Through Different Eyes
by Lil\'Witch
[reviews]
Through Different Eyes
Buffy woke when she heard footsteps down the hall, which was a very good thing, because otherwise she wouldn't have had enough time to cover both her and Willow's nakedness before her mom's knock and immediate entrance.
"Hey girls, wake up. Oh, Buffy, you're awake. Good morning." Joyce smiled at her daughter and her best friend, who still seemed to be oblivious to the world.
"Morning mom!" Buffy greeted her mother way too chipper. "Willow and I will be down in a few minutes, okay? Could there be coffee?"
Joyce raised her eyebrow at her daughter's behavior. She usually wasn't that happy or awake that early in the morning. Willow on the other hand was usually sprawled over her half of the bed whenever she slept over. She also used to wake at Joyce's first knock, but what the older Summers woman could see of the redhead were her closed eyes and a lot of red hair.
"I'll make us a pot," Joyce answered before she turned around and left her daughter's room silently wondering what was going on... as usual.
~*~
She watched her mother close the door and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Is she gone?" Buffy's head swiveled around to look at her friend. Willow had opened one eye and tried to peer over Buffy's shoulder at the door.
"Ah yeah. Gone. Morning Willow." It sounded stupid. Buffy didn't know what had happened overnight, but her voice sounded funny, she felt ugly and stupid and any second now Willow would look at her and be repulsed.
"God please, no," she whispered and didn't even realize she did it. Her skin grew paler as various scenarios of Willow-leaving flashed through her mind. She felt ready to faint.
~*~
"Buffy?" Willow asked fearfully. She had woken when her lover had quickly tugged the blanket around her undressed form and before she had had the opportunity to speak up Mrs. Summers had already been in the room. She'd waited during the conversation between mother and daughter until she finally couldn't hold the words in anymore. Buffy's reaction filled the red-head with fear. The 'good morning' had been sweet and Willow had just been about to ignore morning breath and give her girlfriend a kiss when the blonde's eyes had widened and her skin had started to lose color like a cheap t-shirt during washing. Not knowing what she could do she sat up and tugged the slayer in her arms.
"Please tell me what's wrong, baby." Her voice was strained with pain that wasn't her own.
Long seconds passed in which Buffy didn't react. She leaned limply against Willow's warm body, letting the other girl stroke her back. Running out of ideas Willow was just about ready to start shaking Buffy when she heard a desperate whisper leaving the slayer's mouth.
"Please don't go away Willow."
"What?" Willow leaned back and held Buffy at arms length. "Where would I go?" she asked in confusion.
"Away. Hating me. I don't know. I..." And suddenly Willow understood. Deliberately ignoring morning breath this time she leaned over and kissed her lover passionately. She ignored Buffy's hesitation and plunged right into the kiss, not holding anything back as her tongue demanded entrance and her hands roamed over still naked skin. Buffy's responses were hesitant, but eventually they were equal participants in the intense lip lock. The only reason Willow didn't take their actions to the next obvious step was the fear of Mrs. Summers coming in any second. Slowly, despite possible fearsome arrivals of Buffy's mum, the kiss built in intensity and Willow found herself freed from the blanket Buffy had tugged around her. It fell down to her waist and Buffy hissed between kisses as their chests touched soon after. Dazed with passion Willow had to sum up all her restraint to stop her girlfriend's wandering hands.
"Buffy!" she exclaimed and in doing so broke their kiss.
"Huh?" was the slayer's answer.
"We gotta get up. Dressed. Breakfast. School. Not be found by your mom like this...!"
~*~
Buffy smiled. Her relief at Willow's affirmation of love and desire had left her with a new sense of confidence. Right now, even her mom coming in couldn't put a damper on her mood... actually... eww! The blonde jumped out of bed grabbed her robe and grinned. "I'll be right back, Will."
The last thing she saw before the door closed behind her was Willow's answering smile. She quickly finished her morning routine, ran down the stairs, still wearing her robe and snatched a couple of colorful flowers before dashing back up into her room and not even winded came to a halt in front of Willow who'd just managed to put on her underwear in the short time Buffy'd been gone.
"Hey gorgeous," Buffy greeted her red head and used her free hand to draw Willow against her body. "Got those for you." She handed the flowers over to Willow, whose smile would be reaching her ears any second now.
"Gosh, you're so sweet!"
"Anything for my sweety," the blonde answered and then took Willow's hand to drag her over to her wardrobe. She selected a short black skirt and a bright yellow top for herself and then took the soft leather pants her father had bought for her last summer and handed them over to Willow. The pants were followed by a short white top.
"Ah Buffy? What's this?" Willow asked as she eyed the short top worriedly.
"Something for you to wear. It's too late to stop at your house AND be on time for school, and I know how important being on time is for you. So I gotta see you I my cloths. Works for me!" Buffy seemed to compensate for her earlier over-wigged state by being overtly cheery and it seemed to be contagious. Willow smiled and started putting on the pants.
