Note: This was originally written for igrockspock and posted on AO3.
"Dawnie!" Willow prodded the unconscious lump under the covers. "Hey, Dawnie – wake up!"
"Is it time for school?" she mumbled through the darkness, before rolling back over.
"It's Saturday," said Willow. She gently poked her shoulder. "But, uh, I'd really appreciate if you'd get up."
Dawn's eyes opened wide. "Is something wrong?" She shuffled upright with a pounding heart. In a town like Sunnydale, being shaken awake in the small hours was never a good sign.
"Nothing, you know, undead or demony..." Willow trailed off. "I was kinda hoping you'd help me with something, actually."
"What kind of thing?" asked Dawn, rubbing her eyes.
"I – I wanted to surprise Tara with breakfast." Willow couldn't quite meet her eye.
"Shouldn't you do that yourself?" Dawn was preparing to lie back down and get some more much-needed rest. "Wouldn't it mean more coming from you?"
"Yeah... Well, that's what I was going to do, but it's kinda all gone horribly wrong and please help me clean up before Buffy gets back or Tara wakes up," she babbled. "I'll make it up to you, promise! Just... Please don't tell anyone, okay?"
"Can we watch a movie tonight?" Willow nodded vigorously. "With popcorn?" Willow nodded again. "...And ice cream?"
"Anything you want, Dawnie! Now come on, before it gets light."
Reluctantly, Dawn slithered out from under the covers and tip-toed out of the bedroom after Willow. She'd better make good on that popcorn and ice cream, and maybe even throw a pizza in for good measure, she thought as she tried to make her way quietly down the stairs.
The kitchen light was on, and when the brightness stopped hurting her eyes, Dawn looked around her and gasped.
"Ssh!" whispered Willow sharply, prompting Dawn to start sniggering uncontrollably.
"It's not funny!" she insisted. "We need to get this tidied or we're in trouble."
"You're in trouble, don't you mean," giggled Dawn. "How did this happen anyway?"
"I tried to use a spell..." Willow bit her lip.
Dawn just raised an eyebrow, and Willow visibly shrank.
"I know, I know. I've been using too much magic lately. I just wanted to do something nice, okay?"
Dawn sighed. "Okay, Will. So... Where do we start?"
There was brown and black goop spread all over the walls and ceiling, covered in multicoloured sauces and sprinkles. There were pools of what could have been milkshake all over the floor and shards of glass scattered around in similar patterns to the sprinkles, as though the spell couldn't tell the difference.
"I'll get a chair and do the ceiling. Could you do the walls?" Willow was close to tears, though out of panic or embarrassment she wasn't quite sure. "I'll, uh, try and sort out the glass."
She tried to pick up a particularly jagged shard from the counter top, but it was properly stuck in. "Ugh, I don't even know how this happened," she moaned. "I left the room for one minute while everything stirred itself and came back to this."
"I'm not saying anything," said Dawn. "What kind of food was this supposed to be anyway?"
"Waffles." A wild, nervous giggle escaped her lips. "I was only trying to make waffles."
Dawn was scraping the wall with a knife, breaking off chunks of the burned waffle batter. "We have a waffle maker you know. Could have saved you... us a whole lot of trouble."
"Not helping, Dawnie..."
Willow closed her eyes and muttered an incantation, but the glass was still stuck in the counter tops. The kitchen looked like the inside of some terrifying demon dimension. "Wrong one, wrong one..." The right words finally caused the glass to melt away and re-appear in the bin. She breathed a sigh of relief and with it a weight fell off her shoulders. Maybe everything would be okay after all.
By the time the suns rays began to sneak in through the window, they were nearly done wiping the sticky syrup off the surfaces. There was a soft click as Buffy closed the front door. Her footsteps grew louder as she approached the kitchen; Willow squealed and kicked the garbage bag full of mess under the table.
"What are you guys up to?" Buffy stuck her head around the door.
"Uh, there's definitely nothing weird going on in here," said Willow quickly.
Buffy was too tired to question her too hard. "As long as you didn't let Dawn stay up all night."
"How was patrolling?" asked Dawn a little too brightly.
"You did let Dawn stay up all night, didn't you?" Buffy was doing her best responsible adult face.
"Oh, no, Buffy! You know I'd never do that," said Willow. "We got up early to make breakfast. I wanted to surprise Tara, that's all."
Buffy scrutinised her friend. "Okay, I guess I believe you." She waved a dismissive hand and smiled. "But if you don't mind, I'm going to have to go collapse after a hard night's slayage."
"I'll save you some breakfast?"
"Thanks, Will."
When the coast was clear again, a little whimper came from Willow.
"I hate lying," she said, and went back to the last bit of cleaning.
Dawn stayed pointedly quiet.
"Hey," she said, with a wide yawn. "Do you mind if I go back to bed now? Can I trust you not to destroy the kitchen again while I have a lie-in?"
Willow gave a sheepish nod. "I'll save you some waffles too."
"Waffles sound good," said Dawn. "When I feel more awake. You'd better not forget about our movie later. You did promise..."
"Don't worry, I'm on it."
As Dawn closed the kitchen door, Willow tied up the bag of evidence of her failure and took a deep breath. No magic this time – just waffles, milkshake, and a nice surprise for Tara.
She put the mixing bowl down heavily on the counter top, and quickly weighed out the ingredients. Baking without magic was more of a hassle than she remembered. The kitchen ended up with flour and sugar scattered everywhere, and the first egg she tried to break cracked and went on the floor. Still, she thought darkly, it was better than the failed spell.
She put the batter in the waffle maker and darted outside with the garbage bag, wishing she could just make the darn thing disappear. She could do okay without magic, without feeling like she was letting anyone down, so why did she always fall back on cheap tricks?
You don't need magic, she told herself, but she didn't have much time to stand around brooding.
The smell of fresh waffles drifted upstairs and began to tickle Tara's nose. She reached for her partner's warm body; unable to find it, she shook herself awake and sat up in bed, sniffing the air with a hopeful smile.
Willow was whizzing up some milkshake in the blender when Tara walked into the kitchen, with footsteps so light that Willow didn't know she was there until she felt a pair of familiar hands around her waist.
"Morning," she said, turning around with a grin. "I made you breakfast."
As she fell into Tara's warm embrace, the stress and guilt of the morning melted away. Tara was more powerful than any magic in that respect. But Willow couldn't help but find herself fighting back tears as she wondered whether if it came to choosing between Tara and magic, she would be able to make the right decision.