Holiday Cheer

by JustSkipIt

Copyright © 2005

Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Guess what…I don't own W&T, Buffy or the rest of the BtVS crew. Any similarity to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental and fortunate.
Distribution: The Mystic Muse    /mysticmuse.net
Author's Notes: I meant to get this cute story up by Christmas but missed my mark. Hope it's cute anyway.
Pairing: Willow/Tara

Summary: Willow tells Santa what she wants for Christmas.

Part 1    Part 2


Part 1

"Ok," Buffy began listing, "I got mom this gorgeous scarf as well as a new jacket; Dawn a bunch of compact discs from boy bands; and you…I'm not telling" The blonde felt somewhat disappointed when her taunts didn't even get a rise from her best friend.

"What about Giles?" Willow inquired.

"That's a hard one," Buffy answered, "Ooo, smoothies!" She turned quickly and got in the line at the mall's only smoothie shop.

"So what did you decide on?" Willow persevered. She knew quite well that without her keeping the blonde on task, they would never finish their holiday shopping, particularly once Buffy had set her sights on food.

"Well," Buffy considered, "either dusty books, mid-life crisis man-of-leisure magazines, or a gift card for the emergency room."

Willow took her smoothie and led the two girls into the hall. "I'm sure he'd make good use of any of them." She looked at her watch and let Buffy know the time. Buffy stopped as she saw a brightly colored blouse in a shop window and Willow let out an exasperated sigh. "We have to meet Dawn in like five minutes."

"Grrr," Buffy answered, frustrated that the find would go to someone else. Both girls started walking back the way they came, into the thicker and thicker crowd. "What about you?"

"Oh," Willow responded casually, "I finished my shopping and wrapping last week."

"Really?" Buffy answered in disbelief, "what did you get your parents?"

"Cell phones," Willow answered smugly.

"Subtle, Willow," the Slayer complimented, "very subtle."

"I thought so," Willow told her friend, "that way they have absolutely no excuse for…"

"For what?" Buffy said as she realized that Willow had come to a complete stop on the wrong side of the ice skating rink. "We're supposed to meet Dawn by the foam hat stand side of the rink, Willow," she reminded the redhead.

"Uh huh," Willow answered in a daze.

Buffy looked around the mall trying to estimate what was causing Willow's distraction. "What's up, Will?" she asked.

"She's beautiful," the redhead muttered.

"Who? The figure-eight girl?" Buffy asked pointing at the pink-clad sparkly skater.

"Hey," Dawn called as she stopped walking in front of the two other girls. "I thought we were supposed to meet on the other side."

"We were," Buffy confirmed, "Willow's having some sort of episode."

'It's not an episode," Willow answered absently.

"What?" Dawn asked.

"That girl is just wonderful," Willow again attempted to explain.

"What girl?" Dawn asked her sister.

"I have no idea," Buffy answered.

"Right there," Willow nodded her head in what she hoped was a subtle enough gesture to not embarrass herself.

The sisters looked in the direction of Willow's surprisingly unskilled head bob. "Those are little kids, Willow," Buffy said in complete bewilderment.

"Not the kids," Willow whispered, "and don't look over there. In front of the kids."

"Uh Willow," Dawn said jokingly, "that's not a beautiful girl: that's Santa Claus." She started laughing.

"Yeah, Will," Buffy agreed, "I know he didn't come to your house much but let me explain: on Christmas night he comes down the chimney with presents for all the good girls and boys."

"And you leave him cookies and milk and he drives a sled led by eight reindeer," Dawn added as she continued laughing, joined of course by her sister.

"Plus Rudolph," Buffy added, "don't forget the most famous reindeer of all." She started singing her line and she and Dawn launched into an impromptu rendition of Rudolph's famous song.

"Look at those eyes," Willow argued, "have you ever seen that color blue?"

"Willow," Dawn argued, "the Santas are always just some drunk fat guy who has nothing better to do than sit in the mall getting paid to have kids sit on his lap and pull on his beard."

"Creepy," Buffy agreed.

"I'm sure they usually are," Willow agreed, "but that one is not a drunk fat guy. Look at her face and her hands. Every time she picks up a kid to put him on her lap you can see how gentle she is about it."

Dawn and Buffy watched for a few minutes. "Ok," they agreed, "that could be girl."

"It is a girl," Willow reiterated, "and she's lovely."

"Why don't you go say hi to her," Buffy suggested.

"Oh right," Willow scoffed, "just walk up and say, 'hi beautiful Santa-girl. Want to go out for coffee, food, kisses and gay-love?'"

