information and disclaimers in part one =20
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Title: Dreams? 7/11
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Willow carefully set aside the heavy volume as she finished scanning it =
into the computer. The ornate book was very old and, therefore, very =
delicate. Covering it with protective plastic, she set the book aside. =
Willow popped the disk she'd saved the translation onto and left it =
where Angel would find it when he and Cass were done with sword =
practice. Over the past month he had begun reading through the texts =
her teacher had assigned to her. She stretched as she got out of the =
desk chair, lifting her red hair off her neck, and reveled in the cool =
air of the air conditioner. It was broiling outside; August had been =
extraordinarily hot this year. She leaned against the wall and looked =
out the clear night sky and reflected once again on how much her life =
had changed. =20
=20
The young witch was beginning to realize that her friendship with Buffy =
had faded; Willow had moved on, well before her training had ever begun. =
In fact, she hadn't seen Buffy in a month and found, to her own =
surprise, that it didn't hurt. Xander and Giles had come by the mansion =
yesterday but that had been for research. =20
=20
About midsummer she had decided that living at the Mansion would be far =
more convenient. She was there all the time anyway. Giles had protested, =
but Willow put on a firm resolve face and stood firm. Her childhood =
friend had given Willow his usual careful looking over then had relaxed, =
apparently reassured that she was safe, well, and happy.
=20
Cassandra had wanted to take advantage of her student being enrolled in =
only one college class, so Willow had found herself studying and =
practicing constantly. If she wasn't working with Cassandra on magic, =
then Angel was having her exercise, going through drills that were very =
similar to things she'd watched Buffy do. Once established, this =
pattern continued uninterrupted into the summer. Her quick mind and =
strong determination made Willow master what Cassandra had to teach at a =
rate far beyond what the Immortal had expected. <I've found a part of me =
that was missing. Admittedly, I didn't know it was missing, but this =
feels right. > =20
=20
Willow had her training and her computer to keep her mind fully =
occupied. She also had Angel's friendship, and he understood her far =
better than either of her older friends ever had. Cassandra, too, seemed =
to understand Willow's need to learn about the magic she had found =
inside herself. Even the painful workouts had become welcome, making =
her feel less weak and helpless. To everyone's, except perhaps =
Cassandra's, surprise, she had absorbed the martial arts training like a =
sponge. She was now almost as good a fighter as Buffy. Angel had =
originally been teaching her hand-to-hand techniques. After the fourth =
week of watching him practice sword fighting, with Cassandra Willow =
badgered him into including weapons. She had taken to fencing like it =
had been her calling in a previous life. Cassandra encouraged these =
lessons, and Willow's new stamina allowed her to attempt spells that =
required long periods of concentration.=20
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=20
<So many changes, but the changes are welcome ones. I don't have to hide =
things from the people who were important to me. > This was true; =
everything in Willow's life was now open. Except one little thing -- a =
secret she kept deeply buried.=20
=20
<I'm I love with Angel. >=20
=20
Willow wasn't sure when it had happened, but she had fallen in love =
with the vampire. Moving into his home, seeing him all the time, had =
forced her to examine her feelings. What she had found dismayed her. =
<This is not good. Bad Willow! > Every time he was around, part of her =
melted into a warm puddle. Every small grin or spontaneous laugh from =
her tall, handsome friend made her heart speed up uncontrollably. Willow =
worried about how Buffy would react. The two young women weren't close =
but Willow still cared; once she brought a person into her heart they =
stayed there. Despite her more than occasional annoyance with her =
friend and the distance now between them, she knew that Buffy still =
cared about Angel. It wasn't that she thought Angel was still love with =
Buffy; she knew he wasn't. Willow was more worried that if Angel =
figured out that she loved him he would start putting distance between =
them. Willow desperately didn't want to lose the close friendship that =
had grown over the past year and a half. It was a moot point though; =
Angel just saw her as a friend. Knowing he was practicing sword =
fighting just down the hall <And no shirt (grin) . . . Bad Willow! > =
wasn't helping her get him out of her thoughts, though.
