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

by **EndoraVolk** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 1:35 am

Title: Labeled Heaven

Author: EndoraVolk

Feedback: If you will.

Spoilers: It talks about Willow's crush on Xander (which is what? first season), then it talks about Oz (second to fourth), and what happened in 'The Body (season five).

Setting: Sunnydale, although the first chapter happens elsewhere. Everyone is some years older and Xander and Anya are married.

Rating: R

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Mutant Enemy, I'm just using them in a very blameless, un-guilty way except the secondary (Emily) or tertiary (Laura, Mr. Collins, random students) characters that I made up.

Notes: Hope you like it. Since there are no demons or vampires in the story (no Hellmouth, I guess), Tara and Willow didn't meet in that fourth season night. If anyone finds that this story is familiar to them, it's because I've also posted it in another forum.

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1. Psychology 101

Well, that was… interesting, she thought, slinging the brown leather bag on her shoulder and picking up the suitcase. At least she hadn’t thrown all her stuff out the window. No, she had taken her time. Willow pictured her, meticulously separating all her clothes, folding shirts on the bed and placing them in the suitcase. She also pictured her picking the framed photographs, the laptop, her books and her class notes, and stuffing them inside the leather bag. Lastly, she imagined her losing her patience and tearing at the yellow memories that were Willow’s post-it notes.

Whatever. Beyond imagination, what had happened was simple. Willow had entered the flat and there, was a blue suitcase and a brown bag. Her belongings, her life, just lying there. And Emily, standing at the other side of the barrier that the suitcase formed, her arms crossed and furious tears carving into her cheeks. Willow had raised her eyebrows, kicked the suitcase softly and opened her mouth to speak.

“Did you just stuff my laptop in there? It could… it could break!”

It had been such a dumb thing to say, now she realized it. It would’ve had been so much better to ask “what’s going on?”, or “are you alright?”. Even not saying a thing would’ve been better. But the laptop thing had just come blurting out, like a thought, and there was no way to erase it.

Emily shook her head unbelievingly and rubbed off some dry tears with the back of her hand.

“This is not happening” she sobbed “You haven’t just asked me about your laptop…”

Willow began pronouncing some words, but she figured she’d better not, just in case she managed to come up with something even worse. She kept standing there, while Emily looked away and smiled incredulously, shaking her head again and again.

“Aren’t you going to say something to try to solve this?” she asked defiantly, crossing her arms.

“Do you want to solve this?”

“The question is: do you?”

“No…” Willow sighed and pushed her red hair out of her face “The question is for you. You’re the one that’s packed all my stuff.”

“I’ve just done what you didn’t dare.”

The redhead rose her eyebrows to protest, but she didn’t. Again, she felt silent. Emily was right, again. What if she didn’t win her way back into her arms? She had always managed to be forgiven, what if this time she didn’t try? Emily would want her out of the flat at once, and out of her life. There was still time to make Emily forgive her, like the previous times, but what would be so terrible about grabbing the suitcase and leaving? Willow frowned. She wouldn’t miss a thing.

It was terrible, thinking about those things, because Emily was a person, but it was how Willow felt. Or rather, how she didn’t feel. She didn’t feel much towards the girl standing in front of her. She thought she did, a long time ago, but it was all routine now, and she felt increasing interest towards her work and less towards Emily. She hadn’t done this before because her parents already knew Emily, and her friends were used to the dark-haired, cheerful girl. Willow was too lazy to begin a serious relationship all over again, but now she was sure that she preferred it to this.

“This” wasn’t a relationship anymore, and so it had to be cut. Laziness? Yes, but someone had to do it, and, internally, she thanked Emily for taking the first step. It was her flat, after all. It was fair; after all, she would want to bring her babes here, and Willow still had a home.

“Okay…” she sighed, picking up the suitcase and the leather bag as tenderly as she could.

Emily threw her a dumfounded glare.

“You’re leaving?”

“That’s why suitcases are packed for, aren’t they? To take all your stuff someplace else? So I’m taking it.”

“You’re not going to…? You know, just like that?”

“This time I’m not pleading. You’re right, I’m a disaster, so I’m leaving your life, on to ruining someone else’s.”

“Willow” Emily said, gravely “You’re not a disaster, I wish it was that simple. You… ah, you don’t know who you are.”

“Oh!” Willow grinned “Welcome to Psychology 101. Alright, I confess I missed the psychoanalysis thing. You do it so well…”

“You know? Forget it, take your stuff and that’s it.”

The redhead shrugged and closed the door behind her. She absolutely hated it when Emily began her psychologist routine. At the beginning she had thought it cute. Three years before, when they had met, Emily had delivered a pick-up line that had to do with her Psychology studies. It had seemed amusing to be analyzed, but only at first. Willow couldn’t help wondering how many of her girlfriend’s essays she had been the central topic of.

Not girlfriend… Ex-girlfriend, she thought, resting her forehead on the elevator’s mirror. Now what?, Willow, think. Back home, but not her parents’. Real home: home, home. She stuffed her suitcase inside the car, rested the leather bag that contained her laptop carefully on the seat beside her, and she rode off.

She felt as if she was riding back, as if she was returning from some long journey. Somehow, she had always known that she would return to her hometown, as if Emily was just a chapter that broke the continuity of her life in Sunnydale.

________________

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.

(Friedrich Nietzsche)

by **MissKittys Ball O Yarn** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 1:38 pm

I like this very much. I think your writing style is wonderful. I hope you continue this tale.

Willow seems very unhappy in her relationship with this Emily woman so It's probably best for both of them that things are ending. But why do I get the feeling that Emily won't be out of the picture for long? She seems sweet enough, but there's something about her, that screams troublemaker. I can see some definite tension in the future.

Good start

xoxo

Emms

I can wax philisophically on a variety of different subjects...that doesn't,however, mean that I have anything constructive to add to the conversation.

--- Me

Edited by: MissKittys Ball O Yarn at: 2/22/05 12:39 pm

by **wiccanbotanist** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 7:21 pm

I've just got to say your Emily reminds me of a friend of mine, also a psychologist, they certainly have a way of analysing everything.

And you know a relationship was never meant to be when the first question asked is something to the effect of "Is my laptop alright?" That was a great line...a true classic.

And Yay now Willow can go back to Sunndale and get on with her life and meet the love of her life!

And since I'm one who has seen this on another forum I know where the next few chapters lead and I would definately suggest you post it here soon! And keep the story going....

-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.

by **EndoraVolk** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 2:33 am

MissKittys Ball O Yarn: Thank you for the feedback! You're right about Emily. She isn't a villain, she isn't this unlikable character. I mean, you can understand her, but you don't want her to "win". She must be back in some point.

wiccanbotanist: Hi, so you know how the story's going. :P You know, I don't really know anyone that has studied Psychology, but what you said proves that I did more or less a good job with Emily. Emily, as Willow's ex, is like a mixture of my ex-girlfriends. So she isn't going to be unlikable, but it's not going to be pretty. And the laptop question... you're right, it was meant to be there because it's such a wrong question to ask.

Title: Labeled Heaven

Author: EndoraVolk

Feedback: If you will.

Spoilers: It talks about Willow's crush on Xander (which is what? first season), then it talks about Oz (second to fourth), and what happened in 'The Body (season five).

Setting: Sunnydale, although the first chapter happens elsewhere. Everyone is some years older and Xander and Anya are married.

Rating: R

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Mutant Enemy, I'm just using them in a very blameless, un-guilty way except the secondary (Emily) or tertiary (Laura, Mr. Collins, random students) characters that I made up.

Notes: Hope you like it. Since there are no demons or vampires in the story (no Hellmouth, I guess), Tara and Willow didn't meet in that fourth season night. If anyone finds that this story is familiar to them, it's because I've also posted it in another forum.

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2. Optimist perception

It was weird, the way she felt. She was rather eager to go back, and felt quite happy. Maybe it was just the weird sensation one has when she’s just become single again… A weird emptiness in the stomach that had nothing to do with hunger… Maybe, but there was optimism there too, and Willow confirmed it when her car whooshed by the “Welcome to Sunnydale” green plaque that greeted her.

She drove slower now, wanting to look closely at her town. It had been quite a long time since she had last step foot there (usually, her friends were the ones that went to visit), but everything looked quite the same. The main street was still small, cozy with trees and cafés. The rest of the town surrounded it, but it hadn’t grown a bit.

Soon, she was driving down the surrounding neighborhoods, where every house was pretty and had a nice garden. At least Willow saw it that way. She remembered walking down those very streets with her friend Xander, playing guessing games and munching on a chocolate ice-cream. Thinking about that made her feel old -even if she wasn’t-, and larger in size. Those streets had seemed bigger when she went to school, maybe gloomier even.

Before she knew it, her car passed before the house. It was quite big, like the rest, but had a country-like style that made it instantly inviting and homely, or where the memories just playing games with her perceptions? She stopped the car before earning a neck-cramp and got out, deciding to leave her suitcases and stuff there, until she had explained.

Home. Even if it had been her home for several years, it wasn’t her house, it was her friend Buffy’s. The house had always been a reunion place for her friends and her ever since Buffy, her mom and her smaller sister Dawn moved to Sunnydale. After Joyce (Buffy’s mother) passed away, Buffy had offered Willow a room. So many things had happened under that roof…

Willow touched the front door, not quite believing that she was free to go back, and finally gathered her wits to ring the doorbell. Suddenly, she was nervous and fifteen years old again. She recalled that she was anxious about every little thing, and unsure, and wore her hair much longer and not as reddish. Age changed that, or maybe it was Buffy, but the house had to do with it. There had been a point in which she had felt safe and confident, at last.

The door opened and there was Dawn. Or a grown, womanly version of Dawn. Her hair was not as long as Willow recalled it was, and now she was taller than her, even if she was five years younger. In short, Dawn had become a woman, and Willow couldn’t speak or do a thing because she couldn’t conceive it. Luckily, the girl was able to react: she shrieked and almost jumped on Willow, choking her with a tight embrace.

“Willow!” she cried “It’s you!”

“Dawn… Dawnie” she gasped, prying the girl’s arms off her neck.

“Oh God, it’s been… it’s been…”

…A long time, yes, Willow, thought, grinning all the same. She let herself be pulled into the house and hugged twice again. Dawn wasn’t asking her why she had come, and it was nice of her; she would be satisfied with hugs, but Buffy was another matter.

