FIC: The S6 that aired in another universe.

[heironyma]

Well, see, I come from another universe. There is, luckily, an internet connection to your universe, but time moves differently and S6 is just showing here (In my universe, Sky shows things at the same time as in America, but not at the cost of picture and sound quality.) We seem, however, to have begun to get different episodes from Episode 9 onwards. Where you got 'Smashed', we got the quite different episode, 'Spiked'. So here are episode summaries of the episodes we got.



Seriously, this was a vague attempt to wonder how things could have been handled differently and, I think, possibly better. It uses standard episode conventions, so all characters on regular contracts appear in every episode, and I've tried to tie up some loose ends that were cast in RW episodes 1-8. Nevertheless the main purpose was to provide W/T with a much better story arc.



By the way, if the first episode is frustrating you with its lack of direct W/T focus, and you really can't be bothered to read to the end, I reccommend you skip to the next one, 'Stumped', which you might find more satisfying.







S6 E9: Spiked



Rating: Same as normal Buffy.

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of this. A/U M.E. own it, obviously!

Summary: Willow’s magicks take her further and further from reality.

Spoilers: S6 all the way up to “Tabula Rasa”, plus some bits of “Dead Things”

Feedback: Yes, I would very much like feedback.

Notes: AB didn’t appear in this episode. At the moment she’s still on the 16-18 contract. There is Spuffing in this episode because after TR there had to be. Just read through it quickly. Actually it’s a Willow-character-development episode, but that might not be crystal-clear till the end.



Previously: Buffy thought she was in heaven, Willow was rude to Giles, Xander and Anya are getting married, Tara left Willow, Buffy kissed Spike.



Buffy walking in to her house, late. Looking gloomy. When she opens the door, it is dark for a moment. Then a pink explosion, confetti, march music, and a wheeled platform appears beneath her feet and rolls her over into the next room and up to the dining table. A chair appears behind her and pushes her to sit down, then two slices of bread float over to her plate and begin to toast before her eyes. Willow jumps up, grinning, and says “Surprise!”



CREDITS



Willow is showing Buffy around. “And you know that stubborn stain on the hall carpet? Gone!” Into the laundry room – “And I worked out a way to wash clothes, and also dye them.” A shot of a laundry basket full of lime green clothes. “You can have any colour you like!” Buffy: “What if I want them the colour they were before?” Willow: “Then you’ll have to write out what colours they were, ‘cos I didn’t make a list at the time and I don’t really remember. Would you rather have blue?” – they change – “Or I hear orange is going to be very good this season.” Buffy’s tired and walks back into the kitchen. “Could you fix up a spell to bring out the vampires? They’ve been lying suspiciously low. I think something’s up.” Willow: “Hey, cheer up. Have a cushion” – the headrest on the chair swells – “and – oh, I know – some hot chocolate! Come, speak.” The hot chocolate packet glides over. It talks, high and enthusiastic. “Chocolate Dreams. Sweet, smooth and floaty light for a heeeavenly taste experience.” Willow is excited. “See! I got them to read out their own… oh, I’m sorry.” Buffy: “It’s fine. Actually I’m kinda tired.” She goes upstairs. Willow makes a red carpet unroll all the way down as she walks up wearily.



The nerds build a cerebral dampener. This scene, like all the other scenes with the trio in this episode, appeared in pretty identical form in an episode shown in your universe called ‘Dead Things’, so I won’t bother describing it in detail. Suffice it to say they enchant a device Warren made so that they can sedate women and make them into sex-slaves.



Buffy, walking into town, comes across Spike lurking in bushes. He pipes up, “Hey Slayer. How about a word?” She keeps walking. “I need some space right now. I need to think things through. I don’t need you.” Spike calls out to her, “Oh, but you do, though.”



Dawn is walking around the Magic Shoppe. She is just picking up an ornament, but when Anya looks up she drops it. “Are you bored?” asks Anya. Dawn shrugs half-heartedly. “If you are, there is plenty you could be doing.” Dawn wriggles. “No, it’s OK, I was just – ” “Seriously, there is a lot we have to get done. How about tying sugar almonds into little net bundles? Wouldn’t that be fun? I’ve already cut the ribbon into convenient lengths.” Dawn: “Well… er… Great! Sure!” Anya goes back to talking to Xander: “I mean, how formal do you think it should be? I have sufficient cards, but if you wanted to ring your family –” Xander: “No, cards are fine. Stylish.” Dawn starts tying bundles. She sneaks a sugared almond into her mouth.



Willow is sitting slumped on the sofa. There is a line of popcorn hovering in the air about mouth level that extends as far as the kitchen. Every so often she opens her mouth, one flies in, and the rest all move up. She is watching the X-files, and there is a shot of Mulder and Scully. Willow is not excited. She exclaims, exasperated, “Oh, just get on and kiss!” She extends a hand half-heartedly towards the television, and they begin to do so, passionately.



Buffy runs into Spike again in a side alley. Instant anger. “Did you not listen to me when I said, back off.” Spike holds up a pacifying hand. “Hey, cool down. I’m just restocking on supplies. Which does not involve you. As it happens, I’m rather hungry.” Buffy: “Keep. Away. From. Me. Please. Space.” Spike: “Hey, you’re getting it.” He clears off.



The Magic Shoppe. Dawn finishes the last bundle. She smiles. Cut to Anya, saying “Now we could have maybe salmon for the undercloths – ” Suddenly a sound, not loud but nearby, of chiming wedding bells. Anya continues “ – or sea blue, depending on whether we opt to aim primarily for contrast – ” Xander whispers, “Anya, we have to stop this.” Anya: “Stop what? And why?” Xander replies, “I just have to go out and – walk. For a bit.” And then, confiding, “Actually, I think this might be driving me insane.” Anya: “Oh my god, you can hear them too. I thought I was being really obsessive.” They turn to Dawn, who opens her mouth. Nothing comes out but the wedding-bell sounds.



Buffy runs into Spike again, carrying bags of blood. Buffy: “OK, not funny.” Spike: “Going home.” Buffy: “In fact, this is fast moving from ‘lame’ to ‘sick’.” Spike: “See you. Or rather, not.”



