Causatum.alt
by sailor80
Eleven
[reviews]
Willow closed the training room door and leaned against it. Buffy was working with a practice sword.
"Glad you're feeling better," Buffy said as she stepped through her routine.
"Me too." Willow watched Buffy intently. Her muscles moved smoothly as she passed from position to position. Willow hummed happily at the vision of her girlfriend.
Buffy finished the series and returned the sword to the cabinet. She grabbed a towel and advanced toward Willow, wiping her face and neck. "Hi," she said when she was close enough to touch.
"Hi," Willow answered. She moved in and kissed Buffy briefly.
"Everybody here now?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah."
"I'll get cleaned up and be right out." Buffy pecked Willow's cheek and turned away.
Willow lounged against the door while Buffy showered and dressed. They went into the shop together. Dawn looked up. "I thought we were going to have to call out search and rescue."
Buffy smirked at her sister. "Ha ha." She and Willow slid into their seats around the table, with Willow between Dawn and Buffy. Tara sat next to Dawn, and Aislin next to her, with Anya, Xander and Giles completing the circle.
"Ok, research people, what do you have for us?" Buffy asked.
Giles cleared his throat. "All we've found says that auras like yours are those of soul mates."
"All three of us?" Buffy asked.
"I believe so," Giles said. "Aislin said earlier she had something."
"A theory," Aislin said. She looked around the table. "You told me Dawn was made by monks from Buffy."
"Correct," Giles said. "Oh," he said a moment later. "Of course."
Xander said, "I need the Cliff Notes version."
"Dawn shares Buffy's DNA. Between that and her Keyness, she is connected to Buffy and by extension to Willow," Giles explained.
"Dumb it down some more, Watcher man," Xander asked.
"Willow and Buffy are soul mates," Giles said. "That means they are connected in ways we can't understand. Dawn and Buffy are uniquely connected, making Dawn joined to Willow, as well. Hopefully not as strongly."
"No," Willow said. "Not as strongly."
"That's good," Aislin said. "Maybe it's just part of the Key's transformation, or maybe it's just because it's new."
"That reminds me," Giles said. "We need to test Dawn."
"This weekend," Buffy said. "You can have her all day Saturday."
"Hey, I've got plans," Dawn said.
"And now they've changed," Buffy said.
"But Saturday's Janice's birthday," Dawn answered.
They looked at each other across Willow, and then both looked to the redhead. She offered a compromise. "Is Sunday good with you?" she asked Giles.
"Fine," he said.
"Thank you," Dawn said.
"Okay," Buffy said at the same time.
"I'd like to be there," Tara said.
"Me, too," Aislin added.
"How about this?" Buffy offered. "Lunch at our place, followed by extensive testing of Dawn's Keyness or lack thereof."
"Excellent," Giles said. "In the meantime, I'll keep looking for information about your auras."
"All right, we done here?" Xander asked.
"Mostly. Aislin and I need to work with Will a little" Tara said.
"I'll call for dinner," Xander said.
Their meeting broke up. Dawn went back to her homework. Anya counted the till. Buffy, Willow, Tara and Aislin went into the training room. Tara and Aislin had Willow sit in the floor. Buffy sat behind her, holding Willow loosely against her. Tara and Aislin cast a circle around Willow and Buffy.
Willow listened to their chanting with half an ear. She enjoyed the excuse to be in Buffy's arms. Buffy paid no attention to the witches outside the circle. Willow filled her senses, and Buffy smiled at the pleasure of it. She nuzzled her way through soft red hair to the back of Willow's neck and rested her lips there. Occasionally her tongue popped out to catch a taste of Willow's skin. Her hand unfastened one button of Willow's shirt and slipped in to rest against her stomach. The other was restrained on Willow's thigh by Willow's hand. It took longer than it seemed, and when they finished, Tara broke the circle and pulled Aislin, protesting that she wanted to test what they had just done, back into the shop.
Buffy and Willow stayed in the floor. "You ready?" Buffy asked softly.
"Not for anything in there." Willow inhaled deeply and turned enough to see Buffy.
"Oh?" Buffy asked.
Willow kissed her. Buffy's hand moved under her shirt. The other hand cradled Willow's face. They kissed until pounding on the door interrupted them.
"Food's here," Xander called.
"Be there in a minute," Buffy answered. She pulled her hand out of Willow's shirt and refastened the button.
They both stood and straightened their clothing, then shared one more kiss before rejoining their family.
* * *
Buffy stayed attached to Willow. When she couldn't be with Willow, Tara and/or Aislin were with her. Willow's curiosity resurfaced and she worked with them to learn control of her magicks. Afternoons found Willow, Tara, and Dawn around the table with their schoolwork while Giles and Aislin read from Giles' library.
Buffy worked out in the training room, alone unless she could pull Xander or Giles in. Xander puttered, building shelves and cabinets. Anya gleefully ran the shop. Except for regular review of the books, Giles let her.