She popped her head out of the kitchen door, and began asking Dawn who was it, but she didn’t finish the question. As soon as she saw Willow she sped out of the kitchen, exclaiming the redhead’s name.

“Will, it is you! What a surprise!” Buffy cried, embracing her by the shoulders “How come you’re here?”

“Can’t she just come to visit?” Dawn asked, firing the question instantly.

“W-well, yeah, of course she can!” Buffy looked from her sister to Willow “I just asked in case something… was wrong, you know.”

“Don’t get mad, Dawnie… it’s okay. There’s nothing wrong. It’s… um, Emily.”

“You and Emily had a fight?” Dawn asked.

“Dawn…” Buffy frowned at her straightforwardness.

“No, I… we broke up” Willow said, simply.

She felt weird saying those words, as if she was an actress in a very bad soap opera that couldn’t believe the script she was reciting. The line “we broke up” didn’t seem true. More of that empty-stomach feeling, more feeling of unreality. Was it possible that she had broken up with someone she had been seeing every day for three whole years?

But she felt even weirder when a second passed and Buffy and Dawn reacted. Both of them hugged her at the same time and began telling her how sorry they were. This has turned into an even worse soap opera, Willow thought.

The three of them moved to the living room, and she tried to convince them that they didn’t have to worry about her, that she was fine. Also, she didn’t feel like discussing the reasons for the breakup, not that Buffy and Dawn were asking piercing questions, but she felt like forgetting all about Emily and concentrating on the pleasantness of being in Buffy and Dawn Summers’ house again.

“So, how are you guys doing?” she asked, diverting the topic..

“In case you didn’t know, I started college this year” Dawn flashed a smile, delighted with the attention she knew she was about to receive.

“I know, I know, you’re all grown up now” Willow rolled her eyes and looked at Buffy.

“Yeah, you’re lucky you found her home today. Usually she’s in her dorm room doing who knows what with who knows who...”

“Come on, won’t you give me a break even for Willow’s sake?” Dawn whined.

“Buffy, what about you?”

“Me? Nothing, really. Xander and I have been carrying Dawn’s stuff over to her dorm but, now that’s over and my brat sister is never here so…”

“Hey, I’m here now!”

“Will you let me finish one sentence?” Buffy cried in mock frustration “…So now I don’t have to take care of this kid… I don’t know, I don’t have much to do.”

“How’s work?”

“Work’s fine, I don’t get much to do but-”

“God, she’s awfully cranky these days…” Dawn sighed, immediately having to duck to elude the cushion that Buffy had thrown her.

In spite of everything, Willow had to smile. Sure, Buffy was a little cranky, and Dawn was even more outspoken, so the Summers’ household had to be a bomb about to explode, but she felt cozy there, as if she formed part of the family again. All she had left to know was how was Xander.

Xander had been her friend since forever. They hadn’t always been close, but they knew each other basically since they were toddlers. She remembered the crush she used to have on Xander, something that had maintained itself throughout many years. And Xander had never corresponded her, at least not until she got her first boyfriend at sixteen. Whether it was jealousy or a sudden notice that she wasn’t a little girl anymore, it lighted Xander’s adolescent interest. But they had never gone out, and Willow was thankful now. If she managed not to think about all the nights she had spent daydreaming about him, Willow thought that it had been better that way. Discovering her lesbianism with Xander as a boyfriend wouldn’t have been the least pleasant. She was happy considering him her friend, or even more, her brother.

“Xander’s fine, he tries to come over as much as he can” Buffy commented “And Anya’s… still Anya. I swear, Dawn’s getting more like her every day…”

“Come on…” the girl protested “Oh, let’s phone them, I’m sure Xander will come straight away!”

Willow nodded, anxious to hug the man she still recalled as the boy that swallowed liters of Gatorade without breathing to (unsuccessfully) impress the girls around him.

________________

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.

(Friedrich Nietzsche)

by **Irishgrl3** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 9:05 am

Wow, I just found this and am really enjoying it so far. I mean the first chapter was sad in a way (well I guess only for Emily

) but it got Willow back to Sunnydale where she belongs. Looking forward to what's next!

-anna

by **EndoraVolk** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 10:59 am

Irishgrl3: Hi, I'm glad you're enjoying this so far. These are a like introductory chapters so that everyone's clear on the fic's situation and Willow's situation. Keep reading!

Title: Labeled Heaven

Author: EndoraVolk

Feedback: If you will.

Spoilers: It talks about Willow's crush on Xander (which is what? first season), then it talks about Oz (second to fourth), and what happened in 'The Body (season five).

Setting: Sunnydale, although the first chapter happens elsewhere. Everyone is some years older and Xander and Anya are married.

Rating: R

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Mutant Enemy, I'm just using them in a very blameless, un-guilty way except the secondary (Emily) or tertiary (Laura, Mr. Collins, random students) characters that I made up.

Notes: Hope you like it. Since there are no demons or vampires in the story (no Hellmouth, I guess), Tara and Willow didn't meet in that fourth season night. If anyone finds that this story is familiar to them, it's because I've also posted it in another forum.

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3. Newborn

The music was blaring around them. Willow felt comfortable and everything, but a little twilight-zone-y. The Bronze was still the Bronze, the place where they used to hang out when they were teenagers; a mixture of snack-bar, pub, and concert area (almost every night there was a band singing live). It was weird that everything was so similar to how it used to be. The same kids, everyone acting the just like they did when Willow was one of them. Now it was Dawn who went here many nights, but Willow had agreed on going for the old times.

She was sitting on a stool, her arms crossed on the tall, circular table before her. Beside her was Xander, and beside him was Anya, his wife. Buffy was sitting at her other side, turning around once in a while to keep an eye on Dawn, who had spotted some friends.

“…Friends, yeah, that’s what she always says and before I know it she’s surrounded by guys.” Buffy grumbled.

“She’s eighteen” Anya shook her head “Whatever she hasn’t done by now…”

“Anya…” Xander sighed.

“Thank you, Anya, now I’ll be sleeping much better” Buffy said, sarcastically.

“I’m just saying that you can’t protect her always, you can’t hide her inside a closet and pretend she doesn’t exist… Hey, I didn’t mean anything with the metaphor…” Anya looked at them, saw that no one was laughing, and so went back to her drink.

“Hey,” Buffy said, placing her hand on Willow’s arm “You okay?”

“Yeah, absolutely. It feels weird being here, at the Bronze.”

It was true, she wasn’t feeling depressed. Why should she? Oh, right, Emily. Maybe depression would come, but not because she had lost Emily the person; it would come because she had lost Emily the girlfriend. If she and Emily had hung on to whatever they had for so long it wasn’t out of love, surely; it was because it always brought some kind of security, knowing you were with someone, knowing that you had a place to go, and someone that would help you with your problems only because you lived in the same house.

…Which made her think about her work. She had just left, thinking about Sunnydale and pretty memories, but she hadn’t dedicated a thought to her work. Even if Emily had finished her Psychology studies, she was working sometimes as a waitress, sometimes in a cinema selling tickets, and as an after-school teacher for children. Willow had ended up giving in to her computer craze and had studied that, working as a College teacher, even if she had been a student there not so long ago.

In theory, she had a class tomorrow. In theory… She knew she wouldn’t go, even if there was still time to drive back and sleep some hours. Sleep where? In a hotel? Willow sat back in her seat, knowing that there was no going back. Emily wouldn’t open the door now. Never mind, now she was in Sunnydale, surrounded by her real friends. Surely she could… find another job.

“Hey guys, I was thinking…” she began, seeing that her friends were giving her all their attention “I was thinking that I could stay here.”

“Willow, you know you can stay home any time you want” Buffy said, gently.

“It isn’t that. I mean, staying at Sunnydale… You know, to live... again.”

“Oh!” Buffy exclaimed.

“We’d love that!” Xander cried, hugging her with his big arms “Won’t we? Won’t we love that? Willow back! All of us together again!”

Willow smiled and hugged Xander back. His enthusiasm was contagious. She surrounded his neck with her arms and grabbed a chunk of his dark hair, which was getting a bit long. She was lucky that Xander was her friend. As soon as she let go of him, Anya surprised her with a hug. The girl always surprised you with things like that. Willow made the hug short, and then turned to Buffy. Buffy knew what Willow wanted.

“I don’t know if you want to get your own place or something, I’m guessing you won’t be going back to your parents, but you know you can stay at my place. It can, you know, be home again for you if you want.”

See?, Willow thought, Buffy knew. At last, Buffy went to her and hugged her. Everything was going to be okay. Willow finished her drink and mused about her future. Yes, it would be okay. She still needed a job, but she felt like a newborn, with the opportunities set out before her.

________________

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.

(Friedrich Nietzsche)

by **Irishgrl3** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 11:15 am

Yay, she's staying! The gang was so excited too. And some say you can't go home again. Hee-hee. Looking forward to what's next and Willow finding the love of her life.

by **MissKittys Ball O Yarn** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 11:25 am

so Willow's staying... I really liked the way you described her return to Sunnydale and the warm dawn-reception she received upon her arrival. Very nice. Now, I can't wait to see how she's going to meet :tara

.

xoxo

Emms

I can wax philisophically on a variety of different subjects...that doesn't,however, mean that I have anything constructive to add to the conversation.

--- Me

by **EndoraVolk** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 2:41 am

Irishgrl3: So, this is the last introductory chapter. Real action begins from this chapter on.

MissKittys Ball O Yarn: I'm glad you liked how I described the return to Sunnydale and all. Tara-meeting below...

Title: Labeled Heaven

Author: EndoraVolk

Feedback: If you will.

Spoilers: It talks about Willow's crush on Xander (which is what? first season), then it talks about Oz (second to fourth), and what happened in 'The Body (season five).

Setting: Sunnydale, although the first chapter happens elsewhere. Everyone is some years older and Xander and Anya are married.

Rating: R

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Mutant Enemy, I'm just using them in a very blameless, un-guilty way except the secondary (Emily) or tertiary (Laura, Mr. Collins, random students) characters that I made up.

Notes: Hope you like it. Since there are no demons or vampires in the story (no Hellmouth, I guess), Tara and Willow didn't meet in that fourth season night. If anyone finds that this story is familiar to them, it's because I've also posted it in another forum.