Buffy eyed her own cloths and quickly dropped her robe to put on some underwear. When she glanced at Willow she found her staring right back at her with her mouth open and her eyes glazed over. Buffy smiled, "Seeing something you like?"
"Desperately," Willow answered and then blushed. "I'm really sorry for falling asleep on you yesterday. I didn't mean to-"
"Hey, it's okay, it was a long day and then the big emotional release, among other releases." Buffy winked and Willow's blush deepened. "Besides, I think I was asleep before you were. Just cuddled up to you and went straight to some really good dreaming." They smiled at each other and then put on the rest of their clothes. When Willow had finished struggling with her top Buffy once again drew their bodies close together. "The way I see it, you owe me a kiss." Her voice was low and seductive a combination Willow had responded well to all morning, all the more surprise for Buffy when the other girl turned away instead of kissing her as she'd hoped.
~*~
Willow took a step away from Buffy a bright smile on her face, which she hoped the slayer could not see. When she felt she'd left Buffy in limbo long enough she turned back around and when she walked up to Buffy until their fronts touched she leaned over to whisper into the blonde's ear. "I don't owe you a kiss, my sweet slayer. I owe you a good-night kiss." She emphasized each of the last three words with a soft lick against her girlfriend's ear that sent shivers through both of them.
"Ah, okay. Mhh, too bad it ain't night," Buffy managed between ragged breaths.
"Yeah, what do you say? Sleepover at my place tonight? Mom and dad are at a conference somewhere Eastish." Willow's smile was predatory and Buffy felt her body respond immediately. Her head bopped up and down before a conscious decision could have been made, but she was agreeing wholeheartedly with her subconscious for once.
"Let's go downstairs and raid the kitchen, I'm famished," Buffy said with a big grin as her subconscious kept feeding her images of what the next night would entail. She took the redhead's hand and turned towards the door ready to drag her girlfriend through the day so night might come quickly.
"Uh Buff?" Willow asked and Buffy immediately knew that sexy-Willow was gone again and replaced by shy-Willow. She turned back and raised an eyebrow in question.
"I cannot go to school like this," Willow stated and used her free arm to cover her exposed tummy. Buffy wanted to argue and tell Willow how beautiful she looked. She knew that the tight pants she'd given Willow were already a big step for the self-conscious girl, and the pants were really tight. Last summer Buffy's dad had picked them up while Buffy had gone to the bathroom and somehow they'd gotten mixed up and he'd come back with a size too small. Buffy hadn't realized their mistake until she'd been home in Sunnydale again. Willow was thinner than Buffy and seeing the soft leather on her made the temper tantrum Buffy had thrown at the time worthwhile.
Buffy walked back to her wardrobe and got a brown shirt, nearly the exact same color as the pants and handed it over to Willow, who put it on gratefully. When she started to button it, Buffy's hands brushed Willow's away.
"You're the most beautiful thing in the world, Willow Rosenberg," Buffy said without warning and Willow blushed. "I know you don't believe me, but I plan on telling you for as long as I live, so get used to it." She buttoned two of the buttons and left the rest undone. Buffy took a step back to look at Willow completely. "So beautiful," she whispered.
The pants showed off Willow's long legs and the shirt allowed a glimpse at the redhead's flat stomach. Willow squirmed a little under the slayer's intense gaze until their eyes locked and everything seemed to fade except Buffy and Willow.
"Buffy! Willow! You're gonna be late for school!" Joyce's words broke the spell the two girls had woven around themselves.
"She's right," Buffy said and with a smile offered her hand to Willow. With their hands clasped the two girls went downstairs to devour the breakfast Joyce had prepared for them.
"My, you two sure are hungry. What did you two do to work up such an appetite?" the older Summers asked innocently. Willow nearly chocked on the toast she had in her mouth, while Buffy tried to distract from Willow's couching fit by spinning a nonsense tale about staying out late, missing dinner and jogging that barely made sense to the slayer herself.
Joyce only nodded while she looked worriedly at Willow's face changing colors. "Sorry, Mrs. Summers." Cough. "Swallowed too quickly." Cough, cough.
While Willow recovered from her coughing fit Joyce looked at her watch again. "Girls, it's late. I better drive you to school or you'll never be on time."
"Thanks mom. You're the best," Buffy said and kissed her mother on the cheek.
"Go get your backpack. Do you have your school things here, or do you need me to drive by your house, Willow?"
Willow immediately looked crestfallen as she mumbled an apology and that she had indeed forgotten her backpack at home.
"No big, Will. We come by your house on our way to the school, anyway. Don't we, mom? There'll be just enough time to grab your stuff and than race to school."
