Paths Diverged/Divulged by JustSkipIt

Rating: NC-17
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: Littlecrazy80/Romy
The Mystic Muse /mysticmuse.net
Spoilers: Season 6
Author's Notes: Well I think it's always a good idea to start with the important thanks: Thank you to the love of my life: Rachel. Thank you to Joss Whedon who created these characters and the Buffyverse. Thank you to the fictional characters of Willow & Tara and the wonderful actresses Alyson Hannigan & Amber Benson. Finally thanks to all the Kittens who read and enjoy and comment on these fictions, particularly the moderators and Xita!
Pairing: Willow/Tara

Summary: The sequel to W/T Season 3 Y'all.

Willow knocked again, feeling somewhat impatient in the early-morning heat. She could hear Scooby behind the door whining softly that someone was at the door and tried to calm the dog, "it's ok Scooby. It's just me Willow." As the words came out of her mouth she realized how stupid she sounded: Geez dummy. First off you're speaking English to a dog. Second the dog is on the other side of a door. Third the dog hardly knows you. The redhead chuckled at herself and glanced at her watch again. I could have sworn Tara said to be here around 10:00 she thought as she reached out to knock on the door once again.

Suddenly the door swung open. Michelle stood on the other side of the door in a bathrobe, her hair in a towel. The girl had obviously just gotten out of the shower. "Hey Willow," she panted a little out of breath, "come in. I was doing my hair and heard you." As she spoke she moved through the living room. "Tara worked late and I guess she overslept. Let me go wake her." The runner was a constant barrage of movement as glanced at the clock. "There's coffee," she indicated waving toward the kitchen as she went into Tara's room to wake the blonde.

Michelle emerged from the blonde's room as Willow was sitting down at the table drinking her coffee and opening the paper. "Tare will be a little while," she told the redhead. "Why don't you wait out here while I get ready?" she asked. She didn't tell Willow the condition that Tara had been in when Michelle went to wake her up. It was obvious that Tara had had another of her nightmares and although they had long since passed the time when the specifics of another terror were important, the runner had taken a few minutes to hold Tara and try to bring her back to some semblance of reality.

"No hurry," Willow told Michelle, "Tara asked me to be here at 10:00 so I think we have plenty of time." Michelle nodded as she started to re-enter her room. As she was moving toward the door, she heard Willow's last question, "where is Eliza?"

Michelle gave a small smile as she explained her girlfriend's absence: "Francis wants her to go to confession and take communion before the christening. They're still discussing it but if she agrees, she wanted to give herself plenty of time to do her penance."

Willow nodded as she sympathized with the couple, "what suckage. Was she upset?"

Michelle pulled off the towel and began brushing through her hair as she spoke. "Not any more than she ever is about not being able to take communion," she explained. Smiling at Willow she told her, "I need like 10 minutes to be ready. How about if I leave you with your coffee and the paper and come back and we can visit ok?" Willow nodded and opened the paper as Michelle shut the door to her room.

A few minutes later Willow looked up as the door to Michelle's room opened. The younger girl was wearing a crème-colored summer dress that left her arms bare and really showed off her tan. "Wow Chelle," Willow commented, "you look really great." Remembering the tuxedo Eliza had worn to homecoming during her senior year Willow had to ask: "what is Eliza wearing?"

Michelle smiled as she poured herself a cup of coffee. "You look beautiful Willow," Michelle told the redhead before answering her question. "Liza is wearing a very tasteful pants suit. I'm sure Francis would have preferred a dress but he knows enough to choose his battles pretty carefully," she explained. As she spoke she had a big smile on her face and Willow could see the love and devotion she felt for her stubborn girlfriend.

Willow watched as the girl carefully she carried her coffee to the table and sat down across from the redhead telling her, "Tara will probably be another half an hour." When Willow nodded Michelle asked her, "what do you want to know Willow?" Michelle could see that Willow believed she really cared for Tara, but she still didn't understand why the redhead was here. For over three years Michelle had watched her friend go on very few first dates and absolutely no second dates as none of these women seemed to measure up to one fleeting meeting with this one. Now the younger girl was concerned for her friend if things didn't go well with Willow. The fact that Willow was still obviously grieving for her lost lover didn't make Michelle optimistic.

Willow looked curiously at Michelle as the younger girl spoke. In their time together Tara had taught her about reading people even without any magical ability. It was apparent that Michelle didn't quite trust her. Perhaps she was just worried for her friend Willow attempted to convince herself. "I … I … uh …. well…" Willow realized that her stammering and stuttering made her sound completely untrustworthy. She took a deep breath to try to start again: "what made y'all all decide to go to UT? In my world you and Eliza are at USC and Tara and I went to Sunnydale although I'm sure she would have gone to Texas A&M if we hadn't want to stay and fi.. I mean finish up in California for once." She realized in the middle of the sentence that regardless of this Tara's acceptance of her strange life this Michelle knew nothing about Sunnydale.

Michelle looked slightly askance at the redhead's strange slip. What did they want to finish if not school and why did that mean they couldn't go to Texas A&M she wondered. She found the witch intriguing and somewhat secretive although she couldn't detect any danger from her. Vowing to get to know the redhead more closely she nonetheless began to tell Willow the story she wanted:

As Michelle told her story Willow had eventually reached out to take the runner's hands. Even though Michelle had tried to tell the story as impassively as she could the love and devotion the three friends held for each other was apparent and Willow couldn't help being completely moved by her actions. "So y'all all came to UT," she concluded quietly. Realizing that Michelle could be a great source of information she asked, "how is the computer science department here? You can give me some pointers Chelle."

Willow was shocked to hear Tara's voice coming from the doorway to her room as she interrupted the conversation: "she's n-not studying computer science Willow." The redhead looked up quickly as she identified Tara's voice moving closer. By the time she was able to focus the blonde was standing right next to her chair, one hand resting on her cane and the other gently stroking Willow's hair.

Willow opened and closed her mouth a few times as she tried to find words to express herself. Tara was wearing a light blue silk dress that showed her beautiful figure. Her long neck was particularly on display with cut of the dress and Willow was dumbstruck by her beauty. Her eyes positively shone and sparkled as she looked at Willow and the redhead knew that she should say something. It was just so hard though between looking at this beautiful woman and the feel of her hand on her own head. Finally she whispered, "Goddess Tara. You are so beautiful." Suddenly embarrassed she ducked her head as a red blush filled her cheeks. "I mean, uh, I mean," she swiveled to face Michelle, "uh what are you studying? At USC you were studying computer science. I mean not that you and she are the same person or you have to be the same but I always thought you really liked computers. I mean the you I knew really liked computers and well I just thought and if you were studying it you could help me out for transferring here and…" Willow trailed off as she realized not only that she was babbling but that talk of transferring to UT might be premature.

Michelle looked back and forth between the two witches with a smile on her face. Both looked completely entranced by the other. She stood to get her purse as she answered, "I'm pre-physical therapy."

Willow stood up as Michelle did and now stood by Tara. Goddess I wish I could just lean into her and feel her arms around me, she thought. As if by magic she felt Tara's fingers entwine with her own as the witch whispered, "you look b-beautiful yourself Willow."

Willow turned her head slowly to stare into Tara's eyes. She wanted very badly to kiss the blonde but knew that this wasn't the time for their first kiss, ok second kiss. They were too hurried and Michelle was waiting for them but both witches could feel the energy as it flowed back and forth between them, their entire bodies quivering with excitement. Willow found the strength to resist capturing the blonde's lips in her own as she spoke quietly, "it's new. I had to go shopping yesterday. Didn't really bring any…" she motioned to her dress as she spoke, "with me you know. I hope it's ok." Breaking the spell and contact with Tara she reached for the box on the couch: "also I brought a present. Is that appropriate? I mean I've never been to a christening before so I didn't know what was right. And I wouldn't want to mess up. I mean ok, hello Jewish here or maybe Wiccan here or maybe Jewish Wiccan but either way not Catholic and not really knowing…"

She was silenced by the simultaneous touch of Tara's index finger on her lips and the sound of Michelle's laughter. "A present is good Willow," Tara reassured her. "I sent mine with Eliza," she continued. Entwining their fingers together again she motioned to Michelle that they were ready to leave and all three girls petted Scooby on the way out the door.

"I'll sit in back," Michelle announced as the three girls approached Willow's car. When Tara had called Willow to invite her to come to the christening Willow had offered to drive if Tara could show her the way. She had joked that it would give the blonde a chance to see how well her double had taught her to drive. Also she wanted become more comfortable navigating the Austin streets and her explorations so far had mostly encompassed coffee shops and computer stores. One of the most confusing aspects of driving in Austin was that it seemed to her that the streets randomly changed names frequently so that a driver might find themselves driving on 290, Keoning, Allendale, and 2244 without ever leaving the same street.

Having not seen each other since dinner earlier in the week they had plenty of news to catch up on. Tara had had a very busy week at school and an emergency at work last night had kept her at the vet's office until after 4:00 this morning. Willow could tell that the blonde loved working with animals as much as her lover had. She was surprised to learn that if anything, this Tara seemed more comfortable with people than her lover had been. She would have expected that the accident, recovery, and resulting disability would have made her more self-conscious but it seemed to have no effect or the opposite effect. She noted the difference with an appreciation for the growing list of variations between the two girls. Not wanting to be rude, Willow was still somewhat confused about something: "Tara?"

