From: owner-arfic-l-digest@lists.xmission.com (arfic-l-digest) To: arfic-l-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: arfic-l-digest V1 #25 Reply-To: arfic-l-digest Sender: owner-arfic-l-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-arfic-l-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk arfic-l-digest Wednesday, April 18 2001 Volume 01 : Number 025 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2001 17:11:59 -0400 (EDT) From: Ailie McFarland Subject: (arfic-l) Love's Labor Lost 3/? Title: Love=92s Labor Lost 3/? Author: Ailie McFarland E-Mail: aixla@juno.com Rating: pg-13 Fandom: BtVS Spoilers: New Moon Rising (alternate ending) Archive: http://www.geocities.com/aixla/fanfic.html Distribution: Oh! If it helps at all, I=92m gonna say yes. Disclaimer: Oz and Willow do not belong to me. If they did, WAH and NMR wou= ldn=92t exist, so I wouldn=92t have to keep writing these alternate endings= ! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Chapter 3: Searching for Answers ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Oz smiled at Willow before walking out into the hallway, but the instant th= e door closed behind him the smile faded and shoulders sagged. To Buffy it = looked as if he had aged ten years in ten seconds. He lifted his eyes to he= rs. "She wants to talk to you." "Okay." Buffy put a hand on her friend's shoulder and tried to smile. "It's= gonna be okay." Oz simply nodded, and watched Buffy pass through the door. "How is she?" Xander asked with concern. Oz shrugged. "Okay, I guess. The doctor started an IV with some drugs that = should stop the contractions."=20 There was a pause, as none of the men could think of anything to say. In th= e end, it was Oz who broke the silence. "Giles, I need your help." "Of course. Anything." "Research," Oz said with a pained look. "Find any cases of werewolves havin= g children, and what happened those children." Giles was concerned. "Oz, you can't possibly think that you are to blame fo= r this. These things ..." "Happen. I know. These things just happen." Oz's normally calm tone was col= ored with anger. "But if there is any chance this is my fault, I need to k= now. Maybe then we can do something to stop it." "Alright." Giles doubted there was anything he would find that could be of = any help, but it was obvious that Oz needed him to look, to be certain. "C'mon, Oz," Xander said softly. "Let's go find some coffee or something." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ "Hey Will," Buffy stuck her head through the door first, trying to smile. W= illow looked so pale, so scared lying in that hospital bed. It reminded her= of the last time she had visited Willow in the hospital, almost two whole = years ago. Willow smiled in return. "Buffy! Come in!" As Buffy got closer to the bed, she couldn't help but look for signs of the= pregnancy, anything she might have missed. Now that she knew what she was = looking for she could almost make out the slight bulge in Willow's stomach,= even underneath the blankets. Thinking back, she couldn't remember the las= t time she had seen Willow change in front of her, which would have given h= er secret away long ago. In a small dorm room like their's, it was quite di= fficult to avoid occasionally seeing one another somewhat semi-clothed. "So ..." Buffy searched for the right words. "How are you?" "Frightened. Terrified." Willow looked into her best friend's eyes. "Kinda = ashamed." "Ashamed?" Buffy took her seat next to Willow's side. "Of what?" "That I didn't tell anybody. Especially you." A single tear slid down her c= heek. "I just ... it was like, if I didn't talk about it, it wasn't real, y= ou know? And then I kept thinking =91Oh, I'll tell everyone tomorrow' but t= here were always so many tomorrows, and it seemed so much easier to wait. A= nd now here we are and ..." Buffy reached over and took her best friend's hand, careful not to dislodge= the IV needle inserted in the back. "You don't have anything to be ashamed= of. It's a scary thing. I don't know how you dealt with this all by yourse= lf." A thought struck her. "Does Tara know?" Willow shook her head and more tears began to fall. "No. I couldn't ... cou= ldn't tell her yet. And I don't want to tell her here if I don't have to. S= o I figure we'll wait and see if this works. If not ..." "Don't say that! It's going to work."