Title: Balance of Power
Author: RogueWitch
Summary: Sequel to Hard Road, Willow and Faith are settling in Charming, but with new relationships forming, and the complications that come with the Sons, how will the two warriors for the Powers come to terms with business as usual in Charming?
Disclaimer: I own neither Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Sons of Anarchy; I'm just borrowing them for a little while.
AN: For everyone who has been patiently waiting for this chapter, I'm sorry it's taken so long. Yeah, I suck. For the record though, and this is not an excuse, I did get into a motorcycle accident (yeah I really do ride the things), and then got engaged, so it's been a pretty busy few months. Please enjoy, and don't forget to tip your writer on the way out.
Last time: "I thought magic would be the old fashioned way," Faith took the pre-offered bags form Chibs and wandered into the kitchen.
"Do I even want to know what you two are talking about?" Chibs asked, kissing Willow on the cheek. "It's lovely to see you again."
"You too, Chibs," Willow said, returning his affectionate smile. "Flowers and my lack of them." She pointed towards the pots."
"I see, well why don't you use some of those witchy powers to heat up our chips?" Chibs asked, hooking one of his arms through hers and leading her to the kitchen. "They just never taste right cold."
"French fries, Chibs," Faith scolded, handing Willow the bag of fries. "We live in America, were we call these fries. Chips come in a bag marked Lays."
"You are a cheeky little brat," Chibs told Faith, taking his packet of warm fries from the witch.
"I've been getting lessons from Kerri Ann," Faith said, popping fries in her mouth. "
"How was your visit?" Willow knew that Kerri Ann had missed her father, who had been absent most of her childhood, but she also knew that these stories sometimes end in disappointment. Kids tend to build up their parents up in their minds, especially when they're not around, she just hoped that they had had a nice visit, and possibly reconnected.
"It was nice," Chibs said, smiling down into his burger. "She's grown up into quite the Slayer, Faith was right; she's an ace with blades, and a lovely young lady. Which I attribute mostly to her mother."
"That sounds good," Willow said to Chibs' vague but clearly proud answer. "Are we going to be seeing out little Irish Slayer anytime soon?"
"I'm talking with her mother about the possibility of her spending her summer hols here," Chibs said, finishing off the last of his fries. "She's not too keen on her little girl spending the summer with a bunch of bikers and gun runners, but the fact that you and Faith are here seems to be tipping the balance."
"Well, if you want me to talk to Fiona for you, I'd be happy to." Willow told the Scot, who just nodded.
Willow picked Ellie and Kenny up from school. With a car full of magic users, a cranky teething baby, and a sleeping slayer, Ellie pulled a pop out of Abel's diaper bag and started to freeze it, causing the temperature in the care to rise.
"Remember to balance out the power you use," Willow reminded Ellie, using her teacher voice. "It's not enough to just want the pop to freeze, but to also make sure you don't roast us in the car."
"Right, concentrate, pull power slowly, freeze pop, let the heat created back into the earth," the little witch concentrated a little harder, bringing the temperature in the car back to normal and handing Able his pop.
"We need to remember, like with everything, energy is neither created nor destroyed, simply channeled," Willow said, helping Ellie guide some of the power, since it was harder in a moving car.
"Physics lessons from the witch," Kenny scoffed. "What's next, Abel teaching us algebra?"
"Kenny, I have a degree in physics from Oxford," Willow said, not to mention a degree in ancient languages from UC Sunnydale, and a year into a graduate degree from Oxford, but she was making a point, not showing off. "Just because magic, on the surface looks like it operates outside of the laws of physics that does not mean that it actually does."
"Right," Kenny said, crossing his arms and slouching down into his seat. "I just watched my sister freeze a Popsicle with her mind."
"Yes, by removing the heat from the Popsicle, which is what caused the air in the car to warm up," Willow did not want to try and explain theoretical physics to and elementary school student in the car.
"Whatever," Kenny told her, looking out the window, his arms tight across his chest.
Willow elbowed Faith, as soon as she stopped at a red light. "Faith, didn't you have something you wanted to ask Kenny?"
"Oh great, a bribe." Kenny sunk even further into his chair.
"Not with that attitude I don't." Faith stretched and contemplated hitting Willow back, but thought better of hitting the driver. Willow just looked at her. "Fine, Kenny, Chibs and I were going to go through some tai chi forms, I'm teaching him, and we thought you might like to join us." Faith glared at Willow as unobtrusively as possible.
"My mom doesn't like it when I hand out with Dad's friends," Kenny said, though it was clear he was interested, "She says they're bad influences."
"I'm sure it will be fine," Faith argued, trying not to clench her teeth. "We won't leave the backyard."
"Would it make you feel better to talk to your dad and get his permission?" Willow asked, pulling out her cell phone. She had already talked to Opie about it during his daily call; he'd been thrilled with the idea. Kenny loves martial arts movies, and was deeply into an anime faze, and it was something he could do that Ellie couldn't, mostly because Ellie was beyond uninterested.
"Dad's permission isn't the same as mom's, at least that's what she says," Kenny sounded so sad, it was almost easy to forget he had been acting out at Willow for two months. Making things as difficult on her as possible, at every turn. "But she also said I should cooperate with you more, that I've been mean and you're a good lady and good for dad, and that he's healing with you."
"Kenny, this is very important," Willow said, glad that she had pulled into the driveway before the full weight of what Kenny had said really sank in. "Have you actually seen your mom?"
"Yeah, she came to talk with me last night," Kenny said, waiting for the grown-ups to tell him he was seeing things, he wasn't, he knew it was her.
"Has she ever talked to you before?" Willow asked, Kenny shook his head. "How did she look?"
"She looked like she always did, in her green t-shirt and jeans," Kenny said. "She sat on my bed and told me she missed me, but my dad would take good care of me, and I should be nicer to my sister because I was going to need her someday. She said I shouldn't be so mean to you because you were good for dad, and she had it on good authority that you were a good person, and things had been hard enough for you without me making it worse. She said I was making you sad and I shouldn't do that because if I made you too sad, you might leave and that would hurt dad and Ellie and they have enough hurt."
"I wish I'd had a chance to meet your mom, Kenny," Willow said, feeling tears in her eyes. "I think I would have liked her."
"But then you and dad wouldn't be together," Ellie said.
"Your mom would be here, and that would mean he wasn't sad, he didn't have his heart broken, and it would be worth not having him if it meant they could be together."
"She said you would say that," Kenny said. "I'm still not sure I like you."
"That's okay," Willow looked at the boy, pouting in the back seat. "You don't have to like me, just be nicer."
"Okay," the boy decided. "I think I'd like to learn Tai Chi, Faith."
