AN-Thanks for hanging in there until the end. I hope you enjoyed this interpretation of Willow and Tara. I am starting to write my next BTVS (W/T focused) story and anticipate beginning to publish in early June. See you then!
Epilogue-Home is Where the Heart Is
15 years later
"Oooh. Yes. Right there baby. Oh Goddess yeesss. Harder please. Oh, you are amazing. Yes, more fingers. I love your tongue, what you do to me. Don't stop, more, more. That's it, I'm, I'm, oh baby. Taarrraaaaaa!" The redhead's hips came up off the couch as her orgasm ripped through her, her walls clenching around her lover's fingers until she collapsed back against the cushions, pulling her skirt down from where it was bunched around her waist.
With one last kiss to Willow's center, Tara rose up and sat on the end of the couch, pulling her lover snug against her. "Feeling more relaxed about the speech now? You are going to be great. You know they love you, they are giving you a lifetime achievement award!"
The redhead snuggled back into her wife's body and felt the strong arms circling her waist. "I certainly feel fabulous thanks to you. Might you be available for a repeat performance about ten minutes before I go up to the podium? Maybe they have a green room for me, or we could just find a cozy closet or something. Then all I would have to say is 'Thank you to my amazing wife for going down on me so I could be here with you tonight without nervous nausea.'"
"Willow!" The redhead felt a playful slap on her hip. "I will do no such thing. This was your pre-celebration lovin. You have to get through the banquet and wait till we get home tonight for post-celebration lovin."
The redhead turned in the blond's arms to face her before answering. "That is some serious motivation Mrs. Rosenberg-Maclay. I'll do my best." With that Willow squirmed so she was straddling Tara's hips and pinned the blond's arms above her head while she planted a deep kiss on her lips. "Maybe I'll be doing the giving post-celebration."
"Oh, really! I so don't want to see that. Mom, Mama, stop it!"
Willow and Tara looked up to see their oldest daughter standing in the entryway of the house, her hand covering her eyes and her backpack dropped at her feet.
"She might have passed out if she'd come in five minutes ago." Willow whispered into her wife's ear.
Tara sat up swatting the redhead's arm in the process. "Hi honey. You know you don't really live here during the semester and we weren't expecting you until later. If you are bothered by our affection, maybe you should knock or call first."
Isobel was a sophomore at UC Sunnydale in pre-med studies. Her healing powers and other magick had leveled out with the destruction of the Hellmouth but remained strong. Her desire to help others combined with her magick and intellectual curiosity had made medical school a logical choice.
The future doctor peeked out between her fingers to find her Moms sitting innocently next to each other. "You still have a child living here you know. What if I had been Grace?"
"Then your sister would have seen her Mothers kissing, something I'm pretty sure she has seen before, as have you." Willow got up and walked over to her daughter and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I'm glad you're here. Speaking of Grace, could you go pick her up from school? She has band practice until 5:00."
"Sure Mom. Can I take your car?"
"Fine. Keys are on the hook. Please be back and ready to go by six. Aunt Buffy and Aunt Dawn will be here then and I'm supposed to be there at six thirty so we will need to leave."
Isobel was already out the door and headed down the driveway as Willow finished speaking, waving her hand above her head in acknowledgement.
Tara hugged her wife from behind standing in the doorway as they watched their daughter drive away. "She's as smart and energetic as you were at that age sweetie."
"But way more level headed, thanks to you. Somehow you keep us all grounded." The redhead twirled in the blond's arms and kissed her again. "Have I mentioned how much I love you?"
"Hmmm. Yes. But not for several hours." Tara smirked at her lover.
"A terrible oversight on my part." Willow draped her arms over the blond's shoulders and looked into her clear blue eyes. "I love you so much Tara. You are my life. Everything I have done, accomplished has been for our family and to make you proud. I pray to the Goddess every day and twice at night to be worthy of your love."
Tara found she had tears in her eyes. "Oh Willow. You are so much more than worthy. I give thanks every morning when I wake up and see you beside me for the amazing gift I have been granted; a life with the most amazing, beautiful woman I've ever known."
The two stood holding each other without words for several minutes until the moment was broken by the ringing of the phone. Tara sighed and stepped away to answer it.
"Hello."
"Aren't you supposed to be picking up your seductress of a daughter at school right now?"
Tara couldn't stop her eyes from rolling. "Hello Anya. We've been over this before. Jesse has a crush on Grace. My daughter hasn't done anything to your son. And Isobel is picking up Grace at school right now."
