I'm the Teacher, You're the Student by Leafsdude

Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don't think Joss et al. is dumb enough to waste his time on some lowly creature having fun with his world that he so obviously messed up, so I'm not going to say anything to save me from that. However, because I respect the owners of the site, I'd just like to mention that I got a lot of the information for this chapter from www.buffyworld.com/. Thank you guys for your wonderful transcripts, even if the fight descriptions suck! :)
Distribution: The Mystic Muse http://mysticmuse.net
Anywhere, really. Just as long as I know where it is…
Feedback: Don't care if you review or not (hell, I know I only review the very best stories, and even then I might not), just as long as you enjoy the story.
Spoilers: Season 6 episode All The Way
Author's Note: OK. This is my first "official" attempt at a fan fiction. I have written little babbles here and there, and have thought of things in my head, but I've never actually written a story yet. Hopefully this one passes for a good beginning for all of you. Think I'll consider it "What If Story: #1".
Pairing: Willow/Tara

Summary: What if Tara decides to help Willow out differently in All The Way? More importantly, what if fate lets her? Of course, that's not the whole story…

After everything she had seen, after everything she had DONE, with magic, Her girlfriend, Willow Rosenberg, was abusing it. All that experience, and she was still dropping like a fly, so hard that even she, Tara Maclay, her soul mate, was taking verbal shots from her. Sitting in the kitchen, after a heated argument in front of Dawn, and perhaps in hearing range of the rest of the Scoobies, Tara was wondering what had gone wrong.

She's been through so much, and yet she's still doing what a novice would do, Tara thought. Then again, she found out everything she knows on her own.

At this moment, it was clear what the problem was. Despite all her experience, and everything she had learned, Willow still hadn't learned the true laws of magic. Knowing the limits that all good Wicca's practiced under had made Tara act instead of think when Willow was using magic for trivial things, but now that she had a moment to think, it all became so clear to her.

Of course, now I think of it. It's going to be tough as hard to teach her now. Tara scolded herself. It would have been much easier a few months ago when she still didn't completely understand the extent of her powers and how deep they were, plus our argument may have made it that much tougher.

Despite knowing better, at this moment, Tara was thinking she was a Demon again. What else could do something like that? Or more to the point, what could be bad enough to not notice something like that?

Shaking off her momentary dark thoughts, Tara decided that she'd wasted enough time.

That last thought seemed to put an extra MPH on her foot speed. Quickly finding Willow with Anya and Xander dancing to some music she didn't recognize, she realized now would not be the best time to "cut to the chase", so to speak, despite her previous thoughts of being "too late" still stuck in her head.

Trying to look inconspicuous, Tara hoped her forlorn feelings weren't expressed on her face as she sat on the sofa, which was just far away enough from the rest of the gang to not become the center of attention, but not so that she looked to be avoiding them, or Willow in particular. However, with Xander's lame 'Mr. Roboto' dance, it seemed she could have been wearing a pie on her face and still not be noticed.

As soon as Tara noticed Giles walk in, she knew something was up. That was proven when he walked right over to the blaring stereo and shut it off.

"Hey," Upon hearing Willow's tone of voice, Tara had to fight to not tell herself that she was all right and not do anything. "We were just gettin' our dance on!"

"That was Janice's mother on the telephone," Immediately, Tara knew what was up, and got to her feet, forgetting at least for the moment, her task at hand. "Apparently Janice said that she was staying here tonight."

As her fears were confirmed, she still could help a short laugh as Xander, ever the charmer, spoke up. "Ahh, they're dipping into the classics. You gotta respect that."

As the search parties were handed out by Giles, Tara surprised herself by wishing just this once to not have been paired with Willow. Guess I can't fight it.

Not surprising to Tara, it was a rather quiet walk to the Bronze, with just a few comments thrown here and there. As they entered, Tara's "spider sense", which Buffy termed once when she asked about Tara's ability to see she wasn't really her when Faith had taken her body, quickly noticed that there was no clear reading of Dawn in the place. Still worth looking, Tara mused.

After hearing Willow mumble something about being sisters, Tara decided it would be best to just get to it. "Do you think she's here?" Quickly noticing that Willow couldn't hear over the music, she repeated herself, this time louder. After getting a rather high-pitched "What?" in return, she waited as the song finally ended before continuing her thought process aloud.

"Really?" Despite being in Sunnydale for over a year, one thing Tara still didn't understand was the confusing building that was The Bronze.

"Well, not me at fifteen, 'cause, hello, spaz!" Willow obviously didn't know where Tara was coming from, but it still managed to shock her a little.

"You?" Tara said, disbelieving and slightly hurt that she hadn't heard about this side of Willow before.

"Yeah. Hard to believe such a hot mama-yama came from humble, geek-infested roots?" Willow replied, still oblivious to Tara's sudden feelings. Trying to push them aside, Tara tried to continue the conversation.

"Infested roots. Trying to turn me on?" Cringing inwardly at her lack of attention to detail, Tara continued to climb up to the balcony.

Moving in for a quick kiss, Tara wondered how she ever got anything done before. However, these moments suddenly fueled her desire to help Willow understand magic as she did.

Quickly getting back to business, Willow looked around and decided on a place to start.

"Come on, let's look over here," she said, heading left to try and get a better view of the place.

"No, that'll take too long." Moving to climb up to the second level, Tara became suddenly curious as to what Willow was planning.

As Willow looked over the railing again, Tara was about to ask if she saw anything from here, when she suddenly began to chant. "One among many, many fade to one-"

Suddenly outraged, and forgetting about her previous plans, Tara reached for Willow's hand, effectively stopping her. "What are you doing? Will?"

"I'm just gonna clear the crowd." Willow's reply was delivered matter-of-factly. Knowing that any spell that Willow could use to accomplish her plan would be dangerous, Tara could now add, "worried" to her list of expressions on her face.

"I'll just shift everyone who isn't a fifteen-year-old girl into an alternate dimension." Once again, Willow's tone was as if she was talking about doing something that happened every day.

To say Tara was shocked was an understatement. Her anger was starting to boil over, and Willow's attitude to the whole situation was just acting as fuel for the fire.

"No, it'll be for like a fraction of a second. They won't even notice." Willow tried to re-assure her, but failed miserably.

"Will, no, you can't!" Tara practically screeched, her patience leaving her a long time ago.

