CHAPTER SIX: foreboding
Giles looked up from the texts he was reading as the bell rang over the shop. He smiled at the red head thankful for the distraction. Even after an hour he still hadn't found anything.
"Hi Giles," Willow said glancing around the room looking for her friend. "Is Buffy around, I checked her house and her mom said I could probably find her here."
"No she isn't here at the moment." Giles closed the book he was reading knowing the red head would want to know that Tara had arrived. "Do you remember that girl that I mentioned Lucinda would possibly be sending." Willow nodded.
"The sorceress? She is still coming right?" Willow asked desperately wanting someone to help her expand upon her training.
"She stopped in earlier today-" Willow beamed cutting Giles off.
"She did?" she asked excitedly, at Giles's nod she fell into a full on babble. "Really? Goddess I was really beginning to think that maybe she wouldn't be coming at all. I mean it'll be so cool to have someone to do spells with, that is supposing that she would want too..." She paused taking her own words into consideration. "Do you think she would…?"
"From what I've seen of her I'm sure she would." Giles encouraged sending Willow into another hyper induced rant.
"I hope so…I mean I love Buffy and know she tries but she's a little dense in the magical realm, and trust me when I say Buffy and Magic so not a good mix." She was thoughtful a moment. "Kind of like Buffy and cooking…not that it really matters because she's the slayer and all and doesn't need to get all Martha Stewart magicy…and well never mind" Giles shook his head.
"Willow I know you're eager to meet other practicers but Oz helps doesn't he?" Giles offered, remembering the aspiring musician helping his girlfriend many a time with spells in the past.
"Not lately…kind of…I mean well yes, I guess he does…but with the candles and the dim lights…" she said dreamily, instantly missing her boyfriend, "It gets kind of distracting." Giles groaned not liking where this was heading
"Willow." Giles said trying to get the girl back on track.
"Oh sorry…I meant he helps…a lot…but it's not in the way that is really useful, magic wise I mean," she blushed deeply. "Anyway…and since Amy went and turned herself into a rat last year, she has a hard time with the chanting," her brow creased, "not to mention the understanding for that matter…and well it just going to be nice to have a person to do bigger spells with and…" she took a deep breath. "Sorry. Oz usually stops me when I get like this." she said referring to the babble. Giles just shook his head surprised that he had caught most of what the girl had even been saying, she had been talking so quickly.
"Well…it was certainly…enlightening." The red head's blushed before her eyes lit upon the ice pack.
"Giles! Oh my god I am so sorry, I didn't even notice, what happened?"
"It's quite all right Willow." Giles said motioning for the red head to sit down. "I hurt it earlier while unpacking some of the newer shipments." He consciously rubbed his hand over it and decided Tara's little serum must be working as he was hardy feeling any pain at all, but he left the ice pack there not wanting to tempt fate. "As for Buffy and Tara, they won't be back for a while they just left for patrol about an hour ago." Willow gave Giles a sympathetic look while taking the offered seat. She had been hoping to maybe spend some of the seriously needed quality time with one of her best friends, but was easily distracted by the new turn of events. Especially since Oz was away practicing for next weeks gig.
"So?" Willow asked barley able to stand the suspense and excitedly clasping her hands together. "What's she like? Do you know what rank she is? If she's a sorceress I bet she's high. Not like drugs high…like magical herb high…um I think that came out wrong…oh never mind you know what I mean." She waved her hands in the air dramatically causing Giles to almost laugh at the giddy look on the girl's face.
"Well from what I've seen she seems to be a very nice young lady." He paused. "As for her rank I am not so sure. Apparently she has never been tested." He smiled slightly "Considering she bested Buffy though I'm assuming it to be quite high." Willow's smile turned into a look of shock and then disbelief.
"You're joking right?" Giles shook his head no. "Beginners luck?" Willow asked.
"Perhaps, but I don't think so. At least not after she bested Buffy the second time-"
"By bested you mean by magic right?" At Giles's nod Willow nearly fainted. "Wow" she said in aw thinking about the power Tara must have. "She must really be powerful…" Giles nodded agreeing. "WAIT! She beat Buffy!" the red head grinned. "Buffy is so never gonna live this down! Teach her to call magic stupid. HA!" she grinned thinking back to how Buffy had called magic stupid after she nearly singed her eyebrows off during a simple remembrance spell back in high school.
"Pardon?" Giles asked confused.
"Oh just Buffy calling magic stupid." Giles also grinned knowing that his slayer had never really taken magic seriously before now and could see why Willow was pleased. "Hey do you think she would know how to make Amy human again?"
"I'm afraid I don't know for sure, but perhaps." Willow shook her head dejectedly.
