Posts: 252
Registered: Sep 2000 posted January 12, 2001 13:52
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I think I've already posted this, but if I haven't then hey, here you
are. It's the first I've written in a while, so I don't do the
romantic thing justice, most likely. But here you go anyway.....

Title: The First Day
Copyright Disclaimer: Joss owns Willow and Tara...damn his eyes.....
Feedback: Sure! I'm a glutton for punishment. tommo27@h...
No synopsis, no spoilers...nothin'....

THE FIRST DAY

It was cold and rainy. The kind of day where your bed called you
unfailingly until you gave up and took refuge in it, toughing out the
weather. Morning had greyed its way over the tops of the trees until
it, too, sighed slowly down across green fields and stopped in a
misted gathering of exhaustion.

As the thin sliver of nothingness pushed its way through the curtains
onto the floor below, Willow was aware that she was awake. Suddenly
awake. Blinking, she sat up in bed, grimacing at the light that was
widening on the dark floor in front of her. The damp in the air made
her sniff; the cold in the room made her shudder, then sniff again.
Her expression darkened as she felt the edges of a head cold creep
inside her, then settle behind her eyes.

Pulling the bed covers up around her, she put her arms round her
knees, hugging them to her chest. The figure beside her slept on,
the crooked hump of the body rising and falling, matched by the sound
of regular sleeping breaths. Throwing an absent minded smile in the
general direction of her bed partner, Willow leant back against the
padded bedhead, letting her eyes close sleepily, hoping that the
tickle in her throat wasn't a cough. Memories of the previous day
danced across her mind, tempting her mouth into a self-conscious grin
as she replayed the best scenes over and over.

She heard Buffy's laughter echoing in her head, the light sound of
her merriment when Xander had stumbled over his words. He had been
trying to explain some kind of joke about Willow and Tara's spells,
when suddenly he noticed Anya staring pointedly at him, whilst his
bravado went to pieces. Her gimlet eyes had warned him jealously of
what would happen if he spent too long thinking about spells and not
enough about ex-demons. Buffy's amusement had made even Giles
chuckle.

Then the picture of Giles came into her head. How proud he had
looked when she took his arm. His paternal smile as his fingers
reached for hers and squeezed just the once, whilst he walked slowly
with her towards what was surely her destiny. Once he'd got over the
whole 'girlfriend' thing, he'd really been quite a gentleman. So
gracious and caring, with a sense of romance Willow had never gotten
to grips with in him. In his eyes she saw all lovers; in his sad
smile she knew of all love and loss. It was a credit to him that he
turned up at all.

Which flashed the dark figure of Angel into her mind. In the
evening, as dusk claimed shadowed trees and haunted the garden where
they sat, moved, danced, held each other underneath leafy branches;
he had appeared. His soft voice had moved Willow as he told her of
true love, how it never died, how it always endured. She had danced
with him once, felt his cool hands holding her through her pale
summer clothes, had wondered if, had things been different, it might
have been his time. Once.

The Slayer. Always there. Always a friend. More than that, she
reminded herself. More than a Slayer. Buffy was the rock upon which
she had built everything. Those years of friendship had blossomed
into a trusting partnership which gave Willow the confidence she
needed to be there, to do that, to say those words that everyone
heard. And after the whole thing, it was Buffy who had hugged her
last, whispering tearful words into her ear, gripping her fiercely in
an embrace.

Beyond that though, after all the friends, after all the platitudes
and hugging and laughing and being together, after all of that, there
was still Tara. Quiet Tara. Blushing her way to the front of the
row of chairs, waiting in nervous expectation before she and Willow
pledged themselves to each other. As her eyes sought the redhead
out, both of them had exchanged a brief smile, acknowledging that
this was it, it was right. To wait more than a few seconds for each
other seemed like too long.

Willow grinned, hugging her knees even closer to herself as she sat
in the bed, waiting for the morning to wake up. Tara had wanted to
wait at the front for Willow, in case, as she said earnestly,
she 'fell over or something'. Always afraid of herself, that's my
Tara, Willow thought. But now.....now she didn't need to be afraid
of anything ever again. They would always have each other. Some
things came and went, friendships, Scooby Gangs, identities...but she
and Tara.....Willow's smile softened, she and Tara were forever. It
was fate. Had to be, she reminded herself grimly, her right hand
twisting the band around the finger on her left, seeing as they'd
bought rings and all....

She coughed.

The figure lying next to her stirred, pulled in a strained breath
through an awakening mouth and rolled over onto her back, muddy
blonde hair falling in cascades over her face. Pushing it back, Tara
squinted up at Willow.

"What time is it?" she asked, like she always did when she woke up.

