Back Again (AU)

[singgirl]

How can you leave it like that!!?

Pax! -Bev

[allykat]

Ok, first off: WTF??? Yeah, you're bad... Evil even!



Great update!! Please please update soon!

Edited by: allykat at: 1/11/04 2:06 pm

[littlecrazy80]

How could you do this? Please update ASAP!!!!!



*lil´c*

I´m an actress... I don´t pee. Amber in Augsburg



SweetAmber

[Draco119]

Hi! I just got through reading this story and I must say that this is really cool. Diego is so cute. Willow and Tara's dreams were hot and the rest of the Scoobies are great. I love how you've written Faith, Buffy, and Dawn.

When Xander and Willow see each other again I laughed so hard when Willow tells everyone about Xander stealing her Barbie. And Anya was hilarious while complaining about slave labor in the 21 century. The ending to the last update sent me for a loop. I was like, 'what just happened?' It was great. Please, update soon. I must find out what happens next.

[good2cats]

Hi Kayleen,Great story a little bothered by the thought of leaving a small child without a babysitter especially in Sunnydale.The cliffhanger however was quite evil.Very unexpected twist.I hope for an explanation soon.
Be well,Karen

[bluewillowwitch]

Kayleen ,

OMG! I love this fic! I can't believe that you left off there of all places! and were having a lot of fun it seems. To bad that got so embarrassed. And what is up with snapping the boys neck and "daddy"? Can't wait to more. Update soon, please?





Grace

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

"Fate keeps on happening."--Anita Loos



"I'm here without you baby/But your still with me in my dreams/And tonight girl, there's only you and me."--3 Doors Down-Here Without You----Mine and My Baby's song.

[Axel Avalon]

Ok first,

I'd like to say that this is an excellent story

That dance since was Awesome

And next Iwould like to say

WHAT THE FUCK?

- - - - - - - - The greatest human accomplishment is being able to go to ones grave knowing that at some point in your life you loved someone completely............... that and that you had some good fucks.

[TaraBaby77]

HOLY COW !!! Now that was something . Great update. Please, we need more!!! =)

Aaron

'TaraBaby77'

[lazylurker]

Hi,

I love this piece of work and I want more, more, more!

When are you going to update?

I.need.update.

[lilMissFortuneCookie]

OMG! ARE YOU FROM BRAZIL TOO???



I live in Sampa-city! I mean, São Paulo =P



There's a bar called Showbar that was actually based on the movie Coyote Ugly here. It's in Pinheiros, have you been there?



Well, hope you write more soon!

[incrediblecute]

Oi, lilMissFortuneCookie, eu moro em Sampa tambem!! hehe



When you're updating??? God, I miss this fic.



kisses bye

[lazylurker]

Hi,

could anyone reach the author via a private e-mail adress? Tell her/him we miss this fic. Really!!!

Terribly!!!

Please come back!!

[lilMissFortuneCookie]

OMG! Sério? Que tudo! What's your e-mail, incrediblecute??



Is there anyone else from Brazil here??

[babygirl41]

looking forward on reading an update, willow is incredible and she's a mom, how cool is that, a really young and hot mom. omg! that sentence just isn't right, i should go get some sleep.



lillmissfortunecookie: eu sou do brasil tb, só q do rio. só mesmo em sampa que tem as melhores nights...

[lil wiccan]

OMG... U JUST CAN NOT LEAVE IT HANGIN LIKE THAT!!! ... that's just not good for me... i want more! please... more!

"How can i/ Beleive that my heart will find/ Someone like you/ You see the really me/ No in betweens/ I had nowhere to hide/ You took away the walls around me/ Make me feel safe to share my truth/ I see the heavens open/ A heart that once was broken/ It's holding nothing back/ Now that i found you

[lazylurker]

Hi,

just wanted to know if you are still alive.

We miss this fic it is really really great and I'm starting to repeat myself but: Update please???





