Willow woke to the sensation of a warm body wrapped around hers. Soft breaths blowing across the top of her chest made her tingle with each exhale. Their legs and arms held the other tightly to them. It had been a sleepless rollercoaster for the young witch since Sunday morning, but it had ended with the most wonderful experience and comfortable sleep of her life. She was so at ease she couldn't feel the bed, just their interlocked bodies. She sighed in contentment at the thought before she realized the extent of that feeling. There was no tactile sensation beneath her despite the weight of Tara and the sheets pressing down on her.

She blinked, her field of vision taken up mainly by a messy tangle of blonde hair. Willow craned her head carefully, not wanting to separate from the other girl. They were floating half a foot above the mattress, suspended in the air. "What the heck…?" Tara began to stir at her words, yawning into Willow's throat as she joined her in wakefulness. The blonde snuggled against her, then opened her eyes as she reached for the bed with the arm she had curled under Willow's back. Tara pulled away, fully awake, to look at their unexplained levitation and once their contact was broken they fell to the bed with a thump.

"W-what was that about?" Tara asked half laughing.

"I don't know." She answered grinning hugely. She ran the back of her hand over her girlfriend's neck, reveling in the heat she could feel through her knuckles. "Just the magic between us, I guess." Tara beamed at her and pulled them together for a kiss. She placed her head on Willow's shoulder as they hugged, her hands stopping their caresses after a minute.

"The power's back on." Willow followed Tara's gaze to the blinking alarm clock. The older Wiccan looked back to her worriedly. "You- we could be late for class."

The redhead shrugged, not letting go of her. "It's probably postponed from the blackout. Besides," she said wickedly, rubbing her hand down Tara's abdomen, "I've got much more important stuff to be doing." Not too long ago the thought of skipping class for anything less than life and death would have horrified her, but now it seemed insignificant compared to staying right where she was. Tara seemed surprised by the statement too, happily though. The blonde's fingertips traced her spine, and Willow leaned up for another kiss before they were rudely interrupted by a loud growl from Willow's stomach. She buried her face in her lover's chest, embarrassed. Goddess only knew what time it was, and she hadn't eaten at all the day before despite Giles' attempts at feeding them while they waited on Riley.

"Like getting food." Tara said smiling with only the left side of her mouth. Willow looked up at her with a pout.

"But that would involve getting out of bed."

"Even after last night, y-you still…" Her girlfriend shook her head, laughing disbelievingly. She sighed, hands still stroking Willow's back. "I didn't expect you to choose me, let alone… make it up to me." Tara's blue eyes darkened with desire, showing how happy that had made her.

"Of course I did." Willow said tenderly. "I love you."

Tara brought one hand up to bury it in short red hair. "I know that." She said softly.

The younger girl rested her head on her partner's breast, relaxing at the touch. "I was just too much of a dummy to show you sooner." They looked at each other in comfortable silence, enjoying the emotional, physical, and magical connection that bonded them so closely until Willow's stomach rumbled even louder. She groaned her displeasure and Tara pushed her up, forcing them to start the day despite their mutual desire to lay there forever.

"I'm going to have to cook for you sometime." Tara said as they gathered their clothes from around the room.

"You cook too?"

Over the next few days Willow moved a few outfits and toiletries to Tara's room to facilitate more snuggly sleepovers. The couple's new closeness helped to distract Willow from her increasing distance from Buffy. When the Slayer wasn't in class or on patrol she was visiting Riley in his hideout at the abandoned school. Cordelia called from L.A. once while no one was in the girl's room and Willow decided to give her Tara's number to keep the seer from having to leave messages in the future. Willow was over there more often than her own place, and for whatever reason the little witch had become the closest to the former Scooby since Cordy had left Sunnydale.

A few days into Riley's exile Willow went over to bring him dinner. She and Xander were worried about him too, and helping him was a way they could take some pressure off the strained Buffy. He seemed grateful for the company, if a bit grouchy from being cooped up with nothing to fight.

"I can't thank you enough, what you did for Oz." She sat down beside the ex-soldier holding her coffee cup in both hands.

"I'm just glad we got him out in time. And that I finally made a choice." Riley sighed, looking at his barely eaten sandwich. "I knew things were wrong at the Initiative, but I had a duty, you know. I thought we were looking out for people, but it ain't always that simple."

