DISCLAIMER: The BtVS characters in the following story belong to Joss Whedon and not me. However, the plot is of my own devising and and I'm just borrowing the characters for a little fun.
AUTHOR: Katrina
SYNOPSIS: Willow's life takes a sudden turn that could lead her to Oz - but will he have her back?
TIMELINE: Set a year after ep, 'New Moon Rising'. The second part of season five hasn't happened.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story was first posted under my other account OzManiac but I've decided to put it under my proper account now to keep all my stories together. My other accounts are also Gambits Love and Lady Galahad.
The First Cut
A scream resounded around the dark and uncharacteristically foul smelling basement of Willow Rosenberg's house then faded away to nothing, leaving a battered Slayer and shocked witch in the resulting silence.
"I can't believe Tara was a demon," whispered Willow as she took her hands away from her ears in what had been a useless attempt at blocking out the death cry of her former love. Tears formed in the redhead's eyes and slowly made their way down her cheeks.
Buffy Summers turned away from the sight of Tara's now demonically changed body laying on the ground with a dagger through her heart and moved over to comfort Willow. She put her arms around her friend and hugged her.
"I'm so sorry Will. I know how much she meant to you."
Willow's tears turned to sobs and Buffy slowly led her out of the cellar.
BTvS~~~BTvS~~~BTvS
Daniel 'Oz' Osborne put his guitar back in it's case and let out a heavy sigh. It had been a good gig but he was tired and couldn't wait to get back to his apartment for some sleep. He suddenly paused for a moment as a familiar scent reached his nostrils and he felt his weary spirits lift.
"You were good tonight," came a voice from the empty dance floor in front of the stage.
Oz looked up and then smiled.
"Hey, gypsy," he greeted the petite, raven haired woman that stood before him holding a bundle of receipts and a calculator in her hands, "And thanks, I thought it went well too. Although, when Dizz jumped into the crowd and no-one caught him I thought I was going to have to get a new singer."
The woman laughed softly then moved to a chair near the stage and sat down, "Is he going to need many stitches?"
"Nah, only three or four," Oz snapped the lid of his guitar case shut and sat down on the edge of the stage, "Luckily he only hurt his head so it wasn't anywhere that would do any serious damage," he added dryly.
He was rewarded with another warm chuckle before the woman bent her head to read through the receipts and Oz felt his heart stir for the first time in a long while. It was almost year in fact. A year since he walked out of Willow's life for good. Even now, when he stopped and thought about it, it still had the power to hurt as though he had only left last week. He knew he'd done the right thing in leaving, but it hadn't made his choice any easier and he'd not been interested in another woman since; that is, until he'd met Serena.
'Serena. How her name suits her personality,' Oz thought to himself. 'Tranquil, calm, never angry.' He watched as she rapidly punched numbers into the calculator and his eyes roamed over her beautiful face which was partially hidden by the long mane of jet black hair that fell to her waist. He smiled as he thought of his nickname for her – gypsy - that's what she looked like - wild and untamed, something which had drawn him to her from their first meeting just six months earlier.
Oz had turned up at her nightclub, "The Stargazer", hoping to get a gig for his new band, "Bite the Bullet". He had been surprised when the barman had pointed her out to him, she didn't look like a typical club owner. When he had approached her, she had looked at him with those dark brown, almost black, eyes of hers and smiled sweetly before arranging for him and the rest of the group to come back the next day so she could hear them play.
After just one song, Serena had stopped them and within an hour the band had been hired to perform on a regular basis.
Since then, he and Serena had become good friends. She had told him how her much older husband had killed himself and left her with the club to run and a mountain of debt. He, in turn, had spoken of Willow. He shook his head bemusedly at the way he instinctively trusted her and then frowned slightly he realised that object of his thoughts had just spoken and was awaiting an answer.
"Uh, sorry, I spaced for a minute there. What did you say?"
"I said, it's a year since you left Sunnydale and there's bound to be a lot of memories, are you OK?"
"Sure. I haven't even given it a thought," he dismissed lightly. The look in her eyes told him that she knew he was lying and he quickly dropped his gaze. Feeling uncomfortable, he grabbed his guitar case and jumped down from the stage, "I'd better get going. See you in a couple of days," he mumbled and walked out of the room.
Serena stared sadly after him for a long while, then sighed and shook her head. She gazed back down at the receipts and mentally raged against the woman that unknowingly still held the heart of the man she now loved.
BTvS~~~BTvS~~~BTvS
Buffy peeked around the door of Willow's bedroom and let out a sigh of relief. She shut the door then went downstairs to the kitchen. Buffy's former Watcher, Rupert Giles and Willow's oldest friend, Xander Harris both turned and looked at Buffy expectantly as she entered the room.
"It's OK, she's asleep," she informed them and their worried frowns eased a little.
"Good, that's probably the best thing for her now," commented Giles as he took off his glasses and absently began to clean them, "She needs the rest after all that's happened."
"Yeah, but what the hell did happen?" asked Xander and wrinkled his nose in disgust, "I mean I know there's an ugly dead demon in the basement, but what is it and how did it get here?"
"It's been a lot for her to take in," said Buffy as she agreed with Giles and apparently ignored Xander's question, "Maybe we should have told her of our suspicions and not let her find out like this."
Giles replaced his glasses and shook his head, "No, we couldn't take the chance of Willow saying anything to her."
Xander looked first at Buffy, then at Giles and back again.
"Hello? Who her? Say what? What's going on here?" he asked in a loud frustrated voice; he hated being kept out of the loop.
"Tara is the dead demon in the basement," Buffy told him abruptly.
