Wish Upon A Demon
by UrbanGoth
Epilogue - There's No Place Like Home
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Epilogue - There's No Place Like Home
Cold.
[Ow.]
Sore.
[Ow.]
Willow raised her head. It was heavy, and her temples throbbed. Her eyes stung violently and her throat felt like someone had squeezed it until her eyes were bloodshot. She coughed and lifted herself up from the cold, hard tiles. Sniffing and coughing she got to her feet and wiped the hair out of her face.
She was back school. In the classroom where she and Anya had done that spell. Anya wasn't there and it was dark so, she decided, she must be back at the same time she left the other dimension. Well, more or less. She wasn't sure how long she's been laid on the floor.
Her bag had gone. Someone would've found it. Maybe Buffy or one of the others.
Her nose tickled again and her eyes filled up. It hurt so much to cry but she couldn't help it. It would be a long time before she got over what she'd just seen. The image of Buffy was still fresh in her mind. Buffy shaking and bleeding. Buffy dying.
She walked over to the door, wiping her eyes and tried the door handle. Open. Why does no one ever lock this place? She exited into the hall. Library. That's her best bet at finding someone as soon as possible.
She ran through the double doors.
"Buffy? Xander? Giles?" She called. "Oz?"
Her voice bounced off the walls and she ran up the stairs after checking Giles' office, into the book stands.
Nothing.
She stood thinking. Buffy's house? Probably the next best bet.
"WILL?" It sounded half-crazed.
Buffy.
Willow shot from the stands and down the stairs. Buffy was stood by the table, arms tense, hands in fists. Seeing Willow, she ran towards the steps. Her eyes sparkled with moisture and she didn't take them off the redhead.
They met at the bottom in a desperate embrace.
"Oh God, Buffy! It was horrible! I- You-" She couldn't get her words out. She was so relieved to see Buffy alive, walking, talking.
Buffy withdrew from the hug and held Willow by the shoulders steadily. "It's ok. You're back now." She let go of the breath she had been holding since Willow had disappeared and sniffed back some tears.
"Oh God, Will. I thought I'd lost you." She hugged her friend tighter. "I was so scared I'd lost you."
After a long, silenced hug, the two friends pulled apart and looked each other in the eyes, smiling. Buffy was the first to speak. She held out a hand to Willow and gestured gently to the library doors.
"Come with me. Tell me a story."
Willow was taken aback slightly, hearing these words, but smiled and took Buffy's hand. The slayer swivelled her hand round, entwining their fingers and Willow laughed.
"What?" Buffy was confused.
"Don't worry. I'll let you in on the joke." She said, and they left the library, heading for Revello Drive.
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Buffy sat in stunned silence.
"You were always meant to be killed by the Master. It was just different there." Willow conceded. She had calmed herself a bit now, even though she'd lost control a little earlier and a few tears had slipped out. Her eyes still stung and her temples were still aching but she felt so much better sat with Buffy. She always did.
Buffy hadn't cried but Willow could tell she had taken the story quite hard. A story of your worst life can hit home.
The slayer sighed heavily.
"God," she began. "That's the sort of thing that really makes me feel lucky to live in this dimension. Mom, dead. Xander, dead. You. Dead." She shook her head. "Not to mention one hell of a scar."
Willow nodded. "It was awful. It was like, every time you looked in the mirror, you were reminded, y'know, about what happened in Cleveland. As if you would forget."
"Guess I wasn't much of a mirror person." Buffy said.
"When we first talked I tried to touch it but you wouldn't let me at all. Not until we-" She stopped in her tracks, frozen.
Willow, reliable-dog-geyser-person that she was, did NOT mention the kissing. It wasn't the sort of thing that she would talk about. Ever.
"Until we, what?" Buffy searched. "C'mon, Will."
Still, even though she lost a lot in that dimension, she gained two things. One of which was just a bit more courage.
"Um, Buffy, in the other dimension, I don't know why, and I don't think it was one of those world changing things, I mean, it was changing, in a way, but not in a huge way, but-" Willow stopped. She took a deep breath, halting the nervous babble. "We kissed." She admitted. Then added: "Actually, you kissed me."
Buffy's eyebrows shot right up. "Wow."
Willow stared around the room, nodding mindlessly. She glanced sidelong at Buffy, who was staring at the duvet, brow furrowed. She looked up at Willow, asking for the truth with her eyes.
"Was it weird?"
"OH yeah." Willow gave. It was.
Buffy's tone shifted and she grinned.
"Was I any good?"
"OH yeah." Willow repeated, laughing.
The friends sat together comfortably, giggling quietly to themselves, but Willow, remembering the whole thing, the feeling, the warmth of it, grew sullen. Buffy noticed and followed suit, subconsciously knowing that Willow needed her to listen.
"It did change something in me though, Buffy. Changed the part of you that's in me."
Buffy inched a bit on the bed, a little apprehensive of the coming admittance. She really liked Willow but she'd never really thought about it in any other way than friendship, mainly because it's not the sort of thing she had time to think about right now. Maybe in the future, when she knew more about life or about love... Who knows what can happen in a week, let alone a lifetime.
Willow noticed her mood and explained.
"No. Not drastically. Don't worry." She laughed through her nose. "I'm not gonna start sending you Valentine's Cards or doing love spells."
Buffy laughed too, less worried that Willow was going to asking something from her that she couldn't decide on without a year or so's more experience under her belt.
"It just made me realise that I love you, Buffy. And that it doesn't matter how. It doesn't matter if I love you as a friend, or like a sister, or something more. The point is that I will always be right here, fighting the good fight with you because I love you and..." She paused, trying to figure out how to end her little speech. "I just thought you should know that."
It was kind of a lame finish but Buffy appreciated it. Her eyes had moistened and the light from the window caught in them. They glistened slightly and Willow remembered seeing Buffy crying in Giles' front room. She smiled to herself, thinking of what happened afterwards.
"I love you too." Buffy said quietly.
Willow, getting teary herself, leaned over to Buffy and they shared a hug. It was languid and warm and Willow inhaled deeply, knowing this was a milestone in her friendship with the slayer. She wanted to remember it forever.
Then, out of the blue, Buffy pulled out of the hug and kissed her friend. It was short and closed, unlike the other, but it too was tainted with salt and need, and love. Buffy's lips were just as warm and Willow smiled at the gesture, knowing that she had partly done that for her, and partly because she wanted to.
They sat smiling, so grateful to have each other, wiping at their eyes.
"Uh..." Buffy started. Willow looked up expectedly. Buffy grinned. "Let's not tell Xander about this."
Willow laughed and they got up from the bed together, heading out into the hallway.
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