Tara MI posted on the Bronze linear: Jul 24, 2002

Mazzy
She sat in the park. She's sat in this park so many times before, but she felt different, alive yet not alive. She bathed in the sunlight and it played on her honey hair. A slightly cool breeze blew through the strands and she closed her eyes relishing the coolness it brought. She felt as if she had just gotten here--to this town, to this day, yet it seemed forever ago. As her eyes closed, her most frequent memory played across her darkened lids--standing in Willow's room after endless hours of lovemaking. Willow had on a white shirt.

After that last moment, everything went black. How did she get from that to this? She didn’t even remember walking into the park, but there she sat on a bench, cool drink of iced-tea in her hand and wearing the greenish, peasant style gown that she wore the last time she had strolled these lawns. The sun was at eye level, and she had to squint her eyes to make out the forms in the distance. There was one in particular that caught her eye. Familiar, slim and coming toward her. But she couldn’t say for sure who it was. She knew it was a female and she was running, like a delighted child, in her direction. Tara blinked her lovely, long lashes, trying to focus on the petite form headed her way.

The honey-blonde haired woman held her soft, frail hands up to the rim of her forehead to block the light as she watched the young girl with the long dark hair running toward her. "Dawn," she whispered. The slayer-sister was beaming as if it had been years since she had seen her. She ran to her, her long brown hair swinging back and forth, almost sharing in the exuberance she outwardly expressed. Her arms outstretched, she was about to crash into Tara. Tara stood up to catch her. She was soon enveloped in the long, swan-like body of the younger girl. "I knew it. I knew you’d be back—that you wouldn’t leave me." Dawn sobbed into her, and Tara stroked her hair like a mother soothing a child. "Shh, honey. What are you talking about? You know that Willow and I are together again. I don’t have any intention of leaving." Dawn peered up at her, clear, blue eyes brimming with liquid tears. "But you’ve come back, after what Warren did to you." "What?" Tara stood back from her, agasp? "What Warren did? Dawnie are you okay? What are you talking about?" Dawn now also stood away from Tara and looked her up and down suspiciously. "But, you don’t? How could you not? You don’t remember?" Tara raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Remember what Dawnie?" The younger girl composed herself and spoke her words carefully and hesitantly. "Tara, you were shot. You died."

Lissie
Anger surged through the stalwart body. Unconsciously grabbing at her chest, she felt a horrible pain in her body. Tara looked down at her frail hand, coated with dry blood. Her green dress became stained with her blood, with her life source. She reached out to Dawn. She felt the cool air sift through her crimson dyed hands. Dawn looked up at her in a look of half shock and half pity. Tara collapsed and felt it go dark.
Tara gasped in a deep breath as she awoke from her dream. Squinting her almond eyes, she looked down on her sweater, and smiled when no blood was found. Getting up from the comfy bed, she saw Willow's shaking form across from her. "Willow, what's wrong?" Receiving no answer, Tara walked over to her red haired lover. Placing a smooth hand on Willow's white shirt, Tara looked down. Willow was crouched, crying over a body. Her body. Tara's blank eyes stared into her shocked own. "I . . I'm dead?" she asked to no one.

Mazzy
She heard a blood-curdling scream "Nooooo!"  Willow’s eyes turned to a fiery red, but Tara continued to try and soothe her.  "No, baby.  I’m here.  I’m right here."
Then she felt Willow slipping away swiftly, as if she was engulfed into a tunnel of darkness.  "Nooo!" Now it was Tara screaming.  Behind her, a bright green light of energy attacked her, forcing her to turn around swiftly and face it.  She heard a voice, but it wasn’t just one voice, it was the voice of many--women, men, children, young and old, wise and strong.  They spoke as one unified spirit.  "Your time is now.  Leave your old trappings behind and come to where you belong."  Tara turned away from the light in defiance.  "I’m not ready to go anywhere."

Lissie
"Go now, it is your time." Tara turned and faced the green light. Holding her spot with all her might, she said "No." feeling the magic course through her hands, ready to jump out. Turning her body toward Willow, she struggled against some opposing force, feeling as if she was fighting her way through a tornado. Finding her lover was harder to do, feeling the darkness envelop this once bright girl. "You are no longer needed. She is gone. Leave her." "No" Tara said once again. "Leaver her now." "Or what?" Tara replied struggling to get closer to Willow. Tara suddenly felt her whole being pulled back. Everything shifted into each other, everything become one, became still, but Tara felt her body was in constant motion.
Falling back onto hard earth Tara looked up at a shining face before her. "We asked you nicely. But we were forced to do that." "Um, yes." Tara said apprehensively. "Is this heaven?" she asked, taking in the place's bright surroundings. A larger laugh could be heard echoing through the bright halls, every voice cackling at her question. The bright face looked down. "Heaven? No. You would only go to heaven if you are dead."

Mazzy
The bright face was green and glowing and Tara’s eyes felt it harsh at first, but then it began to dim, and she could see the outline of the features. They were familiar--soft, feminine, green. An angular jaw, high cheekbones, big blue eyes and long dark hair. "Dawn? But you were in the park. But that wasn't real, was it?"
The voice spoke again. It didn’t sound like the familiar lovely high pitch of the younger Summer’s sister. "I am not Dawn, Dawn is not me, but she was made in the image of us."
"The image of US?" Tara was confused. She had been shot, but she wasn’t dead. She was not in her body, but she had a body, a form that felt familiar. She moved her hands up and down her luscious curves and everything seemed right. Her full lips, her strong nose. It was her. She was here, but not dead and not quite alive.
"The one you know as Dawn was made from our energy and in our likeness. We are the Gods of the green light. It brings life to all who walk in this universe."
Things began to make some sense to Tara. Her knowledge of other dimensions and Dawn’s role as The Key had helped her to understand. The voice continued as the formed moved slowly to her and was joined by others. More Dawns, but not Dawns. They were like clones almost. "We are higher than the heavens, higher beings, the ultimate life and energy." Tara took in all the strangeness, but began to feel at ease, at peace. She collected her thoughts. "So why am I here?"

"Only a few are pure of heart. Only a few have the ability deep inside the to carry forth the work we do, and they are the ones who are called. We have watched you a long time. We have seen through the eyes of the one that you call Dawn, that you are indeed worthy."
Tara, who up to that point had been crouching on what could be called the ground, stood up to face these beings. She felt comforted in their presence. They had the power to do that. Their smile, the warmth and love in their eyes. For the first time in a long time, she felt as if she was exactly where she should be. "I will do what you ask. I want to serve my purpose now."
"This is a gift. It is not about service." Like a thousand mirrors of the same image, the "Dawns" surrounded her in a circle of soft, green light. "With this gift, you can bring life. You can bring seeds to plants and souls to demons with a look--a touch." The angelic beings spoke softly now as they imparted their wisdom. Tara began to feel more spiritual herself, letting go of her fleshy body and beginning to glow in a similar green light. The soft voices continued. "You will be a guide, inspiring those who need to be strong, and able to watch over those you love with the gift of truth." The soft glow that surrounded her came forward and joined with her inner spirit so that it became one unified light. She felt her hair growing longer, her body changing. She looked down at herself, her feet, her hands, her body. Her image had become like one of theirs. Tara became a green goddess, finally taking her place in the light.