DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything to do with Buffy the Vampire Slayer - it
all belongs to Joss Whedon.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Just so you understand. . .Willow glowing is a good thing. This chapter deals with the next part of the spell. It's not as easy as it looks though. . .there is a twist, which I will reveal to you in the next chapter.
Chapter 8
Everyone was possessed with a moment of sudden ecstasy. 'Oh my G-d, it worked!' Dawn shouted happily. 'The first proper spell organised by me worked!'
'Is it the right colour?' Anya asked. Everyone ignored her stupid comment. They were all too busy jumping around, happy, hugging each other.
It was like that for a couple of minutes, until Dawn interrupted them. 'Wait, you guys, we can't celebrate yet, we still have to make Tara's soul come.'
Everyone stopped. They'd completely forgotten about that part. They'd actually only finished the easy bit, now it was much harder.
'Right. . .' Buffy let out, as everyone sat back down, the momentary joy having been extinguished in. . .well. . .a moment.
'OK, everyone has to co-operate with me,' Dawn said looking over them all. 'Kennedy, if you can get to the centre, just above Willow,' she pointed to where she wanted Kennedy, and she moved there.
'The rest of you help me get Tara to understand when she arrives. Now. . .' Dawn turned around and put a book in front of her that nobody had noticed was there in the first place. 'First of all comes the Spirit Circle spell, which is in Sumerian, as is the Summoning spell which I will do afterwards. Everyone OK?' She paused for reassurance. They all nodded, incredibly anxious all at once.
'Alright. . .deep breaths. . .it'll all be OK. . .' Dawn was trying to reassure herself now, because the closer it came to performing the life- saving spell, the more nervous she got. She started reciting words that nobody understood (except Spike) and her voice was shaking unsteadily. Buffy noticed this, and placed her hand on Dawn's arm in an attempt to calm her. Dawn stopped for a moment, letting her sister's touch relax her, and then smiled weakly. 'Thanks,' she whispered.
'It's OK,' Buffy replied. 'You're doing great.'
Dawn turned back to the book and stared at all the symbols she was deciphering. This seemed to be getting harder and harder. . .
After a couple of minutes of more reciting, a light blue circle started slowly conjuring itself around Kennedy. 'It's working!' she burst out. This gave Dawn the confidence boost she needed, and her words seemed to become stronger and more meaningful, as did the circle itself.
As she said the last words, the blue circle shone brightly at the rest of them. Dawn put her book down momentarily and started walking around it seeing that it was secure.
'It looks alright. . .no gaps, bright light, right colour. . .'
'I knew colour came into it somewhere!' Anya exclaimed proudly.
'Anya, I'm saying this as your friend,' Spike began kindly, but continued coldly. 'Could you shut up for just a second about your colours?'
Anya looked offended. This was hard enough for her considering she was responsible, she didn't need anyone else to give her anymore crap.
Meanwhile, Dawn sat back down, and turned to a new page. 'OK, I'm gonna do the Summoning spell now. Kennedy, part of this spell is also the swap of souls, so are you ready?'
Kennedy was silent for a moment. 'Yeah.' Dawn almost started, but Kennedy asked a question. 'Hey, what will it feel like?'
'What will what feel like?'
'My soul without a body. It'll probably be weird, right?' There was a pause, and the entire gang looked at Dawn for answers. Dawn made a face. 'Well, I don't know! It's not as if my soul's ever been bodiless!'
'That's comforting at this point. . .' Kennedy rolled her eyes, but sadly rather than sarcastically.
Dawn was fed up. She'd worked hard; did she have to put up with more complaints from Kennedy? 'Listen, you volunteered to do this! Sure, something could go wrong, and if you're not ready to face that, you can leave right now, and I'll gladly take your place!'
There was a tense silence, broken by Anya muttering 'sure, you could, but I'm not sure it would be easy for Willow to get over the fact that she kissed you. . .'
Dawn put her face in her hands, and then released it looking directly at Kennedy. 'Are you doing this or not?' Kennedy stared back at her, and realising it was her duty, nodded.
Dawn looked back down at her book and began reciting the final spell that would decide Willow's fate.
The reciting seemed like any other words that could be said, until all of a sudden, a light breeze entered the room.
'Did somebody leave the window open?' Buffy whispered to Spike over Dawn's reciting.
'That would be Tara's soul,' he replied.
'Oh.' Buffy quickly turned to look straight at Kennedy and at any visible differences. Nothing seemed to be changing though.
Dawn went quiet.
