Survivor: Ash Island by JustSkipIt

Rating: NC-17
Uber Setting: Survivor
Disclaimer: I own none of these characters nor do I own Survivor. And believe it or not, I also don't own any small islands. On the other hand, this island is fictional so let's say I own it. I'm making no money from this fiction and intend no copyright infringement.
Distribution: The Mystic Muse /mysticmuse.net
Author's Notes: And you're saying to yourself, "Did I read that right? Survivor?" The answer: "Yes!" Ok, I freely admit that we are huge Survivor and Amazing Race fans (and yes, we wanted Kris and Jon to win). I can't stand the Bachelor, Joe Millionaire, and certainly think that the reality show about the woman looking for her real father is probably one of the low points in human development. But I love Survivor and Amazing Race. Sure they're cheesy and "made-for- television" as the grandmother in A Prayer for Owen Meaney would say. But they also show a lot about competition, cooperation, and relationship dynamics.
I can't imagine that I'll be writing this very quickly because I am very busy these days but hopefully the updates will be regular. I'm going to try and limit most updates to the format of the show – action shots, "confessional" interviews, brief conversations, and of course the tribal council. Occasionally I'll throw in the "Morning after" interview for flavor.
One more thing. With a few exceptions for plot-development, I'm going to use random selection methodology to determine which team wins or loses (when appropriate) and which character will be voted off. Hopefully this will be fun.
Special thanks goes to Chris Cook of Through the Looking Glass and Artemis for the title graphic at the top of the page. Thanks, Chris!
Pairing: Willow/Tara

Summary: Sixteen castaways. Two teams. One million dollars.

Day 34
Everyone is very slow to rise and emerge from the small shelter. Finally we see them all sitting around the fire drinking water and eating some berries and plantains.

Confessional Caption – Tara – Medical Receptionist
"L-last night we voted off Willow." She takes a deep breath. "I really thought that it would be Robin who went and we'd have an all girl f-final four. But he won immunity and she's gone. I feel sad that she's gone and at the same time, I have a game to play.

Just then a small-plane flies low over the camp. As the survivors all stand and move slowly toward the water the plane circles and drops a small crate with a parachute from the plane into the shallow water. Everyone is excited by the obvious gift. "Presents!" Kendra shouts as she and Robin rush into the water to retrieve the box.

Printed on the box are the words "FINAL FOUR" in capital letters. Using the machete, Faith pries off the cover and all four scream as they see what is inside. Inside the crate are a bottle of Champaign, a carton of orange juice, a bottle of milk, a dozen eggs, four steaks, and fresh strawberries and pineapple. As Tara pulls each item from the crate, they all scream their excitement. They quickly open the Champaign and each take a drink.

Confessional Caption – Kendra – Interpreter
"Oh mon. There we were bemoaning our lack of food and the day in general and what shows up? Food. I feast mon."

We see Tara cooking the eggs and steak and all the finalists enjoying their reward. After some discussion the group decides that they will take the day entirely off. They won't even gather firewood but will count on what has already been collected. Throughout the day we see shots of them sunbathing, sleeping, or swimming. Toward nightfall we see them quietly watching the stars.

Day 35
The Survivors are all just emerging from their shelter as Jeff walks into camp. "Morning, Jeff," Faith yawns.

"Good morning, everyone," Jeff says. He takes a seat and asks how they are all doing.

"Good. Then you will be ready for an immunity challenge." Shaking their heads and rubbing their eyes sleepily, the Survivors stand up and follow him as he walks from their camp to challenge beach.

They reach the beach and see a log sitting sideways on the beach. Jeff directs everyone to take a seat on the log. In front of the players are four chalk slates.

"Today we will have a quiz," Jeff explains. "The person who gets the most questions right will win immunity." Everyone nods. "Ok," Jeff says, "you have all spent 35 days on an island with one of the most active volcanoes in the world. In fact, you witnessed an eruption recently and had your campsite showered with volcanic ash."

"First Question: Volcanoes such the one you have lived near for the past 5 weeks, Mount Griffin, and those found in Hawaii typically have basalt lava. How hot is basalt lava: A 350 to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, B. 1000 to 1200 degrees Fahrenheit, C. 1800 to 2300 degrees Fahrenheit, or D. 10,000 to 12,000 degrees Fahrenheit."

The players write their answers and wait for Jeff to tell them to reveal their answers. Kendra and Tara have both answered C, Robin answered B, and Faith answered D. "And the correct answer is C: 1800 to 2300 degrees. That's one point for Tara and Kendra."

"True or False: one sign that a volcano is about to erupt is a bulge near the volcano?"

Everyone writes the answer and holds up their board. "Faith, Kendra, and Tara all say true. Robin says false," Jeff reports. "The answer is True. That's two points Kendra and Tara, one point Faith, and Robin not on the board yet."

"At any given time, how many volcanoes are erupting in the world? A: 1 to 2, B: 2-5, C: 5-10, or D: more than 10."

After the Survivors reveal their guesses, Jeff looks at the answers before reporting. "The correct answer is D which means Robin and Kendra get the points. Tara answered A and Faith answered C. That's three points Kendra, Two Tara, and one each for Faith and Robin." He explains, "By the way the estimates are that at any given time about 20 volcanoes are erupting with about 12-15 of those being volcanoes that are constantly erupting."

"Tara and Faith said the US, Kendra says Argentina, Robin says Chile. The correct answer is the US with the largest volcano being Mauna Loa in Hawaii." He reports that "Tara and Faith right back in the competition with Kendra and Tara at three, Faith at two, and Robin at one point."

The survivors all write before showing their slates. "Tara writes Goddess of Fire. Kendra says Goddess of Fire/Volcanoes. Faith says Saint of Ash Island. Robin writes 'Soccer player?'" Everyone laughs good naturedly at Robin's answer. "Tara and Faith both earn another point so they lead at four each. Faith still at two and Robin has one."

"Ok. This is the last question. Only Tara and Kendra need to answer it since only they can win. Closest to the answer we are looking for will win. How many active volcanoes are there in the world?"

We see the disappointed look on Robin's face and then the somewhat smug smile on Faith's. Tara and Kendra seem to be concentrating on the question and finally write their guesses.

"Tara done with her answer and now Kendra's finished." Both women turn around their slates. "Kendra's answer: 950. Tara says 1300."

He draws out the answer for greatest suspense. "And the immunity challenge winner guaranteed a one in three chance at a million dollars and the title of Ultimate Survivor is Kendra." He follows up this announcement with the trivia that there are 800 active volcanoes in the world. Kendra quickly gets up and takes the necklace and puts it on.

Confessional Caption – Kendra – Interpreter
"Mon, I'm glad to have this. I still trust my girls but it's so much easier to trust people when you are immune from the vote." She laughs nervously. "I need to send a note thanking my senior English teacher for assigning me a research paper on volcanoes."

Jeff addresses the Survivors. "Tribal council will be tomorrow night. See you then." He turns and walks away leaving the castaways looking shocked.

Confessional Caption – Faith – Personal Trainer
"We're sitting there on the beach thinking tribal council will be tonight and he says tomorrow night. What are we supposed to do between now and then? I'll tell you what: scheming, lying, and backstabbing."

The four castaways are still sitting on the log as if they have agreed that it is as good a place to wait as any. Tara walks over to a stand of bushes and starts wordlessly picking them.

White Hat Camp
The four remaining survivors are working to keep their camp going. All are working very quietly as if they have agreed to take the day off from talking and get their work done.

Confessional Caption – Tara – Medical Receptionist
"No one said anything but I think we all decided on a day to just w-work. We're all so tired that it's hard to gather enough wood and catch fish and everything. We're living on the rice and berries and even though no one wants to go home, we all know that being voted off means a good meal and b-bath."

Robin fishes by himself. He shows the camera the bag which holds three large fish. "See these. I'm hoping the girls might be swayed by the promise of something to eat." Then looks at the beach where the three girls are gathering berries and breaking up firewood. "Something tells me that's not really likely though."

Next the camera shows Tara cooking the large fish in the pan with some herbs she has apparently harvested. She serves everyone their share with rice and berries. They all eat silently.

Confessional Caption – Faith – Personal Trainer
"Eerie man," Faith says as she looks around at the dark surrounding her. Apparently everyone else is already in the shelter while she tends the fire. She is poking it with a stick and gets up to put another log on. "This has been a weird day. T didn't speak after the challenge and we all followed her lead. I've never heard of such a thing. I mean no one talked to anyone that I know of. I'm not used to it and it kind of hurt my head."

White Hat Camp – Day 36
The sun rises over the camp and we see Kendra come out of the shelter first. She kicks at Faith with her toe and the dark-haired girl sits up suddenly, embarrassed to be caught snoozing. "****!" She curses as she sees that the fire has gone out. Robin and Tara come out of the shelter next both seeing that the fire has gone out.

Faith reaches behind her for the fire starting materials and looks at them before handing them to Tara. Tara takes them and then looks at Faith and Kendra the three girls share a look before bending down to the fire. Once they are bent down, Tara hands the flint to Kendra and cups her hands around the sparks. As before she closes her eyes and mumbles a prayer under her breath. As soon as the flames start licking up, Faith begins feeding the fire and Kendra joins her.

