• Schism: This is the first section of a continuing story

• Schism

• Author name: Gymim
• Email address: Gymim@yahoo.com
• Website: http://geocities.datacellar.net/gymim
• Feedback: Woot Woot! Please shoot any feedback my way an tell me what ya think, this is my first fanfic ever (without trying to hurt my feelings please eheheh =))!!!! Gymim@yahoo.com
• Spoilers: Flooded; Season six, episode four (kinda?) as well as most of season six in general. This story is set in the mid sixth season time line kinda, so it’s written with the idea that you already know Willow and Tara’s relationship as of mid season six as well as most of the other general character story lines.

• Rating: Tried hard to make it PG

• Pairing: W/T

• Disclaimer: Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Willow, Tara, Xander, Giles and all other characters who have appeared in the syndicated series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, together with the names, titles and back story are the sole copyright property of Joss Whedon, Fox and Mutant Enemy. Plus, all song quotes and lyrics are owned by people that aren’t the author. No copyright infringement was intended in the writing of this fan fiction. All other characters, the story idea, and the story itself are the sole property of the author. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way.

• Summary: This story is set in an alt. universe where Buffy died fighting the Master and Willow became the Slayer and has been too busy being the Slayer and fighting baddies to even notice Tara romantically (But Tara still likes Willow =)). The events that happen in the story all take place in the equivalent of the sixth season. It’s a mushy story, YAY mushy! Originally this story was going to have a sad ending. I actually had two or three different endings in mind where some how Willow would die or loose Tara after she had come to the realization that Tara was in love with her but ummmmm… Now that I have seen the end of season 6 I’m tired of sad endings. I want Willow and Tara to be in love and happy, I’m tired of characters who should be in love dying, so I’m gunna change it in my own little way. I miss the happy endings some times, I think everyone does.

• Note: Apparently this fic is long, so to quote Douglas Adam’s “Hitchhikers Guide”, ‘Don’t Panic’!

Prolog – Sequestered

(“I can’t take any more of this, I wanna come apart” Staind – Epiphany)

“Hey Giles, you have a good talk with Willow?” Tara said as she looked up to the entering Englishman. The blonde woman gradually became aware of the man’s darkening mood as he stepped over to the sink in the kitchen.

“Yes, now she's back,” Giles said quietly. His face contorted into a look of something that Tara couldn’t quite discern, leaving her wondering for a moment, but only a moment. Quickly she felt her mood pick up to where it had been just a moment before.

“Isn't it wonderful?” the sorceress exclaimed. She could feel her smile beaming as her happiness spilled out into her words.

“Tell me about the spell you performed,” Giles responded, dismissing any type of communal joy that Tara was trying to include him in on. The blonde again ignored the mopey attitude and happily began to share.

“Okay. First of all it was really scary... This giant snake came out of my mouth and all this energy was crackling all around and this pack of demons interrupted but I, I totally kept my cool. Then next thing you know, Willow.” As Tara finished, she finally could feel the mood from Giles steal away her self confidence, steal away the joy that she thought could never leave her heart. A confused look seeped into her face as she stared dumbly at the man looking down at her.

“You are a stupid girl,” Giles said blatantly. Tara was taken aback, not prepared to hear anything along that caliber from the older man.

“What? Giles…” the young girl was dumbfounded.

“Do you have any idea of what you've done? The forces you've harnessed, the lines you've crossed?” Giles said as thin anger was traced deep in his words.

“I thought…” Tara grasped for words but nothing came, she just simply sat there feeling a sinking sensation in her stomach.

“Of everyone here, you were the one I trusted the most to respect the forces of nature,” Giles said glaring into the young girl’s eyes.

“Are you saying you don't trust me?” Tara asked meekly. She watched the eyes of the once kind man begin to hold a coldness she didn’t think he was capable of.

“Think of what you've done to Willow,” he said in a low tone. Suddenly Tara felt something in her break.

“I brought her back!” she retorted in defiance.

“An incredible risk!” Giles said, disbelieving the blonde’s audacity.

“Risk? Of what?” Tara said trying to constrain her voice. “Of making her deader?”

“Killing us all! Unleashing hell on earth! Shall I go on?” Giles replied, hoping to make the impetuous girl see her blunder.

“No. Giles I, I did what I hu, had to do. I da, did what nobody else could do.” Tara said, concentrating on the words she was saying.

“Well there are others in this world that could do what you did. You just don't want to meet them.” Tara felt another blow at the inference Giles had made.

“Na, no. Pa, probably not. Bu, but they're the bad guys.” Tara paused and took a deep breath. “I'm not a bad guy. I brought Willow back into this world and maybe you should just try being excited about seeing her again.” She could feel herself exerting strength just to keep words flowing out of her mouth.

“Having Willow back in this world makes me feel indescribably wonderful but I wouldn't congratulate you if you jumped off a cliff and happened to survive,” Giles responded.

“That's not what I did though Giles,” Tara said trying to make him understand.

“You were lucky,” the watcher responded.

“I wasn't lucky; I knew what I was doing. And you don’t even know, you weren't there,” Tara said trying to force her point.

“If I had been, I would have bloody well stopped you. The magicks you channeled are more ferocious and primal than anything you could hope to understand and you are lucky to be alive, you rank arrogant amateur!” The last four words did it, Tara broke down. She felt her tears fall with out stop as she sat down and buried her face on the counter she was near. Giles paused for a moment as the young girl sobbed uncontrollably. He now felt himself caught in the need to apologize and the need to hold steadfast in his argument, frozen, unable to say anything.

“I’m so sorry,” Tara said through choked tears finally. “I couldn’t let her die Giles, I couldn’t. I love her so much. When she died I…” Tara wanted to tell the Watcher about how long she had thought about killing herself, but she felt everything get clogged for a moment. Suddenly the young woman felt her throat clear and words that she had needed to say for years to Willow came out in a torrent mixed in with her dying sobs. “She’s the only woman I’ve ever loved Giles. I fell in love with her the first time I saw her. I wanted to tell her for so long that I could feel it eating away at me, but I didn’t. I just stayed quiet as we talked and became friends. And… And then she died. I didn’t realize I how much I needed her Giles until she died. The first few nights I just stayed awake in bed wondering if I should even bother staying alive anymore. I couldn’t think straight with out her here. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t breathe Giles, I…” Tara felt her voice crack as another bout of sobs hit her. “I couldn’t even breathe,” she whispered out.

