The Kitten, the Witches and the Bad Wardrobe - Willow & Tara Forever

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 Post subject: Reflections
PostPosted: Sat Nov 27, 2010 7:31 pm 
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2. Floating Rose

Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2007 1:03 pm
Posts: 24
Okay, here goes. Instead of starting and stopping my story I waited until it was finished. I’m a guy who so adored the wonderful W/T relationship and was appalled by horrible events at the end of season six. I love this board yet I have never before posted a story so I sure hope someone out there likes the following story. It does start with good and bad elements of ‘Seeing Red’ and if you read on, the story will be quite different from what was witnessed on-screen. Thank you.

Title: Reflections
Author: HushMeNot
Rating: NC-17 (in the beginning, anyway)
Summary: The good/bad of ‘Seeing Red’ but with a very different outcome
Disclaimer: I hereby acknowledge that the characters from, settings of and any references to the television show ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’, depicted in the following story, are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy and certainly not mine. Any similarities between ‘Reflections’ and any other “Kitten” story is purely coincidental.
Spoilers: If you endured the last three episodes of season 6 - None
Immeasurable thanks to my Beta, TKOLove!
Feedback: Yes, please
Email: BespinSky@yahoo.com

Note: Thoughts are represented by full italicized sentences.

Chapter One

As the night welcomed a new day, sunlight began to enter through the windows of Willow’s cozy upstairs bedroom. Near the head of the bed, soft moans gently vibrated from Tara’s chest against the crimson sheet as Willow slowly glided her left hand up and over Tara’s left knee. The sheet seemed to move in a ripple as the loving caress along her silky skin put a smile upon Tara’s lips, and a slight quiver cascaded through her body.

No textbook magic was involved in this moment of bliss. Willow slowly and gently danced her left index finger around her lover’s knee and set her fingers upon rising goose bumps, letting them glide along Tara’s left inner thigh. Sunlight began to fill the room, finding soul mates entwined; Tara lay on her back, fully submissive to her lover’s touch. A longer and still softer moan erupted from within, and her temperature continued to rise.

Willow’s fingers were getting close to her hottest spot. “You…mmm… sure know how to wake a girl,” whispered Tara with a crooked grin.
Willow, lying on her right side, reluctantly lifted her head from her lover’s left breast, but was rewarded with a view of soft, loving blue eyes. “Hey, if you’re gonna leave amazing skin like this laying around, I just have no choice,” she answered saucily. A mischievous smile appeared as she suggestively waggled her auburn eyebrows. Tara felt a rush of color spread across her cheeks. “Come here,” she whispered. Willow carefully lifted herself from Tara’s side. The blonde’s hands gently caressed Willow’s face, and the space between them closed.

They were quickly face-to-face, sharing the mingling breath between them. Tara moved first, teasing Willow with a soft kiss. She lay back, resting her head on the pillow, grasping the back of Willow’s neck, pulling her down to her. Tara unhurriedly opened her mouth to explore and enjoy every moist inch of Willow’s ruby lips.

Willow’s skin began to bead with moisture as the warmth inside her moved to envelope her body. A soft growl vibrated against Tara’s lips; the redheaded beauty could not hold in the sounds of pleasure as her fingers finally reached that most enticing space. With a single digit, Willow slowly traced the silky, drenched edges of Tara’s center. Tara released an animalistic moan and arched her back, desperately wanting to be closer to her lover’s touch.

Their kisses intensified with lips opening a little more and tongues beginning to dance. Tara tenderly slid her right hand along her lover’s warm, moist thigh and up her left side. Her fingers moved slowly, magnifying the anticipation. She eased her way under Willow’s arm and gently swooped down to cup her left breast in her palm, massaging it with desire. Their tongues pushed harder against each other and pleasure grew with each second that passed.

Willow couldn’t contain her longing. She reluctantly let go of her lover’s lips, needing them elsewhere. Tara let out a slight groan of discontent but was quickly appeased when she realized Willow’s aim. In one fluid motion, the redhead pushed the sheet out of the way, lifted her glistening form up, and slowly climbed over Tara, hovering her breasts over the blonde’s lips. Tara managed a garbled “Mmmm…yes,” before wrapping her arms around Willow and gently kissing and licking a very alert right nipple.

Willow used one hand for support while the other continued to swirl around Tara’s moist curls. As her nipple received much-wanted attention, she carefully slid her left middle finger into Tara. The blonde let out a long, guttural moan and gently clutched her lover’s nipple between her teeth. Willow was in ecstasy. She so enjoyed the silky smoothness and juices that drenched her finger. She slowly pulled out, bringing another frustrated groan from Tara. Willow gently glided her wet digit through Tara’s dripping folds and slowly swirled her finger around her lover’s clit. Tara let out something resembling a light roar and her eyelids began to quiver. Never the selfish one, she began to glide her right index finger along Willow’s silky center.

Willow was already near climax and she whispered into the blonde’s left ear, “Harder, baby.” Tara moved her tongue to the begging left nipple as she stroked her lover’s clit with more pressure, and her own nub enjoyed an unrelenting swirl that continued faster and harder. Within seconds that passed like heavenly hours, they moaned in unison, coming together, bodies shuddering from head to toe. The lovers gently slowed their drenched fingers to a calm yet intense stroke and their orgasms continued to send waves of pleasure throughout their glistening bodies.
Her red mane draped across Tara’s shoulders, Willow brought her lips to her lover’s mouth and they kissed slowly. Tongues danced in communication of the wiccans’ intense desire to stay connected.

Exhaustion began to set in and Willow gently dropped onto Tara. The intensity of their lovemaking left their bodies shimmering and soaked so thoroughly that Willow began to slide down Tara’s torso. As Willow slowly fell to Tara’s left side, they shared a giggle. Willow swiftly resumed her favorite spot, resting her head on her sweetheart’s warm, inviting breast.

“I wonder if anyone heard us?” whispered Tara. “Who cares?” retorted Willow, “I just had great wake-up sex with my girl!” She rocked the bed as she did a little horizontal happy dance with what was left of her body’s energy. “Willow!” Willow smiled contentedly at her girlfriend’s mock indignation.

“I so don’t want to get up,” Tara grunted. Willow wrapped her left arm around her sweetie’s waist and as she stared lovingly at the beautifully alert nipples before her, and gave a frown-induced reply. “Who says we have to?” Tara attempted to be serious but answered with a half grin. “Well, there is that place called University Something-or-other.” Will quickly countered, “Oh that. Couldn’t we call someone and say we just had great morning sex and don’t wanna go to school?” Tara gently shook her head. “No, really, sweetie, I have that exam this morning.” Willow lifted her head, ready to create another excuse, but stopped herself in mid-thought. Her stare came to rest on Tara’s breasts. “You know, if someone made pillows that look and feel like these, I’d be alternately aroused and asleep wherever I go.” Tara, still a little disbelieving of her body’s many attractive qualities, gave Willow a crooked grin and quickly covered the aforementioned “pillows” with the crimson sheet. Willow rolled her eyes. “Oh fine, we might as well get up, then.” Her seemingly annoyed response was purely in jest. She smiled, leaned over, and planted a long, soft kiss on Tara’s lips. They reluctantly separated, and Tara sighed. “I guess we’ll get showered up.” Willow paused for a moment before the full impact of the concept hit her. “Oooh, shower!” The redhead gleamed with thoughts of a soapy, curvy-in-all-the-right-places Tara, but the blonde tilted her head and playfully reprimanded, “Sweetie.” Gleam turned to pout as Willow rescinded. “Okay, okay. Guess I’ll shower first.”

The blonde wrestled with second thoughts while she watched her lover get out of bed wearing nothing but a look of delectable fun. She got up and followed her girl, enjoying the view with every step. The recipient of that look couldn’t help but notice. “Uh huh. And what are you looking at?” Tara lowered her head slightly as she looked up into gorgeous emerald eyes. “I was just thinking about what I want for dinner,” she replied, a sexy crooked grin emerging from her lips. Willow scanned Tara’s form with a look of pure desire. “And I know what I want for dessert,” she replied in a sensuous tone. A quick glance at the clock on the desk was hard evidence that time was getting away from them. She reluctantly headed for a thorough clean-up…solo.

“I want a cookie,” exclaimed Tara, calling to her wet-but-not-yet-showered Willow. “Do you want one?” Tara asked. “Sure, baby, thanks,” Willow responded from behind the shower curtain. And maybe some milk.” “Okay, I’ll be right back…promise.” Tara headed for the bedroom door and as she grabbed and began to turn the knob, she abruptly stopped. “Oops, I guess I should put something on.” She walked back to the desk, clutched her robe from the back of the chair, scooped it up, and wrapped it around her. She slipped her arms into the sleeves and frowned just a little. You are one pale substitute for Willow’s arms. She opened the bedroom door and headed downstairs while tying the robe’s belt.

Worry over being heard seemed unnecessary. Apparently no one was home. This was not a big surprise since all souls living in the Summers’ house had very odd schedules.
Once in the kitchen, she reached for the refrigerator door, but for the second time that morning, stopped herself suddenly. The faintest blush danced across her face. She backed away and stepped toward the sink, her mind having reviewed the wet and wonderful places in which her hands had spent the last hour or so. “That was close,” she mumbled, embarrassed though no one was there to see. She washed her hands and dried them with a paper towel. She washed her hands and dried them with a paper towel, then took a plate from the cupboard and reached for the cookie jar. Hoping to pull out chocolate chip, she delved in and returned with oatmeal raisin instead. Oh well. Any morning that includes Willow and cookies is pretty perfect, with or without the involvement of Nestle Tollhouse. She pulled out a few more and plopped them on the plate, then took a clean glass from the cabinet and filled it with milk.

She began to exit the kitchen with the snacks, but quickly tossed a glance out the window of the back door and spotted Buffy in the backyard. She turned and gingerly placed the cookies and milk on the kitchen island, then opened the back door to greet her friend. “Hi, Buffy!” The Slayer looked to the door and replied in a rather lascivious tone, “Hey, Tara. Finally up, eh?” Tara smiled and tried to diffuse the suggestive question. “Yeah, uh, gotta get to school.” Buffy’s attention returned to the garden as she replied, “Ok, see ya.” Tara closed the door, retrieved the milk and cookies, and headed back upstairs.

Willow, her body wrapped only in a towel, stood in front of the wardrobe mirror brushing her hair. Tara quietly walked up to her girl and placed an already half-eaten cookie in Willow’s mouth, gleefully asserting, “These are good.” Willow obviously agreed. “Mmm, oatmeal raisin. Breakfast of Champions! Thanks, Baby. Gosh, I didn’t know I was so hungry.” With a smile, Tara placed the goodies on the desk and turned for the bathroom. “I guess it’s my turn.”

A little sad to have washed the remainder of the morning’s lovemaking from her body, Tara emerged from the bathroom redressed in jeans and a form-fitting blue shirt. “How do I look?” Willow smiled and answered, “You look great, but…clothes…” she hooked her fingers through the belt loops on the blonde’s jeans then continued, “…don’t get used to these.” Tara grinned and they took each other in a warm embrace. Enjoying the quiet closeness of the moment, they began to slowly sway.

When they stopped, Tara ended up facing the window and her gaze came to rest in the yard outside. “Xander!” Willow backed off from the hug. “Excuse me?” pouted the playful redhead. “Has it really come to this -- you yell out Xander’s name when you’re holding me? “I told you I’m not usually large with the butch, but I’ll kick his butt.” Tara rolled her eyes and smiled back. “No, I see Xander out back, talking with Buffy.” She kissed her lover on her left cheek then walked to the window. “Maybe they’re making up.” Willow turned back to Tara. “I hope so. That’s the best part,” replied the blonde with a knowing grin.

Buffy and Xander’s embrace was cut short when they heard footsteps from the back alley and turned to see Warren walk into the backyard, carrying a gun. The sounds of gunshots were fast and furious, and before Willow or Tara could even flinch, a bullet crashed through the bedroom window. Tara reacted in a calm but curious voice. “Your shirt.”

Tara dropped to the floor. “Tara!” Willow sped to her lover, knelt down, and took her blue-eyed angel into her arms. “Baby?” she screamed, rocking hopelessly back and forth, her grasp on Tara’s motionless body growing tighter. Willow’s voice was quivering uncontrollably. “Oh please…no!” Tears streamed down Willow’s cheeks and spilled onto Tara. The flow seemed to run with the blood onto the floor.

With every rock of their bodies, Willow’s face contorted with sorrow. She feared her pleas were futile as her soul mate gave no reaction. Fear transformed to anger that swelled inside the once docile Wicca. The one human being who meant more to Willow than life itself was silent in her arms, seemingly taken from this world and from her. The redhead’s powers, manageable in recent weeks, were suddenly raging like an internal tornado. Heavy tears magnified the color of emerald green in her eyes as she whimpered. “This isn’t happening!” Within seconds, the emerald eyes were engulfed in darkness. She looked to the stars and demanded, “Bring her back to me!” Her eyes quickly enraged to a glowing red and the room, once bright with sunlight, turned dark as if life itself were caught in a vacuum.

Willow seemed to look beyond the stars, her anger nearing its release upon an unsuspecting Earth. Suddenly, an ever-increasing light filled the bedroom and the Wicca’s focus turned back to Tara’s lifeless body in time to see a bright glow emitting from the fatal chest wound. She was startled and eased her hold on Tara. The light intensified and surrounded her lover. “Tara?” questioned Willow, her face contorted with a look of concern, curiosity and fear. Her voice quivered. “Baby?”

The entire bedroom was aglow. A bright flash – lasting only a second – erupted in front of Willow. The intense light forced her to shut her eyes for an instant, and upon re-opening them she couldn’t believe what she saw. More to the point, she couldn’t believe what she didn’t see. Tara’s body had vanished. Willow’s eyes quickly returned to their normal emerald green as her anger subsided and bewilderment took over. She blinked a few times, trying to clear away the tears as she barked with a calm yet stern tone, “What the Hell is going on?”

Xander, his right shoulder grazed by hot lead, writhed in pain from the wound of burned, broken flesh. He looked to Buffy, quickly realizing she was far worse, and gingerly crawled to her side. “Hang on, Buff. I’ll get help.”

Willow couldn’t trust that the horror she just experienced was merely her imagination. Frantic, she stood up, hoping to somehow gain a better perspective on the situation. In frustration, she yelled to no one in particular. “Where is she?” She looked down at the floor where her lover lay bleeding just moments before, but there was no sign of her blonde beauty. Also there was no blood, no stains, nothing. Still in shock, she looked around the room half-expecting, half-hoping Tara would pop from the closet with an impish ‘Gotcha!’ But it wasn’t to be, and she expressed her concern in a slightly calmer voice. “Tara, baby?” The faint sound of a siren tinted the silence, turning her confusion once again to intensified fear. Dreading what she might see, Willow turned and walked toward the window. The siren was getting close…too close. Before she looked out to the street, her eyes fell on a bullet hole in the clear pane. “This is really happening?” she half-whispered.

