Power of Two

Rating: NC-17

Disclaimer: The song belongs to Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls; the characters are Joss's; I'm only borrowing both and will return both in better-than-new condition when I'm done.

Distribution: The Mystic Muse http://mysticmuse.net

If you want it, please ask me first.

Spoilers: None

Warnings: lesbian relationship, hot monkey love.

Feedback: Please!

Pairing: Willow/Buffy

Now the parking lot is empty
Everyone's gone someplace
I pick you up and in the trunk I've packed
A cooler and a two day suitcase
'Cause there's a place we like to drive
Way out in the country
Five miles out of the city limit we're singin'
And your hand's up on my knee

When Faith was killed nine years ago, I passed on the torch of Slayerhood to the next generation. Her young replacement was enthusiastic and capable, and I felt very secure in leaving the world in her hands. My friends agreed with me, the ones that were left anyway; Anya was gone, Giles had returned to England and taken Dawn with him at her request, and of course Tara was dead, so it was just Willow and Xander and me. And they agreed with my decision a hundred percent. I had been the Slayer for eight years, longer than any other Slayer in recorded history, and it was time for me to hang up my stakes. I'm now a thirty-two-year-old, retired Vampire Slayer, and I'm too terrified to confront the one person in all the world that I truly love and tell her how I really feel.

So I'm doing it the coward's way—I'm taking her on a trip and praying for the right moment. Today was the last day of classes at UC Sunnydale, and I'm waiting for her to come out of the building. I've packed enough clothes for both of us to spend a week at a little-known place up in the Colorado mountains, and I'm hoping to whatever Powers are out there that my Slayer courage will come when I need it sometime this week. Because there's a little box in my pocket with a little diamond in it, which I've had for over three years but never been able to work up the courage to give her.

Not that I can afford to wait—my current profession, Sunnydale police officer, is nearly as dangerous as that of Slayer. But what can I say? I'm a coward.

Now she's coming out of the building. I drive up to her and she's pleasantly surprised to see me. "Hey, Buff," she greets as she climbs into the car. "What's up?"

"Vacation," I tell her, grinning. "Me, you, a cabin in the woods, what do you say?"

She grins back. "When do we leave?"

"Now." I gesture to the back seat and she begins laughing when she sees our suitcases there. At her quizzical look, I confess. "I've had this planned since the semester started."

She is laughing as we climb onto the interstate heading east, and after she pats my leg, she doesn't take her hand away.

So we're ok, we're fine
Baby I'm here to stop your crying
Chase all the ghosts from your head
I'm stronger than the monster beneath your bed
Smarter than the tricks played on your heart
Look at them together then we'll take them apart
Adding up the total of a love that's true
Multiply life by the power of two

We've been in Colorado for two days and we're having a wonderful time, but I can't help but wonder what it is we're here for. Every so often, I see Buffy touch her pocket, take a deep breath as though to say something, and then chicken out at the last second. I've given her two days; we're here for four more. But I'm tired of waiting.

She's in the shower, so I sneak into the bedroom where we've been chastely sharing a bed as we once did during high-school sleepovers and I find the jeans she has shucked. There in the pocket is a small velvet box, and inside the box is a beautiful diamond ring. And it hits me. She's in love with me. She's trying to work up the nerve to tell me. My God, how long has she been about this? Then I notice the name of the jeweler on the inside of the box. That particular jeweler closed its doors two years ago.

Two years. She's been trying to work up her nerve for at least two years; probably longer, because of the length of time it would have taken her to save up enough money to buy this beautiful ring. All this time, I've been wishing I could tell her how I feel about her, and she's been feeling the same way. All this time I've been thinking of lame excuses to cover up my desire to stay in Sunnydale, living at Revello Drive with her, and she obviously doesn't want me to go. I hear the shower cut off, and I quickly put the box back and leave her jeans on the floor the same way I found them. I retreat to the sitting room of the cabin as quietly as I can, arranging myself on the couch with a book as though I'd been there the whole time.

She comes out finally, wrapped in her robe, to let me know that the shower's free. We have plans to go to a restaurant in Denver tonight, and she has told me that it's a very fancy one. She's going to be wearing her little black dress, and she brought my blue sheath that I'd bought for the University faculty Christmas party several years ago. I didn't even know she knew where my old dresses were.

I stand under the shower formulating my plan, and when I emerge, I'm battle-ready. She won't go another night without telling me how she feels. Because I won't go another night without telling her how I feel.

You know the things that I am afraid of
I'm not afraid to tell
And if we ever leave a legacy
It's that we loved each other well
Because I've seen the shadows of so many people
Trying on the treasures of youth
But a road that fancy and fast ends in a fatal crash
And I'm glad we got off to tell you the truth

Dinner was wonderful, but Willow kept giving me looks across the candle flame that told me I might be in trouble later. I've known for a while, at least in the back of my mind, that she might have fuzzy feelings for me, but I'm unsure enough that I didn't want to risk it. Of all the scary things I've faced in my life—and I've faced a lot of them—the thought of losing Willow terrifies me more than anything else in the world.

We get back to the cabin and I light a fire in the fireplace while she goes into the bedroom. I sit on the carpet in front of the fireplace and stare into the flames, wondering if I'll ever work up my nerve. Then I feel the warmth of Willow behind me, her gentle hands touching my shoulders, skimming down my arms. Without realizing what I'm doing, I sigh and lean back into her caress.

Her hands come back up my arms and to my hair, pulling the pins out and letting it fall down around my shoulders. I hear the sound of her breath as she buries her nose in my hair, smelling my shampoo and my perfume. She murmurs in my ear, "You smell so good."

