FF: Conversations Continued 5b

["Selenay" <selenay@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Disclaimers and other stuff in 5a
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"So, Willow's organising a party for Tara's birthday," Buffy finished,
pushing the door to the magic shop open and gesturing for Xander to proceed
her. "Which I'm totally cool with. Completely. It's tomorrow night. Please
come?"

Xander shook his head. "Buff, it's ok to be jealous. You moved out of your
love-nest today and your girlfriend is organising a party for her ex. I'd be
more worried if you weren't upset and jealous."

Buffy frowned. "I'm not jealous," she insisted, "just worried. You know, it'
s been a whole-"

"Forty minutes since you saw her," Xander finished. "Man, you two are so
sweet it's sickening. Speaking of sweet . . ."

He approached the counter and leaned forwards. "Gimme sugar. I've come to
buy sugar."

Anya grinned and kissed him. "Mmm, we value your patronage."

Buff winced, feeling a pang of Willow-missage shoot through her, and turned
to Giles to avoid watching. "So, any breakthroughs on the identity of Miss
Congeniality?"

"Well, I have narrowed it down somewhat."

She followed his gaze to the table covered with piles of open books, so many
that they threatened to topple off onto the floor.

"Your definition of narrow is impressively wide," she said, attempting to
inject cheerfulness into her voice.

"Well, you didn't give me much to go on. She-she looks human, so the
mug-shots aren't any use, and, uh, can't you be more specific about what she
's like?"

Buffy thought for a moment, deliberately ignoring the sounds from Xander and
Anya's direction. "She's kinda like Cordelia actually. I'm pretty sure she
dies her hair."

"Right! That one, of course. Our work is done," he said, his voice dripping
sarcasm.

"Well, excuse me if I can't describe the demon that destroyed my life a
little better. I was busy getting the crap beaten out of me at the time. Of
course I don't want to find her, kill her, and get my life back," Buffy
said, upset.

Immediately Giles was contrite and led her over to the chairs, sitting her
down before taking a seat next to her. "I'm sorry I can't be more help.
There just isn't much to go on. How are you?"

"I've been better," Buffy said. "There must be something on her."

"The answer is here somewhere," Xander announced, appearing behind Buffy so
suddenly she jumped. "It's right in front of us and we're too blind to see
it!"

He slammed his hand down on the table and received glares from Buffy and
Giles. Wincing and ducking his head, he sat down.

"I'm helping, I'm reading," he said quickly, "I'm quiet."

Giles picked up a book and wandered back to the counter to keep a closer eye
on Anya. Xander stared at a book for a moment, not noticing it was upside
down, before leaning towards Buffy.

"Sorry, Buff," he whispered.

"It's ok," she whispered back.

"So, do you know what you're getting her," he asked in a more normal voice.

"Her who?"

"Tara who," Xander clarified. "I mean, you have to get her a present,
right?"

"I'm kinda hoping Willow can do that," Buffy said. "I don't really know Tara
that well. I know she's good with magic and . . . uh . . . that's about it
really."

"I have no idea either," Xander said. "I mean, she's nice and all but . . .
I don't think I get her."

"Yeah, she's definitely nice."

"Uh-huh."

"And like I said, she likes magic."

"And Willow."

"Which she can't have."

"Yup," Xander agreed quickly, deciding an upset Slayer was not someone to
joke with on this subject. "And there's . . . magic."
"Think there'll be a lot of Wiccas there?"

Xander nodded. "Yeah, she's into that now."

"I support her . . . but I don't really understand it all. It's like Tara
has a little bit of Willow that I can never have."

"Buff, she loves you," Xander said. "Nothing will ever change that. She
chose you over Tara - she'll never change that."

"Yeah." Buffy stared at the book in front of her, not taking in a single
word. Without Willow she felt as though she was missing something vital, a
part of her, and even though it had only been an hour since they said
goodbye at her house it felt like forever. "Do you think it's too soon to go
visit her?"

"Not at all."

Quickly Buffy stood and picked up her bag. "Thanks. I'll see you later."

