Author's Note: So here we go with yet another one finished. I hope you enjoyed and will be there for the next one, which I'll start posting on Monday. :) I tried to update yesterday, but was being a pain and wouldn't let me, so yeah... The new one will start on Monday regardless :)
Willow just had a few moments to enjoy her victory, still finding it hard to believe that this spur-of-the-moment idea really had worked – then, with a tremendous splashing sound, the barrier which had been keeping the water above her from pouring into the cave vanished, and she got drenched to the bones, crying out in surprise as she leapt aside, needing a few moments to figure out what just had happened.
The water washing around her ankles finally helped her realize what was going on, and she looked at the hole through which she had been pulled into this cave; apparently, the barrier which had been holding the water there had been connected to the nightmare demon, and now that the wretched creature had died, the barrier was gone as well, allowing the water the follow the laws of physics again. The witch just had a few seconds to wonder if the cave would get flooded now and if she'd drown despite after everything she had done to avoid death; then, a dark shape moving downwards with the flow of water distracted her from those thoughts, her heart skipping a beat in her chest when she recognized the figure as her partner.
"Please don't be dead", she muttered to herself as she watched the demon be carried closer and closer to the hole, nervously biting her lip, wishing that there was something she could do to speed this up; before she could come up with an idea though, she realized that she was standing right beneath the hole, which meant that Pat would fall on top of her once she'd get swept through it, the mental images this brought up distracting her from the thought of speeding the flow of water up.
For a moment, she considered staying where she was so she could try to catch her partner and soften her fall a bit; then, she remembered that Pat was much taller and heavier than her and that it probably wouldn't end well for either of them if she'd try to catch her, thus moving aside with a heavy heart, hoping that her loved one wouldn't end up hurt once she'd reach the hole and fall through.
Without even noticing that she was holding her breath, Willow watched how the strong current carried her partner closer and closer to the hole; and finally, she came through, ending up on the ground in a lifeless heap, the sight prompting the witch to jump forward, grab her and drag her away from the hole so at least the water which still was pouring into the cave wouldn't fall on her anymore.
"Pat?" she tried to get a response from her partner as soon as they had gotten away from the flow, taking the demon's upper body into her lap so she wouldn't lie fully in the by now ankle-deep water that covered the cave's floor, "can you hear me? Come on, wake up…"
For a few dreadful moments, the demon didn't react the slightest; just when Willow was about to get seriously worried though, and already started thinking about the CPR lessons she had had in High School, the taller woman suddenly coughed violently, water spluttering from her mouth and on her clothes, something which didn't matter much though since she was soaked from head to toe anyway.
"Thank goodness", Willow mumbled, more to herself than to her girlfriend, her heart momentarily clenching up when Pat coughed up even more water and she felt her tremble in her grip; then, the demon seemed to calm down, since she forced her good eye open and looked up at the redhead, the words that left her mouth in a hoarse voice moments later making the witch giggle despite herself. "I hate water now. I'll never go swimming again."
"Can't say that I blame you", Willow smiled, moving a strand of wet hair out of her girlfriend's face, "but at least you didn't drown. I was worried there for a moment."
"What happened, anyway?" Pat wanted to know in reply, looking around in confusion and sitting up carefully, grimacing when she noticed the water both Willow and she were sitting in, "how did I end up here? The last thing I remember is how the lake I was in suddenly started, I dunno, moving down or something."
"It started emptying", Willow corrected her, "into this cave. The nightmare demon took me here after she made the cemetery turn into the lake."
"…okay", the demon gave back after a moment, clearly not fully understanding this, but not bothering to question it, either, "and what about the demon? Did she get away again?"
"No", the witch let her know, "she's dead. I killed her."
"Wow", Pat gave back after a few seconds of stunned silence, "you did? That's awesome. How?"
"I channeled all the pain and suffering she caused in her life back at her", Willow replied, "but, to be honest, I'm not even fully sure how I did that. Suddenly, the idea was just… there, and I knew how to do it, so… voila. Dead demon."
"Good riddance", the demon smirked, "I don't think it really matters where that idea came from, the important thing is that it worked. Now we just have to figure out how to get out of here, or we'll just sit around and wait until Giles does so, but that might end up bad for our health, in that cold water."
"Good point", Willow agreed, "maybe we should look for an exit, so we won't have to sit around soaked to the bones until Giles gets us back out. Do you think you can get up and walk already?"
"Sure", Pat shrugged, then demonstrated the truth of her words by coming to her feet; Willow did the same, giggling heartily moments later, her laughter making the demon raise an eyebrow at her as she clearly wondered what was so funny.
"What's so funny?" she wanted to know, almost automatically smiling as well at the sound of her girlfriend's mirth; in response, Willow looked at her, then giggled again, taking a few deep breaths afterwards to calm down, even though she still interrupted herself with laughter several times when she finally replied. "Just look at us! Soaked from head to toe, we must look like drowned dogs!"
"Nah, we're both too good looking to look like dogs", Pat replied at once, even though the witch's words were making her smile; Willow just giggled again in reply, then surprised her partner since, instead of starting to move so they could look for an exit, she stepped closer to her and put both arms around her, the taller woman returning the embrace a moment later.
