Thirteen Steps -4- Blue
by Valyssia
Bother
[reviews]
Description: Season 8 - Dawn finds a place in the world. Buffy and Willow make plans to beat the stuffing out of General Voll. Don't you just hate it when Willow hat tricks? I do...
Disclaimer: Buffy, Willow and all things Slayer belong to Joss Whedon and the good folks at Mutant Enemy.
Feedback: Any and all reviews will be welcomed. Feel absolutely free to tell me just how much you think I...ummm...errr...inhale sharply.
Willow and Buffy sat on their knees facing each other in the forest clearing they'd discovered together three days prior. Their hands were joined together casually, one with the other. The way they were positioned, each woman's knees and feet tightly together, sitting rigidly on their heels with their toes curled under supporting their body weight, might have appeared uncomfortable to the casual observer, but they were perfectly at rest. Between them, a piece of quartz was suspended by nothing but the afternoon sun.
Willow spoke in a soft voice, "chazq s hyvr mechabr hevnfash shaly," then watched as the crystal glowed brightly blue momentarily. As the light settled in on the quartz, it turned a deep, cobalt blue. Willow studied it for a moment before saying in a soft voice, "Buffy, take it...I think we did it."
Buffy raised an eyebrow and reached out, collecting the dark blue rock out of the air between them. She smiled and said, "Wow, Will, this is beautiful!"
"Yes it is... That's a good sign. I need you to test it though." Willow admired the crystal herself as she spoke.
With this, Buffy pulled a small folding knife out of her pocket and opened it. Still holding the piece of quartz in her left hand, she used the knife to gently try and cut her left forearm, but to no avail. She pressed the blade against her flesh harder. Finally she gave up, saying, "Looks like it works to me."
"You know it just occurred to me all of a sudden that I could do this, so I wrote the spell and prepared the crystal. It had to sit in sea salt in the sun for a few days to cleanse. Should come in handy, given the recent rise in ickyness," she said, fishing two pairs of pliers and a spiral of 16-gauge square silver wire out of her bag. She held out her hand asking Buffy for the quartz. "Now, if this leaves your aura it'll no longer affect you. Carefully try the knife again and you'll see."
Buffy gently tested with the tip of the knife. "Ouch! Okay, point totally taken," she snickered.
Willow shook her head at the bad pun and continued to work the wire tight around the quartz creating a spiral shaped cage for it. She fashioned a hoop at the top, so it could be worn as a pendant, and then snipped off the extra length of wire. Pulling out a file, she cleaned up the edges of the wire where she'd cut it. Then, she reached into the bag again and pulled out a silver chain; threading it through the pendant. She motioned for Buffy to turn around so that she could place the piece of jewelry around her neck.
"I love it, Will!" Buffy was beaming when she turned back to face Willow and kiss her.
"I'm glad... I got the chain long enough that you should be able to put it inside your shirt when you fight and use your bra to actually hold it in place. You don't want this to take damage. You'll have an advantage with it, but without it...well...if it goes away and you might miscalculate...that would be seriously of the bad." Willow smiled and pulled the Slayer into her arms.
"When did you learn to make jewelry, Will?" Buffy asked curiously.
Shrugging a little, Willow said, "One of the sisters in Westbury does some wire-wrap stuff and I just picked it up, with her help, as a hobby. I was pretty bored there...missed you and Xander much..."
"I'm not sure that will stop a bullet like the spell I use on myself, but it should stop a bladed weapon...no problem," Willow said thoughtfully. Then laughing, she continued, "You can have Satsu try to Ginsu you later as a test. She'll be miffed...bet she's a hoot when she's frustrated."
"Thought you used Latin for your spells? That wasn't Latin, right?" the Slayer asked with a curious look.
"Yeah, I did for a while, but you see one ancient language, you sort seen 'em all. I switched to Hebrew for some stuff...the stuff I make up myself...still Jewish, ya know. Latin's just not a very pretty language, and I've always sucked at it...it's still all about the intent," the witch said with a soft smirk.