"Why?" Willow sounded like she was becoming annoyed, seeming not listening to Tara at all.

"Well, what if something went wrong?" The obvious response came, even though Tara knew it wouldn't work.

"But w-what would Giles say?" Well, it was worth a shot. Tara knew how much Willow looked up to the elder Scooby.

"Sukut!" The sudden spell by Willow, which quieted the crowd, yet again helped mostly to bring Tara's anger to a peak.

"You two have been talking about me behind my back." The accusation caught Tara off-guard once again.

"No! God." Now, frustration was added to the lengthy list of emotions evident on Tara's face.

"You know how that makes me feel?" Somehow, through all her emotions, Tara realized that they were moving off-topic, so she tried to get back to the point.

"Willow, you are using too much magic. What do you want me to do, just, just sit back and keep my mouth shut?"

To say the response stunned Tara would have been the most obvious statement of the century.

"If I didn't love you so damn much I would!" Angered and frustrated, Tara quickly headed back down the stairs and towards the exit. As the sounds of the crowd returned, she headed out the exit, and leaned against the wall, trying to calm herself.

Damn, Tara thought as she regained her composure and recalled her plan from earlier. Well, so much for it being easy.

Deciding her best plan would be to head home, hoping that the others had better luck in their quest to find Dawn, she started the short cross-town trek.

After the outburst in the Bronze, Tara had no idea how to approach Willow about her desire to help. Guess the civilized conversation is no longer an option. Bitterly, Tara headed home, hoping she could come up with some sort of plan on the way. Upon arriving, she immediately noted the presence of Dawn, Buffy and Spike. Relieved that Dawn was safe, Tara headed straight upstairs after a few short comments and a lack of a 'goodnight'.

Sitting in bed, Tara found herself unable to formulate a way to work her plan. Hearing Willow enter caused her brain to rapidly start formulating other occurrences. What if she doesn't come upstairs? What if she does a spell that goes wrong? What if I can't help her? Despite herself, Tara put on her best resolve face, which may have caused a rat to cave in, but nothing else, and told herself she couldn't believe that. It's never too late.

As Willow entered the room, something happened to Tara for the first time. She was nervous with Willow. Somehow managing to overcome it, Tara started to get the bed ready for a long night.

"I...I'm sorry, okay?" The hopeful sound in Willow's voice almost made Tara cave in, but she kept her resolve, at least for the moment.

"It's not that simple." Tara said, rather softly, half hoping Willow would realize a hidden meaning behind her words, and half hoping she could at least wait another day before jumping into the proverbial frying pan.

"Well, I could reverse time and take it back, but then where's the fun?" Despite the obvious light tone to Willow's words, Tara couldn't stop the resurfacing anger and hard glare.

"Joke. I don't think I could actually-" In another moment, Willow's back-peddling may have appeared somewhat humorous to Tara, but she was beginning to get the cartoon-ish smoke coming out of her ears again.

"You know what, can...can we not do this now? I'm tired." Tara's harsh voice suddenly frightened even herself, and as she got into bed, she attempted to calm herself.

As Willow turned around, something clicked in Tara's mind. Why am I avoiding this? I don't think I could last the night with this, and there's no foreseeable way to fix it without bringing it up. Even worse, this would help Willow. Lord knows she'd never hesitate to help me.

Using all her resolve and willpower, Tara forced all her doubts and somehow allowed a sound to come out of her mouth.

"No." It had a quiet, almost scared, tone to it, but at Willow's swift turn, it was obviously she heard it.

"Huh?" Willow's tone was seemingly mostly surprised, though it had a little bit of fear in it, too. Did she sense Tara's nervousness? Well, it is pretty obvious, Tara mused to herself.

After the year and change that she had spent with the Scoobies, Tara knew the day any of them stopped babbling would be the day that the Earth was doomed. Still, that didn't stop her from being complete annoyed with herself as she spoke.

"Forgetting about it will just make it worse. I've been thinking about this since the 'party', and I think I can help you. Not that you have a problem…Well, not that you don't." Mentally, Tara was screaming for someone to shoot her, but she somehow managed to continue with her long ramblings. She also knew that most likely Willow was glaring holes through her. That was why her hair was covering most of her face as she spoke.

"How about I put this in simple terms. I know you learned all your magic yourself, and you really didn't know anything about rules. I was stupid not to see it before," knowing Willow would interrupt at this point, Tara quickly looked up for the first time since she started her revelation, giving an obvious 'don't interrupt' glare to Willow. "And I was never really a help, being the one that ended up unleashing your power to it's full potential. Not that you wouldn't have been able to get up to this level without me, but-"

At this point, Willow couldn't stop herself from cutting in. "I would have never gotten anywhere without you, Tara. And not just in magic."

Giving a brief smile, Tara tried to continue. "Well, I guess what I'm saying is, if you want, I would like to teach you more about magic. Beyond the actual castings, I mean."

Despite herself, Tara suddenly managed to have her nervous level rise to another high, as the one scenario she had yet to play in her head hit her dead in the face. What if she doesn't want to learn? If it had been even 18 hours before, she wouldn't have even though about this, but they had just had 3 major arguments in that time span, and Tara was suddenly petrified that Willow wouldn't accept her offer.

Not only would she be a ticking time bomb, but also there's no way I'd be able to stick around her for long, despite everything. This thought busted the mercury out of Tara's virtual nervous-stat.

Time seemed to stand still, yet somehow was ticking by faster than ever at the same time. Tara was wondering how she was managing to stay alert as she waited almost desperately for Willow to say something. Any-

"I didn't…there are…you…" after such a long time without words, Willow couldn't seem to put more than a pair of words together, and was having a worse time trying to convey her thoughts.

"Okay, I've been such an ass. How could I have thought that you were trying to spoil my fun?" At Willow's revelation, Tara felt her anger begin to spill out again, before she realized exactly what Willow was getting at.

"So, you'll let me teach you?" The tone in her voice made Tara wonder when she managed to get so hopeful. I've come so far without even noticing it, she once again mused to herself.

Noticing the voice that rivaled Tara's "I'm not a Demon" phrase almost exactly a year before, Willow was quick to respond. "There's nothing that I wouldn't want to learn from you. Heck, even if I didn't want to, I still couldn't say no."

Feeling a big weight lift off her, Tara's grin seemed to light up the rather dank room. As Willow turned out the light and crawled into bed, she was feeling so frisky that she couldn't help but say the first words that came to mind.

