Tara stared at the pile of ash on the ground. It was the only thing left of Tina.
"You OK?" a husky voice asked.
Jerking in surprise, Tara moved her eyes from the ground. Warm brown eyes regarded her quizzically. "Uh…I th-think s-so," she stuttered. Although, her answer might have been a slight exaggeration. Tara's head ached from the rapid power influx and the fine tremors running through her body.
The other girl must have noticed them, too. One of her eyebrows went up and she smirked. "Glad to hear it. For a second there, I thought you might be a little shaken up, Blondie."
Despite the truth in those words, Tara found herself smiling. "Maybe ju-just a little."
"No big. Here." A hand gripped her forearm. "Let me help you up."
Tara didn't even have time to get her feet under her. With one easy tug, she was upright and swaying slightly. "Do you w-work out a l-lot?" She tilted her head, chancing a look at her savior's aura. Her shaky knees got less reliable. A narrow golden shimmer surrounded the other girl, and raw power pulsed underneath. "Wh-what are you?" she gasped.
"Ah…" Confidence crumbling, the brunette took a step back. "What do you mean?" The tone had bravado written all over it. The body language backed that up, shoulders hunched and hands stuffed deep in pockets.
"Faith!" Another figure darted toward them.
Faith? Tara frowned. The name was familiar. Where…?
Everything got clearer when the panting form skidded to a stop next to them. "Hey, you said you were going to swing by Greek Row. There was nothing about chatting up other women."
The giggle escaped before Tara could stop it. "D-don't worry, Willow. Faith was j-just hel-helping me with my d-date."
"Your date?" Willow looked at Tara and suddenly seemed to realize who she was. "Tara. Hi!" Bouncing on her toes and peering through the rapidly darkening area, she asked, "I don't see anyone. Did he run away? Faith can be a little…scary sometimes."
And magnificent, Tara thought, remembering Faith and the accuracy of her throw. "My date is…" She pointed at the ashes.
"Oh." Willow didn't seem too surprised or even confused by the remains. "That happens a lot around here, I'm afraid. Remember? I told you it wasn't safe." Then she frowned, eyes going intent.
"Something wrong, Red?" Tara edged away from Faith as she scanned the area. "I don't feel anything."
Green eyes locked on Tara's blue ones.
"I do." Willow pointed a slender finger at Tara. "She's a witch."
Taking a deep breath, Buffy nodded. "The beginning…that would be my very first day at Hemery." She could see the brightly polished tiles of the hallway, newly painted lockers lining the walls. "I'd met the captain of the cheerleading squad. My bimbo act wasn't enough to impress her. I needed something more dramatic. More…A-list."
"You came home that day on top of the world. I take it you found your victim?" Joyce's voice was soft and encouraging.
The support helped. The lump in Buffy's throat shrank a little, letting her voice smooth out and grow in volume. "Yeah. I did. There was this sophomore, a blonde girl who dressed like a reject from the sixties. Tara Maclay. Kind of like Willow…only worse. She stuttered really bad and she was so shy, she hid behind her hair if you even looked at her."
Tara was still like that.
"Marcie pointed her out and told me to show them I could 'fit in,' so I did. I pretended to want to be her friend." Just like the Willow she'd met during her first day at Sunnydale High, Tara had been shocked at the attention. Shocked and grateful. "We hung out together at lunch, and I asked her to meet me before fifth period to talk about maybe going to the mall after school."
The lump was back. God, she been such a bitch.
"That's it?" Joyce leaned back a little and looked at her closely. "I get a visit from my missing daughter over that?"
"I wish," Buffy mumbled. "That was just the tip of the iceberg."
Neither of them said anything while Buffy shifted, drawing both legs up on the couch and turning so she faced Joyce.
When she resumed her story, Buffy's voice was soft and pained. "I told the cheerleading girls what I'd done. That's why I was so happy that day. It got me a spot with the 'in' crowd." She rubbed her eyes tiredly. "When the time came to meet Tara…All the squad was there. The boyfriends and the groupies, too."
