Walking Shadows

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6

The sunlight streamed stealthily through the gaps in the curtains, tendrils of light caressing the sleepy lovers as they lay entwined on the bed. Covers were strewn haphazardly around, the telltale signs of a restless night's sleep.

One of the figures stretched wearily, her blue eyes opening tentatively. Groggy and still half in the arms of sleep, she rolled over and cast a tired eye at the clock on the bedside table.

"Oh, hell." She croaked, suddenly lucid. "One darling girlfriend forgot to set the alarm last night." She turned and wrapped an arm around her lover who was still snuggled peacefully in a nest of pillows and blankets. "Willow? Willow honey, we have to get up."

"Don't wanna," the somnolent figure complained, moving over slightly to snuggle into Tara's chest.

"I'm sorry sweetie but we have to." Tara moved her arm in a vain attempt to unwrap herself from Willow's embrace, but only ended further tangled in the blankets. "Don't make me tickle you awake," she threatened playfully, tucking one arm underneath Willow and reaching for that spot just below her ribcage.

Willow squirmed in protest. "No, I'm up, I'm up." She rolled over again, burying her head into the pillow.

"Yes, you're looking very upright for someone who is still sleeping." Tara chuckled.

Willow frowned, still not opening her eyes. "It's summer. That means no classes. Tell me why we're getting up again?"

"Well, for one thing, I'm going to be late for work," Tara replied, gathering herself up and hauling her protesting body away from the comfortable warmth that was blankets and Willow. "You know, remember that job I do where I go there and sell things and they pay me?" She looked at her beautiful girl still snuggled in blankets and sighed. After last night it would have been nice to just lie in bed all day, wrapped around that body.

"So, why am I getting up?" Willow countered, finally turning and attempting to shake off her sleepiness.

"You promised Anya you'd help her out in the Magic Box today, remember? She's been working so much overtime with all those new shipments that have come in, you promised to take over some of the cataloguing."

"Oh."

"What?"

"I don't know, I just don't feel like dealing with The world of Capitalism according to Anya Emerson today. It makes my head all achey."

Tara threw her a sympathetic look. "You promised. Besides, there might be something interesting in that shipment. I love opening those crates when they come in. It's like Christmas." Her eyes gleamed.

Willow sat up, a grin stretching slowly across her face. "Look at you, all excited about old books and stuff. You're like a mini-Giles."

Tara laughed. "Without the glasses and the receding hairline."

"Well, yeah, there's that." Willow pulled one leg out and plopped a foot on the ground, followed slowly by the other leg. She toyed with the idea of actually standing up. "But, you know, even the exciting thought of wading through dusty, two-hundred-year-old texts isn't making getting up worth it."

Tara watched the progress with barely concealed amusement before grabbing her hairbrush and heading for the bathroom. "If it's any incentive, I'll be in the bathroom all naked and soapy with hot water running all over me. If you're interested."

Willow's eyes went wide, her body suddenly very much awake. "Was that an invitation?"

"What do you think?" Tara answered, coyly.

"Oh yeah." Willow mused as Tara exited down the hall towards the bathroom. "This is much better than dorm life." She pulled herself to her feet and followed, the almost magical pull of her too-sexy girlfriend erasing all her doubts about getting up. I'll worry about Anya later. Right now there's skin to explore… heh heh.

"Did you say something sweetie?" Tara asked, disappearing into the bathroom.

"Yeah, I was just wondering when you were going to give up your dorm room and move the rest of your stuff in here?" Willow answered, entering the bathroom and locking the door behind her.

Don't need Dawnie wandering in right now, she snickered to herself.

Tara noticed the door being locked but said nothing, merely cocked an eyebrow and started shedding clothes, slowly, looking enticingly over her shoulder. She loved the feeling of knowing Willow's eyes were fixed on her body, tracing the curves of her back and thighs. She knew from experience just how powerful a sensation it was, Willow's hands must be aching to reach out and touch, caress…

She kept her voice deliberately casual, despite the shakiness and tension she felt inside. "I don't know, I hadn't really thought about it, you know? It's just such a pain packing everything up and moving."

"Yeah, but it doesn't really make sense you paying for the dorm when you're always here. I mean, you live here."

"I know. I just need some time, OK? Just to sort everything out." She reached into the shower and twisted on the taps, waiting for the water to heat before stepping under the massaging spray. She reached up as the water sluiced over her body, picking up the bottle of body wash and holding it out. "I believe this was your job?"

Willow responded immediately, shedding her own pyjamas with indecent haste and joining Tara in the shower. "Yes ma'am, I believe it was." She replied in a slow, southern drawl. "But first things first…"

She leaned over, capturing Tara's lips with her own, letting her free hand roam over hips, back and shoulders, savouring the feeling of skin under her fingertips, raw and intimate.

Tara shuddered, the touch awakening goosepimples on her skin. The dual sensations of warm, soothing water and the heat of Willow's touch made her momentarily dizzy. She pressed herself up against Willow for balance, her lips discovering neck and shoulders. Willow groaned deep in her throat, a rumble that sent shivers down the taller woman's spine.

Willow smirked, her hands still exploring. "I thought you said you were late?"

"I am.. we are…" Tara murmured into Willow's shoulder-blade. "I th-thought we might save some time showering together."

"Uh-huh?" Willow's eyebrows rose sceptically, knowing Tara's stutter had nothing to do with nervousness and everything to do with an insistent hand roaming all over her.

"Yeah well… the best laid plans and all that…"

"Does being late bother you?" Willow whispered, running her tongue seductively over Tara's ear.

"Not right this s-second." The words barely made it out before her lips were caught in a crushing kiss, and suddenly being late wasn't the only thing she cared less-than-nothing about. All she felt was two bodies, the water, the heat and the overwhelming need to get closer, get rid of everything separating her from the woman she held so tightly in her arms.

Everything else be damned.

Her arms floated upwards, encircling Willow's neck and pulling her even closer. "If I actually believed in the Devil, I'm sure you'd be it."

A throaty chuckle greeted her comment as Willow worked her way down to Tara's breasts, lightly tracing a tongue over each nipple in turn. She popped the cap off the body wash and squirted some into her hand, rubbing the liquid sensuously across already-sensitive skin. The water washed the suds quickly away, leaving a streaming trail of white soap down Tara's stomach and legs.

Willow followed the trail with her eyes, her enjoyment of the sight radiating from her. "Turn around?" she asked, her voice thick.

Tara did as she was told, placing her hands against the wall to steady her as Willow leaned in. The shower nozzle was quickly turned to spray in some other direction to allow for a more luxurious lathering of body wash over Tara's exposed back and shoulders.

The hands washing her back were driving her to distraction. Tara felt her breathing go ragged, all of the power in her body sucked away. She gasped as Willow's hands sank lower, reaching in between her thighs to tease her briefly before sliding away.

"Oh God, Willow…" Her breath caught up to her in a rush. The torment was too much, too good. She resisted the urge to just melt into Willow's touch and turned around with effort. "You keep doing that and we're never getting out of here."

An evil glint met Tara's gaze. "Oh, how clever of you to unmask my evil plan." The wicked gleam soon gave way to a calculated pout as Tara attempted to squirm free. "Can't we be sick today?"

"I'd love to Will, but I can't." She sighed deeply as Willow's expert pouting persisted. "Honestly, I really can't. We've had three people away in the past week. We're swamped."

"Really?"

Tara nodded sadly, untapped desire still flaming her eyes and cheeks.

"And I promised to help Anya." Willow finally relented. She let her hands do some final exploration, running fingertips along the curve of one supple breast. "So, can we continue this later?"

"Count on it."

They kissed again, slowly, the raw passion of moments before cooling but not abating entirely. Tara soaped Willow's body quickly, feeling her way and taking pleasure in their closeness but careful not to push the boundaries of their self-control, afraid that if she gave even an inch there would be no way back.