Part I

(“The experience of survival is the key to the gravity of love” Enigma – The Gravity Of Love)

Chapter 1 - The Beginning Precipice

("Sweet dreams are made of this, who am I to disagree?" Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams)

Willow stood up from the floor where she and been chanting and stretched her body out, loosening up her joints, getting herself ready for the first part of her night. After a few minutes of contorting her body on the blue mat she was sitting on, she headed to the door that lead out into the main floor of the Magic Box and opened it. Willow stood still in the doorway that separated her training room from the main shop area and gazed out at her friends with a wistful look playing across her eyes just below the surface. She watched as Giles helped a customer with their purchase, stumbling over his words as he gave last minute instructions on how to use their item. She glanced over at Spike who was skimming through one of the books on the shelves, most likely looking at the pictures rather then reading the words. She brought her eyes over to Xander and felt her stomach churn over like it always did as she watched him talk to Anya, the way he held her hand. Willow breathed, and then she breathed some more. She looked up and saw Dawn sitting with Tara in the corner. Thick as thieves those two were at times, she chuckled to herself as she walked over to where the two were sitting. Willow pulled up a chair in between the two and sat down, gazing from Dawn's face to Tara's.

"So what's going on with my two favorite troublemakers today?" Willow asked coyly as she watched them. Tara smiled lightly and turned her head to the side.

"Tara was telling me about how you used to be a witch! A real witch I mean, and you used to cast a lot more spells and stuff! I want to cast spells too. When can I start? I promise not to break anything! Please! Tara can teach me!" Willow looked down at her little sister and smiled. She remembered when she used to feel the same way about magic as Dawn did now. She felt the memories flood back of when she was so excited to get her hands on anything new. On fiddling with spells, changing them around just to see what would happen. Dissecting and rearranging wordings, ingredients, hand movements. She missed those days slightly, felt them tug at her, at the child inside of her. She could see that need in Dawn now; that want to be part of something bigger then herself. She looked at Tara.

"You think you could teach her some spells that would help her clean up her room? I think we can start there," Willow laughed as she put her hand on Dawns shoulder. "Basic levitation maybe. Shouldn't really start her out with too much. I remember the mistakes I made when I started out, Dawn doesn't need to go through that." Willow watched as Tara's eyes brightened up at the comment. ‘It’s time for Dawn to learn anyway,’ she thought, acknowledging again to herself that she had been keeping it from Dawn mostly out of fear. Afraid something might happen, afraid she couldn't be there to supervise. But it was time for her to step back, to let Dawn find her own way. And it didn't seem so bad with Tara there, she always seemed ready to help, plus she and Dawn seemed to have made a good connection. Tara had become someone Willow had begun to depend on a lot in the past year, along with Giles. The two of them filled a lot of the hole that Faith had left when the renegade Slayer had murdered her and Dawn's parents, the hole that opened again when Buffy's mom died and Xander had broken down. If Tara hadn't been around, even with the fights that had come up between her and the tall blonde, Willow knew she never would have had half the strength to do all the things she had had to do in the past few years. Tara had saved Willow from herself after she had dealt with Faith, after she had done all those things she never thought her self capable of doing to the other Slayer. Tara was the only one that knew and she had forgiven Willow. The red head stepped back from her memories, back to Dawn and Tara.

"I can start teaching her this weekend if you want Will?" Tara said looking at Willow smiling. She seemed so eager to teach someone, Willow could feel it inside herself.

"That would be fine. And maybe now," Willow said turning to Dawn, "you can start cleaning your room daily instead of yearly." Dawn rolled her eyes at the quip.

"Maybe you, you.... maybe you could come along too if your not busy or something? If you want to I mean. I have some spells I've been working on and..." Tara let the words die off. A small part of Willow wanted to be there and learn again, but she knew she wasn't a witch anymore, no need to pretend. She had her few spells that she kept in her bag of tricks for combat and that was it. New spells were Tara's arena and Willow knew she could never be as good as the blonde sorceress was. Besides, one witch was good enough, two might be overkill.... Still.... If Dawn studied hard... Maybe one day she could be as powerful as Tara. Willow thought quietly to herself, ‘Now wouldn't that be a sight’.

"I'd like to but I have to patrol for baddies all day Saturday, and Sunday is my dirt nap."

"All, all ready?" Tara said with a hint of moroseness.

"Yeah, tends to creep up on me sometimes without paying attention. I forgot to tell everyone so I'm letting everyone know now. You have Sunday free?"

"I'll, I'll make the time. Are you gunna sleep at the house or at Sp, Spikes?" Tara asked looking at Willow's shoulder. Willow glanced over toward the vampire who was now talking to Giles. She had been growing to trust Spike lately but she still felt it safer to stay at home. It had been talked about, her staying in a new place for her long sleeps but nothing had really been decided.

"I'm staying at the house. No reason to break tradition." Willow watched Tara let out a slight sigh of relief. The Slayer smiled. Tara always seemed to worry about her and part of Willow liked that. It was nice to know there were people who thought about you. She could always feel that Tara wanted to protect her and a part of Willow needed that feeling. All her friends felt the same toward her, Willow knew that, but Tara always seemed to be the one there and it was nice to have someone around these days. Things had been hard, a lot more now then they used to be. "I was hoping on Sunday you could look after Dawn during my nap but seeing as how your gunna be teaching her I guess that wraps that up. Just be sure to let her know that she isn't allowed to levitate my stuff." Willow waggled her index finger at Dawn, "You know what they say about angry older sisters don't you."

"Yeah, they’re pains in the ass," Dawn replied slyly at Willow. Tara's eyes grew slightly wider at Dawns comment.

"What type of foul language is that!? I can't take you anywhere can I!? You think Giles is appreciative of people using that kind of language around his customers!? I may not know as many spells as Tara but I can still hex you, don't think I won't." Willow stood up and huffed away toward the back of the room to where Xander and Anya sat. Dawn rolled her eyes at Willow’s back as Tara stifled a chuckle in her throat. Willow moved closer to Xander, wanting to sit down, but she never felt comfortable being next to her friend as much anymore, especially when Anya was around, which was all the time. She had been working on it lately though, working on her feelings and her approach to them. She pushed her feelings down like she had trained herself to do and took a seat at the table with Xander and Anya.

"So what's up Will? Any big nasties on the docket tonight? Nothing says fun like having evil around," Xander spouted. "Except maybe not having evil around."

