Here and There: Chapter 8
by ang118
Chapter 8
Part 1: THERE
”Why are you doing this?” Willow asked.
“Because I love you,” Tara said.
“She’s not me.”
“Yes, she is,” Tara said. “Or at least, as close to you as I will ever have again.”
“It’s not right. You know it in your heart.”
“Do I?” Tara asked. “I thought you wanted me to happy.”
“I do,” Willow insisted. “Just... not like this.”
Tara looked away.
“Please,” Willow said. “Let her go. She doesn’t belong on your world. She doesn’t belong to you.”
“And neither do you,” Tara said softly. “Not anymore.”
“But...” Willow protested.
“Leave me alone,” Tara said firmly. “You died. That’s all. You’re gone and she is here. I WILL be happy and the only one that can make me happy is her ”
Tara rolled over fitfully in her sleep.
‘What have I done?’ Her subconscious wondered. ‘This isn’t right.’
But her conscious mind was asleep, so it didn’t listen.
***
“Ok,” Buffy said. “The Anyas are on the phone calling every motel and hotel within a hundred mile radius. The Dawns and the other Buffy are searching through Tara’s room for anything that might give us a clue as to where she may have taken Willow. And Angel and Connor are out searching the area to see if they can pick up their scents.” She paused. “I just feel like there’s something else we could be doing. Can anybody think of anything else?”
“I could try another locator spell,” Giles offered. “But it would probably be a waste of time like the last one.”
“Maybe you could try looking for a way to disable the spell she’s using to block the locator spell,” Cordelia suggested.
“Is that even possible?” Buffy asked.
“In theory,” Cordy said. She turned to the other Giles. “What do you think?”
“I think it would be worth looking into,” he said.
“Ok, you and Giles look into that,” Buffy said.
“What are you gonna do?” The other Xander asked.
“I think I should go back to my dimension and tell my Xander what’s going on,” Buffy said. “But, I’m gonna need my Anya for that.”
“I’ll go tell her,” the other Xander said.
“And while you’re at it, you should probably give your Anya a hand with the phones.”
***
”This is wrong,” Tara said. “She’s put a spell on you. She’s making you do what she tells you to do.”
“No,” Willow said. “She would never do that.”
“Will...”
“You’re lying,” Willow said weakly. “She loves me and she would never do anything to hurt me. Not like that. Not like I...”
“Did to me?”
Willow opened her eyes. “Tara?”
“What?” The other Tara asked.
“What did you do?”
“I...”
Willow sat up. “You’ve been crying,” she said.
Tara nodded.
“What’s wrong?”
“I did something. Something bad.”
“Baby,” Willow said. “It’s alright. It can’t be that bad.”
Tara turned her head. She couldn’t bare to look at Willow. “You’re gonna leave me.”
“No. Why would I...” Willow stopped. “Oh. You cast a spell on me,” she said softly.
Tara nodded. “I didn’t want to lose you again.”
Willow sighed. “We’ve already been over this. I’m not your Willow. We don’t belong together. It’s not right.”
“I don’t care,” Tara said. “I love you and I want you to be with me forever.”
“We have to go back,” Willow said firmly. “And you have to get over this... this...thing. Your Willow is gone and there is nothing you can do to change that.”
***
“I found them,” the other Xander announced.
“Where?” Buffy asked.
“A motel about thirty miles out of town. We’ll take my car.”
“Yeah,” the other Buffy said. “Since apparently Tara took mine.”
“And you’re just noticing this now?” Buffy asked.
The other Buffy shrugged. “What? I never drive it.”
“Whatever,” Buffy said. “But will all of us fit in your car?” she asked the other Xander.
“Where are we going?” a familiar voice asked from the entrance to the workout room.
“Willow?” Buffy asked.
“I came in the back,” Willow explained. “Since the front was locked.”
Buffy, Xander, and Dawn rushed to greet the witch.
“What’s going on?” Willow asked, “AND breathing becoming an issue.”
“We were looking for you,” Dawn said.
“Yeah,” Buffy added. “We thought Tara had lost it and kidnaped you.”
“Actually,” Willow said. “She did. But we talked about it and she let me go.”
“Where is she now?” the other Buffy asked.
“I don’t know,” Willow admitted. “She might still be at the motel, but I doubt it.”
“How did you get back?” Dawn asked.
“Drove. And I think these belong to you,” she said, tossing the other Buffy her car keys.
“So, I guess that means it’s over,” Xander said. “And we can go home now?”
“Guess so,” Buffy said.
“What about me?” the other Anya asked.
Buffy looked at her, then at Anya. “I guess you can come with. If you still want to.”
“And the anchors?” the other Buffy asked.
Buffy thought about it for a second.
While Buffy was thinking, Willow walked over and smashed the two on the table. “We won’t be needing those anymore.”
“And I guess we can just leave the other one alone. Since the Anyas will need it to get back here,” Buffy said.
“And,” Dawn added. “Since I’ll need it to come back and visit Dawn this weekend.”
“Only if you finish all you’re homework,” Buffy said.
“And that goes for you too,” the other Buffy told her sister.
The Dawns exchanged an annoyed glance.
“Well, I guess we should get going,” Buffy said. “It’s getting late and I have to work tomorrow and I know a couple girls named Dawn that have school in the morning.”
“But, you’ll come back and visit, right?” the other Buffy asked.
The slayer smiled. “You can count on it.”
***A/N Sorry, but that is the end of this story. There’s a real good chance that I will write at least one more sequel, but that might not happen any time soon. I hope you’ve enjoyed it so far. Keep reading and those of you who have reviewed, thanks! Keep it up. You’re the only thing that kept me going.***
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