Ages Apart
by dawnm
Welcome To My World
[reviews]
Title: Ages Apart
Author's Note: Please read and review. I'd love to know what you think of the story. Also, feel free to email me with any questions or comments if you like. Email: dawnm92@yahoo.com.
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Chapter 3 - Welcome to My World
The walk to Willow's seemed to pass quickly. Willow went into full babble-mode explaining many aspects of life in the modern world. Recalling how Buffy had reacted to cars the Halloween when Ethan's spell turned them into their costumes, Willow began with a short explanation about automobiles.
Still, once during their walk, the sight and sound of a passing car sent Xena into battle mode. She drew her sword and took defensive stance at the curb as Gabrielle hid behind her. Buffy and Willow tried not to giggle and assured the two that there was nothing to worry about.
The warrior and bard listened intently to Willow as they walked, while staring in awe at the paved roadways, the streetlights and the elaborate homes, trying to adjust to this strange, new world. By the time they reached her house, Willow had covered a wide variety of topics, trying to predict what the warrior and bard would most need to know in order to adapt to life in 1999. As she dug in her pocket for her house key, Willow paused, looking at the two women, "Kind of a lot to think about, huh?" She admitted.
"No big...it'll just take some getting used to." Buffy added.
Once inside, Willow gave them a brief tour. In the bathroom, she explained how to use the toilet much to the amazement of the warrior and bard. Showing them to the guestroom, she said, "I hope you don't mind sharing...if it's a problem, one of you could sleep downstairs."
"This will do just fine." Xena replied. "Thanks."
"If you need anything, we'll be in my room...just down the hall." Willow added. "So...I guess we'll see you in the morning then."
"Thank you...for everything." Gabrielle said.
"It's nothing." Willow assured them, saying goodnight.
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"Hey, Buff...you think they'll be okay?" Willow asked, propping herself up on the bed, meeting the slayer's gaze.
"Yeah, Will, I do. From what they said, they've faced a lot together and they've always made it through."
"Kind of like us." Willow noted, smiling dreamily up at Buffy.
"Now that you mention it...totally like us." Buffy agreed, hazel eyes locking with green, radiating her genuine affection for the hacker.
Feeling suddenly jittery under the slayer's warm gaze, Willow looked away. "So, uh, what are we going to tell Giles and the rest of the gang about them?" She asked.
"As little as possible." Buffy replied with a small chuckle, reclining on the bed then, stretching out beside her best friend, still regarding Willow closely.
Willow laughed a nervous little laugh, vaguely noting that her mouth felt as dry as the Sahara, and promptly launched into full babble-mode. "Yeah...you're probably right. I mean, how would we introduce them anyway? 'Uh, gee guys, these are our new friends, Xena and Gabrielle, we found them in the cemetery and, by the way, they're from ancient Greece, like 2000 years ago. Ha, and oh yeah, they just appeared out of thin air from this beam of light. And they said that The God of Time sent them here.'" Willow concluded, rolling her eyes for effect as she finished. Stealing a quick glance at Buffy, she saw that the slayer's smile had grown wider and the glint in her eyes brighter than even before.
"How I love Willow-babble." Buffy said with an easy smile. Feeling self-conscious, Willow looked at her then, searching for some sign that Buffy was making fun of her geekiness. Seeing the unspoken question in Willow's eyes, the slayer clarified, "I'm serious, Will." Lifting the redhead's chin to look into her shy green eyes, Buffy added, "Promise me something?"
"Sure, Buffy. Anything." Willow answered without hesitation, hearing the sudden note of seriousness in her best friend's voice.
"Just don't ever change. You're perfect just the way you are." Buffy said slowly, forcing Willow to meet her gaze. A deep blush crept over the redhead's fair cheeks, signaling the slayer that her words had hit home.
"Aww, Buffy." Was all Willow could manage, but her eyes expressed all that she couldn't verbalize - a silent thank you, a deep trust, and all of her love for her best friend.
Trying to lighten the mood then, Buffy noted with a laugh, "Besides, there are plenty of Cordelias in the world." That elicited a small giggle from Willow. Giving her friend's hand a gentle squeeze, Buffy added sincerely, "But there's only one Willow."
