Moonlighting was nominated for a 1999 Golden Frog Award in the category of Best Sappy/Love Fic.
Summary: Willow plans something special for Oz
Spoilers: Nothing and everything. Make sense?
Disclaimer: The characters are MINE! All MINE! HAHAHA!! Well, okay, they're
not, but I like to pretend sometimes.
Rating: You watch the show this is fine.
This is for Karen, 'cause she likes Willow and Oz so much. Also 'cause
she threatened me.
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Moonlighting was nominated for a 1999 Golden Frog Award in the category
of Best Sappy/Love Fic.
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Moonlighting
by: Amy
Oz strummed his guitar lightly, grinning. The sound came out perfectly. Well, it almost had, and there was time before the weekends performance to get it just right. Looking up at the sound of the bell ringing, he started to place the instrument back in its case. As he closed it, though, something caught his eye.
He lifted out the ivory paper and unfolded it slowly, smiling in casual amusement when he read the familiar writing.
*Oz, I love you. Your playing keeps getting better and better. Me.*
He looked up, his eyes darting around to find her in the nearly deserted quad. The note hadn't been there at the beginning of lunch. Why hadn't he seen her? Why hadn't she talked to him? But in the faces around him, none of them resembled Willow's.
He looked down at his note again and gave a little chuckle and headed off to his class.
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After school, Oz headed straight to the library to see if anything big was going on that he needed to know about. Swinging open the doors, he glanced around the nearly empty room, save for the single white paper lying folded on the counter.
Grinning, he opened it swiftly, skimming the contents.
*Oz,
I love you. Nice call in chemistry, even though I know you hate being called on in class. For a second, even I wasn't sure of the answer. Am getting more and more impressed with you every day.
Me.*
Oz looked around in confusion. Willow wasn't in his chem class. A soft smile played around his features as his heart did the melty thing that it did whenever Willow was... herself.
Lifting the paper to his nose, he inhaled deeply. He smelled strongly the almond smell that reminded him of Willow. She had left the note recently. Minutes ago, if he was right. His face dropped into a mock, overly suspicious expression. He heard a giggle off to his right and stuffed the paper into his pocket. The giggling stopped abruptly when he started to head in the direction it was coming from. Suddenly he understood. She didn't *want* to be found.
Shrugging his shoulders slightly and sending another half-grin into the room, he turned on his heel and headed outside.
In his van, Oz looked out the window for a sign of her. He saw a flash of shining red hair disappear behind a wall and curbed the impulse to go after her. Whatever she was playing, he was determined not to question it. He was going to play along. He looked around his van, under the seats and in the glove department for a note before giving up and starting the engine.
The stereo blasted to life, and he reached over, wincing at the noise to turn it off. His hand faltered a few inches from the button and he shook his head in delight. Willow's voice was coming over the speaker. He lowered the volume a little and listened to her words. In several places, she sounded smug and pleased and quite like she was trying to control a burst of the giggles.
"Hey, Oz! I have a mission for you, should you choose to accept it. I want you to follow my directions very carefully until you get to the designated spot. Listening?" Oz nodded at the stereo, laughing, and proceeded to obey.
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Two hours and a gorgeous sunset later, Oz was wishing he had just hopped out of the van and taken her in his arms before he left school grounds. The tape she had placed in his radio had been directions taking him around Sunnydale three times, punctuated with the occasional song. Oz smiled softly. She had taken the time to find his favorites.
The last song trailed off and Oz was pleased and relieved to hear her voice again.
"Hi! It's me again. If you've followed my directions, right about now you should be at Stine and Wolf." He nodded to himself. He had just passed that intersection. "Go two streets down and take a left on Crawford. There will be something to mark where you'll need to go. I love you." Her voice had taken on an excited and happy edge.
He did as she instructed and found himself nearing Angel's mansion. Three gold balloons were swaying in midair. He pulled to a stop and got out, slowing down when he realized that the balloons weren't connected to anything. They were just.... Floating. He looked up at them, dangling right over his head. Small words were inscribed on them.
