Willow, The Charmed One: Leaves of the Willow Tree, Part One
She had always known she was adopted, that was no secret to the young woman. She loved her parents but in truth she was always a little distant to Ira and Marie Rosenberg. They lacked a lust for life that Willow had, though not many knew of except for Xander. Even when she was a geek back in high school he knew that she thirsted for more. It was one of the reasons that she applied herself so hard to academics; she wanted to get out of Sunnydale as soon as she could. Well she did anyway, until she met Buffy Summers. Buffy changed everything for her, opened up an entirely new world to her.
It was three weeks before classes at UC Sunnydale resumed and Willow was finally able to enjoy what little summer vacation remained. After the events at The Initiative and being haunted by the original Slayer she had a hard time relaxing her mind. Willow decided to spend the day after their near deadly nightmares with Tara discussing what had happened with the enjoining spell. Tara listed without an interruption as Willow explained summoning the spirit of Sineya, the battle against Adam, and the nightmares. When finished she just looked at Tara waiting for her reaction.
"So, you u…um, won then?" Tara said as she tucked her hair behind her ears.
Willow couldn't help but giggle at Tara's cute surprised face. The she said, "We did, for now at least. One thing I learned a long time ago is that winning is just waiting for the next battle." She paused deep in thought then said, "Well, not my battle but Buffy's. I'm just a tag-along with a few nifty tricks." Willow finished with an awkward laugh.
Tara's face changed to one more serious and she said, "Y…you're wrong you know. This i…is your fight. You're a powerful w…witch, a good witch. Good witches will always fight back the darkness."
"Tell that to the Sisters of Gaia here on campus." Willow said cheekily.
"Those girls are witch practitioners. You are like me, a n…natural witch. You must've gotten it from your birth family." Tara said shaking her head quickly.
Willow sighed and said, "Yeah, the one thing I have from my birth family and I love it. Nothing is better than being able to move things with my mind."
Tara shifted uncomfortably on the floor of her room as if she was chewing on something she wanted to say.
"Tara you can say whatever you want to me. You know that right?" Willow said as she reached out and touched her shoulder.
"You're gift is strong Willow, st…stronger than any witch I've ever met before." Tara took a moment to breathe and collect her thoughts then she continued, "My p…power is passive, aura reading doesn't do much good against demons and vampires. Still I know th…that you're strong. I can see it in your aura. You have the br…brightest aura I've ever seen. You're meant to do great things." Tara smiled as she finished, then tucked her chin into her collar bone slightly embarrassed.
Willow looked stunned; no one had ever held that much respect and love for her, not even Xander or Buffy. To them she was Willow, Old Reliable, or Wills; but to Tara she was something more, something precious.
"She's precious to me too." Willow thought to herself. She had admired Tara's gentle strength from the moment the two met. There was just something about the shy blonde that Willow couldn't understand that made her irresistible.
"Gee, what a great way to make a girl blush." Willow said with another awkward laugh. After a moment she caught herself and said, "You know so much Tara, how do you know all of this?"
Tara smiled brightly and said, "From my mother's Book of Shadows. When I was a li…little girl she showed me where she hid it from my father. It has all of this wonderful information about what it means to be a w…witch. I could show it to you if you want."
"Heck yes!" Willow beamed.
Tara got more comfortable in her spot and then held out her hands. She closed her eyes and said, "Words of witches passed I call to thee, knowledge through shadow come to me".
There was a soft green light growing from where Tara's hands were held. In a blinding flash the energy faded and in her hands was a large, thick, blue tome with a symbol that she recognized as Hecate's Wheel on the cover in silver.
"Wow, that was…wow!" Willow said at Tara's display of power.
"I…I have never showed this to another pe…person. My mom's whitelighter said it was important and to be ke…kept a secret." Tara said as she placed the book on the floor between the two of them.
Willow's brow furrowed and she said, "What's a whitelighter?"
Tara gave a little knowing smile and said, "A wh…whitelighter is almost like a guardian angel. There's a page in here about them." She opened the book and started flipping. When she stopped she handed the book to Willow and said, "Why don't you read it."
