Angel/Heartwarming

• In the series finale, Wesley is dying and the demon goddess Illyria pretends to be Fred to comfort him. Illyria had previously offered to do this before the final battle, but Wesley refused because "it would be a lie." As he's dying, Illyria asks if he'd like her to lie to him, and he says yes.
  • Likewise, near the end of the episode, Illyria is grieving for Wesley, and doesn't understand why she can't stop doing so. Revealing that the god of demons is considerably more human than she thinks she is.
  • Fridge Logic can kill the moment, though, if you watch the scene again and realize that Illyria could've saved Wesley if she'd arrived five seconds earlier. Which would've been very easy to accomplish if she weren't walking so slowly.
    • Nah - Speed Of Plot, remember?
    • This troper particularly liked the part where the demon who killed Wesley offers Illyria one free shot (thinking her a helpless human girl)--and she pulverizes his skull with one punch. Not exactly Heartwarming, but it made me feel better.
      • This troper likes to consider that a combination of Heartwarming and Awesome - Illyria, the primodial demon who considers humanity beneath her, kills Vail in retribution for what he did to Wesley.
• In "I Will Remember You", Buffy and Angel's one perfect night together. It obviously couldn't last, but did they have to push the Reset Button?
• How about Angel giving up his mortality because he knows Buffy needs him as he is?

Oracle: He is not a lower being.

• The scene in "Lullaby" where Darla confesses that she truly, truly loves her baby and that she doesn't want to let it go because it gives her the ability to care. The moment when she staked herself was also a Heartwarming Tear Jerker.
• Another Heartwarming Tear Jerker is at the end of the fifth season episode "Lineage," when Wesley calls his dad "just to talk" right after killing a cyborg disguised as his father.
  • Before that, when Wesley killed the cyborg to protect Fred, she asked how he had known it wasn't really his father. Wesley responded that he didn't.
• In "Five By Five", when Angel and Faith crash into the street in the middle of their fight, rain begins to fall and the cynic taunts from Faith start turning into desperate screams, begging Angel to kill her, countered by soft refusals by Angel, and Faith's final complete breakdown.
  • And later, he tenderly tucks her into his bed, putting an extra blanket over her for warmth.
    • Angel's entire relationship with Faith in those two episodes and later in Season 4 is generally very heartwarming.
• "Expecting" is littered with moments like these, proving just how much Angel and Wesley care about Cordelia. Particularly Angel's "No... I'm family," and the last scene:

Cordelia: I learned something, too. I learned, um, men are evil? Oh wait, I knew that. I learned that LA is full of self-serving phonies. No, had that one down, too. Ahh...sex is bad?
Angel: We all knew that.
Cordelia: Okay. I learned that I have two people I trust absolutely with my life. And that part's new.
Wesley: (starts to tear up and wipes his eyes) Allergies.

• Cordelia helping Angel finally deal with Buffy's (second) death toward the end of "Heartthrob."

Cordy: You're a living, breathing... - well, living, anyway... (coaxes a smile from Angel) - good guy, who's still fighting and trying to help people. And that's not betraying her, that's honoring her.
Angel: You think?
Cordy: I'm Cordelia. I don't think. I know. (smiles widely and tenderly) Okay?

• In "Benediction" when Angel and Connor are play fighting - an honest father/son bonding moment.
• The end of "Hell Bound":

Spike: I'm not going to be like him, desperately keeping myself out of hell no matter who it hurts.
Fred: Just proves what I've been telling everyone.
Spike: That I'm a handsome devil who livens up the place?
Fred: That you're worth saving.

