Bed Time Story Thread

[JujuDeRoussie]

I was scared that Willow would hurt Tara by being so oblivious to the similitude between Anya/Xander and Tara and herself.

YaY for not doing such!

Thanks for making is just long enough for me before I had to run.

*hugs

[Elrad]

A new bedtime Story courtesy of the insane mind meld that is the Kitten Chat

The-as-of-yet-title-less-Story-because-I'm-rubbish-at-making-up-titles
(Taoytlsbiramut) Chapter 1

Tara was running. Ever since her mother's death, running had become an escape for her. The sweat in her eyes, the pain in her legs and back reminded her that she was alive.

Megan: (ugh, I remember that feeling)
Megan: (both loving and hating running, at the same time I mean)

She ran along the little creek that she had discovered yesterday, still searching for the perfect route like she had had back home. She ran across a clearing, and suddenly, the hot midday sun glared at her and she felt the hot summer air trying to halt her progress.
Suddenly, she hit her foot, hard and she fell hard to the ground. When Tara opened her eyes again while groaning, she saw that she wasn't alone. Sitting at the foot of the tree in front of her, next to a blanket and a basket was sitting someone. It was someone, because the only thing she could see was a mop of red hair, with arms hugging the person's knees.

Alex: (story time again???)
Megan: (*tosses Alex a pillow*)
Alex: *grabs pillow and get confy*

Slowly, the head came up from her knees and Tara looked into the deepest green eyes she had ever seen, though they were obscured by tears.
*Sniff*
"Are you alright?" The girl asked, and it took a second for Tara to realize that she was still on her belly.
"Y. Y... Y.. Yeah, I'm allright", Tara said while dragging herself to her knees, "W-- What-- What about you?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, very fine, I'm finey McFine fine. Why do we always say that? I mean, there is a reason that I'm sitting here alone bawling my eyes out, while the picnic I prepared is just sitting in the basket?"
The volume and speed of that answer surprised Tara that much, all she could do is nod rather stupidly. Then, the redhead suddenly paused, took a deep breath and said.
"Sorry, I do have a tendency to babble. So I'll try that again. Yeah, I'm fine. I'm Willow, by the way, and you are?"
"I'm.., my name's Tara, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you."
"Tara, nice to meet you" Willow said, "and no, you're not bothering me. I think I might need to talk to someone. That is, if you don't mind talking to little ol' me"
"No... I mean yes, I mean no... I... I" Tara was very confused, just a second ago, she was running and falling down, and no, here this very cute girl wanted to talk to her???

JuJu: *enters room and goes straight to where Megan's sat, and sits at her side*
JuJu: Hi kitties
JuJu: ooh story
Elrad: (Hey Ju *kisses Ju's hand* Better?)
Megan: Awwwwwr. *feels admired*
Elrad :(just remember Ju, you're in the same bed as Megan, so, hands above the covers please )
Megan: ____\_o_o_/___
JuJu: *gets comfy in Megan's bed, hands over the blanket* *smiles sweetly*

"Are you all right, did you hurt your head, do we need tneed to call a doctor...?" Willow was starting to babble again. "... I know something about first aid, do you want me to take a look?"
With that Willow slowly and gently raised her hand and moved Tara's hair away from her forehead.

Megan: (play doctor, willow)

The first touch of Willow's hand brought Tara back to reality. But then, WILLOW's HAND on her face froze Tara again, as she felt the cool hand probing for an injury. After a few seconds though, Tara suddenly felt a great deep calm coming over her, and she was able to take Willow's hand in her own and said softly.
"I'm fine Willow, and I certainly wouldn't mind talking to you, but are you sure you want to talk to me?"
"Well, there's no one else here, is there?"
Tara was so accustomed to refusal that she completely missed the playful undertone in Willow's answer. Suddenly, old Tara was back with a vengeance, and she hid her head beneath the comfortable curtain of blonde hair.
"I'm sorry." She said and began to turn around when a hand on her shoulder and one word from Willow stopped her.
"Tara," Willow turned her around and tried to look her in the hidden eyes. "I am sorry, that was supposed to be a joke, but then, I suck at humour. Please, sit down, I really would like to talk to you."
Old Tara was screaming in her head, telling her that nothing would come of this, but then, a second, new Tara said, *Stay* and not really knowing why, Tara sat down on the blanket next to Willow.

---
Megan: (go, second Tara!)
Elrad:(If anyone has a good idea for a title, I might be persuaded to write a little bit more^^)
Ducky: <-- is horrible at titles
Megan: (How about "The Most Memorable Makeout Marathon Manifesting Moments After Meeting By a Tree" ?)
Elrad: (so am I, that's why I'm asking)
Elrad: lol, Meg, that's a very good one, unfortunately, no big making out planned just yet
Elrad:(there is a reason Willow was crying her eyes out)
Alex: (MAybe....The Meeting by the Tree??? *im horrible at titles too*)
JuJu: I only saw the end, so...
JuJu: can't help
Megan: So what's she say? *hop hop hop*
Elrad: Well, I think you'd all agree that Megan's try at least deserves a bit more.
Alex: (it does sound cool)
---

Willow smiled a Tara, leant back against the tree and then began "Well, first of all, feel free to interrupt if you want to ask a question or if I start to babble too much. You're probably wondering why I'm sitting here alone, crying. Well, Oz, that's my boyfriend or rather, was I suppose. Anyway, Oz and I were having some problems, and I invited him to a picnic to talk and to clear things up and try to work out the problems. Well, here I was, waiting for him, but he didn't show up. So, I called him on his cell, but he didn't pick up. After leaving a few dozen messages, I tried his home number. And then, then..."
Tara's mood had changed once Willow had mentioned the boyfriend thing - and Old Tara was screaming I told you so, but now, as Willow began to sob again, the only thing Tara could do was turn to her and envelop her with a hug.
Tara could feel Willow's tears on her shoulder as she slowly started to caress the beautiful red hair in front of her. Tara didn't know how long she had been holding the sobbing Willow, but suddenly, she could feel the girl changing and Willow said.
"She, answered the phone. The BITCH. The one who started our problems in the first place, and do you know what she said? Sorry, Oz can't come to the phone, he's taking a shower. If I ever see here again I'm going to rip her to pieces!"

JuJu: awww
Ducky: (bitch indeed)

Then, Tara felt Willow tighten her arms and she said. "Thanks, I guess I needed that. Now, I have a basket full of unhealthy and tasty food and no one to share it with. Would you mind terribly helping me with that as well? It's the least I can do."
Tara smiled, but then, she remembered something terrible eating picknick with Willow meant that she would have to stop hugging her. A grave conundrum indeed.

Megan: ("Sure, in a few minutes...")
Reluctantly, Tara let Willow free and smiled as Willow began to set the blanket for two.

===
End of part 1
Megan: Wee! Thanks, Chris.
Alex: nice work chris.....
It was my pleasure, Meg
thanks Alex
JuJu: *stays in Megan's bed, her hands still over the blanket, her head in the crook of Megan's neck*
Ducky: i am a happy duvk, 2 great storytime in one day
Ducky: duck**

[jasmydae]

So this is a new story. It came about when we were discussing ideas for Chris' story. It's sublimely geeky. Enjoy! Like all my stuff on this thread, it's improvised, so I apologize for any mistakes.

Final Evercraft (part 1)

In a wide, peaceful meadow, a long-eared bunny rabbit hopped merrily from patch to patch of luscious grasses. It nibbled on a few blades here and there, then moved on. With a twitch and a sniff of its nose, the rabbit darted toward the bank of a river. It smelled carrots. Butterflies fluttered out of its way as it ran. Utterly carefree, the rabbit feasted. Moments later it was obliterated by a gigantic hammer. A nova of bunny bits expanded from the point of impact.

"YES!" cried iHaxYou, a monstrous orc, expert hammer-wielder, and proficient shower-avoider. "That makes another full stack of rabbit hides! I can *finally* go back to town!"

"GJ, Hax," came xxStephirothxx's response over the clan chatline. "You're so lucky, it takes me hours to get anything worthwhile."

"Luck's got nothing to do with it," iHaxYou harrumphed. "I'm wearing a Shimmering Girdle of Fortune +2, a Crimson Skullcap of Looting, and my new Bracers of Bunny Bounty. It's all meticulously planned."

"Okay, we understand that you have godly gear," Anyanka butted in. "We are all suitably impressed."

"Hey, who wants to do a skillup party in the citadel?" asked RoqueSlayer.

"Oh, I'm on for that," Anyanka said. "I need to cap out Haggling."

"Anya, that's like the LEAST useful skill in the game," insisted TheBuffOne. "And count me in, Rock. I'll be the tank."

"Damnit, it's supposed to be a G. roGue. Some idiot already took the name."

"Dibs on gold mage," said Anya.

"Will? We need some mega-damage. Wanna help?"

"Hang on," iHaxYou said, "putting stuff up for sale."

"Buff, get the rugrat online, we need a healer," ordered RoqueSlayer.

"She's here."

"I'm RIGHT HERE," complained xxStephirothxx. "Jeez."

"Oh. Well gear up."

"Guy, are you idle?" TheBuffOne asked.

"Only kind of," replied GuyInAGirlGuild. "Whatcha need?"

"Another brute? Monk?"

"Uh, yeah, okay, but only for an hour or so. Anya, we still doing that thing tonight?"

"Yes, but only *after* I hit 75 haggle."

"Will, hurry it up," Roque demanded.

"Hang on, got a lot of stuff. You guys go claim the camp, ok?"

~*~

It was a dark and dismal day at the Citadel---just like every other day the tower had seen in its long existence as watchtower for the Southern Wastes. There, a gentle, earth-loving, pacifist Druid named TaraForm was busy gathering the various herbs she needed to concoct vital potions for the brave heroes of the land. She had over the last few months visited the region frequently. She would sit quietly on the stone steps and hum soothing melodies until the animals grew accustomed to her presence. Eventually she had befriended them all, and today they were helping her root out some of the more obscure ingredients she sought.

TaraForm straightened her back, which had been hunched over while she weeded a small garden, and peered through the mist toward Truffles, who had been a huge help that day. A boomerang whistled through the gray and struck Truffles in his flank; the porcine, acting on instinct, launched itself after the retreating weapon. "No! Truffles!" TaraForm cried. She leapt to her feet and scrambled after her friend.

Voices carried through the mist.

"Ew, Rock this XP sucks."

"Chill, we're just getting the chain going. Pulling."

"I hope Hax hurries up."

"God, I'd kill for a Bard."

The mist parted, and TaraForm was confronted with a group of impressive heroes, outfitted in some truly gaudy trappings. Racing off was a slender, leather-clad elf whose head was topped with a feathered beret. "Have you all seen Truffles? About yay high - " TaraForm held her hand just about knee level " - curly tail, good at finding roots?"

A short, blonde, heavily-armored girl looked hesitantly at a lumbering hulk of a man, who nervously tucked a massive battleaxe behind his back. "Uh, nope, can't say we've seen anyone that fits that description," the man replied.

"Somebody hit him with a boomerang," she said.

"Oh. How terrible," the blonde girl said stiffly.

An indignant woman in flowing golden robes stepped between them. "What's the big deal, why don't we just tell her that wrmphhrdph!!" The man clamped a hand over her mouth quickly.

