Yayyayyayyayyayyayyayyayyayyay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay.

This was one of the most wonderful revelations I've read on the board, Sally. As I read the timeline unfolding, I kept thinking, "Dammit, kids--THINK!" And then I realized, they were thinking. So many times, in delayed revelations, the two characters almost start to seem...deficient, you know? I really like the way you gave us a very cunning antagonist (and a cunning linguist as well, I'm sure) who could plausibly hold them back--for a while.

Your description of Tara's decision-making struggle was delightful, too--such a droll parallel process that you must have went through as you wrote this! I love that your own sense of drama, combined with Tara's realistic consideration of the perils involved in waiting, made for such a great scene. And Faith--absolutely busted, and absolutely unrepentant. If there were a thought bubble over her head, I'm guessing it would read, "Hey, you can't blame a girl for trying."

The secondary characters are such a great read, too. Buffy, struggling stay up on things; Angel, disparaging a vampire with a soul; and on they go. They make for a continuously enjoyable story, vs. serving only to forward the action until our girls are back on screen.

And now they've met...by virtue not just of the fact that they simply belong together, but b/c they're smart enough to have earned the chance. Kudos, Sally! Thanks so much fot this great story!

Mary

Sally,
Cue the trumpets blaring from the "Lord of the RIngs" soundtrack majestically and the Sunset Lounge bathed in a blinding heavenly radiance as good things indeed come to those who wait.
In a rare display of grace and cosmic symmetry, events unfolded in if not the intended way then in a circuitous route that accomplished the objective i.e, Willow and Tara being revealed to each other in a resolution of mistaken identity that William Shakespeare would have been proud of.
I think if there was to be a unifying theme song to the Ubercon, it should be "Whole Lot of Smut Goin' On" ala Jerry Lee Lewis.
Perhaps not the most appropriate role model as he married his 13- year old cousin but I digress...
Buffy learned a cardinal rule the hard way during the fan panel discussion of which came first the subtext or the actual jiggery-pokery between Xena and Gabrielle as those self-appointed guardians of continuity and minutiae will turn on you and rend the flesh from your bones like ravenous piranha if you name drop a spurious episode title.
The reflections of both stories Willow and Tara read at the Sunday Plenary between the scenarios depicted in the artifices and how they mirrored real-life and allowed the truth to be outed to Tara again mirrored the works of the Bard. i.e, this time in "Hamlet" by which the play within a play that the acting troupe performs which outs Claudius as the murderer of Hamlet's father.
In Ubercon, this literary device allows both Willow and Tara to discover that not only is the other person their Internet penpal and soul mate but that Faith played both of them against each other and should be reviled and have scorn heaped upon her.
Faith, unrepentent to the end, responds with a mere "want, take, tried to have" shrug.
This all leading up to one of the most perfect and ideal moments when Tara is standing in front of Willow and finally they meet .
Simplicity itself in its elegance and charm. "Hi." "Hi."
Is there another chapter or is this the end?

_________________
I can deny chicks in chainmail nothing.
Amberhol-from the land of sky blue waters.
No Mere Music Hall, This my novel available directly from rosestindog@gmail.com.

Proper replies to feedback when the next chapter is close to being posted, but I wanted to answer this question immediately:



There are at least two more chapters planned, plotted, and outlined. Sometimes in the writing they expand themselves, but I'm feeling pretty sure it will be two more.

After all, we need some , right? Unless you guys don't want to hear the kissing parts (like Fred Savage's character in The Princess Bride)...

_________________
Stocking Stuffers: Little Gifts from RKT

Finally!! The missed signals and craziness is ended. They know who each other are. Nice update! Now they can get to the snuggling.

_________________
LeatherQueen[br]
"People flock in, nevertheless, in search of answers to those questions only librarians are considered to be able to answer, such as 'Is this the laundry?', 'How do you spell surreptitious?' and, on a regular basis, 'Do you have a book I remember reading once? It had a red cover and it turned out they were twins.'" -- Terry Pratchett

Yay! They met! Bring on the smoochies! Well, not right away, some getting-to-know-you-(again) time seems in order, to sort out what happened with the planned meet, and reassure one another that they are indeed the people they thought they were... the more I think of it, the sweeter that sounds, reversing the crushed hopes earlier, Tara realising (after the disappointment of Faith-Willow) that Willow is the person she hoped for, and vice versa.

I've thought up a new punishment for Faith, seeing as she appears to think it's no big deal: Willow and Tara should head off to some nearby restaurant with big windows facing the street, and talk and laugh and sit real close to each other and whisper cute stuff and exchange shy glances and smile a lot... and Faith should happen to be walking by outside, and look in, and see the two of them together. And then it starts to rain, and she'll have to slouch off alone, with her skanky leather pants and look-at-me cleavage and lack of anyone to snuggle with, and dwell on the thought that, whatever tricks she tries to pull, whether they work or not, she'll never have that.

Then someone should insert a chakram in her, sideways, and yes, via an orifice. Hey, poetic justice is well and good, but mess with Willow/Tara smoochies and you do deserve prolonged and anatomically-improbable punishment.

Loved the Coming Back part - so lemme get this straight, we've got a Buffy uber setting in which Tara fights back against Faith, who's playing out the role of a Xena character (Callisto, in messing with Tara/'Gabrielle') to win the love of Willow by creating an uberfic based on another Buffy uberfic, with elements from the very fic they're in, plus stuff from another TV show entirely, and then uberWillow and uberTara lapse for a moment, as they meet, into their roles from the CB/Hourglass uberfic- (head explodes)

Okay, let's just call it awesome, and avoid further cranial detonations

PS: I like your version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer more. Though I admit, I was kind of mentally oscillating between Xena-slayer and Gabrielle-witch and the idea of Tara-slayer and Willow-witch

_________________
Chris Cook

Through the Looking-glass - Every world needs a Willow and Tara.

Hi folks - by hook or by crook I'll have the next update posted this weekend, I hope. Two more chapters to go, and my goal is to finish this story by Halloween. Wow, that's only six days from now. Let me revise that statement: my goal is to finish this story by Veterans Day.

[hr]

JustSkipIt



I must make a mental note to communicate to telecom companies that National Coming Out Day does not apply to DSL. Gawd, there’s nothing that peeves me more than the internet not working. My sympathies.

I actually have tried to explain to a few people who I’ve told that I’m writing fan fiction that this story is about characters who are themselves fanfic authors for a different show, and they give me pretty much the strange looks that you described.

You know, I think that one of the inspirations for this story was a Xena fanfic I read way back when, and I forget what it was titled, but here was the premise: Missy Good, who in real life is a fanfic writer who was so good the Xena producers asked her to write a couple of scripts for the show, wrote both canon fic and uber fic where the characters were named Dar (Xena) and Kerry (Gabrielle). This fic was much beloved by many, and Missy eventually published it via Justice House Publishing – it is called Tropical Storm and has some sequels.

So, some other uberfic writer wrote a story where Tropical Storm had been made into a movie and two actors had been cast to play Dar and Kerry, and they themselves were the Xena/Gabby characters. Missy Good had a fanfic cameo in the fanfic. The plot of the story was pretty much about the two women getting together despite some internalized homophobia and some other stuff (making of the movie and all). It was a good read.

Anyway, this is a long-winded way of saying thanks for saying that I did the layering well, and also to explain part of the inspiration for UberCon.

Faith’s quite the jerk, yes, and Tara was nothing if not persistent. I think she is the type to make a decision and sticks to it, even if it causes her some emotional discomfort along the way. I wanted her “I’m wiccanbard” moment in public to be sort of a contrast to how private/anonymous/guarded she was previously, to show her, whatever, degree of commitment both to the Willow/amazon_hacker relationship and also to her new, brave way of life.

Speaking of CB, Chris’ “easter egg” in chapter 12 on Looking-glass is also a LOL. Their hi’s are definitely only the beginning! I’d be mad at myself if it stopped there. Thanks Elvis!

[hr]

grimlock72



Maybe it was subconscious, or even halfway conscious.

I hear you about the complexity of the Xena/Hourglass situation. I wanted Tara to write a story that was set in some uber universe that had some basis in TV reality, and at first had written it out as a totally original fic. That just didn’t seem to ring true when I was writing it, and Hourglass just kind of came to me – I wish that show had gotten picked up because I think it would have been really cool.

Anyway, now that I give it more thought since Pens is populated by WT fans and probably only 50% Xena fans, it might have been better to set Tara’s fic in, say, a universe in Los Angeles where a group of people fight evil demons from a hotel, in a nod to Angel, because possibly more people would have seen Angel.

Now Grimmy, why do you think it’s wishful thinking? I think you have an uncanny ability to read my mind and to anticipate what I have planned for the next update (WT talking/smoochies, and Buffy/Anya plotting revenge).

I think that Tara was surprised by Willow and Faith talking, and if she had been given much longer to stew about it she might have worked herself up into a bit of a frenzy. But as it was, she didn’t have a ton of time to worry about it because Willow started reading right away and all the deception was blown to bits.

Angel’s comments about realism and scoffing, I think they were inspired by “Tabula Rasa” when everyone lost their memory and Giles said “Magic is all lies and chicanery” or whatever the exact quote is, scoffing about the magic shop and magic, when in reality it was his entire life.

Thank you for your consistent feedback and extremely good guesses for where this story is heading, Grimmy!

[hr]

justin

Just as long as Willow having faith in Faith is the only way she’s in Faith. Sorry, I could not resist that truly tasteless and juvenile joke. I feel better now.



I’m so glad you think so! You know, it gives me pause to think about the internet and anonymity. I know that people are varying degrees of anonymous on the internet, and in my lifetime I’ve usually been fairly open about who I am. Most of my handles on various bulletin boards and stuff have usually either been “Sally” or some variation thereof – the exception is my livejournal but I do say my name (“Sally”) in some of the posts sometimes so it’s not really anonymous.

Anyway, what gives me pause is a few things, mostly about my career and if people google me and what they find. I know there are some silly things I’ve written that are findable by Google, and I’m not sure if that would be a liability in a job or future academic situation.

Anyway, enough of me being self-absorbed - I was responding to your feedback.

