Merry Yule and a Happy Winter Solstice, my gorgeous kittens! The lunar eclipse was truly a sight to behold, making this Solstice/Yule even more special. So here is your Yule present, kittens, and I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of their holidays. See you in the new year!Chapter Eighteen
Pairing: W/T
Rating: PG-13
Angst/Drama Rating: This is about a 6 on the 1-10 scale.
Setting: Sunnydale
Disclaimer: I in no way, shape or form own the characters from BtVS, they’re owned by Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. All original characters are in no way connected to them except by me in this forum. No money - and trust me I don’t have anything you would want anyway - is involved this is simply for my own pleasure.
Email:
riverwillows@me.comFeedback: I long for it, I live for it; I need it more than Spike needs blood… well, maybe not that much…
Author’s Notes: As always, I would like to thank my intrepid beta FC and the newest member of Team Dry Heat (LOL), Cyteach for the support, suggestions and encouragement. The music for this chapter was almost entirely Placebo - “Battle For The Sun, Black Market Music, Meds, Placebo, Without You I’m Nothing, Sleeping With Ghosts, and One More With Feeling: The Singles 1996-2004 (funny that, huh?).” Also thrown again this time around were Feist’s “The Reminder” and the single I was listening to from last chapter, Amber Benson & James Saez “The One I Need” from the movie “The Killing Jar”, and AWOLNation “Sail” book ending respectively. Secrets, Burdens, and the Truth…Tara woke before Willow, the early morning light just shifting from grey, as she lay listening to the noises of the house. The air had changed, truths had been spoken and somehow instead of making it feel better it had made things uncomfortable. Guilt was redolent, in a vortex with confusion and anger. With a determined sigh, Tara quietly left Willow sleeping, and after dressing went downstairs.
At the bottom of the stairs the smell of coffee hit her nose and she knew that Buffy would be waiting; it wasn’t unusual for her to greet Tara in the morning after a stressful patrol having been too wired to sleep.
Buffy was staring out at the backyard when she entered the kitchen. Tara saw the slight tensing of her shoulders, and knew she had to put this to rest, before their mutual guilt tore their friendship apart.
“Buffy, we should talk about last night,” Tara said.
Buffy's shoulders slumped, she hung her head before turning around to look at Tara; she raised her cup to her in question. Receiving a nod, she began to pour Tara a cup of the steaming brew, before adding milk and sugar.
Shame seemed etched into Buffy’s face as she handed Tara the cup. “Tara,
really, what can I say? I know we’ve never talked about this, there never seemed a right time, then Will was gone and it seemed like it would be rubbing salt into both our wounds.”
Tara stared into her cup, nodding. “That’s a pretty fair assessment, Buffy. I played that time over and over in my head trying to figure out just when it started. Willow pushed so hard – was it with the teleportation of Glory? That’s when the headaches and nose bleeds started. How much harder should I have fought her on it? Should I have
insisted on being involved more, so she wasn’t pulling so much energy to herself?” Shaking her head, Tara looked at Buffy sadly. “I just don’t know, I knew what she was doing too, in some cases I even helped her with spells without asking where she got them from. Could we have stopped her?”
Buffy sat on one of the bar stools, resting her head in her hands. “Tara, I don’t know. I was so scared of Glory; we had never gone up against anything like her before. We had so little to go on, and so few defenses. And that sounds even
more pathetic, as the words come out of my mouth.” Buffy laughed bitterly.
Both girls were quiet, while they sipped away at their coffee. Each played the past over in their minds, answers no clearer in hindsight than they had been in the moment.
Quietly, Tara said, “Sacrifices were made; we made them to stop Glory; you, Willow, me, Giles – all of us. Dawn lost a part of her innocence, you lost so much more; Willow lost, I lost, Xander lost, Giles… I don’t know how to define what he lost when he killed Ben. We all failed Willow for one reason or another. Who gets to say who lost
more?”
Buffy’s head had snapped up before Tara had finished speaking, surprise written plainly across her face. “What?”