"Well, you looked out for Oz and Tara. That's simple enough for me." Willow gave him a small smile as he turned to her.

"Buffy told me he left. If the Initiative weren't here he could have stayed, kept on doing whatever you guys did for him before." Riley gave her a look of sympathy. "It's a shame the Initiative can't see what you and Buffy do, the shades of gray. I mean, it's not like anyone chooses to be bitten by a werewolf, or a vampire." He looked away for a second at that last word.

"It's for the best, really." She assured him. "He still needs to work on controlling his transformation. It wasn't the right time to come back."

"I know. It's just a shame that stuff like that has to get in the way of love."

Willow gulped at little.

"Well, that wasn't the only thing. If I'd told him I was with Tara right away he wouldn't have wolfed out in the middle of the school. If you hadn't been there…"

Riley's eyes widened. "Oh, you and Tara are…" He tossed his head back, laughing a bit. "Well now I feel dense. I should have known. But I guess I was around Buffy whenever I was around the two of you and I didn't see. Sorry."

Willow smiled. Riley really was a decent guy. That had been a more reassuring reaction than Buffy's. "No apologies needed. I know you two kind of tune out everything else when you're together." He rubbed his neck a bit sheepishly. After a thoughtful minute he spoke again.

"I guess that was what Buffy was talking about."

She tensed, curiosity rising in her.

"Buffy? Talking about what?"

"We got into a bit of an argument about… you, the night Oz came back. Buffy told me he was a werewolf and that you dated him knowing that. I was shocked and said I thought you were too smart to be into dangerous men." Willow opened her mouth to protest, but decided against it. Oz was dangerous, and smart or not she had accepted it. "She was mad at me when she left in the morning too." Hence the grumpy when she came back to our room. It was nice to think of Buffy defending her to her boyfriend. "We made up after you broke us out of the Initiative. I apologized for being judgmental about you and Oz. Then Buffy said it was just a momentary freak out from finding out you were in an 'unconventional relationship' and that it happens. I guess she was talking about you and Tara too."

That wasn't too comforting. Buffy was freaked out. Oh god, what if that's why she's been avoiding me? She's not okay with the gayness. Riley swallowed and she tried to pull herself out her panic. Come on Willow, don't blow this out of proportion. Buffy said it was a 'momentary' freak out. Maybe she's had time to deal and things can be normal between us. I hope.

"Then she told me about Angel. Her dangerous man."

Willow mouthed "Oh", understanding what had Riley so upset.

"I figure that was part of why she was extra-defensive of you and Oz." He set his jaw firmly. "She has this big, lost love and I indirectly called her stupid for it. Sometimes I don't know if I'll ever…" He shook his head, letting the thought remain incomplete.

"Ever what?" She asked.

"I don't know, understand her. Know how not to piss her off, or how to get her to open up to me the way she does to you."

Willow felt a twinge of pain. That was how it used to be. They had had their ups and downs in the years they'd been best friends, but recently Buffy hardly talked to her at all, let alone truly opened up. Riley didn't need to be burdened with any of that though. He needed someone to believe in him.

"Well I think you understand her just fine, the way you were deconstructing her just now?" Plus you're a Psych major, but after Professor Walsh's dying, bringing that up, probably not a good idea. "She's crazy about you. And Angel? Pssh, you're way better for her than Angel. He made her miserable." Sometimes. But you don't need to know that. Riley smiled weakly.

"Hmm. Well I've got the ability to suntan going for me, so that's a point in my column."

"Exactly."

They were quiet for the rest of their meal, and Willow suspected they were both contemplating the same thing, if for different reasons: the strength of their relationship with the Slayer.

The next couple of weeks gave Willow little opportunity to reconnect with Buffy. The Slayer was trying everything she could think of to find Adam, and barely talked to anyone but Riley. Willow chose to set aside a day when they both had no classes or visits with their significant others planned to spend time with her. It seemed like forever since they'd been in their room at the same time.

"Do you want to go to the…" She began. Of course, the phone had to ring at that moment. Buffy picked it up.

"Hello?" Any hopes Willow had that the call was unimportant were dashed when her friend's face hardened. "She's in L.A.?... What about the police?... Well of course they can't handle her, not even the Council's goon squad could… She did what?... I'm going. Now." Buffy was already moving to the door before Willow could speak.

