Oz's decision to leave the Scooby Gang and seek a cure for his werewolfism after he cheated on Willow with a fellow werewolf and then killed her to protect Willow when the other werewolf attacked her, left the group stunned. Xander went to speak to him before he left and then went to talk to Willow, who was being comforted by Buffy, Cordelia and Faith. Good, that meant he wouldn't have to repeat himself.
"This isn't so much about you, Willow, as it is about Oz. Unlike Cordy and me, who feel comfortable and natural with our state, Oz has never felt comfortable with his. His aunt and cousin do, but his cousin was born a werewolf and his aunt has been one for a long time. She went thru her own struggles and arrived at acceptance a long time ago. Oz has never gotten to acceptance and if that was his goal, Connie or his aunt could help with that. But between Halloween, where his fear of hurting you manifested and this other werewolf, who deliberately triggered the werewolf in Oz to respond to her, Oz is freaking out. That leaves him with one option as far he's concerned. Find a cure or a way to repress the wolf completely. To do that he has to leave, he's read thru everything Giles has on werewolfism and questioned Giles and found nothing that helps him. He doesn't want to hurt you, but finds he is hurting you. So he's leaving. I reminded him that the longer he's gone, the freer your heart will be to find someone else to love. He hates the idea, but knows asking you to wait, when it could be years or even never, before he finds what he's looking for, is letting you go so you can be happy."
"Right now, I just feel like I'm dying!" Willow moaned.
"I know, but you're not alone, Willow. Your family is here with you. We'll get you thru this. And if we can't, Jenny, Joyce and Connie are also here to help. You're strong, you'll survive."
"You really think I'm strong, Xander?"
"Yes, I do."
"Oh. Connie said you like strong women, I guess she was right, you really do see me as a sister, but aren't knocking my strength."
"I told you I see as a sister, Willow. And you and Buffy are my sisters. That's not going to change."
"What about me, X? How do you see me?" Faith asked.
"Cordy's best friend and a hunting partner."
Faith grinned and said. "I can live with that. Means you trust me."
"We trust each other, Faith. I'm well aware that it's not easy for you to trust."
"Yeah well, let's get back to helping Red feel better. How does this work anyway? I've never broken up with a guy or helped a friend deal."
"Well, there's drowning our sorrows in ice cream, followed by trash talking guys and shopping." Buffy said.
"I'm going to go raid a vampire nest, far less scary! Bye!" And Xander practically left a contrail as he exited stage left, leaving the girls giggling.
"Should we add Thanksgiving to our list of banned holidays?" Xander asked as they realized a construction worker, working on a new building for the college, had unleashed a Chumash vengeance spirit. "Because I'm not feeling in the mood for turkey right now. Willow, regardless of how the Spanish treated the Chumash, that has nothing to do with what's happening now. Does the spirit have a right to be mad? Yes. Does he have a right to take out that anger on unsuspecting people who in no way had anything to do with what happened to his people? No. Do you have a right to feel compassion for people who suffered? Yes. Do you have a right to force your point of view on others? No. Buffy, stop being a holiday nazi, okay. I get that you're hoping to have one good holiday, but we've got a vengeance spirit to deal with right now. So let's go explain to this spirit, with sharp knives if we have to, that him killing innocent people to avenge the deaths of other innocent people is just compounding the problem. Then maybe I'll feel up to turkey again."
"Okay, fine, but I think you need to take a cultural sensitivity class, Xander." Willow told him.
"Why? You're sensitive enough for all of us. Tick tock, vengeance spirit to deal with." Cordelia said. "I would like to get to the turkey portion of this day, myself."
The gang found the vengeance spirit as he about to go after someone else. Their attempt to explain that the people he was killing were innocent wasn't well received, so sharp knives were necessary to complete their explanation. Afterward they finally got to enjoy the excellent meal Buffy had prepared for them. Willow was still feeling moany about the treatment of the Chumash, but that might actually have been a projection of her own lingering feelings of pain over Oz leaving her.