Tara looked at Buffy blankly. “What, what?”
“Giles killed Ben?”
Tara nodded slowly. “I thought you knew by now. Ben probably wouldn’t have survived he was so –
broken – Ben begged him to do it. Ben finally did the right thing; he ceased to be her vessel. Giles simply covered his nose and mouth, Ben didn’t fight and Xander just watched. I don’t think they realized I was watching too.” Tara shuddered; the remembrance of that night would never leave her. “At first I wasn’t sure what I was seeing; everything happened so quickly, Buffy. First I was…gone, then I wasn’t; it was so loud, and I hurt. Then Willow was holding me, and I saw clearly through piles of broken bricks, Giles and Xander with Ben. Next thing you were falling and Ben didn’t seem important anymore.”
Tara sighed heavily. “I never thought I would be so apathetic about the death of another human being, but I just can’t bring myself to feel any way else. What she did; what he stood by and allowed…I just can’t. I guarantee Giles doesn’t know I saw. If he hasn’t told you, Buffy, you can’t say anything to him, it’s his burden and if he wants to share it then let him. We all did our part to save the world that night, and as usual the price was so much more than we thought it would be.”
Buffy nodded, her face pale in the morning light, as more burdens reared their ugly heads the night before having only eased those for one of their number.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“What good would it have done? What kind of finger pointing fiasco would that have led to? Would that have made any of us feel less responsible for losing you, would it have made any of us feel any
better? Would that have slowed down anything that happened that summer?” Tara shrugged, her own expression drawn.
“Does Willow know? Does Dawn?”
“I’ve never said anything about it until now. Again, I didn’t see the point, and I didn’t want to add another heaping helping of guilt to be passed around.”
“Well, guys, it seems I know now,” came softly from the doorway. Willow stood there, looking from one girl to the other, a soft, sad smile on her face as she looked to her left.
Dawn stepped into view. “So do I,” she whispered, tears streaking her face.
Buffy and Tara froze, their faces panic-stricken. Dawn wrapped her arms around her waist as she sniffled.
“Do we
ever get a break? Aren’t we
allowed to be happy? I mean, what the
hell, Buffy? How much do we have to give before it’s enough? Kidnap, torture, murder, violation, death, addiction –
where’s the joy? Were you guys ever allowed to
just be happy – at all –
ever?” Dawn shook her head in pained disbelief; to try and ease her pain, Willow pulled the girl into her arms.
Without further hesitation, Buffy and Tara crossed to the girls, wrapping their arms around them, each holding onto the other. Pulling strength from each other, from their bond, they made their way to the sofa, Buffy in one corner, Tara in the other. Dawn lay down with her head in Buffy’s lap and Willow wedged in next to Tara and under Dawn’s feet, who still cried.
“You know Dawnie, it’s funny, we never questioned what we do. It’s always been a struggle, and sometimes the lines between right and wrong do get blurred – there are no absolutes. There has been joy, even at the oddest times, but looking back at everything, I wouldn’t change it. It’s brought me to where I am now, who I am now,” Willow said.
Buffy stroked Dawn’s hair gently as she began to speak. “There were times I hated it, I just wanted to be a normal girl. Times when I felt this was so unfair, that I wanted more than to just be ‘
The Chosen One’. Times when I hated Giles and the Council, I even hated Mom and Dad because it had to come from somewhere right? So which one of them was to blame? Then I look at what I’ve gained…, and believe me, it’s taken me a while to be able to see that.” Buffy looked at Willow and Tara. Willow took Buffy’s hand, even as she looked at Tara, who rested one hand on the back of Willow’s neck, the other on Dawn’s ankle.
Willow smiled at her friend’s admission, her eyes clouding as she became lost in her own thoughts once more. “That’s not to say that I’ve never wondered how my life would’ve been different, Dawn. There are so many possibilities, so many different versions of what could have been. I just know that now, this is the version I want. I
want you, and Buffy; I
want Tara, I
want Xander and Giles. You guys are my family, I love you and I don’t want to imagine my life without you.” Willow’s voice was thick with emotion.
