The Slayer And The Witch Chapter 6/? - Sympatico

["Stefan Akerblom" <nagarek62@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi again, here's the next part of my little ode, enjoy!



The Slayer And The Witch - Stefan Akerblom - nagarek - nagarek62@xxxxxxxxxxx
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Critique:	Yes please, but no flames (I'm flammable)
Warning:	Building to NC-17, f/f relations, possibly 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 really mean to each other,
they embark on a voyage of discovery and 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 channelled Willow),
Dan Spector (danspector@xxxxxxxxx) for some much needed help
with authenticity,
Casandra for answering some silly questions
Thanks also to all the other great people on BuffyWantsWillow, you
make this worth so much to me,
and to Cairo (played at ear-splitting volume) for setting the mood.
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Chapter 6 - Sympatico
--------------------------

Buffy awoke to the sound of a different night nurse coming in to check on 
Willow.

"Oh my, this won't do. Miss ... MISS ..." The little oriental nurse came 
over and gently shook Buffy's shoulder and hissed in her ear. Buffy started 
awake.

"Uh ... OK, I'm awake ... I'm up ... I ... I'm up with the wakefulness ... 
ohh ..." she looked forward and saw she was lying on the bed next to Willow 
and facing her. Willow was somehow still asleep, but not for long as Buffy 
began to disentangle herself, their limbs were draped across each other. As 
Buffy sat up and twisted carefully to place her feet on the floor, she felt 
Willow reach out and put her splint covered hand on Buffy's waist. She 
turned her shoulder and looked into Willow's face as she began to wake up, 
she reached down and stroked the back of Willow's partially exposed fingers.

"Hey there beautiful, sleep well?" Buffy noted the swelling in Willow's 
face was much improved, almost completely gone, the bruises however 
remained.

"Mmm ... yeah, really well with you here with me ... although I think I'm 
still in shock ... " Willow took back her hand and reached up to feel her 
own face " ... but I don't feel quite so pumpkin head today." Buffy reached 
over and stroked Willow's cheek lightly with her index finger. Willow ran 
her tongue over her teeth and swallowed a couple of times "Yech ... lumps 
might be gone but my mouth still feels like someone's been dumping 
radio-active waste in it. I'm dried out. Nurse, can I have some water 
please?" Buffy got off the bed to let the nurse do her work. Willow rolled 
over onto her back and adjusted herself awkwardly to a semi upright 
position.

"Will, I'm gonna go out and get a cup of coffee and stuff, maybe clean up. 
I'll be back shortly." Willow gave Buffy a pouty concerned look.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere yet, just going to the little Slayers 
room and and the lounge and stuff is all!" Willow smiled then and for the 
first time in a couple of days, the smile was all Willows old smile, full of 
the warmth and sweetness and none of the comical. Buffy breathed a sigh of 
relief, things were going to work out just perfect. "Be back in a sec ..." 
she mouthed, and walked out ... and after a few seconds walked back in with 
a grin, bent down and grabbed her boots from underneath the bed, and as she 
stood up she leaned over and kissed Willow lingeringly on the lips. The 
nurse's wide eyes belied some surprise, but she remained silent. Buffy saw 
this, looked at Willow and smiled smugly and winked, then walked back out of 
the room. Willow's eyes followed the slayer's departure, then returned to 
the nurse's staring look. Willow's face turned pink and she grinned like the 
cheshire cat.

