The next two days were spent quietly, mostly Tobias and the girls recovering from their misadventure in the now forbidden-to-mention geological feature and tests. The kids kept up patrols since it was something to do, and they needed to be kept up to date about what was happening. The time in between, however, Justin finally figured out what he was doing wrong in regards to astral projection after asking his father about how he did it and explaining his own troubles

"That's strange." Tobias frowned, wincing slightly as he rubbed his arm. They were sitting on the couch in the kid's apartment, Maya out doing whatever she could find to keep herself amused while Kazehana and Yahan were resting. "I've never had a problem with entering astral form. Even the first time was fairly seamless. You said you get into a meditation state of mind and draw on your full power?"

"Yes, but something just won't click. I push as much as I can but I just can't figure out what I'm doing wrong." Justin sighed.

"Hhmm." Tobias hummed. "Do it for me, maybe I can see what you're doing wrong."

The darker skinned teen closed his eyes and relaxed, taking deep even breaths while Tobias felt his Avatar Spirit grow agitated, presumably from Justin tapping into his own. After a few minutes, Justin opened his eyes, still glowing. "Nothing. It just doesn't go." He said, his voice starting as the multiple ones talking at once before fading into his own.

Tobias frowned and tapped his chin in thought. "Hhmm. Are you actively pushing your power out?" Justin nodded. "That might be the problem than. When I go into my astral form, I relax and let the power flow out. And I imagine I'm standing in a doorway before taking a step through it."

Justin's eyes lit up. "I tried the flow at the start, but I didn't think of imagining I was leaving my body. Hang on a sec." He returned to his previous position. This time, after thirty seconds, a second Justin standing up appeared next to the one still on the couch. The second one looked at the one on the couch, his own hands, and then Tobias as his face was split by a wide smile. "I did it!"

Tobias nodded, feeling pride grow in his chest. It felt… Good, teaching his child something, watching their success and joy on their face. "Well done. Now, go back into your body. You can either touch it or imagine you're back in it. But you are going to feel heavy and cumbersome when you do, so be ready."

Nodding, Justin touched his real body's forehead and was sucked back in. He jerked up, his eyes flying open as he took deep heaving breaths. "Whoa. That's…"

"A rush, I know. That'll wear off after a few times and you adjust. In the meantime, restrict yourself to figuring out the limits inside the apartments. Experiment with your astral form and its capabilities, plus how your powers work with it." Tobias frowned in thought. "Yours are different from mine so I really can't give you any ideas on what to expect on interactions between them. You'll have to find those out yourself. Understood?"

Justin nodded his breathing slowing down as he looked at his slightly shaky hands. Tobias couldn't blame him; the adrenaline rush had been amazing until it wore off. Now that he thought about it, the entire family could really be classed as adrenaline junkies with how a fair amount of their travels ended, both in other universes and their own.

On the third day Tobias headed to Sunnydale University around lunch time and, after getting directions, went to the mess hall. Thankfully he spotted Buffy and Willow sitting at a table near the far side next to the windows, Riley and Tara nowhere in sight. He didn't want to censor himself so soon. Moving through the crowd, he pulled out the chair across from the Slayer and sat lazily in it with a smirk. "Hello ladies. How are classes?"

"Tobias! You're back!" Willow said, excitement clear as she hugged him. Sadly it was on his right side and it put pressure on his arm, making him hiss and her pull back. "Oh, I'm sorry! Are you OK?"

"Fine, just…" He glanced around and rolled up his hoodie sleeve to show his bandage. "Arms a little tender." He finished.

"What happened? And where have you been? Maya said you went back home, something about taking to an Uncle Dante about something?" Buffy said, also looking around for anyone listening in, but nobody seemed to care.

"Yeah." He nodded, rolling his sleeve down. "Tara told me something and we had to get back home so Dante could check on the girls. It took a week to track him down, get the tests run and the results. I got this from laser fire where we found him." He tapped the arm. "Don't ask, it's very long and complicated."

"So you just got back?" Buffy asked.

"No, we actually got back three days ago, but the girls and I were wiped out. Needed time to rest."

Willow scrunched her face in confusion. "But you said it took a week to…" The metaphorical lightbulb went off. "Oh, it took a week for you, but only four days to us."

He smiled. "Clever girl. Yeah, time travel makes time iffy. You can run into people you know in the future in the past or people will run into you that know you but you haven't met them yet."

Buffy frowned, but shook her head. "Nope, sorry, don't get it."

Tobias sighed. "Think Back to the Future. Marty spent a week in 1955, but he went back and it had only been a few minutes since he left. Or when he ran into his parents but he hadn't even been born yet. That's the simplest I can make it."

He face cleared. "Oh, OK. So, what did you need to go back home for? And what did Tara tell you?"

He looked around and leaned in, prompting them to do the same. "You both know where Maya, Justin, and I get our…special skills from." They nodded. "Well, what I didn't know until a week ago was that Tara didn't see three spirits. She saw five. And the extra two were in the girls." He exploited the resulting silence and stunned looks to steal a few fries from Willow's plate.

"Wait, you...I didn't even know they had any." Buffy stammered out.

"They didn't. And we didn't even have a clue about it until Tara pulled me aside and told me what she saw that day after we broke Jonathan's spell. That's why we had to go back home and track down Dante, he's the only person we know of that could run the necessary tests and be sure. And it turns out they do have them, but based on comparisons between mine and theirs, they're only about seven percent developed, and growing."

"Wait, they can be grown?" Willow asked, looking a little interested.

Tobias ran both hands from his hair in frustration. "I don't know! The kids were unexplainable enough, but then being born with them made some sense at least since the original was passed when the previous Avatar died and the new one was born. The girls obviously never had them and they clearly weren't just born. The best and only reasonable conclusion I can come up with is that I somehow gave them each a splinter of it and the pieces are growing."

"You can do that?"

He shook his head. "No, at least not yet. It wasn't me me, it was… Future me. Tobi me, back when we had that sit down."

Buffy narrowed her eyes. "Why did he do that? Why would he do that?"

"Again, I don't know and it's driving me crazy." He growled. "I know I must've had a reason, but it hasn't happened yet and without that event this is like a puzzle missing the key piece. All I know is that Kazehana and Yahan currently have Spirits growing in them that will result in a boost of both power and control. Least according to Dante's theory which I'm inclined to agree with."

Willow and Buffy raised an eyebrow. "You seem to trust him a lot. Who is he anyways?" The former asked curiously.

"He's family…technically. Loosely speaking we're adoptive step brothers. My mom River and his father are married so, yes, step brothers, but our situation is…messy, when you get into the details." He says, silently hoping they'd ask. He wanted to see if he could get their heads to explode, which he blamed on his recent exposure to Dante. He brought out the mischievous side in everyone.

"Messy how?" Buffy asked.

"Welllll... You remember that 'being' that I told you about, that silent people were interested in stopping and made me to do it?" They both looked grim at the mention of the defunct organization but nodded slowly. Tobias coughed. "He's, uh, the guy we just went to have run the tests. It also seems like we get together every other month and go to some place that ends with us running from the locals."

The redhead and blonde stared at him with unreadable expressions, but Tobias could swear he heard grinding gears as they attempted to process this.

"You're step brother is the person you were literally BORN to kill?" Buffy asked slowly.