The hacker offered a shy smile. "Thanks, Buffy...you're the best."
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In the guestroom, Gabrielle began the nightly ritual of helping Xena remove her armor. Both women were quiet, lost in thought about the day's events. When sword, chakram, and armor were piled on a nearby dresser, Xena finished undressing down to her sleeping shift and sat down on the edge of the bed. Gabrielle knelt in front of her to work the laces of Xena's boots.
After removing the second boot, Gabrielle paused, looking up at Xena. "Dinar for your thoughts." She offered, meeting the warrior's distant blue eyes.
"Just thinking about what I'd do if I could get my hands on Kronos right about now." Xena answered with a wicked grin, eliciting a laugh from her friend.
"At least we met someone here who can help us." Gabrielle replied, trying to be optimistic.
"I don't know, Gabrielle. They're just kids. And involving them...might be a mistake."
"That's what you thought when you met me." Gabrielle pointed out. "Maybe I was just a kid then, but I'm not anymore. Meeting you...changed my life, Xena." The bard continued, "Besides, this is a different world. Did you see what Buffy did to that guy who attacked me? She's some kind of...warrior, like you. Those two may be young...but I think they can take care of themselves."
"You may be right." Xena conceded.
"Huh. Did you just agree with me, Xena?" The bard teased, settling on the bed beside the warrior.
"Ah, don't let it go to your head." Xena ground out, though a smile played at the corners of her mouth. Gabrielle smiled, letting the subject drop, and bent to take off her boots.
"We should get some sleep." Xena said, climbing under the covers. "I think tomorrow's gonna be a long day."
Gabrielle climbed in beside her. "Okay. Goodnight, Xena."
"G'night, Gabrielle."
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Xena fell asleep easily, obviously exhausted from her trip through time. She woke early as the first light spilled into the guestroom window. It took a moment for her to remember where she was and the events that had led her to this place, to this strange bed. She turned onto her side to look at Gabrielle.
Most mornings she was the first to wake and she often took the opportunity to gaze at the bard. She smiled warmly, drawn to the strawberry blonde's innocence, marveling at how peaceful she looked when she was sleeping. After a few stolen glances, Xena finally slipped out of bed to get her typical early start on the day.
Down the hall, a similar scene played out in Willow's room. Buffy woke, the scent of lilacs greeting her, and she smiled a contented smile as she noted that it was Willow lying next to her. As the sleep left her body and reality dawned, Buffy opened her eyes and found herself in a rather compromising position. She realized that she must have wrapped herself around Willow sometime during the night. And while Willow seemed to be sleeping rather contentedly in her arms, the slayer silently berated herself for what her friend might think if she were to wake to find her there. Holding her breath, she carefully slipped her arms from around the sleeping redhead and made her way back to her side of the bed.
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Breakfast brought more technological surprises for the warrior and bard. While Gabrielle marveled at everything in the kitchen, Xena seemed most preoccupied with the refrigerator that held more varieties of food than she could name and the stove that gave instant fire with the turn of a dial.
Though leftover pizza or doughnuts were a typical breakfast for Buffy and Willow after one of their sleepovers, they decided on more traditional pancakes for their hungry guests. Not feeling particularly confident about her cooking skill, Willow watched hopefully as the warrior and bard dug into the loads of food she had set before them on the kitchen table.
"This is delicious." Gabrielle assured her between mouthfuls. Xena nodded her head in agreement and offered a grateful smile without stopping her assault on her plate of food. Buffy cast an approving glance at Willow before turning her attention to her own plate.
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After breakfast and another crash course in the ways of the modern world, Willow turned to Xena and Gabrielle, "Now, we need to find you two something less conspicuous to wear." After thinking for a moment, she added. "You look about my size, Gabrielle. I'm sure I've got something you can wear."
"What about Xena?" Buffy asked skeptically, glancing at Willow and gesturing to the tall 5' 11" warrior.
"Uh...I don't know." Willow admitted. "Maybe something of my dad's will fit?" She offered.
