Story: A Normal Life: Nowhere Left To Run

["Femvamp " <femvamp000@xxxxxxxxx>]

TITLE: A Normal Life: Nowhere Left To Run
AUTHOR: Femvamp
E-MAIL: femvamp000@xxxxxxxxx
FEEDBACK: My name is Femvamp and I am a feedback junkie. 
DISTRIBUTION: You want it? It's yours. Just tell me where it goes.
DISCLAIMER: Joss Wheadon and many others own the characters of Buffy 
TVS and Angel (lucky bastards). 
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Nowhere Left To Run

Willow walked down the streets of Wolfton. She still had a hard time 
believing that the town was almost entirely populated by werewolves. 
Oz had called it, a safe place, a place where werewolves could go and 
not feel hunted or hated. 

Oz had found a home. Willow smiled. She was happy for him. A few 
months before he had even become Pack Leader. Willow still wasn't 
sure what that meant, but she knew it was big.

Willow had been living in Wolfton for over a month. She had even 
gotten a job as the local healer. Most of the other wolves had been 
wary of her until they found out that she was Oz's friend. Then they 
became nice and friendly. (Well most of them anyway.) 

Willow had talked with Oz for hours about Tara and how she died. She 
even told him how she felt about Buffy. Willow was glad to see Oz 
again and she was glad that he had found happiness.

"Hey Willow." Willow turned from her musing and saw Kyle standing a 
few feet away.

"Hi Kyle." Willow smiled at the young werewolf.

Kyle had been one of the first to accept Willow. He had been born in 
Wolfton and had known very few humans. Even with all the stories 
about how evil humans were, he still walked up to Willow the first day 
she arrived and they had been friends ever since.

"Where you going?" Kyle asked.

"Nowhere in particular." 

"Oh." Kyle's eyes flashed with amusement, "Can I come?"

Willow smiled, "Sure."

Willow and Kyle walked through the town and into the woods. They 
continued to walk until they arrived at a river. There Willow stopped 
and sat on a rock and stared into the river.

"My daddy says the river talks to him." Kyle said after awhile.

"About what?"

"Life."

Willow smiled, "What does the river tell him?"

Kyle paused for a moment, "Daddy says that even the river can't run 
forever. Eventually it hits a wall or a bank or the ocean. It has to 
stop some time."

"What does it do then?"

"It goes home."

"What if it doesn't have a home."

Kyle smiled, "Everyone has a home Willow."

Willow smiled at the young werewolf. Although he was young she saw 
intelligence in him. Like her, he had grown up in a sheltered yet 
dangerous environment. Unlike her, he knew of the danger from an 
early age. He was a special young man.

"Are you going home, Willow?" Kyle asked.

Willow thought about that for a moment. The truth was, she missed 
Sunnydale. Even with all the danger and the evil, it was her home. 
It would always be her home. Most of all she missed Buffy. 

"I don't know." Willow said simply.

"OK." Kyle smiled and then looked up at the sky, "Its gonna be a full 
moon tonight. We better get going." 

Willow nodded and followed Kyle out of the woods. Oz had taught the 
other werewolves how to stop the transformation and they had taught 
him how to embrace it. The werewolf inside of him wasn't evil. It 
was just primal. Like all primal needs, it needed a release. The 
werewolf could be controlled, but never defeated.

On the night of the full moon, all the werewolves in Wolfton allowed 
the change to happen. It was not struggled with or feared. It was 
embraced. Even the humans in the town celebrated the release. Oz had 
come to realize and except who he was. 

He was Oz, Pack Leader to the Wolfton Werewolves.

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"Willow." 

Willow awoke to find herself floating in a blue mist. Somewhere in 
the back of her mind she knew she should have been afraid. Yet, she 
felt nothing but peace. After she got her bearings Willow looked up 
and saw what could only be identified as a Goddess.

"Who are you?" Willow asked.

The Goddess smiled, "My name is not important. My message is."

"Message?" 

"Your destiny is not here, my little witch." 

Willow frowned, "My destiny is gone."

"No it is not. Tara was not your destiny."

"I loved Tara." Willow said on the verge of tears.

"I know. And she loved you." The goddess paused, "She loved you 
enough to see beyond the veil. To see beyond her own wants and 
desires. She loved you enough to die in someone else's place."

"Buffy." 

"Yes, the Slayer."

"Why did she do it?" Willow could no longer hold back her tears.

"It was her destiny." The goddess paused again, "Every mortal come to 
a point where they must make a choice. Take one road or another. The 
road easily traveled or the road less traveled. Tara made her 
choice." The goddess smiled, "She made the right one. "

"How can you say that!" Willow said angrily.

"Because Tara has found her reward. And you my child will find 
yours."

"Where?" 

"You know the answer already. You just need to find the question."

With that the goddess vanished and Willow woke up from her dream.

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"You're going back?" Oz asked Willow the next morning.

"I have to." Willow responded.

"Do you mind if I tag along?" 

"Why?" 
Oz smiled and handed Willow a card.


You are cordially invited to the wedding of
Joyce Summers
And
Rupert Giles


Willow smiled, "I guess they opted for the short engagement."

Oz smiled back, "Living on the Hellmouth, that's a good idea. Live in 
the short run." Oz smiled again, "By the way. You've got one too."

"You told them I was here."

"Yup."

Willow smiled at Oz, "Well then, we have a wedding to attend."

Two hours later Willow and Oz were on their way back to Sunnydale. 
They were on there way back home.