"What?" Xander's mouth dropped open in shock.
"Yes, we've had our suspicions for quite a few months now. We just didn't know what she was up to so we kept an eye on her," Giles explained.
Xander looked at them both and shook his head in disappointment, "I can't believe you didn't tell me," he muttered irritably then turned away, walked into the lounge and flopped onto the couch.
Buffy rolled her eyes and sighed then motioned for Giles to follow her into the lounge to join a very disgruntled Xander.
"We're sorry, Xand," apologised Buffy as she sat down next to him and patted his hand, "But the less people that knew about it the less chance there was for Tara to find out we were on to her."
"OK," conceded Xander, "I understand why you did what you did."
"Good."
Xander gave half a smile, "Now are you going to tell me what happened or do I have to go and wake Willow up?"
"Don't you dare," Buffy warned him with a frown then suddenly her expression lightened, "Actually, I think Giles should tell you the details while I go and make us a coffee."
Xander's eyes widened in a silent plea but Buffy just winked at him and looked at older man expectantly as she stood up.
"Oh, uh, yes, yes of course," Giles assented and sat down on the edge of the chair facing Xander, "And you can take your time Buffy, there's quite a lot to tell."
"Sure, no problem," Buffy shot one last look at Xander and couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped as she saw the look of resignation set in as soon as Giles started to speak.
The slayer entered the kitchen and switched on the kettle. She took three cups down from the cupboard and put a spoonful of coffee in each then leaned back against the counter and studied her nails while she waited for the kettle to boil.
In the lounge, Giles was recounting what they'd found out, "You see, D'Hoffryn was the chap who wanted Willow to become a full vengeance demon."
"Yeah, I remember him Giles," commented Xander with a roll of his eyes, "When do we get to the good part where Tara gets knifed in the basement?"
"I'm sure I'll be able to satisfy your bloodthirsty streak in good time Alexander," admonished Giles with a frown. At the boy's contrite squirm he continued, "When Willow refused to join him I was worried that he would send someone or something to try and change her mind."
"And that was Tara? She was sent by D'Hoffryn?" the young man interrupted incredulously.
"Yes. She acted as a go between, keeping D'Hoffryn updated with progress reports as she slowly tried to convert Willow and channel her magic practices towards his line of work. And she almost succeeded. A few more months of her influence and who knows what might have happened."
Xander shook his head, "Nah, my Willow wouldn't have gone over to the dark side. She hasn't got a bad bone in her body."
"Maybe not, but she does have a heart and love can be a powerful thing Xander. Tara manipulated Willow's affection well."
"Manipulated?" queried Xander with a frown.
"Yeah, we caught her casting in the library," interjected Buffy as she walked into the room with a tray of steaming hot coffee's, "It seems she needed somewhere that had a lot of Willow vibes. When she saw us, she bolted and I chased her here. She was just about to kill Willow when I showed up."
"You said she was casting? As in a spell?"
"No, as in a net," retorted the slayer sarcastically. She shook her head in exasperation, "Of course a spell."
Xander scowled, "Dare I ask what it was for?"
"I haven't checked the ingredients yet to confirm, but I rather gather it was a love spell," Giles supplied, "The effigy and lock of Willow's hair, not to mention a bracelet that Buffy recognised as the one Willow lost just over a year ago, all seem to point to it."
"Oh my God," groaned Xander as he realised the extent Tara had gone too, "Does Willow know?"
"Yes. Actually, she confirmed it," Buffy sighed, "As soon as we'd left the basement Willow told me that while she still felt something for Tara, it wasn't nearly as consuming as it had been. I thought it was just reaction but she said it felt the same as the time you got Amy to cast that wonderful Valentine's Day spell that backfired."
"Hey," exclaimed Xander indignantly, "Aren't you people ever going to let me forget that?"
"Nope."
Xander rolled his eyes dramatically and shook his head, "So, how's Willow taking it? I mean, this was a lot heavier than what I did."
"Not well, but I have a feeling it's not because of Tara," replied the slayer as she thought back to Willow's reaction. She'd taken the witch into the lounge where she had just stared into space for a long time. Suddenly she whispered, "Oh my God, what have I done?" before breaking down in tears and running upstairs to her room. Buffy followed and at her attempts to console her, Willow had shrugged off her friends arms and asked to be alone. Buffy had respected her wishes and gone back downstairs to phone Giles and Xander.
"Well who else would it be?" asked a puzzled Xander breaking into Buffy's thoughts.
"Oz."
The name caused the three friends to stop and reflect on what had happened just a year earlier when he had returned and Willow chosen Tara.
"It certainly puts that whole incident into a different perspective," mused Giles, "It wouldn't surprise me if that's the reason Tara was casting again. Oz meant a lot to Willow and it would have been hard to totally dispel those feelings from her."
"When Oz came back that time, Willow did say that she felt all her old feelings for him returning," confirmed Buffy.
"Well, that explains it then. Tara couldn't turn Willow until she was completely under her influence." A wry smile tugged at Giles mouth and he eagerly sat forward in his chair, "It's all rather fascinating actually. To think that Willow's feelings for Oz were so strong that even by using witchcraft stronger than we've come up against before, Tara still had trouble. It's amazing how powerful the human emotions are don't you think?"
"Yeah, amazing," repeated Buffy with a glare.
Giles looked contrite, "Yes, well, I suppose this isn't the time to pursue that line of thinking."
"Nope," agreed the slayer and stood up suddenly. She looked at the two men seated in front of her and ordered, "Now's the time to bury Tara."
END PART 1