Her eyes began to darken once again, but quickly changed back when she looked down to the commotion in the backyard and saw Xander leaning over Buffy. Though still blurry from a flood of stinging tears, her eyes tried to tell her the truth, and Willow wanted desperately to get a grip on exactly what it was they were saying. Buffy lay on the ground. Blood covered her shirt as well as the ground beside her. It was obvious that the seemingly indestructible Slayer was in serious trouble, and equally apparent was the blood-soaked right sleeve of Xander’s shirt.

The veins in Willow’s arms and face began to bulge, and the powers inside neared the boiling point. She turned away from the window and moved toward the bedroom door. By memory, her muscles carried her to step over a body; a body that wasn’t there. She stopped and brought her foot back to the floor, glancing down to the spot where she saw Tara for the last time. Her mind raced with feelings of confusion and rage, but her concern for Tara kept her dark powers at bay long enough for her body and soul to return to a more normal state. A missing Tara meant that Willow wanted answers. She jetted out the bedroom door.

The EMT examined Buffy’s wound and was quick with a command to her trainee. “Radio the hospital, Wilson. They’re going to need a surgical team ready. She’s lost a lot of blood.”

Willow stormed through the hall and headed for the ground floor. Her feet bound over the last third of the staircase at the same instant that a bright light flashed from the direction of the kitchen. Willow paid no attention to it, her concentration focused on getting to the bottom of Tara’s disappearance. Unknown to Willow, at that moment, Tara walked from the kitchen and through the dining room, enjoying her first bite of an oatmeal raisin cookie. As she watched for any falling crumbs, her smile grew. “Mmmm, these are good.” Interrupting her cookie-induced bliss was the sound of someone thundering down the staircase. Tara looked up in time to see Willow racing down the stairs and out the front door. “Wi---,” Tara barely spoke half a syllable before being cut off by the crashing sound of the front door slamming shut.

Buffy lay on a stretcher being wheeled to the ambulance, and Xander remained at her side, holding her hand. As the Slayer was lifted into the vehicle, Xander noticed Willow race out the front door. He gingerly trotted to her, needing to fill her in. “Will, Buffy’s been…” The redhead interrupted with a very stern voice, “I know. Who did this?”
“It was Warren. He…” Her wounded childhood friend wasn’t given a chance to finish. “Warren,” uttered Willow through gritted teeth. With seemingly no reverence for her hurt friends, she stormed off in the opposite direction.

Tara, ever-conscientious, returned to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator door, and carefully placed the plate of cookies and glass of milk on the top shelf. Determined to run after her lover, Tara was sidelined by a bout of dizziness that forced her to stop and lean against the kitchen island for support. Her eyes squinted, and the haze passed almost as quickly as it started. She shook her head clear and was ready to go.

Meanwhile, Xander stood stunned and confused. “Will?” A hand gently grasped his good arm. “Sir, we need to get you some help, too,” insisted the female EMT. Finally realizing he was in more than slight danger of losing consciousness, Xander reluctantly left Willow to her own agenda and climbed into the ambulance.

Concerned over Willow’s abrupt exit, Tara ignored her episode of light-headedness and briskly walked to the front door, opening it wide. Half expecting to see her green-eyed love on the other side, a smile formed on Tara’s lips. But Willow was nowhere in sight. Instead, Tara’s senses were assaulted by an ambulance zooming away, lights flashing and siren blaring. She knew instantly that something was not right. Eager for answers, she took two steps onto the front porch before hitting the brakes. She spun and entered the house, swinging the front door closed before heading back upstairs. Once in the bedroom she shed her robe and mentally chided herself. Again with the no clothes thing. That’s twice today.

Warren stormed into Willie’s demon bar, cocky as the day is long, removing his sunglasses like a cop on the opening credits of Miami Vice. As he strolled through the dimly-lit pub he shouted, “Whiskey! Straight up. And get a round for the house. I’m feeling generous!” The bartender looked at him with about as much regard as a stallion would give a fly crawling on its back. Warren gave no notice to the lack of attention given to his offer. Instead, he walked up to the bar, parked on one of the stools, arrogantly tossed the sunglasses onto the wooden bar top, and looked up at the TV to find that a news bulletin about a shooting was just ending.
“Hey! Hey, I killed her!” exclaimed the arrogant menace. He looked back to the TV and pointed at it. “I did that. I shot and killed that bitch Slayer.” The other patrons turned toward him, their odd-shaped, obscurely-placed, non-human ears disbelieving every word he spoke. Undaunted, he continued to boast through near laughter. “Right in her own back yard!”

A loud crash destroyed the calm inside The Magic Box. Its hinges strained until the door swung open hard by unnatural forces. Willow calmly walked in and the kinetic energy that swirled around her sent waves of electricity through the store. In a trance-like tone she uttered, “Time to hit the books.”

Back at the bar, a demon customer with a mouth full of gnarly teeth sat just two barstools away from the self-proclaimed assassin. He shook his thorn-covered head and chuckled. “No you didn’t, you loser. Weren’t you paying attention?” His jagged-pupiled, purple and orange eyes darted toward the TV and back at Warren. “They said some chick was shot in her backyard, yeah…but they also said she’s stabile at the hospital. Doesn’t sound real dead.”

Warren’s smug look changed to confusion. The bartender chimed in. “You took a shot at the Slayer and didn’t make sure she was dead? What did you do, pop off a few rounds then run away like some doofus?” The entire bar erupted in laughter as the bartender continued. “Slayers heal real fast, too.” The gnarl-toothed demon nodded in agreement and raised his glass to Warren in sarcastic reverence. “You did real good, there, buddy. She’s gonna get you good, and I hope we’re around to watch.” He downed his drink, slammed his glass onto the bar with a loud crack, moved his 6 foot 4 inch scarred and battered frame from his bar stool, and whacked Warren upside the head. “And I thought we had troubles from the Slayer.” He laughed with a loud roar and headed for the exit. “Oh yeah, boys.” As he waved his webbed left fin through the air he added, “We’re gonna want front-row seats for this!”

Willow quickly but calmly scanned the books in front of her. Anya lay on the floor, paralyzed from the unspoken spell Willow cast when the recently reinstated vengeance demon tried to stop her. The redhead used her ever-increasing powers to delve her hands deep into the books as if the pools of dark magic had been awaiting her indulgence. She closed her eyes and remained still as thousands of incantations flowed through her fingers, up her arms and through her entire body. In a matter of seconds, the books’ pages appeared blank. When her eyes opened again, the snow white orbs and emerald green irises were now lost in a sea of total blackness. With a deep, cold and eerily clear tone, Willow declared, “That’s better.”

Chapter Two

Dawn arrived home from school and wasn’t particularly surprised at being greeted by a quiet house, especially since she was home early. The silence was quickly broken, however, as Tara – now clad in jeans, a sunrise-blue v-neck shirt and open-toe sandals – clamored down the stairs.

Half way down, she noticed her favorite teen. “Dawnie!” The excitement was met with a big smile and equally ecstatic response. “Tara! I’m so glad you’re here.” They met at the bottom of the stairs and joined in a firm hug. Tara scrunched her face for a second. “I – I am, too. But something strange is going on.” Dawn’s curiosity was piqued as Tara took her by the hand and led her to the living room. With the young girl on the couch, Tara carefully perched herself on the coffee table across from her. “Willow and I were…uhm, talking and stuff and uh…” Tara replayed the morning activities in her mind, stopped mid-sentence, and looked away with the slightest hint of a grin before continuing. Dawn rolled her eyes with feigned disgust, but smiled, knowing that her surrogate “moms” were back together.

Tara re-focused and continued. “Well, okay, I came down here for cookies and milk and th-the next thing I know,” she pointed to the front door with a flagrant whip of her wrist, “Willow runs down the stairs and right out the front door! I knew right away something wasn’t right so…well, I tried to catch her but by the time I got my hands free to open the door all I saw was an ambulance taking off -- sirens and lights and everything.”
“Ambulance?” Dawn was taken aback by the usually-calm Wiccan’s anxious tone, and she knew that things were seldom good when paramedics were involved. Tara realized the fear she had created and placed her hand on Dawn’s knee. “No, I d-don’t think…” Tara stopped, closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. She could sense the ambulance wasn’t for Willow, but had a bad feeling that someone near and dear was in serious trouble. She re-opened her eyes and calmly continued. “I think Willow’s okay, but --” Dawn quickly interjected, “But what?”

Tara slowly stood up from the table. “I have to find Willow. I can feel it. Something’s very wrong.” Dawn sprang from the sofa. “I wanna help!”
“Are you sure?” Tara replied with a cautious squint. “And why are you home now, anyway?” Dawn shrugged her shoulders and replied, “Oh, some sort of teacher conference.” Tara’s eyes went wide with alarm. “A parent-teacher conference?” Dawn smiled, enjoying being the focus of Tara’s “mom” persona. “Nope. Teacher-teacher conference, I think.” Tara was relieved but curious. “So, do you have homework?” Dawn shrugged. “Nope. I was just going to watch some tube. Xena marathon on Oxygen.” Tara raised her eyebrows and quizzed, “You like that show, too?” “Yeah,” exclaimed the teen, “’cause the women kick a –”
“Dawn Summers!” Tara interrupted with a playfully stern look. Tara grinned but felt the need to change the subject. “Okay, well…l-let’s get Buffy. She’s probably still in the back yard. I bet she knows what’s going on.”

“What’s she doing back there?” Dawn asked. They continued through the dining room and kitchen. “I saw her working back there when I got the snacks. Looking for something in the bushes, I guess.”
“Cool,” Dawn responded. A mischievous smile took her over. “By the way. I get it now. Why you and Willow love Xena so much.”
“Hmm?” a distracted Tara replied while looking toward the yard.
Dawn joked, “The outfits are hot. They really don’t wear very much.”
Dawn, attempting to tease-and-run, flung the back door open so hard it bounced against the kitchen counter and quickly swung back, slamming shut before she could pass through it. Silently staring at the still-closed door, they both began to laugh. Dawn gave Tara a sheepish grin then gently re-opened the door and returned her attention outside. “Buffy?” Tara then joined her a second time in unison, “Buffy?” Each surveyed the yard but there was no sign of the Slayer.

In the hospital ER, Buffy lay motionless on the gurney, surrounded by a medical team. “BP’s dropped…80 over 40,” reported a nurse. The doctor’s focus lay solely on Buffy’s wound. “I can’t stop the bleeding.” Before another word came, the machines began to malfunction and the lights in the room flickered on and off. Another nurse yelled, “What’s happening?”
In the midst of the confusion, and seemingly from thin air, Willow quietly joined the ER.

Tara’s gaze paused on an odd pile of debris on the grass near the bench. “What’s that?” Dawn was near the side gate, which was uncharacteristically open, when she heard the question. She turned to see Tara pointing to the debris. Both women hurried toward the mess.
“Ohmygod.” Dawn’s face turned white. They stared down at a foot-wide blood stain surrounded by bloody gauze and syringe wrappers. “Buffy!” Dawn turned to run toward the front yard but Tara grabbed her wrist. “Wait!” yelled a panicked Tara. “We need a car.” Dawn’s mind was anything but rational as she screamed her response. “A car? Let’s just go! Buffy needs us! She’s –.” Tara reached up with both hands, gently took Dawn by the shoulders, and calmly continued. “Sweetie, we can’t just take off on foot looking for Buffy all over Sunnydale, because…” she paused for a second, scanning her surroundings. “Well, I know Sunnydale feels like it’s just two blocks long sometimes, but in emergency situations it has a way of stretching out from here to Cleveland. We need a car.” Dawn tried to wriggle out of Tara’s grasp but calmed herself long enough to let Tara’s words sink in. Suddenly Dawn’s eyes lit up. “Can I drive?”

Willow coolly stood beside Buffy’s gurney as Xander’s voice ascended to a hysterical pitch. “Will, what are you doing? She’s gonna die!” Without eye contact, she responded in an eerie tone, “No. She isn’t.” Within seconds, the bullet slowly rose from the hole in Buffy’s chest, and as if time were moving backwards, the wound sealed itself and disappeared. Xander backed away from Willow and stood at the foot of the gurney, his jaw fixed in disbelief. The bullet stopped in mid-air and hovered over Buffy for a few seconds before Willow reached to cradle it in her hand. “It’s so small.” She wrapped her hand tightly around it, brought it close, and with her palm up, re-opened her hand. The bullet was gone.

The local bus station was a veritable flurry of comings and goings. This was, after all, Sunnydale, the west coast’s hub of violently strange activity and inexplicable disappearances. Locals had long ago started a tradition of booking the next available ticket out of town whenever they felt it all get a little too close for comfort.

A young woman with curly brown hair, light brown eyes, several hundred freckles, and a generic customer service pantsuit stood behind the counter. As she punched at the keyboard with what seemed to be reckless abandon, she looked up to see her next traveler. “And how may I help you?” In front of her stood a frazzled Warren. His head moved continuously as he scanned the station for his nemesis, his sure-to-be executioner. However, within the confines of his mind, it seemed the station’s hustle and bustle wound to slow-motion, and his eardrums were assaulted by a piercing, vengeful voice. “We’ll find you, no matter where you go.” Instantly recognizing the voice, Warren turned pale. His scanning of the room ceased and he quickly looked back across the counter to see the woman’s freckly face morph to an innocent frowning Tara, followed by an angry, black-clad Willow. The latter’s darkened eyes turned to fiery red with each new word. “Soon…very soon.”

Warren lost the ability to form a complete thought and struggled for bladder control. The still-morphing being handed Warren his voucher, his right hand shaking so violently that the ticket slipped from his fingers and fell to the floor. The ugly heart beating inside his chest lurched as he leaned to retrieve his one-way “escape” pass. When he stood upright, his eyes were once again drawn to the morphing woman. A cheery smile greeted him as the unknowing booking agent – with curly brown hair, light brown eyes, and several hundred freckles – wished him a “nice trip.” He blinked, shook his head, and dashed for the men’s room.

Making sure there were no bus station patrons in any of the stalls, Warren wriggled under a locked stall door. There stood a functioning replica of himself – complete with matching wardrobe, shoes and haircut. He gave the synthetic life form a last look before presenting it with its mission. “Take this and get on the bus headed for Albuquerque.”
The Warrenbot grabbed the considerably wrinkled, sweat-soaked ticket, unlocked the door, and cleared the way for both Warrens to exit. The droid stopped short of the door and turned back to behold its creator, who had left the stall to lean heavily over a sink with his eyes fixed on the drain. “She’s right, you know,” exclaimed the machine in a matter-of-fact tone as it continued. “She’s going to find you.” Warren’s eyes widened, focusing on his creation with disbelief. “Just go! Now!” he snapped in a rage. The robot shrugged its shoulders and walked out.

A bruised and battered black Jeep Cherokee raced through the streets of Sunnydale, with tires screeching at every turn. “You drive great!” cheered Dawn. With a big smile, Tara thanked the teen. The junior Summers sat forward excitedly in her seat as she watched street signs rush by in a flurry. “I can’t wait to get my license!” she squealed. Tara, keeping her eyes focused straight ahead, allowed a crooked smile and responded, “Maybe I’ll go with you to get mine.” In her peripheral vision, Tara could see a shocked Dawn staring at her.