"Buffy, what's going on?" She had a sinking feeling she knew who the 'she' was.

"It's Faith. She tried to kill Angel."

"Oh my god. Well, you'll need back up and…"

"No." Buffy was in full Slayer mode. "I need to do this. Alone." She grabbed her bag and was gone. The witch watched helplessly as the door swung shut behind her.

She sequestered herself in Tara's room, and it proved a very pleasant safe haven from thoughts of battle between Buffy and Faith. Tara seemed to flinch at the mention of the rogue Slayer's name. She couldn't help but wonder what Faith had said to her during the one meeting between the girls at the Bronze. Whatever it was it had left the Wiccan incredibly unsettled, and Willow decided against pressing her for details, not wanting to cause her even more discomfort.

The next day her worries about Faith were pushed to the back of her mind by the arrival of an adorable new companion. Tara managed to sneak in the black and white kitten and neither of the witches could get enough of her. They took turns playing with her as they planned out their class schedules for next year. She smiled, lowering the cat into her lap.

"I haven't even dealt with the housing situation yet. Have you done anything? I hear there's some… off campus places that are way cool for groups to you know… go in on."

The kitten tried to wander out of her lap as she spoke. Willow pulled her back and scritched her tummy. She had a fantasy of a place with a room for her and Tara, an adjoining but soundproofed room for Buffy and Riley, and a guest room where Xander and maybe even Anya could crash. Giles could come over and act as den father. It wasn't terribly realistic, but it was nice to dream. At the very least she knew she wanted to be with Tara.

"Oh, I just figured you'd be dorming it up with Buffy again." As close as they'd gotten, her blonde love still didn't seem confident that Willow would pick her over her friends. It wasn't a decision she wanted to be forced into.

"We haven't really talked about it. I used to assume we'd be roomies through grad school, well into little old ladyhood you know… cheatin' at bingo together and forgetting to take our pills."

Tara picked up on the doubt in Willow's voice. She could read her so well. "But?"

"But… I don't know. It hardly feels like we're roomies now. She's busy with Riley… and I'm gone a lot too." She thought for a moment. The Faith thing had interrupted her before she could work things out with Buffy. With any luck she'd be back within the next couple of days and she'd have another chance. "Guess I should ask her."

The next afternoon Willow went back to her room, hoping to find Buffy safe and sound. She wasn't there, but her bag was, so she must have come home at some point. She felt a twinge of hurt that Buffy hadn't called to let her know she was back. The phone rang, and Willow nearly skipped over to it. Her heart fell a little when it was Giles on the other end, not Buffy.

"Buffy's not here. What's up?"

"Actually you're the one I need to speak to. I'm paying Spike to fetch us some disks from the Initiative, and I'll need your help looking them over."

She perked up at the thought. She didn't get much chance to be hacker-Willow these days.

"Sure. I'll get my stuff together and be right over."

She grabbed her laptop and went to pick up Tara on the way to Giles' apartment. He had a glass in his hand when he opened the door for them and gestured Willow towards the table he had cleared off for her. She set up her computer and began booting up as Tara watched curiously.

"This'll be your first time seeing computer nerd me in action. Hope you're not too bored watching. I know it's not as thrilling as monster fighting, but it is my signature skill around here."

"Oh I'm sure it won't be boring," Tara said kindly. "I don't know much about computers, but it sounds cool. Deciphering codes, it's unlocking a mystery. That's always interesting." They shared a smile. She passed the time tinkering with the code of her homemade programs while they waited for the vampire to arrive. Giles was quiet, staying in the kitchen with an ever filling glass.

It was night by the time Spike arrived in his military garb, apparently having been chased at some point on the way back to Giles' apartment. Willow took the disks from him and began to check them as Spike and Giles argued. Tara's fingertips moved softly through her hair as she worked. She accessed the first disk and the screen was a mess of perpendicular lines of blue characters.

"It looks like gibberish." Tara said as she peered at the code.

"Gibberish?" Spike asked, his attention back on Willow's task.

"They're encrypted." She explained, not sure how much the century old vampire knew about modern technology.

"Oh wonderful." Giles complained as Spike moved next to Willow.

"Can you fix 'em?"