Without even waiting for Xander's farewell she walked to the door . . . and
ran straight into Willow coming through it. She put out a hand to steady her
partner and smiled.

"Hey stranger," she greeted.

"Hey," Willow said hesitantly. "I was just . . . being pathetic. I sat in
the dorm, but I missed you. I kept remembering you, and today, and stuff and
. . . here I am."

Buffy kissed her nose and took her hand. "I'm glad. I missed you too. We're
pathetic."

"But in a good way."

"Yeah."

They walked further into the magic shop but turned as the bell above the
door rang.

Tara stood nervously in the doorway. "Uh, hi."

"Hey," Willow greeted, echoed by her friends. "Come on in. I was hoping you'
d find us. We've got a brand, spanking new evil to research. It's gonna be
fun, in a sad, weird, demony sort of way."

Buffy smiled as she watched her partner speak, carefully quenching the
flames of jealousy.

"Uh, ok, I'd love to help," Tara said hesitantly. "If you're sure I'm not
going to be in the way."

"Uh-uh, totally not," Willow insisted. "We need all the help we can get. I
meant that in a good way though."

"I know," Tara said quickly, moving further into the shop.

The welcome from everyone appeared to relax her and she joined the Gang at
the table to research. Buffy took a seat next to Willow and this time she
actually managed to take in some of the words in her books. The peace lasted
ten minutes before a blond haired, obnoxious man disturbed them. Tara had
her back to the shop so did not notice he was there until he spoke. Buffy
was interested to note, though, that the blonde witch stiffened as soon as
the man spoke.

"So, all these books got spells in them?" he asked, eyeing their collection
of open books. "Turn people into frogs, that sort of thing?"

"Yeah, we're building a race of frog-people," Xander said sarcastically. "It
's a good time."

The blond man grinned. "So, uh, you all witches? Hey, don't turn me into a
frog now!"

Buffy was relieved when Giles left his post at the counter and approached
their table. "Was there something in particular you were looking for?"

"Nah, I think I already found it," the man said with a strange smile. "Hi
Tara."

Tara's eyes widened and she turned, her shoulders dropping despondently. "Hi
Donny."

"You know each other?" Willow asked.

"What, you didn't tell them about your big brother?" Donny asked with a
cheerful grin. "Shame on you."

"I, uh, I . . . um, it . . ." Tara stuttered, her eyes darting nervously
around the room.

Almost as though there had been a signal, the door to the magic shop opened
with a cheerful ring from the bell and an older man entered accompanied by a
blonde girl a few years older than Tara. Buffy watched as panic and fear
flowed across Tara's face before the blonde girl stood and faced the older
man.

"Uh, Dad, hi," she said reluctantly.

"Well, here's my girl," Tara's father said.

Tara moved forwards and hugged the older man awkwardly as the rest of the
Gang unconsciously formed into a protective group behind her. The vibes
coming from the family reunion were all wrong, feeling more of fear than
joy, and they reacted in the same way they would with any of their number.

"S-such a s-surprise," Tara stammered as she pulled back.

"Yeah," Donny agreed, smiling viciously.

Tara turned to the woman next to her father. "Cousin Beth."

"Hey," Beth said with a smile.

"One of your dorm-mates said I might find you here," Mr Maclay said, eyeing
the shop with a frown.

"Oh. Oh, uh, these are my friends," Tara said, turning away from him and
gesturing to the group. "Um, this is Mr Giles. Uh, he runs the shop."

The confidence that had been growing in Tara's voice earlier was rapidly
draining away and Buffy had to fight her instinct to push Mr Maclay out of
the shop; all of her senses were telling her that he was not to be trusted.
Thankfully Giles was slightly more diplomatic.

"How do you do?" he asked pleasantly.

Mr Maclay ignored him and turned to Tara instead. "I know that we've come on
you kind of suddenly, but I thought we could have dinner."

"Ok," Tara said slowly.

"Why don't we pick you up at six? And we'll do some catching up."

"Yes sir."

Mr Maclay finally deigned to notice the rest of the group. "Forgive me for
running out. We're double parked."

The man gestured to Donny and Beth and they followed him out of the shop.

