Paris, France, two months later.
Willow opened her eyes upon feeling a warm arm around her waist. She looked out into the dark hotel room, at the lights of the Eiffel Tower in the distance while moaning with a smile on her face as she placed her hand on the arm around her waist. She looked over her shoulder before lying on her back and kissed the orange haired young man who returned the kiss. Willow felt his hand stroke the side of her hips over her tank-top before she broke the kiss and caressed his face. She looked into his eyes, and then at his lips while she brushed her thumb on his chin, and then she looked back into his eyes.
"You and me, Oz," she whispered as Oz kissed her cheek, and then her lips before pulling back, "we're here. Where you and I were supposed to go for our anniversary; Paris, France."
Willow looked up at Oz who nodded his head without saying a word while he placed his elbow on the bed and ran his hand through Willow's white hair. The other hand was caressing her cheeks while he continued simply staring into her eyes… with Willow feeling that he was looking right into her soul.
"I know you're not here," said Willow as Oz tilted his head and a small smile appeared, "I know you're buried deep underground in Sunnydale, but I'd like to think you're looking over me. I like to think you're close. I killed Spike, and Drusilla's going to be burning and screaming for another month; I've avenged you and I've killed one of the people who watched me get tortured, one of the ones who probably was around when Angelus ordered your death. But Angel? I had my chance to kill him. He did unspeakable things to me and… and I couldn't kill him."
Oz leaned down and kissed Willow's lips softly before pulling back with a smile.
"What are you trying to tell me?" she asked looked up at the young man, "that I should kill him?"
Willow gave a small smile as Oz frowned.
"So I don't kill him," whispered Willow as she looked away while Oz kissed her cheek, "maybe Tara's right. I shouldn't forgive him, and I shouldn't forget, but I have to find a way to move on. She said that I've already had my confrontation with him, and that I won. I won by not killing him… that my humanity won out because I didn't kill the wrong person. That I didn't kill Angel instead of Angelus. If his soul was gone, I would have killed him, OZ. He would be dust instead of being mentally tortured."
Willow recalled Tara gently telling her that from what she understood, Angel and Angelus were completely different people. Willow remembered listening that Angel would always remember what he did… it was something he did to a very good friend and it would haunt him for the rest of his long life.
"And maybe that's enough," said Tara a few months ago as she leaned forward while Willow remembered looking out the window at Althanea's house where they used to have these therapy sessions.
Back in the present day, Willow looked up at the silent Oz and whispered, "maybe Tara's right, it should be enough that he suffers every day. And if I did kill him, the Buffy and the others wouldn't ever forgive me. Or they would try to stop me and… and I would lash out and… and I would do… do terrible things, Oz."
"But you didn't," 'Oz' said as Willow smiled before taking a deep breath and then looking to the left side where she saw Tara sleeping soundly on the bed opposite her. The blonde was covered under a blanket before Willow looked back up at Oz, "what do I do now? Buffy has Riley, Faith has Graham, Giles has Jenny… and yes, I'm calling her Jenny since technically I'm little over a thousand years older than her. Joyce is dating that Brian guy; leaving me, Tara, and Althanea the only single people in the City of Love."
The vision of Oz told Willow that she had to move on in every way; from her anger, from her loss, and from her love for him, to new experiences.
"Hey! Willow!" yelled a female's voice as the smiling face of Oz vanished, as did the surrounding area and the sleeping form of Tara. Willow felt the soft mattress she was lying on shaking while hearing the sounds of two girls screaming. Willow opened her eyes to bright sunlight streaming through a gap in the curtains hitting Tara's yellow hair as she sat up, her back facing Willow while Faith was jumping at the end of her bed. The white haired young woman then turned to see Buffy jumping up and down on her bed. Willow rolled off the bed and landed on her feet while Buffy grinned.
"Buff!" cried Willow covering her ears, her eyes still groggy because of the jet lag before looking at the bedside clock, "it's… oh dear God it's only seven in the morning."
"I know," chuckled Buffy as she flipped herself off the bed and landed onto the floor. Tara placed an arm around Faith's shoulder, who also landed on the floor, and whispered 'show off'. Willow walked around her bed before Buffy wrapped her arm around hers. Buffy then nudged Willow's arm with her shoulder before saying that this was the day of her anniversary.
Faith reminded Willow that she had been planning this day for months, "and while you're with your memories of Oz. Me and B here are gonna go get some dates for both Tara and Althanea."
"Faith," whined Tara with her eyebrows raised in surprised while shaking her head, "I.. I don't think I want to…"
"Take it easy, Tara," said Buffy as Tara released a sigh of relief at the interruption, "take a deep breath. Willow's going to be busy the whole day, which leaves you, me, and the others to head out for some sight-seeing."
