The Anyanka Solution

by Ray Harley

Copyright © 2003

kerkevik@planet-save.com

Rating: R
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon and his (wonderful) pals at ME, UPN etc... own all – blast'em!!!
Distribution: The Mystic Muse     http://mysticmuse.net
Just please tell me so I can boost my ego by checking it out.
Feedback: Yes please! Definitely! Uh-huh! That'll be a pleeeese, then.
Spoilers: Seeing Red
Author's Note: This story actually came to me in a dream on a Saturday morning around five am. I think the spirit of Anyanka reached out to me.
Pairing: Willow/Tara

It was an extra bright beam of sunlight that finally woke Willow up. Blearily she opened her eyes and felt Tara stirring, her head on Willow's shoulder, a stray hair between Willow's teeth. She snuggled up close, ignoring the sunlight, the hair in her mouth.

Just enjoying the incredible fact that she and Tara were back together again. The sun inevitably woke her and her eyes strayed to the alarm clock next to the bed. She groaned as she realized how late it was. Gently she brushed Tara's hair from her face and kissed her softly on the forehead.

Reluctantly Willow pulled herself free of her lover and rose from the bed. The instant she did so she felt a wave of nausea and the beginnings of a bad headache. She fought the urge to collapse back onto the bed and caught sight of Tara's face on the pillow.

She gazed longingly at the peaceful smile on Tara's face and wondered what she'd done to get her back. She smirked as she fondly imagined all the schedule adjustments. Especially if they were going to get as little sleep as they had the past couple of days.

Willow slowly ran a finger over her lips, down her arms, across her breasts and between her legs. Trying to convince herself it wasn't all a dream. She knew, as she stood up again, that she had a stupid grin on her face.

Like a child with a lifetime's worth of presents in front of her. All in her grubby little hands at once. She felt the pounding in her head again, as she crossed to the window in an attempt to cut off the sudden cold chill she felt.

With a puzzled frown she found the window already closed. She was confused why she should have expected otherwise. She'd been involved with the Scoobies... Hell, lived in Sunnydale long enough to feel secure sleeping with an open window.

Stifling a yawn, she broke into a grin as she saw Xander sitting on the garden bench, chatting to Buffy as she worked on her new herb garden. She was glad they were patching things up after the shock over Spike.

She moaned as she felt that headache again. She also frowned at the realization this was an unusual headache. Nausea, a throbbing, pounding sensation, but no actual pain.

She gasped and almost began pounding a warning on the window as she saw Buffy and Xander hugging. Full of confusion when nothing untoward seemed to be happening she took a step back from the window.

"Baby?"

Willow turned in surprise at her lover's sleepy voice. She felt a moment's confusion at her presence before breaking into a smile at the mischievous smirk on Tara's face.

"Wanna put something on?"

Willow grinned sheepishly as she took in the fact that she was, indeed, nude and standing at a very public bedroom window. She chuckled as Tara flashed a boob.

Defiantly she pouted and opened the window before walking languorously over to Tara and giving her a long, slow, good (very good) morning kiss.

Willow felt the wetness between her legs, and the desire in her soul... cut out brutally when she saw Warren's face flash before her eyes.

"Baby?" Willow opened her eyes and saw the concern in Tara's.

"What?" She disguised her momentary shock at seeing Tara's face as a death-mask. She could still hear a bullet, smell blood. She shook her head, clearing the vision. And winced at the effect this had on her headache.

"You went all queer on me for a moment. Is everything alright?"

Willow grinned evilly at her and slipped a hand onto an exposed breast. "I thought you liked that about me? You know, that I went all 'queer' on you now and then?"

Tara chuckled and reached for a t-shirt. Willow thought it incredibly sexist, it bearing a picture of naked lesbian priestesses, straight out of a hammer horror movie. But it had been a Christmas gift from Xander and Anya, and Tara loved it. Probably because it proved Willow's friends had accepted her.

Anya's face flashed, smiling this time.

"XANDER!" Willow gasped as she also flashed on a picture of Xander bleeding from multiple knife wounds.

"Okay," said Tara, pouting. "SO not the reaction I was looking for. Willow looked in confusion at her lover and felt that pounding headache again. A wave of nausea, linked closely to a dreadful chill wind passed through her.

She could hear her grandmother, trying to shock her mother as usual.

"Something's just pissed on my grave."

"Potty mouth!" Tara exclaimed, grinning. "I can't believe I let you kiss me with it."

Willow laughed, trying to hide the fact that she hadn't meant to say it out loud. She had to go see Anya.

"I did more than that last night," she said with an wicked smile on her lips. Then that pounding hit her again. In shock she reached out. A gasp of pain made her wince and she pulled the offended wrist to her mouth and ran her tongue along an exposed vein.

With a look of regret, and frustrated lust, on her face she said, "I'd like to do more with it but Anya's sending me psycho e-mails. I promised to help her handle the weekly deliveries." She kissed the tips of Tara's fingers as she got up.

She bravely ignored the whine of need coming from Tara and walked over to the closet to get dressed. "You have your early morning lecture," she pointed out, not daring to look at Tara.

Willow pulled on a bra and panties, before pulling on a white, lacy, top that had her frowning. She wiggled her ass at Tara as she bent over to pick up a pair of jeans, and giggled at the mock-orgasmic groan emanating from the blonde witch.

She looked sharply as the groans became suddenly more insistent. Willow growled at Tara as the blonde purred back and winked.

"Vixen," she purred back as Tara stuck her tongue out.

"Well," said Tara, a look of devilish innocence on her face, "just because you don't want to play..."

Willow's purrs became slowly more erotic, as Tara's expression became more innocent.