Frowning, TaraForm wandered off to continue her search. "Truffles!" she called. "Where are you?"

Suddenly a huge, dark shadow bore down on her. TaraForm squeaked out a nonverbal squeal as the largest orc she'd ever seen skidded to a halt moments before running her over. "Sorry!" the orc apologized. "Peregrine Boots." She said that last bit as if she expected TaraForm to have some idea what she meant.

"It's...it's okay," TaraForm said after catching her breath. "You haven't seen a porcine named Truffles out there, anywhere? He ran off a minute ago."

"The one by the citadel steps?"

TaraForm furrowed her brow. "That's where we were, yes."

"Yeah, that one's great for starting a ch--oh....uh....no, it didn't go this way. But I'm sure it'll turn up....right around there....in about 17 minutes. Give or take a few seconds."

"Oh. Are you ... are you sure? I could wait, I guess?" In her experience, heroes as impressive as these tended to know what they were talking about, almost as if they had a sixth sense about the world. So she returned to the steps and sat, and began peeling some of the Verdock Roots to get at their bitter centers.

~*~

"Hey guys," iHaxYou grunted when she caught up with the others. "You all mind if I use Boar's blood? It'll probably steal aggro a bunch." She sounded smug.

TheBuffOne groaned.

"Oh, by the way," Hax continued, "can we leave the porcine at the citadel steps out of the chain?"

"Sure," said Guy, "who needs extra XP anyway?"

"I'm serious. That druid's using it for scavenging."

"Uh, Will, you know the clan motto: want, take, have," Roque reminded her.

"But that's *TaraForm*," Hax insisted.

Roque made an exaggerated confused motion they'd seen a million time before. "Is that name supposed to mean something to me?"

"TaraForm's probably got the highest brewing and crafting skill on the server. She supplies a steady stream of low-cost potions and materials to the market every morning. Half of the potions, food, and herbs you guys are using came from her."

"I know that one," Anyanka said. "Best deals on Rabbit Repellant at the market. Don't piss her off."

TheBuffOne gawked. "You actually BUY that stuff? It was added as a joke."

"Fine," Roque grumbled. "We'll start with the raven by the swamp, instead. Happy?"

"Thanks," said Hax.

They began anew, and despite TheBuffOne's complaints that Hax kept getting hate, they were really churning through the chains quickly and reaping in tons of XP. During Guy's second "AFK WC" timeout, TaraForm reappeared and rushed up to iHaxYou. "Thank you so much! He came back just like you said! You're the best!" The druid made a blowing kiss motion toward Hax, which made the orc blush a deep crimson to match her cap.

"Back," said Guy.

"WB," said xxStephirothxx.

"Incoming!" said Roque.

Hope you enjoyed it!

[Zampsa1975]

Lol...

[SJ]

Great writing.

[jasmydae]

Caught a few kittens in the chat room, and told a story. Like all my posts in this thread, this story is neither planned ahead nor beta read, so gaping plot holes are entirely possible and entirely my fault.

Adventures in Being Babysat (Part 7)

"Will, stop pacing; you're making me dizzy," Xander complained.

Willow had called him half an hour earlier and insisted upon coming over at once to talk with him. When she'd first arrived, he had offered her a soda, but she'd waved him off. "No, I've got to get this out now or it'll drag out forever," she had said. She had been pacing ever since. Occasionally she would start a sentence, then reconsider, then start another, then give up completely and go back to pacing.

"Willow. WILLOW. Stop." He reached out and planted his hands on her shoulders just as she was pivoting. He stood and ushered her to the sofa. "Sit."

"Sorry," she said. "I ... have absolutely no idea how to begin."

"Just jump ahead to the difficult bit, and explain after."

"... I don't think I can."

"Well, give me a hint? I'll guess. What section of the video store would it be under?"

Leave it to Xander... Willow considered this. "Suspense, at the moment, I suppose. Romance?"

"Ah, my favorite tough topic. Okay, romance. You like somebody. Somebody likes you. You're upset that somebody else likes somebody else."

Willow looked shocked.

Xander asked, "What? Was I right? Which one?"

"Uh, all three, actually."

"All right, well, let's start with the easiest person to identify. In whatever love triangle--or square, or whatever--is going on here, is there anyone you CAN tell me about?"

"Um...yes. Anya Jenkins."

"...Uh oh," said Xander. "Will, I'm not by any chance an angle on this shape, am I?"

Willow mumbled, "It's possible..."

"So, yes?"

"Yeah. And you guessed, which means you know she likes you."

Xander nodded. "I might not be the quickest at recognizing who likes who, but ... well, Anya isn't much for being vague."

"What did she say?" Willow had to know.

"I think her exact words were, 'I have decided that you are an attractive potential boyfriend, and I think we should attend prom together.'" Xander shrugged. "It didn't leave much up to guessing."

Willow frowned. "That's terrible. She said that?"

"Honestly, I kind of liked the directness. I can appreciate a girl speaking her mind. Speaking of a girl speaking her mind: spill."

"... it's not easy."

"Sure it is. You just say a name, and I say, 'okay, now I know.'"

Willow took a breath. "Tara Maclay."

"Okay, now I know."

Willow studied his face. He looked back and raised an eyebrow. "And...?" she asked.

"Is she the one you like, or is she the one who likes you?"

"Um, both?"

"Well that's good, then, right?"

"I ... yeah, it's good. But ... " she seemed uncomfortable.

Xander sighed and pulled her into a hug. "Will, it's fine. It's good. I'm glad you told me."

"It just feels kind of ... I don't know, anticlimactic? I don't really know how I expected you to react."

"We'll still hang out a lot?" he asked.

"Of course! It's not like I'd just--"

"And you'll keep watching terrible movies with me?"

"Yeah, Xander, I'm not going to--"

"And Coffee Crash is still a monthly thing?"

Willow didn't say anything this time, but nodded.

Xander grinned. "Well, then I don't see how it's any difference who you like."

Willow sagged her shoulders and sank into the hug. "That was way less of a deal than I thought it would be, huh? Just a spaz, after all."

They sat there hugging for a minute. Eventually Xander said, "She nice?"

"Of course; I wouldn't like her otherwise."

"Good. She's cute, too."

"Really."

"And she likes you? You know that?"

"Uh huh. We kind of talked about it. It's weird because of the Cordelia thing."

Xander chuckled. "Ah, yes, a familiar problem." He paused a moment. "Hold on, you said you were upset about somebody liking somebody. If we've determined that you and Tara are the mutual likers, that means Anya and me are the other two."

Willow suddenly felt really badly. "Oh, I ... I mean ... I didn't know what to make of it, and it was really sudden, and ... and she wasn't ever ... and friends with ... and suddenly I'm feeling incredibly hypocritical." She made a face.

"I'm not sure I followed that train of thought, but are you upset that Anya asked me out?"

Willow sighed and let go of him. She didn't deserve his hug. "I was. But I shouldn't have been."

Xander nodded slowly, clearly considering her answer.

"It was stupid. I'm sorry. I guess it ... it just looks different from the outside, I guess. Do you ... I mean, what's she like? Do you think ... are you thinking about going? With her?"

Xander puckered and blew out a breath that made Willow realize he'd clearly been having trouble with that exact question. "Honestly, yeah--it was really amazing to get asked. I know we've always thought of Anya as a Cordette, but she's a VERY different person. I didn't say yes or no. I sort of thought maybe ... that you'd want to go, because I didn't know if you were going to go, and I thought it'd be fun if we did."

"But you want to go with her."

"Hey, now. That's not what I said. I said it was nice to be asked, but I wanted to go with you."

"As friends," Willow finished. "You wanted to go with *her* as a couple. But you would say no to go with me, instead. That's really sweet. And you're the best. But absolutely not. You should go with Anya."

Xander laughed. "Do I get any say in this?"

Willow straightened and put on her best Resolve Face. "Nope! It's been decided. Sorry!" Then she asked more gently, "I mean, you *would* like to go with her, really, right? Not like she puts you off or something?"

He smiled. "Yes. I would like to go with Anya."

Willow beamed. "See? Everyone's happy."

~*~

The phone line was dead silent for five seconds.

"Oh," said Cordelia at last. "That's, uh, cool."

Tara was pretty sure she'd just broken one of her best friends. She was surprised enough at herself--it wasn't very Tara-like, she knew, to blurt out "I think I'm gay, and I really like Willow" as a conversation starter--she could only imagine what Cordelia must have thought.

"Um, sorry," Tara apologized, "that was a lot more to the point than the version in my head. There was going to be a lot more hedging..."

"So, the other day, when I was pressing you about who you liked, and you said Willow..."

"Yeah."

"Huh."

There was another pause.

"And this is in no way a joke or something to get back at me for the yearbook thing?" Cordelia asked.

"Uh uh."

"Jeez. I don't really know what to say."

Tara asked, "Are you ... are we ... y'know? Good?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, you're my friend, Tara. I'm *surprised*, for sure. More about the who than the what, actually ... which is kind of strange, when I think about it."

Tara admitted, "I was kind of expecting you to throw a fit..."

"Wow, thanks," Cordy deadpanned. "Look, I joke about those guys at school 'cause...well, honestly, because they make it easy. But if you actually *like* her...I mean, even *I'm* not that big of a bitch to make a fuss."

"No, I know, and that's cool. Thanks, Cordy."

"So you're ... what, a lesbian?"

Tara sank back onto Willow's bed. "Foof. Yeah ... I guess so. I got up to the 'I like Willow' part, but didn't really make it much past there."

"Well, I mean, do you have a thing for guys? Or other girls, or anything like that?"

"I've thought about it, kind of, but ... I don't know, not really seriously I guess. I think about it seriously with her."

"Have you guys *done* anything?"

Although Cordelia couldn't see her, Tara's eyes widened a bit. "Cordy! I'm so not answering that."

"Mm, this is gonna be a really long conversation, then."

"Okay, yes, we've *done* stuff," Tara confessed, stressing it the same way her friend had, "but there were no witnesses at the scene of the crime, so no details are forthcoming."

"Wow," said Cordy.

"Tell Anya and die."

"Between you and her, you realize you're crushing my hopes of ever having cool friends, right?" Cordelia teased.

"Right, sorry about that," Tara groaned good-naturedly. "We'll have to make it up to you, some time."

"Hey, I've got to go. Dad's freaking out about something."

"'kay. Thanks, Cordy."

"Whatev. Later, Tater."

Hope you enjoyed it!

[JustSkipIt]

Babysat - well, there's just coming out all over. Anya and Xander are out of the proverbial closet and Tara told Cordy who wasn't a bitch at all and Willow told Xander who we knew wouldn't be a bitch. Well done from everyone and I'm so enjoying this story.

[SJ]

Great update.

[taranwillow4ever]

First attempt at a bedtime story

P-Town Tales.

Tara had a feeling that something exciting was going to happen to her this summer. She couldn't tell why she had these feelings, but she just knew that something was going to happen that would change her life. Tara couldn't quite explain why she sometimes knew things. It was not rational, but in the eighteen years that she had been alive there were things that she was sure of, and that this was going to be a good summer was one of them.

Tara was so excited that she had found several jobs on the Cape, and believed that she would be able to save a lot of money for her first year of college.
Now that her mother had died, she knew that it was going to be tight for her father to just cover tuition, so she vowed that she would save enough to cover room and board. She was not going to allow finances to interfere with her dream to attend college. She had promised her mother that she would go to college, and she was going to follow through.