After commercial we see Robin again fishing. This time Kendra is helping him fish. They are doing well and the bag shows quite a few fish in it. He looks to the beach and then initiates a conversation. "The question is really who you want at the end with you."

Next we see Robin approach Faith as she breaks up firewood. "Feels good to work today," she says happily as she breaks up the wood.

Faith crosses her arms over her chest. "You're going to be voted off unless we can get someone else to turn. I'm not pulling a stone."

Confessional Caption – Robin – High School Principal
"I think Faith's probably pulling my chain. She claims he is trying to get Kendra to join us and vote off Tara but I just don't know." He smiles and looks at Tara.

Moments later we see Robin approach Tara. "Tara," he says to get her attention. Nonetheless, she startles as he walks up.

"I'm not worried about Kendra, but you or Faith are both dangerous in the final two."

"You're dangerous because of being such a good Survivalist and she's dangerous because she's run this game all along. Neither of them will pick you to go to the final two with them because they don't want to lose to you at that point." He points down the beach to where the two women are talking.

Confessional Caption – Robin – High School Principal
"Ok, I'm desperate at this point. Of course, my bad luck would be if Tara and I vote against Faith and Faith and Kendra vote against Tara." He chuckles. "If that was the worst thing that happened, I'd be ok with that."

Tara approaches Kendra to talk and we don't see what they are saying. Next we see Tara talking with Faith.

Confessional Caption – Tara – Medical Receptionist
"Everyone is playing a game out here. The most important thing is to make sure you're not the one who g-gets caught in it."

Tribal Council
Night is falling as the four Survivors walk to tribal council. Tara, Faith, and Robin all carry their bags in one hand and their torches in the other. They enter the area and take their seats. "And now, we'll call in the jury."

Mac, Xander, Joyce, Buffy, and Willow take their places. "Willow. Voted off at the last tribal council and now the balance of power shifts." He unnecessarily does the math for those present. "Five jurors over there and four Survivors over here." Like those jurors before her, Willow looks quite good. She wears a pair of jean shorts and tank top. Her hair is extra curly framing her face and she smiles at the remaining players, particularly Tara who blushes and looks away.

"Ok, the last few days have probably been pretty stressful. Faith, how has it been at camp?"

Faith answers immediately. "Well, J, everyone is very tired and hungry. We've been here 36 days and it really takes its toll. Yesterday we had a challenge in the morning rather than afternoon which caught us all off guard. Then today, game on all day."

"So there was more time between the challenge and the tribal council," Jeff says. "How did that affect the game?"

"So the deal making was fast and furious." Jeff smiles at the prospect of hearing of deal making and breaking.

Robin says, "Actually, we had a day of quiet yesterday. It was actually a relief."

"In the middle of a fight for a million dollars and you had a day of quiet? Who suggested that, Tara?"

"No-one really s-suggested it, but no one ever spoke first and then the day was over."

"So yesterday was peaceful and quiet and then today the scheming begins?" Jeff asks.

"The scheming never ends," Faith says, "it's just quieter sometimes." A shot of the jury shows Buffy, Joyce, and Mac nodding their heads. Willow doesn't move as she is intently watching Tara across the fire.

Kendra votes first followed by Robin, Faith, and Tara. We don't see any of their votes. Jeff retrieves the votes and says, "I'll tally the votes. The person voted off will be asked to leave the tribal council area immediately." He pulls the first vote. "First vote: Tara." Kendra looks displeased at the vote but neither Robin, Faith, nor Tara look surprised at it. A shot of the jury shows assorted looks of surprise and dismay from the jurors.

"Second vote, Robin." Tara and Kendra both look cautiously relieved while Faith's reaction is impassive. "Third vote, Robin." He recaps. "That's two votes Robin, one vote Tara." He opens the last vote slowly. "And the 13th person voted off Survivor – Ash Island and sixth juror is Robin."

Robin gives all three women hugs and then has his torch snuffed with the traditional "the tribe has spoken."

"Well, it looks like this alliance is a strong one. Head back to camp." Tara, Faith, and Kendra leave the council area. As she is walking through the bordering trees, we see Tara glance back at the jury receiving a quick wink from Willow.

Parting Words – Robin
As Robin speaks we see the replay of votes. Quite obviously all three girls voted against him while he voted against Tara. "Well, I played a good game but not as good as the three of you. You all deserve to be in the final three."

White Hat Camp – Day 37
Tara, Faith, and Kendra sit at camp slowly eating berries. They are all watching the wind in the trees and the surf break on the beach. "I w-wish we had the MFashnek buffs back." Tara glances at her wrist.

"It's day 37," Kendra says disbelievingly. When no one answers her she repeats her statement. As the day progresses we see the trio going about the camp work. Occasionally one of them calls to the other. "Hey, did you know it's day 37?"

Tara teases back at Faith. "I had heard that." It is obvious that they are all taking the joke good naturedly. A shot of Tara fishing shows that she has caught two large fish.

"And Tara brings home the catch of the day," the other two girls cheer as they cook the fish and serve it with the rice.

A night-vision shot shows the shelter. We can hear voices from inside the hut. "Good night, Faith. Good night, Tara."

White Hat Camp – Day 38
All three girls are eating their breakfast of plantains and coconuts as Jeff walks up at dawn. "Up bright and early I see," he says.

Confessional Caption – Faith – Personal Trainer
"We all got up early today. We expected Jeff to come sauntering in any time. Also we wanted to put on some of Tara's famous bug paste and sunscreen before he showed up because this final challenge is always some kind of standing around getting cramps and sunstroke thing."

Confessional Caption – Tara – Medical Receptionist
"I really b-believe that I need immunity in today's challenge." She considers it for a minute. "Of c-course everyone does."

They do so, walking along a path through the woods. Finally they reach a smaller path. He tells them that they will follow the path to the left and he will meet them at the end of it where they will have their challenge. He walks off and they begin slowly following the path. As they do they come first to a carved icon with a passable rendition of Wesley. Given that a piece of wood sits under the icon, with the word "Wesley" written on it, it is pretty easy to identify the subject.

"Hey. Wesley." All three girls kind of shrug with not much to say about the man. A clip shows Wesley swimming out to help Oz the first day.

"Oh," Kendra says as she reaches the next icon, "and Amy." A clip shows Amy competing in the first immunity challenge. Recognition and clips of Darla and Andrew go by quickly. Next the group comes to the icon for Riley. "Grrr," Faith says playfully. "He could have been dangerous."

"Oz," Tara says sweetly as she points to the idol with the spiky carved hair. "He seemed sweet." The others nod as we see a shot of Oz running along the beach.

"Ohh, Mac. He was a tough guy." A show shows Mac doing his morning pushups. All three girls smile when they reach the Xander idol. "Sweet Xander," Kendra says as a clip shows the man shooting his slingshot and breaking the bottle in the chocolate challenge.

They reach Joyce's idol and can see Buffy's next. "Mother and daughter," Kendra says, "good competitors." All three shake their heads and clips show Buffy winning her immunity challenges.

They all stop at Willow's idol and Kendra and Faith look at Tara. A clip shows the redhead winning the car reward. Tara steps forward and lightly kisses her fingertips before touching them to Willow's forehead. When she steps back we can see that her eyes are shining wet.

Finally reaching Robin's idol they stop and smile at the representation. A clip shows Robin running and climbing in the immunity challenge maze. "Man almost made it here," Faith says. Each woman touches his shining head as she goes by.

They emerge into a clearing and find Jeff waiting for them. He is standing near a small pool of water. In the center of the pool is a carved wooden structure with 6 posts rising up in a circle. He requests their idols and silently walks over and slides them into a spot in the center of the structure so that a center post is created by the three idols. The idols are placed a few feet above the other 6 posts which are quite obviously foot holds.

"Ok, if you've watched Survivor before, you can guess how this challenge will work. You will each take your place with your feet on the foot holds and one hand on your Tiki idol. If either foot or your hand loses contact with the structure, you are out. The last one standing wins immunity and a spot in the final two."

Next we see all three women take their places on the structure. Each woman's feet are staggered so that they are on different levels by about four inches. "Ok, on my go, place your hand on the idol." He waits a second and says, "Go!" Faith and Tara reach forward with their right hands while Kendra uses her left. All three women appear relaxed even in this uncomfortable position. The sun is just starting to beat down on them.

Challenge Caption: Time Elapsed – 48 minutes
The shot shows the three women still standing in place. Jeff is standing nearby watching them. "48 minutes you have been standing there. How does it feel?"

"Maybe not that great, mon," Kendra says, moving her head side to side to stretch her neck.

Challenge Caption: Time Elapsed – 1 hour 32 minutes
"The sun is starting to really beat down, reflecting off the shallow water. Fatigue and sunstroke or sunburn could be a factor soon," the host announces.

Kendra continues twisting her neck as if she has a kink in it. She takes her free hand and starts rubbing the back of her neck as if to loosen it. "You look like you're hurting," Jeff says.

"That's got to be good news to the other two of you. If she's cramping, how much longer could she last? Then you just have to beat one other person."

"You still have to beat the other p…." Faith is cut off as Kendra cries out and falls off the structure.

Confessional Caption: Time Elapsed – 2 hours 11 minutes
The shot shows Faith concentrating on her stance and staring at her competitor. Tara in the meantime has her eyes closed and appears to be breathing smoothly through her nearly closed mouth.

