Moonlight (Updated 18 Aug 09)

[Poniac]

Moonlight

Disclaimers: Willow and Tara and other characters borrowed from the television show “Buffy: The Vampire Slayer” are the property of their creator, Joss Whedon, and his affiliates, Mutant Enemy, Fox, and UPN. I’m just playing with their creations.

Spoilers: Starts in Season 5 after family. Though I’ve screwed with the timeframe, Joyce is no longer with us. Of course there will be plenty of angst, pain, girl loving and of course a happy ending.

Rating: PG-13 for now - things will I'm sure heat up a bit

Summary: A bit of a look at what might of happened if Tara’s family hadn’t given her up so easily.

Feedback: The more the better – I love it, it keeps me going



***Part 1***

It was a warm Sunnydale night; the wind blew gently through the open dorm window, the moonlight shone through the fluttering curtains to reveal a room with eclectic furniture, strewn with book, candles, crystals and a trail of clothes leading from the door to the bed. Tara leaned over in the moonlight to take another look at her lover. She pulled the sheet up to her chest and sighed as her eyes rested on Willow. ‘Willow,' just saying her name made Tara’s insides soft and warm. Willow’s red hair was still short, but during the night it managed to work its way into an unruly mess around Willows face. A smile crept to Tara’s lips as she whispered her lovers name and gently brushed hair from her cheek, careful not to wake her.

‘Tara,' sighed the sleeping redhead, a gentle smile on her lips. Tara’s smile widened, this was their nightly game. When one was awake they’d whisper their names into each other’s ears, waiting for the other to whisper their reply. She leaned closer and whispered ‘who loves Willow' ‘Tara.’ was the immediate reply. Tara smiled, and closed her eyes, and returned her head to the pillow.

Tonight had been a big night - tonight she’d learned that her biggest fear was just an illusion. Tonight she’d lost her father, brother, cousin. Tonight she’d gained a family. The memory of the scoobies fighting for her, daring her father to take her against her will bought tears to her eyes, again. She’d never felt so wanted, she was a part of something. She wasn’t a demon, the thought still new reverberated around her head, she wasn’t a demon, and wasn’t going to become one anytime soon. Tonight she’d finally found acceptance and it made her heart sing.

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

James Maclays’ knuckles where white as he gripped the steering wheel of his aging van. His eyes bored into the darkness, seeing nothing but memories of his humiliation as he steered the van down the highway. In the back seat Donny and Beth Maclay cringed, unsure of what to do or say. They glanced at each other, not know what to make of the nights events. They were sure that James would drag Tara out of that place, friends or not – but he just walked away. Neither Donny nor Beth knew what to make of that – they had never seen James Maclay walk away from anything before. Each turned to look out the window and mindlessly watched as despite the moonlight, Sunnydale retreated into the dark.

----------

Buffy coughed and spluttered as dust from a recently departed vampire found its way into her nose. ‘Stupid vampire dust – God I have to get this stuff out of my best shirt again,’ she muttered to herself as she brushed the dust from her face and clothes.

‘Have some respect for the dead love,' Spike’s voice carried from the bushes as he slowly walked towards the slayer. The vampire stopped short of the slayer and looked around as he casually lit a cigarette and took a long drag.

‘What do you want?' snapped the slayer as she eyed the short haired, dyed blonde vampire. ‘Just wonderin’ how thing with Red’s bird ended up,’ asked the vampire, almost too casually.

‘Don’t tell me you’ve suddenly grown a heart?’ growled Buffy as she pried dust from under her nails.

Spike clenched his teeth and resisted the urge to snap at the slayer. ‘Well - I like Red’s bird, she treats me like a person, not like the rest of you ungrateful gits,’ growled Spike. ‘She’s alright,’ he mumbled.

Buffy’s eyes rested on Spike, ‘She’s Willow’s – you know that right?’ asked the Slayer her eyes never leaving his face. He rolled his eyes and stepped away from the slayer. ‘I know if laid so much as a hand on the girl Red would dust me before I had time to blink – and she’s not my type anyway,’ he added defensively.

Buffy smiled, it seemed that Tara had found her way into many hearts since she joined Willow and the scoobies. The thought that Spike actually cared about the witch came as quite a surprise, she’d always thought that Tara was something special. Now it seemed that she’d warmed the heart of a dead man, no small feat. Buffy smiled to herself as memories of Angel flooded her mind for just a few moments.

Spike wandered to the nearest crypt and climbed up, he reached out to the slayer and pulled her up with him. They sat next to each other, bathing in the moonlit night, slayer and vampire drawn together by their memories of the night.

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

Willow opened one eye as she felt small furry pads of pressure on her chest. She saw the curious black and white face of Miss Kitty looking down at her as she gently batted Willow’s nose. Willow reached out to pet Miss Kitty, but as she did she noticed Tara’s arm resting above her head. Her eyes followed Tara’s arm down to her hand to discover a small feather trailing above her own forehead. Willow’s eyes widened ‘Tara! – since when am I Miss Kitty bait?’ she asked with a grin on her face.

Tara smiled and tried her best pout ‘But you looked so cute sweetie, and Miss Kitty was already crawling on your chest….’ Willow leaned forward and silenced her girlfriend with a smoldering kiss. ‘Wow,' whispered Tara as their lips released and she stared into the emerald green eyes before her. ‘Can you greet me like that every morning?’ she asked. Willow leaned over and picked up Missy Kitty and released her onto the floor with the feather. Miss Kitty crawled around the bed, watching the feather, waiting for the right moment to strike. Willow smiled as she saw Miss Kitty wiggle into prime pouncing position, tail swishing wildly as she carefully watched the feather.

‘Well Ms Maclay I think we can come to some sort of arrangement,' smirked Willow as she drew her girlfriend close pressing her lips against her cheek. Her kisses trailed along Tara’s cheek, along her jaw line and down to her neck. ‘Uh Goddess Willow – don’t stop…’ moaned Tara as she pushed her body into the redhead’s.

-----------

‘You’re dropping your shoulder Buffy,’ said Giles struggling as Buffy pummeled the punching bag. ‘Damn it Giles – I’m angry, they had no right to walk in here and expect to take her away against her will, snarled Buffy as she stood back and took a deep breath.

‘Yes – well it appears they’ve gone home empty handed,’ said Giles as he cleaned his glasses. ‘Right, back to it then – and this time Buffy…’

‘I know Giles – keep my shoulder up,’ sighed Buffy as she took aim at the punching bag. Buffy punched the bag, when she really wanted to punch James Maclay. She wanted to hurt him, cause him pain, and make him regret even thinking that he could take Tara home. Tara had never talked to Buffy about her family, but Willow had, she’d told Buffy how they hurt her, how much she suffered. Willow came to Buffy one day, in tears, after spending the night soothing Tara through another of her nightmares. Only then did the slayer know how much pain Tara endured in her childhood, how much she had been put through, and even then Buffy thought that Willow had spared her the worst details.

‘BUFFY!’ gasped Giles as he staggered behind the punching bag, holding his stomach. ‘Oh – God Giles – I missed again didn’t I?’ The slayer ran towards the watcher. Giles leant forward, one arm wrapping around his stomach, the other held out in front warding off the slayer ‘I’m ok, just give me a moment.’

‘Giles – I’m sorry I was just thinking about Mr. Maclay and Tara, and I’m just so angry and I – God Giles did I say I’m sorry?’ cried Buffy.

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

James Maclay sat on his porch, surveying his property. The well built but well aged farmhouse had stood on this ground since the mid 1800’s when his family settled the area. He was from the land, as was his father and grandfather, it was all he knew. He watched Donny as he worked on the barn roof, replacing the rotten beams, nailing down the loose shingles, preparing for the winter. James thought about his son, Donny, his eldest, his seed, bought up to be the man of the family.

‘Family,’ muttered James as he looked around. He wondered what happened to his family, his wife had passed, both his parents had passed, his sister, well, she wasn’t family anymore, his brother had run of with some whore, and there was Tara. Tara, his daughter, she confounded him – she always had. He was a tough man on his children; he believed they needed to be bought up right, just like he was. Spare the rod, spare the child his father had said. They needed to be taught about life from an early age.

Taught right from wrong…
Taught to respect their elders…
Taught to do what they were told…
Taught not to speak until spoken to…
Taught their place in the world…

It worked for Donny, he was here on the farm, working, he was a good boy, did what he was told, sure he was undisciplined, sometimes had a smart mouth, but he minded his father. But Tara – no matter how he disciplined her, she still defied him, even when she was a child crying, shaking, and hiding from him. He could see it in her eyes, he knew that she was lost to him, he knew he could never hope to control her – but he’d try time and time again.

She should be here, he thought, looking after her father and her brother, her family. James gnashed his teeth as he thought of his daughter, running around doing God know what with those people from the ‘city’. The blonde haired girl and her band of freaks, they’d taken him by surprise – he’d not anticipated such resistance. Tara had never been one to have friends – he hadn’t counted on friends. Next time he wouldn’t make the same mistake.

He’d bring her home – she should be here where she belonged. She had no right to think that she could do anything else. It was her mother’s fault, he thought. She spoiled the child with ridiculous tales of magic, stories of the family history; put ideas into her head that she could do things like go to college and get a job outside the home. She’d never encouraged Tara to go out with one of the local boys, she’d let her think that she was too good for them.

Tara had shared a bond with his wife that neither he nor Donny could have or understand. And he hated his daughter for that.

[Guest]

Ahah, a story set under the theme of domination ought to make an interesting plunge in the world of S5 again! I find especially that your style of writing is fitting together unconnected events with a jump into the momentary impressions that the rest of the characters have had after the interaction scene with James Maclay. This jumping from one scene to another feels slightly hazy at times. The tonality for each character scene is perfect though: sensual, profound loving for Willow and Tara, aggression and future suppositions between Buffy and Spike and Buffy and Giles as well as just the right expression of suspicion and prejudice in Tara’s father. I'm looking forward to reading more about the battle between Tara's softness and her father's arrogance.
Loads of luck ^^

Vi'

[whirlwindcharmer]

Great start. I love the interaction between Willow and Tara it's very cute. Can't wait to see how you develop this story.

[Nue]

‘Tara’, sighed the sleeping redhead, a gentle smile on her lips. Tara’s smile widened, this was their nightly game. When one was awake they’d whisper their names into each other’s ears, waiting for the other to whisper their reply. She leaned closer and whispered ‘who loves Willow?’; ‘Tara’ was the immediate reply. Tara smiled, and closed her eyes, and returned her head to the pillow.

they´re just too cute...

and I´m always glad to read pieces of Tara´s family, about her childhood and stuff... thanks for that ^^

[Taralover]

Tara is so sexy and sweet in this fic.

[Poniac]

Nimloth - Thanks for you comments. I think with a longer update it might feel a little less disjointed between scenes.

whirlwindcharmer - Thanks, I hope you enjoy the update

nue - I'm always interested in filling in the spaces in Tara's background. Infinite possibilities here! Thanks for reading.

taralover - and who doesn't love a sexy sweet Tara...

Update shortly!

[Poniac]

Moonlight

Disclaimers: Willow and Tara and other characters borrowed from the television show “Buffy: The Vampire Slayer” are the property of their creator, Joss Whedon, and his affiliates, Mutant Enemy, Fox, and UPN. I’m just playing with their creations.

Spoilers: Starts in Season 5 after family. Though I’ve screwed with the timeframe, Joyce is no longer with us. Of course there will be plenty of angst, pain, girl loving and of course a happy ending.

Rating: PG-13 for now - things will I'm sure heat up a bit

Summary: A bit of a look at what might of happened if Tara’s family hadn’t given her up so easily.

Feedback: The more the better – I love it, it keeps me going

Part 2

Willow snuggled up to the blonde in her arms and sighed again. ‘Honey,’ whispered Tara ‘We can’t stay in bed all day – Anya is expecting us at the magic shop soon’. ‘Uuugghhhh – but I don’t wanna,' muttered Willow as she ran her tongue up the back of her girlfriend’s neck.

Tara laughed as she rolled to face Willow, wrapping her arms around her ‘Again?’ Willow’s face flushed as she buried her face in Tara’s arms. Willow’s voice was muffled as she responded ‘humpff lurmm eeeewww.' Tara smiled and teased Willow’s face from her chest, and held it still whilst she placed a lingering kiss on her soft lips.

‘What was that Baby?’

‘Ummm … what?’ asked Willow still slightly dizzy from the kiss.

‘What was that you mumbled into my chest?’

‘Oh’ Willow smiled sheepishly ‘I love you’

Tara laughed ‘You were telling my chest you loved it?' Willow grinned at the thought ‘Well… I love your … um chest, and well I wasn’t talking to your chest, I just happened to be there nuzzling… when I said that I loved you… but come to think of it…I am a breast gal and…’

Tara giggled and silenced Willow with a quick kiss ‘Sweetie – maybe later on you can tell them you love them and have a little alone time together,’ she teased ‘But for now we have to get up, shower and get to the Magic Box before Anya decides that we need to count the newt eyes again.'

‘Can we shower together?’ asked a hopeful Willow with a smirk on her face.

‘You are insatiable Ms Rosenberg,’ said Tara as she stood up and slipped on her robe. Willow simply smiled and wiggled her eyebrows at her girlfriend. ‘Newt’s eyes,’ reminded Tara as she swept out the door towards the bathroom. Willow groaned and quickly pulled on her pajamas and reached for a towel as she followed Tara out the door.

*******************

‘Well he should thank his lucky stars that I’m no longer a demon,’ grumbled Anya as she dusted shelves of the magic shop, carefully rearranging the merchandise. She sighed as she paused and reminisced - ‘I’ve missed a good evisceration.'

Xander grinned at his girlfriend ‘Ah the good old days – rampant vengeance and blood letting – let the good times roll.' Anya snorted and threw the dust-cloth at Xander ‘you are so lucky I’ve lost my powers – you wouldn’t be so mean to me then!’ Xander ducked and worked his way towards Anya with a glint in his eye ‘Oh baby – you know you want me.' Anya suspiciously eyed him as he moved towards her ‘Xander Harris, you can’t possibly want sex again, we did it twice this morning already…’

‘Oh Lord!' muttered Giles as he emerged from the training room ‘Please someone cut off my ears.'

‘No such luck – we all suffered through that,' replied Buffy as she followed him from the training room. ‘So Xander, twice before breakfast…’ before Buffy could continue she was silenced by the jangling of the bell over the door to the Magic Box.

************
Willow crawled around the floor of Tara’s room, picking up clothes and searching under bed. ‘Baby – have you seen my shoes? The green sneakers, - you know the ones that I like, because I wore them when we first went for a walk and you held my hand and I…’

‘Check on the chair sweetie,’ said Tara, smiling as she watched her girlfriend scramble around the room. She watched Willow as she located the shoes and commenced searching for socks. Tara’s mind returned to the previous night. Willow was there for her when her family tried to take her; she stood by her, protected her and was ready to fight for her. Later that night they’d made love, Willow was passionate, loving, tender and giving. This morning she was cute, loveable, harmless, and unable to harm a soul. Tara loved the contradiction that was Willow – with Willow she felt loved, she felt safe. Two things she hadn’t felt in a very long time.

A few minutes later Willow smiled as she walked hand in hand with Tara through campus on their way to the Magic Box. ‘So how are you feeling today?’ she asked.

‘Great sweetie – how about you?’

‘Umm good – all with the good – I was just you know – thinking that well you know – last night – umm it was tough and just making sure that you – are umm feeling okay today,' stammered Willow, pausing to look at her girlfriend. ‘I thought that um maybe you needed to talk about last night.'

Tara stopped and turned towards Willow, ‘Sweetheart – you don’t n-need to worry about me. Last night I was really scared – but it turned out f-fine. I’m sorry that Dad and Donny left angry, but I am glad they left w-without me, and I’m glad that I’m here today with you.'

Willow smiled as she leaned forward and pressed her lips against her girlfriends. As they lingered, their kiss deepened, and their bodies pulled closer together. As Tara pulled away Willow whimpered and pouted with the loss of contact. Tara smiled, and entwining her fingers with Willow’s she pulled them to her lips and kissed them whispering ‘Newt’s eyes!' Both witches burst out laughing and continued on their way to the Magic Box.

************
The bell to Magic Box jangled loudly as Dawn rushed through the door, letting it slam behind her. ‘I’m here – but I can’t help out today Janice and I need to do some homework,’ she announced as she rushed down the stairs towards the scoobies.

Anya turned to Xander and whispered ‘She can’t go – we need her to count the newt’s eyes.' Xander turned towards Buffy ‘So Buffster – should we give her a break or is it newt’s eyes for the youngest Summers girl?’

Dawn’s eyes widened ‘Newt’s what?’ she asked ‘You don’t mean those slimy little round things that slide around and are impossible to pick up? No way - I’m not counting those again,' she shuddered at the thought.

Buffy stood up and turned to her sister, hands resting on her slender hips ‘Homework huh?’

Dawn looked calmly back at her sister ‘Yep.’

‘What subject?’

‘History and science,’ replied Dawn calmly meeting her sisters eyes

‘And where would this homework be done?’

‘At Janice’s - and before you ask her mom is home. You can ring her if you like.’

‘Boys?’

‘Nope – just me and Janice,’ smirked Dawn

‘Holy water and crosses?’

‘In my bag,’ replied Dawn rolling her eyes at the slayer.

