Chapter 19

Harmony watched as Willow lead Buffy out into the sitting room. A haggard looking Dawn jumped to her feet and embraced her sister lovingly, while Faith stood pensively in the doorway. "Miss Willow, this is wonderful news!" Dani said and embraced Willow and then smiled at Buffy. "We've all been so worried about you Buffy."

Buffy acknowledged them all with a far off look in her eyes that only Faith noticed. "Let's get the others and have a small celebration." Dawn offered eagerly. A huge burden had been lifted from her shoulders with Buffy's re-awakening and she was finally starting to think that things could work out for her in the end. She knew that there would always be a void due to the loss of Sarah. Having her sister not Secom to that same fate was more than she had hoped for in the last few days.

As the gathering began to take shape, Dani caught Willow's attention. "Hey, I've been meaning to talk with you about this vampire."

Dani looked the redhead over with a hesitant look on her face. Kennedy had told her to broach the subject with Willow and see how far she got. She said that this would tell Dani where she stood with the redhead in terms of a romantic relationship. Dani had questioned Kennedy as to why she had helped her and she was told that Kennedy realized that she and Willow could not patch things up. If Willow could not be with her, she wanted her to at least be with a decent being that was human.

Willow looked at Dani and shook her head. "I've got to sort out some things Dani and I don't think anyone here can help me." She stood up and walked off in a dismissive manner.

"I told you Dani," Kennedy said sarcastically. "Look, the only way to shake Harmony from Willow's life is to stake her. Now, I'd do it but she'd accuse me of doing it on purpose and withdraw from all of us. If you do it, she'd realize that it was for some slayer reason and forgive you. This is the only way that you are going to get what you want."

Dani feared that Kennedy was right but feared that the entire thing could backfire and she'd lose out in the end. If she didn't make a move of some kind, she'd lose out anyway and so she wondered what she had left to lose. "I don't know if I could do that to Miss Willow Kennedy." Dani said honestly because she did care deeply for Willow and did not want to cause her any further heartache.

- - - -

Willow stepped outside for some much needed fresh air. She had planned to talk this mess out with Buffy but saw that her best friend was occupied with the party and possibly something else. She walked a ways through the grounds and then stopped to have a look at the stars. She heard a sound in the bushes and turned to see a large vampire coming at her. She cursed herself inwardly for not bringing protection with her. As she was about to make a run for the buildings, the creature was dusted and Sarah stood before her. "Willow," the vampire said softly.

Willow stood still as a statue and her mouth was frozen agape. She knew what she was seeing but the questions were, how and why? She'd heard stories of what could happen if a slayer ever was turned but who would take such a risk? Either the slayer would retain some of her instinct to kill evil or she would be one of the strongest evil creatures that ever was. She had the advantage of the combined strengths of the slayer and vampire at her disposal. "Sarah," Willow said with trepidation in her voice as Harmony stepped beside her.

"It's all right Willow. She's been tested and has no strong desire to go after humans thus far." The vampire smiled at Willow who gave her a shocked look in return.

"Why the hell would you do this Harmony?" Willow barked in anger and noticed that the vampire began eying her, as she turned towards Harmony in an angered fashion. "What sort of evil plan are you going to involve her in?"

"I see your trust is still at the bottom of the barrel Willow." Harmony said with a mock hurt look on her face. "Did I not tell you that I had no big evil plans on the go?"

Willow's face showed a mixture of anger and sadness. She was contemplating being with this creature but how could she do it now? Would it be possible for her to gain enough feelings for Dani to leave Harmony, as she should have done in the first place? "Harmony, I can't believe that I allowed my heart to be so torn over you. This is wrong on every level." Willow managed to push the words out of her mouth but it was obvious that it was a struggle for her to do it.

"Willow," the vampire moved in front of the redhead and took her hands. "I told you that I wasn't perfect and that I didn't have anything evil in the works. You said that you wanted someone to love you for who you were but you cannot give someone the same respect."

Harmony's words proved to be a big slap in the face to the redhead. If she wanted someone to love her with her many faults, yet was unwilling to love another with faults, wasn't that wrong as well? "Why did you do this to Sarah Harmony? It's a terrible thing and you know it." Willow spoke in a defeated tone.

"I needed some protection Willow and I knew that a slayer wouldn't give it to me. Some of the plans that I have been putting in motion were something that Spike and I had discussed. The difference is, I don't have some cruel endgame in mind with my version of the plans." Harmony looked at the redhead with an effort to show her that she wasn't lying. "Angel's hotel is mine now and it is being renovated as we speak. California is my home Willow and I hope that you will see that it is yours too."

"What in God's name are you going to do with that hotel and a slayer-vampire?" Willow questioned in a low voice that was thick with uncertainty and frustration.

"I am going to live in it, run my magazine in it and thought that maybe you could do whatever you wanted in it." Harmony answered honestly. "Sarah is for my protection from slayers and other forms of jackasses but if you want to use her to fight this good fight as Angel did, be my guest."

