Please read the Disclaimer before continuing to remain in the site or reading the stories. These stories contain adult material with scenes of women loving women. Consider this story to have an R rating. If this is illegal in your state or you are underage, please go to a more appropriate site now.

Disclaimer: I don't own any Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters. No copyright infringement is intended. Original characters are mine.

Pairing: W/T... eventually

Angst Rating: Highest rating... buy stock in Kleenex

Rating: PG 13 for adult themes and eventual W/T goodness.

lcountry@quiknet.com

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Tara moved down the hallway and away from the woman who held her heart. She hated leaving Willow behind, but she wasn’t about to expose her lover to Amy’s dark magic. There was no telling what Amy might try, and Tara wasn’t willing to take any chances.

Willow was going insane. She struggled against Ceri, but the guardian was simply too strong. Finally, Willow relaxed her body and thought about all she’d been through. She thought about Tara leaving her once again, leaving her to wait and worry. She took a deep breath and cleared her throat.

"Tara Maclay," Willow yelled. Her voice was frosty and clear. "If you leave me now, you might as well keep going. Don’t bother looking for me. I won’t be here when you get back."

Ceri didn’t have to see into the other room to know that Willow’s words had stopped Tara cold. She could practically hear the former Imbolc mage screeching to a stop on the tile, like a semi slamming on its air brakes to avoid careening over a cliff.

Willow took a few shallow breaths. Ceri still held her, but the guardian’s grip loosened.

Ceri waited, her arms wrapped around Willow in case the redhead bolted.

"You can’t be serious," Tara said as she stepped back into the room.

"I had to let you take the challenge alone," Willow said quietly. "You were the Imbolc mage and that was the way it was supposed to be. I couldn’t fight. You could have died and I couldn’t do a damn thing."

"Willow, it isn’t safe," Tara pleaded.

"You won’t leave me behind again," Willow said unwaveringly. "I won’t stand for it."

"But … Willow…" Tara edged closer.

Willow’s muscles relaxed as Tara neared her. Ceri released the redhead and took a step away.

"Tara, you and I are in this together. I don’t want to do anything to hurt you, but if you keep treating me like I’m the junior partner in this relationship, I can’t stay." Willow’s green eyes reflected the love she felt, but they also reflected her concern. "It’s an insult to what we have, and I can’t put up with it."

Tara was silent for a long moment. She looked down at the floor and then took another step closer and took Willow’s hand.

"Would you really have left?" Tara asked quietly. She lifted her face and looked into Willow’s eyes and found her answer. Just as Tara had known that she couldn’t stay with Willow while the redhead was addicted to magic, Willow’s expression revealed that she could not stay with Tara while their love was being denied. "Come with me," Tara whispered.

"You’re my soulmate," Willow said as she lifted Tara’s hand and gave her fingers a lingering kiss. "Don’t expect me to stand on the sidelines while you face danger. You wouldn’t accept it from me, and I won’t tolerate it from you."

Tara nodded. She knew Willow was serious, and worse than that, she knew Willow was right. They were in a partnership, and that meant sharing everything. A brief flash of the conversation she’d had at the cabin with Buffy reminded her that she needed to tell Willow about the Slayer’s crush, but that would have to wait until after Amy was dealt with. "I’m sorry," Tara told her lover. "You’re right."

Willow allowed a tiny smile and nodded. The affection in her eyes made it clear that Tara was forgiven.

Love filled Tara’s heart. She touched Willow’s cheek and smiled. "Together?"

"Together," Willow replied happily.

Tara turned and faced the young guardian. "Ceridwen?"

Ceri stood tall. She could tell the blonde witch was about to tell her something very important. "Yes, Lady Tara?" she said earnestly.

"The woman that we are about to see cast a spell on me," Tara said deliberately. "She bound my powers, and that binding spell allowed a demonic assassin to brutally beat me until I lost my child." Tara’s voice shook. Her eyes filled with tears as scenes of the attack filled her mind. "Our child." She looked over at Willow.

Ceri’s eyes widened in horror and then narrowed dangerously.

"I almost died," Tara said. "It cost the life of our baby, a sweet little girl that Willow and I conceived through a miracle of the goddess."

Willow scooted closer and wrapped an arm around Tara’s waist. Even knowing they’d get Brianna back didn’t soothe the pain of losing her. Talking about the tragedy was horribly painful for both witches.

Ceri listened patiently, though the rage within her was visible as her muscles began to tense.

"The woman that we are about to meet knew that Willow had her dark magic addiction under control, so she tried to forcibly make Willow use magic." Tara’s voice shook. "Do you understand what I’m telling you, Ceridwen?"

The guardian nodded and gripped the hilt of her sword. "Yes, Lady Tara."

"I’m going to tell you something, Ceridwen, something that none of the other guardians know except Brent." Tara’s blue eyes darkened along with her mood.

Ceri leaned forward, giving Tara her complete attention, which considering the guardian’s intense concentration, was saying a great deal.

"I never was the Imbolc mage," Tara said in a whisper, as if the walls might have sprung ears. "Willow and I safeguarded the mantle."

Ceri didn’t seem able to process that information. She looked back and forth between the two witches.

"We were able to do that because our daughter was fated to carry the mantle. Our daughter … the child that Amy’s treachery helped kill." Tara closed her eyes and took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

Ceri’s jaw twitched as she gritted her teeth.

Willow swallowed with gulp. She was suddenly quite concerned for Amy. True, the witch had done horrible things, but some part of Willow remembered her childhood friend. That small part of her wanted to believe that Amy had something to be redeemed.

"No one can know what I just told you, Ceridwen," Tara explained.

The guardian nodded, but barely her contained fury was visible behind her dark eyes.

"We’re going to go see what Amy wants," Tara said. She looked over at Willow, confirming that her lover agreed.

Willow nodded, letting Tara take the lead. She could see Tara’s concern. Willow knew Tara needed to feel like she had control of the situation, so Willow waited while Tara did everything possible to make the situation safe.

Tara smiled, knowing that Willow understood. She looked back at the guardian.

"Ceridwen, you are to stay at Willow’s side," Tara said calmly. "If Amy makes a move toward Willow, stop her. If Amy raises a hand toward Willow, cut it off. If she looks like she’s thinking about hurting Willow, I want you to kill her."

"Gladly, Lady Tara," Ceri swore.

Tara reached out to Willow. "We’re in this together," she promised as she took Willow’s hand.

Willow nodded and moved to her lover’s side. She glanced over at Ceri and hoped the guardian didn’t misinterpret one of Amy’s twitchy movements as something more sinister.

*****

"Okay, could we put the pointy swords down?" Amy asked as she scanned the room.

A dozen women surrounded her. Each one had a sword more than two feet long, and each woman was eyeing Amy intensely.

Brent stood at the far end of the group. She studied the dark haired witch. She knew some of the background, though not all, but it was enough to know she shouldn’t trust Amy.

Buffy entered the grand hall and saw Amy. "What the hell are you doing here?" Buffy demanded. Her voice shook with scarcely harnessed rage.

"Look, I’m here to help," Amy whined. "Trust me," she added, trying to use her newfound skills. Now that she knew she had the ability to engender trust, she could actively try to manipulate others.

"You little bitch!" Anya said as she entered the room. She broke away from Xander’s side and sprinted toward Amy and tackled her to the ground. Anya was doing her best to claw Amy’s eyes out, while Amy was simply trying to fend off the former demon.

"Hey, are you just gonna’ let her attack me?" Amy yelled as the guardians watched.

"Ahn, honey, let’s don’t kill the rat before Willow and Tara get here, okay?" Xander lifted Anya from the ground, untangling her hands from Amy’s hair.

Anya let out a frustrated squeak as she allowed him to drag her away from her victim. She looked down at her hand. She had a good-sized chunk of Amy’s hair clutched in her fingers. She flung the hair at Amy. "You’re lucky he pulled me off you." Anya’s eyes narrowed. "I may not be a demon anymore, but I still remember how to do certain things." She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against Xander as she continued to glare at Amy. "You helped kill Cletus, you stupid witch," Anya said bitterly.

"I saved Tara’s life," Amy said as she sat up. She rubbed the aching bald spot on the side of her head. "If I hadn’t removed the binding spell, Tara would have been killed by Caedo."

"And … if you hadn’t done the binding spell, she never would have been hurt in the first place," Buffy pointed out. She leaned against the table and folded her arms over her chest in an exact mirror of Anya’s pose. "Xander, why don’t you let Anya go. She seemed to be handling things just fine."

Giles froze in the doorway. "What is that woman doing here?" he asked. He walked into the room, and he did not look pleased to see Amy at the sanctuary.

"I’m trying to help," Amy insisted.

"Did you search her for any magical objects?" Giles asked. He circled the room, studying Amy from a distance.

"All she had with her was that laptop and a crystal," Gandu said.

"What kind of crystal?" Anya asked warily.

"It’s over there." Gandu pointed at the table.

"Crystals can be very bad." Anya hurried over and studied the small magical stone. She didn’t recognize it, so she took a step away from the table and faced Amy. "What does it do?" she demanded.

"It won’t hurt you," Amy said.

"Our Ladies," Brigh said when she saw Willow and Tara enter with Ceri at their sides.

"Willow! Thank god you’re here," Amy said excitedly. "Tell them I’m just trying to help."

Amy moved toward Willow, and Ceri rushed forward and drew her sword. The guardian’s hand gripped the handle tightly as she leveled the blade even with Amy’s heart. "Just give me a reason," Ceri whispered under her breath.

The mood in the vast room shifted. The guardians who had been holding their swords in a defensive manner saw Ceri’s offensive posture and they reacted. The guardians swung their blades so that the deadly tips of their swords pointed at Amy. Their muscles flexed and each woman stood poised to attack.

"Hello? What’s going on?" Amy whined. "I came to help, and suddenly the Ellen squad is ready to slice me to pieces?"

"I allowed you to live," Tara said as she moved gracefully toward Amy. Her movements were fluid and dangerous, much like when she had been a panther.

Willow edged forward.

Tara felt her lover’s presence and turned. She gave Willow a pleading look and the redhead nodded, agreeing to stay at the back of the room for the moment.

Tara turned toward Amy. Her eyes were fully dilated, like a jungle cat taking in all the available light so she could see her prey. "I gave you the chance to walk away, and what did you do?" Tara moved around Amy like a predator, looking for her victim’s soft belly. "You helped the committee find us." Tara’s voice was almost a low growl.

"I didn’t have a choice," Amy swore.

The guardians backed away, instinctively creating a circle for Tara to face Amy.

"You have no idea what they did to me," Amy said desperately. "They tortured me!"

"You want to see torture?" Anya asked sweetly and then her eyes narrowed and her smile became a sneer. "I’ll show you torture." Her voice shook as she pointed at Brent’s weapon. "Give me one of those swords. I still remember how to disembowel people. It’s a difficult skill that takes centuries to master." She smiled and licked her lips. "I can’t just let myself get rusty."

"Okay, can someone put a leash on this whack-job?" Amy pointed at Anya and then turned toward Tara. "I helped you," she said. She turned to Willow. "I’m your friend." She started to raise her hand to point at the redhead.

Ceri lunged forward in a blur of motion. One moment she had been next to Willow, and the next instant she was leaping toward Amy with her sword raised above her shoulder. Ceri’s sword swung down and stopped only when the razor edge of the blade was resting against the skin on Amy’s wrist. An ounce more pressure, and the blade would have sank to the bone; two ounces of pressure would have left Amy’s hand flopping on the cold tile floor.

A bead of blood rose under the edge of the blade, but Amy didn’t dare move. She wasn’t about to do anything that might set off the angry woman holding the sword.

"I’m here to help," Amy said as calmly as she could with a sword cutting into her skin. The blade didn’t move, not even a quiver. It hurt, and the sting made Amy want to jerk her hand back, but she knew better. "What can I do to make you believe me?" she asked. Her eyes flickered across Ceri’s face and she knew she couldn’t make any headway with the woman. Amy slowly shifted her eyes, keeping her head still, and caught Willow’s attention. She gave her former friend a beseeching look.

"We should hear her out," Willow said.

The muscles in Tara’s jaw flexed as she ground her molars together.

"I know I shouldn’t have put the binding spell on you," Amy said. She slowly turned her head toward Tara. "But I realized my mistake, and … and I let you go. Remember?" She looked at Ceri and swallowed with a gulp, then slowly lowered her hand and took a step away from the guardian. "If it wasn’t for me, you would have all been killed." She glanced at Anya.

"If it wasn’t for you, Cletus would still be alive," Anya said venomously.

"You can trust me," Amy said with complete conviction. She turned and focused intensely on Tara’s expressive blue eyes. "Please, trust me."

Cassie stepped forward. She’d been watching the scene unfold and hadn’t quite known what to make of Amy’s aura. She suddenly understood. When she and Diana had treated Amy after the initial explosion at Rack’s lair, Cassie had noticed the subtle differences in Amy’s aura, but they were minor, barely enough to warrant a second glance. Now that Amy was actively trying to harness her sucubus abilities, the tiny fragments of red energy in Amy’s aura flashed brightly. It was the classic aura of a sucubus, or, rather, the classic muted aura of someone who was part sucubus.

"Don’t try your sucubus tricks on us," Cassie said dangerously.

"You’re a sucubus?" Anya yelled. "You demonic, hell-spawnic bitch! How dare you come down here and mess with our lives pretending to be a witch!"

"I am a witch," Amy said defensively. "And I just barely figured out the whole sucubus deal, so shut up."

"That’s why Willow keeps trusting you!" Tara stormed forward and pushed past Ceri and grabbed Amy by the collar and shoved her back.

"Hey!" Amy whined as she grabbed both of Tara’s wrists and tried to push her away. It was a mistake, and even as she gripped Tara’s wrists, Amy knew she would pay.

