Their Willow
by Red
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[Joss' people, just playing here.]
She cried. It wasn't an unusual thing, she always cried after they made love. It was how things were. She knew her lover understood. After all, she too shed tears. There were some of guilt, although those were quickly fading. They were realizing there was no need for guilt. They needed each other. They knew she understood...even more than they themselves did, they figured. After all, Willow was always the one who understood.
She cried. And loving arms wrapped around her, pulling her close. She welcomed those arms. It was funny, she thought. Her whole life, she never had any desire to be with another woman and now, with this woman, was the only place she ever wanted to be. She was safe here, secure, loved. And she was as close as she could ever be to her...to Willow. In the arms of her best friend's
lover, the Slayer found the closest thing to peace she would ever have.
She cried harder, her body shaking. And Tara held her tight, her own tears falling onto tousles of shiny gold. In her arms, was the only other woman the woman she had loved more than life itself, had ever loved. She was in her arms, her bed. And she wanted it no other way. She needed the Slayer close, close enough to touch. It was the only way she could touch Willow...the only way she could feel the warmth of her love's cold body. And knowing this, she cried. Tears fell hard from hazel and blue, covering the sheets with love lost.
Buffy sobbed, angry that she never told her friend how she felt. Angry that she herself, had not known until it was too late. She was lost...lost without strands of red bathed in sunlight, without random babble and a heart the size of Texas. She needed to hear, to see, to bask in the wonder that was her Willow.
She cried. Her body shook violently with memories of that day. While she lay in a hospital bed, the person she loved with all of her heart lay in a pool of her own blood, on her bedroom floor. The doctors had saved her; brought her back but no one had saved Willow. His bullet claimed her, ripping through her heart and taking her away from them...away from her.
Tara held Buffy tighter, pulled her closer. She knew the pain her lover felt, knew why she shook and wailed. And she felt every ounce of it. She felt it and breathed it in, for she too, longed for just one more glimpse of her sweet Willow. She remembered the sight of her beloved, the red of her beautiful hair lost in the sea of blood as life left her. She had held her. She had picked her up and held her. That's how they found her, how Dawn found her...cradling her beloved tenderly in her arms, holding her close... the way she held the Slayer now...the way she would always hold her.
They cried. They cried for the beauty that had been stolen from them. And they clung to each other, arms embracing, lips tasting and bodies comforting. They searched each other and found her. And they drank her in, hungry for her, needing her, desperate for what they had lost.
Buffy looked up with tear filled eyes and Tara brushed her lips over her cheek, kissing the tears away. They no longer had Willow. Her sweet voice would never dance in their ears, her gentle touch would never rest on their shoulders and they would never see her red hair shine in the sunlight. She was gone. They no longer had her...but they had each other. And as long as they had that, they would always have their Willow.