~* Looking In *~
Part Two - Dancing on the Edge
~* I'm on the outside
I'm looking in
I can see through you
I see your true colors
Inside you're ugly
Ugly like me
I can see through you
I see to the real you *~
Willow sat on the edge of the bed brushing her hair. Draco told her everything - how his father was after her because he knew she had power, how he was here to protect her. Willow just nodded, still getting over the connection she had made with him. It was like her soul was reaching out to him.
She hated to admit it, but she was deeply attracted to him. Now she knew how Buffy and Angel must have felt.
"Willow?"
Buffy opened the door and smiled.
"Buffy, you shouldn't be out of bed."
Buffy laughed and then winced. "Bed, schmed. I'm the slayer - I need to move around for a while, or I'll go insane."
"Angel refuses to leave?"
Buffy grimaced playfully. "Angel? Leave? Not looking like a possibility any time soon." She smiled painfully. "Too bad it took something like this for him to stay with me."
"Buffy - look, he's here now. Make the most of it."
"Wish I could." She said smiling.
"Buffy!" Willow said shocked.
"What? Did you forget - as Cordelia said once, we suffer, we fight, that's business as usual. We get groiny with one another, and the world as we know it falls apart. That and I can barely walk, much less do anything else."
Willow nodded. "This is true."
"So, who's the hottie that I saw come upstairs before?"
"Is that all you ever think about?" Willow asked.
"Oh, lay off it Will, I saw how you were looking at him. He *is* cute."
"That he is." There was a knock on the door and Willow smiled. "You can come in Draco."
Draco had been listening to their conversation through the door, smiling. He liked this Buffy - and Willow thought he was cute, did she? The feeling was mutual. He took a deep breath and stepped into the room. And that's when he saw her, the slayer. Sirius was right - she was beaten up pretty badly. There were cuts and bruises all over her face, and her right wrist was swollen and looked sprained, not to mention the cuts on both of her hands. There was a bandage across her left side right below her ribs and her weight was leaning painfully off of her right leg. Through the white tank top she wore, he could see cuts all across her back.
The last person he had seen *that* beat up was Harry after what was appropriately called "The Final Battle". And he had magic to help him heal.
He would talk to a certain Ms. Granger - no, wait, Mrs. Potter, he thought smirking - about some healing charms when she arrived in a few days.
"You must be Buffy."
"Yup. That's me. And you must be Draco Malfoy." She tried to stand and ended up not getting anywhere. She let out a frustrated sigh. "Hang on." She pushed herself to a standing position with one arm and leaned her weight onto her leg, almost falling. Draco caught her.
"Okay, that didn't work very well." Buffy smiled at Draco sheepishly. "Sorry. I'm not usually this clumsy, but as I'm sure you've heard, the big bad has been keeping us pretty damn busy lately."
"So I've heard."
"Buffy?"
Buffy groaned. "And that would be my cue to leave." She sighed. "Nice meeting you Draco. Willow, I'll talk to you later."
"Night Buffy." Willow said, shutting the door behind her.
Willow eyed Draco and her eyes flashed towards the bed. The sleeping arrangements had been *very* crazy lately. Tonight, Buffy and Angel were in Buffy's room. No one was about to argue with an already cranky slayer about that one, and Angel flat-out refused to leave her side anyway. Dawn had six of the twelve remaining trainees in her room, and Giles was in the guest room. The other six trainees were downstairs with Xander and Faith, and no one was even going to begin to think about what they were going to do once Draco's friends arrived.
This left Draco and Willow in Willow's room. Alone, for now at least.
"Why don't you take the bed." Willow said. "I can take the floor."
"From what I've heard, you've been on the floor for the last six months. I don't bite. It's a big bed. We can both sleep up there." 'Yeah Malfoy, make the tension worse why don't you.'
Willow bit her lip. 'You refused Kennedy's offer about a thousand and one times. Why can't you say no to this one guy? Cause you're attracted to him - oh, screw it Rosenberg.' "Okay, whatever."
Willow sat down on the bed, still not used to being able to go to sleep at night without any major worries. Draco sat down next to her.
