Buffy raced up the pathway towards Petersham Hall. She was running a teensy bit late. Well, five minutes…ten at the most. She'd had some unscheduled slayage in the form of a demon who hadn't minded being out before sunset, and she'd had to kill it and dispose of the body as well. She hit the stairs at full speed, taking the steps three at a time, once again thankful for her Slayer's co-ordination and speed.
She stopped short and opened the door calmly. For several moments she stood and observed the group of eleven girls, ten of whom were on seats and couches, and the other one was sitting cross-legged on the floor, dressed in a black top with a dark brown jacket over the top with casual jeans.
Everyone seemed to be in the middle of their own private conversations, except for the blonde girl with the zigzagged part in her shoulder length hair. Her head was down, and she was fiddling with the hem of her jeans self-consciously. Buffy didn't know what it was, but she felt drawn to the quiet blonde girl. There was something about her that reminded Buffy of Willow, and that friendship had ended up being one of the best things that Buffy had in her life.
She approached the circle and lowered herself to the floor, sitting Indian style next to the blonde.
"Mind if I sit?" Buffy asked softly, making sure she didn't bring too much attention to them, knowing instinctively that the blonde girl wouldn't appreciate it.
Tara Maclay was absolutely stunned. She looked up and felt her mouth go dry with complete nervousness. The blonde girl who'd sat next to her was absolutely stunning! She had gentle hazel green eyes that danced with mischief and self-confidence. Tara managed to get herself to function enough to nod, indicating that she didn't mind if the girl sat beside her.
"Thanks," Buffy said, grinning.
"You're w-welcome," the wiccan replied.
One of the girls in the couch suddenly clapped her hands to get everyone's attention.
"All right everyone, let's begin shall we?" the girl said in a slightly authoritative voice. "Everyone hold hands."
There was a slightly shuffling as they all shifted to comply. Buffy reached up to the girl on the couch beside her, and reached across with her right hand to take Tara's left hand in hers. Tara was telling herself to just keep breathing and not pass out.
"We come together, daughters of Gaia, sisters to the moon. We walk with the darkness the wolf at our side through the waterfall of power to the blackest heart of eternity," the brunette wiccan said, her voice soft and lulling.
Buffy was trying to work out whether or not this girl was serious or not. It sounded so…cheesy. Like something out of a very bad witchcraft movie. She kept her grin to herself, thankful that she'd had a lot of practice in schooling her emotions over the years.
The girls all dropped hands and the introductions were made. For ninety embarrassing seconds, each of the girls in the circle was made to introduce themselves with interesting facts and figures.
Buffy gave them a highly edited version of who she was, and listened sympathetically as Tara stuttered out her own introduction. The girl was painfully shy. Worse than Willow had ever been, and Buffy wanted desperately to draw the girl out of the shell that she'd retreated into. She could tell that the gentle blonde girl was someone who would be a great friend.
For an hour straight, Buffy tried not to laugh at the naivety of the people in the circle. Absolutely nothing that these people were saying was anything like what she'd imagined. She'd been worried that she wouldn't be able to understand the talk about spells, but she couldn't help but wonder if she herself knew more about magic than the girls in the circle. Everything they said was mainly about the empowerment of women, and the blessing from Gaia. It was all well and good, but Buffy knew that Willow was looking to expand her magical knowledge.
But throughout the meeting, Buffy's eyes kept wandering over to Tara Maclay. The woman sat with her head down bent, surreptitiously sneaking glances at the Slayer beside her. Whenever Buffy would offer a small smile, Tara would look away, her cheeks tinging bright red.
Buffy couldn't help but be curious though. There was something about the woman, some hidden power that Buffy could feel. It was nice, calming. Like taking a hot bath after a long day and feeling every bone settle back into place.
The other girls in the circle couldn't have raised the power that the blonde woman held, and Buffy knew that despite the phoney wannabe Wiccan's, Tara was the real deal.
The meeting disbanded, and while the majority of people broke into their private conversations again, Tara stood up, flashing Buffy a shy smile and made her way to the front door. Buffy stood up quickly to follow her. She was stopped by the brunette wannabe-Wiccan who had led the meeting.
"Buffy, right?" the girl, Tammy asked.
Buffy nodded, her eyes still fixed on the door as it closed behind Tara.
