winifred-burkles:

This couldn’t be real. It had to be another one of her dreams, just a mere fantasy that only existed in the far corners of her mind. Tara felt two slender arms wrap around her malnutritioned body, and it was wonderful. A surge of warmth engulfed her overall being as he recognized the familiar figure interlock with hers. It was Fred. Her Fred. Her one and only. And all Tara could do was stand stock still, her limbs trembling with an overwhelming sensation of disbelief.

“Fred,” The name barely made it past her quivering lips before she felt another pair of wet lips against her own. They were undoubtedly the lips of Winifred Burkle. “Fred? Is that…? Are you…?” Tara leaned in for a closer look, sweeping her glassy eyes across her love’s facial features and smoothing a hand across Fred’s forehead then cheeks. It was really her. She was really there. She was real. It wasn’t another one of her delusional hallucinations. And in that moment, Tara Maclay broke down in a series of stifled sobs as she buried her pale, damp face in the crook of Fred’s shoulder.

“Everyone thought you were dead,” A vehement cry shook her chest and shoulders violently. “They told me you were gone.” Tara crushed her unstable vessel against Fred’s for a long, unbreakable embrace. “I didn’t…I didn’t believe them. I promised I would always find you and I found you,” she wept. “I found you,” she repeated over and over against the worn fabric of Fred’s blouse until her lungs burned.

“I’m here, Fred,” Tara gasped for air as she lifted her head and her tears instantly became camouflaged by rain drops. “I’m never letting you out of my sight,” she reassured her fiancée while cupping either side of Fred’s face. “Do you hear me, Winifred Burkle?” Tara sniffed and cracked a genuine smile the world hadn’t seen in what felt like an eternity. “I’m here to take care of you now and forever,” she vowed to the love of her life before returning her lips back to Fred’s for a more passionate kiss her lips as well as her heart longed to share she wouldn’t dare break until her lungs completely collapsed.

“Shhhhhh shhhhh,” Fred tried to coax, though it was quite obvious that she was just as guilty a party. Hardly able to hold her owns self together, she could hardly expect Tara to stay strong. “I’m here….” she nodded assuringly. “Or you’re here, I don’t know. But we’re here together, Tara Maclay,” her voice cracked. “We’re here together…like we’re supposed to be.”

Thought they were both soaked in water now, Fred shook away those feelings. All she wanted was to feel that closeness to her Tara again. Here she was, in the pouring rain, passionately kissing the love of her life for the first time in what seemed like forever. “I missed you,” she croaked softly. “I knew you would come and rescue me…”

Thread: Fully Alive
Tagged: Tara
Notes: Sorry it’s so short!

“Fred,” Tara breathed out her lover’s name in a faint whisper. “God, I’ve missed you so much.” The word ‘missed’ didn’t even begin to cover it. Fred would never be able to fully comprehend the heartache Tara underwent while she was trapped in another dimension. But that wasn’t Fred’s fault, so Tara would never hold her fiancée responsible for that. “You’re really here,” she breathed again, still in shock that Fred had returned as quick as she had disappeared. Tara stood just a few inches away from Fred with her arms still firmly wrapped around the only thing she truly loved in this world that was slowly withering away, never breaking the loving gaze locked between the two lovers.

“I’m so happy you’re here.” Tara tightened her grip and slid both of her hands deliberately across Fred’s shoulder blades before pressing her mouth against her fiancée’s collar bone and shutting her eyelids. She had her Fred back in the safety of her arms, right where she belonged… And there was nothing in this universe that could take her away. “I will always find my way back to you,” Tara murmured against Fred’s soft, soaking wet skin. “What did I tell you the first day we met? I would conquer any hell dimension and rescue you, no matter the extremity.”

But as Tara slightly pulled away from Fred’s embrace, Tara made sure not to pull too far. She was done taking chances and it had been far too long since she last had her Fred this close. “Would you like to go inside and get into some dryer clothes? Our room is just how you last left it. I-I didn’t… I-I couldn’t…” Tara fumbled with her words, inhaling a much needed deep breath before continuing. “It’s the same.”