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4. Portfolio life

The alarm clock startled her. Blindly, she moved her hand and turned it off rather roughly. There was light everywhere, it was like the climax of an explosion, but it didn’t cease. Oh right, Sunnydale, and the “sunny” part had always been literal. Three days had passed, and she hadn’t re-accustomed herself to her own hometown’s particularities. Nearly always it was sunny, and no one slept with the blinds down. That way, one woke up to the supposedly beautiful light that bathed the whole town. Okay, she had to admit it was beautiful. Since when she had become so grumpy?

She pushed herself up, grabbed the clothes she had prepared the night before and headed towards the bathroom. She felt cheerful the moment her bare feet touched the wooden floor. Since she had lived for the past three years in a dull flat, she had forgotten how good it felt waking up inside a real house in a sunny day. It was like being in a cocoon, inside a living thing that accepted and loved you.

Buffy had been really nice about letting her have her old bedroom, which had been Joyce’s. Dawn hadn’t said a thing, but Willow knew that the girl didn’t want to lose her bedroom; it was clear that the eighteen-year-old preferred that Willow went back to occupying her mother’s room. My room, she mused, stepping into the shower. It felt so good to be here…

Today was an important day. She needed it to be successful in order to be able to stay in Sunnydale. This was her goal in life now. She had come up with the wording two days ago (“her goal in life”); someone else would consider it banal or stupid, but she needed this, she needed to have an aim. Now that she had returned to Sunnydale, she had to make sure she stayed there. And the way to do it was getting this job.

Willow had decided to play it big. She had been talking to Xander and Anya about it, and she had made up her mind. No, thank you, Xander, she didn’t want to be a waitress at someone’s bar. No, thank you, Anya, she didn’t want to work in her store either. She was thankful to Buffy too, even if she could find her a job in the school she worked in as a P.E. teacher. But this new beginning had to be enough to sustain her in Sunnydale; and she knew she wouldn’t be happy as a waitress or as a school teacher. She was hoping to work in UC Sunnydale, in a university, like her previous work.

And she had an interview to go to. She went down to the kitchen and busied herself making some coffee for everyone. Some minutes later, Buffy came down the stairs, marched into the kitchen and sat on a stool.

“Morning” she mumbled.

“Morning” Willow answered, amused “Had a bad night’s sleep?”

“Sleep was fine. It’s the waking part that bugs me.”

Willow giggled. She talked to her friend for a little while and then had to go. Getting into her car, she drove towards the campus. It had been reasonably expanded, but it was basically the same busy environment she and Buffy had habited when they had begun their studies.

She parked her car and walked to the main building where the office was. In her right hand, a bulky portfolio that contained every single computer-related thing she had done in her life, which was a lot. Recalling her high school days, she had even substituted for a teacher when she was sixteen years old. Would they be impressed, or was she being too self-assured?

Those doubts made her stop before the office door, tugging at the rubber bands of the portfolio.

“You may go in” the secretary said, for the second time.

Willow looked at the lady and nodded. She knew that she could enter that office, but she had suddenly lost courage. The same doubt hovered over her head: what if they weren’t impressed? What if she was just a self-assured poser? She retreated a few steps, and then a couple more, and didn’t stop until she was out of the building. Where did all the fear come from? Where was all her previous sureness, her determination of staying in Sunnydale?

Oh, Willow thought, while sitting on a bench. So this is the depression that I was waiting for. It was funny; it had come without a warning, it had just possessed her there and hadn’t asked for permission. A slap in the face. She had her friends, yes, but she hadn’t a place of her own, or the job she aspired. She was a newborn, and now she didn’t see it in a positive light. It was as if she had done nothing with her life! The long-term girlfriend lost; the secure job lost: the flat was lost too. The things that formed her life were gone, there was nothing left.

Nothing left… Well, just this body, Willow thought, dragging her fingers over her head. Before I didn’t have much, but look at me now.

“My life fits into a portfolio…” she muttered, wanting to throw the violet folder as far as she could.

“I beg your pardon?”

The redhead lifted her face and saw a woman standing before her.

“Huh?” it was all she could say.

“Oh, sorry” the woman said, stepping back “I thought you were saying something.”

“I… I guess I was.”

“Oh” the woman stepped forward “But… not to me, right?”

“Oh!” Willow cried, suddenly understanding “I’m sorry, now I was… speaking to myself? I guess. I’m sorry, I’m weird.”

The woman laughed and gave another step towards Willow. She was… she was lovely! Dark blond hair, falling past her shoulders, beautiful smile, womanly and voluptuous shape… Um, yeah, I better stop gaping at her… Gosh, look at my hormones, they’ve gone wacky!

“Don’t apologize for your weirdness” the blond woman was saying. "Excuse me, but do you… do you work here?”

“No…” Willow answered, sulkily.

“I’m sorry, I’ve probably insulted you. You study here, don’t you?”

“Oh! No, I don’t. You... you haven’t insulted me. See, I want to work here. I had an interview…” she paused, remembering how she had walked away, leaving the secretary with her mouth wide open “…An interview which I screwed up…”

Her depression, or whatever it was, returned. She continued her previous thoughts, about her life fitting into an insignificant portfolio. When she regained consciousness of her surroundings the woman had disappeared . She was left staring at an empty patch of ground. What the…?

“Welcome back.”

The redhead almost jumped out of her skin. There, sitting beside her on the bench, was the blond woman.

“I thought we’d lost you there” the woman chucked with that deep voice of hers.

“Oh… No. I was the one that thought I’d lost you. Did I say that? I’m sorry, it’s been a long time, but I tend to babble whenever… whenever…”

Whenever I’m nervous, Willow thought, smiling shyly.

“Why did you screw up the interview?”

“Um… basically? Because I didn’t show. I heard that really tends to screw up interviews.”

“We’ll take care of that…” the woman said, with a determined voice, grabbing Willow’s arm and pulling her to her feet “Come on.”

“Where…? Where are we going?”

“We’re going to get you a job.”

“O-kay, but… you… could I at least have your, uh, name?” Willow gasped, while she let herself be pulled along all the campus.

“Tara” the blonde said, simply, flashing a smile and then looking back straight ahead “And you’re Willow.”

“Yes, how do you…?”

“Label on you portfolio. Willow Rosenberg.”

“Why are you doing this?” Willow asked, somewhat scared.

“I still haven’t done anything. But, um, let's just say I’d like to see you ‘round.”

________________

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.

(Friedrich Nietzsche)

by **Irishgrl3** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 9:25 am

Ooh Willow goes into full babble mode upon meeting Tara. Go assertive Tara, trying to help Willow get that University job. Nice line from Tara;

Quote:
“I still haven’t done anything. But, um, let's just say I’d like to see you ‘round.”

Can't wait to see where this leads!

-anna

by **EndoraVolk** » Sat Feb 26, 2005 1:05 pm

Irishgrl3: Glad you liked the meeting, the babble and Tara's line. Let's see if you like the rest.

Title: Labeled Heaven

Author: EndoraVolk

Feedback: If you will.

Spoilers: It talks about Willow's crush on Xander (which is what? first season), then it talks about Oz (second to fourth), and what happened in 'The Body (season five).

Setting: Sunnydale, although the first chapter happens elsewhere. Everyone is some years older and Xander and Anya are married.

Rating: R

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Mutant Enemy, I'm just using them in a very blameless, un-guilty way except the secondary (Emily) or tertiary (Laura, Mr. Collins, random students) characters that I made up.

Notes: Hope you like it. Since there are no demons or vampires in the story (no Hellmouth, I guess), Tara and Willow didn't meet in that fourth season night. If anyone finds that this story is familiar to them, it's because I've also posted it in another forum.

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

5. When the lights went out

Willow couldn’t believe what had happened. Being dragged along a college campus by a blond woman (an experience that made her feel like the wife of a caveman) was certainly new, and she hadn’t quite recovered when she was practically pushed against the desk of the secretary she had met before.

The secretary glared at her, and Willow was about to apologize (which was the only sensible thing she could come up with), but Tara seemed to have other plans. The blonde smiled candidly and addressed the secretary.

“Hey, Laura, how are you?”

“Uh… fine” the secretary answered.

“Is Mr. Collins in?” Tara didn’t wait for an answer “Remember I had an appointment with him in a couple of minutes? See? You got me right there on your agenda: Tara Maclay.”

“If you want to go in…” Laura the secretary began.

“No, I don’t want to go in. I want you to let her in” Tara pointed at Willow “In my place.”

“Look, your friend’s lost her turn-”

“Laura! Please…” Tara whined “It’s an emergency!”

The redhead only stood there, attending the conversation between the two women. In a way, she felt as if she had nothing to do with it. She was the spectator of a boxing match between Tara and Laura and had betted all her money on the blonde.

The match ended shortly after, with Tara as the clear winner. It had all happened so fast… Willow couldn’t classify her thoughts orderly. She had been pushed into Mr. Collins’ office and she had given him the portfolio. It was all she could remember. Whatever her nervousness had said in her place, it had been correct. Soon she found herself out of the office, hugging the portfolio and having a job.

Now she was sitting with Tara in one of the cafeterias, warming her trembling hands against a cup of coffee. The blonde was cheerful enough for the both of them, sipping her tea and flashing smiles.

“So, you work here?” Willow asked, wondering if she could manage small talk.

“I’m in the History department. What’s your area?”

“It’s… computers. I’ll be the computer resource specialist. So, if your computer sets on fire or something, I’m the one you call.”

“Oh, great” Tara sighed with relief.

“Yeah? How come? You like computers too?”

“I don’t like them or dislike them… I mean, I go online sometimes, but the spelling is really awful and it depresses me. What I mean is that I’m glad you’re the new ‘computer guy’…” Tara smiled jokingly “The previous one… ugh, let’s say you’re gonna be working very hard.”

“I’m guessing he was a complete disaster.”

“He was. He was here for some years and I don't understand why. I remember working with a computer that looked like it came from the dump. The mouse was fixed with cello-tape! If you had some problem and you called him, he came with that big roll of duct tape.”

Willow laughed, having relaxed a great deal with the funny things that Tara was telling her. She remembered that she had barely touched the computers there because she had her trusted laptop but… Wait a second. Willow frowned and remembered that one time she had used one of the computers in the library. As she typed the name of a book, a loose key had shot out and fallen to the floor. She had been infused with indignation, as if it had been some personal insult, but that was nothing compared to the shock of realizing that the mouse she was cradling in her hand was bound with cello-tape!