"Better warm me up." Willow's tone just further intensified the feelings building in Tara as they snuggled up. A satisfied moan that escaped from Tara was all she really needed to express herself.

"This is how every day should always end ... and start. And all the stuff in the middle." Tara mused out loud, sleepily despite her sudden giddiness.

Tara woke herself up by singing. How weird is that? Quickly noticing that Willow was singing in her sleep, Tara quickly woke her up, as she willed herself to stop singing.

A frown quickly replaced Willow's sleepy smile and filled her face. Now just humming the ending of her song, Willow opened her mouth, half expecting another screech that was suppose to pass for singing, to flow out. Relieved when she talked normally, she wondered out loud; "What was that?"

Trying to figure out a cause for this that was at least relatively normal for a Hellmouth, she was finding it hard to find something that was at least passable. Maybe we were dreaming that we were singing. But then again, I never forget dreams, and I don't talk in my sleep, let alone sing.

Deciding that it might be best to just head back to sleep, Willow and Tara quickly drifted back to a dreamless snooze.

In the morning, Willow and Tara got right to work, forgetting all about the early morning wakeup call. Tara decided to start by calling into the Magic Shop to see if she and Willow could get a day off. Deciding that it would be best to start with a simple lesson, on which Willow readily agreed to, and seemed almost excited about, Tara believed it would be best to stay away from the others.

Willow, wanting an authentic schoolroom feel to the first lesson, was enthusiastically looking for a couple of small 4-legged chairs to sit on. Entering the room with her new prize, Willow quickly sat down and waited for Tara to settle her nerves.

For the first time in a while, Tara was not on edge because of Willow, but rather because of herself. She had never taught anyone anything, and though she had her own lessons way back when, she still didn't know exactly how to approach it. Willow's so much different then me. I can't use the same lessons. Gonna have to improvise, oh bright one, she tried to encourage herself.

"I'm sure Giles already has mentioned this somewhere, seeing as both Wicca's and Watchers believe history is the most important lesson to learn, but I figure it doesn't hurt to re-iterate it. This world was first inhabited by demons, believed to be pure and complete. It was never a molten rock of lav-What?"

Once Tara had said the word 'rock', Willow started chuckling, and was now in a full out fit of laughter. Unsure of what had gotten into her, Tara was suddenly feeling self-conscious.

Quickly stifling her laughter, Willow replied through her stubborn chuckles. "No. It's not you." She paused as she couldn't help but start laughing again. Wondering how long she could go without having her sides burst, Tara was starting to get concerned for Willow's sanity.

"It just," Willow started through a couple more giggles, "when Giles explained it, he called it a 'paradise'," she explained before finally calming herself. "Funny how the two different groups describe it so differently."

"Mind if I continue," Tara said, thinking Willow might want a couple more seconds to recompose herself. Besides, it was fun acting impatient, even if she would have waited forever with Willow to complete this lesson. I can't believe she's changed so much in the past few hours, Tara mused. I hope she will accept and obey what I have to tell her after this.

"By all means," Willow said, seeing right through Tara's impatience. "I surely won't stop you."

Putting what Willow had previously termed as Tara's 'Teacher face' while they practiced magicks back in their dorms, Tara continued. "While I know he'd told you about how vampires were created and how they have walked the Earth since, unless you burst out in laughter then, too." After pausing for effect, and to give Willow a look, she continued again. "But, I'm sure he didn't tell you anything more beyond what Wicca's term 'the bite'."

Now extremely interested, Willow couldn't help but repeat Tara's words. "The bite? Yes, I guess he mentioned that. There's more than just a simple bite?"

Giving a slight nod, Tara continued. "Yes. The bite was a small part in a bigger story. It-" The phone ringing broke off the sentence, and despite her thirst for knowledge, Willow jumped up to answer it.

Surprised at Buffy's urgency and the sudden dial tone that rang in her ear, Willow took a while before realizing that something was up. Going to grab her coat, she shouted back to Tara.

"That was Buffy, Tara. Something's up, so she wants us to go to the magic shop." Willow spoke the last words with a bit of a downcast tone. "Damn, now I have to wait longer to hear this story. I love Story Time with Tara." Tara saw Willow's wide grin as she rounded the corner.

Giving a short chuckle and quick kiss, Tara headed to pick up a sweater to keep herself warm in the early morning breeze.

As they headed out the door, Tara realized that she would have to give her order before she finished her story. Stopping Willow, she spoke up. "Willow, I have to tell you something first. Well, a couple things. First off, I'm so proud of you. Thank you for letting me do this. I don't know what I would have done if you didn't."

Beaming, Willow just nodded. Suddenly getting her curious, knowledge-needing expression, she spoke up. "And the second thing?"

"I know you might object, but I need you to do this. I need you to hold off the magic for a little while. Of course, if it's desperate, you can go ahead, but please, unless it's completely necessary, and I mean life-or-death necessary, I don't want you doing anything."

As they walked towards the Magic Box, Willow suddenly got a mischievous glint in her eye.

Realizing the hidden meaning behind the phrase, Tara blushed, but still managed to give a prize-worthy response. "I did say life-or-death, didn't I?"

As they entered the Magic Box, the look on Xander's face made it pretty obvious that something was going on.

"I sure as hell don't wanna do that again!" He exclaimed, nearly knocking Willow and Tara right back out the front door.

"There's been a recent 'singing bug' going around recently," Giles jumped in to explain, almost to hastily.

Giles looked curiously at the pair, taking off his glasses to clean them. "Care to explain?"

"It was beautiful, if I don't say so myself. Lucky, all I did was screech a couple words and then hum a little." Willow added with a little bit of a scowl.

"Umm, laundry, was it?" Blushing as she recalled what they actually had sung about, Tara looked at her girlfriend pleadingly.

Realizing that it may be important, Tara spoke up quietly, as she turned beat-red. Umm, and also, umm…" As she looked away from Giles' stare, hoping he would get it.

"We sung about having sex." Despite the embarrassment that Willow and herself were now feeling, Tara was glad that she just came right out with it…Uh, not literally.

"Well, umm," Giles started out slowly, seemingly choosing his words carefully. "Well, that would, err, make some sense."

Suddenly feeling a little vengeful, Tara spoke up again, feeling rather bold despite everything that had just transpired. "I'm guessing you guys sung about things, too, huh?"

