The Kitten, the Witches and the Bad Wardrobe - Willow & Tara Forever

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 Post subject: Simply perfect
PostPosted: Sat Feb 26, 2005 3:07 pm 
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3. Flaming O

Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2005 2:43 pm
Posts: 121
I've been hammering out the next few installments of Run-ins, but I was in desperate need of something completely angst-free, and this idea kept tickling the back of my head.



Title – Simply Perfect

Author name – eklipsej

Rating – PG

Disclaimer – All Buffy characters were created by and unfortunately belong to the creators of BTVS.

Feedback – Yes please!

Summary/Notes – This is, of course, our version of BTVS where the the last 5 minutes of Seeing Red and so on never happened and they all lived happily ever after. If I had to put a time frame on this I’d say this is a year or so after Willow has graduated. I’m working on the assumption that Dawn was 13 during season 4. This is a stand-alone. Willow’s stumped and goes looking for inspiration.



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



I think too much. And sometimes, okay a lot of times, the circuitry between my brain and my mouth gets screwed up, and I end up babbling. Now is not one of those times.



Blink, blink, blink…



The white page and the little blinking cursor are mocking me. ME, the queen of the babble fest, at a complete and total loss for words. Okay, not a total loss, because I am able to express my dismay at my empty computer screen. That’s beside the point. The point is this, I spent the entire day yesterday thinking of the perfect words to describe how I feel about Tara, and I had so many ideas, tons and tons of them. So many that I couldn’t keep track, so this morning I thought I’d power up my trusty laptop and make a list. I surprised Tara and myself and got up extra early too. I thought it would be a simple enough task, you know, because just thinking about Tara makes me gush. But now I can’t think of a single thing…and my trusty laptop is mocking me with it’s little blink blink blinking at me.



This is ridiculous. I need inspiration, so I pick myself up out of the ergonomically correct desk chair that Tara insisted I get despite its hefty price tag when I told her I my new job would let me work from home. Slowly I climb the steps of our Xander Harris original den in the basement of Buffy’s house and go off in search of my muse. I find her in the kitchen, mixing pancake batter while Dawn greases a pan.



“Funny shapes or rounds?”



She may be 18 now and going off to college soon, but Dawn never gets tired of that question. Honestly, I don’t think any of us ever will. Tara makes the best pancakes, funny-shaped or round. But for Dawn that question is not simply about pancakes. This is their thing, Tara and Dawn. This Sunday breakfast ritual is important to Dawn, because it’s usually just her and Tara. Buffy and I are definitely not morning people, especially during weekends. Tara and Dawn talk about small things and big things, and Tara lets Dawn be creative with the recipes while somehow making sure Dawn’s inventions remain edible. Dawn really looks up to Tara. We all know she sees Tara as her second mom.



Buffy doesn’t really mind either, I think it’s because she feels that way about Tara too. Which, if you really think about it, is kind of weird because by extension that would make me like my best friend’s parental type person.



It’s not hard to see why the Summers girls feel that way. Tara takes care of them, of all of us. Of me the most.



Things can get pretty crazy, what with all the world-ending to be stopped, classes to be passed, and work to be done. I can get pretty crazy, but Tara always brings me back. Somehow she knows when I’m getting tense, and she’ll come stand by me. She pretends it’s because she wants to see what I’m working on, if I’ve found anything interesting. She’ll rest her hand on my back and trace little circles with her thumb, or she’ll twirl a little piece of my hair around her finger, such small gestures really. She acts like she doesn’t realize she’s doing it but I know better. I know she does it on purpose, she knows it makes me feel better. Being around her always makes me feel better.



I think nowadays being around her makes all the Scoobies feel better. They’ll be here soon. They usually get here just as Tara and Dawn pour the last of the batter onto the pan.



Tara once told me the about the first time she let Dawn help make the pancakes. It was a week or so into the new school year after Buffy had died and we resurrected her. In the time it took for Tara to prepare everything she would need to make breakfast and mix the batter for the pancakes, Dawn had changed three times and come running down the stairs to ask Tara how she looked, if her outfit was trendy enough, all the while mumbling something about Janice and the basketball team.



When Dawn finally settled down, Tara asked Dawn what kind of pancakes she wanted.