"Yeah, I didn't mean to scold you Willow, there's no problem."
Buffy left her mother and girlfriend to quickly dash up the stairs to get everything she needed for the day. Joyce looked after her running daughter with a smile.
"She is a damn good mood today. Must be your influence Willow. I don't think I ever thanked you for the part you play in my daughter's life." Joyce watched in confusion as Willow's face once again became as red as a ripe tomato. "Are you all right, Willow?"
"Ah. Yeah. Thanks for... what you said."
"I'm the one who is thankful. Sometimes, when I go to Buffy's room to check up on her, she is actually sitting down doing homework! She never did that back in LA."
Willow frowned. "She does her homework here?"
"Yeah, why do you sound so surprised?"
"I actually make her do it at the library. Well, and sometimes at the Bronze when she's using those puppy eyes on me," Willow explained.
"Does that mean...?"
"What?"
"That my daughter is actually studying for tests?"
Now it was Willow's turn to ask why Mrs. Summers was so surprised. "You seem surprised. You know that Buffy is highly intelligent, don't you?"
"Well, yeah, but she never cared for school before. She was always preoccupied with something or other. First those brainless friends she had in LA and then she seemed to be out all night and then the fighting started... The changes she's gone through since we came here are more than I could have hoped for."
'Don't speak too early,' Willow thought as her thoughts rested on the latest change Buffy had gone through.
"And I see my daughter has had an influence on you too."
"Huh?"
"The cloths. You look really lovely, Willow."
"I. Ah. They're Buffy's. I'm not... Uh, thank you?"
When Buffy came back down from her room she found her girlfriend smiling embarrassedly and her mother laughing softly.
"Ready to go?" she asked and Joyce nodded.
~*~
Joyce stopped the car in front of the school's main entrance; they had about three minutes till the bell's ring when both girls got out of the car.
"Thanks for the drive Mrs. Summers."
"Yeah, thanks, mom. Oh, I almost forgot. Can I sleep over at Willow's tonight? There's a math test tomorrow and I feel like I need to do some more studying with my Wills."
"Sure. Just make sure there's actually gonna be studying between music and ice-ream. Did you pack some cloths for tomorrow?"
"Yeah. All in my pack," Buffy answered and padded the big backpack.
"I had wondered why you'd chosen that big thing. Have fun you two and now hurry or we hurried for nothing and you'll be late anyway."
"Bye Mrs. Summers."
"Bye mom."
Joyce waved at the two girls and watched them as they made their way into the building. She smiled. Buffy had definitely changed for the better since she knew Willow Rosenberg.
~*~
"A math test?" Willow asked.
"Well I had to give her a reason or she would have said one sleepover a week is enough. Besides it gives me bonus points with mom if se thinks I'm studying." Buffy grinned happily and took Willow's hand as they made their way to their first classes of the day.
"Can I ask you something Buffy?"
"Sure."
"Are we gonna tell the others? About us, I mean." Willow looked as shy and insecure as that first day Buffy had met her. She smiled reassuringly at her girlfriend.
"Of course we're going to tell them. It will be hard to miss, 'coz I don't plan on hiding my love for you. If that's okay with you, of course."
"Sure. No kissing in front of Oz though. At least for a while. I think that would hurt him."
"Yeah." Buffy agreed and then quickly looked up and down the corridor, no Oz. "He's not here. Ready to be socially outcast?" she asked with a smile.
"No. But if you mean if I'm ready to kiss you in public, than my answer is: Hell yes." Both girls smiled at each other. Buffy leaned in to capture Willow's lips and the redhead gave as good as she got. Predictably all eyes were on them as they parted and Buffy winked at Willow. "You better go find Xander before gossip reaches him and he breaks something trying to defend our honor."
"No problem, we have math together now anyway. I see you later at the library?"
"Definitely." Willow leaned in for another quick peck before she hurried down the corridor in search for her best friend since kindergarten. She knew all eyes that weren't on Buffy were on her and for the first time in her life she didn't feel intimidated by it. She was Willow Rosenberg and with Buffy Summers at her side nothing could happen to her.
~*~
She would never know how news could travel that fast but by the time Willow got to her class (approximately two minutes after her goodbye from Buffy) Xander was pushing Gage Petronzi of the swim team up against the wall.
She could hear him yell at the confused swimmer. "...about my friends like that. I don't care how often you win you useless piece of-"
"Xander Harris! Let him down!" Willow yelled over the ring of the bell.
Xander looked at his friend confusion written all over his face. "But the things he said about Buffy and you..."
"Are true."
"YOU WERE HAVING SEX UP AGAINST WALL IN THE HALLWAY WHILE SNYDER WATCHED??"
"Or not so true."
"What's going on here?" Mr. Filbs, their math teacher stood behind Willow with a stern look, clearly disapproving of whatever was going on between the puberty-pest-people.
