Mistletoe
by Kirayoshi
[reviews]
Disclaimers;
Joss and his usual suspects own them. I don't. No money exchanged hands.
Rating; I'm aiming for a strong R.
Spoilers; general seventh season, but keep in mind that I no longer get UPN in Spokane (talk about your Grr, Argh!), so I'm winging it. This takes place in mid-December, just after Chanukah and before Christmas. It also takes place before episode 7-10, "Bring on the Night".
Feedback; Send candy canes or lumps of coal to JDMeans@aol.com
Summary; At Christmastime, a little mistletoe goes a long way...
Mistletoe
By Kirayoshi
"Christmas is the time to say I love you,
Share the joy and laughter and good cheer.
Christmas is the time to say I love you, and
A feeling that will last all through the year."
--Billy Squier
"Christmas Is the Time to Say I Love You"
Two ethereal figures stood watch over the beleaguered town that stood at the Hellmouth. They went unseen throughout the streets, within the homes and into the deepest recesses of the city. They observed as the denizens of Sunnydale prepared their homes for the coming holidays, purchasing and wrapping gifts, stringing lights, trimming trees. Shedding light against the darkness of the Hellmouth.
The two guardians smiled at these efforts and returned their concentration to the task at hand. They were on a mission, and failure was not an option.
"It is imperative that you understand the importance of this mission," the senior entity informed his subordinate. "The First Evil is about, and the Chosen one will face many threats. We may not interfere with her battle."
"But we can't simply let her face this evil alone, Joseph!" the subordinate guardian complained.
"She will not be alone," Joseph assured him. "That is why we are here tonight. I'm trusting you to do what is necessary to help the Slayer and her destined companion find each other."
"You may count on me, sir," the junior guardian answered, departing with the speed of thought to his destination.
Buffy stood back and admired her work with the satisfaction of a difficult job finally mastered; after a half-hour of hunting, she finally found the dead bulb in the string of lights, the one that was causing half the lights on the string to blink out. Smiling, she slowly wrapped the lights around the tree, making sure to evenly space them so the tree didn't look lopsided when she was done. With the tree sufficiently lighted, she scurried to the basement to locate the ornament chest.
This felt good, she decided as she located the chest. After all her post-resurrection traumas, along with Willow's spiraling into black magic, the holidays had been pretty much a write-off last year. This year, however, things were different. There was an evil to face, true, and Spike's increasing erratic behavior to deal with. But she was back, and it was long past time for her to reconnect with her family and friends.
As she returned to the living room with the ornaments, she glanced at the window, remembering the menorah that had been there the week before. Willow had invited her to light the candle for the first night of Chanukah shortly after Thanksgiving, and over the following week Dawn and Xander joined the two of them in several spirited rounds of the Dreidel game, for stakes of red and green M&Ms. Buffy even managed to successfully cook potato pancakes for the final night. Yeah, she realized, the holidays were going to work this year.
The sound of a door latch opening caught Buffy's attention. She tensed slightly, before remembering that no vampire could enter her house without her invitation, and the one vamp that had permission to enter her house was a minimal threat. The door opened, and a tall stack of packages wandered in, carried by a short redhead who could barely see over the top of the stack. "A little assist here, Buffy," Willow called out from behind the pile, and Buffy gladly rushed to her friend's aid. She lifted the top package, and was greeted by a weary but happy expression on Willow's face. "Thanks, Buffy," she answered as she maneuvered her parcels into the living room and placed them on the coffee table. "Got my Christmas shopping done today, and I also picked up some chocolate chips for cookies today."
"Oh goody," Buffy smiled with anticipation; she could already taste Willow's cookies. "Too bad Dawnie's over at Janice's for a sleepover. She could have helped me."
"Yeah," Buffy chided, "we'll have to eat all the cookies ourselves!"
"We'll save her some," Willow promised. As she made her way to the kitchen with the chips, she stopped suddenly at the doorframe. "Hey, Buff, where'd this come from?"
Buffy glanced at Willow, who was pointing above her head. She followed Willow's finger and noticed a sprig of greenery hanging from the doorframe. She walked over toward Willow, her eyes fixed on the small smooth leaves and white berries. "Hmm," Buffy mused, her voice taking on a teasing tone, "looks like mistletoe to me."
Willow immediately flinched, ducking to the side to avoid standing directly under the diabolical sprig. Buffy caught sight of Willow's slightly embarrassed blush and smiled hugely. "Too late, Will," she purred as she leaned in forward and kissed her best friend gently on the lips. A mere peck, but still warmly affectionate.
