Chapter 7
The research party had been a bust. The Scoobies had worked until they'd fallen asleep in their books, no further information had been found about a way to cure Legolas. The house was dark now, after Xander and Anya had returned to their respective homes and Buffy and Dawn had gone to sleep.
Willow couldn't sleep, so there she sat, on the ground beside the couch which held her Elven love. She gently stroked his cheek, absently repositioning the cloth on his forehead. He was fading quickly. Earlier, he'd been stirring, moaning and groaning in his sleep. Now, he simply laid on the couch unmoving, the faint rise and fall of his chest as he breathed the only indication that he was still alive.
She held his hand, cradling it to her despite the cold and clammy feeling of his skin. She needed to be close to him. Hell, she wanted to crawl up on the couch with him, though she didn't think that would be very good for his convalescence. Not that there was much convalescing to be done... more like fading and dying.
"Hold on," she whispered, settling on the floor and resting her head against his side. "We'll find a cure. You just have to hold on." Her voice trailed off as she drifted off to sleep.
****
When Willow awoke, she was lying on the ground. She instantly recognized the old forest, which meant... "I'm dreaming," she whispered. But if she were dreaming, where was Legolas?
She pushed herself to her feet, scanning the forest. She spotted her love sitting on a rock on the bank of a tiny river. "Legolas?" she called, walking over to where he sat.
He turned around at the sound of her voice. She was here with him once more. "Willow." He smiled, unable to contain the joy he felt at her presence.
She smiled back, walking over and enveloping him in her arms.
Legolas held her close, inhaling the cinnamon-vanilla scent that was pure Willow. She fit perfectly in his arms, her soft body warmed by the rays of the sun. Imaginary realm or not, it was a beautiful day.
"I wish I could stay here forever," she murmured, snuggling closer to his chest. "Just the two of us."
He stroked her hair gently, enjoying its silky feel as it ran through his fingers. "Alas, cannot be."
"Should be." Willow pouted. She looked up at him, saw the love shining in his eyes. Real or not, she couldn't let this moment go by without telling him how she felt. "I love you," she confessed. "I know its soon, 'cause we haven't known each other very long, and it's under freaky circumstances, and that you don't want to get involved with anyone, but-"
He silenced her with a kiss, capturing her lips with his own and probing her warm recesses with his tongue. Willow met him thrust for thrust, welcoming his possession. Her hands crawled up his chest and laced behind his head, pulling him even closer until not an inch of space was found between them.
Over and over their lips met, exchanging wild kisses until they were both breathless. Gasping, Willow pulled away, nestling her head on his chest and listening to the beating of his racing heart.
"I love you," Legolas whispered against her hair. "Always believe that. Whatever doubts I had about a relationship, it was never about you. Just me and my thousands of years of emotional baggage."
Oh goddess. Willow knew why he was saying this. The reason he hadn't wanted to be involved with anyone was that he couldn't stand the pain of losing the people he loved again. The fact that he told her that he loved her could only mean one thing - Legolas thought that he would be the one lost this time - he knew he was going to die.
"Legolas, no!" She protested, pulling away to look up at him.
"You don't want me to love you?" he teased.
"You know what I mean." Willow felt the tears welling up in her eyes, and buried her head back against his chest. "You're only telling me you love me because you think you're going to die."
He pushed her away until he could meet her eyes, dropping a quick kiss on her lips before speaking. "I'm telling you I love you because I wouldn't want to die without you knowing. There's a subtle, but highly important difference in the two statements." He stared into her deep green eyes. "I do not know whether I will die or not, but if I do, I do not want to go to my grave without telling you of my love." He bent down and kissed her, softly this time. "I will love you, Willow Rosenberg, to the end of my days, however long they will be."
"I love you too," she whispered, tugging him down for another kiss. This time Willow was the aggressor, pulling him closer, pushing his lips apart with her tongue so she could taste him. Legolas's arms came around her waist, pulling her flush against him. "Legolas," she gasped. "I... want..."
Caught up in the passion that flared between them, Willow barely noticed the noise in the distance. It sounded like... bells? Why would there be bells in the forest?
