Soul Mates

Title: Soul Mates
Chapter: 9
Author: Ravenhawk (ravenhawk450@gmail.com)
Rating: PG-13 (for this part)
Setting: During season 5
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. They belong to Joss Whedon. Neither I nor any website on which this story appears receives any compensation for this work.
Distribution: Anywhere, just ask.
Feedback: Yes, please.
Pairing: Willow/Tara/Xander
Warnings: None.
Note: Thanks very much to everyone who's given me feedback and suggestions. I really appreciate it, and please keep it coming.

I've created a new mailing list, Ravenhawk's Fanfic. It's going to serve as an archive for Soul Mates and the rest of my fiction. I'll continue to post new chapters of Soul Mates here, but there may be things I'll post to that list that I won't post anywhere else.

Feel free to head on over and sign up. Here's the address:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ravenhawkfic/

****

Tara had always thought of Saturday morning as a good time to relax, but the sounds coming from the kitchen on this particular morning made that rather difficult.

It was the day after their first fight, and at the moment, Tara was lying in bed by herself. She was alone because when she and Willow and Xander had woken up, Willow had declared that she and Xander were going to make her breakfast to thank her for her role in resolving the argument they'd had yesterday, and Xander had agreed. Tara hadn't been sure that that was a good idea - Willow was a terrible cook, and Xander wasn't much better - but Willow had seemed so happy at the idea of bringing her breakfast in bed that she hadn't had the heart to object.

But what she was hearing from the kitchen was making her rethink that decision.

"Are you two okay in there?" she called out. It sounded like they were ransacking the place.

"Just fine!" Xander called back.

Tara wasn't so sure about that, but she decided to stay where she was anyway. She loved Willow and Xander, and they wanted to do something nice for her. The least she could do was let them try.

So she put what she was hearing out of her mind and tried to relax. It was a beautiful morning, and the sun was shining on the bed - Xander had opened the blinds on the windows before he left - and the warmth it brought felt good. She leaned back, resting her head against the pillows piled behind her, and closed her eyes. *Who knows?* she thought. *Maybe whatever they're making will turn out well.*

"Honey?" Tara opened her eyes at the sound of Willow's voice and saw her standing in the doorway to the hall outside. She sat up in bed, holding the sheets in front of her as her girlfriend stepped into the bedroom.

"What is it?" Tara asked as Willow stopped at the foot of the bed. "Do you need me to come out there?"

Willow shook her head. "No, we're okay," she said. "It's just... um...." She pulled at the tie on her robe nervously.

"What?" Tara said, confused.

"Is this a teaspoon or a tablespoon?" Willow finally asked, blushing a little as she held up a spoon in one hand. "I can never remember which is which, and Xander didn't know either."

Tara chuckled. Willow could be so cute sometimes. Okay, almost all the time. "That's a teaspoon, sweetie," she said.

"Thanks," Willow replied, giving her a big smile. Before Tara could say anything else, she turned and hurried out of the room.

*Well, she's certainly enthusiastic about this,* Tara thought. Sighing, she leaned back again, but didn't close her eyes this time. She wasn't really tired anyway.

Instead, she thought about what had happened yesterday. It had certainly been something of a wake-up call. For the past couple of months, things had been pretty close to perfect in her relationship, but the argument yesterday had been a clear reminder that no matter how good their relationship was and no matter how wonderful Willow and Xander were, problems were going to come up from time to time. There was no way around it, especially now that the newness of what they had was starting to wear off.

And the newness *was* starting to wear off. There was no denying that, even though deep down, Tara could still hardly believe that she was in a relationship with two other people, especially since one of them was a man. But they'd been together for a couple of months now and she was starting to get accustomed to her new living arrangements, and she could tell that Xander and Willow were, too. And even though things were going to change somewhat when Xander signed up for college next semester, they were already pretty well settled into a routine.

It wasn't a bad thing. This happened in any relationship that lasted any significant amount of time. But the longer they lived together, the more of each other they were going to see - and that meant both their good qualities and their flaws.

Tara winced as her train of thought was interrupted by another loud crash from the kitchen. *Speaking of flaws....*

She stood up and walked over to their closet where she retrieved her robe. Putting it on, she hurried over to the door. She needed to check on what was going on out there before things got out of hand.

****

"I'm sorry," Willow said.

Xander nodded. "Yeah, me too."

She and Xander were sitting in front of Tara on their bed, and Willow watched as she looked them over. "It's okay. Really," Tara soothed. "I enjoyed my breakfast in bed," she added, gesturing down at the tray in front of her.

