BTVS Ficlet: Alongside World Part Two: Sever the Fellowship of Dust
Title: Alongside World Part Two
By Jesterlady
Rating: PG
Pairing: Spike/Buffy, Xander/Anya, mentions of Willow/Tara
Summary: I have been writing this for a long time and finally finished it. It's a Jonathan and Tara friendship fic that involves them wanting to help the issues that plague the rest of the Scoobies. It's sort of the serious version of my fic, Initiation Sigh. The time frame is again sort of relative as it seems to be right after Jonathan's spell in Superstar BTVS S4, but it more involves the S6 situation.
Disclaimer: I don't own BTVS. The title from CS Lewis
Part One
Part Two: Sever the Fellowship of Dust by George Herbert
Jonathan could hardly believe it. Tara was inside his room talking animatedly about a way for them to help the others. This had followed a bout of weeping that Jonathan still didn’t know the reason for.
Tara had showed up at his house extremely shaken. She’d obviously been crying and apologized for coming like this
and said she didn’t have anywhere else to go. Jonathan had felt very awkward. But he welcomed her in and got her a
glass of water. This small act seemed to trigger something and Tara had started sobbing. He’d just stared at her,
wondering what on earth he was supposed to do. Eventually, she’d stopped and apologized again. He said it was
nothing. But she’d still been so wound up she had started babbling about research and a plan and how it didn’t
violate rules of magic or involve people’s wills or lives. It simply was showing them their true selves or what could be
their true selves if they let it be so. Plus, it involved a vacation or something.
Jonathan was a little confused. He put up his hand to try and stop her. Finally she noticed his feeble waving and
stopped, blushing.
“Uh, I’m just a little confused here. Maybe you could start over. Though maybe not with the crying.”
Tara sat on the bed and collected herself, speaking slowly as to make sure she was coherent and didn’t stutter.
“I was up all night r-researching. I thought I found a way. Willow came over this morning. I-I didn’t tell her about
my idea, but I-I thought that maybe I could tell her how I’ve been f-feeling lately. She didn’t take it well. She-She
thought that there was something wrong with me! She tried to make me drink some tea she mixed up. I-I said no
and she got mad,” Tara’s eyes filled with tears again and she turned pale. “I didn’t know what else to do, so I said I
was late for class and ran. I think she d-didn’t believe me. So that’s why I think we should do this now, if-if you’ll help
me.”
Jonathan swallowed hard. Now Willow was going to turn him into a grasshopper. But he couldn’t say no to Tara.
“Sure. Explain that part to me, please?”
Tara’s eyes glowed.
“We’re going to go to a different dimension!”
Jonathan nearly swallowed his tongue.
“What?” he burst out. “How?”
“I’ll open a portal. But we’re going to a specific dimension. It will be safe.”
“Yeah,” he said slowly, sinking into a chair. “Safe.”
“Jonathan,” she said as she turned to him, “we need to show them how their lives could be if t-they would only
change, if they would stop allowing their past to dictate their feelings. This is a dimension that will do that. It’s one
where the best decisions of people and their highest characteristics are brought into the foreground of their lives. As
long as we open the portal using personal artifacts of the people we want to see, we’ll achieve our purpose.”
“Why can’t they just go in and see for themselves?”
“It doesn’t work well. T-two of the same person in one dimension is not good on the paradox level.”
“Fine.” He sat back and tried to take it all in. “Then how does it help?”
“We’ll go in and then we’ll show t-them who t-they really are. Before W-willow tries to show me who s-she thinks I
really am.” Tara looked scared.
“Let’s go,” Jonathan said, shocking himself with his own eagerness.
***
A couple of hours later Jonathan arrived back at his house hauling a load of things he’d managed to either steal or borrow from the rest of the Scoobies. Spike’s lighter, Buffy’s stake, Xander’s watch, Giles’ useless reading glasses, Anya’s bracelet, Dawn’s jacket and Willow’s sweater. Tara had set everything up while he’d been gone and now they could go. All he lacked was his courage.
Tara had spread a big circle of sand in his room with candles around it. All the items were placed in the circle
and Jonathan and Tara stood inside it, with him holding their most important weapon for the other side.
“I implore thee, Portalkeeper,” Tara said slowly, in measured tones, “open the door so we may see the way.
These items are offered.” A small burning hole lit up the air in the circle. One by one, Tara lifted each item and
passed it through the hole and it landed, presumedly unharmed, wherever the other side was. When the last one
passed through, she spoke again.
“Preparation is complete. Now may the way be opened and kept safe for our return.” She turned to Jonathan.
