Title: Walkabout – Voyage of Rediscovery 11/?

Author: Mike McD

Rating: R

Summary: Two bitter and lost souls on rock bottom decide to go Walkabout. Two years after 'Chosen'.

Distribution: Anywhere, just let me know.

Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer nor do I own any other characters. This is a work of fiction written for fun and enjoyment.

WARNING!!!

If you don't like fics with some Buffy bashing then move along now. Everyone else, enjoy.

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In the morning they headed north again. Willow took the morning driving shift; the drive was quiet save for Willow's CD's and the occasional comment.

The further north they headed the more sparsely populated the land became and the further apart any signs of civilisation were. There was some traffic on the highway but this would thin the further up the coast they went.

Willow stopped at a service station for fuel, lunch, and a driver swap.

"So where's the next destination on Willow and Xander's Great Walkabout?" Willow asked Xander as he drove.

"It's a secret."

"Xannnddeerrrr!" Willow whined. "Come on! Tell me. Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No way."

"Pretty please with sugar on top?"

"I said no."

"I promise I won't tell anyone else, I swear."

Xander rolled his eye and gave in.

"Ok, I'll give you a hint. We're going somewhere where you'll need swimmers." Xander paused for a second as a question came to him. "Uh, you do have swimmers, don't you? I mean, you dragged me shopping for shoes and hats and make-up but you ditched me when it came to the fun stuff."

"Fun stuff?" Willow eyed him suspiciously.

"Yeah, the fun stuff. The skimpy lingerie, the g-string bikinis, all that Willowy eye candy."

Xander had the foresight to brace himself for the inevitable punch on the arm from his red headed companion.

"You're such a guy." Willow grumbled as Xander laughed.

"So, do you?" Xander asked her, trying to get back onto the original topic.

"Have skimpy lingerie? One day I'll show you."

Xander's expression brightened.

"Really? Cool! Be warned though, I am gonna hold you to it." Xander waggled his finger at her. He then realised what he had just said and desperately tried to clarify his meaning. "And when I say I'm gonna hold you to 'it' I mean 'it' in the sense of holding to your promise, and not in the sense of holding you to 'it' because you're gay now and thus not a fan of the penis and I respect that and..." Xander petered out then cleared his throat in a very Giles like manner. "Got swimmers?"

Willow had to smile at Xander's cute little ramble.

"Yes I do and you still haven't told me where we're going."

"You noticed that, huh? Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough." He reassured her.

It was an hour later when Willow became horrified as Xander turned off the main highway.

"Shark Bay? You ask me if I've got swimmers and you're taking me to a place called SHARK BAY! Goddamn it Xander! If you don't wanna keep travelling with me then just say so."

Xander ignored her outburst and kept on driving; a smug look on his face. He knew that Willow was going to love his little surprise.

They pulled into a little motel late that evening. The two of them went to the front desk.

"Hi, my name's Xander Harris. I called the other day about a couple of rooms."

The woman behind the desk checked her book.

"Here you are. Rooms 4 and 5." She confirmed, handing over the keys to him. Xander handed them to Willow.

"You pick your room while I get the bags." He told her. As Xander headed back to the Cruiser, Willow spoke to the woman behind the desk.

"There's not any sharks in Shark Bay are there? I mean it's just a name, right?"

"Actually there's lots of sharks in Shark Bay. Mostly tiger sharks after the sea turtles."

"Terrific." Willow greeted the news with a considerable lack of enthusiasm. "Can you do me a favour? If Xander leaves and there's no sign of me, can you call the police?"

The woman just laughed.

"What's so funny?" Xander asked as he struggled with the bags.

"Nothing. Just get the bags to our rooms, Shark Boy." Willow grumped. The two headed to the rooms that were next to each other. Willow took number 4 and Xander dumped his stuff in number 5.

Xander opened his bag as Willow came in.

"For the record, I'm not going anywhere near the water."

"You sure about that?" he asked.

"Positive. There's no way you're getting me splashing around and being turned into tiger shark nibbles."

"I think you'll change your mind." Xander stated with near certainty as he rummaged about in his bag.

"I doubt it very, VERY much. I spent too many years living in a town whose inhabitants regarded me as a midnight snack to go and get eaten by some Aussie jaws wannabe."

"Here" Xander handed her his Lonely Planet guide "Look up Monkey Mia. Now you'll have to excuse me while I get changed."

A bit over a minute later Xander heard an unmistakable Willow-y squeal from next door. Then his door was flung open by a red headed babbling blur that tackled him in a fierce bear hug.