Tara had gotten a job as a chambermaid in a motel, and a room came with the job. This job did not pay much, but she knew from the advertized prices that rooms on the Cape were expensive. Her other job was as a waitress at one of the best restaurants in Provincetown. She and her family had visited once, and Tara remembered being surprised at the lines of people waiting for a table at this restaurant. The head hunter who she had used assured her that the waitresses made good tips. The best part of the whole deal was that Tara would have her early afternoons free. She was a chambermaid from 7am to 1pm, and didn't need to report to the restaurant until 4:30. Tara had lots of plans about how she would spend that time.

=======

Tara was laying on one of the hotel's lounge chairs reading a book when she saw her. One moment she was just reading, and in the next felt a shiver of energy rush through her and her eyes fell on a young woman. Tara suspected that the woman was probably close to her own age. She was wearing a bikini with a translucent sarong over it. Both pieces of clothing accented a slender, but quite womanly body. She was glad that she too was wearing sunglasses so that the beauty could not see her staring, but she couldn't help it; Is was if her eyes couldn't move off the girl's curves.

Tara began to experience that tingling feeling that had been occurring to her more frequently over the last few months. It was like she was aware of all of the nerve pathways throughout her body. She wasn't sure how long she just watched this woman, but realized after a while, that it was time for her to go to her small room, shower and ride her bike into town for her shift.

Tara went into her room, shaking off the sand from her feet in an attempt to keep her own room clean so it would not be one more room that she needed to sweep daily. As she undressed, she continued to feel the electricity from before coursing through her body, and she found that cleaning herself was just a little more enjoyable than other times. She quickly finished her shower before she got off track, and put on her uniform, got on her bike and rode off to her next job.

Tara was very warm when she got to the restaurant and she told herself that she would need to wear regular clothes while riding her bike, and then change into her uniform, which was made of a very uncomfortable polyester blend. But, this lesson was learned to late, so she ran into the ladies room, put a cool cloth on her face and neck and then rushed back to the table where the other servers were making silverware combos.

Because she was the newest server and some of the people had been working at the restaurant for more than 10 years, Tara's assigned tables were in a far corner, away from the prime areas that were the preferred tables. Even with the less that optional tables, Tara was pleasantly surprised when she found that her tips far exceeded any she had gotten at previous waitressing jobs. The night was getting late, and Tara realized that this job was going to be exhausting. Her tray was full of dishes that she was bringing back to the kitchen when her "spider sense" began to tingle.

As she was going through the area by the large window overlooking the bay, she saw a glimpse of red hair out of the corner of her eye. She tried to shift herself to see if it was the same redhead who she'd been oogling, but the pile of dirty dishes threatened to fall down around her. So she readjusted and went into the kitchen. On her way back to her tables, she walked slowly past the woman. The woman's dinner companion was a rather boyish young man, and Tara figured that he must be the woman's boyfriend, or maybe even her husband.

Tara wondered why this thought caused her such sadness. But brushed this thought aside and went back to her area

Tara was clearing the dishes off the last table, when she felt a presence behind her. She stood up and turned around and found herself looking into the most dazzling green eyes that she had ever seen. Tara was speechless. It appeared the woman was too.

"Um...I was just wondering if I knew you from some where? You seem really familiar... Do you go to Wheaton?"

"A..A..A, n...n...no" stuttered Tara, feeling incredibly awkward. "I'm just s...s...starting college in the Fall."

"Ok, " said the woman, sorry to bother you. She turned around and walked away.

Inside herself, Tara was yelling "Wait, don't go...maybe you do know me. I'd like to know you" but outside, the shy blond just watched the woman walk away, rejoin the man, and leave the restaurant.

It felt to Tara as though the oxygen level had been decreased inside the room. She felt a heaviness inside her heart. She finished cleaning up her table. Gave the bus boy his part of the tips, and mounted her bike to return to her room.

Tara could hardly even take off her uniform before she fell onto the bed and fell asleep. Her dreams were filled with beautiful red heads, whales, and bicycles.
====

[jasmydae]

The second chapter of Final Evercraft. It's frightening how easy this story is to write... almost like I was familiar with these types of games or something...

Final Evercraft (Part 2)


The sun rose slowly over the palisade surrounding Fort Gryphnord. On a small rise, a group of heroes had gathered. RoqueSlayer, dressed in her "civilian" gear--much sexier, but highly prone to elemental attacks--faced the others. "All right, guys," she broadcasted across the clan's private chat line, "remember: everybody's got to be here at 7PM PST for the second leg of the Mirror quest. Right?" The other clan members all indicated that they would be ready on time. Roque nodded. "Okay, and that wraps up this morning's meeting. Good job, guys. We actually stayed on topic for once."

Their game duties taken care of, the heroes stretched and went their separate ways. GuyInAGirlGuild and Anyanka said they had to log off for a whlie--something about shopping for furniture--and TheBuffOne and her sister mentioned they were going to level up their new characters a bit. "Hey Will--Steph and I are gonna work on our other jobs. You wanna come as your monk?"

iHaxYou, who was already three quarters of the way to the market, replied, "Um, yeah, give me a few minutes, though. Need to check on my hides." As a series of market windows popped into existence and floated above her head, Hax groaned. "Damn it," she said. Rabbit hides were moving slowly, this week. One of the stacks had expired, and now she had to make the long run back to her house to retrieve it from her mailbox. She slipped on her Sabots of Speed and jogged the distance without breaking a sweat (at least, not that anybody would notice; orcs always oozed some sort of musky odor from their pores).

Sure enough, the stack of hides had been stuffed into her mailbox. She tugged it out and peered at the note: "Dear valued customer: the item(s) you have listed at our Fort Gryphnord location have not been purchased in seven game days. We recommend adjusting your price. Sincerely, the Market Auction." Hax harrumphed and tossed the bundled stack into her bag, which oddly did not expand with the additional contents.

She crouched and peered into the mailbox again, and was startled to see something else way in the back. She reached a beefy arm into the box--buckling the thin metal around the edges--and produced a single purple lily. A thin silver cord circled the stem, from which dangled a tag. She read it. "iHaxYou ~ How sweet of you to return my dear Truffles to me! I wanted to send you something from the new regions--hope it fits! Your friend, TaraForm. p.s. I hope you find the flower tasty."

iHaxYou looked up from the note and munched the last of the petals greedily while a look of confusion crossed her face. She peered back into the mailbox once more. At first it was empty, but a moment later another package materialized inside. She tugged it out as well. Something red. When it dawned on her what item she was staring at, Hax's jaw nearly hit the ground. A Bluravian headdress! TaraForm must have capped her clothmaking skill!

She slipped her Crimson Skullcap of Looting from her otherwise bald head and placed the headdress atop. Tendrils of soft, ruddy feathers fluttered down her neck in a ticklish cascade. Now *that* was more like it! She couldn't wait for the others to see. They would be so jealous--after all, you couldn't complete the new Sand Temple quest without the full Bluravian set, and without a high-level clothmaker you had to get them as drops from the Temple Priestesses. And those mobs were no joke!

iHaxYou shook her head in awe. TaraForm could have sold the headdress--a rare exceptional crafting result--for a fortune at the Market. But instead she had mailed it along as a simple thank you. Popping open her inventory to scroll through her items, Hax felt a pang of guilt. She collected all the best items and lorded them over the lesser players. She hadn't ever done anything nice for them, not that she could remember.

At that moment, she made a decision. "Hey, Buff, I think I'm gonna cancel on monk for now. There's some stuff I gotta do."

"Sure, no problemo," TheBuffOne said. "Roque, you want in? We've got a low level party in the jungle."

Hax stroked the braids of her new headdress, closed her mailbox--the door didn't line up exactly right, anymore--and turned her face up to the brilliant sunshine.

~*~

TaraForm felt wonderful. She glided down the short path from her hut toward the citadel, having just mailed her gift to the orc who had been so nice to her yesterday. She'd been crafting all morning, hoping for that bright surge of light that would mark an exceptional crafting attempt. When it finally happened--on her seventy-third attempt, not that she'd been counting or anything...--she'd been so giddy. iHaxYou would love it, she knew. All the high level players were scrambling for the Bluravian pieces. They had been ever since the Sand Temple gates had miraculously and inexplicably opened last week.

Out of nowhere, she heard a voice. "TaraForm, are you there?"

A private message. A tell. All the citizens of FE were capable of such things. It was from iHaxYou. Although nobody else was present to see it, the Druid did a little twirl animation. "Yup! Hi. :)"

"Thanks so much for the headdress! You're amazing. Uh, hey, what are you up to, today?"

"You're more than welcome. And I'm not sure, exactly. I was thinking about digging for Mharix roots. Nobody's really using the antidotes as much, but the stock is pretty low."

"Can I help?"

TaraForm blinked, stunned into silence. She'd been here for two years, and nobody--not one soul--had ever offered to help her. She knew what she did, crafting day in and day out, was seen as mindless, boring tedium to the heroes. Why, she couldn't imagine. The lands were so beautiful...

"TaraForm?"

"Oh! Sorry. Um, yes. Of course you can help. Are...you sure?"

"Definately - " TaraForm winced at the misspelling, but it *had* come from an orc, after all " - count me in!"

"Great!" Having company was such a foreign concept... "Um, want to meet at the jungle ruins?"

"Okay. See you there."

"Hey, uh, by the way. You can call me Tara, if ... you know, it's easier to type. And it's my name, anyway."

"Oh, cool. <-- Hax, for short. Or Will. Willow."

"Willow? Is that a ... I mean, are you a guy or a girl?"

"Girl! And proud member of CP."

"CP?" Tara had seen the clan tag, but wasn't sure what it meant.

"ChickzPwn!"

~*~

TaraForm shook her head in amazement. She'd never had as much luck as this, foraging. It had taken them only an hour to gather two full stacks of Mharix roots--a task that might have required a full day on her own--and then iHaxYou (Willow...) had said, "What next?" Tara couldn't believe she was still willing to help after what must have seemed to her a mind-numbing activity. So they'd headed under the ruins and started digging around the edge of the underground swamp for Fisher bulbs. Willow had said that her plus-to-searching items wouldn't work as well in the dark, and so far she'd been right. After moving underground, the drop rate had plummeted. Tara suggested they move back above--it was prettier up there, anyway--but Willow insisted. Tara didn't argue; Fisher Bulbs *would* be really useful, after all.

"HAX."

Both women startled, and when they turned they saw a very impatient, white-robed elf stomping her foot on the stony ground.

"Hey, Steph," said Hax.

"What are you doing? We've been planning this run all week. Buffy's throwing a fit." The young girl did a double-take. "Is that a Bluravian headdress?!" Her eyes were wide as saucers.

Tara smiled to herself when Hax stroked her fingers proudly through her new red mane. "Sure is!" the orc trumpeted.

"What ... how did ... where did you ... GAH THAT'S NOT FAIR." She tapped the bottom of her gnarled wooden staff on the ground, and at once the cavern was filled with a dazzling white light. She stepped forward to scrutinize the headdress more closely. "Wow. The textures are way cooler."

Just then, TaraForm gasped. "Oh! Oh! I found one!" She held up a grassy stalk with an oddly misshapen bulb dangling underneath.

