Chapter 25

"You make me happy!" Willow insisted, tears leaking from her eyes. Tara's eyes were also glistening with tears, but, unlike Willow, her voice was steady.

"No." She said, placing a hand on Willow's cheek. "I can't. Not anymore."

"But…Tara…" Even saying her name caused her to break down entirely. Tara took her in a tight hug and Willow sobbed into the shoulder of her beautiful white gown. Shaking and heaving, Willow tried to get herself under control. "I need you." She managed, in barely more than a whisper.

"And I'm with you." Tara said, stroking her hair. "Always. We can't be together, but I'm a part of you now."

"No!" Willow said shakily. "We should have been forever."

"And we are." They broke apart and Tara looked deep into Willow's large, hazel eyes. "I'm always with you, but you must be with who makes you happy."

"And who's that supposed, to be, if I can't have you?" Willow said, her voice a little stronger. Tara smiled her gorgeous crooked smile ad kissed Willow again. She leaned into her lover's ear and whispered:

"I think you already know." Willow suddenly felt the sensation of being in a car moving backwards. She knew in a moment that she was leaving. She tried to scream, but found she had no voice. With every ounce of her strength, she clung to Tara's arms, but as she left, she was pulled form her body. The last thing she felt was Tara's soft, warm hands in hers, before their fingers slipped apart.

"No!" Faith growled, almost animal like. She had the scythe in her hands, but the large weapon, though she knew the Slayer was supposed to use it, felt awkward in her hands. As Turok-Han vampires gathered around her and all came at her at once, dragging her to the ground, Faith knew that this weapon…Buffy's weapon…was never meant for the dark Slayer to wield. With her final ounce of strength, she hollered "Rona!" and fired the scythe into the air. The Ubervamps had fistfuls of her hair and clothes. She felt one bite into her forearm, but could hardly move to defend herself. Claws raked her cheek, and she felt something warm dribble down her face. She drew breath to scream for help, but stopped herself just in time.

She was Faith. She did not cry for assistance. She was a warrior, a fighter, a killer. Faith was no quitter, and her power was far beyond that of the low dogs that swarmed over her like flies. With a very primal sounding war cry, she brought her arms and legs in to her chest and held the position. Thinking she had given up, the Turok-Han all went in for a taste, but she exploded outwards, shoving them all away fro her. She heard two roar as they fell over the edge of the cliff. Quick as lightning, Faith place her palms beside her head, drew her legs in, and sprung up in time to deliver a bone-shattering roundhouse kick to the head of an oncoming vamp. She turned around to see Buffy on her feet, slashing away at anything that moved. A grin spread across her face again, until she heard a shout form behind her. She whipped around in time to see something explode out of Spike's chest.

When Willow felt her essence join with her body again, she did not move. She simply lay on the floor, thinking. Her tears had dried as she'd been taken back across the fold, and strangely, she felt no desire to cry again. The massive black, empty place that had been inside her since Tara's death was gone, filled with love from and for Tara. Her dead girlfriend was with her now, she could tell. Willow stood up slowly, relishing the warm, fuzzy feeling inside of her chest, until a single thought hit her so hard she almost fell back down.

"Faith!" She said loudly. At the exact same time, a burst of light came up through the floor, narrowly missing her. She jumped backwards in surprise. She wanted to look down and see where it was coming from, but through the hole she could hear screams and yells.

"Spike!" Willow thought it was Buffy's voice. She hoped Buffy wasn't about to go endangering her life to save the vampire.

"Everybody out, NOW!" That voice was unmistakeable.

"Faith!" She screamed at the hole, but the woman she loved couldn't hear her.

"Go, go, go!" Faith barked at the girls, making sure every single one of them was out before she ducked under the beam coming from Spike's amulet and started up the stairs herself. She turned around to check that Buffy was with her, but saw that the blonde Slayer was standing beside Spike, her fingers twined with his. "Buffy!" She shouted. Buffy looked up; Faith could see the tears sparkling in her eyes. A large block of stone fell from the ceiling, narrowly missing Faith's head. She had no choice but to keep running up, hoping Buffy would follow before the building came down entirely. She sprinted through the dusty basement, and flew up the stairs to the main floor.

The vision here was just as bad; dust and ash filled the air, and pieces of the building were raining down upon her. She could not see any of the girls or the people who were stationed upstairs. But they did not matter to her right now. All she wanted was to find Willow. She did not care that maybe Tara was back, or that Willow did not wish to be with Faith any longer. As she ran full tilt down the hall to the principal's office, time seemed to slow down. The dust was awful in here, but Faith thought she could see the outline of a figure through it. She didn't know if she was imagining it or not, but she ran harder, arms pumping, ripped jacket nearly hanging off her.

Willow shook Kennedy away. The new Slayer was trying to pull her outside, but Willow refused to go until she saw Faith. As she stood, eyes squinted against the thick air; she spotted something coming towards her. As the figure drew nearer, just like Tara had on the Other Side, Willow began to make out the shape and the style of movement of it. She did not say anything, for she knew Faith was coming to her. As her foggy shape began to clear, Willow's heart began to pound so loud she could almost hear it over the sound of the High School coming down around them. Suddenly, Faith burst from the clouds of dust and vampire ash, and next thing Willow knew, she was kissing her harder than she ever had before. Willow wrapped her arms around Faith's lean body, clutching her as close as possible. It was almost like an apocalypse on every side, but neither woman cared, for all that mattered was each other, and they knew they would be safe, as long as they were in each other's arms.

Author's Note: there it is, gentle viewers. The end of a tale that was thrilling to write, and I am very grateful for any feedback I have been sent, or any left to come. It's been a great journey writing Because I Am Empty, and it would make my day if every single person to finish it would send me feedback, thoughts, reviews, anything at all. Also, if any of you have Buffyverse, Dollverse or Potterverse stories you'd like to see up here, just let me know and maybe I'll write them! I want to thank everyone who finished this; who stuck with me all the way to the end.