New Fic - Connections

[The_Lord_J]

Okay, so I'm a newbie here. This be my first fic, but Here Goes.

Title: Connections

Author: The Lord J

Rating: Right now probably PG-13, but expect NC-17 to appear in this later on.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, we all know who owns the characters etc blah blah, Joss, blah blah ME etc.

Feedback: Yep, please. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

Description: Season 4 according to me (i.e. diverges from Canon almost straight away, never to return. This will be one loooong fic - I have lots of ideas, just gotta find time to pen them).

This starts sometime after Hush. And there's lots of time inaccuracies, like the Magic Box already being owned by Giles, Faith having already done the whole coma/wake up thing, the appearance of Dawn etc…it's all a bit topsy turvy, but just go with it and enjoy

Notes: Many thanks to Raspberryhat for beta-ing this on the Beta Pens board. I'm still looking for a private beta though (see 'One On One Authors/Betas' thread on Beta Pens).

----

PART 1

Ugh. Morning.

Tara's right arm automatically reached over to hit the snooze button of her alarm clock; a subconscious and well-practiced manoeuvre that on one occasion had led to a late arrival at class.

As the blonde's senses slowly came back to reality, she became aware of some unseen force pushing her down into the bed, preventing her from moving. However, after her eyes finally broken free of sleep and responded to the 'open' command from her brain, she realised that the aforementioned force was in fact very visible and consisted of a sleeping redhead half-sprawled across the blonde's body. Tara's heartbeat doubled.

Oh goddess…she's asleep on top of me! Ohhh she's so gorgeous…I wonder if…stop it, Maclay! She's straight and it's just coincidence that she happened to end up over here. Dream on.

Tara started to move, but realised that there was also a tangle of legs further down the bed that would take some serious repositioning to escape. There was also the matter of Willow's left arm being wrapped around the blonde's mid section.

How the hell did we end up like this? Goddess I hope she doesn't wake up with us like this…I don't want to scare her off.

The two girls had started on opposite sides of the dorm room bed the previous night in a completely innocent sleepover. But during the night, somehow Willow had subconsciously crossed over to Tara's side of the bed and wrapped around her like she was afraid the blonde would escape - all in her sleep.

Do I dare to hope that this means something? That maybe she's attracted to me? No, surely not. No way. She ca--- oh goddess, my knee is touching her somewhere it shouldn't be! I've got to move. She'll freak out and leave if she wakes up…and goddess, I don't want her to leave. Ever.

Tara again started to move, but froze when the redhead emitted a low, husky groan. Tara felt her centre starting to heat up at the sound, and she couldn't help staring at the redhead's lips.

I wonder what it would be like to kiss her…that would be amazing. If only I could…

She sighed. It was out of the question and she knew it. One of those things she could dream of, but would never happen.

Oh, that groan…she must be dreaming. Yeah, dreaming of Oz or something. Great. The girl of my dreams laid on top of me dreaming of her ex-boyfriend. Talk about mixed fortunes.

Tara carefully extracted herself, prising Willow's arm from around her waist and gently laying it on the bed. Quietly, she swung herself off the bed and got up and got ready to go for a shower, leaving the redhead sound asleep. She paused at the door and turned to look at the girl curled up in her bed.

Oh goddess, look at her. She's beautiful. Perfect, even. And she's asleep in my bed. So close, yet so far. Damnit, why do I always get crushes on straight girls? Not that Willow is like any other straight girl I've ever had a crush on…Shower. Must have shower.

----

Willow awoke with a strange feeling that something was missing. Added to that was the confusion of not knowing where she was. After a brief look at her surroundings and a 'wake up' command to her brain, she relaxed with a sigh. Tara's dorm room.

The two wiccans had fallen asleep after performing a spell the night before, and a few hours later they had awoken and after some contemplation decided that it would be easier for Willow to stay there than go back to her own dorm room. Hence they had ended up sharing a bed, as Tara had refused to let Willow sleep on the floor or in a chair or anywhere else for that matter.

The absence of the blonde wiccan caught Willow's attention, but the mattress underneath her left hand still felt warm, as if the blonde's body had been there until very recently. Upon taking stock of her position, the redhead discovered that she had scooted all the way over from the other side of the bed during the night, and had in all probability spent a good slice of that time snuggled up to the blonde.

She smiled as she thought about Tara. They had only known each other for a week or so now, but the hacker felt as if she had known the blonde for years. At the same time, there always seemed to be something new to learn about Tara, and Willow had made it her task to continue that education.

Her thoughts drifted back to the dream she had just awoken from; it had almost become indistinguishable as to where reality had ended and dream started. They had laid in bed talking for hours. Eventually they came to a halt in the conversation. An awkward silence ensued, and Tara had leaned over towards the redhead slightly, Willow had also leaned in until their faces were inches apart, their breaths mingling with each other's. Willow had stared into the deep blue eyes that held hers captive and just floated upon that sea, letting the waves within just crash over her and envelope her in blue. Her eyes then strayed further down, finally fixing on the full lips that were just slightly parted. The redhead had laid transfixed by them, fighting an overwhelming urge to touch them, to feel how soft and warm they were. She looked up to the blue above, and closed the gap between them a few more millimetres, tilting her head to one side slightly. Tara had started to close the gap a little more and just at the split second when their lips met, the redhead had been woken by a bird tweeting outside the window.

Willow laid there, trying to decipher the dream.

We were about to…what? Kiss? No. Of course not, we're just friends. And I'm not gay. I mean, hello, Oz! And neither is Tara. I think. But she was…and I was…it…oh who am I kidding, we were about to kiss. Just a friendly, best-friends kinda kiss of course. No smoochies. Definitely no smoochies. And it was just a dream. Right, dream yeah. Only I don't remember going to sleep…it was a dream, right? It must have been. Or maybe we did kiss and I passed out and then she freaked out and left and that's why she's not next to me now. Oh god what if that's what happened? What if I completely freaked her out? She's probably telling her friends how the freaky computer nerd tried to kiss her in the middle of the night right now.

No, she would never do that. She's too kind and gentle and sensitive and perfect in every way to do something that awful. Perfect in every way? Did I just think that? Well…I guess she is. I mean, there's nothing wrong with her. She's beautiful and intelligent and caring and sexy an-…sexy? Where did that come from? But it's true. Especially when she does that sort of lopsided grin and raises one eyebrow. Oh god that's sexy. There I go again with the 'Tara is sexy' thoughts. What the hell is all that about? It's not like I like Tara in that way. No, nuh-uh, not at all.

She shook her head as she thought. A frown crossed her face as she thought about it a little more.

Okay, so maybe I do. But only a little. Only a very small amount, tiny amount, totally NOT a lot.

She sat up in the bed and fiddled with the duvet. Then she realised something.

I'm lying to myself, it's a lot. I like her a lot. In a 'really like her a hell of a lot' kinda way.