And I also wanted to add:

So hope you reply soon.

See ya C.

[incrediblecute]

Hey there lilMissFortuneCookie, sorry it toke so long for me to answer...but my pc is totally messed up.

My e-mail is: darkgirl74@msn.com

It´s good to meet someone from here.





Now about this incredible fic! Where is it I~m going crazy....I want to read more!!!!



Bye...I hope to see more soon!

[Shy One]

Aaaaggghhhh!

How can you leave us anxious kittens hanging like that??!!! You naughty kitten, you.

We need an update soon, PLEASE!!!!!



On a lighter note........This story rocks! I love it!

MORE, MORE, MORE!!!!!!



Shy One

[RedIshtar]

Hey Kittens! *ducks flying shoes* Sorry for this incredibly long delay! RL can really be a bitch sometimes. I’m really, really sorry I didn’t right anything, but I’ll make it up to you, ok?

I’m still stuck with some papers to do but I’ll try to write more, I promise!

Here’s the much wanted update, it’s not very long, but there’s some interesting revelations here. I hope my explanations are good, everything seemed okay in my head, but I don’t know if it’s so good when I type it.

Sorry about the lateness again! Can you ever forgive me? *puppy dog eyes*







Title: Back Again

Author: Kayleen

Rating: PG

Pairings: W/T, B/F, X/A…

Summary: Willow and her parents left the US when she was little, now she’s back and she’s not alone. (I suck at summaries, I know)



Chapter 4 – Who Are You?



~*~*~*~*~*~*~





Every thought of Willow doing anything like that fled her mind as they all watched shell shocked to the scene before then.



Willow was indeed in the dark alley, but she wasn’t alone. She was pinning a little boy to the wall, he seemed to be around ten years old and was wearing bloody battered clothes. The redhead was nothing like the girl they met, her face was a mask of fury and there was nothing but rage in her shining green eyes as she pinned the boy’s neck with her forearm.



“You really know how to piss me off, don’t you?” they heard her growling deep in her throat, “Well, tell daddy I say ‘hi’.” She twisted her arm, snapping his neck and dumped the body on the ground before anyone could blink.



Then all hell broke loose.



With shouts of rage both slayers launched themselves on Willow, punching and tackling the redhead to the ground. Willow didn’t have the time to react as she was punched on the temple and a well placed roundhouse sent her flying against the wall.



The redhead shook her head, trying to clear her vision and saw the panting slayers glaring furiously at her with balled fists, snarling like animals. She narrowed her eyes and stood up slowly, assessing her options; the slayers were obviously using all their self-control to not pound her into a bloody pulp, the others were blocking the alley entrance, so there was no way to escape.



Willow swallowed hard as she took in the horrified look on Tara’s eyes, the others wearing similar expressions. She took a step toward the blonde and halted immediately as she saw the slayers tense. Gritting her teeth against the pain on her side she dropped into a fighting stance to try and defend herself, her mind whirling around all the possible solutions to her situation as the slayers watched her warily.



“Stop this.” she tried, “I’m not your enemy, let me explain.”



“You expect us to believe this?” Faith countered glaring at her.



“I expect you to think with your head, not with your fists, slayer.” Willow stated with a hard look.



“You just killed a child!” Buffy growled after a moment of silent surprise, “What’s there to explain?!” her eyes flashed angrily.



“Do you really think I would hurt a child?” she asked and for one moment her eyes seemed much older than her young years.



“We saw it!” Faith responded glancing briefly at the bloody body on the ground.



“And of course, nothing uncommon ever happened in this city before.” Willow shot back with a sardonic smile.



That made them pause and consider the situation. This was the Hellmouth after all.



“She’s got a point.” Anya broke the silence, startling everyone out of their musings.



“Alright.,” Buffy conceded. “Supposing you’re telling the truth, how can we know you’re not our next Big Bad?”



Willow sighed deeply, knowing what she had to do. “Let’s get back to my house, I’ll explain everything there.”



