Author: Shai
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: All the characters belong to Joss, that lucky man!

By the time Willow woke up the sun had set she figured, since the room seemed even darker. "Ok, I guess I'll just wait here for Tara to come... Tara... that's a nice name..." As if on cue a light came on in the passage outside the room, and Tara popped her head in to check on her guest.

"Hey you're up! Ready to get some grub?" when Willow nodded her head in assent. Tara said "Be right back then," and went out again, only to return with a large box of pizza in her hand.

"I've just moved in yesterday, and haven't really had time to set up in the kitchen, so I just ordered pizza. Is that ok?"

Willow couldn't think of anything else that she'd rather be eating, so she simply nodded her head, as Tara continued " I didn't know what topping you liked either, so just called for a plain cheese. Cool?" Again Willow nodded her head enthusiastically.

Tara placed the box on the bed, smiling "Don't worry about stains and crumbs. Sheets and blankets can be washed."

Willow found herself reciprocating the smile as she helped herself to a slice of cheesy delight! For a couple of minutes they ate on in silence, before Willow suddenly remembered "Oh Tara, I completely forgot to thank you for... for saving my life today. You have no idea!

Tara cut her off by raising one hand and speaking, "I'm sure anyone would have done their best to help you Miss Rosenberg. It was just fortunate that my best was good enough today."

"Miss Rosenberg????" Willow though, before saying "It's Willow. Willow, Tara, Willow. Just plain old Willow..." stopping before she launched into babble mode on that Willow went on, "And your best was way better than good enough. It was more like Woo Hoo! At least what I can remember of it," she finished. Seeing Tara smile, she ventured on "So where did you ever learn to shoot like that?"

"Well I always had a thing for toy guns, then when I was old enough I took up rifle shooting as a hobby, and it turned out that I was pretty good at it. then on my 18th birthday my grandpa bought me my own gun. Of course it's registered and I do have a licence," Tara added quickly.

"I'm sure you do," Willow reassured her, smiling.

They lapsed into silence for a couple of minutes before Willow said "So you're my new neighbour, huh? Where are you from?"

"Oh I'm pretty much from around here. I just moved places 'cause my last place was in an apartment block, and I guess I just wanted my own swimming pool!" she grinned.

"So you're the mysterious night swimmer," Willow said aloud.

"Huh?" Tara questioned.

"I saw you swimming last night. Your splashing kind of attracted me... I mean, it made me wonder where the sounds were coming from," Willow finished hastily.

"Oh, I'm so sorry... I had no idea," Tara started, before Willow cut her off.

"No, no... it was kinda nice, knowing that I wasn't in the middle of nowhere anymore."

Tara smiled and took another slice of pizza. Willow found herself curious to know more about her new friend, and asked "So you alone here? I mean family, husband... a boyfriend maybe?" and waited anxiously for an answer.

"No I live alone... my folks moved to New Zealand earlier this year. I'm an only child, and I'm currently unattached. Work takes up most of my time and energy really."

Willow released a breath that she didn't even know she was holding, before venturing on, "So what is it that you do?"

"I'm a correspondent with CNM."

Willow froze. "A showbiz correspondent? Oh please don't let her be one."

"What is it that you specialize in?" she asked, staring at the pizza box.

"Sports. I'm a sports correspondent. The head of the correspondent actually."

"Oh that's great" Willow exclaimed. "For a minute there I thought you were one of those showbiz journalists. I mean, no offence, but..." she let off.

"I know what you mean," Tara said. "People prying into your personal life must be pissing off. Don't worry. That isn't me. Poking my nose into other peoples lives just isn't my kind of thing. Now a good match between Hingis and Davenport, or a game of ball between Man U and Liverpool... That's more like what I'm interested in."

The both looked up at the same time, and locking eyes for a minute smiled, before both simultaneously looked down at the box of pizza, that seemed to be getting more interesting by the moment!

After finishing the pizza and clearing up, Tara took the crape off Willow's right ankle, to examine the sprain. Willow almost fainted again when she saw the size of the swelling. It looked like someone had stuffed a giant potato up her foot!

"Are you sure it isn't broken?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"I'm sure. I've had my share of sprains, and this one isn't even half as bad as some of mine have been." Somehow the idea of the gentle blonde in even more pain than she herself was in right now sent a shiver down Willow's spine.

Tara went on "I think the swelling should start decreasing in about two or three days, but to be on the safer side I don't think you should put too much pressure on it for about two weeks. I mean, let it heal completely, or you may have recurring problems, especially since I'm guessing that in your line of work you wear a lot of stiletto' s and stuff, right?".

When Willow nodded Tara finished "So I've made my point. Now I'm just going to ice your ankle a bit and rub in some ointment, and in the meantime I want you to write down a list of stuff you want me to get from your place." Tara handed her a sheet of paper and a pen, and waited till the redhead began writing, since she didn't want Willow to concentrate on her foot, because she was sure to feel a lot of pain when she started icing the swelling. Sure enough when Tara touched the ice to the lump Willow's entire body jerked. Willow couldn't believe the amount of pain she felt, but when she heard a soft voice say "Concentrate on the list... please" she tried to ignore the shooting sensations up her leg, and soon was in the flow of remembering what her essentials were.

"Toothbrush... my strawberry scented shampoo... car keys in case someone runs off with them... Pyjamas... Lingerie... How the hell can I tell Tara to go through my lingerie drawer??? Well it's not like I have much of a choice now do I?" Willow thought as she wrote that down. "What else... Mr. Teddy? No, I think he'll be better off at home. Money? I doubt that Tara's going to take any of that from me, even if I offered..." Suddenly Willow was aware of the softest fingers gently massaging her ankle. She looked up from what she was writing to see Tara's hands moving on and around her swollen foot. Lifting her gaze upwards Willow saw that the blonde had her head bent in concentration, and her hair cascaded over her shoulders, hiding most of her features. Willow looked back down at the way her hands were working on her foot, and she thought that Tara had the most beautiful fingers that she's ever seen. Suddenly Tara looked up.

"Have you finished the list?" she asked, as her fingers continued to move on Willow's ankle.

"What?" Willow asked, before she realized what Tara was asking her. "The list? Oh yeah. I'm done. Here." She handed Tara the sheet and the pen. Tara stopped massaging, reached for the stuff, glanced at it, and then went back to Willow's foot, this time picking up the crape to wrap it up again.

"You'll have the stuff in a while. Now just one more thing. What are your favourite movies?"

"Huh?" Willow questioned. "Where did that come from?"

"Just tell me, I'll explain later," Tara said, as she finished clasping the hold around the crape.

"Oooook... There's 'A walk In The Clouds' which I just love..." Tara looked up at that, but quickly went back to looking at the sheet of paper that she was writing this down on. "Umm.....'The Matrix', 'The X-Men', 'Jerry McGuire', 'The Truman show'...Umm...'The Sixth Sense', 'Grease', 'Gone In Sixty Seconds', 'Forest Gump'...that's all I can think of for now. Why?" she asked again, as Tara finished writing all of that down.

"I'll explain later. For now I have to go finish clearing up in the kitchen," Tara said as she got up.

"Could I help maybe?" Willow asked hopefully.

"Nah, you just lie back. You've had a hard day," Tara stated, as she left the room. When she got back fifteen minutes later. Willow was fast asleep again. Smiling to herself, Tara quickly moved to the bed, tucked the blanket in around the sleeping girl, and stood there staring at her for a couple of moments, before turning to leave, switching the lights off on her way out.