Return to The Tales of Tar'airah Chapter Eleven


THE TALES OF
Tar'airah
CHAPTER TWELVE: MORE-THAN-FOUR LETTER WORDS ARE MORE FUN TO SAY...

Author: Elizabeth
Rating: A saucy PG-13... cause that's all I can write... and no more, else you'll be highly disappointed with my knowledge thereof.
Disclaimer: I wish I did... but I don't... wish I was one of the official writers, but I'm not... and never will be <sigh>... so, is that good enough to disclaim my non-existent ownership of W/T?


Again, the arms of a frantic redhead overlapped the blond.

Willow arms...

"Okay, one time I can understand because, well, hello! you didn't know that I was all with the bondage and not in the know about certain ritual rules. But twice, twice in the same day you feel the need to test my strength of character under extreme situations. This leaving me thing - I am in no way of the okay with it. If it's some sort of cosmic joke for you to keep leaving me, even when it seems you're here for good, then I most certainly believe..."

Tara just stood, staring.

She's adorable.

"...From now on it should be mandatory for all amazons, no, no, all Terror's, to let the prisoner know when and where they intend to go. Terrors shouldn't be allowed to go "la-la-la" around a tribe, neglecting certain terrified redheads. What's so wrong with saying 'I'll be back in a tick, have to go hunt a jaguar' and then proceeding to stick to said promise? Personally, if I'm to be in the know, I'd like to know, you know if knowing was known and if you had known, or been in the know about my knowing, you know?"

Confusing, but adorable.

"Willow-"

"And the fact that amazons kept running back and forth - one girl, ran past really fast, twice - In both directions! Either she's the slow one of your tribe that you've yet to tell me about, or she's highly confused about where everyone else was running away to..."

"Willo-"

"And then! Then after you left the rain just seemed to just stop, out of nowhere. I guess I'm not used to tropical weather but it makes me wonder if the sky here is either bipolar or going through a menstrual cycle-"

"WILLOW!"

That got the redhead's attention. Her curls bounced with the jerk her head gave at the sharp tone of the blonde. The redhead blushed, and the once serious-Tara took on a softer side immediately. Who could resist Willow-blush?

"I got kind of carried away there, didn't I?"

"There might have been some carrying," came the smirking reply.

"Well, it was all for a good cause: worry over one amazon's antics."

The girl's face curled into a lopsided smile.

She worries for me.

A comfortable silence enfolded the two, Willow's arms slowly sunk down to the amazon's hips, unconsciously. The hug had ended a while ago, but the redhead seemed to have forgotten hugging etiquette - for the moment, anyway - after the hug ends, generally the hugger steps away from the huggee. But Tara hadn't said anything to pull the hands off, either. Willow soon realized, slightly disappointed, it was because a troubled look was forming on the blonde's face. Her brow knitted together in slight discomfort at whatever thoughts that were crossing her mind.

"Tara?"

When the blonde didn't respond immediately, the redhead decided to ask further, "Did something... did something happen at the big amazony powwow? A-are you okay?"

The knitted brow soon changed into a frown.

Tara's not happy. If Tara's not happy, the world is just wrong. Must make world right. Make. World. Right.

"I-is there anything I can do? Did I say something wrong? Well, of course I did, I say so much in one go, sometimes that everything from really good to really bad comes out, and I don't mean to say them when I say them-"

A pair of fingers, softly found their way up to Willow's babbling mouth, and instantaneously stopped it from causing further damage.

"No, I was just thinking. The 'powwow' was... interesting. I-I-I..." Tara stopped for a moment, wondering if she could say the words. No matter how much she disliked Caranthia, it was hard to imagine she would betray her tribe - in any way. The questioning look from Willow, though, pulled the words out, "I think one of my sisters is hiding something from the tribe. Something big."

"Like apocalyptic-storm big?"

"Yea," Tara sighed.

"Well, what was the decision of the head honcho?"

"Thea," Tara supplied easily, "said not to worry, as of this particular woman's judgment call. Apparently she went and 'checked things out' for us all."