"Evil is bad!" Anya chimed in. Willow forced herself to stop from making any type of comment. Anya was an ok person, she was just---. Willow felt a cold soda can slide into her hand. Looking up, she saw Tara, who had her own soda, sit down next to her. In the last two years Willow had become addicted to caffeine and pop. She wasn't too proud of it but it was better then smoking she assumed and it wasn't too bad of a habit to show Dawn. A soda right now was what she needed.

"Thanks," she said, smiling to Tara as Dawn sat on the other side of her. "Let's wait for Giles," Willow said, motioning to the Watcher as he ushered his last customer out for the night and turned his open/closed sign to the closed side. He walked back across the floor to the group, cleaning his glasses like he habitually did, stopping and standing behind Xander.

"A barren shop once more for a few hours thankfully," Giles said lowly as he looked down at the group.

"Ok everyone, I had forgotten about this till just today so I guess it's kind of short notice, sorry about that. This Sunday is my monthly nap." Willow listened as groans escaped from various mouths. "Hey, thanks for that vote of support there," the red head said in a sarcastic tone.

"Sorry Will," Xander said. "It's just me and Anya had made plans for this Sunday, we forgot to keep track of your schedule."

"You should have told us earlier. Now we are inconvenienced. That is rude of you." Anya said flatly.

"Listen, I'm sorry about this, I guess I had just forgotten. A lot of things have been going on lately and it just slipped my mind. I hope no one minds too much." Willow said apologetically.

"I mind. I want to go out with Xander this Sunday and eat dead crabs and then have sex." Anya replied. Giles sidestepped away slightly from the ex-demon.

"It's no problem Willow," Giles interjected, "we can take patrol Sunday. I'm sure Anya and Xander won't mind helping out for one night." Anya turned her head up to Giles after his comment.

"I do mind. I just said I minded Giles. I don't want to patrol Sunday. I want to have se--"

"Anya!" Xander shot in. "I think we can postpone our evening a few days Hon," he said in a slightly agitated voice.

"Fine. Just remember that when were out killing vampires we could be having se--"

"Anya!" Xander stated loudly. Willow heard Tara snicker lightly next to her. The red head smiled a little.

"Ok, Tara is gunna stay with Dawn at the house and I'm gunna sleep there this Sunday." Willow could see Spike already try to start saying something so she quickly moved on. "Spike, Giles, Xander, and Anya can do light patrolling. Anything heavy, you just recon and tag it if you think you can, and come get me Monday. If it's too dangerous, just avoid it all together. I'm gunna do a full patrol this Saturday, all the usual haunts. If everything goes good, this Sunday should be just as average as most dirt naps, no fuss no muss." Willow eyed everyone around the table, unconsciously trying to read their faces.

Sometimes Willow wondered if changing her sleep pattern all those years ago was such a good idea. She had studied a long time in magic and biology books after she became the Slayer for something to let her stay up later, to get up earlier, to just sleep less. When she found the right mixture of vitamins, herbs, chants, and spells it seemed like a dream come true. Only meditate a bit each a day for a few combat spells and never need to sleep except for once a month for 24 hours. All it seemed to do, though, was make her worry more about that one day rather than feel better about all the new time she had to patrol. The one day she was completely helpless to her friends and family. For 24 hours she would lay stone cold lost in sleep. All the dreams were nightmares that never ended, dreams that played on her fears, on her pains. Nothing could wake her, not the scream of a friend, not the pain of her parents dying, nothing. She would sleep for 24 hours without wake. Every time she laid down for her nap she would feel all her thoughts fly through her head before she drifted away. Would she get to sleep this time? Would she go insane? Would this nightmare send her over the edge? Would she awaken to find her friends lying dead around her?

"Right," Spike added in, shaking Willow from her thoughts. "Think this lot can handle it for a day Slayer, no worries here." Most everyone ignored Spike but Willow smiled up at him. He may not be the brightest person at the table but if anyone had the brawn here when she was away, it was Spike. It was nice to have him around, nice to have someone for back up.

"I'm gunna head out pretty quick," Willow said to her group. "It's been quite lately and I'm kinda hoping that if it stays this way for a while we can start to skip these meetings, or at least shorten them up. Let everyone get back to a life that doesn't involve skulking around in the night." Willow watched Spike raise his hand up.

"I, for one, prefer the night skulking," the vampire interjected.

"Maybe you should try some sunlight; I hear it helps complexions..." Xander added in under his breath.

"Hey, cut a vamp some slack there. Comments like that hurt," Spike said in mock indignation. Giles moved forward slightly to the table.

"I think Willow is right," he spoke. "We should take advantage of this quite time. The Hellmouth often presents only short reprieve before it storms again, as it were. Maybe it would be best if we all took some time off. That includes you, Willow." Giles said as he looked down at the young woman with a parental gaze. "I'm sure your patrols could lapse a little for a short time. If anyone here could use a break, I think it would be you."

"Hear hear!" Xander chanted, thumping his fist against the table two times. Willow smiled to herself.

"I'm afraid if I had any free time away from patrolling I wouldn't quite know what to do with myself, but it does sound interesting. It's been a while since I've had some free time. Maybe I could do some studying at home on the Internet abou--" Willow felt an elbow in her side.

"I'll, I'll make sure she doesn't sp, spend her free time working," Tara said looking up at Giles.

"Thank you Tara, I'm sure that will be a job in and of itself," the Watcher said offhanded.

"Hey!" Willow retorted to the verbal jab. "Someone has to work while everyone else is on vacation. The Hellmouth doesn't just patrol itself ya know," she said in a hrumpf. Willow watched as Giles stared silently down at her. "Fine," the redhead grumbled from the side of her mouth.

"When do I get to go patrolling with you?" Dawn chipped from Willow's side.

"Never!" came a uniform response from the entire table. Everyone looked at Dawn with the most disapproving glare they could all muster.

"HEY! The Hellmouth doesn't just patrol itself ya know," Dawn said in a mocking tone. Willow sighed audibly.

"You study with Tara long enough and keep your room clean and we'll see what we can do, ok Dawn? You’re just too young right now, there's no need for more people out on patrol than necessary. You know what they say, too many Scoobies spoil the pot.” Willow smiled kindly down at her little sister.

