Chapter Twenty Three
Pairing: W/T
Rating: PG-13 for the angst and implied naughtiness
Angst/Drama Rating: This is about a 5 on the 1-10 scale.
Setting: The Grove – Tucson
Disclaimer: I in no way, shape or form own the characters from BtVS, they're owned by Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. All original characters are in no way connected to them except by me in this forum. I own nothing but my soul, and even that is only a fleeting ownership… such is life.
Author's Notes: Music for this chapter is as follows - James Blake self titled debut (he does an outstanding cover of Feist's "Limit to Your Love" ,the video is very interesting too), Breanne Düren "Goldmine" single, The Wombats "The Wombats Proudly Present...This Modern Glitch", and Arvo Pärt "Alina", "Annum Per Annum - Chant Gregorien" and "Tabula Rasa; Fratres; Symphony No.3".
The Tasks at Hand
Willow woke to an empty bed and the familiar scent of nag champa incense hanging in the air. She rolled onto her back with a smile, and lay listening to the sounds of the morning. She knew this meant Tara had been up doing yoga, or meditating, and maybe now was studying, depending on how long she had been up. She loved the smell; it somehow calmed her senses, like a warm bath or a hug. It was not something she had burned since they had been apart; because of the memories it held of sweet mornings spent making love, or cuddling while they talked about their plans for the day.
She noticed a new sound, the sound of tapping on a keyboard. Tara had been one who preferred to handwrite her papers and then do a final draft typed up, and often Willow offered to do the typing because she was much quicker, but the speed she was hearing now was none too shabby. She also remembered seeing another laptop around, but she hadn't had time to take a closer look at it yet. It seemed that while her girl had initially drug her feet, she was finally getting friendly with technology. Willow turned to the clock and peeked at the time, it was a little before nine a.m., she figured that Tara would probably let her sleep a little longer before coming to wake her.
Suddenly the typing stopped, and then she could hear Tara's footsteps on the carpet. She would always know the sound of her beloved's footsteps. Willow lay there with a faint smile, waiting. When Tara didn't arrive, she opened her eyes and looked at the doorway. There she found Tara leaned against the door frame watching her, wearing a silly, affectionate grin of her own.
"Morning," Willow said, as she stretched.
"Morning," Tara responded as she joined her on the bed, cuddling close.
Willow tightened her hold on Tara, kissing the top of her head. "I missed this," she murmured.
Burying her face in Willow's neck, breathing her in, "Me too, love," Tara said as she traced her finger along Willow's jaw, drawing her near for a kiss.
Gently rubbing their noses together, Willow asked, "Did you have a good morning, baby? How long have you been awake?"
Nuzzling back into Willow's neck, Tara sighed, "I've been up a few hours, worked some more on my Ancient Languages paper, been a bit productive. Did some yoga to help me be a bit more focused on something other than the hottie still sleeping in the next room – you know the important stuff."
With mock indignation, Willow replied, trying to get out of bed, "A hottie? Where? Oh, I'll drag her out by her hair!" she giggled playfully.
"You goof, I've got that hottie right here," Tara said kissing Willow's neck, as she held her in place on the bed.
"Hmm, seems we both have a hottie in our arms, aren't we lucky?" Willow giggled.
"Lucky us indeed," Tara agreed. "You've slept through breakfast, but we still have the fruit salad from last night, or early this morning, I should say. What time do we meet Lady Rowan for lunch?"
"Mmm, noon sharp at her office, it's private and I guess she's going to want to discuss the rest of my training along with yours, I don't know. Giles may be there, Dana too; I'm really not sure, to be honest," Willow said thoughtfully.
Peeking over Willow's shoulder at the clock, Tara checked the time. "Goodie, we have time for more snuggles, before we have to get ready, and besides, I don't really want to move at the moment," she said as she settled back down into Willow's arms.
"Good, this is where a Tara belongs, in my firm opinion," Willow said with a smile, as she drew aimless patterns on her back. "Morning snuggles are the best."
Slowly dragging Tara's hand to her breast, and covering it with her own, "We have plenty of time…" Willow said, wiggling her eyebrows.
"You're insatiable…but I always have time for you," Tara said throatily.
On the other side of the complex, an agitated Tabitha paced, while Amy fidgeted as she watched her cousin.
"It's time. No more sniveling, no more groveling. With a little effort we can get rid of the crone and really make something of this coven. These witches are just begging for true leadership, none of this mamby pamby 'As the Goddess wishes' tripe she's been spilling for years. There's some here with real power – we just have to harness it," Tabitha said menacingly.