"You know I'm stronger than you are," Faith tells the blonde, "you could jump down any time."

"My labor was 22 h-hours. Without drugs." Tara breathes smoothly and speaks quietly to her competitor.

Confessional Caption: Time Elapsed – 2 hours 31 minutes
Kendra sits on the log shading her eyes with her hand. Jeff stands near her watching the competitors. "No one budging," Jeff announces.

"Tara, do you need this immunity worse than Faith?" It takes Jeff a few seconds to realize that Tara too focused on her challenge to answer his question.

"Faith, do you need this challenge more than Tara or does she need it more than you?"

"That's true," Kendra tosses in. Jeff looks surprised at the intrusion from the interpreter.

Tara still looks composed in her stance while Faith is gritting her teeth. "Give it up and I'll take you to the final two," the personal trainer offers through gritted teeth.

"No she won't, Mon. She doesn't want to sit next to the nice girl who found berries."

Faith is grimacing as her legs shake. With a scream she lets go of the icon and falls off the structure. Jeff shouts that Faith is out and that Tara has won individual immunity and is in the final two. As Faith swats at the water she then smiles at the blonde who has just opened her eyes. Tara looks up to the sky before taking her hand from the icon and stepping down. "Way to go!" Faith yells as she grabs the blonde in a hug.

Both girls walk over to Kendra and hug the interpreter. "Tara, breathing a sigh of relief it seems," Jeff says. "You have an important decision to make. See you at tribal council." He immediately turns and walks away from the three girls.

White Hat Camp – Day 38
Confessional Caption – Kendra – Interpreter
"Honestly. I think this was the one outcome that isn't good for me. If I'd won, I would be in the final two and if Faith won, she'd take me. But Tara. I just don't know."

The three girls are eating rice and fish with some gusto. The share a cup of water between them. "This alliance made it through," Faith says, her chest puffing out as she speaks and she points her fingers back and forth between the three women.

"I don't know yet." She finishes off her last bite and sets down the plate to walk away for a while.

Confessional Caption – Faith – Personal Trainer
"Well, T's got the game in her hands. If I was her, I'd want me sitting next to her in the final two. I played this game hard and probably pissed everyone off pretty royally. But she's a good person. She may want Kendra with her because she thinks K's nicer…. Shit."

Kendra walks up to Tara as the girl sits on a rock looking out at the ocean. "How you doing, mon?"

Tara shrugs her shoulders. "I wish I d-didn't have to make this choice tonight."

"Then you shouldn't have won immunity." Kendra's laugh is infectious and Tara also laughs although she does so more nervously.

"She could beat you on votes," Kendra says in a rush. "If people think she lied well, she could beat you in the finals."

Tara shades her eyes with her hand against the setting sun. "Who would you vote for tomorrow night?"

Tribal Council
Faith, Kendra, and Tara file in and place their torches in the holders. "And now the jury." Jeff ushers in Mac, Xander, Joyce, Buffy, Willow, and Robin. Like those before him the latest castaway has cleaned up well and now watches the remaining three intently. Willow is smiles widely and even shoots a thumbs-up when she sees that Tara is wearing the immunity necklace.

"Faith, you weren't able to do that. Are you worried that Tara will vote you off and you'll be sitting next to Robin tomorrow night?"

"I do but so does Kendra, I would imagine. I mean we've all been together for 38 days. We know each other pretty well."

"Ok," Jeff nearly cuts off the brunette. "Since Faith and Kendra's votes would cancel each other out, only Tara will vote." Tara gets up and walks over to make her vote. Jeff carries back the container

"The person voted off will be asked to leave the tribal council area immediately." He pulls out the vote. "And the fourteenth person voted off Survivor – Ash Island and seventh jury member is… Kendra."

Tara looks at the ground unable to meet Kendra's eye but the woman doesn't seem that upset about Tara's decision. She stands up and first wraps Faith in a vigorous hug before picking Tara up to mimic the action. Tara returns the hug and Kendra has her torch extinguished.

"Tara and Faith, you two have outwitted, outlasted, and outplayed fourteen other castaways to make it to the final two. One of you will win a million dollars. See you tomorrow night at the last tribal council."

Tara and Faith both pick up their torches and leave the tribal council. On the way out we see Willow and Tara smile at each other.

Confessional Caption – Kendra – Interpreter
"I played this game as well as I could. Now I have a day to relax before the grilling starts. I guess Tara decided to either win or lose this thing with no middle ground. Good luck girls. It was great to be with both of you."

White Hat Camp
Tara and Faith make their way quietly back to the camp. "Thanks, T," Faith says as they reach the fire pit.

For the first time Tara smiles widely. "No problem, F." She picks up two cups off a log and hands one to Faith. "To the final two."

Confessional Caption – Faith – Personal Trainer
"Man, T had been so quiet all day. Thinking and plotting and everything. So I'm thinking, 'wow another day of this quiet shit. No way.' But girlfriend comes back and she's ready to party."

Tara puts her hands on her hips and looks at the shelter. "How about a bonfire?"

"Oh yeah," Faith says picking up a few pieces of wood and throwing them toward the fire. We see the two women begin throwing everything out of the shelter and onto the fire pit. Next we see Faith pulling down the sides of the structure. Tara stands up from where she is cooking fish and walks over to help the brunette with a large piece that is apparently stuck.

In the next shot we see the two women reclining against the logs watching a large fire burn as they eat alternating bites of fish off one plate. Once they have eaten they stand up and continue tossing their current home into the fire. Faith holds up all the clothes she is not currently wearing and shrugs at Tara.

The blonde walks over, takes them, and throws them into the fire. Then she points at the three remaining icons: hers, Kendra's, and Faith's. The two women toss Kendra's into the fire followed by their own. Then they recline for a while longer and watch it burn.

"That's what I've heard." Tara laughs. "I can't believe I've been away from my baby girl for 39 days."

"Some day I'd really like to hear the story behind that baby," Faith says, shaking her head. Both women stand up and look down at the log they were sitting on. It has been one of those surrounding the cooking pit and marking the eating area. Without saying anything they smile at each other, bend down to pick up both ends, and throw it into the fire.

In a night vision shot we see both women sleeping in spots they've marked in the sand near the still burning bonfire. A later shot shows them still sleeping as the sun rises and the fire burns to embers.

White Hat Camp – Day 39
We see Tara carving a mark on the trunk of the tree mail tree. "Thirty-nine," she announces loudly even though only she and Faith are at the camp. Throughout the day we see shots of them eating the remaining food and swimming or bathing in the water. At dusk they pick up their torches, pour water on their fire, and leave their camp for tribal council.

Confessional Caption – Tara – Medical Receptionist
"Well, tonight it will be all over either way. I r-really never thought I'd make it this far. Maybe I made the wrong choice in taking Faith to the final two but I hope not. I'm just hoping that she made enough people mad to make them vote for me."

Final – Tribal Council
Tara and Faith walk in and take their seats on the logs across from Jeff. "And now we call in the jury." We see the first six jurors now joined by Kendra. The latest juror is wearing khaki shorts and a tribal-print v-neck blouse with freshly braided and beaded hair. Still thin, she is at least clean and well groomed after 24 hours off out of the game.

Once the jury members have taken their seats Jeff raises his eyebrows at the two finalists. "Neither of you brought anything with you to tribal council, I see."

"Ok, here's how this works. Each of you can make a short speech to the jury explaining why you deserve to be the Ultimate Survivor. Then the jury will each have an opportunity to ask you a question or address you. Then you can each speak again at the end. After that the jury will vote to determine who will win a million dollars and the title of Ultimate Survivor."

Tara stands another moment looking at the jury. Then in a sign of respect she places her hands in prayer position over her heart and bows slightly toward them before retaking her seat. The camera pans over the jury and we can see Willow and Kendra smiling at the blonde. They others look thoughtful but aren't giving away any reaction.

Faith stands up and steps in front of the jury before taking a few steps back and forth. She begins speaking, taking light strides throughout her statement.

When Faith finishes speaking she smiles at the jury and walks over to join Tara on the log. Mac and Joyce have a definite set to their jaws while Buffy narrows her eyes at the brunette.

Xander stands up and walks over to a spot across the fire from the two finalists. "First off, congratulations to both of you." Faith and Tara both nod their heads. "I'd like to know what each of you thinks was your best day here in terms of your performance in the game."

Faith answers first. "I'm pretty proud of the way I played the day we merged the tribes. I feel like that day really cemented my role as a leader and my ability to organize people."

"Y-yesterday. If I hadn't been able to last longest in the final immunity challenge, I don't believe I'd b-be sitting here."

Joyce stands up next. "Faith, Tara, I was in this game with you both for nearly thirty days and never did I feel trusted or valued by either of you. Why should I give either of you a million dollars?"

"We were never in alliance," Tara answers, "b-but I always felt like we had a connection, Joyce. Our role as mothers gave us something in common and I think it made the two of us the people who took care of our tribe mates. I'm sorry you d-didn't feel valued but you are very important to me."

Faith takes her turn. "You're right. We made alliances very early in MFashnek. It was always me, K, and T and you and Richard. Maybe we didn't give you a chance but I don't think you gave me one either. That's the way the game is played and the fact that you made it onto the jury I think really shows how well you played the game." She sits down even as Joyce frowns at her answer.

