Loving Willow with a Vengeance
by Rin
[reviews]
A/N: Look what I can do! If you haven't read the other stories or forgot...go recap first, since I'll be unveiling a LOT from previous installments in the series, especially the last two.
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Willow ran her fingertip over the burn tattoo on Buffy's belly. They had ignored the scar too long. Sighing, she propped her head up in her hand, knowing Buffy would wake soon. She loved that the summer was so quiet and they had a chance to reconnect on a relationship level. Slayer the Second seemed happy about it, too, having it's other mommy home, if only once or twice a week. Sometimes more if Dawn was with her.
Buffy was proving to be a good parental figure to Dawn, and Willow knew that it hurt Buffy to put herself into that position. She didn't want to be a substitute but she wanted Dawn to know she was there, that she cared, even if her younger sister did start to argue that Buffy smothered her too much.
The hardest thing was everybody getting over Fred. It was an unspoken thing for weeks until finally Buffy brought it up. There were lots of tears, lots of cursing, lots of blaming of oneself, and Willow knew that Buffy still did blame herself, even after their lengthy conversations. Healing would come in time...
For now, they just stayed content with each other, relishing in the feel of being together. The semester would start soon and Dawn was already back in school. Since Buffy's apartment was a little shorter walk to Sunnydale High, the blonde only stayed over on weekends but they still got together for dates and dinners during the week.
The thing that intrigued Willow was that magick wasn't hard anymore...she had all this power. She could feel it coursing through her all the time and it took Buffy to bring her back to reality. Sometimes, it was just easier to do a spell than working for something, though. She was glad Buffy was there to keep her grounded, and she even toyed with talking to Tara about how comfortable she would be about doing spells together again. She needed more stability in her magicks, or she feared the power would consume her.
"What are you doing up so early?" Buffy decided to just watch Willow in her thought-state, as the redhead's finger just continued to trace her burned scar.
"I want to start doing more research on this. We still don't know how you got it." Willow smiled upon seeing her lover's eyes open. "Good morning."
"Morning." Buffy accepted the morning breath kiss. "Do what you think is best. I bow to your superior wisdom."
"Buff..." Willow blushed slightly, before moving her elbow to put her head back down.
"You're so cute when you blush." Buffy smiled before pulling the redhead closer for snuggles. "I hope Dawn's okay with Faith and Tara. She seemed kind of down when I dropped her off last night."
"I'm sure she's fine. It's Faith I'd worry more about...she'll have Dawnie in leathers and who knows what else if you keep letting her stay there." Willow just chuckled. "Maybe you should start letting her stay home by herself. Glory's gone, so she'll be okay now."
"I still worry, though. We don't know what's happened to Glory. She just disappeared and I thought for sure she would come after us."
"I know. Me, too." Willow kissed Buffy's shoulder, remembering how for two weeks the blonde wouldn't let her sister out of her sight except to sleep and even then, it was a tossup whether she would sleep at her doorstep or sit by her bed on watch.
"Giles doesn't want to talk much anymore, so I don't know what he said to Ben." Buffy was bummed that her watcher was distancing himself but she figured he was grieving in his own way. She just hoped their suspicions weren't correct, and he wasn't drinking as much as Spike said.
"I was thinking we should do something, maybe have a dinner party. I miss everybody. It feels like we rarely see them anymore."
"Well, everybody has their own lives to attend to...with Xander and Anya making wedding plans and Faith and Tara moving in together, it's kind of hard to get together, especially since we all used to gather at Giles's and he doesn't seem to want us over much anymore. I'm seriously worried about him, so that might help him."
"I think so, too." They just stayed there in a loose snuggle, relaxing and enjoying the morning after a great night of sex and other fun.
"I don't want to...but I'm going to have to get Dawn soon." Buffy pouted.
"I am very objected to the idea of moving." Willow smirked before placing a small kiss on Buffy's shoulder.
"Duty calls."
"It's not a duty. It's a Dawn. I know it's hard and I can't imagine. When we get to the point of moving in, I will help more than I already am. I promise." Willow hadn't treated Dawn any differently than she had in the past. She just wanted to see that Buffy wasn't going overboard with the momming. So far so good, even if she was starting to show signs of being too smothery.
"Maybe a little while longer wouldn't hurt. What damage could Faith really do?" Buffy just scrunched her eyebrows, as she seriously contemplated that question.
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Cordelia's visions were causing her brain to explode, reminding her that a human shouldn't endure these things. The Oracles told Angel that she would need to become part demon if she wanted to stay alive, that even with the damage already done, she wouldn't live much longer as a human.
The very thought angered Cordelia beyond anything. Becoming a demon? Not fashionable.
She just lost her best friend and it was killing her. She was in serious pain, even if she couldn't blame anybody anymore. Fred's death was noble, just like Doyle's had been.
Thinking of all the demons she could be, she never expected D'Hoffryn, Anya's old boss, to offer her a position. He was even willing to let her slide from the purely evil aspects. The idea of being scary and veiny repulsed her but it was the best offer, since she didn't have to grow horns or turn blue. She wanted to live, she wanted to continue fighting alongside Angel. So, she had accepted his offer since time was running out and it was her best one.
Cordelia Chase was now a vengeance demon.