I have had too many problems trying to get part 14 done, so I am skipping it and moving quickly to the end. I apologize for those who have waited. Blame it on the mysteriously de-formatting disks.



BEWARE - UN-BETA'D

PG-13 b/c they are in bed -- but not doing anything.



Paper Airplanes - Epilgoue



Tara smoothed Willow's hair down and trailed her hand along the redhead's cheek. Breathing out a sigh of contentment, she said, "I wish I could draw you right now. You're so ..." Too overcome with emotion, the blonde couldn't finish her sentence.



"You could," Willow said, looking up from her spot on Tara's shoulder to see cloudy blue eyes gazing at her. "I'd sit really still and be your Kate Winslet."



The blonde smiled warmly and said, "I can't, sweetie."



"Why not? You're all art-girl," Willow commented. Sitting up quickly, she teased, "I'm poseable ..."



"I don't have any pastels, Willow," Tara chuckled, before her breath was taken away by the sight of her redhaired lover sitting uncovered in front of her.



"You have boxes of them in your room," Willow commented. "You'll have to invite me to your studio later this evening and show me your sketches," she said, playfully, wagging her brows at the blonde.



"Not tonight," Tara said. Noting Willow's crestfallen face, she added, "I have to go to the store tomorrow and get more chalks. I, uhm, used them all."



"Did I mention boxes?" Willow asked, knowing that she had seen a bookcase with many carefully stacked boxes of flat pastels. "What'd you --- oh, Tara," she breathed out, her voice full of realization. "My book?"



The blonde merely nodded, a shy smile gracing her features. "You weren't supposed to find out," she admitted, "how much effort I put into that. I didn't want you to think ... "



"What? That you might like me?" the redhead teased, sliding back down and resting her chin on Tara's shoulder.



"No," the blonde said, pressing her brows down. "That I'm in love with you," she corrected, wrapping her arms around her lover.



An elfish smile erupted on Willow's face and, moving her eyes shiftily, she asked, "Like I wasn't supposed to know that you put a protection spell on the amber, right?"



Pulling her head back in surprise, Tara blinked rapidly before asking, "Y-you knew?"



"I felt it when it first touched my palm," Willow confessed. "I didn't know what it was, but when you told me about it. Your story, I mean? And then you made me make you that promise, well, I kinda figured it out."



Tara looked away, obviously embarrassed.



Reaching up and turning the blonde's head toward her, Willow whispered, "That was so sweet, baby."



Tara chuckled and looked into her lover's green eyes. "And you still didn't know how I felt about you?" she asked, a certain amount of disbelief in her voice.



"Hoping and knowing are two very different things," Willow explained. She brushed her fingers along the soft skin of Tara's cheek, and down the blonde's neck until she rested her hand over her lover's heart.



"And now?" Tara prompted, smiling as the redhead's fingers tickled her sensitive flesh.



"You're here, aren't you?" Willow asked, as though that was answer enough. Looking deeply into her lover's blue eyes, she said, "You read those sappy, silly notes and you're here."



Placing her hands on either side of Tara, Willow pushed herself up until her face was above the blonde's. "I believe, baby," she whispered, before tenderly kissing her lover.





***THE END***



Again, guys, I'm really sorry about that chapter. Everything I wrote (the many times I re-wrote it due to computer glitches and errors) has disappeared and I can't bring myself to write it again and lose it. So ... I end this and hope you find it worth your time.



Humbly, JD

"Was there a voice unkind in the back of your mind saying, "maybe..." (Jeff Buckley - The Last Goodbye)

Well, jd, it was definitely worth my time to see Willow and Tara tender and in love like this, with the notes and the uncertainty behind them and trust and belief ahead. I like the last line so much.



Thank you for a lovely story.

***************

"Run, flee, maybe skedadlle. We're not here to engage. This is strictly recon." Willow, on season seven, in "This Year's Girl"

Not to worry jd, I'll always remember this fic... the entire not-getting-on-the-plane part is hard to forget. I wrote about that in this thread already I think so I'll spare you the re-hash .



If all thats stopping you from posting/writing chapter 14 is computer-troubles, feel free to ask me. Go lotsa tools to possibly help you recover whatever you lost. I don't write, but I *can* help with PC related troubles :-).



I must admit I was mighty surpised to see this fic on page #1 again, pleasant suprise really .



Cyaz,



Grimmy

"You hurt Tara," Willow said too calmly. "The last one who tried that was a god. I made her regret it." -- Unexpected Consequences by Lisa of Nine

Moved here by request from the author



This is now a finished work. Enjoy.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
Tara and Willow

Accept NO subsitutes

Wonderful ending, JD! It was well worth the wait...I loved this whole story...I hope you post something new soon!



Aimee

*****
"If it's good, they will stop making it."
-Herblock's Law

This was grrrrrrreat cause you didn't focus on the S.....e....x, rather, the relationship!!!!!!!. Excellent fic...have you written others? Please advise...thanks again Daaa best! Screeminguitargal.

I totally LOVED this fic. It's amazing how you write their tenderness so well... it's really a relationship in this fic, it's so REAL! It reminds me of the first weeks of my relationship, the little things that makes it all so special...

It was fantastic!

this is a really wonderful fic... one that i'm finding myself coming back to from time to time... it is very well written... in it's simplicity, it was able to capture emotions and evoke those same emotions in the readers... a fantastically simple story told by a simply fantastic author.

good job JD!

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