Hax smiled. "My looting gear kicked in because of Steph's light."

xxStephirothxx puffed up. "Really? I helped? Awesome."

"Yeah. Hey, can you stand over here for a sec?"

Happy to be useful, the healer trotted over and took a seat on a nearby rock. She held her staff aloft.

~*~

"Where IS she?" Anyanka groaned. They'd been sitting in the square for far too long, and she was getting antsy.

"Yeah, really. Buffy, I think Will ate your sister."

The knight peered at Roque. "Har har. Should I go get them?"

"GOT IT!" proclaimed iHaxYou over the clan channel. "Full stack. Be there in a minute, guys. Sorry."

"I helped!" xxStephirothxx reminded everybody.

"Yeah, big help," TheBuffOne grumbled. "You were supposed to grab her and warp back, not stay and make them dinner."

~*~

TaraForm tucked the last of the bulbs--the final one having been handed to her by Hax moments before the orc was swallowed by her clanmate's teleportation spell--into her bag. A nervous, happy energy still hummed inside her. That was the most fun she'd had in a long, long time, and here in one of the darkest, gloomiest areas. If that's what she got for mailing a Bluravian headdress, she wondered what would happen if she managed to craft the cloak...

Tomorrow, she decided, a trip to the Sand Temple was in order.

Hope you enjoyed it!

[Zampsa1975]

Lol... I really liked that...

[JujuDeRoussie]

Some very nice stories/updates!

YaY!

Megan: I always want more, I'm unsatiable!

Sena: More! I hope the man is a friend? Xander?

Chris: More as well!

[jasmydae]

Awwwr. Smooches. ^_~

An Imaginary Friend (Part 8)

When Mr. Fletcher answered the door, with his wife just a few steps behind, Willow did a double-take. They were dressed in formal attire and looked startlingly different from the couple she'd seen in the restaurant and at their impromptu picnic.

"Do come in, Willow," he said, moving aside to grant her access. They lived in a huge house--much larger than her own. Willow felt almost too small for the hallway. Funny, it hadn't seemed so enormous from the outside. But then, all the houses on Mayberry were massive mansions, so maybe it just looked smaller by comparison. Willow wished Tara was with her. Tara had needed to check in--Willow wasn't sure what that meant, exactly--but she had promised it wouldn't take long.

The Fletchers gave Willow a quick tour of the house, pointing out various babysitting-related items--the phone, the emergency numbers, their contact information, a list of foods to which their son was allergic. His name was Samuel, she learned. Sammy, Willow thought. It didn't sound very much like an archangel. Nor did he bear much of a holy image, strutting about in his corduroys and socks with cartoon characters on the toes. But he had a winning smile that Willow warmed to immediately, and when she learned his parents were going to the opera--and did not, in fact, dress like this for any occasion--Willow relaxed significantly.

After checking and double-checking (and, in the case of Sammy's mother, triple-checking) that Willow had everything she needed, the Fletchers left for the evening, leaving Willow in the huge house with a little boy that would undoubtably change her life. "Uh, so," she said to him, "Sammy. Um, what kind of stuff do you like to do?"

"Power Rangers!" the boy exclaimed, and he made an awkward spinning motion that Willow assumed was supposed to be a roundhouse kick, or something resembling one.

Well, that answers that, she thought. So much for expecting him to say he spent his days transcribing the words of some higher being, or crying for the sins of all mankind. "That's really neat," she said. "You watch them on TV?"

"Uh huh. I'm Billy!" He struck another pose. "I have a Triceratops Dinozord!"

"Oh, a dinosaur, huh? Do you ride it?"

"You don't ride a Dinozord," Sammy sighed, apparently saddened that she would not already know this. "It's like a tank, but it has these lasers and can shoot its horns like SHOOM SHOOM!" He mimed the action with his index fingers.

"Well, how 'bout you show me? What do you say?"

"Okay!" Sammy grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the television.

~*~

Forty minutes later, Willow knew more about the Power Rangers than she had ever imagined knowing, and--although she would be reluctant to admit it to her friends--she was actually enjoying the show quite a bit. Sammy took it upon himself to educate her about the episodes she *wasn't* seeing, acting out all of the fierce brawls in the space between the sofa and the television set. Midway through an epic battle sequence the boy's face went blank, and he stared at something behind Willow. She turned and peeked over the back of the sofa and saw Tara standing in the archway that led to the hallway.

"Hi, Sammy," Tara said sweetly. She walked into the room and planted a kiss on the top of Willow's head when she got to the edge of the sofa.

"Hey," Sammy said quietly. He looked between the girls. "You can see her." It wasn't a question exactly. He was looking at Willow strangely.

"I ... uh," Willow looked to Tara for help.

"She can see me, Sammy," Tara said. "Willow and I are ... we're friends. Good friends." She grinned at the redhead. "She's special, like you are."

Sammy looked at Tara. "Are you ..." his voice dropped as he trailed off.

"You can ask me," she assured him.

He shook his head. "I'm not supposed to say anything in front of anyone else," he said, indicating Willow.

Willow was uncomfortable; she felt like she didn't belong in the middle of this conversation. Tara was her ... well, her Tara. And she was supposed to be babysitting. But more than anything she felt like she should be hiding in the kitchen. Only the reassuring touch of Tara's hand on her arm kept her seated on the sofa. "It's all right to talk in front of Willow," Tara said. "She knows about us. She's going to help." A comforting circling motion with her palm quelled Willow's rising fears.

"I just wanted to know if you were going to be my - " he glanced warily at Willow before whispering the last word " - angel."

"Only for the time being," Tara replied. "We will be. Both of us," she added, rubbing Willow's shoulder and leaning over to place a kiss on her cheek. "But we'll be guides, just until your actual angel is ready to come."

Willow shook her head adamantly. "Tara, I--I can't do that. I don't have the proper qualifications. I don't have the work experience. I need a training period, or an internship, or something!"

Tara slid onto the sofa next to Willow and slipped an arm around her back to give her a gentle squeeze. "See?" she said to Sammy. "She's scared, too. But we'll all be okay, together, right? Ooo, Power Rangers?"

~*~

Deeper in the house, a grandfather clock chimed ten o'clock. Willow counted each chime, positioning them in her mind as the pips on a playing card. Sammy had been wonderful, tiring himself out at just the right hour, and now he slumbered peacefully in the bedroom at the top of the stairs. Willow relaxed on the sofa in the living room. Tara was still with her. In a rare role reveral, Tara had fallen asleep while Willow was brushing her hair, and the angel now napped with her head in Willow's lap. Willow's right leg had fallen asleep a few minutes ago, but she didn't want to move it and risk waking Tara.

With Tara so close yet unaware, Willow inspected her skin for imperfections. She was curious. Although they had talked about it, Willow still wasn't entirely certain she understood which aspects of Tara were independent of her own imagination. So she collected data. As it turned out, Tara had beautiful skin. Smooth and spotless. She felt a moment of triumph when she discovered a few split ends in her hair.

Willow loved how natural it felt to be touching Tara as often as possible, and was even happier to know that Tara felt the same way about her. The love was in the simplest touches. At first she had wondered if Tara was just being reassuring--obviously she knew Willow had initially questioned the reality of her existence, and Tara's touches had gone a long way to stomp out those fears. But recently Willow had been feeling a shift in the space between them. It had gotten warmer. More personal. More intimate. She didn't feel like the touches said, "I am here," anymore. Now they said, "I am yours."

The clock chimed again. Willow was surprised--had fifteen minutes gone by so fast? It was so easy to get lost in her thoughts when they turned toward Tara, which happened frequently. She looked around the room to see if she could verify the time, and when she glanced back down, she saw that Tara's eyes were open and watching her. "Hey," Tara whispered.

"Sorry, did I move?"

Tara smiled lazily. "No. I could feel ... what you were feeling. I liked it."

"You can tell what I'm thinking?" Willow asked.

"Not your thoughts so much as ... just whether you're happy, or scared, or angry, you know? It's how an angel knows when she's needed."

Willow nodded. "That makes sense."

"You were happy. It was warm. I liked it," Tara said again. "You should be like that more often." The smile on her lips curled, and she shifted slightly, which returned the flow of blood to Willow's leg.

"You're always needed," Willow said.

Tara arched an eyebrow and caught Willow's gaze. "I'm not, really ... and that's good. You're doing really well, you know. Centering yourself, taking care of yourself. I shouldn't be needed all the time. Wanted. Wanting is good."

"Well, you're always wanted, then. And ... and sometimes needed."

Tara sighed contently and let her lashes flutter shut. "Good."

"Hey, I was wondering something. When you were ... I mean, before you became an angel. Did you ever have an angel of your own?"

Tara didn't open her eyes, but tiny creases appeared in her brown between them. After a moment of thought, she said, "You know, I'm not really sure. It's certainly possible. Most of the time when a person's been sent an angel, they don't ever know it. We don't usually go out of our way to let people know who we are, of course. It's supposed to be just ... show up, do something good, then go. Most of the time nobody even sees us."

"So you can ... what? Like influence things to happen or something?"

"Some angels do that, yes."

"So how come you were see-able? If you could have just, you know, wiggled your nose and made me more confident, or made people come up and talk to me?"

Tara finally opened her eyes and looked at her. "Honestly? I wanted to meet you. And I wanted you to know me. I ... I don't think manipulation is really my M.O., anyway, even if it *is* for something good."

Willow nodded, and there was a long pause. "You know I love you, right?"

Tara's lips eased into a soulful smile, and she nodded her head once in Willow's lap. She brought a hand toward her face and beckoned Willow down with a curl of her index finger. Willow leaned over, and Tara lifted her head to meet Willow's lips in a kiss. It was chaste and gentle and simple and entirely natural, and Willow felt a happy warmth spread through her. When they parted, Tara promised, "I love you, Willow."

Hope you enjoyed the read!

[Zampsa1975]

Yay for great update-y goodness...

[SJ]

Great writing.

[jasmydae]

I'm on a writing roll! Here's the next part of Adventures. Not edited, not betaed, and not planned beforehand. But it's a bedtime story, so who cares? ^_~

Adventures in Being Babysat (Part 8)

"So your parents are back tomorrow, huh?" Willow asked. She and Tara were sitting on her bed, snuggled up against each other.

"Mm," Tara replied lazily. "But it doesn't matter, right? I mean, I can still come over all the time, if you want."

"I want. But I kind of like you here every night. And at dinner. And...well, basically all the time. Our folks might not go for that."

Tara chuckled. "No, I guess not. But you can actually come over to our place. See all the embarrassing things in *my* room."

"You don't have anything embarrassing in your room. It's all packed up."

"Right. Well, you can help me unpack it all. Get all dusty in the attic, hm? You can help me make my room more like home."

Willow smiled and nestled closer, rubbing her cheek against Tara's shoulder. "I'd really like that."

They separated momentarily when they heard Donny in the hallway. After he passed the room, they migrated back toward each other. There was a moment of silence, then Tara admitted, "I'm still not sure how to bring it up to him."

Willow nodded. "Yeah. Family is harder. I haven't said anything to my parents."

"I don't think coming out to mine will be so tough. My mom, anyway. We're pretty comfortable talking about...you know. Sex and stuff."

"I'm far from an adult in my parents' minds," Willow sighed. "You're lucky, if yours treat you like that."