"That was, uh, weird," Willow said after a beat. "Your whole family. Just in
time for your birthday."

"Yeah," Tara said, and again Buffy thought she could see a brief flash of
panic in her eyes.

"They seem nice," Willow added, determinedly cheerful.

"You know, they-they're ok," Tara said. "Families are always-"

"They make you crazy," Willow said with a roll of her eyes.

Somehow, Buffy had the feeling that this was understating matters. She may
have her problems with Joyce, and Willow rarely even saw her parents, but
the vibes between Tara and her family were something much more intense. She
kept her thoughts to herself, though, as she joined the rest of the group at
the table to research.

***

"Are you sure this is going to be ok?" Willow asked as Buffy opened the
front door.

"Totally. You heard mom; you're welcome here any time," she reassured her
partner. "And I need to check on Dawn before we get down to the research, so
you have to be here."

They walked into the hallway and almost ran into Dawn.

"See ya later," Dawn said cheerfully.

Buffy frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. "Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Where do you think you're going?"

Willow could almost predict the next segment. She may never have had an
older sister but she had watched Buffy with Dawn for years . . . and gave a
mental wince as she realised again that in fact she hadn't. All the memories
she had of Dawn, at least up until the recent ones, were created by
something else.

"I'm going to Melinda's for dinner," Dawn said.

"Since when?"

Another mental wince as Willow heard Buffy's 'stern mother' tone. This was
not going to go well.

"Now-ish," Dawn said, uncertainly.

"You can't. I-it's not safe for you to walk there."

"It's just across the street. What is the big deal? I'm just gonna go-"

"No, it's family night," Buffy said, glancing at Willow. "And besides,
Melinda's a bad influence. I don't like you hanging out with someone that .
. . short."

Dawn glared at Buffy. "I'm so glad you're moving back home. This is the
source of my gladness."

She ran up the stairs leaving Buffy looking after her helplessly.

"Buff, don't you think you were a little harsh?" Willow asked, bracing
herself.

"Harsh? Will, you know what's happening. What could happen. I have to
protect her."

"There's protecting and there's encouraging rebellion and strife. She's just
a kid; she has no idea what's going on. If you come down on her like that
she'll just start sneaking out and lying."

"Why would she do that?"

Willow gave Buffy a disbelieving look. "Er, she had a role model in that
kinda thing?"

"Who?"

Shaking her head, Willow sighed. "Buff, what were you doing when you were
her age?"

"I was just about to be called to be the Slayer. And I . . . oh."

"Yeah, oh."

"What should I do?"

"Talk to her?" Willow suggested. "Let her do stuff, with supervision? I
mean, you could just walk her over to Melinda's and walk her back when she's
done. Not a biggie, but it would probably help."

"Maybe I could."

"There's no maybe about it. I'm gonna go talk to Tara; you talk to Dawn. We
can meet at the magic shop later."

"Do you think Tara's ok? She looked pretty . . ."

"That's what I'm gonna find out."

Buffy looked around before giving Willow a quick kiss. "Thanks. I love you."

"Love you too."

***

Willow stood uncertainly at the door to Tara's room. Sure, they were friends
but their friendship could never go back to the way it was. Would she be
intruding? Would Tara even want to talk about whatever was going on with her
family? Taking her courage in both hands she knocked at the door. Through
the door she heard a thump and then footsteps approaching before it opened.

"Hey," she said nervously.

Tara turned and walked back into the room. "Hey."

It was not exactly the response Willow had been looking for. "How was
dinner?"

Tara shrugged as she sat down on the bed and began an intensive study of the
quilt.

"Okaaay," Willow drawled. "There's Scoobyage afoot. Giles called a meeting
about our brand spankin' new menace."

"Oh . . . y-you should go. You don't need me for that," Tara protested
weakly. "You can fill me in later."

Willow moved to kneel next to Tara. "Look, if this whole 'friends' thing is
too much you just have to say so. I mean, I'll miss it but I don't want to
hurt you."

"It's not that. I'm just tired."

"Sure?"

"Yeah. My family's here and . . . I'm tired."

