A/N thanks for the reviews, here is the next chapter! Any of you authors out there who thought you had the main pairing all sorted out until you started writing? This was supposed to be a B/T story and still may be but I like the dynamic that I've given W/T in this one also. Feedback please!

Chapter Seven

Dawn stood at the top of the stairs with her mouth agape in total shock. She couldn't wrap the fact around her mind that Buffy was kissing the love of Willow's life. She had wanted Willow and Tara back together ever since she could remember but now her sister had the chance to be happy with a person as gracious and loving as Tara. Her mouth opened repeatedly, as she moved slowly down the stairs, but nothing came out. She didn't know how she felt about this discovery of hers or how she should feel about it. Willow and Tara had a great love, one that could be passed down in storybooks for many years to come. Buffy had the great tragedy story, which could also be handed down throughout the generations, but maybe had was the key word.

Buffy turned her gaze quickly towards the stairs and saw her sister coming towards them. This was not in her scope of situations as to how she and Tara's relationship would be made public but she supposed that it would work better than other scenarios that she had conjured up in her mind. "Hey Dawnie," she said in a quiet voice as the younger Summers sister stepped up beside the women.

"Couldn't you have told me what was going on before I allowed Willow to come here and possibly be the one to walk in on this?" Dawn said in a harsh tone of voice.

"Couldn't you have grown up and not hatched such a childish plan to try and get the two of them back together?" Buffy snapped back in defense of the kiss that she had just shared with Tara.

"None of this was planned Dawnie." The more reasonable voice of Tara added softly. "It's been a long time since Willow and I were together and I never thought that I would see her again. Buffy needed a friend and I was there. It sort of developed into something more while we were reconnecting the friendship."

"She only came to this wedding because I was told that Willow would not be here Dawn." Buffy said in a low yet bitter manner. "We have a lot to deal with that is bigger then our relationship and you have just added to it by bringing Willow into the mix. There are things that we never wanted Willow to find out aside from our relationship and now she's going to end up with full disclosure." The look in Buffy's eyes was bordering dangerous, as Tara put a hand on her shoulder to calm her.

"Let's not fight," Tara said softly and shot them both a pleading look. She did not want Willow to find out that she was not the Goddess out of fear for Willow's mental state. She knew however, that it was in Willow's best interest to know the full truth.

"What's going on that I need to know about?" Dawn asked with a growing look of concern on her face.

"It's nothing that will have any bearing on the nuptials tomorrow evening. That's all you need to concern yourself with at the moment." Buffy said and forced a smile in her sister's direction.

"She's right," Tara said with a tentative smile. "Let's all get some sleep and we can sort through everything after your big day."

"What do we do about Willow?" Dawn's question reverberated through the room as if it was the most important question of the year to be answered. The problem was, nobody had the pries winning answer.

- - - - - - - -

Willow stood outside the rented hall and watched her friends bustle around in preparation of Dawn's wedding. She felt as though she did not belong in this crowd anymore; they had all moved on in different directions and shoved her out of the clique. She had used her powers the night before and watched the goings on inside Dawn's apartment. Needless to say, Willow felt as though she had a deadly slug put in her gut. When she saw her former best friend and the woman that she loved more then life kissing, she wanted to go on a magic induced rampage and hurt them all. This feeling scared her into hiding for the rest of the night but what scared her equally was the sense that Tara was protecting her from something more than a tryst with Buffy. "I love you Tara," Willow said with deep pain and anguish in her voice.

After softly speaking the words that were the only thing she knew to be a certainty for many years, Willow saw Tara turn towards the window and look directly into her eyes. She knew by the look in Tara's own eyes that she had felt Willow's pain and love for her upon Willow speaking the words. Willow got the distinct impression that Tara knew that she was there because they were soul mates and nothing could ever take that away. She and Tara had a knack for sensing the presence of the other due to their strong bond and Buffy could never have that. This fact gave Willow something to relish in as she stepped inside the wedding venue with a renewed vigor.

- - - - - - - - -

The wedding went off without a hitch, much to the surprise of the entire gang minus Dawn and Andrew's new friends. After the reception began to die down, Giles stood up. "Before the two of you go off on your private celebration, we need to address some things."

Buffy quickly got to her feet with anger written all over her face. The plan was for Giles to keep this conversation private and not include the entire gang. He had stupidly disregarded her explicit request to do things with she, him and Tara alone. "Giles I told you to not involve everyone like t his!"

"Buffy it involves everyone and therefore we must include everyone!" Giles barked back forcefully.

"Have you lost your mind Giles?" Buffy retorted in a huff.

"We cannot keep such secrets from those involved and that is my final answer." Giles said in a final answer tone of voice.

"Stop!" Tara shouted and stood to her feet. "Mr. Giles, pardon my bluntness but some of these matters are delicate and I feel it will cause more harm then good if everyone is involved."

Giles just gave Tara a nonchalant glance and turned to the group. "Buffy came to me this morning to discuss the fact that her powers were diminishing quickly and greatly. She wanted me to research the cause of this and if it will trickle down to the other slayers."

"Well that involves me then," Faith said and gave Buffy a glare.

"Damn you Rupert Giles!" Buffy shouted and launched herself at her onetime father figure.

"No Buffy!" Tara stated in a firm voice as she caught hold of Buffy's fist, which was about to connect with Giles' mouth.

"The slayer with the Scythe and the earth Goddess did not complete the spell properly. Unless the two can go back in time and fix it quickly, within the next six months there will be no such thing as a slayer." Giles added with a little too much excitement in his voice to suit the dark-haired slayer.

"How much time do we have?" Willow asked, being glad to have something other than her crappy love life to focus on.

"That's just the thing Ms. Rosenberg," Giles smiled and straightened up as if he were making the most important announcement that he had ever made. "You have all the time in the world, the Goddess, well she has till midnight. It is your fault that this spell went awry per usual. If the Goddess had performed the entire spell on her own, this may not have happened."

Suddenly, Giles felt himself flying across the room and landing in the corner in a heap of aching bones. Standing in the middle of the room Was Tara Maclay with her blue eyes having turned white. There was also a white flame receding back into her palm. "You will not blame this on Willow! Do you hear me Mr. Giles, or whoever you are? You all put this on her and all but forced her to do it! You all gave her the confidence that she needed to do the best she could with this spell and I will not allow you to break her down like this!"

With the entire gang looking on in utter disbelief, Willow got to her feet and prepared to run. Her head was in a mess with emotions and she just couldn't stay in that room any longer. She screwed up yet another spell that would cause the slayer line to be non-existent and now, probably wasn't even the earth Goddess. "No Willow," Tara's soothing voice reached her ears and cut through all the jumbled thoughts in her mind.

Meanwhile, Buffy watched Tara's reaction to the treatment of Willow. She knew that Tara was right to display her anger at Giles for his behavior but also knew something else. No matter how much she and Tara grew to care for each other, maybe even love each other, Willow was her truest love of a lifetime. This knowledge pained her deeply because she was developing strong feelings for Tara and did not want to just walk away from them. She also didn't know if she could spend her life knowing that she was second to Willow.

As the circus fueled by Giles continued, Faith studied Buffy intently. She could see pain in the slayer's eyes for both Willow and herself. She didn't know the details of what was going on but knew that it had to do with something more then the current crisis. "B," she said quietly and stepped over to the other slayer. "You all right?"

Andrew stood up from his chair and straightened his collar. He didn't know much either but came to one conclusion easily. "Giles, when we thought that you were the first, we were wrong. I think we were close however and that the first did something to you that is obviously permanent. You are most likely the reason the spell did not go as planned!"