Fan Fic: Spirit's Flame (Complete)

[Erin <erin@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

This one is the sequel to "Aftershocks." I wasn't sure about the
rating, there's some very mild sexual content so I'd like some
assistance rating this. Whether you guys think it should be a PG-13,
R, or NC-17. Please let me know what you think. I'm only posting it
to the Buffy Wants Willow list until a rating determination is made
for sure.

Thanks!

Erin

TITLE: Spirit's Flame
AUTHOR: Erin (erin@xxxxxxxxxxx)
SPOILERS: Some spoilers through Doomed (Season 4)
RATING: I'm thinking PG-13, but it might be closer to an R. Some
kissing, a mention of nudity, slight explicit language. It is a
Buffy/Willow fic, so if that bothers you, or it's illegal to even
think of a Slayer and a Witch getting it on, then just don't read it.
Or move.
DISCLAIMER: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all characters belong to Joss
Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and Fox. I'm just borrowing them for a bit.
I'll put them back when I'm done, no worse for wear (but maybe a
little happier).
ARCHIVE: Currently, none. Just ask, I'd love to say yes.
FEEDBACK: Constructive comments are encouraged.
SUMMARY: (Buffy/Willow) Willow has a surprise in store for her, as her
encounter with the Goddess leaves lasting effects. Sequel to
"Aftershocks".


"Buffy, look out!" The warning caused the Slayer to whip
around, barely blocking the kick leveled at her by the vampire. The
vampire growled in fury, and shot a glance toward the source of the
warning, a redheaded bitch who was keeping to the sides of the fight.
"Get her!" he snarled to the other three vampires. "I'll take care of
blondie, here."

Buffy raised an eyebrow, and got into a fighting stance.
"Blondie, huh? Wow, you must've been turned for your wit and
originality." She lashed out with a leg, coming solidly into contact
with the side of his head. The vampire grunted, and his head snapped
around. Were he still human, such a kick would probably have killed
him.

Willow looked nervously at the three approaching vampires.
She held a cross in her left hand, and a stake in her right. She
waved the cross in the direction of the vampires, and they shied away
from it and began to surround her. "Um, you guys don't want to eat
me," she said, stalling. "I think I'm anemic."

Buffy followed up on her kick with a series of devastating
kicks and punches. She drove the vampire relentlessly backward, and
he stumbled against a mound of turf and fell back. The moment of
distraction was all that Buffy needed; before he could react she fell
on him, driving her stake into his heart.

Two of the vampires advancing on Willow saw their comrade
fall, and they were on Buffy like a shot. Willow yelled out a
warning, and then felt something solid hit her from behind. She fell
and twisted, the cross slipping from her hand. The third vampire was
on her in a second, reaching for her neck. Willow had the presence of
mind to angle her stake so that it was pointed upward, away from her
chest; when the vampire lunged on top of her, he drove the stake into
his own heart. A moment later, he was dust.

Buffy was having a difficult time with the remaining two
vampires; there were gashes and bruises on her arms. She roundhouse
kicked one vampire who then was knocked back into a tree trunk and
landed heavily on the turf, unmoving. Buffy turned her attention to
the remaining vampire. 

The remaining vampire took a couple of steps back, and his
eyes surveyed the scene nervously. This was supposed to be an easy
kill; even when they found out one of the girls was the Slayer, they
figured that four against one would be enough to tip the odds in their
favor.

Buffy advanced on the last vampire, bold and confident. "Now,
be a good boy and let me stake you," she said, "and we can all go home
happy. Well, not you." She punctuated that with a swift leg sweep
which took the vamp's legs right out from under him. In a flash Buffy
drove the stake into his heart, dusting him.

Willow rose somewhat unsteadily to her feet just in time to
see the other vampire, supposedly knocked out, advancing on Buffy.
She barely had time to call out a warning before he lashed out with a
nasty kick that caught Buffy right underneath the rib cage. Buffy
tried to roll, tried to get far enough away from the vamp to get to
her feet, but he followed her too closely. Another swift kick and she
felt her head snap back as his booted foot caught her squarely in the
face. She fell back, and fought for consciousness.

Willow watched in horror as the vampire kicked Buffy one last
time. Self-loathing warred with terror in Willow's heart; they would
have never had a problem if Buffy could count on her to hold her own.
If she wasn't so goddamned useless in a fight...! Willow ran to
Buffy's side, shielding her from the vampire.

The vampire was somewhat taken aback by Willow's bold move,
and then he gave her a cruel, thin smile. "Oh good," he said, "more
for me." He leapt at the two women, eyes gleaming with a feral light.

