Title: This Beautiful Mess - Series Prologue
Series: This Beautiful Mess
Author: LadyB
Distribution: If you’d like to post it, I’d be honored. Just let me know where.
Pairings: Willow/Oz, Willow/Spike (eventually), I’m considering others, but not sure yet.
Spoilers: To be safe, up through Dead Things, although most of season 6 as we know it, didn’t happen. In fact, I’m pretty much screwing with things from season 4 onward.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything, not one little smidgeon of Joss’ world. Please don’t sue…I have enough money to pay student loans, that’s it. All Buffy stuff is property of Mutant Enemy, Fox, WB, UPN, etc. etc. All songs used in the series are written and owned by Sixpence None the Richer, R.E.X. records, and Squint records.
Notes: (1) No Oz and Willow S4 break up. Oz left to control his wolf, but returned soon after. (2) For this series, Tara and Willow are great friends only. Tara is a full-fledged Scooby. (3) Everything major in S5 happened (with above changes, of course), but no Xander proposal. (4) Spike had his crush on Buffy, but that’s it…no S6 shagging.
Feedback: Essential…this is my first attempt at BtVS fiction, let alone a series. Send feedback to [email protected].
Prologue
May 2001:
“Willow, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You are my heart, my everything. Marry me.” Oz took the ring from his pocket and held it in front of her, his eyes hopeful. Willow frowned and put her hands over her face. “Um, Will…not the reaction I was hoping for.”
Removing her hands from her face, eyes watery, Willow looked at Oz and spoke. “Oz…what did you expect me to do? Why now? Why here?” Her eyes widened. “You, you think we’re going to die, don’t you? You’re asking me to marry you because we’re going to die!” Willow visibly began crying, sagging her shoulders, but not removing her gaze from Oz. She searched his face, waiting for an indication of what he was feeling.
Instinctively, Oz gathered Willow in his arms and held her. “No, Willow. No. I don’t think we’re going to die. I think we have many more days to live. The Hellmouth hasn’t seen the last of the Witch and the Werewolf.” Willow wiped her tears and smiled slightly. “Seriously, Willow. I want to marry you because I love you, because I have a life to live and I want to live it with you.” Oz lifted her chin slightly, focusing her eyes on him again. “Please marry me, Willow. Will you?”
Willow’s eyes brightened as she cradled Oz’s face in her hands, drawing him to her for a kiss. She inwardly giggled when she realized that Oz probably spoke more in the last five minutes than he had in the last month. “Yes, Oz. I will marry you.” Oz slipped the ring on Willow’s finger, holding her hand as they looked ahead. Willow looked up towards the tower, her smile quickly replaced by shock, fear, and a piercing scream. “Buffy! No!” Oz grabbed Willow as her knees gave out, their eyes locked on Buffy’s small frame launching herself off the tower and into the energy field, writhing and convulsing until finally her form lay still and lifeless on the cold, ungiving ground of the construction site.
December 2001:
“I, Willow, take thee Oz, to be my lawfully wedded husband. I promise to love, honor, cherish you always and without exception until death do us part.”
“I, Oz, take thee Willow to be my lawfully wedded wife. I promise to love, honor, cherish you always and without exception until death do us part.”
The justice smiled as Oz and Willow exchanged rings, clasped hands and gazed at each other. Tara, Dawn, and Anya, the bridesmaids, all wiped tears from their eyes as they watched the scene unfold. Never had they seen two people so in love. Xander, standing to the side as Oz’s best man, beamed seeing Willow so happy. In the over fifteen years he’s known her, all he’s ever wanted was for Willow to be happy. And today, she truly was.
“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.” Oz lifted the light lace veil from Willow’s face, raised her chin and kissed her, tenderly and lovingly. Next to the happy couple, the Maid of Honor, stood smiling. However, upon closer look the melancholy was evident in her eyes. Buffy was, of course, truly happy for her best friend, but she couldn’t help the sting of love and loss and that paralyzing feeling that happiness and peace would never come for her. In fact, that sensation had yet to cease in the two months she had been back. She watched as Oz and Willow walked hand-in-hand down the path of the garden, then took her place beside Xander following behind them.
As they waited at the Bronze for Willow and Oz to reach the reception, Tara walked over and placed a reassuring hand on Buffy’s shoulder, smiling with love and concern. “It’s going to be ok, Buffy. I swear it.” Buffy looked up, placed her own hand over Tara’s and also smiled, thankful for the love, patience and understanding of her friend. For one fleeting moment, Buffy felt what could almost be described as peaceful, sighing as Willow and Oz came together for their first dance. A hush came over the reception, no words uttered except those of the bride and groom.