He nodded. "Yes."

"The being that, according to you, the Silence believed was a chaotic force that needed to be stopped." She continued.

"Being fair, he is incredibly hyperactive, but if you know how to handle him he's not that bad."

"And he's the same person you just went to in order to find out if your girlfriend's had Avatar Spirits."

"Yes, after spending a few days tracking him down, which involved many bribes, favors, death threats, and taking to two of my family members."

The Slayer fell silent and it lasted for a grand thirty seconds before Willow asked a simple question.

"Do you and your family ever do anything normal?"

He snorted. "Well, first define normal, then I will tell you how we ruthlessly murder it just by breathing. For instance," He started listing things off with his fingers. "I'm a half human half alien hybrid with two alien girlfriend's that I'm bonded with, living with my kids across the hall despite the fact they haven't even been conceived yet, we just came back from a different universe and time after talking to my also hybrid adoptive mother and family friend who is effectively immortal, and after talking to them we went and saw the chaotic crazy bastard who is both my step brother and the person I was literally born and raised to kill." He took a breath. "And that was just in the last week. So, again, define normal."

Buffy groaned and put her face in her hands. "Just once I'd like you to do something that doesn't make my head hurt. How are you even sane?"

"What on earth gave you the impression I'm conventionally sane?" Tobias asked. "I'm fairly certain that Tobi called us functionally insane."

"Are you sure you should be talking about this here?" Willow inquired while glancing at the people around them.

"To be honest, probably not, but Sunnydale residents have proven highly proficient at ignoring or explaining away things that they don't like or can't understand." He tilted his head, cracks sounding from his neck as he sighed. "Anyways, I just wanted to drop in, say hello, let you know why we were gone for a few days. Oh, and, uh, the kids caught us up on what happened when we were gone." He smirked at Buffy. "Sex powered ghosts huh?"

She flushed. "That was…"

"None of my business, but still. Just had to poke fun. I'll see you on patrol tonight." He tapped the table, got up, and left.

The days after that were average. Aside from patrolling, the family met up with the Scoobies and Tara at the Bronze for the occasional night out, though the first time they saw Yahan's shortened hair they teased her about how different she looked. She just grumbled and threatened to castrate Dante under her breath when the others weren't listening. The first time he saw Tara, Tobias pulled her aside and thanked her for telling him about the spirits she saw in the girls, though he didn't say that exactly, not wanting to get into the specifics yet. She blushed and said it was nothing, though he forced her to accept that he owed her a favor now. He got the feeling she only agreed to it since she never planned to cash said favor in, but that was good enough for him.

He and the girls also noticed that Willow and the blonde witch looked closer than they had been last week, and that the kids had mentioned the two had looked more than friendly at the party before everything went to Hades. They debated about when the redhead was going to actually realize she liked Tara as more than a friend, dates ranging from later that night to sometime next month, but decided it really wasn't a sure thing, depending on Willow's self-perception skills and a number of factors.

Aside from that, the next week and a half went by without incident, the girls checking their power levels and control once during that time. Kazehana's was fairly simple, just going all out as the others watched from the sideline until she tired herself out, then comparing the damage and time she had been going to the last one as well as if her powers were any easier to use according to her. The initial results were barely noticeable but considering the time frame for a full Spirit was three months, they weren't worried. Yahan's involved using her shadows to travel back and forth as long as she could and, with some mental exercise Justin had provided, attempting to manipulate them. So far her progress was the least apparent but that didn't discourage her.

At the end of the time though, they and Buffy called a Scooby meeting, with Riley and Tara attending. The demon population and patrols were making them all jumpy, because the activity lately had taken a sharp turn, bringing the number of vampires they had killed combined to nearly…

"Zippo. Patrol has been totally uneventful. My kill count is way down."

Buffy, looking mildly frustrated at admitting her job was both easier and hard at the moment, was sitting on Giles' desk. Riley was standing in living

room, Tobias in one of the arm chairs with Yahan sitting in his lap, while the kids and Kazehana were on the couch. Anya was pitched on Xander's lap, himself, Willow, and Tara on stools against the kitchen counter. Giles was in kitchen fixing some food.

"Tell us about it." Tobias grumbled, rubbing his thumb over Yahan's arm without thinking. "I think between the five of us, we've killed fourteen vampires this week." They had even split into individual patrols just cover more ground and look, not that it worked.

"They means there's been less bad-guy activity." Willow helpfully told Tara.

"Well, we know what that often indicates." Giles said grimly as he came out of the kitchen with a bowl of snacks that he set on the desk next to Buffy.

"Buffy doesn't make her quota." Xander quipped, followed by sternly shaking a finger at the blonde. "Bad Slayer!"

"Stuff the jokes Xander." Maya said, frowning as she crossed her arms. "A constant stream of beings trying to kill you is preferable to only a handful. You can kill the former and have no more problems. The latter…"she shook her head. "Lack of bad guy's means they're hiding, gathering, plotting."

"And Adam is likely in the thick of it." Giles said grimly.

"When things get slow, it's usually because there's some extra evil brewing." Willow told Tara, who nodded.

"Yeah, but the weird thing is," Riley said, looking confused. "We've been busy at the Initiative. Our squads are pulling a lot more captures. We got demons coming out of ears."

"That's a metaphor." Willow added again.

Tara smiled. "I got it, thanks."

The redhead looked a little chagrined. "I'm over helping aren't I?"

The blonde nodded, but laughing softly. The redhead looked a little better as she perked up. Tobias smiled slightly at the interaction, then focused on Riley's statement.

"So the activity hasn't stopped, just shifted. That's fascinating." Giles mused.

Sharing looks amongst themselves, the Song family knew they all didn't find this fascinating but rather disturbing. They'd been avoiding the Initiative patrols like the plague, not wanting anything to do with the organization than absolutely needed, knowing their patrols from the Trojan horse programs still in their computers and stealing the route schedules, as well as Tobias and Maya using their sensing powers to keep an eye out. It explained why they saw so few demons on patrol now since they were apparently going after the government group, but what was Adam's end game? Weaken them maybe, stretch out their resources? But he was losing followers as the same time, and with the other group having the ability to replenish any numbers lost faster than him, it didn't add up. This had long term written all over it.

"To an extremely bored person maybe." Anya sighed, sliding off Xander's lap. "Well, that was a thrilling hour."

Tobias couldn't really blame the ex-demon. Even he was bored, Justin had his eyes close apparently meditating. He knew that the darker skinned hybrid wasn't sleeping because he'd participated in the talks ten minutes earlier. Maya was twirling a strand of hair around her fingers, Kazehana was tracing patterns on the couch and Yahan was just letting everything but the important stuff pass her by. With that in mind, they got up to leave, as did the others.

Giles, however, didn't seem to appreciate the attitude, getting up and standing in front of Anya with a scowl and back to the door. "You know, I really don't appreciate your snide remarks, Anya." The blonde and Xander look at him in surprise, as did the others. They had rarely seen Giles snap like that.

"Now, I have a great deal of experience in these matters…"

As the ex-Liberian talked, the door behind him clicked and swung open. The Song family instantly noticed, Tobias, Maya, and Justin tensing in preparation to form weapons. They had been so bored for most of the meeting the first two hadn't noticed active approaching and one of the others hadn't locked the door behind them.

