For the Love of Trees (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Willow/Tara)
Title --For the Love of Trees
Author-- cornerofmadness
Fandom -- Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Disclaimer -- Joss Whedon owns them.
Rating -- teen
Characters/Pairing --Willow/Tara, Anya, Xander, Giles
Timeline/Spoilers -- set in the college years
Word Count -- 1,987
Warning -- none really
Summary -- Who knew a tree could cause so much trouble?
Author’s Note -- Written for the 2011 girlsavesboyfic challenge, thanks to evil_little_dog for the beta.
XXX
Willow puffed at her bangs. “Hope Buffy gets back in town soon.” She wrestled the rusty lock open on one of Giles’s books. Magic would be easier, but Tara didn’t like her to use it for everything.
“We can do this,” her girlfriend replied, peering at a book on druidry. “It’s not really like a tree could be eating people in the park.”
Willow’s nose wrinkled, paging through the foxed pages of her freshly opened book. Mildew made her want to sneeze. “They did find that one high school football student embedded inside of an eucalyptus.”
Tara got up as the electric tea kettle’s frantic boiling got loud. She looked back at Willow. “Want some?”
“Earl Grey!” She’d wanted to try it since she had seen reruns of Captain Picard ordering it, but her mother had never bought it. It was one of the first things Willow purchased when she moved into the dorm. Now, she was never without a fresh box of it.
Tara poured the boiling water over the teabags. “I guess it’s not a normal thing for a boy to turn up in the middle of a tree, not even in Sunnydale.”
Willow nodded. “It is hellmouthy and all but that’s new to me. Anything good in the druid book?”
Shaking her head, Tara’s wheat-hued hair whipped her cheeks. “Not yet.”
Before Willow could ask any more questions, the phone rang. She wasn’t overly surprised to hear Giles on the other end of the line. “Hi Giles, what’s up?”
“Have you seen Xander? Anya hasn’t seen him since the job he went on this morning.” Giles’s voice lowered as he added, “Frankly, she’s driving me batty.”
Imagining him rubbing his nose above his glasses, Willow tried not to laugh. “I haven’t seen him. Maybe he’s still at work. Do you know what job?”
“Building a bandstand in the park for the Apple Festival Battle of the Bands,” Giles replied. “And yes, Anya is convinced that a tree has eaten him. I think she’s planning on going down there now. She’s broadly hinting I should accompany here.” He sighed. “Have you and Tara made any progress?”
“Not as such.”
“Have you looked into dryads?”
“Dryads, how could I forget them? I’ll try that next, Giles. Thanks. I was beginning to think it was Ents.”
“Treebeard isn’t real, Willow. Anya, I’ll be right there,” he snapped, then sighed again. “Call me if you find something.”
“I will.” She hung up and looked over as Tara sat down with the tea. She took a sip then kissed her girlfriend. “Perfect.”
“So who haven’t we seen?”
“Xander. Anya is being Anya,” Willow said with mild displeasure. She tried to like Anya, she really did, but it wasn’t always easy. Xander had such a crappy record with women, one demon after another and then something worse, Cordelia. Okay, so Cordy got better, but still. “And panicking because Xander didn’t come right home after work.”
Tara glanced at the gathering dusk outside their dorm room window. “Should we worry?”
“Giles will call if something is really wrong. He and Anya are going to check the park and he suggested we check dryads.”
“All right then, you do that and I’ll stick with the Druids and we’ll see what we come up with.”
XXX
“Hmmm, the life of a dryad sort of sucks,” Willow decided.
“If I remember right, they can’t go far from their trees,” Tara said, scribbling a note on a pad of yellow legal paper.
“And if the trees die, they do, too.” Willow closed the book. “They’re expanding the playground in the park. They probably had to cut down trees in order to do that.”
“I’d think so,” Tara replied. “Do you think one of the trees fought back?”
Willow smiled a little. “That’s the best I’ve got right now. How about you?”
“I’ve not seen a druidry spell that would embed someone in a tree. The druids hold the trees in high honor, of course, but I’ve found nothing that suggests they can use them as a weapon.”
“So no Merlin-Nimue spells, huh?” Willow noticed the time. “Giles hasn’t called back and it’s getting late. I’ll give him a call. He should have figured out how to use his mobile by now,” she added the last bit with a terrible English accent.
Tara went back to her reading as Willow placed the call. The redhead’s brow beetled. “Apparently not.”
