Which Witch Is Which?
When William woke, he was unable to make his body move at first. A mammoth effort on his part was required before he could even pull himself into a sitting position. He was so much weaker than the day before, but he did not want to worry the wonderful people that were helping him so he covered his weakness as best he could.
He was however, concerned about his demon. He had heard barely a peep from him since he’d purred at the object of his desires the day before. Even if William concentrated very hard he could barely touch onto the edges of his beast’s consciousness. He fervently hoped that the book they were waiting on would arrive soon.
“How are you feeling today, William?” Anya asked as she entered the living room.
“Actually, Miss Jenkins, I’m feeling a little curious,” he smiled shyly at the young woman.
“What has you curious, William,” Giles asked as he came down the stairs.
“I just wondered why we were doing the removal spell now. Would it not be more prudent to wait until after we’ve discovered if I can be cured? It would be wiser to spend the time searching for the white witch and helping Miss Rosenberg,” William suggested selflessly.
“Okay, for the record, William, negativity is just gonna piss me off. I agree that the spell can wait. We can start looking for this white witch person today, but there will be no more talk about ‘if’ you can be cured. I will not let Spike be taken out by poison. It’s so not happening,” the Slayer announced firmly.
“So…any idea’s how we find a white witch?” Buffy asked the group in general.
~~~~~~~
“Are you sure we’re in the right place?” Buffy asked Anya, as she looked around the university common room.
“I know it doesn’t seem very likely, but this is where the location spell pinpointed her.” Anya replied quietly, her own visual search well under way. “There,” she announced, pointing to a group of young women in the very corner of the room. She headed purposefully in that direction, the Slayer following in her wake.
The young girl that Anya was focusing on seemed to radiate purity. Her glow illuminated the room. She would be perfect. Hesitating on the outside of the group, she waited for Buffy to join her. As she waited, she watched. The group seemed to dismiss the young witch completely, ignoring her potential. Anya was incensed at the injustice of it. Especially when one considered the fact that she was probably the only girl in the group with any real magical ability at all.
Buffy saw the girl that held her friend’s attention and she was reminded of Willow when they had first met. Buffy liked the way the girl was being treated even less than Anya.
“Excuse me, we need to speak with the actual witch,” Anya interrupted the group, before turning to the girl in question. “We need your help.”
Buffy stepped forward, adding her own plea, “Please?”
The young girl seemed to shrink in the face of all the attention she was receiving. “I-I-I’m s-sure you have the w-w-wrong person,” she stuttered uncomfortably.
“The crystal doesn’t lie,” Anya said as she lifted the glowing item in her hand.
“We only want to talk to you. We really do need help,” Buffy tried to soften the ex-demon’s blunt approach. She could see that the young witch was obviously shy, very insecure and skittish. She had the feeling that she’d soon be adding yet another underdog to her pack.
The young witch nodded her acceptance. She stood and quietly left the group of slack-jawed Wicca wannabes.
When they arrived back at the watcher’s apartment, Buffy immediately introduced the two Brit’s to their new acquaintance. “Giles, William, I’d like you to meet Tara Maclay. She’s agreed to try and help us.”
Giles offered the witch his hand and his thanks.
William struggled to stand. His frustration at his inability to show the young woman the proper respect was agitating his demon. Crossly, he mentally responded to the fretful beast, ‘Well, it’s alright for you, but I was raised a gentleman.’ He wasn’t completely sure, but he thought he heard the word ‘pillock’ whispering through his mind.
Tara looked over at the struggling young man attempting to get up from the couch and gave a little gasp before quickly moving to his aid. “P-please, don’t try to get up, y-you n-need to rest.” She gently pressed him to seat himself again, her gentle ministrations causing William to blush.
“How can I help him?” she softly asked.
“Actually, William’s not the one we need you for,” Anya informed her. She pointed to the small statue on the coffee table behind Tara. “Willow is.”
“OH!” Tara exclaimed, surprised. She hadn’t expected that at all.
It took the Watcher, the Slayer, the ex-demon, and the half demon a little over an hour to bring Tara up to speed. She looked over the needed reversal spell and benediction to Gaia and was pleased to see that it appeared to be well within her abilities. It wasn’t a spell as such, more like a prayer and request for leniency. She could do this. She could help.
Anya’s forethought in having Giles’ magic paraphernalia updated, organized, and re-stocked saved them a lot of time. Anya got the candles and incense ready while Tara focused her centre.
Tara felt drawn to these people. She didn’t know why. She couldn’t believe that they had so easily proven her father wrong. She’d felt the need to be honest with them as soon as she realized that they were calling her a pure witch. Their reaction to her admission to being part demon had shocked her. Buffy, Anya, and William had all immediately corrected her. When the whole story had come out, William had been incensed. It had taken all of them to calm him down. He apparently had issues with authority figures that abused their position and when that was coupled with his unquestioning loyalty to family, Tara discovered a knight that was willing to fight for her in the face of her father’s perfidy.
