Thrill Ride!

by foreverpiper

I posted this earlier but i didn't know how to add on the new chapters cause I'm a dumb ass, so if anyone can help please email me. Oh, and the stories about the Scoobies spending the day at an amusement park. Please review!!!

Title: Thrill Ride Author: Anna E-Mail: ForeverPiper@yahoo.com Feedback: Sure, why not? Bring on the criticism. Spoiler Warning: Maybe a little of season 5 Summary: The Scoobies head out for a day at an amusement park. Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. They all belong to that ass wipe Joss Wedon. Rating: PG-13 Couples: X/A W/T Notes: This takes place the summer after the 5th season. Buffy never died, and Glory was killed.

Prologue

"Everyone in the car now!"

It was a scorching day in Sunnydale and the gang was taking a break from they're demeaning lives. Not 3 weeks ago had Buffy and Co. saved the world yet again from another appending apocalypse. A hell-god by the name of Glory had captured Buffy's little sis and was going to use her to destroy the barriers separating all dimensions. However, Buffy being Buffy had once again kicked evil's ass with the help of her friends. Now it was time for a well-deserved day of fun and enjoyment, it was however, going to be anything but relaxing. The gang, which consisted of Buffy, Xander, Anya, Willow, Tara, and Dawn, were all headed out for a day at Sunnydale's one and only amusement park.

"Come on, let's go already! What's taking so long?" An impatient Slayer wined. Buffy was already in the car, her head poking out of the window as she glared at the people who were holding them up. Xander climbed into the front seat, taking the keys out of his pockets and turned the car on. Anya soon joined her fiancé in the front and Willow climbed into the spacious back seat that she was soon going to share with her lover. The only ones not in the car yet were Tara and Dawn who were still inside.

She pulled her head back in the window and glanced behind her to look at Willow who was applying sunscreen to her arms. "What could possibly be taking so long?"

The redhead just looked at her friend and shrugged. Buffy sighed impatiently yet again and sat back in her seat with a scowl settled on her face.

After about 3 more minutes of pointless fidgeting, Buffy was about to get out of the car and physically drag her sister and the blond witch into the jeep. As she opened her door preparing to do just that, Tara and Dawn came out the front door holding a large, red cooler. They walked up to the car and took their seats, putting the cooler on the car floor beside Dawn as she settled herself beside Buffy. Tara slid beside Willow and their hands joined instantly, and they gave each other a little grin.

"Geeze what took you guys so long? We've been waiting forever!"

"Hey, blame Tara, she's the one who wanted to make sure we had enough snacks to take with us." Dawn piped.

"Well, everything's so expensive there. I just thought we could, ya know.save some money. F-for games and stuff." Tara explained. Willow gave Tara a small smile and squeezed her hand lightly.

Buffy's eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh games! I forgot about them." She turned her attention to Xander who was pulling out of the driveway. "Hurry up and get there."

"A little impatient there aren't we Buff?" Xander replied playfully. His eyes sparkled. He was just as exited about going to the park as Buffy was. Buffy just rolled her eyes at him.

"So, what do you guys wanna do first?"

"Rides!" "Shows!" "Games!"

Everyone shouted at the same time. Soon after, everyone was in a debate about what they should do first.

"Rides first!" Anya proclaimed.

"No, not rides, shows. We should go to the shows!" Willow protested. Everyone groaned in response to her suggestion. "Hey what's wrong with shows?"

"Will, you are the only person I know that actually would want to sit through those boring shows. Why would you pay 40 bucks to get in, just to sit around all day and watch some person talk about God knows what?" Buffy asked. Meanwhile, Dawn gave her a look of disgust and shuddered at the thoughts of shows.

"Shows." Dawn stuck out her tongue and made a face.

"Nuh-uh!" She glared. Everyone turned to her and gave her skeptical looks as they all turned to each other, confirming that Willow was the only one who wanted to go see the boring shows. "Tara, a little help here." Willow nudged her girlfriend, who had been silent ever since she got into the car.

