Categories > TV > Buffy the Vampire Slayer > Choices of Life
She was surrounded by nothing but darkness. She could feel herself screaming. But there was no sound coming from her mouth. She felt around her. There was nothing but emptiness to go along with the solid darkness. She kept her hand out. Suddenly, she felt cold clammy skin. She heard a deep growl coming from in front of her. Again, she tried screaming, but no sound came out.
"What's the matter, Red?" A familiar voice echoed in the dark void she was surrounded by. "You don't like the world that you and your lover helped to create." There was that laugh that she knew oh so well. "Me, I'm lovin' it. It's just so perfect for me and my kind. We really ought to thank you two mojo workers."
Willow tried to scream, but there was still now sound coming from her mouth. She felt a hand grab her arm. She tried pulling it back, but the grip was just too strong. Many spells ran in her head. But there were none that she could use. And where was Tara? Where was her world? The blonde should be at her side. And what world exactly had she created?"
The puff of smoke nearly choked her. "Come on, luv. Don't tell me you've forgotten already. You did that spell so nicely for me and all it cost you was your blonde girlfriend. It's really not so bad. You've still got me."
"Tara?" Willow's voice finally penetrated the darkness surrounding her. "What happened to her and what exactly is going on. This can't be real."
Another familiar voice made it to her ears. "Oh, but you did do it Will. And it could easily be real." Buffy's voice was in the darkness with her. "You and Tara are responsible for the darkness. For the fact that there are only a handful of humans and animals left on earth. Tara was the first one to go. That spell was simply too much for her. Even with your added strength, she couldn't handle it. But you did. You are the most powerful witch that has ever lived. And this is just a foreshadowing of what is to come."
"She's right." Another British voice entered the darkness. "You will not only be the one that leads to the animals dying off the earth, you will be responsible for the earth itself no longer existing. You're power is stronger than anything. No one will be able to stop you. Especially now that Tara is gone. If she had lived, there might be a possibility that you could learn to control your powers. The earth and you yourself are doomed."
"I don't understand." Tears fell down the red head's face. "I'm not that powerful. I can barely float a pencil. The only time I ever felt any real power is when Tara and I did those two spells together. I can't be that powerful. I can't be the one that is going to destroy the world. I don't have nearly that much power. I'll never have that much power."
"But you do and you always will." Buffy's voice again was in the darkness. "You just don't know it. But someday in the future, you will have a choice to make. If you make the right one, the world can be saved. But if you make the wrong one, it will lead to the destruction of the earth. That is just the way it is."
"I refuse to believe that." Willow was getting angry. "I want Tara back. I want to be able to live the life I've always wanted to live. I refuse to live in darkness and I refuse to believe that I'm the one that is going to destroy the earth. The only thing I believe is that this is some stupid dream and nothing is real."
Suddenly, the sun shown brightly. It took several minutes for Willow's eyes to adjust. She was in Rest Haven Cemetery. There were shadowy figures standing in front of four separate graves. Familiar figures. She slowly walked over to the figures. Before she could say anything, she read the names on the graves. Tara, Buffy, Giles, Xander. On each, it said, 'killed by Willow Rosenberg, powerful witch. If only she had listened.'
More tears fell down her face. "This isn't real. This is still just a dream. I can't believe that I am the one that is going to cause all of your deaths. This can't be."
Tara's shadowy figured floated towards Willow. "You're right, this isn't real. But it very well could be. You have to find a way to stop Spike from ever finding the Gem. If that happens, you have to believe one thing. You are very powerful. You could very easily unleash something that you don't understand without even knowing it. If you defeat Spike, you have to learn. Listen to me. I can teach you the control you need. If you listen to me before it's too late, things won't come to pass that you've been shown. But if you don't heed our warnings..."
There was suddenly instant darkness. Willow felt like she was floating in air. Why did she feel like that? Than it hit her. She hadn't learned to control herself. Not in this existence. And because of that, there was nothing. There would always be nothing. All because she hadn't learned to control herself. She was responsible for Tara's death.
