Author: MissKittys Ball O Yarn
Rating: NC-17
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 put Miss Kitty Fantastico down on the grass as she came to the edge of the circular clearing. The kitten mewled at Willow's feet as if in a last plea to be picked up again. When she saw nothing was to come of her vocalization, the kitten abandoned her effort, going instead, a few feet away to sit on her bottom in the dirt, her tiny paws bracing the weight of her body. Willow glanced down but never considered the chance that the kitten would run off, for It seemed as if in giving the animal a name they had linked her to them somehow. Maybe Willow was giving Miss Kitty more credit then she should, but her mind was elsewhere at the moment, so the cat would just have to make due for the time being.

Willow's feet felt the difference in texture as she went from the crumpled, dry earth to the softer grass that was now being crushed underneath the sneakers she wore. Willow didn't question how she knew where the clearing was, or even how she had managed to weave herself there in the pitch black of night, without becoming hopelessly lost. The field of Sunflowers wasn't small after-all, it was as massive as four football fields. And though still as dark as it ever was, the moon directly overhead of the clearing gave the illusion of light, so much so that Willow could make out the view before her. Even the black kitten against the night seemed illuminated.

The circle in the center of the sunflowers wasn't as lush as Willow remembered it to be, but it was't entirely dead either. Only showing the first sighs of decay just around the edges where willow could just make out that its greenness had been replaced by dying flecks of brownish-yellow as it turned into straw in its last hope of life before death. Willow suspected this earth under feet must have been rich with past spells in order to be able to fight off the death of itself for so long.

Inside the actual circle the grass was a shaggy fit. Instead of growing upward toward the sky, they had chosen to grow outward, like the eyebrows of someones great grandfather; bushy and flattened, but there and taking up space all the same. As willow stepped into the circle Willow knew then that it was residual magic that had sustained this patch of ground for this long because with each step she took Willow could feel the tingle of it under her shoes. The vibrations the ground released tickled her toes through their covering.

"Willow..."

Willow felt a hand on her back and a warm shiver spiraled up her spine as Tara's voice, thick with warmth found its space just behind her. Willow turned around then taking in the beauty of Tara as she stood there in bare feet. The barrette she had been wearing had been tossed aside somewhere, surely lost in the tangle below their feet, her hair draping loose from it's confines ran silkily down her back. Words floated through her mind as she felt Tara's hands move to grasp the bottom of the tank top Willow wore.

There's magic in everyday life. There's magic in the things around you. But sometimes it's unfocusing your eyes that allows you to see the amount of magic that can be found inside one sweet kiss. Willow moaned as Tara's fingers grazed the skin of her stomach on their way up.

Tara grasped wordlessly at the hem of Willow's shirt, and in one swift and silent movement the garment was cast aside. Tara's breath left her body at the sight of Willow's summer-light skin, strong before her. There was no bra clinging there underneath her lover's shirt to get caught or in the way of Tara's possessively strengthened gaze. Tara licked her lips at the sight of Willow's nipples hardening before her eyes. She wasn't sure what had come over her, all she knew was that it was powerful, and the need to feel Willow's skin beneath her lips at that very moment was not something she could deny. With eyes alone, Tara traced the path of a single drop of sweat as it ran down the valley of Willow's chest in between her small breasts. Tara reached out, shaking, to cup Willow's soft flesh in the palm of her hand. She ran her thumb over one strawberry nipple, and felt it harden impossibly more under the light pressure of her thumb. Tara felt the vibration of Willow's moan pulse through the redhead's body and into Tara's hand as thumb was immediately replaced with hungry lips. Tara sucked the soft pink tip into her mouth as the other hand came up of its own volition to gently stroke Willow's other nipple.

Willow's fingers came up to tangle in the soft strands of straw-blonde hair, as Tara devoured first one, then the other aching nipple. She felt her legs give out under her as she fell toward the ground with sinking force.

Tara, who had tried to cushion Willow's descent fell under the pressure of the movement. She landed on her back with Willow pressed on top of her body. Tara opened her legs, to make room for Willow as the redhead moved to fit snuggly between them.

