Author: JustSkipIt
Rating: PG
Feedback: Please leave feedback on the Survivor - Ash Island thread on the Kitten Board.
Disclaimer: I own none of these characters nor do I own Survivor. And believe it or not, I also don't own any small islands. On the other hand, this island is fictional so let's say I own it. I'm making no money from this fiction and intend no copyright infringement.

“Well you didn’t get voted off,” Joan said as she waited with Willow for her flight to be called. “Now the question is what’s in Columbus?”

“I told you: business,” Willow repeated with exasperation at her friend’s persistence.

“Excuse me,” a tall blonde bent down toward the redhead, “aren’t you on Survivor? Yeah, you’re the super smart one.”

“Yes,” Willow answered with a smile as she pulled a pen from her bag.

The girl pulled a card from her purse and pushed it toward Willow. “Sign this for me,” she suggested and Willow did as asked. She looked at the redhead for a moment before pushing the business card back at her. “Why don’t you keep it,” she suggested, “it has my cell phone number on it.”

Willow smiled a second before gently pushing the card into the blonde’s hand and winking. The blonde shrugged her shoulders and walked off.

“You’re in love.” Joan’s voice interrupted Willow’s assward gaze.

“The fact that I’m watching her ass as she walks away doesn’t mean I’m in love with her,” Willow argued.

“Not with her, smartass,” Joan replied, “with someone in Columbus.”

“I don’t even know anyone in Columbus,” Willow argued.

“Well it’s not business,” Joan again argued.

“Why not?”

“You’re taking one computer,” Joan replied. “You take three computers when you go home for Thanksgiving and you’re only taking one for ‘business’ in Columbus?” She put air quotes around the word [i]business[/i].

“Hey, they’re boarding my plane,” Willow announced a little too jovially. “Feed the cat,” she said as she kissed her friend on the cheek and handed the attendant her boarding pass.

“And I noticed that you’re flying coach,” Joan called down the skyway. “Tell her I said ‘hi,’” she yelled causing Willow to laugh.

A little over two hours later the plane landed in Columbus. Willow had spent the flight alternately working and daydreaming. The Survivor showing last night had reminded her of the early days of the game. She pictured over and over the look in Tara’s eyes as she flirted with her about the shampoo. The redhead hadn’t seen Tara in over three months and wondered how she would look. How would Willow look to her? Her mouth felt dry just trying to imagine seeing the blonde again.

After she had checked into her hotel, her cell phone rang startling her from a nap: “Wha? Hello?”

“Were you s-sleeping?” Tara’s voice asked.

“Just a little,” the redhead answered sheepishly.

“How do you sleep just a little?” Tara teased.

“Well,” Willow decided to tease her back, “I’m all alone and it’s harder to sleep that way.”

“Uh huh,” Tara answered, “something tells me that’s unusual for you.”

“It has been for the last 103 days,” Willow told her a little pointedly.

“How did you find your h-hotel?” Tara asked, quickly changing the subject.

“Oh, you know, I asked at the car rental place and they gave me a map,” Willow joked.

“Is it n-nice?” Tara persisted.

“Do you want to come see it?” Willow again joked.

“What do you want to do tomorrow?” Tara attempted to change the subject.

“I guess you didn’t take my offer to see my second hotel room seriously,” Willow continued joking.

Tara decided to latch onto part of Willow’s statement: “S-second hotel room?”

“Yeah,” Willow said, “funny story. You remember how I feel about frogs and tadpoles?”

“And horses,” Tara added.

“Well, spiders aren’t really my best friends either.”

“Spider in the tub?”

“On the pillow,” Willow corrected with a shudder.

“I seriously can’t believe you went on Survivor, Willow,” Tara teased.

“What else is the 21-year-old successful software entrepreneur to do?” Willow quipped.

“Your friends d-dared you, didn’t they?” Tara retorted.

“Speaking of which,” Willow remembered, “Joan said to tell you ‘hi.’”

“You t-told her about m-me?” Tara asked with worry in her voice.

“Actually I intentionally told her nothing about you. I told her I was coming on a business trip,” Willow explained.

“Funny,” Tara said, “that’s what you told me.”

“Er... um... various signs of hesitation,” Willow finally said.

“Willow,” Tara said in a somewhat admonishing tone, “are you here on a business trip?”

“Well,” Willow stalled, “there are computers here and I work with computers?” The redhead waited a moment before saying, “Ok. I’m not here on a business trip. I’m here to see you but I definitely think I deserve points for determination.”

“You don’t need points, Willow,” Tara said warmly.

“Good,” Willow brightened up, “when can I see you?”

“My mother is going to take Ariel to a m-movie this afternoon. Can I meet you for dinner about 5:00?”

“Oh,” Willow answered,” sure that’s fine. Do you want to meet me here and you can drive?”

“Still trying to show me that hotel room?”

“I’ll be waiting in the lobby,” Willow assured her with a laugh.

