The Night Before Christmas – Sunnydale Style by DiamondForever

Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Not mine. It belongs to the genius of Joss Whedon (but then again, what genius would kill Tara?).
Distribution: The Mystic Muse http://mysticmuse.net
Ask before taking, but sure.
Feedback: It's welcome, but please, constructive criticism, don't email me telling me how much you hated it.
Spoilers: Season 6, but it's AU after that. Also, Spike never tried to rape Buffy – they just worked it out nice and quiet-like.
Pairing: Willow/Tara

Summary: It's Christmas and Willow's alone. Will she get her wish granted?

Christmas Eve, 2002. All over Sunnydale, humans and vamps alike prepared to celebrate. But not everyone joined in the festive cheer, as one Willow Rosenberg sat alone in her room, surrounded by the belongings of her love. Nothing was missing from six months ago – she just couldn’t bear to throw away anything that belonged to Tara, clothes and jewelry alike. She stroked her favorite photo of the blonde, kissing it softly. "Merry Christmas if you can hear me, baby," she whispered. "Is heaven as beautiful as they say it is? I hope you’re happy." She smiled bitterly. "What am I saying? You’re in heaven, of course you’re happy. You know…sometimes, I feel like joining you -"

Her babble was cut off by the sound of scratching and banging on the roof near the chimney. Something, or someone, was up there. "Hello?" When a louder thud was heard she raced downstairs in a panic. "Buffy, Xander, Spike! Something’s trying to get down the chimney!"

The threesome grabbed weapons, Buffy with the crossbow, the men with swords. The Slayer pointed her weapon at the fireplace. "Vamps can’t get down the chimney without an invite," she said, "So it’s either a really small demon or a thief with a sense of humor. It’s Christmas Eve, and it’s my night off. Couldn’t trouble leave me alone for just one night? And by the way, whoever’s up there, there’s a fire at the bottom of the chimney! You might not want to come down that way!"

However, the mystery intruder seemed to have thought of that, and the flames were quickly doused by a gush of water from above, splashing on the carpet as well as Buffy’s clothes.

"Hey!" Buffy yelled. "That was a new pair of pants! You’re so gonna get it now."

"Bloody Hell!" Spike shouted at the same time. "I just made the sodding thing!" They both advanced on the fireplace, awaiting the arrival of the perpetrator.

But to their surprise, the modern fireplace suddenly transformed into a Victorian-era hearth, as a pair of big black boots impacted with the charred wood. And there was Santa – beard, fat belly, red and white fur suit, sack and all. As well as an empty bucket. "Not to worry, Buffy," he smiled, "there’s a new pair of pants for you in my sack." He looked up. "You can come down now."

And down came a familiar-looking blonde, dressed in long-sleeved blue shirt and slacks. "I told you it wouldn’t hurt, Tara," Father Christmas stated, patting the witch’s arm.

"Tara!" Dawn threw herself into the blonde's arms, and then turned to the old man. "You gave us Tara for Christmas? You're the best, Santa!" She planted a kiss on the bearded man's cheek, inciting a deep throaty laugh from the so-called myth.

"Indeed I have, children!" he chuckled heartily, "But she is not your present, Dawn. She is the reward of that fine woman in the corner." He pointed at Willow.

Willow had indeed backed herself into a corner, and looked as if she'd swallowed one of Buffy's fruitcakes, her eyes bulging. "Tara?"

The one known as Tara Maclay, or at least looked like her, smiled, walking over to the quivering woman. "It’s me," she stated. "Really me."

"Oh?" was all Willow could gulp out, before losing herself in the azure eyes that were staring into her own.

"Get a room!" Spike hollered somewhat rudely, having drunk a quite a bit of eggnog. "Oh, and bird, you’re under the mistletoe." He puckered his lips and made kissing noises; with a good bit of tongue at that.

Hesitantly, Willow leaned forward, not one to break Christmas tradition, giving Tara a quick peck on the cheek before pulling back, fearful. "It is you, right? You’re not some demon sent to punish me, are you? Because I don’t need any more punishment. I’ve got the honor of carrying around the shame of killing a man – woo hoo!"

Tara placed a finger on the redhead’s lips, silencing the babble. "I can prove it’s me. Ask me something only I would know."

"It was when the night when you came over after Buffy ditched you at the Bronze." The blonde glanced apologetically at the Slayer. "S-sorry."

Buffy brushed it off with a wave. Even now, she sometimes felt embarrassed for not realizing earlier how distant she and Willow had become during first year.

"When we were watching American Pie at the theatres with Buffy and Dawn beside us." Tara raised an eyebrow while blushing at the cries of disgust that came from the other inhabitants of the house. "Is that enough?"

