oldreliablewillow:

She carried on holding her close and petting her hair for a long moment before standing and guiding Tara to the small bathroom. She sat flipped the toilet lid down and sat her down on it, turning to the bath and running the hot water.

“I have some amazing bathsalts, I’m sure you’ll love them, they smell just like that old perfume you had.” She said, smiling and only babbling a little. She was just… even though her memory was gone, even though she was filthy and so, so scared- it was Tara. The love of her life had come back to her.

“I’m just going to go back into my room to get you some clean clothes, ok?” She said, smiling in what she hoped was a comforting way before slipping back into he bedroom and crossing to her dresser. Third drawer down, it was all Tara’s. She kept them safe. She couldn’t bring herself to throw them away, back when Tara died, and she’d magicked them to herself when Sunnydale had collapsed. She got them out sometimes, put a spell on them and cuddled them to her, as if she could pretend Tara was back with her.

But now she was- if not entirely- but Willow could fix that, couldn’t she? She was more powerful, more in control that she’d ever been. Tara was going to completely come back to her, just like what had happened with Glory. Tara was going to be hers again.

Then there she was left in a bathroom, dazed, overwhelmed by words. So many words.

All she can do is nod numbly, her eyes shifting and looking instead at the water as it slowly fills the tub. Steam wafts slow and gentle through the air and she reaches out a hand towards it. It’s so familiar and yet…

Tara still remembers nothing.

The memories do not simply flit about just out of grasp any longer, they just do not exist. She assumes that should worry her, but she can’t quite recall why that would be a worrying thing in the first place. The water looks tempting just as the dirt feels heavy, bordering on disgusting upon her skin. Fingertips skim the surface with brief curiosity, wondering how it would feel to be clear and watches when she dips her hand in further.

Dirt and filth falls away, floating darkly through the water and down towards the bottom. Somehow, Tara finds it oddly entrancing to sit there and watch. Pulling her hand away, she looks over her clean skin and wonders if she should undress. Her mind wanders back to Willow and heat rises to her cheeks in the slightest. The woman is…different.

Familiar.

How though…?

Tara sits back on the toilet seat, sighing low, and hugs herself wondering what she’s doing here in this unfamiliar place. Or is it unfamiliar? Looking around and examining the various decor within the bathroom. The scent that fills the air is familiar, it relaxes her and she gives a slight hum, a familiar lullaby from…where? Somewhere, her mind supplies as she closes her eyes.

This feels…

She nearly is startled out of her reverie, hearing the door creak open and looks at it expectantly. What does Willow expect of her, Tara wonders with open curiosity.

oldreliablewillow:

Hearing the croak, Willow spun round. It was like her entire being called out for the girl she’d thought she’d lost forever. Her heart both rose and sunk as she laid eyes on her, the sight of the woman she loved breaking her heart in a way she didn’t know possible.

She opened her arms wide and held Tara close, hugging her tightly to her. “Oh, god, baby, baby I’m here, it’s ok.” She said, stroking her hair. “I’m going to get you home and everything will be ok.” 

Her tattered clothing and filth stained skin worried Willow more than anything had before. Had Tara had to claw her way out of her own grave like Buffy? Had the loneliness driven her to this, the pain of escaping her coffin forced away her memories? But no, Tara wasn’t a slayer, wasn’t that strong, and her grave had been destroyed along with the rest of Sunnydale. 

“I’m going to make everything better, baby.” She said, cradling her closely. “Let’s go home.” A sudden flash of bright green light brought them back to Willow’s room in the castle, dropping them gently on her bed. “We need to get you clean, ok?” She asked, stroking the side of Tara’s face.

There was confusion, however Tara was certain there was something more than casual concern behind the other woman’s words. Baby, she kept saying, over and over. Why was she so dear to this woman? Why did those hands feel soothing? Why did the embrace itself nearly bring her to tears?

Nothing, nothing, nothing.

The more she thought about it the less she could contemplate an answer to even one of the questions swelling, bloating, coming alive inside her mind. Opening her mouth to question how the other woman planned on getting them back much less how she arrived here in the same place…suddenly they were elsewhere.