What remained of their clothing was quickly cast from them and strewn onto the ground as something of an offering; a desperate plea to the earth to take from them what they offered and in return restore to its natural state of being, what grew from it .

Tara's body swayed with the movement of their joining, as all around them the sunflowers joined in that movement. An invisible wind tugged at the dead stalks as Tara led them in the dance of life as if with the movement of her body under Willow's tongue she was breathing life back into the very dirt below her, replacing nutrients lost, with life from her body.

Willow's tongue danced smoothly in and out of Tara's wetness, the sweet honey taste of her lover turning darker, richer as she came close to release. Willow fought to keep control as Tara's hips pressed urgently closer to Willow's searching tongue.

Willow moved her hand across the softness of Tara's stomach in a feather-light attempt to keep all means of connection flowing between them as Tara's orgasm hit with such an incredible force that Willow was taken with her.

Tara, lay cradled in the crook of Willow's arm as the last remaining shivers coursed through her body. She felt increasingly exhausted and even more loved and secure then she ever had in her life. Tara snuggled in deeper, nuzzling her nose along the fragrant, damp skin of Willow's neck. Willow's hair, wet with sweat, matted to Tara's forehead as the blonde pressed even closer.

Willow was quiet for a long time her body was still as she held Tara in her arms. With her eyes closed, she focused on the feel of Tara in her arms, trying to fix every molecule of the blonde into her memory so that nothing could be lost. Willow concentrated on the feel of Tara's skin, and how in sweaty, dampness Tara softness clung to Willow, molding itself to her in an aching heat that she could feel all the way down to her bones. Willow inhaled the scent of Tara's being as the sweet smell of her lover's desire was taken deeply into her lungs. She swore silently that she wouldn't forget a single moment of their time together. Willow tracked the movement of her left thumb as it ran across the skin of Tara's right hip until she felt herself dozing off, but still her mind wouldn't stop recording until the world faded to black around her.

Willow shifted in the saddle. She could feel the white horse's body move under her slight weight, but she was not afraid. She should have been but here, Willow was strong and things such as horses and the falling off of them held no emotional attachment for her. Off in the distance Willow could see Tara. Her lover was waiting for her, as if she knew that she was arriving this day, to scoop her up and take her away. Willow was filled with the warmest feeling as she rode up to Tara, and offered her hand to the blonde, but just before she felt the tips of Tara's fingers against her own fingers there was a noise... Something was happening but she wasn't sure what.

Willow opened her eyes, coming out of the doze she'd been in to find blue eyes shinning back at her. The sky above them had turned navy blue highlighted with a faintly lighter shade of blue; almost like an artist had painted lines in the sky above them. Emotion swelled in Willow's chest as she thought about what the dream and what it must have meant. But she knew what it meant, and suddenly the words that had been suppressed all these weeks came to the surface like a horse racing to the finish line; so quick were they, that Willow couldn't stop them as they crossed the distance between thought and verbal reality.

"Tara... I want you to come with me..." Willow said so softly she wasn't really sure if she had actually said anything at all. She, lifted up on her arm slightly so she could look into Tara's eyes as she spoke. The blonde had a dreamy expression on her face, and Willow couldn't decide if it was residual euphoria from their lovemaking or if it was because Tara also saw the beauty in Willow's request.

"You could apply to school in Sunnydale..." Willow said this as if Sunnydale was at the apex of some form of forward movement and that the students there were all clambering to get in to enjoy all the faucets of higher knowledge that the generic institution had to offer. Not to mention the fact that it was, for all practical purposes, one step away from community college, and currently sitting in a swirly vortex of nasty evilish activity.

"Willow..." In Tara's mind there wasn't any doubt. Her life was with Willow, but she also knew that destiny's path wasn't always a straight one, and that the journey could sometimes take twists and turns that were not always seen ahead of time. Tara didn't know what lay ahead of them all she could do was pray that the goddess saw fit to keep them together through it all. Tara brought her eyes up to meet Willow's but she could already see that the silently contemplated moment she had taken had sent willow off onto a side tangent.