"Hmm," Willow purred slightly as she reluctantly pulled away from Buffy, "that was nice." Very nice, she mentally amended. "But, uh, did you put up that mistletoe?"
"Not me," Buffy insisted, "I thought you put it up."
"Wasn't me, Buffy," Willow answered. A moment later she started to chuckle. "I know what it is. Dawn must have set up the mistletoe, to trap Xander when we have him over for 'Charlie Brown Christmas'."
"That'll put a hitch in his Snoopy Dance," Buffy mused, an amused smile lighting upon her face. "Let's just hope that Anya doesn't find out." She glanced away from the figure of her best friend standing before her, taking in her warmly expressive features, the clear jade eyes that sparkled with a warm fire. She gazed at Willow's hair, and wondered why she never realized that her hair was the exact same color of oak leaves in the autumn, a deep burnished russet.
"Uh," Buffy stammered slightly, "maybe we'd better get out of this doorway." Reluctantly, she left Willow's side and made her way toward the kitchen. "Do you need any help with the cookies?"
"Wanna lick the spatula?" Willow teased in chiming tones, flashing Buffy an elfin grin. When Buffy returned the smile, Willow found her eyes locking again with Buffy's. The faded gray-hazel irises were flecked with dark brown, and infused with a magnetic quality. Willow could imagine herself falling into those eyes, into the infinite depths of Buffy's soul...
Willow shook her head, wrenching her gaze away from Buffy's. The Slayer turned away, opening one of the lower cupboard doors in search of her mother's cookie sheets. Willow felt vaguely grateful that Buffy wasn't looking at her now, as her cheeks were positively flushed and she started to feel much warmer. Lick the spatula, she had said. The moment she uttered those words, a vision flashed in Willow's mind, of Buffy laying Willow out naked on her bed, her eyes hooded with lust, her tongue darting and probing over her neck, her shoulders, her breasts, licking down her belly...
Willow forced herself to pry her eyes away from Buffy, a more difficult task than before, considering that Buffy was now bending down to locate the cookie sheets, providing Willow with an excellent view of her denim-clad posterior. With a supreme effort, Willow yanked her head upward, intent on staring at the ceiling until these lusty-Buffy thoughts dissipated. She held her head up, fixing her eyes directly above Buffy...
And noticed the green sprig that hovered over Buffy, grazing the ceiling. "Hey, Buff," Willow squeaked out in surprise. "I think you're being followed."
"What are you talking about..." Buffy reverted to a standing position to look at Willow. She saw her friend pointing directly above Buffy's head, her jaw slack and her eyes big as tennis balls, widened in shock. She slowly craned her neck to discover what had Willow wound up like that.
The mistletoe sprig was suspended directly over Buffy's head, hovering in absolute stillness. Buffy stared hard at the small branch, then lifted her right hand slowly over it. With a swift motion of her wrist, she grabbed the mistletoe and placed it on the counter, hoping to get a closer look at the offending plant. The moment she released her grip on the stem, the mistletoe floated off the table, rapidly flying back to its position over Buffy's head.
Buffy craned her neck to look at the floating sprig. She took two steps to her left, observing as the mistletoe followed her almost perfectly. She ducked back to her original position, only to see the green leaves still over her head. She scowled at the floating greenery, and leaned gently to her left, before suddenly twisting and jumping to her right. Her efforts to fake out the sprig proved futile, as it nimbly followed her every movement.
"Uh, Willow?" Buffy turned toward her best friend. "What can you tell me about this?" She pointed toward the hovering vine.
"Don't look at me," Willow raised her voice a trifle higher than necessary. "I didn't do it."
"I'm not blaming you, Will," Buffy calmed herself, reining in her frustration. "I just figured that you know magic, so you'd know what's with the levitating leaves here."
"Ah, gotcha," Willow smiled, as she moved closer to Buffy. "Here, let me get a better look at you-IT, it--" she continued. She pursed her lips as she looked at the mistletoe. "Hmm, I'd say that it's enchanted."
Buffy glared at Willow, but not seriously. "The word 'duh' comes to mind at this point."
"But it doesn't feel like evil magic," Willow continued, ignoring Buffy's jibe. "After my little...dive off the deep end this year," Buffy felt a pang of remorse at the guilty tone that seeped into Willow's voice. She wanted nothing more to hold her friend, to comfort her and assure her that she was still loved.
