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Chapter Nine

The time for the ceremony was at hand.  Most of the day had come and gone and it was now just turning dark.  The bones of the First were already laid out in the circle at the floor of the inner chamber at the Temple of Eternal Night.  Deacon was at the very top of the inner chamber, looking over everything and making sure nothing was out of the ordinary.  As he turned around and began walking over to the Sacrifice, a solid black formation that the ceremony begins at, he saw Tara being brought from another direction.  The two vamps bringing her were following behind Sonya Baxter.  Preferring not to be there when it begins, he headed down the stairs to the inner chamber.

They stopped just in front of the Sacrifice.  It was a solid black looking device with an a shape of a human body molded into it.  There were straps at the neck, arms, and legs and a few feet away was another portion of the device, which would enclose the human sacrifice inside.  The two vamps stepped back as Tara stood before Sonya.  The sorceress glanced at her face before looking down at her arms.  "Remove her jacket." she ordered.

One of the vamps roughly removed the black jacket that Tara had been wearing.  She still had on her black shirt and pink jeans.  As Sonya's gaze saw that the button up shirt Tara had on was long sleeved, Sonya sighed.  "And the shirt.  Remove the shirt as well."

The other vamp tore apart the shirt before taking it off Tara's shoulders.  Tara's upper body was shown, the black silk bra evident over her breasts.  Tara was breathing deeply, her embarrassment at the display of her skin being overridden by her fear of what was about to happen.

"I guess this is it, Tara." Sonya said.  She still had her golden ceremonial robe on as she spoke the words.

"I guess so." Tara agreed, her voice quavering somewhat.

Sonya nodded to the two vamps.  They grabbed her and moved her back until her body was inside the molded portion of the device.  They fitted the straps over her wrists and then did the straps over her ankles.  One of the vamps went behind the device and pressed a few buttons and the straps tightened, securing Tara's body within.  Sonya snapped when she saw the strap around Tara's neck begin to choke her.  "Not so rough, vampire." she ordered, watching as the strap around Tara's neck lessen so she could breathe.

Sonya walked up to Tara and spoke in a soft voice.  "Before your left alone, I just want to tell you what you're going to endure." she said, "when that part of this mechanism closes you in, your going to be in pain.  There are sharp blades fitted into it that will immediately cut into your wrists.  The blood from your body will pour down these holes here and flow throughout the Temple, eventually leading to the bones of the First."

Tara was breathing deeply, her fear multiplying now that the actual moment was here.  "Miss Baxter?"

"Yes Tara?" Sonya said, stepping back.

Tara's eyes were full of sympathy for Sonya and that innerved the sorceress.  "The past two nights I've spent here, I've done a lot of thinking.  I've tried to hate you.  I thought about your betraying me, betraying Willow and my friends.  And everything your about to force me to endure, I've really hoped I could hate you for it.  But I don't." she said.  "I feel sorry for you, Miss Baxter.  For the loss you had to feel that would drive you to this.  But there is something you should know.  Something I should warn you about."

Noticing the lack of the stutter that Sonya knew Tara had, she crossed her arms over her chest and let the corners of her lips raise into a half smile.  "And what would that be?"

Tara's gaze was unwavering and very focused.  "Don't be in the Temple when Willow finds me.  If she gets here and sees what's happened here, you know what might happen.  The last time I was in physical danger was the shooting.  And we both know what happened there."

The smile was gone from Sonya's face as she looked at Tara.  "You're threatening me?"

Tara would have shook her head, but she couldn't move it.  "No.  I'm just telling you a fact.  Warren is now dead because his actions resulted in my getting shot.  The end result might be worse for you if I'm dead when she finds me."

Sonya began taking steps back, letting one of her feet touch the small mechanism that triggered the movement of the closing unit of the device.  As her feet moved it down, the large structure moved forward, enclosing Tara's body within it.  Looking at Tara's eyes through the small part of the device that showed her face, Sonya's face was that of apology.  "I am very sorry it had to be this way Tara.  I really am." Sonya said before she turned and began walking away, Tara's screams echoing through the chamber as she did so.

The moment that the outer half of the Sacrifice closed Tara inside, the blades that were aligned on the other side sliced through her wrists, causing the screams of pain to resonate from Tara's body.  Blood began dropping from her wrists, down her hand, and dropping onto the stone ground, where the blood slowly began moving down the holes in the stone that would take the blood throughout the Temple, to where the bones of the First were set.  As Tara's pain continued, the ceremony was finally beginning.

---**---

At the lower section of the inner chamber, the bones of the First were laid out, forming a circle around Deacon as he stood in the center of the structure.  Looking around, he noticed everything was as it should be.  The eight vampires who were the sacrifices for him were aligned under the glyphs and there were vamps behind them to ensure that they stayed put if they tried to run.  In mere moments, the blood from Tara's body would begin it's trek through the temple, finally coming down here for the ceremony to begin.

Once the first drop of blood began to fall onto the bones, Deacon would begin chanting from the scroll he held in his hands.  He had a sinister smile across his face as he now knew the moment of truth was at hand.  His destiny was about to be realized.  Tonight, he would be the Blood God and nothing or no one could or would stop him.

With the ceremony starting, all of the vampires that were patrolling the tunnels and ground above were in the inner chamber, so no one noticed the black Trans Am and the black van pull up just a few blocks from the spot where the Temple was buried.  Jacob exited his car and headed to the trunk of his car.  Just to the right of his vehicle, the van pulled to a stop and the assembled Scoobies exited as they began getting their weapons.

Opening the trunk, Jacob stripped his long black trench coat off and put in the trunk.  He grabbed a small black leather strip that held six wood stakes, brilliantly carved, and he strapped it to his right bicep.  He took a second strap of the same stake number and type and strapped it to his other arm's bicep.  Buffy watched from a few feet away as he reached in and pulled out a shiny silver machine gun and put into a holster that was attached to his waist, on his right side.  The Slayer walked up to him.

"You know, I don't think bullets are gonna help us against vamps." she mentioned.

Jacob glanced at her as he pulled out a sharp knife and strapped it to his left waist side.  "The bullets are made out of wood.  They'll work just as well as stakes.  And they're faster."

Buffy's eyes widened as she suddenly wished she had a weapon like that.  She decided Giles would have to get her one of those after this was over.  She watched as he reached back into his trunk and pulled out a long sword made out of titanium.  He had his sheath attached to his vest at his back and he quickly slid the sword into it and shut the trunk.  He turned to the others as they came running up, weapons at the ready.

"The ceremony's already begun, Rupert.  We can't waste any more time." Jacob said.

