Title: Just Breathe (the songfic part)
Author: SakuraEtsuko AKA Karen
Feedback: In the name of all that is holy YES! Pleeaaaassseeeeee!!!
Rating: this is PG13…upcoming updates to get racier though ^_^
Disclaimers: I don’t own Willow, Tara blah, blah, blah Joss does…damn him. And the song “Breathe” by Faith Hill I only borrowed, as well as the conversation from BTVS. However all original characters are my own creation and any resemblance of them and any living, dead or fictional people is coincidental. ^_^
Distribution: This is only for pens and my sites….please don’t take or reproduce.
Acknowledgements: To my wonderful beta Sarah aka Oracle of Magic!! Without whose help the fic would not exist! And I would never know Willow’s true hair color! And also to marina for her helpful hints and advice!
Summary: This is a song-fic of Willow and Tara, who are captured, and facing seemingly insurmountable challenges.
Notes: This is an introduction to the rest of the fic that’s up and coming… the rest will be non song-fic still on this thread. Now it may take a while…but I solemnly promise a happy ending for all! (Well at least W/T…anyone else is a guess to everyone! ^_^ ) DO NOT WORRY W/T WILL BE OK!
Note 2: Ok...now I know that they don’t really speak English in the Sudan, but as I don’t speak Arabic and I don’t think most kittens do either...lets all play pretend! We’re in the Karen-verse where people speak different languages, but to the reader it all looks and sounds like English! K? K!
Note 3: Disclaimer of Facts There is a disclaimer of facts, with some information about the conflict in Sudan, specifically Darfur, where the story does take place at the bottom of the page, please do read…and I hope I have not offended anyone with my fic!
To Mods: Discussed this with bytrsuite in Kitten chat…got the okay.
Tara tightened her grip around her love, holding her close to soften the jarring blows of the rickety cage they were trapped in. Her eyes were glued to the pale face of her soul mate, her Willow. Her senses barely registered the strange dialect and crude gestures of their captors. As she ran her fingers through Willow’s soft auburn tresses, she shook her head and thought to herself, “Why Willow? Why?”
She closed her eyes, remembering their capture, Willows bravery, and the consequences of her love’s rash actions.
“The two women were walking along a dirt path, holding hands and smiling at the tiny black kitten darting through their legs comically, looking as though it meant to trip them. Willow smiled as Tara stumbled and she caught her in her arms.
“So you and Miss Kitty are working together huh?” Tara asked saucily.
“Yep. She’s my little accomplice!” Willow replied, sticking her tongue out at Tara.
“Watch where you put that tongue missy!” Tara replied as she caught the tongue between two quick fingers and gave a short tug.
“Mffercy Mffercy!” Willow tried to say, throwing her hands up in the air.
Resuming their leisurely walk, the two women again joined hands. Neither wanting to disturb the peaceful quiet they walked on silently for quite some time when Willow unexpectedly said, “Tell me a story.”
“Okay. Once upon a time, there was, um ... a kitty. She was very little, and she was all alone, and nobody wanted her.”
“This is a very upsetting story!” Willow cried.
“Oh, oh, but it gets better,” Tara replied.
The kitten ran between the two women, mewling loudly.
“'Cause one day the kitty was running around in the street and a man came, and swooped her up…”
A pair of hands reached down and swooped up the kitten.
“And took her to the pound.” Tara finished, tickling the squirming kitten. “And at the pound there were lots of other kitties, and there were puppies, and some ferrets…”
“Were there dolphins?” Willow interrupted, smiling.
“Yes. Many dolphins at the pound,” Tara replied, smiling as she handed the kitten to Willow.
“Did the kitty get chosen by some nice people?” Willow asked, snuggling the kitten.
“Well…now you ruined the ending.” Tara said, rolling her eyes and laughing.
Willow smiled at Tara handing her the kitten and sighing softly.
“What’s wrong sweetie?” Tara asked.
“Nothing!” Willow told her excitedly, “That’s the thing. I’ve never been this happy in my entire life as I am at this moment with you.”
Tara blushed and smiled upon hearing this, and looking down at the purring bundle in her arms steeled her courage and said, “I…I love you Willow”
Willow’s heart soared at hearing those four words and as she opened her mouth to respond-
“AAAAAAAAAAAH! Please don’t take him! Please leave him be! He’s only a child!” A young woman screamed helplessly at the men in garb of the Janjaweed warriors.
The tall Arab sneered at the woman and replied, “All citizens of the Sudan know the price for stealing!” Looking over to his men the Arab told them, “Hold her down while I teach this young ruffian a lesson he won’t soon forget!”
The boy cowered away from the man but was dragged forward nonetheless, his arm placed on the table as the Arab grabbed a large knife and fixed a look of twisted pleasure on his face.
“NOOOOOOOOO!” the young Sudanese mother of the child yelled. “Please have mercy!”
The Arab turned to her and said, “There is no mercy for your kind peasant whore! Shut your mouth or the consequences will grow! He knows the laws of the Janjaweed!”
Running round the corner, Willow glanced at Tara and the two almost lovers shared a small nod.