The trespasser was fairly average. It was a boy who looked a little older than the other Scoobies, a little more mature, with spikey red hair and slight side burns, an angular but mildly handsome face, and sharp eyes. He was dressed in a plaid shirt, open denim jacket, jeans, and boots, all faded and clearly well worn. Giles, with his back to the door, didn't see the new person but the others did.

"...and if I say there is a matter of some import brewing, I-I-" The Watcher stopped his ranting since everybody was looking behind him, and turned to see the man as well.

Tobias discreetly looked at the others to see what reactions were. Tara looked like the only one besides them who didn't know the new comer, all the other faces he could see suggested they knew who this was. Riley only seemed to recognize him but little else besides mild surprise, whereas the others looked more startled, and Willow looked like she had just been sucker punched. Who the hell…

"Hey guys." The boy said softly.

"Oz." Willow said, sounding uneasy.

Tobias snapped his eyes to the witch. Oz? This was THE Oz?! Willow's ex-boyfriend who also happened to be a werewolf, and turned her into a depressed mess before she got pulled out of her funk? 'Oh boy.' He thought. A witch, her ex-boyfriend, and the girl who liked said witch but hadn't made any actual moves yet despite the fact Willow clearly liked Tara. Suddenly it felt like they were on a pressure plate connected to an emotional bomb. This was going to get messy fast.

"Oz." He almost missed the blonde in question say the name quietly. He watched Willow look at Tara, than back to Oz while Buffy gave her a concerned expression.

"Oz?" Maya whispered.

He didn't respond verbally, but found the back of her hand and traced the word EX on it.

"Bad?" She asked, meaning the break up.

He traced a broken heart. She winced in sympathy.

"When, when did you get back?" Willow asked the werewolf, looking uneasy on her feet.

He shifted, looking around. When he met looked at the Song family though, he got an unusual look on his face before looking down. "Pretty much now."

Thankfully, somebody was quite used to breaking the ice. Xander clapped his hands and stepped forward. "Oz, man. Hate to sound grandma, but... you don't call, you don't write."

The ginger cracked a small smile as they shook hands. "Yeah, sorry."

Buffy crossed her arms. "So are you here here, or are you just passing through?" She asked, sounding a little stand offish.

"Well, um, let's not, uh, bombard the poor chap with, uh, questions right off." Giles said, attempting to cut off any tension. "Can I get you something, um, tea?" He asked, taking off his glasses and moving toward the kitchen.

"I'll pass, thanks." Oz politely declined. He walked forward to Willow who had a deer in the headlights look. "Look, I'm going to Devon's to see if he's got a place I can crash. But... I was hoping that we could talk. Later. Tonight."

"I guess so." She said after looking around for a moment.

"I'll come by your place?"

She swallowed. "OK."

He smiled gently. Tobias glanced at Tara and internally winced. She looked heartbroken before covering it up behind a mask with minimal success.

The werewolf looked back at the group. "It was good to see you guys again. Really." He said sincerely. He cast one last look at the Song family before leaving out the still open door, leaving the others in very awkward silence.

"Everyone's uncomfortable now." Anya stated in her blunt manner.

Buffy went to Willow and touched her arm. "You okay?"

"I-" The normally chatty redhead was at a loss for words.

Tara suddenly spoke up, grabbing her bag next her seat. "I just, um - I realized, um, I'm-I'm late for study group."

"Tara, wait." Willow reached out a hand but the blonde took a step away.

"No, no, it's okay. You-you should be with your friends, and, and I-I should go." She hurried towards the door, head down. Tobias had a feeling she was holding back tears

"Wait..."

The blonde disappeared, leaving behind an upset Willow, confused Riley, and awkward Scoobies and Song's.

Tobias cleared his throat. "Uh, we should go too. We have training…session…thing." Horrible excuse but really he wanted to get out of this place. The atmosphere was positively smothering him.

Buffy nodded, thankfully looking understanding. "OK. We'll see you on patrol tonight?"

"Yeah, sounds good. See you then." He and the girls, followed by the slightly confused Justin and Maya, went out the door. After a few blocks, Justin finally spoke up.

"Ok, that got really intense really fast. Who was that guy, Oz?"

Tobias scratched his neck. "That… That was Willow's ex-boyfriend. I've only got second hand accounts and an angry first hand rant from Willow before she broke down crying, but the picture they painted was not pretty. Let's get home first and I'll fill you in." He said, cutting off his kids as they opened their mouths. "Justin, can you make a portal?"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"OK, let me make sure we have this straight." Maya said in their parent's apartment after a half hour of talking, sitting on air. "Oz is Willow's ex-boyfriend who is a werewolf. They were together for the last few years off high school and some of college. From all accounts and her behavior when he was mentioned, they were very much in love. However, after someone named Veronica, another werewolf, tried to get to Oz and kill Willow, he broke it off and left to find some way to control his transformation to keep her 'safe'." Maya made quotation marks with her fingers. "And all of this took place at least six months ago, before you arrived."

"That's about right." He sighed, in his arm chair, mouth dry from talking. "To be honest, I didn't think much about him, never having met him, besides the fact Willow was torn up about the separation. Since she became friends with Tara though it looked like she was getting better."

Justin pinched the bridge of his nose. "Who the hell needs soap operas when our entire life is an opera. So, what do we do? I for one noticed that look Oz gave us and I don't like it one bit. Plus, he isn't in on the secret of where we're from or what we are. That's not going to be good for reconnection."

"We'll cross that bridge if we come to it." Kazehana replied firmly. "In the meantime, we do absolutely nothing regarding Willow's relationship between Oz or Tara. This is highly personal to all three of them. They have a right to try and figure this out themselves."

"Still, he brings up a good point." Yahan mused. "If he does get back in with the Scoobies, do we let him into the fold?"

Tobias frowned, then shook his head. "If he does join again, we'll see what kind of person and how trustworthy he is. We'll decide from there. In any case, nobody has a problem with him being a werewolf, do they?"

Kazehana and Yahan shrugged, uncaring.

"We're half human and have multitudes of friends and associates who are aliens. A werewolf would fit right in." Justin replied.

"As long as he doesn't try and hump my leg, I'm five by five." Maya replied.

Tobias nearly did a double take at the phrase his daughter had said. He had only heard Faith say that, and only the one time. But he just dismissed it. With the sheer amount of things they picked up on travels, a rare phrase here and there wasn't that unusual. Though he really did need to visit the Dark Slayer soon. Last he checked, the trial had gone quickly and smoothly with her confession and cooperation, making the only thing left her sentencing and where they put her. That had likely been taken care of by now and he had promised to keep in touch, talk every once in a while.

"Well," Maya pulled him from his thoughts as she stood up. "I'm going outside. I need some air and it's a nice day. I'm not going to spend it in here. Anybody is welcome to join me." She says over her shoulder as she headed out the door.

"I'm going to go experiment with my spirit form." He had thought of an interesting possibility combining its incorporeal nature and one of his favorite tricks. He didn't say that yet though. He wanted to keep this particular combo up his sleeve until he had it down pat. With a nod, he left the room, the faint sound of the door across the hall opening and closing while the one to the outside of the building followed just behind it.

"Soooo." Yahan drew out the word. "What do you guys want to do?"