Giles nodded.  "Alright.  Jacob, why don't you and Buffy head to the Temple where Deacon and his vampires are.  Stop the ceremony no matter what.  Xander, Willow, and I are going to find Tara and get her out."

The Daywalker and Slayer nodded.  Jacob walked a few feet away from the cars and reached down, finding a chain on the ground and he pulled upward very hard.  The dirt and sand covered hatch opened up, revealing a ladder that went downward.  "Let's go." Jacob ordered as he headed downward.

Each of them headed downward and soon, they were at the end of the ladder.  The tunnel they found themselves led them forward for about a hundred feet, slowly descending into the ground as it did so.  At the end of the hundred feet, the tunnel broke up into two different pathways, two different subtunnels.  Buffy looked to Giles, but she noticed the Watcher looking at Jacob.

"Which way?" Giles asked.

"Wha..." Buffy didn't understand.

"He can sense other vampires." Giles whispered to her.

Jacob took a few steps forward and tilted his head.  He glanced at one entrance, then the other.  Finally, he turned back towards the others.  "I felt the most vampires presences in this tunnel so I'm guessing that's where Deacon's performing his ceremony.  The other tunnel probably leads to the human sacrifice."

Willow paled at the words human sacrifice and Xander put a hand on her shoulder in support.  "Alright, Buffy, go with Jacob and stop that ceremony.  If not, you know what you have to do." Giles instructed as the group split up.

Giles, Willow, and Xander started running down the tunnel to the far left while Jacob and Buffy ran down the other tunnel, their intent on getting to the ceremony in time to stop it.

---**---

Deacon watched as the blood traveled through the temple's sacred walls and slowly began coming together at several points around the ceiling.  He smiled like a predator about to have prey as the blood came together at several points of the ceiling and drops slowly began to fall from the ceiling.  The drops traveling downward in the air, their journey to touch the bones of the First, therefore beginning the final stages of the ceremony.  Deacon had the scroll unrolled and he was holding it in his hands as he waited for the drops to begin falling on the bones.  He knew the blood came from the witch and the fact that she was slowly dieing a horrible death didn't faze him one bit.  Especially considering he knew that if she and her partner ever learned the truth as to why she was originally allowed to leave limbo, it would bring them a great deal of happiness and pain.

But he didn't dwell on that anymore because the drops began falling on the bones.  The second the first drop touched one of the bones, flashes of light began surging throughout the Temple of Eternal Night.  The eight vampire sacrifices and all the other vamps all looked around in caution and somewhat fear as they began to wonder what was happening.  Only Deacon and Kolon knew this was part of the ceremony.  Deacon quickly ripped his leather vest off and opened his white button up shirt, exposing his chest.  Looking down at the scroll, Deacon began to chant.

"Magnus, crete, kola agon!" he chanted.  "Venuza, obligia, terminia, flain!"

Those eight words were of the first line of the chant.  The moment he finished chanting them, the bones of the first section began to glow white and surges of energy sparkled around them as they lifted off the floor and into the air.  The rose until they were even with Deacon's chest.  Deacon looked at the bones and moved his arms out of the way as he knew the painful part of the ceremony was about to begin.  He just now needed to say the last two words of the first line and the bones would begin to merge with his body.  And the vampire just beyond those floating bones would begin to fade to dust as his life force would merge with Deacon's.

"Lacente Cora!" Deacon yelled as the bones suddenly rushed forward, the front of them entering his flesh and the remainder sticking out of his flesh.  Deacon screamed in painful agony as the bones slowly began sinking into his chest.  His eyes slowly begun glowing an eery black as he locked gazes with the vampire sacrifice.  The vampire began convulsing as he started to turn to ashes from his chest on outward.  As the last of his body turned to ashes, the vamp's life force energy swept forward, entering Deacon's body as the last of the bones entered his body.

Deacon's body fell to his knees as the last of the bones entered and merged with his body and the vamp's life force was added to his own.  He felt the power from the bones surging through his blood veins and he began to feel much more powerful than he ever had felt in the past.  Rising back to his feet, he turned to the next section of bones and the vampire under the next glyph and he smirked, beginning the next line of the scroll.

---**---

Jacob and Buffy had just gotten to the end of the tunnel when they both stopped short and realized two very important things.  The first was that they had made it to where the ceremony was taking place because they could see the flashes of light going throughout the place and they could faintly hear Deacon's voice.  The second thing they realized was that they were suddenly the focus of a large group of vampires looking to suck some blood.  Taking a deep breath, Jacob looked at the Slayer.

"You realize this is going to get dusty?" he said.

She nodded.  "Dusty.  That's one way to put it."

Buffy took out her carefully carved wood stake from her jacket while Jacob pulled out his gun, fully loaded with his wooden bullets.  As they began to battle the horde of vamps, one of them moved forward.  It was Kolon and he smirked.  "So, the Slayer shows up.  It's a shame you're too late.  Deacon's already becoming the Blood God and your friend is on her way to Heaven." Kolon snickered.

A burning tinge of anger erupted from Buffy's heart, a feeling she hadn't ever felt before.  Just hearing an undead soulless thing say Tara was dead erupted Buffy's inner instincts and she rushed forward, attacking.  Jacob, taking that as his cue to begin, moved in a different direction, raising his hand and opening fire on any and all vampires heading at him.

---**---

Giles, Willow, and Xander reached the end of the tunnel and looked at the dark chamber they found themselves in.  It was of circular shape and there was a dark standing tomb like object in the center of it.  Giles's eyes glanced at the bottom of it, where he could see red liquid dropping to the ground, entering small holes in the floor.  He paled as he realized what he was seeing.  "Oh...god." he breathed.

"What!" Willow exclaimed, seeing the Watcher's face.  She looked where he was looking and her entire face registered shock.  It didn't take long for any of them to realize what they were seeing.  Willow rushed forward, her throat restricted with emotion as she looked at the small opening in the tomb and she saw what she didn't want to see, but also what she was hoping to see.  Tara's blue eyes stared back at her, but there was no movement of them.  "NOO!!" she screamed as she frantically tried to move the outer section of the object away.

Xander, hearing her scream, rushed forward.  His foot connected with the triggering button on the floor and the tomb moved apart, separating.  All three faces registered shock and disbelief as they saw Tara's body inside.  Her arms, neck, and feet were strapped in, holding her in place.  There were two matching wounds on her wrists.  They were deep gashes that went all the way to the bones of her wrists.  Willow, tears in her eyes, turned to Giles.  "We have to do something!  Now!!" she yelled at him.