Willow's head reeled from the implications. She realised that she and Tara had passed the "friends" phase in less than a week - some of the spells that they had done together had been somewhat intimate, but she'd never really entertained the possibility that maybe there was more to it than that. That maybe she was actually attracted to the blonde Wiccan. The idea that she could be attracted to a girl hadn't even formed in her head, let alone been dismissed as impossible. She headbutted the pillow a few times in frustration.

Why can't life be normal for once? As if demons and apocalypsi and exams weren't enough, now I have to deal with being attracted to a girl I do magic with? Willow, your life is more complicated than quantum mechanics. But not always as much fun.

The redhead looked at the clock and decided to get dressed - there was a scooby meeting in half an hour about some new big bad Giles thought was brewing, and as much as she needed to think, the world also needed some pre-being-saved research.

I wonder what it is this time…and more to the point if it's going to keep me away from Tara for long. Oh god, I'm obsessed.

The thought, however, was caught short when the door opened and Tara walked in.

[LesbianJedi87]

yay a new fic! Yay something to read! Yay this fic is awesome!!!!! Update SOOON!!!

[WillowTaraGaiden]

Ohh, liking this! Especially the internal Willow babble going on about Tara and the possibilities...oh the possibilities...hehe, very nice so far!

[StarCat]

GREAT START !! I love it. I really love season 4 Willow and Tara. I can't wait to read more.

[CrazyTaraWitch]

wow, i really like this fic so far, and really feel sorry for Tar...her thoughts at the beginning remind me of a really sad part in one of my favourite books, Rosemary & Juliet, when one of the main characters, a lesbian, worries about hurting her supposedly-straight, very Christian, very innocent best-friend whom she has a major crush on...that part in the book made me cry, and ur story put me in mind of it, so cudos!
please continue this story, i'm anxious for more!!!

[The Rose24]

Great start. Please continue because I want to see how W/T will deal with all of this.

[Irishlassie101]

Hy there, great start to your fic !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Feelings, thoughts, hopes, desires, needs...so many strong emotions in one short paragraph...great job !
A struggle between heart and brain...can it get worse...on the other hand...there might be hope

Aishling

[sam]

This is truely amazing..I love it!! Love sam xx

[The_Lord_J]

More is on it's way. LOTS more. I haven't even got to the main plotline yet, this is just a small introductory scene...there's in excess of 60,000 words of this written so far, and growing by the day.

Thanks for the feedback guys, first time posting is a bit nerve wracking and it's good to have a confidence booster

[AlysonGoddess]

Great start! I love it so far please continue!!

ERIN

[VixenyTarasHot]

Oooo I like this so far! I think you've got the internal thoughts down well.. really well. lol

I, too, love season 4 W/T. Too cute and jittery and explory and just good all around.

I can't wait to read this 60,000+ word story Especially another update soon... maybe?

Ashleigh

[The_Lord_J]

Update

And so, with the intro scene finished, we move on to the main storyline...

PART 2

Tara closed the door and stood there uncomfortably looking at the redhead.

Wow she even looks great in the morn-…uh-oh, she's awake. OK, now what? Do I even mention it? No, I can't. No way. That would ruin everything. She might even leave. I can't have her leaving right now. What do I say?!

Willow sat on the bed returning the stare, lost in her own thoughts.

Oh my god she's beautiful. And she came back, after…what happened. How do I explain that? Did it even happen? If it did and she came back…well, that's good, right? Or maybe she came back to tell me to leave. Say something!

They both chose the same instant to speak

"Willow…"

"Tara…"

"Sorry, you go first." The redhead urged.

"Um…l-look, I um…I have to, um, get to c-class." Tara managed; Willow's face dropped.

"OK, I mean, class is important and you shouldn't miss it. I mean, not that I thought you would, because that would be assuming that you'd rather be here than in class and that would all presumptuous of me and I'm not trying to be all 'lil miss presumptuous' becau-"

"Willow" The blonde smiled at the babbling redhead.

"Sorry, kinda babbled a bit huh?"

"Um…I um…I-it's cool w-when you do that." The blonde admitted quietly. "But I h-have to go." Tara's head dipped a little as her shyness took over again. "Can we meet at l-lunchtime?" She ventured, desperate hope evident in her eyes as they peered out from under her hair. Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes…

Willow's face lit up. "Yeah, sure! I have a scoob-…um, some things to do this morning, but I can do lunch." She nodded emphatically.

Tara also nodded, and with a big grin she turned and headed out of the door.
"I'll, um, see you at lunch then?"

"Sure. See ya." The redhead beamed back. Yay! Yayayayayay! Oh god why can't it be lunchtime already?

----

"So, Giles man, what's kicking?" Xander asked as he sat down on the watcher's couch.

"Nothing in particular is 'kicking' at the moment, Xander, which is why I'm a little concerned. Vampire activity seems to have diminished down to a few strays, and frankly the demon population appears to be staying indoors. It's as if they're expecting an apocalypse," he mused, his brow furrowing. He picked up his tea and took a sip.

"And we all the know what that means," Willow interjected, "WE should be expecting an apocalypse."

"Agreed, but I'm at a complete loss as to what we may be up against this time." Giles sounded a little deflated.

"Has anyone hit Willy's Place yet?" the slayer questioned.

"Not yet. However I was about to perhaps suggest that and picking Spike's two brain cells as your first courses of action."

"Right, Spike's brain. Something I'd rather not be picking." Buffy made a face.

"Be that as it may he might have information, so unfortunately we will have to talk to him." The watcher noted.

"Great." Buffy huffed "Haven't we got any other information?"

Giles carefully placed his cup back on the table. "That's why I called this meeting. I ran into an old friend outside the Espresso Pump last night who was…well, not quite himself any more. In fact he seemed to have gone completely insane. He was babbling a lot." He clarified. "It worries me slightly because he used to be quite a level-headed chap back in the day. He was scared witless as well, he wouldn't answer me for some time as to what was going on, what had happened to him. However, what I did manage to get out of him was that there was something powerful, ancient and apparently physically large coming to Sunnydale, and that it may even be here already." Giles' face twisted in confusion for a second. "He mentioned dwarves as well. Whether that was even related I couldn’t tell, I mean the man was incoherent most of the time, but it is one of the few things that I could pick out. He ran off before I could get any more out of him - he seemed to think he was being chased by something. I'm not quite sure to make of the dwarf reference."

"Dwarves?" Buffy contemplated with a confused expression. "As in, like, short people? They aren't physically big…and probably not exactly powerful either, Giles. And besides, isn't there some politically correct term we should be using for people with growth…um…difficulties?" The slayer pointed out.

"I know it doesn't seem to fit, but it's worth keeping in mind. Either way, I'm going to do a little research because it appears to be the only solid, albeit vague, piece of information that we have." The watcher reached for his tea again.