*Pop me first!* Oz looked grinned as he realized that there was a safety pin lying on the ground beneath it. He scooped it up swiftly and reached his hand out to do as she said. After the loud burst, something fell out and landed right in his hands. He looked down.
It was a werewolf pez dispenser. He chuckled tenderly and clutched it in his hand tightly.
The other balloons still waved innocently in front of him. He reached up to the one that said *Pop me second!* and touched the point of the needle to it. Down flew a tightly folded piece of paper. He opened it and stared down before bursting into laughter.
It was a perfect sketch of him, driving around in his van, chewing on his lip as he followed directions. He looked up at the last balloon.
*Take me inside!* it read. He reached up to capture it and then shook his head in amazement as a silver thread attached to it formed in front of his eyes. He took hold of it and walked up the path.
After shoving open the heavy door, he walked into the large room quickly. The stair were covered with rose petals and he walked down them carefully, trying not to step too hard.
His steps sped up as soon as he reached the bottom, and he followed the little silver hearts she had hung in various places along his route. He lurched to a stop when he reached what was obviously the room.
The fire crackled pleasantly in the hearth, warming what was usually a cold stone room. Lavender candles decorated tabletops and the corners of the floor, filling his nostrils with a sweet scent. The couch in front of the fireplace had a soft-looking blanket covering the top. And a table stood before him, one long white candle accentuating it.
The table was filled with food. Sandwiches and chips and little pieces of different cakes. Sodas sat chilling in an ice bucket. Oz let out a word that sounded like a breath. "Wow."
A sharp movement at his side caused him to turn sharply. "I'll say it again," he murmured. "Wow."
Willow stood there. Her hair was piled on top of her head, curled tendrils falling down her neck and over her cheeks. Her silk dress was simple and forest green, flowing to mid-calf. On her feet were suede sandals and a gold necklace and gold earrings added to her subtly made-up face. She walked towards him with a shy smile on her lips.
"Hi. Sorry about making you drive around for hours," she apologized quickly. "I needed some time to get this ready." She gestured around the room.
Oz cleared his throat, still staring at her. "How? How all of it?"
Willow gave a small giggle. "Um, I had Buffy place the note in your case when she stopped by to talk to you at lunch. Giles told me that he overheard your answer in chemistry when he was walking by the room. I was the one the planted the note in the library. Xander put the tape in your van. Angel lent me his house. He's quite good at drawing from memory, and when he saw you passing by one of the streets, he did me the favor. The balloons... Well, I'll just keep that a secret." She smiled impishly and Oz felt suddenly weak in the knees.
"I be you didn't know that I moonlight as a spy," she joked when Oz remained silent. She licked her lips and snapped her fingers. Music filled the room, soft and romantic.
Willow tilted her head and Oz finally regained his senses, which had almost been wiped away by the smell and look of his girlfriend, and all that she had done for him. He stretched out the hand that wasn't holding the balloon string-- for some reason, he didn't want to let that go-- and pulled her close when she accepted it. They started swaying gently to the music.
Willow started to lean her head on his shoulder, but he shrugged it away. She looked up with confused eyes. "Sorry," Oz murmured. "You can do that later. Right now I just want to kiss you." Her eyes lighted until it seemed like they were filled with stars and she leaned in to press her mouth to his.
They stopped swaying and he wrapped his arms around her to hold her close as they continued to kiss sweetly. His lips seemed to be burning. But in a good way.
The balloon popped.
Oz pulled away from Willow and smiled broadly when he saw the gold glitter falling on them. It filtered through the air, landing on their head and faces. Oz reached his hand up to wipe some of it off her eyelashes. Willow smiled bashfully and gestured around again. "Do you like?" The moonlight spilled in the windows and over her already glowing cheeks.
His eyes didn't leave her face.
"I love."
The End.