"Nothing Mr. Filbs," Willow quickly answered. "Just a minor disagreement. Wasn't it? Xander? Gage?" Both boys nodded reluctantly, but Xander's eyes remained on Willow the whole time.
The teacher ushered them into the room and Xander manoeuvred himself next to his best friend. "What's going on?" he hissed under his breath.
"We're together, Buffy and I, I wanted to tell you before the gossip got through to you, but I was still under the illusion that there's nothing faster than the speed of light."
"Together? As in girlfriends??" Xander seemed utterly confused.
"Yes," Willow answered while she sat down. Xander put his own bag down and leaned over to Will.
"Since when?"
"Last night."
"Oz?"
"I told him. We're not together anymore. Obviously, since I'm with Buffy."
"So, gay now?"
"Yes."
"Happy?"
"Very."
"Buffy, too?"
"I hope so, but it seems like it."
"SILENCE," Filbs yelled and both stopped talking and concentrated on the board before them. After a couple of minutes a crumpled piece of paper landed on Willow's desk. On it stood one sentence: Give me a week to get used to it. Xander had drawn a big smiley next to his words.
Willow smiled and carefully folded it and put it at the back of her spiral notebook.
~*~
She couldn't believe how much she'd missed Willow in the last 90 minutes as she almost ran to the library only to find that Willow wasn't there yet.
"Hi Giles," she said distractedly.
"Good morning Buffy. You did not come in this morning. I was worried."
"Overslept." Her eyes were locked on the library entrance.
"Well, if you're alright. I would like to talk again about what happened yesterday while you were in here with Willow. I could not find any traces of possession and I am not quite clear on how you exorcised James. Buffy? Are you listening to me?" His question wasn't answered, because at that moment the library doors flew open to reveal Willow and Xander. Both girls closed the distance between them in a flash and their lips found each others' instinctively.
Giles nearly lost an eye as he pulled off his glasses to furiously clean them for almost five minutes. Xander's jaw hit the floor but Buffy and Willow were lost in each other.
Their lips separated just as Giles put his glasses back on. The older man coughed with embarrassment. "That is, uhh, a new development, I take it?"
"Yep. Mighty new. Yesterday night new. James had us acting and made us realize a few things. He's happy, we're happy. All is well."
"Why did you not say so yesterday," Giles asked, trying not to think about this latest development too much. He had nothing against same-sex relationships; still he'd been raised by very conservative English parents and public displays of affection didn't sit all that well with him.
"Well there was a lot of confusion at our end. We had to work out the kinks first."
"VERY bad choice of words," Xander mumbled loud enough for all to hear. Buffy threw him a dark look and he just grinned back. Grinning turned into a genuine smile when he saw Buffy take Willow's hand carefully. He would need some time get used to the changes in the group dynamic, but faced with his best buds' apparent happiness he realized that this was the right thing for them.
"So it's true then." All eyes turned to the door where Cordelia stood with her arms crossed and eyebrows raised.
"Ah, not the part with the hallway and Snyder. But Buffy and me are together, yeah," Willow answered happily.
"Okay." Cordelia walked in and sat down in one of the chairs. "Any news from Casper?"
"That's all?" Xander nearly yelled. "You say 'okay' and nothing more? No nasty comment, no questions, nothing?"
"What else is there to say? Two people have found each other and they're clearly happy. Stranger couples exist." She threw him a pointed look. "Besides, Buffy seems to give Willow a sense of fashion."
Buffy giggled while Willow tried to hide her face in her girlfriend's neck.
"I'm working on it," Buffy replied and kissed Willow's neck.
"As for your inquiry, Cordelia. It seems that Buffy and Willow did break James hold on this school last night."
"Great, so we can have lunch without fear of serpent spaghetti today, right?"
"With as little fear as on a usual day living on the hellmouth."
"Okay. Xander I have another class, I'll see you guys at lunch. Xander?" Xander looked up from Willow's legs and gave Cordelia a confused look. Cordelia rolled her eyes and took his arms to drag him out of the room.
"I've gotta go, too. I'm teaching next lesson and I have to prepare some stuff." Willow didn't want to but had to detangle herself from Buffy. "I'll see you at lunch?"
"Yep, I've got a free period, so I'm gonna train with Giles." Undoing all of Willow's detangling, Buffy wrapped her arms around her favorite redhead to give her another kiss that left them both dazed and scared Giles into his office.
Buffy giggled as she heard the office door fall shut and their kiss was broken. They smiled at each other, before Buffy reluctantly released Willow.
"See you soon, babe," Willow said with a smile as she walked backwards to the library doors. The slayer didn't turn around before the doors had closed behind her lover again.
"Giles! You can come out now, she's gone!"