It would have been a comical scene if it had not been a deadly one. The guardians rushed forward in a stampede of protective force. Buffy rushed forward. Willow rushed forward, Anya rushed forward, but, most surprisingly, it was Dawn who reached Amy first. She leapt onto Amy’s back and began choking her.

"Leave Tara alone, you evil demon!" Dawn yelled.

For once Anya didn’t interrupt with a lecture about the stereotypical representations of demons.

"Everyone just back off!" Willow said loudly. She marched through the throng of guardians, each woman eager to cover her blade in Amy’s blood. "Let her go," Willow said forcefully. She stood next to Tara and rested a soothing palm on her lover’s lower back. She rubbed her hand in tiny circles, trying to loosen the muscles that had tightened into steel.

Tara faltered. She started to warn Willow off, but stopped when she saw the determined look in her lover’s green eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Willow asked bluntly. "And don’t say you’ve here to help. We’ve heard that already. I want answers. Real answers, not this vague, helpful Amy the rat crap." Willow’s eyes locked with Amy’s.

"The Witches’ Committee has files on all of you," Amy explained. She twisted her head and coughed as Tara released her grip and backed away. "At least, they did." Amy pointed at the laptop on the table. "Look at it."

Willow bit her lip as she studied Amy suspiciously. Finally, she patted Tara’s lower back and went over to the table. She opened the laptop and turned on the power. A green light came on, but nothing else happened.

"And what exactly is this telling me?" Willow asked skeptically.

"I gave you a fighting chance." Amy smiled.

*****

Miss Duas was at her desk reading over an ancient text. It was one of the few volumes that hadn’t yet been scanned into the database. She hated books, the damp, musky smell of them, the way the pages had to be turned, sifted through with painstakingly slow diligence to dig out every fact, and most of all she hated the weight of them. She loved computers, the sleekness, the clean smell of the plastic, and the fact that she could store a thousand volumes on the main databanks and never have to open a book to get the information.

A knock at the door interrupted her and infuriated her as well.

"Yes?" she asked impatiently. She glared at the door as it opened.

One of the technicians walked up to her desk.

"What is it Mister Scotia?" Miss Duas asked.

"Ma’am, we have a problem," he said nervously.

"And you didn’t use the telephone because?" she asked.

"That’s part of the problem, ma’am," he explained. "The entire system’s down."

She glared at him and reached over and booted up her computer. The power light came on, but nothing else did. "What’s wrong?" she asked.

"We don’t know, ma’am. Nothing is working." He cleared his throat as he watched her face contorting with rage.

"What do you mean, nothing?" she demanded.

"The technicians can’t get anything to start up, ma’am. We’ve tried everything." He nodded at her computer. "All the screens are dead."

She picked up her phone, intent on getting answers.

"Ma’am, all of the phones are down," Mister Scotia said quietly. "They’re on our computer system. Everything’s crashed."

"That’s not possible," she said viciously.

The door swung open and another man walked in without waiting for an invitation.

Miss Duas’ entire body stiffened and stood hurriedly. "Mister Black, sir." She was in shock. She has never seen him outside of a board meeting in over three years. He was the regional head of the Witches’ Committee, and his showing up in her office did not bode well for her future.

"Your data crystal," Mister Black said as he held out his hand.

"Sir?" Miss Duas had a bewildered look. She reached into her desk and picked up her deletion crystal. It was one of only three on the West Coast. Giving it to Amy, even temporarily, had been an incredible risk, but it had paid off well for her, but now, having Mister Black finding the only existing information on the Imbolc mage on her data crystal might cost her life. Mister Black might not understand why she was keeping the information to herself, or worse yet, he might understand too well. Her ambition had always kept her walking a tightrope, and now she just might fall.

"Your crystal," Mister Black said as he flexed his fingers.

She handed him the crystal and waited as he pressed the stone between his hands and inhaled deeply. He was one of the few witches who could actually read a data crystal without a computer interface.

"Is this a joke?" he asked darkly. He moved his hand and revealed that he was not holding a crystal. A black suit button lay in his palm.

"What the hell?" Miss Duas asked.

"A simple glamour spell." He handed her the button. "You fell for it?" He sighed in disgust. "Where is the crystal?"

"Sir, I swear, I … I, I don’t know what…" Her eyes widened as the implications suddenly filled her mind. "Amy had the data crystal." She shook her head and looked up at her superior. "How bad is it?"

"You let the crystal out of your keeping, is that what you’re saying?" Mister Black asked.

"My new assistant, Amy Madison, I loaned it to her, but I asked for it back," Miss Duas explained. "She must have used a glamour spell to pass this off as the stone." She looked down at the button in her hand.

"Where can we find her?" Mister Black asked.

"I sent her to Sunnydale with a team. They’re going to examine Rack’s lair." She squeezed the button in her fist.

He nodded. "Thank you," he said calmly. His eyes flashed red for a split second and as they returned to their normal brown, Miss Duas’ body hit the floor.

The technician stared wide-eyed at her. There wasn’t a mark on her body, but he didn’t have to touch her to know that she was dead.

"Dispose of her body and send a team to recover the crystal from Miss Madison." Mister Black turned to leave.

"Alive, sir?" Mister Scotia asked.

Mister Black turned and raised an eyebrow at the other man.

"Yes, sir. I’ll, I, I’ll see to it right away, sir." Obviously, whether or not Amy Madison lived or died didn’t matter. The crystal had to be returned. That was Mister Black’s only concern.

*****

Willow stared at the malfunctioning laptop and let out a bored sigh. She turned to Amy. "You have a broken laptop. Big deal. So do half the people who installed Office 2000." She looked at the laptop with disdain. "You’d think a megalomaniacal organization bent on world domination would be smart enough to use a Mac." She snickered at her own joke, then scowled at the former rat.

"Ask me why it doesn’t work." Amy raised up on her tiptoes and waggled her eyebrows.

"Why doesn’t it work?" Willow asked in a singsong tone.

Amy pointed at the crystal on the table. "That."

"And?" Willow asked. She sighed, thinking that Amy was toying with her. She reached over to pick up the stone.

"Willow!" Tara rushed forward. She remembered that Amy had tried to force Willow to use dark magic using an enchanted coin that had been personalized. "Baby, it could be a trap." She moved alongside her lover and took her hand.

"It’s not a trap." Amy rolled her eyes. "It’s a deletion crystal," she said proudly. "I deleted their files."

"What do you mean?" Willow asked. "Which files?"

"All of them," Amy said with a snicker.

"When you say all … what exactly do you mean?" Brent asked. She had an idea what the crystal was, but since computers were not her expertise, she wasn’t certain.

"All of their files," Amy said slowly. "Every single bit of data, every file, every folder, every program, and the operating system. Everything. I deleted it all."

"No, no, no, no no…" Willow shook her head and looked like her internal hard drive was about to freeze. "You don’t delete operating systems. That’s a bad thing. That would make the computers not work. That would make…" Her words trailed off as she looked at the dark computer screen. "Oh," the redhead said quietly.

"You erased everything?" Brent asked.

"Every last gigabyte." Amy crossed her arms over her chest, wincing when she bumped the cut on her wrist. "As you can see, they won’t be worrying about us for a while." She laughed cruelly. "I think they’ll be a little occupied."

"Well, won’t they just use their backups?" Willow pointed out.

"This little crystal takes care of that." Amy smiled as she pointed at the magical stone. "It erases every copy of a file." She waited as that information sank in. "And since I did a complete wipe of the entire system … they don’t have any information about any of us." She giggled. "They don’t have any information about anything."

"But they had centuries of information stored," Giles said as he finally moved forward. "You destroyed it all? That’s obscene. They had information that doesn’t exist anywhere else."

"Um hello, Giles?" Buffy rested her hands on both hips. "Sounds like a pretty good idea to me. Them not having any information about us? That’s definitely good."

"But, Buffy, that information took centuries to gather." Giles looked like someone had just spit in his tea … and ran over his dog. "They had books stored on their computers that don’t even exist anymore."

"And the reason those books don’t exist anymore is because the committee destroys the books once they have them in their computers," Brent said bitterly. She nodded toward the crystal. "Have you emptied the stone yet?"

"Huh?" Amy asked.

"Have you transferred the data somewhere else?" Brent clarified.

"And once again … huh?" Amy said. "You mean the information still exists?"

"You destroyed the entire database without knowing you had a copy of it?" Brent yelled. She looked over at Giles, suddenly agreeing with the Watcher. She shook her head and then turned back to Amy. "You thought you were wiping that information out of existence, all of that data, all those rare texts, all that history? You’d just destroy it without even a second thought?"

"Well, yeah," Amy said. "These are the bad guys. These are the guys that torture. You have no idea what they did to me." She looked at Tara pointedly. "You have no idea what they’d do to you." Her eyes drifted to Willow. "You might just get to be a rat of the lab variety."

"I have a very good idea what they did to you," Brent said darkly. "My mother was on the committee."

"But they’re the bad guys," Dawn whined. "How could your mom work for them?"

"They’re not all bad," Brent explained. "It’s just that those currently in power seem to be on a different track than the original committee members planned.

Tara tilted her head to one side and studied Brent. "How can you be a guardian when it goes against everything your mother stood for?"

"My mother was trying to change the system from within," Brent said quietly. "She tried to convince the committee that using Keepers to dominate the Imbolc mage was wrong. She was actually on the planning commission. She tried to make them stop shaping the lives of witches. She thought the committee should guide witches when they need help, not control their daily lives. She was one of the ones who put an end to the arranged marriages."

"Really?" Diana stepped closer.

"Yes," Brent said. "My mother believed that the contrived marriages were the very reason we haven’t had an Imbolc mage in so many centuries."

"What do you mean?" Diana asked.

Brent smiled as she looked at Willow and Tara. The two witches were listening intently. "The Imbolc mage can only be born to a couple who combine darkness and light. Without that balance, the mage cannot be conceived. The committee has the strains so completely isolated that there’s no mingling of the light and dark. All of the different clans are kept ‘pure.’ Any witch whose powers are based in dark magic are kept separate from those based in light. It’s makes sense that a mage couldn’t be born under those conditions."

"So, only a mongrel can carry the mantle. Is that what you’re saying?" Diana asked with a smirk.

"You’re not a mongrel, darling." Cassie leaned over and kissed Diana’s cheek.

"So what you’re saying, is that these committees and councils don’t know what the hell they’re doing. Does that just about sum it up?" Buffy asked.

Giles raised an eyebrow.

"I don’t mean you, Giles," Buffy qualified. "I just mean that all of these people, these committees and councils, they get together to decide what to do with the chosen ones. See, they don’t seem to remember that we were chosen for reasons." She glanced over at Tara and smiled fondly before continuing. "The universe doesn’t just toss destiny into our lap. You have to trust that we know what’s best."

"Even when that means giving up our destiny," Tara whispered.

"Precisely," Brent said. "The committee of witches has forgotten that they are based in Wicca. They insist on controlling the divine instead of trusting and accepting the goddess’ will. We guardians serve Brigit, whatever her will may be."

"So why didn’t you just let Tara give up the mantle?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah, why did you make her go though that nasty challenge with the naked swordplay?" Xander chimed in. He paled and took a step back when several guardians glared at him.

Brent cleared her throat. "The challenge was designed long before I was born. It is the will of our blessed Brigit." She turned toward Tara. "The fact that Tara survived proves that it was meant to be."

"So now what?" Amy asked.

"I do believe you’ll be a bit of a target," Giles said bluntly. "You’ve crippled one of the most powerful and dangerous, and let’s not forget ruthless, organizations on the planet. I don’t think they’ll take that lightly."

"Oh…" Amy said as her face went bone white. "I hadn’t thought quite that far ahead," she admitted. "I just kinda’ figured they wouldn’t have records on me so they couldn’t come after me."

"Well, they’ll certainly be coming after this crystal," Brent said as she looked at the magical stone.

"Perhaps young Amy has given us something to bargain with," Giles said as he rubbed his chin.

"See? I told you I came to help." Amy smiled smugly. "I … I could let you use the crystal, in exchange for a little help."

"Help? I still haven’t decided whether or not to let you live," Brent said calmly.

"What?" Amy said with a look of utter shock.

"Lady Tara, what is your pleasure?" Brent asked.

"It’s not my decision," Tara said. She turned to Willow and raised both eyebrows. "What do you want to do with her?"

"Willow?" Amy asked hopefully. She smiled and bit her lip and tried to look as worthy of redemption as possible.

"I could forgive everything you did to me," Willow said sadly as she walked over to Amy’s side. "But you hurt Tara." Her eyes narrowed. "And our child is dead because of what you did."

Amy swallowed with a loud gulp. She inhaled and edged closer to Willow. "Look, Willow, I know that seems bad, but, hey, it’s not like a person died. You can always have other kids and—"

Willow punched Amy in the jaw, hard.

Tara surged forward, but Buffy grabbed her arm.

"She needs to do this," Buffy whispered.

"You bitch!" Amy was bent over and rubbing her jaw.

"Don’t ever mention our daughter again." Willow’s voice was shaking with rage. "Not if you want to live." She held her fist, cringing as she felt her knuckles swell.

"I tried to help," Amy said with a growl. She stood up quickly and her eyes went coal black. She started to raise her hand but it never got past her waist. Amy screamed in agony and grabbed her right hand. A dagger was sticking through her palm.

Willow spun and looked at Ceri, but the guardian nodded toward Brent.

"Dark magic is not permitted on Brigit’s sacred grounds," Brent said calmly as she lowered her arm. She raised eyebrow as she pulled a second dagger out from under her robe. "Is that perfectly clear?" she asked as she balanced the blade in her bandaged palm.

Amy nodded as her eyes went back to brown. She grimaced as she studied the bloody wound. The blade went completely through the center of her palm. "What are you going to do with me?" Amy asked in a defeated tone.

