From: "Kimber" <kimbertvs@xxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: buffyloveswillow@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: "WillowSlashFic" <willowslashfic@xxxxxxxxxxx>, "SapphicSlayer"
<SapphicSlayer@xxxxxxxxxxx>, "BWW" <buffywantswillow@xxxxxxxxxxx>,
"BWS" <buffyandwillowslash@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "BLW"
<buffyloveswillow@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: ::BuffyLovesWillow:: TITLE: Aeternus Eternus Donum (1/?)
Date: Thu, 9 Aug 2001 11:09:08 -0400
TITLE: Aeternus Eternus Donum (1/?)
AUTHOR: Kimber (feralspirit@xxxxxxxx)
DISCLAIMER: All BTVS characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.
Grr, argh.
SUMMARY: Different Ending for 'The Gift' and everyone involved. This
picks up 2 years later.
SPOILERS: Everything up to 'The Gift'. Then it diverges into a 'Kimber'
world. Just the way I like it. ;)
DISTRIBUTION: E-mail me and let me know where it's living so I can come
visit.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: *denotes emphasis* <denotes thoughts> {denotes
flashback}
-----------
She saw the shadow move slightly and froze. Stalked. She knew she was
being stalked. And in a graveyard with, regrettably, no stake or holy
water or cross or anything. Good thing this wasn't the usual type of
stalking where there was running and dust and general havoc involved.
Willow rolled her eyes and muttered, "Wonderful." She turned around slowly
as if feigning loss of direction, muttered something incoherent, and a body
landed at her feet with a great thud.
A large body.
With dark brown hair and, "Nice to see you too, Will." Came the familiar
voice. "Think you could just yell out *who's there?* next time?"
Xander smirked and stood with all the dignity he could manage after being
unceremoniously dumped in front of the red headed Wicca.
"Xander." Willow's eyes narrowed at her best friend "What are you doing
here?"
"I think I'll be asking myself that same question tomorrow when I wake up
sore." He rubbed the back of his head to emphasize the point. "Buffy sent
me. She was worried." He looked at her then dropped his head subtly.
Kicking at nothing in particular on the ground, he added softly. "We all
are."
Willow tried to scowl, but it came off as more of a smirk. She crossed her
arms in front of herself and responded. "I'm fine, Xander. Really."
"Then what are you doing walking around a graveyard in the middle of the
night with no weapons?" He quirked his eyebrows up when he saw her get
into a defensive stance. "Don't. . .stand like that at me, Will. I know
you. I know you have the wiccy stuff on your side, but still. You're
better safe than sorry. Ya know?" He put on the full puppy-dog face for
her.
She softened a bit. "I know, and," She stopped mid thought. It was
crazy, he was right. It was totally insane to be out here at this hour
with no form of protection other than spells. Especially since things had
been so quiet. Deathly quiet for weeks now. "Why not walk me back to the
house?" She tilted her head and smiled. "I'm done here." She gestured
behind her.
His eyes couldn't help but go to where she'd gestured. The grave. The
headstone. All the fear and helplessness she must have felt. . . he
suddenly felt it too and was embarrassed for having intruded on her in the
middle of it. "I'm sorry, Will. I shouldn't have,"
"It's okay Xander. Really." She automatically took his hand and they
walked out of the cemetery in silence.
The headstone of Tara McClay stood against the full moonlight, sheltered
under a willow tree.
-----
Willow crept into the Summers' home and placed her keys on the table by the
door. She slid her shoes off and crept upstairs to check on Dawn. Once
she was satisfied Dawn was sound asleep, she crept back downstairs and
towards the back porch where she knew Buffy would be waiting.
Willow couldn't help but smile when she saw the Slayer. The screen door
opened with a moan and Buffy turned to regard the redhead. "Weaponless
much?"
Willow sighed and opted to sit down on the steps rather than the porch
swing next to Buffy. "I was fine, Buffy. You know that." She frowned a
bit. "Why do we always have to go through this?"
"We can stop going through it, Will, when you stop your death march every
month." Buffy responded a bit sharply. "Every month on the same day for
the past two years you wander off to that graveyard without anything on
you." Buffy got up and sat down next to her. "Why?" She whispered.