Resisting Willow once was hard enough. One good, sustained effort on the part of her determined girlfriend and she would be unable to stop herself, she knew. She'd be dragging her back to the bed and making her scream in ecstasy as if there were no tomorrow. Not once, not twice…

She shuddered at the thought, reining in her traitorous imagination. I'm not telling her that though!

After some towelling down, and some application of body lotion by Willow that threatened to drive Tara blissfully over the edge, they finally made it back to the bedroom, so wired they were practically panting.

Long day. Tara thought to herself, eyeing Willow over as she hunted through a wardrobe stuffed with clothes of all colours. This is going to be a long, long day.

****

"Do you have any of those Thai stress ball things, the ones that jangle when you use them?" A woman with an ugly green sweater stalked up to the counter. Her voice was tight and high pitched, like someone was poking at her with something sharp.

Tara smiled patiently, ignoring the rudeness in her tone. "No, I'm sorry, we sold out. We do have these squishy juggling balls, will that do? They're almost the same size." She held up a couple of the colourful balls.

"Do they jangle?" The woman demanded.

Tara shook one optimistically. "Umm, nope."

"Well then, obviously not what I'm after." The woman swept haughtily away, nearly knocking a Japanese sand garden off a nearby shelf with her huge purse as she passed.

"Lady, you don't need stress balls, you need a nerf bat and a session with a good therapist." Penny, her co-worker, muttered under her breath.

Tara looked around in near-panic, watching out for more odd-looking customers. "Tell me again why I'm working here? Why didn't I find a nice library somewhere, you know with books, less people…?"

"Yeah well, sell weird things, get weird customers." Penny pointed vaguely around at their shelves, piled high with miscellaneous bric-a-brac ranging from garden gnomes and costume jewellery through to cheap Asian rugs and the Tibetan prayer flags decorating the ceilings. "The money's good. That's all I care about."

"Don't forget the staff discount." Tara's eyes lit up. "I got this gorgeous, blue-embossed mirror through this junk catalogue a few weeks ago. Its so awesome. Perfect for spell…special nights out… you know, when y-you need to look at yourself and stuff…" She cringed inwardly.

Penny threw her an odd look. "Yep, that's generally what people use mirrors for."

The phone rang, a merciful sound. Penny reached around behind the counter and picked up the handset.

"Hello, Everything and More, can I help you? Oh, no problems. Wait a sec, I'll get her." She held her hand over the mouthpiece. "Tara, it's for you, some guy." A blonde eyebrow raised suggestively.

Tara felt a cold chill run through her. Xander? Has something happened to Willow? She attempted to mask her fear with a quick smile. "Thanks. I'll take it out the back. I need to grab some stuff anyway."

"Uh huuuuh." Penny teased. Tara didn't reply, quickly making her way through the curtains separating the main floor from the office. She picked up the other line, surprised to see her hands shaking.

"Hello?"

"Tara! Hey!" Xander's easygoing greeting echoed down the line. The phone clicked at the other end as Penny hung up.

"Xander? What is it? You n-never call me here. Is there trouble? Is Willow OK?"

"Willow? She's fine. She's at the magic shop with Anya." He soothed. "Hey, calm down. You're all with the paranoia. Everything's OK."

"Well, calls from people who never call me don't help much with that," she replied, more harshly than she intended. She took a deep, steadying breath. "Did you need something?"

"What you doing for lunch?"

"I hadn't thought about it."

"Well, can you slip out to the Magic Box? I've got this thing I wanna give to Willow. Kind of a surprise. I want everyone to be there."

"A surprise? What kind of surprise?" She asked, her heart rate returning to something approaching normal.

"You'll see. Around 12.30?"

She checked her watch and groaned. Still only 11am. "Yeah, OK. Sure." After that small scare she had an overwhelming urge to touch base with Willow.

"Great. See you then." He hung up.

She stared into the phone, puzzled.

"Problems?" Penny asked, poking her head through the doorway as Tara hung up.

"Nope, just a friend of mine acting weird." She shook off the last of the cold dread and that had gripped hold of her heart. God, why do I let myself get so worked up like that? "I'm gonna go stack those new rugs on the shelves."

