16699/Baby Steps
| Baby Steps | |
|---|---|
| Date of Scene: | 09 February 2025 |
| Location: | Apartment 214, Hugo Building |
| Synopsis: | Willow and Buffy have a chat to see how things are going in their lives after a really rough year. |
| Cast of Characters: | Buffy Summers, Willow Rosenberg
|
- Buffy Summers has posed:
There was no knock. Technically, it was still Buffy's place with Willow. Not that Buffy were her a lot of late. Joyce had been having a lot of headaches so Buffy had been staying there to help out. Dawn was a young woman now and out doing more young woman things instead of being home so Buffy took it upon her shoulders to be there for her mother.
Today though, she managed to get through the door while carrying three plastic to-go bags from the local Thai place. The other arm held a brown bag which had something glass in it by the tink sound once in a while. "Honey, I'm home!"
Then she wandered toward the kitchen to begin unloading. "I hope it's not a bad time. Figured it's been a while so wanted to catch up, see how you're doing, making sure all has been smooth sailing." Translation: Please don't be all black haired and evil again.
- Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Amazingly enough Willow was here.
In fact, why was Willow here? Didn't ahe and Harry make up? Or whatever you called it when your significant other was taken over by the bad side of her personality and you still had hope.
A deep sigh ran through her. "Hi, Buffy."
- Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy continued to work on unloading the food. Some was in the old staple takeaway box with the folding lid. some was in aluminum sorts of dishes with plastic lids placed on top. She eventually started to carry it all to the living room, with utensils. Chopsticks and forks because, no matter how talented she was or what her ancient Slayer memories might be, she could not get the knack of how to eat rice with chopsticks. Then she went back to the kitchen and came back with two bottles of wine. Along with glasses. Only not wine glasses cause that would be a bit too classy for the likes of Buffy Summers. These were just normal tumblersk one of which was actually plastic and had a picture of the Mystery Machine van on one side with the original Scooby Gang on the other.
Buffy returned to the couch and sat down, putting the real glass-glass in front of Willow cause she got the good stuff. Then the plastic cup was put in front of herself. The red wine was opened and poured into her cup then she glanced to Willow with a questioning look on if she wanted the same.
"How're you doing?" she asked in a serious tone.
- Willow Rosenberg has posed:
It took several minutes for Willow to answer the question.
"Okay. I guess." A pause while she made room for the food, and helped dish it out. "Harry's gone. It's not because of me. " Though her frown made it seem that she was lying a little bit. "Something about on the mirror side, or whatever he calls it, needing his help. But he didn't ask me to help."
Another sigh rols out of Willow.
"You know, I expected some flack over my behaviour. Or maybe being shunted off into my previous role. But, something is strange. Wanda says getting used to it takes some time, but I feel left out?"
Of course she didn't take into account that she was on a different path - both magically, and physically. She was growing up. She was contemplating her doctorate.
The Scoobies had gone on without her this past year when she was Dark Willow.
But more that that, SHE had moved on without the Scoobies.
What she was experiencing was growing pains. She needed to etch out her new role. And for that she needed to give up her past. It was all so very complicated.
- Buffy Summers has posed:
Her mindset was far different from that of Buffy. While Willow was recognizing a need to move forward, Buffy wanted to go the opposite direction. Keep things as they were. Everything was changing and she didn't like it. Not one bit.
"I mean yeah, there's going to be complications from what happened, Wil. But we also know that wasn't you. Well, it was you but not you you." Because that made utter sense. Buffy continued, trying to explain her phrasing. "It was you but you had an outside influence. Or even more than one. Those things pushed you toward a path and yeah, you ended up on it but you also pulled away when you realized it wasn't the right one for you. That takes incredible strength."
She considered the left out question as she dug into her pad Thai with her chopsticks. "I am not trying to leave you out. I want things to go back to normal, as much as they can. I know you are busy with your studies, work, the Justice League, Harry. He'll be back hopefully." They both knew how dangerous the other side was. "I'm sure that if he was wanting to break up with you, he'd have said it. He doesn't strike me as a dick who would just ghost you," she admitted with a shrug.
"You have so many opportunities and things you can do with your life. Admittedly, I am sometimes actually a little jealous." They'd had this talk back in high school during the career day festivities. When Buffy knew she wouldn't have a career or a future. Hell, she was unlikely to see the age of 30 at all. And she'd already died once. Next time, CPR might not be an option.
- Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"But that's the thing!" Willow picked over her plate as she tried to frame it properly. "I can't go back to everything is alright. I can't go back to the role I used to take "
From here her explanation got more complex. Or was that easier? Or a little of both?
Maybe, Willow realized, the trouble with the equation was trying to rip a bandaid off slowly. No matter how you ripped it, it was going be painful.
"I mean, I love you guys so much. But.." There was always a 'but'. "I can do so much more than what was asked of me. I think it was part of the problem in the beginning. I was afraid of stretching my wings. Too afraid of offering more. Afraid that I might not be able to.."
