Sydney went into the waiting arms of Belgrath. When he kissed her on her cheek she asked how his trip had been. He replied with a simple 'Fine'. Then she asked where the others were.
"The twins aren't far behind. As far as the girls, I don't know. They were right behind me." His patience was clearly running then. "Where am I staying?"
No sooner had Angel given him directions he was headed in that direction. He met Polgara on the stairs. They greeted one another with a nod of the head and a simple acknowledgement.
"Pol."
"Old Wolf."
And went on their way. Sydney stuck her head out side and quickly invited the new group of Slayer in. Pol took it upon herself to get them settled in.
Sydney was speaking to someone outside but the content of their conversation was unintelligible. As soon as the conversation ended she turned to Willow and said, "It's time."
Willow nodded in understanding before she was left gaping at the figure encompassed in sunshine standing in the entryway. After a few moments she managed to gasp out one word.
"Tara?"
The figure only nodded. Granted she looked older, but it was still unmistakably Tara. When it seemed Willow wasn't going to snap out of her stupor, Tara went to her.
"It's okay, baby. I'm back. I'm real." She told Willow placing a comforting hand on Willow's arm.
Whether it was unprocessed grief or true anger, no one could say, but at that moment Willow's roots began to darken. As soon as it was visible, Tara wrapped her arms around the distraught red head.
"Ssshhh, now. Don't be angry. Don't lose what you fought so hard for. It's okay, baby. I'm back and I'm not going anywhere for a long time." Tara continued these words of comfort and encouragement until a deflated Willow slumped in her arms sobbing. Tara took her and sat down the nearest surface and tried her best to calm her.
Everyone else just watched in amazement. They all knew the story behind Tara's demise and Willow's wrath. Suddenly it struck them that they shouldn't be all that surprised. No one they knew ever stayed dead but then again nobody ever died from a normal gunshot wound either.
Tara had changed over the past year. Before she had been a young woman, trying to find her self and her place in the world, now she was a woman in every since of the word. Out of everyone present with the exception of Willow, Giles and Spike had known her the best. Neither of them had ever her display such confidence in herself. They couldn't help but be reminded of her family and how she was raised. It seems she had put all of that behind her.
Willow's sobs quieted to soft snivels and she raised her head to look at Tara. She gently stroked Tara's hair and with her voice full of awe asked, "How? You were dead. How?"
Tara's gaze shifted to Sydney and she gave her a sad smile. Willow's anger began to rise again. "What did they do? Where you at peace and they ripped you out?"
"No." Tara quickly put a stop to that train of thought. "Sydney wouldn't do that. It wasn't until I was sure you were well on your way to recovery that I even left this world."
"What do you mean?"
At Willow's question, Tara once again looked at Sydney. Sydney understood her unspoken question and said "This is your story to tell not mine."
Tara nodded and keeping Willow's hand in her own rose to address the entire room, knowing full well that Giles and Wesley would want to know ever detail. It was just their nature.
"I'll start with what everyone knows. I was shot and my spirit left my body. In her pain and grief, Willow lost control." She could tell that Willow was beginning to get upset once more and reassuringly squeezed her hand. "What you don't know is a single bullet won't kill me."
Everybody seemed shocked at the statement, except for Spike.
"That reminds me," she turned to address the vampire. "You, mister, are a better actor than you've been given credit for." Letting go of Willow's hand, she approached him and whispered a soft 'thank you' in his ear before kissing his cheek and returning to Willow.
Now, that everyone's attention was on him he felt obligated to explain. "Watcher, you remember when her family came to town and she did that spell so you couldn't see demons." At Giles nod, he elaborated for the rest of the group. "See, her family has this legend that the women had demon in them and that's where the magic came from. I could tell she wasn't human. With you lot, it's either human good or not human bad. She seemed like a nice enough chit and she got Red out of that depression dog boy left her in so, I lied a little. At this point in time I had the chip, so I hit her and acted like it hurt. You all accepted she was human, I knew she wouldn't do any harm and everyone was happy."
Willow's eyes grew wide at the realization that Tara wasn't human. Tara decided it was best just to forge ahead with her explanation. "He's right. I'm not human but I'm not demon either. I'm a dryad. It was passed down to my mother from hers and from her to me. I have since learned it has been that way for centuries. Most of the information about my family has been lost but with Sydney and her family's help I am piecing it back together. Dryads live supernaturally long lives. They are born bonded to a certain tree and if that tree dies the dryad associated to that tree also dies. That's why my mother died so young. I had never drawn the connection before but about a month before her death we cleared about all of the trees off of our land."
Talking about her mother's death was still hard. She blamed her father and the other men in her family. If they had just taken the time to learn about it her mother would still be here, happy and healthy.
After a few moments to recollect her thoughts she continued, "But, as long as the tree lives, the dryad lives. When I was shot, my spirit left by body to return to my tree and regain its strength. I don't know how long it took but when I came back to my body Sydney was there. She said we had to leave. She replaced my body with a duplicate and we left."
Her eyes went back to Willow. "I didn't want to leave you. Believe me I wanted to help but I couldn't. Sydney tried to get me to leave but I wouldn't. I watched everything from afar. It wasn't until you went to England to begin healing that I let her take me."
Willow let all this new information sink in. She combined it with what Sydney had already told her and then she remembered what Sydney had said about her reward. 'What was stolen shall be returned.' Tara was back. This truth struck her heart as nothing else could. What had happened in the past didn't really matter. The pain, the anger, it was all gone now. She was back.
Willow let out a great laugh, hugged Tara around the neck, and whispered "I missed you, baby" in her ear. Everyone else looked startled at Willow's behavior but some of the elders understood the joy and forgiveness that comes along with acceptance. Willow wanted to know everything that had happened since that horrible day and she asked Tara. Everyone else was eager to hear what had happen to their ally.
Tara told everyone how Sydney had taken her to the Vale and the wonderful peace that existed there. She told them of her studies and how she had learned as much as she could about her family and the Prophecy. She eagerly told the watchers and Willow about the magics she had conquered. As the conversation came to a close, Willow was surprised with how much she had accomplished in a year and told her so.
That's when Sydney added, "It was much longer for her. Time moves more quickly there then it does here."
Willow understood that that is why Tara looked so much older then when she had last been seen. "How long were you there?"
"I don't know. It's just so different there. It's like time has no meaning. Sometimes I would get so engrossed in a task I would forget to eat or sleep for days at a time. It's only when the twins would come and visit that I would take a break. It was definitely years, perhaps a decade."
"Or two." Sydney added. Then she continued, "I hate to break up this reunion but we are going to have to be put on hold. Angel and I have visitors." And she went to stand by Angel's side.
Only a few moments after her statement, the front door of the hotel opened once again this time with two figures in the door way. They walk into the hotel and stand right in front of Angel and Sydney.
Angel nods his head and says, "Lilah."
"Angel, how good to see you again. I like to introduce Marcus..."
Lilah is quickly cut off by Sydney.
"Hamilton. I should have killed you years ago."
Lilah quickly recovers and finishes, "He will be your new liaison to the senior partners."