"I'm glad this is almost over", the redhead mumbled, their plan to get out of the cave for the moment forgotten as she found herself mesmerized by her partner's loving gaze, "who knows how much more damage that demon could have done…"
"Doesn't matter anymore", Pat shrugged, smiling down on her, "you got rid of her, so she'll never harm anyone ever again. Let's just hope that the demon I offed was her only son."
"From what she said, I think he was an only child", Willow smiled in reply, then brought up her arms so she could interlace her fingers behind the demon's neck; quickly, the demon realized what she was aiming at and, with her smirk widening slightly, bent down for a kiss, both of them forgetting about how wet and uncomfortable and cold they had been feeling moments ago when the kiss deepened, only capable of focusing on each other and their love.
"…finally worked… thank Goodness, I was already getting worried", Buffy's voice muttered rather close to her, making her wonder for a moment what was going on – after all, she had been standing in ankle-deep water just moments ago, kissing her girlfriend after the most recent threat to Sunnydale had been defeated, and it didn't really make sense that her best friend would be there with them all of a sudden. Then, she realized that she didn't stand in said water anymore, but was lying flat on her back, and that her clothes and hair were dry again; it took a few more seconds for the witch to figure out what had happened, relief filling her when she opened her eyes at last and found herself on the floor of Buffy's living room, the Slayer's face appearing above her another moment later.
"How are you feeling?" Buffy wanted to know, the concern in her voice making the redhead smile slightly while she sat up slowly, not sure yet if the long stay in the dreamworld had done any damage; when she didn't feel dizzy or nauseous, she figured that no harm had been done and answered accordingly, to the blonde's obvious relief. "I'm fine, I think… how long have I been out?"
"Almost five hours", Buffy gave back, "two of those together with your girlfriend. Did it at least work out?"
"Yes", Willow let her know, smiling slightly, "the nightmare demon went to join her son in the afterlife. I'm glad you managed to wake us up again, Giles."
"And I'm glad we're not as wet now as we were in that dreamworld", Pat threw in from her right, having woken up as well and sitting up, coughing when both the Slayer and the Watcher raised an eyebrow at her in perfect unison, clearly having no idea what she was talking about – and probably getting wrong images into their heads, judging from the look on their faces.
"There was a lake", she thus added, a bit sheepish, making Willow giggle slightly, "a lake in which I almost drowned while my lovely partner here got rid of the demon. Well done, Sweetie."
"How did you get rid of her?" Giles wanted to know, the witch shrugging slightly in reply, making it her turn to sound a bit sheepish when she replied, since the Watcher's question had made her realize that it hadn't been him who had somehow given her the idea to do the spell she had used for defeating the demon.
"I did a spell", she explained, "one which channeled all the pain and fear she had caused during the centuries into her. It kinda overloaded her I guess, and she died. To be honest, until right now, I thought you'd sent me the idea for that somehow, because I have no idea where it came from."
"No, I didn't", Giles told her what she already knew anyway, "I was quite busy with finding a way to wake both of you up again, after Pat threatened to beat me up, should I refuse to get her to you." With the last words, he gave the demon a pointed look, clearly still not all too happy about the fact that she had threatened him to make him send her after Willow; obviously not impressed, Pat didn't even bother to reply, but just shrugged, making him roll his eyes.
"Well, even though it wasn't nice of her to threaten you, it was good you sent her after me", the witch let him know, making him look at her again, "because apparently, one of Buffy's worst nightmares includes being buried alive, so Pat had to dig me out."
"Oh my God", Buffy gave back, clearly shocked by hearing this, "are you sure you're okay? That's just awful."
"I'm fine", Willow reassured her in reply, "I'll just stay away from narrow, confined spaces for a while, I think."
"Probably better that way", Buffy agreed, "I really should have warned you about that, I'm sorry…"
"It's okay, really", the witch replied, smiling slightly, touched by her best friend's concern for her well-being, "as I said, as long as I don't have to go anywhere similar to a coffin in the near future, I'm okay."
"Good thing you've been out of the closet for quite some time now", Pat commented, then cringed at her own words while the rest just gave her disbelieving looks, the demon having the grace to blush slightly as she cleared her throat.
"I'm sorry, I have no idea where that came from", she added, looking even more embarrassed when for a few more moments, the others just kept staring at her; then, Willow finally was the first one to burst into giggles, Buffy and Giles following suit a few moments later, the redhead still laughing when she moved closer to her partner to hug her, slowly calming down while the taller woman returned the embrace, still looking quite embarrassed.
"That must have been the lamest pun you've made in years", the witch smirked once she had calmed down enough to talk without starting to giggle again, "you should be ashamed."
"Believe me, I am", Pat grimaced, prompting her girlfriend and Buffy to laugh once more while Giles managed to stop at a grin this time; still smirking from ear to ear, Willow leaned in for a quick and innocent, but tender kiss, all four smiling at each other afterwards, glad that once more, they had been victorious against their opponents and that the whole situation had ended well.
End.
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