"Whatever," Dawn said as she turned her head away, a hurt look playing across her face. Dawn had been insistent on heading out on patrol with them lately and the group always resolutely stated 'no' in one way or another. The young Slayer hoped her little sister wouldn't do anything rash on her own. Willow couldn't watch Dawn die because she was the sister to 'The Slayer'; she loved her too much for that. Willow looked from Dawn back to the rest of the group.

"I think that's pretty much all that there is to cover. I just wanted to apologize again about Sunday. I don't know why I forgot about it, but thank you all for understanding. Me and Spike can head out for prowl. Other then that, everyone should be free to head out and do whatever they want. If we're lucky, maybe it'll be this quiet for a while." Willow said knocking on the table as she stood up.

"All hail the peaceful evening!" Xander spouted cheerfully as he stood up with Anya's hand in his. Willow felt a churn in her stomach that she pushed down.

"I have an early birthday present for you," Tara said, touching Willow's arm softly. The blonde tugged her best friend away from the table as everyone started moving toward the main door. Huddling in the corner Tara fished in her purse for a long moment, pulling out a small box then handing it to Willow. The shorter girl paused for a moment and looked from the box to Tara then back again, slowly opening the lid. Inside, on a soft red velvet bedding, lay a small necklace that held a blood-red ruby in a gold backing. Willow's hand pulled it up, letting her look at the stone under the light of the fluorescent bulbs. "I mu, made it for you. Put it on," Tara said in a quiet excitement. Willow took the necklace and placed it around herself. As the ruby lay against her chest she felt the soft weight of the stone, felt it warm her skin.

"What is it?" she asked Tara.

"It's ah... Well.... It should stop the nightmares you talked about. It should push them back and let your mind dream happier dreams. It's a dream essence stone of sa, sorts," Tara said smiling. Willow could feel tears start to well up but she forced them back, exerting her self control. She had seen her parents die so many times over and over again in her dreams that she had lately started to burst into fits of rage or depression from hallucination. She knew that things weren't going to go well soon if she didn't stop some of her spells, if she didn't start sleeping more. But she wondered if she slept more, would all her dreams be the same ones that she normally had from then on? Just her, watching her parents die as she stood there? She felt her arms wrap around Tara as tightly as she could.

"Thank you so much. God Tara, thank you so much," she choked out into her friend’s ear. "It's been so long since I've had a good nights sleep. Thank you. Tara, I..." Willow pulled back and saw Tara glanced down at her own shoes for a moment, smiling.

"You’re welcome," Tara replied in her usual soft tone. She looked up again as Willow, with nimble fingers, slid the ruby necklace under the cloth of her black t-shirt. The taller woman felt another one of Willow's hugs as an additional thank you slipped into her ear. Deftly, Tara tried to hide her now deepening blush. "I guess it's time to head out for another night," Tara said after a moment, giving in to her fear of wanting to escape from Willow’s gentle arms. Tara was becoming even more aware of the difficulty she was having being near her friend, let alone being held by her. Even as Willow retracted her embrace, Tara felt a pang in her gut and her almost overwhelming desire to clutch the short redhead to her again, to hold her near. Instead, Tara proceeded to walk toward the exit of the Magic Box beside Willow quietly, feeling words that she wanted to share getting stuck in the dry back part of her throat like the always seemed too.

Willow hoped that Tara was feeling ok as she noticed her friend's walk become sluggish while they moved closer to the door. She gave a smile to her best friend and watched as Tara's face brightened up slightly and smiled back. Sometimes Willow wondered what it would have been like if she were just an average person. What it would be like to wake up early to rush off to work and not be late. To not have to worry about things that no one else knew about. She decided long ago that it would have been boring. Willow smiled as she pushed Spike through the door telling him to hurry up, almost tumbling over him as they stumbled out onto the pavement. Giles started locking the Magic Box's door while Anya and Xander walked to their car, their two faces close to each other in conversation. Willow turned to watch Dawn who was getting into Tara's car. Dawn would be safe at home and maybe Tara might be able to help her get some of her studies done. As Anya, Xander, and Tara went their separate ways, Giles made his way over to Willow and Spike and began to give the advice he normally gave to the two before they went out on patrol.

"Don't worry Giles, if anything bad happens I'll throw Spike in front of it," Willow said as she nudged Spike in the side.

"Ha ha Poppie, make fun of the vampire. You know, it's your neck that needs the saving all the time, so I wouldn't be too worried about yours truly. One day you might be all alone without me and what would you do then Slayer?" Willow gave a guffaw of disbelief at Spike's display of pure arrogance.

"Cope," Willow responded quippily. Giles walked away realizing that the two would be verbally baiting each other all night, much the way they acted around each other even when not patrolling. As he drove away to his home Willow waved, to which Giles gave a small wave back. The two left began to walk down the street next to each other without saying a word for a while, the noise of cars passing by being the only thing that broke the silence. As they quietly made their way to the cemetery Willow pulled the necklace out from under her shirt and rubbed it against her hand, letting it warm her palm up a little as she held it.

"Where'd you get that trinket there?" Spike asked nonchalantly as he lit a cigarette.

"Tara gave it to me for my birthday. She said it's supposed to keep nightmares away," Willow answered as she intently studied the facets of the ruby in the necklace. Spike chuckled under his breath as he pulled the cigarette from his mouth. The red head gave a questioning look as the vampire let out a puff of smoke. "What?"

"You know what that is Poppie?" Spike said as he tried to place a finger on the ruby. Willow turned slightly to keep it out of his reach.

"Mine... Tara called it a dream essence stone. And it's the best damn gift I've gotten in a long time," Willow said defiantly up at Spike.

"It better be Poppie, it cost Tara a chunk of her life. Stones like that aren't found and then enchanted, they're formed by taking a piece of your life and manifesting it whole. Something like that probably took about half a year of life or more away from Tara. Non-refundable, non-returnable Poppie. That's it, your friend Tara is missing her last birthday. Better hold on to that thing tight; those types of stones don't circulate around too much, since they can only be made by people willing to sacrifice their life for the person who gets to wear the stone," Spike said. "Guess it beats a pack of smokes." Willow stared at the ruby in her hands that felt so warm. She didn't know what to say, she hadn't been expecting that. She didn't know quite what to do.

"You sure there's no way to return it or undo it?" Willow said with a hint of pleading in her voice.

