FIC: Inner Battle (5/?)

["Roman" <rrivaso@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

TITLE (Tentative): Inner Battle
AUTHOR: Roman.
E-mail: rrivaso@xxxxxxxxxxxx , imroman@xxxxxxxxxx
PAIRING: Buffy/Willow
DISCLAIMER: All BTVS characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. I'm
just borrowing them for a little while and I'll retun them as undamaged as
posible. <g>
SPOILERS: Set like 3 or 4 months after Who are you. Adam's still at large,
or is he now?
SUMMARY : Let it be a surprise for now, ok?
DISTRIBUTION: If you want to place this on a website just e-mail me and I'll
say yes.
FEEDBACK : This is my first attempt to write a fic on any fandom so please
be gentle. However if it is your honest opinion that it s*cks, please tell
me. Just remember I have a weak heart <g>.


Just a short interlude before the last part of the chapter.
----------

Buffy got out of the tiny bathroom and back into the spare room she shared
with Willow to find her friend, already in her pajamas, sitting on the edge
of the bed tweaking at the little yellow ducks on the fabric, her body
language screaming nervousness at the top of it lungs.

The slayer sat down next to her and placed a hand on top of her friend's to
stop the tweaking and get her atention. "What is it Wills?"

The redhead regarded her a moment and it looked like she was trying to
gather courage to start talking. It must've been a pretty big issue if the
signs were any indication and it was getting the slayer a bit worried. "Hey,
you now you can tell me anything, right? You'll always be my Wills not
matter what."

Willow smiled a little and lowered her head a bit. "Ok...hmm...I kinda have
been keeping secrets from you....and from the rest of the gang" The hacker
said and risked a glance at the slayer. Buffy's look was not one of
recrimination but of acceptance and she became more at ease. Maybe she could
do this after all.

Buffy smiled. "I think we kinda had this conversation before. Secrets are
not always bad." Now her face turned softer. "Whatever it is you can tell
me."

"Well, the point is that... hmmm... you know Tara right? " Seeing Buffy's
nod she continued. "Well Tara and I... we... we kinda... hmm... I think it
started like 6 moths ago with the Gentlemen attacked and the everybody lost
their voices and we couldn't speak and nobody knew sign language and
communicating was kinda difficult and..."

As cute as it was to see Willow babbling away, Buffy had to cut her off.
"You're dating Tara." She said in a soft voice.

Willow stared at her a little bit. "You knew?!" Was the startled answer. Now
a look of alarm took over Willow's lovely features. "I mean, how? Was it
that obvious?"

"Hmmm...No it wasn't." Now it was the slayer's turn to look uncomfortable.
"Actually I... hmmm ...overheard you two once outside the dorm room." She
glanced at Willow. "I'm sorry but with the slayer hearing I couldn't help
it"

And that had been one the few times she had coursed her abilities. The
irrational surge of jealousy blindsided her and she had to stop herself from
barging through the door and decking Tara. She always thought that if her
Willow was going to fall for a woman, well it should've been her, right? But
that was not the case and she had come to make peace with that fact. Still,
she had to restained herself from time to time from breaking Tara's hand
anytime she touched Willow. She still needed to work on that one. It was not
like she didn't like the blond wicca, she really did, but when it came to
Willow, things tended to get a little irrational, like that little fantasy
of hers with that Oz-fur hat with the little tail she wanted for christmas
last year.

Willow was giving her a rather odd look. One she couldn't quite place. "I'm
really sorry Will, I didn't mean it and I didn't say anything because I knew
you'd say something whenever you were ready, and well, here we are." Buffy
tried a smile and held her breath until she saw the hacker respond in kind.
"If you're happy with her I'm happy for you. That's the only thing that
matters to me."

The hacker smiled fully at this."Thanks, but we are not dating anymore."

"Huh?"

"Every thing was great, and I mean great. I hadn't been that happy in a very
long time." She said, and then looked down again. "We've been dating for 5
months and Tara wanted us to move in together, she had found a great
apartment just outside campus, but I couldn't do it. She said she understood
my reasons and I said I wasn't so sure about that, but then she told me what
those reasons were, and it was crystal clear she understood. This may not
seem enough for a breakup, but there were very special circumstances. We
remained friends, very good friends and still rely on each other for
anything, but the phisyc.. err... dating part is over."

The slayer flinched a little bit at the slip but Willow didn't seem to
notice."Would I be prying if I ask you what those reasons were?"

The look Willow gave her then was one she could easily identify, she had
seen it before but never from her best friend directed at her. Could it be?
A little shiver went down her spine and she had to swallow at her sudden
nervousness.

The hacker smiled a bit. "Those reasons are a big part of what I wanted to
talk to you about, see..."

Just then the door flew open and Tara barged in, inmediatly closing the door
behind her and leaning against it. She had a little frightened look on her
features and was a little out of breath.

"What's wrong?"

Tara took on the position of the two girls on the bed and realized she had
intruded on something important. Damn. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were
busy"

The slayer shook her head "It's okay, It can wait. What is it?"

"Hmmm... Anya wanted to play a little game and well lets just say that it
got a little too weird when she started taking her clothes off and talking
about the rules of this 'Self exploration relay race' so I sprinted out of
there."

The slayer chuckled a bit and told the blond "It will be better if you
stayed with us, a Xanderless Anya can be pretty dangerous." She turned to
Will for aproval and found it. "Then it's settled, there's a sleeping bag
somewhere here. One of us will have to take the floor" The slayer stood up
and went to the closet to search for it.

Tara turned to Willow and gave her an inquiring look.

The readhead shook her head no and sighed a little.

The blond wicca released a sigh of her own and went to help the salyer.

************
TBC