OPPOSITES ATTRACT
Buffy stood on a street corner, looking at the box she had in her hands.
It contained Tara's things. Willow had asked her if she would help them
move. The two wiccas were going to stay at Willow's house for the summer.
Apparently, Tara had come to UC Sunnydale from out of state, and really
didn't want to fly back home for some reason. Buffy found that to
be odd, but agreed to assist nonetheless. The girls were coming toward
her now, from the direction of the campus, carrying two more boxes.
"Ready to go?" Buffy asked them.
"Yep." Willow said.
"Uh huh." Tara answered.
After a few feet, the redhead stopped, and the two blondes looked at her quizzically.
"I forgot my house key." She said with a sigh. Then she put her box on top of the one Buffy was already holding. "Could you…?…great…thanks, Buffy…best friend ever…be right back."
Willow spoke in a rush, hoping to get back in before they locked up
the rooms. She didn't notice that the slayer had almost lost her balance
because of the extra weight.
The redhead took off, leaving Buffy and Tara alone. After a few seconds,
the slayer found herself staring at the blonde witch.
She had been wary of her ever since she and the gang had their restless night of supernatural, surreal dreams. She knew the wicca had been in Willow's dream as well, and that she was just as cryptic with her girlfriend as she had been with her. Though Tara's role in her dream seemed to be different from the redhead's.
More…was "important" the right word? No. But the blonde had been specifically
"borrowed" (by her own admission) to come speak for the First Slayer. It
was just bizarre. Why her? To the blonde slayer, she was just her friend's
girlfriend. Or she used to be. But there were words that Tara said to her
in the dream that she couldn't get out of her mind.
"You think you know? What's to come? What you are? You haven't even
begun."
It was unnerving. What did that mean? There was something else going on with the girl, and she wanted to know what it was. Another feeling had stirred in her too. She didn't know Tara that well, so she didn't like her, but didn't dislike her either. Basically Buffy was indifferent when it came to her, as long as she made Willow happy.
Which she obviously did, because all she had to do was look at her friend's face when Tara was around, to see it.
Now, however, Buffy felt connected to the shy blonde. It was strange, but logically, it wasn't hard to figure out why. Tara entered her dream, and spoke for the spirit of the first person, primitive or not, to do her job. It had been very personal, the messages she was conveying, and they weren't all from the First Slayer. Some had come from Tara herself.
Buffy didn't sense that she meant any harm. In fact, it felt like she was on the side of good. Willow had told her, in private, more about the dream she had had. In it, Tara said she couldn't help her, and that scared Willow. Yet, in her dream, Buffy felt like the blonde was helping her. Trying to guide her in the right direction. Prepare her.
Why? Why her and not Willow? She didn't tell anyone that Tara had been in her dream, primarily because she didn't want to risk hurting her friend. Nor had she approached Tara.
Maybe it was time.
***
Willow caught the janitor as he was locking up. She flashed him her
brightest smile, and even though he didn't feel like opening the door back
up, he couldn't help but do what she asked. She ran inside, and her key,
attached to a Troll key-chain, was sitting on the bureau. She sighed in
relief.
"You're lucky," the janitor said, standing in the doorway, "we're doing
a final sweep tomorrow. Who knows where that woulda ended up."
"Good thing I came then."
"Have a nice summer, kid."
"You too." Willow said with a wave, as she left.
She heard him mutter something like "yeah, right" and then she was
moving down the hallway. Her thoughts were drifting to the dream that was
still haunting her, even after a week. She had told Buffy what had freaked
her the most. Tara had said she wouldn't be able to help her. With what,
she wasn't sure, but it was a sign to her.
Normally she wouldn't put too much stock in her dreams, Buffy's were the prophetic ones, but she knew the dream wasn't just a dream. As much as she cared for Tara, she figured something was eventually going to come and take them apart. And she couldn't be hurt again. Not after Oz.