She looked at Tara and frowned.

“Since when have you been working here?”

“Umm… about a year and a half” she answered “Why?”

“Because something doesn’t make sense. Unless… Did you study here?”

“Yeah” Tara answered.

“I studied here too!” Willow realized that maybe she was acting a little too enthusiastic “I mean, it’s cool, we studied here, and here we are, working.”

“It is cool. It’s… funny I don’t remember you.”

For some reason, Willow found herself blushing. Okay, what are you doing? Why are you blushing? You’re interpreting stuff. What are you, a twelve-year-old? But she really found it funny too that she didn’t remember Tara. She had a glorious face! Even if she had only seen the back of her head… come on.

They went on talking for a while, reviewing the activities they had been in while studying there in UC Sunnydale, trying to find some kind of connection or lost memory that linked them. But they finally gave up.

“Well, it is a large college…” Willow sighed.

“And your dorm was Stevenson, while mine was across the park.”

“No way we could’ve met, I know. By the way, do you live on campus? I know some of the teachers do.”

“Yeah, I do, because I’m not from Sunnydale. I came here to study, so I don’t have my parents' house or anything. It’s cheap and practical, living here. What are you going to do?” Tara asked.

“Oh, I have a house. Well, it’s not really mine, it’s my best friend’s. I moved there when her mother died. Then I left-”

“But now you’re back” the blonde nodded “Must be cool, living with your best friend. No wonder I didn’t see you around. Besides, I didn’t go out much.”

“You weren’t a party girl?” Willow giggled.

“No way. All those parties going on… remember the one they organized when the lights went out?”

“Yeah!” Willow paused for a moment, suddenly knowing why she remembered.

“Hey, you got serious again” Tara said softly, gently touching her arm.

“I’m not upset or anything. It’s just… you reminded me of something that happened that night.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know. Something bad happened?”

“Nah, just something I don’t have the right to feel sad about. I… left my boyfriend that night.”

“Oh.”

“It was… quite a turning point, really. But I’m glad I remembered. Important things happen in Sunnydale.”

Willow wasn’t sure if Tara was understanding her, but she was suddenly immensely happy. She had forgotten about Oz, her first and last boyfriend. Oz was the sweetest boy on earth, and they had been the perfect couple for two years, until he had cheated on her, and felt so guilty that he left for more than half the course. No one knew whether he was coming back or not, and she felt doubly miserable: cheated on and abandoned. That’s when Emily came along. Oz returned, sure, but it was too late; her life had already changed in unexpected ways.

The night when the lights were out everyone in the campus was partying except her. She was telling Buffy about Emily, and then telling Oz they couldn’t be together. He left for ever. She stayed and found Emily drinking and depressed, sure that Willow had chosen Oz.

Sad story, but Willow couldn’t help feeling immersed in happiness. Her life always changed in Sunnydale. Things happened to her. Returning had been the best idea ever. She smiled harder, enjoying Tara’s confused stare.

“Your eyes are blue” she said, unthinkingly.

“God, you are weird…” Tara laughed.

The blonde paused her laugh suddenly and peered at Willow with a serious face. Her blue eyes were piercing hers. Willow gulped and pinned her back to the chair. The closeness was making her nervous.

“And your eyes are green” Tara said, regaining a normal attitude.

“You could’ve asked” Willow barked a laugh.

“But it isn’t as fun” the blonde rose an eyebrow and finished her tea.

________________

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.

(Friedrich Nietzsche)

by **EndoraVolk** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 4:15 am

Title: Labeled Heaven

Author: EndoraVolk

Feedback: If you will.

Spoilers: It talks about Willow's crush on Xander (which is what? first season), then it talks about Oz (second to fourth), and what happened in 'The Body (season five).

Setting: Sunnydale, although the first chapter happens elsewhere. Everyone is some years older and Xander and Anya are married.

Rating: R

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Mutant Enemy, I'm just using them in a very blameless, un-guilty way except the secondary (Emily) or tertiary (Laura, Mr. Collins, random students) characters that I made up.

Notes: Hope you like it. Since there are no demons or vampires in the story (no Hellmouth, I guess), Tara and Willow didn't meet in that fourth season night. If anyone finds that this story is familiar to them, it's because I've also posted it in another forum.

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

6. Let me guess

Anya’s textual words had been “congratulations to the new respectable member of our society”, while Xander had made a banner that said “Yay for the new worker!”. Each of her friends, in their own way, had congratulated her.

Buffy and Dawn had prepared a small-scale party in her honor. They had dined, consumed too much chocolate, and watched a couple of movies. Now they were all half-sitting half-lying on the sofas, nursing glasses of soda and talking more tranquilly.

“So, are you nervous or something?” Buffy asked.

“No, I feel quite alright. And I won’t be teaching, just repairing and installing stuff.” Willow answered.

“But you have an office, don’t you?” Xander inquired.

“Yes, but I haven’t seen it. I guess I’ll have to find it tomorrow.”

“I’d help you” Dawn offered “If it was a classroom, but I don’t know my way around the teacher’s offices.”

“That proves how many times you go to ask them questions…” Buffy commented wryly.

Dawn stuck out her lower lip and refused to look at her sister. Willow grinned knowingly.

“Don’t worry, Dawnie” she said “I met a very friendly teacher who’ll surely help me.”

“Something tells me that the very friendly teacher isn’t a fifty-year-old stuffy guy.” Xander snickered.

He was shortly joined by his wife. Anya emitted a loud snigger that was more of a snort.

“The key word here is ‘guy’. It sure isn’t a guy, isn’t it?”

The redhead rolled her eyes and blushed a little. Even Buffy was staring at her with interest. They wanted details, descriptions, they wanted her to give in and admit something. But she wasn’t going to give them the pleasure of confessing things that she was afraid even to think.

“Alright, alright, it’s a she” she rolled her eyes again.

“I knew it!” Xander rose his fist and poured more soda into his glass.

“So?” Anya asked, reaching for the potato chips’ bowl.

“So? So what?” Willow wrinkled her nose.

“Details!” Dawn whined.

“Okay, I think we better step on the brakes” Buffy said, glancing at Willow “Willow’s has just ended a relationship and-”

“Yeah, you’re right” Anya commented, her mouth full “But wait until she starts missing the sex.”

Okay. Like any conversation that Anya participated in, it had to be stopped by someone before it reached depraved limits. They were nearly always stopped by Xander’s nervous giggle when the word “sex” was spat out. Specially if Dawn was present.

Willow shook her head. Normally, she would glare at Anya for her lack of tact. The truth was that she didn’t possess an ounce of delicacy, but she was right sometimes. True, she had just finished a sentimental relationship, but she didn’t feel heartbroken. She had felt depressed, but only because her life seemed to hang on a very thin string. Now she was staying in Sunnydale, she had a good job, her friends there, and… What else? She had the prospect of something interesting.

She wasn’t sure that she wanted to get involved with someone, but nothing had happened yet. Probably, nothing would happen, but the prospect of it was enough for her. She had met a nice person, and that person had apparently thought that she too was nice. All, in general, was “nice”.

“So, how is she?” Dawn asked “She isn’t fifty years old, is she?”

“No!”

“Of course not. Willow’s interested, she’ll have to be young and good looking” Anya wagged her finger at Dawn, instructing her “So, good looking?”

“Yeah…” she blushed a shade darker.

“See?” Anya beamed, proud of herself.

“Blonde, redhead, brunette?” Xander asked, rescuing his interest in the conversation.

“Let me guess, let me guess!” Anya rose her hand, as if she was a child in school “Umm, let’s see… You’re a redhead, so I’ll dare and cross that one out. And Emily was a brunette, I’ll cross that one out too and guess that she’s blond.”

“You’re right, she’s blond.”

“Yes!” Anya jumped to her feet, made a little dance, and sat back down “We’re winning.”

“This isn’t a contest” Buffy replied “But you like her or you still don’t know?”

“We just wanna help” Dawn piped in “Blond, young… Anything else?”

“Classy, trashy?” Anya asked.

“Not trashy!” Willow cried, indignantly.

“Hippie-type” Anya affirmed, nudging Xander.

“Maybe she teaches me something. What department is she in?”

“Dawn, I don’t want you nosing about-” Buffy began.

“Come on! Everyone’s having fun except me!”

“History” Willow muttered.

“Brainy-type” Anya said, nodding.

“You approve of my choice?” Willow asked, ironically, her jaw clenched.

“Oh, yes” Anya said, believing that it was an actual question “’Cause you’re a brainy-type too. It fits. Plus, she’s trashy, or hippie, whatever you wanna call it.”

“And that fits me.”

“Yeah, it fits. I’m not saying you’re trashy, but I’ve seen pictures of you in your teens and…”

“Anya, please” Xander sighed and covered his eyes “I think that’s enough.”

“No, let her finish” Willow said, with a frozen smile “I know what she’s going to say.”

“Emily was a brunette, and oh-so-classy.” Anya marked the ending of her analysis popping another potato chip inside her mouth.

Thank you, Anya, Willow thought, I think I needed to hear that. Even if it was nothing, even if they had just met, even if Willow couldn’t be sure that Tara had flirted stylishly or was just being nice… Being in the game again was fun. Investigating, discovering… it was fun.

________________

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.

(Friedrich Nietzsche)

by **sam darls** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 9:07 am

Wow..amazing story you have here.. :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)

by **Irishgrl3** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 10:20 am

Ooh, wow, two updates. I like the way you've written Tara as a strong personality. She sure took charge of getting Willow back into her interview.

The Scooby party was funny, the whole gang questioning her about Tara. And Anya, boy she was priceless! Great job!

by **amazonaa** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 9:45 pm

Oh ya, take charge Tara. Gotta love it.

Great job. More soon, please.

brittney

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

by **EndoraVolk** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 4:25 pm

sam darls: Amazing story you said? wow, thank you.

Irishgrl3: Glad you liked Tara. Anya and the gang... I enjoy writing those parts, but they're like, the hardest too.

amazonaa: Take-charge Tara isn't all that she seems. Go on reading!

Title: Labeled Heaven

Author: EndoraVolk

Feedback: If you will.

Spoilers: It talks about Willow's crush on Xander (which is what? first season), then it talks about Oz (second to fourth), and what happened in 'The Body (season five).

