REPOST: A Night in the Library

["M.L. Tankesly" <Shadowlander1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi again, this is just to keep the series together so people wont be too
confused when I post the next part of the series.

Shadow, who is really enjoying finally breaking her "writer's block"

Title: RS2: A Night in the Library (1/1)
Series: Part 2 of the "Reality Shift" series.
Author: Shadowlander
Email: Shadowlander1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx - or - Tankesly@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all associated characters
belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant enemy, and Warner Bros., and are used
without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
Rating: PG
Summary: Willow spends some quality time with her significant other
during that time of the month. :)
Archive: Sure, I like getting posted. It saves me the time of actually
learning how to make a WebPage of my own. :)
Note: This is my answer to Rod's moon theme of the week. With my own
little twist on things, as usual. Just to warn everyone, I rarely deal
with reality, in case anyone hasn't all ready noticed that little fact.
*LOL*

A NIGHT IN THE LIBRARY (1/1)

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.

Well? Comments? Suggestions? Want to know the rest of the story?