Author: Washi (ZWS)
Rating: NC-17 baby!
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, Joss does or whoever. If I owned them, do you really think I would let season 6 happen? And why the hell would I be writing this? So yeah, all belongs to Joss, ME etc...
Extra Notes For This Update: This update doesn't contain smut. It contains some sweetness, a tiny sliver of angst, and happiness, lots of it. Hope you like it, It's just a chapter to tie up lose ends, to explain stuff. And this one is exclusively for my chat buddies, who know who they are!

In Xander's apartment, sleep had been there for a couple of hours. The flat was quiet except for Xander's soft snoring. He had fulfilled Anya's requests, and he was exhausted. Anya however, wasn't sleeping yet. She slipped out of bed and sat in the kitchen, and after making herself a cup of coffee, dug the journal again and began leafing through it.

"Kisses, afternoon quickie, wait, a three hour quickie! That's a longie! How long do those two last! My god! More kisses, ohh, tongue! A quickie in the kitchen, another one in the basement, "a long night of sensual lovemaking" as Tara says." she enumerated, while flipping the pages. "Oh! This one is from after Warren shot Buffy. Let's see."

I can't believe all that's happened these last days. I know this is supposed to be our sex journal, but I needed to record the story somewhere, and it seemed appropriate. The first part was great, but then, everything fell apart in a way. It was the third day since I came back to Willow when tragedy struck.

Buffy found the evil Trio last night and smashed Warren's power balls. But he got away. She did catch Jonathan and the blonde guy, and they're in prison right now. But Warren got away, and we didn't think he'd try to kill Buffy.

We were upstairs in our room, getting dressed after almost three days of staying pretty much in bed. I remember every word Willow said that morning, it was sweet, a new beginning for us. We teased each other about being dressed, and we kissed, a sweet loving kiss. We then hugged, and I saw Xander outside. He and Buffy were talking about their fight. Everything was right in my world again. I had Willow, my family was getting back together, except for Anya, everything was pretty much perfect. That is until Warren decided to ruin it all.

We were just standing there, in our room, near the window, talking about Xander and Buffy, and me moving back when we heard Warren and the first shot. Warren's words will forever be etched to my mind.

"You think you can just do that to me? That I'd let you get away with it? Think again!"

Willow pushed me down as we heard the four other bullets, all making their way to the side of the house.

"Oh my goddess, what the heck was that!" Willow said, getting up slowly and looking through the window.

I got up too and raced to her when I saw her face pale.

'I don't like this, this can't be happening. This is such a great day for all of us! This isn't happening!' I kept saying in my head over and over.

I looked outside and saw Buffy lying on the ground, blood spluttering through her sweat shirt with Xander by her side, his face chalk white, trying to make her reply. I felt dizzy, and I looked at Willow for support.

Willow's eyes were watery, but her resolve face was on. She looked at me, and I nodded, and we ran downstairs. She grabbed the phone on her way out and quickly dialed 911. She explained everything to the person she was talking with, and hung up, telling me the ambulance was on its way. We went outside, and I looked at Buffy.

Her eyes were unfocused, and she was loosing a lot of blood. Looking at the wound, I found that it was on her shoulder, and that her unfocused look was probably from the blood waste. The bullet couldn't have hit a major organ. Xander looked at me, his eyes pleading.

"Tara, do you think you can do something? Anything, maybe get the bullet out?"

I looked at Willow who was trying to talk to Buffy through her tears. Yet, I couldn't lie.

"Xander, I don't know in what angle the bullet is. It looks like it didn't hit any vital organs, but if I try to get it out, if I'm strong enough that is, I could tear more tissues. We just have to wait a few minutes. And pray."

Willow looked at me, her eyes wet.

"Tara's right. We have to wait."

A few minutes later, the ambulance came. They took Buffy with them, and Willow rode with them as Xander and I followed in his car. We called Dawn from Xander's cell phone and told her to join us at the hospital.

We arrived there and found Willow crying in the small waiting room, 'The Scooby lounge' I thought. I went to her and wrapped my arms around her. The three of us waited impatiently until we were joined by Dawn who flew into my arms. I explained everything to her the best I could, and she sat down, numb. 'Once a year, this little girl goes through some kind of shock that completely shakes her. She's so young, but she's seen so much.' I thought.

So we waited. In silence. That is until Dawnie realized what was happening and started to cry. I sat next to her, with Willow on the other side and we tried our best to comfort her. After a while, she stopped crying and looked at us with a look of complete love.

"I love you guys. You're like my surrogate parents. I don't know what I'd do without you by my side. The world we live in is soo dangerous, and you guys, all of you," she said, looking at Xander, "are the one stable thing in my life. I don't know what I did to deserve you." She turned and, to my surprise and to Willow's, she hugged her, tightly, never wanting to let go. Willow was shaken up at first, clearly not expecting it, but then, she relaxed, putting her arms around Dawn.

My first reaction at Dawnie's speech was 'When did she grow up?'. And then I understood. She grew up when no one was looking, quietly.

Willow's smile was beaming. She knew that now, she was truly forgiven. The reunion was cut short when a doctor came over to us.

"Excuse me, Miss Rosenberg?"

Willow jumped up. "Yeah, that's me."

"Good." she said smiling. "You can all be reassured, Buffy is fine."

Those three words made us all sigh in relief.

"The bullet didn't touch any vital organs, and everything is just fine. She's gonna need a few days of resting, but everything is fine. She should wake up any minute now. You can take her home later tonight. We just need to keep her in observation for a few hours. How does that sound?"

We all got up and hugged her. She was surprised, but she laughed and told us to follow her into Buffy's room. We thanked her again, and she left.

Buffy woke up after a while. She was still weak, but she was healing fast. She asked us to call Giles and let him know. We did. He said he'd be on the first plane over. Later in the day, we signed the release papers and went home.

Having put Buffy in her room to rest, with Dawn staying with her, Xander, Willow and I decided that it was better for us to stay together. Willow called out for dinner, and as I was sitting with Xander, I noticed how fidgety he was. I felt the anxiety drip out of him. He was nervous and half-scared to death.

I looked at him straight in the eye and smiled. I was using some of my empathic power to soothe him. Like that time when Joyce had died and he smashed his hand in the wall of Willow's dorm room, he smiled at me. I felt the anxiety leave him and peace take over. He had reached a decision.

"I'm gonna go talk to Anya and tell her to come here. We should stay together." And with that, he got up from his seat and went to the door.

He stopped before going out and came back, hugging me. Now, that really surprised me. Xander had never hugged me. Yet, it felt safe, and I felt what he felt for me. I was a sister to him. It felt so nice, and good, and I felt a tear trickle down my cheek. I was now sure that my family loved me. Sure, I had known that, but this hug proved it. After all I had suffered from my real brother, I longed for this, to be loved by Willow's best friend. He pulled back and smiled, brushing my tears off.

"Thanks for everything, dear sister of mine." he said giving me a kiss on the forehead. He smiled and left.

< What? He hugged her! And gave her a kiss on the forehead! He's going to pay! Wait, he left with that danger outside to come and get me? Aww, he's so sweet! As long as I'm the only one using his penis, he can kiss them on the forehead. But only on the forehead. I understand what their friendship is like. He loves us all, but in different ways. Right, that's it. He married me. > she thought gleefully as she started reading again.

Willow came back into the room, and seeing my tear-streaked face, took me in her arms.

"What is it Baby? What's wrong? And where's Xander?" she said, looking around.

"Xander loves me."

"Of course he does, we all do, but I love you more baby. Where is he by the way?"

"He left to get Anya. I think they're gonna start working it out." I said, pulling back and sniffling.

"He left alone at night? What was he thinking? Oh, Right, he wasn't. I just hope everything is okay." Willow said, brushing away my tears, her hands cupping my face.

She leaned closer and pressed her lips to mine, gently brushing them together in a soothing way. I wrapped my arms tighter around her, and I kissed her back, parting my lips slowly to allow my tongue to sneak out and lightly trace her lower lip. She parted her lips, and allowed my tongue to creep into the velvety depth of her mouth. Slowly, our tongue touched. The contact was smooth, silken. My tongue glided against hers, lost in the haze that was quickly dissipating the room from my mind. The kiss was gentle, soothing, sensual and tender. No one moved to push it into passion and desire, both content on staying there, kissing. I heard someone clearing his throat and slowly guided my tongue back to my own mouth, not wanting to break the kiss. Our lips parted, feeling the loss, but we turned around and looked at Buffy who was standing there, a big smile on her face. We both pulled apart and walked over to her.

"Buffy, how are you?" Willow asked, my embarrassment at being caught kissing Willow not letting me talk yet.

Buffy just looked at me and smiled.

"I'm fine Willow. And Tara, don't be shy, we're all family, it's nothing to be embarrassed of. Watching you two makes me realize that true love does exist. Never shy away from showing it in public. Or at least in front of us. Got that big sister?"

I looked into her green eyes and smiled, once again thankful for the way they showed me their love. Buffy and I hadn't been great friends when I was dating Willow, but we became good friends when we broke up. It's ironic really.

"How's the shoulder?" I asked her.

"You were right." she replied smiling.

"About what?" Willow replied, confused, as I was.

"It didn't hit the vital organs, and I was just out of it from shock and blood loss. I'm good actually. Kinda hungry though. What do we have to cure the munchies?" she asked as she made her way into the kitchen.

