The Slayer And The Witch Chapter 1/? - Flying Lessons

["Stefan Akerblom" <nagarek62@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey again all.

Thanks for the welcome, as I'm not sure which way you want this done, I 
am going out on a limb here and trying what I've seen others do, sending 
single chapters as embedded text in the posts. If it's not the desired 
method then apologies and tell me what's preferred.

A couple of things first:
Please forgive any weird spelling using 'ou' as in colour instead of 
color, it's the english used down under as it is in the UK.
Also, any typos and other horrendous errors are entirely mine and 
heavily copyrighted, please feel free to point them out.
I may be out of step with certain parts of the series, they're played 
over here in a whacky order and pop up at god-awful hours and as filler 
spots sometimes, I'm trying to capture canon as much as possible while still 
heating things up between Willow and Buffy.
For any noticed huge (or even minor) non-canon discrepancies that grate 
badly, please ... feedback.
Feedback is most certainly desired, flaming not. As this is my very 
first attempt at writing fanfic of any type, I am trying my best, (whimper) 
be gentle with me ... sniff!.
Either you'll like it or not, if you don't, then tell me privately, 
don't bog down the group with negatives, if you do, then I'll continue 
posting, simple.

Enough with the rubbish, on with the story. :o)


The Witch And The Slayer - Stefan Akerblom aka - nagarek - 
nagarek62@xxxxxxxxxxx
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Critique:	Yes please, but no flames (I'm flammable)
Warning:	Building to NC-17, f/f relations, possiby f/f/m
Characters:	Willow, Buffy, Xander, Anya, Giles, Angel, Dawn, Spike, Wes, 
Cordy, Oz (?), nurse Becky Chapel, nurse Erin Lonsdale,
Main Pairing/s:	Willow & Buffy, maybe Giles/Becky/Erin - who wants to see 
that? :o) (not sure yet about Anya/Xander ... maybe) time will reveal all!
Disclaimer:	Joss Whedon owns all in the Buffy Universe, I have merely played 
and embellished, not claimed any rights, apart from a couple of nice 
nursies!
Brief: Buffy and Willow have both recently lost their partners, Willow is 
hospitalised and Buffy is almost paralysed with guilt over it, both Willow 
and Buffy realise how much they both really mean to each other, they embark 
on a voyage of discovery while figuring out a way to break their new 
relationship to their friends while keeping the minions of the hellmouth 
from taking over. Meanwhile solutions present themselves which can have far 
reaching effects on Buffy and Willow's future.

Many thanks go to Crys Loch (pagansoul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) for answering my 
email, and a lot of inspiration and much encouragement (you said just the 
right things to make me think while I channeled Willow), and to Cairo 
(played at ear-splitting volume) for setting the mood.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And from a deeper sleep I was awakened, hours yet until the sunrise,
An eerie whisper called me to a strange new place, I'd known long ago.
And as the swirling clouds grew calm before me, unearthly beauty filled my 
mind ...
Suddenly from inside, I felt your touch, like the warming sun,
And I knew that I must follow your steps, search all the world just to find 
you,
Then you were gone.
--
In the dusty heat, of Moroccan streets, I thought I saw your raven eyes,
But after tripping through the crowded market stalls, not a trace of you 
could I find.
My heart was pounding as I ran down narrow alleyways ...
Mountains of desert sands, I am turning in vain, the very thought of you, 
commands my soul,
And I have followed your steps, so many times, I thought I had found you,
Then you were gone.
--
I would coax raging fire for you, I could climb through the sky ...
--
As if old fabled streets of burnished gold, through ancient dreams I've 
wandered,
Have I been hypnotised, as I staggered on, through city and wilderness.
My life will never ... never ... never be the same 
...............................
--
I've followed your steps, so many times, I thought I had found you,
Then you were gone.
--
I would coax raging fire for you, I could climb through the sky ...
----
Cairo - Conflict And Dreams - Then You Were Gone
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 1 - Flying lessons
-----------------------------

Buffy strode cautiously amongst the refuse that littered the alleyway, 
stake at the ready. Willow carefully trailed behind, expecting that at 
anytime soon, the vamp was going to dive out from behind some cover and rail 
on Buffy, which usually only succeeded in provoking the Slayer. Buffy 
searched the alley carefully, circling parked cars and vans that stood 
abandoned to the night, looking for the renegade blood-sucker. Finally she 
straightened up and walking back towards Willow, she relaxed her vigil 
slightly.