Xander and Anya burst into Buffy’s house, bringing Dawn. They startle Willow, who lets all her popcorn drop to the floor. She clears it up: pulls it back into a lump, opens a cupboard door on the other side of the room, lets the popcorn fall into it and floats it all over to a sideboard, and she sets it down, all without leaving the sofa. Meanwhile Xander and Anya speak at once – Xander: “Where’s Buffy?” Anya: “I think the singing demon’s back. Only with irony. The kind I don’t like.” Xander: “ – because we sure as hell don’t know what to – ” Dawn opens her mouth. Wedding bells. Willow springs up from the sofa. “Oh my god, the candy! It worked!” Xander: “And, um, clarify?” Dawn adds more chiming. Willow: “She’s been eating the little wedding sweets, right?” Anya looks at Dawn. Dawn looks extremely uncomfortable. Willow continues: “I thought it would be kind of cute if everyone could eat them, and then there’d be this whole room full of wedding bells!” Xander: “For a quarter of an hour? At least?” Willow: “They were only meant to eat one at a time. How many’d she eat?” Dawn shrugs, hold up five fingers, then after a moment six, then shrugs again. Willow: “Well, I don’t know, it should have lasted maybe thirty seconds, a minute at most. But eating more at once would have a stronger effect. I can’t say how long it’ll take for it to wear off. I mean – ” Dawn has got herself a pad and paper. She writes: THIS IS TOTALLY NOT FUNNY. Xander: “Actually, Will, I’m not sure I want our wedding guests to be all magicked. I was kind of hoping this was going to be a non-enchanted wedding.” Anya: “I think it’s a really cute idea.” Xander: “ – and even without my personal reservations, I think we’ve established that with children about and irresponsible adults, and you never know what – ” Anya sighs. “I suppose you’re right, but that’s really sad. Couldn’t we be strict and say one each?” Dawn writes: DOES ANYONE CARE I MIGHT NEVER TALK AGAIN.



Buffy and Spike run into each other, literally. She slaps him. “What are you playing at?” Spike: “Oh, please. You think I’m following you?” Buffy: “Spike, why’re you following me?” “Wake up,” he replies, still unruffled. “The whole world isn’t actually – ” She raises her voice: “This is not coincidence.” He smiles. “If it isn’t coincidence, what is it?” She walks off without answering. He snorts and walks off in the opposite direction.



The trio visit a bar, eye up suitable women and eventually abduct Katrina, Warren’s ex-girlfriend.



Buffy is walking the street up to her house, but she stops and mutters, “No. He’ll find me there.” She turns down other streets, keeps walking, and has got quite a way from her house when she sees Spike. She cracks and begins to scream at him: “What the hell kind of game is this? How are you even doing it?” Spike begins to protest: “I’ve told you, I’m not doing – ” but she cuts in. “The one time when I really need to be on my own. I can’t keep seeing you. I can’t talk to you. I can’t – I can’t – ” She bursts into tears and strikes a blow at a street lamp, which sputters out. Silence. Spike says quietly: “That was stupid.” Buffy looks at him. “Yup. Not denying it.” Spike: “Has it crossed your mind that maybe we’re meant to keep meeting like this?” Buffy: “Meant how?” Spike: “Destiny, that sort of thing.” Buffy: “Go away. Now.” Spike: “Fine by me.” He walks off.



The trio and Katrina, in the basement. She is dressed as a French maid and they quarrel over her, but Warren says he gets her first and takes her off into a private office where he tells her to have sex with him and she assents.



Buffy walking through more streets of houses, sees Spike approaching, stops about ten feet from him. Spike calls out: “It’s not me, you know. I’m not doing any of this.” She shouts back: “Quit stalking me, you sick monster.” Spike begins to walk towards her slowly. “I’m really not doing anything. Something’s bringing us together.” Something in his manner begins to persuade her, and he continues: “Look. I’ll stay here. For a couple of hours, and you can go home. Then we can see who’s stalking who.” Buffy turns away from him, and walks down several streets but doesn’t seem to reach her home. She turns and turns again and finally sees that she is in the same street again. Spike is still there. He strides away and she turns and runs, through more streets and more, terrified. She sees an empty house and walks into it. She shuts the door behind her and breathes. Then, in the shadows, she sees Spike. He walks towards her. “I think we’re meant to be together. Something’s making this happen. We need to be together.” They kiss, and begin to undo each other’s clothes.



Before she has sex with Warren, Katrina comes to and tries to escape. There is a struggle and Warren hits her. Jonathon and Andrew are shocked to find that she was previously Warren’s girlfriend. Worse, she’s now dead.



Buffy walks home and is greeted by Anya, Xander and Willow. “OK,” she asks wearily, “what happened?” Xander: “I think Dawn had better show you for herself.” Dawn “You – ” She realises she can speak. All are a bit nonplussed. Buffy: “So, what was the crisis?” Xander: “More of an ex-crisis.” Anya: “But it was extremely exciting while it happened.” Buffy: “Well, good it’s over.” Willow leads her to the sitting room. Buffy sits on the sofa, which Willow gestures towards and it begins to massage her shoulders. Willow remains standing. “So, did it work?” Buffy looks up. “Did what work?” Willow, brightly: “Big vampire festival, huh?” Buffy looks alarmed, then gets what she’s talking about. She shrugs. “Still laying low, I guess.” Willow looks disappointed. Buffy asks her, “What?” “I just kind of thought I had that one sorted. This morning, I cast this really cool spell that was supposed to draw vampires to you. Maybe it takes a while to work?” Buffy begins to understand. “I did see a lot of Spike.” Willow looks puzzled. “Weird. Why would it only work on him?” she thinks, then looks up. “Actually, you know what, I think it was the protection spell.” Buffy: “I’m losing track… the protection spell?” Willow, casually: “Oh, about last night or yesterday or something, there was this spell that was supposed to protect Sunnydale from evil. I thought it was just a mild ward. Guess it was stronger than I thought, huh? I’ll reverse it before it puts you out of a job.” Buffy stands up, and looks at her. The chair keeps massaging. “Willow, are you keeping track of all the spells you’re making?” Willow, flippantly: “Yeah, sure.” She turns and walks to the stairs. Buffy calls after her: “Is this a good book?” (She’s holding Captain Corelli’s Mandolin) Willow calls back: “Yeah, I liked most of it. But the last chapter sort of sucked, so I changed the ending.” She rises a few inches above the ground and begins to hover upstairs.



NEXT WEEK: ‘Stumped’ : Willow finds magic isn’t coming so easily, and Tara has an adventure of her own.

Edited by: heironyma at: 6/5/02 5:39:22 am

[heironyma]

Told you time goes differently in the AU. There, it's now a week later, so here is the next episode.



S6 E10: Stumped



Rating: Same as normal Buffy

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this stuff.

Summary: Willow finds magic isn't coming so easily, and Tara has an adventure of her own

Spoilers: S6 up to 'Tabula Rasa' and bits of 'Dead Things'.

Feedback: Yes, I would really like feedback.

Notes More of an equal focus on both W and T in this ep.



Previously: Tara left Willow, Xander and Anya are marrying, Spike thought he and Buffy were meant to be together, but it was Willow’s vampire-attraction spell. Willow changed the ending to a book she didn’t like.



Willow’s reflection in a bathroom mirror. Her mouth suddenly froths up and she spits it out. The tap begins to run and the stream of water curves upwards straight into her mouth. It stops and she spits again. She walks back into her bedroom; she’s in pyjamas. She sits on the bed, and makes a small wave of her hand. She’s dressed. She looks down at it. She waves her hand again, and she’s in a different outfit. And another. And another. And another. She lies back on the bed. Tara’s clothes, making a Tara-shaped thing, come out of the box of her stuff and embrace Willow.