"Yeah, but you made it yourself," Xander said.

"No I didn't," Tara replied. "I just helped you guys a little, that's all."

Willow sighed. It was more like the other way around. Tara had done almost everything in the kitchen, and she and Xander had been the ones who'd helped a little. Until Tara had come to their rescue, their attempt at making breakfast for her had been a disaster. She'd actually managed to break a dish, which was quite an accomplishment for what was supposed to have been a simple task in the kitchen.

"We were supposed to be doing something nice for you," Willow said. "It kinda defeats the purpose if you have to help out with it." She sighed again. "I'm totally hopeless in the kitchen, aren't I?"

Tara leaned forward and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Honey, don't feel bad," she said. "Not everyone can be good at everything. I mean, I'm not nearly as good with computers as you are."

Willow had to smile. She was so lucky to have Tara. Even now, when she'd just gotten through making a total mess of things, Tara was trying to make her feel better. And it was working - just like it usually did.

"You were trying to do something nice for me," Tara continued. "Both of you," she added, turning to include Xander in what she was saying as well. "And believe me, I appreciate it, no matter how it turned out."

Xander chuckled. "Well, that's really gracious of you," he said. He stood up, picked up the tray, and carefully set it down on the floor next to their nightstand. Then he sat down on the bed again, right in front of Tara, and took her hand, lifting it to his mouth and kissing it. Willow scooted in closer to her girlfriend, leaning in and kissing her cheek, and Tara smiled at them both.

"Maybe we can find something else nice to do for you," Xander said, running one hand down Tara's arm as he glanced at Willow out of the corner of his eye.

"Yeah," Willow said, grinning at the conspiratorial look in Xander's eye. "I'm sure we can think of something." She leaned forward again and kissed Tara deeply, and her pulse quickened as their tongues met. She guided her girlfriend to lay back against the pillows piled underneath her, and she stretched out next to her on the bed without breaking their kiss. Xander watched them for a moment, then laid down himself and opened Tara's robe a little, placing soft kisses on her chest. Willow rested a hand on Xander's back and rubbed him there encouragingly as he reached for the tie on Tara's robe.

Just then, the phone rang.

"Damn it," Xander swore, pushing himself upward and reaching for the phone on their nightstand as Willow broke her kiss with Tara. She thought briefly about asking him to ignore it, but quickly decided against it. It might be Buffy or Giles calling about something important.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Xander picked up the phone. "Hello?" he said, and Willow was impressed that he was able to keep most of his irritation at being interrupted out of his voice.

"Oh, hi Giles," he said a moment later. "What's up?" Tara sat up as Xander stood and turned to face them, and Willow did the same, wrapping her arms around Tara from behind and resting her chin on her girlfriend's shoulder. Willow kissed her softly behind her ear, and Tara smiled, resting her hands on top of Willow's.

Xander listened for a moment, then spoke again. "No, it's no problem," he said. "Just give us half an hour, or maybe a little longer, and we'll be there." He listened for a few more seconds. "Okay, see you soon," he finished.

"What's going on, sweetie?" Tara asked as Xander hung up the phone.

"Giles needs us," Xander replied. "Buffy saw something when she was patrolling last night, and they need our help to research it. He wants us all to meet them at the Magic Box." He paused for a moment, and Willow could tell that something had just occurred to him. "I hope you don't mind that I said yes for all of us," he finished, frowning slightly.

"No, Xander, it's no problem," Willow said. "Right, honey?" she asked, turning to look Tara in the eye as she released her and moved to sit next to her on the bed.

"Right. It's fine," Tara agreed. "If Buffy and Giles need us, I'm always happy to help, any way I can. You don't even have to ask." She smiled at Xander, and he returned the gesture, obviously reassured.

"Thanks," Xander said. "Anyway, we'd better get moving. I'll clean up the kitchen, if one of you wants to shower first."

"I'll help," Willow chimed in. "So you go ahead, sweetie," she said, giving Tara a quick kiss and then climbing out of bed to stand next to Xander.

"Okay. I'll make it quick," Tara said. Willow smiled at her and walked over to the doorway, stepping out into the hall. Xander followed after her, and they headed for the kitchen together.

"I guess there's a down side to fighting evil in your spare time," Xander said as they crossed their living room.

Willow nodded. "You're always on call."

****

The familiar sound of the bell at the entrance to the Magic Box rang out as Willow opened the door. Standing over by the sales counter, Giles looked up as she stepped inside, Tara and Xander following after her. She looked around as Xander closed the door behind them; even though the store was open, the place was empty of customers.