Buffy sighed and turned to Anya ‘Sorry – newt’s eyes can’t get in the way of higher education, you’ll have to find another counter for those horrible slimy things.'

She turned back to find Dawn already heading back towards the door of the Magic Box ‘Hey,’ she called out ‘I’m going to call Janice’s mom, and I want you back by dinner!’

‘Fine,’ called out Dawn as the door slammed behind her.

************

‘Well now that we’re all here lets get to work,’ announced Anya shortly after Willow and Tara arrived at the Magic Box.

Tara nervously stepped forward and put her hand on Anya’s arm ‘Anya – j-just a minute. I have something to say f-first.' Tara nervously looked around and examined the group before her. Giles stood behind the counter cleaning his glasses, looking up at the blonde with a quizzical look on his face, Buffy and Xander who were leaning on the counter turned towards Tara and looked at her expectantly. Lastly Tara looked to Willow who was perhaps the most surprised in the small group. Their eyes met, Willow was reassured by Tara’s gentle smile, and Tara was calmed by Willow’s loving gaze.

‘I – I just w-wanted to a-apologise for last night.' Tara held up her hand to silence the objections on the lips of her audience. ‘I am v-very sorry about the s-spell that I cast last n-night.’ She took a deep breath and looked at each of the scoobies ‘I was s-scared, scared that all I have come to love and treasure would vanish f-from my life.’ Tara’s eyes rested on Willow for a moment. She continued ‘I never meant to place anyone in d-danger – I never meant for that to happen. I w-want to thank you all – for standing up for me, no one else in my life has every done anything like that for me.’ By now the blonde witch was glowing red and hiding her face behind a curtain of blonde hair. Willow stood up to embrace her girlfriend, but before she could say anything Buffy stepped forward. She put a hand on Willow’s shoulder and turned to Tara ‘God Tara – you never have to apologise. It’s not like any of us have never put a foot wrong, you did a spell, so it went a bit wonky. We’re a family; we look after each other, its what we do.’

Buffy walked over and hugged the blonde witch – and whispered ‘So how’s your nose this morning?’ Tara laughed as she sat down at the table with her family.

*****************

Beth Maclay stood silently at the door watching her uncle finish his lunch. She was still worried about their trip to Sunnydale, neither Donny or Uncle James had discussed it since their return. She knew he was thinking about Tara – she could sense his anger. He was more sullen than usual and last night he sat up drinking whisky until late. She waited for him to finish lunch and leave the room before she stepped forward to clean the table. She shook as she remembered the time when she moved in to clear the table before he had finished; his slap had loosened a tooth, and bought tears to her eyes. Now she knew her place, she stood back and waited for him to get his hat and leave the room before she cleaned the table. As James Maclay left the room he spoke ‘Beth – I want you to go to the store and buy supplies for Donny, he’s going back to Sunnydale tomorrow and will need a packed lunch, dinner and supplies for a few days. I’m going into town I’ll be home late.'

‘Yes Uncle James,’ responded Beth as she moved forward to clear the table.

Beth watched as James Maclay’s van disappeared in a cloud of dust down the road towards down. She quickly left the house and made her way across the paddock, towards the barn. She paused to call out ‘Donny – where are you?’

‘Out back.’

Beth walked through the barn to find Donny sitting on the bonnet of a rundown truck, tools spread around him. He looked up at his cousin as she came through the door ‘Shoot Beth, if Dad catches you out here instead of doing your chores he’ll raise hell.'

‘He’s gone into town – says he’ll be back late,’ said Beth, looking out towards the road to town ‘says I got to pack you some supplies for a trip to Sunnydale.'

Donny slid down from the bonnet and walked to the front of the truck ‘You best mind your business Beth.'

‘What are you going to do Donny?’

Donny creaked open the bonnet of the truck and propped it open with a sturdy branch. He turned towards his cousin ‘I’m just going to talk to her Beth.'

‘And say what Donny? You think you ask nice and she’s going to come running back here so she can play housemaid to you and Uncle James?'

‘Like I said I’m just going to talk to her – that’s all.' Donny turned his back on his cousin and leaned in towards the engine of the rundown truck.

Beth eyed her cousin as he worked on the truck ‘You try to bring her back Donny and she’s going to raise hell, along with those friends of hers.’

Donny whirled back around towards Beth ‘I’m just going to talk to her – now go back and finish your chores before I lose it.' As Beth turned she could hear Donny add under his breath ‘She’s gonna do what’s right.'

[jasmydae]

Hey. ^_^ Haven't had a chance to read these in full, but from skimming, I do have a comment to make. Your dialog punctuation is detracting from the actual content of the story. Check out the first few episodes of the posts here for examples of what I mean:

http://thekittenboard.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=5674

Hope you don't mind the critique. ^_^>

~ Megan

[Taralover]

Tara smooches are so sweet.

[Poniac]

jasmydae - Thanks for the feedback I've made some corrections, and will pay closer in attention from now on. I embarked on this adventure to try to improve my writing skills - which has been challenging, yet enjoyable. I'm happy to take any constructive comments.

By the way - the examples you linked to were very helpful!

[Poniac]

Moonlight

Disclaimers: Willow and Tara and other characters borrowed from the television show “Buffy: The Vampire Slayer” are the property of their creator, Joss Whedon, and his affiliates, Mutant Enemy, Fox, and UPN. I’m just playing with their creations.

Spoilers: Starts in Season 5 after family. Though I’ve screwed with the timeframe, Joyce is no longer with us. Of course there will be plenty of angst, pain, girl loving and of course a happy ending.

Rating: R-NC17. A bit of girl on girl loving on the way....

Summary: A bit of a look at what might of happened if Tara’s family hadn’t given her up so easily.

Feedback: The more the better – I love it, it keeps me going. And well it hepls me know how I'm going and that the story is improving...hopefully!!

Part 3

After helping Anya at the Magic Shop, Willow and Tara spent the day hanging with the scoobies. They revelled in some apocalypse free time, shopping, going to the movies and finished off the day with pizza and beer at Buffy’s place. After a long relaxing day free from vampires and demon Willow and Tara said their farewells and headed back to the dorms. Willow groaned as they walked towards the dorm ‘Baby I think I ate too much pizza.’ Tara put her arm around the redhead’s shoulder ‘Sweetie – do you want me to rub your stomach for you?’ Willow laughed and pulled her girlfriend close as they ascended the stairs to Tara’s dorm room ‘maybe later,’ she suggested.

As they neared the room Tara gripped Willow’s hand ‘Sweetie – I, something isn’t right.’ Willow looked around, but everything seemed normal, she glanced at the door, it was locked, as they left it that morning. She looked at Tara; she could feel the waves of anxiety flooding her body ‘Baby – what is it?’

‘I don’t know – b-but I feel something umm dark is close,’ she whispered as she looked down the hallway. Tara’s hand shook as she approached the door and entered the key into the door lock. As the door creaked open Willow pushed past Tara and entered the room, she quickly turned and flicked the light switch - illuminating the room. Tara entered behind Willow carefully looking around, she sighed as she realized the room was as they left it in the morning. Willow checked the room, under the bed, in the wardrobe, and made sure the window was locked.

Willow turned to smile at Tara – ‘Baby – no boogey monsters here, all clear.’ Tara flopped on the bed ‘Wow sweetie that was weird, I really felt something when we got to the door.’ She looked around nervously ‘It was really intense…’ Willow sat down next to the blonde witch and rubbed her arms, ‘Well, whatever it was it isn’t in your room – so I suggest we have a shower and get ready for smoochies, and some tummy rubbing.’ Tara smiled at her girlfriend, Willow was so thoughtful, so understanding ‘That sounds lovely sweetheart.’ She leaned forward and gently kissed Willow on the lips, cheeks and forehead, before she got up, took Willow’s hand and headed towards the shower.

Tara’s eyes fluttered open, she blinked a few times, her pupils adjusting to the darkness. Her heart was beating fast, she felt sweat beading on her brow, and she was slightly out of breath, she felt like she’d been running. She raised herself up onto her elbows and looked around her room. The clock on the bedside table read 0353, instinctively she reached out for the warmth of Willow next to her. Relieved, she laid her head back down on the pillow and took a deep breath. She wondered if she had a dream, but she couldn’t recall one, she felt the same rising uneasiness she did earlier in the evening. She turned and pushed herself closer to Willow, wrapping her arm around her. She held on tight, but she couldn’t shake the uneasiness that crept through her.

Tara closed her eyes and tried to relax, she slowed her breathing; she concentrated on holding Willow, the warmth of her soft skin, the rise and fall of her chest. She struggled against the feelings of anxiety, rising panic, fear of loss, the loss of Willow. Goddess – she couldn’t think about it – Willow, she could never imagine her life without Willow, her sweet Willow. Her eyes watered as she held her lover, she pressed her lips against Willow’s neck, the taste of her skin reassured Tara. Willow stirred as she felt Tara’s lips on her neck, rolling over she wrapped her arms around her girlfriend ‘mmm Tara kisses.’ Tara buried her face in her lover’s neck, her tongue travelling up to Willow’s ear as she whispered ‘Willow I love you, Goddess I love you so much …’

Willow’s excitement roused her from her sleep, she felt the familiar snake of arousal wind its way up her legs, and settle in her centre as she heard Tara utter those words. Willow’s hands moved to pull Tara’s face to her lips for a tender kiss, a moment later, sensing Tara’s anxiety she pulled away ‘Baby – what’s wrong?’ Tara pulled Willow close and nuzzled her neck, ‘Nothing… – I just, I’m scared - I couldn’t b-bear to lose you.’

‘Baby – you’re not going to lose me. Did you have a nightmare?’ Willow held Tara in a tight embrace. Tara shuddered ‘I don’t think so,’ she whispered. ‘I just woke up feeling like you were already gone – and I was missing you. I c-can’t explain.’

‘Shhh,’ whispered Willow as she placed small kisses on Tara’s cheeks and face. ‘It will be ok, what do you need?’

‘You my love - I just want you, no - I n-need you to make love to me,’ she whispered focusing on her lovers green eyes in the dark.

Willow embraced Tara ‘Are you sure?’ Tara pulled Willow close, holding her before pushing her lips against her girlfriends, teasing them apart with her tongue. Tara urgently tasted Willow, their lips clashed, their mouths open, their tongues dancing around each other. As Willow’s tongue explored Tara’s neck, her fingers moved to gently undo each button on Tara’s pajama top, until Tara’s full breasts were exposed. Tara moaned and pushed herself into Willow, Willow in turn groaned in anticipation as her lips moved to capture a taut nipple. For the next hour Willow made love to Tara, she kissed her from head to toe, tasted her, felt her skin burn against her own, and bought her to ecstasy with her fingers and her tongue over and over again.

As the sun began to rise, a gentle light filled their dorm room. Tara’s head rested against Willow’s chest, her body hummed. She felt connected to Willow again – for just a moment during the night she felt she’d lost that connection, it was just a moment, but she felt it deeply, and it scared her. Now she felt safe again, loved, secure in Willow’s arms, she smiled and fell into a deep peaceful sleep.

**********************************************

Lillian Maclay awoke with a start, her heart beating out of her chest. She sat up in bed and looked at the bedside table. The clock read 3.53 am; she blinked her eyes adjusting to the dark and returned her head to the pillow. Frowning, Lillian tried to remember what woke her with such a fright, she looked around the room, but nothing seemed out of place. Reaching out she felt the familiar warmth next to her, she let her hand rest comfortably on the warm thigh as she did every night for as long as she could remember.

Lillain knew something woke her, her mind wandered, searched, and tried to retrieve, but she couldn’t remember what it was. Anxiety coursed through her – she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Concentrating, focussing her heartbeat returned to normal, her breathing slowed, and the anxiety finally ebbed. An image of Elisabeth Maclay floated before her eyes, followed by an image of James Maclay, then nothing. She opened her eyes, confused, unsure what the images meant.

Lillian quietly rose from the bed and walked to the bedroom window and pulled the curtains open to let the cool night breeze into the room. She took a deep breath and stared out the window, wondering why images of Elisabeth and James Maclay came to her at 4.00 am. Lillian Maclay shivered as she dredged up memories of Elisabeth and James, she sighed unconsciously wrapping her arms around herself.

***************************************

Willow turned to her girlfriend and watched her sleep. She marvelled at the beauty of the woman laid next to her. Tara’s eyes were closed, her face peaceful, her golden hair spread neatly out behind her. She watched her chest rise and fall, with each breath she took.

Tara opened her eyes to find herself looking into the bright green eyes of her smiling lover. ‘ummm I hope I wasn’t drooling in my sleep?’ she asked, snuggling closer to Willow. Willow laughed ‘Nope – no drool – you are a drool free zone.’ She kissed Tara on the forehead and snuggled close. They cuddled quietly for a few moments, each lost deep in their own thoughts. Willow was the first to break the silence ‘Tara – what was that about last night?’

‘I don’t know Will – it w-was weird.’ Tara pulled herself up and sat with her back against the bed head. She pulled the sheets up around her chest, hesitating, unsure of what to say. She avoided Willow’s eyes as she spoke ‘Will, It’s not the first time this has happened.’ Willow sat up and eyed her girlfriend ‘What?’

Tara sighed and continued whist avoiding Willow’s increasingly wary eyes. ‘W-well last week I had this eerie feeling c-coming out of the library – in the middle of the day. I-I just thought … well I just didn’t take it s-seriously.’

‘And?’ pushed Willow

‘Um w-well the other day, a couple of days before m-my birthday, I came back to the d-dorms, I felt the same thing coming up t-to my room.’

‘Where was I?’ asked Willow

‘Patrolling with B-buffy…’

Willow stood up and paced the room ‘How many times Tara?’ She looked at the blonde sitting in their bed, her back up against the headboard, knees tucked under her chin.

Tara winced ‘Just a couple Will.’

Willow stared at her girlfriend, her mouth opened and closed but words refused come out. Tara was watching her, waiting for her to say something, anything. After a few minutes Willow broke the tension when she finally spoke ‘I can’t believe that you wouldn’t tell me something like this.’ She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair ‘I mean Tara, for us this kind of stuff is – well you know – can be big, scary big, dangerous big – big in a kind of one day you’re here and the next day you’re not big.’

Tara bit her lip – willing the tears building in her eyes to stay and not stray down her cheeks.

Willow sat down at the end of the bed and looked at her lover, ‘Tara - do you not trust me? – cause right now I can’t think of any other reason why you wouldn’t tell me something like this.’

The tears that Tara had held onto for so long finally spilled onto her cheeks and coursed down her cheeks. She rested her face on her knees, letting out a number of short sobs as she cried. Thought Willow’s heart ached as she watched Tara, she resisted the urge to wrap Tara up in her arms and kiss her tears away. Instead she moved next to Tara and placed a hand on her back, and rubbed whilst the blonde cried. It took a few minutes for Tara to compose herself, when she looked up from her knees she found herself gazing into Willow’s patient green eyes.

‘Will – I trust you – Goddess more than anyone,’ whispered Tara as she reached for the redhead, gently brushing Willow’s cheek with her fingers. ‘It was m-me that I didn’t trust … I didn’t know what was happening … I thought I was turning … into a demon.’

‘Oh baby,’ cried Willow as she pulled Tara into a tight embrace. ‘Tara – you shouldn’t have gone through that alone.’ She held Tara’s tear stained face and gently kissed her lips ‘you don’t have to go through things on your own anymore baby.’

Tara relaxed into Willow’s embrace. She felt Willow’s love around her, wrapped in her arms she felt safe again.

‘Will,’ whispered Tara

‘mm?’

‘I’m not a demon but I am s-still having these – um feelings.’

‘I know baby,’ said Willow as she stroked Tara’s back ‘we’ll work it out – don’t worry.’

******************************************

‘It’s time.’ Lillian Maclay stood up from her solid antique oak table and walked to the kitchen window. Georgina Taylor followed and stood beside her partner, and wrapped an arm around her waist. ‘Are you sure? Elisabeth said she wouldn’t need us until her 25th birthday.’ Georgina glanced at her lover, watching as her eyes scanned the barren landscape from the window. Lillian sighed, and turned to her lover with a small smile ‘I’ve wanted so much to see her Georgie, to hug her, tell her how much I love her. Even though we’ve never met – I feel like she’s a part of me. I want to tell her what her mother meant to me, what she meant to her mother. I could scarcely wait until she was 25, you’d think that I’d be thrilled to see her just after her 20th birthday, - but….’

Georgie spoke for her ‘She needs us because she’s in danger.’

‘Yes.’

Georgina Taylor carefully watched her partner of many years ‘You’re sure?’ she asked knowing the answer. Lillian was never wrong – that was her gift.

‘Yes,’ Georgie sighed ‘that’s a hell of an introduction. Hi I’m your long lost aunt you never knew you had, I loved your mother, and she told me all about you, asked me to help you when you came into your magical gift at 25. I’m here five years early because you are in danger. Oh and by the way – this is Georgina my partner of 30 something years.’

Lillian chucked ‘That about covers it – at least we’ll get her attention.’

She turned to Georgina ‘Georgie – I love it that you still make me laugh.’ She leaned over to place a kiss on her lover’s lips. Georgie leaned in for the kiss and pulled Lillian in close to her, ‘Should we pack now or later?’

Lillian smiled and raised her eyebrows towards the bedroom ‘I vote for later.’