Penny looked relieved. "Oh great, thanks. I hate that stepladder… scared of heights…"

Tara smiled and headed out, hauling a newly-delivered box full of rugs with her as she went. A quick slice with the Stanley knife and the bindings fell away, bright orange rugs slashed through with brown and green designs spilled out the top.

"Uggh. So tacky." She grimaced, pulling armfuls of the offensive rugs out and piling them on the floor. She worked at this for while, glad to be doing something by herself rather than dealing with people.

I know… why don't I work at that junk shop? It'll be cool, lots of neat stuff. Kind of like at the Magic Box, only with less Anya.

She remembered distinctly having that conversation with Willow when she'd been searching for a new job. Waitressing had been tough - not enough money for one thing. Then there were always those people who came in for their first coffee of the day, mean people with no manners who saw her as part of the furniture rather than as a living, breathing person who just happened to work there.

So she'd quit. But since her family wasn't pitching in anything anymore there wasn't anyone to take care of her but herself. Retail hadn't seemed too complicated. Yeah right. Just as many rude customers. But at least there were times like these when she could just take off into the corner and just do her own thing.

Maybe Willow was right? Maybe it was stupid of her to keep her own dorm room? They shared expenses at the house they lived in with Dawn, so it made sense to break camp and haul her stuff over to the house once and for all. Didn't it? It would certainly be cheaper. I'm just so afraid…

She sighed, wishing that it was commitment she was scared of. What really scared her, and what she would never admit out loud, was that the thing that scared her most in the world right now was Willow.

The spell to bring back Buffy was just making everything worse. Willow's magic was growing, but was Willow-the-person growing as fast as Willow-the-witch? Was she able to deal with that kind of force in her life? She couldn't even solve a simple problem with some guys at the Bronze without resorting to magic. What did that say about her ability to deal with the kinds of forces she was messing with?

It's against all the laws of man and nature. Buffy is gone. But how can I say, Willow, let it be? Buffy was my friend, but I can't even begin to comprehend the things she shared with Willow and Xander.

As she reached in for the last armful she froze, suddenly conscious of someone in her personal space. She stumbled backwards a bit, dragging her hair out of her eyes.

A man stood there, silent, waiting patiently. He was shorter than her, barely up to her shoulders, and he was wearing a long brown coat despite the summer humidity. His shaggy brown hair fell forward over his eyes, obscuring half his face.

"Can I h-help you?" She asked, dusting off her skirt.

"I'm sorry, did I scare you?" His voice was low and scratchy, barely more than a whisper.

Tara pushed the now-empty box roughly out of the way with her feet. "N-no, it's OK, you just startled me for a second. W-was there something you wanted?"

"Something. Yes." He held out a scrap of what looked like rough, yellowed paper that had been ripped out from a larger text.

Tara glanced at the drawing on it and frowned. "You're looking for this orb? Is it glass or crystal?"

"Crystal." The man replied, pulling his coat tighter around himself with one hand. "Have you seen it?"

She inspected the paper more closely, noting details with expert eyes. It wasn't normal paper. The fragment was made of tightly woven fibres, like old papyrus. As she leaned forward she caught the musty whiff of mildew. Small fibres were fraying on three edges where the piece had been roughly torn, or cut, from the original.

The picture itself was like an inked rendering, painfully detailed and intricate, something she hadn't really seen except in some of the old texts Giles sometimes let her read, or like the old religious tomes at the museum. And then there was that odd thing there…?

She reached out hesitantly to touch the fragment. The man pulled it away just out of her reach.

"I d-don't think we have what you're looking for, but follow me, w-we can check the shelves." She turned and headed for the other end of the shop, towards a cabinet that contained glass globes and crystal orbs of different kinds. They were just sparkly toys she knew, nothing that would even remotely compare to what was in the picture, not if she was right about how old it was.

"This is where we keep stuff like that." She made a show of staring hard at the picture and then back into the cabinet, scanning for a possible match. "Do you see it anywhere?"

"No." He sounded resigned, tired.

