Finding The Slayer (4/?) B/W

Part Four

Willow woke to muffled cries; groggily she looked around the hospital room. The pre-dawn light coming through the window allowed her to see the room clearly. She couldn?t find the source of the sobs she heard, Buffy was fine, resting peacefully for a change. Willow started to take her right hand to rub the sleep out of her eyes when she realized that the Slayer still had it in her strong grip. She didn?t want to disturb her sleeping friend so she used her left hand, only to discover tears.

She stared at the wetness on her fingers, willing the cobwebs to clear, and finally, pieces of the dream came floating back to her.

She felt a soft tug on her right and looked up into hungry bright green eyes. The eyes of the Slayer ? the hunter ? her mate.

Willow could feel an awakening, a tingling, that began in base of her spine and slowly moved up to the crown of her head. It was burning away the fog that her life as Willow Rosenberg created. She was still Willow, still the computer hacker, still daughter to Ira and Shelia Rosenberg, Alexander Harris' best friend, and a student at Sunnydale High School. And not to be forgotten, she was also Buffy Anne Summers' friend, confidant, and helper in the fight against evil.

But she was also the Chosen Witch to the Slayer.

Willow felt dizzy and leaned back into her chair ? the dream, memories of another life fading ? she closed her eyes trying to capture just a piece of the realization, that sheand Buffy were lovers out of time, but that too slipped away.

When she opened her eyes again, she was only Willow and she was looking into the confused hazel eyesof her best friend, Buffy.

?Hey Will,? Buffy said to her, lifting up their clasped hands and placing a single kiss on Willow?s palm. Then the blonde gave Willow a small smile - the hacker didn?t think she would ever see anything more beautiful. She couldn?t help, didn?t want to try to stop, the goofy grin she could feel splitting her face in half.

?Buffy! You?re awake!? She paused, ?are you awake, awake, or going to right back to sleep awake?? She needed to know because Giles had left instructions to call the nurse immediately if Buffy regained consciousness enough to talk to her.

?Actually, I feel kind of good, considering how messed up I was?.? Buffy answered. She flexed herother arm, the one not holding on to Willow, and moved her legs.

Willow stared in shock. ?Hey, your right leg moved!? She told Buffy excitedly. ?The doctors and Mr. Travers thought you had some kind of nerve damage.? She explained when the blonde gave her a questioning look.

?Well, it?s all fine now.? She told Willow. When she yawned again and began a slow bone popping stretch, the red head got an image of a big satisfied panther waking up from a long nap.

Willow noticed Buffy watching her intently and the hacker started blushing at being caught by her best friend.

She turned away from knowing hazel eyes and hit the call switch for the nurse. A fine blonde brow raised in question.

?Giles said to call the nurse when you woke up.? She gave a shrug, ?you?ve been quite a handful.?

?Oh? Buffy said and lay back, sinking into the pillows. "I was hoping we could have some more alone time."

The blonde tugged on Willow?s arm, silently asking for the hacker to sit up on the bed.

The red head watched her friend look toward the window; she seemed to be trying to decide something. After a few seconds Buffy let outa deep sigh and turned back to face Willow.

?Will, I?ve been having these crazy dreams and I think they might mean ?.?

?Miss Summers you?re awake!? A plump, middle-aged brunette nurse, said from the doorway.

Startled, Willow jumped off of Buffy's bed, to stand out of the way. Then was immediately sorry when her best friend gave her an agonized look.

?I?m Robbie, your night nurse.? The nurse said as she came tentatively into the room; apparently she had been warned about Buffy.

?How do you feel?? The nurse asked picking up Buffy?s wrist. ?Any headache, dizziness??

?No,? she answered the nurse flatly. Willow thought that Robbie was acting strange. For one thing her hands were trembling, and she kept looking toward the door as if expecting someone to walk in at any moment.

?I have to shinea light into your eyes?? Robbie turned the statement into a question by her tone of voice. At Buffy?s nod she barely leaned over the injured blonde before declaring everything fine and dandy.

The nurse then slowly, carefully, appearing ready to bolt out the door at the slightest protest from Buffy, lifted the covers off of blonde's feet. She folded the blankets neatly over; she took out a needle and ran it down the bottom of the Slayer?s right foot.

?Do you feel this?? She asked, and then had to jump back when Buffy?s foot nearly took off her head.

?Yes.? The blonde answered, giving Willow a wink.

?Ok Miss SummersI?ll get out of your hair and let you visit with your friend in just a second; just let me check your IV.? Roberta said with what Willow felt was a fake smile. ?Oh your IV has stopped.? Nurse Robbie said, pulling out a syringe.

Willow noticed Buffy cringe.

?Its just Heparin, we use it to clean clots out of IV lines.? The nervous nurse rushed to explain, now clearly frightened. ?It shouldn?t be painful and you shouldn?t feel a thing.? She added hastily.

As she injected the IV line the nurse rambled on. ?If we can keep this line open then I won?t have to stick you again? Okay all done!?

They watched as the nurse nearly dashed out of the room.

?Well, I guess Iwas slightly more than a handful, huh?? The Slayer laughed.

