FIC: Right In Front of You; Part 4/?

["Callistosdarkside" <callistosdarkside@xxxxxxxx>]

Here's chapter 4. Hope ya like?

-CDS

. Title: Right In Front of You; Part 4/?
. Author: Callisto's Dark Side
. Email: callistosdarkside@xxxxxxxx
. Feedback: The more I get, the faster I write.
. Distribution: Wherever. Just email me.
. Spoilers: Season 5 (Around Tough Love or So)
. Rating: R
. Pairing: W/T & B/W
. Disclaimer: All characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to the
almighty Joss Whedon and Company, and are only being borrowed for the fun
and enjoyment of us, the super fans.
. Summary: Willow/Tara fic in which the two love birds must manage to deal
with the consequences of a spell that threatens to tear them apart forever.

Chapter 4

Sitting under the surprisingly normal-looking tree, Tara, Dawn and Glory
rested. After what seemed like an endless walk through the woods and an
endless amount of complaining by Glory, Tara thought it would be best to
take a rest at the edge of the forest. Not too far away the girls could
make out a dirt path. Tara figured they could just hide behind the tree and
wait for someone to pass by.

With her neck out around the tree trunk, Tara surveyed the surroundings
hoping to find the source of the noise they just heard. Unfortunately, it
was just a rabbit-like creature that had been digging a hole in the ground,
so she hid back behind the cover of the tree.

"What was it?" Dawn asked.

"Just a rabbit, or something that looked like one."

"Could we kill it?" Glory asked, her eyes gleaming with a sense of power.

"No!" Tara and Dawn said in unison.

"Sorry, but don't you guys have to eat or something."

"Yes, but not something so cute," Tara replied.

"Well, not everyone thinks they're cute and besides, I think I'm kinda
hungry too," Glory complained.

"Oh, that reminds of something," Tara said while grabbing Dawn's arm
excitedly.

"What? Me being hungry?" Glory rubbed her stomach.

"No, the not being cute part. You see once me and Willow played this
practical joke on Anya."

"No way," Dawn smiled, her eyes lighting up.

"Ahhhhh," Glory grabbed her head, "If I have to hear you talk about Willow
one more time, I think I'm gonna puke."

"Well then cover your ears," Dawn suggested.

"You know what? I think I'll do you one better. Since I don't have my God
ears anymore, I'll just go sit over there." Glory pointed to a small
clearing not too far away while getting up to leave.

"Fine with us," Dawn said, turning her attention back to Tara. "So, what'd
you guys do?"

"Well," Tara smiled mischievously, "You know how Anya hates bunnies?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"And you know how she loves money?"

"Uh huh."

"Willow suggested we give her the best of both worlds. So we put bunny
stickers on all the bills in the cash register."

"Oh my God," Dawn laughed. "I can't believe you didn't tell me. I would
have paid to see that."

"It was priceless," Tara smiled.

"Well, next time include me in on the scheming."

"I don't think there will be a next time."

"Oh, right, trapped in this dimension."

"No, actually I meant that Giles made us promise to never scare Anya like
that ever again. As for being stuck in this dimension," Tara checked to
make sure Glory was far enough away, "I think I can get us back home," Tara
whispered softly.

"What?"

"If we can find some spell books in this dimension, I should be able to use
a translation spell to translate the books and figure out a way to get us
home, assuming they aren't already in English."

"Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"I didn't want Glory to overhear us."

"No, I mean before. If I had known about this spell, I would have never
flunked my last French test."

"You flunked a test?"

"Well, yeah," Dawn said sadly, "Actually I never took it." Dawn drooped her
shoulders.

"Why didn't you." Tara was about to asked, but one look into Dawn's eyes and
she already knew the answer.

Tara had gone through the same thing when her mother died. Hopefully
though, she could help Dawn through the tough times and bring her home as
well.

******

"Here," Buffy bent down on her knees and held out a clear glass of water to
Willow's face, which just peaked out from under the covers.

Willow shook her head.

"You have to drink some time," Buffy said, bringing the rim of the glass to
Willow's lips.

Willow scrunched her nose in irritation and brought the covers up over her
head, knocking the glass out of Buffy's hand, but the Slayer's quick
reflexes caught it just before it hit the ground. Unfortunately, there was
nothing she could do about the water.

"Will," Buffy pleaded, "I know it hurts, but you have to get out of bed some
time."

"Don't wanna," Willow said, her voice slightly muffled by the covers.

"Look, how do you expect to get them back if you stay in bed all day."

"Tara burned the book, there's no way we can get them back."

"I know, but doesn't Giles have books that might help."

Willow brought the covers down just enough to see the concern on Buffy's
face.

"Maybe. But even if he does, we still don't know where they went. Tara
told me the spell was random."

"Random?"

Willow nodded and wiped away a tear with the edge of the covers. "The spell
sends them to a random dimension. That means the only way to get them back
is to know the reversal spell, and Tara burned that."

Buffy clenched her teeth, not believing that Tara would do something so
stupid as to burn the reversal spell. Fighting the urge to curse Tara in
front of Willow, Buffy closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"But what if one of Giles' books has the same spell? Won't we be able to
reverse it then?"

"Maybe, but Tara told me that the book she had was one of a kind."

"Ever think she might be lying?" Buffy snapped.

"What?" Willow almost cried, on the verge of bursting into tears again.

"Sorry Will, I didn't mean that the way it sounded," Buffy swallowed, hoping
Willow couldn't read her eyes, "But what if Tara told you all this so you
wouldn't try to find a way to reverse the spell."

"You mean lie to me." Willow's eyes began to water again. She shook her
head, "No, she would never do that."

Buffy cupped Willow's cheek and forced the Wiccan to look her in the eyes,
"I know it's hard for you to accept, but sometimes the people you love might
lie to you to protect you."

"Would you lie to me?"

Buffy looked down, feeling guilty that she had already lied to her just a
second ago, "Yes," Buffy admitted painfully.

"You would?" Willow asked, shocked that Buffy would betray their trust.

"You have to understand Will, if your life was in danger and I had to lie to
protect you, I would do that in a heartbeat. I only hope you would do the
same for me."

Willow stared deeply into her best friend's now watering eyes imagining the
possibility of having to lie to save Buffy's life, "I would."

Buffy smiled and kissed Willow on the forehead, "I'm glad we've accepted
lying to each other."

That statement brought out a small smile from Willow as well, "Okay, but
let's make a pact that we'll only do it if it's life or deathy."

"Deal." Buffy hugged her tightly and closed her eyes, "I love you Will."

Buffy's heart raced as she waited for a response. Willow didn't say
anything for several seconds; rather she relished the intimate bond that she
had with Buffy.

"I love you too Buffy," Willow finally answered.

Buffy's heart lifted, although she couldn't figure out why she had thought
Will wouldn't say it too, after all, she always did.

To be continued.