Fic: The Binding

[Pixie gishmock]

My panties are encouraging you to write? Wow! intones in JEJ voice "My work here is done." Note to self: stock up on panties.

Life is full of changes...The better you are at letting go of things, the freer your hands will be to catch something new. ~from Off The Map by Joan Ackerman
"It's good to be a chicken casserole," Tara murmured before passing out. ~from "Answering Darkness" by Sassette

[WiccansIllusion]

Part Three: Confrontations



Willow was still having problems fathoming the fact that she was locked in her own room. She’d asked for help, not –not to be treated like some animal. Maybe that’s what she was with the magick, just another demon that needed slaying. It was ironic really, that she was reduced to this. One of the biggest problems that she had at the moment was that she knew Tara was here. She could always feel their connection, whether or not it was through magick.



It took all the strength that Tara had to open the door and lock it again once she was inside the dark room. As her eyes adjusted and found her ex, she had to control a gasp. Willow looked horrible, sweaty and shaking in the corner of the room. The others had told her how bad it had been, but a part of her still didn’t believe it until now. Now she saw the extent of the damage that magick had done to her ex and it broke her heart



“H-h-hey.” That couldn’t have come out any worse then it did, and she was surprised it came out at all.



Willow couldn’t even trust her voice as Tara stuttered. Tara used to never really stutter around her, not since the beginning at least. It had diminished as her lover grew more confident. But now apparently she wasn’t confident at all. Or if she was, it was sheer nervousness.



“They shouldn’t have called you. It’s not your problem anymore.”



The words where harsh but Tara knew that her ex was right, in one aspect. It really wasn’t her problem to deal with anymore.



“I-I c-came because I wanted to. W-will, they. They want to bind you.” If she didn’t say it then, she might have never had said it at all.



The redhead kept the emerald gaze trained on the floor. It was a solution to the problem, to bind her powers. But then she’d just be resolved back to plain old Willow and she really didn’t want to be that again. She didn’t answer for the longest time. In truth, she really couldn’t think of a retaliation back. She’d hurt Tara, her friends and could have killed Dawn, after everything they’d done to protect her. So what was stopping them?



“They want to, and to be honest I think they should. Willow it’s killing you and it’s killing any chance that we might have at an ‘us’ again. And I’d like it if there was an us.” It was whispered and said without a hint of stuttering.



The redhead nodded slightly. It was the only sign of an agreement that Tara would get. Tara knew that Willow wanted to get back together as much as she did, and it wasn’t blackmailing not really It was just stating the facts. But something that Tara hadn’t told the group was that she needed to do this on her own, without the help of the others, despite Anyas’ sickening attachment to blood larvae.















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'It's good to be a chicken casserole'-Sass, answering darkness

'My heart is cleverer then I and it knows what to do.'-MC Legends of the Kiss

[The Next Tara Maclay]

Ooh Goood...Goood story...Can't wait for more.

[WiccansIllusion]

Buffy was nervous. It had been three hours since Tara had gone to Willow’s room. Three hours could mean a lot of things.





“I’ll bet they’re having sex.”





It was Anya who broke the impending silence.



“It’s been three hours, and that’s about how long it takes.”



Xander didn’t even have enough strength left to tell the ex vengeance demon to shut up. Buffy didn’t blame him. She was worried sick, and had thought about going upstairs more then once, but she also knew that Tara and Willow had a lot to talk about, since they hadn’t had much contact since the break up. But then there was the sinking feeling that Tara had gone back, or that Willow had cast to make everything better again.





“That’s it.” Buffy proclaimed as she got up rather quickly and took the stairs two at a time. The Slayer was about to break the door down, but it was partially open, and the scene inside broke her heart.





Tara was sitting on the floor next to Willow, both her hands wrapped around the redhead’s. “I just- it seemed like Magick was the answer you know? I-I became useful with it. Before, I was just plain old Willow, and who wants to be that? You didn’t know that Willow, Oz didn’t. Anyone who’s ever noticed me noticed me when I cast. I mean, God, even Buffy was friends with me out of pity. And I’m sure Xander was only because his mom thought we where cute together in 2nd grade. Buffy only saw me cause of that horrible dress that Cordelia commented on it.”



