Author: Stephanie M
Email Address: wicciangirl51@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: Don’t own them!
Part 1
‘Another day, another demo,’ Xander thought to himself as he watched his two, supposedly best friends talking animatedly about college ignoring him yet again. He wondered whether he was right about the Scooby Gang breaking apart, it felt to him that he was an outsider and no one even knew him.
Xander looked up when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise, indicating that someone was watching him. When he looked he met the knowing eyes of Giles. Perhaps the one man who could possibly understand that he was feeling alone, not that Giles even bothered to talk to him anymore. Instead Giles was busy doing the whole mid-life crisis deal.
“Now that everyone is here I’ll begin. I’ve recently discovered a prophecy that I have reason to believe will occur soon. Unfortunately the prophecy is vague but we must find the two men mentioned before some horrible fate befalls them.”
Giles quickly passed around pieces of paper that had the prophecy written on but looking at the words Xander couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease.
“On the 28th day of the third month,
The Last of Hades’ line will merge with the Lone One,
These are the Eternal Soulmates,
The Ones whose love surpasses all others,
They have travelled through time searching for each other,
Waiting for the day when they would meet their destiny,
The Old One will the train the bonded pair,
For the fateful day when they must fight her.”
Taking his glasses off in the pretence of cleaning them when he just wanted to avoid looking in their eyes Giles said, “From the text I have gathered that one of the people is descended from Hades but unfortunately it could take years to trace the descendent. As a result I suggest that we do research for the Lone One. The information I have on the Eternal Soulmates suggests that they are both male. But I must admit that I have never heard of an Old One.”
Xander wasn’t listening; as soon as he saw the paper he couldn’t help but feel a jolt of recognition, had he heard about The Last or The Lone One before? He asked himself as far as he could remember the Lone One was traditionally a wolf. He wondered why Giles hadn’t figured it out.
Before Xander could think about the situation there was a knock on the door. Before it was opened Xander knew it was for him. He waited for Giles to open the door and let the man in.
Xander could faintly hear gasps of surprise from Buffy and Willow as Oz walked inside but Xander was only looking at Oz. In a trance like state Oz moved his hand up into the air, waiting. Acting on instinct Xander quickly moved his hand onto Oz’s so that they were palm to palm, not quite touching.
“I am here Last One. It is Time for the bonding to be completed.” Oz said, his voice low, so that Xander could hardly hear him.
Feeling the urge to get his mate away from the enemy and into hiding Xander replied, “We will complete the bond. First we must get away from here.”
Xander was looking only at Oz and so did not see Buffy coming up behind to separate the pair. But he felt his mate’s distress as Buffy moved to attack.
Acting on instinct he turned to face the threat, no longer seeing his friend instead he saw only someone who was trying to hurt him and those he loved. With a strength he didn’t know he possessed Xander quickly kicked her to the ground and before she could get up Oz quickly moved over and punched her in the face. She was soon unconscious. Turning the two surveyed the room for more threats but Willow and Giles were too shocked to be a danger.
The two quickly placed their hands palm to palm and placed their heads together. Oz and Xander were quickly overcome by darkness as they experienced their first vision. A forest next to a stream replaced the sedate lounge. Opening his eyes Xander looked around, happy to see Oz there lying asleep by his side.
“Oz man, time to get up. Oz, I really need you here.” Xander quickly said looking around at the wide open space. He smiled as Oz began to move.
Opening his eyes Oz was surprised to find Xander looking down on him, he could feel hands stroking his hair as he awoke. Although he couldn’t remember everything he knew that whatever it was had shown that Xander was his, just as he was Xander’s.
Somewhat surprised to find his voice sounding hoarse like he hadn’t spoken in days Oz said, “I guess we’re not in Kansas anymore. I don’t know what we’re doing here. I’ll tell you what I remember and then you can try and figure it out Xan, since I’m guessing whatever has happened was the point of the Scooby meeting.”
“I started having dreams about a week ago that featured you. It was you but it wasn’t, if you know what I mean. In the first one we were in ancient Greece, in the second we were in India in the 15th century, and in the third we were in 19th century Britain but I guess you get the idea. Each time the two of us were a couple but we didn’t always look the same. The only thing that was the same was the eyes, I remember you always had the same brown soulful eyes.”
Not noticing that he was now stroking Xander’s leg that was on top of his own Oz said, “The dreams always ended with one of us dying and promising to wait for the other. The last thing I remember was when I last turned into the wolf. I remember feeling that I should come to Sunnydale and that I had to get to you. When I returned to human form I still felt the same. All I could feel was the urge to get to you. Then I remember getting to Giles’, seeing you and feeling the urge to complete our bond, when Buffy attacked you the wolf kind of overpowered me and I just had to protect you. That’s everything until you woke me up.”