Xander moved to the back of the tomb and found buttons that loosened the straps holding Tara in place.  As he loosened them, Willow and Giles helped move Tara's body to the cold floor.  Moving back around, Xander saw that Tara was completely unconscious and Giles was checking her throat for a pulse.

Giles looked up.  "She's alive.  Her heartbeat's very faint, but she's still there." he said.  Giles reached into his coat's pocket and produced a small piece of paper, which he held in his hand.  "We can still save her, but both of you have to do what I say, no questions asked."

Willow merely nodded, her eyes on Tara's face.  Xander nodded as well.  Giles moved over to where Tara's left arm lay.  "Willow, move behind Tara and cradle her head in you lap.  Xander, move to Tara's right side and place one of your hands over her wound."

Xander did as requested, as did Willow.  Willow placed her palms on Tara's cheeks and closed her eyes, just hoping for her lover to awaken.  Giles placed his palm over Tara's other wound and he spoke.  "Willow, I need you to keep in physical contact with Tara's body. Just be touching her in some way.  Xander, I need you to repeat everything I say in this spell.  This spell will substitute Tara's depleted blood with magical energy drawn from Mother Nature.  It will only substitute it until her body regenerates the missing blood."

They nodded.

Taking a deep breath, Giles began to chant from the paper he held.  "Mother of the Earth.  Mother of the Stars." Giles said.

"Mother of the Earth.  Mother of the Stars." Xander repeated.

"Institute your healing energy.  Give this daughter of the light new life." Giles chanted.

"Institute your healing energy.  Give this daughter of the light new life." Xander repeated.

Giles spoke a few lines more of ancient Latin, to which Xander repeated and they sat back and waited, hoping the spell worked.  After a few moments, Tara's body convulsed several times, each of them holding her down until the last convulsion faded.  Then, after another moment, her body began breathing deep and steady breaths.  Giles checked her pulse and he took a deep breath of relief when he felt the very strong pulse.  "I believe she'll be fine after some rest." he said.

Xander closed his eyes and Willow smiled a wide cheeked smile, grateful beyond words that her lover was going to make it through this experience.

"She may be.....but I can guarantee you won't." Sonya Baxter said from the entrance to the dark chamber.  She wore her golden robe and she stood, dark menace radiating from her body.  She stared hard at all three of them before moving forward.

---**---

"Migente, kovatok, miga tona!" Deacon chanted out.  The bones of the section he was facing did the same procedure as those before it.  They rose into the air and suddenly rushed forward, burying themselves into Deacon's chest as he continued to scream at the pain.  More lightning flashed through the chambers as the bones merged with him and the life force of the vampire merged with his.

Deacon had now completed four of the eight sections for the ceremony to be a complete success.  The other four vampires were trying desperately to escape from their fate, but once the ceremony started, they found that their bodies were made immobile.  They couldn't move even if the other vamps helped them.  Their fate was sealed and Deacon was now moving to the next section of bones to complete his transformation into a Blood God.

At the top of the inner chamber, the horde of vampires were fighting Jacob, the Daywalker, and Buffy, the Slayer.  Jacob had gone through all his wooden bullets, so he had his weapon holstered back at his waist and he was ending vampires the old fashioned way.  He had one of his carefully carved stakes and he was staking them right and left.  Buffy, a few feet away from him, was doing the exact same thing.  She had just staked three vamps when she came face to face with Kolon, who was happily ready to kill her where she stood.

"It's a shame really." Kolon said, standing his ground in front of the Slayer.

"What?" Buffy snarled, her right hand clenched around a stake.  Buffy's stance was purely defensive, waiting for him to make his next move.

"Deacon was really wanting to have the pleasure of killing you himself.  I'm going to have to deprive him of that glory." Kolon said with a sneer.  "I'm really going to take pleasure in this." Kolon said before he rushed forward, attacking Buffy.

Buffy met his attack head on, meeting the vampire move for move.  She knocked Kolon back with a swift kick to the face and moved forward, whipping her arm out and catching him across the face.  As he recovered from the shot, Buffy ended the battle by putting her stake through his chest.  He turned to dust as Buffy charged at the remaining vamps.

Jacob, some feet away from her, was holding his own against five vampires.  With his sword in his hand, he was one step ahead of the bloodsuckers.  He whipped his sword out and across one of the vamps, decapitating the vamp.  He smothered into ashes as Jacob stepped up his attack against more of the vamps.  A few minutes later, the two warriors had the vamps taken care of and they glanced at each other in respect of their abilities before they rushed towards the end of the ledge.  Stopping, they looked down and saw Deacon standing in the center of the floor, the last of the bones of the First floating in the air.

They realized with rising feelings of frustration that they were too late.  They wouldn't get down there in time to stop Deacon from finishing the ceremony.  They would have to deal with Deacon as the next Blood God.  They turned and headed for the stone steps.  They led down towards the platform that Deacon was standing at.  As they were heading towards the steps, they didn't notice the last of the bones merging with Deacon's body or the life force from the remaining vampire sacrifice doing the same.  They also didn't notice the brilliant flash of light that emanated from Deacon's eyes and mouth as the final stages of the ceremony lifted his body high into the air before he came crashing down, landing on his hands and knees.

---**---

Giles rose as the three of them faced Sonya Baxter, who was looking at them with menace in her eyes.  Sparkles of energy was crackling through her hands as she slowly approached them.  "Sonya, why are you doing this?" he asked, hoping to reach the person he'd known before she came to Sunnydale.

Sonya Baxter stared at him, her hands clenching and unclenching.  "You really want to know?" she asked.  "Have you ever lost someone that....you loved more than life itself?"

Giles had no answer for that, so he just shook his head.  "What are you talking about?"

She turned her lips into a sneer.  "Have you ever loved someone so deeply...that if you lost them........it would be like losing half of yourself?  I have.  You just want to die....you want the pain to stop that you'll do whatever it takes to achieve it."

Giles and Xander looked at each other.  They each started taking steps closer to the sorceress.  Before they could do anything, Sonya's arms came out in a flash and both men found themselves airborne as they each hit different walls, gasping as they hit.  With them no longer a concern to her, she faced Willow, who was still holding Tara's upper body against her.

"I believe you know what I'm talking about, Miss Rosenberg." Sonya said, taking a step closer to her.

Willow looked up at Sonya, mystical energy surging through her eyes.  Giles felt the change in the redhead's stance and he tried to stop her from using the dark energy.  "Willow, don't!" he called out.  Willow looked at him and Giles's entire face registered shock at what he saw.