On Sunday, Buffy had food brought in from everyone's favorite places. They ate and chatted and shared their favorite meals. They cleared up the food and rearranged the living room to give Giles room to work.
He started with questions. What exactly did you do? How did it make you feel? What were you thinking? He had Aislin make Dawn's aura visible to everyone. To be fair she did it to all of them.
They got distracted examining everyone's auras and how they interacted with each other. Dawn's aura was bright yellow. Buffy's was a steady bright lapis lazuli. Willow's was muddy green with sickly grey blotches. It brightened considerably whenever either Summers came closer to her and again whenever they held hands. When Buffy and Willow kissed the grey splotches were washed in blue and a turquoise cocoon surrounded them. When Dawn joined them she lightened their joint aura considerably and added what could only be called sparkles.
The rest of the women and Giles, all acquainted in some way with magick, had auras ranging from Tara's rose quartz pink to Aislin's darker pink to Giles' rich red to Anya's deep maroon. Xander's aura was dark amethyst. He went first to his oldest friends. Xander's aura didn't mix with theirs; his was absorbed into theirs, an amethyst pocket in their bright sparkling glow. He offered a hand to Anya. When she took it their auras swirled together but didn't merge. Buffy brought Giles in next. Like the others his aura was encircled by Buffy and Willow without changing. Tara entered the equation. Her aura brightened to nearly white while remaining separate.
Aislin's eyes were wide. She had never seen anything like it. The auras were beautiful and vibrant and Aislin prayed she would never forget the sight. It was even more beautiful from the inside, she discovered when she took the hand Tara held out to her. Like Buffy and Willow, Tara and Aislin's auras combined to form a pale pink sphere around them. Only Buffy and Willow had sparkles though.
"You're aligned to the cardinals," Willow said dreamily.
Xander raised Willow's arm and punched a couple buttons on her huge black plastic watch. "I'm north," he grinned delightedly. Then his brow furrowed. "That's good right Will?"
"Tara's south" Giles murmured. "Then Dawn is east," he chuckled, "and I'm west," he concluded soberly.
"Oh, yeah, Xander, north is good," Anya said.
"It is," Giles confirmed. I'll explain later. This is amazing. I wonder how Dawn interacts with each of us individually?"
They took turns. Being close to Dawn was enough to brighten everyone's aura a shade. Touching her more than doubled the effect. But only Buffy and Willow together got sparkles.
In the end Giles was as clueless about the nature of Dawn's transformation or its manifestation other than the auras. It was twilight before he finished examining her. Because Dawn was a good sport about the lengthy testing Buffy let her choose dinner.
Dawn opted for Mexican. She called in a huge order. The owners promised to deliver promptly. Buffy had saved their son one night when he was jumped by two vamps while putting out the trash.
The food arrived in less than an hour. It looked like enough for a battalion but there was nothing left when they finished.
They went patrolling after dinner and for ice cream afterward. Buffy and Willow walked Tara and Aislin to the dorm while Giles took Dawn home and Xander and Anya went home. After leaving Tara and Aislin, Buffy and Willow walked hand in hand under the stars. It was something they had done hundreds of times. Their joined hands swung easily between them. Buffy was happy. Everything was good in her world. Willow had been better since working with the other witches during the past week. She and Dawn and Willow were developing routines. Buffy had worried that spending nearly every moment together would be difficult. Instead Buffy was content to sit beside her redhead and watch her face change. Willow was endlessly fascinating to Buffy. Willow was thrilled that Buffy was with her. She felt safe and loved. When Buffy touched her that feeling grew exponentially.
"Early class tomorrow?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah. I don't know what I was thinking when I registered for that."
"School all day?"
"All day," Willow confirmed. "Make sure you have extra batteries for your Blackberry."
"I'll just borrow yours again," Buffy smiled. "Nobody ever calls me anyway."
Willow stopped suddenly and Buffy thought for a moment she would be lectured again. Willow stood with her head turned, listening.
Buffy quickly scanned around them. "What?" she asked quietly, and readjusted her grip on Willow's hand.
"I don't know," Willow said uncertainly. "Feels familiar."
"C'mon, Will, we're not going to stand here and wait for it." Buffy started walking and pulled Willow with her. After a few steps, Willow adjusted to Buffy's pace.
They didn't talk the rest of the way home. Buffy's eyes were in motion the entire time. Whenever they landed on Willow, Buffy noted the redhead's increasing agitation.
Buffy pushed Willow onto the porch ahead of her. She reached around Willow to unlock the door. Buffy pushed Willow in the house and quickly followed her. Willow went directly upstairs while Buffy locked the door. When she finished, she looked up to see Giles watching her curiously. "Everything all right?" he asked.
"Not sure. Will got wigged." Buffy answered. "Just in case, do you mind staying?"
"Not at all."
"Thanks, Giles. I appreciate it," Buffy smiled at him. "You know where everything is. Make yourself comfortable. Good night."
"Good night," Giles answered. He watched Buffy climb the stairs.