"OK, so the plan is that Buffy terrorises Willy and Spike, Giles does research…anything we can do?" Xander asked

"I'm afraid there isn't really much, Xander. I mean, I don't even know where to start with the dwarf lead, much less give you any research to do. Just keep your eyes and ears open I suppose."

"Right then. I'm gonna go wake up Spike. See you guys tonight?" Buffy asked.

"Sure."

"Yeah."

"Indeed."

The Slayer left and Giles headed for the bookshelf. Xander looked around the room, his eyes coming to rest on Willow. "Will, you ok? You're being sorta quiet today." He questioned softly.

"I'm fine. Just…kinda trying to work some things out, y'know?"

"If you need to talk, Will…"

"I know. Thanks Xander, but I'm fine, really." It was a lie and she knew it. The morning's happenings had thoroughly thrown the redhead off balance. The big question hung over her head, hanging off which were a thousand other questions.

Am I really attracted to other girls? Well…duh, definitely attracted to Tara. So is it just a passing thing or is it lifelong? Do I tell Buffy? Can I tell Buffy at all? Or Xander? How would they take it? What do I say to Tara? She'll freak. The gang would freak. I can't tell them. I don't even know what to tell them. I mean, I think I'm falling in love with Tara…but she's only one girl. Oh god I'm falling in love?!?! Does that make me…gay? or do I have to fall in love with lots of girls? Is there a point beyond which one becomes gay or is it possible to be 'kinda gay'?

Willow's mind went off on it's own mission to figure out what the hell was going on within itself and what it all meant. As a result, it took her some time to realise that Xander was still trying to get her attention.

"WILL!" Xander's voice finally cut through her train of thought.

"Huh?" Willow's eyebrows shot up in surprise as her brain registered the shout from her friend.

"Right, we're going to talk about whatever it is that's got you so down. The Xan-man needs to know what's going on in his favourite computer hacker's brain right now, so that he can help, 'kay?"

"Xander-" The redhead started in protest.

"No argument. What's on your mind?"

Willow sighed, giving in at last. "I…um…this is kinda hard to explain. I think I kinda…have a crush on someone."

"That doesn't sound too hard to explain from where I'm sat. So who's the lucky guy? And why the long face? Does he have a girlfriend already?" Xander's forehead creased. "Ahhh…it's not…me again, right?"

Willow laughed a little at the barrage of questions. "No, Xander, not you. And, um, it's a little more complicated than that." The hacker's laugh turned into a frown.

"The guy isn't a werewolf?" he checked, trying to pre-empt most of the 'complicated' avenues he could think of.

"Um, no. The guy isn't…"

"A vampire?"

"A guy."

"Huh?"

Willow closed her eyes and took the plunge. "It's a girl."

"Again with the 'huh'?!" Xander thought he had misheard.

"It's a…girl. Xander, I have a crush…on a girl." She waited for the inevitable freak-out to follow.

"…And?"

"And you're not freaked?" A tinge of hope was audible in Willow's voice, her face contorting into a hopeful question.

"Why would I be? It's not like I have any say in who you should like, right?" Xander pointed out.

"I guess." Willow didn't sound convinced.

"And some people around here have dated stranger beings than someone of the same sex, Will. In fact someone right here still is dating an ex-strange being." He nodded towards Anya, who was sat reading Giles' copy of the Financial Times. He turned back to the redhead next to him. "So…is she hot?" he asked with a grin; Willow's cheeks grew even redder as a smile started to spread across her face.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Xander. And…um…yeah. Totally. Like, drop-dead gorgeous. Perfect, in fact." An ear-to-ear grin finally completed itself, images of the blonde wiccan floating in front of her mind's eye.

"And does she know you like her?" Xander questioned, fishing for information.

"Not exactly…" She admitted, her grin vanishing as rapidly as it had appeared.

"Ahah! The classic fear-of-rejection scenario!" He declared triumphantly. "Now made doubly worse by the whole 'she's a girl and so am I' thing, right?" He added more softly. He was acutely aware of the fact that although Giles was now in the kitchen and probably out of earshot, Willow wouldn't want any of this broadcasting to the nation.

"Yeah." Willow was surprised that Xander had hit the nail right on the head so early on. "I mean, I'm not even sure what's going on myself, and I totally don't think she'd be interested in someone like me. I mean, she could have any guy she wants. Why would she even want a girl, never mind little ol' me?"

"Hey, you're gonna stop with that okay? You don't know that she's like that. Straight, I mean." He thought for a second. "Will, this is only my opinion, and let's face it I'm not exactly Mr. Smooth Love-God, but I think the first thing you gotta do is find out if she might be interested in girls too. Or if she is at least open to the idea of it. Worry about the other part after that, OK? And besides, a lot of people would be interested in you."

"But how do I do that? And no they wouldn't." The redhead's voice sounded almost defeated already.

"Will, if even your brain can't come up with a way of subtly hinting at that question in a conversation, then I don't think it's physically possible. Besides which, I'm sure there's plenty of people out there who manage without telepathy. And yes they would." He replied.

"Xander I can't just say 'let's try this new spell oh and by the way do you like to kiss girls? Wanna kiss me?'" She pointed out.

"So she's a witch too?" Xander's eyebrow raised a little at that.

Willow cursed herself for the slip. She didn't know why, but she felt the need to keep Tara secret from the gang. It was too late now though, Xander had figured it out.

"Yeah. She's really powerful, and we connect so well when we do spells and stuff…it's amazing Xander. But…but how do I do it? How do I ask her?" The redhead's voice wavered in uncertainty and fear.

"So you're friends already? Will, I'm sure you can figure it out. Maybe process of elimination? If she doesn't talk about guys…" Xander shrugged "Who knows?"

"I guess." She's never mentioned having a boyfriend…even when I told her about Oz…

Finally the redhead admitted defeat. "OK, I'll try. But Xander, can you keep this to yourself? I don't even know where I'm going with this myself yet, and I don't even know if I want to tell Buffy or the others. I'm not even sure if I'm…" - she took a deep breath - "Gay." There, I said it.

"Totally cool Will, this man's lips are superglued." He added, making a zipping gesture over his mouth.

Willow smiled at the glue/zip mismatch. "Thanks, Xander."

"No problem. That's what friends are for, OK?" He asked for the understanding of his words.

"OK." Willow replied a little sheepishly, catching the gentle chastisement in his voice.

"I'm glad you told me, Will. Keeping secrets? Never good." He caught Anya looking at her watch impatiently across the room.. "I gotta go, Anya wants to have-"

"I know." Willow interrupted.

Xander smiled. He hugged the redhead and went over to pick his bag up from the kitchen.

That wasn't so bad. He didn't freak. That's good I think. At least I can talk to someone about it now.

Willow looked at her watch and realised that she would be also late for her lunch with Tara if she didn't move now. She collected her things and headed for the door, telling Giles she had a meeting, and giving Xander a significant glance. He returned it with a confused look at first, and the realisation dawned and he gave her a 'thumbs up' and mouthed "Go for it" at her. She smiled and left for the campus.

