Return to Catching Sunflowers in Bloom Chapter Seven



Catching Sunflowers in Bloom
CHAPTER EIGHT

Author: MissKittys Ball O Yarn
Rating: PG-13
Feedback: Please leave feedback on the Catching Sunflowers in Bloom thread on the Kitten Board.
Disclaimer: We all know the drill... but I guess it must be said. I don't own anything even remotely related to Willow and Tara nor do I plan to get anything that resembles monetary gain for such creative musing. The great and powerful Joss owns all and I am not but an unimportant bug to be crushed (now that that's been said...)


Willow was still in a sitting position when Miss Odessa,satisfied that she was indeed going to live, left the room.

Tara was standing next to the dresser, her back was turned to the red head but she could feel Willow's eyes on her back. She knew her friend expected her to turn around... to say something... anything but instead Tara opted for the much safer, awkward silence.

She opened her pajama drawer in hopes of finding something that would fit the red-head. Tara was feeling nervous. Her hands ran over the cloth of the various articles of clothing folded neatly in the second drawer. She was taking too much time choosing something, and she knew that Willow was probably wondering what she was doing. Tara pretended to be completely engrossed in the task at hand. She shifted the weight of her body from one foot to the other as she bit her lower lip. She finally settled on her favorite pair of Pajama's. She worried about what it would feel like to See willow dressed in them.

"H-here... you can wear t-these..." Tara said, handing Willow the set of pajamas. They were not the nicest pair, worn from washing and faded from hanging on the line one too many times in the afternoon sun but they had penguins perpetually skating around on the flannel and they were Tara's favorite. She hoped that penguins might cheer Willow up.

"Thank you..."

Tara pulled back subconsciously when her fingertips grazed Willow's palm. Their eyes met, but each girl quickly looked away. They examined, instead, a new and interesting aspect of the ceiling that they'd apparently never had seen before.

There was another moment of awkward silence, before Tara noticed that Willow wasn't moving to put the pajamas on. She was just holding them in her lap "Oh! you probably want to change. I'll go." Tara offered.

"Tara... you don't have to go..." Willow said trying to keep anything but friendship out of her voice.

Tara blushed at the sound of Willow's voice and the thought of being in the room with her while she changed her wet clothes promised to be more than Tara could handle. She didn't turn away as Willow began to unbutton her shirt. Tara couldn't have torn her eyes away if the goddess herself, had floated down on a cloud and instructed her to. She could see the silkiness of Willow's skin through the ever widening gap down the front of the red head's shirt. Tara examined willow's slim fingers, and thought she saw the faintest shaking as they continued their path of contained destruction down Willow's blouse. It wasn't until Willow had unbuttoned it all the way, and was in the process of pulling the offending material off, that Tara came to her senses and turned around to face the other wall. Her cheeks were burning hot.

Tara stood there staring at the wall during the single most tormenting moment of her life. She tried everything in the next few minutes to keep her mind off of Willow undressing behind her. She tried counting the twinkle lights hanging from her wall...she tried thinking of pastrami sandwiches and of lying in big puddles of mud, but nothing was working...it turned out to be the longest single minute of Tara's young life.

"All finished..." Tara heard Willow say. She turned around to face her friend as the red head secured the last button on the pajama top.

Tara let out the breath she'd been holding in.


They sat on the bed together, talking quietly. It was midnight. Tara had always liked the hour, it carried so much energy and potential with it.

Neither girl wanted to admit that they were tired, instead they stayed up talking about anything and everything they could think of. Tara had taken down her picture album from the shelf and the girls were currently giggling over pictures of Donny as a small child dressed in one of Tara's dresses. Tara became quiet. The comfortable camaraderie between them, was beginning to spark something inside Tara that she had been thinking about since the first night, when Willow had climbed the lattice and stepped inside her world.

Tara wanted to share her magic with Willow. Her mother had always told her that Magic in the wrong hands could be very dangerous and that Tara should be very careful who she told about it. Up until now, Tara had told no one but she wanted to tell Willow. Tara silently asked the Goddess for a sign. If she was meant to tell Willow then the Goddess would provide a sign.

"What if we can't find each-other Tara...? What if when I leave we never see each-other again? " The question seemed to come out of nowhere. They had moved to their stomaches, lying with their head's on the bed and their faces turned toward each-other.

"That won't happen." Tara was quiet.

"How can you know for sure...?"

"Because you know where I live silly."

"But what if I hit my head on something really hard and get amnesia and cant remember where your live? And what if I spend the rest of my life going from house to house searching for you..And I don't find you and we never see each-other again. Or what if you move..." Willow could feel herself being worked up into a small panic.

"Then I'll find you...." Tara let the words hang there in the air. She held her breath afraid that she might have said something wrong. She waited for Willow's reaction and she was surprised when the red-head silently and softly slipped her hand into Tara's.

Tara recognized willow's question and the subsequent feelings it invoked for what they were. A sign from the Goddess. Tara mustered up her courage. She was surprised to find how calm she felt."Do you want to see something...?" Tara asked tentatively. She still wasn't sure how Willow was going to react.

"Sure" Willow nodded.

"Come on..." Tara said, getting off the bed. She extended her hand, offering it to Willow, Tara helped her to stand.

"Close your eyes..." Tara said

"But Tara... doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of showing me something if I have my eyes closed and can't see it?" Willow asked, a small smile on her lips.

"Trust me..."

Willow nodded, closing her eyes without further hesitation.

Tara closed her own eyes and centered her focus. It was strange But Tara could swear that she felt Willow's heart beating in time with her own. But that was impossible, Willow had no idea what Tara was doing, there was no way they could be that much in-sync. But yet there it was, distinctly different but joined with Tara's at the same time. It was strong and Tara had to fight to keep her eyes closed. She brushed the shared connection out of her mind, she had to focus.

Tara counted backward in her mind from ten to one, centering herself with each dissension, until she was aware of nothing but her own breathing. Something wasn't right though, she had only been trying to conjure a teeny Tinker-bell light, but somehow she managed to astrally project herself out of her body.

Tara opened her eyes, she could see a fine sheen of perspiration on Willow's forehead. Was it possible that Willow had made the journey with her? One test would tell for sure. "Willow..." She said softly. When Willow didn't respond Tara assumed that she had stayed on the physical plane.

This had only ever happened to Tara when she did spells with her mother. Her mother's magical energy was stronger than Tara's and sometimes the power of it would send Tara out of her body. She was able to remain calm because she'd experienced this before. It wasn't unpleasant. Focusing her energy back through the crown of her physical body, Tara reentered herself.

"Okay... you can open them..." She said softly. Tara watched as Willow's eyes fluttered open.

Tara gauged Willow's reaction carefully. As the red head became aware of the tiny white light floating close to her face.

Willow opened her eyes and was stunned to see the little bluish-white light floating languidly in front of her face. "What is that...?" She asked in awe.

"This is how we'll always find each-other..." Tara spoke the words carefully, she didn't want Willow to sense the true depth behind them. Tara moved her fingers and the light caressed Willow's cheek.

Willow followed its path with her eyes until the little light evaporated.

"Where did it... I mean... how did you-"

"Magic..."


Continue to Catching Sunflowers in Bloom Chapter Nine


Return to Story Archive
Return to Main Page