So she thought it was better if they just took a break; think things over. That way no one got hurt, and there were no bad feelings. Maybe when school started they'd see where they were then, but Willow didn't think they would. Even though she knew she had a tendency to worry too much over things, (things that turned out to be not that big of a deal), she *knew* this was different.
Willow had thought a lot about it all week before deciding, and she knew it would be for the best. She had told Tara what she wanted only hours ago, and the blonde hadn't seemed all that surprised, actually. They also weren't as sad as Willow thought they should have been, but it helped reinforce her belief that she was doing the right thing.
She did love Tara. After all, it was the other witch that had helped her to heal, to get over Oz. She opened her to new possibilities, broadened her horizons, and got her to open her heart again. Willow had a feeling that that was why Tara had come into her life, and was glad she had.
Maybe they had just gotten swept up in all the changes over the course of the year, and the magick side of things, that they got confused on exactly what they felt for one another. She didn't regret it for one second though. She didn't know what would happen later, but whether she fell in love with a guy or a girl, it didn't matter. It just depended on the person. She wouldn't have been able to say that a year ago, and she owed it to Tara.
Love came in different forms. Tara would always be a valued friend to her, someone she loved in that sense. And they could still be magick partners, if not romantic ones. She knew they were meant to do magick together, she was sure of that. There was so much more to their spells then. More power, focus. They had a ways to go on that front, a lot to explore.
It would be awkward for awhile, especially because they would be living in the same house, but it would pass. Right now though, Tara living with her would make things strange. But she couldn't *not* offer Tara a place to stay. It wasn't in her nature. With that in mind, she remembered that she was being waited for.
***
The blondes were still waiting on the corner. One thing Buffy knew they
had in common, besides a dream and liking the girl who had just run off,
was that they both broke the "dumb blonde" stereotype. But other than that,
there was nothing in common. Tara was reserved and quiet, she was aggressive
and vocal. She was a slayer, Tara was a wicca. She had hazel eyes; Tara
had blue…wait. When did she start noticing her eyes?
She cleared her throat.
"So…" Buffy said.
Tara bit her bottom lip, and looked at the tape on the box. It was the heavy-duty, box-sealing kind.
"So…"
'Why do you wear your hair up? It would look good hanging down.'
Buffy couldn't believe she had just thought that. She didn't know where that had come from. At all.
"Do you have any family?"
"I-I…think so. I'm not s-sure where they are now." Tara's voice was soft.
"Oh. I'm sorry. It was none of my…I shouldn't have asked."
She felt like a jerk.
"It's okay. Really." The wicca gave a small, nervous smile. Buffy smiled back. "She's c-coming." Tara said after a few seconds.
"With the key." Buffy added. "I can see the Troll's pink hair."
Willow stood with them again, and the slayer wasted no time in getting rid of the extra box.
"Now we can go."
"Good, cause my legs were starting to cramp."
The redhead shot her a look, and they began to walk.
***
When they reached the house, the three of them did a double take. Though
Willow was the most surprised. Her front door was open, and her parents
were hurriedly coming in and out, putting luggage in the car. She had caught
them when they were home for once, and she almost smiled, but then realized
they were leaving. Her mother noticed her then, and approached.
"Hi, honey. I hoped we'd catch you." Sheila Rosenberg said. She looked
at her daughters' friends. "Hi, Bunny, and…"
"Tara." Willow supplied.
"Hi, Kara." The girls nodded in acknowledgement, as they didn't feel
like speaking, and their hands were unable to wave. "Your father and I
wanted you to come with us."
"Come with you?"
"You're a woman now, and we wanted to find out what your plans are
now that you've…well," She was upset with herself for not doing this earlier,
and there was hopefulness in her voice, "we'd like to get to know who our
daughter has become. Spend some time together. If you're interested."
"I mean…sure…I…where are you going?"
"Colorado. For about two weeks. My colleagues and I are attending a
retreat there. Lectures from very prominent psychologists and," She smiled,
"there's year-round skiing."
"Ski? Me? Snow?" The redhead looked horrified.
