DISCLAIMER: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its characters are the property of Joss Whedon, WB and UPN. No infringement intended.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Fate Intertwined
By Babydykecate
Don't leave me, even for an hour, because
then the little drops of anguish will all run together,
the smoke that roams looking for a home will drift
into me, choking my lost heart.
-Pablo Neruda
A tightness lingers for a moment in Willow's chest. Willow is puzzled and disturbed by the emotion that is so incongruous with her immense joy at once again holding Tara in her arms. Once she notices the way her fingers are tightly gripping Tara's sleeping form, she understands. While logic states that at some point in the future she'll have to be separated from Tara, Willow's heart aches at the thought of being apart for even the smallest moments.
From the moment their hands first touched, Willow had realized that they were of the same cloth, of the same soul. Tara felt like someone she had known her whole life; her very presence safe, warm, and familiar. Willow slowly let Tara into her soul, each spell, fight and triumph bringing them closer together. Their fates had been linked, their futures intertwined, with the promise that it would always be that way.
Then one day it all came crashing down. Tara turned to her as the crystal broke, betrayal on her face and tears in her eyes. Willow could only watch their connection unravel, a snag in a delicate fabric, unable to endure this last tear. The air had been knocked out of her lungs, each gasping breath burning and aching.
Willow curls closer into Tara, her skin pressed against Tara's. They are one again, their futures intertwined, and she promises it will always be this way. She couldn't bear it any other way.
Willow presses her back against the stone, her fingers tracing the engraved stone. The night comes softly, cold and dark, but Willow stays. Buffy stands nearby watching for vampires.
Willow knows it's foolish to sleep at a graveyard, but she can't leave her side. Tara is her other, of the same cloth and the same soul, and where she is, Willow belongs. Even a graveyard.
Time passes, and Willow learns to sleep in her own bed. At night Tara comes to her, and they dance again. Their feet don't touch the ground as they soar and twirl, holding tightly to each other.
Willow knows in her heart that one day she'll find Tara, and they will be one again. Even if she has to cross dimensions, or find a way to break the laws of nature and magicks, nothing can keep them apart for long. Theirs is a love that can't be broken by mere mortality. Their fate is written in the stars, their love as steady as the sea, as constant as the sun.
The End