"No!" Willow screamed, opening her eyes and finding herself sitting on the floor of Buffy's living room. The ringing came again - the telephone, waking her from sleep. She sobbed, gasping for breath. She didn't want to miss what might be her last few moments with Legolas.
She didn't want to wake up, but she didn't have a choice. Once awakened, she found herself unable to go back to sleep.
"Willow?" She heard Buffy's voice coming from the hallway. "You awake?"
"Yeah," Willow sniffed, wiping away her tears.
Buffy's felt her heart breaking as she saw her best friend huddled on the floor, valiantly trying to wipe away the tears she shed for her dying love. The blonde rushed over to Willow's side, sitting down on the floor and putting an arm around the other girl. Buffy pulled Willow over until her head rested on Buffy's shoulder. "Shh. Everything's going to be okay."
"It's not," Willow protested with a sob. "We can't find a cure. He's going to die and there's nothing any of us can do about it."
"He's not going to die." Buffy watched the play of the moonlight on the silky red tresses as she stroked her friend's hair.
Willow looked up. Buffy sounded awfully sure about that. More than her usual pep-talkiness.
"Giles was on the phone. He apparently has an old family friend who's an elf - and said elf knew that there's only one poison strong enough to take down his kind. They're getting stuff together for the cure and will be here tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? The cure will be here tomorrow?" Willow's face lit up as she smiled. "He'll be cured tomorrow." She threw her arms around Buffy in a big hug.
On the couch, Legolas gasped, again and again, as if he was desperately searching for much-needed air. His breaths grew shallow, with increasing space between each breath.
"No!" Willow yelled. He couldn't die, not when they were so close to the cure. "You are not going to die." She felt the power filling her, coming up from the earth and down from the sky. She was one with nature, with the world. She was strong. She let the earth's power flow through her into Legolas, imbuing him with life.
Buffy watched Willow's eyes grow dark, felt the wind whipping around her as she channeled her magical energy towards the elf. The witch was shouting in a language Buffy vaguely recognized as Latin, words the Slayer didn't understand.
With one last breath, Willow collapsed onto the ground. She fought to remain conscious, despite the lethargy that pulled her down.
"Willow!" Buffy shouted, kneeling down next to her friend.
"I'm fine," Willow gasped. "Legolas? Is he..." Unable to lift her head off the ground, Willow had no way of knowing whether her desperate spell had even been successful.
"Alive?" Buffy asked, looking over at the elf on the couch. He wasn't nearly as pale as he had been and seemed to be breathing more comfortably. "He's alive," she reassured Willow, stroking her trembling back. "You did it, Will."
With a sigh of relief, Willow surrendered to unconsciousness.
Buffy nearly collapsed alongside Willow. She'd thought Legolas was done for, and that Wills might sacrifice herself trying to keep him from being done, but she hadn't. She'd used powerful magics to save Legolas, and had done it without being consumed by dark magic. She'd proven herself - assuming she survived the effort. The witch was now unconscious, along with Legolas. Buffy didn't know exactly how Willow's spell worked - had her power bound her to the elf's fate? Would she survive if Legolas died? More than ever, they had to save him.
She picked up the phone, quickly redialing Giles in England.
****
In Canterbury, Giles was hurriedly packing his books into a small suitcase while waiting for Haldir to return with the ingredients for the elf-saving spell.
The phone rang as he stuffed a copy of The Pergamum Codex into his bag.
"Giles."
"Buffy?" he asked, startled. He'd just talked to the Slayer. What could be so bad that she was calling again? Oh, dear Lord. Was Legolas dead? "Is he..." Giles broke off mid-sentence, unable to complete the thought out loud.
"He's alive, Giles, but only because Willow did some sort of spell.... Earth power magic or something like that." She took a deep breath before continuing. "He doesn't have much time. Hurry. Saving him once nearly killed Willow; in fact, she's still unconscious. Even if she wakes up, she can't do it again. It'll kill her."
Giles groaned inwardly. If only they were closer. If only... the two worst words in the English language.
Creek! Giles spun around at the sound of his door opening. It was Haldir.
