starlit_desires | Yet another late ficathon... (Reply)

This one is for the Willow/Oz ficathon and it was written for becke . Sorry about it being late.

Title: A Chance Encounter 1/1

Author: Sweetness (ficathon@yahoo.com)

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Willow/Oz interaction

Disclaimer: It all belongs to Joss Whedon and Co.

Distribution: My site (http://fanfiction.angel-buffy.com), if you already have permission, just let me know. Otherwise, ask.

Notes: Set after BTVS 7x22 “Chosen,” it takes place roughly in the ATS season five timeline around “Shells.” Willow has a chance encounter with Oz. Written for the Oz/Willow ficathon.

Feedback: Yes please :)

            Kennedy hadn’t been very happy when Willow had told her that she had to go to England on Watchers’ Council business. She had been furious when Willow had told her that she would be going alone since Kennedy was needed in Brazil. Willow had tried to rationally explain that the Slayers that they had found in Brazil couldn’t just be uprooted and dragged off to England because Kennedy couldn’t handle the fact that Willow had to go deal with things there. She had told her girlfriend that there was no need to be jealous or worried that Willow would stray, after all she would be going to England where she was staying with Giles and she would come into contact with Xander. Kennedy refused to believe her. She kept saying that she would lose Willow if she went without her. By the time that Willow had boarded the plane, she knew that she was going have to make a decision about her relationship with Kennedy. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her, she did. But she couldn’t handle Kennedy’s constant jealousy. Although she loved her, Kennedy was far too high strung, something that Willow hadn’t discovered until they had arrived in Brazil. It had been a shock to Willow to discover that Kennedy worked best under pressure and would often create her own turmoil so that she would have pressure in her life. Willow couldn’t deal with Kennedy’s self-induced crises; she had enough problems as it was by just controlling her anger and magic use. The last thing she needed was someone constantly pushing her over the edge, no matter how much she loved them.
            Her flight passed by uneventfully and before she knew it, the plane was landing at Heathrow. Although Giles had offered to pick her up, Willow had decided to find her own way to his apartment. As she was making her way to the car rental area, she bumped into a young man. As she looked up to apologize, she found herself looking into Oz’s familiar face.
“Oz?” Willow questioned, not really believing that he was in England.
“Willow!” Oz greeted the redhead.
“What are you doing in England?”
“I live here now.”
”Really?”
”Yeah, I’ve been here for two years now. I was just seeing a friend off. What about you?”
”I’m here to see Giles.”
“Do you have time for a coffee?”
“Sure.”
            Oz led Willow to a coffee shop in the airport and bought them their drinks. When they were seated, Oz asked her about her life with Tara in Sunnydale. The mention of Tara’s name caused Willow to hesitate but before she knew it she was telling all about the last four years since she had seen him. Willow didn’t even try to leave anything out of the story. She told him about the details of Dawn, Buffy’s death and resurrection, her own descent into magic addiction, the loss of Tara, how she had tried to destroy the world, and finally how they had closed the Hellmouth in Sunnydale for good.
“Wow,” Oz exclaimed as Willow finished speaking.
“Yeah, pretty intense.”
”You could say that.”
”What about you?”
”Well I left the band a few years back, I came here because of a pack I’d heard about and I’ve finally mastered my werewolf side.”
            Willow looked at Oz and laughed. She couldn’t believe that she had spent a couple of hours telling Oz about her life and he had done the same but in a matter of minutes. She shook her heard and smiled at him before saying, “You haven’t really changed, have you?”
“I wouldn’t say that.” Oz calmly replied to her question even though he felt as if he was drowning in the depths of her green eyes.
“But you haven’t, you still manage to say so much in so few words, while I still babble.”
”I always liked your babbling,” Oz said affectionately.
“You did? I was always afraid that I was boring you.”
“Willow, you could never bore me,” Oz said as he reached across the table to hold her hand.
“I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you every day since I left Sunnydale. It was the biggest mistake I ever did, but I had to find out for myself.”
“Oh Oz! I can’t, I’m in a relationship.” Willow pulled her hand out of his.
“I’m not asking you for anything but your friendship.”
”It’s complicated.”
”I’m willing to take whatever you offer.”
“I don’t know if I can offer you anything. My girlfriend is kind of jealous.”
“Willow, you don’t have to explain anything to me. I’m here if you need me, when you need me.”
“How will I find you?”
“Giles knows how to contact me,” Oz smiled at her, “We should probably get you there before he starts to worry.”
“Yeah,” Willow replied, relieved with his reaction.
“I can drive you there, if you’d like.”
”I don’t want to be any trouble.”
“I insist.”
            So Oz ended up driving her to Giles’ apartment, the two had been quiet on the trip there. There hadn’t been any need for words, something Willow was happy about it. With Kennedy it seemed as if she had to explain everything, something she had never had with either Tara or Oz. When Oz left, he merely shook her hand and told her that if she ever needed him, he would be there for her no matter what. And when he drove off, Willow realized that for the first time since her downward spiral into magic addiction, she had actually felt whole again. She didn’t know what to do but she did know that she wasn’t going to break up with Kennedy just because she felt a spark of something for Oz. That wasn’t fair to either Kennedy or Oz, but she knew that something would have to be done about Kennedy’s jealousy. Willow knew that there were things in her life that would have to change, but she was going to give Kennedy a fair chance to help her change those things. But it was still nice to know that there was someone out there who was willing to catch if she fell no matter what the circumstances.

** END**

Assignment: written for becke who wanted a meeting between Willow & Oz later on but did not want to see any character bashing.