Buffy smiled and embraced Willow, kissing her tenderly. Drawing back to regard the other woman, she said, "Not sure what I'd do without you, Will."
"Let's not speculate..." Willow said, kissing Buffy again softly.
"So, what'd the words you said mean?" the Slayer queried.
"I said, 'strengthen the skin of my soulmate.' It's bound to you, by my love for you, so no one else can use it," Willow gathered her things and tossed the bag over her shoulder as she continued, "Seemed like a good idea to key it specifically to it's owner. There are enough scary blessed and cursed items floating around that work for anyone. Making another one...not a plan... Now, take me home wench!" Willow said, eyeing Bernadine expectantly.
Buffy rose, still smiling softly at the word 'soulmate,' and walked over to the Ducati, tossing a leg over the machine. Must be true, or the spell would have flopped, she reflected. I've seen different things about that over the years. The idea that you get more than one in a lifetime is sorta cool. One male and one female, one set early in life, and the other later. Hummm...must be...or something close, she thought, wondering how mixy a human soul could get before...
Willow hopped on back and they made their way up to the castle. "The one disadvantage you may have noticed already, is that your skin won't be as sensitive to touch when you wear it," she said into the Slayer's ear as they moved along.
"Yeah... I noticed. Not really a disadvantage when someone's trying to pound the stuffing out of ya though," Buffy called back.
"Suppose not... You shouldn't bruise as easily either...not that bruising seemed to be a major issue for you." Willow hugged the Slayer a bit closer with this.
They pulled up in front of the stable. Willow hopped off and Buffy turned Bernadine to back her into the building, saying, "I think we should make a point of getting together with Dawn and Xander tonight for dinner. They deserve to know we're together. Not so much with the secrets now. Wonder how that happened?"
Willow smiled softly and said, "Are you sure you want to? It's really no big to me if you want to take some time."
"Nah... I'd rather they know. I just hope Xander takes it well. Dawn will probably just look at us like we're silly for saying anything. She's nosy enough, she prolly already knows. I'd consider calling Giles too...been a while since I've heard the old man clean his glasses over the phone. I'd rather wait and actually watch him do it, though. It's much more satisfying," Buffy said, snickering.
"Suit yourself...I'm proud of you...you know," Willow reached out and pulled Buffy into a hug as she spoke.
Buffy gave the redhead a quick kiss and turned to leave the stable as she said, "I'm proud of you too... You should be able to figure as much. I just don't want to have to hide. I hid enough for a lifetime with Spike. This time, I don't have any real reason to. Besides, it seems to me that regardless how dense Xander can be he'll eventually notice a change in body language or something that will clue him up. Even without Anya there to tell him we're orgasm friends. He'd be really hurt if that happened, so... We just fix it now before it's really broke, and everyone's happier as the movie plays. No big, right?"
Willow tilted her head slightly, considering what the Slayer said for moment, and retorted, "Yup... Sounds about right to me... You know, we should get rings or something...maybe a nice Celtic-knot design? Somethin' like that."
"Sounds nice... No Claddagh rings though. I've seen enough of those to last a lifetime," Buffy said pensively.
Smiling, Willow said, "Never even crossed my mind."
Walking into the room she shared with the Slayer, Willow said, "Wanna make the calls or should I?" Yeah, sharing a room this long...pretty big clue... Buffy's right, she thought to herself as she closed the door.
"I'll call... six-ish sound good? That gives us a couple of hours. We may have to go find Dawn, though. Hard to tell...she's been enjoying being a real girl again just a bit too much. Probably still in her tub... Can't blame her," Buffy mused.
Willow laughed and said, "Yeah, six would be good. Gives me enough time to ravish you... Take that necklace off." She sat on Buffy's lap when the Slayer seated herself at the desk to use the phone, kissing her and starting to playfully grope.
**********
Buffy was finally preparing her Alfredo with Willow working beside her searing some chicken breasts when Xander and Dawn walked into the kitchen.
Xander sniffed the air a bit and smiled before he spoke. "Smells good! What's the occasion, Buffster?"