"It's OK Will, looks like our friend slipped away in the night. S'funny, I 
didn't feel him fade, they usually do that when they're escaping. It still 
feels like he's here, but where I couldn't tell you. Seems the old Slayer 
radar might be outta batteries toni... WHOA!" The undead leapt off the top 
of a parked van, landing heavily on the Slayer, from where he took off back 
the way they'd just come, banging heavily into Willow's shoulder as he 
passed, knocking her to the ground onto her back as well. There was a dull 
smack as Willow's head hit the tar. The books and handbag she was carrying 
flew out of her hands and landed haphazardly in the filth of the alley.

"Ow dammit, watch where you're going, you ... undead fiend!" Willow rose up 
on her elbows and shook her head slowly.

Buffy quickly got up, ran over and lifted her friend up, and set her down 
gently on her feet.

"You OK?" , she asked breathily, brushing Willow's hair off her face and 
looking into her eyes. Buffy had resolute Slayer face on, vamp would pay for 
knocking Willow to the ground. Willow nodded, blinked painfully and grimaced 
sheepishly, waving one hand towards the vamp while holding the back of her 
head with the other. Buffy nodded back, touched Willow's cheek softly, 
smiled and took off after the vamp at a dead run, the heels of her boots 
clacking loudly in the still night of the dimly lit alley. Willow sighed and 
slowly brushed herself off, No doubt her clothes were a total mess after 
this. Gahh ... that feels revolting! Trust me to wind up in the gutter, she 
admonished herself. She could feel sticky wetness on her dress where she'd 
landed. She pulled a face. Great! God only knows what this stuff is, and ... 
and I really don't want to know either. After wiping her wet hands on her 
dirty dress and anorak, she stooped to fill up her handbag, the contents of 
which were now strewn all over the alley floor, then she picked up the 
scattered books. She then turned and began walking out of the alley back 
towards where she believed the vamp was heading, back to the Pinewood 
Cemetery, her sneakers padding squishily on the rain slicked tarred surface.

They were patrolling along one of the outer fringes of Sunnydale, one of 
the less populated areas of town, industrial and barren. She'd thought it 
funny before, that there's a cemetery even in this unpopulated part of town. 
It was a grim reminder of the attrition level that was a consequence of 
living here on a hellmouth. Sunnydale had an astounding total of twelve 
cemeteries, spanning the years back to the time of it's original founding by 
Spanish explorers. That translated to a staggering death rate over the 
years, which somehow wasn't questioned by the outside world, and was largely 
ignored by it's own inhabitants. It was simply accepted as the norm for life 
in Sunnydale.

Actually, Buffy was the one patrolling, Willow was just tagging along 
tonight, everyone else had been somewhat pre-occupied or unavailable. Xander 
and Anya had gone to one of Xander's less annoying uncles up north, Giles 
had gone interstate to an alternative lifestyle convention, where one of the 
Watchers from earlier this century was appearing. She was coincidentally 
supposed to be a powerful witch in her own right, and Giles had tracked her 
through one of his many information sources. Asking Willow if she'd been 
interested in coming along, the girl had declined the offer which under 
normal circumstances might have been thought strange, but lately Willow had 
not seemed very interested in her wiccan studies, and in point of fact had 
hardly touched any magic of any kind, not since Tara's departure. Mr. & Mrs. 
Rosenberg had once again gone off on one of their many trips to Europe, 
leaving Willow credit cards and cheque books to fend for herself, as she'd 
proved many times she was fully capable of doing. In Willow's mind, if 
nothing else, the lack of concern of her parents showed how mature they 
thought Willow was. Willow's friends however thought it showed neglect and 
an almost brutal disinterest, thought it showed a callous disregard by them 
for the wellbeing of their only daughter, especially right now when she was 
obviously in a very fragile state of mind. Giles believed they showed 
incredibly poor parenting skills, and spoke voluminously and angrily of it 
to Buffy and the others, but silenced about the subject when Willow 
approached. Buffy had taken it upon herself to make sure Willow wasn't left 
alone too much, just in case.

