way. The island, which was called Paraiso de Dios, was absolutely
  amazing. It
  was covered in lush foliage, making it appear almost jungle-like. The island
  was roughly ten miles in diameter with cabanas spaced out every two
  miles.
  There were, however, two cabanas with only a mile separating them. Mindy
  explained that her father had erected a special one when she turned fifteen
  so
  she could stay on her own, but he would still be close by. In between the
  two
  cabanas was a pavilion made from tree trunks and toped with palm fronds.
  There
  was a fire pit in front of the pavilion and a bar-be-que grill and picnic
  table underneath it.

  After unloading the motor boat, Mindy and Xander set off in opposite
  directions to the cabanas. They were going to drop off their belongings and
  meet back at the pavilion to set up dinner. Willow and Matt rode back out to

  the sailboat to lower and secure it's sails and tie down anything that might
  come lose or fly away. The sky, which had been sunny all day, now had
  big,
  gray clouds. Nothing too threatening, but it's better to be safe than sorry.
  It took two hours from the time they left the island till the time they got
  back. It wouldn't have taken as long with two experienced people doing the
  job, but Matt wanted Willow to learn how to do everything. Willow had used
  muscles she didn't realize she had in the process. They trudged up to the
  pavilion and were happily surprised when they found dinner waiting for them.

  Xander had cleaned the fish that they caught and Mindy had cooked them
  along
  with some vegetables she had brought. They sat down at the picnic table to

  eat.

  After dinner was over Willow and Mindy cleaned up, while Matt and Xander
  made
  a fire in the fire pit. There were seats made from carved tree trunks
  surrounding the fire and the two girls sat as the boys finished building what
  they considered a good fire. The fire illuminated the area around them and
  Willow sat back, staring into the sky.

  "The sky looks exactly the same as it does in Sunnydale," Xander said
  sitting
  beside her.

  "It wouldn't if we could see the stars, but we can't because of the clouds,"
  Willow tilted her head back, closed her eyes and inhaled the night air, the
  fire warming her face. Xander sat watching her. He had the dream again last

  night. That made it six nights in a row. He woke up at the same time every
  night. He heard her sobbing and calling his name. The sounds were directly
  in
  front of him, but he still couldn't see her. She kept calling his name as he
  ran, and then he woke up. He still had no idea what the dream meant, but
  he
  wished he'd stop having it. It was so realistic that he'd wake up in a panic,
  looking for her. It had been better these last couple of days because now
  when
  he looked for her she was beside him in bed. He woke up at different times
  during the night. Last night he had woken at 5:45. He turned in bed and
  watched her sleeping peacefully for a few minutes before going back to
  sleep,
  hoping not to have the dream again.

  He shook himself from his thoughts and picked up the stick he had been
  bringing over to her.
  "Here," he said putting it into her hand. She looked down at it, puzzled.

  "Gee, thanks Xander. You shouldn't have."

  He pulled out a bag of marshmallows and put one on the end of his stick.
  "Y'know you don't have to have any. I could just take my sticks and my
  marshmallows and go elsewhere," he said getting up.

  Willow grabbed his arm, pulling him back. "Hey," she protested. "Don't take

  the marshmallows," she smiled playfully at him.

  "Typical woman, only wants me for my marshmallows," Xander said with a
  sigh.

  Willow laughed snatching the bag.

  "Hey, guys," Mindy called out as she came to join them. "What? Starting
  the
  marshmallow roast without me?" Matt came up behind her and they sat
  down in
  one of the empty seats, Mindy sitting between Matt's legs. Mindy picked up
  her
  stick and the four began toasting marshmallows and joking with one
  another.
  Willow sat watching as Mindy fed Matt a marshmallow. < They look so
  happy
  together. I wish I had that > she thought with a sigh. She was happy with
  Oz,
  but it wasn't like what these two had. They completed each other, like two
  halves of a whole. She knew that Oz wasn't her other half. She liked him,
  but
  he didn't make her feel....well, complete. Like she was part of something
  special. They just weren't that close yet. < Maybe someday > Willow was
  jarred
  from her thoughts when a rain drop hit her nose. She lifted her face to the
  sky and the heavens opened, dumping a light rain over them. They all
  quickly
  jumped up and ran under the pavilion.