"Alright...can we just get this over with?" Xena ground out, clearly not pleased at the prospect of a wardrobe change, let alone wearing some strange man's clothing.
A short time later, Willow had found a pair of brown corduroy pants and green T-shirt for Gabrielle to wear and was rummaging through her parents' closet in search of something for Xena. She finally settled on a pair of black jeans and a dark blue button-down dress shirt - the only type of shirt Mr. Rosenberg seemed to own.
Willow and Buffy waited in the hallway while the warrior and bard changed their clothes. Gabrielle emerged first, looking a little uncertain in her new clothes.
"You look great." Buffy assured her.
"Yeah...you look better in my clothes than I do." Willow noted, suddenly feeling less than gorgeous next to Gabrielle.
"She looks good, Will...but not that good." Buffy interjected with an easy smile, then cleared her throat nervously, hoping her friend hadn't noticed the tone she'd heard in her own voice.
Happy for the distraction, Buffy turned her attention to Xena who was entering the hallway muttering a few choice words under her breath, clearly unimpressed with her new outfit. Xena stopped in her tracks, eyebrows raised, when she caught a glimpse of Gabrielle. The warrior looked from her friend to herself and gave a small laugh. "We look ridiculous." She noted.
"Gee thanks, Xena." Gabrielle replied sarcastically, approaching the warrior.
"Sorry Gabrielle. I didn't mean anything by it." Xena offered. "Are you sure that thing is gonna hold you?" Xena added in an almost whisper, pointing to Gabrielle's breasts, which looked as if they might burst out of the borrowed shirt.
Gabrielle batted Xena's hand away and laughed. "Oh...you're one to talk. Look at you...you've done this up all wrong." She said, straightening Xena's shirt collar and beginning to unbutton the lopsided shirt and re-button it correctly.
Willow and Buffy watched the exchange with interest, both surprised at the familiarity between the two friends. The warrior and bard continued to bicker while Gabrielle righted Xena's shirt.
When Gabrielle finished the task, she had buttoned Xena's shirt all the way to her neck and stood back looking very pleased with herself while Xena glowered down at her. "I can't breathe in this thing." Xena reported through clenched teeth.
"Let me give you a tip." Buffy offered with a chuckle. "A few buttons...that's all the difference between geek and hottie." Xena stared at her, clearly not understanding.
"Look." Buffy said, stepping forward and unbuttoning the top three buttons of Xena's shirt, the last of which offered a glimpse of the warrior princess' ample cleavage. "Like this."
Buffy stood back to give Willow and Gabrielle a look. "What do you think girls? Hottie?"
Willow nodded. "Totally."
"That's good...much more your style, Xena." Gabrielle agreed, looking her friend up and down, her eyes lingering at the exposed cleavage at the opening of Xena's shirt, a smile tugging playfully at her lips. "Much better."
"Alright, that's enough." Xena said impatiently. "At least I can breathe now...but where am I supposed to carry my weapons?"
"You're not." Buffy countered. "You're trying to fit in here, remember?"
"But I need my sword and chakram." Xena insisted.
"No, you don't. I don't know what it's like where you come from, but here weapons are kind of frowned upon. And you can't just go around killing people."
"Oh, don't worry. Xena doesn't kill anyone unless she has to." Gabrielle said seriously.
"That's reassuring." Buffy responded with a bit of sarcasm.
Willow stepped up to try to help Buffy explain. "Look...people are different here. Things are different here. You shouldn't have to fight anyone at all...except maybe a vampire."
"And vampires are already dead...so no harm in dusting them." Buffy added with a smile.
The phone rang and Xena assumed a battle stance, looking around for the source of the sound. Buffy gave a half-laugh and Willow explained, "It's just the telephone. I told you about that...remember."
Xena relaxed a little and the group followed Willow downstairs where she answered the phone.
"Hello...Oh, hi Giles. Yeah, Buffy's here. Sorry we're late. We'll be right over." Willow hung up the phone and turned to Buffy, "We're late. I guess we better get going."
---------------------------------------------------- Continued in Chapter 4