Summary: This is an alternate season 7 with Tara alive... I will write Plenty Chapters one for each episode ((some excluded, or changed drastically)), a prologue, and a small bit of what happened in England with her teachings. ((With her lover there as well.)) Changing the course of the season a little biggest difference probably being Kennedy/Willow never happens... Personally I hated when Tara died and I hated the relationship with Kennedy. She was way to much a brat and Willow said it herself in episode 13 of season 7 "We were supposed to be forever yet he took that away". This Chapter covers most of what happened in the episodes "Lessons, From Beneath You, and Same Time, Same Place.
Anything between " " is spoken anything between ' ' is thought -
Rating: Pg - Pg13 (Not sure if I should increase this Please tell me)
Disclaimer: My name is not Joss Whendon, and I own none of these characters. This is just wishful thinking upon what would have happened throughout the 7th season if Tara Mclay had not died
Feedback: OF COURSE... I don't know any author that doesn't like feedback. Please no flaming if you have a problem with my story offer ways of making it better don't just tell me "It sucks" Or something. This is also my first Fanfic so please helpful suggestions from fellow authors and first-timers are very much wanted and also NEEDED
Pairings: Mostly canon what would've happened Willow/Tara the rest of the pairings are canon and follow the same path but this fic will focuses on Willow, and Tara's involvement in this season
If you have any problems with homosexual relations, or live where it is forbidden please stop now.
CHAPTER 3: Homecoming.
It was about three weeks before Willow needed to return to Sunnydale, and to her lover. She woke up, and did her morning activities. Then, she went out for her free hour with Giles in the wilderness where she felt relaxed. It was the only place she felt relaxed after her encounter with her dark half, and the fact that she still didn't know if she's ready to tell the others of what she could do.
She was sitting up against a tree watching Giles out on his horse. Soon she is focusing her power to grow a flower in the ground looking at it then sniffing its scent. She didn't notice Giles had walked up to her.
"That doesn't belong there" He said cracking a small smile
Willow surprised a little by his presence looked up, and smiled back. "No it doesn't."
"That's the flora kua alaya. A native of Paraguay, if my botany serves." He said observing the flower.
"Is there anything you don't know everything about?" She asked smiling at his knowledge of the flower.
"Synchronized swimming; complete mystery to me." He said removing his glasses, and wiping them then moving closer to the flower sniffing it, and touching it slightly. "Yep Paraguay. Where did it come from?"
"Paraguay" She said smiling at her accomplishment.
"You brought it through the earth?" He said looking at her again.
"It's all connected. The root systems, the molecules...the energy. Everything's connected." She said not bothering to answer him.
"You sound like Miss Wood." He said smiling at her again.
"She's taught me a lot" She said proud of her teacher.
"I bet." He replied
"The coven is—they're the most amazing women I've ever met. But there's this look that they get. Like I'm gonna turn them all into bangers and mash, or something. Which I'm not even really sure what that is." She said remembering the evil half of herself.
"They're cautious. I trust you understand that" He looked down resting a hand on her shoulder.
"I don't have that much power, I don't think." She said still a little on edge on remembering what her evil half had done.
"Everything's connected. You're connected to a great power, whether you feel it or not. How you use that power is in your hands" He said smiling back.
"Will they always be afraid of me?" She said not liking the idea.
"Maybe. Can you handle that?" He said.
"I deserve a lot worse if that truly is what I almost did." She said still remembering her other half killing Warren, and almost all of her friends.
"Are you saying you want to be punished?" Giles asked looking at her kind of sadly.
"I just wanna be Willow" She said smiling sadly.
"You are. In the end, we all are who we are no matter how much we have appeared to change." He said taking her hand, and walking back into the Coven.
"If my change involves dark hair, and vein, and wanting to kill my friends, and disgracing Tara… Then I don't want to call that me." She said to him tears filling her eyes.
"You didn't do that. That was a now alternate reality, you can't be blamed for anything she did." He said trying to cheer her up.
"Giles… Tara is my everything… she is something I can't give up… if I didn't have her I wouldn't have a reason to live. That is me whether I like or not that is what I was, and can be." She said running up to her room to spend the last little time she had left before lunch the think.
After lunch, and Miss Woods class she sat at the door with Giles talking again. Suddenly she dropped to the floor in pain screaming, and Giles ran over beside her, and lifted her up.
"Oh, God." She murmured silently out of breath.
"Just breathe." Giles said supporting her.
"I can't Oh God." She was struggling to even speak now.
"Just breathe." He repeated.
She finally caught her breath, and looked up at him. "What happened?" She asked hoarsely.
"What do you remember?" He said helping her up.
"We were talking, and I felt… I felt the Earth. It's all connected. It is, but it's not all good and pure and rootsy. There's deep, deep black. There's... I saw, I saw the Earth, Giles. I saw its teeth." She said in a scared ramble.