CREDITS



Tara is walking to class with another girl. The girl asks, “So how come you moved into dorms so late in the term?” Tara looks down. “I was living with, um, s-s-somebody. But it wasn’t working.” The girl smiles sympathetically. “I’m sure you’re better off without him.”



Willow is sitting up on her bed now. She tries to open the curtains but they only twitch, so she has to open them by hand. She walks downstairs and it seems to cost her more effort than usual to get the cereal bowl out of the cupboard. Halfway over to her it begins to shake. She’s frowning and concentrating, but it shakes more and more. Finally it falls to the floor and shatters.



The trio are watching videos. “Umm, guys,” whispers Jonathon. “She’s still dead.” “If people are dead, they stay dead, doofus,” replies Andrew flippantly. Jonathon is still looking at her. “Aren’t we going to do something with her?” Warren is exasperated. “This is not a big deal. Villains deal with bodies every day.” Jonathon stands up. “So, can we deal with her?” Warren goes over to where Jonathon is standing, and Andrew follows him. Warren becomes decisive. “Jonathon, could you teleport it?” “Where?” “Somewhere not here.” Jonathon studies the body. “I can try. But she’s kind of big.” Warren giggles. “Fat, you mean.” Andrew asks quietly, “How long did you go out with her?”



Buffy is in Spike’s crypt, getting out of Spike’s bed, beginning to leave. He calls out to her “Hey, Buffy. We could stay here all morning. We could talk.” She doesn’t stop pulling on her trousers. “No, we couldn’t.” She leaves.



Tara is still walking with her friend. They walk past a tree, under which people are sitting, talking, and so on. A high pitched noise, like the grating of a hinge, is coming from it. Tara smiles, and asks, “You know what I want to know? Why that tree makes such a weird noise. Is it the security system, or something?” The girl looks at her in surprise. “What weird noise?” “Oh, you know,” Tara explains, “it sort of buzzes.” The girl is still bemused. “Do you have tinnitus or something?” Tara herself becomes puzzled. “No, it’s a noise coming from the tree. Are you sure you can’t hear it?” The girl shakes her head. “Weird.” They have approached the tree. Tara touches it. There is a scar on the side. “I thought everyone could hear it.” She shivers. “Um – I think – ” She is quite upset, and walks off. The friend, uncomprehending, follows.



Willow is trying to get the broken crockery to sweep itself up but the bits will hardly move at all; they just twitch. She is very nearly crying. Dawn comes in and sees her. “What happened?” she asks. Willow doesn’t want to talk about it. “Something didn’t work.” Dawn sees how upset she is and tries to be nice. She smiles. “Hey, don’t worry. I’ll clear it up.” She gets out a dustpan and brush and sweeps it up. Willow tries very hard not to cry. Buffy comes in through the front door. Dawn goes to say hello. “Hi! How was last night.?” “Busy.” says Buffy, as she goes upstairs.



Tara and her friend are still walking to class. Tara asks, “Do you know how it got that scar?” The girl shrugs. “I guess it always had it. Are you OK?” “Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” Tara replies. “It just – felt bad, you know?” The girl grins. “No.”



The trio arranged around the body. Jonathon at the head. He mutters some words and raises his hands. The body is instantly two inches to the left. He lets his hands fall. Warren begins to clap slowly. “Wow, man, that was amazing.” Andrew begins to clap too. “Very, very cool.” Jonathon is annoyed. “I told you it was too big. I can’t do humans.” He turns on Warren. “OK, what are you going to do? Why do I have to solve this? I didn’t kill anybody.” Warren: “We all killed her.” Andrew: “I could try calling a demon to eat it.” Jonathon: “Then why don’t you, then?” Andrew: “I think it might eat us, too.”



Tara is sitting at a desk with a pile of books beside her. She examines an engraving of a tree, with a nymph-type figure standing beside it.



Dawn is entering her house, in the middle of the day. She looks furtive. Willow walks out into the hallway and she jumps ten feet into the air. Willow seems preoccupied. “Hey, Dawn.” Dawn begins to explain. “I had to get some books I left at home, you see, they had homework in them and – ” Willow doesn’t seem to notice. “Would you like to help me with a spell?” Dawn’s eyes widen. “Cool! Can I really? What do I get to do?” Willow leads her upstairs. “I’m going to go somewhere else, and speak with someone. You’ll be my anchor. I’ll be gone for maybe a couple of hours. Can you do that?” Dawn is excited. “Sure! When do we start?”



Xander and Anya are sitting in their flat. She’s saying “…and do we even want a cake?” He cuts in. “Anya, are you worried about Willow?” She becomes grumpy. “You’re just talking about Willow to avoid making preparations for our wedding.” He responds in kind. “No, I’m not. Don’t you find some of the stuff she’s been doing a bit alarming?” Anya counters, “Why don’t you talk to Willow about it?”

“What would I say?” “Well,” suggests Anya, “how about ‘Why are you doing all this scary stuff and for that matter why has Tara upped and left you and why won’t you talk about it?” That might do for a start.” Xander is deflated. “I think I’ll leave it.”



Willow’s room. She draws a circle with green stuff first on Dawn’s forehead, then her own, and then a stripe across the face, over the nose. She pours a line of sand between her and Dawn. They kneel, facing each other, Dawn not a little nervous. Willow begins to incant: “O Ethuria, Alastris, you of many names, grant me access.” Green sparkles begin to appear floating in the air. They appear with most density around Dawn and fly towards Willow, new ones constantly being generated. Willow continues. “O unnameable, open your gates. Grant me to step into your territory. Grant me audience.” A buzzing. Dawn begins to look scared. She unfolds a piece of paper and reads from it, stumbling slightly. “Hear her. Grant her audience. Let her be heard.” Willow seems to go red and also become transparent. The green, flying towards the red, extinguishes it, and thus she fades away. Dawn sees that she is gone and stays where she is but evidently with some effort.



It is evening. Tara walks out to the tree, which is now deserted. She puts her face against it. It is still making the noise, which sounds more than ever like screaming. “Talk to me,” she whispers. “Are you the spirit of the tree? Why are you in pain?” The voice, still high, cries, “No. Please. Let me out. Help me.” Tara runs her fingers down the scar in the tree and it crackles blue. She steps back, and walks around the tree three times, sprinkling herbs. Then she incants: “By the Goddess I entreat thee, open, and release.” She runs her fingers down the scar again. It openns, and a young woman steps out, obviously terrified.



The trio have gone back to watching videos. Andrew speaks up. “Hey, guys, do you think we should try again to tackle the, um, dead body on the stairs?” Jonathon: “Yeah, ‘cos somebody’s gonna have to step over it to get more cheesy snacks.” Warren jumps up and turns off the TV. The other two protest but he ignores them. “Listen. What would make this not our problem?” “If it hadn’t happened in the first place?” Jonathon suggests. Warren ignores him again. “If it’s someone else’s.”