-----------------------------

Looking at the clock behind the service desk, Buffy saw that it was now 
3:30am, she'd been there since 7:30 the previous night, padding in and out 
every now and then for anything Willow might need. Somewhere around 11:00, 
both of them exhausted from their emotional outpourings and an evening of 
talking and generally adjusting to the new way of their lives, their love 
for each other had been signified by a wonderful long but light lingering 
kiss that spoke volumes, after which they'd both soon drifted off to sleep 
gazing into each others eyes. As they had lain on the bed talking, Willow's 
left arm had been draped over Buffy's right shoulder while they clasped each 
other's right hand. They had remained like that through the night until 
nurse Ling had woken Buffy. Buffy feeling deliriously happy, dazed and not a 
little amazed at how things had turned out so much better than she could 
have imagined possible, found it difficult to gather her thoughts properly. 
She had been so afraid Willow would reject her, and Willow had thought the 
same about Buffy. And so they might have lived their lives as friends but 
still apart, dejected and unfulfilled because of presumptions on both sides. 
Another lesson in the Buffy School of Slayership, never make presumptions 
... she stopped and corrected herself, this has absolutely nothing 
whatsoever to do with slaying, this is just normal life stuff! Wow ... 
'slaying', 'normal' and 'life', all in the same sentence, this just can't be 
happening, but it is. Buffy went over to the service counter after putting 
her boots on. She waited, bobbing up and down impatiently as if on a spring. 
Becky looked up briefly from a report she was filling out and smiled.

"Hey." she said to the Slayer.

"Hey yourself!" Buffy grinned broadly to the young nurse. "All is well in 
the duties of Florence Nightingale I presume?" nurse Becky smiled back and 
continued writing.

"Oh yes, graveyard's the shift I like the most, but it's murder on the 
social life. Speaking of which, shouldn't you have been out at some exciting 
party yourself, dancing the night away with some ... er ... buff stud?"

"Oh I get quite enough excitement in my life for lotsa people, believe me." 
Buffy looked around distractedly. "Anyway right now, I have much more 
important things than that, and ... and no studs for this Buff ... buff or 
not buff ... and I can't believe I mangled that so badly." Becky laughed 
infectiously. Buffy smiled back at her.

"Um ... well being involved with car accident victims every other day could 
be construed as excitement I suppose," Becky said grinning "But I meant a 
normal social life. Anyway ... I was just pulling your leg, I know you're 
taking care of a vulnerable and hurt friend, and that's something very 
special."

"Oh ... ah ... ok, anyway the words 'normal' and 'Buffy' don't usually go 
together in the same sentence too often ..." she turned to look at the door 
to room 402, gazed at it for a few seconds, turned back to look at Becky 
with a quirked up eyebrow, and broke into a wistful grin. "... except for 
right now, tonight ... in a ... weird kinda disjointed and totally bizarre 
way. You know ... have you ever noticed that sometimes it takes having your 
life and all your values completely up-ended to see what's right in front of 
your eyes. And then you often don't believe it when you finally do see it, 
because it just seems to be too good to be true, and something you feel 
totally unworthy of and don't deserve ..."

"And by that complicated mouthful, I gather you and Willow are going to be 
fine?" Buffy looked at her again, wondering why she felt there were veiled 
little comments behind the simple words. Becky leaned forward and dropped 
her voice although there seemed to be no one else around. "I couldn't help 
it, you were talking to yourself in the lounge before Willow woke up ... and 
I overheard some ... things before I could get to talk to you. But I walked 
away when I heard it was ... private." Suddenly it dawned on Buffy what 
Becky meant, and she blushed when she remembered her own words and prayers.

"Oh ... right ... yeah ... um, you could say I was a bit ... or a ... a lot 
... emotionally weird right then. But yeah, Will and I are going to be ok, 
actually ... more than ok I think by the conversation we had last night ... 
um ... say aren't you ... you know, a bit wigged ... about us ... two 
girls?" Becky wrinkled her nose in a cute grin.

"Nah ... seen it all before, not shocked in the least, besides ..." she 
again lowered her voice and looked Buffy in the eyes with a totally 
disarming smile ... "been there, still there now!" Buffy's eyes opened wide.

"Oh ... oh ... OHH! Uh ... nurse Erin?" she hissed, her memory of Becky 
meeting Giles returned. Becky nodded, smiled, winked, and conspiratorially 
put her finger next to her nose and tapped. "Oh sure ... only the nose 
knows!" said Buffy and grinned. "Thanks, I feel even better now, which I 
didn't think could be possible. I'm completely over the moon and I have so 
much energy to burn that I feel like I could explode, and all sorts of 
incredible feelings and thoughts are going through my head. But I can feel 
my carbs are dangerously low. You mentioned something before about something 
to eat, is that offer still going or do I find the cafeteria or whatever you 
have around here?"

