Buffy's Willow bends toward a girlfriend.

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST. Willow (Alyson Hannigan) on Buffy the Vampire Slayer is indeed taking witch-in-training steps toward a same-sex relationship, as The Advocate reported a year ago that she might. Earlier this season, when Willow and fellow Wicca-woman Tara (Amber Benson) held hands to direct a little girl-with-girl power against some nasty demons, we all sensed that the pair would make beautiful spells together, and their chemistry has been, well, bewitching. "There is a romance growing between Tara and

Willow," series creator Joss Whedon has acknowledged.

"Their relationship will develop in a responsible manner germane to both the character and the allegorical nature of the show." But don't expect the "very special episode" treatment. "I don't want to make it a big issue," he said. "This story line will not focus on sexuality as a theme but on the intense emotional bond between the characters."

Whedon doesn't want to use the words bisexual or lesbian ("As soon as you start to hammer out a definition, it becomes kinda icky--it stops being about these two people"), but one thing we do know: it won't all be smooth spelling. Seth Green--who plays Oz, Willow's sometimes boyfriend--will be visiting the fictional UC Sunnydale to add a kink to Willow's new relationship. But we hear he'll be around for only a couple of episodes.