The blonde nodded to her, then realizing that Willow was watching the road and couldn't see her nod she answered, "yes?" Since the redhead was driving so intently as they visited Tara took the opportunity to watch her drive. She was wearing a beautiful print dress that was obviously new. Her pale skin looked luminous and she found herself once again having to consciously resist reaching out and stroking the redhead's arm. On top of that the curls in her hair just beckoned to be touched. Feeling that she couldn't reach out to stroke Willow's skin or hair she had to content herself with watching the girl.

And watching her was fun and exciting; something Tara couldn't imagine ever becoming tired of. Willow had such childlike enthusiasm for so many things. She was obviously incredibly intelligent with a seemingly endless quest for knowledge. The stories she told held such obvious and complete love and commitment to all her friends that Tara almost longed to have walked in that world. At the same time, it seemed that the stories she told had some measure of grief and sadness to them: a sadness beyond the loss of her lover. Some sadness that Tara could not yet measure or understand. She yearned for a day, or a night she mused, when she could fold the redhead in her arms and console her in that sadness and grief. However, simultaneous with the sadness was a bubbling enthusiasm that Tara loved. She found the redhead's babbling truly endearing and felt that she could listen to it for hours at a time if allowed to do so.

Of course Tara, Michelle, and Eliza had been waiting for this day for months now. They knew that Francis' wife was expecting another baby and he had already asked his sister to be godmother to the baby (for the sixth time). At times Tara completely envied Eliza and Michelle. Even though Eliza had caused her family no end of heartache and embarrassment in her early teenage years, her enrolling at Brenhams and meeting Michelle had contained her wildness. Tara was sure that the love and acceptance the entire family held for Michelle was caused by their gratefulness that she had tamed their wild child as much as their appreciation for the love the two girls shared. Both Michelle and Tara were considered a part of the family even before Tara's accident. Certainly since the accident their influence on her life couldn't possibly be quantified.

As Tara smiled at Willow she felt overjoyed that the redhead was here to share the day. Having been to celebrations put on by the D'Angelos before she knew that the event would really be something to appreciate and remember. And most importantly, Willow was obviously attending as her date. Rousing herself from her reverie Tara realized that Willow had asked her a question and not received an answer. "W-w-what did you s-s-say?" she stuttered.

Willow chuckled a little bit. "You looked like you were having a Willowbabble in your head…" she joked. You have no idea… Tara thought as she waited for Willow to repeat the question which the redhead quickly did: "I said why do you work at the veterinary office? It sounds like you have money from the settlement." Before Tara could speak Willow began muttering, "wow that was really rude Willow. Asking the woman about her money. Not really your business at a.."

Her rambling was stopped as she felt Tara take her hand and softly begin to stroke it. "That's ok Willow," she whispered. She explained, "I w-w-work at the pet hospital because it gives me a chance to work with animals. I'm learning more about veterinary science and biology than I do in my c-c-classes and I can work on my magics too."

Michelle was sitting in the back seat listening to the conversation. She had tried to just rest and not really intrude on the two girls in the front seat but inwardly she smirked a bit at Tara's mostly-truthful answer. It was the truth but not as they say in court the whole truth. She knew that part of the reason Tara worked was to give her something to do. Both Eliza and Michelle had attempted to introduce the witch to various eligible women their first semester at UT. But none of them had ever captured her attention and after a few months she had found the job at the pet hospital. Once she was working she had two built in excuses for ignoring her social life: school and work.

Between concentrating on her driving and feeling Tara's fingers lightly caressing her skin Willow had trouble acknowledging Tara's answer. She swallowed a few times before telling the blonde, "that makes sense. I can tell you really love the animals and your magics can only get stronger if you get to use them frequently." She stopped for a minute before asking her next question, "maybe we could do some spells together sometime?" Suddenly a horrible thought occurred to the redhead: "unless you already have a spell partner, someone you do magics with and don't need to …"

Pulling into a parking space Willow took the opportunity to look at the other witch. "Then it's a date," she whispered.

Walking through the parking lot Willow had to stifle a giggle as she noted the vehicles parked closest to the church. Eight Volvos sat in the closest spaces. It was easy to pick out Eliza's car from the "E D-Glo" license plate and the others followed the family pattern: F D-Glo, J D-Glo1, and J D-Glo2, etc.

As instructed by Tara and Michelle, Willow left her present in the car. They told her that there would be plenty of opportunities to give Francis and his wife and child the present at the reception. Willow walked slowly with Tara who was obviously feeling the strain of her long night as she occasionally grimaced and leaned on her cane heavily. Looking up at the imposing edifice of the church Willow felt very strange. On one hand, being Jewish she hadn't ever been to a Catholic service. On the other hand, she had been to the Catholic churches in Sunnydale to get holy water frequently and was of course used to being surrounded by crosses and crucifixes. As they entered the church she felt almost at home. Wouldn't dad be appalled? she mused.

After ascending the few steps and moving through the doorway Tara reached out to take Willow's hand lightly. She expected the redhead to feel uncomfortable in a church based on what little she knew of her religious background. Opening her empathy channels for a moment to get a reading on the other witch she was surprised to feel the sense of calm that seemed to fill Willow and very surprised to hear the light giggle. "Are-are you ok?" she asked confused as they took their seats. Michelle gave both girls a smile as she moved closer to the front of the church to greet her girlfriend. It was all Willow could do not to give a playful wolf whistle at Eliza. With her extra maturity and the influence of money on her fine clothes she looked even more stunning than she had in high school.

Willow turned slowly to look into Tara's questioning eyes. The blue was the deepest, darkest shade that she had seen on this woman since her arrival. Briefly she wondered if that color would have the same meaning for her that it had with the other Tara. Bad thoughts Willow. Not in a church! she admonished herself as she gazed into Tara's eyes. "I'm fine," she whispered. "Great actually," she continued sincerely.

Lost in Willow's green eyes Tara told her date, "I'm really glad you're here Willow." She meant not just at the christening but here in her world and was relatively sure the redhead understood. The two girls were so entranced looking into each other's eyes that they barely noticed as the service started.

After the ceremony ended they stayed in their seats since Eliza waved that she would come to them. Willow noted that Eliza did take communion before agreeing to be godmother to the new baby. She recognized Little Joey as the godfather and a few other D'Angelos from pictures she had seen over the years. Again it was strange to realize that none of these people knew her although she had met them or heard stories about them for years. She found the ceremony enjoyable but most enjoyable was the constant feeling of Tara's hand in her own. With the spiritual nature of the morning she liked the sensation not of sparks flowing up and down her arm, but of warmth like a thick liquid moving over and through her upper body. She wondered if Tara felt the same and stole a glance at the blonde. Whatever she was feeling it was very pleasurable and Willow the noted deep calming breaths she took when she closed her eyes.

Waiting for Eliza and Michelle to approach Willow took the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of the church. The cathedral had ornate carvings on each pew and truly spectacular stained glass windows. Although she had never seen a representation of it, she felt sure that the images represented the Stations of the Cross. All were elaborate and beautiful even though some showed truly horrific images. "Do you draw?" she suddenly asked.

Tara jolted as she heard Willow's words. She had been completely entranced by the comfort and safety she felt in their connection. She no longer even noticed the absolute rightness of their flesh linked together. It seemed to go deeper that that connection as if they were holding not just hands but souls when they touched. She knew that the connection was growing, being grown as the politicians liked to say, more intimate with each contact. She followed Willow's eyes to the elaborate stained glass productions gracing the cathedral and understood her segue. "Uh I … y-y-yes," she answered with some reservation.

Willow turned to look at the blonde and softly brushed a wisp of hair from her face. "If you'd be willing, I'd love to see some," she told Tara.

Tara looked down at her leg and then at her cane as she whispered, "some of it is very d-d-dark." She wanted to say more about the topic but didn't even know how to start. Again it struck her as a "longer conversation."

Willow was aware of the tension, which filled Tara's body in the time since she had answered the question. More than anything she wanted to calm the blonde by wrapping her in her arms and kissing away the pain. But she could hardly do that anywhere let alone in this church. Concentrating on trying to send soothing energy through their linked hands, not her forte, she began softly stroking the other along Tara's forearm. "If it's too private or painful I understand," she reassured the blonde.

"N-n-no it's o-ok," Tara stuttered as Willow continued stroking her arm. Just then Michelle and Eliza approached and both witches stood to give Eliza a hug.

"Of course. Congratulations," Willow answered and all four girls laughed as they realized that Willow and Tara were speaking the same response at the same moment. "Ok so obviously congratulations," Willow told the new (again) godmother.

"Y'all are coming to the reception right?" Eliza confirmed. "Father asked about you and he wants to check Willow out," she teased both girls.

"He always wants to check out the women Tara brings," Michelle told Willow with a smile on her face. The redhead's entire countenance fell as she realized the implication of Michelle's statement: it wasn't special that Tara had brought her to meet her de facto family. She had brought lots of women before her and would probably bring many more.

She was comforted as Eliza reached over to pinch her girlfriend on the arm. "Be nice Chelle," she warned, "or no…" she trailed off to whisper in the runner's ear. She turned to Willow as a blush colored Michelle's face and reassured the redhead: "Tara has never mentioned another woman to my father let alone brought one to a family event so he is very curious."

Willow looked from Tara to Eliza to Michelle and waited as the runner finally admitted, "she's telling the truth. I just wanted to get a rise out of you." A tap on the shoulder from one of Eliza's aunts reminded the quartet that they needed to go to the reception and they exited the building to get in their cars.

