Disclaimer: Not mine, bla bla
Note from me: I said this was going to be the last part, but there's still another one coming. I decided to split it in two. Thanks for reading
Chapter 20Tara’s eyes burned with tears, but she didn’t turn away. She didn’t even blink. “You can’t be serious.”
The man ignored her. “The redhead is Willow Rosenburg,” he announced, pointing.
The group of council members stared at Willow and began to whisper. Tara stared at Willow, too. A piece of hair hung in front of her face, and Tara’s hands itched to move it and tuck it behind her ear.
She wondered how Willow would handle this situation if she were in her shoes, and came to a quick decision. “This is between you and me. Not you and my mom, and not you and Willow.”
The man smiled at Tara. “It seems that you’re sharing many things with this lady.” He took in Tara’s outfit, chocolate brown skirt and a striped green shirt, and continued. “Her fashion sense, for example. And her sense of humor, her heart, even her bed.”
Giles looked away.
“But unfortunately, you don’t seem to share her common sense when it comes to using magick.”
It stung to be contrasted with her girlfriend in this way. “I don’t think that’s fair.” Tara exhaled. “Look, I admit, there was a time when I didn’t think about the consequences. But doesn’t everyone have a time they’re not proud of? I learned magick from my mother, who is the most respectful and cautious witch ever. I do not cast spells for personal profit or convenience, only necessity.” She turned to look at her mother, frozen and beautiful. She hoped, goddess she hoped, that she wasn’t just wasting time.
He raised his eyebrows. “Is that true, Miss Maclay? Can you prove it?”
***
Anya and Xander were sharing a salad and pizza at Pizza Shmittza. Xander was boring Anya by telling her about his day.
“Xander, can we talk about something interesting now? Like me?”
Xander sighed, wondering why he even tried. “Sure. What do you want to tell me about you? You’re just a college student. Unless you have some big bad secret I don’t know about.”
Anya was about to laugh off the comment, when she saw Ira and Sharon approach their table.
“Ohmigod! Anya!” Sharon grinned. “Ira, this is the vengeance demon that shrunk your penis!”
Anya smiled weakly. “Er, hi.”
“And who’s your lucky date?” Sharon turned to Xander and gasped. “Alexander! You’re dating Anya?”
Xander elbowed Anya under the table. “Hello, Mrs Rosenburg. Yes, Anya’s a special friend of mine.” He looked bemused. “And, judging by your comments, Anya’s your special friend, too!”
Sharon turned to her husband. “Alexander had better watch out, hadn’t he,” she said teasingly. “Ira, dear, maybe you should have a word with him.”
“Sure. Alex, would you accompany me to the men’s room?” He winked at his wife. “Secret men’s business.”
Xander stood reluctantly and followed.
Sharon took a seat beside Anya. She took the girl’s hand and looked down guiltily. “He didn’t know, did he?”
Anya shook her head worriedly.
“I’m sorry, I put my foot in my mouth.” Sharon sighed. “I was so excited, I didn’t even think about it.”
“It’s OK, Sylvester,” Anya said at last. “I think Xander likes the sex too much to leave me over something like being a demon.”
“True, true.” The older woman nodded seriously. “Anya, honey, I want to thank you again for what you did for my marriage. Ira is a different man. He’s so attentive to my needs. Let me tell you, not many women that have given birth can feel so full again.”
Anya’s eyes widened. “You know they have surgery for that, now,” she informed the woman. “Just a little tightening.”
“Anya, let’s put it this way, I don’t need it anymore.” Sharon took her hand. “Thanks, sweetie. I told him everything and you know what he said? He said thank you. He knew things were bad and just assumed they would never be better.”
The men returned to the table and Ira patted Xander’s head. “He’s gonna be OK. Aren’t you?”
Xander nodded, his eyes as large as a child’s.
“So, Xand,” Anya said slowly, “do you have any questions?”
He shook his head, biting his lip.
