Chapter Six RepliesWow thankyou to everyone for still reading this & for all the feedback. Time is limited and my motivation is in the toilet so all the expressions of interest & opinions help.
Sweetness: Well what can I say to you? I am completely at your mercy you know this. Sorry I have taken so long to update petal. My time has been quite pre-occupied of late. Damn some women and their wiley charms. There is a whole one Letter answer behind who you need to be blaming for this delay Miss. And for the record begging will get you everywhere.
Wired vixen: Might be more Aussie-ness on the way for you to tap into…stay tuned
Wimpy: Not quite there yet, you should enjoy the next update though
WickedReds: Keep your Bannana dancing…it might get a little tired though..lol
Irishgrl3: I knew I could count on an Irish Lass to enjoy the museum scene, glad you got a laugh out of it. Sorry I cant make you any promises with the party.
Jessica: Lil’s sis, I promised I would post & here it is. Not quite at the stuff you want to be at yet, but this will hopefully get you off my back. I am surprised you were able to drag urself away from pics of ur honey & thoughts of her abs to read my update.
Disastered: You & your psychic-ness..i think you might have fuzzy reception..lol Only one way to find out.
The Rose24 Arron CFF: Thanks for replying. I agree Willow is being an ass, the road appears to be long & somewhat rough though. Hope I can keep you interested.
DreamLover: Your support is appreciated, I’m glad you replied. Thanks for reading
angel of salvation: Bad you for missing updates, I expect a 400 word essay by next post as punishment. Welcome back!
WillowWise: Aly, Wow thanks for your reply, flattery will get you everwhere. The fun should be picking up next chapter
alysagoddess85: Glad you liked the Gallery scene, I wasn’t sure how some people might take that… I love your name for Jennifer…might have to use that…lol
VixenyTarasHot: Hello Ashleigh, glad I was able to grab your interest, hope I can keep it.
behindhereyes: Hey your enjoying this newish Tara and are having a laugh at my fic.. That’s awesome, thanks it’s a great compliment. I have more material that will hopefully keep you giggling in coming chapters, just getting to them is the killer
The Beggers in general: Hehe keep it up, its all very encouraging & is highly influential
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Title: No One Expects the Spanish Inquisition
Author: ittybittyone
Rating: I dunno, not from around these parts..I think PG at first but eventually NC17 ( I think that is the naughty one)
Disclaimer: Has anyone really been sued for not putting this in?
Feedback: Go nuts, I need all the help I can get
Summary: Tara left Sunnydale after the fight. Willow didn’t spazz out & go feral. This is Three years later.
Chapter SevenThe three girls wandered aimlessly around the mall, carrying several bags containing their purchases
OK well this sucks you guys both have something for Xander and I have squat. Buffy said with a pout.
“Relax Buffy, we’ll find something” Tara said reassuringly
“Hey you could just buy them loads of porn, at least then even Anya would be happy with the gift”
“Dawn” Both Buffy and Tara said at the same time
“Actually, that is kinda a good idea, and hey keeping Anya happy is a bonus” Tara said with a smirk
“Tara! I’m not going to buy Xander porn, that’s just like feeding the fire, and as far as Anya goes, I don’t think she needs more material to talk about” Buffy said in a serious tone
Dawn and Tara shared a conspiratorial glance, before sharing a giggle. “I was just kidding Buffy” Tara said
Buffy playfully smacked Tara in the arm “I’m really going to have to keep my eye on you Maclay, were you always this wicked”
“Well I don’t know, I guess so…Willow was kinda better at keeping a straight face then Dawn is” Tara’s expression darkened as she made her admission.
“Tara” Buffy said bringing her out of her gloom. “Just give her some time to adjust, you leaving was pretty much the worst thing that happened to her. I think she will come around and be able to talk about things with you. She is still just getting used to the idea that your back”
“Buffy its fine really, and believe me I am not pushing her”
“Tara I didn’t mean that, I know you would never do that. I assume she is going to be at Xanders dinner, maybe that will be a good time for you two to get used to being in each others company again”
“Yeah I guess she will be there, I think it will be a good start” Tara said with a slight amount of controlled optimism.