Looking Oz in the eyes Xander said, “At least you had the dreams that’s all I can say. I’ve mainly been noticing little things such as the hyena has been a lot more aggressive and on the surface than normal. For the past month or so I’ve felt that something was missing but I didn’t know what. I haven’t been sleeping at all for the past week but I’ve been alert. I haven’t been attacked by as many demons as usual and that’s about it.
“When G-man gave us a copy of the prophecy I felt really uncomfortable. When you knocked on the door I knew it was someone I had to speak to, to touch but I didn’t know it was you. When Buffy approached I just acted on instinct, all three of us inside my mind agreed that she was the enemy and would have to be eliminated. The main thing I’m worried about is that our bodies are unprotected in Giles’ with Buffy and Willow.”
Oz sad anxiously, “Xan, I’m gay and I’ve been in love with you for a while. The reason why I left wasn’t to find myself it was because I didn’t think you would ever feel the same for me as I do for you. I need to ask you something. Are you ok with the merging part?”
Xander replied with a grin, “Do you mean merging as a metaphor for us having sex because I’m ok with that after all, I’m gay. The whole reason why I went after the unattainable girls was part of the whole denial thing. I’ve had a crush on you since high school, and I fell in love with you through the letters you sent me.”
A smirk appearing on his face Oz said, “So now that we’ve bared our souls what do we do now? Do we have to perform the whole merge deal because I think it’d be a lot more fun in our bodies not mention when we’re conscious?”
Thinking that Oz’s cocky smirk was really cute Xander looked out a the stream saying, “How about we merge spiritually then rest a while before we have to face reality. I’m not really looking forward to that scene. Buffy is probably standing guard over our bodies but after the way we behaved earlier I don’t blame her.”
The pair quickly undressed and stepped into the river, which was surprisingly warm and refreshing. For a while they simply fooled around and acted like kids, enjoying being able to joke and be themselves. They took turns in dunking each other under the water until they were exhausted.
The pair stepped out of the river, hand in hand and lay on the ground naked, content to simply lap up the sun’s rays. As if on cue the two turned to face each other, their legs crossed, and the spiritual merge began.
Using, a yellow paint that appeared, seemingly out of nowhere Xander traced patterns on Oz’s face and upper body. They were a mix of writing and symbols. They were in many different languages but the pair could read them clearly. Xander had written a declaration of his promise of love and claimed Oz as his mate. When he finished Xander placed a chaste kiss on Oz’s forehead.
Following Xander’s lead Oz picked up a pot of red paint and dipped his fingers inside. He quickly swirled his promise of love and his claiming of Xander as mate on Xander’s naked body. The pair then both dipped their hands inside a pot of black paint and on the others’ left shoulder placed a circle holding their initials that were looped together so that the X.H. flowed into the D.O.
“I swear my love and soul to you from now until the end of time, my dark scholar.” Oz whispered, fearing that if he spoke any louder it would spoil the magic of the ceremony.
“I swear my love and soul to you from now until the end of time, my dark heart.” Xander said in the same tone.
As he said the words Xander remembered the last time, they had fulfilled the ceremony in England, shortly before being killed for being in a relationship with another of their own sex.
As they said the last words of the ceremony, there was an almost immediate feeling of being pulled away, each one knew that they were being pulled back to their bodies. Oz quickly kissed Xander, taking the brunette’s breath away as they disappeared.
Xander and Oz opened their eyes slowly; each one listening first for any sounds of life. Xander could hear someone, no Buffy, talking, he focused on the words.
“What’s going on here Giles? Oz just turns up out of nowhere and then the two of them started acting all wiggy. My Slayer senses are telling me that they are not normal.”
Giles replied walking towards the pair, “What exactly is different about them apart from their acting out of character? Maybe we should wait until the pair wake up before we jump to conclusions. Lets go in and check on them. ”
“That’s most unusual they are still holding hands and their heads are close together. Has either of them given any sign of waking up yet, Willow?”
Willow replied to Giles’ question, “No. I wish Tara were here she would know how to figure it out. Did anyone hear what they were taking about before they went weird?”
“I must admit that their behaviour is rather worrying but I feel like I’m missing something here.” Giles answered, distractedly, for once not being able to fit all the pieces together.
As one Xander and Oz stood up, still holding hands but they moved their heads further apart, they needed to be able to see any possible risks. It wasn’t like they had to be close to each other to communicate after all, a side affect of the spiritual merge was a connection between their minds.
“Oh, you’re awake. Why don’t the pair of you take a seat? We have to talk about what happened earlier.” Giles said his voice full of concern as he closely watched the pair sit down.
As Oz sat, his eyes on Giles, he asked a question using their new telepathic connection.