=20 "I don't know about that." Willow was crying uncontrollably now, and her wo= rds came between heaving sobs. "I mean, it's like I said. I pretended it wa= sn't happening. So ... so I kept on with my life the way it was. I kept doi= ng magic. What if ... what if the spells affected the baby? What if I did s= omething to hurt it while I was on patrol with you, or like last night when= we went to rescue Oz? This could be all my fault!" "Willow, you can't ..." But Willow didn't even hear her. "I did some research on babies and stuff. = Did you know that my baby is 9.2 inches long? He or she only weighs two pou= nds, but it's a person now. If this had happened earlier I think I could ha= ve dealt with it, =91cause ... =91cause it would just be cells, right? Or j= ust a fetus? Well it's a baby now, really. It has fingers and toes and in a= week or two it'll be able to suck it's thumb and, and if I did anything to= hurt it I don't know what I'll do!" There was nothing Buffy could say that would help, and she realized that. I= nstead she just moved to sit on the edge of her friend's bed, and held her = while she cried. ~Ailie McFarland~ http://www.geocities.com/aixla/buffy.html WILLOW: Well, I like you. You're nice and you're funny. And you don't smoke. Yeah, okay, werewolf, but that's not all the time. I mean, three days out of the month I'm not much fun to be around either. OZ: You are quite the human. WILLOW: So I'd still, if you'd still. OZ: I'd still. I'd *very* still. OZ: Would it help you if I panic? WILLOW: Yes, it'd be swell. Panic is a thing people can share in times of crisis, and everything's really scary now, you know, and I don't know what's going to happen and there is all sorts of things you're supposed to get to do after high school and I was really looking forward to doing them and now we're probably just going to die and I'd like to feel you maybe you would ... What are you doing? OZ: Panicing. WILLOW: Oz...don't you love me? OZ: My whole life, I've never loved anything else. - - To unsubscribe to arfic-l, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe arfic-l" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 00:27:41 -0400 (EDT) From: Ailie McFarland Subject: (arfic-l) Love's Labor Lost 4/? Title: Love's Labor Lost 4/? Author: Ailie McFarland E-Mail: aixla@juno.com Rating: pg-13 Fandom: BtVS Spoilers: New Moon Rising (alternate ending) Archive: http://www.geocities.com/aixla/fanfic.html Distribution: Oh! If it helps at all, I'm gonna say yes. Disclaimer: Oz and Willow do not belong to me. If they did, WAH and NMR wou= ldn't exist, so I wouldn't have to keep writing these alternate endings! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Chapter 4: Wheels in Motion ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ "Hey Will," Xander grinned as he entered the room with Oz by his side. "We = just took a little trip to the snack machine. I thought you might like a Mi= lky Way." Willow shook her head. "Thanks, but I don't think I could eat anything righ= t now. My stomach's kinda icky." Despite the fact that she had been sobbing= just a few minutes before, Willow couldn't help but to smile back at her c= hildhood friend. Seeing Xander's smiling face always cheered her up, even w= hen she didn't particularly want to be. Buffy stood and allowed Oz to reclaim his seat. "How's it goin'?" he asked = as he took Willow's hand in his. "Um ... okay, I guess." She realized that she had been the one to initiate = this hand holding thing, but she still wasn't sure exactly how to feel abou= t it. "It still hurts, but I think it might be getting better. It's kinda h= ard to tell." "And it's still early anyway, right?" Buffy chimed in. "I mean, you gotta g= ive the drugs some time to work. Can't jump to any conclusions too fast. Wi= th all the miracles of modern medicine and ... I'm helping too much, aren't= I?" Willow nodded. "It's okay. You don't have to try to cheer me up or reassure= me or anything. I mean, whatever's going to happen is going to happen, rig= ht?" At that moment, Doctor Haskel walked back through the door. "It got a bit c= rowded in here since the last time I visited." "Oh," Buffy moved from Willows bedside. "Is that okay? I mean, we don't wan= t to get in your way or anything." The doctor laughed. "No, it's perfectly alright. Quite good for her morale,= actually. Just try not to tire her out." "Check. No calisthenics." Everyone watched with concern as Doctor Haskel read through Willow's chart = and checked the monitors beside her bed. "What's wrong?" Oz asked as the do= ctor's brow furrowed slightly. "Probably nothing," he continued making marks on the chart. "But the contra= ctions aren't slowing as much as I'd like. I think we'd better try a differ= ent medication. It's slightly stronger. Unfortunately everyone reacts diffe= rently to different medications, so some of this procedure is trial and err= or. I'll have a nurse come in and change the IV right away." After watching the doctor leave, Xander spoke up. "You'd think with all the= miracles of modern medicine they'd be able to do more than =91oops that di= dn't work let's try something else.' I mean, they can transplant hearts fro= m monkeys to people and stuff, right?" "I think you've been watching too much Chicago Hope," Willow commented.=20 "Hey!" Xander said defensively. "I know they only re-run it on =91Lifetime = - - Television for Women' but that doesn't mean that I can't enjoy it too!" Buffy glanced out into the hall, noticing that it was empty. "Hey guys, whe= re's Giles?" "Uh ..." Xander tried to come up with an answer that wouldn't alarm Willow.