"Nope darlin’, best thing to do now is to not lose it. Wel’," Spike said as he flicked his cigarette to the ground and crushed it out. "We’re here at lovely Sunnydale Cemetery. Guess it's time to go to work." Spike hopped over the cement wall. Willow placed the necklace back under the cloth of her shirt again and followed the vampire. Feeling the earth hit her feet as she jumped down from the wall that Spike had just vaulted over, she trotted up next to Spike as he ambled his way through the dark, both of the visitors looking for fresh graves and fresh disturbances. The graveyard itself was walked in silence most of the way, ears being kept alert by the two late night prowlers. The evening was pretty quiet, which Willow didn't mind too much; that usually meant things were peaceful which was always a welcome change to the hectic norm. The two scoured the graveyard for a while more, breaking into the family tombs making sure that the usual places were empty, checking some other demon haunt areas. Willow had come to enjoy the nightly walks, stretching herself out with no one really around, being able to cut loose without anyone watching or prying in. It was times like these that part of her ached for a fight but she knew better; no fight is better then any fight. She and Spike finished up their rounds at the graveyard and started heading toward the sewers for their next sweep. As Willow slid the manhole cover aside she smiled. 'Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad night after all', she thought to herself. 'If nothing happens on the rounds I can head home and make Dawn lunch for school and spend some time with Tara.' Nowadays, it seemed Tara was spending more time with Dawn than Willow did, which bothered Willow greatly. She wanted to spend more time with her younger sister and at home in general and maybe this was the right point to start doing that.

"Spike?" Willow said as she stepped off the sewer ladder onto the cement floor.

"What's up?" the vampire replied as he climbed down.

"What would you think about doing rounds solo for a while when it's slow like this? Maybe a few morning sweeps in the sewers or some night prowls through the graveyard? I think..." Willow ducked her head slightly as she turned a corner, trying to avoid some green slick moss-like substance from touching her. "I feel I've been neglecting Dawn a lot lately and I think I should be spending more time with her. Tara is real good to her but I feel like... like she's gunna be grown up here in a few years and I'm gunna turn around and she'll be gone, you know? I just, I just don't want to see that happen. I think I need to start adjusting priorities. What do ya say?" Willow asked, pausing in her walk to face him.

"Sure thing Poppie. I got things handled. Me and the Scoobs can take up some slack. Sides, nuthin’ the bi--"

"Don't say it." Willow cut in chuckling slightly. She had heard the phrase 'big bad' enough to make her want to wretch.

"Wha?" Spike said. Willow shot her hand up to silence Spike as she cocked her head to the side. Down one of the corridors, barely audible, she could hear footsteps, faint and far away. Willow closed her eyes and stretched in her mind through the memories of the layout of the sewers, through all the tunnels and sounds and sights. Dropping her hand down she bolted off at a dead run losing Spike behind her. "Will! Wait up!" Spike yelled chasing after her. Willow took tunnel after tunnel as fast as she could, gliding effortlessly through the muck and slime, carrying herself quicker and quicker. The turns began to blur as her paced picked up, she could feel her body's rhythm beat in time with her mind as she moved through the sewer. Then she was there, right on top of the sound. She let the momentum of her run carry her into the figure, let her entire body slam into man, sending both her and him at the sewer wall. The Slayer's elbow dug into man's side as the two lifted off the ground and flew toward the cement side of the tunnel where the man hit, his body becoming padding for Willow. They both fell to the floor, the redhead angling to keep herself on top. As the figure tried to rise up, he turned to look at Willow, letting her see his face. His eyes were the same dull yellow and his teeth the same mish mash of teeth she had become accustomed to seeing in the sewers. Before he could say anything, before he could fully stand, she brought her sword up from under his neck up into the air, letting dust spill out onto the slick floor. Willow re-sheathed her weapon beneath her coat as she listened to Spike’s footsteps trying to catch up to her.

"Over here, Spike!" Willow shouted as she heard Spike shuffle about the tunnels in the distance. Walking slowly, Willow edged to the end of the tunnel where the vampire had come from to see if any more were there. Straining her ears, she listened as intently as she could, trying to block out the sound of Spike fumbling about trying to find her.

"You shouldn't be so quick to jump the gun like that Poppie, you might run off and get yourself killed one of these days you know," Spike said coming down the tunnel brushing some green stuff off his sleeve. Willow turned around to face him, feeling sure enough that no more vamps were nearby.

"Nothing like a surprise attack you know," Willow said offhandedly. She never did like to play around or wait to play witty banter games. No reason to be slow or careless. Better safe than--

"Sorry, I know. Just not good to ditch your mates." Willow nodded at the comment.

"Sorry," she said. "But maybe if you were in a little better shape you could keep up," she chided with a grin as she tapped him on the stomach. "Too many Fritos while watching 'Passions' tends to give one a gut like that," she said with a half grin.

"Hey, no fair. I only watch it for an hour a day," Spike said earnestly. "Besides, I don't have magic to make me all fancy dancey in combat ya know."

"That's what you get for being dead," Willow replied. Sometimes she felt she relied a lot on the spells that added to her combat. She wondered for a brief second if Buffy ever would have worried this much and then promptly shook the thought away. It had taken a long time for her to stop trying to see herself through Buffy's eyes; all that ever did was just make her more unsure. She needed her wits about her, no need to second guess. Go with her gut instinct and go for the throat. That was the way to do things. No need to be anything other than direct. "You know the stuff I use only works on the living. ‘Sides, who wants to use magic to run around all day and night when they can stay at home and watch TV."

"Apparently you," Spike said as he brushed past her, ducking his head under a low hanging pipe. Willow watched as he took a right turn down the next tunnelway.

"Bah," Willow mumbled to herself. The two inched their way through the sewers tunnel by tunnel for the next few hours, slaying one more vampire, eventually coming up on the outskirts of Sunnydale near the woods.

"Can we leave the caves for tomorrow night? This is getting a little boring you know," Spike said as he moved the manhole cover back into place behind him. Willow stood up looking out across the forest, her eyes giving off a slight feint glow from the spell she had just cast. Everything was bathed in a soft florescent green light for her, surreally bright. Turning back around she looked at her patrol partner.

"We do the caves every night, no need to change that. Besides, didn't you ever go spelunking as a kid? Nothing funner then crawling around in a cave." Willow started heading down the trail in front of her to the cave holes in the hillsides. "Especially at night!" she said loudly back at the lounging straggler. Spike started hoofing it faster to catch up.