Robin stands up across the fire from the two girls. "Faith, you told me you wanted me in the final two. You told Buffy you and I and she would vote off Willow. You said you never wanted to sit next to Tara in the final two." He takes a breath as we see the shocked look on Willow's face. "But you're still sitting there with Tara. You could have kept me in the final three but you didn't. You lied throughout this game. Do you really think I want to reward that?"

"I don't know what you want to reward, big man. You were a serious threat in this game. I needed you as long as I needed you and I needed you gone when you needed to be gone. The way I played this game got me and my girls to the final three and that's what my commitment was. I might have lied in the game but I never violated my original alliance and that's why you should reward me."

Robin shakes his head before retaking his seat. His place across the fire is taken by Mac who folds his arms across his chest.

"I didn't know either of you very well in this game, but I've heard a lot and I've learned a lot during these tribal councils. What I want to know is this. For each of you to get here, there must have been a turning point in this game. What was that point and if it hadn't happened, who do you think would be in the final two instead of you?"

Tara takes a deep breath before speaking. "For me, I think that point was the moment that Faith, Kendra, and I made f-fire. That moment sparked our alliance which brought us here." She stops and thinks again. "I think that if that hadn't happened… I would certainly expect Buffy to be up here. She has the smarts, the planning, and the physical gifts to make it in this game. And I would still expect Faith to be here because s-she is that determined."

"Thanks, T. Actually I'm going to agree with Tara on this. Without Tara and Kendra, my butt would have been out of here before the merge ever happened. No alliance: no Faith in the final two. In that case I would put my money on Willow because she's the smartest person out here and Robin because he's the most fit."

Willow stands up and smiles warmly first at Faith and then for a longer period at Tara. "Well, I'd rather be sitting there than here but it's nice to have showered and eaten in the last few days too." All the jury members laugh and nod their heads. "When you get off the island, you get a pretty fantastic meal. You can have whatever you want so what are you going to eat first?"

"I don't know if I should answer that, because my answer will make me hungry and we're not done yet." Faith waits a beat as everyone laughs at her joke. "Red, if I get to have whatever I want then I'm thinking a big steak, medium rare, twice baked potato, huge salad, steamed asparagus, cherry pie with ice cream, glass of milk, and a six-pack of beer." She finishes answering the question and then jokingly calls out: "Did catering get that order?"

"Now I'm h-hungry," Tara says. "My first meal… Eggplant parmesan, artichoke and spinach dip, garlic bread, broccoli, salad, red wine, chocolate pudding, and a snickers bar." She pauses a second. "Can everyone hear my stomach rumbling?"

Buffy stands up next and folds her arms across her chest. "Both of you are liars. Faith, you lied to everyone here. You ruled this game and decided who would stay and who would go. You lied to keep yourself and your alliance on top. You basically got to be where you are because Tara picked you because you are so abominable that she wanted you next to her rather than Kendra."

She takes a deep breath before turning to face Tara more directly. "But I think that you're worse, Tara." Tara looks puzzled at Buffy's statement. "I had a friend in this game, an alliance member." Everyone glances at Willow. "But you used her. You told her lies about who you were and what she meant to you. You sold yourself and you sold her and that makes you pretty disgusting in my book." Tara is shaking her head and mouthing "no" but she isn't given an opportunity to respond by Buffy who angrily turns on her heel and sits back down. A shot of Willow shows her mouth clenched, her fists balled at her sides.

Jeff says to try to lighten the mood. "The last question will come from the last person out of the game."

Kendra stands up and smiles at both her alliance members. "I am so proud of both of you for being here. The only thing that would make me prouder would be to be sitting there myself." She waits for the inevitable laughter. "I might not know every move you made, every thing you said to everyone here, but I know your game. So here's my question: I want each of you to tell us why the other should win the million dollars."

"You p-probably should vote for Faith," Tara says. "She outplayed me in this game. She outplayed everyone. Even though I fed our tribe, protected people from sunburn, from bug bites, healed injuries, she led us to victory over and over. More than that, s-she lied to the people who n-needed lied to and kept Kendra and I from that role."

"I agree with everything she said," Faith jokes and is met by laughter. "Seriously, T, here is a hell of a Survivor. She's like living on an island with Grizzly Adams. She knows plants, she knows people, and damn if she doesn't know how to build fire like no one I've ever met. Did she lie? I don't know. If she did, so what? It got her here and that's what she is playing for. It's what we're all playing for."

"Now each of you has a minute to readdress the jury before they vote. "Faith you'll go first."

Although the jury seems a little surprised that Tara's speech is over so soon, she takes her seat.

"Lots of questions and lots of answers," Jeff smiles. "Now the jury will vote. Remember that tonight you are voting for the person you want to win. This is the one time the competitors want to see their name written down. Time to vote."

In turn each jury member gets up and votes. Xander votes first, followed by Joyce who holds up her vote for the camera. On the ballot, she has written Tara's name.

Vote Confessional
"Tara, you are right you took care of everyone on this tribe."

Vote Confessional
"You are right. You were a leader in this game. You lied to everyone here to get what you wanted and that got you where you are now. You'll have to live with it but if everyone thinks like me, at least you'll have a million dollars to keep you company."

Finally, Kendra votes. When she has returned, Jeff walks over and gets the bucket with the votes and returns with it. He addresses Tara and Faith. "I'm sure you'd both like to hear these votes but we'll open them in New York. See you there."

He picks up the votes and steps through the jungle until he reaches the beach. There he steps onto a boat. The boat appears to sail away from the island until it lands at a marina.

The camera pans over the audience of the Ed Sullivan Theater, showing a capacity crowd. As spotlights sweep the room, we can see most of the attendees standing on their feet—cheering, clapping, and waving. Signs read "Go! Faith!" or "You got it Girlfriend! Go Tara!" or host similar slogans.

As the camera finally focuses on the stage we see a tribal council setting similar to that we just left, placed directly under a large screen on which the audience has been watching the prior two hours of the show. Faith and Tara sit on a log on one side of the fire. Faith wears a pair of tight-fitting black leather pants and a white blouse. Her hair is down over her shoulders and looks very full and curly. Tara wears a brightly colored sarong, red embroidered blouse, and has her hair up in a tight bun.

On the other side of the fire sit the jury members on two logs. The front log holds Kendra, Robin, Willow, and Buffy. Behind them are Joyce, Xander, and Mac. All seven jury members are wearing the clothing they wore at the final tribal council and look very nice.

All heads turn to watch as Jeff, still carrying the container of votes, walks up the aisle on the side of the theater and onto the tribal council set. He sets down the container with a smile at the group and breathes out a huge sigh as if he has just arrived from Ash Island. He motions toward the screen where we can see the camera continuing to pan over the audience. Then the focus on the screen shifts to show the group at the tribal council stage.

"Welcome to the season finale of Survivor – Ash Island," he booms out. "This audience has just watched the survivor contestants go from final four to final two." He motions toward Tara and Faith. "And seen the final two take questions and comments from the jurors. Now they are about to find out who is the Ultimate Survivor." A cheer goes up from the crowd.

"Now I'm going to read the votes and find out who the jury thinks should be the Ultimate Survivor. Will it be Tara Maclay, who used the strategy of making herself valuable with her knowledge of survivor skills?" The large screen behind the stage shows Tara gathering berries and handing out sunscreen to her tribe mates. Loud applause fills the hall as Tara smiles and blushes.

Caption – Tara Maclay's Family
Kent, Ariel, and Sarah sit in the audience clapping wildly for Tara. The camera also quickly focuses on Willow.

Hometown Celebration: Tony's Pizza in Reynoldsville, OH
A shot of the inside of the pizza parlor where a capacity crowd holds signs cheering on their hero and screaming and waving.

"Or will it be Faith Lehane? The personal trainer who led her team to victory after victory and did whatever it took to make it to the final two?" Again we hear cheering and loud applause. The huge screen behind the stage shows Faith competing in the "hogtied" challenge."

Caption – Faith Lehane's Family
The camera focuses on Kent, apparently sitting in the center of the two families, Joy, and Faith's parents.

Faith's Hometown Celebration – Sox Sports Bar – Boston, MA
The bar is filled with revelers who hold up signs and mugs of beer as they shout and holler.

"Ok, your friends and family as well as a lot of Survivor fans are waiting for this announcement." Jeff pauses for more cheering and another camera shot of the crowd. "I'll read the votes."

He opens the container and pulls out the first vote. "The first vote: Tara." The crowd cheers and Faith and the jury applaud. "Second vote: Faith." Again the crowd cheers with Tara and the jury applauding. "Third vote: Faith." He pulls out another vote and announces, "Fourth vote: Faith." The crowd is now cheering loudly and the camera focuses again on Faith's family.

"That's three votes Faith, one vote Tara!" Jeff pulls another vote from the box: "Fifth vote: Tara." The crowd now cheers just as loudly for their champion's comeback. "Sixth vote: Tara." As the crowd continues cheering, we see Sarah, Ariel, and Kent holding hands excitedly.

