Two months later...
"Was this Mom's?" Tara asked as she pulled a sorcerer's ball from a velvet-lined box.
"It was," Kit smiled walking over to her sister. "I wasn't able to salvage much when I left, but I knew that if I didn't take everything I could, he would have destroyed everything."
Tara nodded. Kit was right. As soon as she'd left, their father had destroyed everything in the house. Tara ran off to Sunnydale as soon as she graduated high school. She understood exactly why Kit had left and why she had never told her where she was.
"You know, I wish we could have been closer growing up, Tara," Kit admitted. "I just couldn't risk him finding me. And then, when you left... I couldn't risk him finding you. That's why I never gave you an address or phone number for me. It's a large reason I decided to join the Marines. He couldn't get to me through them."
"I-I know, Kitty. I just... I wish I could have known Denny. And Gracie," she said softly. "Y-you made me feel like I knew them. Through your letters."
Kit smiled and embraced her sister. Dennis had wanted to steal Tara away millions of times, but Kit refused to risk the wrath of their father. She had watched for years as he slowly poisoned their mother. She'd gone from a strong, beautiful witch to a frail creature who barely remembered her own name. And when Kit had married Dennis right out of high school, he killed her just to teach both his daughters a lesson.
"We have a lot of lost time to make up for, Tara."
"I'm just so glad you decided to move to Sunnydale. I-I wish I could have told you that he was dead... you could have come back here sooner. Maybe things would have--"
Kit cut her off with a brisk shake of her head. "No. You know that's not true. It was just their time."
Tara looked nervously around the living room. Her sister's house was bright and sunny. She wasn't the type to fall into the darkness. And, for that, Tara was grateful.
"So, uh, when am I going to meet Willow?" Kit asked, changing the subject.
"Oh, uh... I wasn't sure..."
"Tara, are you sure about Willow?"
"Wh-what?" she asked timidly. "Of course I'm sure about her."
"Then bring her by. Enough with the avoidy."
Tara smiled and plopped down on the sofa, bringing her finger up to her mouth to chew nervously on her nail.
"I love her, Kit."
"Then I will, too."
"So, uh... what about you? I mean, I know it's soon... but have you had the chance to make any friends?"
Kit thought to the many nights she sat vigil at the cemetery. William had been there the first night. And he returned every night after sitting with her until the sun began to rise. Then, he quickly disappeared. Some nights, they'd talk about Denny and Gracie. Or about the family he'd left behind long ago. She'd learned that he had a sister at one time and that her name was also Grace Anne. Some nights, they sat in a comfortable silence, just grateful for each other's company.
"Uh, not really," she lied. "Just, in passing here and there." She really didn't want to explain to Tara how she spent her nights in the graveyard ready to throw a ball of fire at the first vampire to cross her path. Of course, she knew that William was a vampire. She knew that the first night she met him. She'd felt it before she even touched his hand.
"Well, how about I bring Willow by? Um, maybe tomorrow sometime?"
"That would be wonderful," Kit smiled. "Sometime tomorrow."
