Part 04
She rekindled the fire when she returned to her Sanctum. This time she decided to forego magic and carefully threw dried logs into the fireplace, watching as the wood caught fire. She sat precariously close to the fire, so close that her skin crackled and threatened to singe. She had always enjoyed these games of tempting fate, though it gave Tara heart attacks every time.
At the thought of Tara she choked back tears and had to support herself as she walked slowly back to her chair again, trying to ignore the sights and sounds from her nightmare that were still fresh in her mind. Unlike many humans, she remembered all her dreams, often more vividly than her 'awake' life.
"You're a witch, an unusual witch who has both darkness and light inside you, the dreams will never leave you alone," the beautiful voice in her head told her.
They discussed dreams often. Tara loved to dream, she loved to let her feelings go. She told Willow that "a night's dreaming is never enough." Willow smiled at that, and at the memories of the many nights they spent making their own dreams come true.
She groaned as her stomach felt the water she just drank. It was the first time in days, perhaps weeks, that she had taken anything. She knew she was weak, getting weaker, but she had no desire for any form of nourishment.
I know what you'll say, love, but I can't. It's my punishment.
She slowly reached for the diary again. She felt every cell of her undead body protest at the exhaustion. Soon her eyes closed.
The doors of the Bronze opened and a minion stumbled in, his embarrassment evident when all eyes turned on him. The movement of the doors caused a light breeze to blow across the room, and Willow had to restrain from wrinkling her nose at the stench that came off the Master. He was her Master and the reason for her undead existence. But damn if he didn't reek of a century in the sewers.
Willow knew she should be listening to the Master's words, but her eyes strayed, yet again that evening, to the newest White Hat. She had been drawn to the blonde girl as soon as she entered the club. The girl was different, she didn't seem to have the bearing of a hellmouth-raised, apocalypse-scarred cynic that was the hallmark of the child soldiers in that room. Willow looked appreciatively at the curvaceous body, the golden hair, and all she thought was 'soft'. She wanted was to feel that body underneath hers, she imagined how her own skin would drink in the warmth of the bare, soft skin. She tried to keep her eyes on the proceedings, and with remarkable self control, maintained her trademark smirk and cold gaze.
She kept one eye on the girl while keeping one ear on the proceedings, and was rewarded when the Watcher called the girl by name. She rolled the name round her tongue, and it tasted like candy. "Tara." She liked it, very much.
~~~~~
She hid in the shadows from across the Bronze, still the slayers' turf. She stood as still as a rock for hours, waiting. For what she wanted, she had immense patience. Her eyes brightened up when she saw her prey exit the club, and a satisfied smile spread across her still hidden features when she realized the girl was alone. A small thought crossed her mind about how dangerous it was, for a lone human girl to walk along the streets of Sunnydale at this hour, but mostly, she felt delight and yummy anticipation.
She did not anticipate the girl to head straight toward her hiding spot, stopping a few feet from the recess that formed the doorway.
"What do you want from me?" the girl said to the dark shadow that hid Willow.
Willow didn't answer her, she was almost tempted to ignore her, but she found the pout and the frown lines on the girl's forehead too appealing.
"I'm watching the Bronze," she said nonchalantly.
If the girl was pleased at discovering Willow's hiding space, she didn't show it. "And standing outside my dorm? The cafeteria? Around the campus? You just happen to be watching those places while I'm there? You think I'm stupid?"
"I'm sizing up my next meal," Willow snarled, trying to sound as wicked as she could. Truth was, she was getting turned on by the girl's audacity. Not many humans would dare approach a vampire, let alone provoke her like that.
"While Mr Giles and your master are negotiating, there is a truce. If you feed on me, the whole negotiation is off, do you want to jeopardize it all, for one meal? Your master will dust you himself."
Bored. Want play.
"Fuck them all. I do whatever I want, not what some politicians tell me," Willow snorted.
"Come out where I can see you," the girl said softly.
"Nobody tells me what to do," Willow reiterated.
"I'm not telling you, I'm asking you. Nicely," the gentle lilting voice was so intoxicating, Willow felt hypnotized. Almost unwittingly, she stepped out of the shadow and faced the person she had been stalking for two nights and days. Since the Bronze, the girl had been the object of an unexplained fascination that only grew in magnitude.
"I don't have to be nice to food," Willow said, trying but not fully able to maintain her evil fiend air and sounding more like a whiny child instead.
The girl laughed, and looked intensely at Willow for the first time. "So, I'm still on the menu?"
Willow felt her own intensity developing from deep inside her as she caught the gaze of beautiful blue eyes and soft wispy blonde hair. "You're always on the menu," she whispered huskily, leaving no room for doubt as to her double meaning.
The girl smiled knowingly. Willow's stomach did a little backflip at the implied understanding.
~~~~~
They walked in silence along the empty streets of Sunnydale. The girl walked slightly behind Willow, watching warily for any sign of attack by the vampire. Willow smiled as she led the way, allowing the girl her peace of mind. She knew where they were heading, they both knew.
The girl opened the door to her dorm room and stepped in. She kept the door open while she switched on the dim desk lamp, lit several scented candles and hung her coat inside the closet. She took out a spare hanger and left it on the closet handle. She fluffed her comforter and watched as it gently settled back onto her bed. Finally she took the three steps needed to bring her back to the edge of the doorway.
All this time Willow waited, keeping a respectable distance. Her hands at her side, she stood still as a statue, yet her eyes never left the girl as she moved around the room. They were staring at each other with barely concealed anticipation.
"Tell me my name.â
"Tara." Willow whispered so softly she didn't know if it carried the distance.
Tara nodded. "Now tell me your name.â
"Willow.â
Tara nodded again. "Willow," she said, and Willow thought back to the day at the Bronze when she learnt Tara's name, and how she rolled it around her tongue in the same way. "Come, Willow."
Willow opened her eyes and she was back in her Sanctum. She felt weak because of the need for blood, but at peace as she savored the residual remnants from the dream.
More than a dream. It was exactly how we met, and how we fell in love. I was such a young demon then, I had no idea of the magnitude of the gift I was about to be given.
*****
