A Night in the Library
Disclaimers – Buffy, Willow and all related characters belong
to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy and are used without their permission. No
copyright infringement was intended.
Feedback – Yes and plenty of it. Comments and suggestions can
be sent to Shadow at Shadowlander1@coastalnet.com
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Part 1
Full Moon’s Light
Willow listened to the restless prowling of the imprisoned
werewolf, safely locked in the book cage, with a heavy heart. 'Damn him,' she
silently cursed as she listened to her love's mournful howl cutting through the
quiet library. It was all that child's fault, one wayward bite and her
soul-mate was condemned to this 'existence', she thought with disgust. She
wasn't kidding herself, the moment her lover had been bitten, the moment the
werewolf curse took effect, both of their lives were forever changed.
It broke her heart every time she had to lock away the
other half of her soul, no matter how many times they told each other it was
more than necessary. The lives of so many innocent people depended on the wolf
not escaping and wreaking havoc on the unsuspecting town; the vampire population
and other creatures of the night were more than enough.
Still, a part of her cried the entire night as she kept
careful visual over the one person who ever saw her as more than the shy
wallflower everyone else seemed to overlook.
It just wasn't fair, all they wanted was to be happy with each other, to
have a normal relationship. Wasn't it
bad enough that they had to put up with Xander and his stupid jokes? If she had to hear one more 'mutt' or
'bitch' comment she was certain she would stake him herself, no matter how hard
Giles tried to talk her out of it. The thought of the Watcher brought a smile
to her face for the first time since the sun had gone down that day.
Good old Giles, who had begun the search for the elusive
cure to the whole werewolf curse, without either of them having to ask. Of
course, that was just Giles being, well Giles. He saw the Slayer and her misfit
band of helpers as being his kids. In the end all that really mattered was that
two of his kids needed him to be there with all the answers and Giles was
determined to get those answers, one way or another.
Another howl from the cage brought Willow out of her silent
musings. Kneeling in front of the cage she found herself returning the steady gaze
of the werewolf locked behind the specially reinforced book cage's bars. “Hey
Baby, you feeling lonely?” she questioned with a small smile. She had
discovered early in their relationship that the werewolf was less active when
it was just the two of them in the library. She also learned that the wolf was
fiercely protective of her, having torn open the cage the one and only time a
group of vampires had invaded the school. The werewolf had slaughtered the
fledglings in a violent rage that ended with Faith having to use the tranquilizer
gun on the furious wolf. And yet strangely the wolf had made no attempt to
attack any of the gang that had been present in the library at the time of the
assault aside from Xander who had gotten a bit too close to Willow for the
wolf's liking.
The wolf responded by cocking its massive head to one side
and giving a little whimper. Somewhere in its subconscious it recognized the
strange smelling one on the other side of the cage as its mate. The wolf didn't know how it got in this
strange place but its mate was here too so everything was okay. At least that
loud smelling one wasn't here too like last time, it annoyed the wolf with all
its meaningless chatter. Of course, all the two-legged creatures tended to
annoy the wolf, all except for its mate, who was always there to make the
unpleasant stay in the hateful cage less lonely.
Although the wolf really wanted to know how its mate got on
the other side of the cage when it couldn't...well there was that one time when
its mate was being attacked. The wolf couldn't remember what had happened when
it tried to rid itself of the loud smelling one trying to get to its mate. The
wolf had hoped that it had finally killed the loud one but the annoying
creature came back the next night to taunt the wolf once more. Only the
continued presence of its mate kept the wolf from breaking free again. As long
as its mate was safe it could tolerate being locked away, it had proven that it
could easily break out of its prison if need be, but its mate seemed to be
happy here, so the wolf stayed to please her.
“It's almost dawn,” Willow said keeping eye contact with
the wolf. “You can show me that new song you were working on when you're a
little less furry.” Her eyes lighting up at the thought of watching her love
play. She always got a kick out of being able to say that she was dating a
musician. That she, little Willow Rosenberg was dating someone in a rock band,
and not just any band either. No, the
house band at the Bronze was rapidly making a name for itself in the surrounding
area as an up and coming group. Willow grew silent for a moment noting the time
with a heavy heart. It was later than she realized - almost dawn now - soon
Giles would be arriving to open up the library to the rest of the school. Like
it was ever used by anyone other than the rest of the gang.
Although there was that one foreign exchange student that
actually used it for an entire semester once, Willow had never saw Giles more excited
since she had known him. Smiling softly at the fond memory she shook her head
to clear it, only to have the action mirrored by the werewolf who was still
studying her on the other side of the book cage, bringing her back to the here
and now.
Laughing at the wolf's antics, her smile grew larger, in a
few moments
The curse would be releasing its grip on the other half of
her soul. It was an event that Willow always looked forward to and dreaded at
the same time. On one hand it meant that Willow could hold her musician once
again without fear of being ripped apart, and on the other, it meant watching
while her very heart was twisted in a vice as she watched the transformation
from wolf to human. She just knew that her love was in agony whenever the dreaded
'change' happened, regardless of the many claims otherwise to that fact.
It was during these times that Willow's hatred of 'him' was
at its strongest, one of the few times that little Willow Rosenberg ever felt
murderous rage toward another human being, and had come very close to actually
acting on such thoughts. Still, she refused to look away from her love as the
change began. She could never bring herself to look away, to pretend like some
of the others that one of their own did not go through this type of torture
every time the moon was full.
Today was no different as the wolf suddenly moved to the
back of the cage, as if to spare its mate having to witness the dreaded change
that had begun. The wolf howled in pain and rage. 'No' it screamed in its mind,
not understanding the strange pain that seemed to twist and tear at its very
being. The wolf wanted to stay with its mate, together like they were supposed
to be.
“Buffy,” Willow whispered as the wolf's body was racked
with pain as the terrible metamorphosis begun its cruel job of transforming the
body of a werewolf back to that of a teenage girl once more. “Damn you Oz! You
WILL pay for this!” Willow vowed once again, tears running unchecked down her
face, as she gripped the bars of the cage with white knuckles, praying yet
again that all of this was just some terrible nightmare and that she would
awaken at any moment.
From the floor at the back of the cage, Buffy Summers
slowly lifted her head, subconsciously searching for her girlfriend, who she
knew was standing on the other side of the cage. No matter how hard she tried
to persuade her otherwise, Willow always insisted on being there when she 'woke
up' so to speak. “Wills.” Buffy said in a breathless voice with a little smile.
Who was she kidding she wanted Willow here just as much as
the redhead wanted to be here. Buffy doubted she would have been able to get
through the last several months without Willow's support. “Ah, you think you
can get my clothes?” She asked with a playful grin.
Her question seemed to break the other girl out of the
trance she seemed to have falling into. With a shaky laugh Willow dug into her
pocket for the key, absently wiping at the tears still falling from her eyes.
'Everything is okay now. Buffy is human again and we don't have to do this for
another month.' She told herself
firmly, unlocking the cage and going to retrieve Buffy's clothes.
“You'll pay for this Oz.” A figured whispered fiercely from
the safety of the stacks, allowing the two young girls to collect themselves in
private. “If it's the last thing I do, you will pay!”
The End?