Rating: NC-17
Uber Setting: Survivor
Disclaimer: I own none of these characters nor do I own Survivor. And believe it or
not, I also don't own any small islands. On the other hand, this island is fictional so let's say I own
it. I'm making no money from this fiction and intend no copyright infringement.
Distribution:
The Mystic Muse http://mysticmuse.net
Author's Notes: And you're saying to yourself, "Did I read that right? Survivor?" The answer:
"Yes!" Ok, I freely admit that we are huge Survivor and Amazing Race fans (and yes, we wanted
Kris and Jon to win). I can't stand the Bachelor, Joe Millionaire, and certainly think that the reality
show about the woman looking for her real father is probably one of the low points in human
development. But I love Survivor and Amazing Race. Sure they're cheesy and "made-for-
television" as the grandmother in A Prayer for Owen Meaney would say. But they also show a lot
about competition, cooperation, and relationship dynamics.
I can't imagine that I'll be writing this very quickly because I am very busy these days but
hopefully the updates will be regular. I'm going to try and limit most updates to the format of the
show action shots, "confessional" interviews, brief conversations, and of course the tribal
council. Occasionally I'll throw in the "Morning after" interview for flavor.
One more thing. With a few exceptions for plot-development, I'm going to use random
selection methodology to determine which team wins or loses (when appropriate) and which
character will be voted off. Hopefully this will be fun.
Special thanks goes to Chris Cook of Through
the Looking Glass and Artemis
for the title graphic at the top of the page. Thanks, Chris!
Pairing: Willow/Tara
Summary: Sixteen castaways. Two teams. One million dollars.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15
COMING THIS SEASON ON SURVIVOR: ASH ISLAND
Shots of a tropical island.
Two boats racing toward the island from opposite sides. People on both boats hanging on to a railing while standing on the edge.
The boats come to a stop and most people jump into the sparkling blue sea. A few people still on the boats throw belongings to those in the water.
Shots of everyone swimming toward shore, pulling various belongings, a few pieces of wood, and a box toward the island.
Jeff Probst voiceover: Survivor Ash Island. Two Teams. Sixteen Castaways. One Million Dollars.
Quick cutting shots of various contestants:
An All-American Boy running down the beach at sunrise. Caption reads: "Riley Finn Pro Triathalete." "I'm hoping my physical conditioning will help me be too valuable to vote off," he tells the camera.
Shot of petite redhead wiping her foot on a log. Caption reads: "Willow Rosenberg Software startup company owner." "Ick! I think I stepped in something."
Jeff Probst: "A new season. A new island. A new game."
Quick cutting shots of a mid-forties woman and a blonde girl talking furtively by a stand of trees with the voice over: "And the secret the other contestants don't know."
Notes Ok, this is really difficult to figure out how to format. Here's what I'm going to start out with:
Exposition changes will be listed in bold.
Captions for the "confessional" shots will be shown in italics.
Please let me know how readable this is and if you have any suggestions to improve readability.
Asher says - bnmYUKKUAAAAAA (He also typed 87 page breaks but I edited that for him).
Survivor Ash Island
Two boats race toward different shores of a beautiful
tropical island. Contestants are hanging from the sides of each. The boats slow down and stop a
few hundred yards from shore. Most of the contestants jump into the water while the others throw
backpacks, oars, and planks of wood to them. Once they are done, the remaining contestants join
their teammates and all start swimming toward shore dragging, pushing, and pulling their
belongings with them.
The survivor theme song begins to play as the credits roll. Shots show a beautiful island, shores, trees, waterfalls, and wildlife. Then the contestants's pictures are superimposed on the island background with their names at the bottom of the screen:
A very fit young woman with dark hair, dragging a log toward the fire: Faith
An all-
American looking blonde man, running down the beach: Riley
A middle-aged man talking
pointedly: Richard
A blonde woman rinsing in the surf: Joyce
A young black woman tying
her "buff" around her wrist: Kendra
A tall bald black man lashing two posts together as if
building shelter: Robin
A mid-thirties blonde woman stirring a pot: Darla
A young blonde
woman stoking a fire: Tara
A mid-thirties white man shaking a coconut tree: Wesley
A
young woman scurrying under a low-rope: Amy
A middle-aged man doing pushups by the
shelter: Mac
A young man hammering wood for a shelter: Xander
A blonde girl carrying a
water bucket: Buffy
A short young man playing harmonica: Oz
Another young man
stirring a pot of food: Andrew
A redheaded woman swimming in the surf: Willow
Akathla Team
The Akathla team swims to shore slowly but steadily. Some swim
strongly and confidently. One can be seen barely making any progress as he dog paddles toward
shore and struggles to keep his head above water. One by one the contestants reach the shore
and drop to lie on the sand to rest for a few minutes as they wait for their teammates to join them.
Eventually they all wait for the dog paddling man and another contestant swims out to meet him
and help him to the shore.
Confessional Caption: Wesley Researcher
"I know we're all here to compete for
a million dollars but I couldn't just let him struggle out there. I mean we're a team. And maybe
now everyone knows how I play this game."
After letting the short young man rest for a few minutes, a dark-haired girl stands up and starts moving inland. She reaches a small table and calls to the group. "Hey, come see what we got." The others come over. While inspecting the gifts which include a tray of fruit, some rice, an axe, a shovel, a cast-iron pot, and a machete, the contestants introduce themselves. The girl who found the gifts explains that she's Amy. The boy who could not swim was Oz. The others introduce themselves and they agree that starting to build the shelter is the most important task.
MFashnek Team:
Like the earlier Akathla team, the MFashnek team makes
steady progress toward the shore. They have no particularly bad swimmers and three members
of their team seem quite strong. After waiting on shore a few minutes they also get up to discover
their housewarming bounty.
Confessional Caption: Robin High School Principal
"It seems like a very athletic
group of people we have. The waves were really moving but everyone did a good job getting to
the shore and bringing our things up. I think we'll do well in the challenges."
While unpacking the items, each member of the team introduces him or herself. The oldest member of the team, Richard, speaks up first: "Well kids, I think we need to start by building some shelter and maybe some of people can go look for clean water or food?"
"I'm with Dick," Faith agrees with a smirk on her face. Most of the older members of the team grimace at her rudeness while the girl who introduced herself as Tara blushes, raises her hand and points toward the trees.
"I'll go with you," Kendra says, indicating that she will look for food with the blonde. The others begin discussing building the structure, given the available materials.
Akathla Team
As the focus shifts to the other camp, we see the Akathla team
working to strip leaves off bamboo poles and lashing them together to build a square structure.
"Ok," Xander instructs everyone, "Now we should find some fronds or leaves to use as a
makeshift roof."
Everyone agrees except Wesley: "I don't think that will work. This region South of the Equator is known for the heaviness of the leaves on most plants. Those are unlikely to stay on the roof and when they become water-logged, they will invariably fall, resulting in whomever is inside the hut becoming saturated."
The others look at each other and roll their eyebrows before Amy, Buffy, Oz, Xander, Willow, and finally Andrew wordlessly approach some trees to begin to strip their leaves.
Confessional Caption Buffy College Student
"Right, Wes
Like everyone's
just like right? I mean the leaves are too heavy? I'm not sure how this team will do with this guy
on it."
Confessional Caption Willow Software Startup Owner
"Well, maybe he has a
point about the weight of the leaves but really, they don't really become saturated and the weight
may make them a better roof. I mean, we just need to use a 60/40 overlap pattern and they'll
absorb the impact just fine."
MFashnek Team:
Long past nightfall Robin nods to the other players. "I think we
could sleep and start again in the morning. What do you say the women get the shelter
tonight?"
"That's a kind offer," Joyce agrees as she looks at the other women.
"T-t-thank you," Tara stutters before looking shyly away, handing the man a plantain, and entering the shelter.
As the women begin to settle on the sand Darla speaks. "So women and men? Is that how they want to play it?"
"I think they were just being noble," Joyce posited.
"Still," Faith said, "the numbers are in here."
"But I say, let's win all the challenges and not worry about it," Kendra suggested.
Akathla Team Day 2
The next morning the sun is rising as people begin to stir
at the camp. "That's more effort than I want to put in this early," Amy says to no one in particular
as she points to the man who introduced himself as Colonel McNamara but who everyone calls
Mac doing pushups on the sand.
"Oh, I think a good strong workout ethic is an excellent way to start the day," Wesley answers in a lyrical voice. "Ancient warriors frequently performed calisthenics while assuming their war gear."
"Really?" Xander asked.
Not recognizing the sarcasm in the younger man's voice, Wesley launches into further discussion of the war preparations of ancient armies.
Within minutes the group begins to work on their shelter and continue their search for food.
MFashnek Team Day 2
Confessional Caption Tara Medical
Receptionist/Artist
"I think the team is w-working well. Today we need to find more food
and to be r-ready for the challenge."
Confessional Caption Kendra Interpreter
"The past few seasons they haven't
given the players fire for days. If we could get fire on our own, that gives us drinking water and we
would have a huge advantage in the challenge."
As the sun rises over the beach, we see everyone on the team make their way to the shoreline. All the players appreciate the beauty of the sunrise and dip their feet in the water or splash water on their faces. After a few minutes they all return to the shelter area and begin to eat the plantains the girls brought back the day before. A makeshift dining circle with an unlit firepit in the center is in front of the structure. "Today we work on fire?" Kendra suggests. Everyone agrees.
Akathla Team
At the Akathla team home it becomes apparent that they are also
focusing on fire. We see groups searching for wood, kindling, food etc. Buffy, Willow, and Xander
walk slowly together pulling what dry brush they can find and putting it in the pot. "Did you know
that Babylonians gathered dry brush with their toes and fingers so that they could get twice as
much?" Xander asks with obvious sarcasm.
"I thought that was the Pilgrims," Buffy retorts dryly.
"Oh come on," Willow joins in, "You mean you weren't hoping for hourly lectures about geology and war history when you signed up?" As she reaches for more dry brush the viewer can clearly see the leather necklace tied around her neck with three rainbow beads resting just at the base of her throat.
All three laugh heartily before their conversation turns more serious. "Mac could be a threat," Buffy suggests.
"Not if we bring in that guy Oz," Xander suggests.
"Four on four?" Willow asks skeptically, she shrugs her shoulders: "Sounds good to me."
Confessional Caption Xander Carpenter
"So I guess I have an alliance with
these two girls: Buffy and Willow. That's cool but I just don't know how much I can trust them. And
there are five guys on this team."
Both Teams
We see both teams as their members trade off attempting to use
two sticks to rub together and make fire. Neither is having any luck although they seem to work
well together.
MFashnek Team
Richard, Joyce, and Darla walk along the shore edge looking
for kindling wood as Robin, Riley, and Faith work on the fire. "These young people are very
strong," Richard says as if just thinking aloud.
"That could help us in the challenges," Joyce states.
"For a while," Darla chimes in. All three look at each other and nod before continuing their search.
The three people working on the fire give up for the time being, tossing down the tools they were working with. We see Tara watching interestedly. Faith picks the sticks back up and motions at Kendra to help her as Robin and Riley walk down to the shoreline. As the two girls begin rubbing the sticks together, Tara looks again to see who is watching and approaches them. "M-m- maybe we n-need a wind break," suggests dropping to her knees and cupping her hands around the sticks. The other girls shrug and concentrate on their mission as Tara closes her eyes as if silently praying. She doesn't see the first lick of flame catch the dry brush nor the next as Kendra blows it to keep it going. In fact, the blonde keeps her hands around the fire until she feels the heat on her hands and looks up to see Faith and Kendra smiling as they slowly build the fire. "This is a good team," Faith says as she motions at the other two girls.
"The strongest," Kendra agrees while Tara nods her head.
Akathla Team
Confessional Caption Amy Waitress
We can see
that it is dark and everyone sits together staring into the empty fire pit. Amy is a bit off talking to
the camera. "Ok, so we have no water which I expected but all we've eaten is the fruit the show
left us and some other stuff someone found and I'm like getting really tired and hungry. I don't see
why we can't start on the rice."
Shots show everyone sleeping uneasily inside or outside of the shelter.
MFashnek Team The team members sit around the fire pit watching the flames and passing a dipper of water. "First challenge tomorrow," Riley announces.
"This is a strong team," Richard tells everyone, "I know we can do it." Everyone nods and becomes silent.
MFashnek Team Day 3
Riley and Darla return from the tree-mail-box with a
scroll. "We've got tree-mail!" Darla calls excitedly. She opens the scroll and reads:
"It's kind of a puzzle
But more than that too.
Quickness, planning, and balance
Or
it's a dunking for you"
"Cool," Kendra and Faith agree.
Akathla Team Day 3
"So," Andrew says as they all read the scroll, "I guess it
will be a combination of a mental and physical challenge?"
"Well," Wesley immediately chimes in: "That much is quite apparent from the clue. I'd posit a multi-part obstacle course with a puzzle portion at the end. Perhaps we should determine which team members would be best at each portion of this endeavor?"