Unlike countless other times when Willow's eyes turned completely black like coal, this time was completely different.  Every inch and every centimeter of her eyes, the pupils and the white portion of the eye was covered by magic, but instead of black, it was solid white.  Solid white meant that Willow was channeling the essence of the magicks that were based in light and Giles didn't think it was possible for Willow to do it, considering the depths to which her rage took her less than a month ago.

Willow rose to her feet and stood against the sorceress.  Sonya was surprised at Willow's eyes, but she didn't waste any time dwelling on it.  She charged at Willow, sending sparkles of her power at the witch.  Willow raised her hand up into the air, chanting all the while.  A white glimmer showed the protection shield she created.  Willow moved forward and extended her arms outward, spectrals of powerful white energy blasted outward, hitting Sonya.  The power sent Sonya Baxter flying backwards.  She went crashing through the brick walls, crushing her through to the other side.  As she struggled to recover, Willow moved forward, her intention evident.

Willow was about to send another painful blast at Sonya, but Giles moved forward, turning her around and grabbing her by the shoulders.  "Willow!  Don't kill her.  It's not the answer." he urged her.

She shook her head.  "Giles, Tara almost died because of her.  I can't let her get away with it."

"I understand that.  But, Tara's not dead and when she wakes up, she's not gonna like it if she finds out what you've done.  Don't let your anger control you like it did before." Giles said, trying his best to reason with her.

She took several deep breaths, then turned and walked to where Sonya was now getting to her feet.  Sonya and Willow looked at each other hard for several long moments.  "Giles is right." Willow said, looking at the sorceress.  "Hatred and anger is never the answer, Miss Baxter.  I hope you find your peace."

With that said, Willow turned and walked back to her fallen lover, kneeling next to her.  Giles took his long overcoat off and wrapped it around Tara's shoulders.  Xander and Giles helped Willow raise Tara.  Sonya waited only a few moments, but it was enough.  She sent a powerful rush of her power right at the four.  The energy knocked Xander and Giles back to the far wall and it sent it caught Willow.  Tara's body fell back to the ground as Sonya walked to Willow, her arm outward, keeping Willow from moving.  Sonya raised her arm up and Willow's suspended body rose into the air.

"You think you can just walk away....from ME!" Sonya snarled.  "I don't think so!"

Sonya whipped her arm to the far right.  Willow's body went soaring and crashing through the wall behind Sonya.  Sonya didn't release her, though.  She kept Willow's body suspended in the air.  A large gash was opened on the back of Willow's head, blood seeping out and staining her hair with the red substance.  "You can stand there and say that anger, hatred isn't the answer when it wasn't that long ago when you let your hatred, your anger take control of you.  You killed a man using your anger.  So, don't give me speeches!" she yelled, making Willow's body crash into another wall.

Sonya released Willow's body and watched as it fell to the floor.  The redhead was gasping in extreme pain from the bruising her body went through when it crashed through the walls.  Sonya walked over until she was standing over Willow's body.  She raised her hand for a final attack.  "Under other circumstances, you and I could have been friends, Miss Rosenberg.  But I know that can't be possible right now." she said before she focused her power into destroying the redhead's body.

---**---

Buffy and Jacob ran down the steps in a hurried frenzy.  They reached the bottom and headed towards the circular platform where the flashes of light had stopped only moments before.  On their way, they ran across a few vamps.  Buffy and Jacob quickly took care of them as they pulled to a stop.  Standing there with his back to them in the center of the platform was Deacon.  As they approached, he turned to face the two.  Jacob had his sword in his hand and Buffy pulled an axe she had strapped to her back out.  The two cautiously approached the now vampire turned Blood God.

Deacon's eyes were no longer that blinding silver that they had been.  Now, they were completely filled with crimson, the deep color of blood.  He smiled a completely dark and dangerous smile at them.  "Finally decided to show your face, Slayer.  And you've brought a friend.  It won't matter." he said.  "Your end has come."

"You think so?" Buffy challenged.  "Let's find out."

After saying that, Buffy and Jacob charged at the Blood God.  She used her axe and swung down with an arc.  The end of her axe split Deacon's left arm completely off.  She watched as the arm turned to dust before it hit the ground.  Looking up, her eyes widened when a completely new arm began taking it's place.  Deacon smirked as he placed his palm outward and an onrush of energy surged her backwards, making her body hit the ground hard.  The Blood God turned to Jacob and he snarled.  "And who might you be?" he asked.

Jacob held his blade in front of him, keeping his guard up.  "I'm just someone who doesn't want to see a vampire have all the control."

Tilting his head to one side, Deacon felt something.  "You're a vampire, aren't you?"

Jacob's lips tensed.  "I have vampire traits in my blood.  But that's as far as my connection to vampires go." Jacob said before he moved forward and began trying to lash out at Deacon's body.  Deacon was expecting the attack and he side stepped one strike, holding Jacob's right wrist with one hand and grabbing Jacob's chin with the other.

He snarled as he lifted the Daywalker's body up and over him, tossing him with relative ease against the far wall.  Jacob's body hit the wall, back first, as he slid to the ground.  Jacob's titanium sword hit the ground a few feet from him.  Deacon moved forward.  Jacob had just gotten to his knees when Deacon kicked him hard in the face.  Jacob's body was lifted into the air from the kick and he went crashing into the ceiling before falling, face first, back into the floor.  One side of Jacob's face was now covered in blood.

Buffy, who had now recovered, charged right at the Blood God.  She kicked him in the head several times, keeping him off balance before she began whipping her fists at different parts of his upper body.  He staggered back a few steps as she continued her onslaught.  Twisting around, she delivered a double kick into his face, making him move back a few more steps.  Small trickles of blood began leaking out of his nose and at the edges of his mouth.  But, without warning, he lashed out with a powerful surge of power, catching Buffy in the chest and knocking her into the far wall, hard enough to put a large dent in the marble.  Deacon began heading right at her, extending his right arm out.

Buffy's body went flying into another wall as Deacon moved his hand about.  Then, Deacon just moved his hand a little and kept it there.  Buffy's body was forced against a wall and it was stuck there.  No matter how much she tried, she couldn't move.  Deacon smiled as he began to close his fingers, cutting off the air to Buffy's throat.  She began suffocating as his fingers continued to close.  "This is your end, Slayer." he said as she began to have trouble breathing.

Jacob, his face half covered in his own blood, grabbed several wooden stakes and began throwing them in rapid succession at Deacon's back.  The wooden stakes impaled into his back.  It didn't harm Deacon in any way, but it achieved what Jacob had hoped it would.  Deacon's attention was taken off the Slayer and Buffy began to take deep breaths as she collapsed to the ground.  Deacon turned to Jacob and found himself involved in a physical fight between him and the man.

