Technically it's still Saturday here, but I'm bored, so here's the update a whole half hour early...
Willow jumped to her feet as Buffy came though the bedroom door, closing it carefully behind her. "Is she…? Did I…? What did I do?" Willow asked, taking several short steps toward the door and then retreating.
Buffy shook her head, biting back a smile. "She's okay Willow. She's sleeping now."
"What did I do?" the distraught witch asked again. "I didn't mean to hurt her Buffy. You know I wouldn't, but she was crying, and I don't know why…"
The Slayer nodded reassuringly. "It's okay, I promise. She's not mad at you," the Slayer assured her. "Come take a walk with me and we'll talk," she offered.
Willow nodded distractedly, falling into step beside Buffy and following without paying attention, letting the Slayer lead them where she would. She glanced over at Buffy as they walked, wanting to ask more questions, wanting to know what she'd done wrong.
"You didn't do anything wrong," Buffy said, looking sideways at her friend, seeing the fear in the witch's face. Willow's mouth dropped open and Buffy smiled gently at her friend's surprise. "We've been friends for a long time Willow. I can normally figure out what's going on in your head."
The witch nodded, wondering silently if her friends knew how deeply she felt for the beautiful blonde witch.
"Which is why I know that you're in love with Tara," Buffy continued, laughing as Willow gaped at her. "You're not as sneaky as you think you are my friend."
"You're just a mind reader or something," Willow complained.
The Slayer shook her head, still laughing. "I know this is going to sound weird, but why do you love Tara? What is it about her?" Willow just stared at her and Buffy crossed her arms over her chest. "I know it is a weird question, but just answer it for me, okay?"
Willow blinked. "Are you blind, or deaf, or something? Tara's amazing. Anybody can see that." She paused, gathering her thoughts. "She's smart, and funny, patient, thoughtful, generous, completely gorgeous, strong, sweet. When she smiles it makes my heart skip a beat, even if she's not smiling at me. When she's feeling really shy she ducks her head to make her hair fall in her face, and when she laughs it makes the whole room light up." She blushed suddenly, feeling the tips of her ears burning as her face reddened. "Being around her, it's better than any magic, better than anything I can imagine," Willow said earnestly, anxious to make Buffy understand that her feelings were real, even if her memories were gone.
Buffy smiled, nodding as she struggled to control her sudden emotions. She'd watched Willow and Tara's relationship grow, once she finally noticed that it existed, but there was much that the two girls kept private about their feelings, not that someone couldn't take one look at either one of them and see how much they loved each other. It was different hearing it directly from Willow's mouth though, and Buffy blinked back sudden tears.
"I know all that. Tara's a good friend. I'm just looking out for her. You can understand that, right?"
Willow let out a deep breath, nodding. "I get that. You don't think I'm going to hurt Tara, do you? Cause I would never do anything like that!"
Buffy stepped forward quickly, pulling her friend into a hug. "I know you wouldn't Willow. I'm just scared that you and Tara might hurt each other without meaning to."
Willow frowned at the Slayer. "What do you mean?"
Buffy sighed, wondering how much was too much to share with the intelligent redhead. "You are very…important to Tara," she started slowly, choosing her words carefully. "That's why she's here. She cares a lot about you, and wants to make sure your magic training stays on track." Buffy paused, studying her friend's expression. "It's her first priority Willow."
"So I should back off?" Willow questioned.
Buffy nodded slowly. "That's pretty much what I'm saying I guess. You're very important to her Willow. Can't that be enough, for now?"
Willow nodded silently. "What if I never get the chance for anything else?" she asked, letting her fear rise to the surface for a moment.
Buffy let out a deep breath, hugging Willow tight. "Just give it time Willow. Just give her time."
Tara was smiling as she woke up and it took her a moment to remember the night before. She shot bolt upright in her bed as the memories came back and she wrapped her arms around her knees, giggling helplessly into the soft fabric of her pajama pants.
"Someone's happy this morning," Buffy said, her voice still thick with sleep.
Tara was across the room in a second, throwing herself onto the Slayer's bed. "What happened last night? How's Willow? Is she completely freaked?" she rambled the questions, practically vibrating in her excitement.