Tara holds the girl gently by the shoulders. “Don’t worry, it’s OK. What happened to you?” The girl sobs. “He – he – ” suddenly she starts up. “He’s coming.” Tara turns and sees a fairly large demon, covered in thick brown hair and with tusks. She holds the girl behind her and mutters, “ sagitta!” The twigs and sticks which are lying on the ground rise into the air and shoot at the demon like arrows. They stick into him and he roars in pain but does not stop coming towards them. Tara pulls the girl along with her behind a tree. She muttters “ surga!” and a root of the tree rises out of the ground and trips him up. As he scrambles to his feet Tara tells the girl, “Quick. Run.” The girl runs over to a nearby bench and crouches behind it. The demon runs towards Tara and picks her up off the ground, growling, “She’s mine!” The girl whimpers; he rushes towards her but Tara raises her hands and cries “ serva!”, and the tree bends over and sweeps the girl around behind it, sheltering it behind its branches. She begins to scream. Tara runs over to the bench and pulls a plank off it, with which she begins hitting the demon, all the while saying something under her breath. The demon begins to shrink and shrink while she hits it. When he is really small, she gives him a final blow and with a little ‘splat’, he’s gone.



The trio carry the body into Buffy’s front yard where they cover it with a pile of leaves.



Dawn, still in Willow’s room, looking really scared.



Buffy is on patrol, walking fast. Spike is following her. He says, “Why are you ashamed of me? This was meant to be, we’re supposed to be together. It’s destiny, baby.” There are tears in her eyes.



Willow is in a square room, lined with some kind of metal. She looks around her and it’s empty, but then looks again and Dawn is standing on some sort of platform in the middle of the room. Willow gasps, “Why does it hurt so much to be here?” Dawn looks at her. “It never hurts to be where you ought to be.” Willow realises what’s odd about this. “Why are you here?” Dawn answers: “This form was convenient. I can take others, if you want.” She becomes Buffy, Giles, Tara – “No!” shouts Willow. It’s Dawn again. “Guess this’ll suit you, huh? Now why are you here?” Willow is dazed. “You know.” “I want you to tell me.” Willow begins: “What’s happening to me? I feel like I can’t get my mind to work. I feel like I ran out of something.” Dawn looks teasing. “Oh-oh. And what would that be?” Willow shakes her head, feeling the pain. “Can you help me?” Dawn reaches out a hand and points to her chest. “Your power comes from the heart.” Willow looks desperate. “So how do I get it back?” Dawn shakes her head. “Nobody took anything from you. It’s your heart.”



Tara is sitting with the girl, with her arm around her. The girl asks, “What year is it?” “Late 2001,” answers Tara. The girl begins to cry again. “He had me trapped there for a whole year. I don’t know what my mom must’ve thought – ” she sobs. “How am I going to just go back to her.” Tara speaks softly. “I’m sure she’ll just be really happy to have you back.” The girl looks at her, still frightened. “Don’t leave me here just yet, will you?” Tara reassures her. “I’ll stay here with you ‘till morning.”



Willow pulls herself upright. “Please, goddess, hear me. Give me what I ask.” Dawn is impassive. “I can’t give you anything. I haven’t anything to give.” Willow gulps. “Is that it?” “All I can say.” Willow turns. “Farewell, unnameable. I thank you for your hospitality.” Dawn smiles cruelly. “Not so fast.” She disappears. A grille falls down in front of Willow, and behind, and on both sides, so that she is caged in all around.



NEXT WEEK: A Tangled Web: Willow’s still trapped. Her friends don’t know where she is – but they have their suspicions as to why she’s gone.

[fidds]

hhmmm...interesting



looking forward to the next part

i hope that w/t get together



*Hannah*

**********************
I'm on the outside , i'm looking in , i can see through you , see your true colours , cause inside you're ugly , you're ugly like me - STAIND-Outside

Edited by: fidds at: 6/5/02 5:51:49 am

[willntlover]

Cools! Update soon??

-Will

[TrueXena]

OMG this is so kewl. Will you be showing us the next episodes soon? Please Please Please?



Thanks for sharing, and Updates are always of the good.

---------------------

Tara: "C-can you just be kissing me now?" - in 'Entropy'

Tara: "Its good to be a chicken casserole." -in 'Answering Darkness' By: Sassette

Tara: "Evil's....good." - in 'Seeing Red' (shooting script)

[Thanatopsis]

I'm intrigued. This is very cool. Looking forward to more.

-----------------

You say midgets like it's so absurd.

[zero]

Ditto on the "cool"!

----

"Spatulas are for wimps!" Dawn, Wrecked

[pikescoob]

This is a really cool idea...I like it!!



--Michelle

[heironyma]

It is an interesting fact that A-Level revision creates interference patterns which halt relative time progression in alternate universes. Did you know that? Well, you do now.



E11: A Tangled Web



Rating: Same as usual

Disclaimer I own nothing. Property is theft. Except When it's ME's.

Summary: Willow's still trapped. Her friends don't know where she is - but they have their suspicions as to why she's gone.

Spoilers: S6 up to 'Tabula Rasa'. In a vague way 'Dead Things'.

Feedback: Yes, I would like feedback.

Notes: Not all that interesting, but it might detain you briefly that E9, E10, E11 all have vague conterpart-episodes which I shamelessly stole themes from. 'Spiked' = 'Something Blue'. 'Stumped' = 'Family'. 'ATW' broadly = 'The Yoko Factor. And all that because I didn't really have anything to put in the notes this time!



Previously: Spike thought he and Buffy were meant to be, but it was just a spell of Willow’s; Tara explained to a college friend that she was living with someone, but it didn’t work out; Xander asked Anya if she was worried about Willow; the Trio killed Katrina and dumped the body in Buffy’s front yard; Willow’s powers seemed to be going and she got Dawn to help her with a spell where she went and pleaded with a goddess; she got trapped there.



Willow, caged. She hammers at the bars, but they don’t budge. She takes a breath and pulls herself upright with her palms facing forward, then clenches them into fists and with a small gesture jerks her arms out from her body. The bars snap. She is about to step forward when the floor beneath her, too, breaks into pieces and she falls down, past more metal walls, impossibly far, as in a dream. With a thud she hits the ground and opens her eyes tentatively.



