FIC: Inner Battle (8/?)

["Roman" <rrivaso@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

TITLE (Tentative): Inner Battle
AUTHOR: Roman.
E-mail: rrivaso@xxxxxxxxxxxx
PAIRING: Buffy/Willow
DISCLAIMER: All BTVS characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. I'm just borrowing them for a little while and I'll retun them as undamaged as posible. <g>
SPOILERS: Set like 3 or 4 months after Who are you. Adam's still at large, or is he now?
SUMMARY : Let it be a surprise for now, ok?
DISTRIBUTION: A Slayer and a Hacker's and Bill LaBarbera's site are kindly hosting this story. If you want to place this on a website just e-mail me and I'll say yes.
FEEDBACK : Yes Please. Don't let me die of starvation.

What's this story, you ask? Well I stopped writting for a while mostly because I didn't find time to do so. It's been a very busy month but here I have a bit you might like. Half of it is beta read, the other half is not.

Recount: Strange things happen with the demon population in Sunnydale. We learn about Great Wars and armies of light and darkness. Buffy fights a warrior demon, Willow gets killed and the slayer doesn't take it very well. We left the slayer crying her heart out over her pillow after the events.
And we keep going....
 
*********************

Tara opened her eyes wondering what had woken her. She raised herself on her elbows and then it reached her. A muffled sound but one she could distinctly recognize as sobbing. She turned to her left and saw Buffy, her face buried in the pillow shaking with the force of her crying. The young Wicca got out of bed and was half way across the room when she stopped in mid motion, remembering what had happened earlier in the afternoon with Xander. She took a few cautious steps toward her before calling her name softly, gauging her reactions.

Buffy kept crying but the intensity seemed to diminish a little bit. Tara sat on the edge of the bed, cautiously reaching a hand out to touch the slayer, all the while making soothing noises, very much like comforting a hurt child.

"It's going to be ok Buffy"

The slayer head snapped up and she brushed the wiccas' hand aside. "No it's not! Willow is dead you know?! How come you're not a mess?? Weren't you supposed to be in love with her?!"

Tara looked down at their hands now resting on her lap and answered her voice barely a whisper. "I? I don't really know. Maybe.. hmm ...maybe I'm still in shock over wh..what happened. I just don't feel like...like she's really gone, you...you know? It'll probably hit me later on." The Wicca wouldn't meet the slayer's eyes, her demeanor showing her confusion and nervousness.

Buffy took a deep breath calming herself a bit and put her hand on Tara's. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that, I know you meant a lot to her. It really wasn't fair from me."

The young wicca took the slayer's hand and give it a squezze. "It's ok." Taras' eyes were still down. "I know she meant a lot to you." Now she looked up, her eyes filled with quiet knowledege and kinship met those of the slayer. "You ...you were also in love with her."

The slayer was taken aback, her eyes widening in shock and surprise. "How did you.... How did you know?"

"It really wasn't difficult to see." Tara answered with a little shrug. "It bothered me a bit at the beginning". The slayer was watching her intently and was making her feel a little selfconcious. "Bu..but then I realized that was just how things were, so...so I made peace with it."

The Slayer nodded. "And she was in love with you." She said, a little envy coloring her tone.

The Wicca continued, not really bothered from the tone, maybe even understanding where it came from. "She did love me and I'll always be grateful for the time we had together." She met the slayer's eyes again. "She was never sure of how you really felt about her and was too scared to ask you about it, because of what it would've done to your friendship."

The slayer seemed a little confused. "I don't understand why?. I mean, I know it would've been a little uncomfortable knowing your best friend is in love with you, but...it's happened before, you know? We could've dealt with it and kept being friends."

The look Tara gave her was one of pure sympathy. "You don't understand. She was in love with you, but she was so sure you didn't return those feelings. She wasn't sure you could love a woman like that. She was scared. A while back it kinda came up and I told her I knew she was in love with you. That's when we agreed to end up our relationship. She had been trying to work up her nerve to talk to you about it ever since."

Buffy's eyes widened in realization. "Last night! Last night she was going to tell me she loved me!" She exclaimed and suddenly felt a little self-conscious about her outburst. "I'm sorry, I didn't...."

Tara cut her off gently. "No it's ok. I had been encouraging her to talk to you."she took the salyer's hand once again. "I just wanted to see her happy, even if it wasn't with me. I loved her."

Tears welled up in the slayers eyes making them glimmer in the moonlight. "And I loved her too." She had to swallow the lump forming in her throat. "I loved her so much... and I never told her." She lowered her head. "So much time wasted, and now.... now...." The dam broke down and she started crying again, being held and comforted by the one other person in the world that could possibly understand what she was going through.