Tobias hummed. "How about a spar? We need to see how your power levels and control do in a fight. And we haven't done that for a while."

Plus he was a little restless. Vampires and demons were barely giving him a battle high, and he needed the adrenaline rush right now to take his mind of the Willow situation. This just killed two birds with one stone.

"That sounds nice." Kazehana smiled, though it had an edge that would make some think twice about getting in her way.

"Practice or full contact?" Yahan asked, now having a small smirk as she twirled her dagger that had not been in her hand a second ago.

Tobias's eyes smoothly shifted to their natural silver. "I highly suggest you put on clothes you don't mind getting shredded."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Ten minutes and a change of clothes letter, the trio was standing in the training area, thirty feet apart. The girls had changed into some tank tops and shorts while Tobias was still in a t-shirt and jeans, all of their clothes easily replaceable if they wanted. The two Sekirei were crouched in ready stances, Kazehana with air currents flowing around her hands, Yahan holding her curved dagger. Tobias, however, had broken out his sword, holding the blade in his left hand and sheath in the right. His stance was open and relaxed, seemingly unprepared but an experienced fighter could see he was ready to assume any position needed in an instant.

They had been in the poses for nearly a minute before, with an unspoken signal, they erupted into action.

Kazehana thrust one open hand forward, sending a shockwave of air and dust rocketing towards Tobias, the latter obscuring his view behind itself. Instead of moving, the universe jumper inhaled sharply and roared, his own shockwave colliding with the other and canceling it out as the dust spread outwards from the now eccentric currents, hiding his view around him as well as making his sensing abilities directly around him fuzzy from the foreign particles in the air.

Now he could've several different things. Fired off a stronger shock wave that would overwhelm the first and send it right back at the girls. Dodge and use his speed to get in close to attack with his sword. Even take the attack and counter while they waited to see the effects. But he didn't want to finish this fight. No, he wanted to savor it, enjoy the thrill of fighting with his loved ones and see how far they had come since they had first met. This was a learning experience and ending it quickly would be counterproductive.

He both heard and sensed the blade coming at him from the side. Reacting with insane speed, he crossed his sheath and blade to block the dagger that sliced towards his chest between them. The force behind it would've sent another person flying with a fractured bone, but he held his ground, smiling savagely at Yahan. She smirked back, arm trembling to keep the stalemate.

"Clever. But you can't have expected that to work."

"Course not." She suddenly disengaged her knife, knocking aside the sword before grabbing his shirt with her free hand and pulling him into a quick and passion filled kiss. Besides throwing him slightly off balance, it also caused her wings to suddenly emerge, the indistinct shadows making them up even more blurred in the dust. "I just needed to get a kiss." She said with an innocent smile, kicking his leg to make him skip backwards, trying not to fall over. He paid for his inattention from a smaller, more concentrated shockwave hitting him in the side. This time he did go flying twenty feet, landing right side up after navigating himself during the flight with his side throbbing and the taste of Yahan on his lips.

And an exhilarating smirk on his face.

That smirk dropped when he cleared the dust cloud to see his Sekirei. Kazehana was behind Yahan a ways, not suited for close range fights despite being proficient at it. She and her powers worked best at mid to long range battles, but Yahan was the real concern, her arms spread out to the side with her wings of darkness rippling like water.

"Shadows of my vow, engulf and extinguish the danger to my Ashikabi…" She chanted, causing the wings to suddenly grow five times in size and started spreading like fingers.

'Shit!'

"Dance of Fantasia!"

The wings bent and expanded with lightning speed, hitting the ground and rising upwards while encompassing him on all sides at least a hundred feet. The shadows met and created a dome of pure darkness. To the outside, it looked like reality had a giant piece scooped out of it, absorbing light to make the dome matte black and easily letting in and out dust and air. Inside though, it was impossible to see even the tip of your nose.

'Damn it!' Tobias swore. This was Yahan's greatest move. It used her wings and a crap of ton of her energy to make the dome, and it was the closest she could currently come to Justin's shadow manipulation, but the impenetrable darkness made it impossible for anybody besides her to see, and gave her the power to teleport anywhere inside in a split second to hit from multiple angles at once. He had helped her perfect using her ultimate move to the point she could take a single high level target in it or a small army.

She proved the fruits of her labor by slamming what felt like a foot into his chest and sending him backwards. A second later, he was knocked upwards and suddenly knocked around like he was in a three dimensional pinball machine before hitting the ground thirty seconds later, his body hurting and bruises lifting everywhere as he got to one knee.

The problematic part of this technique was that it had no physical substance to detect, meaning his Air Pulse we useless to find the edges. For all he knew, he could be a few feet from the edge or directly in the center. Yahan was also fast enough to dodge blows or knock him down if he tried to fly out, and teleporting meant she could instantly hit from a different position if he sensed her and tried to block. This wasn't even taking Kazehana into account, but she couldn't see into the dome anyways and wide area attacks risked hitting the shadow Sekirei, which she wouldn't want.

First, Yahan needed to go. Fortunately, he already had the perfect counter in mind. He sheathed and attached sword to his belt, gathering air, condensing the gaseous substance on his clothes to extremely dense levels as his Sekirei kept hitting him. Finally the amount he had was enough.

The air "armor" he was currently wearing had a twofold purpose. This had actually been one of his earliest projects, a technique he called Whirlwind Armor in its first incarnation. The move hyper compressed and constantly moved air around his body to the point that a small caliber bullet would be stopped cold and other blunt force attacks would be severely weakened. However, despite the amount the air at that density should have slowed him, he was actually a little faster since he could use the gas to make his limbs move milliseconds before the electrical impulses reached his muscles, the result of instinctively moving his armor, and therefore limb, to block out evade the attack. It also had the added perk of causing a mini air explosion at the point of contact, dampening the force of attacks even more and even counter attacking in the right circumstances. The downside was he hadn't had enough control to entirely disperse the explosions outwards, meaning that he still took damage even at a deceased rate. He had also made this armor when "he" worked for the Silence. The bad memories associated with it, along with the damage resulting from Newton's third law, which stated every action has a reaction, fucking him over, he shelved the entire project and never touched it again.

But back then, three things were different. He still let his past haunt and control him. He hadn't met and bonded with the girls yet, freeing him from the first and making him start actively pursuing new avenues instead of letting life simply pull him along. And most importantly, he hadn't known the source of his power, nor had full control and access to it.

The result, as Yahan punched him again in the side with his armor now ready, was quick.

As the blows force was deadened by the air, making him simply slide a little while feeling like he'd been hit through several layers of padding, the air also shot out and wrapped around the limb, yanking her off balance enough he could grab her arm and pull her in even closer. Now she couldn't teleport without pulling him along for the ride as long as they had physical contact, giving him the chance to hit her hard.

"Sorry Yahan." He said, the air focusing on his right fist as he pulled it back. As long as he was playing his greatest hits from the past, he might as well use his favorite. "Divine Punishment." He felt the sudden spike of dread from the Sekirei he was holding since she knew this was going to suck.

