In the room that Willow and Tara had
been sharing since the renovations to their previous room began, (Glory ripped
the wall off of it), a pink, red and gold flash announced the arrival of two
young blond women. Or at least one
appeared to be young, though in a way she was older than any civilization alive
today. Tara was more than a little surprised
to suddenly find herself in her room of the past few weeks.
"Buffy? What
happened? How'd we get here?" Tara
asked in a panic.
"Tara, calm down. Remember the thing with Joshua, he teleported you and Willow to the
magic shop. I just did the same
thing. Relax Tara it's me. We just need to talk for a bit. I figured you'd want to do it in more
comfortable surroundings." Buffy explained.
"Oh, OK. Sure. So, what do you want to talk about?" Tara
asked as she sat down on the bed. Absentmindedly she grabbed a pink heart-shaped pillow to her chest.
Buffy smiled. She
looked down at herself then, and casually conjured a mirror in a flash of gold
sprinkles right next to her, so that Tara could also see the reflection. "This outfit is starting to get old. How about I change it? You know some of my favorite times at home
was playing "dress up" with you and Cordelia. Here what do you think of this outfit?" Buffy snapped her fingers and in
a flash of red sparks and pink sprinkles, she was wearing a completely
different outfit.
The colors were still primarily pink and red, but instead
of the masculine female look she'd had, now she was more the 'sexual predator
of all females in the world'. She had
on 4 in. red stiletto heels, a really, really, almost obscenely short hot pink
mini-skirt, a bare midriff spaghetti strap red tank top that had in pink
letters the words, "KISS ME", and she also had on gold bracelets, and Tara
noticed a very cute gold heart pendant around the goddesses neck. Buffy's hair had also been redone. Instead of the straight, parted down the
middle look that she had that night so many weeks ago, it was now kind of
curled. It fell in long luxurious locks
around her head, like it had when she had faced Dracula that time. (Just think beginning of season 5, end of
season 4)
"Cordelia? As in
Cordelia in LA that works with Angel, who Willow went to visit some weeks
ago? That Cordelia?" Tara asked,
disbelief evident in her voice.
Buffy smiled brightly. "Yes that Cordelia. I refuse to
believe for even a second that that's a common name on Earth. And yes, Tara, she's also one of us. Goddess of the Stars and Skies if I remember
correctly. And not movie stars, as I
know she'll not doubt think. So what do
you think?" indicating her outfit that she had made out of thin air.
"It's…uh,
very-very nice. Uh, Buffy what is it
that you needed to talk to me about? I
mean if you don't approve of my relationship with Willow because she's your
sister, then I can talk to her about it, I guess," said Tara in her calm
peaceful voice.
"No, its not that I don't approve Tara. I say if love is there, let it blossom. And I don't have any problems with whoever
Willow chooses to see. It's just
that…this outfit screams "Slut!" doesn't it? OK, next!" and Buffy snapped her fingers again. In a similar flash her outfit changed again.
This time, her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, but the
outfit was still pink and red. The
outfit was still more feminine than what Buffy normally wore, but what Buffy
normally wore had mostly to do with her Slayer activities. She was wearing a long red dress, with a
slit up to her knees in the back, a pink cardigan, and the same stiletto heels,
only pink instead of red this time. Tara saw that while the jewelry that she had on earlier had disappeared,
the gold pendant had remained.
"I like that better," Tara commented, trying to keep Buffy
on track. "So, do you remember who my
mother is? Or, is she the same as your
mother, back in our home Realm?"
Buffy smiled briefly at her reflection, musing to
herself. "No Tara, you were born to one
of the Gods, not the Guardians, my parents. You're my niece actually. My
favorite, but not my only, niece actually. You are the daughter of my youngest and dearest sister. She's everybody's favorite. Not a mean bone in her body. So, you think Willow will like this
one? Heels aside, I think this kind of
takes after her fashion for long dresses and sweaters. Don't you think?"
Tara nodded silently, trying to put the picture
together. "Yeah, it kind of does. But I was just wondering, are you going to
tell me who my mother is or not?"
Buffy looked in the mirror one last time, and then waved
her hand and it disappeared in a flash of gold sparkles and sound of
bells. Her expression appeared pained
as she sat next to her niece on the young woman's bed.
"Tara, I don't know quite how to tell you this, but I guess
better now than when you remember yourself," began Buffy. "Tara, I'm just the goddess of love, so I
don't know everything or how and why things work out the way they do. And despite my being said goddess now,
doesn't mean that I was when I was still Buffy Summers. Just keep all this in mind when I tell you…"
"Buffy, just tell me," ordered Tara, "who is my mother?"
"Willow" came the short reply.
"Huh?" Tara had seemingly taken after Buffy in accepting
news about family. Mimicking Buffy
almost exactly, right down to the not breathing. Then she started breathing again, but much quicker than before. She also became slightly flustered.