"Legolas is nearing the end. We have to hurry," Giles told him. "Buffy is afraid he might not last until our arrival."
Haldir strode across the room, grabbing the phone from Giles. "He still lives?"
Buffy's eyes narrowed at the unfamiliar voice on the phone. Was this Giles elf friend? "Yeah. He's alive. Barely."
"You must make a potion," Haldir instructed. "Equal parts angelica, celandine, and meadowsweet. Steep the herbs in boiling water and force Legolas to swallow it. The healing properties in the herbs should keep him stable long enough for us to get to your location with the definite cure."
"Angelica? Celery? Meadow-whatsis?" Buffy had no idea what the elf was talking about. She was a Slayer, not a witch.
Thousands of miles away Haldir cursed, pacing with Giles' portable phone in hand. The fate of his friend was left to someone who didn't know the difference between celandine and celery?
Buffy groaned. She didn't know anything about magic herbs. Why did Willow have to pick now to be unconscious?
"Meadowsweet," came Dawn's voice from the darkness behind Buffy. "It's used in love charms and in spells to protect against evil."
Buffy turned and rotated the phone away from her mouth. "Since when have you known magic-herb-spell stuff?"
"Tara taught me. It was cool. Like school, only fun."
Buffy shoved the phone at Dawn. "Here. You talk to the elf."
Talk to the elf? Dawn wondered. Another elf, for real? That wasn't some weird kind of code, was it?
"Talk to him," Buffy mouthed, handing her the phone.
"Hello?" Dawn asked hesitantly.
Another voice, Haldir noted. Hopefully this girl had more knowledge than the other. "You must make a potion. Equal parts angelica, celandine, and meadowsweet. Steep the herbs in boiling water and force Legolas to swallow it," he repeated.
"Angelica. Celandine. Meadowsweet," the teenager repeated. "Check. Can do. Just have to send Buffy out to the Magic Box."
"Magic Box?" he asked. This young witch kept her herbs in a magical box?
"Anya's store." Dawn turned to her sister. "Buffy. Get a pen and paper. I'll tell you what we need."
The research party had been a bust. The Scoobies had worked until they'd fallen asleep in their books, no further information had been found about a way to cure Legolas. The house was dark now, after Xander and Anya had returned to their respective homes and Buffy and Dawn had gone to sleep.
Willow couldn't sleep, so there she sat, on the ground beside the couch which held her Elven love. She gently stroked his cheek, absently repositioning the cloth on his forehead. He was fading quickly. Earlier, he'd been stirring, moaning and groaning in his sleep. Now, he simply laid on the couch unmoving, the faint rise and fall of his chest as he breathed the only indication that he was still alive.
She held his hand, cradling it to her despite the cold and clammy feeling of his skin. She needed to be close to him. Hell, she wanted to crawl up on the couch with him, though she didn't think that would be very good for his convalescence. Not that there was much convalescing to be done... more like fading and dying.
"Hold on," she whispered, settling on the floor and resting her head against his side. "We'll find a cure. You just have to hold on." Her voice trailed off as she drifted off to sleep.
****
When Willow awoke, she was lying on the ground. She instantly recognized the old forest, which meant... "I'm dreaming," she whispered. But if she were dreaming, where was Legolas?
She pushed herself to her feet, scanning the forest. She spotted her love sitting on a rock on the bank of a tiny river. "Legolas?" she called, walking over to where he sat.
He turned around at the sound of her voice. She was here with him once more. "Willow." He smiled, unable to contain the joy he felt at her presence.
She smiled back, walking over and enveloping him in her arms.
Legolas held her close, inhaling the cinnamon-vanilla scent that was pure Willow. She fit perfectly in his arms, her soft body warmed by the rays of the sun. Imaginary realm or not, it was a beautiful day.
"I wish I could stay here forever," she murmured, snuggling closer to his chest. "Just the two of us."
He stroked her hair gently, enjoying its silky feel as it ran through his fingers. "Alas, cannot be."
