FicWad

AN Sorry been so long. Trying to update more often, but no promises. Hope it's worth the wait. And I'm working on a new fanfic. So if you want, check out 'The Greatest Gift of All'. And to my everything, love you.

It was a trip that Willow had known she would have to take, sooner or later. She had just been hoping that it was later. Especially since there was the dire consequences happening once again in Sunnydale. There was one good thing about her return home. She had her everything once again sitting next to her.
Actually, the two young lovers were separated by their little ones. Luckily, both Alexander and Jenny were fast asleep. The time change had done a number on their sleep pattern. It was going to be hard to keep a schedule. Especially figuring that the usual hours of fighting evil would apply. That would mean a lot of all nighters.
Tara was also fast asleep. It must have taken a lot out of her as well to make the trip. Of course, she was now having to double back almost the same day that she had arrived. Hopefully it would not be too much on the young witch. Willow was worried about how everything was affecting her.
If she be true to herself, the redhead knew that Tara had been under so much stress and strain since she had been in England. Of course, having to battle her own wife had been no picnic either. And of course, one of the things that Willow felt so guilty about was the fact that she had left Tara to tend to the young twins on her own.
Willow sighed as she stared at her family. It was as if nothing had happened and yet everything had happened. It was amazing how things could happen and life could still go one. Their real first test of that had been Jesse. Losing him had been doubly shocking. It was how they had found out about all the things that go bump in the night.
The biggest test of all was dealing with Mrs. Summers' death. With Jesse, it was because some fiend had killed him. Someone was to blame for his death. But with Joyce, it had been so shocking. Granted, she had had the tumor. But she had been doing so well. She was returning to every day life. She had just gone out on a date. It was scary how life changed with the blink of an eye. It was more then that. It was downright terrifying.
For Willow, the greatest challenges in life were not necessarily death. No matter how it happened, death was inevitable. Everyone has a limited time on this earth. That can't be changed no matter how hard some people try to change that fact. It should teach us all that life has to be lived to the fullest and without regret.
The greatest challenges for Willow seemed to result from herself. There were times when she had lied. In doing so, it had cost her precious time with her loved ones. It had temporarily broken the two most important things in a relationship. Honesty and trust were not easy to come by. When one broke those bonds, it was so hard to repair.
If she had been honest with herself, she would have realized how the power inside of herself made her feel. It was intoxicating. It was like a drug. It made her think that she could do anything. It was scary how invincible that she could feel. That was part of the darkside. It made her believe that she could do whatever she wanted to do.
She now knew that there were limits to what she could do. Though most would say that she was now the most powerful being on the planet, she still had her limitations. Or she would place limitations upon herself. Losing control would not be the most pleasant thing in the world for her. And what the consequences would be scared her.
Like she was scared now. It was not even the fact that soon she would be called upon to perform magicks once again. Though that did give her some queasiness, with Tara by her side she knew that she would be all right. What she was so scared of was still facing everyone. How were they going to react when she walked into the magick shop?
Xander would actually be the easiest for her to imagine how he would react. Their friendship had endured so many obstacles. It had even withstood a thing called teenage lust. Though this was so much greater, she knew that the two of them just didn't work unless they were in each other's lives.
Faith was another that she could somewhat imagine. The two had never really been all that close. But she knew that the formerly rogue slayer could emphasize with her. It was not that long ago that Faith herself had been a killer. There was a time that they had fought against one another. And she knew that the slayer was still trying to repent all of her sins.
Spike was another one that could relate to what Willow was going through. Now that he had his soul back, he was tortured by all the things that his vampire side had done. She also knew that every day was a fight with that demon that still raged inside of him. If she really thought about it, the vampire had amazing self control.
Buffy was the real question mark. If it were still the Buffy that she had gone to school with, there would be no doubt in her mind. But this Buffy had seen a side of her that she had not thought was possible. Would she say, "I told you so!" Or would she stand back and see that she was a different Willow then the one that she had known.