"Oh yes," Willow muttered as she captured Tara’s lips with her own. Tara-bear was back. Really back. It was her.

"And now, I believe the jury has come to a verdict of guilty, and I, Supreme Court Justice Harris, second the request of said vampire Spike, and order that these two women "get a room"," said Xander. He was trying to look away, but his male instincts were getting the better of him.

Buffy and Dawn gently pulled Xander out of the room. Spike and Santa followed, leaving Willow and Tara alone, both gazing deeply into the other’s eyes. Willow kept softly kissing Tara’s mouth again and again, as if she feared that the blonde would vanish into thin air at any moment.

"Tara, I've missed you so much, where have you been all this time?" She leaned against Tara’s forehead with her own.

"I can't remember much, it's like a dream that fades when you wake up from it, but I think I was in heaven. I was going over all my memories of being with you. All the times we'd had together, all the times we'd kissed and made love, all the happy moments over and over again, running them through my head. I don't remember the rest of it. Perhaps the living aren’t meant to remember the afterlife, but then the next thing I knew I was standing on my grave facing Santa! He told me he would take me to you and then I got in his sleigh and he took me here." Tara frowned, aware that she wasn’t making too much sense. "A-am I confusing you?"

"Just a little bit, baby." Willow kissed Tara’s lips once again. "But we’ll figure this out."

Buffy stood in front of the basement door in order to prevent anyone from going back upstairs, while staring wild-eyed at Santa. "I know this town is strange enough so that the existence of demons is plausible, but you? Are you more than a myth after all?"

"I come from another dimension, a world similar to this one," stated Santa. "There are all kinds of parallel Earths, some without vamps, some ruled by evil, some, well, each one is different. The gods and goddesses of my world sent me to yours to bring back Tara, because Willow will need her in the future. Here are some gifts for you." He began to pull out various gifts – much more than the sack seemed to be able to fit. Off the confused looks of the Scoobies, he began to chuckle jovially. "This sack is also a portal – how else do you think I could leave so many presents to all my Earthly children?

He passed a scarab amulet to Spike. "This will allow you to hurt evil humans without your chip going off. But I warn you. They must be evil or it will not stop the chip from hurting you."

"Evil as in seriously evil or evil as in tax dodger?" interrupted Xander, eyebrows raised.

"The type that I wouldn’t give presents to," said Santa. When he was once again greeted by confused looks, he laughed. "The naughty ones!"

He passed a can to Xander which was marked "Eye See". "This contains a magical human eyeball. If you should lose your eye in battle, this one can replace it."

"Ewwwwwwww!" said Dawn, scrunching up her face in disgust. "That’s so gross. Why would you give him an eyeball for Christmas?"

"Dawn." Santa smiled. "Always so full of questions. My presents will undoubtedly be useful to all of you." He passed a silver chain to Dawn. "This will grow warm around your neck when someone falls in love with you. It won't make anyone fall in love with you, it's not a love charm. It just lets you know when someone is romantically

Immediately, Dawn had forgotten about the grossness of the eyeball, instead stroking her necklace before placing it around her neck. "Thanks, Santa…" She sounded a lot like a little kid.

Santa smiled, before passing Buffy a new pair of pants and a book. "I owe you those, and this is your present, Buffy. This book is magical. It contains no spells, but you can tell it what you want to have in it and it will become the book of your choice." Buffy grabbed at the book, but Santa held it back for another moment. "However, if you are to try to find a spell with this book, it will break."

As none of them could go anywhere from their current location – what with Willow and Tara upstairs – Santa and the Scoobies began to explore Santa’s bag of goodies, unwrapping a pair of Kendo gloves, as well as a pair of kendo swords; perfect for sparring.

As Buffy and Spike began to fight with the wooden swords, Santa bounced Dawn on his knee while discussing the finer points of reindeer riding with Xander. Christmas was turning out pretty well, even if it meant being stuck in a basement.

"Nicky?" Anya peeked down the black hole of the chimney. She had been just about to knock on the Summers’ door when she’d seen the sleigh. "Where’s my present?" They were friends from way back, the respective wish demons. "Why couldn’t you have come when I was around? You could’ve gotten me that cool toy me and Xander wanted."

She continued to stare down, until her curiosity got the better of her. She wanted to find out what every else had gotten. Straddling the edge, Anya tried to calculate the distance of her fall. "Well, here goes nothing."

Buffy was already halfway up the basement stairs when she heard the thud, and was at the door when the screams began. She kicked the door open and charged into the living room brandishing her kendo sword.