//Xan, I know you’re tired and you want to leave but what should we tell them?//
Xander replied,//That’s alright, beloved. I guess we should explain the full story but get ready for fireworks. I don’t like this…//
//I know how you feel, but don’t worry. If there is any sign of danger We will protect you.// Oz replied not having to explain exactly who We were.
As they sat down Giles watched the look they exchanged, it seemed to him that the looks meant something, but he couldn’t figure out just what.
Xander said authoritatively, “We’ve got a lot to tell you but, before you go crazy, can you just listen? I guess the first part would be that we have been feeling weird for a couple of weeks. I’ve been noticing little things that by themselves didn’t mean much but when I heard about the prophecy everything clicked. I knew that I was connected in some way and when Oz knocked on the door instinct overcame me.”
Xander stopped and looked into the eyes of the three shocked people. It seemed as if they were finding it a bit hard to understand but Xander felt to tired to explain it all.
//Xan, love lets leave the rest until tomorrow. You’re tired and I don’t think we’ve got anywhere to sleep yet.// Oz said to Xander, who simply shook his head.
“Basically we are the two in the prophecy. Now if you don’t mind we need some place to sleep,” Oz said uncaring of the surprised looks on the faces of the Scooby gang members at his speaking. He was only doing so now because he wanted to get his beloved away from the enemy somewhere safe.
Giles said as Oz stood up, “That’s quite alright. There’s a spare room on the left. I’ll help you get Xander into the room.”
“That’s alright.” Oz said back to speaking as few words as possible. He gently lifted Xander over his shoulder and walked towards the bedroom, opening the door and walking inside.
The bedroom was sparsely decorated but in Oz’s view it wasn’t safe. There was a large window and the door didn’t have a lock but he could soon fix that. He quickly moved the covers back, and quickly undressed Xander. He placed Xander on the bed and started smiling when he heard Xander calling for him.
Oz replied as he closed the curtains and the door, “I’m here, my dark Scholar, just go to sleep. I need to set up some protection.”
He murmured a protection spell on the window and door to keep out any evil entities as he quickly undressed and got into bed. Moving so that he was spooning Xander he fell asleep to dreams of them together.
Xander awoke to the feeling of someone’s eyes on his back, he growled at the intruder. He looked up and found two startled pairs of eyes looking at him and his mate. Xander’s anger soon awoke Oz who turned into his werewolf form to protect his mate.
“Xander get away from him! He’s dangerous.” Willow cried out as Xander stroked Oz’s fur and spoke words of reassurance.
When he was sure that there was no danger Oz quickly changed into human form but still glared menacingly at the figures of Giles and Willow. When the pair went to move out of bed the two figures quickly retreated.
Mainly out of curiosity Xander asked,//That sure told them, love. Can you now control the werewolf change?//
//They were getting on my nerves and yes I can control it. How does the hyena feel about our relationship?//
//All of me feels that it is right, you’re mine. What do you say we shower together? It’ll definitely be more fun.//
//Yeah, but we won’t get out any faster. I get the feeling that the Scoobies are waiting//
Xander quickly kissed Oz on the mouth in a kiss that tasted like chocolate, Twinkies and most of all home. Oz wondered just how much chocolate his man ate. Oz just lay on the bed thinking and wondering just how much they would have to tell the others.
“I’m back, baby. Your turn, there’s plenty of hot water. I had a cold shower,” Xander said as Oz quickly made his way to the bathroom.
While he was gone Xander thought about how much his life had changed in twelve hours. In that time he had found his true love, discovered he was related to a God, merged spiritually with his love and attacked Buffy. All in all a very productive day.
Oz said smiling,//I’ll be waiting for you outside Xan. If I go into a room with a bed with you we’ll never get around to saving the world.//
Xander quickly walked outside and grabbed Oz’s hand as he walked past him. Together as one the two walked into the lounge and waited for the inquisition.
“It’s nice to see you two. Did you have a nice sleep?” Giles asked more out of politeness more than curiosity.
“Yes, until I woke up and found that we were being spied upon.” Xander said, getting angry at the invasion of privacy.
Oz said calmly, “Just why did you feel the need to break the wards I put up? And don’t say that you didn’t because they were pretty powerful.”
“We felt that one of you might be in danger, that’s all.” Giles said, apologising.
The idea of being in danger from their soul mate struck both Xander and Oz as hysterical and they both started laughing.
Xander said not realising how it sounded, “G-Man, Oz would never hurt me and I’ll never hurt him. We’ve been together too long to let anything like that happen.”
“So you mean to tell me that you’ve been dating my ex-boyfriend?” Willow said feeling more betrayed at not being told than anything else.