“Funny shapes or rounds?”



Dawn looked at her like she was crazy, but all she said was “Huh?”



“Funny shapes or rounds?”



When Dawn didn’t answer Tara shrugged and poured batter on the pan. “Pancakes don’t always have to be round you know. Just because everyone else makes them that way, in restaurants and on TV and stuff, doesn’t mean that pancakes can’t be anything else.” She flipped the pancake over as she continued. “There’s no written law that says pancakes have to be round. Pancakes can look however you want them to look, however you feel like making them. The batter Dawn, it’s fluid, so you can make it into pretty much anything you want it to be.”



Satisfied that the pancake was done, Tara set it on a plate and put the plate down in front of Dawn. She had made Dawn a star.



I watch now as Tara lets Dawn pour the batter, while she breaks more eggs into another bowl and scrambles them. I feel a familiar warmth all over. It’s the warmth that comes with the knowledge that one day I’ll be watching Tara teach the same lesson to a little girl with her shining blue eyes and lopsided grin. But for that day to arrive I need to find the right words to say to her, and the perfect moment in which to say them.



Tara deserves the right words and the perfect moment because she’s always given those things to me. Every time she says my name, or holds me in her arms, every time she smiles that special smile that I know is just for me.



It’s that smile she gives me when I’ve said something she thinks particularly endearing. It’s that smile that says she finds my babbling adorable when I get embarrassed because my mouth has gone off without my permission yet again. It’s the smile that lets me know she’s waking up when I’ve spooned behind her, kissing her just above her shoulder blade, and pulling her closer to me with my arm wrapped around her waist. It’s the smile that says she loves me just as much as I love her.



And it hits me then, how simple it really is. I don’t need a long speech or fancy words. I know how Tara feels about me, and she knows how I feel about her. It’s in all the smallest things that we do for each other, with each other, everyday. And I don’t need to plan for the perfect moment, because every moment with this woman is perfect.



I smile as I walk up behind Tara and wrap my arms around her waist. I see the slightest flicker of her eyelids as I do so, and I know exactly what she’s feeling, because my body and my heart feel the same way every time I touch her, see her, or even think about her.



She whimpers when I remove one arm, but her disappointment doesn’t last long as I pull her closer with the arm I’m still holding her with, and I whisper in her ear.



“I love you Tara.” I say, before planting a kiss on her neck, just behind her ear. Her breath hitches lightly as I kiss her again. She blushes, she always does, then looks me in the eye. She gives me that half-smile that melts my heart every time.



“And I love you Willow.”



Yes, this moment is just as perfect as any moment with Tara can be.



I bring my lips near her ear once again and nuzzle into her neck. I take a deep breath and bask in the scent of Tara.



“Marry me.” I whisper.



Tara’s eyes follow mine as I turn to look at my hand that is now resting on the counter in front of her. I move my hand away and Tara gasps when she sees the small open velvet box and the diamond solitaire sitting inside.



“Marry me.” I say again.



With shaking hands Tara reaches for the ring, but she has trouble getting it out of the box. I rest my free hand on hers briefly, and I take the ring out myself. As I dip my head to get a look at her face, I see that her eyes are shining. I follow them as she looks down at her hands resting on the counter, and I know she wants me to put the ring on her finger.



Her hands are calm now, and mine are the ones shaking. I pull away once the ring is on but she grips my hand to stop me. I look up at her then and I see that she’s no longer fighting the tears. She brings both her hands up to cup my face, and there is that smile again.



“Oh yes.” She whispers and before my mind fully registers the words she has her fingers buried in my hair and is kissing me as though her life depended on it. I don’t mind, because my life most certainly depends on kissing Tara. I learned that the hard way, when she left because I was out of control. That’s behind us now. I’ve learned my lesson. A life without Tara is a life not worth living.



As she pulls away I thank the goddess I’ll never have to worry about that again.



“Yes, oh yes.” She says, louder this time.



Looking into her eyes I know I’ve found the only words I will ever need to say to Tara. And it was so simple, and so perfect.