He released her arm and punched forward, focusing the release of the air to make a large directed shockwave. An average person hit by this attack would find their rib cage shattered, some bones broken, like they had been hit by a high speed car. The real purpose of this attack though was a concussive blast of air that sent the person flying and that's precisely what happened. Tobias had aimed a little upwards, so his Sekirei left the ground at a shallow angle but so quickly she was being blown out the dome twenty feet above the ground in ten or so seconds. The instant she left the shadows, they rippled and vanished, leaving no signs that it had been there. She, however, kept flying backwards, tumbling head over heels in uncontrollable flight for another hundred feet before hitting the ground, which followed her skipping and rolling across it another fifty feet before hitting a boulder that slightly cracked at the point of impact. Overall, she had been hit roughly three hundred feet away from the indirect attack.

Tobias winced as he saw her finally come to a stop. Any normal person would be dead and their corpse mangled from the ground travel and attack, but with their durability, Yahan likely just had some bruised bones, cuts, abrasions, scrapes, and more bruises than you could care to count, but…

"OK, maybe I went a little overboard."

"She's going to kill you when she gets her hands on you."

"True. I'm going to need to do a lot to make this up." He replied without thinking before pausing. "Cra-"

The armor protected him, but Kazehana's own shockwave was angled much lower than his own had been, meaning his climb was much steeper. He stopped and oriented himself eighty feet in the air, his left side feeling sore.

'Tobias you stupid idiot!'

'I thought it was my job to insult your intelligence… And looks… And general existence.' Black Wolf said, his voice clearly indicating he was moping.

'TARDIS help me, I will make you suffer if you don't shut your metaphysical mouth!'

'Oh, scary. Like the first 723 times you've made a death threat.'

Before he could think of the more colorful swears he had picked up from several galaxies, his instincts screamed at him. Twisting back, a crescent shaped blade of wind ripped through the area his upper chest had just been in. The edge of it still grazed him, opening a shadow cut that extended diagonally about three inches. He pressed a few fingers to the cut and pulled them away to find his fingers bloody as the injury stung.

"Kazehana, are you-whoa!" He started flying quickly, zigging and zipping as a seemingly endless onslaught of wind blades the wind Sekirei was sending, moving her arms quickly and cleanly in large sweeping arcs to fire them. He was regretting teaching her how to make these things since hers could cut a decent sized gash in solid stone, and she was throwing them like they were going out of style. "Damn it Kazehana are you trying to kill me!?" He yelled as one came precariously close to giving him a free nose job.

"No, but until Yahan gets her hands on you I'm acting in her place!" She called, still sending the blades out as she did.

"So that's the way you want to play it?" He grumbled, pulling off a particularly tricky spin and swoop that would make most fighter pilots disoriented, not that their planes could have anywhere near his maneuverability, drawing his sword when he had a second between the blades. These things were air with a cutting edge but he had helped her make these things after he had been using them for years back in Shinto Teito. Now he wanted to see how she matched up. His arm blurred with inhuman speed as he swung his sword, his own blades of wind colliding with Kazehana's and causing them to lose stability and explode with minimal results, rather similar to over inflating a balloon until it popped. Only in this case, the balloons were three feet across and popping in rapid fire as the two wind users tried to overpower the other.

Tobias however only did this because the dust Kazehana was whipping up from her attacks was hiding her, and therefore him, from view. He was still a little irritated from the cheap shot that had sent him up here and as such, needed a little payback. Drawing his sword overhead and far behind while molding the air, he swung. Instead of a three foot wide arc, this one was easily ten to fifteen in length and much denser as it screamed towards the ground and sliced the dust cloud in half, along with the ground. He sensed the blade went about fifty feet down before losing too much energy to continue, but he was more focused on where Kazehana had gone. The dust was too thin to hide in, but she still wasn't in sight. Where the hell had she…

He was so distracted he only had time to notice the air behind him shift before a fist hit his back between the shoulder blades, followed by another shockwave. Then he was too busy rushing towards the ground and making a ten foot crater on impact face first. The only good thing was his armor saved him from most of the damage while his natural durability took care of the rest. Didn't mean he like the taste of dirt as he got to all fours, spitting it out.

"OK, going to feel that later." He groaned. As he got up, he spotted Kazehana landing thirty feet away softer than one expected after falling eighty feet.

'Smart. She waited until the dust was hiding my view and jamming my Air Pulse before moving out of the cloud from below me. While I fired off the bigger blade, she concentrated air under her feet or legs and used the force of expansion to get up behind me in midair. After that, a point blank concussive air punch. And a cushion of air to slow and soften her fall.' He thought approvingly. She couldn't fly like he could, so she got him to stay in one place before getting a solid hit in. Than he frowned. 'Wait, where's…'

The cold blade that pressed against his neck answered his question.

"That hurt you know." Yahan growled into his ear. One of her better tactics was using her opponent's own shadow to get close enough to attack and she'd fully exploited the opening Kazehana had made. "I sincerely hope you plan to make that up to me."

"Is there an answer that doesn't get my throat slit?" He asked mildly. Inside though he was swearing up a storm because the last time Yahan got like this, Jack was jumping at shadows and the occasional flying weapon for a straight week. Exactly what happened to cause said reaction was unknown, because neither party would say. All he did know was that one of the security cameras on Torchwood mysteriously needed fixing soon after the week started and a section of footage was corrupted beyond recovery.

"Dinner, and a lot of massages at the end of the day. I'm very tense and sore from your little overkill move." She says, voice as soft and dangerous as a rattle snakes hiss.

"Done. Anything else?"

"I think a shopping trip or two are in order as well. Off world."

"Sure." He replied. His back was going to be killing him if she restricted powers or using the vortex manipulator as storage, but between that and an angry Sekirei, he'd take the pain.

"Good." She suddenly sounded cheerful as she pulled the knife away. "Still, you could've toned down the hit."

"I agree I went a little overboard." He agreed. "Still, you can't say you're not enjoying this." He said turning to look at her.

Her hair was dirty and scattered, clothes were dusty and ripped in places, cut and bleeding in others, but her eyes were dancing with energy. Her right hand still held her knife which she brought up.

"No. No I can't. So," She swung her knife, only to be blocked by Tobias's sword. "Let's keep going."

Kazehana shook her head as the two started swinging their blades weaponry faster than most people could clearly see, the sound of metal on metal loud even from this far away, with a small smile. They were going to be here for a while and she loved it. Gathering air and tensing her legs, she jumped back into the fray.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So, um, I was missing something this afternoon, wasn't I?" Riley asked. He and Buffy were doing their nightly patrolling, he dressed in his camouflage battle fatigues, she dressed in a leather jacket and white hat to keep warm as they walked through a graveyard. They hadn't breached the subject until now.

"Oz and Willow had a rough break up." She replied, head down. The redhead hadn't seemed like herself after the meeting, distracted and barely taking notes in class. When she'd left the dorm for patrol, the redhead had a book open, but hadn't been reading it since she'd been staring at the same page ten minutes beforehand.

Suddenly the blonde heard a demonic sounding growl. She and Riley turned to see a taller demon running towards them, claws and fangs clearly ready to tear into living flesh. She was about to suggest they put the conversation on hold when a familiar tingle was felt, followed by a black object rushing between them and punching the demon in the chest. Said demon instantly flew backwards until it met a tombstone. It shattered under the impact while the demon itself was knocked out cold and covered in stone dust.

"Oops." Tobias, because it couldn't be anybody else, said as he looked at his fist with his back to them. "Great, my control is shot again. That's what we get for fighting at nearly full power."

