A/N: Sorry it so long to upload this chapter. I'm taking a few courses, so my time is divided between those and writing these chapters. Do not worry, I'm still writing but it would take time between writing the chapters and uploading them to the site. In the meantime, enjoy. Cheers.

The Rosenberg Residence, 1100 hours.

Tara slowly opened her eyes to Willow sleeping next to her, her arm draped over the redhead's abdomen while her head rested next to the straps of the tank top Willow wore. Tara closed her eyes and gave a small yawn before moving to her left side and then checking the table clock, 'Eleven in the morning?' she had a smile on her face before her head lay flat on the pillow, her eyes to the ceiling, 'Willow and I did sleep late last night, or is it this morning.' Tara chuckled turning her head back to Willow who sniffled but didn't wake up.

'She's so exhausted,' Tara thought to herself while staring at her lover.

"Ummmm….," Willow moaned while Tara watched. The redhead shook her head on the pillow before whispering, "Tara?" Willow's body was fidgeting, as if she missed the feeling of closeness while Tara's head rested on her shoulder.

"I'm here," Tara whispered back as she lay the side of her head on Willow's shoulder once again.

"Ummmm," the redhead moaned before taking a deep breath while her eyes were closed. Willow's breathing remained steady while Tara looked on at the redhead's profile. Tara saw her lips slightly parted, her chest rising up and down, and then Tara placed a hand on Willow's abdomen and closed her eyes. "I love you, baby," Tara whispered as she snuggled closer onto Willow.

'I can skip this one class,' Tara thought to herself while holding tight to Willow.

A smile appeared on Tara's lips when Willow whispered, "I love you too." And then Willow sighed before pulling Tara closer until their bodies were held tight together. Tara closed her eyes and let her dreams take her to a grassy hill where she lay down on her back with Willow next to her. They watched the clouds floating by as a gentle breeze swayed the long grass around them.

Tara took a deep breath and hoped that their greatest danger was over. All that remained now was for Willow to be checked out by the Devon Coven to ensure that whatever remained of the darkness that gathered in the seal during her time in hell was truly gone. But even as she lay next to Willow on their bed, Tara could feel warmth emanating from Willow's aura. She had always felt that warmth, but this time it was different- the warmth comforted her.

And Tara, again, was content.

What felt like a few minutes after Tara closed her eyes, she stopped feeling the warmth of Willow's body next to her. Instead, she opened her eyes to find herself lying down on damp grass just as lighting flashed across a cloudy sky. She narrowed her eyes and rolled to the side before getting up on an elbow. It was then she was met with the sight of a rundown home- it was Buffy's home with one entire side having collapsed into the ground. Tara slowly got up to her feet, fear gripping her heart, and then stared at the side of the building which looked as if it could collapse at anytime.

Tara told herself that she was dreaming, 'nothing can hurt me here' she thought to herself as a chilly gust of wind rushed past her. Goosebumbs formed on her arms just as Tara heard roars, grunts, and wails all around her. Tara turned her body to the left and was greeted with the sight of even more destruction, and then she turned right and saw more of the same; destroyed homes, cars destroyed with plumes of smoke travelling up into the air.

And then the sky flashed again. Tara looked up at the sky and swore she heard a scream.

"T… Tara?" a familiar voice called out from behind. Tara smiled to herself, 'I knew this is just a dream', before she turned around. Her smile fell up seeing the sight of the woman before her; it was Willow. But her hair was shortened; there were three healed claw marks across her face… it seemed to give the redhead a savage look as she stared at Tara. Tara saw that Willow was wearing a black and grey version of her Galaxy Ranger uniform, along with a pair of glasses that had a yellowing tint. Tara watched Willow take a step back in stunned silence while she took a step forward.

"Willow," Tara said, "I…"

"Who are you?" Willow asked as Tara felt herself being pushed back, her feet scrapping on the ground as she tried to stay still and in place, "the Tara I know.. the Tara I love is dead. And you are just a pale imitation of her. So who are you!?"

