Author: Ozluv04

Title: Encounters

Disclaimer: Willow and Oz are the property of the WB, Mutant Enemy, and Joss Whedon.

Warnings: Adult Situations. Implied slash.

They always come unannounced. Each knows the other will make an excuse to slip away. It's

understood between them. So they meet in cheap motels and exotic hotels. The location is never important.

They come for all the wrong reasons. Oz comes because the only time he ever feels whole is when she is nestled in his arms. Willow comes because in Oz's eyes she never lost her innocence. They both come to forget. Hiding away for an hour or a weekend, they return to a much simpler past. They return to a time before the harsh realities of adulthood overshadowed their childish naivety.

Sometimes they don't speak. These encounters are primal. Skin on skin. Everything is conveyed through touches. They speak with kisses and caresses. It's such familiar terrain, voices are not necessary. Willow likes these encounters best. They are hot and satiating, driving the coldness that seizes her away.

Sometimes it's all words. Stories of a common past, stories of pasts that diverged. They talk of the present in hushed voices, bringing news of friends and battles. They acknowledge their respective 'shes', without giving them names. Each knows the other has someone waiting at home. For the moment, they are both content in letting them wait. Oz likes these encounters best. They are real and solid, awaking his long buried sense of hope.

Other times the bed becomes a confessional. They are each an altar the other can kneel before to lay bare their sins. They lie in the soft darkness whispering painful truths, searching for comfort- for understanding, only the other can provide.

"I'm not sorry I killed him. I'm only sorry I couldn't have made it last longer."

"Sometimes, when I feel myself losing control I just want to let it happen. I miss the chaos."

The words are muffled and murmured. These encounters are the exorcisms that keep them sane.

They know each time that it's temporary. They know they come together only for fleeting moments. Willow's glad it is only moments. She knows they missed their chance for forever a lifetime ago. She's always the first to leave. She slips away while he sleeps. She returns to her life refreshed and alive. Oz tries to grasp the moments, to stretch them into eternity. He lingers for an extra day to wallow in her scent and in his new memories. He returns to his life subdued and reflective.