Immunity Challenge
Jeff Probst announces each team and it walks in to take its
place on the mat. The competitors take their places and look closely at their competition.
"So," Jeff starts, "how are things at camp? Everyone have shelter?"
"We built our shelter first as the obvious first step and now are attempting to gain fire," Wesley offers.
"And how about the MFashneks?"
"We have both shelter and fire," Richard announces with obvious pride.
"You have fire?" Jeff repeats.
"That's right, J," Faith says cockily.
"Congratulations," Jeff tells the team as the Akathlas look on with some amount of astonishment. "Do you want to hear about today's challenge?"
Both teams have been looking at the area in front of them. Scattered in front of each team are 5 poles slightly smaller in diameter than a telephone pole. Each one has different colored bands painted on each end of the pole. They vary in length from about 5 feet to about 9 feet. Also on the beach are 10 small wooden stakes. Farther away, standing in the water are five triangular structures like 3-dimensional ladders. They vary in height and distribution. About 35 feet away from the shore are two colored platforms about 5X10 feet.
"Yeah!" they all yell in response to Jeff's question.
"Today's challenge is called 'Build it, balance it, and run it," he starts. "Each team will use the poles in front of them to build a series of balance beams on top of the structures in the water. The structures are different distances apart and the poles can only work in one configuration. You can use the stakes to hold the poles in place. Once all poles are in place, all team members must make their way along the poles and jump to the platform. If a team member falls off completely, including the final jump, he or she must return to the shore as well as a team member who has already completed the challenge. If no one is on the platform at the time, just the team member returns. Once the structure is built, only one team member can be touching any pole at once. The first team to have all its members reach the platform wins." He walks over toward a thin wooden icon carved to look like a native but with elongated canines and holds it up. "You're playing for this!"
All the contestants stand toe to the line as Jeff yells, "Go!" Immediately the MFashnek team rushes to the poles, teaming up to hoist them onto their shoulders. Robin yells to Riley to help him with the longest pole while Kendra and Faith grab the next longest. Joyce and Tara grab the shortest pole and struggle down the beach with it as do Richard and Darla with their selection.
Meanwhile, before the Akathla team can begin running Willow shouts for them to stop. "Wait!" she yells. She looks at the poles one by one raising her view to the water after each one. Then she yells to her teammates: "It's red, blue, green, white, yellow!" She quickly directs the teammates so that they will place the correct poles in the correct order but so that their strengths are distributed. Although the MFashnek team is obviously stronger, the organization of the Akathla team allows them to place the final pole and stabilizing stake in place 10-15 seconds before their opponents.
Those who have been placing the final pole swim back toward the shore and join their teammates. Amy is the first to climb up to the first balance beam and begins walking steadily but slowly across the pole. As she steps up to the next pole, Andrew climbs onto the first pole.
Meanwhile the MFashneks complete their placement and Joyce is the first up onto a beam. Although shaky she begins across, followed by Darla and then Robin. Amy reaches the platform first for the Akathla team and Andrew joins her to begin cheering for his team. Willow reaches the platform just as Joyce becomes the first MFashnek on their platform. In the meanwhile, Robin warns his teammates that the poles are becoming slippery. This point is underscored as Xander and Richard fall from their beams into the water nearly simultaneously.
Robin who has just reached the platform dives into the water to return to the shore as does Willow. By the time they reach the shore to join Xander and Richard, Wesley climbs onto a pole as does Riley. While Riley moves steadily across his beam, followed by Richard, Wesley slips from his pole into the water, causing Buffy to have to return to shore. When Buffy slips on her second trip across the beams, the Akathla team's fate is sealed. Tara jumps to the platform and is caught and stabilized by Riley seconds before being joined by Robin. The MFashneks jump and cheer on their platform until they lose their balance and fall or jump into the water. Elated, they swim to the shore.
When the reach the shore, Jeff holds out the icon and waits to see who will take it. As no one else steps forward, Richard takes the immunity idol from the host. The dejected Akathla team watches their celebration. Just as they are about to walk away Jeff calls out to the winning team. "Oh one other thing," he yells.
They turn back to watch him and listen as he explains, "This is also a reward challenge. You can take whatever you can carry with you. You have 5 minutes to decide." The Akathla team leaves the beach even more dejected as the MFashneks again cheer and set about deciding what to take with them.
Akathla Team
Everyone gathers around the non-fire to sulk about their loss for a
few minutes. "Well," Wesley speaks up, "we had rather a spot of bad luck today but I'm sure it will
be better tomorrow. Anyone want to go with me to get some more food?"
Andrew and Mac volunteer to go with the man, leaving the others at the fire-pit. "The other team has fire?" Willow starts.
"Yeah," Buffy says, "I'd like to know how they did that."
"Tribal Council tonight," Xander starts.
"I'd say the most important thing is having a quieter camp," Amy leads suggestively.
"Ok," Oz agrees as the others nod their heads.
"They looked strong," Buffy observes. "And that Robin guy was really built."
"Lots of hotties," Xander agrees, "that Faith girl had some nice muscle tone."
"I like the shy ones myself," Willow shares.
"The blonde," Buffy guesses?
"What was her name?" Amy asked.
"Tara," Oz says.
"Yeah, her," Willow agrees.
Meanwhile we see Wesley pull close to Mac and Andrew. "Our team is not as strong as the other team."
"What do you suggest we do about that?" Mac asks.
"Weak link:" Wesley concludes. "Willow or Amy has to go."
"You get two more and I'm with you," Andrew agrees as does Mac.
MFashnek Team
The team relaxes around the fire, again passing the dipper of
water. We can see that they managed to return with 3 of the 5 poles, all 10 stakes, and one of the
triangle stands.
"What are we going to do with those?" Darla asks casually.
Robin looks around before answering: "I suggest we use them as the cornerstones of our structure. That will give it some strength and we can hang things from them."
"Good idea," Tara contributed, "tomorrow we c-can work on this area too."
Tribal Council
The Akathla team enters the tribal council slowly and takes a look around. It is a circular area surrounded by trees. In the center is a large fire pit and two benches are set up one behind the other on one side of the area. On the other side of the circle stands a waist-high post and behind it, eight lit torches.
"Please come forward and get your torch," Jeff tells the team members. They do and then take a seat on the benches, inserting the base of their torches in the holes in the deck behind the back bench. "So, how have your first three days on the island been?"
Everyone takes a moment before Wesley begins speaking: "I think we are coming along quite well as a team. It was disappointing to lose the challenge today but I think we are very strong."
"Buffy," Jeff directs his next question, "it seemed like your team had a lead for a short time but then you fell behind and lost. Why do you think that happened?"
"You know, our team worked really hard out there today. We did our best and just got beat. I know we'll do better in the next challenge," she answers.
"Willow," Jeff asks, "you seemed to really take charge out there today. What was that about?"
"I didn't really worry about seeming too bossy or anything," Willow responds, "I really like puzzles and it only took me a second to see where each piece needed to go. It saved a lot of time to not have to try each pole in each position and get it by trial and error."
"Andrew," Jeff next asked, "is that true? Did you think what Willow did was helpful?"
"That's the type of leadership we need in the challenges to be competitive against a team that's stronger than we are physically," the young man responds.
"Ok, let's vote," Jeff directs.
Willow is the first to vote and we don't see her vote. Next is Xander and we see him as he writes down "Wes" before addressing the camera: "Wes, old buddy, I don't need to know about ancient warriors or absorption rates of leaves South of the Equator." Next Amy, Oz, and Mac vote.
Like Xander, Buffy addresses the camera as she writes down Wesley's name. "It's going to be nice to have it quieter around the non-fire tonight."
Wesley follows her and writes down "Amy" before addressing the camera: "You seem like a very nice girl but this team needs to work toward strength to be competitive." Andrew follows Wesley.
Jeff gets the earthen-ware pot holding the votes and sets it on the pillar. "I'll now read the votes," he explains, "Once the votes have been tallied, the decision is final." He opens the first vote: "Wesley." No one seems surprised by the vote. Next he opens the vote for Amy. Wesley has a smug look on his face as he waits for the other votes for the girl. His smug look disappears as Jeff reads the remaining votes, each reading "Wesley."
"Bring me your torch," Jeff directs before snuffing the torch and announcing, "The tribe has spoken."
Still looking shocked, Wesley walks down the path away from the tribal council area. The others leave the area with their unlit torches.
Parting Words Wesley
"Well I really enjoyed the game and I didn't see this
coming. I just don't know that this team can compete against the strength of the MFashneks but I
wish them luck."
Next week on Survivor
Voice Over "Alliances are formed."
Shot of Tara, Kendra, and Faith talking
quietly.
Voice-Over "But others may be threatened."
Joyce walking away from Darla.
Voice Over "And a Survivor secret is revealed."
Confessional Caption
Joyce Art Gallery Owner
"I think I worry more about her because I'm here and I know
what it's like."
All next week on Survivor
Note In proving that my idea was somewhat half-baked, I'm now going to go back on what I earlier said about the format of this story. I was up quite a bit last night (now night before last) and made some changes but I think it will definitely be for the best.
I think I need to explain the show a little better for those who don't watch it. The Survivors are on their Island or whatever location there is for 39 days (those who leave earlier are of course there shorter) but 39 days is the max. At the end of that 39 days, there are 2 finalists and 7 "jurors" the last 7 people eliminated from the game vote on which of them wins the $1,000,000 (the other wins $100,000). Then they all go home and to their lives. Time goes by
CBS begins to broadcast the show weekly in 16 (sometimes 17) weekly episodes. Notice that the 16 episodes take much longer than 39 days to air. In the mean time, the contestants are in their normal lives. The contestant who is voted off on Thursday night does Morning shows and stuff like that Friday morning. At the end of the 16 weeks, there is a 2 hour special that goes from final 4 players to final 2, shows the voting and reveals the winner. Then there is usually a 1 hour interview show with all the players.
The change: Given that format, I am going to intersperse scenes from Willow & Tara's lives which are timed as the shows are airing. I hope that makes sense. I think it will be fun but definitely ask if you are confused at any point.
Tara set down the last bag of groceries just as she heard the answering machine shutting off. "Ok, honey," she said, "how about veggie burgers, fries, and broccoli for dinner?"
"That sounds good, Mama," Ariel answered her mother as she began pulling items from the grocery bags.
"Do you have homework, baby?"
"I did it all at Grandma's house," she told her mother as Tara quickly started their dinner.
"Do you want to watch a video while I make dinner?" Tara asked.
"Beauty and the Beast," the little blonde answered with a smile. After starting the video for her daughter, Tara finished putting away the groceries and continued making dinner while glancing at the clock.
The phone ringing again interrupted the sound of Beauty's singing and Tara quickly answered it.
"Hey," the man on the other end of the phone greeted her.
"Hi, Kent," Tara answered.
"Is Ariel busy?"
"She's watching a video," Tara told him, "are you still going to pick her up at school tomorrow?"
"If that's ok, babe," Kent answered.
"Sure," Tara answered, "why don't you stop by the office during the day for her bag?"
"K," he agreed.
"Ariel," Tara called, "your daddy is on the phone." The little girl jumped up talk to her father for a few minutes before handing the phone back.
"What do you need to do before dinner?" Tara asked the girl as she took the phone.
"Wash my hands," Ariel answered before turning off the TV and running down the hall.
"So the big debut is tonight?" Kent asked.
"Y-yeah," Tara answered, her stutter giving away her nervousness.
"You already did the hard part, Tara," he attempted to assure her, "I'm sure you will look great."
"Thanks, Kent," Tara answered.
"Are you sure you don't want to tell me how you did, how long you lasted?" Kent asked.
"Dinner's ready so I need to go but I'll see you tomorrow," Tara laughingly told the man.
"Break a leg, Tara," he said as he hung up.
Tara set the plates on the table as Ariel was coming into the room. After the girl had said a blessing, they both began eating. "Can we watch your TV show tonight, Mama?" Ariel asked.
Tara had been somewhat concerned about this and had been really thinking about it. She had talked to her mother as well with Kent extensively in the past few weeks. "Do you want to?"
"Yes, Mama," Ariel answered excitedly.
"Then we will watch it together," Tara told her. "It's kind of a grown-up show so we should talk about it ok?"
"Yea," Ariel clapped her hands in typical 6 year-old fashion. They finished eating and Tara helped Ariel take her bath. As the girl was getting into her pajamas, Tara went to play the messages.
"Hi Tara, um, it's Willow from the island you know? I mean of course from the island. It's not like there are that many people named Willow around. Not that my parents invented the name but last year it was ranked 530th for American female names according to the Social Security Administration so you probably know that it's Willow from the show I guess, my point. Um. Anyway, I got your phone from the show producers which I hope you don't mind. And I was just calling to check in with you before the first show airs and" The sound of the machine's beep cut her off.