Setting: Sunnydale, although the first chapter happens elsewhere. Everyone is some years older and Xander and Anya are married.

Rating: R

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Mutant Enemy, I'm just using them in a very blameless, un-guilty way except the secondary (Emily) or tertiary (Laura, Mr. Collins, random students) characters that I made up.

Notes: Hope you like it. Since there are no demons or vampires in the story (no Hellmouth, I guess), Tara and Willow didn't meet in that fourth season night. If anyone finds that this story is familiar to them, it's because I've also posted it in another forum.

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

7. Doors and prevailing adolescence

Willow parked her car, got out and looked around. She was trying to spot Tara. But she doesn’t have to come to the campus, she already lives here. Cursing her dumbness, she walked on. Her eyes scanned every person that walked past her, just in case, but they were all students or very uninteresting teachers.

Alright, there was something called strategy and tactics. She had never used them in that way, but last night she had been determined to investigate and discover, so she had to do something about it. She stopped short and tapped the shoulder of the first student she saw.

“Excuse me, could you indicate me where the History department is located?” she asked innocently.

Shame on me, I have a plan. Willow nodded at the boy’s directions and went to the building he was pointing at. History… okay. She wandered around and finally found herself walking down a corridor with doors along both walls. Each door had a tag with someone’s name. They were probably offices. Willow walked slowly, reading a couple of tags until she noticed that they were in alphabetical order by surname. Then, she half-ran her way until the letter “M”.

‘Maclay, Tara’ was printed on a plaque, stuck to the door. Willow hesitated before it, slapping her pockets with the palms of her hands. Nervous Willow isn’t a good Willow; just calm down! Before her strict common sense prevented it, she knocked at the door.

“Wait a sec” was the reply that came from inside the office.

At least she was quite sure that it was Tara’s voice.

“Alright, come in” the voice cried again.

Willow swallowed a gulp and entered. The office was bathed in natural light. It was painted a warm creamy color which, Willow guessed, would be the color of all the other offices too, but it fitted this one particularly. The little room was tidy, but quite packed. There were two or three pots with ferns hanging from the wall, an oriental-looking lamp dangling from the ceiling, a metal bookshelf with books and small figurines and, finally, Tara.

The blonde was sitting behind her wooden desk, which was ample enough to fit a computer and an immense pile of written papers. She smiled before seeing that it was Willow, which the redhead interpreted as a positive sign (she must be always nice to everyone), but when she saw her she actually got up.

“Willow. What a surprise” she said, her smile growing.

“Hi, I…” What the hell should I say? “I was wondering if you could uh, help me. Help me to find my office.” There. At least I formed a sentence. It was a stupid sentence, but it was a sentence. No one can deny it was a sentence.

“Your office?” Tara asked, seemingly more to herself.

She looked confused for a long moment, and Willow clasped her own fingers and bit her lower lip. The moment seemed eternal, and she had time to ask herself a thousand questions and insult herself again for her dumbness. She must be asking herself my real reasons for coming… She must be puzzled. Damn, Willow, why do you suppose that the first nice girl that helps you has to be attracted to you? Well, she was flirting yesterday… Or so it seemed. Say another thing, come on.

“Uh…” Okay, you made a sound, good job. Now how about a word? “Plus, you invited me the other day, so I owe you a cup of tea. So… kill two birds with one stone?”

Willow smiled nervously and hopefully. She was convinced that she had confused everything. Tara was just naturally friendly, and now she would think that Willow was little less than a stalker. Good job. But now she couldn’t do another thing; maybe hope that Tara took her invitation and request for help as something harmless that implicated nothing.

The blonde smiled slowly, turned around and grabbed a leather jacket and a handbag from a hanger on the wall. Willow just stood there, not saying or doing anything; she didn’t dare, in case she managed to shatter everything even more.

“Well?” Tara asked.

“Well?” Willow echoed, confusedly “Where… where are you going?”

“Didn’t you just ask me to help you find your office and offered me a cup of tea?”

“Y-yeah.”

“So…”

So out they went. Willow was relieved. She hadn’t offended Tara, she was still yesterday’s friendly woman. While they walked to the cafeteria more or less in silence Willow couldn’t help stealing glances at the blonde that was strolling beside her. It was just a way of confirming that everything her friends had made her confess was true, that her words hadn’t carried her away.

Tara was wearing a long brown skirt and dark boots that made a tapping sound with each step. Willow loved the sound, and she also loved the gorgeous, long leather jacket, and her hair tied back. Okay, red alert. You better step on the brakes, like Buffy said.

They got to the cafeteria, got their drinks and sat down in the same table as the day before. Willow tried to distract herself by consuming her coffee, but it was scalding hot. The moment she took a sip her eyes filled with tears, and she had to make an effort not to spit it out.

“Is it hot?”

The redhead could only nod. She closed her eyes and a tear slipped out of her left eye. Willow, calm down.

“Here, let me help you” Tara said.

Quickly, she took out a handkerchief from her handbag and very gently wiped Willow’s cheek.

“Close your eyes” she said.

Willow was too worked up to follow any instruction. She was trying to figure out what had exactly happened. Why was Tara so close, patting her cheeks with her handkerchief? She wasn’t sure that she wanted to close her eyes, but after a moment she surrendered and closed them.

“There.”

Tara had dabbed her closed eyelids with the handkerchief. That was it, a simple touch over each eyelid. But Willow’s mind was working as hard as if she was solving a tough math equation. She had just swallowed a gulp of hot coffee: why all the hassle? Why? Maybe… maybe yesterday’s signs weren’t wrongly interpreted. Or… I don’t know. I just don’t know.

“Willow!” cried a joyful voice that wasn’t Tara’s.

The redhead turned and cursed inwardly. There was Dawn, standing with a pile of books under one arm and holding a Coke with the other hand.

“Hey, Dawnie” she said, making her voice cheery for everyone’s sake.

The eighteen-year-old smiled widely and sat down beside her without asking. She dropped the books heavily on the table and asked “watcha doing?”. Willow rolled her eyes and looked at Tara reluctantly. The handkerchief had disappeared. Damn.

“Nothing” Willow answered, absentmindedly “Having some coffee. Or trying to.”

“Aren’t you going to introduce us?” Dawn asked, motioning her head towards Tara.

Introduce what? Oh! Willow pushed her hair out of her face and smiled nervously. Good heavens, get a grip on yourself!

“Uh… Dawn, this is Tara Maclay. Tara, this is Dawn Summers. Remember I told you I was living in my best friend’s house? Dawn’s her sister. She studies here.”

“Pleased to meet you” Tara said, her voice deep.

Dawn shook her hand. Oh no, Willow thought, noting that Dawn was so excited that she was almost jumping out of the chair. Right now I’m fearing her more than Anya.

“So, you’re Tara” the girl said, delighted.

“Yes. Am I that well known?” the blonde joked, looking at Willow.

The redhead only blushed and looked down, wishing that Dawn would call her Miss Maclay.

“You’re well known” Dawn nodded.

“So, what do you study?” Tara asked.

“Law, first year” the girl took a sip of her Coke.

“Oh, I’m not teaching you. You must have Mrs. Jefferson.”

“Yeah” Dawn nodded again, handing her a book from her pile “I’m supposed to learn all this. The question is: how?”

“Patience I guess…” Tara laughed, flipping through its pages “I wouldn’t have assigned you this particular book, but don’t tell anyone.”

“Aw, I wish you were my teacher.”

“Talking about which… Dawn, don’t you have a class right now?” Willow muttered with clenched teeth.

“Yyyeah…” she whined “Okay, I’ll go. I hope I see you another time, Tara.”

The jumpy eighteen-year-old left as fast as she had appeared, and Willow breathed out. It hadn’t been so horrible, Dawn had only revealed that she had talked about Tara. It was terrible enough, but at least the word “sex” hadn’t been mentioned. I guess I don’t fear her worse than Anya.

“Sweet girl” Tara commented.

“She’s a great kid. If you can see under all that prevailing adolescence.”

The blonde laughed good-naturedly, and Willow was relieved. She felt even better when Tara got up and said that they’d better find her office.

________________

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.

(Friedrich Nietzsche)

by **Irishgrl3** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 7:59 am

Boy, Tara has reduced Willow to speechless. Too funny. And Dawn had such perfect timing. But the "So you're Tara" might have helped Willow a bit leaving Tara to think that Willow might be interested in her. Nice update.

by **EndoraVolk** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 1:42 pm

Irishgrl3: Yep, who wouldn't become speechless having Tara in front of them? In this story Dawn always appears and does things with the worst timing; it bugs Willow but it eventually helps her a lot, as you'll see. And this time too with the "So you're Tara" thing, which will come up again later.

Title: Labeled Heaven

Author: EndoraVolk

Feedback: If you will.

Spoilers: It talks about Willow's crush on Xander (which is what? first season), then it talks about Oz (second to fourth), and what happened in 'The Body (season five).

Setting: Sunnydale, although the first chapter happens elsewhere. Everyone is some years older and Xander and Anya are married.

Rating: R

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Mutant Enemy, I'm just using them in a very blameless, un-guilty way except the secondary (Emily) or tertiary (Laura, Mr. Collins, random students) characters that I made up.

Notes: Hope you like it. Since there are no demons or vampires in the story (no Hellmouth, I guess), Tara and Willow didn't meet in that fourth season night. If anyone finds that this story is familiar to them, it's because I've also posted it in another forum.

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

8. Deciding on torture

Tara had walked her across the park and guided her into the main building. Willow tried to memorize all the twist-and-turn-ey corridors they had passed until the blonde paused before a door and pointed to a blank tag. I better learn by heart how to get here, I would die of shame if I was to ask Tara where was my office again.

“…Print your name and slide it in the tag” Tara was saying.

Oh! Again she was absentminded. Okay, let’s see how the office is like… Willow turned the doorknob, opened the door, and went in. It was like Tara’s office, but empty. The walls were the same creamy color, but completely bare, and the same happened with the desk. Although there was a computer, a printer and a disconnected telephone.

The redhead turned her head, looking at the nothingness of her new office and inspected the computer. Piece of trash…, she muttered inwardly, You’ll very well fit in a box while my laptop occupies your place.

“So, how do you like it?”

“It’s like yours. Only yours is… merrier?”

“That’s just because this one’s empty. You’ll fill it up in time.”