  "Guess our marshmallow toasting is over," Mindy said, stating the obvious
  as
  the rain began to pick up and the fire started to die.

  "We'd better get back to our cabanas before it really starts coming down.
  We'll leave around noon tomorrow. I'll come by and wake you two up if you
  want," Matt offered.

  "I think we'll manage, but thanks," Xander told him. They waved goodbye
  and
  each duo headed for their cabana, running through the rain.
 
 

  They were both dripping wet when they reached the cabana. They left their
  shoes at the door and Willow retrieved two towels from the bathroom. She
  walked out just in time to see Xander peel off his soaked T-shirt.

  "Xander! Your back's all red."

  "Yeah, I figured as much," he winced as he brought his arms back down.

  "You didn't put on any sunscreen at all did you?"

  "I guess I forgot."

  "How could you forget? You made it a point to have me covered in the stuff
  all
  day," suddenly Willow realized that he had been so concerned with her not
  getting burnt, that he hadn't thought about himself. She handed him a towel.
 

  "Here. Dry off and lay down on the bed. I'll see if there's any aloe or
  sunburn cream in the bathroom," she turned and went back to search for
  the
  needed lotion. Once in the bathroom, she removed her soaked overalls and
  wrapped a towel around her bikini clad body. She found a bottle of aloe
  under
  the bathroom sink and went back into the main room. Xander had his towel
  wrapped around his waist and was laying face down on the bed. Willow
  quickly
  looked around to see if his swimsuit was on the floor, hoping he still had it
  on under the towel.

  "Found it," she called as she came to sit beside him on the bed. She
  squeezed
  some into her hands and reached down to spread it over his back.

  "Ahh!! That's really cold," he yelped jumping away from her.

  Willow laughed. "It'll make it feel better. Now quit being a baby."

  Xander laid back down in a huff. He calmed as she began to spread the
  creme
  gently across his back. Her hands slid across his shoulders in little circles.
  Her touch was light and gentle, more like a caress. Xander moaned happily
  as
  she worked her way down his back. He felt her hands slide between his
  shoulder
  blades and briefly leave his body completely before returning with more
  cooling creme. She was making sure she covered every inch of his sunburnt

  back. She had worked her way down to his waist and he felt her hands slip
  under the towel at his waist. She soothed creme across the skin right above

  his hips and then moved her hands all the way up to his shoulders again to
  do
  his arms. He was completely relaxed and utterly enjoying the pampering he
  was
  receiving when he heard, "All done."

  He just lay there, eyes closed, refusing to move. "My face is red too," he
  muttered.

  He felt her hands delicately stroke his face as she completed her task.

  "Turn your head," she whispered.

  Xander complied and she rubbed creme into the other half of his face.

  "Anywhere else?"

  "Actually..." he said suggestively waggling his eyebrows at her as he began
  to
  get up.

  "Xander!" she cried out as she went to hit him painfully. "Ow," she winced
  as
  she pulled one of those seldom used but now sore muscles. She lifted her
  hands
  to rib cage to massage the screaming muscle.

  "Pull something?"

  "No, I'm just sore. I guess I'm not used to doing the kind of work I did on
  the sailboat today."

  "OK, switch," he said getting off the bed.

  "What?"

  "I'll give you a massage. If your back hurts, it's the least I can do."

  "Oh, that's really not necessary. It's not that bad," she pushed herself up
  from the bed and flinched, falling back onto it. "OK, so maybe a massage
  would
  be nice."

  Xander smiled at her as he got up and walked into the bathroom. He came
  back
  out holding a bottle of body lotion that he had taken from her bag.

  "Roll over."