"To recap, that's three votes Faith. Three votes Tara!" Jeff pulls the last vote from the container and looks at it for a long moment. "And the winner of Survivor – Ash Island … is Faith!" Both Faith and Tara look shocked for a second, neither moving. Then the crowd cheers and both women jump up and hug each other tightly. As soon as they let go, Faith runs from the stage into the crowd where she embraces her family including picking up Ariel and hugging her and kissing Kent deeply to the cat calls of the crowd.

The focus shifts back to Jeff. "The Ultimate Survivor for Survivor – Ash Island is Faith Lehane. Stay tuned as we return to talk about the vote with Faith, Tara, and the jury." As the show fades to commercial, we see Faith and Tara both visiting with their families and the jury milling around on the stage.

When we return from commercial, the stage has been rearranged. The two logs now hold Faith, Tara, Kendra, and Robin on the front row and Willow, Buffy, Joyce, Xander, and Mac on the second row.

"Welcome back to the Live Survivor – Ash Island Finale where Faith Lehane of Boston has just been awarded the title of Ultimate Survivor and with it the million dollar prize." Jeff's voice booms out through the hall even though he now sits opposite the castaways on a log across the fire. "Congratulations, Faith."

"Let's talk about the vote. This game really seemed to come down to a contest between the sweet player who helped everyone and the trickster. Is that how you saw it, Faith?"

"Jeff," Faith says, "I knew my strengths coming into this game. I knew that I had the smarts and the physicality but I also knew I'd need luck and tricks to win it." She smiles. "I don't know what made four jurors decide to vote for me over this wonderful woman." She pats Tara on the back lightly. "But I'm thrilled that they did."

"That's a good question. Let's find out a little about why people voted the way they did." He focuses on the jury and asks, "Who voted for Faith and would like to say why?"

The jurors all look at each other for a few seconds. Then Robin raises his hand. "Great, Robin. Why did you vote for Faith?"
"Just like she said, Jeff," Robin says, "she was our leader. Look at this setup here. We've got four original MFashnek tribe members in the front row and five original Akathla in the back row. She was the one that got us that far." He smiles before adding, "And she engineered the exit of six out of seven jury members." Some other jury members are nodding their heads as Robin speaks.

"But Tara and Faith were together in their alliance," Jeff argues. "They voted together in every vote on the Island."

"Yes," Kendra says, "but when we would meet to decide who was out next, Faith was always the player who said the strategy for our alliance first. She had the entire game planned out from day two."

Faith smiles at Jeff and the jury. "Jeff these people are all smart. They all are fit. They all want to win a million dollars. I came on this island playing the game."

"You would lie in bed plotting your strategy? If this person does this, I'll do this?"

"Not so much in bed, Jeff." Faith's joke gets a big laugh from the crowd. "But yeah, I'd plan and plan. What if this happens? What if this happens?"

Jeff turns his attention to Tara. "And Tara, it's not like you didn't know how to play this game." A shot on the large screen TV shows Tara discussing her selection with Kendra and then voting Kendra off.

"No. We played very different games. We said that all through the final tribal c-council. The jury had the opportunity to make their choice." Tara looks down at the floor as she finishes speaking but then immediately raises her face and smiles.

"But it must hurt? I mean you are probably the most accomplished survival expert we've ever had on the game. You started fire without flint, made sunscreen and insecticide, and fed your team but the jury gave the prize to Faith."

"The jury felt that her leadership was a greater f-factor than my wilderness skills, Jeff."

"Not for me," Mac speaks up. "I voted for Tara because the skills she brought to this game should be what the game is about. We weren't ever on the same team but all I heard was that she was just magic. That's what I wanted to reward."

"Most of the jurors seemed to see that game the way that Faith and Tara described." Jeff looks at Buffy. The focus shifts to the large screen as they show a show clip:

Final Tribal Council
But I think that you're worse, Tara." Tara looks puzzled at Buffy's statement. "I had a friend in this game, an alliance member." Everyone glances at Willow. "But you used her. You told her lies about who you were and what she meant to you. You sold yourself and you sold her and that makes you pretty disgusting in my book." Tara is shaking her head and mouthing "no" but she isn't given an opportunity to respond by Buffy who angrily turns on her heel and sits back down. A shot of Willow shows her mouth clenched, her fists balled at her side.

The sound of the audience booing is very loud in the studio. Jeff has to wait and hold up his hands to finally get some control in the room again. "Tara, you seemed surprised at what Buffy had to say."

"Buffy, you were pretty hard on both Faith and Tara. Do you think it was just a sour grapes at not being in the final?"

Buffy takes a long breath. "I don't think it was sour grapes at all. I meant what I said to both of them at the time. The thing about this game is that you only know what you know and suspect what you suspect. Looking back on my speech now, I have the gift of hindsight and I can see where I wouldn't say those things now. Now my vote would probably be different than it was then but I didn't have the time and the knowledge that I have now."

"After commercial we'll return and have the chance to catch up with all 16 castaways." Jeff smiles and the camera again pans the jurors and final two.

The stage now contains all sixteen castaways sitting on three logs. They are sitting in the order they left the game so the first log contains Faith, Tara, Kendra, Robin and Willow. Behind them are Buffy, Joyce, Xander, Mac, and Richard. The back row includes Oz, Riley, Andrew, Darla, Amy, and Wesley.

"Welcome back to the Survivor reunion show," Jeff announces. "We're here to catch up with the Survivors from Ash Island." After the applause dies down he continues. "Many of the Survivors have had their lives changed by the show and public reaction."

Show Clip
A shot of Wesley telling the others about the weight of the leaves for the roofing materials.

"Truly it was not, Jeff. It was quite disturbing to have people on the street stopping me to tell me that I needed to go with the flow better or not be such a know-it-all."

"No, Jeff. I went on the show knowing that my intellect would be my greatest asset. It also turned out to be my greatest weakness." He crosses his hands over his chest before lowering his hands to his lap as the audience groans.

"This show saw some hugely popular Survivors," Jeff says. "Oz, how has your life changed since the show ended?"

Oz smiles, his hair a day-glo green. "Well first off, I learned to swim." The audience laughs as a clip of him dog paddling in the boat building challenge is displayed on the screen. "But fans have been great. They've stopped me on the street as well as showing up at my shows in greater numbers than before."

"The two most popular Survivors according to the Survivor website were Tara and Faith." He has to wait a few seconds for the applause and cheering to die down during which time the focus shifts to the large screen behind the stage.

"It's the first time the two most popular Survivors have ever been the final two." Again applause and cheering fill the hall.

"It's b-been hard for me, Jeff. I know that I should have prepared m-m-more but I just wasn't expecting it. But you know what? People were just so nice. Women would stop me in the s-store or the PTA and say how much they hoped I would w-win."

"Now Faith and Tara, both of you are in new relationships with people you met on the Island. Is that correct?"

Tara glances at Willow and Faith both. Faith takes the question for the pair. "Jeff, I'm probably the luckiest person on earth right now. I mean first off, I just won a million dollars." She waits for the audience to laugh and cheer. "And second while on the show I met a guy who is just fantastic."

Faith smiles broadly and then the camera shows Kent who is holding a sleeping Ariel in his lap. "Yeah, Jeff. It's strange the way fate works."

Show clip
Willow intentionally chooses the fish dinner so she can eat with Tara. Then she tells the blonde that that was her motivation.

"Some people thought that the two of you were just playing the game. At what point did you know that it was more than that?"

Willow looks sideways across Robin and Kendra at Tara and smiles. "This sounds completely corny, Jeff, but I knew the two of us could have something real from when Tara won the immunity necklace and came over to Akathla for the day. I didn't know if she would be open to it, especially on the island, but I knew I wanted to know her better."

"Tara," Jeff says, "when you came on the show you didn't intend to be out to the other players. Then you ended up dating someone on the Island."

"And one other Survivor has a big life change coming." Jeff looks at all the Survivors before directing his question to Joyce. "Joyce, would you like to share your news?"

Joyce smiles broadly. "Actually I'd be happy to. Rupert and I are expecting another baby." After a moment of stunned silence, the audience claps and cheers loudly.

"Well it may be hard to equal that announcement but let's take a moment to check in with all of the Survivors. Amy, what has been happening for you since your appearance?"

"My career is going well, Jeff. I have landed some spots in national advertising and reception has been very positive."

"I'm back home and enjoying my time with my family and my growing law practice. I've also taken up skeet shooting."

"I wasn't on the show long but I think I've found my true calling. I was a chef and I've always loved cooking but the experience of being in different environment, with all the fauna and flora was life changing for me. I'm now a floral designer. I've started doing weddings and parties and just through word of mouth, business is picking up."

"I'll say again that Tara was a Godsend on the island. When I got off the island and had my orthopedist look at the leg, he said that he couldn't have done better himself. I've run one race since returning and have four scheduled for next year."

"Jeff, that's a great question. I've just been re-elected as mayor of Sunnydale, CA for the 8th straight term. I think that my constituents are more willing to talk to me about their problems now that they see me as a real person."

"Mac, you were this season's tough guy. I think that a lot of pre-season bets had you as the Survivor to beat."

"I've been enjoying my retirement again. My oldest daughter just had her first child so we've been very busy and very happy with that addition."

"Thanks, Jeff. I don't think I played a very good game but people are very forgiving about things like that. Maybe there was something in me that a lot of people could relate to.'