"Should be." Willow pouted. She looked up at him, saw the love shining in his eyes. Real or not, she couldn't let this moment go by without telling him how she felt. "I love you," she confessed. "I know its soon, 'cause we haven't known each other very long, and it's under freaky circumstances, and that you don't want to get involved with anyone, but-"
He silenced her with a kiss, capturing her lips with his own and probing her warm recesses with his tongue. Willow met him thrust for thrust, welcoming his possession. Her hands crawled up his chest and laced behind his head, pulling him even closer until not an inch of space was found between them.
Over and over their lips met, exchanging wild kisses until they were both breathless. Gasping, Willow pulled away, nestling her head on his chest and listening to the beating of his racing heart.
"I love you," Legolas whispered against her hair. "Always believe that. Whatever doubts I had about a relationship, it was never about you. Just me and my thousands of years of emotional baggage."
Oh goddess. Willow knew why he was saying this. The reason he hadn't wanted to be involved with anyone was that he couldn't stand the pain of losing the people he loved again. The fact that he told her that he loved her could only mean one thing - Legolas thought that he would be the one lost this time - he knew he was going to die.
"Legolas, no!" She protested, pulling away to look up at him.
"You don't want me to love you?" he teased.
"You know what I mean." Willow felt the tears welling up in her eyes, and buried her head back against his chest. "You're only telling me you love me because you think you're going to die."
He pushed her away until he could meet her eyes, dropping a quick kiss on her lips before speaking. "I'm telling you I love you because I wouldn't want to die without you knowing. There's a subtle, but highly important difference in the two statements." He stared into her deep green eyes. "I do not know whether I will die or not, but if I do, I do not want to go to my grave without telling you of my love." He bent down and kissed her, softly this time. "I will love you, Willow Rosenberg, to the end of my days, however long they will be."
"I love you too," she whispered, tugging him down for another kiss. This time Willow was the aggressor, pulling him closer, pushing his lips apart with her tongue so she could taste him. Legolas's arms came around her waist, pulling her flush against him. "Legolas," she gasped. "I... want..."
Caught up in the passion that flared between them, Willow barely noticed the noise in the distance. It sounded like... bells? Why would there be bells in the forest?
"No!" Willow screamed, opening her eyes and finding herself sitting on the floor of Buffy's living room. The ringing came again - the telephone, waking her from sleep. She sobbed, gasping for breath. She didn't want to miss what might be her last few moments with Legolas.
She didn't want to wake up, but she didn't have a choice. Once awakened, she found herself unable to go back to sleep.
"Willow?" She heard Buffy's voice coming from the hallway. "You awake?"
"Yeah," Willow sniffed, wiping away her tears.
Buffy's felt her heart breaking as she saw her best friend huddled on the floor, valiantly trying to wipe away the tears she shed for her dying love. The blonde rushed over to Willow's side, sitting down on the floor and putting an arm around the other girl. Buffy pulled Willow over until her head rested on Buffy's shoulder. "Shh. Everything's going to be okay."
"It's not," Willow protested with a sob. "We can't find a cure. He's going to die and there's nothing any of us can do about it."
"He's not going to die." Buffy watched the play of the moonlight on the silky red tresses as she stroked her friend's hair.
Willow looked up. Buffy sounded awfully sure about that. More than her usual pep-talkiness.
"Giles was on the phone. He apparently has an old family friend who's an elf - and said elf knew that there's only one poison strong enough to take down his kind. They're getting stuff together for the cure and will be here tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? The cure will be here tomorrow?" Willow's face lit up as she smiled. "He'll be cured tomorrow." She threw her arms around Buffy in a big hug.
On the couch, Legolas gasped, again and again, as if he was desperately searching for much-needed air. His breaths grew shallow, with increasing space between each breath.
"No!" Willow yelled. He couldn't die, not when they were so close to the cure. "You are not going to die." She felt the power filling her, coming up from the earth and down from the sky. She was one with nature, with the world. She was strong. She let the earth's power flow through her into Legolas, imbuing him with life.
Buffy watched Willow's eyes grow dark, felt the wind whipping around her as she channeled her magical energy towards the elf. The witch was shouting in a language Buffy vaguely recognized as Latin, words the Slayer didn't understand.
