Wizard of Oz
by Rin
There's No Place Like Home
[reviews]
A/N: OMG!! I actually did complete this!!!!
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"I'd turn back if I were you." Lion Spike was reading the sign, and practically tearing the hairs from his tail. Buffy rolled her eyes, and pulled his paw to get him moving again.
"Look, I deal with things scarier than flying monkeys on a daily basis. Let's just get to the castle, and get this over with so I can go home and you guys can get what you want." Buffy picked up a fallen branch and tested its sturdiness. Those flying monkeys were tricky, so she'd need a weapon to fend them off. "Plus, the thought of you three trying to save me? It doesn't leave a secure feeling in my mouth."
"What's a flying monkey?" TinXan tried to walk softly but his metalness was clanging too much.
"Why...I would imagine them as monkeys that could fly...but I'm not too sure about those things." Scarecrow Giles was loosing his straw when the jitterbugs would pull some from his body.
Right on time, the flying monkeys came flying...but the only thing they got was Mr. Gordo. This upset Buffy.
"That's it. Cordelia is going down." Buffy was never happier she remembered the movie; she knew to lead the others to the castle after putting Scarecrow Giles back together.
The Winkies were marching, and Buffy didn't waste time attacking the rear guards, stealing their outfits for the others, not even bothering with one for herself since they were so unflattering. They could just pass her off as a hostage.
"Who's them? Who's them?" was Lion Spike's initial reaction but he immediately changed demeanor when he helped Buffy take out the guards.
"Spike, I knew you had a little monster in you." Buffy just patted him on the back, as they fell in line with the other guards, entering the castle.
Buffy wasn't sure about the directions in the castle, so they just went about searching. It didn't take long for Cordelia to show, holding Mr. Gordo no less.
"Give me back my pig, Cordy." Buffy placed her hands on her hips, challenging the witch.
"Go ahead. Do something...roar! Roar!" TinXan nudged Lion Spike's arm, trying to hide his own fear.
"What good'll it do us?" Lion Spike just pulled his arm back. The Winkies surrounded them, pointing their spears and weapons dangerously close to hurting someone.
"That's right. Don't hurt them right away. We'll let them think about it a little first." Cordy just smirked, as she went to skewer Mr. Gordo on one of the spears. Buffy went to move forward but was stopped by several spears at her throat. "Well, ring around the rosy, a pocket full of spears. Thought you'd be pretty foxy, didn't you? Well, I'm going to start in on you right here — one after the other!"
Buffy moves back and the spears back away slightly. Seeing Mr. Gordo's stuffing coming out was causing the blonde to get even angrier. Cordy was so going to pay for this.
"How about a little fire, Scarecrow?" Cordy sent a fireball at Giles, who immediately panicked, trying to get the fire out.
"No, no, no, no!!" Scarecrow Giles flailed about, fire starting to grow. "Help! I'm burning! I'm burning! Help! Help!"
Buffy grabbed a pail of water that she for some reason just now noticed.
"Stupid me." She went to go throw it at Cordy but seeing Giles on fire caused her to rethink her actions. At the last minute, she threw the water on her straw-filled watcher. Looking down, she only saw a little bit of water left in the pail. It would have to do, so she threw the remainder on the witch's face.
"Oh...you cursed slayer! Look what you've done!" Cordelia was starting to smoke.
"Guess your twenty layers of skank weren't waterproof, after all. Next time, maybe try Maybelline." Buffy threw the bucket to the side, as she watched Cordelia start to melt. "I know. I know. You're melting, you're melting. Sing me a new tune."
"She's...she's dead. You've killed her." The lead guard checked the empty cloak and hat.
"Don't be so dramatic. She's not really dead but you can hail me anyways and say that she is." Buffy felt relieved, though she couldn't find a broom or any other accoutrement that Cordy was carrying. What were they supposed to take back to Angel? Instead, she just pulled Mr. Gordo's remains from the spear and clutched him tightly to her body.
---
Buffy led the others back to Emerald City, though they were empty handed. She was afraid that there would be no way home now, so she would have to convince wizard Angel another way.
Instead of facing the dramatics of the big head again, Buffy just pulled the curtain back and pulled Angel out by his collar, placing him in front of them.