(Source: spuffs)

Amber Benson on the Insane or Inspired series premiere

(Source: coolmonsterfighter)

winifred-burkles:

Even with Faith’s constant pleas to leave the room she and Fred once shared, Tara refused to leave. Sometimes meals were sent up but all she would do was send them back down. The last time Tara attempted to stomach any morsel of food only stayed down for a solid five minutes before it resurfaced in liquid form in the bathroom. Daily regimens were a constant struggle. Tara had thrown eating completely out the window. The only time she left the house was to wash her dangerously thin body down by the stream on the edge of the forest. But even then, Tara would do that after everyone else had gone to sleep, except for the vampires. Spike and Angel were always nearby if anything were to happen while Tara was out in the open, prone to all things hostile.

She had thought about resorting back to her old ways. Tara’s abuse of magic continuously plagued her weary mind. But Fred’s angelic voice always came swooping in to tell her ‘no,’ that it wouldn’t do anyone any good to dip into the black magics. Especially with Willow living under the same roof, the recovering witch would most likely follow suit if darkness tainted the air. Besides, magic was no way to mend a broken heart or honor her beloved Fred. Winifred Burkle deserved better than that.

Tara usually spent her time burning daylight curled up in bed, drowning her steady flow of salty tears in the pillowcase that was once Fred’s and gripping the sheets as if her crushing grasp could take away the raw ache that outlined the now empty rcavity that once held her whole heart.

But today was different. Tara found herself sitting in the center of the mattress, surrounded by Fred’s old papers and spiral notebooks. Looking down at the most recent page Fred had filled up with complex formulas, Tara clenched her jaw and closed her eyes, inhaling a deep breath that sent of swarm of tiny razor blades to rip throughout her set of fragile lungs. As she tilted her chin down to point towards her chest, a single hot tear escaped through Tara’s eyelashes and rolled off of the tip of her nose, splashing onto the lined piece of paper. The moment Tara’s eyelids fluttered back open, her crystal blue eyes came in contact with minuscule water mark that had cause the ink to run down the page but before it could travel any further, Tara quickly pressed the pad of her middle finger against her runaway tear drop, smearing the equation in the process before it had the chance to claim any more numbers.

That particular equation, the last strand of numbers and letters Fred had combine caught Tara by surprise. In fact, it didn’t seem like a scientific theory at all. She normally wasn’t a whiz at decoding this sort of context but her keen eyes knew an incantation when they saw one. It just didn’t add up properly on the physics side of things and one thing’s for sure, this formula was a mystical recipe for disaster.

Maybe Fred wasn’t dead, after all. Her fiancée had just recited the wrong words, strung together the wrong digits. All it took was one pang of sheer fear that shot up Tara’s spine to kick herself into gear.

She instantly swept an arm across the bed, ridding every other piece of paper that wasn’t relevant onto the floor and out of her way. Setting the notebook directly in front of her Tara sucked in another, more calming breath while placing her hands on her knees, palms up. “Come on, Maclay… You know this… You know this…” Her meek voice trailed off into thin air as her eyelids fell shut and her thoughts became centered. A wave of pure white energy began to surge through her veins and the magic within took over.

A gust of wind threw open the bedroom window and almost on cue, a crack of lightening shone through the curtains followed by a loud clap of thunder that ripped through the atmosphere. A familiar sensation filled the abyss occupying Tara’s chest and she knew in that instant, Fred was alive. Her Winifred Burkle was back on this plane.

Without the slightest hint of hesitation, Tara sky rocketed off of the bed and flung the door open, practically off of it’s hinges before flying down the stairs, taking two at a time. She swung the front entrance open and let the screen door slam behind her. “Fred?” Tara called out to her lover while jogging off of the porch and into the pouring rain. “Fred?!” Her voice inclined, anxious to know the exact location of the portal that was suppose to bring Fred back home. Venturing deeper into the woods, Tara pushed her wet bangs back with one hand while the other hugged the openings of her sweater closer to her torso. “WINIFRED!” Tara shouted in one final attempt to locate her lost love.

