The water was cool, but the sand was warm. The ice cream was cold, but their interlocked hands were hot. Buffy was still getting used to that, the temperature of Angel's hands. It was like getting used to a parent with different colored eyes. The sun was the same brightness as their mood.

"How did you know that this flavour would be so good? I thought vampires didn't do the food thing much."

"Just intuition I guess." Angel smiled. Buffy was already smiling back, she'd been smiling nonstop for hours. Confusion had given way to a tentative kind of elation as she realised this was really, truly happening.

Her icecream scoop perched atop her cone, having been ignored as she lost herself in Angel's eyes, dribbled down over her hand. She laughed and licked it off her fingers.

"So what happens now?" she asked quietly. "We've got our whole lives ahead of us."

"What do you want? Kids? A career?"

"I've never thought much beyond surviving college." Buffy admitted with a sheepish grin. Angel put his arm around her shoulders. The hissing static sound of the surf was calming, not that anything could have made him feel anything but at that point.

"Well then, you survive college. I'll go back to LA and do my best to help the helpless for a little while longer. Then, we'll take it as it comes."

"Sounds good to me." Buffy smiled and leaned against him. "What about Faith and Lindsey?"

"It's up to them. We could use them in LA, but I don't know what they'll do."

~~~~

Faith loved red liquorice. She could eat it by the tonne. Chewing on a piece, she looked over at Lindsey, sitting up in bed next to her.

"So what happens now?"

"You asking yourself that or me?" Lindsey turned and looked at her.

"Both I guess." Faith stretched her body out like a cat. "What happens now?"

"We get in our painted minivan and drive around the country solving groovy mysteries." Lindsey suggested. Faith laughed.

"Sorry Lind. Scooby comparison's already been done. But seriously, what do we do? You want to go back and work with Angel?"

"No." Lindsey admitted. "I'd rather not see him again, to be honest."

Faith nodded. She'd feel much the same way. "And Wolfram and Hart would eat you alive."

"Literally."

Faith thought about that and scrunched her face up. "Ew."

"I second that ew."

"We could get back to our roots and live in a trailer park." Faith kept her voice deadpan but couldn't refrain from giggling when Lindsey gave her a droll look.

"Or not." he replied. "Here's my suggestion. We do that 'let tomorrow worry about tomorrow' thing again and just lie here for a while. We deserve some rest."

"Ok." Faith agreed, snuggling in against Lindsey's shoulder. "Will you be here when I wake up?"

"Only if you promise to dream about me."

"I always do."

~~~~

Giles handed Willow a mug of tea. She took it gratefully, giving him a small smile as their fingers touched. She looked very tired.

"Why don't you try and get some sleep?" he asked. "You can stay here on the couch if you'd prefer not to go home."

"I can't sleep." Willow shook her head. "I just keep wondering what's going on. What's going to happen."

"I don't think anybody ever knows what's going to come. One of the best things about life, I'm told."

"Well I like it better when we can read about it in your books and then stop it happening." Willow said with an unhappy pout. Giles smiled and stroked her hair, something he never would have allowed himself to do before this year. She'd grown so much, he felt like a proud father, watching his daughter blossom.

Well, not exactly like a father. He found hair dye clownish and ridiculous. Willow wouldn't have red hair if she were his daughter.

She sighed. "I just want to know what happens now."

"I think we're all a little curious." Giles agreed.









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