Hey readers! Fast update huh? Must have reached a speed record there. (( checks stop watch))I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT! Today was the last day of school for me as well as the 1 year anniversary of LUNAR PHASES! Yes… I started this fic one year ago thinking it would be all of 2 chapters and totally non complicated… o how wrong was I? Now it's one of my life's obsessions and making it's way quickly to the top of my list. This however is a bad thing… I have about 5 other fics I've been totally IGNORING and people are getting pissed. BUT ALL IS GOOD BECAUSE I HAVE TIME, 2 MONTHS OF FREEDOM HERE I COME!

I ALSO MUST THANK MY REVIEWERS AND BETA ! THEY MADE ME KEEP WRITING EVEN IF I HAVE EXAMS AND SHOULD REALLY BE STUDING… THANK YOU FOR HELPING THE STUPID TEXTBOOKS NOT TURN MY BRAIN TO MUSH! ((TAKES OUT ICECREAM AND TOSSES AT WONDERFUL SHINY REVIEWERS/ EVERGREEN-BABY))

DISCLAIMER: There once was a man named Joss, he was always the head boss… he created a copyright and a plot and now he is making money. I however am a lonely serf in Joss land and do not own one smidgen of his money or plot… but am borrowing it for my own unworthy devices and pleasure. I OWN, JAY, SASHA, JAKE, AND THE COMPLETE DUMB ASS BLADE. So there, nuhnuhnuh!

I also don't own or profit off anything written or owned by the band COUNTING CROWS or the song 'ROUND HERE' however good that song may be. I COWER BEFORE THE BAND'S MIGHTY GAZE…

Whispers in a small voice: please don't sue, I'm so poor I can't even afford a nickel…

WITHOUT FURTHER ADU:

Chapter 8: Dropping The Bomb.

Later that night…

Willow was now feeling that tingling feeling more than ever; it was everywhere, between her fingers and behind her ears. She knew what to expect now and was less afraid. Not really calmer though, Jay had told her not to fight it at all that night, just to watch and not to panic. This would prove difficult, that went without saying. It also proved almost impossible, she couldn't help it, it was instinct by now, but she would try; she thought to herself squaring her jaw.

She was worried about Jay, ever since he had gotten off the phone he had been quiet, well, she thought biting her lip; quiet for Jay. She started wondering what the phone call could have been about. It was eating at her slowly and she finally decided to confront him about it. She was starting to get worried.

Jay came back into the room; he had been waking up Oz who had decided to take a nap before the change. Willow had done so too, only to wake up an hour later covered in a cold sweat, the tingling in her fingers pulling her back from a deep sleep. She had gotten up to find Jay pacing the kitchen and taken the tea he had offered along with the same herbs she had last night.

When she caught Jay's eyes he smiled slightly and told her Oz would be out in a few. Willow nodded and was quiet for a second before motioning towards the porch. Jay frowned but followed her out the door. When the door was completely closed she asked, "Can Oz hear us from here? Even if he tried?"

Jay frowned and shook his head looking thoroughly confused "If we talk quietly he won't, but why?" Jay asked taking up a lawn chair and motioning for Willow to do the same. "What's up?" Willow asked though she already knew the answer already. Jay looked away his foot twitched. "Nothing." He said quietly.

"Ever since you talked to Jake you've been quieter. What happened." Willow asked trying hard not to pry too hard. Jay didn't say anything. "Is it Blade?" Willow asked in a whisper. Jay reeled around on her, wide-eyed. "How do you know?" He asked finally. Willow was caught off guard, she wasn't expecting this question, what was she supposed to say, her mind reeled; finally she blurted out "Buffy, I called Buffy."

Jay nodded it made sense. "Yeah, I sent Jake down to help out the Sunnydale crew, apparently Blade has pulled this into a full war." Jay said quietly. The heat of the situation coming back to him, and he glanced up towards Oz's window nervously. Willow nodded remembering how Oz had described Blade and hoping Buffy and the gang were safe.