"Oh sure, I'll get you something. I must say you're looking a lot better 
than you did the other day, I was beginning to really worry about you, looks 
like I was worrying over nothing." Buffy grinned at her.

"Yeah, some of the old Buffy bounce has come back. After Will's accident 
... I ... w ... we ... that is to say ... we ... well we ... discovered ... 
this ... that we have ... between us ... a ... and it's all still so new. I 
wasn't at all sure how she'd be with me, or ... or me with her and ... well 
frankly I had misgivings, and it really threw me there for a while. But now 
I think that things will really work out ok. Now all I have to worry about 
is ... um ... the usual things I worry about, and how to tell our friends 
that things have changed a bit for Will and me. I ... I'm not exactly sure 
how some of them are going to take it."

Becky looked at her and grinned, "Well from personal experience, friends 
and family have a habit of rallying around when the chips are really down. 
Initially it might be a bit unusual for them, but they'll come to see the 
rightness of a situation. That is if they're really your friends." Buffy 
thought about that, Xander and Anya were going to be no problem, Xander 
might feel a bit weird about it for a while but he'd adjust, Anya had been 
around enough years that this wasn't anything unusual for her. The main 
worries would be about Giles and Dawn. How was the staid and starchy 
Englishman going to react to this? And how would Dawn cope knowing Buffy and 
Willow were more than just friends?

"Anyway, food." nurse Becky dropped her pen and grabbed some keys from a 
hook behind the counter, and stepped out from behind it. "Come with me." She 
walked in the opposite direction from room 402, Buffy felt a strange 
sensation, as if she didn't want to be out of eyesight of Willow's room. She 
had prayed and promised to keep Willow safe and she had meant it more than 
she'd ever meant anything before. She knew she was going to be unbearable 
for a while until they could work out reasonable limits at to how much she 
was going to follow Willow around and watch over her. From now on, Willow 
was going to be the safest girl in the world.

--------------------------------

Buffy walked back into room 402 after she'd eaten. Willow was sitting up in 
bed sipping water and nibbling on a biscuit. Buffy rubbed her tummy and 
smacked her lips.

"Ah the healing goodness of food. Good to see you're on solids yourself, 
instead of ... erk, that tube up the nose idea seems pretty disgusting!" 
Buffy stuck out her tongue and pulled a sour face.

"Well food is good, but I'm having a hard time convincing my jaw from 
accepting the idea that food is supposed to go in the mouth, it's 
threatening to snap off. These biscuits are like rocks!" she tapped the 
offending morsel on the plate to illustrate it's hardness.

"Well as a favour, I suppose I could pre-chew some of them for you ... you 
know, like birds do ... for baby birds ..." Willow grinned lopsidedly but 
when Buffy's face didn't change, Willow's smile faded and she stared 
wide-eyed at her.

"You're not serious are you?" Buffy shrugged her shoulders, and looked 
unconcerned.

"Hey, what good are friends if they can't pre-digest or gum your biscuits 
for ya?" Willow's jaw slowly dropped, and Buffy finally gave in and grinned 
at her.

"You have to be kidd ... oh ... god Buffy, I was beginning to wonder about 
you ... gum my biscuits indeed, tsk!" Willow tsked.

"Hah, fooled ya, chalk one up for the Buffster!" Buffy licked her fingertip 
and stroked the air. "Not quite so sharp since that crack on the noodle 
Will, might have to do some mental gymnastics later, after we get you out of 
here."

"yeah well, that's about the only gymnastics I'm likely to be doing, for a 
little while anyway ..." Willow and Buffy both came to the same thought at 
the same time, about other forms of gymnastics that might come into it ... 
both girls blushed a little, and they grinned at each other.