“I think we should head to the park.” Tara pointed to the footlocker. “It’ll give us a chance to try out our new packs.”
Willow grinned. She and Tara had prepared small purses filled with magical accoutrements to help them be better prepared to assist Buffy as needed. “So true. Okay. Let’s go see what’s up at the park.”
XXX
Hearing a snapping twig behind them, both Tara and Willow jumped.
“Anya! What are you doing here? You scared me half to death,” Willow said, clutching at her heart.
“I’m looking for Xander, of course. He’s disappeared.” She jammed her fists into her hips.
“Where’s Giles? Didn’t he come with you?” Tara asked.
“He went one way and I went the other. Haven’t seen him since.” Anya scowled. “The bunnies probably got him.”
“Not with the bunnies again,” Willow sighed.
“They’re all over this park. You don’t know,” Anya protested.
“Giles wasn’t answering his phone,” Tara reminded her girlfriend.
“We’d better not slip up. The harmless rabbits might get us,” Willow said and Anya glared. “Anya, which way did Giles go? If he’s in trouble, we ought to start there.”
“Follow me.” Anya took off across the park.
“Willow, honey, do we know exactly where that teenaged boy was found in the tree?”
“Um...no, I don't think Giles said and the newspapers tend to downplay that sort of thing.”
“Why would they send my Xander into a place to build something when trees are eating people?” Anya mumbled.
“Because normal people don't believe in that sort of thing,” Willow replied then glanced at the former demon. “Anya, you might know. What kinds of things could make a tree do that?”
“Sylphs, dryads, satyrs, the Greeks were really into trees, I guess.” Anya shrugged. “There's the Ton Mai of Thailand, tree spirits. Think there's any chance the tree could be Yggdrasil?”
“The World Tree?” Tara asked. “That would be cool, but this is nowhere near Scandinavia. Can the World Tree move?”
Anya shrugged again. “I don't know. Trees aren't that interesting.”
“That's not true. Trees are very...and Xander's in a tree,” Willow said, her words ending in a squeak.
“Just dangling from it,” he corrected from over their heads, hanging upside down from his ankles. The branches shook him.
“And she's very upset,” Giles said, caught upright in the same tree, his arms held overhead.
“Oh, Xander, when we get home, I’m going to give you a-”
“We don’t need to know,” Willow cut Anya off.
The former demon glowered then said, “Are you sure it’s not Yggdrasil? It held Odin that way.”
“Think for a moment about that statement,” Giles said dryly. “The Tree of Wisdom and Xander.”
“Hey!” Xander protested.
“She’s coming,” Giles jerked his chin to an oak tree beside him. “Dryad.”
Willow backed up, bumping into Tara, as a thin woman appeared, leaf-green eyes now fixed on the two witches and Anya. The dryad’s skin was mottled brown, like bark, and her hair definitely boasted a leafy quality. “Y-you need to let our friends go,” she stammered.
The dryad pointed up into the trees. “They come. They destroy my home.” Her voice reminded Willow of the sound of wind rustling through leaves.
“Xander, you can’t go around destroying women’s homes,” Anya scolded. “Do you know what I used to do to men who did that?”
“I’d rather not get into that right now, okay?” he groaned.
“Maybe they didn’t know it was your home,” Tara said.
“And I didn’t destroy any trees. I just built a band stand,” Xander said.
“I was merely walking along,” Giles added.
The Dryad glared up at them. “All men are the same.”
“Don’t I know it,” Anya nodded.
“Anya, could you please not agree with the person who might be ready to feed our friends to the trees,” Willow hissed. She turned to the Dryad. “And please, let our friends go. They aren’t going to hurt you.”
“No one leaves here,” the Dryad replied.
Tara pulled Willow closer, whispering in her ear. Willow nodded. The young witch pressed her hands together. “Ignis aurum!” Willow spread her hands, golden fire lacing between her fingers. Tara did the same. “Please, let our friends go,” Willow said. “I don’t want to have to set your trees on fire, but I will.”
The trees around them rattled their branches and the dryad’s lips peeled back away from very sharp teeth. “Either way, I die,” she said.
“No, this is a park. If the trees are healthy, they won’t cut them down. Well, not all of them,” Tara said. “We can’t guarantee someone won’t carve anything in them, though.”
“We could get the fraternities or sororities to adopt a tree. They have to do community service. They’d actually come and fertilize the trees and clean up around them. How’s that sound?” Willow asked, letting her magical fire die.