CREDITS



Dawn is still sitting in Willow’s room, her face painted. She is terrified. It is the next morning. She looks up at the clock which says it is ten AM. She stands up, somewhat shakily, and walks to the bathroom where she turns on the taps and washes all the paint off her face. Then she walks downstairs, where Buffy is carrying her dirty washing into the laundry room. She is wearing an orange top and a pair of orange jeans. She looks up when she hears Dawn coming and sets down the laundry. “Shouldn’t you be in school by now?” she asks. Dawn surveys her. “Shouldn’t you be wearing proper clothes?” Buffy is curt. “Willow said it was going to be cool this season. I’m ahead of the times. Have you seen Willow?” Dawn is edgy and nervous: “No. Why?” Buffy continues. “I don’t think she came home last night. Did she say she was going anywhere?” Dawn evades: “No, I don’t think so.” Buffy becomes alarmed. “God, I hope nothing happened to her. Did you see anything prowling? Did she seem odd?” She is seriously worried. Dawn backtracks. “Actually, she might have said she was going to see friends. You know, from college? I guess she was having a really good time.” Now Buffy just looks hurt.



We see now what sort of time Willow’s having; she’s in another metal room, but with very high walls. The ceiling is effectively invisible. She paces around but there doesn’t seem to be a way out. So she walks up to the edge of the floor and steps onto the wall; she walks up it, her body horizontal. She keeps on and on walking off until the vertical surface shelves off into a horizontal plateau. Walking normally now, she strides across it, but it seems to go on for ever. A creaking noise begins and seems to get louder. She looks around her and then up, and sees that the ceiling, before too far away to be seen, is descending towards her. She begins to run, and sees that a while ahead of her is the edge of the plateau, where it becomes wall again. The ceiling is very low now, though, and as she runs towards the edge she has first to stoop and then to crawl. She manages to climb off just in time to stop her hands being crushed. She scales down the wall, her hands seeming to adhere to it, until she reaches the ground again, the bottom of another crevasse. She walks along a little way but then there comes a very similar creaking sound. The walls are moving in towards each other. Frantically, she feels along the walls for a way out. They close in. Again just in time to prevent her being crushed the wall slides open like a door and she is in a long corridor, similarly steel-plated.



Buffy is sweeping her front yard. Her broom hits something hard. She prods it, then kneels and brushes the leaves off. It is Katrina. “Oh, Willow,” she whispers, “why didn’t you tell me?”



Willow walks. Doves fly through the corridors and perch on the light fittings. The corridor splits into two; she takes the left. It splits again; she takes the right. She comes to a dead end and has to retrace her steps. She takes the other path; after a while the corridor splits again. It becomes apparent that this is some kind of maze, but she keeps walking.



Buffy strides purposefully into Spike’s crypt. “Spike, I need your help.” He smiles. “What, the way you needed it last night?” She protests only feebly as he kisses her and pulls her onto the bed. He continues: “You’d better get used to me. I’m your destiny, remember?” She pushes him away very firmly and stands up. “No. You and me has nothing to do with destiny. It was just a dumb spell of Willow’s that went wrong. She also dyed almost all my clothes orange. And I think she might have killed someone.”



Tara is eating her lunch. The girl we saw last episode, whose name is Emmie, comes and sits beside her with a cheerful “Hey!”. Tara starts. “Uh, um, hi.” She looks completely miserable. “Something else bugging you, huh?” asks the Emmie. “Was it a bush this time?” Tara looks uncomfortable. “I guess it’s just one of those days.” Emmie rolls her eyes. “Tell me about it! I have to say, Professor Davies is really driving me up the wall. He leers, you know? Plus I don’t actually think I’m getting anything out of his classes, so I might drop them, but then… you aren’t listening to me at all.” Tara isn’t. She’s staring very intensely at the table. Emmie regards her, concerned but mystified.



Buffy, in desperation, clings to Spike. “And what’ll I tell Xander?” Spike comforts her. “Sh-sh. Don’t tell him anything. Bloke round here specialises in that sort of thing. Let Spike make everything alright.”



Willow’s still walking through the maze. Doves fly past her. She stops. Raising her left hand in a grasping motion, she she draws one of the doves into her hand and holds it firmly. She speaks to it: “You’re going to find me a way out.” Then she releases it and follows it as it flies, through more corridors and more. They come to a large chamber. In the centre is what appears to be a mechanical woman – steel like the walls, smiling, with long wire eyelashes. She is more cartoonlike than anything. You can see the cogs. The dove flies over and perches on her hand. At its touch she springs into life: her eyes open and there is a sound of whirring machinery as she lifts the dove up towards her face, smiling, amazed. She opens her grinning mouth and takes a bite out of it. It struggles and screams; feathers and blood are strewn everywhere. She shoves the rest of its body into her mouth and chews; then she looks up and sees Willow. She smiles an extra-friendly smile, showing her pointed metal teeth, and cries, ‘Hi!’ She begins to trundle towards Willow. Willow runs.



Buffy’s house. Dawn is walking upstairs very reluctantly. Xander, at the foot of the stairs, calls up, “Hurry up, you should have been in bed hours ago.” She looks down. “Will you say goodnight to Buffy for me?” Xander is exasperated. “When she gets home, sure. Now go to bed.” Dawn wheedles, “Willow lets me stay up later.” Xander remains firm. “Willow’s at her aunt’s. Tonight me and Anya say go to bed.” Anya is in the sitting room. She walks over to shut the curtains and looks outside. It’s raining. Buffy is in the front yard, taking the body out from under the leaves. Spike helps her carry it to the car. She leans against the car crying and he puts his arm around her. They drive off. Xander enters. Anya hurriedly shuts the curtains. Xander flops on the sofa. “Something isn’t right here. I shift heavy machinery all day and babysitting tires me out way more.” Anya snuggles up to him. “Xander? Sometimes I get scared.” Xander is weary. “Is this the mortality discussion again? I thought we had that one.” Anya continues, “Sometimes I don’t know what to do.” Xander shuts his eyes. “Sleep. It’s the thing.” Anya pursues it, thoughtfully: “What if almost for always it was someone’s job to kill and maim and cause serious physical harm, and it’s really hard the way there are these people you don’t kill and then wham! There’s one of them, dead, and the person’s really upset, and they can’t tell anyone, and maybe they aren’t even really human at all. What would you do if that was someone you liked a lot?” Xander doesn’t say anything at first. When he does it is deliberate and measured. “I’d really hope that person would come to me. And I’d probably want them to go to the police, because it’s really important that humans don’t kill other humans. But I understand that the person might be finding it kinda hard to adjust sometimes, and sometimes it’s difficult for everyone to get along and live a normal life. But humans don’t kill other humans, and that’s important. I’d really want the person to talk to me because it isn’t a good idea to get married and not be honest with each other. OK? And I’d want that person to know I really love them, whatever.” Anya is puzzled. “Since when are you marrying – my god, you thought I was talking about myself!” Xander is extremely relieved: “My fiancée isn’t a murderess. The day gets better.” Anya looks upset. Sound of Buffy letting herself in. She calls out “Hi!” Xander whispers to Anya, “What’s up?” Buffy walks in, very rained on. She slumps on the sofa. “I have cocoa cravings. I’m getting old.”