"I mean... if you wanted... I don't want you to feel like I'm telling you what to do, cause I would never....you know...I should have asked before I... just expected that you would want to climb up onto my white horse and ride away with me into the sunset..."

"Huh?" Tara asked, a confused smile on her lips.

"Did I just say that last part out loud?" Willow asked, closing her eyes momentarily.

"Uh-huh."

She re-opened them at the feeling of Tara's fingers tracing a path across her lips. Her brain had forgotten how to form words, but her body definitely hadn't forgotten how to respond.

Tara withdrew her thumb from Willow's lips just as the redhead's tongue would have come out from between those sweet lips to capture it and pull it inside. They would have to save that for later because there were still things that needed to be said. "You would want that?" there was a vulnerability in Tara's voice that she tried to cover by casting her eyes away from Willow's to examine a freckle on the redhead's shoulder.

"More than anything Tara... I want us to be together." Willow shifted her body, so that she could look at Tara head on. "I've been thinking of ways to say this for weeks now... and... if you wont come with me, then I'll just have to stay here --" Willow put on her most effective, tight-lipped-no-room-for-argument-so-don't-even-try face and gave Tara a look that dared the blonde to challenge her decision.

"You can't do that Will... what about school? What about your family? What about your friends?" There were so many things to consider, and Tara knew that Willow couldn't just leave everything behind to join Tara here to live the life of a farm hand, sure, a summer that was one thing, but indefinitely? No. Tara couldn't ask Willow to do that. She loved the woman in her arms too much to ever ask her to make that kind of sacrifice.

"If I don't have you with me Tara... then I don't have my family... you're my best friend... how could I do anything without my best friend?" Willow was fighting back tears now, she didn't want to cry, not now, Tara needed to see a strong Willow... but the not-so-strong Willow was running around in a panic just below her skin.

Tara could see the anxiety that ran just below the surface of Willow's words and Tara wanted nothing more than to calm her lover, not just with her body, or her hands as they reached up lightly to lock onto Willow's bare shoulders. she wanted to calm Willow with her words, but they were not forthcoming so Tara did the only thing she knew, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to Willow's mouth.

Willow's mind cleared and the chaos inside her body ceased all movement as she felt Tara's full lips open over hers. Willow opened her mouth to receive Tara's tongue and she moaned as her lover kissed her passionately. Willow felt a pain in her chest when Tara finally pulled back but the pain was soon replaced by warmth as Tara pulled Willow into her body. Willow inhaled the scent of Tara and a wave of emotion overwhelmed her to the point that she could no longer hold back the tears that now were crashing wildly down her cheeks, she could feel the tears wet against her face as she pressed closer to Tara's body.

Tara's skin was wet with Willow's tears, but she didn't care. Tara wrapped her arms around Willow tightly, breathing in the scent of ruddy pollen and the musty thick smell of the grass that still clung to Willow's bare skin. Tara kissed the side of Willow's face that was not pressed into her body, she brought her lips against Willow's forehead and placed a warm, comforting kiss against the skin there as well. Tara went wherever her lips led her, placing kisses along Willow jawline until her lips finally came to rest against Willow's hair.

Tara thought then of the money she'd been stashing away. She had at least 5000 dollars by now she was sure, and that would be enough to rent an apartment for a few months while she searched for a job. Deciding, Tara lifted her cheek from Willow's head But Willow's words were flowing over them again before Tara could say anything.

"Please say you'll come with me Tara... I don't know what I'd do if..."

"You wont have to find out, i'm coming with you Willow. Did you really think that I wouldn't? Did you really think that I could stand the thought of being over a thousand miles away from you, when I know that you belong right here?" Tara placed the palm of her hand against her heart. She almost stopped breathing when Willow's wet eyes came up to make contact with hers.

"Do you mean...?"

Tara nodded, her lips forming a smile.