*****************

Donny watched the dorm room, waiting for his sister to emerge and head to class. He’d been watching her for two days now, he could anticipate her movements. He’d followed her, trailed her in the car, sometimes on foot, from her room to her classes, to that place on Ravello Drive, that magic shop in town – just to make sure he knew where she was going. She had no idea he was following her; neither did the red head, or her friends. He had one or two close calls, once when she left the library but returned to get a book, the other when he went up to snoop in her room, but he heard her and the red headed girl return and had to escape down the hall.

So far she was predictable - she came out of her room in the morning, went to classes, met the red headed girl for lunch at the cafeteria, went back to classes, and returned to her room after classes concluded. Then the red headed girl back came to visit her at night, and then she stayed over – doing God knows what. He thought that he should stay another day or two, just to make sure that he had her schedule right. His father didn’t want any of her friends around the next time they came to Sunnydale.

Sitting back in his van Donny thought about his sister. She was different since she came to college, she walked different, she didn’t walk looking at the ground anymore, she smiled a lot, she talked to people, in the street, around the school. Here she had friends. ‘Friends,’ Donny muttered, Tara had never had friends, not real friends anyway. He wondered how she got mixed up with these people and why they wanted to be friends with his mousy sister. She was not the Tara he grew up with. She looked very happy – like this place made her… different… better. ‘Better? Better from what?’ Donny asked himself, but he didn’t know the answer.

Donny’s thoughts were interrupted when he saw them walking towards campus, smiling and holding hands. He felt the anger rise in his chest, how dare she walk around like that holding hands with a girl – like it was normal or something. The reaction of people around them confused him - they pretended like nothing was happening, like it wasn’t disgusting to see two women holding hands and being all lovey and such. He shook his head, if they were at home they would never walk around like that – they’d be too scared to. He sat back and watched them kiss as they walked off in different directions.

Tara waited patiently outside the entrance to the cafeteria for Willow, she knew she was a few minutes early, and inevitably Willow would be a few minutes late. She smiled to herself; Willow would run up all flustered, waving her arms and gesticulating all over the place, explaining in detail why she was delayed. She sighed as she thought to herself for the thousandth time ‘She’s just so cute and adorable’. As she waited she felt a familiar uneasiness invade her senses. Tara gripped her books as she looked around, trying to pinpoint the source of her uneasiness. Her heart thudded against her chest; she felt panic take hold and rush through her system. Tara bent over to catch her breath; as she gasped for breath, her vision blurred, and she felt dizzy. Frightened by the sudden rush of panic, she reached for support, but fell to the ground as her knees buckled underneath her. As Tara sank to the ground she felt her chest constrict, her vision dim and the voices around her became whispers. As she struggled for breath she called out blindly ‘Willow?’

Donny watched from the van as Tara waited outside the cafeteria. He noticed Tara suddenly bend over and then sink to the ground. Opening the door of the van he slowly moved towards the blonde, ensuring he stayed out of her sight.

[Taralover]

Tara is so sweet in your fics.You write Willow and Tara really well.

[DaddyCatALSO]

And I always like it (of course I've done it myself *g) when a writer figures there has to, law of averages if naught else, be *somebody decent* in the Maclay clan soemwhere.

[Sparks]

I like where you're going with this, I've always wondered how their relationship would have turned out with a bit more of a challenge from Tara's family plaguing it. The way you've written them so far is very cute, I love their need for each other Keept it up, I'm excited to hear more

[AB]

I say we put on steel-toed shoes and punt Donny in the head

[Poniac]

Feedback

Tara Lover: Thanks - who can resist a little , I'm glad you're enjoying!

DaddyCatALSO: The urge is irresistable isn't it? Tara couldn't have come from a family that was totally bad..... well not in my mind!!

Sparks: Thanks - I'm glad you're enjoying. I always think Tara's family add another dimension to fics - that the show missed.

AB: He's easy to dislike isn't he? But his father.... let's just say W&T better keep and eye on him....

UPDATE - MOONLIGHT

Spoilers: Starts in Season 5 after family. Though I’ve screwed with the timeframe, Joyce is no longer with us. Of course there will be plenty of angst, pain, girl loving and of course a happy ending.

Rating: PG-17 Girl on girl action. Not for the prudish!

Summary: A bit of a look at what might of happened if Tara’s family hadn’t given her up so easily.

Feedback: The more the better – I love it, it keeps me going

Part 4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Willow approached the cafeteria she noticed a crowd of people milling around someone sitting on the ground. She looked around for Tara, she was a few minutes late again, and was expecting to see the blonde waiting for her out front. She was momentarily confused as her eyes couldn’t locate the normally punctual blonde. Fear stabbed at her heart as she walked towards the crowd, her pulse raced as she noticed discarded notebooks strewn on the path. Willow recognised the brightly hand drawn covers; they could only belong to one person, ‘TARA,' she thought to herself as she raced towards the crowd.

Breaking through the crowd her heart sank as she saw her lover crumpled on the ground. Willow sank to her knees and leaned in towards her lover. ‘Willow?’ asked Tara as she blindly reached out, sensing that her lover was nearby. ‘Baby,’ cried Willow as she wrapped her girlfriend in her arms ‘What happened? – should I call an ambulance?’

‘Don’t - just h-hold me, please just hold me Willow.’ She held onto Willow, closed her eyes and took deep steadying breaths, bringing her heartbeat came back under control. She felt the panic and fear slowly dissipate from her body as she relaxed into Willow’s secure embrace. After a moment Willow whispered ‘Perhaps we should get up and, um try to go somewhere more – umm private – if you can?’ Tara nodded weakly and allowed Willow to help her to her feet. As they walked slowly back to the dorm room they didn’t notice the blonde haired young man in jeans who had been watching in the crowd, make his way back to a dark coloured van.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Georgina Taylor stuffed the last of her clothes into a tattered old suitcase and leaned on it as she struggled with the zipper. The short battle won she lowered the bag from the bed to the floor and turned to her partner who was still packing her own suitcase. ‘Lil – how do we go about this? Do we phone ahead, do we send a telegram, carrier pigeon?’

Lillian laughed as she continued to stuff the last of her clothes into her already bulging suitcase. ‘I don’t think it matters – however we decide to introduce ourselves it’s going to be a shock. Perhaps it’s better to just be straight – so to speak.’ Lillian smirked to herself as she lay across her bag, trying to compress the many clothes into the bulging bag.

‘So it’s the direct approach?’ asked Georgina smiling fondly at her lover.

‘I think that’s best,’ muttered Lillian as she struggled with the zipper on her bag.

‘So the last time we heard, she was at UC Sunnydale – do you think she’ll still be there?’

Lillian, satisfied her suitcase was finally fully secure sat on the end of their bed. ‘Goddess I hope so – Elisabeth so wanted her to finish college…have a normal life, before… well before things change too much for her.’

‘Lily,’ said Georgina softly, using Lillian’s nickname, ‘have you though how you’re going tell her…’

‘That I’m her father’s sister,’ Lillian finished Georgina’s sentence.

‘Yes…’

‘I don’t know Georgie - how do you tell someone that you are the sister of the man that beat and terrorised her and her mother for most of her life?’

Georgina leaned forward and placed her fingers under Lillian’s chin and pulled gently towards her, and kissed her partners soft lips. When they pulled apart Georgie kept her eyes on Lillian’s, ‘Sweetheart – you are not your father or your brother – you are gentle, kind, smart and beautiful – they will come to know that...’

‘She might not want to talk me, us – no matter how gentle, kind, smart or beautiful I am,’ whispered Lillian gazing into her partners hazel eyes.

‘Well my sweet I guess we’ll find out soon enough won’t we?’

‘I suppose we will,’ agreed Lillian.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Willow stared at her girlfriend. Tara was sleeping restfully, curled up into Willow, clinging to her, her arms and legs wrapped around her girlfriend. Willow frowned as her eyes rested on her lover, these episodes were worrying, they didn’t seem of a physical nature, they could be magical, but Willow needed to do some research. She couldn’t do anything right now she mused – she was wrapped up and not going anywhere for the time being. Willow thought about the episodes, they seemed very specific, she wished Tara had told her more about each time this happened. She could have plotted the episodes on a chart with coloured pens and undertaken a root cause analysis, to see if anything was the same about any of the episodes. Were they in the same place, the same time, were the same people around? So many questions thought Willow as she gazed at Tara. She gently pushed a stray lock of long blonde hair behind Tara’s ear. She bought her fingers down to Tara’s face, and lovingly traced the outline of her jaw; she gently ran her thumb across her bottom lip.

Tara moaned as she was roused from her sleep by a wave of desire travel through her body. When she opened her eyes, she was slightly startled by the concerned green eyes watching her.

‘Hey,’ she whispered

‘Hey - how are you feeling?’

Tara’s face flushed ‘A little embarrassed, I d-don’t really know what happened.’

‘Another episode?’

‘I-I guess so – it seemed the same, but some ways it was w-worse. I was waiting for you and then I was just overcome by this overwhelming feeling of umm panic, fear…’

‘When you’re rested we should talk to Giles,’ said Willow leaning forward and kissing Tara on the forehead. ‘I’ll call the scoobies and arrange to meet at Giles’ place later tonight.’

Tara snuggled close to Willow ‘You’re not going anywhere now are you?’ she asked nervously. She still had a lingering uneasiness, she didn’t want to worry Willow, but she didn’t want to be alone either.

Willow snuggled down and embraced her girlfriend ‘No baby – I’m not going anywhere.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘I tend to agree with Willow,’ said Giles ‘it does appear these episodes are likely to be related to or triggered by something magical.’ He walked to his bookshelf and pulled out a few books. ‘These books all contain information about magical illness, I think that this is probably the best way to start.’

Xander reached for a book ‘So more research – gee that’s a surprise’, he walked back to the couch and plonked down next to Anya ‘We’ll look through this one first,’ he winked at Anya ‘it’s the smallest.’

From the overstuffed chair in the corner of the room Buffy whined ‘But I prefer to you know…punch something…beat something…do something. Research and I don’t agree, stupid books,’ she pouted as she stood up to collect a volume from Giles.

‘Buffy – if you’d rather b-be patrolling, I understand,’ said Tara reaching for Willow’s hand. Willow agreed ‘Of course Buff – I know how much you prefer the poundage, soooo…’

Buffy waved her hand, brushing away their comments ‘Don’t listen to me I’m just whining – long day, too many mochas, not enough poundage.’ For a while the scoobies studied in silence, the only noise the occasional turning of pages, ums and ahs, and disappointed sighs.

‘Ohh!’ exclaimed Anya, causing everyone to jump and look at her expectantly. ‘Tara have you been growing large amounts of hair around the back of your knees? Stand up, turn around and let me look at the back of your knees.’

‘I-I umm d-don’t think so,’ stammered Tara, surprised at the ex demon's odd request. ‘Anya!’ Willow huffed ‘Tara does not have any hair growing behind her knees.’ She quickly turned to her girlfriend ‘Baby you do not have any hair growing behind your knees – I promise you, your knees are hair free and lovely.’ She turned to Anya ‘why would you even ask such a question?’

‘Geez, don’t get all huffy with me witchypoo – she might have had African Wicca Fever, if she had the hairy knees, and was vomiting purple bile…’ Xander interrupted his girlfriend ‘Anya – there is no purple bile…so no African Wicca Fever, let’s move on - shall we?’ Anya snorted, and continued to flick through the pages of the book, as she mumbled to herself. An hour later the scoobies were still at a loss to explain Tara’s symptoms. Giles cleared his throat ‘It’s late – I think that perhaps we should come back again tomorrow, for more research. I’ll also make a few calls and see what I can find out.’

Tara and Willow stood up to leave, they said their farewells to Giles and the other scoobies and headed hand in hand towards the door. As Tara reached for the door she felt the all too familiar feelings of anxiety and panic creep through her body. ‘W-Willow,’ she gasped ‘something, s-something’s out there, d-dark…’ her hand grasped Willow's and she held on tight, concentrating on keeping her breathing even, fighting back the rising panic. Xander and Buffy leapt from their respective couches and dashed out the front door.

Willow held Tara close, whispering ‘Baby, breathe, its ok, I’m here, its ok, I love you.’ She rubbed her back attempting to soothe the blonde. After a few moments Buffy and Xander returned, they entered the room, the door slamming behind them. Willow turned to Buffy, ‘Anything?’ she asked, her eyes hopeful, her fingers running through Tara’s hair.

‘Well,’ Buffy hesitated ‘maybe, maybe not.’

‘What does that mean?’ asked Willow, looking from Buffy to Xander.

‘Well, we saw a car, - well a dark van drive away. It might mean something, it might not. Otherwise everything else was normal.’ Xander added ‘we couldn’t make out any details, just your standard, garden variety dark van.’ Willow looked down at Tara ‘Baby, you ok to get up now?’ Tara gave her girlfriend a lop-sided smile, ‘I-I think so, let’s go home. We can do some more research tomorrow.’ As the witches left they were followed by a wary slayer at a discreet distance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once back at the dorm the witches climbed into bed, gently kissed goodnight and curled up into each other. Both women found sleep elusive. Willow’s overactive brain kept working on the current problem, searching for clues, solutions, testing theories, discarding, testing new theories. Tara’s mind was on Willow, the uneasiness had once again left her with a lingering need for Willow, to touch her, love her, and be close to her. She hesitated to wake Willow to fulfill her needs once again, last time was…well it was wonderful, Tara smiled at the thought, but she wondered if it was fair to keep waking Willow in the middle of the night to make love. She knew Willow wasn’t likely to complain, but to Tara it felt selfish, to rouse her lover from her sleep to make love, just to ease her own worries.

As Tara’s mind turned over, Willow stirred, ‘What’s on your mind baby?’ Tara smiled; she could never hide anything from Willow. Tara’s lips travelled up and down Willow’s neck, across the top of her shoulders, ‘God Willow – I love you so much.’ Willow groaned and pushed back into Tara, chasing the warmth of her soft body. ‘Tara, sweetheart, I love you too. Why are you still awake baby?’

Tara snuggled up against Willow, holding her tight, pressing her face against her lover’s shoulder blades ‘Just a lot going on inside my head – nothing to worry about.’

‘Anything you want to talk about? I’m all ears, ready to listen 24 hours a day, for I am listen girl, any time of the day or...’ Willow’s monologue was interrupted by Tara’s rich laughter ‘Thanks sweetie – I know, but I’ll be fine. I j-just want to be close to you.’

Willow murmured and snuggled closer to Tara, pulling her arms tight around her body. ‘You can’t seem my face can you Tar?’ asked Willow.

‘Um no sweetie I can’t see your face, I’m looking at the back of your head – why?’

‘Well if you could you could see that I’ve been wiggling my eyebrows up and down, you know rather suggestively, and I just realised the effort was wasted, you know it being dark and all and you staring at the back of my head…’ Tara placed a line of kisses up the back of Willow’s neck ‘Oh Will they weren’t wasted’ growled Tara. Willow groaned, stretching out her arms over her head, and straightening her legs, her toes pointing like a ballerina’s. She leaned back into Tara, enjoying the feeling of her girlfriends’ warm soft breasts pushed up against her back, and her hot breath on her skin. They were both stretched out on the bed, Willow’s back to Tara’s front, their left arms stretched out, fingers entwined, Tara’s right hand caressing Willow’s body up and down, as her lips feasted on her the flesh just below Willow’s ear.

Tara felt Willow’s hips push into hers and her body reacted immediately, her nipples hardened and she felt a wet ache in her centre that only Willow could satisfy. She reached around and cupped Willow’s breast as her lips travelled up her neck. Willow shuddered under Tara’s gentle, yet firm touch, her body suddenly very awake and wanting more. Tara’s hand travelled up and down the length of Willow’s slender frame, her fingers trailing up her thigh, across her stomach, and to her breasts. Her fingers found Willow’s nipples and she rubbed the nubs, causing Willow to groan with delight and press her hips into Tara’s once again.

Tara grasped Willows hips and pulled toward hers, she ground her own hips into Willows firm rear, delighting in the feeling of Willow pushing back. Tara’s breath caught in her throat as her fingers travelled from Willow’s hip and brushed across her lover’s copper curls, she whispered ‘Goddess Willow I want to please you - so much.’ She felt Willow shake, and her uneven breathing deepen as she realised what Tara had in mind. Tara’s loving fingers explored further finding Willow’s softness, she dragged one finger up and down Willow’s sex, the wetness causing Tara to growl and bite down on Willow’s neck. Willow groaned and leaned back into Tara, opening her legs wider to accommodate the blonde’s wandering fingers. Tara could barely breathe as her fingers rode Willow’s wetness, sliding up and down her length. She could feel Willow’s hips grind into hers, keeping rhythm with Tara’s fingers, with every grind of Willow's hips she felt her own wetness pool between her legs.

By now their breathing was ragged and their skin hot, and sweat formed in beads on their foreheads. As Tara’s fingers explored she felt Willow’s impatient hand guide her to her entrance, she held her breath as her fingers entered. Willow groaned Tara’s name as her girlfriend’s fingers entered her; she pushed herself against Tara, enjoying the sensation of her lover inside her, and behind her. Tara’s forehead rested on the redhead’s shoulders as her fingers moved in and out of Willow, her pace increased as she felt Willow’s muscles tighten around her fingers. Her thumb rubbed against Willow’s clit as her fingers plunged into her girlfriend, over and over. Willow reached up and grasped Tara’s head as she groaned. ‘Oh Goddess Tara, don’t stop, I’m….oh Goddess… Tara….’ Her body shook as her climax squeezed around Tara’s fingers and travelled up and down her thighs, settling back in between her legs. She gasped and tightly held onto her lover, until the echo of her orgasm left her body.