"I'd leave out the kisses and gay-love part," Dawn advised.

"You didn't hear anything about kisses or gay-love," Buffy pointedly told her sister who rolled her eyes. As the Slayer spoke she began slowly winding her way alongside the long line of kids waiting to have their pictures taken and arrived on the side of the makeshift workshop. She knew that if she began walking, Willow and Dawn would follow and now the three girls stood 15-20 feet from the quite occupied object of Willow's affection.

They quickly assessed the scene in front of them. Santa's chair was centered in the workshop area. On each side he was flanked by an elf who directed the line and told each kid when his time was up. Santa's workshop was behind and to the right of the setup and fake snow, obviously made of white stuffing littered the ground all around the area. The entire scene was marked off by a portable but very noticeable fence.

"I don't see how you're going to get close enough to ask her for kisses and gay-love," Dawn concluded.

"You're spending too much time with Anya," Buffy admonished her sister. She looked at her watch before announcing: "I need to go pick up Xander's video game and we need to leave in about 45 minutes." She didn't even ask Willow but turned to Dawn, "Do you want to go with me?"

"No way," the teenager scoffed, "I'm going to see if Willow's fixation turns to obsession and makes her burst into flames."

"Great," Willow muttered, "I see a girl I really like and it's a point of amusement to my best friends."

"Amusement," Dawn said, "I'm thinking it should be a point of pride. You're supposed to be this big bad lesbian but the only lesbian thing about you is your reading habits and your self- described title."

"I'm a lesbian," Willow argued with a insulted look. The three or four people who looked over at her statement made her blush but she repeated herself, this time in a whisper to the girl across to her: "I am a lesbian."

"Prove it," Dawn argued with typical 14 year-old logic.

"Ok," Willow agreed, "I'll just wait until she takes a break and go talk to her. Ok?"

"Nope," Dawn stated confidently, "mom's going to be here soon and she may not have a break for hours."

"Great," Willow said feeling completely disheartened. "So there's no way to meet her?"

"I didn't say that," Dawn smirked.

"What?"

"You could get your picture taken with Santa," Dawn suggested with a barely suppressed giggle.

"Dawn Summers," Willow began lecturing, "are you crazy? First off I'm Jewish and second I'm 18 years old."

"So," Dawn again answered with a childish look of triumph. When Willow merely glared at the girl Dawn shrugged her shoulders, "So I guess you don't really want to meet her."

"You're making me look like an idiot," Willow said with a growl as she walked back to the end of the line of kids waiting to see the Christmas icon. She saw Dawn of course watching her with a victorious look on her face.

Willow stood in line with two competing feelings. First, she felt like a complete idiot. She was by far the oldest and tallest person waiting to see Santa. A few parents bringing their kids to see him had tapped her on the shoulder and said that she should get out of line so the kids would get their turn. She ignored them but noticed a series of murmurs moving through the line. It was hard to control the blush of embarrassment that covered her face and became more and more pronounced as she moved forward in line. More importantly she felt completely entranced by the beauty behind the beard and red nose. She could see the care that the girl, whoever she was, put into each visit with each child, as if her reception would actually get the child the presents they sought.

Since she timed that each visit took an average of 2 minutes and 15 seconds, she would reach the front of the line in just over 13 minutes. She tried to think of something wonderful to say. Something pithy and charming and intelligent and socially responsible. Something…really great.

"Who's next on Santa's lap?" the red-clad character asked in a deep-throated voice.

"Oh," Willow jumped from her reverie, "I guess that's me." She took a step forward and started to speak. "I'm Willow and I um.. wondered if maybe you um get a break or you know… smoothies are good."

The redhead saw the unmistakable hint of a smile under Santa's beard. "Santa doesn't have time for breaks. Too much to do before Christmas."

"Hey, are you going to get your picture taken or what?" the elf on Santa's left asked.

"Um…," Willow blushed again, "I didn't really…I mean I was just…"

"Come here," Santa beckoned the redhead. In moments Willow found herself gently easing onto the object of her affection's lap.

"I hope I'm not too heavy for you," she whispered as she took the opportunity to look more intently at the beautiful blue eyes she had seen across the mall.

Again Santa smiled as he asked in a deep voice, "Tell Santa what you want for Christmas."

"Well," Willow started nervously, "I never get anything because…well Jewish…but I wanted to meet you."

"Of course you did," Santa agreed, "many people wonder if Santa is really real." Willow and the beautiful woman both smiled at her staying in character. "Tell me, Willow," Santa asked, "have you been naughty or nice this year?"

