Tell Me I Was Dreaming
by Shyfox
Rain On Love
[reviews]
Chapter Six:
Everywhere I look the sun is shining.
But it's always raining here inside.
I can see, you've really got a hold on me.
But you rain on love, with a rain that never dies.
-- Wynona Judd
Ira had stood in the doorway for a while, amazed by the steel in his daughter's eyes while she confronted her friend. 'Strike that...wife.' He shuddered as he thought the words, unable to believe that his little girl had gone ahead and actually married that...that... He couldn't think of a word that was vile enough for the comatose blond. His one consolation was the fact that their marriage wasn't exactly legal in the eyes of the state of California.
He still wasn't happy that his daughter had gone against his every wish in this situation. But he was sorry for the state their relationship was in. He wasn't too proud to admit that he missed his daughter. Yes she had made mistakes, so had he--though he was loathe to admit it, even to himself, but he thought that the present situation would give him the perfect opportunity to reclaim his daughter's love and devotion.
Now, as she sat staring at him in shock, he knew he'd made the right decision in coming here.
*****
"I...How did you find out?"
"It was on the news...I thought..." He looked somewhat uncomfortable standing there, and Willow wondered idly what he was thinking.
"I hadn't thought it...would be..." She shook her head, staring blankly at the television monitor above her head. Out of all the strange happenings that went on in Sunnydale, Buffy's header off of an apartment building made the news? Go figure.
He could see that she was waiting for him to say something. Though he wasn't quite sure what to say, he thought he might know what she'd like to hear. "Willow...we're very...sorry...about...everything. We just..." Green, pain-filled eyes pierced him into silence.
"I'm not sure I can deal...with this right now." Willow said, plainly and honestly, the strain showing on her face as she stared him down.
For the first time since entering the room, Ira got a really good look at his daughter, noticing the fullness in her face and the noticable protrusion of her belly. Only then did it occur to him just how far she had come in her term. She was almost a mother, an adult, and he finally recognized and accepted the maturity that shined on her face. She wasn't his little girl any longer. "You've changed." He said finally, and Willow could pick up the note of sadness in his voice.
She nodded, staring at him as she wondered where the dad she used to know had gone. "Yes." She agreed, softly. "I have. Is that such a bad thing?"
He was silent for a long time, simply staring at her, the only noise coming from the active machines behind her, and Willow started to wonder if he'd ever speak to her again. Finally, he shook his head slowly. "I guess what I've been trying to protect you from the most, happened without me even noticing."
Willow's inquisitive look brought a sardonic smile to his face. "You grew up." He sighed, staring at her through new eyes. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to see it."
Willow noticed the change in him, and started to lower the walls she had built. There was so much wrong in her world right now, she desperately wanted to mend at least this one thing. "I have pictures." She offered, smiling nervously.
"I'd love to see them." He answered with a smile. It was a small concession, from both sides, but to Willow it felt like a good start. They moved, haltingly, towards each other, neither one knowing whether this forgiving each other thing was going to work, until they were just a short span away from each other.
Willow sighed, almost forlornly, then did something she hadn't done since she was five, after she had broken up with Xander Harris because he'd broken her barbie doll. She collapsed in his arms and cried. "I've missed you Daddy." She said, feeling five years old all over again.
It felt...weird...holding his pregnant daughter like this, but it also felt comfortable...like coming home. "I've missed you too, princess." He said, feeling like all was right once again in his own little world.
Willow stiffened slightly at the use of the pet name, recalling the last time he had said it, and pulled away to look at him. "Daddy..." she sighed. "Last time you called me that, you ended up doing something that led to our current situation. I'm not your princess anymore."
He looked at her in shock, not quite believing she had said that to him. "Willow...what happened...that was...we were only trying to do what we thought was best for you."
Willow looked away from him, remembering the hurt and anger that he had put her through, that they had both put her through. She tried to look at the situation from her parent's point of view, but all she could see was that if she didn't make her stand here, they might continue to think that they could just keep making her decisions for her. That she wasn't about to let happen. "No. You were trying to protect me." She acknowledged gently. "But in so doing you tried to take away my right to make my own decisions. If we're going to mend any of this, then you're going to have to understand that I'm not your little girl anymore. I grew up. And I make my own decisions now."
