A/N: Some dialogue in this section is taken directly from the Buffy episode "The Gift." No infringement intended.

Tara was resting in the hospital bed, Willow by her bedside. The doctor had just left after telling Tara everything that was wrong with her. Her hand was shattered and covered in a cast. Three of her ribs were broken. The doctor had said she was lucky one of them hadn't punctured any vital organs. He said overall she had been extremely lucky. She and Willow felt the same way.

Now that the doctor was gone she started using her powers. She had hoped she could harness the earth's energies to heal faster, and she was very excited when she found she could. Although it took a lot of energy to do. She had only been focusing on healing her ribs for a minute and she felt very tired.

"So, you're really healing yourself?" Willow asked curiously. Tara nodded her head. She remained silent for a moment longer and then exhaled and looked over at Willow.

"I'm working on my ribs right now. Then I'll do my hand," she said. "It'll take some time. It's very tiring."

Willow just nodded her head. They remained in silence for a moment. Tara was trying to figure out how to begin what she wanted to say.

"Willow, about earlier…I didn't mean to hurt you," she said. "It's just that everything's been changing so much lately. You're becoming more powerful every day and I've got all this demon stuff going on and then we've got Glory to worry about. It's all been so crazy. It's hard to know where anything's going, whether it's you or me or something else. I'm sorry."

"I know, and I'm sorry I blew up," Willow said. "I didn't really give you a chance to explain. I think maybe I'm confused too. I mean, I'm not confused about us. I think that's the only thing I'm not confused about."

"You're not the junior partner," Tara said. "It doesn't matter who has what powers or how experienced I am compared to you. When it comes to us, our relationship, we're equal. Equal say, equal effort, equal everything."

"I know that now," Willow said. "I'm just glad you're okay. God, when I thought Glory was coming after you, I was terrified."

"It was a terrifying experience," Tara said. "At first, I couldn't move. I was so scared."

Tara shifted in the bed a little and a wave of pain caused her to cringe and close her eyes until it passed.

"Are you going to try healing again?" Willow asked. Tara shook her head.

"I need to wait a little longer," she said. Willow took her hand and squeezed it.

"You could use me," she offered. Tara opened her eyes and looked to Willow. "You could use my power to feed yours. If it'll help you heal."

Tara nodded her head and the two of them closed their eyes. She focused on one of her ribs, visualizing it in her mind's eye. She saw the break and saw the bone slowly melding back together. She could feel it as well. She could feel the bone shifting slightly.

"Oh my god, Tara."

Tara and Willow both opened their eyes when they heard Buffy's voice. She and Dawn had just arrived. They were both shocked by Tara's appearance.

"Are you okay?" Buffy asked. Then she shook her head. "Stupid question. Of course you're not."

"I'm fine," Tara said, wanting to reassure Dawn most of all. She saw the guilty look on Dawn's face and knew the younger Summers girl felt responsible for this. Because she was the key.

"Yeah, the pretty colors that the left side of your face turned really look fine," Dawn said sarcastically. "All because of me."

"No, Dawn, this isn't your fault," Buffy said, running her hand through Dawn's hair. She looked to Tara, who nodded her head.

"Buffy's right," Tara said. "And I'm going to be fine. I found out I can use my powers to heal faster."

"How?" Buffy asked.

"I'm drawing on the earth's energies to heal my injuries," Tara said. "I hope to be completely healed by morning. Well, except for my face. I won't heal that till I leave the hospital."

"Good idea," Buffy agreed. "Less conspicuous with the doctors."

"What about Glory?" Willow asked. "She doesn't know who the key is, but it looks like she's getting more aggressive about finding out."

"Giles is working on that minion guy to find out more information about Glory and how the whole key thing works," Buffy said. "That should give us a better idea about how to stop Glory. Hopefully."

"What do we do till then?" Willow asked.

"We wait," Buffy said. She pointed at Tara. "And you rest."

Tara smiled and nodded her head. She noticed the dejected look on Dawn's face and tried reassuring her again.

"Dawnie, I promise, I'll be okay," she said. "This isn't your fault."

Dawn just nodded her head. No matter how much they reassured her, it didn't change the way she felt. As long as Glory was looking for the key, all of them could end up like Tara, or worse. She couldn't accept that.

* * *

The next day, Tara was released from the hospital. She was a little behind schedule on her healing. She had taken care of her ribs, but her hand was only partially healed. It was a lot more tiring than she had first anticipated.