Amy began to rub her nose with a curled hand, looking very much like the rat she had been for so many years.
"Would you stop that! And you…a rat?" Tabitha laughed mockingly. "That Willow took care of…oh, that's rich – what have you done with yourself, Amy? You had more potential than your mother gave you credit for, but…you're a disgrace. Look at you!"
"At least I had my own coven, cousin. You just remember that. I'm not as weak as you think, or as stupid as they want to believe. I know Willow, I know her weaknesses, and she's just like the rest of them – looking for the good in everyone," Amy said with derision. "With just the right push we can have her with us, and then we'll really be something. She has true power, she just too weak to use it."
"She may have power, but she's just as mealy mouthed as that little blonde of hers. Watching everyone fawn all over them makes my stomach turn. We get rid of her and we can force Willow to see our side of things." Tabitha sat next to Amy taking her hand, trying to be reassuring and failing miserably. "We just can't let them finish the binding on you making it permanent."
She dropped Amy's hand, and rose to pace once more and muttered, "Or you'll be of no use to me…"
Amy watched with a hard, calculating glint in her black, malicious eyes. "We'll see, cousin, just be patient. I have a plan."
Tara and Willow rushed hand in hand, through the halls heading towards Lady Rowan's office. Hair still damp and faces flushed, both glowing with that freshly loved shine. Standing outside her door they caught their breath quickly before Willow knocked politely.
"Enter, Sisters," came Rowan's voice from within.
Willow flashed Tara a smile and opened the door, going in first. Tara's grip tightened on Willow's hand, and she flashed a nervous smile at her lover but kept her head up even as her cheeks grew flushed. Willow knew Tara was fighting the urge to duck her head even without the covering of her hair, so she gently squeezed Tara's hand back, and catching her eye, gave her a cheeky wink of encouragement.
"Have a seat, Sisters," Rowan smiled brightly, as she indicated the two chairs in front of her desk, a matched set of large, wing backed chairs, covered in butter soft, rich oxblood reddish-brown leather. The girls sank into the seats, scooting them closer together so they could still hold hands.
"Well, aren't you the pair? Very nice, ladies…no more hiding for you, Sister Tara, I see," she said smiling kindly.
Tara blushed and played with the ends of her hair, while Willow beamed, "She has no reason to hide, my Lady, she's beautiful."
"T-things are changing, My L-Lady, I thought it's time I try s-something new too," Tara stuttered shyly.
"Indeed, Sister, indeed," Rowan agreed warmly, trying to put the obviously nervous Tara at ease. "Sister Dana will be joining us shortly with lunch. I thought we should discuss getting started immediately with you, Sister Tara. Willow, we'll continue as we had originally planned, but there is something I would ask of you."
"Yes, My Lady, anything," Willow said in earnest.
"I would like you to help Amy. You've been where she is, and while I am aware of your past with her and some of the things she's done, she is bound. I think your help could be invaluable to her, and you more than any of us, are uniquely qualified to help her."
"But My Lady…" Willow started, shaking her head.
"My Lady, you can't trust her. I'm sorry, but I don't want Willow with her, much less alone with her," Interrupting, Tara stated adamantly. "She's done too much to hurt the ones I love."
Nodding Rowan began, "I have to agree, Sister, that's why I want you there as well. I understand she has abused the trust you have given her time and again, and maybe she is beyond helping, but we have to try. If this fails, she will be bound permanently."
Rowan leaned forward, as she spoke. "I think this probably is more than most would ask of the two of you given your unusual positions, but again you are unique in that you both have more experience fighting the darker forces than, I dare say, my entire coven," Rowan stated honestly.
Willow and Tara looked at each other, Willow's mouth opening and closing like a fish.
"Wait, you mean she hasn't already been bound permanently? Did you not see what she did to Giles after you left? And you're aware that she forced dark magicks on Willow without her consent? She tried to attack Willow before the 'magickal mickey' you gave her kicked in the day we left. Pardon me, but are you insane?" Tara asked incredulously.
Lady Rowan chuckled. "I've been asked that before, but I can assure you, I'm quite in my right mind, or as right as it's ever been. Sister Dana and I will be working with you, singly and together, and I have a feeling you and Willow will be working together as well as on your own. You both have access to, between the four of us, over a hundred years of knowledge and experience in order to deal with Amy. All four of us will be working with her, Sisters; you are not alone in this."
Tara shook her head. "My Lady, this is a bad idea. I don't care how you want to look at this; she has endangered herself and Willow since they were teenagers."
