FF: Stranger in my house (5/?)

["Christeen Demons" <Shyfox30@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey gang..here's the new chapter as promised...It's loooong this time, so I 
hope you enjoy it.LOL

Disclaimer: Characters of Buffy the vampire Slayer belong to Joss...this 
story line is of my own creation.


Chapter Five: Where the wild things are.

Everywhere I go you're in my shadow.
When I turn around there's no one there.
Now, it's a real bad sign, I'm walking on a real thin line.
A fool in love with a fool that doesn't care.
Wynona Judd

By the time Xander, Willow, and Oz had made it through the crowd and outside 
of the club, Buffy had already disappeared into the darkness of the city 
streets. "Oh...great. This is just...great." Willow said, searching the 
empty street fretfully. "Take her to the Bronze,
they said. What a wonderful idea. Why didn't I suggest that?" She mumbled 
to herself, knowing she was being spiteful but not quite able to stop 
herself. Xander and Oz shot her guilty looks while continuing to search the 
dark alleyways for any sign of her. Oz had his head back, sniffing the air, 
using his wolf senses to try to get a fix on her direction. "What am I 
going to tell Mrs. Summers, the other Mrs. Summers I mean? I told her I'd 
watch over Buffy, and now she's gone."

"Don't worry Will. We'll find her." Xander said, trying to reassure his 
best friend, just before Oz turned to them.

"She's this way." He said, then took off across the street, following her 
scent.

*****

"Here you are." Giles said softly, handing Joyce one of the glasses of wine 
he held in his hands.

"Thank you, Rupert." Joyce said, shifting as he took a seat on the couch 
beside her, falling easily into the comfort of the arm he put around her 
shoulders and the strong shoulder on which she rested her head. She had 
missed this, she reflected quietly.

After the trauma of having her daughter in a coma, and then having to keep 
Buffy and Willow seperated, finding time to be together recently had 
dwindled down to zero. The events of the last few weeks had created a lot 
of stress for all of them and their relationship had taken a battering as a 
result. Not that either of them had found blame with the other for the turn 
their lives had taken, that would be like blaming Buffy for falling off of 
the building in the first place. But they were glad for the reprieve that 
allowed them some much needed time together, and a chance to regroup and 
reconnect with each other.

After a few moments of peaceful reflection, a disturbing thought crept into 
Joyce's psyche, preventing her from relaxing. "You don't think this was a 
bad idea, do you?" She asked, taking a slow sip of her Chablis.

"The Chablis?" Giles asked, looking down into the most beautiful hazel eyes 
he'd ever seen, he got caught in the gold specks flashing merrily back at 
him, though he could see the shadows that outlined the eyes, giving proof of 
the harrowing hours they'd both spent. "No, the '76 was a pretty good year, 
though I think the '72 was better." He commented
finally, swirling the contents of his wine glass before taking a long sip.

Joyce shot him a look, wondering if he was playing with her. "No...you know 
what I mean...Buffy." She held up a hand forestalling the protest she could 
sense forming on his lips. "I trust Willow. I do. It's just that there 
are so many...creatures out there that are just waiting for my daughter to 
show some sign of weakness so that they can use it against
her. That doesn't leave me feeling very secure."

"I understand how you feel, truly I do..." Giles sighed.

"But." She could sense a but coming from him by the way he was staring 
pensively into his wine glass.

"But...I think the boys may have had the right idea. A lot of Buffy's 
memories are wrapped up in that place, not all of them good, I 
agree...but..."

"Wait a minute." Joyce inturrupted him again, putting her wine glass down 
on the coffee table before looking at him again, an intense seriousness 
taking over her features. "Are you telling me that Buffy could experience 
some negative memories...Slayer memories...by going to that place?"

"Part of Buffy IS the Slayer. Whether or not those memories are negative, 
if we're to get her back at all, chances are it will be that Slayer half 
that will do most, if not all, of the work. We need the Slayer to get her 
back."

*****

Buffy ran until her chest felt like it was on fire and she couldn't run 
anymore. She was still weak from her injuries and she was amazed she'd been 
able to run so far. Stopping to look around herself she realized that she 
was surrounded by marble headstones and statues of fallen war heroes. It 
took a few seconds to click, but then suddenly it hit her where she had 
ended up. She was in a graveyard...alone...at night. Great.

