Chapter One Hundred and Forty Four

Make A Wish

*Flashback* Omaha, the world without shrimp - 1988

Tara was seven when her first flower bloomed. It was a dandelion. A flower she loved because it reminded her of how the sun rose every morning and how much hope she had when it did. Her mom was standing next to her, guiding her through every step until a tiny beautiful flower grew beneath her fingertips. She almost squealed with joy, falling back onto the grass with glee. Her mom collecting her from the ground and cuddling her until she was giggling out of control. The moment was precious to her because it was from a time when their house was happy. It was the moment she knew what her magic was for and what she was capable of. Her mom took Tara's cheeks in her hands and kissed the tip of her nose, then she said, "I'm so proud of you, bumblebee."

After her mother died, Tara's tears fell into the grass of their garden and the flowers bloomed in black. Petals grew damaged, then wilted and died. Her once bright dandelions were no longer for hope but for despair. The grass eventually blackened and died too. No one tended to the garden at all because her father and brother didn't care for it, and Tara was too pained to water it. The garden fell into ruin, it was like the magic holding their fragile world together had fragmented, it grated. Tara couldn't look at it anymore. She steered clear of the parks and the front yard, she avoided anywhere there was a poppy growing through a crack in the sidewalk and she stayed away from anywhere there was hope and light and the possibility she could ruin it with her sadness.

So the first time she heard Willow's name, something flickered inside her. She couldn't ruin a person, she'd always had such an affinity with mother Earth's creations.

San Francisco, the world without shrimp - New Year's Eve 2006

The window was open, Tara's arm was over the box of soil they had hanging over the lip. A small watering can in her hand and her fingers reaching through the roots, she made sure her plants grew. Despite it being the dead of winter, she could still make roots grow and flowers bloom. As her fingers trailed through the earth, a new shoot rose above the surface. Tara caressed each leaf before spotting Willow staring at her from their bedroom. "Hey!" She said, "new shoot." She pointed to the box and smiled.

Willow walked over and kissed her girlfriend's cheek lightly, looking out through the window at the busy city below. It was night, the stars out, the wind blowing fiercely, and the traffic buzzing. Willow like the business of it all, but the open window chilling her bones - she pulled down the sleeves of her red turtleneck. "It's beautiful, baby, now can we close the window? It's cold."

"Awe," Tara replied, scootching off the edge of the window sill and standing, yanking down the stiff window and locking it. Willow's cheeks were flushed and her hair whipped around her as the last brush of air blew into the room. Tara sighed peacefully, her thumb cooling Willow's blush as she leaned in and kissed her. "You ready to go?" She asked, pulling back, grabbing her coat from the hooks by the door.

"Yep, all ready," Willow replied, slipping into her own jacket and wrapping a scarf around her neck because of the winter chill.

"Okay, well just let me check on everything before we go." Tara said, smiling and whizzing around the room. Willow was pretty sure their apartment could be labelled as a greenhouse pretty soon, because Tara had plants everywhere. An almost-tree sat in a large pot by the door, several small ones littered every window sill and kitchen counter. She had baskets hanging from the ceiling, and she was growing tomatoes on top of the refrigerator. Tara ran around watering things here and there, plucking dead leaves off and plucking off ripe fruit. There was now an overflowing tray of tomatoes they kept meaning to eat. Willow bit her lip as she watched Tara speedily tend to her plants, her magic was so good, so earthy, so full of life.

"Ready?" Willow followed up with, taking Tara's hand as they headed for the door.

"Ready." She confirmed, gripping Willow's hand in return as they walked out the door.

The air was cold and the wind rushed around them as they walked down the street. Willow and Tara's mittened hands were entwined, their noses red at the ends from the night air. They smiled at each other. They stopped when they saw Buffy, just up the street ahead of them, she must've left ten minutes earlier. The sign above the club read, 'HELLFIRE' in thick neon red, which Buffy thought was mildly amusing and they all went in together.

It was girls' night. With Spike going AWOL and Dawn going to Ireland for a few months, they thought Buffy deserved some out, some time to just have fun. And what better place than the newly opened nightclub's New Year's Eve party? It was about time. When they walked inside the club, the music was blasting, there were people everywhere and the atmosphere was a hundred times more chaotic than the Bronze had ever been. It was slightly overwhelming, given the amount of evenings Buffy had spent in silent cemeteries of an evening.

"IT'S SO LOUD!" Buffy screamed but neither Willow or Tara heard her. They walked forward in a straight line through the crowds until they found a sparser area to grab a table and sit down. They got drinks with twisty straws and little paper umbrellas, Willow sipped happily, her head nodding from side to side as she looked about her.

It was a little while later that the music died a little and they could talk, "do you think it's the little paper umbrellas that make the drink taste better, or is it the alcohol?" Buffy said on the edge of tipsy.