~*~
Willow's class left after a successful lesson and Willow smiled to herself. Gage Petronzi hadn't shown up, which wasn't unusual for him, so Willow didn't worry about his earlier conflict with Xander. She'd have to give him an 'F' anyway since he hadn't shown up for any of the tests they'd written.
She packed the stuff she needed to prepare the next lesson back into her backpack and fished through one of the smaller pockets of the pack for her keys when she saw him out of the corner of her eye.
"Oz?" she asked with a weak smile as she turned to face him.
"Hey."
He didn't say more. Just looked at her with his hands in his pockets. He wore baggy black pants and a purple t-shirt that said 'I was in Woodstock - I think.' in big white letters. The silence stretched into discomfort as they looked at each other.
"I'm leaving Sunnydale."
Willow fell back into her chair in shock at her ex-boyfriend's words. "Leave?"
"Early-Graduation test. I'm taking it tomorrow."
"But Oz, you can't... I mean why?"
"Pretty much you." He'd stopped looking at her and was now inspecting his shoes.
"Oh." Willow felt so bad about hurting him. Apparently hurting him so much that he wanted to leave... but there was no other way, staying with him while she knew of her feelings for Buffy would have been just as wrong. "I never meant to hurt you."
"I know."
Silence reigned over the room again. Willow felt like she was loosing him right before her eyes and her heart ached at the prospect of loosing such a great guy as a friend. Again Oz broke the silence.
"It wasn't the wolf-thing, was it?" he asked and the vulnerability in his voice hit Willow right between the eyes.
"Oh god, Oz. Never! I wouldn't... It had nothing to do with our breakup, please believe me."
"I know it must've been hard with me turning into... and you know, I just thought you'd want a less-complicated relationship, part of me always believed it." It must have been the longest sentence Willow had ever heard him speak and all she could do was shake her head and look into his eyes. What she saw in them was doubt. Doubt in her and most of all himself.
"Oz. I like you, we have so much in common and you're interesting and I think if Buffy wasn't there... My feelings for her, they were there before I ever met you. Just like that stupid crush on Xander. You waited till I was over him. It just wasn't enough time to get over Buffy, too. If we'd had more time... I know I would have been very happy being your girlfriend. And somebody will be and she'll make you happy and she will love you and only you and won't have a bunch of feelings she's only half-aware of and she won't hurt you..." Willow only stopped to take a deep breath and Oz smiled.
"I'll miss you Willow Rosenberg."
"No, you won't, because I have no intention of letting you go anywhere without at least knowing your email address."
He smiled. "Give me time?"
"As much as you need."
"Good."
Without another word he turned and left the room. It would be nearly a year before Willow would hear from him again.
~*~
The rest of the day went by quickly and before they knew it Willow and Buffy were walking side by side on their way to the Rosenberg's house.
"How was the rest of your day?" Buffy asked softly. "You were so quiet at lunch."
"Oz is leaving."
"Oh. Where's he going?"
"He didn't say. Said he's taking the early-graduation test tomorrow. I guess he'll try to get into the next semester of college, it starts in three weeks." They walked in silence for a while.
"How do you feel, Willow? Talk to me. Please."
Willow stopped walking and turned to Buffy. Wordlessly the slayer opened her arms and Willow stepped into them. They stood in the middle of the side walk, hugging, about half a block from Willow's home.
"I'm gonna miss him. He said he'd contact me as soon as he was ready."
"But that's great, isn't it? Loosing you must be the hardest thing there is, Willow. Give him time, as much as he needs and he'll be your friend when he's over your break-up."
"You really think so?"
"I know so. Despite being the bestest of girlfriends you're also a great friend. Oz has enough brains to not let you go." Willow didn't answer, but took Buffy's hand and they resumed walking. Buffy knew that Willow was thinking (when wasn't she?) so she remained silent as well.
They spent the afternoon doing homework and preparing a nice dinner (of popcorn and Ben & Jerry's). Willow had cheered up again and Buffy just basked in their easy banter and kissing sessions. Buffy had told Giles that she was taking the night off and he'd agreed to go on patrol with Xander and Cordelia (a decision he sure regretted already). So as afternoon progressed into evening the girls had nothing to do but lie on the couch, finishing their ice-cream and watching movies.
"This is nice," Buffy commented as her head rested in Willow's lap and the redhead caressed her hair.
"Yeah," Willow agreed. "But it could be nicer."
Buffy sat up and looked at Willow in confusion. She'd been riding the emotional yoyo-coaster all day and had become suspicious about sudden changes of topic. Willow's serene smile reassured the blonde.
"Look, Buffy. It's night," Willow said and pointed to one of the windows.
And Buffy understood. "Is it? My what's to do on a Friday night at home with your girlfriend?" she asked innocently.
"I wouldn't know," Willow replied with mischief in her eyes. "This is my first Friday night with my girlfriend. I think we'll start with something I promised you yesterday, though."
