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Willow's footfalls echoed in the small cavern as
she explored the
unfamiliar place. A sense of déjà
vu encompassed her and even
as she
slept she knew that this was so much more than
a dream. She walked
slowly to the mouth of the cave and stepped out
into a clearing
within a forest. She walked along the path in
the warm sun until she
came upon a small bridge. Looking across the brook,
she noticed a
young woman about her age standing at the other
end of the bridge in
a white summer dress that flowed behind her in
the slight breeze. "Do
I know you?" Willow called to her.
"Come across so we can talk." The woman called
back. "Don't be afraid
Willow."
Willow started across the bridge, as did the woman
in white. They met
in the middle where they joined hands and finished
crossing the
bridge together. "Do I know you?" Willow asked
again.
"No. I am called Zelynn. I was a friend of Ripper's."
she sat on a
blanket on the ground.
"Giles?" Willow joined Zelynn on the blanket. "Was?" she asked.
Zelynn nodded. "We were teenagers together. He
said I was the only
American friend he had." She smiled wistfully,
then sobered; "You
must prepare for a fight."
Willow looked down at the checks in the blanket,
"I know." She
whispered, "How am I gonna do this?" she pleaded.
"Have you chosen?"
Willow nodded, "But I don't want anything to happen
to Oz either, I
think he's just, you know, confused and angry
right now. But he could
kill Spike, or anyone else, if he's the wolf.
I guess we could just
hide out somewhere. Even go to Angel's if we had
to."
"He would find you before the cycle is up. And
then you would have
endangered more of your friends. You must prepare
to fight."
"How am I going to fight? I'm no slayer."
"There will come a time when you will see no other
course than to
sacrifice yourself to defeat what endangers the
ones you love."
Zelynn explained, "It will not be a choice, you
will just do. The
actions you take are critical to the outcome."
Willow stared at Zelynn knowing what was said would
come to pass but
not knowing exactly what it was she had to do.
Zelynn looked away as
a raven perched itself on a nearby branch and
squawked. Willow
noticed a pair of fang marks on her neck. "Are
you a vampire?"
Zelynn touched her neck in response, "No, I was
never turned." She
paused, looking at Willow, "Sometimes you have
to sacrifice yourself
to make sure no others get sacrificed. And sometimes
that requires
making a deal with a devil. You will not make
that deal Willow. I am
here to be your guide when needed."
The raven screamed again.
Zelynn stood. "I have to go now."
"Wait!" Willow called as she walked away; "I still
don't know what to
do."
"You will." Zelynn turned and walked toward the
raven. As she walked
she slowly faded into nothingness.
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Willow woke slowly as the dream faded. She rolled
over and leaned on
Spike's chest. His arms embraced her.
"Sleep well, Pet?" he mumbled.
"Okay I guess." She looked up at him.
Spike saw the sadness in her eyes. He didn't know
much about cheering
up humans. But he did learn that Willow was very
insecure about their
relationship, especially now that the wolf had
shown up. He rolled
them over gently and caressed her cheek. "I won't
let him hurt you
Willow." He promised.
At the sound of Spike's compassionate words, Willow's
eyes stung with
fresh tears. She closed her eyes as Spike kissed
each eyelid before
taking her mouth in a passionate kiss. As driving
as their actions
previous times, so was the gentleness with which
Spike made love to
her now. Tears continued to flow silently as he
kissed her. Spike
licked the trail of tears down her cheeks with
the tip of his tongue,
"Please don't cry Willow," he whispered to her,
"my Willow. I don't
want you to ever cry again." Spike continued to
rain kisses down her
neckline, pausing at her pulse points to nibble
with blunt teeth.
Willow closed her eyes. She couldn't stop the tears,
not knowing
exactly what she was crying for, only knowing
that she was preparing
to grieve in some way. She was going to lose something,
or someone,
today and it saddened her greatly. "Spike, make
love to me." She
pleaded.
Spike entered her slowly, moaning as he did so.
He felt Willow's
sadness envelop him. This time it wasn't about
the physical pleasures
of sex, it was something else. It was about the
bond that they
shared. Spike had very rarely experienced sex
with such deeply felt
emotions. Is this what humans called making love?
Was there really a
difference? Was Spike capable of it? Spike thought
that for Willow he
could give up his very existence.
Willow wrapped her legs around Spike as he increased
the rhythm of
his thrusts. Willow felt her womb fill with heat
as she neared her
climax. They came together and held each other
silently for awhile.
Willow finally understood why she didn't feel
love for Oz anymore. It
was so simple, so obvious to her now. Without
looking up, and not
expecting a response, she said, "I love you Spike."
Spike froze internally at her words. Love? Was
he capable of love? He
was a soulless demon, could he reciprocate her
feelings? 5 years ago
he would have laughed in the face of any woman
who proclaimed her
love for him, if they even lived long enough to
say it. But what
about now? He said nothing, simply drew lazy circles
along Willow's
bare back and tightened his hold on her. The response
would have to
do for now.
The phone rang. Willow rolled over and picked it up, "Hello?"
"Hey Wills." Buffy greeted, "We have a plan. We're coming over."
Willow hung up the phone and turned to her lover,
"They have a plan.
They're coming over to fill us in."
"I guess we'll have to get out of bed then, eh?"
Spike drawled. He
pulled her back down to him, reveling at the squeal
it caused. He
looked deeply into her eyes, seeing the traces
of a smile hidden
inside. He grinned lustily at her, causing her
to blush. "I love
making you red, Red." He kissed her deeply, with
possession. He
pulled away, glad to see her smile finally. We'll
get through this
Luv, I promise."
Willow nodded, "I know." She watched Spike get
out of bed and get
dressed; leaving her to get dressed herself. "I
won't let him hurt
you." She whispered after he had left.
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The Scooby Gang convened in Willow's livingroom,
listening to Giles
explain the plan. They were to do a search of
every surrounding
hotel, motel and cemetery. "Oz can't be far from
here. I don't think
I need to go into detail about how important it
is to find him before
the moon rises." Giles said. We'll search in pairs."
"I think I should stay here." Willow offered. "Maybe
he'll think
about it and try to call, maybe we can talk it
out." Her brow
furrowed with false hope.
Giles nodded at her. "We need to find a place to
take a stand for
tonight. In case we don't find him during the
day. Willow, I think it
will have to be here since he is sure to attack
as soon as the change
takes place and Spike won't have time to leave."
"Hey!" Spike chided, "I'm no nancy boy, I'll stay and fight the mutt."
"Spike," Giles looked at him, "I sincerely doubt
that even you could
walk away from a fight with a very pissed off
werewolf." He turned
his attention to the rest of the group. "Now,
are we all agreed"
They nodded their replies, none of them liking
what was sure to
happen. After everything, Oz was still their friend,
or had been up
until he left. None of them were truly prepared
for the fight, except
for maybe Willow.
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Across town, Oz sat on the floor of the seedy motel
on the outskirts
of town, surrounded by burning candles, silently
chanting. Deep in
meditation, he envisioned his wolf tearing the
throat out of one
Blonde-haired vampire, over and over again. He
had found after a full
day's worth of meditation he could focus his energies
to control his
wolf on whatever mission he wanted. And he had
a bloody mission ahead
of him. Nightfall came in 8 hours. He could wait.