“But what about the… um-” Xander pointed to the dead boy.



“Ah.” Willow rolled her eyes in an exasperated manner and waved her hand in the body’s general direction.



They watched perplexed as the corpse burst into flames, disappearing almost instantly into a pile of dust. “I hate cleaning up the mess…” they heard Willow mutter to herself.



“Let’s go.” She brushed past them as if nothing had happened.



They walked in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.



“You haven’t said anything.” Willow commented to Tara in a low voice.



“I’m s-still t-trying to p-p-process all that happened.” Tara stuttered out.



“Everything will be explained, I promise.” She said softly.



Tara didn’t say anything, her mind was buzzing with hundreds of questions demanding answers. What happened there in The Bronze? I’m attracted to her alright, but that went a little past my limits. And the alley, oh Goddess, please let her not be the enemy…



They reached the Rosenberg House in five minutes and the first thing they saw as soon as they entered was Diego fast asleep on the couch with Ash laying on the ground, apparently watching the Japanese cartoon showing on the TV.



Motioning for the others to get comfortable, Willow walked to the pair and scratched the dog’s ear affectionately. “You looked after him for me, didn’t you boy?” her answer was a proud wag of his tail and a welcome lick on her hand. “Thanks Ash.” She patted the husky’s head and turned to the sleeping boy.



His face was peaceful and his ash blonde hair covering his eyes partially, his mouth parted with a trickle of drool running down his chin. She grinned in spite of herself. Kissing his forehead gently, she gathered him in her arms and carried him upstairs, ignoring the six pairs of eyes studying her intently.



After putting Diego in bed she came back down, turned the TV off and sat where her son was sleeping moments before. She looked at the group sitting on the other couch and armchair, thinking of what to say, how to start.



“How do I explain this?” she asked rhetorically.



“The beginning is always an option.” Faith answered anyway.



Willow sighed deeply. “OK. How much do you know about The Powers That Be?”



They looked at her strangely. What kind of question was that?



“They’re the bosses upstairs, almighty, omniscient, omnipotent blah blah blah…” Anya answered in her ever-tactful tone, making the redhead chuckle in amusement.



“There’s a little more to it than that, but you got the basics.” Then she got serious again. “There are several… aspects of The Powers. Gods and Goddesses, who each have a different responsibilities, different people to look after. They don’t have much power in this plane unless they take corporeal form, I believe you’ve meet one of them.”



“Glory.” Buffy growled.



“Precisely.” The redhead nodded. “She wasn’t very good on the brains department, I’m afraid.”



“But… She was evil! You’re saying she was one of these ‘aspects of The Powers’?” Dawn interrupted.



“Yes.”



“But… But… Aren’t The Powers supposed to be the good guys?”



“What is Good?” Willow asked, but didn’t wait for the answer. “It all depends on the purpose. A good witch can use dark magic to save her loved ones, does that make her evil?” she asked again rhetorically. “To balance exist, there must be opposite forces, Light and Dark. They’re not necessarily evil or good, they just… are. The Powers have as many Light Aspects as they do Dark Ones, it’s part of the balance and each one follow their purpose.”



“So you’re saying…” Xander prodded.



“That Glory was a Dark Goddess, but she was a little um… crazy. She was corrupting the balance, so she was exiled from her realm. As she wouldn’t have any power in this plane, she tried to take corporeal form, but it didn’t go too well and she ended up sharing a body with a young man. The rest you know.”



She paused her tale to let the information sink in, she knew it was going to be hard to believe what she was about to tell them.



“What d-do you have t-to do with a-all that?” Tara asked not really sure she wanted to know anymore.



Willow took a deep breath. Here goes nothing “I already said the Gods and Goddesses only have power within their own realms, so they need help to do the practical work down here.”



“You mean minions?” Anya interrupted.



