He wasn't close to a lot of people, like other kids were. Oh, they usually liked him, but he wasn't friends with anyone special. He didn't know anyone that special. Sometimes he saw a person, and thought he might like to be their friend, but never really got the chance. Or, when he tried to make friends, they didn't like him because he was usually quiet, and didn't say a lot.

His whole life changed, though, that summer when he went to visit his mom for a week.

She lived in a town called Sunnydale, and it was a long drive from Nevada, where his dad lived. His parents called him a "pretty neat kid." He guessed there were worse things. His dad and mom lived in two different states because they were divorced, which meant that they didn't love each other like they used to and didn't want to be in the same house. But they were still friend, which Oz was grateful for.

He didn't get to see his mom as much as he liked to, but that was okay because she made up for it when he *did* visit her. They would play games, and she would tell him that he could walk around town as much as he liked and make friends. He always walked, but didn't make any friends. And it wasn't until that one day on the playground that he saw some kids he wanted to be friends with.

He was sitting on the edge of the sandbox, half-heartedly drawing instruments in the sand with his fingers, and listening to the music in his head when a little girl with sunlight for hair walked into the park with her mom. Her mom sat down and started to read a book, and the little girl ran for the swings, going higher than Oz had ever seen, faster than he had ever seen it done.

He watched her for a while, trying to decide whether or not to go over and join her. She looked younger than him, but Oz didn't think that would matter. But, just as he was thinking that he would, someone else caught his eyes.

In reality, it was two someone else's, but he was too busy staring and the girl with red hair to notice the boy standing next to her. The little girl hopped off her swing and ran toward them, and Oz was a little sad for some reason. He saw the girl introduce herself, and finally took a look at the little boy shaking her hand. He had dirt on his face and brown hair and a big smile. He didn't look too bad. After assessing him, Oz let his eyes slide back over to the other girl, the one with red hair, the one who was slowly smiling at the girl with sunshine for hair. Fire and Sunshine, Oz thought, grinning to himself.

He continued to quietly stare at them as they bolted for the swings, and had a funny feeling watching the boy push the red-haired girl, a sad feeling that Oz wasn't used to and didn't like. He thought the red-haired girl was pretty, very pretty, and even from the sandbox, he could see that she had very big, green eyes.

The group of kids were laughing and shrieking, and a few times, he heard the little girl say something funny or smart. After a while, though, Sunshine-- he picked the name because he didn't know what else to call her-- waved to him, but he just nodded and smiled, still watching them, not sure if he should interrupt. A few minutes later, Sunshine leapt from her swing and did a somersault in the air, landing perfectly without getting hurt at all. His mouth dropped open. She had been flying.

They played on the merry go round for a little while, and then Sunshine had to go, it seemed, because she gave Fire and Dirt big hugs and left with her mom. Fire was crying, Oz realized a minute later, and because his chest hurt at watching her, he started to edge in her direction. Almost there, he stopped, seeing Dirt gather his friend into his arms and lead her away. Oz heard her saying something and listened really closely.

"She was gonna be my friend, Xand," she sniffled. Oz liked the soft sound of her voice, even though it was sad. The boy just nodded and held her hand and they walked out of the park together.

It was two days later before he saw any of them again. He was sitting on one of the swings, trying to figure out how Sunshine had flown that far and high without getting hurt, when he saw a flash of red in the corner of his eye. He turned to look, and saw the girl with red hair slipping quickly under a hole in a tree. Hole?

He hopped off the swing and walked over, getting on his knees to look into the hole that was partly covered by a bush. Seeing her, lying there, all alone in the middle of this hollow tree, Oz felt a rush of something that he wasn't used to. It was something that he had never really felt before, so he couldn't explain it. And, suddenly, he couldn't think of a thing to say.

He gazed at her for a minute, so still and pretty, and thought that maybe he should introduce himself, or tell her that he wanted to be her friend or something else that was as smart as she looked, but he didn't. Instead, he blurted out the first thing he could think of.

"Did you see her fly?"

The girl turned, startled out of whatever she had been thinking about, and looked at him for a moment, blankly. Oz was about to leave because she was being so quiet, but finally she spoke, and her voice was soft and feathery. "See who fly?"

"The girl," Oz clarified, clearing his throat. "The girl with hair like sunshine."

Understanding lit her face and she nodded. "Buffy! I thought it was like sunshine, too!" Oz was pleased that she sounded so happy, and was even more pleased when she scooted over to make room for him in the hollow tree. He crawled in and settled himself beside her. "You're gonna get all dirty," she warned.

"It's okay," he said, and it was. As long as he was talking to her, anything was okay. They talked for a long time, but it seemed short to Oz, too short. He told her that his name was Oz, and when she heard it, she didn't laugh like most kids, but was excited over the stories that his name was in. And when he learned her name, Willow, he thought it was beautiful and told her so.

He blushed immediately after, and couldn't help mumbling something else. "I think you're beautiful."

Oz knew he shouldn't be saying these things, because Willow already had a boyfriend who she kissed and stuff and was going to marry, but looked at her happy face and was glad that he had said them anyway. Almost like she was inside his head, she spoke again.

"You know, when I told you Xander made me kiss him?" she asked softly, blushing.

Oz nodded, not liking the subject. He was jealous of the other boy, and it made him feel bad to be jealous, but he was. Already, Oz knew that *he* wanted to marry Willow, that he didn't want *Xander* to be kissing her. "Yeah."

"And you remember how I said it wasn't horrible?" she questioned. He nodded, not knowing why she was saying all this.

"I remember."

"I think... I was... I..." Willow stumbled around her words, which Oz thought was cute, and then, taking him by surprise, leaned over and put her mouth on his.

It was his first kiss, and though he knew that grown-ups liked doing it, he finally understood why. After a stunned numbness, he kissed her back, and his heart exploded with soft feelings, making him feel hot and cold and scared and strong at the same time. And then she pulled back and he wanted to kiss her again, but she was breathing hard and smiling shyly and looking at him in a way that made his heart pound, so he didn't.

He was upset when she said that she heard Xander calling, but he didn't say anything because he didn't want to make her mad at him. So they crawled out from underneath the tree and stood, brushing their clothes off.

Oz turned away to walk home, deciding to remember everything for as long as he lived, when he heard her calling his name. He turned, not knowing what to expect, and gave her a huge smile when he saw her running towards him. She threw herself in his arms and hugged him for a really long time, and he hugged her back, proclaiming that he wouldn't ever forget. Because, of course, how could he?

When he came back the next day, Willow wasn't there, and he felt sad over leaving all over again. He didn't know if he would ever see her again, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't remember, right? She had the prettiest eyes and hair and he was being honest when he said she was beautiful. She was beautiful to him.

He walked over to the tree they had been inside and looked at it for a long, long time. Just as he was about to leave, though, something caught his eye. There, scratched in, was his name. Oz grinned, suddenly and openly, loving the girl he had only met the day before.

He left the day after, without getting to see her again, but he guessed that it was okay. She wouldn't forget him, and he wouldn't forget her, and maybe she wouldn't marry Xander after all.

Over time, he forgot the details. The red hair, the impish eyes, the soft voice, the kiss. He forgot the name, but always held an image in his mind of the perfect girl, the person that he wanted to be with, not remembering that he had met her. And he didn't remember that it was she who had changed his life, she who had taken his heart for the first time.

But he always held a fondness for that playground.