"Tara, that's not exactly fair. She turned herself into a rat, and there were other things at work, it wasn't all Amy's fault. I've told you what happened," Willow, who had been sitting quietly, added knowing what a touchy subject Amy was, and is for both of them.
"Willow, stop making excuses for her, there is something wrong with her. What she was doing with her coven only proves it. No respectable witch would do that – gain power that way – she didn't earn it, she took it. The fact that she is willing to forcefully take from a fellow witch makes her no better than Rack," Tara spit, crossing her arms across her chest.
"Sister Tara, I see that you have some very strong opinions about her, and I can't force either of you into helping her, nor would I. But what if I had turned Willow away as a hopeless cause? Many would not have taken her on, given her past, regardless of the strides she had made in coming back," Rowan said quietly.
"Willow didn't forcefully take magick from others using fear and threats of harm; she didn't use dark magicks to keep them at her beck and call. You're talking apples and oranges. And she knows better, Amy was taught, however wrongly, by her mother aspects of the craft. Willow didn't have anyone," Tara justified.
"But I could have listened to you, baby, and I didn't. You tried to tell me what I was doing was wrong. I may not have been as ruthless as Amy, but we both wanted the power and the rush that comes with using the dark magicks," Willow whispered staring at her hands she had folded in her lap.
Tara turned to Willow, and tried to take her hand, but Willow kept them in her lap, head down.
"Will, you're not her, you saw what it was doing to you, and you didn't want that for yourself. If she hadn't been forcefully bound against her will – which is a horrible thing to have to do to another witch – so she could even be brought here – would she have stopped what she was doing? No, she would not have. That's the difference, you've learned, she has not," Tara said sincerely.
Turning back to Rowan, Tara continued. "That's where Willow is different and her experience valuable. Amy doesn't want help, she wants more power, and has said as much. You didn't hear her in Sunnydale, My Lady. And you can't tell me in the last forty-eight hours she's had a true and meaningful change of heart. I don't believe it, she's up to something, and I think there's something to Willow's dream," her jaw set, and the muscles working beneath the skin, showed Tara's frustration.
"But we have to give her the chance, Tara. Even if this is the last one, she should have a final chance to prove she can change. My Lady, I want to try to work with Amy, but with conditions," Willow said, finally speaking up.
"I'm listening, Willow," Rowan said as she leaned back in her chair watching both girls thoughtfully. This being the first she had heard of Willow having a dream that could potentially have bearing on her initial plans.
"I won't ever be alone with her; I have to agree with Tara there, she, especially right now, is not to be trusted. She may even be dangerous, and not just to herself. Second, I don't want Tabitha with her, I'll explain in a moment, My Lady, and I want her binding to be reinforced daily for our safety," Willow stated.
"Willow, I don't like this, tell her," Tara pleaded, shifting nervously in her seat.
"My Lady, I had a dream the other night. It makes me very wary of helping Amy. In it ultimately we were forced to try a permanent binding and it goes wrong. It takes the four of us to stop the situation, so Dana needs to be in on all the sessions with her. She needs to have a feel for Amy, it may be one of the things that keeps us all safe," Willow said firmly.
"Can you tell me more, Willow?" Concern etched deep shadows on Rowan's kindly face.
"I'm afraid not, it was just snapshots, My Lady. We were in the field where I've been training. You, Dana, Tara and I were there to bind Amy. Tabitha shows up, and everything goes wrong, from there it was just a strong feeling of dread, and then nothing. That's when I woke up," Willow told Rowan.
"I see…of course I agree to your wishes, I want you both kept as safe as possible, without a question. Sister Tara, does this put you to ease at all?" Rowan asked as she watched Tara intently.
"I still don't like this, My Lady, but if we're doing this together, and I think that Sister Dana always being with us will help; I would feel safer for us both," Tara said, her jaw still set.
"Of course, Sister, of course," Rowan nodded in agreement, the new information swirling in her head, as she looked at the two young witches before her. Their hesitance and their combined experience spoke volumes to the elder witch.
Just then a knock came at the door, pulling everyone from their own thoughts on how best to deal with Amy, and for Rowan, now potentially Tabitha, who she had trusted.
"Enter Sister," Rowan called.
Dana entered with a bright smile and a large covered tray on a cart, heading for a table set in the corner of Rowan's office. "I hope everyone is hungry," she said before she had looked at the concerned faces.
Willow and Tara smiled weakly, not wanting to seem rude.
"I'm sure everything is wonderful, but we should talk, Dana, maybe we can do it while we eat," Rowan asked as she looked at Willow and Tara, who nodded.
Dana looked around the room and saw the concern on the faces there. "Oh my."
TBC…