There was silence.
Draco just looked at her. She was putting her hair up in a ponytail, and he just couldn't stop watching her. He knew that he shouldn't, knew that it would just make things harder on the situation, but he couldn't help himself.
Willow looked up and saw Draco regarding her. His eyes were so intense, it made him look even more attractive them he already was. It was obvious he knew at least part of her past, and Giles had filled her in on most of his. He was just like her - he stepped into the dark, and was pulled out by the most unlikely source of light. Just like her, he felt like an outsider.
And just like him, she wanted nothing more then to make the mistake of getting involved with him.
Draco leaned in and Willow tilted her head, capturing his mouth in a kiss that could rival any that she had ever had. This wasn't like it ever was with Oz or even Tara. There were sparks dancing across her mind, and she felt connected to him somehow. This just felt right.
Willow was the first to pull away. "That was unexpected." She said softly.
"You're telling me."
She looked into his eyes. She wanted so much more then that one kiss. She wanted *him* like she had never wanted anyone before. They had only known each other for a few hours, but it seemed like so much longer.
And from the hungry look in his eyes, she could tell he wanted the same thing.
Willow got up and went over to the door, locking it. She turned around and was swept into a kiss that took her breath away and made her feel like she was on fire.
Draco pulled Willow as close to him as humanly possible. He swept his tongue over her lips, begging entrance, of which she gave right away. Her tongue dueled with his and her hands danced up and down his arms and shoulders. He had never felt like this about anyone before, not Ginny, not even Hermione, both of whom he had fallen madly in love with. This was desire in its rawest form, fueled by an attraction that was amazingly powerful.
Draco pulled her nightshirt up over her head and she unbuckled his pants, slipping them down his legs. She pulled his tee shirt off and ran a hand down his chest, loving the feeling of her palm against his skin.
The rest of their clothes were off in record time and the last coherent thought that flitted through either of their minds was 'This is right.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*
Willow was lying awake, trying to make some sort of sense of what had just happened. The uneven rise and fall of Draco's chest against her back told her that he wasn't sleeping either.
Willow sighed and rolled over so that she could look into Draco's eyes. He smiled slightly and brushed a piece of hair out of her face.
Willow searched his face for some sort of explanation, anything that might help her figure out why she was feeling so connected to him.
Bracing herself, she asked him, "Do you feel it?"
"Feel what?"
Willow sighed and shook her head. "Never mind." She leaned her head into the crook of his neck and fell asleep. Draco followed soon after.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Draco!"
Draco was standing with his back to the battle that was waging behind him. He walked away from it all, not wanting to see it, yet wanting to be a part of it. The Dark Mark burned so fiercely on his skin that he all but cringed under the pain. The lure of the dark was too strong. He hadn't been able to fight it then, and he couldn't fight it now.
"Draco!"
Draco felt a hand on his shoulder spin him around. Even with all the evil coursing through him, he knew that she shouldn't be here. She couldn't be.
Hermione's face was etched with pain and concern. He knew she had just been on the receiving end of a particularly painful Cruciatus Curse. Hell, *he* had been the one who sent it her way. She was barely standing straight, and there was a nasty cut over her right eye.
"Hermione, I'm not in the mood for your bullshit. Get out of here before I have to do something I'm going to regret." His every word was laced with malice and threat. Was this really the person she had gotten to know so well their sixth year, the same person that had helped Harry and Ron get out of a detention with Snape? The same person she had fallen in love with, even though she now loved someone else?
"Draco, please, don't do this."
Draco laughed at her. "Don't do what? Please don't tell me you bought that 'I'm on the good side' bullshit I was throwing at you. You know just as well as everyone else that it wasn't true." His words were cutting, and it hurt to hear them, but Hermione wasn't about to back down.
"You know that's a lie. I know that's a lie. You were on our side, and you made a mistake. Everybody does. But you have to come back to us before it's too late."
"Come back to us? Come back to you, you mean. You could never accept the fact that I was going towards 'the dark side', my father's side, nobody ever could. Don't lecture me about lying because you lied just as much as anyone else to me."