"Very uncool, Buffy. First you freak out in a club, probably scaring your 
friends silly. Wind up running like a wild loon for who knows how long, and 
now you're in a graveyard after dark where any number of creepo's can reach 
out and grab you. And you don't even have a clue as to which way home is." 
She grumbled to herself, starting to shiver as she looked around the dark 
landscape. "Why don't you just tattoo 'Victim here.' on your ass?"

"Not a bad idea...although it would look incredibly tacky." A beautiful 
blonde emerged from the shadows lit faintly by the shaded moon hanging in 
the dark night sky and trailed by three rugged looking men. As she walked, 
or rather glided, closer, Buffy could tell that even though the woman was 
undoubtedly beautiful, there was a certain vacuousness to her
face that lent it an eerie air. Something about the group sent the hackles 
rising on the back of her neck, sending warning signals flashing through her 
brain and she stared at them warily, preparing...preparing for what she 
didn't quite know, but she could feel her fists clenching by her sides and 
her adrenaline was shooting through the roof.

<Buffy want out>

"Well, didn't we get lucky boys? All alone with no help in sight. See, I 
told you being under me would be to your advantage." The blonde told her 
minions, a superficially bright smile lighting her face. Which disappeared 
when one of them made a smart assed remark. "Not in your wildest dreams 
Rodrigo." She told the one who had made it, a snarl marring the beauty of 
her face, before she turned her attention back to the petrified blonde, 
standing inert with fear. "We'll become famous as the ones who killed the 
almighty Slayer."

<Buffy want out!>

'Slayer? What the heck is a Slayer? Better yet...who is the Slayer?' 
Buffy had time to ask herself before the goons moved in on her position, 
their faces changing dramatically in the moonlight until they resembled how 
Willow had looked at the Bronze. 'Never mind that! Run!' Her instincts 
screamed at her, urging her feet to move. She was moving across the gently 
sloping lawn before she had another chance to look back, moving as if the 
hounds of hell were on her heels, which in fact they were, and closing in 
fast if the sounds she heard coming from behind her were any indication.

<Buffy Want Out!!!>

They were letting out wild hoots as they drew closer, the sound of madness 
in the air as she could practically feel them coming up behind her, reaching 
out to knock her off balance and off her feet. She tumbled to the ground, 
rolling on impact and looking up into the faces of her attackers.

She tried to fight them off, but they were on her all at once, their 
strength unbelievable as they held her struggling body still. She strained 
futilely against the arms that held her, feeling her eyes bulging as she 
stared up into their flashing white incisors, gleaming
wickedly in the moonlight. "Now don't forget, I get her neck." Harmony 
said, approaching over the manicured lawn. She knelt before her victim, the 
smile on her face belying the evil intent in her heart.

'BUFFY WANT OUT!!!!" The voice in her head started shouting, protesting the 
circumstances, demanding to be let out as imaginery fists beat against her 
iron strong will, which was weakening with her ever growing terror.

It was the shifting face of the blonde that did it...the sight of her 
licking her long incisors as if she was anticipating an extremely tasty 
meal. She felt something give way inside her head, as if something that she 
had shut away was breaking it's way free, intent only on
getting to the outside. Her consciousness faded against the stronger 
presence demanding it's way into total control, and she could only hope that 
it knew what it was doing.

Harmony watched her prey, delighting in the anticipation as she bent her 
head slowly forward, almost tasting the thick blood of the Slayer as she 
angled her head watching the Slayer's eyes with glee. It was then that she 
noticed that the look in those eyes had changed from terrified submission to 
a totally wild and feral aggression. Harmony's goons
were taken by surprise by the sudden surge in strength as the more primitive 
side of Buffy broke free, shoving her attackers off of her in one violent 
move that sent them all sprawling.

"Buffy no like." She growled low in her throat as she advanced on the 
hapless vampires, intent only on destroying those that had tried to hurt 
her. They took one look at the advancing Slayer, looked at each other for 
a brief second, wondering if they were all thinking the same thing, then 
started backing up as fast as their feet would take them.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going? Get back here! We have a Slayer to 
kill! Guys?...Guys! You're supposed to listen to me! I'm your mistress! 
You guys are worthless without me!" Harmony started screaming at her 
minions, even as they kept going, their only intent to get away from the 
savage looking Slayer, not even caring what it
made them look like. "Come back!" Harmony screamed, just before she turned 
to look at the steadily advancing Slayer.