“Yeah…” Willow sat down at her chair and connected the phone.

Almost instantly, the phone began ringing hysterically. It gave Willow quite a fright. People were needing her help already? She frowned at the phone, but it kept ringing.

“Duty calls” Tara smiled and turned to leave “And my duty calls too. Have fun.”

“Uh… Tara.”

The blonde paused and looked at her, waiting. Nothing, Willow thought, I’ve got nothing to tell you, but I don’t want to be left alone here. I’m… scared. Of course, she didn’t tell her that.

“Have a nice day.”

“You too.” Tara said, using her smile as a farewell and closing the office door.

More than a nice day, for Willow it was frantic. The moment she attended the phone marked the beginning. From that moment on, the phone didn’t stop ringing. She only had time for two things: deserting the trashy computer to a corner of the room (putting her shiny laptop in its place), and printing a map of the campus.

The map proved most useful, for she spent all day visiting individual offices all over the place. She also revised the personal computers of some students. Visiting the dorm rooms gave her a special thrill; everything was just like she remembered, and the poor kids were so grateful… they managed to look innocent.

What tired her was running her way all over the campus: up the stairs, down the stairs, across the park, back to her building… She had no time to think, not even in between calls, for she was too busy panting for oxygen. This wasn’t the way. No wonder the previous computer resource specialist had been such a disaster. She didn’t want to end up fixing computers with cello-tape like he did.

Finally, it was her time to go home. She half-dragged herself to the parking lot, mounted her car, and rode home. She had been so busy that she hadn’t dedicated a thought to Tara. Now, riding to the Summers’ house, she allowed herself to remember little moments, like when they had walked side by side and she was glancing at how Tara’s skirt floated around, or the way she closed her fists on the sleeves of her jacket. And, specially, when she had closed her eyes and had felt the delicate touches of Tara’s handkerchief, washing her tears away.

Her tongue still stung (still scorched by the coffee’s hotness) but, now that she wasn’t nervous, she believed that Tara’s slight touches had cured everything. It was a beautiful thing to think, even worth writing it down. But…

Willow stopped the car, suddenly, sinking her foot into the brakes. She was almost before the Summers’ house, but she hadn’t stopped because of that. She had suddenly realized what she was thinking. Those thoughts weren’t just wondering about a beautiful woman she had encountered at her workplace. This was more. Damn. She didn’t want to feel more. True, she had wanted to investigate, but not towards this conclusion.

Resting her forehead on the driving wheel, Willow sighed. She liked Tara. She had all the symptoms. It wasn’t just that her hormones were on parade (she wished that it was only that). It seemed to be more. Liking, she thought, as in really liking. How can I stop this? Not thinking about it. Okay. I’ll ignore the fact… I won’t look for her. At most we’ll be work pals. Work pals is fine… Feeling stuff for her will only be a torture.

Having told herself all that she needed to hear, she lifted her face from the driving wheel, killed the engine, got out of the car and went inside the house.

“Hey, Will, how did it go?” Buffy asked.

Willow went straight to the living room and threw herself on the sofa, stomach down. Buffy went to her, worried at first, but then she understood that it was all tiredness. The redhead managed to lift her face and tell her the million things she had done.

“I’m exhausted, I can’t go through another day like this one.”

“Sure you can.”

“No” Willow pushed herself up to a sitting position “I’ll have to organize it in some other way… Instead of running from one end to the campus to the next, maybe… maybe I could go revising all the computers before the problem appears.”

“Sounds good to me” Buffy said, smiling.

“Yeah, sounds good to me too. I can divide the campus into zones and visit one zone a day” she was becoming excited with the organization she had before her “Yeah, that’s what I’ll do.”

With Buffy grinning beside her, Willow took out the map of the campus she had printed and her pencil case. She opened the pencil case and took out five different-colored highlighters: yellow, green, pink, orange and violet. Then, with the precision of a surgeon and the help of a ruler, she traced different-colored rectangles and colored them in. There. She felt satisfied. Still tired, but happy, and Buffy was muttering something similar to “that’s just like you, Will”.

Then, Dawn went inside the room.

“Hey, aren’t you sleeping at the dorm?” Willow asked.

“Nah, she insists on sleeping here tonight” Buffy said “Must be because you’re here.”

Dawn stuck out her tongue mockingly and sat beside Willow “You know what?”

“What?” Buffy asked.

“I spoke to the famous Tara.”

“Oh” Buffy squeaked “You did? How is she?”

“She’s super nice. So kind and friendly it’s scary. She’s too good to be a teacher. And yeah, good-looking.”

“Tara and I were having coffee and Dawn sort of bumped into us…” Willow explained, her mind still reviewing Dawn’s generous description of Tara.

“No” Dawn said “I met her later too, when you weren’t there. She said you were working and we both had a free, so we had lunch together.”

“What?” Willow yelled, jumping in her seat and facing Dawn.

“I said that I met her and we had lunch-”

“Oh, God, what did you tell her?” Willow covered her face, not wanting to know.

“Willow, you’re getting self-centered. We talked very little about you. She’s helping me with my History ‘cause Mrs. Jefferson’s a bitch born in hell…”

“Just tell us what you told her about Willow.” Buffy said, softly.

“Like I said, very little. Okay, let me think…” Dawn mused for a couple of excruciating seconds “I told her you came over to live with us, which she already knew. I told her that you were cool, which she confirmed…”

“Hey, she thinks you’re cool” Buffy piped.

Willow only smiled dizzily. I had my mind determined, I swear I had it. I didn’t want to feel like this. If only Dawn hadn’t talked to her… but now she was dying to know every little thing that Tara had said.

“She also said that she helped you find your office. And that’s it.”

“Are you sure?” Buffy asked, frowning slightly, as if the worst was about to come.

“Yeah, that’s it, I’m going to bed” the eighteen-year-old rose from the sofa and began to walk away “Oh, Willow, one more thing.”

“What is it?” Willow flinched and frowned just like Buffy.

“I told her that all that meeting on campus was lame, that you two should go to the Bronze one of these nights.”

“You did what?”

The redhead stood up and walked to the girl. She couldn’t believe her ears. Also, she couldn’t believe her eyes, because Dawn looked like an eighteen-year-old, but she had acted like a small child would.

“I-it wasn’t that big deal” Dawn muttered, stepping back.

“God…” Willow turned from the girl “Forget it, just forget it. She’ll think I wanted you to tell her that… She’ll think…”

“So, I’ve saved useless flirting time.”

“You Anya wannabe…” the redhead muttered “You got no right to decide what I want.”

“Willow, please…” Buffy began, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Of course, she’s your sister, you gotta defend her, but it’s okay if she plans out my life for me.”

“It’s not like that…” Dawn whined, this time feeling really sorry “I won’t talk to her if you don’t want me to."

“Forget it. Just don’t plan my life, okay?” Willow smiled faintly.

“Okay, I won’t. Can she still tutor me on History?”

“Of course. Is she a good tutor?” the redhead asked, curiously.

“She’s like the best.”

They all went to bed. Willow got under the covers and sighed. Would Tara act differently because of what Dawn had said? It wasn’t like an international crisis, but she wanted to be very careful with Tara, specially because she didn’t know what she wanted. Sure, she had sworn that she would distance herself from the blonde but… right now, she didn’t feel like it.

The redhead turned and looked at the empty side of the bed. An image of Emily came to mind, surprising her. In the last months she had spent with Emily each one of them had kept to their side of the bed. It was like having no one there; it didn’t even warm up the bed. Willow dragged her hand and touched the cold sheets of the vacant space with her palm and fingers.

Anya’s words came to mind: “But wait until she starts missing the sex”. It wasn’t the sex, it couldn’t be put as simply as that.

________________

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.

(Friedrich Nietzsche)

by **wiccanbotanist** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 2:04 pm

Go Dawn! Playing matchmaker!

-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.

by **EndoraVolk** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 1:45 pm

Title: Labeled Heaven

Author: EndoraVolk

Feedback: If you will.

Spoilers: It talks about Willow's crush on Xander (which is what? first season), then it talks about Oz (second to fourth), and what happened in 'The Body (season five).

Setting: Sunnydale, although the first chapter happens elsewhere. Everyone is some years older and Xander and Anya are married.

Rating: R

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Mutant Enemy, I'm just using them in a very blameless, un-guilty way except the secondary (Emily) or tertiary (Laura, Mr. Collins, random students) characters that I made up.

Notes: Hope you like it. Since there are no demons or vampires in the story (no Hellmouth, I guess), Tara and Willow didn't meet in that fourth season night. If anyone finds that this story is familiar to them, it's because I've also posted it in another forum.

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

9. Violet

Willow dragged her sleepy feet on the corridor’s floor. She had come very early in the morning to find her office, so that she didn’t have to ask no one. She wasn’t going to repeat the silly performance of going to Tara’s office and asking her. Oh no. She carried the campus’ map in her hand, with a big cross signaling the location of her office. She knew she looked a tad ridiculous, but it was too early, no one had seen her roaming about with the map on her hand like a treasure hunter.

She opened the door of her office and went in. Yep, still empty. But what did she expect, that some little elves had decorated it during the night? Yeah, right. She looked around, musing about what she should bring or buy to make her office more pleasant-looking. The first thing she was going to put in was a framed picture of her friends and her in their highschool years and… Wait.

The redhead paused her thoughts. Just when she was placing her laptop on the desk, she spotted that there was already something there. Frowning, she inspected the thing. She called it “thing” to name it in some way. It had a formless shape and, whatever it was, it was enveloped in thin brown enveloping paper.

Willow took it with one hand and slowly stripped the paper off with the other. Her frown deepened. It was a small plant in a clay pot. The plant was round-like, with tiny dark green leaves and purple-y flowers. So little and beautiful… Who would…? Willow lifted the plant higher and saw that there was a little envelope stuck to the base of the pot. She unstuck it, set the plant back on her desk and took out the card inside.

The only reason why she could do those things was that she somehow still believed that it wasn’t happening to her. A present? A pretty plant? Why?

She shook her head and read the card. It said:

This is a Persian violet.

It’s a fragrant plant, so besides decorating it, it’ll perfume your new office.

See you around,

Tara.

Oh God. Willow shook her head once more and read the card again and again. Tara brought me a present. Tara had snuck inside her office the past night or that same morning and had left a beautiful plant on her desk. Not just casually, no, there was nothing casual about it. Tara had chosen the plant, she had written a card, stuck it to the pot, enveloped the whole thing, crept into the office and placed it there so that she would find it.

