Hi all!
So, there’s not a lot of smut in this story. I want to do them justice, and I’m not sure if everyone’s tastes coincide with mine. So it’s hard work for me.
That having been said, some of it is right here, so smut-fans, enjoy!
Smut!Smut!Smut!Smut!Smut!Smut!Smut!Smut!Smut!Smut!Smut!Smut!Smut!Smut!Smut!Smut!
P.S: don’t worry, it’s nothing too kinky, don’t let the previous paragraph worry you
P.P.S: This chapter was actually beta’d! I know, right?
Also, there’s a little shout out to a kitten in here, a virtual cookie to anyone who spots it
What I did last summer (When I was dead)“Hey everyone,” Tara said. “Thank you all for coming.”
Tara stood with Willow, by the table which usually did munchies-duty on Scooby movie nights. Currently it was piled with unusual equipment. She was still dressed in Faith’s spare exercise gear and Willow’s favourite fluffy pink sweater.
Buffy smiled. “We really need to take you shopping.”
Dawn was sitting with Xander and Buffy on one of the couches, Faith sat on the arm of the couch next to Buffy.
Giles for his part was standing politely to one side.
Faith grinned. “C’mon Snow White, like anyone was going to miss it. I swear, English over there would have called off the apocalypse for this.”
“Well, I want to thank everyone for letting Willow and me spend time together, without bombarding me with questions. So now your patience will be rewarded with as many answers as I have to give.”
“And, along with the answers, I have some presents for you,” she said.
“I’m liking this already,” Buffy said, bouncing cheerfully.
“It really helped me keep my spirits up to go shopping for presents for you guys. It kept the idea of coming home fresh in my mind. It also drove my friends slightly bonkers, trying to figure out who you all were, from the clues I dropped,” she said with a fond smile.
“You made friends in the afterlife?” Buffy asked.
“Yeah, where were you? Was it the same place Buffy was? What was it like? Why is your hair white?” Dawn blurted.
Tara smiled. “That’s a good place to start.”
“Wow, I’m really impressed. Normally by this stage Buffy would have fought her way through everybody, to get to the presents,” Willow said, looking just a touch amazed.
Buffy poked her tongue at Willow. “This is important Will, presents can wait a while,” she said.
She looked thoughtful for a moment. “A short while anyway. On with the story Tara.”
“OK, I’ll start with the simple stuff. My hair is white because magic leaves its mark. You use enough of it, for long enough, this sort of thing happens. I have been using my magic to the very limit of my ability, almost daily for nearly a year. Heavy magic use typically leaves its mark in some visible way, such as hair, eye or skin changes. The more you do it, the more dramatic the marks and the longer they last. If I manage to avoid channelling lots of power for a good while, it will change back to, uh, ‘dark blonde’ otherwise known as light brownish.”
“You mean like when Amy went all dark eyed? Or when Willow, um...” Dawn trailed away.
Tara nodded. “Like that.”
Willow looked at her feet, shamefaced.
Tara lifted Willow’s chin with a gentle finger. “You channelled rage and darkness, baby. I understand. Can you imagine what I would have done if it had been you that was shot? It’s done and gone and in the past baby, it’s time to let it go, okay?”
Willow nodded, still not happy, but meeting Tara’s gaze at least.
“So that’s the easy questions dealt with,” Tara said as she took Willow’s hand in hers.
“Was I in heaven? No. What actually happened after I died, I have only been able to put together from bits and pieces, things people have told me,” Tara sighed.
“I was in a place that was formerly a hell dimension. Once, demons ruled there, as they once did here. They left or were driven out and mortals were able to rise and live there. In many ways it was like our world: trees, lakes, people and farms, all very similar. Not, um, clouds or fire.”
She squeezed Willows hand and smiled. “The main difference was that in that world, they used magic to do many of the things that we use technology for. Cars, trains, aircraft, all magical.”
Xander and Dawn exchanged a look that could only be described as ‘neat!’
“I came into that world on a hellmouth.”
Giles spoke up. “Really?”
Tara nodded. “They had them there, just as we do. They also had an organization dedicated to keeping them shut, and to destroying any evil that did manage to get through.”
She smiled at Giles. “I think you’d have liked spending time with Elder Gant, Mister Giles. He was a Druid and the lore keeper for the order. He had records going so far back they were recorded on clay tablets, and he, um, kicked butt with the best of them.”
He returned the smile.
“I fell out of the sky on one of the hell mouths they watched over. They found me and looked after me. For a while, I couldn’t talk or feed myself or anything. They looked after me for a long time until I could fend for myself, until I remembered how to speak, and dress myself. They helped me find the answers I was looking for, and helped me find my way home.”
“Tara? How come this happened to you? How come you didn’t end up where I did?” Buffy asked.
“After I died, my soul waited here for a time. I don’t know how long. I don’t remember anything much from that time, other than a terrible sadness.”
Tara squeezed Willow’s hand. “I sang to you baby, every night. I know that much.”
Willow smiled a sad smile. Dawn sniffled a little at the poignancy in Tara’s voice.
“Um, as you might imagine, many unscrupulous types have a use for a pure soul. And, um, I was a ‘pure’ soul. My lingering near a Hellmouth made it easy for someone to grab me and make use of me,” Tara said sadly.
“Who?” Buffy asked, anger colouring her voice.
Tara looked sad. “Vampires.”
“God! I am so sick of stupid blood suckers,” Buffy groused.
It seemed that the Scoobies agreed with her, if the nods were anything to go by.
Tara smiled slightly. “Don’t feel too bad Buffy, if it wasn’t for their crazy plan, I would not have been able to come home.”
Dawn spoke up. “Yay for you being home Tara, I mean really. None of us,” she took a deep breath. “None of us have been the same since we lost you,” she said, her eyes glittering with unshed tears.
The Scoobies slowly nodded.
Faith put in her two cents. “Snow... Tara? I wasn’t around properly when you were with Red and the gang. But I showed up afterwards and god, could I see the change! I mean Red was a ghost, but so was Buffy. It was like someone sucked the soul out of the gang, y’know?”
A moment of silence stretched on, until it became uncomfortable.
“Um, so the question I was working my way towards, before I derailed myself... why did the vampires grab you?” Dawn asked.