Buffy, Xander and Willow raced down the highway in Xander’s car. Though Xander was behind the wheel, he had no control. In a flash, the revenge-motivated Wicca used her powers to stop the car after a long skid, and instantly disappeared from the back seat to reappear standing on the hot pavement. “Why are you doing this, Willow?” yelled the Slayer as she tried to catch up to the black-clad Wicca. Xander followed but was slow to match their pace. The Slayer continued her argument with a stark tone. “We’re all alive…so just…just let him go. If he wants to leave, let’s just let him leave!”

Willow heard the words but ignored their meaning and continued to walk into the path of an oncoming bus that was closing in from a half mile away. She stopped moving forward and Buffy was able to catch up with her, grab her arm and spin her around. “You act like you want to kill him.” Willow calmed her eyes to their normal white-rimmed selves, looked to her friend, and replied in calm, if stern, voice. “And what’s wrong with that?” At that, she drew her left hand up and motioned the bus to a screeching halt.

The Summers’ family-mobile zoomed into the hospital’s red-striped ‘Ambulance Only’ zone. A loud shriek rattled the nearby patients and staff as Tara slammed on the brakes and brought the steaming vehicle to a stop. Both front doors of the Jeep flew open and the two occupants sprinted toward the hospital’s Emergency entrance. A security guard yelled out, demanding they stop. Knowing they were parked illegally, Tara feared the guard’s strict policy reinforcement would cost them time they could not afford. The two Scoobies spun around to see the security guard give them a nasty look then point tacitly to the green Jeep Cherokee that was slowly rolling backwards. With a smirk, Dawn turned to Tara. Tara’s eyes quickly glanced back and forth between Dawn, the rolling Jeep accidentally left in neutral, and the security guard. “Oops…ehh hehmm.”

Tara ran toward the wayward Jeep, glancing back to see that she and the SUV were out of sight of the guard. With a few choice words and a wave of her hands, the vehicle was gone.
She passed the guard on her way back in, giving him a quick look, a shy grin, and a shrug. “Sorry.” Dawn’s eyes turned wide as saucers as Tara simply directed her, “Let’s move.”
They ran to the ER and Dawn let loose, beckoning to anyone in earshot. “Where’s my sister?!” Meanwhile, Tara scanned corridors and peeked through ER bay windows. She noticed a pair of police officers speaking with a group of doctors and nurses just as one of the physicians pointed in Dawn’s direction. “Hey, that’s her sister!” The group turned toward Dawn, who rolled her eyes with disgust and chirped, “Okay, so I’ve been here before a few times. Where the hell’s my sister?” The female officer responded, “Whoa, calm down. If you’re referring to the woman brought in with a suspected gunshot wound, she just left with two suspicious indivi--.” Dawn scrunched her face with confusion and interrupted. “Huh? What? With who?” Tara’s expression changed to one of concern; she could sense that powerful magic had recently been used in the ER. “No, it can’t be,” she said breathlessly, scanning the ER corridor. Dawn looked to her accomplice and with eyebrows forced together tight, she wanted answers. “What? Do you know what’s going on?” Tara held a calm yet stern voice, “I think we’d better go, Dawn.”

The officer, still browsing her notepad, heard the blonde stranger and swiftly interjected, “If you know something about who did this, you’re not going anywhere.”

At the outskirts of Sunnydale, Willow let go of the Warrenbot and watched the dead machine fall to the hot pavement. “A robot?” fumed Xander. “He’s good,” she stated flatly, and turned to walk towards Sunnydale. “Willow, stop!” The witch pivoted toward the sound of Xander’s plea, facing confused and concerned stares from both of her friends. She remained calm, explaining the day’s events in a cold, clinical tone. “Don’t you know?” She looked from Xander to Buffy before continuing. “Tara is dead. When he shot at you, he hit Tara.”

The air left Buffy’s lungs and she drew back in disbelief. “Tara?” Her black suit whisked in the hot wind as Willow continued. “She saw you two talking in the backyard, and turned to me, so happy for you both…” She paused while her thoughts became blurred. She began to feel what couldn’t be true: Tara’s essence still in this dimension. She tried to shake the feelings and continue. “A second later she was…gone.” Again the image of Tara lying dead in her arms broke through and she turned cold again, all sentiment gone from her throat. “I will find him. And those other two morons,” she affirmed. She spun once again in Sunnydale’s direction, and Buffy and Xander started after her. “Willow, you can’t --.” That was as far as Buffy got before a bolt of energy from Willow’s fingertips cut her short and threw both pursuers more than 30 feet back onto the dirt roadside. In a flash, Willow was gone.

Wasting time with questions from the police was not an option. The blonde Wicca gave a half-smile and responded, “Certainly, officer. I understand.” Tara put her arm around the teen and in a burst of blue and white sparks, they vanished from the uninviting corridor. In a parking lot across the street from the hospital, the Cherokee’s interior lit up with similar flickering swirls as Tara and Dawn appeared, each placed in her appropriate seat. “Whoa!” Dawn screeched, before settling herself, scanning for law enforcement, and looking at her blonde mentor in awe. “All right, Tara! Let’s go!” Not comfortable with – or sure how – this much power was coming so easily to her, Tara clenched her jaw and turned the key. The Jeep tires squealed and they sped away.


Chapter 3

Buffy and Xander returned to the Summers’ home looking for answers to questions they had yet to understand. “Look for Dawn,” the Slayer demanded as she crossed the threshold. Behind her, Xander nodded once, adding, “I’m on it.” Buffy flung herself up the stairs, calling back down to Xander. “If all Willow said was true, I should go look for Tara’s bod--…” Xander stood at the base of the staircase, fearing the next syllable. Buffy’s tone became solemn as she realized how horrid it would feel to say the word aloud. “I’m just going to…try to find Tara.” Xander responded with a compassionate look then began his search of the main floor with a yell that filled the house. “Dawn?!” He walked through the house, including down the first few steps of the basement. “Dawn…you down here?” With no response, he trusted his instincts and walked back upstairs.
Buffy and Xander met in the living room, more confused than when they arrived. Xander updated Buffy first: “Didn’t see Dawn.” “Okay,” responded the Slayer, glancing toward the staircase before continuing. “So, not only no sign of Tara; no Dawn.” Xander squinted with a look of confusion. “Wait. Hold on. No sign of Tara?” Buffy paced the living room floor. “Nope. But, up in Willow’s room there is a bullet hole in one of the windows and broken glass on the floor.” Xander’s shoulder gave a twinge at the sound of the word “bullet” as if on cue, and the young man winced. In the day’s swirl of activities, he was desperate to keep things in perspective. “Well, something happened to Tara. Why else would Willow tell us that stuff and go all Wacky Witchy?” For her part, Buffy had grown very concerned. “So the questions are: what really happened here and…” she paused briefly and looped her fingers nervously into the pockets of her jeans. “And – feed another shiny coin to Zoltar – where’s Dawn?”

The Jeep Cherokee raced across town and night began to cascade across Sunnydale. Dawn looked to Tara and virtually screeched, “I can’t believe you used magic like that!” Tara kept her eyes on the road but felt the weight of the teen’s stare. She self-consciously wished the subject would change but then chastised herself. With a deep breath, she sat up straighter and replied with a confident tone and mischievous grin. “Well, hey, I…” she glanced at Dawn then back to the traffic light as it changed from yellow to red as she zoomed through the intersection. “We…didn’t have time for twenty questions.” Her enthusiastic passenger smiled big and joyfully interjected, “Damn right!” They raced their way toward the university and Dawn’s smile changed to a look of concern. “Where are we going now?”
“We’re going to my dorm room. I feel Willow. She’s using dark magic up there, and I need to know why.”

In the center of Tara’s dorm room, small bursts of lightning zigged and zagged throughout a mini-thunderstorm. Almost as quickly as the swirling black and gray cloud appeared, it was gone and in its place stood Willow, calm and determined. The one place where she and Tara experienced the most joy was now – in Willow’s current state of mind – only a means to an end. With no regard to her surroundings, the Wicca knelt down on the floor and slowly pulled the folded white shirt from within her vest.
Not wanting to disturb her lover’s blood – or to focus on it – Willow closed her eyes and gently unfolded the shirt, placing it face down on the floor. Her eyelids blinked over solid black orbs as she prepared a locator spell, and in a cold, calculating voice Willow spoke. “Blood of the slain. Hear me. Guide me to Tara’s killer.” She barely breathed in anticipation of the spell’s usual results; the blood of her lover should have risen through the fabric to morph into a map of Sunnydale and ultimately indicate Warren’s location. But the shirt just lay there with no change in color or shape.
“I know this should work.” Bewildered, she carefully lifted the shirt. “As long as there’s blood on the…” She forced her eyes to once again explore the garment, but they only told her what she knew could not be true. There was no blood. The top was as clean and white as when she pulled it over her thin torso that morning.
She stood up and swung the shirt around, examining every inch of it. Her voice grew heavy with rage, “This day is seriously pissing me off.” She dropped the shirt to the floor and looked up to the stars. “Are you doing this, Osirus?” Her dark eyes looked back to the shirt as if for answers, and her voice showed a temporary meekness. “Where’s the blood? Tara’s blood was all over you.” She shook the vulnerability away, looked to the sky once more, and her black eyes turned to a fiery red. Her voice became cold and menacing. “I don’t know who’s fighting me on this…” The room began to shake and her energy grew ferocious. Window panes started to bend, crack and break apart while the strings of lights that made Tara’s room her own turned explosively hot and popped in unison. The suddenly-dim room quickly illuminated as lightning within black clouds filled the space around Willow. “…And I’d better not ever find out!” The rage inside her left no concern for her lover’s sanctuary. Tara’s belongings swirled and crashed about the room, and Willow swiftly disappeared.

The bell above the front door of The Magic Box jingled as Buffy rushed in, finding Xander and Anya scowling at each other. “Is everyone okay? Did Willow ---?” Xander answered, “Anya was saying she knows where Willow is.” “A spell?” asked the Slayer. “Not exactly. It seems Anya got her vengeance on again,” he responded. Buffy’s eyes widened as she looked from Xander to Anya and exclaimed, “Ohhh.” The Slayer thought little about the newly-reinstated demon’s status; her focus was clearly on the respective whereabouts of Dawn, Willow, and Tara. “Well…” she again looked back to Xander, “…did you tell her that we found no one at the house, alive or dead?” Anya scrunched her face once more. “What are you talking about? Tara is dea--, wait, uhm...” She paused, looked away and tilted her head. An impish grin appeared as she realized her powers had returned in full. She could now sense Tara and elation replaced frustration. She blurted, “Tara! She’s…”

Tara and Dawn reached the dorm and sprinted up to Tara’s room. With a twinge of reluctance, Tara inserted her key into the lock. A tiny spark of electricity traveled across the key and sent a tingle through her fingers. Before she had a chance to let go, the harmless spark was gone. She paused, sending what she hoped to be a look of comfort toward Dawn. “Don’t worry. I know she’s here. I can sense…” She interrupted herself to fully unlock the door. Squinting her eyes in adjustment to the darkness of her once softly-lit haven, she slowly entered the room.
Dawn nearly stepped on Tara’s heels in effort to follow her into the room but the Wiccan could barely see her own hand in front of her face. She calmly asked the younger Summers to hang back. “Wait there a second, sweetie. Let me find a light.” Tara carefully stepped over – and unavoidably onto – debris to reach her desk. Once there, she turned a lamp upright and, anticipating a broken bulb, reluctantly turned the switch.
A sigh escaped Tara’s lips as light illuminated her fears. The entire room – from the bed and bookcases, to the white twinkle lights, to the pieces of art that quaintly decorated her room – lay in scattered disarray, covered with dirt and leaves that had been sucked in through the broken window. Dawn entered, and her jaw dropped as she scanned the disheveled room. Tara could not process the reality that anyone could do this to their peaceful room. This was their refuge, their safe place; hers and Willow’s. Even more upsetting was her certainty that Willow was responsible for the destruction.
They continued to examine the damage and Tara stumbled over a magic book, half-opened and face-down on the floor. She took hold of it, gently blew away unwanted debris from its pages and cover, and tenderly closed it and placed it on her desk. As she stood up, she noticed that something had been bundled up beneath the book. “Willow’s shirt?” Dawn looked at Tara and stopped her half-hearted dusting of the stereo which dangled by its cord from a bookcase shelf.
The shirt lay in a clump, covered with spices that appeared to have blown off the bedside table. Tara reached for the lacy white top but as she grabbed hold of the shirt she instantly recoiled and yelped, “Eehhh-ahhhh! What the…?” As the shirt fell back to the floor, sparks of energy swirled through it and around Tara’s right hand for only a second or two. Tara gasped, at once realizing that the powerful force had originated from Willow and sensing the dark magic Willow was using to find Warren. Suddenly, Dawn’s voice cut through the silence, startling Tara. “Are you okay?” The blonde replied, “Yeah, I, I guess.” She then walked to the window, looked out through its shattered panes and whispered, “What are you doing?”
At that moment, the few remaining pieces of glass in the window began to reflect images. Without any thought about their source, Tara watched the images play back the horrific events of that morning. From what seemed to be a perspective through the Summers’ kitchen window, she witnessed Warren enter the backyard and fire his gun. Initially shocked by her vision, she became calm as she gently clutched her chest. In that moment, she understood why the world she knew was seriously upside-down.
The images faded away, and she instantaneously knew Willow’s intentions. A saddened face now reflected against the few remaining shards of glass, and Tara implored, “Oh, Willow, please don’t.” Dawn navigated the floor’s obstacle course and quickly moved to Tara’s side. “What is it? What’s wrong?” As Tara turned to Dawn, her eyes were already filling with tears. “We have to find her and stop her, Dawn.”


Chapter 4

Willow silently hovered roughly a half-mile above the city of Sunnydale and quipped, “I know you’re down there. You little piece of…” She went silent as the rage inside her forced her steeled black eyes once again to a fiery red. Back on terra firma, Warren sat on a park bench, frantically jetting his eyes all around then beyond the trees and bushes that surrounded him. Cautiously, he pulled out a glowing sphere from his jacket pocket.
The black-clad avenger continued to scan the area when suddenly a burst of energy and light from Warren’s sphere sent a shockwave through the park and it could be seen from miles away. Willow quickly turned her attention to the city park at the northeast edge of Sunnydale, shook her head and uttered, “Oh brother.” She squinted in frustration and barked, “Why am I having so much trouble when I’m just chasing morons?”
Warren instantly realized his spell probably brought him the attention that he so did not want, at that moment. He looked around the park then glanced up to the sky and noticed something… or perhaps someone…descending towards him at break speed. “Shit!” he exclaimed as he jumped up from the bench and began to run feverishly across the trails.

Tara and Dawn were back in the Cherokee and feverishly looking for any sign of Willow when Tara felt the conflict of powers being used on the other side of town. Her eyes widened as she exclaimed, “The park! They’re in the park!” Suddenly, the Jeep sped faster and Dawn gritted her teeth as she grasped the shoulder belt of her passenger seat’s restraint.

