hugging Buffy awkwardly.

"Good to see you too...That was a little weird, eh?" Buffy said.

"Yeah," Faith laughed. "So that's your girl, then?"

"That's her," Buffy said.

"You mind if I hold her when Will and Xander are done?"

"Not at all," Buffy said. "Will, Xand, it's share the baby time," Buffy laughed.

Willow brought the baby over, and placed her carefully in Faith's arms.

"She's so small," Faith said.

Buffy, Willow, and Xander were all grinning at each other.

"Seriously, B. Is it hard holding her? I mean the being so careful and gentle part? Being the Slayer and all."

"I was scared at first, that I wouldn't be able to be gentle enough with her cuz all I do is fight. But if you hold her for a bit more than a minute, you'll adjust."

"I'm gonna go say hi to Angel, you mind if I take her with me?" Faith asked, clearly fascinated by the baby.

"No, that's fine," Buffy said.

Buffy looked at Xander and Willow, and pulled them to her, for another hug.

"Your baby is beautiful, Buffy," Xander said.

"Thank you," Buffy said, fighting back new tears. "I want you guys to stay, so much... And I want her to know you... Oh God."

Willow took Buffy's hand and looked her in the eye. "They gave us this day, let's treasure it. Don't think about the sad things, what's happening here, with us, now, this is happy stuff, okay?" Willow smiled.

Buffy nodded.

"And when this day is over, you'll be sad. I know you'll miss us all over again, and know that we're gonna miss you too. You know, me and Xand man, we don't have it so easy either, yeah, we get to see you, we get to watch over you, but we don't get to be with you either, not always... But, there's always something good out there, there's always something that will make things better. Make you happy, even when there's sadness all around... When we go, you're gonna be okay."

"And that's what we want," Xander chimed in.

"You'll miss us again, but you won't let that take over you, you'll keep us in your hearts, you won't forget us, and you'll tell Danica about us, but you'll be fine. Because you have so much to be happy about," Willow said. "You've got your baby. You've got Angel. You've got Dawnie, and Giles, and you've got other friends."

"I do, and I really do love them... But no other friends replace you two. You will always be my best friends. The ones who were there at the beginning, the ones who stuck by me to the end... I didn't say it that much before, but I'm saying it now, I love you guys so much. You're more than my friends. You're my family."

Buffy wasn't the only one who had tears running down their face, Willow now looked exactly the same, and Xander smiled, grabbing them both in yet another hug.

After a bunch of chatter, Buffy finally said, "Will, as much as I want to hog you all to myself, I think there's someone else who wants to see you."

"Oz is here?" Willow asked.

"Go see him. He's missed you too. He's down there," Buffy pointed.

Willow smiled. "I'll be back soon."

Giles and Dawn came over to Xander and Buffy, soon after Willow and Oz joined them.

"A little bit of Sunnydale, huh?" Willow grinned.

"Scoobies reunite," Xander laughed.

"So, do we have any evil to fight today?" Willow joked with a grin.

"You guys just missed the evil fighting, actually," Oz smiled.

"Only a couple hours back," Giles said.

"No fair, no fun for us," Xander complained.

"For real, you got to give a Slayer something to slay, you know," Faith chimed in with a smirk.

Angel just watched everyone and smiled.

The day was wonderful. Buffy had laughed like she hadn't in a really long time, but when it was over, she felt the loss all over again. Her friends were gone all over again. But Buffy remembered Willow and Xander's words. They told her not to be sad. At least she had been able to say a proper goodbye this time.

And as Buffy looked around her, even though so much and so many had been lost, she knew she would be okay. She still had happiness. She still had Oz and Shayla. She still had her sister, thank God. For once, she could also say, with perfect certainty, that she had Angel too. And she had the most precious thing in her life, her daughter, who she was cradling in her arms, having just finished feeding her.

"Hey," Angel said, sitting down beside her.

"Hey yourself," she answered.

"So what do we do now?" he asked.

"I say we do nothing for right now, because I'm kind of exhausted."

"I can't imagine why on Earth you'd be exhausted. It's not like you fought a war or had a baby today." Angel said sarcastically.

Buffy stuck her tongue out at him.

