Strangers In Paradise

[Shinnen]

It's 22nd of September now where I am... and I'm posting this as a birthday gift to my girlfriend, Desiree who's birthday falls on this day(09.22.02). HAPPY BIRTHDAY DESIREE! This is for you. I miss you. I hope you'll like this story.





Title: Strangers In Paradise

Author: Shinnen

Rating: PG 13 (I think)

Disclaimer: I don't own them (Joss does ), I just love them and I’m borrowing them. But I do own this story, I think. I do own the non BtVS characters though.

Notes:

1.Everything up to the end of season 6 happened except for a few minor changes.

2.Completely AU after that.

3.My third fic, which is a unstable story idea. I’ve never written anything more than 5 chapters. So here’s testing the waters. Will stop this story if anyone has any objections.

4.Would love any suggestions of a cool title for this story.

5. Story hasn't been beta read yet. Will repost when it comes back from the beta readers and if everyone thinks it's okay to continue.



Feedback: Yes, please. I’m all into getting hacked by pens..or issit keyboards..anyway, do give me some comments. I can take anything that comes my way. I’ve got a stone heart. I hope I didn’t bump into anyone’s fic while making my way through this story.



Chapter 1

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England

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It’s been almost a year since she nearly destroyed the world, her friendships and herself simultaneously, but at the same time, it’s been almost a year since she had lost the love of her life. Now she was in England staying with a coven of Wiccans who had given Giles the borrowed magic to stop Willow from literally destroying the world. For the first 4 months, she had recuperated from the massive drainage that her use of dark magic had caused. She had learnt how to respect magic and learn how to control the incredible power and not succumb to dark magic again. It was a difficult process like going cold turkey with drug addiction, only this was worse because they still coaxed her to use magic for the right purposes. She hated what they were doing but she didn’t say anything. She followed their teachings in silence.



From the moment a drop of Tara’s blood had fallen on her skin, Willow had immediately felt a part of her soul involuntarily torn away and she couldn’t do anything to save that part of her soul. She only saw Tara fall forward with a confused look on her face then she was gone. The memory burned like lava in her mind and it permanently sealed of any feelings of love that Willow ever felt. She lost it. She had killed a human and was pushed into insanity by the vast power she held in dark magic and of all people, it was Xander, her life long best friend, had pulled her back to sanity. Since then, Willow had rarely spoken or responded when spoken to, she was always lost in thoughts and memories.



Giles had often come to visit her, every time bringing news of her parents and her friends. They had often taken long walks through the meadows. He talked, knowing that Willow was listening… just not responding. Willow was a barely shell of herself. She was paler than ever and her spirit seemed to have died along with Tara. Their walks were usually rather quiet after the updates from home and the usual questions which only gathered short precise answers that usually consisted of 2 words or less. Giles often thought that he was talking to a brick wall.



Being in England wasn’t like going to jail or rehab. The coven gave Willow all the freedom she needed or wanted. Willow was allowed to come and go anywhere she wanted. Willow had chosen not to do college in England and upon arrival in England about one year back, Willow had secured a job as a freelance advanced computerized security program developer. She only dealt with big companies, a no nonsense attitude and a talent sticking out a mile, Willow had made a few million British pounds from designing and supervising the installation of 2 advanced security programs. She never spent much of that money. She wanted to go back to America. Despite her lessons with the coven and her freelancing, Willow always found time to travel down to London where she often hung out in a sidewalk café with her laptop and her mind replaying her memories of the past, which so many times brought the only tears to her eyes. She could never let go of the fact that Tara was gone.



One day, not long after arriving in England, at her usual sidewalk café, a handsome young man carrying an easel and a painters’ case walked up to Willow. He had the face of an angel, with platinum blond locks and the most unusual blue eyes.



“Hi. I’ve been watching you for a while.” He greeted Willow with a bright smile, a smile that would normally melt any girls’ heart, but he didn’t get any reaction from Willow, she had only raised her eyes from her laptop to stare at him.



“I, uh, I'm a painter and I’ve been around this area for a while. I noticed that you came here every other day.” Again, Willow just stared at him, then turned back to her laptop. Caleb cocked his head to one side thinking that it was strange. For the first time, his charisma and charm didn’t work, and he couldn’t understand why.



