Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Seven

Claws

A/N Sorry if Willow is a bit OOC in this, I'm trying to fix it. I just keep transfering onto her.

Tibet, the world without shrimp - February 2006

The frustration hit in outbursts. He often had nightmares about the night he was bitten, but when he woke up the anger normally left right away. Oz woke up to a desperate pounding coming from their main living space. He headed straight through the house, "Guy? What do you think you're doing? Are you alright?" Guy turned to him, his eyes were red and puffy like the lychee they had growing outside. There were no tears though. Only anger was fuelling his veins.

Oz approached him cautiously, he didn't know how explosive Guy would be if he touched him. "I-I-I." Guy said, his voice stammering over his words, not entirely sure what he was trying to say. "It just happened."

"What happened Guy?" When he didn't reply, Oz looked around the room, his eyes scanning for anything broken. There was an array of shards at Guy's feet, he must have destroyed something. "Ok Guy don't move, I'm just going to clear up this glass." There was no blood, Guy hadn't cut himself but his fists were bruised. He knew when Bay say this she'd know how to heal him. There would be a pleasant floral smell about the place afterwards.

"I couldn't stop seeing it." Guy said quietly, looming over Oz. He balled his fists and walked away from the wall, his head hanging. He felt ashamed, but he was also angry at himself. Over the week he'd been staying in the monastery he'd been making progress. He sat and meditated in the afternoons under the blossom trees, he was connecting with the earth. His mind was clearing of the past. But at night the nightmares came and tortured him. He saw himself lying in the ditch his father fell in, he saw a thousand bodies of the slain. All piled into the ground, no one to care about them. He was worried about prophecy. The monks had warned him of the power of seers. He didn't want it. He was a nothing, a nobody, he was still a boy. He hadn't told Oz and Bay about this, they had taken him in willingly. And they were so kind, so welcoming, how could be bring this evil into their lives? How could he explain all of that?

"It's fine Oz, please. I'm okay." He said eventually. His face cooling to a more normal complexion. Oz tidied the room and fetched his wife, who took one look at Guy and started gathering ingredients for a tea. Oz took Guy outside and to milk the yak, something mundane to do whilst he figured out what he was going to do.

New Sunnydale, the world without shrimp - February 2006

Buffy and Xander stood on the street opposite the house. It was finally finished. 1630 Revello Drive in stunning second edition. Xander had finished work on it last week and thought Buffy should have the first look before they opened it to the public. The house was supposed to be an exact replica of the 1630 Revello Drive Buffy had lived in before Sunnydale was destroyed. It was built from the surviving blueprints of the town and the Scooby Gang's own memory.

Stepping inside the front door was like stepping back in time. Even the carpets were the same. Buffy walked in first, her hands clasping over her mouth. "Oh Xand, I can't believe it. It's the same, it's the same in every detail." Her hand came to rest of the banister at the bottom of the stairs, she glanced upwards then decided to explore the living room.

"We haven't got all the original photos but we contacted your aunt Darlene and managed to get a few of Joyce, and some of you and Dawn as kids." Xander said, following the slayer through the room. This was emotional for him too, he'd given this house a lot of work but he hadn't had the chance to stand back and let it unfold in front of his eyes. He had done a lot of work on the house when it still standing too, he gave the window frames a look over. He'd had to mend them enough times. He'd also rebuilt the weapons chest he once made Buffy, now it sat at the back of the room.

They entered the kitchen. On the counter was a set of keys, a pack of cookies and a box of mac and cheese. "What? We had to make it accurate?" Xander said, then he smiled and Buffy laughed. He picked up the keys and handed them to her. "When you want to reminisce?" He said. He knew she wouldn't be living here, she couldn't, not after her mom and the last year they'd all spent in this house. To know it was here and that she could visit whenever she wanted would be enough. That's all Xander wanted, to at least feel like he made her feel a little better. His gift to her.

"I love you Xander Harris. And thank you." Buffy said hugging him. "You'll have to give Dawn a tour too, she'll be sad she missed this."

"Oh I fully intend to, but I wanted you to have the first look."

They went upstairs and Buffy found her old room the way it used to be when she moved in. She sat down on the edge of the bed. Her eyes glazed over the room, there were so many memories lurking in the air.