“They wanted to resurrect their Queen. The dark gods of that place are trapped, imprisoned, unable to do things like resurrect the dead. So, resurrection spells have to come from the light, the magic of life and love and sacrifice. Not the kind of thing that vampires can do. They needed someone who could wield that kind of magic. Someone pure, powerful and of the light.”
“There were only a few who could do so with enough power to resurrect their queen. Those who could were warriors of the light, not easily manipulated into doing the bidding of a vampire queen. Not like me,” Tara said sadly.
Faith piped up. “I realize that the answer to this has to be real obvious to the big brains in the room, but how come they could resurrect you, but not the queen? Why did they need you to do that?”
“Vampires cannot use light magic. I’m using ‘Light’ as a shorthand for benign magic here. By their very nature they are prevented from touching power of that type. Only mortals can cross the line between light and dark, the divine and the demonic. It is our strength, and it is why they needed a mortal to do the resurrection.”
“For a resurrection spell, you need the power of light magic, and the gods do not give it willingly.”
“There are however, dark rituals that can resurrect the dead, if you have the right fuel for the spell,” Tara said.
Giles spoke, a tone of sad recognition in his voice. “Oh dear.”
Willow squeezed Tara tightly to her, holding her while she told the most terrible part of her story.
Tara’s forlorn gaze met Giles’ compassionate expression.
Tara went on haltingly. “The ritual wouldn’t work for the vampire queen, but if they sacrificed a being of l-light... they could resurrect me. As a m-mortal, straddling the line between the divine and the infernal, I could use my magic to resurrect the queen. If I had enough p-power.”
“So they sacrificed a being of light. They... they k-killed an angel to bring me back to life.”
There was silence at this revelation for a long, horrible moment.
“Holy fucking shit Glinda!” Faith burst out. “You have to feel like eighty-five kinds of crap about that!”
“Quite,” Giles added.
Tara nodded glumly. “Willow talked to me about it earlier, helped me put it in perspective. A little.”
Tara looked up, making eye contact with the one person who could truly understand. She met Dawn’s huge grey eyes. “Ariel. Her name was Ariel... and she died for me,” Tara whispered.
Dawn nodded, tears in her eyes, connecting with Tara on this most primal level. To have someone understand what it was like to live on, after someone had made the ultimate sacrifice for you. To know, that however unworthy you may have felt, you had to live on, otherwise you made their sacrifice meaningless.
Tara spoke softly, her voice gaining in strength. “She can’t be here to light the way, so I have to.”
She looked at Dawn with determination. “I will take her light into dark places. I will take a stand for the light, and I will fight in her name.”
Dawn nodded her silent understanding.
There was one more thing to do before Tara could move on, one more sacrifice that had to be acknowledged.
She let go of Willow’s hand and moved over to stand in front of Mr Giles.
Silently she took both of his strong hands in her own and lifted them up to see the scar on his left wrist. Tenderly she kissed the scar, evidence of his love, his willingness to sacrifice all for her sake and Willow’s.
She wrapped her arms around him, inhaling his unique ‘Giles’ scent of soap and aftershave as he enfolded her in his strong arms.
She whispered to him. “Thank you Mister Giles. Thank you for... Willow.”
Giles whispered hoarsely. “In a heartbeat, dear girl,” he swallowed. “In a heartbeat.”
Buffy caught Faith’s eye, questioning. Faith shrugged, clueless.
She caught Willow’s gaze and gave her a questioning look and was given only a tiny shake of the head.
Tara looked up at mister Giles. “I think you deserve your present first,” she said with a sniff.
Giles’ green eyes looked into her own, and he smiled.
Disentangling herself from Giles, Tara moved over to the pile of her things on the table. Rummaging around in her pack she removed a small stack of books, perhaps 8 in all.
“What to get the librarian who has everything?” she said with a little ceremony. “Books from another dimension. I am confident that they are the only copies in our reality. They are treatises on magic, which might well help for the future, as well as being just interesting to read.”
She handed the stack neatly to Giles, who received them with a look of genuine pleasure.
“I have a translation spell, if puzzling them out becomes too much of a chore,” she said, with just a hint of teasing.
“Thank you my dear,” he said with a smile. “I just may take you up on that.”
Buffy rolled her eyes. “We are not going to see him for a week now. He’s going to be all ‘librarian man’ and wrapped up in his stuffy books.”
Giles said nothing, but opened one of the books to the first page and made a show of reading.
Willow giggled.
Tara returned to her pile of stuff and picked up a huge, long handled double axe. “This is for you Buffy,” she said, holding out the handle to the Slayer.
“Yeah, I did wonder about that, ‘cos a badass axe really didn’t seem like your style. Uh, from what I’ve heard,” Faith added.
Tara smiled. “I was given it by the Smith priestess that made my armour. She said that it wasn’t for me, but someone that I knew would need it.”
“It is a gift,” she said.
Buffy took the axe and examined the intricately engraved head. “Wow, that’s light. I was worried an axe that big would be too slow to use.”
Tara nodded. “It’s made from what they call flame-touched steel. In addition to being amazingly strong and light, it’s extra effective against demons and evil beings of all types. My friend Takarn had a sword made of the same metal. It glows when wielded by Paladins, ah, holy warriors.”
“Cool. Thanks Tara, it’s an awesome axe, and pretty too!”
Dawn was wriggling in her seat in anticipation of her present. Tara smiled. Over the years, Dawn had picked up many of Willow’s mannerisms.
“This next present is for Dawn, though I suppose it could be a present for Buffy as well. You remember the famous ‘leather pants and soda’ incident?” Tara asked with a smile.
Dawn groaned and buried her head in her hands. “I am going to be hearing about that when I’m old and grey aren’t I?”
“Hey, they were my favourite pants!” Buffy replied with mock outrage.
“Well this should prevent future incidents,” Tara said as she handed Dawn a pair of slim polished wands.
Dawn blinked. “Chopsticks?”
“Wands. Yes, actual magic wands. The shiny one cleans things and the other one fixes broken or torn things, as long as most of the bits are present.”
“You mean this will clean my room and fix my clothes?” Dawn asked, a little puzzled.
Tara nodded. “Uh-huh. Once per day each.”
Dawn bounced up and down. “Yes! That is totally wicked! Most awesome present ever!”
“Wicked? You’ve been hanging around with Faith too much,” grumbled Buffy.
