FF: Second Chances: Birthday fanfic Challenge Response

[aerisjade@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Birthday Fiction Challenge Response 

Title: Second Chances 

Chapter: One 

Rating: R 

Pairing: Willow/Buffy 

Timeline: Last seen episode 

Spoilers: Only for aired episodes 

Beta Readers: Drakes Shadow < the 
cute bat > and Dark Gremlin 


Summary: With Willow's 21st 
birthday coming up, she's haunted by 
past mistakes that cost her the only 
real family she's ever had. But in the 
process of dealing with her own medical 
problems and searching for answers in 
her brothers apparent death, she might 
find that sometimes what you're 
searching for is right in front of you. 


Note: Shadow and Gremlin were huge 
helps in the writing of this fiction. 
In fact, you could say they tag teamed 
me. 


Disclaimer: All characters belong 
to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and 
Paramount Studios. 


<-------> 


The nine year old red head 
tackled her fifteen year old brother 
with a squeal. The athletic red haired 
teenager barely grabbed the abnormally 
small girl before she could knock him 
down. Laughing at her antics, she found 
herself pinned to the floor while he 
tickled her mercilessly. 

" David!!! " 

The football player sat back letting 
her get her breath back. " That's what 
you get for trying to ambush me. " 

" I wasn't. " She protested weakly. 
" I was testing your reactions. " 

David laughed at the innocence she 
was practically radiating. " Willow, if 
I didn't know you so well I might 
believe you. " 

Willow sat up turning on her best 
pout. " Can we go to the Diablo house 
now? " 

David sighed at the question she'd 
been asking non-stop for days. " That's 
absolutely out of the question and you 
know it. " 

" But it's my birthday. " 

" We've already been over this, I am 
not taking you to that house. " 

Willow glared at the bigger 
Rosenberg, " Fine. I'm going to my 
room. " 

" Willow...." 

She ignored his plea and stomped up 
the stairs to her room, slamming the 
door behind her. If he wouldn't take 
her than she'd go herself. She didn't 
care what all the stupid legends say, 
there was no such things as ghosts and 
witches and all that other mumbo 
jumbo, and tonight she was going to 
prove it once and for all. 

She scrambled out the french doors 
and down the trail. The only problem 
now was getting to Diablo 
forest before her brother discovered 
she was missing and spoiled her fun. 
Normally she'd take her bike, but after 
Xander crashed it while trying to show 
off for Cordelia it wasn't rideable. 
The only bike in riding condition now 
was David's, in point of fact, his bike 
was one of those speed bikes. Twenty 
One gears.... 

She quickly went to the porch where 
the bike was propped up. From there it 
was rather simple getting to the 
stretch of forest on the out skirts of 
town, so much so that she didn't 
remember much about it. 

The first thing she could clearly 
concentrate on was the long dark dirt 
road, disappearing into the thick trees 
that ran along the untouched area not 
more than a few miles from the main 
road. The trees blocked out the small 
amount of light that the moon produced 
making it almost impossible to see very 
far. 

She slowed slightly, turning onto 
the over grown dirt road, using the 
bike headlight to see. Strangely there 
didn't seem to be any of the noises she 
expected from an untouched piece of 
land. Animals, insects, owls... They 
were all silent, and it made her 
slightly nervous. 

" WILLOW!!! " 

She sped up at the sound of her 
brother calling to her. If she could 
just find the ruins of the house, than 
maybe he'd let her... 

She screamed out as something... 

Willow sat up quickly strangling her 
scream with her hands. " It was a 
dream, it was only a dream. It was a 
dream..." 

She flicked the lamp on, climbing 
out of the bed on unsteady legs. She 
couldn't seem to stop the shaking in 
her hands or the panicked breathing 
that had her on the verge of 
hyperventilating. It had been years 
since she'd had those nightmares, or 
memorymares, or whatever they were 
called. She'd hoped that those were 
behind her, but it seemed they weren't. 
Maybe it was her up coming birthday, or 
the fact that the last time she'd had 
dinner with her parents they'd heaped 
the blame of David's death on her more 
than usual. Or maybe it was the news 
report on the bodies discovered near 
the old ruins. Whatever it was they 
were back. 

" Well I won't be getting anymore 
sleep tonight." She muttered sadly. 

Resigned to going without any sleep, 
she quietly left her room in search of 
something cold to drink. All she wanted 
to do was to forget everything. The 
problem was that with her birthday, the 
same day that was the anniversary of 
her brothers death, was coming up which 
meant there would only be lots of 
reminders. It didn't help that she 
spent twenty four seven helping the 
slayer save the world and stop evil. 
Yet another reminder. 

