A/N: Sorry that it's taken so ridiculously long to update but I'm moving
swiftly towards graduation and my
tutors seem determined to give out as much work as humanly possible before I escape! Thank you to
everyone who e-mailed me asking for more of either 'Chances' or 'Time Warp'
This Chapter is dedicated to lunarprincess3 for managing to make me feel incredibly guilty about not
updating and therefore spurring me into action. Cheers for the support mate!
Disclaimer: They're only mine when I'm having REM
Changing Relations
Breakfast that morning was awkward to say the least. Oz very quickly explained to Will and Jenny that
he had slept on the couch. Jenny accepted this straight away and quite frankly seemed far more
interested in the magazine she was reading. Will's inquisitive nature was not so easily dissuaded.
"So, anything you wanna tell me dad?"
"Not this morning Will."
"When then?"
"Tonight."
"Is it true? Were you really...?"
"Tonight. William."
Willow and Jenny sat quietly, but Jenny had decided to put her magazine on the table and was making
no attempt to hide her interest in the discussion occurring between her father and brother.
Will stared at his father, yet again confused by his bizarre attitude. Recognising a rare, sharp look in
Oz's eyes, the young boy gave up and turned to the woman sat beside his dad.
"So Alex, how come last night dad called you Willow?"
A quick look passed between the two adults, then Oz said, "time for you two to get to school. Come on
Jenny, go get your bag; Will, we'll talk tonight. I'm calling a family meeting at six o' clock and I don't want
you pestering miss..." Oz glanced once more at the librarian, "...Winters, with questions today. It's
family business and I want both of you to remember that. He concluded, looking pointedly at his son.
The young musician held the elder one's gaze for a moment before turning to Willow.
"I'll see you later Miss Winters."
He then abruptly left the table and, grabbing his bag, he yelled for his sister to join him and five minutes
later they were on their way.
As the two siblings slowly journeyed towards the school Jenny finally spoke.
"Will, what was all that about? Why was the new librarian staying at our house?"
Will paused, eyeing his sister, attempting to judge just how much he should tell her.
"I think they used to know each other." He replied cautiously.
"Oh." Jenny commented as she lapsed into silence whilst forming her next question.
"What aren't you telling me Will?"
The young guitarist paused once more before replying quietly, "I don't really know yet. But I'll find out."
The two siblings walked the rest of the way in silence, each one attempting to work out what was going
on with their father and what his link was to the new librarian.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~
"I can't believe we're finally gonna find out what our parents were up to when they were kids." Rob said
excitedly as the four students walked into the school entrance that morning.
"What your parents were up to you mean." Ella replied moodily. "My parents were just as boring as I
expected. Never doing anything."
"Still don't worry about it Ella. You're involved now. That's what's really important. To me at least."
Lizbeth said as she put her arm around the blonde's shoulder and giving her a comforting squeeze.
"Look, if you like, after school you can come round mine. Video night. I've got popcorn and I do believe
that me dad 'as a bottle of Jack in the drinks' cabinet."
Ella grinned and asked, "Won't your dad have a bit of a problem with us drinking his alcohol?"
"Nah, 'e won't even notice it's gone. As of Ten o' clock this mornin' my dad's officially in London fer a
month on business. Time 'e gets back, 'e won't even remember that 'e 'ad it."
"Well in that case, how can I say no!"
"Wicked, so you provide the vids, an' I'll sort the refreshments."
"Aren't we invited?" Rob asked giving his best puppy face in attempt to gain the sympathetic vote.
"Nope. Girl's night tonight boys. Anyway, I've gotta go. See you later."
As Lizbeth waved goodbye to the gang, she felt a tug on her arm as she was pulled into a small
deserted classroom next to the English one she pulled back, alert and ready for a fight.
"Chill out English!"
"Chris" Lizbeth sighed with relief, before yelling at him. "What are you doing! You worried me!"
"Just wanted to get a minute alone with a certain gorgeous new Sunnydale High student." He replied in
a cocky manner. Before continuing he adopted a grave look, "I've got a serious problem."
Suddenly Lizbeth really became worried and asked in hushed tones, "What? What's wrong? Are you
okay?"
"Not in the least. I don't have a date for the football game on Saturday and that could ruin my reputation,
turning up alone. I really need your help. Go with me."
Not only was Lizbeth taken aback by Chris' 'problem' but she was also slightly shocked by the fact that
he wanted her to go out with him. Attempting to be casual about it, Lizbeth simply replied, "Was that a
request or a command?"
