Love Through Touch

Wow. This fic has taken me a year and a half to write. It was
kinda fun. Think I'll do it again.

Disclaimer: See Part 1
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Willow stood in the front yard, watching as the movers came and went, carrying various large items from the truck to the house.

Tara silently came up behind her, watching her as she watched them.

"Can you believe it?" Willow asked startling Tara "We're out of Sunnydale. That HellMouth is closed" Willow paused "And we only had one casualty"

"We don't know if Giles is dead" Tara corrected her girl-friend "Just because we can't find him, doesn't mean he's not alive"

"If he were alive he would have contacted us by now Tara" Willow whined "I don't wanna let him go either. But it's possible"

"Let's not argue over this right now" Tara hung her head, and rubbed at her eyes "Hyatt and Buffy are due back any minute. Have to seen the demon child?"

"Yeah she's giving the movers hell about where to put stuff in her room" Willow gave a genuine smile to the thought of Star bossing around the big burly moving men Xander had hired for them.

Willow had taken one good look at them and decided that not pissing them off in any way was a good idea. Star however, continued to bug them as they drove from the furniture outlets to the house.

"Should we go save the moving men?" Tara asked looking to the second floor of the house, catching sight of one of the men putting something down.

"Probably. I don't think Buffy and Hyatt would be pleased to find Star in little Starlette's" Willow grabbed Tara's hand and they both rushed into the house.

They took a right turn through the kitchen and into the livingroom, and straight up the spiral stairs that led to the side of the second floor that Star's new room was housed in.

"No no no, ya big lug! The headboards supposed to be up 'against' the wall. Be careful with that lamp!"

Both wiccan's paused just outside the door, trying to assume serious faces. It really wasn't nice of Star to be calling those big, buff moving men names.

The stepped into the room and froze. The 'big lug' Star had just spoken to was shifting the bed around the way it was supposed to be, before turning back tar.tar. At her nod of approval he bowed as if she were a queen and gave her a winking smile.

"Thank you James" Star said sweetly from her perch on one of the smaller mens shoulders.

The room was completely put together, right down to the little rugs on the hard wood floor.

"I really appreciate you doing this guys" Star exclaimed at the man bent to let her down "It would have taken me 'hours' to finish without you" she added on dramatically.

The men nodded and smiled at her before filing out of the room, as they passed the stunned Willow and Tara one stopped before them, the smaller man who'd had Star perched on his shoulders.

"Cute kid you got there, reminds me of my little sister" his deep booming voice causing both girls to jump.

"Uh. Thanks" Willow squeaked, while Tara managed a weak smile and a hearty nod.

Turning back to Star he gave a military salut, spun on his heel, and made his way downstairs.
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Hyatt pulled up at the last moving truck backed out of the drive.

"Do you 'really' think they could be finished that fast?" Hyatt questioned the blonde seated next to her.

"Did you see those guys? It was like they were half giant or something, and their arms! Did you see their arms?" Buffy shivered "I'd hate to have to fight one of them as a vampire"

"Good point. No pun intended" Hyatt quickly got out of the car "Let's go see the damage the wiccan's have done"

"I seriously doubt that they done 'any' damage at all. Star on the other hand.." Buffy left the statement open ended, they both knew the damage the little girl could do.

"Yes, those big burly men didn't have a chance" Hyatt commented as she opened the front door.

The front door opened directly into the living room, the kitchen was through a doorway to the right. The stairs that led up to the bedrooms was to the immediate left of the door. Tara stood on the stairs a surprised look in her eyes.

Buffy and Hyatt stood staring at the living room in wonder.

"I thought Xander only hired moving men?" Buffy tore her eyes away from the beautifully decorated living to the astonished wiccan.

"He did only hire moving men. Star told them where to put everything" Tara blinked several times "She arranged the whole house"

"You're telling me a five year old did this?" Buffy's brow did it's best to join her hairline. At Tara's nod she brush past her, up the stairs, and headed for the room Star had claimed as her own as soon as the Realtor showed them the house.

She found Star sitting on her bed with Willow, the two discussing something in low voices. They ended the conversation as soon as they noticed the blonde in the doorway.

Star through herself at the slayer, who caught her easily, swinging them both in a circle before placing silly kisses all over her face.

"Ok Martha Stewart. I heard you arranged the house all by your lonesome" Buffy hugged the child tightly, only releasing her when she squeaked in protest.

"Martha Stewart? That hags got nothing on me" Star waved away the name non-chalantly "Willow however did make dinner, which you 'are' late for"

Buffy had the decency to blush "Sorry, Hyatt and I kinda got...carried away"

Tara and Hyatt arrived behind them just as Buffy apologized.

"We thought we had a lead on Giles, but it just turned out to be another dead end" Hyatt sighed unhappily.

"Can we avoid using that word" Buffy growled at her girlfriend.

"Buffy, he might be dead" Willow said softly rubbing her friends back "It's been three months Buff, and we've neither heard, nor found, anything that would lead us to believe he's still alive"

Buffy stepped away from Willow, staring at her as if she'd never seen her before in her life "I cannot believe you're willing to give up on him like this!"

"I'm not giving up. I'm just trying to be realistic" Willow tried to explain, but Buffy wasn't listening.

"He's not dead, he's out there somewhere, waiting for us to find him" Buffy placed Star clumsily on her feet.

