Epilogue
Anya wandered into
the main part of the Magic Shop. She stopped to look at Oz
and shook her hand
in front of his face. He was asleep. He had walked slowly
back to the chair
after he had managed to recognise all of them and let them
know. Everyone had
found this kind of disturbing, that saying their names was
such an
achievement. Everyone except Anya.
She walked back
into the training room, where everyone had gathered to talk. She
swept past them
and grabbed Spike's protection blanket. He used it when he had
to travel by day.
She bundled it into her arms and took it into Oz. No one said
anything to her.
They tended to do that. She threw the blanket over him and
tucked in the
corners so that it didn't fall. She looked at his sleeping face.
He looked so
innocent.
Somehow, his face
showed no sign of the horrors contained in his mind. Anya
sighed softly. She
knew how he felt. She had met the Dementors once, over a
hundred years ago.
The thoughts flooded into her mind. Just thinking about the
Dementors brought
back the things that they had forced her to face.
A man's heart rips from his body. He looks at her,
eyes unfocused before he
falls to the ground.
A child screams in horror as her dad's body lies
crippled at her feet.
Men, boys, males of all ages being horribly murdered…
The Dementors were
the only things that had made her feel guilty for her
vengeance. She had
begun to doubt it. She put her hands to her face as the tears
came. She tried to
block out the memories. It didn't work. She started to sob.
Her breath came in
gasps.
Xander came out
and wrapped his arms around her. "Sssh," he
murmured softly.
"He'll be
okay. Sssh."
She pulled back
from him. By this time, everyone had come out to see what was
wrong.
"Don't worry,"
"It'll be
okay," Buffy whispered.
disbelief etched
across her face. "No," she said softly.
She repeated it
again. "No. nonononono," she said, stamping
her feet. Hot tears
poured down her
cheeks.
"No. He'll
never be okay. Sure, maybe he'll start to talk. Maybe he'll make some
jokes and smile
and pretend that everything's okay but it won't be. He'll still
be lost and scared and angry inside," she
said bitterly.
"Do you want
to know how the Dementors work? They suck out every single happy
thought from your mind and leave you with only the
most horrible thoughts," she
whispered.
She paused and
took a deep breath. Then she started speak more calmly.
"Imagine the
worst moment in your life. Go back there. Fell everything you felt
then. Despair.
Anger. Pain. Except no hope, no love, just emptiness. Oz went
through that for
over 2 months. He felt that inside him all the time." She
paused. "I
know the feeling. I've met them."
Everyone looked at
her in shock. Spike spoke up. "I ran across them once." He
shuddered. "It
was the worst feeling ever. Felt like I had a soul."
Anya looked at Oz.
He was still asleep. She pushed past Xander and walked out
the door. She
needed a long walk.
******
Dawn giggled. She
grabbed Ginny. "You wanna go get an ice-cream?"
Ginny nodded
happily. They were both enjoying each others company. Dawn frowned.
"First we
need to get you some normal clothes. Ginny looked down at her robes.
She blushed.
"Our family
can’t really afford new clothes and stuff." She murmured, looking
down at her feet.
Dawn linked her arm with hers. "So what, you can borrow some
of my clothes."
Xander looked at
the door, worriedly. "I think I'm gonna go find Anya," he said,
and rushed out the
door.
Buffy looked at
the two expectant teenagers. She sighed and grabbed her keys.
"Come on,
we'll take the Gilesmobile. GILES WE'RE TAKING YOUR CAR."
Giles appeared at
the counter. "Could you drop me to my apartment?" Buffy
nodded.
"Where's
Spike?" Dawn asked.
"He's gone to
Willys."
"Oh.
Buffy?"
"What?"
"Can we get a
video? Ooh, and pizza. And snacks."
"Fine,"
Buffy shrugged. "Whatever you want."
"Yay!"
The four of them
exited the shop. That left only
just woken up and
was staring at something only he could see.
the fabric of her
dress. "Um, I g-gotta go," she said and rushed out.
She looked back to
Oz. She almost started crying again.
