The Prophet
by Rainne
Part Eleven
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Days turned rapidly into weeks and then months for me, as I settled into a routine. I was slowly being accepted by the Scooby gang, even so far as to be involved in patrols, demon-hunting and Apocalypse-averting. I found that I really enjoyed the patrols, enjoyed fighting side-by-side with Buffy in the battle against my more demonic cousins. She and I rapidly formed a bond through the fight, and as the nights wore on, we found ourselves talking more of things beyond just the slay.
"So you knew about my dreams," she said one night as we sat on a picnic table in the park, wishing for something to fight. I had known this topic was going to come up eventually, and I said so. She gave me an enigmatic sort of half-smile. "Yeah. Does it bother you?"
I shook my head. "Nah. Why should it?"
She shrugged. "Knowing that I'm in love with your girlfriend. It would bother me if I were in your place."
I smiled. "Does it bother you?" At her perplexed expression, I clarified: "That you're in love with my girlfriend."
She sighed, her shoulders slumping. She toyed with her stake for a few moments before responding. "It does. It bothered me when she was with Oz. I covered it up as well as I could. But yeah, it bothers me."
"When did you realize you were in love with her?" I asked gently.
She looked up at the stars, thinking about it. "Hm. Tough question. I think, looking back, that I fell in love with her the first day I saw her, standing next to the water fountain with Cordelia making snarky comments about her dress. But I thought it was adorable. I thought she was adorable. But then I got involved with Angel. I got sidetracked. And then she was with Oz, and I couldn't get between them. There was no way I could have brought myself to do something like that. Plus, I had no idea that Willow would be open to that kind of a relationship. I figured she was strictly dickly, as the saying goes. And now there's you. When did you fall in love with her?"
I sighed. "The summer between sixth and seventh grade." At her astonished expression, I grinned. "Yep. Young love. Puppy love, probably... little girl gets a crush on her best friend. I transferred here in the middle of sixth grade and Willow was willing to help me catch up on my schoolwork. I suspect you've heard this story before."
Her grin was wry and ironic. "I just find it funny — that's how she and I bonded."
I nodded. "So she tutored me through sixth grade and we became friends, but it was during the summer that I fell in love with her. She didn't know it, though, until the beginning of ninth grade. We were walking down the street and came across Cordelia and her minions. I had a witty comment all ready for them, and when we escaped into the bookstore, I told her." I smiled, remembering. "And she felt the same way. We were together until... until..."
She placed a hand gently on my shoulder. "Until you died?"
I nodded, sighed and continued. "Then, when I came back... well, I was already suspecting that you might be an item from some of the reports I heard. It was never just the Slayer, like it was when I was first Turned... you know, Slayer this and Slayer that... it was the Slayer and her friend Willow. Or the Slayer and her Scoobies. Everyone knew. You're the first Slayer in millennia to have friends and associates outside of the Council. You're the talk of the undead world. Then there were two Slayers, and nobody quite knew what to think. I was interested, but not enough to risk my life coming back to a town with two Slayers in it."
She sighed at this. "You'd have been perfectly safe if you'd picked the right Slayer to run into."
I nodded. "Oh, yeah. I heard about that. A rogue Slayer, working for the forces of Darkness? Such a thing hasn't happened, according to a buddy of mine, since the Middle Ages. But anyway... my point is that, no matter what news came out of the Dale, it was never 'Slayer', it was always 'Slayer and Co'. And some of the rumors said that the Slayer and her witch were an item. So when I came back, I kind of expected to find that you were. Then, when you came on all Rescue Rangers in the Espresso Pump, I was sure... and then when I saw your dreams outside the Pump, I knew the truth." I looked up at Orion, and then back at the Slayer. "And I was terrified."
She looked quizzically at me. "Why?"
I stood then, pacing around the table. "I knew how you felt. And I could suspect from some things she said and from... well, mostly from the way she looked when you came into the room, or even into conversation, I could suspect that she felt the same way about you."
Buffy stared at me for a moment. "Really?"
I shrugged. "If you want to know for sure what she feels, you're going to have to have that conversation with her. I only know what I see and what I think, and how I interpret people's behavior patterns. I could be way off base."
She turned suddenly and drilled me with her stare. "You've got that psychic thing going on, though."
I scowled. "No."
"What?"