Willow closed her eyes. <Buffy just doesn't understand. I'm not sure she
ever will.> "Buffy, it's,"
"If you say it's complicated one more time, Will," She narrowed her own
eyes at the wicca. "What's so complicated about picking up a stake on your
way out of the house?"
"Buffy, I," She shook her head. Words were failing her once again. When
Tara was taken from them so suddenly. . .taken from her, she felt as if
she'd never be whole again. That's when she moved in with Buffy and Dawn.
Dawn was amazing. She kept Willow occupied with helping her with homework,
teaching her the in's and out's of geometry and physics. Buffy was great
too, but a just a little different. Stand offish. Distant. She didn't
know what to make of it. Still after all this time, it was still a
mystery. "I need to do things, my way. The way I promised. . .her I
would. That's all." She turned to reguard the Slayer. "I wish you would
try to understand. Try to be my friend."
Buffy swallowed back her tears. "I am your friend, Will. Your best
friend." She reached her hand out and placed it on top of Willows. "You
know that, right?"
Willow nodded slightly and squeezed the slayer's hand. "I know." She
whispered quietly. "Lets go to bed, okay? I'm tired and I have to be at
the Magic Box early tomorrow." She breathed in some fresh air and smiled
at her friend. "You all done with patrol?"
"Patrol? What's that?" She scoffed. "This place has been deader than
deadville." The Slayer rose to her feet and pulled the Wicca with her. "I
suppose I should be thankful for the time off, but we both know that
something evil is just waiting to spring out of no where while our guard is
down. I think it's just a matter of time till we're back on track."
Willow smiled. "That's my Buffy, cynical till the bitter end."
"Hey, I'm just being realistic." The Slayer shrugged as she opened the
back door for them to walk through. "And besides, I can't sit on my duff
forever." Buffy locked the door and turned again to reguard her friend.
"You okay?"
"Fine. I promise." The Wiccan responded. "Fine and. . .tired. I think
I'm gonna turn in."
Buffy nodded. "I'll go in a few. I promised Dawn I'd look over her
homework before I went to bed. And I still have to make her lunch."
"Have I told you lately how great of a 'mom' you've turned out to be?"
Willow commented warmly. "You've taken such good care of her over these
past two years."
"I've had some help you know."
"Well, allow me to be of some help again and remind you that your 'little'
sister is seventeen and will be totally mortified if you pack her a lunch."
Willow smirked.
Buffy closed the refrigierator door and nodded. "Yeah, you're right.
She'd kill me." Buffy chuckled a bit. "Okay, so. Bed then?"
Willow nodded and followed the Slayer up the stairs. Buffy took the room
her mother once had and Willow took Buffy's old room. It had been a great
arrangement after Tara passed away. Willow just couldn't bring herself to
sleep alone in their room. Fighting
Glory and winning was the most amazing feat any of the scooby gang had had
the chance to do. And it was still fresh in all of their minds.
Especially Willow's.
-----
{"Dawny. Are you okay?" The blonde wiccan approached her and began to
unbound her hands and feet.
"Tara! You're better. No more babble? Where's Buffy? Is she okay?"
"No, Dawny, no more babble. Willow fixed it." She smiled at the younger
girl as the rope fell to the ground.
-----
Glory fell to her knees. She looked up at Buffy, gasping and on the verge
of tears. "Stop it."
"You're a god." Buffy hit her again hard. "Make it stop." She knelt
beside Glory and hit her several more times, slamming the hammer into the
God over and over.
-----
"Tara look out!" Dawn screamed.
Tara spun around and narrowed her eyes. "Don't come near her."
Doc smiled widely. "And what if I do, witch? Are you going to turn me
into something? A rat, or a mouse, or a bird or a louse?" His smile
became larger. "Or perhaps a lizard?"
Suddenly, Doc's long tongue appeared from his mouth and shot out at Tara.
She ducked aside but Doc was quicker as he dropped to his knees and pulled
Tara's legs out from under her.
She dropped to the ground, twisting her ankle in the process. Doc rose to
his feet and pulled her up by her hair, twisting one arm painfully behind
her back.
--------------
Glory morphed into Ben suddenly and Buffy stoped. "I'm sorry." He gasped.
"Tell her it's over. She missed her shot. She goes. She ever, *ever*
comse near me and mine again,"
"We won't. I swear." Ben gasped again.