Jacob hit Deacon repeatedly with rights and lefts, keeping Deacon from using his power.  He hit the Blood God with a combination of kicks and fists as he continued to pummel on the God.  Having had enough of the physical abuse, Deacon raised his arms up and the Daywalker went crashing into the ground.  Deacon stalked over towards Jacob and reached his right arm out to his side.  The titanium blade that was Jacob's came flying into his hand.  Deacon raised the blade high into the air, his intent to shove it through Jacob's flesh.  He smiled as he brought the blade down in a fast made pace.

---**---

Sonya Baxter held her arms out over Willow's prone body.  Willow's eyes were fluttering open when Sonya began to channel her power into her hands.  "Goodbye, Miss Rosenberg." Sonya said before she began to channel her power into destroying Willow.

Before she could do it, however, Sonya was suddenly blasted with a white colored blast of powerful energy that sent her body going through the stone wall, her back first and crashing through to the other side.  As Sonya gasped from the pain to her body, she looked back into the chamber after leaning up and saw something she hadn't planned on.  Tara MaClay was standing on her feet, weak but still standing.  Like Willow, her eyes were a shining and a very blinding white color.  White energy was crackling through her arms as she looked first at Sonya, then at Willow.

A small laceration was cut into Sonya's face on her left side, right next to her eye.  She got back to her feet and slowly approached the blonde.  "So, you going to destroy me now, Tara?" Sonya sneered.

Tara walked over to Willow and kneeled down, checking her.  A sigh of relief came from Tara's lips as she realized Willow was okay.  She turned back to Sonya.  She shook her head.  "No, destroying you wouldn't solve anything.  You've let rage and anger flood your soul and there's only one cure for that." she slowly began walking towards Sonya.  Sonya didn't back up, but she did narrow her eyes.

"What do you think your doing?" she said when Tara stopped in front of her.

"Giving back to you what you lost so long ago.  Your humanity." Tara said before she put her hands on Sonya's chest.  White light shone on her hands as her hands sunk into Sonya's body.  It was much the same effect as when Willow had taken Rack's power.  Sonya screamed out as Tara focused her power.  Tara's natural born ability was to be able to channel and funnel all her emotions into another person through magical transference.  If the person was once a good spirited person, Tara could reach them through this ability of hers.  She had never told anyone about it because she didn't want all the attention she would surely gain.

Xander and Giles helped Willow sit up as they all glanced at the scene unfolding.  They all registered surprise, but none was the more shocked by it than Giles.  He had only known a few beings in the entire world who could do what he was seeing Tara do and that meant that Tara was more than some normal witch that he had believed her to be.

Long minutes passed until Tara yanked her hands from Sonya's body.  Taking deep gulps of air, Tara staggered back.  The process of magical transference not only allows Tara to help shift her emotions of love and light into the other person, but it also allows Tara to feel what the other person felt.  And what she felt and experienced through Sonya was so much more than she had ever thought possible.  Sonya dropped to her knees and put her hands on the ground.  She was bleeding through her left side as well as her face as she took several deep breaths.  The magical transference that Tara had done on her was successful.  It forced Sonya to re-feel all the horrible things she had done while her rage and hatred took control of her and as she looked up at Tara, she knew the other witch had felt the same things.  After several long moments, Sonya glanced at the others.  Giles and Xander were there, as was Dawn.  Dawn hadn't known what to do when everything started happening.  She had waited in the shadows.

"I'm......sorry for.......everything I've done." Sonya told them, meaning every word of it before she rose and turned, slowly walking away from them all.

"Miss Baxter, wait!" Tara rushed forward.  Sonya stopped, but kept her back to the blonde.  "Where are you going?" Tara asked.

Sonya looked at the floor.  "To set things right and to undo what I've done."

Then, Sonya disappeared in a shimmer of energy, leaving Tara and the others confused as to what she meant.  Tara then moved over to where Willow was now waking back up.  Knowing this was going to an intensely private moment, Giles, Xander, and Dawn began heading to where they believed Buffy and Jacob were fighting Deacon.

Tara put one arm under Willow's shoulder and helped her sit up.  She rested Willow's head against her left shoulder as she used her right hand to caress her girlfriend's cheek.  "Will?" Tara queried soflty.

Willow's green eyes fluttered open, locking onto Tara's face immediately.  Tears came to her eyes when she saw Tara.  "Tara...baby?  Thank god your alright!" she exclaimed as she sat up further and wrapped her arms around Tara.  Tara returned the intimate embrace just as intensely, enjoying the moment between them with pleasure.

"I'm here Will.  I'll always be here." Tara promised, continuing to rock Willow's body back and forth.  After a moment, Tara pulled Willow's head back and locked lips with her in a searing kiss.  The kiss lasted only but a few moments, but it was enough to express the love between them.

---**---

Deacon snarled as he brought the blade down.  The sword slid into Jacob's flesh, causing a flood of blood to seep from Jacob's left shoulder.  Jacob didn't scream from the pain, but his face showed the pain he was feeling from the intense stab.  Deacon twisted the blade in Jacob's flesh, causing the blade to cut into more of his flesh.  Jacob hissed at the new sensation of pain.  Deacon was about the yank the blade downward while it was still in Jacob's flesh, but something stopped him.

On her way over, Buffy had picked up a shovel and she snapped it over Deacon's back.  Deacon stumbled forward, rolling onto the ground and landing on one knee as he faced the Slayer.  He snarled as she advanced her attack.  She whipped the shovel in three rapid strikes, each one hitting Deacon across the face.  Deacon fell backward on his back as the strikes continued.  Deacon dove into the air and landed on the ground as he sent out several blasts towards Buffy.  Realizing what he was doing, Buffy began running, the blasts catching the ground behind her as she kept moving with the shovel in her hands.  As the last blast almost reached her, she made a dive into the air, doing a somersault and landing against the far wall, her feet catching it and making her appear sideways.  Using her strength, she pushed off the wall and flew into the air towards Deacon.

She caught him in the face with both of her feet.  It drove him backwards several feet.  Buffy moved forward and lashed her shovel out, catching him across the side of his face.  The Blood God fell onto his back, on the ground.  Buffy didn't falter, she reached her left hand down and touched Deacon's blood soaked cheek with her fingers.  His blood was now on her fingers as she looked at it.  It was his essence, his taste.  She knew what she had to do.  She opened her mouth and touched her tongue with the two fingers, feeling the tangy texture of the blood as she tasted his blood.  She felt the change in her immediately.