She let her arms flop helplessly to her sides. "I'm really sorry. Have you tried the Magic Box?"

As soon as she said it she felt a shiver of fear run up her spine as if she'd just said something completely wrong. His dull, brown eyes lit up briefly. "There's a magic shop here, in Sunnydale?"

"Sure. A couple blocks down this street and off to the left." She tried to ignore the tension that had settled in her stomach. You're just being paranoid again. And besides, Anya will thank you for the business, if she even has the orb.

She walked over to the counter and picked up one of the Magic Box cards she had stocked there, handing it to the man. I mean, she gave me the stupid Magic Box cards for a reason! "Here's the address. Maybe they have what you need."

He smiled at her for the first time, his mouth revealing perfectly white, straight teeth. She didn't know why that should surprise her.

"Thank you," He said with real gratitude. "You've been helpful…Tara." He read her name off her name badge, his soft voice slipping smoothly over the word.

She tried to smile pleasantly. "No problem. Tell them I sent you. They know me."

He smiled again briefly before turning and wandering slowly towards the entrance, his booted feet shuffling against the wooden floor of the shop.

As he left, Penny walked up behind Tara, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Another candidate for wierdo of the week?"

Tara shrugged her shoulders and brought up her hands as if to say "why me?". But laughing it off didn't really seem to be an option. The eerie feeling huddled deep inside her. That odd but mostly reliable instinct for trouble she'd gained since working with the scoobies tugged persistently at the back of her brain.

Finally, she came to a decision. "I need to use the phone."

••••

Willow struggled with the beanbag, trying desperately to get it into some kind of shape that was comfortable for reading. After a few minutes of shuffling she found a good position, leaning back and placing the enormous leather bound tome she was reading across her lap.

Giles picked up a pile of accounting ledgers and spread them out on the table. "Willow, weren't you going to be working on the Buffy-bot? I wanted to send her out on a routine patrol tonight, just to keep up the pretence a bit."

She waved him off. "I did that. She should be fine. I think I've got the knock-knock jokes under control now, but Spike asked me to see if I could work out some of her, ummm…taste in men. That took a bit longer and I'm still not sure I've got it right. It was buried pretty deep in her basic programming."

"Oh thank God. If she'd called Spike her 'hunky monkey' one more time I think he would have taken to her with an axe."

"He wouldn't. He knows how important she is. It just hurts I guess." She answered quietly, going back to her book. "Hey, Giles?"

"Hmm?" The watcher looked up from his account books, forehead wrinkled into a deep frown. "Yes?"

"Did you know that Andalusian Fighting Monks used to shave off all their body hair because they thought that being completely clean brought you closer to the Gods?" She traced her finger down the page enthusiastically. "And they dabbled in magick too. Listen. 'Ritual sacrifices were common in order to evoke seasonal deities. Using a power they called Sentient Transmogrify they communicated with demons of the lower planes, offering them human brains in exchange for divine wisdoms'. That's kind of neat, in a totally nauseating, demon-ish kind of way."

"Well, if we ever come across some transmogrifying monks we'll know where to turn." He replied, taking off his glasses and rubbing tiredly at his eyes. "Anya, we're going to have to contact this supplier, he keeps sending us bucketfuls of frog feet. Who needs this many frog feet?"

"I do." Anya answered cheerfully, making her way through the store from the training room. "I use them for fertilizer. It's the only thing that makes mugwort grow properly. And you know how popular that is."

"Oh, I see." He went back to his numbers.

Willow shuddered. "I don't do spells or anything that involves frogs, or frog parts. Ick."

"They have a powerful animal spirit." Anya added, ethusiastically. "There was this demon I met once, Agri…Adri…something. Anyway, he used to brew this kind of moonshine from frog blood. The power we got from that…" She sighed happily at the memory. "I get the hiccups just thinking about it."

Willow put down the volume she was reading and stared up at Giles in bewilderment. "Is it just me, or was that really revolting?"

Anya didn't hear. She had spotted some customers in the front and wandered off to harass them, brandishing a potions catalogue and an unwavering smile.