"Well, I-I think the shows can be okay sometimes. I mean I-I like the bird one." Willow grinned, pleased as she turned to the others. "See?"

The others groaned upon seeing the look of glee on Willow's face. They went back to their discussion.

"I still think we should do games first." Dawn said, brushing her hair back behind her shoulders.

Anya turned back in her seat to face Dawn. "No we shouldn't, we should go to the rides first. The rides, not the games, the rides."

"Games."

"Rides."

"Games!"

"Rides!"

"GAMES!"

"RIDES!"

What had begun as a simple debate soon turned into a full-fledged shouting match between ex-demon and ex-Key until Xander had had enough and suddenly stopped the car and turned in his seat until he was able to see everyone. "Okay, will you two shut up for just a minute? I'd like to keep my hearing for another couple years, thanks."

They both murmured an apology.

"Here's what we're gonna do. Now, who wants to go to the shows first?"

Willow and Tara slowly raised their hands in unison.

"Fine. Now who wants to go on the rides first?"

"Oh me!" Anya jerked her hand into the air.

Xander nodded to Anya, signaling she could put her hand down. "And that leaves Buffy and the Dawnmister for the games right?" Both Buffy and Dawn nodded. "Right, so, here's what we're gonna do. Willow, you and Tara go to your.shows. Me and Anya can go on the rides, and that leaves Buffy and Dawn to go blow their money on the games. Just let it be known that I will not be carrying around all the stuff you guys win." Buffy and Dawn both stuck out their lips in a mock pout. "We can meet up around 1 to go eat lunch, so that leaves us about 4 hours to ourselves. Everyone agree?" Everyone nodded and there were a few murmurs of "yeah" and "okay". Xander started the car up again, and headed to the park, a small smile appearing on his face.

As they started moving again small conversations were started amongst one another. Xander and Anya were talking about wedding plans and Dawn and Buffy were chatting about which games they should play first. Meanwhile, Willow was putting suntan lotion on Tara's face and vice versa. Willow lightly dabbed some of the lotion onto Tara's nose and they both giggled quietly.

Soon, the conversations died down and each person was lost in their own individual thoughts.

Buffy was looking out the window, staring at the passing cars thinking about everything that's happened the last couple months. She thought of Riley, and wished he were here with her. Each of her friends had their significant other except her, making her kind of lonely.

She glanced towards Xander and Anya and smiled lightly. They made a perfect couple in her mind. It had taken her a while to fully accept Anya, but once you got past the sex and money comments she was an okay person to be around.and she had done wonders for the Magic Box. In her mind she was the replacement Cordelia.with a nice side. It still baffled her that they were getting married, but once she had gotten over the initial shock, she was thrilled for her 2 friends. She knew how hard it was to find love on the hellmouth, and she was just happy that they were going to make it. They were the light at the end of her tunnel.

She glanced behind her to where Tara and Willow were cuddling together in the back seat, Tara's head on Willow's shoulder, with Willow's arm around Tara's back, gently rubbing her side. Their hands came together in Willow's lap. Willow had her eyes closed and a content smile on her face as Tara stroked her knuckles with her fingertips. Buffy sighed. They had been through so much, what with Tara losing her sanity and all. Willow had been a wreck for those couple of days. She had even gone after Glory, knowing even then that she was no match for the hell-bitch. Buffy shuddered. She was just glad that it was over. Now that Tara had her sanity back her and Willow were literally inseparable. Wherever one went, the other went too.she just hoped that someday she could find someone who loved her as much.

She turned to Dawn and her heart skipped a beat as she thought about what her baby sister had gone through in the last month or so. She was coping remarkably well and Buffy was so proud of her. Out of the blue, she leaned over and pulled Dawn into a hug. Dawn stiffened in surprise. As Buffy pulled back Dawn gave her a quizzical look and Buffy just smiled. Dawn shook her head, adjusted her headphones and went back to staring out the window, lip-syncing with the music.