Edited by: eklipsej at: 2/27/05 9:09 pm


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 Post subject: Re: Simply perfect
PostPosted: Sat Feb 26, 2005 4:46 pm 
Gosh, you've made me all misty eyed. :happycry



The first bit, Willow's rant is perfect timing as I take a break from my assignment in which I was staring at a blank page, a blinking cursor, and me cursing that I'm having trouble with something so simple. In that aspect I understand Willow perfectly. It made me quite glad to start reading the fic.



And then you get to the why Willow was wanting to put how she feels about Tara into words. And my heart melts.

Quote:
And it hits me then, how simple it really is. I don’t need a long speech or fancy words.


Now unfortunately this doesn't apply to my assignment whatsoever. But I've got to say about the proposal. This is the best proposal scene I think I've seen yet. I'm awww-inspired. :aww



Kudos to you. This fic certainly gets the Warm Fuzzies prize. And a :bow also



Looks like my assignment can wait til tomorrow.....



-wiccanbotanist

A sign seen in a botanist's front yard: "Please keep off the Bouteloua gracilis"

Sugas mea papilium (Suck my butterfly) - A Woman in Uniform by umgaynow

I used to be indecisive, but now I'm not so sure.



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 Post subject: Re: Simply perfect
PostPosted: Sat Feb 26, 2005 5:25 pm 
:thud :shock :cry :clap :sob :wtkiss

wooot a new ficness! aww this was soo cute! "sniffles" someone remind me to do it THAT when if i wanna marry my girlfriend...jesus...that was powerfull and wow!! WRITE MORE WOMAN! :D

:pride

-Rose

"I would cry...I would die if I lost you..." Alex Parks



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 Post subject: this is just..
PostPosted: Sat Feb 26, 2005 5:26 pm 
simply willow. and its simply wonderfully put.

:bow :bow :bow :bow :bow :bow :bow :bow :bow :bow :bow :bow

this is really beautiful. i :love it:happycry . thanks for this.



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 Post subject: Re: this is just..
PostPosted: Sat Feb 26, 2005 6:37 pm 
:bow :pinky :wtkiss :sob :applause :applause :applause :applause :applause :applause :applause



Enough said.:clap



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 Post subject: Re: Simply perfect
PostPosted: Sat Feb 26, 2005 7:33 pm 
Awww. *melts*



That was sooo sweet. At first, I didn't connect the reason why Willow was wanting to list all the things that she loved about Tara, so I was pleasantly surprised with the way this turned out. With Willow, it would just be something that she would just do with spare time since she loves Tara so much. I really enjoyed this. Thanks for the warm, fuzzy feelings.



:flower :)



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 Post subject: Re: this is just..
PostPosted: Sat Feb 26, 2005 7:36 pm 
wow, that was precious. so so so freakin' precious. i even got a little teary! such a beautiful little story and i agree with whoever said it was the best proposal scene they've read.



now i'm inspired. who wants to get hitched? :luv



brandy

"i'm not like the girls that you've known but i believe i'm worth coming home to." tori amos, sleeps with butterflies



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 Post subject: Re: this is just..
PostPosted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 12:43 am 
Wow... that was so perfect. Just wow...

I got bitten by a drunk lesbian! Does that mean I'll turn into one?



~my friend Mary



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 Post subject: Re: this is just..
PostPosted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 5:21 am 
That was so amazingly written, yup i think i'm tingly! hehe, that was beautiful.... :clap



Stace xXx

Light up, light up...As if you have a choice, even if you cannot hear my voice...I'll be right beside you dear.... <3
-Snow Patrol



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 Post subject: Wow
PostPosted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 4:16 pm 
Wow. That was just....wow. You really captured a wonderful emotion in such a short fic. You know you truely love someone when you can find wonderful thoughts in the most mundane things. And if you can tell me how to make stars from pancake batter, that'll just make my day! Cheers! :peace



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 Post subject: Re: Simply perfect
PostPosted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 7:03 am 
I love how you wrote Willow's thought process progression, from her natural inclination of making (correction, wanting to make) a list of how wonderful Tara is; to her realization that she doesn't need the words.



And the timing of her proposal is perfect. I also love the symmetry you put in, Willow asked twice, the second time firmer than the first. And Tara answered twice, the second "yes" also stronger than the first. Plus Tara was the nervous one taking out the ring, but Willow becomes nervous putting it on her fianceé's fingers -- each time it's the other who comforts.



