Disclaimer: See chapter 1 for full disclaimer and notes.
Thanks to my 1 reviewer so far. Review Chart.Good: 1, Evil: 0.
The HP part will pop up eventually, I promise. Just be ready for this to be a long one.
Chapter 3 will be up in about a week.
Chapter 2: Conversations in Limbo
A week later found Tara, Dawn, and a pretty brunette introduced to Dawn as Tara's friend, "Jennifer from Art History". At first the ride to LA had been a little on the tense side, but once Dawn found out that not only was Jennifer not dating Tara, but she also had a very male fiancé waiting for her in the City of Angels (or the "City of Angel", as Willow often referred to it), the temperature in the vehicle thawed. The majority of the trip was spent playing "If I Could Sleep with One Celebrity, It Would Be" and singing along to Dawn's vast cd collection.
After what seemed to Tara to be the five thousandth boy band ballad, they were hugging Jennifer goodbye and thanking her profusely for offering to drop them off at the airport. The check-in process took a total of twenty minutes, which left the two girls with over two hours of waiting time, assuming the flight wasn't delayed.
They found their gate and surveyed the nearly empty seating area, finally plopping down into two plastic chairs.
"Jennifer's cool," Dawn said, putting her backpack between her feet and trying to find a comfortable position on the hard chair.
"Yeah, she is," Tara agreed, smiling a bit as two children ran by dragging miniature suitcases behind them.
"It's surprising, you know."
"What is?" asked Tara, getting the feeling that this was more than idle chitchat for Dawn.
"Seeing any of you be friends with someone besides each other."
"Oh. Well, I guess everyone tends to be kinda busy with more important things than just spending time with new friends."
Dawn fidgeted in her seat, finally folding one of her long legs under her body and turning more fully toward Tara. "I think it's good."
Tara looked at her quizzically.
"Not that their stuff isn't important," added Dawn quickly, "It's just, I mean, it can't be good to get so caught up in only a few people. You lose perspective. Over the summer, when I only saw the same five people every day, I almost forgot that there are other people out there who don't know about hellmouths and demons and death."
Tara smiled. "That's why Buffy wanted you to come with me. That's why I decided to go to Europe in the first place."
"I just wish Buffy could do this. She's always so worried about me, but no one ever worries about her." Dawn said quietly, looking down at her hands.
"I think she'll be okay," replied Tara, putting her arm around the younger girl and hugging her to her side, "she's the strongest person I've ever met."
"Me too," was Dawn's muffled reply.
They stayed that way for a few minutes as the seating area began to fill with travelers and the volume slowly increased around them, breaking into their morose moment. Finally Dawn sat up and pushed a lock of shiny brown hair behind her ear.
"Are you going on this trip to get away from the hellmouth or from Willow?" she asked a bit nervously.
Tara flinched, but refused to shy away from the topic. Dawn deserved some answers for once. She hesitated before answering.
"Both, in a way."
Dawn looked at Tara expectantly, waiting for her explanation. She didn't have to wait long.
"What Willow did to me was awful, but that's not the only reason I left. She need to learn to control her emotions. The kind of magic we practice, especially on the Hellmouth, is very sensitive to emotion, and Willow never learned that. She sees it as an easy way to deal with those emotions, rather than dealing on her own. Then the magic starts to consume her and she uses it for unnecessary things."
"Too much power too fast," Dawn interjected, nodding. "It corrupts. Especially if you factor in insecurity."
"Well yeah." Tara had a look of surprise on her face.
Dawn smiled ruefully. "Faith."
Tara nodded. "Power, no control. Not a bad person, just bad choices."
"I don't know about that," said Dawn, suddenly frowning, "Wait, there are other kinds of magic?"
"Of course."
"Oh. How come you didn't have the control problem?"
"My mom taught me early on, or I might have eventually had Willow's problems with it. Although, I sometimes think personality has something to do with it. I certainly had the insecurity down pat."
"But you found Willow. That's what helped you. You don't even stutter anymore."
Tara smiled. "She helped me see that I was worth something." Her smile faded as she added, "I wish I could help her see that she is."
The silence descended again until Dawn abruptly stretched and snickered at the same time.
"Well, that was heavy." She said, bringing the smile back to Tara's face.
"New rule," said Tara, "no deep discussions when on vacation."
"Fine by me," Dawn replied, popping a stick of gum into her mouth and offering another to Tara. "It'll only be cute foreign boy and legal drinking age discussions from here on out."
Tara shook her head, her long blonde hair flying about with the sharp movements. "Oh no, no alcohol for you. Buffy would kill me."
"Naw, she's too happy that you said she didn't have to pay you back for my ticket. She'd just maim."