"No, Buffy. I'm not going all Miss Cleo for you and telling you your future as I see it in her eyes. It's a betrayal of trust. The same way I would never think of telling her about your dreams. What happens in your head is private. If you want to know, you're going to have to have that conversation with her yourself."
She sighed and turned away from me, but not before I saw a tear roll down her cheek. "I can't."
"Why not?"
She looked at me as though I'd lost my mind. "Because of you."
I blinked and thought about this, and then I started to laugh. "Oh, Buffy. Don't worry about me, okay? Believe me. There's so many things you don't know. I...just don't worry about me. You do what you need to do, okay?"
She sighed, looking down at her feet. "I'll think about it."
I touched her shoulder and she looked up at me. "Don't wait too long," I warned her. "You never know. Opportunity may only come around one time, and when it comes, it doesn't shout in your face. It whispers in your ear." I looked up at the moon. "Ready to pack it in?"
She nodded and we left the park, heading towards home. She was silent the whole way.
---
Buffy lay awake into the early morning hours after parting with Dakota, thinking about the daywalker's words. Willow seemed happy in her relationship with Dakota, though there were several things that the witch had confessed to her best friend disturbed her about the vampire, not the least of which being the arson she had committed on Spike's crypt. The chipped vampire had come to the house one evening to call a truce, which Dakota had graciously accepted. After he left, she had gleefully shared with Buffy and Willow the story of her attack on Spike.
"She likes the violence. She likes to kill, too — she said so, Buffy. I don't think a higher-planar being could do that."
So Buffy had gone to Giles and asked him to keep researching. He was doing so, but in secret to prevent Willow or Dakota from becoming alarmed. He had yet to find anything, but had just the previous week called on an old friend and valuable information source in the Watcher's Council who might have records that Giles ordinarily could not access.
But what Dakota had said about Willow... was the vampire serious, or only toying with Buffy? The Slayer couldn't be certain. Then she thought about what Dakota had said. "There are so many things you don't know." But she thought perhaps Dakota did know them. And if Dakota, of all people, was encouraging Buffy to have a serious heart-to-heart about love with Dakota's girlfriend, then there must be something that Buffy and Willow needed to talk about. She resolved herself to talk to Willow the next day. She would go up to the college, get Willow, and take her someplace private so that they could say what they needed to say to each other. This resolution firmly in her mind, Buffy rolled over and went to sleep.
---
"You and Buffy need to talk."
When she said these words to me, I was a little shocked and surprised. Anyone would be, really, I think, what with the way they came out of the blue and all as we were snuggling in bed together when she came back from patrol. She had been gazing into my eyes as she loved to do, now that she had my permission, and the words came out of the blue. I blinked at her, confused. "What?"
"Willow, pay attention. This is important. You and Buffy need to talk. It's time."
"What about?" I asked. I wondered if Buffy had told her that she was upset with me about something. The thought truly bothered me.
She sighed and shifted position, pulling me close to her. "Okay. Before I say this, I want you to understand a few things. You know that I love you, right?" I nodded. She continued. "You know that I want the best of everything for you, and I want you to be happy, right?"
I nodded again. I did, in fact, know that these things were true. "Dakota, what's this about?"
She smiled slightly, stroking my cheek. "Will, I do love you. You're the most wonderful person I've ever known. And you deserve so much better than me."
Suddenly, I knew where she was going and I sat up straight, facing her angrily. "Are you trying to break up with me?"
She pulled me back down next to her and kissed my forehead. "Relax, firecracker. Relax. I'm not breaking up with you. Not exactly."
"Dakota, what's this about?"
She stroked my hair. "Willow, you deserve better than me. I'm a creature of the night. I'm violent. I like to hurt and I like to kill." She sighed. "Baby, I love you, but I'm bad for you."
I sighed. I didn't like it, but I knew she was right. I loved her too, but I wasn't in love with her, and there really were a lot of things about being with her that bothered me. I think the worst of it was when Mercedes came to stay with us and Dakota left town for a couple of weeks. She would bring back presents from wherever she'd been, but it all added up to one thing: she was leaving town to go somewhere that she could hunt and kill without having to engage Buffy's Slayer instincts. Speaking of Buffy... "What's that got to do with Buffy?" I asked.
She gave me a look. "You know perfectly well what it has to do with Buffy. Will, how long have I been back in town?"
I thought for a moment, and then blinked, surprised. "Almost a year."