"A request. But only the one. I don't do begging."
"Well maybe if you can manage to not embarrass me for a whole English class, I'll not embarrass you by
making you go stag." Lizbeth retorted and with a quick wink she span round and gracefully entered the
English room, giving her apologies to Mr. Paxton for her lateness and, sitting in her seat at the back of
the room, she removed her copy of Pride and Prejudice and began to make notes. Refusing to look into
the hard Grey eyes that she could feel burrowing into her cheek.
"Mr. Malloy, would you please face the front!"
Lizbeth grinned dangerously. Oh this boy had no idea what he was getting into.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~
"Willow? Alex?"
She turned towards the stacks and stared for a moment before replying. "Angel, thank you for coming.
And when it's just us you can call me Willow. There's no point pretending with you."
He looked carefully at the woman before him. She'd been crying again. He'd bet that that was a
common occurrence, especially since she'd come back here. "Okay Willow, You needed to talk to me?"
"Did you know that Buffy is still alive?" She asked the question bluntly, not wanting to piss about with
subtext.
"Yes." He replied carefully, not wishing to continue until he knew exactly how she felt about the news.
"Oh." Willow suddenly felt lost. She'd had a whole conversation planned in her head. Unfortunately she
couldn't quite bring herself to continue with it. "I saw Oz last night."
"What did he say?"
"He wants to help. Apparently he has been helping Buffy and her husband, along with Anya, for years."
Angel nodded, he was aware that the group had been out patrolling most nights for a while. But that
didn't really give any clues as to their views on their children becoming involved.
"He said that he is okay with Will helping. As long as we are all there. Anya will be more difficult to
convince."
"And Ella's parents?"
"Are Buffy and her husband."
This surprised Angel. He had never really expected the slayer to have children. He'd hoped, but not
realistically. "So that could still be quite a problem."
"More so than before. I wish you'd told me Angel. Now that Oz is involved there's no way that Buffy
won't find out. Even if he wasn't involved, do you really think that she'd never notice a group of
teenagers fighting demons? I'll have to see her."
They both sat quietly for a few moments, contemplating the difficulties that faced them. With Ella
involved, there was no way that they could hide from Buffy, but would the slayer really let her only child
risk her life. Willow was pretty sure that she knew the answer to that one. And there was still the
unspoken issue of Spike. With such a history, Willow really doubted that she'd be able to work with Buffy
again, or even look at her for that matter.
Finally one of them spoke.
"Willow, you know that I will help, but I can't see her. I can't fight beside her again. If...When Buffy
becomes involved in this, I have to stop being seen. Disappear. Help from the shadows."
Willow looked into his deep brown eyes, slightly shocked but understanding nevertheless. "I will insist
that the children don't mention you. But please, don't... don't hide from me. From what I can tell the only
thing that hasn't changed here is you. My relationships with everyone else are complex at best, this..."
she waved her hand between the two of them." ...is nice and simple. I need something simple. I could
really use a friend."
He smiled warmly at the thought that Willow really considered him to be a friend. "Of course I won't hide
from you Willow. Besides, I still owe you."
She looked at him questioningly.
"Well if it weren't for you I wouldn't have my soul. So I think it's fair to say that I owe you my life."
Willow blushed slightly at that and looked away, not knowing how to reply. When she looked up again,
she was alone.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~
That night Ella arrived at Lizbeth's house armed with Empire Records and Almost Famous. As Lizbeth
ushered her in Ella noted the look of excitement on her friend's face.
"Hey Lizbeth, you seem to be in a good mood!" Ella laughed as her hostess started bopping around the
room to New Found Glory.
"You were everything I wanted! But I just can't finish what I started! I'm in a wicked mood!" Lizbeth
yelled, dancing over to the CD player to turn the volume down so that she could talk to her friend without
shouting at her. "Wanna drink?" the redhead asked her amused guest.
"Sure. I brought the movies, Empire Records and Almost Famous, have you seen them?"
"Are you kiddin'" Lizbeth replied, still seeming incredibly hyper. "Almost Famous is my absolute favourite
film!" Suddenly the slayer jumped on to the sofa, spread her arms and yelled at the top of her voice "I
AM A GOLDEN GOD!" before collapsing in a heap of giggles, sputtering "that espresso machine is a
bloody health hazard'' whilst pointing wildly towards the kitchen.