“I'm Caleb. I am pleased to meet you. Can I share this table with you or buy you a drink?” Caleb tried again, this time getting all that he wanted to say out at one go, inwardly cringing at his straightforwardness. He had been noticing Willow since the first time he saw her at the café. She was the most beautiful, adorable and unfortunately the saddest looking redhead he’s ever seen. It was love at first sight for Caleb.



In months to come, he hung out with Willow every time she came to London. Willow had always ignored his presence and Caleb decided to take advantage of that and painted a portrait of Willow. She had eventually stopped ignoring Caleb and started warming up to his charismatic personality a little, listening quietly to the stories he told about his experience traveling around the world. She wasn’t going back to boys town but something in Caleb had made her trust him. She started talking a little but instead of talking about the present, Willow had always talked about her past, her past with her girlfriend, omitting the fact that Sunnydale was on a hellmouth and that she was part of a group that helped the slayer.



The way Willow had described Tara to Caleb, was over flowing with love and Caleb could see the image of Tara forming in the back of his mind. She never shown Caleb how Tara looked like, as if she wanted to keep it all to herself. But Caleb already knew what Tara looked like. She was gorgeous, blonde hair, remarkably blue eyes that could draw anyone’s affections and a smile that could bring the best out of anyone. Complimenting the redhead in front of him in which ever way possible. Soul mates.



Caleb had met Giles a few time when he accompanied Willow down to London. Caleb had learnt that Giles was a learned man of mystic arts and ancient texts. Willow and Giles only knew as much of Caleb as he would tell them. He left out one important fact about himself to Willow and Giles because he thought that it wasn’t important. Caleb was indeed a very special young man. When Giles was around, Willow never spoke a single word nor did she peel her eyes away from the laptop’s screen. Spending almost a year with Willow, Caleb had to accept that he wasn’t her type and he respected Willow’s relationship.



Caleb had always been the more talkative of the two. Always had something to say about everything he heard. But the day Willow came to talking about how she lost Tara. Caleb felt Willow slowly lose her composure and break down crying when she came to the part where when she lost control and wanted to seek revenge, later finding out that Tara’s body was missing from where she had left. They had looked everywhere, Buffy even shook a few suspected criminals to get information about who could have taken Tara’s body. Even Willy couldn’t give an answer. They had searched endlessly, until Willow had reluctantly made the decision to conduct Tara’s funeral with a custom made plaque. The loss of Tara’s body had been the last straw, Willow had broken down completely. Moving across the small coffee table, Caleb embraced Willow, lending her a shoulder to cry on. He kept unusually quiet with a guilty look on his face.



End chapter 1



edited to add: added the rating thingy

CheerZ

Shinnen

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


When I Am Standing On My Head, The Sky Is So Deep And The Sea Is So High.
Inner Beauty Is The Easiest To See In The World When You Are Looking

For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it.

Edited by: Shinnen at: 12/1/02 3:57:09 pm

[foreverpiper]

This was so sad! But don't get me wrong, i thought is was excellent! Loving all the descriptive stuff, and it seems that Caleb is really nice! Oh, but the missing of Tara's body! See now i'm into it and just aching to get another update!





Edited to add: Oh and look! We both have had 360 posts! How cool is that?

It's better to be pissed off than to be pissed on. - My mantra on a bad day.


And never let it be said that I left a Tara craving unsatisfied. - Willow in Wilderness

Edited by: foreverpiper at: 9/21/02 9:59:55 am

[MissQuirky]

This is sad!! Tara's body bein missing, I know Willow wouldn't have takin that well! I can't wait 2 c where u take this!!



~Ashley~

Willow: We can come by between classes. Usually I use that time to copy over my class notes with a system of different colored pens. But it's been pointed out to me that that's, you know... insane.
Tara: I said quirky.

[saphire tear]

very nice start! I cant wait to read on.

[Medic4]

Oh sad....but please continue! I find it hard to think of what Willow is feeling, but I'm hoping you'll fix her!

Gig' Em

[XWickedXWiccan]

Oh wow this is great!! What is up with Caleb?? He is a nice guy and all but what is up with the whole guilty look at the end?? More please.



