Chapter 6: First Lesson

Giles walked down a long hallway of the castle's third floor and tried to gain control of his temper. That damn intolerable woman was going to get someone killed. He had reluctantly gone with her to Bridgewater State College to make contact with Bridget's mother, Claire. The entire event had been a fiasco.

Of course she had insisted on driving, but neglected to yield to the American rules of driving on the right side of the road. Giles was convinced that they were going to die right then and there as a garbage truck narrowly missed hitting them straight on.

Then, once they reached the college, she somehow managed to offend every person they asked for help. It took them hours to track Claire down. And once they did, Claire passed out cold from the shock of seeing her mother in her office. Eliza managed to browbeat him into carrying Claire to the car, so that they could bring her back to the castle.

He had left both women in the parlor downstairs just as Claire began to regain consciousness. He didn't want to be any part of dragging that poor woman into this mess. Giles only hoped that Willow's day had been more productive. Bridget had been charged with teaching Willow to control her power.

As he walked over the plush crimson hallway carpet he began to hear voices echoing at the end of the hall. The last heavy door on the left was open just enough so that he could see both woman sitting on the Oriental rug. With their legs crossed, they faced each other with closed eyes. He could see the stiffness in Willow's posture and hear the impatience in Bridget's tone.

"The white magic feels different than the dark magic. Try to feel the difference."

"I'm trying," Willow's tone was becoming defensive. She opened her eyes and sighed heavily.

"I've been trying all the live-long day Bridget. It's no use. I don't know what I'm feeling for."

Bridget's long lashes fluttered open and her mouth frowned in frustration. Giles pushed the door open a little wider. When it didn't creak, he made a small noise in his throat to announce his presence.  Both women looked up and seemed relieved for the distraction.

"Hey Giles," Willow smiled at him, which caused his heart to jump a little. He returned the smile.

"Having a hard time of it?"

She frowned and stood up, wiping off the seat of her corduroys.

"And I thought I knew practically everything there was to know about magic."

Bridget stood up too, not acknowledging Willow's self-derisive comment.

"We might need your help Rupert," she looked at him with seriousness. "I could do it, but I think it would be better if you did it." Giles looked at her questioningly. He wasn't sure what she was getting at.  She clarified. "What we needed to do for Martha when she needed to learn," she said, referring to a member of the coven.

The light finally dawned. Yes, of course, why hadn't he thought of that? He gave himself a mental shake. He thought he must have been developing some early senility. Willow was staring at them both, waiting for an explanation.

"Before we get into that, I think it would help you to understand a bit of the history of the difference between the white and dark magicks." Willow nodded. He absently started cleaning his glasses as he began. Willow smirked inwardly at the telltale gesture. She loved seeing him in his element of sharing his knowledge.

"White magic is said to reside within all humans. Certain people are more talented than others at harnessing it. You for example." He smiled down at her.

"The natural white magic always costs you when you use it. It doesn't feel pleasant. Of course the results may be pleasant, which is why people still use it, but there is a certain discomfort, because you are essentially funneling your life energy into your spells. It's not good or bad. People with corrupt morals, can use white magic for evil, while others use it for good.

"But the dark magicks were created by demons. They granted the use of the magicks to humans, but the cost was their souls for the time that they used the magicks. They cursed the magicks so that whenever the humans used them, they felt pleasure.  This is why people get addicted to the dark magicks. It's better than any street drug."

Willow was riveted. As Giles explained it, it all seemed to make perfect sense. She couldn't believe that she hadn't seen it before. Her heart sunk at what he said next,

"Once you've called forth both types of magic, they both reside inside you forever. So the only thing you can do is to learn the difference in how they feel, and to learn to call forth only the white magic."

"But I've been trying, really trying all day, and I haven't been able to feel anything like that," her voice held an edge of panic that made his heart squeeze.

"That's not unusual Willow," Bridget answered softly. "Most people take years to learn the difference. I did." She looked into Willow's eyes.

Willow hadn't considered that Bridget had dabbled in the dark arts. She suddenly felt guilty for resenting Bridget's teachings.

"Years?" she tried to swallow, but her mouth was dry. Giles cast her a sympathetic look.

"Normally, yes. But recently the coven discovered a way to speed up the process. And that's what Bridget is suggesting." He seemed to flush a little.

"Well, we've got a Hellmouth a-rising in less than 2 days. I say let's try anything," she rocked on her heels with renewed hope. She stilled herself under Giles' suddenly intense gaze. "What?"

"Well…" he watched her chew on her lip. "It's rather…intimate." She raised a copper brow.

"Intimate? How intimate?"

Bridget scoffed at them both and crossed her arms over her ample chest.

"Don't worry honey, it doesn't involve sex," she rolled her eyes at Rupert's odd sense of propriety.

Giles shot Bridget an annoyed look, but then redirected himself to Willow.

"You'll have to trust me Willow. I promise I won't hurt you."

"OK," she said in a small voice as she watched him remove his glasses and place them on the table. He slipped out of his vest and stood before her in his jeans and white collared shirt. She met his eyes only briefly before he stepped too close for her to keep eye contact without craning her head back. Instead she stared at his Adam's apple.

He wrapped his arms around her tiny frame. Her arms came up naturally to encircle him too. Giles felt every surface on the front of his body come into contact with hers: their chests, stomachs, pelvises, legs, arms, and hands. He felt the warmth of her cheek against his own, with his head bent to hers. She was mildly startled and excited by the full body contact, and enjoyed the pleasant prickliness of his cheek against hers.

He worked hard to steady his heart rate and his breath. It was much more difficult to do this with someone he was sexually attracted to. He closed his eyes and issued a small internal prayer that he could control his arousal. It was going to be tough, he knew, as he felt Willow's warm breath on the back of his neck. Never the less, he steeled himself to the task at hand. He began to release some dark magic into her.

Willow gasped with pleasure and pressed closer to him. 'Do you feel that?' His mind spoke to hers. 'Yes. Oh God, yes.' He stopped the flow if the dark magic. Reflexively she tried to continue taking it. She might have succeeded if Bridget hadn't been helping him to stop her. 'Why are you doing this to me!' She cried out in his mind.

'Patience little one.' He lightly stroked her back and began to release the white magic into Willow. He held her up as her knees buckled in pain. He felt it too, the white-hot knife piercing his chest, but he was accustomed to the sensation. 'This is it isn't it?' Willow finally regained control over her limbs and gripped him tightly. 'This is the white magic.' He held her just as tightly. 'Yes.'

Then Willow felt what she knew was the lesson. She felt Giles release both the white and the dark magic simultaneously. This was the feeling she was used to. Then she felt him begin to push the dark magic down, increasing the white magic. This was the lesson.

'You try it.' He released the reigns of control to her. She struggled for a moment. Then she felt his mind working with hers, showing her how to do it. The fingers of his thoughts intertwined with her own. She didn't know where she began and he ended. She was barley conscious of their bodies anymore, aside from their chests heaving together in sync. Suddenly she realized that she and Giles were pushing back the dark magic together. Slowly, he disentangled himself from her thoughts and she began to do it on her own. A surge of triumph flooded her. She had done it. She had controlled the magicks. Unbridled tears ran down her cheeks.

Giles clung to her, proud that she had managed it. Even this method wasn't always successful. Privately, he thought that it was their unique bond that had helped. He had always felt close to Willow, but now their connection was dramatically enhanced. Their embrace slowly dissolved from the lesson, to congratulations, to something else.