Disclaimer: Everything is owned by Joss and Co, blah, blah, blah. You know the deal.
Spoilers: Season 5.

Chapter 6

The sun streamed in the windows to Tara and Willow's room. Both of them stirred. Willow slowly woke up and just looked at Tara. She could stare at that face for days at a time and never get sick of it. She gave Tara a little squeeze and she soon found Tara staring back at her.
"Willow," she whispered.
"I'm right here," Willow whispered back.
"Did it really happen? Are we engaged?" Tara asked.
"Yep," Willow simply replied. She was too happy to say anything else at that moment.
"Oh yes," Tara whispered. Willow just looked at her lover for a while.
"You've been saying that a lot lately," Willow said to her. Willow looked over at the clock and was surprised that it said that it was eleven in the morning. She wanted to get up, but she couldn't take her arms away from Tara.

Buffy was just walking to the stairs when she saw Willow and Tara at the top of them. They were standing with their arms around each other. Buffy looked at them again, and couldn't believe her eyes. Both of them seemed to glow as they came down the stairs.
"I already took your hire car back," Buffy said. She looked at Willow and Tara again, and saw that they didn't seem to care. Instead, they were wrapt up in each other. "You two look extra cuddly this morning. I didn't hear you come home last night," Buffy said. "What time did you get home?" Buffy couldn't believe her eyes as Willow yawned. She was glowing, but yawning at the same time, and as far as Buffy knew, that was impossible.
"Umm, about one thirty," Tara replied.
"Wow," Buffy replied. Buffy saw Tara whisper something into Willow's ear, and Buffy just saw Willow light up even more.
"Hey Buffy. We're going to just about head out and go shopping," Willow said.
"What for?" Buffy asked. She saw the warmest and biggest smiles cross both of the girl's faces.
"To get Tara an engagement ring," Willow replied. Buffy's eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open. She stood there, stunned for about a minute. Willow and Tara didn't know what to do, they thought Buffy had gone into shock.
"I have to call everyone I know right now!" Buffy almost screamed. Willow and Tara saw Buffy run to the kitchen and they came all the way down the stairs in time to see Buffy snatch the phone off of Dawn and hit one of the speed dial keys.
Willow and Tara moved towards the kitchen and listened in amusement as Dawn rambled at Buffy about respect. Buffy didn't even pay any attention to Dawn.
"Xander?" They heard Buffy say. "You won't believe it! Tara and Willow are getting married!" she screamed at the phone. Willow and Tara just looked at each other, confused about the Slayer's strange reaction. They had to try not to fall over as Dawn rushed at them. They saw Buffy immediately hang up the phone and hit another speed dial.
"Giles! Tara and Willow are getting married!" Buffy screamed even louder into the phone. Willow and Tara watched as Buffy hung up the phone and went for another one of the speed dials. She stopped and faced back to Willow and Tara.
"I just realised. That's all the people I know," Buffy said. "Wow, I suspected something, but I never suspected this. At the most I was suspecting you two to move out into a place of your own, but never this," Buffy said. She went up and hugged both Willow and Tara.
"What about a ring?" Dawn asked. "Either of you got one yet?" Willow proudly put her hand out to Buffy and Dawn and watched as they gawked at it. She withdrew her hand and let it join Tara's.
"If you'll excuse us, we have to go and get my Goddess a ring," Willow said. They turned around and walked towards the door.
"Uh, Willow? Tara?" Buffy asked them when they got to the door. "Have you seen what you're wearing." They both looked down and saw that they were still wearing their pyjamas.
"Well that might be a problem," Tara said. They both walked upstairs, and five minutes later they came back down.
"How are you going to get to the mall?" Buffy asked. "I can call Xander up and he can give you a ride."
"No, it's fine, we'll walk," Tara said.
"Yeah, walk," Willow agreed while looking at Tara. They headed towards the door again and just as they were about to go out, Willow and Tara heard Buffy say something.
"When you two get back, I want to know all the details," Buffy said.
"Me too," Dawn added in just before the door closed.