-Trinity-

--------------------------
Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love, the clarity of hatred, and the ecstacy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bare. If we can live without passion maybe we'd know some peace. But we'd be hollow, empty rooms, shuttered, and dank, With out passion we'd truly be dead. ANGEL in "Passion"

[eccentrictulip]

shinnen, this is great!!! evita-esque with the missing body. i'm looking forward to more....i can't wait to see where the fic goes!!!!

*please use both hands....*

[mollyig]

An interesting setup. Looking forward to see where you're going to take us with this.

Adding up the total of a love that's true, multiply life by the power of two
Indigo Girls

[Shinnen]

On to replies... I finally got to a terminal at a cyber cafe. Things at work has been weird. But expect an update on Friday or Saturday when I come back from work. Updates may be a little slow cos work really pulls me away from anything electronic now except my discman that is already condemned to Hell.



foreverpiper: I'm working around the sadness in the story. I'm seriously hoping that this story isn't disappointing in anyway because I never intended to post this in the first place. Oh and I enjoyed talking to you the other day.



MissQuirky: No Willow doesn't take it well at all, but things will get better soon.



saphire tear: Thank you... I hope that you'll read on too!



Medic4: In time, Willow'll get fixed



XWickedXWiccan: Caleb does seem nice, doesn't he?



eccentrictulip: Glad you liked the story so far.



mollyig: Thank you... hope you'll have the patience to read on

CheerZ

Shinnen

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


When I Am Standing On My Head, The Sky Is So Deep And The Sea Is So High.
Inner Beauty Is The Easiest To See In The World When You Are Looking

For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it.

[Shinnen]

Here's the second chapter. It's a little short. See the first chapter headings for the copyright stuff and ya know... the rest of the legal info. Things has been sooo funny at work... and the fact that everytime I mentioned internet... my boss threatens to leave me in a small town where my cellphone gets no line. So here's chapter 2!



Chapter 2

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Pocket Dimension (Time Doesn’t Exist)

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The room that Caleb was currently sitting in was continuously shimmering softly with a blend of pastel colors that made the whole place seem surreal. The room resembled a painter’s studio with canvases of all sizes and various kinds of paints scattered around the perimeters of the room, but had no visible ceilings. Caleb had a special ability that set him above all painters in the world. He was a reality painter. He had the ability to manipulate, create and blend realities at will through paintings. But the talent of reality painting was only the main focus of his abilities, the rest were minor compared to reality painting. One being the biggest help with what he was intending to do. He was able to “see” Tara through Willow’s stories, making it ten times easier to track down the correct timeline where Willow and Tara’s tragic moment happened, without needing Willow to show him how Tara really looked like. He knowledge of parts of the tragedy coupled with the fact he knew how both girls looked like, the right timeline and moment was almost a cinch to locate.



Now, he sat on the floor in a crouching position, his knees drawn up close to his chin, he was looking intently at a painting. His powder blue eyes, intensely focused at the painting shimmering in front of him, swirling a bit with silver streaks. Through a week of searching, he had found the exact moment where Willow lost Tara. He couldn’t just jump into that moment because he couldn’t let anyone know about him.



What he found out about the last reality painter, he was killed by someone called Pik Yue, a power mad reality painter, who traveled across the fabric of time and realities hunting down reality painters for their individual unique powers that sets apart one painter from the next. Caleb figured that if he didn’t touch too much of his powers then he would be safe. But his current plan would put him out in the open, like a beacon in pitch black darkness when he uses his powers extensively. He was safe in his little pocket universe for now. But Caleb doesn’t know whether he had accessed his unique power before, as far as he knew, he hasn’t done anything out of the scope of a regular reality painter’s ability. According to records he stole from the Watchers library, from the past to present, the reality painters that existed, had their unique powers ranging from a simple trick of casting invisibility to freezing time for a few minutes. There were records of a few reality painters who never survived long enough to use their unique powers. Those were the painters that were brutally killed by Pik Yue, their bodies were found empty as a husk, energy all drained dry. Caleb didn’t bother to read more about Pik Yue because he thought he had taken enough precautions and so far, even the nosiest group of people, the Watcher’s council, had yet to discover whom the current painter was and the fact that it was believed that Pik Yue was believed to have been lost in time or killed while draining the last painter more than a hundred years ago, allowed Caleb to feel more relaxed. Caleb was still very young and had the usual attitude of a young rash man sometimes even though since discovering he was a reality painter 8 years back had forced him to mature a little.