******







Chapter 1: Splitting Up

Once the gang got to the park, Xander parked the Jeep and everyone piled out of the car. They were fortunate enough to get a good parking spot right next to the entrance seeing as not many people were there this particular day.

"Now, what do we need to bring in?" Buffy asked. "I know for a fact that me and Dawn get the munchies pretty much.well, all the time really." Her forehead creased a little. It was a wonder she was in such good shape seeing at all the junk food she always seemed to consume. I guess being the Slayer did have its quirks.that and having a pretty high metabolism helped.

"Okay, so munchies check." Willow took some of the snacks in the cooler and put some in each backpack.

"Suntan lotion check." 3 bottles of suntan lotion were popped into each bag.

"And extra shirts check." Each person had brought along an extra shirt, due to the fact that they were most likely going to get wet, Sunnydale Park was known for all of their water rides.

"Oh and here!" Xander pulled out 3 high-tech walkie-talkies and handed one to both Buffy and Willow. "Ya know, for communication-like stuff." He grinned.

"Wow, Xander, where did you get these?" Willow asked as she fiddled with some of the little knobs. She switched up the 'on' button and she listened hard. Nothing could be heard so she turned the volume up full throttle and put it to her ear. Dawn, who had snatched the other talkie away from Buffy, turned hers on as well, thus causing both talkies to screech loudly. Willow screamed, jumped nearly a foot and jerked her head away from the piercing noise, thus so dropping the expensive piece of equipment onto the ground. Willow held her hand to her ear and grimaced as Xander quickly scooped the talkie off the floor and examined it for damage. Tara ran over to Willow and took the hand that wasn't clutching her ear. She put her other hand under Willow's chin and turned her girlfriend's head so that she could look into her eyes.

"Oh sweetie are you alright?" she asked worriedly.

Shaking her head to clear the ringing noise she still heard in her eardrum, she nodded and rubber her ear once more. "Geeze Xander, warn a girl next time would ya?"

"Sorry Will, I just though a smart college girl such as yourself would be smart enough to know not to stick a talkie up to her ear when it's at it's loudest setting." This received a glare from Willow, which was not only directed to Xander, but also to the Summers sisters who were trying to hide their giggles behind their hands, and to Anya who was laughing openly, clutching her stomach. She scowled again and rubbed her ear once more.

"Awe, baby, is your ear gonna okay?" Tara asked. "Want me to kiss it and make it better?" Tara's eyes shined as she gave the suggestion. Willow's scowl disappeared instantly and she quickly nodded, a small grin tugging at the edge of her lips. Tara lightly kissed Willow's ear and leaned back. Just as she was about to give her another quick peck, Willow swiftly lifted her face and captured Tara's lips with her own. What had begun as an innocent kiss quickly turning into passion.

Loud coughs interrupted them and they jerked apart instantly, blushing so hard that they both started to match Willow's hair. They brushed themselves off and averted their eyes anywhere but to the four people in front of them. "So, um, Xander, where did you say you got those walkie- talkies from hell from? Cause ya know, if I get a ear problem I'm not going to be too happy about it, cause that usually leads to having to go to a doctor and you guys know how much I hate doctors and then-" Willow's babble was put to an abrupt end when she was silenced by Xander's hand covering her mouth.

"Okay, Will, okay, we get it." He lifted his hand off his best friends face and she nodded, still blushing slightly. "Okay now people, lets get this freak show on the road, time's a-waisten."

Everyone agreed so they packed up the rest of the stuff they needed and locked the doors to the jeep.

"Xander." Buffy asked, looking at the walkie-talkie again now that she had taken it away from Dawn, "where exactly did you get these?"

"Kinda.took it off the Initiative. I figured, hey, they weren't gonna need 'em, so, there ya go. I figured we could use it for patrol sometime, and look how many channels there are!" He said pointing to all of them, grinning like an 8-year old child who had just found a puppy under the Christmas tree.

