Part One - Is that a harpoon in your hand or are you just happy to see me?

Oz squinted and studied the crowd from his spot on the stage.  Another lame
dance at the Bronze.  He really wasn't in the mood to be here tonight, but
since his band "Dingoes Ate My Baby" was the entertainment… he figured he
didn't have much choice.  He sighed and watched Devon croon out the lyrics
to his latest song.  Several girls were standing in front of the stage
staring at Dev, enraptured as he made eye contact with each of them.  Oz
snorted as he changed chords.   Two hula girls had been dancing right in
front of Oz all night, trying to get his attention.   Another night of
dodging brainless groupies who only want me for my guitar skills, he
lamented in his head.  And wanted to brag with their friends about how they
made out with the lead guitarist.  Oh, he's going to write a song for me!
Oz squealed in his brain, mimicking their typical reactions.   If it
weren't for this dance, he would have skipped out tonight to go see the
Monster Movie Spectacular at the Revue Theater.   He consoled himself with
the thought that at least the dance had an amusing theme -- something about
bringing the world closer with the student exchange program.  Everyone was
dressed in costumes to represent a section of the world.  The blonde hula
girl at his feet was trying to spell something in the air to him with her
hands.  He took that opportunity to step up to the mike and sing some
backup, averting his eyes from her and to the back of the room.  Then he
saw Her.  The backup words died in his throat.  And his heart stopped.

There, at the back of the room, holding something that looked suspiciously
like an authentic harpoon, was an angel dressed as an Eskimo.  He smirked
to himself.  How cool – an Eskimo.  And it was a great costume too.  Very
authentic looking.  No one else would have dared to come as a culture so
unique, but this girl wasn't like everyone else.  He'd been able to tell
that with one glance.  He admired her individuality.  He liked girls who
were willing to go against the grain, who wanted to be smart AND sexy.  He
couldn't clearly see her hair – it was covered by her hood, but he thought
he saw a slight red tint around the edges of the hood.  Redhead.  I love
redheads, he mused.   She had the loveliest face he'd ever seen.   Deep
soulful eyes set in a thoughtful face.  It was too dark to tell, but he was
willing to bet his guitar that she had green eyes.  She looked a little
awkward as she watched the couples around her, as if she wasn't sure who to
talk to or what to do.

Oz inched slightly closer to Devon, who was now merely dancing and swaying
to the music as the band played the bridge of the song.  "Hey," he began,
getting Dev's attention.  Devon swayed closer and closer to Oz until he was
standing beside him.  He cocked an eyebrow and waited for Oz to finish his
thought.  Oz gestured with his chin to the angel in the crowd.  "That girl.
Who is she?"

Devon searched in the direction Oz had indicated for a moment, his eyes
lighting upon a beautiful girl dressed in a colorful outfit.  "She's an
exchange student. I think she's from South America."

Oz had to tear his eyes away from the Eskimo girl to see who Devon was
talking about.  Oz was momentarily stunned.  How could Devon possibly think
he was talking about that girl?  The Angel-Eskimo had everything over her.
 "No, not her. The Eskimo!"

Devon shrugged slightly.  He didn't recognize the girl dress as an Eskimo
at all.  Trust Oz to pick the strangest girl, he thought as he began
singing again.

Oz spent the next few minutes observing the girl.  She seemed to be
watching one particular couple – the colorful South American girl and some
guy she was dancing with.  He wished he wasn't on the stage playing; he
wanted to ask her to dance.  He wasn't sure where she could put her harpoon
while they danced, but he was so interested in the idea of holding her in
his arms that he put the problem away for the moment.  Sudden movement on
the dance floor caught his eye.  The colorful South American girl left her
partner as she rushed from the dance floor.  And they looked so happy, he
thought.  She was soon lost in the crowd, but Oz stopped following her with
his eyes and watched jealously as her partner approached Eskimo Girl.  They
spoke briefly and then the guy moved past her, obviously searching for the
departed girl.  His Eskimo Girl looked hurt as she watched him go.  I
wonder what that guy said that upset her, he pondered.

Dev shot him a nasty look and Oz realized he had missed a few notes.  He
looked down at his guitar as he finished the song, taking care not to screw
anything else up.  Three minutes later the song was finished, and Oz
eagerly hopped off the stage and headed in the direction of Eskimo Girl.
He could see her talking with a blonde girl.  Then an unusually big
football player stepped in his line of vision.  He moved around the guy as
quickly as possible, reluctant to let her out of his sight, and as he
cleared the big oaf his heart plummeted a little.  She was motioning to her
friend and looked anxious.  He was once again slowed down by a large guy,
and as he reached the spot where she was standing, she and the blonde
rushed away.  "Hey, I---" he began, watching her rapidly disappearing
figure.  He smiled to himself, knowing that he would find her.  Now that he
knew she existed, he'd never stop looking for her.  His smiled widened
slightly, and he spoke to himself, "Who is that girl?"
 