"No!" She screamed and shot up. Willow was sleeping on the floor between her and Buffy's bed. Tara was sleeping in her bed. Or had been until she had screamed.
Tara looked down at the red head. She was visibly shaking. She quickly got out of bed. "W-Willow? Are you all right?" Not waiting for a response, she quickly took her into a hug. Just holding her for several minutes. Buffy sat on her bed and watched the two, not saying anything. "W-what happened?"
Willow put her arm around Tara to hold her even tighter. She could feel herself still shaking. "I had a dream. A dream of the not so good future."
Buffy moved to the edge of her bed. "What exactly did you dream of and was it like one of my slayer dreams."
Willow kept her tight grip on Tara. "I think it might have been like that. It was so..." She kissed Tara's cheek. "You're still here, right?"
Tara pulled back and looked into the red head's eyes. "Y-you dreamed I-I was d-dead?" There was a sickening feeling starting in the pit of the blonde's stomach.
Weakly, Willow nodded her head. "And I think I could be the cause of it. If we do the spell that Spike wants us to, it will definitely kill you, according to my dream." She swallowed hard. "But my dream also said that there was the possibility that even if we stop Spike, I'm so powerful that I could get out of control and that would lead, not only to your death, but the destruction of the entire earth."
"Whoa!" Buffy stood up. "That's..." She began pacing. "Wow!" She paused her pacing. "It said that you are powerful? But you have trouble floating stuff. At least you told me you do."
"According to my dream, I'm going to become more powerful. The most powerful witch that ever lived." She turned towards Tara. "And that Tara is the only one that could teach me how powerful that I really am. And how to control the power I do have. It was just so weird. But if it's true, our first priority is to stop Spike from getting the Gem and for us to destroy it. Than Tara could like start teaching me about my powers and the very important control."
"I-I'm not that p-powerful." Tara tried to half smile. "You're t-the one that m-makes me powerful." She couldn't look Willow in the eyes. "M-my mom did teach m-me about control. I-if you w-want, we could l-learn more together."
Willow finally managed to smile. "I think that's what we need to do. I mean, we will probably always need some type of magic to fight the bad guys. If the two of us together can learn our powers and to control them, it would making fighting the baddies that much easier. And hopefully not lead to me destroying the world."
Buffy shook her head. "This is just so unreal. I'm usually the one having the dreams like this. And I'm having trouble thinking that you are the one that could destroy the world. Did your dream give you any clue on how to defeat Spike or where to find this gem?"
Willow shook her head. "Nope." She turned to Tara. "Did you bring that one book you were looking in before..." She took in a deep breath. She didn't want to remind Tara of what had happened yesterday. "Before Kira showed up. The one that had mention of the gem."
Tara nodded. Both Buffy and Willow noticed the sad look on her face. She got up and rummaged through her duffle bag. "Here it is." She handed it to Willow. "I marked the page."
Willow looked up at Tara and smiled. "This is off topic, but you didn't stutter. Not that there's anything wrong with you're stuttering. I actually find it really cute and very sexy, but I thought it was kinda cool that you didn't stutter. There's only one other time I remember you not doing that. That's when you said..." She trailed off as the blonde blushed.
"What?" Buffy looked at Tara and than at Willow. "Never mind. Private. I get it. Sorry to have to invade your guys' privacy like this. But I want you guys safe and sound. Especially now that Willow has had her dream of doom."
"It's cool." Willow smiled at Buffy as she opened the book to the page that Tara had marked. "I'm sure that you would rather be spending some cuddly time with Riley." She read for a few minutes. "This is exactly what we didn't know before." She smiled at Tara. "We owe your mom big time. This has the answers we've been searching for. And that means we get to kick some vampire ass and be together." Thoughts of candlelight and rose petals formed in Willow's mind.
"Care to share?" Buffy smiled. She so recognized the dreamy look on Willow's face. It was wonderful to see.
"Let's get Xander and meet at Giles'. He's going to want to know about this as well."
Spike paced behind a vampire in glasses. "Well, is that what we've been looking for?"