Willow and Tara arrived at the reception location after a drive of about an hour. The reception was being held at a winery west of town and they both enjoyed the drive and visit. Willow asked Tara many questions about the ceremony and its significance and then more about Eliza and the relationship she had with her family as well as Tara's relationship with the D'Angelos. Curious about the family's attitude toward Eliza and Michelle she asked, "so how is Eliza's family about Michelle?"

Tara smiled at the redhead as she answered, "they love her. Sometimes Eliza thinks they like her b-better than they do Eliza."

Willow giggled as she thought about it. "I'm kind of surprised though," she started. "I mean they're all with the Catholicism and everything. I'd think that they would be worried about Eliza being with the sinning and going to hell and all that fun stuff."

Tara giggled as she thought about that conversation happening. "Well I think they understand that she w-w-wasn't ever going to b-be any other way. As they see it Michelle has tamed the wild child."

"Goddess Willow," Tara answered, "hasn't she in your world? I mean h-have you seen the way those two look at each other?"

Willow glanced over at the blonde sitting next to her. It was obvious that the girl was incredibly happy that her friends had found such happiness and the redhead found herself thankful that Tara got to share in that. "You were never jealous?" she asked.

Tara understood perfectly why Willow would wonder but it just wasn't an issue. "Never," she answered.

"Never," Tara confirmed. "When two people are so obviously meant to be together it's in their souls. They couldn't be any other way." She continued, "I mean I was never jealous of either of them for the other b-but you know, for having someone…" She trailed off at the end.

Willow struggled for something to say as she reached out to take the blonde's hand: "you have someone now."

Tara felt shocked to hear Willow's words. It was as if the girl was saying something that she couldn't possibly be saying. They hardly knew each other yet. So what was she saying? Her eyes searched Willow's green ones trying to discern the meaning behind the redhead's words. Before she could respond, both girls jumped at the sound of Eliza knocking on the window. "Come on y'all. Let's go eat, drink, and be merry," she coaxed them. Michelle and Eliza waited a minute for Tara to get out of the car and walked slowly into the building with the two witches.

"Holey schmoley," Willow muttered as they entered the hall. The winery was large and beautiful. She had never seen such gorgeous woodwork as that which adorned every wall and surface. In addition, her senses were immediately assailed with the smells of Italian food and red wine, but most astonishing was the number of people at the reception. She had assumed correctly that the 60 or so people attending the christening would be at the reception. However, she did not count on the additional few hundred attendees who had not been at the ceremony. Having spent the last few weeks scouring the newspapers she recognized quite a few people from that source including several mayors, business people, and the governor. Suddenly she felt quite underdressed and wondered if the wrapped toy she carried was enough for this event.

Her tension eased almost immediately as she felt Tara's fingers winding their way between her own. As if the blonde knew what she was thinking she leaned close to place her mouth near Willow's ear. Goddess, she even has freckles on the tops of her ears Tara observed before speaking, "only close f-family was invited to the church Willow."

The sound of Tara's voice and feeling of her warm breath caressing her ear and neck woke Willow from her concerns. Squeezing the blonde's hand to reassure her that she was just fine she looked up to see the other two girls waiting for them. "We're over here girls," Eliza called across the hall.

Willow continued looking around trying to take in the scene in front of her. Waiters and waitresses in tuxedos and fine dresses moved through the crowd offering wine, sodas, and appetizers. The guests sat at the many large tables set with china and crystal or stood near them visiting with other guests. Willow recognized three of Eliza's brothers who she had met in her own world and others who obviously shared family resemblance. Eliza's father Willow had seen at the church that morning. Overjoyed to recognize people she had met she pointed out Eliza's aunt and uncle as they moved toward the table: "look there's Maria and Frank."

"That's still a little w-weird Willow," Tara whispered in her ear. The redhead stopped to look apologetically at her date and saw only a look of wonderment on the taller girl's face. "But I'm getting very used to it," she whispered as she placed a kiss on Willow's hand.

Goddess! That feeling. I swear it's getting stronger every time I feel her lips on my skin. Say something. Say something not stupid. Don't make her uncomfortable. Say something. Do something Willow's mind raced as she found herself falling into the deep blue of Tara's eyes. She was startled from her reverie by Maria's voice: "who's this girl you holding the hands, Tara?"

Tara blushed bright red as she turned to both Maria and Frank. "S-s-sorry. This is Willow Rosenberg. Willow this is Eliza's Aunt Maria and Uncle Frank." Willow reached out to shake both their hands.

She giggled a little as she heard the woman begin to tease the blonde. "Eliza's aunt? What about you little girl? Not your aunt? You call me Aunt Maria when you come with your brother for my wings but now I'm Eliza's aunt?"

Tara began to blush even brighter red until Eliza turned to her aunt and admonished her in Italian. Both girls took their seats and Willow looked around unsure where to put the present. "I'll take that up there Willow," Uncle Frank offered.

As he stepped away from the table he told her, "very nice to meet you." She nodded. Within a few minutes all four girls were holding wineglasses. Willow felt a little unsure about drinking her wine. After all it was looking more and more like this was her audition for something. Oh Christ. What if it is like an audition? What if all of Eliza's family checks me out and wants to see what I'm like and I have to sing or dance for them or something? Tara doesn't know that I can't sing or dance for crap. She took a deep gulp of her wine and realized that Tara was looking at her strangely.

"You'll be f-f-fine Willow." The blonde again demonstrated her intuition as she whispered in Willow's ear.

With Tara's soft words Willow was able to relax and begin to enjoy the celebration. She visited with all three girls and the other attendees seated at her table. She met more and more members of Eliza's family until she could no longer remember which Joseph or Joey and which Mary or Maria belonged to which aunt or uncle or brother. After what seemed like hours of visiting, sipping wine, and noshing on appetizers, dinner was served. Tara had chosen the eggplant Parmesan and Willow did the same. Although she had never tried the dish she felt uncomfortable eating meat in front of the blonde. What if she's like grossed out because I ate a hamburger? I read that interview with River Phoenix that time about how he would never have oral sex with a woman who had eaten meat and oh my God! I can't believe I even had that thought. Why am I thinking that? Stop thinking that! Stop thinking period! she worried. She found the food to be absolutely incredible and wondered if Eliza's aunt and uncle had had anything to do food.

After finishing the wonderful meal the girls got up to wander around the reception. Tara wanted to greet some people she knew and personally congratulate Francis, his wife, and the baby. Willow wondered if the blonde would want to hold the baby as she remembered how much her Tara had loved her niece. They visited with the couple for a few minutes and as she had speculated Tara held the sleeping guest of honor before someone else came up and asked to hold her.

As they continued their migration around the room they met up with Michelle and Eliza who were obviously having a wonderful time. Maybe the wild girl isn't tamed as much as they think, Willow mused as she noticed how much Eliza had been drinking. On the other hand, she could see that the girl was really enjoying herself. "So Michelle, when are you going to make an honest woman of my niece?" a rather drunk older man asked, practically shouting across the room as he approached the quartet.

While the runner attempted to visit cordially with Eliza's uncle the presumably dishonest woman turned to visit with Willow and Tara. As she took another drink of the wine she giggled to them: "I think that's five relatives and the mayor of Dallas that have asked her that."

True to form another relative approached moments later to ask Michelle if she was going to tie the other girl down any time soon. "I'm curious about that too," Eliza leered to her girlfriend, keeping her voice low enough that only the other three girls could hear. As Michelle was visiting with the relative Eliza addressed both girls: "thanks for coming to this shindig. It's a little bigger but not any better than your…"

She was cut off as Tara urged her, "come on Liza. Let's take a walk around the vineyards." As the two girls left the reception hall she smiled at Willow who was still standing by Michelle.

After a few minutes the other relatives drifted off and Willow asked Michelle, "does she get like this often?"

Michelle took a sip of her glass of coke and answered Willow's question: "not often. I think these things are harder on her than she lets on. I mean she spent the entire morning doing penance and then the afternoon listening to relatives ask about when we're getting married which we can't do anyway and certainly not in the Catholic Church. I think there's a disconnect there, you know?"

"Would you marry her if you could?" Willow asked. As soon as the words were out of her mouth she regretted them. Geez Willow. How nosy can you be? Maybe Eliza's not the only girl who has had too much to drink.

She looked up to give the runner an apologetic smile and realized that Michelle wasn't looking at her but across the floor at Eliza's father. "In a second," she whispered.

Willow smiled as she heard the younger girl's answer. But her smile quickly faded as she realized that Mr. D'Angelo was obviously heading straight toward them. "Oh Goddess," she whispered, "he's coming to talk to us. What do I do?"

Michelle reached out and gently rubbed the back of Willow's shoulders as she tried to comfort the redhead. "Breathe and relax. He's not going to eat you. He just cares about Tara." The redhead wasn't sure if the next sentence was meant to relax her or intimidate her when Michelle continued, "we all do."

Willow attempted to take deep calming breaths as the man approached her. She didn't see Tara approaching from the side to reach her at about the same time as Mr. D'Angelo did. As he reached the group he greeted Tara warmly, "hello Tara." He hugged her lightly and looked down at her leg and cane. "How are you feeling sweetheart?" he asked.