"Tobias?" Buffy sighed, not really surprised at the show of strength. After everything else she'd seen, a one shot punch wasn't out there, just a little unusual since he rarely went that far. "What are you-what happened to you?" Her slightly exasperated tone turned to shock as he turned around.

To the average person he wouldn't look that bad. He had a few bruises on his face and neck, a slightly darkened right eye, and his right cheek had a cut that was being held closed with butterfly bandages. But considering Buffy had seen him take on multiple vampires at once and come out without a scratch, the fact he was injured was a little jarring.

"Oh, this?" He vaguely waved at his face. "Me and the girls got a little too carried away in a spar. Don't worry, we did it away from people so nobody got hurt besides us, and even than its minor."

Buffy looked again at the demon and Tobias. If this is him after getting carried away in a spar with the girls and only MINORLY hurt, she didn't want to see the aftermath from serious.

"Anyways, my strength control is still a little shaky at the moment." Tobias frowned at demon and scoffed. "Stupid demons aren't any fun when they're beat that easily."

Riley smiled as he pulled out a radio from his belt. "Speak for yourself." He spoke into the radio in a military no nonsense tone. "Base, this is Agent

Finn. We've an HST down. Please send a retrieval team to sector 72."

The radio hissed before the response came through with a crackle. "-Finn. We'll get there as soon as we can."

"You guys are still swamped?" Tobias asked uneasily as Riley put the radio away. The commando nodded but didn't elaborate, not that the teen really expected him to. Secret organizations didn't exactly hand out information like it was candy after all.

"So, I was just about to say something fascinating." Buffy said, breaking the tension as she started walking again. Riley and Tobias were left little choice but to follow, the former on her right and latter on her left.

"Oz and Willow." Riley supplied.

"Right. They had a rough breakup. Some stuff came up, and Oz pretty

much bailed overnight. It left Will really devastated." The Slayer sighed. She'd gotten so much better lately but now it seemed like most if not all that progress was gone now that Willow's ex was back.

"I remember." Her boyfriend nodded.

"Yeah, how was she when you left?" Tobias asked.

"Nervous, but that's not surprising." She replied, getting an understanding nod before resuming her story. "The thing is before that, they were doing great. I mean, she was totally dealing with Oz being a werewolf, it wasn't even-"

"Whoa, wait." Riley said as they stopped walking, looking at Buffy. "Oz is a werewolf, and Willow was dating him?!"

"Yes. Hence the high emotions." She said, not seeing the big deal.

"You're kidding me. Gotta say I'm surprised. I didn't think Willow was that kind of girl."

"Uh, what kind of girl?" Tobias asked with an ever so soft edge.

"Into dangerous guys. She seems smarter than that." The Initiative operative replied, not picking up the warning.

Buffy looked at him in slight shock while Tobias had mild contempt on his "Oz is not dangerous. Something happened to him that wasn't his fault. God, I never knew you were such a bigot." The blonde said in anger before she and the universe jumper started walking again until Riley stopped them.

"Whoa, hey, how did we get to bigot? I'm just saying it's a little weird to date someone who tries to eat you once a month."

"Really?" Tobias asked flatly. "Really? You cannot see the hypocrisy in your argument?"

"What hypocrisy?" He asked indignantly.

"You're dating a girl who is a Slayer, has been for several years and been involved, along with you, in several situations that could have killed you both, similar to Oz turning into a werewolf during the full moon. They're like this because of something outside their control, yet you only find it weird that someone dates a guy who knows and takes steps to manage his unique situation, instead of a girl who jumps into life threatening battles on a weekly basis. Not taking in account she's dating you, someone who does essentially the same thing only as a choice instead of a rule." Tobias listed off on his fingers before scoffing. "In a logical world, maybe Willow and Oz wouldn't have dated. Also, you and Buffy would be equally unlikely, I wouldn't have the relationships I do, and the rest of the world be predictable, safe, boring. Love and illogical behavior are some of the few things that make life worth living. Also, your faith in Willow's character and decision making is underwhelming if you don't think she thought of everything that could be a problem and taken it into account when dating Oz."

Riley looked completely lost and overwhelmed and frankly Buffy had barely followed what Tobias had said, but what she did she agreed with.

"So, yes, your statement had hypocrisy in it. Because you see Will taking what appears to you to be an unnecessary risk to her health when you take similar if not greater risks a lot more than she does." His peace said, Tobias started walking again, the other two only following ten seconds later after they had gotten over their shock and the information overload.

Tobias fumed inside as he walked. OK, maybe he had been a little harsher with Riley than he could have been, but quite frankly the impression he had gotten from Riley finding out Oz was a werewolf and he and Will dated was unpleasant. It was far too easy to draw parallels between Oz and himself in terms of danger to others, and reinforced his desire to never bring Riley into the loop unless he had a major attitude adjustment. That and, well, he was worried about the emotional minefield Willow was in right now and the potential disasters waiting to happen. He was forcing himself but to go check on the redhead, reminding himself she was a capable young woman that could take care of herself and he was not going to turn into the control freak/stalker friend. But he still couldn't help but worry and that made his temper, normally fairly even, be on a very short fuse. Dear TARDIS, he'd be happy when this entire mess was sorted out, one way or another.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The rest of the night was over all dull. Tobias had adjusted his strength accordingly after the first fight and now drew out the encounters a little to hide his real potential from Riley, but it was a redundant measure. Between the trio and the fact most of their seven fights composed of one or two demons, they could finish things in fairly quick time. Otherwise the patrol was spent on awkward silence, or Buffy and Riley talking between themselves while Tobias ignored their conversations. He wasn't cold, just didn't participate or respond unless spoken to directly.

After several hours of patrolling though, they split up after calling it a night. The two lovebirds were going back to Riley's dorm since Willow had been given the dorm room she and Buffy shared for the night. Tobias sent out probes to the girls and felt them going back like he was. The kids he wasn't sure, but he guessed they were either doing the same or already home. Either way, he opened up his speed and got home in a few minutes with hardly anyone or thing noticing him.

The second he got home, he poked around for some calming drink and found some hot chocolate mix he didn't remember buying but guessed either the girls or kids had during a trip. He started boiling water just as the two Sekirei in question stepped out of a shadow portal, both wearing long sleeves and jeans.

"Sorry for the wait." Yahan said, wincing as she sat down on the couch. Her face had a large bruise and scratch on it, but most of her injuries were the mass of blunt force bruises that their sparring and her quick trip via Divine Punishment punch had raised that were hidden by her clothes. "We had to find each other before I could take us back. Split up to check two different graveyards over near Park Avenue."

"Catch anything?" He asked.

"Not really." Kazehana responded. She was a little worse off than Yahan since her own wounds were small lacerations and cuts. Nothing too deep or at all life threatening, but the bandages that were wrapped tightly around them stung when she moved. But with her accelerated healing thanks to her alien genetics, she'd be mostly healed of the shallow cuts by tomorrow. She sat in the armchair and sighed, looking at the ceiling. "Two vampires for me, and they didn't even try to sneak up. Just charged straight at me."

"Idiots." Yahan snorted. "But at least you got two. I got some demon that looked like a lizard man or something. Sharp claws, fangs, some decent scales for both defense and counter attacking since they were slightly spiked."

