Ergh…Yes, I apologize…
This chapter took waaay too bloody long…I truly wasn't expecting this to take this long…but school's been making with the crankiness for me…
RANDOM POLL: Who here likes Chemistry? Hmm??
NO ONE, I BET YOU!!! NO ONE!!!
ARGH!!! I HATE IT I HATE IT I HATE IT!!!!
(If you couldn't already tell, THIS was the reason I've been taking so long with this fic…PLUS, plot bunnies have been hounding me, giving me ideas for the prequel AND the sequel to this fic…Aren't I ambitious??!! It also didn't help that I had writer's coma…::pause:: If there's such a thing…)
So, random babbling aside, I should really start this chapter…Like, right now…I need to clear up a couple things before the plot (or a vague semblance of a plot) kicks in…Soooo…
VOILA!!! LET THE RANDOMNESS BEGIN!!!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
CHAPTER FIVE
Willow swiftly scrambled off of Tara, stammering, "T-tara…W-what are y-you doing h-here??!!"
Tara smiled softly at her as she shook her head. She glanced over at Remus and Severus. "I'm assuming Albus didn't tell the other Professors that he hired a new librarian?" Both men shook their heads.
Tara sighed as she muttered, "Evil old fart." She turned to Willow, conveniently ignoring the smirks on the two men's faces as she noticed the redhead shaking. She quickly walked over to her ex-girlfriend, and caught her as she collapsed, both falling to the ground. Before the men in the room had time to rush over as Willow started bawling, she stopped them.
"It's all right, Professors," Tara whispered to them as she rubbed circles on Willow's back. "Let her cry…She never properly grieved after all that happened last week…I don't think she even cried at Oz's funeral—"
Remus interrupted her. "Excuse me, Miss Tara—"
"Tara's fine, Professor."
"Yes, well…Tara, if I'm not prying…Who is Oz? And what really occurred last week?"
Tara smiled sadly. "As much as I'd love to tell you, Professor…It truly isn't my place…It's Willow's story to tell…"
"Is there any way to lessen the force of those memories?" Severus asked, watching Willow rock back and forth muttering. Little whimpers were heard. "She almost looks like she's in pain."
Tara bit her lip, forehead wrinkling in thought. "There might be a way…But it would require all of us to share in her memories."
Both men looked at each other, then at the redhead, then back to each other again.
"Anything to stop her misery," Remus declared. Severus nodded in agreement.
Tara looked at Remus in interest. 'There's something going on there…' she thought.
"All right, then. Sit down. We must all clasp hands and form a triangle around her." They formed the triangle, although Tara easily overlooked the hesitance of the two men at the thought of touching each other. They eventually did, grumbling all the while.
Tara closed her eyes, and recited a spell. Neither man could tell what she was saying, but it was concluded that it was some form of Irish. They didn't have time to translate, because all of a sudden they could feel a tug at their navel. Almost like a Portkey, if it was put on a roller coaster going 70 miles per hour. With loops. Backwards.
'Not…a nice…feeling…' Remus thought dazedly. But his thoughts ran for the hills when he realized where he was.
'So this is what's going on in Willow's head…' He looked to the two other bodies sprawled on the floor next to him, who were also staring at their surroundings. And they prepared for the worst as they watched past events unfold.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
FLASHBACKWillow looked dazedly out the window of her upstairs bedroom. Tara had just walked out. She couldn't believe it.
"I don't understand," she said to herself, "she knows how well I've been doing without magic. I've quit cold turkey, for crying out loud!!! And she didn't even listen to a word I said!" The vase of flowers on her night table flew across the room, shattering next to her mirror. She ignored it as she ranted on to her ratty stuffed frog, recalling what had just occurred:
- "Tara, baby, we need to talk."
- "Not now, Willow…Can it wait until after we hunt down the Terrible Trio?"
- "But, Tara, I just wanted to know…well," she paused as she struggled to think of the right words, "W-well…If you want to get back toge—"
- "Willow, no…" Tara said as she looked at her sadly, "Not right now, okay? Listen, we'll talk later, I promise."
- "But, Tara—" And she watched as Tara walked out of the room.
Willow was heartbroken. 'She rejected me,' she thought. Tears slowly started to run down her face. As she silently wept while clutching the tattered frog, a concerned masculine voice called out from behind her.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
'I know that voice…But it can't be,' she thought in denial. She whipped her head around towards the doorway.
"…Oz??!!"