The emotions came out in a rush of babble. Willow had never told anyone her feelings, and in a way, they frightened Tara. Each had their own valid point and she’d never known Willow to feel anything without having a reason behind it. Even if the reasons sounded stupid.





“I’m s-sure Buffy doesn’t feel that way-“



Willow cut her ex girlfriend off.





“Not now. But she did. I saw it in her eyes back then.”





The redhead’s resolve face crumpled slightly as she drew her hands away and ran her fingers through red locks. A sigh escaped from the back of her throat as she tried to compose herself, looking up in time to see Buffy turning away and heading back downstairs.





“Oh God-“





Willow got up quickly to run after her best friend, but Tara stopped her.



“Will now isn’t really a good time. You…we need to sort this through first.” She shut the door and the redhead ex witch nodded slightly, knowing Tara was right.





“So what happened to ‘Gung Ho I’m gonna kick some Wiccan Ass Buffy’?” Xander looked up, seeing the blonde rush downstairs. “That Buffy is still here, but it’s gonna be some Vampiric Ass instead. Gonna patrol. Blow off steam.” It was said through clenched teeth as she grabbed her keys, a stake and leather jacket, slamming the front door behind her. “Ouch. Negative one for the Xand Man.”





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'It's good to be a chicken casserole'-Sass, answering darkness

'My heart is cleverer then I and it knows what to do.'-MC Legends of the Kiss

[Pixie gishmock]

Wow! Two updates in one day! I'm so glad they started talking. They can never resolve the underlying issues if they just bind Willow's magic and have done with it. Good luck with your work!

Life is full of changes...The better you are at letting go of things, the freer your hands will be to catch something new. ~from Off The Map by Joan Ackerman
"It's good to be a chicken casserole," Tara murmured before passing out. ~from "Answering Darkness" by Sassette

[jdcioffi]

Interesting ... I'm intrigued to see where you end up with this.



JD

Helen: "What makes you happy?"
Jessica: "Nothing. I'm not."
(Kissing Jessica Stein)

[WiccansIllusion]

Warning: Bit of B/S interaction in this chapter.









Tara had listened the entire time Willow spoke about her feelings. The talking was what they should have done in the first place, but instead, that had been replaced by magick. The redhead had calmed down considerably in the few hours since Buffy had overheard them.





“There’s a ritual Willow, that I think we should do, one last time.”





Willow looked horrified by her ex’s request. Tara wanted to cast with her? But that meant being exposed to more magick and she honestly didn’t think she could handle it.





“But Tara I-“



“I know baby, but trust me? Please?”





Tara really didn’t want to do a binding in front of Willow’s friends. It should be personal, if done at all, and the spell she had would be much more effective.



“It involves draining the darkness out. We-we came across the spell when we where looking for ways to stop Glory..” Tara hated bringing up the topic of the Hell God, but the spell had been one of the ways that they could have saved Ben.



“You have the vial, and everything?” Willow knew all they would need was a small vial, and white quartz crystal and a black onyx stone, both symbolizing the light and dark within her.



Tara only nodded, as she silently prayed to the Goddess that this was the right thing to do, as she sat on the floor, crossed legged from Willow.

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Buffy had dusted four vamps that night. They’d all been easy, since she staked out the fresh graves. What Willow said had really hurt, but after a while she had calmed down. It made sense, in a sick and twisted way. And even had a small ounce of truth in it. It was true that she started to talk to Willow out of pity, but Willow had been one of her best friends since day one, always the strong, reliable one, the one that was always there.







“Out for a late night stroll, love?”





Buffy jumped at the voice, although she should have expected it. Sighing slightly she turned to face the leather clad vampire.



“Patrol. It’s a thing that we slayers do. You know, being the Chosen and all dutiful and righteous.”



The words where cut short, since she really didn’t want to stay and chat, at least not tonight.