Tara waited a second before the next message started: "Well that was just a little rude, of your machine, not you. I should talk faster. I'm um going to be in your area for business next weekend and wondered if you wanted to get together for coffee or something? Dinner? Movie? No not a movie cause no talking but you know. I guess movie if you want. Ok, before your machine beeps me again, my cell number is 212-444-1234. You can call me before midnight tonight or any night or whenever you want." The final line was whispered almost too quietly for the blonde to hear: "I've missed you."
Tara finished copying the phone number onto her note pad and then replayed both messages listening with an amused smile and ensuring that she had copied the number correctly before erasing them. "Mama, the show is about to start," Ariel called from the doorway before running back into the living room.
"Ariel," Tara admonished playfully, "do we run in the house?"
"No, Mama," the girl answered as she handed her mother the remote. The show started with the shots of the players hanging on a boat before the credits rolled. Ariel cheered when she saw her mother's picture on the screen. They watched the rest of the episode with enough conversation that Tara felt very grateful that she was also taping it. Ariel had the type of questions to be expected from a six year old child: "Why does that man talk like he's a school teacher?" of Wesley.
Later it was, "Are those women your friends?"
"Yes, sweetie," Tara explained, "Faith and Kendra are both my friends."
"Did you help them make their fire?" the girl naturally wanted to know.
"Yes," Tara explained with a grin, "I helped them."
"I think the one with the funny voice is your friend because she called here. I remember her voice," Ariel said.
Tara smiled as she said that yes, Faith had called and she was from Boston. Later Ariel wanted to know why the other people were talking about her mommy. Tara explained that the red-haired girl had mentioned thinking she was nice and one of them said her name.
"Do you think she's nice?" Ariel asked.
"Yes, baby," Tara answered, "I think she's very nice." When the show ended, they went to Ariel's room where Tara read the girl a bedtime story before answering a few more questions about the show and assuring the girl that she would be on next week.
"I missed you when you were gone, Mama," the girl told her.
"I missed you too, baby girl," Tara assured her before tucking her in and pulling the door closed.
Breathing a sigh of relief that the episode had gone as well as it had, the blonde returned to the living room to turn off the TV and VCR. She poured herself a small glass of wine before going into her bedroom, closing the door, and changing into sweatpants and a tank top. After seven rings and just as she was thinking of hanging up, Willow answered the phone very breathlessly. "Don't hang up," the redhead gasped.
"Are you ok?" Tara asked.
"I'm better now that you're on the phone rather than my mother, sister, or three dozen other friends who felt the need to call me during the show," Willow explained.
"I taped it if you w-want to borrow it," Tara offered.
"Thanks," Willow quickly said, "but I downloaded it."
"You can do that?" Tara asked.
"Oh yeah," Willow assured her, "it's easy. Hey you called me back!"
"D-d-did you think I wouldn't?" Tara asked.
"I've missed you," Willow again repeated.
"I missed you too, Willow," Tara agreed before changing the subject. "What did you think of the s-show?"
"It seemed amazing to me," the redhead quickly said. "I mean it's been months and seems like a lifetime ago. I had forgotten what we all looked like and what Wesley was like."
"Yeah," Tara agreed, "it's hard to remember a time when I didn't know everyone. And you didn't even have fire."
Willow laughed, "You looked beautiful out there. The hot blonde with the sarong wrapped around your waist and your gorgeous hair in the sunlight."
Tara giggled a little bit. "You flirt," she accused, "you set your sights on me after that first challenge."
"Did it work?" Willow teased back.
"Are you coming to take me to coffee?" Tara asked without answering Willow's question.
"I can't wait," Willow answered. "I could come early and we could watch the next episode?"
"Um how about Saturday instead?" Tara suggested.
"Is Kent taking Ariel next weekend?" Willow asked before following her question with another barrage: "Did Ariel watch the episode? What did she think? Can I meet her?"
"This is his w-weekend with her so I'll have her next weekend," Tara answered. "She was fascinated and had a lot of questions but I think she liked it." She took a breath before explaining, "It was hard on her when I was g-gone and she's still getting used to my being h-home. I don't want to throw anything else n-new at her right now." She waited a second during which Willow didn't respond before continuing: "Do you get it?"
"Tara," Willow answered, "I totally understand. She's your daughter and you have to make good decisions for her."
Tara smiled that Willow understood her reluctance to introduce the redhead to her daughter so quickly. "What k ," she started to say but was interrupted as she yawned widely. "I'm sorry, Willow," she apologized for her yawn.
"No," Willow said, "you should get some sleep. I know you get up early."
"What about you?" Tara asked.
"Oh, you know, some friends want to go out so we can capitalize on my celebrity status with all the single women in Atlanta," Willow joked.
"Only the single ones?" Tara teased back.
Willow laughed: "So I'll see you next week?"
"Not to m-mention on countless commercials," Tara answered.
"Sleep well, sweetie," Willow wished the blonde.
"Enjoy your night, Will," Tara wished her before hanging up the phone.
Part 4 Packing (get your darned mind out of the gutter!)
"Duh duh duh," the voice echoed from the other end of Willow's apartment. "This week on Survivor!"
"Thank you Jeff Probst," Willow called from the bedroom.
"Duh duh duh," Joan repeated as she entered the room. "Did you want one of these?"
Willow took the offered beer. "Thanks and especially thanks for not handing me a Zima."
"They're refreshing," Joan argued.
"They're gross," Willow disagreed.
"So tonight on Survivor," Joan continued her commentary, "Alliances are formed and others are broken."
"Do people tell you that you watch too much TV often?" Willow asked.
"Sweetheart, not everyone wants to graduate high school at age 16 and college at age 19 and have our first IPO by age 20," Joan teased. "Some of us want to waste precious minutes, hours, days, and weeks rotting in front of the TV."
"How's that going?" the redhead asked.
"I can't believe you didn't score with those girls at the bar last week," Joan commented completely out of left field.
Willow cocked her eyebrow at her best friend as she held up two pairs of jeans, one black, the other white. "What do you think?"
"I think you aren't going on a business trip at all," Joan replied.
"Of course it's a business trip," Willow responded as she muttered "fuck it" and packed both pairs of jeans.
"Do you want to know what I think?" Joan asked.
"Don't I always?"
"I think that you got voted off during week 2 and you're flying to New York tonight to do your early morning I 'suck so bad' promos."
"That's definitely a theory," Willow commented.
"You could tell me if it's true," Joan pouted as she picked up Willow's cat and began petting her.
"Actually I couldn't tell you if it's true or completely not true," Willow disagreed as she held up two blouses. "I signed about 37 non-disclosure agreements."
"I'm sure they didn't include your best friend," Joan argued, "the best friend you have. The woman you share everything with. Every detail of every sexual conquest. Every story, every tale, even the story about that girl you met when we crashed that rush party at the Chi-Omega house."
"Actually that was the exact description on the 13th non-disclosure statement I signed," Willow joked as she again put both blouses in her bag. She raised her eyebrows as she said, "And I didn't tell you anything about that girl."
"You didn't have to tell me anything," Joan continued teasing, "she called our house for three weeks." Suddenly the brunette changed subjects. "You are not going on a business trip," she declared pointing at the two camisoles the redhead was folding and putting into her bag. "I've changed my mind. You aren't going on an 'I suck kiss-off morning show.' You're going on a Nookie-trip."
"Nookie?" Willow asked exasperated.
"Yeah, Nookie!"
Willow let out an exasperated sigh and shoved a few pairs of socks in her bag before zipping it shut. "Let's go watch me be voted off," she teased.
"You little lying shit," Joan accused her best friend. She grabbed two more beers and handed one to Willow without asking. "If you aren't voted off, let's go out again."
The redhead took a drink and shrugged: "Sure if I don't get voted off."
Part 5 Week 2
More disclaimer Yeah, I'm using and altering challenges from the actual show. Don't sue me. It's easier that way than thinking up 24 challenges myself.
Akathla Team Day 4
We see the team coming out of their shelter and stretching or bending to get the kinks out of their bodies. Again they watch Mac doing his morning push-ups.
"I could really go for a cup of coffee," Amy complains.
"You know ancient warriors just chewed tree bark to wake up in the morning," Willow deadpans.
Opening Credits and Survivor Theme Song
MFashnek Team Day 4
The team sits around the fire again sharing water and eating plantains. Tara appears to have been appointed cook and divides the fruits and passes them around along with a portion of rice.
"I wonder who they voted off," Darla remarks.
"Well," Richard starts, "I would think they'd need to keep some of their strength."
"Right," Faith responds a little aggressively, "whereas we have strength to spare?"
"That's not what I was saying," Richard defends himself as Faith and Kendra look around the group.
Confessional Caption Kendra Interpreter
"I'm not sure that it's time to start
being so divisive but I think that Richard's trying to get Faith's goat. Of course he wants to get off
the physically strong people or he will get his ass kicked in the individual immunity
challenges."
Next we see Faith and Kendra walking through the trees looking for food. They walk up behind Tara who has gathered berries and is holding the bounty in the shirt she has stretched in front of her. "What did you find?" Kendra asks.
"B-berries," Tara explains as she holds out a handful.
"Are they safe to eat?" Faith asks. Tara explains that she's already done three days of testing the berries and knows that they are not poisonous. The three girls have a handful and continue gathering them.
"Richard, Robin, and Darla are going to want to get rid of the 'young p-people,'" Tara states.
The three girls look at each other for a long moment. "We are the firestarters, the heart," Kendra states with authority.
"Do you want to make an alliance?" Faith asks. Both other girls agree and state that they are going to the final three together. "Can you get Joyce to vote with us?" Faith asks Tara.
"I t-think so," Tara answers.
Akathla Team
Buffy and Willow are bathing in the shallow water and talking, getting to know each other. Xander swims out and joins them, splashing them gently. Lacking subtlety he tells them, "Oz will come with us."
"So this alliance is the final three?" Willow confirms. All three shake on it.
Meanwhile we see Mac talking to Andrew. "You can see how those three are," he tells the young man. "You and I need to be strong together." Andrew agrees and another alliance is born.
Akathla Team
"Tree mail," Andrew called as he carried the small carved pig. "Quick hands, quick feet, you'll get dirty but it will be worth it."
"Chasing pigs," Amy remarked, "Yuck!"
"Pigs are fine," Willow muttered, "I just hope there aren't any spiders."
Confessional Challenge Andrew Chef
"We need to win a challenge but more
than that, we need food. I think that everyone is getting to be really on edge. We've had virtually
no water and little food in 3 days. I'll be shocked if we can even complete the challenge
today."
Reward Challenge
The MFashnek team enters first to stand on their mat. Jeff
announces their arrival and then the "new Akathla team." Murmurs go through the group as they
realize that the Akathla team has gotten rid of Wesley rather than one of the women.
"Today's challenge," Jeff quickly explains, "is very simple." He points to a pen holding small pigs which are standing in the mud. "To win the game, six people on the team have to catch a pig and put it in this enclosure." He points to the enclosure. "One person will hold the door." "Want to see what you're playing for?" The teams shout their agreement and he pulls the cover off a pile of items, including two blankets, shampoo, soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste, and a metal tin of matches.
"MFashnek, who's sitting this one out?" he asks. The team points to Darla who stands to the side. Richard and Andrew take their places by the gate as Buffy and Faith line up to take their first chance at catching their pigs. Both girls rush into the pen and quickly corner their pigs. Buffy grabs hers by the leg and pulls in it to rush back to the enclosure while Faith dives and misses hers. As she stands up another pig literally runs into the back of her legs and she manages to grab it. In the meanwhile, Oz runs into the muddy pen and chases a pig toward the corner. When Robin enters, he dives at a pig but comes up empty handed. Oz traps a pig against the fence and quickly makes the score Akathla 2, MFashnek 1.
By the time Robin catches his pig, Xander has made it 3 to 2. Willow and Tara rush into the pen simultaneously. Tara slows as she nears her target while Willow rushes toward a squealer. Cornering her pig, the blonde is just about to pick him up as Willow dives for hers and slides into the girl's legs. "Sorry," she pants as Tara unexpectedly offers her hand before turning back to grab her pig. When the redhead gets hers also the score is 4 to 3. Joyce enters the pen next for MFashnek but can't even the score. By the time the running, splashing, and squealing is over, the Akathla team has won its first challenge at 6-5. The MFashnek team stands dejected and filthy as the Akathla team hugs to celebrate.
"Everyone sit," Jeff instructs and tells the Akathla team, "Ok now. You've both been out here four days. You can either take all your booty back with you or trade your blankets for matches and rice for the MFashneks." The Akathla team discusses this for a few minutes with Mac, Andrew, and Amy arguing that it is a competition and that MFashnek already has fire and Willow and Buffy putting in that their good gesture could come back to help them later. After a few minutes discussion the team agrees to the trade. Jeff holds up the matches and rice and waits for someone to come forward. Willow steps up and takes the offerings then turns and walks toward the MFashnek team. Allowing her eyes to sweep over the motley crew, she delivers the gifts gently to Tara with a smile. As she hands her the items, she leans in and whispers in the blonde's ear before turning back to her team.
