Chapter 3b(ii)
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London
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Caleb stumbled out of the wall graffiti in an alleyway where he usually entered and exited this reality. “Damn! Why after all this years… it’s still difficult to land properly, plus this stupid unique ability activated…” He quietly cursed as he dusted himself off, pulled his jacket straight and ran his fingers through his platinum blonde locks. He took a quick glance up and down the alley before he headed out to the coffee shop, which was only a block down. He blended quickly into the rushing afternoon crowds on the London street.
As he neared the coffee shop, he started keeping an eye out for Willow. She usually sat at one of the tables outside the coffee shop. There she was! Her flame red hair was tied back into a ponytail and wearing a pink turtleneck blouse underneath her thick olive colored jacket that complimented the color of her hair. Something was not right about that scene. He stood there for a while looking at the redheaded woman who he had a crush on and had her girlfriend recuperating in his secret pocket dimension. Willow was stirring her mocha and just staring at nothing in particular. Her laptop was closed which was very unusual. At her feet was a suitcase. Caleb continued walking towards the Willow.
He stood behind and leaned on the back of the empty wrought iron chair opposite Willow and looked at her. She didn’t see him at all right in front of her. She continued stirring her coffee and staring into nothing in particular.
“Willow?” Caleb called out while waving his palm across her face. “Earth to Will!”
“Huh?” Willow was knocked out of her thoughts and was a little dazed. Her green eyes focused and she realized who was standing in front of her. “Caleb! I didn’t see you there.” She gave him a weak smile.
“May I?” Caleb straightened out and pulled back the chair.
“Sure. That’s what a chair is for right?” Willow grinned.
“Hey! I was being polite and all.” Mocking an indignant look, then flashing Willow a pearly white smile. “So Will, what’s with the mysterious ‘meet me there, don’t ask me why’ thing?”
“I'm leaving.”
“Leaving? On a holiday? Where?”
“Not on a holiday, Cal. I'm leaving England for good. I’ve had enough of these. I learnt a lot here for the past year but I need to go back to the States. I don’t know why but I just do.” There was a slight desperate tone to Willow’s voice.
“I see. Then will you be going home to Sunnydale then?” Concern laced in his voice. “To your friends there, at least?”
“Um… that was what I wanted to tell you about, Cal. I'm going back to Sunnydale… just for a few days to give me time to search for an apartment outside Sunnydale. I don’t think I can handle it being there again.” Willow’s face took on a sad look that Caleb learnt to tell when she was thinking of Tara. “I need you to keep quiet about it. Don’t tell Giles. I don’t want anyone to know that I’ve gone back.”
“Well, give me a call when you move into your new place then or you could call me earlier and I could…” Caleb hesitated a moment before completing his sentence. “you know… fly over to help you.” good now I know where I can insert Tara back and once I find out where Willow finds her new place, I’ll shift somewhere there to keep an eye on the two girls. He forced a smile. “Good luck, Willow, and take good care of yourself.” He said with as much happiness he could put in as he stood up and leaned over to give Willow a hug. “Now, let’s talk about other stuff…”
They went into discussing different conversation topics long into the day, before Willow had to set off to the airport at 6.
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Sunnydale : Willow’s Parents House (Morning)
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Willow had stopped the cab a few houses away from her house. She wanted to go home quietly. Hoping not to meet her parents just yet. She didn’t want to attract any additional attention. Carrying her suitcases which seemed too heavy for her frail figure, she thought about what to say when she met her parents. She stepped up to her parent’s front door, she paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts. She looked under the pot of flowers near the door and found that the spare key wasn’t there anymore. oh god… I’ve got to face them now She took a deep breath to calm herself.
“Here goes nothing…” as she let out a breath before lifting her fist, smartly knock the door and stood back listening carefully for any indication that someone was coming to the door, expressionless. She heard a quick shuffle of feet and very suddenly the door flew open, Sheila Rosenberg acted like she was seemingly chasing away nosy and pushy salesmen, seeing who was standing in front of her made her gasp and stop short at what she was going to say. All Sheila could say was a very faint “Willow”.
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A couple of hours later
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When Sheila had calmed down, Willow generally explained to her mother about her yearlong trip to England, to recuperate after losing Tara. Willow had left out her involvement with magic because her mother didn’t know she still dabbled in magic and had become quite powerful. Sheila Rosenberg could never accept the fact that her Willow was gay. So even when Willow told her about Tara’s murder, she just let it roll off her back as if Tara never existed and it hurt Willow more than ever with that attitude of her mother’s.
“… I’ll be only staying a couple of days here… at most, a week, not more.” Willow told her mother in a monotonous tone.
“But why, Willow? This is your home… how about all your friends?” Sheila asked panic in her voice, which was a little out of character for her, Willow had noticed. Sheila had been shocked to find that her only daughter had left Sunnydale suddenly a year ago without a word of goodbye and had stayed out of contact till now.
“I need to be away from this place and people to do with Sunnydale. For a while. I'm just not ready to face them. I’ll be looking for a safe place to stay outside Sunnydale… and…” Willow hesitated a moment. “ … and I'm not going back to College.”
“Where do you plan to stay? I mean… Where are you going to shift to?” the look in Sheila’s eyes took on a more concerned and panic showed in her facial expression now. “You can’t drop out from college. You’ve done that for a year already. This is just a hiatus,right?”
“No. This is NOT a hiatus and I can’t tell you where I'm going to find a place to stay. All I’m going to say that it’s going to be safer than here and quieter.” Willow answered with defiance in her voice and eyes. She had never spoken to her mother like that before even though she had sometimes in her mind thought of doing so in the past. But things changed. The sharp glint in her eyes softened after a short pause. “Mother, please don’t mention my return to Buffy or Xander or Dawn or any of my friends for that matter.”
“No! Willow! You can’t just come back now and say you are quitting college and completely cutting yourself away from your friends and family!” Tears were running down Sheila’s face when she heard the tone used by Willow, she was devastated.
Willow stood up and looked down at her mother without much of an expression of her face except sadness. She then turned and quietly made her way up the stairs to her old room leaving Sheila in the living room, crying with her head in her hands.
End chapter 3
CheerZ
Shinnen
Who cares how tall your lover is ... height doesn't matter in bed...
For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it.
. Hope she actually makes it out this time, the other scoobies have a habit of guilting her into staying. Besides, it will be interesting to say Willow in an appartment of her own... without outside pressure and responsibilities.
I'm all curious to see how Caleb is gonna get Tara back to Willow since he could've already told her about it. Not feeling sorry for Willow's mom crying, especially after her lack of a reaction to the news of Tara's death. Poor Willow, sooo sad 
Lookin' forward to seeing where this goes 
It's sweet that he takes such care to make sure things will be set up well for Tara. Thanks for updating! *hugs*
at: 12/28/03 1:38 am