Twenty-Four

Return in Triumph

Dawn struggled to keep her footing as the very room seemed to shake around her, with the force of the power Willow had just unleashed upon them. When she looked up, slightly dazed, she saw that the jolt had been aimed at Xander, who was slowly pulling himself up from the floor across the room, where he had slammed against the wall.

Anya let out a soft, strangled sort of cry as she hurried to help him – and Willow turned toward Dawn. Smiling.

"You shouldn't be taking up magic, Dawnie," she said, frowning in mock concern, shaking her head disapprovingly. "It's very dangerous."

"Willow," she said, in a strong but shaking voice, hoping that some small part of the being facing her was in fact still Willow, and could hear her. "Don't do this!"

"But you don't even know what I'm going to do yet!" Willow laughed, then lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper as she drew closer to Dawn and added, "It's gonna be a surprise."

"Willow!" Xander's voice was loud and harsh in the silence that followed her words. He had managed to make it to his feet, and was starting slowly toward her, one hand reached out toward his friend. "Willow…what is this? Please, just talk to me!" he said, his voice imploring, and Dawn knew that he still had not realized that this was no longer his best friend, the sweet girl that he had grown up with.

Willow smirked at him coldly. "Nothing left to talk about, Xander. I'm through talking. Time for action." She held out a hand toward Dawn, and her breath caught in her throat.

"Wait!" Xander took a couple more steps toward her, his voice rising with fear. "Don't, Willow! Don't hurt her! You know you don't want to do this." He sounded as if he was trying to convince himself.

He certainly wasn't convincing Willow.

"Why does everyone think they know what I want better than I do tonight?" Willow's laugh was mocking as she held up her hands in an exaggerated gesture of defeat. She smiled nastily at Dawn as she said, "Tara thought so. I showed her different though."

Dawn felt a terrible fear coursing through her at Willow's words. "What did you do to Tara?" she demanded, her anger causing her to advance a few steps on the witch, in spite of the fact that she was all but powerless against her. "Where is she?"

Willow's smile was triumphant as she shrugged her shoulders and said, "Not too much, and I don't know. And also don't care." She paused for effect before adding, "Last time I saw her she was lying bleeding in the street. And this is the Hellmouth. So who knows?"

Xander was still stepping slowly toward Willow, glancing between her and Dawn. Dawn felt a mingled gratitude and terror, realizing that he was trying to distract Willow's attention from her, knowing that he could pay for it with his life. "Willow," he said again, trying a slightly different tack. "Why are you doing this?"

She smiled at him, a sort of surprised, disbelieving smile, as if the answer were so obvious. "Because I can," she answered softly. Suddenly her smile disappeared, and Dawn's heart dropped. "And I really don't think you want to get in my way, Xander."

He stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath as he looked at his friend, his eyes full of mingled fear and love. "I can't let you hurt Dawnie," he whispered, shaking his head sadly and stepping between Willow and the girl, and Dawn realized for the first time with a chill that she was indeed the main focus of Willow's attack. After all, she was the one who was about to perform the ritual.

Willow laughed softly at the young man standing between her and her chosen victim. "No, Xander, you can't 'let' me hurt Dawnie," she said mockingly. Her eyes cold and deadly she gave him a murderous smile and added, "But you can't stop me either." Without warning she released a jolt of magic that slammed into him, driving him to his knees with a moan of pain.

"Willow…don't…" he gasped, slowly struggling to get back to his feet, falling back to his knees when the effort proved too great. "Don't do this. We love you, Willow…"

She laughed. "You 'love' me!" she practically spat the word out. "You think that'll stop me?"

Breathing hard through his pain, Xander looked her in the eye. "Don't really know. But I've gotta say it. Because I do, Willow. I love you. And I'm not gonna just stand here and watch you destroy yourself and everything you care about. I love you too much."

Willow's expression became patronizingly sad. "Awww," she replied. "That's so sweet! Might have even worked." Her eyes became hard as she finished, "If Willow was still calling the shots!"

Dawn's mind raced with a thousand panicked thoughts as Willow drew back her hand to strike at Xander again. She saw in her eyes that she was bored with her little game, she was going to kill him, and Xander had not even gotten back to his feet yet, and oh God, the look in his eyes! Because he knew it, too. And Anya was rushing toward him, and Dawn knew that she couldn't help him, but she was going to reach him before Willow struck and they'd both be killed. And then there would be no one between Willow and the only one who could stop her now, and they had failed, they had waited too long, the world was doomed, and Spike…oh, God, Spike!

Willow released her power, directing it with savage intensity at her best friend, meaning to take his life, and all Dawn's thoughts converged into one deadly certainty.

It's over. It's all over.

Suddenly, a flash of brilliant white light blinded her as the room seemed to shake once more. Somehow, Willow's magical killing blow had been turned back toward her, and she went flying back against the wall with tremendous force. When Dawn looked back to see what had saved them, her eyes met the most beautiful sight she had ever seen.