"So you stole them." Anya said. It was not a question, just a statement.

"Not stole, borrowed. There's a major difference there honey." Xander flashed her a grin. "And since normally these babies would cost a whole bunch of cash, that leaves me more money to buy Anya nice, pretty things. Anya likes nice, pretty things." He nodded at his own words and gave her a quick peck on the lips.

Anya thought for a moment and then nodded and smiled. "Okay Xander, I approve of your method." She quickly added, "but not from the Magic Box of course. That is off limits." Xander bobbed his head up and down in a silent agreement.

After that, they headed to go buy their tickets for what was beginning to look like a very promising day. ***

Once they had purchases their tickets they made their way into the main gate.

"Oh this is going to be so much fun! It's about time I got a break from all the slayage." Buffy bounced happily.

Willow looked at her, smiling, "Yep, totally agreeing with you there, Buff."

"I just wish Giles could have come, that way we wouldn't be stuck carrying everything. Why did he say he couldn't come again?" she asked puzzled.

"I-I think he said some Olivia person, w-whoever that is." Tara answered.

"Oh, that's Giles's orgasm buddy." Anya stated nonchalantly.

Buffy shivered, as did most everyone else. "I don't even want to comprehend Giles having a sex-life. That's just gross on so many levels."

"Well at least it's that Olivia person and not your mom." Xander said. Buffy went totally still, her eyes wide. Dawn grimaced.

"I told you never to bring that up again! I've spent forever trying to forget about that!" Buffy shouted at him. Xander flinched and hid behind Tara who was the closet one near him, hoping to shield himself from Buffy. Tara quickly stepped away, not wanting to be near a furious Buffy as she advanced towards him.

"Sorry, sorry, I forgot!" Xander tried to defend himself, unsuccessfully.

"Guys, lets just go in okay?" Willow stood stepped in between Buffy and Xander. "Lets just drop the matter altogether."

"Fine." Said Buffy, still glowering at Xander who grinned meekly.

"Let's just put this behind us into the box of things never to be motioned again." Willow said, trying to be the peacekeeper.

"Yes, along with the Buffybot right?" Anya asked.

"Is that never talking about it again?!" Buffy yelled. Anya shrugged, and Buffy threw up her hands and walked away muttering "I give up." Dawn and Willow snickered as they all followed Buffy into the entrance.

***

Employees taking pictures greeted them in the entrance.

"Excuse me, would you like to have your picture taken? There's no purchase necessary. Today's our 10-year anniversary and we're giving away a free picture to all the visitors." Asked a girl in her mid-twenties, holding up a camera.

Everyone agreed.

Buffy, Willow and Tara all sat on a large, wooden bench with Dawn laying across them, head in Buffy's lap as her hands came up in a dramatic pose, while Xander stood behind the bench with Anya in his arms. Willow put her arm around Tara and Tara looked at Willow, beaming. Buffy put up bunny ears behind Dawn's head without her noticing and right before the picture was taken Anya whispered something in Xander's ear, making his eyes widen in shock and his face redden as the camera flashed, signaling the picture being shot. The photographer came up to them and gave them a ticket.

"You can pick up your picture anytime between 3 and the time we close, just hand them this ticket." She handed it to Buffy, and walked off after the group thanked her.

"So, where are we meeting up?" Buffy asked.

"Um, lets meet up here, under the clock thingy," Willow answered pointing up to the humongous clock tower that towered over them.

"Okay, so it's here at 1, right?" Everyone nodded.

"So use the walkie-talkies if anyone needs anything." Everyone nodded once again. They picked up their backpacks they had set down for the photo and they were off, separating in the crowd, each going to their desired destination.

TBC.



Chapter 2: Rides and Shows and Games, Oh My!