“Well it is to be expected, she is much, much cooler than you,” Dawn hopped up and down on the spot and glomped Tara in a huge hug. “Thanks Tara, you may have just made young-adulthood a bearable experience.”
Tara smiled lopsidedly. “No problem.”
“You couldn’t have had that in Sunnydale? Those were like, the best pants ever!” Buffy groused.
Faith patted Buffy on her shoulder. “Look on the bright side B, she’s six inches taller than you now. About the only thing of yours that will fit her is a hat. An’ I don’t think you own a hat.”
Buffy shook her head. “Hats are not my thing.”
Dawn poked her tongue at Buffy. “And if you insist on hunting vampires dressed like a fashion victim, I may have to charge you to use my magic wand.”
Dawn paused for a moment in thought. “Uh I just realized, do I have to do Harry Potter style bad-Latin? Like ‘Occulus Repairum’ and stuff.”
“Um. Yes,” Tara said. “Wands usually have a command word to activate them. The cleaning wand has ‘Cala’ which means ‘clean’ and the repair wand uses ‘Naxo’ as a command word. I bet you can guess it means ‘fix’. It’s not Latin, but, yes, it’s pretty similar.”
“I guess I’ll just have to change my name to ‘Hermione’ then,” Dawn joked.
“Ugh. Please don’t,” grumbled Buffy.
Another round of tongue poking was had.
Tara looked at Xander. “Xander?”
“Yep. That’s me.”
“I know how much it bothered you not to be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with Buffy in a fight. I can’t give you Slayer powers, but I can give you this,” she said, holding up a heavily worked metal bracelet.
“It is a container for a spell, the most powerful protection spell I can cast. With the blessing of the Goddess on you, hitting you will be like hitting a brick wall. Even an axe swung by a Slayer will have a hard time hurting you. It only holds one spell, which lasts for an hour, but it is a very powerful spell.”
Xander’s eye widened as Tara spoke.
“Sorry about the style, I know it’s a bit girlie, but it’s tough. If you prefer, I can swap out the spell for one which would give you Slayer strength, but without the resilience. Honestly though, the way you put yourself in danger, you should probably stick with the protection spell. It will stop bullets, fists, axes and even blasts of lightning, though the barrier needs a few seconds to recover between hits, so try not to get hit constantly.”
“Wow. I like it. And relax about the style, I am secure enough in my masculinity to wear a bit of jewellery. Thanks Tara, it’s awesome.”
Tara smiled. “I was forever getting ambushed without access to spells, so a bought this bracelet and stored my most potent protection spell in it. To use it, just press the stone on top really hard. I usually just bash it on a wall. You won’t scratch it, it’s pretty much unbreakable.”
She handed the bracelet to Xander and smiled as he immediately put it on and struck a pose.
There were many smiles.
Tara tenderly touched the side of Xander’s face. “I have another gift for you Xander. One I didn’t know I was bringing, until I saw you for the first time.”
He looked a little surprised. “Ooookay... I’ll bite, what?”
“If you want me to Xander... I can heal your eye. I can make you whole again.”
Xander sucked in his breath. The room fell silent and the Scoobies shot emotion-filled looks at each other.
Xander smiled and placed his hand over hers. “You already have,” he said.
He nodded to Willow. “That’s my best friend there. For years she was my only friend. No one else would hang with loser-Xander. She stuck by me when no one else would. We’ve been through everything together, even some really stupid stuff.”
Willow smiled a wobbly smile at Xander, her eyes glittering. She stepped silently over to him and held his free hand in both of hers.
“But there was one thing I could not help her with. One thing that pretty much sucked out her Willowy-goodness and left a Willow-shaped hole where she used to be.”
He took Tara’s hand. “The Tara-shaped hole in her.”
He squeezed both sets of hands. “You healed her, you brought her back to life in a real way. You gave me back by best pal, you gave us all our Willow back. I wasn’t right without her, and she wasn’t right without you.”
Tara was unable to speak. Her smile was sad and watery, as in a few simple words, he gave her a glimpse of Scooby-life without her.
“I think I’ll say thank you for the eye, but no thanks. I see better with one eye than I ever did with two.”
He squeezed Tara’s hand tightly. “You know what I see every day in the mirror? Pride. I look in the mirror and I am proud of the man I have become. I see the scar where I used to have an eye, and I remember what happened when I lost it. And I would do it again in a New York minute.”
“This scar is a reminder every day of what I fought for, of who I fought for, and why. Two-eyed Xander was kind of a selfish jerk. One-eyed Xander will put it
all on the line for his friends. This scar tells me every day, that I am that man. I think I prefer being one eyed Xander, all things considered. Besides, stereo vision is over rated, and this patch? Totally cool, even Badass.”
“You have really thought this through,” Tara said softly.
“Heh, I know Wills. She’s been researching healing spells for ages, trying to find one that will fix my eye. I’m not the fastest thinker in the world, so I try to do my thinking ahead of time. So I had a sit down and a think about what I was going to say, if she came and told me that she had a spell to fix it.”
He smiled. “Thanks for the offer Tara. I’m glad you can do that for us, and one day I might take you up on the offer. But right now this,” he said, tapping his black eye patch. “This is my badge of courage. It’s mine. I earned it.”
“This is why you are awesome, Xander,” Dawn said, glomming Xander in a huge hug.
“Aww shucks. You’ll make me blush,” he muttered.
Willow tousled his hair. “You’re the best, you know? Genuine Xander, accept no substitutes.”
Giles cleared his throat adding his own two pennies. “You have come a long way Xander. You have become a fine young man.”
Buffy felt the need to weigh in and hugged him tight enough to make him gasp. “Buff... oxygen... issue...”
“Oxygen is over rated,” she said, though eventually she let go of him and smiled up into his dark eye.
There was the jingle of metal and Faith’s voice made itself heard. “Hey, Snow-White? What’s this?” she said, holding up a small bag.
Tara looked sad. “Money. It’s a bag full of gold and silver coins. It was going to be a present for,” her voice hitched. “for someone who’s not here.”
Xander’s face fell and Dawn squeezed him extra tight.
“I’m sorry Faith, I didn’t get you a present. I didn’t realize you’d be here when I was shopping for things. If you like, you can have the money.”
Faith opened the bag and let the sparkling coins fall through her fingers. “Thanks T, but I’ll pass. Like you said, not for me. ‘sides, we’re not short of cash here.”
