edited.... again....
ok, i'm crying. does anyone know why this gets all jumbly like that?
trying again.... THIS SUCKS! i cant figure it out so i'll have to leave it as such until someone can tell me what's wrong. sorry about all the weird symbols. i'm going to try and edit manually what i can....
***************
Tara tentatively walked into the foyer towards her aunt. What was she doing here? Now? Of all times she had to pick this one. "A-aunt Lilly?"
"Hi sweetheart. How are you doing?" the woman asked.
Sometimes it pained Tara too look at her aunt due to the fact she looked so much like her own mother. They were sisters after all, only eleven months apart. Ever since her older sisters death Lilly had taken extra care of Tara knowing how much her niece had suffered during her sister’s illness. They all had, but especially Tara. Her father and brother hadn’t made it easier on the girl either. How they had expected a girl to take over the mother role at such a young age was beyond her.
"W-what are you doing here?" she asked, fully aware she was practically naked, the t-shirt only ran up mid thigh. One wrong movement and her aunt would see things she hadn’t seen since she was a baby, when changing her diapers or showering her.
"I came to see how you were feeling. Beth told me that she was taking over for you today and so I came by to see if you were all right. See if you needed anything.” She mentioned as she took off her jacket and folded it over her arm. Her short strawberry blonde hair was a mess, as usual. Tara figured she’d ridden her horse over. 'Merlin' liked to gallop fast and Lilly loved it.
"No. I’m ok." Tara realized her aunt didn't know this day had been pre-arranged.
"Are you sick? Oh god. Do you have a fever? You’re flushed." Lilly said as she moved closer to her niece. She tried to touch her forehead but Tara backed away, clutching the bottom ridge of her t-shirt tightly.
"Aunt Lilly I’m fine. I just- I just wanted the day off."
She chuckled. "The day off? You? I thought you loved working at the- Is that pancakes?" Lilly asked after registering the scent she knew so well. It's was her sister's secret recipe after all.
Tara nervously tugged on her shirt, biting her lower lip. "Y-yes?"
"Happy pancakes?" Ever since her mother’s illness pancakes had become a food for special occasions only. It held too many memories of what had been lost and how much the death had changed them all. Needless to say it wasn’t often that pancakes were cooked in the Maclay household.
Tara nodded slowly, a half smile spreading over her lips. Lilly quickly caught on. "Am I interrupting something? Of course I am. You’re mother flushed the same way when she- Well, lets just say I- It's all over you really. I should've noticed it before."
"All over me?"
"Magick. You're working the magicks again." Lilly smiled proudly. "It's in your blood. It's a part of you. A part of us. I knew your father would never be able to stop you." A thought clouded her though and the smile faded. "Tara, you must be careful though. If he finds out..." Lilly couldn't go on. She didn't want to think about that.
"Magick?" Tara vehemently shook her head. "No. He wont. I don’t practice magick in the house. Not since mom..." her voice trailed as she thought about her mother.
It had taken a while for Tara to take up practicing magick again after her mother's death. It was a constant reminder of the bond they had shared, their privacy, their love. It was a part of themselves shared only with each other. Her father had never understood magick, never bothered to understand it. The more the illness slowly took her mother away the more her father blamed magick. After all, what was the point of magick if it couldn’t cure you? He never understood that wasn’t the point of magick, but Tara did. Tara certainly did and knew magick couldn’t be used to alter the natural order of things and death was a natural process of life.
Lilly's brows furrowed as she thought about what her niece was saying. If it wasn’t magick then what was making her aura so red? What else did she love? Love? Lilly’s eyes widened at the thought. "Oh goddess. You have somebody in the house." She quickly clasped her hands over her mouth in shock. Tara's reddening cheeks confirmed it.
"Of course.” Lilly quickly backed into the closed front door. "Oh. Sorry! I'll be leaving you now." She grabbed the doorknob behind her.