Willow is running, the Metalwoman following after her, gaining. She turns and shoots blue sparks at the Metalwoman, blasting her to pieces. Willow stops to catch her breath. The pieces twitch. She leans against the wall. The pieces begin to move along the floor, at first slowly. The jaws snap. Some of the bits ‘walk’ on protruding bits of mechanism; others wheel along on cogs; others grow up the walls with their wires like vines. The hands reach after Willow. They approach her at speed. She runs again, and turns back, sending another bolt of blue. The pieces sink into the floor. But now they rise up at different places in the floor and walls. The raised places extend along the walls in ridges, spreading and growing fast towards her. New arms grow in dozens out of the walls and reach towards her. Crystalline structures form too, huge pyramids growing out from the walls. The hands reach for her. She holds herself against an area of the wall that has no growth, trying to hold herself away from the hands. She reaches her arm into the wall and a little tunnel, uneven as if dug, opens itself in the metal, just wide enough for her to crawl into, which she does.



Emmie is leading a friend of hers along to her dorm room. “I don’t know, something’s been bugging her all day. I think she needs a good time. She’s really nice, but kind of weird. It’s like, she comes from Moodyville, Nebraska.” They walk into the room. Emmie looks around. It is empty. Emmie rolls her eyes. “Guess she took off again.”



Tara is walking through the rain. She looks troubled. She walks through streets of houses.



Dawn is sitting on her bed, hugging her knees. She can’t sleep.



Willow crawls through the little tunnel. She has to use her elbows to pull herself along. It is very dark. She can only just fit through. There is no visible end; it just goes on. Eventually she stops and lies in the tunnel. She lies looking at the wall of it, only a short distance from the end of her nose. She blinks, then pulls herself up, and in doing so slips, getting herself into an awkward position. It is painful for her to lift herself up and resume crawling, but she does. It hurts to use the arm. She carries on forward. There’s nowhere else to go.



Anya’s making cocoa. She talks to a mug. “Hello. I’m Anya. I work in retail and I have difficulty adjusting to normal life.” She chokes. She sits in the corner of the room, tears streaming, sniffing. She blows her nose on a kitchen towel.



Xander and Buffy are sitting on the sofa. The television is on quietly in the background. Buffy frowns. “Anya’s being a long time.” Xander replies, “She was being a tad weird earlier.” A little silence. Then Xander asks, “Willow isn’t at her aunt’s, is she?” Buffy shakes her head. “She just took off.” Xander is alarmed. “Why would she do that? Oh, and by the way, that was a really lame cover-story. Does she even have an aunt?” Buffy says quietly, “I found a body. I mean, not hers. But maybe not unconnected.” Xander is stunned. “ Willow?” Buffy continues, “I think maybe the magick was getting a bit out of control lately.” Xander shakes his head, upset. “Spike’s dealt with the body,” Buffy adds. “She’s not going to jail. She’s Willow. I think – I think it must have been an accident.” She chokes. Xander’s depressed. “My god.” Anya enters with the cocoa. Xander says, “Buffy told me. About the… you know.” Anya sets the cocoa down. “So did Willlow take off because she couldn’t deal with it? Or is that story about the aunt actually true? ‘Cos if it is, why didn’t she ever mention her aunt?” Buffy’s quietly sad. “I wish she could’ve talked to somebody. If not me, one of you maybe.” Anya puts her arm around Buffy. “Sometimes people don’t know their own strength.” Dawn appears in the door. She’s been crying. Xander says darkly, “Dawn, go to bed.” Dawn starts to talk: “I’ve got to tell you. I know – sort of – where Willow is. I – I think she’s trapped there. And it’s all my fault. I’m really really sorry.” She starts to cry again.



As Willow continues to crawl through the tunnel, she sees a light. She comes to the end, which is divided in two by a thin blade. She squeezes herself past it into one side of a wider round tunnel – as she brushes past the blade getting out of the narrower part she tears her sleeve and cuts her arm. It is a huge circular blade the height of the tunnel, vertical and hanging parallel to the walls. When she has climbed past it she gets into a wider tubular tunnel, just tall enough for her to walk in. She walks along it but very quickly it ends in a sort of bowl, like a vertical hemisphere. She prods at the wall but is is quite solid. There is a small humming and she turns, to see that the circular blade has begun to spin. It is moving towards her. She raises a hand and a wall of ice forms in front of it, but it cuts cleanly through.



Dawn finishes telling them. “I should’ve told you. I am so, so sorry.” She sobs. Everyone else sits quiet. There’s nothing they can say. The local news is on the TV. The woman reads, “And it’s been confirmed that the body found this evening was that of local student Katrina Silberman . Katrina apparently died by her own hand and left a note for her parents saying she was finding the pressure too much to bear. Katrina was attending Dutton technical college, and friends said she took her work extremely seriously and broke off a relationship with fellow student Warren Mears last year because ‘he loved machines more than her’. We’ll be discussing whether today’s students are too pressured and…” Buffy turns off the television. “You know that bastard Warren?” she asks. “I think we just did him a favour.”



Willow bangs again at the walls, but nothing happens. She collapses into the curved wall, trying to scramble up into the furthest part, and screams, “Tara! Tara! TARA!”



Tara’s walking in Buffy’s street, vague and disconsolate. Then Willow’s voice sounds, screaming, “Tara!” She runs to Buffy’s house and begins to hammer on the door.



Willow, a shaking wreck, still screaming as the blade approaches.



Buffy opens the door where Tara’s standing, soaked and terrified. Tara can still hear Willow sobbing, “Tara! Tara!”



Next Week: The Heart Of The Matter: Tara’s come to rescue Willow – but they’ll have to face something worse than they’d ever imagined.

Edited by: heironyma at: 6/13/02 12:51:02 pm

[fidds]

ooh this is interesting- poor Willow

i hope Tara saves her - can't wait for the next update



*Hannah*

********************************************
I just needed someone to talk to, you were just too busy with yourself, you were never there for me to express how i felt ,i just stuffed it down- *STAIND -FADE*

[heironyma]

Well, here's the next episode. Sorry about the delays. Many thanks to the people who did give feedback. Keep it rolling in, if poss.



Rating: Probably a little more strong language etc than usual.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Property is theft. Except When it's ME's.

Summary: Tara’s come to rescue Willow – but they’ll have to face something worse than they’d ever imagined.

Spoilers: S6 up to 'Tabula Rasa'. In a vague way 'Dead Things'.

Feedback: Good, bad or ugly - all is welcome, it reassures me some people are still reading this.

Notes: Good news: Amber Benson is finally in the credits, and will be for all of the last twelve episodes of this season.



S6 E12: The Heart Of The Matter



Previously: Willow was trapped in a weird other world; the trio killed Katrina; Buffy thought Willow killed her and Anya thought Buffy killed her and Xander thought Anya killed her; Dawn told everyone about Willow; they realised Warren was going to get away with it now; Willow was about to be killed by a giant circular saw and called for Tara; Tara turned up on Buffy’s doorstep.



