Sunlight Shadows
by Lara

SUMMARY: Back in the sunlight, contemplating shadows of the past.

RATING: FRT [A] [AU]

PAIRING: Fred/Wesley

SPOILERS: Through Season 4 of Angel with some reference to general spoilers from Season 5.

DISCLAIMER: I only wish I were as successful as Joss Whedon. He and Mutant Enemy own this; I just write fanfic for fun while waiting for my own big break.

DISTRIBUTION: Permission granted to WNW and Blue Moon Rising. If anyone else wants to archive it, please let me know.

FEEDBACK: Very much appreciated. Please e-mail lara@darling-moon.com or click on the banner to the side. Flames, however, will be used to fuel the fire in Wesley’s next spell casting session.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This wasn’t going to be a trilogy when I started. “Moonlight Shadows” wasn’t even going to have a sequel. But things happen that you never plan.

The breeze moves through the trees surrounding the cabin, causing shadow and sunlight to shift in ever-changing patterns on the ground. A child’s squeal carries along with it, an echo of happiness once thought lost.

Sitting on the porch, Wesley watches the two people he loves most in the world as they enjoy the bright summer’s day. His daughter shrieks again as the tire swing his wife is pushing reaches the lower-most branches of the tree to which it’s attached, so close she can reach out and pull off a handful of leaves, creating another spot of sunshine on the shadowed ground.

After it was all over, they decided to come back here to live; any life they could have rebuilt in Los Angeles would have been overshadowed by what they once had. The human underground, strong thanks to the Slayers awoken by Willow’s spell years before, had taken back this dimension, but not without a high price. Everything – and everyone – Wesley and Fred had held dear before it had all happened is gone. Lorne assassinated by Wolfram and Hart lest he discover their plans. Gunn terminated when he was no longer of use to Eve. And Angel...

Wesley’s leg twinges at the memory. He had sacrificed his best friend as he had sacrificed so much else. But when their daughter cries out, “Daddy, watch!” and Fred glances over with a gentle, loving smile, he knows they are sacrifices he would make again without hesitation.

Fred catches the swing for a moment before sending it arcing again, her eyes still on Wesley. She can still see the shadows in his eyes, the ones that never seem to go away, no matter how many years separate them from what happened. And when he stands to hobble forward, picking up the cane lying next to him to support his now useless left leg, she’s again reminded that they never will leave it completely behind.

But as he limps down off the porch to join them in the sunlight in front of the cabin, he smiles at their daughter giggling happily.

And the shadows diminish.

© August 2003

Return to Fanfic