"Can you bind her powers?" Willow asked. "Permanently?"

"Of course, Lady Willow," Brent said.

"Wait just a darn min—" Amy’s mouth closed and she let out a sigh.

"I want her out of Sunnydale," Willow said. She tilted her head to one side and furrowed her brow. "No, I want her out of the state."

Amy’s eyes widened.

"If she steps foot in California, or comes anywhere near Tara or I when we happen to be out of the state…" Willow paused and looked at Tara.

Their eyes met and Tara nodded for Willow to continue.

"If she comes near us or comes into the state, kill her," Willow said evenly.

Tara walked to Willow’s side and draped her arm around her lover’s waist and used her other hand to pick up Willow’s swollen hand. She glared at Amy, and her blue eyes held no trace of the compassion she usually had.

"And the crystal?" Brent asked.

Amy started to answer, then realized that Brent wasn’t speaking to her.

"Take it," Tara said. "Do whatever you want with it."

"Uh, it is mine," Amy said hesitantly.

"You stole it," Giles pointed out. "And by bringing it here, you risk starting an all out war between the guardians and the committee."

"Hey, by all means, keep the rock." Amy took a step back. She was cradling her injured hand and blood was dripping onto the tile floor. "So, uh, what about me?" She nodded at the blade protruding from her hand. "Isn’t there some Wicca rules of war, some witchy Geneva convention deal that says you can’t just let me stand here bleeding all day?"

Diana looked at Brent, waiting for the older witch’s signal.

"It’s called common decency," Brent said. She nodded at Diana, giving her permission to help Amy. "Though I doubt you’d know anything about that."

"Yeah, you’re nothing but a sucubus bitch!" Anya chimed in. "And not in the nice way."

Tara crinkled her brow and looked over at Anya. "There’s a nice way?"

"Well, yeah," Anya said as if Tara were still one of Glory’s mentally challenged followers.

Brent cleared her throat drawing everyone’s attention back to her. "I shall call a tribunal to hear the charges against you," she told Amy as she tucked her dagger into a pocket inside her robe. "However, even if you are found guilty, given Lady Willow’s decree, we shall not demand the death penalty."

"I made a decree?" Willow whispered.

Tara smiled and snuggled closer.

"This tribunal … is it like a trial?" Amy asked. "Hey, watch it!" She hissed in pain as Diana examined the stab wound.

"It is a trial," Brent agreed. "Thirteen guardians will hear the testimony and then you may refute the charges." She looked over at Tara and then slowly shifted her gaze back to Amy. "The tribunal will then decide whose testimony they believe." Her gaze softened slightly. "If convicted, the defendant is allowed to ask for mercy, but only if penance is offered."

"Make her take a challenge," Anya suggested.

"Yeah with the exciting ‘rebirth’ at the end," Buffy suggested.

"I’m not sensing much support here," Amy whined. "I did give you the crystal and I did give Tara’s powers back."

Diana yanked the dagger out of Amy’s hand.

"Ouch!" She glared at Diana. "Was that really called for?"

"Yes," Diana said with sarcastic sweetness. She jammed a towel onto the wound.

"God! What kind of bedside manner is that?" Amy winced and almost doubled over from the pain.

"More than you deserve," Diana muttered under her breath.

"Oh, yeah, I’ll get a fair trial." Amy rolled her eyes.

"Can you sentence her to being a rat?" Dawn asked.

"Hey!" Amy spun and glared at Dawn.

"We’ll even give you a nice shiny wheel." Xander smirked and waggled his eyebrows.

"Well, she certainly couldn’t cause much trouble in that form," Giles remarked.

"She has not been convicted yet," Brent pointed out. She smirked as she turned back to Amy. "But any punishment other than death will be on the table."

"Crap, I should have just stayed with the committee." Amy sighed and gave Willow a pathetic pout.

Willow’s eyes didn’t offer any leniency.

"So, can I make a plea bargain?" Amy asked with a sigh. She knew that if her fate came down to her word against Tara’s, she’d surely lose. "And no ratting!"

"I’ll need to have the thirteen gather before any decision can be made," Brent said cautiously. "Only a guardian who leads one of the Imbolc guard circles may sit in judgment. Since the tribunal will take place on my sanctuary, I will officiate."

"Does it have to be here?" Willow shifted closer to Tara.

"I want her to leave," Tara said as she nodded toward Amy. She could tell that Amy’s presence was upsetting Willow. "Can’t you move her to another sanctuary?"

"As you wish, Lady Tara." Brent nodded and then turned to Gandu. "Call our sisters in Sedona and ask Mistress Brit if she will take Amy into custody."

"Is that wise?" Giles asked.

"Mistress Brit is aware of all that has transpired," Brent said calmly. "She offered to send her Imbolc guard to assist, though I didn’t think it was required."

"If the committee is coming after the crystal, wouldn’t having some backup be a good thing?" Buffy asked. "I mean, are you guys still looking out for Tara even though she isn’t the mage?"

"Our duty to Lady Tara did not end when she completed the challenge," Brent said. She looked over at Willow and Tara and smiled cryptically. "We shall defend her and Lady Willow until we exhale our dying breath." She wasn’t about to let any harm come to either of the young witches. They were the mothers of the next mage, and if anything harmed either of them, Brianna’s birth might be prevented.

"Oh, yeah," Amy said with a disgusted sigh. "I’m so going to be treated fairly." She rolled her eyes. "These lesbos worship you two. No way in hell are they gonna’ give me a break."

"I’ll give you a break," Anya offered with a dangerous smile. She cracked her knuckles and scanned the room looking for a heavy object.

"Take her to the holding cell," Brent told two of the nearby guardians. "Make certain Lady Willow doesn’t have to see her."

"Holding cell?" Amy whined. She let out a frustrated sigh as the two muscular women took her by each arm and pulled her toward the door. "Still bleeding I might add." She waved her injured hand.

"I’ll get my bag and stitch her hand," Diana said. She looked at Brent with a mixture of awe and dread. "The blade missed the tendons and bones. That was quite a shot."

Brent nodded. ‘I must be losing my touch,’ she thought. ‘I was aiming for the bone.’

"So now what?" Buffy asked.

"I vote for the ritual snacking," Xander said. "Aren’t we due for a meal?"

"I meant, what about the committee," Buffy clarified. Her stomach growled as if agreeing with Xander. The meals at the sanctuary were beyond opulent.

"I’ll have Brigan examine and copy the files from the crystal," Brent said. "After that’s done, I’ll dispatch a team to contact the committee and work out some kind of … arrangement."

"Meaning?" Giles asked pointedly.

"Meaning … if they want any of their information back, they’ll leave Lady Willow and Lady Tara alone." She smiled at the two young women. "I’ll inform them that Tara no longer carries the mantle. If they agree to leave her be, I’ll consider giving them back some of their files."

"Blackmail." Anya smiled at Brent. "I knew I liked her."

"I suggest you rest before dinner," Brent told the gathered group. "I should have more information for you then."

"Will they just let Tara go?" Willow asked.

"They’ll certainly want to verify that she no longer is Brigit’s mantle," Brent admitted. "After that’s done, they should be willing to do almost anything to get their files back."

"Oh the horror," Buffy said with a smile. "We’re forced to endure more of this horrible place." She looked at Willow. "And hey, I haven’t got to use that spiffy pool yet. We’re coming up to swim," she stated with authority.

"Yeah, I want to see the Imbolc house," Anya whined.

"See it nothing," Buffy said. "I want a nice swim." She caught Anya’s gaze. "They have a hot tub, did you know that?"

Tara’s body stiffened at the thought of wearing a swimsuit in front of Buffy. She knew the Slayer’s feelings were weakening, but she still wasn’t comfortable showing her skin to her friend.

"Hot tub?" Anya whined as she slapped Xander. "I want the hot tub." She slapped him again. "We’re having a swim party, damn it." She pinned Tara in her gaze. "You, miss Wiccan formerly known as the mage, you’re hosting this shindig. Have your minion bring us snacks."

Tara’s eyes widened as she considered all of the Scoobies seeing her in a skimpy swimsuit. "I … I’m … I d-don’t know."

"It’ll be fun," Willow said with a loving smile. "I can show off my honey," she whispered.

"W-willow…" Tara shook her head and her eyes darted over to where Buffy was whispering to Dawn. "I … this isn’t a g-good idea."

Willow slowly turned and followed Tara’s gaze. She sighed when she saw Buffy and then she turned back to Tara. "We need to talk," she said seriously.

Tara’s eyes widened. She wanted to tell Willow about Buffy’s feelings, but she wasn’t quite sure how to bring it up. From the look on Willow’s face, apparently the redhead had figured it out.

"Come on," Willow took Tara’s hand. "We’ll go back and talk. The others can come by in … an hour?" She leaned toward her lover.

Tara swallowed with a gulp.

"Okay … two?" Willow suggested.

Tara nodded grimly. She knew the conversation would not be an easy one and she didn’t want to be interrupted.

"You guys can come up for swimming and general merriment in two hours," Willow announced. She rested her injured hand on one hip. The pain was already lessening "And bring your own snacks." She turned toward Tara and smiled reassuringly.

"T-two hours." Tara nodded and led Willow out of the vast room.

"Okay, what’s up with them?" Anya asked.

"Who cares, we have snacks to arrange," Dawn said. She looked across the room and waved at Bre. She smiled and mouthed, ‘Wanna’ go swimming?’

Bre nodded and hurried across the room.

"Tara was upset," Anya said. "Am I the only one who notices these things?"

"Yes, Anya, you are the only one who has any concern for others." Giles rolled his eyes and walked toward Brent.

"Ha! I thought so," Anya said triumphantly. "You’re all selfish. I’m the only one who even thinks about others."

"Right. You’re the selfless and considerate one." Buffy shook her head and wondered where she was going to get a swimsuit. She smiled, remembering that Willow had mentioned the guardians bringing suits for Tara and Willow. Buffy’s face went pale. She was getting over her crush on Tara but seeing the blonde in a clinging swimsuit might not be the best idea. ‘Come on, how bad can it be?’ she asked herself. She remembered seeing Tara in the sports bra, then thought about seeing her in a swimsuit … a form-fitting swimsuit. She let out a forlorn sigh. ‘What have I gotten myself into?’ she wondered glumly.

*****

"S-so, you, um w-wanted to come back and talk?" Tara asked nervously. She walked over and rested both hands on the back of the couch.

"Tara, I see how … uncomfortable you are around Buffy." Willow smiled reassuringly. "I know what’s going on, honey."

"I w-wanted to tell you." Tara spun and rushed over to Willow. "I was just w-waiting for the r-right time." She took Willow’s hands and held them. "I swear I was going to talk to you s-soon."

"Shh…" Willow lifted their joined hands and kissed the back of Tara’s fingers. "I know you’re upset, baby, but we’ll deal with this. We love each other, and nothing is gonna’ change that."

"You’re not angry with Buffy are you?" Tara asked. "It w-wasn’t her fault. It was the spell."

"I know." Willow caressed Tara’s cheek. "You two joined minds. Plus, well, it’s starting to wear off, right?" she asked hopefully.

"Oh, yes." Tara nodded her head up and down enthusiastically. She was thrilled that Willow was reacting logically. "She’s doing m-much better." Tara smiled happily.

"You know what you need?" Willow took Tara by the hips and pressed against her.

"What?" Tara whispered. Willow could still take Tara’s breath away.

"You need a dose of Willow’s patented gay love." Willow waggled her eyebrows and leaned closer until her lips brushed Tara’s ear. "We have two hours, baby, and that means you get to have me all to yourself."

Tara closed her eyes and pulled Willow against her chest. "All to myself?" Tara asked with a moan. She ran her hands down Willow’s back and they both shivered.

"I’m yours," Willow swore. "Don’t ever forget that." She eased back and pulled Tara toward the bedroom.

"Never," Tara promised. She had a giddy grin on her face as they sped down the hall.

"No matter what else happens, I will always be your girl, Tara." Willow lifted Tara’s shirt up and over her head. "No one could ever come between us." She inhaled when she saw Tara’s lace bra. "You’re so beautiful," she whispered as she cupped Tara’s breasts in each hand.

"Willow…" Tara dropped her head back and moaned sensually. She backed to the bed and sat abruptly when her legs hit the mattress. She unhooked her bra as Willow quickly undressed.

"I’m right here." Willow moved between Tara’s legs and stood naked before her. "I am committed to you forever." She gently eased Tara onto her back and straddled her. "Buffy’s my best friend and she would never come between us." She leaned down and teased Tara with a playful lick across her lips. "No matter who wants me, you are the only one I will ever love."

"Oh, darling…" Tara pulled Willow closer and kissed her, but then she paused. Willow’s words didn’t quite make sense. She carefully pushed Willow up. "No matter who wants you?" Tara asked slowly.

Willow nodded and smiled warmly. She was on top of Tara, a position she loved. "Tara, it isn’t Buffy’s fault, we agree on that, right?"

Tara nodded as she looked up at Willow.

"You know Buffy would never try to come between us, right?" Willow asked as she brushed Tara’s bangs out of her eyes.

"Never," Tara agreed. She was beginning to understand where Willow was going.

"She’s like my sister," Willow insisted. "But even is she wasn’t, I would never, ever, ever look at another woman. Her crush will go away, baby. Don’t let it come between you and her."

Tara smiled and fought the giggles that ached to escape. "Buffy’s crush on you…"

Willow nodded slowly and then gave Tara a slow, sensual kiss. "Tara, she can’t help it. You trust me, don’t you? I would never … you know."

"I do," Tara said with a smirk. "I know that, sweetie."

"What?" Willow asked. "Why the ‘Tara-has-a-secret’ smirk?" She was confused by Tara’s sudden mirth.