"Check things out? You can check out a storm?" Willow asked confused.

"No, no, there was a girl, a witness to the accident at the Trees."

"There was an accident?"

"Yea, apparently what got everyone so scared was that this girl, Akhia, saw the sky-light..."

"Also known as lightning," Willow supplied.

"The lightning," Tara smiled, "had hit the largest tree - burned it."

"And that's never a good sign for you ladies, I'm guessing?"

"Well, they are our protection. Supposedly, they were meant to keep these storms, floods, and men away from us."

"Ah, storms, floods and men: nature's three largest catastrophes," Willow giggled.

"Well," Tara said giggling, "before my time, they were," Tara said, her face turning serious again.

"I don't understand this... hatred for men," Willow said simply, "While a lot of women are still fighting for the vote, the boundaries, they are a lot less restricting - much more of a freer world than it used to be. I guarantee, within this next century, things are going to change - majorly."

"Oh, and how would you know?"

"I charted it out."

"What?"

"I charted our progression out. All the way back to 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention," Willow said proudly. "It was part of my history thesis at Oxford. The professor got angry with me for writing about it, but I did it anyway. And I got an 'A'!"

"Um..." Tara didn't know half of the words that Willow had just said, but she figured Willow bouncing on her heels, smiling, could only mean good, so she replied uncertainly, "yay?"

"Big yay."

"Well, the male-fear," Tara said slowly, "it... it comes from Thea's experience as a child. Way before any of the younger generation had been born. She was hurt... badly," Tara swallowed, "by her father," Tara noted Willow's face scrunch up in sadness, "This was in the earlier half of the last century, when the world was not as populated, or overrun with explorers... in the days when women were more of a prize rather than a person. B-but they could hide... effectively, in the jungle's depths."

"There were more?" Willow said horrified.

"Hundreds..." Tara whispered. "I-I-I do not know why, why the locals treated their women so poorly, I-I only know that I was brought here with my mother..." Tara hesitated at this. Willow calmed her, though, just with her presence. Her breathing, in and out, in and out, softly and slowly calmed her, "...She died shortly after my seventh birthday, I was t-told by an illness, but I s-saw for myself, a s-s-shadowed f-f-figure..."

"Oh, Tara," Willow slowly, ever so slowly, reached her hand up to the newborn tears coming out of the amazon's eyes. Crying in front of the redhead was no longer an embarrassment. Willow had the ability to make anything she had to say perfectly fine - normal.

The redhead leaned in, and let her forehead rest on the blonde's. Silent tears rolled down her face, as she allowed her hands to rest on the blonde's shoulders. She could not explain her forwardness, how every time she was near the blonde she managed to do the impossible each time - so openly be affectionate with her. But it didn't matter. Tara was in pain, and no matter the cause of her feelings for the girl, Willow wanted to heal that pain. Whatever it took, she wanted to heal it.

Tara sniffed, and her blue eyes slowly looked down at Willow's face - right next to hers. She barely heard the whispers of the redhead: a continuous mantra of 'it's okay, it's okay.' She only saw her lips moving in sync with the words' sounds. Rosy lips, and cheeks, forming comfort - for her.

For me.

Willow didn't notice the sudden stare that was fixated on her, in fact, her eyes were closed attempting to push the image of an in-pain-Tara out. Tara just stood, her left hand rising of it's own account.

I think I love her.

The hand slowly cupped the redhead's cheek, lifted her eyes open, to stare at the blonde's face. Willow looked questioningly at the now tearless eye, and immediately was fixated - drowned - by the deep blue. She was lost. And found by Tara... only Tara.

I think I love her.

Ever so slowly, Tara tilted the girl's mouth up to hers - mere millimeters between them. Her breathing hitched as she felt Willow's breath on hers.

"Tar'airah, hey, before you start the ritual, Buf'aneah and I were wondering - HOLY AKAMELIA BALKEISHIA!" came a surprised yelp.


Continue to The Tales of Tar'airah Chapter Thirteen


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