Okay, I know that I've kinda been neglecting The Right Decision lately, but, well, I suddenly got this idea for a new fic so, I've kinda been concentrating on this for a while. I will get back to TRD soon though, & there should be an update in the not too distant future.
& now, without further ado, I give you...
[center]White Dove[/center]
Author - Kindagay (Jeanne)
Disclaimer - I own nothing, except my trusty laptop & my imagination.
Rating - pretty much suitable for anyone I think
Feedback - is good for the soul. Any comments/opinions are welcome & appreciated
Setting – AU-ish. There are no vampires or monsters or anything like that & Buffy is not the Slayer. Some events are as in canon, but they’re written my way, so the details will be a little different.
Summary – I’m no good at summaries, okay here goes… A young girl is on the run, she stops off in a small-town café and her life is changed forever (I did warn you that I suck at summaries).
Note – The title White Dove is taken from a song by Starsailor of the same name, which could kind of be an unofficial theme tune for this fic. You can find the lyrics here
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The tall, dark haired diner owner looked up from the metallic-effect counter top that she had been cleaning as the small bell attached to the door alerted her of the arrival of a new customer.
The girl was young, no more than sixteen years old, though her eyes showed a maturity beyond her young years. Her dirty blonde hair was tied back loosely, with several stray strands hanging free to frame the youngster’s face. Her faded blue jeans were old and worn, with several holes and rips in the knees; they were caked in oil, dried mud and dust, as were her grey t-shirt and over-sized denim jacket.
She walked silently, almost invisibly, towards a corner booth and slung her large green duffle bag onto the red bench-seat, before sitting down and picking up the laminated menu.
“Evening honey, what can I get for you?” The young girl jumped as the cheery voice startled her from her quiet thoughts. She looked up at the middle-aged woman and quietly stuttered her order.
“S-scrambled eggs w-with toast a-and a s-soda p-please.”
The waitress smiled as she jotted down the girl’s request.
“We don’t get many young girls in here, ‘specially not at this time of night. You all alone honey?” The waitress tried to make polite conversation without appearing too nosey.
“I, I’d j-just like some f-food and a, a soda th-thank you.”
“No problem darlin’.” She got the message and left the girl alone.
In her years running a diner in a small town like Sunnydale, Sheila Rosenberg had encountered many different people, each with their own tale. Whilst some were more than happy to share their story, whether you showed any interest or not, there were others, like this young girl, who preferred to keep themselves to themselves.
Whilst Sheila was busy making scrambled eggs, the little bell chimed once again. This time, two teenage girls walked in, one petite blonde and one redhead. They walked straight to the counter, chattering and giggling together, obviously content and comfortable in each other’s company.
“Hey girls.” Sheila called to the teens as they sat down on the tall, padded stools.
“Hey mom.” The redhead replied. “Do you need any help?”
“No, I just got this one order; you can help yourself to a couple of shakes for you and Buffy if you like.”
The redhead bounced off the stool and skipped behind the counter to make two strawberry milkshakes.
“How was the movie?” Sheila enquired as she popped some bread into the toaster.
“It was okay I guess, the ending kinda sucked though, one of the girls ran off with some guy. I really don’t think they should advertise it as a lesbian movie when one of the girls ends up with a guy.”
“Willow sweetie, I’ve told you a hundred times, if you wanna see a lesbian movie with a happy ending, you’re just gonna have to make your own.”
“I will do some day mom, you’ll see. I’ll show the world that lesbians can have happily ever afters.”
“I know you will sweetie, and I’ll be so proud of you.”
“Hey, are you gonna cast me in this big movie of yours Will?” Buffy asked, giving her best million-dollar smile and batting her eyelashes at her best friend.
“Sure Buff, you can be my mentally challenged straight best friend. That shouldn’t be too difficult for you, since it just involves being yourself.”
“Aww, can’t I be your lover?” The petite blonde suggested, putting great emphasis on the word ‘lover’. She then instantly slipped into character, clasping Willow’s hands in her own. “Oh Willow, my darling, I love you so much and I’ll just burst if we don’t have some hot, gay lovin’ right now.” Buffy finished her performance by grabbing Willow’s face in her hands and planting a kiss on the unsuspecting redhead’s cheek.
“Eww, gross, those lips have kissed boys.” Willow exclaimed as she wiped her cheek with the back of her hand. “I have boy germs on me now.”
“Relax Will, it’s not like you’ll turn into one. Although, if you did turn into a boy you’d probably have more luck picking up girls, ‘cos all the ones we know are straight.”
“I don’t wanna be a boy you freak, they’re gross and they can’t kiss properly.”
“How would you know?”
“I kissed Xander once when we were five.”