"Willow, Buffy does not have a crush on you." Tara moved her hands to Willow’s hips and traced tiny patterns.

"Oh…" Willow tilted her head to one side. Her red hair fell over her ears and confusion covered her features. "She’s over it? Well … good." She smiled happily. "Then there’s no reason for you to be all uncomfortable girl with Buffy anymore."

"Will, honey?" Tara shifted her weight and rolled Willow onto the bed. She quickly straddled Willow, effectively swapping places with her. "Buffy never had a crush on you. She had … well, still has … a teeny tiny crush on … me."

Willow stared blankly up at her lover.

"W-which is why I w-was hesitant girl with the s-swimming thing," Tara added.

"But…" Willow’s eyes widened. "But…"

"It’s all good though." Tara smiled. "Cuz we know nothing can come between us, right?"

"But … but you’re mine!" Willow exclaimed.

"She can’t help it," Tara said, using Willow’s previous argument.

"But you’re mine," Willow growled the last word. She rolled over so that she was on top of Tara.

Tara bit her lip before speaking. "You trust me, don’t you? I would never … you know." She was glad that she could use Willow’s own points. It made things easier, and Willow couldn’t exactly expect a double standard … or maybe she could.

"But … you’re … mine," Willow said possessively. She scowled and her breathing became ragged. "How could Buffy do that?"

"Honey, it wasn’t her fault, and she would never act on it." Tara tucked Willow’s bangs behind her ears. "And no matter what, I am yours," she added in a husky whisper. She tugged Willow’s body closer. "Do you trust me?"

"Of course." Willow rested her forehead against Tara’s. She began to rein in her possessive streak.

"I think you need some patented Tara gay love." The blonde wrapped her legs around Willow’s hips.

"Say it," Willow whispered as she nuzzled Tara’s ear. Her hand moved down over Tara’s breast and gently took possession of Tara’s body.

"I love you," Tara said happily.

Willow took Tara’s mouth in a searing kiss. When she pulled away, she locked eyes with Tara. "Say you’re mine," she pleaded.

"I’m yours, Willow," Tara said as she pulled the redhead into another kiss.

Willow whimpered into Tara’s lips. Her hand moved down Tara’s body, caressing the soft curve of her belly and then parting her legs.

"Yours…" Tara said as her body released liquid flame to greet Willow’s touch. "Take me, darling. Please. I’m yours." Her voice was airy and full of need.

"Goddess, yes." Willow took Tara’s nipple in her mouth and feasted. She was just about to take everything Tara was offering when she realized some part of her was reacting to Buffy’s crush. She lifted her head and looked down into Tara’s eyes.

"Please, baby." Tara squirmed and arched her back. She wanted Willow’s touch.

"I love you," Willow said tenderly. She brought her hand up and used her thumb to trace Tara’s lip.

"I love you too," Tara said. She felt the shift in the mood and hugged Willow. "What’s going on in there?" She ran her fingers through Willow’s hair at the temple.

"I don’t want to make love to you to prove I have you." Willow sighed. "I just went all ‘jealous-green-eyed-Willow’."

"I love your green Willow eyes." Tara smiled and continued combing her fingers through Willow’s hair. "And you have no reason to ever be jealous, baby."

"I know that," Willow said sincerely. She tenderly kissed Tara. "You’re my soulmate," she whispered.

"Yes, I am." Tara nodded and one side of her lips lifted in a seductive grin. "So … will you take me, darling?"

Willow gave Tara a matching grin, full of sensual promise. "Oh, yeah." She met Tara’s mouth in a kiss that was unhurried, but full of passion. Her hand moved down Tara’s body and fulfilled the promises her heart made every time she looked into Tara’s eyes.

*****

"This is like a … ah, wow." Anya stared slack-jawed at the pool. "Xander, I want a pool in our house."

"Big surprised there," Buffy said sweetly.

"Yeah, well unless it has flowers and smiling suns and I can blow it up, that isn’t happening." Xander tossed a towel onto the table and walked over to the edge of the pool. "So, a pool, in the living room. Is that practical?"

"Brigit rules the water," Bre pointed out as she tossed off her tee shirt and wriggled out of her sweats. She took three graceful strides and dove into the heated water.

"Wait for me," Dawn whined. She squirmed out of her shorts and tossed her tee shirt off and ran after Bre. She paused at the edge of the pool and then hurried down the stairs. She squealed when Bre surfaced and splashed her.

"So, where are the witches?" Xander asked. "I mean, we bring snack food goodness, and then they’re not here to greet us?"

"They’re probably still having sex." Anya took a sandwich and stuffed half of it into her mouth.

"Still?" Tara asked as she came out of the hall.

"Yeah, still." Anya smiled at the blonde witch. "As in you were having sex earlier and you still are."

"Guess Will must be flying solo," Tara said as she tilted her head to one side. "Since I’m out here." She smiled sweetly at Anya.

"Hey, whatever gets you there," Anya said as she finished her sandwich. "Sometimes Xander finishes so quickly that I have to—"

"Has to stop sharing so much," Xander interrupted.

"You know, that’s never been a problem for me." Tara smirked. She looked down the hall and smiled broadly when she saw Willow. "Hey." She met Willow and took her hand.

"What’s never been a problem?" Willow swung Tara’s hand.

Tara smiled cryptically. Her gaze was drawn to the opening in Willow’s terrycloth robe. She could see just a hint of cleavage.

Anya started to explain but Xander yanked her toward the pool.

"Swimming," he said with forced cheer. "Look at that splashy water. Doesn’t that just make you want to swim?"

"If it means not having to listen to Anya talk about sex, you bet." Buffy ripped off her robe and sprinted to the pool. She hit the water and swam the length of the pool underwater. She surfaced at the far end of the pool, the section that was part of the patio. "Much better," she yelled.

Tara laughed and pulled Willow to the table and they sat.

"Oh, snacks." Willow’s eyes lit up as she grabbed a plate and dug in.

"Hungry much?" Xander asked. He stared as Willow filled her plate and then ravenously devoured everything on it.

"She gets hungry after … uh … after a n-nap." Tara blushed crimson.

"See," Anya said triumphantly. "I told you they were having sex."

Xander walked to the side of the pool and let his body fall in fully clothed.

Tara giggled and stole a cracker from Willow’s plate.

"Hungry, baby?" Willow spun and her knees rubbed Tara’s. "Here," she said huskily. She proceeded to dunk a piece of french bread in the spinach dip and fed Tara.

"Umm." Tara nibbled the bread, then, after she made sure no one was watching, she took Willow’s fingers into her mouth. "Delicious. Willow spice," she said mischievously. "And oddly familiar."

Willow leaned closer and kissed Tara’s ear. "That’s because you’ve been tasting me all afternoon."

"That must be it," Tara said innocently. She stared into Willow’s green eyes and almost forgot that anyone else was in the room. Her eyes darkened with her passion for Willow. She whimpered and leaned forward for a kiss.

"Hey!" Dawn yelled from the pool. "At least try to keep this party PG!"

Tara blushed and started to pull away.

"Not so fast," Willow said quietly. She dug her hands into Tara’s blonde hair and pulled her closer. She took a quick, yet deep kiss, and moaned when their lips parted.

"That was PG 13," Anya said clinically. "Add a little more tongue and some skin and you’ll be in R territory."

"Speaking of skin, you two don’t seem to be heading toward the pool," Xander said with a grin. "I wanna’ see some swimsuit action." He waved at Willow. "Come on, off with the fluffy robe."

"This from a man swimming fully clothed," Tara joked. "Though not really into seeing Xander in a swimsuit," she added.

"Okay, this is me going swimming." Willow stood and dropped her robe from her shoulders.

"Whaa… huh…" Tara’s eyes darkened as she took the robe. She was focused on the black, one-piece suit Willow had chosen. "Whaa… Wi…"

"You like?" Willow asked as she twirled in front of Tara.

Tara nodded. Her jaw hung slack and she was in serious jeopardy of drooling.

"Close your mouth, baby," Willow whispered as she gently cupped Tara’s chin and guided her jaw closed.

"You … you look … wow." Tara’s eyes darted up and down Willow’s body. The black fabric highlighted Willow’s creamy skin and the built in bra with an underwire pushed Willow’s breasts up in all the right places.

"How come you never look at me like that?" Anya asked.

"Wow, Will, yowsa." Xander climbed out of the pool and peeled off his wet jeans.

"Thanks," Willow said over her shoulder. She saw Xander’s lustful gaze and frowned. "I think…"

Tara let out a muted growl that only Willow could hear. It was unintentional, as was the way Tara snaked her hands around Willow’s waist and massaged her hips.

"Um, honey?" Willow asked in a high pitched voice. She put her hands over Tara’s fingers and stilled them. She saw the raw need in Tara’s eyes and felt her pulse quicken. "Oh, boy," she whispered as her nipples stood at attention.

"Wow," Tara repeated. She stood and stared intently into Willow’s eyes.

"I think I need to cool off," Willow admitted. She looked down at the sharp points of her nipples.

"Hey, that look is practically R rated," Anya pointed out. "Xander, get over here and look at me."

"Me too." Tara swallowed and then took a deep breath. "I need ice water," she said tightly. She pointed toward the small kitchen and then made a quick retreat.

Willow hurried to the side of the pool and dove in. She surfaced quickly and swam over to the steps where Buffy was sitting in the water.

"That’s some suit, Will," Buffy said with a snicker. "I think you fried Tara’s brain."

"And Xander’s," Dawn added with a giggle.

"What?" Willow asked innocently. "This is conservative," she insisted with a sparkle in her green eyes. "You should have seen the bikini."

"Sometimes what you don’t see can be even more sexy," Buffy pointed out. She waggled her eyebrows.

"Are you hitting on me?" Willow joked.

"No!" Buffy said. "Will, I would never hit on you." She blushed and tried not to look at her best friend. She was certain that her guilt was written on her face. "I don’t think of you that way," she quickly added.

Willow nodded and took a deep breath. She watched Dawn swim over to Bre and splash the other teen. "Buffy…" Willow said quietly.

"Yeah?" The Slayer scooted to the edge of the step and made room for Willow.

"Tara and I talked," Willow said as she sat next to Buffy.

"Talking is good," Buffy said.

Willow gave Buffy a meaningful look.

"Oh … talked," she said with a squeak. "I … We never … and she…"

"It’s okay," Willow said with a sweet smile. "I know it wasn’t your fault."

Buffy let out a relived sigh.

"And it’s going away, right?" Willow asked. She glanced over and saw Anya posing for Xander. The former demon was arching her back and ordering him to leer at her.

"Yeah, going away. Definitely going. Almost gone." Buffy nodded and focused on Willow.

"Good," Willow said. "That’s good."

"I’m really sorry," Buffy said quietly. "Will, I feel just awful about this whole thing."

"I know." Willow rested a hand on Buffy’s shoulder. "Besides, I can definitely understand what you’re feeling," she added generously. "I mean, hey, I’ve fallen under the magic that is Tara," she whispered conspiratorially.

"Yeah well, I’m just glad it’s wearing off of me," Buffy admitted. "I value my life and I don’t want Tara giving me ‘the talk’ again."

"Geez, Buffy I wouldn’t ever get mad at you for this." Willow assumed Buffy’s fear was based on her reaction. "I’m dealing really well." She smiled when she thought about Tara trying to give Buffy ‘the talk.’ She giggled. "I’m sure Tara being all sweet about the whole thing didn’t make it any easier."

"Sweet?" Buffy asked. She looked over and made sure the others were still busy. "Willow, your sweet Tara damn near ripped my head off. She … she … um…"

Willow’s eyebrows shot up. The disbelief on her face was obvious.

"Will, she … she smacked me," Buffy admitted.

"Well, what did you do to her?" Willow demanded in a harsh whisper. "Did you…? Did you try something?" Her eyes narrowed.

"No!" Buffy whispered as she shook her head. "Never," she added emphatically.

"Well, why would she hit you?" Willow whispered. Her voice was strained and her throat was tight.

"Because," Buffy said as she waved a hand at Willow. "She said it would hurt you," Buffy explained. She cleared her throat. "She, uh, doesn’t take too well to anyone hurting you, Will … in case you haven’t figured that out yet."

"Oh, well, yeah." Willow blushed. "She hit you?" she asked in a whisper.

Buffy nodded and realized she needed to be completely honest with Willow. "At the cabin," she said slowly. "When I walked in on you two?"

Willow nodded and waited patiently for Buffy to continue.

"I, well, I sorta, well…" Buffy took a deep breath. "I sorta’ checked her out, and she caught me," she whispered in a rush.

"Which led to the slapping," Willow deduced.

Buffy nodded and rubbed her jaw, remembering the sting of the slap and the pain in Tara’s eyes.

"And?" Willow asked.

"And … what?" Buffy gave Willow a confused look.

"And … has there been anymore … checking out?" Willow clarified.

"No!" Buffy said loudly. "None. I swear."

"No what?" Dawn asked. She swam toward her sister.

"No nothing," Willow insisted.

"Oh!" Anya moved to the edge of the pool. "That’s a double negative. No nothing means there is a something." She smiled. "So what is it? It is exciting?"

"Is what exciting?" Tara asked as she walked down the steps into the pool. She was a wearing blue, one-piece swimsuit that was almost the exact shade as her eyes. It clung to her chest and pressed her breasts together accentuating her cleavage. Her long legs were somewhat concealed by the baggy shorts she had chosen to leave on.

"Wh… ya… huh… spidoinkle…" Willow whispered.

Buffy’s eyes shot open and she quickly diverted her attention to the water’s surface. "So, nice fresh water. They must change it often. It’s all fresh and clean and did I mention, it’s wet?"

"Wet water." Willow nodded and stood in the chest high water. She waded toward Tara.