The taste of his blood created a powerful surge of energy to flood through her veins, to every single inch of her body.  She felt more powerful than she ever had before.  She gasped as the shovel fell to the floor.  Jacob sat up and looked at her.  "Buffy?" he asked.

She motioned with her hand that she was fine.  She looked back to where Deacon was.  The Blood God was standing back up, his face one of fury and disbelief.  He knew what she'd done and he now understood for the first time that all his carefully mapped out plans could be wiped out now that her power was equal to his.

Buffy grabbed the shovel again and stepped forward, throwing it right at Deacon.  The shovel embedded itself into his chest.  The reaction was immediate.  He felt searing and blinding pain slam throughout his body.  He screamed and yanked the shovel out.  Blood soaked his chest as he held his hand over it.  He stared up into Buffy's eyes and he realized that he needed to escape this battle if he was to heal.  He began to shimmer out, but he felt mystical power surge at him from behind him and he was then slammed against a wall.  Looking up, he saw a figure walking forward.

He stared in shock as Sonya Baxter came closer.  Her eyes were locked with his.  She didn't look at Buffy or Jacob.  The Slayer didn't move, she just waited to see what was going to happen now.  Sonya stopped a few feet from where Deacon was now kneeling, favoring the injury to his chest.

"We had a deal!  You bitch!" Deacon snarled.  "We had a deal, damn you!!"

Sonya merely gazed at him.  "A deal I should never have made.  And you won't escape.  Either you win or you die, but one way or the other, this ends tonight."

Sonya held her arms out and searing energy forced Deacon's body against the wall, his arms suspended against the wall, making him unable to even move.  Sonya walked over to the Slayer.  "Have you tasted his blood yet?" she asked.

Still cautious about Sonya, Buffy just nodded.

Sonya nodded as well.  She had been hoping as much.  Sonya knew there was only one way for her to get the extra power needed to destroy Deacon from the Slayer.  Hoping Buffy would forgive her later, she grabbed Buffy's shoulders and pressed her lips to the Slayer's in an open mouthed kiss.  She used her mouth and tongue to search out the extra power that Buffy contained from the blood of Deacon.  Pulling back from the kiss, the energy was green, but it traveled from Buffy's mouth to Sonya's.  Sonya stepped back and held her hand out, palm facing Buffy.  Buffy was still in a state of shock from the kiss and didn't move.  Sonya flicked her wrists and Buffy's body was lifted into the air.  She moved Buffy over to the far edge of the platform, where Jacob was.  "Take Jacob and find your friends.  Then leave.  I will take care of Deacon." Sonya told her.

With that said, Sonya lifted her arms high into the air.  A mystical force field rose up, keeping Sonya and Deacon trapped within and allowing no one entrance.  She wanted to ensure that her mistakes didn't cause any more harm.

Giles and Xander came rushing in with Dawn as they saw Buffy helping Jacob to his feet.  Then, they all stared in shock as Sonya approached Deacon.  "What happened?" Xander asked.

Buffy looked at Sonya.  "She just showed up and.....well, she kissed me.  She took the extra power I had from tasting Deacon's blood through the kiss and now...she's gonna kick Deacon's ass."

Giles nodded, he'd expected the sorceress to come here.  "We should stay until we're sure she's succeeded."

They all merely stood there and waited, watching the scene unfold.

Deacon was on his feet as he glared at the sorceress.  "I wonder.....what reason do you have to turn on me?" he wanted to know.

Sonya stepped forward.  "I've made a lot of mistakes lately Deacon.  One of them has been my allegiance with you.  And that is one mistake I'm going to rectify right now."

The Blood God snarled.  "Then, bring it on, sorceress!"

Deacon rushed forward, intent on knocking her back with his energy.  As he was within reaching distance, he felt searing pain surge through his chest.  Gasping for breath, he looked down and saw her hands were severed inside his chest.  He realized she was using all of her power to burn his power up.  "NOOOO!!!" he screamed as he felt his body beginning the early stages of being reduced to ashes.  Red energy begin emanating outward from his eyes and mouth as he desperately clawed at her arms, trying to stop her.

More of his body began to turn to ashes as his Blood God powers began to rapidly deteriorate.  Sonya's body began to feel the pain as she was quickly losing her strength weakening rapidly from the amount of power she was using.  With the strength of keeping the shield up and with what she was doing now, she wasn't sure how much more she could handle before she was destroyed.

Several more moments passed and Deacon's body began turning to ashes.  Then, as the last of his body began losing solid form, a powerful blast of energy knocked Sonya back against the far wall.  She fell to the ground, gasping from the pain to her already sensitive back.  The loss of focus broke the energy barrier she built and she looked up.  Deacon was no longer the Blood God, or a vampire in general.  A pile of ashes lay where he had been and two large chunks of steel lay there, what was his forearms.  Sonya had succeeded.  Deacon was gone as Sonya had used her power to destroy him.

Buffy rushed forward as the barrier was broken.  She dropped to her knees beside Sonya's fallen body and felt for a pulse.  Giles, Xander, and Dawn kneeled nearby.  Willow and Tara, who had walked in and saw Sonya's finish of Deacon, also rushed over and kneeled near Sonya.  Buffy felt a weak pulse, but there was one.  Sonya opened her eyes and looked at them.  Her eyes, her human eyes, the eyes she was born with, were a solid pale blue and she blinked at them.

"Are you alright Miss Baxter?" Tara asked, looking at her.

Sonya sat up, her back resting against the wall.  She was breathing hard, blood soaked her face and hair.  "I'll be fine.  Deacon's gone...and his plans have been eradicated." she said.

Similar looks of relief flooded through their faces.  "What's going to happen now?" Dawn asked, glancing at the dark haired woman.

"Now....you all are going to leave." Sonya said.  "Your mission here is completed.  I still have my own problems that I have to deal with." Sonya said as she rose up, standing on the floor.  She took several deep breaths.

"You can't just leave like this." Tara said, touching Sonya's forearm.  Having known what she'd been through in her long life, Tara felt a connection to her.  "Stay and fight with us.  Be part of the team."

Sonya shook her head, walking away from them.  "I can't Tara.  I'll never be like any of you.  The things I've done.....would put even Angelus to shame.  There is only one option for me."

"And what is that?" Giles asked.

"Isolation." Sonya said sadly, looking at them.  "I'm sorry for everything I've done to you.  But, before I can ask forgiveness from those I've wronged, I have to make peace with myself.  And until I do that, I can't be around anyone.  Until we meet again, goodbye."