He rolled his eyes, wincing. "No, I don't believe it was just you."

The phone rang over on the counter. He leered at it as if it were a serpent. "Willow, could you possibly get that? I'm not up to speaking to anyone right now."

She threw him a but-I-just-got-comfortable look that he completely missed, having already turned away back to his ledgers. Letting out a heavy sigh, she dumped the book she was reading onto the floor and hauled herself up.

Giles looked up and scowled. "Did you just put the Andalusian monks on the floor?"

She snatched the book up again. "No. Of course not."

"Will somebody please get that?" Anya called out, annoyed. "It could be money."

Willow pulled a face. "Actually no, I'm pretty sure it's a person." She tucked the huge book awkwardly under her arm and reached out to grab the phone with her other hand.

"Magic B… Tara! Hi baby."

The voice at the other end triggered a broad smile. "No, not much really, we've finished the cataloguing already. How's the wacky world of retail?"

She frowned at Tara's response. After a few moments she dropped the book she was holding heavily onto the counter top. Her face settled into listening mode taking in the details as Tara gave them, obviously rattled. "And you sent him here? No, Tara, it's OK, I'm sure its nothing."

The voice at the other end continued. "Well, he hasn't shown up here yet. Yes, we'll keep an eye out. Thanks for the heads up," she finished, her tone soft and reassuring.

"I love you too. Yes, I'll be careful." She smiled. "OK, bye."

"Sent what here?" Giles asked. He got up from his chair and walking over, ducking behind the counter and digging desperately through the drawers. "Ah ha!" He pulled out a box of aspirin.

"Tara just ran into some spooky guy with an old piece of paper looking for orbs."

He looked at her blankly. "The piece of paper was looking for orbs?"

"The spooky guy was looking." Willow glared. "She told him he might find what he was after here and then she had this weird feeling and freaked thinking he might be like dangerous or something."

"Well, I suppose that depends entirely on what kind of orbs he's looking for."

"I guess we'll know soon enough. He's apparently on his way over."

"Who's on his way over?" Anya chirped, carrying a small wooden box over to the counter. She practically skipped around to ring up the sale, eyes gleaming. "Wonderful, I never thought I'd move this thing. Ever since someone let the ancient bats out its been damn near useless." Willow looked decidedly sheepish. Anya handed her the box. "Not mentioning any names of course. Could you wrap that?"

Willow's face fell, petulant. She grabbed some tissue paper and started smothering the box with it. "Some guy looking for some kind of orb is coming. Tara didn't recognise what it was but she thought it looked suspicious." She explained testily. "And I did not let the bats out on purpose. The spell was supposed to just make them twitchy and create some mystical energy, not make them fly away."

"Oh good, she sent a customer? I knew those business cards would come in handy." She threw a triumphant look at Giles. "Oh let me do that, you're supposed to wrap it, not suffocate it." She snatched the box back from Willow who threw up her hands, not particularly caring.

The bell rang in the shop announcing a new arrival. Everyone looked over.

Xander froze, mid-step. "What did I do?"

"Did you see a strange man with a long coat out there?" Willow asked.

"What, you mean like that guy?" He pointed at the doorway.

She blinked. Where the hell did he come from?

The short man entered through the doorway slowly, shutting the door softly behind him. He shuffled through the shop, shoving both hands in his pockets, eyes downcast.

"How can we help you?" Anya enthused. "We aim to please."

••••

Tara hung up the phone. "I don't like this."

"What?" Penny asked, confused. "What is it about this guy that's got you all antsy?"

"I don't know. It's just a f-feeling I have. It's not the guy, its that picture he showed me…" Tara paced the small space behind the counter. "But I just sent him over to where all my friends are."

"He was just some freaky guy, OK? Don't worry about it." She shrugged, giving Tara's arm a quick, almost condescending pat.

"No, seriously, I have to go. I have this hunch. It's in the b-back of my head and I just can't shake it." She unhooked her backpack from the coat rack and swung it over her shoulder.

Penny gaped. "What do you mean, go? You can't just go. Are you coming back?"