Willow gently glided down between the park trees, landed softly and began to walk briskly after her prey. She stopped at a clearing and was sure that she would soon catch the coward that caused her former self so much pain. As the moon shined bright above her, she drew a malicious smile and proclaimed, “Run all night, Warren. I’ll still find…” Suddenly, Warren jumped behind her and plowed an axe deep into her back and she crashed face-first to the dirt. He reluctantly gave an arrogant grin that quickly turned to a look of shock and fear as Willow suddenly rose from the trail floor and spun around to face him as she reached behind herself and yanked the five-pound blade from her back. She gritted her teeth and fumed, “Axe’s not gonna cut it!”

Tara continued to be puzzled by her ever-increasing Wicca ways as she could not only sense the actions in the park, but now had the ability to visualize the fight between Willow and the shooter. As her distraction kept her from noticing that she sped passed yet another red light, Dawn broke the attention of her driver with a shrieking voice, “Tara!!” Suddenly brought back to her own destiny, Tara jerked the steering wheel just slightly as she flinched in her seat. She then looked to Dawn then back to the road ahead and proclaimed, “Hey, it’s dark out. Maybe I’ll hit a vampire crossing the street!” She looked back to Dawn to see a scowl then, almost in unison, they both looked ahead and giggled.

The terrorizing menace continued to run frantically, looking behind him every few feet then Willow instantly stood right in his path. He quickly put on the brakes and blurted, “That’s cute. He backpedaled and continued, “That’s a cute trick.” She began to follow him as he backpedaled a little faster and mumbled, “It was an accident, you know.” She just glared at him with much disdain and exclaimed, “Oh, you mean instead of killing my best friend, you killed my girlfriend.”

Tara and Dawn reached the southeast edge of the park as Tara brought the Cherokee to a screeching halt. This time, as she turned the engine off , she made sure to push the shifter into Park as she opened her door and nearly jumped from her seat as she shouted, “C’mon, Dawn, we gotta hurry!”

Nearby vines and roots seemed to come alive and quickly whipped around Warren’s wrists and ankles. He was brought to an abrupt stop and pulled spread-eagle as she calmly walked up to him. Though tightly bound, he continued to show his audacity. “You are really asking for it. You know that?!” he exclaimed. Having her prey trapped, she calmed her irises to normal size and color then caustically replied, “I’m asking for it?” With a frantic squeak in his voice he continued, “I’m gonna walk away from this.” He wriggled in his organic shackles and blurted, “and when I do, you’re gonna beg to go join your little girlfriend.”

Anya, Buffy and Xander were getting close to Willow and her prey. However, Tara and Dawn were still a few hundred yards away and nearly out of breath, Dawn screeched, “Tara, wait!” The blonde Wicca slowed her pace only slightly as she replied, “Can’t. Willow’s using dark magic to find and destroy Warren.” Dawn ran a little faster to catch up with her and replied, “What? Why would she go so extreme on him?” They skipped over fallen branches and pushed away bushes as Dawn continued, “I know he’s an asshole but…”
Tara swiftly stopped then brought Dawn to a stop as she gave the teen a disparaging frown for the vulgar remark then realized that Dawn should know the truth and revealed, “Okay…” she paused to catch her breath then proceeded, “I guess at some point, this morning, Warren showed up at your house and tried to kill Buffy.” Dawn’s eyes opened wide and she screamed, “What?!” Tara looked back towards the direction of Willow, concerned that time was running out just as Dawn barked, “He tried to kill my sister?!”
Tara became antsy to resume her search when Dawn blurted, “Then why are we trying to stop Willow? I mean…what if he tried to kill your sister?” Tara quickly pictured such a scenario and her look of concern briefly turned to a crooked grin but then back to concern as she scanned the area for her lover while Dawn continued to ramble, “Ok, maybe I shouldn’t say that. But do you really think Willow’s here in the park?”
Unable to hold still any longer, Tara turned and resumed her sprint and motioned to Dawn to follow as she replied, “Yes. I feel her. I feel her power. She’s getting ready to do something horrible.” Dawn followed and quickly turned her brisk walk to a fast jog as she caught stride with Tara then began to pass her and quipped, “We’ll never find her if you don’t hurry up!” Tara rolled her eyes then sped up to match the teen’s run.

Buffy trailed just behind Anya with Xander not far behind the two of them. “What’s happening? What do you feel?” quizzed the slayer. Anya responded in monotone, “She’s much stronger now. Close.”

The bullet grinded into Warren’s chest as he cried in pain, “Oh god, Stop!” Willow ignored his plea as she described the bullet’s power and proclaimed in a calm voice, “It’s not going to make a neat little hole.” Bone tissue began to crack and splinter as the bullet bored through a rib.
Willow watched the bullet drill further into his chest as she glanced up into his eyes then back to the tiny missile and sighed, “Something, isn’t it?” Then her voice cracked slightly as she went on, “One tiny piece of metal…destroys everything.” Tears began to well upon her gentle green orbs as she paused for a moment and took her attention off Warren and looked to the trees. She felt as if the leaves were speaking to her. “Tara?” whispered the black-clad Wicca. “No,” she continued in a cold voice, “she’s gone.” Her eyes returned to solid black as she returned her focus to her trapped prey and her voice chilled with anger, “Another one of your tricks, wizard boy?” He shook his head and winced with pain as she stared him down and cursed, “Even when I’m about to finish you, you still test my patience!” He looked at her and squinted with confusion while the air began to crackle with energy as her rage increased.
Buffy could now see her best friend with her hostage and shouted, “Willow!” The black-clad Wicca swiftly turned her head. Angered by the disturbance, she gave the slayer a fierce scowl. Then suddenly, the park lit up and a bright light, that was all-too-similar to Willow, consumed Warren and he quickly disappeared. The roots fell and the vines swung free. “Nooo!!” yelled a stunned Willow as she reached her right hand into the space he just occupied and her fingertips disappeared until she brought her hand back. Within a few seconds, her eyes quickly morphed from a gentle green to solid black until her irises were fiery whirlwinds. Willow’s rage reached the extreme as she scorned, “If someone has kept him alive…” Small black clouds full of tiny lightning bolts began to encircle Willow as she continued in a vicious voice, “…I’m thinkin’…they won’t be!” The clouds and lightning intensified then quickly dissipated and she was gone.
Buffy, Xander and Anya could not believe what they just witnessed. The slayer raised her eyebrows as she blurted, “Ohh-kay. Straightjackets for everyone, then?” Xander grinned as he looked to Buffy and replied, “Hey, that’s pretty goooo…” Buffy looked up at him and queried, “Pretty goo?!” Xander ignored her seemingly odd response as he looked right over her and at silhouettes coming at him from across the moonlit park. “Ummm…” he muttered, “…am I hallucinating?” Anya brashly chimed, “Probably. I know you were hallucinating when you thought we’d be ‘happily ever after’.” Xander gave her a rabid look in return and suddenly they were headed straight for each other. Buffy tried not to laugh as she stepped between them and commanded, “Hey, you two! Stop the…” The slayer paused as she looked over Anya’s shoulder and yelled, “…Dawn!” Anya, her back to the commotion in the park, stopped her ascent on Xander, scrunched her face and mumbled, “Huh?! Stop the dawn?! Pretty goo?!”
Buffy rolled her eyes at Anya then ran to the approaching Dawn and they instantly melded in a tight embrace. Meanwhile, Tara was met with apprehension until Xander, however, was quick to diffuse the somewhat uncomfortable situation. “Tara! We all thought you were…” he paused and looked away then to the ground. “Were what?” asked Tara. Anya quickly piped in with a sarcastic tone, “Dead. Deceased. Wiped out.” Xander swiftly turned and barked, “Anya!” Anya lowered her head as she replied with a frown, “Well…she asked.”
Dawn and Buffy released each other and the slayer looked to Tara and asked, “Do you know what’s going on?” Tara looked around as she could feel her lover had just been there and replied, “Willow is using powers she can’t control.” Anya chimed in again, “Or maybe doesn’t want to control.” Tara squinted with frustration as she looked to Buffy and continued, “She thinks I’ve left this world and now wants to get rid of the “trio” regardless of the consequences.” Xander interrupted with a concerned tone, “We’re all alive and well. Can’t she sense that?!” Anya stepped closer and added, “But…” she motioned to Tara and resumed, “…she thinks you’re not and can’t think of anything else.”
Buffy was eager to stop her unstable friend’s wrath as she barked, “Ummmm, standing around and auditioning for Bill Maher isn’t helping. She’s probably going after Jonathan and Andrew, now.” They all nodded in agreement but weren’t sure which direction to turn. Buffy, however, assumed everyone would follow her and began to run south. Xander stepped back and responded, “Well, I’m not running like that!” He lowered his head then glanced around at the remaining bunch and added, “I mean…” he stopped his rambling and headed in Buffy’s direction. Tara tugged at Dawn’s shirt and whispered, “C’mon…let’s get the car!” And with a little twist of the third dimension, Anya just snapped her fingers and vanished into the night.

Jonathan and Andrew circled each other within the confines of their jail cell. “I am not gay!” griped Andrew as he pushed Jonathan into the bars. Jonathan frowned with confusion and was eager to change the subject as he uttered, “Who’s Tara, anyway?” Andrew rolled his eyes and mumbled, “Willow’s girlfriend.” Jonathan wrinkled his face with disbelief and regret, glanced through the adjacent cells and exclaimed, “You mean he shot an innocent bystander?! What an asshole!”
Andrew gave Jonathan a look of disgust just as Anya appeared at their cell and quipped, “Got Xander, too. Knicked him in the shoulder.” Andrew replied in a seemingly helium-induced voice, “Are you here to save us?!” She rolled her eyes and scrunched her face with contempt as she answered, “Here to save you?! Are you kidding?” A big grin emerged from her lips and she howled, “I’m here to watch!”

Tara and Dawn tore through the streets of Sunnydale once again. Doing her best to keep her eyes on the road, Tara continued to shake her head as thoughts of Willow’s destruction and torturous ways rattled her belief in a future with the red-headed hurricane. Still, the conflict that kept her hoping that all was not lost was the idea that Willow somehow believed that her lover was dead and Tara needed to prove she was very much alive.
Dawn again startled her driver as she blurted, “She still thinks you’re dead?!” Tara glanced down at herself then back to the road ahead and smirked, “I don’t look shot.” She patted herself from her chest to her thighs and back again as she continued, “…and I sure don’t feel shot.” Dawn grinned as she gave her adopted mom the once-over and chimed, “Keep feeling yourself like that and maybe she’ll just appear in the backseat!” Tara suddenly swerved the Cherokee into the right lane as her jaw dropped and she glared back and forth between her passenger and the road. Dawn shrugged her shoulders as she furthered her point, “Hey, I’m yo


Last edited by HushMeNot on Wed Dec 08, 2010 2:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Reflections
PostPosted: Sat Nov 27, 2010 11:40 pm 
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4. Extra Flamey

Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2010 9:53 pm
Posts: 244
Location: the space between Here and There
Dude, are you gonna post the rest? It was getting good.

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My heart and I have wandered aimlessly beneath the Weeping Willows, searching for the sun. - Hayley Westenra, "My heart and I"


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 Post subject: Re: Reflections
PostPosted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 5:04 am 
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2. Floating Rose

Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2007 1:03 pm
Posts: 24
Whoa! There was a sudden stoppage, again. My fault! I broke up the remaining chapters so that doesn't happen anymore...I hope.

Thank you, Promthea128! I did not realize I struck a word maximum so I attached the remainder of Chapter 4 and then Chapter 5. Chapters 6 and 7 will follow.

Reflections continued

Tara and Dawn tore through the streets of Sunnydale once again. Doing her best to keep her eyes on the road, Tara continued to shake her head as thoughts of Willow’s destruction and torturous ways rattled her belief in a future with the red-headed hurricane. Still, the conflict that kept her hoping that all was not lost was the idea that Willow somehow believed that her lover was dead and Tara needed to prove she was very much alive.

Dawn again startled her driver as she blurted, “She still thinks you’re dead?!” Tara glanced down at herself then back to the road ahead and smirked, “I don’t look shot.” She patted herself from her chest to her thighs and back again as she continued, “…and I sure don’t feel shot.” Dawn grinned as she gave her adopted mom the once-over and chimed, “Keep feeling yourself like that and maybe she’ll just appear in the backseat!” Tara suddenly swerved the Cherokee into the right lane as her jaw dropped and she glared back and forth between her passenger and the road. Dawn shrugged her shoulders as she furthered her point, “Hey, I’m young, not dumb!” Tara glared steadily at her passenger once more than resumed her attention ahead as a crooked smile formed across her raspberry-hued cheeks.

As Willow neared her next quarry, the iron bars shook while the outer cell walls cracked and the mini-terrorists soon cowered in the center of their cell. Suddenly, Buffy kicked the cellblock door off its hinges and Anya greeted her with a disgruntled groan, “You would get here, first.”

Buffy half-glanced at Anya then quickly focused on the cell bars. As she grabbed the bars she grumbled at Anya, “Are you gonna help me or just stand there and pout?” The vengeance demon wriggled her nose at the slayer, crossed her arms and just watched as Buffy bent the bars open. Jonathan and Andrew wasted no time squeezing through just as a huge chunk of the cell’s wall disappeared against the darkness of night. A rush of wind whisked through Anya’s hair as Willow gently floated into the now fully-ventilated cell. Anya glanced at the black-clad Wicca then turned to watch the slayer and the menacing morons leave through the corridor’s newly remodeled exit. Her head quickly turned back to see Willow survey the cell bars, twisted and mangled. In a calm, cold voice, she muttered, “Buffy.” Anya could feel the rage increase in Willow and her eyes widened as she shrilled, “Whoops!” and vanished in a bright light. Willow squinted at the bright light as she exclaimed, “Oh, I am so getting tired of that!”

During all the mayhem inside the precinct, Xander commandeered a police cruiser and waited anxiously in the alley behind the police station. Suddenly, another cruiser drove up and parked right behind him and he quickly ducked his head. A strange sound seemed to come from the other cruiser and he slowly rose back up and carefully glanced at the side-view mirror to see a woman be pulled out of the car, in handcuffs. He winced as he thought he heard the woman singing.
“I thought killing her was fair.”
“I didn’t know the fans would care.”
“Hey, I’m still not wearing underwear!”

Xander squinted as he grumbled, “Oh, no. Not again.” Then he replayed her verses in his head and griped, “Wait! What did she just…” His cursive-ready tongue was abruptly silenced as Buffy and the cowards crashed through the door at the side of the station and ran to the squad car. The two morons opened the back door and jumped inside as Buffy climbed into the passenger seat and screamed, “Xander, let’s go!” He looked at the two in the back seat, then at the slayer and yelped, “Hey, you’ll never guess what I just heard.” Buffy glanced at him for a half-second then turned to the road ahead and yelled, “Not now, Xander! Go!!” He frowned then grunted, “Going!”

Willow stood in the center of the jail cell and was a bit stunned by another failure. Her rage increased even more and she suddenly released her anger and frustration by emitting a loud shrill.