Tara rushes past Buffy, upstairs. The others follow her and find her in Willow’s room, distraught. “What happened to her?” she asks. “Where is she?” Dawn steps forward. “She left from here.” She directs Tara to the correct position. When she reaches it, Tara gives a little cry of “Oh!” She looks like she understands something more. She stands with her head tilted back, fades to transparent red, and disappears.



Willow, screaming. Tara appears beside her. Willow turns to her and doesn’t speak but communicated telepathically; that is, though her lips don’t move we hear her voice: “ How did you find me?” she asks. Tara squeezes her hand. “ I’ll always find you, baby.”



CREDITS. Including Amber Benson!



Tara walks towards the still-approaching blade. She holds up the palm of her hand to it. Willow screams, but when the blade touches her hand it stops. Tara walks over to Willow and picks her up. “ I vote we go home. This place is kinda creepy.” Willow smiles. “ Tell me about it!” she telepaths. Her smile breaks and she holds Tara, crying. Tara helps her past the blade, though they both tear their clothes a little, and they walk through the wider part of the corridor to the place where it narrows into the small tunnel. But when she gets to it Tara keeps walking. The passage opens as she walks at it, so that it is the same height as the wider part – just tall enough to walk in upright. As she keeps walking towards it, it keeps widening, like a zip unzipping. Willow walks behind her, cradling her injured arm.



Buffy, Dawn, Xander and Anya are all standing around in Willow’s room. They look at each other. Then Anya walks up to Dawn. “Little bitch.” She slaps her hard across the face, then runs down the stairs and out of the front door. Xander runs after her, shutting the door behind him. Buffy and Dawn are left at the top of the stairs. Buffy becomes chirpy: “Dawn, I think it’s time for bed. You remember when we were little and mom used to say to us ‘It’s late O’clock!’”

A quick shot of the living-room downstairs, the mugs of cocoa still undrunk.



Back to Tara and Willow. The passage abruptly widens into a huge, long, low-ceilinged room. The floor of it is not flat, but cut into deep channels by streams of water trickling across it. The streams have formed landscapes in the metal, deep gorges and cliffs and huge tors rising out. The water collects in pools. “ Do you know where we are?” asks Tara. Willow looks at her, despairing. “ I don’t know anything” she admits. Tara dips the toe of her shoe into a pool. It steams and fizzes. She lifts it out quickly but the ‘water’ has melted the rubber almost through. “ There goes another pair of shoes!” she quips. She takes Willow’s hand and they clamber across the rising and falling metal floor. They look back at the round tunnel opening they came in through, and see that the source of the streams is a pair of springs either side of it, that run down the walls in little waterfalls. The only noise is the sound of trickling liquid as they pick their way across. Once Tara misses her footing, but Willow grabs her arm and keeps her from slipping. Undoubtedly, however, there is more of the liquid in the channels now. As they make their way across the room it rises and there is less dry ground for them to walk on. Eventually only the peaks are exposed, and they’re only halfway there. Willow panics. “ Tara, this isn’t gonna work. Nothing’s any good here. Why does it hate me like this?” Tara turns to her. “ You’re right. It isn’t working. This will.” She takes both her hands, and they rise into the air, above the level of the liquid, and move through the air to the opposite wall. A door slides open, above the level of the water. They step through it.



Anya is walking very briskly down the street. Xander follows, gaining on her. She stops and turns to face him. “This is appalling.” Xander speaks to her calmly, “And you’re expecting me to be, what? Denying it?” Anya continues, “Do we even know where they are? Because we’ve been expecting one of Willow’s spells to go wrong like this for a long time now. They could be anywhere. They could be in the shrimp world. There’s nothing but shrimp there. People make tables and chairs and sundry domestic items out of shrimp because there’s nothing else.” She sniffs and blinks. “Did you know Tara’s allergic to shrimp? Do you even care, Xander?” Xander speaks calmly. “I think everyone’s a little stressed, Anya, that Willow and Tara have gone AWOL in some random Never-neverland, but that doesn’t mean we blame other people. We need to all stick together.” Anya spits out, “Well, thank-you very much, Mr. Stick-Together for June. It makes me so happy that you will be sticking by your precious Buffy and her bratty little sister, and your maladjusted abnormal possibly inhuman wife-to-be. Have a nice day. I mean night.” She begins to walk away again. Xander walks beside her. “Anya, I was being as understanding as I could be, given I thought you were confessing to murder. Can you understand it was a little difficult, not to say upsetting, but now – well, it actually isn’t like that, and why don’t we just forget about it, something I for one will be more than happy to do after you scared me seven kinds of silly in there.” Anya stops walking. “I’m sorry. Let’s do that. My hair’s all wet.” They embrace. Xander says, “You know I’ll stick by you, whatever?” Anya’s face is expressionless and numb, but he can’t see.



The door shuts behind Tara and Willow. They’re back in the square corridors. Tara sweeps her hand across the walls. Willow explains, “ It’s some kind of a maze. I don’t think there’s a way out. I looked a lot, but –” Tara interrupts: “ You’re right. There is no way out. It’s infinite.” Before her on the wall are rune-like writings, in black. Tara explains. “ The only way to get out is to find the centre.” Willow slumps against the wall. “ ’Cos that’s a whole lot easier.” Tara traces out the words. “ You just need to look for it. It says – ‘For the heart will seek the heart, and find it.’” She takes Willow’s hand. They walk forward, into the maze.

A quick shot, a few yards behind them in the corridors, of a pair of little bloodied feet that belong to someone or something that is following them.



Buffy strides into Spike’s crypt. He looks up. “Well, hell-o. Come to say thank-you?” Buffy punches him in the stomach and, when he curls on the floor, kicks him. “Thank you, Spike. Thank you for messing up just about everything. Thank you that some murderous bastard is never going to see any kind of justice. Thank you for making me as suspicious – ” –kick – “ – and as morally empty – ” – kick – “– and as generally vile as you are. Thanks a bunch.” He stands up, and kisses her. She kisses him. After a short while he pushes her off. “Oh, clear off. I’m sick of this. You needn’t bother coming back. All this relationship bollocks, I don’t think it suits me.” She stands and stares at him, uncomprehending. He smiles. “It isn’t worth the sex anymore, buttercup. I used to dream about you but I didn’t dream about this. Your Captain Cardboard did well to get out of it when he did. Whoever would’ve thought I’d be learning from him? But frankly, I’d rather be wanking over a photograph. So you can bugger off home.” Buffy spits at him. “You’re scum. I’m glad I’m rid of you.” She strides off, her lower lip only shaking a little.



Tara and Willow keep walking, holding hands.

Another shot of the little feet. They leave behind footprints of blood.

“ Tara?” asks Willow. “ I just want to wake up, you know?” And Tara, quietly: “ Yeah, I know.”

Little child’s hands, covered in blood and cuts, trail along the wall.