"No!" Willow screamed. She threw up a hand, and flinched away
from the vampire's impending attack. A heat, unlike any she'd ever
experienced, flowed through her. She watched, stunned, as a bolt of
flame erupted from her outstretched hand and struck the vampire in the
chest, throwing him back. The vampire sank to his knees and watched
in horror as the flames spread over his body. He screamed and
collapsed as his body was consumed by the flames.

"Will..." Buffy rasped, as she struggled to sit up, "what the
Hell was that?"

Willow looked at her hand like it was suddenly not part of her
body, an alien thing. "I...I don't know. I wish I knew."

* * *

Buffy and Willow limped into their dorm room, locking the door
behind them. Buffy eased down onto the bed, and Willow brought out
the first aid kit. Although she was able to heal the worst of Buffy's
injuries with the gift Brighid had given her, it still took a great
deal of energy, so Buffy insisted that all the smaller cuts and
bruises be bandaged and left to her natural, Slayer healing.

Although, Willow thought, the energy the healing took was
nothing compared to what happened to her after setting that vampire on
fire. When Willow tried to stand up after that, she got such a wave
of dizziness that she almost collapsed on the spot. Buffy nearly had
to carry her home, but Willow made it under her own power. Barely.

"Are you feeling any better?" Buffy asked, once Willow had
finished cleaning the minor cuts.

"Yeah, I guess so. Still pretty tired, but I think I'm
getting my energy back. I don't know what happened, though. I
certainly didn't cast a spell or anything that I can remember."

Buffy looked thoughtful. "We'll ask Giles about it tomorrow.
He might know what's going on, or at least be able to do the research
thing. In the meantime, care for a shower?" She grinned at Willow as
she said this.

Willow grinned back. "Ok, but separate showers. I don't know
how long I'll be able to stand up."

Buffy laughed. "Ok, spoilsport." She and Willow grabbed
their stuff.

* * *

"Mmm, clean is nice," Willow said, slipping under the covers
next to Buffy. The two of them slept in Willow's bed ever since that
night, the first night they made love. It was a bit on the small
side, but since that meant that she and Buffy would have to sleep
curled up together, neither one of them really minded.

Willow put her arm around her lover's stomach, and rested her
head on Buffy's shoulder. "Geez, Will," Buffy said, chuckling, "did
you stick your head in the refrigerator or something? Your hair is ice
cold."

Willow stuck her tongue out at the Slayer. "Of course it is,
silly, it's wet. And who told you to come to bed naked, anyway?"

Buffy smiled at Willow lasciviously. "Who told you *not* to?"
She rolled over on top of the redhead and bent her head down, kissing
her soundly. Willow's hands roamed over Buffy's bare skin, across her
back and around to her breasts. She could hear the Slayer's quick
gasp, and felt her lover's lips move down, planting kisses on her
chin, her jaw, her neck... Everywhere Buffy touched her, Willow felt
like her skin was on fire. Oh, the heat...

A bright movement caught her attention, and Willow glanced
over Buffy's shoulder. Her eyes widened. "Fire!" she yelped, pushing
Buffy away and pointing. "Fire!"

"Huh?" Was all Buffy could think of to say, and she looked
where Willow was pointing. Sure enough, a towel that had been draped
across the back of Willow's desk chair was on fire. Buffy leaped up,
grabbed the towel, and smothered it against the floor. The fire was
quickly put out, and luckily it didn't even give off enough smoke to
set off the fire alarms.

"It's ok," Buffy said, sitting down next to Willow. "It's
out." Willow looked around wildly. "How did it catch on fire? The
towel was wet, Buffy, it was wet!"

Buffy wrapped her arms around her friend. "Ssh, Will, it's
ok..." She rubbed Willow's back comfortingly. "This is scaring me,
Buffy," Willow whispered. "I had to have done it, I had to have set
that thing on fire, but I don't know how..."

Buffy joined Willow under the covers, and pulled her into a
hug. "We'll talk to Giles first thing tomorrow," she said softly.
"Don't worry, Will, everything will be ok. Giles will know what it
is."

* * *

"Pyrokinesis," Giles said. "It's the ability to start fires
using one's thoughts. It generally manifests itself during puberty.
Why do you ask?" Giles took off his glasses, and looked at the girls.

Buffy and Willow exchanged glances. "See, we had this close
call last night, with a few vampires," Buffy began. "I was down, and
there was one vampire left. Willow was trying to shield me from the
vampire's attack until I could recover. The next thing I knew, Willow
put her hand out and he turned into Vampy-que."

Giles looked at Willow, startled. "I see, have there been any
other incidents?"

Willow cleared her throat. "Well, last night, in our dorm
room, I set a towel on fire. A wet towel."