• Angel buying Cordelia new, expensive clothes to earn her forgiveness at the end of Disharmony. It's also a Crowning Moment of Funny (mostly for Wes's reaction) but simply seeing them jumping around with those big grins on their faces... Aww.
  • A double Heartwarming Moment with a bit of fridge logic. She is the only one of the team Angel is truly dedicated to winning over. Because he loves her.
• Another mixed Crowning Moment of Heartwarming / Crowning Moment of Funny revolving around Angel and Cordelia's friendship: her attempts to get him to start wanting things in To Shanshu in LA.
• Seeing Angel as a father just about did me in. How he wouldn't let anyone hold Connor after he was born and was so fiercely protective. Singing an Irish lullaby to his son. When he tells Cordelia that if he needed to see a doctor on the sunniest day of the year at noon, he would get him there. I stopped watching the DVDs halfway through season three because I knew his son was taken from him, and I can't stand to watch it.
• The Angel-and-Baby-Connor moment that breaks this troper is at the end of the S3 episode Couplet, after Angel's gone through all this trouble to help Cordy and Groo live happily ever after, even though it's killing him inside. He goes upstairs, picks up his infant son and radiates pure joy. He carries the baby downstairs, where they bump into Wesley.

Wesley: You startled me.
Angel: Oh. We didn't mean to.
Wesley: I thought I was alone.
Angel: Yeah. (smiles at Connor) So did I.

• A small moment in Inside Out on the subject of Lilah's death

Wesley: You were mortal enemies. Why should you care what happened to her?
Angel: Because you did.

• A real life version comes from the special Lorne comic made in tribute to the late Andy Hallet. First Lorne sacrifices himself to save the day and the gang saying goodbye afterwards is clearly directed at Andy. Next is a poem summarizing Lorne's role in after the fall and then a eulogy by Mark Lutz who was best friends with Andy. They then explain that they got rid of Lorne in a way that they could bring him back later but so he was out of action for now so he could enjoy some peace for a little while.
• Also in the Grand Finale, while everyone is trying to enjoy what they expect to be their last days alive, though each of their stories are touching in their own ways, the best is probably Spike's: he reads some poetry he wrote at a club, and the audience cheers his work enthusiastically -- meaning William the Bloody-Awful-At-Poetry is finally getting some respect.
  • Hate to be buzzkill but I've read that poem. The people at the club were really, really drunk.
    • It was not that bad. I found it touching
• I'm appalled that Doyle's brief video cameo in "Birthday" doesn't get a mention here. The expression on Cordelia's face when she sees the video and hears that Doyle never meant to give her the visions, and that they were accidentaly transferred because Doyl was in love with her takes the cake for me. Also, Cordelia becoming half-demon at the end of that episode so she can keep the visions and help Angel, even though she could happily live life as a sitcom star also counts.
• The way Dennis the ghost looks after Cordy is incredibly heartwarming.
• The end of the second season premiere when Angel visits Faith in prison and he asks how she's doing and she teases him on having to sing Barry Manilow at karaoke!
• Wesley and Faith in 4x13, "Salvage", discussing the recent release of Angelus.

Faith: I'm not gonna kill him, Wesley. (off Wesley's expression) Angelus. Don't care what you thought you sprung me for. Angel's the only one in my life who's never given up on me, there's no way I'm givin' up on-
Wesley: I know. That's why it had to be you.

• The last scene of "Parting Gifts". One word: "Breakfast?"
• Angel apologizing ot Nina at the end of "Smile Time".

Angel: So...how about breakfast?
Nina: ...What do puppets eat?
Angel: (extends his hand) Let's find out.

• A villainous moment was when Dru poured her heart out to Darla about why she vamped her in "Reunion".

For you. All for you. I thought it was what you wanted - to be saved. All alone. All alone in the dirt. We've lost our way and the little worm won't dance if he's told to. (Starts to sob) No. No.. (They hug then Darla kills a guy)

• Cordy telling Angel to smile more often in "Dead End".
• When Cordy sticks her tongue out at Angel, telling him she can't be fired because she's Vision Girl, we see Angel struggling not to smile.
• A smaller one from the finale: Gunn visits Anne, who's still working her ass off trying to keep her shelter going. He asks her what she'd do if she had absolute proof that the whole world is rigged, that the bad guys will always win, and that nothing they can do matters. She looks at him as if it was the dumbest thing she ever heard and sums up the entire show in two sentences:

Anne: I'd get this truck packed before the new stuff gets here. Wanna give me a hand?

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