"Okay. So...here's how it goes. Explain to these three that they've always had what they've come to find, and then get me home." Buffy's facial expressions challenged Angel to argue.
Angel pulled out his black bag and handed Scarecrow Giles his ThD (Doctor of Thinkology) before moving over the Lion Spike. Buffy could just see the brawl that was about to happen.
"Yes, we know, Spike. Angel is bloody stupid and his hair sticks straight up. Just listen to him." Buffy gestured with her hand to move the process along.
"You are under the unfortunate delusion that simply because you run away from danger, you have no courage. You're confusing courage with wisdom. Back where I come from, we have men who are called champions." Angel saw Buffy's glare, and decided to just hand Spike the triple cross medal. Buffy was surprised to see Spike didn't burn or smoke even a little, which disappointed her to a degree.
"As for you, my galvanized friend, you want a heart! You don't know how lucky you are not to have one. Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable. I could..." Again, Angel stopped his tirade and coughed uncomfortably from Buffy's glare and handed TinXan the heart-shaped watch. "Remember my sentimental friend that a heart is not judged by how much you love but by how much you are loved by others."
"Finally...let's get moving, so I can wake up from this nightmare." Buffy knew the black bag didn't have anything for her, so she took it from Angel and threw it to the side. "So...it's time for you to balloon me back to Sunnydale. Let's get going."
--
They moved to the balloon, and Buffy was not surprised when Angel made a long speech to the townsfolk. That's when it hit Buffy.
"I can't go with you." She climbed out of the balloon just as it was leaving.
"Buffy, what are you doing?" Scarecrow Giles asked, as the others surrounded her.
"I can't go with Angel. Don't you see? All of this...this dream...this dimension...whatever it is...I was meant to learn something, and it just dawned on me what it was." Buffy took a deep breath and smiled. "This was my path, my destiny. I'm supposed to clear these obstacles, these people...because they're the reasons I haven't told Willow."
"Told Willow what?" TinXan placed a comforting hand on Buffy's shoulder. Just then, the ball of energy floated from the sky and emerged into Willow.
"You don't need to be helped any longer. You've always had the power to go back to Sunnydale." Good Witch Willow smiled, glad to see that Buffy learned her lessons.
"I know...and I...I'm ready." Buffy steeled herself. "I'm ready."
"Why didn't you tell her before?" Scarecrow Giles was a little defensive, watching out for his charge.
"Because she wouldn't have believed me. She had to learn it for herself." Willow just pointed to the silver slippers.
"What have you learned, Buffy?" TinXan asked.
"Well, I...I that it...that is wasn't just enough just to want Willow...it's that...if I ever want my heart's desire, I have to make it happen myself. I can't let obstacles or other people stand in the way. I just have to trust Willow not to hate me because if she doesn't feel it, too...then I never really lost her to begin with." Buffy felt stress release from her body. "I'm ready."
"Now I know I've got a heart — cause it's breaking." TinXan started to cry. Buffy just handed him the oilcan and wiped his tears with her fingers before hugging him.
Instead of hugging Lion Spike, she just patted him on the back and wished him well. Then, she hugged Scarecrow Giles, causing a few straw pieces to fall out.
"I'm ready now." Buffy closed her eyes, clicked her eyes and thought of nothing but Willow.
--
"I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready." Buffy mumbled in her sleep. She woke to the feel of a wet cloth on her forehead. Thinking it might be Willow, she smiled and took a deep breath before opening her eyes. Instead, she found Giles, her mom, and Xander standing over her bed.
"Buffy, Buffy...Buffy, dear. It's your mother." Joyce was worried. She'd come home to find her daughter passed out on the floor, the window smashed, and a harsh gash on the young girl's forehead. The storm had passed, so she was able to get home sooner than she thought. Immediately, she called Mr. Giles, who in turn called Willow and Xander. "You've been out for about two days now."
"Where's Willow?" Buffy tried sitting up but couldn't move from the pain in her head.
"You got a nasty bump and I called the others. Willow hasn't left your side for a minute. We finally sent her to get some sleep in my bed." Joyce sat on the bed, brushing back the blonde hair from her daughter's face. "We struggled to get her to do that. She's very persistent."