“I wouldn’t use this particular world, but yeah.” Willow grumbled. “Those helpers are souls, extremely developed souls. They have many names among the humans here, the Christians call them Angels, Wiccans merely call them spirits. Though sometimes they are seen, they can walk unnoticed down here and do most of their work without having a corporeal body. Sometimes they have to, so they are born here, as humans, and grow up normally without any memory of their life upstairs, until the time comes when they need to remember so they can complete their missions.”



“And…?”



Her eyes locked with Faith’s as she answered in a calm voice. “And I’m one of them.”



(N/A: wouldn’t this be a great cliffhanger? Nah, I’m not that evil)



They stared at her incredulously.



“You mean… You work for The Powers?” Buffy blinked.



“Indirectly.” Willow nodded. “I work for Ceridwen.”



“The Goddess??” Tara blurted out.



“Of the Wiccan faith, yes.” The redhead smiled.



“If what you said is true, what it got to do with you killing that boy? Is that your ‘mission’? Killing little kids?” Faith asked watching Willow’s smile disappear and her green eyes narrow angrily.



“That was not a kid.” She hissed and Tara almost recoiled when that furious look came back to those previously warm green eyes.



“Then um… what was he?” Xander asked nervously seeing the change on the redhead.



“Haunter.” She answered curtly.



“Ooh, those are nasty!” Anya exclaimed. “But don’t they usually attack in groups?”



“That one was a spy, a warning.” The redhead said a bit calmer.



“Anyone care to explain?” Dawn crossed her arms impatiently.



“Haunter Demons.” Anya said with her ‘I-know-this-because-I-was-a-Vengeance-Demon’ tone. “Nasty little things. They aren’t very strong individually, but an army of them can do a lot of maiming. And they’re very good with mind games too.”



“That boy was a demon? How?” Tara asked.



“That ‘boy’ was a Haunter Demon, like Anya said, they aren’t very strong, but as a group they can be dangerous, not only because of their numbers, but because they’re smart, very smart.” She said grimly. “They’re shapeshifters. They take form of the very last thing their target would think of hurting. Believe me, I would never, ever hurt a kid.”



She sighed sadly and stared hollowly at the floor, lost in memories. When had she got used to killing those monsters in children’s skin? When had she stopped hesitating? Have she ever stopped feeling guilty?



“Who was he working for?” Dawn finally asked. “You said something about his ‘daddy’, you meant his boss, right?”



“Yes.” She said through gritted teeth. “Arawn.”



“Isn’t he the Welsh God of the Underworld?” asked Buffy and the others stared at her perplexed. “What?! I study!”



“He was.” Willow growled.



“Was?” Tara asked gently.



Willow took a deep calming breath. “He tried to release the Cwn Annwn on the Earth, they're the hounds that live in Annwan, The Underworld. He wanted to Wild Hunt ‘the filthy humans’.” She shook her head. “He was caught, but before he could be destroyed he placed a curse upon himself. It’s known as the Phoenix Curse.”



“Oh! I know that one!” Anya bounced up and down.



“Ahn…” Xander motioned for her to stay quiet while the redhead explained.



The ex-demon pouted but stayed put.



“Like the Phoenix, he would rise every five hundred years in the flesh of those who he tried to destroy until he achieved his purpose or had his soul bound. Ceridwen took upon herself to stop him, she knew that even in a human body he would find a way to get what he wanted, but she couldn’t do anything with him in this plane, he had planned it well. So...” She looked at each of them before continuing. “Every five hundred years I’m born human to try and stop him.”



The others gasped, looking at the redhead speechless.



“How long this has been going on?” Dawn asked in a small voice.



Willow sighed wearily. “Three thousand years.”



To Be Continued…





How is it? Good? Bad? Awfully disgusting?

I need some opinions here before I burst a vein!

I don’t know much about the Wiccan faith, but I don’t think The Goddess really has a name. I think I read it somewhere The Goddess being referred as Ceridwen and I had to put a name, so I thought the Moon Goddess would be the best one. Let me know if you think otherwise, ok?