MFashnek Team
The team returns slowly to their campsite. "Man, that soap
would have been really good after that challenge," Riley comments.
"Das the truth, mon," Kendra playfully answers, faking a Jamaican accent and evoking laughter from the rest of her team.
As they walk the team breaks into smaller groups. Robin and Riley lead the pack; Kendra, Faith, and Tara follow them; and Richard, Joyce, and Darla bring up the rear. "What did the redhead whisper?" Faith asks.
"Willow," Kendra says.
"Ok, what did Willow say?" Faith repeats.
"S-s-she said she'd l-like to share her shampoo with me," Tara blushingly explains.
"You hussy," Faith teases.
Kendra joins in: "Do you want to share her shampoo?"
"I w-want to win the game," Tara assures the other two girls.
"Which I notice doesn't answer the question," Kendra teases.
Confessional Caption Joyce Art Gallery Owner
"When Willow handed Tara the
matches today she seemed to whisper something to her. It makes me suspicious that maybe they
know each other from before. I mean it's not exactly something I'd put past the show; look at me
and Buffy."
Akathla Team
We see the Akathlas bathing with their new products and enjoying
the feeling of having won a challenge. Mac and Andrew work the fire as Andrew cooks rice. Amy
approaches them asking for a bite of the rice and they look to the younger group before giving her
a taste. Later we see all the Akathlas around the fire enjoying drinks of water and small bites of
rice.
Confessional Caption Buffy College Student
"It's really hard being here. I feel
close to this girl Willow but I know I'm keeping a big secret. And that's the other thing. I'm
concerned for my mom. She's over there and she's all alone. I hope she's getting along ok and
can eat and everything. It's more nerve-racking than I expected."
MFashnek Team
Confessional Caption Joyce Art Gallery Owner
"I'm really proud of Buffy for catching her pig today. I can tell that she's doing great over
there. The hard thing is that being here makes it all the harder to know what she's going through.
I almost wish I didn't know."
MFashnek Team Day 5
Robin and Tara return from the tree mail with the day's
missive:
"Figure out who should lead
and who should follow blindly.
Skill at both will keep you
here another day."
"I'd say it's one of those puzzles where one person directs and the others follow the directions while blindfolded," Darla concludes.
Immunity Challenge
Everyone gathers and stands on the mats. The players
seem to be taking more time to examine each other now that they are learning more and more.
"Ok," Jeff greets the group, "Akathla team. How are you feeling?"
"So much better now that we've had some water," Amy answers, "if we could just get some coffee too " Everyone laughs at her comment.
"Well, I can't do anything about that but this game may determine how long you stay," Jeff jokes back. Jeff points to the field in front of the players. A seat is mounted about 8-10 feet off the ground. That seat faces a field filled with brightly painted puzzle pieces, some nearly as large as the players. There are 10 pieces of each color. He quickly explains that one person on each team will direct the others who will be blindfolded. Those players must get every piece back to the mat before they can take off their blindfolds and assemble the pieces.
Quickly Darla and Willow take their places on the seats as the other players put on their blindfolds. Joyce takes a seat behind Darla as the person who is sitting out the challenge. As Jeff blows the whistle Darla and Willow begin shouting instructions to the players. Darla's first instructions are to Riley and Robin who she sends the farthest out and then she directs the others. The excitement is high as Willow shouts to Buffy and Xander to bring in the farthest pieces and accidentally directs Amy into a tree. The dark-haired girl becomes lost and confused for at least 15-20 seconds as she continues trying to find her way back without direction from Willow.
On the MFashnek team, some players aren't faring much better. Robin and Tara collide full force while both are carrying pieces back toward their mat and Tara drops her piece. Robin is able to continue back toward the mat and head out for another piece. Tara takes a moment to rest her hands on her knees as she is clearly winded by the collision. After a few moments she finds her piece again and makes her way toward Darla's voice. In the meantime, Oz picks up a piece and barely avoids colliding with Riley. Although Willow's directions appear to be more clear than Darla's it is obvious that the MFashnek team's strength is again an asset as Faith returns with the eighth piece for MFashnek while Oz is bringing only Akathla's fifth piece.
Conserving her teammates's energy, Darla sends only Robin, Riley, and Kendra for the last two pieces while the others gather their breath. When the three players drop the last pieces, MFashnek quickly peel off their blindfolds and attempt to construct the puzzle. As they look at the puzzle, the team begins fighting about how to place the pieces with Richard and Faith wanting to lead simultaneously. As they disagree about how to build the puzzle, Buffy drops Akathla's final piece onto their map. The smaller team pulls off their blindfolds and follows Willow's direction to build their puzzle. Unfortunately for them, even MFashnek's bickering and Willow's brilliant puzzle solving skills can't overcome MFashnek's lead. The stronger team places the final piece less than 5 seconds before the Akathla team does the same, again earning the immunity icon.
MFashnek Team
The walk back is somewhat more chilly as it is apparent that
the MFashneks are splitting down a line with Faith and Richard leading the factions.
Confessional Caption Faith Personal Trainer
"Basically Dick's done nothing
since he's been here but he thinks he's the leader. I don't mind if we let him think that as long as
he doesn't make us lose out there."
Confessional Caption Riley Pro-Triathlete
"I think right now there's a lot of
politics going on. But I also think that the best strategy for me is to be a strong person on a strong
team"
Akathla Team
We see Oz walk away from the fire to walk down the beach and a
few minutes later Amy gets up to follow him. "You know what that's about?" Buffy asks
Xander.
"I'm guessing Mac, Andrew, and Amy here want to send one of us home," Xander replies looking straight at Andrew and Mac.
"What makes you think we're doing that?" Andrew asks.
"You're not that subtle," Xander explains.
"Amy's been complaining a lot," Mac mentions.
"We'll think about it," Buffy and Willow agree.
Confessional Caption Xander Construction
"Mac wants us to send Amy home
tonight so he can save his own butt."
Confessional Caption Mac Retired Military
"This Amy girl has just got to go.
She's always complaining about having no food. You know what? We're all hungry. We're all
tired. We're all thirsty. But she acts like she's worse off. And she doesn't make us stronger."
Tribal Council
The Akathla team enters with their torches and takes their place
on the benches.
"Mac," Jeff directs his first question, "how is the mood around the camp?"
"Everyone's pretty dejected about our losing the first two immunity challenges," Mac explains.
"Do some people complain more than others, Andrew?" Jeff asks.
"I think some people are more hit by the hunger," Andrew says.
"Let's go vote," Jeff tells them.
Amy votes first. She writes down Mac's name and addresses the camera: "Sorry Mac, but you're just too dangerous out here."
Next is Mac and he writes down Amy's name. We don't see Xander or Buffy's votes but do see Willow write down Amy's name. Oz and Andrew finish off the voting.
Jeff returns with the votes and begins to count them. "Mac," he counts first. Next he pulls a vote for Amy. The next four votes come up for Amy, completely surprising the girl. It is apparent that the girl has her torch snuffed rather than Mac to keep some strength on the team.
Parting Words Amy
"Well I thought it was all settled and we were voting off Mac
but I guess that's how you play the game."
Next week on Survivor
Voice-over Can Akathla over come two straight immunity losses?
Voice-over A visit to the enemy
Voice-over And an injury has serious consequences.
We hear a scream and
see people running toward the sound.
Next week on Survivor
Part 6 First? Date
"Well you didn't get voted off," Joan said as she waited with Willow for her flight to be called. "Now the question is what's in Columbus?"
"I told you: business," Willow repeated with exasperation at her friend's persistence.
"Excuse me," a tall blonde bent down toward the redhead, "aren't you on Survivor? Yeah, you're the super smart one."
"Yes," Willow answered with a smile as she pulled a pen from her bag.
The girl pulled a card from her purse and pushed it toward Willow. "Sign this for me," she suggested and Willow did as asked. She looked at the redhead for a moment before pushing the business card back at her. "Why don't you keep it," she suggested, "it has my cell phone number on it."
Willow smiled a second before gently pushing the card into the blonde's hand and winking. The blonde shrugged her shoulders and walked off.
"You're in love." Joan's voice interrupted Willow's assward gaze.
"The fact that I'm watching her ass as she walks away doesn't mean I'm in love with her," Willow argued.
"Not with her, smartass," Joan replied, "with someone in Columbus."
"I don't even know anyone in Columbus," Willow argued.
"Well it's not business," Joan again argued.
"Why not?"
"You're taking one computer," Joan replied. "You take three computers when you go home for Thanksgiving and you're only taking one for 'business' in Columbus?" She put air quotes around the word business.
"Hey, they're boarding my plane," Willow announced a little too jovially. "Feed the cat," she said as she kissed her friend on the cheek and handed the attendant her boarding pass.
"And I noticed that you're flying coach," Joan called down the skyway. "Tell her I said 'hi,'" she yelled causing Willow to laugh.
A little over two hours later the plane landed in Columbus. Willow had spent the flight alternately working and daydreaming. The Survivor showing last night had reminded her of the early days of the game. She pictured over and over the look in Tara's eyes as she flirted with her about the shampoo. The redhead hadn't seen Tara in over three months and wondered how she would look. How would Willow look to her? Her mouth felt dry just trying to imagine seeing the blonde again.
After she had checked into her hotel, her cell phone rang startling her from a nap: "Wha? Hello?"
"Were you s-sleeping?" Tara's voice asked.
"Just a little," the redhead answered sheepishly.
"How do you sleep just a little?" Tara teased.
"Well," Willow decided to tease her back, "I'm all alone and it's harder to sleep that way."
"Uh huh," Tara answered, "something tells me that's unusual for you."
"It has been for the last 103 days," Willow told her a little pointedly.
"How did you find your h-hotel?" Tara asked, quickly changing the subject.
"Oh, you know, I asked at the car rental place and they gave me a map," Willow joked.
"Is it n-nice?" Tara persisted.
"Do you want to come see it?" Willow again joked.
"What do you want to do tomorrow?" Tara attempted to change the subject.
"I guess you didn't take my offer to see my second hotel room seriously," Willow continued joking.
Tara decided to latch onto part of Willow's statement: "S-second hotel room?"
"Yeah," Willow said, "funny story. You remember how I feel about frogs and tadpoles?"
"And horses," Tara added.
"Well, spiders aren't really my best friends either."
"Spider in the tub?"
"On the pillow," Willow corrected with a shudder.
"I seriously can't believe you went on Survivor, Willow," Tara teased.
"What else is the 21-year-old successful software entrepreneur to do?" Willow quipped.
"Your friends d-dared you, didn't they?" Tara retorted.
"Speaking of which," Willow remembered, "Joan said to tell you 'hi.'"
"You t-told her about m-me?" Tara asked with worry in her voice.
"Actually I intentionally told her nothing about you. I told her I was coming on a business trip," Willow explained.
"Funny," Tara said, "that's what you told me."
"Er um various signs of hesitation," Willow finally said.
"Willow," Tara said in a somewhat admonishing tone, "are you here on a business trip?"
"Well," Willow stalled, "there are computers here and I work with computers?" The redhead waited a moment before saying, "Ok. I'm not here on a business trip. I'm here to see you but I definitely think I deserve points for determination."
"You don't need points, Willow," Tara said warmly.
"Good," Willow brightened up, "when can I see you?"
"My mother is going to take Ariel to a m-movie this afternoon. Can I meet you for dinner about 5:00?"
"Oh," Willow answered," sure that's fine. Do you want to meet me here and you can drive?"
"Still trying to show me that hotel room?"
"I'll be waiting in the lobby," Willow assured her with a laugh.
"I'll see you then," Tara said, "go back to sleep."
Willow hung up the phone and smiled at it for a second before rolling back into bed, thinking about the fact that she would be seeing Tara again in just a few hours.
At exactly 4:55, the redhead rode glass-walled elevator down to the lobby. The view was tremendous, not only because the hotel lobby was nicely decorated with art and foliage but because Tara was early. The blonde stood, quite unobtrusively near a bank of pay phones on the side of the lobby. Willow simply couldn't take her eyes off the woman whose hair shone in the light coming through the windows. She wore a long red leather coat so Willow couldn't tell how she was dressed under it but she could see the hair clasp and matching earrings both accenting the girl's blue eyes. The redhead's heart felt like it was beating fast, perhaps much too fast and then suddenly felt like it stopped when Tara turned and looked at her through the glass of the elevator.
And then she smiled.
The redhead stepped off the elevator as soon as the doors swooshed open and quickly walked over to Tara smiling widely. "You look fantastic," she gushed, "I mean not that you didn't look fantastic last time I saw you but I really think clean and fed is a good look for you." Her eyes twinkled as she paid the blonde the compliment.
Tara reached her hand out to softly stroke Willow's cheek as she agreed, "You too, Will. I think I can say without reservation and without sounding too sexist that I like women with a little meat on their b-bones."