“That doesn’t count, he was only five. I’ll have you know that some boys are very good at kissing.”
“And you would know; you have kissed every boy at school.”
“Not all of them.”
“Almost all of them, oh, except for that exchange student last year, but that’s only ‘cos Harmony had given him mono.”
“Now that was gross.” Buffy shuddered as she remembered Kristian, the German exchange student, desperately trying to kiss her, despite the fact that he had the ‘kissing disease’.
“Willow, could you take this to the young girl over there please?” Sheila requested of her daughter, knowing that Willow was sure to be able to find out about the young stranger.
Willow’s head whipped around to look where her mother had indicated and saw the beautiful girl fidgeting with a paper napkin.
“She’s pretty, what’s her story mom?”
“Runaway I think, quiet, polite, she’ll probably be looking for a place to stay.” Sheila directed the last comment towards Buffy, whose mother was known for renting out her spare room and having a particular empathy with runaways.
“Okay, let’s go make sure the new lodger’s not a psycho like the last one, I wonder if mom’s recovered enough to rent out the room again?”
“Buffy, don’t scare her off, please.” Willow practically begged her friend, knowing that, despite her small size, Buffy could be very intimidating.
“Okay, I’ll play nice with the hottie. You do know that she’s probably straight right?”
“Shush, let me daydream for a little while before you ruin it.”
Unbeknown to Buffy and Willow, the young blonde had been secretly stealing glances as the two girls had been talking, and she was internally dancing for joy at the fact that the attractive redhead was obviously and openly gay.
“Hi, one plate of scrambled eggs and toast, plus a soda for the pretty girl at table four, my mom even fried some tomatoes for you. She’s good like that.” Willow smiled as her eyes were met with deep pools of endless blue.
“Th-thanks.”
A silence followed as Willow’s speech and motor skills completely abandoned her at the sight of the most adorable shy smile the redhead had ever seen. A quick jab in the back from Buffy prompted the redhead into action; she carefully placed the plate, cutlery and glass of soda on the table in front of the blonde.
“I’m Willow by the way, my parents own this place, and this is Buffy, she’s my best friend, well, my best girly friend anyway, ‘cos I have two best friends, one girly best friend who is Buffy, and one boy best friend, who is Xander, oh, but he’s not here, he’s with his new girlfriend somewhere, probably in his parent’s basement, ‘cos that’s where he lives. What’s your name?” The contrast from stunned silence to uncontrollable babble made Buffy giggle at her friend; as well as easing some of the darker blonde’s nerves.
“I, I’m T-Tara. Uhm, w-would you l-like to join me?” Tara smiled and indicated the bench seat at the other side of the booth.
“Oh wow, yes, I mean, thank you that would be wonderful, uhm, I mean good, it would be very good. Thank you. Are you sure it’s okay?”
Tara nodded and Willow and Buffy slid onto the seat opposite her.
“So Tara, are you planning on staying in good old Sunnydale for a while? Or are you just stopping to eat our food before you head elsewhere?” Buffy made no attempt at small talk, opting instead to establish exactly what Tara’s plans were.
“Buffy.” Willow admonished her best friend before turning back to Tara. “Sorry, just ignore her; we’re still trying to teach her some social skills.”
“N-no, it’s okay, I uhm, I h-hadn’t r-really thought a-about it, uhm, i-it’s too late to uhm, to move on right now so uhm, I, I guess I’ll h-have to find somewhere to uhm, to stay the night. D-do you know a-anywhere? I, I have some money.”
“Are you gonna turn psycho and try to kill us all?”
“BUFFY!” This time, Willow’s reprimand was coupled with a swift kick to her best friend’s shin.
“Ouch.” Buffy pouted at the redhead and then turned back to Tara. “Sorry. My mom rents out our spare room, but, Faith, the last girl we had stay with us, well, let’s just say, she had some issues.”
“She, she t-tried to k-kill you?”
“Willow had a little run in with her; thankfully they teach us self defence at school, so, there was no harm. Right Will?”
“Well, it was kinda, a lot scary when she pulled a knife out on me, but, like Buffy said, there was no harm.”
“A, a kn-knife?” Tara’s eyes widened in shock.
“She wouldn’t have used it, she just wanted to scare me, which you know, she did, but, she didn’t hurt me and I lived to tell the tale so, it’s all okay.”
The sound of tires crunching heavily over stones as a large vehicle screeched to a halt outside the diner interrupted the teenagers’ conversation. Tara glanced warily out of the window and instantly began to panic as she spotted the old, cream coloured camper van.
“I, I h-have to uhm… P-please, d-don’t tell them y-you’ve s-seen me, please.” Tara begged as she stood and frantically searched for somewhere to hide.
