Causatum
by sailor80
Fourteen
[reviews]
Dawn came in the house and took a deep breath. The yummy smell from the kitchen told her Tara was there. Dawn dropped her backpack on the dining room table on her way to the kitchen.
"Hi, Tara."
Tara looked up and smiled. "Hi, Dawn. How was school?"
"Like always," Dawn shrugged. She got a soda from the refrigerator. "Xander and Anya coming?"
"I didn't ask them but you can call the shop if you want." Tara put a lid on the pot and turned the heat down.
"Hear from Buffy yet?" Dawn swigged soda.
"Not yet. I'm sure they'll call." Tara wiped her hands on a towel and turned to face Dawn. "Homework?" she asked.
"Willow let me watch cartoons first," Dawn whined.
"She was watching them with you. Go do your homework."
"You're no fun."
"Nope," Tara grinned. "Neither is Aislin, so don't try to scam her."
"Do you like her?" Dawn put her soda aside to pick through the fruit bowl.
"Yes."
"More than Willow?" Dawn chose a banana.
"Different than Willow. Stop stalling and go do your homework."
Dawn began to peel the banana. "I will," she said. "Different how?"
"It just is," Tara said. "I'm not leaving your family, Dawn, even if I fall in love with someone else."
"I know that. You belong to us. With us. You're one of us, Tara."
"I know." Tara smiled affectionately at her. "Some family, huh? A Watcher, the Slayer, an ex-demon, an ex-Key, and some witches. And Xander."
"What about Xander?" he asked as he came through the back door.
"You're part of our family," Dawn said.
"Don't forget me," Anya said.
"We counted you," Tara told her. "You staying for dinner?"
"Unless it's a problem," Xander answered.
"No problem. I made lots of chili. We need a couple other things, though." Tara said.
"Give me the list," Xander offered.
"Milk," Tara said. She opened the refrigerator. "Soda. Grapes. Some kind of bread to go with the chili. And something for dessert."
"Got it," Anya said. "We'll be right back."
Dawn finished the banana and put the skin in the trash. "Can I do it in my room or do you need to watch?"
"You can go upstairs if you want. I'll call you when we're ready to eat."
"Thanks."
* * * * *
Buffy and Willow took a couple days to adjust to the new time zone. The servants at the council's villa in Rome were unobtrusive and left the young couple to themselves. At least once each day, Willow sat down for half an hour to do the exercise Tara showed her. Buffy sat with her, enjoying the uninterrupted period of Willow-gazing.
The driving habits that made Buffy such a hazard in Sunnydale allowed her to navigate Rome without problem. Willow trusted Buffy to keep them safe, but made both of them wear their seatbelts anyway. She frequently rode with her eyes shut, even when Buffy laughed at her.
They spent days doing whatever they wanted. A few times, that kept them in bed all day. Other days they lounged around the pool or went down to the beach. They went to museums, too, where Willow's commentary held Buffy's attention on subjects she usually ignored. After two weeks, they had established a loose schedule that included a daily call home. Things stayed quiet in Sunnydale.
For all her reptilian sunbathing, Buffy was still a creature of the night. When she patrolled, Willow went with her. She stayed back and let Buffy fight, but remained ready to assist her. Buffy never needed her help. The local demons hadn't seen a Slayer in more than a millennium, and were little problem for Buffy.
One morning they got up to find an official invitation from the Vatican. Buffy called Meredith and got an impromptu history lesson and some etiquette instruction. There were several more phone calls before their actual audience with the pope.
The pope discussed history and thanked Buffy for her service. He told them about an Order established long before the Watcher's Council. Their convent home has been a slayer's school for as long as the Church has kept records. As the active Slayer, Buffy is welcome there. She is, he explained, their de facto leader, and should consider it her home. As their audience wound down, he offered to bless Buffy and Willow individually and as a couple. Willow began hyperventilating at the thought of what her Jewish parents would say if the pope blessed her lesbian union. Buffy said they wanted to have it blessed within their own belief system first.
They talked a lot on the way back to the villa, and at length with Meredith and Giles in a conference call that afternoon. The next day, they went to check out the convent. It's peaceful and orderly and its residents treat Buffy and Willow with the utmost respect. They spend more days there, where Buffy trained against skilled opponents and Willow studied in the libraries and catacombs.
The month passed quickly, and before they know it, the villa was full. Giles and Meredith came from London the day after everyone arrived from Sunnydale. After a week together, Aislin and Tara departed for England with Meredith and Giles. Xander and Anya left the next day. Dawn, enthralled by everything, was content to tag along with Buffy and Willow. Separation had diluted their bond to the point where they all had to concentrate to get more than a faint glimmer of the once strong connection.
Vacation stretched through the summer as the Hellmouth stayed quiet. The question pondered by all of them was spoken aloud in mid-August. There was a flurry of long distance calls as Willow and Buffy talked singly and jointly with Meredith and Giles. The calls became longer when first Dawn and gradually the rest of the family joined the discussions.
After all the talking, decisions were reached quickly. Buffy and Willow remained in Italy as the Council's ambassadors. Dawn stayed with them, and they moved into the convent house so Dawn could attend school there. Tara settled with Aislin and transferred to Oxford. Anya and Xander decided to travel a bit longer, though they admitted they had decided to settle down outside Barcelona.
Teams of potentials and their watchers rotated between their homes, the convent and the Sunnydale Hellmouth. The potentials and sometimes their watchers grumbled among themselves that they preferred to take their chances with the Hellmouth over training with Buffy.
* * * * *
Willow woke up one morning. Naked. With Buffy naked on her. This morning was no different from any other. The sun was warm and bright. Buffy looked like the Cali girl she is, tan and blonde. The tired was long gone from around her eyes and she smiled easily even in sleep. Willow acquired a tan, or maybe a uniform layer of freckles. Her red hair was sun-streaked, too.
What was different was that her anxiety about the future was gone. No more worrying that they won't have one, or that Buffy won't come home. They will, she realized, finish raising Dawn and keep an eye on the hordes of potentials and their watchers. They're going to have family meetings on the quarters, moving them from home to home so everyone gets to play host, and visit with web cams the rest of the time. They're going to watch Anya and Xander's children grow up. And Tara and Aislin's daughters. They're going to see the sun rise on every continent and watch it set in every ocean. They're going to save the world. A lot.
Willow smiled and kissed Buffy and closed her eyes again.
-30-
Thanks for reading. Extra special thanks to everyone who left feedback.