Willow continued staring at Tara as the other woman softly stroked her face. After a few seconds, and realizing that people were starting to stare at them, Willow reached up and took Tara's hand in her own. "So," she whispered, "dinner? I don't think I'll ever say that I'm starving again but I am pretty hungry."
Tara smiled as she began turning back toward the door. "I'm w-with you there," she agreed. She stopped suddenly. "Did I mention how f-fantastic you look?"
"Thanks," Willow responded as they walked out to find Tara's car parked at a meter at the curb, "you know this dating away from home is kind of nice. Even obsessing before the date, I only had two outfits to choose from."
Tara smiled as she let the redhead into the passenger side of the car and then got in on her side. "Well, then you had a much easier time than I d-did. This is the seventh outfit I tried o-on."
Both girls started laughing. "That's kind of funny you know," Willow commented, "I mean we've certainly seen each other looking far from best."
"Pig chasing c-comes to mind," Tara agreed. Willow smiled at the blonde as she reached for her hand to hold it. "You flirt," Tara tacked on with a smirk, "share your shampoo indeed."
"Where are we going for dinner?" Willow asked eagerly.
"Do you like Italian food?" Tara inquired. After finding out that Willow did like Italian food, in fact the redhead claimed to like every kind of food she'd ever tried and some she'd never tried, Tara informed her that they were going to go to a small neighborhood Italian restaurant she knew. It was usually quiet and they could talk and enjoy the food.
They arrived at the restaurant a few minutes later and Tara parked in the lot behind the small building. After she came around the car to take Willow's hand she led her to an almost hidden door around front and opened the door for the other girl. "I'm supposed to be doing all this romantic, drive you, take your hand, open the door for you stuff you know," Willow teased, "I'm the one who asked you out."
"I'll tell you what," Tara answered with a smile on her face, "next time I'll a-ask you out and you can act all romantic."
"I won't argue with that at all," Willow responded, "since you said that we can go out again."
Tara blushed slightly and smiled as the hostess returned to the hostess stand. "Hi Tara," she greeted the girl: "Ariel and your mom aren't with you?"
"No, Karri," Tara answered, "they went to see The Incredibles again." She indicated Willow and introduced the redhead: "this is Willow."
"Nice to meet you, Willow," Karri told the girl as she started walking toward their table with their menus in her hand. Karri seated the two girls and handed them both menus as well as a wine menu. Willow picked up the wine menu and asked Tara, "Do you drink wine?"
"You've seen me d-drink, Willow," Tara answered.
"I've seen you eat bugs too but I didn't figure you did it a home," the redhead retorted.
Tara laughed and admitted, "Actually I don't eat bugs or any sentient or formerly sentient beings."
"I hope that's not entirely true," Willow muttered.
"What did you say?" Tara asked with a smirk on her face. She had a pretty good idea what Willow had said and found it as amusing as hell. Now if she could just thoroughly embarrass her smart-mouthed date
"I said maybe we could have a bottle of this red," Willow said pointing to the menu.
"Oh," Tara said, "I though you said you hope it wasn't true."
"So, red wine then," Willow said in a high-pitched squeal just as the waiter approached the table.
"You ate bugs and meat on the show," Willow offered.
"I went on the show to win the million dollars," Tara explained, "I d-decided before I left home that I would eat anything, do anything, whatever it took to w-win."
The waiter returned to the table and took the two girls's orders for Eggplant Parmesan and Lasagna and brought them the wine. "What would you do with a million dollars?" Willow asked.
Tara laughed, "Is this the question from Juror #5?"
"No," Willow told her seriously, "this is the 'I'm really interested in this woman and I want to know more about her' question."
"Art," Tara answered quietly. "I'd go to art school."
"What kind of art?" Willow asked with great interest.
"I have it at my house," Tara answered, "I'll show you sometime."
"Woo hoo," Willow joked, "potential to see Tara's lovely abode."
"It's not much but we call it home," Tara answered.
"Excuse me," a young man said as he approached the table, "I don't mean to be rude but are you two on Survivor?"
The two girls looked at each other questioningly for a moment before Willow responded, "You know we keep getting that question." She turned to Tara and said, "We should watch the show sometime, honey, and see if we really look like the people on it." Tara just nodded her head.
"Oh," he said, "sorry to interrupt you."
A few minutes later the waiter came over with an antipasti for them. "The guy over there sent this over and said he's sorry he interrupted you," he explained.
Tara smiled and said, "Well now I feel b-bad."
"Oh come on," Willow egged her on, "you can outplay, outwit, outlast, and you feel bad for trying to get a little privacy on our first date."
"First date, huh?" Tara asked. "I'd say this is at least our second if not third date."
"Damn," Willow joked, "then I'll definitely expect some tonight."
Tara laughed at Willow's comment. "So what's your house like?"
"Is that a double entendre or do you really want to know about my apartment?" Before Tara could answer the waiter brought their dinners. "Seriously," she explained, "it's a nice place. A loft I bought a few years ago as a tax write-off. My bedroom is upstairs and has enough room for my bed and some exercise equipment. Downstairs is my workroom and kitchen area. The light is very good."
"Workroom?" Tara inquired.
"Computers," Willow again explained, "Let me see, currently I have six servers and nine laptops in there. Plus which various components."
"What have you been doing since getting home?" Tara continued the barrage of questions.
"Eating," Willow laughed.
"Me too," Tara agreed.
"You look spectacular," Willow said again.
"What else?" Tara pushed further.
"Bathing regularly," Willow said lightheartedly, "visited my family and spent time with friends. Worked a lot, and counted down the days till the premiere." She took another bite of her lasagna and asked, "What about you? What have you done?"
"Eating, sleeping, and b-bathing have been pretty hot pastimes for me too," Tara agreed, "I had to go back to work right away and of course spending every second I could with Ariel." She took a sip of wine before disclosing, "I'd never been away from her for more than a weekend before."
"Wow," Willow said.
"She was sad for a while but she's doing better and she's enjoying knowing that her mommy is on a T-TV show."
"She must be spectacular," Willow complimented the blonde. While they visited the check arrived and Willow paid it before Tara could reach for her purse. "You can try to beat me to it the next time," she assured her.
They drove in relative silence to Willow's hotel, holding hands lightly. Both girls felt awkward with the situation. They were basically dating long distance after being on an island together living together as it were. They knew that it was too soon to share intimacy but at the same time, the difficulty of coordinating a long distance relationship loomed large. Willow took a breath before asking Tara, "Your mother and Ariel are expecting you home right?"
"By n-nine," Tara said sadly as she looked at the clock in the car.
"Well," Willow said as Tara parked the car in the lot next to the hotel, "then I have a speech to make."
"Really," Tara said intrigued, "a s-s-speech?"
Willow leaned forward and looked in Tara's eyes. "It goes something like this: I like you Tara Maclay. Really, seriously, a lot. I like you, I like your town, and I know I'll like your daughter and mother and whoever else you love. I'm flexible and as long as I get Joan to feed Gato, I can be anywhere so " Willow stopped her rambling speech as she felt Tara's lips on her hand. They were so amazingly soft The next kiss on the inside of her wrist caused the redhead to utter some sort of word made only of vowels.
"Mmm huh," Tara seemed to agree as she leaned closer and placed the softest of feather- light kisses on Willow's neck.
"And um I uh with the liking," Willow tried to continue.
"Right, the liking," Tara echoed as she began kissing a path along Willow's jaw line. At that point, Willow apparently gave up on her speech as she turned her head to capture the blonde's lips with her own. The kiss started slow and sensual and turned fast and sensual. It never turned anything but sensual even as lips flowed over lips and tongue met tongue.
After many long minutes spent exploring each other's mouths and skin, Tara pulled away slightly. "It was a good speech," she giggled.
"I liked yours better," Willow joked back. She looked at the clock in the car and put one hand on the door handle. "I'll talk to you this week, baby?" she confirmed.
A few minutes later Tara checked the clock as she drove over to her mother's house to pick up Ariel, a dreamy look definitely plastered on her face.
Part 7 Week 3
Akathla Team Day 6
We see Willow and Oz picking Plantains together. Neither says much but it is apparent that they are friendly. "Mac may be dangerous," Oz warns Willow.
"We're four strong," Willow answers, "we have the numbers. And right now we need his strength."
"You'd know," Oz jokes back.
The scene shifts to where we see Xander and Buffy standing waist deep in the water. "Try this," she suggests and sweeps her hand under a fish. The two continue trying to catch a fish with no equipment.
Confessional Caption Buffy College Student
"Honestly, I don't know what we're going to do if we don't start to catch some fish. I mean I feel like I can feel myself shrinking. Look at this." She pulls up her shirt and points to some ribs that are beginning to show. "Between the hunger and the bug bites," she slaps at her skin and we can see various bite marks on her arm, "I can see why 39 days is so damn hard."
MFashnek Team Day 6
The MFashnek team is also attempting to catch fish. Robin and Riley take turns swimming, chasing the fish toward each other but to no avail. Meanwhile we see Tara and Joyce gathering an array of berries and roots. "You know a lot about plants?" Joyce asks.
"My g-grandmother and mother showed me," Tara explains.
Faith and Kendra meanwhile are gathering fire wood while Richard and Darla straighten up the area. "Have you talked to Robin?" Darla asks Richard.
"I think he will be with us when he needs to be," Richard tells her.
Suddenly we hear screams from the water. Robin is dragging Riley from the water with blood running down the athlete's leg. His screams attract his teammates who all come running. Although she's not the first one there, Tara doesn't hesitate to pull off her buff and press it onto the badly bleeding wound. "What h-happened?" she asks.
"He stepped on a sharp piece of coral," Robin explains.
As everyone watches she turns and pulls a root she had been digging with Joyce from the pile and hands it to the woman. "Wash this," she instructs before turning back to the wound. Seeing that she appears to know what she's doing, the others drift away uneasily.
Akathla Team
Confessional Caption Willow Software Startup Owner
"
We didn't have tree mail so I guess we have a day to rest and try to catch fish." As she talks she walks along the tree line. Suddenly she also screams and her team comes running. Rather than springing into action like the MFashneks, however, they laugh as they realize that she has scared a frog from its hiding place and is afraid of frogs.
"You came on Survivor and you're afraid of frogs?" Xander asks disbelievingly.
"Just a little," Willow pouts playfully. The younger team can been seen relaxing for the remainder of the day.
MFashnek Team Day 7
We see most of the team sitting around the fire sipping water and eating some berries. They pass
around a cup with a paste in it and each rubs it on his or her face.
Confessional Caption Richard Small Town Mayor
"
These young people are pretty amazing. I mean Tara isn't but 25 years old or so but she seems
to be a regular Grizzly Adams. I don't know if she went to school with Ernest Hemmingway or
what. She helps Riley's leg, finds us food, and now she made a paste that seems to keep the
bugs from biting. I'd hate to be on the other team. Now if we could just catch some fish."
"We've got tree mail," Robin and Joyce call as they hold out a small canvas sack. Written on the sack are the words:
"Launch me well and you'll be rich."
Reward Challenge
As usual the MFashnek team takes their place on the green mat first. The MFashnek team
inspects the Akathla team to see who is missing. No one makes any obvious reaction when they
see that Amy is gone but Tara seems to smile slightly at the redhead who she has found is
named Willow when she sees that the girl is still there. Willow, in turn, winks at the blonde who
immediately blushes.
"Ok," Jeff greets everyone, "you see the new Akathla team. How is everyone doing?"
"We could use some more food, Jeff," Robin answers lightly.
"Today's challenge will give you the opportunity for that," Jeff explains. He walks over to show the players six straw baskets. Signs on the sides identify them as containing rice, dried beans, coffee beans, spices, nuts, and beef jerky. Sitting on top of each basket of food are two burlap sacks. The sacks vary in size so that the rice and beans sacks are larger than the spice sack. The others range between those. About ten feet from the baskets stand two towers with a basket on top of each. At the bottom of those towers a plank lies across a log, creating a lever.
"One by one," Jeff starts to explain, "a player will run to a basket. Fill your sack with as much or as little of the food as you wish. When you've filled it, tie it closed." As he explains he walks to the baskets then to the lever to finish: "Place the sack on the lever end and stomp on this end to launch it into the basket. When you've finished, return to the starting line so the next person on your team can go. It's up to you how much of an item you fill your bag with but only the first team done will keep what is in your basket."
The teams are obviously listening closely to the explanation, and figuring strategy for the bags. "MFashnek, what two players are sitting out?" Riley and Tara raise their hands and take a seat on the mat.
"Ok," Jeff raises his hand "Survivors ready. Go!"
Joyce and Willow are the first two players to rush to a basket. Joyce chooses spices while Willow, surprisingly, goes for nuts. Each fills her bag and then ties it shut while her teammates shout encouragement. MFashnek particularly advises Joyce to fill the bag enough to weight it a little. The two women finish tying the bags nearly simultaneously and rush to set them on their levers. Joyce stomps hers and the bag hits the tower but does not go in the basket. Willow, miraculously, manages to get the bag of nuts in her basket immediately and rushes back to her mat. Joyce makes her basket on the next try and returns to the mat to allow Kendra to take over. By the time Kendra reaches the coffee, Oz is nearly done filling his bag with beef jerky. Both tie their bags and Kendra catches up to Oz when the young man still hasn't made the basket on the third try. Kendra puts MFashnek ahead when the coffee lands in the basket.