"Oh, Buffy. You didn't." Buffy couldn't even look at her mother at that.
"I did," Buffy confirmed. "Right there in the middle of the mall, with all those people just waiting and listening, I told her it had all been a joke. Why would I want to do anything with her?"
Those wide, hurt blue eyes welling with tears filled Buffy's mind.
"It was terrible, Mom." Her own tears spilled over. "She looked…" There weren't any words to describe the pain in Tara's eyes. "I…I just laughed." Buffy's throat contracted at the remembered sound. "And I didn't stop there. For the rest of the year, I kept at her. Nothing on that scale. Just small stuff: tripping her in the hallway, 'accidentally' bumping her in the cafeteria so she spilled her tray, faking a stutter when she was around..."
Wanting to find that hole she'd mentioned earlier, Buffy scrubbed her hands over her face.
"Maybe it's a good thing you got Called, honey." Arms wrapped around Buffy, and Joyce kissed the side of her head. "It got you out of all of that."
Not ready to forgive herself, Buffy shrugged.
"Buffy!" Joyce rocked them. "Answer this: would you do that again?"
Wrenching away, Buffy stared at her mother in horror. "No!"
"Then I don't see the problem." Joyce patted Buffy's knee. "I'm sure if you talk to Tara, you can explain that you've changed."
Buffy rubbed the fingers of her right hand over her temple. "Mom, she doesn't want to hear it. She tore out of the room tonight when she saw me. In the morning, she wants to tell the school she won't room with me. I'm not going to get the chance to explain anything."
Her depressed mumble got a loving smile from Joyce. "Come on, honey. I'll fix us some dinner and we'll make a battle plan. You may not be my little girl anymore, but I'm still here to help with all those bumps and scrapes."
"Is that 'Willow' for bitch or am I about to get fried with a fireball?" Faith edged away from Tara, hands held palm out in a placating gesture.
The actions dredged a smile from Tara. Willow, though, didn't appear to find it funny. Her brows nearly met over her intent green eyes. "She could have taken care of that vampire and his entire family, Faith. Without breaking a sweat."
Tara mentally agreed…assuming she could have remembered the right spell and recited it without stuttering. "I w-wouldn't hur-hurt you." Forcing herself not to duck her head, Tara met Willow's eyes. "I only use my m-magic for good."
"Huh," Faith grunted, relaxing her stance. "Gotta be careful around here. Just ask Red. It's like the vamps and demons got a sense for witches. You'll be at the top of their dinner menu if you don't pay attention.
Tara didn't point out that she'd been in Sunnydale for over a year now without attracting the wrong kind of crowd. "Are you a witch, too, Willow?" Maybe she was hiding her talents too much. If she'd been paying attention to auras earlier, she would have known from the beginning.
"Sort of." Willow's teeth brightened the night as she grinned. "I have some books, and I try to work on the spells. So far, though, I'm only good for levitating pencils."
Moving closer, Faith wrapped an arm around Willow. "Good for way more than that, Red."
Even in the dark, Tara could see Willow's blush. "You're se-self taught?" She definitely needed to keep her magical eyes open. It was incredibly difficult to learn the intricacies of spell casting from just a book – not to mention dangerous.
"Well, Giles did show me a few things," Willow answered.
"Giles?" How many witches were there in the tiny town of Sunnydale?
Eyes widening, Willow looked up at Faith. "He's…ah…he was the librarian at our high school. You know, big on books and knowing things. That's what librarians do. And…he was really good at his job. I mean, I went in-"
Her voice cut off abruptly when Faith kissed her. When they broke apart, Tara covered her mouth with her hand to hide a smile. Willow looked dazed, and she was sure the color on Willow's cheeks wasn't from embarrassment this time.
"Come on, Blondie. Me and Red are on the way to the Bronze. I think we got a lot to talk about." Faith used the arm around Willow's waist to steer them around. "We'll be your escort."
The Bronze. Willow and Faith. Buffy "No…no, that's OK. I was on m-my way to the lib-brary. We can talk t-tomorrow." Or never. That would be Tara's first choice. "Can you ju-just take me there?"