"Give us a hand dishing this up and we'll tell ya," Buffy shot back, motioning for him to get serving dishes out. "Dawn, if you'd set the table in the private dining area, please?"
"Sure," Dawn said flippantly.
A few moments later, they were all seated with dishes of pasta, Alfredo, chicken breast, and fresh steamed string beans in front of them. Dawn and Xander were looking expectantly at Buffy, trying not to eye the food.
"I just wanted to clue you two up that Will and I are seeing each other now. Really, it's no big. Just figured if we told ya sooner rather than later...it might be better," Buffy said matter-of-factly.
"Dawn smiled, "Oh... No way? Really? How'd that happen?"
Xander looked a bit confused as he backed Dawn up, "Yeah... How'd that happen? Buffy, you're about the straightest girl I've ever known. Dark, broody boys were always your thing."
"Got tired of the drama... Moved the hell on... For that former bit...the usual way... I'm not drawing you any pictures, so settle down, Xander," Buffy shot back with a smirk, starting to plate up the food.
Willow giggled at this, and said, "Well... You do know that Einstein defined insanity as repeating the same action over and over again while expecting different results."
"Sorry guys... I need to eat. I'm starved," Buffy said frankly as she raised an eyebrow and gave Willow a look.
"Anything new with you two?" Willow asked politely, as she innocently ignored the look of playful anger on the Slayer's face.
Dawn smiled. "Well, other than the actual bath I took today, not really... Oh, and the sitting in a chair thing... That's sort of new...or at least it's been a while." She reached over to hug Willow.
"Nothing here... Just shop talk... So, you two are?" Xander asked, waving his finger between Buffy and Willow. "Ummm... Yeah...this might take a bit of getting used to... Oh...Kay...then...let's eat," He finished, trying not to get too tongue-tied over the flash of mental images that hit. Oh, Boy... Blind, Xander, you're going to go blind in that one good eye...
Willow said to the room conversationally, "Buffy and I've been talking and we think it might be beneficial to start teaching the girls Tai Chi Chuan to help some of the slower ones catch up, and develop some over-all focus in style. Dawn...want in? Might be fun..."
"Absolutely! Buffy sort of dropped my training when all hell broke loose back home. I'd love to pick it back up. I'm so there," Dawn replied, looking a bit overly excited.
"I'll get some materials together and put together a basic book for the girls. Xander, would you mind helping to get all the copies we'll need made?" Willow said, looking a bit apologetic.
"I can do that... I'll delegate, of course. Toner...not my thing... But I can make sure it gets done," Xander said thoughtfully.
Buffy interjected, "Yeah... Will and I were thinking that we'd grab Satsu and break off the top ten girls to give them really close instruction. Then, we'd have them work with the rest in groups of roughly ten or so. Seems better than having 100+ girls on the lawn, looking like an army or something...way too 'Enter the Dragon' for my comfort."
"It's pretty obvious to me, watching how Satsu moves, that she's been trained or is self-trained. Given her nationality, I'd lean toward the former. Odds are, she's better suited to teach than I am, certainly," Willow said, looking at Buffy for confirmation.
"Yeah, Satsu definitely came out of the box one hell of a fighter. Plus, she has that flare for improvisation that makes a great slayer. I didn't have to do much 'cept remind her repeatedly to guard the other girls," Buffy said in a supportive tone.
"Well, I'll work on the hand out tonight, then. I actually think that I'd be most useful in simply pointing out the ones that are having trouble. I can run a quick scan of any class and just point and move on." Willow smiled softly.
"Dawn, if you want to be in on the 'first ten' part of this thing, you're welcome," Buffy said, smiling warmly.
"Really? Does that mean I get to teach a class?" She asked brightly.
"We'll see how you do and go from there. You're quite a dancer when you put your mind to it. You may just enjoy this much," Buffy said, continuing to smile.
Willow looked at Xander, taking Buffy's hand in hers. "You going to be okay with this?"