Tobias got out five cups and set them on the counter. "I'm guessing you went for the throat or eyes."

"Eyes." Yahan pulled out her dagger and grimaced. The blade still had wet blood, bits of brain matter and eye smeared on it. "One quick stab and it went down like a ton of bricks. Do we have any-" A rag flew from down the hall and hovered in front of her. "Thanks." She took it and started cleaning off her weapon.

"What about you?" Kazehana asked.

"Thirteen, all weaklings." He grunted. "Vampires and one or two low level demons. Not a challenge alone, but with Buffy and Riley they were more a chore than anything. Might have killed the first one with a one punch though."

Yahan glanced up. "Really? A little overkill don't you think?"

"I didn't try to do it. Our spar shot my strength control, had to adjust. Though," He said with a satisfied smirk. "it felt good to cut loose during that."

"It really did." Kazehana sighed, Yahan nodding in agreement. "There's not a lot of challenges here that we've met so far."

"Being fair," Yahan added, going back to her knife. "We've gotten stronger since we started. Gaea and her Giants were no pushovers, plus that training with Dante."

Tobias snorted, taking the water off the stove as it started boiling. "Please, he's practically the phrase 'over powered' incarnated. The few things that can go toe to toe with him are just surpassed and push him to greater heights. He's like some twisted version of the Blacklight Virus and a Saiyan with a hint of Timelord ingenuity thrown in."

"True." Kazehana relented. "Still, between our own experiences and his training, we could all fight Karasuba or Miya with only moderate trouble."

"Miya?" Yahan snorted. "I'd have moderate trouble with her if I'm lucky. You two could do a lot better, and Karasuba is still lower than her. Besides," She looked closely at her knife for any other matter that didn't belong on the metal. "We don't go looking for fights, we got exploring, sightseeing, meeting new people. That's why we do this." She got nods from them both. "Still," She added with a smile. "Thanks for the compliment."

"You are very welcome." Tobias floated two the of the cups over, holding his own as he sat down and pulled Yahan into a one armed hug. "And it is very true, my strong beautiful Sekirei of shadows." He said softly, kissing the top of her head, making her hum happily. She set aside her rag and knife to take the cup in front of her and take a sip.

"Shouldn't the kids be back by now?" Kazehana asked in concern, looking at the door.

"I'm sure they'll be here any minute." Her Ashikabi reassured her. "Besides, they're both as powerful as us. I doubt there's anything that could stop then without leveling a section of town."

As soon as he finished talking, a shadow portal opened in front of the door. The hybrid children in question stepped out, looking no worse for wear than they had when they left.

"Well, that was boring." Maya grumbled before sniffing the air. Her eyes lit up as she smelled the chocolate in the air. "Oh, cocoa!"

"On the counter." Tobias supplied. A cup quickly flew off it and into the girl's hand as she took a slow drink while Justin rolled his eyes and walked over to get his. "So, how was patrol?" He asked.

"Rather dull, all things considered." Justin sighed as he and Maya sat down in chairs they made with their elements. "Two vampires out of six graveyards, plus one new type that we haven't seen yet. Not even a warm up."

Tobias nodded before noticing that the kids weren't really looking at them or each other, just sipping their hot drink and, in Maya's case, drumming her fingers on the ceramic cup. "Ok, what happened? You're both acting strange." He sighed.

Maya started twirling her strands of purple hair around her index finger, slightly nervous. "You need to promise you won't get mad."

The Ashikabi and his Sekirei gave the girl their full attention. "Just saying that suggests you did something wrong. Did you?" Kazehana asked severely.

"Not… Wrong, per say. Maybe more…pushing our luck?" She half said half asked weakly. "Justin? A little help?"

"Oh hell no." He said, looking perfectly collected as he drank from his own cup. "You dragged me along on that little detour. I'm not helping dig a grave I may find myself in."

"Traitor." She hissed.

"Maya." Yahan said sternly, making the girl wilt slightly. The shadow Sekirei wasn't even sure why she was using her voice like that, or why it felt natural to do so with how her half daughter was acting. "What did you and Justin do?"

She gulped silently. "Well, we...kinda went and checked up on Willow and Oz."

Tobias sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Maya, there's a reason that we respect people's privacy…"

"I know that." She says indignantly. "Look, I was worried, OK? I know Will's a powerful magic user and everything, but it's a full moon tonight and her ex is a werewolf. So after we left that graveyard near the campus we went to make sure everything was fine."

Tobias gave her a dubious look. On one hand, she had crossed a bit of a line by discreetly seeing the reunion of two exes, something he had resisted with effort and a lot of reassurances that the redhead witch would be fine. On the other, her heart and mind had been on the safety of a close family friend, which wasn't entirely bad.

"We'll discuss what to do later, but don't think you're off the hook young lady." He stressed this point by pointing at her.

"Heh, you're getting the in trouble finger and we technically haven't even been born yet." Justin chuckled. Maya shot a glare at her brother before sighing.

"So, what did you learn?" Yahan asked, tilting her cup to make the liquid inside swirl.

Flashback

"You do realize when Dad finds out about this he's going to be upset, right?" Justin asked tiredly. He'd given up trying to convince his sister what a horrible idea this was.

"He'll be fine." Maya waved her hand dismissively. They were both on the ground hidden by one of the buildings corner, looking at a courtyard near Buffy and Willow' dorm room. She was keeping an eye on said room, where someone she assumed to be the redhead was moving around the room, trying to be busy simply for the sake of being busy. It was easy to tell by how she moved quickly from thing to thing, dropping it after a minute or two of focused effort before moving on. "Besides, you can't deny you're a little nervous about this. It's a full moon tonight."

Justin glanced upwards. Very little clouds in the sky mean the full celestial body was shining its light down without interruption until it reached the ground. Than the strategically placed lights around the courtyard diluted the soft silver light with their harsher yellow glow. "No." He admitted. "But this is still violating Will's privacy and space."

"It's not like we're staying the entire time. I just want to make sure her ex isn't going to suddenly wolf out and eat her." She said.

Justin rubbed his eyes. Damn his sister and her stubbornness. And damn their lifestyle for encouraging it to keep their friends and family safe. "Fine. We'll stay for ten minutes to make sure nothing goes wrong, then we're leaving. No arguments, no five more minutes, nothing. Or I'm teleporting you to the other side of town." He said, giving her a firm glare.

"Deal." She glanced in the direction of Will's dorm with a slight frown. "Looks like Oz is here now anyways. He's outside the door."

Justin sighed. Who needed security cameras when you could be like his sister and just look into whatever room she wanted by focusing? Security people always pitched a fit when they found out about that particular skill she, their father, and Kazehana shared in the future. Bunch of crybabies complaining that their system was being one upped in terms of coverage and hacking prevention.

"And they're leaving the room." Maya said, crossing her arms and leaning against a wall, eyes focused on nothing as she followed their progress with a frown.

"You really don't like him." Justin observed, recognizing the expression on her face.

"I don't dislike him." She rebutted instantly.