"Because I keep trying…"she faded away a little. "But last time she turned pink and well…I don't know if me experimenting in glamour spells is the answer and I'm afraid to try anything else on my own…"
"Willow," Giles said interrupting the red heads thoughts as something occurred to him.. "Has Buffy ever mentioned Tara to you before?" at that Willow scrunched up her brow.
"No. Why would she? I thought one of your friends was sending her over from a Coven in L.A.? As far as I knew they don't even know each other. At least not before today?" Giles shook his head no.
"Yes that's what I had been thinking, but it turns out that they had met once in L.A. Before Buffy came to Sunnydale." The red head frowned at this.
"Really?" Willow searched her memory. "I don't remember her mentioning it," she paused. "Actually Buffy practically avoids talking about anything that had happened in L.A. all together. She calls it her Cordelia era." Giles also frowned.
"Yes I've noticed that as well, but I had hoped perhaps she had spoken to you about their meeting."
"Not a word." Willow said dejectedly feeling once again out of the loop. She chanced a glance at Giles who seemed to be deep in thought.
"Giles if it's about Buffy not telling us about it," Willow said quickly, defending her best friend, "we both know Buffy is a little secretive. I mean hello slayer here, it's like…well I'm not exactly sure what it's like but they practically go together, slayer and secrets, secrets and slayers, secret identity and all. But isn't them meeting before a good thing? Gives them something in common…well besides the obvious fight against evil?" She paused. "Unless they hate each other? They don't hate each other do they?" she said nervously remembering how Cordelia used to treat them in high school and hoping Buffy hadn't done that to the sorceress.
"No they don't hate each other," Giles said ceasing the girl's worries, "quite on the contrary actually,"
"Well that's a relief." She looked at the texts littering the table. "Hey are these new?" she asked pulling one into her lap, not recognizing the text.
"Yes, Lucinda had Tara bring them to me in hopes of helping us to decipher what is happening on the Hellmouth." Willow nodded blankly while slowly reading through where the watcher had obviously left off, then cringed as another sickening wave passed. Giles noted the girl's reaction as he also felt the shift.
"You've felt the balances shifting as well then I take it?" Willow looked up from what she had been reading surprised.
"You've felt them too…" she asked. "For a while there I thought I was just getting sick or maybe ate something not so Willow friendly."
"We've all been feeling them Willow." The watcher said simply "The balances are truly fluxing." After getting a confused look from the red head he quickly explained, filling her in on the details and relaying what he and Lucinda had discussed concerning the rising darkness.
"So do we know what's causing it?" she asked worriedly after he had finished.
"We're not quite sure…" He said begging to feel the hair on his neck prickle as he felt the darkness swell again in the atmosphere. "But hopefully we'll be able to find something of use in here." He said indicating the books. "And soon. I myself have never felt the balances shift to this extent." Willow simply nodded and turned back to the book in her lap. "For now all we can do is hope to find some sort of explanation for all of this." With that said they both quickly submerged themselves into reading.
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"You know I looked for you when you left." Buffy said seriously as they continued down Restfield cemetery. Tara raised her brow at this. "Yearbook, phonebooks, missing people profiles. The whole nine yards."
"R-Really?" Tara asked surprised that Buffy would have looked around for her, but also knowing the slayer would never have found her. Lucinda and her mother had made sure of that. "D-Did you ever find anything?" she asked already knowing the answer.
"No! And that's what bothered me so much." Buffy said scanning the cemetery, "It was like you had disappeared off the face of the Earth," she shook her head. "I asked around of course but…well after realizing I didn't even have your name to go on I kind of lost hope." She sighed deeply "Then my mom was going through a divorce and my watcher was killed," Tara sucked in a breath "things just began to spiral out of control."
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't know." Tara said feeling for Buffy's loss.
"It's not your fault Tara." Buffy said stopping to look at the Wicca seriously. "It's just that shortly after you left, things kind of fell apart for me." She frowned feeling her senses pull her over to a new grave. She walked over to it and waited for the vampire to rise. Tara followed also feeling the slight tug. "By the time we moved to Sunnydale I just wanted to start over." She slammed the stake into the vampire as he rose up and motioned for her and Tara to keep going as he fell to ashes. "I even tried to deny the fact that I was the slayer." Buffy said lightly thinking about how naive she used to be. Tara grinned at the slayer.
"I-I take it that didn't work?" Buffy just laughed.
"Obviously." She said flatly. "And it was just my luck to land on a Hellmouth right?" she winked at the witch knowing that she had also sensed the other vampire approaching from behind. She whipped around catching the intruder off guard and quickly disposed of him.
"Fate works in strange ways." Tara said grinning at the Slayer's victorious smile. "At least that was what my mother always said."
"You don't say." Buffy said smiling than frowned as she felt a shiver run through her body, it didn't feel like a vamp and she couldn't get an exact location on it either. Tara looked behind them and whispered to Buffy.
"Do you get the feeling we're being followed?" Buffy looked at her seriously and gave a sharp nod.
