Guilt had Willow heading back towards Buffy’s room after only an hour. The girl was undoubtedly terrified, she realized. She knew that she’d been too hard on her, William was her weak spot. She’d always hated seeing him hurt. Willow decided to try befriending the girl again. It was too important to risk it all by rushing things. Love was a delicate matter.
She wasn’t really surprised to find William sitting outside Buffy’s door. He’d been waiting for her for a long time. It was only natural that he’d have a hard time staying away from her. Besides, she knew that he tended to rush into things with his heart in his hands. Too often she’d seen his openness and sensitivity used against him. Willow had spent years being his protector. Hades wasn’t really hell, but that didn’t make it a good place for a gentle little boy to grow up either.
She sighed as she turned the corner and spotted him with his head in his hands. She realized that he was listening to the girl cry. She knelt down beside him.
“Why must you do this to yourself?” She reached over and lifted his chin up so that she could see his face. She knew he was barely holding back tears of his own. “You have to give this time. She just got here. She’s scared.” William started to turn away, but she held strong. “Give her a few days to get used to the idea. She isn’t going anywhere,” she reminded him. “You have a month.”
He gave her a weak smile. “I don’t think it’ll matter much. She already hates me. She was stolen away from her life. She’s not going to…”
Willow shook her head. “She will. You have to give her a chance to get to know you.” She smiled widely as she cupped his face in her hands. “How could any girl resist you?”
He scoffed. “Yeah, I’m a right catch. She’ll be jumping up and down to give up life as she knew it to stay here with me.” He shook his head.
“Will!”
He smiled gently at the small red-haired woman who he alternately thought of as his best friend and his mother. “Come on, Red. She’s right. I am a freak,” he shrugged, “Even by local standards.”
“Nonsense. You’re smart and handsome and you have a kind heart. Any woman would be honored to have you.”
William smirked. “Any woman, huh? So you’d…” He teased her and wiggled his eyebrows.
She blushed and swatted at him. “Eww…I changed your diapers.”
“I was seven when we met, quite done with nappies, thank you.”
“Still…”
He grinned. “Still –you have your eye on that cute blonde girl that takes care of the archives.”
Willow paled. “How did…who…is it obvious?”
“Only to me. I’m fairly certain that most everyone else thinks you’re still playing for the other team.”
She shrugged. “I haven’t really been playing on any team lately and I mean…I’m not really sure that I’m…ready to…you know, get traded. I…She’s nice and…”
He laughed gently. “I think it’s great, Willow. It’s nice to see you happy.”
Reaching over to rumple his hair, she nodded. “I want the same for you, Sweetie.”
“Yeah I know, love.” He let his head fall back against the wall and sighed. “But she…” He cringed as Buffy’s sobs grew louder.
“She’s scared. Give me a couple of days. I’ll show her around, help her get used to the idea and then you can swoop in and make with the wooing.”
He scoffed. “Sure, and I’ll just turn all bloody Casanova, presto change-o. What do I know about wooing a girl like her?” He looked wistfully at the door as though he could see through to the girl inside. He wanted nothing at that moment more than he wanted to go in and wipe the tears from her cheeks. So few of the people that he knew were with their soul mate, he just hadn’t understood how fully she would call to him. He’d barely laid eyes upon her and she was already all that he could think about.
Willow smiled. “She’s your soul mate, William. You’ll be you and you’ll be perfect. Now go, and don’t worry, I’m going take care of her.”
She stood up, placed her hands on her hips and gave him the same look she’d given him when he was eight and he’d tried arguing that he didn’t actually need to eat his vegetables. She had spoken; there would be no more discussion.
William stood up and gave the door one final sorrow-filled glance before heading to his own quarters.
Willow watched until he rounded the corner and then opened Buffy’s door. “Alright,” she started, “Let’s try this again.”
Buffy sniffled as she looked up at the other woman in surprise.
“First off. You are not a prisoner. There’s no need for you to hide away in this room.”
“But I can’t go home.”
Ignoring her, Willow continued. “Next. William didn’t have anything to do with bringing you here. Angelus and Ripper asked Aphrodite to find you and when she did, they fetched you.” She saw the rising outrage and argument in Buffy’s eyes and put up her hands. “I’m not saying that they handled things well. They never lived in the mortal realm and…they aren’t…gentle.” She shrugged. “But they meant well. You have to understand that they cannot comprehend you not wishing to be here.”
Buffy gave the window a glance. “Really?” She looked skeptical. “They think that girls love being kidnapped and brought to hell?”
The redhead sighed deeply. “It’s not hell. You have to get past your preconceived notions. There’s really no time to waste wallowing.” She tilted her head and studied Buffy. “Get dressed. We’re going out.”
Buffy’s head snapped up. It wasn’t what she’d expected. “Out where?”
Willow giggled. “I don’t know. I guess we’ll start with the tourist stuff.” She walked over and sat down beside her on the bed. “I’m going to show you around. Go on now,” she nodded towards the trunk of clothes, “put on some fresh clothes.”
Buffy looked down at the now wrinkled dress that she’d worn to go out dancing with her friends the night before. She was tempted to refuse to change. It felt like giving in. But she also didn’t really want to wander around in her current attire. She nodded grudgingly.
[Reviews - 154]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | 
Chapter or Story
Has been viewed 4169 times
- Text Size +
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | Chapter or Story - Text Size +
Author's Chapter Notes:
Thank you all so much for your comments. Wow-there are lots of questions and concerns-I love it! Most of them I think will be answered in the next couple of chapters, so I'm going to avoid spoilers for the time being. I hope I can keep people intrigued. :)
Chapter End Notes:
Thoughts?