Chapter 6

Willow awoke quite early. The previous night had been consumed almost totally with research on the thing that had been haunting Angel. They had finally determined that it was the work of something called The First and its agents, but nothing final had come of the information. Willow shook her head, dismissing the research for the time. She'd had the same dream again, and was again frustrated by her failure to remember the details. Who was the person in the dream, the one who trusted in her and made her feel so loved and special? Things had been really confusing this week. The one constant had been Tara, who dropped everything to talk to her, something even Buffy hadn't been doing since Angel had come back. Well, then, she would have to do something special for Tara when she came over tonight, as a thank you.

~~

As she had expected, Tara's friends had relentlessly teased her about her date with Willow. "It isn't a date!" she'd protested, though she kind of hoped it was one. She was lucky to have such good friends, she knew. Maybe without their intervention, she would never have worked up the guts to call Willow. The anticipation for tonight was about to kill her, and she wasn't even out of bed yet. Luckily she was all set with Willow's gift … she just hoped that Willow understood it.

There was still a long time before she could show up at Willow's house, but what to do until then? There were always little things to do around the apartment, busywork, which she thought would be the best thing to do for the time being. The tedium would get to her after a while. But then, it was better than sitting around watching the clock. Tara got dressed and ready for her day, a long day by the looks of it, but one that would hopefully be worth the wait in the end.

Several hours later, Tara hung up her last load of clean laundry and looked down at her watch, frowning to see that it was only 12:24. She had planned on getting over to the Rosenberg's house at around 5 o'clock, which seemed a dreadfully long time from now. She looked around the apartment appraisingly, trying to determine if she needed to do anything else. The tiny kitchen was clean, everything was dusted, and the floors were clean. So that left … nothing. Four and a half hours of nothing.

The television that had come with the apartment had kind of fuzzy reception, and no matter how many times she adjusted the color on it, everything stubbornly remained slightly greenish. Nothing really was on today anyway besides endless marathons of It's A Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story, which she really wasn't in the mood to watch, so that was out. The young woman sat down on the couch and peered into the fish tank.

"Well guys, it's Christmas Eve," she said. One of the snails peeked up at her, and the fish hovered near the top of the tank, begging for food. A grin crept onto Tara's face and she reached down for the food, feeding the darts. "I'm going over to Willow's tonight, so you'll be on your own again. I hope you don't mind, but you have each other for company. I kind of like to be with humans sometimes, instead of fish. And snails." The fish obliviously munched on the food flakes, while the snail continued to watch her speak.

"But this human is special," she continued. "I really like her. In fact, I think it's safe to say I'm in love with her. Now, that may or may not work out, but I'm going to hope it does. So that's the main reason I'm leaving you guys alone tonight." The snail that had been paying attention now pulled himself back into his shell for a nap. "I guess that sums up your level of interest in that subject," Tara grinned, and set the top back down on the tank.

~~

It was finally time to head over to Willow's house. Tara had decided in the end to read a few chapters of a book and take a short nap before packing her overnight bag. She'd put on her nicest skirt and a comfortable light blue button down shirt, then put her Army surplus jacket in her backpack along with her overnight things, since it was still too warm to really need it. The walk over was quiet and fairly enjoyable, with people making their way to holiday get-togethers with their families and the majority of the shops already closed. The occasional last minute shopper rushed to get their final purchases in at the few stores that remained open.

At last, she walked up Willow's street, happy to have been invited over, happy that Willow had known how lonely tonight would be and hoping she had sensed how much Tara wanted to share the other young woman's company. Here it was, the Rosenberg's house. The dark car was gone from the driveway, making the place look empty – but lights were on inside and a window was halfway open in the kitchen. Tara climbed the small set of stairs onto the porch and knocked quietly. After a few minutes, nothing happened, so she knocked again, this time more firmly. A quick scamper of feet could be heard before the door rushed open, a slightly red-faced Willow behind it.

And for some reason, she looked surprised and almost curious, and stood there just looking at Tara. A slow smile curved its way across her mouth, then she suddenly exclaimed, "Oh! Why don't you come in, instead of me standing here like an idiot … uh … here, let me take your bag." She pulled the door all the way open and reached a hand out for the bag, which Tara shrugged off her shoulders and handed over.

"Thanks … a-are you okay?" the Wiccan asked. "You look a little … um-"

"Oh, no," Willow said quickly, cutting in. "I'm okay, I'm fine, I was just um, cooking, actually. I heard you knock the first time, but I was afraid that stuff would boil over or burn so I had to shut it off. I think it's done now. It looks done, anyway." She smiled again, setting Tara's bag down out of the way on the other side of the dining room and indicating the table. "So you can sit right down and I'll be out in a minute." With that, the elfish redhead disappeared into the kitchen.