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Title: Winter Freedom WINTER FREEDOM It was so cold. Why was it so cold? Willow opened her eyes, and she realized she couldn't feel her nose. She was looking up at a clear, blue sky, and this white, powdery substance was falling from it. Now that she thought about it, the ground around her felt less than solid. What was going on? Okay, all she had to do was think back. She lived in California, where it was almost never cold, and never snowed. So therefore, it was impossible for her to be laying in the snow, while it hit her face. That meant she had to be somewhere else besides Sunnydale. But how did she get here? Unless...did she say the words of a spell wrong again? She could've made it snow. And she didn't remember.Whoo boy. She heard footsteps. Crunch, crunch, crunch. Then a face. She knew that face. "You okay, Will? Come on, we're almost to the top." The person reached their hand down, and helped Willow stand. "I know you'll love it." It was then that Willow noticed that she was decked out in winter gear. Heavy coat, mittens, a sweater, snow boots, and earmuffs. "Buffy? Oh good. Great. Thanks. Whew." The redhead said, frightened at being able to see her own breath. She looked at her friend, seeing that the slayer was dressed almost identically to her. Except, instead of earmuffs, one of those wool, winter hats was covering her head. And her cheeks were red from the cold. "I think you just answered my question." Buffy smiled. "The cabin's not much farther. You can warm up there." "Where are we?" "Does it matter?" "Shouldn't it?" "I don't think so. But you should know." "I'm lost." Willow said. "Is the gang at the cabin?" "Nope." "Tara?" "Couldn't make it." She followed the slayer. "It's just you and me. And have a little faith in me, will ya? It's amazing." "Faith? Faith's there?" Her eyes went wide. "She's in jail, silly. Duh. 'Have a little faith' is a common _expression_." "Right..." *** They entered the rustic looking log cabin, and Willow hurried to the flames in the fireplace, to get warm. She slipped her mittens off, and put her hands over the heat. "Want lunch?" Buffy asked, going over to the cupboards. She was kinda hungry. "Uh...sure." She watched as the blonde pulled off her hat, and the snowflakes that had gathered on it rained down into her hair. Buffy was beautiful. "Err...so we're somewhere. Why are we somewhere? Slaying something?" "Yeah." The slayer grinned. "The Abominable Snowman." "Really?" Buffy laughed, checking the cupboards. "Humor." "Oh." "Soup? Hot chocolate? Think there's lunchmeat in the fridge." "How about all three?" "You're the boss." She started getting things ready. "Just relax, and after we eat, we can go skating on the pond." Willow got up, rubbed her hands together, and began moving towards the window by the door. "Pond?" "Take a look. The back window." She turned around, went to the back window, and looked out. There was a gigantic pond outside. Completely frozen over. It was bigger than a hockey rink. "Oh wow." Buffy came up behind her, and whispered. "Told you it was amazing." *** "Good sandwiches." Willow complimented as they ate. The longer she sat; stayed in this place, wherever it was, the less she worried about how they got here. Or where their friends were. It seemed more and more right. "I didn'tknow you could make such good sandwiches." "It's really not that difficult." Buffy said with a smile. "No, no it is. You need to get the ratio of meat to cheese balanced, not overdo the condiments...and you got it just right. It's a very hard thing to pull off." "Well...thank you." She blushed a little. "I should get the skates. Bundle up." "Uh...Buffy? This may be a bad time to mention this, but I can't skate. I fall really well though." "By the time I'm done with you, you'll be able to glide on ice like a pro." *** Within ten minutes, they were all set to go, and Willow was standing at the edge of the pond, preparing to step on. She watched as Buffy skated along the ice, starting off slow and then speeding up, moving her arms as she did so.The slayer got to the center, and spun in a quick circle. She never knew Buffy was this good. So graceful. "Join me already." Buffy called to her. Willow shook her head. She would've been content to just watch. The slayer came over. "Take my hands. I won't let you fall." The redhead thought about it. "You swear on your pinky?" "Both pinkies and the thumb on my right hand." "That's your good thumb. Your thumb-wrestling thumb." "Exactly why I'm swearing on it. Grasp." Willow did, and she was guided onto the ice. Her legs immediately spread. "Bring them together. All your weighthas to -" The hacker was slipping, so Buffy grabbed her by the waist, holding her up. "Gotcha." "It's slippery." Willow commented, for some reason liking the position she was currently in. "Ice gets that way sometimes. Bring your feet together. Nice and slow. You can pick up your feet and do it that way if it's easier." "What about cracking?" "It won't crack." Buffy giggled. "Guarantee it." "You just giggled. You never giggle." "First time for everything." She said simply. "You can do it..." Willow cautiously moved her legs, and she was balanced again. "There. Now just watch my legs, and move when I do." Willow took her friend's hands again, and after a few