Willow tossed and turned in the bed. Before she had come into her bedroom, Buffy's old room, she had stopped by the one that Buffy now occupied. The one that she and Tara had made their own. Where they had spent so much time. And where that darn misguided bullet had taken her everything away from her.

She had told Kennedy that she thought that there could be a chance between them. That given enough time, she could let herself love again. But now, she wasn't so sure. After seeing that room, remembering the sounds, feeling the blood of her everything splattered across her, she just wasn't so sure.

Those images were what were keeping her up. The spell that Amy had put on her had drained every ounce of strength she had. She really should be sleeping. But those darn images kept flashing in her mind. And the ones that she made happen afterwards. Including almost taking Kennedy's life.

She shuddered at the thought of taking another human life. Too many had been lost already. More were going to be lost in the upcoming battle. She rolled over, trying to think of anything but those images. It was of no use. Finally, she sat up on the edge of the bed. Her thoughts drifted towards the woman who had promised to wait for her. Wait forever if need be.

A bright light blinded her for a moment. She smiled as she knew in her heart it was her. Her everything was coming to see her again. But why? Hadn't she said everything just a few short hours ago? Was there more she needed to hear?

"Hey." Willow smiled sweetly at the blonde figure before her. This time, her form wasn't as solid as it had been before. "So, got some more good things to say? Or are you going to tell me I'm being stupid."

Tara laughed. "You aren't being stupid. But, you are still holding on to the pain. You said the right things to Kennedy. And you it looks like you are really trying to get over her, but..."

Willow sat straighter. She knew that Tara was right. She wasn't really letting herself release the pain. The pain was the biggest reminder she had of Tara. It should be all the good times that they had spent together. It should be the times that they made love. It should be just them being. But instead, she continued to focus on the pain. What made her take those lives.

"I know it hurts." Tara smiled sweetly. "I can feel what you feel. I always have been able to. And it's hard for me to say this, but you need to move past the pain. She's pushing for that. You have to listen to her and move on. Besides, there is something that you will need to do to defeat the big bad you are dealing with. Only her strength will get you through that time. If you let her."

"What is it that I'm going to have to do?" Willow sat in thought. "And you mean that Kennedy is the one that will get me through all of this? Not Buffy."

Tara shook her head. "Buffy may not understand exactly what is going on with you. I feel that Kennedy has a little better understanding, even though she doesn't know you as well. And I know that she will always be there for you no matter what. You have got to believe in yourself and believe in her. That is what will get you through this latest battle. I may not be able to come to you again." Willow looked at her, the sadness was clear in her eyes. "But never forget that I love you and will always be in your heart. And your heart is big enough to keep my love and that of Kennedy's. Don't ever forget how much I love you and want to see you happy."

Now Willow smiled. "I remember. You were willing to just be friends if Oz was what I had really wanted so many years ago. You've always done what you thought would make me happy. And now, you are doing it again." Willow suddenly felt all the pain and anger she had still been carrying around simply drain away. "I will always love you. And someday, we will see each other again." She watched Tara fade into nothing.

It was now early morning. Willow had slept so peacefully, for the first time since Tara died. She could see Kennedy sitting on the couch as she made her way down the stairs. She could feel her smile. And she could see the look on the potential slayers face. "Morning."

She watched as Kennedy stared at her. It must be the fact that she was genuinely happy for the first time since Tara died. "Morning." It seemed to be a struggle for the other woman to respond. Willow wondered what the woman was thinking. "You seem to be in a good mood this morning."

She felt her smile grow larger. "I had a really good night. I'll tell you some time about it, if you want." It was time that she started moving on. It was what Tara wanted for her and with this woman. Willow moved in slowly. She could she the other woman's eyes widening. Still slowly, she brought her lips to the other woman's. "Now that's the way to say morning."

Willow watched as the other woman stared at her. It was clear that she was having trouble with her bold actions. She shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. "Sorry, I do agree. It's just..."

The witch took the potential slayer's hand. She could feel all these sensations at one time. The touch was close to what she felt when she had first taken Tara's hand to move that soda machine. But how could that be? There was no one like Tara. But maybe that's why Tara said that she would be good for her. And she realized that Kennedy was worried that she hadn't really dealt with everything. "You think that I'm not dealing with what happened. You think that I'm blocking. I'm here to tell you, that's just not true. I think you need to hear what happened last night. I think you need to hear everything that happened."

A look of curiosity played on the woman's features. "Something else happened? After you went to bed?" She simply nodded, but smiling larger at her. "You saw her again, didn't you?" There were a thousand questions running across the dark haired woman's face.

"Uh-huh." There was that smile on her face. "And it was just what I needed. And again, I have you to thank for that. Tara explained that I needed something to give me a push. Something that would allow me to heal. That something was you."

At first, the woman straightened at the words. But a smile played across her face. "You're not saying that you're ready to move on, are you? It's only been a night since you went all guy on me. That's not a whole lot of time to sort through things. I'm not even sure what's going."

The witch pulled her closer. "Listen, I'm not saying that I'm ready for a physical relationship, not yet. But I want to start to get to know you. I want to know you. Let's face it, we still have a lot to learn about each other. And we still have to face this big baddie. But it will be an interesting ride."

There was now a smile on Kennedy's face. The red head could see the acceptance of what she had said. It wasn't going to be easy, trying to forge a new relationship while all the evil stuff was going on, but it would be interesting to say the least.