Tara.

But not Tara as she had known her for the past three years. Something incredible had happened to her. She seemed to be glowing from the inside, surrounded by a shimmering iridescent light that radiated pure, unadulterated magical power. Her eyes were blazing with fury as she looked at Willow, struggling to her feet across the room.

Willow's eyes were ablaze as well – with utter hatred – as she stood to face her attacker. With an animal cry of rage she loosed a violent surge of her power toward Tara.

Tara deflected it with her hand, from where she stood, now between Willow and the others.

"You are going to stop now, Willow," Tara said softly. Her eyes widened as she gazed into Willow's eyes, then narrowed as she corrected in a voice softer but much more dangerous, "Reyem."

Again the thing that looked like Willow but no longer was flung a magical bolt of lightning at Tara. Again she merely brushed it aside like an annoying insect. And then Tara was through talking. With an extended hand and no visible effort, she froze Willow where she stood. The dark witch was unable to move an inch of her own accord as she was lifted bodily off the ground. Then with a second wave of Tara's hand, she disappeared completely.

Stunned silence filled the room for a few moments. Then Dawn rushed Tara, flinging herself into her arms, as Xander slowly, painfully rose to his feet and approached them, half-supported by Anya at his side.

"T-tara!" Dawn sobbed, her relief overwhelming her now that the threat seemed to have passed. "I thought you were dead! Willow said…where were you? How?" She paused, frowning, and looked up at her friend. "Where is Willow?" she asked.

Tara smiled as she answered matter-of-factly with a shrug, "In the bedroom. That stasis spell will hold her as long as you need to complete the ritual. She won't be able to move or speak until I take it down."

"Good," Anya nodded in a satisfied way. "Her evil ranting was annoying."

"How – how did you…" Dawn stumbled over her words, unsure what to ask first. "I mean – I never knew you were that much stronger than her."

"I'm not," Tara admitted. "This is borrowed power. But it's far greater than any power Reyem has, that's for sure!" She paused before pushing Dawn gently away from her by the shoulders to look her in the eyes. "I'll explain everything later. There's no time now. We have to get the ritual done."

Dawn's eyes flooded with fresh tears as she remembered. "Tara," she gasped. "Spike! Buffy's got him, and – and we couldn't get him out, and she'd already hurt him, and – and…" The girl broke down again.

Tara held her for just a moment, then said in a voice that was both soft and firm, "I know, Dawnie. I'm gonna go take care of Buffy and bring Spike home. You just focus on the ritual. We have to get rid of this thing once and for all."

She looked up at Xander; he was staring at the bedroom door.

"Don't go in there," she warned gently. "She can't move or speak but she can still try to use mind-control on you. Don't give her the chance."

Xander's wide, startled brown eyes stared back at her.

Her voice became even gentler, understanding to what he had just been through, as she said, "Once Reyem is gone, we'll be able to find a way to help her. Until then, remember, Xander – that's not Willow."

Xander looked slowly back at the door, still trying to process everything that had happened. Then he nodded slowly. "She said so herself," he whispered, remembering.

"I won't be long," Tara said, giving Dawn one last encouraging smile, before she simply disappeared before their eyes.

Halfway around the world in London, Rupert Giles hung up the telephone, disconnecting his completed call to British Airways. His passage back to the States on the next available flight – which unfortunately was not for two days – was booked and all his arrangements were made. The small group of people he thought of as his kids, though they were neither his nor kids, were going to need him in the wake of what he knew was happening across the globe in Sunnydale.

He thought anxiously of Tara, and wondered how she was faring. The timing had really been impeccable. He had just been speaking with one of the Council's seers, who had seen a vision of a terrible evil rising in Sunnydale. He had been making preparations to go back himself to try and handle the situation when he had received Tara's call. While he was on the phone with her, the seer had received another vision indicating that Tara was the only one who could stop Sunnydale's rising evil power. So the coven in London had then teleported her there to be temporarily endowed with their power, and then had returned her in the same manner, to exact spot she had left from – the center of her living room.

Giles had wanted to go with her, but the energy it would have taken to teleport them both would have weakened her powers considerably, and she needed all the power she could get to face Reyem. Once again, Giles found himself regretting his past ways. The seer had told him that it was because of them that he could not be the one to go.

"There are remnants of dark power still within you," she had said. "Tara's magic is pure, and has never been tainted by evil. She will have a better chance of defeating Reyem. If you were to try, Reyem could try to take hold of the darkness in you and turn it against you and those you love."

So he waited for word, and for his flight back to Sunnydale, and hoped against hope that Tara would not be too late to stop Reyem.

"Of all people," he said softly to himself, gazing out the window of his study. "to think that the fate of the world rests not with the Slayer this time, but in Tara's gentle hands!"