"I'm back at work and my wife and I are discussing having children. I had always said that I wanted to wait until I had one great adventure and now I have so we're ready to start trying."

"I'm finding that my popularity and ability to relate to the students at my high school is much higher. It was a really great experience coming on this show."

"The biggest change in my life has been that I've moved from New York to Connecticut. I really enjoyed the visit to nature and decided I wanted to be nearer to it. I bought an old house and am slowly fixing it up."

"Ok. All the Survivors have a lot going on in their lives. After the next commercial, find out where Survivor is going next."

"While we were at commercial, the audience was quite outspoken about wanting to hear from the one Survivor we didn't ask for an update. Willow, what do you have planned?" At the mention of Willow's name the crowd starts screaming and cheering.

Willow smiles as the crowd cheers. When they slow down she announces. "I plan on doing more of the same: spending time with Tara and her daughter and working." Again the crowd cheers.

Jeff stands center stage. "After eleven seasons of taking our Survivors to desert, beach, jungle, next season Survivor goes to … Austin, Texas."

The focus shifts to the large screen which begins showing various shots of Austin: Town Lake Hike & Bike Trail, Hippie Hollow, Whole Foods Market.

Voice-over
"Austin, Texas is a city that is over a hundred years old. Its live music scene is one of the greatest in the world and the South by Southwest music and media festivals draw thousands of visitors annually. Corporations including Dell computers, Whole Foods Market, and Schlotzsky's are headquartered in Austin." The city is home to such sights as the world's largest Half-Price Books and North America's largest population of migratory bats as well as professional sports teams the Austin Ice Bats and Wranglers."

"Sixteen 'castaways' will be stranded in Austin with no maps, no soap, and little ability to converse with the natives."

We see a shot of a dreadlocked guy with a pierced lip serving ice cream at Amy's with a disgruntled look on his face.

"Castaways will have to endure stares at hippie hollow, navigate rush hour traffic in the urban sprawl, and find an apartment with affordable rent."

"It will be a change for the Survivor team, but next season we're city bound." Jeff looks proud at the declaration. "Tune in tomorrow on the Early Show to see the final four Survivors visit with Harry and Julie and to see Faith Lehane, Ultimate Survivor, get her check for a million dollars." The Survivors are milling around on stage behind Jeff. "From New York's Ed Sullivan Theater, Good Night."

Survivor Credits
Writing – JustSkipIt
Editing – JustSkipIt
Planning – JustSkipIt
Valuable Advice – Rachel
Indepth Writing Feedback – Patches
Graphic Support – Chris Cook
Distribution – Chris Cook, Susan Carr, Kitten Board
Name Inspiration – Asher Griffin
Ashvatar – Washi
Feedback – Kittens Rock!
Kitten Board – Mods Rock!

Survivor Cast:
Team Mafashnek:
Faith Lehane – 22 – Personal Trainer – Boston, MA – Ultimate Survivor
Riley Finn – 31 – Pro-Triathlete – Des Moines, IA
Richard Wilkins – 51 – Small Town Mayor – Sunnydale, CA
Joyce Summers – 47 – Art Gallery Owner – Los Angeles, CA
Kendra Young – 27 – Interpreter – New York, New York
Robin Wood – 38 – High School Principal – Seattle, WA
Darla – 33 – Lawyer – Mobile, AL
Tara Maclay – 25 – Medical Receptionist/Aspiring Artist -- Columbus, OH

Team Akathla
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce – 33 – Researcher – Los Angeles, CA
Amy Madison – 24 – Waitress – New York, New York
Colonel McNamara – 53 – Retired Military Colonel – Buffalo, NY
Xander Harris – 25 – Carpenter--San Jose, CA
Buffy Summers – 23 – College Student—Chicago, IL
Daniel "Oz" Osbourne 24 – Musician – New Orleans, LA
Andrew Wells – 23 – Chef – Tempe, AZ
Willow Rosenberg – 21 – Software Startup Company Owner – Atlanta, GA

Mac-Tara
Xander-Faith
Joyce-Tara
Buffy-Faith
Robin-Faith
Willow-Tara
Kendra-Faith

Thankfully CBS had arranged transportation for the Survivors and their limited number of guests for the aftershow party. Not being natives of New York, Willow and Tara would likely have had a hard time getting a Taxi. Instead, they found themselves ushered out of the Theater and into a waiting line of limousines.

"I think Daddy and Faith are in the limousine in front of us." Willow pointed her finger past the driver to a set of lights just in front of them.

After sleeping through most of the reunion show, Ariel had apparently regained her energy. "Does this car have a telephone and a TV and juice?"

Sarah finally joined the conversation. "I'm sorry you didn't win, dear. Are you disappointed?"

"Well of course I'm disappointed. I mean I had a chance to win a m-million dollars and put my child through college as well as myself."

Tara smiled and picked up Willow's hand. "I won a bigger prize than a million dollars."

"And she still won a hundred thousand dollars," Willow added taking a break from helping Ariel push every button in the limo.

"And Willow is going to help mama go to college and become an artist," Ariel said without stopping pressing buttons. She handed a juice bottle to Willow asking if she could have the juice. The redhead opened the bottle and whispered that Ariel should be careful to not spill the juice on her dress.

Sarah smiled at the other three and patted her daughter's knee. "I'm sure you've got it figured out, darling." She leaned over and hugged Tara just as the limo arrived at the party.

Before they got out of the limo Tara turned to Ariel. "Now baby, I know you want to see the party but it's very late. You can stay 15 minutes and then Grandma is going to take you back to the hotel, ok?"

Tara tried not to laugh as she looked at Willow. "You taught her that," she said in a playfully accusatory tone.

"Don't you want me to share in the parenting--teaching her what I know?" Willow's faux-innocent smile was another thing Tara had been noticing from Ariel later and the blonde smiled at the similarity.

All three grown-ups laughed and Tara told her daughter that she could stay thirty minutes. Then the blonde took her daughter's hand and stepped from the limousine to a host of fans, applause, and flashbulbs. Looking back at the limousine she reached in to help Sarah from the car. Tara's mother was followed by Willow's emergence which brought another loud cheer from the crowd.

As they walked into the party they heard countless shouts of "We love you Willow and Tara!" and "You were robbed!" At Willow's urging, Tara turned back to the crowd once she reached the door and waved. Another cheer went up and more flashbulbs popped.

They went inside and welcomed the comparative quiet once the door closed. "Are Daddy and Faith here yet?" Ariel immediately asked as she attempted to look around but couldn't see over the heads of those people directly in front of the group. Willow immediately reached over and picked up the child, holding her so that she could see as well as the others.

"There they are," Sarah announced as she pointed toward a table on the far side of the room. They quickly made their way over to the table which already held Faith, Kent, Joy, and Faith's parents.

Faith disengaged herself from her conversations to rush over and hug Tara. "Hey sweetie, how are you doing? The crowd outside treat you ok?"

After Tara assured her that she was fine Faith greeted the other women and took Ariel from Willow since the girl wanted to hug her. "Let me introduce everyone." Although Faith had met Willow, Tara, Ariel, and Mrs. Maclay before she still wanted to take the opportunity to introduce her family to all of them. After all the greetings were completed, Kent asked Ariel and Sarah if they wanted something to eat and took them to the buffet.

"We really enjoyed watching the two of you on the show," Faith's mother told Willow and Tara as they all took their seats.

"Five dollars says she'll be asleep before she finishes that plate of food," Willow joked.

"It's been an hour and already you're trying to get at my hundred thousand dollars," Tara teased back as the others at the table laughed.

When the laughter had died down, Willow offered to go get herself and Tara something to eat while Tara continued visiting with Faith and her family. After the redhead returned everyone ate their food. It was quite late and most of them had been at the theater from before dinner time. As they ate, they visited about the revelations of the last three hours of the show, including the reunion show.

"I'm wondering if I need to go protect your honor against what Buffy had to say," Kent said with a smile.

"Sure she apologized," Willow pouted, "and her vote cost you the million dollars."

"Right, right, right. You won because you are the Ultimate Survivor, the wiliest, trickiest, and hottest Survivor on Ash – Island." Willow delivered her speech to Faith with enough attitude to make it clear that she had rehearsed based on Faith's jury speeches.

"Never mind that you would have starved without me," Tara muttered under her breath but loudly enough for the group to hear. Everyone laughed.

Ariel turned to her mother. "You wouldn't really let Faith starve would you, Mommy?"

Tara hugged her child and assured her that she would never let Faith starve. Ariel hugged her mother back whispering in her ear. "That's good because if Faith marries Daddy she'll be my mommy too."

Everyone at the table laughed at the child's comment and looked at Faith and Kent with a raised eyebrow. Kent looked at everyone at the table and held up his hands palms out. "Hey it's a surprise to me." He patted his pockets, showing that he didn't have a ring hidden in them.

"Well I guess it's up to me then," Faith said with a smile. She reached into her purse and pulled out a silver woven bracelet. She held it up to show the table and turned to Kent, taking his large hand in hers. "Kent Webster, in the six months I've known you and Ariel, I've been happier than I ever believed I could be. Will you marry me and we can make each other that happy for the rest of our lives?"