"Anyone ever tell you you’re too much business? You need to relax some Poppie, have a pint. Why don't we head to The Bronze after this run ya know?" Spike moved a little closer to her. "We could kick back for a while afterwards..." Willow hesitated for a moment. It had been so long since she had done anything that wasn't Slayer related. She watched Tara and Dawn hang out together. She had watched Anya and Xander become closer. She had even watched Giles start to move forward with his life. For a moment she wanted to say yes, to try something that wasn't her running around hunting.

"No," she replied coolly. Being with Spike wouldn't lead to anything helpful. It could only lead to something bad. She knew things had grown awkward between the two. He kept trying to push forward, kept trying to prove himself to her. And even after all this time she still didn't feel that his loyalties were completely steadfast. She would have to deal with this sooner or later, she hoped later though. Last thing she wanted right now was to emotionally hurt a vampire whose only drawback was he couldn't hurt humans directly. Spike may not be that quick in the brains but he wasn't a slouch. If he put his mind to something, he usually got it done, or found something just as good.

"Fine," Spike said in a huff. The rest of the night they spent pretty much in quiet. Only talking every once in a while about possible nooks or carnies they hadn’t visited in a while. At around four a.m. the two started back to town where Spike was dropped off at his crypt in the cemetery, at which point the young woman headed back to her home.

Arriving at the house, Willow put her key in the door lock and got the warm feeling she almost always got walking into the house. After Xander had moved in, Buffy's mom, Joyce, had grown very attached to him. Willow knew that Joyce missed having someone to look after when Buffy died and Xander jumped at the opportunity to move away from home, to have a more caring parental figure in his life. Xander's real folks fought so much Willow couldn't understand how he handled it. When Joyce died, she had left the house to him, but her death had ripped him apart. Willow remembered those first few months, Xander had begged everyone to stay over and after a while it sort of became everyone's home. Everyone chipped in with bills and everyone helped out with repairs and cooking and cleaning. Even Giles had a room made up for him when he stayed over every once in a while. After Willow's parents were murdered, Willow had sold the home and whatever was left that Dawn and she didn't need. The rest of the money she used to help out with the house they lived in now; Buffy's house, Joyce's house, Xander's house. She could even handle seeing Xander with Anya in the house. There was just too much love in the walls not be able to feel at home. Tara had moved in to a guest bedroom on the first floor. Willow normally slept in Joyce's bed, when she did sleep. It felt kinda creepy at first but then after a while it kinda felt like Joyce and Buffy were there sometimes, smiling down on her. Dawn stayed in the same room too. Willow didn't spend much time sleeping so it was just logical for Dawn to take the room for most of the time. On her monthly naps, Dawn slept in the guest bedroom that was left over for Giles visits. Xander and Anya took Buffy's room. Willow was aware that Anya made her feel uncomfortable but she knew Xander and the ex-demon really did love each other and who better to take the previous Slayer's room? Willow clicked her key over in the dead bolt and then in the handle, opened up the door, then stepped inside onto the hardwood paneling floor. Reaching down she lifted up one leg and took her shoe off and set it to the side of the door. She took the other shoe off and then put her coat up on the coat rack, realizing how quiet it seemed in the house during the mornings. She sighed wistfully as she walked to the kitchen, more often then not she never made in this early, always being much later. She was firm in her thinking though. Today she was going to make breakfast for Dawn and see her off to school. She nodded her head in affirmation to her thought and began work in the kitchen.

Chapter 2 - Morrow

("I see a bad moon rising, I see trouble on the way, I see earthquakes and lightnin', I see bad times today" Creedence Clearwater Revival - Bad Moon)

Willow flipped the last pancake over onto the plate in her hand as she watched Tara step down the stairwell and into view. Anxiously putting the plate into the heated oven, the redhead shut the door quietly. Tara slowly meandered into the kitchen after picking up the morning paper, aiming herself toward the coffee pot that had auto-started earlier. As long as Willow had known her, the blonde always seemed to have coffee in the morning, a habit Willow herself could never quite form. ‘To each their own though,’ the Slayer thought to herself. Tara kept her back to Willow as she positioned herself at the kitchen counter away from the other girl, pouring her coffee and opening up the paper she had in her hand. Lifting the cup to her mouth, Tara turned around and placed the paper on the center island in the kitchen. Willow patiently waited for Tara to look up. Often times, Tara could simply concentrate on something and lose everyone in a room; it wasn't all that uncommon.

"Pancake?" Willow offered. Tara jerked up a little at the voice and tipped her cup onto the tiled surface of the counter.

"Willow!" she said in a huff of a statement. "I du, didn't see you come in." Willow laid a small rag over the spilt coffee and handed Tara some paper towels to clean up any of the substance that had landed on the floor as she let out a little laugh.

"I've been here for about 3 hours,” Willow grinned. “How was your night, you and Dawn sleep ok?" Tara spoke up a little from the floor where she was finishing wiping up the last of the coffee.

"Yeah. Dawn wasn't too excited about the concentration exercises. She seems to just want to be able to do levitation right away. It'll take some time but I think she'll get it, she just needs some patience." Willow sighed at the statement.

"That's one of the things I keep trying to teach her but she doesn’t seem to listen. Hopefully learning magic will be enough of an incentive for her to start changing her habits around a little. And who better to teach Dawn about patience then you anyways?" Willow smiled at Tara, but being busy cleaning up the last of her coffee off the floor, the blonde missed it. Tara seemed to have a way of being able to wait, she seemed to be even more patient than Giles at times which was hard to believe for some people. It was a trait that Willow seemed to appreciate more every day she knew her friend. Tara stood up and threw the damp towels away in the garbage can in the corner as Willow started fixing up a plate of food for her. "So what do you think? Pancakes for breakfast, official Slayer brand. Chock full of pancakey goodness and syrup. Everything a growing body needs." Putting the plate in front of Tara, she watched the sorceress tentatively pick up a fork and lightly poke at the food.

"You sure it's ok to eat?" she said hesitantly.

"HEY!" It had been true that Willow had made some bad food for breakfast before, but the Slayer felt that that was a while ago. And anyways, these were pancakes. What could be easier to make than pancakes? Everyone loved pancakes, all warm and fluffy! "Just try one, it'll be good. I promise." Tara put a dab of butter across her single pancake carefully and then poured a little syrup on to the side of her plate from the bottle that Willow had placed on the table. Slowly she cut off an edge of the dough and dipped it heavily into the syrup. As Tara looked up she saw an anxious look of excitement in Willow’s face. The blonde swallowed the knot in her throat down and put the fork in her mouth. Gingerly she bit down, hoping for the best. "How is it?" Willow asked. Tara finished her bite quietly and set her fork down.