She stopped when she hit a heavy gold coin, triangular, with angular lettering carved into its surface and a double-headed axe symbol on one side.
“Been seeing this logo a fair bit lately. Would it be cool if I snagged this? It would make a badass necklace,” she said with a smile at Xander.
Tara smiled. “Of course Faith, it’s yours.”
“Wicked.”
“Uh, Tara? This axe, it’s mine right?” Buffy asked, a thoughtful look on her face.
Tara looked puzzled. “Um, yes? It’s your axe Buffy, a gift from a Goddess, yours to do whatever you like with.”
“Ok, then good. It’s just that I know someone who needs this axe more than I do, I mean I already have a disco magic axe, and that sword that Giles got me for my birthday
and a giant hammer. I currently have more favourite weapons than I have hands and, well we all got presents, except Faith.”
Buffy turned to Faith. “I want you to have this axe Faith.”
Faith looked shocked.
“I think as one of the chosen two, you should have a weapon worthy of the position,” Buffy said chirpily.
“B, you sure about this?”
Buffy bobbed. “Sure I’m sure. You need something special, so here it is. Think of it as a badge of office, or just a present from me.”
“You ok with this Snowy? I mean you did just give this to Buffy, like, less than a minute ago.”
Tara smiled. “It’s ok Faith. It Buffy’s to give, and I think it’s a lovely idea.”
Faith nodded. “Thanks T.”
Faith turned to Buffy and put her hand on hers. “Thanks B. This is the nicest present anyone ever gave me. Means a lot, y’know?”
She grinned. “And it is totally badass. Girlie, and totally deadly, just like us.”
Buffy was confused. “Faith, how is a huge axe girlie?”
Faith grinned and made eye contact with Tara and Willow. Tara smiled impishly, while Willow examined a spot on the ceiling with great diligence.
“B, your education has some weird holes in it, especially considering who you hang with. I’ll fill you in one day, but trust me, this?” she said gesturing with the double bladed axe. “This is a woman’s weapon.”
“It goes nicely with your pendant,” Tara said, her face the picture of innocence.
Buffy smiled cheerfully. “It does. Maybe I could get one?”
Faith coughed. “Uh, I guess. There’s another one o’ them coins in the bag if you really want one. You sure it goes with your, uh, style B?”
“It’s pretty, and only you have another one in the whole world. It’s like we’re sisters of the axe or something... Are you ok Faith?”
Faith was coughing and spluttering. Willow was still staring intently at the ceiling. Tara proved she was made of iron, by steadfastly maintaining her expression of innocence.
“Yeah. Just... something went down the wrong way I guess. Sisters of the axe huh? Well it is kid of a ‘woman power’ symbol, so I guess it’s cool.”
“Neat! Hey, there’s a jewellers in town. We could get them done up when we take Tara shopping.”
Faith nodded and spoke up in a raspy voice. “Sounds good B. We could do that.”
“Dawn? Why are you bashing your head with a pillow?” Buffy asked.
Dawn looked at her with sisterly pity. “No reason. Enjoy your jewellery shopping trip with Faith. Let me know if you see anything interesting.”
Buffy shook her head. “You are the weirdest little sister ever, you know that right?”
Dawn stared at her blankly for a moment, and then burst out laughing.
Buffy turned to the other Scoobies. “You see? This is what I have to deal with.”
Willow was staring at the ceiling as if trying to drill a hole in it with sheer mental force.
“Will? Earth to Will? What is so interesting up there?”
Willow looked surprised and slightly panicked. “Huh? Oh! Um, I was wondering if these old government-issue type buildings have um, asbestos! Yes, asbestos in them, and was trying to figure out how to get rid of it, because, because, asbestos: bad! And with the growing Slayer kids, and not wanting sick Scoobies, and somebody is supposed to stop me before I *GASP* run out of breath.”
Buffy smiled. “Sorry Will, Babble-Willow is someone we’ve all kinda missed. I don’t know if you know this, y’know, but you don’t do it when you’re unhappy. So Babble-Willow is someone we are all pleased to see.”
“Neato. What were we talking about?” said a slightly dizzy Willow.
“Shopping. We should totally go. We can get Tara a bunch of her own clothes and stuff for her room. Plus we can get our jewellery and generally hang and have girl-time.”
“Yes! Girl-time! That means no Xander standing around in a clothing store, holding all the bags,” Xander said triumphantly.
Willow rolled her eyes. “Xander, it’s not that bad.”
Xander disagreed. “Will, it is
totally that bad. Everyone looks at me like I’m the last slice of pizza at fat-camp, or as if I’m some kind of pervert. Not cool.”
“Well we can’t have that. Go on, have boy-fun, you’re off the hook for bag-holding duty,” Buffy said.
“What is boy-fun for you Xander?” Willow asked.
Xander puffed out his chest. “Only the most manly activities satisfy the Xander-man.”
“Shooting guns while playing poker and smoking cigars?” Willow quipped.
He grinned. “Close. Working on cars.”
“Xander! I had no idea you were a petrol... monkey... grease... person,” Buffy got out hesitantly.
Faith nudged Buffy with her shoulder. “Yeah B, who do you think keeps all the cars and busses and stuff running round here. X-man here is a regular gear-head.”
“Which reminds me,” he said rummaging around in his pocket. “My chance to give someone a present,” he pulled out a key ring and handed it to Tara. “Tada! Merry Hanumastice.”
“You didn’t just give away my sneaky electric car did you?” asked a slightly worried Dawn.
“Nah, I don’t think Chevrolet do electric. I think those are the keys to the beast,” Faith commented.
Dawn looked surprised. “Omigod! Xander you’ve been working on that thing, like forever!”
He nodded. “Yep. And now it’s fixed. Time for it to go to work.”
“Are you sure?” Tara asked.
He nodded. “Sure I’m sure. It’s not every day someone comes back from the other side. C’mon Tara, think of it as a welcome back gift, one long overdue.”
“Thank you Xander. I will treasure it always.”
“You might not think that when you see it,” Buffy retorted.
“Hey, slow down there B. It’s been at the shop for the last week, getting the dents whacked out and a shiny new coat of paint.”
“And new leather upholstery,” Xander added. “I have no idea about paint and seats, other than there should be some, so I gave it to some guys who do.”
