Chapter 1 pt. 2

"You're really coming home?" Willow Rosenberg squeaked into the phone, shock causing her grip to tighten on the receiver until her fingers were numb.

"Yeah, Wills," sighed her best friend's voice from across the line. "It's past time. But there are some things I need taken care of before I get there. So, I'm going to need you and Oz, and maybe my mom to take care of some stuff there in Sunnydale for me, OK?"

Willow grunted some kind of affirmative into the phone, her mind reeling in shock. She'd been pressing Buffy to come home for months, ever since the blond Slayer had called her out of the blue to apologize eighteen months ago. "Huh?" Willow mumbled into the phone, realizing that Buffy had been talking for some time and that she hadn't been paying attention to her.

Buffy laughed a little, glad to know that some things didn't change, that Willow could still be surprised and flustered. "Pull it together for a minute Willow, and make a list for me. I need some stuff taken care of before I get to Sunnydale in a couple of months. Can you and Oz take care of things for me?"

Willow nodded her head dazedly before remembering that Buffy couldn't see her. "I'll do what ever you need Buffy," she assured, making her list on auto pilot and dutifully reading it back at Buffy's prompting, though none of her actions really registered. When Buffy said goodbye, Willow roused enough to say. "I can't wait till you get back Buffy. It'll be just like old times, you'll see." When Buffy hung up, Willow just stood there staring at the receiver blankly, her thoughts whirling

Willow was still standing like that when Oz entered the office. They'd moved in together about a year after Buffy left, and when Willow had started her own computer security consulting business after graduation, she and Oz had turned the second bedroom in their apartment into her office. When he wasn't working with the Dingos, or studying wolf behavior as a part-time zoology student, Oz helped out, and the two did very well for themselves. He paused, takeing in her shocked expression, and gently pried the phone from her grasp, briefly listening to the dial tone before hanging up the receiver.

Concern for Willow slipped past Oz's normally reserved facade to show on his face. "Willow?" he prompted gently, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Reaction had started to set in, and Willow was now starting to shake, causing even more concern in her fiance's heart. "Willow, was it bad news?" Oz asked, his mind darting to all of the horrible things that it could have been, from Xander being injured, to Buffy falling to a demon, and any number of things between. He was getting really concerned when a wide smile started to slide across Willow's face.

"Oz!" she exclaimed, green eyes sparkling. The witch grabbed his shoulders and gave him a small, excited shake as she tried to spit the words out. "Buffy! On the phone!"

"Buffy called?" Oz asked, surprised by this reaction. The Slayer had been calling off and on for nearly two years, and had never prompted this extreme of emotions beyond the first call. "Is everything OK?" The concern in his voice would have been missed by anyone but Willow, who had learned a great deal about reading the emotions of the extraordinarily laid back Oz. It gave him a warm feeling around his heart when Willow's eyes softened in reassurance; it thrilled the young werewolf to no end that his chosen mate could read him so well. Oz dragged his thoughts off the pleasent road towards Willow contemplation and back to his fiance's rambling explanation.

"Oz! She's coming home!" Willow exclaimed, waving a sheet of paper in the air. "A-and not just for a visit! She made me write it all down so I didn't forget anything," she babbled on, again waving the paper in Oz's general direction, but moving it away before he could take it from her. "She needs us to take care of things before she comes back. As in to stay! For good!" Willow emphasized each statement with a wave of her arms and a decisive nod of her head. "It'll be just like old times, e-except for the fact that Xander's not here right now. And Cordelia doesn't really talk to us, except that that's not really any different, and that Angel's still in LA and not coming home." Willow frowned as these thoughts raced through her head. "I hope she's not still mad at Xander. And I'm really mad at her for just disappearing like that, though we *have* talked about it a couple of times since that first time she called. But still! She's coming back, and I'm so happy! It'll be just like old times!"

Oz raised his eyebrow at her statements, a few concerns of his own silently running through his mind. "Just like old times, except for not," he agreed enigmatically. Oz remembered all too clearly the dead expression in Buffy's eyes the day he'd found her hiding in a basement. She'd apparently escaped her assailant, but had been in too much shock, and too injured to make it very far. While grateful that she'd been found, and that his werewolf enhanced sense of smell had helped track down the little Slayer that meant so much to everyone, Oz had been horrified by what he'd seen that day. Because that twisted human had managed to do what no manner of demon or personal tragedy had done; he'd killed a piece of Buffy's soul.

Oz came out to that horrible memory to find Willow staring, upset that he'd rained on her parade. "I'm sorry baby," he murmured, surprised at the low growl that had been rumbling in his chest. Oz pulled Willow to him and whispered into her soft red hair. "I don't mean to ruin your celebration. And I think it's great that Buffy's coming back. But, I don't want your hopes to get dashed. I remember what that last summer was like, and how uncomfortable everyone was before she left. There's a lot of unresolved feelings that need to be dealt with before things will be like before. If they ever can be."

Willow nodded her head sadly, hating to agree but having no choice. The last summer had been filled with tension and hurt feelings even before the attack against Buffy. And, Willow had to admit that she had also been upset with Xander, though she had forgiven him fairly quickly. 'On the other hand,' Willow reminded herself, 'I didn't have to send my true love to hell because he 'forgot' to pass on a message.' Things had still been uneasy between Buffy and Xander when the attack occurred, and things had gone downhill afterwards. Buffy had pulled away from everyone, and it seemed to Willow that her best friend had been looking for any excuse to run away by the time she'd actually dissapeared. "Still," Willow said, resolutely pushing the bad memories away. "I think it's good that Buffy's coming back. Letters and phone calls just aren't the same. And, I can hear the loneliness in her voice when she does call. She needs us just as much as we need her. It's way past time all that stuff gets dealt with, don't you think?"

"You're right it is," Oz agreed, reaching for Buffy's list. "So let's get started on this list," he said, heading towards the desk. Willow nodded in agreement, slipping into his lap as they started reading.