"Home. There's no place like home." Buffy looked over, seeing that Mr. Gordo was fine, there was no hole in his body or stuffing falling out. "It's good to see you guys...you wouldn't believe where I've been."
"You talk in your sleep. We can only imagine." Xander stood, not wanting to say what he'd overheard but knowing it wasn't something he expected. He would just need time to deal with it.
"How much did I say?" Buffy was worried, especially if Willow never left her side. She wanted to tell her face to face, not have her find out because of mumblings from a dream. Now, she wouldn't get that initial facial reaction. She loved all of Will's little facial expressions; they were so endearing.
"Enough for us to understand why you've been so distant lately." Giles removed his glasses, though he didn't clean them. "I would be remiss in my duties as your watcher if I didn't warn you of..."
"I know, Giles. Thank you...but I trust Wills. No matter what happens, I don't think it'll affect my slayage ability."
"You may want to be easy about it, though. I'm not sure Will has ever thought...I mean, she's never really shown signs...I mean, maybe there was a couple times...but...it's Willow, Buffy." Xander bit his lip before tucking his hands beneath his armpits.
"I know, Xand. I just...I can't live my life anymore without ever even trying, or at least telling her. If I don't, I wouldn't be a very good friend. I need to be honest in any case."
The others just nodded that they'd leave it to Buffy before they listened to her tell about her adventures. In the other room, Willow couldn't sleep for the thoughts going on in her head. Hearing Buffy mumble her name like that...gathering those bits of mumbled phrasing from the concussed girl...putting it all together. She was more than confused...though everything finally started to make sense. Instead of getting any rest like she'd intended, she just stared at the wall.
--
Willow avoided Buffy until school the next day. Since she was injured in the storm, the teacher allowed the blonde an extra week to do her Wizard of Oz assignment. This time, she had no problems writing an essay.
Finally catching up to the redhead after school ended, Buffy decided that she couldn't avoid the inevitable any longer. She knew that Willow knew...and she had to at least explain or talk before she lost the redhead.
"Hey." Buffy saddled up to the redhead, leaning against the locker beside Willow's.
"Hey." Willow just continued gathering her stuff from the locker, afraid to make eye contact, still not sure what to say.
"So on a scale of one to a million, how much are you hating me right now?" Buffy's expression said it all, and Willow knew she had to be delicate.
"Zero." Willow bit her lip to hide her emotion, as she shut the locker door and they started leaving the building. "You were scared, you kept a secret, you know? That's...it...it's okay. I mean, secrets aren't bad. You know, they're normal. They're better than normal. They're good. Secrets are good. Must be a reason why we keep them, right?"
"Yeah, I guess." Buffy understood exactly what TinXan meant now. She knew she had a heart now because it was breaking.
"Look, Buff..." Willow took a deep breath. "Maybe we should go somewhere...talk?"
"I would like that." Buffy tried to smile but it was forlorn. "My house, I guess, since it's closest."
The two girls walked in awkward silence. All the scenarios played in her head but Buffy never expected Willow to start pacing the floor in front of the couch.
"I...I have to make allowances that...that our friendship is strong enough to survive if something happens. I'm not a good person. Look what I did to Oz...and Xander...and even Cordy. What happens if I do something like that? Where does that leave us? I can barely look at Xander now, Cordelia is back to torturing me, and Oz left. I can take that from them...but you...I don't know if I could take that from you. I need to know that we would remain friends if or when I mess this up." Willow stopped briefly to take a breath, afraid of Buffy's reaction. Since all she got was fishface, she kept going. "I mean...I've thought about it...about us...and...I just never saw it happening, so I let it go...did what was expected of me...but that didn't work. This isn't easy for me."
"I...I..." Buffy swallowed hard. "Wills...I just..."
"I love you, too, Buffy...part of me has always known that...but hearing you say it? I never would've...I mean, it's not something I ever saw happening. I just chalked it up to another Xander crush...just because you were there, because you were my friend. It never dawned on me that it was more than that...that I really do love you...like you love me." Willow sat down beside Buffy on the couch, her facial expression showing her worry. "And I'm not sure what that means...but I'm willing to find out."
"It means everything, Willow. It means everything." Buffy took Willow's hand in hers and leaned in to hug her friend. Buffy felt that her home was in Willow's arms. 'There's no place like home.'