"We'regonnagoswimmingwithdolphinsIlovedolphinseversincewewatchedFlipperaskidsandyou'rethegreatestbestfriendinhistory!"

Xander laughed and wrapped his arms around Willow.

"I'm glad you like it."

"Like it? I love it!"

The two stood there for a while in their embrace before Willow noticed Xander was dressed only in a towel. Willow blushed bright red and stepped back from Xander who quickly readjusted his towel that had nearly fallen off in the hug.

"I'm sorry! I should have knocked first."

"It's alright Wills. I was just about to go have a shower. I should have locked the door first." Xander waved off Willow's worry.

"Ok... um... how about you have your shower and swing by my room in an half an hour." Willow suggested.

"Sounds like a plan."

Just before she left, Willow kissed Xander on the cheek.

"Thank you." She said and nearly skipped out of Xander's room, singing the theme to 'Flipper' and leaving a bemused Xander behind her.

----

"Dolphins are the third most intelligent animals on Earth." A voice said behind Xander as he stood in the water. Turning around he saw that the voice belonged to one of the national park rangers.

"I've heard that before, though it always made me wonder how they work that out. It's not like they can get all the animals together and make them sit the test. Not to mention how hard it would be to grip a 2B pencil with a flipper. So how can they work it out?" wondered Xander. The ranger shrugged his shoulders.

"Good question, well asked. Short answer is 'buggered if I know'. I'm just gonna take the scientist's word on the matter."

Turning back, Xander watched as Willow found herself the centre of attention for half a dozen dolphins. She was all smiles and laughter as the playful dolphins swam up to her, occasionally rolling on their backs and allowing Willow to rub their bellies.

"One thing I do know though, dolphins tend to be excellent judges of character. Looks as if they've taken a liking to your girlfriend."

"Willow's not my girlfriend. I mean she's a girl and she's my friend so she's my girl-friend in that sense, but not in the dating sense of the word. Me and Willow are just two life long best buds driving around Australia together."

Willow waded over to where Xander and the ranger stood, a massive smile plastered across her face.

"Did you see that? They came right up to me and played with me and it was so awesome!"

"I saw it. Looked pretty cool." Xander admitted then did introductions. "Willow, this is... uh..." Xander faulted as he realised he hadn't gotten the ranger's name.

"Tim." The ranger introduced himself as he shook Willow's hand.

"Hi, nice to meet you." Willow greeted. Xander did likewise.

"So, Xander tells me you two are driving around the country. Where are you guys headed to next?"

"We'll keep heading north up to the Kimberley's, on to Darwin then head south from there." Willow outlined.

"I take it then you haven't been catching the news lately." Tim observed.

"Not really, why? What's going on?"

"Tropical Cyclone Christina."

"Cyclone?" asked Xander.

"It's what a hurricane is called down here." Willow informed her friend.

"Yeah, category five. Bigger than Tracey apparently."

Xander was lost.

"Tracey?"

"Ooo!" Willow exclaimed, "I read this last night. Cyclone Tracey was the one that destroyed Darwin a few years ago. Christmas Eve 1974, wasn't it?"

"That's the one. The place looked like it had been nuked. The weather folks are warning against travelling to the North-West coastal region. They're not quite sure exactly when and where Christina will hit the coast but if you two head up that way there's a strong chance that you'll get stranded for weeks in the floods."

Willow and Xander looked at each other and instantly rethought their plan.

"Looks like we head south again and cross the Nullarbor."

Tim nodded sagely.

"Wise idea."

The three chatted for a while, mostly about the dolphins and the other sea life of the bay (ie. Sharks). As they were talking Xander looked over to Willow.

"Sorry to cut this short but Willow, I think it's time that we get you inside before you get the sunburn from hell." Xander could already see the first signs that Willow's fair skin was beginning to burn. Even generous and frequent application of sun block could protect her pale complexion for only so long. Willow had contemplated using magic to protect her from the sun but the possibility of something going wrong put her off the idea.

Xander's speculation that she could end up spending the rest of her life looking like a redheaded Smurf was enough to see the idea die a quick death.

As they headed back to the motel, Willow turned to Xander to share a joke she had remembered. Her words died on her lips as she was struck by the beginnings of a powerful revelation.

The two of them were looking deep inside themselves for the kids they used to be.

Maybe they were looking in the wrong place...

"What are you staring at?" Xander had noticed that Willow was looking at him strangely. Ever since he lost his eye he had been more self conscious when people looked at him.

"I'll tell you later."