"The hell mouth…" He said looking down, and removing he glasses.
"Giles it's gonna open… It's going to swallow us all." She said scared again.
"I'll talk to the Head Mistress, and ask if the seers have seen anything." He said walking down into the hall. "I'll also tell the Head Mistress you are going to rest, so don't bother about the other classes."
"Thanks." she whispered walking to her room.
The next day Willow got a knock on her door. She got up covered herself up in her robe, and answered it. There stood the head mistress looking gloomy.
"Willow…" She said slowly.
"What?" Willow responded quickly.
"Your stay has been shortened." She said looking at her coolly.
"How long?" She said frowning.
"You have a week before you leave for Sunnydale." She said grimly.
"Oh… Are you sure? I mean am I ready?" Willow struggled out.
"You have to be. There is a powerful evil rising, and they need your help to stop it." She said looking Willow in the eyes.
"Ok… I understand…" Willow said suddenly happy she Will she Tara again.
She headed back to bed a bit before she had to get breakfast.
A week later after a heavy week of meditating she is standing with her suit case in hand next to Giles.
"Taxi's here" He said standing next to her.
"I know." She said frowning.
"And keeping with quaint old Britain you would be expected to get IN it" He said smiling at her.
"I don't know if I can. Giles, I'm not done here." She said terrified of telling her friends the truth.
"That's your fear talking." He said reassuring her.
"Yes, and my fear's a big, obnoxious blabbermouth. You're the one that keeps telling me to trust my instincts." She said still looking scared.
"True." He said taking of his glasses.
"So, shouldn't we be listening? I don't want to go back home just so I can screw up like The orb showed me. Why don't I stay? Not forever. Just long enough to, I don't know, make my fear shut up a little, maybe?" She said thinking maybe she could stay here a little longer.
"It's possible, but... Try to be very specific. What exactly are you afraid of?" He said having a good idea about her fear.
"Well, for starters, how 'bout the hellmouth's getting all rumbly again. And now I know it's got teeth. And are those literal teeth, 'cause I don't know if I can handle it. And what if I can handle it? Does that mean I have to be a bigger, badder badass than the source of all badness? And what if I get really upset, and I go all veiny and homicidal? And what if—" She babbled on.
"They won't accept you?" He interrupted.
"Uh-huh." She said confirming her fear.
"Willow. They are your friends they know you. They will accept you. You never did those things that dark magic Willow did. It is fine. You have nothing to be scared of… Well except for those other things, but those you have dealt with before so you Will be fine." He said smiling.
"Thanks Giles" She said smiling, and walking through the door to the taxi.
It was 9:24 at night when the plane screeched to a halt. Willow reluctantly got out, and walked out last on the plane. There waiting on her she saw Xander holding up a 'Welcome Back Willow' sign. Buffy, and Dawn standing next to him, and Tara in front running up to her, and hugging her close.
"Hey baby" Willow said embracing her girlfriend.
"Hey" Tara said back holding her still.
"We missed you Will" Xander said from the back smiling.
"So what did you learn?" Asked an over-excited Dawn.
"Can we talk about it when we get home? I'm a little tired." She said remembering that she would have to explain to them about her dark half.
"Sure" Buffy said leading them out to Xander's car.
Xander drove with Buffy next to him in the passenger seat. Dawn shared the back with Willow, and Tara. Willow was asleep on Tara's shoulder most of the way. After they got inside they decided to leave the conversation till the next day.
Willow thought this was the best way to talk to Tara first. Willow and Tara were up in their room getting ready for bed when she decided to bring it up.
"Tara." Willow said to her lover as they got into the bed.
"Yes Will?" Tara said turning to her, and moving close under their blanket.
"I want to talk to you about me. Well not really me, but dark, scary, veiny me." Willow said a little hurt.
"Remember that never happened, so it's okay." Tara said seeing the way Willow was looking.
"Well I have to tell them tomorrow, and I'm not sure how." She said still a little unsure of how the gang would react.
"It'll be fine Will. Leave that till tomorrow. What happened after I left?" Tara asked wondering what she had been up to.
"They made me fight her… my evil half." She said looking away from Tara to hide the tear that fell down her cheek.
"They did what? How could they make you do that?" Tara asked realizing how dangerous that really was.
"I stopped her. Reminded her of you, and she just broke. It was wrong. I was wrong. She was so blood thirsty after killing Warren that she thought you would want her to kill in your name." Willow said with a pain in her voice.
"Like I said baby, that wasn't you, it Will never be you, because I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere." Tara said hugging her lover trying to make her forget about her dark half.
