hey kittens...sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter ready, and it's not as long as I would've liked, but after a brief haitus and quite a bit of work, I'm finally updating, so I hope y'all enjoy, and know that I haven't forgotten about this story, and still have TONS more I'm gonna do with it, it's just taking awhile...anyway, hope you like, and I'd appreciate any feedback anybody feels like
Chapter 2-
July 28, 1996
8:49 am
“S-so M-momma told m-me you v-visited h-her and G-gran every d-day w-while we were g-gone.”
“Of course Tara! You know I love your family...besides, Gran McCafferty taught me this really cool spell to float objects in a different room.”
Tara couldn’t help but smile at her best friend’s excitement, but there was still a question lingering in her mind as Willow added quietly and with far less enthusiasm “Besides, with everything going on... I wanted to be there for Katherine, especially with you and Donny gone.”
“I kn-know Will, th-thank you, f-for b-b-being there...I-I j-just w-w-wish I c-could’ve b-b-been there... w-why’d she s-send us aw-way?” Tara asked as the tears she’d been holding back for more than two months, every since her mother announced that she and her older brother would be staying with their father while she went through her first round of chemo...told them that Gran could take care of her, and it would be best if they weren’t around. Tara’s mother sending her away had broken Tara’s heart; she loved her mother dearly, and wanted more than anything to be there for her as she went through one of the hardest things in her life... but her mother had wanted to protect them; Tara supposed she hadn’t realized just how poor of protection that would be, sending her to her father’s... But Tara would not think about this, ever again; it was over and she needed to forget. No matter how much pain she relived through her tears, she would never ever relive that, not for anything…no amount of tears could ever do justice...
Willow’s heart ached for her best friend as Tara broke-down into sobs that racked her body; she longed to reach out to the other girl, to hold her and take all her pain away, but feared that would be presumptuous…she had never had her mother send her away from her, from her home, from her life, from everything she knew and loved, to stay with a man she feared more than she knew and held no real love for…how Will presume to try to take the blonde’s pain away when she couldn’t even imagine what she was going through?
Still, she couldn’t just sit back and watch Tara fall apart, so did, for once, as Tara always told her and listened to her instincts and love instead of her fears and insecurities, reaching over and wrapping her arms around the larger girl and cradling her, wishing desperately that she knew a spell to make her own tears for Tara could wash away the pains causing the blonde’s own, but knowing that no amount magic other than love could mend her beloved friend’s soul, she simply sat holding and rocking Tara for nearly an hour as every ounce of heartache poured out of Tara as tears falling down her cheeks and into her lap, mingling with her best friend’s tears for her.
After a very long time, what seemed like both more than a lifetime and less than an instant for the young tears, the tears finally subsided...yet neither girl made any attempt to move from the cradling embrace. They continued to sit huddled together silently for several more minutes as Willow ran her hands carressingly through the soft blonde hair across her lap. Finally, both girls beginning to get a bit restless and knowing Tara needed to go home, Will leaned down and placed a feather-light kiss on Tar’s forehead and helped her sit up.
Tara could find no words to express her gratitude, but knew that Willow understood without words, just as she always had. Grabbing the other girl fiercely, Tara told Willow everything she felt but couldn’t say in a huge hug before heading out the door(heart inexplicably sinking as she did so), across the small yard that separated their houses, and into her much-beloved home...and yet it somehow felt like she’d just left her home instead of entering it.