I’ll have to give my wife credit for coining the “uber-uber-uber” phrase. You know, having Callisto show up at the tree in Tara’s story would have been brilliant! I wish I had thought of that. I could have had her banished appropriately, or perhaps an Acme safe could have fallen on her head.

I’m glad you liked Willow’s story – someone said they had thought Joxer would be the Xander character, but for these purposes I preferred him as a vampire with a soul. Heh.

Yep, lots of smoochies in the next update, I promise. I’ve held out long enough. Making Anya’s handout was fun – I wanted to have it in an earlier update but I forgot. Absent-minded, that’s me. And about the “Hi.” “Hi.” – not only does that rip off Coming Back, but it also rips off Tara’s story! Heh. I mean, “is inspired by.”

[hr]

WillowRulez

I’m so glad you liked the update! I’m glad it made your day (really, it did? Wow!). Thanks for continuing to read!

[hr]

YMKA

I’m so glad to hear that it was worth the wait. I was worried as I kept writing more and more chapters where they didn’t meet that it was getting a little ridiculous, but I’m very glad to hear that you think it was worth it. Yep, gay love is coming in the very next update.

[hr]

the hero factor



Heh – would anyone actually wear that combination of colors? What am I saying – of course they would, if they were Willow and Tara (although in this story I envision them as slightly toned down from how they usually appeared in canon).



Yes, she does watch the show, but I think the combination of having been caught napping, having been interrupted in her conversation with Willow, and that she doesn’t spend a lot of time wondering when they started doing it may have contributed to it. It’s also possible that she was yanking the person’s chain to try to divert attention from her and Willow’s side conversation.



Yes, funny, isn’t it?

[hr]

noho



Tee hee, you are the second person to quote that particular line! It’s funny because it wasn’t in the first or second draft; I just added it on a whim as I was checking for typos before I posted. I’m glad you’re enjoying the story – and the night is young indeed! I think if I ended the story here I’d never forgive myself.

[hr]

watson



Ooh, thank you for saying that! This chapter was initially a challenge because I couldn’t quite figure out how to demonstrate the building tension and frustration on both of their parts. And like Mary says down below (tee hee, I said “down below,”) I didn’t want to make it seem like they were deficient. And it seemed like too big a coincidence or too contrived to either have them to just arbitrarily not run into each other with a good reason (i.e. Willow thinking that she was supposed to be looking for someone else), or to have Willow stay in her room all day, depressed. So the whole Faith telling Willow she “just saw” wiccanbard and then adding in the times of the day to demonstrate how closely they kept missing each other kinda came to me. I’ve heard 24 is good; it’s in the Netflix queue. I think I can chalk it up to ripping it off in advance.



No kidding, Willow’s usually pretty astute. I chalk that one up to her really really wanting to believe that the dream was still alive and that she hadn’t wasted three months of her life chatting online with someone – and as you say, she thought she could PM wiccanbard again to work it out. And even though Faith is obviously a lying liar, the whole “Tara is my girlfriend and we’re fighting” thing, combined with her not wanting to let go, may have been enough to throw her off the track.

I think it was easier for Tara to let go of the dream because she thought that Faith was amazon_hacker, but Willow didn’t know what the heck was going on. And Buffy is not usually the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I think she was more objective about the whole situation. Of course, what tipped her off was the description of what “wiccanbard” was supposed to be wearing, and how implausible it sounded, so let’s not award her the Nobel Prize just yet, unless it’s the Nobel Prize for Avoiding Fashion Don’ts.



You are twisted, watty.



Clearly not TOO much, even though you’ve never seen it, because you have used the whoosh sound!



Yay, bonus points! As to who came up with Lefty and Guido for breasts, I will leave it up to the author of Lefty and Guido to identify themselves. But cooking with your juices is an allusion from a Xena episode where Gabrielle gets mad at Xena because Xena uses their only skillet to beat up some warriors, thereby ruining it, and Xena’s defense is “I like a challenge – it gets my creative juices flowing.” And Gabby says “Can we COOK with your JUICES?” Teehee.

I’m proud that you associate with me, watty, even though I wear the same navy capri sweat pants day in and day out. There’s definitely kisses upcoming, and gay love.



Of course you did, dear.

[hr]

AntigoneUnbound

Hey Mary, it tickles me pink to hear you say it was a wonderful revelation and that they didn’t seem deficient. That was one of my fears while writing this, because three days is a long time to perpetuate a misunderstanding. I have to give all credit to my beta, however, who did not let me get lazy with that stuff. In every draft she would mark where she thought it made Tara look too stupid or gullible, and the same thing for Willow.

Some of the earlier drafts of the chapters are somewhat hilarious, because I think what happened was, I was getting lazy sometimes and just wrote something implausible or something that made them all look stupid as buffalos. And if I didn’t fix it in the second (or third) drafts my beta did not let it lie, and spoke up.

Heh, I think that I did go through a very similar process when deciding how Tara would reveal herself to Willow (heh, I said “reveal herself”). One of the things I had in my mind from the beginning of writing this story was to hopefully show Tara a little bit changed by coming out of the anonymity closet in public, so this whole “That’s my story, and I’m wiccanbard” was something I had planned from the beginning.



No shame, that girl!



Yay, I’m glad to hear that too, and thank you for saying it. While of course the action is all about W+T, I wanted to hopefully have other characters who were real people too, rather than cardboard cutouts. Thank you Mary!

[hr]

taralicious



Just like a Heinz Ketchup commercial!



I wonder if he wrote fan fiction? Or if other people wrote fanfic stories about his plays? Of course, some people think that his works are all fan fiction since they claim someone else wrote them, but I like to give the immortal “Barge of Avon”, as Dave Barry calls him, a little more credit than that.



I love this phrase!



Jeez, Xander rips off the Princess Bride and Tara rips off Shakespeare! I guess I shouldn’t complain, since I’m ripping off: Xena, Buffy, Xena fanfics, Buffy fanfics, the Princess Bride, Hamlet, a Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hourglass, and probably a few more books, movies, or TV shows.



Yes, she is a scalawag and a scoundrel. Maybe someone can talk some sense into her. I’ll put my money on either Anya or Buffy.

[hr]

LeatherQueen

Thanks! Yes, no more mixed signals – all the signals from hereon out will be un-mixed. And definitely on to the snuggling. I figure I owe the readers about 2,000 words minimum of snuggles. Glad you’re still reading!

[hr]

Artemis



Yeah, definitely some “getting-to-know-you-in-real-life” time is definitely in order. Then some serious smoochies! And some not-so-serious smooches.



Interesting! Although I have some else planned and the mechanics of it are somewhat different, the intent and the outcome is probably going to be the same. That probably sounds kind of vague, but no spoilers! Anyway, I likely won’t post these replies till right before the next update anyway.

My head almost exploded writing the Hourglass/Coming Back part of it; it was a lot to keep straight in my head.



Yeah, I think both could have played either equally well. My images of Tara-slayer are forever wrapped up in the universe that Cam created in the Dopeygayland universe, and I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to resist ripping off, I mean “being inspired by” an olivewood Gaia statue, and then Tara would have been shocked at the use of such an artifact for such a purpose in a fanfic and might have questioned Willow’s identity (“Aren’t you that gabbywhipped author???”) and we would have been sent into another round of mistaken identity. HEE!

_________________
Stocking Stuffers: Little Gifts from RKT

Sally

Sorry I've not made fb lately I've been busy, but not so much that I haven't been able to keep up with all my favourite fics, I just haven't done fb.

Such a relief to see W&T finally sort out the puzzle and find each other. Typical Faith to try and brazen it out - the average manipulator would've left to avoid recriminations. Did I see you hint at payback by Buffy and Anya? Given Anya's imagination that would be something very 'inventive', and a nice reference to her vengeance demon parallel.

Enjoyed Anya's handout, although I realised when reading through the fb that I'd missed various references. Same with the story ... I admire the fact that this fic is enjoyable at the superficial level (i.e. without knowledge of BtVS and/ or Xena, ff boards, chat etc...) because your presentation fleshes out the characters and sufficiently identifies the setting or circumstances, and yet with aforesaid knowledge becomes even more enjoyable. (Provided you have the wit to catch them - my lazy brain doesn't always. It's been told to get itself up off the couch and get in shape, or access to Kitten fics will be severely restricted. It rushed off straight away to work out a suitable exercise program, but then got caught in an endless loop when the possibility of personal trainers was raised. I may have to attempt a hot re-start. )

This fic is so layered: it's like an onion, a multi-dimensional onion where each layer has many possible layers. Tell me, do you use Willow-style different coloured pens notes, or some AI hyper-linked database reference system to keep your fic organised?

Looking forward to seeing what our girls do now they know who they are ..
oh, you know what I mean.

Anne

_________________
Spells for Two

Every path has its puddle. Old English Saying... I think I just stepped in mine...

spells42

Anne, don't give it a second thought about fb - leave it when you have time, and if you don't have time, then just know that I'm glad to know that you're reading! Honestly, it's no fun if you read fic and then feel guilty about not leaving fb - there's no worries here. (But thanks for leaving feedback, hee!)

I can't get over Faith's chutzpah in staying in the room and shrugging - but it just didn't seem like her to slink out of the room to avoid a showdown. She's a special girl, that's for sure.

Of course, now she does have Anya to contend with. And Buffy. Those gals are protective of their friends.

I also have missed some of Anya's handout references, because I gathered some of them from other people (asking them to contribute items or ideas). For example, I haven't (yet!) read the fic where "making sandwiches" is code for doing it.

Anyway, I don't use any different colored pens to keep track of it all, but I should - I actually sort of wrote myself into a corner when I forgot a plot point I had wanted to make and had Willow and Faith meeting each other at the dance. I am pretty happy with how their interaction turned out, but I panicked at first when I realized that one of the devices I was going to use in the mistaken identity parade had now been defused. Oh well!

Thanks for keeping up with the story!

_________________
Stocking Stuffers: Little Gifts from RKT

Hey folks - thanks to everyone who has been reading! This is the second-last chapter, or the penultimate, which is one of my favorite words of all time.

Title: UberCon '05

Part: 13

Author: SallyMcFine

Feedback: Feed it on back.

