by AntigoneUnbound » Sat Aug 21, 2004 8:16 pm
Hello, all. I'm so, so sorry for my woeful delay in posting. I'm also abundantly sick of lamenting the suckage of life. Suffice it to say that I've been out of town for most of the summer attending to a family crisis. At the risk of inviting a plague of locusts, however, things have settled down immensely within the past two weeks. Perhaps I flatter myself that people are still interested in this story, but I know I am. If you're kind enough to pick this back up, I thank you mightily and promise you I'll make it worth your while.
I know that I have individual replies to attend to; I'll start with those after posting this update. Again: thank you for staying with me.
Mary
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AS TIME GOES BY
Part 6
Author: Antigone Unbound
Rating: PG for now
Setting: An all-new, much better Season 7
Synopsis: Whoa--A baby! Of mystical origins! Who didn't like the homophobe at the light! And an author who seems unduly fond of exclamation marks!
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"And so Kyra...what? Glared at the man?" Giles' tone suggested deep puzzlement.
"She glared at him, did this raised-fist thing--and the SOB dropped like a stone." Willow knew that her own voice held more pride than an avowed pacifist's ought to. She glanced over at Tara, half-fearing the infamous Quirked Eyebrow of Mild Reproach, but her partner simply nodded in agreement. Methinks I'm not the only proud parent in this room.
"My word," Giles murmured. "That must have been rather disconcerting."
"It was 'rather disconcerting' in the way that John Ashcroft is 'rather conservative,'" Tara replied, shaking her head. "I mean, if you guys could have seen it..."
They were sitting around the large table in the back of the Magic Shop. In addition to Giles, they were joined by Buffy, Xander, and Anya. Dawn was watching Kyra in the training room. "Don't let her play with the broad-axes," the Slayer had remarked absently. Now, she looked suspiciously from one witch to the other.
"Screw disconcerted," she said flatly. "You two are downright proud of the little sorceress. Am I right?"
Willow exchanged a guilty look with Tara. After a moment, she shrugged helplessly. "But she was just so...cute. I mean, with her little fist, and her jaw all squared like she was getting ready to take on every homophobe in the country..."
"Plus she was in her lavender onesie, the one with the baby ducks on it," Tara added pointedly.
"Oh God, she's so adorable in that!" Buffy exclaimed. "Was she wearing the matching booties?"
"Yes, I remember when we first battled Ethan Rayne," Giles broke in abruptly. "You all looked so cute in your costumes, I could scarcely focus on the mayhem at hand." He sighed in exasperation. "But about that annoying side issue of Kyra's seeming use of magic."
"Right. Sorry." Willow reached over and took Tara's hand as Anya whispered loudly, "But she does look just too cute in that outfit." Willow gave her a quick smile, then turned back to the Watcher.
"I don't know what to say, Giles. She's never done anything like it before." She turned back to Tara. "I mean, you haven't seen anything, have you?" She already knew the answer, though; there was no way that her partner would keep such a thing from her. Tara was shaking her head.
"There's never been any indication of magical ability before." She paused, and then added, "Although I can't say I'm surprised."
"You mean, because you're both witches?" Xander asked, and then caught himself. "Oh wait--not so much with the biological connection." He frowned slightly. "I always seem to forget that."
Tara smiled at him, her eyes crinkling, and Willow wondered yet again how anyone could be on the receiving end of so much beauty and not fall completely and irrevocably in love. "Yeah, so do we." Turning back to Giles, she continued, "Kyra started out under such mystical circumstances, not to mention the fact that she's never been sick a day in her life and she virtually never cries. All babies are special, but it's not just maternal pride when I say that Kyra's extra special. I wouldn't have predicted this, but I can't say I'm exactly falling down in shock."
Buffy snorted. "With everything this gang's seen? If any of us did fall down in shock, I'd probably...well, fall down in shock."
"Good point," Willow acknowledged.
"So then what's the mojo about?" Xander asked. "What made her...activate?"
"For Hecate's sake, Xander, she's not a Wonder Twin," Willow frowned.
"You know what he means," Anya said impatiently. "What made her use her magics then?"
"It was definitely directed at this guy, right?" Buffy asked. "No chance of it just being...chance?"
"No way," Tara replied decisively. "She was just gurgling and smiling before he started in on us."
Giles cleared his throat, but when the others looked at him, he spoke almost reluctantly. "Well, Kyra did spring from a protection spell." At the words, the room fell silent.
Finally, Willow asked quietly, "So what are you saying?"
"Yeah--what's your point?" Dawn had slipped back into the main room unnoticed, and now stood defiantly in the doorway, rubbing Kyra's back protectively.
Giles looked uncomfortably from Tara to Willow and finally to Dawn. "I'm saying...Well, actually I'm just speculating...It's--it's possible that Kyra was acting to protect her mothers."
Willow felt her throat tighten at the words, and squeezed Tara's hand reflexively. "OK--I do not like where you're going with this, Giles."