 

Part Two - How not to find a lost Eskimo in California

Oz had spent the next few days looking for that girl.  He'd asked a few
people at the Bronze if they had seen a girl dressed as an Eskimo, and what
her name was.  Although several people had seen her, no one knew her name.
Some knew bits and pieces of information about the girl, and he was able to
learn a few facts.  She was smart.  Honor roll-type smart.  She was into
computers.  And she hung out with a blonde girl and a guy almost all the
time.  He'd been surprised to learn that she went to Sunnydale High, the
same school he attended.  He was sure he would have noticed her before
this.  Of course, large amounts of his time were spent in the music
practice rooms, and she was a junior, so she wouldn't have been in any of
his classes.

The fact that no one seemed to know very much about her piqued his
curiosity even more.  He promised himself he would take the time to get to
know her before he asked her out.  He had a feeling that she was VERY worth
knowing.  Mysterious people always were.  He made up his mind to observe
what he could of her, find out her likes and dislikes, so when he did ask
her out, he wouldn't screw up.  If she liked him, it would be worth any
effort he made.

The following week, Oz had studiously gotten to school early every morning,
and kept an eye out for her as he watched students enter the building.  He
never saw her.  He ditched a few classes and hung out in the cafeteria
during lunch periods that weren't his own, hoping he'd see her walk though
the doors.  It never happened.  He spent hours looking for her after
school, poking his head in science labs, the computer lab, the drama club,
and even stopping by the cheerleader practice.  Nada.

That had been three weeks ago.  He was now getting more desperate to find
her.  He was starting to wonder if she was a figment of his imagination.
His subconscious desires embodied for a moment of time.  He was sure she
was perfect.  He wished he'd gotten to see her smile, but in the brief time
he'd watched her, she'd looked so sad.  He wanted to be the one to make her
happy.

It was now Halloween.  Devon scheduled a practice for that night, more to
get out of dishing out candy at his house than anything else.  Although
lately Dev had really been coming down on Oz for missing chords, skipping
whole sections of songs, and generally playing worse than usual.   How
could he explain that his mind was elsewhere virtually all the time?  His
frustration in not being able to find Eskimo Girl was making him crazy.
How was he supposed to get to know her when she had disappeared off the
face of the Earth?  Oz went to the band practice completely half-heartedly.
 He'd been trying to hack into the school's database and search for her
picture, but had failed every time.  He was anxious to get home and try
again, so he was relieved when practice ended.

Oz carefully packed up his guitar and loaded it in his van.  It was still
kinda early.  He could probably get at least two hours' hacking time in.
He started the engine and carefully began navigating the sleepy streets of
Sunnydale.  He noticed that this Halloween had been a bit wilder than
previous ones.  Garbage cans were overturned frequently and often in the
middle of the streets.  Pieces of ripped clothing seemed to be hanging from
an awful lot of trees.  Discarded bags of candy littered the sidewalks in
some areas.  He slowed down to a stop as he saw a pedestrian begin to cross
the road.  And again he felt his heart stop and his mouth go dry.

The girl crossing the street was none other than Eskimo Girl.  And she
looked totally hot.  Her hair was up and highlighted her face. She was
wearing a leather skirt and a tight top left her midriff bare, and as she
purposefully strode across the street, Oz
completely forgot to breathe.  So he was kinda disappointed in himself when
she disappeared from sight.     He abruptly remembered to breathe again.
The relief that she was actually real was written all over his face.  But
he was annoyed that he'd been too stunned to learn anything about her in
this brief encounter.  He smiled and mused to himself, "Who IS that girl?"
 
 
 

Part Three – A name tells you a lot about a person

Oz sat dejectedly under a tree in the school's yard.   It had been four
days since he'd seen his Eskimo Girl.  That was last Friday, on Halloween,
when she'd been crossing the street.  He remembered the slight smile
tugging at the corner of her lips as she had crossed in front of his van,
as if she had found something both relieving and amusing.  He paused, his
brain shutting down completely for a few moments as he imagined what it
would be like to actually kiss those lips.  Minutes later, he shook his
head a little, to break out of the trance he found himself in, and tried to
take more notice of his surroundings.  He didn't want to miss her if she
walked by.

Devon currently sat beside him, alternately humming and pausing to write
notes down as he composed his latest masterpiece.  Occasionally he shoved
the paper in Oz's face, and Oz nodded absently at the scrawl over the page.
 He was thinking about her again.  He so wanted to find out at least her
name, since he wasn't getting very far in finding out anything else about
her.

Oz sighed and looked out over the school's small square.  Plenty of
students came out here at lunch and hung out, preferring the warm sun to
the cafeteria.   Unfortunately, it didn't look like his redheaded Eskimo
Girl ever ate lunch.  He'd never seen her anywhere.  And then the gods
smiled upon him.  He noticed her the instant she emerged from the door of
the school, flanked on one side by the blonde girl he saw at the Bronze and
on the other by the guy who'd been dancing with the South American girl.
 