As both of them sighed, Tara knew they had some good blackmail material to share, and she had the perfect reason to get it out of them. "Well, tell, then. If you'll call us both out here away from our important task, you can at least fill us in. How can we help otherwise?"

As they looked at each other, Xander sighed again, and began to fumble to explain. "Well, umm, me and, uh, Anya, sung about pretty much the same thing, and, uh, Anya also sung about vengeance, and I sung about construction, and it was rather horrible-sounding." Xander somehow rambled lowly, but Tara still heard it all. Knowing Giles still had to explain himself, she kept a straight face throughout it. Willow, on the other had, was really struggling to keep from having a 'Molten Rock' attack hit her again.

As Giles looked up, he took off his glasses, and hastily wiped them. "Well, umm, I was at the Espresso Pump with my acoustic when it happened. Well, I guess it did, anyway. Otherwise, the invisible orchestra and synchronized dancers might pose more of a threat at the moment…" Giles trailed off.

"Umm, well, it wasn't really what I sung about, but what I actually sung. It was, err, an odd rendition of Roll Over Beethoven (*1)"

Despite not knowing the words, Willow and Tara both knew that this was way beyond typical Giles music, and burst out laughing. The visual of synchronized dancers along side him made it even that much funnier.

As they slowly calmed down, Willow and Tara moved towards the books, still chuckling here and there, and sat down to start researching. As Buffy entered, Tara realized that they didn't ask what she sung about.

"What did you sing about, Buff?" Hearing Willow's voice speak what she was thinking spooked Tara slightly, despite the fact that it was becoming a regular occurrence recently.

"She can't remember," Xander mused aloud, obviously a little unbelieving of his own words, and a little unnerved.

"Well, it appears that it's all around town. Remind me to stay away from the dry-cleaners from now on." Buffy said to Giles.

"Maybe with all this happening, Dawn might for once be enjoying school." Willow remarked, giving a pointed stare to Buffy. Oblivious, Buffy only looked back for a second before turning to Giles.

"Well, we know that Xander and Anya aren't the only ones," Giles couldn't help but snicker.

Wow, very good on you, Giles. Got 4 of us in one sentence, Tara thought with half-hearted anger. Giles rarely insulted anyone, but when he did, he usually did a good job at it. Tara knew that none of them could help but be impressed at it, despite normally being the insultees.

It took Buffy a second to realize what Giles was referring to and quickly turned away, looking like she had just run a marathon. Well, maybe 50 marathons without so much as a drop of water.

"None really, no." Giles replied. "Though there appears that everyone is singing about whatever they're, ahem, doing or just done, or what they want to do."

"Wonder what might cause that. It's rather embarrassing. Are there any demons that feed off embarrassment?" Willow rambled.

Tara, being the only one, who didn't instantly recognise the new intruder's voice, looked up.

"Oz." It came out as almost a whisper, and Tara's brain was going a mile-a-minute. Why's he here? Maybe he's come here to kill me, like a jealous old boyfriend-slash-Werewolf, would. Despite herself, she chuckled a little out loud.

Feeling Willow move towards her ever so slightly, Tara gave a quick glance over to her to make sure she knew that she was ok. Why would she run to him now if she didn't before? Suddenly feeling the opening words to "Run to You" (*2), crawl up her throat, she quickly stopped her train of thoughts, and focused on Oz.

Being the first to find his voice again, Xander spoke up in typical 'Zeppo' fashion. "Hey, Oz. Great to see you. I was starting to get sick and tired of the girls." Upon the glances from the 3 ladies in the room, he quickly back-peddled. "Okay, m-maybe not, but still, the jokes were not really working well."

As Oz took a couple steps in, Willow now found her voice, no matter how quiet. "Why?"

Knowing her question, and exactly what it meant, Oz quickly responded. "Well, to put it simply, the guys were going here through Sunnydale last night for a gig, and trust me when I say they rocked the place. I mean, Devon's voice will keep the girls around him for days. I know this won't last, and I don't want to get their hopes up, so I checked in with you guys."

Giles now spoke up. "Well, we know nothing as of yet, but it is a good bet that it will be temporary."

"How about we send the 'chap' to get us some goods at the Espresso Pump?" Xander supplied, somewhat mocking Giles as he said 'chap'.

"Could be a long day in the books. Besides, the van could use the mileage," Oz agreed.

"I'll come with. With the apparent new magic-maker in town, you'd be rather vulnerable out there," Offered Buffy. With a nod by Oz, they quickly made their way towards the door.

"Why don't you guys put some kind of anti-magic spell on the place, just to be one the safe side?" Buffy called over her shoulder.

"Sure. I'll look into it," Tara quickly replied. She could sense Willow's reluctance to tell Buffy about their earlier discussion. Perhaps it's not the magic part of the conversation she's worried about, Tara thought, chuckling. Upon Willow's glance, she got up to go look for a spell, not wanting to explain.

Xander, with a confused expression, looked at Willow for a couple seconds before using his mouth for, to Tara's knowledge, his favourite action. "What, Willow, deciding to become the Butch after all?"

Quickly coming up with a way to satisfy Xander's mind, Tara responded before Willow even looked up. "Well, we've decided we'll take turns doing these small spells. Today happens to be mine, so…" she quickly fibbed. Pretty satisfied with Xander's new expression, she went back to her search.

As she found the book, she noticed Willow getting up and coming towards her. "Let's go to the back to read this," she said, speaking loud enough so that Xander heard. Obviously, to Tara, there was a second reason why Willow wanted to go into the back, though she wasn't sure exactly what. No. She doesn't do that during working hours. Tara quickly dismissed her first thought.

As they made their way into the training room, Tara quickly turned around, her curiosity getting the best of her. "What's up?"

"We can tell them. I know you think I'm nervous about telling them…" Tara quickly cut Willow off before she could start babbling. As much as she loved it, they didn't have time.

"We don't have to tell them, though. I'm sure living on the Hellmouth you'll get a chance to use something sometime soon, and I think we can find excuses for other things until we're done." Tara knew that part of the reason why Willow's abuse of magicks started was because it was the only way she felt useful. She also knew that she would feel like she was inadequate if the others knew, and so Tara wanted to keep her level headed as much as possible.

"Alright, but I don't want you making a fool of yourself just to protect me. The second you come up with something lame, we're telling them," Willow returned, mock-stubbornly with what was probably her worst resolve-face ever.

