AN: This weeks chapter brought to you by 'Even though I'm off school I can't write a chapter in less than two days' incorporated.

But yeah, this one was a slow progress for the first five hundred words, then I burnt through the rest like wildfire. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Getting Better

Dawn had taken to ripping the pages out of Giles' personal book collection, and no one had had the heart to stop her. Giles eventually convinced her to switch to a pile of young adult fiction he hadn't been able to sell off.

Spike had spent hours in the training room after they'd returned, and afterwards they had had to replace four swords, two axes and one very sad looking clown toy.

Anya had started compulsively counting the money in the till repeatedly, until she could recite the exact amounts of it down to the last penny. After that she had helped Xander collect the pieces of the broken chair he had pitched across the room.

Giles had turned to a bottle of Jack Daniels he'd withdrawn from… somewhere. He'd got through three shots before Dawn confiscated it, handing him a copy of 'Goosebumps' to take his aggression out on.

Willow and Tara had curled up on a pile of pillows and Willow had soon fallen asleep.

A depressive silence hung over the group. No one would speak above hushed whispers, as if Buffy wouldn't want that. As if Buffy would want them all to just… fade away without her?

She ran her good hand up and down Willow's arm, tracing lightly. She felt Willow stir slightly next to her and yanked her hand away. She'd hardly seen Willow sleep in the past couple of days. They'd been staying at the Summer's house, tightly packed together on the couch, and both had stayed up, each knowing the other was awake but pretending to be asleep nonetheless.

There hadn't been much talking between the group as a whole really. Mostly just drifting.

They continued on their projected mourning accordingly, going through the motions of grief like an absurd play. They read the lines, walked the scenes. No one felt ready or able to improvise, change the scenes, rewrite the lines.

"Tara" Dawn said quietly, her voice barely a whisper. Everyone turned to her, surprised that she, of all people, had broken the silence. And, even more surprising, she was grinning, mirth dancing behind her eyes like a freed prisoner. "Willow's drooling on your shirt"

For a second there was silence, and then Tara started giggling. She was soon followed by Xander, Anya and, after a few quite seconds, Giles chuckled along. At the sudden sound and movement beneath her, Willow awoke blearily.

"Wasso funny?" she said, he voice slurred as she adjusted to the world around her. As she saw the others were laughing at her she got defensive. "Was I talking in my sleep again? Because I haven't done that in years since I had that dream about Scarlett Johansson and Tara and I wasn't talking in my sleep was I?"

"Nope" Tara said, kissing her on the nose.

"Hey, Tara, how's the hand?" Dawn asked, Behind her, Anya and Giles had started talking shop and Xander had grabbed a comic from his 'hidden' stash. With just a little word, a little step, the depressive silence had vanished and life had returned. It was still quiet, and there was still a great big hole where Buffy was supposed to be, and random tears would still be shed, but it was a start.

"Getting better" she said with a grin.

"Hey, your shirts wet" Willow noted, having sat up. Dawn and Tara stifled giggles.

The Magic Box was empty, and Giles was making the most of it. Sitting on the counter, tie undone and guitar in hand, he was thinking. Not playing or using the guitar in any real way, just thinking. It helped him think, holding it in his hands, having it resting, a weight in his lap. It was comforting. And, as he occasionally idly strummed, distracted his hands from wanting a cigarette. He hadn't smoked in years (Not counting the teenage making chocolate incident), but in times like this it was all he wanted to do. That or poor himself a drink. But Dawn's resolute face danced through his head. 'No, bad Giles' she'd said as she took his whiskey. He grinned at the thought. He'd been worried (And had an inkling that she'd been worried) that the others would blame her for Buffy's death. But they'd pulled through, banding together in their time of need.

"Hey Giles" Tara said, entering the shop. Her eyes fell on him holding his guitar and she smiled at him. "Hey the guitars out!" she said happily, dropping her shopping by the counter and hopping up next to him. "Watcha playin'?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking" he said. "It's all terribly boring Watchers things" he added when she tried to ask him what she was thinking about.

