CHAPTER SEVEN
 
Willow threw open the door, shouting, “Xander you’re not a demon magnet anymore, and Giles, you can see just as well as you used to. And Buffy and Spike, you—” She froze, her eyes going wide.  “Oz?”
 
“Hey, Willow.” He raised his hand in greeting.
 
“Where’s your hair?”
 
“Oh that. Well, long story….”
 
“And where have you been?  I looked everywhere for you.”
 
“Ah, that one I can answer. As of a few hours ago, I was in China. On my way to a monastery in Tibet. And then suddenly, I was here.”  He met Willow’s shocked gaze with his own sad smile. “Don’t suppose you know anything about that, do you, Willow?”
 
“Oh. Oh my… Oh….” Willow sank into the nearest chair. “Did I?  I didn’t mean… I mean I wanted…. But….” She raised her eyes to take in the people all staring at her. “I just wanted Oz to come back to me. I didn’t mean for all this other stuff to happen.”
 
“Exactly what kind of a spell did you do, Willow?” Giles asked in a tone that barely managed to be nonjudgmental.
 
“Oh. Well, I couldn’t find one specifically for making lovers come back, so I did one that made my will be done.  All I have to do is say something is, and it happens.”  She bit her lip. “But I thought it wasn’t working because Oz didn’t appear, so I kinda forgot about it.”
 
“Apparently it took some time for your will to reach China,” Giles said dryly. “Those of us more easily reached were affected first.”
 
“But, it’s all fixed now. Right? Everybody’s okay. I mean, Giles can see, and the demons are gone, and Buffy and Spike aren’t getting married anymore….”  She looked at the big chair they had settled back into. “What are you two doing? I said you weren’t getting married anymore.”
 
“We got that, Wills. It’s okay.” Buffy frowned at her. “What’s wrong?”
 
“If you aren’t planning to marry him, why are you on Spike’s lap?”
 
“We didn’t stop loving each other just because we aren’t getting married.” Buffy looked up at Spike. “Did we?”
 
“I didn’t” he said quietly. “But you might want to think on it a bit more, love. The watcher was right, you know. We weren’t in love yesterday, were we?”
 
Buffy frowned. “Well… no. I guess we weren’t, but….” Buffy glared at Willow. “If you only said I should marry Spike, why did we think we were in love?” He twitched at her use of the past tense but didn’t speak.
 
“I don’t know what Spike’s problem is, but would you be marrying somebody if you didn’t love him?  No, you wouldn’t. So when the spell said you should marry Spike, it made you think you love him.” Willow glared back. “The spell is over. You aren’t getting married. You shouldn’t still love him.”
 
Xander spoke up immediately. “So get the hell off Spike’s lap, Buffy! You don’t have to be there anymore!”
 
Spike’s arms tightened just long enough for Buffy to feel the squeeze before he took them away and waited to see what she would do. She frowned, both at the implications that were just sinking in and at the loss of Spike’s embrace. She looked up at him, her distress obvious.
 
“I… I guess I don’t love you, Spike. We were just in love because of the spell.”
 
“Know you don’t, Buffy. It’s alright.”
 
She moved to get off his lap, trying not to feel the tension in his body or hear the pain in his voice.  She got to her feet and began to move away, only to turn back and lean down so only he could hear her words.
 
“But I think I like you a lot more than I did yesterday. And I still think you’re a great kisser.”
 
Face flaming, she whirled and walked away, his “I can work with that” making her giggle as she joined Oz, whose quiet nod and smile were puzzling until he whispered, “He’s my friend, and his feelings are real. Thanks for letting him down easy.”
 
Buffy nodded, then looked from Oz to Willow. “I guess you two have some talking to do?”
 
Oz shook his head. “Nothing’s changed for me. It took me a week to get that far, now I have to start over.”  They both turned to stare at Willow, whose eyes were tearing up at Oz’s obvious lack of delight in finding himself back in Sunnydale.
 
“I don’t understand,” Willow said. “Why were you in China?”
 
“It’s the way to get to Tibet. Nothing’s changed, Willow. I love you, but I don’t want to be around you or anybody else I care about—” He waved his hand to encompass the whole room. “Not until I know I can control the wolf. There’s a monastery there where I can learn how to do that. They were expecting me.”
 
Willow’s face fell. “I'm sorry,” she whispered. “I was just so unhappy without you.” She took a deep breath. “I can fix it, I think. If the spell is still in effect, I should be able to put you back where you were. You might be a little late, but….”
 
“I’d really appreciate that, Willow,” Oz said, his voice gentle but firm.
 
“When will you be back?”
 
“I don’t know. As long as it takes, I guess. If I can do it, I’ll be back when I feel safe. If I can’t….”
 
Willow squeezed her eyes shut in pain, then nodded. “Okay. Good luck, Oz. You should go back to where you were this morning so you can continue your trip. I will it so.”
 
Before anyone could say anything else to him, Oz vanished from the room, leaving Willow sobbing on the floor and Spike rushing to the window to make sure Oz wasn’t just out in the parking lot again.
 
“Fuck!” he muttered. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye.” He started when he felt Buffy’s hand on his shoulder. She gave a soft squeeze before dropping her hand to her side.
 
“He knows how you feel,” she said. “He knows you would have said it if you’d had time.”
 
He nodded and followed her back into the room, hesitating at the big chair. “You take it,” she said. “I’m going to talk to Willow.”
 
Buffy sank to her knees beside her still sobbing friend and hugged her until Willow’s sobs trailed off to sniffles. “You know you’ve got to let that wish go, right?” she asked, still holding Willow in her arms.
 
“I know. I don’t want any more accidental engagements or demon swarms. It’s ended. I will it to be gone.”
 
“Okay then,” Buffy stood up and pulled Willow to her feet. “I’m going to talk to Giles about the Initiative, and then I think it’s ice cream time.”
 
“Oh shoot! I should have wished them away while I was at it.”
 
“It’s okay. I think the Council’s on it. Less chance of nasty surprises that way.”
 
Giles nodded his agreement. “Arrangements are underway already. The operation will be closed down within the next day or two. Although I suggest you… and Spike… remain in hiding until that has occurred.”
“So much for ice cream,” Buffy said, rolling her eyes.  “Or for finishing this semester.”
 
“It’ll be okay, Buffy. I’ll take good notes and I’ll tell your professors that you had a family emergency.” Willow beamed, delighted to be able to be useful.
 
“In the meantime, I presume this means I will continue to have houseguests?”
 
“I guess so, Giles.” Buffy slid her eyes to the side to catch Spike’s gaze. “Although, I know where there’s a vacant cave….”
 
The End.