= "He had to go check on something. He should be back soon." "Check on something, as in research checking on something?" Willow's eyes w= idened in fear. "Is something wrong? I mean, do you guys need to be researc= hing or slaying or something?" Oz tried to comfort her "Shh," he whispered as he scooted his chair closer = to her bedside. "Nothing like that. Promise. He'll be back soon. We won't l= eave you." With that reassurance, Willow was finally able to close her eyes and get so= me rest. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The next few hours passed without much action. Willow managed to catch a na= p here and there, in between being awakened by nurses passing through or by= contractions; although they had slowed somewhat, they were still very pres= ent. Willow was in a half-doze when she noticed that her bedclothes were soaked.= Her first thought was that Xander must have spilled something, but when sh= e opened her eyes she realized the room was empty save for herself and Oz, = who was also sleeping. "Oz, Oz wake up!" =20 "Hhm?" "Oz," there was panic in her voice. "I think my water just broke!" That comment snapped him out of his stupor right away. "I'll get the doctor= ." Oz ran out of the room and returned a few minutes later with Doctor Hask= el in tow. "Well then," the doctor was trying to keep his tone light, but Willow could= read the worry in his face. "Let's see what we have here." He instructed W= illow to put her legs into the stirrups at the bottom of the bed and gently= reached into her. Xander chose that unfortunate moment to walk into the room. "Whoa!" The you= ng man's face changed to a bright shade of red at the sight, and he turned = to face the wall. "Way more Willow than I ever thought I'd see." "What's going on?" Willow asked. Doctor Haskel replaced the covers. "You're dilated to four centimeters. I'm= afraid we have no choice but to deliver this baby now." Willow turned pale. "But, but it's too early! The baby is so ... so small a= nd ... and will it be able to survive?" "At twenty-six weeks?" he sighed heavily. "We'll do everything we can. But = you should know ... the survival rate for a baby born at this stage of deve= lopment is only fifty percent." ~Ailie McFarland~ http://www.geocities.com/aixla/buffy.html WILLOW: Well, I like you. You're nice and you're funny. And you don't smoke. Yeah, okay, werewolf, but that's not all the time. I mean, three days out of the month I'm not much fun to be around either. OZ: You are quite the human. WILLOW: So I'd still, if you'd still. OZ: I'd still. I'd *very* still. OZ: Would it help you if I panic? WILLOW: Yes, it'd be swell. Panic is a thing people can share in times of crisis, and everything's really scary now, you know, and I don't know what's going to happen and there is all sorts of things you're supposed to get to do after high school and I was really looking forward to doing them and now we're probably just going to die and I'd like to feel you maybe you would ... What are you doing? OZ: Panicing. WILLOW: Oz...don't you love me? OZ: My whole life, I've never loved anything else. - - To unsubscribe to arfic-l, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe arfic-l" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 19:17:01 -0400 From: "Michele R Bumbarger" Subject: (arfic-l) FIC: Worlds Away (Part 25) Title: Worlds Away (Part 25) Author: M. Bumbarger Email: worldsaway2001@yahoo.com Fandom: New Series Tomorrow People Rating: PG-13/TV-14 Summary: The Tomorrow People are swept away to a different world, where they must take up the lives of their alter-egos and try to find their way home . . . which won't be easy. Notes & Dedication: Thank you Caroline for cracking the whip. Thanks to Victoria for the beta-read. And apologies to all the listees because I was a terrible List Mom. I posted the last two parts of Worlds Away without the header information. I have throughly chastised myself and it won't happen again. Disclaimer: The Tomorrow People (Adam Newman, Ami Jackson, Megabyte Damon, and Jade Weston) are the property of Roger Damon Price, Thames Television, ITV, Tetra Television and Nickelodeon. They are used here without permission, but not for profit. The lands, countries, customs, deities, and original characters are mine and mine only, springing from the depths of my imagination and should not be used anywhere else without my permission. Please do not repost this to any list or archive it anywhere else without my express permission. Previous parts at http://www.alternate-realities.net/worldsaway ********** Chapter Twenty-Five "Adam." The voice and the very insistent shaking of his shoulder pulled Adam from a deep and quite comfortable sleep. He clawed his way to full wakefulness while attempting to gain his bearings. The bedchamber, which had been totally dark when he drifted off to sleep, was now lit by the soft flickering glow of the bedside