"Buffy" she stated in return. He just nodded.

"Yes… well… How's your hand?" he said, changing the subject.

"Fine. Still painful and I can't quite movie it properly yet and its still technically bandaged, but… Fine" she said, pained at the memory of Glory squeezing her hand, until the bones had cracked and… She shuddered.

"Do they think you will ever get full movement back?" he asked.

"I'm not gonna be playing the guitar any time soon… or the ukulele for that matter" she said with a half grin "But I'll be able to grip things"

"It was very brave, what you did" Giles said. She lowered her head, letting her hair drop in front of her face.

"What, let Glory walk over me without trying to fight back? Yeah, I'm a regular Sarah Conner" Tara said, her voice tinged with anger at herself.

"You didn't tell her Dawn was the key, even though you knew that if you didn't she'd do… horrible things to you. You were very brave" he said, pulling her in and kissing her on the head. She smiled at the fatherly gesture. Even though Giles was most obviously a father figure to Buffy, he was fatherly to all of them, to some extent. Even Spike seemed to have a little respect for him, deep down. Very deep down.

Like, somewhere in his toes deep.

"Thanks"

"No problem Dawn. Willow may be the Math-y genius, but I'm English gal" the pyjama clad Tara said, smiling. She watched from Dawn's doorway as she clambered in to bed, pulling the covers over herself.

"So you're gonna be living here now?" Dawn asked. Tara nodded.

"Until you kick us out" Tara replied.

"Oh, well I suppose it won't be very long…" Dawn replied, smiling.

"Brat" Tara shot at her, smiling.

"Wicca"

"Angsty teenager"

"…OK you win" Dawn said. "Night"

"Night" Tara replied, turning Dawn's light off and and shutting the door before heading into the master bedroom. Even if she could convince herself that it wasn't Joyce's room, it certainly wasn't 'Willow and Tara's room' yet.

"Dawnie in bed?" Willow asked as she came out of the bathroom, still brushing her teeth.

"Yep" Tara said, mock saluting. Willow smiled at her.

"I love you" she said plainly.

"I love you too baby" Tara replied They climbed in to bed together, snuggling close to one another.

"I can't believe we're looking after Dawn. That makes us like, guardians or something right?" Willow asked, looking a little worried. "I mean, I never really thought about us… adopting but, here we are"

"With our very own bundle of hormones" Tara quipped. Willow smiled. "Well, to be fair it isn't just us looking after her. It takes a village to raise a kid, and we've only got five people… And Spike"

"That's true. But we're the ones who're gonna live with her. I just hope we're ready" Willow said, looking worried.

"Hey, I'm ready. I already take care of you" Tara said with a grin.

"Hey, I'm legitimately worrying here and all you can do is crack jokes" Willow said, pouting and faking hurt.

"Listen, Will. We're going to do fine. We already know Dawn, Dawn already likes us, we've got a group of the best friends ever to help us. It's going to be fine." Tara said reassuringly.

"Thanks baby" They were silent for a moment, snuggled together, until Willow spoke again. "How's your hand?"

"Willow, they took the bandages off a couple of days ago" Tara said. "It's fine"

"No, it isn't. I see you stop sometimes and your fingers clench and your face goes all ouchie" Willow said.

"Well, Glory did more to me that just break my hand" Tara said after a moment.

"I know, baby. We know. But you never seem to want to talk about it. So we don't. But if you do wanna talk I'm hear and I know some psychology" Willow said, rolling onto one elbow and looking worriedly at Tara.

"I'd rather not its… It was not a pleasant experience. Just leave it?" Tara said pleadingly. Willow nodded.

"How is the hand then?" she asked, as if they had never shifted into Tara's murky waters.

"It's OK. It still twinges. I think it'll hurt forever, really. It's something that'll have to learn to deal with forever but… It's getting better all the time"

Hope you enjoyed!... Reviewy?