Fic... "An Act Of Faith." 'PG-13'

["A.M. Glass" <glasswrks@xxxxxxxxx>]

Title: "An Act Of Faith."
Author: Angela
E-Mail: glasswrks@xxxxxxxxx
Copyright: February 29, 2000
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon, Fox, Mutant Enemy all have
something to do with "Buffy The Vampire Slayer", and
all the characters contained herein. The story, as
well as any original characters, if there are any, are
the sole property of the author, me. No copyright
infringement is intended or inferred.
Spoilers: "Who Are You, Part 2"
Author's Note: This is another one of my 'Tara's
Thoughts' on tonight's episode, plus a mini story
included. I am lifting some dialogue, which was
written by Joss. Sorry J, but I needed to use some.

*****

Oh… Goddess, I felt so sick.

I know it wasn't Buffy now, but I had to get away from
her. Especially after all the things she said to me
while Willow was getting me a drink. I felt physically
sick. I've never had that happen to me before.

I couldn't think.

I had to tell Willow that I wasn't feeling well. I had
to do something, I knew it would be the only way to
let Willow know what I had sensed while with 'Buffy'.
I needed to get away from the person Willow considers
her best friend.

Last night had started off so well; there were a few
good things that occurred; first holding Willow's hand
while we walked over to 'Buffy', the other was the
spell Willow and I accomplished.

Her skin is so soft…

Back to the point.

We were able to reverse the process and Buffy was back
in her rightful body.

I could sense right away when we finally met, that
Buffy would never say the things… 'she' had said the
night before.

I never really knew how hurtful people could be.

Faith…

She perverted everything.

Made me feel dirty.

I… don't ever want to feel that way again…

I know I had written earlier there were a few good
things that happened last night, well, I think I
should write this down as well. I haven't decided if I
should jot down what happened while we… never mind.
That's something I think I want to keep to myself, and
not on some piece of paper anyone could run across.

Anyway, I liked when Willow said she didn't want to
share me… let me see if I remember it correctly.

She said, "I… I just kinda like having something
that's just… you know, mine." She went on, but I think
I recalled the important part, not that what she has
to say isn't important. But, the part that was
important to me.

Of course I meant it when I told her, "I am you know…
yours."

Then she smiled that smile that crept into my heart;
one I hope to have the privilege of always witnessing
and hopefully provoking, and decided to claim a spot
that no one else would ever touch.

Tara put her pen down when someone knocked on her
door.

"Come in."

"Hi."

"Oh, hi. How are you?" she asked Willow.

"Fine… Tara, what did Faith say to you?" Willow asked,
walking towards her.

"Umm… nothing. Why?" She replied closing her journal.

"Hey, come on. You weren't feeling sick before we
bumped into her at the Bronze, not that we would ever
bump into Faith, who was Buffy at the time and I could
see how we could happily bump into Buffy but never
Faith. No, that would be number one on the list of
things *not* to do. So… you can tell me, can't you?"
she asked, wondering what Tara had been writing as she
came into her room.

"We should talk about other things, like…"

"Issue avoidance?"

"I like Buffy…" Tara said as she tried to steer the
conversation away from the subject.

"I like her to, I love her even, she's special. She's
my best friend but that still doesn't answer the
question of what Faith said to you. I… I trust you and
I hope you trust me enough to be able to tell me. We
wouldn't have been able to do what we had to without
that trust. So, I'm asking you again. What did Faith
tell you at the Bronze last night? When we thought she
was Buffy."

"I'm not sure you really want to hear it Willow," Tara
replied, wondering if she would ever see Willow again
after she answered it.

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that," Willow
answered. She couldn't believe that she had been
fooled by Faith, she had a brief feeling that
something was wrong when they were at Giles'. She had
even asked, 'What's wrong?' It had only taken a few
words, 'I'd never let her hurt you.' to alleviate her
misgivings. So, here she stood, needing to know what
Faith had said to her friend.

"Well… I… I think it started when I kinda followed you
as you went to get something to drink," Tara began as
Willow nodded her head. "Buffy had said something
about us hanging out a lot lately."

"Go on," Willow said, taking hold of Tara's hand for
support.

"So… I agreed and said your cool. Which you are," Tara
added. Willow noticed how Tara started to frown.
Whatever it was that Faith had said, it wasn't very
kind.

"Tara… please."

"She said," Tara whispered, "She… she said, 'So,
Willows' not driving stick anymore.' Willow please
don't make me say the rest," Tara pleaded, as she felt
sick to her stomach once again.

"I'm sorry," Willow replied, gathering Tara in her
arms, while they both cried.

"I don't understand," Tara said, tears streaming down
her face. "Why are you sorry? She said these things
about you."

"I can't really explain it, but I don't want you to
ever feel bad about our friendship. And that's what
Faith does, it's what she's best at, hurting people.
I… I'm sorry, if we had never met you'd…"

"Willow… stop. Don't say anything else; I'm not sorry
I met you. I don't think I could ever be sorry."

"I'm glad we met too," Willow replied.

"I think we've had enough Faith for one day. Why don't
we get something to eat?" Tara asked the other girl.

"Sounds like a plan."

"Great."

They left Tara's room and headed for the snack bar,
hand in hand.

The End

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger.
http://im.yahoo.com