"Wha-what do you-you-you…what do you m-mmea-mean, Willow's
m-mm-my-my mother?" she stuttered out. Buffy, with a very saddened expression, could only nod.
Tara's eyes widened, partly in fear, mostly in shock as she
tried to absorb the fact that she had been dating and sleeping with her godhood
mother for the past year. Despite not being Christian, and not exactly being raised in a
proper family, Tara knew and believed that incest was very, very wrong. She felt like fainting. Well, she definitely wanted to faint, but
she didn't.
Tara gulped as she turned to her aunt Buffy and
asked the question that Buffy had been fearing she'd ask. "What do I tell Willow?"
Buffy, keeping as straight a face as possible, offered her
several answers, "Well, you could tell her the truth upfront, and experience
days or maybe even weeks of uncomfortable time together due to the awkwardness
of the situation. OR you could wait
until you re-awaken your godhood and tell her then, and that would only leave
you on the uncomfortable end of it. But
then she might get concerned why you would be a little bit more "closed off" if
you know what I mean. Then she'd start
asking questions, you'd tell her nothing's wrong, and then she'd finally come
to me, or Joshua or anyone else awakened before you, and ask one of us what was
wrong with you. Me, personally, I'd
tell her to ask you about it because its your business. Then she'd go straight back to you and do
just that and wouldn't give up until you finally gave in, telling her. After all that she might even start out with
the 'resolve face'. You would tell her
everything's fine, nothings wrong, she'd say she knew you were lying and you'd
come up with some lame excuse, like "I've just been tired lately, a lot's been
going on", but she wouldn't accept that and would keep pestering you until you
finally either blurted or shouted it out at her. Then you'd both have angry and uncomfortable times, and anyway I
guess it doesn't matter because Willow's going to be pretty busy over the next
few days and maybe even weeks. It all
depends on her really."
"But it really depends on what you want to do. So I guess my answer is, what do you want to
tell her?" Buffy asked her niece seriously.
Tara sat still for several moments, trying to absorb all
that Buffy had told her, or guessed for her. Then she shrugged and said the ever popular, "I don't know. I guess I have to think about it. I just wish that…I don't know what I
wish. I wish that I had more time to
think about it."
"You have all the time you need Tara. You can stay here for the rest of the day,
or I can take you some place else that will give you more space to think. It is entirely your choice little one. Tell you what, I'll do my best to keep
Willow busy for the rest of the day, and maybe even the night. Then, tomorrow when we give Giles and Xander
their swords, you can decide what to do. I promise, the next time you'll see Willow is at the Magic shop tomorrow
morning."
Tara smiled at Buffy's attempt to help, but she felt, more
like she knew that avoiding Willow right now would not make the confrontation
any easier, and in fact might make it worse. Tara asked her aunt a question that was suddenly nagging at her like an
annoying puppy. "Buffy, why…how do you
think that Willow and I even developed a…a…a r-ro-rom-man-romantic relationship
if we, or our spirits anyway, were that of a mother and daughter. I've read in some cases, that twins, or
siblings of one life might be lovers in the next, and vice versa, but I don't
think I've ever heard of it happening to a mother and daughter. So, I was just wondering if you had any
ideas about how, or maybe why it happened."
Buffy's face scrunched as she sat there thinking. After about a minute, "Well, like I said
Tara, I don't know everything, but the best that I can give is the fact that we
all chose to be the same ages when we chose our mortal forms. Also, there is a very strong connection
between you and Willow. There is a
similar connection between all the gods and their children, but I think its
strongest between you two because you are Willow's only child. You see, you are the Goddess of peace, and
Willow is practically filled with this as well as many other things. Just as I am filled with love, and etc, you
are filled with peace and purity of spirit. There is also a direct link between your powers and Willow's. I think this is what first drew you two
together. After that, I imagine it was
just that you opened up to each other on intimate and personal levels. Then there was also that encounter with an
evil vampire Willow from an alternate reality, trust me you don't want to
know. Anyway, Willow saw something in
this version of herself that she had never really admitted to, mostly at the
time because of Oz. When Oz left, she
was forced to face it and you just happened to be the one that she was on
intimate terms with when she did."
"There's also a story, Realmly speaking ofcourse, that
might better explain the connection between your powers, but it's really
long. I'll tell it to you some
day. It involves Willow, ofcourse, and
a quest that I sent her on. The story
has been called by bards and storytellers, "Defer'N'falliah Neh'Fall". Or in English, "The Guardian's quest for an
apple."
At this Tara's face was like that of a two year old child
that had to tell their parent something so important and she
stood up and went over to her closet. She opened it, sat the pillow inside and started digging for something
in the back. Apparently she found what
she was looking for because she came back less than a minute later, holding a
relatively small brown leather tome. Buffy could make out the Latin words on the cover, (Translated; I don't
know any Latin!) "Secrets of the Heavens and Basic Workings of the Gods,"
"Interesting title for a very old book. It must be, what? About two thousand, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four
years old?" Buffy asked.