"Never too late to learn, Willow." Her father called from inside the
car. "Come on, don't want to miss the flight."
"Can you give me a second?" She asked her mother. Sheila nodded, and
headed to the car. Willow looked at her friends. "They've never asked me
to -"
"Go ahead, Will. Have fun." Buffy said.
Tara gave an affirmative as well. "It'll be…good for you."
"But you won't have any…Buffy, can Tara stay with you?" Willow asked,
pleading.
"Uh…" The slayer was caught off guard.
"I couldn't," Tara said, shaking her head.
"No. You need a place to stay, and I've got lots of room at my house."
Buffy said, after thinking about it for a minute. "If you want."
Tara nodded. This was going to be…something.
"Great!" The two blondes put the boxes down, and Willow gave them each
a hug. Her father beeped, and she started backpedaling. "You better hurry
to your house,
Buffy. Miss Kitty Fantastico is probably getting restless."
Buffy was confused for a moment, and then the box on the ground started
to meow. She jumped, and finally noticed the holes.
Willow laughed. "Bye guys!"
She got in the back seat, and the car pulled out of the driveway. The
two left standing there, waved until the vehicle was out of sight.
***
Tara entered the house first, with Miss Kitty Fantastico in her arms.
She held the door open for Buffy, who brought the boxes, and sat them by
the steps. She sank to the floor, exhausted, and the cat jumped out of
Tara's arms and onto her lap. The wicca smiled and sat on the bottom step.
"She likes you." Tara said.
Buffy scooped Miss Kitty into her arms. "That's a relief. I'd hate to be on the receiving end of those claws." It meowed. "She hungry?"
"I think so."
They got up, and Buffy led the way into the kitchen.
"Does she drink milk? Cats drink it all the time in cartoons." Tara nodded. "How about you?"
"Do I, uh, drink milk?"
The slayer laughed, and shook her head. "Are you hungry?"
"Oh…um…n-no." Tara blushed, but smirked. "Thanks."
Buffy went to the fridge, pulled out the gallon of milk that was inside, and got a bottle of water for herself. She searched for a bowl, and poured some milk into it for the cat. The small feline attacked the bowl immediately.
"How'd you get into magick?" She asked Tara, taking a sip.
"My mom. She was really powerful. Like Willow."
"Willow thinks you’re the powerful one."
"I know…a-a lot, spells and other…stuff, but I'm not that strong. Not like her."
"Well, you've got the knowledge and she's got the strength. That works out." Buffy smiled. "I'm happy for you guys. Being together, I mean. You seem like a perfect match."
'Then why do I…I'm not jealous, am I?' Buffy asked herself.
"Yeah…" Tara trailed off, and then said the next part under her breath.
"We are. Just not the way you think."
'Or the way we thought.' The wicca admitted silently.
***
When night came, and they went upstairs to sleep, Miss Kitty followed
them up. Going into Buffy's room the first thing it saw was Amy, still
in rat form, in her cage.
The cat pounced on the dresser where the cage sat, and Buffy nearly
had a heart attack as it began swing its paws trying to get at the AmyRat.
Tara quickly "shooshed" her cat off and it jumped onto the bed.
"That was close. Willow would've…it would have been unpleasant." Buffy
shuddered, and sighed. "Why did I tell her I'd take Amy, anyway?"
"Cause she asked." Tara smiled.
Buffy grinned. "Good point."
"She told me about…her." Tara looked in the cage. "We still haven't
found the right spell."
"Poor Amy." Buffy frowned. "Her mom was a powerful witch too. Evil
though."
"W-well..."
"Oh, I'm not saying your mom…I was just saying that you both had moms
who…I'll be quiet now." Buffy made a zipping motion over her lips, and
looking around her room.
Tara appeared upset for a second, and then she just started to giggle.
She couldn't help it. She found something about what Buffy just said and
did, very amusing. And when the slayer tried to look angry by putting her
hands on her hips, Tara just laughed harder. After a few seconds, Buffy
had no choice but to join in. It was contagious.