Tara wanted to respond, to say something of the contrary but she couldn't. It was the truth and she was never one to lie. Lilly was cool. From the funny stories her mother had told her Tara knew Lilly had been a bit of a wild child and she wasn’t worried her father would be hearing about this. Lilly had done this sort of thing plenty of times when she was younger. Plus, she hardly even spoke to her father anyhow. They really didn’t like each other much.
''Glad to see you're all right and everything.'' Her aunt said as she squeezed though the tiny opening she allowed herself. ''I'll, uh, talk to you soon.'' she finished as she closed the door. ''Bye.'' She called out from the porch.
Tara couldn't help but giggle. She headed back to the kitchen, back to Willow.
***********************
''What happened?,'' the redhead whispered as she saw the love of her life walk back in the kitchen. She instantly moved away from the stove and let Tara take over the pancake duty. She softly ran her fingers down her back, caressing.
''Nothing. She thought maybe I was sick or something.'' Tara reached over for the spatula and the pan. Noticing the mess Willow had created while trying turn the pancakes over she couldn't help but chuckle, ''I guess we're having funny shaped pancakes after all.''
Willow playfully pinched her butt. ''Be glad I didn’t let them burn and have a whole fire department come out here and see you in your sexy little t-shirt.”
''Oh but hunky firemen are so hot.'' She giggled and turned around into the redheads embrace. Her lips lovingly kissed Willow's. ''Thank you.'' She said as she looked deep in her green eyes, her hands caressing her sweet face. ''I haven't been this happy in so long. Too long.''
She could see the love Willow had for her, the love they had for each other. She stifled a sob, it was almost four in the afternoon and she didn't want this day to end.
Willow sighed peacefully as their foreheads touched, ''Anytime, my love.''
***********************
''And it's like a real ranch type house too. Very, very quaint. Kinda rustic outdoorsy type, all woodsy and big. Not big as in a mansion big- just long. But Tara's room was so the opposite though. She has the top floor which is basically the attic Where her mom used to keep her Wicca stuff and it was girly central. Very Wicca-y too. And then, I told you it's on a hill right? Right. So then we walked a small trail down her backyard, which was basically the whole hillside, and we came up to this shed and a barn next to it that had some of her horses and a small creek that ran behind it. It was so beautiful.''
The bonfire had been lit over half an hour ago and Willow still had not stopped talking about her day with Tara.
''I take it you had fun, eh?'' Buffy said as she looked around for Riley.
She wished he wouldn’t always take so long looking for marshmallows. Everybody else brought marshmallows. Why didn’t he ever? It was a simple equation: bonfire = marshmallows. Simple. Like hugs and puppies. There was no way the Canteen, the camps' candy store, would be opened this late. Unless Riley had keys to it which he did actually. Buffy rolled her eyes as she remembered that was one of his side jobs this summer.
''So much fun. Did I tell you she made me dinner last night? And it wasn't all microwave-y or pizza. It was an honest to god deep down country home cooked type dinner. We even had apple pie for dessert. With tofu vanilla ice cream.''
Willow's laughter brought her out of her reverie. ''Cute.'' She smiled. It really was. Willow was so happy, so giddy. So lucky...
''And the ride up is beautiful. Full of trees, and cliffs and huge boulders and curves. The curves made me a bit dizzy at first but I got used to it. And the town! It was so surreal. We passed these old, run down bungalows that were actually the town up by her. They were only like four buildings. And get this, they have a general store!'' Willow's movements grew wild as they tended to do when she got all giddy. "Just a general store, Buffy, not like a typical Ralph's supermarket. Just a general store like in the wild, wild west in the middle of nowhere. And we passed a watering hole, a feed store, all those typical non-city things we don't have. And they were painted all barnsy like. Red or brown with white trims."
"Cool." Buffy replied. She loved seeing Willow so happy. She really did, not matter how rueful she felt for not being a part of it.
