Title– Turned – part 20
Author– JustSkipit - Debra
E-mail –
debraser@yahoo.com Feedback – Yes please.
Spoilers–Season 6 through Seeing Red.
Rating– Part 20 – PG Disclaimer – Willow and Tara and any other character that appeared in the syndicated television show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” is property of Joss and Mutant Enemy, I’m only borrowing them and am not making any money off them Thanks.
The funeral was just after sunset. Normally nighttime funerals in Sunnydale would be a very bad idea. But with Spike, Tara, and Buffy attending, the danger was minimal. Spike hadn’t even requested any money for coming, which had been Xander’s prediction. Apparently he did have some level of compassion. Tara had no idea the number of people that April had known. The woman had moved to Sunnydale to be near Tara when the younger woman had come to college. In the time since then, she had obviously met many people who cared for her deeply.
Friends attended from her work, her hobbies, and Tabitha’s school and playgroups. Many were people Tara knew well. A few, women she did not know well, carried the unmistakable energy of magic on their skin. Because she had fed immediately before coming, only a few of those present seemed to note anything out of the ordinary about her. Spike of course, made no more an effort to appear human than he ever did but he remained in the background throughout the service.
Overcoming her shyness, Tara managed to deliver a beautiful eulogy praising her aunt’s love and generosity. She told how her Aunt had been a second mother to her, filling as well as she could the hole left in Tara’s life after her mother’s death. She told how the woman had never hesitated to make Tara and Tabitha her first priority in her life. As tears fell unceasingly from her eyes, Tabitha stepped forward to take her mother’s hand. The gathering was initially speechless as she started singing quietly but was soon joined by Tara and everyone else in a touching rendition of Amazing Grace.
As they finished singing each member of the gathering took turns dropping a shovel of dirt onto the coffin. After giving their condolences to Tara and Tabitha, they slowly dispersed, eventually leaving only the Scooby gang, which made its way back to the Summers house. After Anya, Xander, and Spike left Buffy went out to patrol leaving Willow, Tara, and Tabitha. At Willow’s suggestion, the blonde carried her daughter up the stairs to cuddle and comfort her in her sleep. The hacker stayed up late waiting for Buffy to return and pondering the future.
Sitting in the living room, Willow wondered at her life. Who could have predicted seven years ago that this would be her life? She was a high-school nerd with few friends and a lifelong crush on her best friend Xander. Now she was a lesbian witch with a magic addiction from which she was recovering. Her lover was a vampire who had had a child that she had never disclosed and that child was to be a new kind of more powerful slayer. She lived in a house with a slayer, a future slayer, a vampire, and a mystical key teenager. Suddenly the hacker was a parent. Not legally yet, but she knew that was only a matter of time and paperwork.
And strangely enough, she was enjoying being a parent. Tabitha was a charming child. She reminded Willow so much of Tara that at times she was amazed at the strength of recognition she felt for her lover in the little girl. They shared so many of the same mannerisms, speech patterns, and of course looked so much alike that it was overwhelming. Since Tara could not share the daytime with her daughter, Willow had plenty of opportunity to spend with the girl. After finding a good pre-school near the house, the redhead and the small child would walk to school together every day, their hands linked as they walked or skipped down the sidewalk. After school when Willow picked her up, she loved to listen to the child’s stories about her day. Tabitha would tell her tales about the other children and what job she had that day.
Of course this being Sunnydale and life with the Scoobies being life with the Scoobies, a few times Willow thought she noticed someone following she and Tabitha on their walk. Although she didn’t want to upset Tara who already felt inadequate due to her little sunlight problem as Willow liked to call it, Willow had resolved that if she noticed anything strange during the coming week she would definitely discuss it with Tara and Buffy.
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Tara woke to very sore eyes and a bad headache. She didn’t immediately recognize her surroundings but realized after a few moments that she was in Tabitha’s room, sleeping in the girl’s small bed. Sadly she remembered leaving the funeral and returning home. Willow had urged her to hold Tabitha until the girl fell asleep and obviously she had fallen asleep along with the child. It was no surprise, given the emotional exhaustion she felt.
“Mamamamamamama!” shouted the small blonde streak that ran into the room and jumped onto the bed and onto Tara’s stomach. Of course a larger red-haired streak followed close behind, also jumping onto the bed to tickle the vampire. Tara quickly grabbed Tabitha, tickling her as she held off Willow. After a few minutes Tabitha jumped from the bed grabbing her backpack.
“TodayI’mgoingtobesongleaderatschoolandIwanttogetthereearly!” Tabitha announced to the two witches. Both sat starring at her for a moment before the words (or word) started to make sense.