"Dead?" Tara whispered with a confused look on her face as the surprise on Willow's face turned to one of anger. Tara saw Willow close her hands into fists as the latter took a step forward before Tara suddenly felt herself flying back to what remained of the wall that faced the front yard of the Summers home. She felt pressure on her wrists just before her arms were violently pushed back and held against the all, followed by an invisible force that wrapped around her necked and held it in place. All the while, Tara watched Willow walking closer and closer- up the stairs and then onto what remained of the porch, and the blonde witch tried to speak out, "Will…. Will… I.. this.. this is just a dream. I… I… not…"

"You think you could draw me out by taking the form of my love?" Willow demanded to know as she stopped a few inches from Tara, "you think you could replicate her magical signature so perfectly that I'd came out and be a blubbering idiot so that you could kill me?"

"Will…" Tara tried to shake her head, "I…." the force around her neck tightened and she closed her eyes and gasped in pain.

"I am vengeance itself!" Willow yelled out as she placed her hand onto Tara's chest, "and now? Well, after I crush your chest in? I'll leave your body in front of the Red Gates- I'll leave your body for…"

'Willow!" Tara yelled, her magic forcing away the invisible force around her neck. "Willow!" Tara yelled with tears in her eyes. "It's me! it's me!"

"You're good," Willow whispered as she coldly stared at the tears coming down Tara's face, "but Tara died the day Glory killed Dawn and Buffy. She died the day lightning from the portal tearing open in the sky struck her down. I held her in my arms… no, you're not Tara. You just one of the…"

"I'm alive, Willow," Tara whispered shaking her head, "I'm alive. You… this is just a dream. You're sleeping with me.. you… we're in our room. We're…"

"A dream?" Willow scoffed, "I…"

"Willow!" Tara yelled, "it's me."

"Tara died," Willow said as she raised her hand. Tara felt the invisible force around her neck once again.

'Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!' Tara mentally commanded herself as she felt the pressure on her neck tighten. 'Wake up!'

"Tara!"

"Die, demon," Willow growled in anger before she closed her hand into a fist. Tara opened her eyes wide as the grip around her neck tightened. At the same time though, she could hear a distant voice calling her name.

"Wake up, Tara," the blonde witch heard as she opened her mouth with a gasp once more. "Hear my voice, Tara. Come back to me, come back."

"For taking the form of the woman whom I love," the Willow in front of her said coldly, "I sentence you to die."

"Tara," the familiar voice whispered in Tara's ears as she closed her eyes. Suddenly, Tara found herself surrounded by darkness. The thought going through her mind was that she was dead, that the Willow in her dream killed her. Then she felt warm fingers on her cheek, warm breath hitting her ear followed by a whisper, "Tara, wake up. You're safe. It was just a nightmare. Just a nightmare."

Tara's heart was racing as she opened her eyes. A smile formed on her face as she stared back into the unscarred face of her lover. Tara gasped before she reached up and hugged Willow tight, pulling the redhead down as she kissed her cheek.

"I heard you yelling 'wake up'," Willow whispered in Tara's ear, "you're alright, you're alright."

"I.. I had a nightmare," Tara panted while holding on tight to Willow. however, there was a part of Tara that told her what she experienced wasn't a dream. That what she saw was real… that what she had experienced was the aftermath of a possible apocalypse. "It was a nightmare, a nightmare."

"Shhh," Willow whispered into Tara's ear before pulling back and looking into her eyes while lying on top of her, "it was a nightmare. That's all it was."

Tara took a deep breath and nodded her before turning her head to one side away from Willow. She stared at the digital clock on the bedside table, 'it's twelve noon, I must have been out for… wow, it only felt like a few minutes."

The glance to the clock was only a few seconds, but during that time Willow's eyes narrowed in confusion at the sight of the blue and black bruise from just under the Blonde's ear to the nape of her neck. Willow hadn't realized it before until now- but then again, she couldn't have seen it before since the bruise started to spread from the nape of Tara's neck to the areas under her chin, along her throat. Tara then turned her head and stared at the surprise on Willow's face; the green eyes staring at the bruise spreading to the left side of Tara's neck and behind her ear, and the back of her neck.