"Good news is that pretty much all of Rome's clueless inhabitants are okay. Oh, and your slayers and the last of the witches said that they'd do a walkthrough of the city to see how bad the damage all over the place is," Dawn said. "Let them take care of stuff for awhile. I think you've earned a break... Giles, Oz and Shayla are gonna come with me, and help me lug the trunks with all the really important stuff we had that I hid in the sewers, back here... We'll see you in a bit," she said, heading off with Giles, Oz and Shayla.

"Dawn, hold on a second," Angel said, following her out.

"Yeah?" she said.

"Buffy told me what you did, what you were going to do. You were crazy to do it. My life is not worth more than yours. Not to mention you would have screwed your sister up big time...But with that being said, I know where your heart was, and I have to say thank you."

Dawn gave him a smile, and nodded her head. "See you in a bit," she said.

Angel went back inside and found Buffy just staring at Danica in complete adoration.

"You've been replaced, Angel," Buffy said. "The title of 'the love of Buffy's life' has officially changed hands," Buffy grinned.

"Way to break a guy's newly beating heart, Buffy," he laughed.

"Aww, don't worry. You're still a close second," she teased.

"Alright then, I guess I'll just have to deal," Angel said.

Buffy spread one of the blankets on the floor and ever so gently put Danica down onto it.

"Come here, you," she said to Angel, patting the spot beside her.

Angel came and sat back down next to her.

"You almost went away for good today," Buffy said, seriously now.

"Yeah," Angel said.

"I kind of started to go a little crazy," Buffy whispered. "I told them I wouldn't Slay for them anymore."

"I'm so sorry," Angel said. "But-"

"Yeah, I know, you didn't have a choice. But that didn't make me any less scared or miserable... Back in high school, when you left I was miserable, and I was broken- hearted, but I wasn't scared. I was scared today, Angel," Buffy sighed. "I know that I can live with-out you, I've done it before, but I don't want to be without you.

"And I know, if I had to, I could raise her myself," she said, nodding towards Danica. "But I don't want to do that either. I don't want to do any of this without you. The thought of you not being here, I just can't take it... So there it is. I just needed to say that out loud."

"I don't know what I did to deserve you. And truly, I sometimes still wonder how you manage to love me after everything that we've been through. What I do know is that nobody can interfere anymore. And I'm not going anywhere. I don't want to. I have everything I've ever wanted right here."

"That's nice to hear," Buffy said.

"It's true," he told her. "You're gonna be stuck with me till the day we die."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Buffy smiled. "Not too bad at all."

"So, this is what you want, right? You and me?" Angel said. "And the baby."

"Where the hell have you been for the past five minutes?" she laughed. "Of course that's what I want."

"Good," Angel said.

"Yes good. You know what else would be really good?"

"What?" Angel asked.

"Sleep... Dawn's right, they can handle everything today, I'll be Slayer again tomorrow... I'm so tired and dare I say, sore, right now."

"Then sleep," Angel told her softly.

Buffy picked the baby up with utmost care and passed her gently to Angel. "Take her," Buffy said. "Call me paranoid, but if we're not both awake, I don't want her just lying on the blanket... Would you just hold her while I sleep, so I know she's safe, so I can sleep in peace?"

"Give me the princess," Angel smiled, holding out his arms. "Sleep now," he told Buffy. "Just sleep."

"Mmm hmm," Buffy mumbled, leaning her head against Angel's shoulder.

She fell asleep almost instantly which made Angel laugh. He kissed her forehead and looked from her to his sleeping daughter and thought that all the world's beauty was holed up in that cave with him.

As he sat there, staring between Buffy and Danica, he felt a familiar feeling rise in himself. A feeling of wonder and happiness and almost disbelief.

He was used to feeling all of that with Buffy, and it was always accompanied by regret because he shouldn't get to feel those things because of what he was, of what he had done...Now, regret over past actions was still there, but he was no longer the same, he was human again, like Buffy.

He had something more than darkness and shadows to share with her... But it would always come back to everything she had done for him. He could give her everything and she still would have given him more. Over eight years ago now, she gave him something worth fighting for.

Today, she had brought new life into his world, and from the day he met her, she had made him feel alive, and today for the first time in many lifetimes, he was alive. There was a real life just waiting for him and Buffy, and he couldn't wait to begin it.

He had existed before, but now he would live.

Live with her, live for her. Love her for the rest of his life.