"So, what--Kyra was sent here to protect people?" Xander asked incredulously.
"People...Or perhaps, Willow and Tara specifically." Giles rubbed his forehead as if fighting a headache, and then continued. "You said that the man was harassing you, denigrating you because of your relationship to each other and to Krya."
"Right," Willow nodded. "He was saying it was bad enough that we were gay, but that to bring a child into it was just beyond immoral. You know--the usual hate-mongering." She tried to keep her voice even.
"And then he stepped closer, and raised his voice--and that's when...That's when Kyra reacted." He looked at Willow almost apologetically.
Even through her agitation, Willow knew that Giles didn't like what he was saying. The implications were too frightening.
"No." Tara's voice was flat. "A baby doesn't protect her mothers. That's not how it works."
"We've been puzzled as to Kyra's appearance since she...arrived," Giles said helplessly. "We've thought it possible that she was sent to Willow and Tara in order that she might be protected, but this..." He trailed off, running a hand nervously through his hair. "After this, we have to consider the possibility that it's the other way around. That Kyra is the one who is to protect you."
Willow watched as Tara rose and moved toward Dawn, reaching out for Kyra while she was still several feet away from the teenager. Dawn seemed reluctant to part with the child, but settled for standing as close to the mother and child as she could. Tara pressed her lips lightly to Kyra's forehead and looked back at Giles.
"I won't have this."
Willow stared at her partner. She had known Tara for over three years; they had been through more together in that span than most couples would go through in a lifetime. But she had never heard her speak so flatly; never heard her simply shut off another person. "Baby..."
Tara swung around to face her. "Willow, we're going home." When Willow opened her mouth to speak, Tara did it for her: "Now."
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The trip back to the Summers house had been a tense one. Willow ached to talk about what had happened; the possibilities and fears it raised, but for once Tara seemed to be closed off. Her answers had been terse, monosyllabic. Kyra had fallen asleep on the way home, and Willow had finally decided to wait until they had her put down before broaching the subject again. If the two of them got upset--and those were good odds--she didn't want to wake their daughter.
Only after they had both settled under the big crimson comforter did Willow turn and face her partner. "Baby--look at me." She cupped her hand gently against Tara's soft cheek. Tara sighed, and Willow thought she could feel her lover's lips trembling just slightly under her thumb. She sighed once more, and this time there was a hint of a sob behind her breath; and then finally she turned and gazed at Willow.
Willow felt her heart tighten at the fear and dread in her beloved's fathomless cobalt eyes. "Willow...This can't be happening. This can't be why she's here."
Tears stung the back of her eyes--tears for her beloved's pain; tears for her own...And the first of many tears, she thought, for whatever pain Kyra might face.
"I know, Baby...I know." Willow drew a deep breath and tried to speak with something akin to strength. "But it's just speculation at this point, right? I mean, he even said so. You know Giles--he's the one who comes up with all the various hypotheses and theories. It's--It's his job to raise all the possibilities, you know?"
Tara's eyes were helpless with pain. "I know. And I also know he's usually right." She shifted, propping herself up on one elbow. "Willow, everything he said makes sense. The man was harassing us, not her. And she acted to defend us." The anguish in her voice was piercing, almost desperate.
Willow shook her head angrily, hating Giles at that moment with what she knew was an unreasonable blame. Then she seized on an idea. "But how do we know she knew he wasn't threatening her? I mean, she's a baby, Tara. Maybe she felt a hostile energy, assumed it was directed at her, and acted to defend herself." Looking up at Tara's troubled face, she prayed that she was right.
Tara gazed down at her for a moment, biting her lip. Then she dropped back onto her pillow and stared up at the ceiling. "Willow, if she's intelligent enough to sense a hostile presence, she's intelligent enough to know where it's directed."
"We don't know that, Baby." Willow could feel new and defiant hope creeping into her voice. "Everything we've read says that babies are more aware of their surroundings--including emotional states--than we first assumed. Sure Kyra's different--there's no denying that. But there's no way we can assume that she knew exactly what he was saying, or who he was directing all his hatred to." She stared fiercely into Tara's anguished gaze, willing her beloved to believe what she had just said.
Tara furrowed her brow, biting her lip in what Willow knew was an unconscious habit when she was agitated. "Do you think so? Kyra was protecting herself?"
"I think it's a possibility, and that's gonna keep me from assuming the worst right now." They were facing each other now, so close together that Willow could feel the soft puffs of Tara's breath falling against her cheek. She leaned forward; the barest movement, but it was enough to bring her lips to Tara's. She kissed her gently, feeling her beloved's warm lips yielding to her own; accepting the comfort and the reassurance and the love. After a long moment, their lips joined in a hushed, still promise, Willow pulled back and then pressed soft kisses against Tara's closed eyes. Rolling onto her back, she pulled Tara against her, wrapping her slender arms around the infinitely precious woman within her embrace. "Go to sleep, my love," she whispered.