“Dawnie,” Tara took up Willow’s thread, “I know none of this is remotely fair, and like Buffy, you didn’t have a choice in how all of this came about. Somehow though, Buffy’s managed to surround you with people that did choose to be here, that did choose to fight alongside of her. When I chose Willow, I knew what I was getting into, but really there was no other choice for me,” she finished, before dropping a kiss on Willow’s shoulder, and giving Dawn’s ankle a light squeeze. “We manage to find the joy and the light within the darkness; it’s how we all get through it. It may not always be the best, or the most fun, but we choose to do what’s right sometimes, even if we can only do what is the most right out of limited options. As I was recently reminded, ‘we do it because it’s what we do.’” Tara rested her chin on Willow’s shoulder, giving Dawn and Buffy her shy smile.
“I just don’t know how you guys have done this for so long, how Giles…” Dawn sniffled some more and wiped at her tears with the back of her hand. “I don’t blame him, it was just a way to be sure we’ll never see that bitch again. I’m not sorry he did it. What must it do to him though, does it eat at him?”
The older girls looked at one another.
“I don’t know, Dawn,” Buffy said, “and there’s no real way to ask either. Now we all know, and that will have to be enough. We’ve all done things, and we’ll probably all do things again, that we wouldn’t normally do to protect each other, simply because we couldn’t just stand by. That’s the grey area we’re sometimes forced to walk in, and it’s the hardest time in which to discern right from wrong.”
The room grew quiet as each girl thought about what they were willing to do for one another, what protecting each other, really meant to them.
“Are we all good?” Dawn asked. “I mean with each other, are we all good? We can’t change what happened, but we
cannot let it happen again, right? Not be afraid to say something? Not be afraid to ask for help?” Dawn sat up. She looked at the three women seated around her, these women that she called sisters, even thought of as ‘Mom’ in some cases; these women were her family, and always would be.
“I promise I will, if you will,” Willow said.
Together, Tara and Buffy answered, “I will.”
“Together, we’re always strongest together, and somehow I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon,” Tara quipped, as she hopefully raised her eyebrows at Buffy.
“Well, aren’t we just a
merry little bunch of misfits? The Slayer, the Key, the Watcher, the Two Good Witches – and Xander.” Dawn jested, garnering a round of laughter from everyone. The solemn air began to lift, the tension from the night before dissipating.
Willow’s tummy gurgled loudly, which set off a chain reaction, followed as it was by Dawn, Buffy and lastly Tara, inciting another burst of laughter.
“Who wants pancakes?” Tara asked.
“Ooo, yummy funny shapes?” Dawn inquired.
Willow bounced next to her. “Those are the only kind, Dawnie,” Willow enthused, flashing a big goofy grin at Tara.
Tara clapped her hands as she rose from the couch, a smile on her face, and a twinkle in her eye. “Funny shapes it is.”
Dawn and Willow bounded off into the kitchen, kitchen. Tara rose to follow when Buffy’s soft voice stopped her in her tracks.
“Hey,” Buffy said, “are we okay?”
Tara looked at Buffy, and saw the strain on the girl’s face that made her look older than her young years. “Yeah, Buff, we’re okay. We learned, right?”
Buffy nodded and flashed a wry smile. ”Yeah, we learned. Always seems to be the hard way, but we do learn.”
Tara held her hand out to pull Buffy off the couch, only to have Buffy pull her into a hug.
“C’mon, let’s go make breakfast,” Tara said as she smiled, and cuffed Buffy under the chin. “Smile, pancakes.”
They walked arm in arm into the kitchen where Dawn and Willow were already pulling out supplies and chattering away like magpies.
******
After breakfast, Willow helped Dawn with homework. Both Tara and Buffy stopped to look at the pair working away, and shared a smile.
“She doesn’t really need the help does she?” Tara asked.