"How much salt did you put in?" Tara asked as she walked over to the refrigerator.

"Well, the book said about one and a half cups." Willow replied as she watched the other woman open the refrigerator door and grab the orange juice carton from inside. Tara tilted her head back and started to quickly drink as much as she could from the carton. "What?" Willow asked as Tara stood next to the fridge drinking.

"Willow hon," Tara said as she lowered the orange juice down to the counter, still keeping it in her hand. "You’re supposed to put in one and a half cups of flower and about a teaspoon of salt." Willow squinted at Tara for a moment. That couldn't be right. She had read the directions and it said..... Willow grabbed the cook book that was sitting on the table next to the frying pan. Quickly she reviewed the ingredients list. She felt her hopes sink as she looked at the measurement next to the ingredient salt. Willow let out a sigh as she sat down on a stool and set her arms down on the counter with a sense of defeat. She was never really able to cook anything, she had hoped that today would be different. It would have been nice for a change to fix breakfast for everyone.

"I guess I suck." Willow felt Tara's hand on her shoulder from behind.

"It's ok, you can make a new batch, I'll help you out." Willow inwardly grimaced at the comment, wanting to do this herself, to do something for everyone on her own. She let out another sigh. "I, I'm kinda tired today so maybe... Maybe I can just read the ingredients list and you, you can do the rest if that’s ok?" Willow smiled to herself as Tara walked back to her seat. Tara always seemed to know what to say. Willow got up and went to work again as Tara sat at the counter and read from the cook book. Eventually Willow got the batter done and a few pancakes made by the time Dawn came trumping down the stairs after showering. The brunet gave slight look of surprise at Willow and Tara, amazed inwardly to see her older sister in the morning before heading off to her Saturday morning band practice at school.

"Will, what are you doing here?" she asked as she opened up the refrigerator. Willow walked over, closed the refrigerator door, and handed her the shorter girl a plate of pancakes. Dawn gazed down at the food as she took it, giving a cautious look back at Willow. "Ummm...." Willow let out an exaggerated sigh.

"Tara helped me make them,” the disgruntled Slayer said under her breath. She watched her little sister’s eyes perk up at the comment. Dawn took the plate over to the counter that Tara was sitting at, who was still reading her paper, and started putting butter on her meal.

"Don't thank me all at once there..." Willow mumbled as she poured her self a glass of orange juice.

"Mhang yhoo!!" Dawn said as she spit out a little bit of pancake that she had just put in her mouth. Willow watched Tara smile lightly, not raising her head from the paper that she had laid in front of her. As Dawn continued eating away Willow grabbed a paper sack from inside the refrigerator and put it next to her younger sister who eyed the bag carefully. "What's that?" she said as she swallowed another bit of food.

"I made you lunch also," Willow beamed. "It has a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, some potato chips, an apple, a soda, and some cookies!"

"Did Tara help you with that too?" Dawn said

"Well..... No, but I mean, how hard is it to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Just put some jelly, some peanuts, and some butter and you’re good to go." Willow saw Dawn’s eyes open up a little wider as Tara chuckled softly and brought her paper up to cover her face. Willow smiled at Dawn. "I'm joking, it has peanut butter and jelly on it, don't worry. Even I can't mess up putting pre-made food into a bag Dawn."

"Well I'll guess we'll find out," the young girl said quietly as she put her plate into the sink.

"Hey!" Willow let out. "What kinda attitude is that? I just packed you a lunch and you’re complaining? I'll have you know I pack damn tasty lunches missy! Tell her Tara!" Willow turned to catch the last glimpse of tall blonde as she exited the kitchen and walked to the living room out of sight. "Traitor..." Willow grumbled.

"Gotta go," Dawn said as she picked up the paper sack and ran to the door. "I'm gunna be home late, I'm studying with Jen tonight," the young girl stated while bounding down the front steps and running to the bus that was now there.

"Jen? Who's Jen?" Willow asked to herself. She ran to the door after Dawn, watching the bus leave. "Who’s Jen!?" she yelled. Willow watched her only response be the bus taking a right turn around a corner, disappearing out of sight. Walking back inside, Willow closed the door and sat down in the living room across from her friend. "Hey Tara, who is Jen?" The blonde put down her paper and looked up.

"I think she’s one of Dawn's new friends. The way Dawn talks about her, it seems she’s pretty popular at school. Dawn's been spending a lot of free time hanging out with her lately." Willow felt her eyes roll back slightly is desperation.

"It seems I'm never quite able to keep up with her. I'm tempted to go to school with her one day and follow her around..." Willow watched Tara grin again.

"I don't know if she would like that that much," Tara said.

"BAH! I'm hip to school ways!" Willow replied. "I'm Jiggy with it. I'm down."

"Jiggy with it?" Tara said with a look of confusion on her face.

"Ok, maybe I'm not exactly Jiggy with anything. But I could be ya know. I could be Jiggy..." Tara eyed Willow a little more. "Ok, fine. Can I see the comics section?" the mighty Slayer said in a defeated tone. Willow spent the rest of her morning catching up with Tara about Dawn and the house and all the bills. Things were pretty much normal, more money going out than coming in, but that was ok; they had gone through tight times before. After a while Xander and Anya came down and had a late breakfast. Tara and Willow stayed in the living room talking as the two in the kitchen ate and then left for their jobs. Tara eventually went off to work too, leaving Willow alone to get ready for her afternoon. Heading up stairs Willow took her shower, put on her clothes, and did her normal morning chants and spells. The quiet times of the days always seemed the longest for the redhead, moving about an empty, silent house. Grabbing her sword, Willow latched it on and headed out to work, locking the door after herself.

Willow spent most of her workday in the back of the computer store she worked at, CompTech, in the shop area fixing computers. As usual, she hurried as fast as she could, running through the list of broken machines hoping to leave early to run patrol and get home. Willow watched the clock intently trying to move as fast as she could, but at 4:30 her manager came in.

"Hey Will, you got a visitor." Willow finished screwing in the last bolt on the computer case and set her tools down as she headed towards the lobby where the customers meandered about. Re-banding her pony tail as she walked out onto the front floor area, the redhead wondered who would be coming to see her at work. Looking around she saw Spike milling about one of the computers in the corner.

