I hope this was worth the wait, kittens.
And I apologize for the lack of updates. I wish I had a clever excuse, but I don't. Thank you all for sticking with this ... especially when I go MIA on you.
You all rock! Part 13 brings snugglies!
Here's part 12 ...
“And then I said, ‘I’ve got your hammer’, Xander said, throwing his head back and laughing. He slapped his hand on the table as a fresh round of laughter bubbled up over the half-circle booth.
Willow leaned into Tara, laughing along with her friends and marveling at how well the shy witch had been received into the family. The walk to the pizza parlor was long and awkward, but once everyone was seated, the mood lightened and the conversation began to flow.
“That story never gets old,” Anya explained. “It’s as funny as it was the first time.”
Dawn giggled and said, “That’s not saying a whole lot, Anya.”
Tara’s hand deftly moved from in front of her mouth to the side of her plate as her fingers skillfully tucked something under its porcelain lip.
“Tara, you thought it was funny, right?” Xander asked, putting his adorable face on.
“That’s why she’s doubled-over laughing,” Anya said sarcastically, noticing that Tara barely cracked a smile at Xander’s latest work-related anecdote.
“Oh .. n-no,” Tara said, her fingers fidgeting at the side of her plate, “uhm, you’re, uhm, that was very, y’ know, funny.”
“No, no, the hammer story is not one of my best,” Xander conceded. “Did I tell you about that time Tino and I drove the wrecking ball to the bowling alley?”
“Sweetie, that’s not funny, tell her about the Shumach tribe and your pe-“ Anya’s words were cut off as Xander’s calloused hand clamped over her mouth.
Tara giggled at the couple’s antics and looked at Willow happily. The redhead’s mouth was turned up in an elfish grin. Catching the blonde’s eye, Willow reached under the table and placed her hand on Tara’s thigh, squeezing it gently.
“Whatcha got there?” Willow asked, glancing at Tara’s hand, still hovering next to her plate.
Tara’s eyes darted to her hand and the back at the redhead, feeling the entire table watching her. “Uhm, n-nothing,” she said half-heartedly and gave Willow an embarrassed smile before looking down again.
Willow raised her hand to Tara’s and lifted it slowly, not taking her eyes off the shy blonde. Her nose crinkled and her eyes narrowed. “No, really, what is that?”
Tara laughed nervously, not making eye contact with the redhead. “It’s a, uhm, habit,” the blonde said, shaking her head. “A, uhm, cherry coke habit.”
Anya half-stood and leaned across the table, trying to get a peek at what Tara was hiding. When she saw the object, she grinned and winked at Willow. “You’re a lucky girl. There’s two in that one.”
“Two in what one?” Willow asked, looking between Anya and Tara, who had a petrified look on her face.
“That’s a cherry stem and she,” Anya said, pointed her thin finger at Tara, “tied it in a knot, well, in two knots actually. Go on ask her how she tied them.”
“Uhm, Anya,” Tara said quietly. “It – it’s not a big deal. I just –“
“She did it with her tongue,” Anya announced.
Tara let her body slide down against the back of the booth as a deep crimson painted her face. “Uhm, it’s j-just a habit, uhm, “ she tried to explain.
“One knot isn’t so hard to do, but two! I’m impressed,” Anya said approvingly. “That’s one skillful girl you got there, Willow.”
Willow looked at Anya, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open. The redhead swiveled her head to look at the blushing blonde next to her.
“Ahn, sweetie, remember what we talked about on the way over?” Xander gently reminded his girlfriend.
“What? Did I say ‘I told you so?’ No,” Anya announced.
Buffy interrupted, “I think we’re talking about the not embarrassing our Wicca friends talk we had.”
“I-it’s, uhm, okay,” Tara said, forcing herself to sit up. “It’s a, uhm, weird h-habit to have, I guess.”
“Weird, maybe, but useful,” Anya said, “definitely.”
“On that note,” Xander said cheerfully, trying to change the topic, “how ‘bout we settle up the bill and get home?”
“Good idea,” Buffy said, trying to hold back the laughter that was threatening to burst from her small frame.
“Hey, Tara,” Dawn whispered, leaning over Buffy so the shy blonde could hear her better, “can you teach me how to do that? It’s so cool!”
Buffy didn’t wait for Tara to answer, instead she thrusted her arm toward her sister and forcefully pushed her out of the booth. “Time to go home, Dawn.”
Willow watched as Tara demurely slid around the booth, still too embarrassed to make eye contact with her friends. Placing her fingers around Tara’s arm and tugging it toward her, Willow stopped the blonde from standing. “On the way home, you’ll have to tell me where you learned that,’ she said, grinning from ear to ear.
As the loud group of friends began their walk home, different conversations cropped up. Dawn was poking Buffy and complaining that the slayer had been too rough with her, Anya was trying to get Xander to ask Tara to teach him how to tie two knots in a cherry stem, and Tara was trying to make small talk to remove any attention that might be on her.