When they finally stopped, tears in their eyes, Tara spoke.
"I'll tell you about her…sometime."
The two girls got ready for bed then, the ice officially broken.
***
The following night, the two blondes settled down on the living room
couch to watch When Harry Met Sally. Buffy got the classic, whose
plot spanned almost a decade and change. She had picked the movie for a
reason, whether she knew it consciously or not. Billy Crystal's character
and Meg Ryan's character, in their minds, were opposites.
They tried for the longest time in the film to not like each other and be friends, but once they did, then they tried not to get involved. They did, of course, and ended up falling in love and getting married. Yes, subconsciously Buffy knew she got it for a reason. She and Tara were like the two characters.
Opposites who, although not fighting friendship, before Willow left, they had been in no rush to form one. Buffy didn't know if they would go as far as the two people on screen had, but there was an attraction there that she couldn't deny. Fate worked in funny ways, as the movie showed, and she had to agree.
But besides the deeper message she was getting, the _expression_ and redness on Tara's face during the "restaurant orgasm" scene was hilarious to the slayer. She started to laugh, and the witch just stayed quiet. Once the credits started rolling, however, Tara caught Buffy off guard.
"Like it?" Buffy asked.
Tara nodded. "Um…do you…fake it too?" Buffy's eyes went wide, and as she got the tape from the VCR, it fell out of her hands. Her face reddened, and she watched Tara grin. Then the tape floated up to her. "You…uh…dropped something."
Buffy snatched the tape from the air, and set it on the coffee table. She got a glint in her eye when she saw a pillow at her feet. She picked it up and launched it Tara, who magickally flung it back at her.
"Cheater! Magick isn’t allowed in pillow fights!"
"I can't."
"Can't what?"
"Throw." Tara smiled sheepishly.
"Sure you can."
"No…no I can't. Really."
Buffy put her hands across her chest. "You're training with me tomorrow."
"Train? With…I…um…but -"
"No buts."
"Okay?" The wicca offered hesitantly.
Now Buffy grinned.
***
"Punch my hand." Buffy instructed Tara the next day as they stood in
the yard behind her house. "It's okay."
Tara aimed for the slayer's right hand, and hit it, but her punch looked
like a swim stroke. Instead of her knuckles connecting, the heel of her
palm connected instead.
"K…that was…good," Buffy said, "but this time, we're gonna try a…more
traditional punch."
She got behind Tara, and guided her arm back so her hand was right
next to her stomach. They stayed that way for several minutes. And it didn't
help that the nervous trainee felt Buffy's breath on her neck.
"N-n…now what?"
She wasn't the only one noticing the close proximity.
"Right. Punching." The slayer told herself. "Make a fist."
Tara did, and then Buffy extended the witch's arm, showing her what
a punch was supposed to look like. They went through the motion a few times,
but mainly because Buffy liked the contact. Eventually, she cleared her
throat, and got back in front of Tara. She held her hand up.
"Got it now?"
"Uh…yeah."
"Okay. One good one. Hard as you can."
Tara's aim wasn't so good that time. Instead of hitting Buffy's hand,
she missed and hit the side of her face. The impact surprised her trainer,
and she dropped to the ground.
"Oh! S-sorry! I didn't mean…!"
Buffy got up with a smile. "Well…you've got punching down. How do you
feel about learning how to throw a stake? If you can do that, pillows will
be a piece of cake."
When she saw that Buffy wasn't mad, Tara smiled.
"Can we start now?"
***
That night, Buffy was went patrolling with Tara after they had gotten
ice cream cones at the ice cream parlor.
"Somehow I knew you were a vanilla type of girl." Buffy said. "It's
a simple flavor, but there's more to it than you think at first."
"Rocky Road seems right for you too."
"Well, my life's a rocky road, so -"
"Why shouldn't your ice cream be?"
Buffy did a double take. "How'd you know I was gonna say that?"