"Get away from Tara, ya big meanie!" Willow was desperately trying to pull a black figure away from the blonde. But it seemed that the "demon" had a death-grip on Tara, and all Willow was succeeding in doing was to get herself and the carpet dirty.

The demon peeked up, releasing her vice-like hold on Tara, peeved. "What, I’m not allowed to come around to say Merry Christmas to everyone anymore? A demon even offered good sex at the party and I said no! So Merry Christmas to you too, Miss Slayer!" She crossed her arms with a huff, staring angrily at Buffy.

"Buffy, don’t be mad at Anya. She was just giving me a hug." Tara nudged Anya gently. "Go ahead."

"As I was saying, I came by to wish everyone Merry Christmas." She paused. "Except for Xander. Then I saw Nicky’s sleigh and couldn’t resist a peek at what he’d gotten you. So I go down the chimney and boom, I’m covered in this god-awful soot." She began to mumble something about sex, but stopped, fortunately for the others in the room. "And I saw Tara." Anya smiled. "My best friend is back. Then Miss Redhead here decides to cut in with the "no-more-hugging" motion." She stared dirtily at Willow.

Neither of the witches answered, but their blushing indicated that something had indeed been going on. "We’re going to be upstairs if anyone needs us," said Willow, grabbing Tara’s hand and pulling her out of the room.

Shutting and locking the door to her bedroom behind her, Willow gazed into reverently Tara's eyes. "Baby, I know it's you – you proved it downstairs – but I can hardly believe it." She planted a kiss on Tara’s lips and wrapped her arms loosely around the blonde, as if expecting her to pop like a bubble.

"It's like being back in Heaven now that I'm with you," Tara replied. She closed her eyes and nuzzled into the redhead’s neck, breathing in the addictive scent of her Willow. "P-please don’t ever leave me."

Willow ran her hands over her lover, touching her breasts for a few moments before moving on to her stomach and waist through her clothing. "I love you." Her eyes spoke the volume of her desire.

"L-later, sweetie." Tara stroked Willow’s tresses, now longer than she had remembered them. "First, what happened while I was gone? So many things have changed." It was true; Sunnydale wasn’t as she had left it. So much was different…Willow’s hair, the serious and business-like manner that everyone seemed to have…"Did the police catch the guy who shot me?"

Willow shook her head, breaking the contact with Tara’s eyes. "No, they never did. I got to him before they could. I killed him…" a tear fell down her cheek "…murdered him. Flayed and burnt him alive. A-and I enjoyed it – "

"I was going to end the world," Willow continued wide-eyed. "Xander and Giles pulled me back from the brink of causing the apocalypse and sent me to a coven in England where they taught me how to control my powers. And now I'm back with you, you know I'll never lose control again."

Tara lovingly pulled Willow closer, placing gentle kisses on her forehead, cheeks, and mouth – warm special Tara-kisses that Willow had thought were lost to her forever.

Re-assured, Willow continued. "Dawn fell in love with a vampire; and not of the "Angel" kind either…but the danger is over – the vamp got staked. And someone turned up with an enchanted jacket which had some love mojo on it." She blushed at the memory. "And it made me forget all about you and I planned to magically change him into a girl and snuggle with him a-and I'm so sorry." She looked away, once again embarrassed by her actions. "So sorr-"

Tara put two fingers against Willow's mouth to cut off the flow of babble. "I don't blame you, it was magic." She kissed the redhead’s lips tenderly before pulling back with an amused expression. "D-did you – "

"No. Spike and Xander managed to grab the jacket and burn it before I got all warm and cozy with the love-jacket man."

Outside, Anya cast a de-cloaking spell on Santa’s sleigh, causing it to glow with an eerie light. Stupid Xander…stupid Scoobies…they couldn’t appreciate shit. They’ll learn to appreciate it when I’m mad enough though, now won’t they? But for now, this would be her revenge. A night of non-stop present-giving and children-catering – just what they needed. A devilish grin lit up her face, as she disappeared once more…just as the children began to show up. They’d pay – and Nicky too, especially for that time he’d put the great Anyanka on his naughty list.

They held each other now, just reveling in the feel of the other, slow dancing to the rhythm of their own private song. Tara hummed quietly into Willow’s ear, occasionally kissing the soft lobe. And they moved as one.

After a while, Willow’s hands began to journey southwards, to Tara’s stomach, then her hips, finally settling on butt. She cupped the blonde’s ass tenderly, slowly lifting her hand to caress Tara’s face. "Can I?" she whispered.

Tara’s lips curled up into a half-grin as her eyes glinted with mischief. "Can you what?"