As he stared longer into the painting, it came to life before him, showing a moment of Willow’s past with a beautiful angel that Caleb recognized as Tara, to be exact, seconds before the horrible fluke shot that resulted in Tara’s death and then Willow’s act in summoning Osiris to bring Tara back from the dead. “So Willow’s a witch…”



The view of the painting replaying the scene over and over again was as breathtakingly beautiful as it was horrible. The colors blend and mix continuously to form the moving picture. As Caleb always put it, “Like television, just 100 times more captivating and incredible than whatever technology man could create, just too bad I can’t connect a DVD player to the canvas.” The painting lightly shimmers as the paints ran across the canvas.



As the painting replays the scene for another time, Caleb waited until Willow left Tara’s body after trying to summon Osiris to bring Tara back. It felt like a blade had been stabbed into his soul and twisted around to see how Tara died. To see how two people so much in love is separated so suddenly. He stood up resolutely and stared into the painting again at Tara’s fallen body by the bed. Taking a deep breath, he walked up to the painting first putting his right hand first into the painting. It glowed a bright pure white as he continued entering the painting.



Next to the painting that Caleb had entered, another beautiful piece of artwork leaned against stacks of palettes and boxes of paints, it was a true to life acrylic painting of Tara with her trademark half smile, something that was impossible for Caleb to know as Willow had never before shown him pictures of Tara.



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Sunnydale : Willow and Tara’s Room

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All is eerily quiet in Willow and Tara’s room. The sounds of the ambulance sirens had faded. There was no one in the room. There wasn’t the sweet twittering of birds outside the window where the bullet left a hole. There wasn’t even the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves of trees. Stillness was everywhere, like the heavens were mourning Tara’s death. An art print in the room shimmers then glows a bright white and Caleb falls out from it somewhat ungracefully.



“Damn! I thought after so many years of traveling around through pictures and paintings I’ll get better at the landing strip,” Caleb grouchily muttered to himself while straightening himself out from the fall. Looking around the neat room, Caleb’s eyes fell upon the reason he was here for, Tara’s body.



“There you are.” Caleb walked over to Tara’s body and squats down and lifts her up carefully, grunting a little because he wasn’t that well built. He didn’t have any skin contact with her either. “Lady… you’re heavier than I thought, must be dead weight.” Caleb joked to himself to keep himself calm and not panic or think too much about his actions.



Turning around to head back towards his exit, he felt something that made him stop in his tracks. He felt something strange. He felt a presence in the room with him. “Hmm?” He didn’t know that he had the ability to sense the presence of a lingering soul. Calmly he continued towards the art print, “Come on, Tara” he spoke softly, hoping that Tara’s soul could hear him. He felt a cold rush of air pass by him into the art print, making the art print shimmer. Blood has now covered the back of Tara’s blouse and Caleb’s arms as well as his pristine white robes. He felt a surge of sadness when Tara’s blood soaked through his clothes.



Pausing in front of the art print, Caleb turns around and takes a last look at the room, taking every detail into careful consideration and sighs “I hope this works out” before stepping back into the print to his pocket dimension with Tara. The print shimmers then returns to normal.



Everything went eerily quiet again.



End of Chapter 2.

[TwiLightJoy]

WAAAAAHHHHHHH we have to wait how long for an update!? You'll let me know when we get more right????



~Joy

Joy: The shapeshifter scared the poo outta me when it first came on!!!!!
tk: this whole speech about going back..wayyyyy back, to the beginning
Joy: the real beginning ... hopefully not the movie....

[foreverpiper]

...AND THEN....?

It's better to be pissed off than to be pissed on. - My mantra on a bad day.


And never let it be said that I left a Tara craving unsatisfied. - Willow in Wilderness

[tiredsoul]

Ooh, I like this story. Caleb is in an interesting character. I really like how you're describing Caleb's painting. Very visual.



--celia

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

"That was just rude. Now I forget what I was saying."

[willntlover]

Kinda wondering how caleb does all this but an awesome fic, that i really like! IS there more????





-Will

"Hear that baby? You're my always."

"well, you know, when you play a lesbian witch you've gotta get killed in this fun kind of exciting way, so the heart was the way to go..."

"we have the most amazing fans though they LOVE us."