They fit together perfectly. QED.

------

quiet thoughts



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 Post subject: Re: Simply perfect
PostPosted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 9:13 am 
Awww..that was so amazing and so beautiful:love . Love sam xx

"Sometimes things happen between people that you don't really expect. And sometimes the things that are important are the ones that seem the weirdest or the most wrong. And those are the ones that change your life." - Jessie Sammler (Evan Rachel Wood)



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 Post subject: Re: Simply perfect
PostPosted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 3:04 pm 
Wow!! *sniffle, sniffle*



That was great. It was all sweet and funny with the babbling in the head and what not.



Great job.





brittney





~Good friends help you move. Real friends help you move the body.~



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 Post subject: Re: Simply perfect
PostPosted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 3:21 pm 
Hello Kittens-



From the horror of the blank screen and the mocking cursor to the quiet Sunday morning ritual and Willow's proposal followed by Tara's acceptence this story just felt so darn right! The ring scene brings back memories. I think Willow speaks for all of us who try to put into words what we feel about our love for that perfect person in our life.





Thank you,



Jixer



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 Post subject: Re: Simply perfect
PostPosted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 8:28 pm 
wiccanbotanist – Misty-eyed is good, I like that reaction. That fist bit was exactly how I was feeling, staring at my computer, trying to work out Run-ins, so it’s good to know other people out there are feelin’ my pain. Hope you got your assignment worked out.
Quote:
But I've got to say about the proposal. This is the best proposal scene I think I've seen yet. I'm awww-inspired.
Wow, um, wow, thank you so much. I mean, wow.



I’ve read so many proposals between Willow and Tara and other proposals (Buffy/Faith, Faith/Dawn, Dawn/Other, and, oh sacrilege, Willow/Other) and they all start to blend together after a while or start to sound the same. So I’m honored wiccanbotanist, I really really am.



Spikeizmine87 – Hehe Rose, thanks for taking time out of your busy frolicking schedule to insist I write more. I feel very very special now. And don’t worry, if you ever mention it, I’ll remind you. Really, thank you. And you know, for a person who thinks way way too much, I’m really a simple girl at heart. I wouldn’t mind a proposal like this any day.



willohand – Thanks willohand, and wow that’s a lot of bowing. Oh, and you’re welcome!



watersong84 – Thanks!



Willow18 – I’m glad you like it and that you were surprised. I think I surprised myself too. I wasn’t really thinking that it would become what it is now. You’re welcome for the fuzzies.



kisstheviolets – I’m getting teary reading all of your feedback. Thank you so much. Can’t really help with the getting hitched thing though, sorry brandy!



Tempest Duer – Thanks T.



Wired vixen – Thank you Stace.



serendipitous – I’ll let you know about the star thing, we’re out of pancake mix. And thank you. I have my own personal muse to thank for this, she’s always in my heart.



hidden watson – Thanks. Yes, Willow being ever the um quirky and conscientious student she was and adult she is, would of course logically want to make a list. But sometimes, sometimes, lists are completely useless, because there is no list long enough and no analysis in depth enough that can capture the truth and simple perfection of love.



And honestly, the symmetry, as you put it, of the double question and double answer was completely accidental. I just wrote what seemed to fit, and when I reread it, it felt right. My brain is pretty dead, I just had to ask someone in chat what QED meant. Thank you, hidden watson, for holding my fic as proof that they fit together perfectly.



Sam d – Thanks sam.



amazonaa – Thanks brittney. I think I have to find a box of tissues for everyone.



jixer – Thanks so much jixer. I’m glad it brought back memories for you, and that it felt right. I hoped it would. Like Willow I tend to feel like I have to say exactly the right thing, in exactly the right way, and I tend to want to overanalyse. And then I have one of those moments, those ‘A-ha!’ moments…And all I can hope for is that in saying such few words, I might be able to communicate the depth and breadth of what I feel.

And that the perfect person for me might someday find me to be perfect for them as well.



Again, I would like to thank you all for leaving such wonderful feedback. This was a therapeutic exercise for me on many levels. I was worried that I was going through severe writer’s block. And I really, really wanted to get to this point in the relationship with Run-ins, but it just wasn’t working, hence the empty screen. I needed to forget Run-ins for a while, and just write. Something I haven’t done in a long time. And it just kind of went from there.



