"The Price"
by Miss UK (edit/rewrites with Princess Plum Jade)
Chapter Twelve � Sweet Dreams PG-13 (Click HERE for NC-17)
�I wasn�t expecting them to be so accepting.� Tara mused as she stripped off her clothing in the bedroom she shared with her lover.
Indeed, her heart was touched by the efforts her friends had made to treat her as naturally and normally as possible. There had been such tender moments, funny moments, downright weird moments. Tara had whipped up a batch of chocolate pancakes and she and Dawn had wolfed them down with raspberry syrup while Buffy had laughed at them. Xander complained that it was downright bizarre for her to eat pancakes "in her present condition." It took away from the mystique of the undead. He had hurt her feelings but he hadn't really meant to.
More painful was Buffy's watching her. Tara sensed Buffy still loved her and sincerely wanted to be her friend, but her Slayer's instincts would be forever on guard in a vampire's presence. Buffy couldn't help that. It was now very clear to Tara why the love the Slayer and Angel had shared could never hope to succeed. Buffy wasn't supposed to love vampires, or be friends with them. She was meant to kill them, even if she honestly wanted it to be different. Tara knew it went without saying that Buffy would be kind to her, she might even love her, but she would never completely trust her again. She would always be watching, waiting for some form of demonic behaviour to manifest itself.
That's strange, Tara thought, as she swallowed the lump in her throat, some of the things I'll miss the most are the things I didn't even have for very long. Buffy and I had only just become friends before...
�Well they�re your friends baby, they would have missed you almost as much as I would have.� Willow was already outstretched on the double bed she had barely slept in since she and Tara were parted.
Tara took a moment to appreciate her soul mate. The evening sparkle from the open window bathed Willow in an effervescent light, adding to the paleness of her already milk white skin. Her brilliant red hair lay around her precious, elfin face in a halo of fire. Her creamy thighs covered only by the thin aquamarine slip of silk that adorned her body, protecting her from the gentle breeze that flew in from the window.
�Never doubt that I love you,� Tara whispered as she crawled precariously towards her lover in the centre of their large bed.
Before Willow could reply, Tara had covered her mouth with her own, and began the gentlest of kisses. Her soft lips moulded gently with those of the redhead. The contrasting temperatures of the hot-blooded witch and ice-cold vampiress added to the intensity of their passion.
Tara slowly pried Willow�s lips apart with her tongue, allowing it to search around inside her warm mouth, as Willow�s arms snaked around the vampire�s neck, willing her closer.
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Angel sat, alone once again, in his room. Seeing Buffy had been a blow he had not anticipated, only not in the usual sense. What he had seen before him was a child, a beautiful child he should never have allowed himself to love. She held no power of allure over him anymore and the unexpected ferocity of that knowledge had temporarily knocked him sideways. He�d almost wanted to laugh out loud at her sympathetic �understanding� of why he hadn�t wanted to come in. Angelus was a cruel devil but he was generally honest and one thing he�d been right about was the Slayer�s self-importance. In her mind, everything was always about her.
What would Buffy Summers have thought if he had told her, �It�s always nice to see you Buffy but the thought of sitting in your living room getting that jackass Xander�s cold shoulder and your patronising tolerance�'Oh look at me! I dated a vampire! He�s my one true love AND my justification for never giving a rap about putting effort into a new man for the rest of my life!'�is not my cup of tea. I really want to watch Tara be welcomed back into the only real family she�s ever had. I want her to be happy. I want her for myself and I can�t have her and it hurts like hell a million times over!�
His thoughts were consumed only by his latest companion, the soulful enchantress who had celibately shared his bed. She had confided to him that she was still a virgin in the conventional sense of the word and like any male this had only fuelled his hunger for her. She didn�t belong with him, he knew that. Willow had risked everything to sustain the sorceress�s life, but he was ultimate reason she still walked the earth. He hadn�t known such pain and loss since he had walked away from Buffy on the night of the mayor�s ascension, and even that felt like small fodder compared to the draining abandonment he now felt.
He sprawled face down and fully clothed on the bed he had shared with Tara, and drank in her perfume which still lingered on the sheets. Noiselessly he began to weep, as his mind screamed out for her comfort.
Will they be good to her? Will she be happy? Will they remember to cover her and keep her away from the sun?
And then, abruptly, he felt his pain lessen. A sudden wave of reassurance seemed to warm the air along Angel�s skin. Familiar warmth. He could smell roses and wet green leaves. Tara.
She responded silently and his tears ceased.
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Chapter 13 "The Price"
"The Price" Contents
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