Only five minutes had passed after Willow and Tara had left when Xander and Anya arrived. They came charging in the door and looked out of breath and had panic all over their faces. Buffy heard them come in and went to look, and she didn't know why Xander and Anya were panicking.
"What's up with you two?" Buffy asked them.
"Umm, we were expecting trouble. We thought that maybe the Council guys had come," Xander said.
"Huh?" Buffy asked. "How do you figure that?"
"Well, there was all the screaming in the phone," Xander told her. Buffy looked at him, and she almost said it, but then she had another idea.
"Wait until Giles gets here. I want to tell you the story how I heard it," Buffy said. It was only another two minutes before Giles burst in the door with an axe in hand.
"What's wrong!" he exclaimed. Buffy just rolled her eyes.
"Can no one understand the language of Buffy?" she asked herself. "Giles, nothing's wrong. Just sit down so I can tell you the story."
"Story? What story?" Giles asked.
"Giles. Sit," Buffy commanded. He sat down and looked at Xander and Anya who were looking at Buffy.
"Okay, I just got to calm down," Buffy said. A couple of seconds passed and then she started. "Okay, right, at somewhere around eleven thirty this morning, I was walking to the stairs..." she started.
"Great story. Buffy's journey to the stairs," Xander said.
"Hey, no interruptions. This story is a great story, and it's true and great and true, and, well, you get the picture," Buffy replied. "Now, let me speak, with no interruptions. Okay?"
"Sure," Xander replied.
"Okay, right, so I was walking to the stairs, and when I got to the bottom of them, I see Willow and Tara at the top of them. I look at them again, and both of them seem to be glowing. I'm not sure wether it was magick, or just happiness. Well, anyway, I said that they looked extra cuddly cause they were both hugging each other, and that I didn't hear them come home from their special night. They told me that they got home at one thirty, and then Tara whispered something into Willow's ear. Then..., hey, you want to listen to this part, this is the main bit of the whole story!" Buffy said to Anya.
"I'm sorry, but this story is boring," Anya replied. She still didn't fully understand the basic concepts of humans, well, she did understand them, but she just forgot them.
"Well, anyway, Willow says that they are going to go shopping. And I ask what for. Now, listen to this!" Buffy exclaimed. She paused for dramatic tension, and she could see Xander leaning closer, and even Giles. "Willow said that they were going shopping to find Tara an engagement ring!" Buffy exclaimed. There was a long pause as the words sunk in.
"I-I'm sorry, but did you say engagement ring?" Giles asked.
"Yep!" Buffy answered back.
"Wow," Xander said.
"Yeah, I know," Buffy said.
"So, if they're going shopping to get Tara a ring, does that mean that Tara was the one that asked Willow?" Anya asked.
"Yeah, I guess it does," Buffy replied.
"Wow," Xander added in again. "Never thought that would happen."

After Willow and Tara had left the house, they had slowly made their way down to the mall. There was hardly anyone around near the Summers' house, but when they got closer to the mall, the amount of people started to thicken. When Willow saw that there was a fair amount of people on the streets, she stopped hugging Tara and put her arm by her side, knowing that Tara, and even herself, were a bit uncomfortable with showing their affection for each other in public. Willow was surprised when Tara didn't move her arm away from her shoulder, but kept hugging Willow. Willow stopped and looked into Tara's eyes. She could tell that Tara knew what she was going to ask her.
"I want the whole world to know that I'm in love with such a beautiful creature," Tara said softly to Willow. Willow could see Tara's blue eyes glistening as she spoke. Willow lightly kissed Tara on the lips and put her arm around Tara again. Tara squeezed Willow tight, and they were trying to walk shoulder to shoulder. At first it was hard, but they eventually got it. They came to the mall and made their way along to one of two jewellery shops. Just before they were about to enter, Tara let go of Willow. "I'm going to wait outside," she said.
"Why?" Willow asked, a confused look on her face.
"I want you to pick it out for me," Tara replied.
"But what if you don't like it. What if it's horrible. What if..." Willow started. Tara realised that Willow was babbling and she silenced her by putting her finger up to her lips.
"I trust you... And anyway, as long as it's from you, it will be wonderful," Tara said to Willow. Willow looked at Tara and then turned around and went inside the shop.

Tara almost jumped when she heard a voice whisper in her ear. She realised that it was Willow, and started to turn around. She was surprised when Willow stopped her.
"Close your eyes, and hold out your hand," Willow whispered into her left ear. Tara closed her eyes and held her hand out in front of her. She could feel Willow circle around in front of her. She felt Willow's warm fingers grab hers, and then she felt something sliding onto her ring finger. It didn't feel like a ring. "You can open your eyes now," Willow said. Tara opened her eyes and looked down at her finger. She was shocked to see one of the little Burger Ring chips wrapped around her finger. She was so confused and she looked up at Willow.
"Willow..." she started.
"Not until we get home," Willow teased. Tara smiled at her.
"Vixen."

Faith had spent a good part of the week in bed, both from the big fight with the Council's men, as well as exhaustion from running and fighting them for weeks. She didn't have much now. Not that she had much to begin with, but she had even less now. When she had come back from the fight, she had collapsed into the bed. It was a whole day before she remembered the man from the Council that she had tied up, but when she got there, he was gone.

