The Warrior and Willow

Chapter Ten

Buffy and Dawn

"Is there anything to eat around here?" Gabrielle asked. "I'm kind of hungry."

"Sure," Tara replied. "We've got a kitchen full of food."

The two of them got dressed, but before they left the bedroom, Tara said, "Since you have no control over your powers, try not to make any sudden hand gestures, or make any wishful thoughts."

Gabrielle nodded, slowly, and they made their way downstairs. When the got into the kitchen, Dawn was eating a bowl of cereal and Buffy was standing by the toaster waiting for it to pop up. They both looked a the two of them, then at each other with not-so-well-hidden smirks on their faces.

"Good morning," Tara said, and Gabrielle echoed her sentiments. Buffy and Dawn answered back but without perfectly straight faces.

"Is everything all right?" Tara asked.

Buffy nodded. "Yep, we're good." She looked at Dawn again, then back to Tara and 'Gabrielle.' "And I guess you two are also good. Very good. In fact, I would guess better than ever."

"Oh, god," Tara whimpered. "You heard us, didn't you? We're so sorry. We just got -- carried away."

"Carried away!" Dawn said. "More like hijacked by screaming banshees."

"It was my fault," Gabrielle said. "I just forgot where I was. You know how it is. It won't happen again."

"Well, to tell you the truth, I wish I COULD say I know how it is," Buffy told her. "It must be nice for you two to have so much passion after being together for so long."

"Can we change the subject?" Tara asked, her face beet-red with embarrassment. "Please?"

"Okay. What do you want to talk about?"

After a few seconds, Gabrielle said, "I'm not Willow. My name is Gabrielle and my spirit was exchanged for Willow's. I'm from Greece, and from two thousand years in past." When she saw the skepticism on there faces, she continued. "You can ask Tara. She looked into my soul and she knows I'm telling the truth."

Buffy and Dawn both looked at Tara, who nodded in agreement with Gabrielle. "She's telling the truth. At least the part about not being Willow. And I guess the part about where she came from is true also."

"But why?" Buffy asked.

"The shaman who did this needed Willow's magic to help him defeat an even stronger magical, and very evil shamaness," Gabrielle answered. "But the problem is that Willow's magic didn't go with her. I have her powers, but don't know how to use them."

"So does this mean that Willow could be killed?"

Gabrielle hesitated for a few seconds. "I don't really think so. Xena's defeated Alti before, even with all her evil powers. Xena's one tough warrior, and even more so when she's protecting someone. I don't think we have much to worry about."

"I hope so," Dawn said. "Willow's like a sister to me, and we all love her so much."

"I can understand that. I feel the same way about Xena."

"We could tell," Buffy said sarcastically. "You sure proved that earlier. Out of sight, out of mind?"

"It's not like that!" Gabrielle protested. "It -- I don't know what it is, was. I can't explain what happened. Maybe when we were switched, somehow our passion, sexual hunger, whatever it was, increased. Don't ask me why." Gabrielle looked to Tara for support.

"I think she's right. The passion was so intense, it was almost mystical. I think maybe it's because Gabrielle has no way to control the magic in her and it manifested itself as sexual."

"Hmmm," Buffy hummed, not entirely convinced.

"So what happens the next time you guys are alone again?" Dawn asked.

"We'll just have to make sure that doesn't happen," Tara answered. "Besides, I think I'm good, sexually speaking."

"Yeah," Gabrielle agreed. "Me too."

"So what about Willow?" Buffy asked. "How will we know what happens to her?"

"I'm not too sure about that," Gabrielle said. "Obviously, whenever Alti -- she's the one we think is after us, is defeated, Morgar will change us back. But just when that will be, no one knows."

"But what if Alti wins, and what's-her-name and Willow in your body are killed, then what?"

Gabrielle hesitated, not knowing what to say.

"I think Gabrielle will stay in Willow's body," Tara said.

"And no one ever thought to ask Willow if she wanted to take that chance?" Buffy was now getting angry.

"Morgar said there was no way to do that. I don't know anything about the magic he used. In fact, I don't know anything about magic at all."

Buffy took a deep breath, trying to control her anger. She looked at Tara. "Tara, is there any way you could tap into Willow's magic and reverse the spell? Any way at all?"

Tara shook her head, then shrugged her shoulders. "I could try, but since I don't know what spell was used, or how to find Willow's soul so far away, I wouldn't count on it."

"There might be a way," Gabrielle said hesitantly. "Morgar said that when he was going to switch us, there would be a thread of some kind linking our souls with our bodies, or something like that. Maybe if you could find the thread you could change us back."

Suddenly Tara felt very tired. She knew everyone was expecting her to work this miracle. And she knew in her heart it was an almost impossible task. But she also knew she would have to try.