"Are you sure you want to do this?" Willow asked, setting her supplies on the table.
"Yes," Angel replied. "Just make me… Make me forget. Make me forget meeting Buffy."
"This is going to be hard for you. Every day, you're going to feel like you're, well, forgetting something. Like a task you put off but didn't do. It'll probably be annoying, but I can't help you there. You won't remember me asking you to do this either, okay?"
"Just do it, Willow," he said harshly. "Please." She performed the spell. She watched as his head hung as she tampered with his mind. When she finished the spell, he raised his head. "Willow?" he asked. "Where am I? What happened?"
"You're in Cleveland. You were visiting and got hit in the head. You're scheduled for a flight back to Los Angeles in a few hours. Cordelia will meet you at LAX. Do you need a ride?"
"Please. My head," he groaned. "It feels fuzzy. Like I'm missing something."
"Yeah, it'll be like that for a while. Here's a number of a friend of mine in L.A. that can help with that. See her in the next few days, okay?" she insisted.
He nodded. "Can I lie down for a while?"
"Yeah. The basement is through that door. There's already a cot set up." He said his thanks and stepped down into the darkness.
"I remember," a small voice came from behind her. Willow turned and smiled at the blonde woman.
"Remember what?" she asked, rising to meet her.
"I remember we fought. About you using too much magic. But it was magic that brought us together, initially. Oz… he left. And we became friends. And then he came back, and we started to be more. It's all strange," Tara stated, not looking the red-head in the eyes. "What else?"
"He almost attacked you, and –"
"No. I mean, after that. After we fought, and after I—moved out. I know Buffy died. I know she had that thing with Spike. But I don't know what happened after that."
"Well, umm… there were these guys. Warren, Andrew, and Jonathan."
"Andrew? The guy that lives with Xander?"
"Yeah, him. But umm, they caused us some grief for a while. Buffy spoiled their biggest plan, and Warren got angry. Like, really, angry. He came to kill her. He shot her, and he shot you. She was okay, but…"
"I died," she whispered. "I remember. We had just gotten dressed. And then, I saw something red all over your shirt."
"Yeah. It almost killed me. Actually, I almost killed the world. I- I killed Warren. And you were right, about the magic. I went crazy, taking in as much darkness that I could." They were seated now. Willow had her hands wrapped around one of Tara's terrified of what her lover would think of her, of everything she'd gone through. "I was just so mad. For the longest time, I didn't even feel bad for killing Warren. He was a monster, even if he was human. I had no right to take his life, but I didn't care. I needed revenge. I almost killed my friends in the process, but Xander helped me I studied with Giles in England. He sent me to a coven that helped me control that side of me. A little over a year later, we faced yet another apocalypse, though it was worse this time. The First—the First Evil—came to me and Dawn in forms of people we trusted. They told us things, and we almost believed what they told us. The Council was killed. And then all the potential slayers were sent to us." Willow was wound up in the retelling. She was worried on whether or not she should tell Tara of Kennedy. No more lies. No more hiding. "There was one, Kennedy, who showed interest in me. And later, I to her. She kissed me, and I turned into Warren. It scared me so much. It ended up being Amy's fault. She hexed me. But obviously, the spell was reversed."
"How? H-how was it reversed?" she asked cautiously.
"She kissed me again. It was that simple. We were involved. But you came back."
"So you dumped her?" Tara asked.
"No. She dumped me. She knew I have feeling for you. I never hid them from her. When you came back, she told me that she wasn't going to get in the way of whatever it was or is between us." Neither had looked at the other during the entire conversation.
"So, umm… what is between us?" Tara asked, finally looking to her.
"Whatever you want it to be."
"Well—let's take it slow for now. Even though I remember everything, I still think we should rebuild everything. Get to know each other again."
"Sounds great to me."