Buffy smiled. “Doesn’t sound like it; they’re arguing about methods of something I have no clue about. Although, it does sound like something she was trying to explain to Janice over the phone last week, I don’t think she had a clue either.”
With a knowing smile, Tara said, “I kind of got the idea…she missed her.”
Buffy leaned against the island as she watched them argue. “We all did though, didn’t we?”
“Yeah, we did,” Tara agreed softly. “Have you slept yet?”
Buffy shook her head.
“You need your rest, Buffy. Do you work today?”
Again, Buffy shook her head. “I’ll sleep, but later. I thought maybe Will and I could go for coffee when she’s done with Dawn. You don’t mind do you?” She looked questioningly at Tara.
“Of course not, I think I’m going to go take a nap myself. Why don’t you stop at the grocery store and I’ll cook tonight. I also need stuff for cookie dough – not sure how it’s gonna hold up in the long term though, so you guys may have to get used to Tollhouse again. I can at least leave some before we go back to Tucson.”
Buffy cocked her head to one side. “You’re really going to study with Willow and the coven?”
Tara nodded. “I am. I remember my Mom sneaking us away when I was little for Sabbats and ceremonies. She never got to practice in the open, Buffy, it was always in fear. It was always sneaking around, and if Daddy found out…” Tara just shrugged dejectedly and looked at the floor. “I have the chance to do what she never could, and I’m going to make the most of it, she would want me to, I want me to.”
“Then by all means you should do this, Tara. Do what she couldn’t; I already know you make her proud.” Buffy smiled sincerely.
Tara nodded with a sad smile. “Thanks.” With a small wave, Tara went to Willow, who looked up with a loving smile at her approach. Tara whispered her plans for a nap into Willow’s ear and left her with a kiss before excusing herself.
******
Willow left Dawn to the rest of her homework, with a smile. She had figured out pretty quickly that Dawn hadn’t really needed the help; their interaction was warm and familiar, and it made them both feel good to reconnect with one another in a simple way.
Willow walked into the living room where Buffy was flipping through the channels on the TV, not stopping for long on any one channel.
“Hey Buff, whatcha watchin’?” Willow asked as she slipped into the armchair with a plop.
“Not a thing. Could I interest you in a lovely mocha, by chance?” she asked.
“Isn’t that our equivalent of,
‘Hey, little girl, want some candy?’” Willow asked with a smirk.
Buffy laughed. “Yes it is, little girl, now I’m buying, so are you coming or do I have to use force?”
“I’ll tell Tara on you if you try to use force on me, but hey, let’s face it, you’re buying, so not a whole lot of force needed. Give me half an hour? I need to shower and change.”
“Ooo, low blow, don’t tell Tara on me – she won’t make us cookies if you do. Okay, no worries. I should cleanup too, but why don’t you go first?”
Willow bounced out of the chair and headed for the stairs, Buffy smiling as she watched her go. Willow stood outside Tara’s bedroom for a moment before gently turning the knob and easing the door open. She slipped inside; Tara was facing the door, on her side of the bed, with her eyes closed. Willow’s breath caught at the sight. Tara was sleeping peacefully, her expression calm and sweet, as she hugged Willow’s pillow to her chest.
Willow sighed contentedly, and edged over to her bag for clean clothes. Grabbing her sneakers, Willow headed for the door, but thinking better of it, she quietly laid everything down and eased onto the bed next to Tara. With a light, gentle touch, she pushed a stray lock of hair off Tara’s face, and bent to kiss her cheek. Tara stirred but did not wake; she just smiled in her sleep as she continued to dream.
Willow slipped off the bed and out of the room.
******
Willow had replaced Buffy on the couch, channel surfing until her friend made her way down the stairs. She glanced up with a smile, and turned the TV off as she hopped to her feet.
“Ready?”
“Yup, let’s roll,” Buffy said, grabbing her keys, and following Willow out.