[mollyig]

Oh wow, Caleb's talent is most intriguing. Looking forward to more of this.

Adding up the total of a love that's true, multiply life by the power of two
Indigo Girls

[barnabasvamp]

Hopefully there will be more soon? Have to find out about the picture dimension...Great stuff!

"In front of total strangers won't you kiss me, Flowers for no reason but you miss me - OOH, I wanna be in love"

Melissa Etheridge-Skin

[Shinnen]

Joy:- Here's a cool surprise. I can't tell you about an update cos I'm really not online at home now. But it's up



foreverpiper: Enjoy the first part of chapter 3, it's all I can do being on the road almost the whole day without technology.



tiredsoul, willntlover & mollyig : glad you're all liking Caleb. He's an interesting character to work with. As I write this story, I'm developing his character more so how he turns out later is anyone's guess.



Here's chapter 3a. I've finally got a chance at the internet cafe at 1am in the morning and my boss is willing to pick me up in 2 hours. A little note. I'm in all the boards with spoilers with no time and computer to know what's going on in season 7. So everything I write is AU in my own demented little broody mind.



Chapter 3a

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Caleb's Pocket Dimension

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



"Phew! I certainly need to work out more." Caleb huffed as he gently placed Tara on the bed in a room that he created before deciding to take Tara's body. Remembering how Willow had broke down about Tara's missing body, Caleb prayed that what he'd done was right. He wanted Willow to be happy. In so many months of knowing Willow, he had never seen her smile, never seen her happy, never seen her in any mood other than sad.



He looked carefully at Tara, admiring the blonde beauty before his eyes, for the first time paying close attention to her features. "No wonder Willow was so broken" he spoke softly as he reached out with his hand, almost touching her porcelain face, but pulling back at the last minute. "Who could ever stand losing someone like her especially if you know her through and through?" He turned away to prepare his paints and the fresh giant canvas he had setup to paint a change. As he prepared his equipment, ideas flowed through his mind on how to bring Tara back to life by changing the reality around Tara. It was a very specific order and he had to think through carefully before doing anything. Finally deciding on a solution, Caleb turned around to face Tara with his paints and brush.



He finally found the courage to reach out and touch Tara's face. Upon skin contact, flashes of random memories of Willow and Tara together came in wave after wave, sending Caleb crashing onto his knees beside the bed, his hand still upon Tara's cheeks, his head felt like it was exploding. He felt the love Tara had for Willow, he also felt the anger and the sadness when Willow had abused magic to fit her own needs. He felt the pain Tara felt every time she saw Willow after their break up and the joys and satisfaction of loving Willow. He was seeing everything from Tara's eyes, literally.



Everything suddenly felt cold as a bullet passed through her heart suddenly. "Your shirt..." was all she managed to say before all she saw was seeing Willow splattered with blood from the floor before everything faded out and no one could hear her calls.



"Your shirt..." Caleb subconsciously repeated what Tara had said.. "Argh.." he winced in controlled pain as the memory ripped through his mind.



Looking at the beautiful auburn hair girl with the cute smile, it was like seeing an angel, the moment she heard her suggestions for activities a Wicca group should be interested in, she knew this girl was special. Not too mention, her heart started racing, it was love at first sight, she couldn't stop looking at the girl.



Caleb was now sweating profusely as he couldn't take his hand off Tara's face and the memories kept sweeping through his mind.



Feeling Willow's soft hands on her hips, she instantly felt safe and loved. It was the best birthday she had ever had since forever.



"Good birthday?" was the question she heard coming from Willow's lips as she stared dreamily into her lover's emerald eyes. Never hesitating she answered what her heart thought and felt. "Best birthday" She then poured her heart out to Willow



"Every time I- even when I'm at my worst... You always make me feel special." A deep breath was taken before re-structuring her thoughts, seeing Willow's lips curl into a cute smile, she asked "How do you do that?"



"Magic" Just hearing that word warmed her heart and she leaned her head on Willow's comforting shoulders as the continued to dance, feeling Willow against her own shoulder made her feel so complete, that she didn't realized that magic happened and the floor fell away from her feet. She was safe in Willow's embrace.



Caleb calmed a little but was still unable to stop what was happening. Though he felt the love Tara had for the redheaded beauty, it was extremely taxing on his body and mind. Too many different emotions of Tara and memories happening to fast and at the same time. Like watching a rotoscope of the events.



