Connections

Chapter 12



"Hello, Xander," Tara said softly.


Xander felt tears fill his eyes. Somehow he knew that this was not a
game the First was playing; this was truly Tara. "Tara,
how?" he asked.


"I am here for Willow," Tara answered gently.


"She's going to die?" Xander asked, his voice cracking with
pain.


"No, at least I hope not. The mediwitch has cured her, but
because of what she did to Warren she must go through a reckoning. If
she passes the test before her, she will be returned. If she fails,
she will die. As the person closest to her I have a choice as to what
that reckoning must be. We are both being tested," Tara answered
as she glided closer to her lover.


"What will she get if she passes? What will you get if she
passes?" Xander asked anxiously.


"Peace," Tara answered simply, before she disappeared.
Xander felt blackness consume him and slumped forward, unconscious.
Only Hogwarts itself witnessed the disappearance of the red haired
witch and her best friend. The school walled off the area and no one
could enter until the test was complete.

Hours later, when everyone rose, all of the Sunnydalers and their
mates went to the infirmary to make sure that Willow and Xander were
all right. They were stunned to find a swearing Madam Pomfrey and a
stone wall where Xander and Willow had been the night before.
"Poppy, what has happened?" Albus asked worriedly.


"I don't know! I can't get past the blo ody wall!" the
mediwitch bellowed as she once again pounded on the grey stone in her
path. Poppy didn't stand for anything coming between her and her
patients, and that included Hogwarts itself!


Just as she was about to start casting curses at the building, the
wall shimmered away. On the other side, three bodies lay entwined.
All three were whispering to one another and the two on either side
seemed to be soothing the one in the middle. No one could understand
what exactly it was they were seeing until Xander shifted. Buffy
screamed and ran to the bed. Lying there, holding Willow, was Tara.
She turned to look at Buffy as she was suddenly tackled by the
ecstatic blonde. Before they could recover, Dawn was at their sides
screaming out her joy as well.


When the two settled down they looked over at Willow and again
screamed, but this time in alarm. Where there were once green eyes,
now there were white. "She's blind," Xander choked out,
without turning h is head away from Willow.


"She should get her sight back in a few days," Tara said
through her tears.


"What happened? How is this possible?" Giles asked.


Xander looked up and they all gasped at the sight of his bruised and
burned face. Hs eyes were as white as Willow's. "Willow went
through a reckoning and we went with her," Tara told them
mournfully.


"Reckoning, what reckoning?" Wes asked, though he was
afraid he already knew.

//Flashback//



Willow and Xander moaned in abject pain as they slowly opened their
eyes. All around them the air was still, yet it cut through the
bodies like a knife. Breathing was terribly painful and Xander
couldn't get over the feeling that he'd somehow swallowed ground
glass.


"Where are we?" Willow asked, confused. The last thing she
remembered was confessing the horrors that she had committed.


"We are in hell,ara ara answered.


They spu n to face her.


"No! You don't deserve to be here!" Willow screamed in
anguish.


"I'm here for you, Willow. You once told Xander that you would
do anything to give Warren back his life. You can't do that, but
there is something you can do instead."


"Why is Xander here? What do I have to do?" Willow asked.


"You have to go through the flames and free Warren from the hell
you cursed him to when you killed him. As for why Xander's here, he
carries a burden, one that has been eating at his soul all of these
years. The only way that he will ever be a true warrior is to face
that burden and to be free of it. Part of that will one one at your
side. He must deliver Jesse to the cleansing water. I cannot go any
further with you. I can only show you the way," Tara told her,
raising her voice as the wind suddenly began to rise and scream
around them.


"Where do we have to go?" Xander shouted.


"Go forward into the flames. You ha ve to find them. Only when
you have freed them can you be free. There will be pain, but I know
that you can do this!" Tara shouted to them as the wind whisked
her away.


For several minutes the pair stared after her, then as one they
turned and walked into the flames. This time, the screams that filled
the air were theirs. They felt the burning agony of the flames as
they danced upon their skin and each step was an agony in and of
itself. More than once they had to resist the urge to go back, but
something kept urginem aem ahead. It was surreal and they wondered if
they were dreaming, but surely a dream wouldn't hurt so badly.


When they finally made it through the flames, they collapsed to the
ground, sobbing out their pain and clinging to one another. Finally
they looked up, and both of them cried out at the sight before them.
Two bodies hung upside down and side by side. One was without skin,
while the other seemed living ash. Every few minutes bar bs seemed to
fly from the wall and through their bodies. Xander shuddered and
turned away to vomit as the two 'bodies' screamed in pain. Both
Willow and Xander became violently ill when they realized just who it
was they were looking at.


Together they stumbled forward. They had to save them. Willow was
whimpering in pain and muttering that she was sorry. Xander was too
numb to say anything. All these years and he had never thought just
what he had done to all of the vampires he'd sent to hell. Or just
what he had done to Angel when he'd lied about the spell. Tears slid
down his cheeks as he neared Jesse.


They had only gone a few feet when tentacles attacked them. Willow
screamed in pain and rage as the barbs bit into her skin. Xander's
screams echoed her own, and then there was silence. Pure white light
flowed from the pair and they began to burn, this time in a different
light. The pair started walking again. This time when the barbs
attacked them, they burned awayitheither noticed, as they were too
intent on freeing the people that they had put in this hell.


As one, they touched the bodies in front of them. It was the last
thing either of them saw. Minutes later they were lying side by side.
Willow felt a gentle touch on her face. "I'm sorry, thank
you," then there was a brush of lips across her bef before the
body beside her slipped away.


"I love you," Xander heard, before a gentle kiss was laid
across his bleeding brow. Then Jesse faded away.


//End Flashback//


"Then Tara came back and here we are. I'm sorry for lying to
you, Buffy. I'm sorry for sending you to hell," Xander sobbed
out.


"Don't, Xander. I understood and I forgave you a long time
ago," Angel told him gently. What the boy had been through was
horrific and Angel felt for him.


Buffy merely hugged him. She could understand why Xander had done it
and had even suspected that he had lied, but she couldn't bring
herself to hate him for it.


Severus, Harry and Spike all hurried over to their mate, while
Kennedy walked forward carefully. Tara surprised Kennedy by smiling
at her. "Hello, Kennedy," Tara said softly, while Willow
reached a hand out to her blindly.


Harry pulled Xander into his arms and held onto him tightly. They
could have lost him and never known!


tbc..


AN: I will be concentrating on this tory only until it is finished,
then I will move on to the next one. If you have a preference on
which one I finish next let me know.


Thanks