=20
Realizing that she needed to distract herself from her thoughts about =
Angel, Willow decided to work on translating the book Methos had sent =
via Joe. It was written in an obscure dialect of language that =
Cassandra, surprisingly enough, did not know. Two months of searching =
and computer work had been needed to put together a translation program =
for it. It was not an impressive looking book, especially in comparison =
to the heavily jeweled book she had just finished scanning and =
translating. The well-preserved volume wasn't large and had a plain =
wood and leather cover. Old enough to have preceded the printing press, =
it was entirely handwritten. But the tiny lettering lacked even the =
slightest amount of ornamentation. <Or as Xander put it, there aren't =
any pictures. >
=20
Curiosity over the volume had driven Willow to find references on the =
language to build a translation program with. <The other option would =
be to call Methos and ask him to translate it, but I don't think that =
idea would go over too well with Cass. > Carefully turning the pages =
Willow ran the scanner over the words. After ten pages she stopped and =
fed the newly saved files into the translation program. A small box =
popped up on the screen next to an animated hourglass. "Five minutes," =
Willow muttered, "Plenty of time to grab a snack."=20
=20
A quick foray into the kitchen provided the witch with soda. The =
cookies were more elusive. <I know I bought you. Double chocolate. > =
Willow rummaged around the cupboards, ignoring the healthier snacks that =
Cassandra had purchased. <No rice cakes. I'm definitely in a caffeine =
and sugar mood. > "There you are!" Willow chortled. Seizing her junk =
food she went back to her computer. The little hourglass was dribbling =
to a stop. Grabbing a cookie she munched while waiting for the program =
to wrap up. A small chime sounded.=20
=20
Eagerly, Willow skimmed the translation of the mystery book. Half =
way into second page she swallowed abruptly and began reading every =
word. By the end of the tenth page she'd completely forgotten the =
cookies and the soda. She sat back; green eyes still fastened on the =
screen. Then Willow began scanning the rest of the book into the =
scanner as quickly as she could, forcing herself to be careful with the =
delicate pages.
=20
She completely failed to notice when the sword fighting session ended =
and was, therefore, very startled when Angel came up behind her. He =
waved his hand in front of her eyes to get her attention, and she shot =
up out of her chair and yelped, "Angel!"
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"Are you okay?"
=20
"Yeah, I was scanning this book, the one Joe sent, and I lost track of =
time, it's a really interesting book, and I wanted to get it all scanned =
to today, it's translating now . . ."Willow rambled with an absorbed =
look on her face. =20
=20
"All of it?" Angel eyed the thick volume with an amused grin. It wasn't =
the first time Willow had lost track of time during when she was really =
interested in something. "Did you eat?'
=20
Willow pointed to the forgotten cookies and soda. Angel rolled his eyes =
and left to find something else. The redhead barely noticed his =
departure as the last section of text finished translating.=20
=20
Willow jumped again when Angel tapped her shoulder to get her attention, =
nearly knocking the tray of soup and toast right out of his hands. He =
sat the tray next to the computer and turned her away form the computer.
=20
"Eat. Now." The look on his face told her that he wouldn't leave until =
the food was gone. Willow ate quickly. =20
=20
"Thanks. Goodnight Angel." She turned back to the computer. =
Angel grinned and watched her from a moment. He knew that when she was =
this absorbed even her closest friend didn't stand a chance of breaking =
in.
=20
Cassandra found her student still front of the computer, bleary eyed, at =
seven the following morning. =20
=20
"Willow, did you sleep?" Her voice held the slightest of gentle =
reprimands. The Immortal had discovered early on that Willow would =
study though the entire night if not stopped. It didn't make =
concentrating on magic lessons go very well.
=20
Willow jumped. "Um, no," She avoided looking in Cassandra in the eye. =
Getting to her feet she discovered that she was distinctly wobbly.
=20
<Okay, I would say lessons are a lost cause today. > Cassandra thought =
wryly as she observed the little lurch Willow made as she stood.
=20
"You have to see this, Cass! It's that book Joe brought. It's about =
vampires. You have to read it!" Willow was babbling, clearly excited. =
=20
"I'll read it --- if you go to sleep. Now." <What could have gotten the =
child this excited? She's acting as bouncy as the first day of our =
lessons. I think she would start skipping if she weren't so tired. >=20
=20
Willow looked like she wanted to protest then turned to head for her =
room.