Buffy looked up and noticed two things. First, Tara looked absolutely stunning, and second, though she appreciated the aesthetics of Tara’s appearance, Buffy felt no excitement. She smiled happily and continued staring. Tara cleavage, huge amounts of Tara cleavage, and Buffy didn’t feel anything other than a bit of envy.

Tara smiled at Willow and then looked over the redhead’s shoulder and she saw Buffy grinning at her. Her eyes narrowed.

Willow turned to see what had upset Tara and she saw Buffy grinning like an idiot. "Buffy?" she asked as she waded back to her friend. "Ahem?"

"Tara looks really good," Buffy said excitedly.

"Yeah?" Willow’s tone was dangerous and her jealousy was coming to the surface in angry waves.

"Really good in a ‘gee, my friend is attractive’ way," Buffy said. She saw Willow’s expression and moved closer. "In a ‘gee, she is attractive and it does absolutely nothing for me’ way," Buffy clarified. "Nothing," she repeated meaningfully.

"Tara does nothing for you?" Willow shouted excitedly.

Tara crinkled her brow, slightly offended that her lover was taking such joy in someone finding her unattractive, and then it dawned on her that it was Buffy who no longer found her attractive. "Great," she said as she splashed closer and hugged Buffy.

"Hey, I don’t find you attractive, do I get a hug?" Dawn asked with a snicker. She and Bre had come inside to find snacks and they were standing next to the pool. She turned to Bre. "And what about Bre? She should get a hug. You’re not attracted to Tara, are you?"

"I’m just gonna’ get some snacks." Bre hurried past Dawn.

"Snacks!" Buffy pulled away and bounced up and down. "I haven’t had snacks!" She spun and waded to the side of the pool and hopped out.

Tara and Willow rolled their eyes in unison.

"Wanna’ go out into the sun?" Tara asked. She tugged Willow with her.

"Mm, hmm," Willow murmured. They climbed up the steps out of the pool. The far section of the water was still under the protection of the patio so they made their way down to the next level. The two lower sections were outside and the sun was warming the water and the deck.

"Lady Willow," Ceri said as she stood a little straighter. She’d been staying close to Willow, but she had also been enjoying the sun.

"You don’t have to guard Willow here," Tara said as she squeezed Willow’s hand.

"Until we make certain the Witches’ Committee will leave you both alone, I just want to stay close." Ceri cleared her throat. She could tell the two witches wanted some privacy. "I’ll go inside and get a snack. Call me if you need anything."

"Okay…" Tara said slowly. "But after that’s cleared up, we need to talk."

"Of course, Lady Tara." Ceri nodded and then hurried inside.

"Why do I have the sudden image of Ceri standing outside our bedroom door for the next 60 years?" Willow asked with a sigh.

"We’ll clear things up," Tara promised. "Right now, let’s enjoy the view." She waggled her eyebrows.

"Okay." Willow smiled and went to the side of the patio. "Wow," she said as she leaned against the railing and looked over the valley.

"I could get used to this," Tara whispered as she spooned Willow from behind. Their wet bodies fit perfectly together, but Willow shivered against the slight breeze. Tara went over to the table and brought a thick towel back with her. She wrapped it around Willow from behind and then spooned her again.

"Could you?" Willow asked.

"Could I what?" Tara rested her chin on Willow’s shoulder.

"Get used to this," Willow said quietly.

"It’s beautiful." Tara edged closer and studied the vista in front of her. They could see the entire valley, with the sprawling lawns and the main sanctuary buildings in the distance. Further out they could see the ocean on the horizon. "Yeah, I think I could."

"Brent wants us to move in, you know that, right?" There was playful tone to the serious words.

"Yeah," Tara whispered. She sighed and snuggled into Willow’s hair and kissed her lover’s slender neck.

"We have responsibilities," Willow said as she watched a group of young guardians on the Lacrosse field. "A hellmouth to take care of." She squeezed Tara’s hands where they rested over her belly. "And friends…"

"And school," Tara added. "We can’t leave school."

"No, we can’t," Willow agreed. She stared out over the peaceful view and pictured Brianna running across the huge lawns. Their child would be safe in this place, and she would be loved. Willow sighed.

"We can bring Brianna to visit," Tara suggested.

"How did you know I was thinking about her?" Willow turned, being careful not to break the embrace.

"Because I keep thinking how much she’d love it here." Tara swallowed and tried to hold back a fresh wave of tears.

"Who knows, after she’s born, maybe things will be different in Sunnydale." Willow wiped a tear from Tara’s cheek. "Maybe we could spend our vacations here."

"We don’t even have jobs yet, sweetie." Tara smiled.

"Well, we will," Willow assured her. "And we’ll get vacations, because I can tell you right now, I won’t work for some shabby company that doesn’t have a good benefits package."

"And it isn’t that far from Sunnydale," Tara reminded Willow. "Maybe we could come here on weekends."

"Hey, we could come up on weekends now," Willow said excitedly. "I mean, Brent did say they were taking the pool out of the house to make it safe. She wouldn’t do that if she didn’t want us using the place."

Tara nodded. "And we should get to know the guardians. If they want to be around Brianna … cuz we can’t just let strangers around her."

Willow nodded and her smile broadened. "And if we get an incredible vacation home outta’ the deal, well, that’s just a bonus." She waggled her eyebrows. "It’s not like we’re taking advantage of anyone. They want us here."

"Definitely." Tara smirked. "It w-would be rude to refuse."

"Yeah!" Willow pulled Tara closer. "And we don’t want to rude because rudeness is bad and we’re all about being good." She giggled.

"It’s for the greater good," Tara said with a snicker. "It really is." She tried not to laugh, but couldn’t contain her giggles.

"Yeah, the greater good." Willow silenced Tara’s laughter with a sweet kiss. After a few gentle kisses, they sighed in unison and pressed their foreheads together and then eased back and stared at each other. The feelings the landscape inspired paled when compared to the pleasure they took from looking into each other’s eyes.

Half an hour later, Ceri came back onto the second level patio. She smiled when she saw Willow and Tara next to the pool. They had three towels spread out and were sprawled across them in the sun. Tara had her back against a redwood chair. Willow’s head was resting on Tara’s thighs and the redhead was sleeping. Tara was combing her fingers through Willow’s hair. She stared down at her lover. A serene smile covered her features.

Ceri cleared her throat quietly.

Tara looked up. She smiled at Ceri, but it was a muted version of the smile she had whenever she looked at Willow. She raised an eyebrow in silent question.

"We have visitors," Ceri whispered.

Tara’s body tensed. She could tell it was not good news by the way Ceri’s body was coiled like a snake about to strike. That, and the fact that Ceri kept one hand resting on the hilt of her sword. "Who?" She moved her hand down to Willow’s shoulder.

Ceri paused. Her eyes flickered down to where Willow was resting.

"Baby, wake up," Tara whispered. She gently rubbed Willow’s shoulder. "Will?"

"Hmm," Willow whimpered. She smacked her lips and hugged Tara’s leg. "Sun feels good," she said with a yawn. She kissed Tara’s thigh. "You feel better."

Ceri cleared her throat loudly. She’d heard how … enthusiastic Willow and Tara could be with their affections, and she didn’t want Willow to give her a front seat demonstration.

"Who…" Willow’s eyes opened abruptly and she sat up. "Oh, Ceri…" She started to smile but then noticed that the young guardian was tense. "What?"

"W-we have visitors," Tara said shakily.

"What, having Amy show up wasn’t enough for one day?" Willow asked. She sighed. "Who is it?"

Tara stared at Ceri.

"A delegation from the committee of witches arrived at our front gate," Ceri said. "They’ve requested entry."

"But… " Tara’s eyes filled with fear.

"They’re the bad guys," Willow reminded Ceri. "Remember the cabin? Remember the Witches’ Committee trying to brutally murder us?"

"We won’t give them passage without your approval," Ceri promised. "The grounds are enchanted. They can’t cross onto the sanctuary without formal permission."

"Well, here’s a wacky idea … tell them no!" Willow yelled.

"Mistress Brent was about to dispatch messengers to speak with them anyway," Ceri said gently. "We can’t contact them by phone. All of their systems are down."

"What do they want?" Tara asked hollowly. She stood and pulled Willow up beside her.

"Lady Tara … they want you," Ceri said slowly.

"Of course they do," Willow grumbled. "Because us having a happy ending would just be wrong." She actually growled.

CHAPTER FORTY

Cassie and Diana came into the room just as Brent was about to escort Willow and Tara to the main meeting hall.

"Did you hear?" Brent asked.

"Yes," Cassie said as she gripped a thick leather text to her chest.

"We wanted to check something," Diana said. She looked over at Cassie and nodded.

The seer stared at Tara intensely. She opened the leather book and compared Tara’s aura to the drawing in her book. The text was open to a page that chronicled the changes expected in an Imbolc mage who had shed her mantle. The drawing was conjecture, since the mantle had never been shed during recorded history. The drawing was taken from a cave painting near the town of Kildare, and the followers of Brigit had always suspected it had been a drawing of a mage who had shed her mantle.

"It looks right," Cassie said. She let out a sigh of relief, but that relief was short-lived. "Wait a minute," she said as she noticed Willow and Tara’s joined hands. Cassie swallow and felt her chest tighten, anticipating the worst. "Tara, can you let go of Willow for a minute?" she asked gently.

Willow was not pleased with that particular request, but she did step away from Tara.

Cassie watched the two separate. She took a deep breath and sighed and she shook her head.

"What is it?" Willow asked.

"Is something w-wrong?" Tara started to take Willow’s hand, but then hesitated because of Cassie’s previous request.

"Tara’s aura isn’t right, is it?" Diana asked. "It only matches the book when she’s touching Willow."

"My aura’s wrong?" Tara asked shakily.

Cassie opened her eyes and nodded sadly. "Since you and Willow shared the Imbolc mage’s powers, your aura doesn’t look right now that the mantle has been lifted."

"Well, will the Keeper notice that?" Tara asked nervously. "I mean, didn’t you say it’s never happened before?"

"The Keeper has the many of same resources that we do, probably more," Brent said. She studied the leather text and sent a prayer of thanks to Brigit. "But, this is a one of kind text written by one of the Imbolc guard. The Keepers may not have it."

Willow took Tara’s hand and clung to her. She looked to Cassie and raised one eyebrow. "How does it look now?"

The seer smiled. "It looks fine," she said wearily. "Just like I knew it would."

"Okay, it’s settled then." Willow smirked. "I won’t let you go." She leaned over and kissed Tara’s cheek. "Not like that was even an option," she whispered in Tara’s ear.

Tara blushed shyly, but she also lifted Willow’s hand and kissed her fingers.

"We need to go," Brent said to Gandu. "Stay close to Our La— I mean, Lady Tara." She nodded for Gandu to lead the way.

Tara looked over and caught Ceri’s attention. The young guardian moved closer.

"I shall not leave Lady Willow’s side," Ceri swore.

Tara dipped her head and stayed at Willow’s side as they left the room.

*****

The vast meeting hall was packed with guardians, each one armed with every weapon she knew how to use. Bre had a set of short throwing daggers tucked into her boots and she was holding a staff that had a razor sharp blade on each end, and, if that wasn’t enough, her sword hung ready at her waist for any battle.

Gandu and Bre brought in the two members of the Witches’ Committee. The other guardians stood nearby in case the new arrivals might try something. Both of the committee members wore black Italian suits.

The two members of the committee waited in the center of the room, perfectly still. Buffy studied them. If she had been under the same scrutiny, she would have been pacing the well-polished tile floor.

The younger committee member, Miss Canard, was a woman in her early-forties. She had dishwater blonde hair and a pinched face that made her look like she was constantly smelling some foul odor. She stood beside the Keeper, carefully studying everyone and everything.

The Keeper made Buffy nervous. His female companion was the picture of calmness, and yet his relaxed demeanor made her seem tense. ‘Why isn’t he nervous?’ Buffy wondered.

The Keeper was in his mid-forties. He was short and shaped more like the Pillsbury doughboy than a powerful male witch. His reddish brown hair was unkempt, and curly, which only made his receding hairline more obvious. His hazel eyes showed no trace of emotion, but his sneer made his disgust apparent. He turned his head slightly as he looked down at Brent.

"Keeper," Brent said as she stared at the silver eye of Osiris on his lapel that clearly identified him.

"Where is my instrument?" he asked.

"Most men know exactly where their instrument is." Anya giggled, then cleared her throat when Xander glared at her. "It was funny," Anya whispered.

"Well?" the Keeper asked impatiently. He glanced around the room with a bored expression. He saw Tara and paused and crinkled his brow as he briefly studied her before moving on.

Willow’s heart hammered uncontrollably. She wanted to drag her lover out of the room, but she remained calm. As soon as the Keeper looked away, she let out a silent sigh. She wondered what it was about Keepers that gave them their connection to the Imbolc mage, and she wondered how strong that connection would be now that Tara had shed the mantle.

Tara had her own concerns. She squeezed Willow’s hand tightly, terrified that if she let go her aura would change and the Keeper would know there was something strange about the situation. Her greatest fear was that he would somehow discover that she and Willow had briefly shared the mantle for their daughter. That in and of itself was frightening enough, but she was terrified that once he knew that, he would come after any child they had in the future. If he discovered that she had performed the refero spell, there would be no escaping his relentless pursuit. Tara’s mouth was dry, yet her palms were sweating heavily. Her skin was slippery where she held Willow’s hand.

"I’m waiting," the Keeper said. "Is she even here, or did you move her somewhere safe?" He walked over to where Brent was standing and looked at her as if she were a diseased retch. "You can’t hide her from me."

"The Imbolc mage has shed her mantle," Brent said. She gave him a steely, determined glare. "She is no longer your concern."

"She’s still a witch," he said as he bent his fingers and studied his fingernails. He obviously didn’t believer her. "I’m a member of the Witches’ Committee, so that makes her my concern."