Hermione slapped him. "Bullshit Malfoy! You're lying to yourself, and you know it!"
Draco grabbed her arm and knocked her to the ground. Pain rose through her left arm and she winced against it. She wasn't going to back down.
"I love you." She said, the words clear and strong. "I love you, and I know somewhere, you love me too."
"Shut up."
"What, the truth hurt Malfoy?" She said gently. "I - "
"SHUT UP!" Draco tackled Hermione to the ground and pinned her under him. He didn't know what was running through his mind as he held her underneath him.
Except he didn't want to hurt her.
His grip on her arm loosened enough for her to get her left arm free. She let her fingertip graze over the Dark Mark lightly. "You know this isn't what you want. I don't know what your father told you to get you to change your mind, and I'm sorry if it was something I did that made you listen."
He just looked at her. Hermione knew better then anyone else that Draco had been considering joining forces with his father for about a month before he finally gave in, and she also knew that it was her breaking up with him that finally drove him over that edge he had been dancing on for far too long. She wished she could take it back. But she finally realized that she loved him, but not in the way that she loved someone else. And somewhere, deep down under all the darkness and the rage, he realized it too.
Draco rolled off of her and stood up. He offered her a hand and she stood up, keeping her eyes firmly locked on his as she said. "I love you."
He nodded, the fury finally fading, slowly but surely. It was hard to turn away from that darkness that still threatened to overcome him, but he was going to fight it now. He knew she could help.
"I know."
~*~*~*~*~*~*
Willow stood in front of the idol, chanting in Latin. Black power coursed from the statue into her when Xander suddenly appeared, blocking the idol from her view, breaking her contact with it.
"Hey, black-eyed girl..."
The glowing on the idol faded, though not completely. The energy dissipated.
Xander continued. "Whatcha doin'?"
Willow blinked her eyes open, revealing them to be their normal green again, as she looked at him, incredulously. "Get out of here."
"You're not the only one with powers, you know. You may be a hopped up uber- witch, but this carpenter can dry-wall you into the next century."
"I'm not joking, Xander. Get out of my way. Now." Willow gestured and Xander was suddenly thrown back, slamming painfully against the base of the statue, with bone cracking force. Willow's brow furrowed, as a look of remorse crossed her face. In full glow again, black energy streamed into the idol from Willow. The scorched earth spread wider around her. Her eyes were black, once again, and back to work, focusing on the statue.
Another tremor struck.
Xander, on the ground, stirred, holding his chest. No doubt he cracked a couple of ribs. But he rose, breaking the connection between Willow and the idol once again.
"You can't stop this." Willow said threateningly.
"Yeah, I get that. It's just - where else am I going to go? You've been my best friend my whole life. World gonna end - where else would I want to be?"
"Is this the master plan?" Willow sneered. "You're going to stop me by telling me you
love me? "
"Well, I was going to walk you off a cliff and hand you an anvil, but it seemed kinda cartoony."
"Still making jokes." She said, sounding almost bored.
"I'm not joking. I know you're in pain. I can't imagine the pain you're in. I know you're about to do something apocalyptically evil and stupid and hey, still want to hang. You're Willow."
Willow glared. "Don't call me th- "
Xander cut her off. "First day of kindergarten you cried 'cause you broke the yellow crayon and you were too afraid to tell anyone. You've come pretty far, ending the world, not a terrific notion but the thing is, yeah. I love you. I loved crayon-breaky Willow and I love scary veiny Willow. So if I'm going out, it's here. You wanna kill the world you start with me. I've earned that."
"You think I won't?
"It doesn't matter. I'll still love you."
"Shut up." Willow said furiously, making a slashing motion in the air. Xander stopped as three large cuts opened on his face, as if he scratched them there. He winced, touched the blood on his face and looked at it, then at her.
"I love you."
She slashed at him again. Xander's shirt tore at the shoulder as larger, deeper wounds appeared. He almost doubled over from the pain. But, again, he looked at her.
