Several hours later, my mission is a partial success. Barnes and Noble in Burbank did, in fact, have quite a few copies of this book in stock, and I naturally snagged one. Only about a third of the way through reading, but so far I really liked Tara's bonding moment with Xander.
quote:
Tara felt thwarted, and claustrophobic. She remembered that this feeling had come over her once before, when she had realized that the Scooby Gang didn't consider her one of their own.Am I having a panic attack? she wondered.
"I-I need to go," she blurted, fighting her stammer.
"Then I'll go with you," Xander suggested. "You shouldn't go out there alone."
"Xander, you're such a he-man," Anya cooed. "Even if I get my powers back someday, I will never, ever eviscerate you."
"An, how romantic. Yet oddly comforting," he said. He looked around. "Riley leave any Uzis lying around? Bazookas? Wish we still had the rocket launcher."
"That was a fine weapon," Giles said wistfully.
Joyce Summers stared at him. "When was there a rocket launcher?"
"I'll get a mace. I like maces," Xander suggested, as he crossed to Giles's weapons trunk. He rummaged around, then hefted a wood-handled weapon topped with a metal sphere covered with spikes. "How about you?" he asked Tara "Would you like a shishkabobber or something?"
"I-I'll stick to magick," she said shyly.
"Giles, when was there a rocket launcher? Did you give my daughter a rocket launcher?" Joyce persisted.
Xander said to Tara, "Let's blow this popstand while they duke it out." He flashed his friendly grin at her and together they walked to the door.
"Don't let anyone bite your head off," Anya called.
"We'll just step right outside door number 217 so we can breathe in the smoke and ash particles," Xander promised. "Then we'll come right back in. Good, Tara?"
"S-sure." She ducked her head. She liked Xander and Anya. She wondered what would happen if the others discovered that all the women in her family were demons. That was why she'd left home and come to Sunnydale . . . to escape, if not that legacy, then at least to keep her terrible secret to herself. But she figured that if Anya found out, she would forgive her for not coming forward . . . and she might actually like her even better.
Not that she's unfriendly now, Tara thought.
. . . (Some stuff omitted here because it's not particularly relevant to why I like the passage, plus I just don't feel like typing it up. Suffice to say that Tara's intuition tells her that something's happened to Riley, and the Scoobies split up to go looking for him. Giles and Anya have teamed up, as have Tara and Xander. Remember, supernatural chaos still reigns in the streets of Sunnydale at this point. Joyce has a machete, which royally amuses me.)
Tara and Xander moved out, walking briskly. Xander put the battleax over his shoulder and started humming "Follow the Yellow Brick Road." Tara used to be shocked by the way these people joked during times of crisis, but she had come to realize that they did it to keep themselves from wigging out. Being wry and cynical was a way to ground themselves, poke fun at death. It was the same with fighter pilots and emergency room doctors.
"If you're the scarecrow, who am I?" she asked, as the sky thundered and rolled, making the ground shake.
"Well, let's see. You definitely have a heart," he said, smiling at her. "And a brain."
"I'm the Cowardly Lion," she ventured shyly.
"No way." Xander chuckled. "You're one of the bravest people I've ever met in my life."
Tara was surprised . . . and pleased. "Thank . . . thank you."
"It's a fact. I'd be terrified to do half the stuff you do. And coming out . . . that was really brave of you and Will." He grinned at her. Then his smile fell a little. "She's happy, right?"
He still loves her, Tara realized. A part of him will always love a part of her. And that's fine with me.
There's so much more to relationships than what meets the eye. The pairing up and the being couples and the being in relationships . . . that's just the surface stuff.
"She's happy," Tara said. "I promise."
"That's great." He meant it.
