Chapter Twenty-Four: Tara's Death

Walking through the park, Tara let her thoughts wonder to everything that had happened recently. A week had passed since her conversation with her mother and Faith about Willow. She couldn't help but think about everything they said, and it made her wonder if she could let go of everything she thought she knew about the witch and take the time to truly get to know her.

Laura had become weaker, and Tara tried to spend every minute she could with her mother. Today, however, Laura had demanded that Tara needed to spend time outside of the hospital. She didn't want her daughter making herself sick by staying at the hospital all the time.

Willow? Tara thought, wanting to talk to the dark witch so she wasn't alone with her thoughts.

Tara? Willow responded, concern in her voice.

Can I come see you? I need someone to talk to, Tara explained, hoping Willow wouldn't say no.

Where are you? Willow asked, her voice whispering in Tara's head.

The park...

I'll be right there.

Tara relaxed at Willow's words, grateful that she wasn't going to leave her on her own. Tara knew that Willow had promised that she would come whenever Tara needed her, but part of Tara believed that the dark haired witch would give up on her like before.

Lost in thought, Tara jumped when a hand rested on her shoulder, causing her to jerk around and face Willow. "Sorry," Willow mumbled, dropping her hand from the blonde's shoulder instantly. "I didn't mean to startle you. I said your name, but you didn't hear me."

Tara just nodded silently, not sure what to say in response to Willow's words. They stood in silence for a few minutes, neither knowing what to say to the other.

"Is everything okay?" Willow asked, softly, breaking the silence that seemed to weigh between them.

"No...yes...I don't know," Tara admitted, looking into the concerned green eyes. "My mom is getting worse."

"I know. I was with her when you asked me to come," Willow explained, seeing the confused look on Tara's face.

"Sorry," Tara whispered, dropping her eyes to look down at the ground.

"What's wrong, Tara?" Willow wondered, knowing the blonde wasn't telling her everything.

"I'm scared of what is going to happen to me when Mom dies. I don't want to go back to his house," Tara admitted, keeping her eyes locked on the ground.

"Whose house? Your fathers?"

Tara nodded silently, cautiously lifting her blue eyes to look into the green orbs. "Y-yes."

"Tara, you don't have to live with your father. I can help you find somewhere else," Willow offered, taking a small step towards the blonde. "I won't let him hurt you anymore."

"Y-you c-c-can't stop h-him," Tara replied, stiffening when Willow stepped slightly closer to her.

"I can try," Willow told her, stepping back once again when she noticed that Tara was uncomfortable with her being close.

"Y-you l-l-lose control. E-every time h-he h-hurts me. Y-you lose c-c-control," Tara argued, turning away from the dark witch so Willow couldn't see her eyes.

"I know," Willow agreed, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before reopening her green eyes. "I...I just don't like seeing you get hurt. I've already seen you die before. I can't watch it happen again."

"W-why didn't you stop my death before? You're powerful enough to have prevented it," Tara wondered, afraid to look at Willow.

"I couldn't. You were gone within seconds of being shot. I tried to save you. I tried...I tried to bring you back," Willow admitted, speaking so softly so Tara wouldn't hear the pain that echoed in her voice when she spoke of that day. "I called on Osiris to save you."

"He wouldn't," Tara guessed, realizing why her death had pushed Willow over the edge.

"No. He told me that you're death was a human death by human means. That I couldn't violate the laws of natural passing."

"I'm sorry," Tara whispered, hearing the pain in Willow's voice as she spoke.

Willow just nodded, keeping her eyes on Tara's back. "I tried everything I could to save you," Willow told her.

Finally turning to look at Willow, Tara looked into the sad green eyes and felt her heart break for the dark witch. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have doubted that," Tara replied, stepping toward's Willow and resting her hand on Willow's cheek.

"You should go back to the hospital, spend time with your mom. I'll go see if I can find a place for you to stay away from your father," Willow told her, stepping away from the blonde's touch and turning away.

"Willow?" Tara whispered, hating seeing her hurting. Especially since she was the one that caused Willow to bring up the painful memories.

"Yes?" Willow asked, keeping her back to the blonde.

"I'm sorry for bringing that up. I should have known better. I knew you loved her. I hear it every time you talk about her," Tara said, feeling guilty for upsetting the once dark witch.

"It's okay," Willow replied, turning her head to look at Tara over her shoulder. "You should go see your mom."

"Okay...Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah...I'll be fine," Willow told her before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Tara watched her go with a sad look on her face, knowing Willow was hurting because of something she did. She knew she shouldn't have brought up the death of Willow's Tara. Part of her knew she would hurt the dark witch if she did.

I'm so sorry, Tara thought, sending it in Willow's direction and hoping the witch would know that she meant it. I'm so so sorry. Walking from the park, Tara head back to the hospital to spend more time with her mother.

A/N: Thank you Gimpy72 for all the help with this story and all my other stories.