Too shocked and unsure of what to say, she nods mutely, looking at Willow with a quiet curiosity. Who was this woman? She said her name was Willow, but was that supposed to mean something? Tara was lost in her mind for a second, staring blankly at the woman in front of her and didn’t realize that the one question she didn’t muse was simple yet profound;

How had Willow brought them here suddenly from the woods?

She isn’t given the time to register or think long upon it, the warmth and comfort of a bed and clean sheets distract her. Those slender fingers dance across her face and her brows knit together in confusion. But there is mention of getting cleaned up, something that Tara doesn’t mind in the slightest and nearly sighs aloud at the thought.

“Okay,” she hears herself croak out in a rasping voice, tiredly leaning into the touch. The same touch that is foreign yet comforting, it stirs something within her…familiarity perhaps? Tara doesn’t know how that can be true…she’s never met this woman before in her life.

…right?

oldreliablewillow:

She’sbackShe’sBackShe’sbackShe’sBack ran through Willows mind as she rushed through the Scottish castle and to her room, finding a spellbook and certain ingredients to use for the spell to find Tara, to bring her home.

Her lack of memory worried her. She didn’t remember Willow. She didn’t remember her own name- even when Buffy had come back, she’d remembered. Remembered her life and her afterlife. At least she was lucid. At least she wasn’t like she was when Glory- when Glory-

And she was alive. Willow was going to bring her mind back to her. She flipped open the book, finding the right page. First, a location spell. Simple enough. She performed the spell, and located Tara in rural New York. Then, the teleportation spell. She teleported, materializing where the first spell had directed her. Over such a distance, even a witch of Willow’s power wasn’t able to find someone in anything less than a twenty meter radius.

“Tara? Tara, sweetie, where are you?” She called out. 

Tara, that voice calls and she uncurls from where she’s been sitting hiding beneath the branches of the old pine trees and other species of plants she vaguely remembers but can’t quite name. “Willow…?” she finds herself calling out cautiously and emerges from the woods. There is dirt smeared across her face from where she’s rubbed one too many times trying to wipe the tears away.

She’s been lost for days here in the wilderness and is almost relieved to have someone here. An actual person who apparently knows more about herself than she does.

“Willow?” The woman (she assumes her name really is Tara but she can’t be certain yet) calls out as she steps further towards where she thinks the voice is originating from. Perhaps now she’ll get answers that have been gnawing away at the back of her mind. A shower would be nice too, her mind supplies as she shuffles out further clutching the tattered rags, of what looks like the remains of a home-knit sweater, tighter around herself reminding her how filthy she feels.

Swallowing dryly, her tongue threatens to stick to the roof of her mouth and she feels a pang of hunger at her stomach, yet the only thing she can be concerned about is how awful she must look. “Willow…?” Tara croaks out now as her voice threatens to give out on her and she shuffles forward a bit more, looking around for the source of the other voice.

oldreliablewillow:

Tara’s your name, sweetie. I’ll be there soon.

…oh. I…I see.

O-Okay.

(Source: wiccaofgaea)

oldreliablewillow:

I can come find you, Tara, don’t worry.

… better than most people do.

You keep calling me Tara…why?

…y-you do? I…I suppose…I should trust you i-if you know me so well…

I’ll…I’ll wait here for you, Willow. Wherever here is.

(Source: wiccaofgaea)

oldreliablewillow:

wiccaofgaea:

oldreliablewillow replied to your post: …. Tara?

You- don’t recognize me? It’s me, Willow.

Willow?

…have we met before?

… We- Do you remember anything?

Not really. I just sort of woke up…

I don’t know why I did…I don’t really know where I am…

D-Do…you know…me…?

oldreliablewillow replied to your post: …. Tara?

You- don’t recognize me? It’s me, Willow.

Willow?

…have we met before?

oldreliablewillow asked: .... Tara?

…who?

I…do I know you?

tumblrbot asked: WHAT IS YOUR EARLIEST HUMAN MEMORY?

This is going to sound silly but-

I don’t remember a thing. So I can’t exactly tell you.