"Hey Giles," Willow said as she walked over toward the counter.

"Hey Giles," Xander echoed. "Pretty quiet in here," he observed as he stopped at one end of the counter, leaning against it casually.

"Yes, business tends to be slow at this time of day," Giles said.

"Well, that's understandable, I guess," Tara said. "It's still pretty early."

"Yes, I actually wouldn't even be open right now if I didn't need to be here anyway," Giles said.

"Might as well try to make some money while we're researching," Xander said. "I like the way you think, Giles. I need to find a way to work Slaying business into *my* job."

"That might be kinda hard, honey," Willow remarked. "Unless you guys unearth some ancient spirits when you're digging a foundation or something." Then she frowned as she suddenly remembered the Indian spirits from last year. "Er, again, I mean."

Giles chuckled. "In Sunnydale, I'm afraid that is a rather distinct possibility," he said.

Before Willow could reply, the bell at the Magic Box's entryway rang again. She turned to see who had opened the door, and smiled as she saw Buffy step into the shop.

"Hey, Buffy," she chirped as her friend closed the door behind her.

"Hey Will. Hey guys," Buffy said, smiling back at her and walking over to stand over by the table across from them.

"Well, now that we're all here, we can begin," Giles said, stepping out from behind the counter to stand next to Buffy. "First, Willow, Tara, Xander, let me thank you for coming in this early on a Saturday morning."

"No problem, Giles," Xander said.

Tara nodded. "We're happy to help."

"Well, be that as it may, it's still appreciated," Giles said. "Now, to the matter at hand. Last night, while she was patrolling, Buffy saw a group of vampires carrying an urn of some sort off a boat that had just arrived at the port."

"I tried to stop them, but three of them jumped me while the other two took off with the urn," Buffy said. "By the time I dusted the ones who came after me, the others were gone."

"Do you remember what the urn looked like?" Willow asked. If it was a magical object, they needed to find out what it could do as quickly as possible.

"It was pretty big, probably a few feet high, and it looked like it was made out of metal," Buffy replied. "And there was a word painted on the outside of it that I couldn't read."

"From the way Buffy described the letters to me, it sounds as though they were Cyrillic," Giles said. "It's not a lot to go on, I know, but I have some historical texts with information about artifacts from that region that might be of help."

"Willow and I could look through some magic books, too," Tara said. "I mean, you're concerned that this urn might be magical, or be used in some kind of spell, right? We could check that out."

Smiling, Willow nodded her agreement. "That's a great idea, honey," she said. She and Tara were thinking along the same lines, and it was always nice when that happened. Plus, looking through books about magic would be a lot more interesting than going through history books. *Hey, we might even find some new spells along the way,* she thought. That'd be a nice side benefit.

"So you're just going to leave me with the boring history stuff?" Buffy said. She glared in her direction, and Willow chuckled at her expression. "Some friends you are."

"Oh, come on, Buff. Research in foreign languages is always a barrel of laughs," Xander said.

"Yes, well, I *do* have some books on the subject in English. Why don't you start there?" Giles said, nodding toward Buffy and Xander. "I'll work on that as well. Willow, Tara," he continued, turning and fixing Willow with a serious look, "your idea of searching for spells involving urns is a good one, but *please* be careful with the magical texts I have."

"Don't worry, Giles. Your books are in good hands," Willow replied confidently. "We'll find your answer in no time. Come on, honey," she said, tugging excitedly at Tara's sleeve. Tara smiled, obviously taken by her enthusiasm, and followed after her as she led the way to the ladder up to the balcony overlooking the shop where Giles kept his books on magic.

Willow climbed the ladder, then turned and held out a hand to Tara, helping her onto the balcony as well. She could see Xander watching them, and she smiled and gave him a little wave. He returned it before turning his attention to a book Giles had just handed him, and Willow turned back to Tara. They sat down together, Willow crossing her legs in front of her, and looked over the books on the shelves next to them.

"So, if you see any spells that look interesting, let me know," Willow said, leaning toward Tara and speaking in a low voice.

"Sweetie, we're supposed to be researching something specific," Tara replied, a note of admonishment creeping into her voice.

"Sure we are," Willow agreed. "But if we happen to come across something else useful along the way, we should take a look. Who knows what might come in handy at some point in the future? I mean, think how much it would help Buffy if we could finally get that sunlight spell right, for instance."

Tara still looked a bit skeptical, but she relaxed after only a moment's hesitation. "Okay. You've got a point," she said. "But we shouldn't spend too much time on other things. I mean, if something looks really useful, we can always come back and read more about it later."