“I’ll see you then,” Tara said, “go back to sleep.”

Willow hung up the phone and smiled at it for a second before rolling back into bed, thinking about the fact that she would be seeing Tara again in just a few hours.

At exactly 4:55, the redhead rode glass-walled elevator down to the lobby. The view was tremendous, not only because the hotel lobby was nicely decorated with art and foliage but because Tara was early. The blonde stood, quite unobtrusively near a bank of pay phones on the side of the lobby. Willow simply couldn’t take her eyes off the woman whose hair shone in the light coming through the windows. She wore a long red leather coat so Willow couldn’t tell how she was dressed under it but she could see the hair clasp and matching earrings both accenting the girl’s blue eyes. The redhead’s heart felt like it was beating fast, perhaps much too fast and then suddenly felt like it stopped when Tara turned and looked at her through the glass of the elevator.

And then she smiled.

The redhead stepped off the elevator as soon as the doors swooshed open and quickly walked over to Tara smiling widely. “You look fantastic,” she gushed, “I mean not that you didn’t look fantastic last time I saw you but I really think clean and fed is a good look for you.” Her eyes twinkled as she paid the blonde the compliment.

Tara reached her hand out to softly stroke Willow’s cheek as she agreed, “You too, Will. I think I can say without reservation and without sounding too sexist that I like women with a little meat on their b-bones.”

Willow continued staring at Tara as the other woman softly stroked her face. After a few seconds, and realizing that people were starting to stare at them, Willow reached up and took Tara’s hand in her own. “So,” she whispered, “dinner? I don’t think I’ll ever say that I’m starving again but I am pretty hungry.”

Tara smiled as she began turning back toward the door. “I’m w-with you there,” she agreed. She stopped suddenly. “Did I mention how f-fantastic you look?”

“Thanks,” Willow responded as they walked out to find Tara’s car parked at a meter at the curb, “you know this dating away from home is kind of nice. Even obsessing before the date, I only had two outfits to choose from.”

Tara smiled as she let the redhead into the passenger side of the car and then got in on her side. “Well, then you had a much easier time than I d-did. This is the seventh outfit I tried o-on.”

Both girls started laughing. “That’s kind of funny you know,” Willow commented, “I mean we’ve certainly seen each other looking far from best.”

“Pig chasing c-comes to mind,” Tara agreed. Willow smiled at the blonde as she reached for her hand to hold it. “You flirt,” Tara tacked on with a smirk, “share your shampoo indeed.”

“Where are we going for dinner?” Willow asked eagerly.

“Do you like Italian food?” Tara inquired. After finding out that Willow did like Italian food, in fact the redhead claimed to like every kind of food she’d ever tried and some she’d never tried, Tara informed her that they were going to go to a small neighborhood Italian restaurant she knew. It was usually quiet and they could talk and enjoy the food.

They arrived at the restaurant a few minutes later and Tara parked in the lot behind the small building. After she came around the car to take Willow’s hand she led her to an almost hidden door around front and opened the door for the other girl. “I’m supposed to be doing all this romantic, drive you, take your hand, open the door for you stuff you know,” Willow teased, “I’m the one who asked you out.”

“I’ll tell you what,” Tara answered with a smile on her face, “next time I’ll a-ask you out and you can act all romantic.”

“I won’t argue with that at all,” Willow responded, “since you said that we can go out again.”

Tara blushed slightly and smiled as the hostess returned to the hostess stand. “Hi Tara,” she greeted the girl: “Ariel and your mom aren’t with you?”

“No, Karri,” Tara answered, “they went to see The Incredibles again.” She indicated Willow and introduced the redhead: “this is Willow.”

“Nice to meet you, Willow,” Karri told the girl as she started walking toward their table with their menus in her hand. Karri seated the two girls and handed them both menus as well as a wine menu. Willow picked up the wine menu and asked Tara, “Do you drink wine?”

“You’ve seen me d-drink, Willow,” Tara answered.

“I’ve seen you eat bugs too but I didn’t figure you did it a home,” the redhead retorted.

Tara laughed and admitted, “Actually I don’t eat bugs or any sentient or formerly sentient beings.”

“I hope that’s not entirely true,” Willow muttered.

“What did you say?” Tara asked with a smirk on her face. She had a pretty good idea what Willow had said and found it as amusing as hell. Now if she could just thoroughly embarrass her smart-mouthed date...

“I said maybe we could have a bottle of this red,” Willow said pointing to the menu.

“Oh,” Tara said, “I though you said you hope it wasn’t true.”

“So, red wine then,” Willow said in a high-pitched squeal just as the waiter approached the table.

“You ate bugs and meat on the show,” Willow offered.

“I went on the show to win the million dollars,” Tara explained, “I d-decided before I left home that I would eat anything, do anything, whatever it took to w-win.”