"...I've grown a little more attuned with magic signatures," Willow continued, her voice lightening somewhat. "This feels, well, benevolent. Good magic. There's a reason this mistletoe is over your head."
"Why?" Buffy asked, "to make every geek in Sunnydale want to kiss me?"
"No, don't think so," Willow answered. *If they tried, I'd hit them over the head with a shovel!* Willow paused for a second, wondering why that thought had suddenly entered her head. Shaking it off, she continued; "In both Celtic and Native American traditions, mistletoe was used as a medicinal plant. The Celts called it 'heal-all', and used its leaves and sap for medicinal puposes."
"Really," Buffy breathed, her eyes still gazing at the green twig.
"Yeah," Willow answered as she leaned in closer to Buffy. Her arm grazed against Buffy's for a second, sending an electric thrill through both women's nerve-endings. Willow leaned into Buffy's side, absently aware of Buffy's arm slowly moving along her back. "And in Scandinavia, the tradition was that--" She stopped suddenly as she felt Buffy's feather-light touches on her shoulder-blade through the fabric of her t-shirt.
"Yeah, Will," Buffy urged her gently, increasingly aware of the warmth of her friend's body, the subtle scents of the herbal shampoo she used in her hair. "What was the, uh, tradition in Scandinavia?"
"Oh, that," Willow shook her head, tearing her thoughts away from the steadily building erotic tension between her body and Buffy's, and focusing on their conversation. "Uh, in Scandinavia, whenever two soldiers from enemy camps--" She shuddered as she felt Buffy's breath warming her ear. "--if they met in a forest, under a vine of mistletoe, they--mmm---" She felt the gentle pressure of Buffy's lips planting soft kisses on her earlobe. "--they agreed to a truce for the remainder of--of the day---" She turned her head to face Buffy, only to find her lips next to her friend's. "Then, of course," she continued, her voice a husky whisper, "there's--the old tradition that--that calls for lovers to--to--kiss under the..."
Without another word, Willow fused her mouth to Buffy's, taking the blond by surprise. Within a second, however, Buffy returned the kiss with greater passion, encircling Willow in her arms. Willow melted into Buffy's embrace, her hands venturing behind Buffy's back, slowly sliding under her shirt, raining feather-light touches along her spine. Buffy's mouth opened in surprise and Willow took advantage, slipping her tongue into Buffy's waiting mouth. Their tongues slid together lazily, their embrace tightening as their hands tried to touch as much of each other's bodies as possible.
Suddenly Buffy wrenched her head away from Willow's, gasping and admiring the redness that suffused her friend's cheeks. "Willow..." she breathed, "are we making a mistake?"
"We could be," Willow admitted, leaning in closer, inhaling Buffy's perfume. "We really should stop now, shouldn't we?"
"That--ummm--" Buffy purred as she felt Willow's teeth gently nibbling her earlobe. "--that would be a good--uh, what's the word?--uh, idea. Yeah, good idea. We should stop now--" Willow affixed her mouth to Buffy's neck and started sucking on her pulse point. "OH GOD!" Buffy screamed in ecstasy.
With the last shred of her self-control cast aside, Buffy grabbed Willow by the waist and lifted her off her feet. Willow, reacting purely on instinct and desire, clamped her arms around Buffy's neck, swung her legs around the Slayer's midsection and locked her ankles behind her back. Buffy placed her hands on Willow's butt, lifted her gently and walked rapidly out of the kitchen.
With the redheaded weight in her arms pressing closer and raining kisses over her face and shoulders, Buffy stumbled up the stairs and into her bedroom. She managed to make her way to the bed without tripping and lowered Willow gently on top of her pillows. She tried to back away for a moment, but Willow grabbed at Buffy's t-shirt, tugging insistently. Buffy sat next to Willow and lifted her arms, allowing her new lover to pull the shirt off of her. Once the shirt was free, Buffy reached behind her back, opening the clasp of her bra, allowing her breasts to spill free of their confinement.
Willow admired Buffy's body for a moment, giving in to the impulse to touch the blond's breasts, her thumbs rubbing against the coral nipples, smiling as she felt them harden under her ministrations. Buffy moaned sweetly at her lover's touch, then looked her directly in her jade eyes. "Willow," she gasped breathlessly, "I really need to see you naked now!"