And there he was, leaning against the doorframe, exactly as she remembered him. Except he looked…exhausted. Red hair like hers now had flecks of gray scattered throughout the fiery strands. The bags under his eyes were almost black in their intensity. He also looked too thin for her liking.
But his smile was still the same. Almost wolfish—which made sense, of course. Bright and happy.
And directed at her.
"OZ!!!!!!" She ran over to him and jumped into his outstretched arms. "I can't believe you're here!!" She pulled back to look at him.
And immediately bombarded him with her infamous Willow-babble.
"What are you doing here anyway? Not that I mind or anything, because I don't. I'm delighted that you've come back, of course. It's just been so long since I last saw you, and you remember how we parted last time…SO not with the coolness there, so I have to wonder why you're back on the Hellmouth in the first place…Does it have to do with anything Apocalypse-y, because you know I'm SO the Research Girl…Even though, technically, I stopped being Research Girl once I discovered magic, but we DON'T want to go there right now, what with me and the badness I get into once I lay my hands on a spellbook…But how are you anyway? You look dead on your feet! Has the change gotten tougher for you? How have you managed to undergo the transformations without anyone's help? OH! Unless you DO have help, which would be silly of me not to think that you didn't have help in the first place—"
She was cut off when Oz put a finger to her lips. He smiled his wolfish grin at her again, and she blushed. "Willow," Oz said, "Be the brain I know you are and stop to breathe for a second, will you?"
She ducked her head. "Sorry…It's just that it's so good to see your face…It's comforting seeing you again." She reached out to cup his cheek. Both smiled at each other softly, reminiscing about the good times. When life was simpler. When they were young and almost carefree. Too bad that life was dead.
She shook her head to clear those morose thoughts, and grabbed his hand to lead him further into her room. "So, Oz, what brings you back to this dear town?" She sat down on her bed as Oz walked over to look out her window.
"Do you remember the last time I came back, when I told you that I could control the change?"
"Yes, of course…I was so happy for you—"
He interrupted her again as he turned and grinned sheepishly. "Well…It turns out that I was wrong. I can't control it. I was too cocky, so deluded into believing that I was powerful enough to stop something so supernatural at my will…I paid the price, of course, when I nearly attacked Tara…I still haven't properly apologized to her for that, by the way—"
"She understood, Oz," Willow told him, "We all did, and we never held it against you."
He smiled his thanks. "It still doesn't excuse the fact that I was so close to harming an innocent, Willow…But I didn't truly let it sink in until I nearly killed someone."
Willow's eyes widened at his bluntness. "…What?!!!"
He turned back to the window, noticing two figures in the backyard. "You heard me correctly, don't worry about that…Yes, I almost killed a man…It was in England…I was careless and let my emotions get the best of me."
She waited for him to elaborate further, but it seemed he would leave it at that. "What happened afterwards?"
"Irony of ironies, it turned out that he was a werewolf himself. Of course, I was confused, because it was a full moon, after all…I thought I would be the only werewolf to remain human because of my seemingly tight control over the beast, but of course that cockiness proved me wrong. And guess what? He was a wizard as well—"
Willow giggled. "Wizard?"
He looked at her oddly. "Yes, wizards…You know that there are more forms of magic than Wicca, right?"
She looked away, fingering her bedspread mindlessly. "No, I don't…Living on the Hellmouth leaves a person surprisingly sheltered…"
He laughed lightly as he stared out the window. 'Strange,' Oz thought, 'Isn't that Buffy? And who's the man?' He ignored the scene as he turned to Willow to continue his story.
"Well, yes, he was a wizard. And he told me of his experiences as a werewolf in the magical world. It was a LOT worse for him, since he had been bitten on a full moon when he was a kid. The wizarding world seems to be a lot more prejudiced concerning werewolves than I thought it would be…But anyway, to make a long story short, he taught me a lot."
She arched an eyebrow at him. "He…'taught you a lot'. Care to tell me what he taught you?"
He arched his eyebrow right back at her. "Cut me a little slack…I don't think I've ever talked this much in my life."
She laughed. "Indeed."
"As I was saying," he mock-glared at her, "he taught me things…Such as how to make this." He pulled out a little vial of a smoky liquid. "This is Wolfsbane Potion. When a werewolf drinks this, he can retain all his thoughts and human intelligence during the full moon."
Willow's eyes widened. "So, you're saying that you have a conscience when you're the wolf?"
He grinned. "Yup. One more step toward my search for the cure."