The statue intrigued her. She could clearly see the beautifully sweet aura that surrounded it. She wondered about the girl that had clearly abused her powers, faced the consequences and learned her lesson. What made her most curious was the fact that the figurine’s aura seemed to be gravitating towards hers and that her own was echoing the attraction.
The benediction to the Goddess did not take very long and everyone in the room felt her arrival. A peace settled over the group, and even William’s demon was blessed with a respite from pain for the duration of her visit.
Mists of swirling coloured lights surrounded the statue on the floor within the circle, pulsating and growing as the statue did. Just as birth is painful, so is rebirth. Willow’s transformation was no exception.
Tears streamed down the redhead’s face as she accepted her punishment and blessings. She was responsible for this situation and she fully accepted that. As the statue had grown, Willow had grown up. She felt the love of the Goddess surround her, embracing her. She felt Buffy’s sisterly love, while the love of a father came from Giles. She felt friendship and acceptance from William and Anya and a deep connection between souls from Tara.
As the lights dissipated and the presence of the Goddess drifted away, Willow addressed the group with gentle sincerity. “I’m sorry, please forgive me.”
She was embraced.
~~~~~~~
William drank the surprisingly pleasant concoction that Tara had given him. She had been quite insistent, telling him that it would help him relax. In all honesty, he really did need to start concentrating on his demon. It was so difficult, though. He wasn’t used to all the attention he was receiving and he was rather overwhelmed by all the pampering and spoiling.
Buffy’s treatment of him was perhaps the most startling of all. She often sat next to him, taking his hand for no apparent reason, or touching him to gain his attention. She talked to him about her life and asked him about his. She had even become a little cross when Giles had demanded his attention for a while. William refused to speculate over the meaning behind her behaviour. He wouldn’t allow himself to hope. He didn’t believe his heart could stand yet another rejection.
Buffy was worried. Spike hadn’t made an appearance in nearly two days and William was clearly weaker, even though he was trying very hard to hide it. They needed to find the cure and quickly. She didn’t understand these new feelings towards her former nemesis, but she sure as hell wanted the opportunity to find out what it meant. She wasn’t sure what it was she was feeling, but she knew she didn’t want him gone. She didn’t want him hurting and she didn’t want to see him shift his eyes away from her in an effort to hide his own emotions. She wanted to know what he was feeling, but William was so damn skittish that it was impossible to tell. At least with Spike, she could be assured of some direct eye contact. She liked William, but she wanted Spike back. She missed the demon.
Tara had been asked to stay. She couldn’t believe that these people had taken her in until she heard their stories. Apparently, Buffy had a habit of taking in strays.
The conversation soon turned to the fading demon on the couch. When Tara asked when they could expect the book they were waiting for to arrive, Willow looked thoughtful. “It should have arrived yesterday or today at the latest.”
Anya turned to the ex-watcher. “Giles, did you check your mail today?”
The embarrassed man mumbled something about ‘just being about to do that’ as he hurried out the front door in the direction of his mail box.
Giles re-entered the apartment a short time later. “I need to run down to the post office. Does anyone feel like Chinese for dinner?” he asked in an unsuccessful attempt trying to distract them from the fact that the book might have been waiting for him to check his mail for some time.
“I’ll go with you,” Anya informed him. This was too important, and if the day before had been any indication, she didn’t want Giles laden down with Chinese food and the book if Angel or anyone else should attempt to stop him.
After the dinner orders had been taken Buffy, Willow, Tara, and William watched them go. Each of them had a different reason for wanting the answers that the book should hold.
Willow prayed to the Goddess that the cure would be found. She knew that she would feel it deeply if anything were to happen to William, and thus Spike. She never would have admitted it to Buffy before, but she kind of liked Spike in a he’s-a-sweet-but-scary-vampire sort of way. This whole thing was ultimately her fault and from the looks she’d seen her friend giving the injured blonde, she didn’t think Buffy would find it easy getting over this, not easy at all.
Tara prayed to the Goddess that the gentle soul that she could see within the shy man that was so ill and so unwilling to think of himself would be spared any further turmoil. She had rarely seen an individual with such a beautiful aura. The fact that his demon’s aura was just as pure in some aspects as the rest of him made him truly a unique individual. She thought he would be someone she would like the chance to get to know.
Buffy fretted. It was close. The answer was close. What if the cure was something totally weird? What if it was something so rare that it was like impossible to find or in some remote location like the Amazon or some other freaky human’s-never-visit-there place? What if the cure wasn’t even in the book and they needed some other book for the cure? What if something happened to the book? Maybe she should have gone with Anya and Giles, because what if they ran out of time?
For the demon was dying and William was saying goodbye.