Tara reached out to snuggle her daughter as she spoke: “yes baby girl. But you need to put some yummy breakfast in your tummy first.” As she spoke she tickled the tummy to point out that it needed some food.
“Willow gave me breakfast,” Tabitha announced squirming away and reaching for her backpack again.
Tara raised an eyebrow at the hacker as she asked, “not cookies?”
“What cookies? Would I feed her cookies for breakfast? Me? No cookies aren’t a good breakfast. I’d never do that. Well, ok not since last week when you said not to but anyway, that’s beyond the point. We didn’t have cookies for breakfast today. No sirree-bob: no cookies for us.” Willow smiled as she completed her babble.
Now reaching out to ensnare her lover, Tara pulled her to the bed as she had done with Tabitha. Tickling the redhead’s tummy, Tara asked, “ok no cookies. And what did you put in these tummies?”
Tabitha started laughing as she saw her mama tickling Willow. She loved to see them together. The little girl had heard of Willow for years before meeting her. And she had always expected her to be a “grown-up” but she wasn’t. Willow was a little kid, just like her. Well, maybe not just like her but she seemed like a little kid. And mama was much more like a kid when she was around Willow. Tabitha remembered when Tara had come to live with her earlier this year. While the child had loved having her mama so close every day, she hated to see the sadness that she carried with her. But now, it seemed that that sadness was gone.
The redhead squirmed away from Tara as she sheepishly answered: “waffles?”
Tara nodded and smiled, “waffles good. With fruit right?”
“So Tab-tab-taby-tabitha,” Willow sung out, “shall we go and get you to school so you can be song leader?” The redhead and child almost made it from the room as they heard Tara’s voice behind them: “frozen waffles? Not frozen waffles…”
The departing pair rushed back in to give Tara a kiss as they answered, “but with Orange Juice and Milk!”
After giving both her “children” a kiss and hug, the vampire collapsed back on the bed muttering to herself: “frozen waffles?” She could hear them clamoring down the stairs sounding like what her mother would have called “a herd of elephants” and beginning to practice the songs that Tabitha would sing today. Tara smiled as she thought of the way that her daughter was really changing Willow in some ways. The redhead hated her voice and hated to sing in front of anyone. Of course, she had good reason for her embarrassment Tara realized but with Tabitha, she seemed to enjoy the playtime aspect of singing. And of course Tabitha, having been reared by April and Tara, loved song. As the door slammed, Tara hoped that Dawn hadn’t been trying to sleep.
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Willow and Tabitha walked down the sidewalk holding hands. Tabitha of course knew that she didn’t have to hold hands on the sidewalk, but she liked it. She liked the feel of her small hand in Willow’s larger one. It seemed to give her comfort and the older girl kind of felt like Tara or Aunt April to her. Tabitha knew that Willow was a witch but for some reason she didn’t do magic. She could feel all the energy just hovering around Willow’s skin, trapped. And she knew that that wasn’t how magic should be. When the child held hands with Tara or April, she could feel a flow between them. She could feel the magic flowing into and out of each of them as if it were alive and it felt good to her. Like home. Like love.
The child could feel Willow’s resistance to the magic and something else. The older girl seemed to be distracted. “Let’s walk faster Tabitha,” Willow urged as she speeded up her pace.
Confused by the mixed emotions from her companion, Tabitha decided to ask, “Willow?” The redhead nodded toward the girl as her eyes continued to frantically scan the street. “Why don’t you do the magic?”
Suddenly Willow stopped dead in the sidewalk. She couldn’t have been more surprised if the child had asked whether relativity was a more theological or physical concept. “Magic?”
Pulling at her hand, Tabitha began them walking again as she explained, “yes. Magic. Why don’t you do it? You’re a witch right?”
Willow bent down to look at Tabitha’s eyes as she answered: “I, I, I can’t do it anymore. I wasn’t a good witch. I hurt people. I-I-I hurt your mama.” Seeing the tears in Willow’s eyes, Tabitha instinctively hugged the woman.
With their eyes closed as they hugged, neither girl noticed the van which pulled alongside of them. The door slid quickly open and two men jumped down. Before either Willow or Tabitha could react, they found themselves inside the van as it sped from the curb. Willow’s last thought before losing consciousness was “Tara…”
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Before Grimmy can ask, “why would Spike come to April’s funeral”: he came only as a favor to Tara so that it could be a post-sunset funeral and she could attend.
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"War may be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary it is always evil." - President Jimmy Carter after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize