Tara frowned as she glanced around the quaint little coffee shop she found herself in. She wasn't quite sure what she was doing here other than taking a break from the nearly constant practice drills of the last several months. She was beginning to suspect that Adam's death had hit Duncan particularly hard. The fact that there was no word on the location of the immortal that took his friend's life caused him to press her to learn at a frantic pace to combat the helpless feelings he was suffering from. She was glad of the teaching and the support as she hadn't been feeling the best at finding herself cut off from her friends.

She shook herself from her melancholy thoughts as she watched the cute waitress's behind. She couldn't help comparing her to Willow. The girl looked a bit younger maybe early college or late high school years. She had light brown hair that reached down to her shoulders rather than Willow's red. The waitress turned around and tossed her a smile. Tara blushed slightly as she found herself starring at the girl's chest and the nipples that were slightly tenting the shirt. Tara quickly pulled her eyes over to the nameplate before wrenching them up to look at the girls green eyes.

Claire smiled at her customer as she caught the girl's eyes on her chest. She was more used to getting that reaction from her male customers. "More tea?"

Tara nodded, "Please."

Claire glanced around at the slow coffee shop, "I don't think I've seen you around here before."

"I haven't been in town for all that long."

"So what brings you to our humble town?"

Tara glanced at the girl hesitantly, "I'm studying at the martial arts school."

Claire's eyes slid over Tara's athletic body, "I guess I can see that."

Tara blinked, she was still a bit surprised at the changes in muscle tone and endurance several months of hell on earth training could do for you when you didn't need to fear permanently injuring yourself. She blushed slightly, "Thanks, it's not easy but you get used to it after a while."

Claire glanced behind her as an old windbag was blathering on about getting more coffee. "Ah duty calls." She winked at Tara even as she walked away.

Tara muttered to herself as she watched her walk away, "I think I'll have to come back often." Her thoughts continue unvoiced, 'Or at least as often as I can given the meager amount of money I'm getting from Duncan for keeping the training area clean. Still, I am being trained, I just wish Willow was here, or maybe Giles. Still you have bigger problems then that.' She sighed as she forced herself not to think about her fading magic.

She fished the change out of her pocket for the tea and left it by the empty cup. She smiled at Claire who was busy with another group of students that couldn't decide on what they wanted to order.

She glanced around the streets as she walked back toward the apartment. She sighed as she mentally checked her reserves of magic. One-maybe, two good spells and then she would be out. She sighed in frustration. She had, over the first few weeks, used a large amount of magic to try to find a way home, that is until it dawned on her that there wasn't any source of magic in this world and that she should conserve her remaining power. She found that it hurt not having it as a constant companion. Still she was determined to prove that she could live without it, that she wasn't addicted to it like Willow. Her thoughts shied away from the large gapping hole in her life that was Willow. She realized that she had been doing a lot of that lately. She resolved that if Willow hadn't found her these last few months then expecting a rescue was probably a fool's dream. "Maybe I need to start living my life. I was someone before I met Willow. I can still do something with my life, even without Willow or magic." Tara sighed and hoped that she wasn't lying to herself.