Ella stood smirking for a moment before replying "maybe you should stick to tea in future!"
"Urgh! Not a chance. Can't stand the stuff!" Lizbeth replied passionately as she struggled to right herself.
Finally, both girls found themselves sat on the floor in front of the telly, awaiting the opening of the first
film with drinks firmly in hand and a bowl of popcorn sat between them.
"So," Lizbeth began, ready to tell her friend about the events of the day. "Chris Malloy asked me to go to
the football game with him on Saturday."
Ella turned slowly to look at the girl beside her.
"Are you serious?"
"Yup. 'e asked us before English. Practically begged."
"Wow. Um, look, I know you're new and don't really know much about this school but if there is one guy
you don't want to be dating it's Malloy."
Lizbeth looked at Ella questioningly, waiting for an explanation. When one didn't come she asked, "How
come? What's 'is deal?"
Ella hesitated briefly, choosing her words carefully. "Well, it's just that, Chris has something of a
reputation."
"Aaaand?"
"And he's a selfish, conceited, rich bigot who – according to him - always sleeps with girls on a first
date."
"Well I don't fink I need to worry about 'im forcin' 'imself on me."
"You don't get it Lizbeth. The last girl he dated here had her reputation ruined. She had to transfer to
another school."
"But if everyone knows what 'e's like... 'ow come they believe 'im?"
"Look, there are a lot of sheep in our school, most of the kids round here can't think for themselves. As
far as they're concerned, Malloy is handsome, rich and therefore powerful. It's up to you but I would
strongly suggest that you avoid him."
Lizbeth was quiet for a moment, lost in thought. Eventually she replied." Or I could go to the game with
him, have some fun of my own"
Ella glanced at the evil grin on her friend's face and suddenly felt almost sorry for Christopher Malloy.
The poor guy didn't know what he'd gotten himself into.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~
As Oz looked at his children's expectant faces as they sat before him, he gulped. This was not going to
be easy.
"Okay, guys. I know you're probably both wondering what Wi... Ms Winters... was doing here this
morning."
"Among other things." Will murmured catching the sharp look his father gave him. He'd gotten a few of
these looks since last night and he really wasn't loving this new version of his dad.
Jenny ignored her brother's mutterings and looked at her father across the dining table. "To be honest
dad, it seems kind of obvious. You two used to date, she left town, you met mom, and since Ms Winters
has reappeared you two decided to have a long catching up session."
Oz smiled at his daughter, she was so sharp, never missed a trick. "Well I guess that's pretty much it
actually."
"And I'm guessing that there's quite a bit more." His son threw back at him.
*God I hate this* the werewolf thought to himself, realizing that his relationship with his children was
probably going to become quite strained pretty soon if he wasn't careful.
"You'd guess right Will. Okay, kids, I'm going to tell you about my life when I was about your age. Please
don't interrupt until I finish. It all began in my senior year, it was career day..."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~
Willow walked down the street slowly, her red hair shining in the moonlight. It had been a hard decision
to make, but she finally realized that it was about time she accepted the fact that she was going to have
to give up Alexandra Winters for good. She was going to have to convince Anya and Buffy to let their
children fight the forces of evil and if they agreed the former witch knew that her old friends would be
fighting with them. There was no point pretending that she was someone else.
As she thought about Buffy her mind drifted back to a certain other bleach blonde who had betrayed her.
Her talk with Oz the previous evening had made it obvious that Spike had not made his presence in
Sunnydale known. This confused Willow. Obviously Spike and Buffy hadn't continued their affair, so why
was the vampire hanging around Sunnydale. She was certain that the Spike she saw a couple of nights
before was the same Spike she had thought she'd known before she left all those years ago. After all, if
he'd reverted to his former bad ass self he wouldn't have sat staring at her for so long. And he certainly
wouldn't have kept quiet the entire time.
But why would he want to hang around so close to the slayer if he didn't want to be with her. The
redhead wasn't stupid enough to think that Spike was still interested in the blonde slayer. If he were he'd
be making a show of it, not hiding himself away in a tiny crypt.
Willow sighed as she walked up the path and knocked on the door in front of her, it was a puzzle, but
not one that she should be worrying about now. The door opened and blue eyes peered out at her.
Right now she had far more important worries.
"Willow?" a shocked voice questioned.
Such as how to convince this woman to let her only child fight beside her slayer.