"So cool." Willow smiled as she looked over to the bonfire. The scent of the wood, the warmth of the fire... She sighed thinking about the last 24 hours. She couldn't believe it all.
"Good." Buffy said, feeling a bit left out.
"Yeah. So... How was your day?" Willow asked, her eyes connecting with Buffy's again.
"It was ok. Nothing new except I got a call from Giles saying he and Faith may stop by for visitors day. So that was pretty much the highlight." She said snapping her gum.
"Did you tell him about the yucky, yucky demon?"
"He too thinks it may have hitchhiked over here but we may do a sweep before he leaves. Just in case."
Willow nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah I think you should do that. Tara has this nifty spell that can protect you and your surroundings. Maybe we can create a barrier around the whole camp to-"
"Nah, there’s no need for you to do that." Buffy interrupted her. "Riley and I will patrol anyhow. Besides, we haven’t had any problems except for that one night. It'd be a kind of waste."
Willow's excitement fell. "Yeah, I wouldn’t want to waste your time." She said bitterly. Buffy's lack of participation while she spoke of Tara and her day off didn't go unnoticed.
Buffy's eyes widened. "I didn't mean waste my time. I meant-"
"Yeah, whatever. It's ok." Willow cut her off. "I get it."
Buffy couldn't believe the sudden change in Willow. "Are you mad at me?"
"No. Are you mad at me?” Willow asked her.
"No! Why would you think that, Will?"
"I don't know. You're all... bitchy." Willow sighed, she knew that was the wrong word to use with Buffy.
"Bitchy?" Buffy asked, a snooty expression on her face.
Willow didn't want an argument to start. "No," Willow quickly shook her head. "I meant snappy." But that wasn't any better.
"Which is another word for bitchy” Buffy crossed her arms over her chest.
"That is so not what I meant."
"Well, what do you mean?"
Why was she suddenly the bad guy here? Buffy was the one not paying attention this time. Not her. Willow didn't understand what was going on. "What's wrong with you?" she asked suspiciously.
"What's wrong with you?" Buffy retorted.
"Buffy, this is so kindergarten-ish. I asked you first!"
"So, I asked you second." Buffy’s stern mouth trembled with a bit. She was suppressing a laugh.
Willow couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of it all. "Stop it!"
"No. Why?" Buffy asked, herself laughing aloud now.
"Because you're making me laugh."
"Last time I checked that was a good thing."
"Very good." Willow looked over to her best friend, "But really, what's going on?"
Buffy shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "I don't know. I missed you, Will. I’m used to seeing you everyday, you know? I just feel like... I feel like I'm losing my best friend here. Don't ask me why."
Willow's face fell, "Because of Tara?"
Buffy nodded slightly. "Yeah. She's your new buddy. With benefits."
Willow quickly reached out to comfort the Slayer. "No. You’re my best friend, Buffy. You're my buddy too. Um, without the extra benefits of course."
Buffy smiled at the comment. “I know. It's just we hardly hang out together anymore. I miss that."
"Well, you have been kinda busy with Riley and I've been with Tara... These things happen. It's hard to keep friendships together when in a relationship. You know that."
"Why did you keep her a secret? Why didn't you tell me about her?"
"I wanted to tell you. But I was so scared. I fell so so hard and fast, Buffy, I really didn't process any of it. Well, I did but it was after the fact."
Buffy couldn't help but smirk, "After the truck fact?"
Willow gasped in shock. "You evil slayer you! If you ever, EVER bring that up in front of Tara I will personally beat you over your head with a shovel."
Riley's voice joined their conversation as he walked up to the two friends, bag of marshmallows in hand, "Violence, Willow Rosenberg?"
"Yeah, well, a vague disclaimer is nobody's friend." Willow smiled as she looked up to him.
"I hear you on that." he said as he handed the bag to Buffy. "Here ya go. Bag o marshmallows for the lady."
