CHAPTER SIX

THE POWER OF TWO

"Any last words?" Zaragos called out to Buffy. He held one hand out towards her still-floating body, ready to deliver the final blow. On the edge of unconsciousness from the brutal beating she had suffered, Buffy could not answer.

"No?" he cackled. "Then farewell, Slayer!" He raised his hand.

"Get away from her!!" A sizzling bolt of lightning struck Zaragos' outstretched hand, and he jerked it back in surprise and pain. Buffy fell limply to the ground.

"Who dares?!" Zaragos thundered.

"Remember me?" Willow replied. She appeared near Buffy, hovering in mid-air, her body alive with light.

"You? This is impossible!"

"Why? Because I'm not dead?" Willow retorted. "I guess you don't understand everything about magic yet." Zaragos responded with a roar of rage, and hurled a magical bolt of destruction towards the Sorceress and her Slayer. Willow gestured with one hand and a shimmering barrier appeared before her, reflecting the attack back at its caster. Zaragos was thrown back by the impact.

"Did that hurt?" Willow taunted him. "You should be more careful with your magic." Enraged, Zaragos raised his mace to attack again, but before he could do so, half a dozen pale, spidery beams of light suddenly enveloped the evil being, wrapping around him in a glowing web.

"What is this?!" Zaragos struggled to pull himself free of the glowing web, but amazingly, it held him fast.

"This cannot be!"

"I beg to differ," Giles replied. He stood nearby, encircled by the group of mystics who sudden attack had paralyzed Zaragos. "I think you'll find yourself quite unable to move."

"About time Giles!" Willow greeted him wearily. She gratefully lowered herself to the ground, collapsing near Buffy; It taken most of her remaining power just to defend herself against Zaragos' attacks.

"Better late than never," Giles quipped. "Unfortunately, the remaining mystics lack the power to destroy Zaragos' phylactery. All they can do now is hold him… for a time." Willow wasn't listening, however. Her attention was completely focused on Buffy, lying bruised and bloodied on the ground beside her.

"Buffy, can you hear me?!"

"Hi, Will…" Buffy answered weakly. "What took you so long…?" Tears in her eyes, Willow gently pulled Buffy into her embrace.

"You promised you'd come back to me," Willow whispered, struggling not to cry.

"I'm still here…" Buffy replied. "Most of me, anyway…" She winced suddenly, and Willow jerked back.

"What can I do?" she pleaded.

"Got any aspirin?" Buffy joked. She almost laughed, but winced again.

"We have to get you to a hospital," Willow said quickly. Buffy shook her head.

"Can't… leave now," she managed through bloodied lips. "Have to stop… Zaragos."

"Buffy, you can barely move!"

"Slayer healing'll… kick in… any moment now."

"You don't heal that fast, and you know it!" Willow argued desperately. "I don't think I have enough healing left in me right now, either… Buffy, you try to fight him again and he'll kill you!"

"Will…" Buffy said, her voice hardening. "If we don't stop him now… there's no telling how many people Zaragos will kill. We can't let that happen!"

"Buffy, please… I can't lose you, too…" Willow's voice broke.

"Stand with me," Buffy said softly. Willow blinked. Had she heard right?

"What?"

"What little strength… we have left… we can share. We can fight Zaragos together… to the end."

"Buffy…" Willow felt tears in her eyes again.

"Willow… If I'm gonna die… I don't want it to be anywhere else but by your side." Willow blinked away tears and tried to swallow the painful lump forming in her throat. She knew Buffy meant what she was saying, and felt her own heart ache in reply.

"I'm with you," she told Buffy quietly, looking into the Slayer's eyes. "To the end."

"Then let's do this..." Buffy replied, "Together." Willow nodded.

"Give me your hand," she said, holding out her own. Buffy responded by joining hers to it. The moment their skin touched, something electric jolted through them. Willow's eyes widened and she could see the same expression on Buffy's face.

"Buffy!" she gasped. Looking down, she saw their joined hands had begun to glow with a pale blue-white light. "What's happening?"

Will… can't you feel it? Willow drew in a sharp breath when she realized she was hearing Buffy's voice in her head again.

We're joined again! She thought back.

