Willow left the Bronze in a hurry.
    <He makes me so angry. The motive? The usual, he doesn't see me like a girl! I'm just one
of the guys. God, sometimes I wish I could open his head and look if is there a brain in there,
'cause I'm pretty sure it's *empty*.>

    She left the Bronze, alone, for a walk. She was by the park when she saw the moon, it was
so beautiful and she felt so lonely...
    She was so wrapped on her thoughts, that she missed the two men approaching her. When she
heard a noise, there was no away out. A large hand grabbed her arm and another covered her
mouth. A huge man posted himself in front of her while the other was holding her.

   "Look what we have here." He made a caress in her face and she tried to avoid his touch but
he grabbed her hair.

    "You know that you don't have a escape, so why to fight? Relax, I'm sure you will enjoy it
too."
   He started to open her blouse violently, she heard the noise of the fabric being ripped, but
she didn't dare to look down. The man whistled at the view of her lace bra. She felt her cheeks
burning.

    "Lay her down." The man ordered to the other one. The hand that was covering her mouth
moved to her arm as the man forced her to lay on the ground. She started to scream and the man
slapped her on the face.

    "Stop, that bitch! This is what you were looking for, isn't it? Why you would be walking
here alone at this time, if you weren't wanting to get some?"

    She didn't stop screaming and the man now on top of her started to bang her head on the
ground.

    "Shut up!" She was losing conscience. She wasn't even feeling the pain anymore. The last
thing she felt before everything got black was the weight of the man being suddenly lifted from
her body.

    She couldn't tell how long she had been unconscious, but she was laid under a tree, she was
trying to figure out if she was still alive or not. Relieved that except for a tremendous
headache, the bruising lips 'cause of the man's rough kisses and the side of her face where she
had been slapped that was burning, everything else seemed to be fine. She was looking around
when she heard a male voice.

    "You shouldn't be here alone, it's dangerous."

    She was up at a millisecond, face to face with the most gorgeous man she had ever seen!
Well, maybe not face to face 'cause he was so tall, it was more like face to chest. But he was
looking down at her, so they were face to face.

    "I know, but I had a need to be alone." She realized how rude she sounded and dropped her
head, totally ashamed by her behaving.

    When she lifted her head, she was surprised to see that he was smiling at her. She was
afraid of making him upset. For some reason, she wanted him to stay with her.

    <My need to be alone? Totally forgotten.>

    "What? Don't be ashamed of saying the truth, Little one. Although those two didn't seem to
get your message."

    She looked around scared. Seeing that they were alone, she relaxed. Then she looked down at
her body and nestled in the coat that now covered her ripped clothes.

    "But I'm pretty sure they got mine." He gave a mischievous smile.

    She was nervous for being next to a man, but she was pretty sure that he was the one who
had stoped her attackers.

    "Thank you" She whispered to him.

    He just nodded at her.

    "How are you feeling? I think we should go to a hospital, to check if everything is ok."

    She shook her head no.

    "I don't want to go to the hospital. I... I'm ok, there's no need to go there."

    He didn't look very sure of that and she had the feeling that he was not going to give up
easy.

    "I don't want to go to the hospital, 'cause they're going to ask what happened."

    "So, do you preffer to go to the police first?"

    "I'm *not* going to the police."

    "You're kidding, right? You *have* to go."

    "I don't have to do anything. I don't want to talk about this with anyone."

    "I can't believe in you! Are you going to let those men free to do that again?"

    She stopped and thought about what he'd said. It was not just about her, other women could
go through the same situation, because she refused to talk.

    "Ok, I'll go to the police tomorrow."

    "I'm glad that you decided to do the right thing."

    A silence fell between them.

    "Do you wanna to call someone? Your parents? A friend?"

    "No. I'm not ready to talk now. And would appreciate if you could keep it to yourself."

    "Deal. But if don't go to the police...."

    "I'll. I just need sometime."

    <She looks so lost, but at least she dropped the defensive atittude.>

    "May I walk you home?"

    Willow looked at him not sure about what to say. He had saved her life, but she didn't know
him. It didn't seem to be a good idea. She tought that it would be good to know him a little
more before letting him know where she lived at.

    "I would like to rest for a few minutes. I don't feel like walking right now."

    They sat on a bench. He looked at her and she held her breath during his inspection. Their
eyes met and she saw how beautiful his eyes were, they had such wisdom and some kind of
sadness. She had never seen so much of a person just by looking into his eyes, she felt like if
she had knew him for her whole life.

    "You are new, here. Aren't you?"

    "Yes. I arrived yesterday."

    "Are you going to live here?"

    "I don't know. Maybe. It depends of the result of a meeting that I have to attend to
tomorrow night."

    He asked her about the city, how it was, if she had always lived here. He asked about her
family and friends. He was so interested in her life... and as she talked to him, she realized
her life was not as bad as she thought it was. He laughed at her jokes and demonstrates his
concern at her losses. He was such a listener and every time she resumed talking, he asked
something different or made some kind of comment and they started all the talking again.

    She asked about him too. He talked very little about himself. He was from Ireland and had
already traveled all around Europe and some parts of America. He seemed very intelligent and
she was still amazed that someone like him was spending so much time with her. And they were
having a great time!

    They talked and talked, and then it hit her. She knew what was happening, in fact the both
of them knew. They had found the one! No kidding, you know, the One, the person that we spend
all our lives searching for, until you find them. If you are luck enough to find them.

    And there they were. The Ones side by side. And they knew it. But they were afraid... Then
they talked about everything *but* that.

    "It's almost morning, may I take you home? As she accepted his offer, they got up and he
took her hand.

    He left her at the door and waited until she was inside, then he was gone.

    **************************************************************

     The next morning, Willow looked down at her diary where she had related the events of the
previous day. Then she remembered one more thing.

    <And I have more news. There's this new girl in school, she started two days ago, her name
is Buffy and she seems to be nice girl. We are going to meet tonight at the Bronze. Xander
can't stop talking about her. If it was before I would be jealous, but now I'm fine with it. I
have someone to think about! I can't stop smiling. Tonight is the meeting that he said his
permanency in town did depend upon. We haven't met since the other night, but I can feel him
close to me.>

*************

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