"Buffy! Slow start, remember? Let me at least get to where I can walk 
unassisted, right now I'd need a walking frame to get around. I'm about as 
agile as a sofa."

"Yeah, no extracurricular activity for you for a while I think, as it is, I 
want to take you out in the sunshine ... once we get some. Think they'd let 
me take you in a wheelchair?"

"Oh ... oh ... I don't know, they're still doing some tests, they said 
there's fluid or something in my lung and they want to be sure it's nothing 
serious ... but I'd like that ... the chair I mean ... just as long as you 
don't push it too fast, I get sick just riding rollerskates ... I ... I 
think it's an inner ear thing."

"I promise, I won't push too hard, trust me. Anyway I just want you to go 
outside to get some nice fresh air and some gentle sun. We could just park 
the chair under the big tree near that pond out back of the hospital or 
whatever." Buffy was looking at the redhead and noticing that the mood 
Willow had been in for the last several weeks had completely lifted, she 
seemed truly on her way to recovery, and not just physically.

"Whatcha looking at with those beady little eyes, grandma?" Willow 
distracted Buffy out of her reverie, crunching on the edge of a biscuit.

"Hmm? Oh ... I dunno ... you I suppose, you seem to be a lot better, not 
just from the accident, just all around, emotionally and stuff. Like me I 
suppose, I feel like a big weight's been taken off my shoulders." Buffy was 
idly wandering around the little hospital room, hands in the back pockets of 
her tight black pants. Most of the machinery and other hospital 
paraphernalia had been removed, leaving the room looking a little barren and 
stark.

"Yeah well I suppose we're both feeling a little weird right now ... if you 
know what I mean ... uh ... n ... not bad weird ... good weird ... weird 
that feels just right ... weird that feels wonderful. I just wish I'd had 
the courage to tell you how I felt long ago." Willow frowned crookedly, an 
expression that Buffy knew signified disappointment.

"Yeah, likewise ... all that lost time. But let's look at the bright side, 
at least we did find out before I ... before ... I ... I just wasn't too 
sure how you'd react to me ..." Buffy spoke in a low tone, almost a whisper. 
Willow rolled her eyes.

"Well ... pffttt ... like who'd have thought you'd have the hots for or ... 
or even be interested in me ... huh? The Slayer, who fell in love with an 
immortal, a vampire no less ..." Buffy started. For a moment she thought 
Willow had discovered about her brief but painful and brutal secret 
relationship with Spike "... who if I'm not mistaken, someone once described 
as gorgeous, in an annoying way." Buffy sighed in relief, Her torturous time 
with Spike was over and finished with for good. Only Tara knew about Spike, 
and she'd promised Buffy she wouldn't tell a soul. Willow was baiting Buffy, 
and she knew it, and took it goodnaturedly.

"Yeah, he's that all right ... the monster with the face of an angel. And 
... and I still have feelings for him even now. But it's all changed, we're 
both way over that. He's too busy in L.A. to worry about what happened in 
the past ..." Willow wasn't entirely convinced about that, the past remained 
the past, but she didn't press the issue. "Anyway, that's not important ..." 
Buffy continued.

"Hey, what exactly did you mean by 'how I'd react to you'?" Willow suddenly 
interrupted. "I'm the experienced one ... you know, I'm the one who had the 
relationship with a girl, remember? Didn't you think I'd be able to deal 
with another one?"

"I ... it wasn't that at all ... it was ... it was ... I suppose ... how 
you'd feel about us, already being total friends and all, and being afraid 
that our friendship might be damaged if this turned out wrong and I hurt you 
by saying the wrong thing, and ... and knowing how I'd been in the past, I 
suppose ... oh ... I dunno ... maybe I was just being paranoid but I was 
thinking you might reject me because I'd really been in love with a man 
before, knowing I'd been with Angel ... or ... or maybe because I'd been so 
straight and narrow and you'd think it was a trick or ... or maybe ... oh I 
don't know Will."