"Early," Willow replied, her hand automatically moving down to stroke
the stray strands of hair from Tara's face.

"Mmmm," Tara closed her eyes and smiled, a tiny movement which lit up
the whole of her face. "Nice."

Willow glanced down at the metal band on her finger. "It sure is."

"I'm tired," Tara said grumpily, her mouth taking a downward turn.

"So go back to sleep then," Willow grinned. She'd gotten quite used
to Tara's 'morning head', as they both called it.

The blonde squinted up at her again, mischief playing around the
corners of her eyes; slivers of bright blue behind heavy lidded
shades. "Can't now. Not unless you hold me." A hand reached up to
tug at the sleeve of Willow's nightshirt. "Need some holding.
Please?"

Sighing briefly, Willow scooted down in the bed and put her arms
around Tara as the blonde pressed herself into the redhead's slight
body. The sigh that wrapped itself around one body quickly embraced
the other.

"Did it really happen yesterday?" Tara's voice was muffled by the
covers as she reached down to entwine her fingers with Willow's.

"It sure did." Willow closed her eyes and leant forward, kissing the
back of Tara's head.

"Mmm." Tara sighed again, "Feels like a dream.....a wonderful
dream....love waking up with you every day....for the rest of my
life...."

"I love being yours. Officially." Willow felt Tara's fingers press
lightly against the ring on her finger as she squeezed the woman who
was now her wife. "And if you go back to sleep, you get to wake up
with me all over again. We can pretend it's our first morning
together."

"It is," Tara breathed. "It is."

Utena
Nether World Anchor

Posts: 517
Registered: Oct 2000 posted January 12, 2001 14:23
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If it wasn't doing "the romantic thing justice" that kept a blissful smile on my face while reading this, I don't know what did then...
Bravo! Encore encore!

Zahir
Willowhand

Posts: 384
Registered: Nov 2000 posted January 12, 2001 16:20
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You know, one of the things I love about W/T is the real quality of the fanfic.
Like this.

(BTW, I just read this at Extra Flamey and was thrilled to see Part Three of "Blood of My Beloved.")

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"O let my name be in the Book of Love.
If it be there, I care not of
That other book Above...
Strike it out! Or write it in anew.
But let it be in the Book of Love!"
--Omar Kyam

tommo
Big Pineapple

Posts: 704
Registered: Sep 2000 posted January 12, 2001 16:28
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Ah stop it. I just got engaged, hence the fic. When we're having problems, you'll see a completely different side to w/t...heh heh


xita
Ms. Moderator Fantastico

Posts: 2674
Registered: Sep 2000 posted January 13, 2001 00:35
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Engaged??? What? CONGRATULATIONS
WoW, yes, Ruth's fic tends to mirror her love life, let's hope for the best Although, I know this is it. you are very luckY!


eekiboo
Nether World Anchor

Posts: 536
Registered: Nov 2000 posted January 13, 2001 01:52
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re: the First Day
loved it when W called T "that's my Tara" awwwww....

loved also when T tugged W's sleeve saying "Need some holding. Please?"
reminds me of the 'teach me' scene in LTF. another awwwww... (heh.heh.)

cool. i can add it to my collection of w/t fanfic. pax ppl

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Willow to Buffy: "we have to face it, you can't handle Tara being my girlfriend..." The Yoko Factor

april
Gay Now!

Posts: 1191
Registered: Oct 2000 posted January 13, 2001 01:59
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ruth, congrats! woo and hoo for you!
loved the fic, btw. we should start a "w/t wedding fic collection". i mean it!

Roxton
Gay Now!

Posts: 1326
Registered: Sep 2000 posted January 13, 2001 10:49
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Congratulations on your engagement Ruth. I loved The First Day, it was so romantic. You've captured the feeling of the moment perfectly.


Warduke
Willowhand

Posts: 397
Registered: Nov 2000 posted January 13, 2001 11:01
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Great fic, I love it…W/T married…what a dream come true
Also, congratulations on your engagement, hope the two of you are very happy

tommo
Big Pineapple

Posts: 704
Registered: Sep 2000 posted January 13, 2001 13:24
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Oh please......I can't tell you what a huge happy you lot gave me; you usually do. And this was just a little, you know, 'something' I wrote after getting off the phone with my gf. She's in Spain, I'm in England, she lives in Chicago......star crossed lovers I guess..
I'm really glad you liked this. So I shall write some more! I just got MSOffice 2000 and I'm all a dither.....heh heh

[This message has been edited by tommo (edited January 13, 2001).]

Dr.G
Gay Now!

Posts: 1022
Registered: Jan 2001 posted January 13, 2001 13:27
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Please do, write more! This was lovely. And congrats to you!