“Goody, chocolate-y, very caffeinated-y goodness awaits! You know, I don’t get mocha-y goodness too often at the Grove. We’re kind of outside the city so driving forty-five minutes just for coffee isn’t that realistic. Maybe I should buy an espresso machine and ship it before I go back…now there’s a thought,” Willow said as they walked.
Buffy laughed at her friend’s idea, laughed until she cried, while Willow just stared blankly at her.
“Hey, Buff, you wanna let me in on what’s so funny?”
Waving her hand in front of her face, wiping away tears, Buffy tried to explain between gulps of air and laughter. “I just…got this picture…of… a bunch of witches…all hopped up on double mocha’s…random things floating around…”
Willow still stared.
Buffy wiped away tears before saying, “Okay, it was kinda like the mop scene in ‘Fantasia’, but…okay it was a lot funnier in my head than it actually sounds now.”
“Say, Buff, you didn't happen to do a bunch of drugs before we left, did ya?” Willow snarked.
“Nope, I left your stash alone, I swear.”
They looked at each other for a minute before bursting into laughter. Buffy slipped her arm around Willow’s waist in a one armed hug. “I’ve missed you, Willow, I’ve missed this.” Buffy’s voice lost its humor but none of its affection for the girl beside her.
“I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed this, us, just hanging out. We never really did it after…” Willow’s faced darkened at the memories.
“Will, I owe you so much, and I owe you an apology,” Buffy said.
They had arrived at the Espresso Pump, so their talk stalled as they ordered their drinks and found a place to sit. Buffy chose an outside table a little off by itself; this way they had a bit of privacy. When they sat down, Willow fidgeted uncomfortably as she waited for Buffy to speak.
“Willow, what I said last night was the truth.”
“Buffy, you don’t have to do this…,” Willow started.
“Yeah, Will, I do,” Buffy paused to stare into her cup. “How many times have you pulled me through a fight? Do you know? I can’t really say, because you’ve always been there when I needed you most, and I’ve needed you a lot. Yet you’ve always been able to come up with a spell to save me, save us. Hell, Willow! You brought me back from the dead!”
“Buffy, how often did stuff not turn out right? I mean, I even brought you back against your will!” Willow tried to argue.
“Because, Willow, you have the power to do it. Don’t you get it? You pushed yourself to get that kind of power. With no real…guidance, you took it upon yourself to be that kind of witch, the kind that has no boundaries, because you, Willow, have no boundaries. I mean that in the best way – you’ve never let anyone limit you, there’s nothing you can’t do. Everything is attainable to you if you try hard enough. You never give up, Willow. I watched you push yourself for years, it never occurred] to me this would be any different for you. It just seemed to be another riddle for you to solve or a theory for you to quantify. No ‘big’ for our Willow, right? You were the most self sufficient of us all so why would this be any different?”
“So what’s your point here, Buffy?” Willow asked, trying to keep the bitterness from her voice. “Look at what that has cost me and what it almost cost me, and it still wasn’t enough! How
thick do I have to be not to learn?”
Buffy shook her head. “Willow, I understand why you did all of it. Glory had us all more scared than we had ever been before, and when she took Tara – if I could have beaten Tara out of her for you, I would have happily done that. They’ve all told me what it was like while I was…gone. How everything fell to you, to you and Tara. You have to believe me when I say I am so incredibly sorry for that. It shouldn’t have happened that way.”
“But it
did Buffy, it
did happen that way. We were all…
broken, you have no idea!
Even Spike was broken! Without
you, who else was going to do it? Someone
had to; no one else seemed to be able to pull it together, so I did. I pulled alright, and pulled, and pulled, and even that wasn’t enough. Not enough to keep everyone safe. There were demons on bikes; once word got out that you were gone it was a
field day here, Buffy. I don’t think you
really have a clue.”
The silence was thick between them.
“You’re right, Will, I don’t. I can’t know, and I can’t change that. I can’t change that I looked the other way when I should have helped you – during everything with Glory and after I came back, but I didn’t. That’s how I failed you; how I wasn’t the best friend I could have been to you. Everything felt so wrong when I came back, it was loud and bright, and I was so…
different.”