Tara shrugged. "I didn't."
"Oh. Duh. Course you didn't."
"Doesn't it feel good…doing what you do?" Tara asked.
"Physically, or in an emotional good feeling type of way? Cause frankly,
the physical part sucks. No pun intended." Buffy laughed softly. "Yeah,
I feel good that I'm keeping the world safe here, but the bad guys never
stop coming. Every demon I kill, there's always another one to take its
place."
"That's…hard, huh?"
"Sometimes. But I have people to protect. That's an added incentive."
There was quiet for a few minutes.
"Am I one of those people?"
"Definitely." Buffy said, grasping Tara's hand as they walked. Soon
enough, there was a growl. "See? Duty calls."
Tara watched as the two vampires that had shown up, were disposed of
quickly.
"That was a-amazing." She said as Buffy walked back over.
"You wanna give the next one a shot?" Tara rapidly shook her head.
"Okay, okay. So…you know what my life's like. What about yours?"
"It's a little…confusing…right now."
"I know what you mean." Buffy whispered.
"W-what?"
"Nothing."
***
A week passed, and Buffy's indifferent attitude towards Tara, was completely
gone. She liked the girl. Once they were able to get through the awkward
first couple days, Tara became more relaxed. The witch was simply…cute.
Physically she was, her personality was, and so was her subtle sense of
humor. Buffy found herself attracted to the whole package.
She still couldn't figure out why. Plus, she was with Riley (who had
yet to return from Washington), and Tara was Willow's girlfriend. And she
liked guys. Only guys. Or she thought she did. Could she have been put
under a spell that changed…? No, that was just silly. Whatever was happening,
it hadn't progressed to the point where it could get her in trouble later.
There was a friendship developing between them. Correction, it had
developed, and she didn't see any sign from Tara that made her think the
girl wanted any more than that. If she did, she was hiding it well. Tara
was slowly opening up to her, though. Buffy had taken her slaying the past
few nights, and they continued to talk more and more. It was nice, and
because she enjoyed it so much, Buffy didn't ask her about the dream afraid
that she might scare Tara off.
A week ago they were simply acquaintances, mutual friends of Willow,
and now they were friends. Buffy wanted to keep it that way, and as much
as she wanted to ask the question, she could be patient.
She was out slaying now, again accompanied by Tara. The wicca must
have read her mind sometime over the past week, because she almost never
wore her hair up anymore. Buffy was looking at her wondering why she was
quiet. It wasn't that unusual, but hardly two words had passed between
them since they left the house. Buffy was about to ask her what was up,
and then she felt something strike her in the back of the head.
"Buffy!" Tara yelled as the slayer dropped to the ground.
She was shocked more than anything, and looked up to see a vampire
standing a few feet away.
"Stay back, Tara." Buffy said, as she got up, and stared at the demon
who hit her. He looked too confident. "That wasn't very nice. Why'd you
have to go and do that?"
"You killed my sister, Slayer!" It growled.
Her mind flashed back to last night. There was a female vampire, and
it didn't fight fair. It had gone after Tara, that had gotten her mad,
but then when they were fighting, it used its nails to scratch at her face.
The cuts weren't totally healed yet, and it needed to die.
"Am I supposed to care?" She retorted.
"No," It said, revealing a gun, "you're supposed to die."
This was new. Guns? She didn't think any vampire was intelligent enough
to think of using one. Apparently, she had been wrong.
"Too scared to fight me? Come on."
It shook its head. "I'll die if I face you without this."
"Would that be so bad? You could see your sister again. She's probably
saving you a spot in Hell right now."
"She meant everything to me."
"I'm tearing up."
"You need to pay, Slayer."
She had to do something, gun or not.
"All right, I've had enough." She prepared to charge him.
"So have I."
Buffy started running at him as the gun went off, but she didn't get more than a few steps. Before she knew what was happening, she felt a bullet enter her stomach, but it didn't exit. It stayed lodged in her body. Her eyes went wide, and she fell to her knees in disbelief. It ran off, knowing she would die slowly, and painfully.
