Oz stepped off the bus and glanced around nervously. It had been 3 years since he left Sunnydale, and he was a little uneasy about coming back. *I shouldn't even be here,* he thought sullenly. *This was such a mistake.* But Oz knew in his heart it wasn't a mistake. He knew why he had come back. To see her. He had left with unfinished buisness, and it disturbed him greatly.

He let his mind wander back to the night he had left town. The worst night of his life. One week earlier, everything had ended. Buffy had been out fighting the newest evil to arrive in Sunnydale. Actually, it hadn't even been new evil. Quite the opposite in fact, it was old friends. Spike and Dru. She managed to dust Spike, and payed for that accomplishment with her life.

Willow had been devastated. She broke down completely. When she asked Oz for time alone to deal with it, he complied. After all, he had asked her for the very same thing once. But after a week he couldn't stand it any longer. He got up the nerve to go over to her house. Upon arriving, her parents greeted him with grave faces. They informed him that she had gone into MHRC, the Mental Health Restoration Center, where she was to stay indefinately.

This news tore Oz apart. He spent several hours in his room, not knowing what to do. He wanted to cry, be angry, at least feel something, but he couldn't. He just went numb. By the time the sun rose that morning, he knew what he had to do. He had to leave, get out of this wretched town. He had to get as far away from the Hellmouth as possible. As far away from the memories as possible. So he packed up his few possesions and left.

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He thought about her constantly. He knew he would always love her. That was one thing that would never change, no matter how many miles he traveled, how many women he saw. None of them would ever hold a candle to his Willow.

Surviving was easy enough. He'd get to a town, find a coffee shop, or club that would hire him to play, and stay there till he felt like moving on. For the most part, he stayed in youth hostels or other cheap places. It wasn't really bad living. He made enough money to eat regularly, and he got a chance to see the country. He almost enjoyed it. He would have, if it hadn't been for the girl who was always on the edge of his mind.

It had occurred to him one day, as he awoke in a dingy hotel room somewhere in New Mexico, that running away from what happened probably wasn't the best choice. A song drifted into his mind, one he hadn't heard in a long time.

Early one morning the sun was shining
I was laying in bed
Wondering if she'd changed it all
If her hair was still red...

He wondered dimly what had brought that particular song into his head. It seemed too perfect, like there was some force at work. He shook off the weird feeling he had, and prepared himself for a long day. He was playing the local coffee shop that afternoon and a club that evening.

When his set at the club ended, Oz collected his money and left quickly. He wanted avoid the girls backstage. They were all the same, in every town, every state. They would shamelessly throw themselves at anyone who was a performer. It was sad. They all had that look in their eyes that gave them away. All they wanted was an escape from their life. A chance to get out of whatever town they were stuck in. Some of them were fairly pretty. Not that it mattered to Oz.

Again the song creeped into his head, only a different verse.

All the while, how was I to know
The past was close behind?
I'd seen a lot of women
But she never escaped my mind
And I just knew,
Tangled up in blue...

The strange feeling took ahold of Oz once more. He had spent too much time on the Hellmouth to ignore things like this. It was then and there that he decided to go back. He knew he had earned enough money for the bus ride.

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Oz continued walking down the streets of his home town. Everything looked so familiar, but at the same time, changed. He turned left onto the street where Willow lived. Somehow, he just knew she would be there, in that house. He wondered how she would react.

"I thought you'd never say hello," she said.
"You look like the silent type."
And then she opened up a book of poems
And handed it to me,
Written by an Italian poet from the 13th century.
Every one of those words rang true
And felt like burning coal
Pouring off of every page
Like it was written in my soul
From me to you,
Tangled up in blue...

Oz was getting closer to her house. Another minute and he would be standing on her front step. He felt his pulse quicken. Her driveway was 50 feet away... then twenty feet... ten feet... five... He was standing at her door. Before he could even think about what he was doing, he rang the door bell.

After what seemed like an eternity, the door swung open and there she was. Her hair was still short and still fiery red. Her green eyes opened wide with shock, then filled with tears. "Oz," she breathed. "I- You're-"

"Shhh," Oz said, gently taking her into his arms. "I'm here. And I'm never leaving you again."

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The End
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