The Dryad pulled back, putting her hand on a tree. “They would do this?”
“Sure,” Willow said. “But you have to let our friends go. We can’t do anything about the boy who died already, but you can spare them.” She pointed up at Xander and Giles.
“My trees need little care. They mostly need not to be cut.” She bobbed her head. “I accept.” The Dryad waved her hands and the trees bowed down, letting Xander and Giles drop. The men sprawled on the loam, Xander scrambling up before Giles. The Dryad wrapped her arms around the oak and dissolved into it.
“Well, that went better than I thought it would,” Willow grinned.
“You weren’t the one hanging upside down for hours,” Xander said, holding his head. “I feel nauseous.”
Anya put an arm around him. “My poor baby. Let’s get you home.” She steered him off, not waiting for the others.
“Oh all the bloody…” Giles dusted off his trousers. “How does he always get into these messes?”
“A question with no answer.” Willow shrugged. “Are you all right, Giles?”
“My dignity is quite bruised, but I’m sure I’ll make a full recovery.” Giles fussed with his glasses. “Good work and fast thinking with the fire spell.”
“Tara’s idea.” Beaming, Willow took her girlfriend’s hand and started back the way they had come. “Think we did the right thing with making a deal?”
“For now, at any rate. Xander and I would not have fared well if you had to actually use that fire,” Giles said and the idea erased Willow’s smile.
XXX
“We saved the day,” Tara said, crawling under the covers.
Willow thought Tara looked sexy in her nightie but her girlfriend might disagree. Still, Willow would rather think on that than the image of Xander and Giles up in a tree. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, she was a little shaken. How did Buffy do this every night? “We did. It felt good, scary, but good.”
“I know.” Tara beckoned for Willow to join her in the bed.
Willow cuddled up next to her. “I have a really smart girlfriend.”
Tara kissed her. “I was just about to say that.”
With Tara’s kiss warming her lips, Willow tried to relax. Magic saved the day. Deep down, she really liked that idea. Unable to relax with all the dregs of adrenaline in her system, Willow thought about how to petition the Greeks to adopt the trees. If she did it right, she might even get credit for it in her sociology class. That idea relaxed her right into sleep.
Author-- cornerofmadness
Fandom -- Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Disclaimer -- Joss Whedon owns them.
Rating -- teen
Characters/Pairing --Willow/Tara, Anya, Xander, Giles
Timeline/Spoilers -- set in the college years
Word Count -- 1,987
Warning -- none really
Summary -- Who knew a tree could cause so much trouble?
Author’s Note -- Written for the 2011 girlsavesboyfic challenge, thanks to evil_little_dog for the beta.
XXX
Willow puffed at her bangs. “Hope Buffy gets back in town soon.” She wrestled the rusty lock open on one of Giles’s books. Magic would be easier, but Tara didn’t like her to use it for everything.
“We can do this,” her girlfriend replied, peering at a book on druidry. “It’s not really like a tree could be eating people in the park.”
Willow’s nose wrinkled, paging through the foxed pages of her freshly opened book. Mildew made her want to sneeze. “They did find that one high school football student embedded inside of an eucalyptus.”
Tara got up as the electric tea kettle’s frantic boiling got loud. She looked back at Willow. “Want some?”
“Earl Grey!” She’d wanted to try it since she had seen reruns of Captain Picard ordering it, but her mother had never bought it. It was one of the first things Willow purchased when she moved into the dorm. Now, she was never without a fresh box of it.
Tara poured the boiling water over the teabags. “I guess it’s not a normal thing for a boy to turn up in the middle of a tree, not even in Sunnydale.”
Willow nodded. “It is hellmouthy and all but that’s new to me. Anything good in the druid book?”
Shaking her head, Tara’s wheat-hued hair whipped her cheeks. “Not yet.”
Before Willow could ask any more questions, the phone rang. She wasn’t overly surprised to hear Giles on the other end of the line. “Hi Giles, what’s up?”
“Have you seen Xander? Anya hasn’t seen him since the job he went on this morning.” Giles’s voice lowered as he added, “Frankly, she’s driving me batty.”
Imagining him rubbing his nose above his glasses, Willow tried not to laugh. “I haven’t seen him. Maybe he’s still at work. Do you know what job?”