The redheaded witch eyed her friend dubiously. "All right. I'll fill you in
tomorrow then."

"Thanks."

She closed the door behind her and spent a few minutes standing in the hall,
thinking. Something in there had felt very wrong. It was as though Tara had
been trying to tell her something, without having to tell her, and she had
no idea what it was.

***

Willow rushed into the magic shop, panting slightly. Standing thinking in
the hallway had significantly delayed her and she hated being late. "Hey. Am
I late? Did I miss an exposition?"

She took a seat next to Buffy, who squeezed her hand lightly under the
table. It was a reassuring gesture and she smiled at the blonde Slayer and
squeezed back. She turned her head and realised that Dawn was watching them
curiously. Wincing internally, she resigned herself to playing the friends
routine while the younger girl was around.

Her attention was drawn back to Giles in time to catch him saying, "And, uh,
wanted to make sure we're all on the same page."

A bored Dawn interrupted. "Can I buy this?"

"No," Buffy said automatically.

"With my own money?"

"I let you come, now sit down and look studious," the Slayer replied.

Giles cleared his throat to regain their attention. "Well, first of all, I
wanted to talk to you about . . . safety. Um this creature could be-"

"Will be," Buffy corrected.

"Will be coming after Buffy, and possibly all of us." Willow caught Giles'
look and nodded her understanding; as the Slayer's partner she was the most
likely target of all of them. "Now, I may have a lead on this monk that
Buffy spoke of. There, there are a few orders that I-I've read up on-"

Willow suddenly heard a loud buzzing sound and the world titled dizzily. It
was gone so quickly that she decided that she had imagined it.

***

Willow was concentrating on the book in front of her, barely aware of Giles
and Anya 'disagreeing' by the counter. Translating as she went was tough,
but easier than trying to work out whatever Anya's new gripe was. That
concentration lasted until she heard Buffy's panicked shout from the
training room.

Her first instinct was to rush to Buffy's aid but she stopped when she saw
Xander being restrained by . . . nothing. He was struggling against
something invisible. Abruptly he flew backwards as though he had been
thrown. Rationalising that Buffy was a Slayer and therefore able to look
after herself, Willow picked up a chair to go Xander's aid. He was still
struggling, as if something was on top of him, so Willow began beating at
whatever-it-was. Xander sighed as something released him.

"Where'd it go?" Anya shouted behind her.

Something hard hit Willow in the chest and she was suddenly flying through
the air. The impact with the wall knocked the breath out of her and she sank
to the floor, gasping. As she lay on the floor, watching the stars spin
around her, she could see Giles pushing Dawn under a table. There was
nothing she could do to protect Buffy, but there was something she could do
to help. Wincing as her bruised muscles pulled, she crawled across the floor
to the table and crouched down next to Dawn.

"You ok?" she asked as a crash sounded from somewhere in the shop.

"Yeah," Dawn said shakily. "This is . . . interesting."

"Who needs movies?" Willow said with a weak smile. "The latest Mel Gibson?
Got nothing on a night out with Buffy."

"Yeah. If my friends knew I did stuff like this . . . well, they wouldn't
believe it."

***

A while later Buffy surveyed the man in front of her that called himself
Tara's father. Her own father might not have much in the parenting stakes,
but at least he was not trying to take her away from everything she cared
about. She may be slightly jealous of the hold Tara had on Willow, and she
may not understand the girl, but in the months that she had known her she
had become a part of their group. And their group had something in common -
they were family. The word family could mean all sorts of things, but she
firmly believed that family did not just include the people who were blood
relatives. It included the people you cared about, the people you would help
no matter the cost. Family could be chosen as well as born.

As that realisation came to her, she realised that it did not just apply to
Tara. If Tara was her family, then wasn't Dawn even more so? Dawn was her
blood and she loved her; that was more important than how long her sister
had been alive or why she had been sent. Family was not something that could
be put into words: it just was.

The decision settled on her and felt right. "We're family."

Mr Maclay looked as though he was about to spontaneously combust.