Buffy growled at her again, sounding more primal than Harmony had even 
thought of being. "Uh...no harm meant, Buffy." Harmony said, as she backed 
up rapidly from the Slayer. "We can still be friends, right?" She asked, a 
note of hope in her voice, which the Slayer quickly dispelled by another 
savage growl. "Uh...guys....Wait for me!" She called, hating the crack of 
fear in her voice, turning her back on the Slayer, hoping she wasn't about 
to get staked as she ran off after her minions.

The cave-Slayer watched them until they were out of sight, disgusted that 
they had just ran away. She'd wanted to bonk them on the heads...or break 
their arms off and beat them with the detached limbs. Not getting her 
satisfaction, she sighed heavily, feeling slightly
disgruntled at the missed opportunity. She looked around the empty 
graveyard, looking for something to catch her interest, but when nothing 
readily appeared, she gave up the search. "Buffy tired." She grumbled, 
sitting down on a nearby gravestone, closing her eyes, wishing she knew 
where her Lifemate was so she could bury her head in the soft scented hair 
and go to sleep.

*****

'She just had to end up in a Graveyard.' Willow thought, not without a 
certain amount of irony, rolling her eyes slightly, as she followed Oz, who 
was taking the lead as he tracked the scent. "Are you sure she's in here?" 
Willow asked, as they searched the empty graveyard.

Oz sent her a look which pretty much said, 'the nose always knows.' "I'm 
picking up her scent...it's really strong now...along with..." Oz stopped 
for a second, not quite sure he wanted to say the next few words. "About 
three or four Vampires."

"Oh god...Buffy..." Willow said, moving faster, hoping her worst fears 
wouldn't be confirmed when they found her. Suddenly she spotted her, 
resting on a gravestone, and as she got closer she could tell that the 
Slayer's eyes were closed. "B...Buffy?" She called out to her, her voice 
cracking on the name.

"Buffy?" She called her again, reaching out tentatively to touch the nearby 
shoulder. The blue eyes opened, and looked up at her, bewilderment swimming 
in their pale depths.

"Will? How did you...?" She looked around at her surroundings, as if she 
were seeing them for the first time. "How did I get here?"

Willow stared at her for a second, confusion marring her features. 
"You...you don't remember?"

"I remember being in the cemetary." Buffy said slowly, flashes of gnashing 
teeth and being chased coming to her like a distant dream. "But how I came 
to be sitting on this headstone? I haven't got a clue."

"Wow...talk about phase out." Xander whispered to himself, staring at Buffy 
as if she had three heads. Willow shot him a look, thinking the comment a 
little insensitive, then turned her attention back to Buffy.

"Well...you're tired...and you're still recovering." Willow said, as if 
that could explain Buffy's feeling of displacement. "We...we should 
probably get you back home."

Buffy looked up at her, suddenly remembering what she had done at the Bronze 
and felt an embarrassing flush flooding her cheeks. She examined her 
friends, seeing the people she had been growing reaquainted with before the 
strangeness of the evening, feeling grossly ashamed and humiliated. 
"I...I'm sorry about running off the way I did. I..I don't
know what happened to me. I just..." She shook her head, not able to 
explain what had happened.

"It's okay, Buffy. We understand." Xander said, trying to console her. Oz 
nodded silently. Willow shifted nervously on her feet, not really wanting 
to be out here in this cemetary too long, in case the vampires that Oz had 
sensed earlier came back. "We really should get you home though." Willow 
repeated, helping her friend to stand. Buffy really felt her fatigue 
seeping through her, as if she had run for miles.

"I can't believe how tired I am." Buffy said, her friends noticing how pale 
she was.

"It's okay Buffy. We'll get you home." Xander said, coming up on her other 
side and taking her arm gently in his. With Willow and Xander to support 
her, and Oz taking up the rear, just in case they needed him, they headed 
back across the cemetary.

*****

They were all weary with exhaustion by the time they got Buffy back to her 
house. Joyce and Giles hadn't shown it, but they had been starting to worry 
at the late hour...Joyce had even started pacing in front of the windows, 
looking out of the windows every few seconds to see if they were coming yet. 
While Giles had cleaned up their dinner, which
they hadn't really touched. When the group had trudged through the door, a 
very weary Buffy between them, all Joyce had been able to do was sigh a 
breath in relief, and ask how their evening had gone.

It had been a mutual decision not to tell the whole story of what had 
happened, everyone agreeing that it wouldn't do to worry Buffy's mom, Buffy 
being the one to insist the most loudly that she didn't want to worry her 
unnecessarily. So, they just said they had danced
until they were exhausted, and were now most interested in getting to bed.

