Ship Wrecked
Disclaimer: They're not mine no matter how I much I cross my eyes and wish really, really, hard.
Rating: PG for adult themes
Summary: Set right at the end of wrecked when Buffy and Willow are dealing with their problems
and they meet in a dream and discuss their problems and past and present loves.
Author's note: If I get enough reviews I might write more and show what happens when Willow and
Buffy meet up with their significant others.
Buffy crawled under the covers, the metal cross still clutched in her hand as the cloying scent
of garlic stung her nose. She stared at the ceiling with wide unblinking eyes, her arms crossed
across her chest in death like repose. Slowly her lids lowered, the velvet darkness cold and
lonely for the split second before they bounced back up. Pure will chained her to the bed as her
treaturous heart yearned for the sweet oblivion of Spike's embrace. The mindbending pleasure, the
aching comfort, the dangerous excitement. Reaching deep into her soul for the elemental sensory
connection to her body she slowed her breath and relaxed each muscle, feeling a death-like sleep
settle across her limbs, she closed her eyes and slipped into her dreams. Where she could allow
herself her deepest thoughts and desires.
Willow kicked the covers off, her skin clammy and fevered against the suddenly irritating cotton.
Sweat beaded across her forehead as her breath labored through her tight chest. Every muscle
ached as her stomach cramped and her body filled with aching tension. Her skin didn't feel right
as it lay across her bones, her fingers fidgeting with the blanket as her legs thrashed
restlessly. She closed her eyes against the sickly glow of the moonlight across her face and
willed her mind away from her body. Willed for sleep to claim her.
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Buffy stood in her kitchen watching water flow from the tap in an endless crystal clear stream.
She watched transfixed as the light reflected off the frothing whitenes of oxygenated city water
until a knock at the door startled her. She turned mechanically, her booted heels clicking across
the floor. She turned the brass knob and swung open the door, blinking in the startling yellow
light that seemed as if the sun were resting in her front yard. A figure coalesced in the blinding
spotted corona of light and stepped over the threshold.
"Willow." Buffy breathed and it seemed like the most natural thing that her best friend would be
here in her dream.
"Buffy." Willow sighed, tears in her eyes as she reached out to hug her friend. "I didn't do it
on purpose Buffy. The pain was so intense. I didn't want to be alone. I'm sorry."
Buffy hugged her friend close and inhaled the clean perfume of her red hair for comfort. "It's
okay Willow. I understand." She pulled back and looked into the witch's pained brown eyes. "I
don't want to be alone either."
The house shifted seemlessly and the girl's were sitting cross-legged on Buffy's bed, dressed in
the comfy pj's that had become long tattered and old since their days of crisp newness when Buffy
and Willow, just sixteen, had first worn them.
"Willow, I know it's hard right now. But you've had some good times, right? You have been deeply
loved, lots of times. You have been my rock through so much." Buffy said comfortingly as she
reached out and smoothed Willow's hair back affectionately. "You have had two _great_ loves."
Suddenly Oz flashed through both their minds and Buffy could see him with a light she'd never
noticed before. A soft sensual glow in the depths of his steady gaze. He ducked his head as a
small smile edged across his gentle mouth and Willow and Buffy caught their breath at the
sensuality of the gesture. There was a gentleness and steady love that hung across his shoulders
as he stood with casual grace. "Oz loved you with all his heart," Buffy began, "he was one of the
first to see what I saw in you when we met. How amazing and rare you are. How strong" her voice
stressed quietly across the word as she felt her own tears threaten dangerously close to the
surface, "you are."
Willow felt her shaking abate as Buffy's strength washed over her and the warm bittersweet
remebered glow of Oz's love welled up from some forgotten place deep inside her. "You're on
the road to recovery, Will and it's gonna be rough. I know things are tough with you and Tara,
but she loves you. She loved you enough to be the first to try and help you."
"She left me Buffy!" Willow cried the tears streaming down her face in a fresh torrent.
"Sometimes when you love someone you have to forgive them. And let them forgive you." Buffy smiled
strangely, the words sounding wiser than a young girl should need to be. "The confidence and
happiness that I have seen Tara give you has been amazing. I want you to have that back, Will."
Willow smiled deeply, from the heart, as she looked at her best friend. "You're what's amazing,
Buffy. You, well you and Xander, have been more than my friends. You've been my family."
The word family echoed through Buffy and bounced through her bruised soul. Her mother's death.
The weight of Dawn's care. Her resurrection and the pain of dealing with her living breathing
forged family again. The images flashed across her eye as the numbness that protected her
settled in her chest and she gazed off unseeing. What was tempered and numbed for Buffy ripped
through Willow's soul. She saw it all through Buffy's eyes without a homegrown filter to soften
the edge. Her breath rattled through her tight chest as the cool sweat of emotional pain broke
out across her skin again.
Suddenly there was a sparkling clear moment. Buffy stood before her bedroom mirror resplendant
in a flowing white gown with a high bodice. Buffy half-twirled and looked over her shoulder at
the back of the dress. In that one moment, no baggage. Just a girl feeling alive and beautiful in
a gorgeous dress, prepared to have fun.
"I remember that dress," Willow exclaimed to herself. "You wore that the night of the Spring
Fling dance when you had to fight the master! God, so much has happened since then."
"Yeah, I know. I died. Twice." Her voice jumped up an octave as she proclaimed the last. She
grew sadly serious "And I've fallen in love. Twice."
Willow nodded her head knowingly thinking back to the pain Buffy went through with Angel then
Riley. She stopped mid-nod her eyes widening with shock as a figure entered the room and swaggered
towards Buffy. Buffy glanced over her shoulder and smiled her little happy smile.
"You look gorgeous, luv. Did you wear this dress for me," Spike said huskily as his eyes trailed
over Buffy adoringly.
"Uh-huh," Buffy moaned and flushed as the blond vampire stepped closer and reverently stroked his
hand through her silken hair. His black leather dressed figure contrasted vibrantly against the
virginal innocence of Buffy in her prom dress but there was a rightness to the scene. Spike's
unneeded breath caught in his throat as he bit his lower lip and met Buffy's eyes deeply.
"Buffy, with all that I am, I love you. You're my sweetheart. My lovely little Goldylocks" He
pulled her into his arms and she melted against the supple leather of his jacket and let his love
envelop her.
"Is that what it feels like with him?" Willow asked, shocked disbelief in her eyes.
Buffy looked over her shoulder at her friend and whispered so softly that Willow barely heard
her, "yeah." She looked up into his expressive face, that showed her that he ached for her, that
when he wasn't with her he wanted her near, and that when he was he just wanted her closer. "He
takes the pain away, Will."
Willow stared at her friend embracing the vampire she had seen risk his unlife for them, and care
for Dawn, and cry every night Buffy had been dead. Spike held her lovingly, his black painted nails
flashing as he stroked a hand across her back and kissed her passionately. Willow's expression
resolved into acceptance, "If he makes you feel that way, Buffy, go to him."
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Willow drowsed comfortably as she slowly surfaced towards consciousness. She felt stronger now.
She felt loved and comfortable and ready to face her road one step at a time. She smiled and
snuggled into her pillow as she heard Buffy pad softly past her door, her leather jacket creaking
as she tried not to make any noise. *At least somebody was gettin some tonight* Willow thought
naughtily as she faintly heard the front door click. Her eyes popped open and she looked across
the empty space where Tara should be to the clock at her bedside. It was only one am. Nervously
she picked up the phone and dialed the number she knew by heart.
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