"Maybe it's the way the straws are all wiggly?" Willow replied, taking another sip of her drink and smiling at Tara. She looked at the clock, an hour til midnight. "Maybe it's time to do some dancing?" She reached for Tara's hand and pulled her up and onto the floor, Buffy watched them in awe for a second before joining them - the music was loud, but the beat was steady and dancing made her forget everything. Nothing mattered when she swayed from side to side, when her hips moved and she closed her eyes and Spike disappeared for a minute. She'd been so distant, so out of it - with him. So with him and not all at the same time. It felt like he was never there anymore, even when he was, his mind was on other things.

Buffy was afraid she was losing him completely, that the dreams were draining him. She didn't know what to do. But this night was about forgetting, so she closed her eyes and took her friends' hands and let the magic of the music take control.

Eventually Willow and Tara sat back down and almost collapsed into each other. It was nearing midnight and the music was turning from a heavy pop to romantic. Buffy's figure slumped in the distance as the music dramatically changed and she walked back to the table with her shoulders sinking. "You okay Buff?" Willow murmured, her head on Tara's shoulder.

"No," she replied, tears starting to fall down her face. "Everything's wrong. Dawn's leaving for months- Spike's Spike. And he's probably leaving me. I don't know how I used to manage all of this, and the world ending. Like the world is fine Buffy! It's shouting at me." She started crying harder, the music slowing and dimming as Willow raised her hand and calmed the crowd around them. They were all still there, having the time of their lives, but their little table was now immune to the noise and chaos.

"Buffy, it's okay. You're always going to have us, we're not going anywhere." Tara responded.

Willow sat forward in her chair, sobering up a little. She reached across the table and took Buffy's hand. That helped a little. "Dawn's gonna call all the time, I bet. She'll only be gone for a few months, she'll be back. And as for Spike, he's probably just in one of his moods. Doesn't mean he doesn't still care."

"I don't know why I care. He's Spike, I mean I used to want to kill him, like all the time. But then he was there for me and I can't unthink it now that we've been, whatever we've been for this past two years. It's still so confusing, and we haven't moved forward at all. Like what's the next step in our relationship? Co-habiting with the big pile of dust?" Buffy explained, wiping her tears with a tissue Tara had handed her.

Willow stifled a chuckle, "well not if you don't want to. I wouldn't hold yourself to normal people standards, your a slayer, Spike's a vampire with a soul, and an attitude at the moment. You don't have to do anything you're not ready for." Tara nodded in agreement before yawning, Willow turned to her, "you tired baby?"

"Thanks, Will," Buffy interrupted, wiping her tears away and glancing up at the rest of the crowd. Willow's glamour soon faded and the noise came back like thunder in a storm.

"It's nearly midnight, why don't we ring in the new year and then take ourselves home." Willow suggested, moving to stand up.

"Okay, I'll meet you guess out there in a minute." Buffy replied, watching her friends excitedly take off onto the dance floor. She stared after them, watching them jive to lively music and laugh and smile. She felt in awe of them. By the way they had always just worked together. She wondered if she'd ever have that. As the music dimmed and the DJ began to shout the countdown to midnight, Buffy took a final sip of her drink and made herself walk out onto the dance floor. She was determined to have a good time. The seconds ticked down loudly, ten... Nine... Eight... Willow put her hands on Tara's hips and her head on her shoulder. Seven... Six... Five... Four... Three... Two... ONE! And the world was screaming around her.

They were on the way back to their apartment building, Buffy let Willow and Tara go ahead and they were giggling about something. "Hey excuse me!" A young girl's voice came crying out behind them. Buffy turned sharply on instinct and Willow followed. "Stop a minute!" The girl said again, approaching them.

"Can we help you?" Buffy said tiredly, watching as the girl shook her head and caught her breath for a second.

"Sorry, I um didn't mean to disturb you, but-" she paused, playing with her hands, a finger twisting through her curly red hair. "That glamour, you made the noise die down for a while. How did you do that?" She wasn't sure who to address so she looked at the three of them altogether. Behind her was another girl, lingering, a curious expression on her face.

Willow was surprised, she didn't know anyone had noticed. Then she wondered how they noticed, so she stepped forward. "Oh that was me. Just a little spell," she assumed these girls must know something about magic, to be able to bypass it like they did. Maybe there was something underlying connection none of them knew about.

"Can you show me?" The girl continued, but they were standing in the middle of the street, late into the night. And Buffy had a burning desire to collapse on her bed and go to sleep.

"Oh well, it's late and we really must be-" She cut in, not trying to be rude, but trying to get the girls to go away. Willow caught the mood in the air and looked at the girl seriously.

"Just- look here's my number, call me and maybe we can work something out." She said handing over a post-it with her cellphone number on it. The girls walked back to the club happily and the Scoobies went home. But the encounter had Willow thinking. She'd enjoyed helping Jenny teach back in high school, maybe teaching magic was something she could do. Maybe she could get a group together once a week.