"How-how, how did you know that?" Tara asked surprised.
"Old knowledge," was Buffy's only answer, and it was
obvious to Tara that she wouldn't get any more of one out of the newly awakened
goddess.
"Well, I found this book in Giles', I mean Ripper's, I
mean…" Tara started to say.
"Giles is fine for now. Ripper's a god, Giles is a Librarian." Buffy told her.
"OK. Anyway, I
found this book in one of Giles' forbidden stacks, but there's nothing really
magic in here, at least nothing more than old legends and stories of magical
creatures and stuff. So, I kind of took
it. I've only been able to translate
some of the basic text, like the intro, something that looks like the Table of
Contents, and a list at the back of it. Though, at first I thought they were like a translation guide, but now,
I think they might be names."
"Oh kaayyy." Buffy drew out the word, not quite
understanding where Tara was going with this.
"That name, or title or whatever sounded familiar. It's a name from this book." Tara opened the
tome to the back, on a certain page and began skimming the pages. "Here! Defer'N'. I translated it to, "The
Guardian" or the protector or something along those lines. You don't think that maybe this tome is from
your Realm, I mean our Realm, do you?"
Buffy paused, looking at the book. No doubt some part of Giles had recognized
this tome for what it was and had kept it hidden and safe. Looking closer, she could see something
more. A god had written this. Almost exactly how long ago that she had
said it had been written. Taking the
old leather book from Tara, she looked closer at it. Yes, a god, and one of them no doubt about it. But she hadn't written it, and neither had
any of the others that were here in Sunnydale. Tracing, as best she could, the aura that the words were written with,
flipping through the pages, Buffy found what she was looking for. It was the last name on the list of names
that Tara had pointed out to her. The
name was; "Ly'Marvue N Fartrus'd Fire……………………………………..Liam, God of Lore and
Fires of Anton." In short, her
youngest son, the God of storytelling had written this so that they could
remember themselves and their Realm when they needed to. Smart boy.
"No Tara, it's not from our Realm. It's about our Realm." Buffy explained to
her. "It was written here, on Earth,
but by one of us. My son actually. His name is Liam, and he is the God of Lore
and the guardian of Fire and so forth in Anton. He wrote this tome so that we would not forget where we came from
and who we are. It carries a good
portion of the myths and legends of what we did in our Realms as gods that made
heroes, made and stopped wars, saved people and killed them. Our mistakes, our jealousies, our valor's
and our strengths. You might want to
read it. Though it is written in the
home language of Anton, so you might not be able to understand it."
"Oh, well, how long do you think before I can read
it?" Tara asked, suddenly excited by having a book that told her almost
everything about where she came from.
Buffy only shrugged. "I don't see why you can't read it now," the goddess commented. "Huh? What do you mean?" Tara asked.
Buffy suddenly smiled like the Cheshire cat, as Tara was
learning she did a lot. "Here. It's something we can do you know. Grant gifts to mortals. Since you already know, at least in a way,
how to read Gaelic, I'll just grant you access to that knowledge. Not that tough to do really. Hold still, and look at the words while I'm
doing this."
Tara turned to the book, and Buffy inched closer to
her. Then, Buffy held her right hand up
to just behind Tara's head, a spark of red energy forming at her
fingertips. Slowly the energy increased
in intensity and light as Buffy concentrated, never blinking or not looking at
Tara's turned head. Then, the energy
shot from Buffy's fingers the short distance to Tara's head and the young
mortal woman was surrounded in a slight red glow.
As Tara looked at the words, all of a sudden, they began to
make perfect sense. She could read
them! She could understand! Too excited for words, she turns to Buffy,
only to see the goddess gone. There was
a note though. It was on red
construction paper, in the shape of a heart. Tara grabbed it, opened it up and read:
" Dear Tara,
Sorry to bail on you like this, but apparently
I'm not up to full strength yet.
That
spell took a lot out of me. Don't worry
little one, I'm fine. I just need to
finish
off the rest of the pizza back at the magic shop. I'll keep to my promise
about
keeping Willow out of the room for today. I think I can keep her busy.
Hope
you two don't share a bank account.
Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow morning,
maybe around 9 o'clock. I know
you
don't have any classes for the rest of today, and tomorrow you may not even
have
to deal with them ever again. Love you
little one, I'll see you in the morning.
Love,
Your Auntie Goddess,
Buffy"
Tara smiled at the note, and sat it down, picked up the
book, and opened it to the first page. She didn't stop reading until long after the sun had gone down. Then, she just lay in her bed, awake and
dreaming of what new adventures she and the Gods of Anton would soon be
doing. After a while she finally
drifted off to pleasant dreams in slumber land.