“I think once the first part is out of the way, it will be a lot easier for her to open up” Dawn said and patted Tara on the back.
“Thanks you guys, I don’t know if I could really handle all this if I didn’t have you two. I’m really lucky to have family like you….You kinda give me the perspective I need to not get lost in my thoughts”
Buffy looked at Tara and regarded her with a warm smile “Tara no matter what happens, you will always have us, you know that right?”
“Yeah I do Buff…..Thankyou”
“Ok so presents…of the non porn variety” Buffy said and began walking towards a clothes store.
“Umm Buff, pretty sure those dresses aren’t going to be very flattering on Xander.” Dawn yelled as Buffy walked off in front of them.
“Well duh Dawn, I’m going to need a new outfit for the dinner” Buffy said as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.
Dawn sighed “Buffy we are going to Xanders, not to a movie premier”
Dawn and Tara were trailing behind Buffy as she entered the dress shop and began looking at the clothes
“Say Buff, why don’t you do your thing and Dawn and I will go for a wonder around and see if we can get you something for Xander” Tara suggested.
“Oh could you..that would be great, I’ll meet you at the coffee shop in about an hour” Buffy asked with excitement.
“Ok we’ll see you there”.
Dawn and Tara left Buffy and set out for a present. “Thank god you saved us from that” Dawn said with huff.
“Hehe I had a feeling you were not in the mood for a shop-a-thon, come on lets see what we can find and maybe we will have time to fit in an extra mocha before Buffy runs out of money”
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The girls wandered around browsing at various shops. “So I called Grant and he said that he would love to meet you, I think he is kinda nervous about meeting Buffy and thinks you will be a good stepping stone”.
“So I’m a stepping stone huh, I can honestly say I have never been called that before” Tara said laughing.
“No I guess I just talk about you a lot and he has a good sense of how much of a pushover you are” Dawn said shoving Tara.
“Pushover hey, maybe I am just luring everyone into a false sense of security and then I am going to pounce”.
“Yeah sure Tara…seriously though he is really excited to meet you, he knows how important you are to me and he has been sort of hinting to meet everyone for a while now. I have been a bit reserved due to the whole hell mouthy stuff”
“Wow I never really thought about how hard it must be to bring someone in from the outside.
I mean it was hard enough to just feel like you fit into the scoobies everyone is so close. At least I understood the whole hell mouthy stuff as you put it, so I was able to find something to connect with. How do you tell a normal person about all the unconventional stuff and help them understand. It’s a lot to ask of a person who has no concept of what we deal with.” Tara crinkled her brow in though.
“That’s the thing Tara, Grant is really special and if things are going to continue to develop between us, I will eventually have to tell him about everything. I am kinda scared as to how he will respond. There are so many different scenarios I have thought about and a million and one ways he could react” Dawn turned to look at Tara “What if he thinks we are all insane?”
“Dawn I don’t know what to tell you, it’s a really hard situation. I probably wouldn’t suggest he gets attacked by crazy lunatic men like I did” Tara shivers at the thought. “Maybe you can just ease him into it slowly with some background and let him warm to the idea that there is a lot more out there that is not always explainable”
Dawn nodded in response. “Can you help me with it Tara? I don’t mean on the first night you meet him, but you know over time if things keep progressing between us”
“I will do the best I can Dawnie, but in the end I think the final explanation might need to come from you, the alternative is…maybe we could just get Buffy to lift him up over her head” Tara suggested whilst trying to hide her smirk
Dawn bumped shoulders with Tara. “Or maybe I should just introduce him to Anya, surely that is pretty self-explanatory” Dawn laughed.
“Dawn that’s not very nice, poor Anya she is so mis-understood. Mind you with all the sex talk that comes out of Anya’s mouth, I doubt your man will be able to notice much else. Especially if he is shy”
“Hehe you’re probably right. So about the dinner, Grant said he is ok for next week, but are you sure you’re not going to be too busy with class starting?”
“Definitely fine with next week, I am kinda looking forward to meeting him, I gotta make sure he is ok for my little Dawnie” Tara said putting her arm around Dawns shoulder as they continued walking.
