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The first time Willow noticed the scar, she really hadn't meant to be staring. When it came to Tara, however, Willow found that she just couldn't help herself. They had only known each other for a short while, but already Willow loved being around Tara. She loved making her laugh, loved seeing her smile and talking to her about magic. She loved having something that felt like it was hers.
Being around Tara made Willow feel all tingly and happy. Like she was floating.
And, to Willow, Tara was absolutely gorgeous. Willow thought she would be just fine spending the rest of her life doing nothing but being around Tara, admiring her and her beauty.
Okay, so Willow was starting to get why her vampire-self had been kinda gay.
That meant that Willow couldn't quite take her eyes away from Tara. So, when the two were hanging out in Tara's dorm room as Tara was showing Willow all the magical items she had collected over the years, Willow couldn't help but stare.
Willow watched as Tara reached up high on the top of the shelf to grab something. With her arms extended, Tara's shirt rode up and for a moment her lower stomach was exposed. And that's when Willow noticed it.
Tara's stomach had only been visible for a second or two, and Willow couldn't make out anything specific about what she saw in that time. But it looked like a deep scar. It only covered a small area on her right side, so Willow didn't think the scar looked that big. But it was still very noticeable.
Despite it clearly being healed and not new, Willow felt a rush of worry wash over her. She wanted to know what had happened. Who had done this to Tara?
Willow thought about asking. But then Tara ran up to her with a crystal in hand, excitedly telling Willow about it. Seeing that smile again, Willow didn't want to ruin the moment.
-
The second time Willow noticed the scar was when she and Tara were having sex.
It had started with the two of them making out, then Willow tracing kisses down to Tara's neck and then her stomach. When she noticed the scar, Willow paused. In the moment she had completely forgotten it was there.
Up close like this it looked a lot more concerning than Willow initially thought. The scar looked quite big and Willow was reminded of the stab wounds she had seen in movies and on Buffy sometimes.
She doubted Tara would've had something like this without it needing stitches.
Willow wanted to ask. She was about to, except, when she looked up, Tara's eyed were full of sadness.
"C-can you ignore it for now?" Tara asked, avoiding looking at Willow. "Please?"
Willow felt her heart breaking at the sight of Tara like this. But she agreed.
She agreed to ignore it many more times after this.
Willow still wanted to know, but Tara never wanted to talk about it. So Willow was fine with waiting.
-
It was the morning after Tara's birthday and Willow awoke to find herself alone in the bed.
Last night had been... strange to say the least. Tara's family had arrived, saying there's a demon within Tara and wanting to take her away. Willow hated the idea of losing Tara and was relieved when Tara refused to go with her family.
Tara seemed really happy about that decision as well.
Shortly after Willow woke up, Tara entered the room, two coffees and a bag of pastries in hand.
"Hey." She greeted Willow, smiling so widely it was infectious. "I brought some breakfast."
She sat down on the bed in front of Willow, handing her one of the cups.
"I know it's not much, but-"
"It's perfect." Willow assured her. "But you're the birthday girl. I should be giving you breakfast."
"Well, it's not my birthday anymore. Besides I wanted to apologise for yesterday."
"Tara, there's nothing to apologise for." Willow replied. "I still won't say no to breakfast."
The two of them laughed.
"Still, I wanted to. Apologise, that is. For the spell and for my family." Tara insisted.
Though Willow could tell that Tara wanted to say something more. She kept starting to say something, but no words ever came out of her mouth.
"Is everything okay?" Willow finally asked, worried.
"Everything is perfect." Tara said, smiling at Willow. "I just... you know that scar I have?"
Willow nodded.
"I couldn't tell you before, but now that you met my family, I want to tell you." Tara stated, then looked right at Willow. "I want you to know."
"Okay."
Tara set her coffee down at the bedside table and started nervously fidgeting with the bottom of her shirt.
"My whole life my family told me there was a demon inside of me. It scared me and, when I was a teenager, I thought maybe I could do something about it. So I found this spell for enchanting a knife, which could then be used to cut a demon out of someone. A long time ago, it was a method used in demonic possessions." Tara started, then looked down at her own hands when she continued. "I thought I could... could cut the demon out of me. It didn't work, I just ended up cutting myself. There was a lot of blood and I had to get stitches. I thought I had just failed at the spell and my dad convinced me that me hurting myself like that was a sign of my demon part. So I never tried a spell like that again."
When Tara looked back up at Willow, she had tears in her eyes. So did Willow.
"That's horrible. Tara, I'm so sorry that happened." Willow said, then engulfed her girlfriend in the biggest hug she could.
The two of them stayed like that for a while, their arms around each other and both of them crying.
"At least now I know it wasn't the spell that had gone wrong." Tara replied, then pulled away from the hug to look at Willow. "And now I have you."
Tara closed the distance between them and kissed Willow, pouring all of her emotions into that kiss.
"You'll always have me." Willow said, once they pulled away. Though neither of them pulled their hands away from each other. "I love you."
Once again, Tara smiled. "I love you too."