Darla next fills a bag half-way with beef jerky and ties it while running toward the lever. She is able to make the basket on the second shot, while Andrew is still filling a bag with spices. Richard, seeing the lead they now hold, fills the nut bag nearly full as he places the bag on the lever. Andrew is just running back to the Akathla mat. Richard takes three tries to make the basket but still returns to the mat to hand off to Faith before Mac ties off the bag of coffee.
Again noting their lead, Faith fills her bag very full of dried beans. She carefully ties it, not wanting to lose any, and places it on the lever as Mac stomps on his lever for the fifth time. His goes in just as Faith is taking her second shot with the beans. When her third makes it, she is running back toward the mat just as Buffy picks up a bag and begins loading it with the beans.
Robin runs to the bin of rice and begins loading it. Seeing the lead he has, he holds up the half-full bag to show his team and takes their advice to fill it even fuller. Tying it he runs to set it on the lever before Xander has reached the rice basket. Although it takes Robin five tries to make the basket, he still finishes the challenge and runs back to the mat before Xander succeeds in launching his much lighter bag. The MFashnek team celebrates loudly over their bounty.
Jeff congratulates the winning team and informs them that they can climb up to get their reward. Kendra quickly walks over to the tower, climbs it, and begins pulling bags out and dropping them to Robin. As she drops the bag of spices she yells and pulls a small burlap folder from the basket, dropping it also into Joyce's waiting hands. The woman quickly unties the bag to reveal four shining fishing hooks with a small roll of fishing twine. The MFashnek team cheers loudly at the find and then confers for a moment. After a few seconds talking, Joyce walks over to the shocked looking Akathla team and hands Buffy one hook and a small piece of line. "Thanks," the blonde whispers as she cradles the hook like riches. MFashnek then gathers their bounty and heads back to their beach.
"Who wants coffee?" Darla calls and the others laugh before all yelling their agreement with the first order of business.
Akathla Team Day 8
Again we see Buffy and Xander attempting to fish. This time they have the hook and line and we
see that they have caught four small fish.
"We've got tree mail," Mac calls as he and Oz return from getting the small slate board.
"Luck and knowledge, Knowledge and luck "
is all the mail says. The teammates sigh as they realize they will get no further clues.
MFashnek Team Day 8
We see the MFashnek team reacting to Darla's reading of the tree mail. "Maybe it won't be a
physical challenge?" Joyce suggests to Riley who sits with his leg gently on a log. As they talk
and read the tree mail we see that they are sharing bites of three fish they apparently caught with
their winnings.
Confessional Caption Riley Pro-Triathlete
"
I don't know what she did, but this Tara girl really helped my leg. It stopped bleeding as soon as
she put that plant on it and the plant killed the pain too. I can almost walk normally. Plus she gave
me a different plant last night to take for the pain. I owe her big time."
Challenge
Both teams enter to take their places on the mats.
Jeff explains, "This is not a physical challenge." He continues, "and there's a little twist today." Everyone waits for him to continue. "There are going to be two tribal councils tonight." The players all gasp at this revelation. "You are playing for individual immunity today. If you win, you'll go visit with the other team. Then you go to your tribal council and theirs. At their tribal council, you can give the immunity necklace to someone from their team." He doesn't even bother to ask if the reward is worth playing for.
He directs everyone to take a seat on two logs which form a V-shape on the sand and to reach behind the log for the slate boards and chalk they will use to write down their answers. "Ok," Jeff starts, "some of these answers you will know if you've visited with your teammates and some are from the other team."
Jeff starts: "Question One: Which contestant speaks 7 languages fluently?" The players reveal their answers. Tara, Kendra, and Faith of course all reveal the answer to be Kendra. Joyce also gets the answer right as do Buffy and Willow.
"Which contestant was valedictorian of his or her high school class." This time Darla and Willow write down Darla correctly. Everyone else guesses Willow.
"Which contestant has run a 5 minute mile." All the MFashneks as well as Willow and Oz are correct in writing down Riley. The others, however, guess Robin.
"Which contestant volunteers for Habitat for Humanity?" This time all the Akathlas get the answer of Xander right but only Tara guess correctly for the MFashnek team.
At this point Jeff announces that Willow has 4 correct, Joyce and Tara have three,
"Who lives in New Orleans?" While Tara misses the correct answer of Oz, surprisingly so does Willow. Only Oz, Xander, and Riley get this answer right.
"Who lives in Boston?" Tara, Joyce, Faith, and Kendra easily answer the question correctly and Mac and Xander guess correctly that Faith lives in Boston.
Jeff announces that Tara and Willow have four correct answers; Joyce has three; and Kendra and Faith have two.
"Ok," there will be a final question to determine which of you will get the individual immunity. Both girls have watched each other interestedly ever since Jeff announced the scores and continue to do so. "The person who gets the most correct answers on this question will win the challenge: Which five players have children?"
Both girls take a few seconds to write their answers. Willow reveals her guesses: "Riley, Joyce, Richard, Mac, and Darla." Tara's lip quirks upward as she reads the redhead's answers and reveals her own: "Joyce, Richard, Mac, Xander, and Tara."
Jeff reads the list with a smile on his face. The correct answers are: "Joyce, Richard, Mac, Oz, and Tara," he explains. "That means Willow got three of five but Tara got four of five." Faith and Kendra both cheer as they lean over and hug the blonde. Willow looks across the logs at the blonde with a look of disappointment that she didn't win the challenge but with a friendly smile too.
Jeff hands Tara the immunity necklace which she puts on. As the Akathla team turns to return to the camp she takes a minute to whisper with Faith and Kendra and then joins the younger team.
MFashnek Team
Confessional Caption Faith Personal Trainer
"
Well Girlfriend got herself some immunity but I wouldn't have been worried for her anyway. This
is our first tribal council and I don't think there's going to be much trouble over who is
expendable."
"How's the leg," Kendra asks Riley as she approaches him at the water's edge.
"Much better," he answers.
Darla, Richard, and Robin sit at the fire drinking water. "Tara gives the other two the brains they need," she comments.
"Don't worry about it," Richard tells the lawyer, "Joyce will be with us." Later we see Joyce and Richard talking by the water's edge. Kendra approaches them and talks with them for a moment.
Confessional Caption Joyce Art Gallery Owner "I hope Tara is enjoying herself over there. For her, I'm not sure this is a reward. I mean she's so shy she might be really upset about being there."
We see shots of different conversations: Faith and Joyce, Riley and Robin, Riley and Richard, Darla and Joyce.
Akathla Camp
The Akathla team is showing Tara around their campsite. "Here's our shelter and our fire pit,"
Xander explains proudly. "We hang our water bags here and stack the fire wood here," he
continues.
"Very n-nice," Tara tells the carpenter.
Andrew makes rice and they share it with their visitor. "So who v-voted off Wesley and Amy?" the blonde asks.
Everyone raises their hands to both questions and Tara raises an eyebrow. "So who will you vote off tonight?" she bravely inquires.
Everyone looks at each other and laughs uncomfortably. "Would you like to borrow the shampoo?" Buffy offers in an attempt to lighten the mood. Tara nods and takes the bottle, walking away from the group at the fire.
Next we see shots of different combinations of people talking. Andrew and Mac are talking to Xander by a clump of trees. "Look, son," Mac tells the construction worker, "you got me, Andrew here, and Oz voting together. We're voting out Buffy or Willow, whichever doesn't have the necklace tonight. If you don't vote with us, you'll tie the score."
Xander looks puzzled. "Oz is voting against one of them?"
"He swore it standing right here," Mac tells him.
"I'll think about it," Xander tells them.
Confessional Caption Mac Retired Military
"
The way I figure it, it's outwit, outlast, outplay. Not tell the truth tell the truth tell the truth. If this
Xander guy isn't smart enough to check out my story, that's his problem."
Confessional Caption Buffy Student
"
So Oz came to me and explained that Mac is trying to get he and Xander to vote off me or
Willow. Since she'll probably have the necklace, I'd say they're intending to vote off me. But Oz
says he's with us and Xander won't turn."
Tara stands in waist-deep water enjoying the shampoo and the feel of the sun. She appears slightly startled by Willow's nearly silent arrival. "I didn't want to startle you," the redhead tells her.
"That's o-o-ok," Tara tells her. "Will you be v-voted off tonight?"
"If I am, it will be a surprise to me," Willow tells her honestly. "Can I help you with that?" she offers pointing to the shampoo.
Tara looks at the redhead for a minute before smiling. "Only if I can do your hair too," she finally says.
Willow takes the bottle slowly, allowing the two girls' fingers to brush together. "You know I'm not sure it was entirely fair that you won by knowing that you have a child," Willow teased. Tara merely smiled back. "Is she, or maybe he because nothing says that you would have to have a little girl just because you're a girl I mean everyone who has a child is a woman but obviously all babies aren't girls ," Willow pauses for breath, "is your child with your husband?"
Tara giggles a little bit at the question, "I'm not married, Willow," she answers, "Ariel is six and she's with my mother. She sees her f-father every other weekend."
As the blonde takes the bottle from Willow she asks, "How about you? Anyone waiting for your return?"
"I think my cat probably misses sleeping in the middle of my bed all day while I'm working," the redhead says jokingly, "but, no, I don't have a girlfriend."
"Hard to imagine," the blonde tells her teasingly as Buffy swims up to the pair and put her hand out for the shampoo.
"You left the men to scheme?" Willow asks the new arrival, shrugging her shoulder at the shoreline.
Confessional Caption Xander Construction Worker
"
So Mac and Andrew want me to vote off Willow or Buffy, whichever one doesn't get the necklace
from Tara. Which would put the men in the lead but would definitely make us a weaker team than
voting off Andrew. They say Oz is with them but Oz says he's with us."
MFashnek Tribal Council
The MFashnek team enters the tribal council to find Tara sitting on the log waiting for them. Each
of them comes over to hug and greet her as if they haven't seen her in weeks rather than the 6
hours it has actually been. In the meantime, they all take in the look of the tribal council area and
the torches behind Jeff. Jeff instructs each team member to come up and get their torches and
place them behind their spots.
"So this is your first visit to tribal council," Jeff starts, "how is the game going so far?"
Darla speaks up first: "Well it's hard. Harder than I expected to be here."
"What's hard about it?" Jeff asks Robin.
"The hunger, the tiredness, sleeping on the ground," the principal starts, "and trying to work as a team is a challenge."
"Why is it a challenge?" Jeff asks.
"Jeff," Richard starts, "some people want to be leaders but they maybe don't know enough to lead well yet."
Jeff smiles at this answer and we see the look on Faith's face as she hears Richard's dig at her.
"Tara," Jeff says, "you have the immunity necklace. Anyone you want to give it to?" The blonde shakes her head and he directs her to vote first. She does and we do not see her vote.
Next Kendra votes secretly also and then Faith. Faith writes down "Darla's" name and addresses the camera: "Sorry about this but we need one less person for Richard to conspire with and you're the most expendable." Everyone finishes voting and Jeff retrieves the container.
"Once the votes have been read the decision is final," Jeff recites as always, "the person voted off will have to leave the area immediately." He pulls the first vote from the jar: "Darla." No one seems surprised at the vote. The next vote says "Faith," and Darla looks around with a smile on her face. By the time Jeff reads the fifth vote for Darla, her smile is gone, replaced by a look of confusion. Jeff extinguishes her flame and she leaves the area. Then Jeff directs the MFashnek team, without Tara, to leave the tribal council area.
The Akathla team enters and takes their seats. "So, Akathla team," Jeff starts, "you've had a visitor all day. How has that been?"
"Tara seems like a nice girl," Mac says.
"Do you feel like you've found our more about the MFashnek team or she's found out more about you?" Jeff next asks.
"I don't think we were trying to pump her for information," Willow explains, "I think we just wanted to get to know her better." She smiles at Tara who blushes and looks at her feet.
"Ok, Tara," Jeff directs, "please give the necklace to the person you have chosen."
Tara stands and walks over to Willow, gently lowering the immunity necklace over her head and allowing her fingers to brush the redhead's collarbones as the necklace settles in place. "Why did you give it to Willow?" Jeff asks.
"S-s-she came the closest to earning it h-h-herself," Tara explains. Jeff tells Tara that she can rejoin the MFashnek team and she waves to Akathla who also waves at her.
"You can't vote for Willow," Jeff unnecessarily states, "Willow, you vote first." The redhead does and she writes down "Andrew." Next Buffy and Xander vote and we don't see their votes. We see Mac's vote for Buffy and don't see Andrew or Oz's votes.