"Buffy." Willow replied coldly.
This was not going to be easy.
tutors seem determined to give out as much work as humanly possible before I escape! Thank you to
everyone who e-mailed me asking for more of either 'Chances' or 'Time Warp'
This Chapter is dedicated to lunarprincess3 for managing to make me feel incredibly guilty about not
updating and therefore spurring me into action. Cheers for the support mate!
Disclaimer: They're only mine when I'm having REM
Changing Relations
Breakfast that morning was awkward to say the least. Oz very quickly explained to Will and Jenny that
he had slept on the couch. Jenny accepted this straight away and quite frankly seemed far more
interested in the magazine she was reading. Will's inquisitive nature was not so easily dissuaded.
"So, anything you wanna tell me dad?"
"Not this morning Will."
"When then?"
"Tonight."
"Is it true? Were you really...?"
"Tonight. William."
Willow and Jenny sat quietly, but Jenny had decided to put her magazine on the table and was making
no attempt to hide her interest in the discussion occurring between her father and brother.
Will stared at his father, yet again confused by his bizarre attitude. Recognising a rare, sharp look in
Oz's eyes, the young boy gave up and turned to the woman sat beside his dad.
"So Alex, how come last night dad called you Willow?"
A quick look passed between the two adults, then Oz said, "time for you two to get to school. Come on
Jenny, go get your bag; Will, we'll talk tonight. I'm calling a family meeting at six o' clock and I don't want
you pestering miss..." Oz glanced once more at the librarian, "...Winters, with questions today. It's
family business and I want both of you to remember that. He concluded, looking pointedly at his son.
The young musician held the elder one's gaze for a moment before turning to Willow.
"I'll see you later Miss Winters."
He then abruptly left the table and, grabbing his bag, he yelled for his sister to join him and five minutes
later they were on their way.
As the two siblings slowly journeyed towards the school Jenny finally spoke.
"Will, what was all that about? Why was the new librarian staying at our house?"
Will paused, eyeing his sister, attempting to judge just how much he should tell her.
"I think they used to know each other." He replied cautiously.
"Oh." Jenny commented as she lapsed into silence whilst forming her next question.
"What aren't you telling me Will?"
The young guitarist paused once more before replying quietly, "I don't really know yet. But I'll find out."
The two siblings walked the rest of the way in silence, each one attempting to work out what was going
on with their father and what his link was to the new librarian.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~
"I can't believe we're finally gonna find out what our parents were up to when they were kids." Rob said
excitedly as the four students walked into the school entrance that morning.
"What your parents were up to you mean." Ella replied moodily. "My parents were just as boring as I
expected. Never doing anything."
"Still don't worry about it Ella. You're involved now. That's what's really important. To me at least."
Lizbeth said as she put her arm around the blonde's shoulder and giving her a comforting squeeze.
"Look, if you like, after school you can come round mine. Video night. I've got popcorn and I do believe
that me dad 'as a bottle of Jack in the drinks' cabinet."
Ella grinned and asked, "Won't your dad have a bit of a problem with us drinking his alcohol?"
"Nah, 'e won't even notice it's gone. As of Ten o' clock this mornin' my dad's officially in London fer a
month on business. Time 'e gets back, 'e won't even remember that 'e 'ad it."
"Well in that case, how can I say no!"
"Wicked, so you provide the vids, an' I'll sort the refreshments."
"Aren't we invited?" Rob asked giving his best puppy face in attempt to gain the sympathetic vote.
"Nope. Girl's night tonight boys. Anyway, I've gotta go. See you later."
As Lizbeth waved goodbye to the gang, she felt a tug on her arm as she was pulled into a small
deserted classroom next to the English one she pulled back, alert and ready for a fight.
"Chill out English!"
"Chris" Lizbeth sighed with relief, before yelling at him. "What are you doing! You worried me!"
"Just wanted to get a minute alone with a certain gorgeous new Sunnydale High student." He replied in
a cocky manner. Before continuing he adopted a grave look, "I've got a serious problem."
Suddenly Lizbeth really became worried and asked in hushed tones, "What? What's wrong? Are you
okay?"
"Not in the least. I don't have a date for the football game on Saturday and that could ruin my reputation,
turning up alone. I really need your help. Go with me."
Not only was Lizbeth taken aback by Chris' 'problem' but she was also slightly shocked by the fact that
he wanted her to go out with him. Attempting to be casual about it, Lizbeth simply replied, "Was that a
request or a command?"