Buffy briskly scanned their new mode of transportation and quipped, “Nice wheels.” She glanced at Xander with a tilt of her head and continued, “You just thought…” she paused as she waved her hands in the air and continued, “…’Gotta have it’?!” He scowled at her then returned his focus to the road ahead and chided, “Hey, she wrecked mine so she can just pay for this one!” He glanced back at the slayer then looked ahead as he grinned, shrugged his shoulders and mumbled, “Yeah, I know. Earth logic.”

Tara and Dawn raced through downtown as the scream could now be heard everywhere in town. As they neared the police station, Dawn squinted more and more then squealed, “Ehhhhh, what is that?!” Tara frowned slightly as she answered in frustration, “It’s Willow.” Dawn scrunched her face tight and replied, “Willow?!” Tara shook her head, glanced at her passenger and responded, “I don’t know if I can stop her, Dawn.”

The police station was soon empty as no officer could handle Willow’s high frequency barrage. As she walked downstairs, she stopped the shriek and quietly walked out the front door then stopped in front of the lobby doors. Her solid-black eyes scanned every direction and quickly detected the stolen police car and the bounty inside it. Without a sound, she ascended upward into the night sky.

Andrew leaned forward and muttered, “But we didn’t do anything.” Suddenly Buffy spun around and rocketed her fist up and clocked Andrew between the eyes. “Ow!” he yelped as he flung back against the seat. Buffy stared him down and chided, “Didn’t do anything?!” She glared at him then at Jonathan and continued, “You both knew what he was capable of…and yet you thought it would be cool to take over Sunnydale!”

Tara slowed the Jeep and as they passed the police station they surveyed the devastation. Dawn looked to Tara and reluctantly asked, “Did Willow do that?” Tara gave no response as she could mentally see the police cruiser racing away about three miles down the road. Without a second thought, she floored the accelerator.

The stolen police car was just cruising along when it was abruptly slammed from behind and all four occupants were jarred back and forth in their seats. Xander quickly glared into the rear-view mirror and exclaimed, “Speak of the dev…uh…woman in black! Look at her, back there!” The three passengers looked back to see Willow atop the cab of a semi pulling a gasoline tanker. Her hands were stretched out as far as they could reach…like claws eager to grab an elusive toy. Showing no concern for the truck’s driver or the 18,000 gallons of gasoline trailing fast behind her, the enraged Willow sent the truck slamming into the squad car once more.

Buffy stared down the two menaces and yelled, “Stay down!” They crept down in the seat as Jonathan responded, “Doesn’t she know you two are with us?!” Buffy and Xander exchanged glances of concern as the cruiser was hit again. The concussion was so hard it forced the rear bumper loose and it now scraped the pavement as it hung on by only a wire.
Tara exclaimed, “There she is!” just as she sped the Cherokee along the left side of the tanker. Dawn looked up to Willow as she lowered the passenger-side window and yelled, “Willow! Stop! You’re going to get somebody dead!” Willow glanced down at the SUV then back at the police cruiser and yelled back, “Ohhhh…I should stop?! Okay, since you want to be a part of this, too…” She kept her focus on the squad car while she screamed, “…I guess I’ll let you join the party!”

The slayer could see headlights from a vehicle alongside the big rig and she turned to Xander and shouted, “Who is that?!” He did a double-take to the driver’s side-view mirror and exclaimed, “I think it’s Tara and Dawn!” Willow continued to stare down the police car as she motioned her left hand to the Cherokee. “Me and Tara…!!” squealed Dawn as she pointed to the driver. Willow’s head swiftly turned and as she could only see the Jeep’s passenger, she howled, “You, too?! Don’t even say her name!” Suddenly Tara had no control as the Jeep careened to the left. As she tried to force the wheels back, the steering wheel would not move and the Cherokee was forced into a concrete median. Buffy watched in horror as the Cherokee went out of sight as she screamed, “Dawn!”

The jolt forced the SUV airborne for nearly fifty feet and the two occupants screeched with fear. As the tires came back to earth, Tara grabbed the steering wheel and slammed on the brakes and the Cherokee skidded to a stop.

Willow began to wince in pain and she slowly dropped to her hands and knees atop the roof of the truck. Jonathan peaked above the top of the rear seat to see the truck slowing and uttered, “She’s weakening.” As he checked the mirrors and noticed the same, Xander swiftly stepped on the gas pedal. In no time at all, there was more and more distance between them and their pursuer.

Her solid black eyes were all that remained of Willow’s energy as she watched the cruiser get away just as the truck’s driver regained enough control and slowly brought the tanker to a screeching stop.

The Jeep was now smashed up pretty good and the engine was dead. Nearly out of breath, Tara calmed herself as she leaned over to Dawn and uttered, “Are you ok?!” Dawn slowly brought her head back against the headrest and replied, “I think so.” But as she began to move in her seat she suddenly squealed, “Ow! Okay, maybe not my ankle.”

Tara squinted as her voice quivered, “Oh, I’m so sorry.” Dawn gave her driver a look of frustration as she replied, “Why are you sorry? What the hel..uh..eck is wrong with Willow?!” Tara looked on as she replied, “You can say it all, sweetie. What the hell is wrong with Willow?! This is way beyond a ‘forget your troubles and be happy’ spell.” They looked at each other and grinned before Tara changed her expression to concern and angst as she stressed, “We need to get going.”


Chapter 5

Willow walked into Rack’s den and viewed the bodies strewn across the floor, each completed wasted. Rack sat on the dirty floor near a strung-out 17-year-old girl and without a look in her direction, his voice reached her with a hiss. “Well, hello sweetness. I knew you’d show up.” He stood up and slowly walked around the scattered near-corpses to face her directly. “You’ve been havin’ a little fun around town…now your batteries are almost dead.” As she approached him, she stared squarely into the dead eyes of the black magic man.

A few steps away from the Jeep, Tara heard Dawn let out a yelp and she saw the teen grab her ankle. Dawn looked up to Tara with eyes filled with pain. The Wicca immediately knew what was on the teen’s mind as she kneeled down in front of Dawn. “Okay, but just this once,” she good-naturedly grumbled. Tara would do just about anything to prevent the teen from being in pain even if it meant using magic a little more than she would otherwise. Tara gently held Dawn’s ankle, closed her eyes, and whispered under her breath words that Dawn did not know. A calming warmth and a red-orange glow quickly began to emit from Dawn’s lower leg then slowly faded away.

Tara stood up and inquired with a hopeful tone, “How’s that, kiddo?” Dawn moved her ankle cautiously at first then put weight on it and smiled as she began to jump up and down on it. “Yeah! Cool!” Tara bunched her eyebrows and noted how amazingly easy the healing spell seemed to be. Her puzzlement was quickly shaken as Dawn screeched, “Come on, Tara!”

Back at The Magic Box, Buffy glared at the mini-terrorists. “Sit down, both of you.” They scampered to the other side of the round table and quickly sat down on a bench. Xander’s frustration grew as the moments passed and tossed one of the books higher onto the pile. “She took everything.” Anya quickly interjected, “Not everything.” Xander moved to Anya for answers. “Whatcha got?” he asked. She turned the antique brass key that opened a chest on the counter. She reached in as she answered Xander, “Since you two are so determined to save those irrelevant munchkins...” She pulled out a large book from the chest and carefully placed it on the glass countertop. “…it’s a book of protection spells, anti-magic. Our last resort.”

Tara and Dawn reached The Bronze and it was impossible not to notice the chromed-out motorcycle parked outside the front door. Tara recognized it as belonging to Greblen, a local Mochmurel demon who had a reputation for torturing small animals and draining their blood then passing it off to newly-turned vampires who were none the wiser. Tara asked, “I don’t suppose you know how to…?” Dawn gave her best teenage “get real” look. “No. You?” Tara didn’t answer but looked back at the machine as if to size it up. “Well, I did okay driving a car for the first time, so…” Dawn stood slack-jawed as Tara interrupted herself, looking at the emblem on the tank’s side. “‘V-Star’. I kinda like that it has ‘star’ in the name.”

With seemingly no one around, Tara motioned for Dawn to get on behind her. The teen was still in disbelief. “Are you serious?” Tara looked over the impressively large gas tank and handlebars and made sure Dawn’s feet were on the proper pegs. “If I live through this night, and Buffy sees me on this with you, she’ll kill us both and then ground me until I’m 30.” Tara grinned as she pressed her right index finger against the ignition keyhole and the cycle powered up. “Relax Dawnie. My brother used to ride dirt bikes. When he wasn’t busy being cruel and our Dad wasn’t around, he gave me a few pointers.” Dawn sat in awe, squeezing Tara’s waist. The blonde Wicca kicked it into first, told her passenger to hang on tight and eased the throttle back while letting go of the clutch. They were rocketed away. Dawn felt that they had – just for a split second – been supported solely by the rear tire.

Willow’s powers had become immeasurably stronger and Rack was left shriveled like a prune. She walked through his den with a firestorm blazing across her irises and small bolts of lightning swirling all around her. “What a loser,” she muttered as the electricity subsided. She walked through the invisibly cloaked front door only to be pushed back inside.
The black-clad Wicca smiled as she greeted a former friend, now perhaps an enemy. “Buffy,” she stated with a barbed tone. The Slayer did not smile back and as she walked around the human-littered room, a drop of blood fell onto to her sleeve. She looked up to find Rack hung upside-down from the ceiling, blood slowly oozing from his nose and eyes. Buffy turned toward Willow. “You know, normally, I’d have to kill someone for doing this kind of thing but considering the victim…I’ll let you have that one.”

They circled each other from opposite sides of the room and did their best to dodge human debris on the floor as well as the blood dripping from above. Willow, with eyes now a solid black, snarled back, “Oh, you’re so generous, Slayer. Don’t think you can stop me because I won’t have any hesitation putting that bullet back where I found it.” Buffy glared back at her as she tried to keep things in perspective; the vengeful woman keeping pace in their weary-go-round has been her closest friend for years. Still, Buffy was determined to keep Willow from harming anyone else. “Why are you doing this, Willow? Tara’s not dead. Obviously, I’m not dead.”

Willow stopped and glared back at her opponent. “Don’t be another pathetic fool playing stupid games with me, Slayer,” she growled. “Tara was shot right in front of me and died in my arms.” Buffy stopped walking and replied in a stern tone. “Then how is it that I saw her alive and talking just an hour ago?” Willow floated across the room at incredible speed as was now face-to-face with Buffy. “I told you not to play with me. And what do you care if I finish off those two twerps, anyway?”

The Slayer didn’t back off and quickly replied. “Because that would be murder and you know how much I don’t appreciate senseless murder on my watch.” Willow contorted her face. “Your watch?” She stepped closer to the Slayer and they nearly bumped nose-to-nose. “Why don’t you pay attention to what’s going on, Buffy?” The room began to spin as the black-eyed Wicca continued her barrage, calm yet forceful. “You can’t stop me. You shouldn’t want to stop me. They tried to kill you more than once and Warren would have been successful today if it wasn’t for me and what I can do now.”

Buffy had to concentrate on keeping her balance as the room slowed to a stop. She looked around in disbelief and was slightly disoriented as she was now standing in the middle of The Magic Box. Willow’s voice dripped venomously, “Oh, sorry. I guess it can make you a bit woozy when you’re not used to it.” Buffy quickly regained her composure. “Willow, you’re my friend. We…” Black eyes were paired with a wicked smile as Willow interjected, “The Willow that was your friend was a little nothing. Face it, Buffy…” she waved her hands down her frame as she continued, “…this is the Willow you will have to deal with now.” She spun around and faced the two minions. “Jonathan…Andrew…” she quipped in a calm voice, “…you boys like magic, don’t you?” She raised her hands, directing them toward her targets. “Abracadabra!” Huge bolts of lightning left her fingertips and streaked across the room toward the two assassins.

The two rebels with a cause streaked back across town, making good time on the motorcycle until a car made a sudden left turn in front of them. With only a second to think, Tara clutched Dawn’s arms and safely whisked them off the motorcycle. As the bike partially disintegrated against the rusty old Chevy station wagon, the Wicca and her charge flew through the air, over trees and power lines and into a backyard swimming pool. The splash was impressive and the two were now soaked…but very much alive and well.

Willow stopped her energy bolts, finding Jonathan and Andrew still standing, unscathed. She squinted, curious and a bit amused. “Okay. Didn’t see that coming.”

Tara swam to the ladder at the deep end and climbed out of the pool and helped Dawn do the same. The teen cleared a bit of water from her throat before squealing, “Where has this wild side been hiding, anyway?” A response came from Tara between coughs, “I guess when I get pushed far enough…I push back.” “Uh, yeah. Push with purpose,” added Dawn.

The black-clad warrior smiled as she sent stronger bolts of energy at Warren’s hoodlum partners but still nothing made it through. Hidden behind the store counter, Anya had translated the magic book enough to create a protection spell that kept Willow’s power from reaching the two dorks. The bolts stopped again and Willow had to take a few seconds for rejuvenation.

Tara held her stomach as her breathing finally slowed to normal. “Back there…that wasn’t my fault, right?” Tara asked. Dawn quickly shook her head. “No way! That crappy old car turned right in front of you!” She grinned and added, “I mean…jeeze. Just because you stole that motorcycle doesn’t mean you’re to blame for us nearly being killed…on a motorcycle.” Tara noted the playful sarcasm and appreciated Dawn’s gift for corny goofiness in stressful times. She took the teen into a fierce but brief hug then reminded the teen they needed to get moving. As they separated, Dawn could not help but notice Tara’s nipples protruding through the fabric of her shirt. “Wow!” Tara quickly realized what had her young friend’s attention then blushed as she waved her right index finger at Dawn.

Andrew and Jonathan grabbed swords from the wall just as blasts of energy streaked toward them. However, the only one affected was Willow as she needed to stop and catch her breath. Buffy, her own energy fully charged, interrupted the Wicca’s fun with a stern tone. “Willow, stop this.” Willow kept her eyes on the mini swordsmen as she responded. “But I haven’t even hurt them…yet.” The Slayer stepped closer. “Willow, I don’t want to do this. Back off before someone really does get hurt.” But her opponent continued to focus her attention on the boys, adding a grin. “How ‘bout I back off right after?”

Tara and Dawn ran down the street soaking wet, their heavy clothing slowing them down. Tara reached out to gently touch Dawn’s shoulder as they ran. With a warm orange flash, they were both completely dry. “Whoa! Thank you,” chimed Dawn. Her running partner smiled and answered with a serious tone. “I should have done that back at the pool but we can’t be wasting time. We gotta find Willow.” Dawn nodded. “Where, though?” Tara took a moment to calm herself. She stopped her run, closed her eyes and slowly spun where she stood. Dawn kept running and began talking again before turning to see Tara about 15 yards behind. Dawn stopped in her tracks just as Tara re-opened her eyes and blurted, “The Magic Box!”

Buffy was quickly in Willow’s face. “Look, Willow, I said I didn’t want to do this.” Suddenly the Slayer slammed her fist across her attacker’s left cheek and the Wicca was sent across the room, ultimately crashing hard into a six-foot tall glass case. The Slayer walked over to her aggressor who was a little slow to get up. “Didn’t say I wouldn’t,” barked an angry Buffy.