“He’s a little nervous,” Ira whispered in Anya’s ear. “I told him to treat you like a princess or else his winkie would fall off.”
Xander started to laugh. “So can we do spells?” he asked, covering his hand with his mouth to stifle the chuckles. “Kind of like Willow and Tara?”
Ira held his head high. “Sorry, pal, but Willow and Tara are in a league of their own. A league you’ll never be part of.” Internally, he thanked the Lord for making Willow choose the beautiful, intelligent Tara over this childhood sweetheart oaf.
***
“And how do I prove it?” Tara asked, although she knew. She felt so sick, even though this was a sweet, wonderful twist of fate. She moved away, so that she didn’t have to look at Liz. Even though she was doing this for her mother, she felt somewhat disgusted with herself.
“Give up magick.”
Tara turned to face Giles. To his credit, he looked directly at her. Then he shrugged helplessly.
Cathy rolled her eyes. “Seems to me that there isn’t a question here. Mom dies or you quit making roses float.” She pretended to contemplate deeply.
“Magick is my life.”
Tara thought back to when she was five, holding her mother’s hand in the garden and learning each plant and herb, and why it was so important. She could remember the smells, the intoxicating sweetness that she found so comforting. At the time she was sure that it was the magick. But over time she had realized that part of the comfort was in the hand she was holding.
She remembered the first time she had experienced the Solstice, how her mother had her pick out an outfit. She had wanted to look spiritual and feminine, and chose a pale blue dress with sweeping sleeves and a lace neck. Her mother helped with the clasp on her gold chain with the pentagram, and it hung over her chest. When she turned up for the celebration of the sun, most of the people were wearing jeans and sweatshirts. She had been embarrassed and had wanted to leave. She now recalled Liz’s words. “Baby, if you feel uncomfortable we can leave. But we are celebrating a beautiful event and you look even more beautiful than ever before.” After that, she was glad she wore that dress.
Tara’s eyes trailed over to Willow. Surely she’d understand, Tara thought. Being Witches wasn’t the only thing they had in common. In fact, they had barely discussed their powers at first. Tara had wanted try out the levitation, but after the other night, she knew that she didn’t need magick to make sex with Willow amazing. Her relationship with Willow offered her so much. It was worth the sacrifice.
At last, Tara opened her mouth to respond, but a wave of doubt overtook her. Being Wiccan was all she knew. Casting spells was a way of life, something that gave her significance. What was she without it? She glanced around the small hospital room for answers, the room where she had despaired over and over. She couldn’t even remember her life before the hospital visits had started. Maybe there wasn’t anything to remember.
A warmth spread slowly through her body and she smiled. If she got to keep her mother and her girlfriend, then she wouldn’t be losing anything.
“I’ll give up casting.” Tara opened her bag and removed the crystal she carried for health and wellness, every time she visited her mother. She walked slowly over to the man and held it out to him. “Do I have to give this up?” She reached into her shirt and lifted the chain which held the gold pentagram. “It’s not magickal. It just has a lot of personal meaning.”
The man smiled. “Finally, a good decision. Please hand it over.”
Tara, with shaking fingers, began to remove the chain. She kept slipping on the clasp, and felt impatient tears gather in her eyes. Giles approached her and gently helped remove the necklace.
“Is that it?” Tara looked desperately at the man.
“You need to give an oath.”
She nodded. “Can I do it now? I’ll say whatever you need me to say, I just want this to be over with.”
“Patience, Miss Maclay,” the man admonished lightly. “I need you to cut off two inches of hair, and then pierce your finger with this needle and write ‘no more magick’ on this parchment.”
“OK. I need scissors and a needle.” Tara searched the supply cupboards, and was reaching for the surgical supplies drawer when she heard laughter.
“You think this is funny?” She swung around, her anger so sharp it made the laughter evaporate immediately. “Do you realize how corrupt your council is? You say that your aim is to help witches, and create balance and good energy in the community, but really, you are fucking it up.”
