“What exactly happened?” he probed gently as the blonde slumped onto a stool next to him.

Taking a deep breath, Tara began relating the real story.

“Wow! That’s so much better!” Buffy sighed as she stepped from the shower, wrapping a towel around her warm body and regarding herself in the mirror. Tying a second towel around her head, she stepped from the bathroom and into Willows room. She had promised the redhead that she would return to the hospital with a change of clothes for her and something for Kennedy to wear when she was eventually allowed to leave hospital. Packing a bag quickly, she returned to her own room and threw on a pair of jeans and a simple, plain shirt before grabbing the bag and jogging down the stairs.

“Smells good!” She grinned as she entered the kitchen to find Tara dishing up a huge serving of chicken, rice and vegetables, her stomach growled loudly and she blushed. “Anything I can do to help?” she offered, squeezing the blondes arm supportively.

Tara shook her head slowly, “Giles has laid the table and I’ve got this under control. All you need to do is eat!” she smiled and pointed Buffy to her plate.

They ate in relative silence, the events of the past few days weighing heavily on the minds of everyone.

Buffy and Giles cleared the table after their meal and between them washed the dishes. Leaning in the doorway, Tara watched them in thoughtful silence. Beside her, a small mousy woman who she knew to be Amanda looked up at her. In her brief time since her return, she had come to like the young woman immensely. Smiling softly, Amanda interlinked her fingers with Tara’s and squeezed her hand gently.

“She needs you…. always.” she whispered in a voice not unlike a warm but brief summer breeze before turning and disappearing almost as mysteriously as she’d appeared.

With tear-stung eyes, Tara took a deep breath and stepped into the kitchen. “Are you going back to the hospital tonight?” she asked Buffy, her voice shaking slightly with the unshed emotion of the loss she had only just realised.

“I was going to pop back and drop off some stuff for Willow!” Buffy said slowly, “But I won’t be long, I have to take the potentials out again!” she told her as she stacked the last of the plates in the cupboard.

“Well, if you want, I can go!” she offered hopefully, smiling at the looks of surprised that met her comment.

“Well, yeah, I mean, if you want to, that would be brilliant! Xander can drive you if you want!” Buffy told her, her smile revealing that she understood why Tara wanted to go.

“I’ll take a walk, I need to get out of here anyway.” Tara smiled thankfully and turned, grabbing the holdall from the bottom of the stairs and rushing from the house.