Reveal
by DawnBTVS
Chapter 22
[reviews]
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Mutant Enemy, Fox, Joss, etc.
Rating: PG-13 (think Buffy show for violence/subject matter/language)
Time Frame: November, 4th Week, Monday.
Pairings: G/J, B/W
A/N: Yes. I finally hit *THAT* chapter. I'm not sure how quickly I'll update this after since I'll be returning to college early tomorrow. I struggled with the "shortness" of the chapter but couldn't come up with an adequate solution without making it forced to be longer. A "translator" is at the end of the scene (sorry). If anybody speaks Yiddish, let me know if I messed anything up.
Willow bit her lower lip nervously, eyes flickering from her parents seated on the other side of the dining room table, then back to her fingers frantically moving around in an effort to not be still. The pit in her stomach seemed to be sinking as her father reclined in his seat, face neutral, but eyes cold. Sheila was silent too, looking anywhere but at her daughter. "A meidl? Your friend?" Ira asked, clearly displeased at the idea.
"You know what we expected of you. If you desired to indicate some fault you had with us, you could have found a... more therapeutic expression." Sheila expressed, offering her daughter a soft look while Ira continued to sit stiffly, keeping the tension in the room thick.
Willow lifted her eyes, flinching at her father's narrowed eyes. "It's... complicated and this isn't a-an act of rebellion."
"Komplizirt? Complicated?" questioned Ira, his anger clear in the tone he took that complicated would not be a sufficient answer. "You're young and still growing, Willow. Komplizirt? She's a girl. A female," Ira said softly, shaking his head. "Meidl, Willow. I don't get it. Did we not teach you?"
Willow nodded her head. "It's not what either of you did wrong. I can't control this feeling. You think I like being attracted to Buffy, knowing..." Willow trailed, unable to finish expressing her thought into words. "This isn't by choice. I-I mean, yes, it is a choice because I could ignore but I won't."
Sheila glanced at Ira before leaning forward, meeting Willow's determined look. "Sometimes friendship may seem deeper than it is in an effort to connect. Perhaps this is just an adjustment to your budding sexuality and you'll..."
"Grow out of it?" Willow asked, hurt by the insinuation but also growing displeased that her parents were questioning her like she was doing something wrong. "This isn't an experiment, Mom. I'm not... not trying to find that isolated factor that helps an adolescent find a label to identify with in order to fit into a niche group."
Ira straightened. "Willow." Willow closed her mouth, staring down at her lap. "If you are serious, that means she'll become a gelibter. Our circle, while varied, also is tight. This... decision reflects upon your mother and I to everybody we come into contact with."
Willow grit her teeth together, growing angry that her father was taking this as a slight against himself. "What about the fact that I think I'm in love with somebody?"
"Libe? You, this... child, my tochter, in love? You do not know what love is and shall not speak of such feeling at this table, at this time." Willow shuddered slightly at the fierceness in her father's voice.
Sheila leaned back, her hands resting on the edge of the kitchen table. "Has Joyce discussed this matter with Bunny?" she asked, a finger nervously tugging at the loose napkin in front of her.
Willow slowly nodded. "She..." Willow stopped, swallowing the sob as she remembered Joyce's speech. "Yes."
Ira exhaled and stood up, standing with his hands folded in front of him as he stared down at Willow. "She and her daughter are of a different ideology. This... Buffy... is an offspring of divorced parents. Considering what we raised you to believe, your upbringing. This form of oisdruk makes me wonder if perhaps this is a consequence of our unavailability." Ira ran a hand through his brown hair, gripping the back of his chair tight enough to where his knuckles began to show white.
Willow shook her head adamantly, frowning. "No! Just because you and Mom go away on college tours doesn't mean that I suddenly subverted everything I've grown up on." Willow again shook her head, trying to figure out how to at least escape without being banished. Her Dad was giving no leeway and her mother was expressing doubt that she had any independent thoughts of her own not based on psychological factors. "I wish this didn't hurt either of you but I can't renounce just because you think it may reflect poorly. There are plenty of Jews who are... not straight. Remember Isaac Thomas? Hannah Daniels?"
Sheila glanced at Willow in surprise. "Isaac?" she asked, disbelief evident in both her expression and voice.