"Tara?" Willow whispered looking back into her girlfriend's eyes, "there's a bruise across your neck, what happened?"

"What? A stunned Tara asked as she placed her hands on her throat. She didn't feel any stinging sensation before Willow rolled away and then got off the bed. She dashed around the bed to Tara's side and reached out to pull the latter up. The both of the them rushed to the mirror at the dresser where Tara's eyes went wide in shock at the bruise on her neck. It was the same area where she felt the Willow in her nightmare grab her mentally.

Willow placed a hand on Tara's arm, her fingers gently squeezing before saying, "Tara, what kind of nightmare did you have?"

Tara turned to Willow and explained what she had seen in great detail; include the appearance of Willow in her modified uniform- something that surprised the redhead, and then Tara told Willow what the other Willow had said. However, sensing Willow's unease, Tara explained that the Willow she had seen in her nightmare wasn't being controlled by darkness, "she was angry. She said that I died, and.. And so many others died. She mentioned something about Dawn dying, and she was then she gave a name… Glory."

"Glory? Willow asked after a sigh of relief that she hadn't turned to the dark side; however, Willow was still uneasy that she'd try hurting Tara again. "I don't recognize the name."

"Neither do I," Willow said as she brushed her fingers gently along the bruised skin on Tara's neck, "we'll talk to Giles about it. Maybe I should do what I did when I was.. You know… Dark Willow…" The redhead winced at the name of her possessed self while Tara placed her hand on the side of Willow's neck and then took a few steps forward, "use magic to form some alpha radiation and charge the badge. Maybe if I can access my clairvoyant abilities, then we could get a heads up on what's gonna happen. Maybe find out what the other me meant by you're gonna die, Tara."

Tara then nodded her head.

"Now, since the both of us are up," Willow said, "how about we go for a nice warm shower, and then lunch."

"I can go with that," Tara whispered before leaning forward and then passionately kissing Willow's inviting lips. As they kissed, Tara recalled the anger on the other Willow's face as she yelled out that her Tara was dead. 'I'm not dying, and Willow will not become that person so full of rage.'

The Summers Home, 1230 hours.

"What do you think it meant?" Althanea asked as she placed her mug of tea on the island in Joyce's kitchen. The two of them were talking about what Tara said she saw just before the eruption of light from Dawn's body. The very same eruption of light that seemingly cured Willow of the darkness that was locked away from her time in hell, as well as healed the scars on her body. Althanea stared at the cup of now warm team in her hands before looking up at Joyce who leaned back against a counter to the left of the sink and sighed.

Joyce was surprised to hear what Tara had to say about what she had seen, and it was something she couldn't explain. "I'm still getting used to the fact that Dawn was able to do whatever she was able to do. Even Dawn looked surprised, so did you. I remember seeing the surprise on your face."

"Tomorrow we're heading off to Devon to see Mrs. Harkness," Althanea said, "she's supposed to check out Willow- especially now that we know the symbol on her chest sealed away the darkness that accumulated in her during her imprisonment in hell." Joyce suspected what Althanea was about to say next, and the thought of Dawn being sent away made her heart race, "if Dawn's back to full strength by then, would you be okay with her coming along with us? If anyone could figure out if there is a magical component to what happened with her yesterday, then it would be the Coven."

Joyce nodded her head before sighing and then asking if she needed to accompany Dawn as well.

"If you want to come, you're more than welcome," Althanea assured Joyce. Joyce then pressed her lips together before looking away from Althanea. Dawn was in her thoughts, and Joyce felt that it would be better if she was there to help her youngest go through whatever examinations the Coven would be performing on her. Joyce knew that Buffy and Faith were old enough to stay at home by themselves, and they could count on Jenny, Xander, and Anya helping them since they would still be remaining in Sunnydale.

"I'll come with you guys then," Joyce said nodding her head. "We'll make a vacation out of it."

TBC.