"Did you enjoy the meeting?" Tammy asked.
"Yeah, it was great," Buffy replied absently. "But…look, I'm really running late, so…I'm gonna take off."
Tammy nodded and Buffy quickly shot out the door. She couldn't see Tara anywhere on the darkened path, and considering the path forked in three different directions, she wasn't too hopeful of finding the blonde girl. She sighed and went to walk back to her own dorm when she felt her senses prickling the back of her neck. She raced towards where she could feel demons converging.
Her heart raced as she stopped dead at the sight of Tara in the middle of three large male vampires. She looked absolutely terrified, but not overly shocked at the ridges and fangs.
Buffy dropped her bag and removed her stake from the back of her jeans as she quickly dusted one of the vampires that had his back to her. She wedged herself into the circle, purposefully standing between Tara and the vampires.
"Look, we get dessert too," one of the remaining two vampires said.
Buffy rolled her eyes, and shook her head. The two vampires finally realised that their third companion was nowhere to be seen, and their growls became even more menacing.
Tara was looking absolutely stunned. She'd known about vampires, but she couldn't believe that the shorter blonde woman was standing between her and the vampires that had ganged up on her. It wasn't something that she would have expected from anyone, let alone the blonde girl that had sat beside her during the Wicca Group meeting.
The two vampires suddenly attacked, and Buffy tried to move the fight away from Tara, though the vampires seemed keen to keep her within reach.
Buffy was trying to concentrate on the fight, rather than the potential fallout that would happen when the fight would end. She knew that people had trouble believing in the supernatural, and Buffy was not looking forward to explaining about what the creatures she was facing actually were.
She dispatched the both of them without too many problems, getting only a small gash in her arm from a dagger that the final vampire had pulled from his pocket when he'd become desperate to win. She cursed softly and gently touched the wound, more annoyed at the cut in her shirt, then the cut in her arm.
Tara stepped forward, worried at the sight of the blood staining the shirt.
"You're h-hurt," she said softly.
"Just a scratch," Buffy replied honestly. "I'll be fine. Honest."
Tara inhaled deeply, trying to get her breathing to regulate.
"Do you live on campus?" Buffy asked.
Tara nodded. "At the Porter dorm," she replied.
"C'mon, I'll walk you back," Buffy said, gently nudging Tara back onto the footpath.
They walked in silence for several minutes, Buffy waiting for the questions to come. Tara was just trying to process everything that she'd just seen, and trying to work out why the girl beside her had even noticed her in the first place.
"H-how did you know how to k-kill them?"
Buffy looked across at her, slightly surprised by the wording of the question. She'd known that the girl would want to ask her something of course, but she hadn't really expected it to be that question.
"So…you know what they were?" Buffy asked.
Tara nodded, slightly self-conscious. "I've never s-seen one before, but…they w-were vampires, right?"
"Yeah, they were vampires," Buffy replied. "And I know how to kill them cos I live in Sunnydale. They're basically the unofficial mascots of this place."
Tara didn't say anything and Buffy mistook her silence for…well, she wasn't sure what Tara was thinking, but she knew that it couldn't have been anything good.
"I'm sorry you were dragged into it," Buffy said softly.
"No," Tara said vehemently. She blushed bright red as Buffy's eyebrows raised in question. The blonde Wiccan lowered her voice and ducked her head, a strand of her hair coming loose from behind her hair, slightly hiding her flushed face. "No…it's, it isn't your fault. At all. You…you saved my life."
Buffy had never really known what to say to people who told her that. She'd heard it again and again, and every time someone said it to her, she never really knew what to say in reply. She suddenly stopped walking as they reached the stairs to Porter dorm.
"So…this is m-me," Tara said softly. "My dorm I mean." She stopped awkwardly. "Thank you…"
"You're welcome," Buffy replied softly.
"Do…I mean, you're injured, I thought…you should come inside…I could help patch you up," Tara said.
Buffy thought about refusing, she'd had other people she'd saved offer her the same thing, and she usually wouldn't go inside with them, unless she was really injured. And the gash on her arm didn't even hurt, but she didn't want to say no to the gentle blonde wiccan beside her.
"Thanks," Buffy replied softly as they walked up the stairs and inside the building.