Then quietly, "I think I enjoyed being ignored It gave me something to put the blame on instead of the bigger problem."
"Anyways, Harry is gone for a mission. I think that's making this a bigger problem than it should be. When in reality, it's two completely different problems."
All of a sudden she realizes that she had glossed over Buffy's state. "How is your mother?"
- Buffy Summers has posed:
"Yeah, his timing could've been better. But life rarely allows for us to have things happen at convenient times," Buffy muttered. She munched a little as she weighed all Willow had said, taking a moment to weigh it all and using that last question as an excuse to stray from the heavier topic. Just for a moment. "She's okay. The headaches are getting worse. She has reached the point she's considering going to see a doctor about them. I'm sure it's nothing though." Because it had to be nothing. She could only take so much.
"I only wanted as much from you as you wanted to give. But I didn't want to force you into this life. You or Xander or anyone really. It's too dangerous. You have a lifetime ahead of you." Very different from Buffy.
"So you do need to focus on you. On what you want. And yeah, I still want your help but only as you feel you can do it or want to do it. If you just want to hang up the Scooby hat, I respect that. But I will never turn away your help, as major or minor as you choose for it to be."
- Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"She hasn't already?!?" Before Willow could temper her thoughts, she blurted them. "I mean, why hasn't she?"
Sure she'd been Dark Willow for some time, but did she really miss this?
"I'm sorry. Like you said, things don't happen at convenient times. I should have been there for you, and I wasn't."
As she listened to Buffy's going on, she nibbled on an egg roll. "Didn't you understand? I stayed here, with you, to help you with your Slaying. Icould have gone to any university I wanted. With scholarships. I stayed here because I thought you needed me. You did! I know you did. Let's quit being polite. I want to help. As a full member. Instead of looking up things and warding as my major contribution. I am a member of the Justice of America. And, dammit, they would never think of me as the one who made wards.
"You realise how powerful I really am? Right?"
- Buffy Summers has posed:
"You know my Mom. She's stubborn. She's sure it's just work stress, and I'm sure she's right. But she won't go to the hospital or a doctor unless she's bleeding from an artery or something." Joyce was stronger than Buffy in so many ways.
Buffy paused in her eating, lowering her chopsticks and then stabbing them into the box she was eating from. She picked up her Scooby Gang tumbler and took a sip of wine before finally speaking.
"You were never just the one who made wards. Not to me. You always did the research cause you were smarter. You were the one that solved things, along with Giles. Without you, I'd never have been able to do all the things I did. So you were never just the ward girl. I'm sorry I made you feel you were."
She set her glass down. "I know how powerful you are. Have known for a long time. Though I wasn't sure you wanted to embrace it. I wasn't sure if you were uncomfortable with it or what. But when you joined the Justice League? No doubt what you are capable of."
She picked up her box of food again but didn't dig in immediately. "I know you had been accepted a lot of places for college. And you chose to stay with me. Which was a huge sacrifice. I appreciate you did it but at the same time, I feel like I held you back."
- Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Again, her response was several minutes before responding.
She started with Joyce. "There are times when you need to step back and lets the chips fall where they may." Ironically, she's talking about Joyce, but she could be talking about herself. "And there are times when you know that, as much as you love someone, sometimes you have got to sit them down and give them a come to Jesus talk." Which is funny because she is Jewish by birth, and a pagan by religion
She lets that be.
The harder part came after.
"You never held me back. Not in that way. Some of the problem was because you didn't trust me enough to be certain of what I wanted. I wanted to be a part of what you were doing. I could have gone to school anywhere. Just as I was anywhere that I needed to be. The school wasn't the important part . Sure, I could have had different letters beneath my degree. But learning is learning. What I learned more than anything was the stuff I learned with you and the Scoobies. Come on! Colombia bent over backwards to have me in their Master's program. Do you think that my undergraduate degree was a detriment? The schools were always going to be there for me."
- Buffy Summers has posed:
"That was always the weirdest saying," Buffy had to comment. "I guess it sort of makes sense at least. Unlike more than one way to skin a cat or throwing the baby out with the bath water cause who the hell does stuff like that?!"
Stay on topic Buffy. Brain wandering down the rabbit trails.
The took what Willow said and considered as she ate. Then after swallowing, she cut to the core.
"And now what do you want?"
- Willow Rosenberg has posed:
What did she want?
"I don't know." Here Willow had the smile ironically. "Like, sure, I want to take my Doctorate. And being of the Justice League. And be a full member of the Scoobies. And, sure a whole bunch of things.."
"What I want most of all is to repair my relationships - especially with you. I'm not the same Willow I once was. And I am the same Willow. Does that make sense?"
- Buffy Summers has posed:
"It makes perfect sense," Buffy said as she looked directly at Willow.
"You'll always be the Willow that became my friend when I moved to Sunnydale. But you also have grown into another person. Someone far beyond the girl I knew and now being an amazing, powerful woman."
Then she smiled, unable to stop herself. "And I look forward to getting to know you. The new you. For many years to come."