"Make love to you, baby." Willow gazed deeply into Tara’s blue eyes. "Can I make love to you? I mean, it’s ok if you don’t want me to…I-I can wait! If you want to see how long I can wait, I’ll wait! I’ve waited for a long time already. I haven’t slept with anyone else since you! I haven’t even masturbated – well, ok, just that once, but –"

Tara cut off the babble with a passionate kiss. She slowly traced Willow’s lips with her tongue, not requesting entrance, but merely informing momentarily before doing. As their tongues twirled together in an exotic dance, Willow surrendered the leadership to Tara. It had always been somewhat of an issue between them, both wanting to take control and pleasure their lover – but tonight, Willow wanted to express her absolute love and devotion to Tara, the one person she thought she’d never see again. But it was then that Tara pulled back. See, she had the exact same idea on her mind. She had to show Willow the depths of her love as well. "Take me," she growled, "make me yours forever."

And now it was Willow’s turn to take the lead. She pulled Tara in closer, clamping her hand to the back of the blonde’s head. Her other hand reached for the hem of Tara’s shirt, tearing the fabric slightly as she frantically quested for the warm skin underneath.

She moaned as Tara’s breasts pressed against hers, also garnering a moan from her blonde lover. "Need…skin," Willow muttered against Tara’s lips as she lifted Tara’s shirt up and over her head and then her pants down to her feet. Tara’s fingers answered as they began to quickly undo the buttons on Willow’s shirt and jeans. In a matter of seconds, both were standing clad in only their bras and panties.

As Tara pulled back and drank in the sight of the almost-naked redhead, her clit began to pulse erratically, as did her heart. They were two different rhythms – one for lust and one for love – but their reason for beating were one and the same. Willow was simply breathtaking. "Sweetie…" she managed to voice," you’re so beautiful." Reverently, she reached around the witch and undid the bra clasp, revealing perky mounds of infinitely soft flesh. "Oh Will," Tara choked out, "W-Will." She lowered her mouth to the redhead’s right breast, running her tongue over the swollen nub again and again.

Willow moaned as Tara’s mouth disconnected from her right breast to move to her left. She slowly began to back towards the bed, not trusting her legs to continue to support her for much longer. As she did, her hands nimbly rid Tara of her last articles of clothing, as well as sliding her own panties down her legs. "Oh baby," she moaned, as they fell back on the bed, "you have no idea, how much I’ve waaaaaant- uhhh…" Her eyes flickered as she felt Tara’s fingers brushing her center. "Taaaaaaaraaaa…" The blonde quickly inserted two fingers into the redhead, setting a speedy rhythm as she sensed Willow’s impending release.

"TARA!!" Willow cried out in ecstasy as her orgasm tore through her body. It hadn’t taken much stimulation for her to come; she had kept herself chaste in her attempt to remember Tara. Now, all that bottled-up passion had finally exploded, with only one opening to go out of – and gee whiz, did it feel good!

"I….love…you…." Willow panted, "so….so….soo…much." She pulled Tara up to her and kissed her lips over and over again.

Tara smiled, her eyes closing and opening sleepily. "Merry Christmas, Sweetie," she sighed as she burrowed into Willow’s neck. "I love you too." Exhausted, the blonde curled up to her redhead, happy to be back where her heart told her she would always be welcome.

All over Sunnydale children sensed that something was happening and got their parents to drive them to Casa Summers, or even risked walking to it. The vamps left them alone as to do otherwise would break the truce. On top of the room of Casa Summers was a shining sleigh and eight neighing, stamping reindeer. All night Santa had to give out present after present while concealing his growing annoyance – they were little children after all.

At dawn, he was finally able to get out and view the cause of his sleepless night – his decloaked sleigh, where everybody could see it. He cast a simple spell and cloaked the sleigh.

Anya woke up to see one of her stockings lying on the end of her bed. She grabbed it and tipped it up and some large dirty lumps of coal fell out. There was a note on the floor that she picked up and read.

Willow woke. She smiled as she thought back to the dream she’d had…Santa, and he gave back Tara…and then they had made love. She turned to see Tara’s head on the pillow!

So maybe not a dream...it had really happened, she had her Tara back after all. Tentatively, she kissed her sleeping lover’s lips, remembering how much she’d wanted to do this. "Merry Christmas, baby…"

Tara stretched luxuriously, yawning. Upon seeing Willow, a half smile appeared on her face. "Merry Christmas to you too, love."

"I love you. And thanks for the present." Grinning, she slid down Tara’s body, her tongue almost gravitating towards her love’s clit. It was Christmas Day and Willow had received the best present of all. Her Tara.

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The Night Before Christmas – Sunnydale Style

by DiamondForever and Vizier Mountain

Copyright © 2003

diamond4everlucy@gmail.com