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters and am not profiting from this story. No copyright infringement is intended.

Setting: AU. No magic, no vampires or slayers. Everyone is attending a three-day convention, UberCon '05 for their favorite TV show Xena: Warrior Princess. The convention takes place in a hotel about 2 hours away from Sunnydale. Today is Sunday, the third and last day of the con.

[hr]

Part 13 - Just Desserts

Willow stared at Tara, her mind still putting all the pieces into place as she processed this new information. The seconds ticked by, and Willow gradually realized that she was staring, while Tara continued to smile at her tentatively.

Say something!

"Hi."

Something else!

"Um, hi, again. I mean..." Willow trailed off as she stood up from the couch.

Tara smiled. "I guess we haven't talked face to face very much, but based on our chats I'd say that this is a pretty rare occurrence."

Willow's mind whirled. "Finding out that the girl I hoped would be the girl I like is actually the girl I like instead of being the girlfriend of someone who was apparently lying to both of us is a rare occurrence?"

Tara frowned in concentration as she worked that out. "Well, I'd guess that's a rare occurrence too. But I meant your being speechless."

Willow smiled. "Oh, you're right. It is pretty rare - but it already seems to have passed. Um, hi. Wait, I've already said that three times. Four, now, so you probably feel properly greeted. I'm Willow, which you already know because we've met, and you're Tara - wiccanbard. I'm amazon_hacker, which I guess you already know - but how did you know that?"

Instead of answering her question, Tara smiled. "You're pretty much exactly like I imagined you would be."

Willow absorbed these words, and her eyes softened as her gaze roamed over Tara's face, stopping when her eyes locked with Tara's and she found answering tenderness there.

"Um, what?" she finally said, as a blush crept up her neck and settled in her cheeks.

Willow was both saved from and subjected to further embarrassment as Anya and Xander, who had been furtively whispering with Buffy and Angel across the room, chose that moment to join the girls.

"So, Tara, it looks like the redhead you've had your eye on all weekend is your internet paramour after all!" Anya chortled, much to Tara's chagrin.

"I'd introduce you, but I know you two have already met," Tara said, trying to ignore Anya's statement.

Anya was having none of it. "Didn't I tell you that there was no way that Faith girl was amazon_hacker? Thank god you didn't do it with her."

Tara bristled at the mention of Faith - as did Willow, once she turned her attention from Anya's comment about Tara not "doing it" with Faith - did they get that far?

"Where is she, anyway?" Willow asked. "I want to give her a piece of my mind."

Xander held up a restraining hand. "You just leave that to us."

"What do you mean?"

Anya jumped in. "What Xander means to say is, he, Buffy, and I just had a tete a tete, and we decided that you girls have had a rough time this weekend, what with the mistaken identity and all. We feel compelled to make sure that someone takes vengeance on Faith, but you two shouldn't have to worry about that."

"Where is Buffy?" Willow asked. "I want to introduce Tara to her."

Xander looked furtively across the room. "She's over there, but don't talk to her right now, or you'll blow her cover. She can meet Tara later."

Willow gave him a confused look, but acquiesced and turned her attention back to Anya, who was continuing.

"Anyway, so we decided that you two need some time to get to know each other after all the hijinks, so we're making a few changes in the room assignments for tonight. You two will stay in our room, I'm going to stay with Xander, and Buffy," Anya lowered her voice as she said the name, "is going to stay in Angel's room tonight."

Tara blushed to the roots of her hair. "That's, um, really thoughtful of you guys and all, but, um, don't you think that we should at least ask Willow..."

"Sounds great!" Willow interjected, fearing that Tara was going to decline the offer outright.

Tara shot a shy smile at Willow. "You mean?"

"I mean."

"And you don't even have to have sex," Anya said.

"Anya!"

"Not that any of us would judge you if you did, glass houses and all. But that reminds me, Tara, if you do, then you could wear..."

"ANYA! Thank you," Tara interrupted. "I think we're good."

Xander smothered a smile with his hand as Willow grinned.

"So you two just run along!" Anya finished.

"Thank you, guys," Willow said, giving first Xander and then Anya a hug, followed by Tara.

"I'll just go get my things," Tara said. Willow nodded and went to gather up her own papers and bag.

A hint of mirth played around the corners of Anya's lips.

"Do you think that broke the ice enough for them?" she asked Xander.

"I think the ice was pulverized," he replied.

She grinned. "Speaking of pulverizing things, I'm going to go have a word with Faith. Be right back."

Anya crossed the room to where Faith was lounging near the door, casually ogling some of the girls. She crossed her arms as she reached the brunette, stopping when she was just inside the girl's personal space and impossible to ignore.

Faith looked up.

"Yeah?"

"My name is Anya, and I'm Tara's best friend. No, don't even say anything," Anya held up her hand as Faith began to speak. "This won't take long.

"I just came over here to tell you that what you did was probably the lowest, meanest, most low-down thing I've ever heard of. And I don't even care why you did it, so don't bother trying to explain. Just look at them." Anya gestured toward Willow and Tara, who were shyly holding hands as they bid Xander another goodnight.

"It's almost like they were meant for each other. And you can tell from just looking that they really like each other. Look at how excited they are.

"You got in the way of that. What kind of person are you that you had to pretend to be someone else? What's missing from your life that you had to horn in on somebody else's?"

Anya's eyes bored into Faith's as she saw her point sink in. The dark girl seemed about to say something, but decided against it.

"They're going to walk out of this room soon, and you'd better not still be here when they do. I think they've had enough of you this weekend. Capisce?"

Without a word, Faith stood up, holding her leather jacket over her shoulder. She sneered at Anya, then turned and left the Sunset Lounge.

"Good riddance," Anya said as she turned to rejoin Xander.

"What were you talking to Faith about?" Willow inquired.

"Oh, just convincing her she'd rather not be where she was right now," Anya said with a wave of her hand.

Tara smiled gratefully at her roommate and gave her a final hug.

"Thanks," she whispered in Anya's ear. "Are you going to want to pick up your toothbrush or anything?"

"No," Anya whispered back. "I don't mind using Xander's. And don't forget that blue underwear!"

Tara laughed as she released her friend.

"Okay, goodnight you two," Anya said. "Shoo!"

Willow gave Tara a sidelong glance as they began to walk away. "So you've had your eye on me all weekend?"

Xander looked fondly at the couple as they left the room.

"So is Operation Con the Conner underway?" he asked.

"Should be," Anya replied.

[hr]

Faith strode off down the hallway, fuming. Who was that blonde stick to tell her anything about who she was? She had half a mind to turn around and let her have it. She was on the verge of going back when she walked by a darkened side hallway that led to the meeting rooms. It was empty and deserted at this time of night - except for a blonde girl leaning back against the wall with her shirt open one button lower than good taste would dictate.

She was giving Faith a smoky look.

"What are you looking at?" Faith snapped.

The girl's eyes roamed over Faith's body, lingering on the curve of her hips and breasts before coming to rest on her face.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" Faith retorted, her tone softening somewhat. Maybe tonight didn't have to be a total bust.

The blonde pushed off from the wall and sauntered over to Faith. Again, she gave Faith a thorough up-and-down look.

"Maybe something."

Faith grinned. "Like what you see?"

The girl considered this question carefully before answering.

"Hard to say."

"Why's that?"

A pink tongue emerged from the blonde's lips and wetted them before she replied.

"Too many clothes."

Faith felt her annoyance at Anya fade away as it was replaced with bravado and a resurgence of her confidence.

"Maybe we should do something about that," the blonde girl said.

"Maybe we should," Faith replied. She reached for the girl's waist, but the girl took a step back.

"Uh-uh," she said. "Don't get grabby." She reached into her pocket and produced a key card, which she handed to Faith.

Faith looked at the piece of plastic. "This come with a room number?"

The blonde smiled a sultry smile. "429," she said. "Why don't you join me in, say, 20 minutes after I've had a chance to freshen up and slip into something a little more...comfortable."

Faith raised an eyebrow. "All right. Maybe I'll pick up some party favors."

The blonde nodded. "Sounds nice. Don't be late."

"What's your name?" Faith called to the retreating figure.

Buffy turned around. "It's Anne," she said.

"Get ready for me to rock your world, Anne," Faith replied.

[hr]

"So she tried to undo the tie on my shirt, and that was really just it for me. I told her off, and left the dance. So no, there was definitely no 'doing it.'"

"I should have known something was up when she was so rude to me when you and I were talking. Or hello! I should have known when she told me that the real wiccanbard was wearing a pink fuzzy sweater with an orange and purple plaid skirt."

"You believed that somebody would actually wear that? I mean, if they weren't colorblind?"

Willow grinned. "Well, I wanted to reserve judgment. The clothes don't matter as much as the person who's inside them."

Tara laughed. "But that color combination! My head hurts just thinking about it." She shook her head as she unlocked the door of her hotel room, and the door swung inward. She flipped on the light switch and entered. Willow followed, clutching the small bag that held her toiletries and pajamas.

The door swung closed behind them with a clunk and a snick as the latch engaged.

Tara cleared her throat as she gathered up some of the clothes that were lying on the bed and put them on top of her suitcase. She felt unaccountably shy now that she and Willow were alone, though they had talked easily - mostly about Faith's methods of deceiving them both - while they had picked up Willow's things from her room.

"Your room smells better than ours," Willow commented. "Ours had that musty hotel-room smell."

"I brought a candle," Tara said. "I usually bring one when I go to h-hotels."

Willow crossed the room to where the candle sat on the table and leaned over.

"Mmmmm," she said. "It smells nice."

Tara gazed at Willow as the girl looked around the room, taking in the marvel of the redhead actually being here, in her room, after the events of the weekend. She started suddenly out of her reverie.

"Oh!" she said. "Let me take your bag."

Willow handed her bag to Tara, who set it on the bed.

I put it on my bed. Willow doesn't know that it's my bed, though. Will she want to sleep in the bed with me? Do I want her to? How do I find out? Tara's forehead creased in worry.

Willow noticed her distress, and although she didn't fathom the exact cause, she was perceptive enough to figure out the general source.

"Hey," she said. Tara's eyes found hers, and her forehead smoothed.