"No, but I'm guessing that has more to do with a certain blonde witches relationship with our resident redhead than Oz himself." He replied. He'd seen the expression of hurt on her face when she'd left, and Maya always had a soft spot for gays and bisexuals in the periods of time when it wasn't as accepted as it was in the future, or flat out punished with social approval. It probably didn't help that Tara was just so damn likable and friendly, as well as a good friend for Will who just happened to be in love with her. Really it was a wonder Maya wasn't flat out cold when the werewolf was mentioned.

"...Maybe." She admitted after a moment, not focusing anywhere else. They lapsed into silence for a second until she pushed off the wall. "Here they come. Far right corner." She reporter while splitting her focus. She had no idea if werewolves had enhanced senses in their human forms, so just in case, she was making the air move so they were downwind of the ex-lovebirds to avoid being smelled out.

The siblings watched with sharp eyes as the pair walked down the path. Willow looked normal, not as energetic and a little nervous. Next to her, Oz looked perfectly relaxed, calm, but the kids picked up some slight tension in the way he walked. They had seen that walk and similar ones before, but there was something else in his stance, something that base instincts whispered to them. Predator.

Not that they were afraid. The pair had fought their own monsters worse than werewolves before, with and without their parents close by. No, this was simply giving credit where credit was due and a werewolf, however weak compared to them, was a predator. But they also noticed that, despite the full moon overhead, he didn't show the slightest hint of wolf like features, be it fur, claws, or fangs.

Willow was either oblivious to Oz's walk, simply used to it, or too nervous to care, possibly a combination of the three. Finally, the redhead stopped, forcing the ginger ex to do the same. "Oz...this is all so weird." She said nervously. He sighed and scratched at his hand, glancing at it before returning his attention. The two wondered if he was looking for fur. "I-I-I feel like...this isn't really happening. Like it's a dream or, or something."

He shook his head, a small fond grin on his face. "It's real. Look up."

"What?"

"Look up at the sky." He and Willow did so, looking at the full moon. "Guess you stopped keeping track of 'em after I left." He noted as the redhead looked between the orb and him with slight awe.

"Full moon." She breathed, so soft they had to read her lips to catch it.

"Full moon." He repeated, still smiling.

"Full moon, but-but how? I mean," Willow broke out in a wide excited smile. "You did it! How, how did you do it? Where did you go?" She babbled quickly.

"It's a long story." Oz said calmly. Justin and Maya glanced at each other, noting that he was a very...mellow, individual. Or at least the kind not to show too much emotion. They found those kind of people a little amusing considering the very emotional people they knew and he had grown up with. They also enjoyed breaking those masks with villains they encountered, but that was neither here nor there.

Willow threw her arms around her ex. "Oh my god, Oz!"

He stiffened before wrapping his own arms around her, closing his eyes. The siblings averted their own for a moment, giving them some brief privacy for the touching scene. After a moment, they separated, Willow not really smiling any more.

"This is... I mean, it's wonderful for you." She said with sincerity.

Oz nodded and glanced down. "I talked to Xander, and he said you didn't have a new guy." He looked back up.

The kids watched with interest as Willow shifted a little uncomfortably. "No. No new... guy."

"Hmm." Maya hummed. She knew Justin also picked up on the fact that Willow only said there was no new guy, not that there was nobody of interest. It also made Oz happy as he smiled softly and slowly took her hand.

"I know what I put you through." He said gently, looking into her eyes. "And I'm not going to push. But I am…" He stopped to find the words. "A different person, than when I left. And I can be what you need now." The redhead opened her mouth slightly, but nothing came out as her eyes teared up slightly. "That's what I want. That's why I'm here."

End flashback

"...and after that, they headed back towards Willow's dorm and we went back on patrol." Maya finished, taking another drink of cocoa.

Tobias frowned, now moving his fingers over his cup while using his powers to make the liquid swirl. "So, he's either completely cured, has full control of his transformations, or can suppress them. Given the fact that that they didn't find the first one, I'm leaning towards options two or three, maybe both."

"From what it sounds like and how long you think he's been gone, I'd agree with that assessment." Justin replied. "So, it looks like he might be staying. What are we going to do?"

"Well, nothing has changed really." Yahan sighed. "Even if he has control of his transformations and goes back to dating Willow, we don't know him. Personality, morals, thoughts on topics. We're still going to get to know him before we decide if we let him in on the secret."

"Maybe, but you know if they do get back together, Willow is going to want to tell him right away, or soon. Secrets are not good for a long term relationship." Maya pointed out.

"Unless they're secrets for a good reason." Kazehana replied. "In any case, we still need to wait and see." She got nods from all around. "Anyway you, Maya, and forbidden from going to the Bronze for a week." She continued, getting up to put her now empty cup in the sink.

"What!?" She yelled, looking stricken. "Why?!"

"You spied on a private moment between one our friends and her ex after we decided we were going to stay away. Ergo, you must be punished, and I for one approve of said punishment." Tobias explained patiently. "Nice pick Kazehana."

"Thank you!" She called from the kitchen.

"Heh, I told you dad was going to be upset." Justin chuckled.

"You're banned from going too." Yahan said, looking at him firmly.

He paused, considered it for a second, then shrugged. "Meh, I can live with that."

"I hate you to my depths of my soul right now." Maya hissed at her brother. The Bronze was the best, and frankly only, cool hangout/club in Sunnydale and now she was essentially deprived of the only normal source of entertainment not including fighting demons in this town. Granted she could watch movies or read but it didn't have the same thrill while those were things her brother preferred to clubs.

"No you don't." Justin replied, setting his cup down and heading for the door. "And you have only yourself to blame."

"He's right." Tobias said.

"I...hate...you...all." She hissed. With that, she slammed her cup down on the table and stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her.

After a few seconds, Kazehana came back and sat down next to Tobias on his other side. "Is it bad I'm mildly amused by our daughter's temper tantrum and find it adorable?"

"Maybe. But considering how abnormal our lives and relationships are by the societal standards of this time, it's hard to say. Plus I found it cute too, so I'm not an unbiased third party." The Air bender replied. "Yahan?"

They both looked at her, who tapped her lip thoughtfully before shaking her head. "Nope, sorry, I found it cute as well. So we have no idea how we are by normal people's standards."

"Shame." Tobias mused.

"Indeed." Kazehana laid her head on his shoulder and snuggled in close. He instantly put an arm around her, pulling her in closer and doing the same thing as Yahan mimicked the other Sekirei's action. "So, what are you doing tomorrow?"

He thought about being glib and asking what she meant, but it was too late for word games. "I don't know. Thought I might go see Willow tomorrow and see how she's holding up. After that, give Tara somebody to talk to and unload on. Just...be there and listen."

Yahan smiled and kissed his cheek. "You're a good friend. A good person."

He sighed and pulled them both close. "I had the best of both. And two wonderful Sekirei to catch me when I stumbled and fell."

Kazehana smiled and used her hand to turn his face to hers. "And we always will." She said sincerely before giving him a soft kiss.

Just for a second, all was right with the world, everyone was fine, and the problems they had were pushed away for another time. Tobias soaked in the girl's emotions and let his own flow into them, making the trio perfectly content.

If only they knew what events would transpire within the next twenty four hours of that moment.

A/N: No, I'm not dead. Just really bogged down with life, writers block, all the great stuff that prevents my muse from working. Anyways, here you go, and thanks to everyone who has stuck with me this far. Pretty soon this season will be getting wrapped up and we can move on to the next Big Bad.