After finding the best spell for the job, which was made to keep any person not in the magic shop as it was cast to cast a spell, and telling Xander that all was safe again, Willow and Tara returned to the training room.

"Why don't we continue that lesson while we wait for the goodies to come?" Willow suggested eagerly.

"Good idea. Wait here." Getting up quickly, Tara went out, and looked for a book. Finding what she was after, the returned once again to find Willow comfortably settled down on a mat. Showing the book, Tara quickly found a spot to sit in front of Willow.

"What, no more bite talk?" Willow said, looking rather disappointed. Perhaps she wants something that she can use to show up Giles, Tara rationalized.

"Sure there's more bite talk. This has very descriptive stuff in it. I don't think I remember it all off the top of my head." Tara reassured her.

"Ah, here we are." Tara spoke up. "'The International Laws of Magicks, ILoM for short, were not made until after the exact effects of the Uprising, which was what our mortal ancestors did to kill all pure demons that walked the Earth, were known in 2130 BC, when one of the last remaining mages was killed after a deadly Black Magic rampage killed an uncountable number of people, including the current slayer, and over 50 villages. After that, all practicing witches and mages were asked to take what is now considered as the 'Lessons Course'. To this date, there are no recorded deaths due to Black Magic use by a trained witch or warlock.'" As Tara finished her story, she heard Buffy and Oz come back through the front door.

"The show is over, close the story book." Before she could react, Tara was singing. "There will be no encore," she recited, bitterly.

As she thought about her past, the number of people she had met, talked to and even exchanged stories with, that she never saw again, she couldn't stop herself from singing those lines.

As she looked up, she saw Willow standing, feet planted in their spots, beaming, and nodding ever so slightly, looking proud.

Knowing just how true those words were, Tara smiled widely at Willow, who looked as though she had just won the lottery.

Tara thought about all those people she had chatted to, who she quickly found out were only chatting to her out of politeness and not friendship as she hoped, and then thought about how Willow came by at just the right moment, when she was about to give up on anyone ever staying around her for long. She wasn't there just to talk; despite thinking maybe she was just like the others when Tara failed to see her for a week after running into the Gentleman.

Surprised at herself for revealing what she had thought in the laundry room when Willow had collapsed with exhaustion after moving the vending machine, and then waking up with a mutter of "stupid frogs", Tara blushed.

Tara couldn't help but laugh at the irony of that line. She sure did pay for a comedy. How did everything after that turn out? Oz's first comeback tour, my family's surprise visit, even my temporary insanity.

While listening to the sudden violin solo, Tara couldn't help but think about the truth of those words. I've been colorful and gray in the time I've know Willow, and yet she still loves me. I certainly am fortunate. How did I ever deserve this?

Once again, Tara laughed. Even in the worst situations, we always laughed, through good and bad. It would only be fitting for us to die laughing.

As Willow finished off in what Tara couldn't only describe as a voice to die for, they shared a kiss that held so much love that Tara would have died in that comedy right then and there. However, a long 'awww' that came from the doorway caused the two of them to spring apart quickly and much too early, at least to them.

"As much as I love smooch-fests as the next spy, we've got some research to do." Dawn announced.

After a quick glance at each other and small chuckle, Tara and Willow walked out quickly, hand in hand. Entering the shop's main room, Tara stole a quick glance at Oz, who appeared to be watching them rather sadly. Looking at Willow, she saw her as she raised her head just in time to look at Oz for a second before he turned away.

He still loves her. Tara thought, realizing something. He never got his closure. Even after 2 years, he still isn't over her, even if he might think he is.

"I can't do this!" Came a sudden shout from Oz. As he walked over to Tara and Willow, he explained. "I thought I had moved on. Thought I could come back and help you guys again, but I was wrong. My torso is gone again." Despite his down tone, he let a small grin escape.

Oz's voice was dripping with emotion. As he sung, he pointedly kept eye contact with both Tara and Willow.

As Oz's dreamy look faded, he noticed the confused looks on everyone's faces. As the music suddenly stopped, he explained. "Dream." He muttered, sheepishly. Amidst everyone's nodding, the song continues.

Throughout the solo that played, Tara squeezed Willow's hand as she noticed the tears welling up.

As the song faded out, Oz walked out slowly. As he reached the door, his eyes said a silent goodbye to Willow.

About an hour later, Tara was feeling a strange sense of peace within herself. After spending the whole day, so

far, researching, they still hadn't come up with anything to explain the singing. However, she felt as though Oz's

sudden return had somehow re-energized the whole gang. Even more strange was the fact that Willow seemed the

Maybe she thinks he's finally ready to move on, Tara thought, logic taking over her brain.

Yet despite all this, she could still tell that Buffy was feeling a little on edge. She couldn't remember if she

had ever been a part of a research party with the scoobies, and even more telling was the fact that she was deep in

Something's got her spooked, Tara once again came to a logical conclusion. Maybe she's afraid she's going to

Reading though 'Demonology and Mythology: 101' for the last 10 minutes, Tara was starting to feel very bored.

when I think to myself? Quickly returning to the book, Tara tried hard to stop her train of thought.

Laughter from next to her finally succeeded in accomplishing what Tara was attempting to do, but it also caused a

"Have you ever looked in a mirror while you think?" She responded between giggles. When Tara looked down ever so

"Well, there was that time when Xander..." Tara began, with an evil glint in her eyes. Not surprisingly, Willow

"You're so predictable." She said. Upon Willow's look, she quickly mimicked her. "It's cute."

Everyone quickly gathered around, and Xander held up his book, 'Exotic demons'.

Probably thought there would be naked pictures in there, Tara had thought when she saw him pick it up. Who

knew he'd find anything useful in it? Upon seeing the picture in the book, she was no longer surprised.

Clearing his throat, Xander started to speak, reading from the opposite page that Tara had looked at. "Says here

'Demon Sweet, also known as the Lord of the Dance, has the power to make a large population sing and dance

spontaneously. He is summoned using one of many different talismans. Usually summoned by women, he usually will not

leave until...'" Xander tailed off. Before anyone could urge him to continue, Spike ran through the front door.

"Oh. Ugly fellow, I'd say." Spike stated the obvious. "Oh, and the horny thing, not just a physical attribute,"

"Well, when you look that bad, it's probably natural." Willow piped up though giggles.