Why doesn't Willow understand that magic isn't a game?! I'm trying to make her understand and she's not getting it! For all the intelligence she has, she doesn't get the importance of respecting magic. She turned to look at Willow stressing about how magic shouldn't be used in making things all right. Hearing the excuses Willow was making broke her heart, she turned away



Tears were staining Caleb's cheeks as the continuous torrent of events and emotions rushed though his veins into his mind and away. He had never felt conflicts of so many different emotions at once.



As sudden as the flash flood of memories came, they went. Caleb's hand slipped off Tara's face and his eyes snapped open. The shock had caused his eyes to swirl a silver-powder blue mixture, exactly how it does when he used his talents to create and manipulate realities. The pain had slowly receded as he slumped to the ground to rest. Thinking it was only a reaction of the touch, though he had never felt it before. As his heart rate slowed down to normal, Caleb looked at his palms, they were red and felt hot, which was something unusual. He had never experienced pain when using his powers.



He stood up and looked down at Tara, she looked a lot rosier than a few minutes ago, she looked alive and he saw her chest. She was...



"Breathing?" he finished his thoughts out loud. He felt drained. Something had happened. He hesitantly reached out again to touch her face, this time only blur flashes of Tara's past poured in, then blank. There wasn't any pain... the memories of her past with Willow and Sunnydale were gone or blocked. He pulled back his hands and looked into the mirror, his eyes were still pale blue, his palms weren't hot or red. Nothing happened this time.



"This is strange." He put his hand on Tara's cheek for the third time, again the same thing happened, similar flashes of Tara's past poured in then blank again. His powers weren't involved now. He carefully opened the hole in Tara's blouse a little bigger, trying to avoid seeing anymore than he was forced to, her wound had closed and left a raw scar there.



"She's alive! But... it's not possible!" Caleb rushed out of the room to the shelf where he stacked all the stolen records from the Watcher's Council, knocking down canvases and scattering brushes from their containers. Frantically going through the chronicles of various reality painters, there wasn't a single one who had brought a human back to life with skin contact. The closest any reality painter's unique power came to bringing something back to life was 4 centuries ago on a remote island in Papua New Guinea where the reality painter was a headhunter who had brought his lover back to with terrible consequences, she came back as a living dead, with no memory of her past or control over her actions. She slaughtered the whole island's population and was believed to be still roaming the forests of that island till this day.



"That wasn't my unique power, was it?" He asked himself out loud. "I brought someone back to life with only my hands!" Pondering the thought a little longer, then something dawned upon him, he felt the hair at the back of his neck rise "Oh... shit..."



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

England

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



"I'm leaving." Was the barely audible whisper heard in the library of the castle.



"Well, if you think you are ready... you may come and go as you please, young Willow." Came the soft spoken reply of the figure standing by the window overlooking the castle grounds.



Willow stood between two bookcases for a few more seconds, waiting to see if the elder had anything else to add, the elder had not said another word.



"Goodbye." Was the last word spoken by Willow as she turned around to make her way to her room to pack whatever belongings she had. She paused at the door, without looking back. "Please don't tell, Giles." Then the continued out of the library.



"You are ready, young Willow. There will be magic in your life again." Said the elder when she felt Willow move upstairs.



*******



Packing didn't take very long for Willow had only the same clothes she brought from Sunnydale and a few thicker clothes bought in London, her laptop with it's necessary accessories and her journal, the one she started early in her relationship with Tara. There were pictures and various memories stuck and written in that journal. She had long stop writing in that journal because there wasn't anything left in her life to write about. It was a physical way that she had to remember every moment spent with the woman she loved.



Before leaving the castle grounds, Willow had made her way to the castle's only phone which was in the hall near the main door. Lifting up the handset, she was deciding on who to call, names went through her head, Buffy... Angel... Xander... mom... no, no... I can't tell them... Caleb? yeah, that's it, Caleb She dialed Caleb's number, holding the handset against her shoulder as she turned the phone dial, it was one of those old phones, dialing was a pain.



"Hello? Caleb? Can we meet at the usual place this afternoon at one thirty sharp?" Willow asked in her usual monotonous voice. "Don't ask me why...just meet me there." Then she hung up before Caleb could say anymore.