"Thank you." Buffy smiled. She couldn't help it, he was like a puppy all cute and sweet.
"I think I'm going to go to bed. I'm really tired." Willow mentioned as she stood up from the wooden log and stretched her body out. It creaked and crinkled from sitting. Or, maybe it was from the amazing day she'd spent making love to Tara over and over and over again.
Buffy grinned at her, "I'll bet."
"Sush, you!" Willow warned, pointy finger and all.
The Slayer giggled, "Goodnight Will."
"Bye, Willow." Riley said as he sat down next to Buffy.
"Goodnight." She said as she headed out, a smile on her face. She was sure she’d be dreaming of Tara.
****************************
"Xander?” Willow asked as she noticed her best friend run across the path a few feet in front of her completely oblivious to her presence.
"Hey," he squeaked as he stumbled over his legs, they had stopped quicker than his upper body. "What are you doing out?" he asked trying to sound nonchalant about it.
Willow knew he was up to something. "I'm heading back to the cabin. Going to bed. You?"
"I'm uh... I'm going to the kitchen."
"The kitchen?"
she thought,
"Yeah, I'm, erm, hungry... and the kitchen houses all the food so... Well, besides the Canteen but it's closed-" he skittishly checked his watch. "Since it's almost 11 and all. Soon."
Willow couldn't help but chuckle at his nervousness so she decided to play along. "Food, huh? Maybe I should go too. I'm kinda hungry all of a sudden."
"No!" he shouted and held out his hands to stop her. "I'm not, uh, going to the kitchen. "I... lied."
"Where are you going then?" she asked all innocently. This was just too easy. She'd met Xander in kindergarten and since day one she knew just how to tease him.
Xander shook his head in shame. "Ok, I am. I'm going to the kitchen.” He looked like a hurt kitten. "I'm meeting Cordelia."
"I know." She was certainly not surprised by the admission and smiled softly at him.
Her calm demeanor was something Xander was not expecting. Willow hated Cordelia, she hated her more than spiders and frogs. "You know? How do you know?"
"I, um, accidentally stumbled upon you and her the other night."
"You what?!" he shouted, "Willow!"
"It's not like I meant to do that. I was out for a walk and I- In the kitchen, Xander? That is so romantic." She said, recalling Buffy's own words to her.
Xander seemed to have ESP, "Well, it's certainly more romantic than a pick up truck."
Willow's eyes widened. "Buffy told you?"
"Buffy?" Xander asked, "No! She knew?! Of course she knew. I'm always the last to know." He complained.
"No! She, uh-" Willow was at a loss for words. "Xander!"
"What?"
"She- oh forget it." But Willow couldn't even though she had suggested it. "How?! How did you find out?"
"I can do basic math. I put two and two together." he said, smugly.
"What?” she asked confused about his reply.
"That night I knew you walked Tara to her car. And Devon mentioned something about catching you in the truck with her and he cracked a stupid joke that made me realize what was going on when you got hit by the football and then I finally found out about you two-"
"No. It wasn't like that. Well, ok, it was exactly like that but-"
"Look, it's no big deal."
"But Xander it is."
"No, it's not. We both had secrets. No big. I need to go. Cordy's waiting and you know her, only she's allowed to be late."
Willow was so hurt by the offshoot of the conversation. She and Xander used to share everything, they used to talk for hours about anything, they were always there for each other. It seemed like it was all falling apart somehow. "Xander..."
Xander shrugged his shoulders, "I'll see ya, Will."
The stunned redhead could do nothing but silently watch her best friend walk away.
****************************
TBC...
Edited by: Warduke at: 6/20/02 8:02:23 pm
by Pudds » Thu Jun 20, 2002 12:50 pm 
Hee... didn't take much for her to leave, did it? 
Should I have my drool tray ready when I read it? 
at: 6/20/02 4:34:59 pm
. oh im soooo glad this fic is back on. woo hoo!
I know I would