Dawn, Buffy and Willow all met her at the hospital. They went through all the doctor's little hoops for leaving. Tara pretended that her ribs still hurt and she let a nurse push her to the exit in a wheelchair. She took the prescription for pain medication from the doctor, even though she would never use it. Finally when the doctor and nurses were out of sight, she got out of the wheelchair and walked with the others to Xander's car, which Willow had borrowed. Then they went back to the Magic Box.

"Tara, how are you doing?" Giles asked.

"I'll be fine," she replied. She pointed at Glory's minion, who was still tied to one of the chairs. "Is he saying anything?"

"Quite a bit, actually," Anya said enthusiastically.

"He's told us about the ritual that Glory needs the key to perform. He also told us the time and the place that the ritual must take place," Giles said. "He's been quite helpful. The ritual is to take place tonight."

"If the ritual doesn't go at the right time, then Glory misses her chance," Xander continued with the explanation.

"So we just wait," Buffy said. "Glory doesn't know who the key is."

"Glorificus will find her key and when she does you will all suffer her wrath," the minion said.

Giles suddenly backhanded the minion. "I don't believe I told you to speak."

A crash got them all to look toward the front of the store. The main door to the shop had been knocked off its hinges and in the doorway stood Glory.

"Okay, I know you all have my key in stock here, and I've come to get it," she said. Buffy and Tara both stood and moved toward the front of the group. Dawn moved back away from the front of the store. Glory saw Tara and laughed. "You? You're looking a lot better than when I last saw you. What's your secret?"

"Splendiforous one!" the minion called. "The key it's the girl. The slayer's—"

The minion's sentence was interrupted as Giles jabbed a knife into it's throat. It gagged and sputtered for a moment, but it soon died. But the damage had been done.

"The girl? The slayer's…" Glory said, trying to figure it out. Then she smiled and looked back at Dawn. "The slayer's sister."

Everyone looked alarmed. Glory stepped forward and Tara and Buffy both charged toward her. Glory quickly flipped up the door she had knocked off and swung it, hitting both Buffy and Tara and sending them crashing through the display and into the shelves on the wall. Giles grabbed Dawn and pushed her toward the back door.

"Thicken!" Willow called, holding up her hand. The air in front of Glory thickened and held her back. Dawn, Anya and Xander were already in the training room, making their way to the back door. Giles and Willow didn't want to leave Buffy and Tara behind. They looked to the other end of the shop as Glory struggled against Willow's barrier. Buffy was starting to stand.

"You can't hide my key!" Glory shouted. Then she heard a car door out front. She turned to see that Dawn, Xander and Anya had made their way around the shop to Xander's car. The tires squealed as Xander rushed out. He hated leaving the others behind, but he knew keeping Dawn away from Glory was more important than all their lives put together. "Oh no you don't."

Buffy jumped in front of Glory and threw a few punches. The god quickly grabbed the slayer by the arms and tossed her aside, sending her crashing into Tara just as Tara was starting to pick herself up off the floor. Then Glory disappeared in a flash of speed. Buffy and Tara jumped and rushed out into the street after her. They looked to the right and saw Xander's car suddenly screech to a stop. They could see Glory standing in front of the car, holding the bumper as Xander pressed the gas to go in reverse. But he wasn't going anywhere. Then Glory flipped the car like she was flipping something in a frying pan, causing it to crash down on its roof.

"No!" Buffy yelled. She and Tara took off running. But by the time they got to the car, Glory had disappeared with Dawn. Tara knelt next to the passenger side to see Anya and Xander had fallen out of their seats and were lying unconscious on the inside of the upside-down car.

"Dawn," Buffy said. Then she fell to her knees. Willow and Giles caught up finally, shocked at the scene they found.

"Buffy, what are you doing?" Willow asked.

"Where's Dawn?" Giles asked.

"Glory got her," Tara said. She was checking Anya for a pulse and was relieved when she found one. "She was too fast."

"Buffy," Giles said. He knelt in front of his slayer while Willow and Tara attended to Xander and Anya. Buffy wasn't responding. She wasn't even looking at him. She was looking past him. "Buffy!"

"They're starting to come around," Tara said, referring to Xander and Anya. Xander groaned. Tara noticed that a crowd was starting to gather.

"Anybody get the number of that bus?" he asked jokingly.

"We're going to have to explain this to the police," Tara said. Willow looked around, finally noticing the crowd as well. She helped Xander get out of the car while Tara helped Anya.

"We so don't have time for that," Willow said. She looked over at Giles. "What's wrong with Buffy?"