Tara wrapped her arms around Willow, drawing her close, feeling the heat from her body. They rested for a few minutes, Willow enjoying the heat of Tara’s breath on her neck. Willow felt a burning need to touch Tara, love her, taste her, she moved until she was on top of Tara, gazing into her lovers bright eyes. Tara smiled ‘Baby, is there something that you want?’ Willow groaned ‘You, Goddess - I want you so much,’ as she wedged her leg against Tara’s very wet centre, and pushed herself down onto her body, straddling Tara’s thigh with her own wetness. Tara shook as she ground her centre into Willow’s thigh, grasping her lover she pulled her to her tightly. ‘Oh Willow you get me so hot,’ she rasped pulling Willow against her. Their bodies rocked together, hips grinding, skin glistening, lips together, eyes open and locked on each other. Willow’s mouth moved down Tara’s chest to find her hard nipples, her tongue toyed with the nubs, she drew one between her teeth, gently pinching, causing Tara to moan and grind hips against Willow’s already slick thigh. Willow’s desire became over whelming, ‘Baby – I need to taste you, now,’ she panted as her mouth travelled down Tara’s stomach, until she settled between her lovers’ spread legs. Tara groaned her words nonsensical.

Nestled between at her lovers centre Willow breathed in Tara’s sweet aroma, she kissed her milky white thighs, rubbed her nose across Tara’s tight blonde curls, causing the blonde to shudder. Tara’s hands rested on Willow’s head, encouraging her, guiding her, her fingers entangled in the red locks. Willow teased Tara a little more, her tongue travelling up and down the inside of her thigh, kissing and licking until Tara gently pushed Willow’s head towards her centre, and her hips impatiently rose to meet Willow’s mouth. Willow drew back and looked up at Tara, her head drawn all the way back, eyes closed, mouth slightly open, one of her hands rubbing her breast, the other tangled in Willow’s hair. Tara grunted in frustration as her body yearned for Willow’s tongue on her, her hips, now working independently from her brain, pushed up towards Willow. Willow sensed her lover’s growing frustration and relented, running her tongue up and down the length of Tara’s centre, tasting her, lapping up her juices, gently exploring her centre.

Willow groaned loudly as she felt Tara’s hips push into her face again, urging her to continue her task. Willow plunged her tongue into Tara’s centre causing the blonde to shudder as she released a guttural sound, almost a growl. As Willow pushed her tongue into Tara her fingers found her clit and teased the nub until it was taut and hard. Tara’s breath was ragged as her hips continued to grind into Willows’ face, she moaned Willow’s name as she felt her climax near. Willow’s tongue flicked Tara’s clit and her fingers played at her entrance, she knew this would push Tara over the edge. Willow gently slid two fingers into Tara as her lips sucked on her clit, she slid her fingers in and out of Tara’s moist wet centre two or three times before she felt Tara’s grip on her hair tighten, and Tara’s muscles snug around her fingers. Willow continued to plunge her fingers into Tara, her tongue flicking her clit, as she felt Tara’s body shake with anticipation. Tara’s climax claimed her as she felt Willow’s fingers slide in and out of her, and her tongue on her clit. She arched back, releasing, crying Willow’s name out, gripping Willow’s hair and pushing her hips into Willow’s face, as she felt her muscles spasm around her lover's fingers. Willow gripped her lover, as she rode out her orgasm, gently kissing Tara, soothing her, until she felt Tara’s body relax and her breathing return to normal.

The coolness of the early morning air on her bare skin woke Willow. As her eyes adjusted to the morning light she looked over to the woman sleeping peacefully next to her. Willow marveled at Tara’s beauty, her flawless skin, her long golden hair, and her full soft lips. Shifting under the blankets, she felt Tara’s arm across her chest, and her leg draped over her own. Willow smiled as she recalled the previous night’s activities, their lovemaking was passionate as usual, but Tara was more …Willow hunted for the right word…forceful, yes, more forceful than usual.

‘Morning sweetie,’ Tara mumbled as she snuggled closer to Willow. ‘What are you thinking about?’ Willow snuggled closer to the blonde ‘You.’

‘Oh - good things I hope?’

‘Oh baby you have no idea,’ whispered Willow as she leaned in for a kiss. Tara giggled as she pressed her lips against Willow’s. ‘Well you seem happy or should I say satisfied, this morning sweetie.’

‘Well baby – last night you were so…umm so forceful. The way you uh showed me what you wanted, and the umm way you pushed yourself into my face when I was going down on you...was umm...’

‘Oh Goddess,’ mumbled Tara as she buried her burning face in Willows neck.

‘Oh Tara, don’t be embarrassed,’ said Willow kissing the top of her head ‘it was hot, Goddess, so hot and sexy.’ Tara looked up her cheeks flushed ‘I umm well, when I’m w-with you Willow, I feel free - you know, free to be me and just I guess I just got so into it…’ Tara was silenced by Willows lips. ‘I love that about you Tara – that you let your self be free with me. You can be who ever you want to be and …’

‘You’ll still love me,’ finished Tara.

‘That’s exactly right,’ smiled Willow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Donny slowly pulled the aging blue van to the kerb. After taking a moment to look around, he climbed out of the van and headed towards the nearest payphone. Picking up the receiver he deposited a few coins into the machine and dialled. He leaned against the payphone, the receiver resting between his ear and shoulder while he picked at his nails with a pen knife. After a long pause he heard a voice on the other end of the line

‘Dad?’

‘It’s Donny.’

‘I’m in Sunnydale still.’

‘Yes, she was easy to find.’

‘Yeah – She’s still hanging around with those friends.’

‘Yep, the redhead too.’

‘Um - most of the time.’

‘Nights? Well it’s hard to tell…’

‘I think so, ...well most nights.’

‘Well she’s alone during the day between classes.’

‘There could be a crowd, but I can find the right place.’

‘A couple more days.’

‘I know.’

‘I won’t Dad.’

‘I said I won’t Dad!!’

Donny slammed the receiver back down, and cursed as he stomped his was back to the van.

[Poniac]

Moonlight


Rating: R for a bit of violence.

Summary: A bit of a look at what might of happened if Tara’s family hadn’t given her up so easily.

Feedback: The more the better – I love it, it keeps me going.

Part 5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Georgina Taylor gazed out the car window, appreciatively eyeing the Sunnydale campus, its sandstone buildings, and expansive manicured green lawns. ‘So here we are.’ She turned to Lillian and waited for a response.

‘Yes.’

She gently prompted, ‘We’ve been here for a while now honey.’

‘Yes.’

She pushed a little harder, ‘And we’re going in today?’

‘Yes.’

Georgie smiled to herself and leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. ‘Ok.’

Lillian smiled thoughtfully as she watched students wander the grounds of the campus, some aimlessly, some with great determination and others stood together in groups of two and more, laughing and talking amongst themselves.

‘Georgie – do you remember our college days?’

Her girlfriend let out a low chuckle ‘some parts are more memorable than others my sweet.’

‘It seems a life time ago – we were so young, so carefree.’ Lillian’s mind wandered back to her college life, days filled with classes, friends, papers and homework, her nights filled with – well, with Georgina. The memories of her first years of college and the time she spent with Georgina were still vivid, the confusion, the love, the passion, the pain the heartache, and finally the freedom. ‘And the love’ she smiled to herself ‘it’s worth mentioning twice’. She glanced at her soulmate resting next to her, eyes closed, mouth slightly upturned, her short brown hair delightfully unkempt and ruffled.

Lillian’s mind returned to thoughts of a young Georgina, tall, tanned, smart, and so, so sexy…irresistible. She had resisted Georgina’s advances initially, well she’d put up a token resistance, a stoic attempt to stave off the inevitable. ‘I lasted a handful of days’ thought Lillian, as she chuckled to herself. The truth was the moment she laid eyes on Georgina Taylor she knew they would grow old together.

And then her college memories returned, as they inevitably did, to Elisabeth Tanner, sweet, beautiful, kind and vulnerable. Lillian’s heart raged against the memories, but they came to her as if they were yesterday’s. Had Lillian not been several years older and already in love with Georgina when she met Elisabeth, she might have fallen in love with the beautiful blonde freshman. Which would have been pointless; for Elisabeth Tanner had only every loved one person, James Maclay.

Lillian shook her head, ridding herself of the painful memories. Her eyes focused on the students again, her niece was one of these beautiful young people. She smiled, she’d waited 20 years to meet her niece and she wasn’t going to let her anxieties and worries waste another moment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tara leaned on her book, watching Willow.

Watching Willow, something she never tired of doing. Today she was entranced by the redhead who was absorbed reading her chemistry text. Her head was down; her red hair framed her face as her eyes followed the lines of text. Long slim fingers traced the lines of text, after her mouth quietly formed the words as she read. She followed up by underlining the important sentences with a coloured highlighter, actually a series of different coloured highlighters. At first the resultant abstract mess was incomprehensible to the blonde, but after a while she began to decipher Willow’s code.

Green highlighter was for the key sentences in the paragraph, yellow was for the parts that she thought she’d need to review later, blue was for the words she wasn’t familiar with (hence there were few blue marks), orange was for parts that she knew would be in a test, and pink was for the stuff that she just found interesting. It made sense, in a very structured way. Prior to a test Willow could flip through her texts and pick out all the orange text, knowing that those things were likely to be on the test – it really was very organised, ingenious and very – Willow. Tara smiled; she was so very proud of her Willow ‘my Willow,’ she thought to herself, the thought warmed her heart. Willow sensed Tara’s eyes on her and smiled up at the blonde. ‘Yes?’ she asked with a cheeky smile.

‘Just watching you study sweetie.’

Willow looked down at the patchwork of colour on the page of her textbook. ‘It’s been pointed out that my system of coloured highlighters is – umm insane.’

Tara leaned forward and kissed her girlfriend, ‘I say quirky.’

Before Willow could respond there was a gentle knock at Tara’s door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Donny saw the older women head up towards Tara’s room.

He tried to follow them up the stairs towards Tara’s dorm room but he was interrupted by a group of students gathered in the hall. He decided it wasn’t a good idea to push through the students, so he returned to his van.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘We’re in pajamas,’ said Willow, her brow creasing. ‘It’s probably just Buffy.’ she reasoned. Tara laughed at her girlfriend. ‘Honey you’re cute in your pajamas, don’t worry, it’s not like it’s going to be your mother or Mr. Giles.’

Willow’s eyes widened, ‘It could be Giles baby, I mean he was looking at magical illness, and he could have found something, and he could have come here to tell us, and here we are just lolling around in our pajamas, not doing anything, and he’s done all this work, and…’ Tara silenced her girlfriend with a kiss, and rose to answer the door. ‘Sweetie – if Giles had wanted us he would have called.’

‘Oh,’ thought Willow ‘Oh yeah.’ She smiled as she relaxed on the bed ‘It’s probably just your RA.’ Tara opened the door and was surprised to find two women standing in the door way staring back at her.

Lillian and Georgina stood at the open door, Lillian stood to the front, and Georgina stood slightly behind her. She looked at the young woman standing in the door way and knew without a shadow of a doubt that she was looking at her niece Tara Maclay.

‘C-can I help you?’ asked Tara, thinking that the unexpected visitors had lost their way.

They both remained silent their eyes locked on Tara’s face. Tara paused, and quickly glanced behind her towards Willow who was watching intently. She raised her eyebrows at Willow, who shrugged and smiled at the blonde, her eyes returned to the two women in her door way.

She tried again ‘Ummm c-can I help you? Are you l-lost?’

Lillian Maclay, for the first time in a very long time, found herself lost for words as she gazed at the young woman who answered the door. ‘Goddess,’ she thought to herself ‘She looks and sounds just like Elisabeth.’ Lillith was suddenly swamped with a thousand memories of Elisabeth and found that she was unable to concentrate on what the blonde was saying. Georgie sensed that Lillian was lost in her memories, so she stepped forward.

‘Hi, I’m Georgina and this is Lillian, we’re very sorry to disturb you, but we were wondering if you could help us?’

‘Umm s-sure, I guess if I can.’

‘We are looking for Tara, Tara Maclay.’ As soon as Georgina spoke Willow jumped up from the bed and protectively stepped next to Tara. Her sudden movement startled the three women, causing them to all step backwards. ‘Why are you looking for Tara?’ demanded Willow, her eyes slowly appraising the strangers in the doorway.

‘W-Willow!’ Tara stared at her girlfriend with concern; she looked between the two women in her doorway and Willow. Neither had moved, although she noticed that a smile was creeping onto the face of the woman closest to them. ‘I’m sorry to alarm you – I can assure you that we mean you no harm, and it’s important that we speak to Tara.’ Lillian stepped forward and extended her hand to Tara. ‘It’s a pleasure to finally meet you Tara.’

‘H-how do you k-know who I am?’ asked Tara as she extended her hand, quickly glancing at her girlfriend who was still warily eyeing the women. Willow stared at the strangers, she listened to them, but their recent run in with Tara’s father ensured she remained alert.

Lillian grasped her niece’s extended hand with both of hers and replied ‘I’d recognise you anywhere dear,’ she paused as tears welled in her eyes, and pain seared her heart, ‘You look so much like your mother.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sudden jangling of the telephone rudely jolted Giles out of his silent contemplation, he reached over and picked up the receiver.

‘Hello.’

‘Yes, I’m well thank you Esther. How are you and the rest of the coven?’

‘Excellent, that’s good to hear.’

‘You did? What did you find?’

‘Yes.’

‘Go on.’

‘No – I can’t say I’ve ever heard of them.’

‘I don’t have a copy of that text – yes I’d appreciate it.’

‘I’ll conduct some of my own research.’

‘Thank you Esther – I appreciate your efforts.’

‘Yes, well I’ll be in touch – thanks again.’

‘Goodbye.’

Giles hung up the phone and stood staring into the distance. ‘This could be interesting,’ he muttered to himself as he walked over to his bookshelf. He browsed for a few moments until he found the volume he was looking for, and he pulled it out from under a pile of precariously balanced texts. He dusted off the cover and flipped through the pages. Towards the end of the book he stopped to read. After a few moments he placed the book down on the table and removed his glasses and sat down. He pinched the top of his nose and leaned his head back against the headrest of his overstuffed reading chair.

‘Remarkable,’ he muttered to himself ‘Just remarkable.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘M-my m-m-mother?’ stammered Tara as she quickly released the older woman’s hand.

‘How d-do you know my m-mother?’ she asked her eyes darting between the two women standing in the doorway. Lillian smiled ‘Perhaps if we could come in, we could talk?’

Willow stepped forward, ‘We don’t know who you are and well – you could be dangerous.’ She glanced at Tara, and frowned when she noticed how pale the blonde was looking. She turned back to her unexpected visitors, ‘Why should we talk to you?’

‘Oh – well – I guess, that I um should tell you that I’m…’ Lillian glanced at Georgie, who quickly nodded, giving her silent support, took a deep breath and continued, ‘Well Tara I would really prefer to tell you this anywhere but standing in your hallway but – I’m your aunt. I’m Lillian Maclay.’

Several things happened at once, startling the visitors again. Willow cried out ‘Tara – get back,’ as Tara scrambled backwards, towards the back of her room, as far away from the door as possible. Willow stepped into the doorway, arms outstretched, forcing the older women out into the hall. She held her hands out towards the visitors, and spoke angrily, ‘Take one step closer and I’ll make sure you regret it.’

Lillian and Georgie reached for each other with one hand and held up the other to the angry redhead. ‘It’s Ok, we’re not here to hurt anyone,’ said Lillian calmly.

‘Did he send you?’ barked Willow.

‘Who?’

‘Her Father, did he send you to bring her back?’

‘Oh Goddess Selene – no – we’ve got nothing to do with her father.’

‘Why are you here?’ asked Willow a little more calmly.

Georgie responded, ‘Lillian has waited 20 years to meet her niece. The Goddess told us it was time, and that Tara needed us.’ Willow eyed the two women carefully as she let her hands drop.

‘The Goddess?’ she questioned, looking from one woman to the other.

‘Yes. Bless Selene, it’s been a long 20 years,’ whispered Lillian.

‘So you’re…’

‘Wiccan.’

‘A-and you’re a Maclay?’

‘Yes – estranged.’

Willow sighed. She ran her fingers through her hair. She examined the women in front of her; they must be around 50 to 60 years old she though, that’s about the right age… Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of whimpering coming from the room behind her. ‘Tara?’ cried Willow as she rushed back into the room. She scanned the room quickly, but couldn’t find Tara, confused she stood still and listened. The sound of Tara’s crying and whimpering broke her heart, she dashed around the bed to find her girlfriend cowering in the corner, knees drawn up, arms wrapped around her knees sobbing, ‘Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, my family is here, don’t let them take me, my family is here,’ she muttered over and over again between sobs.

