Tara woke up that morning happier than she could ever remember being. She glanced over at the table next to her bed in her dorm room and saw the "extra flamey" candle Willow had brought last night. She smiled fondly at the candle, even though it was no longer burning. Rolling over she found herself nose to nose with Willow, whose eyes were wide open.
"Hey." Willow said, a little shyly.
"Hey yourself." Tara replied, kissing Willow quickly on the nose. The redhead sat up slowly. Tara watched her, she could tell Willow was nervous, and that she was thinking hard about what to say about last night. Instead of leaving Willow struggling, Tara softly spoke first. "Are you o-okay?" Willow turned back to her, clutching the bed covers to her chest.
"I think so." She said after a moment. "Was it…are you…was I okay?" She held Tara's gaze, but the crease between her eyebrows betrayed that she was actually nervous about Tara's response. Tara sat up to join her and planted a feather-light kiss on her lips.
"It was the best night of my life." She said honestly, brushing her nose against Willow's.
"Mine too." Willow said with a giggle. She got out of bed and went over to the drawer in Tara's dresser that held some of Willow's clothes. She dressed slowly, savoring the daylight pouring in the window onto her skin. Now that she knew Tara was happy with what Willow thought was her own clumsy performance last night, she was able to just grin and bask in her choice of relationship. She felt a small thorn in her heart, knowing that Oz was probably still on the road somewhere, going away from her. But turning and seeing Tara standing on the other side of the room, mostly dressed and gazing out the window, made the pain of losing Oz for good seem to evaporate.
The phone rang, making both women startle out of their quiet moments. Tara grabbed it.
"Hello?"
"Tara MaClay, please."
"Th-this is Tara." She didn't recognize the voice on the other end of the phone.
"Yes, this is Angela from the Sunnydale Animal Shelter. You had an appointment scheduled for 10:00 am this morning."
Tara glanced at the clock. It read 10:35 am. Of course! She'd forgotten all about arranging a private browsing of the kitten department at the Animal Shelter. While Angela had been talking, Willow had moved across the room and pressed her head against Tara's so she could hear. The two witches exchanged a half-excited, half-guilty glance.
"Yes, um, sorry." Tara said quickly. "Can I reschedule for t-tomorrow?"
"No!" Willow said, light brimming in her eyes. "I wanna go now!" Tara smiled at her and made a shushing gesture at Willow while she listened into the phone.
"I see…well I did r-really want to get a private appointment, so I can wait until next week-"
"Tara!" Willow hissed, grinning. She jokingly tried to pull the phone out of Tara's hands.
"Willow!" Tara said, laughing and batting Willow away. Willow tugged on the cord.
"Kittens! Tara, we have to go and see the kittens!" Willow's child-like excitement made Tara laugh even more, and she didn't even notice when Angela from the Shelter hung up on her.
"The private appointments are expensive..." Tara said with a half-smile, clutching the phone to her chest. Willow reached out and pulled the phone cord harder, making Tara take a step closer to her. Willow placed her hands on Tara's waist. She thought for a moment how perfectly natural it felt to be holding Tara like this, whereas with Oz she would have had her hands on his shoulders, or linked behind his neck.
"Come on." Willow said. She could see her own kitten-related excitement reflected in Tara's beautiful blue eyes. "You said yesterday you wanted a kitten, and now we…I-I mean you…should get one." Willow's words stumbled out of her mouth. She kept forgetting that this wasn't her dorm room, and that she didn't actually have any say in what pet Tara got. Tara knew exactly what was going on behind Willow's big, hazel eyes.
"Well." She said, flashing Willow another one of her crooked half-smiles. "I'm going to need a second opinion."
"I want them all!" Tara sighed, peering into yet another tiny cage with a kitten in it. Willow was at the other end of the cages, walking slowly along the line, looking at every kitten carefully.
"Me too!" She said. "They're all so precious." She moved down the line, closer to where Tara was. Willow paused at a little tabby kitten and poked a finger through the bars. The little kitten rubbed his face against her finger and mewled. Willow felt like her heart was melting.
"Will, look at her!" Tara was only a few feet away, gazing at a cage Willow hadn't seen yet. Tara held out her hand and Willow grasped it and found herself being pulled towards the blonde witch. Tara scooted Willow in front of her and rested her chin on Willow's shoulder as they both took in the sight of the tiny black and white kitten gazing up at them from behind the bars.
"Is this your Miss Kitty?" Willow asked. Tara laughed a little.
"Yes." Tara said, knowing without a doubt that this was the one she wanted. Willow reached forward and opened the latch holding the cage shut. She knew that technically they weren't supposed to do this without help from a shelter staff member, but she had seen a man a few minutes earlier open a cat's cage without permission so she figured she could do the same. Tara reached with her arms on either side of Willow and lifted the kitten up so she was nose to nose with the redhead. The kitten batted at Willow's eyelashes and Willow ducked out of the way, leaving Tara to snuggle the cat up to her chest.
"I think it's love at first sight." A voice sounded behind them. They both turned quickly to see a kind-faced woman wearing a shelter staff uniform grinning it them.
"I think so too." Said Willow, looking over, not at the cat, but at Tara.