"Well, I could drop you all off at home, if you're ready." Giles said, 
coming out of the kitchen while rolling down his sleeves. Xander and Oz 
nodded acceptance, too tired to speak.

Buffy looked quickly at Willow, not really wanting to be alone tonight for 
some strange reason. Just before her friend could speak, Buffy jumped ahead 
of her. "Ummm...Mom, is it okay if Willow spends the night tonight?" She 
asked, looking at her mother hopefully, while the rest of the group just 
stared back at her in varying stages of shock.

Joyce for her part didn't know who was in the most shock, Willow or herself. 
"Uhhh...well..." Joyce sent a quick look to the redhead, who darted the 
same look back at her. "If you want to Willow, it would be okay with me." 
Joyce said, trying not to sound too strange.

Willow gulped, not knowing quite what to do. If she said no, her friend 
would want to know why, and she didn't know if exhaustion would be a good 
enough excuse considering the plan was to sleep. She could say she didn't 
bring anything to wear, but Buffy would probably just pull out an extra set 
of pj's, so that excuse was out too. No toothbrush? No,
that would just make her sound petty. And the truth was, while her mind was 
fighting the morality issues, her body was screaming at her to say 'YES'. 
Quite frankly, she missed being with her, wrapping her arms around her, 
snuggling her close, she missed the whole 'sleeping together' thing. And 
even though she knew she couldn't do half of the things she missed, she 
wanted this opportunity fate had just handed her on a silver platter. "It's 
okay with me, Mrs. Summers." And the irony of calling her Mother-in-law 
that hit her once more. "I'm so tired I could probably fall asleep standing 
up."

Amid a few raised eyebrows, and a few hidden looks the guys left the ladies 
to get settled. Joyce, not wanting to add any further strangeness to the 
proceedings, kissed Buffy good night quickly and went up to her room.

"Well, I guess it's just us." Buffy commented as the girls made their way 
up to Buffy's room, Willow very studiously ignoring the room at the top of 
the stairs. Buffy started to laugh, causing Willow to glance at her 
questioningly. "I'm sorry...it's just, the way everybody was looking at us, 
you'd think we never had a sleepover before."

Willow raised an eyebrow, trying to hold a hysterical giggle in place. 'Oh, 
Buffy. If only you knew...' She thought wistfully. "No...we have...it's 
just...been a while."

"Since the accident." Buffy nodded as she entered her room, Willow 
following behind her. "Seems like everything's differen't 
now...everything's changed. I don't know how I know it, I just do. I feel 
things aren't right. I can't put my finger on it...it's just...am I so 
different? She asked, looking back at her friend, seeing hidden sadness 
reflected back at her.

"No...Buffy...it isn't that you've changed...it's just that you can't 
remember..." She drifted off, seeing hurt coming over her best friend's 
face. "You will though." Willow promised, a determination to make things 
right coming over her. "You will...in time. And I'll help
you...any way I can." She laid a comforting hand on Buffy's shoulder, 
ignoring the warm spark of heat she always received from their connection.

Buffy felt it too, the heat searing through her skin, right through her 
bones, and settling with a warmth in her stomach. "Thanks, Will. I 
do...call you Will...don't I? It just feels familiar somehow." The blue 
eyes stared deeply into green, feeling a connection she didn't
even know existed, calling to her.

"All the time." The redhead chirruped, getting nervous with the intensity 
that their connection was sparking between them. "Boy, I'm tired." Willow 
said, faking a humongous yawn. "So...I feel like I could fall over right 
here." She commented, and she did, she realized, the events of the evening 
really had taken their toll.

"I'm sorry." Buffy said, snapping out of her daze, feeling like slapping 
herself silly. What was she doing standing here daydreaming for when her 
best friend was obviously exhausted and wanted to go to bed? "I'll just get 
you some...extra...pj's.." She finished in
a mumble, as she went over to her bureau and dug around until she found 
something she thought might fit her taller friend. Willow could remember 
when her own nightgown would be tucked in her very own drawer, but she tried 
her best not to think about it. "Here you go...I'll...just go into the 
bathroom...and change. Just...give me a knock when you're done." Buffy 
said, nervously, not knowing exactly why she was nervous about seeing her 
best friend naked. She gave her a small smile, then slipped out of the 
room.

Willow sat on the bed, trying hard to control the tremor that was shaking 
her whole body. 'This is going to be harder than I thought.' She thought 
ruefully, before changing into the nightgown her friend had given her.