‘Oh baby.’ Willow fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around the blonde. ‘It’s ok, you’re not going anywhere, and you’re staying here with your family.’ Willow continued to whisper to Tara and hold her until Tara’s rocking stopped and her tears began to subside. Willow glanced up at her visitors who stood shocked on the other side of the bed. She motioned for them to take a seat whilst she continued to hold and reassure Tara. Willow held Tara close, she’d never seen the blonde so scared, she could feel Tara shaking in her arms, her heart ached for her terrified lover.

Eventually Tara felt the panic drain from her body. She looked up at Willow with red eyes and a tear stained face. ‘Hey’ smiled Willow, kissing her on the forehead ‘It’s ok, no-one is taking you anywhere.’

‘He d-didn’t send them to t-take me h-home?’ asked Tara, her eyes on the strangers sitting on her bed. ‘No sweetheart, he didn’t send them, and you’re not going anywhere you don’t want to.’ Tara sighed and buried her face in Willow’s neck ‘Goddess I was so scared Will, I thought I was going to lose you – I’m sorry I just panicked.’

‘Shhhh, baby it’s ok,’ murmured Willow ‘It’s going to be ok.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Giles was startled out of his thoughts by a loud knock at his door. He rose from the chair, and opened the door to find Buffy standing impatiently, ‘Good God Giles I’ve been out here for forever knocking – you don’t have a woman in here do you?’

Buffy scanned the room as she walked through the door and threw herself into a chair and put her feet up on the coffee table. Giles spluttered as Buffy swept past him ‘What? Good heavens, of course not – what are you suggesting?’ Buffy smiled ‘Nothing Giles, just thought I’d check in, see how you’re going with the dizzy witchy thing.’

‘Oh.’

‘Just winding you up Giles,’ smirked Buffy ‘things are too quiet over at my place.’

‘Well, I – actually now that you mention it I do have some information.’

‘So the research paid off?’

‘Actually Esther and her coven came up with some information, it’s rather intriguing really.’ Giles moved towards Buffy and settled into the chair next to hers, ‘It seems that there is a chance that our Ms Maclay is not quite the garden variety witch we assumed.’

Buffy’s eyebrows jumped in surprise ‘She lied to us?’

‘Oh no – I doubt she knows anything about her heritage – if I’m right.’

‘So this explains the whole fainting witch thing?’

‘I’m not sure – possibly – I should have more information in the morning. I have a text arriving from England which should help clear things up.’

‘Oh – so do we tell her what we know?

‘I think we should – tomorrow afternoon, after I’ve checked the texts.’

‘Cool – well I suppose I’d better be getting on – it’s time to patrol.’ Buffy stood up, and headed towards the door. ‘Giles?’

‘Yes?’

‘This new witchy thing – it isn’t bad news is it? I mean she’s kinda gone through enough drama for a while don’t you think?’

‘I’m not sure Buffy – I’ll know more tomorrow.’

‘Right – well see you tomorrow Giles.’

‘Goodnight Buffy – be careful.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been an hour since the women first knocked on Tara’s door. It had taken Willow some time to calm Tara enough for her to speak to their visitors. Lillian had offered to return later, but Willow insisted they stay, so that she could question them further. She wasn’t taking any chances that these women would disappear and leave them with unanswered questions and a distraught Tara. They sat quietly on the bed, watching as Willow calmed Tara, she made the blonde a cup of herbal tea and held her hand whilst Tara sipped the tea and thoughtfully regarded the visitors. Willow then insisted that Tara take a relaxing shower to freshen up, so that she would feel comfortable when she was ready to talk to her visitors.

Tara showered, the hot water washing away the tear stains, her anxieties, and relaxing her muscles. She toweled herself, dressed in fresh pajamas and dried her hair. Feeling calm, she took a deep breath and returned to the room.

Whilst Tara was showering Willow examined her guests, who remained quietly sitting on the bed. Georgie leaned forward and cleared her throat ‘I’m sorry honey, with all the commotion, I’m afraid I didn’t catch your name, and in case you didn’t catch mine, I’m Georgina Taylor, but you can call me Georgie.’

Willow smiled, ‘I’m sorry about before, but things have been umm difficult for Tara, and well I guess I’m a bit protective. I’m Willow.’ Lillian shifted on the bed, ‘Willow, before, in the hall, you asked if Tara’s father sent us, then when Tara was, um upset, she was worried that her father had come for her, has he…’

‘Last week, Tara’s father, brother and cousin came to Sunnydale with the intention of dragging her back home against her will.’ Willow’s voice was harsh, and tears formed as she thought of the cruelty in Tara’s father’s eyes. Lillian gasped ‘Oh Goddess, they, well, they didn’t take her, obviously.’ Willow shook her head, ‘No, but only because her friends, no her family, stood up to them and refused to allow them take her against her will.’

The door to the dorm room opened and Tara entered, she glanced around self consciously, and placed her clothes in the hamper. Willow stood up and reached out ‘How are you feeling?’

‘Umm I’m feeling a little better, thanks sweetie.’

Lillian stood up ‘Tara, if you’re not feeling up to it, we can come back tomorrow, after you’ve had a rest, if you’d prefer.’ Tara smiled nervously at her guests, ‘Um well, thank you, but I think I’d feel better if we talked, I – we, want to know why you’re here.’ Stepping towards the blonde, Lillian grasped Tara’s hands between her own, ‘I’m so sorry that we frightened you Tara,’ her voice wavered as she spoke. She glanced at Georgie and back to Tara ‘I - we thought this might be difficult for you, b-but we had no idea it would cause you so much pain.’

‘I guess you weren’t to know…you said you were umm estranged from my father?’ Tara guided Lillian and Georgie to a chair, whist she sat on the bed with Willow. Lillian sighed ‘I haven’t seen my family since I was about twenty, so well without giving away my exact age, about 30 years.’ Tara frowned, her mind churning, ‘Well, if you’ve n-not seen your family for m-more than 30 years, how do you know my mother?’

‘Georgie and I met your mother at college, well I first met her a little before that, but we got to know her in college.’

‘You knew my mother b-before she met my father?’ Tara’s eyes searched Lillian’s face.

‘We grew up in the same town, our families knew each other, but I knew her from school, we were friends. When I went to college, she was still in high school, she met James, and spent some time getting to know him, and when she joined us at college a few years later, we became good friends.’

Tears welled in Tara’s eyes, as she leaned towards Lillian ‘W-what was she like – before … him?’ Lillian choked as she responded, ‘She, she was smart, and beautiful, kind and gentle. I see so much of her in you…’ Lillian broke into tears and reached for Georgie, who pulled her close and rubbed her back as her lover rested her head on her shoulder. Willow and Tara watched the two women, their hearts aching; they exchanged glances, and entwined their fingers. The four women sat in silence for a few moments, each lost in their own thoughts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Donnie became impatient, he’d tried to follow the older women up stairs, but he couldn’t follow them all the way. They’d been up there for an hour now; he looked at his watch, it was after nine, they’d been up there well over an hour. He fidgeted in the van; maybe the women had nothing to do with Tara and her redheaded girlfriend, maybe they did, maybe he was missing out on something important.

‘Damn it!’ Donny suddenly decided to check it out; he exited the van, slammed the door behind him and headed slowly towards Stephenson dormitory. As he approached the bottom floor of the dormitory he thought he heard a low growl behind him, his heart started beating faster as the hair stood up on the back of his neck. He stopped and glanced over his shoulder, what he saw scared Donny more than any thrashing his father had given him. He stumbled back as he struggled to comprehend what his eyes showed him. Advancing on Donny was a creature, something evil, something that froze the blood in his veins, the voice in his throat.

‘I didn’t mean to scare you’ growled the creature, ‘oh wait – yes I did!’ He advanced on Donny, baring his fangs, licking his lips, ‘so young, so sweet and tender.’ Donny backed up, unable to cry out, speak or fight. His legs once, flesh, now felt like tree trunks as they kept him rooted to the ground, unable to turn around and run. As the creature closed in on Donny he could smell it’s putrid odour, he could see the overgrown ridges over the creatures yellow eyes, and the light reflect off its very sharp fangs as it smiled at him. Donny felt his insides squirm, and the warm release as his fear became overwhelming and his body betrayed him.

‘Now – you guys never learn, don’t you know you shouldn’t have take-away more than two nights a week?’ The vampire turned to find a blonde standing close with her hands on her hips smiling.

‘You,’ he growled forgetting all about the young man backed up against the dormitory wall. Buffy smiled ‘You know – college kids are bad for you? All that junk food and beer – it’ll go straight to your hips!’ As the vampire growled and lurched towards the slayer she leapt to the side and pulled a stake out from under her jacket. ‘Slayer – you’re mine,’ the monster growled, his yellow eyes glowing in the dark. ‘You don’t want me – I’m all skin and bones,’ retorted Buffy as she charged towards the vampire. The vampire ducked, and Buffy’s swing missed him by centimeters. As they turned to face each other Buffy ducked her head and quickly rolled under the vampire, as he turned to face her she staked him right through the heart. The creature dissolved into a hazy pile of dust in front of Donny’s wide eyes.

His legs suddenly flesh again he turned and ran before the blonde could recognise him. ‘Hey,’ she shouted out at the kid running off in to the distance, ‘No problem – no thanks necessary!’ She paused to brush the dusts from her clothes and pocket the stake, ‘ungrateful son of a …’ As she stared into the distance looking for any more creatures Buffy looked up at the familiar dormitory ‘Oh,’ she smiled to herself ‘I might as well visit my favourite wiccans!’ and headed up the stairs to the witches room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lillian pulled away from Georgie and wiped her eyes. She turned to Tara and Willow, ‘I’m sorry, sometimes the memories are just so painful – still.’

Willow cleared her throat, ‘um excuse me Lillith could I please ask a personal question?’

Lillian turned to the redhead and nodded, already knowing the question on the redhead’s mind. ‘You – and Georgie, you are ummm, well, you’re…together?’ Willow blushed as she finally got the question out. Lillian smiled as she held Georgie’s hand, ‘Yes, we’ve been together for more than 35 years.’

‘Wow! – err I mean um wow, that’s great, you know,’ smiled Willow.

‘Yes it is!’ laughed Georgie ‘and you two?’

‘Almost t-two years,’ whispered a flushed Tara as she grasped Willow’s hand and gazed lovingly into her emerald eyes.

Lillian smiled at Willow, ‘That’s lovely Tara – your girlfriend is very – devoted.’ Willow glanced at Tara, ‘Well living on a hell-,‘ she paused as her mind whirled, she wasn’t sure what the two older witches knew, ‘ - um living in a hell of a place here, you know, rowdy students, danger at every turn…’ Willow breathed a sigh of relief as she was interrupted by a knock at the door, ‘Excuse me,’ said Tara, as she rose to answer the door.

Buffy stepped into the room, not noticing the visitors ‘Hey Tara, how are my two favourite witches? I just followed a vamp to campus and found myself downstairs, thought maybe you’d have a cold soda?’ She paused as she saw the two older women on the bed.

‘Um, I’m sorry – I didn’t mean to interrupt…I didn’t know you had visitors.’ Tara motioned for Buffy to enter the room, ‘It’s o-okay Buffy, I’d like you to m-meet my – Aunt, Lillian Mackay and her p-partner Georgina.’

Buffy’s face hardened as she eyed the visitors, ‘Your Aunt? I didn’t know you had an Aunt?’

She turned to Tara and stepped between her and the visitors ‘Did you know you had an Aunt? Willow, did you know Tara had an Aunt?’

Tara smiled and put her hand on Buffy’s shoulder, ‘It’s okay B-Buffy, she gave us a b-bit of a fright, but she’s my Aunt.’

‘Okay – and so why are they here now?’ Buffy turned to the visitors with her arms crossed waiting for an answer. Willow answered for the women, ‘Buff they felt that Tara was in danger, they are witches, and sensed that Tara needed them.’

‘That’s great Will but where were they last week when she was really in danger?’

Lillian stood from the bed and faced Buffy ‘My dear I am Tara’s aunt, clearly you and Willow are worried about her safety, whilst I don’t understand what’s been happening, I can assure you we are not here to harm anyone – least of all Tara. May I ask you a question?’

‘Sure.’

‘When you came in you mentioned that you were following a vamp…’

Buffy’s eyes widened and she quickly looked between Tara and Willow, silently begging for assistance, ‘Well I err…’

‘Fancy dress,’ blurted Willow, ‘Monsters Ball kind of thing, must have been following a dress up vampire Buffy – geez kids these days, getting up to all kind of trouble…dressing up as vampires instead of studying…’

Tara smirked as she watched the interaction between Buffy and Willow. Willow looks so cute she thought to herself, her eyes wide, her arms waving wildly, her voice squeaking as she tried to cover for Buffy.

< They’re lying aren’t they darling? > asked Georgina, her soft voice echoing in Lillian’s mind.

< Yes, and they’re really bad at it! > Sent back an amused Lillian.

‘…and on a weeknight, it’s really just disgraceful,’ ended Willow as she paused to take a breath.

Lillian stood, to face her niece, ‘Well, as interesting as that is I think that perhaps Georgie and I should leave you and your friends alone for tonight.’

‘Oh,’ whispered Tara looking at her aunt ‘I thought t-that we c-could talk some more, there are so many t-things I w-want to know,’ stammered Tara nervously. Lillian smiled ‘Tara, we’re not leaving Sunnydale, just going back to our hotel, it’s been a long day, we’d love to see you again tomorrow – if you’d like?’

Tara smiled, breathing a sigh of relief ‘Yes, I’d like that, here’s my number if you c-call us in the morning we can arrange a t-time.’ Lillian stood up and took the number from Tara, she smiled at the blonde witch, and reached out to stroke her cheek ‘It was lovely to finally meet you Tara.’ Tara blushed at the soft touch, and smiled at her aunt, ‘Y-you too.’

Georgie and Lillian said their goodbyes and left the dorm room. As they exited the dormitory and headed towards the car they were silent, each lost in their own thoughts.

[whirlwindcharmer]

O come on, you can't leave it there . I need exposition, cos i have a feeling its going to get worse before it gets better, but yay an update lol

[arsyadriani]

I demand more update..need update..more update

pleeeaseee

RC

[DaddyCatALSO]

Comments

[Taralover]

I like it.

[Poniac]

Whirlwindcharmer - thanks, here's something to keep you going!

arsyadriani - 'viola' - your wish is my command - 1 update!

DaddyCatALSO - thanks for reading...

Taralover - thanks

Moonlight

Rating: NC17 for a bit of girl on girl loving!

Summary: A bit of a look at what might of happened if Tara’s family hadn’t given her up so easily.

Feedback: The more the better – I love it, it keeps me going.

Part 6 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Willow snuggled up to Tara, resting her head on the blonde’s ample chest, her favourite resting place.

‘Wow – that was intense.’

‘Yep.’

‘So how are you dealing with the whole I’ve discovered that I have a gay witchy aunt?’

Tara sighed and ran her fingers through Willow’s hair, ‘I’m k-kind of happy, and k-kind of scared – does that make sense?’

‘Does it have to?’

Tara smiled, ‘I guess not.’ She leant forward and kissed her girlfriend, ‘Thank you.’

‘What for sweetie?’

‘For being the best girlfriend – ever.’

Willow blushed, she snuggled in closer, wrapping her arms around her lover, ‘You make it so easy,’ she sighed. The redhead closed her eyes, she could feel the soft flesh of her lover’s breasts under her cheek, and the gentle rhythm of her heart beat. She breathed in the aroma that was Tara, vanilla, with a hint of sandalwood, a mix that always calmed and soothed the redhead. She felt sleep claim her has Tara’s fingers worked their way through her hair, ‘Baby?’ she mumbled.

‘mmm?’

‘Do you think we can trust them?’

Tara sighed and pulled the redhead closer, ‘I don’t know sweetie, I want to – b-but I honestly don’t know.’ As the blonde ran her fingers through Willow’s hair she could feel her relax and it wasn’t long before the redhead was asleep. Tara found sleep more difficult. Her mind was a mass of contradictions, she was excited by the thought that she had an aunt, a connection to her family, to her mother, but she was worried that she didn’t know anything about this woman, that it had taken so long for her to contact Tara, worried that she couldn’t recall her mother ever speaking about Lillian. Tara leaned in towards Willow, she rested her cheek against the top of her lover’s head, and revelled in her aroma. Tara smiled, ‘strawberries and cream,’ she muttered to herself as she settled into the redhead. She kissed her lover on the forehead and gently whispered ‘Willow,’ into her ear. She waited for a second before the redhead mumbled ‘Tara,’ with a smile on her lips. Satisfied Tara closed her eyes and let herself rest against the warm body curled up against her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lillian curled up against Georgie, her cheek resting on Georgie’s shoulder, and her arm curled around Georgie’s waist.

Georgie wrapped her arm protectively around her lover, ‘So honey, would you say that went well?’

‘Not as well as expected, but better than it might have been?’

‘I suppose we didn’t get blown through the walls of the dormitory by a very pissed redheaded witch,’ mused Georgie. Her lover smiled, ‘Yes, she was very protective wasn’t she – a little large with the butch you might say.’

‘A little over the top?’

‘If James and Donny did try to come back and take her away I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that Willow and Buffy reacted badly.’

‘Honey, what if…’ Georgie hesitated, wondering if she should ask the question that vaguely had been lurking at the back of her mind since their visit to the dormitory. Lillian scowled, ‘Georgie, I know what’s on your mind.’

