Anya had skillfully steered the topic of conversation
around to Oz and was now sitting comfortably against
Xander's arm, listening intently and biding her time.
"I don't know. I'm kind of starting to feel sorry for
him," Xander admitted.
"Don't waste the energy. He was the one who left,
remember?" Buffy replied.
"Yeah, but it's pretty clear he's sorry about it."
"And that changes--what? He broke her heart. She's
happy now, at last."
"With Spike," he added.
"So what? I don't like him, but who says I have to? He
cares about Will. He's been as good to her as he
promised he'd be, and she wants to be with him," Buffy
argued.
"Hello? Reality check, here. Spike--remember? Evil,
soulless, homicidal vampire Spike?"
"Who couldn't hurt a living human if his unlife
depended on it," she said. "He's the one who pulled
Will out of a very deep hole while we were all too
busy trying to ignore her to help. Ever stop to
consider that may be the reason you hate him so much?
He was there for our best friend when we weren't."
"No, actually, I hadn't thought of it that way. But
now that I have, I still hate him," Xander answered.
The slayer refused to back down, "That's beside the
point. He's crazy about Will, and you know she feels
the same way toward him. If Oz would just stop shoving
himself in her face, everything would be fine."
Anya saw her opening and quickly jumped in, "Maybe
he's being so persistent because we're all so against
him. I mean, he must feel like no one's on his side.
Maybe he'd back off if he felt more like he belonged."
"I don't want him back in Will's life," Buffy
responded. "He had his chance. Even after he took off,
he could have at least gotten in touch with her. She
doesn't want him, and he doesn't deserve her."
"I'm not saying he does. But you were all friends,
once," the former demon said. "He has to feel
completely alienated. You've all made it very clear
that you don't want him around. You're ignoring his
pain the same way you ignored Willow's."
"That's different. We weren't fair to her. She wasn't
to blame for her misery. Oz brought his on all by
himself."
"Okay," Anya sighed. "This is a circular argument. The
bottom line is, you want him to leave Willow alone,
right?"
Buffy and Xander nodded and waited for her to
continue.
"That isn't likely to happen when she's all he has to
focus on. Maybe if he felt that his old friends were
willing to at least try to include him back in their
lives, he wouldn't feel so compelled to chase after
Willow."
"Maybe," Buffy conceded hesitantly.
"I guess if he were spending more time with us, he
couldn't spend it trying to get to Willow," Xander
said.
"Kind of a distraction, you mean?" the slayer asked.
"That has possibilities. Might be worth a shot."
"When did you get so smart?" Xander smiled and gave
his girlfriend's shoulders a quick squeeze.
"I've always been smart," she answered casually.
"You've just been too stupid to notice. It's okay,
though. I love you, anyway."
"I probably shouldn't say thank you for that," he
said, looking to Buffy.
She laughed softly and shook her head, "Probably not."
Satisfied that she had accomplished what she had set
out to do, Anya hid a smile and scooted slightly
closer to Xander.
End.