[sam]

Awww great update..soo cute. Love sam xx

[freakgirl105]

Groovy story! Wooooooooo can't wait to see what happens at lunch.

[Melee]

Awwww... yay Xander! Can't wait to read more

[Dazed and Confused83]

This is a really cute fic so far I especially like your super-supportive Xander... so much better than certain other realities that aired on TV. Can't wait to read more!

-Tiffany

[Tonto]

How cute! Go Xander with the good advice.

"And some people around here have dated stranger beings than someone of the same sex, Will. In fact someone right here still is dating an ex-strange being."

I loved this line.......it kept me rolling on the floor.

Update soon please...........pretty please!

[The_Lord_J]

Short update...enjoy!


PART 3

Tara practically ran out of her last class towards the canteen, eventually slowing to a speed-walk as she realised how crowded the corridors were.

Oh goddess I get to see her again in - she checked the large clock at the end of the corridor - seventeen minutes thirty-four seconds.

She slowed down a little so as not to crash into anyone as she entered the canteen. She hesitated; she had to find somewhere where Willow would see her.

But I can't be too obvious. Maybe I need to find somewhere in a corner where I can see her come in, and then guide her over here? No, I could just wave or something. Yes, find somewhere quiet in a corner and wave at her when she comes in.

She surveyed the canteen a little. There was a free table in the corner furthest from the door…but right in front of it was a table full of the football team, who were somewhat less than quiet and not exactly easy to see past. She looked around a little further. There was another two-seat table along the middle of the back wall, but there was a pillar directly in between that and the door. She wouldn't be able to see the redhead come in. Panic started to set in.

What if I can't find somewhere to sit? I'm going to be stood here in the middle of the floor looking like a complete dork when she comes in! Damnit, I'm already looking like a dork! I can't look like a dork when she comes in. I just can't. No, it has to be perfect…

Her head whipped from side to side as she tried to find somewhere. Just as she was resigned to having to sit somewhere and hope that Willow came looking for her, a couple got up from a table with a good line of sight. She sighed in relief and sat down, thinking of the redhead she was waiting for. Her eyes were glued to the door, awaiting the entry of the girl she was hopelessly in love with. She fiddled nervously with her sleeves as her brain played over the morning's events.

Finally Willow came charging into the canteen, and lacking in the restraint that Tara had shown, unfortunately failed to slow down in time before colliding with another student, ending in the student flattened against the doorframe and the redhead skidding along the floor on her back. Tara bolted up from the table on autopilot, nearly tripping over another student as she skidded around the corner of the middle table. She was at Willow's side in seconds flat, helping her up. Thankfully, nothing was spilled or dropped, apologies were exchanged and the girls retreated to the table.

"A-are you OK?" The blonde asked, scanning the redhead's body for signs of injury.

"I'm fine, just a little bruised ego." Willow blushed, thoroughly embarrassed.

"Yeah, I th-think the whole, um, canteen saw that." The blonde added with a disarming smile.

"Just my luck." The redhead smiled back sadly.

"S-seriously, are you OK? You sound kinda, um, down." The blonde's brow creased in concern.

"It's nothing. I'm alright, really." The redhead shrugged it off. "So how was class?"

"Oh, y'know, um, arty. We had this really cool book about the pre-Raphaelites? And I…I'm probably b-boring you already."

"No, no you're not."

"I-it's okay. I know I get carried away w-when I start talking about art stuff. So h-how was your day?" Tara shifted the subject slightly, not wanting to bore the redhead to death with details of pre-Raphaelite history and art.

"Oh, nothing unusual. Lots of code debugging, boring number crunching stuff. And then I fell over in front of everyone in the canteen…" The redhead grinned.

Tara giggled; looking back at it, it was kinda funny. Willow's face suddenly turned a little more serious, and she looked into her lap, fiddling with her sleeves. "Um, Tara?"

"Yeah?"

"This morning…" Willow trailed off, at a loss for words. She wanted to apologise, but had anything actually happened? She wasn't entirely sure, it was difficult to figure out what was real and what was not; the dream had been so vivid.

"I…um…did I…get a little…carried away last night?" the redhead cringed as she asked the question.

Tara battled with her thoughts. Oh goddess…what do I say to that? Yes or no? Did she get carried away? What counts as getting carried away? Does wrapping her arms around me and snuggling right up to me count? And what are the implications of saying yes? That I enjoyed it (which I did…thoroughly)? Or if I say no, then what? We just gloss over it like it never happened? And if that happens then it might never happen agai-

"Yes." The words were out of her mouth before she had even finished considering the options. Willow's face dropped in mortification, the question she had been meaning to ask Tara now completely forgotten.

"For…um…how long?" The redhead needed to know how long she had stayed lip-locked with the blonde - how much damage had been done, how far they had gone.

"Most of the night I think." Tara replied, remembering vague memories of feeling the redhead's arm snake across her middle only shortly after she had drifted off.

"Most of the night?" Willow's eyes went like saucers, before she dropped them in embarrassment. "I've never…ah done that before. I mean, I have, but not with someone who is a girl and oh, god I'm so sorry and have every right to be totally disgusted and hate me an-"

"It's okay, Will. Stuff like that happens." Tara's eyes dropped. It sounded like the redhead was having serious regret issues about the whole thing. To Tara it didn't seem that big of a deal - sometimes friends just snuggle up by accident. It happened, no big deal...

But Willow's mind was on a completely different train to oblivion. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean…I mean I did, but not in that way, and there was this dream, and I don't know what it meant but we were…and then we…and I…oh god, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it to happen. I should never have done it." The redhead's voice was wavering in fear now.

She...she's regretting even touching me. A tear started its trek down Tara's cheek, and her head dropped forwards to hide her face behind the shield of her hair.

"Oh god you're crying! I freaked you out and I know you're not like that and everything and I'm really sorry, OK?" Willow was pleading for forgiveness. She hated seeing the blonde cry, and wanted to stop it in any way possible.

Meanwhile, Tara was searching for something to say to ease the tension between them, and finally decided it was too much for the moment. She needed time to think and digest.

"I-I've got to g-g-go. I have, um, some work to d-do." She stammered, standing up and picking up her bag.

"Tara…" Willow called in dismay as the blonde turned to head for the door.

[The Rose24]

*Sigh* Every time things seem to be going well something goes wrong. I hope they work this out soon.

[Tonto]

Misunderstandings...........Argh!

[The_Lord_J]

And here we go, something resembling a full-size update. Now we can get into the meat of the story a bit more.



PART 4

Way to go, Willow, you've totally scared her off now. She'll probably never speak to you again. What was I thinking? Yeah, why not just admit it? I kissed you in the middle of the night. What a great idea that was.

Tears were streaming down her cheeks before she even reached the canteen doorway. She looked up as a familiar voice called her name.

"Will?"