The brunette sighed and leaned back into her pillow, there were disadvantages in being in a relationship with a seer. Sometimes Lillian knew what Georgie was thinking before she did – and at times like this it was difficult for both of them.

‘Lily,’ she spoke gently, ‘please let me finish my thought.’

‘Sorry.’

Georgie reached out for her lover and gently rubbed the back of her hand with her thumb as she continued, ‘What if…well if Tara is somehow damaged from her experiences? I mean she seemed a little, um fragile, what if she’s not okay? How will that affect her powers?’

‘She did seem a little fragile didn’t she?’ Lillian sighed as she closed her eyes, ‘I’m not sure, but if she’s weakened, or fragile, then her powers would be very difficult for her to manage. If she’s anything like she was last night…I’m not sure…’ Lillian left the rest of her thought unspoken.

‘Honey – we’ll get to know her a little better tomorrow,’ soothed Georgie ‘let’s get some rest.’ The brunette leaned over and gently kissed her lover goodnight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Donny ran back to his van, terrified, unsure of what to do, he decided to drive into town and stay in a hotel room. He didn’t want to be out there tonight – he’d seen too much already. He pulled up to the closest hotel on the corner; it was all run down, but cheap. Donny checked in and parked the van outback. He let himself into the hotel room, locked the door, and windows, changed his clothes and took a long hot shower. He toweled himself off, pulled on a pair of boxer shorts and crawled into the bed. As he lay there his mind raced, as hard as he tried to deny it - he knew the truth, he had seen a demon, a monster, a vampire. A real live vampire, and the only thing more confusing than that was seeing Tara’s blonde friend attack the monster and turn it into a pile of dust. ‘She’s so little,’ he thought to himself, ‘she couldn’t possibly fight off a vampire, it must have been a bit of luck.’ He knew about vampires and demons, hell until recently he thought that Tara was part demon; he thought all the women in his family were part demon. He knew demons existed, he’d just never seen one before, he never thought he’d see one.

He didn’t know if his father made up the demon story, or if it came from his grandfather, or maybe his family had always thought that, but when Tara and her friends had called him on it, his father was furious. Donny remembered that his father had stormed out of the magic shop, angry, angrier that he had ever seen him. He stood outside the shop for a few moments staring at the door, Donny thought he might go back in, but in the end his father ordered them back into the van through gritted teeth. He and Beth had gone back to the van and waited for his father while he paced back and forward on the pavement. Eventually he climbed into the van, slammed the door, started the engine, and headed home.

As Donny lay in his hotel room with the blankets pulled up around his neck he began to wonder why his father got so angry with Tara. He didn’t care that Tara wasn’t at home, it was better when she wasn’t there – his father wasn’t angry. He didn’t like his sister much, she made his father angry, she made her mother hate him, so he didn’t want to be here trying to find the best place for his father to come up in a few days and drag her home without her friends or girlfriend interfering.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tara woke early, her eyes squinting as the sunlight crept through a crack in the curtains. She rolled on her side and curled up against Willow. She closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of her lover, ‘strawberries,’ she sighed. She reached around and pulled Willow into her body, letting her hands wander around the redhead’s body, stroking her thighs and running her fingers up her arms.

Willow squirmed and murmured, ‘Tara, the frogs are on my laptop, the frogs are on my laptop, get them off …’ The blonde giggled quietly into Willow’s shoulder and let her hands wander further, her fingers reaching under the pink tank top sneaking their way up the redhead’s stomach.

Willow wriggled and giggled, ‘Tara, the frogs are tickling me…’ as she pushed her lover’s fingers away from her stomach. Tara smiled and kissed her way up Willow’s shoulders and neck, her fingers returned to teasing her girlfriend’s stomach. Willow moaned and squirmed as Tara’s hands worked their way up to the redhead’s breasts. When Tara cupped her hands around Willow’s breasts she awoke with a gasp and groaned as she realized what Tara was doing to her body.

‘mmmm, what are you doing?’ she mumbled, pushing her hips into Tara’s.

‘Good morning sweetheart,’ whispered Tara as she nibbled on the redhead’s earlobe.

Willow stretched and rolled over to face her girlfriend. ‘I love the way you wake me up in the morning.’

‘Really? Well how about this?’

‘Oh,’ groaned Willow as Tara’s fingers tweaked the redhead’s soft nipples until they became taut nubs, ‘Oh yessss, that’s um good,’ sighed Willow as she pushed into Tara. Tara reached down and grasped the hem of Willow’s tank, and slipped it over her head, flinging it carelessly behind her. She dipped her head and took a nipple between her lips and sucked, on the puckered flesh. Willow inhaled sharply, Tara looked up, ‘Did I hurt you sweetie?’ she asked with concerned blue eyes.

‘No – it j-just felt so…good,’ stammered Willow trying to gain her breath as Tara’s mouth returned to the hard nubs of flesh. As her girlfriend touched and kissed her breasts, Willow felt like Tara’s hands were all over her body, rubbing and caressing.

Tara’s tongue worked its way down Willow’s stomach until she reached the redhead’s navel. As Tara licked and kissed around her navel, she trailed her fingers across Willow’s taut stomach, and played at the edges of her boxers.

‘Oh God,’ murmured Willow knowing what about to happen shortly, ‘Baby I love you so much.’ She felt her wetness soaking into her boxers, with the thought of Tara’s tongue and lips between her legs. Tara’s mouth continued to explore the redhead’s navel and stomach, travelling down to the edge of her boxers and back up. Willow’s hips lifted with frustration when she felt Tara tugging gently at her shorts. Tara smiled, and slowly pulled the shorts down until they were half way down Willow’s thighs. She ran her nails up and down Willow’s legs, enjoying the agonised look on her lovers’ face.

‘Goddess Tara, you’re teasing me…’ groaned Willow as she moved her hips urging Tara’s mouth to continue on its journey. Tara leaned forward and gently blew on the redhead’s copper curls, watching as she shivered, barely able to contain her need. Grinning to herself the blonde breathed in the scent and rubbed her nose in the redhead’s curls, ‘Oh sweetie, I want you so much,’ she groaned as she reached for the boxers and gently pulled them down the redhead’s legs.

Willow looked up and noticed for the first time that her girlfriend was still wearing her pyjamas. ‘Baby,’ she murmured, ‘shouldn’t you be as naked as I am?’ Tara sat back and smiled at Willow. Her eyes travelled hungrily down the redhead’s body, memorising every bump, lump and freckle. She reached up and slowly took off her night-shirt. She leaned forward and kissed Willow before she stood up and slowly slid the pants down her legs. She stepped out of the piles of cloth and towards the bed.

Willow’s heart was beating fast as her eyes feasted on her beautiful girlfriend. Her golden, hair draped over her shoulders, but was not long enough to cover her ample breasts. Tara leaned forward again and knelt between Willows legs, running her fingernails up and down Willow’s thighs, causing the redhead to involuntarily buck and gasp with delight and anticipation.

Tara lowered herself and snuggled in between Willow’s legs, kissing and nuzzling the soft flesh of her stomach and thighs. Her lips wandered and teased Willow, the redhead once again groaned in delight and frustration. Tara smiled to herself as she sensed Willow’s growing frustration; she paused to breathe in Willow’s scent, sweet and musky, before she gently kissed the small copper curls. By now Willow was groaning, ‘Goddess, baby I need you now!’ as she raised her hips to meet Tara’s lips, eager for their touch. ‘Tara,’ cried Willow, almost begging her lover to taste her, release her need. Tara relented and ran her tongue gently all the way along her swollen lips, resulting in a sigh and shudder from Willow. As her tongue explored further she tasted her lover, her wetness sweet and salty, her aroma intoxicating. As Tara licked and kissed the pink flesh she wrapped her arms around Willow’s thighs and pulled herself closer, burying her face in her lover’s folds. Willow cried out in ecstasy, as Tara’s tongue explored, searching and tasting driving her closer to the edge. The redhead reached down and held the Tara’s head, running her fingers through her hair, touching the side of her face. Without stopping her exploration Tara pulled one arm back from under Willow’s hip and bought it to meet Willow’s hand on her face, grasping Willow’s hand they interlaced fingers. Tara felt Willow’s hips move in time with her tongue, maximising the pleasure, causing the redhead to shake, her breath coming in short gasps.

‘Uhhh,’ groaned Willow, ‘Tara, I love you… I love you…’

Tara sensed Willow was close, her tongue sought out Willow’s clit, and gently circled the hard nub, eliciting further moans from Willow. As Tara wrapped her lips around Willow’s bundle of nerves and started to gently suck, Willow’s body quivered, tensed and then shuddered as her orgasm travelled through her body, causing her muscles to spasm, her hips to buck and she cried out, ‘Taraaaaaaa’ as the climax echoed through her body. Tara held her mouth tight on Willow’s centre, gently kissing her lover until her shudders ceased.

‘Oh – oh – oh my God – oh baby,’ mumbled Willow as she struggled for breath, ‘that was, um just wow…’ Tara smiled and moved up Willows’ body to snuggle beside her, kissing her shoulder. Willow wrapped her arm around Tara, ‘And I say again wow… can you wake me up like that every morning baby? Cause I’m thinking everyone needs and alarm like that!’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘So where are we going to again?’

‘Buffy’s place,’ Lillian glanced at her lover, her eyes drawn away from the road for a second to smile lovingly at the woman seated across from her, ‘apparently she wants to talk at her friends place rather than the dorm.’

‘That strange girl from last night, the one that lied about the fancy dress party?’

‘Yes – she may have lied, but I sensed a real strength to her, I couldn’t place it, but she’s a formidable force.’

‘What did you sense about Willow?’

‘She was harder to read,’ frowned Lillian, ‘she is strong, protective, very smart, but vulnerable, and most definitely very much in love with my niece.’

‘And Tara?’ asked Georgie as she carefully watched Lillian’s reaction.

‘Strength, love and fear…although last night was very upsetting for her, so maybe the fear was about us, and our intentions.’

The car slowed down as Lillian’s eyes searched the streets for the house, ‘1430 Ravello Drive, here we are,’ she mumbled to herself as she slowed and turned into the driveway. They both sat for a moment in the car gathering their thoughts as they examined their surroundings.

‘Nice house,’ admired Georgie, ‘you say Buffy lives, here?’

‘Apparently, with her younger sister.’

‘What does Buffy do, is she a student?

Lillian looked at her partner, ‘I don’t know, it didn’t come up in our conversation, why, does it matter?’

‘No, just curious, well our reception here can’t get any worse than the one we received last night.’

Lillian laughed, ‘Let’s hope not!’

The witches found their way from the car to the front door, and before they had a chance to knock the door opened and Tara welcomed them into the entrance. ‘Good m-morning Lillian, Georgie, it’s um g-good to see you again,’ stuttered Tara, giving away her nervousness. She motioned for them to enter the living room, ‘You remember Buffy from last n-night?’

The witches nodded as they smiled at the slayer.

‘And Willow’s just getting some d-drinks – if you’d like something, we have tea, coffee, water, s-soda, juice…’

‘Actually we’d love a black tea, if we could?’

Buffy moved towards the kitchen, ‘No problem, I’ll give Will a hand.’

Tara nervously regarded her visitors, ‘Umm take a seat,’ she motioned for the women to take a seat in the lounge room.

Once seated, Lillian carefully examined her niece, she was nervous, she had a stutter, just like her mother did when she was younger, and she was beautiful, like her mother. ‘At least she won’t marry some lowlife who’ll make her life miserable,’ she thought to herself as she watched Willow emerge from the kitchen with a tray of drinks. Buffy followed Willow from the kitchen and sat on the arm of the lounge as Willow handed out the drinks.

‘Ok, lemon tea for Tara, black Tea for the witchy aunts…’ Willow hesitated, and looked up at Lillian and Georgie, ‘I umm meant umm Lillian and Georgie,’ she corrected as she blushed, ‘and soda for Buffy and foot in mouth for me,’ she mumbled as she sat on the lounge next to Tara.

Tara giggled as she squeezed Willow’s hand.

Lillian laughed, ‘Well we’ve been called worse,’ her eyes sparkled as she regarded the couple on the couch, ‘we really don’t mind, do we Georgie?’

‘No honey, I think it’s kind of cute,’ smiled Georgie, knowing that the comment would have thrilled her partner.

Willow fidgeted in her seat, and cleared her throat, ‘um Lillian and Georgie, I’m um sorry for um how I greeted you last night, …it’s just that well, …sometimes things here in Sunnydale can be dangerous, and considering that Tara’s father came last week and tried to take her away, we were a bit jumpy…and I might have looked like I was going to blast you through the dorm walls I wouldn’t have, really, I just…’

Tara smiled and put her hand on the young wiccan’s knee, interrupting her, ‘breathe sweetie,’ she whispered.

Lillian leaned forward, looking into Willow’s eyes, ‘Heavens child, if our places were reversed and I thought Georgie was in danger, I’d have done the same thing, don’t give it another thought.’

Georgie noticed Buffy smirking at her friend, ‘I take it she does that often?’

Buffy smiled, ‘Things wouldn’t be the same without a daily dose of Willow babble,’ responded the slayer ignoring Willow’s pointed stare. Tara watched the banter with amusement, but decided it was time to get some answers.

‘Um Lillian, you said a few things last n-night that, um well maybe we could talk about today?’

‘Sure, there’s so much to tell you, and I don’t know what you don’t know so maybe I should just start from the beginning?’

Buffy cleared her throat, ‘Um Tara, if you don’t want me here I can…’

‘No Buffy, please stay,’ Tara smiled at the slayer, her blue eyes encouraging her to remain seated, ‘you’re family.’

‘It’s a long story,’ started Lillian, ‘I’ll tell you as much as I can without going into all the family history right now.’ Georgina reached out and held Lillian’s hand as she took a deep breath and started from the beginning. ‘The women in my family are born with gifts, thank the Goddess, my grandmother and mother were healers, I’m a seer. The men in my family fear magic, each generation of men have tried to control us, tried to beat us down, they feared our independence. Your family was much the same, many families were, well actually… they still are, as you know.’

Tara encouraged the older witch to continue with a small smile.

‘I was willful, independent, stubborn, and I convinced my father to let me go to college. In some ways it was better for them with me out of the way. At college I was free to practice, and to meet a wonderful woman and fall in love,’ she smiled at Georgie and squeezed her fingers as they held hands.

‘As I said last night, I knew your mother from home, our families knew each other, but I got to know her well at college. Her…your family has a long tradition of magic, your mother’s side goes back many generations, your grandmother and mother were well respected among their own kind in the town.’

Tara’s eyes widened, as she turned to Willow, ‘I d-didn’t know that,’ she stammered ‘my mom t-talked about my grandmother, but she didn’t talk about any other family.’

Lillian smiled sadly at the blonde witch, ‘Yes, she keep her heritage quiet, your father insisted. Anyway, I was at college, free from my family, I fell in love with another witch, I got to know your mother… she, she was a delightful young woman.’ Lillian’s eyes filled with tears. ‘We became very close during our time in college, the three of us spent a lot of time together. During my last year of college my family found out that I was still practicing, and they found out about Georgina. It was, an unpleasant time…one which I don’t really want to go into right now. But the end result was that I never saw or spoke to my family again.’

‘You never saw them again?’ asked Willow, ‘you’ve never spoken to them – at all?’

Lillian shook her head, ‘No, no contact at all.’

‘That must have been hard,’ said Tara, gently squeezing Willow’s hand.

‘It was, at first, but our lives took different paths. I’ve been blessed with a wonderful partner, who has a big loving family, who have made me feel very welcome and very loved.’ Lillian glanced over at Georgina, who was smiling, although looking a little embarrassed. ‘Perhaps something like the family you have made for yourself here Tara?’

Tara blushed as she moved closer to her girlfriend, and gripped her hand.

Georgina laughed, ‘Lillian, you’re embarrassing the poor girls, keep telling the story.’

Lillian smiled at her girlfriend, ‘While I was at college, your mother was getting to know my brother, over time they became very…close, by the time she joined me at college she was already in love with your father.’

‘Our friendship ground to a halt when she returned home, I couldn’t go back there, and she couldn’t admit to anyone that we were friends. We remained in contact though mutual friends, and the occasional letter.’

‘Our contact was cut off when James found out that Elisabeth had been keeping in contact with me, he was so angry he… he beat her. She wrote saying she couldn’t contact me anymore, that it was too dangerous for both of us. So I just let it be. I should have returned, but she was so adamant, I gave into her.’

Lillian paused for a breath, carefully watching Tara’s response. The blonde wiccan looked pale, but she smiled gently at the older witch, ‘Lillian, can you tell me why my mom stayed with him, even – even after, he…hurt her?’

The older Maclay sighed, her heart heavy as she continued, ‘James didn’t start out a hard man; he was sensitive and kind when he was younger, but our father, and our grandfather terrorized him, made him hard. He grew up to be an angry man; your mother was the only one who could reach him. With her – at least in the beginning he was kind, considerate, and in his own way, loving. But as time went by he became jealous, possessive and it changed him. Your mother was a beautiful woman, vivacious, friendly, social and loved by many. I think things were okay for a while after you were born, …then it seems that he began to turn. Something happened, I’m not sure, but he just seemed to get meaner. He saw the way people were drawn to your mother’s gentle spirit, her kindness, her compassion, and he grew to see infidelity everywhere, and the fact she was a witch, well it drove him into a kind of madness I think… Your mother, always loved him, I think she felt that she could soften him, but…’ Lillian’s words trailed off as she realised she didn’t know what else to say to her niece, because she never really understood either.