Buffy smiled in anticipation as Willow stood up and motioned Buffy to follow. They made their way to Willow's bedroom where Buffy found that Willow had somehow managed to place a candle on every even surface. The room was a sea of soft flickering lights and shadows.
"I wondered what you were doing in the bathroom for so long," Buffy gasped as she let the romantic setting settle in her mind. "It's beautiful."
"Then it's only appropriate," Willow murmured as she stepped behind her lover and started to kiss the soft skin of the slayer's neck.
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
Their words needed no additions, no explanations as their bodies took over communication. Buffy turned in Willow's embrace to capture the teasing lips of her girlfriend. Her hands caressed the exposed tummy that had made her crazy her all day. Buttons were undone, zippers were lowered, shirts taken off and pants as well as skirts were lowered to ankles before the lovers stepped out of their pile of clothes to emerge in nothing but their underwear. Buffy kissed her way down Willow's chest until her lips encountered the material of a bra. Her arms went around her girlfriend to free her breasts from the restricting garment. As soon as Willow lowered her arms to allow the bra to fall to the floor, Buffy's mouth was attached to one nipple, while the other was covered by a caressing hand.
Willow's hands rested on the blonde's shoulders to gently massage them, which earned her a small appreciative groan. She carefully stepped back from Buffy, who pouted immediately. Willow had to laugh at the mighty slayer's expression.
She motioned for Buffy to lie down on the bed. When they were both comfortably horizontal the hacker turned her confused girlfriend onto her stomach. Confusion left when she straddled Buffy's lower back and started a full massage on the blonde's shoulders. Soft grunts and moans drifted to Willow's ears as she kneaded the abused muscles and loosened knots. The moans intensified when Willow trailed her lips down the slayer's spine in a series of openmouthed kisses.
Her hands followed her lips with soft caresses and Buffy sighed in happy contentment. Taking her sweet time Willow made her way up again until her lips were next to the slayer's ear once more. "I take it that I'm doing this right so far?"
"Oh yeah. Way right. Couldn't be righter," Buffy answered her voice thick with arousal. Willow smiled and encouraged Buffy to roll on her back, which she did. She tugged the bra, she'd already unfastened, off the slayer's shoulders and much like Buffy latched onto the exposed breasts.
"She spoke too soon," Buffy commented between moans. Her hands rose to play with red strands of silky hair, her concentration decreasing with every lick, kiss and soft bite.
Willow stopped only reluctantly, but there were other things on her mind as well. She crawled up Buffy's body until they were face to face again. Looking deeply into her lover's eyes she lowered her body until they were touching head to foot. She kissed Buffy's cheeks softly as the slayer's arms encircled her waist to hold her close.
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
They lips met again and again until their tongues joined them in some serious French kissing. Hands started exploring again until Willow broke the kiss and with heavy breathing and a smile she lowered herself down Buffy's body. Her hands trailed down from shoulders over breasts to tickly Buffy's stomach, down the hips and claves. From her new position she started back upwards. Sticking to theme of massaging she dug her fingers into the tight muscles of Buffy's leg until she reached the knees. Massaging was abandoned in favor of soft caresses and kisses until she reached the blonde's panties.
~*~
Buffy was mindless with pleasure. The things Willow did... Every touch had the most amazing effect on her body. Every nerve ending tingled and every thought that wasn't closely connected to Willow and what she was doing had long left her mind.
"Willow - please," she gasped as the redhead kissed and caressed her way up her thighs. Her whole body trembled when Willow complied and cupped her sex through the panties she still wore. She lifted her hips slightly and Willow took the hint and tugged the panties off until they came past Buffy's feet and the slayer was left naked.
Willow stopped a couple of seconds to simply look at the creature that was Buffy Summers. Her loving smile warmed Buffy's heart, but a different kind of heat threatened to ignite the slayer as Willow, without much preamble, leaned down to place tiny kisses on Buffy's blonde curls.
Buffy gasped, moaned, groaned and the pleasure she felt was only building. One finger playfully moved through the blonde's pubic hair along the pleasuring lips until they dipped into the warm pool of Buffy's pleasure.
Both girls gasped and Buffy didn't stop for a long time as Willow decided to let her tongue follow her fingers, tasting, teasing, arousing...
"God Willow. Don't stop."
~*~
'Wouldn't dream of it,' Willow thought as she marveled at the slayer's taste. She didn't try to describe or analyze it or put her feelings into words of any kind, all she did was enjoy it.
She slipped one finger into Buffy, which drew a series of groans from the slayer. Her hand moved slowly in and out of her lover's tight channel and after a while she added a second finger. Buffy's reaction was instantaneous. She nearly flew of the bed and called Willow's name at the top of her voice. Willow smiled to herself before she closed her lips around the panting slayer's clit. Her hand instinctively sped up and Buffy's breathing seemed to be connected to Willow's hand somehow as it sped up as well.