Giles thought for a moment. "Well, such a power can manifest
itself at times of extreme distress, or emotional intensity. What
were you doing last night when you set the towel on fire?"

Willow went beet red. "Um..." she glanced at Buffy. Buffy
was suddenly very interested in Giles' desk lamp.

"Never mind," Giles said, holding up his hand. "I think I can
guess."

"Um, but, Giles, we've...that is to say, it wasn't the
first...I mean...I've never set towels on fire before!" Willow managed
to finish.

Giles cleared his throat. "Yes, well, I suspect that the
close call with the vampire last night managed to unlock your powers.
What puzzles me, though, is that you're far too old have this power by
way of psychic ability. It must be magick."

"But I haven't performed even the smallest fire spell in
weeks!" Willow said.

"What about that goddess, the same one who gave you your
healing power?" Buffy asked.

"It couldn't have been her," Willow frowned, trying to
remember. "She told me she'd give me healing or fire, and I chose
healing."

Buffy thought for a moment. "Actually, Will...She asked you
which one you would choose." She shrugged. "Maybe that was some sort
of test, to see if you would choose the big destructo power, like the
warlock wanted to."

Willow's shoulders slumped. "Then why can't I control it? I
do just fine with the healing."

Giles sat at his desk, and began flipping through a book. "I
suspect that the fire gift requires somewhat more control than the
healing. That is, it's difficult to heal someone to death, so a
little extra energy put into it is hardly noticeable." He paused, and
took his glasses off for a moment. "I'll try to find anything I can
on these gifts, and how to control them. Willow, I think the best
thing you can possibly do now is practice. Don't practice alone, and
try doing it someplace safe. Buffy, I assume you'll be willing to
help her."

Buffy nodded, and sat down next to Willow. "Hey," she said
softly, "it's going to be ok. The both of us together, we'll have you
in control of this in no time. And then you'll be out there, fighting
beside me, torching vampires before you know it." This seemed to
cheer Willow up a bit, and she smiled up at her best friend. Buffy
smiled back, and said, "C'mon. Let's go practice."

* * *

It was a long, frustrating afternoon. The girls tried to
think of some place safe to have Willow practice; it needed to be
secluded, but the woods were out because of too much vegetation.
Buffy suggested a swimming pool, but it wasn't secluded enough, and
Willow argued that she didn't know how she was going to start any fire
if everything was soaked. So the girls finally settled on an empty
chemistry lab. Between the metal and stone tables, and the tile
floor, there was nothing that would burn should Willow inadvertently
lose control of her power. They hoped.

Willow stood staring at a candle sitting in a lab sink. She
frowned. "How am I supposed to control this power if I don't know how
to use it?" She had been trying to light the candle for the past
twenty minutes without success.

"The last couple of times it happened, did you feel anything?"
Buffy asked, looking over Willow's shoulder.

"It felt like...heat. Like there was something inside me
generating this heat. But I don't know where it was, or what it was.
I can't narrow it down." Willow sighed in frustration.

Buffy thought for a moment, and then got an idea. She came up
behind Willow, and slowly ran her hands up under her shirt. Leaning
forward, she licked Willow's earlobe and whispered, "Look at the
candle." Willow's breath caught, and she stared fixedly at the candle
before her. Buffy ran her hands across Willow's skin, up her stomach
and up to her breasts, feeling them under the cloth of her bra. She
squeezed slightly, and began kissing Willow behind the ear, down to
the nape of her neck.

The candle, wick and wax both, exploded into flame. The two
girls stared at the smoldering remains of the candle. Buffy flashed a
triumphant smile. "Looks like it worked."

Willow smiled. "Oh yeah, that'll be great. Now all I need to
toast some vamps is for you to start kissing and groping me as soon as
we see 'em."

"Well, as much as I wouldn't mind," Buffy chuckled, "that
would probably get too distracting. But at least now you felt it,
right? You know where the heat is coming from?"

Willow nodded, hesitantly. "Um, I think so. Let's try
another one." Buffy fished another candle out of the box they had
bought, and set it in the sink next to the remains of the last one.
Willow stared at it, felt the place deep down inside her that was the
source of the flame. She tapped into it, allowing it to escape.

The second candle exploded. Buffy jumped up and down. "Hey,
you did it!" Willow picked bits of wax out of her hair, and said
glumly, "Yeah, I did it. I still can't control it." Buffy shook her
head and said, "You'll get there. Let's try another one."

* * *

Hours passed. The girls stopped when they finally ran out of
candles. Unfortunately, Willow hadn't come any closer to being able
to control her power, and bits of candlewax covered the sink and
counter. Buffy looked at her friend, worriedly.

