Things Change And Stay The Same.: Back Into Chaos
by inlovewithangel
“Tara,” Angel repeated. “Willow’s girlfriend who… she’s dead, Buffy.”
Buffy was shaking her head. “No.” She lifted a shaky hand and pointed to the woman who was drawing nearer to them with each step. “That’s Tara. I know her. I know it’s Tara.”

Angel looked pained. He turned back towards the woman, only a few feet away from them now, and could do nothing else but wait.

As soon as she was in earshot, Buffy spoke. “Tara?”

Tara turned her head to look at them, but her face showed no spark of recognition. “Are you talking to me?” she asked.

Buffy pointed to herself. “Tara, it’s Buffy. Do you remember me?”

Tara frowned at her, and took a step closer to the couple. “Do you know me? I can’t remember…anything. Do you know who I am? Please, will you help me?”

At this, Buffy drew in a sharp breath of air. “Oh, Tara.”

Tara looked even more distressed. “I’m sorry… Tara? I-is that my name? I just can’t… seem to remember anything.”

Buffy ran a hand through her long blonde hair. She couldn’t seem to find anything to say, and so she turned to her lover.

Angel looked down at Buffy, and realized she was in no emotional condition to deal with a situation such as this one. “Tara,” he said, turning to the amnesiac. “You’re an old friend of ours. You should come with us, okay?”

Although she seemed relieved that someone knew her, she was still hesitant to go with these people who were, to her, strangers. “Um, I’m not sure…”

Buffy clambered in her purse. “Here,” she said, pulling out her wallet. Inside, she ruffled through pockets. She finally found what she was looking for. She handed Tara a photograph. It depicted herself along with the witch.

“Oh my God,” Tara whispered, as if this photo seemed to bring everything to reality. Tara looked up and nodded. “I’ll come,” she said, her eyes wide. “I’ll come.”

In the car, which was parked a few blocks away, each was locked in their own private thoughts. Angel hadn’t met the girl before, but he knew that anyone that caused Willow to fall deeply in love with her must be a pretty amazing woman. He was worried, though, about the disturbed look that contorted his love’s face. He knew that Tara brought up memories of some of the Scooby Gang’s hardest times.

Tara was just trying to work through all of this in her mind. She went over all the things she knew about herself. One, she was female. Okay, that’s kind of a given. Two, she was American. Three, she recognized that she was in LA, so that must mean she had some common knowledge about the world. Four, her name was Tara. The two people that were apparently friends of hers knew that, and the picture proved it. Five, she thought she was kinda gay. But besides that, her mind was a blank.

Angel reached over and squeezed Buffy’s knee. She looked over at him and gave a small smile that signified that his presence comforted her. However, she quickly turned her head back so that she was looking out over the LA streets. Tara was back. This shook Buffy, to her very core. I should have known, she thought bitterly, just when everything was unusually normal, something came, and shifted their lives back into chaos. Just like always.


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