Author's Notes: This fic is something new for me, seeing as how I've never written anything in the Wish-realm. It was just an idea that came to me as I re-watched the Oz-killing-Willow scene at the end of "The Wish", and it's been haunting me, so I finally sat down and got it out. Since we didn't learn too much about the Wish-realm Oz, I'm going to assume that he was basically Oz, just Willowless (and he was one who possessed an affinity for a crossbow). Superbig thanks to Leigh for beta-reading for me *G*
"I had a dream last night, Giles."Rupert Giles glanced up from the ancient book he was reading and into the kind green eyes of his helper. "Is that uncommon?"
Oz was too preoccupied to grace Giles' naiveté with a smirk, as he usually would have. "No, it wasn't just any dream. It was... weird."
"Weird how?" The Watcher replied, barely gracing the young man with a glance. The new prophecy he was researching was indeed more interesting than the "weird" dream his cohort was worried about.
"Well..." Oz sat down on the older man's couch and attempted to relax. He failed, as his anxiety seemed to overwhelm him. "It was me and a girl." He paused, waiting for some kind of response. He got a small sound of disinterest, and then continued on. "We were in my room... you know."
Giles paused from his research to look at him. "No, I'm sorry, I don't."
Oz blushed only slightly. "We were..." He trailed off, trying to think of a way to put it without embarrassing himself or the Watcher too much. "Intimate."
Giles' eyes widened in realization, and he pushed back from his desk slightly. "Oh." He gave Oz a puzzled look. "I'm sorry, but why are you sharing this with me Oz?"
The redheaded boy sighed. "It was about Willow."
Giles raised an eyebrow. "Willow? As in..."
"As in Willow, the Master's right hand vampire-shaped gal." Oz finished for him.
Giles thought for a moment. "Well, you just slayed her recently, no?" Oz nodded in confirmation. "Perhaps you were reminded of that, and she somehow found her way into your dream?"
Oz shook his head. "I don't know, Giles." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "It wasn't the first dream I've had about her."
"R-really?" Giles murmured, suddenly much more intrigued. "More ... erm, similar to the one you had last night?"
"No." Oz replied. "All sorts of weird dreams. They all seem to run together, too. In some weird kind of ... order. I've been getting them once every couple of nights or so."
"Did you know her before she was a vampire?" Giles asked him.
Oz shook his head once again. "No, I don't even remember seeing her around. But the fact that I'm dreaming about her isn't even the oddest part of the whole deal."
Giles was now even more puzzled. "Then what is?"
Oz shook his head. "In the dreams, she's... different than she was as a vampire."
"Different?" The older man inquired.
"Well, the Willow I saw... she wasn't exactly what I'd call pure, you know." Giles nodded. "This girl... she's ... you know, even in the, uh... most recent dream, there's just something about her that's innocent. Sweet." He paused, trying to organize his thoughts. "And she certainly doesn't have the same affinity for leather."
"But you are positive that the girl you're dreaming of is Willow?"
The younger man nodded. "Positive. But I think, maybe... in my dreams she's human, if that makes any sense?"
Giles nodded. "It may. I'm not sure I understand why that would be, but it certainly seems viable." By this point, the Watcher had turned his full attention to his cohort. "Tell me, if you would... erm, more about these dreams."
Oz leaned back against the couch, closing his eyes for a moment. "Well... like I said, she's different. She seems shyer, sweeter." He paused for a second, recalling dream Willow. "At first, the dreams were kind of muddled. I just remember seeing her hair, her eyes... then they started to get more vivid. For awhile I was watching her. I remember, once she was dressed in a big, fuzzy coat, or something. I can't quite remember. She had a harpoon though." Giles' brow furrowed at his last remark. "Then she started being more active in my dreams. We talked. We kissed. I-in the dreams... you're there sometimes, not all the time. Buffy, that slayer, is in them too. And we help her together, along with Xander... you know, the Master's henchmen."
Giles nodded. "So, in your dreams, we're... what, fighting the demons together, like a team? " Oz nodded. "How interesting. And Willow is surely good?"
"Couldn't be better. The thing that scares me is that they're getting so real, Giles. I mean, it's like I can smell her. When she's not in my dreams, I'm thinking about her. I can't even describe how I feel. It's like I'm completely ... God, I don't know, whipped." He chuckled only slightly, then his face turned serious. "Last night... you know, she told me she loved me... and the crazy part was that, in the dream, I was completely reciprocating the feeling." He shook his head once more, as if to clear it of the leftover emotions.
"You are in love with this girl, then." Giles stated. Oz raised his eyebrows. "In the dreams, I mean."
"It sure seems like it." He leaned forward again. "Anyway, I came to you, because it's really starting to get to me. I want to know why this is happening. Because it's hard enough getting to sleep at night without having to go through this emotional stress while I'm in dreamland. It's exhausting me."
Giles nodded slowly. "Yes, I can imagine..." He paused. "Perhaps, when you slayed her in demon form, somehow her human spirit was transferred through you?"
Oz gave him a skeptical look. "I didn't feel anything out of the ordinary. Just a normal slaying."
Giles thought for a moment. "Then... oh. Oh dear."
"What?"
"You do remember, when Buffy came and Cordelia was killed... the necklace? Anyanka."
Oz nodded slowly. "Yeah."
"Well, destroying that necklace didn't seem to do anything to this reality, despite what Cordelia said. So, I concluded that she had just been the victim of her own imagination." He paused. "But perhaps... perhaps she was right, perhaps there is another reality a... better reality, as she said."
"One where the human population in Sunnydale actually outweighs the demons?" Oz replied.
"One where Willow is human and the team that you are dreaming of actually exists."
Oz's eyebrows raised. "Oh." He paused. "So, I'd be dreaming about it why?"
Giles shrugged. "That's a question I don't know how to answer. Perhaps with research..." He stared at Oz for a moment. "But perhaps we'll never know." He stood, and walked towards his kitchen. "It's getting late, Oz. Would you like me to make you some tea before you go?"
Oz shook his head, standing as well. "No, I'll just... I'll be fine." He grabbed his coat. "Thanks, Giles."
Giles stared at the boy as he walked towards the door. "Sleep well."
***************** Oz stretched out on his bed, staring at the ceiling for only a moment before turning out the light. There was something he hadn't told Giles.
He liked the dreams. He liked the Willow that visited him late at night, liked how her hair smelled, and how soft her hands were. And he really liked the way her eyes made him forget about all the monsters and demons, all the friends that he'd lost.
Closing his eyes, Oz thought about his conversation with Giles. The possibility that the Willow he loved in his dreams was real somewhere, somehow... it made him feel something he wasn't used to feeling. Comfort.
He let sleepiness caress him into a more relaxed state of mind, and he found himself hoping he'd dream about Willow again. Because if he couldn't have her in his life, he felt a bit of comfort knowing that he had her somewhere.
Even if it was just a dream.