Jay sighed and then decided to spill the rest. "Then I got a call from Blade himself, he said if we didn't get in town soon innocents were gonna die." He said even more quietly. Willow paled. "What about the others?" She blurted out. "Jake's bringing some people with him, that's all we can do with out the monks so far." Jay said only half-truthfully and giving her a wry smile. Willow nodded slightly more re-assured. "What about Oz?" She asked. "We have to tell him soon. Like tomorrow, I don't like leaving him un-aware but I don't know what he's going to do." Even as he spoke it the words felt so melancholy, Oz never acted un-rash, but he wasn't sure anymore. Not after Sasha died, not after being the wolf for so long.

Oz padded onto the porch holding a cup of juice, and glanced from one friend to the next sensing the tension, an eyebrow slowly went up and disappeared behind his blue hair. Jay smiled and motioned towards the seat behind him, but Oz shook his head and motioned towards the full moon, which was rising over the trees in the darkening sky. Jay wheeled around and faced Willow. She was sweating slightly and shaking a little but smiled at them both finally. Both men raised their eyebrows. Jay's breath caught, he had never seen someone so strong, well other than Sasha. "Go to the woods and stop fighting it, do what we talked about this afternoon." Jay said getting up, he couldn't believe he had forgotten the time.

Willow got up and gazed at the silver moon, it almost called to her, it was intoxicating. She got up and slowly as if floating walked towards the woods. The song that she had heard later that afternoon filled her ears as she tried to keep on her feet as the convulsions started, the trees swayed in the spicy night breeze and the dew on the grass wet her bare feet. She felt like she owned that place.

Step out the front door like a ghost
into the fog where no one notices
the contrast of white on white.

She felt almost delirious as the wolf fought with her rational mind and she slowly entered the woods. Her eyes swam and the pain started coming in waves, she wasn't sure where the boys were but, in that second it was only her and her demons one on one in the closed ring of her mind.

And in between the moon and you
the angels get a better view
of the crumbling difference between wrong and right.

The line between life and death felt like a blur, although she knew she was now immortal it felt like death was coming and it loomed over her like a hungry lion. One only a wolf could bring down. Suddenly, her mind filled with images of Tara, hot tears welled up in the back of her eyes as another wave of pain hit. She staggered as she hit the forest floor.


I walk in the air between the rain,
through myself and back again.
Where? I don't know
Maria says she's dying.
Through the door, I hear her crying
Why? I don't know

Oz and Jay watched from the porch both were temporarily speechless. "She really is a trooper isn't she?" Jay asked as he stared, he blinked and she had disappeared into the cover of the thick trees. Oz shook his head, "No kidding…" He said in a voice barely audible. Jay cocked his head in Oz's direction, he was wearing the barest of smiles his eyes were glittering. Jay recognized the smile and his brows shot up yet again.

Round here we always stand up straight
Round here something radiates

Willow was sobbing now the pain was un-bearable. The forest floor was soft but twigs pinched her back in the most uncomfortable of places. She hardly took notice. She felt like pulling her heart out and ringing it out from all the un-spilt tears she had accumulated over the years, and now, especially now she missed Tara the most. Her body contorted and she heard bones snapping like twigs, hair started to grow, her jaw broke and elongated as her teeth burst through her gums. She yearned for the feather soft touch, her soft rose scented hands and her beautiful smile; Tara's beautiful smile. A lump rose in her throat and once again hot tears streaked down her cheeks. Her vertebrae spiked and cut through her skin and her hips moved until they faced the ground sweat dripped off her forehead and onto the forest floor her whole body shook and shone with perspiration against the risen moon. Suddenly the pain stopped.