Kent and everyone else at the table sat in stunned silence as Faith continued smiling. After a few seconds, Ariel whispered quite loudly, "Say 'yes,' Daddy!"

Kent looked at his daughter and laughed before nodding his head vigorously. "Yes. Yes. Yes." He leaned over and kissed his fiancé deeply, before holding out his hand for the bracelet.

Ariel and Tara were the first to reach the couple, hugging them tightly. Kent took Ariel from Tara and held her as everyone else at the table came offered their sincere congratulations. "You had a plan to upstage me even if I won tonight didn't you?" Tara teased her friend.

"You don't want the publicity anyway, T." Faith's banter could barely be heard over the chorus of congratulations from everyone at the table. The commotion attracted some media people who came over to take pictures of the happy couple. After a few minutes, Faith and Kent wandered off to do an impromptu interview for CBS on the topic of her victory and their engagement.

Sarah turned to Mrs. Lehane. "He's a very wonderful man and I think the two of them will be very happy."

Faith's mother looked across the room at her daughter and Kent and smiled. "I think so too."

By the time Tara got her mother and daughter into a limousine and returned, the party was in full swing. The band was playing and most of the Survivors and their guests were dancing or visiting with each other or the media. Seeing that Willow was having fun and dancing with Oz, Xander, and Xander's wife, she stopped to visit with a few other Survivors.

As she stood up to join Willow on the dance floor she was met by a reporter with a camera. "Tara? Kyle Jones of ACBS." She smiled and nodded at him. "Congratulations on your great finish tonight."

"The best thing is being done keeping s-secrets. Now my family and my friends all know how I did on the show and there's no m-more waiting." She smiled as she answered the question.

"I'm sure that's really great." He pointed across the dance floor toward Faith and Kent dancing together. "I understand that Faith and your ex-husband got engaged tonight. How do you feel about that?"

"I'm really happy for them. I've seen them together and they are a very good fit." She looked up to see Willow waving at her from the dance floor. 'I r-really need to go…"

Tara left the reporter and made her way across the room to where Willow waited for her. "Hi, baby," the redhead said as she leaned in for a kiss.

Tara nodded as they walked out onto the dance floor. "Tara," Xander said as he gave the blonde a hug. "This is my wife, Anya."

"You too," Anya answered as she shook the newcomer's hand. "Now you can tell me. Were the two of you sharing orgasms on the Island? Xander says no and Willow won't say but I think you were."

"Actually I'm kind of wondering that too," Faith teased, having danced close to the other four.

"Tomorrow morning? See there's another piece of good news for you. I'm doing Letterman tomorrow night. If you'd won, you'd have to do that too."

"Can we just dance?" Tara blushed at the strange attention and at the thought that she would have to do the publicity shows in the morning.

Willow quickly reached out to take her lover's hand and pulled her a few feet from the others. "I'm really proud of you, baby."

Willow shrugged her shoulders. "I guess for everything. The way you played the game, how well you did on the show tonight, talking to that reporter over there, how well I know you will do in the morning."

Tara put her arms over the redhead's shoulders as the music slowed. "You're wonderful to me you know."

Willow winked. "I know. And I meant what I said this morning when we were alone. I'll do whatever it takes to help you get your degree."

"I know." Tara leaned in and again kissed her lover. She looked up to see Faith and Kent dancing close also.

Seeing the blonde's smile Willow whispered, "We could always make it a double-wedding. You know CBS presents Faith and Kent and Willow and Tara get married."

Willow laughed. "How about: 'CBS presents the Survivor – Ash Island double wedding'. You know then lots of shots of the island and Faith and Kent running on the beach and you and I sitting on a veranda drinking mint juleps?"

"It's not the worst idea I've ever heard," Tara smiled and again kissed her lover.

"Hey you two need to get a room." Willow and Tara turned to see Buffy standing by them with a big smile on her face.

They both gave her a hug. "Tara, I just wanted to say again how sorry I am about the things I said at tribal council. I see now that you really cared about Willow and I was wrong about that."

Seeing that most people were leaving the party Buffy turned to go. "By the way, you two look awesome together."

Tara yawned and covered her mouth with her hand. Seeing that action Willow started to lead her from the dance floor. "Come on, Love, we should go back to the hotel so you can get some sleep before the morning shows."

"Mmm." Tara yawned again. As they reached the corner of the floor she stopped and raised an eyebrow at the redhead. "Willow?"

"Absolutely. Yes. However you want. Double-wedding. Private affair. Anything you want." Tara smiled and kissed her fiancé before picking her up and swinging her around in a circle.

"Speaking of affairs," Tara flirted as they headed toward the door, "I don't think I need sleep that badly tonight."

A few hours later, the two women lay quite deliciously exhausted together in bed. "Can I ask you something?" Willow said, her breath tickling her lover's neck.

Willow smiled. "Didn't it… Seriously. How did you start the fire so well on day two? I've been watching the download over and over and it doesn't look like Faith is even going to get a spark but the fire lights."

Tara chuckled as she continued stroking her lover's hand. "Magic," she whispered.

Harry and Julie stand outside the CBS Early Show studio in a space cordoned off from the crowd. After the news update is complete they announce, "And coming up in the next segment, the final four from Survivor – Ash Island."

When the Early Show returns from commercial break Harry narrates for the clip from last night's season finale.

"Last night we saw the final four for Survivor – Ash Island go from four, to three, to two contestants and saw Faith Lehane crowned the Ultimate Survivor." The camera pulls back and we see Harry sitting in a tall director-style chair with the Robin, Kendra, Tara, and Faith in similar chairs. "Congratulations, Faith."

The other three competitors all say thank you. "Now Faith, you played a very daring game." We see shots of Faith conspiring with Robin, Willow, and Buffy at different times. "You schemed throughout this game and still won."

"I came into the game with a plan, Harry. I didn't know if it would work but I got lucky."

Harry indicates Robin and Kendra. "In fact, both of you actually voted for Faith to win the money?"

Robin begins to answer the question. "You know we had a very clear and interesting choice to make in the tribal council. The contest between Tara and Faith was so clear cut."

Kendra takes up the explanation. "This was a very hard decision to make. I mean I was with these girls throughout our time on the island and I was thankful for Tara every day. I mean has there ever been anyone on Survivor who knew what she knew? No. But then when it came down to it, I voted for the person who played the best Survivor Game."

Faith laughs. "I think everyone agrees that Tara is who they would want to be stranded on a desert island with."

"I was s-surprised to make it through the game and to the final two. The fact that I made it that far is consolation for me."

"Robin. You made it very far in this game and you never really seemed to fit into a strong alliance. Do you have doubts about your strategy now?"

"I'm very pleased about how far I made it in this game. I made it this far on my wits and my physical fitness." He looks sideways at the other three girls. "And these girls were in control of the game the entire time but they wanted to take me with them."

"But you don't seem to have really made the impression that they made on the jury or the audience. The CBS website shows Tara with a 90% popularity level and Faith at 84%. Even Robin and Willow are at 79% but you hovered at 63% throughout the entire game. You never seemed to spike up or drop."

"Well Harry, I was myself on the island. I had a great experience and played a very good game. I might not have set the world on fire but I wasn't the lowest rated Survivor either, I think."

"It wasn't anything I was e-expecting." Tara looks down at her hands. "I don't think I really thought about what it would mean for me or my daughter for me to go on this show. Now I get stopped in airports, grocery stores, at my daughter's s-soccer games." She looks back at Harry. "But everyone has been v-very nice."

Robin answers first. "Buffy was pretty unhappy about her performance in the game."

"Buffy is a very passionate and loyal person. When someone is her friend, she wants to defend them, whatever it takes."

Harry follows up Kendra's answer. "And she thought that Tara was taking advantage of her friend – Willow?"

"B-buffy and Willow are very close friends. She honestly believed that my i-i-in… i-i-i…" Tara shows takes a deep breath as if trying to compose herself.

"You know, Harry," Faith takes over, "Buffy was just trying to defend her friend. She didn't realize how Tara really felt."

Tara looks off screen to the crowd surrounding the "stage." She smiles widely. "I would absolutely never do anything to hurt Willow."

Tara looks down but Faith reaches over and takes her hand, giving it a squeeze. Tara looks back up. "Willow understands that decision." She smiles again off screen.

Harry changes the topic. "Faith, how has your appearance on this show changed your life?"

Faith smiles. "Well my business has certainly increased." Everyone laughs. "The attention has been great. And people are very open with their opinions."

Robin laughs along with the trainer. "That's for sure. People stop you on the street to give advice on the game."

"As if you can go back and change anything you did months ago," Kendra laughs and the other Survivors all join her.

"When we return we'll hand out the checks and find out some interesting news from our winner."

When the show returns from commercial, Robin and Kendra have left the set. Now just Harry, Tara, and Faith sit in the director's chairs. "Welcome back to The Early Show." The crowd applauds. "We are visiting with Tara and Faith, the final two players on Survivor – Ash Island." He turns and picks up a check that is about 3 times normal check size. It is clearly for $100,000 and made out to Tara Maclay. "Tara, your appearance on Survivor – Ash Island was probably the most competent showing any one has ever made in coping in the wilderness." He holds up the check and slowly revolves so the audience sees it. "I'm happy to award you this check for second place and $100,000."

Tara reverently takes the check and shakes Harry's hand. "Th-thank you, Harry." The applause continues.

