Angel stood by the lone window in his apartment, his face looking out through the glass. It was nighttime now - Buffy's friends had left hours ago - and pitch black outside except for the twinkling of the stars and streetlights. By this time tomorrow, if things worked out like they were supposed to, he would be human again.

The thought scared him. He didn't really remember even being human. It was so many years ago he could only recall little bits and pieces of his previous life, jumbled up with the faces of every single person and demon he had ever killed. Killing demons was a lot easier than feeding on humans, but it still registered as taking a life. After all the ones he had taken, had consumed, his own was given back to him.

Humans now lived so differently than when he had been alive. There were all these new inventions and gadgets that would do things instantly instead of manually as they had been done before. Telephones, microwaves, computers. None of these were around two hundred years ago. Things had certainly changed.

A hand came down to gently rest on his shoulder and almost made him jump out of his skin. Turning around, he saw Buffy behind him.

"Sorry," she apologized, wincing. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"That's okay," he said. "I just forgot you were here for a second. I'm not really used to having people around a lot."

She nodded. Angel was a loner, the dark, brooding type. Even though she had spent a lot of time with him even before his 'change,' not a lot of it was in his apartment. The past few days had been a new experience for both of them.

Moving over to the couch, Buffy began to gather up her belongings. As she deposited the various items into her dufflebag, Angel asked, "You're going home?"

She looked up from what she was doing and nodded. "Yeah. I think Mom's starting to get a little bit worried I've overstayed my welcome at 'Willow's' so she said she wants me to come back home tonight. I'll be back tomorrow before Giles and Willow get here, though."

Slinging the now fully packed bag over her shoulder, she walked over to him and enveloped him in a tight hug. He was a little surprised at first but then wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him.

"You're gonna be okay," she told him reassuringly. "Everything's going to work tomorrow, and you'll have your life back again."

For some reason, she was very confident the ritual would work. It wasn't because she was sure in Giles' theories - She was - but more because she really wanted this to work out. She had been praying for it for over a year. She'd make it work.

They finally let go of one another, and she repositioned the bag on top of her shoulder. Stepping forward, she opened the door.

"See you in the morning," she said, walking out and closing the door behind her...