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Willow meandered around the mall aimlessly lost in thought. “Why the hell am I here, it’s because I am so paranoid that my little white lie is going to be caught out that I feel the need to cover my tracks and pretend to shop”.
What the hell is my problem, its just Xanders birthday, I’ve been to about 20 of them. Well Tara wasn’t at 20 of them was she…Well she was at a few but that was a long time ago and things were so different then. She couldn’t turn me into an idiot with just one glance back then.. No… actually she could. Well she couldn’t make me want to just run away and hide back then. Nope definitely couldn’t do that, well there was that one time we ran away together to hide to get a bit of quick witchy lo…wow ok need to not have those memories right now” Willow shook her head
“Ok Willow get a hold of yourself, its Tara, the one who you have not seen for three years, the one who left without a trace, the one who said she loved you and didn’t give you a second thought after she walked out the door..ok this good..I can work with this…..Nothing has changed in the last few weeks, I have a great job, I have a Jennifer, I have good friends, I have my health…Things are simple and working and easy”
Willow squared her shoulders “Ok I have had enough of this mall, I’m going back to the office, there is no logical reason as to why I should be here” Willow rounded the corner and stopped dead in her tracks
Willow noticed Dawn up ahead with Blonde. Willow moved to the side to get a better look at the two girls and to remain unseen. She nearly tripped over her own feet when the girl who’s arm was draped loosely around Dawns shoulder turned slightly to expose part of her face.
“Argh! Damn it, I was all with the going home psyche up and now she’s here and I have to walk over there If I am going to get to the car. What… am I destined to see her everywhere I go…This is as bad as when I was hallucinating her everywhere”
Willow felt an arm on her elbow and jumped at the contact.
“wooo Chill Will its only me, what are you doing crouching down like ….oh!” Buffy said as she realised where Willows eyes were facing moments earlier. “Ok your hiding, you have got to be kidding me Will”
“No Buff it’s not quite like that I swear, I was just walking & then sort of saw them and I kinda well, freaked. I’m fine now”
“Great then you can come over and have a coffee with us” Buffy said pulling her arm
Willow made a substantial attempt to shrug off Buffy’s ministrations to no avail. “Buffy, please no I um…work!…yeah work …I have work I need to get back to.”
“Oh come on Will, this is ridiculous, your going to have to deal with this…I assume your not going to miss Xander’s birthday over this” Buffy said and removed her hand from willows arm.
“Of course not Buffy, what kind of a best friend would I be if I missed his birthday”
“Well what’s the difference between you seeing her today and seeing her tomorrow, and if you say work I am going to slap you” Buffy huffed and tugged on the protesting red heads arm.
Buffy walked dragging willow behind her over to Dawn and Tara. “Hey guys look who I found” she said cheerfully.
Dawn and Tara turned around to Buffy not paying much attention to what she said. “Shit…Willow Hi” Tara said in surprise.
Willow was taken aback by Tara’s use of language and softly replied “hey”
Buffy ushered the group to the coffee shop & made sure she sat Willow and Tara next to each other. The mood was some what sombre and awkward
“So Will, you here getting Xand’s present” Buffy said in a over the top chipper voice.
“Ar, nope I kinda got it a few weeks ago, but I umm, had to come because well…umm, Anya sort of rang and put me on the spot and then there was the whole me spacing out and Jennifer was all question-y and then with the present and the mall and ummm it’s a long story and No I am not here to buy Xanders present to answer your question” Willow took a deep breath to avoid passing out.
At hearing Willow finish her rant Tara could do nothing but giggle and hide the slight mist that had developed in her eyes.
Willow shot her head over to Tara at hearing the giggle and blushed profusely.
Tara seeing Willows shocked and embarrassed face, stopped giggling immediately and found her self reaching out to put her hand on Willows arm before she could think twice about it. “Oh God Will, I’m soooo sorry, I just I …Its been soo long since I heard, even before I left there was no babble and its just so fundamentally you, and I mi..”
“You know what..Tara its fine really it is, babble is funny I get it” Willow said cutting her off, before she could say anything else that was remotely deep and meaningful.