"Well, maybe it's different because you're an only child. Donny was always the troublemaker, you know? So they were pretty strict with him, and a lot more lenient with me because I was nice and quiet and didn't do anything questionable. Plus, they probably had no energy left for careful monitoring. So they pretty much let me do whatever, and I didn't let them down, so they started treating me like a grown up earlier."

"Wish I'd had an older sibling," Willow grumbled.

"Well, you can have mine, if you want. One less person for me to tell I'm gay."

Willow looked at her, and scooched up further on the bed so that they were the same height. "How do you feel about it? I mean, we've talked about telling people and stuff, but ... what's going on up there?"

"You mean how do I feel about being gay?"

"Well, yeah. Realizing it."

Tara shrugged. "I kind of knew, a while back. I didn't attach a label to it, I guess. But around the time when my friends were starting to get all wonky about guys, back in middle school, and I wasn't...well, I got kind of jealous. About the guys. You know, like what made them so cool that they had all these girls paying attention to them? And what was I doing wrong? And how could *I* get attention from the girls. And I knew that was ... unusual. Like, I couldn't just go around telling everybody. So I didn't. I just stayed quiet about it. And then we ... you know." She planted a kiss on the tip of Willow's nose. "And it was amazing, because ... I saw how you looked at me, just like I'd been wanting a girl to do for so long. And what a girl, might I add..."

Willow giggled at the kiss, then shared, "I had a crush on Xander for a long time. When we were little we used to play house and stuff, like we were a couple, and I didn't say anything then, but I wanted it to be real. And that was all great up until, right, middle school. He started to notice girls. Not me, of course. Couldn't have that. And it started to annoy me, because it seemed like he'd like any girl who was pretty, no matter her personality."

Tara nodded her understanding, and Willow continued. "Finally I gave up on him. I mean, if he was going to miss what was right under his nose, you know? It wasn't great for my self-esteem, which was already under fire enough, thank you. And if he was the one guy I really got along with ... I guess it just turned me off to the idea of having somebody like *that*. After a while I just kind of stopped thinking about it. I wasn't going to be part of a couple, you know?"

"You never thought about girls?"

"I ... I don't know. If I did, I didn't think about it like that. I envied them plenty, especially the really pretty ones who weren't mean to people. Like you. I mean, not that I envied YOU personally--this was before you moved here--but girls LIKE you. I wished I was prettier, more popular, less of a nerd, you know?"

Tara slipped her hand into Willow's, and reassured her. "You're beautiful, and exactly the right amount of a nerd."

Willow smiled bashfully. "Thanks. Uh, so I guess I was still like that, right up until you came here. The first day, when I learned more about you, it really surprised me. Like, I'd gotten it into my head that everything and everybody Cordelia-related was bad news, and best to be avoided. But you were totally different, and it got me thinking about what else I might have been too quick to judge, you know?"

"She's really not such a ... I mean, she's outspoken and opinionated and says all kinds of things about you and people you know, and I completely understand why you think about her that way. But what I mean is ... she only does that because she doesn't know you, either. I'm her friend, so I get to see a different side of her. Like, I wish you could have heard her after I told her that I really liked you. Right away, she was a lot more ... human, I guess."

"Everyone sort of plays a role in high school. That's what my mom always says."

Tara nodded. "Exactly. She's right. You see it on TV all the time. Or, like, class reunions, right? Everybody's grown up and can look back and realize how silly they were."

"Well, anyway, we started playing games, and you were ... you were *getting* me, and then I asked about the love life thing, and it said, 'kiss me,' and I knew *I* hadn't moved it, and I really doubt that there were real Ouija spirits..."

Tara grinned and assumed an expression of feigned innocence. "Guilty," she confessed.

"So I guess ... it was kind of out of nowhere, and took a while to process, afterwards. But I like it."

"Oh yeah?" Tara turned her head toward Willow and made kissy-face. "Me, too."

With a chuckle, Willow leaned in a caught Tara's wriggling lips with her own.

~*~

"Tara Maclay?" said the secretary. Tara stood. "Go ahead, you can go right in," the woman continued. Tara thanked her and stepped into the office.

"Hi, Principal Wood," she said to the sharply-dressed young black man standing by the window.

"Hello, Tara. Please, just Robin. Mandy tells me you had some questions about the prom?"

He indicated the chair across the desk from his own before sitting, and Tara took a seat opposite him. "Um, yeah... it's kind of... well, I was wondering if there were any rules about.. you know, who you could bring?"

The principal chuckled. "Ah, right. Yes, you're allowed to bring college students, but they have to follow the same rules as everybody else, which means no alcohol."

"Oh, no, that's not what I meant," Tara said. "She's a student here, it's just that ..." She paled when she realized what she'd said.

"I see." The principal pursed his lips and studied her a moment. "As far as I know, Miss Maclay, there's nothing saying a young woman--or man--can't take another young woman--or man--as a date to the prom. Again, provided that you follow the same rules as all the other students. No drinking, no drugs, no troublemaking, nothing indecent, and so forth."

Tara nodded, still quite a bit embarrassed. "No, of course not."

"That being said," Mr. Wood continued, "remember that kids ... can be kids. If there's any trouble, be sure to let one of the chaperones know right away. Okay?"

"Okay."

He straightened a stack of papers on his desk. "Is there anything else?"

"Um, n-no sir. That was all. Thank you. Thank you so much." Tara stood and retreated to the doorway.

"Oh, and Tara?"

She paused and glanced backward at him.

"Have a lovely time at your prom."

She smiled gratefully. "I will--we will. Thank you."

Hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to stop by the chat room some time.

[Zampsa1975]

Yay for great update-y goodness... Can't wait for their prom...

[SJ]

Great update.

[jasmydae]

Here's the third chapter of Final Evercraft. Our heroes might be in over their heads... Not planned in advance, edited, betaed, yadda yadda....

Final Evercraft (Part 3)

TaraForm peeked nervously around a dirty stone column, checking left and right twice before stepping out into the narrow hallway. She had been in the Sand Temple only five minutes, and already her nerves were on edge. Every time she heard a deep rumbling--stone grinding against stone, somewhere deeper in the temple--veils of sand drifted down from ledges overhead.

She stepped carefully, testing each step for firm footing before shifting her weight entirely. It wouldn't do to aggravate a scorpion or fall into a sand trap! She found herself looking behind as often as forward. She hadn't had time to explore the Sand Temple as thoroughly as most of the other areas, but she'd heard rumors of dangerous creatures sneaking right up behind unsuspecting heroes and making mincemeat of them in no time at all.

When she was sure the hallway was clear, she turned around and beckoned her new helper, Shelby, to follow. Shelby was a crystal crab, and TaraForm wasn't foolish enough to think they were friends. Crystal crabs were a xenophobic sort, and hardly ever associated with other species, or even other crabs outside their immediate family. They were, however, quite adept at getting up to the rocky ledges that Rafter Reeds sprouted out of, and that's why TaraForm was here in the first place. Just one stack, she'd promised herself, then she'd get the heck out of this place.

She'd met Shelby near the temple entrance. Although the crab had taken a hostile position at first, Tara had been able to convince her they might both enjoy a mutually beneficial arrangement--Shelby could help her gather Rafter Reeds, and for the duration of their hunt, TaraForm could keep the heroes who had been raiding the Temple for seven days straight from making crabcakes out of her. When Tara even offered to throw in a a half dozen prawns, Shelby was sold on the deal. TaraForm didn't mind at all--the prawns always made her face get all red and puffy, anyway.

The hallway opened into a sizable room. Tara's mental map of the Temple wasn't the greatest, but she thought they must be somewhere near the center, by now. Enormous pillars ran the length of the room in two rows, providing necessary support for the high vaulted ceiling. Halfway up the pillars a platform nestled between them, and peering closely TaraForm could see the unmistakable stalks of Rafter Reeds. "There," she whispered, pointing. Shelby clacked her pincers once, the crab equivalent of a nod, then scooted sideways to the base of the pillar and began to climb.

She waited anxiously below for several minutes after Shelby skittered onto the platform. Another thing she knew about Crystal crabs was that they were easily distracted, and she was worried her helper might have simply wandered off in the middle of its task.

Another five minutes later, she was sure of it. She sighed and began looking around the room for an easy way up to the ledge. Finding nothing, she approached the base of the pillar, shook out her arms and legs, and prepared to climb. TaraForm was not a climber by any stretch. Actually, when she really thought about it, not one of the heroes she'd encountered in her many months on the server had been able to scale even the simplest wall. Funny, how a hero might be capable of defeating demons that were practically demi-gods, yet failed at hopping a mere fence. Well, there must be a first time for everything, she thought. She was just about to wrap her arms and legs around the pillar when a shadow fell across its rounded surface.

Uh oh.

*SMACK.*

And there went her shields. All five of them! TaraForm put the pillar between her assailant and herself as quickly as possible, narrowly avoiding a second swipe in the process. The hand that reached for her was skeletal, with fingers so long and slender they resembled talons. Near the elbow, the arm disappeared under an ornate robe that TaraForm recognized at once.

Temple Priestess! Oh god, oh god, oh god.

Without any further thought, she was fleeing across the room, with the Priestess in close pursuit. She knew the path she was flying down led deeper into the temple, but there was no way to double back; with no time to reset her shields, she knew the Priestess could end her life with a single strike. She passed other creatures as she ran--crystal crabs, viro bats, even the dreaded tunnel worms--and each noticed her passing and gave chase; soon she was trailing a lethal horde of angry creatures behind her.

"Help!" she shouted each time she found a straight stretch of ground. "Help me! Too much aggro!"

"LOL," she heard from several nearby heroes. "ROFL," they said. Many made laughing motions. Nobody helped.

A tunnel worm she skirted past flared its gaping maw and she heard the jingling chime of a spell being cast. She was too close, she knew. She'd never get out of range in time!

*CRACK.*
Shelby hits the Tunnel Worm for 47 damage.

Her legs churning beneath her, TaraForm awaited an explosion of fire that never came. Must have just made it out of range, she figured, unaware of the battle raging behind her. She weaved around columns and hugged corners, hoping the hordes routes wouldn't be as efficient. Then it happened. She barreled into a room and saw no other means of escape but the door through which she'd just entered. Doom. Trembling, TaraForm turned to face the incoming wave of certain death. Defiant to the end, she started chanting her shield spell, knowing it would be interrupted any second.

The first of the mobs raced through the door. A lone bat. On its tail, more and more arrived. They beelined across the room toward her. TaraForm clenched her eyes and shook.

The inky blackness was suddenly a tinted crimson. She blinked and stared. In the middle of a circle of angry creatures, iHaxYou stood in all her glory. The orc issued a mighty battle cry, and a fiery aura spread along the ground beneath her feet. The creatures--every one--turned to face her.

"ZONE!" Hax screamed between slashes of her dual hand axes. "Tara, RUN!" She was getting mobbed; TaraForm could hardly see her anymore under the pile of enemies.

Paralyzed with fear, TaraForm could only watch. "RUN!" Hax cried. Then the pile shifted, and the orc sprang free, scrambling madly for the door. The horde trailed after her, and Tara, her legs finally coming to life, found herself in the middle of the pack.

Blindly, she turned right. "This way! This way!" she heard Hax call out, and she immediately reversed her steps. There was another bursting ring of flame from the hallway, and TaraForm realized it was pushing the creatures away from Hax, but only for a moment. Just enough for her to catch a breath, then they were upon her once again.

