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"L-let's get you cleaned up."

Tara led Buffy down the halls of the castle and into a modest sized room that instantly had her at ease, her shoulders relaxing upon reflex as she took in a deep breath. Her assumption that the room was Tara's was confirmed when she was directed to sit down on a chaise lounge that sat along one wall, while Tara fluttered about the room gathering an armful of items together. She pulled a large basin of water towards her and knelt at floor level with the basin, closing her eyes in concentration and stretching out her fingers to hover just above the water.

"Incendio."

"You're a witch too?"

The water seemed to boil under Tara's fingertips until Buffy could see the steam rising from the basin.

"I'm learning." Tara smiled and stood back up. She stuttered as she spoke, walking around the room gathering clean cloths for bathing. "Willow is a lot b-better than me, but she's teaching me. W-with the help of Giles of course." Tara let out a little laugh and shook her head as a memory seemed to overtake her.

Buffy smiled at Tara's remark after seeing the laughter that lit up her eyes. She was a shy woman, ever evident by her stammering voice, but Buffy felt calm in her presence and very much at ease.

"Thank you."

"W-what for? I haven't-" Tara dropped the cloths into the hot water to let them soak.

"For being kind to me."

"Oh." Tara trailed off, dipping her fingers into the water to test its heat before pulling a cloth out and ringing out the water. "Y-you're welcome. You've been through a lot recently and no one should be made to feel, uhm-"

"It's ok." Buffy didn't know what else to say, cutting off Tara who was struggling over her words, in an attempt to make her feel better.

"No it's not!" Tara almost dropped the rung out cloth back into the basin of water over her sharp remark. "I'm so sorry I-" she stammered. "It's not ok. You're covered in b-blood and b-bruises. We were supposed to help you and I f-fear that we've only managed to make things worse. I'm so sorry." She handed the cloth to Buffy, tears forming in her blue eyes.

Buffy started wiping her arms down in silence, staring intently with each swipe as the dried blood was removed from her skin. The cloth was hot to the touch and it felt good, almost cathartic in a way as each burning warm glide helped remove any evidence from the evening before. With each wipe across her skin she seemed to push down harder, wanting nothing more than to be rid of every mark and memory, but it didn't take long for the cloth to be covered in crimson or for the tears that she was holding back to form in her eyes.

"There was no other way."

The cloth fell back into the basin at her feet as Tara held up her hand with a fresh one. They locked eyes briefly, both knowing that Buffy's statement was true. There was no other way that Drusilla's hold over Buffy could have been broken.

It was their only choice.

"I-I'm so sorry." Tara whispered, guilt written all over her face to which Buffy smiled sadly at assuring her that she wasn't to blame. "I d-don't know what happened between you and Spike, b-but it must have been pretty bad for you to look like this. M-may I?" Tara motioned towards Buffy's bare blood-covered legs with a fresh cloth that she had just rung out to which Buffy nodded her consent. "I've never seen so many marks or bruises b-before. I'm s-sorry he hurt you so much."

Tara's touch was gentle as she wiped the warm cloth across Buffy's legs. Buffy paused her own movements and watched in silence as she processed Tara's words, a slight frown forming.

"He didn't." Buffy whispered after a few moments resuming her cleaning, starting with her other arm. She refused to meet Tara's eyes, not quite ready to explain and instead took particular care at getting all the dried blood from her hands and in between her fingers.

"B-but-"

"It hurt, but I wasn't really in pain." She let out a frustrated sigh. "Something happened last night and I can't quite remember everything. It's like as soon as I think I've formed a clear memory it just slips away into darkness again." Her brows creased together as she struggled to force the memories forward.

"T-that's very strange."

"Bloody frustrating more like." Buffy grumbled, leaning down to add her hands to the basin that Tara had just dipped her own cloth into to clean, not noticing the raised eyebrow that was sent her way. "I woke up this morning to an absolutely massacred room and both of us covered in blood and THEN he goes and uses that word to describe the evening." Buffy let out a terrified laugh and a huge breath, shoulders dropping in defeat.

"What word? I-Is that why you ran into the library so early?"

"Yes and no. It's kind of hard to explain." They both rinsed out their cloths and resumed cleaning, both going over the limbs they had just washed to make sure everything was gone. "The scrolls and parchments Giles has were given to him by my father and they're about my family. More specifically, they're about my bloodline, being of the chosen kind and all. There are, however, texts within them that are about certain prophecies-"

"A-as in more than one?"

"When have the 'Powers That Be' ever decided that one god-damn prophecy was enough? Jerks." Buffy growled, looking up to the roof and flipping it off in disdain, earning her another raised eyebrow. "That parchment in particular-"

"The one you held earlier that had the drawing of the woman d-dying on the ground?"

"Yes. That prophecy mentions a woman connecting with her primal instincts. A primal ancestral line who had golden sparkling eyes."

"G-Giles showed it to me last night, b-but I can't really read Latin that well yet so I don't know what it said. He was worried though t-that by Spike claiming you it might start the prophecy, b-but we didn't know there was more than one."