“Stars are, uhm, pretty tonight,” Tara said quietly.
“They sure are,” Willow agreed, not taking her eyes off the blonde at her side.
Tara smirked, seeing Willow from the corner of her eye. “And you can, uhm, see them okay?”
“Perfectly,” Willow said, memorizing her girlfriend’s profile. “Beautiful, really.”
The blonde quickly turned to Willow and playfully swatted her on the arm. “You’re not even looking,” she admonished lightly.
Willow merely smiled her elfish grin and wrapped her arm around Tar’s, pulling her closer as she did so. As Willow tilted her head up, she stopped walking and pointed into the sky. “Isn’t that the moose constellation?”
Turning her eyes heavenward, Tara squinted. “M-moose getting sponge bath is, uhm, there,” she said, pointed a few inches from where the redhead indicated. “Th-that’s, uhm, I don’t know that one.”
“I’ve discovered a constellation,” Willow exclaimed proudly.
“I guess you have to, y’know, name it,” Tara said, half-smiling at her girlfriend.
Willow squinted and tilted her head. “Well, it’s no, uhm, Big Pineapple,” she said thoughtfully. “That,” she said as she pointed to a bundle of stars, “is Big Buddha with a Belly Button Ring.”
She tilted her head again, “Although now it looks like his belly button ring is too high to be his belly button. It’s like, a,” Willow stopped and blushed. “A higher than belly button ring.”
“Willow,” Tara said, giggling, “h-his body jewelry is an, uhm, airplane.”
The redhead snapped her eyes back to the stars and squinted. “Oh, good,” she exhaled. “Planes are good, better than a piercing … there.”
Tara nodded and agreed, “Planes are good.”
Slipping her hand into the shy blonde’s, Willow analyzed, “You don’t like planes, remember? The whole falling out of the sky, crashing and badness that you relate to flying and planes.”
“Well, not all planes are bad,” Tara said slowly. “Like, uhm, that restaurant that’s an old plane? That’s cool. And, y’know, paper airplanes are cool too.”
Willow nodded happily, “I like paper airplanes, sometimes when I get bored, I just kinda fold up whatever paper is around and …” The redhead swallowed and peeked at Tara from the corner of her eye. The blonde was wearing the jacket Willow had lent her during vacation and had her free hand tucked into its pocket.
“I saw,” Tara said quietly and began walking a little slower.
“W-what?” Willow squeaked.
“Uhm, your planes,” Tara explained.
Remembering that Tara found her at the Bronze with a table full of paper jets, Willow smiled. “Oh, yeah. The Bronze,” she said with a relieved sigh.
“There were, uhm, those and uhm…” Tara said, scared to continue.
Willow felt her chest constrict, “And?”
The blonde stopped walking and turned to face her girlfriend. “A-and, the one, uhm, I wasn’t supposed to read, o-or know about, I think.”
“Oh,” Willow said quietly, breaking eye contact.
“I know I wasn’t, uhm, supposed to read those notes,” Tara explained, trying to get Willow to look at her.
“So, you found them all?” Willow asked, feeling silly for forgetting to take them out of her jacket.
“I, uhm, found two,” she said. “I w-wasn’t looking for them, Willow. I was j-just trying the jacket on and,” Tara pulled her hand out of the pocket, “there they were.”
“Willow, if I didn’t find them,” Tara explained, “I wouldn’t have known how you, uhm, felt about me. And, uhm, I wouldn’t have b-been able to let you know how I, y’ know, feel about you.”
Willow nodded, but still wouldn’t look up at her girlfriend.
“Are you mad?,” Tara asked.
Willow forced herself to meet Tara’s blue eyes and replied, “I’m not mad, Tara. I’m just really embarrassed … and disappointed a little. Not in you! In me, I mean, I haven’t even said I love you to your face yet and you had to read it on a napkin for a crummy coffee shop. And you deserve stars, and, and fireworks and flowers and someone who has the courage to say it to you.”
Tara smiled warmly and pulled Willow into her arms. She planted a kiss on Willow’s head and whispered, “No one, uhm, ever wrote anything for me, let alone anything so beautiful. The notes, uhm, made me feel so special, Willow.”
“You are,” the redhead said. “You didn’t think they were silly and cheesey?”
Tara merely shook her head. “They were lovely and I, uhm, I’m glad I found them.”
“They made you feel special?” Willow double-checked.
Tara nodded and replied, “Very.”
The redhead placed a kiss on her girlfriend’s lips and said, “Then I’m glad you found them too.”
End Part 12
"I smell the smelly smell of something that smells smelly!" (SpongeBob Squarepants)
by Willow Rocks » Mon Jun 10, 2002 12:47 pm 
I'm missing this fic. Is there any chance of an update any time soon? Please? 
more please...... 
Two knots?? Now that really does take talent. 
It was Laugh out loud funny