Everyone was sitting around the Summers' lounge room. Dawn had joined them soon after Giles had arrived. They had all gotten over the shock of Willow and Tara's engagement, and were starting to talk about Xander and Anya's engagement.
"So, you two decided when?" Buffy asked.
"In about six months," Anya replied.
"We were just about to sit down and start planning when you started screaming into the phone," Xander said to Buffy. Buffy noticed Anya's ring on her finger, and she remembered the day after Xander had told them all that they were getting married, Anya had made sure that everyone saw her ring. She was positively sure that what she had reasoned was true.

When Tara and Willow got to the Summers' house, they saw Giles' and Xander's cars parked outside.
"Umm, I changed my mind," Willow said. Tara looked at her in horror. Willow realised what must have been going through Tara's mind and quickly added, "I want to give you the ring now, in private." She got out the little container and opened it. Before Tara could get a proper look, Willow covered it with her hand. She grabbed Tara's hand and put it on her ring finger. She looked down at it, and then up at Tara's face, which was looking at her finger.
"Wow," Tara said.
"I knew you'd like it," Willow answered. Before she knew what was happening, Tara swept her up and kissed her. Together they walked inside.
"Wow, didn't know that everyone was coming over? And I didn't think that they'd come to chop our heads off," Willow said while looking at Giles's axe that was lying on the floor.
"I-I thought you were in trouble," Giles simply replied.
"From Buffy's screaming?" Tara asked.
"Hey... I make perfect sense when I scream," Buffy said. Xander got up and hugged Willow.
"Congratulations," he said while hugging her. He then hugged Tara and did the same, and was soon followed by Giles. After all the hugging and congratulations, Willow and Tara made their way over to a chair and sat down on it. Willow was half sitting on the chair's arm and Tara's leg. They both had their hands joined together, and Buffy was wondering if they accidentally super-glued them together.
"So, I need all the details," Buffy said while looking at Willow and Tara. "Oh, yeah, you two have got to do it one at a time too. I've got to hear both sides of the story."
"Are you sure you want to hear all the details? Because I remember all the details," Tara said.
"Yeah, me too," Willow added in.
"Yes. All the details," Buffy replied.
"Okay, umm, ahh," Willow started. "I don't know where to start."
"The beginning might be good," Anya said.
"Okay. I'll skip all the boring bits and get right to it," Willow said. "Oh, yeah. The rumours are true. That place is only lit by candle light... Okay... Tara and I picked a table in the corner, where it was nice and dark and it was only lit by the one single candle on our table. We sat down, and ate dinner, which was beautiful. It was almost the best thing I've ever eaten," Willow said, while looking at Tara with the last couple of words. "Well, anyway. The waiter had just come and taken dinner away, and I was thinking of how lucky I was to have Tara. I actually think I went into another world as I looked into her beautiful eyes," Willow said, still looking at Tara.
"This story is taking too long," Anya said. She watched as almost everyone's heads turned. She could feel their icy glares. She cuddled into Xander for support. "I'm sorry. Please continue your story Willow," Anya said.
"Okay. Well, umm, yeah. I was looking at Tara, and I think I got lost in her eyes. Then, she said that she wanted to ask me a very personal question, and I was ready to give her my full reply, no matter what the question was, but somewhere in between me replying and Tara asking the question, I got lost in her eyes again. I think- no. I know what Tara said, but I thought that my ears were playing tricks on me. I asked her to repeat the question, and she said, 'Will you marry me.' I then knew that my ears were playing tricks on me. I went over and over the line in my head until it caught on what Tara had actually said. Then, I'm pretty sure that my heart stopped for a couple of minutes. By then, she had put the ring down on the table in front of me. I had no idea what to say. I knew the answer immediately...," Willow explained. She looked around at everyone who were all still listening to her. "I knew what to say, and I tried to say it, but I could only get Tara's name out. I think I said her name at least five times..." she started.
"Two. You said it twice, but it took so long for you to say anything," Tara said.
"Oh! I did? Oh. Well, I still didn't know what to say. But then, Tara started apologising. I didn't understand, and I finally managed to just blurt out that I would, and then Tara said her magic words..." Willow said.
"Magic words?" Xander and Giles asked.
"Yeah..." Willow started.
"What are they?" Anya asked while looking at Tara. Tara just shrugged her shoulders and looked to Willow.
"Yeah? What are they?" Tara asked her.
"Oh yes," Willow replied. Anya, Xander and Giles just looked at her in confusion. "Her magic words are oh yes," Willow said. Before she gave anyone the chance to speak some more, she continued. "Well, when she said the magic words, I almost saw all the tension, nervousness and suspense flow out of her voice. She looked so cute, so I got up and gave her a big, beautiful kiss," Willow said.
