Falling Together

Chapter 1

She was confused to say the least. Confused and scared. Things she had never considered came rising up in her never silent mind.

A few weeks earlier…

Willow Rosenberg was used to being different from everyone else. She had never been able to sit down and have a passage of words with someone who was considered 'normal'. Not a single one of them seemed to be able to understand a single words she said. Except, of course, for her long time best friend Xander, who she had befriended in kindergarten. They had shared a similar way of playing with words, although Willow had always been more advanced, she and Xander understood each other. Luckily, now the two friends had another friend to share their 'weirdness' with. Buffy Summers.

Buffy had been part of the popular crowd at Sunnydale, the first day she set foot in the school. Cordelia, who was like the leader of the popular girls, the cheerleading squad, and acted like the leader of the school, had taken an interest in her right away. She kinda liked someone in her group who was born, and for the biggest part raised, in Los Angeles. But it seemed like Buffy just felt out of place when she saw Cordelia pick on Willow who was just trying to drink some water. So when the brunette girl saw Buffy hanging out with Xander, Jesse and her, her immediate acting was kicking the short blonde out of her perfect group of so called friends.

Willow had felt very jumpy and uncertain of everything when she hung out with the new girl. Although her mind thought Buffy didn't mean any harm, her heart had a whole other feeling. The blonde acted weird whenever she came walking out of the school library and rumors told her she hangs out on cemeteries a lot. But it was not just that. Xander accidentally caused Buffy to drop her bag once when he ran into her (or rather against her) the first day she was at school. All sorts of weird, handmade, wooden weapons had fallen out and were dropped on the ground. Xander had mentioned it to the redhead in one of their daily lunch conversations. The girl had looked up in surprise and had told her friend she believed him, although in her mind, she thought he was crazy. He must have hit himself hard, she had thought. Until she saw it herself. The blonde had forgotten to close her bag pack and a wooden stake and crossbow stuck out a little.

Things had been a mystery for Jesse and Xander, but most definitely for Willow, who had fallen asleep at 3 a.m. almost every night after her little 'Buffy bag' encounter. Her poor head couldn't stop thinking and over thinking about what she'd seen. The girl had a condition of uncontrolled babbling and when she couldn't say her thoughts out loud, every thought she had, kept unfolding itself until her head felt like an entangled spider web of unspoken, secret words.

About a week later, during one of her free periods, she walked into the school library. Willow had always been a fan of libraries. Ever since she was old enough to read, she had been walking to the local library every week and leant books. At first with her mom, later on her own, when her mom and dad had stopped caring that much. The older she got, the more difficult the books she read became. Soon, the children's books weren't the only thing the little girl like to read. The non-fictional books became her favorites too. She spent more time reading in those information sources than she did playing outside. She had gotten smarter and smarter each and every day.

Loaded with fun facts, she went to middle school. Because of her brains, the other kids had trouble connecting with her. Jesse was the only one besides Xander who actually liked to talk to her and didn't think her fun facts were boring facts.

This was the first time she set foot in the Sunnydale High School's library. She had heard there was a new librarian who had just moved from England to their city. Although she was psyched to go to the library and look through its collection, Willow was held back by the fact that she was nervous to meet the British man. She hadn't heard anyone mention anything about him. Then again, if there really was something to be afraid of, she would've at least read something about the library in the newspaper.

Willow knew weird things were going on in Sunnydale. She heard suspicious sounds when she lay on her bed late at night, and the newspaper had a daily article for recent deaths and murders. She never felt at ease when she walked outside after sunset. Not alone, not with friends or family, never.

There was definitely something unusual going on in Sunnydale. If only she knew what…

The girl walked into the library and looked around. She was greeted by the librarian who stood behind the counter, probably working on the library's accountancy. He looked like he was in his forties and wore a pair of glasses that looked like they were taken from Harry Potter. She saw a pile of four books lying on the desk. They looked old. Very old. The man looked at her and then the stack of books next to him. Willow saw a glimpse of panic flick through his eyes as he picked up the books and carried them to his office which was located behind the counter. He stumbled a little under the seemingly huge weight. After placing the books on a table, the librarian returned, locking the door to the small room behind him.

"Can I help you?" the man asked her in his English accent, taking off his glasses and cleaning them with a white rag he kept in his pocket.

"Yes, please," Willow started. "I'm looking for the novels. I have no idea where to start looking." She was a little embarrassed by that fact. Usually, Willow went straight for the library on the first day of school.

"You should be able to find them on the le-"

The new librarian was unable to finish his sentence. He was interrupted by a loud thump against the doors. They swung open immediately. Willow, who was facing away from the door, jumped at the sudden sound. She spun around and looked at the blonde girl that came storming in. Willow recognized the short girl straightaway. The blonde, on the other hand, didn't, as she was digging in her bag, looking for something.

"Giles, they found a dead boy in the girls locker room. They're looking for the death cause, but it's obvious he was bitten by a vampire. Should I go out and sta-" The girl had found what she had been searching and held it up in her hand. It was a wooden stake. Willow recognized it as one of the weapons Xander had described. This, along with the words the girl had spoken, left Willow stunned. She didn't know what to do. She was transfixed, unable to move. For once, she was speechless.

By the time the girl had finished what she wanted to say, she looked up, stake in her right hand, looking at the librarian, then the redhead standing next to him. It was obvious she wasn't expecting someone else than the English man to be there, let alone one of her friends.