She thought back to high school, to kissing Angel by that window for the first time. The time she first found out that he was a vampire. How many nights she'd spent with Riley in here. All those nights Willow was too scared to sleep alone. They had changed so much and yet they were all the same, she wished things could go back to how they were in high school. When the bad guys were Spike and Drusilla, when she only had to push the Master through a roof for him to die. There was a haunting to her life now, the ghosts of demons past.

But she guessed everything had gone back to how it was, in a topsy-turvy kind of way. She was running around with Spike, making out in cemeteries, like her and Angel had. Willow was working on her spells, nothing innately bad was happening. Yes there were still demons, there would always be demons. But they had help now, a whole army of slayers across the country that were out there dealing with things. Because she was getting too old for this. Twenty five feels like retiring age when you're the slayer.

San Francisco, the world without shrimp - February 2006

Willow ran around the apartment like a crazy woman. Ok, a more crazy woman. She wasn't sure why her nerves were playing up but she had the strongest urge to tidy everything up. Tara stood in the doorway smiling. "What are you doing?" She asked curiously. Willow flustered around for a final few seconds before slumping down onto the couch and faced her girlfriend.

"I am tidying." She replied, huffing out her breath and swinging her feet anxiously against the carpet.

"I can see that. Why are you tidying?" Tara walked over to her and sat down. "You're acting like a three year old hyped up on sugar."

Willow gasped in mock offence, so Tara kissed her cheek lovingly. "I said I'd call Oz today," Willow said. "I know it's been what? Six years since he left and we've been through so much together but he broke my heart once upon a time. I'm just nervous you know. There's nothing romantic between us anymore but he's still Oz."

"Willow, of all the things you've done; fighting demons and vampires, activating every potential slayer in the world, recovering from magic addiction. I'd think you were tough enough for anything now. You are not the same person you were back then, and in any case, it's not a competition. He's not going to ask you to prove how you much you're over him. He probably just wants a friendly chat, a catchup. You said he was always very kind and quiet, I'm sure it'll be fine the minute you start talking." Tara said, her fingers threaded through Willow's as she massaged her thumb. She leaned over her and picked up the phone. She began dialling the number that was written on a post-it then handed it to Willow.

"nO, no no Tara don't."

"You big baby, here it's ringing."

The dialing tone came through loudly on speakerphone and almost vibrated through the apartment. "Hello?" Oz's voice came through the speaker. Willow almost dropped the phone before regaining her composure and answering.

"Hi, this is Willow."

"Oh hey, so how are you?"

The conversation continued like this for some time. Willow told Oz all about her and Tara and what they'd been up to, and then he reciprocated. Telling her all about Bay and the baby and how life was now. But then he got onto the subject of Guy and the words just came stumbling out.

"When he arrived it was all fine. He was training and meditating with Bay a lot, and finding his inner centre. It was going well I think, he was so calm and sensible. Then the other morning, I woke up to screaming, I found him smashing glass. He has these fits of rage, anger. Mood swings. I'm worried about him, I don't want to leave him unsupervised in case something else happens. We've got Keldon to think about. Bay says he'll be fine, he's just processing letting go of his wolf. I'm not so sure. What do you think Will?"

Willow had nodded along to the story, forgetting he couldn't actually see her. She was shocked to him manage a long string of words like this. He used to be so monosyllabic. But they'd all grown up in the last few years.

"I remember having mood swings at the coven. There were days when I couldn't move. I'd be careful with him. But I never hurt anyone, Tara made sure of that." She smiled at Tara who had begun to make dinner because Willow had been on the phone for so long.

"Thanks Will," He replied.

"If you think of anything else, you can call me anytime."

Then Willow put down the phone and beamed. There was a piece of nostalgia being digested inside her. That bright feeling you get when you talk to someone you miss. She put the phone back in its cradle and looked over at Tara. She was frying off some mushrooms in a pan, her back to the rest of the room. Willow got up and walked over to her girlfriend and wrapped her arms around her waist. Tara initially tensed but then relaxed into Willow's arms. "Thank you for making me do that."

"I knew you'd enjoy it," Tara replied.

"I know somewhere deep inside me I will always love him. But I'm not in love with him anymore. I am in love with you though." She turned Tara around and clasped her hands behind her neck. "I am so completely in love with you. Can't think of anything else in love with you." She kissed her gently, taking her time to move over her lips, her tongue flicking out over Tara's lips. Then the pan behind them began to sizzle and spit.

"Oh no," Tara said, breaking the kiss to scoop the mushrooms out of the pan.