Tara didn't stop to hear the protest. In seconds she had left the shop and started running down the road, backpack flapping wildly.

••••

Giles stared at the picture carefully. "It looks familiar, but I don't think I'll be able to identify it without the surrounding text." He looked balefully at the scrap of paper. "Why did you tear it out of the book where you got this from?"

The man shrugged. "It was heavy. I was in a hurry."

"Well what do you need it for?" Willow queried. Tara was right. Something about that picture was weird. She felt a vague feeling slipping in and out of her senses, but couldn't nail down what bugged her about it.

He shrugged again. "It belongs to my family."

"Willow! That's no way to talk to a customer!" Anya scolded. She turned to face the man, taking him by the arm and leading him over to a side shelf. "Well, I'll just pull out a whole bunch of pretty-yet-completely-harmless orbs and you can see which one you like."

She stuck her keys into the lock on the glass cabinet, letting the door swing wide.

"Actually, I don't much like this." Giles objected, coming up behind them. "It would really be more helpful if you explained what it's meant to be used for."

"Just a thing." He replied, noncommitally.

Anya beamed, indicating with her head for him to back off. "Rupert. I think we've harassed the customer enough?"

As she pulled out the tray the man's eyes flashed. He sorted hungrily through the orbs lying there, picking up each one in turn and inspecting it closely.

Willow pulled on Giles's sleeve. "Shouldn't we do something?"

"Well, actually I hate to say it, but Anya's right. All of the orbs in that tray are completely harmless. Just trinkets actually, some with interesting colours."

"Well, he seems to like the pretty colours." Xander quipped. He crept a bit closer and watched the stranger over his shoulder, ignoring Anya's annoyed looks.

She slapped him hard.

"Ow!" He backed away quickly, holding his arm. "That was so not necessary!"

The front door burst open. Willow turned around, spotting the familiar shape of her lover silhouetted against the bright light outside. "Tara?"

"Willow," she panted. "I…"

"This is the one!" The stranger threw back his head, clutching an orb in his bony fingers. He thrust the hand skyward, rays of light bursting out from between his fingertips. "Akasha!"

"Protect!" Tara cast, purely on instinct.

Willow saw a bright light, then another flash followed it, waves of power knocking her off her feet. She flew across the room and landed against the wall, impacting with a hard thud that knocked the wind from her lungs.

Tara saw the man lift his other arm to meet the first, cupping the orb between his hands. The hurried wards she'd thrown around Willow had knocked her backwards and out of range of the blast. She winced as she heard Willow's small body smack hard into the wall. The energy waves came, the worst of it centred around the stranger himself, catching Anya, Giles and Xander in the aftershock. It blinded her momentarily, lights dancing in the air around her.

The air around the four standing in the middle of the room quaked. Anya screamed as her body felt like it was being sucked inside out, her limbs flying forward into the magnetic pull generated from the orb. She could see Xander, his arms reaching out to grab her. Giles followed instantly afterwards with the stranger as their bodies crunched painfully and shrank, the sucking sound in their ears threatening to pop their eardrums.

Then suddenly there was darkness.

The two witches watched in horror as their friends and the stranger writhed painfully into the void created by the orb. Finally the energy waves stopped and the orb crashed to the floor, smashing instantly into dust that began to spread ominously through the air. They hid their faces away to protect their eyes, the crystal dust falling harmlessly around them over the length of the Magic Box.

It was silent, like standing outside in snow.

Tara was the first to react. "Willow!" She rushed over to where Willow was lying, crumpled into a heap. "Oh God, are you OK?"

"Your spell… it pushed me out of the way." She grimaced, feeling the ache in her back. "Hard."

"It was the only thing I could do. I panicked."

"Just me?" She grunted as she tried to lift her body away from the wall.

Tara didn't reply. She hung her head.

Willow reached out. "Here, help me up."

They picked themselves up. Willow cried out as a sudden pain in her knee shot up the whole length of her body. She collapsed against Tara who struggled under the sudden weight. They staggered over to one of the chairs. Willow collapsed into it gratefully.