The message in the card was confusing. It seemed to mean: this is an amiable present to congratulate you for your new job and your new office. But Willow saw something behind it, or thought she did. Because the plant didn’t come from a co-worker that was thanking her for fixing her computer. This came from Tara.

“‘See you around. Tara’” Willow whispered, repeating the words from the card.

Coming from anyone else it would’ve meant nothing. But this little insignificant plant was driving her crazy. She crouched on the floor to level her head with the plant and inhaled. It’s a fragrant plant. Yes, it was. Willow was flooded with a deliciously sweet scent, delicate like the plant. She couldn’t help closing her eyes and classifying it as Tara-scent.

I’m trying, I swear I’m trying. But God, why did you send me precisely this woman? Willow opened her eyes. The tip of her nose was touching the petals of one of the little purple flowers. I can’t fight it now. She knew that if she left the office it wouldn’t matter. The scent would surround her wherever she went all that day.

________________

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.

(Friedrich Nietzsche)

by **amazonaa** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 3:04 pm

Awwww. Willow can't help falling in love with Tara. Duh!! Why would she even want to try. lol

More soon, please.

brittney

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

by **Irishgrl3** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 4:24 pm

Ooh... office warming present. Wasn't that sweet. She's just going to have to face it and just go with all of those lovely thoughts about Tara. Gotta love Dawn again, she may be the match maker yet. Nice update!

by **kisstheviolets** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 6:08 pm

yay an update. i love that you've given us many of them in a relatively brief period - i hope that will continue! :wink

this is a great story. it's bizarre to think of willow being with anyone else but i'm loving that it gives the girls a chance to meet and fall for each other without the "ooh am i gay?" thing being an issue.

oh, and i loved the way you had willow color coding the campus map. super cute.

looking forward to the next update,

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

Edited by: Warduke at: 3/10/05 8:23 am

by **stillrunning** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 10:08 pm

Wee I love this fic! Just read it and it's adorable! I love your version of Tara, quite a lot more confident then Show-Tara. But your Willow is pretty much the same, and it's just adorable! And now she has a cute little plant! And again, I say adorable! Please continue

"Heaven's not a place that you go when you die...it's that moment in life when you actually feel alive"

by **EndoraVolk** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 3:11 am

amazonaa: So... more. Yep, Willow has already fallen into it and there's no escaping.

Irishgrl3: Yeah, I think Dawn sped things up quite nicely. Oh, and the present; I thought about Tara leaving flowers, but it would've been a bit obvious, so I thought about it and made it a plant, which is still cute but not obvious.

kisstheviolets: Hey, thanks for reading. I know, it was strange for me too, Willow having another girlfriend. But for the sake of the story I was thinking "what if Willow and Tara hadn't met in college?", so I made them meet years later and Willow -naturally- had been going out with someone. Anyway, yeah, I didn't feel like writing about the "ooh, am I gay?" thing.

stillrunning: Thanks! Thanks for calling the fic & the characters "adorable". You know, I made them older, so I made a Tara, one that's a little more sure of herself. And thank God she dragged Willow to that office in the first place, LOL.

Title: Labeled Heaven

Author: EndoraVolk

Feedback: If you will.

Spoilers: It talks about Willow's crush on Xander (which is what? first season), then it talks about Oz (second to fourth), and what happened in 'The Body (season five).

Setting: Sunnydale, although the first chapter happens elsewhere. Everyone is some years older and Xander and Anya are married.

Rating: R

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Mutant Enemy, I'm just using them in a very blameless, un-guilty way except the secondary (Emily) or tertiary (Laura, Mr. Collins, random students) characters that I made up.

Notes: Hope you like it. Since there are no demons or vampires in the story (no Hellmouth, I guess), Tara and Willow didn't meet in that fourth season night. If anyone finds that this story is familiar to them, it's because I've also posted it in another forum.

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

10. It’s only a…

Why did she give me a present? I mean, if she had handed it to me personally I wouldn’t make such a big deal of it. It would be a co-worker thing. But she left it there so that I found it. There are two reasons for this: a) she wanted to surprise me; or b) she was to shy to give it to me in person. Both of them are very suspicious…

“Uh… Miss Rosenberg?”

Willow snapped out of it and turned to the student that she was supposedly helping. She felt like telling him “your computer’s a wreck” and leaving him there with all the wires and cables, but she didn’t. This was her job and she had to take it seriously. It was just a plant.

“That’s it” Willow whispered “It’s only a plant.”

“What plant?” the kid asked, looking from the red-haired woman to his computer.

“Nothing.”

Nothing. Just a plant. It doesn’t mean anything. Having convinced herself of this, she managed to resurrect the boy’s computer so that it could work for a week or so before malfunctioning again. She didn’t know what she would do to repair the machine when it crashed again. CPR, if I rise this computer from the dead again I’ll be calling the Vatican to report a miracle. Maybe the duct-tape wasn’t such a bad idea. Anyway, her work here was done for the moment. I’m like the Jesus Christ of computers.

Leaving the dorm, she noticed that it was Stevenson, where she and Buffy had slept. She didn’t know why, but that insignificant detail rose her spirits. She had formed part of this. Once, when she had no problems. No, there had always been problems, but she seemed to cherish them now, with the perspective of the years. She saw herself crossing the campus from right to left (entering it) with Oz, then crossing it from left to right (leaving it) with Emily. There, on that same sidewalk, she had said goodbye to Oz and off he had gone with his van. Strolling down the fabricated streets of the college was like strolling down memory lane.

Her thoughts were confusing her, crisscrossing constantly. She wanted to be here in Sunnydale. But I don’t want complications, she mused.

“I thought you wanted these complications” she whispered, answering herself “You know, investigating.”

Luckily, there was no one around that could hear her talking to herself. She sat on a bench, noting that it was the one she had been sitting on when she met Tara. I can’t do this. Everywhere I go has a memory waiting for me.

“I thought you cherished those memories” she whispered to herself.

But this Tara thing is complicating everything. I like that woman, and the past is affecting me.

“The past is always affecting” Willow muttered “It makes who I am.”

Suddenly, Emily’s words came to mind, shocking her. She hadn’t paid attention to them before. In fact, when Emily said them, she had mocked her. “You’re not a disaster, I wish it was that simple. You… ah, you don’t know who you are”, Emily had said.

“I am Xander’s and Buffy’s adoring friend. I am Oz’s girlfriend crossing the campus. I am Emily’s girlfriend crossing the campus” she turned to Stevenson’s building “I am Buffy’s roomie. I am Dawn’s chess partner.”

Alright, are you something not-in-terms-of-someone-else? She paused.

“I’m a computer research specialist.”

Ooh… cool. Computer research specialist. What did Tara call me? The new ‘computer guy’, which isn’t the sexiest thing a person can name you. So, once again, my life fits into a portfolio.

“Hey” someone else said.

“Okay, what am I developing now, a triple personality?” Willow said, rising her voice.

“Willow? Are you alright?”

Willow looked up and saw Tara. The blonde had her hair pulled up, and wore another of her long skirts and a greenish top. Tara and the combination of earthly colors…

“Look who’s here” Willow said, using a softer voice “I’m fine. I was just thinking.”

“Oh” the blonde frowned “Do you want me to go?”

“No, Tara, please. It’s great that you’re here. I wanted to thank you for the present- I mean, the plant.”

The blonde smiled sweetly and sat down beside her on that same bench for the second time.

“It’s okay. Yesterday, when we found your office, you said that mine was merrier. So I thought that a plant would cheer it up.”

“Plus, it does have a nice smell” Willow said “I… ah, appreciated it very much.”

Tara just kept silent, and Willow couldn’t keep herself from noting it. If Tara had said “it was nothing”, something inside her would have sunk, she was sure. So the plant was something. Willow glanced over at Tara and examined her carefully, which she hadn’t dared. All the information she had gathered about the blonde she had obtained by discreet and short looks, like flashes.

Now she ventured to really look at her. Tara’s lips were pressed together, but moving. She’s biting the inside of her lower lip, Willow noted, as if it was the most admirable thing anyone had ever done. Then, she lowered her gaze and saw that Tara had placed one hand on each knee, and was crushing the skirt’s silky fabric. Nervous too? No, impossible. Willow shook her head, discarding it as wishful thinking.

She breathed in, detecting the fragrance of the Persian violet. Had the sweet smell stuck to her? Willow looked down at her and breathed in harder. No, her clothes didn’t smell of the plant… She lifted her head, only to see that Tara was looking at her with rising eyebrows.

“I…” Willow giggled nervously “I thought my clothes smelled of the plant you gave me.”

“Oh, that must be me” Tara said “I’ve got three of them in my room- Well, two…”

Now it was Willow’s turn to raise her eyebrows. Two?

“So the one you gave to me was yours?” Willow asked, not wanting to mention the fact that the plant had been in Tara’s bedroom.

“Uh-huh.”

Willow was glad that she had called the plant’s scent “Tara-scent”. She had been more than right.

“I liked it very much” Willow muttered “I like its scent.”

Okay, now that had been an indirectly-direct comment. As soon as she said it, Willow panicked. What am I, in flirt mode now? Tara was bathed in the scent of the flower!

“Yeah, me too” Tara commented.

What, no red alert? No panic? Willow glanced at the blonde for the umpteenth time and saw that she wasn’t bothered, or cross, or anything. God, can I be so lucky?

“You know” Tara began “I talked to Dawn yesterday… About History.”

“She told me” Willow blushed “She can be quite intrusive, I hope she didn’t bother you…”

“No, of course not. She’s a very smart and perky girl.”

“Yeah.” Willow agreed.

“A-anyway she said… She kind of suggested…”

Oh, God. What had Dawn done? Willow braced herself for what was coming.

“Would you like to go to the Bronze tomorrow night?” Tara asked.

The redhead opened her mouth and no sound came out. Oh God. Date. Date, date. You know, her mind told her, you really gotta answer something before the end of the week.

“Okay” Willow whispered, and then rose her voice “I-I’d love to go.”

“Great” Tara’s eyes were like gleam-y surfaces “Tomorrow night.”

“Talk tomorrow about the time?” it was all Willow could say without choking.

“Great” the blonde repeated “Tomorrow. Right. See you tomorrow.”