My right hand comes up, almost of its own volition, to stroke the soft skin of her cheek. I feel her lean into my hand. And then I hear the words that will change my life forever.

"Tell me you love me."

I pull away, turn and face her. She has changed out of her sheath and into a silky negligee that I brought because she looks so good in it. She hadn't worn it before tonight. She's smiling at me, and there's something I can't quite describe hiding in her shining eyes. "What?" I whisper, unable to get my voice to function at a higher volume. She repeats herself exactly and I feel the tears well up in my eyes. "How did you know? How long have you known?"

She smiles, leans forward and wipes the tears away. "I know because love calls to love," she says softly. "How long? I think I've known for years, but I couldn't convince myself of it." She leans forward and gently touches her lips to mine. "Buffy. Tell me you love me."

And I do. I pull her close to me and I kiss her softly on the forehead, then on each cheek, telling her over and over again that I love her. And then she pulls back from me briefly, looks deep in my eyes, and tells me that she loves me, too. And she says the sweetest five words I've ever heard. In a voice husky and rough with unshed tears, she whispers, "Buffy, make love to me."

And I do.

So we're ok, we're fine
Baby I'm here to stop your crying
Chase all the ghosts from your head
I'm stronger than the monster beneath your bed
Smarter than the tricks played on your heart
Look at them together then we'll take them apart
Adding up the total of a love that's true
Multiply life by the power of two

Her mouth is all over me, trailing fire from my lips to my neck, and her hands are busy as well, pushing the spaghetti straps of my negligee down off my shoulders. Her body is hot against mine; I feel like I'm being held by a living flame. Her mouth finds mine again, her tongue seeking entrance, and I grant it. She tastes like peaches and cream.

Her hands have been on my arms, now they move slowly toward my chest and she teases my breasts with them, making me gasp and arch toward her. I have dreamed of her touch the last three thousand nights of my life, and at last I have it. Through the silk of my gown, her palms burn against me.

The clothes are too much. I want to feel her skin against mine, and I want it now. I reach behind her, unzip her dress, and begin to pull it off her. She laughs deep in her throat and stands, letting the black satin slide down her hips and puddle at her feet. She wore no bra—even at thirty-two she doesn't need one—and she stands before me now wearing nothing but a black crushed-velvet thong. She takes me by the hand to pull me up, and my nightgown goes the way of her dress. I was a little more prepared—I'm now totally nude.

Her eyes roam my body and I can tell that her mouth is watering as much as mine, but I move first, taking one firm nipple in my mouth and sucking it. Her hand tangles in my hair, holding my head close, and little moans issue from her throat. I let my hands roam down her body and across her firm backside, touching her velvet flesh reverently, thanking God that at long last, she's mine.

She's laying me down. She's laying me down on the soft rug, shedding her underwear and coming back to lay her body against mine. Her hands wander from my shoulders to my thighs and back again, she teases my breasts skillfully, and her hands bring ecstasy. She knows what I want and what I need, and she'll give it to me in her own sweet time.

She lays a trail of kisses from my lips down my neck and to my breasts, which she pays sweet attention to until I'm gasping in her arms, and then she moves lower down, pressing feather-light kisses against my belly. She slides between my knees then, and she whispers up to me, "I've never done this before, Willow, so you'll have to tell me if I'm doing it right." And then I feel the first stroke of her tongue across flesh that has been untouched by any hand but mine for over nine years, and my world explodes around me.

All the shiny little trinkets of temptation
Something new instead of something old
All you gotta do is scratch beneath the surface
And it's fool's gold, fool's gold

I can't get enough of the way she tastes. Her skin is salty, her mouth is sweet but oh, the flavor of her secret places is one that defies description. This, surely this is the flavor of the Greek gods' ambrosia. And the sound of her cries as they reach my ears, telling me that in spite of my inexperience, I'm surely doing something right, that sound could rival the heavenly choruses of angels for beauty. And then she begins to shake, her cries becoming piercing, and she reaches down to tangle a hand in my hair, holding me close to her. She needn't have worried—no power on this earth could move me away at this moment. I feel her muscles begin to spasm, I feel the sudden warmth of a flood at my lips, and I hear her scream my name as whatever it is that I'm doing right sends her crashing into orgasm. And this, I think to myself, is truly heaven.

Now we're talking about a difficult thing
And your eyes are getting wet
I took us for better and I took us for worse
And don't you ever forget it
Now the steel bars between me and a promise
Suddenly bend with ease
And the closer I'm bound in love to you
The closer I am to free

As we lie in bed together later, watching the moon set, Buffy reaches into the drawer of her night table and pulls out the ring. I let the tears fall then, as she slides it on my finger and swears to love me forever. And I know that she means it. And I reach into the drawer of my night table and I pull out the ring that I bought for her some four years ago, and I slide it onto her finger, swearing to love her forever.

She's crying, and I kiss the tears away, promising her that she never needs to cry again. I'll always be here for her. She assures me that her tears are of joy. I snuggle into her arms and hold her tightly, reveling in the sensation of her body against mine and the musky scent of her skin. I have never felt so right in my life as I do here, with my head on her shoulder and her arms around me. I am falling asleep now, with my hand on her bare belly, secure in the knowledge that she loves me, that I love her, and that she will still be there in the morning when I wake. And all is right with the world.

So we're ok, we're fine
Baby I'm here to stop your crying
Chase all the ghosts from your head
I'm stronger than the monster beneath your bed
Smarter than the tricks played on your heart
Look at them together then we'll take them apart
Adding up the total of a love that's true
Multiply life by the power of two

The End

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