“Because we didn’t put any of our own items through, we won’t be represented there. That doesn’t mean we won’t
exist there, but we won’t be seeing us. We’ll just be us. But we can't interact with anyone. We just need to observe.”
Jonathan nodded. He didn’t really understand. But he thought he could do the not interacting thing.
“Just observation. I can do that,” he assured her.
“W-e still have to be careful,” she warned him. “Seeing a different way of life could change the way we see ourselves
and we could be just as altered when we come back as hopefully t-they will be. I-It might be a shock.” Jonathan
gulped. The burning circle grew bigger and bigger, until it nearly filled the circle.
“Hold my hand,” Tara told him. Jonathan grasped it and they stepped through into the other dimension.
***
The walking through fire feeling was familiar. It still wasn’t a comfortable feeling, but Jonathan handled it better the second time around. Tara looked serene and comfortable beside him, but having just spent a few weeks in her company, he could tell that she wasn’t nearly as serene as she looked. They had had a fruitful journey and he thought they had a real chance, but sometimes human error ran too deep for change. He just hoped that that wasn’t true for their friends.
“Are we back?” he asked nervously. He glanced around. It was still his bedroom, or something that looked
remarkably like it.
“We’re back,” Tara announced confidently. Jonathan smiled a little. This Tara was strong. He knew the strength
had been in her all along, but a few weeks in another dimension had certainly brought it out, that and the incredible
concern and terror she felt for her friends.
“So what do we do now? Do we show it to them, or do I have time for some tasteful editing?” Tara let a small
smile show, but she shook her head.
“It needs to be real to them. They have to taste the sincerity of themselves and realize that they made the
decision and not us.”
“You’re the boss.” He shrugged his shoulders. She shook her head.
“We’re a team. And I couldn’t have done this without you.”
“Thanks,” he said shyly. He didn’t know what to say or how to act around her, but he wasn’t scared of her
anymore. He’d seen her true self and knew there was nothing in her smooth steel backbone that could hurt him, but
only those who threatened those she loved.
“Come on,” she said, sounding a little less confident. “We’d better let t-them know we’re back. You remember
what to do in case they don’t believe us, right?”
“Count to three and disappear,” Jonathan said softly, praying it didn’t come to that.
“Let’s go,” she answered and slowly, the two friends walked toward whatever future their friends decided for them.
By Jesterlady
Rating: PG
Pairing: Spike/Buffy, Xander/Anya, mentions of Willow/Tara
Summary: I have been writing this for a long time and finally finished it. It's a Jonathan and Tara friendship fic that involves them wanting to help the issues that plague the rest of the Scoobies. It's sort of the serious version of my fic, Initiation Sigh. The time frame is again sort of relative as it seems to be right after Jonathan's spell in Superstar BTVS S4, but it more involves the S6 situation.
Disclaimer: I don't own BTVS. The title from CS Lewis
Part One
Part Two: Sever the Fellowship of Dust by George Herbert
Jonathan could hardly believe it. Tara was inside his room talking animatedly about a way for them to help the others. This had followed a bout of weeping that Jonathan still didn’t know the reason for.
Tara had showed up at his house extremely shaken. She’d obviously been crying and apologized for coming like this
and said she didn’t have anywhere else to go. Jonathan had felt very awkward. But he welcomed her in and got her a
glass of water. This small act seemed to trigger something and Tara had started sobbing. He’d just stared at her,
wondering what on earth he was supposed to do. Eventually, she’d stopped and apologized again. He said it was
nothing. But she’d still been so wound up she had started babbling about research and a plan and how it didn’t
violate rules of magic or involve people’s wills or lives. It simply was showing them their true selves or what could be
their true selves if they let it be so. Plus, it involved a vacation or something.
Jonathan was a little confused. He put up his hand to try and stop her. Finally she noticed his feeble waving and
stopped, blushing.
“Uh, I’m just a little confused here. Maybe you could start over. Though maybe not with the crying.”
Tara sat on the bed and collected herself, speaking slowly as to make sure she was coherent and didn’t stutter.
“I was up all night r-researching. I thought I found a way. Willow came over this morning. I-I didn’t tell her about
my idea, but I-I thought that maybe I could tell her how I’ve been f-feeling lately. She didn’t take it well. She-She
thought that there was something wrong with me! She tried to make me drink some tea she mixed up. I-I said no
and she got mad,” Tara’s eyes filled with tears again and she turned pale. “I didn’t know what else to do, so I said I
was late for class and ran. I think she d-didn’t believe me. So that’s why I think we should do this now, if-if you’ll help
me.”