"Well, that's not the worst part. Might want to sit down for this one, boy," Spike responded seriously, looking

at Xander. "Heard through an almost sound-proof window that he's going to take Anya as his 'queen'."

Surprising everyone, even Xander through his obvious anger and fear, Buffy was the first to get up. "Well, let's

Entering the warehouse about 5 minutes after Spike, Buffy and Xander, Tara and Willow were surprised to find Buffy

and Sweet engaged in a heated discussion, with no punches being thrown. Anya was standing behind Xander, and Spike

was looking as bored as ever. Giles had decided to stay behind and see if he could find out anything more about this

"Buffy wants to fight, Sweet doesn't. Fairly odd, yet frightfully amusing," Xander replied.

"Yes. Even more odd and frightfully amusing as him wanting to have sex with me," Anya replied, bluntly as usual,

plus a hint of anger and hurt. Xander flashed a fake smile laced with nervousness and fear.

"Well, I don't remember Buffy punning this much before, so I'd bet yes." Xander put in.

Catching Willow's look, Tara shook her head. As embarrassing and time consuming this is, it doesn't appear to

Suddenly, they all heard a song start to play, and they quickly glanced at each other anxiously. As Sweet started

"I know what you feel, I know what you think. So might as well tell them, before you have to sing." (*4)

Willow was the only one with enough courage to speak up. "What is he talking about, Buff?"

Looking up, Buffy turned around, and whispered something barely audible. Tara's ears caught it, though, "heaven."

"Oh, hell, just make me sing, damn it!" Buffy's voice was forced, angered and perhaps even a little timid and

Stepping up, Buffy said one last thing before the music kicked in. "I was in…" She trailed off.

Upon hearing the first words, Tara understood, and felt a sudden pain. We pulled her out of... Her thoughts

trailed off. Instinctively, she reached over to hug Willow, who appeared to still be confused. It didn't last for

Buffy continued, looking over at the pair, neither of which noticing her glance.

The truth was driven home by Buffy now, and Willow quickly broke down upon hearing them.

None of these lines made any sense to anyone, but they strangely still understood.

This finally made everything make sense to Tara. She's not feeling anymore. She feels she's still dead. She

Through the instrumental that seemed to appear in all the songs, there were just sympathetic looks thrown around,

Spike suddenly spoke up. Surprising to Willow and Tara, he appeared to be unaffected by the news.

Buffy continued. Yet again, these lines told them all exactly how she was feeling.

As the song ended, Buffy ran out, and Sweet spoke up. "Well, wasn't that interesting."

Looking at him closely, Sweet laughed. "So it was you that summoned me. Why would you want me...?"

"Just leave," Willow spoke up softly, yet still firmly. Tara squeezed her shoulder gently, and then sent what

was probably one of her hardest glares of her life over to Sweet. Relenting, he backed off.

"Ok. I sure as hell wouldn't wanna take that scumbag with me. Still gotta have a good ending here, though."

Lifting his hands, he vanished. However, there was still music rising in the background.

They all looked at each other, and sighed. How could any of us be capable of this?

Looking at Willow, Tara wished she could do something to make this better. But I can't lie to her...

Tara's old thoughts returned. How could we have done this? Could we really have done it on our own?

Maybe we were forced into this. Maybe it wasn't us. The thoughts were little comfort to Tara. Who am I

As they finally made their way home, Willow and Tara made it into bed, and cried themselves to sleep, unsure of

Walking into the kitchen, Tara subconsciously started to make some pancakes for breakfast. Well, Willow always said I could probably cook in my sleep, Tara mused, her thoughts lacking the humorous feeling that one might think belonged for that thought.

Looking at the clock for the first time since she woke up in her zombie-like state, Tara realized it was already almost ten o'clock, and wondered how they all slept in for so long. We all went to sleep rather early. Tara thought. Then it hit her. Buffy always woke us up with her coffee. Obviously, Buffy hadn't returned that morning.

Tara started humming to herself, and felt relief that she had control over it again. What a frightful day, she recalled.

As she continued to cook, Tara heard a door upstairs slam open, and a quick pair of feet hurry down the stairs. Despite her obvious pride for being such a good cook, she couldn't help but feel anger at whoever it was coming down the stairs. How anyone could feel so alive with Buffy as she is? She hissed to herself. When she saw Dawn come around into the room, still dressed in her pajamas, she felt even angrier. However, when she saw Dawn's look of worry, Tara quickly softened.

"Buffy's not home!" Dawn shouted, frustrated, upset and scared at the same time. "She could be miles away. She could be dead!"

Despite Dawn's tone which suggested she was sure Buffy was already dead, Tara quickly dismissed the possibility. "Buffy's not dead," she told Dawn firmly. "You know as well as all of us she can handle her own out there, emotionally distraught or not." Once again, Tara's voice was fairly void of emotion.

Despite Tara's attempts, Dawn was still not reassured. "I'm not worried about a vampire getting her," Dawn said, quietly, making her thoughts clear.

Suddenly understanding, Tara quickly dismissed the idea herself, and then reassured Dawn as well, "If she wanted to do that, she would have a long while ago," she replied, convincing herself as much as Dawn.

It appeared to work as Dawn started to calm down, and nodded in agreement. "Still, I wish she would come home. I need to make sure she's alright," Dawn once again ranted, still frustrated.

At that moment, Dawn noticed Tara's pan that was slightly smoking. "You're making pancakes?" Dawn said loudly, almost unbelieving. Well, so much for needing Buffy's coffee to wake us up, Tara thought.

Quickly dismissing earlier thoughts, and nodding, Dawn spoke up again in a quieter tone. "Might taste better if it's not black," she said, sheepishly.

Glancing at the stove, Tara reacted quickly, turning off the stove and moving the frying pan off of it. As she did this, Tara heard the shower start. Oh, no. Willow woke up alone. How could I have left her there? Deciding quickly on what to do, she excused herself from the kitchen. "I'll be down in a few minutes," she spoke as she walked out.

"Shut it, Dawn," Tara snapped before hurrying upstairs. As she reached the top, she sighed. As if things couldn't get worse, now I'm acting like the grumpy lady in the old-folks home, she thought. Deciding Dawn could wait, she quickly headed for the shower.

Willow never locked the door, Tara knew, so she was able to get in without having to pry the door open. That saved me 30 seconds, she thought.

