Chapter 2

Buffy and Kelly were walking towards Buffy's house and Kelly kept noticing Buffy giving her sideways glances like she really wanted to ask her something.

Finally Kelly says "Buffy, if you have something to say or ask, just spit it out. It's a lot easier that way and I promise I won't bite..." Unless you want me too! she continues in her own mind. Thinking to herself that Buffy would most definitely freak out if she continued that thought out loud. Buffy seemed to be a little on the tense side. Maybe if I'm around long enough I can help loosen her up some. Life's too short not to live it to the fullest.

"Okay, just to let you know, I don't usually pull any punches. What are you doing here? How did you find Tara? And what the hell are you up to?" Buffy says a very stern voice.

"Buffy, I'm not here to hurt Tara or anyone else. I came here because I found out that this is where Tara was. I wanted to see my sister again and find out how she was doing and if there was anything I could do to help her. I haven't seen her in 17 years and I just wanted to see the last family member I have." Kelly stated quietly. "Can I ask you something Buffy? Something about the comment Willow said to me in the Magic box?"

Buffy just nods her head waiting patiently while she thinks about what Kelly just said.

"Did- did her father hurt her?" Kelly asked with a slight tremor in her voice.

Buffy looks at her and sighs. "Tara really doesn't talk about her family much. Obviously, since we didn't even know you existed before today. But when her father, brother and cousin showed up here a few years back I had the distinct impression that there was abuse. I don't know if it was mental or physical, but I know it probably was one if not both."

"Damn, that bastard" Kelly said with a snarl. I hoped when I left that son of a bitch would be done with the abuse. He never yelled at Donnie or Tara when I was there. I hoped it was just me he went after since I wasn't his, she continued thinking to herself.

"Kelly, whatever happened, happened a long time ago. Tara is so different now compared to when she first came here. She wouldn't hardly say hi to anyone. Now she's an English teacher at the high school." It was still hard for Buffy to sometimes think about the shy, introverted witch Tara used to be. Compared to the confident young woman she is now. "I think... no, I know that a lot of Tara's self confidence was brought about by her love for Willow. I hope that the rest of us helped her out somewhat along the way, also." Buffy states grinning to herself thinking about the past couple years.

"Buffy, when I walked into the Magic Shop and saw Tara again, I could see that she was happy and well loved. It was in her aura and I can't describe how that made me feel. I only ever wanted her to be happy with her life. I hoped that my leaving the Maclay household would make things easier for everyone involved. But, with what you just said and the comments from Willow, my leaving may have made it harder on Tara. I just hope that maybe she can forgive me for leaving her." Kelly says looking down at her feet as they continue walking.

Buffy reaches over and lays her hand lightly on Kelly's forearm, "Kelly, I can honestly tell you that Tara is one of the most forgiving and loving people I have ever met. I consider her family and would do anything for her. I know she doesn't blame you for whatever happened, she just isn't like that. Talk to her and you'll see. Hell, just think about the way she threw herself at you in the Magic Box - does that say she 'hates you, and doesn't ever want to see you again?' to me it screams that she loves you and wants you here. As a matter of fact, I was afraid you might be an old flame coming to stir up trouble!" Buffy states laughing slightly to herself.

"I can definitely say that I'm not an old flame - I think Willow would take care of any problems on that front. She looked like she would have been willing to turn me into a frog or something when she came into the shop" Kelly laughingly replied. More seriously she says "Thanks, Buffy for letting me know a little bit about what's going on. I have so much catching up to do and I'm glad you got my initial burst of anger and not Tara. I can go into talking to her with a better idea of what has happened and maybe I will be better able to control my feelings. I just hope he didn't hurt her badly. I don't think I will ever be able to forgive myself if he did." and I definitely will never forgive that bastard if he did, I'll be making a trip to the old homestead to right a few wrongs, if that's the case, Kelly thinks to herself.

"Well, here we are. Come on, let's get you situated. I'll show you where everything is and you can make yourself at home. Since Tara and Willow moved out, I've been kind of lonely. Maybe you wouldn't mind sticking around to help keep me company?" Buffy asks with a hopeful grin on her face - deciding to trust her instincts that Kelly's a good person. What she had said so far seemed to further cement that thought in her head. Maybe she's a good cook - hopefully that part was genetic. Slayer tummy growls at the thought of a home cooked meal. Definitely need to talk to Kelly some more!