*****

'It wasn't too bad...considering...' Willow thought as she looked at herself 
in the full length mirror. The nightgown tucked around the curve of her 
belly, but it wasn't so pronounced that you could tell...unless you happened 
to look really closely. 'Okay...I guess I'm ready.' She thought nervously, 
casting a glance at the closed bedroom door. 'Guess I'll go get her.' She 
thought, finally...tip toeing down the hall to the closed bathroom door. 
Knocking on it quietly, she heard the faucet turn off, and then the door 
opened to a reveal a stunning
vision that Willow had thought she'd done her best to block out of her 
memory. The satin nightie clung to all of the right spots on the Slayer's 
body, enhancing the vision of the svelte curves. Willow found herself 
gulping at the sight, trying desperately to remember that this was not her 
wife standing before her...well, it was...but the blonde didn't know that. 
"I'm ready for bed." She managed to say, blushing when the double entendre 
of the words hit her. "I..I mean..."

Buffy laughed, not unkindly, as Willow started to stutter uncontrollably. 
"Relax Will. I know what you meant. I'm not going to jump your bones. I 
promise. Girl's scout honor." She said, holding up two fingers in a salute. 
She couldn't remember if she'd ever been a
Girl Scout, but it seemed to do the trick, getting her friend to relax 
around her once more. She had figured it out, while she was getting ready, 
that Willow must have had a crush on her at some point, which really didn't 
bother her too much, she had reflected silently.
Since she seemed to be harboring her own crush on her best friend. Willow 
did seemed to be freaked by it though, so she'd do her best not to mention 
it. She didn't want to scare her best friend away, after all.

"Come on. I'm tired." Buffy said, turning off the bathroom light, leaving 
just the light that shined out from the bedroom to find their way back by. 
The two of them crawled amiably into the bed, having plenty of room to crawl 
into their own favorite sleeping positions and
settled down for sleep.

Willow thought she'd never be able to fall asleep laying beside Buffy, no 
matter how comfortable she was, but the exhaustion captured her without too 
much trouble and sent her peacefully into dreamland. Buffy followed the 
trail into unconsciousness not long after her.

*****

Blue eyes opened in the dark room, searching the shadows for a clue as to 
where she was. The soft bed beneath her gave a clue that she was indoors 
and the scent coming from beside her let her know that her Lifemate was 
here. She looked over at the red hair sprawled out over the pillow beside 
hers, and reached out to touch it, mesmerized by it's
color. "Soft." She whispered, running the strands through her fingers. 
She came closer, bringing the strands to her nose so she could smell it. 
"Good...clean...nice."

Willow's head was turned away from hers, and she couldn't see her face, 
so...not wanting to wake her up, she leapt across her lifemate, landing on 
the other side of the bed, with a soft thump, and kneeled to get a closer 
look. The face was scrunched up in her sleep, as if her lifemate were 
having bad dreams. She brought a gentle finger up to trace the furrow of 
her brow, shocked once again by the velvet feel of her skin. "Soft."

She had been so furious at the stupid one for forgetting. She had missed 
her lifemate with a strong yearning, wanting nothing more than to tear open 
the bars of her cage and come out, no matter what the stupid one thought. 
But until tonight, she hadn't had the opportunity to do so. Now...she could 
look and feel to her heart's content.

She knew if she put her head down on her lifemate's chest she would be able 
to hear her heart beating, it was a sound she had listened to many times 
before and it had always brought her comfort, so she lay her head down and 
listened, hearing the gentle <thump-thump, thump-thump> under her ear. 
Another faster heartbeat just below the louder one reminded her what the 
stupid one had forgotten. She let her hand roam down
over the curved belly, feeling her young one kick against her hand with a 
strong sense of pride. "Mine." She growled, even as the baby responded to 
the feel of the Slayer's hand.

The baby kicked especially hard, causing Willow to moan in her sleep. The 
primitive Slayer shot her eyes up to look at the twitching face, watching 
restlessly to see if her lifemate would wake up, then as she settled down 
into a more heavy sleep, looked back down at her unborn child. 
"Shhh...Easy." She patted the belly with tender strokes. "Wake
up Wil-low."

She rested her head back on the belly, patting the smooth skin with her hand 
as she talked nonsensically to the growing fetus. She could feel it respond 
every once in a while, moving against her hand, and it encouraged her to 
keep talking until Willow started stirring once more.