"No," Brent said coldly. "As the former Imbolc mage, she is my concern." She looked around the room at the gathered guardians. "She is our concern, and she will be for the rest of her life, a very long life without any interference from you or the Witches’ Committee."

"No one has ever successfully shed the mantle," the Keeper told Brent. There was an accusatory tone in his voice. "So either ... she is a completely unique individual that warrants further study, or you’re lying and the mage still has her powers."

At the mention of further study, Willow began to tremble. Her hand shook even as she tightly gripped Tara’s fingers.

Willow desperately needed comfort, and that need was something that Tara couldn’t ignore. The blond witch stepped behind Willow and spooned her, never once breaking contact so that their auras remained mingled.

Willow immediately sank back into Tara’s embrace. The contact reassured her and she was able to regain her focus.

"You’re not going to study anyone," Brent stated. "And if you don’t agree to that, you and your companion will not leave here alive." She smiled at the woman standing next to the Keeper. She watched the younger woman pale.

"And when they send another Keeper?" he asked.

"Let’s just say I hope you have quite a few spare Keepers lined up." Brent smiled sweetly. "My guardians take great pride in their work, and they don’t care for anyone who threatens the mage."

"Are you really willing to go to war over one witch?" the Keeper asked. "I mean, she does belong to me after all." His words were spoken with absolute conviction. In truth, he had no life beyond his training as a Keeper. He was a petty, bitter man with no life beyond his rare chance to control the Imbolc mage.

Willow tensed and started to move forward but Tara held her in place.

"Belong to you?" Buffy asked as she rushed forward. "Who the hell do you think you are?" she demanded.

He turned and glanced at Buffy. "Well, you’re certainly not my instrument." He studied her aura. He had researched every aspect of the Imbolc mage since joining the order of the Keepers, and he knew every possible variation of a mage’s aura. Buffy fit none of them, but she didn’t have a normal aura either. His study of aura identification focused strictly on the Imbolc mage and the different ways it could be affected by her powers. He had no frame of reference for other mystical variations. "Just who are you?" he asked.

"Me?" Buffy asked sweetly. "I’m the one who’s gonna’ kick your ass."

"Ah, the Slayer," he said with a smile.

"My reputation proceeds me," Buffy quipped. "I’ll have to give my publicist a raise."

"You realize, that if we weren’t on this sanctuary I would have already killed you," he said as he stared into Buffy's eyes.

"Oh, scary." Buffy shivered dramatically. "Is this where you tell me that you have all these dark magic powers and that I’m supposed to be quivering in my stylish yet affordable boots?"

"This doesn’t have to be adversarial." He turned and looked at Brent, completely dismissing Buffy. "Give me my instrument, and I’ll be on my way."

"The mantle has been lifted," Brent said deliberately. Her jaw was set and her eyes pinned the Keeper in place. "There is no instrument left to have, and even if there were, she would not be yours."

"Then show me the body," the Keeper said logically.

"What makes you think there’s a body?" Brent smiled and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Let’s see," the Keeper said sarcastically. "There’s never been a successful challenge to the mantle. So, if there was a challenge, there would be a body." He smirked smugly and turned his back on Brent and paced.

Brent’s eyes darted briefly to the back of the room where Tara and Willow were standing.

Tara knew instinctively that Brent was asking for permission. Tara nodded and tugged Willow a bit closer.

"There is no body because the Imbolc mage passed the challenge and successfully relinquished her mantle." Brent cleared her throat.

For the first time since his arrival, the Keeper’s confidence seemed to waver. Brent had mentioned the challenge, and that the mantle had been lifted, but he had thought Brent was bluffing. He stared at her, and her sincerity was obvious. If what she was saying were true, then he had nothing, and that was not acceptable.

"Then where is the witch?" the Keeper demanded. "If she really gave up the mantle, I want to see her."

"I’m right here," Tara said. She eased her way through the crowd of guardians with Willow at her side. Their linked hands shook with their combined fear.

The Keeper spun and stared at the two approaching women. His eyes narrowed as he examined Tara using his mystical abilities. "You make me sick," he sneered as he realized he was looking at the woman who had been the Imbolc mage and thrown it away. "You’ve gone against the goddess and nature," he said disgustedly.

"You mean, kind of like a man trying to control Brigit’s mantle?" Brent interjected helpfully.

"You cheated," he accused as he rushed toward Tara.

"It’s not possible to cheat," Tara said as she tried to move in front of Willow.

"She passed the challenge." Willow held her ground, not willing to let Tara take on the Keeper alone.

"You let her win." The Keeper spun and glared at Brent. The venom in his voice was thick and bitter.

"You and I both know that if any of my guardians held back, we would have all been killed," Brent said as she folded her arms over her chest.

"What are you talking about?" Tara interrupted.

"If any of the guardians had helped you, or held back in any way, our sanctuary’s entire Imbolc guard would have been sacrificed," Brent explained.

"Then how did she defeat the challenge?" the Keeper asked. He focused on Brent. "She had to face you to pass the flame. You swore to guard it with your life." He cleared his throat. "You’re still alive."

"You’re quite perceptive," Brent mocked. "You figured out I’m alive without any help. Wow."

He looked down at the bandages on Brent’s hands. "You’re as disgusting as that abomination. You failed your goddess." He smirked egoistically. "I won’t fail in my duty."

"Excuse me…" Willow raised one eyebrow. "You have no duty where Tara’s concerned." She stood to her full height and squared her shoulders protectively.

The Keeper sneered at the redhead. "And you would be Miss Rosenberg, correct?" he asked.

"You’re two for two," Brent said as she moved closer to Tara.

"I had a chance to look over the files," the Keeper said as he stood in front of Willow. He didn’t add that all of the computer files had mysteriously disappeared, or that the committee was currently scouring Sunnydale for the woman they blamed for the loss. "I need to test my instrument’s powers to see which parts of the mantle she may have retained." His expression revealed the depth of his hatred for Tara.

"I don’t have the mantle," Tara said angrily. "You and I have no business."

"Oh, but we do, little girl," the Keeper’s voice lowered and he took a step closer. "We have plenty of unfinished business. You gave up something that belonged to me. You were my instrument." His eyes narrowed. "That mantle was meant to be forged and harnessed by me, and you had no ri—"

"Back off," Willow said dangerously.

"Or what, you’ll toy with dark magic?" The Keeper dismissed Willow completely.

"I don’t think you want to cross me," Tara said calmly. "Maybe you should ask the last Keeper about that." Her blue eyes seemed to darken with her rage. "Oh, wait … you can’t. She’s dead."

"Ah, but you had the mantle at your disposal then," he reminded Tara. "And before I can relinquish my hold over you, I have to make certain you truly have shed all of that mantle." He was smug. He folded his arms over his chest and gave Tara a gloating smile.

"How do you do that?" Tara asked hesitantly. "How do I prove the mantle is gone?"

"Well, you see, when I came onto the grounds, the guardians bound my powers." The Keeper sighed dramatically. "With my powers bound, I can’t perform the test." He pinned Tara in his gaze. "You and I will have to leave the sanctuary together."

"The hell she will!" Willow yanked Tara closer and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Not in this lifetime," Buffy added. "Or any of my previous ones."

"I’ll tell you what," he said as he turned and looked at Brent. His eyes moved down her robed body and stopped at the sword on her hip. "How about we do a little test to see if you retained any of your sword fighting skill?" He nodded at Brent’s blade. "If you’ll just loan me your sword, we can get this over with quickly." He smiled sweetly at the elder guardian.

Brent was not amused. "Do you honestly think I’d let you take a sword to Tara?"

"Come now," he said logically. "It’ll just take me a few minutes to find out if she has any skill."

Giles moved forward. "Yes, and if she doesn’t have the skill, you’d kill her in an instant."

"And who exactly are you?" The Keeper looked over at Giles and let out a bored sigh. "I didn’t think you … ladies … allowed men on your sacred space." The sarcasm and disapproval was thick in his tone.

"Never mind who he is," Brent said. "You’re not going to test Tara. You’ve seen her, and we both know with your abilities, you can see she doesn’t carry the mantle. Otherwise, you would have felt her."

"I can sense that her power has left," he conceded. "But for all I know, you may have done a binding spell on her."

"You can’t honestly believe a servant of Brigit would bind the Imbolc mage," Brent said incredulously.

"You bound her during the challenge," the Keeper reminded her. "So we know it’s possible."

"That was with her permission," Brent said. She glanced over at Tara. The blonde witch was pressed against Willow, but her eyes were locked on the Keeper.

"I’m supposed to think she wouldn’t let you bind her if it would fool me?" The Keeper shook his head. "Nope. No way she’d give up the power of the mantle. This is a trick to keep me out of her life."

"Hey, I know a way to keep him out of your life," Anya said. "Give me one of those swords. I’ll show you a little trick I learned in Mongolia. Did you know you can actually crochet the human intestines?"

"Look," the Keeper said as he stared at Tara. He had to shift his weight to see past Brent. The elder was standing protectively in front of the former mage. "You and I can just step off the sanctuary for a few minutes and clear this whole thing up," he said smoothly.

Tara raised an eyebrow. It was obvious she was not going to agree to his plan.

"Fine," he said quietly. He reached up and plucked the silver pin from his lapel. It was the only thing that identified him as the Keeper. He rubbed the smooth metal with his thumb. "There really wasn’t any reason for you to make this so difficult," he said. He turned the pin over in his hand and studied the sharp clasp and then pressed his thumb against it. His hand shook with rage and frustration as a bead of blood formed between the pad of thumb and the pin. "All you had to do was let me test you, and this could have all been over." His voice shook like his clenched fist.

"She said no." Willow stiffened her body and gave him a determined glare.

He glanced at Willow briefly and then held the pin toward Brent. A bolt of light came out of the silver insignia and threw Brent across the room. He rushed forward even as Willow and Tara tried to back away.

"Willow!" Tara shoved her lover out of his path. The Keeper grabbed Tara’s arm and squeezed the pin against her skin. "Ouch!" She tried to pull away but the sharp metal dug into her flesh.

"Lady Tara!" Ceri rushed forward with her blade drawn. She swung her sword at the Keeper’s throat, intending to lop his head off like pruning a diseased bloom from a rose. The blade passed right through the Keeper’s neck as if he were made of smoke.

"You made me do this the hard way," the Keeper said as shook Tara by the arm.

"Tara!" Willow screamed. She watched in horror as her hand passed right through Tara’s body. Her fingers went through Tara, but worse than that, Tara’s body was becoming translucent.

"What the hell’s going on?" Brent yelled. She rushed forward and tried to grab Tara’s arm but she didn’t have any more luck than Willow had. Her hand passed through Tara as well.

"What did you do?" Tara demanded. From her perspective, everyone else in the room had become semi-transparent. She could see their barely visible lips moving, but she couldn’t hear any sound. She spun and looked at Willow. The redhead was grabbing frantically at Tara like some ghostly apparition just out of her reach.

"You and I needed some time alone," the Keeper said.

Tara yanked out of his grasp and rubbed her arm and found a smudge of blood.

"It was necessary," he said as he looked down at the pin in his hand. His blood was mingled with Tara’s. He glanced at the others in the room. They were running around, trying to grab Tara and trying to stab him. The guardians had bound his powers, and had made sure that he wasn’t carrying any magical charms. It hadn’t occurred to them that his Eye of Horace lapel pin might be enchanted. The Keeper had used a power of the charm that was rarely needed. By mingling two people’s blood on the pin, the magical brooch could shift those two out of sync with the rest of the universe.

"How?" Tara demanded. She tried to touch Willow, but her hand passed right through her lover.

"We’re connected," he said with a smile.

Tara’s lips quivered. It was painful to pull away from Willow, even though they couldn’t touch. She met Willow’s eyes and a flash of love passed between them. ‘I love you,’ Tara mouthed.

‘I love you, too,’ Willow mouthed. Tears ran down her cheeks as she watched Tara spin to face the Keeper.

"Now what?" Tara asked calmly.

"Now, I test you," the Keeper said simply. He walked past Brent, smirking when the apparitional guardian swung her sword through his body. He stopped at the wall and took down a sword and turned to face Tara.

Tara realized she was at a distinct disadvantage.

Ceridwen rushed forward, drawing her sword. She didn’t bother trying to attack the Keeper, instead, she took her sword by the blade and extended the handle to Tara.

The blonde witch saw Ceri’s ghostly image handing her the sword. She reached out her hand and wrapped her fingers around the sword but felt a sickening sense of dread as her hand passed through the sword’s grip.

"That won’t work," the Keeper said with a smirk. He rushed forward and swung his blade through Ceri’s transparent body and sliced Tara’s arm.

Tara hissed as she pressed her hand over the wound. She grabbed a chair and used it to fend off the Keeper.

"Why can’t she take it?" Willow was hysterical.

"She’s out of phase," Brent explained. "The pendant must have somehow shifted them slightly out of our reality.

"Then why can he use that sword?" Willow yelled. She watched as Tara jumped out of the way when the Keeper tried to stab her in the side.

Tara spun out of the Keeper’s path. She quickly backed away, then staggered when she bumped into another chair.

"They are not in sync with us," Giles said. "She cannot take the sword if she doesn’t share the same reality."

"Yeah, well, sword…" Willow said as she pointed at the armed Keeper.

"Perhaps only living things are out of sync," Brent said as she watched the hazy image of Tara scrambling to avoid the Keeper’s blade.

"But she couldn’t take my blade," Ceri said plaintively. "It’s not living."

"You were controlling it." Willow pointed at Ceri’s sword. "Give it to me."

"Lady Willow?" Ceri asked even as she skillfully unsheathed her sword and extended the hilt to Willow.