"I don't know. I'm sure she put a spell on him. He is too young to be interested in girls." The ex-demon insisted.
"Anya, Grace didn't do a spell, she's not a witch." Tara shook her head in frustration until Willow suddenly grabbed the phone from her hand.
"Stop making accusations Anya. They are teenagers and they like each other, that's all. Did you need something?" The redhead grumbled into the phone.
"Oh. Hi Willow. Congratulations for tonight. Yes, well, Jesse stayed at school late, because Grace did. So can Isobel pick him up as well and Xander and I can meet you at the banquet hall?"
"That's fine. I'll call Isobel and let her know. We'll see you there." Willow set the phone down before the ex-demon launched into another tirade.
Tara smiled at her wife. "It's kind of cute really, Grace and Jesse. Anya will come around, she's just a little protective."
"A little? How about completely smothering. She's right about them being too young you know." Willow tried to sound angry, failing utterly.
"All they have done is hold hands. Grace says she's not ready for smoochies and I told her that was showing good judgment." The blond couldn't resist reaching out to embrace her wife again. "You know she'd tell me if it was more serious."
Willow sunk gratefully into Tara's arms again. "I know. Grace will talk to you because you are understanding and wise and basically the best Mom ever. One of the many, many reasons I love you."
"Thanks for driving Will. Dave will be late, his shift doesn't end until seven. I told him to come straight from the station."
Buffy had been married to one of her fellow firefighters for the last five years. After Willow and Tara had closed the Hellmouth the vampire and demon activity in Sunnydale dropped to negligible levels. Buffy had to choose whether to remain primarily a Slayer and move to another Hellmouth or to semi-retire and find a new career.
When the local fire department had advertised for new recruits, Buffy had applied. On the day of the physical testing, most of her fellow candidates had laughed at the petite blond, discounting her as real competition. Several of the men had loudly scoffed at the idea that a 'little girl' would pass the demanding exercises which included a 'fireman's carry'.
Buffy had made sure to make it look like an effort as she kicked their butts. She was offered a position and took it declaring, "Who really wants to move to Cleveland anyway?" Secretly, she just didn't want to leave her family, especially Dawn who had settled in as a teacher at the elementary school.
She was hired along with one of the few candidates who had not ridiculed her, then or now. After dating for several years, she and Dave married, but decided their strange schedules and dangerous careers were not conducive to children of their own. They were both happy to serve as Aunt and Uncle to the many children of Willow and Tara, Xander and Anya, as well as several of Dave's siblings.
"No problem. If he's lucky he'll miss my speech entirely." The nervous redhead responded.
"You're going to be great. Just think of it as a free opportunity to babble without anyone being allowed to stop you." The Slayer smirked as she headed off to the bar for a drink.
"They're going to let you give a whole speech? B didn't tell me I'd have to listen to that. I'm just here for the free drinks and food."
Willow spun around to find the dark Slayer standing behind her, beer in hand. "Faith."
"Hey Red. Long time."
The redhead flung herself into an embrace with the Slayer who laughed before picking the petite witch up off her feet and swinging her around.
"I'm so glad you could make it. Buffy wasn't sure where in the world you were, literally. I guess the Council tracked you down?"
"Yeah. My team was taking care of some business in Ecuador. I was due some vacation anyway, so here I am. Thought it was time to check in with this sorry bunch." Faith was the one of all of them who had seemingly changed the least. "Council's about to give me a forced retirement. They want me to just 'teach and advise'. Can you imagine me just sittin around with a bunch of dumbass students? Told them I'd just go freelance if they tried. You may have to give me a new identity after all."
After the Hellmouth was closed, Faith had made the opposite decision of Buffy and moved to Cleveland to continue slaying. After hearing about her actions in Sunnydale, the Watcher's Council took care of her legal problems in exchange for having a Slayer working for them again. Over the years she had assembled a team of demon hunters that traveled to hot spots around the world when needed.
"You know I owe you Faith. Just ask and I'll make it happen for you. You deserve the retirement though. Nobody has done more world-saving, and I for one thank you." Willow gave an exaggerated bow. When she looked up she saw several upper management types from her company coming their way. "You may want to hit the free bar, it looks like the suits are coming for me."
"Thanks Red. Catch you later."