"I don't know," Giles said worriedly. "I think she's snapped."

"But we need Buffy to fight Glory," Tara said. "We need her to get Dawn back."

Giles continued to look at Buffy, fear and worry on his face. "Unfortunately, we might not have Buffy anymore."

* * *

After they dealt with the police and had Anya and Xander's injuries treated, the group returned to the Magic Box, Giles carrying Buffy back to the small couch in the training room.

"How do we get Buffy back?" Anya asked as she started picking up things in the shop.

"There's something I can try," Willow said. "I've never done it before."

Tara knew what Willow was talking about. "Are you sure? I mean, you might get stuck in there with Buffy."

"Stuck in where?" Xander asked.

"I think I can enter Buffy's mind. That's where she's hiding. So I'm going to go in and find her," Willow explained.

"In the meantime, Glory's going to stick Dawn in a giant keyhole and give her a twist," Xander said sarcastically.

"Not yet," Giles said, returning from the training room. "The ritual doesn't take place until later tonight. Glory won't harm Dawn until then."

"That gives me time," Willow said.

"But when we get Buffy back, how do we get Dawn back?" Anya asked. "Glory's pretty unstoppable."

"The rest of us will be working on that while Willow is working on Buffy," Giles said. He turned to Willow. "You're sure you can do this?"

"Well, not entirely," Willow said nervously. "But it's our only option right now."

She gathered three candles and a lighter and turned toward the training room. Willow hestitated, took a deep breath and walked in, shutting the door behind her as she prepared to bring her best friend back.

* * *

Once Willow got Buffy back they all talked about the plan. The ritual was to bleed Dawn in order to open the portal. Once the ritual started, it wouldn't stop until Dawn was dead. Buffy wouldn't consider that an option and she made it clear to everyone. Spike had joined them all. As much as the others hated it, Buffy was right about Spike being necessary in the fight against Glory. Xander and Anya were in the basement looking for the Dagon sphere. Giles was going over his notes about the ritual. Buffy approached Willow and Tara.

"What's this spell you guys are working on?" she asked.

"We think we can take back from Glory what she's taken from her most recent victims," Willow explained. "Restore their minds."

"It might weaken her," Tara continued.

"Just her most recent victims?" Buffy asked. "What about the others?"

"Unfortunately, she's already used them up," Willow said. "It's like gasoline. Once her tank's empty she fills up."

"Only thing is both of us will be needed to perform the spell. It'll require a lot of power," Tara explained.

"It has to be said close to Glory," Willow continued.

"It'll weaken both of us for a little while. That takes me out of the fighting," Tara said.

"We'll deal with that," Buffy said. Giles called to Buffy, and she stood and started to walk away. "Whatever it takes to keep Glory away from Dawn."

Everyone continued their work, preparing for the big battle to come.

* * *

The group approached the construction site where Glory's minion had indicated the ritual would take place. They all stared in awe at the tower.

"Shpadoinkle!" Xander exclaimed.

"What is that?" Anya asked.

"The portal must open up there," Giles said.

Buffy turned to Willow and Tara. "You're up."

"Need anything?" Giles asked.

"Could use a little courage," Willow said nervously. Tara squeezed Willow's hand and the two of them made their way into the construction site, trying to find a secluded area that would be close to Glory. They found a partially built room that appeared to not get much traffic. They looked around nervously and then quickly set up. Then they began the spell.

They sat across from each other a candle burning between them. They joined hands and closed their eyes. They began chanting and blue energy ball formed between them over the candle. It swirled and grew larger as they chanted. Both of them began breathing heavily as they continued the spell. It was starting to drain them of their energy. But they kept going. Suddenly the blue energy ball disappeared, the two of them slumping to the ground, unconscious. They didn't see as blue streams of energy from Glory and transferred to three of her victims. They didn't see as the battle began. They didn't see as Doc snuck up the tower and began the ritual.

By the time they regained consciousness Glory was dead, but the damage had been done. A bolt of energy shot from the portal and struck between the two of them, cracking the ground. Willow nearly fell into the fissure that had formed, but rolled out of the way quickly. She and Tara crawled out to the open area together. Another bolt of energy struck nearby and they fell to their knees. They looked up at the tower, seeing what had happened.

"It's too late," Willow said. They looked over and saw Xander kneeling with an unconscious Anya in his arms. Spike was lying on the concrete. He appeared to be badly injured, with blood streaming down the side of his head. They couldn't see Giles, Buffy or Dawn. But they knew where Buffy and Dawn were. And Tara knew what Buffy was about to do.