“Stop!” Willow yelled, “I wont let you do this to a child!”
“Shut your mouth foreigner! These are our laws, and our people will never submit to learning *your* ways!” The Arab replied.
Tara snuck up behind the two men holding the young mother and before either knew what hit them, she conked them over the head with a large rock she had picked up nearby. Then raced with the mother to support her love in her crusade for mercy and compassion.
“But these latest peace talks are all about helping your country find peace! And helping the groups to live together, to prosper under a government system mutual to all!” Willow earnestly said.
“Blah, blah, blah…These treaties do not affect MY people, and we will never agree to it!” The Arab screamed back.
“Well I wont let you do this.” Willow replied as she executed a perfect flying spinning back kick, knocking the tall Arab man unconscious. She rushed the shaken boy to his mother, urging them to leave the village square.
Willow whipped her head around to gaze into the eyes of her beloved, to now utter the words she had failed to before, “Ta-” Tara’s eyes widened and Willow sighed as she stopped mid-sentence, and turned around to find the Arab man had risen, and had somehow called in ten or fifteen more burly looking men as reinforcements.
“You will pay for interfering in Janjaweed justice, foreigner!” The Arab yelled as he and his fellow marauders drew their guns and approached towards the two women.
Although Willow couldn’t see Tara’s face she sent a silent prayer to any Gods above to protect the woman she loved as her world tumbled into darkness.
*****************************************************************************
Willow awoke some time later, shaking her head to clear away the grogginess, and discovered that she and Tara were slung over the back of a horse, tied down in the most uncomfortable positions imaginable.
“Tara. Tara baby c’mon wake up,” Willow whispered to the blonde as she nudged her with her elbow, trying to find a way loose.
“Owwwwww,” Tara groaned as she opened her eyes, blinking at the harsh light after being entrenched in a world of darkness for nearly five hours. “Willow, where are we?”
“Shhhhh,” Willow hissed as she twisted and turned, finding a weak spot in the knots of her ropes. She angled her body so that she could reach Tara, patted her gently on the arm before returning to finding a way out of the jam SHE currently had them in. Sighing, Willow eased her way out of the ropes, grinning as she remembered all the training sessions with Buffy saving her butt, as per the usual.
“Tara, I’m untying your ropes, now, when I say I want you to jump from the horse and start running…just keep running and don’t stop, I will follow you as soon as I can.” Willow fervently told her love.
“I won’t leave you!” a passionate plea.
“Shhhh...don’t worry,” a grin, “This is me we’re talking about!”
“How could I forget?” Tara remarked sarcastically as she rolled her eyes in frustration.
As the travelers reached the banks of a rushing river, Willow whispered to Tara as she flung herself into an upright position onto the horse, “Go! Now!”
Her breath coming in short heaving gasps, Tara swallowed her nervousness and started running towards the jungle as fast as her legs would carry her. Obeying Willow, she willed herself to run onward, not looking back at the peril her soul mate now faced.
Willow, after breathing a sigh of relief at the escape of the blonde doctor, turned to the marauders, who were just noticing the escape of the other woman, and let out a mighty roar as she raced past them towards the river. She never saw the man coming to the left, never heard the swish of the club before it connected with her skull, and felt no pain as she fell into the river, unconscious, her body falling into the murky depths.
Tara, as if commanded by a sixth sense, turned at that moment and seeing her Willow fall, screamed and ran towards her; and the raging river. Willow’s unconscious body continued on downstream, and as one of the Arabs pulled Tara onto his horse in front of him. The rest of the mounted men rode downstream to retrieve Willow, or, they thought as they chuckled amongst each other…whatever was left.************************************************************************
After that, the men had dumped Willow’s unconscious but thankfully still breathing body into Tara’s lap, and thrown both women into a creaky rusty cage in the back of a covered wagon. Tara looked at Willow once more before squeezing her eyes tightly against the tears that threatened to spill from eyes. Struggling to maintain her composure she continued stroking Willow’s cheek and whispering sweet nothings in her ear.
Tara thought back to happier times, and with a sense of regret, wondered what would’ve happened if both of them had followed through on their feelings sooner. She was angered at possibly losing the chance to spend the rest of her life with her newly discovered soul mate.
Opening her eyes, seeing only Willow, she noticed her breathing growing shallower, and casting furtive glances about, made a decision as she opened her mouth and:
“I can feel the magic floating in the air,
Being with you gets me that way,”
Tara’s entrancing voice floated over to the men on horseback as they cocked their heads and listened intently to the strangers song.
“I watch the sunlight dance across your face and I’ve
Never been this swept away.
All my thoughts just seem to settle on the breeze,
As I’m lying wrapped up in your arms.
The whole world just fades away the only thing I hear,
Is the beating of your heart.”Tara smiled to herself as she pulled
Willow closer and images ran through her mind as she sang to her fallen love.
A picnic lunch for two. Two women dancing to their own music by the river. A beautiful redhead feeding a blonde grapes in a sensuous manner. Two sets of eyes, lost in each other as darkness falls, and the moon rises. Two hearts near each other, gazing at the stars and making up funny names for constellations.