"I'm feeling f-fine Mr. D'Angelo. Thanks for inviting us," she answered. As she stepped back from the hug she placed her hand lightly on the small of Willow's back and the redhead could feel the other witch beginning to send her calming energy through the connection.

Tara stepped into the conversation answering, "she's outside v-visiting with Little Joey."

As Michelle excused herself to find her girlfriend Mr. D'Angelo showed that he understood the score with his baby: "right. Visiting. I bet she's visiting. Either the two of them are chugging beers or climbing trees I'd guess."

Willow's giggle brought the older man's attention finally to the redhead. "Mr. D'Angelo this is Willow Rosenberg. Willow, this is Eliza's father and my patron Mr. D'Angelo," Tara told both people.

Wiping her hands on her dress as surreptitiously as possible Willow extended her hand. While not as large as little Joey's paw of a hand, the shake nonetheless swallowed up her small hand. "Nice to meet you," she croaked.

"Very nice to meet you Willow," he answered warmly. "Rosenberg, you must be Catholic?" he teased.

"I … what … Catholic… uh no not so much with the Catholic … uh," she trailed off turning red as she realized how badly she was reacting to his obviously teasing question. She could feel Tara sending more calming energy through her dress.

The man laughed in a warm enveloping guffaw as he watched the redhead's reaction. Glancing to Tara and deciding that all three of them could use sitting down he indicated a now vacant table and they all took seats. "So Willow," he started, "where are you from?"

Ok, I know the answer to that one. Easy, she thought, answering, "Sunnydale, California sir."

"Sunnydale, California? I think I know some people there," he surprised her by saying. "Kind of a strange town isn't it?"

Willow looked the man trying to discern if he actually knew anything about Sunnydale or just was testing her. "Well, it's the only real hometown I've ever had so I guess it seems normal to me," she fibbed. She almost laughed when she noticed that she had naturally crossed her fingers under the table as if that actually made a lie acceptable.

Mr. D'Angelo continued his inquisition asking, "are you in college Willow? What are you studying?"

Ok I know this one Willow thought with a smile before speaking: "I'm studying computer science with a minor in Mythology. I completed two years at UC Sunnydale before coming here. I'll probably transfer to UT but right now I'm doing contract work writing computer objects."

She was relieved to see him smile as he patted her warmly on the knee, "computers: a great business. I'm having some trouble with my home network. How are you with that?"

Completely in her own element Willow was very eager to help: "oh I'm good at that. What type of network are you running? Wireless or wired? How many hubs?"

Tara smiled as she realized that for a few minutes at least she wasn't likely to be needed in the conversation or to understand anything the redhead and Eliza's father had to say Tara turned her attention to the room. As she looked around she saw a few of Eliza's nieces and nephews, or maybe they were cousins. Who could keep all the relations straight?. She smiled and waved and a few seconds later the three children raced over. "Hi Aunt Tara," the oldest girl greeted her immediately. The other two children echoed the warm greeting.

Tara smiled as the children gathered around. "Hi Zia, Mark, and Chuckie. Are y'all having f-fun?" She had a pretty good idea what the children wanted to see and was surreptitiously glancing at the table to see what she might find for props.

"Can you do a magic trick for us?" "Please?" "Please Aunt Tara?" the chorus began immediately.

"Kids, maybe Tara is tired?" Mr. D'Angelo admonished them as he interrupted his visitation with Willow to check whether the girl felt like entertaining the children. After all, it was getting to be late in the evening and Eliza told him earlier that the blonde had worked late the night before. She might be too tired to be bothered.

"Oh Grandpa please?" Zia started and the other two children chimed in with their pleas. Tara and Willow both smiled to realize that once the children had all started in on the man he could do nothing but allow them their entertainment as long as Tara agreed. Willow beamed as she watched her date interacting with the children and noted that a few others were making their way across the room as they had realized that she was going to do some tricks.

Tara waited a few minutes to let all the children gather. As she counted five D'Angelos and four children she didn't know she felt pretty confident that her audience was complete. Out of the corner of her eye she noted Michelle and Eliza watching her. She saw a little boy about five years old and smiled at him. "Hi, what's you're name?" she asked.

"Elijah," he whispered as he looked at the witch, wondering what was going to happen.

"Elijah, that's a great name. Do you w-want to do a trick with me?" He nodded and she told him, "ok hold your h-hands out like this." Willow looked on as entertained as everyone else as Tara indicated that he should hold his hands in front of him closed into fists and he did so curiously. "Did you have enough to eat?" The little boy looked at her curiously as she explained, "I only ask b-because…" she tapped on each hand and he opened them to reveal a small roll in one and a foil wrapped pat of butter in the other.

As they heard the applause the three adults at the center of the group—Willow, Tara, and Mr. D'Angelo—realized how many people were now watching the performance. Approximately 30 people had gathered curious to see how the girl would entertain the children. As they did so, more children made their way to the front of the group and sat at her feet. For about 20 minutes she continued the show producing common table items and foodstuffs from various locations as well as making objects disappear. Someone handed her a deck of cards and she did some card tricks. Seeing that the blonde was tiring, Mr. D'Angelo leaned over to tell the children, "ok kids. This is the last trick." Tara gave the man a lop-sided smile aware that her energy was quickly being drained from the use of her magics after last night.

Tara was surprised as Willow leaned over and whispered in her ear, "can I do this one?" She turned to look at the redhead who had a look of excitement and expectation on her face. She nodded almost imperceptibly, curious to see Willow do a trick. She didn't know whether the girl planned to do any "real" magic or just a typical party trick but either way it was intriguing. She realized that although she could feel Willow's magical power emanating from the other girl at all times the only magic she had actually witnessed was the amplifying the girl had done the night she arrived so unexpectedly at Tara's work.

Willow leaned forward to a small shy looking boy who hadn't been the object of any of Tara's tricks yet. "What's your name?" she asked him.

The boy looked up at his parents for a second before stepping forward to whisper in Willow's ear. "Cosmo," he whispered. Of course being a child, his whisper wasn't as quiet as he thought so everyone heard his answer. He immediately looked at his feet again.

The redhead smiled as she lifted his chin with one hand. "Well my name's Willow and that's pretty rare too but I've always liked being the only Willow," she told him with somewhat artificially inflated pride in her name.

"Yep," she reassured him. "You know what else we have in common?" He shook his head. "Well," she started, "both our names are from nature. My name is the name of a tree and yours is the name for the stars." The boy had started smiling even before Willow finished her comparison but he smiled even bigger as, upon finishing speaking she raised one hand and opened it palm up allowed a series of sparkling stars to rise from her hand and circle his head before floating through the room to seemingly nest in the rafters. His clap of excitement began only moments before the entire room exploded in appreciative applause causing both witches to blush slightly and smile at everyone.

As the children drifted off calling, "thank you Aunt Tara. Thank you Willow," Mr. D'Angelo leaned toward the two girls. He gave a wink as he told Tara, "I like this one Tara." He stood up and started to move away telling both girls, "please enjoy your evening and thank you for coming."

Perhaps it was the few glasses of wine she had sipped throughout the day or perhaps she was just feeling bold but Tara leaned forward flirting openly with the redhead, "of course it went well. You're c-charming Willow." She stayed close as she looked deep into Willow's green eyes. Starting lean her head to the side her mind was flying: Oh Goddess! To kiss those lips again. They look so soft. Her eyes are the most beautiful shade of green I've ever seen.

Willow felt herself being pulled closer and closer as Tara leaned in. She wanted more than anything to just allow herself to be pulled into that orbit, an orbit she knew she would never leave. But at the same time she was peripherally aware that hundreds of people were still in the room and statistics said that some of them would be watching the two witches. Having just put on a show for the room, she didn't fancy putting on another one. "Can we take a walk?" she suggested. Tara was obviously startled by the redhead's words and blushed bright red as she realized what she had been about to do in a crowded room. She nodded wordlessly and extended her free hand allowing Willow to pull her to her feet.

Before walking toward the door Willow reached back to pick up both glasses of wine and the two girls made their way across the floor. The redhead was extra careful as she could tell how tired even that small amount of casting had made her date. Tara was leaning so heavily on her cane that Willow felt almost required to offer, "do you want to walk around the vineyards or go home Tare?"

Wanting to reassure the redhead that she was fine Tara quickly told her, "v-vineyards definitely." She couldn't stand the idea that such a perfect evening might end so early and deny her any Willow-time.

Stepping out the door Willow breathed in immediately the perfection of the evening. She could smell the sweet aroma of the grapes winding around endless trellises near the building. She began to lead the two girls along the path that obviously existed to allow people to visit the vineyards. The evening had cooled significantly from the oppressive heat earlier in the day and the air might have held a slight chill if not for the warmth still escaping the tightly packed clay at their feet. As she took a drink of her wine she observed that the only imperfection to the evening was the heavy cloud cover which obscured the moon and stars.

Tara reveled in the energy flowing between the two girls. It was unlike anything she had ever felt in her life. At times during her dependence on drugs she had felt like she was flying, timeless, and limitlessness. At other times during her darkness she had felt completely enveloped by something larger, more powerful than her. The connection reminded her of both of those sensations in a way. It was timeless and right like the drug euphoria and simultaneously all encompassing, as if she were involved in something that was bigger and more powerful than she could ever be on her own. Every moment spent with this woman and many spent without her created an imprint on her mind and soul, a need that was becoming more and more urgent.