?Yes, I would say so.? Willow said walking back over to her best friend?s bed. Something about Robbie the RN bothered her but she didn?t know why.

Buffy seemed to sink down into the bed, her eyes starting to close. Then she shook herself awake.

?Sorry Will, I?m just getting so tired.? She said slurring her words slightly. ?I?ve been having these weirddreams?.? The blonde said, drifting. She shook her head again, struggling keep awake. "Dreams about you and?."

The red head watched as her friend drifted off.

Willow sighed and sat back down in her chair. She really wanted to talk to Buffy about the Councilman trying to convince Mrs. Summers to let him take Buffy to England.

But she guessed itwasn't important now that Buffy was getting better. She looked at the clock, it was too early to call Mrs. Summers and give her the good news, and Giles would be here anyway in an hour or so?. She picked up Buffy?s limp hand and decided to go back to sleep.

The Chosen Witch of the Slayer stood before the Creator.

?You?ve finally found her.? The Creator told her.

?Yes, I have.?But the joy she should be feeling was muted. It should be a time of great celebration; instead she was sad and empty.

?You still have a long journey before you can restore the balance; the men that want to stop you aren?t evil, just misguided.? The Creator intoned. ?I can not interfere with the works of man, they have Free Will.?

And the Witch knewwhat the Creator was warning; she wanted revenge. She wanted to rip the souls that have caused evil to run unchecked with their stupidity, into tiny little pieces and scatter them in the cosmos!

"How can that be, that they are so misguided? You have sent them your laws and rules in many different forms, many different ways?allthey have to do is just ask you!" The Witch demanded answers.

"They never read or listen to the whole story; they take bits and pieces and think they know it all." The Creator explained to its child. "These men truly believe that they walk with my blessings, they think the second Slayer is a gift from me, and not as it should be. But it is they who have weakened the line of Slayers so much by their misguided actions. It is their fault that there is just one Slayer to fight all the evil in the world, instead of an army."

The Witch kept silent, trying to understand the Creator, and realized that it was beyond her.

All she really wanted was for her love to be with her now. For them tobe able to walk in the sun again, hand in hand. To be able fight the forces of Darkness shoulder to shoulder, back to back, to return once again to the cycle of life ? together.

She could feel the compassion from the Creator engulf her and soothe her grief.

?I can grant youone wish; I can clear her mind and give you one dream together. You will not remember it in the waking world; for those are the rules of rebirth. But she will be able to, and shewill be able to draw comfort from it.? The Creator told the Witch. ?The choice is yours/?

It wasn?t an easy choice to make; what if the Slayer, after all this time, rejected her, or what if they failed in their quest and they would never be able to meet again? What if that was all her love would ever have to remember her by?

?Yes, please! If I?m never going to hold her in life, then let me hold her in our dreams.?

And she was instantly in their favorite meeting place. The world she had created out of time, all those many years ago, so that they could meet safely, without worry of intrusion from Evil or man. She looked down and saw the form she had found most attractive, not that it mattered to her mate. She loved her regardless of her outer shell.

She heard the growling greeting and the Black Panther form her mate liked to take in the spirit world appeared in front of her. Her mate sat down and asked if they could go hunting together ? so she took on theform of her favorite spirit ? a spotted Leopard. If her mated wanted to hunt first, they would hunt?.

They leaped into the air, and stalked through the sky, silent eyes peering from night passing clouds, searching the skies for the soulless intruders. Stalking, hunting, running through air, the black of the panther, her green eyes glowing in the dark and the sleek spots of the leopard, waiting, watching, free!

As their dance across the nighttime heavens continued they would take paths that brought them closer together, sometimes touching, or paths sometimes miles apart, but always moving to the inevitable?.

They landed in their human forms on the soft grass of their place, their dance taking on a different and more frenzied pace?. Always touching with both mind and body, the spirit being blessed by the sharing.

Until they lay sated and at peace.

The Witch turned over in the golden Slayer?s arms. ?I have so missed you.? And the tears started, followed by the outpouring of pain.

?It wasn?t your fault.? The Slayer told her love, her soul, while softly stroking silky red hair. ?It was mine, I should have trusted in the cycle, trusted in your words?. Please forgive me.? And now it was the mighty Slayer, the Creator?s favorite's, turn to cry at the injustice of being denied her true love for all these thousands of years.

?We can not think of failure, we must only think about restoring the rightful balance between good and evil or this world, that we have sworn to protect, will be doomed.? The Witch told her lover.

?Yes,? Slayer agreed. ?It's time for us to go back tothe fight, right the wrong. It is time feel the heat, the passion, that only flesh and blood will bring.? The Slayer winked at her lover?.

Then she disappeared.

?Willow, wake up.? She woke to see Mrs. Summers standing over her and the sunlight of mid-morning shining through the window.

?Willow, Buffy?s no better? I'm worried that the gang that followed her from LA will attack her again?.? Mrs. Summers paused, and even half-asleep Willow knew that something wasn?t right. She dreaded to hear what Buffy?s mother was about to say.

?I?ve decided to let Mr. Giles take her to England?.?

End of Part Four

TBC