“I love you Oz. Always.”
“I love you Willow. Never doubt that.”
September 2002:
“Oz! I’m going to kill you!” Willow screamed through gritted teeth.
“Baby, you don’t mean that.” Oz tried to pat her hand to calm her down.
“Like hell I don’t, wolf-boy! YOU did this to me! I’ll never forgive y—OW!” Willow’s death grip on Oz’s hand continued as another contraction shook her to the core. Willow’s water broke in the middle of the Magic Box while she was helping Anya and Tara take inventory. The two store owners rushed the witch to the hospital meeting Oz in the lobby. Ten hours later, Willow was one pissed-off Wiccan whose idea of fun was NOT trying to pass what felt like a watermelon through her uterus. “Remind me to never have sex with you again.”
“Oh baby, you don’t mean that.”
She had to give him that one. “Ok, yeah you’re probably right. But, Oz, I don’t think she wants to come out. She’s going to stay there forever, mocking me…laughing at me.”
“Oh baby, you don’t mean that.”
“Oz, turn around.” Oz turned so his back was to Willow. “Ok, there’s no one pulling a string from your back.” Oz turned back, confused. “That’s all you’ve been saying for the last hour. I just wanted to make sure my husband hadn’t turned into a See-N-Say.” Oz furrowed his brow just as the doctor walked in. He examined Willow and declared it was time.
“Ok, Willow. You’re fully dilated.”
“It’s about damn time!” Willow glared at him.
The doctor pulled a Giles, removed his glasses and cleaned them with his lab coat. “Yes, well. Um, now that that’s occurred, you’re going to need to push.” Oz helped the doctor position Willow and returned his hand to her grasp.
“Ok, Will, you can do this.” Oz squeezed her hand, nodding. “On the count of three, baby, push.” Willow looked back at her husband, resolve-face firmly applied. “One…two…three!”
“NYAGHHHH!!!” Willow bellowed, face turning red as she pushed.
Willow kept pushing for what seemed like eternity until finally it was over. Wrapped in a towel and cradled in her mother’s arms lay a beautiful baby girl. Oz tore his gaze away from his two loves as the door to hospital room opened. “Hey guys. Come in.” With that invitation, the room began to fill. Xander, Anya, Tara, Dawn, and Buffy moved in toward the happy trio.
Willow looked up, grinned and gestured toward the bundle in her arms. “Guys, I’d like you to meet Danielle Elizabeth Alexandra Osborne.”
October 2004:
“You know, it’s such a beautiful night. Look at the stars, so luminous.” Willow pointed up at one cluster. “See, that’s ‘Little Pile o’ Crackers’.”
Oz looked at Willow like she’d just gone crazy. “Huh? Little Pile o’ Crackers? I’m of the mind to think there’s no constellation named ‘Little Pile o’ Crackers.”
Willow laughed and nodded her head. “Well that’s what you think, Oz. There’s all sorts of constellations you don’t know about. See over there?” Willow pointed to the left. “There’s the big pineapple.”
Oz squinted his eyes and stared at where Willow pointed. He began to see it. “Hey…you’re right. There is a big pineapple.”
“Told you,” Willow said, grinning at her husband.
“Where’d you learn all these?” Oz asked, clasping Willow’s hand as they walked.
“Oh. Um, Tara. Remember that night where that meteor-type thing crashed? Well, Buffy, Tara, and I were on a rooftop looking at the stars. Tara then told us about all these constellations she made up as a child.” Willow’s smile faded for a moment and she stopped walking.
Sensing his wife’s sadness, Oz pulled her into a hug. “Will, what’s the matter?” She looked up at her concerned husband and held him tightly.
“I don’t know. I get sad sometimes, thinking about Tara. And also about Buffy.”
“Why’s that?”
“It’s hard to explain, really. I just want to see them happy. Tara says she’s happy, and so does Buffy. But every time I see them, I look into their eyes and all I see is sadness. Tara runs the Magic Box all day and then teaches Wiccan group in the evenings. She goes home and that’s it. Day after day.” Willow and Oz begin walking again. “I could say the same for Buffy. She’s got her training classes during the day, and then she slays at night. Over and over again. They’re both just existing. It’s sad, really.”
“I don’t know what to say, Will.”