***
Tara froze. She had stayed hidden from the vampire's view, and only emerged after he had run away. She knelt next to Buffy, seeing the blood coming from the wound. Why didn't she do anything? She had trained, and…but that didn't matter now. The damage was done. She was shaking, and she had to calm down. Buffy was dying, and besides what that could mean for the world, Tara didn't want that to happen.
She really liked Buffy. The super-strong blonde was cool. Ever since
she had first saw her, and realized that her energy wasn't all there (she
still wasn't sure how she had known), that Faith was in her body, she knew
that there was going to be something between them. And that "something"
had been happening lately.
Buffy was funny, pretty, and nice. Like Willow. But…in a different
way. Oh God. Willow. If she came home to find her best friend dead…Tara
was about to start losing it.
'Think.' She told herself. 'You have to do something.'
The first thing she did was sit Buffy up against a headstone.
"It's bad." Buffy stated, in a wheeze, spitting out blood. "You know…I
never thought I'd die from a gunshot. Always thought…I'd get my neck snapped.
Oh well."
"I-I…"
"Don't worry it's -"
"Listen…I might be able to lessen…the…the pain."
"Please." Buffy smiled weakly.
Tara took off a rose-quartz necklace she had on, and put it around
Buffy's neck. Then she pressed her hands on the wound, and took deep breaths
as she closed her eyes and said a healing spell. Looking at the slayer's
face as she finished, she could see that there wasn't as much strain there
as there had been before, and the blood had stopped.
"It's only…temporary. You need a hospital."
"It helped." She squeezed Tara's hand, which had blood on it from where
the wicca had pressed on her stomach.
"Hold on…o-okay? I'm going to find a phone to get you a…hold on."
"Wait." Tara did as she was told, and it took Buffy a minute to speak.
"Thanks."
As soon as Buffy let go of her hand, Tara ran as fast as her legs could
take her.
***
The next thing Buffy saw was a white light…and then she was in her room.
She looked around, and her eyes fell on Tara, who was sitting on her bed.
"Here we are again."
"It's different this time. You're…in between life and death. This isn't
just a dream."
"So I'm not dead."
Tara shook her head. "You're in surgery. They're afraid there's internal
damage."
"Yay." Buffy muttered. "Hey, you're less cryptic than before."
"The spirit wanted me cryptic."
"First slayer?" Her answer was a nod. "Well, now that we're here…"
"Why am I here?"
"Yeah."
"I don't know." Buffy went to sit by her. "I was just asleep
that night, and then I was in your dream."
"You were in -"
"Willow was dreaming about me, and she brought me in. You weren't.
I just came in to yours, and knew stuff. And this time, I'm here without
help. On my own. I kind of…feel connected to you."
"Me too." Buffy admitted.
"My mom was the one who said that I should go to Sunnydale. She said
I would find someone to help me with magick, and that she had taught me
as much as she could. She also told me that I would find…a person who…who
I was supposed to fall in love with. I thought Willow was it, but -"
"She's not?" The slayer asked, genuinely surprised.
"Nope. She's just my magick partner. I was so overwhelmed by the spells
we did, that I just figured…it was intense. It still is. But maybe if we
had stayed together, the magick would have…uh…been *too* intense."
"Hormones?"
Tara blushed. "Spells need balance."
"And if there isn't any?" Tara's _expression_ eliminated the need for
words. "Badness. Gotcha."
"I feel like…like…Willow's already filled one important role in my
life, the one she's…she's supposed to, you know? And that -"
"You're supposed to fall in love with somebody else."
Buffy was smiling inside at that.
"I know that's what my mom meant now. Two people, not one."
"Your mom sounds really important to you."
Tara smiled. "She always told me I had great things to do in my life.
I didn't know if I believed her till I came here."
"What about your dad?"
"My dad…ig-ignored what we were doing mostly."
"Sounds like mine." Buffy sighed.