Willow lay awake for a long time after Tara's breathing had slowed to the deep regular pattern of her sleep. She thought about the woman in her arms, and the tiny creature in the crib nearby, and thought about what it meant to love someone so deeply, so fiercely that the finest purpose of your own life was to safeguard theirs.
We can protect her, she prayed to any deities who might be listening and a few that she suspected weren't. She thought for a moment, and then amended, We will.
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It was a subdued group that reconvened at the Magic Box the next evening. Giles had greeted Willow and Tara anxiously upon their arrival; Willow thought that he was particularly agitated when speaking to Tara.
"I can only imagine how stressful this must be," he began. "I...I hope you know that I would love nothing more than to be mistaken about...about my speculations of last night. I would never--"
"Giles, it's OK," Tara broke in, laying a hand on the Watcher's sleeve. "I know you're just doing your job. And if you're right," she added, looking at Willow, "it's best we know now so that we can plan what to do."
Except that we're hoping you're wrong. We need you to be wrong.
Giles smiled awkwardly, then rested his hand briefly over Tara's. "Thank you, Tara. As usual, you're more gracious than anyone could ask of you." Only Willow, who could feel Tara's moods as surely as her own, knew how much effort it was taking for her beloved to summon up that graciousness. She nuzzled Kyra more tightly against her chest.
After they had all settled in, half-heartedly eating the take-out Chinese, Giles cleared his throat. "It goes without saying that last night was a difficult night," he began.
"And yet you said it," Anya pointed out. "Why do people always say, 'It goes without saying' right before they say what could have gone without the saying?"
The Watcher fixed her with a withering gaze. "Because we're so irretrievably committed to pointless conversational exchanges, Anya. Much like this one, for example."
The ex-demon sniffed. "Just trying to understand you silly homos."
Willow started abruptly. "Excuse me?" she demanded, feeling her eyebrows shoot all the way up into her hairline.
"You know--people. I was just using the scientific term," Anya explained as if speaking to a small child.
"OK, so, first: it's 'homo sapiens,' and second: you are one. Perhaps you meant to say 'possessed-of-at-least-one-faint-clue homo sapiens.'" Willow's patience was in short supply.
"Can we stay on topic here?" Tara asked, her voice at once quiet and commanding. Glancing around the room, she continued. "Last night, Willow and I were discussing the possibility that Kyra was protecting herself." She went on to explain their reasoning.
"I like that much better," Xander chimed in enthusiastically.
"It makes sense," Buffy said, looking from Willow and Tara to Giles. "She can tell something's up; she knows something's wrong in her universe--and she acts to defend herself."
"That could certainly be the case," Giles replied slowly, then shook his head in frustration. "There's just so much we don't know, and the only person who might possibly be able to tell us can't speak yet."
Willow glared at him indignantly. "She's less than a year old, Giles! And she's a lot more advanced than most babies, let me tell you. Why, you can tell from the way she's trying to pull herself up that she'll probably just skip crawling altogether and go straight to walking! And another thing--"
"Uh, Will," Buffy broke in gently. "I don't think Giles was saying that Kyra's going to be in the Terrific Turtles reading group instead of the Racing Rabbits when she gets to school."
"Oh--sorry." Willow grinned weakly.
"Proud parents," Giles murmured. "Always so...energetic when it comes to their young." He shook his head, but Willow could feel his affection and his concern emanating through the comment. "Alright, then. We proceed without any assumptions, though admittedly we hope that Kyra was acting to protect herself."
"I can live with that," Buffy said quietly. Willow felt the reassuring squeeze of Tara's hand on hers.
That's the only option I can live with.
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"The human capacity to believe what it wants to believe is truly stunning." The deep, soft voice held neither praise nor condemnation.
"If they choose blindness, we cannot intervene." This second voice, so much like the first, betrayed its owner's uneasiness.
"The child will serve as she is meant to serve. They will learn this soon enough." And the final voice of the three, with her words, pronounced the matter closed.
**************
Next update: Wednesday, August 25th. I truly, deeply, honkin' promise.
I'll sometimes chuckle when I find a line in a fic funny, but you had me truly laughing with tears in my eyes, and that says a lot for your skills as a writer. Your style is so quirky I just adore it. Every sentence ends with a surprise, as if you fool us into thinking we know what you’re going to say, only to find at the end of a paragraph, something unexpected and refreshing and hilarious. Really great stuff. So update will be soon? Please?
Glad you're continuing with this amazing story. 
Alcy 
more
aww indeed
easier for me to keep track of fics i do read!
. I actually don't want to guess in case I guess right and it ruins it. Still, it's fantastic to have you back. Looking forward to getting all my questions answered, in torturous due course. 
Welcome back (insert any and all happy emoticons here).
But alas, I am weak (blame it on the drugs I say 
) and had to 
Isn't there a "hug" emoticon? My brain aches. It's the drugs I tell ya!
to you my friend,
And also, your disclaimers rock! 
