Blah, sorry for the wait, I got sidetracked by the euphoria of actually finishing Uni.. and then Pacman.

magical fixes

chapter 5

''Do you think he's avoiding me?''

Tara looked at Willow's reflected image in the mirror with a confused frown, her hands stilled mid-way while removing her earrings.

''Who, Oz? Oh Willow, he's probably not''

''Because I haven't even talked to him since he's come back, and I know he's only been here a day and I was at school most of it so there wasn't much chance of catching up, but he practically ran out of here when Buffy asked if he wanted to patrol,'' Willow rushed anxiously as she sat on the bed, balling up the comforter in her hands.

''... I-I don't think''

''And what's with that anyway? Oz never patrolled with Buffy alone before, I don't see what's so different now, unless he is avoiding me. Oh my god, he's avoiding me and I'm like this big insensitive jerk who's flaunting her new sexuality and lover in his face.''

''Oh Willow, you're not flaunting me, he's just''

''A big insensitive jerk, I'm a big insensitive jerk who didn't even bother to go meet him at the airport and sends her best friend instead of turning up herself because she's scared of facing her ex. A big insensitive jerky fraidy cat''

''Willow!'' the hard edge in Tara's usually sweet voice startling the redhead, effectively cutting her off from further complaints.

''Not everything's about you, sweetie,'' Tara said softly as she sat beside her girlfriend and a put warm hand on the redhead's arm to soften the bite in her words.

''Like you said, Oz has only been here a day and I'm sure you'll have time to talk to him, but then again, if he does want to keep his distance I think you should respect that, honey. That doesn't mean, you know, letting him treat you badly because you feel guilty, but if he doesn't want to talk to you or be around you much, well, than you're just going to have to accept that. He didn't come here for you Willow, he's only in the house because Buffy wanted him here.''

Willow frowned as a muscle in her left cheek twitched, ''I just wish we could talk so I know he isn't still angry at me.''

''Just give him some space, he'll talk to you when he's ready,'' Tara soothed softy as she lovingly stroked the red-heads hair.

Willow knew she was right but she also couldn't help feeling hurt by her girlfriend's words and even a little miffed that she was being so damned reasonable.

Tara was her girlfriend wasn't she? She was supposed to support her, and take her side, no matter what.

The sound of the front door opening and quiet voices floated up to where the two sat, announcing Buffy and Oz's return from patrol, the occasional hiss and swear word from the Slayer prompting the two to investigate.

''Thanks, there's bandages and alcohol up in the bathroom, under the sink,'' Buffy told Oz as he helped her onto the couch and headed up the stairs past the worried couple who had just emerged from Joyce's old room. Oz almost stopped a step past them when his brain registered that the two were only half dresses, but there was only a slight hesitation in his step as he made his way into the main bathroom, waving the two to go downstairs to the slayer, when he heard them gasp at his appearance.

He knew he looked like he had gone ten rounds with both Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, he didn't need to look into the mirror to see that, but they were mostly superficial injuries. A black eye, a split lip and maybe a couple of bruised ribs, Oz counted himself lucky especially when Buffy had come away from tonight's patrol with what seemed to be a broken ankle, a sprained wrist and a nasty cut across her forehead near her hairline, though that had already closed up on the long walk home.

After the initial attack by an overzealous newbie vampire which Buffy had disposed of within seconds, it seemed to have signalled to the other lurking creatures of the night that the two were fair game, and it had been an all out fight for the later part of the evening. They had fought separately at first; their different fighting styles just getting into the other's way, but later, when the two had chased a fleeing group of vampires towards the Initiative caves, Buffy was able to move and compensate for the weaknesses in Oz's defences; being the more experienced fighter, and they were able to set up a steady rhythm as the two disposed of the last of their opponents.

Ironically enough, it hadn't been the fighting that was the cause of the their more serious injuries and mud splattered appearances, but a fall down a ravine that the two had failed to notice the last few vamps had pushed them to the edge of. Buffy was the first to come to a stop falling awkwardly on her side; the cause of her sprained wrist and broken ankle, injuries of which were then compounded when Oz had unceremoniously landed on top of her soon after (Buffy's raised elbow being the cause of Oz's black eye) and the two had hobbled home, propping each other up as they made their way through the dark street of Sunnydale.

It was something Oz was sure he would look back and laugh at but right now, his ribs hurt too much to be laughing.

''... it really isn't as bad as it looks,'' Oz heard Buffy tell the two worried witches as he came down the stairs, ''Thanks, Oz.''

Oz smiled and sat in front of the slayer on the coffee table as he handed the bandages to Buffy, and set the alcohol as well as some other things he had thought they would need, beside him. He could see that Tara who still had the damp dishcloth in her hands, had washed away most of the blood on Buffy's face, leaving an angry pink line that looked to have re-opened slightly without the grime and blood keeping the wound closed, making Oz wince in sympathy.

With her silent permission, he set about cleaning the cut properly with the alcohol and carefully dotting the butterfly bandages across it as Willow continued to question Buffy fretfully.

''But don't you think this could be just the start, Buffy?''

''Start?'' Buffy questioned, flinching as Oz finished dabbing the alcohol on her cut.

''Well, the two of you look like you've just come back from war, and isn't it always around this time that the demon world likes to throw an apocalypse our way?'' Willow said pausing with a frown when she noticed the two share a secret smile.