"I love-" She cut him off with a blast of energy, knocking him down. She looked at him, her face etched with sorrow. Xander picked himself up, catching his breath, staring up at her again. He began to stagger toward her. "I............ love you."
"Shut up!" Willow blasted him again. He grunted at the impact, but this time, he didn't go down, as if her assault had lost some of its strength.
"I love you, Willow."
Willow began to cry. "Stop............" She sent another BLAST, but he barely registered it when it hit him. He kept coming.
"I love you."
He reached her and she started to hit him, with her fists, shaking her head. He withstood her blows, but on his injured body, they still inflicted pain.
Willow fell to her knees, sobbing. Her hands over her eyes, her black hair suddenly went back to its normal red. Xander gently put a hand on her shoulder, softly saying, "I love you."
~*~*~*~*~*~*
Willow woke up gasping for breath. She sat up and clutched the sheet to her chest. She realized she was sweating, and it was pretty hard not to be after the dream she had just had.
It was of him. Draco. His fall into the darkness. His being pulled out. She understood his reasons, understood everything. His past was so comparable to hers, it was scary.
Draco awoke with a start and looked over to see Willow wide awake, looking at him.
He sat up and reached over, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"You saw it too didn't you?" She asked, looking at him.
He had heard the story a million times, how she had fallen over the edge after her lover was killed, how her best friend, a normal Muggle, was able to pull her back again.
It was completely different actually seeing it.
"Yes. I did." Considering she was asking, he could only imagine that she saw his part in the Final Battle, his argument with Hermione, and how it all turned out. He was ashamed that he had ever hurt Hermione that much, and could only imagine how she felt knowing that she had hurt her best friend.
It was an ugly past, but he knew that hers was just as ugly. He knew she would understand. He could see through her just as well as she could see through him.
And he knew that he could trust her.
Draco pulled Willow against his chest and she leaned into him, closing her eyes.
"Let me tell you a story." He said.
She looked up at him. "And then I can tell you mine."
Draco smiled slightly and sealed his mouth over hers.
Willow finally understood what having a soul mate truly meant.
Part Two - Dancing on the Edge
~* I'm on the outside
I'm looking in
I can see through you
I see your true colors
Inside you're ugly
Ugly like me
I can see through you
I see to the real you *~
Willow sat on the edge of the bed brushing her hair. Draco told her everything - how his father was after her because he knew she had power, how he was here to protect her. Willow just nodded, still getting over the connection she had made with him. It was like her soul was reaching out to him.
She hated to admit it, but she was deeply attracted to him. Now she knew how Buffy and Angel must have felt.
"Willow?"
Buffy opened the door and smiled.
"Buffy, you shouldn't be out of bed."
Buffy laughed and then winced. "Bed, schmed. I'm the slayer - I need to move around for a while, or I'll go insane."
"Angel refuses to leave?"
Buffy grimaced playfully. "Angel? Leave? Not looking like a possibility any time soon." She smiled painfully. "Too bad it took something like this for him to stay with me."
"Buffy - look, he's here now. Make the most of it."
"Wish I could." She said smiling.
"Buffy!" Willow said shocked.
"What? Did you forget - as Cordelia said once, we suffer, we fight, that's business as usual. We get groiny with one another, and the world as we know it falls apart. That and I can barely walk, much less do anything else."
Willow nodded. "This is true."
"So, who's the hottie that I saw come upstairs before?"
"Is that all you ever think about?" Willow asked.
"Oh, lay off it Will, I saw how you were looking at him. He *is* cute."
"That he is." There was a knock on the door and Willow smiled. "You can come in Draco."
Draco had been listening to their conversation through the door, smiling. He liked this Buffy - and Willow thought he was cute, did she? The feeling was mutual. He took a deep breath and stepped into the room. And that's when he saw her, the slayer. Sirius was right - she was beaten up pretty badly. There were cuts and bruises all over her face, and her right wrist was swollen and looked sprained, not to mention the cuts on both of her hands. There was a bandage across her left side right below her ribs and her weight was leaning painfully off of her right leg. Through the white tank top she wore, he could see cuts all across her back.