Willow took the opportunity to introduce the new CEO of the company she worked for to her family and friends. She had started with the company fourteen years prior as a software developer for a steady salary and significant stock options. She ran her own division that had produced one of the most popular and long lasting game series ever. She had seen several CEO's come and go and had been offered the position herself as the top income producer in the company, but had no interest in leaving the creative process and software writing to sit in meetings and schmooze stockholders. She set her own hours and frequently worked from home, giving her more time with her family.
Xander and Anya arrived just as everyone was asked to sit down for dinner. Anya fussed over her son who was much more interested in talking to Grace until Willow had a bottle of champagne opened for a toast. "Thank you all for being here tonight. I can't imagine what my life would have been like without all of you. I'll say now what I can't say to everyone from the stage. Twenty years ago we were living a crazy dangerous Hellmouth dominated existence that we somehow survived. You all know I made huge mistakes along the way, but you kept supporting me and for that I am the luckiest witch alive."
Dinner was top of the line banquet rubber chicken followed by a few awards and preliminary speeches. Then it was Willow's turn. The CEO glowingly described her series of interdimensional worlds with diverse human and non-human characters based around the central heroine witch-warrior before giving her the company's highest award. Willow took to the stage and gave her speech, graciously praising everyone she could think of who had helped her along the way. But her eyes drifted back every few sentences to her touchstone, Tara.
It had been a late night, but Willow couldn't sleep. She found herself gazing into the darkness of her backyard from the enclosed patio. She knew the evening had left her feeling reflective about her life, both the good and bad. Her boss and co-workers only knew about the worlds and characters she had developed as fantasy, not realizing most of them were based on real places and people. They certainly didn't know about the Hellmouth.
Sunnydale had grown tremendously in the last fifteen years and few still remained who knew about its demonic past. Stories about the two destroyed high schools remained, but most attributed them to seismic instability of the location and poor construction. Willow smiled to think of Grace attending the current high school, the same one Isobel had graduated from two years prior. They never had Master Vampires rising in the library, only the ordinary daily horrors of being a teenager.
Grace. Willow only had happy memories of her youngest child. The day after closing the Hellmouth the Scoobies had scouted the town and found widespread destruction from the storm. There was no electricity in some areas and many buildings had been damages from wind and lightning. Sadly, several residents had been injured by the storm and a few killed by the rampaging Turok-Han, including a young couple walking near Hellmouth High on that fateful night with their infant daughter. Faith had found the six month old crying in her stroller hidden behind some bushes.
Willow hadn't thought she could feel any more guilt, but the sight of that tiny victim had brought her once again to her knees sobbing. It was Tara who had taken the babe in her arms and carried her home. Willow had quickly ascertained the child had no remaining relatives and Tara being in Social Services knew she would be placed in the system. Instead, Willow had 'arranged' documentation in the State's antiquated computer system to adopt the girl with a second parent adoption by Tara soon after. It had been one of the greatest joys and privileges of her life to be Grace's Mom and to do her best to make up for the loss the girl had incurred when she was too young to remember.
Movement in the yard caught Willow by surprise. Sunnydale was such a safe place now, she rarely concerned herself with the possibility of danger at night. Just as she was reaching for her cell phone, a voice she hadn't heard in years called out.
"Red. Heard you had a big night. I guess congratulations are in order, even from an old bloke like me."
Willow stepped out into the yard. Trust only went so far with a vampire and that didn't include invitations to where her family slept. "Hi Spike. What has it been, ten years? What could possibly bring you to boring Sunnydale?"
"Just passing through. Thought I'd see if anything new had come up. Walked by the old high school and saw your tree still going strong, so I'd guess this place is still as dead as me for now." Spike reached into his duster for a cigarette and then drew out another object from his pocket.
"Took a gander around some of my old haunts. Poked my head in a few of the cemeteries. Didn't find anything but dust, except for this. It was in the Anderson crypt." The blond vampire held his hand palm up. On it sat a metal sphere about the size of a golf ball. "I think it's for you. Got some writing on it you'll probably recognize."
Willow stood stock still gazing at the sphere. Of course she recognized the writing. It was from Khul. The sphere was smaller than either of the ones she had seen fifteen years prior, but it was clearly of similar design.
"Go on then, take the blasted thing. Won't do anything for me, you have to know how to trigger it. You know, use some of your witchiness." Spike reached out and grabbed Willow by the wrist and dropped the sphere in her hand.
The redhead jumped back as if the sphere was going to shock her, but nothing happened. She held it up in the moonlight and could make out the etchings, including one that was clearly her name in the language of Khul.