“Building a bandstand in the park for the Apple Festival Battle of the Bands,” Giles replied. “And yes, Anya is convinced that a tree has eaten him. I think she’s planning on going down there now. She’s broadly hinting I should accompany here.” He sighed. “Have you and Tara made any progress?”
“Not as such.”
“Have you looked into dryads?”
“Dryads, how could I forget them? I’ll try that next, Giles. Thanks. I was beginning to think it was Ents.”
“Treebeard isn’t real, Willow. Anya, I’ll be right there,” he snapped, then sighed again. “Call me if you find something.”
“I will.” She hung up and looked over as Tara sat down with the tea. She took a sip then kissed her girlfriend. “Perfect.”
“So who haven’t we seen?”
“Xander. Anya is being Anya,” Willow said with mild displeasure. She tried to like Anya, she really did, but it wasn’t always easy. Xander had such a crappy record with women, one demon after another and then something worse, Cordelia. Okay, so Cordy got better, but still. “And panicking because Xander didn’t come right home after work.”
Tara glanced at the gathering dusk outside their dorm room window. “Should we worry?”
“Giles will call if something is really wrong. He and Anya are going to check the park and he suggested we check dryads.”
“All right then, you do that and I’ll stick with the Druids and we’ll see what we come up with.”
XXX
“Hmmm, the life of a dryad sort of sucks,” Willow decided.
“If I remember right, they can’t go far from their trees,” Tara said, scribbling a note on a pad of yellow legal paper.
“And if the trees die, they do, too.” Willow closed the book. “They’re expanding the playground in the park. They probably had to cut down trees in order to do that.”
“I’d think so,” Tara replied. “Do you think one of the trees fought back?”
Willow smiled a little. “That’s the best I’ve got right now. How about you?”
“I’ve not seen a druidry spell that would embed someone in a tree. The druids hold the trees in high honor, of course, but I’ve found nothing that suggests they can use them as a weapon.”
“So no Merlin-Nimue spells, huh?” Willow noticed the time. “Giles hasn’t called back and it’s getting late. I’ll give him a call. He should have figured out how to use his mobile by now,” she added the last bit with a terrible English accent.
Tara went back to her reading as Willow placed the call. The redhead’s brow beetled. “Apparently not.”
“I think we should head to the park.” Tara pointed to the footlocker. “It’ll give us a chance to try out our new packs.”
Willow grinned. She and Tara had prepared small purses filled with magical accoutrements to help them be better prepared to assist Buffy as needed. “So true. Okay. Let’s go see what’s up at the park.”
XXX
Hearing a snapping twig behind them, both Tara and Willow jumped.
“Anya! What are you doing here? You scared me half to death,” Willow said, clutching at her heart.
“I’m looking for Xander, of course. He’s disappeared.” She jammed her fists into her hips.
“Where’s Giles? Didn’t he come with you?” Tara asked.
“He went one way and I went the other. Haven’t seen him since.” Anya scowled. “The bunnies probably got him.”
“Not with the bunnies again,” Willow sighed.
“They’re all over this park. You don’t know,” Anya protested.
“Giles wasn’t answering his phone,” Tara reminded her girlfriend.
“We’d better not slip up. The harmless rabbits might get us,” Willow said and Anya glared. “Anya, which way did Giles go? If he’s in trouble, we ought to start there.”
“Follow me.” Anya took off across the park.
“Willow, honey, do we know exactly where that teenaged boy was found in the tree?”
“Um...no, I don't think Giles said and the newspapers tend to downplay that sort of thing.”
“Why would they send my Xander into a place to build something when trees are eating people?” Anya mumbled.
“Because normal people don't believe in that sort of thing,” Willow replied then glanced at the former demon. “Anya, you might know. What kinds of things could make a tree do that?”
“Sylphs, dryads, satyrs, the Greeks were really into trees, I guess.” Anya shrugged. “There's the Ton Mai of Thailand, tree spirits. Think there's any chance the tree could be Yggdrasil?”
“The World Tree?” Tara asked. “That would be cool, but this is nowhere near Scandinavia. Can the World Tree move?”
Anya shrugged again. “I don't know. Trees aren't that interesting.”
“That's not true. Trees are very...and Xander's in a tree,” Willow said, her words ending in a squeak.
“Just dangling from it,” he corrected from over their heads, hanging upside down from his ankles. The branches shook him.
“And she's very upset,” Giles said, caught upright in the same tree, his arms held overhead.