Buffy dropped her head, and wouldn’t look at Willow as she continued to speak, “I was so angry with you. I thought if anyone would have known that I was at peace it would have been you, but you were the one who pulled me out. For a long time I used that to justify my looking the other way while you fell apart, and when you tried to get away from it, I almost felt you deserved what you were going through. That it would teach you a lesson; that not everything should be at your whim.”
Buffy slouched back in the chair looking everywhere but at Willow. “It wasn’t until Tara came back, and I was shot, that I realized what a
monumental ass I had been. How broken Tara and Dawn were after you left, I can’t even begin to describe, and to top it off, Tara tried to leave! She had boxes packed – if I hadn’t come home when I had she really would have left! I had to almost die again to understand a lot of things, Willow, and you talk about being the thick one.”
“I have to admit I was shocked when Tara told me she was still living with you. Giles never said, and honestly I didn’t ask. Buffy, I was so afraid to come back here; so afraid of the mess I had made of everything. I thought I’d die the day Rowan told me Tara was coming. I was afraid it was all a dream.” Willow shook her head in disbelief. “Buffy, I can’t believe she still loves me. I know I never stopped loving her, but it’s still a little unreal for me. I can see how she’s changed, and grown, and I love it. It makes me love her all the more. Coming back and seeing all of you, we’ve all done some growing up. I’m not sure when it happened but it did. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life with guilt and accusations. I don’t want you to either; it’s no way to live.”
Buffy felt so raw by all that she had needed to say for so long, but there was still one thing she had to know. “Can you forgive me, Will?”
“I can. Can you forgive me?”
“Already done.”
“Now, we just have to work on forgiving ourselves, Buff. That will be the harder part, since we’re all so good at it.” Willow said with a wry smile.
Both girls sat in silence for a few moments, drinking their mocha’s and digesting all that had been said, each coming to terms with what they felt had been the truth. Finally, Willow hesitantly broke into their silence.
"Buffy…I’ve been having dreams, and I don’t know what they mean. I’ve told Tara about them, but this is the one I think we need to worry most about, okay?”
Buffy perked up and immediately went into ‘
Slayer Mode’. “I’m listening to anything you have to say.”
“I have to tell you… it’s only started recently this dream. It’s not like my ‘Warren-mare” or the other one I sometimes have - both of which I’ll maybe explain to you another time, it’s just that this one seems important. I dream that I’m in Sunnydale, we’re all there but there are more people. There are all these young girls all over the place, but they have something to do with
you; it’s like you’re
leading them somehow. That’s what I don’t understand. But, Buff, there’s also…we have a
coven there, Tara and I, so we have several young girls and a few boys, well they’re younger than us anyway. Some, but not
all, are initiates with us, but yours seem to be slayers, Buff. We’re
preparing for something, and it’s
big, because the hellmouth...it has
teeth. I don’t know what all of this means, or if it’s even going to happen.”
“Wow, Will, that’s some dream you got there. Maybe taking an espresso machine back isn’t such a good idea.”
“Buffy!”
Buffy took Willow’s hand between her own. “No, I get you, Will, really, so do you think it’s that we should start expecting all of this soon?”
“That’s just it, Buff, it could be next week, or a year from now. I don’t know, but I do plan to talk with Sister Dana when I get back, she regularly has prophetic dreams, it’s one of her gifts. She can help me figure it out. Once I know more, I can help you guys prepare here. That’s all I can tell you now, and like I said, Tara knows, and now so do you. I think we can hold off on telling Dawn and Xander until I can talk to Sister Dana.”
Buffy nodded. “I’ll start asking around, but for the moment, let’s just say no one has heard anything new. I’ll stop by Willy’s tonight and ask a few questions.” Thinking out loud, Buffy added, “You know, demon to vamp ratios have been kind of steady lately.”