The Buffy that she had known had never really truly crossed the line. There were times when she had done things that she was not proud of. But she had never totally crossed the thin line. Willow had practically marched with pride over that line. She had really gone way too far. Would the slayer be able to forgive her?
"Please return to your seats and buckle your safety belts. We are about to land in Los Angeles, California." The voice startled the young witch from her thoughts. Her breathing picked up a bit. The flight had flown by. It was not enough time to prepare. She really needed more time. How could she face her friends ever again?
"Relax." That familiar voice that she loved so much startled her. "I promise you that everyone is going to be happy to see you." Tara reached across the still sleeping twins and took Willow's hand in her own. She gave it a gentle squeeze. "You just have to be yourself and they will feel totally at ease with you."
Willow laughed nervously and held on to her strength tighter. "It's not going to be easy to act like myself. I'm not even sure who myself is anymore. I mean, I used to know. I was shy, book smart, computer whiz, good witch of the west girl. But now, I mean, I'm still all of those things. But there is something else about me. I have a dark side. One that I never thought that I would have anymore. It scares me something awful."
"It scares me too." Other passengers were already beginning to depart the plane. "It scares the rest of the scoobies. But that's natural. There's a part of each of us that scares us, that we are not too proud of. The thing is knowing and admitting that. If we know about it, we can learn to deal with it. Even if it takes more then other things to deal with."
The redhead smiled at the blond. "How did I get so lucky? I mean, not only are you the sexiest, most amazing woman there is alive, but you are also the wisest woman I know. I think you and Giles could have a showdown. In fact, I know that you two could have a showdown. You both make sense then I ever do."
"I wouldn't say that." Tara stood up and leaned down and gently kissed her wife upon the lips. "You are very smart as well. You have to remember something. You are a human being. And just like all humans, you can make mistakes. Even I've made mistakes. I should have been honest about my past from the beginning. But I was scared. There is a reason for everything that we do. It just might not always be a good one."
Just then, Alexander let it be known that he was now awake. Soon, his little sister was joining in the party. The young couple quickly gathered up all their carry ons. That meant the diaper bags and the two little ones. The rest of their luggage would have to be claimed at the turn style. That was always a joy, but when you had two little ones...
It didn't take them long to navigate the gigantic airport. They made one quick trip to take care of a the needs of their little ones. It was on to the jungle. That's how it had seemed on her previous flying experiences. This one was seemingly no different. There was quite the mill of people when they finally got to the luggage claim area.
Both stopped in their tracks as they both saw the sign at the same time. It was hiding the face behind it, but both instantly knew who was standing behind it. In bright yellow crayon were the simple words, "Mended: Broken Crayons." Tears were welling up in Willow's eyes in an instant. It was as if the sign had said, "I'll be there for you no matter what and forgive whatever you do. You are my best friend and always will be. Without you in my life, I'm so lost. I love you Willow Rosenberg."
The redhead took off. Tara struggled to keep up with her. With Alexander carefully held in her one hand, Willow wrapped her free arm around her best friend. "Xander, thank you." She pulled back and swallowed hard. She smiled shyly as he wiped the tears from her cheeks. "I figured you'd forgive me, but that was just amazing."
"I'd been trying to figure out what to do." Xander swallowed hard. It was clear that he was near tears as well. It was as if they had been apart for a lifetime. "Just saying I forgive you or even that I love you just wasn't good enough. You would wonder if I was just being polite. I knew you'd know this was coming straight from the heart."
"I've missed you." Again, Willow was embracing her oldest friend. "I've missed everyone so much. I know not a lot of bad guy activity was happening while I was gone. But I still missed out on a lot. I hear congratulations are in order."
"And presents." Anya walked from behind Xaner. "I'm told that there will be a wedding shower that will have presents. The actual wedding will require presents as well. I deserve that and so much more. I wish I could have presents now."
"Anya." Xander shook his head. "As you can see, not a lot around here has changed. Just the fact that I'm actually growing up and doing what you two crazy kids have already done. I'm going to get hitched. And I want you as my best man."