"Mr. Giles said he's taking us to the Louvre first," said Tara shyly nodding her head as she sat on her bed while Faith folded her arms over her chest and murmured that her first Watcher, Dina Dormer, wanted to take her to the Louvre a week before she was killed. Willow looked at the young woman and gave a small smile. Over the past few months, she had started getting familiar with Faith, Anya, and Tara… the three of whom she barely knew just after returning from Hell. But they had been getting closer ever since the death of Borzan.
Buffy approached Willow and reminded her to get ready; that she didn't want her to be late for her 'date' with Oz.
"Thanks," Willow whispered as Buffy hugged her tight. Over the past few months thanks to sessions with Tara, Willow and Buffy were slowly but surely repairing their strained friendship. The both of them even went together a few times when Tara wanted them to discuss Willow hiding her powers from her and the Scoobies, as well as hiding her nightly activities as Nighthawk more than a year ago. Over time, it seemed to Willow that the bond between her and Buffy started to strengthen more with each passing day. Back in the hotel room, Buffy whispered in Willow's ear that she wanted the redhead to relay a message to Oz.
"Tell him I said I'm sorry," whispered the Slayer before she parted and looked into Willow's eyes.
"He'll say it wasn't your fault," replied Willow softly as they placed their forehead's against each other. It was a few seconds later that Buffy and Faith, including Tara, headed for the room that Buffy and Faith were sharing in the attached suite next door. They opened the door, and then went into the room before closing the door behind them; leaving Willow alone.
Even though she and Tara were sharing a room together, Willow was uncomfortable changing in front of her. The former redhead didn't want the blonde witch to see the scars all over her body; in fact, she didn't want anyone to see the scars while she whispered at the image of Oz standing behind her to look away.
"I can't," said 'Oz' who was sitting on the bed. Willow looked at him, and then walked away while taking her tank-top off. Willow looked over her shoulder and gave a small while at 'Oz' whose lips was turned up into a smile as he leaned forward, "I love you just as you are, Willow. I always will."
"You're just saying that because you're just a figment of my imagination," Willow said softly while 'Oz' chuckled before saying that she was "absolutely right."
"But then again," 'Oz' reminded Willow as he got up off the bed. The young man walked towards Willow and cupped her cheeks with his hands and said, "you know that the real me would never reject you."
Willow stifled a smile as she took off her shorts while 'Oz' whistled. The former redhead then chuckled before she entered the washroom, and then the shower. Closing the shower door behind her, Willow turned the shower on to a warm setting as steam quickly frosted the glass. Willow looked to her left and saw that the figment version of Oz was gone, and then she turned to look at the front tiled wall. Willow looked up at the shower head before taking a step forward and felt the water hit her face and then cascade down her cheeks to the rest of her body. While Willow was taking aa shower, Tara was in Buffy and Faith's room with the blonde Slayer asking Tara if she was ever going to tell Willow that she was interested in her.
"Buffy!" cried Tara while Faith sniggered before heading into the washroom.
"If she comes with us to the club tonight," said Buffy sheepishly, "then she'll find out that you're into girls and… well, how do you think the both of us found out that you're into girls?"
Tara couldn't help but chuckle at the first time she, Buffy, Faith, Xander, and Anya went out to the Bronze. It was when Willow was in Devon; and that night Buffy had been dancing with a complete stranger. As was Faith. It would be when Buffy and Faith were tired that they headed back to the table, and pointed out a few guys for Tara to dance with. Tara didn't realize it until finding out much later, but Buffy and Faith noticed that her eyes were shifting from the young men they were trying to direct her towards. Instead, she was occasionally staring at the waitresses who were serving them their drinks, or two young women at the bar, or a blonde dancing with a few other girls on the dance floor.
When Faith jokingly said that she could try convincing one of the girls to dance with Tara, the blonde witch snapped her head forward the dark-haired slayer and opened her eyes wide. Tara's head was shaking 'no' while her face turned beet red when she believed that Faith found out the truth. However, Tara's reaction just confirmed the subject of Faith's teasing statement; that Tara was really into girls. Ever since then, Buffy and Faith were her wing-women, directing her to one girl after another.
Tara, however, never clicked with any of them. And Tara had an idea why.
Tara never told Buffy, Faith, or any of the other Scoobies, but she remembered her mother telling her that everyone in this life had a soulmate. Sarah, Tara's mother, couldn't find hers and so settled with her boyfriend, who eventually became her husband and Tara's father. Tara witnessed first-hand how her father treated her and Sarah when compared to her brother and the other female cousins on her father's side of the family. The two of them were treated like outsiders, like demons because of their gifts, while the female cousins were treated with reverence. Back in the present day, as Tara listened to Buffy saying how the girls in Paris could be different than the girls in Sunnydale, she thought back to what her mother whispered just before dying of cancer.