"Crack a government encryption code on my laptop?" Willow looked at him for a moment, not wanting to overstate her abilities. In all honesty it could take quite a while. "Easy as really difficult pie."

"You're not exactly the whiz these days, either. God I'm never gonna get paid." He said in frustration. She looked at Spike again, offended.

"I am a whiz." Willow said firmly, turning back to the screen.

"She is a whiz." Tara agreed supportively.

"If ever a whiz there was. I-I just need some time."

"No. I just heard you weren't… Your mates said, you weren't playing with computers so much." Again Spike's words brought her out of her hacking. He indicated Tara with his head. "Into to the new thing."

"What new thing?"

"You know, you two, the whole Wicca thing." She turned her body to him in concern. Xander and Buffy were talking about the 'Wicca thing', meaning the 'lesbian thing', behind her back? In front of Spike?

"They, they were talking about that?"

"Could we get back to business here? I've got a deal at stake." Spike said, ignoring her discomfort. Urgent business or not, she had to know what had been said.

"What did they say?"

"Talking about you know, it's a phase. You'll get over it." He answered dismissively.

"What? Who said that? Was it Buffy?" She could hear Tara take a breath and feel her stroke her hair. Willow turned to her girlfriend to reassure her. "'Cause you know what she means by that…"

Spike interrupted and stepped to the side, Willow's gaze following him. "No, she was defending you. 'Cause Xander said you were just being trendy."

"Trendy?" What, did he think Willow was just dating a girl to seem cooler? That was insane. Who would pretend to be an oppressed minority when they could pass as what society considered normal?

"I don't know what they were going on about. Person wants to be a witch, that's their business." He said almost kindly. Willow shook her head. So her worst fears had been true. They weren't accepted.

"I knew Buffy was freaked."

"You should talk to her, 'cause I'm sure…" Tara tried to calm her, but Spike pointed back to the computer.

"Pressing business, ladies. Don't want to get sidetracked. Still got your monsters to fight."

Hours later Buffy finally arrived, Xander and Anya having already come in. She quickly told them that Faith was taken care of, not going into further details, and then told them about her encounter with Adam in the cave. Buffy was very eager for Willow to make progress on the decryption, and Tara sweetly praised Willow's efforts to her. It didn't do much good. The Slayer did seem somewhat regretful of her attitude but kept on pressing.

"Sorry you guys. We're on a clock here." She paced as she spoke. "Okay, Adam was at that cave, so maybe he was there for a reason. I could go back, scope it out… track him if I have to."

That was the final straw. Willow had been quiet for weeks now, and after what just happened to Forrest there was no way she was going to let Buffy was go after Adam on her own. She pushed herself out of her chair and confronted her gung-ho friend.

"Right, and then maybe you'll get lucky, and he'll still be there, and he can rip your arms off for you. Buffy you can't go back alone." There was anger in her voice. She didn't care.

"You never train with me anymore. He's going to kick your ass." Giles chimed in.

"Giles." Buffy said surprised. He came out of the kitchen holding yet another drink.

"Sorry. Was it a bit honest? Terribly sorry." Xander got up from the couch.

"So she doesn't go alone. Giles, weapons all around."

"You're not going Xander." He turned to her as she shut down his offer of help. "You'd get hurt."

"Oh… okay, you and Willow go do the superpower thing. I'll stay behind and putt around the Batcave with crusty old Alfred here."

"Ahh, no I am no Alfred, sir. No, you forget. Alfred had a job." Giles said ruefully.

"Willow's not going either. I'm doing it alone." Willow uncrossed her arms and moved closer to Buffy. The Slayer kept trying to do everything alone, and it was going to get her killed.

"Oh great. And then when you have your new no arms," She could see Tara leave the room out of the corner of her eye, but she was too wound up to go to her. "We can all say, 'Gee, it's a good thing we weren't there getting in the way of that.'"

Xander gestured sarcastically at her cynical statement.

"Right, maybe we can help in other ways. Want some fighting pants, Buff? I can get ya some new fighting pants."

"You guys, this isn't helping." Buffy said, clearly trying her hardest to remain calm. Anya got up and followed Tara away from the tension.

"Oh wow, we're already getting in the way. We're pretty good at this Xander, huh?" She couldn't stop her bitterness. It had been building for a while, and now every little slight from Buffy was coming back to nip at her.

