And here's the final chapter. I hope you've all enjoyed the story, and will enjoy the finish.
Paige sat upstairs, for once garbed in her whitelighter robe. This was a more formal meeting, she might as well dress like it.
The Elders gathered in a circle, atop the cloudy floor of their domain. Paige stood in the centre, alone; a little unsteady on her feet from nerves, but that was all.
Speaking was the Elder who'd assigned her to Willow. He addressed the other Elders more than her, explaining the matter at hand. Paige had been assigned to a phenomenally powerful witch, by all accounts, and one who'd been created by the hellmouth rather than bloodline.
He also shared knowledge Paige suspected the Elders possessed, though they hadn't confirmed it. That when Willow had lost her girlfriend, Tara, she wielded dark magicks in a grief-fuelled attempt to end the world. Even now, the seed of corruption remained in her.
Apparently though, Willow first came to their attention before, in some affair involving a hell-god. Paige had only heard snippets of the story, but apparently Willow had been vengeful, and after had become possessive. Selfish. Paige winced to hear the details.
She had done good, however: she'd faced off against the First Evil, the first speck of malignance to taint the world, and played a role in the defeat of its latest plan. From that, they'd decided to grant her a whitelighter to fulfil the normal role of such a guardian and, in addition, watch for any sign that Willow was likely to fall back to evil.
"And now," the Elder said, "Paige Matthews, your assessment, please."
Right. Paige cleared her throat, eyes quickly glancing around the circle. A few Elders had their hoods up, a few had their heads and faces bare.
"Willow Rosenberg is a good witch," Paige said. "A good person. In the time I've known her, she's been kind, and caring, and she's used her powers only for good. True, she's made mistakes in the past. Big mistakes: at first she used her powers for personal gain, and when it resulted in tragedy, she was overcome. Since then, however, she has spent every hour, every minute searching for redemption."
She paused: caught her breath. In that break, a hooded Elder spoke.
"Should we grant redemption to all those who seek it?" they said. "Some peoples' crimes leave a permanent stain. Try as they might, evil cannot be washed away."
"Oh, please," a brunette, rather less formal, Elder said. "Don't be so melodramatic. It doesn't matter if someone can be redeemed, only that they try for it. Friend told me that."
"Even so-" the hooded Elder tried to say.
"Oh, put a sock in it," the brunette Elder shook her head, sighing.
At that exchange, the more distinguished, white-haired Elder interrupted.
"Harmon, Cordelia, please," he said, warningly. They fell silent. "Paige?"
Paige paused, trying to gauge whether or not the two would speak again. Then, she continued.
"I don't know about all that redemption stuff," Paige said. "I know that no one's perfect, though. And the more powerful someone is, the bigger their mistakes. That doesn't make them evil, though. You sent me to her because she'd done something good, and I can say that as long as I've known her, she's been good. I can't say anything else."
A pause. Paige looked around the circle, at each of the robed Elders. It was hard to suppress her nerves.
Then she decided she wasn't going to pretend any more respect for the Elders than she genuinely had. Besides, they probably already know how she really felt.
"Actually," Paige said, "One more thing. I promise, no matter what you decide, I'll continue to serve as Willow's whitelighter."
There was a murmur at that. Still, they shared a few looks. Maybe she'd made an impression, though for better or worse, Paige couldn't say.
The white-haired Elder spoke, then. "Thank you for your input, Paige. The council will inform you of our decision, when it is made."
Willow knew most of what was going on: and as such, Paige decided to treat her. There were advantages to being a whitelighter after all, and being able to orb essentially anywhere was one of them.
Buffy had insisted they could survive without Willow for a few hours, and had even urged the redhead to relax.
As such, now Willow sat beside Paige atop the Golden Gate Bridge.
"So you live here, huh?" Willow said, looking from side to side, at the great view.
Somehow, she felt safe. Being accompanied by a woman able to heal and orb her anywhere, especially one sworn to protect her, had that effect.
"Not right here," Paige said, chuckling, before squinting. She gestured across the river; "Our house is over there."
Willow turned to where Paige gestured, peering out over the city.
"Narrows it down," she said, and chuckled. "I'd show you where I lived, but it's a crater now."
A moment of silence. They looked out, still, over San Francisco. The red bridge stretched out, the sight impressive enough from the ground.
"So," Willow said, "After a couple of minutes, "You can go anywhere?"
"By orb?" Paige said, "Pretty much, yeah. Harder to navigate in the Underworld, but otherwise…"
"Hopefully we won't have to go there," Willow said, and laughed. "Can tell you I don't want to, at any rate. Wouldn't mind trips elsewhere."
"Why, Ms Rosenberg," Paige adopted a faux-scandalized tone, "You wouldn't be suggesting I use my whitelighter power, meant for the protection and guardianship of my charges, to sightsee?"
"Maybe," Willow said.
Another chuckle; Paige took Willow's hand, and squeezed.
"Sounds like a plan," her normal voice, again. "Where'd you want to start?"