Had it been a week? Two weeks? A couple months even…Fred didn’t know. All she did know was that she was exhausted and tired and quite honestly: hopeless. She couldn’t figure why she was holding on anymore. Her relationship with portals were horrible. But she couldn’t even think of that. There were no writing implements here. No easy way to make a chalk-like substance, usable to work out an equation. And worse of it all was, were she to find a way home, she had no way of knowing if the reason of her return would still be there: Her friends, Tara…

What would Tara think? One day she was there, the next she was just missing. She had probably broken Tara’s heart. Ruined their groups chances of curing the world, and possibly led them to this dimension as well. Her stomach was roaring with pains from starvation and her body ached with the stress of constantly having to flea from whatever beings inhabited this world, but all she really cared about was whether the love of her life was okay.

As a faint noise broke through the still air, Fred’s eyes flickered open for a second. By no means was she expecting anything of good fortune. She had given up on the idea of hope long ago. She had been saved one to many times, and if she couldn’t save herself for once in her life, that was it. She had always known she was no champion.

When no furry demon of sorts came after all, Fred let her head fall back against the ground. Wait—was that grass?? Definitely not the surface she had been resting on a second ago. Rolling over on her stomach, Fred slowly pushed herself up and looked out at the forest that now surrounded her. Assuming she was hallucinating again, especially after she cochlea if sworn to have heard Tara’s voice, Fred almost collapsed into tears.

When the rain began to register on her cold skin, Fred felt a jolt of energy run through her veins. Was this real? It would have been unfair if this was another one of her mind’s mean tricks. “Tara…” she whispered softly, as she heard her loves voice. Shakily rising to her feet, it finally hit her. This was their forest. The one outside the country house. “Tara!!!!” she called into the heavy rain, taking a few unsteady steps until she saw a figure out in the wood that she figured just HAD to be her fiancée.

Running into her loves open arms, Fred thrust her head into Tara’s strong shoulders, though they seemed a lot weaker than she remembered. What was wrong? Had they run out of food back at the camp? She didn’t care if she was covered in dirt and sweat as she cuddled in closer to the woman she had missed more than anything else in the whole world.

“God, you came for me. You’re really here. You’re really—” she muttered on softly, rambling like only Winifred Burkle could. She just couldn’t wrap her mind around all of this. Neither could she find the words to explain how much she missed Tara, how she loved her more than anything else. “Y-you promised me…” she finally peeked up “That I’d be safe as long as I was yours,” she stuttered, not exactly sure what she was saying.

Reaching up, Fred brushed her palm against Tara’s cheek and offered a loving smile before stretching up her neck and touching her lips gently across Tara’s. “I-I’m safe now….right? You’ll keep me safe…You’ll take care of me again. Right?” Her lips wavered as she pulled away to gaze longingly into Tara’s eyes. “Please, I just want you to take care of me again.”

Thread: Fully Alive
Tagged: Tara
Notes: First post!

This couldn’t be real. It had to be another one of her dreams, just a mere fantasy that only existed in the far corners of her mind. Tara felt two slender arms wrap around her malnutritioned body, and it was wonderful. A surge of warmth engulfed her overall being as he recognized the familiar figure interlock with hers. It was Fred. Her Fred. Her one and only. And all Tara could do was stand stock still, her limbs trembling with an overwhelming sensation of disbelief.

“Fred,” The name barely made it past her quivering lips before she felt another pair of wet lips against her own. They were undoubtedly the lips of Winifred Burkle. “Fred? Is that…? Are you…?” Tara leaned in for a closer look, sweeping her glassy eyes across her love’s facial features and smoothing a hand across Fred’s forehead then cheeks. It was really her. She was really there. She was real. It wasn’t another one of her delusional hallucinations. And in that moment, Tara Maclay broke down in a series of stifled sobs as she buried her pale, damp face in the crook of Fred’s shoulder.

“Everyone thought you were dead,” A vehement cry shook her chest and shoulders violently. “They told me you were gone.” Tara crushed her unstable vessel against Fred’s for a long, unbreakable embrace. “I didn’t…I didn’t believe them. I promised I would always find you and I found you,” she wept. “I found you,” she repeated over and over against the worn fabric of Fred’s blouse until her lungs burned.

“I’m here, Fred,” Tara gasped for air as she lifted her head and her tears instantly became camouflaged by rain drops. “I’m never letting you out of my sight,” she reassured her fiancée while cupping either side of Fred’s face. “Do you hear me, Winifred Burkle?” Tara sniffed and cracked a genuine smile the world hadn’t seen in what felt like an eternity. “I’m here to take care of you now and forever,” she vowed to the love of her life before returning her lips back to Fred’s for a more passionate kiss her lips as well as her heart longed to share, not so much as daring to pull away until her lungs completely collapsed.