The last person he had seen *that* beat up was Harry after what was appropriately called "The Final Battle". And he had magic to help him heal.
He would talk to a certain Ms. Granger - no, wait, Mrs. Potter, he thought smirking - about some healing charms when she arrived in a few days.
"You must be Buffy."
"Yup. That's me. And you must be Draco Malfoy." She tried to stand and ended up not getting anywhere. She let out a frustrated sigh. "Hang on." She pushed herself to a standing position with one arm and leaned her weight onto her leg, almost falling. Draco caught her.
"Okay, that didn't work very well." Buffy smiled at Draco sheepishly. "Sorry. I'm not usually this clumsy, but as I'm sure you've heard, the big bad has been keeping us pretty damn busy lately."
"So I've heard."
"Buffy?"
Buffy groaned. "And that would be my cue to leave." She sighed. "Nice meeting you Draco. Willow, I'll talk to you later."
"Night Buffy." Willow said, shutting the door behind her.
Willow eyed Draco and her eyes flashed towards the bed. The sleeping arrangements had been *very* crazy lately. Tonight, Buffy and Angel were in Buffy's room. No one was about to argue with an already cranky slayer about that one, and Angel flat-out refused to leave her side anyway. Dawn had six of the twelve remaining trainees in her room, and Giles was in the guest room. The other six trainees were downstairs with Xander and Faith, and no one was even going to begin to think about what they were going to do once Draco's friends arrived.
This left Draco and Willow in Willow's room. Alone, for now at least.
"Why don't you take the bed." Willow said. "I can take the floor."
"From what I've heard, you've been on the floor for the last six months. I don't bite. It's a big bed. We can both sleep up there." 'Yeah Malfoy, make the tension worse why don't you.'
Willow bit her lip. 'You refused Kennedy's offer about a thousand and one times. Why can't you say no to this one guy? Cause you're attracted to him - oh, screw it Rosenberg.' "Okay, whatever."
Willow sat down on the bed, still not used to being able to go to sleep at night without any major worries. Draco sat down next to her.
There was silence.
Draco just looked at her. She was putting her hair up in a ponytail, and he just couldn't stop watching her. He knew that he shouldn't, knew that it would just make things harder on the situation, but he couldn't help himself.
Willow looked up and saw Draco regarding her. His eyes were so intense, it made him look even more attractive them he already was. It was obvious he knew at least part of her past, and Giles had filled her in on most of his. He was just like her - he stepped into the dark, and was pulled out by the most unlikely source of light. Just like her, he felt like an outsider.
And just like him, she wanted nothing more then to make the mistake of getting involved with him.
Draco leaned in and Willow tilted her head, capturing his mouth in a kiss that could rival any that she had ever had. This wasn't like it ever was with Oz or even Tara. There were sparks dancing across her mind, and she felt connected to him somehow. This just felt right.
Willow was the first to pull away. "That was unexpected." She said softly.
"You're telling me."
She looked into his eyes. She wanted so much more then that one kiss. She wanted *him* like she had never wanted anyone before. They had only known each other for a few hours, but it seemed like so much longer.
And from the hungry look in his eyes, she could tell he wanted the same thing.
Willow got up and went over to the door, locking it. She turned around and was swept into a kiss that took her breath away and made her feel like she was on fire.
Draco pulled Willow as close to him as humanly possible. He swept his tongue over her lips, begging entrance, of which she gave right away. Her tongue dueled with his and her hands danced up and down his arms and shoulders. He had never felt like this about anyone before, not Ginny, not even Hermione, both of whom he had fallen madly in love with. This was desire in its rawest form, fueled by an attraction that was amazingly powerful.
Draco pulled her nightshirt up over her head and she unbuckled his pants, slipping them down his legs. She pulled his tee shirt off and ran a hand down his chest, loving the feeling of her palm against his skin.
The rest of their clothes were off in record time and the last coherent thought that flitted through either of their minds was 'This is right.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*
Willow was lying awake, trying to make some sort of sense of what had just happened. The uneven rise and fall of Draco's chest against her back told her that he wasn't sleeping either.