"How… how did you know?" Willow gasped, her mind reeling.

Tara shook her head miserably. "I didn't. I just had a hunch that something was wrong. I ran…"

Willow gulped in air, still winded. "We have to find out …what that orb was." She took another painful breath. "I don't understand. Giles said they were all harmless."

"Shhh… just wait, don't speak. Wait until you get your breath back."

"My God, they could be anywhere!" She tried to get up and cried out as she put too much weight on her injured leg. She stared down at the battered knee in irritation. "I don't have time for this." She gritted her teeth, placing an outstretched hand over the wound, chanting under her breath.

Tara's eyes went wide with shock as Willow began to move her injured limb back and forth. "W-what are you doing?"

"Just something to make my leg feel better."

Cell regeneration at will? That should take both of us hours, with chants, rituals, charms… She watched Willow work the spell as casually as if she were floating a pencil in the air. It's not possible.

Willow finished what she was doing, the pain slowly seeping from her body. Her face relaxed. She tested her weight on the leg, nodding in satisfaction as it held without difficulty.

Mixed emotions flooding through her, Tara looked away. She shuffled papers around on the table, searching desperately for pencil and paper. "I'll sketch the drawing out, I had a really good look at it."

"That'll help." Willow nodded, her face hard. "I'm gonna climb up there, see if any of the black arts books have any reference to this exploding orb thing."

"Willow, wait." Tara turned, her eyes filled with guilt. "I just came in, that second. All I could think about was that something would happen to you. I didn't think."

"It's OK," Willow took Tara's hand, squeezing it tightly. "Oh baby, I didn't mean to… Tara, you saved me. How could I be anything other than grateful?" She gathered her into her arms, holding on. "You did everything you could. You even warned us."

"Well, everything was obviously not enough." Tara clung to Willow desperately, the enormity of it all just beginning to sink in. "I can still hear Anya s-screaming."

"Tara." Willow whispered, stroking her hair softly. "We need to hold it together now, OK? We can do this. If anyone has a shot at figuring this out, we do."

She nodded. "I'm… all right."

Willow smiled thinly, determination settling over her features. "Let's get to work." She grabbed the railing and hoisted herself quickly up the stairs to the special books area of the Magic Box. All the books that were for their eyes only, the precious research material that was going to get them out of this mess.

Tara plopped herself down on a chair, scrambling for pencil and paper. Her thoughts were chaos. Concentrate! Focus! She closed her eyes briefly and brought the image of the picture back. It drifted in front of her, as clear now as when she was looking at it back at the shop.

She tried to relax and put pencil to paper, letting her memory guide her hand. She sketched quickly, pushing away all other thoughts as best she could. Finally she sat back, eyes moving critically over the result. "No, there's something missing…"

Tara stared at the paper. It was just an orb, resting on a nest of flowers. Wasn't it? She'd sketched every detail, even the small thorns on each of the four flowers. But it just didn't look right.

She closed her eyes. "Aradia. Hear me. Give memory form, guide my hand…" She whispered.

The picture she held in her mind swirled. She felt a tingle, like the memories were pressing themselves lightly against the inside of her skull. Her fingers twitched. She picked up the pencil again, letting the power flow through her.

Something glowed on the page. Something inside the orb itself. A small dot, no bigger than her thumb nail. She pictured it glowing for real, a spark of life inside an otherwise innocuous piece of crystal. That was what I saw. That's what tipped me off! Why didn't I remember it?

She drew it in. Somehow she knew it was the key.

"Willow!"

A small red head poked out from above. "Yeah?"

"I don't know why, but I think I know what you need to look for. You're looking for a crystal with a soul."

Willow's brows creased. "What do you mean?"

"I don't really know. It was just something I saw, when I looked at that piece of paper for the first time. It was like there was energy inside there. Human energy. So powerful I even saw it in that picture he showed me." She jumped up, clutching the completed drawing in her hands.

Their eyes met. Willow gave Tara a grim smile holding up a leather bound tome. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go digging."

And the story continues...