Hello! Thanks for eveyrone who is still reading =)
Here's another update. Hope you will like it...
P/S: sorry for the lack of accent markings.
Title – New FriendsAuthor – Pose VixenSpoilers – None.About the Story - All imaginative. New friends come with new surroundings. Complex human characters and relationships ensure.Rating - Mostly PG13Disclaimer – People from BuffyLand, AKA Willow, Tara, Buffy, Xander, Anya, Giles and Oz don't belong to me. The other fictional characters do.Part 6 - Witchy Witch Tara took a slow and leisure walk. She knew the way to the supermarket. It was cold indeed. She was thankful for the scarf she wore and the gloves she brought just in case. There were cafes everywhere along the way. She made a mental note to visit them when Willow is free. They could spend a lazy Sunday afternoon together, sipping tea and reading a good book. Willow would definitely be engrossed in the mini pastries they have. The image brought a smile to Tara's face. It was difficult not to miss Willow, especially when you were in a foreign land. In the midst of her daydream, Tara's feet brought her to the bakery they visited the other day.
"Bonjour mademoiselle!" The hearty old baker greeted Tara from behind the cashier the moment she stepped into the shop.
"Bonjour monsieur." Tara made sure to mimic the French accent.
"Comment ca va?"
"Oui ca va. Merci. Et vous?" The simple French greeting did not prove to be a difficulty for her.
"Ca va bien! Vous voulez des pains?" The baker continued, obviously delighted by their exchange.
"Er, if you are asking me if I would like some bread, oui." Tara giggled shyly.
"Please take your time! Feel free to look around." A customer was soon at the counter waiting to pay for her French loaf.
Tara took a tray and a pair of tongs. She began her selection of pastries she thought Willow would like. She picked 2 small pastries named "Chocolat Noir". They did look like they were stuffed full with chocolate. The semi-solid chocolate generously coating the pastries would leave anyone with excess drool once spotted. Next she picked 2 slices of apple pies that could be dessert after dinner. She also bought 4 croissants for breakfast the next day. She thought they could have a change from the usual pancakes and cereals.
"C'est toute? Ou est ton petit amie?" Asked the baker as he was putting everything into a bag.
"Elle travaille au'jourdui." Tara half prayed he wouldn’t ask her anything else in French because her knowledge of the language is quite little. She smiled hesitantly.
Thankfully he didn’t ask her any more questions. She left the bakery with a quick wave. It was back into the cold again.
"Tara!"
Tara turned around to see who it was. She didn’t know a lot of people here in New York. She was surprised someone knew her. It was Shane she saw when she turned. He was running after her. His hair was in quite a mess when he stopped. He tried to brush it away from his face while catching his breath.
"Hi Shane. What are you doing here?" Tara asked.
"I was on my way back to the apartment when I saw you. Where you are going?"
"To the supermarket. Thought I buy something and cook dinner."
"Where's Willow?"
"She started work today."
"Oh I see. Hey, I have 2 tickets for the movie "Spiderman" tonight. Do you think you can go with Willow?" Shane asked.
"Don't you want to go catch the movie with your friend?"
"Nah. She can’t make it." Shane shrugged. His eyes didn’t meet Tara's. Something in between his shoes was suddenly very intriguing.
"Hmm… why don't I buy the tickets from you?" Tara offered. She knew Willow wanted to watch Spiderman badly. The redhead was talking extensively about shooting webs and spider senses just yesterday. She blabbered to herself how it was possible to scale walls with one's bare hands while Tara brushed her hair in front of the dresser.
"No! You can have it. Really. My buddy works at the cinema. He gets free tickets all the time." Shane said quickly.
"That's very nice for you. Thanks. Let's not stand in the cold. Shall we go to the supermarket? If you are free that is." Tara offered.
"No I'll skip. I have an art work due tomorrow. Have fun!" Shane left as quickly as he arrived.
**************
When Tara finally reached the market, she thanked the Goddess she wasn’t shivering anymore. The weather was unpredictable. She supposed it wouldn’t hurt to put on more clothes though she did long for hotter climates.
Her mind was on picking out which kind of cheese to buy. She paused at the frozen food department.
She finally decided to pick the cheddar cheese. Maybe they can have macaroni and cheese tonight. She moved on to the poultry section. She picked up her ears while one hand held intently on a package of chicken breast meat. "A little girl is crying." Tara thought and glanced uncertainly about her immediately surroundings but couldn’t find anyone. She hurriedly moved over to the next aisle of shelves and saw a little girl around 4 years old sobbing quietly. She appeared to be lost as she looked right and left.
