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Angel was waiting at the altar for his bride. His patience was rewarded when Buffy emerged and started toward him. She was so beautiful in her wedding dress. She finally reached him, at which point the priest began speaking.

It was the usual long-winded speech about love and commitment. He may have even quoted a few bible verses. They pretended to listen to him until he got to the important parts.

The priest asked Angel if he would take Buffy as his wife.

"I will," Angel said.

When asked about Angel, Buffy replied likewise.

"Do you have the rings?" asked the priest.

Angel and Buffy pulled out the wedding rings. One after the other, they put the rings on each other's hands.

"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

With that, Angel removed the veil from Buffy's face, and they shared a passionate kiss. Noticing the priest taking his leave, the newlyweds figured they should be on their way too. Buffy seemed to have no trouble making her way back trough the aisle, as though she was used to dresses with big skirts. He had no doubt, though, that she was planning to change out of it the first chance she got.

They were soon out on the front steps, ready to take on the world as husband and wife. Just then, he noticed a cigarette a passer-by had carelessly left burning by the entrance.

"Buffy look out!" he said.

It was too late; her dress brushed against the cigarette and caught fire. "Angel?" she said.

Angel rushed over to her and tried putting out the fire; he was unsuccessful. "Wait here, Buffy, I'm going to get help."

"But, Angel -!"

"I want you to stay put," he said, a bit more firmly this time.

She nodded, and watched as he ran down a road into the nearby town. Reluctantly, she had to admit he was right; her large skirt would slow them down too much.

She could only stand there as the flames worked their way up her dress. There was no one around to witness her distress, the priest having left by this point. She couldn't recall ever feeling this helpless in her life, or being so scared.

Still, she took comfort in her belief that Angel would return in time to save her. In fact, she couldn't help finding this whole situation oddly romantic.

While she waited for him to return, she thought back to when he first proposed to her.

It was shortly after he regained his humanity. It was fortunate that he'd done so, or else it was implied he wouldn've broken up with her.

She put this all out of her mind; she was more concerned with them getting married so they could start their new life together. Joyce, bowing to the inevitable, figured she could at least let her daughter wear her old wedding dress.

Which made Buffy feel that much worse about her current situation.

Even worse, she was now acting out the part of the helpless damsel she was NOT supposed to be. She'd killed numerous vampires and stopped an evil mayor's plans. And now she was just waiting for someone to come and save her?

Yeah. That was exactly what was happening.

Buffy soon managed to regain some of her usual calm. She went back inside, so the wind now blowing outside wouldn't fan the flames. She then sat down; spreading her skirt out on the floor would slow the fire's progress somewhat. Still, the flames were getting a little close for her comfort.

She had no doubt now that, whatever afterlife there was, her old enemies were laughing at her.

There wasn't any clock nearby, so Buffy had no way of knowing how long it had been. From where she was sitting she could see someone running toward the church. There was someone running alongside him; she immediately recognized him as Angel. They were carrying what looked like a rather large rug.

Not a moment too soon; Buffy could feel the heat coming near her hair. It was apparent by now that her veil had caught on fire. And after all the trouble she went through to grow her hair that long...

Finally, the two men arrived at the church.

"Buffy, I'm here!" said Angel. He took Buffy by the hand and helped her stand up, after which he and the other man used the rug to put out the fire. By some miracle, Buffy had escaped serious injury. The dress was a total loss, but neither of them really cared about that at the moment.

The other man ran off with the rug without giving the couple a chance to thank him. Then again, he didn't seem the type who wanted too much attention.

"I'm so glad you're okay," said Angel.

"And I'm glad you're here with me," said Buffy.

With that, they left the church to resume their earlier plans. When the newlyweds checked in, the hotel employees seemed rather puzzled by the sight of the bride in a burnt dress.

"They're looking at me funny," said Buffy.

"Let them look," said Angel. "We both know what's really important here."

Indeed, having put that whole incident behind them, Buffy and Angel got on with their married life.