"A request. But only the one. I don't do begging."
"Well maybe if you can manage to not embarrass me for a whole English class, I'll not embarrass you by
making you go stag." Lizbeth retorted and with a quick wink she span round and gracefully entered the
English room, giving her apologies to Mr. Paxton for her lateness and, sitting in her seat at the back of
the room, she removed her copy of Pride and Prejudice and began to make notes. Refusing to look into
the hard Grey eyes that she could feel burrowing into her cheek.
"Mr. Malloy, would you please face the front!"
Lizbeth grinned dangerously. Oh this boy had no idea what he was getting into.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~
"Willow? Alex?"
She turned towards the stacks and stared for a moment before replying. "Angel, thank you for coming.
And when it's just us you can call me Willow. There's no point pretending with you."
He looked carefully at the woman before him. She'd been crying again. He'd bet that that was a
common occurrence, especially since she'd come back here. "Okay Willow, You needed to talk to me?"
"Did you know that Buffy is still alive?" She asked the question bluntly, not wanting to piss about with
subtext.
"Yes." He replied carefully, not wishing to continue until he knew exactly how she felt about the news.
"Oh." Willow suddenly felt lost. She'd had a whole conversation planned in her head. Unfortunately she
couldn't quite bring herself to continue with it. "I saw Oz last night."
"What did he say?"
"He wants to help. Apparently he has been helping Buffy and her husband, along with Anya, for years."
Angel nodded, he was aware that the group had been out patrolling most nights for a while. But that
didn't really give any clues as to their views on their children becoming involved.
"He said that he is okay with Will helping. As long as we are all there. Anya will be more difficult to
convince."
"And Ella's parents?"
"Are Buffy and her husband."
This surprised Angel. He had never really expected the slayer to have children. He'd hoped, but not
realistically. "So that could still be quite a problem."
"More so than before. I wish you'd told me Angel. Now that Oz is involved there's no way that Buffy
won't find out. Even if he wasn't involved, do you really think that she'd never notice a group of
teenagers fighting demons? I'll have to see her."
They both sat quietly for a few moments, contemplating the difficulties that faced them. With Ella
involved, there was no way that they could hide from Buffy, but would the slayer really let her only child
risk her life. Willow was pretty sure that she knew the answer to that one. And there was still the
unspoken issue of Spike. With such a history, Willow really doubted that she'd be able to work with Buffy
again, or even look at her for that matter.
Finally one of them spoke.
"Willow, you know that I will help, but I can't see her. I can't fight beside her again. If...When Buffy
becomes involved in this, I have to stop being seen. Disappear. Help from the shadows."
Willow looked into his deep brown eyes, slightly shocked but understanding nevertheless. "I will insist
that the children don't mention you. But please, don't... don't hide from me. From what I can tell the only
thing that hasn't changed here is you. My relationships with everyone else are complex at best, this..."
she waved her hand between the two of them." ...is nice and simple. I need something simple. I could
really use a friend."
He smiled warmly at the thought that Willow really considered him to be a friend. "Of course I won't hide
from you Willow. Besides, I still owe you."
She looked at him questioningly.
"Well if it weren't for you I wouldn't have my soul. So I think it's fair to say that I owe you my life."
Willow blushed slightly at that and looked away, not knowing how to reply. When she looked up again,
she was alone.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~
That night Ella arrived at Lizbeth's house armed with Empire Records and Almost Famous. As Lizbeth
ushered her in Ella noted the look of excitement on her friend's face.
"Hey Lizbeth, you seem to be in a good mood!" Ella laughed as her hostess started bopping around the
room to New Found Glory.
"You were everything I wanted! But I just can't finish what I started! I'm in a wicked mood!" Lizbeth
yelled, dancing over to the CD player to turn the volume down so that she could talk to her friend without
shouting at her. "Wanna drink?" the redhead asked her amused guest.
"Sure. I brought the movies, Empire Records and Almost Famous, have you seen them?"
"Are you kiddin'" Lizbeth replied, still seeming incredibly hyper. "Almost Famous is my absolute favourite
film!" Suddenly the slayer jumped on to the sofa, spread her arms and yelled at the top of her voice "I
AM A GOLDEN GOD!" before collapsing in a heap of giggles, sputtering "that espresso machine is a
bloody health hazard'' whilst pointing wildly towards the kitchen.