More than just our minds this time… Will, I can feel your magic!

And I can feel your strength, Buffy! It's like… we really are one, together!! Buffy couldn't resist a smile.

And more powerful than either of us alone…let's see Zaragos stop us now!

Across the courtyard, the power of the mystics finally failed, and Zaragos broke free from their magical trap with a surge of dark power.

"AWAY FROM ME!! He roared. The mystics – and Giles with them – went flying as Zaragos tore himself explosively free.

'I will tolerate no more! If I must, I will destroy the entire Slayer line where it began!!" He began to swing his fiery mace in a circle high over his head, spinning it around faster and faster.

"What's he doing?" Xander called out.

"I think… he's trying to open another portal…" Giles replied, gingerly picking himself up off the ground.

"A portal to where?"

"I'm not sure," Giles said, "but I doubt we want to find out!"

"Leave him to us!" Buffy called out. She and Willow appeared before Xander and Giles, glowing hands still clasped together. To Xander's shock and surprise, their eyes were glowing as well!

"Wha… what's happened to you two?!"

"Something wonderful," Willow replied happily.

"We'll explain later," Buffy said. "Right now, Zaragos is going to get his!" As one, she and Willow they strode into the center of the courtyard to confront the evil lich.

"You are too late, Slayer! When this spell is complete, you and your kind will cease to exist!"

"Guess we better not let you finish casting it then," Willow retorted.

Ready? she cast her thoughts to Buffy.

Whenever you are… but what do I do?

Just feel the magic flowing in you… and concentrate! Willow raised her free hand towards Zaragos and a bolt of shimmering magical energy exploded from her fingertips, knocking the mace from Zaragos' hand. As soon as the mace left his grasp, the swirling portal he had been conjuring began to spin out of control. A moment before it finally closed, a tiny sparkle of crimson light streaked out of it, disappearing into the distance.

"Curse you, witch!" Zaragos raged.

"Hey, that's my best friend you're talking about, ugly!" Buffy snapped. With a flick of her wrist, she slid the stake she'd hidden up her sleeve earlier into her waiting hand and hurled it at Zaragos with all her strength.

"Will, focus your magic on my stake!" Willow did as Buffy asked, imbuing the stake with her magic just as it struck home… piercing the center of Zaragos' skull medallion. With a brilliant flash of light and a thunderous explosion, the medallion exploded into a million glowing fragments… taking Zaragos' immortal soul with it.

"NOOOOOOOO!!" His death roar echoing in the air, Zaragos' armored body dissolved into foul-smelling smoke, leaving behind nothing but lifeless bones in a tattered cloak. The evil light faded from his empty eye sockets a moment later, and Zaragos was no more. The danger past, Buffy and Willow separated their hands and sagged to the ground, weary but victorious.

A few days later, Buffy lay in a makeshift hospital bed in the fortress, Willow constantly watching over her. Buffy was anxious to help the others with the repairs and cleanup work following the battle with Zaragos, but Willow refused to let her out of the bed until she had completely recovered from the injuries she'd suffered.

"Will, honestly, I'm fine!"

"Slayer healing or no, you need time to recover from what he did to you Buffy… and you're going to lay there and give yourself that time. Understood?" She smiled down at her best friend.

"But, Will…!"

"No buts!" Willow snapped playfully.

"Ugh… yes, mother," Buffy replied sarcastically. Willow laughed, and then her expression softened.

"I almost lost you, Buffy… so you're gonna stay there until I'm ready to let you leave, got it?" Buffy laughed, wincing slightly at the pain in her ribs. Smiling, she reached out to take Willow's hand.

"I'm not going anywhere, Willow… I promise." Willow carefully sat down on the edge of the bed. A few moments later, Giles walked into the room.

"How are you feeling, Buffy?" he asked.

"I'm fine, thanks; just waiting for Nurse Willow to give me a clean bill of health so I can get out here." Giles smiled.

"Take your time, Buffy. Xander and the others have things well in hand."

"So… I'm guessing you didn't come all the way down here just to see how I was doing," Buffy said.

"No, on point of fact," Giles admitted. "I thought you might like to know we've buried… what was left of Zaragos, and consecrated the ground surrounding the site."