As Tara walked in, she could hear the muffled sobs coming from behind the curtain. Reacting mostly on instinct, she almost ran over, and before she new it, they were both sobbing on each others shoulders while attempting to reassure each other.

To a normal passer-by, they might have looked extremely funny, but the emotions running through the two girls were enormous.

As they calmed themselves down, Tara grabbed Willow's red towel and draped it around her naked body. Walking them both back into their room, they both sat down, and Willow laid her head into Tara's lap. Draping her arms around her lovers shoulder, Tara once again held her close.

As Willow finally found her voice, she started to speak. "I thought you left," she croaked out, forcefully pushing another crying spell back.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking straight this morning." Tara replied. "You know I'll never leave you," she quickly added.

"I know," Willow said sheepishly. There also appeared to be a hint of reassurance for herself in the words.

"You know it's not just your fault," Tara spoke up after a short length of half-comfortable and half-uncomfortable silence, knowing what had Willow so on edge.

"Isn't it? I mean, I forced you all into it. I was messing around with stuff I had no idea how to control. I was ignoring all the signs that no matter what happened something bad would come from it." Willow was almost crying again.

"You know that you could never force anyone into anything," Tara replied, almost sarcastically, as she recalled some of her previous lost battles against 'Willow-Resolve-Face'. "Besides, your heart was in the right place. That counts for something."

"Like what? I can be wrong once again? Score points for me in that category again." Willow replied with equal sarcasm.

"Oh, Willow." Tara breathed, and squeezed her shoulder again. "It counts for a lot. Many people play with dark magicks, but as long as you are acting on a good notion, there's very little that can go wrong. We've just been unlucky this time."

When Tara felt Willow stiffen, and look up, she saw new tears. "This time," she whispered.

"I almost blew it. I used dark magicks to give back Angel's soul, bring back Buffy, even to get revenge on Glory, but…" Willow trailed off.

Tara was confused still. Blew it? Willow had told her about her bout with Glory before, though she didn't know before exactly how far she had taken it, but she had still had her mind in the right place. What else could she have done?

Taking a deep breath, Willow continued. "I almost stepped the line. I was going to step the line." Now also frightened at what she was about to reveal, Tara was unsure if she wanted to hear what was going to come out of her partners mouth. However, she had no time to stop her. "The night Dawn disappeared. The night this all started. I…I was…I was going to do a forget spell." Willow finally forcefully finished.

Not understanding right away, it quickly registered on Tara what Willow had revealed. Anger was the first response, but it was quickly replaced by a newfound love for Willow. Although she didn't know how, she felt herself not only fall more in love with her soul mate, but also felt herself feel more secure in her presence.

She was able to tell me something like that, even though she knew what it would likely do. She respects me enough, and probably even more importantly, understands herself enough now to be able to say that, Tara thought, surprisingly proud.

Realizing quickly that Willow was probably waiting for her to storm out of the room, she quickly raised her chin and planted a quick kiss to Willow's lips. "Thank you," she started. "You could have never told me that. Not only am I glad you were able to tell me that, but I'm also glad you respect the magicks enough to tell me that. I love you." She finished, giving Willow another peck.

"But I was going to use magic for my own use, without any reason but to get what I wanted…" Willow was cut off.

"You 'wanted'. You 'were going to'. It means nothing. You didn't. And you understand that it was wrong. That's all that matters. And don't make me pull out my big guns to get you to agree." Tara reassured her. The hug she received was furious and needy. Hugging back while trying to breath, Tara was saved as she heard the front door open.

"Probably Buffy," Tara whispered to Willow, not because she wanted to be quiet, but because it was the highest volume her voice could hit. Letting go, Willow lead the way downstairs

As they came down, they caught Buffy staring out the kitchen window, leaning over the sink. When Willow's foot hit the bottom step, Buffy slowly turned around. Upon seeing Willow, Buffy started to tear up, and reached her arms to Willow. As they embraced, Tara could hear Willow's muffled "Sorry", and Buffy's quick reassurances.

As the two parted, Buffy spoke up. "I'm…well, sorry," Buffy couldn't help but chuckle. "I've been brooding since you guys brought me back, and I didn't realize what I've got. And I can't believe that a vampire with a chip managed to finally tell me that," Buffy once again couldn't hold down a small bout of laughter.

Upon Willow and Tara's disbelieving stares, Buffy decided to go a different route. "How about you guys go sit on the couch, and I'll make up our morning coffee. I'm sure you guys woke up late because of me." This time, Buffy's tone was downcast. Deciding not to dwell on it, she walked over to the coffee maker, and Willow and Tara slouched to the living room.

Upon joining the witches in the living room, carrying a tray full of coffees, Buffy sat down and began her attempt at not only helping the pair in front of her return to normal, but also reassure herself that Spike was right.

"I don't know how to say this. I was in heaven," Buffy's reaction to that word was much different than the day before, almost joyful, "and I'll always cherish that time while I'm here, but I'm here, and I know this is where I belong. I was with my mom, but none of you were there. I'm sure sometime down the road we'll all be together there, and it's not worth bitching about."

"But you were at peace. You saved us, and you got what you really deserved," Willow protested, almost as though she was looking for a reason for Buffy to hate her.

"What I deserve is life. Well, that's what Spike said. I guess I can't argue. I was at peace, yes, but I wasn't happy. I don't remember much about those 3 months, but I do remember I wasn't joyful." Upon this new revelation, Buffy began to realize that Spike was right. "And I still can't believe Spike was right." She finished off.

Tara decided to speak up. "I think we all really knew that. We just didn't want to admit that something so good couldn't be better than this." She said, almost scaring herself with her philosophical words.

"Xander!" Willow exclaimed. Upon the looks, she continued, "he was as bad as me. He needs to know." Willow's spunk was back, and both Tara and Buffy were extremely grateful that they didn't have to persuade her more.

"I'll head over once I'm done my coffee. I'm sure he's worried sick." Buffy said guiltily.

"He knows as well as us that you needed space," Tara reassured. "What about Dawn?"

"Spike's trying to talk some sense into her. Shouldn't be too tough. She's probably upset, but beyond worrying about me, she's got nothing beyond her normal teenage angst." Buffy smiled.

"I…I need to talk to her. I snapped at her earlier," Tara mumbled to herself, recalling her earlier actions.

As Willow finished up her coffee, she sat up, "Well, how about we go pay a surprise visit to Xander and co.?"