"Hey, are you lost?" Tara quickly abandoned her basket and squatted next to the little girl. The child tried to catch her breathe in between sobs. Tara brushed the girl's curly fringe out of her eyes and wiped the tears away. She had the most adorable clear blue eyes and rosy cheeks.
"I can't.. cant…. talk to strangers! Grandma where are you?" The girl managed finally and starting sobbing even louder again.
"Shh.. its okay. I'm not a stranger. We can be friends. How about that? My name is Tara. What's your's?" Tara flashed her most charming and non-stranger smile.
The little girl had been eyeing Tara secretly while she rubbed her eyes. She decided someone as beautiful as Tara couldn’t be like those bad people Grandma used to describe. Besides, there was something glowy and shiny about the woman standing before her. She concluded Tara could be trusted. "My name is Noel. Are you a teacher?" She tried a small smile that lit up her tear stained face. What pretty colours.
"No I'm not a teacher but I can help you find your Grandma okay?" Tara felt that her new little friend was starting to get warm towards her. Noel is such a sweet name. It means Christmas in French. She stood up. Now she had a task at hand. "Wanna hold hands?" She offered the girl. Noel nodded, she slowly locked fingers with Tara's. It felt safe. "Want me to help you carry the box of cereals?" Tara asked because a normal box of cereals suddenly looked very big for the girl's small frame. Her new friend shook her head quickly. "Okay Noel. How does your Grandma look like?"
"She has a big hat." By now, Noel has stopped crying. That shouldn’t be difficult. Which 50 odd year old granny wears a big hat when it was practically freezing outside? The two of them treaded cautiously around the store. "She dyed her hair platinum blond recently. It used to be blue." Noel spoke with much seriousness. Her eyes widened considerably as though trying to decided if blue hair was a good thing or not.
"What's your Grandma's name?"
"Stephanie. But you can call her Stef. That's what her friends and mom calls her."
"Okay Noel. Why don't we try to call out for her so maybe she can hear us?"
"Sure. Grandma?"
"Mrs Stephanie?"
They went on like this for 2 minutes before they heard someone called Noel's name from behind.
"Grandma!!" Noel ran toward the elder woman at the speed of light. She felt bad about letting go for Tara's hand so abruptly. She likes Tara. But she also wanted to hug her Grandma badly.
True enough, Stephanie, behind her trolley, had a big red hat on. Tara wondered how it was possible to miss this lady. Her silky long shiny hair was almost down to her waist. She barely looked a day past forty. It was even harder to believe she is a grandmother. Stephanie gathered her granddaughter in one single lift. Her speed and strength was amazing for her age. But how old was she anyway?
"Grandma grandma! That's Ta-ra." Noel made sure to pronounce it clearly. She like the way the name rolled off her tongue. She hid most of her face between Stephanie's neck and hair. She felt shy suddenly for getting lost.
"Tara! Thanks for finding my little precious and making sure she is safe. She insisted on getting cereals on her own." Stephanie looked as though she gave up on Noel but she had a cheeky smile that told Tara otherwise.
"You are welcome. Noel is such a sweet girl." Tara beamed.
"Shall we go for some tea? I know just the place that serves excellent apple turnover." Stephanie said. When she saw Tara hesitated, she continued, "You must come! I won't take no for an answer."
"Grandma, Tara is all shiny. So pretty!" Noel half squealed and half whispered into Stephanie's ear but it was loud enough for Tara is heard. Tara pondered what was shiny about her.
"Noel can read auras. So can I. " Stephanie explained with a wink when she saw Tara stunned for words. Tara could read other people's auras fine but never read her own just as clearly. She didn’t know she was shiny. "But she doesn't quite know it means yet of course. Tea?"
Tara could only manage a nod as she tried to figure out what was going on. She was happy to stumbled upon these 2 mysterious people. She couldn’t resist getting to know more about them.
"Come on now. Let's get all these things checked out." Stephanie started to lead the way to the counter. She looked like she was used to taking charge. "We will have so much to talk about!" Stephanie's lips curled into a smile from the sides.
**************
End of Part 6 
by LunaMuses » Tue Jul 06, 2004 9:54 pm 
hooray for paper plates! 
BWR 
. Wonderful update. Love sam xx 
no task to big for our 
