Author's Note: For Karen and Shari. Begins directly after Phases, and goes on through the third season and beyond.
She walked into the room, a shy smile forming on her face. Oz looked up, smiling too when he saw who had interrupted his practicing. He hopped off of the table and put down his guitar, walking over to her.She opened her mouth, not quite knowing what to say. "So... kiss."
Oz tried to conceal his delighted amusement and failed miserably. "It definitely was that," he agreed.
Willow looked at her hands. "Do you want to do it again?" she asked, the words bubbling out of her mouth without her permission.
Oz laughed and her face fell. "No, no!" he rushed to assure her, "That was an 'I'm so completely in that you didn't need to ask" laugh."
Her smile was back, and he thought for a second that he could drown in it. "I didn't mean to sound so... Slutty." Willow blushed deeply at her choice of words, and Oz looked confused.
"Why would that sound slutty?" he wondered out loud. She looked at him quizzically and he elaborated. "You're my girlfriend. I would hope that kissing me is something you're going to want to do on a regular basis. But feel free to slap me if I'm wrong or making assumptions now."
Her eyes shone, charmed. "No," she admitted softly, "You're not wrong. I... Kind of like your assumptions."
Oz gave another grin and leaned forward. She trembled at the feel of his breath, inches from her. "So... kiss?"
"Gladly."
Their mouths met in the quiet of the music room, and Oz felt he could hear her heartbeat.
~~~~~ She never knew she had that kind of courage before. She had always been the quiet one, the demure one, the one that did everything expected of her. For Xander, she was the girl who he could depend on for anything, his best friend and the girl who had loved him, in the secret place in her heart, for years. For her parents, her unbending parents, she was the perfect daughter, never daring to do something different, never wanting to do something that would displease them. For Buffy, she was the sidekick, which she really didn't mind, but it could be a rather binding title to carry sometimes.
And then she was Oz's girlfriend.
It was freeing, to say the least.
She fell in love so quickly, lost her heart so completely in him that she was amazed at how much she had changed in the last year. He would sometimes comment on how she was like a butterfly, but she felt like she was still struggling to find her way out of the chrysalis. With his help, of course.
Always with his help.
Their relationship progressed so wonderfully, that Willow felt like she was, indeed, flying. Almost there, almost free from the remaining shackles and cages that had always confined her. She would watch them as he slept-- they had gotten into the habit of taking naps together-- and marvel at how lucky she was to have him in her life.
A great boyfriend, an overall great person. She treasured him, and he treasured her back. He was special to her, for so many reasons.
One of them was the way he kissed her.
He would hold her face in his hands, those strong, warm hands, and wind his fingers through her hair. Slowly, his mouth would meet hers, in painful sweetness, until one or both of them was almost hurting with the intensity of the emotions and had to break the kiss. All of them were like that. So special, something once thought so unattainable.
They proved themselves wrong.
~~~~~ It became a slow ritual. She would smile shyly like she had right after their first kiss, and blurt out the words he had grown to love. "So... Kiss."
And he would nod. "It definitely was that."
And they would forgo the rest of the words in that conversation, depending on the degree of their playfulness, and kiss each other with a sweetness that surpassed the first time. And every time since.
What they lacked in passion, which was little, they made up for in emotion. And Willow knew that they would get to the passion sooner or later. She wanted it, counted on it, hoped and dreamed about it.
It was easy to love Oz. When she was around him, she felt free and clear of the troubles of her life. Unconcerned parents, ignorant best friends... He paid attention to her. For a long time, he was the the only thing that made sense to her.
And then he was gone, because she made the biggest mistake she ever had.
Confusing friendship with love, childish longing for passion, she had kissed Xander. Over and over again, reveling in the feel of growing up, not realizing what she could lose in the process. And though she loved Xander, and always would, she was no longer in love with him. She had just figured that out too late.
The weeks without Oz were the longest in her life.
She felt like a butterfly without him, yes, but stuck in her cold and dying cocoon, striving to be released into the place she had almost been before it had closed back around her. Wanting a breath of fresh air, wanting to see the sun and hear his voice. That was when she knew that he was all that mattered to her. That everything in her belonged to him. That he was the only one who could set her free.
And, at long length, he did. Being the person he was, being Oz, he forgave her indiscretion and confusion and stupidity and took her back into his arms. And then, the chrysalis that had hidden her for so many years was finally open and she was out, delivered from the prison cell that, though it had helped her grow, had confined her for far too long.
He was more than her boyfriend, more than the person she was falling increasingly in love with. He was her savior.
~~~~~ They made love soon after that. Willow, for the first time, knew what real flying was like, and it was simple. It was being in his arms, being close to him like that, being the only person in his eyes. It was a heady sensation, having him love her like he did. She loved him too. It was so right, so perfect.
They were meant for each other.
And then, one day, their game had a slight change in it. She had gone over to his house the night after they graduated college, missing him because they'd both been so busy and she hadn't had the chance to see him in over a day. He had been waiting for her, knowing that she was coming, prepared for her arrival.
She opened the door to his apartment slowly and found candlelight flickering on the walls. Enchanted, bewildered and more than pleased, she looked up to find her boyfriend in a tuxedo, looking more handsome than she had ever seen him. Her eyes twinkled, but she restrained herself from falling directly into his arms. Her voice came out feathery. "So... Kiss."
"They definitely have been," he murmured quietly.
The small change in the sentence caught her attention and she smiled slowly, titling her head to look at him more intently. "Do you want to do it again?"
He grinned. "After I do something else."
Willow's brow crinkled and she looked at him, confused. Smiling broadly, confident in his intentions, he knelt on one knee before her, taking out a small black box from his coat pocket. Willow opened her mouth silently.
He lowered his head, almost reverently. "Marry me?"
Her word came out as a half laugh, half sob, but that didn't matter because he understood her just fine. "Gladly."
Oz gave a laugh and jumped up, crushing her in his arms. She hugged him back and he swung her around as she giggled. At length, he set her down and looked into her eyes, taking her hand and slipping the glittering ring on her finger. "Now," he whispered. "Can I have that kiss?"
"You can have all of them," she confirmed softly.
They kissed, and the chrysalis remained gone and empty as Willow proceeded to fly.
The End
e-mail the groovy author~Make your own fun