"This is crazy Harmony," Willow said and tried to pull the vampire's words around her brain. "I can't just leave Buffy and the others."

"Why not Willow? They leave you to do their thing all the time and Amy is being prepped for your work." The vampire answered back briskly and rubbed her thumbs over Willow's palms. "Andrew is going with me and so are my parents. I thought that maybe Dawn would come as well." The vampire smiled at Willow who was obviously trying to get a handle on the situation.

"What possible reason would you have for Dawn to go?" Willow asked and looked at the vampire in a protect Dawn manner.

"I'm not wanting her to go so that Sarah can have a sleeping partner Willow. She's in the medical field, or plans to be. She likes fashion and I thought that maybe she could combine the two with skin-care or something along those lines. My father too is a doctor and the two of them would be developing something for me in time."

The vampire looked at Willow and saw that the explanation was not good enough. "Willow, I want a skin-care product that will help demons be able to live a more normal life. Not your run of the mill evil demon but there are some who do not have evil in mind. Do you remember Clem and that green demon at the bar?"

As a man walked up to them, Willow's facial expression began to relax. "This is David, he's my assistant and is taking Sarah to California. If you don't want Dawn knowing of her, that's fine but please don't screw this up for me Willow." The vampire looked at the redhead with questioning eyes as David smiled at Willow and ushered Sarah to the truck. "Just come with me for a couple of days and look things over Willow. If you want to come back and not be with me after that, fine."

Willow couldn't get a handle on her emotions. One part of her wanted to take the risk and go be with Harmony. Another part of her wanted to go with Harmony so that she could see what was on the go and find a way to undo this Sarah factor. While another part of her wanted to tell the vampire to leave and not look back. She knew that Dani would pick up the pieces of her broken heart but knew that would be unfair to the kind-hearted slayer. She also knew that she had allowed herself to fall in love without even trying and wished to every good being out there that she hadn't done it. "Harmony, I don't know what to do to be honest with you. What you did to Sarah is wrong Harmony and I don't know how I feel about that."

"Willow, I told you that I can't be perfect because I have no soul. Even if I had a soul, I wouldn't be perfect. I have been honest with you through all of this and that's all that I can do." Harmony knew that she had to try one last time to explain herself to Willow. She would do this and then if Willow wasn't receptive, she had to force herself to not come back to this place. She was not going to allow anyone to make her soul become bitter because she couldn't have them as so many creatures had done in the past.

Willow knew that the vampire was speaking the truth. Harmony was always quick to remind Willow that she had limitations because of the missing soul. She knew that if she didn't try, she would always wonder and the book would never be closed. She also knew that if she gave Buffy full disclosure before she left, she would not get the chance to try. "I'll go with you Harmony because you're right in that you have been honest with me. It wouldn't be fair of me to shut you down without even trying. I don't know if I could shut my feelings for you down without exploring them further, even though I sometimes want to."

Harmony smiled inwardly for the first time in a very long time. Acquiring the Gem had made her feel good, obtaining Angel's things had made her feel smug but having a person finally give her some credit made her feel warm and loved. "You won't regret this Willow," the vampire said softly and pulled the redhead into a passionate kiss. "I won't hurt you purposefully, I promise."

As the two continued exploring each other's mouth with a renewed vigor, those words tried to push their way back into Willow's mind. She knew that Harmony wouldn't set out to hurt her but would the things that Harmony did because she didn't have a soul hurt her? Would she be able to make allowances for the demon because she didn't have a soul? If she could, would the demon take advantage of this and do whatever she pleased in the end? There were some obvious trust issues there but Willow knew that she had to take this chance simply because she loved the vampire.

As the two continued to heighten their desire with kisses and caressing, Buffy walked quietly by them. Something inside the slayer told her to stop and talk to her friend as Willow had wanted earlier but she did not listen. She knew that she had to go see Tracy Willis before she could let anything else enter her mind. She knew that this may not be the best choice but something drew her to do it anyway. Whether it was stupidity, curiosity or attraction to the woman that she thought she knew, she did not know but she walked away from her friend putting herself first as she had often times done.

As the two began to take their loving to a place that called for privacy, Dani stood watching. The look on her face was pained, sad and angry. She had been there for Willow through so much, not because she had to but because she wanted to. She knew that Willow liked her and that Willow knew the feeling was mutual. She had done everything right in order to be helpful to and gain something more with Willow. Being the nice girl had got her nowhere and her heart ached because of this. As she pondered her next move, a soft but firm hand gently grasped her arm. "Dani, it's your call on what to do from here. Let me tell you this though man. Once you cross that line into doing stupid things for vengeance, you cannot ever fully come back." The dark slayer said as she looked out into the night wondering where Buffy had g one off to in such secrecy.

A/N that's chap 20. Drop me some feedback, thanks.