"Right, I'm so good at it, you might have to ship me off to the army to get me out of the way." Xander said with his hands on his chest. Buffy's face seemed to say "Seriously?"

"The army?"

"You didn't know I knew about that, did ya?" He looked between the girls. Willow was confused. What was he talking about? When had she or Buffy ever mentioned the army? Or even talked together without Xander at all for that matter? "You two talking about me behind my back."

"Us talking about you?" Buffy said as she approached Xander. "How about you telling Riley every last detail of my life with Angel?"

"Besides, when is there an 'us two'?" Willow piped up, waving her arms dismissively. "You two are the two who are the two. I'm the other one."

"Uh-huh, but maybe all that changes when I'm doing sit-ups over at Fort Dix."

Giles choked on his drink, laughing.

"Fort Dix?" Both girls turned to look at him as he chortled. He was clearly intoxicated.

"Are you drunk?"

The ex-Watcher wandered a bit, not caring.

"Yes, quite a bit actually."

"Well, stop it." Buffy said with a raised voice, finally getting stressed. "This is stupid."

"Stupid." Xander repeated. "So you finally had the guts to say it to my face."

The Slayer seemed frantic. "I didn't say you were stupid. So stop being an idiot and let me fix this." He sat down on the couch, still hurting. "Okay, I need you. I need both of you all the time, just… not now. Adam is very dangerous."

Willow contemplated Buffy's words. How could she say she need them when just a few breaths ago she had been insisting on doing everything alone? And didn't she see the contradiction in needing them all the time, except for now? "Now" was part of all the time.

"Wait. How do you need me, really?" She asked. Buffy gestured to the laptop.

"You're good with the computer stuff. Usually." She could feel her temperature rise as she grew madder, insulted. "And-and there's the witch stuff."

There was the heart of the matter. The real reason Buffy didn't want her around.

"Witch 'stuff'. What exactly do you mean by witch stuff?" Willow said spitefully, wanting to hear the ugly truth. The disgust Buffy felt was worse hidden beneath the surface. If she was going to reject her, Willow deserved to hear her say it outright.

"You guys, what is happening? This is crazy." She was almost pleading.

"Oh no it's not. It's all finally making perfect sense…" Giles said, attempting to sit at the computer chair. "… and I'm not gonna miss a moment of it." He missed the chair and fell to the floor. He grumbled and made his way upstairs as more harsh words flew between the three of them. Xander was still hung up on the idea of being shipped off the army. Willow's vexation brought down the politeness that had been keeping her from letting loose on Xander for the past several months.

"No, you'd be wonderful in the army. Hey do you think the umbilical cord between you and Anya could stretch that far?"

Xander was furious. "I knew it. I knew you hated her!" He pointed at Willow accusingly. Giles' sweater fell from the second floor onto Xander's head. He tore it off angrily.

Willow didn't care. She had been far more tolerant of Xander's love life than they had been of hers. "Look, I'm not the one being judgmental here. I'll leave that territory to you and Buffy."

"Judgmental?" Buffy said as if shocked. Willow crossed her arms and Xander turned from her to Buffy. "If I was any more open-minded about the choices you two make my whole brain would fall out." Xander looked back to Willow with a cynical breeze.

"Oh, and superior. Don't forget that." He walked past the Slayer. "Just because you're better than us doesn't mean you can be all superior." He leaned against a cabinet, not seeming phased by his somewhat contradictory declaration.

"You guys, stop this." Buffy begged. "What happened to you today?"

Had she really not seen this coming? "It's not today. Buffy, things have been wrong for awhile. Don't you see that?" Buffy looked helplessly between Willow and Xander.

"What do you mean wrong?"

"Well they certainly haven't been right, since Tara. We have to face it- You can't handle Tara being my girlfriend." Xander came forward to protest.

"No, it was bad before that. Since you two went off to college and forgot about me. Just left me in the basement to-" He turned to Buffy and back to Willow as he slowly comprehended what his long time friend had just said. Apparently Buffy and Riley hadn't filled him in. "Tara's your girlfriend?"

"Bloody hell!" Giles called out from upstairs. It was a testament to how far apart they'd drifted that Willow couldn't tell if he was exclaiming because of surprise at new knowledge, or disbelief that Xander hadn't caught on to the obvious sooner.