Willow could see the laughter and mirth in the woman's eyes as she asked the loaded question. "Definitely nice," she answered with a squeak in her voice, "I'm very seldom naughty."

"That's too bad," Santa whispered sexily. Willow felt her heart begin to beat even faster as she heard the overt flirtation. She knew that her waking and sleeping moments would be filled with that sound for a long time.

"You have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen," Willow said stupidly just as the flash bulb went off.

"Ok, there's a long line so time's up," the elf announced.

Willow's head snapped around to look at the smirking character in his costume. Seeing the look of determination in his eyes and the angry looks on the first 5 or so parents in the incredibly long line she slid off Santa's lap. "But coffee?" she said quickly and almost pleadingly. Her spirits sank as the elf handed her an incredibly bad photo of herself sitting on Santa's lap with her eyes shut and her mouth open. Before she could say anything else, he had ushered the next child onto Santa's lap and the red-clad figure was involved with the child's long and complicated list. Willow slunk off dejectedly glancing back once to catch a glimpse of those blue eyes again as they surreptitiously watched her leaving the area.

"Well? What did she say? What's her name? Did you get her number? Does she have a girlfriend? Or a boyfriend?" Dawn and Buffy flung their questions at the redhead at breakneck speed and on top of each other so that Willow could barely make out their words.

"I don't think Santa has time for coffee," the redhead answered. "Don't we have to meet your mom about now?" she asked hoping to change the topic from her incredible failure.

"Sure," Buffy agreed, well aware that her own record with love and loss was nothing to be proud of. The three girls shared the load of Buffy's packages as the made their way quickly to the curb to wait for Joyce to pick them up as agreed.

No sooner had the three girls set down their shared load on the bench to wait than Dawn looked around wildly. "Shit!" she cursed, "I left my gloves by the rink." She was already jogging toward the doors as she shouted, "Tell mom I'll be two minutes."

"Some things never change," Buffy smirked as she looked at her best friend.

Willow smiled back, "Some days that is way too true."


Part 2

"Are you sure you don't want to stay over tonight?" Buffy asked again as she stood with Willow at the redhead's front door. Even though the Slayer needed to go patrol, she hoped that Willow would stay at the Summers house and then they could have an old-fashioned slumber party. "We could wait up for Santa and take pictures when he slides down the chimney? Or eat his cookies if he doesn't arrive by 2:00?"

Willow smiled at her friend's attempts to included her in the Summers family Christmas traditions but she somehow just felt that she should be at home tonight, even if she would be at home all alone. "Thanks, Buffy," she answered as she let herself into the dark living room and reached to turn on a light, "you go enjoy patrol and then have fun with your mom and sister." The two girls quickly embraced before Buffy pulled out her stake and headed into the darkness. Willow watched the blonde go for a moment before closing and locking the door behind her.

Willow looked around her home for a minute, taking in the neatness of her surroundings. Her parents were so rarely home that the house never had a chance to become cluttered or dirty. Actually Willow was enjoying having the large home all to herself throughout the holidays, particularly bathrooms after the communal bathroom environment of Stevenson hall. She kicked her shoes off and set them on the stairs before picking up the remote control and switching on the television. Before getting comfortable, she made herself a bowl of popcorn and a glass of eggnog.

She was on her second watching of It's a Wonderful Life, having come in around the time George is being shown how wonderful his life is and now starting at the beginning, when a light knock on the door startled her. Assuming that Buffy had come by at the end of patrol to attempt to convince her to return to the Summers home to share their holiday she set down her glass of eggnog and walked casually over to the door. "I know you're just being…," she trailed off as she pulled open the door and realized that her visitor was not, in fact, Buffy.

Aware that she was staring, Willow nonetheless could not take her eyes off her unexpected visitor. She allowed her gaze to travel up first to the fuzzy elf hat perched atop blonde hair, then down over the unmistakable twinkling blue eyes that had first captivated her, and then even lower to quickly (and she hoped surreptitiously) assess what had been hidden by padding and a red suit. "Being what?" the blonde asked with a smile at the way Willow was looking at her.

"I .. the…you…," Willow stuttered as she was caught off guard not only by her dream woman's appearance but by the sound of her voice. It was neither the Santa voice she had used at the mall nor her sexy and flirtatious voice. She suspected that it was actually the girl's true voice and that excited her more than even the sexy voice she had been dreaming of for four days. "How did you…?"