Xander saw an opportunity and rushed over to Andrew and Jonathan. “Come on, let’s get out of here.” Once outside, however, Andrew spun around in front of his rescuer and drew his sword on Xander. Jonathan’s eyes opened wide with shock. “Andrew? What the hell are you doing?” Xander stood nearly motionless and whispered, “Why did I bother?” “Shut up”! Andrew screamed, as he pressed the blade to Xander’s chest, nearly penetrating skin. Xander backed away from it and yelped, “Okay, okay!” Jonathan stepped behind his partner-in-crime just as the sword-wielding menace motioned Xander to start walking.

The Magic Box had quickly become full of broken furniture, shattered glass, and two women wrestling on the floor. As they rolled around, Willow spotted Anya standing behind a pillar, still reading the protection spell. “Well, well...” she quipped as she pushed Buffy away, stood up and continued, “…Anya’s still here.” Buffy realized her opponent’s discovery and ran to stop her, but the Slayer was simply tossed aside by a wave of Willow’s left hand. Willow continued, “It seems I’ve been beating on the wrong gal.” She thrust her hand around Anya’s neck and lifted the vengeance demon at least a foot off the floor.

Dawn and Tara were just a couple of blocks from the magic store. From across the street, Tara could see Andrew with a blade at Xander’s throat and Jonathan with a sword dug into the back of Andrew’s neck. “What the…?” She swiftly waved her right hand and the swords crystallized then disappeared. She and Dawn then ran across to Xander’s side and Dawn inquired, “What are you doing with these two…two…” she paused as she looked at one imp then the other and screamed, “…jerks!” Xander glanced at both of them and mumbled, “Willow’s trying to kill them.” Dawn scoured at Jonathan and Andrew then screeched, “Soooo?!”

Anya abruptly grabbed Willow’s arm and morphed into a full-on vengeance demon. The Wicca struggled to hold on but Anya pulled Willow’s hand from her throat and pushed the black-clad attacker back three feet. In a gnarly, raspy voice, Anya griped, “This is your fight, not mine.” The space around Anya shifted and twisted and she was gone. Willow lunged for her but only crashed into a pillar. “Now that just wasn’t nice!”

Jonathan and Andrew recognized their chance and ran away as fast as their spindly legs could carry them. “Hey!” Xander yelled and reached for Andrew but both fugitives were quickly out of reach. Tara grabbed Xander’s arm. “No No. Let ‘em go, Xander. They’re not worth it.” He turned to her, looked into her eyes and took hold of her hand with a gentle touch.

A warm smile crossed her lips and she looked up into his eyes just as he pinched the back of her hand. “Ouch!” she yelped with a quizzical look on her face. He quickly pressed his left palm against his chest and uttered, “Tara, oh god! I’m so sorry! I just had to be sure.” With the back of her hand, Dawn whacked him on his shoulder and screeched, “Of course she’s alive you big goof!” Tara smiled in understanding. “Oh, that.”

Dawn nervously tapped her shoe against the sidewalk as she whimpered, “Are we really gonna let ‘em get away?” The phrase ‘why not?’ passed through Tara’s mind as she turned to answer but suddenly she realized what had taken place. “Willow.”

Xander understood the sudden mood change. “Crap. She wants to kill them…no matter how stupid they are.” His Wicca comrade looked to him and replied, “I guess you better go after them, anyway.” She paused as she looked back toward The Magic Box. “She’s preoccupied at the moment but I feel she’ll get to them, soon.” He quietly wondered how she knew but let it go. “I don’t care about them but I do very much care about her.” She looked to Dawn and urged, “You should go with him, sweetie.” The jittery teen raised her arms in frustration. “But I want to stay with you!” Tara shook her head. “No, I believe you’ll be safer this way,” came a gentle-yet-firm response. Dawn wasn’t happy about it but reluctantly accepted the request. Xander and Dawn began to sprint away as the teen looked back to Tara. “Tara, please be careful!”

With Willow strewn across the floor, Buffy stood ready for her opponent’s next move. She heard a noise come from the training room and could not believe her eyes. “Giles?” Buffy said in disbelief. Anya reappeared behind the counter, saw the watcher, and morphed back to the gentle lover of cash. “Ah, Giles,” she sighed.

Willow glared at Anya but only for a second before she stared at the newcomer. “Uh-oh. Daddy’s home. I’m in wicked trouble now!” Giles responded with a tempered tone. “You have no idea. You have to stop what you’re doing.” She quickly retorted, “Oh, sorry. Can’t do that. Not finished yet.” He struck right back without changing his stance. “Neither am I.” She tried to stand but Giles swiftly waved his hand and commanded, “Stay down!” Willow crashed back to the floor as Anya grinned, impressed. “Hey! How’d you do that?”

As she and Xander hunted Warren’s partners in crime, Dawn kept looking back in Tara’s direction. “Listen,” Xander quipped as each syllable was equaled with a hard breath. “I think Tara will be just fine. Something special happened to her even if Willow doesn’t know it yet.” Dawn returned her focus ahead. “I guess. But she doesn’t even believe Tara’s alive.” He knew this was bad. “First things first, kiddo.”

Willow began to lift her hands with fingers outstretched and commanded, “Asmodea, bring forth…” Before she could finish, Giles swiftly raised his right hand and shouted, “Vincire!” Instantly, a green and gold force of energy flowed from his fingers and wrapped itself around Willow’s waist, strapping her arms to her side. “What the…? No! Get off!” Giles kept his hand directed at her, determined to maintain the spell’s bind as she squirmed to no avail. Her powers drained quickly and her body collapsed within the glowing ring.

With Willow stopped for the moment, Giles embraced Anya and the Slayer in an earnest hug before tending to the seemingly unconscious darkness-driven Wicca. “I’m sorry, Willow, but this is what I had to do. Tara will be here any --” Willow interrupted him as she struggled to turn her head to lock her black eyes on the watcher. “This won’t hold me forever.”

Giles and Buffy withdrew to the training room to regroup and Anya was left to watch over the ever-dangerous Wicca. She scurried about, attempting to clean up the store, and as she passed by, gave Willow a nasty look out of the corner her eye.

Telepathy seemed to be Willow’s only working tool for the moment and a voice abruptly entered the head of the shopkeeper. “Anya.” The sometimes vengeance demon hesitantly looked back at Willow as the voice continued. “I need you, Anya. I need you to do something for me.” Anya brashly walked up to Willow. “Listen, you’re not getting my help, crazy woman. You tried to kill everyone around you then you tried to kill me!” Her face swiftly turned Vengeance Demon as she shook her head and resumed “Uh-uh. Find your own way out!”

As she spoke, the glowing soft blue restraint turned to a fiery red before becoming orange smoke and then faded away. Anya reverted back to her human visage and her eyes went wide. “Oh, shit.” Before she could teleport, Willow whacked her across her right temple, sending her crashing onto the floor behind the counter.

Buffy paced the training room, turning toward Giles, “Why isn’t Tara here? She could probably stop this whole thing just by showing up.” Giles looked away. “I know she’s close. I just hope that binding spell will hold Willow long enough.” The pair was startled by the voice of a familiar intruder. “Long enough for what?” They turned to the door to see Anya hanging in the air and unconscious. The black-eyed Wicca peaked from around Anya. “You really didn’t think that little glob of Jell-O would hold me forever, did you, Rupert?”, she chastised.

The slayer tossed a glance toward Giles then bolted toward Willow. Willow raised her right hand and sent bolts of electricity slamming into Buffy who was sent smashing hard against a far wall. As quickly as he could, Giles directed his left hand toward Willow and shouted, “Vincire!” She was swift to react, however, and quickly waved her out-stretched right hand at the attacking binding spell and lauded, “Solutum” and the spell disintegrated. As she walked closer to the visiting Watcher, she muttered, “Fool me once…”

They traded spells until Giles had enough. “Excudo!” he yelled and an energy bolt sent Willow crashing through the brick wall that separated the training room from the magic store. The material that used to comprise the wall crashed across the main room of The Magic Box and conflicting magics caused debris to swirl throughout the structure. Windows shattered and wood, brick, and glass flew through the air. The energy bolt hit with such intensity that it could be heard blocks away.
Now just half a block from the Magic Box, Tara ran quickly toward the violent battle. She did not slow down as fragments of blank magic books and empty potion bottles whizzed past her. She never saw it coming; a pair of nun-chucks that once hung on the wall of the training room rushed by, clipping her on the side of the head. She fell to the ground and struggled to get up before losing consciousness.

Giles and Willow battled hard before his powers weakened and he was rendered nearly paralyzed from exhaustion. Now, The Magic Box was just a shell of a building with fires burning throughout. Willow arrogantly walked through the debris and around the flames with a grin of satisfaction as she relished in her destruction. She stopped at the point where the round table once stood and turned to watch Giles creep into the room. Bloody and battered, he tried to reason with her. “If you lose someone you love…” he paused to gather the strength to continue, “…then the other people in your life who care about you…” he paused again, wincing as each word brought sword-like pain through his body, “…become meaningless?” Giles was losing energy by the second and found stability only as he leaned against one of the few remaining pillars that stood upright.

Tara regained consciousness just long enough to whisper her lover’s name. With the added power almost gone, Giles heard the faint plea and could indescribably sense that Tara was hurt. He and Willow both looked in the general direction of where Tara lay bruised but not the slightest bit dead. Tara frowned as she could sense the pain and destruction within The Magic Box, but the pain in her own head was too much and she again struggled for consciousness.

Willow shook the thought of an alive Tara from her head and instead turned her focus back to Giles. “Nice trick, Watcher. You’re the second wanna-be magician to try to make me think Tara’s still alive. Do you wanna know what I did to the other guy?” she asked with a sinister grin and her head tilted to one side. “Gosh, I must have another bullet here somewhere.” Giles calmly responded, “I wonder what Tara would say about all this.” Willow gave him a homicidal glare. “You can ask her, yourself!” She sent thunderous bolts of energy at him but they missed the target as Buffy tackled him and they both traveled twenty feet across the floor. The energy wave destroyed the last-standing pillar and the second floor collapsed, barely missing the Slayer and her mentor. Buffy looked up as Willow pouted, “You’re always saving everyone.” Her tone became an eerie mocking of her once-shy self. “It’s kinda pesky.”

Willow looked down to the flames that burned near her feet. She then scooped a fist-sized fireball into her hand. Buffy’s eyes widened as she watched Willow play with the ball of fire as if it were nothing more than a pet hamster. “You probably even think you’re buying escape time for Jonathan and the other one. Well, I got a little secret for ya. I can kill them from anywhere I want.” She looked back at the fireball and its glow reflected against her black orbs as she continued, “With this.” As it hovered over her right hand, she waved her left around it, inciting it to glow brighter with each pass of her wrist. “It’ll find them. And it’ll bury them. Along with anyone else helping those dead men walking.”

Buffy winced as she rose to stand. “Don’t.” But Willow ignored the Slayer’s plea. “Unless…” she looked at Buffy and her tone turned more sarcastic than ever. “Unless somebody…somehow…can get there in time to save them.” She shrugged her shoulders and sent it through the roof. “Fly my pretty. Fly!” Willow grinned as she glanced down at Giles then back up at Buffy. “See what I did there?” she blurted excitedly. As he wrestled to lift himself from the floor, Giles yelled for Buffy to go. She swiftly ran around the vengeful Wicca, and as the Slayer passed her, Willow dripped sarcasm. “Good luck.” She then looked down at the struggling Watcher. “Thought she’d never leave.”

Tara awoke once again to the sound of the Slayer running down the street. Tara’s head pounded but her determination was stronger than the pain. She sat up at the edge of the curb to get her bearings and voiced her thoughts aloud. “It’s like someone’s trying to keep me from Willow.” Banishing the thought, she touched each palm to each corresponding temple and her injured scalp was soon healed and pain-free.

Greenish-yellow waves of energy hurdled at Willow and tossed her back against the counter. With that spell, Giles was completely exhausted and he fell to the floor again, nearly passing out. “That…” she struggled to catch her breath, “…was rude!” She looked at him with great disdain as he responded. “You’re expending way too much of your mystical energies to maintain your powers. At this rate you’re going to…burn out.” She rolled her eyes and responded, “Blah, blah, blah!” Struggling with every word, Giles now whispered. “Willow, you need to stop.” Her tone became malicious. “What I need is a little pick-me-up.” Just as she had done to Rack, she clutched the watcher’s chest and prepared to take his remaining powers. She lifted him off the floor and a fierce yellow glow emitted between them. His powers were now under her control.
“Wow! Head rush!” she exclaimed as they both collapsed to the floor.

Giles was now near death as Willow relished in her new level of power. “Whoa!” The room seemed to spin for her as she tried to grasp the many dimensions of her new reality. “Who’s your supplier?” she muttered. “This is…Wow.”

Though Tara had yet to reach The Magic Box, she strongly felt the power transfer from Giles to Willow. “Oh, my goddess!” Anticipating the pain, she was slow to stand. But the healing spell was thorough and the pain was truly gone. She jetted for the magic store.

Willow cringed as she could feel so much of the world, now. “All the emotion,” she bellowed as she pulled herself up from the floor. “And the pain. No…No, it’s too much.” Tara began to sprint faster as she could sense that time was running out.

“Ohh, you poor bastards!” cried a despondent Willow as she slowly rose from the floor. “Your suffering has to end.” With her powers massively revitalized, she disappeared in a quick flash of white light as Giles whispered, “No.”

Tara stopped running as her mind, body and soul sensed her once red-headed lover teleport over the town. The blonde calmed herself and a golden glow flowed through her. Tara knew she would find Willow and she herself teleported after her mate.


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 Post subject: Re: Reflections
PostPosted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 5:22 am 
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2. Floating Rose

Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2007 1:03 pm
Posts: 24
Chapter 6

Xander and Dawn walked through the Sunnydale cemetery and were about to give up on their search until Xander heard the terrorists mumble and could see their shadows at the backside of a dilapidated mausoleum. He turned to Dawn and put his right index finger to his lips then carefully motioned her to stop. She scrunched her brow as he motioned her to get behind a rusted iron statue.

Xander snuck up behind them and they both jumped nearly a foot as he yelled, “Sooooo…!” They tried to run but Xander grabbed Andrew and his teen assistant suddenly stuck her foot out from aside the statue and tripped Jonathan. Xander dragged his catch over to Jonathan and clutched the other imp’s shirt as he shouted, “The cemetery?!”

Suddenly, a familiar voice screamed across the tombstones. “Get out of there!” exclaimed Buffy as she ran faster and faster towards them. The foursome turned in her direction only to look up and see the fireball as it got closer by the second. As the slayer came within a few yards, she screamed “Move!” but no one did and when she was close enough she jumped and crashed into all four of them.

As it was hit by the fireball, the ground exploded and sent Xander and Dawn backwards twenty feet. She hit the soft dirt with a loud thud while Xander careened head-first into a huge gravestone and was instantly conked out.

The fireball’s concussion was enough to cause a crater close enough to Dawn and she was caught in its wake. Buffy realized her sister’s plight and jumped to grab her but was too late for Dawn’s grip wasn’t enough and she fell in. With Buffy’s powerful forward momentum she swiftly followed her sister into the deep hole.

