It had been a slow morning. Angel was asleep, as he tended to be during the daylight hours, Wesley and Gunn were off somewhere, and Fred had taken Connor to the park. It was just Cordelia holding down the fort, even though the fort didn't really need holding. There had been no walk-in clients, zero phone calls, nothing. Except for the time Lorne had stopped in for a minute, looking for Wesley (which was semi-odd, but didn't register as anything she should be concerned about.) Besides that, there had been nothing.
Which was good. It meant that she could give herself a manicure and catch up on the latest issue of Cosmo. Goodness all around.
As she was taking a quiz to find out whether she was an inner-blonde or an inner-brunette, she had a vision. Thanks to her new demon part, she didn't have horrible, my-head-is-literally-going-to-explode headaches anymore. But what was in her vision horrifyed her.
"Oh, my God," she gasped, as she saw Willow, with black hair and cold, black eyes. "Willow."
She left a note reading, "Left for Sunnydale. Ring me on my cell if you need me. No need to worry, Angel, this isn't about Buffy. It's just something I need to take care of. See you later, Cordelia."
When she arrived in Sunnydale, she went to the first place that she figured they would be - the Summers' house.
She knocked on the door, and it swung open with a tall, much older Dawn on the other side.
"Dawnie!" Cordelia exclaimed, hugging Dawn tightly. She pulled away and asked, "Do you know where Willow's at?"
Dawn shrugged and let Cordelia inside. "She's upstairs. You can go up."
Gee, she's a lot more sullen than the last time I saw her, Cordelia thought. And she had been pretty sullen then, seeing as it had been at her sister's funeral, so that was truly saying something.
"Thanks," Cordy said softly, making her way upstairs.
She found Willow's room quickly. It was the one with the shivering redhead on the bed in the fetal position.
"Willow?" she called softly and Willow looked up.
"Cordy," she aknowledged. "I'm sorry for the mess."
Cordelia took a quick glance around the room and found it almost freakishly neat and tidy. "It's . . . okay. Um, I got a vision of you, um, with black hair and eyes, and - I'm too late, aren't I?"
Willow nodded, and Cordelia took a seat on the edge of the bed.
"Way too late. Already fried that chicken."
Cordelia leaned down and studied Willow's face. "Are you okay?"
Willow sat up and took a deep breath. "Do I seem okay?"
Cordy shook her head. "No, but I thought I'd ask anyway. Do you need anything?"
"I need Tara," Willow said softly, barely above a whisper. "She left me - I can't - " tears shone in her eyes " - I'm nothing without her."
"Don't be stupid," Cordelia said sharply, causing the witch to snap to attention. "You are everything. Willow Rosenberg. Witch. Uber-hacker. Great friend. You're there when people need you. You're sweet. And funny. And so intelligent - God, Willow, you're the smartest person I've ever met," with exception to Fred, Cordy thought, but then Fred was always an exception, "And you're beautiful."
Willow stared at Cordelia in wonder and then placed a soft kiss on the seer's lips. Cordelia was not surprised by this, but rather had expected it. Willow's lips tasted faintly of strawberries - like the artificial flavoring in lip gloss. After the kiss ended - it had been Willow who finally pulled away - Cordelia cleared her throat and brushed a strand of Willow's hair back.
"Willow, sweet little Willow. You have no idea how precious you are, do you? But I know. Because I see things. That's what I do. And I know for a fact that you are more than who you are dating. Learn to stand on your own - you already do in everyone else's eyes."
Willow sat up straight. "So what do you want from me?"
"I don't want anything. I was sent to help. Did I help you?"
Willow nodded slightly. "I guess so."
Cordelia grinned her mega-watt grin and stood up. "Good."
Willow stood up as well, her legs shakey, and offered a weak smile. "Thanks, Cordy."
Cordelia shook her head. "No, there will be no thanking of me. Thank the Powers." With that, she leaned in and offered Willow a short, supportive kiss. "Call me if you need me, anytime, day or night. Just try not to wake Dennis. He gets cranky sometimes."
Willow furrowed her brows together, and Cordelia offered, "My ghost," and then she looked at Willow lovingly. "I never told you this, but I had a huge crush on you in high school."
"What?"
"Why do you think I picked on you so much?" Cordelia said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Buffy entered the room, even more sullen than Dawn and Willow combined. "Cordelia? What do you want?"
Cordelia ignored her and continued talking to Willow. "I have to go - I have a Fred to get back to, and there's a certain Slayer that I think could use your help." She winked at Willow and then turned, looked Buffy up and down. "Here's a tip: smile. Brood is for vampires." With one last glance at her friends, she left.
On the highway on her way back to Los Angeles, Cordelia got another vision. It was short, it was simple, and it made her smile. It was Willow holding Buffy while she cried in her arms.
It was the first time she had a happy vision, and it radiated love and trust. It was a vision of love.
Cordelia pulled up a Angel Investigations, and Fred came running out of the door, and embraced her in a kiss.
"You taste like strawberry lip gloss," Fred commented with a giggle, but Cordy was only half-listening. She had a one-track mind, and at that moment, her mind was on love.