Surprisingly the blonde reached her hand into her pocket. When it emerged it held a 3x5 photo which she held out to the redhead. Willow took it and noted with surprise and some embarrassment that it was the terrible picture of her sitting on Santa's lap, her eyes half closed and her mouth open. She crinkled her brow as she recognized it instantly and wondered where it had come from; she had thought that she lost it in the quick transfer of packages to the parking lot and later Joyce's car. "T-turn it over," the girl on the porch directed.

Willow obeyed and looked at the list scribbled on the back of the picture:

My Christmas/Hannukah list:

5. The L-word Season one DVD.
4. Indigo Girls CDs.
3. Melissa Etheridge CDs.
2. 512MB Upgrade for Apple Power Mac G5
1. Blue-eyed-Santa's phone number.

Willow Rosenberg 555-1234

Written next to #1 it said, Tara Maclay, 555-9876

"How did you get this?" she asked as she looked again at the picture.

"Your friend ran in and handed it to an e-elf," the blonde explained. Apparently feeling unsure of herself she asked, "w-w-was that ok?"

A smile finally broke across the redhead's face. "Dawn," she said, "of course she did. I thought I lost the picture but now I know where it went." She continued smiling wondering if she looked like a complete nut to the girl now shifting her weight from foot to foot on the porch.

She looked at the blonde for another second before attempting to excuse the action she was about to take. "I'm sorry to do this but…um…," she reached in to the plant standing by the door and pulled a small cross from it. As gently as she could she reached out and touched the back of Tara's hand with the cross and then looked at the skin. Pleased to see no reaction at all she stuck the cross back into the plant and smiled at the girl. "Nice to meet you, Tara," she finally greeted her, "do you want to come in?"

Tara smiled as she crossed the threshold of the Rosenberg home. "Holy water is good for that too," she said as she pointed at the plant.

"This is easier to keep inconspicuous by the door," Willow explained, "and my parents are all of the 'see no evil, hear no evil'"

The mention of Willow's parents obviously made Tara nervous. "Oh, your parents. Are they here? Did I wake them? Is this a b-b-bad time?"

"This is the best of times," Willow contradicted the girl, "I mean not like Dickens with the 'best of times. The worst of times', 'far far better thing…' and all that." She saw the uneasy look still on the blonde's face and explained, "My parents are in Peru for the week. Then they spend a week in Argentina and six days in Bolivia. How did you find me?"

"What?" Tara asked as she attempted to process the fast-changing subjects from the redhead.

"Dawn only gave you my phone number," Willow explained, "and not only just my phone number but my phone number at the dorm but you found me here. How? Not that I'm not happy that you did but how did you find me?"

"Not that you're not happy?" Tara teased, the twinkle returning to her eyes, "does that mean that you're happy?"

"Very," Willow nodded, "extremely, deliriously, completely." She reached out to take the blonde's hand and pull her toward the couch before offering, "Do you want some eggnog? Or coffee? Tea? Pizza?"

Tara laughed at the menu being offered, "Since it's 11:00 at night I think I'll skip the meal but I'd love some eggnog. I haven't had any this year."

"Ok," Willow nodded as she quickly turned for the kitchen, "I'll be back in a second."

Tara took a few minutes to look around the living room. She took a deep breath thinking about her daring move. Every since Willow had come to the mall, she had been thinking of the girl. When the Jerry (the elf) had made Willow leave so quickly, Tara had told herself that if it was meant to be, she would run into the girl somewhere else. Then when Dawn had handed the picture to Jerry, Tara took that as a sign that she was supposed to call Willow. Of course, she had no way of knowing that Dawn had done it without Willow's knowledge or she might not have been brave enough to come. And of course, she hadn't called the redhead. In a fit of inspired and spontaneous passion she had looked up the address in the phone book, telling herself that if it wasn't listed or there were too many Rosenbergs or no one was home, it wasn't meant to be (but that she would call later).

The redhead returned to the room and handed Tara a glass of eggnog. "I looked in the phone book," Tara said somewhat suddenly and saw Willow looking confused. "You asked how I found you," she explained, "before you went into the kitchen and I looked in the phone book."

Willow's grin expanded across her face as she understood what Tara was saying. "I can't even say how happy I am that you did," she smiled. Nodding toward her glass she held it up to clink against the blonde's. "To getting to know each other," she toasted.

Both girls clinked the glasses together and then took a drink. Tara took a drink and sputtered for a moment. "Oh god," she said as a smiled again crossed her face.

"What's wrong?" Willow asked worriedly, "is it not good? I've never had it but I got some at the store and kind of liked it."