"And his giant toy?" Buffy asked.

"If you mean the mace, it disintegrated when he was destroyed."

"Then it's all over?"

"I sincerely hope so," Giles replied. He reached up to straighten his glasses.

"Um… was there something else, Giles?" Willow asked tentatively.

"Yes, actually; about what you and Buffy did… when you defeated Zaragos." Buffy and Willow exchanged a concerned look.

"It's… kind of hard to explain, Giles," Willow stammered.

"You probably wouldn't believe us anyway," Buffy hurried to add. Giles arched an eyebrow.

"We've all seen things most people would never believe," he said. "At this point, I'm willing to take a great deal on faith." Buffy sighed, and Willow gently squeezed her hand.

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you," Buffy muttered. She took a deep breath.

"Willow and I… we can hear each other's thoughts."

"Willow has communicated telepathically with others before," Giles retorted. "That's hardly unusual for a witch with her power."

"It's more than that, Giles," Willow jumped in. "We can also… feel what each other is feeling."

"You're sharing your emotions as well?" Giles asked incredulously. "That's… well, that's incredible."

"Why did that not sound incredible, then?" Buffy teased. Giles ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry, Buffy. It's just… I don't believe I've ever heard of such a bond existing between two people."

"There's, um… there's something else too," Willow said hesitantly.

"Oh?"

"You saw what we did to Zaragos, right?" Buffy asked. Giles nodded.

"Don't ask me how we did it, but Will & I somehow… joined together. We could share our strength, and our powers… it was…"

"Incredible," Willow offered, grinning.

"I see… how long have two you been able to, um… join like that?" Buffy swallowed.

"Ever since Zaragos almost…" she cast an intense, longing look at Willow. "Ever since Will almost died in my arms. Something just… happened between us." She noticed the look on Giles face, and felt herself growing angry.

"Look, don't get all freaked out on us, okay? We don't know what this is any more than you do, but it's not a bad thing."

"I wasn't suggesting it was, Buffy; it's just… for two people to be able to share so much of themselves…"

"So?" Buffy cut him off impatiently. "I love Will. There's no one in the world I'd rather share myself with." Willow looked up suddenly when she heard Buffy say those words, and was surprised to feel tears in her eyes.

"That makes two of us," she said softly. Buffy smiled and squeezed Willow's hand in return.

"Yes, well…" Giles cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Just be careful, all right?"

"Aren't we always?" Buffy teased.

"I think it would be best if I didn't answer that question," Giles replied honestly. "At any rate, I believe it's time I left. I have duties of my own to return to back in England." Willow stood up and hugged him.

"Take care of yourself, Giles."

"You too, Willow." Walking over to Buffy's bedside, he rested his hand affectionately on hers.

"If you ever need my help again Buffy, just call," he told her gently.

"I will; and Giles?" Wincing slightly, Buffy leaned forward and carefully hugged Giles.

"Thanks… for everything."

"Anytime, Buffy… anytime."

After Giles left, Willow sat down on the edge of Buffy's bed again.

"Something on your mind, Will?" Buffy asked her, noticing the look in her eyes. Willow blushed.

"Buffy… we need to talk."

"I know," Buffy replied. "There's just been so much going on…"

"There isn't now," Willow reminded her.

"You're right," Buffy agreed with a sigh, "and we do need to talk. Have to admit though… I don't know quite where to start."

"Did you mean what you said earlier?" Willow asked hesitantly. Buffy blinked.

"When?" she asked. Willow swallowed.

"When you told Giles there was no one in the world you'd rather share yourself with… than me."

"You know I did," Buffy replied softly, taking Willow's hand again. "Did you?"

"Yes," Willow said. "Buffy… these things we can do… the things we can share… I've never felt as close to anyone as I do to you right now."

"Really?" Buffy asked, feeling her throat tighten. Willow nodded slowly.

"It's like nothing I've ever felt before. Not even…" She stopped suddenly.

"Will? What's wrong?" Willow blinked back tears. When she didn't answer, Buffy carefully leaned forward and brushed a hair away from Willow's face.

"It's okay Will; you can tell me." Willow swallowed hard.

"I was going to say, I've never felt anything like this before… not even with Tara." She looked up at Buffy.