'Dawn, what's going on?' Buffy asked seriously.
'She's here.'
Silence.
'Can't you feel her?' Dawn looked inquisitively at Buffy.
'Sure. . .' Buffy replied, but looked away quickly.
'So, our souls'll swap now?' Kennedy asked, her stomach flipping over several times.
'As soon as I recite one more thing.' Dawn continued the meaningless words, but her words were soon drowned out by a magickal happening.
Kennedy's body had been lifted into the air and was encircled by light. She had become unconscious, but some change was obvious. And then without warning, the body collapsed to the floor. The Spirit Circle shone brightly around it, and Willow remained glowing herself on the floor.
'Oh, G-d, what happened?!' Xander stood up.
'I don't know. . .Tara should be fully conscious. . .' Dawn was sceptical.
'Is she dead?' Anya asked.
'It can't be. . .' Everyone's faces were horror-stricken.
Suddenly, Kennedy's body lifted its face, and looked around panicked. They were all frozen, and then-
'Tara?' Dawn said. 'Is that. . .you?'
Kennedy looked down at the floor, and then looked up again, as quickly as she had before. She stared at the goings-on around her with a confused look on her face.
'We don't have much time,' Buffy said urgently. 'We need to get her to kiss Willow, no matter how confused she might be.'
'Tara. . .' Dawn approached her and touched her lightly, but she just flinched. 'We need you to do something. . .' she pointed at Willow. 'She needs you right now. She needs your kiss.'
Kennedy's body grabbed her own head, as if experiencing a headache, then looked back up.
'Can you do it?' Dawn asked. The body shut its eyes, even more confused, but then saw Willow. 'Willow. . .'
'Yeah, it's Willow. You have to kiss her,' Dawn said. 'And quickly, we're running out of time.' Kennedy's body crawled over to Willow's body, and touched her glowing cheek.
What struck everyone most about the way 'Tara' was behaving was that it was like a normal person, except partly possessed and trying to fight it off. They all figured it must've been a 'dead-for-a-long-time' thing.
And somehow it seemed, as if by reflex, Kennedy's body kissed Willow.
And just like in some fairy tale, Willow started to float; her glow became even brighter so that it blinded the gang. 'Kennedy' looked up amazed from the floor watching Willow.
And then the body fell to the ground.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Just so you understand. . .Willow glowing is a good thing. This chapter deals with the next part of the spell. It's not as easy as it looks though. . .there is a twist, which I will reveal to you in the next chapter.
Chapter 8
Everyone was possessed with a moment of sudden ecstasy. 'Oh my G-d, it worked!' Dawn shouted happily. 'The first proper spell organised by me worked!'
'Is it the right colour?' Anya asked. Everyone ignored her stupid comment. They were all too busy jumping around, happy, hugging each other.
It was like that for a couple of minutes, until Dawn interrupted them. 'Wait, you guys, we can't celebrate yet, we still have to make Tara's soul come.'
Everyone stopped. They'd completely forgotten about that part. They'd actually only finished the easy bit, now it was much harder.
'Right. . .' Buffy let out, as everyone sat back down, the momentary joy having been extinguished in. . .well. . .a moment.
'OK, everyone has to co-operate with me,' Dawn said looking over them all. 'Kennedy, if you can get to the centre, just above Willow,' she pointed to where she wanted Kennedy, and she moved there.
'The rest of you help me get Tara to understand when she arrives. Now. . .' Dawn turned around and put a book in front of her that nobody had noticed was there in the first place. 'First of all comes the Spirit Circle spell, which is in Sumerian, as is the Summoning spell which I will do afterwards. Everyone OK?' She paused for reassurance. They all nodded, incredibly anxious all at once.
'Alright. . .deep breaths. . .it'll all be OK. . .' Dawn was trying to reassure herself now, because the closer it came to performing the life- saving spell, the more nervous she got. She started reciting words that nobody understood (except Spike) and her voice was shaking unsteadily. Buffy noticed this, and placed her hand on Dawn's arm in an attempt to calm her. Dawn stopped for a moment, letting her sister's touch relax her, and then smiled weakly. 'Thanks,' she whispered.
'It's OK,' Buffy replied. 'You're doing great.'
Dawn turned back to the book and stared at all the symbols she was deciphering. This seemed to be getting harder and harder. . .
After a couple of minutes of more reciting, a light blue circle started slowly conjuring itself around Kennedy. 'It's working!' she burst out. This gave Dawn the confidence boost she needed, and her words seemed to become stronger and more meaningful, as did the circle itself.