"Oh, Xander!" She fell into him, embracing him in a tight hug in the corridor.

"And hey, well hello to you too." He lowered his voice a little. "I'm guessing this is all related to the girl you were telling me about, huh?"

"Mfnyeah." The redhead sniffled out, sobbing into Xander's shirt.

"OK, lets get you home then you can tell me what happened, right?" He urged quietly.

"'Kay" she blubbered, loosening her grip slightly.

---

They finally got through the door of the dorm room, and Willow flopped down on the bed, tears still streaming down her face.

"You wanna talk about it?" he asked gently.

"I dunno. I guess it might help." She sniffled.

"OK, so start at the beginning, you talk, I'll listen." He smiled reassuringly. Willow relayed the story.

"So let me get this right, you said you think you kissed her…and she confirmed it, and then she made a sharp exit?"

"Pretty much." The redhead couldn't help thinking that she was missing something.

"Will, have you thought about the possibility that maybe she likes you as well? And that maybe you were coming across all 'I didn't want to kiss you' and that is what made her all teary? I think she might have left because she didn't want to cry in front of you, not because she was freaked out or anything. I mean she said she wasn't freaked, right?"

"Yeah." Willow considered it for a minute, trying to fit it in with the other details of the encounter. I guess it's possible…but should I even think about getting my hopes up? I can't believe that she would like me that much. No, definitely not. I mean we still barely know each other.

Xander thought for a moment, remembering the shy blonde girl he had seen crying as she ran out of the canteen shortly before he had found Willow. Two and two slowly collided in his brain to create the number four. "Will…what does this girl look like?"

"Huh?"

"What does she look like?"

"Um…she has this great blonde hair with kinda zig-zaggy roots, amazing blue eyes, an-"

Xander interrupted before she could finish her sentence. "Will, I saw a girl with zigzaggy roots running out of the canteen crying her eyes out just before I saw you today."

"Huh?" The redhead found that hard to believe.

"Yeah, she charged out of the canteen practically raining on the floor. I just assumed she'd split up with her boyfriend or something."

"You…you think that was her?" she asked incredulously

"Well, the timing figures, and she fits the description. And imagine if Tara had just told you that she'd kissed you the night before, but it didn't mean anything and you regret it…wouldn't you run out of the room in tears?"

Some of the doubt cleared from Willow's mind. "I guess. But I meant it, Xander. I wanted it to happen when it did, I just…it wasn't a conscious thing."

"Yeah, but that's not how it came across to her, Will. You said 'I didn't consciously mean to do it', but she probably heard 'I didn't mean anything by it'. It's a subtle difference, but enough to change the whole meaning. Will, you need to tell this girl how you feel. That's the only way you can know for sure. There's only so much I can figure out from what you're telling me, and you've got so much going on up there" - he tapped his head - "that you're not picking up the obvious signs. You need to find out for certain what the girl thinks of you. And by the way, she's cute."

"Okay. And yeah, isn't she great?" A dreamy smile crossed Willow's face as she thought about the blonde.

"Someone in this room has fallen head over heels in love…" he teased.

"Xander, Anya won't be happy…" the redhead said with mock seriousness.

"Are you implying that I'm cheating on my favourite ex-vengeance demon? OK, so both of us are in love. Deal?"

"OK."

====

"Hello?" A sleepy Willow answered into the phone. She was never really good at the whole 'morning' thing.

"Ah, Willow, it's Giles; I'm calling another meeting. We've got some new information we need to review and research. Can you come over to the Magic Box in an hour or so?" The watcher asked.

"Yeah, I guess so. News on a big bad?" She wiped her eyes, which still felt sore.

"As a matter of fact yes. It appears that Spike overheard something interesting about a prophecy. Buffy's dragging him over here as we speak, although lord knows he's hardly the most reliable of sources." Giles' voice took on a slight note of exasperation at the mention of the vampire.

"You think he's lying? Probably trying to get us into more trouble?" The redhead deducted

"I don't know to be honest Willow, and I wouldn't put it past him at all, but unfortunately at the moment we need all the information we can get. See you in an hour?"

Willow looked at the clock. "Sure. I'll bring donuts."

"I shouldn't bother, Xander has already taken that most important of American rituals upon himself for today. See you in a bit." The watcher rang off.

"OK, bye."

----

A short while later Willow arrived at the Magic Box with mochas on hand - even though Xander had taken on Donut Duty, she decided that Mochas were always a good idea.

"Hey guys." She greeted the others. A chorus of "Hey Will" and "Hey" greeted her. The gang were already seated around the research table with their heads buried in books and hands reaching for donuts. "No Buffy yet?"

"No, apparently some gambling partners of Spike's have appeared and they've had to take a somewhat roundabout route to avoid them. Probably didn't help that it's daytime either." Giles spoke from the counter. No sooner had he finished the sentence than Buffy pushed a smoking Spike through the back door and into the shop.

"Hey, you coulda been a bit more gentle with me. For god's sake I've just got you some good info. Give a man some respect."

"I'm sure we would if you qualified as a man." Giles quipped.

"I don't have to tell you this you know. I'm only doing this so that you lot owe me a favour." The vampire grumbled.

"Actually, if you don't tell us, I'll stake you." Buffy reminded him.

"So spill already." Xander added.

"Right, well." Spike adjusted his ever-present leather coat. "Thing is, there's been a few rumours knocking about of late that are scaring the crap out of everyone."

"Go on" Giles prodded

"People are saying that there's something big and powerful coming here. Some are saying that it's already here." The vampire looked satisfied with himself.

"And? We already know that bit. You said something about a prophecy." The Slayer asked

"Well, yeah. There is that, but I don't believe much of it." He sniffed.

"Spike, just tell us and get it over with so that you can leave please." The watcher moaned, taking a sweeping look over the ceiling of the shop, suddenly finding the rafters infinitely more interesting than the conversation with Spike.

"Yeah, well, the prophecy goes like this:" - he cleared his throat for dramatic effect, and put on an acting voice - "'the Scaled One will descend from above and dwell below, sleeping until it shall rise anew and…and'…uh…damn what's the next bit…rise anew and…rise…rise…oh yeah, 'and claim it's treasure on the fourth night of the awakening.' Then there's something about an Eye that I didn't catch. Then it says 'the Slayer will battle the Scaled One and many shall fall and burn under it's wrath. The battle will be lost.'" He declared triumphantly, shooting Buffy an evil grin.

"The battle is lost? Like, dead Slayer lost?" Willow looked worried as she glanced across at Buffy. "Dead Buffy, not good, nuh-uh. Plus, many people burning and falling? Sounds kinda apocalyptic." She noted.

"Again." Added Xander

"Quite" Giles replied absently, furiously trying to write down the prophecy before anyone forgot it. "And you're sure that's what it said, Spike?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Although the guy who told me it was speaking French and I'm a bit rusty. Been too long since I was in Paris…" He seemed to drift off into a memory at that point before snapping out of it. "So yeah I might have lost a bit in translation, but that was the gist of it."