She could feel the heat and energy building between them and knew that it would have to be acted upon very soon. It was as if they were involved in an intricate and sensual dance, and the dance steps were the touches they shared: hand holding, light kisses on the hand or forehead, lingering hugs, even the caress of a thumb on the back of a hand or the stroke of fingertips up a bare arm. As Tara sat on a bench she glanced up at the cloud cover quickly and then again at Willow. The redhead had wandered a few feet away and was looking thoughtfully around the vineyard and taking a sip of her wine. Tara watched her carefully, conscious of the red tint to her lips and the quick movement of her tongue as it poked its way out of her small mouth to lick a drop from her lips. Tara wondered momentarily if she would pass out completely from concentrating on the girl's lips and tongue. I want to feel those lips on mine so soon, she mused. But she's standing way over there. Maybe she doesn't want that. Maybe she's not attracted to me or she's put off by my limp or my cane. Why would she want such damaged goods? Maybe she has already found out that I'm not what she was looking for and she can go back to her friends and family and everyone she loves.

Tara felt completely confused. Maybe she had really gotten lost in her worries and they were in the middle of a conversation? Oh how rude is that? she admonished herself. As she gave a confused look Willow explained, "oh I did it again didn't I? I forget that not everyone is used to following my train of thought." Tara looked at her relieved. So I didn't get lost, she was just doing her Willow-think Tara thought and started to giggle. She was starting to get to know this intriguing woman but some aspects were still a mystery and would take much more time. Following the redhead's train of thought was one of them.

"Sorry," Willow apologized quickly moving toward Tara. As she was about to sit down she smiled at the blonde and gently stroked the ends of her hair. Suddenly she looked up and raised both hands allowing twinkling lights to pour from her palms circling the girls and rising into the sky to give the appearance of a starry evening.

Tara smiled and laughed at Willow's playfulness and inventiveness. "W-w-why not what?" she asked.

Willow looked surprised at the blonde's question. Then she remembered that she had just confused the girl with her own nonsensical question. She sat down on the bench offering Tara her wineglass and took a sip of her own. Tara watched her again entranced by the pattern of red wine on her soft lips, liquid obviously flowing down her supple throat, and that pink tongue darting out to tickle the last drops from her lucky lips. "Oh why not what? Right my question. Sorry I got distracted by looking at you in the starlight and uh…. Oh right… my question. Right I should finish my question because without the question you won't know what I want you to answer and then it's just more questions…"

"Willow," Tara interrupted as she took the redhead's free hand in her own, "take a breath."

Willow did as the blonde had asked before nervously taking another sip of her wine. "Why is this the first time you've brought someone to meet your de-facto family? I mean obviously they're very accepting and friendly and they love you so why haven't you brought someone before now?"

Tara looked down as she answered honestly, "there h-h-hasn't b-been any one special."

Willow scrunched up her face in disbelief thinking that maybe she had heard wrong or hadn't understood the answer. "But…but…but I mean of course there must have been someone. I mean you're gorgeous and intelligent and funny and caring and wonderful and …" She trailed off thinking Willow Rosenberg, you can be such a freaking jerk sometimes. The girl doesn't want to talk to you about her other girlfriends. She deserves some privacy and doesn't owe you anything. "I'm sorry Tara," she quickly backtracked, "it's none of my business. I mean the women that you've dated and everything. That's absolutely none of my business and I'm shutting up now." Feeling incredibly uncomfortable she started to stand but found that Tara was not letting go of her hand, but holding fast to keep her close.

Tara was embarrassed but wanted to be honest with Willow: "I meant what I said. There hasn't been anyone s-special." until now you big chicken! her mind screamed. As she saw the completely shocked and surprised look on Willow's face she continued, "Michelle and Eliza tried to set me up with a few women our first semester. B-b-but none of them were… you know."

Tara locked her eyes on Willow's as she answered honestly, "I was g-g-going to say 'you.'"

"Me?" Willow whispered. "You were going to say me? I but you… I mean we only met the one ti… and you hardly knew … and … I mean I know … but you and with the knowing and …"

For perhaps the millionth time in her life, her babbling was interrupted by the feeling of soft lips pressing against her own. She could taste a trace of sweet wine and didn't know if the source was her lips or Tara's. Both girls reveled as they shared the soft gentle contact. While neither tried to deepen the kiss, they were in no hurry for it to end either. The feelings both experienced were completely overwhelming. For Tara this kiss was everything she had dreamed of for nearly four years. It was if her entire body was on fire as she poured her years of longing into her lips, feeling the electricity traveling along her skin and seemingly merging their two souls. Willow felt herself lost in the contact as well. On one hand this kiss brought back every contact she had ever shared with her lover. But on the other, it was something entirely new. Not wanting to let go, she lightly wound her hands in Tara's hair as she finally broke the kiss, leaning her forehead against the blonde witch's.

Tara pulled back suddenly and began stammering. "I c-c-can't … I mean I … I mean we j-j-just…"

Willow was shocked at first at Tara's words as well as her sudden discomfort. What? Why is she so upset? she wondered as she attempted to calm the blonde by stroking her hands gently on her cheeks, allowing her finger tips to graze over the other girl's cheekbones. Ok, she's really upset. What did I say? We had that great kiss and then she said she wanted to do that all day and I said… Oh Jesus you moron! Her mind screamed at her as she realized what was wrong. "Oh Tara," she attempted to explain, "I didn't mean that. I just meant that kissing you feels so wonderful that I don't want to stop. I didn't mean to imply that we would be spending the night or that you would have to or that I expect that every beautiful woman who ever…"

Again the feeling of Tara's cool lips on hers silenced her rambling apology. This kiss lasted only a few seconds before the blonde pulled away smiling. "I knew there was a cure for the Willowbabble," she teased.

"It works great," Willow giggled before leaning in to peck the blonde on the lips once again. Wrapping her arms around Tara she realized the girl was shivering. "Are you ready to go Tara?" she offered.

Tara nodded as she started to stand up. Willow reached out her hand to help the other girl up as soon as she noticed how difficult the movement was. The blonde witch grimaced in pain as she reached the standing position. Willow had never seen her hurting so much and couldn't even begin to imagine the pain of her accident and recovery. "We need to say g-good night to Eliza and Chelle," Tara explained.

Willow indicated her car with a wave of her hand as she offered, "why don't you sit and I'll go get them or say goodbye for us?" She didn't expect the blonde to agree and again realized just how tired and hurting Tara was as she nodded to the offer. Willow quickly let her into the car and left her the keys so the blonde could run the air conditioner and radio until she returned.

Entering the ballroom she realized how late it was and since of the people at the reception had left for the evening. Michelle sat at a table with Eliza leaning across her looking either passed out or very tired. She started as she saw Willow walking in alone and quickly shook Eliza who looked around confused. "What's wrong Willow?" Michelle quickly asked as both girls advanced toward her. "Where's Tara? What happened?"

Willow smiled casually and attempted to calm the two girls without shouting across the hall. "Nothing's wrong," she explained as soon as she was close. "Tara's really tired from the long day and last night and everything." She noticed both girls breathe a sigh of relief and continued, "but she wanted to say good night to both of you. She's in my car."

Willow nodded glancing at Eliza, "you?" Michelle nodded in return and all three girls headed for the door waving to Eliza's father on his way out.

Again Willow realized just how tired Tara was when she didn't even get out of the car to say good bye to her friends but just opened the door. Michelle squatted gracefully and gave the blonde a hug. She stroked her face and whispered something that Willow couldn't hear and smiled back when the blonde nodded at her. Eliza leaned over and gave Tara a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for comin and entertainin the kiddos," she slurred.

Tara nodded at Eliza and looked over her shoulder to Michelle as she mouthed, "take her home Chelle."

Willow was surprised as Michelle gave her a warm friendly hug, telling her, "take care of her Willow."

Eliza followed with a somewhat sloppier embrace. "I'm glad you came Willow," she giggled. Willow looked to Michelle who gave her a look as if to say, "don't even ask." As the two girls turned to go she heard Eliza tell the runner, "Willow: it's a tree baby."

Willow shut Tara's door and walked around to get in her side and start the car. "Is Chelle ok to drive?" the blonde asked her. Willow nodded to both that question and the following one about her sobriety. Within a few minutes of driving Willow realized that Tara had fallen asleep. She let the blonde sleep, gazing longingly at her at each stoplight.

Nearing Tara's house she had a dilemma about the blonde. Should she wake her or attempt to take her in the house? Willow doubted that she could carry the blonde into the house without waking her. After watching her sleep peacefully for a few minutes she made a choice. Easing open the door she gently lifted the blonde from the car by augmenting her strength with magic to easily carry Tara in.

Once inside she laid the girl on her bed and took Scooby for a walk. Again she had a dilemma about what to do now that Tara was on her bed. I could leave her in her clothes but that would be uncomfortable and not good for the dress. Or I could undress her but I probably shouldn't. Ok. What should I do? For a moment she wished for friends who could advise her, not that she would call them in this situation anyway. Then she remembered a time that Xander told her that when he found himself confused or scared, he would ask himself, "what would Buffy do?" So Willow did that. When that line of questioning turned up absolutely nothing she decided to change it. Faith's the slayer here so what would she do? The image that sprang to her mind of the dark haired slayer slowly undressing the blonde while taking extra care to memorize her every curve and brush her fingertips over the soft skin caused Willow to shudder but at least she made up her mind.