“Never knew you to be the one who did what they where supposed to.”



Spike said with the sexual undertone that he’d been using, a lot, in any of their conversations. She shuddered even hearing it.



“God, your like a gnat. Those bugs that fly around, and hover, and get in places you don’t want them in, and they never go away.”



“Aren’t I? Especially when they get in your mouth, and you get a taste for them.”



Buffy just turned away at the retaliation. She shouldn’t have expected anything less, at least not from Spike, as she was cut off from any sort of response by a rather harsh kiss.



-------------------------------------------

'It's good to be a chicken casserole'-Sass, answering darkness

'My heart is cleverer then I and it knows what to do.'-MC Legends of the Kiss

[The Next Tara Maclay]

I'll be waiting for more.

[ExtraFlameyWT]

I just read the last two updates, and they were great! I can't wait for more... more soon, please?



-Aimee

*****
"Hey Will, this is me. It doesn't all have to be good and fine. This is the room where you don't have to be brave. I still love you. If you're worried, you can be worried." -Tara to Willow in ep. 603 Afterlife

[WiccansIllusion]

Part Four: Reconciliations and Pancakes









Tara had spent almost all night in Willow’s room, and finally the redhead was asleep. It was almost seven in the morning, and with the last of her nervous energy she made pancakes. Dawn had come down, having been up for school and actually smiled for the first time in a long time.





“Your still here?”





Tara jumped a little at the voice, but smiled if not with the circles under her eyes. “Yeah, s-still here. I have pancakes, do you want funny shapes or- “





Tara wondered why she asked, since she knew the answer almost every time. “Funny shapes.”

It was said with a silent agreement between the two, as Dawn went to go set the table, and pour orange juice for the two of them.





Willow had smelled the pancakes from upstairs, but she was reluctant to go down. Dawn would be up, and people would be worried, and asking questions, and not leaving her alone. But she knew that eventually she had to face her fears, and that she was better off doing it while Tara was here, to support her, rather then when she was not. But could she do this on her own? It was with the resolve face set that the redhead changed into clean pajamas, and headed down to the kitchen.







Buffy was tired. She’d gotten back from the night at Spikes somewhere around four am and had been asleep for less then three hours. But tired Slayers also meant hungry Slayers, especially after late night slaying type activities. With a groan, the blonde headed down to the kitchen to make sure Dawn had a ride to school, but not with out bumping into the redhead at the top of the stairs.





“Buffy I-“

“Willow-“





The words were said both at the same time and the two friends actually managed a small, shared smile. “I know you heard what I said. I just- there’s been a lot lately, and I-“ Buffy silenced her best friend. She’d had a lot of time to think about what she had over heard, and knew she’d over reacted. She’d just been worried about Willow lately, and blaming herself for letting her best friend fall.





“Its okay Will. It really is. You have a right to your feelings, no matter how stupid I think they are. And they are stupid. But that’s not the point. The point is I wasn’t there for you when you needed me the most.” Buffy sighed as she admitted yet again how she felt. All Willow could do was listen and accepted the apology.





“I missed us. A lot I promise we’re in for some quality best friend time really soon. And About hurting Dawn, I never meant to. I never meant for anything to get this far.” Buffy knew, and silently accepted the apology, tightening the hug she had on her best friend for just a moment before pulling away.





“I think I smell some pancakes.” Buffy said with a grin. She’d missed having someone around the house that actually knew how to cook. “And they’re funny shapes. I can always tell.” Willow smiled as the two made their way downstairs before Dawn ate all the pancakes for them.

'It's good to be a chicken casserole'-Sass, answering darkness

'My heart is cleverer then I and it knows what to do.'-MC Legends of the Kiss

[ExtraFlameyWT]

nice update... you did a great job on willow and buffy's conversation.



-Aimee

*****
"Hey Will, this is me. It doesn't all have to be good and fine. This is the room where you don't have to be brave. I still love you. If you're worried, you can be worried." -Tara to Willow in ep. 603 Afterlife