Sonya Baxter's form vanished in a flash of multicolored energy.  The Scoobie group looked at each other for several long moments before Giles spoke up.  "Let's get Jacob back to Buffy's house." he said as the entire group began heading out of the Temple of Eternal Night.

Chapter Ten

Two days after Deacon's destruction, Giles, Xander, Buffy, Dawn, Jacob, Willow, and Tara were all gathered at the Summers House.  Giles had sent a request to the Council of Watcher's to be sent everything the Council had on a woman named Sonya Baxter.  But, at Jacob's request, Giles had told them to look for Sonyora Ellence Baxter.  The Council had come through for him in that they sent him two books that chronicled Sonya's existence and they sent a lot of reports of Sonya's different travels throughout the world.  Giles had asked that they all meet here to discuss what was in the Council's findings.

"Did the Council find anything?" Buffy asked.  Ever since the battle in the Temple of Eternal Night, Buffy had been wanting to know as much information about Sonya Baxter as she could.

Giles nodded.  "More than I bargained for, actually.  I got the findings last night and I've looked over them.  It's....quite detailed and very disturbing."

The others glanced at each other before they looked back to Giles.  Giles looked at Jacob, who was sitting in one of the recliners.  Jacob was wearing a pair of his black pants with a short sleeved shirt tucked into the pants.  After the fight with Deacon, Giles had treated Jacob's shoulder wound.  They needn't have worried because being half vampire, Jacob's body can heal the wounds through regeneration, much like Buffy's healing strengrths.  Jacob had already told them he'd be leaving as soon as his shoulder was better.

Giles picked up a thick leather volume.  On the cover, there was a title in Egyptian hieroglyphics.  It read "The Chronicles of Sonyora Baxter" and Giles opened to a page as he began explaining to them exactly who and what Sonya Baxter really was.  "Well, Sonya's story dates back to the year she was born." Giles started to begin.

"What year was that?" Jacob asked.  He knew some of Sonya's history, but not a lot.  He only knew what he did because of the times their paths crossed.

Giles looked at a page.  "Sonyora Ellence Baxter was born in the year 653." he said.

Willow's eyebrows shot straight up.  "653!  Are you saying she's like thirteen hundred years old?" the redhead's voice was incredulous.  She was sitting on one end of the couch.  She was wearing her blue jeans skirt with a pink top, an outfit that had become her favorite because it was the one she wore the night she and Tara had rekindled their relationship.  To her left, Tara was leaning back.  The two had their hands and fingers interlocked.  Tara had her hair pulled back into a ponytail and she was wearing a regular white t-shirt and a pair of her faded blue jeans.  She had one leg up under her and she was more leaning towards Willow's shoulder than anything else.  Two bandages were wrapped around her wrists.  The spell Giles used only substituted mystical energy for blood for a short time before the wounds would be treated.  Giles and Willow had personally treated them once they returned to the house.  Tara's wrists would be very sore for a good long while.

Giles nodded, smiling when he saw the constant physical connection the two women seemed to always have.  "Yes, Sonya....or Sonyora was born in 653.  She was borne on the land that we now know as Scotland.  Back then, Scotland wasn't called that, it was merely land controlled by five Clans of people.  The Baxter Scots, they were the Clan that Sonya belonged to, were a peaceful Clan, but they were warriors in case they needed to fight to protect their lands.  Anyway, over over five hundred years before her birth, one of the Baxter Clan's shamans had a vision one night.  In his vision, he saw Sonya's birth mark the beginning of an end between the conflict that existed between the five Clans." Giles looked through the book.

"So, there was a prophecy predicting her birth." Xander clarified.

Giles nodded again.  "Yes.  The prophecy detailed the birth of the most powerful sorceress to ever be born into the Baxter Scots Clan.  The year she was born, the other clans had begun wanting more lands than what they had.  A war for the entire land of Scotland began between the five Clans.  The Baxters tried their best to stay out of the conflict, but, within years of the beginning of the conflicts, they were heavily involved because of the other Clans.  The shaman saw in his vision, the sorceress rising to power and ending the war in one way or another." Giles flipped to another page as he continued.  "The struggle for the land of Scotland continued between the five Clans for over thirty years.  Then, in 688, Sonyora turned thirty five and that's when she began to come into her power.  Her parents had left Scotland to raise her away from the wars.  After she turned thirty five, she returned to the land of her birth to meet some of her relatives.  Her parents had already passed on and Sonya had already began mastering her powers."

"So, she returned to Scotland and....what?" Dawn was intrigued by the story.

Giles flipped through the book to a different page.  "In 688, she returned to Scotland and she was enraged and distraught over what she found.  The Baxter Scots were mostly destroyed.  There were only a few scattered villages remaining of what was once one of the most powerful Clans throughout the land.  Sonya wanted vengeance for her people and she sought out the other Clans.  The other Clans had wiped out the Baxters and gained much power and influence throughout Scotland.  She searched out the other Clans and she....well, she destroyed them.  She destroyed the villages, slaughtered the members of the Clans.  Men, women, even children.  Her rage was powerful and she spared no one."

The Scoobies all looked at each other.  It occurred to them that Sonya's rage might've been equal to Willow's.  Giles, however, didn't dwell on it as he continued with his tale.  "She didn't stop her rampage until every last member of the four Clans were destroyed.  And, after she did destroy them all, her rage and anger was so great that she didn't stop there.  She left Scotland and began a quest for power.  She searched out powerful witches and warlocks and she destroyed them and took their power.  She increased her power through their power.  And her quest for power lasted for the next twelve hundred and twelve years.  She destroyed countless witches and warlocks.  But, after the end of those 1212 years, she began to tire from her quest and she began to stop hunting for witches and warlocks."

Buffy sat forward.  "What made her stop?" she asked, wondering why Sonya would stop her quest for power.

"Well, the exact reason isn't in this book, but I imagine she tired of the violence.  All it says is that in the year 1900, Sonya stopped searching out warlocks and witches.  After she stopped her quest, it says she relocated herself in New York City.  She used her powers to make herself a nice little life there.  She used her power to become a wealthy woman.  Wealthy enough to buy a very successful business enterprise.  She moved herself into a gorgeous mansion, where the more wealthy families lived.  And she stayed in New York for the next ten years." Giles explained before he continued.  "And for the next ten years, she lived a peaceful existence in New York.  She stayed by herself and really didn't bother anyone."