TaraForm squeezed past the cloud of combat and saw, further ahead, a shining light--the sun! Outside! They were going to make it! She drove ahead, and leaped through.

~*~

"Will, what are you doing in the Temple? You're note trying to farm reeds are you?" TheBuffOne asked over clan chat.

"Pfft. Knowing Hax, she's prolly trying to solo a Priestess," Roque scoffed. "Good luck with that, by the way."

"I just saw TaraForm in here. We might be able to help her get reeds for a discount on robes," iHaxYou explained.

"She can't have high enough clothmaking," Roque said. "What's the point."

"No, she does. She made a headdress aleady."

"It's true!" chirped xxStephirothxx. "I saw it! She gave one to Hax."

"WHAT?! No way," said RoqueSlayer. "Nobody would give away a headdress."

"She did."

"I'm calling bull on this one. Will, you're buying gold, aren't you? I freakin' KNEW it."

"For the last time, I'm NOT buying--oh, hang on, she's shouting."

There was lull in the conversation for a minute.

Suddenly, iHaxYou yelled, "OMG HELP GUYS mad aggro!"

RoqueSlayer chuckled. "Christ, Will, what'd you do, now?"

"KITING HELP HELP HELP!"

xxStephirothxx replied, "I'll port in a second. Anyone coming meet outside house."

"Hang on, grabbing vials," said TheBuffOne. "Just one sec."

"GAH There's a Priestess, too!!!"

"Hurry, Buffy!" demanded xxStephirothxx.

"Hold ON."

"Crap," Hax said. "Dead like ten feet from the zone."

~*~

TaraForm stood inches outside the Temple gate, peering into the entrance with her hand shielding the sun from her eyes. She couldn't see a thing in there. Why wasn't Willow coming out? She couldn't have ... there's no way she ... no! Willow was a proud, high level hero! She'd never have let those monsters ... those so-many-Tara-couldn't-even-count-them, pincer-gnashing, talon-scraping, fang-glistening monsters ...

TaraForm sank to her knees on the stone step. No ... not Willow. How stupid she had been! A lowly druid with no combat experience sneaking around in a zone she was unfamiliar with ... and Willow paid the price. Tears gathered in her eyes and slid wetly down her cheeks. Her lashes stuck together. It was all her fault ....

She waited long enough for the monsters to become disinterested and wander away, then eased back through the gate. Sure enough, just inside she saw Willow's crumpled body lying in the sand. The once-glorious orc champion broken and breathless on the ground. Tara knelt beside her and, with all the strength she could muster, managed to roll the orc onto her back. The headdress lolled to one side, and TaraForm reset it gently to its former position. It should have been here lying here. Willow was just trying to help. To save her. Why her? Tara was nothing in the greater scheme of things. So she brewed some potions and cooked some meals--nothing compared to the heroic deeds true champions like iHaxYou did on a daily basis. TaraForm reached out and grasped one of Hax's lifeless hands between her own--it was so large in comparison--and leaned over her body, resting her forehead against the orc's and sobbing uncontrollably.

The hallway began to glow. A pinpoint of brilliant light appeared near one wall, expanding horizontally to a sliver, then morphing into a shimmering portal. Through it stepped xxStephirothxx, with her staff balanced sideways between her hands. "Ohi," she said. Tara just stared.

With great flourish, the youngster began chanting in tongues. The deepest magics, Tara knew. xxStephirothxx held her gnarled staff high, and her words grew louder...

xxStephirothxx starts casting Resurrection IV on TaraForm.

"Oh, crud." The healer quickly knelt. "Uh, can you move for a sec?"

TaraForm backed away, and she began her spell once again. Seconds later, iHaxYou's body was borne from the ground by a cushion of light, and her coarse eyelashes fluttered and opened. "Thanks, Steph," she said. Then she was tackled to the ground by TaraForm's hurtling body.

"You're alive!" She pressed a kiss to the orc's fuzzy cheek. "Thank god you're alive!" Another on her chin, her forehead, even her lips--any patch of Willow she could find.

"Uh." Hax chuckled happily. "You're welcome?"

"Awwwwwwr," said xxStephirothxx. In another flash of light, she was gone. Over the chat line, she said, "Have I mentioned I love my job?"

~*~

"Never." *kiss* "Do that." *kiss* "Again." *kiss*

Hax scratched the hairs on the back of her neck. "You're not exactly convincing me it wasn't a good idea," she replied.

TaraForm blinked. "Oh. Right." She was, after all, splayed out directly atop the orc and smothering her with kisses. Grudgingly she slid off of her and extended her hand to help Hax up. Hax took her hand, but did most of the work herself.

"It was really dangerous for you to come here by yourself," she said to the druid. "Even us max-leveled characters can get aggro here."

"I--I know. It was foolish. I don't know what I was thinking."

"Hey, no, I didn't mean that. Not foolish, just ... just dangerous. And hey, you learned one of the dangers, right? So now you'll know, if you come back."

"I was trying to get Rafter reeds," TaraForm explained. "I wanted to surprise you."

iHaxYou nodded. "I figured you were probably after them. What do you mean, surprise me?"

"I was going to make a Bluravian cloak. So you'd match." TaraForm didn't want to admit it, but Willow's outfit clashed horribly. Not a single piece matched, and all together they were utterly atrocious.

"You absolutely don't need to do that ... as sweet as it would be. Some day the CP gang'll come in here and farm the cloth. RoqueSlayer will probably offer to pay you for crafting, if we ever do."

Tara nodded sadly. "But it would have been so cool."

Hax pointed at her crimson headdress. "*This* is cool. This is so much more than you ever needed to do. You're amazing. But don't get yourself killed on my account."

"Well, same goes for you."

"Okay, deal. From now on, we'll do nice, safe, non-lethal things for each other."

Tara smiled. "That sounds like a good idea to me."

Walking out of the temple together, side-by-side, Hax said, "So, want to go watch noobs keep falling off while trying to climb Mt. Chunderift?"

Hope you enjoyed it!

[JustSkipIt]

Babysat - Wow. Go Tara! Very brave to go talk to Principal Wood. He seems totally cool about it. And then the talk with Willow and Tara is very well done. Seems quite spot-on for high schoolers. They seem to be in a relationship as opposed to just fooling around.

[SJ]

Great update.

[jasmydae]

Oops, forgot to post this one. Here it is, a week late. Same disclaimers apply.

An Imaginary Friend (Part 9)

Millie finished emptying the dishwasher and rinsed her hands under the faucet. She peeked into the living room to see Willow sitting on the couch with a bowl of popcorn, watching some newfangled animated movie. Millie had trouble keeping up with the films nowadays; too many special effects and fast-paced shots for her mind to process. She noticed that Willow kept pausing the movie and whispering things to herself. She'd been doing so for several weeks, and Millie was beginning to worry for her. The only thing keeping her from bringing it up was that her niece seemed happy.

When Ira and Sheila had died in the accident, Millie had uprooted her life to move into her sister's house, to do the best she could for Willow. Sadly, she admitted to herself it hadn't been hard to let her life in Detroit go--there wasn't much she was leaving behind. She expected Willow to be devastated, and she certainly had been a wreck the first two days. Then, suddenly and without any apparent reason, the young girl's attitude had shifted overnight. That's when she'd started talking to herself. It seemed to be a constant whispered chatter, too low for her to hear without blatanty eavesdropping, which she didn't intend to do.

Millie knew that people handled the loss of loved ones in many different ways. She assumed Willow was talking with her parents, perhaps getting out of her system all the things she'd not had a chance to say while they were alive. It was a process Millie was familiar with; occasionally when she had trouble sleeping at night, she'd found herself staring up at the darkened ceiling and trying to communicate with her late sister. She even imagined Sheila responding to her, in that nasally voice of hers Millie had always teased her about.

But Willow's conversing was becoming so frequent it was making Millie uncomfortable. Not for the first time, she considered walking into the living room and sitting beside her niece, asking her about it, seeing if there was anything she could do to help. But then Willow laughed at something--maybe the movie?--and nestled comfortably against the throw pillow, and Millie shook her head and backed away from the doorway. Maybe tomorrow, she thought, just like all the days before.

~*~

"Wait, what'd he say? I missed it."

Willow shook her head and stared at Tara. "You missed it because I was telling you what the *last* person said," she reminded her. "And now you're missing the next line. See how this works?"

"Sorry, it's hard to follow," Tara shrugged. She popped another kernel of popcorn into her mouth. "You're more interesting than the movie, anyway."

Willow chuckled. "Well, I'm happy I'm so entertaining. Here, I'll turn on subtitles." She punched a few buttons, and the text appeared at the bottom of the screen. "Better?"

"Thanks." They watched a few moments before Tara interrupted again. "So what did you think of him?"

"You mean Samuel Fletcher, future Archangel?" Willow considered this. "The corduroys were a nice touch. He didn't inspire choirs of angels singing or anything. But I liked him." Her brow furrowed. "Do they? Angels? Do the whole singing choir bit?"

"Uh, I can't say for certain that they don't, but I can vouch for at least one completely tone-deaf angel."

"What did *you* think?"

"He was a sweetie. I was worried at first he'd be a terror to get to sleep, but not even that... It worries me a little," Tara admitted. "I mean, he's a happy, smart, enthusiastic kid with kind, loving parents and from all I can see a wonderful life."

"I can see how that would be worrying," Willow said, clearly not seeing.

"I just mean, if--if he's got so many good things going for him, what's he need a guardian angel for?"

"Well, if he's got the whole destiny thing coming up, maybe it's just a 'be prepared' sort of thing," Willow guessed.

"Mm." Tara didn't sound convinced. "That's what guides are for, though. Guardians usually mean tough times ahead."

Willow frowned. "It *could* be a special case, maybe? If not ... I don't know. But he doesn't have a guardian angel *yet*, right? So we might be worrying for nothing."

Tara relaxed and smiled at her. "You're right. Sorry, I get all worst-case-scenario, sometimes. Um, hang on, can you back that up a bit. I missed that scene."

With an exaggerated sigh, Willow dropped the remote into Tara's lap.

~*~

Through a veil of white mist, a tiny mote of light shimmered, gradually increasing in size and intensity until it was all but blinding. It began to move, and the wisps of mist parted like gossamer threads before it. When they cleared, angels were revealed--rows upon rows of them, countless in their numbers. They parted as the light floated through them, a massive channel splitting their ranks. In the middle of the gap, a single figure remained. He knelt as the light approached.

The light hummed and crackled, causing pulses of energy to make visible compressions in the air around it. The angel nodded. "I accept," he said.

He would not have time to say goodbye to his friends, he knew, for he would travel to the earth at once. He had accepted a calling of the highest honor, and for it he would sacrifice himself entirely. He would become his calling. He would simply be Angel.

With this knowledge, Angel descended.

Hope you liked it! ~ Megan

[SJ]

Great writing.

[jasmydae]

It's a short one.

Adventures in Being Babysat (Part 9)

"So how is the salad, Harm?" Cordelia asked.

"Same as always," Harmony replied. She sounded equally uncomfortable.

Willow, sitting across the table from the two, leaned toward Tara and whispered, "I think this was a bad idea."

Tara nodded in agreement, her face easily readable: "You were right; sorry." She caught Cordelia's attention and asked, "So, uh, did you pick out a dress for the senior prom, yet?"