"Awwwe," Buffy said while looking at Willow and Tara. Willow gave Tara a quick kiss before turning back to everyone. "And then, I looked at..." Willow started, but she stopped as Tara squeezed her hand. She understood that Tara didn't want Willow to tell everyone about her being afraid that it was all a dream. "It doesn't matter."
"Tara-Tara-Tara-Tara. We've got-to hear your side of the story too!" Dawn exclaimed. Tara looked to Willow, and then to everyone else.
"When did you decide to ask the question?" Buffy asked Tara.
"Umm, the other week, in the big Watchers Council warehouse," Tara said. "After I saw that Willow was awake, I said to myself that I'd marry her if we got out of there, and, well, I know that that was just a spur-of-the-moment thing, but I thought about it, and then, well, decided to do something about it," Tara said. "Wel..." she started.
"When did you get the ring?" Dawn asked. "As far as I can remember, you and Willow have been upstairs locked in your room almost the whole break."
"Dawn!" Buffy exclaimed. She looked back to Tara and Willow who were both looking at each other and were extremely red.
"Uh, I-uh- got it when I-uh went grocery shopping the other day," Tara managed to say. She was still bright red from what Dawn had said.
"I knew it!" Buffy exclaimed. "I knew it!" Everyone turned to her in confusion. "I knew that there was something going on when you got back... You stuttered too much," Buffy said. Tara just looked at her, not knowing what to do. She smiled at Buffy instead.
"So, uhh, am I going to tell a story?" She asked everyone. Everyone looked to her in silence. "I guess that means yes," she said. "Well, after tea, I was thinking of the best way to ask Willow. I was so nervous. I was afraid that it wouldn't go the way I practiced..." Tara started.
"Practiced?" Giles and Anya asked.
"Umm, yeah. I sort of, uhh, practiced. Only a little though," Tara said nervously. She was met by silent stares by everyone. "Okaaay, I practiced a lot."
"How much practicing did you do?" Xander asked. He was curious, as he had also practiced asking Anya to marry him, but it ended up as a spur of the moment kind of thing.
"Umm, about, uhh, somewhere between one hundred and three hundred times," Tara answered. "I, sort of, practiced on myself in the mirror first, and then I practiced on Willow while she was sleeping," Tara said.
"You asked me to marry you while I was sleeping?" Willow asked her.
"Uhh... yeah," Tara replied.
"Wow," Dawn said. Xander was grinning at Tara, he had also done the same to Anya, but only once. Tara looked to Willow, who was grinning and looking around at everyone. Tara suddenly noticed that it had gotten very quiet in the room, and she noticed everyone was looking at her.
"Oh, right. The story... so, I took Willow's hand, and saw that she was looking at me, and then, I realised that I wanted it to be over and done with, so I wouldn't have to be so nervous all the time, so I asked her. It wasn't the way I wanted to ask her, I had this big speech prepared. I only then realised that she seemed to be a million miles away, and thought that I had gotten away with it, and that I'd be able to ask her properly. But, she heard it, and I repeated it while putting the ring in front of her and opening the case. I thought that my heart was going to thump it's way through my chest because Willow was taking so long to say anything. I-I got so scared, and well, when she started saying my name, I thought she wasn't ready, and I realised how much of a mistake it would have been if she wasn't ready. I was just starting to apologise when Willow just blurted out 'of course I will'. I thought that I had heard something from another conversation, because Willow saying those words would just be too good, but when I looked at her, I realised that she had said them, and the next thing I know, she's up and kissing me," Tara explained. "Oh, yeah, I think there were some tears in there too." She realised what she had just implied. "No-no-no, not sad tears. Happy tears," she added in.
Tara had just finished telling the story when Dawn rushed her and hugged her while she was still sitting in the chair with Willow. She hugged her back, and before she knew it, Dawn had disappeared and was replaced with Buffy, and then Giles, and then Xander and then finally, Anya. Everyone finally took their seats again.
"So, what happened after that. You said that you didn't get home until one-thirty," Buffy said.
"We talked, and talked, and kissed, and talked some more," Willow said.
"Oh, it was quite embarrassing. We practically got kicked out of the restaurant because it was one o'clock, which was closing time," Tara said.
"One o'clock?" Anya asked.
"Yeah," Tara replied.
"It should only be a ten minute drive from there to here. Buffy said that you said that you didn't get home until one thirty," Anya said. "What happened in between then?"
"That's private," Willow said while looking at Tara. Everyone snapped their heads to the side as they heard a loud wolf-whistle. They were all surprised to see that it had come from Giles.
"What?" he asked bluntly. Tara looked at everyone else, who were still looking at Giles. She felt Willow's hand suddenly let go of hers and she looked