Buffy blinked up at her, turning onto her back to look at her fully. "I've never heard you talk so fast. Were you totally channeling Will right then? Because that was funny," she commented, smiling sleepily. "Willow is fine, Tara. We talked and I sent her to bed."
Tara bit her lip, her eyes wide. "And?"
"And what?" Buffy asked, deliberately playing dumb.
"What did she say?" Tara asked, slapping one hand down against the covers of Buffy's bed.
"She's completely over the moon for you Tara," Buffy said gently, smiling up at her. "She was very relived to hear that you weren't mad at her, and she thinks you're sweet, and funny, and smart, and gorgeous, and all of that good stuff," she recited, grinning at the look on Tara's face.
The witch looked as if she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Buffy sat up as she started to do both, tears sliding down her cheeks even as she laughed, a shaking hand covering her mouth. The Slayer pulled her into a hug, Tara's arms wrapping tightly around her shoulders.
After a few minutes Tara's frantic laughter eased and she pulled back, wiping her tears with both hands. "Thank you Buffy," she said sincerely, a radiant smile on her face.
"Now maybe you'll believe us when we say that everything is going to be fine," Buffy said, smiling.
"Willow's come a long way," Tara agreed. "It doesn't mean that she's going to want me back."
Buffy flopped back in the bed, laughing in frustration. "She told me last night that she loves you! She said that you make her feel better than any of the magic. That doesn't mean that she wants you back?"
"I just need to hear it from her, with her memories," Tara said. "I see all the evidence, really I do Buffy, but I can't leave my heart out there to get broken again if she's going to want me gone after she gets her memories back."
The Slayer sighed, tucking one arm behind her head as she looked up at the witch. "That makes sense I guess." She studied the other woman's face as she spoke again. "For what it's worth, me and Xander are positive that it'll be less than a minute after the coven breaks that spell before she's begging you to take her back."
Tara smiled down at her, drawing her knee up and resting her head against it. "We'll see," she said noncommittally.
"Come on! You can do better than that!" Buffy demanded, grinning.
"I hope you're right," Tara amended her statement and Buffy rolled her eyes.
"How much longer does she have anyway?"
Tara shrugged. "Not too much longer. She's getting stronger every day," she said and Buffy could detect the pride in her voice.
"Perfect! Then you'll see how right me and Xander are!" she said eagerly.
Tara rolled her eyes. "So much for not getting my hopes up," she said, almost to herself, giving the Slayer a sardonic smile.
"Well, if it makes it any easier, a firm direction to back off was part of my talk with Willow last night," Buffy offered, not quite sure how Tara would react to that news.
"You told her?!" Tara asked, spine suddenly tense.
Buffy shook her head quickly, sitting up. "No, no way. I just said that her training was your first priority and it might be nice of her, seeing how she loves you," Buffy added in with a grin, "to chill with the mushy stuff until the magic stuff is taken care of."
Tara nodded, deciding quickly that that was the best she could hope for, and hoping that it would provide a reprieve from being overwhelmed with Willow's unintentional temptations, the things she didn't even realize she was doing that drove Tara crazy.
"Thanks Buffy," she said genuinely, sliding off the bed as they both heard the morning bell chime.
Tara walked back to her bed, gathering clean clothes to change into and heading for the bathroom. Buffy's voice made her pause. "She's just as scared as you are that the memory spell will ruin things. She thinks you won't want her once she's who she used to be."
Tara didn't turn, just lingered in the doorway for a moment, leaving Buffy to flop back into her bed again.
Willow was already at breakfast when Tara and Buffy came in and her eyes dropped to her plate as Tara's eyes landed on her. She speared a piece of pear with her fork, nibbling on it as the two blondes joined her at the table. Xander was a no show, but that was to be expected after almost a month away from Anya.
Buffy sat down across from Willow, and turned quickly to slide both of her legs over the entire bench beside her, leaving Tara the option of sitting on Buffy's legs or sitting beside Willow. The witch shot her friend a look, but took the seat next to the redhead. The Slayer just grinned gleefully, chewing on a corner of her toast as she spun around to sit normally.
