Willow didn't realise it at the time, but she learned a lot from Veruca.

She learned about the kind of needs a werewolf has - the kind of needs that can't be satisfied with a human, no matter how beloved. She learned that a werewolf - also, no matter how beloved - is something apart, something Other. A werewolf has a core of darkness, of power, that makes it fundamentally inhuman.

But then, these days? So does she.

She also learned what her life was like without Oz - what she was like. When there was Tara, there was still something good, but afterwards - no.

She's a practical girl at heart, always was. She knows what she needs.

She also knows - because Veruca showed her - what Oz needs.

They don't use cages any more, nothing so barbaric. She holds Oz and Nina with barriers they can't see, fills the circle with images of trees and stars and open spaces. She watches them through the night, and she waits for them to come back to her. And she offers silent thanks to Veruca for her lessons.