He turned to Tara. “Shoo, go play with your new toy while we play with ours,” he smiled. “Take your girl out for a spin.”
Willow smiled cheekily. “She already did that, but driving would be fun too.”
“Will!” blurted Buffy.
Willow smiled cheekily. “Whoops, that’s our cue baby, time to go.”
Willow exited the room towing a grinning Tara. “Bye guys, see you later, thanks for the car Xander!” she called as she was towed down the hallway by tugboat Willow.
+++
Willow pulled back the soft blue cover.
“Wow.”
Tara nodded. “Uh-huh”
“That’s a lot of car,” Willow said.
“Yes it is,”
They stared in amazement at the polished chrome and mile-deep paint of the car.
“It’s a black muscle car,” Willow said blankly.
“It’s an Impala, late 60’s I think,” Responded Tara absently, deep in thought.
“It’s not what I think of when I think ‘girl’s car’, and when did you get all car... expert... girl?”
“This is definitely not a girl’s car. This is the car of a strong, empowered woman, one who is not afraid to stand out from the crowd and break rules from time to time.”
Willow’s eyebrows really couldn’t climb any higher.
“I love this car. And it’s not black, it’s really, really dark purple,” Tara said.
She opened the door and took in the fresh, rich smell of new leather upholstery with a happy sigh. She turned to Willow with a mischievous grin. “Hey baby, going my way?”
Willow giggled behind her hand. “You need to borrow Faith’s leather jacket, then you’ll have the whole ‘Butch’ thing going on.”
She slid into Tara’s arms with a sigh. “Oh wow. Leather smells... mmm ... good.”
“Well what do you know, Xander was right. Classic cars
are chick magnets,” Tara said with a lazy smile.
Willow snuggled in close. “Wanna make out in the back of your shiny new car? ‘cos I really, really want to.”
Tara pulled the seat forward and crawled into the back seat.
“Oh yes. Definitely. Come here baby, time to christen the car.”
Willow scrambled into the back of the car and climbed into Tara’s lap.
“Mmm, what to do? I have a pretty girl in my lap and I’m just not sure what I should do about it.”
Willow gave her a look filled with hunger as she straddled Tara. Her skirt slid up around her thighs as she wrapped her legs around her beloved.
Tara looked up at her beautiful Willow, unable to quite believe how lucky she was. Willow smiled back and gently undulated her hips against Tara, clearly feeling adventurous.
She laid a series of delicate kisses up Willow’s collarbone to her neck and was rewarded with a happy sigh, as Willow tilted her head back and exposed her neck to Tara’s soft lips.
Humming, Tara nibbled her way up the sensitive side of Willow’s neck to her ear. She nibbled on her ear, light lip touches interspersed with tiny nips. She blew gently on the oh-so-sensitive skin and was greeted with Willow’s incoherent murmuring and spacey expression.
She breathed in the scent of Willow’s hair, the clean smell of strawberry shampoo and the scent that was uniquely Willow’s hair. She would never get her fill of that smell.
Willow flushed lightly, evidence of her arousal. Moreover, Tara could sense her need through the connection they shared, a mirror to her own rising need.
She breathed hotly on Willow’s ear, eliciting a shiver. “I love you Willow,” she breathed into her delicate pink ear. Willow moaned in rapture. “Oh, Goddess yes!”
Everywhere Tara touched her felt like liquid fire. Every nerve Willow had was singing. It was more than simply the sensuality of the moment, it was the impossible joy of being here with her soulmate.
It was an un-hoped-for dream, made real with every touch, every sweet scent of her lover’s skin and arousal amplified by the connection they shared. Tara’s hunger for Willow intensified everything she felt in return and she surrendered herself to the moment.
Tara’s fingers buried themselves in her hair and gently tipped her head forward. Willow opened her eyes and saw her own hunger mirrored in Tara’s unending blue eyes. Willow felt Tara’s soft lips brush hers, so gently, so delicately.
Tara pulled her in close and kissed her passionately. It was like closing a circuit, fire flooded Willow’s veins, and lightning flowed back in return.
Their tongues wrestled, entering and receiving in turn, tasting each other in sweetest need.
Willow felt Tara’s stiff nipples pressing against her ribs, even through their combined layers of clothing.
They broke for air, breathing heavily. Tara smiled crookedly. “Is the car working for you, sweetie?”
“I don’t need a car to be turned on by you, baby. I... oh!”
Tara sucked on her lower lip, pulling it in slightly and suckling on it.
Willow felt Tara slide her hands along her legs and up under her gypsy skirt to cup her bottom.
“Yummy. Mmm... shapely Willow bottom.”
“Oh, yesssss, ahh, Willow bottom likes Tara hands.”
She felt Tara’s hands kneading her cheeks, pushing her panties aside to caress her bare flesh.
Willow whispered. “And they wondered why we wore skirts all the time.”
Tara breathed into Willow’s ear. “Easy access,” she said combining a playful ear nip with enthusiastic bottom groping.
“Oh yes,” Willow squeaked.
“You’re mine, baby,” Tara whispered.
Willow shuddered helplessly. “Always.”
Willow reached out blindly and cupped Tara’s breasts, eliciting a shiver.
Tara drew in her breath with a hiss. “Oh yesss!”
Willow gently massaged each full breast with a hand. Two full globes. Two hands full. Perfect symmetry.
She caressed, stroked and tweaked those wondrous breasts, and was rewarded in turn with sighs, moans and even an “Oh my!”
Willow rocked forwards and her eyes snapped open. “Mine,” she growled, her green eyes dark with hunger as she tweaked Tara’s nipples firmly.
Tara gasped. “Oh Goodness yes!”
Willow slid her hands down Tara’s sides and slowly back up again, taking the sweater and halter-top with it, pinning Tara’s arms above her head and exposing her perfectly shaped breasts to the air.
She just stared for a moment, basking in the beauty of Tara’s chest. Perfect teardrops capped with achingly hard light-brown nipples. “Gosh, look at those,” she said with a cheeky smile.
She pounced, leaning forward and taking one pert nipple into her mouth. She lavished attention on that stiffened peak, licking, sucking, nibbling.
Tara gasped, and groaned as Willow began to gently tease her nipple. She made a small sound of complaint as her nipple was abandoned, only to groan and writhe helplessly as Willow switched sides and licked and nipped her other nipple.