The vampire turned around. "This tells the exact coordinates for the gem. We will have the gem within the hour. The only thing that you will need is to provide someway of activating. I don't know any witches that are powerful enough."
Spike smiled. "Oh, I know some witches. And they are bloody well going to cooperate. Even if I have to turn them to make them bloody well cooperate." His smile turned evil as he shook his head. "Why didn't I think of that in the first place. This is so rich. We just have to provide Buffy with a distraction so that I can get to the witches. And than, I will make them one of us and they will be more than happy to cooperate with us." His laugh filled up the cave.
"But, Spikey, what type of distraction are we going to provide to the slayer?" Harmony walked out from the shadows. "It will have to be a pretty good one for her to leave her best friend in danger. And then there is Willow. I remember how she was with Oz. I'm sure she's just as protective of Tara. I think that's the blonde's name." She shrugged.
"Do shut up, you stupid bint." Spike shook his head. "I believe we've been going about this the wrong way. We need to go after the boy and the watcher. That will not only make the slayer come after us, it will make the witch show up as well. This is so bloody perfect."
Xander was on his way to Giles'. There was some new big discovery. He was wondering what it could possibly be. And why was he up before the sun was up. It had to be big for him to be out of bed this soon. He was never up this early. Especially since he was in between jobs yet again.
A familiar voice called out his name. He stopped and turned to see Anya coming his way. "Xander! You're nearly impossible to find. What on earth are you doing here and at such an ungodly hour."
"Me?" Xander got a look of surprise on his face. "It's you that I'm wondering why is here and now. I'm on my way to Giles'. You remember him."
She nodded. "The school librarian. Why would you be going to see him. I thought that once you got out of school, you never wanted to associate with anything from it again. At least, I don't. Why are you?"
Xander shook his head. "Anya, what exactly is it that you want? The last time, besides at The Bronze, you were fleeing from a possible apocalypse. Now you're back. Why?"
"Well, I had to come and see you." She stepped closer. "I've missed you. And I think we kinda mesh nicely. And we have these bodies that could interlock so well. I think we should be interlocking now."
"Aww, isn't that sweet." Both turned to see the blonde vampire. Two of his minions had a hold of Giles. "Gee, I not only get the boy, I get a girl. The slayer is gonna love this."
"What's the matter, Red?" A familiar voice echoed in the dark void she was surrounded by. "You don't like the world that you and your lover helped to create." There was that laugh that she knew oh so well. "Me, I'm lovin' it. It's just so perfect for me and my kind. We really ought to thank you two mojo workers."
Willow tried to scream, but there was still now sound coming from her mouth. She felt a hand grab her arm. She tried pulling it back, but the grip was just too strong. Many spells ran in her head. But there were none that she could use. And where was Tara? Where was her world? The blonde should be at her side. And what world exactly had she created?"
The puff of smoke nearly choked her. "Come on, luv. Don't tell me you've forgotten already. You did that spell so nicely for me and all it cost you was your blonde girlfriend. It's really not so bad. You've still got me."
"Tara?" Willow's voice finally penetrated the darkness surrounding her. "What happened to her and what exactly is going on. This can't be real."
Another familiar voice made it to her ears. "Oh, but you did do it Will. And it could easily be real." Buffy's voice was in the darkness with her. "You and Tara are responsible for the darkness. For the fact that there are only a handful of humans and animals left on earth. Tara was the first one to go. That spell was simply too much for her. Even with your added strength, she couldn't handle it. But you did. You are the most powerful witch that has ever lived. And this is just a foreshadowing of what is to come."
"She's right." Another British voice entered the darkness. "You will not only be the one that leads to the animals dying off the earth, you will be responsible for the earth itself no longer existing. You're power is stronger than anything. No one will be able to stop you. Especially now that Tara is gone. If she had lived, there might be a possibility that you could learn to control your powers. The earth and you yourself are doomed."
"I don't understand." Tears fell down the red head's face. "I'm not that powerful. I can barely float a pencil. The only time I ever felt any real power is when Tara and I did those two spells together. I can't be that powerful. I can't be the one that is going to destroy the world. I don't have nearly that much power. I'll never have that much power."