“Here darlin’ you come through to the back, Willow honey, hide her bag.”
This wasn’t the first time Sheila had helped a young runaway hide from whoever it was they were running from. As she guided Tara into the staff room at the back of the building, Willow picked up the duffel bag and dropped it behind the counter; whilst Buffy’s idea of helping involved tucking in to Tara’s eggs.
A small, balding, gnat of a man walked through the door followed by a younger, taller and more muscular man. Both were almost literally turning their noses up in distaste as they looked around the diner.
“Hi, can I get you anything?” Willow approached the men and did her very best at being friendly and helpful.
The small man looked down at the youngster as if considering whether or not to lower himself to the youngster’s level.
“I’m looking for my daughter.” The man produced a tatty photograph of Tara and thrust it at Willow.
“She’s a pretty girl, I only wish I could bump into her, sadly I’ve not seen her around.”
“May I speak with your father little girl?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, my dad’s not here, I could get my mom though; if your daughter’s been here she’s sure to have seen her.”
As if on cue, Sheila emerged from behind the counter and introduced herself to the man.
“Good evening sir, I’m Mrs Rosenberg.”
“Mr Maclay, I’m looking for my daughter Tara, has she been in here at all today?” The picture was once again thrust forwards.
“I’m sorry sir; I’ve not seen any youngsters in here, only my daughter and her friends. I shouldn’t worry too much, she looks like she can look after herself, and kids always manage to find their way home once they run out of money. She’s probably there right now waiting for you to get back.”
Mr Maclay took one last look around the eatery before turning to leave. The younger man didn’t follow immediately, deciding instead to impart some words of advice.
“If you do see her, you’d be advised to send her on her way. My sister’s more trouble than she’s worth.”
“Donny!” His father barked at him. “Get in the camper.”
Father and son walked towards the camper van, slammed the dilapidated vehicle into gear and screeched speedily along the road leading out of Sunnydale.
“Well, they were, pleasant.” Sheila commented bitingly. “Willow honey, go and tell Tara that the coast is clear.” She cast her eye over to Buffy, who was just polishing off the last bite of Tara’s meal. “Are you planning on paying for that Miss Summers?”
“Sorry.” Buffy mumbled as she swallowed a mouthful of toast. “You kinda have to rustle some more up for Tara now, don’t you? I’m sorry, I’ll pay, I promise.”
“Don’t worry about it sweetie, it was gonna be on the house anyway.”
“You’re the coolest Mrs Rosenberg.” Buffy grinned, washing down the meal with a large gulp of milkshake.
“Right young lady.” Sheila turned, with hands on hips, to face Tara, who had just returned with Willow. “Now, I’m not one to pry into a person’s personal business, but when a young girl asks me to lie for her, I do appreciate an explanation.”
Tara physically shrank beneath the woman’s glare. Her head dropped forward, and she began wringing her hands together.
“I, I’m s-sorry.” She reached to pick up her bag. “I, I, I d-didn’t mean to, to c-cause t-t-trouble, I, I’ll go, I’m s-sorry.”
In the blink of an eye Tara was gone, vanishing into the night as quietly as she had arrived.
“Mom! Why’d you have to scare her off?” Willow frowned at her mother, grabbing Buffy by the arm and dragging her out of the diner.
“Wait, Willow what are you doing?” Buffy stood stock still, forcing Willow to halt in her pursuit of Tara.
“We have to find her; it’s not safe to be wandering around at this time of night.”
“We don’t know the first thing about her. I know she seems all sweet and stuff but, did the Faith ordeal not teach you anything? She’s just another runaway Will.”
“Okay, I know I gave Faith a lot more leeway than she deserved and I know that that got me into a whole lot of trouble, but I promise Buffy, this is different. There’s something really special about Tara, I can feel it.”
“Fine, but if we end up dead your dad’s gonna kill us.”
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Okay, that was chapter one, so, what do you all think? Is it good? Do you all like it? Shall I continue?
Hugs
Jeanne
That's something I've never seen happen before. 
And, poor Tara....with her stupid family hunting her down like a pack of rabid wolves...thank goodness that Willow and Shiela were there to protect her. 
and it's really convenient that they just "happen" to have a spare room that they rent out...That's perfect. I can see visions of lots of Willow/Tara bonding time in the near future. 
s soon!!
and please continue.
.
well, I don't know about that 
, thank you 
, it might be a bit of a bumpy ride
- just like the scoobies protected Tara on the actual show in the episode 'Family'.
Debra likes my fic 
, your babble very much appealed to my inner psychologist 
Do you not warm milk up to make hot chocolate? How come that was funny? 