Jonathan and Andrew stood up and surveyed the situation. The slayer and Dawn were nowhere in sight and Xander, with a bloody nose and major lacerations across his face, lay unconscious. Jonathan mumbled, “Mexico, huh?!” They looked at each other then swiftly turned and ran.
The crater opened the ceiling to a cavernous underground and as the dust settled they looked around as Dawn mumbled, “This looks like the crypt. You know…part of Spike’s place.”

Anya, bruised but not permanently damaged, knelt at Giles’ side as he lay nearly motionless but was still breathing. “Giles,” she muttered. He opened his eyes and blurted in a faint voice, “Anya.” She frowned intensely as she responded, “I’m so sorry. She sucker-punched me with her magic…” she paused as she rolled her eyes “…Again!” Giles whispered back to her, “I can see...” Anya smiled and nodded her head as she cheered, “Ohh, it’s a miracle!” “I mean…” he squinted as he continued, “…Willow. I can see her at the shore.”

Jonathan and Andrew reached the highway and thumbed for a ride when an 18-wheeler began to slow to a stop along the shoulder behind them. The driver flashed the high-beams and Andrew looked to his partner and blurted, “Come on, let’s get outta here!” They ran to the truck as the passenger door was flung open for them and the two climbed into the cab.
The rather husky driver was in old jeans, a tank top, mud-covered boots, and sported a weather-worn baseball cap on his head. He greeted them with a friendly grin as he spouted, “Howdy boys! Where you two runnin’ off to?!” Once inside, he reached over his new passengers and slammed their door shut.

In unison, the two fugitives answered, “Mexico.” The big guy’s grin extended even more as he replied, “So are we. How ‘bout that?!” The two menaces looked at each other then back at their driver and reluctantly asked, “We?” Then Andrew turned to Jonathan and whispered, “Do you smell scalloped potatoes?” Suddenly, the curtain behind them flew open and they turned to see a humanoid creature with horns protruding from her forehead, glowing red eyes and gnarly sharp teeth.

Andrew reached for the door handle but none was there just as Jonathan screamed at him, “Open the door, dumbass!” Andrew yelled back, “I can’t! There’s no knob!” They looked back at the driver for help only to see him lift his cap and expose horns longer and thicker than his co-pilot. The imps eyes bulged as they watched the driver’s grin be pushed open by jagged teeth and as his smile widened, it was dangerously obvious his fierce teeth were three rows full. The two little punks gulped as they realized they were being chauffeured by something of the Great White variety. It was the middle of the night, on a quiet highway, and the screams made by two little terrorists were loud and chilling but were heard by no one except their starving captors before they were ominously silenced.

Light from the rising sun began to make its way into the crater as Buffy yelled to Dawn, “We have to get out of here!” “Buffy?!” yelled a bloodied, broken Xander. The slayer quickly looked up and responded, “Xander! Are you okay?!” He gently touched his right forefinger against his nose and winced with pain as he answered, “Yeah, I think so.” He slowly brought his hand back in view to see his finger covered in a mix of fresh and dried blood. He shook his head slowly to clear his thoughts as he continued, “Jonathan and Andrew are gone, though. Must have run off when I was out.” Buffy didn’t seem concerned about the news as she commanded, “Get us some rope! We gotta get outta here!”

Anya suddenly appeared in the cave and startled Dawn but Buffy simply had questions. “Anya?! Did Giles stop Willow?” The vengeance demon pouted slightly as she answered, “No. She messed him up pretty good, too, before she left.” Buffy’s voice became ragged with concern, “Left? Left where?” Anya, anxious and frustrated, gently clutched and contorted her wrists as she replied, “Kingman’s Bluff. Giles said there’s an old satanic temple, there. She plans to use it to destroy the world.”

Willow stood where the temple lay buried beneath her and the ground began to shake as she raised her hands and the temple steeple, decorated with frightening demonic symbols, began to rise through the earth. Upon the side of the steeple was a stone likeness of a woman and Willow looked up to her and summoned, “Proserpexa. Let the cleansing fires from the depths…burn away the suffering souls and bring sweet deaths.” Immense mystical energy began to flow between Willow and the temple. Carved with an evil face, wicked hair and a serpent coiled around her, the woman in stone began to glow in a pinkish-white light. As the power within her started to connect with the dormant powers of the temple, Willow began to shake and shimmer as black clouds began to encircle her once more. Only now the bolts of dark magic energy were hundreds of times more powerful than anything she had used before.

Suddenly, the silhouette of a person stepped in front of the bolts of dark energy streaming from Willow’s fingertips and the intrusion was enough positive energy to stop the flow. Across town, Giles remained motionless on the floor of the magic shop when his eyes opened suddenly and he smiled as he whispered, “Tara.”

The blonde Wicca stood up straight and stern as she commanded, “Willow, you have to stop this!” The black-clad avenger was frustrated by the stoppage of her energy flow but remained calm and responded, “Nice try, Giles…you have her down well. Even the big bumpies.” Tara looked down at her chest then returned her glare and gave Willow a smirk.
“Is that wishful thinking…” snapped an angry yet controlled Willow, “…or do I have yet another score to settle with you, old man?” Tara crossed her arms as she remained defiant and shouted, “Willow, I am not Giles. I’m me!

The anger and darkness that swelled inside Willow blocked nearly every thought of reason and logic. As the ground began to shake once more, the energy that surrounded her crackled and popped as she screamed, “Get out of my way before I drop you in the ocean halfway between here and Pearl Harbor!” Tara wanted to help her tortured lover understand the right and the wrong as she tried to calm herself and exclaimed, “Willow Rosenberg, you are really trying my patience!” She stepped a few paces closer across the ever-increasingly shaky ground and lowered her tone, “This is me. Tara. I’m not going to give up on us, again.” “Stop it!” yelled Willow as bolts of lightning streaked from her fingers and knocked Tara more than twenty-five feet down the hill. The suddenly dirty and scratched up Tara grasped the dirt and ivy and quickly stopped her downhill slide. Now she herself had become quite upset as Willow quickly resumed sending her dark energy stream into the temple.

The blonde Wicca closed her eyes and as she drew strength from within, she instantly felt how her powers were stronger than she ever imagined. With a calm spirit, she raised herself swiftly off the ground and traveled through the air and directly into the path of Willow’s power. The stream was stopped once again and Willow started to feel drained as she mumbled, “No one should be able to stop me with all the power I have now.” Her black eyes faded to a normal emerald green as she grunted, “Especially you! I took all of your power and left you for dead.” She struggled to regain her level of intensity and she raged, “How can you be here and still have enough energy to slow me down?!”

Tara looked at Willow with disdain but she pressed on because she could feel the good person was still within the confines of the powerful aggressor that stood before her. “Stop this, Willow! Now!” Green eyes slowly returned to black as Willow took a couple of deep breaths and growled, “You are about to swim the deep blue sea, old man!” She aimed all her energy at Tara and sent a transportation spell at the one she still believed was just a menacing Rupert Giles. Tara, feeling a bit of anger of her own, now, waved her right hand at the spell and sent it into space as she barked, “Okay, Willow, this is enough! I am not Giles, I am not anyone else but Tara.” She squinted with concern and remorse as she blurted, “Your Tara.” She looked across the rooftops of Sunnydale and continued, “Would you like me to go get Ms. Kitty Fantastico?! I bet she could change your unwilling mind!”

Though seriously weakened, the dark magic still dominated every thought in Willow’s mind and she definitely didn’t like the supposed invasion of her personal life. The ground was quiet again and she frowned with frustration and curiosity as she whimpered, “How do you know about…?” she paused then swiftly tilted her head, raised her brow and grinned as she continued, “…Ohhh, you’re good, Rupert. You and your little coven have done your homework.” Once again, lightning bolts were set to unleash from her fingertips. This time, however, Tara was ready for them and as they streaked towards her she reflected them right back at Willow. The black-clad aggressor was thrown back ten feet and crashed onto her back.

Tara walked up to her opponent with a force of determination in her stride and offered, “I can’t explain everything that has happened in the last 48 hours, sweetie. But I can explain some things.” Willow struggled to get up but her own energy was dwindling as her mind could not grasp the thought that her nemesis looked and talked just like her lover. However, she, too, had her own mission to accomplish and swiftly pushed herself up from the dirt floor. Tara stopped her approach and prepared to defend the inevitable response of dark magic energy.

Willow understood that this interference would not go away and quipped, “Okay…” as she raised her hands toward the temple once more she snapped, “…since you won’t get out of my way…” Suddenly, the bolts of powerful energy flowed from Willow’s fingertips again. Tara braced for them but the stream went right over her head in an arc that met the temple with ease. The ground started to shake more violently than before as Willow began to make progress.

Tara placed her hands on her hips and scoured at Willow as she yelled, “Fine!” She turned to walk away but kept her eyes to Willow and muttered, “Before it’s too late I’ll just go blow out someone else’s candle.” The stream of energy suddenly skipped a jolt or two as Willow struggled to maintain her intensity needed for the energy flow. The very good and the very bad inside her were now in serious turmoil and the stream stopped once more. Only now, no one had stepped in its path.

Willow’s black eyes calmed to a dark green as she relaxed and lowered her arms and whispered, “Whu…What did you just say?!” Tara stopped her supposed departure and turned to face her combatant and muttered, “If you want to destroy the world, well I guess I’ll just have to find someone else.” She gingerly stepped a few feet closer to a stunned Willow and continued, “You know…someone who’s the kind of person I can hold hands with the next time I need to move a soda machine.”

Tara started to turn away again as Willow whispered, “No. It has to be a trick.” The blonde negotiator had no intention of leaving her lover/best friend/soul mate. She had simply resorted to the only defense she had left – empty threats to their relationship. As the ground settled one more time, Tara turned back to her girlfriend and responded in a quiet voice, “Sweetie, I’m here.” Willow began to shake and her knees were the first to go. She dropped to the dirt and stared up at her rescuer as tears welled upon confused, nearly frightened emerald eyes. “But I…” her tears became tiny rivers down her cheeks and her sobbing took over her voice.

Tara walked the last steps then slowly knelt down in front of her girl and whispered, “You don’t have to end the world…” she paused as she raised her right hand and gently wiped away some of the tears on her lover’s face as she continued, “…when we have each other. Right here. Right now.” She opened her arms and Willow fell between them and rested against her sweetheart’s bosom.

Tara gently pressed the palm of her left hand against Willow’s head and with a new sense of security, black hair slowly transformed into a deep auburn. The blonde Wicca felt the change and she smiled as her own tears began to flow. She held Willow tight as her lover’s black pantsuit quickly transformed into faded blue jeans and a red T-shirt. Though the battle was far from over, Tara and Willow were together, again…and both were very much alive.


Chapter 7

Xander returned to the gaping hole with 50 feet of rope and yelled, “Buffy?!” The slayer swiftly looked up and responded, “What took you, Xander?!” He shrugged his shoulders and replied in a sarcastic tone, “No one keeps their stuff locked up around here but it took me forever to find this.” With a firm grip on one end, he dropped the rest of the rope to the cave floor as he continued with a vindictive grin, “Don’t know why…Sunnydale is such a great place to live.”

The two lovers, drained from all the magic, sat close at the cliff’s edge and looked out at the Pacific as Tara clutched her sweetie hard with her left arm as she waved her right hand to the waves below and exclaimed, “And you wanted to make this wonderful world go away.” Willow was barely able to move but she mustered enough strength as she turned to Tara but kept her eyes on her lover’s left sleeve as she replied, “I let my pain be more important than anything…” She then looked up into beautiful though slightly red-rimmed blue eyes and continued, “…or anyone.” Tara let her shyness out again as she slowly shrugged her shoulders and cracked a quirky little grin then uttered, “I guess I really do mean the world to you.” Willow smirked for just a second then smiled as she leaned into Tara and gently pressed her lips against her lover’s.

On the other side of Sunnydale, the slayer and Xander carefully helped Giles into the Summers house as Anya and Dawn followed right behind. “Thank you,” muttered the exhausted Watcher as they gently helped him lay down on the living room sofa. “So…” chimed a battered Xander, “…where’s…you know who?” Giles looked at him then at the rest of the gang and replied barely above a whisper, “She’s okay. Tara stopped her.” Buffy squinted as she responded, “Tara?!” He gently nodded his head as he answered, “Yes. It was quite a battle but they are alive and…we’re alive.”

A bright flash suddenly occurred in the front yard and instantly Willow and Tara stood outside the house. Willow turned away from the house as she faced her sweetie and uttered, “I don’t know if I can do this, Tara.” She responded with a smile then slowly turned Willow around as she gently intertwined the fingers of her right hand with the fingers of Willow’s left and whispered, “Trust me.” They proceeded to walk up to the front door and Tara opened it slowly as she pulled her girlfriend into the foyer and closed the door behind them. The pair were met with stoic looks as none of the seven knew what to say at that moment. But Tara broke the uncomfortable silence with a cheerful tone, “We’re home!” No one returned the sentiment, however, and Tara frowned slightly as she went on, “We’re gonna go upstairs, now.” Willow avoided eye contact with anyone as her girlfriend resumed her tow. Buffy was quite unsettled by the situation as she barked, “Hey, this…” Tara abruptly stopped their ascent and looked to the slayer as she interrupted with a confident tone, “I’ll explain. But not right now.” She looked to her lover and whispered, “Come on, sweetie.”

Willow was still apprehensive when they reached the door to their bedroom but Tara opened the door and slowly pulled her lover into the room. Willow reluctantly looked to the floor where her nightmare began and couldn’t believe what was there. “Nothing,” she mumbled as she looked to Tara then back to the floor at the foot of the bed and continued, “It’s as if nothing ever happened but I know it did.” She pulled Tara closer as she resumed her story. “I took you in my arms and I could tell you were gone. You weren’t breathing or moving or anything.” Tara scrunched her face as she, too, looked to the floor and replied, “But I couldn’t have. I wasn’t…” She stopped as she then looked towards the bedroom door and resumed, “I went downstairs to get some cookies. Things are kinda fuzzy but I remember leaving the kitchen and just as I was about to go back upstairs I saw you run out the front door.” She turned and looked deep into Willow’s eyes as she continued, “I called out to you but you slammed the door and must not have heard me.” Willow gave her a puzzled look as she replied, “I thought I heard your voice but felt it was just my imagination.” Then she smiled as she continued with a slight crack in her voice, “You know…hoping in the ‘you’re-not-dead-in-our-bedroom’ sorta way.” Tara returned a big smile as she grabbed her lover around the waist.

Suddenly Willow’s eyes widened as she looked over her soulmate’s left shoulder and blurted, “See?!?! There’s the bullet hole!” She pointed to the window and started towards it. Tara wrinkled her brow with confusion as she looked at Willow then turned and followed her to the broken pane. Caution was in every step as they slowly reached the window. The blonde’s wrinkled expression quickly changed to a ghostly blankness as she understood that her Will was not making up such a crazy story.