"So which ride do you wanna go on first?" Xander asked glancing at his girlfriend.fiancé, he corrected himself. I still can't believe it. Little ol' me getting all married.

"All of them." Anya replied.

"Yeah, but you have to pick one first. You can't just go on all of them at once." Xander reminded her.

Anya thought for a moment, "I want to go on something fast."

"Okay," Xander nodded, "a nice big roller coaster comes to mind." He clapped his hands together and looked around to find a sign that would lead them to a coaster.

"Oh, there!" Anya said, tugging at his shirt and pointed. Xander looked to where she was pointing.

"Uh, Anya, that's the kids' bumper car ride." Xander said flatly.

"I don't care, I want to go on them." Anya stood her ground as Xander tried to reason with her.

"But Ahn, you have to be - "

Anya stared at him coldly and Xander just shook his head and shrugged. "Fine," he said, giving up. It was no use, once Anya decided what she wanted to do, there was no changing her mind. They strode up to the line, but the guy running the ride stopped them. "Uh, excuse me miss, you can't ride this ride, I'm sorry."

"Well why not?"

"Ma'am, this is a kid ride, you have to be under 4 feet to ride it," the man, Gus as it read on his nametag, replied.

Anya's forehead creased momentarily. She then acted as if she was turning away, but instead squatted down until her head was level with Xander waist and placed her hands on the floor to balance herself and tried to go past him again.

Gus stopped her, blocking her path. "Uh, ma'am, you can't go on this ride."

"But you said I had to be under 4 feet. As you can see I clearly under 4 feet." She said stubbornly, looking up to him from where she squatted.

The man looked to Xander and Xander just rolled his eyes and shook his head and tried unsuccessfully to pull Anya to her feet.

"Ahn come on, we'll find another ride," he tried to reason with her.

She yanked her arm away and glowered at him. "Xander I am going on this ride and there's nothing you can do to stop me." She turned and looked at Gus and gave him the same cold stare she had given Xander.

"Miss, if you don't leave I'm afraid I'll have to call security," Gus tried to reason with her.

"But you said I had to be under 4 feet. I am under 4 feet!" she complained, not understanding. "I don't understand, you said to go on the ride, I'd have to be 4 feet."

"Excuse me, Gus is it? Um, is there any possible way she could go on this ride? Please?" Xander asked Gus, giving him a pleading look.

Gus shook his head, no.

"Ahn, could you go sit over by the bench for a sec while I ask the nice man a quick question?" Anya sighed and, still squatting, hobbled over to a bench, out of earshot.

"Now, Gus is it?" Gus nodded. "Look, that crazy chick over there is my, uh.sister, yeah, my sister, and as you can probably see, she's kinda nuts. She has a.disability that doesn't allow her to see reason. Now is there any.any, possible way you would just let her on the ride? It would make her really happy and today's her.birthday. Please?" Xander asked the man. Gus's gaze faltered.

He sighed. Finally Gus leaned forward after thinking for a minute. "So it's really her birthday?" Xander nodded. "Well, okay, but only this once."

"Thanks man, I owe ya one." Xander beamed as he turned to Anya, "Ahn, come on, lets go." She hurried over, still crouched over and hobbled through the turnstile. Xander once again turned to the man, "thanks again." Gus smiled and nodded his head.

"Oh and happy birthday," he called out to Anya.

Anya turned, "What? Today's n -"

Xander's hand quickly came up to her mouth, cutting her off. "Yes it is," he murmured quietly through the corner of his mouth. Anya shook her head in understanding.

"Thank you!" she said enthusiastically to Gus. Xander nudged her and pulled on her arm, "You can stand up now hun, you can go on the ride." Anya beamed and stood up, walking out into the enclosed space. She chose a tiny red car to sit in. It was so big for her that he knees poked out of the side. Xander chuckled lightly as he watched her fumble with the seatbelt and she somehow managed to get it all twisted and tangled into her arms. Gus had to come out to the floor to actually help her get into it. Approximately 3 minutes and 42 seconds later the ride started and Xander watched as Anya zoomed around in the too-small car she had claimed. He watched as she smashed into kids, left and right, shouting out in glee every time she knocked a kid out of the way. As the ride came to and end and the cars slowed down she looked around, puzzled. She called to Xander, "Xander!" she wined, "why did all the annoyingly-small cars stop?"