"I can do that," Willow grinned mischievously, her expression reminding Buffy of an elf. My own Christmas elf, Buffy mused. Willow promptly removed her hands from Buffy's breasts, and pulled her t-shirt off, scrambling to remove her bra. While watching this spectacle, Buffy absently unzipped her jeans, peeling them off of her legs with her panties. Within a minute, both women were completely naked, gazing in wide-eyed lust at each other's bodies.
Willow broke the expectant silence, whispering to Buffy, "Make love to me."
Buffy grinned hugely and took Willow into her arms again, her fingers almost hungry to touch her lover's skin. For the next hour or so, no words were spoken, or required. Their mouths found other things to do, as their hands roamed freely over each other's naked forms.
After multiple volcanic releases, Buffy and Willow cuddled limply in each others arms, weak but happily sated. Finally regaining the strength, Willow lifted her head to gaze at her beautiful Slayer. She glanced up for a moment, and saw the mistletoe branch over her head. The sprig quietly faded from sight, and in a heartbeat, it was gone.
Willow smiled as Buffy's eyes fluttered open, taking in the sweet face of her lover. "Hi, Buffy," she purred, kissing the tip of her nose.
"Hi yourself, Will," Buffy answered. Her eyes darted over her head, and she sighed with relief. "I see the mistletoe's gone."
"Yeah," Willow answered. "I think I know what it was about."
"Yeah," Buffy nodded ruefully. "A sex spell. Hey, we don't have to talk about this to anyone. We can forget about it if you want..."
Willow placed a finger against Buffy's lips, silencing her. "Why would I want to do that? Besides, it wasn't a sex spell."
"Oh?" Buffy delivered a puzzled half-smile. "One minute we're talking Christmas cookies, the next minute we're having sex. The best sex of my life, by the way."
"Thanks," Willow smirked, "you're not so bad yourself. You sure you never had a girl before?"
"Nope," Buffy announced, "you're my first. Okay, Faith and I necked once, but then she turned evil and, well, that kinda killed the romance. No, you took my lesbian cherry."
"Goody," Willow beamed proudly. "Anyway, the sex wasn't a direct part of the spell. I mean, it came out of the spell, but indirectly. The magic was a revelation spell. It caused us to realize and accept a truth that was hidden from ourselves." She gently fingered the space between Buffy's lower lip and her chin, her hand drifting down her cheek, softly caressing her neck.
"And that truth is..." Buffy ventured slowly, praying that she wouldn't say the wrong thing, "...us? Being together?"
"Buffy," Willow rolled over so her body was on top of Buffy's, and the Slayer reveled in the feeling of Willow's breasts, stomach and thighs pressed against hers. Her voice was steeped in compassion and desire, a tone that Buffy knew without thinking to be one of purest love. "I always knew there was a bond between us, from the moment you chose my company over Cordy's. I never recognized it, never spoke of it even to myself. But now, I know the truth. I loved Xander, I loved Oz, and I loved Tara. But whatever I felt for them was just a rehearsal for loving you. I don't know how much clearer I can make it. I am in love with you, Buffy, and I have been from the first time we met."
Buffy nodded, her fear of losing her best friend in a mad passion draining away under the love Willow offered her so freely. "Well, that's convenient," she snickered, "because if what I feel for you isn't love, I don't know what is." She lifted her head up to Willow's, their lips meeting in a gentle kiss. Their kiss contained a pledge, a vow, a promise that the magic that brought them together would endure, and their bond would not be sundered.
For the rest of the night, Buffy and Willow made love with a gentleness that countered the frenzied passion of their first coupling. They ordered pizza and tipped the delivery boy generously(secretly smirking as they answered the door in their robes, their hands constantly touching each other as the delivery boy gawked in adolescent lust). They ate in bed, talking about their deepest hopes and dreams, feeding each other, licking pizza sauce off each others lips, before falling into each others arms again.
And for the first time in her young turbulent life, Buffy felt whole.
"Enchanted mistletoe?" Joseph quizzed his subordinate. "What an odd choice?"
"You told me not to make direct contact with the Slayer and her beloved," the junior angel answered, his wings stretching briefly. "Besides, they had to know the truth for themselves. I just gave them a push, that's all."
"Don't worry," Joseph chuckled. "I'm not angry at you. In fact, it was a good idea."
"Thank you, Joseph," the angel answered, pleased with the praise he had received.
"You've again proven that you've earned your wings," Joseph nodded. "Congratulations, Clarence, on a job well done."
FINIS