So thank you, thank you all for reading and for your kind words. Now maybe I can go figure out what’s going on with that other fic of mine.

Edited by: Warduke at: 2/28/05 7:45 pm


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 Post subject: Re: Simply perfect
PostPosted: Tue Mar 01, 2005 3:16 am 
Hi... am I too late? :paranoid I just wanted to say, that was indeed, 'simply perfect' :heart

Chris Cook

Through the Looking-glass

A Willow and Tara for every world.

Smut Bunnies!: Saving the world, sexily!



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 Post subject: Re: Simply perfect
PostPosted: Tue Mar 01, 2005 11:42 pm 
Your story was just as your title states: "Simply Perfect".



I have to give a big ditto to wiccanbotanist and agree that this was the best proposal scene I have ever EVER read in any story.



Fantastic!



Cheers

DW

"Promise me you'll never be linear." "On my trout." Support The Arts! TLC Fundraiser Forum



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 Post subject: Re: Simply perfect
PostPosted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 9:45 pm 
Just a couple more replies:



Artemis – Nope, not too late, actually, I’m the one that’s late in replying, hehe. Thanks Chris!



DarkWiccan – Thanks DW! I’m still blushing, hehe…But I must say, I’ve been missing your Poofs girl!





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 Post subject: Re: Simply perfect
PostPosted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 9:58 pm 
*Sigh* Beautiful. :heart

Tara: My heart doesn't stutter.


Tara: Willow, I got so lost.

Willow: I found you. I will always find you.




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 Post subject: Re: Simply perfect
PostPosted: Sat Mar 12, 2005 7:22 am 
*sniffles* God this was beautiful. It kinda brought back some bittersweet memories of me and my ex, I proposed to her, was frantic for weeks about how to ask, then it was just like an epiphany, and I um, asked her in bed, the best romance at times can be the simplest.



Wonderful stuff, this is the kind of writing that gives me hope for the future.



~Emma/Sticks

I will Love You, Forever and a Day
If its only tears and pain, isnt it still worth the cost - Alison Krauss, That Kind of Love

JediBites.Com Forums



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 Post subject: Re: Simply perfect
PostPosted: Wed Aug 31, 2005 11:41 pm 
Offline
3. Flaming O

Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2005 2:43 pm
Posts: 121
Title – Plastic and Willow

Author name – eklipsej

Rating – PG

Disclaimer – All Buffy characters were created by and unfortunately belong to the creators of BTVS.

Feedback – Yes please!

Summary/Notes – This is, of course, our version of BTVS where the the last 5 minutes of Seeing Red and so on never happened and they all lived happily ever after. Still working on the assumption that Dawn was 13 during season 4. This is a companion to the previously stand-alone Simply Perfect.

Plastic. It’s just a piece of plastic.

It can’t be that big, I mean, after all, the box is only 6 or 7 inches long. That’s what I keep telling myself, but right now the box sitting on our bathroom counter holding that little piece of plastic is scaring the bats out of me. It really shouldn’t, the logical part of me knows that. But the other 95% of me is still scared.

Okay, not scared, nervous maybe?

One little piece of plastic and everything changes.

It’s just plastic Tara, get a grip!

What I really need is courage, and I know just where to find her. I give one last glare at the counter and walk out of the bathroom, pulling the door shut behind me. We definitely don’t want anyone, especially Dawn or Faith seeing that thing.

Our guests hardly ever use the master bath in our room, but…You never know…I turn and give a little wave of my hand, satisfied when I hear the faint click of our bedroom door locking behind me.

Willow and I have talked a lot in the past few years about the proper use of magicks, I’m pretty sure she’ll understand this one.

Speaking of Willow, I find her sitting with Dawn at our dining table. As I lean on the wall at the end of the hallway I can’t help but smile. Willow and Dawn are poring over three textbooks and two notebooks at once. I’m afraid to ask which subject it is this time. It could be Physics, Latin, or something more obscure, like the Sociological Impact of Feminist Theory in Developing Nations. I’m pretty sure Dawn is triple majoring, in what exactly I couldn’t tell you, mostly because I can’t remember all the words to at least one of her majors. I’d have to ask Willow.