(Source: proudly-yours)

Xander and I sort of cleared out, he was pretty upset.

(Source: slayerofthevampyrs)

(Source: josscaps)

Even with Faith’s constant pleas to leave the room she and Fred once shared, Tara refused to leave. Sometimes meals were sent up but all she would do was send them back down. The last time Tara attempted to stomach any morsel of food only stayed down for a solid five minutes before it resurfaced in liquid form in the bathroom. Daily regimens were a constant struggle. Tara had thrown eating completely out the window. The only time she left the house was to wash her dangerously thin body down by the stream on the edge of the forest. But even then, Tara would do that after everyone else had gone to sleep, except for the vampires. Spike and Angel were always nearby if anything were to happen while Tara was out in the open, prone to all things hostile.

She had thought about resorting back to her old ways. Tara’s abuse of magic continuously plagued her weary mind. But Fred’s angelic voice always came swooping in to tell her ‘no,’ that it wouldn’t do anyone any good to dip into the black magics. Especially with Willow living under the same roof, the recovering witch would most likely follow suit if darkness tainted the air. Besides, magic was no way to mend a broken heart or honor her beloved Fred. Winifred Burkle deserved better than that.

Tara usually spent her time burning daylight curled up in bed, drowning her steady flow of salty tears in the pillowcase that was once Fred’s and gripping the sheets as if her crushing grasp could take away the raw ache that outlined the now empty cavity that once held her whole heart.

But today was different. Tara found herself sitting in the center of the mattress, surrounded by Fred’s old papers and spiral notebooks. Looking down at the most recent page Fred had filled up with complex formulas, Tara clenched her jaw and closed her eyes, inhaling a deep breath that sent of swarm of tiny razor blades to rip throughout her set of fragile lungs. As she tilted her chin down to point towards her chest, a single hot tear escaped through Tara’s eyelashes and rolled off of the tip of her nose, splashing onto the lined piece of paper. The moment Tara’s eyelids fluttered back open, her crystal blue eyes came in contact with minuscule water mark that had cause the ink to run down the page but before it could travel any further, Tara quickly pressed the pad of her middle finger against her runaway tear drop, smearing the equation in the process before it had the chance to claim any more numbers.

That particular equation, the last strand of numbers and letters Fred had combine caught Tara by surprise. In fact, it didn’t seem like a scientific theory at all. She normally wasn’t a whiz at decoding this sort of context but her keen eyes knew an incantation when they saw one. It just didn’t add up properly on the physics side of things and one thing’s for sure, this formula was a mystical recipe for disaster.

Maybe Fred wasn’t dead, after all. Her fiancée had just recited the wrong words, strung together the wrong digits. All it took was one pang of sheer fear that shot up Tara’s spine to kick herself into gear.

She instantly swept an arm across the bed, ridding every other piece of paper that wasn’t relevant onto the floor and out of her way. Setting the notebook directly in front of her Tara sucked in another, more calming breath while placing her hands on her knees, palms up. “Come on, Maclay… You know this… You know this…” Her meek voice trailed off into thin air as her eyelids fell shut and her thoughts became centered. A wave of pure white energy began to surge through her veins and the magic within took over.

A gust of wind threw open the bedroom window and almost on cue, a crack of lightening shone through the curtains followed by a loud clap of thunder that ripped through the atmosphere. A familiar sensation filled the abyss occupying Tara’s chest and she knew in that instant, Fred was alive. Her Winifred Burkle was back on this plane.

Without the slightest hint of hesitation, Tara sky rocketed off of the bed and flung the door open, practically off of it’s hinges before flying down the stairs, taking two at a time. She swung the front entrance open and let the screen door slam behind her. “Fred?” Tara called out to her lover while jogging off of the porch and into the pouring rain. “Fred?!” Her voice inclined, anxious to know the exact location of the portal that was suppose to bring Fred back home. Venturing deeper into the woods, Tara pushed her wet bangs back with one hand while the other hugged the openings of her sweater closer to her torso. “WINIFRED!” Tara shouted in one final attempt to locate her lost love.