Maria came from Nashville with a suitcase in her hand
She said she'd like to meet a boy who looks like Elvis
She walks along the edge of where the ocean meets the land
Just like she's walking on a wire in the circus
She parks her car outside of my house,
takes her clothes off,
Says she's close to understanding Jesus
She knows she's more that just a little misunderstood
She has trouble acting normal when she's nervous

She blinked a few times in an attempt to clear the blur. When that was gone all that remained was a dull ache. She glanced up at her hand, expecting to see just that; instead she saw a ginger paw, the size of a dinner plate. She gasped, or rather wheezed, her voice box was now so limited. There was nothing left to cry for now, she couldn't remember. She got off of the forest floor and a growl left her thick lips.

Round here we're carving out our names
Round here we all look the same
Round here we talk just like lions
But we sacrifice like lambs
Round here she's slipping through my hands

There was something different in the breeze that night something new. Smokey and spicy all the leaves fluttered in it calmly soothing the chill of the night. Birds fled the trees over head as Jay and Oz walked slowly and quietly through the peaceful woods. Well, they were peaceful for now. Oz thought with a wry smile. Jay glanced over at him from his right and chuckled softly, "Ready for another go?" He asked with a shake of his head, motioning towards where Willow entered the forest, he glanced down at Oz's wrist. Oz held it up, it was far less blue and looked just about normal for puffiness. "Not that you're going to listen to me or anything as smart as that, but try and keep off it will yah?" Jay said giving Oz a playful shove. Oz mock rolled his eyes before motioning for them to split up and begin the change.

Sleeping children got to run like the wind
Out of the lightning dream
Mama's little baby better get herself in
Out of the lightning

Slowly the Willow wolf paced the clearing waiting for a change in scenery to come upon her, she could smell others, they were coming. Faster until she was a blur through the trees she made her way to the familiar scents. Running now entered the clearing she remembered from the previous night. There stood a male, a chocolate colour, a silver stripe gleamed across his chest and he snorted in her direction.

She says, "It's only in my head."
She says, "Shhh...I know it's only in my head."

She snorted back and circled him for a second surveying her adversary, sizing him up. Finally, she deemed him worthy of being in her presence and moved on, if he was coming he would follow, never the other way around. It pleased her immensely when she heard his loud footsteps behind her following he back into the cover of the woods. She moved onto the next clearing a good 60 meters away and entered cautiously. In the center of that one lay a sandy coloured wolf, he was slightly smaller than her and the other male. A low growl entered her throat and echoed off the trees. The wolf got up with a start.


But the girl on the car in the parking lot
says: "Man, you should try to take a shot
Can't you see my walls are crumbling."

A growl escaped its mouth and she backpedaled a few feet in surprise, she was the ruler here and if she couldn't have that she might as well leave. Stay. She started again, what was that? She wondered, where had it come from? She sat down confused before she snorted and ran off. Why listen to that?

Then she looks up at the building
and says she's thinking of jumping.
She says she's tired of life;
she must be tired of something.

She heard the two just behind her as she flew through the woods, finally she stopped looking back to see the brown male right behind her and the Sandy coloured male trotting up from the bushes. Both wolves' tongues lolled from their mouths and the males cocked their heads playfully. She snorted again and with a swish of her feathery tail walked right in-between them and back from where she first came. She stopped all of a sudden when she caught a whiff of something different in the air. An animal, a, she sniffed again, a rabbit. Her stomach growled and she stalked after her prey. The males spread out behind her and watched covered both her flanks as she perused the smell of the rabbit. The food.

Round here she's always on my mind
Round here I got lots of time
Round here we're never sent to bed early
Nobody makes us wait
Round here we stay up very very late

Soon, she was right behind it and it hadn't even clued into her presence. Its white tail shone in the moonlight as she crawled in her belly silently even closer. The males did the same coming from both sides. She made sure both wouldn't bolt after her rabbit before running and pouncing. She missed by inches and ended up with a face full of old leaves. The brown male snorted softly and it shot after the rabbit, in hot pursuit. The sandy wolf however, lay down on the ground and watched lazily as the other male chased the rabbit down.

