If heaven existed, it surely had something to do with a warm, fuzzy bed, sunlight, and something to cuddle.

Something to cuddle? Eh?

Buffy's body squirmed deeper into the body warmed bedding as her mind attempted to come back on-line and sort through the images flying through it..

Well, first things first, body and extremities check. Head? The blonde head peeking out of the covers shifted. Check. Torso? Check. Legs? One slim, tanned leg kicked out, met cool morning air, and wisely retreated back into the cocoon of warmth. Check. Arms? Yep, Buffy wiggled her thumbs to make sure. Check. Wait…there was a definite sore feeling to her…to her…

Oh…god…ohgodohgodohgod….what had she…

//I had sex with Giles. Giles sex…and//

//And Giles will be in momentarily with pancakes.//

Buffy slapped her forehead with her right hand, then burrowed under the covers in the hopes that she'd wake up again, in her room at home, freaking over what had to be weirdest prophecy dream to date. Unfortunately, she couldn’t ignore the way she felt.

Her skin felt different…it felt charged, like there was an electric field running beneath it. And when she'd thought to herself just now about Giles and sex…she didn't just hear Giles' thoughts, she'd heard his voice in her head. Her mind might be having problems dealing with the combination of her former Watcher and sex, but her body had reacted to hearing his thoughts with a zing of…well, glow in her mid-section, a glow which was quickly spreading to the rest of her body.

//This is ridiculous…I wanted to make love to Giles…to Rupert, and I did, and it was great, and why am I freaking out now?//

"Because you've just done something so radical your brain can't quite catch up with your what your body knows. Now, untunnel yourself from those covers and eat your pancakes."

Buffy felt a light kiss on the very top of her head before a body made a slight depression in the bed next to her body. Uncocooning herself, she flopped back on the pillows at the head of the bed, primly putting her hands at her sides as Giles settled the breakfast tray over her lap.

"There we go, chocolate-chip pancakes," he took a moment to shudder in horror, "orange juice, and a bit of sausage. The perfect breakfast for any growing Slayer."

She glared at Giles. It wasn't fair, he was being entirely too calm about this whole thing.

"Ok, calm-man, I eat, you explain about the unimakey thingy. And use small words so that I can actually understand what you're talking about.

Giles leaned over Buffy's feet and propped himself up on one elbow, putting his head on his hand. He helped himself to a link of sausage, earning a fierce glare from Buffy who was gobbling up the rest, before beginning to explain matters in more detail.

"Well, luv, what you have so charmingly coined the 'unimakey thing' is actually called Unification. In the Chronicles of Navros…"

Buffy rolled her eyes at the mention of yet another one of the holy books o' Doom and Destruction for Buffy.

"The process is laid out in some detail. You may not know this," Giles paused to pointedly look his lover in the eyes, "but Slayers and their Watchers have existed for untold millennia. In fact, they existed prior to the inception of the Council. At one time, a Slayer found her Watcher by a…a…biological imperative, I suppose. Both Slayer and Watcher would feel a pull from outside their bodies to mate with someone, to find some other being that they would recognize instantly as belonging to them. Oftentimes, these relationships were of a sexual nature, though they never lasted long due to the usual life expectancy of a Slayer. The few records of the times before the Council mention that when a Slayer and Watcher joined, their life forces were matched, were linked for all time."

Giles face became somber, his lips compressing into a thin line. "When a Slayer and Watcher joined their bodies, their life forces became one. If the Slayer died, so did her Watcher, and vice versa. When the Council formed, it quickly realized that allowing Slayers and Watchers to complete the Unification ritual would be detrimental to their purpose. After all, someone has to live on to create more little Watchers. So, the Council began to breed Watchers specially, weakening their need to find their mates. Every active Watcher has for centuries also been given a special serum to inhibit their body's recognition of a potential mate and their Slayer's recognition of the rightness or wrongness of their Watcher."

"Wait a second…does that mean this could have happened with Wussley?" Buffy's mouth made a moue of disgust as she contemplated 'mating' with Wesley.

"No, as I said prior to last night's lovemaking," Buffy blushed, "Unification only occurs if the Slayer and Watcher are meant to be matched. Before the Council interfered with the process, only one possible Watcher existed for any possible Slayer, but when the Council began to play God, the process became skewed. More Watchers than Slayers existed, and the serum didn't help matters either."

Buffy eyed Rupert shrewdly. "Were you given this serum?"

He rubbed the bridge of his nose and answered her. "Yes, I was, though I do believe now that my natural magickal abilities gave me the ability to see through the haze caused by the serum. This would explain some of my attraction to you…not that I wasn't already attracted to you, but I don't believe that I would have been so willing to 'make' you love me when…" he paused, hesitant to bring up Angel's name in such an intimate setting.

