by Kirk B » Tue Nov 20, 2001 10:16 am
Uhh...mouth, too dry to speak.
Must find water, then come back and see if there is more to the story yet.
Pain bad.
Story pain...good.
Conclusion?
Story great.
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Kirk B
"A Willow is a tree that weeps, but Tara is firmer and will hold.”
Hear that baby? You're my always.
I got so lost.
I found you. I will always find you.
by LittleMei » Tue Nov 20, 2001 10:38 am
I've got my eyes all watery reading the part which you described Willow after the stroke.
And somehow that image of Willow can't get outta my head and there's this big hole inside my heart now.
Please..please bring on the next part in which Willow will be cured by Tara and patch things up with the scoobies(I hope).
Back to lurkdom and off to crying now...
by CaptMurdock » Tue Nov 20, 2001 11:52 am
quote:
Please..please bring on the next part in which Willow will be cured by Tara and patch things up with the scoobies(I hope).
Why, you don't mean...a healing spell, do you?
Sorry, gang. No quick fixes. That attitude got Willow to this point in the first place. If you're looking for the "Flash-Bang-Everything's-Back-to-Normal" story, you're in the wrong place. Try the window across the hall. (This is not to say I am in any way denigrating anybody else's stories. I love reading other people's sappy stories. I just can't do it myself.) But, as the cliche goes, time heals all wounds. So be patient, keep your hankies on DefCon Three, and I'll post more of the story as it unfolds.
Thank you all for your gracious comments.
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"I will say, I've been in some weird places, but this is…another weird place."
[This message has been edited by CaptMurdock (edited November 20, 2001).]
quote:by karenk » Tue Nov 20, 2001 5:56 pm
Can't wait for more.
by LeatherQueen » Tue Nov 20, 2001 8:10 pm
Great story, can't wait for more.
Let the karmic backlash begin...
by Dr.G » Wed Nov 21, 2001 3:12 am
by magrat » Wed Nov 21, 2001 8:30 am
by littlekitty » Wed Nov 21, 2001 10:07 am
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~Spread beneath my Willow tree-You make me complete~
by emily 'first' » Wed Nov 21, 2001 2:38 pm
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vive,valeque.
by Dr.G » Fri Nov 23, 2001 12:36 pm
*pokes CaptMurdock*
The troops are getting restless you know. Not me of course.
by Rane » Fri Nov 23, 2001 1:15 pm
by Dr.G » Fri Nov 23, 2001 1:23 pm
Just go write some more fics of your own Rane. Good therapy. Trust me. I'm a doctor. I am not saying this out of purely self serving reasons. Really.
by xita » Fri Nov 23, 2001 1:52 pm
YOU MEANY! MORE MORE MORE! please
by CaptMurdock » Sun Nov 25, 2001 2:12 am
************
Part 5
"So…Will," Xander ventured, after almost a minute's awkward silence. "How was Belgium?"
In spite of the situation, in spite of the pitiful figure of Willow Rosenberg half-sitting, half-laying in the hospital bed, Buffy had to smile. "You've just got a jones for Belgium, don't you?" She looked over at Willow, who was attempted a bemused expression. "He never changes."
"Nope." Her voice was remarkably clear, and her eyes tracked together perfectly well. If it wasn't for the left half of her face doing an reasonable impression of Droopy, the cartoon character…
"It's good to see you," Dawn ventured with false cheeriness. She edged nearer the bed, wringing her hands nervously.
"You too, Dawnie," replied Willow, smiling before self-consciously forcing it away. She saw the teenager nodding nervously, while keeping an uneasy distance. "You can come closer, sweetie, I'm not contagious." Her /s/ sounds were a little slurred, but perfectly understandable.
Dawn suddenly dimpled and sidled over to gently hug Willow. Buffy was uncertain if that was a good idea, considering certain things Willow had done over the past year. I can't believe I'm even thinking this. This is Willow, for God's sake! A year ago, I'd have bet my life that she would never—okay, actually, I'd be betting Dawn's life that she would never hurt her. But then, Willow was always the smartest of us, and she fell into the biggest hole there is with her eyes wide open. No, not fell – stepped into it willingly. Am I supposed to trust her, or not? She looked over at Tara, standing beside her. The blonde witch was looking downward at the floor, a posture that Buffy had not seen her do in a long time.
"We were all very worried about you," Anya began bluntly (and true to form). "None of us knew where you were, although we did have that unconfirmed report of someone answering your description at a coven in Los Angeles…"
"That was me," Willow acquiesced. Then she reconsidered. "At least, I think it was. A lot of things are kinda blurry. You guys, you should see inside my head, it's like MTV After Hours, but without the cool hip-hop or grunge-band music."
"Memory loss is supposed to be very common with extended experimentation with dark forces," supplied Anya.
"Ahn," Xander muttered, noticing the can-I-kill-her-now glint in Buffy's eye.
"No, Xander." Tara surprised everyone at that moment. "Let her finish. Or, better yet, let's hear it from the source." For the first time since she entered the room, Tara looked at Willow directly. "Why don't you tell us how great it was, how you got a rush off of doing magic twenty-four-seven, without someone like dumb ole me to just, y'know, get in your way, or someone like Buffy to, like, denigrate you, or demote you to Side-Kick, First Class?" Buffy looked askance at Tara, who didn't notice or just plain didn't care. It was the look of cold fury on Tara's face that amazed Buffy even more than her words. "C'mon, Willow! I mean, the magic was a lot more important to you than us, more important to you than me…" She leaned over the bed, sticking her face almost into Willow's. "Tell me…how good was it for you? Get a real good rush? Do a lotta spells? Huh?" The redhead didn't answer, just hung her head miserably. Tara straightened up and looked at the woman who half a year ago was her love and her life. "You make me sick."