minutes, they developed a nice rhythm. With short strides, and keeping her weight evenly distributed, they made a lap around the pond. "After awhile, it...feels like your flying. Like you're not touching the ground." The redhead said. "Makes you feel free, doesn't it?" Willow nodded. "Hardly ever get to feel free anymore. To do this, anymore. I appreciate this, Will." "What did I do?" Buffy just smiled. "Ready to go it alone yet?" "Alone is bad. Together is good. You can catch me with togetherness. Catching is important." "Who says you'll fall?" "Logic." "Logic doesn't apply here. You don't have to fall if you don't want to. You don't have to do anything you don't want to." Willow raised her eyebrows. "That's a nice thing to know, but...let's talk. We haven't talked in awhile. How are you doing? You know, since...Riley." "You really wanna talk about him? Out of all the things we could talk about?" "I care about you, Buffy. If you're hurting over him leaving, I wanna help." "Do you want me to hurt?" "No! That's the last thing I'd ever want." "Then I'm not hurting." "Just cause I don't want you to be?" "Yep. Wasn't that simple?" Buffy smiled again. "Too simple." Willow was worried now. "And how come you're smiling so much? Not that I don't enjoy when you smile, it makes me really happy when you do, I just..." "Exactly why I am." The slayer was quiet a moment. "I think it's time for you to fly solo. You need it. I'll be following right behind you." The next thing Willow knew, she was standing by herself, and she was afraid to move. "You don't need me to hold on. You're perfectly capable." "But...I do need you." Willow blurted out. "Gotta catch me first." Buffy grinned, and took off like a rocket. *** The wicca mustered up her courage, and started moving. Shorter, not so confident strides gave way to longer ones, and eventually, she was moving around the pond as if she'd been skating since birth. With a smirk on her face, she chased after her friend. "Gonna get you." Willow promised. "Oh yeah?" The blonde challenged. "Here I come!" The chase seemingly went on for hours, and it must have, because the sunhad gone down. She could've cut Buffy off at any time, but she was having too much fun. Doing this with her, being here away from everything, nothing else mattered. No duty, no demons, no magick. There was peace and simplicity in it. When was the last time they had ever felt this way? Felt this young? Had they ever? She decided that it was time she caught her, and as Buffy came around, she collided with her, and they collapsed in the snow. They rolled around, laughing, and when they came to a stop, she was looking down at Buffy. The blonde hadsome snow on her cheek, and she gently brushed it away. "When I say I need you, I mean it." Willow mock scolded her. "But you're not dependent on me, and I'm glad for that." Buffy answered."You said you cared about me, right?" "Uh huh. Sure do." "How much?" How much? What did she mean by that? "You break my care meter. That's how much I care about you." "Is that why I'm here and she's not?" Buffy asked. They just lied there quietly, breathing for a couple seconds. When Willow was ready to answer, she found her face closer to her friend's then it had been. "Buffy, I..." Before she could get whatever it was she was going to say out, Buffy exclaimed something. "Look at that!" Willow turned reluctantly, and then she gaped. A few feet away from them, a rabbit and a fox were pawing at each other. Not in a violent way, though. It was almost playful. "Shouldn't he be chasing the bunny?" Willow asked. "I think the bunny realizes it's caught." The redhead leaned down even farther, and closed her eyes... *** And then they opened. She looked around...her and Tara's dorm room. She was confused all over again, but then it came back. She focused on her girlfriend. "W-what did you see? I think the spell worked." Tara said. "Did it show you your f-fantasy?" "Mmm hmm." Willow answered. "You were under for awhile. How did it feel?" "Real." "That's great. It probably didn't show you the whole t-thing, though. We'll have to use more powerful i-ingredients next time." "Yeah." "So what was it?" *** An hour later, the wicca was pacing on Buffy's porch, after lying to Tara. Lying to Tara. Things were going to get harder before they got easier. Whatshe knew now, she wished she didn't. Or was she glad? Her subconscious had keptthis from her. It wasn't something that should've been hidden. What was she even doing here? What was she going to say? The front door opened, and she was pretty sure she jumped. "Will?" Buffy asked. "Buffy! Hi!" The redhead said loudly and nervously. "Where you going?" "To come see if you wanted to do anything, actually." The blonde said. "But you saved me a trip." "I did? Yay!" Buffy smiled. "What's up?" "Uh..." She had to think of something. "Take me skating?" "You wanna go skating?" "Can we?" The slayer's eyebrows raised. "Don't see why not. Hang on, lemme get my skates." Willow followed her inside.
"We can start our own game. Where people throw ducks at
balloons and nothing is as it
seems." (Homer J. Simpson) "You think you know? What's to come? What you are? You haven't
even begun."
(Tara and Dracula to Buffy, BTVS) "I'm telling mom you slayed in front of me." (Dawn,
BTVS)
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