End Chapter 3a

CheerZ

Shinnen

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


When I Am Standing On My Head, The Sky Is So Deep And The Sea Is So High.
Inner Beauty Is The Easiest To See In The World When You Are Looking

For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it.

[willntlover]

Tara's alive! Tara's alive!



Go Caleb!



And Willow's going home. Okay, this seems to easy. But, hey! As long as Tara's alive!!!!



-Will

"Hear that baby? You're my always."

"well, you know, when you play a lesbian witch you've gotta get killed in this fun kind of exciting way, so the heart was the way to go..."

"we have the most amazing fans though they LOVE us."

[singgirl]

Ooooh! I really love this, Iam eagerly anticipating more!

[Shinnen]

heh... not an update cos I just got home from my work. But a little update about my work trip... I watched porn for the first time yesterday night! The hotel had it on the in house channel. Apparently I found out that the hotel was a popular one with businessmen. My colleagues, my boss and I were laughing non stop... and we had to turn down the volume cos our room was next to the front desk. budget hotels... me and my boss shared a single bed to watch late night movies cos two connected rooms... one tv... not fun... anyway... i had to share... it's either with my ultra sexy boss who likes to wear really really short pants to sleep... or my colleague who tries to hug me every chance she gets... that's almost none.



I'll be back with a fic update soon. Thank you everyone who has been following this fic.

CheerZ

Shinnen

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


When I Am Standing On My Head, The Sky Is So Deep And The Sea Is So High.
Inner Beauty Is The Easiest To See In The World When You Are Looking

For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it.

[willntlover]

You watched porn with your boss ?!









can't wait for the next part



-Will

"Hear that baby? You're my always."

"well, you know, when you play a lesbian witch you've gotta get killed in this fun kind of exciting way, so the heart was the way to go..."

"we have the most amazing fans though they LOVE us."

[mollyig]

Caleb experiencing Tara's wealth of emotions. That was really well written.



Really looking forward to finding out what Caleb realised after he noticed Tara was breathing again.



The Elder's comment to Willow is most intriguing.

Adding up the total of a love that's true, multiply life by the power of two
Indigo Girls

[Shinnen]

willntlover, I did watch straight porn with my boss in the same bed... but I made her lie under the covers while i took a pillow and lay on her lap cos bed tiny... anyway no skin contact whatsoever.

CheerZ

Shinnen

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


When I Am Standing On My Head, The Sky Is So Deep And The Sea Is So High.
Inner Beauty Is The Easiest To See In The World When You Are Looking

For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it.

[barnabasvamp]

Awww, no skin contact= little fun



Poor Caleb trying to deal with all of Tara's past emotions and such, I'm sure he will eventually be able to use these in some way?



Waiting for more.

BV

"In front of total strangers won't you kiss me, Flowers for no reason but you miss me - OOH, I wanna be in love"

Melissa Etheridge-Skin

[pikescoob]

I'm really enjoying this fic Caleb has an interesting ability...yay Tara is alive but I'm wondering what Caleb found out that made the hair on the back of his neck stand-up cuz that doesn't sound so good Can't wait for the next bit



--Michelle

[eccentrictulip]

she's alive!!!!

*please use both hands....*

[Shinnen]

Here's a little update. It's been long, i know, but I'm trying my best. Kill me if my grammar sucks.

____________________________________________________



Chapter 3b(i)



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Another pocket dimension

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In a dark room where the only source of light came from a great window that spanned across the width of the room, stood a figure. The walls of the room has faint flashes of dull colors running around it making it seemingly alive compared to the old dull colors chosen for the wooden antique furniture, frames and arches. The diffused light made it difficult to see most parts of the dim room. The room gave off a musty smell, reflecting the age of the occupant of this pocket dimension



Along one side of the room were deep pigeonhole style shelves where sheaves of Japanese paper were tucked into the various pigeonholes. Some were scattered on the floor of the room. Chinese paintbrushes of various sizes hung in rows on the wall next to the shelves. Along the other side of the room were shelves curtained with black silk with intricate patterns of dragons and phoenixes silk-screened on it. A gust of wind blows in and lifts the light cloth to reveal small glowing bulb-shaped glass bottles lined up carefully. An extremely breathtaking sight to see was the soft glow emitted by the substances contained in the glass bottles.