Tara laughed as the two girls settled in to wait for their flight.
Thanks to my 1 reviewer so far. Review Chart.Good: 1, Evil: 0.
The HP part will pop up eventually, I promise. Just be ready for this to be a long one.
Chapter 3 will be up in about a week.
Chapter 2: Conversations in Limbo
A week later found Tara, Dawn, and a pretty brunette introduced to Dawn as Tara's friend, "Jennifer from Art History". At first the ride to LA had been a little on the tense side, but once Dawn found out that not only was Jennifer not dating Tara, but she also had a very male fiancé waiting for her in the City of Angels (or the "City of Angel", as Willow often referred to it), the temperature in the vehicle thawed. The majority of the trip was spent playing "If I Could Sleep with One Celebrity, It Would Be" and singing along to Dawn's vast cd collection.
After what seemed to Tara to be the five thousandth boy band ballad, they were hugging Jennifer goodbye and thanking her profusely for offering to drop them off at the airport. The check-in process took a total of twenty minutes, which left the two girls with over two hours of waiting time, assuming the flight wasn't delayed.
They found their gate and surveyed the nearly empty seating area, finally plopping down into two plastic chairs.
"Jennifer's cool," Dawn said, putting her backpack between her feet and trying to find a comfortable position on the hard chair.
"Yeah, she is," Tara agreed, smiling a bit as two children ran by dragging miniature suitcases behind them.
"It's surprising, you know."
"What is?" asked Tara, getting the feeling that this was more than idle chitchat for Dawn.
"Seeing any of you be friends with someone besides each other."
"Oh. Well, I guess everyone tends to be kinda busy with more important things than just spending time with new friends."
Dawn fidgeted in her seat, finally folding one of her long legs under her body and turning more fully toward Tara. "I think it's good."
Tara looked at her quizzically.
"Not that their stuff isn't important," added Dawn quickly, "It's just, I mean, it can't be good to get so caught up in only a few people. You lose perspective. Over the summer, when I only saw the same five people every day, I almost forgot that there are other people out there who don't know about hellmouths and demons and death."
Tara smiled. "That's why Buffy wanted you to come with me. That's why I decided to go to Europe in the first place."
"I just wish Buffy could do this. She's always so worried about me, but no one ever worries about her." Dawn said quietly, looking down at her hands.
"I think she'll be okay," replied Tara, putting her arm around the younger girl and hugging her to her side, "she's the strongest person I've ever met."
"Me too," was Dawn's muffled reply.
They stayed that way for a few minutes as the seating area began to fill with travelers and the volume slowly increased around them, breaking into their morose moment. Finally Dawn sat up and pushed a lock of shiny brown hair behind her ear.
"Are you going on this trip to get away from the hellmouth or from Willow?" she asked a bit nervously.
Tara flinched, but refused to shy away from the topic. Dawn deserved some answers for once. She hesitated before answering.
"Both, in a way."
Dawn looked at Tara expectantly, waiting for her explanation. She didn't have to wait long.
"What Willow did to me was awful, but that's not the only reason I left. She need to learn to control her emotions. The kind of magic we practice, especially on the Hellmouth, is very sensitive to emotion, and Willow never learned that. She sees it as an easy way to deal with those emotions, rather than dealing on her own. Then the magic starts to consume her and she uses it for unnecessary things."
"Too much power too fast," Dawn interjected, nodding. "It corrupts. Especially if you factor in insecurity."
"Well yeah." Tara had a look of surprise on her face.
Dawn smiled ruefully. "Faith."
Tara nodded. "Power, no control. Not a bad person, just bad choices."
"I don't know about that," said Dawn, suddenly frowning, "Wait, there are other kinds of magic?"
"Of course."
"Oh. How come you didn't have the control problem?"
"My mom taught me early on, or I might have eventually had Willow's problems with it. Although, I sometimes think personality has something to do with it. I certainly had the insecurity down pat."
"But you found Willow. That's what helped you. You don't even stutter anymore."
Tara smiled. "She helped me see that I was worth something." Her smile faded as she added, "I wish I could help her see that she is."
The silence descended again until Dawn abruptly stretched and snickered at the same time.
"Well, that was heavy." She said, bringing the smile back to Tara's face.
"New rule," said Tara, "no deep discussions when on vacation."
"Fine by me," Dawn replied, popping a stick of gum into her mouth and offering another to Tara. "It'll only be cute foreign boy and legal drinking age discussions from here on out."
Tara shook her head, her long blonde hair flying about with the sharp movements. "Oh no, no alcohol for you. Buffy would kill me."
"Naw, she's too happy that you said she didn't have to pay you back for my ticket. She'd just maim."
Tara laughed as the two girls settled in to wait for their flight.