The waiter returned to the table and took the two girls’s orders for Eggplant Parmesan and Lasagna and brought them the wine. “What would you do with a million dollars?” Willow asked.

Tara laughed, “Is this the question from Juror #5?”

“No,” Willow told her seriously, “this is the ‘I’m really interested in this woman and I want to know more about her’ question.”

“Art,” Tara answered quietly. “I’d go to art school.”

“What kind of art?” Willow asked with great interest.

“I have it at my house,” Tara answered, “I’ll show you sometime.”

“Woo hoo,” Willow joked, “potential to see Tara’s lovely abode.”

“It’s not much but we call it home,” Tara answered.

“Excuse me,” a young man said as he approached the table, “I don’t mean to be rude but are you two on Survivor?”

The two girls looked at each other questioningly for a moment before Willow responded, “You know we keep getting that question.” She turned to Tara and said, “We should watch the show sometime, honey, and see if we really look like the people on it.” Tara just nodded her head.

“Oh,” he said, “sorry to interrupt you.”

A few minutes later the waiter came over with an antipasti for them. “The guy over there sent this over and said he’s sorry he interrupted you,” he explained.

Tara smiled and said, “Well now I feel b-bad.”

“Oh come on,” Willow egged her on, “you can outplay, outwit, outlast, and you feel bad for trying to get a little privacy on our first date.”

“First date, huh?” Tara asked. “I’d say this is at least our second if not third date.”

“Damn,” Willow joked, “then I’ll definitely expect some tonight.”

Tara laughed at Willow’s comment. “So what’s your house like?”

“Is that a double entendre or do you really want to know about my apartment?” Before Tara could answer the waiter brought their dinners. “Seriously,” she explained, “it’s a nice place. A loft I bought a few years ago as a tax write-off. My bedroom is upstairs and has enough room for my bed and some exercise equipment. Downstairs is my workroom and kitchen area. The light is very good.”

“Workroom?” Tara inquired.

“Computers,” Willow again explained, “Let me see, currently I have six servers and nine laptops in there. Plus which various components.”

“What have you been doing since getting home?” Tara continued the barrage of questions.

“Eating,” Willow laughed.

“Me too,” Tara agreed.

“You look spectacular,” Willow said again.

“What else?” Tara pushed further.

“Bathing regularly,” Willow said lightheartedly, “visited my family and spent time with friends. Worked a lot, and counted down the days till the premiere.” She took another bite of her lasagna and asked, “What about you? What have you done?”

“Eating, sleeping, and b-bathing have been pretty hot pastimes for me too,” Tara agreed, “I had to go back to work right away and of course spending every second I could with Ariel.” She took a sip of wine before disclosing, “I’d never been away from her for more than a weekend before.”

“Wow,” Willow said.

“She was sad for a while but she’s doing better and she’s enjoying knowing that her mommy is on a T-TV show.”

“She must be spectacular,” Willow complimented the blonde. While they visited the check arrived and Willow paid it before Tara could reach for her purse. “You can try to beat me to it the next time,” she assured her.

They drove in relative silence to Willow’s hotel, holding hands lightly. Both girls felt awkward with the situation. They were basically dating long distance after being on an island together-living together as it were. They knew that it was too soon to share intimacy but at the same time, the difficulty of coordinating a long distance relationship loomed large. Willow took a breath before asking Tara, “Your mother and Ariel are expecting you home right?”

“By n-nine,” Tara said sadly as she looked at the clock in the car.

“Well,” Willow said as Tara parked the car in the lot next to the hotel, “then I have a speech to make.”

“Really,” Tara said intrigued, “a s-s-speech?”

Willow leaned forward and looked in Tara’s eyes. “It goes something like this: I like you Tara Maclay. Really, seriously, a lot. I like you, I like your town, and I know I’ll like your daughter and mother and whoever else you love. I’m flexible and as long as I get Joan to feed Gato, I can be anywhere so...” Willow stopped her rambling speech as she felt Tara’s lips on her hand. They were so amazingly soft... The next kiss on the inside of her wrist caused the redhead to utter some sort of word made only of vowels.

“Mmm huh,” Tara seemed to agree as she leaned closer and placed the softest of feather-light kisses on Willow’s neck.

“And um I uh with the liking,” Willow tried to continue.

“Right, the liking,” Tara echoed as she began kissing a path along Willow’s jaw line. At that point, Willow apparently gave up on her speech as she turned her head to capture the blonde’s lips with her own. The kiss started slow and sensual and turned fast and sensual. It never turned anything but sensual even as lips flowed over lips and tongue met tongue.

After many long minutes spent exploring each other’s mouths and skin, Tara pulled away slightly. “It was a good speech,” she giggled.

“I liked yours better,” Willow joked back. She looked at the clock in the car and put one hand on the door handle. “I’ll talk to you this week, baby?” she confirmed.

A few minutes later Tara checked the clock as she drove over to her mother’s house to pick up Ariel, a dreamy look definitely plastered on her face.