"Oh ... and ... and what, I suppose Oz was a figment of my imagination 
huh?" Willow admonished breathily. "I had guys too you know, well ... just 
the one ... but I had one, even if it was only for a while. And ... and it 
felt really good at the time. I suppose technically that makes me ... you 
know ... " her voice dropped. "... the ... the bi word." Willow was turning 
a pale shade of rose. Buffy couldn't help smiling at the sweet innocence of 
the girl, even now after everything she had experienced, and all that had 
happened in her life.

"Yeah I suppose it does, and that goes for both of us then. But that was 
one phase, and this is another ... but this is my life now and I want it to 
last forever. I think I've grown up and know now what I really want. And I 
want this ... I want you ... and me ... I want us."

"Well I want you too Buffy, I wanted you so badly sometimes, I had to go 
away and sulk. I watched you with Angel and with Riley too, and sometimes I 
felt so jealous, and had to go hide so I wouldn't burst into tears or start 
yelling or something ... I had resigned myself to never being with you, 
that's one of the reasons I think why I fell in love with Tara after Oz. You 
were unattainable and I was so alone, and Tara was just so nice and 
comforting and helpful and ... and nice. If ... if only I'd told you, then 
maybe I could have had a chance, but I thought I had to keep it hidden, I 
sometimes felt very lonely and frustrated knowing what I wanted, and 
thinking I couldn't have it, and knowing I could never let anyone else know 
about it. And now look at me, all my dreams are coming real and I can hardly 
move, and it's going to take me forever to get back to normal again." Willow 
pouted and looked dejected.

"No it won't take that long, I'll help you get better, besides ... I think 
that getting you back to health might be fun, maybe we'll be doing some 
pretty interesting aerobics soon." Buffy looked at Willow with a wicked grin

"Buffyyy ... Down ... god ... you sound like a ... a ..." Willow began 
hyperventilating and wringing her hands painfully and looking panicked.

"I'm kidding ... jeepers, I'm just happy, cut me some slack here ... " 
Buffy laughed. "... anyway, you're the one who said you were an experienced 
..." voice lowered to a whisper. "... bi person!" Buffy walked over to the 
bed and sat down, and took Willow's right hand in both her own. "What's the 
big? Why are you acting like you have the wiggins now? We've known each 
other a long time, you have no need to be shy with me, especially not now. I 
want you to know everything about me and I want you to open up to me and 
tell me everything about you, and all that's on your mind. No more secrets 
or hiding things."

"I know Buffy, b ... but this is so totally different, to me this really is 
like a dream come true ... you know, and everybody knows, dreams never 
really do come true, do they? A ... and you know what ... uh ... for ... for 
a long time I thought I'd never find true love or happiness. I was prepared 
for it. All my life I've been picked on and sneered at ..." she put on a 
prissy face, "Oh here comes Willow, the geek with the red hair and the weird 
non-designer label clothes!" Buffy smiled at Willow's mocking imitation of 
Cordy, and remembered how the girl had thrived on tormented not just Willow, 
but anyone unfortunate enough to catch her attention. "... and the only 
person who ever really respected me and liked me for me in spite of myself, 
through all the years, and didn't just want to use me or make me do their 
homework or whatever, was Xander, he didn't fall in love with me ... well he 
did ... later, when it was all wrong and too late ... but I know he loves 
me, as a friend or ... or as ... as a sister. Then you happened, and you 
changed all that ... I ... I mean Xander still liked me and all but ... you 
respected and liked me too and ... and I wasn't prepared for that, I didn't 
know how to take it, it couldn't happen. I was in heaven for the first time 
in my life, nothing Cordelia or her stupid friends said could really hurt me 
any more. And because of you being the Slayer, Giles paid me the respect of 
an adult, as a fellow scholar ... think of that ... me, respected by a 
grownup then, huh ... who would have imagined it?" Willow's eyes were 
shining and her smile was radiant amongst the rainbow colours on her face. 
"There's never been a bigger influence in my life than you, you set my whole 
world in motion. Because of knowing you, I've learned about real love, and 
witchcraft and vampires and a whole mess of madness and chaos I had no idea 
existed beneath Sunnydale and all around us in the universe. You know ... I 
was destined to become a ... a techno nerd working for some software 
mega-corporation or something, writing computer programs or viruses or those 
annoying popup webpages or whatever. Remember when those guys came into the 
high school and selected Oz and me to go work for them? I didn't want to be 
like that, I knew that my life could be more than just computers and 
programs and hacking and research." Willow stopped momentarily for breath.