Moving toward the bed she closed her eyes and proceeded to carefully undress the girl before tucking her under the covers. She had a hard time with the buttons on the dress but kept reminding herself that she was improving her manual dexterity with the exercise. And you hope that will come in useful her mind teased her. Putting that thought away she quietly hung up Tara's dress and kissed the witch on the forehead before leaving the room. She hastily wrote a note and left it on the other pillow so Tara would find it immediately.

When the blonde woke in the morning she had a few moments of disorientation before realizing that she was in her own bed. Oh Goddess, what did I do last night and how did I get undressed? she wondered. She remembered having a wonderful time yesterday and last evening. Yes she had had some wine to drink but not so much that she wasn't aware. She remembered very vividly kissing Willow under the stars the redhead had created and it was just magical. As their lips touched it had felt like perfection, like coming home. But what then? she started to panic. Just then she saw the note on the pillow with her name written across it. Opening it the words inside brought a smile to her lips:

Tara was confused for a second before she realized that the redhead would use magic to turn the gears in the lock. She continued reading the last few lines of the note:

The blonde read and reread the note smiling the entire time before falling back asleep still clutching the paper in her hand.

Willow checked the clock on her computer against the one on her wrist one more time. Still 10:55. Should be later shouldn't it? I checked a long time ago and it was 10:54 so you'd think it would be later than 10:55. Maybe the clock on my computer is wrong? She quickly discarded that theory since she had synchronized it with the Naval Observatory clock just last night. Also the clock on the wall matched the one on her computer so it seemed unlikely that both were wrong as well as the Naval Observatory clock.

She had just finished another note to Buffy, checking the time constantly to ensure that she was done with it before Tara arrived. Actually, she realized, it might be more accurate to simply think of the letters as a type of journal. When she wrote the first one she had started it without really thinking of the repercussions. Mostly she was just thinking about missing Buffy and started a letter before she could really admit that there was no way to deliver the letter. By the time she had read and reread the letter she had admitted a few other things to herself too.

First, it wasn't just that she wouldn't be delivering this letter to Buffy. It was likely that she would never see Buffy again. Yes, her letter sounded all confident and positive that she would bring Tara home to meet the Scoobies and take her place in the group and in their mission. But was that really feasible? Could Willow really expect this woman to leave her family and Michelle and Eliza? Would Tara even want to go with Willow?

As the redhead wrote her second letter/journal entry she realized that her entire plan had been spurious and not well-thought-out to begin with. What would make her think that this Tara would want to be a substitute for her Tara? Why would this woman want to leave her life? What would Willow need to do to make being with Tara a reality in whatever world they ended up? Her thoughts and pondering had eventually turned into a "to do" list that had taken pages on her letter. And as she finished she looked around for the blonde once again.

She's late. Maybe she's not coming? the redhead panicked. Ok, not late. It's not like a normal person is late because she's not five minutes early Willow. Just because you couldn't sleep and got here two hours ago doesn't mean that she was supposed to be early too. The two girls at the next table looked at her suspiciously as she started to giggle to herself. Her active Willow babble was going 120 miles an hour and the four cups of coffee she had already had certainly weren't helping. Speaking of four cups of coffee, I really need to pee she thought. But what if Tara shows up while I'm in there and she thinks I stood her up and she leaves but I don't even know that she's been here and then I sit here all day thinking that she stood me up… Ok Willow. Now you're going bonkers. As if it would help she took another drink of coffee. That should calm me down. Right. If calm is a state of being caffeined up and needing to pee it will! Years ago the witch had learned that she could either try not to think so much or just let it go and be amused. This was an amused day.

11:02. Ok, now she is late. I hope she's coming. She sounded like she definitely wanted to see me when she called. Of course a big study together date. That's a hot one Willow. Looking up at the clock again her hopes fell as she wondered if the blonde was coming at all. It seemed unlikely that Tara would stand her up. After all she was the one who had initiated that incredible kiss on Saturday. But this is a week later and she's been too busy to see you all week and now she's late so maybe you only thought that kiss was incredible and it really wasn't. Maybe I drooled or had bad breath. Maybe… maybe… maybe… Oh Fuck! This is stupid. Where is she?

She glanced around again and noticed the guy coming over from the counter with the coffee pot. Yep, that's what I need: more coffee. He poured her more coffee and asked, "are you, like, Willow?"

"Willow. Are you Willow? Is your name, like, Willow?" he repeated as if talking to a complete moron.

Willow looked at him suspiciously as she wondered how he knew her name and why he was asking who she was. "Yeah…" she answered.

"Cool dude," he smiled. "Dude. Tara like just called. And she said that she's like running late and she said she's like sorry."

Willow listened to his words and then like translated them into English. Then she translated back into his dialect: "did she say like how late dude?" She giggled to herself as she spoke but he didn't seem to think she was making fun of him.

"Dude, like excellent question. I asked that too and she said she'll like be here in like 15 minutes," he answered. Willow breathed a sigh of relief that not only would Tara be there but that she had been considerate enough to call and let the redhead know that she was running late. On the other hand, what if she was late because something had happened? Willow found herself worrying.

As the coffee guy walked off she glanced at her watch again. Oh fuck it! she thought to herself as she set the alarm on her computer and went to the bathroom. She had designed the alarm program herself. It wouldn't keep anyone from stealing the machine but would make it pretty bothersome. The next person who touched the machine without turning off the alarm with the password would hear an alarm about as loud as a car alarm and wouldn't be able to stop it. The thief would never be able to use the computer without the alarm going off although a message would pop up instructing them how to return the machine to her for a reward. The drawback to the alarm was that if Tara arrived while she was in the bathroom or if someone casually bumped the table the alarm would activate. Luckily no one had set off the sirens by the time she returned to the table feeling much more comfortable.

She was working on some programming code when Tara walked in the door a few minutes later. As the blonde approached Willow took the opportunity to look her up and down. It was the first time she had seen this woman dressed as the other Tara used to: jeans, boots, and denim shirt. In obvious deference to the heat the shirt was short sleeved. Ok, don't drool. Don't drool. Don't drool, Willow chanted in her head as a mantra. Tara looked absolutely amazing. The jeans completely hugged her body and the boots gave her an extra sexy look. Unsure how to greet the blonde she stood and began fidgeting with her hands.

The redhead noticed the stuttering and attempted to assure Tara that it was fine: "that's fine. I'm fine really. I mean I don't mind and thanks for calling. I appreciate it. But it's fine really. I've been here a long time because I couldn't sleep so a little lateness doesn't bother me but thanks for calling anyway." She finally ran out of breath and stopped speaking.

Tara smiled as she leaned closer to the redhead touching her chin with two slender fingers. "It's hard to k-kiss you when you're babbling," she teased. She waited a minute for Willow's response but when the redhead didn't say anything she moved their lips together and again savored the heavenly softness of Willow's lips pressed to hers.

Their lovely greeting was interrupted by a familiar voice: "hey Tara. Do you want some like coffee?"

As they took their seats Tara nodded and answered, "yeah Joe. Whatever the special is today sounds great and a muffin." A minute later when Joe returned with the muffin she told him, "and thanks for giving Willow my m-message."

Joe smirked a little telling her, "well it was like easy to find her. Only one like beautiful redhead working on a laptop." He waved off her money telling her, "Willow like paid already for yours."

Blushing from Joe's statement that he should look for a beautiful redhead Tara turned to Willow and thanked her: "thanks Willow."

Willow beamed as she told her, "you're welcome. Actually we're celebrating." Reaching into her bag she pulled out her wallet and laid a driver's license, social security card, and check that she had obviously just received for some of her contracting work on the table.

Willow smiled as she repacked the cards telling the blonde, "yeah. Strangely enough there was some kind of a paperwork snafu. They thought that I died in 1996 but obviously I didn't so presto, I exist again."

"I'm really glad," Tara told her sincerely as she pulled a few books and a legal pad out of her bag. "I'm s-sorry but I really have to write this paper," she told the redhead indicating her study materials.

Willow leaned forward taking the blonde's hands in her own. "I'm just glad to get to see you at all Tara," she told her before leaning in to lightly kiss her lips again. This time the kiss lasted a little longer with Willow slowly darting her tongue out to trace Tara's soft mouth.

Willow smiled as she told the blonde, "I live for danger but I'll be good." Each girl settled into her work. Since Willow didn't have any urgent projects to work on, she took the opportunity to watch Tara study. The blonde was completely engrossed in her work. It appeared to Willow that she was working on a research paper as she kept paging through different books or copying notes from note cards onto the legal pad. As she worked she took drinks of her coffee or a pinch from her muffin. At one point Willow realized that she was just sitting and watching the blonde's fingertips as they traveled from muffin to mouth to napkin to pencil and back again.

Finally Willow asked, "do you write your reports out long hand?" Tara nodded. "Why?" Willow inquired. She knew that her Tara had found that using a computer made her writing much easier since she could recognize words in which she had transposed the letters more easily and she could make revisions more readily.

"I n-never learned to use a computer," Tara admitted. She was somewhat embarrassed over the fact that she knew nothing about computers since Willow was obviously a whiz with them.

Willow frowned in confusion. "What? How could you never learn? I mean not that there's anything wrong with it but wasn't it a graduation requirement at Brenhams?"

"Well yes," Tara agreed, "it was. But Ms. B-Benson, our computer lab teacher, had a hard pregnancy and she couldn't teach my l-last semester."