"When Angel handed me off to you…I feel like a baton or something."

Bother hesitancy. Giles had, after all, known for some time that hesitancy and the astonishingly beautiful goddess in his bed would never see eye to eye.

"Fine, when Angel so kindly gave you to me," he said sarcastically, moving up to lay beside Buffy now that she had finished her breakfast and set the tray on the floor next to the bed. After taking her hand in his, and running his lips along her knuckles reverently, Giles continued his long explanation.

"The Navros books contain the only extant tale of Unification being achieved since the Council began tampering with genetics. A Slayer by the name of Maria Cristina Giovanni and her Watcher, Marcos d'Assisi, disappeared during a tremendous battle against the demon Ekryans. When a new Slayer was not called, the Council sent men to investigate the supposed deaths of Maria and Marcos. They were discovered in the town of Assisi, living as man and wife. The Chronicle does not, however, explain exactly what happened to Maria and Marcos. It only mentions that Maria died, followed by her Watcher. After scouring the countryside for any possible 'offspring', the Council left. There hasn't been a Unification for almost seven hundred years."

"And this is all we know? No long, drawn-out, really boring list of what exactly this thingy does to the participants? Surely, somewhere in that Navy book they said something about, oh I don't know, sudden psychic bonding?"

Though she didn't realize it, as she spoke, Buffy's hand trailed through Rupert's soft brown hair, unconsciously enjoying the feel of her fingers against his skin. The heat from his flesh distracted her for a moment, as she lost herself in the sensation.

"If you'd kindly stop petting me, just for the moment, I'd be happy to continue my explanation." Giles looked up at Buffy, amusement evident in his sparkling green eyes.

"Uh? Oh, sorry." She sheepishly removed her hand and put it back in her lap, reflexively grasping the comforter.

"Alright, now, in response to your question, there are only two things we know for sure about Unification's effects. The two unified partners' lives are linked; when one dies, so does the other. And they have 'sudden psychic bonding'. That's really all we know, and it's quite possible there isn't anything more to add. Well, I should say that I'm not entirely sure how strong our link will be; after all, the gene in me that would have recognized you has been weakened through centuries of genetic meddling, though it's entirely possible that my magickal abilities will give us an edge." As he spoke, Rupert's face lost some of its sparkly joy. //Lord, please don't let me lose her…//

"Hey, it goes the other way too, ya know!" Buffy stopped when she realized how that sounded.

//Giles…Rupert…I'm so sorry, I don't know what to feel, I feel weird and tingly and happy inside, and well, on top of the fact that that's never happened before…it's happened with my Watcher, meep much?//

The flurry of thoughts flooded her lover's mind and he mentally reeled under the emotional combination of joy and fear and disgust roiling in Buffy's mind. Joy because her body at least knew what love felt like; fear because her last experience with love wasn't the most positive; and disgust because this joy came from changing the steadiest, least judgmental relationship she'd ever had. Rupert closed his eyes as he softly kissed the pad of the blonde's palm, nuzzling the center. He smelled vanilla, sandalwood, and the faintest hint of sex. Sex with him. At that thought, a wolfish grin broke out on his face. //Mine,// he thought with satisfaction.

//Hey, cave-boy, that also goes both ways.// Buffy slid down to kiss Giles, capturing his lips with hers. She inhaled deeply of sweat and sex and that clean, warm smell that was just Giles. Her tongue plunged deeply into the warm cavern, seeking out its secrets.

//We belong to each other, together, always. And besides…you're really good in bed//

