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Soul Mates-Chapter 3

Tara scanned the small space she was confined in, she could barely see anything, her breathing became shallow as she began to panic. She felt slightly disorientated, but also felt a sense of acknowledgement, as if she knew she would end up here. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She placed her palm on the coffin lid.

"Cerlain" she said in a commanding tone. Nothing happened. She tried again and again nothing happened.

"Damn it" she cursed in frustration. Her powers obviously hadn't caught up with her.

Now she was beginning to panic, the air in that coffin was not going to last forever.

She was so confused.

She had been dead, she knew that. But she just could not figure out why she was back, although she felt that she knew she would come back. She had to get out.

"HELP!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"PLEASE, SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Although she knew it was futile to shout and scream for help, being six feet under the ground and in a coffin kinda minimised the chances of being heard, but she had to do something.

Buffy had just managed to land her stake right in the heart of an attacking vamp. She smiled to herself and he turned to dust. The coward of a vamp jumped Spike from behind and then went after Buffy trying to kill her. Obviously she stopped that idea before it saw fruitation.

She walked over to Spike and held out her hand, pulling him up with her Slayer strength very easily.

"Soddin vampire" he cursed, brushing himself off. " So Slayer, do you care to have me knocked about some more tonight or can we-" Buffy didn't hear the rest because Spike stopped abruptly as his head snapped up in the direction they had dusted the first three vamps.

"Do hear that?" he asked, still looking in the other direction.

"Hear what?" Buffy asked, frowning.

"That voice, it sounds familiar" He said and began walking over in the other direction.

"Boy you really are insane. Now you're hearing voices in your head?" Buffy said, trailing after him.

Buffy walked with over to the grave. They stopped.

"Listen" Spike said. Buffy strained her ears and quite faintly, she could hear a voice. It was screaming, sounding desperate, but she couldn't really make out the words. She assumed that Spike, with his heightened vampire hearing, could hear the voice and the words as clearly as if the person were shouting in his ear.

"Its probably just some vampire that got stuck." Buffy said walking over to the grave. But she stopped at once when she saw the name on the gravestone: Tara Maclay.

Willow sat on her bed, flipping idly through some magickal volumes, barely even glancing at the pages. Her mind kept wondering. Why was Tara trying to contact her. Was she actually trying to or was it just Willows mind playing tricks on her, wishful thinking perhaps? She just didn't know. Her head suddenly snapped up. For about 15 minutes, she'd been having strange feelings. It felt as if Tara needed her. As if she were in trouble. But Tara was dead. And she winced as she thought it. Tara was never coming back. So how could she need her.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Kennedy said, standing in the doorway.

"You'd probably get change" Willow said, smirking slightly. For the last few days she felt Kennedy's presence oddly comforting. Because for the last few days Willow had thought about Tara and everyone of those thoughts ending with the conclusion that Tara was gone and it was gradually helping her accept her death. Kennedy came and sat down next to Willow. She hadn't known Tara, and to be perfectly honest it was beginning to bug her a little bit that she was starting to cause troubles in their relationship from beyond the grave. She wasn't trying to make Willow forget about her first girlfriend, but she just wanted her to try to move on. Kennedy reached out and grabbed Willows hand, giving it a little squeeze. Willow smiled and leaned in for a kiss. They sat there for a little while, kissing softly. But Willow just couldn't help thinking about Tara and Kennedy just wasn't her.

Buffy stood staring in shock at the gravestone. Her breath actually caught in her throat as she tried to snap herself out of the daze she had gotten into. She shook her head rapidly and she processed the information: If they could her Tara screaming for help, then Tara was alive, which meant Tara was trapped in her coffin. At the last thought Buffy quickly dropped to the ground and began clawing at the earth. She remembered only all too well what it felt like to be trapped in that dark, suffocating space.

"Spike help me!" she screamed at the vampire.

"Oh right" He said, also dropping down and clawing at the soil. They had no idea how long they had been digging through the damp earth, it seemed like forever even with Buffy's slayer strength and Spikes vampire strength. They were both very surprised when they heard a clunk. They had hit the coffin. From there it was much easier to clear the earth that remained and in no time at all they had clear access to the coffin. They each grabbed an end and heaved it out. Buffy had tears rolling down her cheeks. She jumped out of the hole and rushed to open the coffin. When she had opened the huge lid, she couldn't help but be shocked, there was Tara, alive and well and dressed in the clothes that she was buried in. Before Willow went to England with Giles, they had Tara buried. Willow chose to have her dressed in the dress that she wore when Xander had accidentally summoned a demon that plunged the whole of Sunnydale into a song and dance frenzy. Tara had sang to Willow on a bridge in the park. Willow thought that would be a nice dress to put her in. After the funeral, Willow had just collapsed on the grave and cried for what seemed like hours. But now Tara was back.

"Buffy." Tara said, sighing with relief that someone had found her.

"Tara?" Buffy asked uncertainly.

"In the flesh, so to speak" Tara smiled, as Buffy helped her out of the coffin.

To Be Continued………………………………...

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