Willow and Tara unconsciously match their pace as they walk. The pattering footsteps are heard. Tara stops. “ Are we being followed?” she asks. She looks around just in time to see the end of a bloodstained lace petticoat disappear behind a corner. She grips Willow’s hand. Willow asks her, “ What?” and turns, to see nothing. “Oh,” Tara answers, “It wasn’t anything.” They start to walk again.

So do the small feet. They are bruised and scratched.



Buffy comes home. It’s beginning to get light. Dawn is sitting on the stairs in her pyjamas. “You’ve been out since five AM,” she tells Buffy. “Which means you’ve been up since five AM,” Buffy points out. “I couldn’t sleep,” Dawn tells her. Buffy is unimpressed. “Really, Dawn. Maybe you were feeling bad because you lied. Do you know how much danger Willow is in?” Dawn begins, “I’m sorry – ” Buffy ignores her. “Tara too, now. You’re gonna have to start acting responsibly some time. You might as well start now.” Dawn is upset. She walks upstairs to get dressed.



“ I think we’re getting there,” says Tara. “ Can you feel it?”

The little feet, too, match their pace, step for step.

“ I think I can,” says Willow. “ I mean, I wouldn’t know if I wasn’t but I thought I was. But it’s different. We’re near to something, I think.”

The backs of a little girl’s legs, wounded up and down them.

Tara puts her arm around Willow.

We see the little girl’s arm. Cut up and down, a piece of skin hanging off, smeared with blood.

Back to Willow and Tara. In the corridor before them there begin to be dead doves, their white wings stained with blood. They are more and more thick on the ground as Willow and Tara walk on together in silence. They have to step over them when they get to the door, so many are there. It swings open and they walk into a huge room, high-ceilinged, blood dripping from the walls, the floor covered in feathers and dead doves clustering at the edges. In the middle is the little girl, on a rocking horse. She is about six, and wears a Victorian-style child’s dress and a pinafore; she is covered in knife-cuts and bruises, her hair sodden with blood and her dress stained. Across her face is a long diagonal scar. She looks straight at Willow. “Hello,” she says. “I knew you’d come.” Willow speaks aloud now: “What do I – what is this?” The girl smiles, welcoming. “It’s yours. You made it. I’m yours too.” Willow chokes out, “How?” The girl shows a small distance with her fingers. “Little by little. It grew and grew. It’s all yours.” Willow is immobile. The girl climbs off her rocking-horse and walks over to one of the piles of birds. “These are my toys. Shall I show you?” She picks one up. Tara reaches for Willow’s hand and telepaths, “ Willow.” Willow pulls her hand away. “ I can’t. I have to stay here.” Tara says, “ Willow, come with me. I’m not going anywhere without you.” The girl walks towards them with a dove, pulling its beak open and shut and mumbling something. Willow takes Tara’s hands. Their eyes meet, and at once they are somewhere quite different: a great hall like a ballroom, with huge double doors and chandeliers and plaster moulding, grand but still a little threatening. A woman appears and walks towards them. “You girls shouldn’t be here,” she says. “You should be on your way home. You’d better follow me.” Tara begins to follow; Willow tugs her back. “ Tara. Maybe we can’t trust her. She could be trying to trap us again.” Tara looks at her, her face streaming with tears. “ Oh, yes. We can trust her.”



It is late afternoon but the Magic Shoppe is already shut. Only Anya is there. She sets up a mirror with candles burning either side. She opens an old book and begins to read, looking into the mirror: “ Come, Leanna, do thy work. Grant what is in thy power to grant. Fulfil the desire of the heart and the question of the eye. I give you myself. Give me myself.”



Willow and Tara follow the woman through room after room. She walks a few paces before them and does not speak. Willow bites her lip, but Tara’s eyes shine with tears. The last room has only a single small door at the end. Before it the woman stops. “You want to go through there. Take care of yourselves.” She walks up to Tara. “I’ve been missing you, honey.” Tara replies, “I m-miss you too.” The woman kisses her forehead. “I’m so proud of you.” She turns and is gone. They walk through the door and are back in Willow’s room, evening. They look around. It is just evening.



Next Week: A New Leaf: Where do they go from here? And why is Anya acting so strangely?

Edited by: heironyma at: 6/17/02 12:34:48 pm

[Loco2]

these are really good, i've only just read them and they are excellent. nice one.



steph

”What do you think I am, a skeleton thief? You want to search me?!"

[darkmagicwillow]

I like the idea of an alternate universe with a better Buffy season than ours (though you have to wonder what other changes result from that--is it like the shrimp world?) and I think the episodes are getting better as you go along. However, I did have one request--could you separate out the different characters' dialogue into separate paragraphs? Conversations are much easier to follow that one than when everyone speaks in one long paragraph.

--
"Chemistrys easy. Its a lot like witchcraft, except less newt."

[Tulipp]

You know, at first I thought it would be hard to read episode summaries, but actually it isn't at all; it's strangely familiar, in fact, since I have often read episode summaries of BTVS (and XWP once upon at time) before watching the eps. I can often really visualize the show your'e describing; the details you include really paint a picture. Can't wait to see more!

[heironyma]

Well, I'm feeling a bit bad that I haven't posted anything for so long. And that I'm not actually posting anything today. They were showing repeats or something. There were two reasons for this: Greek Composition and Anya. My exams are now over thank goodness, but Anya's still troubling me. I'm having difficulty getting the hang of her, and the next one is needing a confidence with that which at the moment I don't have. Any advice is more than welcome. I've read the thingy on 'extra flamey' BTW. But hopefully a bit of sitting down not thinking about grammar or matrices should help.



Thankyou to all you nice people who said nice things. darkmagicwillow, I'm sorry it was difficult to read that way - I get anxious about taking up yards of screen, but I'll try separating dialogue off now.



To compensate for the lack of anything very solid, some trivia.

-Televisionwithoutpity certainly exists in this universe, and they called the last episode 'Tara Ex Machina'.

-Future episode titles include E14: Here To Help; E17: Little Blue and E18: Natural. The last should be especially welcome.

[Zahir al Daoud]

First of all, I'm pleased to have discovered this fanfic. I am sooooo looking forward to reading more.



Second, as far as Anya goes, I think a lot of her essence is that she hates being confused. She's not someone who likes to think very much--not because she can't (Anya is very bright, really) but because that gets in the way of doing stuff. Anya acts rather than thinks about acting. But of course that is a recipe for all kinds of trouble--a lesson she must have picked up pretty early because her instinct seems to be for finding rules. If she has a set of rules to follow, she's fine (unless they don't make sense of course). But when confused, she's going to look for rules, for some kind of definition. And when stressed, she leans on this kind of stuff more heavily.



Does that make any sense?

"O Let my name be in the Book of Love!
If it be there I care not of that other Book above.
Strike it out! Or write it in anew, but
Let my name be in the Book of Love!"
--Omar Kayam