"That means the rides over Ahn." Xander said patiently.

"Oh." Anya said as she somehow managed to squeeze herself out of the car and trotted over to where Xander was waiting for her. "Right that was fun," she said grinning, "What's next?"

Xander took a deep breath. Oh boy.

*****

"So which one's first?"

Buffy and Dawn were walking around the huge area searching for their first game.

"Hmm, how 'bout that one." Buffy said pointing to a square filled area full of large, empty wine bottles. There were huge stuffed dogs and large pink flamingos as big as Dawn above it, which were obviously the prizes. "I want one of the flamingos!" she said grinning.

"I don't know do you know how hard that is to get? The rings are all bounce-offy and stuff."

"Well, ya never know until you try." Buffy replied as she strode over to the game area.

A gangly teen a few years older than Dawn stepped up to them. "What'll it be? One bucket or two?"

"Um, two please." Buffy answered perkily, handing the girl her money. She had been saving a while for this, and had loads of cash to spend, and she counted on using every last penny. The girl collected the rings in the buckets and set them on the small counter surrounding all the bottles.

Buffy concentrated while Dawn just went right into tossing hers in. She threw 10 of the 50 in her bucket and each one bounced off. Dawn frowned and Buffy chuckled lightly to herself. Dawn concentrated harder and kept tossing her rings until she was all out. Buffy continued giggling.

"Well you try it then." Dawn challenged to Buffy. "It's not as easy as it looks!" Buffy stepped up to her bucket confidently. "Fine then, I will!" she replied easily and confidently.

Buffy took her first ring and lined it up with a bottle, threw it, and it bounced off carelessly. She hadn't even come close. Looking down at her bucket she frowned and picked up 3 rings and tossed them all. Nothing happened. She tried again and again and each time she missed.

49 tosses and several frowns later, Buffy took her last ring out of her bucket and turned to her sister. "This is it Dawn, here's a winner right here." Dawn nodded skeptically and raised her eyebrows high onto her forehead.

Buffy took her aim and threw it, putting a little more strength than she had anticipated and it flied through the air. As if in slow motion they watched as the ring sailed passed all the bottles and smashed into the back of a 30-some year old man's head who just happened to be a park security guard. Buffy and Dawn's eyes widened as the man whipped around to see where the person who was responsible for the crime was. Buffy and Dawn quickly looked away and backed up slowly before turning around and high tailing it away from the booth. They weren't sure if the guard followed them, or even saw them, but they weren't about to slow down and find out.

Once they thought they were out of harms way they stopped and looked around to see if he was following them then looked at each other for a moment before burst out laughing. Dawn doubled over and clutched her stomach and as soon as she could properly speak again she turned to her sister, "Did you see the look on his face?!" she asked still giggling. Buffy just shook her head and brushed herself off.

"So, now what should we do?"

"Well how about.that one," Dawn said, scanning their surrounding and pointing to a game booth nearby where 3 bottles were stacked together and a bunch of fluffy caterpillars were hanging.

Buffy grinned. This is gonna be easy. They walked over to the booth and the employee gave Buffy a ball after taking her money.

"So what are the rules?" she asked the guy.

"You have one change to knock all the bottles off the table, and if you win, you get a large. If you get 3 larges you get a Choice." He answered her, his tone slightly bored.

On the walls above the bottles, there were red and orange caterpillars and green and blue caterpillars, which were the large. Above them, even higher were more caterpillars exactly like the others, except these were huge. They must have been at least 7 feet tall and as soon as the Slayer saw them, she knew she must have one.