"They l-looked for a substitute but no one wanted to travel out for a few classes a day," Tara explained. She noticed the redhead looking everywhere but at her. For some reason the girl was uncomfortable but Tara couldn't imagine why.

"Willow?" Tara probed. "Didn't that happen at your school? Did something else happen to Ms. Benson?"

"What? Oh no she had a healthy baby. But they did find a substitute at our school," Willow explained.

Tara frowned in confusion. "Really? Who w-w-would want to…" She trailed off as the realization hit her. "You," she asked. Willow nodded and shrugged her shoulders. "So my girlfriend was a teacher?" Tara mumbled under her breath. Realizing what she had said she started to correct herself, "I m-m-mean her girlfriend. I mean in the other world…"

Taking a cue from Tara's babbling solution Willow leaned forward to kiss the blonde.

Tara felt completely off balance. Her realization that Willow had taught the course didn't disturb her as much as just drive home again how different the two worlds had been. But her verbal slip-up was embarrassing. And then before she could recover from that embarrassment she had the impression of Willow's lips on hers taking all rational thought from her.

Tara's body was, to put it mildly, confused. Although the girls had done nothing but kiss at this point, in her mind they had done so much more. For years she had dreamt of this woman. While some of the dreams involved walking in a park or looking at stars, some were much more erotic and graphic. She had had dreams of them making love under the stars, in different beds (including hers both at Brenhams and at the Maclay family farm), couches, and what appeared to be a bathroom at a nightclub. Once she had even dreamed of the two of them making fast love in a janitor's closet. And the dreams had been so realistic. She had frequently literally experienced fulfillment from them. And the dreams were always of Willow. Never of that runner Michelle had introduced her to or Eliza's cousin or even Angelina Jolie or Gina Gershon: always Willow.

Now every contact with the redhead's lips brought back the amalgamation of every dream and fantasy she had ever experienced. Goddess Tara! she admonished herself Try to focus on what she's saying. Do you really think she wants you thinking such explicit thoughts?

Willow could detect the rise in Tara's heartbeat and, well other characteristics that had always indicated the other Tara wouldn't be processing information that clearly. She knew that Tara was excited and found herself incredibly turned on by that. She was not surprised as Tara leaned forward, pressing their lips together. The blonde wanted more: so much more. As soon as their lips touched she wrapped her fingers in that beautiful copper hair and parted her lips slightly. She was surprised to feel Willow's tongue immediately at the entrance to her mouth and sucked the tip lightly to invite the intrusion. She heard the redhead moan just as she felt her tongue gently enter her own warm mouth and nearly thought she would collapse as Willow used her tongue to trace each of her teeth. After enjoying that sensation for a few seconds the blonde pressed her own tongue and felt Willow immediately take it into her mouth, lightly sucking on the tip. She was aware of the effect of their closeness throughout her body as the kiss went on with each girl trading tongues.

"Hey, y'all want to get a room?" they suddenly heard coming from a voice right by the table.

"See, d-d-dangerous," Tara whispered as she pulled back and turned to see Eliza standing by the table. She was blushing bright red as she looked up at the younger girl. "What are you doing?" she asked.

Eliza pulled up a chair as she teased, "I just stopped for some coffee on the way home from a class. Joe said y'all have been like this all morning."

"We have n-not," Tara pouted playfully. She held up her legal pad and pointed to the pages of writing. "See, I've been working on my paper."

"Jesus God Tara," Eliza moaned, "when are you going to start using a computer? It's the freaking 21st century."

"Right now," Willow interrupted. She suddenly turned and greeted the brunette: "hi Eliza. She's going to start learning right now." She swiveled her computer around and opened up the word processing program for the blonde. Within a few minutes she had given Tara enough of an explanation for the girl to be typing her paper. Eliza stayed a few minutes before telling the girls, "I'm going to do some studying myself. If y'all want to meet up with us for dinner or anything, you know the number."

Willow watched Tara for a few minutes, pleased to see how quickly the blonde was adapting to using the computer before pulling a newspaper from her bag. She started looking at the classified ads for a few minutes before becoming frustrated. "What's wrong Willow?" Tara asked concerned.

Willow indicated the newspaper and began explaining: "these classified ads make no sense to me. I want to get a place so I don't have to live in the hotel any longer but I have no idea where any of these neighborhoods are."

Tara found herself very amused at the redhead's frustration. "Too bad you don't know anyone who l-lives here who you could ask," she teased.

Willow giggled at Tara's teasing. "Well you're working on your paper," she answered. Deciding to tease the blonde right back she continued, "of course Eliza seemed to be trying to waste time and she probably knows the city pretty well."

Tara laughed again as she leaned in for a quick kiss. "Yes but," she told Willow, "I h- have a vested interest in where you live."

"Well it should be close, clean, safe, and I guess have some of those computer line things," Tara teased back. "Although from what I've seen I'm not sure you need a kitchen—maybe j-just a place to store the coffee and mugs."

"Hey," Willow argued. "It's not like you have been feeding me all kinds of homemade meals or anything."

"Point taken," Tara conceded. "Do you want to come over for a h-homemade meal this week?"

Willow leaned in for another quick kiss before answering, "any time, any place, baby."

"Mmm, Addictive," Tara whispered as Willow was pulling back from her quick kiss. She watched as the redhead looked back to the classified ads again and offered, "how about if I work on this a l-little more and then help you decipher those."

The girls continued their work for a few hours before Tara helped Willow look a the classifieds. "There's something I'd like to show you if you have a little while," Tara told Willow as the two girls placed Willow's laptop bag in her trunk when they were finished.

"There's something I'd like to show you if you have a little while," Tara told Willow as the two girls placed Willow's laptop bag in her trunk a few hours later.

Willow got a thoughtful look on her face. "Hmmm. So basically this coffee and study date has the potential to last longer?" She leaned against the door to her car pulling Tara's body close to hers as she ran her fingers lightly along the blonde's neckline.

Tara purred as she leaned her head to one side luxuriating in the contact between them. She wound her hands in Willow's hair telling the redhead, "I love the w-way your hair curls when it's wet or it's humid outside." Before Willow could answer Tara pressed their lips together. At first the kiss was soft and gentle but quickly it grew more passionate. The taller girl's hands began to wander up and down Willow's back, snaking inside the waistband of her shirt and tracing along the bare skin of her spine. The redhead broke the kiss only long enough to trail her lips along Tara's jaw before moving to her neck. Once there, she began sucking lightly at Tara's pulse point, encouraged by Tara's moaning. Reluctantly Tara pulled away, her eyes heavily lidded and gaze somewhat unfocused. "I…we…I want…," she groaned taking a step backwards and a deep breath.

Willow smiled, her rosy lips showing the signs of their kisses. "You wanted to show me something?" After a few minutes they decided to leave Willow's car at her hotel before taking Tara's car on their expedition. As Tara drove, Willow noticed that the blonde was unusually quiet and decided to let the silence remain. She realized that if Tara wanted to talk, she would.

She was surprised as they pulled into the parking lot by a small building. It appeared to a small remodeled house. In front of the building was a sign saying "Women's Work." Hands entwined they walked through the doorway. A few people were scattered throughout the space all looking at a variety of artwork sparsely adorning the walls. A few sculptures sat in the middle of the rooms or on pedestals in the corners. The studio appeared to feature "women's work," hence the name and Willow took a few moments to slowly move around appreciating the art.

Willow could feel that Tara was nervous as a woman, obviously the curator of the small hall, approached and the redhead gently stroked her girlfriend's hand with her thumb to let her know that she would talk if Tara wanted. The woman was smiling at them as she approached and stuck out her hand to greet the couple. "Hello Tara," she began, surprising Willow that she knew the blonde's name. But then, Tara seemed to get along well with people and to make an effort to get to know them. Perhaps she frequented the gallery?

"Hello Helen," Tara responded. "Helen, this is…" was as far as she got before Helen cut her off to turn to Willow. "Well, it's wonderful to finally meet Tara's girlfriend," she exclaimed as she stuck out her hand toward the redhead.

Willow was genuinely surprised at the greeting the owner was giving them. She seemed to really take an interest in her patrons, although how she knew about their relationship was beyond the redhead's grasp. She momentarily dropped the blonde's hand to shake the curator's offered one responding, "nice to meet you too Helen."

"W-w-we'd just like to take a l-look at the exhibit," Tara stuttered. Helen looked back and forth between the two girls briefly before wishing them a good visit and wandering off. Willow noticed that the blonde was nervously looking back and forth to the archway to a room at the back of the building. Asking a question with her eyes she allowed the blonde to guide her slowly toward the archway. As they neared it she noticed the small card announcing the exhibit. "Angels and Demons: Tara Maclay," the card read.

Willow looked open mouthed at Tara as she read the card over and over again. Tara had an art exhibit and hadn't told her? Why wouldn't she tell her? Was she shy of her work? Embarrassed? Did she not trust Willow to appreciate it? It's not like I'm such a barbarian that I can't appreciate art when I see it, the redhead pouted to herself as she puzzled why Tara would have kept this a secret.

At the same time this underscored another contrast between the two women. Her Tara loved her art but never had any interest in displaying any of it beyond the occasional student art show in high school. Since then she had continued to draw but had kept the work very private, sharing it only occasionally even with Willow or her other close friends and family. That this Tara had an art exhibit was a spectacular difference and Willow was completely intrigued.