Buffy had come back from patrol looking she had rolled around in a muddy puddle swimming with sharp rocks with Oz not much better off, and the two were giving each other secret smiles? Willow didn't like the thought that the two might be laughing behind her back, especially when she wasn't exactly sure what they were laughing about.. and since when had they ever had anything in common to even have a secret smile?

''Can you lift your leg up?''

The blonde nodded and gingerly raised her broken ankle into Oz's waiting hands as he rested it gently onto his upper thigh.

Buffy handed Oz the bandages and turned back to the redhead with a frown, ''I really don't think so Willow, I think we were just due for a good fight is all, and Oz and I can probably thank each other for most of our injuries, more so than the Sunnydale demon population in any case,'' another secret smiled shared between the two making Willow's own frown deepen.

''Why don't the two of you go back up to bed, there's nothing much else you can do 'cept watch the two cripples bandage each other up.''

Willow sat silently, ignoring Buffy's request as she considered her ex and her best friend with her piercing gaze. Oz had never in their years as friends, ever taken the responsibility of patching Buffy up after a patrol, never being so close to the blonde to even contemplate it, and with Buffy's ankle resting up on his thigh, Oz leaning forward in concentration, their body language looked almost.. intimate to her.

Willow shook her head at the thought, what had changed so drastically in one night?

Buffy's grimace as Oz tightened the bandage around her ankle thankfully pushing all further thoughts of that kind to the back of Willow's mind for later examination, sympathy for a hurt friend taking precedent.

''I don't know, Buffy, are you sure you're okay? You really look like you're in pain and you're wrist looks all puffy and purple already and ohh, you know what, I was reading this spell, where we could''

''No!'' Buffy exclaimed as her leg jolted in agitation and in the process, almost kicking Oz where it would have hurt the most.

''No spells.''

''But it's really simple, Buffy, it could help-''

''I said no, Willow,'' Buffy said with steel in her voice that made the witch pause as the blonde's jaw clenched in agitation.

''I just have to wrap up Buffy's wrist, it'll take you longer to get everything ready, Willow,'' Oz intervened, breaking the palpable tension between the two.

''I just - I don't understand. If it hurts-''

''Buffy'll take a few painkillers,'' Tara interjected this time, frowning at Willow's insistence at using magic when there really wasn't a need for it.

''C'mon sweetie,'' she gently took her girlfriends hand, ''We'll see you guys in the morning.''

Willow cast one more worried look over her shoulder as Tara lead her back up the stairs, unsure of what worried her more, Buffy and Oz's injuries, what possible apocalypse tonight might indicate that the slayer was ignoring, or the fact that Oz and Buffy having secrets that she wasn't in on.

If only Buffy would confide in her, Willow thought as she moodily turned off the light and climbed into bed. If only she could have her old best friend back, the one that giggled with her and told the redhead her deepest and darkest secrets. If only Oz would look her in the eye and tell her he was alright with her being with Tara. If only they could be all innocent teenagers again, with only mid-terms and Snyder to worry about.

But they weren't, and Oz was avoiding her, and Buffy was shutting her out.

Willow turned her back to her girlfriend mumbling a goodnight as Tara gave her a comforting squeeze around her shoulders.

Maybe she couldn't turn back time and make everything alright, but there was something she could do, and maybe the answer was somewhere in one of Willow's numerous spell books downstairs or in the restricted section of the Magic Shop.

Yes, a spell would get Willow her answers and then she could make everything okay. Maybe she had already come across the perfect spell during one of her long study sessions.

Was it in the Ragnaršk Codex, sitting in the hidden space behind the closet, where she kept her most powerful books?

Maybe in the Lambda Almanac? In the space behind that even Tara didn't know about.

With comforting contemplations of research lulling the redhead to sleep, the thought of waiting for Buffy and Oz to come to her in their own time never crossed Willow's mind.

------

Notes: I'm finished!! No not the story, heh not that mean to leave it there, I mean my university career. I am now an officially qualified Graphic/ Communication Designer which actually mean dick all in the real world. So being that I will now be on the dole it seems (I knew I was always a pessimist at heart) I'll have a lot more time, or a lot less, depending on my determination to find a job.

Oi, that was hard to write and probably boring to read it was really just a set up chapter, I just hope I didn't paint a too unsympathetic Willow, I'm trying to not let my prejudices get in the way, but she was so damned self absorbed season six, and you know, her being that way suits my purposes, but she's still Willow and has some redeemable qualities.

Thanks to: nimacu, Seren Lunar Echo, goody, Nikki, The Red Cheese Is Wax, dizzybugger, RavensHaelo, Therm, Perfect Darkness, Shabopo, Toni, and willowrose1616, also Meri and Chloe over at BuffynOz you all deserve lots of lovin, honestly, every single one made a smile for like a day. Each.

RavensHaelo: yeah the last chapter should have been tacked onto the one before it, I have no other excuse for it's shortness ;) And no sob no Spike. I really wish I could have worked him into this story, but alas, he comes with too many problems. I really don't like it when authors have him but only use him as a crowd pleaser with no real purpose, and then discount the energy he has with Buffy. So instead, lets just say he left after 'The Gift' to make his own way in the world.

Perfect Darkness: Thanks! And, oh yeah, forgot about that.

Anyone have any suggestions for a title?

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