"Oh this is gonna be a synch." She took her aim and threw the ball, hard. It flew into the bottles, scattering them. Buffy jumped up and down, gleefully. "Yes!" The teen handed her a red and orange caterpillar. She repeated this process 2 more times, successfully knocking all the bottles down each time. As she handed her 3 large caterpillars in, she pointed to a Choice orange/red caterpillar. She wrapped it around her neck twice to get it to not touch the floor. She beamed at Dawn.

"I wanna try." Dawn said sticking her hand out for some money. Buffy rolled her eyes and handed dawn a 10. "Here" she said, shoving the money into the guys hands. After collecting her change, she took her aim and let the ball fly. To Buffy's surprise it knocked down all the pins. Dawn turned to look at her sister's shocked face and she stuck her tongue out. "Ha!"

She tried again, but this time missed. Dawn simply wouldn't give up. The next 2 times she tried she knocked all the pins down, repeating her sister's performance. She however, unlike her sister chose the blue/ green one instead of the orange/red one so they could distinguish which one was whose.

Buffy grinned at her little sister, who returned the smile as they stalked off to play more games.

***

Willow and Tara strode hand in hand and they walked around the park, looking for a few shows to go to. They stopped by a sign that read:

[b]Reptile Show

Times: 10:00 11:30 2:30[/b]

"Do you want to go to that one sweetie?" Tara asked Willow as she checked her watch. "It's about 9:30 now, so it's in about 30 minutes."

Willow shook her head. "Naw, it's snakes and stuff," she shuddered. "If there's one thing I do not like it's snakes." She though for a moment, "Well, that and frogs, I hate frogs, with their green, slippery bodies. And horses.you can't forget the horses. Those creatures are evil, evil I tell you! Those huge head and their teeth, I do not like them. Nope. Nuh-uh. Not liking them at all" She finished her babble as Tara stared at her.

Tara smirked, "Done yet?" Willow blushed and nodded. "So that's a 'no' for the reptile show then, right?" Her red-haired beauty nodded once more.

They continued walking around until they saw another show notice. It read:

"Pirates"

Show Times: 9:45 12:00 3:30 "Hey, Tar lets go see this!" Willow said excitedly. "Buffy saw it once and she said it was really good!" Tara grinned at Willow's perkiness.

"Okay." She agreed.

They walked into the theater and each took a pair of glasses from the bin. The show was in 3-D so they had to wear special glasses. Willow giggled as she saw Tara put hers on. "What?" Tara asked.

Willow shook her head. "Nothing it's just.you look like a big bug." She giggled again. Tara tried to put on her pouting face but failed miserably as she started laughing too. The lovers walked into the theatre where there was a huge screen, bigger than most movie theaters. There were only about 7 people in there and all of them were sitting in the 3rd row. Willow grabbed Tara's hand and dragged her to the middle rows and they plopped down into the center section. "These are perfect seats! We're lucky it's not all crowded today."

Tara nodded and then shivered lightly. Willow frowned, "You cold?"

"Just a little." Tara told her. Willow snuggled up to Tara and put her arm around her girlfriend's shoulders rubbing her arm. "This better?" the redhead whispered, very, very close to Tara's ear.

"Much," Tara agreed, nodding slightly.

"How much longer till it starts?" Willow asked.

Tara glanced down at her watch, "Um, about 3 minutes."

Willow sighed and snuggled even further into Tara's shoulder and waited for the show to start.

Chapter 3: Drifting Together

"Xander." Anya tugged on his shirt for what must have been the 17th time in the last 30 minutes.

"What?" he turned to her, tugging his shirt back into place. I swear she's gonna rip the sleeve off pretty soon.

"I'm hungry."

"Ahn, it's only," he glanced down, "10:15."

"So? I'm hungry now. I need something to eat. Food in necessary for the human body to work properly. I read it in a book somewhere. You don't want me to die of starvation do you?" she asked pointedly.

