Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Sophie.
"They're gonna break the spell, they're gonna break the spell!" Sophie chanted to herself, grinning.
"Not so fast swetie, the story's not over yet" said Willow. "After they had finished their dance, Tara and Dark Willow decided to take a walk out onto the balcony.."
--
"Tara?" Dark Willow asked quietly as they stood on the balcony under the starlit sky. "Are you happy here... with me?" Tara nodded and smiled, but a sad look soon spread over her face. "What is it?" Dark Willow frowned. "You know you can tell me anything."
"I'm just worried about my Uncle, that's all" Tara sighed. "I miss him, I wish I could see him again."
"There is a way" said Dark Willow after a pause. "Come with me."
--
The witch led Tara to the West Wing, and the girl hesitated slightly before following.
"It's okay" said Dark Willow, smiling softly. "I shouldn't have gotten so mad at you last time, I'm just not used to sharing this place with people. Come in." In that moment, Tara noticed that the witch's eyes were no longer pitch black but the beautiful emerald green she had seen flashes of before, and, on further consideration, realised that they had now been that way for a while. Tara followed Dark Willow, and the witch picked up the magic mirror, handing it to her. "This mirror can show you anything, anything you want to see."
"I'd like to see Uncle Giles please" Tara asked. The mirror glowed, then Giles was seen stumbling through a terrible snowstorm, coughing, and eventually collapsed. "Uncle Giles!" cried Tara in panic. "This is terrible! He's sick, he might be dying, and he's all alone!" Dark Willow glanced over at the rose, which had only a few petals left, then back to Tara, who's eyes were shining with tears.
"You have to go to him" she whispered.
"What?" Tara frowned, thinking she must have misheard.
"I'm releasing you."
"You are?"
"Yes" said the witch. "You are no longer my prisoner." Tara moved to hand the mirror back, but Dark Willow shook her head. "No, you keep it. So you'll always have a way to look back, and.. remember me."
"Thank you" Tara whispered, placing a soft kiss on the witch's cheek. "For understanding."
--
A little while later, Wesley entered the West Wing, smiling.
"Well Mistress, it seems as if everything is going swimmingly."
"I let her go" said Dark Willow sadly, staring at the wilting rose, her eyes black once again.
"Yes, I can assure you that.. YOU WHA?!" cried the clock.
"I had to Wesley. I had no other choice."
"But how could you do this?" said Wesley, hands drooping.
"Because I love her" The witch sighed.
--
"SHE DID WHAT?!" all the servants cried in unison after Wesley told them what had happened.
"She let her go?" Buffy exclaimed. "But that's impossible!"
"This can't be happening!" cried Xander.
"I'm afraid it's true" said Wesley.
"She's going away?" said Dawn sadly, having grown very fond of Tara during her time in the castle.
"I don't understand!" said Xander. "Why did Willow have to do this?"
"She was so close.." said Anya.
"I get it" Buffy sighed. "After all this time, the Mistress has finally learned to love."
"That's it then!" cried Xander hopefully. "That should break the spell!"
"It's not enough" sighed Anya. "Tara has to love her in return."
"And now it may be too late" said Wesley sadly. A little while later, from the window of the West Wing, Dark Willow watched Tara ride away, and for the first time in she couldn't remember how long, the witch began to cry.
--
Tara rode through the forest on Jonathon, searching for Giles.
"Uncle Giles?" she called, looking around. "Uncle Giles? Where are you?" She gasped when she eventually spotted the Watcher's limp form on the ground, face down in the snow. "Uncle Giles!" she cried, jumping off of Jonathon's back and running to her uncle, helping him up and wrapping him in a warm blanket, before pushing him up onto Jonathon. "We have to get you home!" Eventually they reached their little cottage, and Tara half-carried Giles inside. Andrew's head poked out of a pile of snow.
"They're back!" he cried, rushing off to deliver the news to Warren.
--
Back at the castle, while she and the other servants were dealing with the fallout from Tara's departure, Buffy had assigned Faith to 'Dawnie-watch' in an attempt to keep the little teacup from running off and doing something stupid. Unfortunately, Faith had fallen asleep, as the stove was often prone to do whenever there was no cooking to be done, and woke a little while later to find her young charge missing. Uh-oh, she thought to herself.
"Dawn?" she called, looking desperately around the kitchen. "Dawn? Come on pipsqueak, where are ya?" Faith searched the whole castle, including taking a quick peek into the West Wing where Dark Willow sat moping. "B is gonna kill me" Faith muttered. The stove changed into her human form, grabbed a jacket and bolted out the door, heading into the forest. "Dawn, if you can hear me get your tiny porcelain ass back to this castle right now!"
--
Inside the cottage, Giles slowly came to. As his vision cleared, a familiar face came into focus.
"Tara?"
"It's okay Uncle Giles, I'm here" Tara replied, placing a warm washcloth on his forehead. "You must have been in the forest for days.."
"Tara!" Giles cried as he threw his arms around his niece, now fully aware of his surroundings. "I thought I'd never see you again! Oh, I've missed you so much!"
"I've missed you too Uncle Giles" Tara smiled, hugging him back.
"But what about the witch?" asked Giles, concerned. "Tell me dear, how did you escape?"
"I didn't escape, she let me go" said Tara.
"What?" said Giles, surprised. "That horrible witch?"
"She's different Uncle Giles, she's changed" said Tara. "You should have seen her, she was.." Tara was cut off when she heard a noise, and looked over to see her bag moving. The magic mirror slid out, along with a very familiar little teacup.
"Hello!" Dawn giggled.
"Well what do you know?" said Tara, smiling. "A stowaway."
"Hello there" Giles chuckled. "I never thought I'd see you again."
"Yeah, I remember you" Dawn smiled, but this soon turned to a frown when she shifted her attention to Tara. "Why did you leave Tara? Don't you like us anymore?"
"It's not that Dawnie" Tara sighed. I like you all, really, it's just.." Tara was cut off again by a knock at the door.
"Who could it be at this hour?" Giles frowned. Tara got up and opened the door. It was Ethan, with a sinister look on his face.
--
Sophie glared at Willow.
"What?" said Willow defensively. "I can't go and leave out the unhappy parts of the story just because they happen after the really happy parts."