Another voice draws my attention and I have to fight to suppress my laughter. Faith has taken up her usual position, sprawled out on the carpeted floor between the living room and the dining area. She is lying on her stomach, her legs swinging in the air as she asks Willow about polynumeral equations or derivative matrices or some thing like that.

I might be in a house full of geniuses right now. Goddess knows I’m most definitely in a house full of smart-alecks. Dawn rolls her eyes at something Faith says, Faith glares at her playfully, Willow shakes her head at both of them.

This little ritual of theirs was Willow’s idea.

Twice a week Dawn and Faith come over and they get to ask Willow anything about what they’re studying. I’m no slouch either; I’ve found myself joining their study sessions more often than not.
Willow stands and walks over to our bookshelf. After a minute of searching she finds the books she was looking for. She drops one down next to Faith and returns to her seat next to Dawn. Between the three of them, they probably have enough books open for every person in one of my Women’s Studies classes back at UCSD.

Faith chews on one end of her pencil as she copies her notes from some crumpled up pieces of paper into a notebook. She complained about having to carry a “geeky-ass backpack,” so Willow gave her some loose-leaf and some very sharp pencils (also useful as emergency stakes should the need arise) to stick inside her pocket. Faith finds the page she needs in our book. She drops her pencil, picks up a red pen and scribbles in her notebook. When she’s done she picks up the pencil and starts chewing again.

Its official: Willow is contagious.

The fact that Faith is here laying on our living floor is a minor miracle, courtesy of Willow, of course.

It was Willow who had the summoned the courage to visit Faith in prison after Angel told us that all Faith wanted was a chance to apologize. She wasn’t looking for forgiveness, just the chance to ask for it. Willow gave her both.

It was Willow who dared to suggest that Faith come back to Sunnydale after Angel and the lawyers at Wolfram & Hart managed to arrange for her release.

It was Willow who had the balls, yes the balls, to finally call Buffy out after months of tension-filled patrols.

“Buffy,” she had said, “Why don’t you just get over yourself? You can pretend you still hate her all you want, you can tell yourself you’re not in love with her, but all you’re doing is hurting yourself, and Faith. So just get over yourself Buffy. Just…get over it.”

What followed after that was a lot of talking at loud volumes with really high-pitched voices, most of which Dawn and I missed, having retreated upstairs for fear of our eardrums.

When I came back down Willow and Buffy were in the living room staring at each other, not speaking. Willow was leaning back on the couch, her arms crossed, a smirk on her lips. Buffy was standing across from her, on the other side of the coffee table, also with her arms crossed, pouting.

Finally Buffy huffed and walked out of the living room. She paused at the bottom of the stairs, turned to Willow and said “You know I love you Will, but sometimes, I really, really hate it when you’re right.”

And it was Willow who had the nerve to suggest that Faith ask Buffy out on a date and convinced Buffy to agree.

About a year later we moved out and Faith moved in.

Faith started taking classes at UCSD and coming over with Dawn right after that.

Willow never ceases to amaze me. Other people might hear her babble or slip and say something mildly to extremely embarrassing and think she’s weak, or unsure, or a scatterbrain. But she’s the strongest, bravest, and smartest person I know.

If you asked her she’d say it was me, that I make her strong, but we both know that’s not true. Not completely anyway. When she hit the lowest place she could go, I wasn’t there. No one was there really, not even Buffy or Xander, not the way she needed us.

After the car accident with Dawn and that demon, nobody really knew what to do. Buffy made a good show of trying to help her go cold turkey, they even got rid of all magicky related things in the house. But Buffy was still trying to come to terms with being alive, not to mention figuring things out with Spike, so her thinking was more along the lines of: as long as Willow wasn’t doing magick everything was of the good. Nobody thought about how hard it would be for Willow during Scooby meetings, especially when they were held at the Magic Box. Nobody thought about how hard it was for Willow everyday to fight that itch, that pull to the dark magicks, how hard it was for her to reign in and refuse all the power that came with it.

That day Amy tried to get her to go back to Rack’s, it was Willow who slammed the door in her face. She was alone in the house, she could have gone and nobody would have been the wiser. But she said no, warned Amy to stay away from her.