"But that's just it Tara, no matter how much we deny it. That is me. You left me once because of my overuse of magic, and I know if you had died in my arms that night that I would've gone off the deep end and done the exact same thing. I would have betrayed your name and your memory by killing for it." Willow said balling in Tara's arms.
"I would've forgiven you then, and I forgive you now. It was wrong, but now you know that, and you can stop that from ever being you." Tara said holding her tighter, and kissing her forehead.
"Thanks baby." She said smiling back.
Tara smiled at her, and kissed her again.
As Tara kissed her Willow remembered a vision in the orb that she saw at the coven.
Dark Willow was standing there Dawn was in the back on the verge of tears, and Buffy was standing in front of her as if she was guarding her.
"Let me tell you something about Willow-" Dark Willow began as she moved towards Buffy. "She's a loser. She always has been. People picked on Willow through junior high school, high school up until college. With her mousy ways.-" Dark Willow smiled bright as she said the next part. "Now she's a junkie."
"We can help" Buffy said trying to convince her.
"The only thing Willow was ever good for-" Dark Willow looked down saddened. "The only thing I had going for me… were the moments, JUST moments, where Tara looked at me, and I was wonderful. And that Will never happen again.
Willow hugged Tara tight one last time as more tears rolled down her face. "Thanks baby." She repeated. "For everything" As she drifted asleep in Tara's arms.
The next morning the gang ate breakfast together, though it wasn't much because Buffy and Xander had to be at work, and Dawn had to be at school. After they left it was just Willow and Tara.
"So what you wanna do today Will?" Tara asked sitting next to her on the couch.
"I was thinking of visiting Anya, to tell her I'm back, and to ask her about Warren. By the way, what happened to the other two geeks?" Willow asked.
"Actually, they somehow broke out and headed for Mexico, last I heard." Tara said smiling at the thought of the geeks skipping town.
"Oh wow. So what did you have planned today before the others get back?" Willow asked resting her head on Tara's shoulder.
"I was going to head up to the college, and re-enter since we never actually got to our finals last year. I was thinking of graduating, and I wanted to see if you wanted to come with." Tara said leaning in to kiss her girlfriend.
After a moment they stopped, and Willow looked sad. "I wish I could, but I was sent back early to help against a rising evil so I doubt I'll have time for college, especially if this evil was big enough to stop my training." She said still looking disappointed.
"If it is that big I don't think I'll go back either." Tara said looking a little distressed.
"No you should go back, and graduate this year, and I'll go next year." Willow said not wanting to hinder her girlfriend's education.
"Well see that's the thing. If we go different years then we might not see each other those years. Plus you might need me for this new evil, and it wouldn't be that much fun in my dorm if I didn't have my roommate." Tara smiled, and winked as she said that.
"Okay then. We'll finish together next year then!" Willow said, and kissed her girlfriend again.
"So what are we going to do today?" Tara asked hugging Willow again.
"Well actually-" Willow started as Xander, Dawn, and Buffy barged through the door.
"We're going demon hunting" Buffy said as she walked through the door, and Dawn headed toward the kitchen
"What?" Willow said standing up holding Tara's hand.
"We found a student at the construction site this morning." Xander explained. "He was skinned alive."
"Skinned!" Willow exclaimed.
"Yup like chicken except well human." Xander said trying to make light on the situation.
"So any idea what caused it?" Willow asked remembering what she did to Warren.
"Dawn is researching it right now, but whatever it is we have to find it." Buffy said reassuring her friend that they would find it.
"I think I found it" Dawn shouted from the laptop in the kitchen.
"Really, what is it?" Buffy replied as they all hurried in there.
"A demon called Gnarl. He's a parasite with these nasty long fingernails. He secretes something through them and uses that to paralyze his victims. He then cuts strips of their skin while they're still alive. It takes hours." Dawn said proud of her discovery then a frown coming over her mouth as she reads it, and starts to understand it.
"We didn't find any strips of skin. Which, by the way, ggaaahhhh!" Xander said shuddering.
"You wouldn't. He eats them. That's why he's a parasite. It's like his natural food." Dawn said continuing on the webpage.
"Dawn, you're new at this, and I get why you're proud, but I'm not exactly sure why this demon is any more likely than any of the others." Buffy said not so sure about her finding.
"You never said pool of blood." Dawn said even more proud.
"There was no pool… just splatters." Buffy said trying to forget the image.
Dawn's eyes light up "Then this is your guy. He laps up the blood. You could say it's like his natural beverage." She said smiling wide then replacing it with a frown again realizing what she just said.
"Ok now you're terrifying" Xander said pointing at Dawn.
"Now if only we could find this guy." Dawn said pondering.
"I can do a locator spell… I mean we could do a locator spell" She corrected quickly wanting to make sure Tara was there for the spell.
"Um are you sure that's a good idea Will?" Buffy said remembering her abuse of magic.