"I just ordered some pizza. Xander and Anya should be here soon. Tara, him and I decided it'd be safer for us to stay together. Where's Dawn?"

"Right here." Dawn said, coming into the kitchen and plumping down in a chair.

We all sat and waited, chatting about plans. I told Buffy that Giles should be here tomorrow and she smiled gratefully. After a while, the door rang and Willow came back with pizza and Xander and Anya. They looked both uncomfortable, undoubtedly so, but they were standing near each other, and by the grin Xander had on his face, they talked things through. And they were starting over. We all ate in cheerfulness, the day's events seeming to be forgotten. Suddenly, someone knocked at the back door.

And the mood shifted. Everyone backed away from the door.

"Hey Buffy, it's Clem."

Buffy sighed in relief and opened the door to the pudgy demon. He came in and looked at her.

"Hey Clem."

"Buffy, I heard what happened. I just came along to check out if you were okay."

"Oh, I'm fine Clem, you know, just hurt a little, but it's okay now. I never got shot before, so it was weird. Usually, they use swords, you know that kind of thing. I guess times change." she replied smiling to the gentle demon.

"Oh, well some of the guys saw the guy who shot you, I think his name is Warren, at Willy's."

"When…" Xander's words were stopped short when Warren shot Clem.

The bullet went through his leg and the gentle demon fell to his knees, howling in pain. I wanted to go forward and grab him, but Willow wouldn't let me go. Warren approached the house, and my mind wasn't working as fast as I wanted it to. I knew that without the gun, we had a chance to take him, but with it, we were pretty much dead. All of us.

"I told you you weren't gonna get away with it! I told you!" he yelled, walking forward and waving the arm that held the gun above his head.

Magic was pretty much our last resort, and I knew Willow couldn't do anything. But I didn't have enough power to fight him on my own. Well, not really fight, but at least get the gun. Or toss it somewhere. I called to the Goddess for help and within seconds I had a reply. My skin was buzzing with magic. Warren was about ten feet from us now, and I had to act fast.

"Dissolvo glaciem!" I yelled, which means to melt the iron.

Warren yelped as an energy bolt shot out of my hand and melted the gun. I thanked the Goddess. Warren tried to pry to metal off of his hand but couldn't. Buffy took the chance to tackle him to the ground and knock him out in the process. I looked around and found all eyes on me. It was weird to be the subject of all that attention. The love and adoration I saw in Willow's eyes made me feel all fuzzy inside. I looked down, my hair hiding my face. But Willow wouldn't let me. She put her fingers under my chin and raised my face, kissing me softly. I smiled at her.

Buffy called me over.

"Do you think you could maybe wrap his powers?"

"It's bind his powers." Dawn huffed.

"Fine whatever."

"I couldn't, I'm not strong enough. And Willow doesn't do magic anymore." I replied sincerely.

"I can do it."

Everyone turned to Anya.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you that I'm a vengeance demon again. I have some magic inside of me."

Xander looked hurt, but she shot him a look that meant later. She orbed to the magic box and grabbed the ingredients and came back. We did the spell and we bound Warren's powers. Then, of course, we called the police. They took him away. We were all pretty relieved. We tried to take care of Clem, but he wouldn't let us. He just let me put a bandage on the wound and said he'd go to their witch doctor or something. Really confused me.

It was yet another end to another day on the Hellmouth.

Today, the police called us in to tell them what happened. Of course, we left out the whole magic, demon-getting-shot part. But I guess Warren didn't, because he was sent to a big prison for the insane or something. My opinions are mixed on that, and on Warren. On one hand, I wanna feel sorry for him, feel sorry for the loneliness that drove him to such a stupid act. And on the other hand, he did injure a member of our family. I don't know what to think, so I won't think about him.

Also today, Xander and Anya had a date. I don't know how it went, but I have a feeling everything's gonna be alright. Mister Giles came back, and fussed over Buffy. It was good to see him again. Xander helped me move my stuff back here this morning. More like they all helped, except Buffy because of her shoulder. And Anya because she needed to keep the shop open. I know she may look like she doesn't care, but I know she does. I'm glad her and Xander worked things out.

Now, I'm laying here in bed, waiting for Willow to join me. Goddess, how I love her. Everyday, after all that we endure, we find each other, and that's what makes my life complete.

I love you Willow, Eternally,

Tara

<My god, Tara remembered every detail! Her photographic mind is worth a lot. But no one had sex here, and I need an entry that has sex!> Anya thought, flipping through the pages again.

Her husband's light snoring was still heard through the silent apartment until Anya let out a squeal of delight. She quickly shushed herself and started reading about Willow and Tara's sexcapades in the park, in the summer, one day they all had a picnic there.

<I knew they left to have sex! They always leave to have sex! Those two are insatiable! I wish Xander was insatiable. Oh well.> Anya thought, reading gleefully.