Ella stood smirking for a moment before replying "maybe you should stick to tea in future!"
"Urgh! Not a chance. Can't stand the stuff!" Lizbeth replied passionately as she struggled to right herself.
Finally, both girls found themselves sat on the floor in front of the telly, awaiting the opening of the first
film with drinks firmly in hand and a bowl of popcorn sat between them.
"So," Lizbeth began, ready to tell her friend about the events of the day. "Chris Malloy asked me to go to
the football game with him on Saturday."
Ella turned slowly to look at the girl beside her.
"Are you serious?"
"Yup. 'e asked us before English. Practically begged."
"Wow. Um, look, I know you're new and don't really know much about this school but if there is one guy
you don't want to be dating it's Malloy."
Lizbeth looked at Ella questioningly, waiting for an explanation. When one didn't come she asked, "How
come? What's 'is deal?"
Ella hesitated briefly, choosing her words carefully. "Well, it's just that, Chris has something of a
reputation."
"Aaaand?"
"And he's a selfish, conceited, rich bigot who – according to him - always sleeps with girls on a first
date."
"Well I don't fink I need to worry about 'im forcin' 'imself on me."
"You don't get it Lizbeth. The last girl he dated here had her reputation ruined. She had to transfer to
another school."
"But if everyone knows what 'e's like... 'ow come they believe 'im?"
"Look, there are a lot of sheep in our school, most of the kids round here can't think for themselves. As
far as they're concerned, Malloy is handsome, rich and therefore powerful. It's up to you but I would
strongly suggest that you avoid him."
Lizbeth was quiet for a moment, lost in thought. Eventually she replied." Or I could go to the game with
him, have some fun of my own"
Ella glanced at the evil grin on her friend's face and suddenly felt almost sorry for Christopher Malloy.
The poor guy didn't know what he'd gotten himself into.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~
As Oz looked at his children's expectant faces as they sat before him, he gulped. This was not going to
be easy.
"Okay, guys. I know you're probably both wondering what Wi... Ms Winters... was doing here this
morning."
"Among other things." Will murmured catching the sharp look his father gave him. He'd gotten a few of
these looks since last night and he really wasn't loving this new version of his dad.
Jenny ignored her brother's mutterings and looked at her father across the dining table. "To be honest
dad, it seems kind of obvious. You two used to date, she left town, you met mom, and since Ms Winters
has reappeared you two decided to have a long catching up session."
Oz smiled at his daughter, she was so sharp, never missed a trick. "Well I guess that's pretty much it
actually."
"And I'm guessing that there's quite a bit more." His son threw back at him.
*God I hate this* the werewolf thought to himself, realizing that his relationship with his children was
probably going to become quite strained pretty soon if he wasn't careful.
"You'd guess right Will. Okay, kids, I'm going to tell you about my life when I was about your age. Please
don't interrupt until I finish. It all began in my senior year, it was career day..."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~
Willow walked down the street slowly, her red hair shining in the moonlight. It had been a hard decision
to make, but she finally realized that it was about time she accepted the fact that she was going to have
to give up Alexandra Winters for good. She was going to have to convince Anya and Buffy to let their
children fight the forces of evil and if they agreed the former witch knew that her old friends would be
fighting with them. There was no point pretending that she was someone else.
As she thought about Buffy her mind drifted back to a certain other bleach blonde who had betrayed her.
Her talk with Oz the previous evening had made it obvious that Spike had not made his presence in
Sunnydale known. This confused Willow. Obviously Spike and Buffy hadn't continued their affair, so why
was the vampire hanging around Sunnydale. She was certain that the Spike she saw a couple of nights
before was the same Spike she had thought she'd known before she left all those years ago. After all, if
he'd reverted to his former bad ass self he wouldn't have sat staring at her for so long. And he certainly
wouldn't have kept quiet the entire time.
But why would he want to hang around so close to the slayer if he didn't want to be with her. The
redhead wasn't stupid enough to think that Spike was still interested in the blonde slayer. If he were he'd
be making a show of it, not hiding himself away in a tiny crypt.
Willow sighed as she walked up the path and knocked on the door in front of her, it was a puzzle, but
not one that she should be worrying about now. The door opened and blue eyes peered out at her.
Right now she had far more important worries.
"Willow?" a shocked voice questioned.
Such as how to convince this woman to let her only child fight beside her slayer.
"Buffy." Willow replied coldly.
This was not going to be easy.