~*~
Buffy was about to burst. Pleasure was zipping through her body like lightning, always headed to her core and she was gasping for air like a fish on land. She felt her orgasm building slowly. Each lick of Willow's tongue heightening the sensations.
"Willow!" she called helplessly as she felt herself starting to fall.
Willow's lips abandoned the little nub of pleasure for a second to whisper three words. "Let go, lover." Before she returned her lips to the slayer's centre and sucked hard on the blonde's clitoris.
Buffy fell.
Waves of pleasure rolled over her body for long seconds until at last a wave seemed to collapse in itself and return to her core in an indescribable feeling that made her squeeze her eyes shut. The back of her eyelids was replaced by an explosion of light that ebbed away only slowly.
When her senses returned she felt Willow's hand still move inside her very slowly and Willow's lips still placing feather light kisses on her core. She smiled a lazy smile which Willow matched when she finally stopped her ministrations, content that the slayer had felt every tiny aftershock.
Buffy drew her lover up her body and kissed her deeply. They separated breathlessly and Willow snuggled up to Buffy's side. The flicker of the significant smaller candles danced over their skin as both girls lay smiling on top of the covers.
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
All was well.
~*~
Epilogue
~*~
Ten Years Later
Willow opened the door to their apartment with some difficulty due to the large bag of groceries she was carrying. She nearly fell over the shoes carelessly lying on the floor in front of the door.
She cursed Buffy's laziness like every night and made her way into her home.
"Buffy! How many times have I told you not to leave your shoes around like that?" There was no answer and Willow hadn't expected one. It was almost a ritual. Buffy wasn't really lazy. She did most of the housework since she mostly worked at home these days, but the shoes... Willow was certain Buffy did it on purpose.
She entered the kitchen where two hands relieved her of the heavy bag. Before she could engage in her daily ritual of scolding Buffy on the shoe issue arms had encircled her and lips silenced any words she could have spoken. All anger had been replaced by joy by the time her lips were released.
"Something smells good," she remarked and for the first time really looked at Buffy that evening. She wore an elegant black dress that showed off her attractive figure and made her hair shine golden.
"Yeah, slaved over the stove for the last hour to cook you dinner."
"Oh. What's the occasion?" Buffy's face fell at Willow's question and Willow nearly burst out laughing. With a finger she tipped the crestfallen slayer's chin back up and looked deep into her eyes. She fished something out of the pocket of her trench coat and held out the brightly colored package. "Happy anniversary, baby."
Buffy's smile could have lightened the whole city for a week as she dug into paper to reveal a long velvet box. "Oh you didn't!" she exclaimed as it dawned on her what it was.
"Of course I did. You were nearly drooling when you saw it." Buffy opened the box to find the most delicate necklace in it she had ever seen. During some window shopping a couple of weeks ago they had spotted it at a little jeweler in town and Buffy had immediately fallen in love with the delicately woven fine lines of sliver.
"Help me put it on?"
Willow took the necklace and stepped behind her lover. Stopping only to drop a few kisses on a bare shoulder before she fastened her gift around her loves neck.
Buffy turned to her with a bright smile on her face and kissed Willow quickly. "Thank you. Even though you are the meanest person, ever, for making me think you had forgotten."
"How could I? Ten years today we were possessed, before we professed." Willow giggled at her own words.
"And what a ride it's been..." Buffy said with a happy smile as she guided Willow into the living room where she'd gotten out the fine china and had a delicious meal prepared. Willow smiled and took off her trench coat and left it on the couch. Buffy told her to sit down and she did.
"I'll be right back. I'll just put the groceries away. Try the salad and tell me if it needs more salt." Willow did as she was told and stabbed a piece of lettuce with her fork. She chewed carefully, enjoying the flavors of at least ten different spices she couldn't name. Buffy's dressings were famous among their friends. Who would have thought that the girl that burnt toast would turn out to be a goddess in the kitchen one day? Willow had given up after the second time the fire alarm had gone off. She smiled as she sat there, remembering the last ten years. How she and Buffy had nearly died (yet again) that fateful night. How they'd professed their love and started their relationship. The reactions from their peers from supportive to cruel until Buffy had sat them straight. Their second night together, spent with lovemaking, naps, lovemaking, ice-cream and lovemaking. How Joyce had cried for an hour that her little girl had found somebody to love. And how she'd forbidden sleepovers for almost a year. The re-cursing of Angelus. The arrival of Faith and the friendship between the three girls. How happy Dawn had been that Willow had become family. How Willow really HAD become family five years ago as she and Buffy had been joined before the goddess. Oz's return to Sunnydale. Xander and Cordelia running off to LA after graduation. College and the conflict of teaching Professor Walsh what a slayer was and that you couldn't safe the world by becoming Frankenstein and creating monsters and putting chips into demons. The growing initiative that helped the slayer to fight the things that went bump in the night. Spike's death at the hand of Dawn during her first patrol. Faith leaving to join Angel Investigations. Tara kissing her and the good friend and powerful ally she'd become once Willow had told her she was with Buffy. Convincing Buffy not to kill Tara for kissing her. Buffy's death at the hand of the hell goddess Glory. The dark three month she'd spent without her lover. How she'd resurrected her girlfriend. Buffy's confusion after coming back from heaven. The First Evil's attempt at an Apocalypse. Buffy's proposal between panic, death and dozens of potentials. Her spell that changed all slayer's destiny. The destruction of Sunnydale by Angel's sacrifice. Xander taking over Angel Investigations with his wife Cordelia. And the newest milestone in their lives, Kathy.