She ran one of her twitching hands 
through her hair, and flicked on the 
kitchen light, taking pleasure in the 
cold tiles against her bare feet. She 
probably should've taken the time to 
put on something over the slightly damp 
boxers and tank top. Except her mind 
wasn't exactly engaged yet. It was 
still running so fast that she couldn't 
do anything but let it. 

" Stupid mania..." She complained, 
jerking the refrigerator door open. 

" Nightmare?" 

' Just what I need. ' She thought 
dryly, turning to glance at the slayer 
leaning in the doorway. " I didn't mean 
to wake you. " 

" I was already awake. " Buffy 
entered the kitchen with that look that 
said that she was trying to be careful 
and that she wasn't going to stop until 
she got some answers. " I heard a 
muffled scream from your room and I was 
worried. " 

" I'm fine, it was just a bad dream. " 

" It might help if you talked about 
it. " 

Willow gritted her teeth against the 
sudden flood of memories threatening to 
break free. " Actually I wanted to talk 
to you about something. " 

" Whatever you want, I'm always here 
for you. " 

The witch turned to the slayer, 
trying to push back the guilt of what 
she was about to do, but she needed to 
stop Buffy from questioning her about 
her dream. " What did you mean when you 
said that once someone falls for me 
they stay fallen? " 

Buffy blanched visibly, gripping the 
counter with clenched fists. " Wh-what? " 

" I mean, it sounded like you were 
saying it from experience. " 

" You think I'm in love with you? " 
Buffy choked. 

" Are you? " 

" Nonono, of course not. I-I mean 
you're my best friend, and I wouldn't 
want to do anything to lose you. " 

Willow slowly approached the dirty 
blonde, suddenly understanding what the 
slayer was hinting at. " You'll never 
lose me, and especially not over 
something like that. " 

Buffy tensed slightly as Willow came 
to a stop a few inches from her. " It 
doesn't matter. " 

" Of course it matters. " Willow 
said sharply. " Now answer the 
question. " 

" It doesn't matter, because even if 
I did have feeling for you, you 
wouldn't return them. " 

" You don't know that. " 

Buffy moved forward quickly, 
claiming Willow's lips in a short kiss. 
Their lips lightly brushing against the 
other before deepening and retreating. 
Leaving the slayer whimpering softly, 
and Willow surprised. The witch eyed 
the slayer than started out of the 
kitchen. " We should go back to bed. " 

" Yeah.." Buffy slammed her fist 
onto the counter, holding back the 
tears. She'd waited years for some sign 
that Willow returned her feelings, 
she'd stood by while she'd discovered 
that her friend really was gay. She'd 
even given her a shoulder to cry on 
whenever something happened with Tara, 
and through everything she'd been so 
careful not to let any hint of her 
feelings show, only for her to slip up. 
Now she blew it, she'd not only been 
rejected but she probably lost her 
best friend in the process. 

The saddened slayer made her way towards 
the stairs not sure what to do. She 
should talk to Willow of course, but 
was it better to get it over with or to 
wait until tomorrow? Should she lie 
and say it was some spell that the nerd 
brigade put on her, or just tell the 
truth and promise it would never happen 
again? 

She put her hand on top of Willow's 
boxers that were hanging off the rail 
and started... Buffy froze, slowly 
turning her head to look at the emerald 
green silk boxers. They were Willow's, 
and they had been on Willow just a few 
minutes earlier, so why...? She firmly 
stopped the naughty ideas that were 
threatening to come out and play. 

" She probably just..." She choked 
as no logical, innocent explanation 
occurred to her. " I..I should return 
them. Now..right now. She'll get cold, 
and I don't want my best friend cold. " 

She quickly walked up the rest of 
the stairs, pausing just before 
reaching the top as she spotted a small 
white tank top that looked suspiciously 
like the one a certain red head had 
been wearing. Suddenly those 
outrageously naughty ideas were 
rampaging through her lust idled 
brain. 

Snatching up the tank top she turned 
to Willow's door and nearly choked on 
her own tongue. Hanging from the knob 
of the half opened bedroom door was a 
pair of sheer satin emerald green 
thongs, and just inside the door she 
could clearly see bare skin lighting 
candles. 

' Naked. Bare. Skin. Willow. ' She 
slowly inched into the room, absently 
grabbing the thongs as she passed them, 
and closed the door. If Willow killed 
her for seeing her like that, than at 
least she'd die happy. On the other 
hand, if Willow didn't kill her, it would 
be enough to get her through the rest 
of her life. 