Willow woke to a strange sensation, a head was laying heavily on her 
abdomen, while a hand traced patters over it gently. She thought that she 
was still dreaming at first, especially when blue eyes looked up at her, a 
look of such intense love shining from the gleaming depths. But when the 
blonde head picked up and the lithe body stretched, climbing to hover over 
her she knew she wasn't dreaming. "Buffy?" She asked, her voice catching 
in her throat as lips lowered to meet hers.

"Wil-low." She said, huskily, just before their lips joined and Willow 
moaned desperately into the warmth.

Her arms wrapped unhesitatingly around the warm body, feeling unmitigated 
joy rush through her as their lips met again and again, Buffy seemingly not 
able to get enough of the contact and kept coming back for more. "Buff-" 
She gasped, pulling air into her lungs, even as the Slayer made it difficult 
to breathe by ravishing kisses down her neck
and throat.

"Wil-low..." The Slayer moaned, sucking and nibbling small bites into the 
skin of her neck. "Miss...Wil-low."

If Willow had been paying more attention she would have noticed the strange 
speech pattern and the way Buffy was ravishing her right away, but all she 
knew in that moment was that she had missed her for too long. "Oh...Buffy. 
I've missed you too."

It wasn't until the Slayer tried to rip off her nightgown that she noticed 
something was wrong. She halted the hands at the seam of her nightie, 
cringing at the tearing sound. "Buffy...what are you doing?" She asked, 
thinking it would be much simpler if they lifted
the garment over her head. Blue eyes lifted to stare uncomprehendingly into 
her own. "Wil-low...naked..." She demanded, demonstrating what she wanted 
by lifting to tear her own nightgown off of her skin, leaving her bare to 
the night and Willow's lust filled eyes. "Now." She insisted, as she moved 
to tear the offending garment off of her lifemate's body once more.

"Buffy?" Willow said, registering the wild, feral look in her wife's eyes. 
This wasn't Buffy, this was the Cave-Slayer, and she could have slapped 
herself for being so stupid.

"Wil-low?" The Slayer questioned, seeing the hurtful sadness return to the 
bright green eyes. "No want...Buffy?"

Tears slipped out of her eyes as she sniffled uncontrollably. "I do want 
Buffy. I want my Buffy." The Cave Slayer looked so confused and lost that 
it made her cry even harder.

The Slayer didn't like seeing her lifemate cry and wished she had the words 
to tell her what she felt. "No cry." She said, wiping the tears on the 
redhead's cheeks tenderly. "Buffy here." She said softly, continuing the 
tender motions until the redhead looked at
her again. Noticing that she had the avid attention of the bright green 
eyes, she tapped her forehead warily, much to Willow's confusion. "Dumb 
Buffy here too." She said, sounding so rueful that Willow almost laughed.

"I don't...understand..." Willow trailed off...she could see the 
prehistoric version of her best friend, wife and lover were trying to 
explain.

"Buffy." The Cave-Slayer said, hitting herself so hard in the chest that 
she almost fell off the bed. "Dumb Buffy...forgot...Lifemate...here too." 
She said, hitting herself in the chest again.

"She can't remember me." Willow acknowledged sadly. "I'm afraid I'm going 
to lose her."

The Cave-Slayer shook her head. "No lose. Buffy here." Buffy said, 
putting a hand over Willow's heart. "Wil-low here." She said, putting a 
hand over her own heart. "No lose, Buffy."

It made a certain amount of sense, Willow realized, noticing that this Buffy 
was wiser than she had given her credit for. But then again... "But..." 
Willow started to protest, only to have a shushing finger be placed against 
her lips, just before the Cave-Slayer's lips touched them once more. The 
kiss was softer this time, more gentle as if this Buffy could sense that she 
needed that more right now. She lost herself to the feel of it, not knowing 
when she'd be able to kiss Buffy like this again. Finally, the Cave-Slayer 
pulled away, a huge
yawn pulling her mouth open.

"Buffy tired." She commented, sleepily, just before she put her head down 
on Willow's shoulder and fell heavily into a deep sleep.

Willow watched her, ruefully for a moment, wondering how she was going to 
explain this to Buffy when she woke up in the morning. She tried moving her 
a couple of times, but she was so heavy, and she just wouldn't wake up, that 
she thought it might be better to just
leave her there. She listened as soft snores/snorts issued from the 
Cave-Slayer's mouth, vowing to remember the message that she had given her. 
It gave her new courage and a hope that maybe someday soon she would have 
all of her Buffy back.


...to be continued.:-)

The archangel Shyfox, taunter of the list and creater of most consecutive 
cliffhangers, mistress of the warm-fuzzy and evil mind corrupter.


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