She smirked as they sunk under the covers to once again lose themselves in the sweetness of the other.

~~~~~

The day dawned sunny and bright as Wilhemina Giles woke up, wincing as the sunlight streaming through her window hit her eyes. She shifted onto her back and gazed up at the large poster of Jim Morrison looming over her bed. Yeah, he was before even her mom's time but he looked so good in leather pants.

According to her digital bedside clock it was precisely 8:33 a.m. and in exactly 9 hours and 27 minutes, she would be walking down a small dirt path to a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean on the arms of her honorary fathers, Angel and Wesley. There were times when her life was completely unbelievable and this was one of them. It happened often when she woke up in the sunlight, temporarily blinded by the intensity of the warmth. For a moment, nothing existed but sunlight, sleepy contentment, and warmth. Not a trace of the darkness which often tinged her life remained.

Last night, when Willie had found that can of formula, she recalled the first time that she had really grieved the loss of her parents. They had done everything they could do to make her happy and they had given her the best adopted family anyone could ask for. Willow had told her volumes about Buffy's humor and strength and her occasional short-sightedness and selfishness. Angel had shared his own cherished image of Buffy as the only human woman he ever loved. From Oz and Xander, she had received a variety of tales from high school. Cordelia had, in her own indomitable fashion, given Willie her exact opinion of her parents - Giles as Mr. He Can Be Trusted and Buffy as Ms. I Like To Kill Things. Spike had bragged on about defeating her mom time and time again, turning his head away when he choked, blood tears springing to his eyes.

None of those images, none of those memories, however, had really meant anything to Willie. It's hard to transmit all the power, love, faith, hope, laughter, joy, and strength you shared with two people through words. Willie'd been smiling and nodding at the lot of them for years. At 18, though, they were finally real to her.

When she was 18, she had looked three seats over to where Drew Chase-Harris sat somehow managing to take up more space than one teenage boy ever should, trying to pretend that he wasn't dozing. Then, at that exact moment, Willie had known that her parents loved her because Drew loved her. And she loved him. It made sense. Hard to explain how realizing that you love a boy makes you realize your parents loved you, even though they had been dead and gone for 16 years, but she had known. The past had sat right with her on that sunny afternoon, smiling and nodding.

Her mom and Dad might be on the dead side, but Willie still had more parents than she knew what to do with sometimes. She had Willow to help her with Calculus. Cordelia for needed and un-needed fashion advice and Xander for drinking milk and eating HoHos in front of the TV with on Saturday morning. Angel for keeping in shape, Wesley for learning arcane and modern languages and knowledge, Oz for an appreciation of the wild in all of us, Anya and Spike for a reminder that there is something human in nearly everything…and Buffy and Giles for love.

Yeah, she knew that she was lucky. After all, it wasn't every girl who had her very own supernatural cheering squad.

Willie groaned, flinging back the covers to reveal her pajama-clad body. Spike had bought her the pajamas for her last birthday - they were decorated with hundreds of smiley faces with little fangs dripping blood. They were kinda hard to explain her friends who didn't know that "that hunky blonde dude" was a vampire with a wicked bad sense of humor. As she leaned over the side of the bed, hunting for her fuzzy white and black cow slippers, she heard a low cackle come from just below her window. She grinned and flung herself back on the bed.

"Oh, no, whatever will I do? It's the devious Drewman, come to steal me away from my sweet intended!"

"Muwahahaha, you have no choice my sweet! I shall take you away from this place, and you'll never see the insipid Andrew again! Not even when we visit for Christmas and Hanukkah!"

Willie snorted and rubbed her face with one hand. He really was such a dork.

"Drew? You do realize you're insulting yourself, right?"

"No, I thought I was insulting Dad…you never play along, partypooper."

"I just hate to see you make a fool of yourself…though you're still adorable."

"Adorable??! That's all I get? Man, maybe I'll go take back that tux…think Anya would run away with me?"

"Not likely, I think you're pretty much stuck with me." Willie twisted a lock of hair with one finger, her face suddenly serious. "Love you."

The voice from below the window didn't hesitate a second. "Love you more."

~~~~~

Willie Giles and Drew Harris had fought from the first time they met. She had wanted to play war and Drew had wanted to read a book. She won, but sat down with him the next afternoon to read.

They had both been three years old.

Call it kismet, call it fate, call it a severe case of May-December romance, as Willie was wont to do, but they had been best friends since the beginning of time, and it hadn't stopped yet.

