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snoggedTitle: Rivalries, Emotional Or Otherwise
Author: snogged
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon and Co. own the characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel the Series.
Pairing: Willow/Angel/Xander
Word Count: 378
Overall Rating/Warnings: FRT?PG
Setting: Angel Season 5 - An Alternate Look
Summary: The Golden Rule to ending rivalries, emotional or otherwise, was to choose one option over another.
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angelskuuipo. All other mistakes are mine.
Author’s Note: Written in honor ofvelvetwhip who is celebrating the day of her birthday today. I hope you like what I did with your prompt.
The Golden Rule to ending rivalries, emotional or otherwise, was to choose one option over another.
Xander was always the best at following this rule. He selected Buffy over Willow. Hated Angel more than he loved Buffy. Chose Cordelia over Willow. He decided to save Sunnydale instead of running away with Anya. He ran away from his wedding instead of marrying the demon of his dreams. He became a champion and a leader instead of isolating himself from the world after Anya’s death.
Willow supposed that she wasn’t so bad at following the rule either. She had inevitably picked computers over books. She had kissed Xander even though she was still with Oz. She had chosen UC-Sunnydale over Oxford and Cambridge to stay closer to her friends. She had blown out that candle for Tara instead of Oz. She had descended into evil instead of dealing with her grief. She had ascended into Goddess-hood instead of digging her heels into the dirt of Cowardsville.
As for Angel, he seemed to be an exception to this rule. Sure, he was constantly torn between good and evil, but he was not quite as oblivious to the shades of gray. That was why he was here with them. Why he had flown half a world away from his home to address the rivalry between Wolfram & Hart and Slayer Central.
Angel wanted them to see that there were flaws in the party line Buffy and Giles were feeding them, wanted to convince them that they were needed in this fight and that it wouldn’t be a betrayal to the good fight if they joined him. He wanted them to know his side of the story before they made their choice.
Xander turned his back on Angel before the vampire even got a word in edgewise, pointing out that he would never violate Buffy’s trust like that.
But Willow didn’t. She chose to listen to what he had to say and didn’t let the words go in one ear and come out the other.
She understood that he wasn’t asking her to switch teams, recognized that he was genuinely concerned about the fate of the universe.
So she broke the Golden Rule of rivalries and she never regretted it. Not even once.
Author: snogged
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon and Co. own the characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel the Series.
Pairing: Willow/Angel/Xander
Word Count: 378
Overall Rating/Warnings: FRT?PG
Setting: Angel Season 5 - An Alternate Look
Summary: The Golden Rule to ending rivalries, emotional or otherwise, was to choose one option over another.
Beta:
angelskuuipo. All other mistakes are mine.Author’s Note: Written in honor of
velvetwhip who is celebrating the day of her birthday today. I hope you like what I did with your prompt.The Golden Rule to ending rivalries, emotional or otherwise, was to choose one option over another.
Xander was always the best at following this rule. He selected Buffy over Willow. Hated Angel more than he loved Buffy. Chose Cordelia over Willow. He decided to save Sunnydale instead of running away with Anya. He ran away from his wedding instead of marrying the demon of his dreams. He became a champion and a leader instead of isolating himself from the world after Anya’s death.
Willow supposed that she wasn’t so bad at following the rule either. She had inevitably picked computers over books. She had kissed Xander even though she was still with Oz. She had chosen UC-Sunnydale over Oxford and Cambridge to stay closer to her friends. She had blown out that candle for Tara instead of Oz. She had descended into evil instead of dealing with her grief. She had ascended into Goddess-hood instead of digging her heels into the dirt of Cowardsville.
As for Angel, he seemed to be an exception to this rule. Sure, he was constantly torn between good and evil, but he was not quite as oblivious to the shades of gray. That was why he was here with them. Why he had flown half a world away from his home to address the rivalry between Wolfram & Hart and Slayer Central.
Angel wanted them to see that there were flaws in the party line Buffy and Giles were feeding them, wanted to convince them that they were needed in this fight and that it wouldn’t be a betrayal to the good fight if they joined him. He wanted them to know his side of the story before they made their choice.
Xander turned his back on Angel before the vampire even got a word in edgewise, pointing out that he would never violate Buffy’s trust like that.
But Willow didn’t. She chose to listen to what he had to say and didn’t let the words go in one ear and come out the other.
She understood that he wasn’t asking her to switch teams, recognized that he was genuinely concerned about the fate of the universe.
So she broke the Golden Rule of rivalries and she never regretted it. Not even once.