It was the strange thing about being given so many choices. Given all the options in the world, the mind always went for what was known. The comfortable, the less alien. Though there were countless sights Willow wanted to see, from Niagara Falls, to the pyramids, only places she'd been came to mind.
Though equally, she hadn't been especially well-travelled. Most of her life had been spent in Sunnydale, and that was no more, after all.
"How about England?" Willow said.
"Narrow it down," Paige said. "Big place. And do you mind if I ask why?"
"Was there earlier this year," Willow said, "Coven there helped me control myself. Couple there were my age, or younger: less serious. They didn't want me to waste the trip, took me sightseeing. Saw a few things I wouldn't mind seeing again."
"You can show me around," Paige said. "Anywhere in particular?"
"Um, London," Willow said. "Don't know where exactly, immediately. Surprise me."
She gave a hopeful smile, at which Paige laughed.
"Sure," she said, "Give me a moment."
Seconds later, and the two witches had become a shimmering orb of light, fading to nothing as they travelled away. The long journey took them a few seconds in transit, and a little while longer as Paige tried to gauge where best to land.
A few people looked up to see a ball of light briefly shine against the perpetually grey clouds of London. A blink later, however, and it had moved on. Those lucky few who managed to follow it however noticed it head in the direction of Big Ben.
Willow and Paige reformed at the top of the clock tower, just above the clock-face, and a little below the grand bell that gave the tower its name. Their legs kicked idly over the edge, their hands were joined, and they looked out over the city.
It was raining. From what Willow remembered of the English weather, that wasn't a surprise. Muttering to herself, she cast a charm taught to her by the Devon coven: apparently it was one of the first things local witches learnt.
A thin film formed in the air around the two of them, a bubble in which the rain turned at an angle, splattering around in an uneven sphere, and leaving theme dry. The only problem was the damp stone on which they sat.
"Nice place," Paige said, amused. Her expression sobered though, enjoying the view.
"Better weather than usual, too," Willow said, tone such that Paige couldn't tell whether or not she was serious. "I've got good memories here, that's all."
"You don't need to make excuses," Paige said. She glanced around. "Any favourite place?"
The tower stood beside a wide river: Willow gestured a little way down that river, toward a great white wheel that was taller even than Big Ben.
"London Eye," she said. "Used to ride it when we took the train down here. Officially for calming purposes: which it was, definitely. I liked that. Most of all though, the view was great," she smiled, "Plus we all got a pod to ourselves. The coven witches, and me."
Paige glanced toward the wheel, and around. She could only imagine how much you could see from the top. Probably not the most spectacular city in the world, she had to admit to preferring her own San Francisco, but she could see why Willow had enjoyed her time in this country.
"Want to get on it?" Paige said. Willow shook her head: she gestured down towards the ground.
"You can see the queue from here," she said. "Takes forever to get near."
"We don't need to queue," Paige said, turning to Willow: a mischievous smile. "Magic, remember? Can orb right into a carriage. Elders give whitelighters memory dust, in case we accidentally reveal the existence of magic. Only meant to be used in serious situations, but I can spare a pinch for those who see us."
She grinned, playfully. Willow turned away from the view, to face Paige. Whatever she was going to say faded along with the grin on her own face, as soon as she looked at her whitelighter.
Paige was going to ask what caused her expression to change, what made her happiness fade. She wasn't certain though; the look in Willow's eyes was no different. She was enjoying something, no question.
It was about that point Paige realized her thoughts had started babbling, after about a second on Willow staring at her. There was something oddly intense about that look.
And then Willow leant forward and kissed her.
For the first few seconds, Paige was still. Utterly still: she didn't know how else to react. Well, she'd known intellectually what Willow's sexuality was, after Tara. She'd obviously known Willow was single: she just hadn't expected Willow to show any interest.
Her next thought was that the kiss wasn't exactly unpleasant. Willow's lips were soft, her scent sweet; earthy. The kiss was gentle too: not pushy. Comforting: and more than comforting. Paige felt a thrill she couldn't describe, a lightness in her stomach.
And that was when she orbed, and Willow fell forward.
Paige came back into being behind Willow, now: and Willow lifted her front up, off the stone. She turned, quickly finding Paige, expression uncertain.
"Sorry," she said, quickly, "I didn't-"
"No," Paige said, shaking her head, "Don't be sorry, I- I do that when I'm surprised. Less often now, but, uh, that was still a surprise."
"Oh," Willow said, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Haven't had that reaction before."
Awkwardness gave way, briefly, to laughter. Then:
"Um," Willow said, "Was that, um, ok?"
At that, Paige hesitated, genuinely not sure what to say. On the one hand, that had been- well, good. On the other hand, it was probably quite unexpected. And she wasn't sure what to make of the trend for Halliwells to end up in whitelighter/witch romances, though at least this time she was on the opposite side.
Her confusion evidently showed on her face, and Willow's fell.
"Was I bad?" she said, quiet.
Paige shook her head, immediately.
"No, no," she said, "That was good, just- confusing, I guess. No, not confusing, I'm just confused. So sort of confusing, but that's not you, it's-" she blinked, shook her head. Willow winced in sympathy, recognizing the indecision.