Willow was still a bit sad, bitter and let down by Oz leaving her. As her 
first ever real lover, his departure had left her feeling a bit raw and 
vulnerable. Willow had bonded strongly soon thereafter with the witch Tara. 
which had also lasted some months. Tara had been very good for Willow after 
Oz's departure, but problems eventually surfaced in the relationship due to 
what Tara deemed Willow's inappropriate mis-use of magic. This eventually 
took it's toll and in spite of their obviously strong feelings for each 
other, they too parted. This of course proved to Willow once and for all, 
she was never meant to be happy or be in a relationship. But through the 
time when Buffy had died and the Scoobies had been left to fend on their 
own, Tara had been a much needed balancing force to Willow, who had taken 
Buffy's death very badly. Now after powerful sorcery by Willow, Buffy was 
back from the dead, but Tara was gone and Willow had once again been left 
alone and, much to the concern of all the remaining Scoobies, she had become 
deeply depressed. Lately Willow had been acting so morose that tonight - 
against her better judgement, Buffy had agreed to let her come along on 
patrol. The reality was, Buffy thought Willow was letting Oz and Tara's 
departure drag her down un-necessarily. It had all been very sad when it 
happened, but time in it's inexorable way marches on, and so it was now time 
to get on with life. Buffy had been much the same with her relationship with 
Angel. Their breakup had been tough on them both, but Angel living in Los 
Angeles made the pain duller and easier for her to deal with now. In 
Willow's case, Oz moving away had not made it any easier for her to deal 
with her loss, for one thing she had no idea of where he'd gone, she was 
left without any feeling of closure. And with Tara leaving, Willow had been 
left with feelings of sadness and guilt, insecurity and failure. Her magics 
had caused the rift between herself and Tara, and she had blamed herself for 
the departure.

After Angel departed, Buffy met Riley, which eventually proved to be a 
disastrous mistake. There'd been some nice moments but he simply wasn't 
Angel. In fact he hadn't really been what she needed at all. She'd been 
fooling herself about that, and it took a long time for her to admit it to 
herself. Angel had represented something to her, a perfection that could 
never be hers. The mere fact that he wouldn't age and would simply watch her 
wither and slowly die with the years was more than enough reason for them to 
separate. Eventually Angel would either begin to feel sorry for, or tire of 
the woman he was watching fade before his immortal eyes. And Buffy would 
begin resenting Angel's preternatural youth and cursing her own fate and 
mortality. Their affections and memories would be better apart, imperfect, 
painful, unfulfilled, but memories of incredible happiness. Many people 
lived their entire lives out and never once discovered what Buffy and Angel 
had for the briefest moment in time experienced while they were together. 
She had moved on from that, but had also felt unfulfilled and alone. It 
seemed she would never experience true happiness, the kind that lasts 
forever, she felt she simply didn't know how to do that. So accepting that 
she'd probably be alone forever, Buffy had devoted herself to slaying, the 
one thing in the world she knew she could do right.

One of the things that made it a little easier for Buffy to deal was 
Willow. She was more than simply a friend to Buffy. She was also a 
confidante, a peer, sometimes she was Buffy's conscience, and when Buffy's 
mind became mired in self-doubt or indecision, or she wasn't taking the best 
care of herself or behaving appropriately, Willow became her surrogate 
mother. All in all, Buffy and Willow's relationship was a complex one. But 
to Buffy it was also slightly scary and yet exhilarating on another whole 
different level. There was no simple way for Buffy to think of it. Like a 
lot of other people she thought Willow to be very attractive and oh so cute 
one hundred percent of the time, and smart and clever and wise and a lot of 
other things besides, but there were other feelings she had for her which 
she carefully tried to keep shielded from Willow and the others.

She sometimes had urges to take hold of Willow's gorgeous chestnut-red 
hair and stroke it, marvelling at it's softness, or to run her fingertips 
softly along Willow's delicate cheekbone, down to touch the corner of her 
sweet bowshaped lips, or to look into Willow's beautiful eyes and just smile 
to her for no other reason than to show that she was very happy in Willow's 
company. Sometimes she'd hug Willow quickly at an appropriate moment, making 
sure it seemed just a nice hug from a friend and nothing more than that. But 
the sensual thrill Buffy got from the contact belied her truer feelings for 
the red-head. She had admitted to herself a long time ago, she felt more 
than simple friendship for Willow, she wasn't sure in her own mind if she 
could ever really tell Willow just how much she cared for her. She was 
resigned that she would probably never find out how deeply her feelings for 
Willow could manifest themselves. Like her feelings for Angel, they would 
remain one of those things of her past, incomplete, and unfulfilled.