“No Will that’s not what I mean I “ Tara tried to broach the subject again
“Tara! We're good really” Willow said with her voice raised higher then before
Tara took the hint and nodded her head, biting her lip
“So everyone want the usuals to drink” Dawn said trying to divert the conversation.
“You know what you guys I do need to head back to the office I have a meeting in 30 minutes that I really need to prepare for So I will take a rein check on the coffee” Willow got up out her seat and before she turned to leave, looked directly at Tara.
Tara mumbled a goodbye and cast her eyes down until she was sure Willow had left the table. She raised her eyes to see the pained expressions on Dawn and Buffy’s face.
“Tara…She said she had work to do before she came over here” Buffy said trying her best to be re-assuring.
“Oh come on Buffy that was a total balls up” Tara said sighing.
Buffy looked at Dawn for clarification and Dawn responded with a shrug.
“Um Tara I’ve got no idea what you meant by that, I am assuming you didn’t mean it in a positive way. In any case, she will come around..she just needs some time..that was what the second time she has seen you” Buffy enquired
“Third time” Tara supplied
“Hey at least she sat down this time and she did say a few more words, and there was babble” Dawn said trying to help.
Tara smiled at her friends “Thanks you guys..but is it just me or was the concept of me being able to speak off limits”
“I think she is just scared Tara, and you talking might seem a little too realistic for our Will at the moment”. Buffy said and leant over to squeeze Taras hand. “Plus you know how crap she is the whole emotional side of things..sure give her a 2000 year old apocalyptic mystery in code and she can crack it like a newspaper cross word. But when it comes to the emotional stuff, lets face it…she sucks”
“Yep she definitely struggles with that Tara you have to admit it, she is the queen of over analysing and random tangents”
“Your both right to a certain extent, I am just kinda unsure..I mean I didn’t think that Willow would be able to just avoid talking to me all together unless she was well and truly pissed off at me” Tara said as she took a sip of her coffee to settle herself down.
“Lets just see how things go tomorrow and go from there” Buffy said trying to figure out what to say to Tara
The girls settled back to discussing everyday topics from Classes to work and the latest hell mouthy occurrences whilst silently coming to their own conclusions on how things might work out.
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Thanks a bunch for reading everyone, I look forward to your replies on the coming chapters..they should be funner (Funner.. is that even a word?)
Tray
My normal hesitation is gone, And I really gravitate to your will
Are you here to fetch me out? Cause I've never had this taste in my past
New - No Doubt
by behindhereyes » Sun Oct 24, 2004 10:36 pm 
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hehe i noticed that u didnt go as far with the dawn tara as i thought u would hehe i cant help but draw parallels to some of what the characters say and what we have talked about teehee. but MMMM fic! yay and yay ur actually "getting hours" which is good for you lol sleep is yum! work is ...umm dumb...yep that was lame i know hehe...Keep up the good work sis! ummthe good fic work that is 
. Thank you 
... sorry the while thought of porn just makes me laugh... very entertaining...
.. I'm still with the 
of willow... look at her trying to logic-ies her feelings... and my god she is so wrong.. i can understand being a bit mad but this is beyond that now... they so need to talk, willow needs to understand y she left... and then they can get on with the making up... and the sex..
-reading contently
-Tara's bad mouth! gaaa.....
-Willow's lariness (lariness? laryness? watever lol)
its so cute!
My sheep salutes you,
One letter answer? How come with you it always comes back to a one letter answer? Can I buy a vowel? Can I just say that I take full responsibility in my part of the craziness? Okay with that said, I am not even touching the begging comment this round.
lol
see im danceing for more 
It is her fault that Tara leaves, but she is the one behaving badly. Tara is atleast trying to make an effort, although after Willow's behavior, I won't blame her if she gives up trying. 
so here it is.
.
Oh crap! That two are so out of each other.
That line just cracked me up. One of those drunken lines you don't mean to say out loud. Also loved the drunken Walton goodnights. 
I'm not liking her. Yeah, yeah, Tara left. Blah blah blah. She's conveniently FORGOTTEN she erased Tara's memory. Ironic, dontcha think?
now and when I'm angry I always sing. You really don't want that because I can't sing!
from the mind of frantic Willow. I'm still in awe over the many positive changes in Tara... gotta love a strong woman !!