“See you…”

Willow stared while the blonde woman stood up and left. When Tara was at a safe distance, she let go all the alarms. She stood up, covered her face, pushed her hair back and sat down again. She covered her mouth and muffled a happy cry.

Calm down, it’s only a date. A date...

________________

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.

(Friedrich Nietzsche)

by **stillrunning** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 9:12 am

Aww I love flustered Willow. And this kinda made me laugh:

Quote:
I’m like the Jesus Christ of computers

Riiiight, the redheaded female lesbian Jewish Jesus Christ. Hehe, that's why I laughed. Anyways, great update! Can't wait to see how their little date goes, if Willow can hold it together without going into total spaz mode that is.

"Heaven's not a place that you go when you die...it's that moment in life when you actually feel alive"

by **serendipitous** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 12:17 pm

I don't know why I haven't read this before. What a great fic! Willow is definitely her over-analyzing quirky self. Even though she hasn't loved Emily for a while, I wonder how that will effect her relationship with Tara. I'm sure she's not on the rebound (right?!?!) but three years has got to mean something, even if it isn't love. Can't wait to read more! Cheers :peace

by **EndoraVolk** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 2:35 pm

stillrunning: I know, I know, redhead, female, witch and lesbian... not very Jesus Christ-y. Anyway, I'm glad that it made you laugh. And about their date, well, we'll see in a moment.

serendipitous: You don't know why you haven't read this before? Well I'm just happy you did! Emily, yeah, she can't be forgotten or stepped over just like that; it will come up again.

Title: Labeled Heaven

Author: EndoraVolk

Feedback: If you will.

Spoilers: It talks about Willow's crush on Xander (which is what? first season), then it talks about Oz (second to fourth), and what happened in 'The Body (season five).

Setting: Sunnydale, although the first chapter happens elsewhere. Everyone is some years older and Xander and Anya are married.

Rating: R

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Mutant Enemy, I'm just using them in a very blameless, un-guilty way except the secondary (Emily) or tertiary (Laura, Mr. Collins, random students) characters that I made up.

Notes: Hope you like it. Since there are no demons or vampires in the story (no Hellmouth, I guess), Tara and Willow didn't meet in that fourth season night. If anyone finds that this story is familiar to them, it's because I've also posted it in another forum.

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

11. Crackle and hum

The redhead bit a nail and cursed herself. She was back to being a nail-biting teenager that waited desperately beside the phone bidding it to ring. Only that she wasn’t a teenager anymore. She was in her office, tapping her fingers on the table and staring glances at the Persian violet and the scarlet telephone. Ring, you damn thing. Ring.

Okay, that was more than enough childish behavior. Willow frowned and lifted the receiver. Tara had been the one to invite her to the Bronze, so it was her turn now. This was like chess, it was her turn to move.

Quickly, she dialed the number of the main office and asked for Tara Maclay’s office number before she thought too much about it. Alright, she had Tara’s number scribbled on a post-it note. Now she had to call. She lifted the receiver once more, took a breath and dialed. It rang twice before someone got it.

“Hello?” someone asked.

“Tara?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“It’s Willow” she said, softly, hopefully.

“Hey, how you’re doing?” Tara’s voice sounded deeper over the phone, crackling a little.

“Fine, thanks. I called… you know, for tonight… We’re still going to Bronze it?”

“Sure.” Tara answered.

“How about nine o’clock?”

“Sure” Tara repeated “I’ll go to your office if you want.”

“Sounds great” Willow allowed herself to breathe “Great, see you then, bye.”

“Bye, Willow.”

Willow hung the phone and remained still for a moment, digesting what she had just done. She hadn’t breathed once in the short conversation with Tara, but now she was exhilarated. She felt hyped up and nervous, and wanted to jump on her table and do a little dance or something like that.

Instead, she concentrated on her work. She attended to every computer with her usual efficiency, but a little more accelerated than usual. Keeping her mind busy was a necessity. She was afraid of thinking too much about the date. Also, she knew that she wasn’t going to tell a thing to her friends. The official excuse was that she would be working until late that night.

The redhead looked down at herself, at how she looked. She was wearing faded jeans, brown boots and a red shirt that she hadn’t used before. Not bad. Not exactly party-style, but she wasn’t planning on burning the place down. Only God knew what Tara wanted, but she wanted to talk, to know her better.

To see… to confirm that she liked her. Just to spend some time with her. Dawn was right, all the meeting in college grounds was kind of lame. This was an “outdoors’” date. Okay, an inoffensive date, but still. Who would’ve thought that this would happen to her? A week ago she was living with a woman, sleeping in her bed. And now… this. She had a vertigo sensation, but no, she wouldn’t break down like before. She had the right to feel hopeful and optimist.

The hours rolled by slowly, but finally nine PM ticked, and Willow grabbed her jacket (she had brought the good one, the leather one). She turned off her laptop and opened the door of her office, just to bump into Tara. At first, the surprise was too great to respond and even to move. Tara’s eyes were leveled with hers, but so close that she could only see a single big blue eye. Two seconds later she reacted, jumping back.

“Sorry…” she muttered.

“I-it’s okay” Tara said, recovering a little smile “I hope I’m not late.”

“Oh, you aren’t, don’t worry.”

They giggled and then there was silence. Say something?, Willow thought, glancing at the floor and then up again.

“So… Ready?”

The blonde nodded quickly (maybe eagerly?), and so they left. They walked slowly trough the deserted campus, but not in fear. It was just a pleasant night, and it seemed that neither of them were in a hurry. At least Willow wasn’t; she had thrust her hands inside the deep pockets of her jacket and closed them around the soft fabric of the inside.

They were talking about anything specific, and then the topic turned to work. Tara was explaining that one of her students had turned in a paper that she had assigned but, instead of writing it about the Russian Revolution, he had jumped back years and years and wrote it about the French one. The blonde was narrating the story so excitedly that Willow couldn’t stop laughing.

“I mean… when I read the title I was so confused… it had to be a mistake! Still, I didn’t want to give him a zero, so I called him in to my office. And guess what?”

“What?” Willow said, between smiles.

“I hadn’t seen the kid in the whole year. He hadn’t entered in my class not once! So I showed him his paper and told him that he had written it about a different topic, but instead of giving me some excuse or whatever… I could’ve given him another chance, you know, I just wanted to talk to him, to know what happened. But you know what he did? He tried to convince me that I was wrong, that everyone had done the wrong assignment or something like that. Can you believe it?”

Willow shook her head and made a comment along the lines of “these kids nowadays…”, even if their ages weren’t so distanced from the ones of the students. Tara was making such a big deal of the incident… Willow couldn’t keep herself from bursting with laughter at the way that Tara was telling it. It was as if Tara couldn’t believe that something like that could happen, that someone would try to trick her and not admit that he had done it wrong. It was like… so innocent of her.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Tara asked, giving Willow an askew look.

“It’s nothing.”

“Come on, say it. What are you thinking?”

“Alright” Willow blushed “I was thinking that you were like, so innocent.”

Tara rose her eyebrows and laughed.

“Really?”

“It’s just the feeling I get. That kid lied to you…”

“I know he lied. If he had only admitted his mistake, I would’ve given him another chance. But he didn’t, he even got mad at me. I did what’s fair.”

“Give him a zero?” Willow asked, trying not to grin.

“Yes. Am I still innocent?”

The redhead shrugged, not knowing what to answer. Anyway, they had arrived to the parking lot, and the conversation transformed into a little verbal struggle. Willow had taken for granted that she would do the driving, transport both of them to the Bronze and when the (uh) date (?) finished bring Tara back to the campus. However, Tara was insisting on the same thing, that she would do the driving and get Willow home.

“Come on, get in.” Willow said, ignoring all protests and swinging her keys.

“No way” Tara crossed her arms and shook her head, doing a mock impression of a determined little child.

“Hey, do you see this face?” she pointed at her own sulking façade “This is my resolve face, you hadn’t seen it before.”

“And what does it mean?” Tara rose an eyebrow, now mocking coolness.

“It means ‘do as I tell you or else’, so get in.”

“Or else…?”

“You don’t wanna know, okay?” Willow opened her door, got inside her car, stretched her arm and opened the copilot’s door “In you go.”

For a moment she was scared that she had been to cool or bossy, even if it was just for fun, but then Tara got in the car. She waited until the blonde had fastened her seatbelt and asked her if she was ready.

“Ready” Tara answered.

Willow nodded and drove off.

“Hey, turn on the radio if you want. There’s already a CD in the player” Willow said, her eyes on the road ahead.

“Alright.”

Tara flicked the car radio on and instantly it emitted a thick stream of sound. The volume wasn’t too high, but it was dense with drumbeats and the chords of an acoustic guitar being punished. Seven seconds later, the singer’s profound voice appeared.

“Oh” Tara said looking at Willow.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t ask you if you liked…”

“It’s okay…”

Willow glanced at Tara for a millisecond, before turning to the road again. She wasn’t being obvious, she hadn’t selected that CD because Tara was going to sit in her car or whatever. That was the music she usually listened to. When she left Emily’s apartment and was driving to Sunnydale this had been her soundtrack. However, she found herself frowning; Tara had reacted, but she didn’t know in what sense.

“I’m serious, if you wanna change the CD or listen to the radio…”

“No, Willow, I like it.”

“Really? You like Melissa Etheridge?” Willow glanced at Tara again, this time for a complete second.

“Yes.”

“Oh.”

What to think now? Was this some kind of a clue? Willow couldn’t help wondering. Does this mean something?, she asked herself. Probably not, she’s probably just being polite and she hasn’t heard…

But her busy thoughts were interrupted by something else. A hum. A soft hum. A humming… noise?, she wondered, fearing that her car was slowly dying. No, it was following the song’s melody. She glanced at Tara, and saw that the blonde was facing the window and humming to the song. I’ll never stop marveling…, Willow thought.

________________

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.

(Friedrich Nietzsche)

by **amazonaa** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 3:10 pm

That was so cute. Ya I'm always worried about what I have playing in my CD player if someone comes over and if it's something really geeky I get all embarressed. :blush

That was great. More soon, please.

brittney

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

by **Irishgrl3** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 3:32 pm

Boy, Willow is so nervous about going to the Bronze with Tara. Just like you wrote, "like a teenager". Good start to the date, can't wait to see how it turns out. :blush

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

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