Ira was understandably hurt by his daughter's words. It felt like he was being rejected, and he didn't like it. He cast a baleful look at the person he blamed for everything. "It's because of her, isn't it? Everything was fine and dandy until she came along."
"Buffy?" Willow cast a quick glance back at her comatose wife, then looked back at her father, incredulous. "She's my wife, Dad. She helped me along the way, and more importantly, she helped me survive. I wouldn't even be alive if she hadn't been here. Believe me, I know what I'm talking about. So yes, I suppose it is because of her that I grew up, that I had a chance to grow up. You should thank her some day."
"Thank her? For what?! For taking you away from us? For nearly getting you killed?!" Ira asked quietly, although Willow could hear the rage in his tone.
Willow was just about to defend her wife, vehemently, when another voice broke the temporary stillness between them. "Ira...that's enough."
"Enough? Enough?! It surely isn't enough! That bitch took away our daughter, she took her away from us and twisted her mind, and now she's not even our daughter anymore. And what is that blond anyway? How the hell did she manage to get out of the psych ward? I'm telling you, that's not normal, no one can do that. And-"
"Ira! Stop it right now! Can't you see it? Bunny...." She silently cursed as she saw the look in Willow's eyes, "Buffy, didn't take her away from us, we did. We weren't there for her, and we never really saw what was going on in her."
"What's that now? You trying to defend her? What's going on with you women?"
"Wait a minute", Willow interrupted. "What did you mean with she managed to get out of the psych ward? How did you know about that?" Willow looked at her dad as though she were seeing right through him.
He looked at her, knowing he was caught. "Baby, please, you have to-"
"No dad, I don't have to do anything. I don't even have to listen to you."
She looked away from him, tears beginning to form in her eyes again. Long moments passed with nothing being said, long moments in which she tried to collect her thoughts.
"For the sake of god, do you have any idea who she is? What she means to human kind, to this town, to me?! Why do you think that she was on the news? Because there's nothing else that could be told? Have you ever, ever, opened your eyes to what happens here?" She stared at the blank faces of her parents, one showing hatred and hurt, the other pity.
"She's the Slayer. She's the one that protects us all, you, me, this whole god forsaken town. We are living on a hellmouth, in case you haven't noticed it yet! What do you think has caused all those 'cases of death through total blood loss'? Open your eyes to see what is happening here, then you will understand why I love her, and what she means to me."
Sheila took the opportunity to step closer. She moved up to her daughter, placed a hand on her cheek, then took her into a hug.
"I'm sorry honey, I'm so sorry", she whispered.
"Sheila, you can't just-"
"Shut up Ira! You know she's right. Stop fighting her, or we'll loose her for good."
He just gaped at his wife, unable to believe she just had said that. In a sudden movement he turned around and stormed out of the room, leaving the two alone.
"I'm sorry darling." Sheila said again, then turning to her daughter's love, "How is she?"
Willow turned her attention to her wife, glad that for once Buffy hadn't had to defend her... that she had in turn been the one able to defend Buffy. "Not good." She replied, tears thick in her voice. "She's in a coma...and the doctors don't know what shape she is going to be in when she comes out...or if.."
"I've always thought that she was strong for a girl... that she's a strong person. Even before everything happened. I... I still remember some of what happened back when... when I tried, we all tried to burn you and Buffy, and what was her name? Amy? The one that turned into a rat. What happened to her anyway?"
Willow smiled. "Long story mom, but she's still with us."
"I know what you told me, and for a long time, I didn't want it to be true." She focused back on her daughter in bed, yes she definately saw her as a daughter now. "She's so... so powerful. I remember looking at her when she was tied against that pole and thinking, knowing how strong she was. I knew, well at least I think I knew that she was special."
She turned to Willow. "Why don't you tell me about her, and about what happened in the past ten years. I think we have enough time right now, don't you think?"
Willow looked at her mom, looked down at Buffy for a long moment, then back at her mother. "I think I'd like that." Yes, it was about time her mother and the love of her life got acquainted.
*****