A/N: Here it is! Chapter 1 of Time Was. Time Is! Hope you like it!

Summary: Post - "Chosen" (but also IN season 6). Buffy is not the one who is given a wish. Willow is. She decides that she will use her wish to fix things.

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine and belong to their respective owners. I make no money from this, I'm just having a little fun.

Feedback: PLEASE

Enjoy

~Babbles~

The group was standing on the edge of the chasm that had once been Sunnydale. They had made it through another apocalypse. They were happy for the first time in a long while. All except one of them.

The red head stood, looking out at the destruction of her home and felt her heart breaking again. This was where she had loved. This is where her love rested.

"Willow, you coming?" Buffy asked as the group moved back towards the waiting bus.

"In a minute," Willow answered. She didn't want to leave. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them, she blinked in confusion. Willow was no longer at the edge of the pit; she was standing in a white marbled room, facing a dark haired woman bathed in gentle light.

"Willow. Welcome," the woman said.

"Where am I?"

"Where does not matter. You are safe. You have done us a great service."

"Us?"

"The Powers that Be. You awakened the Slayers, allowing the First Evil to be stopped. Without you, the peace that we foresee would not come about. We would like to thank you. For your service, you will be granted one wish."

"A wish? Like anything?"

"Yes. We will give you some time to think about it. When you have come to a decision, we will know."

Willow didn't have time to reply. She blinked and her eyes opened back at the edge of the chasm. The redhead turned and went to the bus and her waiting friends.

There were so many things that she could wish for, but one thought kept pushing at her mind. Tara. But she couldn't do to Tara what they had done to Buffy, couldn't tear her from heaven. She looked over from her seat next to Kennedy to see Xander, looking sadly out of the window with one eye. Her best friend had lost someone too, his Anya. If only there was a way to go back and….

That's it, she thought, bouncing in her seat excitedly. I'll go back in time and fix it. I'll go back to the night that I used the Lethe's Bramble, before I used it. I'll change it.

"I'll fix it," she mumbled as she felt a strange pull inside, like her insides were being stretched. She closed her eyes against the feeling. When the feeling stopped, she didn't open her eyes.

"It's not that easy," Tara said. Willow's eyes shot open. Tara was standing by the bed, removing pillows.

"Tara…"

"What, Will? You think you can just say sorry and it makes it all better? Well it doesn't."

Willow burst into tears. Tara was alive. She was safe, and whole. And alive.

"Willow?" Tara was concerned but refused to give in. This was a point she had to make, for both their sakes.

"I have something I need to tell you. Like a story. I know that you're mad and you're tired, but I need to get this out there. Will you listen?"

Tara sat on the bed. "I'll listen."

Willow moved to sit on the bed but changed direction, going over to the dresser and picking up a bowl of potpourri. She tossed the contents into the trash bin and then sat on the bed.

"It's not a happy story," Willow began. "There was a witch, and she started using magic for all the wrong reasons. Always trying to fix things and take the easy way. She didn't understand what it was doing to her or those she loved until it was too late. She got into a fight with her girlfriend, and violated her mind, making her forget. The next day, after a long day of dealing with a demon who makes everyone sing and dance until they combust, that witch found out that with her magic she had taken one her best friends from heaven. Her girlfriend found out about the forgetting spell and told the witch that if she didn't stop using magic so much she would leave. The witch agreed, but she didn't know then that she was addicted. She decided to do a spell to make her girlfriend and her best friend forget the things that were hurting them, but like all dark magic spells, something went wrong. When her girlfriend realized what happened, she left the witch, and the witch spiraled down further into her addiction." Willow took a deep breath, and then went on to describe the things that had happened after Tara left.

"So, after seeing that she had hurt her best friend's little sister, the witch started getting better. She went through withdrawals, of course, but eventually, she got through them. The witch's lover came back to her, and they reconciled. But something horrible happened. The witch's girlfriend and best friend got shot. Her best friend survived but her girlfriend died." Willow choked up at this, but refused to stop telling her story. "The witch went dark, hurting the people she loved in order to get her revenge. But the pain was too much to bear and she tried to destroy the world. Her other best friend stopped her just in time."

She continued the story, telling Tara all about the witch going to the coven and coming home to her friends. Willow tried to ignore the looks that the blonde was giving her as she told her about the First, and how it had been defeated. "And with the First gone, the Powers gave the witch a wish. She used that wish to go back in time, to stop herself from ever using the memory spell in the first place, to try and make things right with the woman she loved."

"You're right, that's not a happy story," Tara said. "Willow, I don't understand. Why did you tell me this?"

"You deserve to know what I am."

"What you are? Willow…the witch?"

"Me."

"Oh, Goddess. The story is true?"

"Yes. I wish it wasn't. I wish I could say I never did those things. And even though, at this point in time, I haven't, I still know in my heart and in my memories, what I did. I understand if you don't want me around, after what I just told you. I just had to stop myself from hurting you."

"Willow. I don't want you to go away." Tara opened her arms to the red head. "Come here, baby. You've been alone for some time now haven't you?"

"Ever since the day you died, I haven't felt whole."

"We'll get through this, Will." Tara sighed and they snuggled down into the bed. "Now what was this you said about there being a singing demon? Should we stop it from happening?"

"Well, I'd love to hear your song again, but I don't think I can deal with Anya's theories about bunnies. I'll call Xander in the morning and stop him."

"Xander? Really? Hmm…I guess that's not too surprising. Willow, what was my song?"

Willow fidgeted and began to sing softly, "I lived my life in shadow, never the sun on my face. It didn't seem so sad, though, I figured that was my place. Now I'm bathed in light…"

Feeling something inside, Tara began to sing the song with Willow, somehow knowing the words. After the song finished. Tara looked over at Willow, arching an eyebrow.

"Are you positive that Xander summons the demon in the morning?"

"Crap," Willow said. Tara agreed.