"Let's keep going." She whispered back and smiled at Tara, not wanting whatever was out there to know that they were aware of their presence. At least not yet, she thought to herself. "About what you said concerning fate?" Buffy asked trying to get back on topic and discuss something that had been bothering her.
"Y-Yes?" Buffy looked at the ground avoiding curious blue eyes.
"When you showed up today, at first I couldn't help feeling that I didn't try hard enough to find you." She took a deep breath. "But now I wonder if maybe I wasn't supposed to?" she looked at Tara who was also frowning slightly. "I don't know maybe I'm just rambling here…" she died away starting feel a little self conscious.
"B-Buffy." When she knew she had the slayer's full attention she went on. "I know for a fact that had you not found me that night I probably wouldn't be here today." She smiled at the slayer. "And if that isn't fate I don't know what is." Buffy blushed at that. "As for you not finding me…let's just say my mother and Lucinda took care of that."
"What do you mean?" Buffy asked causing Tara to sigh.
"T-The day after we met, the morning after you found m-me," she clarified. "My mother cast a temporary spell to make people forget that we had ever lived there. S-she had said it was past time for us to leave. After that she packed our things and left to find Lucinda." She let her hair fall in her face. "After we arrived at the Coven the first thing they did was cement the spell." She offered the Slayer a smile. "Had you even had known my name, I don't think you would have been able to find me. Let alone find someone to remember me or where I had been leaving to." Buffy looked at the blonde shocked.
"So that's why no one seemed to know who you were…"
"Well," Tara said, "and the fact that I wasn't exactly popular." She grinned at the slayer. "At least not like some people I know." Buffy glared at her.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Buffy said hoping that perhaps Tara hadn't really known what she was like at Hemery.
"Uh-huh?" Tara said just as sarcastic. "You're not the only one who had a yearbook you know. N-Now lets see," she held up her fingers ticking off what she knew. "F-First we have Cheerleading squad captain, Home Coming Court, student council, Gymnastics team, Debate team," Tara laughed at Buffy's reddening face, "Shall I go on?"
"Please don't." Buffy said quickly. "I try not to remember my air head days thank you, and work very hard to deny that I was ever that self involved whenever possible." Tara just chuckled. Then Buffy realized something.
"How did you know all those things about me if I didn't even know your name?"
"Buffy, everyone at Hemery new about you. Even when you were at your meanest they still worshiped the ground you walked on" Buffy cringed wishing Tara had never seen that side of her.
"God I hope you know I'm not still like that…" Tara nodded and touched Buffy's arm.
"I know you're not Buffy." Buffy shook her head confused.
"Until now I hadn't even thought you had gone to Hemery," she sighed "At least your picture wasn't in the yearbook." She looked at the ground. "How could I not have remembered you?"
"W-well for one I've never been one for picture day at school…and usually had to miss them anyway." She didn't want to get into why though. "And plus I was a grade ahead of you anyway and was more often than not at a different end of the school building. If you did see me it was more likely than not just in passing" She smiled at the Slayer. "Besides I told you about the spell. N-No one remembered me when I left, and I honestly doubt they would have remembered me anyway." Buffy raised her brow at that. "I-I more or less stayed to myself in school." Buffy thought over what Tara had said.
"If everyone else forgot about you…and I hardly even knew you…how come I was still able to remember?"
"I-I still have the tweedy-bird shirt you gave me." Tara said simply, making Buffy laugh.
"You're kidding right?" Tara shook her head no.
"L-Lucinda had directed us to burn everything that anybody had given to us or just simply l-leave it behind." Buffy looked at her confused. "It was part of the spell, anything someone had given as a gift would create a type of life line or connection to their memory."
"Oh." Buffy said understanding, then she looked at Tara quizzically, "So how come you didn't destroy it?" Tara looked down blushing deeply.
"Because it was yours." She said seriously not able to look at the Slayer. Buffy was more than a little taken back by the admittance and wasn't really sure what Tara had meant by it. Of course she knew what she wanted it to mean but she had no way of knowing. Quickly gathering as much courage as she could she pulled them to a stop.
"Tara…" Buffy began getting the Witches attention. "Um…what did you-" her thoughts were cut off as something materialized in front of her. The sight making her freeze in her tracks.
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Willow's eyes widened as she ran the words over in her mind again, not sure if she was reading it correctly. But as the words sunk in she looked at Giles, paling considerably, "Giles I think we should find Buffy." The older man looked up from the book he had been researching to see a pair of frightened green eyes staring at him
"What is it?" he asked as Willow pushed the book over to him. He quickly read over the page and felt his stomach drop. "Dear Lord."
Okay sorry for the delayed update and short chaps, but hey between school and whatnot it's been kind of tough. Thanks to all those who have reviewed and I am thoroughly looking forward to hearing what you think so far.