“Oh baby... oh my Willow... don’t!... stop!...”
Willow pulled back, bumping her head on the ceiling. “I’m sorry I’m sorry! Was that too hard?”
Without looking, Tara dragged Willow back to her breast. “Don’t stop!” she growled.
“Mmm, bossy Tara, I li-mmmph!” Willow said as she got a face full of Tara breast.
Willow sucked hard on the nipple presented to her busy mouth and was rewarded with arousing groans, she gently raked her teeth across the erect bud and was given a breathless gasp of joy in return.
She gently caressed the mouth-free breast with her hand, stroking the underside with delicate fingertips, lightly trailing her fingernails across the darkened peak.
The dual stimulation was driving Tara to distraction, she felt as if there were wires running between her nipples and her clit. Every time Willow nipped or nuzzled her nipple, she felt a buzz through her body, connecting the two with a jolt of buzzing, tingling, passion. She could not help but make a small sound of disappointment when Willow abandoned the lavish treatment of her nipple. More shooting sensations made themselves felt, as her love delicately nipped at her other taut peak, forcing a gasp of delighted surprise from deep within her.
‘You know, I just realized I can talk to you while my mouth is occupied,’ Willow sent, somehow managing to deliver the essence of a cheeky smile.
‘I... oh!...’ was all Tara was able to send as Willow tweaked and carefully raked her teeth across her captive bud.
‘Baby I love you more than can say, and you know me and words. So I’m going to show you my Tara, I’m going to show you how much I love you, every day for the rest of my life,’ she sent, pulling back from her nipple attention for just a moment, time enough for Tara to string vaguely coherent thoughts together.
Willow sat up, giving Tara the chance to lunge forward and capture her mouth in a passionate kiss.
‘Not... long... enough,’ she sent as she gathered her scattered thoughts,
‘Not by half. You and me, always. Forever is just the beginning.’
‘Always...’ Willow sent back as her tongue wrestled with Tara’s.
A small sound of need escaped her, somewhere between a gasp and a squeak.
Tara felt the need for more Willow skin.
She slid her hands up Willow’s sides, pushing her arms up over her head and divesting her of fuzzy sweater, cotton top and bra in one smooth motion.
By necessity, evening-up the nakedness scales broke their lip-lock, and Willow gasped to find herself suddenly topless. “Wha...?”
‘Oh yeah, I still got it!’ Tara sent, as she grinned at her pleasingly nearly nude soulmate.
‘How do you do that?’ Willow sent.
‘Magic’she replied with a satisfied smile and rocked forward slightly to return Willow’s attentions with interest.
She blew across Willows erect, pink nipple, eliciting a shudder in response and a belly deep gasp. She gently, teasingly, stroked both pert breasts with her fingertips, carefully avoiding the pointed tips until Willow groaned in frustration.
Courtesy of experience and the link they shared, Willow knew Tara was focussed on her chest. So she held off, nibbling her neck and teasing Willow’s sides and the undersides of her breasts with her fingertips until Willow was ready to burst. Slowly, lazily, she trailed her fingernails up and along her ribs, forcing a gasp from her love. She brushed her lips across Willow’s, a whisper of a kiss. A needy gasp escaped from Willow’s parted lips,
‘Oh Goddess, please!’Tara smiled, ‘As you wish,’ and smoothly ran her fingernails up to Willows needy breasts.
‘Was this what you wanted?’ she sent as she tweaked both rosy peaks.
‘Ohhhh...’ was all that Willow returned as she cried out.
Tara replaced her hand with her mouth and teasingly flicked the captive nipple with the point of her tongue. She felt little spasms shake themselves out of the pretty redhead on her lap, each time she did so.
Willow sighed happily as her overheated nipple was exposed to the air only to emit a breathless squeak as her other nipple was engulfed by an enthusiastic and loving mouth.
‘You make the happiest and most wonderful noises, dearest,’ she sent.
Willow responded only with an incoherent and happy murmur.
It just couldn’t get any better. Or so Willow thought, right up until Tara slid her hands from Willow’s shapely bottom to her inner thighs.
Strong fingers massaged and stroked, working their way up Willow’s taut legs until one hand delicately stroked the outside of her wet underwear.
Willow shuddered as Tara’s hands worked their way closer to their goal and gasped when those hands made contact with her panties and the heat beneath.
She cried out softly and rocked her hips against Tara’s hand. “Oh... oh... ooohh!”
The edge of Tara’s hand pressed firmly against her covered folds and the sensitive bud hidden within.
Willow gasped and squeaked as Tara’s hand began to move, the heat and dampness increasing rapidly with each press of her hand.
‘Oh God yes!’ she sent as she shuddered. She held onto Tara’s shoulders as she unashamedly thrust her hips onto her lover’s strong hand, her chin resting on Tara’s head and her flame red hair curtaining her face as she gave herself over to the sensations her skilled lover was producing in her body.
She felt a hand slip inside her panties and stroke her slick folds directly, it was all she could do not to scream. She felt like she was on fire, being electrocuted by a happy executioner, and melting away.
Back and forth Tara’s hand worked, stroking her first gently, delicately, then strongly, fiercely.
‘Dear Goddess more! Baby please!’ Willow sent desperately.
And Tara’s fingers slipped inside her. The position was a little awkward, but Tara managed to press the heel of her hand against Willow’s clit, and Willow saw white.
She clenched tight, her back arched, taut as a bow string.
She took a deep shuddering breath, and her beautiful angel captured her mouth as she screamed,
‘Taaaaraaaa!’She writhed and shook as she rode out her orgasm, bucking on Tara’s hand.
She bucked, rhythmically until she was spent and collapsed, completely limp on Tara.
For a time the only sounds heard in the car were heavy breathing and the occasional gasp of an aftershock.
It took some time for Willow to gather her thoughts. Eventually she was able to convince a synapse or two to fire in the right order,
‘Whooo!’ she sent,
‘Goddess, but you’re good at this.’ ‘Handy being able to talk without needing to breathe,’ Tara sent, smiling.
‘Oh yeah. Still need to be able to think though. When you’re doing your thing baby... well, coherent though is way too much to ask for.’ Tara smiled at her slightly sweaty and panting love,
‘You turn the most delightful shade of pink, sweet Willow.’