The moment Caleb’s unique ability was activated, a ripple in the fabric of time and space was instantly felt by the figure standing at the window. A pair almond shaped eyes glinted with evil joy.



“The new painter has finally surfaced.” A hoarse female voice laced with excitement whispered. “and he is powerful indeed… a unique one.” With a gesture of her wrinkled hands, a bottle filled with essence of a painter from the past flew into her hands. The cork sealing the bottle went up in a puff of smoke and she lifted the bottle to her lips and drank deeply. There was an instant transformation, wrinkles smoothened and white hair turned jet black again. The hoarse voice that showed aging broke into a much younger and sweeter voice.



“I’ve saved enough painters energy for collecting the fine specimen of the newest painter.” Then a soft laugh followed, a laugh that could make anyone’s skin crawl. The woman was breathtakingly beautiful after her rejuvenation, dressed in an ancient Chinese embroidered dress, dated more than 2000 years back, with long flowing scarves wrapped around her. Her face was fair and unblemished like fine white porcelain, with small lips like rosebuds but her eyes showed ancient wisdom and evil. Her name was Pik Yue. She was known as the mysterious painter who had slaughtered painters throughout realities and time. Now she had collected thousands of reality painters’ essence and unique abilities horned her skills till she was almost invincible and almost ageless. Till Caleb activated his unique abilities, she had failed to detect him, which was another reason why Caleb was so special, he naturally had a cloaking ability.



Lifting up her fingers, which were decorated with long sharp bejeweled extensions, a swirl of colors magically formed a sphere. The swirl of colors in the sphere started to form moving images, Similar to how Caleb viewed realities through his canvases. She was feeling out the new painter, he was young, he was using his unique ability, it became too easy to find him as he was like a beacon in the pitch-black sea. The image of Caleb now appeared clearly in the sphere. It was at that moment, Caleb had felt the hair at the back of his head rise.



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Caleb’s Pocket Dimension

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Caleb put down his cellphone, puzzled at the urgency in Willow’s voice and the abrupt way Willow hung up on him. He turned and checked on Tara. She lay deep in slumber, almost similar to a coma but at least she was alive.



It had probably been a few months since her resurrection. Caleb still hadn’t learnt how to tell time while in his little pocket dimension because his pocket dimension, time didn’t really exist, the dimension floated in limbo. But Tara was recovering quickly, the bullet wound had healed but it left a scar there. He had calculated the time of Tara’s recovery from the moment he took her body.



All the while, Caleb had taken extra care of Tara. A change of clothes or freshening up was only a brushstroke away. Meanwhile, Caleb spent his time painting a new reality around Tara, a life away from Sunnydale. He had glimpsed enough to know the dangers and pain Sunnydale had cost her. But he couldn’t help feeling guilty over the fact that he might have erased the happiness that Sunnydale had ironically brought her. Her soul mate. Willow Rosenberg. Painting a specific life surrounding a person was an extremely difficult task and his reality painting talents were put to the test, pinpointing certain detail and keeping the rest of the reality in check.



Just as he was about to step back into reality to meet up with Willow, a movement in Tara’s room caught his attention. He turned his swirling silver-blue eyes towards the room to see what the movement was, Tara was stirring in her coma-like sleep. Excellent. I guess it’s almost time to put her back in. He smiled. It was almost time. Now, he only had to try guessing what was up with Willow.



tbc...

CheerZ

Shinnen

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


When I Am Standing On My Head, The Sky Is So Deep And The Sea Is So High.
Inner Beauty Is The Easiest To See In The World When You Are Looking

For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it.

[mollyig]

Through helping Willow, Caleb has now become a target.



I'm intrigued to find out what is going to happen when Tara awakens, as Caleb seems unsure himself.

Adding up the total of a love that's true, multiply life by the power of two
Indigo Girls

[pikescoob]

Uh oh Caleb has exposed himself to the baddy I wonder if he's gonna tell Will when he meets up with her. Lookin' forward to more



--Michelle

[barnabasvamp]

Caleb trying to decide where to put Tara, not back in Sunnydale? Oh No.

What could Willow need...Waiting for more!

BV

"In front of total strangers won't you kiss me, Flowers for no reason but you miss me - OOH, I wanna be in love"

Melissa Etheridge-Skin