Buffy groaned as she heard Tara's scream of, "NO!", which quickly followed Willow's 'Captain Caveman' roar. She looked up at the open window of her mom's old bedroom as the squeals and giggles became suddenly hushed.

"Looks like 'somebody's' having fun making up," said Xander in a low voice, as he wiggled his eyebrows... adding a wink as Buffy glowered at him.

"Xander Harris," she growled at his exaggerated expression of erotic frustration. "You are a pervert!"

"I'm a guy," he told her, holding his hands up in self-defense.

She couldn't maintain her disapproval for long. She grinned. Truthfully she was just too happy for the two Wiccan’s. She felt too deeply that they deserved their happiness.

"Do you plan on making that much noise when you make up with Anya?" They both whirled in surprise at Dawn's voice. "Waiting for Xander to drive me," she explained to Buffy as she handed her a cup of coffee, a look of complete innocence on her face.

Buffy, frustrated that she didn't even get to ask her question, managed a grouchy, "Thank you," before groaning at the loud moans coming from the open bedroom window.

Then Tara screamed out Willow's name and she closed her eyes.

"The neighbors will complain," said Dawn, completely straight faced.

"Get this creature to school!" Buffy told Xander through gritted teeth, desperately fighting the desire to beam in response. Xander chuckled and gripped Dawn's arm, pulling her away before murder was committed.

Buffy snorted as Dawn began whistling the theme tune to 'The Love Boat' as she dragged into the kitchen. Buffy could not resist laughing as she did a little 'skip and kick' before disappearing.

An all too brief half hour later Willow emerged from the front door of 1420 Revello Drive flushed with the fresh sensations of making love to her girlfriend. She licked her lips to taste Tara before grinning the grin of the truly self-satisfied and walked down the road whistling Andy Williams' tune 'It's So Easy.'

Anya had a cup of herbal tea in Willow's hands before she was even a step inside the door of the Magic Box.

"What did you do?" Willow asked calmly as Anya closed the door behind her and pointed at one of the comfy chairs in the center of the shop. She repeated the question as they sat down.

Anya just smiled enigmatically, motioning Willow to drink her tea as she sipped from a bottle of hi-caffeine cola. Extra hi-caffeine cola, Willow noticed. She noticed too that Anya looked tired. She began to repeat her question again, but halted when the taste of the 'tea' she was drinking hit her.

She looked quizzically at Anya before gasping as the 'headache' she'd been having all morning finally hurt... bigtime!

She saw Xander stumbling towards her, bleeding from the cuts she'd inflicted. She Giles fall, dying, to the floor of the devastated shop. She saw...

Anya watched calmly as Willow relived the events of the night before in their terrible, bloody, entirety. First in reverse, then forward from the moment Tara was shot. She recognized the moment when Willow saw herself collapse into Xander's arms after sobbing her soul out.

She nodded as Willow looked, pleading, into her eyes as she saw the dangerously weak Xander carry Willow's unconscious body all the way to the Magic Box. She watched as Willow saw herself being sedated by paramedics before the four of them were taken to Sunnydale Memorial.

She saw herself calling out Tara's name in her delirium before Buffy ran after a grief-stricken Dawn, leaving Anya alone in the room to hear Willow wish for Tara back.

"I wished for Tara back," whispered Willow as the vision faded. "But Osiris refused to help."

Anya nodded without comment as she handed Willow a hi-energy bar. Willow numbly bit into the bar, then looked quizzically at Anya, after glancing between the bar and the cup of 'tea'.

"The tea was to clear you mind," Anya finally began to explain. "I wanted you to remember what you did."

"I nearly killed everyone," Willow gasped tearfully, still having trouble breathing properly after the agonizing vision.

"Giles!" Willow exclaimed, terrified.

"Is back in England," Anya told her calmly.

"What did you do?" Willow asked for the last time.

Anya grinned smugly. "I've decided to become more... creative, more proactive in the wishes I grant. Choosier too," she added with a defiant nod.

Willow looked stunned. "But you...? Got your powers back?"

Anya smirked and drank some more of her cola.

"Warren?" Willow frowned as she said the hated name.

Anya's smile went dark. "You can be sure Warren is getting a suitable 'come-uppance'," was all she could be made to say.

Willow shrugged, then smiled, then grinned as she realized that her prayers HAD been answered. She would be meeting Tara for lunch, and dragging her into the woods after their afternoon lectures.

Someone had answered her prayers and, suddenly, nothing else mattered in the whole world. Besides she knew that Anya wouldn't be able to resist for ever the temptation to tell what she had done. She began whistling the Andy Williams' tune again.

"An old American folk tune," she explained to Anya.

"Ai, diddle, diddly-ai, diddle, diddle, ai, " went Anya, explaining to Willow." An old Russian folk tune."

They broke into peels of relieved laughter as Anya dragged her towards the unopened boxes waiting to be sorted.

Warren looked up nervously as the door to his prison cell opened. He'd been sitting, petrified, listening to the noises outside that door ever since he'd woken up, his skin crawling with burning sensations.

He still hoped it was all one big bad dream.

The last thing he remembered was walking around the side of Buffy Summers house fingering the gun in his jacket pocket. Then he was here, in this cell, remembering his trial and conviction for rape and murder.

He could recall Jonathan and Andrew testifying against him, after plea bargains. He could recall being delivered to this cell, what the guards mockingly referred to as 'The Love Shack'.

He cried in horror as three guards appeared, all wearing the face of his murdered ex-girlfriend. He was lifted, struggling, from the bunk and slammed face first into the wall. He began to beg for help as he felt his pants being loosened.

But he was silenced by the sound of Anya's voice.

"Hello Warren," she said, in a deep, sensual, voice." Time for your big 'O'." He closed his eyes as he heard the sound of a zipper being pulled down.

The End