‘Beats running any day, lots more fun, woooo!’ Willow replied.
‘I think you might need to join us for morning runs sweetie, get your stamina up a bit,’ Tara sent with a cheeky smile.
‘Haw-haw! Funny,’ Willow sent,
‘Right, that’s enough catching my breath. Time for round two, and you missy are wearing entirely too many clothes!’Tara carefully slipped her hand from Willow’s sensitive nether regions and licked her fingers clean of Willow’s tangy juices.
‘Yummy. Who knew Willows could be sweeter than Maple trees,’ she said with an innocent expression.
‘Accept no substitute, genuine Willow sauce, only one customer,’ Willow sent.
‘Even sweeter from the source,’ Tara sent with a hungry smile.
‘It’s a big car love, but I don’t think they had that in mind when they designed it. We might have to save source sampling for when we get inside,’ Willow sent.
She looked thoughtful for a moment,
‘Actually...’ she said as she climbed off Tara’s lap.
‘Come on up baby, I’ve got a little somethin’ for ya,’ she said with a cheeky grin.
Tara got up from the oh-so-comfy rear seat and knelt breast to breast with Willow.
Willow kissed her sweetly, relishing her own taste on Tara’s lips.
‘Turn around baby, I’m feeling naughty,’ Willow sent.
‘Ooo! Naughty, I like naughty Willow,’ Tara responded as she turned.
Willow pinned Tara against the rear of the seat, forcing her nipples against the soft but textured suede, rubbing her own hard nubs into Tara’s back.
Tara felt Willows hands sliding up her sensitive sides, along her ribcage and around to cup her breasts.
She sighed as warm hands cupped her, nipples rolled between fingers and thumbs, sending little lines of lightning shooting through her body,
‘Oh Willow. That... feels... so... good,’ she sent lazily. She wiggled her rear at Willow, grinding her butt into Willow’s crotch.
‘Goddess baby, just... do things to me, take me please!’ she gasped as Willow kept hold of her breasts, while keeping up the most exquisite massage possible, began to nibble her way from her ear, down her spine to her sensitive back and beyond.
She could feel her love nibbling her way down her spine to her butt, it gave her goose bumps, and she shivered with anticipation.
Gentle kisses greeted each of the dimples on her lower back,
‘I don’t think I tell you often enough Tara, but you have a cute butt,’ Willow sent.
‘No more breast gal, huh?’ Tara sent.
‘No,no,no,no, Tara breasts are one of the eight wonders of the world, at least one of the ones only I get to see, but you still have a great butt.’“Oooh!” she gasped aloud as Willow slid down her pants and boxers.
‘Gosh, look at that! All damp, I wonder what could have caused that?’ she sent.
‘What can I say, I have a thing for redheads, they get me all juiced up,’ Tara sent back.
‘Saucy!’
‘Oh!’ Tara sent with a sharp intake of breath.
‘Om-nom-nom!’ sent Willow, as she took playful bites out of Tara’s shapely bottom.
‘Oh, yes!’ Tara sent, as Willow’s lips and teeth grazed on her behind.
Willow ended up crouched behind her in the seat well, nibbling and massaging her rear.
Tara arched her back and pushed her butt out to give Willow better access. Willow responded by grabbing a cheek in each hand and spread them apart, revealing her furry prize.
‘Yummy and pretty,’ she sent.
Before Tara could respond she buried her tongue in Tara’s wet folds.
Tara gasped and shuddered with delight,
‘Oh, Goddess!’She felt Willows nose wedged between her cheeks as she pressed in deeper, her tongue working its way enthusiastically into her melting sex.
Her skin felt like it was on fire, she pushed back against Willow’s probing tongue, only to have it flick out and hit her overheated clit.
She whimpered as a small orgasm rippled its way through her, adding more heat to the fire in her centre.
Willow’s tongue came back to her clit, flicking across it almost exclusively, sending jolts of wet lightning shooting through her body, through the very centre of her.
She gasped, she panted, she squealed, she came again.
Willow backed off for a moment, giving her poor, oversensitive bud a chance to calm down. Gently Willow blew on her bud, cooling her nethers and making her twitch.
When the little jolts of lightning had finished shooting through her, Willow traced the outline of her slick lips with a finger. Firm enough not to tickle, not so heavy as to irritate, the finger slowly circled her entrance, slowly spiralling inward.
When Tara felt her lovers finger start to enter her, she groaned,
‘Oh yes! Please baby!’Willow obliged, slipping a finger inside with ease, smoothly working it in and out to the tune of Tara’s whimpers.
A second finger joined the first and Tara pushed back against them with a groan.
‘My baby is hungry today,’ Tara heard as Willow added a third finger smoothly to her activities. She picked up speed and pressed just a touch harder, Tara feeling her insides starting to tense and squeeze, building up to a serious orgasm. She was totally focussed on the sensations of her body, Willow’s strong, delicate fingers thrusting inside her, her own nipples rubbing deliciously against the new suede with the action of Willow’s pushing.
She was filled with the smell of fresh clean leather, and the musky smell of sex that filled the car.
She felt a new and unexpected sensation: Willow’s thumb rubbing on her rear entrance. Not penetrating, just pressing and adding delicious sensation to the mix. She felt her body starting to tense up in anticipation of the oncoming tidal wave.
‘You’re nearly there baby, almost there, almost, almooost... There!’ Willow sent as she prodded Tara’s rosebud with her tongue and firmly rubbed her spare thumb across Tara’s swollen clit.
Tara exploded, the extra stimulation sending over the cliff into the abyss. She saw stars, she thrashed, she tried to squeeze Willow’s hand from her body. She cried out. “Willooooow!”
And the hands and tongue did not stop as Willow drove her through her orgasm and back again.
Like fireworks in the night sky, she burst again and again, holding on for dear life and she screamed silently, all words having left.
Until she was spent, and collapsed against the seat, stunned and only conscious by the loosest of definitions.
It seemed like an eternity before she could think straight.
‘Oh Goddess, oh baby, oh dear, sweet Willow!’ Tara babbled mentally, as her oh so talented lover delicately removed her hand.
‘Mmm, Tara sauce. Better than honey,’ Willow sent as she licked her hand clean.
She pulled up Tara’s pants and was greeted with a mental
‘Ugh!’‘Sorry baby. I know its yucky, but I figured it would be even less fun explaining suspicious stains on the new seats,’ Willow said.