Jeff returns with the jar and begins to read the votes. "Andrew," the first vote reads. The next also reads "Andrew." "Two votes Andrew," Jeff reads before "Buffy." No one is surprised by that vote or the next one for Buffy. "Two votes Andrew, two votes Buffy," Jeff recounts. As Jeff pulls the next ballot, "Buffy," we see Xander look away as if ashamed of his vote. Buffy and Willow both look at the young man in shock. Jeff reads the final vote: "Andrew." And Xander's head snaps up as he looks at Oz in even greater shock.
"Three votes," Jeff says in mild disbelief. "Ok, so you know how it works in the case of a tie." He puts five stones in the jar: 4 white and one black. Willow, you are immune but everyone else has equal chance to leave the game." Each player reaches into the jar to take a stone and holds it in their hands. "Ok," Jeff instructs, "open your hand." They all open their hands to reveal that Andrew has the black stone. Mac gulps before patting the young man on the shoulder. Jeff extinguishes his torch.
Next week on Survivor
Voice-over Fallout from tribal council
Shots of the Akathla tribe walking back to camp. "Well how in the Hell did that happen?" Willow
asks.
"Maybe you'd know if you weren't so damn busy with Tara," Xander nearly yells back.
"Don't blame Willow because you were suckered," Oz yells.
One player plays through the pain We see shots of Riley attempting to run on his bad leg.
And one team has a big surprise A pig runs by the campfire
All next week on Survivor
Part 8 Hard Questions
Tara switched off the TV and leaned forward to pick up the popcorn bowl from the coffee table. She glanced at Ariel, expecting the girl to immediately mirror her actions to pick up her glass of milk and carry it to the sink. She picked up the bowl and her own glass and took them to the sink before returning to find the girl still sitting on the couch.
Quietly Tara sat down next to her daughter and waited. When a few minutes had passed without Ariel saying anything Tara quietly said the girl's name: "Ariel?"
"Mommy," the girl said, "do you still think Willow is nice?"
Tara nodded her head slowly as she realized where this was going. "Yes," she answered, "I do. I think she's very nice and I like her very much."
"But she tried to beat you in the guessing game," Ariel argued.
"She did," Tara agreed, "we were both trying to win."
"And you wanted to beat her?" Ariel asked. "But I thought you like her?" Ariel continued, obviously confused.
"I do," Tara insisted, "but that was the way the game we were playing worked. We b-both tried to win."
"Then both teams kicked off someone?" Ariel bit her lip as if she was thinking about something. "What if they kick you off?"
Tara smiled as she answered, "Then I'll be done playing and I won't win the game."
Ariel thought about it for a while. "I hope you don't get kicked off but I don't want you to lose either."
Tara smiled at her daughter's understanding of the game. "I hope not either baby," she said, "but the game already happened. I can't get hurt anymore." She held up her arm in a tentative bicep and winked at the girl. "See, I'm strong like an Amazon."
Ariel smiled at the old joke and held up her arms too. "Me too!"
"Come on, Amazon," Tara said as she patted her daughter on the leg and handed her milk glass, "It's bedtime."
Ariel jumped up and carried her glass to the sink and rinsed it out. When she finished doing so, Tara noticed she was standing at the sink for a long time, again obviously thinking. As she dried her hands she turned back toward Tara and held her mouth a little sideways as if really thinking about something. "Mommy, I want to ask you a question but I think I heard a bad word," she finally said.
"Ok, sweetie," Tara said walking over to take the girl's hand. "Do you want to get ready for bed and then we can talk?"
Ariel nodded before walking with her mommy toward her room. A few minutes later the girl had brushed her teeth and gotten into pajamas. She got into bed and Tara sat on the side of it. "Mommy," Ariel started, "what's dyke?"
Tara nodded immediately. "Did someone at school say it?"
Ariel looked down at her bedspread like she thought she might be in trouble. "Jared," she whispered. "He's the one who said that other bad word about daddy and I that time."
Tara nodded again. Of course! "I remember," Tara assured her, holding the small girl's hand. "You remember how we talked about how some mommies love daddies and some mommies, like me, love other mommies and we call them lesbian?"
"But you love Daddy," Ariel protested at Tara's explanation.
Tara nodded. "Yes, baby girl. I love your daddy but not like this. I love your daddy because he's a very good friend and a good man and a wonderful daddy." Ariel smiled as her mommy said such nice things about daddy. "But you also know that I don't want to be married to daddy. I want to be married to another woman," she explained in very general terms.
"Like Miss Turner," Ariel suggested.
Tara again grinned, "Miss Turner and I dated which is what grownups do before they get married but we didn't want to marry each other."
"Maybe you can marry Willow then," Ariel followed up her first suggestion.
"Willow and I are dating," Tara responded with a smile, "but I don't know that we want to get married to each other."
"Maybe when I meet her, I can tell you if you want to marry her," Ariel said.
Tara could hardly keep from laughing but contained it as she remembered the original reason for the conversation. "We'll see, baby," Tara responded. "But you asked about that word?"
"What does it mean?"
"It's a mean word that people use for lesbian if they want to hurt feelings," she explained. She certainly didn't want to go into the entire political pride issues the word sometimes carried.
"Does it hurt your feelings?" Ariel asked.
Tara smiled as she explained: "Mostly it makes me feel sad for people who have such meanness in their hearts."
Ariel thought about this for a long time. "Ok," she smiled and hugged Tara. "Can I meet Willow once she leaves the island so I can tell you if you should marry her?"
Tara smiled back at her daughter, wondering at the way a child's mind worked. Ariel could understand that Tara was no longer on the island but apparently still thought Willow was there. "I'll see if she can visit," she told the girl. She looked at the clock and said, "Now it's late but if you want a short story I think we can do one before bedtime."
Ariel clapped her hands together and settled back to listen to the story.
Tara pulled Ariel's door mostly closed and exited her room, letting out a huge sigh. Much as she tried to feel compassion, she also felt anger at the Jared and his stupid parents. She could never see why they would care about how she chose to live her life.
She changed her clothes and looked to note that the light on the answering machine was blinking, smiling as she did. She pressed the button and heard the voice she expected: "Hey baby. It's me. Willow. Again with stupid things to say. I hope I'm the only one calling you and saying 'hey baby' although maybe I'm not and that's ok if I'm not." There was a pause as Willow obviously attempted to recover from her babble. "If you have a chance to call me, I would love to hear from you tonight well or any night or I guess any day you know the number."
Tara called Willow's cell phone surprised that the redhead didn't pick up immediately. Finally she left a message and reached for the book she was reading. Just as she picked it up, the phone rang.
Tara answered the phone on the first ring, "Willow?"
"Hi, I was in the bathroom," Willow said breathlessly, "Thanks for the necklace. "
She could hear the smile in the blonde's voice: "That's what the c-card said too. Thank you for the flowers, Willow."
"I would have rather delivered them myself but it seemed a bit stalkerish," the redhead joked.
"How did you get them to deliver them a-at the commercial break?
"It's amazing what a little money and a little celebrity will do," Willow answered, glad to hear that the flower shop had in fact delivered the flowers she had sent immediately following the broadcast of the tribal council. "Is everything ok?" Willow asked, "You didn't answer the phone right away."
"I was talking to Ariel," Tara explained.
"Is she ok?" Willow worried.
"She's ok now," Tara said, "first she wanted to know why you tried to beat me if you are my friend." She took a breath. "Then she wanted to know what 'dyke' meant."
"What?" Willow exclaimed.
"This mean fourth grader said her mother was a dyke and she was u-upset," Tara explained. "Small-town thing. You can imagine what he said about Kent."
"What does the school do?" Willow asked.
"Oh you know," Tara explained, "I go down and talk to them. They call in the parents who pretend that they can't believe what their child said and he gets a few detentions. And of course, r-really the fake-appalled parents are the ones who said it in the first place."
"I'm sorry, baby," Willow said. "How did you explain it?"
"Well," Tara explained as she settled back into her pillows, "she already knows I like women so I explained that it's a mean word for lesbian."
"So you're out to Ariel?" Willow confirmed. "I mean I was hoping that you were but we hadn't really discussed it."
"Oh yeah," Tara answered, "I've been out to Ariel always and I went out with one of the teachers at her daycare last year so she remembers that and understood what it meant."
"A teacher at her daycare," Willow echoed, "am I going to have to come up there and get all large with the butch?"
Tara laughed at Willow's jealousy. "No, sweetie," she answered, "that's been over for quite a while. Anyway, you're the playgirl or at least that's the impression I've gotten."
"So what was wrong with Miss Wrong?" Willow attempted to steer the conversation from herself.
"Oh she was nice enough generally," Tara explained, "but a bit m-m- militant."
"They have militant lesbians in Reynoldsburg?" Willow asked incredulously.
"Maybe militant isn't the right word," Tara speculated. "She was just all 'PPP'. You know, penis pure and proud." She took a breath, "Which I don't mind but she was really offended that I wasn't. And as if that wasn't a stupid enough attitude, she was especially offended that I'd been with Kent."
"Wow," Willow said, "that's stupid alright." Tara could hear the smile in the redhead's voice as she said, "But it's nice of her to be such an idiot so that you're available incase you meet any cute chicks while stranded on an isolated island."
"Yes, convenient isn't it?" Tara chuckled.
And your mom and Kent?" Willow asked.
"Mom and Kent rarely go to islands," Tara joked.
"Are you out to them?" Willow explained.
"Oh yeah," Tara answered, "I'm all kinds of out. And now out to a national broadcast audience it would seem. I mean I thought you were the one who is all out, not me."
"Well," Willow teased, "you tweaked my gaydar. Why not a national broadcast audience?"
"Speaking of tweaking," Tara intimated, "would you like to come visit?"
"Oh," Willow said, "definitely sounds interesting."
"Definitely," Tara teased back. "Seriously," she said, "Ariel wants to meet you."
"Tough audience?" Willow wondered out loud.
"She wants to t-tell me if I should marry you," Tara giggled.
"Wow," Willow answered, "and then we skip the whole continue dating, romantic stuff part?"
"Definitely not," Tara answered firmly.
"What a relief," Willow said, "I like the mushy romantic parts."
"Mmm," Tara said dreamily, followed by a loud yawn. "Oh, sorry," she apologized.
Willow smiled. "That's ok," she said. "Why don't we talk tomorrow about my visiting?"
"That sounds good, Will," Tara agreed yawning again.
"Thanks again for the necklace," Willow said.
"Well, it seems to be paying off for me," Tara said.
"For both of us," Willow agreed. "Good night, baby."
"Good night," Tara said. She waited a moment before hanging up the phone and turning off her lights. She smiled as she began moving into sleeping thinking that she would be seeing Willow soon.
Part 9 Week Four
Akathla Team Returning from Tribal Council
"Ok, how in the hell did that happen?" Willow asks as the five remaining team members walk
back to camp.
"Everyone voted for what they thought was best for this team," Mac argues.
"Really?" Buffy questiones, "so three people on this team thought that keeping Andrew over me would be good for a team that has never won an immunity challenge?"
The five players arrive at their fire and begin silently eating some plantains.
Confessional Caption Xander- Construction Worker
"
Well, I knew I wasn't the smartest person out here but this week really proves that. I believed
Mac that Oz was with him and thought I was voting Buffy off 4-2 but instead, I tied it all up. I mean
it could have been me that went home. I gotta start thinking smarter to win this game."
Confessional Caption Willow Software Startup Owner
"
That could have gone tremendously wrong! What a day. I mean first off we lost the challenge but
Tara came over here." She smiles a somewhat silly smile, "Ok. So sue me. I like her even though
she's on the other team. I know she's here to win the money and so am I but she's very cute and
there's just something about her. But maybe I shouldn't be thinking this way. Everything could
have gone wrong today. I've got to get my head in the game."
We see night-vision shots of the five-person team sleeping uneasily.
MFashnek Day 9
The MFashnek team sits around the fire drinking water and coffee. Tara tends to Riley's injury
with a fresh poultice while Joyce and Richard pass out fruit and nuts. All the MFashnek team is
peppering her with questions about the interactions between Akathla, their camp, their energy
level. "Hey everyone," Riley interjects, "let's let Tara tell us what she wants."
"Their camp is n-nice but not like ours. The shelter is smaller and less water-tight. They have much less f-food, of course." Seeing Kendra scratching at her arm, she picks up a small cup of a paste and hands it to her. Kendra takes the cup and scoops out some of the mixture and rubs it in before handing it to Faith.
"They definitely have a power split," she continues explaining, "Buffy and Willow on one side, Andrew and Mac on the other and I really c-couldn't tell where the other two fell." She smiled for a moment before saying, "But they sent a present." She pulls a small bottle which is about one third full of shampoo from under the log smiling and hands it to Joyce. The older woman, Faith, and Kendra stand up and immediately walk toward the beach.
Robin also stands up. "I'll go gather fire wood until you three finish with the soap."
"I'll come with you," Richard agrees.