She felt her arms go boneless, 
dropping the cloths to the floor, not 
that the slayer was capable of noticing 
at that moment. All she could seem to 
notice was the smooth pale skin on 
Willow's back, the way it blended into 
two round firmly shaped cheeks, and two 
muscular thighs. The red head's arms 
were slim and trim, covering her view 
of her breasts, but giving her a 
glimpse of her sides and just a hint of 
the small pert orbs. 

She wanted to take the larger woman 
into her arms and explore the size ten 
body until she'd memorized every 
imperfection and crevice. She wanted 
to go over and over the satin skin with 
her tongue, lips, fingers, palms, and 
press their bare bodies together, soul 
to soul, heart to heart, body to body 
until they were no longer Buffy and 
Willow, but one soul, heart, and body. 

" ...." She clenched her hands into 
fists desperately trying to stop the 
swiftly building pressure in her 
stomach. If she didn't regain some kind 
of control then she was going to... " 
Oh god....!!!! " 

She felt two warm arms pull against 
her skin as her legs gave out under 
her. The sheer enormity and the 
resulting shame she felt drove her into 
burrowing her face in the ex-witches 
neck. " Please kill me now. " 

Suddenly that damned bedroom scene 
in American Pie wasn't so funny 
anymore. Nope, definitely not funny. She 
was never going to watch that movie 
again. 

" That was cool. I've never ever had 
that reaction on anyone before. " 

She risked looking up at her friend, 
to make sure that the pride she'd heard 
was there, and sure enough the 
red haired woman was blushing with a 
silly grin on her face. A silly grin 
that made her look incredibly sexy and 
edible. A sexy, naked, red haired 
witch. ' Naked. Bare. Skin. Willow. ' 

" ..... " She gripped her friend in 
a death grip as she felt the problem 
resurface and then Willow's mouth was 
over her's, cutting off her scream. ' 
Oh....i-is it even possible to do that 
with your tongu....oh.... ' 


<--------> 


Willow finished splitting the eggs 
onto the three plates, careful to keep 
them from getting mixed up with the 
hashbrowns and turkey bacon. She was 
feeling extremely happy that morning, 
and wanted to surprise the household 
with a large breakfast. After all, it 
wasn't everyday that she became lovers 
with the person she loved the most in 
all the world. 

" Someone's in a good mood. " 

Willow beamed at the teen grumbling 
her way into the kitchen. " Good 
morning, Dawnie. Here you go, just like 
you like it. " 

The dark haired girl took the 
heaping plate and one of the glasses 
filled with juice, but made sure to 
throw a glare in her direction. " Oh 
sure, fine, keep the teen up all night 
and try to buy her off with breakfast. 
" 
" What were you doing awake? " 

" Gee I wonder. " Dawn muttered. " 
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you and 
Buffy finally pulled your heads out of 
your..." 

" Dawn Josephine Summers, if you 
finish that sentence you will spend the 
next month cleaning this house, Xander's 
apartment, and the magic box. " 

Willow pulled the blonde slayer into 
a soft kiss. " Good morning. " 

" Yes it is. " 

" Like I was saying. I think it's 
great, but do you think you guys could 
keep it down from now on. " 

Willow squeaked turning a deep red 
at the teens remark. She knew exactly 
what the dark haired girl was talking 
about. After she'd finally managed to 
get the slayer undressed and into bed, 
she'd spent the first couple of hours 
playing with the dirty blondes over 
sensitivity, and discovering just how 
loud she was capable of screaming when 
she had the right incentive. Of course 
after that it had been the slayers 
turn, and while the blonde had fumbled 
quite a bit, it had still been an 
incredible experience emotionally. 

" I can't promise anything what with 
Willow having such a talented tong...." 

" NOOOOO!!!! " Dawn clamped her 
hands over her ears and began to hum 
loudly. 

" You give up? " Buffy asked. 

" Yes!!! Just no more Willow talk, 
please." Dawn's eye went wide as she 
turned to Willow with a deer in the 
headlines look. " Oh, when I was 
putting your laptop back I noticed the 
birthday card from your great aunt. Why 
didn't you tell us that your birthday 
was in a few days? " 

" What? It's your birthday? " 

Willow stepped out of Buffy's arms, 
" It's no big deal. " 

" How can you say that? " Dawn 
asked. " If it was you you'd be having 
a mega tantrum over not knowing...." 

" Dawn...." 

" She's right Will. " 

" Oh my gosh, you know what we 
should do, we should have a party. " 

" We can invite the entire gang, and 
her parents of course, but we might 
want to have it outside during the day 
so that Spike can't crash it...." 