And today, they would be married, on the spot where her parents' ashes had been scattered.

~~~~~

"Do you have all that blue and old crap? Suppose' to be important, so I've heard anyway. Wouldn't want you and Tweedy to have a bad marriage all because of a lack of blue."

Spike stood behind Willie, gliding the zipper to her silk dress up her back. The dress was a cool looking ivory silk gown, sleek and simple, in a modified 30's style. Cordelia had disappeared, muttering about checking on her men. Anya was already at the beach "checking out the incoming guests", of which there weren't really any, and Willow was sitting on the duvet in Willie's room, bemusedly watching the scene before her.

10 minutes earlier, a flustered looking Spike had strode in, his only concession to the day a white silk shirt. He had pushed Willow aside, plopping the computer programmer down on the duvet and taking over getting the bride ready. Willow had managed to worm the info out of Spike - he'd been off annoying Angel, Wesley, Xander, and Oz as they gave Drew a good talking to. Apparently, Spike had threatened the young man with immediate decapitation if he so much as touched his Mina (Spike liked it better than Willie), to which Drew had cockily responded, "Touched? Is that what they called it back when? Been there done that…I saw Willie naked before I knew what seeing a girl naked meant, and I've touched it all." Last seen, Drew had been backed in a corner by four very fierce looking men as Spike had backed away in snit because they wouldn't let him join in.

Willow Osbourne groaned as she rose from her resting place. Never get pregnant after forty, ever, ever, ever.

"Spike, she has the blue garter, her mother's cross, Angel's claddagh ring, and the daisies you gave her that she'll carry. Relax." When the vampire continued to hover behind Willie, she finished with, "Now," in a voice usually reserved for her children.

"Oh, sod off, I'm just bein' all careful. If the twit's going to shackle herself off to Tweed Junior, she's gonna go lookin' like a bloody empress."

"William, stop calling him any strain of Tweed, you know his name well-enough, and if you don't, I'll tell Anya you like her."

The look of horror plastered on the cocky vampire's face was payment enough.

Willie briskly took one last look in the mirror. Ready steady.

"Let's book. Time to catch Drew and get hitched before something goes all Hellmouthy on us."

The girl strode out of the room, and down the hall, leaving a heavily pregnant Willow and a muttering Spike to follow her. Knocking on the door at the top of the stairs, she entered when she heard, "Go away, I'm getting great manly advice about how to control your woman," then a thud, and Drew's injured voice saying, "Don’t injure me or my betrothed might injure you."

Willie swung the door open to reveal Angel, Xander, and Oz sitting on a smallish couch, and Wesley standing next to Drew. The room stilled when the unusually elegant looking Ms. Giles halted on the threshold. All traces of careless humor slipped from Drew's face as he drank in the sight of his lover. This was really, really it.

He held his hand out to her, she grasped it firmly in her own, and he pulled her to him in a bone-crushing hug.

"Wanna get married?"

"Oh, sure, why not. I'm all dressed up, I've gotten marital advice from both the living and the living dead, and you are kinda cute after all." Drew's smile crooked up at one end.

The two lovers strolled from the room, arm in arm. The collected remains of the Scooby Gang looked at each other in a combination of amusement and warm fuzzies, then followed.

On her way past the base of the staircase, Willie's hand lightly touched her parents' wedding picture before walking outside into the warm, early evening California air.

~~~~~

"Do you both promise to love and cherish each other, keeping each other close to your thoughts always, through every day in your lives together?"

Cool sea air rolled over the small collected company. Willie and Drew stood together at the point of the cliff, hands clasped.

"We do."

The simply clad priestess/Unitarian Universalist minister turned to the 'parents'.

"Do you promise to watch over this couple and to do everything in your respective powers to aid them in a happy and fruitful life?"

A chorus of voices rang out: some choked with tears, some joyous, some deep and rough, some gentle and airy.

"We do."

~~~~~

"Buffy Anne Summers, do you take Rupert Thomas Giles to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do."

Angel leaned his head back to stare into the seemingly endless ceiling of the small chapel. Life had a funny way of working out exactly the way you both did, and did not, want it to work out. Even as he had told Giles about his plan, in the back of his mind he had still cultivated a plan to ruin his own plot. Surely Buffy wouldn't fall in love with man who looked so much older than her, than Angel. Surely Buffy wouldn't love someone else the way she had loved Angel. Unfortunately, though these things had rushed through his head, he had known that Buffy and Giles would marry, would be happy, would find something together that Angel had helped create. The knowledge had shredded his heart into hot, painful strips of flesh, but the pain could not erase what Angel had known and still knew at the pit of his being.

Rupert had completed Buffy where Angel could not. The elegantly handsome Englishman had walked in the sun with her, given her a child, and made her short life so full that Buffy had been prone to tears because of the seemingly undeserved happiness.

22 years after having given his soul's love to the man he most admired, Angel felt content. It wasn't fair that Buffy hadn't seen her daughter go out on her first date, or to the Prom as Prom Queen, or laughed at Willie's face the night after Drew first kissed her. Giles hadn't been the forbidding presence scaring off high school boys for a 100 mile radius, the person who gave Willie her first driving lesson, and he hadn't listened to her questions about what guys really wanted.

Life wasn't fair. If Buffy and Rupert had never come together, Willie would not be joining her life with another's, but Buffy would still be dead. Slayers don’t live long enough for the "Old Slayers' Home." Statistically, they die young, alone, and in pain. Buffy died young, but because of Rupert, she broke the mold. She died with her husband, in his arms, and she felt no pain because she had Rupert to hold her.

They were together. Always.

The soft strains of an old Billie Holiday tune broke Angel's reverie, and he smiled as Willie leaned up to kiss her new husband.

Things hadn't turned out so bad after all.