Willow looked at the page and saw that it was beautifully illustrated. There were what looked like shinning blue orbs delicately painted around the border of the page. At the header she saw the title, 'Whitelighters' in an elegant calligraphy. Below it the page read:
Creatures born of a human soul who did exceptional good in his or her life, and are given the reward of new life by the Council of Elders. As servants of the Elders they are charged with guiding witches and future whitelighters along the path of destiny. Whitelighters are passive by nature and unable to fight against the forces of darkness. Instead they are gifted with numerous powers to aid in the fight; among them is a healing touch that is used to help their witches when injured.
Whitelighters are not immortal, though it may appear that way. A poison does exist that is able to kill a whitelighter. This fate is worse than any other form of death for it kills their soul. All whitelighters should be cautious of their counter, the darklighter.
"Wow, they really do sound like angels." Willow said as she handed the book back to Tara. Then she said, "I wonder why we don't have whitelighters."
Tara frowned and said, "It has something to do wi…with the Hellmouth. Too mu…much evil energy I g…guess"
"Hmmm, you should add that into your book sweetie".
"You've never called me sw…sweetie before. I like it." She smiled brightly and said, "M…maybe I will add to it. I haven't yet".
Willow leaned in and kissed her. It was soft, tender, but full of the newly discovered passion the two women shared. As they kissed neither of them noticed the newspaper materialize above their heads in golden lights. It wasn't until it fell down onto Willow's head did they stop for air.
"Bad news paper ruined the moment." Willow said as she grabbed the paper from her head and looked down at it. For some reason she couldn't help but stare at the announcement with her mouth gaping.
"Wh…what is it Willow?" Tara asked disappointed that the kissing had stopped.
"It's uh…an obituary notice for Prudence Victoria Halliwell from San Francisco. How'd that get here?" Willow scrunched her face up in confusion.
"Magic. I...I can see the energy that surrounds it. It was held by a powerful witch." Tara said as she leaned over to look at the newspaper page.
Willow looked to Tara and smiled, "See, your power is awesome." She looked back down to the obituary and couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness, that and determination to leave instantly for San Francisco. She wanted to go, she needed to go.
"I can't explain it, but I feel like this is something I need to go to. It's being held tomorrow at two o'clock. If we leave in the early morning we can get to San Francisco in time for the service".
"We?" Tara asked puzzled.
"Oh I forgot to ask you. I just assumed that you would want to come on a crazy magic adventure with me. I mean you said it was magic that made the paper appear and with you there I can…" Willow rambled until Tara cut her off.
"I'd love to go Willow. We…we'll leave tomorrow at ten. San Francisco is a little over three hours away and if th…things work in our favor then we can sneak into the back right in time for s…services." Tara said with her own resolve-face.
Willow practically glowed with excitement as she got up from the floor and looked for her bag.
"Where're you going W…Willow?"
"Well if we're leaving in the morning I need to go back to my dorm room and pack, ask to borrow Giles' car, and get some rest. Plus let the gang know that we'll be out for a long weekend."
"A long weekend?" Tara asked again confused.
"Yeah. I figure why not make it our first couple-y trip? We can get a hotel room, nothing super fancy but I do have my parents' gold card to use in case of emergency and I think this qualifies."
Tara giggled and said, "You ramble when you're excited".
"Darn tooting I do missy! I feel that this is very important and I want my important person with me. Is that ok?" Willow asked with hopeful eyes.
"It is very ok. There is one thing though. When you get Mr. Giles' car and have your stuff packed you should come back here. I…if y…you want that is".
Instead of answering Willow just took a step towards her and kissed her. Then she smiled and said, "I'll be back in two hours tops".
She had always known she was adopted, she fought monsters, she learned she was a witch by blood, and she discovered her love for Tara under extreme circumstances. With all she'd been through in her life would what she finds in San Francisco be something she could handle?
(A/N: This is part one of two for the first chapter in the "Willow, The Charmed One" series. This was inspired by my love of Willow/Tara and a friend who said that Tara was a throwaway character. I strongly disagree and want to show just how important Tara is to Willow in every way. If you want me to continue this cross-over leave a comment below. Thanks!)