"This is kind of unfamiliar territory for both of us, I think," Willow continued. "And with everything that happened this weekend we're probably both feeling a little off-balancey. Right?"

Tara nodded.

"Our friends were sweet to arrange things so we can stay together tonight, but I'm guessing that neither of us is really in the habit of, um, spending the night with people we've only just sort of met. So maybe it's best to start off just by saying that I don't have any expectations."

"Me either," Tara replied. She nerved herself and added softly, "I do have hopes, though."

Willow's eyes lit up and a smile spread across her face at these words.

"Me too."

Tara felt a thrill steal through her body as she watched Willow's bright smile.

I'd like to spend the rest of my life making her smile like that.

She felt transfixed as she ran her gaze over the contours of Willow's lips, and her own eyes sought Willow's green ones. She saw affection and tenderness there, as well as a bit of her own nervousness reflected at her. So fixed was her attention that she was unconscious was the movement of her feet, and she found herself approaching Willow.

Heart hammering in her chest, she reached for Willow's hands. The girl's hands were smooth and warm in her own cooler ones. Willing the slight tremor of her nervousness to subside, she held Willow's hands and regarded their entwined fingers.

"Gonna tell my fortune?" Willow asked, a little shakily.

Tara smiled a half-smile, and grasped Willow's right hand, turning it gently so the palm faced up. She traced the lines on the redhead's palm with her index finger, caressing the topmost line from under the little finger to where it petered out under the middle finger.

"Well, this is the head line, which has to do with intelligence and according to your palm, you're, um..."

"What?" Willow asked, curious at Tara's hesitation.

"Not very bright," she finished. She flashed Willow a grin. "I'm not an expert at reading palms, though."

Willow grinned. "What do the other lines mean?"

Tara traced the path of another line that cut a diagonal swath through Willow's palm. "This is your life line, and it says...oh dear..."

"What?"

Tara looked up at Willow in mock sadness. "It's a wonder you're still alive," she said.

"I'll schedule an appointment with my doctor when I get home," Willow said.

"Yes, that would probably be a very good idea," Tara said. She cupped Willow's hand in her left hand, trailing her fingertips back and forth across Willow's wrist. "I'd hate for anything to happen to you."

Willow shivered as Tara's fingers strayed further up her arm for a moment, and then returned back to her palm.

"Now this is your heart line, and it tells you about your love life," Tara said, running her fingertip along the crease that began underneath the knuckle of Willow's index finger.

"What does it say?"

Tara gazed at the line, and cleared her throat. "Um, it says that you're going to be pretty unlucky in love, actually."

Willow's eyebrows rose in disbelief.

"I've never seen a love line that short," Tara said apologetically.

"So according to my hands, I'm a dumb, lonely person who's going to die young?"

Tara bit her lip through a smile. "If you believe in that sort of thing."

Willow raised her hand to Tara's face, cupping her cheek in her hand and softly running her thumb over her cheekbone. Tara inhaled sharply as Willow's hand made contact with her face, closed her eyes, and leaned into the touch.

"Do you believe in palmistry?" Willow asked softly.

Tara opened her eyes halfway.

"No," she replied. Willow's hand stilled its motion as Tara opened her eyes fully.

Tara raised her hands to Willow's face and cupped the redhead's cheeks in an answering caress.

"I think that you're a smart person who is going to live a long life," she said.

Willow felt her eyes wanting to close as Tara ran her fingers along her cheekbones, around her ears, and traced a path down her neck, and back up to her face.

"And what about love?" she asked.

"At the risk of sounding, um, like I have an overly high opinion of myself," Tara began, "I think you're going to be very lucky in love."

Tara dropped her hands from Willow's face and took a breath. She gazed deeply into Willow's expressive eyes, which seemed to simultaneously hold amusement, trust, and desire. She moved closer to Willow's face, inexorably, until the barest millimeters separated their lips. She closed her eyes, as did Willow. And then, with the lightest feather-brushing of lips, they kissed.

Willow felt a thrill steal through her body as their lips met. A tiny part of her couldn't believe this was happening, while the rest of her brain was uncharacteristically silent as it focused solely on the electrifying touch of Tara's lips on her own.

The kiss was gentle and tentative at first. Then, almost as one, both girls began to deepen the kiss, adjusting their lips to each others' so Willow's bottom lip fit snugly in between Tara's.

Willow's hands stole around Tara's waist, and she felt an answering embrace from the blonde.

They broke the kiss, both breathing more heavily than before. Neither girl moved to break their embrace, however. Tara leaned forward and rested her forehead against Willow's.

"Wow," she said.

"I definitely echo that sentiment," Willow said.

"I didn't plan that," Tara said.

"So the seductive palm reading was really an attempt to tell me my fortune, and not a ruse?" Willow teased gently.

Tara smiled. "Well, it wasn't an attempt to tell your fortune. It was a nice excuse to hold your hand."

Willow closed her eyes. "I liked that."

"Me too."

Willow opened her eyes. "I feel so conflicted."

"How?"

"Well, on the one hand all I really want to do right now is kiss you again, and feel these amazing feelings. But on the other hand, I want to stay up late and talk all night and get to know you, because we haven't had much time this weekend, what with all the mistaken identities and all."

"I know how you feel," Tara responded. "Especially because tomorrow..." she trailed off as a thought struck her.

Willow pulled back and looked at her. "Tomorrow?"

"I just remembered a question I wanted to ask you. Your story about the vampires - which was great, by the way - why did you set it in Sunnydale?"

Willow quirked an eyebrow. "Well, because I live there."

Tara's eyebrows shot up. "You live in Sunnydale?"

"Yes," Willow said. "How come? Oh my gosh, do you live there too?"

"No," Tara responded. Willow's face fell. "Near there!" she quickly amended. "About 20 minutes away."

Willow's eyes widened. "Wow." She seemed speechless, and stared at Tara.

Tara threw her arms around Willow in a fierce hug.

Willow returned the hug with equal fervor. "I don't feel conflicted anymore."

Tara didn't let her go. "How come?"

Willow brushed Tara's cheek with hers. "I was feeling conflicted because I thought tomorrow that we were probably going to drive home away from each other, and be far apart and have to have a long-distance relat- um, correspondence, and now I know that we're going to be able to spend time together and get to know each other, and well, that's great."

Tara grinned into Willow's neck.

"So you were conflicted before about kissing all night, or talking all night. Which one do you want to do?" she asked casually.

Willow pulled back and gazed into Tara's eyes before replying "Definitely more kisses."

Tara covered Willow's lips with her own with a passion that belied her casual tone.

[hr]

Faith strutted down the hall to room 429, clutching a bottle of wine by the neck in one hand. As she arrived, she whistled appreciatively.

"Corner room. Nice."

She reached into her pocket for the piece of plastic Anne had given her. She inserted and removed it from the door lock with a flourish, and grinned wickedly as the green light came on. She pushed the door open.

The room was dark, lit dimly only by a table lamp that cast a weak pool of light onto the table. The sole object on the table was an ice bucket.

Faith advanced into the room, looking around in the dim light. The room was empty.

"Huh. Maybe she went to get some party favors too," Faith muttered.

She reached for the light switch, liking the mood lighting but not wanting to wait for Anne in the dark. As she snapped on the overhead light, the room lit up, almost painfully bright.

It appeared to be empty - there were no signs of anyone staying in the room. The beds were snugly made, and there was no suitcase in sight, nor any visible signs of an occupant. No books, toiletries, glasses of water were visible. Even the remote control was neatly positioned on top of the television.

Faith frowned. Something didn't seem right. As she looked more carefully around the room, she noticed some details she had missed in the dark. The ice bucket was filled to the brim with ice, and a piece of paper was taped to it.

With a flick of her wrist she snapped the paper off the ice bucket and read it.

[blockquote] Dear Faith,

Guess what? You've been conned. Doesn't feel too good, does it?

I don't want you to leave empty-handed, though. Here's some ice - I think you probably need to cool off.

--"Anne" [/blockquote]

Faith growled in frustration and crumpled up the note. She flipped the plastic key card across the room.

She reached for the ice bucket, intending to upend its contents all over the room - she didn't know if "Anne" would be back or if the room was truly unoccupied, but she wanted seek some release for the frustration she was feeling.

As she gripped the handle on the ice bucket, though, she stilled her hand. Anya's words echoed in her mind.

What kind of person are you that you need to pretend to be someone else? What's missing from your life that you had to horn in on somebody else's?

Faith shook her head, trying to forget the words, but they persisted, replaying themselves over and over again in her head.

"Losers," she said. The words rang hollow in her ears. She stalked out of the room, Anya's words stubbornly accompanying her no matter how fast she walked down the hallway.

_________________
Stocking Stuffers: Little Gifts from RKT

DIBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, Sally, I do love me some smart characters (and, by extension, authors). The set-up with Faith was priceless. So confident, so sure...and so busted. Am I hallucinating (always a possibility) or is Faith perhaps going to actually think about her life? Those last couple of paragraphs made me wonder.

I love how Anya et. al are so protective of our girls, how thoroughly they have their backs. I just had to crack up, too, at Willow's very eager acceptance of Anya's offer, fearing as she did that Tara would decline that offer. I've been in that position, where my date was being very proper and demur and I was saying, "What, are you crazy? Let's go!"

This paragraph was wonderful: That's one of the loveliest of all struggles, isn't it? Wanting to be able to do everything at once! Oh, yeah...

I am so enjoying this story, Sally. And get this: today was "Xenaween" on the Oxygen channel. Heh...

Thanks for this,
Mary

Sally,
Penultimate is a fun word, isn't it?
Anya to the rescue-woo-hoo. She not only arranges for Willow and Tara to have their own room for the evening to salvage the remaining few hours of the post-con experience but she opens a can of verbal whup-ass on Faith and echoes all of our feelings so we feel vicariously like we've bitchslapped Faith.
After shivering in antici....pation for what seems like an eternity, We finally get our Willow/Tara together time and it is just Elysian in its unfolding.
They are the Willow and Tara we all know and love and to see them take those first shy tentative steps towards their union of their essences exhibiting the character traits which endear them so much to us is just time for happy tears.
I love that Willow wasn't speechless for long and that Willow babble was the first sentence she uttered after processing that Tara was indeed Wiccanbard.
And what a support structure they both have; way to con Faith in a manner that even the great Henry Gondorff would have been proud of.
I await with glee the finale of UberCon '05.