=20
The book was indeed about vampires, after the first page or so. The =
handwritten volume was a carefully kept journal. A skilled sorcerer =
wrote the journal as a record of his experiences to send to a colleague. =
The first page spoke calmly of an apparently long running experiment. =
After that the tone of the journal changed dramatically. The home of =
the sorcerer's young daughter, newly married, had been attacked. =
Cassandra read on, now quite curious. Apparently one of the husband's =
men at arms had been vamped and had gotten entrance. His daughter was =
now a vampire. Only magic had saved his life when the young woman came =
after him. He had imprisoned his daughter in a heavily reinforced room.
=20
The rest of the journal was an account of the sorcerer's battle against =
the powerful master vampire that had moved into the area. The grieving =
father had created several spells to fight vampires. Although simple =
and easy to use the spells were still quite powerful. =20
=20
That was not what had fascinated Willow. What had grabbed Willow's =
attention was the sorcerer's struggle to help his daughter. He couldn't =
bear to kill her, so he turned his skills to finding a way to return his =
child's spirit to her body. He succeeded. =20
=20
The plain little book, sent by the sorcerer to his friend Methos and =
from him to Cassandra and Willow, contained a spell for permanently =
binding the soul of a vampire. As far as Cassandra could tell it should =
work, as the sorcerer said it had worked for his daughter. Like the =
other spells in the book it was very simple in its construction. =
However, it was also highly dangerous. She knew without asking that =
Willow would attempt the spell. <And get herself killed doing it! > =
Cassandra sighed. <Bloody hell! I'm just going to have to help her. >
=20
The meeting was carefully timed to coincide with Angel's run to Willie's =
for food and Buffy's rounds of the graveyard. Cassandra and Willow =
thought including either of them would be a bad idea. Giles and Xander =
looked openly curious. They could both see Willow was nearly bouncing =
and bubbling with excitement.
=20
"You'll never believe what I've found, it's wonderful, It -- this book . =
. ." Willow was in a full speed ramble.
=20
Xander cut in, "Um, Will, you're babbling, which is very Willowy, but I =
thought you said we only had a half hour or so."
=20
Willow blushed and grinned. "Cass, could you tell them, I' m kinda =
excited."=20
=20
<I never would have noticed. I've never seen someone so hyper. > "Yes. =
I believe Willow has mentioned the book that Methos sent with Joe a few =
months ago."
=20
Both the Watcher and Xander nodded. Willow's slight obsession with the =
mystery book would have been hard to miss.
=20
"Well, two days ago she was successful in translating it on the =
computer. It proved to be journal recording a medieval sorcerer's =
encounter with vampires. One of the spells he created was for =
permanently binding a soul to a vampire." Seeing the open mouthed shock =
on their faces she paused to give them a little time for the news to =
sink in.
=20
Giles was the first to speak, "You mean we now have a way to permanently =
bind Angel's soul." He paused, taking his glasses off and cleaning them. =
"Why didn't you want Angel or Buffy here?"
=20
Willow, more calmly then before, explained. "We didn't want to get =
Angel's hopes up. Just in case it didn't work." The slender girl =
looked down, flushing a little. "And I wasn't sure how Buffy would =
react. She hasn't tried to speak to either Angel or I for a couple =
months." She looked up at Xander and Giles appealingly, green eyes =
vulnerable. "Are you okay with this?"
=20
Xander grabbed her hand, and smiled at his childhood friend. "Willow, I =
admit I didn't like the idea of you being around Deadboy at first, but =
I've seen enough to know he's your friend. If this is important to you, =
then it's fine with me. What do you need me to do?"=20
=20
Willow threw her arms around Xander's neck, tears hovering in her eyes. =
"Thank you." After a few minutes she let go of him and sat back. The =
young witch turned to the Watcher, "Giles?"
=20
Giles smiled, "I agree with Xander. Plus, I think that making sure that =
Angelus can never return must be considered a benefit." <Although I have =
no idea how Buffy will receive this news. > The Watcher was well aware =
of the confrontation that had taken place last spring. For a month =
following that morning, the young woman had been wavered between anger =
and tears when speaking about either Willow or Angel. Now, the Slayer =
simply avoided seeing them or speaking about them whenever possible. =
She had been rather quiet lately. Giles was more than a little worried =
about how she was handling the changes in her and her friend's lives.=20
=20
Willow gave them both a glowing smile, and then she and Cassandra began =
explaining what would need to be done.
to be continued . . .