Tara carefully ran her right index finger across the window pane and slowly circled the glass around the bullet hole. Suddenly her eyes widened as images of that horrible morning flashed through her mind. They were so vivid that she quickly looked down her shirt and expected to see a splatter of red but her shirt was as unaffected blue as when she first pulled it over her frame. A little dazed by the images, Tara staggered over to the bed and gently sat on the corner.

Willow turned slightly pale as she uttered, “Are you ok, baby?” Tara looked around the room then back into her lover’s green eyes and replied, “Yeah. Just a little wowed by this whole thing.” Her red-headed companion nodded and quipped with a smile, “I can think of better ways to be wowed. Can’t you?!” Tara responded with a crooked grin.
Until she had all the answers, Willow Rosenberg was never happy so she turned back to the window and stared at the fragmented glass. She squinted her eyes with puzzlement as she turned her head to see if she could follow the bullet’s path. Her eyes quickly focused on a dot at the crevice of the wall and ceiling at the far corner of the room. She started towards the dot and bumped into the desk chair without even a flinch.

Tara watched her lover walk across the room and blurted, “What is it?” Willow kept her attention on the mark as she answered, “There’s something…” She stopped just under the mark that she could now see was much more than a dot then quickly returned to that same chair, grasped its back and carried it back to the corner. Without any concern for safety, she jumped up onto the seat and gave closer attention to what was now clearly a hole. “Oh, this is just not possible,” exclaimed the red-headed detective.

Concern enveloped Tara’s expression as she was suddenly startled. “Sweetie?!” exclaimed Willow, her face instantly wrinkled between uncertainty and joy as she realized she was talking to her Tara and smiled as she inquired, “Could you get me a nail file or something?” Tara, herself eager for resolution, responded, “Yeah, I think there’s one here in the drawer.” She opened the top right drawer of the desk and uttered, “Well, I thought there was one in here.” Willow’s growing impatience was instantly squelched as she paused and watched Tara’s every move as she asked herself, ‘Was this woman, who now stood just a few feet away, alive and well or just an image of wishful thinking?’ Not willing to accept the latter, she shook her head as her attention was drawn to the surface of the desk and exclaimed, “Hey, could you bring me that letter opener, sweetie?” Tara smiled, grasped the opener and briskly walked over to Willow. They each smiled big as she gently placed the tool in her lover’s left hand. As their skin touched, chills cascaded through each of them. At that moment, both knew this was real and they longingly gazed into each other’s eyes.

Willow reluctantly looked away and returned her focus to the hole and dug the letter opener into the drywall. Suddenly the bullet popped out of the hole and Willow caught it with her other hand. Tara squinted with curiosity as her investigator girlfriend uttered, “No blood. This is so strange. There’s no blood. Your blood’s not on this bullet at all.” She looked at Tara with a clenched brow then smiled big and exclaimed, “And that’s a good thing!” Tara quickly replied, “Umm, I think that’s a great thing!” Willow- her mind still in the scientific mode- suddenly realized the scope of her lover’s response and blurted, “Ohhh, yes! Yes! A really great thing!” Their smiles for each other now seemed enormous.

Tara began to realize the magnitude of the previous 48 hours. Though concerned and just a little weary of Willow’s powers, she was not angry or disappointed with her lover. Still, she knew that Willow’s actions could not be forgotten. The red-headed detective slowly stepped off the chair just as a thunderous noise came from downstairs. Tara looked deep into her lover’s eyes and asked, “Will you be ok, Will? I should probably talk to the gang.” Though still confused by her surroundings and circumstances, Willow reluctantly replied, “Sure.”

As Tara jetted downstairs, Willow walked around the room as she tried to make sense of things. Slowly, she walked in front of the wardrobe and stopped in front of the nearly full-length mirror. Images of the last two days were still fresh in her memory and as she glared at her reflection she tried to understand the reality then looked down to the floor and remembered the horror of holding a motionless Tara in her arms. But there was no evidence to prove it. She looked back to the mirror and shook her head as she uttered, “Okay, Willow, either I’m insane or maybe I am because somebody better be insane, here.” As she began to look away, an image caught the corner of her eye and she gazed at herself once again. Only this time, the reflection in the mirror began to change. A white glow began to surround the Willow in the mirror. “Oh, great! Here we go again. Now it’s my turn to disappear?!” She reached for the mirror surface but the Willow in the mirror didn’t reach back and her outfit of jeans and a t-shirt began to morph into a long white robe. Willow quickly looked down herself to still see jeans and a t-shirt and she somewhat reluctantly looked back up at the mirror and watched with disbelief as her shiny auburn hair seemed to grow about four inches and turn white as snow.

The robed Willow could easily see the puzzled look on the face of her other self. Her white hair and robe flowed as if she were flying in the clouds just as she exclaimed, “Hey, there!” The Willow outside the mirror jumped a step back and uttered, “Who are you?” Her robed guest replied with a smile, “I’m you, silly. Just a little older and a whole lot wiser.” The redhead tilted her head and asked, “So, you did this?” “We did this,” responded her robed self. As she stepped a little closer to the mirror, the younger Rosenberg continued her questioning. “Okay, but then what happened?” “Well…” the robed Willow answered as she rolled her eyes and added, “…everything happened. Then I made sure it didn’t. Sorta.” She then looked past her younger self to the bedroom door and quipped, “And you can thank me later.” The redhead instantly knew her “reflection” was referring to Tara and retorted, “You brought her back.” The white-haired Wicca smiled and replied, “Of course we did…eventually.”

Willow fell to her knees at the corner of the bed and asked with a reluctant tone, “Okay, so what about Warren?” “Oh, him,” the robed Rosenberg rolled her eyes again as the image in the mirror changed to only clouds then gradually focused on Warren in the woods. “We did drill the bullet into him but I didn’t want us to regret what we were about to do. So I took him away and sent him here.” Suddenly a bright light flashed from the mirror as the image of clouds formed again while the redhead kept prodding, “So, you’re the one who kept making people disappear.” A loud “Shhh” seemed to come from within the mirror then the voice of a wiser Willow shouted, “Enough questions! Geee!! Just how obnoxious was I back then?”

The redhead’s aggravation increased when suddenly the image in the mirror began to come into focus. She could see Warren fall down a steep hill and slam to a dirt floor. It looked dark and dingy like a place where sunlight never made an appearance. The robed Willow could still only be heard as the image became clear and she continued, “Watch this.” She leaned forward from the edge of the bed and could see Warren grimace and groan as he laid face-down in the dirt. She watched intensely as he slowly turned to face upward only to find himself face-to-face with more than a dozen Uber-vamps. Willow cringed as she watched them look at him with the kind of reverence a pack of hyenas would have for a wounded baby gazelle. Attracted to his fear, they pounced on him and his screams lasted only two or three seconds.

Willow lowered her head as she felt ashamed for what she had started just as the image of a robed Willow quickly reappeared. “Don’t make that look, silly girl. He got what he deserved…well…okay, we helped a little. But he still got what he deserved.” The red-headed Wicca looked up to herself then squinted her eyes as she muttered, “Where is that place, anyway?” “Closer than you might think, I’m afraid.” The exhausted Willow didn’t flinch at the cryptic answer but simply queried further. “And Jonathan? Andrew?” The robed self tilted her head to the right, then the left and replied, “Oh, well…you see…there was this post on the Internet about how Sunnydale “mini terrorists” go great with scalloped potatoes and red wine. The younger Willow scrunched her face as her reflection looked back to her younger self and continued, “Yeah...” she paused to give a ‘bad taste in her mouth’ expression and went on, “…they actually had a recipe. Sounded alright except for the whole ‘blood rare’ thing.” She glanced around the skies once more as she quipped with a crooked grin, “Still not sure how that post got out there.”

The robed Willow then smiled as she changed the subject with a reverent tone, “Of course…good ‘ol Tara. She was so persistent in stopping you before you learned your lesson that I had to find ways to slow her down.” She looked over Willow’s shoulder again and gritted her teeth as she muttered, “Didn’t mean to hit her so hard with the nun-chucks, though.” Suddenly, long blonde hair flowed into the reflection as a robed Tara joined her lover. As she looked to the younger Rosenberg, Tara frowned slightly as she shook her head and waved her finger but then smiled big as she looked to her robed counterpart who swiftly turned to her and they kissed each other long and hard then tender on the lips. After a few seconds of passion, the robed Rosenberg grinned as she slowly pulled away from Tara and turned back to her younger self then chimed, “See what happens when you behave yourself?!” The redhead stood up and reached for the mirror as she whispered, “Tara?” Tears welled up again upon her emerald green eyes. “Yes, Sweetie?” rang a voice from behind her and Willow swiftly turned to see her sweetheart walk back into the room. “So, what have you been doing…” inquired a smiling Tara as she met Willow in front of the mirror.

The young Tara could only see her lover and herself reflected in the mirror as she continued, “…just standing here talking to yourself?!” “Ohhhh, Tara!” the redhead exclaimed as she pulled her lover in for a firm embrace and slowly spun them around and gazed into the mirror once more then grinned as she watched her robed self wrap her right arm around her Tara. They both smiled at their younger counterparts as they slowly and softly disappeared into a cloud and were gone. The reflection returned to a young Willow clutching her lover even tighter. Tara squinted as she gently wheezed, “Uh, Willow…the bumpies?” The squeeze didn’t lessen though as the rejuvenated Willow closed her eyes and her grin grew wider across her cheeks. Tara could feel the love come stronger than ever and she equaled her lover’s grin with one of her own.

A protection spell kept them warm as they soared swiftly through the sky with bright stars above and cloud silhouettes below. Just enough air was let in to allow their long hair and soft robes flow…and, of course, so they could breathe. The long, soft digits of Willow’s left hand intertwined with Tara’s right as they hummed Alison Krause’s ‘That Kind Of Love’.

Without a concern about the dozens of airplanes flying over California, they hummed and grinned as if they were holding hands for the first time. Tara suddenly looked down, stopped her half of the hum and exclaimed, “Ohhh! San Francisco!” The hum stopped completely as Willow blurted, “Say, isn’t there a great Bed & Breakfast right down there?!” Tara’s grin became a full-on smile as she nodded her answer then whispered, “Mmmm, bed.” They looked to each other as Willow matched the intensity of her lover’s smile, jetted her brow a couple of times then swooned, “Mmmm, breakfast!” The two lovers coasted down and disappeared into the fog that encompassed the Golden Gate Bridge.

Cut to black.

Credits scroll with “A World To Believe In” by Celine Dion


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 Post subject: Re: Reflections
PostPosted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 10:36 am 
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Ms. Moderator Fantastico
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You know, I almost didn't read this 'cause there was a lot of writing and it's Sunday and I'm tired but I'm soooo glad I did!!

Wow, powerful stuff!

Very emotive, great writing.

I loved the Dawn/Tara interaction in particular. Totally not explored enough on the show.

And super big yay for Tara being the one to stop Willow from destroying the world. I always thought the Xander thing was stupid. Like a yellow crayon story could stop that much anger. Tara's love however? Hell yes.

I LOVED the 'reflections' of Older Willow and Tara. Perfect! Fantasic!

This was a highly cathartic story. Even after all these years, the events of post-Seeing Red still 'cause me anguish and this was a great remedy for those horrific events.

Thanks for sharing this!!

:peace

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 Post subject: Re: Reflections
PostPosted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 6:30 pm 
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2. Floating Rose

Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2007 1:03 pm
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Laragh,

Thank you so much for the great feedback! I realize my story is long and full of rhetoric that does not directly involve Willow & Tara but I thought it needed that to bring it all together.

I am sorry that it took so long to finally finish the story because I started it more than five years ago but life got in the way. Your comments made it worth all the time and effort that was put into it and I hope others enjoy it as much as you enjoyed it.

Clay


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 Post subject: Re: Reflections
PostPosted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 7:56 pm 
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4. Extra Flamey

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It took forever for Tara to reach Willow. Made it drag just a little, but the ending was perfect. Tara saves Willow, and is also kinda saved by herself.

But what woulda happened if Tara got to Will "too early?"

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 Post subject: Re: Reflections
PostPosted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 9:06 am 
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10. Troll Hammer

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A good way to resolve the "problem."

I deifntiely liked the inclusion of the "Parking Ticket Lady" from "OMWF." Reminded me of soemthing I posted a few times (in my case, referring to the "Magic As Addiction" storyline) "If it were against the law to kill a metaphor, Marti would be doing 5 to life right now."

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 Post subject: Re: Reflections
PostPosted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 1:53 pm 
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Ms. Moderator Fantastico
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I must admit feeling pretty apprehensive about reading this story. I'm not a big fan of angst and when I see a new fic placed in S6, I wonder if the author has read the FAQ. I feel it's better to send a friendly reminder. If an author is aware of the rules, there’s no harm done. But if they don't know the rules, and a story gets pulled as a result, that tends to hurt feelings. I'd rather not do that. Anyway, This story is complete, yah!, but I still held my breath and prayed there wouldn't be any problems. So very glad I worried for nothing!

From the first paragraph my heart started pounding and it didn't let up until the words "The End" appeared. What a ride! You have taken the awful events of Season Sux and transformed them into a story that matches, no, surpasses, many of the BTVS episodes. Especially the ones revamped here. And you managed to interject a bit of humor into the tale. One of the things I loved so much in the show. It was, oddly enough, fun and frustrating, to see Tara and Dawn frantically searching for Willow and know that "fate" seemed to be throwing a clink in their plans at every turn. Really nice, surprise twist at the end. I really enjoyed this story. More proof positive that what was, did not have to be. Willow and Tara together forever.. THANK YOU.. Excellent job.


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 Post subject: Re: Reflections
PostPosted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 12:00 pm 
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2. Floating Rose

Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2007 1:03 pm
Posts: 24
Promthea128,

Thank you for reading the complete story even though it may have dragged on, in places. I had to find ways to slow down Tara so there would be the big save on the cliff. The destruction of the Magic Box made it a little easier to work it out.

I hope to start a continuation of the story now that Will and Tara are together on many levels. And I promise to center around them with the rest of the group just tagging along, if necessary.


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 Post subject: Re: Reflections
PostPosted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 12:11 pm 
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2. Floating Rose

Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2007 1:03 pm
Posts: 24
DaddyCatALSO,

Thank you!

When I watched OMWF for the very first time I did not know she was Ms. Noxon supposedly having a clothing malfunction. When I eventually learned that fact and her decision regarding our beloved Tara I started making fun of her little tune. Hence my silly little reference. ;-)


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 Post subject: Re: Reflections
PostPosted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 12:24 pm 
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2. Floating Rose

Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2007 1:03 pm
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Kajun,

I totally understand your apprehension because most Kittens would rather not re-live particular moments of "Season Sux." However, I wanted a proper point of reference for my story and I took a chance that Kittens would actually read beyond the careless use of a .45.

I am very happy that you enjoyed it so much and I agree that events should have been handled much better at the end of that season. I hope to start a follow-up story that keeps Will and Tara together even if it's not always NC-17.


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 Post subject: Re: Reflections
PostPosted: Wed Dec 15, 2010 12:48 pm 
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2. Floating Rose

Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2007 1:03 pm
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Thank you to those who read my story and liked it. You were brave to endure the ugly events of Season Sux and follow to the end.

Please have a wonderful holiday season!


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