Silence settled over the Summer’s house as they thought about Lillian’s words. Thoughts and feelings tumbled through Tara as she sat on the couch clutching Willow’s hand, her mother, her father, her long magical heritage on both sides of the family. She struggled to comprehend that the man who terrorised her childhood was once a kinds sensitive person, who really did love his wife. She shook her head and looked up only to be greeted by two concerned emerald orbs watching her carefully.

‘Hey,’ whispered Willow, ‘how are you doing?’ as she wrapped an arm around the blonde.

Tara smiled and leaned into her girlfriend, settling into the warmth and comfort provided, ‘It’s a lot to take in, but it’s good,’ she looked up at her loving girlfriend and smiled, ‘it’s good Will.’

Willow smiled and pulled the blonde towards her, kissed her on the temple and held her close.

‘Well, I think we probably need to um … stretch our legs, have a break, would anyone like a drink, or something to eat?’ asked Buffy as she walked towards the kitchen. Her mind raced, Lillian had hinted at Tara’s long magical heritage, on both sides of the family, she wondered if that’s what Giles had discovered.

Resting on the couch lost in her thoughts, Willow felt Tara's body tense, her heartbeat increase, and her body start to shake.

‘Baby?’ she whispered, ‘are you okay?’

‘W-Will, s-something is here, o-outside…’ stammered Tara as she clutched at her stomach.

Willow jumped to her feet, one had steady on Tara’s shoulder, ‘Buffy!’ she shrieked, ‘Buffy, outside now.’

Hearing Willow’s cries Buffy streaked with slayer speed from the kitchen, vaulted over the couch and wrenched open the front door, raced out the front so fast the older witches hardly had time to react to Willow’s warning.

Willow knelt down in front of Tara, ‘Oh baby, take deep breaths, it’s okay, keep breathing, Buffy’s outside, she’ll find whatever it is, that’s it baby, breathe.’ She ran her hands over the distressed blonde witch’s back, trying to sooth and calm her. Tara gasped, struggling for breath as she felt the familiar ache of fear and dread snake their way through her body.

Georgie and Lillian remained seated, unsure of what to do, staring at Tara.

<What the hell is going on here? > Georgina silently asked her partner.

<I’m not sure > responded Lillian, her eyes never leaving her niece, an unspoken fear gripping her heart.

Buffy returned to the house, quietly closing the door behind her.

‘Buffy?’ asked Willow.

‘Um, Will, I need to talk to you…’ Buffy tried to keep her voice even. She motioned with her head for the witch to join her in the kitchen. Willow knelt down in front of Tara, ‘Baby, you should be better, now, I’m just going to talk to Buffy in the kitchen, I’ll be back in a minute.’ She stood and motioned for Lillian to comfort the blonde. Lillian moved towards her niece and took her into her arms and held her tight while Tara struggled to keep her breathing under control.

‘What is it?’ asked Willow as she quickly approached Buffy in the kitchen.

Buffy calmly met her friend’s worried eyes, ‘Will – it was Donny.’

[Taralover]

You're writing is so sexy.

[WolfDragonGod]

wow sweet story i can't wait for more its a really cool story. I hope you update soon because i want to learn more about Tara's magic as well it sounds like it well be cool.

[Anlorew]

Ahhh! I love it! I really like Lillian and Georgie. They're how I imagine Willow and Tara as an older couple. And Willow's so cute when she's protective of Tara! Such a cute story. I just love fics about Tara's past/heritage. I can't wait to read more!

[Poniac]

Taralover - thanks that's very sweet

WolfDragonGod - just a little longer till all is revealed about Tara's magical heritage

Anlorew - thanks, I'm really enjoying writing Lillian and Georgie, there's plenty more of them to come yet

Summary: A bit of a look at what might of happened if Tara’s family hadn’t given her up so easily.

Feedback: The more the better – I love it, it keeps me going

PG13 for now.

Moonlight /b]

[b]Part 7 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘What?’ demanded the redhead, ‘Donny, her brother Donny?’ she whispered.

‘Yea – I couldn’t catch him, but I saw him get into a dark blue van and drive off.’

‘A dark blue van?’

Buffy sighed, ‘Yep – just like the one at Giles’ place.’

Willow’s eyes narrowed as she felt flames of anger surge through her body, ‘Donny, that bastard,’ she paused, ‘Oh Goddess Buffy,’ Willow cried, panic welling in her chest, ‘she’s not safe, they’ve come to try again.’

Buffy reached out and held her friend, ‘Will, it’s okay, they won’t take her, we’ll sort this out, we’ll call Giles, Xander and Anya, we’ll make sure that she’s safe and then we will find them.’

Willow looked at Buffy through tear filled eyes, ‘She can’t go back Buffy, it would kill her, and it would kill me…’ she whispered.

Buffy pulled her best friend close and hugged her tight, ‘Will, listen to me, she’s not going anywhere. Now go out and make sure your girlfriend is ok, and I’ll call an urgent scooby meeting.’

Willow paused as she watched Lillian comfort Tara on the couch. The older witch had calmed the blonde and she was now leaning on Lillian’s shoulder, with her eyes closed, enjoying the comfort provided by the older woman. Willow smiled lightly as Lillian caught her eye, and motioned for her to return to the couch. As she sat down Tara reached out for her hand and entwined her fingers with Willows. ‘Hey,’ she whispered, here eyes still closed, her head still resting on Lillian’s shoulder.

‘Hey, you look comfy,’ teased the redhead.

Tara smiled, ‘I am – w-what was out there Will?’ she asked nervously watching her girlfriend.

Willow paused, she’d never lied to Tara, she didn’t want to now, but she didn’t want to scare the blonde either.

‘Will?’

‘Uh, nothing to worry about, just some Scooby business, we’ll take care of it … you know, always plenty of scooby-age afoot…’

‘Will,’ prompted Tara, with a slight edge to her voice. Willow sighed and shifted uncomfortably on the couch, she squeezed her girlfriends hand and looked her in the eye, ‘Tara, it was Donny. Buffy saw him drive off in a dark blue van.’

‘Oh.’ Tara took a deep breath and gripped Willow’s hand.

‘It’s okay baby,’ murmured Willow, ‘you’re safe here with us, we’ll take care of you.’

Tara frowned as she stared at her hands, entwined with Willows; she noticed the lines on her pale hands, the wrinkled skin over her knuckles, contrasting with the freckled hand of her lover.

Willow watched her girlfriend carefully; Tara hadn’t responded to her, she remained still, staring at their entwined hands. ‘Um, Tara, are you ok?’ she asked, concern filling her emerald eyes.

‘Oh, yeah, I’m o-okay,’ whispered Tara. She lifted her head and stared at her girlfriend, ‘Will, if it’s only D-Donny, then why d-do I get these um, feelings?’

‘I think I can answer that question.’

All heads turned to greet Giles, standing at the entrance to the lounge room.

Giles, coughed, ‘I’m sorry, that seemed rather dramatic didn’t it.’ The Englishman was dressed in his usual attire of pants, white shirt, vest and jacket, despite the Californian heat.

Buffy stared at the watcher, stunned, ‘Giles, I just left you a message, how did you get here so quickly?’

‘Oh, I didn’t get a message; I was already on the way over. I want to discuss some research with Tara and Willow.’ He hesitated and looked around the room for the first time. His eyes narrowed as he spotted the older witches, ‘Why did you call Buffy? Is there a problem?’

Willow spoke as she ran her hand up and down her girlfriends back, ‘Giles, Tara had another turn, and well, it looks like Donny has been watching her, Buffy chased him off.’

‘Oh dear…’ The watcher sighed as he removed his glasses and reached for his handkerchief. He proceeded to clean his glasses, as he gathered his thoughts. ‘Well it appears that I have discovered something that may be of use. But, I think it’s something that I should discuss with Tara, and Willow alone.’ His eyes rested on the visitors.

Willow caught Giles examining the newcomers. ‘Um Giles, I think that you should meet some of Tara’s relatives.’ Giles face remained impassive; however the flash in his eyes showed he was ready to protect his young charges. ‘I wasn’t aware Tara had relatives, other than her father and Donny,’ he responded carefully watching the two older women.

Tara stood her hand still entwined with Willow’s, ‘Um Mr Giles, this is Lillian, Georgie. Lillian is my aunt, and Georgie is her partner.’ Giles stepped towards the women and offered his hand. Lillian and Georgie stood and greeted the watcher. He smiled at the women, ‘Forgive me, but I understood that Tara didn’t have much of an extended family.’

‘Well, Mr Giles, I am estranged from my family. It’s a long story but we felt that Tara was in need of our assistance, so we came to meet her and give her any help she needs.’

‘So you are aware of Tara’s umm heritage?’

Lillian smiled, ‘Mr Giles, both Georgie and I practice, and we’re aware of Tara’s abilities.’

‘Ah good, I think that perhaps we should have a chat later. However for the moment I have some news about Tara’s recent um turns, and I’d like to discuss with Tara and Willow.’

‘M-Mr Giles, I don’t have anything to hide, e-every one here is family…’

Giles smiled at the blonde, ‘Right, well Tara I’ve been doing some research, and I think I might have found an answer. But it would be helpful to know something about your heritage.’

‘Well Mr Giles, until yesterday I d-didn’t know much, b-but it looks like I have a long magical heritage from both my m-mother’s and father’s side.’

‘Right, your mother was a healer?’

Tara glanced across at Lillian for confirmation, ‘Um yes, I think she c-came from a long line of healers.’

Lillian smiled and nodded at the blonde. ‘Yes, that’s correct Tara, but our side of the family were seers.’ She turned to Giles, ‘So why is this important, and how does it affect my niece?’

Giles sat down in a chair facing Tara. ‘Well, I’m not sure, but it seems to all fit with what the coven told me.’ He sat back and looked at the young woman sitting in front of him, regarding him with apprehension.

‘Well it really is quite remarkable, it appears that the magical lines of the Tanner family, and the Maclay family have combined in a very interesting way.’ Giles paused to collect his thoughts, ‘Have you ever heard of a Sararian witch?’

Tara shook her head, ‘No.’ she glanced at Willow, who also shook her head. Giles turned to the visitors, ‘Lillian, Georgina?’ They both shook their head.

‘I’m not surprised, I’d never heard of this particular type of witch either, but it was Esther in the coven that alerted me to the possibility that you are a Sararian witch.’

‘Oh, um well M-Mr Giles, what d-does that have to do with my um episodes?’

‘I'll get to that shortly, but according to my research when two familial lines meet several things can happen. One of the lines will be dominant, so only one of the lines will continue, or in extremely rare cases the two lines are equally dominant and a new type of witch is created, one with equal measures of both powers.’

‘A new t-type of witch?’ Tara looked around the room; everyone’s eyes were on the blonde.

Giles continued, ‘I researched the case of two Romanian covens in the 17th century. One family line of healers merged with another local family, a family of seers. The end result was a new line of witches, called Sararian witches.’

‘Just like the Tanners and the Maclays,’ said Willow looking at her girlfriend with wide green eyes, ‘so that means that Tara is a …’

‘Sararian,’ finished Giles, ‘apparently, though we still need to make sure.’

‘And how do we do that?’ asked Willow.

Before Giles could answer Willow the front door burst open, a figure obscured by a smoking blanket threw himself through the doorway into the Summer’s lounge room. Once inside the intruder threw the blanket on the ground and stomped on the flames, until they were extinguished.

The intruder looked up, ‘Right, sorry about the scorching blanket love, would have waited until night, but we got some trouble brewing on the hellmouth.’ Buffy rushed over to the intruder, ‘Damn it Spike, are you trying to set my house on fire?’ she picked up the smouldering blanket and rushed down to the basement, and threw it into a tub of water.

When she returned, Spike was standing in the hall, talking to Giles. ‘So what’s got you so jittery you’re willing to risk a fatal case of sunburn?’ she asked Spike. The vampire snarled at Buffy, and ran his fingers through his short bleached blonde hair, making sure he hadn’t singed it getting to the slayers house.

‘I was just tellin’ your watcher that a nest of vamps set up in town, normally couldn’t care about a lot of my own kind hanging around, but there were at least a dozen of the nasty blighters and they had their eyes on my bloody crib.’

Whilst Buffy and Giles were talking to Spike, Tara and Willow held each other and talked quietly on the couch. Lillian and Georgie sat silently in their lounge chairs, watching the trio at the front door.

<Okay Lily, this is getting just a bit too weird. How does Giles know so much about witches, why does he have contacts with covens on the other side of the world, who seem to be very well informed, and is that bleached blonde man who barged in the door a vampire? And if he is a vampire why is everyone so casual?>

think we need to ask some questions> responded Lillian.

Giles and Buffy returned to the lounge, ‘Sorry for the interruption, it um seems we have some business to take care of later,’ Giles glanced at the older witches, ‘perhaps we can resume our conversation.’

Lillian cleared her throat, ‘um Mr Giles, I think that Georgie and I have a few questions to ask you first.’ Buffy and Giles glanced at each other, and then over to Tara and Willow on the couch.

Lillian spoke to Giles, ‘Since Georgie and I arrived, we’ve noticed a few… well odd things happen. I know that we have no right to know what Tara is up to, but we are her family and we care for her very deeply.’

Lillian smiled at Tara and Willow on the couch, ‘We’d like to be as much help to my niece as possible.’ Lillian paused and caught Tara’s eyes, ‘I promised her mother that I would be there for her when she came into…when she matured.’

‘Uh, well I’m not sure that…’ began Giles.

‘Giles,’ Buffy put her hand on the watchers forearm, ‘it’s okay, they’re witches, and they’re Tara’s family, which makes them our family.’ Buffy turned to Tara and smiled, ‘Tara is a scooby, if she’s happy for them to know so am I.’

Tara’s eyes welled with tears; she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Buffy was willing to give up her secret for Tara, she’d protected Tara from her family only days ago, and now she was welcoming her long lost aunts. Tara was filled with happiness, she felt like she was home, between her love for Willow and the scoobies, she felt like she finally found a place she could call home. She jumped up from the couch and hugged Buffy, ‘Thank you’, she whispered in her ear as she gripped the slayer.

Buffy grinned and returned the blonde’s hug. ‘Careful Tara, Will’s getting that green-eyed monster look over there,’ joked the slayer. Tara laughed and returned to the couch, snuggling up next to her grinning girlfriend.

Lillian smiled at Buffy, ‘So…I gather you have something to tell us?’

Buffy glanced at Giles who gave the slayer a slight nod. ‘Well, being witches you might have heard about the hellmouth?’

Lillian nodded, ‘Well yes, but I’ve only ever heard of it in very vague terms, I’ve never even been sure that it really exists.’

‘Well it does, and you’re standing on it.’ Buffy frowned, ‘well maybe not right on it, cause my house isn’t the hellmouth, it’s actually under the old high school.’

‘Which we blew up,’ added Willow with a smile, ‘well not the hellmouth, the high school,’ she added.

Georgie looked at her with raised eyebrows.

‘Only cause it was on the hellmouth because the mayor was trying to turn into a giant snake and takeover the hellmouth…’ mumbled Willow crossing her arms as she leaned into the couch.

Buffy smiled at her best friend, ‘Will, we all know how hard it was for you to help blow up the school!’ Tara laughed and leaned in and kissed Willow on the cheek, earning a grin from the redhead.

‘So the mouth to hell – literally – is in Sunnydale?’ asked Lillian.

‘Yep,’ responded Buffy, ‘and it’s my job to keep as many evil things from crawling out of it as I can.’

‘Your job?’ asked Georgie.

‘Well – it would be a job if I got paid for it, which I don’t by the way,’ added Buffy as she glared at Giles. ‘You could call it a vocation, a duty, a calling; I’m the slayer, the chosen one.’

‘The chosen one?’ Lillian and Georgie asked in unison.

Buffy rolled her eyes, ‘Giles, please?’

Giles cleared his throat, and fought a small smile creeping onto his lips, ‘Into each generation a girl is born, one girl in all the world, a chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. She is the Slayer.’

‘So are chosen to fight evil things?’ Lillian stood and eyed the slayer.

‘Yes, and I do it with the help of Giles, my watcher, and my friends.’

‘Your watcher?’

‘Um, yes, I am appointed by the Watchers Council to supervise, train and mentor Buffy,’ added Giles, smiling at his slayer.

‘Yeah, and he gets paid,’ muttered Buffy under her breath.

Lillian looked around, ‘So Willow and Tara help you fight evil, evil things?’

Buffy grinned at her friends, ‘Yes, Willow since we became friends, and Tara, since she met Willow, along with our other friend Xander and his girlfriend Anya.’

‘Um, can I ask where the blonde Billy Idol wanna be fits in?’ asked Georgie eying the vampire who was sitting quietly in the corner watching events unfold.

‘Oh,’ Buffy waved her arm towards the bleach blonde dismissively, ‘That’s Spike, he’s a vampire, but he’s um, just think of him as impotent, he can’t bite. He sometimes helps us out.’

The vampire jumped up, ‘Bloody hell slayer, give a bloke a bit of credit, I’m bloody evil, just cause this chip in my head stops me from biting you doesn’t mean I’m not bad!’ Spike swore as he stomped towards the basement, ‘No blood dignity around this place,’ he muttered as he descended down the stairs.