Tara could feel Willow's confusion and hurt and intrigue as it emanated through their linked palms. It wasn't that she had been trying to hide anything from the redhead. The exhibit had been open since a few days before Willow had arrived but she just hadn't had the chance to tell her. And the subject matter… When Willow had asked about her drawing at the christening she knew that she needed to bring the woman to see the exhibit. But she was worried about Willow's reaction to the pieces.

The room where Tara's exhibit was displayed was the smallest one in the building. It was narrower than it was deep with a large window on the wall opposite the archway. This effect would give tremendous natural light to one side of the room or the other at any time of the day. Still holding hands Willow stepped slowly over the threshold and followed the path of light to the wall to her left. She gasped upon first seeing the pieces framed there and dropped Tara's hand moving slowly toward the wall.

Six framed drawings were hung on the wall. The first title card read "Muse" with a price listed by it. Unable to look at the art immediately she read the cards in succession and found that each held the same title. The prices ranged from a few hundred dollars to over a thousand and each was marked "sold." She felt more than saw Tara fade back to allow her to absorb the drawings.

As she looked at the works she was impressed with the eye that Helen apparently had for hanging art. Rather than following a linear or thematic progression as Willow suspected she would have done with such a display, the woman had gone for the most blatantly sexual work first. The first painting in the series showed a woman, clearly Willow, her head thrown back in ecstasy, eyes closed and mouth open as if screaming out her orgasm. The work was incredibly intimate with her breasts and hard nipples jutted out as she arched her back and came up off the sheets. You could almost feel the tension in her body and in the hand which clutched a handful of sheet. The only thing keeping her most private area from being displayed was the head nestled at the apex of her legs, the long hair spread out over her thighs and in a way this was even more revealing than full exposure might have been.

Apparently going for contrast, the next drawing showed Willow sitting by a window drinking a cup of coffee on a rainy day. She looked out the window as if she longed to be somewhere else and the rain drops on the window looked incredibly like tears, as if the picture itself were crying. The third drawing showed her as she knew she had appeared a thousand times. She was asleep, sprawled across a pile of books that littered the table at the magic box. Somehow Tara had managed to capture the light which filled the center of the unusual research table at the shop. As she realized the setting for the drawing Willow looked up at Tara, the shock clearly ensconced on her face. What? How? She couldn't even think of words in her mind to describe how confused she was by what she was seeing.

The fourth drawing was shocking to the redhead in that it seemed to be a departure from the prior works. While the first three drawings had clearly shown Willow's face, this one was an extreme close-up. It showed a set of lips, teeth and tongue playfully visible, as those lips pulled away from a puckered nipple. The nipple was completely detailed with each dimple and pore clearly visible and the moisture on the lips appeared to have just been transferred to the skin of the nipple.

Glancing around she noted that Tara was sitting on a bench in the center of the small room. She quietly backed up to sit down and allow herself to take in the last two drawings. The fifth showed her as she stood at the side of a horse. She appeared to be leaning her head on the neck of the animal while caressing its mane as if she were seeking comfort from the motion. Two birds circled in the distance and Willow stood up from the bench to move toward the picture, extending her hand as if to stroke the birds. She was startled by Tara's gentle voice: "you c-c-can't touch them Will."

The redhead made eye contact with the artist before turning to the last drawing, a smile gracing her face. She was sleeping sprawled half on her stomach, half on her side. Although a sheet was wrapped around her midsection, one leg poked playfully from the bed and she held a bundle of sheet in her hand as if in contrast to the bundle of sheet held in her hand in the first drawing. Part of one nipple showed around the tangled sheet and the effect was absolute innocence in direct contrast to the orgasmic intensity of the first drawing.

Taking a step back she allowed the power and beauty of the combination of drawings to soak in. It was overwhelming and confusing and intimate. She couldn't imagine where this woman had found the inspiration for all these drawings from their one interaction. And how did she know about the table at the Magic Box? How did she capture Willow's maturing appearance having only met her once in high school? How did she so accurately and realistically capture the image of the girl sleeping or experiencing orgasmic bliss? Willow smiled through her confusion as she realized why Helen had assumed that Willow was Tara's girlfriend when introduced.

She turned slowly to see Tara sitting on the bench watching her intently for a hint of her reaction. As she did she was shocked by the burst of vivid colors coming from the works on the opposite wall. She looked briefly to the blonde who allowed her eyes to flicker over the paintings opposite before looking down at her hands again. The redhead walked as if in a spell toward the vividly painted artwork.

Again six works graced the walls and their arrangement in two rows of three paintings mirrored the arrangement of the drawings of Willow herself. However, that was where the comparison would have to stop. While the images of Willow were intense for the explicit or restrained sexual tension in them, these paintings leapt from the wall. It was no surprise to her that each work was already marked sold with prices twice that of the drawings of her, but she gasped as she took in the subject matter of the works.

The first painting showed a figure that Willow had only seen once and had never actually come in contact with. If it weren't for the fact that the enjoining spell had allowed her to see what Buffy saw, she would not have recognized the half-man/half- demon immediately. His visage was filled with intensity and interest as he held up one arm, the blood-covered skewer from the Polgara demon dripping onto his leg as he looked at something on the floor. The suggestion that whatever or whoever he had just killed lay at his feet and garnered his curiosity was made even more startling by the fact that the painting did not include the dead or maimed body. His face could have been half- demon or just scarred beyond recognition and the staples in his chest were horrifying in a way that Willow had never experienced when she was one with the slayer's strength. Forcing herself to tear her eyes from the image she read the card and couldn't even be shocked that the painting bore the title, "Adam."

As her eyes flicked to the next painting, Willow for the first time doubted Helen's placement of the works. Two figures were in the painting. The first was Becky, Tara's mother and her rendering of the woman was absolutely heavenly. Her hair was the same golden blonde as Tara's with the same smooth skin. However, the viewer would never be able to appreciate the blue of her eyes since her eyelids were closed. Her body looked peaceful and comfortable nestled in the cushioning within the casket, as if she were just taking a nap. Surprisingly the artist had painted herself not at age 17, which Willow knew would have been accurate, but as a young child of 5 or 6. She stood by the casket holding flowers in one hand and stroking the hand of her mother. Tears rolled down her face and her mouth was open as if she were speaking to the woman. The card by the painting was labeled "Forever" and it had gone for the highest amount.

As she turned toward Tara Willow realized that tears were flowing from her own eyes. She attempted to speak but could not think of anything to say her mouth opening and closing. Reaching the blonde she kneeled in front of her on the ground and placed a soft kiss on the palm of her hand. She heard a low cry from Tara's throat. Not knowing what else to do Willow suddenly grasped the blonde's cheeks with her hands and pressed their lips together. As she pulled back she looked into vivid blue eyes rimmed with pink, eyes which urged her to finish looking at the artwork.

Reluctantly Willow turned back toward the arresting works splayed along the wall. Of course, she inanely thought. A group of three demons in dark suits floated in the air. They had gleaming metallic teeth and were accompanied by two lackeys wearing straightjackets and lumbering down the corridor. Their faces were horrifying and the scalpel one of them held glistened with wet blood.

Willow had to stare at the next painting for a few seconds before she recognized the demon in it. She had only ever seen her in her human visage, never as the vengeance (or as she said, justice) demon. Apparently whatever source gave Tara the sight for these works allowed her to see Halfrek as she had looked when she cast the spell to keep them all in the house on Buffy's birthday. Her demon face appeared clearly shocked by the fact that a sword had just been thrust through her torso by a blurred figure in the background. Someone looking at the picture might think that even a demon couldn't live through that. The card read "Wish" and Willow was starting to wonder if Tara knew why she had named the works as she had.

The fifth painting shocked Willow more than any other she had seen. It was clearly a painting of her but not her. It was like a picture of herself, but not herself. She looked paler than she did in reality but also more alert. She was raising her hand and her mouth was slightly open as if she were speaking. If someone wasn't paying attention they would never have noticed the small fangs protruding from her mouth or the way that her tongue darted out to flick a drop of blood from her lip. Ironically she felt more embarrassed by the revealing black leather outfit she wore in this picture than in the drawings on the opposite wall. She expected the card to read "Muse" again but understood the actual title: "Never."

Willow actually thought that the sight of the painting of Tara's mother would break her heart more than anything she could ever see here but the next painting literally knocked her to her knees. As she got her first glance of the painting her world went dark. The next thing she knew Tara was sitting at her side, apparently she hurt too badly to kneel, pressing a cold wash-cloth to the back of her neck. She held out a glass of water and Willow saw Helen in the archway. The red-haired witch suspected that the woman had heard her fall and brought the water. Willow took the glass carefully and drank with shaking hands.

Without speaking she stood to take in the final painting in the "demons" section of the display. As she looked she reached out to stroke the horse, as if Chestnut could possibly feel her touch, as if she could possibly help that broken body. Even as she heard Helen's intake of breath she didn't move her fingers away from the canvas, allowing them to stroke the paint. She almost expected to feel the softness of the horse's hair on the side of its neck but restrained herself from touching the leg, so broken and bent and twisted that no one who had ever seen a horse run could imagine that this animal could ever do so again. As she lifted her fingers from the painting she looked to see: had the blood pouring from the hole in Chestnut's skull actually stained her hand? She lifted her hand to her face as if in a daze, attempting to smell the blood and smelling only the saltwater of her own tears. Next her fingers traced each letter on the title card: "The End."

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Paths Diverged/Divulged

by JustSkipIt

Copyright © 2003