Willow glanced sideways at Tara, unsure how to act after the night before. The last thing she was expecting was for Tara to lean over and press a kiss to her cheek. Willow was instantly bright red, her jaw hanging open.
"What was that for?" she asked, eyes wide.
Tara smiled at her, but it wasn't a smile Willow had ever seen from her before. If Tara's normal smiles were enough to make the magic feel like weak tea, this smile made the magic an insignificant drop of tap water. To say nothing of the feel of Tara's lips on her skin. Willow stopped her mind quickly, seeing Buffy's failing efforts to stop her own laughter out of the corner of her eye.
Tara shrugged, the look on Willow's face thrilling her at the same time that she recognized that she might have pushed the redhead too far.
"You were just really sweet last night. I won't forget it," she said, hoping the intended message would make it through Willow's sure to be frantic, mile a minute brain. She bit her lip as she glanced at Buffy, seeing the Slayer barely restraining her laughter across the table, and shooting the giddy Buffy a look.
Buffy shrugged, shoving the rest of her piece of toast into her mouth to stifle her laughter. Tara shook her head at her friend, but couldn't keep the smile from her face. A glance at Willow showed that the redhead was still staring at her.
As Tara's eyes fell on her again, Willow realized that she was still gaping and she turned quickly back to her breakfast, feeling her face still burning, her heartbeat slowly regaining its normal pace. "So, what are we doing today?" she asked, eyes locked on her plate and her hand absently picked up an orange from the plate and started peeling it.
Tara swallowed her sip of water, smiling at her own plate now. "Oh, I actually need to talk to Giles and the coven this morning, so maybe you and Buffy…"
The Slayer jumped in quickly. "Alright! Morning off! We'll have to do something to celebrate Will." She laughed. "I'd say we should go get Xander, but he'll be busy today if Anya has anything to say about it." She shrugged. "We'll figure something out. I never waste an opportunity to skip school."
Tara quirked an eyebrow at her. "I'm not sure if I should be offended or not," she stated.
Willow spoke suddenly, surprising them both. "I never skipped a day of school in my life," she said, glancing at both of the others. "Did I?'
Buffy laughed loudly, shaking her head. "I'm kind of sorry to say that you didn't until you met me. You don't remember much of high school or college, but we stay pretty busy and sometimes class doesn't make the cut."
Willow looked faintly horrified and Tara put a hand on her shoulder soothingly. "Don't listen to her. You still have a perfect score in all of your classes, even if you don't make it to every lecture," she said, shooting a look across the table at Buffy.
"Oh yeah, and you were valedictorian in high school!" Buffy chimed in.
Willow looked cheered up by that, as her fingers finished peeling the orange. She stared at it for a second, pulling out a section and fiddling idly with it. Tara pulled her hand back from Willow's shoulder, letting her fingers slide down the redhead's arm unconsciously.
Willow popped her orange section into her mouth quickly to keep from making a noise at the contact, coughing a little bit as she choked and Tara's hand was back on her back a second later, patting gently and then rubbing circles as Willow swallowed the piece quickly.
"You okay?" Tara asked, leaning forward to look at Willow's face. The redhead just nodded, thankful that at least this time her red face wasn't from surprised embarrassment, but just the regular kind.
"Thanks," she murmured. "Want a piece?" she offered suddenly, holding the orange out to the other witch.
Tara's eyes studied Willow's face for a brief second and she nodded, smiling shyly as she took a section. She turned it over in her fingers, looking at it closely before she took a bite, taking the second bite almost immediately as the juice started sliding down her fingers.
Willow was giggling and Buffy pushed a napkin across the table at her, smirking gleefully, and it occurred to Tara that the Slayer was getting entirely too much enjoyment from their situation. She coughed, aware of her complete lack of subtlety, but she figured that after the last few days, any attempts at subtlety were wasted on Willow.
"I think I'm going to go to that meeting with the coven now," Tara said, shaking her head at her friend as she turned on the bench, standing up quickly. "You guys have fun," she said, smiling at Willow and giving her shoulder a squeeze.