_________________
I can deny chicks in chainmail nothing.
Amberhol-from the land of sky blue waters.
No Mere Music Hall, This my novel available directly from rosestindog@gmail.com.

Personally I don't like the word penultimate. Because penultimate is followed by ultimate and that's followed by no more story

There were plenty of bits which had me

I liked Xander and Anya acting to break the ice between Willow and Tara, otherwise they might have spent the night saying "hi" to each other



That was a great line. Yay, Anya the vengeance demon



This is a very good point. I mean Faith has, to quote AntigoneUnbound, a great rack. So what's so wrong with her personality that she needs to pretend to be someone else in order to get a date? (I guess the obvious answer is that she's the sort of person who would consider pretending to be someone else in order to get a date)


I loved the reading of Willow's palm and the fact it predicts Willow will be stupid (resists urge to make comment about the events of the weekend backing that up, because that would just be mean), die young and be unlucky in love. Though it's a pretty good way get to hold someone's hand.

Maybe Tara should have followed that up by suggesting a bit of nipple reading?

It's good they live so close to each other. Since a night of is always better than talking. Anyway as Cher said, "If you want to know if she loves you so, it's in her kiss"

Looking forward to the final part

_________________
02/28/2007

hiya ms. sally the finest mcfine

yey an update! you really made my day! you don't know how happy i was to see your name in the update thread

oh my gosh! i've always imagined how they would get back at faith for all the trouble she caused our girls (in my mind, it always involved arse kicking ), but the way you did it was way more fun than mine (i guess that's why you're the writer ) excellent job on that! not only did "anne" make a point, but now, i think anya's words are finally sinking in and making her question her actions of late.



such powerful words that will defnitely keep faith company for a while.

i really love how the gang stood up for willow and tara... they took care of everything since they saw first hand how rough a time the two really had with the whole mess with faith... Operation Con the Conner was absolutely ingenious!



can i have anya as my best friend too? err, i mean minus the embarassing comments (but i guess that wouldn't be anya would it now? ) speaking of which, she just had me in stitches with the sex and blue underwear thing... and she just had to ask hehe:


the willow and tara alone-at-last scene was just perfect! complete with lots of



yey! i finally got my smoochies!

willow is in conflict between more or talking with tara (and definitely more kisses would be my choice too ) ... sigh! i wish i could be in willow's shoes! oh the dilemma indeedy! the closest i had with that kind of conflict is between chocoloate or double dutch ice cream!

i was in apprehension because the end of the convention is near and i have no idea how their blossoming relationship would continue, but with tara living some 20 minutes away from willow... i just had to heave a big sigh of relief! yey!

and i just love this line from tara:


a willow/tara future everyone is rooting for!

as much as i'm looking forward to the last chapter, i can't help but feel sad that this story is coming to an end, but this story is definitely one i will revisit time and time again... thank you for this wonderful story and i will look forward to more of your works!


ces

*looks up* Hey ceci, you're doing really well with feedback! See? It's real easy once you get to the swing of things.

Now then, Sallycapripants, penultimate is good. Ultimate is, well, it's the end, which is guaranteed to be happy, so I can live with it. You know what my favorite word is? Sequel. Understand? And to quote the very precocious Cyd, I am watty-boss.

This is a super sweet chapter, with the meeting and talking and the kissing. It gives me hope and a nice tingly feeling -- get so close to someone, know a lot about them, talk a hell of a lot about common interests, and there's very little awkwardness when they finally meet face to face because feelings have developed and even though obstacles get in the way there's no stopping fate. Or, in Willow's words


The Scoobies are my new friends! Anya and Xander and Buffy and Angel, they rock. Setting the lovebirds up, giving them privacy to connect.

never seen pulverized ice but this is one occasion for it.

As for Faith, I think she got off lightly. I truly expected the Scoobies to do more harm to her. A verbal bollocking from Anya probably won't faze her that much, she's so self-centered that she'll shrug it off in due course. Buffy's con was better, but like Mary I wonder about the long term effects of her lesson. Still, she knew that her plan didn't work and she has made enemies, I doubt we'll see her (admittedly very droolworthy) mug and rack at future cons.

Lovebirds. Hmmm. *swoon* reading palms as foreplay? Any other couple and it'll be corny, but with them, it's simply adorable. Kiss or talk? Duh, Willow, you have to ask? rulz!

One chapter left. Well, you're not doing the insane nano thing, so you have time to write it quick. Quick, alright? I'll even forgive you for not writing smut cos it's your first fic.
[br]

_________________
quiet thoughts

Sally,
How awesome. I agree that once the two girls found out each other's identity, they didn't have a whole lot to do. It was very sweet of the Scoobies to take care of the room arrangements for the night as well as taking care of Faith. Anya did a pretty good job telling Faith off but I kind of expeced more of Buffy. Honestly, I was picturing something like the Friends episode that Julia Roberts was on. You know, she left Chandler in the women's restroom wearing nothing but her panties? Now that's good revenge. Of course, I guess to get Faith undressed, Buffy would have had to do a bunch of stuff she didn't want. Oh well.

W/T are so sweet with the bad palmreading and kissing all night. Awwwww.

_________________
Menorah Tales | Working It Out | Random Bits

hi

I just read this fic in one wonderful sitting (the joys of exam-time procrastination), and I adored it. So sweet, so funny, and all the Xena in-jokes were enough to make my inner geek do flip-flops. Plus, Xena the vampire slayer? *snort* Great stuff! All the little details, like the chat excerpts and the itineraries, make for a fic that's a real tribute to the whole experience of belonging to a fandom.

A very nifty russian-doll effect with the stories within stories (I know there's a literary term for it, but it's eluding me). The way it starts with a fic and then segues into the real story is a nice trick, and was what grabbed my attention in the first place. I also liked that W/T don't segue into exaggerated chat lingo during their sessions. The full sentences seemed more true to character

I was pretty close to shouting at the screen with the whole Faith debacle. You also made me loathe the woman with a passion, which is tricky to do as I usually sit pretty firmly in the pro-Faith camp. All her wickedest elements were used to great effect. Want, take, have indeed. The scene where she's leaning closer to Tara and Tara's pulling more and more away as Willow looks on during the second fic reading made my skin crawl, and the take-down in the last update was priceless! Three cheers for good friends with evil streaks!

Plus, smoochies! You managed to make their first kiss completely without awkwardness. The segue from the palm-reading (willowhand!) was lovely, and I could almost feel the air charge during the exchange.

Very much looking forward to the final installment.

mo.

Heh... maybe there are really now Vengance demons in this universe, but Anya sure takes payback seriously when someone messes with her friends Good thing too, as Tara might have well let it slide.. she's too nice sometimes. Yeah, leave the revenge to Anya and Buffy alright.

Faith might remember Anya's words, but she doesn't want to hear them. Maybe she'll change with old age or something .

Willow's babling was sweet, as was the moment they discovered they lived fairly close to one another. Even though Anya annouced the new room-schedule with little tact, she has a good heart and best of intentions. I like her "I think the ice was pulverized," remark too .

Grimmy

_________________
"You hurt Tara," Willow said too calmly. "The last one who tried that was a god. I made her regret it."
-- Unexpected Consequences by Lisa of Nine

Anya, Xander, Buffy, and Angel got their vengence on. That was great. It was really nice of them to take care of it for our girls.

Willow and Tara were so cute. The palm reading was adorable. Poor dumb, lonely, doomed Willow. Hee! And smoochies, yay!

Great update.

great update plzzzz more soon

Hi Sally...

Okay, I've been meaning to leave feedback since I first read this a month or so ago...feel free to choose your form of punishment for me at whim or in deliberate, sinister steps...whichever.

The fic has a fun sort of playfulness in the format and the humor is nicely added. I like the supporting cast - you don't kill us with details, but give us enough to see how they fit. W/T are just adorable, finding a connection despite the identity snafu. They were particularly cute in the last update, now that the truth has been revealed. But what strikes me most here, is how very pathetic Faith is in this fic (your writing of her character, however, is great) - the cyberstalking, the identity switch, the rude handling of Tara, etc. I find it well put that she didn't get beat up in a back alley or severely humiliated in public. Sometimes the little, more subtle things have a greater impact because there are no overdramatic emotions to hide behind. It seemed like she got a taste of her own medicine in a more meaningful way.

Thanks for sharing your talent.

~Cyd (who is apparently very precocious b/c watty-boss said so)

Ha! Take that Faith. I'm going to give Anya the benefit of the doubt, and believe that she planned for her words to be ringing in Faith's ears when she found herself stood up - human or not, Anya's got a knack for the vengeance game.

And while, personally, I've never found Buffy especially sexy, damn she can turn it on when she wants to.

I think we can safely say that Willow's palms are lying through their metaphorical teeth Though, on further consideration, I can see where Tara went wrong in reading Willow's palm - you're meant to read a palm when it's in its natural state - not clenched, for example - and the natural state for Willow's hands is to be firmly holding hot Tara goodness, thereby rendering the inaccurate lines invisible.

_________________
Chris Cook

Through the Looking-glass - Every world needs a Willow and Tara.

AntigoneUnbound



I think that Faith is going to give her life some thought. We won’t see it here, but in the sequel, we might. (Depends on where she ends up with it.) Anyway, I think Anya’s intention was to make her think, and no one is so thoroughly one-dimensional that they can shrug off rejection and disapprobation so easily, at least not in my story.



Let’s hear more about these dates, Mary.

I’m just so glad that Tara and Willow ended up living so close to each other, or that night together would have been just sweet torture, and they might have felt compelled to take things a little further, which would have rushed them a bit. As always, thank you so much for reading and for your very thoughtful comments.

[hr]

taralicious

Hey Blayne, thank you! Anya’s a thoughtful person, and here’s the crux of it – I’ll bet if she had said to them “Hey guys, what do you think – we’d totally be willing to switch rooms. Do you want to?” that they would have hemmed and hawed and it would have been harder for them to accept the offer. Her saying it as a fait accompli helped Willow to just say “Okay.”