"No, not yet."

Willow winced. These girls sure weren't making conversation easy. Their replies were terse at best. Well, she had promised Tara she'd try sitting with them for one day. She wasn't going to let her girlfriend down. "You got invited to the senior prom? That's really cool," she said. It was an offering. She hoped Cordelia would accept it. "Who are you going with?"

Cordelia stared at her, then glanced at Tara, then back to her again. "Jeremy Dougan," she finally answered.

"Oh. Neat." She actually recognized the name. He was one of the mean ones. "Isn't he the, uh ... the ...." Willow waded into her shallow pool of sports trivia and fished for the right term.

Cordelia arched an eyebrow. A demonic eyebrow, Willow decided.

"On the basketball team. He's one of those ... people in the middle?"

"He's the point guard," Cordelia said.

"Yes!" Willow smacked her hand on the table. "That's it. Sheesh. Sorry, all of these words up there, and they don't always point at each other the way they're supposed to."

"Right." Cordelia nodded. She looked down at her plate and pushed a lump of something--tofu? Willow wondered--around. It seemed like the conversation had hit a wall, but when Cordelia glanced up again, she must have seen something on Tara's face, because she turned back to Willow and asked, "What about you? Are you going to the prom?"

Willow hesitated. "Oh, uh, well ... I mean, we thought--I mean, I don't really know if--"

Tara rescued her. "We are. Or, well, we *can*. If you want to." The last bit was directed at Willow.

"Cool," said Cordelia mildly. Willow looked from her to Harmony, who seemed intensely interested in her salad and happy to be outside of the conversation, then back at Tara. She didn't say anything, but nodded and flashed her a nervous smile.

After that, the conversation lulled and was replaced by a tense silence.

When Anya and Xander finally--FINALLY--arrived, Anya scanned the faces of those at the table and shook her head. "You guys are ridiculous," she said. She pulled two chairs from a neighboring table and shouldered between Cordy and Harmony. The move pushed Cordelia's seat perilously close to Willow's, and like falling dominoes, Willow scooted closer to Tara.

"So we probably missed the thrilling topics, already," Anya joked to Xander. Then, to the table, "Have you guys said more than ten words to each other, really?"

"Hey, we talked," Cordelia refuted the accusation.

"Kind of," Harmony added.

"Hi, Willow. I'm Anya." She stuck out her hand, and Willow grasped it for a moment. "I'm really happy you decided to sit with us today." She turned to Xander. "How was that?"

"Really good, An." She beamed at his compliment, wiggled in her seat, then tore open several packets of sugar and began pouring them into her drink.

"So how about that local sports team?" Xander quipped. Tara smirked, and Willow grimaced, but everybody else looked at him oddly. He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck and coughed to clear his throat.

So it went for the remainder of the lunch period. When the bell rang, they scrambled away from the table as if it were on fire.

~*~

"Oh my god," Willow knelt in the stairwell and took deep breaths while clutching her chest.

Tara hovered nearby. "Are you okay?"

"So *that's* what it feels like to be dragged over hot coals," Willow said. "Sorry, just ...." she stood, but still felt a bit lightheaded. "I'm okay, now."

"I'm really sorry. Again." Tara gave Willow her best Bambi eyes to acocmpany her apology. "We don't have to sit with them, tomorrow. But ... I don't know, I don't want them to think I'm abandoning them, or anything."

"No, I know." Willow nodded at the stairs, and they started climbing them again. "The first day's the hardest, right?"

"Maybe we can *do* something, like watch a movie together. Something not so prone to uncomfortable silences."

"That's a good idea," Willow agreed. "Plus, Xander's really in his element with the whole movie-watching thing."

"Are you?"

"If it means I don't need to fill silence with a stream of incomprehensible blathering, it works for me."

"You did great," Tara reassured her. "I knew what you were saying." She thought back to the lunch--all nine thousand, three hundred twenty-five hours of it--and added, "Most of the time."

Willow peered sideways at her through narrow, suspicious eyes, and Tara couldn't keep a single bark of laughter from escaping. "You're laughing at me," Willow accused.

Tara made a face of exaggerated surprise and leaned in to Willow. She presed her open lips against the tip of Willow's nose. "Wuv wu," she said against the skin.

Who wouldn't forgive somebody as cute as this, Willow wondered. After a quick glance up and down the empty stairwell, she stole a quick kiss from her girlfriend. "Movie-watching is good. Maybe we can pick something out for tomorrow night?"

"Something late-ish?" Tara suggested.

"Late-ish?"

"My parents hate being woken up once they've gone to sleep," Tara reminded her.

"Oh, well that's no problem. You can always stay over at my ... you clever girl." Willow laughed at Tara's too-innocent expression.

"C'mon, we're going to be late for class." Tara tugged her arm, and they hurried the rest of the way up the stairs.

At the top, they needed to part to head toward their respective classrooms, but after a step toward hers, Willow spun. "Tara, wait." She took a deep breath. "Let's do it--go to the prom together."

The smile that appeared on Tara's face banished Willow's fears to the distant corners of her mind.

Hope you enjoyed it!

[SJ]

Had the privilage of sitting in on that story in the chatroom.
Enjoyed the story first time around and second time too.
Great writing.

[JustSkipIt]

Babysat - Did Tara say "wuv u"? Has she said that before and I just missed it? If not, wouldn't Willow sort of react like it's a big deal? I mean, big deal, right? Seriously, I love that everyone is uncomfortable sitting together not because suddenly their friend is gay but because suddenly their friend(s) are dating nerds. Ha ha. The merging and breaking down of the hideous high school caste system.

[taranwillow4ever]

Part 2-P-Town Tales

"So, did you talk to her Wilster?" Xander asked his best friend, Willow Rosenberg.

"Yeah, just for a minute though. I didn't know what to say to her. All I could think of was to ask her if I'd seen her around campus. She's not even in college yet."

"Well, you have always liked them young." snickered Xander

"She can't be that much younger than me. Maybe she was held back or something."

"You like them young AND dumb? I don't think so."

"I doubt that she is dumb. Did I tell you about her eyes?" Willow sighed.

"No tell me about her eyes Wil." "They are blue, not the dull blue that you see on lots of people, but a sparkling like blue. Sort of like when you look out at the bay on a really sunny clear day. They sparkle. And her legs, did you see her legs?"

"I think they were attached to her body Will, can't miss them."

"Smart ass. She's got really nice long, tanned legs. You should have seen her in her bathing suit. Oh My God."

"Willow, I know we came to P-town for you to do some girl watching, but I thought that you would be looking at lots of girls, not just one."

"Did you see any other girls? All I see are guys. Lots and lots of gay guys, hetero families, and transvestites. Not that I find her attractive just because she's the only one I've seen. It is just that I haven't seen anyone so...so...I don't know what the word is, She is amazing."

"Too bad she wasn't our waitress, then maybe you could have figured out a way to get her phone number. I have heard that some of the waitresses live in the co-housing down at the end of Commercial street. Maybe that's where she lives.

"We gotta come back here tomorrow. Maybe ask to be seated in her section. I'd rather the view of her than the view of the bay any day."

"Willow, Willow, Willow. Let's settle up and see if we can find some other women for you to dream about."

The two friends settled the tab and left the restaurant arm and arm. Tara was coming out of the kitchen at that moment, and saw them and assumed they were a couple.

++++

Tara woke up to the sound of the alarm ringing in her room. The sun was just about up, and Tara knew that she'd need to get to the office quickly to find out what rooms she needed to get ready for new guests. She hadn't realized how tiring it was going to be waitressing in that busy of a restaurant. Her feet were killing her, so she put on her sneakers, tied back her hair and went to work.

She had almost finished cleaning the last room when she heard a woman's voice calling her from her room. She walked to the room and found herself face to face with the same red-headed woman who she'd run into the previous day, and who had occupied a very prominent role in her dreams. She was swimming with the whales among many other things.

"C...c...can I h..h..help you." said Tara shyly. She heard a man's voice yell out "Wil, don't forget I need extra towels, and some soap would be good too. And ask her if she can come by later and clean up our bathroom"

Tara looked at the rumpled bed, and back at the red headed woman who was continuing to stare at her with her mouth open like she was a bass fish.

She's married Maclay, stop staring, she must be just wondering why I am standing here.“I heard what he needs, but is there anything you want ma'am?” said Tara.

"Please don't call me ma'am. My name is Willow, Willow Rosenberg, and you are?"

"T..T..Tara Maclay. You wanted something?"

"Oh...yes....I...I.. was going to ask for an extra pillow, that is it… an extra pillow"

Tara was amazed at the speed of the woman's speech.”Um, there is one on the top of the closet, do you want me to get it for you?”

"If you could, that would be great." Willow watched Tara reach up high, her shirt lifted a bit out of her shorts showing a tan mid-back, and her legs appeared to be going on for miles.

I think she is looking at me. Tara grabbed the pillow, and turned around to look at the woman. Wow, those are some green eyes.
Tara shook her head to release the thought and asked again if there was anything she could do for her. Willow shook her head, and Tara went out to the cart to get the towels and soap for the woman's husband.

She handed them to Willow and then went to the next room.

'She works here too..." said a rather shocked Willow to Xander when he came out of the bathroom.

"Are you telling me you are crushing on a chambermaid/waitress who is probably five or six years younger than you?" replied Xander toweling his hair.

"Put on some clothes, I don't want to see that much of you Xander" said Willow noting that he was just wearing a towel.


She adverted her eyes, “Remember. I graduated from high school at 16, and got through college by 19. I am only 21, she's got to be what? 18 ?”

"I always forget that, we were in the same classes in high school. But come on Will, she's a chambermaid."

"You are an elitist pig, Xander Harris. Just because you haven't had to work for your money, doesn't mean that people who do are not as good as you."

'Will..."

"Don't Will me." Willow stomped her foot, grabbed her book/beach bag, and slammed the room door.

Tara watched this scene from a room across the courtyard , so she could see Willow's stomping and slamming, but had no idea what was the reason.


Tara hung around the area until saw the guy leave the room. She waited a few minutes to make sure he was not coming back, and then she let herself into the room to tidy up the bathroom. She figured as long as she was there, she might as well make the bed too. She did that first, and then was in the bathroom cleaning up when she heard the door open. Tara poked her head out of the bathroom and saw Willow.

"I was hoping I'd find you here. Well, it wasn't really hope, 'cause I was sort of watching the door to see when you were going to come in... I just wanted to talk to you.without my friend Xander. He can be so obnoxious. He's also a pig, I'm sorry you had to do all that cleaning up. And you made our bed that was really nice. I know that it's not part of the services. It's just supposed to be towels and clean up after we leave. But that was nice.

Tara looked at the babbling woman again and smiled."Is there something you needed?"

"No" said Willow.

Tara looked at the woman who was now shuffling her feet and biting her lip. This is really strange.

"Um...Tara, that is your name right?"

"Yes" said Tara eying this woman.

"I was wondering, " she blurted out "I was wondering if you were working tonight,UGH Rosenberg, that is not what you were wondering. You were wondering so much more about this woman. You were wondering how old she is, where is she going to college does she feel this same electricity that you do? Is she by any chance a witch? Is she a lesbian. Those were all the things you are wondering about NOT if she is working. FOOL FOOL FOOL

"Yes. I work every night except Tuesdays and one Sunday a month"

"That's good. Lots of work. Keeps you busy. I like work." OMG Rosenberg, just get your babbling self away before this beautiful goddess starts running the other way.