Jacob watched the floor.  He knew where the story was going.  He had learned the horrific details from Sonya herself years earlier.  He looked up as he heard Giles voice continue with the telling of Sonya's history.  Giles flipped to a new page and glanced through it before he continued.  "Like I was saying, she stayed in New York City for ten years.  She regularly attended parties, balls, and cratillions that different bachelors threw.  Some of them constantly tried to pine away for Sonya's attentions, but she never returned the feelings.  Then, in 1910, Sonya was attending a costume ball.  This book says that she was planning on leaving New York after the ball was over.  But, something happened at the ball that changed her plans permanently."

Willow's face scrunched up in a frown.  "What'd....she met someone or something?" the redhead asked.

Giles looked at her.  "That's exactly what happened Willow.  She met someone that very night." Giles paused.  "A woman named Gabriella Stuart.  Gabriella was in New York trying to make a name for herself in broadway.  She met Sonya at the party and Sonya was immediately enchanted with her."

Tara and Willow shared a smile.

"Sonya could have used her powers to have Gabriella, but she didn't want to do it that way.  She'd taken countless women to her bed using her powers before, but she didn't want to do that with Gabriella." Giles said, looking at the leather volume.

Realization dawned on Buffy's face.  "She wanted Gabriella to love her on her own."

Her Watcher nodded.  "Yes.  She started spending all her time with Gabriella.  The two women became great friends and they were constantly seen with each other.  For the next three years, they were together.  It wasn't until two years after they met that they became intimately involved.  Gabriella did in fact, fall in love with Sonya and Sonya had loved Gabriella since she first saw her."

"What happened then?" Dawn asked, hoping it was a happy ending.

Giles took a deep breath.  "In 1913, Sonya proposed to Gabriella and the two were to be married.  They found a Catholic minister who was known for his tolerance with same sex couples.  He interviewed them and agreed to do their ceremony.  The only people at the ceremony were some of Sonya's close friends and Gabriella's brother."

"Wait a minute, did Gabriella know about Sonya's past?" Tara asked.

Giles nodded.  "Yes, when they became intimate, Sonya wanted Gabriella to know everything about her.  She told her about her powers and about her past and, although it was horrific, Gabriella didn't run away.  Their relationship became stronger because of that.  But, the night of their wedding, disaster struck them."

"What happened?" Xander asked.  He was wanting to know as well.

Giles skimmed through a few paragraphs before he spoke.  "They exchanged their vows and they were married before the Catholic minister.  They went back to Sonya's penthouse to...well, you know." Giles blushed.  "But, when they got there, they weren't alone." he paused, "Remember the four Clans that were responsible for Sonya's people being reduced to just a few scattered villages?"

They nodded back to him, except for Jacob, who already knew the rest of the story.

"One of the Clans was called the Phalanx Clan.  There were three members of the Phalanx Clan that survived Sonya's attacks.  After she left Scotland, they vowed vengeance for what she did to their people.  The three Clan members made a pledge with a very dark force.  The vowed to forever serve whoever this dark force was if he gave them the power they needed to exact their revenge on Sonya." Giles said, "After the dark force gave them the power they needed, they became immortal and they tracked Sonya for ages.  The night Sonya and Gabriella arrived back at the penthouse, the Phalanx attacked with all their power.  Sonya used every bit of her power to fight them off, but she couldn't take on all three of the Phalanx members.  She tried to keep them away from Gabriella and once they realized how important Gabriella was to her, the Phalanx switched their attacks."

There was silence as they digested that.

"They killed her, didn't they?" Buffy asked, fearing the answer.

"Yes." Jacob answered.  Giles let him finish the story.  "The Phalanx decided to let Sonya live, knowing she failed her lover.  After Gabriella was killed, the Phalanx disappeared.  Sonya went after them of course.  But, when the Phalanx don't want to be found, they won't be.  Sonya spent the next twenty years searching for them, but there was no trace of them.  Finally, in about the year 1952, Sonya decided to do whatever she had to to end the pain that she was in.  That's when she met Deacon.  He promised her peace and she promised him the powers of the Blood God."

"So that's why she turned on us." Buffy said.  "She helped us bring Tara back to lead her to that ceremony."

"I hope she finds her peace.  Wherever she is." Giles said, his gaze at the window.  He hadn't known much about Sonya when he spent that year with her.  He was just a means to an end, and he knew that.  She had aligned herself with the Witches Committee for reasons unknown to him, but Giles knew she didn't care about him.

"Do you think she'll ever come back?" Dawn asked.

"Maybe." Tara answered.  "But before she does, she'll have to make her peace first."

Giles closed the book and placed it on top of the other book that was written on some of Sonya's journeys.  He was planning on reading that later.

---**---

A few hours later, the two witches were in the now, once again, room shared by Willow and Tara.  They were about to head out to dinner.  Ever since the battle against Deacon, Willow had been very reluctant to let Tara out of her sight and she and Tara needed to reconnect and not just in a physical way. Early on in their relationship, they would stay up late and just...talk.  They used to talk all the time and Willow desperately missed that.  She was hoping that tonight would be the beginning

They both had changed into different clothing for their date.  Willow was wearing a pair of blue jeans with her pink see through top, the one she'd worn the day after she and Tara got back together.  She had her hair combed back, freely over her shoulders.  Tara was near the dresser, putting some of her things back in it.  She was wearing the black dress that she'd bought and wore to the Summers House the night the vengeance demon Halfrek had trapped them in.  She had her hair set in the exact same way as well.  Willow had shyly commented earlier that she'd loved that dress.

Willow headed downstairs to inform the others of their going out to dinner.  After she was gone, Tara couldn't hold it in any longer.  She gasped and held her chest, just above her left breast.  Reaching into the dresser drawer she had open, she removed a small black handbag and carried it with her to the bathroom.  Locking the door behind her, Tara faced the mirror.

Taking several deep breaths and allowing the stinging pain in her chest to recede, she unzipped the small bag and pulled out a needle.  Placing the needle aside, she picked up the small clear bottle that held her medicine inside.  She inserted the needle point into the bottle and she approximated the right amount of medicine into the needle.  Then, after using a dab of alcohol to prepare her skin above the left breast, she inserted the point of the needle into her skin, gently pushing the medicine in the needle into her skin.  She felt a momentary stinging and burning sensation go through her chest, then the pain she had felt go through her chest before slowly dissolved into nothing.

I don't know how much longer I can do this.  I have to tell her soon. Tara thought to herself with an intense feeling of sadness.  She broke the needle in three pieces and wrapped it in tissue before she threw the tissue way in the waste bin.  Taking several deep breaths, she forced a smile on her face as she headed downstairs.  As she was heading down the stairs, she knew in her heart that although their toughest troubles were in the past, she and Willow still had a lot of things to deal with.  But, they would deal with them together.  Together....forever.

The End....For Now.