"That's fine," Willow said. It wasn't like they'd have time to read much of anything in detail right now anyway.

At Tara's answering nod, Willow looked into her eyes and smiled, then leaned in and gave her a brief kiss. "Okay, what books should we start with?" she said, turning to look at the shelves next to them again. "How about this one?" she asked, reaching for a book on material focuses for spells and taking it down from the shelf.

"Looks good to me," Tara said. "I'll take a look at this one," she continued, taking a book about magical artifacts and setting it in her lap.

Willow nodded. "Okay, let's get started," she said. "Hopefully this won't take too long and we can get back to our weekend soon."

****

In the end, it took almost the entire day.

It was well into the evening when Giles finally spoke the words Willow had been waiting to hear almost all day. "I believe I've found the answer," he said, and Willow looked up hopefully at his announcement.

"Thank god," Xander declared. "I think my brain is about to start leaking out of my ears." He pushed the book he'd been looking at away from him, knocking over a Chinese food carton in the process that, fortunately, turned out to be nearly empty. He grabbed it and turned it upright again before anything could spill.

"What's the good word, Giles?" Buffy asked, looking up from her own book, her expression cautiously optimistic.

Willow carefully climbed down the ladder to stand on the main floor and stretched her arms over her head as Tara made her way down to stand next to her. She really hoped Giles had found what they were looking for. They'd been at this for so long that even her enthusiasm for research had seriously dimmed; she could only imagine how the others must be feeling. She and Tara had managed to find a few spells that looked interesting and were definitely worth checking into further, but for now, she just wanted them to be done with this.

Giles stood up and stepped away from the table, turning to face everyone at once. Seeing that all eyes were on him, he cleared his throat before speaking again. "Well, according to this record," he said, nodding toward the volume he was holding, still open in his hands, "a few centuries ago, a powerful sorcerer from Eastern Russia bound his spirit into an urn fitting the description of the one Buffy saw last night in an effort to cheat death."

"Please tell me he was one of the good guys?" Buffy said, but from the look on her face, Willow could tell that she wasn't holding out much hope for an affirmative answer.

"Far from it," Giles replied. "By all accounts, he was a very brutal man, who specialized in the darkest sorts of magic."

"Okay, so, not the kind of guy who's fun at parties," Xander said. "But what's the deal with this urn? Is this something we need to worry about?"

"Well, it is believed that this sorcerer placed a contingent enchantment upon the urn before he transferred his spirit into it," Giles said.

At Buffy and Xander's blank looks, Willow spoke up. "A contingent enchantment is a spell that's set up to be triggered later," she said. "You can set up certain conditions, and when they're met, the spell will be cast. It's fairly complicated, as spells go." That was an understatement, actually - that kind of magic was way beyond anything she was currently capable of. "If this sorcerer could cast a spell like that, he was definitely pretty powerful."

Giles nodded. "According to this, when the urn is placed upon the grave of a fifteenth generation descendant of his at precisely three hours before midnight, the body of said descendant shall be restored to life and his spirit shall be transferred into it. He shall be reborn."

"I bet I can guess where this is going," Buffy muttered darkly.

"I'm afraid your instincts are correct, Buffy," Giles replied with a sigh. "Many of this sorcerer's descendants were wiped out, but according to the last records the Watcher's Council have on the subject, the few who remained immigrated to Sunnydale about fifty years or so ago."

"So it stands to reason that these vampires think they can bring this sorcerer back to life now," Xander said. "Otherwise why bother bringing in the urn?"

"Yes, that is correct," Giles said, setting the book he was holding down on the table. "If we are fortunate, they may be mistaken, but for now, we must proceed under the assumption that the conditions for the spell can be met."

"So if there is a grave with one of these sorcerer's descendants they can use, how do we find it?" Tara asked. "Do you know how many cemeteries there are in Sunnydale?"

"Twelve," Buffy, Willow, and Xander chorused.

Tara chuckled. "Okay, silly question, given how long you guys have been doing this," she said. "But the point is, we don't have time to check them all."

"Fortunately, we have extensive records on local burials," Giles said. "I've checked them, and the family we're interested in has a plot at the Restfield Cemetery."

Buffy stood up, fixing everyone with a look Willow knew well - she was all business now. "Then what are we waiting for?" she said. "We need to get going."

Willow looked at the clock. They had less than half an hour until nine o'clock - three hours before midnight. The Restfield Cemetery wasn't far away, but they'd still be cutting it pretty close. She hoped they wouldn't be too late.

TBC...