lantern, which he squinted and looked away from, giving a groan as the light bore into his eyes. Face buried in the relative safe harbor of his pillow, he ground his words through his teeth, "Someone had better be dead, Stewart." "You really were sleeping like a log. I don't know who Stewart is, but it's not me." The all too familiar crisp British accent banished the last remaining traces of sleep. Adam bolted upright in bed, his eyes searching the barely lit darkness for his unexpected bedchamber guest. He didn't have to search far, considering that she was sitting on the unoccupied side of his bed with her legs crossed, a whimsical smile on her face. "Ami? What are you doing here?" "Saying hello to you," Ami fluffed and tucked an unused pillow between her legs, "what does it look like?" "You can't be here." "And now you make it sound like you really don't want to see me," Ami sniffed. "I teleport all this way, and having to slip out without waking Nynie, and all you can say is --" "You teleported? Here?" "Well, I certainly didn't saddle up my horse and ride. Besides, from what I understand, I could never have made it to the Palace in one night. And there would be such a scandal if the *Damiar Princess* just happened to be riding through the countryside to meet her fianc=E9." Ami propped her chin in the palm of her hand, her elbow resting on her knee, "Aren't you even going to say hello?" "Hello. Now get out of here before Stewart hears us. He's sleeping in the next room, you know?" This was absolutely unbelievable. He would have expected this sort of intrusion from Megabyte, or even from Jade, but not from Ami. Ami was normally more restrained than the aforementioned two Tomorrow People, but Adam supposed there was a first time for everything. And while he wasn't averse to seeing Ami, this was neither the time -- and it was far from the place. There was no way he could possibly explain her presence to Stewart, and he was relatively certain that there was no way she could explain her subsequent absence from the Keep. "So I take it he's your bodyguard. Or," her mouth quirked upward wickedly, "Or is the High Prince more interested in boys than princesses?" The absolute brazen innuendo in her words forced Adam to snap his jaw shut. He blinked at her as he tried to wrap his brain around the teasing words he would have expected from Hagen, not from the young woman sitting on his bed as though she owned that portion of it, far more wide awake than anyone should be at this hour. "That's not even funny," Adam snapped more harshly than he intended. He gave up on the attempt to adjust his bedclothes for modesty's sake, after all, it was Ami who had barged into his bedchamber, and it was Ami who could feel uncomfortable. Although, discomfort appeared to be the one thing that she was not feeling. "And Stewart is not a boy." "Touchy, touchy," Ami shook her head, "Are you always this grumpy when you first wake up? If so, you should tell me now so that I'm warned ahead of time. A wife does need to know whether or not she should avoid her husband in the morning." The words were light but they were more effective at dispelling lingering drowsiness than any splash of cold water. Ami, too, caught their slap, her teasing demeanor sobering until the two of them were quiet, staring at each other from across the distance of beds and bloodlines and friendship. "Ami," Adam spoke up, his voice somehow sounding even louder to his ears now than it had before. He gave a glance at the outer door, as though he expected Stewart to come barging in at any moment, which was entirely possible, and sent his next words into her mind, [You know you shouldn't be here.] [I know,] she admitted, her fingers now plucking the edges of the pillow, [But I wanted to see you. I figure that if the *Damiar Princess Amideira* isn't allowed to even lay eyes on the *High Prince* before the bridal presentation that at least *I* could see *you.*] [But why?] [Why not?] Ami shrugged, [I just . . . I thought that we should talk.] [We have talked.] [Not like this!] To punctuate her meaning, she gestured between them, indicating their telepathic conversation. [And especially not like this when I'm over one hundred miles away. And this is more than a little weird, Adam. We should talk about it.] Adam knew that she was right. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew that she was one hundred percent correct in her words and her approach. He just hated the fact that she had gotten it into her head to discuss this in the middle of the night, and had pulled him from a very sound sleep to do it. Not to mention the fact that she had teleported into his bedchamber, the one place he could never, ever explain her being. Well, he couldn't exactly explain her presence in the Lion Palace at all, but there were other places far less scandalous. [I had to wake you up first,] Ami pointed out. [You were sleeping like the dead.] Adam blinked, berating himself too late for his lapse in shielding. He was definitely going to have to be more careful about that in the future. It wasn't the first time it had happened since coming here . . . and he was very much afraid that it wouldn't be the last. [Believe it or not, Ami, some of us like to sleep at night.] [I like it too. And I would be doing it, but . . . Adam, are we really going to do this?] [Do we have any other choice?] [We could make a break for it.] The complete earnestness in her eyes made Adam smile. [And how far do you think we would get?] [I hate it when you're so logical.] This time, her words were punctuated by a punch to the pillow. [I just can't believe that this is happening. First, I'm here and I'm a princess and then I find out that I'm getting married, which is horrible enough, but then I find out that I'm supposed to get married to you -] [Thanks,] Adam interjected dryly. Ami's eyes widened and she drew a sharp breath, shaking her head. Her hand reached out for his, [I didn't mean it the way that it sounded! I just meant that . marriage. You know, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer . it's serious . and it's . it's real. And I've never even had a serious boyfriend and now I'm supposed to get married all for the sake of some treaty? It's unfair!] [Whoever told you life was fair, was lying, Ami] [Oh, don't start in with that tired old cliche. I know, life isn't fair. It's not fair until we're dead and we're still likely to get screwed in the afterlife. I know that all right, but would you allow me the common courtesy to pout if I want to. God knows, I can't do with Nynie around and I'm longing for a really good snit.] Her words brought a smile to Adam's lips. More than a smile, really. He actually chuckled softly, causing Ami to glare at him, her eyes flashing with injury and indignation. "You're laughing at me!" "No, I'm not," Adam shook his head and pressed his fingers to her lips, reminding her to be silent. [All right, maybe I am, but you have a unique way of putting things into a very skewed perspective.] [My perspective is not skewed,] Ami objected. [And how come you're so calm about this?] [Because it could be a lot worse.] [And how's that?] [Well, for starters, you could really be the Damiar Princess Amideira, or I could really be High Prince Adam Aldaric, and then one of us would not be here and the other really would be marrying a complete stranger for the sake of a treaty.] Adam paused and took her hands in his, giving her a smile, [But, that's not the case at all. We're friends. We're best friends, and I think that makes a difference. Besides, if Megabyte and Jade can do this, I don't think that we should have any real problems.] [You just want to get rid of me so that you can go to sleep.] [That too.] Reaching out, Adam pulled her into a friendly hug, [And don't forget the big picture. Once this wedding is out of the way, we can all put our heads together and try to find a way home.] Ami clung to him a moment, her head resting on his shoulder. Adam didn't even want to think about how bad things would look if Stewart chose that moment to check on his prince, but even that thought didn't make him release his friend. Sometimes he forgot that she was younger than he was, forgot that despite her stubbornness and backbone, in some ways Ami was still just barely beyond her teens and not quite solidly into the realm of womanhood. In some ways, being Tomorrow People made them grow up, and in some ways, it simply held them apart from their peers. He held her because he realized that they both needed this, this one quiet moment to truly deal with the hand fate had dealt them, and to deal with each other. And despite his earlier fears, Adam felt the truth behind his own words. There was no reason why he and Ami couldn't be mature enough to handle this; there was no reason why they couldn't deal with this with the same aplomb as Megabyte and Jade. They were still themselves, still Adam Newman and Ami Jackson, still friends, and nothing, not even this marriage or anything else that came with it, could change that. *** End of Chapter Twenty-Five *** - - To unsubscribe to arfic-l, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe arfic-l" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 11:36:06 -0400 (EDT) From: Ailie McFarland Subject: (arfic-l) Love's Labor Lost 5/? Title: Love's Labor Lost Author: Ailie McFarland E-Mail: aixla@juno.com Rating: pg-13 Fandom: BtVS Spoilers: New Moon Rising (alternate ending) Archive: http://www.geocities.com/aixla/fanfic.html Distribution: Oh! If it helps at all, I'm gonna say yes. Disclaimer: Oz and Willow do not belong to me. If they did, WAH and NMR wou= ldn't exist, so I wouldn't have to keep writing these alternate endings! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Chapter 5: Pain of Life ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Giles struggled to right the large stack of books he was carrying and press= the elevator button at the same time. He didn=92t succeed. =93Blast,=94 he= muttered as the texts tumbled to the floor, even as the doors began to clo= se behind him. This was one of those days when he sorely missed the quiet s= anctuary that had been Sunnydale High School=92s library. =93Hello all,=94 he said breathlessly as he passed through the door to Will= ow=92s room. =93I trust everything is ... not at all alright.=94 Giles coul= d read the bad news on the teen=92s faces. Willow attempted to smile. =93Hi, Giles. Whatcha got there?=94 =93Oh, these? Nothing. Just ... I thought we might be here a while, and tha= t perhaps I could do some research while we were waiting.=94 Giles set the = books down on the bedside table and moved to Willow=92s side, smoothing her= hair with his left hand. =93How are you?=94 =93Um ... there was this movie once where a woman said something about tryi= ng to squeeze a watermelon out of an opening the size of a lemon. That=92s = about how I feel.=94 Willow suddenly found her blanket extremely interestin= g. =93I=92m only 26 weeks, and they can=92t stop the contractions, Giles.= =94 =93Oh.=94 The Englishman was at a loss for words. =93Oh, Willow. I=92m so s= orry.=94 Willow pulled herself up to a sitting position. =93Nope. No more of that. I= =92ve been sitting here feeling sorry for myself, but the truth is this bab= y is going to be born, right? And being all sorry isn=92t going to help. So= ... good vibes from now on. I mean, the baby has a fifty percent chance, r= ight? So lets not treat him like he=92s already dead. Okay?=94 =93Yes ma=92am.=94 Xander stood at attention and saluted. Buffy took Willow=92s hand. =93But aren=92t you scared, Will?=94 =93Scared? I=92ve never been so scared in all my life. Not even at the asce= nsion! But right now there=92s nothing I can do but wait, so I figure why b= e miserable?=94 Oz nodded appreciatively. He hadn=92t realized until this moment how strong= Willow had become in his absence.=20 =93Well then, are we ready to go?=94 Doctor Haskel entered the room, covere= d from head to toe in blue scrubs. The only recognizable part of the doctor= was his glasses, which under other circumstances Willow would have found q= uite amusing. Willow swallowed hard and nodded. =93I guess so ... I=92m not sure I=92m re= ady to be a mom, but I guess I can=92t put it off any more, can I?=94 =93I suppose not. I can allow you to take one person into the birthing room= , if you would like.=94 Willow locked eyes with Oz. Some sort of communication passed there, a sile= nt understanding. ~I want you to be there, but that doesn=92t necessarily m= ean I want you back.~ =93Okay then,=94 Oz looked to the doctor. =93Let=92s go.=94 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ =93Alright, Willow. Push!=94 The redhead=92s sweat-soaked brow furrowed with pain as she pushed, grittin= g her teeth against the pain. Oz marveled at her strength; Willow was squee= zing his hand so tightly he thought the bones of his fingers might snap. =93Wonderful. You=92re doing great. I can see the head. Now on three, I wan= t you to bear down and push, okay?=94 Willow nodded wearily. Eight hours of labor felt a lot longer than it sound= ed. =93Ready? One, two, three!=94 This time, Willow could not hold back the cry of pain. It was as if somethi= ng was ripping her open, trying to tear it=92s way into the world. She had = nightmares when she first learned of the pregnancy, dreams in which she had= given birth not to a human child but to a wolf that literally clawed it=92= s way into life. For a moment, she wondered if this might really be the cas= e. Then it was over. The pain and pressure dissipated, and Willow knew she had= become a mother. But why was it so quiet? Oz helped her to a sitting position, and together they watched the team of = doctors and nurses work on their child. =93You have a baby girl,=94 Doctor Haskel said as he walked over to the new= parents. =93Can we see her?=94 Oz asked quietly. The doctor shook his head. =93We=92re moving her to the neo-natal intensive= care unit right now. You can see her there in a little while.=94 =93Why isn=92t she crying?=94 Willow was crying herself. =93Is she okay? Wh= at=92s going on?=94 Doctor Haskel sighed. =93We=92re concerned that your child isn=92t getting = enough oxygen into her lungs. At this stage of development, a baby=92s lung= s aren=92t developed enough to breathe air. There really isn=92t anything w= e can do right now but wait, and see how she fares. If she survives the nig= ht ... there=92s a good chance she will survive in the long run.=94 With th= at, he rejoined the rest of the team attending to the child. =93Survives the night?=94 Willow turned to Oz with sheer panic in her eyes.= Last night had only been the second night of the full moon, which meant th= at tonight ... Oz closed his eyes. =93Wolf moon.