Again, tears formed in the corners of Willow's eyes. "That would be so cool! But it might have to wait. I hear tell that you've got a vampire that is nearly impossible to kill. And of course we have to deal with evil itself."
"Yeah." Xander sighed heavily. "Just glad that you two are back. We may have two experienced slayers fighting on our side, but the rest of the army is a bunch of terrified teenagers. All that know they are here because others like them are being killed all around the world."
"Scary." Willow shook her head. "Being the slayer used to be the dangerous gig. Now it's just the possibility that you might one day become one. Heard about one young slayer giving her life to save her watcher. That is a noble way to die. Yet, too young. Way too young."
"You can say that again." Everyone turned to see Buffy standing there. "Hope I'm not interrupting the reunion. I just thought that if my best friend in the world was coming back after being gone for a few months I should be here to welcome you. I hope you don't mind that I stowed away with Xander."
"Mind?" For what seemed like the millionth time that day, tears were forming in Willow's eyes. "I was wondering if you'd be able to forgive me. I hate to admit it, but I was wondering if you'd be here. Kinda scared that you wouldn't be."
Buffy came closer to her best friend. "I'll have to admit that I nearly didn't. It took a lot for me to realize something. Even though I had this best friend named Willow in my dimension, you are different then she is. I think that you two had a different support growing up. And definitely had different support when you got older. It makes all the difference in the world."
Willow couldn't stand it. She ran and gave her other best friend a big hug. "Thanks. I don't know if I'll ever truly deserve all the forgiveness you guys are giving me. But I the support that you are showing me will make all the difference in the world. We've got a long road ahead of us."
Buffy picked up several of the suitcases. "That's an understatement. Things have gotten worse since the last time that we spoke to Giles. Along with this ubervamp, we've come across this guy. He wears a priest's outfit. But he is no priest. He calls himself Caleb and definitely does the bidding of The First. He nearly killed a potential as she was trying to escape some of the bringers. She was sent with a message. The First is tired of playing games."
Willow shook her head. She took her free hand and took Tara's free hand in it. "Why do the baddies just seem to keep getting worse and worse. Not that I ever thought that things would be easy, but this is getting ridiculous."
They walked in silence the rest of the way to Xander's car. It was going to be a tight fit with the car seats, but they were all going to travel back together. There was a mostly silence except for a few little outbursts from the young ones. They were getting tired of being locked down in their car seats. Now that they were starting to tentatively walk, they were more and more active.
Xander slammed on his brakes and nearly skidded off the road. Willow looked around trying to figure out why he had stopped like he had. That was when she saw someone that she hadn't seen in quite awhile. In fact, the last time had been in one of her dreams. It was not a good sign when you were seeing dead people.
All of them got out. Willow and Tara stood at the front of the car and joined hands. In an instant, a barrier was formed around everyone. "There's no need for that." The thing that looked like Jenny Calendar meandered toward them. "I'm not here to hurt anyone. Not even my namesake. Well, not just yet anyways."
"Watch it!" Willow tightened her grip on Tara. Partially it was to strengthen the barrier. But it was also so that she could garner a bit of strength to keep her control. The First was clearly pushing her buttons. She just had to keep that which she had fought so hard to regain.
"And what are you going to do about it?" The figure walked right through the barrier. It walked up to Willow and Tara. It put its hand through both of them. "You see, I have no body for either of you to do anything to." It turned to Buffy. "And nothing for you to do what you do so well. Death really is your gift. It certainly was for me."
"What do you want?" Buffy came and stood in front of Willow and Tara. She might not be able to protect them but it was better that she was in harm's way then the two witches. "Are you here to bore us to death? Keep talking and you just might."
"Always have had a mouth on you." Miss Calendar shook her head. "I'm surprised that it hasn't gotten you in trouble before. Well, in fact it has. But I digress. It's time to get down to why I'm here. This is a warning. Either get out of Sunnydale or you and all the other potentials will suffer. You will all die." With that, the figure disappeared. It left them all wondering if that was really what The First really wanted or was it just a scare tactic. They would all find out soon enough.