"I just want you two to be happy. If you can find happiness together, then I'd be more of an idiot than I already am to get all judgey," Xander said, taking Willow's other hand.
Considering for another moment, he concluded, "Much better choice than Spike! Way lots better... Not what I'd have ever guessed, but..." Xander finished with a chuckle; looking at Buffy.
They all giggled bit as they began to clear the table.
Buffy and Willow broke off from the group as soon as they could, passing out hugs and saying their goodnights.
"So, how was he really?" Buffy asked as they walked.
Willow looked gloomy as she said, "Not good... In fact, pretty much freaked. Gotta to hand it to him... He's learning to put on a show."
Picking up the witch's mood, Buffy added, "I was afraid of that, but I think it would've been worse to wait."
"Absolutely," Willow confirmed. Considering Xander again, she said, "I think I'm going to run off and track him down for some 'us time.' I might be able to help him. Do you mind, Buffy?"
"I don't know... You're asking an awful lot from me..." she said with an amused smile. "You'd better hurry back, or I may get all rampagey an' cause trouble," Buffy said with a small laugh; then she pulled Willow close to kiss her.
"I'll try..." Willow said, releasing the Slayer to return downstairs.
"I'm going to find Satsu to talk to her about the training and play with that Ginsu thing," Buffy said over her shoulder cheerfully as she took off in the other direction.
Willow found Xander where she expected him to be, the communications center, a few moments later. She shot him her 'resolved face' as she stomped up to him, pulled the Bluetooth earpiece out of his ear and said to Renee, "I need to steal Xander from you for a few. Hope you can live without him." With this, she placed the earpiece next to Renee and took Xander by the hand, dragging him out of the room.
"What's the up, Will?" Xander said as the witch towed him along toward the front door.
"Nothing... I just thought we could do with a bit of us time and just taking you seemed like the better plan. No excuses needed if you are kidnapped. You can tell Renee I was mad 'cause you spilled jelly on a book or something. She'll believe that," Willow said with a snicker.
Finding a quiet spot in the yard, Willow sat down and motioned for Xander to do the same. She finally spoke in a soft voice after studying his face for a moment or two. "I didn't mean to steal her from you. I know part of you has to feel that I swept in and did just that. No plans or evil intentions...it just happened."
Xander appeared upset hearing these words. "I know you didn't. What I don't get is the how."
"I'm not sure... I think part of it was simply seeing me so hurt and realizing she might lose me. Buffy actually pulled me back from a really bad place after I arrived. Then we started working a bunch of magick together to try and sort Dawn out. Magick can open paths that might otherwise be closed. In a lot of ways, it can be more intimate than...well you know..." Willow finished in a gentle voice.
"Yeah... I knew you were pretty badly hurt. Wondered about that...Wait! Buffy's a witch?" Xander looked extremely confused as he spoke in a voice that was slightly too loud.
"No, Xander. Don't be silly. Buffy just has a lot of magickal potential because she's the Slayer. They all do. Some more than others... She makes an ideal partner to ground the magicks, and she's a source of incredible strength. Pretty much the perfect battery in layman's terms," Willow explained.
Willow sighed softly and continued before Xander could break in with another question. "...And I can channel the magicks back through her...work together with her. We've been practicing this, honing it. This is not of the normal, in the magickal world though...it's me...sort of a unique thing I learned I could do with the right partner."
"So, is that why she's so different? I mean, one of the biggest creep-factors at dinner was that Buffy was being so open. Not the Buffster I know. I was wondering if it was Buffy the First, until I realized she'd carried a bowl in," Xander said, appearing somewhere between concerned and amused.
"Yeah well... Making a person understand the harm they've caused...much, much easier if you can just show them. Words can be clunky and they're easy to ignore. I just saved the Watchers several years' worth of counseling and a broken Slayer in under a minute. Think I should bill them? Been a while since I made Giles cluck..." Willow stifled a laugh as she finished.
"Sure, Will... You could take us all to Disneyland or something... They owe us a serious vacation after all the hell we've been through!" Xander concluded a bit overly enthusiastically.
