Author's Note: Dawn, Anya, Spike, Willow, and now, Tara.
For A Fool: Tara
She's insane. No, not Glory-induced insane. She's only picturing Willow's death in her mind again and again. She's running for her life, running past Anya's bloody form and Spike's ashes. Past Willow, who she wouldn't think of. Until she finds Dawn's broken body. She's run past everything that's real. She's only running in her mind.
In reality, she's crouched by Dawn's body, on her knees, touching her face softly. "The energy's gone…" she whispers as Giles kneels down beside her.
"Tara?" he asks in concern.
"She cured me…the willow tree. Everything was back…and then she was gone and it went away again."
"Willow? Willow's dead?" He questions, and at the sight of tears welling in her eyes, nods.
She lets Giles pull her away from Dawn and her fingers drift lightly across her cold cheek before he guides her to the only way out, avoiding all possible obstacles.
"Ashes to ashes…to ashes…to ashes…" she chants in a whisper, "…to dust…to dust…to dust…to dust…"
As they leave the construction site, he mind can't function past that nice Mr. Giles was helping her. She has no thoughts of Buffy or Xander.
Something flies overhead and catches her attention. She whimpers at the sight. A dragon. It's a dragon. She watches in awe as it roars down at them.
"Fire…" she murmurs softly, watching as Giles hold up his sword. "Kill…kill…kill…kill…kill…kill…"
"Tara, if you can understand what I am saying, run…and get help." She stares at him. "Help." He repeats himself, almost desperate.
"Help." She echoes and then nods. She backs away slowly, "help…"
The dragon swoops down on Giles as he raises a sword to defend himself. She turns her back and runs away. She runs down the deserted street at dawn, looking for help. Nice Mr. Giles told her to get help. And because he's smart and he told her to get it, she has to get it.
She collides into a solid body and falls back on the ground. Looking up, she sees a tall girl with short brunette, blonde-streaked, hair. Her face is a mask of concern as she senses something off.
"Help." She says, desperate to make Mr. Giles proud. "Need…help."
"That's what I'm here for, Tara."
The nice new woman helps her to her feet. Tara allows the woman to lead her farther away from Giles, towards a hospital. The new woman will take care of her, help her. She can feel it. She'll make everything okay for Tara. As far as she can comprehend, the life she'd dreamed of while sane is for a fool, anyway.