"I think our first action should be to determine exactly who or what this 'Scaled One' is, and find out exactly what he, she, or it has come to Sunnydale for. Perhaps we could even try and find a complete version of the prophecy, as I can't say that Spike's version sounds particularly accurate." The watcher shot the vampire a glance.

"Maybe it's a demon. One would assume that if it's great and has scales, its gotta be something big and demony." Buffy offered. "Demons we can deal with."

"Not necessarily, Buffy. Not that I would trust Spike to get the name of it right." He shot the vampire a look.

"But let's just get this straight - you owe me a favour now, right?" Spike asked. Silence greeted him. "Fine, that’s the last time I help you lot out with information. Ungrateful buggers." He grabbed his blanket and ran out of the shop.

"Well, it's a start." Willow said "I should look up this scaled guy on the net I think, see if I can come up with anything about descending and rising. There was a lot of up and down in that prophecy, it's like the yo-yo of all prophecies."

"Yes indeed, what a fantastic analogy, comparing a probably thousands of years old prophecy to a moulded plastic toy on a piece of string…but perhaps that infernal machine of yours could turn up some answers. In the meantime I'm heading back to my place to pick up some books I have that may help. If the rest of you could start looking for any prophecy that matches, I would be most grateful."

"Great, the research part. Why can't we just fight something without research for once?" Buffy pouted.

"I kinda like this bit. Exercises the brain, you know?" Willow said, firing up her browser.

"Yeah, if you like staring at pencil drawings and Latin all day." The Slayer growled.

The gang sat in silence for a while, mostly buried in books and Willow searching the net for any reference to a scaled creature that would register as a Big Bad.

"You don't think it's another Mayor-type thing again do you Buffy? I am SO done with huge snakes."

"I dunno Will. I guess we'll find out. I'm hoping it's a fish monster. Fish can be easy to deal with."

Willow grinned, until she remembered the words Spike had spoken. "Buffy, if this prophecy comes true, we lose the fight. It said 'the battle will be lost'. That can't be a good thing. It said that you die."

"Yeah I'm kinda worried about that too. But we don't know how accurate Spike's version is. I mean, maybe that's just the first battle of many. Maybe I kick it's ass in the end."

"That sounds much more like the kind of prophecy I can get along with."

"Or maybe Spike's just saying that to get up your nose." Xander pointed out.

The bell above the door tinkled as Giles walked in. "I think I may have it. The prophecy, that is."

"Oh, you found it?" Willow asked excitedly

Giles opened a book at a marked page: "Yes, here it is look: 'And the Great Scaled One will descend from above and dwell below, sleeping until it shall rise anew and claim it's treasure on the fourth night of the awakening' …it's not complete though. This translation was taken from an ancient Sumerian tablet that was broken in two during a large battle, the rest of it is thought to have been destroyed by chariot wheels and hooves. The 'awakening' part was the last decipherable word on the tablet. However it does look as if Spike's memory is accurate so far."

The doorbell clinked, and as Willow looked up she froze. Tara had just walked in.

[amberfan1]

YAY. Now lets see how Willow and Tara handle themselves in front of the gang hehehe. The scaled one??? Please can we have some soon? Update soon please.

[edgyqueen]

I LOVE S4 fics! You sure are off to a great start with this one. I'm so happy to hear this is going to be a long, in-depth S4 retrospective... I hope you update fast and furiously!

Your writing style flows quite naturally and I dig your W/T/X characterizations. It's nice to read a supportive S4 Xander; Willow is going through quite a tumultuous period in her life (how many of US have been there?) and she deserves a good friend! Thank heavens we have great authors at the Kitten board to fill in all the "gaps" in the series!!!

Remember... [assuming my best stage whisper a la Field of Dreams]
"If you update... they will come."

Well... maybe when you get to the smutty parts, anyway!

[Sn0wflak3]

Ooh, this prophecy sounds interesting.. Hmm..

I love the fact that you've got Xander involved in willow's Tara/gayness confusion And you've really nailed his character.

Can't wait to read more

[The_Lord_J]

Aww, thanks guys

Now if I can just find someone to beta a few more parts, then I can post them here and keep you all happy

And I think I find it easy to 'nail' Xander's character because I tend to identify with him quite well...getting W/T right is more difficult for me, and I'm kinda paranoid about getting it wrong :\

As for the 'if you update, they will come' thign, I was thinking more Jim Morrison in Wayne's World...

[AlysonGoddess]

Wah and hoo now tara gets to meet the gang and i hope willow and tara talk things over i especially like the introduction to the story where willow was all over tara *sigh* they should stay like that forever. Oh and i was confused by the word canteen is that another word for cafeteria? cuz i was lost

ERIN

[The_Lord_J]

um...yeah, canteen = cafeteria.

Sorry, my Englishness showing through there

[The_Lord_J]

This is un-beta'd, so I guess I'm not totally happy with it...but here it is anyway.

Enjoy.


PART 5

The blonde stopped dead.

"H-Hey" She managed. Oh goddess what is she doing here? Of course, she's a witch, she has every right to be in a magic shop, stupid…

"Hey" Willow managed to croak out, slowly standing up.

Buffy looked between the two girls. "So who's-" She started, but was stopped short by the stern look Xander shot her and everyone else in the room. "What?" she mouthed at him. Xander just shook his head, mouthing 'not now'. The Slayer folded her arms. Something was going on and no-one was telling her what. That made her both nervous and agitated. And a little angry.

"Um, Tara, we need to talk." The redhead said quietly, her eyes flicking between the floor and Tara's eyes.

Talk? She wants to talk? Is that good or bad? I should at least stay in the room instead of running away like an idiot...again. Oh goddess she's wearing that cute shirt with the kitten on it. She looks gorgeous…oh wow she's coming this way…

Willow guided Tara into a seat at a table by the window and sat her down, taking up a place next to her.

"Tara, in the canteen yesterday, I…I…some of what I said came out wrong." Willow mentally slapped herself for the unintentional pun. "I mean, some of what I said wasn't what I meant."

Tara looked out from under her hair. Not what she meant? Huh? That can only be bad, right?

"When I said that I didn't mean it…"

Oh goddess…

"That was kinda wrong. I mean, it was right, but in the wrong way."

No…please no…

"I mean, I've never kissed someone like that before and I don't know what I was thinking, I just did it, completely freaked you - and me - out in the process and although I didn't plan it or want it to happen, it did and I wouldn't regret it if there had been less freaking out whe-"

Huh? What? Kissing?!? Okay, that's not what I thought all of this was all about.

"Willow, stop. Kissing? W-who did you kiss?" The blonde's heart was breaking already at the thought of the redhead kissing anyone but her. I knew it, she's with some guy, and I didn't even know. Serves you right for falling for a straight girl, Maclay.