"He's married," Ira announced with a small scowl on his face as he regarded Willow. He wasn't happy at this insinuation.
Willow nodded. "He never hugs his wife and usually sits a few feet away. The only time they kissed was a peck on the cheek," Willow remarked, trying to visually show her parents how narrow their eyes were to what was really going on. Sheila exhaled in surprise while Ira pursed his lips. "He hides it well," Willow added bitterly.
"Buffy. Why her? What about that... kuni-leml, Alexander?"
"Xander's sweet but Buffy's... mer," Willow whispered, now pleading for acceptance from her parents.
Sheila stood up, glancing at Ira. Her eyes flickered to Willow and the older woman smiled softly. "I called your father mein libe to my parents. Just a week after I met him."
"Sheila," Ira warned quietly but Sheila ignored him as Willow stared at her mother in surprise.
"His parents weren't accepting. They called me a kurwe and said he had no idea what he was doing. He was ingl and a fool to marry me," Sheila recounted, smiling at Willow with a twinkle in her eye at the memory. "Two months later, hasene gehat."
Willow looked at her father, his head lowered. He lifted his head, eyes taking in his daughter's. "Mer..." Ira echoed. "I am puzzled. Don't mistake this for acceptance though but... you're my tochter. I will abide by your decision so long as you are happy. I will not tolerate discussion of the matter in the presence of others."
"Dank," Willow remarked, nodding her head appreciatively at her father.
She glanced at her mother, catching the smile on Sheila's face. "Joyce is a good woman and I trust her judgment."
Willow smiled softly and stood up. Ira merely raised his eyebrows while Sheila briefly patted Willow on the shoulder. "I'll be upstairs doing my homework," Willow announced. The redhead turned and as calm as she could, walked to the stairs before dashing up them. She closed the door, eyes roaming for her phone.
Translations
Meidl = Girl
Komplizirt = Complicated
Gelibter = Lover
Libe = Love
Tochter = Daughter
Oisdruk = Expression
Kuni-leml = Good-Hearted Fool
Mer = More
Mein = My
Kurwe = Whore
Ingl = Young
Hasene Gehat = Married
~~~BTVS~~~
Willow pulled the phone from her ear, wincing slightly as she grinned at Buffy's squeal of joy. Willow kicked her feet against her pillow, giddy that... okay her parents weren't that accommodating but they hadn't kicked her out either. "Yeah! Then Mom suddenly started telling me about how Dad wanted to marry her against his parents' wishes and Dad did. I think that's still sinking in, actually," Willow said, frowning.
Buffy's muffled voice returned over the phone. "See? Told you, no big."
"No nightmares?" Willow asked, rolling her eyes at Buffy's comment.
"Minor. It was a napmare though... a daymare of the nap variety, really. A whole Romeo and Juliet vibe complete with you drinking the poison."
Willow arched an eyebrow. "So... I'm not hunk enough to be Romeo?"
"O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Summers," Buffy cried with mock sorrow.
Willow smiled. "Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this? Wait, I thought you never read Romeo and Juliet..." Willow accused softly. Willow sighed at the audible shrug from Buffy.
"I didn't. I skimmed and I have good memory retention... where pertinent of course because my brain would explode if I tried to keep everything."
"I hope there's a file on me," Willow remarked, the teasing lilt in her voice letting Buffy know her good mood wasn't going to evaporate anytime soon.
A thunk came over the phone as Buffy grunted a curse. "Damn. Sorry, hit the lamp but it looks good. You have your own drawer."
"Goody. Are you doing any of your homework?" Willow asked, staring down at the essay she had half finished before interrupting it to tell Buffy the news.
The shuffling of papers answered her. "Um... biology and history... What's this? I think it could be math or it might be biology. Crap, where's my English essay? It's here, somewhere," Buffy complained over the phone to Willow's smirk.
"I'll see you tomorrow morning, okay, Buffy? I really gotta finish my essay and I don't think that I'm doing you any favors regarding your own academic focus."
"Argh," Buffy groused, the sound of shuffling papers becoming more frequent. "Expect a sleep deprived Buffy. Where are you?" Buffy cried out as Willow grinned. "Bye, Will. Essays, gah!"
"Night, Buffy," Willow giggled. She rested the phone back on its cradle and returned to the laptop, resuming her own essay with a shake of her head.
TBC