I don’t think Willow could ever be speechless for long. Thank you again for your glee-ful feedback; you’ve been a constant commenter and appreciator of this story the whole way through and I always look forward to reading what you have to say.

[hr]

justin

Tee hee, I’m glad that the story had you laughing. Yes, Anya retains her qualities as a vengeance demon for sure – I couldn’t resist slipping that line in.

Faith does have a great rack, and I’m still puzzling over why she did it, exactly. I keep coming back to her being “an agent of the random” and just figuring that it would be a lark to mess up somebody’s dramatic meeting of their online paramour. But why does she think that sounds like fun in the first place? It can’t just be for fun, it must be for some deeper reason. Maybe she wants to keep emotions out of it altogether, or just just likes to mess with people. Something must have happened in her past…I keep thinking of canon when Faith came to Sunnydale – there was also obviously some weakness in her personality that made her vulnerable to unscrupulous people like the mayor, so I’ll have to give more thought to what that translates to in UberCon world.



Hee! Aw, just naïve. Too trusting.



Feel free to use that technique in your personal life.

[hr]

tarebear

Ceci! How great to see you commenting and leaving feedback in the thread. Welcome to being a kitten! I’m so happy to hear that you were happy seeing my name in the update thread. I appreciate your constant enthusiasm.

Yeah, I think the idea of an arse kicking for Faith was on several people’s minds, even mine at one time. I considered it briefly, but I’m not really one to advocate violence as a solution or for revenge, except on TV of course. Willow and Tara have good friends, don’t they? Anya’s constant embarrassing comments are part and parcel of the package, I think. Yay for smoochies!

Wouldn’t we all like to be in Willow’s shoes at this point? And as for them living close together, I just couldn’t make them be hours apart. It would make writing the sequel rather difficult, for one thing. I’m also sad knowing that this story is coming to and end – it’s my first and I’ve had great fun writing it and have learned a lot about writing. I’ve appreciated your constant feedback along the way.

[hr]

watson

Hey wattybear, I like the word sequel too – when it applies to fan fiction, not necessarily to most Hollywood movies! Ooh, I gave you a tingly feeling?

I agree that Faith got off lightly, but then again, I think that her consideration of Anya’s words and her own motivations will be a slow burn and will stay with her for a long time. It might even motivate her to think about her life and make some changes – I don’t know.

But you should have seen my original story arc for “Just Desserts” – it was going to involve Harmony as Cordy’s bi-curious best friend who has a thing for Faith throughout the whole con, but Faith won’t give her the time of day, so in the end Buffy engineered a setup where Faith goes to what she thinks is Buffy’s room but it was actually Harmony’s. The thing is, I just couldn’t reconcile the creepy sex-setup business in my mind, and also what sort of punishment is it to end up in bed with a naked girl? I still think it could have worked, but I also think that Harmony gets a really raw deal in canon and gets treated like crap. Plus, there was just a little too much going on at the con; I couldn’t work it all in. As it was I felt like I didn’t necessarily give Willow and Tara enough “screen time” so another sub-plot might have been even more distracting.



Quick, no problem. Last draft done, making edits, sending off for second-round beta today. Posted hopefully today or tomorrow. Then done. Before my revised deadline of Veterans Day, even! PS – I have to work my way up to smut, some of the beta feedback for the first drafts of the kissing scenes is “this sounds very clinical” so I’ll need more practice so the smut doesn’t sound like a gynecological exam.

[hr]

JustSkipIt

Hi Debra - about Buffy – though I didn’t show it in the story, here’s how it happened in my mind: Buffy wanted to kick the crap out of Faith using her martial arts skillz but Anya talked her out of it, and came up instead with another scheme was that more subtle. Now I wish I had written it – I think that Anya, reflecting as she does her online persona of the Goddess of Love and her canon persona as a vengeance demon would gravitate more naturally to the subtle revenge, while of course Buffy would want to just let loose with a can of whup-ass.

Heh, the Chandler/restroom/panties setup, yes! You’re right, getting Faith undressed would have probably involved some sort of hanky-panky on Buffy’s part – not that she would have been averse, but I don’t know if she would have been that good at it. I actually agonized over what it should be, and came up with a few scenarios (see reply to watty above, and there was another one too) but none really hit the tuning fork in the right place, if you know what I mean.

[hr]

Modjadji

Hey mo! Thank you so much for letting me know you enjoyed the story – I’m glad that it could provide some procrastination time around exams for you. Oh, exams, the stress of it all – I remember it so clearly. Yay for another Xena fan! I couldn’t resist having Willow write about Xena the Vampire Slayer when I came up with the idea for this story.



Hooray, I’m so glad you think so – that’s what I was going for. And I like your imagery of the Russian doll effect – yes! Someone else said an onion, which is the same thing in concept. I don’t know what the literary word for it is, does anyone else? Okay, I googled it and one term seems to be “framing” but I’m not sure if that’s right. Another term seems to be “multiform story.” Or “embedded” story. Also “metafiction.” I love Google. Anyway, I’m glad it seems somewhat orderly. Keeping all the details straight was a challenge for me.

I found the iterary terms and definitions here.



Me too – their discourse is all about getting to know each others’ ideas and approach to life, and it’s one-on-one, so they don’t really have a desire or a need for mnemonics or shorthand. I envisioned them both as very focused on each other during their chat sessions and putting a lot of thought into their replies and questions, rather than just typing in “yeah” or something like that.

I’m glad to hear you thought the first kiss didn’t have any awkwardness – I was trying to figure out how to describe it, and the palm-reading thing just kind of came to me. Thank you for your thoughtful feedback!

[hr]

grimlock72

Hey Grimmy – Tara’s too nice for sure, and not very aggressive, but also she was likely way too wrapped up in the wonder of Willow to think about giving Faith any payback. I feel like she had her moment when she smacked Faith’s hand and yelled at her.

I think that it was necessary for Anya to basically tell everyone that they had decided that the girls were going to share a room for the night, or else they probably would have been too shy to either say yes if it were posed as a question, and never would have suggested it themselves.

Glad you liked the chapter – thanks!

[hr]

the hero factor

Yeah, hell hath no fury like best friends misled, to twist an old phrase! They’re sweeties. Poor dumb lonely doomed Willow indeed. I don’t even know if I got the lines on the palms right – I used to sort of know what they were, and now I just guessed. Thanks!

[hr]

tarawillowfan562

Thank you so much! More very soon, I promise – like tonight or tomorrow.

[hr]

hermitfish

Hi precocious Cyd, thanks for leaving feedback! Leave it at your own pace, says me, no need to rush or force these things. Glad to hear from you now!



Hm, is this a come-on?

Yay, I’m glad you think it has a fun sort of playfulness, and that you like the humor. Yes, Faith is totally pathetic – I think something must have happened to her in her past to make her want to eschew all intimacy in love and just go for the hookup. I’m especially glad to hear you think her punishment was appropriate – beatings-up in back alleys would have been too creepy for the tone of this fic, and also sort of excessive.



Yeah. What you said.

[hr]

Artemis

Indeed, Anya had it all planned out. As the Goddess of Love, and also with elements of her vengeance demon self from canon, I envision Anya as having a good handle on people’s motivations and knowing what kind of zingers will stick with them. She’s very much in tune with what makes people tick, and finds all of the dissembling and hemming and hawing that people do because of shyness or social mores or whatever to be unnecessary.

Heh, with the palm-reading, I can’t help saying in response to your comment about the natural state of Willow’s hand to be holding Tara’s, that the OTHER natural state of her hand is to be inside…okay, I just can’t say it. Too many social mores, I guess. Anya would scorn me.

_________________
Stocking Stuffers: Little Gifts from RKT

Well, this is it - the ultimate chapter! It's been so much fun to write this story and I want to thank everyone who has read it, who has given feedback and encouragement, and who has been along for the ride. This fic was inspired by the Kitten board and is an homage to this very special place. The welcoming environment and sense of community encouraged me to take the leap into writing, something I've always wanted to do.

Thank you also to all of the wonderful authors who share their work and gifts here. Your stories are an inspiration.

Finally, but definitely not least, thank you so much to my beta, Mrs. McFine. If you thought the plot held together well and that the character motivations and actions were plausible, it's probably because of her. Every time I got lazy and wrote "So Faith forgot the whole thing and Willow and Tara ran into each other and figured it out and lived happily ever after" she encouraged me to take time to develop the story more fully. Thanks, honey!

[hr]

Title: UberCon '05

Part: 14 - final chapter

Author: SallyMcFine

Feedback: Yes!

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters and am not profiting from this story. No copyright infringement is intended.

Setting: AU. No magic, no vampires or slayers. Everyone is attending a three-day convention, UberCon '05 for their favorite TV show Xena: Warrior Princess. The convention takes place in a hotel about 2 hours away from Sunnydale. Today is Monday - the con is over and people will be heading home soon.

[hr]

Part 14 - End of the Beginning


Tara woke up, disoriented. It was pitch black, and she was in bed - half of her body warm and snuggly, and half cold. She was only partially covered by sheets and a blanket that seemed to have mysteriously moved during the night. The air conditioning in the room had kicked on, and the cold air blowing across the exposed portion of her back where her T-shirt had ridden up from her boxer shorts had awakened her.

While her back was cold, the front side of her body was most decidedly warm, and firmly wrapped around another warm body. A body, she sleepily realized, that had stolen most of the covers during the night.

It all came rushing back to her - Willow, kissing Willow after the mock attempt to read her palm, lost in each other and the rush of taste, texture, lips and tongues on each other, hands gently stroking each other's backs, for what seemed like an endless time. Shy looks at each other as first one girl and then the other changed into pajamas in the privacy of the bathroom, and the initial awkwardness of lying in bed together in the dark, stiff and not touching, which so easily gave way to more kissing and snuggling until nearly midnight, and being so overcome by fatigue that by unspoken agreement they settled into each others' arms and drifted off to sleep.

Tara shifted on the bed, trying to gently tug some of the blankets and sheets over to her side, but Willow had the blankets firmly in her grasp and tucked under her body. Tara shivered and pressed herself against Willow.

Guess she steals the covers. As she considered her options, the point was suddenly rendered moot by Willow's awakening.