"What's up?" Willow asked walking toward him. Spike turned around from his game of solitaire.

"You think they’d put something a little bit meatier on these things," he said in an off-note attitude. "We heading out soon?" Willow looked up at the clock. She wanted to say something quip but decided against it and just paused for a moment.

"I've got a few things to wrap up, then I'm out of here. Don't worry, it shouldn't be more then about fifteen more minutes. Try not to cause any trouble while I'm in back, I need this job." Spike gave his wounded look as Willow turned her back to him. "You’re not fooling anyone with that face Spike," she said walking back to her work area without turning to look at the vampire. Willow hurriedly finished up the last two computers, her hands working with as much speed and precision as she could muster. As she finished putting the case cover on the last computer she saw a trace of red streaked across the side, sharply contrasted against the cream white color of the metal. Looking down at her own hand she noticed that she had cut her skin open. Willow searched around her station area for some paper towels, wrapped some around her hand, and then quickly finished up putting the last of the screws in that attached the metal case onto the computer that was on her counter. Willow wiped the blood off the computer case that her hand had left, filled out her time card, and picked up her trench coat the was wrapped around her sword. She didn't normally bring her sword into work but today was going to be a day where she needed every minute of her free time. Walking out onto the main floor again she felt an arm on her shoulder and quelled her unconscious urge to turn and strike whoever it was. Calmly she turned around and looked to see her manager.

"Willow, are you ok?" Willow looked at her manager curiously, thinking that it was an odd question to ask.

"Yeah Jeff, I'm fine. Did I miss something in the back? I thought I put everything away. All the machines are tagged and dated." Willow followed her manager’s gaze down to her hand. Slowly lifting it up she saw the paper towels she had wrapped around her hand soaked through with blood. "That's funny, I don't feel anything," she said as she watched a stream of blood start to pour on the floor. "Hey Spike," she said turning around. "I think we should find Giles." Spike started walking toward Willow but paused, feeling something tugging at his back, though it didn't feel like someone pulling at him with their hands. As she looked forward, Willow felt her stomach turn over as the front of the store that she was facing became eclipsed by a giant light. Willow's manager slowly backed up looking for something to get behind, trying desperately to hide from the light. Spike rushed up to Willow, grabbing her by the arm.

"Listen Poppie, we need to get out of here, this isn't gunna be good, whatever it is." Willow didn't budge, she felt caught. Memories started flooding back, memories and warmth of a time she was trying to forget.

As I went down in the river to pray

Studying about that good old way

And who shall wear the starry crown

Good Lord show me the way

Oh sisters let's go down

Let's go down come on down

Oh sisters let's go down

Down in the river to pray

Spike watched as tears started to flood out of Willow's eyes. "Come on love, this isn't your ticket back to heaven," Spike said through gritted teeth. Willow felt herself fall to her knees, her blood soaked hand lying on the carpeted floor, staining everything the crimson liquid from her palm flowed across.

As I went down in the river to pray

Studying about that good old way

And who shall wear the robe and crown

Good Lord show me the way

Oh brothers let's go down

Let's go down come on down

Come on brothers let's go down

Down in the river to pray

"Listen!" Spike yelled as he hauled Willow back up onto her feet. "If your not gunna pay attention for me, at least give a crap enough for Dawn and Tara and Giles and that bunch! Wake up you tart!" Spike brought his hand back to strike Willow across the face but felt his feet slide out from under him before he could bring his arm down. He could feel his body slowly start to inch toward the maw that was now encompassing the entire front entrance way. Spike reached out and grabbed on to one of the pillars that stretched from ceiling to floor as he felt the pull against him suddenly increase. Then room exploded into noise as the bright light in the center of the store turned black. Wind filled the room moving faster and faster, sounds of explosions echoed about as monitors flew against walls and into glass windows.

As I went down in the river to pray

Studying about that good old way

And who shall wear the starry crown

Good Lord show me the way

Oh fathers let's go down

Let's go down come on down

Come on fathers let's go down

Down in the river to pray

Customers and employees screamed as everyone reached for something to hold on to, something to keep themselves from being pulled into the black hole that sat patiently in the room. Spike turned to Willow and watched as she was dragged toward the center. "WILLOW!" the vampire yelled out. In the redhead’s mind she felt herself floating through sky, felt herself following a name on a cloud back to somewhere else.

As I went down in the river to pray

Studying about that good old way

And who shall wear the robe and crown

Good Lord show me the way

Oh mothers let's go down

Come on down don't you want to go down

Come on mothers let's go down

Down in the river to pray

Shaking her head she saw Tara and Dawn standing next to each other, then Willow felt her head clear a little, felt herself realize where she was. Looking up at the approaching abyss, terror ripped through her for a moment. Struggling, she reached into the coat she still had in her hand and pulled out her sword. She could feel the coldness as her feet got closer to the portal and a shiver ran up her. Forcing her head clear she started to chant while she drew her sword from its scabbard and as she finished the last words of the spell the blade of the sword began to glow a bright red. With as much force as she could muster Willow stabbed the steel into the floor as deep as it could go, past the carpet, the burning blade melting itself into the cement below. Willow felt her legs lift up then, being pulled directly into the center of the emptiness. Her grip tightened around the hilt, trying as hard as she could to keep from letting go as she felt the pull on her body get stronger, her muscles starting to strain.

As I went down in the river to pray

Studying about that good old way

And who shall wear the starry crown

Good Lord show me the way

"I can't do this," she felt herself let out. Willow began to scream at herself in her mind. ‘This can't be how it ends. I can't just get off work one day and then bam, sucked into some cheesy giant black hole. It can't end this way; it just can't end this way.’ Willow felt her hands grip tighter. It wouldn't end this way, she decided to herself. "I won't let it," Willow said out loud. The redhead couldn't even hear her own words over the wind in the room though, and as she finished her sentence, she felt the blade of her sword pull out from the floor. Willow saw Spikes eyes as she flew back, he gave her a sort of sad look as she watched him let go of the pillar he was holding on to. She saw his body fly towards her as she tumbled back and then everything was dark.

Oh sinners let's go down

Let's go down come on down

Oh sinners let's go down

Down in the river to pray

As I went down in the river to pray

Studying about that good old way

And who shall wear the robe and crown

Good Lord show me the way

A van in front of the store pulled away as three young gentlemen began talks of new plans and new things to do.

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