  Willow obeyed and rolled onto her stomach. She nearly jumped out of her
  skin
  when she felt Xander tug on her towel.

  "Calm down, Will. You didn't expect me to massage through the towel did
  you?"

  < He has a point. > She undid her towel and laid back down on the bed.
  She had
  been a little jumpy ever since they almost kissed on the boat today. She
  wasn't quite sure how to act around him, but she assumed by the way he
  was
  acting that it had been forgotten about. She closed her eyes and listened to

  the rain hitting the roof as she tried to relax. She felt his hands settle on
  her shoulders and begin to rub. He laughed as she gave a little moan of
  pleasure. < My back hurts more than I realized > she thought as he
  massaged
  her sore muscles. Willow sighed in bliss as his hands went to work on her
  shoulders.

  "Will, I'm gonna untie your bathing suit so I can do your neck and back. I
  promise I'll redo it after I'm done, so don't wig out on me, OK?"

  Willow replied in an affirmative little sigh and she felt the strings at her
  neck and back loosen and fall away. She then felt Xander's hand at the
  base of
  her neck, fingers rubbing up her skull as he massaged her. His hands made

  their way down her body slowly, along either side of her spine. It was the
  most sensual thing Willow had ever experienced. < Get a grip. It's just a
  back
  rub. I'm sure he's not even thinking about it >

  Just then Xander's hands went below her waist and under her swimsuit,
  barely
  under the edge of it. Her breath caught in her throat and became ragged. He

  rubbed the small of her back and then his hands went out to her sides,
  where
  he kneaded her hips before working his way back in. He repeated the
  motion
  several times, each time letting his hands slip lower beneath her suit.
  Willow
  gasped as his fingertips slid over the top of her buttocks. This time when his

  hands reached her hips they began to move slowly upward. He rubbed at
  her
  waistline, fingertips at her sides, thumbs massaging deeply into her sore
  muscles. He was rubbing little circles with his thumbs while his fingers
  tickled up and down her ribs. He continued to work his way up and was
  soon
  just below her shoulder blades. As his thumbs continued their work, his
  fingers brushed against the side of her breast, causing Willow to draw in a
  shuddering breath. She was wondering if it had just been accidental when
  she
  felt it again. This time a more lingering caress and definitely not an
  accident. Willow knew she should stop him, but she couldn't make herself.
  To
  her horror, she heard herself groan as his fingers once again brushed the
  side
  of her breasts.

  "Xander," she said breathlessly. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up
  as
  she felt his breath on her ear.

  "Do you want me to stop?" he asked softly, lips grazing her ear as he
  spoke.

  < No! > her mind screamed at her, but she heard herself say, "Maybe you
  should. My back feels better and it's getting late."

  "You're right. This probably wasn't the best idea."

  She felt him retie her bathing suit and she sat up, holding her towel to her
  body. She opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it.

  "I'm gonna go get ready for bed," Xander said as he jumped up and went
  into
  the bathroom.

  Willow flopped back onto the bed. < What the heck was that all about? >
 

  Willow had gone into the bathroom after Xander exited to get ready for bed.
  When she came out of the bathroom ten minutes later, Xander was
  standing there
  waiting for her. Mindy had offered to have their sleep clothes laundered so
  Willow was wearing a spaghetti strapped cotton nightgown that had been
  hanging
  in the closet, and Xander was sleeping in a pair of shorts.

  "Hey," she acknowledged him, but then looked down at the floor.

  "Hey. Will I'm sorry about before. I got a little carried away with the
  massage."

  "No big deal. Nothing happened."

  "Right. Nothing happened," < Nothing that a cold shower didn't fix and I just
  had one > "So we can just forget about the whole thing and go to bed?"

  "I don't see why not," she replied with a forced smile.

  Xander returned her smile and went to turn off the light as she crawled into
  bed.

  "Night Willow."

  "Night Xander."

  Both pretended not to notice the fact that they were sleeping as far apart as they could manage without falling off the bed.