" NO!! No, no party, no celebration. 
Just forget it alright? " 

" But Willow...." Dawn whined. 

" I said no, Dawn! What about no do 
you not understand?!!" Willow yelled. 

The red head spun from them and 
stormed out the back door, slamming it 
behind her. The streets were a blur 
through the tears streaming down her 
cheeks, until she simply collapsed in 
mid sob in the middle of the nearby 
cemetery. 

She'd spent so much time keeping her 
friends from finding out when her 
birthday was. Every time they asked her 
she'd always say that they missed it, 
or she'd simply changed the subject, 
which until a few minutes ago had 
worked. Xander just couldn't dates 
straight so he wasn't the problem, and 
Buffy was easy to distract if the 
person knew what they were doing. Giles 
was usually to caught up in some 
apocalypse or some book to really do 
any snooping. Tara had agreed after a 
lot of begging and pleading to leave it 
alone. 

" Oh David, what do I do now? " She 
whispered to the cold marble tombstone. 
" I'm so scared. What if they find out 
what I did? I've nearly lost them once 
already and I don't think I could 
survive without them. I just....I just 
can't tell them. I mean, I could but I 
can't. I can't remember enough to 
explain, and even if I did, I can't 
stand to even think about what I do 
remember so how would I tell them about 
what I don't remember, not that that's 
an issue since I don't remember. " 

She hugged her legs to her chest as 
she squeezed her eyes closed. " It's 
killing me you know, not knowing. I... 
I go through each day wondering if this 
is going to be the day I remember, the 
day I'll get some answers, and it 
doesn't happen. It's like...." 

She trailed off as her mind wrapped 
around the imagery from the nightmare. 
She remembered the woods, how quiet it 
was, the... She snapped her eyes open 
with renewed fear. She'd brushed all 
the old legends about Diablo forest 
and the old house as urban legends. 
Stories the adults used to keep their 
children from wondering into the 
wilderness of Sunnydale. 

Even after she'd meet the slayer and 
discovered that all the big bad 
villains in fairytales were real, she 
still didn't believe the old tales. 
Because that's all they could possibly 
be right? But what if they were more 
than stories? What if they were real? 
What if...? 

She quickly stood as she came to a 
decision. She had some research to do. 
After all, she owed it to David, if not 
herself. 

<-------> 

Buffy stepped out from behind the 
tree with a sense of dread. She hadn't 
meant to listen to such a private 
moment, but she'd wanted to talk to the 
red head about the out burst. Even Dawn 
had been more worried than angry over 
the red head's yelling. Now she'd 
stumbled onto something that Willow 
had obviously wanted...needed to keep 
private, and damn it she should respect 
that. So why was the slayer in her 
making her stop in front of the grave? 

' Don't look, don't look, don't 
look. You can still walk away, just 
don't look.. ' 

Her eyes slide over the head stone 
taking in each letter with a rapidly 
sinking heart. 


David Joseph Rosenberg 
Beloved Son and Brother 
1975-1990 


" Oh Willow..." 

What was happening? What did Willow 
mean about not remembering what 
happened? Why didn't she known that her 
lover had a brother? Why didn't Xander 
ever mentioned him? Was that why 
Willow's parents were always ignoring 
her? Was that why Willow always took 
people's deaths so hard? 

She sighed up at the clouded sky. 
How did Willow come to have so many 
secrets from them? No, it didn't 
matter. What mattered was making sure 
that whatever was going on didn't hurt 
her Willow anymore than it already had. 
What mattered was being there for 
Willow, unconditionally, the way the 
red head had always been there for her, 
and that was exactly what she was going 
to do. 

In the meantime, she was going to 
find out everything she could about 
David. 


<-------> 

Aeris Jade Orion

Grey Fox, and cause of Discord.

Gabrielle: "Do you deny spying on these women?"
Joxer: "I resent that."
Gabrielle: "Do you deny it?"
Joxer: "No, I just _resent_ it."

Joxer: Hello--heh-heh-- name's Joxer-- spelled, uh [Clears throat]--
J-o-x-e-rrrrrrrr. 

Rh: "Would you wanna make a baby with me?"
Jox: "What?!"
Rh: "Will you help?"
Jox: "Wait a minute! You want me to-- to-- to-- make a-- "
Rh: "Right-- will you?"
Jox: "Of course not! Hey, listen! We're not just machines, you
know, you can use to-- . Besides-- you know, uh-- we can't just
do it on command. We need stuff like, uh-- cheap motel rooms and
dirty pictures and lingerie-- stuff like that! We're _not_
animals! But I can get those things!"