"You were controlling the sword." Willow took Ceri’s blade and spun. "You were keeping it in our reality." She jogged over to where Tara was avoiding the Keeper. "The chairs and that other sword weren’t under any human control." Willow stopped a few feet from Tara and tossed the blade onto the ground. It clanged as it bounced to a stop next to Tara’s feet. "Come on, baby," Willow whispered. She backed away, lifting her fist and biting one knuckle.

As if hearing her, Tara glanced down and saw the sword. She shoved her chair at the Keeper and ducked down and reached for the blade. Her fingers closed around the hilt and she felt the comforting weight of the well-worn leather grip. She stood just in time to deflect a vicious swing of the Keeper’s sword. She backed away from him so she could get her blade in front of her.

"So, you do have some skill." He advanced on her ruthlessly. "But not enough," he said as he shoved a chair at her.

"You weren’t popular as a child, were you?" Tara jumped out of the way of the chair and had to immediately block a thrust. She slammed her blade into his and kicked the chair back toward him. "You sat alone in the corner and thought of ways to make everyone else as miserable as you are." She advanced on him, showing none of the mercy she was known for.

"You have a big mouth, little girl," he said bitterly. He was already sweating and his pudgy face was red and blotchy. "You won’t be making jokes when you’re dead." He moved behind several of the guardians, knowing Tara would unconsciously be less likely to stab through one of her friends. When she paused in her advance, he struck. He drove his blade through Brigh’s transparent chest and stabbed Tara in the right arm. She had time to pivot, so the blade missed most of her arm, but it cut deeply into the skin below her elbow. It was much deeper that her other injury, and blood poured from the wound. The Keeper laughed when he heard her pained gasp.

"Why are you such a self-righteous jerk?" Tara asked under her breath. She used the motion of her pivot and spun all the way around and stabbed through Brigh’s ethereal body. Her blade caught him on the inside of his thigh, high on his inseam, and had he been a well-endowed man, it would have injured him much more severely.

"You bitch!" He backed away and held one hand to his bleeding thigh. "You cut my leg."

"Leg?" Tara chuckled. "I cut you pretty high there." She cleared her throat. "Guess that’s another reason you’re so unhappy. Anya was right about Keepers overcompensating." She smiled and raised one eyebrow.

"I think after I kill you, I’ll make that bitch of yours suffer." He laughed as he imagined seeing Tara’s blood splashed all over Willow’s body. "I’ll paint her in your blood and watch as she goes back to dark magic."

"What kind of sick bastard are you?" Tara asked. She had been holding back slightly, not quite willing to kill the Keeper. She had hoped she could convince him to leave her alone. Now he was threatening Willow. "I’m sorry," Tara said sincerely. "I didn’t want to kill you."

"I don’t care what you want," he snarled. "It’s my destiny to give you what you need." He lunged at her, but she deflected his blow.

"You can’t honestly be that arrogant." Tara was using her left hand now, since her right arm was bleeding severely. "Who are you to tell me what I need?"

"You want to go off and live a happy little life with your little witch." He continued slamming his sword into Tara’s. "You sicken me. There is no happy ending, not for the Imbolc mage." His jowls shook as he blew out a disgusted breath. "You exist to do my bidding," he said in a venomous tone. "I define what you are, who you are, and your destiny is what I tell you it is." He laughed and shoved another chair at Tara. "I am the Keeper!" he yelled. Sweat flew off his cheeks as he shook his fist in the air.

"Get over yourself," Tara said as she rested her right hand on her hip. She wondered how such a pathetic little power monger had ever gotten such a high position in the Witches’ Committee. "I’m going to grow old with Willow and you don’t have any say in my life."

"That arm tells a different story." He smirked as her blood pooled on the tile at her feet. He knew she’d be getting lightheaded soon, and then he’d see that she lost her head all together. He grabbed a table and flipped it toward her and then attacked.

Tara switched her sword back to her right hand. She was bleeding profusely, but she was still more skilled with her injured right hand than her uninjured left.

They clashed blades for several minutes, and Tara began to weaken. She was losing ground, being pushed toward the wall at the back of the vast room. She knew she had to end the fight before she passed out.

Willow was following Tara as she fought the Keeper. It was driving the redhead insane that she couldn’t help her lover. She watched the furniture being overturned by the transparent combatants and she wished she could somehow assist her lover. Suddenly an idea occurred to her. She grabbed a chair and ran behind the Keeper and tossed the chair onto its side behind him, then focused her mind on making Tara understand her plan.

Meanwhile, Giles was having a discussion with Miss Canard.

"Tell me how to return them into this reality," Giles said calmly. His hands were wrapped around Miss Canard’s throat. He squeezed her scrawny neck until his hands shook.

Miss Canard opened her mouth but no sound could escape. Her pale, pasty complexion was now purple and her feet kicked helplessly a few inches from the floor.

"Giles, she needs to breathe to speak," Anya said clinically. "You can finish choking her later."

"Ah, yes, of course." Giles dropped her to the floor.

Miss Canard coughed and dropped to one knee. "Only the Keeper can break the spell, by his will or by his death."

"I vote for his death," Anya said. "Kill him!" she yelled at Tara’s see-through body.

"The Keeper knows what he’s doing," Miss Canard said as she rubbed her neck. "You fools should just trust us."

"Not bloody likely," Giles said as he turned and watched Tara slowly weakening.

Tara saw Willow and tried not to let her partially visible lover distract her. Her eyes were naturally drawn to Willow, and that was not something she could afford during a battle. Still, something made her glance around the Keeper to check Willow. Tara smiled when she saw her lover toss an obstacle behind the Keeper. Tara slammed her blade into his and shoved him backwards. His feet got tangled in the chair and he stumbled, but he managed to remain standing.

"That’s right, you big jerk!" Dawn yelled. "Throw another at him," she advised Willow.

"Keep him coming," Willow whispered as she began tossing chairs into his path. She knew Tara couldn’t hear her, but talking to her lover made her feel better. She saw a pitcher of water on the table and sprinted over and grabbed it.

Tara was exhausted, but working in tandem with her lover gave her a second wind. She attacked with renewed vigor and drove the Keeper backward into the obstacles. "What happened to your smartass remarks?" Tara taunted. She shifted her sword back to her left hand and continued her attack.

"I’m just planning the best way to kill your lover." He wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.

"That might be a little premature," Tara said dangerously. She saw Willow hold up the pitcher and then pour it onto the tile. Tara stabbed at his thigh and when he went to block the blow, she hit his jaw with her clinched fist. Her right hand throbbed, but the contact was solid and knocked him back into another overturned chair. Tara leaped forward and slammed her sword into his and shoved him onto the wet tile.

His eyes widened as his feet shot out from under him. He flailed his arms as he fell backwards. Even as he was trying to slow his fall with his left hand, he was holding his sword up with his right. Unfortunately for him, the awkward angle made defense difficult, and his threats about Willow left Tara feeling little mercy.

Tara shoved her sword into his belly just as his back slammed against the stone tile. He screamed and shoved his sword downward, not trying to bat away Tara’s blade. He wanted to kill her.

Tara had been willing to stop her attack after the disabling stomach wound. His final murderous swing sealed his fate. She lifted the hilt of her sword to block his blow, but she kept the tip of her sword buried deep in the soft flesh of his belly. The effect was chilling. Her sword split him from his belly to his ribcage with a sickening squish as his intestines fell out of the bloody opening. His blade clattered to the floor as he writhed in agony.

"I’m sure this isn’t what you wanted," Tara said coldly. "But it is what you needed." She yanked her sword out and moved a few paces back to avoid stepping in his spreading blood and stomach contents.

He closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath and coughed. Black blood sprayed out of his mouth and then dribbled down his chin to his sweat covered jowls.

Tara felt an odd sensation, and then she staggered as a wave of dizziness hit her. She looked over at Willow and smiled as her lover’s image became solid. She staggered toward her lover. "Will?" she whispered wearily.

"Tara!" Willow sprinted the short distance to Tara and caught the blonde as her legs buckled. "Diana!" she yelled as she wrapped an arm around Tara and helped her walk to a chair a few steps away.

"Get pressure on that arm," Ceri said as she ripped off the belt around her robe. She quickly tied the belt above the deep gash on Tara’s arm.

Miss Canard fought to get past Giles. "You have to help him," she insisted.

Diana ignored the mortally wounded Keeper and went to Tara’s side. She used her thumbs to open the wound, then pressed it closed again. "It missed the tendons and bone," she said quickly. "But you nicked an artery. Let’s get you to the infirmary."

"Help him," Miss Canard yelled. She dropped to her knees beside the Keeper and tried to assist him.

"She doesn’t carry the mantle," the Keeper said with a cough.

"But her skill with the sword," Miss Canard interjected.

"I knew she would retain that," he said. His face was white as untouched snow and his skin almost as chilled. "If she held the mantle, she could have broken my spell. That was the test." He groaned and looked down at his own intestines.

"How can you people let him die?" Miss Canard asked angrily.

"Well, we start by watching his blood ooze out and thicken," Anya said expertly. "Then we wait until he gets that crackley death rattle in his chest as his lungs fail." She saw Miss Canard glare at her. "He did try to kill Tara," Anya said. She walked over to the fallen man and leaned closer. She scrunched her cheeks and tilted her head to one side. "She eviscerated him," Anya noted clinically. A slow smile covered her features. "And she did a really good job. He should linger for hours!" She lifted her head and looked toward Tara. "Excellent gutting skills! Go, Tara!"

Tara was sitting in a chair next to the table. Willow was practically standing in Tara’s lap. The redhead was situated between Tara’s legs, and Tara was cleaving to Willow’s waist.

"Is this over?" Tara asked. She had her face snuggled against Willow’s chest and was clinging to her lover with both arms, despite the fact that Diana was trying to treat her bleeding arm.

"It better be," Willow said as she cradled Tara’s head loosely in her arms. She cringed when she heard Anya oohing and ahhing about Tara’s skills.

"Ya’ know," Anya said. "I could get you some freelance work as a Vengeance Demon. No wishes, but wow, with this raw talent, you could go far."

Tara turned her head, not bothering to pull away from Willow, so she got to enjoy the sensation of her temple sliding along the underside of Willow’s breast. She opened her eyes and watched as Diana finished tying off a pressure bandage.

"You have to help him," Tara said with a frustrated sigh. "We can’t let him just die."

"We can and we will," Diana said. "That bastard challenged you. He can deal with his own injuries. Let Miss Canard stuff him back together."

"Diana…" Tara said wearily.

"No, Tara." Diana shook her head. "I’m a doctor. Why should I help him when he’s just gonna’ hurt someone else?"

"Because he’s human," Tara said with a sigh.

"Honey, did you happen to hit your head real hard during that fight?" Willow asked. "He’s evil."

"He may be a cowardly, petty-minded, misogynistic Pillsbury doughboy wannabe, but he is a human being." Tara eased away from Willow and looked up at her. "Granted, a human barely above pond scum on the usefulness scale, but how could I live with myself if I just let him die?"

"She’s right," Willow agreed as she closed her eyes and actually let out a tiny growl. "I mean, about him being human, not about him being above pond scum." Willow opened her eyes and ran her hand through Tara’s hair. "Pond scum is actually quite useful. I can’t imagine him doing any good on the planet."

"Well, he does process carbon dioxide for plants," Diana said in a defeated tone. "I guess that counts for something." She backed away from Tara. "But I’m not making any promises. His intestines are on the floor. I don’t know if I can save him." She didn’t add that she wasn’t too sure she wanted to.

"This is your will, Lady Tara?" Brent asked. "After all that he has done, you would save him?"

Tara pressed her lips together in a thin line and nodded. Now that the Keeper was helpless, she was racked with guilt for hurting him. Worse yet, some part of her had enjoyed making him suffer after threatening Willow.

"So be it," Brent said. She waved her bandaged hand and called her guardians. "Take him to the infirmary and have them do all that they can."

The guardians paused, and for the first time since taking their oath to Brigit, they hesitated to obey an order given by Mistress Brent.

"Please," Tara asked Ceri.

Brent cracked a smirk. "It is Lady Tara’s will, not mine," she added wryly. "I’d like to drag him into the center of the Lacrosse field and sell tickets to watch him die."

"I’m sure it would be a sell out," Ceri said grumpily. She spun and went to where Miss Canard was helping the Keeper. "Move." Ceri shoved the woman aside and smiled when Miss Canard landed on the hard tile. "Sorry," the guardian said sweetly. She grabbed the Keeper by the elbow and began pulling him to his feet. He howled in pain as his intestines flopped across the tile. "Oops," Ceri said with a shrug.

"Leave him ‘til we get a stretcher," Diana said halfheartedly. She walked over and looked down at him. "Try to keep him still," she told Miss Canard. She spun toward Willow. "Let’s get Tara to the infirmary. I want to stitch that closed as soon as possible to minimize the scarring."

"Scarring?" Miss Canard screeched. "He’s bleeding to death and you’re worried about that bitch scarring?"

Diana backhanded Miss Canard. "I may be a doctor, but that doesn’t mean I have to put up with your crap."

The Keeper’s assistant held her hand to her cheek and sat back on the floor.

"Now then, Willow?" Diana went back to the two witches. "Come on, let’s go."

Willow smiled at the doctor and then helped Tara stand. "Thanks," she whispered to her friend. "I’ve been wanting to slap her since she got here." She narrowed her green eyes. "Stupid Keeper’s butt monkey," she grumbled as she glared at the mousy woman cowering on the floor.

Tara giggled and leaned against Willow’s shoulder. "I love you, my butch little witch," she whispered in Willow’s ear.

Willow puffed her chest out. She had a proud smirk on her lips as she escorted Tara to the infirmary.

*****

The sanctuary surgeons were specifically trained to treat sword wounds, and despite the fact that the physicians would have like to have failed, they managed to save the Keeper’s life. His injuries were serious and the damage permanent, but after a few days he was well enough to be transported. That was good news for Tara. She hated the arrogant man and the way he had threatened Willow. Tara didn’t like the feelings he inspired and when it came time to send him away, she stayed at the Imbolc house.