She squealed as she jumped up off the bed. She ran over to him and hugged him, tears of joy beginning to form in her eyes. "I'm so happy for you, Oz…I truly hope that you'll find the cure someday."
They split apart and stared into each other's eyes. Emerald green met green specked with amber. Their heads slowly inched closer to each other, tilting as they angled their lips to meet. And when they did meet, Willow's melancholy thoughts took a backseat as she took the time to reacquaint herself with his mouth. It was…familiar…And comforting…And sweet…
'And wrong,' Willow's mind screamed. She broke off the kiss—albeit reluctantly—and stepped back, breathing hard. Her face flushed, she looked at him. Inwardly, she marveled at the way the sun from the window glinted off his hair, so that flames seemed to be dancing on his head. His face, on the other hand, was cloaked in shadow. It made for a rather surreal effect. She turned her back to him as she paced.
"Oz…Please don't take this as a rejection, but I can't…You know I'm still with Tara…Well, technically, we aren't together now, but I know that once we talk, we'll figure out something…I do love you, don't ever doubt that…But I'm not in love with you…"
She vaguely discerned the tinkling of what sounded like…glass? But she ignored it as she ranted and paced on.
"You know I'm ecstatic that you're slowly starting to solve the cure for lycanthropy, but if you came back here to try and convince me to go away with you or something…Wait, I didn't mean it that way…I mean…You deserve so much better than a girl who isn't even sure about her sexuality anymore…NO! I didn't mean that either…ARGH!!" She continued to pace back and forth, seeming to be determined to wear a hole in the carpet. She finally noticed that Oz hadn't spoken at all yet.
"Oz? Say something…Anything to shut me up, because you know that once I get going on something, I'll never stop—" She turned around and her breath caught in her throat.
"Oz?"
His face was contorted in pain and his right hand was clutching his chest. She gasped as she saw the blood seeping out of his shirt, leaving a red stain that was progressively getting larger. 'So much blood…' she thought numbly.
"Willow…" he whispered. His eyes rolled back.
And he began to fall.
"OZ!!!" She caught him just before his head hit the floor. She cradled his body against her, pillowing his head against her chest. "Oz, hold on…You're going to be all right…Open your eyes, please…STAY WITH ME!!!"
His eyes slowly opened, and the welcome sight of those amber-green eyes greeted her. The hand that wasn't gripping his chest reached up to grab one of her hands. He squeezed it weakly. He opened his mouth to speak, but the words were too faint.
"What? Come on Oz, hold on…Just give me a nanosecond to remember the right spell to heal this…You'll be fine…"
He repeated what he said as his eyes began to flutter shut. "Love…you…" The eyes she once adored closed for the final time.
And he went still. The hand grabbing his chest went slack, falling to rest at his side. The blood he was trying to stop began to flow anew. Willow stared in horror as she realized where the blood was coming from.
His heart.
Her mind, working in slow motion, took in her surroundings. She glanced at the window, which was broken. She looked from the broken glass on the floor to Oz's body, and back.
'He was shot…He was shot in the heart…Oh Goddess…'
And she sobbed as she sat on the floor, her old flame's body resting against her. Her hands stained with his blood. If she had bothered to glimpse at her mirror, she would have noticed something odd.
Her hair was fading to black. And so were her eyes.
But she didn't. She continued to cry hysterically as recollections of their time together ran through her head.
Her ex-lover was dead.
Someone would have to pay.
END FLASHBACK~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Remus, Severus, and Tara watched, shocked, as Willow's memories quickly turned dark. They saw her cry out in outrage at such a promising life being snuffed out so quickly. They saw the vengeance she unleashed upon Warren, Andrew, and Jonathan. They witnessed, appalled, the glee on Willow's face as she tortured Warren and turned his skin inside out with merely a flick of her wrist. They stared as she willingly decided to end the world, cursing man for taking such a pure soul away from her.
And they watched as she sobbed against Xander when he stopped her from completing the dark ritual.
They felt every emotion she was going through in her spiral towards bleak oblivion.
And their hearts went out to her.
Tara, because she never recognized just how much pain her ex-girlfriend went through.
Severus, because he knew what the tempting power of dark magic felt like.
And Remus, because he was beginning to care about her. And that was bad. Really bad.
What really amazed Remus, however, was a strange coincidence.
'So Oz was the Daniel Osbourne I met almost a year ago…'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
::pause::
So…
Did you like it?!!!
:) Please tell me!!!!