Restoration -- 5
Date: 10/19/98
From: Krystina

Immediately following.

Julia stood staring at Angelique, a shocked look on her face.

"Helloo..., Angelique," Julia mumbled, "nice to see you, too. Lllong time no see!"

Elizabeth stood up. "If you will excuse, me, I need to see Mrs. Johnson about the arrangements for dinner, and I also assume you all have some catching up to do. Welcome back, Julia."

"Umm, thanks, Elizabeth," Julia sputtered as Elizabeth left the room.

Julia turned her attention to Angelique. "How have you come to be here? The last time I saw you you had been shot dead in 1841."

"It is a miracle, I think, Julia," Angelique replied, explaining the whole story to Julia from the time she had woken up in the hospital in Boston.

"And you have no memory of your previous lives here as Cassandra Collins and Mrs. Sky Rumson??" asked Julia.

"None at all," replied Angelique."The last thing I remember is being in Barnabas' arms right before I died in 1841."

"But this is incredible!!" exclaimed Julia.

"I know," said Angelique, "but you and I have lived among the Collinses long enough to know that ANYTHING is possible."

"So true," said Julia. "But tell me, Angelique, do you still have any of your powers?"

"None at all," answered Angelique. "I am as human as Judah left me in 1841."

Angelique hesitated a moment before continuing. "But my Barnabas, how is he Julia, really? Elizabeth told me he has been very despondent since a "trip" you and Barnabas returned from weeks back. Is it because of me?"

"I am afraid so,"replied Julia. "Barnabas was absolutely devastated by your death in 1841, so much so that he almost did not want to return to 1971 with Stokes and I. We were able to persuade him to come back with us, but he has become very much a recluse ever since our return."

"I never thought I would say this," said Angelique, "but I was almost hoping he would turn to you, Julia. I know you have always cared for Barnabas."

Julia was stunned. "You certainly HAVE changed, to be able to make a statement like that. But after we returned from 1841, I realized that Barnabas would never be able to love me in the way he did you and had even loved Josette, so I came to the conclusion that it would just be better that Barnabas and I remain the closest of friends. Actually, Eliot Stokes and I have been seeing quite a lot of each other since we returned from the past."

"I am very happy for you and the Professor," said Angelique, "but I am very concerned about Barnabas."

"As we have all been," said Julia. "Nothing we have tried has lifted his spirits, and he spends hours every day visiting your grave in the Collins cemetery. Maybe now that you have returned, Barnabas will want to begin living again."

"I hope so, Julia, I hope so," said Angelique thoughtfully. "Tell me, Julia, what part of the cemetery is "my" grave located in?"

******

Collins cemetery, later that afternoon

Barnabas Collins sat on a bench in front of the grave of his late wife Angelique, or as she had been known in 1840, Valerie Collins, thinking about the life they might have had together, and of all the time they had lost. Of all the regrets of his life, chief among them was the fact that he had lost Angelique just as he had realized that he had grown to love her as strongly as she had always loved him. He had always cared for her, even since their earliest days together in Martinique, but those feelings had frequently been blinded by the rage he felt toward her. It was not until Angelique had proven that she was capable of purely selfless, even human acts of kindness, that he had come to recognize the beautiful, loving girl he had known in Martinique, and that, combined with the closeness he and Angelique had shared since she finally lifted his vampire curse in 1840, had finally enabled Barnabas to accept Angelique's love and to grow to love her in return.

Barnabas knew that he should get on with his life, that it was not good for him to spend hours at Angelique's grave like this everyday, but somehow he felt strangely at peace here, and it is where he felt closest to Angelique.

Barnabas was so lost in his thoughts that he did not hear the footsteps approaching. All of a sudden he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder. He looked up and was shocked to see what appeared to be Angelique. Barnabas thought he must be dreaming, but the hand on his shoulder felt very real.

Angelique looked down at Barnabas with a tentative smile. "Hello, my love," she started to say, but all of a sudden Angelique felt very dizzy and before she could catch herself she fainted and fell onto the ground.

To be continued..