Tara continues tending to Riley's leg.
Confessional Caption Riley Pro Triathalete
Riley sits on a rock with his leg outstretched in front of him. We can see an ugly red cut running
up the side of his calf, about 7 inches long. "I can't believe this. I feel like dead-weight to this
team. Who would have believed it? I'm in the best shape of my life and I'm completely useless
and that girl" he points at Tara across the beach, "is brilliant. She's been doctoring my leg, made
a paste to keep us from getting bit to death by bugs, and even made a sunscreen from roots or
something. Not to mention finding the best and non-poisonous berries."
We see Tara swim up to Kendra, Faith, and Joyce who are finishing bathing.
Akathla Day 9
Suddenly we are watching the Akathla team as a wild pig races past their fire. Buffy, Xander, and
Mac jump to their feet with Willow and Oz slightly behind them. All seems to be pandemonium for
a few minutes as we hear their yelling and the squealing of the pig. Buffy and Xander dive from
different directions toward the pig, colliding heavily but the others manage to keep it from
escaping. From her position on the ground, Buffy grabs the animal around the leg and holds on
until Mac can grab it around the middle. The team cheers loudly as they look at the doomed
animal.
"Well, we're finally going to have some protein," Mac proclaims as he holds the pig up.
"Akathla!" Oz and Xander cheer together.
Willow looks a little sick at the thought and announces nervously, "I'm going to check tree mail." A moment later we see her rushing off into the woods.
Confessional Caption Buffy College Student
Buffy is laughing as she says, "You know you don't think the stupid reward challenges have
anything to do with survival skills. But a few days ago we had to catch pigs and now
we caught
a pig." She smiles a big smile.
MFashnek
The men are now bathing while the women gather firewood. They seem to work well as a team.
In a shot a short time later, we see Richard and Riley using the hooks to attempt to catch fish. We
see bits and pieces of the Survivors working on their home and eating the small fish they have
caught.
Akathla
The team surrounds the fire noisily and appreciatively enjoying the pork. They seem relaxed and
unified. "This could be a strong team," Willow comments as she looks around.
"Yes, we can," Mac agrees.
MFashnek Day 10
"We've got tree mail," Riley and Kendra call as they walk back into the fire area. We can see that
the man is limping heavily.
"Teamwork, speed, and strength Will be the key you need to unlock this challenge."
They all nod their heads.
Akathla Day 10
Xander reads the same tree mail and the team cheers with a renewed sense of teamwork.
Reward Challenge
Jeff greets the teams and invites both to see their new opponents. Akathla sees for the first time
that Darla is gone while MFashnek sees that Andrew is no longer with the Akathla team. "How
are you all eating?" Jeff asks.
"Great," Xander answers quickly, "we've been eating pig for the last day and a half."
The MFashnek team looks quite jealous but cheers on their opponents nonetheless. "Well, that's good," Jeff tells them because you will need it today." He explains the challenge: "Each team will have five players participate. You will be chained together." He holds up chains which will encircle the Survivors's waists and cuff their wrists. "You will run together into the jungle and through an obstacle course. Each station of the course will have a key that you can use to unlock any one person's locks. That person will then run with you but no longer chained to you. The first team to navigate the course, unlock all the Survivors, and return to this mat will win."
"Do you want to know what you are playing for?" he asks unnecessarily. When the teams all cheer he waves his hand and a large yacht comes into view. "The winning team will have four hours on this yacht. It has food and a bar."
We see the Survivors ready for the race. The five remaining Akathla members are chained together as are Faith, Kendra, Tara, Robin, and Joyce. Richard and Riley sit on the mat waiting for their teammates. At Jeff's shout of "Go" the two teams begin to race across the sand toward the jungle. Both teams run awkwardly due to the chains but MFashnek reaches the jungle steps before Akathla.
Once the teams have entered the jungle, Jeff climbs a tower which allows him to comment on the action. The first obstacle is a climbing wall. Faith and Robin put out their hands to boost Kendra to the top. Once up, Kendra pulls Tara and Joyce after her while Faith and Robin push the two women. Faith and Robin then easily climb the wall. Akathla has a harder time as Mac boosts Buffy up the wall. The blonde has a harder time pulling Willow and Oz over and they wait for Mac and Xander to climb over. By the time Akathla has reached the ground, MFashnek has unchained Faith who runs ahead to scope out the next obstacle.
Seeing that it is a low-net, she scoots under and reaches in to pull through the remaining members of her team as well as she can. Mac does the same for his team. Now Faith and Robin run alongside Buffy and Mac while the others trail behind them. Robin crosses the balance beam and waits in the center for his team while Faith waits to bring up the rear. Buffy similarly waits on the beam for teammates. Once they reach the beam, Tara, Joyce, and Kendra easily step onto the beam and with Robin and Faith's help walk slowly across safely. Willow starts across but is almost pulled off as Oz loses his balance and nearly falls. Only the chains connecting him to Willow and Xander keep the young man from falling. As it is, all three give a scream as the chains pull on them.
By the time the Akathla team has righted itself, Joyce is running toward the staggered tires. She manages to high-step into them while Robin helps Tara and Kendra through the tires. They are already unlocking Kendra when Buffy and Mac reach the tires to help Oz and Willow through. Xander follows them.
MFashnek is surprised as they reach a sign which reads, "Carry the final person back to the beach for the key." Looking at each other they shrug and Robin picks up Tara in his arms and begins to run toward the beach with Faith, Kendra, and Joyce alongside him. Akathla, on the other hand, has to take turns with Buffy and Mac both carrying Oz from the jungle toward the mat. When they emerge from the foliage, they can already see MFashnek celebrating.
They finish their journey to the mat and unlock Oz before dropping to sit. Jeff tells the MFashnek team that they can board the yacht now but also tells them that they can take one person from Akathla with them. Tara and Willow share a glance but the quick conference ends in Joyce inviting Buffy. She gives quick hugs to her teammates before accompanying MFashnek on the yacht.
Once aboard the yacht, the MFashnek team finds the buffet on the top deck. They quickly grab plates and begin to pile them with meat, potatoes, vegetables, salad, and desert. As she eats, Buffy keeps thanking the other team for inviting her. The team finds places to sit and after getting drinks from the bar, enjoys their food and drink. The conversation is light and discusses the difficulties of being on the island hunger, sleep, heat and rain, and bugs. As the evening goes on we see groups beginning to move to different areas to talk. Kendra, Tara, and Faith move to the bow of the ship and confirm their alliance.
Richard, Riley, and Robin go try their hand at deep-sea fishing while Joyce and Buffy stay in the food area. They hug tightly and we see Joyce looking at Buffy for injuries or other signs of distress. "You're thin, how are you?" she asks.
"No thinner than you are, mom," Buffy replies.
"What are the alliances like over there?" Joyce asks the blonde directly.
"Willow and I are tight," Buffy explains, "Oz and Xander are question marks. What about here?"
"The three girls are together," Joyce explains, "I can't tell if everyone else has explicit alliances or just thinks so. Richard thinks I'm with him and I think Tara does too but she's also smart. Too smart to believe in Santa Claus."
At the end of the four hours Jeff comes to tell the Survivors that their time is up. Each grabs another handful of food and hugs Buffy who walks the other direction down the beach.
Akathla Camp
"I wonder what she's doing," Willow muses as she stares at the fire.
"It was a drag," Buffy says jokingly as Willow and Oz jump up to hug her. She looks around and
reaches under her shirt to pull out 2 cookies and a few handfuls of food for her four
teammates.
Akathla Day 11
"New day," Buffy says as she stretches and splashes water on her face. "This team can be
strong. We've eaten a pig with our bare hands and we can stay strong in this game." She walks
back to the fire and makes a speech to the group.
Immunity Challenge
Both teams stand on their mats, looking excited. "This is the happiest group of Survivors I've ever
seen on day 11," Jeff remarks.
"Well, J," Faith remarks, "yesterday we got food and drink and we're ready to win another challenge today."
"What about Akathla?" Jeff asks.
"We're still enjoying the pig," Oz explains.
"Well, you're going to need your strength for today's challenge," Jeff says. He points to a large oval "track" marked off in the water. It goes from where the water is about one foot deep to where it is about 2.5 feet deep and is about 40 yards by 8 yards in size. "Today you are going to play tag. The first team to tag the other wins." Everyone nods their understanding. "Five players will be clipped together," he holds up a rope with carabineer clips attached to it, "and each will be carrying this." He holds up a canvas mail sack and explains, "It holds 20 pounds of sand. If you are too tired, you can leave the challenge at any time but your weight stays." Everyone gasps theatrically. "You must give your weight to another player," he finishes, "when any team member from one team tags one from another team, the challenge is over." He turns to MFashnek. "The same players can't sit out so who is sitting out this challenge?"
Kendra and Joyce hold up their hands.
Next we see the five players for each team linked together at either side of the large track. Each person wears a pack and waits for Jeff's command of start. When he yells "Start" each team takes its first steps through the water. As soon as they start, it is apparent that Riley can not complete the challenge. He takes off his bag and hands it to Robin who puts it over his shoulder along with his own 20 pounds. By the time the teams have slogged about halfway it is apparent that the slower and weaker members just pull the others back. At Faith's urging, Tara takes off her pack and hands it to the stronger girl, dropping from the race. Willow does the same, handing her pack to Mac.
By the time the teams have gone another half-way around the circle, Richard has discovered that he was not as strong as he apparently though. His pack goes to Robin who now carries 60 pounds to Faith's 40. The Akathla team has a more even distribution even after Oz hands his pack to Xander. Both teams tire in the direct sunlight as they carry their weight through the deep and the shallow water.
With their teammates cheering them on Robin and Faith carry their 100 pounds of weight while Mac, Xander, and Buffy carry their packs. MFashnek is losing ground as Akathla makes a run every time they reach the shallows. Seeing that they are losing ground, Robin shouts to Faith to give him another pack and she does, meaning that he is carrying 80 pounds. Even though he is in great shape, he can't outrun the more evenly distributed Akathla team. It takes three more laps after Robin takes the 4th bag but Buffy jumps forward, tagging Faith on the arm before all five remaining Survivors collapse in the water as Oz and Willow cheer and run into the water to celebrate with their team.
Confessional Caption Richard Small-Town Mayor
"Well I'll tell you what. I really like this Riley boy but he's costing us too much."
We see Joyce and Richard talking to Kendra. The three are motioning down the beach to where Riley sits on a rock.
Confessional Caption Faith Personal Trainer
Faith is walking away from a conversation with Richard and Joyce. "Well, I agree with Richard for
today but he's all talking about a weak link. You want to know who our weak link is? It's him. The
only reason Riley's weak is because he's hurt. I mean, I don't expect anything more from Tara or
Joyce. They are who they are and Tara's worth her weight in gold but Richard is dead
weight."
We see the MFashnek team walking to tribal council. They enter and place their torches in the designated places. "Well," Jeff starts, "this is your first trip to tribal council after losing a challenge."
"Jeff," Faith tells him, "we lost today pure and simple."
"Robin," Jeff starts, "at the end of today's challenge you were carrying 80 pounds. Do you feel like you were trying to carry this team?"
"Jeff," Robin says, "this is a very strong and very fast team. We were short some of our strength today and it cost us but I still believe we are the better team."
"Is that right, Faith?" Jeff asks next.
Faith shakes her head at the question. "You're damn right, J," she tells the host. "This is a very very strong team. Most of the people on this team are giving their 100% and that's all we can ask."
"With that," Jeff says, "it's time to vote."
Faith votes first and we see her write down Riley's name. "Riley," she addresses the camera, "it's nothing personal but we're going to do best in this game with strength." Next Kendra, Tara, and Robin vote. Riley writes down Richard's name and then Joyce and Richard vote.
Jeff carries back the bucket and declares. "I'll read the votes. First vote: Riley. Second vote: Riley. Third vote: Richard. Fourth vote: Riley." He takes a breath as he opens the next vote. "And the fifth person voted off Survivor-Ash Island is Riley." Riley pats Tara and Robin on the shoulders and has his torch snuffed out.
Next week on Survivor
Voice-over: "Old wounds come back:"
Buffy is shouting, "You double-crossed us!"
Voice-over: "Tempers are short."
"Why don't you see how you do without Tara if you think she's so expendable," Faith screams at
Richard, "the rest of us want her around."
Next week on Survivor
Part 10 Delay
Willow watched the credits and scenes from next week roll before turning off the television. "Well, that was very interesting, honey," Sheila said quietly.
"Have um, have you been watching it, mom?" Willow asked.
"I never saw it before but I've watched all your shows," the older woman told her daughter, "I would watch you on a show about foot fungus you know."
"I think Kelli is more likely to be on a foot fungus show," Willow joked about her sister. "Um, what have you thought?"
Sheila took a breath before answering, "I guess I thought it was all about survival skills but it seems more about tricks and friendships."
Willow laughed before answering honestly, "I wouldn't have done very well on a straight-up survival skills