"Don't worry about it too much Will, you'll get the hang of
it..."

"And what about until I do?" Willow replied, sharply.
"Someone startles me, and I could turn them into the Human Torch. It
could be anyone, I could hurt Xander, or Giles, or even..." Her voice
fell to a whisper, "even you. I never want to hurt you, Buffy." She
buried her face in her hands. "I can't even barely touch you."

It broke Buffy's heart to hear her love talk like that.
"Listen to me," Buffy said, pulling her friend into a hug. "I know
you'd never hurt me. Or any of our friends. Control is just going to
take practice, Will. Come on, we'll go back to the dorm and order
pizza."

Willow sniffed, and rubbed her eyes. "You go ahead. I'm
going to stay here and clean up." Buffy looked at her, and asked,
"Are you sure?" Willow nodded. "I'll be fine, I'll clean up and then
I'll meet you back in the room." Buffy left regretfully, but she knew
the redhead needed some time alone.

Willow cleaned up the lab, and left the building. There was a
full moon out, casting bright beams of light over the campus. Willow
walked slowly across the lawn in the cool night air. Why? She
thought. Why was this happening? She was happy with her life right
now. "Goddess," Willow whispered, "why did you do this to me?"

She heard a voice in her head, calming her, soothing her like
a breeze across her mind. "Do what, child?"

Willow looked around, and saw the figure of the Goddess
standing a few feet away. She appeared smaller and more translucent
than she did the first time, but the face was still distinct. It was
Brighid.

Willow looked at the Goddess pleadingly. "Why did you give me
this gift that I can't control?"

Brighid looked down at the girl and smiled. "But you can
control it, child. You are the Avatar; I wouldn't have given you the
power if you couldn't control it."

"But I don't know how!" Willow felt the tears running down her
cheeks. "And I'm a danger to all my friends until I can."

The Goddess looked at Willow sympathetically. "Would you
rather I take the gift from you? I could do that, but if I do your
ability to assist the Slayer in her battles will be limited. You will
not be able to protect her as you would like. Is that what you wish?"

Willow shook her head. She knew the Goddess was right; deep
down she had been praying for something to make her more useful,
something which would help her protect Buffy as Buffy always protected
her.

"To live with this gift is to live every day with the
knowledge that you can harm another living being, perhaps even kill
them. It is the responsibility that your Slayer bears every day of
her life, and it will be your responsibility too. The power does not
come easily, nor is it to be used lightly. It is a hard lesson, but
one which is necessary to learn.

"Now then." The Goddess came closer. Willow couldn't tell
whether she walked or glided, her movements were so smooth and
precise. "The gift comes from your spirit. You have a great deal of
spirit, Avatar." She smiled at the girl. "But the means to control
the gift come from your heart and your mind. You have been calling on
the gift without telling the gift what you want it to do."

Willow started when the Goddess said this. "Tell it what to
do..." she murmured. "I think I understand!"

The Goddess smiled. "Your love is waiting for you, child.
She is very worried. Ease her fears." The Goddess disappeared an
instant later.

Willow looked into the moonlit sky. "Thank you, Goddess," she
whispered, and then took off running in the direction of Stevenson
Hall.

* * *

Buffy was pacing around the room; for what seemed like the
thousandth time she told herself that she shouldn't have let Willow
walk home alone. But part of her knew that it had to be done, that
Willow had a hard enough time trusting herself right now without Buffy
making things worse.

Buffy was startled as Willow came bursting into the room. She
was absolutely stunned, though, when Willow ran over to her and
grabbed her in a big hug, nearly pulling her off of her feet.

"Whoa! Willow! To what do I owe this very nice, but very
manic-depressive, turnaround?"

Willow held up her hand. "Wait! I need to try something
first." She grabbed a scented candle off of her dresser, and placed
it on her desk. Buffy raised an eyebrow but kept silent. Willow sat
down in front of the candle and concentrated.

Visualize, she thought. Don't pull on the power, just imagine
what you want it to do... She stared at the candle for several seconds
and the wick finally burst into flame.

Buffy looked shocked and happy. "Will, that's great!" She ran
over and hugged her best friend. "But how..."

Willow smiled, and hugged her back. "A little visit from the
Goddess," she said, happily. "When she talked to me, I knew what to
do. I knew what I was doing wrong."

Buffy grinned at her friend. "So does this mean you can
control it?"

Willow pulled Buffy into a kiss, saying, "There's only one way
to find out..."

And the single candle left burning all night was proof enough
of her success.

END
-- 
"Then again, what is college for if not experimenting?" 
-- Willow, BtVS
*email: erin@xxxxxxxxxxx