“I guess I should be thankful that they don’t live alone. At least Buffy, Tara, and Dawn still live together. But, I’m guessing that they hardly talk anymore. Dawn’s in college and pretty much has her own life, which I’m thankful for. I guess I just worry about them. I want to see all three of them as happy and as in love as we are, Oz.”
“They will, someday. I know they will. With all that they’ve gone through in their lives, it’ll take some time. Who know, happiness could be right around the corner. You’ll see, Will. Everything’ll work itself out in the end.” Oz lightly kissed Willow as they continued walking.
“I hope so, Oz. I really do.” The two walked in the garden where they were married almost three years ago for another few minutes, enjoying the silence and the feeling of love radiating between them. “We’d better get back, it’s getting late. I know Dawn likes watching Dani, but I don’t want our two-year-old taking up her entire Friday night.”
“Ok, let’s head back. Let’s see, Buffy’s place is this direction. So, lets go to the left.” The two left through the west entrance of Sunnydale Gardens and walked past one of the billion town cemeteries. Willow noticed that the one they passed was where Spike’s crypt was.
“I wonder how Spike is. I rarely see him anymore. Buffy says he still patrols with her at night, but he never stays afterward. He says a quick, ‘bye, slayer,’ and takes off. I hope he’s ok. He did so much for us while Buffy was gone.” Willow glanced at the cemetery wondering if Spike was walking around.
“Yeah, he did. I almost found myself liking the dead guy. I’m sure he’s fine. Probably skulking around somewhere, doing his vamp thing.”
“Heh. Doing his ‘Big Bad’ impression for some young, unsuspecting college girl. That perv,” Willow laughed, knowing that for Spike it was all an act…chip or no chip. Willow started to look away from the cemetery when she noticed a couple sets of yellow eyes peering out from the darkness. A shiver ran up her back and she squeezed Oz’s hand. “Oz, let’s get out of here. I’m getting a bad feeling. Something’s watching us.” Willow lurched back as she felt herself being ripped away from her husband. “OZ!”
Oz turned around to find three vampires and some demon-wolf-vamp hybrid surrounding them. Two of the vampires were holding Willow, fangs poised and ready should Oz try and rescue her. The other vampire and the hybrid circled Oz, ready for the forthcoming battle. Oz looked up at the sky for just one moment and realized it was a full moon. Silently he thanked those above that he had, years ago, learned to control his wolf. He realized that he needed it tonight. It was the first time in five years he’d had to change…not since the Initiative.
Oz steadied himself and felt the change begin. Willow looked in horror at the sight, knowing that her husband hated changing. But, she knew this might be the only way to save them both. Oz let himself morph into a half-human, half-wolf form. He had the extra strength, reflexes, and instinct of the wolf, yet still had human reasoning. Sizing up the situation, Oz decided to go for the vampire first. The vampire, however, had other ideas. He whipped out an electric cattle prod, thrusting it repeatedly like a fencing foil at Oz’s chest. Meanwhile, the hybrid creature circled, snarling and frothing at the mouth, looking for a kill strike.
Willow, frantically trying to do anything, cast spell after spell, trying to free both herself and Oz from the bloodshed. Nothing worked. “They must have some sort of protection. I can’t even raise the energy just a little. Everything feels dead,” Willow thought to herself. “Oz!” The red witch sobbed as she watched Oz convulse from the electricity of the cattle prod. Just as she saw the hybrid leap forward to strike Oz, she felt the two vampires at her sides release her, falling to her feet in piles of dust. She turned around to find Spike, stake in hand. He heard the commotion, saw Willow held hostage and quickly snapped the neck of one vampire while staking the other in the back.
“Spike! Oh Goddess, you have to help Oz! Please!” The blond vampire nodded and ran into the battle full force, only to be stopped by the vampire with the cattle prod.
“Bloody hell! NYAGHHH!” Spike dropped to his knees as the vampire held the cattle prod to his abdomen. Willow, seeing Spike’s stake on the ground, reached for it, wanting to do anything to stop what was happening. She rushed to stake the prodding vampire, but was thwarted by a crushing blow to the side of her head. The vampire had swung the prod like a baseball bat, sending Willow crashing to the asphalt street.
The last thing Willow voiced before her world turned black was an eardrum-shattering scream. “OZ! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” The hybrid ripped at Oz’s neck muscles with his jaws and sank his fangs into him. At the same time Willow lost consciousness, so did Oz, once last growl piercing the night air.
End Prologue