Buffy gave him one last look, dropped the hammer and hurried away.
Ben laying there, gave a small cough and smiled painfully. "Guess we're
stuck with each other, huh baby?" He coughed again.
---------------
Dawn shook her head at the scene before her. "Buffy, help!"
Doc laughed. "The Slayer can't help you now." He dipped his head slightly
and nuzzled against Tara's cheek, "No one can." He dragged the
frightened wiccan closer to the edge, "I'll be sure to give your friends
your best wishes."
"No." Tara whispered. She looked at Dawn with a sad, pained expression as
Doc shoved her off the top of the scaffold.
"No!" Dawn screamed and shook her head again. "Tara!!"
---------
Giles knelt down beside Ben. "Can you move?"
"Need a . . . . .minute. She could have killed me." Ben swallowed hard
and opened his eyes.
Giles shook his head. "No she couldn't. Never. And sooner or later Glory
will re-emerge, and make Buffy pay for that mercy. And the world with her.
Buffy even knows that." He reached into his jacket and pulled out his
glasses. "And still she couldn't take a human life. She's a hero, you
see." Giles put his glasses on. "She's not like us."
"Us?" Ben questioned as Giles suddenly reached down and put his hand over
Ben's nose and mouth, holding them shut. Ben struggled weakly as Giles kept
him still. Keeping his expression calm, Giles watched as Ben's body went
lifeless before him.
--------
Buffy reached the top of the scaffold just as Doc let her go. "Tara!" The
Slayer narrowed her eyes at him. "You bastard."
Doc turned around. "Slayer. I would have thought Glorificus and her
minions would have-" He didn't get to finish his sentence.
With amazing speed, Buffy snapped his neck, took the knife out of his hand
and sliced him through, neck to naval. She let his limp body fall off the
edge of the scaffold.
Dawn ran into her sisters arms and didn't let go.
-----------
"Tara." Willow whispered as she knelt next to her body. She smoothed some
hair away from her face. "We won, baby. We won."
Tara smiled slightly. "Won?" She coughed violently and blood trickled out
of the side of her mouth.
Willow wiped it away quickly. "Yeah, we won. It's over." She placed
feathery kisses across Tara's face. "We won."
Tara coughed and closed her eyes. "Is Dawn safe?" Willow nodded and Tara
smiled, opening her eyes slightly to look at the redhead. "I love you.
Always."
"I love you too. And you'll be just fine. As soon as an ambulence gets
here and we get you fixed up we can go back to the dorm, our dorm and,"
Willow looked into Tara's face. "Tara?" She touched her cheek softly.
"Tara, no. Come on. No. You can't . . .you can't do this, you can't
leave." Willow broke down and sobbed into her lovers hair.
Buffy and Dawn raced down the steps and gasped at the sight before them.
Leaving Dawn with Xander, Buffy knelt next to Willow. "Will?"
She can't, Buffy, she can't go." Was all she could manage. She looked up
into the Slayer's face. "She's, she's,"
"I know, Will." Buffy whispered as silent tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Oh, god." Willow collapsed into Buffy's embrace and cried.}
----------
Willow sat bolt upright in her bed, tears streaming down her face and a
cold sweat drenched her nightshirt. Before she could let out another sob,
there was someone next to her.
"You okay?"
"Yeah." Willow whispered.
"Uh huh, and the tears and sweating are a side effect of the chili peppers
you had for dinner?"
Willow laughed a little. "Dawn. What are you doing out of bed?" She
tried to be scolding and parent like, but it wasn't working.
"Where else would I be when I hear someone screaming 'no, god, no' in the
next room? Right next to them of course."
"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."
"It's okay, Willow. It's what friends are for." Dawn smiled at her and
opened her arms. "Hug?"
"Yes, please." Willow nodded.
TBC. . . . .
~~Kimber
List Gutter Lust Goddess, Masked Road Runner (meep, meep!!), Keeper of the
crazy lil comma, Elmer to Pat's Wabbit, self proclaimed 'perfect drug'
addict, and Official Tormenter the Phantom Chimpunk and her band of crazy
nuts. Proud supporter of the Mad Poet Society and the Troll under the
Bridge.
Proud Member of the BtVS Writers Guild: Because fic makes anything
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