"Hold out hope, Tara," Sarah told her daughter while holding her hand. Sarah had asked for privacy… that her husband and son leave her alone with her daughter. Tara's father didn't like it one bit, but he still left with Donnie out the door and into the hallway outside the room. Tara looked into her mother's eyes with tears in her eyes, and listened as Sarah told her to not simply settle for the first person she meets, "you'll find your soul-mate, Tara… my shining star. You'll find someone who fits you…. and you'll fit him. The both of you will complete each other; but you just need to wait. Promise me."
"I promise," Tara whispered before leaning down and kissing her mother's forehead.
"When you come of age," Sarah said while holding Tara's hand, "find your way out. Leave this place and make your way in the world in complete freedom. Don't let your father or Donnie stop you."
"I.. I won't, momma," rasped Tara as she tried to hold back her tears. She could sense that her mother was fighting to stay in this life, to finish what she wanted to tell her daughter before leaving for the next world.
"I…. I have… have papers in the music box," said Sarah referring to the music box that Tara bought for her birthday several years ago, after saving up some money from doing chores in the neighbourhood, "I… I have acc… account… your father doesn't know about. Some… some inheritance from… from your grandmother. I.. I leave for you."
"Momma?" asked Tara.
"It… it's yours when I die," she whispered as Tara's eyes went wide, "leave this place, my shining star. Leave these people when you are able."
Tara remembered her mother, just before breathing her last, opened her eyes at Tara wide. Tara felt her mother's hand squeezing her own hand tightly before whispering, "I see… I see now. The.. the both of you… so bright. So… bright…, so…. Bright…"
"Momma?" whispered Tara as she felt her mother's hand loosen and then fall limp onto the bed. All the machines taking her vital signs started to beep loudly as Tara cried for her mother whose eyes were still open while looking straight at her, "Momma!"
Back in the present-day Tara shook her head while Buffy was starting at her concerned. The blonde Slayer told Tara that she looked as if she was a million miles away just as the door to the washroom opened up and Faith walked out with a towel covering her body and another towel around her hair. Tara told Buffy that she was just thinking about what her mother would say if she knew that she had gone to Paris with some friends.
"She'd say, 'Party on!'" smirked Faith as she shimmed her shoulders while swaying her hips. Buffy and Tara chuckled when Faith grinned before drying her hair with the towel. At the same time, Buffy whispered at Tara, asking if she was really doing alright. Tara nodded her head, and then the blonde Slayer got up just as there was a knock on the door leading to their suite.
"Yeah, Will, come on in," said Buffy who stood up off the bed while the door opened up and Willow walked into the room. The white haired young woman was wearing a pair of black jeans and a long sleeved and high collared turquoise blouse as she waved at Buffy and Tara, who smiled back at her asking if she was ready to leave.
"Yea," replied Willow as Tara got up off the bed, "sorry about being a bit anal about the whole 'I don't like changing in front of others' thing. But.. I mean… I've got the scars and…"
"I understand," said Tara nodding her head. Willow smiled back at the young blonde witch, and then turned to Buffy and Faith, telling the both of them that she was going to be heading out. Willow then turned to Tara and said that she'll see her and the others later in the evening.
"Meet us at the Monseigneur Club," said Faith pronouncing the name of the club in a husky voice while Willow, Buffy, and Tara chuckled, "we'll have some fun after your date?"
"How about tomorrow all of us head out together?" asked Willow, "I was thinking that I'd just like this day for myself and… well, and for Oz. Tomorrow, we'll head for the Moulin Rouge."
"We can do that," said Buffy before she hugged Willow again. The former redhead placed her hands-on Buffy's back and held her tight for a few seconds before breaking the hug. Willow looked at a waving Faith, and then at Tara who seemed to quickly look away before looking back at her once again. Willow didn't give it any mind as she told Tara that the room they shared was now exclusively hers.
"Again, sorry, Tara," said Willow.
"It's understandable, Willow," replied the blonde witch. She then turned and told Buffy and Faith that she was going to go take a shower. She mentioned that Faith should wake up Giles and Jenny, and that she would wake up Althanea. The two Slayers nodded their heads before Tara turned to look at Willow before telling her that she hoped this would be a day to remember for her.
Willow then nodded her head before waving at them. She then turned and opened the door to Buffy's room. Willow then walked out into the hallway and closed the door behind her, while Tara headed back into the room they shared. Smiling, she looked at the image of the orange-haired young man who smiled back at her.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Let's go," Willow replied as she walked down the hallway with her hands in her pockets. To Willow, Oz was walking beside her with his arm around her waist; but to anyone else, the young woman was walking down the hallway by herself with a gentle smile on her face.
TBC.