=94 Their child was on the very edge of su= rvival. Would she be able to survive the trauma of the transformation? ~Ailie McFarland~ http://www.geocities.com/aixla/buffy.html WILLOW: Well, I like you. You're nice and you're funny. And you don't smoke. Yeah, okay, werewolf, but that's not all the time. I mean, three days out of the month I'm not much fun to be around either. OZ: You are quite the human. WILLOW: So I'd still, if you'd still. OZ: I'd still. I'd *very* still. OZ: Would it help you if I panic? WILLOW: Yes, it'd be swell. Panic is a thing people can share in times of crisis, and everything's really scary now, you know, and I don't know what's going to happen and there is all sorts of things you're supposed to get to do after high school and I was really looking forward to doing them and now we're probably just going to die and I'd like to feel you maybe you would ... What are you doing? OZ: Panicing. WILLOW: Oz...don't you love me? OZ: My whole life, I've never loved anything else. - - To unsubscribe to arfic-l, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe arfic-l" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 22:08:36 -0400 From: "Ibonek 17" Subject: (arfic-l) "Silently I Watch" (1/1) by Kristina A. Schwartz--slash! Title: Silently I Watch (1/1) Author: Kristina A. Schwartz Email address: Ibonek17@hotmail.com TV Series: Tomorrow People (New Series) Distribution statement: Alternate Realities and TPFICT, anyone else, please ask! Rating: PG-13 Summary: The musings of a Tomorrow Person in love (slash) Disclaimer: The characters here do not belong to me. The Tomorrow People are property of Roger Damon Price, Thames/Tetra Television, ITV and Nickelodeon. All are used here without permission, but no copyright infringement is intended. Silently I Watch By Kristina A. Schwartz I can’t stop thinking about him, thoughts of him run through my mind day and night. I’ve known him for four years now and I’m just currently acknowledging my love for him. We started out as mere acquaintances, he barely paying attention to me because I was four years younger. Then Kevin left and we had only each other. I’m not even sure when I realized I loved Adam Newman. It didn’t start out as a love-at-first-sight thing, more of a gradual attraction. I admired him as a friend, a close friend, one I could trade banter with, joke around with and generally feel comfortable around. We compliment each other--his seriousness balanced by my wackiness and sarcasm. I was a little worried when Ami broke out, afraid she and Adam would be drawn into a romance. My fears dissipated as they became friends. Of course, I haven’t told Adam my feelings. I steal admiring glances when I think he’s not looking. Adam is one of the most handsome guys I’ve ever seen--lush brown eyes that you can drown in. When he looks at you, it’s like he’s piercing your soul. His eyes are. . .mesmerizing. The only time I’ve seen him truly hurt emotionally was during the Lucy Allen fiasco. He doesn’t like to talk about her much, cow that she is. I mean, who could walk away from sweet, kind, endearing, sexy Adam for a stupid Journalism student? Lucy didn’t deserve him and it was proven even more by how hard he fell for her. The look on his face when she broke up with him (Over the phone! What a coward, couldn’t even tell the man to his face!) was enough to make me want to pull him into a hug, pat him on the head and say everything’s gonna be all right. That’s one of the things I love best about Adam. One look at his sad eyes, and he makes the protective instinct come out in you. When he sleeps, he looks so young and vulnerable, almost ethereal. I nearly lost him when we confronted Rameses Ak’hara. When he didn’t return from Sam Rees’ place and we couldn’t sense him, I felt a gut-wrenching fear. Could I have gone on with my Adam? I highly doubt it. He’s my steady rock, the one thing that keeps me sane. Luckily everything turned out okay in the end. Well, almost everything. He doesn’t talk much about his entrapment by Rameses or even where he was or what prevented us from sensing him without the aid of the ship. His silence worries me. I suspect Ami knows. She’s caught me staring a few times. I’m afraid to tell Adam though, for obvious reasons. He’s hard to read, shields always in place. Man of mystery and intrigue, I’d follow him to the ends of the earth. But how to tell him that? I can’t just say “Adam, I love you”, not without knowing something in return. I’ve got to work up enough courage to say the words soon or I’ll go insane. I mean, it’s only three little words (four, if I say his name), how hard can it be? I wonder if he realizes I’m watching him. When he comes over to play video games or watch a movie, I spend half of the time marveling at his beauty. Sometimes I wish he’d let down his shields so I’d know what he’s thinking. God, what I’d give to just kiss him. That’s all. Just feel his lips pressed against mine, his hands running through my hair. That would be a dream come true. I snap out of my thoughts as Adam passes me the video game controller. “Here Megabyte, your turn.” he said in his delicious Australian accent. “Um, okay.” I say, taking the controller as I try to focus my thoughts on the video game and not on the presence of my best friend sitting next to me. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com - - To unsubscribe to arfic-l, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe arfic-l" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 22:08:49 -0400 From: "Ibonek 17" Subject: (arfic-l) "Silently I Watch" (1/1) by Kristina A. Schwartz--slash! Title: Silently I Watch (1/1) Author: Kristina A. Schwartz Email address: Ibonek17@hotmail.com TV Series: Tomorrow People (New Series) Distribution statement: Alternate Realities and TPFICT, anyone else, please ask! Rating: PG-13 Summary: The musings of a Tomorrow Person in love (slash) Disclaimer: The characters here do not belong to me. The Tomorrow People are property of Roger Damon Price, Thames/Tetra Television, ITV and Nickelodeon. All are used here without permission, but no copyright infringement is intended. Silently I Watch By Kristina A. Schwartz I can’t stop thinking about him, thoughts of him run through my mind day and night. I’ve known him for four years now and I’m just currently acknowledging my love for him. We started out as mere acquaintances, he barely paying attention to me because I was four years younger. Then Kevin left and we had only each other. I’m not even sure when I realized I loved Adam Newman. It didn’t start out as a love-at-first-sight thing, more of a gradual attraction. I admired him as a friend, a close friend, one I could trade banter with, joke around with and generally feel comfortable around. We compliment each other--his seriousness balanced by my wackiness and sarcasm. I was a little worried when Ami broke out, afraid she and Adam would be drawn into a romance. My fears dissipated as they became friends. Of course, I haven’t told Adam my feelings. I steal admiring glances when I think he’s not looking. Adam is one of the most handsome guys I’ve ever seen--lush brown eyes that you can drown in. When he looks at you, it’s like he’s piercing your soul. His eyes are. . .mesmerizing. The only time I’ve seen him truly hurt emotionally was during the Lucy Allen fiasco. He doesn’t like to talk about her much, cow that she is. I mean, who could walk away from sweet, kind, endearing, sexy Adam for a stupid Journalism student? Lucy didn’t deserve him and it was proven even more by how hard he fell for her. The look on his face when she broke up with him (Over the phone! What a coward, couldn’t even tell the man to his face!) was enough to make me want to pull him into a hug, pat him on the head and say everything’s gonna be all right. That’s one of the things I love best about Adam. One look at his sad eyes, and he makes the protective instinct come out in you. When he sleeps, he looks so young and vulnerable, almost ethereal. I nearly lost him when we confronted Rameses Ak’hara. When he didn’t return from Sam Rees’ place and we couldn’t sense him, I felt a gut-wrenching fear. Could I have gone on with my Adam? I highly doubt it. He’s my steady rock, the one thing that keeps me sane. Luckily everything turned out okay in the end. Well, almost everything. He doesn’t talk much about his entrapment by Rameses or even where he was or what prevented us from sensing him without the aid of the ship. His silence worries me. I suspect Ami knows. She’s caught me staring a few times. I’m afraid to tell Adam though, for obvious reasons. He’s hard to read, shields always in place. Man of mystery and intrigue, I’d follow him to the ends of the earth. But how to tell him that? I can’t just say “Adam, I love you”, not without knowing something in return. I’ve got to work up enough courage to say the words soon or I’ll go insane. I mean, it’s only three little words (four, if I say his name), how hard can it be? I wonder if he realizes I’m watching him. When he comes over to play video games or watch a movie, I spend half of the time marveling at his beauty. Sometimes I wish he’d let down his shields so I’d know what he’s thinking. God, what I’d give to just kiss him. That’s all. Just feel his lips pressed against mine, his hands running through my hair. That would be a dream come true. I snap out of my thoughts as Adam passes me the video game controller. “Here Megabyte, your turn.” he said in his delicious Australian accent. “Um, okay.” I say, taking the controller as I try to focus my thoughts on the video game and not on the presence of my best friend sitting next to me. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com - - To unsubscribe to arfic-l, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe arfic-l" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ End of arfic-l-digest V1 #25 **************************** - To unsubscribe to $LIST, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe $LIST" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message.