She nodded. "And in that almost year, do you realize how many times you've called her name out in your sleep?"
I could only stare at her in shock. I dreamt about Buffy almost every night. I had no idea I talked in my sleep. She smiled gently. "Honey, I want you to be happy. You're content with me; I know this. But content and happy are two different things. Why be just content, when you could be so much more?"
I nodded and snuggled closer to her, holding her tightly. "I'll think about it," I allowed.
She wrapped her arms around me and we both drifted slowly off into sleep.
---
Willow was pleasantly surprised the next day when she came out of class to find Buffy leaning against the wall opposite the classroom, waiting for her. "Hey!" she exclaimed, giving her best friend a hug. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to see you. Is there someplace we can go to talk?"
They went together to a quiet area outside in the sun, sitting together on a bench, facing one another. "What's up, Buff?" Willow asked.
"I... um... Will... I'm not really sure where to start." Buffy was obviously nervous, looking anywhere except at Willow and twisting the rings on her hand. Suddenly she stood and began to pace. "Because, you know, it's not something that you can just dive into, is it? I mean, these things are delicate, they require special handling, you know? And I'm not really good at this kind of thing. You know? Cursed and all, I've started to think. So -"
"Buffy," Willow interrupted. Buffy gratefully stopped speaking at stared at Willow, misery on her face. Willow sighed and grinned a little. "Relax, okay? I'm the one that's supposed to babble. Sit down." As Buffy settled herself again, Willow steeled herself. "I'm glad you're here... I've actually got something to tell you, too. Since you're having trouble, I'll go first."
She concentrated on breathing for a few seconds, screwing her courage up so tight that the whole thing came unwound. Taking a mental running start, she leaped directly into it. "Buffy, you know I love Dakota, but I've got this kind of issue, because there's somebody else that I love, too, and I really need your advice."
Buffy froze, her heart in her mouth. "Re-really?"
Willow nodded and looked down at her feet, then back up at Buffy shyly. "Yeah. There's this other girl... she's wonderful, really, and I like her a lot. Well... I love her, really. I do. I love her. And I'm not sure how to tell her. Because she knows about Dakota, you know, but Dakota knows about her, too, and she's okay with it. But what do I do, you know? I love this girl... and I think maybe, just maybe, she loves me too... but we've both been scared to say anything for a long time. For years, really. So, what do you think?"
Buffy stared at Willow for a long moment, feeling rather shell-shocked, as though all the air had been sucked out of their immediate vicinity. Willow's eyes were shining brighter than Buffy had ever seen them as she struggled for breath enough to reply. "Well... well, if... if she's got any sense about her, Will, she loves you more than life itself."
Willow smiled shyly. "Really? You think so?"
Buffy smiled back, a tear rolling out of her eye and down her cheek. She took Willow's hands in her own. "Really," she said, leaning forward to capture Willow's lips gently with her own.
Willow leaned into the kiss, reveling in the feel of Buffy's soft lips. She felt Buffy's hands tighten on her own and squeezed back. They kissed for a long moment, lips barely touching — tiny, chaste kisses that did little but fan the carefully banked coals of their love into a merry blaze. When they finally broke, they were both wearing dazzled expressions and Willow had tears running down her face.
Buffy reached up and wiped a tear away. "What's with the waterworks, love?"
Willow reached up to cover Buffy's hand with her own. "I love you, Buffy."
The Slayer pulled her witch close. "I love you, too, my Willow." They held one another, reveling in this newly acknowledged affection. Then Willow gasped.
"Oh, Buffy! What am I gonna tell Dakota?"
"No worries," said a cheerful voice behind them, and suddenly Dakota was there, straddling the bench behind Willow with her arms around the witch's waist. "I figured you guys would be up here. I got here just in time for the joyous declarations and figured that wouldn't be the best time to interrupt." Smiling, she placed her hand on Buffy and Willow's joined clasp. "I'm glad."
"Really?" Buffy asked, searching Dakota's face for any sign of negative feeling.
"Really," Dakota said firmly. "I mean, come on. What kind of friend would I be to either of you if I didn't want you guys to be happy?" Then she grinned wickedly. "Besides, I knew this was coming."
"You did?" Slayer and witch asked in unison.
Dakota chuckled. "Sure I did. I saw it in your eyes."
THE END -- (TBC in To Conquer Death)