"But you do and you always will." Buffy's voice again was in the darkness. "You just don't know it. But someday in the future, you will have a choice to make. If you make the right one, the world can be saved. But if you make the wrong one, it will lead to the destruction of the earth. That is just the way it is."
"I refuse to believe that." Willow was getting angry. "I want Tara back. I want to be able to live the life I've always wanted to live. I refuse to live in darkness and I refuse to believe that I'm the one that is going to destroy the earth. The only thing I believe is that this is some stupid dream and nothing is real."
Suddenly, the sun shown brightly. It took several minutes for Willow's eyes to adjust. She was in Rest Haven Cemetery. There were shadowy figures standing in front of four separate graves. Familiar figures. She slowly walked over to the figures. Before she could say anything, she read the names on the graves. Tara, Buffy, Giles, Xander. On each, it said, 'killed by Willow Rosenberg, powerful witch. If only she had listened.'
More tears fell down her face. "This isn't real. This is still just a dream. I can't believe that I am the one that is going to cause all of your deaths. This can't be."
Tara's shadowy figured floated towards Willow. "You're right, this isn't real. But it very well could be. You have to find a way to stop Spike from ever finding the Gem. If that happens, you have to believe one thing. You are very powerful. You could very easily unleash something that you don't understand without even knowing it. If you defeat Spike, you have to learn. Listen to me. I can teach you the control you need. If you listen to me before it's too late, things won't come to pass that you've been shown. But if you don't heed our warnings..."
There was suddenly instant darkness. Willow felt like she was floating in air. Why did she feel like that? Than it hit her. She hadn't learned to control herself. Not in this existence. And because of that, there was nothing. There would always be nothing. All because she hadn't learned to control herself. She was responsible for Tara's death.
"No!" She screamed and shot up. Willow was sleeping on the floor between her and Buffy's bed. Tara was sleeping in her bed. Or had been until she had screamed.
Tara looked down at the red head. She was visibly shaking. She quickly got out of bed. "W-Willow? Are you all right?" Not waiting for a response, she quickly took her into a hug. Just holding her for several minutes. Buffy sat on her bed and watched the two, not saying anything. "W-what happened?"
Willow put her arm around Tara to hold her even tighter. She could feel herself still shaking. "I had a dream. A dream of the not so good future."
Buffy moved to the edge of her bed. "What exactly did you dream of and was it like one of my slayer dreams."
Willow kept her tight grip on Tara. "I think it might have been like that. It was so..." She kissed Tara's cheek. "You're still here, right?"
Tara pulled back and looked into the red head's eyes. "Y-you dreamed I-I was d-dead?" There was a sickening feeling starting in the pit of the blonde's stomach.
Weakly, Willow nodded her head. "And I think I could be the cause of it. If we do the spell that Spike wants us to, it will definitely kill you, according to my dream." She swallowed hard. "But my dream also said that there was the possibility that even if we stop Spike, I'm so powerful that I could get out of control and that would lead, not only to your death, but the destruction of the entire earth."
"Whoa!" Buffy stood up. "That's..." She began pacing. "Wow!" She paused her pacing. "It said that you are powerful? But you have trouble floating stuff. At least you told me you do."
"According to my dream, I'm going to become more powerful. The most powerful witch that ever lived." She turned towards Tara. "And that Tara is the only one that could teach me how powerful that I really am. And how to control the power I do have. It was just so weird. But if it's true, our first priority is to stop Spike from getting the Gem and for us to destroy it. Than Tara could like start teaching me about my powers and the very important control."
"I-I'm not that p-powerful." Tara tried to half smile. "You're t-the one that m-makes me powerful." She couldn't look Willow in the eyes. "M-my mom did teach m-me about control. I-if you w-want, we could l-learn more together."
Willow finally managed to smile. "I think that's what we need to do. I mean, we will probably always need some type of magic to fight the bad guys. If the two of us together can learn our powers and to control them, it would making fighting the baddies that much easier. And hopefully not lead to me destroying the world."