"There's no alcohol in it," Tara explained, "it's very good but I was kind of bracing myself for a kick and it was just nice and smooth and rich." As she spoke the blonde shifted into a much sexier voice and reached her fingertip up to touch Willow's glass, gently scooping up the drop making its way down the side and raising it to her mouth.

Willow swallowed hard as she watched the blonde touch her finger to the tip of her tongue. "I didn't know it should have alcohol in it," she explained in a desperate whisper.

"Does every woman you meet find you to be the most adorable creature on the planet?" Tara asked as she reached out to take Willow's hand and pull her toward the couch.

"Not a one," Willow again attempted to answer as she stared entranced at Tara's eyes.

"Until now," Tara teased back as she sat down facing the redhead.

"Why don't we turn that off," Willow suggested as she reached for the remote control.

"No," Tara suggested, "leave it on low so we can have the seasonal ritual of watching it for the 300th time."

"Ok," Willow agreed and did as Tara had asked. For a moment the room was silent except for the sound of George and Mary breaking windows in their future home. "So why Santa?" Willow finally broke the silence.

"To pick up cute girls," Tara deadpanned. Willow's expression fell and Tara quickly corrected her: "I'm joking, Willow."

"Really?" Willow asked hopefully, and she thought a little desperately.

Tara reached out and took the redhead's hand. "Really," she assured her. "I always get an extra job during the semester b-break and I was tired of wrapping presents. This was much more fun and it gave me some practice."

"Practice?" Willow asked. She felt a little lightheaded from the gentle strokes Tara was placing along her palm as they talked and almost wondered if Tara were hypnotizing her.

"Oh," Tara explained wanting to fill in the gaps, "I'm a drama major at UC Sunnydale."

"I'm in my first year in computer science applied mathematics double major," Willow offered, "I can't believe I've never seen you there. I definitely would have noticed."

Tara again smiled as she answered, "The feeling is very mutual. But I spend most of my time over at the Drama and Music buildings."

Willow giggled: "I knew there was a reason I should get out of the computer lab more often."

"So," Tara changed the subject and indicated the picture now sitting on the end of the couch, "is that really your wish list?"

Willow looked at the list written on the back of her picture. "Numbers one and two are definitely on my list but I think Dawn was just trying to be as obvious as possible with three through five."

"It worked," Tara agreed.

"What about you," Willow asked, "what did you ask Santa for?"

"A date for this big New Years Eve party I got invited to," Tara answered.

"Did you get one?" Willow asked feeling a little confused and apprehensive.

"You tell me," Tara teased back.

Willow looked confused for a few more seconds before realizing what Tara was asking. "Oh…," she answered, "definitely. I mean if you're talking about me. I mean I'd love to go with you." As she saw the smile on Tara's face she continued her babble: "But that doesn't mean you have to go does it? Can you stay for a while and visit and we can get to know each other? I mean, not that we can't get to know each other when I call you for coffee tomorrow or some other time in the next week, but…"

Tara leaned across the couch and gently placed a kiss on Willow's cheek. "That is exactly my plan for the evening too," she reassured the girl.

"Good," Willow smiled, somewhat dazed from the impression she could swear Tara's lips made on her cheek.

A few hours later the girls had touched on dozens of subjects ranging from families to coming out and religion. It was in the middle of Willow's explaining why she never got along with Anya, her best friend's girlfriend, that she had leaned across the couch and suddenly kissed Tara. Tara enjoyed the kiss immeasurably but commented, "Well that was a surprise."

"I um…," Willow blushed, "I wanted to do that since the moment I saw you and it was just making me more and more nervous. You know? And waiting was making me more nervous and more nervous and I just couldn't take it anymore and I know it wasn't the very most romantic…" Tara's soft lips cut off her speech as they gently moved against her own.

As Tara pulled back she looked directly into Willow's eyes. "Willow," she whispered, "I think everything about you is the most romantic…"

Willow had leaned in again to seal Tara's declaration with another kiss. "Stay tonight," she whispered as she finally pulled away, "just to snuggle with me."

Tara didn't even have to consider the offer; she could already tell that this was a woman she wanted to fall asleep with and wake up with for a long time. As Tara changed into some of Willow's pajamas, the redhead arranged blankets and pillows to let the two girls sleep in front of the fire. While snuggling they continued kissing and flirting but as the number of yawns began to outnumber the number of kisses they reluctantly agreed to fall asleep, each girl content that the other would be there in the morning.

Just before falling asleep, Tara sleepily whispered, "It's a good thing you're Jewish so Santa won't have to worry about your fire."

"I have everything I want," Willow sleepily answered.

The End

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