"Mmm, what's going on?" she said sleepily as she rolled over to face Tara.

Tara took the opportunity to yank some of the bedclothes onto herself. "You stole the covers."

Willow hoisted herself up onto one elbow and shifted her weight to allow Tara more of the blankets.

"I'm so sorry," she said, running her hand along Tara's back. "You're so cold!"

Tara tucked the sheets under her chin. "Come warm me up?"

Willow gladly obliged and settled her head onto Tara's shoulder, wrapped her arm around the other girl's midsection, and for good measure, curled her left leg over Tara's thighs.

"Better now?" she asked.

"Much," Tara replied, caressing Willow's hair. Willow sighed with pleasure at the touch and burrowed her face into the crook of Tara's shoulder. As Tara continued her caress, Willow reciprocated with gentle kisses along her neck. Tara squirmed with pleasure.

"Cover theft is a serious issue," Tara said with mock severity. "We're going to have to work on that."

Willow chuckled. "It's been a lifelong problem. But I'll promise to work hard at my rehabilitation."

"Lifelong, you say? You have a track record of stealing covers, meaning you've slept with a lot of people?" Though Tara's tone was teasing, Willow caught an undercurrent of uncertainty, and moved quickly to allay her fears.

"Only through sleepovers with Buffy," she clarified, reaching up to stroke Tara's hair along the temple. "Chaste sleepovers. I, um, haven't dated very many people. And none to the point where we shared a bed."

Tara hugged Willow to her. "You'd never know it, the way you kiss."

Willow perked up. "Am I a good kisser?"

"The best I've ever had."

"And how many have you had?"

Tara smiled into the dark. "Um, let me count." She whispered under her breath, "One, two, three, hm, do those twins count as one or two? Uh..."

Willow's eyebrows shot up in disbelief. "What?"

Tara giggled softly. "Just teasing you. Not very many - a couple of awkward dates here and there."

Willow settled back down into Tara's arms. "Pretty much the same for me. If you don't count Xander when we were eight years old and playing Post Office, which I don't."

"Hm. Let's not - because that would mean by extension that you've kissed Anya, and we live together."

"Yeah, probably best to avoid that train of thought."

"What is Post Office?" Tara asked. "I've never played it."

Willow blushed. "Well, the way we played it was that instead of mailing letters, you mailed kisses. One person was the postal clerk, and the other one was the customer. It was pretty innocent, actually - it was Xander's idea. We only played it once or twice before he decided girls were icky."

Tara turned her head and planted a soft kiss on Willow's lips.

"Like that?"

"Mmmmmm. Yeah, like that." Willow sighed happily, and then returned the kiss.

"What was that?"

"Return to sender - not enough postage."

Tara quirked up the left side of her mouth. Every time she thought Willow couldn't possibly be more endearing, she did or said something that was even more delightful. She turned over slightly, gently shifting Willow in her arms so Willow lay on her back, and proceeded to kiss her again. This time she prolonged the contact, and parted her lips slightly so just the tip of her tongue touched Willow's bottom lip.

She lay back down. "Enough postage that time?"

Willow turned over and wordlessly returned the kiss, tentatively extending her own tongue to brush against Tara's lips. She was met with the gentlest pressure of Tara's tongue, and the kiss deepened.

Tara exhaled with a trembly voice when the kiss was over. "Guess not."

"No, plenty of postage - this time it was 'address unknown.'"

"I really need to mail this letter. To France." Tara said.

"Well, the post office is here to help," Willow replied. "We have a variety of resources for our customers. There's a zip code reference book," she said, kissing the tip of Tara's nose, "a street map," she continued, with a touch of lips to Tara's forehead, "and of course, the postal clerk is a friendly woman who can help you search the database," she finished, with the briefest touch of lips on Tara's left ear.

Tara shuddered. "Thank goodness for the U.S. Government."

Willow nodded, trailing kisses down Tara's jaw. "Through rain, or sleet, or snow, or a plague of frogs, we'll be here for you."

"I think it's a plague of locusts," Tara said, shivering as Willow nipped her jaw.

"Locusts I can handle, or vampire bats, for that matter," Willow said, resuming her kissing down to the tip of Tara's chin. "It's the frogs that are the scariest."

She ended up at Tara's lips and captured them again in a kiss. Tara's arms went around her neck and the two girls abandoned their banter as they again became absorbed in each other.

[hr]

Riiiiiiiiiiing!

Willow shifted in annoyance at the insistent sound. "Mmmmph," she protested.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!

Tara opened her eyes sleepily and cast around for the source of the sound, the hotel phone.

"Hello?"

"Tara, it's 10:30! Check-out time is 11. I need to shower, and I'm assuming Willow probably does too," Anya's voice crackled through the phone.

Tara sank back onto the pillow, too tired to respond to Anya's comment. "Willow's asleep - I think she'll be hard to wake up."

"Well, motivate her. I'll be there in five minutes." Anya hung up the phone.

She replaced the phone in its cradle and gently shook the redhead who was cradled in her arms. "Willow, sweetie, it's time to get up."

Willow murmured a protest. "Do we have to?"

Tara kissed her forehead. "Anya will be here in four minutes, and I'm sure she'll have a lot of commentary for us if we're still in bed together."

Willow opened her eyes and threw back the covers. She leapt out of the bed like a stone launched from a slingshot. "I'll just be a second!" she said as she carried her clothes from last night into the bathroom.

Tara smiled and got out of the bed herself. She opened her suitcase and selected an outfit to wear for the ride home.

Willow emerged from the restroom, scrubbing at her eyes. "I can't believe how late we slept."

Tara gave Willow a sly smile. "Well, as I recall, we did wake up in the middle of the night, so we didn't sleep the whole time."

Willow's eyes sparkled and she walked over to give Tara a hug.

As she embraced the girl, she glanced into her suitcase. "What's that, Tara?"

Tara looked where Willow was pointing. "Oh, um, nothing. Just something Anya bought for me." She closed the suitcase hurriedly.

"Anya bought you sexy underwear?" Willow queried.

Tara blushed. "Yes. She, uh, made me promise to bring it."

"Oh? How come?"

"In case things worked out with you, sweetie!" Anya trilled as she let herself into the room. "I take it that you didn't wear it, Tara."

Willow decided to forestall further embarrassment for Tara. "Well, I'll look forward to seeing it sometime in the future," she said, with a quick peck on Tara's cheek. "Anya, see you downstairs at checkout?" She beat a hasty retreat to the door.

"Dibs on the shower!" Tara called, avoiding Anya's anticipated remonstrations about the underwear.

[hr]

Buffy and Willow sat in the lobby as Xander checked out of their room at the front desk.

"So how was your night, Buff?" Willow asked.

"It was good!" Buffy answered. "I really like Angel. He's very sweet, and was very much the gentleman last night. I was worried since he's older, but there was no pressure at all."

"Are you going to see him again?"

Buffy nodded, a dreamy look overtaking her features. "He lives in L.A., so it's a drive, but not too far away." She looked up and saw Tara and Anya entering the lobby carrying their bags. She nudged Willow.

Willow followed Buffy's gaze and a smile lit up her face as she saw Tara. Slightly flushed from her shower and with damp hair, Tara seemed even more adorable than she had this morning. Tara walked across the room toward Buffy and Willow as Anya joined Xander at the checkout counter.

Willow stood to make introductions. "Buffy, this is Tara. Tara, Buffy."

Buffy extended a hand to Tara. "It's very nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you."

Tara smiled as she shook Buffy's hand. "Likewise. This morning you heard a lot about me?"

"This morning, the last three months, you name it. It's pretty much been a constant topic for Willow," Buffy joked. "I'm glad you guys finally met after all the craziness."

"What did you guys do to Faith, anyway?" Tara asked.

"Let's just say for now that we turned the tables on Faith. Gave her a taste of her own medicine. Revenge is a dish best served cold."

Willow groaned. "No more cliches, Buffy."

"Okay, I won't beat a dead horse," Buffy said good-naturedly, as Xander and Anya joined them.

"Finished checking out?" Willow asked. They nodded.

"We'd better hit the road," Xander said. "I have to work tonight."

"I'll get the car," Buffy said.

"Oh, I'll go with you!" Anya said. She slipped her arm through Buffy's as they walked through the door. "Now tell me all about what you did to Faith..." her voice trailed off as they moved away.

Xander gathered up as many bags as he could carry. "I'll take these outside."

Willow and Tara picked up the remainder of the bags and carried them to the curb, where Xander was depositing the heavy load.

"So pretty sweet that you and Anya live so near Sunnydale," Xander said to Tara.

Tara nodded. "It'll make keeping in touch a lot easier."

Xander nodded. "Although with e-mail these days, even if you're hours away it can seem like less. Makes visiting harder, though."

"True, but I kind of prefer the U.S. Postal Service," Willow said.

Xander gave her a look. "YOU prefer the postal service? Miss Electronic Information Age Paperless Economy herself?"

Willow shrugged innocently. "It has its good points."

Xander seemed to want to press the point, but at that moment Anya's car pulled up in front of the group, followed by Buffy's mom's SUV, which screeched to a halt mere inches from Anya's bumper.

"Sorry!" Buffy called out of the window as she popped the back door.

As Xander began to load the bags into their respective cars, Willow and Tara looked at each other and embraced.

"So I'll call you?" Willow said. "Ugh, that sounds like a line. I don't mean it that way."

"You won't call me," Tara said.

"What?" Lines of worry appeared on Willow's forehead.

"You don't have my phone number," Tara said with an impish grin.

Willow smiled. "You are such a teaser!"

"Better than being a tease, I guess."

"Okay, time to give it up," Willow said, producing her cell phone from a pocket and making ready to enter Tara's phone number.

Tara told Willow her number, both home and cell at the redhead's insistence. Willow took a quick look around, noticed that Buffy, Xander, and Anya were all studiously not looking at them, and gave Tara a quick kiss.

"Okay. I'll call you soon. Um, probably tonight, if that's okay."

Tara nodded, and with lingering glances, the girls went to their friends' cars.

Willow pulled the door closed and buckled her seat belt. "Thanks for waiting."

"Anything for lesbian love," Xander said. "You take your time, anytime."