Paige was almost relieved when she heard a chiming in the skies: the call of the Elders. They wanted to see her.
"Um," Paige said, soon realizing this wasn't a great time. Still, there wasn't a choice. "I need to go. Elders, they- they just called me. Can I drop you off anywhere?"
Willow shook her head; "I'll wait here," she said, gesturing at the view. "Just- um, hurry back?"
Paige nodded. "I promise," she said, before dissolving to orbs of white.
Back in the clouds, Paige immediately started towards the place she'd spoken to the Elders, before. She made it a few steps before she realized she wasn't in her robes: then shrugged. It probably didn't matter, whitelighters who spent most of their time on Earth couldn't be expected to change every time they were called up here. Especially when it was an urgent matter, like this one seemed to be.
There weren't as many Elders waiting for her, this time. There was the brunette who'd spoken the last time Paige was here, the white-haired Elder who'd first approached her about Willow, and a couple of others, neither of which Paige could recognize.
"We have reached a decision," the white-haired Elder said.
Paige braced herself.
And the Elder didn't continue immediately. Apparently they had a flair for the dramatic; then again, they were people who wore robes, lived in the clouds, and turned into balls of light. It wasn't unexpected.
It was, however, irritating. Paige quickly scanned the few Elders there, or at least those whose faces she could see. Unfortunately, they'd raised impassiveness to an art form.
"Given what you have said," the Elder spoke, "And her past actions, we accept that Willow Rosenberg is eligible for a whitelighter: and, if you would accept it, we would appoint you on a permanent basis."
"I'd accept it," Paige said, barely waiting for him to finish his sentence. A nod: "And thank you, really."
The Elder bowed his head, once.
"You will be assigned new charges in addition to Willow, when we are sure she will not return to darkness," the Elder said. "I trust that will not be a problem?"
"No," Paige shook her head, "Not at all. You know I'm happy to take on charges."
"That was not the problem I foresaw," the Elder said. "I understand the relationship between you and Willow has… changed, recently?"
Paige flushed, briefly, and hesitated. Of course he'd seen that, the Elders always did seem to see the wrong things. And it wasn't a great thing for them to see either: she knew how they felt about relationships between whitelighters and humans.
Then again, she was only half-whitelighter, and they hadn't complained about her previous relationships. Then again, she'd been working more as a witch than whitelighter during most of those.
She was about to speak up, to deny that there was any problem there, before she caught herself.
There was no purpose in rushing any statement. There was also every possibility it might be dishonest to deny; the kiss had hardly been unpleasant. Surprising, certainly, but it had been kind. And good. Then there was the healing; Paige knew perfectly well what triggered that ability.
Was it a 'maybe' then?
"It hasn't," Paige said, and paused. "Yet."
"I have been authorized to inform you, you may exercise your own judgement on that matter," the Elder said. "Some of us suspected. So long as you do not allow it to distract you from your duty… We have learnt to be more flexible."
Paige nodded, and found herself smiling.
Paige found Willow still sitting atop Big Ben, still beneath a magical shield, keeping the drizzle off of her.
"Back," she said, orbing beside the redhead. "Guess who's still your whitelighter."
Willow smiled as soon as Paige appeared, and smiled further at the news.
"Woo hoo," she said, playful: "Properly?"
"Properly," Paige nodded her head.
At that, the brief celebration only lasted a few more seconds. Then awkwardness took over, Willow's at the swift avoidance of the last thing they'd discussed, and Paige's at the sight of Willow's falling expression.
"Um," Paige said, uncertain now. "Earlier?"
Willow looked up; tilted her head. Querying. Paige hesitated: she didn't really have much more of an answer than Willow.
From what she'd gathered, neither of them had been looking. Neither of them had exactly expected this much; and Paige definitely wouldn't have been looking here.
"I'm sorry if it was-" Willow began, sensing Paige's confusion.
"It was fine," Paige said, quickly. She wouldn't let Willow feel bad. "Good, even. Really good- uh, just unexpected."
"If you don't want to-" Willow began, "I don't want to make things awkward," a pause, "More awkward." She shook her head, "Just say if you don't-"
"I didn't say that," Paige said. She barely thought about her words.
"You mean…"
"I mean," Paige said, only making up her mind completely as she spoke those words.
A moment of silence. Willow's eyes briefly drifted out, to the side, before refocusing on Paige. She found a smile.
That time it was Paige who leant forward, for a kiss both were expecting. It went far more comfortably than the first, and Paige felt only butterflies, rather than orbing away.
When they broke the kiss, neither wanted to move away. They sat, faces almost touching, lips barely a centimetre away from each other.
"So," Paige said. Her breath tickled Willow's face. "What now?"
"You're the guardian angel, you figure it out," a chuckle, "Take me home."
"Whose home?"
A shrug. "Yours?" she suggested. "I want to meet the sisters you talk about."
A smile, and Paige reached forward with one hand: took Willow's. There was a brief flare of light, and they were gone. The rain began to fall normally.