"Huh?" The hacker looked confused as well. "Well, um, you? I, uh, did…kiss you, right? Coz I was kinda sure it was a dream at first and then I couldn't tell whether it was real or not and so I kinda just assumed it was real and I'm babbling again and now I'll just shut up." The redhead forced her mouth to stop before anything slipped through the brain-mouth filter net and came straight out unedited.

"Um, Will, you didn’t kiss m-me. Y-you m-must have been dreaming." The blonde deducted. Dreaming…she was dreaming about me? About kissing me. It must have been a nightmare for her. Horrendous, even. A cute straight girl having a nightmare about kissing some frumpy lesbian witch in the middle of the night. It must have been awful for her. Tara's face conveyed a mixture of sympathy and sadness.

"Oh. Um, that's…good. A-and a lot less confusing and freak-out-ey. Which is good, right?" Dreaming…only dreaming…damn. I mean yay. Or damn. Uh…confusing…

"S-sure, less freak outs a-are always good." The blonde looked heartbroken. The look evaporated as a memory crept across her mind. "You did kinda, um snuggle up to me in the night though." Her mouth broke into a wide, slightly lopsided grin as she peered out from under her hair at the redhead. "In fact, i-it was kinda more l-like wrapped around me." She blushed, quickly looking down at the table.

"Uh…I did?" Willow questioned, starting to blush an even darker shade of red.

"Yeah. But i-it was totally subconscious I think. No n-need to freak out, right?" The blonde pointed out.

"Oh. Phew. I'm sorry though. I mean, I'm taking total snuggle liberties and we still barely even know each other." Willow panicked as she realised what the sentence implied. "Not that we have to snuggle when we know each other better or even at all. If you don't want to I mean."

"I-it's okay. Really. I…um…I think I sleep better when there's someone to snuggle with." The blonde admitted, blushing a similar shade of red to the redhead. "I-I…um…s-snuggling is good." She couldn't help an enormous grin splitting across her face, even as her mind screamed out at her. What are you doing?!?! You may as well just admit to her that you want her in your bed twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week! Have you never heard of subtlety, Maclay?

"You sleep better snuggled? Well, I guess that's pretty fortunate what with my subconscious snuggling habit, huh?" The redhead attempted a grin and then back-pedalled. "Uh, not that I'll be spending every night in your bed, I mean, hello, have my own dorm room, no need to go invading other people's and sleeping in there all the time." Continue putting foot in mouth until choking occurs…

"It's okay, you can sleep with-m-a-at mine any t-time." The blonde just caught her tongue in time, thanking the goddess that the line hadn't ended 'with me any time'. That would have been one hell of a Freudian slip…

"Cool." the redhead grinned. I can sleep in Tara's bed any time I want…I have free access to Tara's bed. With Tara in it. Snuggling. I could even sleep there- "Tonight?" The redhead blurted out, asking the question before she even realised it, the thought of spending the night in Tara's arms overriding every other thought.

"Huh?"

"Um…tonight. Can I sleep at your place tonight?" The redhead quirked a hopeful eyebrow in question.

"Sure. Is Buffy going out or something?" The blonde questioned. Usually if Willow slept in Tara's room it was because either the Slayer was out slaying or they were too tired from doing a spell for Willow to walk back to her own dorm.

"Wha-? Oh, no. I just, I thought we could, y'know, hang out and stuff. I like just hanging out with you, y'know?"

Tara's smile was bright enough to light up a crypt. Or even Xander's basement. She wants to stay over just to hang out. Oh wow…

"And besides, I can't pass up snuggle time. I'm a serious snugaholic." The redhead grinned. Especially when it involves snuggling with YOU, She couldn't stop herself thinking.

"You have a snuggle problem, huh?" The blonde grinned back.

"Totally. I think I have a Snugglers Anonymous meeting on Wednesday."

Tara giggled. "So, um. Those guys are your, um, friends?" Tara asked, nodding towards the Scoobies sat at the table.

"Yeah." The redhead decided it was time that her newer friend met her older friends. It would only be a matter of time before the gang quizzed her about Tara anyway. "You wanna meet them?"

"Oh, no. I mean, i-it's up to you. I understand if you don't w-want to introduce me. I know I'm hardly the m-most interesting of people." Tara's low self esteem surfaced and she dropped her head to hide behind her hair, fiddling with her fingers nervously.

"Tara…" Willow's voice went soft and reassuring. "You are interesting. I mean, you have this cool sense of humour a-and you're a great witch and you have this cool room with fairy lights and you're…" Willow stopped herself short of saying 'absolutely perfectly beautiful'. "Cool to be around. They'll love you. I want you to meet them." She added sincerely.

The blonde looked into the redhead's eyes for a few long seconds. Oh goddess I love this woman. She even wants her friends to know me. "OK." She agreed with a nervous smile.

Willow beamed back at her. They stood and she led Tara over to the table.

"Hey guys, I want you to meet someone. This is Tara." A chorus of 'hey Tara' and 'hey' greeted her. "She's a witch too, but way more powerful than me. She's been practicing like, all her life."

"Oh n-no, I'm n-not powerful." She looked at Willow. "Not like y-you." She added quietly.

"This is Buffy, Xander, Giles, and that's Anya." Willow explained, indicating each Scooby in turn.

"H-hi." Tara mumbled.

"So you've been practicing magic for how lon-" Giles' question was interrupted by a smouldering Spike charging through the front door. Tara spun on her heels when she felt the vampiric energy coming from him. A crucifix was out of her pocket and stretched out in front of her quicker than even Buffy could have managed it. Spike ground to a halt in front of her, his hands shooting up in surrender.

"S-stay back!" she stammered

"Hey, no need to get nasty." Spike said, edging around the blonde towards the research table. "Will someone shut the damned door?"

Oh no you don't. You're not getting anywhere near Willow. No way. You'll have to kill me first.

Tara side-stepped again to put herself in between Spike and the table, a protective streak appearing from somewhere deep down inside her, an almost natural instinct to protect the redhead.

"Tara, it's OK." Willow put her hand on the blonde's shoulder, feeling a slight tingling sensation as she did so. "Spike's harmless. He's got this chip thing that makes him…kinda impotent in vampire terms." She grinned, knowing it would irritate the vampire.

"Hey! Was that really necessary? I mean, here I am, risking life and limb to get you information and what thanks do I get? Two insults in one sentence, and a cross shoved in my face. Thanks a lot, love." He glared at the redhead.

"H-he's harmless? He can’t b-bite?" Tara asked, crucifix still outstretched.

"Yes. Completely useless as well as harmless." Buffy replied, intrigued by the blonde's quick - and correct - reactions. "So, Bleach Boy, why are you back so soon?" She turned to address Spike.

"I ah…managed to get a copy of the proph-" - he looked at Tara and cleared his throat before looking back at the Slayer - "professional…uh…opinion that you're looking into." He waved a photocopy in the air. "But it'll cost you. Do you mind?" He asked, turning his head to glare at Tara. She grudgingly lowered the crucifix, but kept one eye on the vampire as she went to sit next to Willow.