"Enough!" Buffy yelled. "All I know is you wanna help, right? Be part of the team?" Willow brushed her hair nervously as she and Xander talked at once.

"I don't know anymore." "Feeling not wanted."

"No!" Buffy insisted. "No, you said you wanted to go." Willow re-crossed her arms, feeling a need to protect herself from the Slayer's anger. "So let's go, all of us. We'll walk into that cave with you two attacking me and the funny drunk drooling on my shoe. Hey, maybe that's the secret way to killing Adam!"

"Buffy…" Xander said, perhaps realizing the need to cool off.

"Is that it? Is that how you can help?" She waited on them. Willow couldn't think of what to say. "You're not answering me! How can you possibly help?" They were silent. "So… I guess I'm starting to understand why there's no ancient prophecy about a chosen one and her friends." She stomped off towards the door. "If I need help, I'll go to someone I can count on." Neither of them could watch as she left. They shared an awkward glance, not able to say anything. After a minute Tara and Anya emerged hesitantly from the bathroom, looking around to see if the storm had passed. Willow took her hand and squeezed it apologetically. They went to Tara's room in silence.

Willow curled up at the foot of the bed in the fetal position, a pillow clutched tightly to her. Tara wrapped her arm around her shoulders, rubbing her arm soothingly.

"I-I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't come around for a while if it's going to make things w-w-worse for you all."

"Tara no, no." She protested, letting go of the pillow to hold her companion. "I'm not letting anything get between us." She rubbed her cheek against Tara's side. "If that means backing off from Buffy, then…"

"No! Willow y-you can't do that." She cupped Willow's face and tilted it so they were looking into each other's eyes. "I know how i-important you are to each other."

The redhead could feel tears forming and shut her eyes tight, willing them to stop.

"She thinks I'm useless." She swallowed, struggling to speak through her clenched throat. "And what if she's right?" Willow looked to Tara helplessly, her anger at Buffy turning inward. "I've been so busy working on my witchcraft I haven't kept up with my computer skills. And I'm no good at that either." Tara just shook her head, looking even sadder than Willow felt it were possible. "God, I gave up going to a good college so I could stay here and help people with spells. And where has that gotten me? I helped Spike escape demon hunters, that's a real victory. I never do anything useful with magick, I just hurt everyone."

Tara held Willow's head to her chest, stroking her hair lovingly. "Willow that's not true. You help out everyone, all the time. Like with the katra…" The younger witch let out a sob.

"That was your idea. Every bit of magick that's helped anyone was your idea. Anything I come up with, like the rose or the demon locator just blows up in my face. Any magick I can do right is because of you. I'm nothing without you. I'm worthless."

"Willow stop!" She pulled away from Tara's chest, startled at the force in her girlfriend's voice. The blonde had set her face resolutely and stared at Willow with total seriousness. "You are not worthless. You're the strongest person I've ever met, and I don't just mean your magic power. Yes," Tara said, stopping Willow's protest, "You are powerful. But it's more than that. You never give up, you never stop caring. You do whatever it takes to get the job done, whether it's with the hacking or the spellcasting. It's one of the many, many reasons I love you."

Willow couldn't fight the tears anymore. She didn't think she'd ever heard Tara say so much at once. She knew her love meant every word though. Tara had told her once that her heart didn't stutter.

"And that's why you aren't going to give up on Buffy and the rest, okay baby? They're your family, and they need you just as much as you need them." She waited a moment while Willow tried to find something to say to this incredible woman that could possibly show how much her words of wisdom meant to her. "Promise?"

"I promise."

Tara smiled and kissed her wet eyes, wiping the tears from each cheek softly. Willow snuggled against her as close as she could and they held one another through the night, ready to support the other through whatever tomorrow would bring.

Author's Notes: So if you've been wondering why this is labeled a Friendship and not a Romance, it's because I'm having fun exploring all of Willow's relationships, Oz in the last chapter, and Riley in this one. In the next chapter "Let's promise to never not talk again", the spotlight will be on Buffy obviously. Then in the final chapter I'll finally get to focus on Willow's oldest and most important friend. I'm not sure what kind of story I'll come up with for Willow and Tara next, but I'll try and make it something more original than this. Thanks for reading.