"Yea she'll be fine" Tara answered for her smiling taking Willows hand.
"Okay then" Buffy said thinking that if Tara thinks it's safe it must be.
After a few minutes they sat out the stuff for the spell, and tracked the demon to a cave a little outside town.
"Lets mount up" Xander said grabbing a battle axe, and tossing a long sword to Buffy.
"So are you sure you know how to kill it?" Dawn asked making sure.
"Yeah, go for the eyes, I got it." Buffy said admiring her little sister's excitement.
"I feel like Giles, this is great!" Dawn said still excited about her accomplishment
"Yep that's you, watcher junior alright" Buffy said with a laugh as she, along with Willow, Tara, and Xander walked out the door.
They walked through the woods with little conversation until the got to a rock wall with a cave in it. Slowly they approached the cave, and climbed into it.
"Here Gnarl, Gnarl, Gnarl ." Buffy taunted. "Three innocent girls here"
Willow snapped "It's not a kitty Buffy!"
A demonic laughter came from the right side of the room then the left. Shadows were moving all over the place.
Buffy turned to see a claw headed straight for her which she was barely able to dodge. She grabbed the hand, and twisted it throwing Gnarl to the ground. The Gnarl broke free of Buffy's hold, and was now jumping about the room to fast for Buffy to keep sight of.
The gnarl lunged at Buffy from behind. Buffy barely ducked his claws only to have Willow get hit with them. Willow was now bleeding from the chest.
"Tara, get her out of here!" Buffy shouted.
Tara complied almost immediately grabbing her now immobile girlfriend, and rushing her to their house. Tara knew what Dawn had said the demon secretes a venom from his claws that paralyzes it's victims. Tara was now focused on getting Willow home safe so dawn could find a cure.
When Tara was finally at home she rushed to see Dawn.
" Dawnie! I need your help!" Tara shouted as she rushed through the door.
"Tara what is-" Dawn said running down the stairs then seeing Willow, and gasping. "Oh my god."
"Here lets get her to the couch." Tara said as the two girls held her up, and made there way to the couch.
"How do we fix that demon's paralysis?" Tara asked as they sat Willow down on the couch.
"Not sure, lemme go check." Dawn rushed over to the computer screen.
After a moment she read aloud. "The Gnarl's paralysis is permanent." Willow screeched out what she could, and Tara's eyes went wide with shock.
"Permanent until the Gnarl is dead." She corrected. "Sorry my bad." She said giving a guilty smile.
At the cave Buffy barely dodged another lunge as she lands a kick square on the demons chest forcing it up against the wall. Buffy pushed him harder against the wall punching him in the face three times followed by a head-butt. Buffy then raised her finger, and used her thumbs to push out the Gnarl's eyes.
"Eww, eww, thumbs I can't believe you did that!" Xander exclaimed at the sight.
"Only option" Buffy said wiping the goo on the rock wall. "Let's get back."
"I can move!" Willow exclaimed.
Tara shot up from the chair, and hugged her. "That means they did it!"
After a few minutes Buffy and Xander walk through the door.
"You guys did it!" Willow exclaimed.
Xander and Buffy move into the living room, and sit down.
"Yes we did." Buffy said wiping her finger on Xander.
"I think after this excitement, and pain I'm going to go to bed." Willow said with a yawn.
"Wait I thought we were going to talk about what happened in England with you this afternoon." Dawn said a little disappointed.
"Not this afternoon Dawnie, to much has happened. I'm pretty sure Xander and Buffy need to get to bed to." Willow said moving up the stair with Tara in hand.
"Yeah I do" Xander said walking out the door. "See you tomorrow."
"See ya Xander," Buffy shouted as her walked out the door. "Bye" Dawn added.
Willow, and Tara were now in bed. Tara was on her back, and Willow was cuddled close with her head on Tara's chest just laying there.
"Guess Sunnydale hasn't changed since we left." Willow said with a smile remembering the events of the day.
"Nope not a bit." Tara said running her hands through Willow's hair.
"Maybe tomorrow will be normal enough for me to tell them." Willow said with a chuckle.
"I wouldn't count on it." Tara said smiling.
"Goodnight baby." Willow said falling asleep.
"Goodnight Will." Tara responded still running her hands through her lover's hair.
'How could you ever think that what we saw in the coven would make me change the way I love you?' Tara thought to herself. 'That's ok you're my goddess, and I am yours there is nothing that Will separate us now.' She continued now falling asleep.
"Goodnight my goddess." Tara said one last time before falling asleep.
(-Sorry for the long time this took, But chapter 3 is now finished. Hope you like it. I am going about thinking I probably should just skip to episodes that really matter, and skip ones like 4, and 5 of this season. I'm not sure, but if I do decide to go through it like that 'Him' is the next episode I will rewrite with Tara 0-)