She turned on her heel and started towards the door. Buffy grabbed her sleeve. "Tara, don't."
With surprisingly vehemence, the blonde wretched her coat arm free. "Don't tell me d-don't." She walked out of the room.
With a jerk of her head, Buffy indicated to Xander to follow Tara out. He did so, but not before flashing Willow that said How could you, Will? The recipient of said look bowed her head in shame.
The corridor outside Willow's room was devoid of people. Xander could not immediately see which way Tara went, although a door in the distance seemed not fully closed yet. It was just as good a place to start looking as any.
The plate above the door said CHAPEL. For some reason Xander couldn't quite fathom, it seemed appropriate. He pulled open the door and went inside, fighting down an urge to sing, "Stopped into a church/I passed along the way." Anya still teased him about summoning the Demon Lord of the Dance.
He spotted Tara in the front row of small benches and made his way there. He was vacillating between two mind-sets, the I Know How You Feel, I Feel Like She Betrayed Me Too frame and the How Could You Kick Her Like That When She's Down. He hadn't decided which one would prevail by the time he moved to sit next to Tara. She acknowledged his presence with a glance and a smile.
"Y'know, I can't even remember the last time I was in a church," he said. "Funny…it seems the only thing I've gotten out of church in the last few years is a quick dip in the nave for a free bottle of holy water." He was relieved to see a small smile on Tara's face at the quip. "My family used to go to church every Sunday…and then my parents would get crocked Sunday night, so I'd go over to Willow's. She and I used to compare notes, y'know, what with the church and the synagogue had you do; I mean, she thought it was weird that they would feed me this little wafer and tell me it was the body of Christ. 'So, how does Your Savior taste?' and I'd say—
"—like chicken!" Tara finished.
"Oh. You've heard that one."
"Yeah. I mean, I asked Willow once if fried mayor-snake tasted like fried mayor-chicken. See, if you assume that all –" She broke off when she saw that he was chuckling. "Did-did I say something funny?"
"Yes!" he guffawed, then lowered his voice, seeing as they were in "church." "Had to happen sometime. No, I mean…uh, let me see….I came in here with a point, I swear… "
"You were mad at me for blowing up at Willow."
"Well, yeah, I think-- How do you do that? I thought Willow was Marvel Girl, but you're just total Professor X on reading people's feelings."
"I'm sorry," said Tara, hanging her head down again. "Not about the Professor Marvel thing, I mean what I said to Willow. It was mean and selfish to rub it in like I did, when she looks like…she…" Tara began to sob uncontrollably. "Did you see her? Did you see her?" Tears sprang her eyes dripped down her face in torrents.
Xander, feeling a bit damp in the oculars himself, reached over and pulled Tara to him, saying, "Yeah…I saw her." Together, the two friends cried over the woman whom they both loved.
Four months after.
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"Good God, that's a lot of shake!"
[This message has been edited by CaptMurdock (edited November 25, 2001).]
by Dr.G » Sun Nov 25, 2001 2:40 am
[This message has been edited by Dr.G (edited November 25, 2001).]
by emily 'first' » Sun Nov 25, 2001 4:07 am
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vive,valeque.
by Hush » Sun Nov 25, 2001 6:40 am
by RomanceJunky » Sun Nov 25, 2001 7:13 am
Great story! More, Please!
The Junky...feed me...
by Dave V » Sun Nov 25, 2001 7:20 am
Oh, loved the X/T exchange (LOL):
"Yeah. I mean, I asked Willow once if fried mayor-snake tasted like fried mayor-chicken. See, if you assume that all –" She broke off when she saw that he was chuckling. "Did-did I say something funny?"
"Yes!" he guffawed, then lowered his voice, seeing as they were in "church." "Had to happen sometime.
by karenk » Sun Nov 25, 2001 7:25 am
This is absolutely fantastic, Capt. Thanks.
by Twisted Rabbit » Sun Nov 25, 2001 7:54 am
[This message has been edited by Twisted Rabbit (edited November 25, 2001).]
by Halcyon » Sun Nov 25, 2001 8:36 am
by Puff » Sun Nov 25, 2001 11:26 am
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Bloody hell, sodding, limey, shagging, knickers, bollocks...oh God...I'm English
by Rane » Sun Nov 25, 2001 11:58 am
can just tell you xander/tara freindship is becomeming my favorite after tara anya. seems natural. i love it!
by nika » Sun Nov 25, 2001 5:59 pm
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"Eat lot's of applesauce, preferably fed to you by attractive young lesbians." Amber Benson
by xita » Mon Nov 26, 2001 1:51 am
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"Everthing's just turning out so dark..."
"No, it's okay. Lost is good. Willow and I always know how to find each other!"
by delany » Mon Nov 26, 2001 5:22 am
by legend » Mon Nov 26, 2001 6:17 am
Capt- What a tremendous 5 chapters! I am thoroughly enthralled by all the angst. This fic is turning out to be another masterpiece like Road to Nowhere.
You've got me caught Hook, Line and Sinker!
by mollyig » Mon Nov 26, 2001 8:09 am
Excellent, as per usual.
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"But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams. "
W. B. Yeats
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