Chapter Twenty-Five: Sad Goodbyes

"Tara, are you alright? You seem a bit distracted," Laura asked, staring at her daughter who was lost in thought.

"I'm fine. Just thinking," Tara whispered, staring sadly out the window of her mother's hospital room.

"Do you want to talk about what has you so upset, Sweetie?" Laura offered, worried about her daughter.

"I think I hurt Willow," Tara admitted, sighing in frustration. "I..I know I hurt her."

"What happened?" Laura wondered, confused about what Tara was talking about.

"I questioned Willow about why she didn't save her Tara. I asked her why she let her die if Willow had so much power," Tara explained lowering her eyes to the ground so she didn't have to watch her mother's face.

"She wouldn't have just let her Tara go, Baby Girl."

"I know. Willow told me she tried to bring her back. I feel bad for hurting her by bringing up such a painful memory. You should have seen her face, Mom. She had a defeated look on her face," Tara said, her voice breaking from the sadness of what had happened.

"I can only imagine. Uncle Xander use to tell me about the love that Willow use to have with her Tara. He never said her name, but I know now. Aunt Dawn use to say that there was no mistaking the two were meant to be together forever," Laura remembered, thinking about her childhood and family.

"I don't know how to show her I'm truly sorry," Tara admitted, finally lifting her eyes to her mother's blue ones.

"Baby Girl, just tell her you're sorry. She'll understand. She knows you're just as confused as she is. Maybe more so."

Tara just nodded and gave her mother a sad smile. "Thank you, Mom for listening."

"That's what I'm here for, Baby Girl. Now come give me a hug," Laura said, holding out her arms for her daughter.

Climbing up beside her mother, Tara wrapped her arms around the older blonde's neck and laid her head on her mother's neck as she held on tightly to the woman. They sat there for a few minutes, relaxing until Laura starting coughing and struggling to breath, causing Tara to release her mother and hit the button to get a nurse.

"M-mom? A-are you ok-okay?" Tara asked, tears in her eyes as the coughing fit started to subside and her mother started breathing normally again.

"I'm okay, Sweetie. I'm okay."

"A n-n-nurse is on t-the way," Tara promised, walking over to rest her hand over her mother's hand.

"Tara, I need you to promise me something. Something important," Laura whispered, keeping her voice low as she spoke, not worried about the nurse that would be there soon.

"W-what i-is it, Mom?" Tara asked, kneeling by her mother's bed so she could hear her better.

The door opened as the nurse rushed into the room, but Laura ignored her and looked at her daughter, taking Tara's hand in hers to keep her daughter from moving away. "Don't give up on Willow. She's going to need someone as much as you will. Lean on each other, Tara."

"Mom, I can't promise you that. What if she becomes evil again? How am I suppose to keep from giving up on her?" Tara wondered, not sure what her mother meant.

"Trust yourself, Tara. You know better than anyone whether Willow can be trusted or not. Trust in yourself."

Tara nodded, and gave her mother's hand a quick squeeze as a tear fell down her face. She knew her mother's time was coming to an end, could see it in the way her mother had grown weaker and weaker.

"Mom?"

"Yes, Baby?"

"I love you," Tara whispered, letting the tears fall.

"I know, my sweet girl. I love you as well," Laura replied before releasing her daughter's hand so the nurse could lead her from the room as a doctor walked inside.

Tara paced back and forth outside of her mother's hospital room, waiting for word from either the nurse or doctor. Almost an hour passed before the door opened again and the doctor walked from the room to look at the young blonde standing in the hall. Tara could see the exhaustion in the man's grey eyes as he ran a hand through his graying brown hair.

"Miss Maclay?" the doctor wondered, staring at the blonde with a sad look on his face.

"Y-yes?" Tara asked, turning to face the doctor with fear in her blue eyes.

"I'm Doctor Scott. I'm sorry to be the one who has to tell you this, but your mother didn't make it. We tried to save her, but her body gave up. She's gone," Dr Scott explained.

"S-s-she's d-dead?" Tara said, staring at him with pain and confusion on her face.

"I'm sorry," the doctor repeated before resting his hand on her shoulder. "If you need anything, let me or one of the nurses know."

"C-can I s-s-see her? Please?"

"Of course. Follow me," he replied, as he led her back into the hospital room where a sheet was placed over the body. "Are you sure about this? It's more painful to see them like this then it is to just hold onto the memory of them before death."

"I-I n-need to s-see. I n-need to s-say goodbye."

Nodding in response, Dr Scott slowly lifted the sheet off of Laura's face so that Tara could look down at her mother's dead body. A sob ripped from Tara's throat as she looked at the lifeless body before her, knowing from the emptiness inside of herself that this was just a shell of the woman who had raised her.

Without saying a word, Tara leaned down and placed a soft kiss on the cold forehead before looking at the man with tears in her eyes. "Thank you," she whispered, giving the doctor a sad smile before walking from the room.

A/N: Thank you Gimpy72 for all the help with this story and all my others.

A/N2: I'm drawing this story to an end. It'll probably end at Chapter 30 if not then a little sooner, but there will be a sequel. I already have one planned out for it.