With one last breath, Willow collapsed onto the ground. She fought to remain conscious, despite the lethargy that pulled her down.
"Willow!" Buffy shouted, kneeling down next to her friend.
"I'm fine," Willow gasped. "Legolas? Is he..." Unable to lift her head off the ground, Willow had no way of knowing whether her desperate spell had even been successful.
"Alive?" Buffy asked, looking over at the elf on the couch. He wasn't nearly as pale as he had been and seemed to be breathing more comfortably. "He's alive," she reassured Willow, stroking her trembling back. "You did it, Will."
With a sigh of relief, Willow surrendered to unconsciousness.
Buffy nearly collapsed alongside Willow. She'd thought Legolas was done for, and that Wills might sacrifice herself trying to keep him from being done, but she hadn't. She'd used powerful magics to save Legolas, and had done it without being consumed by dark magic. She'd proven herself - assuming she survived the effort. The witch was now unconscious, along with Legolas. Buffy didn't know exactly how Willow's spell worked - had her power bound her to the elf's fate? Would she survive if Legolas died? More than ever, they had to save him.
She picked up the phone, quickly redialing Giles in England.
****
In Canterbury, Giles was hurriedly packing his books into a small suitcase while waiting for Haldir to return with the ingredients for the elf-saving spell.
The phone rang as he stuffed a copy of The Pergamum Codex into his bag.
"Giles."
"Buffy?" he asked, startled. He'd just talked to the Slayer. What could be so bad that she was calling again? Oh, dear Lord. Was Legolas dead? "Is he..." Giles broke off mid-sentence, unable to complete the thought out loud.
"He's alive, Giles, but only because Willow did some sort of spell.... Earth power magic or something like that." She took a deep breath before continuing. "He doesn't have much time. Hurry. Saving him once nearly killed Willow; in fact, she's still unconscious. Even if she wakes up, she can't do it again. It'll kill her."
Giles groaned inwardly. If only they were closer. If only... the two worst words in the English language.
Creek! Giles spun around at the sound of his door opening. It was Haldir.
"Legolas is nearing the end. We have to hurry," Giles told him. "Buffy is afraid he might not last until our arrival."
Haldir strode across the room, grabbing the phone from Giles. "He still lives?"
Buffy's eyes narrowed at the unfamiliar voice on the phone. Was this Giles elf friend? "Yeah. He's alive. Barely."
"You must make a potion," Haldir instructed. "Equal parts angelica, celandine, and meadowsweet. Steep the herbs in boiling water and force Legolas to swallow it. The healing properties in the herbs should keep him stable long enough for us to get to your location with the definite cure."
"Angelica? Celery? Meadow-whatsis?" Buffy had no idea what the elf was talking about. She was a Slayer, not a witch.
Thousands of miles away Haldir cursed, pacing with Giles' portable phone in hand. The fate of his friend was left to someone who didn't know the difference between celandine and celery?
Buffy groaned. She didn't know anything about magic herbs. Why did Willow have to pick now to be unconscious?
"Meadowsweet," came Dawn's voice from the darkness behind Buffy. "It's used in love charms and in spells to protect against evil."
Buffy turned and rotated the phone away from her mouth. "Since when have you known magic-herb-spell stuff?"
"Tara taught me. It was cool. Like school, only fun."
Buffy shoved the phone at Dawn. "Here. You talk to the elf."
Talk to the elf? Dawn wondered. Another elf, for real? That wasn't some weird kind of code, was it?
"Talk to him," Buffy mouthed, handing her the phone.
"Hello?" Dawn asked hesitantly.
Another voice, Haldir noted. Hopefully this girl had more knowledge than the other. "You must make a potion. Equal parts angelica, celandine, and meadowsweet. Steep the herbs in boiling water and force Legolas to swallow it," he repeated.
"Angelica. Celandine. Meadowsweet," the teenager repeated. "Check. Can do. Just have to send Buffy out to the Magic Box."
"Magic Box?" he asked. This young witch kept her herbs in a magical box?
"Anya's store." Dawn turned to her sister. "Buffy. Get a pen and paper. I'll tell you what we need."