Her friend was dead. Her love was dead.

More so, her soul was dead.

****************************

Waking up was hard.

She felt like she had been asleep for just a couple of minutes after spending the day running 5 marathons in a row. Who would've thought that just opening one's eyes could be such hard work?. 

After seriously considered the not-getting-up-at-all option for an eternal moment, Willow made up her mind and sat up on her bed, intent on facing a new day in college.

Except that this was not her bed, nor her room. And if the forest she could see outside the window was not a poster planted there as a coed prank, she was not in UC Sunnydale at all.

Starting to feel a little panicky, she tried to remember the events of the previous day. She remembered waking up in Gile's house with Tara by her side, getting ready and then leaving to check the mansion she came across the previous night on the city archives. She remembered Buffy fighting that strange demon and her last memory was of a ball of green fire hitting her after she found herself unable to move to get out of its way. 

Now she was in what could be described as a guest room of some kind. The decor was standard, maybe a little medieval in its style. A night table, a dresser and a desk, not counting the bed she was laying on. No personal items on any of them, no pictures, no trinkets, all sign that this room was used mostly for passerbys.

There was a knock at the door that made the hacker jump. Said door opened up to give way to a tall brown haired woman, probably in her mid thirties, wearing a light blue leather armor and wool leggins stuffed at their bottom in boots of a darker shade of blue. Willow noticed she didn't seem to carry any weapons but the way she moved was efficient and predatory at the same time. Her well defined muscles told a story of strenght and power, but there was an aura of gentelness around her. Warrior was the word to describe her.

The woman entered the room and noticed Willow was up and about. "It was about time you wake up." She said with a smile. "You must be hungry. Interdimensional travel can be very taxing on humans. I have the midday meal prepared and wanted to see if you would join me."

Willow held up her hands making the sign for time out. "Wait a minute. I think I need a few answer before I join you anywhere" She stood up noticing with relief that she had the same clothes she remembered wearing the day before. "Who are you? What am I doing here? Where is here? You're not human?!"

"So many questions." The stranger smiled a bit. "My name is Lilith. As for why you're here, well talk about it later on, but I can tell you that you're safe and that your being here is of the most importance."

Lilith took a step back and waved his hand in half a circle indicating the sorroundings. "This in my house. It is located in a pocket that exists between dimensions, very difficcult to find. If you're not looking for it you'll easily miss it." She took a breath. "Your last question is a little complicated to answer. I'm human in most aspects. The only difference between you and me is that I'm inmortal." After seeing the look of fear that appeared on the redhead's face she added. "I'm not a vampire or any such creatures you've come to know so well. I was created this way a long time ago, soul and body, the whole package. You don't need to fear me at all, I'm here to help you and the chosen one."

Willow quickly close the space between them and grabbed Lillith's forearms, shaking her a little. "Buffy! Where is she?! Is she ok?!" She suddenly had an idea and shook the woman a little more."Is she here too?!"

The tall woman look at the readhead with amusement and circled the wrists of the hands holding her, gently pressing two points on them. The hands went limp for a second, instantly breaking the hold on her arms. "Calm down a little bit. The Chosen one is not hurt and she is still in the mortal realm."

"Can I talk to her? I want to make sure she knows I'm fine."

The self assured, cofident woman that was Lillith, suddenly seemed a little insecure. "Well, that can be a little tricky." Amazingly she actually fidgeted a little bit. "You see... she thinks you are dead." This emotional dealings were not exactly her area of expertise.

"What?! What do you mean dead?!" Realization dawn on her. "Wait. She thinks that demon killed me, doesn't she?"

Lillith nodded gravely. "Malcom. He was a dear friend." She held up a hand stopping the outburst that was surely coming from the readhead. "Let me explain. He was an Equalizer that infiltrated the army of Chaos during the last War. We needed someone on the inside and he took the job. After the last battle he was promoted by mistake and was unable to leave the army. He has been climbing the ranks throughout the years until he came to be in the elite circle of warriors closest to General Metuck. He had to endure a lot to get this particular assignment, and he knew very well what the outcome would be." A single tear rolled down her still impassive face. "He gave his life to transport you here so the test could take place. Do not judge him just because he was what you'd call a demon."

"Ok. I think I understand." Willow smiled a bit trying to sound and feel confident."I'm very good at tests. Bring it on and lets get this over with."

Lillith shook her head and smiled gently at her. "Not you young Willow. The Chosen one is the one being tested."

Willow suddenly felt weary. "Buffy? What kind of test is it?" She asked fearing the answer.

"We must know if she can go on without you."

TBC