"But does that mean you get all shy and bashful with me just cos you know 
how much I love you?" Buffy looked a little puzzled .

"No ... well ... I ... you know me ... the me that's full of bash. But you 
have to understand I was prepared never to know that you loved me ... this 
way. I knew you liked me, but never that you loved me. I was determined 
never to really show you how I felt, because I thought you'd freak out if I 
... if I ... I had no idea you were ... well sort of like me ... sort of ... 
bi, or ... whatever it is we are. Knowing that you love me like that is like 
a kick in the stomach ... but a ... a nice kick if you know what I mean, 
it's like a shock or a bolt of lightning ... uh ... which a ... actually is 
a shock as well ... oh Buffy, I'm getting myself all muddled and confused, 
but please ... just believe me when I say that I'm happier than you could 
possibly ever be, even if you are the happiest girl in the universe!" Willow 
pulled her right hand free and gently stroked Buffy's arm with it, her eyes 
were gentle and misty. "Buffy, if I had never met you, I'd be a much lesser 
person for it. I want you to understand that I know that. And I want to do 
everything with you and talk with you and tell you everything and ... stuff, 
and ... and we will. But it's all so new, just let me grow into it a little 
... please? I'm not sure I can still believe it all, I'm not at all sure I'm 
not still in a coma and this is just a wild figment my mind is playing on 
me, to torment me while I lie here and the doctors play with my gizzard." 
Buffy remembered her own morbid thoughts about Willow's liver from the day 
before ... there's a bizarre twilight zone connection here somewhere ... 
hmm, the hellmouth ... "Just please believe me Buffy, if this isn't some mad 
hallucination my head's cooked up, there's nothing in the universe that 
could have made me any happier than you've made me now, I hardly even care 
that I'm injured and lying here in hospital ... apart from being a bit 
depressed about said injuries and wanting to be out of here! I want to be 
well for you and gone from here so ... so we can ... you know ... explore us 
... our life, together."

"I know Will, and you will be out of here just as soon as you're well 
enough and it's ok with the docs, I'll see to that. I'll take you home with 
me, for a while at least, while you're recuperating, to look after you. Then 
we'll see what happens. It'll be nice to have you around the house, you can 
help me with Dawn ... it's sometimes a bit dark and lonely ... you know, 
since mom ... and ... and that big bed's really super soft and cosy and oh 
so comfy and ... and I ... I think I'll just bite my tongue now!" Willow 
looked at Buffy with a cute frown which quickly transformed into a wide 
grin.

"You just can't help yourself, can you? Well just you wait ..." Willow was 
still grinning but was blushing madly.

"What? What do you have in mind Will?" Willow closed her eyes, crossed her 
arms and inclined her head away from Buffy in mock avoidance.

"Never you mind, you brazen vixen, all I'm saying is ... well ... just you 
wait! You'll find out in good time!" Willow seemed to be back to her old 
bubbly, cheerful self in spite of her health, this entire horrifying episode 
had somehow become the catalyst for something miraculous and wonderful, and 
both girls knew they were soon to be on their way to a new magical place of 
discovery.

"Ooo ... sounds like fun, I can hardly wait!" Buffy grinned and rubbed her 
hands together enthusiastically. Willow looked at her with faux shock on her 
face, eyes open and jaw dropping.

"Huh ... you ... you shameless hussy!"

to be continued in:

Chapter 7 - Watcher, Slayer, Angel

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