Jonathan swallowed hard. Now Willow was going to turn him into a grasshopper. But he couldn’t say no to Tara.
“Sure. Explain that part to me, please?”
Tara’s eyes glowed.
“We’re going to go to a different dimension!”
Jonathan nearly swallowed his tongue.
“What?” he burst out. “How?”
“I’ll open a portal. But we’re going to a specific dimension. It will be safe.”
“Yeah,” he said slowly, sinking into a chair. “Safe.”
“Jonathan,” she said as she turned to him, “we need to show them how their lives could be if t-they would only
change, if they would stop allowing their past to dictate their feelings. This is a dimension that will do that. It’s one
where the best decisions of people and their highest characteristics are brought into the foreground of their lives. As
long as we open the portal using personal artifacts of the people we want to see, we’ll achieve our purpose.”
“Why can’t they just go in and see for themselves?”
“It doesn’t work well. T-two of the same person in one dimension is not good on the paradox level.”
“Fine.” He sat back and tried to take it all in. “Then how does it help?”
“We’ll go in and then we’ll show t-them who t-they really are. Before W-willow tries to show me who s-she thinks I
really am.” Tara looked scared.
“Let’s go,” Jonathan said, shocking himself with his own eagerness.
***
A couple of hours later Jonathan arrived back at his house hauling a load of things he’d managed to either steal or borrow from the rest of the Scoobies. Spike’s lighter, Buffy’s stake, Xander’s watch, Giles’ useless reading glasses, Anya’s bracelet, Dawn’s jacket and Willow’s sweater. Tara had set everything up while he’d been gone and now they could go. All he lacked was his courage.
Tara had spread a big circle of sand in his room with candles around it. All the items were placed in the circle
and Jonathan and Tara stood inside it, with him holding their most important weapon for the other side.
“I implore thee, Portalkeeper,” Tara said slowly, in measured tones, “open the door so we may see the way.
These items are offered.” A small burning hole lit up the air in the circle. One by one, Tara lifted each item and
passed it through the hole and it landed, presumedly unharmed, wherever the other side was. When the last one
passed through, she spoke again.
“Preparation is complete. Now may the way be opened and kept safe for our return.” She turned to Jonathan.
“Because we didn’t put any of our own items through, we won’t be represented there. That doesn’t mean we won’t
exist there, but we won’t be seeing us. We’ll just be us. But we can't interact with anyone. We just need to observe.”
Jonathan nodded. He didn’t really understand. But he thought he could do the not interacting thing.
“Just observation. I can do that,” he assured her.
“W-e still have to be careful,” she warned him. “Seeing a different way of life could change the way we see ourselves
and we could be just as altered when we come back as hopefully t-they will be. I-It might be a shock.” Jonathan
gulped. The burning circle grew bigger and bigger, until it nearly filled the circle.
“Hold my hand,” Tara told him. Jonathan grasped it and they stepped through into the other dimension.
***
The walking through fire feeling was familiar. It still wasn’t a comfortable feeling, but Jonathan handled it better the second time around. Tara looked serene and comfortable beside him, but having just spent a few weeks in her company, he could tell that she wasn’t nearly as serene as she looked. They had had a fruitful journey and he thought they had a real chance, but sometimes human error ran too deep for change. He just hoped that that wasn’t true for their friends.
“Are we back?” he asked nervously. He glanced around. It was still his bedroom, or something that looked
remarkably like it.
“We’re back,” Tara announced confidently. Jonathan smiled a little. This Tara was strong. He knew the strength
had been in her all along, but a few weeks in another dimension had certainly brought it out, that and the incredible
concern and terror she felt for her friends.
“So what do we do now? Do we show it to them, or do I have time for some tasteful editing?” Tara let a small
smile show, but she shook her head.
“It needs to be real to them. They have to taste the sincerity of themselves and realize that they made the
decision and not us.”
“You’re the boss.” He shrugged his shoulders. She shook her head.
“We’re a team. And I couldn’t have done this without you.”
“Thanks,” he said shyly. He didn’t know what to say or how to act around her, but he wasn’t scared of her
anymore. He’d seen her true self and knew there was nothing in her smooth steel backbone that could hurt him, but
only those who threatened those she loved.
“Come on,” she said, sounding a little less confident. “We’d better let t-them know we’re back. You remember
what to do in case they don’t believe us, right?”
“Count to three and disappear,” Jonathan said softly, praying it didn’t come to that.
“Let’s go,” she answered and slowly, the two friends walked toward whatever future their friends decided for them.