I’ll try and update again ASAP!



Kayleen Lee

[Trape]

I found this story a while ago, and I noticed that it had been a while since you updated, so I just kinda figured you'd stoped writing it. Let me just say that I was pleasantly surprised to see an update! It was very good, as usual, and I look forward to more updates in the future!

[Stroke of Luck]

I just read all updates and i have to say, that i really love ur story. But now i wonder why "tiger"said that Tara is special...is she a witch or something like that? I am curious and i hope ur next update wont take so long again



Cu

SoL/Natti

Even in death Baby, i´ll never leave u!

[littlecrazy80]

I´m glad that you wrote an update!

I like where you are taking this fic.



*lil´c*

"Okay, we’re here, we’re queer, let’s kick this shit into gear," Five by Five (Taras Shadow)



SweetAmber

[onyxsundrops]

Wonderful update. I know a little about the Wiccan faith and its sometimes said that the Goddess has many names, so your choice seemed good enough. Although, for your story Hecate would've also been a good choice. She has many 'purposes' but the Goddess of the Crossroads or Triple Goddess is a major part. Then again, she got such a bad rap on the show as being a force of 'only' evil, so like I said, your choice was good. Anyway, more please.



Yvonne

[good2cats]

Hi Kayleen,
I am delighted to see you BACK AGAIN.That was a horrible place to leave people hanging.(Thinking that Willow was evil)I really enjoyed your explaination of her behavior.I look forward to the next installment.Please not so long next time.
Thanks and take care.Karen

[WillowPowered]

Holy cow Now I just gotta read the next bit.



Jill

~~~~~~~~

Willow - Say, you all didn't happen to do a bunch of drugs did ya?



My Home Page | Amber Powered | Alyson Powered



There is a little bit of Amber in all of us.

[photographer02]

AT LAST!!!! AN UPDATE!!!!!!!!!



You call that digusting???!!! NO WAY!!! IT'S SOOOO GOOD! DO CONTINUE SOOOOONNN!!



photographer02

[Mikaelah Braenna]

This story just took a rather unusual twist that left me in shock for a moment, especially after that cliffhanger. I was relieved to find out Willow is not evil of any sort.



In response to your question about your choice of Goddess. Cerridwen embodies all three lunar aspects of the Goddess: Maiden, Mother and Crone, though she is primarily worshipped in her Crone aspect.

As Onxy states, Hecate is the Goddess of the crossroads, of death and transition. She is also known as the Goddess of witches and of magic, the dark of the moon, and the depths of the underworld. But she may as well have been the earth goddess, for she ruled the spirits of the dead, humans who had been returned to the earth. (Depending on your beliefs, make the difference in whether the Goddess is perceived as a quadruple rather than a triple, making Hecate separate from the crone or older woman.)

It is ultimately your choice which you use, I just figured I would give you a basic difference between them. I am not sure where you are taking this story, so only you can decide which is best suited. Hopefully, that helped a little.



Wonderful update! Please continue updating this fic. I had hoped you did not abandon it.



~Mikaelah

Willow: "Where would you go? If you felt lost and alone? ..."

Tara: "To You..."

~~Truly and Forever~~

Edited by: Mikaelah Braenna  at: 5/12/04 3:12 pm

[TaraBaby77]

Well, Kayleen, you still can draw me in to this fic. Like your work, very interesting and I can't wait to see what you have in store for us. Update soon, kay??? Keep up the great work. =)

Aaron

'Tarababy77'

---

"Don't buy into all the media crap. Love yourself for who you are, not what others THINK you should look like. It's DEFINITELY more important in this life to love each other despite our imperfections." - Amber Benson

---

[tmr]

what are you waiting for get back on hat computer and start writing like your life is depending on it.

[tmr]

what are you waiting for get back on that computer and start writing



(do you notice i like the fic)