‘Um, I think we’ve missed the point,’ Willow spoke loudly to the group. ‘We were trying to figure out why Tara is having these spells, can we get back to that?’ She glanced a worried look at her girlfriend. Tara smiled and quickly kissed Willow on the lips ‘Thanks sweetie,’ she whispered.

‘Um, yes, well we can continue the whole hellmouth conversation later,’ added Giles, ‘I think I know why Tara is having those turns.’

[WolfDragonGod]

yay first to reply. Anyway great update i am loving the story.

[Anlorew]

Great update!

Tara frowned as she stared at her hands, entwined with Willows; she noticed the lines on her pale hands, the wrinkled skin over her knuckles, contrasting with the freckled hand of her lover.

Are those scars from her past with her family? How did she get scars on her knuckles other than by hitting people because I can't imagine Tara being very violent...self defense maybe? Or are they not scars and Tara's just noting her's and Willow's natural physical differences? Sorry...I can be slow sometimes

‘Which we blew up,’ added Willow with a smile, ‘well not the hellmouth, the high school,’ she added.

Georgie looked at her with raised eyebrows.

‘Only cause it was on the hellmouth because the mayor was trying to turn into a giant snake and takeover the hellmouth…’ mumbled Willow crossing her arms as she leaned into the couch.

Buffy smiled at her best friend, ‘Will, we all know how hard it was for you to help blow up the school!’ Tara laughed and leaned in and kissed Willow on the cheek, earning a grin from the redhead.

lol this little interaction made me laugh. I love it when anyone tries to briefly summarize some of the Buffy plot twists. It always ends up sounding completely ridiculous. lol so yea...funny stuff. Plus it shows how nonchalant the scoobies can be about all of their epic battles, which I find both hilarious and endearing. Kudos

‘Um, can I ask where the blonde Billy Idol wanna be fits in?’ asked Georgie eying the vampire who was sitting quietly in the corner watching events unfold.

hahaha another funny line for Buffy fans. Particularly for Spike fans.

"I'm looking for someone. Leather jacket, platinum blonde hair, british accent."
"Yea yea I know the guy. Billy Idol wanna be?
"Actually Billy Idol stole his look from...never mind.
-Sleeper episode of BtVS

‘I think I know why Tara is having those turns.’

Dun dun dun! I can't wait to find out what is happening to Tara, and how it connects to Donny!

[taranwillow4ever]

I am really enjoying this. Can't wait to read more

[Poniac]

Anlorew - I was aiming for a moment of clarity for Tara, where she's drawn away from all the drama and she's noticing little details, simple things like the differences between her hands and Willow's. I forgot about that quote about Spike and Billy Idol, very funny.

Taranwillow4ever - Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy the next part

Feedback: The more the better – I love it, it keeps me going

A short update.....

PG13 for now.

MOONLIGHT

[/b]Part 8 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All eyes turned to the watcher. “Right, well, what I’ve read so far indicates that Sararian witches have various gifts, some are visual – they see peoples auras, some are spiritual, they can sense peoples auras, though this is very rare. Sararian witches have also been known to astral project, and communicate telepathically.”

Buffy interrupted the watcher, “Giles, get to the point, why is Tara having the witchy turns?”

Giles turned to the slayer, “Buffy you know that I’m just trying to explain how I came to my conclusion, and I don’t appreciate…”

“For heavens sake you two – squabble later, Giles...” Willow snapped at the watcher and his slayer.

Giles gave the redhead a small frown before he continued, “Well, I believe that Tara is a Sararian witch whose power is the ability to spiritually read peoples auras,” Giles held up his hand to silence the questions on their way, “I know that Tara does not believe that she has that power, but I think that the turns she has been experiencing are an unconscious reaction to a nearby hostile or evil presence. She’s reading their aura without training, without knowing what’s happening – and it’s causing her system to overload.”

“I – I don’t understand, M-Mr Giles, I don’t see auras…”

“No you wouldn’t see them, Sararian’s believe that there is an unseen double of the human body, sometimes called etheric double, doppelgänger or bio-plasmic body. This double conforms to the shape, appearance and condition of the body. We can’t see these bodies, but some Sararian witches can see them as auras, Tara is a spiritual Sararian, although she can’t visually see the aura she can sense it.”

Tara blushed as all eyes in the room turned to her, “B-but Mr Giles, I’ve been fighting demons and things for – well since I met Willow, but it’s only b-been recently that I’ve had these feelings.”

Giles frowned, “Well yes, I’m still…”

“Heavens, I think I know the answer,” Lillian looked at Tara as she interrupted Giles. “I’m sorry Mr Giles, but I think I know why this is only just happening now.”

All eyes turned to the grey haired witch. “Tara’s mother believed that Tara’s magical gift would be healing, in line with the family tradition. In their family the healing gift arrived when the witch started to be magcially proficient, usually around the age of 25. She asked me to contact Tara when she turned 25 to help her learn how to use her gift, help her become a healer.”

Buffy frowned at the witch, “I don’t get it…”

Smiling at the slayer, Lillian continued, “Buffy, I think that because Tara has been helping you fight on the hellmouth she’s become magically proficient long before her mother thought she would, long before anyone in her family had before. Her new powers have been awakened 5 years before they should have, and Tara’s not had any training on how to deal with these new feelings.”

“So, what’s been setting off her new powers?” Buffy glanced at the blonde witch with worry and concern in her eyes.

“Donny,” Willow almost shouted as she blurted out the name. Her eyes met Giles' startled look. “She’s been sensing Donny’s presence, not just him her following her, but his well,” Willow glanced at her girlfriend, “um not very nice intentions towards her…”

“Last week, at my apartment – that was Donny,” Giles furrowed his brow as he mentally searched through the week. “Tonight, several nights ago…Willow’s right, it’s been Donny, he’s following Tara.”

Buffy stood, “Right, this is going to end. Tomorrow we’re going to find Donny and send him home with the message that Tara will not be going back against her will.”

“Why wait until tomorrow?” asked Willow her arm wrapped possessively around her girlfriend. Buffy walked towards the weapons chest and picked up her crossbow, “Because tonight we have a nest of vamps to take on and I need all scoobies to patrol with me.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Donny sat in the drivers seat of the van and watched as people scurried up and down the main street of Sunnydale. He cursed as he smashed his fist into the van’s steering wheel, he’d been so close to Tara, but her blonde friend had seen him, he had no idea how, but as soon as he heard shouting inside the house he headed towards the van, and drove off as quickly as he could.

He climbed out of the van and slammed the door behind him. Fishing around in his pants pocket he found a couple of coins and went in search of the nearest payphone. With the receiver clenched in his hand Donny fed it a handful of coins and dialled a familiar number.

“Dad.”

“Yeah, it’s all sorted.”

“I’m going to stay tonight and come home late tomorrow.”

“Yeah I’m sure, she’ll be doing same stuff next week, and we can come back then.”

“There are a couple of hours during the day when she’s on her own between classes.”

“I don’t know, they’re just not around, the only friend that goes to college is the redhead, all the others work and stuff.”

“Right, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Donny hung up and stared at the receiver. He knew he should have told his father that Tara’s blonde friend had seen him lurking outside her house. Donny scowled; he didn’t think that his father would react well, besides he reasoned, the blonde wouldn’t have recognised him.

Lillian and Georgie stared as the scoobies leapt into action, Willow and Tara gathered a collection of herbs and supplies in case they were needed for spells, Buffy dragged a number of swords and crossbows from her weapons trunk, and Giles sat with Spike and worked out a plan of attack.

The door opened, “Right, what’s the big bad today ladies and gents?” Xander smiled as he stepped through the doorway of the Summer’s house. He frowned as he saw Buffy piling up a collection of weapons in the lounge room, “What another apocalypse? Didn’t we just save the world again last week?”

“Nest of vamps moving in to Sunnydale, causing poor old Spike some heartache,” she smirked as she glanced at the vampire talking to Giles. Xander’s eyebrows rose as he looked at Buffy, “We are going to war with a nest of vamps because they’re bothering Spike?”

“We’re going to fight a nest of vamps because it’s what we do, and because if they take over Spike’s crypt he’ll end up spending a lot more time here.”

Xander’s face was grim, though his eyes sparkled, “Well load me up with weapons miss slayer, we’ve got work to do!”

Buffy grinned at the construction worker, “I thought you’d see the big picture,” she paused and led Xander into the lounge, “actually Xander when I first called you it was about Tara.”

“Oh God she’s okay isn’t she?” Xander’s eyes scanned the room looking for the blonde witch.

“She’s okay, but Giles thinks he knows why she was having the dizzy witchy spells, and I’d like to introduce you to these lovely women,” Buffy smiled as she nodded towards their visitors. “Lillian, Georgie, this is another member of our scooby family, Xander,” she paused “Xander this is Lillian Maclay and her partner Georgie.”

“Maclay?”

“Yes,” Buffy nodded towards the witches, “Lillian is Tara’s aunt.”

“Woa!” Xander’s eyebrows shot up as he stepped towards Buffy, “Maclay, like we’re going to come and drag Tara away from her life in Sunnydale Maclay?”

“Um, y-yes same family, but I don’t think they have any intention of d-dragging me anywhere against my will Xander,” Tara smiled at her aunt as she walked behind Xander and wrapped her arm around his shoulder, “but thanks for c-caring.”

“Hey,” Xander smiled warmly at the blonde, he turned back to the visitors, “Sorry, didn’t mean to freak out on you there, it’s just that…”

Lillian smiled, “It’s okay young man, I’m beginning to see that the name Maclay brings a rather protective response from all of Tara’s friends,” she smiled at her niece, relieved that she’d found a family of her own that cared for her so much, “but we’ve no intention of hurting my niece.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy stood at the entrance to the cemetery, and looked around. “Well we’ve got quite a crowd here tonight,” she muttered to herself. She turned to face the group, “Right, Giles and Spike with me, Lillian and Georgie with Xander, Tara and Willow can follow up behind us. I’ll go ahead and do a scout with Giles and Spike, get rid of any strays, then we’ll approach the crypt and try to draw them out one or two at a time. Georgie and Lillian, Xander will be with you, only do defensive spells if you need to protect yourself or anyone of us,” she paused, “Tara, Will, you guys know what do to just make sure no one sneaks up behind us.”

“What about me?” puffed Anya as she jogged up to Buffy, “I couldn’t leave the magic shop earlier, I had a client who was spending lots of money.” She smiled at Xander, “Honey, I made enough to pay for that weekend away at that resort where we can have…”

Buffy interrupted, “Okayyyyyy, I think we’ve heard enough, Anya you can join Xander with Lillian and Georgie.”

“I was going to say cocktails on the beach…” sulked Anya as she joined Xander.

Buffy walked up to Tara and whispered in her ear, “If you start to feel the heebie jeebies, because of some evil thing, grab your girl and get out of here.”

Tara smiled at the slayer and whispered her thanks.

Buffy turned to the rest of the group, “Okay it should take about 20 minutes for us to do a quick check, so stay here and keep safe until we get back.” The trio headed into the cemetery weapons drawn.

“I ran all the way here to sit and wait for them to do a round and come back to us? Why aren’t we going with them?’ Anya asked Xander.
Xander pulled his girlfriend close, “Because Anya, we’re here to protect these lovely ladies,” he gestured towards Lillian and Georgie. He smiled at the witches, “Lillian, Georgie, I’d like to introduce you to my girlfriend, Anya. Anya, Lillian is Tara’s aunt, and Georgie is her partner, they are both witches and they have come to visit Tara,” he quickly added “not to take her away,” as he noticed the look of anger in his girlfriends eyes.

Willow whispered to Tara, “Honey, you better look out for your aunts, I think Anya is warming up for an inquisition.”

Tara looked over at the ex-demon who was advancing on her aunts, “Oh no!” she cried as she grabbed Willow’s hand and rushed over to save her aunts. “Hey Anya, good to see you here,” called out the blonde as she stepped in between Anya and her aunts.

Anya smiled at her friend, “Hello Tara, I didn’t know you had an aunt - did you know?” she leaned forward and whispered into Tara’s ear, one eye still on the aunts, “Can you trust them? Cause if you don’t I still remember a thing or two about hurting people…”

“Oh Anya, I think they’re fine,” smiled the blonde as she put her hand on the ex-demon’s arm, she lowered her voice and whispered, “but if I find out that they’re not what they appear, you’ll be the first to know.” Tara winked at her, and Anya winked solemly in return.

“So where do you fine lesbians hail from?” asked Anya as she stepped towards the aunts.

Willow smiled at her girlfriend, “That was genius Tara Maclay, you really know how to handle your ex-demons.” Tara smiled back and pulled Willow close, “I also know how to handle my redheads…” Willow laughed and and drew her in close for a long kiss. After a few minutes a breathless and flushed Tara pulled away, “Um, not that I’m not loving every second of this, Will, but shouldn’t we be w-watching out for evil things?”

The redhead sighed as she nibbled on her girlfriends ear, “Baby it’s my lips that are occupied, my eyes are on the job, besides we have Xander, an ex-demon, and two expereinced witches watching our back…”

Willow’s lips moved down Tara’s ear towards her neck.

“Uh, well as long as your’re sure…” murmured Tara as she closed her eyes and leant into the redhead.

Georgie watched with amusement as Anya not so subtly questioned her partner about her life. Looking around she noticed the two young witches making out a few metres away, she smiled and watched for a few moments. She turned to Xander, and nodded towards the witches, “Are they always like that?” Xander glanced up at the kissing women, “Oh, you mean are they always making out like they’re going down with the Titanic, umm yeah pretty much.”

“Even late at night, in a grave yard, filled with vampires?” asked Georgie.

Xander laughed, “Oh yeah, and once in the middle of an apocolypse, once whilst being held capitive by a Triall Demon, once when they were trapped in the forrest by a gang of … well you get the picture,” he added quickly.

Georgina nervously looked around, “You all seem very casual about the evil and demon fighting.”

“Well you get used to it, after you’ve faced your fourth of fifth apocolypse, not much surprises you any more you know.” Xander opened his mouth to continue but froze as he looked over Georgina’s head towards Anya and Lillian. He shouted “Anya, down!”

Without hesitation Anya grabbed Lillian as she threw herself to the ground.

Xander quickly reached over his shoulder and pulled out his compact cross bow, bought it to his eye level, aimed, and fired. Georgie turned just in time to see a cloud of dust float to the ground several feet behind her partner. “Oh Lily, are you okay?” she cried as she rushed to help up Anya and her partner.

“Well, I didn’t see that coming, but don’t worry honey, I’m fine,” smiled the grey haired witch. She leaned over and brushed grass and dust from her pants, “Xander you’re quite the marksman, thank-you,” she smiled at the construction worker.

Xander blushed, a fact obvious to the witches despite the darkness, “Uh no problem ladies. Is everyone okay?” Georgie glanced over at the two young witches, “They’re um still busy,” she smirked.

“I told you,” said Xander, “Titanic.”

“I can see that,” said Georgie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy twirled and landed a hard kick to the side of the vampire’s head, he fell to the ground stunned, before he could get up she leaned over him and plunged a stake into his chest, stepping back as he turned to dust.
“Right, that’s one down, a whole lot more to go,” Buffy motioned for the scoobies to follow her, “eyes open, Anya’s drawing them out of the crypt one by one…” Buffy’s instructions were cut short by a short squeal followed by the sound of feet pounding on gravel approaching.

As Anya approached the scoobies she ducked to the left, leading two vampires straight towards the small group. The slayer stuck out one leg, tripping the first vampire, who fell and toppled the second one. As she staked the first vampire the second climbed on her back and wrapped his hands around her neck. Buffy struggled against the monster, trying to loosen his grip, she twirled and backed him up against a tree.

“Buffy, close your eyes,” shouted Willow as she grasped Tara’s hand. They uttered a quick chant and conjured a small ball of light. Tara held out her hand, the ball settled in her palm, she called out, “incendrie,” and flung the ball directly at the vampire. It impacted with the demon and it collapsed into a cloud of dust.

“Thanks,” smiled the slayer, “three down.”

Willow smiled at Tara, “Imagine how cool it’ll be when we can make a really big one!”

“We can call it Willow’s big ball o’ sunshine,” teased Tara.

Anya interrupted, “Hey Buffy, I’m tired of being bait, I think it’s someone else’s turn to show their neck suggestively to hungry vampires.”

Buffy waved away the ex-demon, “It’s okay Anya, I think we’ve drawn out as many as we can, I think it’s time to take em all on, there are enough of us here, so let’s just try to get them out here and kick their collective asses.”

She turned to the vampire, “Right, Spike go in there and stir up the hornets’ nest.” She pointed towards the crypt, “come on we haven’t got all night, I got a hankering for some pizza.”

The vampire stared at the slayer, “You want me to go in and wind up a lot of hungry beggars and bring them out her for you to fight? What if they get to me first?”

“Then we won’t have to fight for your crypt…” snapped Buffy.

“Bloody hell,” snarled Spike as he stomped towards the crypt, “serve your right slayer if they kill me and come out and tear the rest of you lot to pieces!”

Buffy nodded to Giles and Xander who stood on the other side of the entraced armed with crossbows and broad swords. Tara, Willow, Anya and the aunts stood back ready to take on any strays.