The others felt much the same way. Willow stayed near her lover. Nothing could drag her more than a room away from Tara. She knew that once the Keeper and his sycophant assistant were handed over to the Witches’ Committee, Brent could finally begin to focus on the future. So long as the ratfaced Keeper was on the grounds, sniveling and complaining like a Texas cowboy trapped at vegan cook out, Brent had to post her guardians to protect him. It sickened Brent, but Tara had not wanted any more killing, so Brent kept the man alive. Leaving him unattended certainly would have ended with some "accident" or "act of the goddess" taking his worthless life. She could just see trying to explain to Tara how a stray Lacrosse stick flew into the window and killed the man.

Anya waltzed into the Imbolc house with Xander a few paces behind her. "Don’t mind us, we’re just here for the pool." She marched past Willow, who was standing in the kitchen with a glass of orange juice halfway to her lips.

"Hey, Will," Xander said meekly. "How’s Tara?" He cleared his throat and leaned against the counter as Anya raided the refrigerator.

"Oh! Chicken. I love chicken," Anya said as she began tossing food onto the counter.

"She’s taking a nap." Willow leaned against the counter next to Xander and they both smiled as Anya began to stack piles of snacks on a tray.

"Tara’s taking a nap and you’re not with her?" Xander teased. "Trouble in paradise?"

"She must actually be sleeping," Anya interjected. "Otherwise, they’d both be in the bedroom having orgasms and we could swim alone." She smiled brightly. "Oh, juice!" she exclaimed and grabbed a huge glass on the counter and took a gulp.

"I was actually just going to bring her some juice," Willow said pointedly. She watched as Anya drained the chilled glass.

"Ahh," Anya said with a burp. "Now that’s good juice." She turned and appraised Willow. "Probably lovingly hand-squeezed by Tara’s adoring lesbian groupies." She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Actually, it was. Well, her one groupie." Willow smirked and looked into the trashcan at the discarded remains of the oranges she had just squeezed.

"Willow?" Tara came around the corner and paused when she saw the others. "Hi, guys," she said shyly. She ducked slightly behind the edge of the doorway. She wasn’t used to parading in front of the Scoobies in silk lingerie and she didn’t think this was the time to start.

"Ta—" Xander’s eyes glazed over. Despite Tara’s modesty induced retreat, he could still see her abundant cleavage bursting out of the black lace. "Hhh, ya, hi." He grinned and then giggled like a second grader with a crush on his baby-sitter.

Willow elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ouch!" Xander stood and backed over to Anya. "What? I just said hi."

"Cleavage to die for and natural evisceration skills?" Anya whined. "I think Brigit was a little too generous when she handed out your attributes," she playfully teased.

"You have no idea," Willow said with a leer. She went to Tara and hugged her, giving her a quick kiss. "You feeling rested, baby?" Her eyes sparkled, knowing exactly what had exhausted blonde in the first place. There were certain advantages to wanting to keep Tara’s mind off her troubles.

"I’m fine." Tara smiled demurely. She had actually come looking for Willow in the hopes of luring her back to bed for some non-rest related activities.

The front door opened and Buffy and Brent came into the living room. The elder smiled and then her eyes widened when she saw Tara’s lack of clothing. "Um, I have news for you," she said as she blushed.

"Y-you know w-what?" Tara asked with a squeak. "I’m j-just gonna’ change w-while you get settled." She spun and ran down the hallway and into the master bedroom and slammed the door.

Willow made sure everyone had beverages and they all sat around the kitchen table. It was a huge oak table that sat eight. It had hand carved accents and Willow loved the pale finish that matched the rest of soft colors in the house. It was the exact kind of table she and Tara would have chosen for their own home. Just as she was getting lost in a mini-fantasy of living in the Imbolc house permanently, with Tara prancing around the house in sexy lingerie, the blonde emerged from the bedroom in a pair of oversized black sweats and a tee shirt. The white fabric clung to the soft curves of Tara’s chest and the black sweats hung low showing just a hint of skin under her navel. Willow sighed and a goofy grin spread across her face. Tara even made casual sports apparel look sexy.

"Why don’t you ever look at me like that?" Anya slapped the back of Xander’s head.

Tara kissed the top of Willow’s head and then sat next to her. "What did you find out?" She took Willow’s hand as she turned toward Brent.

Willow nodded, curious as well.

"That big jerk is gone." Buffy reached over and grabbed a chicken leg from Anya’s tray and took a huge bite. She pointed with the piece of meat as she continued. "And that whiny sidekick went with him. What kind of woman follows a sicko man around and defends everything he does?"

"I believe that’s called a wife." Xander chuckled at his own joke, which was a good thing, because no one else did. "Ouch!" he said as Anya slapped his head again. "Buffy!" he added when a chicken leg hit him in the chest. "Will? Little help here?" he begged.

Tara crossed both arms over her chest as Willow started to reach for a piece of chicken ammunition.

"Joke!" Xander insisted. "It was a joke."

"Back to the matters at hand," Brent said. She hated to see good chicken go to waste. "The Keeper is now with the committee. With their current problems, I doubt they consider him their golden boy."

"I can’t believe you sewed him up after Tara did such a textbook evisceration," Anya whined.

"Well, if it’s any consolation, there was permanent damage," Brent said comfortingly. "His bowel and stomach were shredded. He’ll have to use a colostomy for the rest of his life."

"So the gutless little man gets to live and he makes the whole world see every bit of crap he produces?" Anya asked. "Where’s the justice?" She snickered. "Gutless, cuz Tara gutted him."

"Maybe he should move to Hollywood. A misogynist making nothing but crap, he’d fit right in," Willow suggested with a snort. She chuckled until she saw Tara frown disapprovingly.

"Honey, what did we say about spouting feminist film theory?" Tara asked gently.

Willow sighed and rolled her eyes. She pouted as she as recited her speech in a monotone monologue. "There is no white male heterosexual conspiracy to undermine feminine power." She sighed again and made a disgusted expression that made it perfectly clear she believed just the opposite.

"Oh, well," Anya said. She grabbed a handful of chips from her tray. "Maybe the committee will kill him."

"What about them?" Tara asked. "Are they going to leave us alone?"

Brent smiled like the Cheshire cat.

"Amy finally did something right," Buffy said with a grin.

"Brigan contacted them and made it perfectly clear that if they wanted to get any of their computer files back, they would have to swear blood oaths to leave Lady Tara and Lady Willow alone." Brent smiled thinking about Brigan. Her second in command was giddy with joy over the information they’d already gleaned from the Committees’ files.

"Will they honor that?" Willow asked.

"What kind of blood oath was it?" Anya asked around a mouth of chips. "Cuz you could get an agreeable lesser-demon to preside over the oath and it would be much more powerful." A few chip fragments sprayed out of her mouth. "Or if you really have pull, you could get a demigod to do it." She stuffed in a few more chips and took a drink of Willow’s juice. She smacked her lips and offered the beverage back to Willow.

"Ahh, you can keep it," Willow said as she watched a few more chips disappear into Anya’s overstuffed mouth.

"We would never work with a demon," Brent said politely, "No offense," she added hastily.

"None taken." Anya waved a hand at the elder and then reached for a slice of turkey.

"We had a Celtic beastie officiate," Brent explained. "If the committee breaks the oath, we can call upon all the beasties to speak on our behalf and…"

"Eviscerate them?" Anya asked hopefully. A few more chip fragments flew with her excited words.

"Um, no." Brent stared at Anya and wondered how Anya had become fixated on evisceration and if she’d consider counseling. "The beasties would alert us and we would then take back all the files and attack with the full force of the Daughters of the Flame."

"You mean the Imbolc guard?" Buffy frowned, not pleased with that outcome, not pleased one tiny little bit. "So nineteen pissed off guardians kick some ass and steal their screen savers. You really think that will stop them?"

"The Imbolc guard are the women from each sanctuary trained to protect the Imbolc mage," Brent said slowly. She had thought the Slayer understood that there were dozens of groups of Imbolc guards, one at each sanctuary across the globe. "The Daughters of the Flame are any of the followers of Brigit who reside at her sanctuaries. There are thousands of trained warriors who bask in Brigit’s flame."

Tara nodded.

"We outnumber the Witches’ Committee by a hundred-fold," Brent continued. "Our decision to allow the committee to rule was based on politics. We knew the world needed a governing party, and we do not rule. We are a religious sect."

"With big pointy knives." Anya waved a chip at Brent. "Can’t forget that."

"Our order could not attack the committee without a Karmically justifiable reason sanctioned by impartial observers," Brent said.

"Which is where these beasties come in?" Xander asked.

"What is a beastie?" Buffy asked. "Sounds demonish to me."

"Beasties are enchanted animal spirits that once populated most of the British Isles," Tara said. "They have bad tempers when crossed, but for the most part, they’re honorable beings." She frowned, remembering the rest of the beasties’ tale. "They used to roam the entire world, but they were hunted because they looked like demons. They’re almost gone." Her voice lowered. "Dragons were a species of beastie. They were hunted to extinction in Asia."

"I love you," Willow said in awe of her lover. She rested her elbow on the back of her chair and then cupped her chin in her palm so she could stare at Tara.

Tara blushed and looked down at the table. She frowned when she noticed that a few Anya-chip projectiles had landed in front of her.

"The point is, the beasties will make certain the oath is not broken," Anya said. "And if it is, wham! The guardians go into a lesbo-feeding frenzy." She raised an eyebrow and leered at Tara. "And not in the good way."

"And now that that’s settled, I say we swim," Xander said. "Tara, you got a swimsuit anything like that nightie you were just wearing, well, almost wearing?"

Willow growled.

"Oh, my," Brent said wickedly. "I think we might have a beastie right here."

"She’s an animal," Tara agreed with a lecherous smirk.

"On that note, I’m ready for a nice swim." Buffy stood and hurried toward the pool. Despite the fact she no longer had a crush on Tara, the beautiful witch was still a stunning woman. When Tara flashed one of her rare, beguiling leers, Buffy wondered if the crush had begun with the spell or if perhaps she’d always been aware of Tara’s sex appeal. ‘Nope,’ she thought as she kicked off her shoes and dove into the pool. ‘It was the spell. It was the spell. Tara does not distract me one teeny tiny bit.’

"Does she always swim with her jeans and blouse on?" Brent asked.

Tara shrugged.

Willow bit the side of her lip and decided it was time to have another little chat with Buffy. She was beginning to plan just how to broach the subject when Tara took her hand and pulled her aside.

"Willow, did you see the way Xander was looking at me earlier?" Tara asked in a nervous whisper.

"Well, yeah," Willow said. She would have had to have been blind to have missed the exchange. Xander had almost drooled.

"Are you gonna’, you know, say something to him?" Tara asked.

"No…" Willow said slowly. "I already smacked him," she added. She wondered if Tara somehow felt unprotected. "I mean, he’s a guy. Guys look. He’d never try anything." She frowned, not wanting Tara to be uncomfortable. "Did he try something? Do you need me to talk to him, cuz I will."

Tara smiled, her point made. "No, darling." Her eyes met Willow’s. "There’s no harm in looking."

"Oh, well good." Willow relaxed. She hadn’t wanted to call Xander on his actions because he was simply being Xander … then it hit her. "I’m an idiot," Willow said with an embarrassed sigh. She finally got Tara’s point. "Buffy was just looking and she’d never try anything."

Tara nodded and her smile widened. She leaned over and kissed Willow’s cheek. "I love you when you get all protective girl, but I can take care of myself." She nodded toward the pool. "Now, let’s get changed and go for a swim."

Willow nodded.

"And if anyone looks," Tara tilted her head to one side. "You’ll know that you get to see the whole Tara package as soon as they leave.

"Oh, I like that." Willow got a glazed over look at the prospect. "Hey," she asked with a mischievous smirk. "Can I have a peek now?"

"Well, we do have to change into our swimsuits," Tara said after playful consideration. It still amazed her that Willow was so completely enamored with her physical appearance. "Who knows what you might accidentally see." She waggled her eyebrows.

"Accident, my ass," Willow whispered. She turned toward the others and raised her voice. "We’re gonna’ put on our swimsuits!" she yelled. She grabbed Tara’s hand and pulled her down the hall before the others could respond. "Woo and hoo!" Willow yelled.

Tara giggled and chased after her lover.

Anya sighed and watched them run off. She looked at Xander and Buffy who both seemed slightly confused by Willow’s enthusiasm. "They’re going to sneak in a quickie, you morons." She rolled her eyes and swam across the pool.

"Oh." Xander nodded knowingly. "I’m the king of the quickie," he boasted.

Buffy snickered.

"Not that I’m quick!" he amended.

"Xander, I so do not want to go there," Buffy explained. She looked down the hall and thought how lucky Willow was. Her smiled became wistful. She thought how lucky they both were. She would do anything to make sure that happiness was never threatened.

Xander was grinning as he continued staring down the hallway. He was imagining what Tara might wear and how Willow might help her change into it. "Ouch!" He grabbed the back of his head. "Anya!" he spun and saw Buffy glaring at him. "What?" he asked. "I’m a guy. We have thoughts."

"Well stop having them," Buffy ordered.

"Fine, whatever, but I’ll need a sex change," he whined.

Buffy groaned at his joke and swam away. ‘It wouldn’t help,’ she thought with a smirk.

In the other room, Willow and Tara actually were changing clothes, though they spent a few precious moments thoroughly checking the fit of their swimsuits, then they applied sunscreen to every body part, even though they were swimming indoors… and then they snuck in a not-so-quickie.

Back to Willow and Tara Page

On to Part Twenty-one - Epilogue

Back to Part Nineteen- chapters 37-38