The pair collapsed together, breathing as if they had just run a marathon, still magnificently topless.
Arm in arm they snuggled.
Willow softly stoked Tara’s hair
‘Wow just... Wow.’ Tara sent.
‘Tongues in new places,’ she sent with a wry smile.
‘Um, yeah, well I um, wanted to try something new and a bit naughty, because I was feeling naughty, hence the naughty Willow explanation earlier, was that ok?’ Willow sent, bringing all new meaning to the term ‘stream of consciousness’.
Tara laughed silently, which did amazing and Willow-brain derailing things in her chest area,
‘More than ok. Any time ‘Naughty Willow’ wants to come out and play, she is most welcome.’‘Oh. Neato!’ sent an enthusiastic Willow,
‘And ‘Take charge Tara’ was nice too, I mean who could possibly complain about a face full of Tara-boobage? Uh-uh!’Tara smiled,
‘Sorry sweetie, I was busy saying ‘don’t stop’ and you stopped. Very bad manners to leave poor nipples unattended,’ she said with a mock frown.
Willow grimaced,
‘Oops. Sorry, I kinda thought you were saying ‘Don’t’ and ‘stop’.’Tara stroked her hair with her dry hand,
‘All is well dearest.’‘So I’m liking your new car, and wow this head talking thing is easy to get used to, I’m almost afraid to actually speak for fear of deafening myself.’“I don’t think we’ll go deaf,” Tara said out loud.
“Eeep!”. “Eeep!” Willow said in surprise, surprising herself again immediately afterwards.
“No lights and floating this time?” Willow said.
Tara pondered for a moment. “I think... that only happens when we are working together. Just now was us taking turns.”
“Good to know,” Willow said bobbing her head. “’Cos there might be times when we don’t want everyone within a mile to know what we’re up to. Like um, just now.”
Tara chuckled, mesmerizing Willow again.
“As much as I’m enjoying the show, and whooo am I!” Willow said, ogling Tara’s breasts at close range. “We should probably get dressed and cleaned up. I’d hate for someone to come down here and make us feel all flustered and awkward. Plus we are kinda naked in a public car-parking place.”
Tara smiled. “New pants would be nice too. Dampness is definitely sexier before, not so much after.”
“And I definitely want to wash up before I shake hands with anyone, because... well... yeah,” Willow said a little awkwardly.
“I understand sweetie, I don’t want to share you with anyone else either,” she said waggling her drying fingers.
“Well, I think this car is well and truly christened, in a way I don’t think most Christians would appreciate.”
“Yup, she’s definitely part of the sisterhood now, mean we totally and completely had sex inside her… and I will back away from the metaphor slowly, making no sudden movements.”
Tara laughed. “She?”
“Yeah, like you said, ‘car of an empowered woman’. Just because she’s big and strong, doesn’t mean she can’t be feminine too. I mean it works for Buffy and Faith, why not the car too?”
“Winona.” Tara stated confidently.
“Huh? You think she’s a Winona?”
“It means ‘Firstborn Daughter’ in the Sioux tongue. I think it’s appropriate for a car painted stealth-purple. And so much nicer than the usual ‘bessie’.”
Willow clambered out of the back seat and stood by the driver’s side door, pulling on articles of clothing as she did so. “Bessie would be a bit odd around ‘Buffy’ I think. There’s still one thing left to do in this naming ceremony baby,” Willow said. She pointed at the car keys.
Tara crawled into the front seat with the keys. With appropriate ceremony she checked the gear shift and turned the key.
‘Winona’ awakened with a throaty rumble. Tara revved the engine a little, taking in the engine’s growl of power.
“Wow. I’m starting to see why boys like cars so much,” Willow said as she pulled her sweater on. “Witches with wheels,” she said indistinctly through the sweater.
“Hey Red, Blondie... Whoa!” Faith said.
Willow screamed and jumped a foot in the air.
Winona roared as Tara’s foot slipped on the gas.
Willow leaned against the frame for support and clutched her chest. “Goddess Faith! Heart attack much?”
“Nice rack Snow-white!” Faith said, cheerfully ogling Tara’s chest. She turned to Willow. “Nice moves Red, shoulda played B-ball. Uh, sorry if I caught you in the middle of some witchy thing, I just wanted to give ya somethin’.”
She ran her hand through her hair. “I figured you were done with the sweaty stuff when I heard the engine fire up. My bad.”
Tara climbed out of the front seat and dressed with as much dignity as she could muster.
“Hey!” protested Willow with a scowl. “No ogling Tara-boobs.”
Faith cupped her own breasts. “They’re nice, but I still think mine are better.”
Willow tapped her foot impatiently. “Was there a point to all this ogling and heart attack stuff?”
“Yeah sorry, got kinda blown out of the water there. I got you a present Sn... Tara. I figure it’ll fit ya pretty good, given that you’re wearing most of my other stuff,” She said, holding out a black leather jacket.
Tara took the jacket. “Thank you Faith, it’s very sweet.”
“I wanted to give you a present to say welcome back, and sorry I was kinda bitchy when we first met.”
She grinned. “I figured Red here would probably give you something fuzzy, and B will get you something shiny, so I thought, ‘hey, every girl needs something leather’ so there ya go.”
“Leather is very sexy,” Tara said solemnly.
Willow blushed.
Faith’s grin widened. “So I heard.”
Willow turned noticeably redder.
Faith shifted her attention to the car. “Nice! Those guys do good work. What did ya name her?”
“Winona.”
“Huh, not what I would have expected, but still cool. I’ll get out of your hair and let you clean up. Have fun with Winona, she sounds like a blast,” Faith said with a wave, as she took off.
Willow looked at Tara, still pink in the cheeks. Tara looked back.
They both burst out laughing.
“Goodness I nearly jumped out of my skin when you screamed!” Tara said wiping her eyes.
“Welcome to life with Faith. Hit and run gifting, kind of a new experience,” Willow said, likewise wiping away a tear or two.
“She means well, I just think she’s new to the idea of sharing and feelings,” Tara said.
Willow held out her hand as Tara turned off the engine. “C’mon baby, let’s go get cleaned up before anyone else surprises us.”
+++
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it's just TV show budget restrictions and/or not wanting to solve every problem with massive strength.