"Thanks Spike. But you know I don't have much magick anymore." She couldn't take her eyes off the sphere. "I wonder how long it has been there."
"Months, years maybe. It was pretty dusty and didn't look like anyone had been by in a long time." Spike took a drag on his cigarette and blew out smoke into the night air. "Still experiencing domestic bliss Red? How's the bird and kiddos."
Willow smiled. "Good Spike. Great even. Better than I ever deserved." It struck her that she looked older than the blond vampire now. He would go on, never changing, never growing. She might never be a wise woman, but aging did bring knowledge and maybe a little wisdom. Spike would never have that experience. "Thanks for bringing this to me. I think I'll wait for Tara to look into it."
"What are we looking into?" Tara's soft voice carried from the patio into the yard before she came outside. "Hello Spike, how are you?"
"Good. If I say so, you still look amazing blondie. Glad to see Red here treating you alright." With one more drag, Spike gave a half bow. "Ladies, must be off. Things to do before the sun rises, even in this boring hamlet."
That was the last time Willow and Tara ever saw Spike. They heard many years later that he had returned to London and even helped out the Council every once in a while.
The two women returned to the patio to evaluate the mini-sphere. Translating the etching revealed very simple instructions. Willow only had to say one word to hear the message contained within.
"What do you think? Do you sense any danger from it? Cause I trust you on this. If there is any possibility that this is some sort of trap we can just get rid of it, bury it or something." The redhead realized she was excited by the discovery in a way she hadn't been for a long time and bit her lip waiting for her wife to say something.
"I don't feel anything dark. It seems pretty innocuous actually, inert almost." Tara rolled the sphere from one hand to another. She could see Willow really wanted to know what was contained inside. "You know I don't use my magick much anymore, but I think it would be Ok."
Willow started to apologize for the thousandth time until Tara stopped her. "I didn't mean it like that. You know it doesn't bother me in the slightest. I love our life, post-Hellmouth. I would never trade it for the danger we used to be in all the time."
Within days of closing the seal, the two witches found their magickal powers greatly reduced. They never could tell whether the closing spell on the seal simply drained them or if the power of the Hellmouth had been feeding their strength and now was gone. Neither witch was complaining. They could still do magick, but found little need. The spells they did do were strongly light based; they did them together and found the magick brought them closer together.
"Reveal." Willow spoke quietly into the night.
The sphere glowed and a familiar voice emerged. "Willow, I hope this message finds you alive and well. At the time I am sending the sphere, three decades have passed here in Khul, meaning it has been fifteen years since I returned home and you closed the portal behind me. Through some unconventional sources I was able to learn you and Tara closed the Hellmouth. I hope you are still together and doing well. When I returned, my Mother had taken control of this side of the portal and Morton was taken to prison, where he remained until his death five years later. We think the dark magick exposure aged him prematurely and he died an old, bitter man."
Elena's voice sighed before continuing. "Sending this message at all is probably just indulging the whims of a bored retired soldier. They still let me teach, but my combat days are behind me. That is probably just as well according to my wife and son. Willow, you know I loved you, but my experiences in Sunnydale left me with a keen appreciation for not taking a single day of life for granted. I came home, opened my heart and my great love walked in and took up residence. I think you understand the feeling."
Willow had tears in her eyes and as she listened she tucked into Tara's side embracing her.
"I guess I just wanted you to know that everything that happened, my people being put in danger caused the Light and the Dark to come together in cooperation that hasn't existed in millennia. The threat Morton represented shook the foundations of our way of life and the new peace that resulted has saved thousands over the last nearly thirty years. Your sacrifice and contribution will be remembered here. It's not much, but keep this sphere as a memento of our appreciation. And if you ever need anything from a gray-haired old Light Witch, you know how to reach me now. Take care of yourself and your family Willow, and may the Goddess be with you always."
Willow leaned up and kissed Tara gently. "She always is."
Tara smiled, the faint lines around her eyes crinkling. "I love you so much Willow."
The two women sat quietly for a few minutes in the calm quiet night gently holding each other and letting the emotions of the evening wash over them.
Willow thought back to the last line of her acceptance speech. She had saved her most important thanks for Tara, making the blond stand up and blush. "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my amazing and beautiful wife. She is my muse and my life."
The redhead smiled and snuggled in closer. It was simple really, the only thing that needed to be said. "I love you too."
THE END