Buffy shook her head. "This is just so unreal. I'm usually the one having the dreams like this. And I'm having trouble thinking that you are the one that could destroy the world. Did your dream give you any clue on how to defeat Spike or where to find this gem?"
Willow shook her head. "Nope." She turned to Tara. "Did you bring that one book you were looking in before..." She took in a deep breath. She didn't want to remind Tara of what had happened yesterday. "Before Kira showed up. The one that had mention of the gem."
Tara nodded. Both Buffy and Willow noticed the sad look on her face. She got up and rummaged through her duffle bag. "Here it is." She handed it to Willow. "I marked the page."
Willow looked up at Tara and smiled. "This is off topic, but you didn't stutter. Not that there's anything wrong with you're stuttering. I actually find it really cute and very sexy, but I thought it was kinda cool that you didn't stutter. There's only one other time I remember you not doing that. That's when you said..." She trailed off as the blonde blushed.
"What?" Buffy looked at Tara and than at Willow. "Never mind. Private. I get it. Sorry to have to invade your guys' privacy like this. But I want you guys safe and sound. Especially now that Willow has had her dream of doom."
"It's cool." Willow smiled at Buffy as she opened the book to the page that Tara had marked. "I'm sure that you would rather be spending some cuddly time with Riley." She read for a few minutes. "This is exactly what we didn't know before." She smiled at Tara. "We owe your mom big time. This has the answers we've been searching for. And that means we get to kick some vampire ass and be together." Thoughts of candlelight and rose petals formed in Willow's mind.
"Care to share?" Buffy smiled. She so recognized the dreamy look on Willow's face. It was wonderful to see.
"Let's get Xander and meet at Giles'. He's going to want to know about this as well."
Spike paced behind a vampire in glasses. "Well, is that what we've been looking for?"
The vampire turned around. "This tells the exact coordinates for the gem. We will have the gem within the hour. The only thing that you will need is to provide someway of activating. I don't know any witches that are powerful enough."
Spike smiled. "Oh, I know some witches. And they are bloody well going to cooperate. Even if I have to turn them to make them bloody well cooperate." His smile turned evil as he shook his head. "Why didn't I think of that in the first place. This is so rich. We just have to provide Buffy with a distraction so that I can get to the witches. And than, I will make them one of us and they will be more than happy to cooperate with us." His laugh filled up the cave.
"But, Spikey, what type of distraction are we going to provide to the slayer?" Harmony walked out from the shadows. "It will have to be a pretty good one for her to leave her best friend in danger. And then there is Willow. I remember how she was with Oz. I'm sure she's just as protective of Tara. I think that's the blonde's name." She shrugged.
"Do shut up, you stupid bint." Spike shook his head. "I believe we've been going about this the wrong way. We need to go after the boy and the watcher. That will not only make the slayer come after us, it will make the witch show up as well. This is so bloody perfect."
Xander was on his way to Giles'. There was some new big discovery. He was wondering what it could possibly be. And why was he up before the sun was up. It had to be big for him to be out of bed this soon. He was never up this early. Especially since he was in between jobs yet again.
A familiar voice called out his name. He stopped and turned to see Anya coming his way. "Xander! You're nearly impossible to find. What on earth are you doing here and at such an ungodly hour."
"Me?" Xander got a look of surprise on his face. "It's you that I'm wondering why is here and now. I'm on my way to Giles'. You remember him."
She nodded. "The school librarian. Why would you be going to see him. I thought that once you got out of school, you never wanted to associate with anything from it again. At least, I don't. Why are you?"
Xander shook his head. "Anya, what exactly is it that you want? The last time, besides at The Bronze, you were fleeing from a possible apocalypse. Now you're back. Why?"
"Well, I had to come and see you." She stepped closer. "I've missed you. And I think we kinda mesh nicely. And we have these bodies that could interlock so well. I think we should be interlocking now."
"Aww, isn't that sweet." Both turned to see the blonde vampire. Two of his minions had a hold of Giles. "Gee, I not only get the boy, I get a girl. The slayer is gonna love this."
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