“That’s not a bad idea, Buffy; you want me to go with you?” Willow asked, overlooking Buffy’s final comment.
Buffy could hear the hopefulness in Willow’s voice. “If Tara says ‘yes.’ And who knows, she may want to come too. She does patrol sometimes, you know.”
Willow smiled widely. “That’s my girl. Should we head back? My mocha tolerance is low these days, I’m gonna be wired for a while from that one.”
Buffy made overly dramatic sniffling sounds. “Aww, Will, I get to show you the joys of caffeine all over again, just like the first time.”
Willow giggled, then smiled wickedly. “Buffy, please
be gentle this time, my first time, you were so rough.”
Buffy started to speak but stopped abruptly, playing over what Willow had just said, and blushed profusely. Willow bounced in her chair, cackling with glee, the tip of her tongue sticking out as she pointed at Buffy.
“Ahhh, I
got you! I so
totally got you!” Willow swirled the contents of her cup and drank it down. “I told you one is enough.”
A still pink faced Buffy rolled her eyes. “
Great – sneaky, mouthy, sugar high, over-caffeinated Willow, attacks. I’m gonna have to warn Tara or she’s gonna
hate me, which she may do anyway.”
“So what now, Buffster?” Willow chirped.
“
Oh yeah, it’s all starting to kick in. Tara’s gonna
kill me, I just need to face that now,” Buffy muttered.
“Oh, I think I can come up with a way she won’t kill you, so don’t you worry about Tara.” Unfortunately for Buffy, she looked over at Willow just in time to catch the lascivious look that passed over her friend’s face.
“I
so don’t want any more details. Okay, I told her we would stop and pick stuff up for supper. Is there anything special you want? I also have to get stuff for cookie dough.”
“Ooo, fresh ‘Tara-cookies,’ yummy. Umm, and her Chicken Cacciatore, God, it’s amazing, Buff. She has made it for you guys, right? She used to make it for me on my birthday.” Willow smiled a little sadly.
Buffy put her arm around Willow’s shoulder. “C’mon, it may not be shopping for shoes but it’s still shopping; let’s set you up with the meal you want. Do you know what’s in it?”
“I do, I even know the wine she liked to use best in it…does she still like the Santa Margherita’s Pinot Grigio? Err, that was to have with it, not in it; she used to like it a lot.”
Buffy smiled fondly at Willow. “Don’t worry, Will, she still does, but no, she’s never made this for us. I’ll bet because it was special for you.”
Willow smiled back a bit sheepishly. “Yeah, maybe that’s it. You know we go back tomorrow, not until late in the evening, so maybe that will be special enough.”
As they approached the store, Buffy grabbed a cart. “Are ya gonna be my hood ornament?” she asked Willow.
“Really?”
“I asked didn’t I? Dawn just doesn’t do the job justice. Has Tara ever seen you do this?”
Willow shook her head. “No, shopping was either done in a hurry because we had to get back to her dorm *cough* to do spells *cough*, or we were rushing to get home for Dawnie.”
Buffy pulled out a cellphone and aimed it at herself and Willow with pride.
“Well, make ‘em good ones and we can show them to Tara and teach Dawnie how it’s done.”
“When did you get a cellphone?”
“When Xander put us all on a family plan, right before you got here; there are phones for you both. Guess we kinda forgot to tell you about that, huh?”
“Just a little! Oooo, can you send them to my phone? This will be so much fun.”
Buffy proceeded to get shots of Willow serving as the carts figurehead, chest thrust forward, head back; albeit a rather more clothed figurehead than any ships ever was. There was a shot of Buffy using the cart to ‘luge’ past the fresh fish and meats on ice, and the
pièce de résistance – with the help of a fellow shopper – a picture of them both, which saw Buffy riding the cart down the aisles with Willow in the basket covered in chocolates and coffee, both of them grinning manically at their photographer.
Somewhere in all of the goofing off they actually managed to get everything on their list, without being thrown out of the store.