The small group headed for a tree across the square from him.  He watched
as they sat and began talking.  Eskimo Girl was smiling and laughing at
something the dark-haired guy said.  She looked absolutely enchanting when
she smiled.  Her whole face lit up.  Oz consciously checked to make sure he
was still breathing.  He was.  They unpacked their lunches and traded food
liberally as they ate.  Oz noticed that she looked at the dark-haired guy
differently.  She smiled at him like Oz wished she would smile at him
someday.  Okay, so now I know she's interested in that guy.  Fortunately,
it was equally clear to Oz that the dark-haired guy was completely
oblivious to the fact.   So he had a chance.

Oz watched the guy jealously as he reached inside his book bag and withdrew
a frisbee.  The blonde immediately jumped up and began brushing dirt of the
backside of her pants.  The guy reached up to help her and the blonde
smacked his hand away.  She began making her way across the lawn, preparing
for a pass.  The dark-haired guy threw it to her, and Oz gasped as he
watched her jump much higher than he thought possible to pluck the frisbee
out of the air.  She must be really athletic, he decided.  The next few
tosses of the frisbee confirmed his observation that she seemed able to
jump just a little farther than he thought should be physically possible.
It was like she had superpowers or something.

Cordelia picked that moment to ruin Oz's day.   She stalked over to Devon
and knelt in front of him.  "I need to talk to you.  NOW."

Devon hushed her with his hand and hummed for a moment longer.  Cordelia
looked ready to get up and stalk away again when Oz was struck with
inspiration.  "Hey, Cordelia," he began.

"What?" she snapped, getting to her feet.

"Do you know those people?"  Oz asked, also getting to his feet and
pointing out Eskimo Girl and her two companions.

"Those losers?!  What makes you think I hang out with them?"

"Look, I'm sure you don't hang with them – I just wanted to know their
names."

"Trust me, Oz, you don't want to know anything about that geek squad."

"No, really I do."

She sighed in exasperation and crossed her arms over her chest.  "The nerdy
redhead is Willow.  The blonde is Buffy, and trust me on this – you want to
stay away from her – and the loser guy is Xander.  Okay?"  She kicked Devon
lightly, causing him to look up.  "NEVER call me again," she ordered.  She
then walked away in a huff.

Oz carefully sat down again, absorbing what she had just told him.  Her
name was Willow.  It was so appropriate.  She looked so strong, and yet so
fragile.  She would shelter her friends.  Willows gained strength and
beauty with age.  She was like that.  She was beautiful.  Inside and out.
Oz smiled as he watched the dark-haired guy – Xander -- catch the latest
toss in his mouth.  He then played 'dog' and got on all fours as he crawled
off towards Willow.  She laughed and patted him on the head as she removed
the frisbee from his mouth.  She stood and began making tossing motions as
she spoke Xander, who was bounding, just like a dog would, waiting for her
to throw it.  She tossed it lightly, and he jumped up to his feet and again
caught it in his mouth.  He then flopped to the ground and began squirming,
so Willow dropped to her knees in front of him and giggled hysterically as
she 'scratched' his tummy.  Buffy let out a little shriek of laughter and
rushed across the grass to also tickle Xander.  They all stopped abruptly
as the bell rang.  They scrambled for their knapsacks and bags and briskly
walked back towards the school doors.

Willow, Oz thought, turning it over and over again in his mind.  It's
perfect.
 
 

Part Four –  Pleased to meet you.

Oz was kind of annoyed when two guys in suits waylaid him a week later in
the hallway at school.  It was the Career Fair, and he was in a hurry to
just get through this section of the school without being snagged by any
eager recruiters so he could go outside to his tree and see if Willow was
in the school square.   They explained that he had been picked with one
other student to meet with some software guru.  They then carted him into a
curtained-off area, and offered him a drink while he was waiting.  Oz spent
a few moments protesting, but when it became clear that they weren't going
to give up, he decided to settle in and wait for it to be over.  Maybe if
he was cooperative, he could get out of here earlier.

He looked around the room and picked up the tray of canapes in front of
him.  He was examining them closely when he heard the curtain rustle.  The
suits were back, and a female voice had joined them.  The waiter was
offering hors d'oeuvres to the latest victim.  Oz heard the female voice
politely decline.
The sofa sank lightly as someone else sat on it, and Oz tore his gaze away
from his tray to view his fellow abductee.  He did a double-take as he
realized it was Willow.  She sat with her hands in her lap, looking at him
and around the room awkwardly.  They were alone.  Now was the perfect time
to say something witty.  To put her at ease and introduce himself.  This
moment was important.   He wanted to convey that he admired her.  That he
thought she was special.  He scrambled to think of something to say.
"Canape?" he finally offered holding the tray out to her.
 

The Beginning   ;)
 
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