"But my mom and I were, are, real close."
"That's great." Buffy smiled. "So…who do you think the other person is?"
"You. Uh…maybe. I-I don't know…I-I think so." She paused, and Buffy was quiet for what seemed like forever to Tara. "You hate me."
"Really?" Buffy asked, snapping out of the haze she had been in.
"I know that…I like you. The time we've spent together has been really cool, and…I'm confused."
The slayer smiled, and put her hand on Tara's shoulder.
"It's okay. I don't hate you. I like you too. And you know how the saying goes."
"What…what saying?"
Buffy couldn't answer, because she was seeing the white light again.
***
The next time Buffy was in her bedroom, she was lying in her bed, and
she was in reality. She had been kept in the hospital for two days after
her surgery. They were able to remove the bullet, and she was stitched
up. She had a large, industrial strength bandage around her stomach, and
Tara, along with her mother, were making sure she stayed in bed. Even though
she knew she was pretty much healed.
Her door began to open, and Tara led Willow into the room. The redhead
had just gotten home a few hours ago, to find the blonde wicca waiting
at her house. When she found out that her friend had been shot and in the
hospital, and that she had missed it, Willow started flipping out. After
Tara had calmed her down, they went to Buffy's house, to see the slayer,
which was what they were doing now.
Buffy began to sit up so she could see better, but Tara was on her
case immediately.
"You could stretch your stitches."
Buffy rolled her eyes, but smiled at the witch's concern nonetheless.
"Hey, Will. How was the skiing?" She grinned.
Willow carefully hugged her friend, being careful not to hurt her.
"There was a lot of falling." She frowned, but then smiled. "But I
got to make a snowman. With real snow too." She caught sight of Buffy's
bandage peaking out from the sheet that was covering her. "You okay?"
"Yeah, but I'm in no rush to get shot again, I can tell you that."
"Tara told me you were lucky."
Buffy nodded. "But only cause she was there to keep me alive."
"I didn't really d-do anything." Tara argued.
"Yes. You did."
Tara's lips curved up into a small smile. "I'm just g-glad I was there."
"Me too."
Willow watched the small exchange, and knew right away that something
had occurred between the two girls while she was gone. She could feel it
in the air. And when they figured it out, she'd let them know just how
happy she was for them.
***
"Tara, what are we doing here?" Willow asked the blonde as they walked
through the cemetery at night, several hours later. "And why'd we do that
spell first?"
The blonde wicca held out the crystal she had in her hand, out in front
of her, and turned right as it changed colors from red to green.
"Because I'm looking for something. The spell's gonna help."
"O…kay." Willow said slowly. "Not to nag, because I don't really consider
myself to be a nagger…I'm more of a worrier…but since this is a cemetery,
there's probably vampires around."
"I hope so." Tara grabbed a stake from her pocket.
Willow saw it. "Buffy doesn't know you have that, does she?"
"No. Don't think so."
"I was afraid of that. What are you…uh…gonna do with it?"
Tara stopped walking suddenly, and put a finger to her mouth. They
both heard slurping noises coming from a few feet ahead of them in the
darkness. Then there was a thud, and what sounded like a deep-throated
moan. But not from a human. Tara cautiously took a few steps forward, looking
at the crystal again. It was rapidly pulsating green.
"It's here."
"Maybe we should go."
"Hey!" Tara yelled. "C-come out h-here!"
"Tara, no!"
After a few seconds, a figure revealed itself, its golden eyes radiating anger. The blonde wicca now had the confirmation she needed. It was the same vampire who shot Buffy. Only, tonight, he didn't appear to have a gun. She had never felt so much anger before. But she loathed the creature standing in front her, and stood her ground, masking her fear.
"You look…familiar." The vampire said, licking its lips.
"The Slayer's alive." Tara spoke nervously.
"No!"
Tara didn't respond. While the vampire was yelling into the night, she raised her hand, the one that held the stake, and threw it into his chest. He was so consumed by his rage, that he didn't even see it coming. Willow looked on in shock, as the dust rained down on the grass.