Grunting, Buffy sat up, and started walking towards the door. "For some reason I suddenly like sulking Willow better," she mused. The laughter from Willow was reassuring, not to mention loud.

As a hand touched her shoulder, Dawn turned around and saw Tara. "I'm sorry about…"

"It's ok, really. I was going to be a brat, and we were all rather frustrated. I'm glad things are happy again," Dawn cut in. "Plus, you probably don't wanna hear that kinda stuff coming out of my mouth," she finished off, receiving a glare from Buffy.

As they exited, it was clear that things had changed in the course of just 3 days. They had gone from almost losing it all, to being extremely happy and extremely depressed. However, both Willow and Tara knew it was worth it, and went on their merry way, determined to stay this way forever.

The meeting at Xander's was short, and went surprisingly well, as Xander was back to his old habits pretty quickly, which once again made Buffy pretend to think she shouldn't have said anything. However, it really was quite the opposite with her. She was glad that her friends were feeling lively again, and even more, she was feeling ecstatic herself.

They decided they'd tell Giles about the last 2 days the next morning, as they felt there might be something supernatural that could come out of it in the future. Despite almost losing it when they first gave him the news, Giles quickly regained his composure as Buffy reassured him that she was fine, and told them that the information probably wouldn't be needed for anything.

A few months later, Anya and Xander were to be married. However, Xander's jitters made them decide to postpone it for another couple of weeks, surprisingly at Anya's wishes. As Xander was forced into agreeing by the 3 women he was closest to after Anya that he was doing the right thing, they finally tied the knot ironically on the day that Buffy died.

"I didn't plan it, I swear!" Was what Xander exclaimed when Buffy brought it up. Her smile and slight chuckle caused Xander to relax, and the rest of the day was as joyful.

Even stranger was the fact that Willow and Tara somehow both caught the bouquet at the reception. "You guys planned that," Willow decided, looking at Tara, who was wearing a look that appeared very innocent.

At this time, Tara and Willow's lessons were coming to a close, and both were much more confident with their powers. As Willow slowly got back into the magic fold, she felt she had finally accomplished everything she wanted to do in life. Well, all but one thing…

The minute the notion passed in the senate, Tara and Willow somehow did the same thing.

"Will you marry me?" They both announced, to a large chorus of laughter behind them. Of course, Buffy and the others helped them both pick out rings as soon as the law was given consideration, knowing that the other was doing the same, and were now rewarded with hoots of laughter coming from each one of them.

The next month, both became the first official married couple under the new laws, and obviously it went off without a flaw.

As the anniversary of when Xander, Anya, Tara and Willow resurrected Buffy from the grave neared, Buffy surprisingly announced that she wanted to mark the occasion with a large celebration.

Xander brought the dip, Anya the chips, while Tara and Willow supplied the decorations. Surprisingly, the two ended up on opposite sides of the coin then the year before, with Tara assuring Willow that she could use magic to do it, but Willow arguing that the new party shop across from the Magic Box would fair well enough. They finally settled on getting balloons and confetti from the new store, and making the posters and streamers with magic.

Not surprisingly, Anya found out she was pregnant after a couple months of marriage, and 9 months later, they were all in the waiting room of the local hospital, with Xander pacing, Buffy grumbling about the bad service from the nurses, and Willow and Tara just enjoying themselves, at least when they weren't laughing at Buffy's grumblings.

Alexander Giles Harris Jr. was born at 9:36 PM on July 20^th, 2004, a healthy 7lb, 6 Ounces.

The next few months went by rather quietly, but when the trio of nerds showed up, Buffy and co. quickly found out they were charting new territory. "We've never delt with humans before," she explained one day.

After Jonathan and Andrew were arrested, and Warren took off with a jetpack, the group decided that they'd done a good enough job, and spent the night partying in the newly renovated Bronze. By a strange twist of luck, Xander, after falling on the dance floor and somehow ending up with his face planted on the far window, he noticed Warren entering the gun shop across the street. Phoning the cops quickly, Warren was reprimanded in a couple minutes, and charged with robbery without incident.

When the First attempted to rise, the information that Giles received from the group became useful, and they found out that Buffy, being from a place that was considered so pure, was more of a match for the overconfident being. As the bad guys were defeated again, Buffy stumbled across an axe that she found out could be used as a magical tool, and brought up a proposal to Giles.

"Well, the universal law has always been 1 slayer. We've got two now, and this tool obviously holds a lot of power, perhaps even the essence of the power we possess. Wouldn't it be possible to change the laws? With it already being broken slightly, it wouldn't be difficult to change it completely, right?" Buffy ranted to Giles, Willow and Tara. Surprisingly, it was Tara that revealed the legend that spoke of a day when the forces of light would no longer rely on a single hero.

So, on the night of a full moon, which Tara said would make the chances of success even greater, Buffy suddenly became one of millions, instead of the only one.

Not surprisingly, the next few years were extremely boring for the group, at least on the battlefield. Xander Jr. was becoming a very strong willed individual, holding his parents charm, while gaining the wisdom of Giles and Buffy, and strong mind from Willow and Tara.

On his 5^th birthday, he was already learning from both women about magicks, at Xander's approval, of course, and was showing extremely potent power for his young age.

It was during this time that Willow stumbled, literally, onto a book that housed a number of ancient conception spells. Willow, intrigued, brought it home with her, and sat down that evening with Tara to look it over. Both were extremely excited when they found a spell that they could use. Not able to decide who would carry the child, they finally decided they would both do it.

9 months later, the pair were both in the emergency room giving birth to a pair of girls. As both babies were born healthy, the new parents found themselves in uncharted territory. Surprisingly, it was Anya that helped them get into their new role, and they soon found themselves gifted at taking care of the new bundles of joy.

Another 20 years went by, and then it stopped. Ironically, Buffy's unintentional babble from almost exactly 30 years previous came true.

Driving back from a large party, the group of 7 were killed instantly in a car crash, and Buffy, Dawn, Giles, Xander, Anya, Willow and Tara found themselves all together, as Buffy predicted, in heaven.

Knowing their children would be happy, Xander and Anya and Willow and Tara all were able to rest peacefully, while Buffy was finally happy while at peace. Giles somehow was still his nervous self, and the happy days of eternity filled all of their hearts with joy.

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I'm the Teacher, You're the Student

by Leafsdude

Copyright © 2003

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