"That'd be fun! Though, not so much with the Disneyland thing...I'm thinking tropical beaches...more the plan," Willow smiled and drifted off for a moment dreamily.
"Anyway... You should get back before they really miss you. I need to go start with the reading and organizing material before I get too tired." Willow stood, offering Xander a hand. Helping him to his feet, they started back to the citadel.
Willow caught Xander's eye as they approached the doors and said, "Feel better?"
"A bit, yeah... Still need some time with the sorting," Xander concluded.
Willow smiled at him warmly, "You know, you should ask Renee to have dinner with you. She's a major league cutie and she's seriously caught the Xander bug. Girl has the hots big time," she poked Xander's side, "Hey...and not a demon...major bonus."
Xander giggled, grinning sheepishly, "I may just do that." Thanks, Will," he said drawing her up into a warm hug.
"K...well... No rest for the wicked. I'm gonna go get researchy again," Willow said, entering the castle. She passed through the library on her way back up to the room, pulling a number of volumes down. When Buffy finally returned, she was sitting at the desk with books stacked and open in front of her and a book in her lap, reading.
"That was fun!" Buffy said exuberantly as she bounced in the door.
Willow stirred a little and said in an absent voice, "I'm glad you had a good time."
"Yeah... I can parry sword blows with my forearms... It's a bit too Matrixy but definitely way cool. I finally just grabbed Satsu's katana out of her hands by the blade and bopped her over the head with it. She wasn't impressed," Buffy said, raising her shirt to wipe some sweat from her forehead with it. "Shower time for me..." she concluded, walking into the bathroom.
Willow put her book down and stole off out of the room, returning a few minutes later with a small piece of sandpaper she'd stolen from Xander and a cup with some liquid in the bottom. She walked into the bathroom and grabbed the necklace they'd made, removing the charm and leaving the chain. "I'm going to borrow this," she told Buffy as she left the room.
Once back at the desk, she returned to her book and began to absently work the corners of the silver wire down smooth with the paper. She glanced at it periodically between sentences, making sure she was getting the desired effect. Satisfied that the wire was rounded and even, she dropped the charm into the cup.
Buffy entered the room drying her hair with a towel as she spoke, "Whatcha doin'?"
"Organizing the information for the girls," Willow said in an aloof voice.
Buffy walked over to the desk and looked into the cup, "No, I meant with the necklace."
"Oh... That? Finishing it... I wanted to add a patina to the silver after I smoothed it out so it will wear better and more comfortably for you. Should look pretty cool too..." Willow looked up at Buffy as she spoke, "It's just bleach, as you can smell. It makes the silver tarnish really quickly. More chemistry...actually metallurgy... It would tarnish as you wore it, but it would take months to get a similar effect."
"That's nifty, Will... Looks great," Buffy said with a smile as she reached out to touch the side of the witch's face. "Think I could get your attention now or..."
"That might be arranged, but you know how I get... You're going to have to do something pretty distracting." Willow shot Buffy a wolfish grin.
"Think I can manage that... How 'bout we start by running you through the shower too? That'll be okay if we just leave it?" Buffy said, gesturing to the cup.
"Oh, yeah... It'll just turn blacker as it sits. Should have a thick dark coat by morning... If you want, you can bring the silver back out by just rubbing it against your jeans to polish it," Willow said thoughtfully.
Buffy said in an amused voice, "More than I needed to know, "as she pulled Willow to standing and dragged her off into the bathroom, ripping the redhead's shirt off in route. "Distracting enough?" she smiled.
"Maybe," Willow smirked as she pretended to head back to her books.
Buffy spun Willow around and pinned the witch to the bathroom wall, both hands on her lover's forearms. She raised the redhead's arms above her head and using one hand to hold them in place, she leaned in to kiss Willow passionately as she worked to unfasten her jeans with the free hand. "I have your attention now?" she queried, working her free hand down into the front of the redhead's jeans and starting to suckle and nibble her neck...
Willow gasped, saying, "Yes..." finally in a soft moaning voice.