Oz was still so
pale. His face was drawn and he looked tired. Or maybe sad. His
eyes were red and
bloodshot and his face still had a few bruises on it. The only
other bit of skin
she could see was his hands. She remembered how much she had
loved his hands.
There was a large scar on the palm of his right hand. They were
shaking slightly.
His hair was a brownish/red colour and she assumed that it was
his natural
colour. She had always wanted to know his natural hair colour.
His eyes looked
normal. She shiver crept down her spine as she remembered when
his eyes had
changed. She had known it was the wolf straight away. How many
times had she
looked into those amber eyes. Giles had something about when his
eyes were their
normal colour--green it meant that he was probably aware of
where he was and
listening to what they were saying. He had said something about
the wolf taking
over him. She wasn't sure.
She looked at him
sadly. She turned his head to face her and cocked his head
slightly. She
looked into his eyes. Definitely Oz
She wished he
would give her one of his half-smiles- the ones that he would
reserve just for
her. She sighed softly as he turned back to face the bookshelf.
*
Giles nodded and
handed Oz a glass of milk. He had made vast improvements in the last few weeks
and was now fully aware of everything that was going on. The only disaster had
been when they had had to get
“Thanks,” Oz said
hoarsely. Although he was able and willing to talk, his voice was still rusty.
Ginny and Dawn
came in to the shop, talking animatedly. They had become close friends in the
last few weeks and had a lot in common.
Xander trailed
behind the two girls, lugging a huge suitcase behind him, and grumbling.
Ginny hugged
Buffy,
She told Dawn that
she had to come to the Burrow during
the summer to meet her brothers. Dawn had been deeply upset that her new friend
had to leave and started to cry. Ginny was nearly crying, too. She hugged Giles
fiercely, almost knocking him off his feet and when she came to Oz, she burst
into tears and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Hey,” he said
softly. “It’s okay. I’ll see you again. Soon. I promise.”
She leaned over
and whispered in to his ear, “If you don’t tell
He pulled away
from her. “Is that a threat?!”
She put her hands
on her hips. “Darn tootin!”
He laughed and
kissed her on the forehead. “You’ve been hanging around with Dawn too much! Have
a safe trip.”
Ginny turned to
look at Giles who handed her a handful of powder.
“Bye everyone!”
she called while stepping in the fireplace.
“The Burrow,” she
shouted and disappeared into the fire.
Xander grinned.
“Cool!”
Giles chuckled.
Oz blinked. “I am
really glad we didn’t do that.”
Buffy grinned.
“You know what? This calls for ice-cream.”
Anya rolled her
eyes, “The opening of a can of soda calls for ice-cream according to you.”
“Okay, I guess you
don’t want any,” Buffy said as she, Dawn, Xander, Spike, Tara and Giles walked
out the door.
“Hey! Wait!” Anya
called after them and ran to catch up with them. “I like ice-cream!”
That left only
Okay Oz. You can do this. Just take a deep breath and
say it.
He opened his
mouth to say it.
Look at something else. Your hands. Her hands. She has
lovely hands. Her hands are petite and her fingers are—twisting in her lap.
“What’s wrong?”
She looked up
suddenly. “What? Nothing. Nothing’s wrong. Why would you think something’s
wrong?” she babbled.
He pointed to her
hands. “You’re twisting your hands in your lap. Never a good sign.”
She bit her lip.
Then, with a new sense of boldness, she stood up and went over to him. She sat
down opposite him. “Can we talk?”
“You mean like
we’re doing now?”
She took a deep
breath. “I talked to
Oz leaned in
closer. “Wanted to tell me what?”
“I’m still in love
with you,” she whispered, her eyes glued to the table.
Oz’s eyes widened
and he let out a breath. He took her hand in his. She looked up at him.
“I love you too,”
he said softly. “I tried not to. I tried to feel happy for you and Tara but I
couldn’t. I couldn’t forget you because I love you.”
She beamed. “Do
you think we could still…?”
He leaned over and
whispered in her ear, “I’d still if you’d still.”
Her heart leaped.
“I’d still. I’d very still.”
He grinned and
kissed her softly.
At that time, all
they could think was that all was right with the world and as long as they were
together, all would be right.
The End