As she said the last words, the blue circle shone brightly at the rest of them. Dawn put her book down momentarily and started walking around it seeing that it was secure.
'It looks alright. . .no gaps, bright light, right colour. . .'
'I knew colour came into it somewhere!' Anya exclaimed proudly.
'Anya, I'm saying this as your friend,' Spike began kindly, but continued coldly. 'Could you shut up for just a second about your colours?'
Anya looked offended. This was hard enough for her considering she was responsible, she didn't need anyone else to give her anymore crap.
Meanwhile, Dawn sat back down, and turned to a new page. 'OK, I'm gonna do the Summoning spell now. Kennedy, part of this spell is also the swap of souls, so are you ready?'
Kennedy was silent for a moment. 'Yeah.' Dawn almost started, but Kennedy asked a question. 'Hey, what will it feel like?'
'What will what feel like?'
'My soul without a body. It'll probably be weird, right?' There was a pause, and the entire gang looked at Dawn for answers. Dawn made a face. 'Well, I don't know! It's not as if my soul's ever been bodiless!'
'That's comforting at this point. . .' Kennedy rolled her eyes, but sadly rather than sarcastically.
Dawn was fed up. She'd worked hard; did she have to put up with more complaints from Kennedy? 'Listen, you volunteered to do this! Sure, something could go wrong, and if you're not ready to face that, you can leave right now, and I'll gladly take your place!'
There was a tense silence, broken by Anya muttering 'sure, you could, but I'm not sure it would be easy for Willow to get over the fact that she kissed you. . .'
Dawn put her face in her hands, and then released it looking directly at Kennedy. 'Are you doing this or not?' Kennedy stared back at her, and realising it was her duty, nodded.
Dawn looked back down at her book and began reciting the final spell that would decide Willow's fate.
The reciting seemed like any other words that could be said, until all of a sudden, a light breeze entered the room.
'Did somebody leave the window open?' Buffy whispered to Spike over Dawn's reciting.
'That would be Tara's soul,' he replied.
'Oh.' Buffy quickly turned to look straight at Kennedy and at any visible differences. Nothing seemed to be changing though.
Dawn went quiet.
'Dawn, what's going on?' Buffy asked seriously.
'She's here.'
Silence.
'Can't you feel her?' Dawn looked inquisitively at Buffy.
'Sure. . .' Buffy replied, but looked away quickly.
'So, our souls'll swap now?' Kennedy asked, her stomach flipping over several times.
'As soon as I recite one more thing.' Dawn continued the meaningless words, but her words were soon drowned out by a magickal happening.
Kennedy's body had been lifted into the air and was encircled by light. She had become unconscious, but some change was obvious. And then without warning, the body collapsed to the floor. The Spirit Circle shone brightly around it, and Willow remained glowing herself on the floor.
'Oh, G-d, what happened?!' Xander stood up.
'I don't know. . .Tara should be fully conscious. . .' Dawn was sceptical.
'Is she dead?' Anya asked.
'It can't be. . .' Everyone's faces were horror-stricken.
Suddenly, Kennedy's body lifted its face, and looked around panicked. They were all frozen, and then-
'Tara?' Dawn said. 'Is that. . .you?'
Kennedy looked down at the floor, and then looked up again, as quickly as she had before. She stared at the goings-on around her with a confused look on her face.
'We don't have much time,' Buffy said urgently. 'We need to get her to kiss Willow, no matter how confused she might be.'
'Tara. . .' Dawn approached her and touched her lightly, but she just flinched. 'We need you to do something. . .' she pointed at Willow. 'She needs you right now. She needs your kiss.'
Kennedy's body grabbed her own head, as if experiencing a headache, then looked back up.
'Can you do it?' Dawn asked. The body shut its eyes, even more confused, but then saw Willow. 'Willow. . .'
'Yeah, it's Willow. You have to kiss her,' Dawn said. 'And quickly, we're running out of time.' Kennedy's body crawled over to Willow's body, and touched her glowing cheek.
What struck everyone most about the way 'Tara' was behaving was that it was like a normal person, except partly possessed and trying to fight it off. They all figured it must've been a 'dead-for-a-long-time' thing.
And somehow it seemed, as if by reflex, Kennedy's body kissed Willow.
And just like in some fairy tale, Willow started to float; her glow became even brighter so that it blinded the gang. 'Kennedy' looked up amazed from the floor watching Willow.
And then the body fell to the ground.