"What he said, only with less prurient interest," Buffy said.

Anya gunned the engine as Tara got in and closed the door. "All right, we're out of here." She drove out of the parking lot at high speeds.

"Why are you so anxious to get away from them?" Tara asked, confused. "Did something happen between you and Xander?"

Anya chortled. "No, not at all. I just don't want to be anywhere near Buffy on the highway. That girl drives like a maniac."

[hr]

New Thread: UberCon 2005 Wrap-Up

cordy_princess (Moderator): this is a new thread for post-UberCon discussion! I hope everyone had a great time. I wanted to thank everyone from the Warrior Board who attended the con and our fanfic readings at night - we got to hear some really great stories, so thanks for sharing your talent.

Just a reminder that next year at UberCon '06, all fics that you read need to be uber. I let it slide this time, but no canon fics next year! Hear me, aphrodite and joxx?

xenarulz: I think they're both still too wrapped up in each other to have logged on to the board yet.

aresisagod: LOL

aphrodite: I choose not to respond to your teasing, xenarulz. Notice that I am not making any cheeky comments about a certain hotel manager who lives in Los Angeles and the danger in which you'll put thousands of unsuspecting commuters during your frequent road trips to visit him, not to mention wear and tear on your mother's car's tires. No, I rise above that level of discourse.

xenarulz: touche', goddess of love (and vengeance!)

aphrodite: two sides of the same coin, love and vengeance. You know the old saying about hell's fury and a woman scorned?

cordy_princess (Moderator): ahem, people. Topic.

xenarulz: oh, it's topical, cordy, just obscure. But I take your point. Just wanted to compliment the organizers on a job well done. I went along with my friends to UberCon because they asked; otherwise I wouldn't have gone, but I ended up having a WONDERFUL time.

broody_cupid: not to mention you met a hunky guy

xenarulz: and a modest one at that!

callibabe: I had a wonderful time at UberCon, despite certain rude elements that I ran into at the dance on Saturday. However, life is too short to hold a grudge. Bygones.

joxx: UberCon's courage will change the world!

amazon_hacker: I think I can honestly say that UberCon didn't go at all like I was expecting, but it turned out better than I could ever have dreamed.

wiccanbard: I second that!

aphrodite: oh, look who's come up for air!

wiccanbard: shuddup an.

aphrodite: every time lesbians kiss, an angel gets her wings. There's a whole heck of a lot more winged angels in our area this weekend.

joxx: w00t

cordy_princess (Moderator): people! Topic!

[hr]

Connecting to client chakram.ircworld.org
Joining channel #quill as wiccanbard

amazon_hacker: hey, you're here!
wiccanbard: I just got your PM that you sent at the con on saturday. if only i had checked the board this weekend, it would have saved us a lot of grief
amazon_hacker: yeah, but I kind of like the way things ended up
wiccanbard: me too
amazon_hacker: I was just about to call you but I thought I'd check our chat room for old time's sake
wiccanbard: me too, obviously! so...
amazon_hacker: yes?
wiccanbard: if this were a fan fiction, you know what the perfect ending would be?
amazon_hacker: for us to immediately declare our undying love and get married and magically have lots of babies that we conceive together through some otherworldy intervention?
wiccanbard: well, yes. but before we do that, would you like to have dinner tonight? with me? on a date?
amazon_hacker: would I? In a word - YES.
wiccanbard: I'll be right over.
amazon_hacker Tara?
wiccanbard: yes?
amazon_hacker: I can't wait.
wiccanbard: me too.

[hr]

[blockquote]wiccanbard
Blessed Be
Joined: 16 September 2003
Posts: 398
Location: A magic circle

Post subject: Re: Love's Redemption (Complete)

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

Hey everyone - thank you so much for your comments and for reading this story. This is the final chapter.

Title: Love's Redemption
Part: 14
Author: wiccanbard
Feedback: yes!
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Rob Tapert owns these characters, I'm just borrowing them.

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

Gabrielle sighed contentedly as she snuggled down into Xena's arms underneath the blankets and furs. No matter how many nights they had together, going to bed with Xena never was boring. She smiled at the unintended double entendre, and giggled into Xena's shoulder.

"What is it?" Xena asked drowsily as she stroked Gabrielle's hair.

"Oh, just a little word play," Gabrielle replied as she leaned into the touch.

"That's what I love about you, Gabrielle."

"What?"

Xena's voice grew husky with emotion. "Your inner light, the joy you bring to life. You helped me back from the abyss, and for that I will be forever grateful to you." Gabrielle's grip on Xena tightened at these words.

"But it's more than that. There's still darkness in me, I can feel it. But I don't feel it as strongly when I'm with you. And I don't feel it at all when you laugh."

Gabrielle was overcome with emotion, and tears sprang into her eyes. She buried her face in Xena's neck. Finally she spoke with a trembling voice.

"I'm so glad to hear you say that, Xena."

"How come, my little bard?"

"I've been thinking about the rest of our lives, and...well...I want to spend the rest of mine with you." Gabrielle blushed slightly at the admission - though she and Xena had formed an intimate relationship, they hadn't actually discussed the future.

Xena was still. "You do?"

"Yes, I do. If you'll have me."

Xena's voice, husky already, threatened to break. "There's nothing in this world I want more, my bard." She captured Gabrielle's lips with her own in a lingering kiss.

As she settled back into the crook of Xena's arms, Gabrielle thought her heart would burst with happiness. Xena was drifting off toward sleep, but Gabrielle asked one more question.

"Xena?"

"Hm?"

"When do you think we should have our first child?"

"Go to sleep, Gabrielle."

"Right away? Or a couple of years from now so we have the freedom to travel?"

"Sleep, Gabrielle."

"Okay, it's settled. We'll wait."

THE END[/blockquote]

[hr]

THE END

_________________
Stocking Stuffers: Little Gifts from RKT

mine!!!

ETA: I'm so glad I managed to stay home today, it was like being in the right place at the right time, couldn't have done it better even if it had been pre-arranged. An extremely welcoming update indeed. Excellently wrapped up, my dear, all the couples / potential couples happily together or potentially together; Faith hopefully off to reflect on her behavior; the con ended successfully. I feel almost like the end of Casablanca, when Bogey and Claude Rains walked off into the sunset. Oh wait, Bogey didn't get the girl but our girls did ... heck, the walking off into the sunset was cute, no? "This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

LOL about the postal service. Though it's been a long time since I visited a post office (email and online banking takes care of most of my needs nowadays), I shall remember this next time I pop by to collect a registered letter.

Still loving the Scoobies, love how you developed of all of them, even though they were definitely "supporting players" to the W/T main act, you've made them likeable yet they never hog the spotlight. And Buffy said "prurient", I love it when she isn't the dumb student like she was oft portrayed.

The wrap up thread? Lovely. I can well understand cordy_princess' need to constantly call "topic" because these writers with their imagination can't be controlled once they're let loose. Better to go with the flow, cordy.

As a summary, you've said it best

bravo bravo. That was a lovely story, thank you for sharing.


p.s. really great X/G story at the end too, just what is needed.
p.p.s. now you have one completed fic, your fic completion ratio will vastlly improve, I need to find that spreadsheet now.
[br]

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quiet thoughts

Aww. Tara and Willow were so cute, with the cover-stealing, and the Post Office.




Ha! That sure got her moving.



Poor Buffy. Hee!

A Willow/Tara, Xander/Anya, Buffy/Angel ending. The way things should be.

This has been a great, fun story. Great job!

Oh this had me ROFLMFAO...

Especially since I just came from reading some classic X/G fanfic with a baby.

Goodness gracious, I can't believe this fic is over. *sigh* All good things must come to an end, I suppose. I utterly loved this update. Both of them going into their chat room (chakram!) at the end was just far too cute. And Anya's comment about Buffy's driving ability was too good. Cordy's continuous "People! Topic!" was great. Very her. I love the two of them waking up in bed together. So sweet.

Oh, just far too many comments to make. I love this fic. Thank you so very much for sharing it.

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You learn her source, and we'll introduce her to her insect reflection. Um... that, that was funny... if you um, if you studied Taglarin mythic rites... and are a complete dork. -- Tara

I cant believe its over! Why is it over!? I think we all wanna read about that first date...
Thanks for this great story!

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"I don't get your crazy system!"
"System? It's called the alphabet!"

The wrap-up thread was much fun, Anya comments about the many angels and all .

I can't recall having played Post Office that way ever before, sounds like fun. Willow was indeed adorable with her 'return to send'... good excuse to get more kisses as well A nice sweet wrapping up of this story.. and did I read something about Ubercon '06 in there??

:wav

Grimmy

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"You hurt Tara," Willow said too calmly. "The last one who tried that was a god. I made her regret it."
-- Unexpected Consequences by Lisa of Nine

Sally- Great job! This was such an enjoyable read! You worked the whole Xena/fan fic/board element so very well. I love that you came back to that aspect in closing the story; lovely touch of symmetry.

As I mentioned before, I love the supporting cast in this show: the bantering was made even more enjoyable by the knowledge that these people really had their friends' backs. They did NOT take kindly to Willow and Tara being messed with. I'm looking forward to seeing what Faith does w/ her little musings. Oh, and Buffy said "prurient"! I love that word.

The bedroom scene was lovely: warm and snuggly and affectionate with lust clearly in the room but not calling all the shots which is probably for the best given that they have to leave in less than 12 hours. Besides, it just lets us look forward to THAT scene in the next installment (Mary said presumptuously).

So--thank you very much for sharing this great story, Sally. You set up a fantastic premise and delivered.

Mary

So last night I happened to see the update and was all "yay! an update." So I started reading the update and after about 5 minutes realized that there wasn't another reply and I could get dibs so I did. Then I looked and of course in that 5 minutes, Watson had already put in her dibs. Oh well, not exactly my priority I guess.

Anyway, the update was fantastic. Honestly, it did everything you should do in the final chapter of a story like this. I mean, why drag it out? You had the climax and denouement so this was a very good wrap-up. We find out that all our favorites (and Angel) will continue in the sequel. Cause you said sequel. I clearly heard that, ok read that. Something about ubersmut? Bring it on.

Great job.

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