Willow sighed and rolled over so that she could look into Draco's eyes. He smiled slightly and brushed a piece of hair out of her face.
Willow searched his face for some sort of explanation, anything that might help her figure out why she was feeling so connected to him.
Bracing herself, she asked him, "Do you feel it?"
"Feel what?"
Willow sighed and shook her head. "Never mind." She leaned her head into the crook of his neck and fell asleep. Draco followed soon after.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Draco!"
Draco was standing with his back to the battle that was waging behind him. He walked away from it all, not wanting to see it, yet wanting to be a part of it. The Dark Mark burned so fiercely on his skin that he all but cringed under the pain. The lure of the dark was too strong. He hadn't been able to fight it then, and he couldn't fight it now.
"Draco!"
Draco felt a hand on his shoulder spin him around. Even with all the evil coursing through him, he knew that she shouldn't be here. She couldn't be.
Hermione's face was etched with pain and concern. He knew she had just been on the receiving end of a particularly painful Cruciatus Curse. Hell, *he* had been the one who sent it her way. She was barely standing straight, and there was a nasty cut over her right eye.
"Hermione, I'm not in the mood for your bullshit. Get out of here before I have to do something I'm going to regret." His every word was laced with malice and threat. Was this really the person she had gotten to know so well their sixth year, the same person that had helped Harry and Ron get out of a detention with Snape? The same person she had fallen in love with, even though she now loved someone else?
"Draco, please, don't do this."
Draco laughed at her. "Don't do what? Please don't tell me you bought that 'I'm on the good side' bullshit I was throwing at you. You know just as well as everyone else that it wasn't true." His words were cutting, and it hurt to hear them, but Hermione wasn't about to back down.
"You know that's a lie. I know that's a lie. You were on our side, and you made a mistake. Everybody does. But you have to come back to us before it's too late."
"Come back to us? Come back to you, you mean. You could never accept the fact that I was going towards 'the dark side', my father's side, nobody ever could. Don't lecture me about lying because you lied just as much as anyone else to me."
Hermione slapped him. "Bullshit Malfoy! You're lying to yourself, and you know it!"
Draco grabbed her arm and knocked her to the ground. Pain rose through her left arm and she winced against it. She wasn't going to back down.
"I love you." She said, the words clear and strong. "I love you, and I know somewhere, you love me too."
"Shut up."
"What, the truth hurt Malfoy?" She said gently. "I - "
"SHUT UP!" Draco tackled Hermione to the ground and pinned her under him. He didn't know what was running through his mind as he held her underneath him.
Except he didn't want to hurt her.
His grip on her arm loosened enough for her to get her left arm free. She let her fingertip graze over the Dark Mark lightly. "You know this isn't what you want. I don't know what your father told you to get you to change your mind, and I'm sorry if it was something I did that made you listen."
He just looked at her. Hermione knew better then anyone else that Draco had been considering joining forces with his father for about a month before he finally gave in, and she also knew that it was her breaking up with him that finally drove him over that edge he had been dancing on for far too long. She wished she could take it back. But she finally realized that she loved him, but not in the way that she loved someone else. And somewhere, deep down under all the darkness and the rage, he realized it too.
Draco rolled off of her and stood up. He offered her a hand and she stood up, keeping her eyes firmly locked on his as she said. "I love you."
He nodded, the fury finally fading, slowly but surely. It was hard to turn away from that darkness that still threatened to overcome him, but he was going to fight it now. He knew she could help.
"I know."
~*~*~*~*~*~*
Willow stood in front of the idol, chanting in Latin. Black power coursed from the statue into her when Xander suddenly appeared, blocking the idol from her view, breaking her contact with it.
"Hey, black-eyed girl..."
The glowing on the idol faded, though not completely. The energy dissipated.
Xander continued. "Whatcha doin'?"
Willow blinked her eyes open, revealing them to be their normal green again, as she looked at him, incredulously. "Get out of here."
"You're not the only one with powers, you know. You may be a hopped up uber- witch, but this carpenter can dry-wall you into the next century."