"Daaaad," Donny complained. "You - gonna let 'em just . . . Tara, if you don
't get in that car, I swear by god I will beat you down."

"And I swear by your full and manly beard that you're gonna break something
trying," Xander returned immediately.

Their little group must have looked threatening, and capable, because both
of the male Maclays stepped back.

"Well, I hope you'll all be happy hanging out with a disgusting demon," Beth
spat.

"E-excuse me, what kind?" Anya said with a note of professional curiosity.

"What?" Beth asked.

"What kind of demon is she? There's a lot of different kinds. Some are very,
very evil. And some have been considered useful members of society."

Anya and Xander exchanged grins.

"Well, I-I . . . what does it matter?"

"Evil is evil," Mr Maclay stated firmly.

"Well, let's just narrow it down," Anya suggested.

"Why don't we make this simple?" Spike asked.

He walked forwards and tapped Tara on the shoulder. When she turned he
quickly punched her in the face. Buffy managed to restrain her 'kill Spike'
instinct when she realised what he was doing, although it took the others a
little longer. As soon as his hand connected with the blonde witch's face
they both reeled back in pain.

"Oww!" Spike yelled.

"Hey!" Willow shouted angrily, and then realisation hit. "Hey . . ."

"He hit my nose," Tara said, her voice slightly muffled because she had her
hands over her nose.

"And it hurt!" Willow said happily. "Uh, him, I mean."

Exchanging glances with her partner, Buffy said, "And that only works on
humans."

"There's no demon in there," Spike added. "That's just a family legend, am I
right? Just a bit of spin to keep the ladies in line. Oh, you're a piece of
work. I like you."

Tara, sounding amazed, said softly, "I'm not a demon."

"You're not a demon," Willow confirmed.

"He hurt my nose."

"Aww."

"Yeah, you're welcome," Spike said huffily.

Buffy tore her attention away and fixed Mr Maclay with a glare, feeling Dawn
do the same next to her and Giles backing them up. "Now, unless you want to
make me very, very angry I suggest you leave."

"Mr Maclay, I would suggest your business here is done," Giles added, and
Buffy knew he was probably giving Tara's father his 'Ripper glare'.

"Tara," Mr Maclay said, trying one last appeal, "for eighteen years your
family has taken care of you and supported you. If you want to turn your bac
k-"

"Dad, just go," Tara said, turning away from him. "I have a family here, and
they accept me for myself."

***

Willow looked around the Bronze happily. There was a table covered with
presents, all of them opened with much 'ooh'ing and 'aah'ing and her friends
were having a good time. Dawn sat talking with Tara while Anya and Xander
tried to pretend they had not just spent ten minutes smooching in a corner.
Even Giles was bobbing to the beat.

She could feel Buffy approach even before she saw her, and reflected for a
moment. But the though was lost when Buffy took her hand and began pulling
her to the dance floor.

"What about Dawn?" she asked, looking back to the younger girl.

"I don't think Dawn minds you dancing one dance with someone else," Buffy
said with a grin.

"That wasn't what I meant. Didn't your mom leave specific, do not cross, do
not even bend rules about not letting Dawn see something she shouldn't?"

Buffy shrugged. "And what will Dawn see? Two friends, out on the
dance-floor, dancing."

Willow eyed her dubiously. "Uh, Buff, most friends don't dance like . . .
well, like you look like you want to dance."

Buffy pulled her close and wrapped her arms around the redhead's waist. "You
mean like this?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Willow said, trying not to lose her train of though as
tingles began spreading out from Buffy's hands to wash through her. "I think
this might be a bad idea."

"Know something? I don't care."

"You don't?"

"Nah. Dawn's old enough, and anyway, I think at the moment she's so busy
watching Xander she wouldn't notice if I did this."

Buffy pulled Willow slightly closer and kissed her. For a moment Willow
froze, still uncomfortable with public affection, but then she gave and
internal shrug. This place had seen much weirder, so why should she be
uncomfortable? She returned the kiss, tasting cola and chocolate cake,
closed her eyes. The world around her faded until it was just music and
Buffy in her arms.

To be continued (in part six, eventually)
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