The man started to laugh again. “You’ve got to admit, the line about ‘no more magick’ was pretty funny.”
Cathy rushed over and gave her a hug. “I’m so sorry for putting you through that. I wish I could have given you a clue or something, to make it easier for you. I hoped the file had been enough of a clue.”
“Clue?” Tara felt sick and didn’t know what she was talking about.
“Oh.
Oh.” Cathy looked horrified. “We’re not really taking your magick away, sweetie. It was a test. You passed with flying colors. I gave you the file the other day so that you’d get the idea to stop your mom from dying. I assumed that when you saw I was prosecutor you’d realize I was on your side.”
“Cathy,” Giles chided, “assuming makes plenty of fools. Perhaps Ms Maclay doesn’t share your presumptuous nature.”
“I guess not,” Cathy exclaimed. “Tara, this is Adam Johns,” she pointed to the man who had suggested the deal. “Adam took control of the council after his predecessor resigned. He was the one that chose your punishment.” Her dark eyes looked troubled.
Adam extended a hand. “Miss Maclay, I’m sorry if I alarmed you. My party has brought change to the council and have tried to fix some of the huge problems. One of them is the punishment system. We really didn’t want to have to put you through something like this, but progress is slow in the Witches’ Council. For the traditionalists’ peace of mind, we had to put you through a ‘test’. We couldn’t just ‘miraculously’ heal your mom. It was really so that we could put something in the file.”
“Of course,” Giles intervened, “if you hadn’t had the courage to speak up and demand an alternative punishment, we wouldn’t have let your mother die.” He coughed. “I assure you, we would have done everything in our capacity to…”
“You know what?” Tara said quietly. “I don’t care anymore. Can I please have my mom back?”
Willow crept forward, startling Tara. “Baby? What happened?”
Tara rushed into her arms. “I don’t know.”
Tell me here, in my head.
Tara closed her eyes.
Tara? Baby, I’m here now. It’s OK. What did they do?
Tara shook her head lightly against Willow’s body.
You won’t talk to me in my head?
Tara lifted her head and looked at Willow. Her eyes said no, and Willow understood.
Dawn, Donnie and John, realizing something was happening – and it wasn’t Liz dying – stepped into the hallway to give privacy. The Witches’ Council was gone, so quickly that Tara wasn’t even sure they had been there. Only Willow remained, and led her wordlessly over to her mother.
Liz was sitting on the edge of her bed, her eyes dark. She took Tara’s unsteady hand and kissed it. “Baby,” she whispered, “the test wasn’t whether or not you’d give up your magic. It was to see if you would be selfless enough to change what was decided. Just by believing you could, you did.”
Tara’s lashes were wet. “Don’t call me selfless. The reason you were sick was my selfishness.”
“No.” Liz tried to think of words of comfort. “Tare, when you were seven, you asked me why bad things happen. I told you it’s part of life, and it happens so that people can show what they’re made of. Today, my darling, you showed everyone just how strong you are.”
Willow kissed Tara’s knuckles. “I’m sorry I doubted you. I didn’t even think it was possible to change something like that.”
Tara just shook her head. “Neither did I.”
Willow looked uncertainly at Liz. “So what happens now? Are you better?”
Liz looked as uncertain as the redhead. “I haven’t had the doctor check, but I feel completely different. It sure doesn’t make any medical sense.”
Willow laughed. “The best things in life don’t make sense to science. Liz, I’m so happy.” She hugged the woman tightly, then turned to her girlfriend. “Baby, what did you have to do?”
Tara looked away. “I gave up magick.”
Willow breathed. “Oh, sweetie. For how long?”
“Forever.” Tara didn’t tell them that this was her own trade, not the Council’s.
~*@.......We are the weirdest person in the world.......@*~
Edited by: vix84 at: 3/22/05 3:54 am