Willow looked up as she heard a knock on her bedroom door.

"Hey." Dawn smiled warmly at her. Willow struggled and ended up forcing a return gesture, patting the bed beside her.

Dawn came to sit down, looking at Willow with concerned eyes. "How are you doing?"

Willow raised a hand in the air and wobbled it slightly, indicating she wasn't really bad, but she wasn't really good either. In between kind of.

Hastily, Willow wiped a few tear stains from her cheeks and tried to stop the ones forming in her eyes. "I'm sorry Dawnie." She said. "You shouldn't have to see me like this."

"It's ok." Dawn said, patting her leg. "I can't imagine how much it must hurt right now."

Willow nodded as a single tear escaped down her cheek. "I miss her so much." She said.

"I know," Dawn said sympathetically. "We all do. Though no one as much as you." Willow started to cry again. Dawn pulled a few tissues from her pocket and lent forward, starting to wipe the tears away.

A small smile escaped from Willow's lips. "I'm sorry." She said again.


"Hey." Dawn said getting up. She crossed the room and retrieved a locket, returning to Willow. She fastened it around Willow's neck and came around to sit with her on the bed again.

"Do you remember that?" Dawn asked.

Willow looked down at it and nodded sadly. "Tara gave it to me for my birthday."

"She might be gone. But she's still here."

"No she's not Dawnie."

"Well, she's not here-here, but she's sort of here. Do you remember what you and Tara told me when my Mum died?"

Apologetically, Willow shook her head.

"You guys said that she'd watch over me. Me and Buffy." Dawn said and Willow slowly remembered.

"Tara's watching over you too. All of us, but especially you. I'm sure of it. She might not be here, but she'll always be with you Willow. Like a guardian angel."

Willow smiled gratefully. "Thanks Dawnie." She opened her arms and Dawn hugged her before getting up and leaving her alone.

Willow lay back down on her bed, looking up at the ceiling and allowing herself to get lost in her thoughts. Guardian angel. She liked that. She smiled, hoping Tara was looking down and watching her. Hoping she was alright. Hoping that maybe, she'd been reunited with her mother in heaven, if there was a heaven up there. Wishing she was there with her. Willow's eyes closed and she fell asleep.


"Tara!" Willow beamed excitedly, spotting her beautiful, blonde haired, blue eyed lover at the end of the corridor. Willow ran as fast as her feet would allow but when she reached Tara, she disappeared.

"Tara?" She called out worriedly. "Tara? Baby where are you?"

"Just follow my voice. You'll find me." Came Tara's voice. Willow looked around, but there was no sign of Tara anywhere.

Willow rolled off her bed in her sleep and fell to her knees, tears beginning to flow like a waterfall from her eyes.


Tara sat down and cried along with Willow. She didn't know where she was, and she didn't like it. It was torture watching Willow pine for her, crying a river because she wasn't there. Watching as their friends all attempted to comfort her, seemingly to no avail.

"Please!" She begged out aloud. "Please let me go back down there with her. I can't bear being apart from her!"

It seemed not only had the bullet that had hit Tara stopped her heart, but had also shattered it into a thousand pieces, along with Willow's.


Tara watched Dawn with sad eyes, her pillow soaked with tears and her diary wet with multiple tear drops on every page as she tried to write. Dawn gave up and fell to her knees on the floor.

"Why!?" She screamed angrily, looking straight up at the sky. "Why did you have to take her away from us? Why!?" She screamed again, dissolving into a flood of tears.

"I don't know why Dawnie." Tara whispered. "I wish I was there with you and Willow. More than anything."


"She misses you Tara. We all do." Buffy said.

"I miss you guys too. I'd give anything to be there." Tara said, knowing that she wouldn't, but still wishing that Buffy could hear her reply.

"She can't stop crying. It's killing us to see her like this. There's nothing we can do to help her. All she wants is you, Tara."

"All I want is her." Tara agreed sadly.


Tara watched Xander worriedly as he paced the floor, back and forth. His hands were rested behind his head and he had a frustrated expression on his face.

"I don't know how to help her." He muttered under his breath. "How do I take her pain away? If Tara was here, she'd know what to do. But granted, if Tara was here there wouldn't be a problem in the first place. I'd do anything to bring Tara back. To see the smile on Willow's face again. To see Tara again. I liked her. I wish she could have stuck around"

Tara shook her head and smiled. "I liked you too Xander." She said.


She watched as Giles sat on a chair in the Magic Box, his elbows resting on his knees and his head cradled in his palms. He stared straight ahead, but he wasn't really seeing what was in front of him.

"Tara was such a beautiful young woman. She made Willow the happiest I'd ever seen her." Giles mused. "I wish I'd gotten to know Tara more than I had. She seemed so smart and knowledgeable."

"Thank you Giles." She said, wishing he could hear her. "It's good to know that I was loved. That I mattered to everyone."


Anya shook her head. "It doesn't make sense." Se complained. "Why would the universe take away such a nice person? She didn't deserve to loose her life! I can think of so many people who should have died in her place, who deserved it."

Tara was taken aback by Anya's words and was filled with an overwhelming desire to squeeze the life out of her. That had been perhaps the kindest thing Tara had heard Anya say. Ever.


Spike ran and staked one vampire with each hand. "That," he said through clenched teeth. "Was for Tara!"

Tara smiled, hearing that and watched as Buffy turned around to face him.

"What?"

"For Tara." Spike repeated. "She didn't deserve to die. As far as karma goes, it was a long way from fair. At least a million people will have to die before it's even close to being fair." He said, and Buffy glanced at him, wide eyed.

"I've never known you to be that caring Spike."

"Besides," Spike continued, ignoring Buffy's comment. "Tara was a nice gal. Stunning one too. She made Red so happy, and now all she can do is cry. She wasn't good for nothing, and she was a good person and a good friend."

Tara giggled. "Oh Spike, you dirty minded thing you! You shouldn't be saying things like that about a taken woman. I can't imagine what Willow would do if she heard you saying that!"