"There's more than one alright, but the main one-" Buffy stood up after dropping her cloth into the basin of water. "The big ol' grandaddy of all the prophecies is the one Angelus wanted me for." Buffy pulled the shirt she had stolen from Spike that morning from her body, any form of modesty she had was completely gone. Tara had after all been on the roadside helping her while Willow had changed over her bandages.

Willow.

"The b-breeding?"

"Speaking of babies," Buffy turned around. "I forgot to ask how Willow is? I could hear a little bit going on yesterday and gathered that her baby was delivered safely."

"Oh yes! She had a little boy." Tara smiled.

"That's good."

Buffy felt Tara's hesitation when she had first walked behind her, only imagining how much of a scratched up mess her back must look even with the permanent scars across her skin. She flexed her muscles and could feel the lines where Spike's hands had clawed down her back and was grateful for Tara's help in removing all the dried blood that must have been there still.

They were both silent as they worked, bending each to rinse and clean their cloths before gliding the warmth across her skin again. When Tara wiped the cloth up over Buffy's shoulder-blades, barely grazing the fresh bite mark that sat nestled there, she couldn't help the low growl that escaped her.

"I'm sorry!" Buffy slapped her hand over her mouth, eyes wide, her cloth falling to the floor with a wet slap.

"OH!"

"I am so sorry! I don't know why I did that." Buffy turned to face Tara, hand still covering her mouth.

"I-It's ok and you really did say g-gold sparkling eyes. Wow!"

"Shit!" Buffy squeezed her eyes shut and dropped her hands to her sides.

"I-It's ok."

"No it's not! I don't know what they mean or why I have them. Stupid bloody prophecies." Her eyes welled with tears as she stared at the ceiling.

"T-they're gone now." Tara's voice was soft and reassuring to which Buffy took a deep and calming breath in response.

"I need to do research-" Buffy let out a laugh and glanced at the roof again. "If my father could see me now. Asking to do research-"

"We'll figure everything out. Giles has lots of books in his library and I-I'm sure they can help with your p-prophecies."

"I hope so."

"S-Spike will probably be with him still so-"

"I'd really rather not see him right now."

"I figured as much, b-but it's not a very big castle and you will have to talk to him eventually. I don't know how this claim thing works, b-but you are going to have to talk about it."

"I know that. I just don't want to talk to him right now." Buffy replied determinedly.

"Ok." Tara nodded, not pushing the matter, something to which Buffy was grateful for. "B-breakfast will be ready soon. I'll find you something to wear. All my clothes will be too big for you," Tara eyed Buffy's smaller frame with a frown. "B-but it is winter now s-so big and warm will suffice."

"Thank you." Buffy accepted the long dress that Tara had pulled from her cupboard with a smile. "It's perfect." It wasn't like the scrap of gold cloth that she had first worn that had barely seemed to cover half of her body. Instead, Tara's burgundy coloured dress fell to the floor covering her legs, she was shorter than Tara and the sleeves came down past her wrists to half cover her hands. It was a modest cut across her bust, she wasn't as busty as Tara was and so the dress hung loose, but still dipped to sit just under her collarbone, her back completely encased in its warm material. It was indeed winter now and Buffy took a few moments to stare out of Tara's windows to see that it was snowing outside.

I hate winter.

"It's the l-least I could do." Tara moved about the room cleaning up the basin of water and cloths they had used to remove the dried blood from Buffy's skin while Buffy stared out of the window lost in her thoughts.

"Your room has a very warm feeling to it." Buffy wrapped her arms around herself before moving to sit on the chaise lounge in the room. "I feel very protected and," she breathed deep. "safe here."

"T-thank you." Tara smiled, glancing quickly to the small table next to her bed that held an array of candles and small rocks. "H-how about I bring breakfast here then?"

"I would be very grateful if you did." Buffy smiled, rubbing her hands up her arm's beginning to feel the chill in the air. "God I hate winter. It's so cold and miserable."

"It's not so bad." Tara laughed, walking to stand in front of her window, her eyes lighting up with an almost childlike glee. "When the snow first falls, such tiny little flakes that are so cold to the touch that always seems to create a blanket of white over the ground. The way it crunches under your feet when you walk." She bit her lower lip between her teeth as she watched the snow fall. "There's a certain beauty to it, to know that for a while everything is almost frozen in time and then as that ice slowly melts you just know that something special is about to happen."

"I'm all for the change of season here, but it's bloody cold."

Tara smiled and broke her gaze from the snowfall to turn and see Buffy rubbing her arms. She moved to the fireplace and muttered her incantation, flames bursting from the wood almost instantly. Buffy's eyes lit up as she moved closer to the fireplace.

"There's some warmth to be found in the cold." Tara gathered the ruined cloths in her arms along with the basin of water and walked towards the door before meeting her eyes. "You need only look for it."

Buffy was left sitting in silence to ponder over Tara's words as she inched closer and closer to the flames, hands outstretched as she closed her eyes, knowing deep down that Tara hadn't just been talking about the weather.





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