"Oh Will, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, Buffy. It doesn't mean I love her any less. In fact… she knew about us."

"What?!"

"When I was… with Zaragos before?" She looked up at Buffy. "She… appeared to me… when I was trying to escape from what he was doing to me."

"She appeared to you?"

"I saw her spirit, Buffy; Tara's spirit. She told me… you were my destiny." Buffy's eyes widened.

"Will…" She found herself struggling for words. Willow squeezed Buffy's hand and looked into her eyes.

"Buffy, I know you probably don't feel the same way…" Willow started to say.

"I've never felt anything like this before either, Will," Buffy interrupted her. "Not with Angel, not with anybody."

"Does it make you… uncomfortable?" Willow asked. Buffy thought for a moment.

"No," she said after a moment. "Not uncomfortable. Just…not sure what to think about all these new feelings, you know?"

"What new feelings?" Willow repeated. She felt hope fluttering in her chest.

"Feelings for you," Buffy said slowly. "You're my best friend, Will… I've always loved you, and I always will. What I'm feeling now though… I never thought…"

"I know," Willow said, trying to hide her sudden disappointment. "You're not… y'know…" Buffy frowned.

"Willow… whatever I feel for you, it doesn't make any difference to me that you & I happen to both be women, okay?"

"R-really? B-but I thought…"

"You want the truth, Will? Ever since I almost lost you… the only thing I've been able to think about is holding you in my arms and never letting you go." This time it was Willow's eyes that widened. Buffy couldn't help but smile, seeing the effect her words were having on the redhead.

"I may not be used to these feelings I've having for you… but that doesn't mean I don't have them."

"You… you mean…?" Willow managed. Buffy felt herself blush. More than I could ever explain…

"I love you, Willow… with all my heart." Willow smiled, tears of joy dripping down her cheeks.

"I love you too, Buffy… so much." Carefully crawling forward on the bed, she enveloped Buffy in a hug. Buffy felt her eyes flutter closed, and she hugged Willow to her as tightly as she dared.

"I'm not hugging too tight, am I?" Willow asked, suddenly remembering Buffy's injuries.

"Nope… just right," Buffy sighed contentedly. Willow smiled. Then she pulled back slightly, so she could look Buffy in the face. Buffy opened her eyes to complain, and noticed Willow staring intently at her.

"Uh, Will? What's with the not hugging all of the sudden?" she asked. Willow grinned, but didn't answer. Instead, she gently reached out to brush a few stray hairs away from Buffy's face. Then she began to slowly stroke Buffy's cheek, all the while continuing to stare into Buffy's hazel eyes. Buffy felt her heart hammering in her chest.

"See anything you like?" she quipped nervously.

"What do you think?" Willow asked huskily. Buffy swallowed.

"I think I'm gonna explode if you don't kiss me right now." Did I really just say that out loud?

"Um… are you sure that's really what you want?" Willow asked carefully. Buffy could tell Willow wanted it as badly as she did, but was trying not to force her into anything she wasn't ready for. Reaching out, Buffy gently cupped Willow's cheek in return and began to slowly stroke it with her thumb.

"I'm sure," she breathed. Slowly and carefully, Willow took both of Buffy's hands in her own. Then, leaning in close, she gently brushed her lips against Buffy's. She didn't try to deepen the kiss at all, just enjoyed the gentle contact while she waited to see what Buffy's response would be. It wasn't long in coming. Buffy began to move against Willow, and the redhead was shocked to suddenly feel something gently trying to slide past her lips. Realizing it was Buffy's tongue, Willow opened her mouth slightly to admit it, sighing as felt hers greet it. The kiss quickly deepened, becoming passionate and powerful as the two new lovers let their feelings sweep them away.

Hiding in the doorway nearby, Dawn watched her sister and Willow and smiled, brushing away happy tears. She had been coming to visit her sister, only to realize Buffy and Willow were busy finally exploring their feelings for one another. She knew she shouldn't still be standing there, but seeing the two people she loved the most in this world finally together made her happier than she could remember being in a very long time.

"About time," she whispered happily. Then she quietly slipped away, easing the door shut behind her so no one would disturb them.