She waited licking her lips for a second before walking casually into the rabbits frantic path and scooping it up by the neck with her teeth. Casually, like it was the 100th time, she tore it's throat out. Sounded brutal, but it was fast, the rabbit probably felt nothing.

The brown male skidded to a halt and cocked his head, his tongue lolled out and he sat down in front of her and the other male and waited for his shot at the meat. The sandy male got up and left the scene before coming back moments later with his own kill. Another rabbit.

After they had finished their bloody meal the sandy coloured wolf left once again and came back at a jog. He then took a leap into the air and landed on her back, she let out a low growl before flipping him over and pinning him down, the tussle happened for a few more minutes before they both felt an overwhelming weight flop on top of them with a victorious grunt. The chocolate coloured wolf had joined in the fun. Now all three of them raced through the trees taunting each other with flicks of a tail beyond the closest tree and racing there to find nothing but a wolf ready to pounce.

Soon they tired and settled in together for the rest of the night.

Oz Stared up at the clear night sky, if he was guessing correctly it was around 4:00 in the morning, a smirk crossed his face, the witching hour. He glanced over at the two sleeping wolves beside him and a genuine smile swept onto his face. He turned back over and stared back up to the sky, a big gray cloud wisped slowly across the deep blue, star dotted oblivion. Somehow this always filled him with comfort.

Leaves whispered to themselves as warm spicy breeze tickled through his blue hair and lifted each leaf from its place on a branch far above him. The brook just behind them babbled as the clean clear water passed over the pebbles on the bottom. Somewhere up in the canopy of trees and owl hooted and took off with a light flap. Even though most people were asleep life went on un disrupted by politics and war, pollution was just a word in the dictionary for Oz right now, it meant nothing

He felt happy, and for the first time in a long time he felt completely content with his life. For the first time in what felt like ages, even with the overwhelming pain in his chest every time he took in breath didn't even bother him; let alone fill him with regret about how he acquired said pain.

He heard a soft moan and turned to see the Willow wolf turning over slightly, her legs twitched with dreams of the run. Chasing some un-seen foe. Oz's stomach did a summersault and hummed pleasantly. It was a familiar feeling, one he wasn't used to having after Sasha's death. The kind of quivering anxiety that made his heart skip every time she spoke, or if he caught her scent in the air.

He still loved her, he had always loved her, if she was with him or not. Maybe not with the same volume, or on the same level, but he had always loved her, be it a friend or a partner. This however, didn't and never would mean that he had forgotten about Sasha, she would always remain in his heart, looking over his shoulder, he would never forget her. She was his true love, the one stolen from his grasp. He closed his eyes and let out a painful sigh.

He felt like he was going explode, he loved Willow, he knew that, looking at her, even now in wolf form she was making his stomach flop. Her dark red/ginger coat gleamed in the starlight, her eyelids fluttered as she dreamed, white highlights in her fur shone like the veins in an ebony stone. But Sasha's memory clung to him like a tight embrace, making his every move a cautious one. He was devoted to her on a means more than what life could throw at him. A wolf mated for life, and Sasha had been the only one he had ever associated that with.

Even as he thought this his feelings about Willow blinded him. All the emotion he had felt about her was coming back full force. He wanted so desperately to forget all that had happened the past five-ish years and go back to his high school sweet heart. However, he knew better and his mind wouldn't allow him to be tricked by his heart. She was different; she had changed, lost the one she loved as he had. He wasn't even sure if she was feeling the same way and yet. That night looking over at her, he couldn't seem to find the energy to care. Laying on his back staring up at the stars, a blanket of peace fell across him and it seemed to him that he had no cares in the world.

Jay let out a snort beside him and groaned as he rolled over onto his back. Willow shivered slightly despite the warm night and the large coat a wiry fur; the visions filling her sleep still seemed to bring a chill to her that even the wolf couldn't remedy. Oz glanced around for something to cover her with but the search proved fruitless, finally he gave into temptation and lay down beside her. His body heat would have to do. He was still worried about her, nonetheless she was doing exceedingly well.