"Willow?" the short blonde said after a short uneasy silence.

"Buffy?" Willow finally said as she was able to speak again.

The girls just stood there. Staring at each other. Neither of them had any idea what to say or do next. Even the librarian could sense how awkward the situation was and had taken off his glasses to clean them again. Willow broke the staring contest with Buffy to look at the man. He's nervous too she thought to herself. That's why he's cleaning his glasses. It makes sense now. So the librarian has something to do with this too, that explains why I didn't want to go here up until today. Good work me.

Willow turned her attention back to Buffy and asked her silently: What's going on here?

Buffy looked nervously around her. She knew there was no point in lying to Willow. How could she lie herself out of what she had said when she came storming in? Also, the redhead was smarter than her. She would figure it out eventually. It didn't make it any easier to tell, though.

"Willow, there's no easy way to tell you this, so I'll just get straight to the point… I'm the Slayer." Buffy told her friend.

"Slayer?"

"Slayer."

"Slayer?" Willow asked again.

The librarian, who she hadn't even noticed walking away, came rushing back with one of the old books in his hands. He placed it in her hands and pointed to a paragraph that was part of a hand drawn picture. She read it while the man quoted along: "Into every generation a Slayer is born: one girl in all the world, a chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their number. She," he nodded towards Buffy, "is the Slayer."

"Slayer," Willow repeated as she let it sink in.

She looked at the drawing above the quote. It showed a girl, holding two stakes, surrounded by vampires and some other demons that she didn't recognize. She stood on one foot, kicking a demon with the other one and staked a vampire with one of her hands.

Slayer… Buffy is a Slayer.

"That's me," Buffy ensured her, still a bit shaken, but putting her hands on her hips anyway, pushing her chest forward, still holding the stake. Buffy's pose reminded Willow of a superhero's. The only thing that was missing, was a mild wind blowing through her hair. Willow snickered at her own thought.

"Okay, so Buffy's the Slayer. The only one in all of the world…" Willow tried to clear things up for herself.

"Yep. The one and only."

"But how is the librarian involved in all of this?"

"I'm her Watcher," the English man answered proudly.

"Watcher?"

"Watcher," Buffy repeated.

"And what's the Watcher's job?" Willow wondered. She hated to admit it, but she was getting a bit excited about all the new information she got about her friend.

"Easy," Buffy said grinning. "A Slayer slays, a Watcher watches."

"No." The man seemed offended.

"Oh, I'm just messing with you, Giles."

Mr. Giles gave Buffy a look and turned to the redhead.

"To keep things short, a watcher seeks to prepare the Slayer to fight demonic forces."

"He's my personal trainer," Buffy joked, smiling, proud of her comedic performance. According to her, anyway. Giles was clearly growing tired of Buffy treating his important job with disregard. Willow felt sorry for the man. In the few weeks she had come to know the short girl, she had learnt how annoyingly persistent Buffy could be. Whether it was a joke or an opinion, or anything else for that matter, she would always try to keep it her way. Willow loved her for that, but part of her wished she could just think about the other's feelings. If only just once. It would make a huge difference.

She gave the librarian/Watcher a sympathetic look, and just as she was about to say something, the bell rang, signaling second period was over and third was about to start. The last thing Willow wanted was to be late for class.

"Buffy, we gotta get to class. You coming?" she asked her friend. She really wanted to talk more about this thing that was Buffy's destiny. She knew that it would be hard to do so while walking down the crowded school hallways, but it would be a good reassurance of the girl's safety, both of theirs actually, to keep her as close as possible. Just to keep an eye on each other.

"I'm sorry, Will. It's essential that Giles and I take care of this 'accident'. I'll see you at lunch?"

"Sure," Willow answered as she took off, heading for her next class.

The redhead was rushing through the clearing hallways of the school building, absorbed in her own thoughts. She was about to be late for class.

Speed walking and not looking where she was going, Willow accidentally bumped into another girl, causing her to drop her books and fall. Although Willow really didn't want to be late, she wasn't selfish enough to keep going and not help the girl.

"I'm so, so, so sorry!" Willow exclaimed as she turned around and went straight to the dropped books, gathering them to help the victim of her own stupidity. It only took her a few seconds to make a neat pile of the books again and stand up. She offered the girl her hand, wanting to help her get up too.

The girl accepted her offer and took it, placing her slightly sweaty hand in Willows and rising to her feet. She was trembling a little from aftershock. Willow could see she was a bit nervous. She could tell by the way the girl wouldn't look at her. Her face was hidden by her dark blonde hair.

"I'm really sorry" Willow apologized again. She really was. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yes, I-I am," the girl said. "Thank y-y-you." At that moment, she finally looked up, looking Willow in the eye.

At that moment, it happened. Willow herself didn't know yet, but deep down, she felt it. It would take her a few weeks to recognize the weird feeling in her chest, was her heart skipping a beat, returning every time the girl would say her name. That the amazing light feeling in her stomach were butterflies, finding their way back, whenever they would touch.

Willow looked back, really looked back at the other girl facing her. She lost herself in her amazing ocean blue eyes, losing track of time.

Until she heard the second bell. Third period had just stared. She was late for class! It took her a moment to fully realize that she had to get to class. When it hit her, fear took the better of her, running away, leaving the girl behind.

Willow didn't know it yet, but this was love at first sight. She had just met her soul mate.

Tara.