Wanting to avoid any danger Oz said, “No, we’ve only been together since yesterday. Our souls have been together for hundreds of years. We are the eternal lovers, we can never and will never hurt each other.”
“Where did you learn magic, Oz? You seem to be unusually skilled.” Willow asked, not liking the fact that he had more power than her.
“When I was in India I came across a man who was in trouble. I helped him and he taught me how to protect myself.”
“What was the mark I saw on both of you and how can you control your wolf form Oz?” Giles asked without stopping, the thirst for knowledge clear in his eyes. He didn’t seem to consider the fact that the questions were personal.
“They don’t concern you and you probably wouldn’t understand them,” a voice said.
Looking around for the source Xander and Oz could tell that someone was watching them shielded and the protective urges rose once more. Whoever was watching them seemed to recognise them and spoke to them using Ancient Greek.
“It’s good to see you’ve merged Eternal Soulmates. Hi boys, don’t worry I’m not going to hurt anyone.” The voice continued before a man appeared in the middle of the room.
Xander and Oz stood watching the man, waiting for any sign of danger, both willing to give their lives to protect the other. Buffy and Willow moved to stand beside the pair, wanting to protect the people who it seemed would control the fate of the world.
Part 2
“Let’s see you’re Alexander right? This must be Daniel. My name is Galen and I’m going to be your teacher. I know you don’t really trust me and I really don’t want to be here but if we don’t work together the all sentient life will end I don’t really feel like spending a could of centuries by myself until sentient life forms again.”
The man, Galen looked at the pair, nodding at each one before glancing around at the others. He sounded bored, a fact that worried Xander, was Galen simply doing this out of boredom?
Apparently having heard Xander’s thoughts Galen replied, “I’m doing this because it has to be done. If humanity is to survive it must eliminate the evil itself. I can help but I can’t interfere directly, like removing all the vampires. It would go against the rules of my race.”
“Just what are you, man? I know you’re not human but you don’t smell like a demon.” Oz said to the blond haired man, who was waiting patiently.
“I’m one of a race of many people who help to maintain the balance within the universe. I am one of the Guardians. My race has existed since the dawn of time and will do so until time ends. I am not allowed to directly work against any of the sentient creatures I can work indirectly through other people. As such I can work through you two and defeat the Blood Goddess.”
Part 3
“Great for us (!) When will we have to fight her?” Xander asked, relaxing just a little.
Galen answered sounding horribly perky, “Five days, longer than the last two fighting her had.”
“I’m going to regret asking this but what happened to the other two?” Xander said his curiosity getting the better of him.
Galen answered with a reassuring smile, “They died quite horrifically actually but that was a long time ago so I wouldn’t worry about it.”
//Why doesn’t that make me feel better (!)// Xander sent the thought to Oz smiling when he saw Oz struggling to hold in his laughter.
“When do we start?” Oz asked with a small smile, he got the feeling that Galen didn’t have a lot of experience with people.
“Today.” Galen replied as he led the couple out of the room back into their bedroom, not wanting to talk in front of the others. Once they were inside, shielded from prying eyes Oz sat down on the bed pulling Xander next to him at the same time wondering were to start.
“What do we have to learn?” Oz asked knowing that the sooner they got started the better.
“I’ll teach you magic and Xander will be learn how to fight.” Galen replied, eager to get started.
“Are you sure five days will be long enough?” Xander questioned worrying that he wouldn’t learn anything. He knew that he was terrible at learning his life had taught him that at least.
Galen said a smirk on his face, “It’ll have to be. Now for the details, I’m going to transport you to a more suitable area and then the fun can begin.”
Xander could help but think that if training two people to fight to the death was fun for Galen, the man really had to get out more. He could tell that their teacher hadn’t spent a lot of time with people, in some ways Galen reminded him of Giles a couple of years ago.
There was a flash of light and the three disappeared from the room, the only sign they had ever been there was a small message Xander had demanded be left behind saying that if they didn’t return in a week the Scooby Gang should assume they had been killed.
The mansion was surprisingly warm and welcoming, the very air seemed to be waiting - for what Xander didn’t quite know and to be honest he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. The training room they materialised in was covered wall to wall in weapons, causing Xander to groan, he just knew Galen was going to make him learn as many as possible.
“Want to swap Oz?” Xander said thinking how hard could it be to learn a few spells?
“That wouldn’t be a good idea, you are much more suited for fighting than magic.” Galen said with a reassuring smile.
“Guess not, Xan. Tell you what, for every time you learn a new weapon, I’ll do whatever you ask.” Oz said with a leer.
Xander smiled, this was going to be fun. He just knew Oz was going to regret his promise. As he walked over to the mat, Xander considered just everything he would make Oz do in payment.
End Part 3
