A/N: Again, a big thank you to GoldenBuffy and Unbridled_Brunette for the beta.

Tara's song is Take That Look Off Your Face from Song and Dance/Tell Me on a Sunday. (I couldn't get it to play, but maybe y'all will have better luck...) Willow's song is Once Upon a Dream and I Must Go On, both from Jekyll and Hyde.

*****

Chapter 2: Too Far

“Still no sign of Buffy,” said Willow, entering the bedroom she and Tara shared in the Summers home.

“I’m sure she’ll turn up,” Tara replied from her perch on the bed. She didn’t look at Willow when she spoke, fixing her gaze, instead, on something she was playing with in her lap. “She probably wanted to be alone after…”

“God, I feel so awful!” Willow muttered, as she threw herself on the bed next to her lover. “I mean, she was in heaven, and we… God.” She trailed off, burying her face in her hands.

“Maybe… maybe that’s the problem,” Tara said, chewing on her bottom lip.

Willow looked up, a puzzled frown on her face. “What?”

“You, trying to play God. Willow, the magic thing – it’s gotta stop.”

“What are you talking about?” She sat up to look Tara in the eye. “I don’t – I would never… I thought I was helping her! We all did! We thought she was in some hell dimension.”

Tara shook her head sadly. “That’s not the point, Will. This is about you using magic to get your way. You – you change things, mess with things that shouldn’t be – You take the easy way out, in-instead of dealing.”

“Like what? I mean, other than Buffy – which we all agreed to – when have I done that?”

Tara lifted her hand out of her lap and held up the Lethe’s bramble Willow had used to cast the forgetting spell. “What is this?” she asked, her voice quiet but firm. She already knew what the herb had been used for, but she needed to hear it from Willow.

“Sweetie, it’s not what you –”

“You did a spell on me!” Tara was close to tears. “You invaded my mind! How could you? After everything – after Glory?” She shuddered at the still-fresh memory of the awful, lonely place where she’d wandered during that time last spring when Glory had sucked her brain. Even after she’d had her mind restored, she had never quite shaken off the nightmares, and the idea of someone else – someone she loved – violating her like that…

“What did you make me forget, Willow?”

Willow cast her eyes to the floor. “We had a fight. I just didn’t – I wanted it to be over.”

“You can’t just use m-magic to make your problems go away!” Tara cried, jumping off the bed, realization dawning on her suddenly. “That’s what it was about, wasn’t it? We were f-fighting over you using too much magic.”

“Tara –”

“I can’t believe you’d do that! I can’t believe you would d-do that to me.” She choked back a sob, her next words barely above a whisper. “Was it worth it? Losing my trust over this? We – we could have talked about it! Was it worth it just to avoid a conversation?”

Willow’s eyes widened, brimming with tears. She leapt to her feet and tried to reach out to Tara, but her lover shied away. “Losing your… baby, I swear, it was just this once…”

“How do I know that, Willow?” Tara’s shoulders sagged, defeated. “How will I ever know?” She looked at Willow sorrowfully, and then began to sing.

“If I’m not mistaken, this is nothing new
Bet I could tell you when it began
I noticed a change, but I just closed my eyes
As only a woman can

“No, I didn’t dig deep
I did not want to know
Well, you don’t interfere
When you’re scared of the things you might hear”

“Tara…”

As a mournful piano continued to play, Tara shook her head sadly. “I’m sorry, Willow. I can’t do this. I c-can’t just sit back and watch while you abuse magic like this… and I won’t let you abuse me.” She gathered up her pillow and a blanket. “I’ll sleep on the sofa tonight. Then, I’m moving out.”

“Tara,” Willow tried again, but the blonde was already gone. She picked up the forgetting herb off the bed and twirled it in her fingers, letting the tears run down her cheeks as she tried to figure out how her life had fallen apart so quickly. “When this all began, we knew there'd be a price...” she sang softly. She just hadn’t known the price would be Tara.

“Once upon a dream
We were lost in love's embrace
There we found a perfect place
Once upon a dream

“Once there was a time
Like no other time before
Hope was still an open door
Once upon a dream”

Memories came rushing to the fore – the spells, the whispered conversations, the tender moments. The intensity of the connection they’d forged through love and magic, taken from her so suddenly it was like losing a limb, losing a part of herself. As her emotion grew, the music rose in speed and pitch, spurring her on through the forceful bridge.

“And I was unafraid
The dream was so exciting
But now I see it fade
And I am here alone”

Was it only two days since Tara had sung to her in the park? When they’d been so happy and in love and…

No, she was fooling herself. They still would’ve been fighting, if Willow hadn’t done her spell. But it wasn’t true, what Tara said, about her abusing magic. It couldn’t be true. She only used magic for good things, like fighting demons and saving people.

And pulling Buffy out of heaven.

Willow collapsed on the bed in a fresh bout of tears. It wasn’t enough that she’d lost her girlfriend; she’d apparently ruined her best friend’s life by bringing her back from the dead.

“Once upon a dream
You were heaven-sent to me
Was it never meant to be?
Was it just a dream?
Could we begin again?
Once upon a dream”

At least everything made sense now. The way Buffy had been acting, why she hadn’t seemed happy or grateful that they’d resurrected her.

Well, no more.

“When this all began
We knew there'd be a price to pay
Too late now to turn away
We have come too far
I know I'll find a way”

Wiping the tears from her face, Willow sat up with renewed determination. She would fix this. No matter what it took.