Donny sat down in the wooden chair out on the front porch. The planks of wood under is stocking feet beginning to fade and warp from the combination of rain and sun that fallen each summer over the years. In a few weeks Donny was sure he'd have to go in and pull all the boards free and replace them with new ones. This time he'd put a coat of sealant over the top... that should save him anymore hassle where the porch was concerned.

Donny hit his boots against the wooden planks, effectively knocking off the dried mud that had left clumps on the soles of his boots. It was just before dawn and he was already up and ready to go. Donny pulled the slip of paper out of his shirt pocket and unfolded it, just to make sure he had the right one, and not something else.

Donny examined the note in the yellow-tinted light from the bare, yellow bulb just above his head. He found It strange that his father had written him, instead of picking up the phone and calling. And it was even more strange that his father had requested that Donny send him money through Western Union. The man had never made a request like that before and it gave Donny a sinking kind of feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Could it be possible that his father was avoiding them..avoiding the farm altogether? Donny felt anger rise up and form a tight ball in his gut. The man had been gone for over three months and the whole time Donny and Tara had thought he was working, but the truth was... Donny looked at the address on the letter one last time before folding it back into the hap-hazard square it had one been. Stuffing it back into his pocket, he quickly slid his feet into the faded brown boots. The truth was, he didn't know what the truth was...The return address was that of his Aunt Reeney over in Colby... Could it be possible that their father had been at Reeney's house this whole time while he and Tara struggled to make ends meet here?

Donny slung his riffle into the back of the pick-up truck, He felt the anger building even higher inside him and he knew that if he didn't get it under control he'd most likely end up shooting the man. As he climbed into the cab of the truck he thought about taking the gun back into the house, but instead, he inserted the key into the ignition and started the engine.

Doing 50 miles an hour, down the driveway, the tires kicked up rocks as they fought to keep traction on the loose texture of the road. This form of passive-aggression made him feel better momentarily. But that didn't last long. The anger he had felt at his father surged up with a vengeance. As he thought about his sister, and all the things she'd had to go through because of that man Donny became more determined than ever. The drive would take him the better part of the day, but Donny was determined to get to the bottom of what was going on.

They held each-other, until just before dawn, when the sound of the truck speeding away brought them both up out of sleep. Awakened and feeling alive and grateful to be so, they gathered up their clothes. An excitement filled the air and as they dressed there was a need between them to keep in contact with each-other at all times, so their fingers rarely left each-other's bodies even as they slid into their clothes from the night before.

As they brushed past them, the stalks seemed to want to reach out and grasp onto them, Willow had the feeling that it was only the swiftness of their forward movement that kept them from the desperate embrace of the Sunflowers.

They reached the perimeter of the field just in time to see the sun begin it's pre-dawn ritual. The sky lightened three shades before the first rays finally broke the horizon line. As the sun began to rise, casting it's cherry pink light into the cloudless sky, the women clasped hands, holding tight to each-other as the new day touched the rooftops of far away farmhouses and set the sky ablaze with life and light.The sun rose steadily against the backdrop of farmhouses and fields, traveling along the grass at a gradual pace. And with a thin line, the earth carefully kept the shadows separate from the breaking light.

Tara looked away, momentarily struck down by the beauty of the scene unfolding before them. As the first golden rays of dawn swept over the blanket of brown death that had become the sunflowers Tara once again turned her eyes to the sun. Life in the form of purely golden, yellow light and brighter than anything she'd ever seen before covered the field just as it had been in her vision, engulfing the crown of flowers to be absorbed by each thirsty plant. They seemed to drink in the light of day as they slowly opened themselves to the magic around them.

Tara could hear a sound like a choir singing rise up and out of the field. She felt Willow grip her hand tighter than before and she knew that Willow too heard the sound of singing as life was breathed back into the earth before them. Tara returned the grip, she longed to pull Willow to her and sing in a voice as loud as the sound that now permeated the air "look what we did Willow! This is the power of us together!" But she knew she didn't need to because she could see the same wild look on Willow's face as the beauty held them spellbound, unable to pull away with a power that made the grass quiver in its wake.