Suddenly an idea struck Tara like an epiphany. She directed her thoughts to Buffy and kept her from going through with what she was about to do. Then she turned to Willow.

"I can stop this," Tara said. Willow looked confused. "I can absorb the energy and force it back through the portal."

"What? Absorb?" Willow asked. She shook her head, realizing what Tara was talking about. "No, it'll kill you."

"Maybe not," Tara said. Another bolt of energy struck the ground. "If I don't, we'll all die. I know I can do this."

"Tara, no," Willow said, her eyes welling with tears. Tara gently brought her hands up and held Willow's face in them.

"I love you," she said. She carefully pulled Willow forward and kissed her passionately. Then she stood and ran for the tower, racing up the stairs as fast as she could. She forced herself not to look back. She knew if she saw Willow sobbing she couldn't go through with it.

"Buffy!" Tara called as she made her way to the top. Buffy and Dawn were just standing there. They weren't sure why they weren't moving. Buffy had been about to jump off the tower to close the portal.

"Tara, what's going on?" Buffy asked. "What are you doing up here?"

"I can close the portal," Tara asked. "You two have to go. Now."

"But it has to have the blood," Dawn said, confused.

"I don't think it does," Tara said. Buffy looked worried.

"Tara, are you sure. If you're not—"

"I'm sure!" Tara shouted as another bolt of energy shot from the portal. The tower shook and they all struggled to keep their balance. "Go!"

Dawn and Buffy hesitated, but finally they made their way down the stairs quickly. Tara turned and walked over to the hole in the platform over the portal. She held her hands over the hole, like she was warming them over a fire, and then she closed her eyes. Soon all the energy bolts that had been shooting out of the portal started shooting toward her. The first one caused her to stagger a little bit, but she held her position. She ignored the pain as she continued to concentrate on taking it all in. The burning was unbelievable, but she didn't stop. She knew she could do this. She knew she was meant to do this.

Down in the contruction site, Buffy and Dawn made it to the bottom, running away from the tower just as the ground began to shake. Everyone started to gather at one spot, looking up at the tower. They could see Tara standing up there, silhouetted by the light from the portal. Bursts of energy were shooting into her sharply. Soon pieces of the tower started to fall off. The earth quaked harder.

"That thing's gonna come down," Spike said as he half-staggered, half-crawled over to the group. Xander was carrying Anya in his arms, struggling to keep his balance.

"No," Willow said. She started to move toward the tower, but Giles grabbed her.

"Willow, no. Spike's right," he said, struggling with Willow. "We have to get out of here." Willow continued to struggle against him and he shouted to her over the rumbling of the earth and the noise of the portal. "Would Tara want you to get crushed when that tower comes down?"

Tara was oblivious as the others made their way to a safe distance. The pain was excruciating now, but she kept going. Finally she could feel as the portal started to collapse. She could feel the energy being sucked back through to where it belonged. The earth still quaked below her. The tower was shaking violently. But she didn't notice. Soon, there was nothing.

"Tara!" Willow screamed as they all watched the portal close and the tower collapse. She struggled against Giles and Buffy who were holding her back for her own safety. Finally, once the dust had settled, they let her go. Giles followed her and the others slowly made their way back toward where the tower had stood. Spike stayed behind in the shade when he saw that the sun was rising.

"Tara!" Willow called. She moved toward the steel wreckage, trying to find Tara. She couldn't see her anywhere. "Tara! Oh god, baby, where are you?"

Giles moved forward and rested his hand gently on Willow's shoulder. She turned, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Where is she? She's not here. Giles."

"The energy was too much for her," he speculated. "It was too much to leave behind a body."

"No, no, no!" Willow cried. Giles wrapped his arms around her, feeling sympathy for her and sorrow at the loss of Tara. For several minutes, the only sound in the construction site was the sound of Willow's sobbing.

All her life, Tara had never felt she had a purpose, not until she met Willow. Willow had been her purpose, her life, for over a year. She had found strength and comfort and trust and love. But in the split second that she saw that portal above her, she knew she had a new purpose. She had found her reason for being there, her reason for meeting all these people, and even though she didn't want to leave Willow, in the one year they had been together, they had loved each other enough for all eternity. Tara had known that whether she survived this night or not, she and Willow would be together forever. She would live on because Willow would live on. The world would live on because of her. Because of one, single, demon girl.

THE END