The distant sound of a cell phone woke Jay up from a deep sleep. He groaned as he rolled over. He was sprawled belly up on his back naked staring up at overcast sky white clouds made up a blanket for the sky overhead. He glanced over to his right, only to see two other naked bodies lying beside him. Willow was curled up, using Oz's chest as a pillow. A smiled crossed his face as he thought about how they would get out of that sticky situation when they awakened. Slowly he sat up and rubbed his head, shaking the leaves off the backside and was stirred out of lesbian/best friend scenarios from another ring of his cell phone.

He sighed, however much he wanted to be around to see them wake up; he knew that he should fear the wrath of two groggy people woken up by the sound of a ring tone that just happened to be 'Stacy's Mom.'

He got up slowly and trudged towards his clothes. He picked up his pants and shook them off before going into his back pocket and taking out his phone. He flipped it open with one hand and used the other to pull on his pants.

"Hello?" He asked into the phone, he tried to stay quiet and trekked even farther into the woods to avoid waking up the 'couple'. The phone sounded like it was fumbled with and turned picked up. "Jay?" An angry voice snarled.

"That's my name. Who am I talking to?" Jay asked slightly confused. He heard the sound of a bottle falling and the person on the other line swore. "Spike?" Jay asked recognizing the accent. "Who the bloody hell did you think you were talking to? The queen of bloody England perhaps?" Spike slurred drunkenly, the line buzzed and crackled.

"Is something wrong?" Jay asked cautiously. An angry laugh that turned into a cough sent static through the phone. "You never told us this was going to be a fucking war wolf boy." Came the growl of an answer, obviously, he was very drunk and really pissed. "What happened?" Jay asked concerned and trying to get an answer. "They got her. They took her and now she's gone, it's your fault." Spike snarled, his speech slurring even more as Jay heard him pick up the bottle again and take another swig.

Jay reeled. "Who? Who did they get?" He asked hoping to god it wasn't one of the scoobies. "They got Buffy!" Spike choked. A sob was let loose from Spike's throat, Jay heard the bottle shatter and the line went dead. Jay dropped the phone and it fell to the ground with a light thunk. Not again, I promised never again. That's when he noticed Oz and Willow standing on the edge of the clearing. Both were pale and Willow had tears in her eyes. They had heard everything.

"Who's got Buffy?" Oz asked stepping forward, his face looked ashen against the dark green of the trees. He was wearing only a pair of baggy jeans. Willow was in an extra long tee shirt; her hand went up to her mouth slowly.

Jay looked away, he froze, he couldn't do it, he couldn't tell his best friend the truth when it was staring him in the face. He was a coward. "What war?" Oz questioned further his eyes darkening slightly and he turned on Willow now, who was still utterly stunned.

"Blade." Jay finally spoke up, he raised his chin slightly with all the will he had in his body and looked into Oz's eyes; they darkened fully for a split second before he started walking towards the cabin, "Explain on the way there. We'll take the van." He muttered, as he walked, ran his hand through his hair.

Willow didn't have to see his face to know that it was falling apart. She could smell it in the air, see it in his body language and feel it in her heart. She glanced over at Jay who was sheet pale, his mouth hung open and he started to jog to catch up to Oz, who was already half way towards the van. Willow followed hesitantly, biting her nails, and she thought she had gotten rid of that habit. But, Willow glanced up at Oz, who had his face in his hands; old habits had a way of coming back.

THERE YOU ARE! Short and cliffhanger-ie! Oh how you people must loath me… I guess I shouldn't have told you guys that I was going to make this chapter longer then decided to leave you all in suspense… Oh and I thought after the last LOOOOONNNNGGGGG chapter you might need a chapter you guys can all read in one sitting… ((Apologizes profusely)) tell me what you think gimme ideas or discuss this chapter in general… INPUT MAKES ME HAPPY!review… blueish/purple box left hand side ((points))

CUDOS

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