"I'm not joking, Xander. Get out of my way. Now." Willow gestured and Xander was suddenly thrown back, slamming painfully against the base of the statue, with bone cracking force. Willow's brow furrowed, as a look of remorse crossed her face. In full glow again, black energy streamed into the idol from Willow. The scorched earth spread wider around her. Her eyes were black, once again, and back to work, focusing on the statue.
Another tremor struck.
Xander, on the ground, stirred, holding his chest. No doubt he cracked a couple of ribs. But he rose, breaking the connection between Willow and the idol once again.
"You can't stop this." Willow said threateningly.
"Yeah, I get that. It's just - where else am I going to go? You've been my best friend my whole life. World gonna end - where else would I want to be?"
"Is this the master plan?" Willow sneered. "You're going to stop me by telling me you
love me? "
"Well, I was going to walk you off a cliff and hand you an anvil, but it seemed kinda cartoony."
"Still making jokes." She said, sounding almost bored.
"I'm not joking. I know you're in pain. I can't imagine the pain you're in. I know you're about to do something apocalyptically evil and stupid and hey, still want to hang. You're Willow."
Willow glared. "Don't call me th- "
Xander cut her off. "First day of kindergarten you cried 'cause you broke the yellow crayon and you were too afraid to tell anyone. You've come pretty far, ending the world, not a terrific notion but the thing is, yeah. I love you. I loved crayon-breaky Willow and I love scary veiny Willow. So if I'm going out, it's here. You wanna kill the world you start with me. I've earned that."
"You think I won't?
"It doesn't matter. I'll still love you."
"Shut up." Willow said furiously, making a slashing motion in the air. Xander stopped as three large cuts opened on his face, as if he scratched them there. He winced, touched the blood on his face and looked at it, then at her.
"I love you."
She slashed at him again. Xander's shirt tore at the shoulder as larger, deeper wounds appeared. He almost doubled over from the pain. But, again, he looked at her.
"I love-" She cut him off with a blast of energy, knocking him down. She looked at him, her face etched with sorrow. Xander picked himself up, catching his breath, staring up at her again. He began to stagger toward her. "I............ love you."
"Shut up!" Willow blasted him again. He grunted at the impact, but this time, he didn't go down, as if her assault had lost some of its strength.
"I love you, Willow."
Willow began to cry. "Stop............" She sent another BLAST, but he barely registered it when it hit him. He kept coming.
"I love you."
He reached her and she started to hit him, with her fists, shaking her head. He withstood her blows, but on his injured body, they still inflicted pain.
Willow fell to her knees, sobbing. Her hands over her eyes, her black hair suddenly went back to its normal red. Xander gently put a hand on her shoulder, softly saying, "I love you."
~*~*~*~*~*~*
Willow woke up gasping for breath. She sat up and clutched the sheet to her chest. She realized she was sweating, and it was pretty hard not to be after the dream she had just had.
It was of him. Draco. His fall into the darkness. His being pulled out. She understood his reasons, understood everything. His past was so comparable to hers, it was scary.
Draco awoke with a start and looked over to see Willow wide awake, looking at him.
He sat up and reached over, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"You saw it too didn't you?" She asked, looking at him.
He had heard the story a million times, how she had fallen over the edge after her lover was killed, how her best friend, a normal Muggle, was able to pull her back again.
It was completely different actually seeing it.
"Yes. I did." Considering she was asking, he could only imagine that she saw his part in the Final Battle, his argument with Hermione, and how it all turned out. He was ashamed that he had ever hurt Hermione that much, and could only imagine how she felt knowing that she had hurt her best friend.
It was an ugly past, but he knew that hers was just as ugly. He knew she would understand. He could see through her just as well as she could see through him.
And he knew that he could trust her.
Draco pulled Willow against his chest and she leaned into him, closing her eyes.
"Let me tell you a story." He said.
She looked up at him. "And then I can tell you mine."
Draco smiled slightly and sealed his mouth over hers.
Willow finally understood what having a soul mate truly meant.