Willow stood and walked over to her daughter's bedroom. She slept as peacefully as only three year olds could, cuddling her blanket and lying upside down in bed with her feet stuck under the pillow.
Willow walked to her and tugged the blanket around the sleeping body as well as possible, knowing that it was useless against the nightly travels of her daughter.
One of the new slayers had been killed when little Katharine, her daughter, had been a mere three months old and after half a year of fighting Buffy and Willow had gotten custody of the sweet baby-girl they'd know since birth. Buffy was even her godmother.
"Hey," Buffy called softly as she slipped into the room. Willow smiled and together they left the room again.
"What did you two do today?"
"We went to that new playground in Downypark. She loved it. They have this little artificial river running right through it, with fish and everything; we stood there for half an hour just watching. I'm thinking we need a fish tank."
"Good idea. I miss having fish." Willow flashed back briefly to the gruesome killing Angel had performed on her fish, but quickly chased the memory away, that wasn't how the souled vampire deserved to be remembered.
"When we came back and got rid of half the sandbox we had in our shoes we called Amy and she came over with little Mathew. They get along really well. I took pictures. Oz picked them up when Mathew was asleep on his feet. I invited them over for the weekend. I thought we could have a picnic or something at that playground."
"Did you leave the gallery closed for the day?"
"No, I called mom and she said she could handle it alone if I did the paperwork at home and she sent it to me via email. I did it when Kathy slept."
"You've been spoiling her lately. Staying home all day instead of calling the nanny, going to the playground all the time and don't think I didn't notice that she's wearing new pjs."
Buffy pouted. "It's just... she'll start Kindergarten next week! I won't see her, she'll have lots of friends and before I know it she won't need me anymore!"
Willow was just about to argue that point when she noticed that Buffy was holding something. "What's that?" she asked and pointed to the package.
"Oh, just a little something. Now go sit down before all gets cold." Buffy ushered her love over to the table and they started eating. Through the whole meal Willow would glance to the mysterious package Buffy had placed on the empty chair.
In the middle of a conversation about the new text Giles had sent Buffy, Willow suddenly burst out: "Tell me what's in it!"
As if she'd only waited for that Buffy got up and grabbed the package on her way over to Willow. She kneeled in front of Willow's chair and carefully opened the package to reveal two small velvet boxes. She took one that was of the darkest blue and looked up into questioning green eyes.
She opened to box in which a delicate ring waited for its rightful owner.
"Marry me?" Buffy asked much simpler than the first time she'd asked that question.
"Again?" Willow asked with a smile that held all the answer Buffy needed.
All official documents of their marriage had been lost during the destruction of Sunnydale so legally they weren't married. They hadn't cared all that much about it; their main concerns had been building up new lives for themselves, helping the new slayers and for the last three years Kathy.
For the first time since they'd know each other, their pace was slow, their time their own, the world's fate in good hands that weren't theirs.
Buffy carefully slipped the ring on Willow's finger before she took the second box and gave it to her fiancée. The second box contained an identical ring that Willow quickly put on Buffy's hand. She kissed the finger before leaning over to Buffy to kiss her lips.
With a groan Buffy broke the kiss. "I have to go on a quick patrol. I'm not comfortable with letting Jenny patrol alone. She's only been a slayer for a year. I'll try to get her to go home early."
"Promise?"
Buffy straightened and smoothed a hand through Willow's now permanently white hair. "Promise."
They finished dinner quickly and brought the dishes into the kitchen. Willow sent Buffy out of the kitchen, telling her she'd take care of the rest since Buffy had cooked. "Besides, the sooner you start patrol the sooner you'll finish."
"Love your logic." Collecting her shoes from the hallway floor Buffy quickly put them and a jacket on before she went back into the kitchen to kiss Willow goodbye.
On her way back to the front door she turned to her love again. "Don't fall asleep. I think I owe you a good night kiss," Buffy said before she slipped through the door with a grin.
Willow couldn't wait.
~*~
The End.