When we got trapped on Buffy’s birthday, and Anya was pressuring Willow to use magick to free us, Willow stood her ground. Even Buffy and Xander looked like they were going to cave, to agree with Anya. Yes, I stepped in then. Even though I hoped Willow wouldn’t give in, I couldn’t bear to see the guilt on her face, knowing that her refusal might mean death for someone she loved.

And yes, I was disappointed to know that she had kept some herbs, but she was trying to figure out how to get through it by herself, so she did it the only way she knew how. The important thing was that she was trying.

Somehow, when all the chips were down, she found the strength to try.

Looking back on it now, I think they all would have expected her to go ballistic and turn all black-eyed Dark Magic Willow after Warren Meers accidentally shot me. I was very lucky, the bullet went straight through my shoulder. A few inches lower….

I passed out from the blood loss and for a minute Willow thought I was dead. She said it was the longest minute of her life. But she fought the rage that was threatening to burst from inside her. She fought the dark magick that hummed in the air, calling out to her for vengeance, revenge, retaliation. She kept her senses enough to check for a pulse, yell for Dawn to call 911, and keep pressure on both sides of the wound until the paramedics came.

I told you Willow was amazing.

She’s looking up at me now with that cute little smile and an apologetic shrug. I smile back in an ‘it’s okay’ way. How could she have known that Dawn and Faith would show up three hours early because classes were cancelled? There was no way to anticipate that one of the new janitors would blow a fuse and knock out all the electricity for the entire UCSD campus.

Willow is responsible for that thing in our bathroom though. It was her idea to get it today. The talking about it was getting to both of us and finally she dragged me out of the house and to the store. Well, she didn’t actually have to drag me. When it comes to Willow I’m willing to follow her just about anywhere.

On this particular occasion I found myself following her out of the house and into the car. Of course, once we got to the store both her resolve and mine seemed to falter. We must’ve walked past the aisle three or four times until no one else was there. I don’t know why we were embarrassed, but we both felt a little guilty, like maybe we were doing something wrong? When we finally started looking through the boxes it took forever to pick. Of course Willow pulled one of each down from the shelves to do a side-by-side comparison.

The clerk at the register looked at us funny while we were paying, until Willow glared at him and asked if there was a problem.

Goddess I love it when she gets all butch.

And I love watching her like this, when she’s all focus-y. Her word, not mine. Suddenly I’m hit with the image of Willow sitting with a beautiful little girl with her extra-flamey red hair and sea green eyes, reading from a Scientific American or Economist or some other terribly advanced reading material. And I love it.

But for that day to come, well, there’s other things that need to happen, things which involve that thing sitting on our bathroom counter.

I sigh deeply and return to our room, making sure to relock the door behind me. Just for good measure I also lock the bathroom door.

Ten minutes later I’m back in the same position I was in before I went outside, sitting on the edge of the tub, wringing my hands and staring at that darned box.

My fingers pass over the rings on my left hand, our wedding band and engagement ring. The memory of the day Willow proposed to me comes rushing back. There was nothing special about that day really, except that Willow got up earlier than usual. I figured she had some work to get done, since she immediately went into hiding in her office.

For the longest time she worried that I might leave her again, that she wouldn’t be worthy enough to deserve a second chance at us. Even after I moved back in. My silly, silly Willow.

But somehow, without even my realizing it (and this is me we’re talking about here), she was able to overcome those fears.

And one morning, not unlike any other until that moment, she asked me to marry her.

My darling, darling Willow.

Have I mentioned yet how much I love this woman? Or how much she loves me?

She loved me even when she was scared her friends would reject her for being gay, during those nights when we were just friends, staying up late doing spells as an excuse to spend as much time with each other as possible.

She loved me even when I was so lost, after Glory…she found a way, she found me.

She loved me even after I left her to deal with her addiction alone. I felt like I had lost my Willow, and I didn’t know if I would find her again. But she did it, she found herself. Then she found me, one day in the hallway, she found me.

She always finds me.

The night my family came to the Magic Box, I would have left, even after Buffy, Dawn and the others told my father and brother to back off. I would have, except that meant leaving Willow behind. We may have floated above the dance floor later that night at the Bronze, but standing there in the Magic Box, while all her friends, our family, were standing up for me, I was lost in Willow’s eyes, and I was in heaven.