The blonde turned around and started walking out. She just smiled as Willow caught up with her.
"How?" Willow asked.
"I had a…good teacher, I guess."
Willow's lips formed an "O", and she followed her friend in a stunned silence. There was one more thing Tara needed to do, but she'd wait until tomorrow. She had had enough excitement for one night.
***
Buffy, Willow, and Tara had just finished lunch the day after the blonde
witched dusted her first vampire. She asked Willow not to say anything
about it, and after much begging, the redhead agreed. Now Tara told them
she wanted to try a spell. Buffy and Willow looked at each other, but said
they would help. Happy, Tara helped the slayer off the bed, and they all
formed a circle.
The best friends looked on as Tara reached under Buffy's bed and pulled
out three plastic bags, and a small bowl.
"Willow, can you…uh, close the blinds?" Tara asked as she began mixing
the three ingredients together. She also threw in something else, but she
did it so quickly that the girls couldn't see.
"Now what?" Willow asked as she sat back down.
"Grasp hands." They did. "Okay, um, you're going to have to say the
words, Willow."
"But I don't even know what spell we're doing."
"Oh! I f-forgot." She reached under the bed again, and pulled out a
sheet of paper, which she handed to Willow.
Willow read the words, and her eyes went wide. She looked up at the
two blondes, who grinned at her, and then closed their eyes. She took a
deep breath, and then closed hers as well.
"Goddess of creatures great and small, we implore thee to undo thy
will. Before thee, let the unclean thing become flesh. Allow your child
to walk upon two instead of four. Hecate, I hereby license thee to depart."
Purple energy swirled around the three spellcasters, and then shot
into the cage on the dresser. In a blinding flash of light, a very human,
and a very naked, Amy fell off the dresser and to the floor. The cage was
destroyed. Willow just stared at her for a second, and then practically
tackled her old friend in a hug.
"Amy! I thought I'd never get you back!"
"I was beginning to wonder too." Amy said. "It's great to…be back and
all…but…"
Then Willow realized that Amy was absent any clothing. Her face flushed,
and as much as her mind was telling her that clothes were a necessity,
her body was telling her, 'Clothes? What are clothes?'. Buffy grinned at
the situation, and reached into her dresser drawers and pulled out the
appropriate apparel.
"Here. Put these on."
"Thanks, Buffy." Amy said. "All of you."
Willow hugged her two friends. "Yeah. Thanks." She whispered.
"You're welcome." Tara said.
After Amy got dressed she realized that she *really* had to go to the
bathroom. Willow said she would show her where it was, leaving the two
blondes alone.
"I hope you didn't mind me t-tearing your yearbook." Tara said.
"Nah. The picture was for a good cause." Buffy reached into the bowl
and pulled it out. It was a candid shot of Amy and Willow standing in the
hallway, smiling for the camera, with their arms around each other's shoulders.
"How long do you think it'll take them?"
"Just give it time."
"Opposites attract." Buffy said, confusing Tara.
"Huh?"
"That's the saying." Tara remembered their 'dream', as Buffy leaned
in closer, so their noses were almost touching. "Sometimes, opposites just…attract.
Wouldn't you agree?"
"Y-yes, I would."
"I was hoping you'd say that, because in our case, I know it's true."
Tara nodded in agreement. Smiling, the two girls closed the last distance
that stood between them, and shared their first kiss.
******
That's it. :-) I've been asked by our list-mom if she could write the sequel. I said yes. So there's more comin'. Eventually. :-)
I may be taking a break from Buffy fic, to work on original stuff, but if I get inspired, I'll work on my fics that are still floating around.
--
"I wanna set the record straight. I thought the cop was a prostitute."
(Homer J. Simpson)
"You think you know? What's to come? What you are? You haven't even
begun."
(Tara to Buffy, BTVS)
"Since when is there a cowboy in 'Death of a Salesman' anyway?" (Willow,
BTVS)