"I think I kinda have a bit of explaining to do huh?" The redhead asked sheepishly, keeping her voice below the level of the 'conversation' - or more accurately, bartering - between the vampire and the Watcher/Slayer tag team.

"Yeah, l-like why there's a harmless v-vampire wandering into a magic shop that has big axes and assorted other w-weapons hanging on the back wall to h-help you out with 'professional opinions'?" The blonde questioned with a smirk.

"Um…it's kinda hard to explain. Spike's…I'll explain about him later. Do you, ah, know what a Slayer is?" Willow asked, thinking it was time to let Tara in on 'the secret'. Or in fact now it was 'one of the secrets', she corrected her thoughts.

"Slayer? Aren't they some loud thrash metal band?" Tara said with a hint of distaste in her voice.

"Huh? Oh. No, A Slayer, singular. The, in fact. The Slayer." Willow clarified.

"Oh, you mean like, um, the Vampire Slayer?" Tara asked.

"You know about the Vampire Slayer?" the disbelief was evident on Willow's face.

"Um…not much. M-mom, um, used to t-talk about vampires and stuff when I was little to stop me going out at night? And, um, she told me some s-stories about a girl who fights vampires? I kinda never b-believed any of it."

"Well, uh…Buffy kinda is the Slayer. Well, without the 'kinda'. Buffy IS the Slayer. It's a real long story, lots of destiny, yadda yadda, prophecy, yadda yadda, slayage, yadda yadda. You get the idea."

Okay…let's get this right: the girl who I am in love with has just told me that she hangs out with a harmless vampire and the Vampire Slayer. And it's all true. Next she'll be telling me that there is a demon sat at the table too.

"Buffy's The V-Vampire Slayer?" Tara asked incredulously. She looked at the small blonde girl sat on a stool near the table. But she's tiny…

"Yeah. Um…Giles is her Watcher, Xander is…well, Xander, and Anya used to be a vengeance demon. That's another really long story. We all help Buffy out with the slayage."

OK, so this is beyond weird.

"You slay vampires?" A worried look crossed Tara's face. "Isn't that kinda, um, dangerous if y-you're not the Slayer?"

"Um, yeah, but I don't usually do that part. I mean, I do, sometimes, but that's Buffy's forte. We usually just do the distractions and running away and research and stuff." Willow replied.

"We? A-as in you, Xander, Anya and Mr. Giles?" Tara clarified

"Yeah. Although Giles can sometimes be pretty handy with an axe and Xander has all this military knowledge from this weird thing that happened a while ago."

"Weird thing?"

"It's a really long story."

"You'll h-have to tell me sometime."

"Definitely."

"S-so what are you guys doing at the moment?" Tara asked, noticing the piles of books that everyone seemed to be buried in.

"We're sorta looking into this prophecy that Spike overheard somewhere."

"A prophecy? What did it say?" Tara's interest peaked a little - the mystical had always been a large part of her life, and prophecies tended to be pretty darned mystical.

"Well we--hey, is that a photocopy of the real thing?" Willow asked, letting her eyes wander to the piece of paper that Giles had finally managed to get off Spike.

"Yes, it appears so. It seems to be authentic from what I can tell. And barely decipherable." He pointed out, slightly frustrated.

"Is it in a strange forgotten language or something?" Willow asked

"Not exactly…just terribly written. It was obviously penned long before the days of legible handwriting. If I didn't have the beginnings of it already I'm not sure I'd know it was in English."

"I thought it was supposed to be French?" Buffy's brow creased in confusion.

"No, that's just the source Spike heard it from." Giles clarified.

"Oh. So the prophecy was written in the good old US of A?" The Slayer questioned hopefully.

"No, in England, Buffy. I doubt the concept of America even existed when this was penned. Besides which even this is only a translation from the Sumerian tablet." Giles sighed. "Give me a few minutes and I might be able to give you a complete version."

Willow returned her attention to Tara. "The basic gist of it is that some Big Bad descends from above, then rises from below, and then descends again and…um…there was lots of descending and rising, right Giles?"

"Just a moment Willow," Giles said, holding up his palm and scribbling on some paper. "Ahh, I think I have it. Although the last part appears to still be missing. I believe that it should sound like this: 'And the Great Scaled One will descend from above and dwell below, sleeping until it shall rise anew and claim it's treasure on the fourth night of the awakening of the Eye. Upon this night, the Slayers will battle the Great Scaled One and many shall fall and burn under it's wrath. The battle will be lost'. And there it cuts off completely. There is probably more to it, but that's all we have."

"Um, Giles…Slayers…plural?" Willow asked, quirking an eyebrow in worry. The Watcher frowned, checked his translation again, and frowned even more.

"Yes…it does appear to be plural. I dread to think of the implications..." The gang sat in silence contemplating the meaning. Was it implying that Faith would somehow be involved? That didn't make sense as she was still in a coma and not likely to wake up any time soon. Was there yet another Slayer out there? Or had the prophecy not been able to account for the current state of the rogue Slayer? Or did it refer to something completely different? The paragraph only seemed to raise more questions.

"God I hope Faith doesn't wake up. I much prefer her in catatonic-coma-land." The redhead muttered, making a disgusted face at the mere mention of the rogue Slayer.

"Um…" - Tara raised her hand as if she were asking a question in class - "I kinda th-thought there was only supposed to be one Slayer?" She asked, feeling a little embarrassed.

Giles adjusted his glasses and answered carefully. "That's a…long story. Suffice to say that when one Slayer dies, the next is called. But the process is not reversed when a Slayer is resurrected."

Tara's eyes went a little wide as understanding dawned on her. "Oh…so Buffy was called while this F-Faith died, but, um, Faith…came back?" She asked, unsure.

"Vice-versa actually. Buffy died and Faith was called. Well, not quite that simple. Buffy died, Kendra was called, then Kendra died and Faith was called." The Watcher replied.

"Oh…I'm s-sorry" Tara mentally scolded herself for prying; the subject was bound to be a painful one, especially with so many people dying. She looked apologetically at Buffy.

"It's OK, I'm fine now. It was just one of those things, y'know. Happens on the hellmouth." The Slayer reassured. "But this is Sunnydale, you kinda get used to strange stuff happening. Well, most of the time."

----

[Tarababy77]

AMAZING!!! Thanks for turning me towards this fic. I really enjoy this story. I could not stop smiling at Willow's snugle-issues, heehee. Anyhoo, can't wait for an update. Great work. Hope to see more soon. Take care. =)

[The Rose24]

Great! I am so glad Tara already knows about evil forces. This saves Willow and the gang a whole lot of worry.

I am also happy Tara and Willow have cleared up some of the misunderstandings and growing closer together. Are we going to get real smoochies soon?