Harry reaches behind him and pulls out a check that is easily twice as big as the first one. This one says $1,000,000 and "Faith Lehane, Ultimate Survivor!" in the "pay to the order of…" space. "Faith, CBS and The Early Show is excited to present you with this check for one million dollars!" Faith happily accepts the check and shakes Harry's hand as the crowd applauds loudly. She and Tara hug and then she waves to the crowd as the applause continues.

"After this commercial, we'll have some exciting news from the Ultimate Survivor."

"Welcome back to The Early Show. We're visiting with Faith Lehane Ultimate Survivor for Survivor – Ash Island and Tara Maclay, her competitor in the final two." After continued applause and smiles and waves from Tara and Faith both.

"Faith, I understand that you have some exciting news from last night in addition to your winning Survivor."

We see two show clips: Kent and Faith working together to win the reward challenge and Faith talking to Kent as he sits by the fire.

"And we're going to be married." The surprised crowd waits a second and then begins applauding and shouting.

"Congratulations, Faith," Harry says, "Now have you had any discussion with CBS about broadcasting the wedding?"

"No one has mentioned it but that doesn't mean that they aren't interested. I let the publicity and legal people take care of stuff like that."

"Kent has been my best friend for many years and to have b-been able to introduce these two and see them together is just really great."

Photo
The screen flashes a shot of Kent, Ariel, and Faith arriving at the Survivor Finale show.

"Now speaking of Survivor romances, you and Willow made no secret of your relationship while on the show. But some viewers couldn't really tell whether you were just playing her or whether you were serious."

"I know that some viewers thought I was playing the game b-but I think that my popularity shows that most believed I was acting with my heart."

"It wasn't just the viewers that doubted your feelings," Harry says as a lead in for the next clip.

"I think it was worse when it happened at the tribal c-council months ago. Then I didn't know what had happened between Buffy and Willow at the resort. I didn't know if Willow might have believed those things that Buffy said. I was very scared to lose her and very shocked that s- someone would believe that about me." She takes a deep breath. "But last night, all I could think was that my daughter and my mother were with me and that they were hearing what Buffy said."

Tara smiles before answering. "My mother just patted me on the hand throughout the speech and then leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek when it was over."

"Ariel was very upset with Buffy. I had tried to explain to her during the commercial breaks that people might s-say mean things about her mother but she didn't really understand it."

Faith interrupts Tara for a moment. "Ariel's about the smartest six-year old I've ever met but she's also a very sensitive child. It was hard for her to hear Buffy say what she knew wasn't true. I mean she knows that Tara loves Willow. Anyone with eyes could see that on the island."

Faith nods her head enthusiastically. "There was never much of a doubt about it for anyone who spent more than a few days with the girls. Actually the most surprising thing about the two of them is that Tara stayed true to her alliance with Kendra and I."

"Y-y-yes. I had made a promise to the women in my alliance and I was committed to keeping that promise. It hurt to vote off someone who I cared about so deeply but my v-vote was part of the game."

Tara nods her head. "A few months ago Willow and Buffy met for dinner while Willow was in Chicago. Buffy called me shortly after that to apologize and she apologized again last night."

"Yet," Harry says, "Buffy's vote seems to have cost you the game. Do you wonder whether she would have voted for you if she had known the truth?"

Faith and Tara both laugh. Tara motions to the dark haired girl and herself. "We talked about it months ago and agreed that no matter how it came out, we wouldn't play 'what if' about the vote."

Faith chimes in. "Yeah, Harry. You can really make yourself crazy thinking, 'what if I'd given that person a pat on the back' or 'what if I'd given a different answer to the question?'"

"Well that's an incredibly mature attitude," Harry commends them. "We at The Early Show would like to congratulate you both again and we'll be looking for more information on your wedding, Faith."

Tuesday Morning – The Ellen Show
After she's done with her dancing and has given her introductory comments, Ellen introduces her first guests. "Now I'm pretty excited about our first guests today. We've had Survivor contestants on before but never like these."

They play a two clips: Willow kissing Tara for the first time and Tara kissing Willow's icon.

"Let's welcome Tara Maclay and Willow Rosenberg from Survivor – Ash Island!" The two girls come out through the curtain and Ellen greets them. As the band plays dance music all three start dancing and laughing. Tara blushes and looks down but is obviously buoyed by the enthusiastic response from the audience. Once they have finished dancing, Ellen leads the way over to her lounging area.

"Thanks, Ellen," Willow responds as she places her hand palm up on Tara's knee and the blonde entwines their fingers. "We're really happy to be here."

"Ok, for anyone who hasn't been watching Survivor this season…" Ellen looks around. "Who did watch?"

Ellen laughs along with Willow and Tara. "Well in case anyone at home didn't watch, you two were quite the story this season. Tara, you made it to the final two and barely lost by a 4-3 vote Sunday night."

"And Willow, you played a bold game. You solved all these puzzles and courted a woman who wasn't even out of the closet."

"I guess that was pretty unusual," Willow agrees. "But I just felt this connection to Tara. It wasn't anything that I could deny or anything I wanted to."

Ellen looks at Tara. "Let me clarify. You were out of the closet, just not on the show. You had no intention of discussing it at all."

"R-r-right. I wanted to play the game I wanted to play. I didn't want my loving women to become my story."

Willow and Tara share a glance. "We agreed that it would be b-best if we both returned to our lives and gave our relationship some time."

Tara nods as Ellen is speaking. "It would be hard to describe just how b-boring the time on the island is. I mean imagine being there for 5 weeks—actually 39 days in the case of Faith and I."

"W-well part of the time you are working on the shelter, getting water, or finding food," Willow explains.

"And the rest of the time you spend s-sitting around trying to conserve your energy."

"You talk forever. You talk about everything. Every car you ever owned. Your family, your high school sports scores, everything." Tara and Willow both laugh as if sharing an inside joke.

Willow segues directly to telling Tara's story. "Kendra and Faith were huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans." Quite a few audience members shout and cheer.

"So when we ran out of things to talk about, they would tell the rest of us the details of every single episode."

"S-sometimes they would a-act them out." Tara and Willow are laughing pretty hard now at their remembrances.

"Ok, so tell me who this guy is." Ellen holds up a two pictures of Kent. One shows him working with Tara on the reward challenge. The other shows he and Faith arriving for the Finale Sunday Night.

"That's my b-best friend, Kent." Tara points at the picture. "He and Faith met on the island and they've really hit it off."

Ellen smiles. "Sounds like you all got very busy on the Island." She pauses. "And the two of you found something else to do to entertain yourselves."

"Ok, you can tell us. What happened in the woods? And what happened in that cabin?"

Tara laughs. "You know that a cameraman follows you e-everywhere on the Island right?"

"Yeah," Willow laughs, "this one guy had like a waist pouch of snacks. He would always hold the camera in one hand and eat with the other."

"You know those c-cartoons where the person is hungry and their friends start to look like steaks with eyeballs and a hat?" The audience laughs at Tara's description.

"So you're saying that the two of you went for walks in the woods and just talked and wished you had the cameraman's food?"

Willow smiles. "Well that wasn't all we did in the woods." The audience whistles and cheers.

Ellen smiles a sneaky smile as the theme song for Snickers starts to play. Two interns push out a pallet holding thousands of Snickers bars and leave it near the seats as Willow claps and Tara hangs her head so her eyes are behind her hair. Ellen stands up and both Survivors join her in walking over toward the pallet. "I could never eat th-that m-many … Tara looks up and looks at the audience. Can we give some to th-them?" As soon as the words are out of her mouth, the interns and a few others start taking bars off the top and filling baskets to carry them out into the crowd.

"Hey, what's this?" Willow pulls a large envelope from the pile and hands it to Tara.

Tara looks at the envelope and then to Ellen who is still smiling widely. "Th-this is from…" As she speaks she opens the envelope and pulls a sheet of crisp paper from it. She reads for a minute as Willow looks on before screaming and hugging first Willow and then Ellen. By the time she finishes hugging the two of them and all the available interns, she is crying and the audience is clapping and stomping their feet.

Finally leading the girls back toward the desk, Ellen asks Tara to explain what the letter says. Having composed herself by wiping her face with a Kleenex and taking a drink of cold water, Tara finally discloses that the letter is from the Ohio University system and provides credit for her to finish her Art degree as well as credit for Ariel's college education. She can not finish the explanation as she again begins crying. Willow holds her lover's hand and pats it as she sees how moved the blonde is by the wonderful gift.

"I have the best job ever," Ellen says conclusively. Then she reaches behind her desk and tells Willow, "I don't want you to think we forgot you." She hands the redhead a box holding a new IPod and a gift card. "That's for 5000 songs at ITunes."

Like Tara before her, Willow jumps up and hugs the host and thanks her profusely. The band starts to play and Ellen turns to the audience. "Coming up after the break we'll have an 11 year- old boy who has just set a world record for jumping rope." She turns back to Willow and Tara. "Thank you so much for coming on the show today. It was a pleasure seeing the two of you on the show and meeting you."

Tara and Willow return the host with smiles. They quickly hug her and thank her for having them on and again thank her for their gifts.

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Survivor: Ash Island

by JustSkipIt

Copyright © 2005