Tara looked at Willow, smiled at her. Willow grabbed her arm, and a pulse of electricity flashed through her. It was a very pleasant sensation. It made her feel warm and tingly, and peaceful.
++++

[jasmydae]

Thanks to Jay for saving this log from the haunted graveyards of the Internet.

An Imaginary Friend (Part 10)

Xander kept looking between the television screen and the face of his best friend. Finally he grabbed the remote and punched the pause button. She looked at him confusedly. "Will, what movie are we watching?" he asked.

"Um, Thing, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah. The Thing. And what just happened in that last scene?"

"Uhhh ...." Willow looked helplessly at the television, but the frozen frame offered few clues. "Some people died?"

Xander frowned. "Good guess," he admitted. "But still, you haven't been watching it at all, have you?"

"I guess not. Sorry."

"Hey, it's okay. We can watch somemthing else." He dragged his box of horror movies closer and began to dig through it. "What're you thinking--zombies? Ghosts? Vampires?"

"I don't know, I guess I'm not really feeling up for a movie." Understatement of the year, she thought. How could she pay attention to the television when Tara was sitting at home by herself?

"Oh, okay. Uh, what do you want to do, then?"

She was really anxious. "Can we -- can I tell you something?"

"Of course."

"Okay, so .... And before I do: you consider me a rational, logical person, right?"

"Uh, yeah."

Willow nodded and took a few extra moments to prepare. "Okay, you remember a few years ago, when I had an imaginary friend, and you teased me about it?"

"Yes. Sort of. You ... you're not still mad about that, are you? I really was sorry ...."

"Oh, no," she reassured him. "It's not like that. Just that ... well ... it sort of turns out that ... god, you're going to think I'm crazy."

"No I won't," he promised.

"Tara's not a figment of my imagination. She's real and she's an angel and she's sitting in my room right now, or she was when I left, anyway, and we are together all the time, but nobody else can see her except this one person who I'm not sure I'm allowed to talk about, so you should probably forget I said that, but I can assure you I'm not dreaming or deranged or hallucinating or anything like that."

The smile that at first appeared on Xander's face faded as each subsequent word tumbled from her mouth. When she was done, they sat in silence for a minute while he determined the most tactful response.

"You've stumped me," he confessed. "I don't know what I'm supposed to say to that."

"Don't suppose you might just ... I don't know, believe me entirely?"

"Well, it's ... what you're saying is impossible, Will. You know that."

"It's not, though. It's--it's--okay, it's *close* to impossible. But it's true. I don't know how I can prove it, but it's ... grr!"

Xander looked concerned. "Jeez, you're really serious about this, aren't you?"

"I'm completely serious."

"Have you talked with anyone about it?"

She gave him a look. "I haven't gotten around to it."

"Sorry. Yeah." He gave himself a mental kick for asking. Who would she have talked with? He tried again. "When did you start ... you know, hanging out? With, uh, Tara, was it?"

"I told you. She and I met on the same day you and I did."

"And she's been around ever since?" He looked baffled. "You didn't tell me about this for, what, four years?"

"No, it wasn't like that. At first, it was kind of scary; I thought I'd had some kind of psychotic breakdown or something. She was only there for part of the day, then she had to leave. I didn't see her again for years."

"Gotcha. So when did she show up again?" Xander asked.

Willow had been dreading that question. Well, here goes, she thought. "After the accident. After my dad ...."

Xander nodded gravely. "Oh. I'm sorry, Will."

"But it's not ... I mean, she's an *angel*, Xander. It makes sense that she'd show up then."

"Look, Will, I'm no psychologist or anything, but ... doesn't it make more sense that ... maybe stress and shock from what happened caused you to --"

"Yes. Yes, that makes way more sense. You're right. And believe me, I thought of that, too. If it had been another one-day thing, I'd have gone with that. But it's been months, Xander. And besides, I'm not the only one who's seen her."

"Who else did?"

"Uh ...." She quickly weighed the risks and benefits of revealing that tidbit of information. "Sammy. He can see her."

"The ... kid you baby-sit."

"Yeah." He studied her carefully, and pursed his lips in thought. "He can," Willow repeated. Xander looked nonplussed. "You know what? Come on," she said, standing up. "I'm gonna prove it to you."

~*~

Ten minutes later they stood in the living room of Willow's house. Xander stood beside Willow, and Tara leaned against the kitchen doorway. "Are you sure you want to try this?" Tara asked. Willow nodded.

"Okay, Xander," Willow said. "Is there anything on the kitchen counter?"

"No."

"You're sure."

"Yes."

"All right, then. We'll sit here." She took a seat on the couch. "And we'll do nothing."

"Doing nothing," Xander said.

"And Tara, can you put something on the counter?"

"I don't know if this is a good idea," she said hesitantly. "I'm not sure what'll happen."

"You think you'll get in trouble?" Willow certainly didn't want that.

"I'm more worried about him than about me," Tara replied. "Willow, he really doesn't believe I'm here. What if we break him?"

"She's concerned we might make your head explode," Willow relayed to Xander.

"Mm. I see," said Xander. But he didn't, Willow thought. He really was dead-set in his disbelief. Maybe Tara was right.

"Fine," Willow grumbled, crossing her arms at her chest. "No magic trick."

Tara crossed the room and sat beside her. She took one of Willow's hands in her own. "Maybe he'll come around slowly," she cooed. "Just be you ... trust in your friends." She stole a quick glance at Xander, then brought her lips to Willow's. "Besides ... he can't see me doing this."

Willow swallowed a gulp and squeezed Tara's hand reflexively. "No fair ...." she murmured.

Xander peered at her queerly. "Will? Everything okay?"

"Yes! Uh, yup. Everything good here." She suddenly smacked her own hand against her lap and sucked in a quick breath. "Everything's fine!" she squeaked. She fidgeted with the bottom of her t-shirt for a moment, then stood up and put a few feet of distance between herself and the couch. "Okay! So, uh, sorry about the movie, and being so weird today, and I'll see you later! Uh, gotta go!" She grabbed her jacket and flew from the room, but reappeared moments later. "We're in my house. You go." She helped Xander to his feet and led him toward the door.

~*~

"Honey, you haven't even eaten half of your vegetables," Mrs. Fletcher sighed. "I thought you liked carrots."

"I don't feel good," Sammy complained.

His mother scooted her chair around the table and held her hand to Sammy's forehead. "What's wrong?" she asked.

He trembled. At first she thought he was shivering, despite the warmth of the dining room, but suddenly his hands tightened around the utensils he held, and he started to shake. He toppled out of his chair and fell to the hardwood floor, spasming.

"Sammy?" she asked urgently. "Sammy!" Deep breaths. She looked around the room helplessly. "Edward!" she shouted. "Edward, get in here!" Phone. Need a phone. Her husband appeared in the doorway. "Call 911!" she shrieked. Edward nearly pulled the receiver off the wall in his haste. She held Sammy to her, trying her best to cushion the jerks that shook his body. Oh god, she thought, let him be okay. Let this be okay.

Sorry for the cliffhanger!

[MelCar19]

Ok, turns out I didn't miss much But poor Sammy! But I figured something like this would happen eventually...

[jasmydae]

It's been a long time, but I finally wrote a short update for Stuffed. Thanks to Melissa for choosing it!

Stuffed--Arc Two: Mix-up (Part 2)

"Come on, Simon. It's your turn." Momma held out her hand and waited for Simon to take it. He started to drag his stuffed animals behind him, and Momma said, "They can wait here, on one of the chairs."

"But I want to take them with me."

Momma shook her head. "They're very healthy. They don't need to see the doctor. Come on." She watched him situate them on one of the lobby seats and give them instructions, then she led him into the office.

"Phew, that was close," Tara said. She leaned out as far as she could without tumbling off of the chair in an attempt to peek into the room, but the door closed before she could see anything.

"I guess we're not at the vet after all. If we're only here for Simon's cold, I think it's fine. He's gotten sick before, and always comes back better for the visit," Willow reminded her.

Tara nodded and reclined back in the chair. "Think they'll be long?"

"I'm not sure." Willow yawned mightily, and realized she'd really tired herself out from the energy she'd expended during the car ride. Then the memory made her nauseous all over again. She lowered her head to the seat, covered it with her paws, and groaned.

"Still feeling woozy?" Tara patted her stubby legs. "C'mere." Willow slid over to her and rested her chin in Tara's lap. A purr rumbled from her as Tara smoothed down the fur between her ears, and her tail swished happily.

A few minutes later, the seats beside them were taken by a pair of humans--a nervous-looking little girl and a woman Willow thought must be her mother, for they looked so much alike. The girl had on her lap an animal, too--a bear not unlike Tara, but a darker, more vibrant shade of blue. He--for clearly this was a male bear--sported a fancy yellow bowtie, and his eyes were a sparkling glass, unlike Tara's button eyes.

When the humans were led down a hallway, they also left their animal behind sitting awkwardly in the chair. "Hello," Tara greeted him.

"What's that?" the bear asked, starting as if waking from a deep sleep. "Did somebody say something?" He blinked several times and looked around, and finally he spotted them. "Why hello. Have we met?"

Tara shook her head. "I don't believe so. I'm Tara, and this is my friend Willow."

The bear brought his fuzzy paws up to his eyes and rubbed them vigorously. "I see. Ah, Giles. Rupert Giles, at your service." He looked around the room as if seeing it for the first time. "Have you any idea where we are?"

"We're at the doctor's office. For the humans," Willow explained. "You came with your family, just like us."

"My--my family, you say?" Giles looked perplexed. "I have a family?"

"Well, of course. There was a little girl, and a Momma. You don't remember them?"

The bear rubbed his paw at the back of his neck. "Why ... no. I-I don't remember much of anything. I can't seem to remember how I came to be here at all. This is rather confusing."

He looked worried, and Tara shifted Willow a bit to side so she could stand. She waddled over to the edge of the chair and prepared to hop over the narrow gap between the seats so she could give the other bear a hug.

Just then, a piercing shriek came from the doctor's office. Tara startled and lost her balance; toppled over the edge, bounced off of the chair's leg, and landed ungracefully on the floor. From the office, they heard Momma's voice. "Simon, calm down! It's not going to hurt at all."

Willow shimmied up to the edge and peeked down at Tara. "Is she all right?" Giles asked.

"Tara's an expert at falling down," Willow assured him. Then, to Tara, "Sweetie?"

"M'ok," muttered Tara.

Momma, with an exasperated look on her face, stormed out of the doctor's office with a wailing Simon in tow. "Honestly, Simon. Do you have to make such a fuss?" Momma said. She took her coat from the coat rack in the corner and gathered up the animals Simon had left on the seat. "Come on, outside. Out, out."

"Excuse me! Ah, pardon me!" Giles sputtered. "You've got the wrong bear! Unhand me, I say!"

"No! Put him down!" Willow demanded. "Hey! Hey! Don't forget Tara!" She battered Momma's arm with her paws to no avail.

"Willow! Wait! Come back!" Tara struggled to her feet and hurried as fast as her little bear legs would take her, but the door closed before she could reach them. "Willow! Don't leave me here!"

See you next time!