“And I can feel you breathe,
Its washing over me,
And suddenly I’m melting into you.”
Images of times past continued to float through Tara’s mind as she choked back tears and continued serenading the unconscious woman in her lap.
The doctors working side by side healing the children of a small village. Delivering twin babies to a proud young mother. Gathering the children round and acting out stories of ancient battles and loves. Dropping into their beds next to each other at the end of the day, exhausted, yet more fulfilled and at peace than the day before.
“There’s nothing left to prove,
and baby all we need is just to be,
Caught up in the touch,
The slow and steady rush
And baby isn’t that the way that loves supposed to be?
I can feel you breathe….
Just Breathe”
Tara’s lovely voice had stopped the men in their tracks, and all of them now stared openly at the woman pouring all of her heart and soul into her song.
A first kiss. A second kiss. Struggling to catch their breaths. The doctors running holding hands in the jungle, frightened of the beast chasing them, but each indescribably happy to have finally found hope and love in the other. A hasty retreat to the medical compound, and wounds being examined by fellow members of their team, yet their eyes only saw one another.
“In a way I know my heart is waking up
As all the walls come tumblin' down”
The redhead holding the blonde doctor close as she cried her eyes out, revealing the years of abuse and torture at the hands of one she had loved. After a recent attack which triggered memories, the redhead held the younger blonde close all night long, stroking her head and cuddling against her. A new cure found to keep the nightmares at bay.
“Closer than I’ve ever felt before,
And I know, and you know,
There’s no need for words right now.”
Tara’s eyes fluttering open the next morning, looking into bleary emerald eyes, eyes that had remained open throughout the night, protecting and keeping her safe from her own demons. Two sets of eyes never torn away from the other, Two hearts, beating together as one.
“And I can feel you breathe, it's washing over me
Suddenly I'm melting into you”
Tara running onto the scene of yet another attack from government troops, at the heels of the Sudanese Liberation Army, running to get to her Willow. Seeing Willow cowering over the battered and broken bodies of the mothers, children, and the elderly.
Racing to Willow’s side and pulling her into her arms to protect her from all the horrors of the world. Willow’s bloody and scratched face staring blankly ahead. A moment when nothing could reach her.
“There's nothing left to prove, baby all we need is just to be
Caught up in the touch, slow and steady rush
And baby, isn't that the way love's supposed to be”
A kiss and a gentle smile from Tara pulling Willow away from the darkness. Later on, Willow, bandaged and patched, laying in Tara’s arms, knowing that there could still be good in this world. Two chests rising and falling in sync.
“I can feel you breathe”
As Tara began to finish the song, Willow’s body abruptly lurched into convulsions. Tara, frightened out of her mind, held Willow down as best she could, the song forgotten as she tried to use her mind to will her love out of the jerking spasms.
The Janjaweed riders came over curiously, not affected by the redheads death or survival, but drawn to the scene like moths to a flame.
All of the sudden Willows stopped convulsing, stopped moving, stopped…breathing.
“Oh no, oh no, oh no…” Tara muttered to herself, and leaning over began to perform CPR on the woman she loved. “C’mon Will, its gonna be ok, you can do it…”
“C’mon Will, breathe! BREATHE damnit!!”
Frustrated, Tara continued chest compressions, counting feverishly and working furiously to save Willow. As she pulled away from Willows mouth to begin the next set of compressions, her eyes widened as a Janjaweed rider approached….
“Just Breathe……”
TBC
****Disclaimer of fact
“Darfur is situated in the West of Sudan. For a number of years it was the scene of sporadic clashes between farming communities such as the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa, and nomadic groups, which led to many deaths and the destruction and looting of homes. The government blamed competition over scarce resources for the clashes.
In February 2003 a new armed opposition group, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) took up arms against the government, because of what they perceived as the lack of government protection for their people and the marginalisation and underdevelopment of the region. The support base of this armed group came mainly from the agricultural groups in the region. Shortly afterwards another armed group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) emerged.
The government of Sudan responded by allowing free rein to Arab militias known as the Janjawid (or Janjaweed) (guns on horseback) who began attacking villages, killing, raping and abducting people, destroying homes and other property, including water sources and looting livestock. At times government troops also attacked villages alongside the Janjawid, and government aircraft have been bombing villages sometimes just before Janjawid attacks, suggesting that these attacks were coordinated. The links between the Sudanese armed forces and the Janjawid are incontrovertible, the Janjawid are now wearing uniforms provided by the army.”
http://web.amnesty.org/pages/sdn-background-eng
Sorry I'm a bit speechless, this is just too good for words! 
The story is new and inventive! can't wait to read more now... just...wow...great story! keep going please!!!
Seriously though, wonderful update, I am simply speechless. You have managed to keep everyone in character, while putting them in completely different roles. Xander sounded like he was from Boston, Anya was, well, Anya, Faith, spot on my friend, Willow was great, Tara with the shyness, totally right, Riley the annoying one, 
LMAO at Harmony being the secretary! I like the way Dawn's acting, I can't wait to see what happens next!