At least she had the girl here with her in Sunnydale still, and if nothing 
else, she could keep feasting her own eyes on the wonderful red hair, the 
glowing green eyes, and that sweet warm smile that could melt the coldest 
heart. Buffy was supremely happy in the knowledge that Willow had proven to 
her time and time again that she was the best and most loyal friend she had 
ever had in her life, and would remain so until ... until ... Buffy knew her 
life of danger could take her away at any moment, ever the uncertain way of 
her life as a Slayer. As such she'd try to be the best friend in the world 
to Willow for as long as she had left on this earth, she owed her all of 
that. If it was possible and within her power she would remain Willow's 
friend even after death itself. And even beyond that, Buffy had silently 
sworn she'd love Willow unconditionally for all eternity.

Willow had seen Buffy take off after the vamp at full tilt as she had done 
hundreds of times before, and as usual she revelled at the speed and power 
of her blonde Slayer friend. She had always been envious of her athletic 
prowess from the very first time she had known about Buffy's status as a 
Slayer, and had seen her unleash her full strength. She sometimes marvelled 
when she felt Buffy's arm graze hers or when Buffy grabbed or held her. She 
could feel the Slayers muscles like coiled steel springs, cables of enormous 
potential sheathed in a silky layer of smooth adolescent skin. She also knew 
how soft and gentle Buffy could really be when she needed to be. In full 
Slayer mode, Buffy was an explosion waiting to happen, when she was simply 
Buffy the power lay quiescent and hidden, never far away but always under 
full control. Right now, Willow thought she wouldn't want to be in that 
vamp's shoes for anything in the world. She knew Buffy would take great 
delight in toying with and tormenting the monster before she staked it, 
simply because it had caused Willow discomfort.

Willow had always felt the strong bond she had with the Slayer, but 
sometimes she'd wished the bond was stronger still. Since the very first day 
they met, Willow had been more than just very fond of Buffy. Cordelia had 
tried befriending Buffy when she had just arrived at Sunnydale High. As she 
usually did, she derided Willow in front of everyone, and on this first day 
she had done so in front of Buffy. Buffy had made a point of going to Willow 
afterwards to seek her friendship, with full knowledge that Cordelia would 
ostracise her for it. The strength and be-damned attitude she'd shown 
Cordelia that day made Buffy a hero in Willow's eyes. More, it had made her 
into someone Willow wanted to be with, but not just as a friend. She wanted 
more, but afraid Buffy would see that as freaky behaviour, she had always 
held off, sometimes covering her true feelings with feigned awkwardness, but 
more often with simple embarrassment. To date, Willow didn't think Buffy 
realised anything more than that Willow just wanted to be friends. Willow 
had made every effort to be there for Buffy, so much so that she spent every 
spare moment she had as a companion, just happy to be in the Slayer's 
company. This was bonding time for Willow now, Buffy had lost Angel, she'd 
just lost Tara, they both felt despondent and a little lost. She wanted to 
spend this time with Buffy, hoping maybe something magical and wonderful 
would happen, even if it was spent roaming cemeteries in the middle of the 
night killing vampires.

Her head jangling with loose church bells and an annoying headache coming 
on, Willow stumbled through the darkness along Monroe Street towards the 
cemetery where she thought the vamp would have gone back to, not paying much 
attention to her surroundings. The bells in her head prevented her from 
clearly hearing the muted roar of the car engine, and the driver of the car 
didn't see anything until the last moment, by which time it was too late. 
Glaring headlights outlined Willow's slender form wrapped in a dark, baggy 
anorak, her eyes glazing over like a startled rabbit when her situation 
finally dawned on her, limbs frozen stiff in terror. The skid of tires on 
wet tarmac and the sound of the blaring horn tore relentlessly through her 
consciousness and approaching headache, and she later vaguely recalled 
hearing the sound of Buffy's voice screaming out her name frantically before 
the car struck her and sent her hurtling through the air.

to be continued in:

Chapter 2 - Formaldehyde and Chloroform, oh my

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