Star stumbled and fell, blinking up at the blonde in surprise "Mama?"

Buffy didn't hear her.

"He's just stuck somewhere, and we have to save him, we just need to find out..." her voice gave out as the emotional upheaval of losing her Watcher finally reached it's penacle "Oh god" Buffy burst into tears and ran from the room.

Hyatt followed hot on her heels.

The three witches that were left, all jumped when the door slammed.

"Well there goes dinner" Star quipped from her spot on the floor.
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Willow sat on the bed next to Tara, both of them listening to Buffy's quiet sobs through the thin wall the seperated their bedrooms.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Willow shifted and lay with her head in Tara's lap. The blonde immediately began to stroke her hair.

"I hope so sweetie. I mean, she's lost so much. Giles might be her breaking point" Tara sighed as she once again heard Buffy give a quiet wail.

The slayer had been crying for most of the evening. The Wiccan's had put Star to bed nearly and hour ago, Buffy and Hyatt had been closed up in their room since their return earlier that evening.

"I didn't mean to upset her like that. But, he...Giles could be...It's just been so long" Willow buried her face in Tara's thigh, wetting the blonde cotton sleeping pants with her tears.

Tara held her as she too cried for the loss of their father figure. The past few months having been the biggest of their lives so far.

After waiting for the Home Owners Insurance to come through, they'd started looking for a house. Finding one they liked, moving out of Sunnydale. Xander and Anya finding a new apartment away from the HellMouth, Dawn's choice to stay with them instead of Buffy. And Faith and Mycah taking off on their own.

The Scoobs weren't as close as they used to be, not that they'd grown apart that much. They were just farther away from each other then they'd ever been.

"We're still a family right" Willow sat up so fast she nearly hit her head on Tara's chin "Even though we lost our Patriarch. We're still family?"

"Yeah baby, nothing will ever change that" Tara assured her. Taking Willow into her arms she lay back, allowing the redhead to lay her head on her chest, using her breasts as pillows as she normally did when she slept.

They stayed that way for several minutes before Willow's breathing evened out, and she slipped into a deep sleep.

Tara wasn't far behind her.
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Buffy could calm herself down, and her anxiety wouldn't allow Hyatt to calm her down. Unfortunately her emotional exhaustion was keeping her awake.

She lay in a fetal position, Hyatt spoon up against her from behind, warming her back as she lazily rubbed her belly.

She slowly turned around, and stared into Hyatt's eyes, which had retained their gray coloring even after the confrontation with Kalindi at Muriel Hills.

"Do you think he' dead?" Buffy whispered as if afraid if she truly spoke the word aloud, it would come to be.

"No. I think you'd 'know' if he were. You say Giles is alive. So I think Giles is alive" Hyatt said with hesitation.

"Then why am I so worried?" Buffy scooted closer, taking the slim girl into her arms.

"Um because you like to control the things around you. And Giles being absent isn't something you can rectify at this moment so it unsettles you that no matter how strong you are as the slayer, you cannot control the universe?" Hyatt babbled.

Buffy kissed her roughly on the lips "Lie to me next time"

"Okay" Hyatt said dreamily, accepting another kiss from Buffy.

"Mmm" Buffy moaned as she scooted closer "Now I'm feeling kinda...antsy right now. Wonder why that is?"

"Goddess I don't know. Linoleum makes you horny" Hyatt sighed rolling her eyes when Buffy let her up from a breath.

"It does not" the slayer huffed, tickling her lover.

"Then how do you explain the 'kitchen' when we closed on the house?" Hyatt asked between kisses.

"That was for spontaneity" Buffy complained.

"It was the linoleum" Hyatt argued.

"Shut up" the slayer commanded.

"Yes ma'am" the empath surrendered.
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It was the dead on the night when the dream started.

Buffy twitched in her sleep, but her hold on Hyatt didn't loosen.

Their was a flash of flame, cold blue eyes.

And then Giles came.

"You must let me return"

To Buffy it seemed as if he were speaking to himself, but the voice that answered him expelled that chance.

"No, I have granted your request. You are only given one. Would you like to rescind it?"

Giles' expression of anger fell instantly, replaced by fear and abject horror.

"No! But I must help them"

"They don't need your help"

Buffy shivered at the coldness in the voice. It sounded strange to her, that Giles would answer to a voice such as this the way he was. Something seemed off about the whole thing.

She watched his face, his expression became one of helplessness.

"You weill adhere to this agreement. Normally a request such as yours would not be granted. But the circumstances..." there was a pause "You will go with the gaurds, do not fight them. Or our contract is null and void"

"Yes" Giles agreed, but he didn't sound too happy about it.

There was an impression of tree's, many many tree's. A forest Buffy realized.

Then bars, made of cold steel, and the dim light of a single torch.

An offered chalice, a refusal.

And the long wait.
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Hyatt and Buffy awoke before dawn. The darkness giving the last of it's fight before first light.

"Did you dream what I dreampt?" Buffy asked the startled empath.

Hyatt merely nodded, she was overwhelmed. She'd never experienced a 'prophetic dream' such as the one Buffy had just had.

"So that's a slayer dream" she said to herself aloud.

"Yep. And that one was a doozy" Buffy blinked away the last vestiges of sleep.

"Giles!" the both exclaimed at the same time.

"He's alive!"
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