And we haven’t come down yet.

For Willow, anything…

I stand and take the four steps to the sink resolutely. As I reach for the box, I see the rings on my hand and I can’t help but smile.

I open the box and let its contents slide out into my waiting hand. It’s not as heavy as I thought it would be. I read the instructions one final time. It’s really not that difficult to use either, Willow made sure of that.

Here goes nothing Baby.

Five minutes later I find myself leaning against the wall at the end of the hallway once more, all too aware of the extra weight in my pocket.

Faith has taken Willow’s seat next to Dawn, and Willow is now standing behind them chairs, watching as Dawn and Faith work out something on a piece of paper.

Willow looks up at me then and I give her my patented Tara-grin, the one she says gives her goosebumps.

She smiles and her lips move.

Love you Tare.

I mouth back.

Love you Will.

She returns her attention back to Faith and Dawn, who are so engrossed in their problem that they don’t register that I’m watching them. I can’t wait for the picture I had imagined to become a reality.

I walk over to the table, next to Willow. She shifts to stand behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist and pulling me to her. I’m actually a little taller than she is, but when she holds me this way I feel like I’m wrapped in a Willow-cocoon. I take a deep breath, enjoying the tingle that comes every time she touches me. I peek at the books on the table, optical physics.

I feel her lips against my neck, followed by the warmth rising in my cheeks. My eyelids flutter as the tip of her nose tickles behind my ear.

Turning my head to look at her, I pull her left hand down from my waist and lay it to rest flat just below my stomach.

Baby.

I mouth the one word to her.

Her brow furrows, confused. I pull the tester from my pocket and show her the little window. She looks from my face to the little plus sign several times, her mouth gaping.

I feel her hand on my abdomen pull me closer as her jaw snaps shut.

Baby?

She asks silently.

I nod.

Baby.

“Baby.” She whispers and her lips curl into a smile that lights up her beautiful green eyes and makes her aura almost blinding.

Willow and I are having a baby.


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 Post subject: Re: Simply perfect
PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2005 5:27 pm 
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6. Sassy Eggs

Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2005 2:59 am
Posts: 357
Location: Ontario, Canada
When I saw an update to "Simply perfect," the first thought was, "Wait a minute, that one's complete, isn't it?" However, I see from this delightful sequel that it really wasn't quite finished.

I love the way you've used Tara's nervousness over the "piece of plastic" to give us a snapshot of where the family stands, and a history of how they got there.

Yay, Willow! Strong, brave, and smart is right. It's illustrated by the way she confronts Buffy, has a fight (ok, loud verbal disagreement) with her, and still stays cool and in control. You've changed just a few things that make all the difference in how things turned out: refusing Amy was very significant, and of course controlling the rage when Tara was shot. Sure, Tara wasn't dead, but Willow didn't know that until she checked the pulse. I've always thought that Tara could have been saved if Willow had used a little judicious magic and a lot of CPR, instead of going "all black-eyed Dark Magic Willow."

This story is perfectly crafted. Sentence after sentence comes out just right, as Tara reflects on her love for Willow. Great work; thank you for sharing it with us.

Russ

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"There will always be magic with you,” Willow said softly. “Always.” -- Jixer, "The Instruments Available."


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 Post subject: Re: Simply perfect
PostPosted: Fri Sep 02, 2005 1:11 pm 
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3. Flaming O
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Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2005 11:46 am
Posts: 94
Wow. These stories were so lovely. Really, I said 'awwwe' at the cuteness. Please write another story. Anything with this much random (and completely appreciated) cuteness. :-D

PS. When I started reading Plastic and Willow, I was totally thinking "Why is this rated PG?! This is going to be something NC-17!" After a little bit, I totally got the picture though. :-)


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 Post subject: Re: Simply perfect
PostPosted: Fri Sep 02, 2005 3:54 pm 
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1. Blessed Wannabe
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Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2005 2:10 am
Posts: 10
Location: Normandy, France
That's really great ! Thank you !
I would love some others stand-alone stories of yours :applause :-D

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' I am your creation and I am proud ' (Bette, Loud and Proud, The L Word)


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