Kelly laughs, "we'll see how things go after I talk with Tara. Buffy, I just want to say thank you for taking care of my sister and letting me stay here, I'll try not to get underfoot. If there's anything I can help you with, just let me know."

"Wellll, no, we'll talk about that later" Buffy says laughingly, "Let's get you situated, by the way, how tall are you?"

Willow doesn't even wait until they are in the vehicle before starting the Spanish Inquisition. "Tara, who exactly is Kelly? I mean, I know she's your sister, but why haven't you ever mentioned her? Where has she been all this time? Why is she showing up here, now? How did she find you? Is she like the rest of your family? Am I gonna have to kick her extremely tall ass back to wherever she came from? By the way, what is up with that? How tall is she? Where did her tallness come from? I guess that would be a stupid question, they probably came from the same place her dark hair, eyes and everything else came from. How is it that you look nothing alike? I mean I understand that you are half-sisters, but usually there are some kind of similarities between family members somewhere." Willow finally has to stop and take a breath of air.

Tara jumps in before her sweetie starts on the next round of questions, "Willow, honey, half of these questions I can't answer. We'll find them out when we talk to Kelly. As for the rest, let me try and give you a quick rundown and see if that might help some. Kelly is my half sister. Her father, from what mom told me was an ex-basketball player that died in a car crash. Kelly gets her height and dark hair and eyes from him. Kelly is nothing like my father or our brother. She left home when I was just 8 years old. From what I remember, she was always a loving, caring person that always had time for me, even if I was so much younger than her. Before you ask - she's 10 years older than me, sweetie. She left home when she turned 18 - th-there were problems between her and my father. I think she left because of that. I don't really know what happened then, I just remember vague things. I have a feeling that what happened between me and my family was minor compared to whatever they did to Kelly."

They pull up to there house and slowly walk inside, holding hands.

"Oh, worse than what they did to you? But honey, they beat you and hurt you, what could be worse?" Willow says with a slight catch in her voice. Whenever she thinks about her love's father and brother she gets upset at how they treated her.

"Sweetie, they may have smacked me a few times and hurt me a little, but I remember Kelly coming in from the barn one night late after my father took her out there and she could hardly move. I was hiding behind the staircase when she finally came in. Mom went to her room later and all I heard was Mom crying. I never heard anything from Kelly. It was a few days later that Kelly turned 18 and left. I haven't heard from her since. But you heard the same things I did, it seems she made a life for herself in the Marine Core. Obviously she is a more powerful witch than I remember. Her aura is as strong as yours if not stronger, so please don't try to kick her butt honey." Tara laughingly says with a hint of sadness in her smile.

"Honey, I'm sorry. I'll try and tone it down a little. I just love you so much and want to make sure there is nothing bad going to happen to you. I was just afraid that she might be here to try and take you back to your family. I didn't realize that she may have had even more of a reason to leave that hell hole behind than you did. Let's get ready to head over to Buffy's. That way maybe we can get some more answers. Even though, she did look tired. Do you think we should give her some time to relax before getting the low down on her?" asks Willow with an understanding smile.

"That would probably be best, let's talk about us. Kelly obviously knows something is up. She was always able to read people. She was way better at it than I ever was. Hopefully Buffy will trust her. If Kelly is as strong as I think she is, she could be a great help to us here on the Hellmouth. Plus, with her experience fighting demons in the Core, that couldn't hurt." Tara says, thinking about it. She pulls Willow to her and gives her a light kiss on the lips. Unfortunately there wouldn't be enough time for much else but a few smoochies before heading over to Buffys. Damn that Anya and putting ideas in her head. Oh, well there was always tonight when they got back home.

Willow wraps her arms around Tara's waist and gives Tara a lingering kiss. "I love you." she says as she starts to deepen the kiss slightly by running her tongue lightly over Tara's full lips. As Tara opens her mouth slightly, welcoming in Willows tongue to suck on it lightly.

Tara slowly pulls away and gives her lover her lop-sided grin and says, "we will definitely be continuing this particular conversation later after we get home from Buffy's."

"Vixen!" Willow growls with a grin. "Can't we..."

"Sweetie, we don't have time. And I definitely am in the mood to take my sweet time driving you crazy tonight." Tara huskily whispers into Willow's ear. She gives her lover a quick peck on the lips as she heads up to the bedroom for a quick change of clothes before they head over to Buffy's house.

"That is so not fair!" Willow says to herself in the living room. But, boy, oh boy. Fun to be had tonight!