“Oh, Xander, when we get home, I’m going to give you a-”
“We don’t need to know,” Willow cut Anya off.
The former demon glowered then said, “Are you sure it’s not Yggdrasil? It held Odin that way.”
“Think for a moment about that statement,” Giles said dryly. “The Tree of Wisdom and Xander.”
“Hey!” Xander protested.
“She’s coming,” Giles jerked his chin to an oak tree beside him. “Dryad.”
Willow backed up, bumping into Tara, as a thin woman appeared, leaf-green eyes now fixed on the two witches and Anya. The dryad’s skin was mottled brown, like bark, and her hair definitely boasted a leafy quality. “Y-you need to let our friends go,” she stammered.
The dryad pointed up into the trees. “They come. They destroy my home.” Her voice reminded Willow of the sound of wind rustling through leaves.
“Xander, you can’t go around destroying women’s homes,” Anya scolded. “Do you know what I used to do to men who did that?”
“I’d rather not get into that right now, okay?” he groaned.
“Maybe they didn’t know it was your home,” Tara said.
“And I didn’t destroy any trees. I just built a band stand,” Xander said.
“I was merely walking along,” Giles added.
The Dryad glared up at them. “All men are the same.”
“Don’t I know it,” Anya nodded.
“Anya, could you please not agree with the person who might be ready to feed our friends to the trees,” Willow hissed. She turned to the Dryad. “And please, let our friends go. They aren’t going to hurt you.”
“No one leaves here,” the Dryad replied.
Tara pulled Willow closer, whispering in her ear. Willow nodded. The young witch pressed her hands together. “Ignis aurum!” Willow spread her hands, golden fire lacing between her fingers. Tara did the same. “Please, let our friends go,” Willow said. “I don’t want to have to set your trees on fire, but I will.”
The trees around them rattled their branches and the dryad’s lips peeled back away from very sharp teeth. “Either way, I die,” she said.
“No, this is a park. If the trees are healthy, they won’t cut them down. Well, not all of them,” Tara said. “We can’t guarantee someone won’t carve anything in them, though.”
“We could get the fraternities or sororities to adopt a tree. They have to do community service. They’d actually come and fertilize the trees and clean up around them. How’s that sound?” Willow asked, letting her magical fire die.
The Dryad pulled back, putting her hand on a tree. “They would do this?”
“Sure,” Willow said. “But you have to let our friends go. We can’t do anything about the boy who died already, but you can spare them.” She pointed up at Xander and Giles.
“My trees need little care. They mostly need not to be cut.” She bobbed her head. “I accept.” The Dryad waved her hands and the trees bowed down, letting Xander and Giles drop. The men sprawled on the loam, Xander scrambling up before Giles. The Dryad wrapped her arms around the oak and dissolved into it.
“Well, that went better than I thought it would,” Willow grinned.
“You weren’t the one hanging upside down for hours,” Xander said, holding his head. “I feel nauseous.”
Anya put an arm around him. “My poor baby. Let’s get you home.” She steered him off, not waiting for the others.
“Oh all the bloody…” Giles dusted off his trousers. “How does he always get into these messes?”
“A question with no answer.” Willow shrugged. “Are you all right, Giles?”
“My dignity is quite bruised, but I’m sure I’ll make a full recovery.” Giles fussed with his glasses. “Good work and fast thinking with the fire spell.”
“Tara’s idea.” Beaming, Willow took her girlfriend’s hand and started back the way they had come. “Think we did the right thing with making a deal?”
“For now, at any rate. Xander and I would not have fared well if you had to actually use that fire,” Giles said and the idea erased Willow’s smile.
XXX
“We saved the day,” Tara said, crawling under the covers.
Willow thought Tara looked sexy in her nightie but her girlfriend might disagree. Still, Willow would rather think on that than the image of Xander and Giles up in a tree. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, she was a little shaken. How did Buffy do this every night? “We did. It felt good, scary, but good.”
“I know.” Tara beckoned for Willow to join her in the bed.
Willow cuddled up next to her. “I have a really smart girlfriend.”
Tara kissed her. “I was just about to say that.”
With Tara’s kiss warming her lips, Willow tried to relax. Magic saved the day. Deep down, she really liked that idea. Unable to relax with all the dregs of adrenaline in her system, Willow thought about how to petition the Greeks to adopt the trees. If she did it right, she might even get credit for it in her sociology class. That idea relaxed her right into sleep.