Willow watched her go, letting out a heavy sigh as her eyes met Buffy's. "Shut up," she muttered petulantly, smiling a moment later as Buffy grinned at her.
"Nobody can take a joke today," the Slayer commented, laughing.
Tara could hear Buffy's laughter behind her as she left the dining hall, echoed a second later by Willow's and she smiled to herself.
Giles and the coven witches were already in the library when she arrived. Giles gestured for her to take a seat, giving her a gentle smile as he saw the joy on her face.
"Good morning?" he mused, taking the seat beside her.
Her smile was bright, her hair falling across her face as she ducked her head. "Great morning," she agreed, a blush climbing up her neck. "What does the coven think? How's Willow doing?" she asked, trying to distract herself from her giddy hopes.
He glanced around at the library at the members of the coven. "That's what we're here to discuss." The other witches were milling around the library, not speaking but listening to him as he talked quietly with Tara and she wondered absently if they wanted her to hear the bad news from someone she knew.
The blonde witch mentally braced herself, waiting to hear that it hadn't been going as well as she'd hoped, that they would be here for another three months, another six. She resolved herself to the wait, another interminable period of waiting. But it was all for Willow, and she would wait as long as it took.
"The coven, and myself as well, think that Willow is doing well enough that the memory spell could be removed by the end of the month."
Giles continued to speak, but Tara couldn't hear him over the blood pounding through her skull. "A month?" she gasped, interrupting him.
He looked at her over his glasses, nodding gently. "Yes, Tara, one month." There was a look on his face, the soft look he gave Buffy when she wasn't looking at him, the one he gave Willow when she was being especially adorable, directed at Xander only when the carpenter demonstrated his frequently hidden ability to be insightful. Tara couldn't remember ever noticing it aimed at her, and her eyes dropped to his hand as it curled over her wrist on the armrest of the chair. His fingers squeezed gently.
"You've done an amazing job here, with Willow," he said quietly.
"She's the amazing one Giles," she corrected him. "She's really got it this time."
He nodded, hushing her. "I'm very aware of Willow's impressive abilities. She's quite unlike anyone else I've ever known and I'm very proud of her." He met her eyes squarely. "However, your own strength is not to just be cast aside. You've done something that none of the rest of us would have been able to do."
She shook her head at him, her hair sliding across her face as she ducked her head again. He didn't let her hide, pushing her head up gently with one finger under her chin.
"We're all very proud of you, and grateful, for everything you've done for Willow," he said. She nodded wordlessly, choking on emotion and trying to comprehend that in a month this could all be over. They could go home, go back to school, and get their lives back.
Within a month she'd have her answer.
Not that it hadn't been worth it, even if Willow didn't come back to her. She had meant what she'd told Xander all those months ago. What mattered was Willow. Anything beyond that would just have to wait, she reminded herself firmly.
Giles was watching her, seemingly able to trace her mental struggle on her face. "Buffy mentioned your…dilemma to me," he said gently, smiling as Tara's head dropped back on her neck, the blonde witch sighing.
"She just can't keep her mouth shut, can she?" Tara asked, the rhetorical question delivered with a smile.
The Watcher shrugged. "Buffy loves Willow, Tara. And she loves you. We are all very fond of the two of you." He met her eyes. "I've never seen Willow care for anyone the way she cares for you." He coughed, suddenly realizing how personal their conversation had become. "Trust in her," he said, his hand patting her wrist as he stood up.
Tara nodded, rising herself and hugging him gently. She pulled back before his surprise could fade enough for him to hug her back, and she smiled up at him. "Thank you Giles," she said softly. He nodded, one hand resting on her shoulder. She blinked, her expression going back to business. "So, one month?" The Watcher nodded again, adjusting his glasses with his free hand. "Should I tell Willow?"
He thought for a moment, finally shaking his head. "I would think not. She's so near the end, it might distract her to learn that the spell will be ending soon."
Tara nodded. "Fine," she agreed. "I can make it one more month, right?"
Giles nodded, smiling encouragingly. "Of course you can. We're all here for anything you need," he assured her.
The witch smiled, taking a deep breath. "We can do this."