Walking back to the Summers’ house, Willow grew pensive. “Buff?”
“What’s up?
”Xander - maybe I should go talk to him, he should be home soon. I don’t want to leave with him still mad over this. I have to at least try to help him get comfortable with this, this is all part of the Willow-y goodness package.”
“I understand, Will, and I hope he does too. If not, I have a shovel. That threat might make him see sense. Here, lets consolidate bags, and you go to Xander’s and I’ll see you later at home, okay?”
“You’re the best, Buff, I’ll see you later, tell Tara too.” With that, Willow took off in the direction of Xander’s apartment.
“Yeah, yeah…at least slayer strength is good for more than kickin’ demon ass,” Buffy muttered as she watched Willow run towards Xander’s.
******
A few minutes later, Willow was sitting on the steps in front of Xander’s building. There had been no answer at his door, and his car wasn’t parked in its spot, so it was a safe bet that he wasn’t yet home from work. There was still plenty of time before sunset for Willow to wait. The longer she waited though, the more worried she got. If he had gone to Buffy’s, then he would have been told where she was and come for her. Or would he? With about thirty minutes left before sunset, Willow reluctantly started to walk back to Buffy’s.
She hoped Xander would just show up there and it wouldn’t be that big a deal; maybe he had to work late, or maybe he had…something. Willow walked in to the house, and since it was quiet she headed upstairs to Tara’s room. The door was still closed so she eased it open again before she stuck her head in to check on Tara.
To her surprise, Tara was pulling books off her shelf and gathering the things she wanted to take to The Grove. She looked over her shoulder when she heard the door open.
“Hi sweetie, how did it go with Xander?”
“Well, it
didn’t, he didn’t come home before I had to leave to be here before sunset,” Willow said.
Tara put the last book down on a stack, stood up and turned around. “That’s kind of odd, maybe he’ll show up for dinner though. That’s certainly not unusual.” She smiled and held out her arms for Willow.
Willow gladly walked into them. “I know, I’m just worried, I don’t want to leave again with him mad at me. I don’t want that between us.” She started to nuzzle and kiss Tara’s neck.
“Mmm, that feels nice, sweetheart.”
“I’m feeling a little Tara deprived, I need smoochies.”
“That works out well then, because I was feeling a little Willow deprived.”
Tara walked Willow backwards to the bed. Once Willow’s knees hit the end, she found herself pushed back. Starting at Willow’s knees, Tara slid sinuously up Willow’s body. She had felt Willow’s breath catch when her head had been above her lap, and speed up when her breasts rubbed the underside of Willow’s breasts until their nipples met through their clothing.
Finally, they were looking into each other’s eyes.
Tara’s voice had dropped sexily. “How about those kisses now?”
Willow squeaked and nodded, as Tara placed light kisses on each side of her mouth. Tara held herself above Willow, feasting on her with her eyes. As Tara lowered her head she held back just enough to lick over Willow’s lips, and moan before diving in like a hungry man at a banquet.
Willow’s hand traveled up and down Tara’s back, but once the kisses began in earnest her hands rested on Tara’s bottom. She squeezed and tried to pull her closer. They stayed like that until Dawn called from the bottom of the stairs, asking if Tara still wanted to cook or if she should order out. A slightly foggy brained Tara said she would be down in a few minutes to cook.
“So what did you get for dinner?” Tara asked, before returning to nibble on Willow’s neck.
“Uhh, stuff…for Chicken Cacciatore…umm, that feels
really, really nice… I’ve been dying for it…oh, Tara, suck a little harder, I love it when you do that,” Willow stuttered out.
With a pop, Tara released Willow’s neck. “If that’s what my baby wants, then that is what she shall have. Unfortunately, it won’t make itself, so we better head downstairs.”
With a heavy sigh, Willow released her hold and Tara got up. “Oh, but we
will continue this later.”
With a saucy wink and a smile, Tara said, “But of course we will, sweetie, that’s a promise."
TBC....