She comes up with the craziest ways of thinking. Xander sighed and shook his head in defeat. I'm never going to win with her. "Ok then. How 'bout some cotton candy. I'm in the mood for something sweet, full of cottony- fluff." He looked to Anya for approval but her attention was somewhere else.

They strode over to the cotton candy booth and stood in line. About 4 people were in front of them. He fished in his pocket for his wallet and pulled out some money for 2 cotton candies. Something caught his attention as his placed his wallet back into his pocket.

"Hey Anya, look." He pointed to a large sign that read PIRATES. "Looks kinda cool, is a cheesy kinda way. Wanna check it out later?"

Anya shook her head. "Not really. They probably have it totally messed up anyway. I mean they make pirates out to be so cliché. It's nothing like it really was back then. All this stereotypical nonsense about them having hooks for arms, wooden legs, all lies."

Xander's eyes widened. "What about the parrots?" "Oh, they had parrots. Not so much as having them for pets, more like roasting them to a crisp and having them for dinner, but other than that." She shrugged.

Turning to look at the entrance she said, "Besides, who would want to waste their time by watching something so fake and unrealistic when they could just -" Before she could finish her statement the doors opened and several people walked out, signaling that the latest show had just ended.

Anya turned back around to Xander to continue what she was saying before when Xander suddenly put up his hands and waved to someone behind her. She turned and saw Willow and Tara walking out of the theater, heads together, giggling about something.

Xander continued flailing his arms around, but was unsuccessful in getting his friends to notice him. Finally, obviously seeing that his attempt to get them was going nowhere fast, he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted their names loudly.

***

Willow and Tara quickly snapped their heads up and looked for the person who was calling to them. They quickly spotted Xander, waving them over and trotted over to him.

"Hey Xand!" Willow said as the two lovers reached them. "What're you two doing here I thought you were going on the rides?"

"We were but then Anya got a case of the munchies." Xander explained.

"Oh, well we were just heading over to the Log Flume. There aren't any good shows on so we're gonna start with the ride-riding' too." Willow said. Tara confirmed Willow's statement with a quick nod of her head.

"That's where we were headed too. We'll come with you." Anya told the two witches. She moved away from the line.

"We were?" Xander asked. Anya nodded. "Okay then. Uh, do you still want your cotton candy?"

"No, I'll just get some later," she said, yanking the 20 he held in his hand away from him and pocketing it. "I'll just keep this safe for now." She said smiling.

As they started moving away in the direction of the ride they heard someone shouting.

"WAIT UP YOU GUYS!!!!"

"WAIT FOR US!!!"

The four of them turned around and saw 2 figures struggling to catch up to them. Willow and Tara took one look at the people standing in front of them and burst out laughing. Willow leaned against Tara to keep herself from falling over and Tara quickly took out her camera and snapped a quick shot.

Buffy had a large blue and green caterpillar wrapped around her neck, the end of it dragging along the ground. In her hands she held a stuffed dog in the breed of a Dalmatian, some large neon-green sunglasses, a large stuffed frog, a Scooby-Doo dog, a small stuffed owl, and a small, round, fuzzy thing that looked curiously like a Furby. They were all stacked on top of each other, and only a fraction of her face was visible.

Dawn had a similar looking caterpillar with a different color of blue and green, along with a reddish looking alien, a stuffed bunny, 2 small kooshballs, a stuffed snake that looked anything but realistic, and to top it off she was balancing a basketball on top of it.

"A little help here," came the muffled voice of Buffy from behind her large stack of all things fluffy.

Xander guided them to a bench where they collectively dumped all their stuff. It took up the whole bench. "Good God that's a lot of stuff!" Xander looked at the Summer's sisters with newfound respect.

"Well we do try." Dawn replied, giggling.

"How many games did you guys play?" Anya asked incredulously.

"Almost all of them.but then we ran out of money." Buffy replied sheepishly.

"Oh, we got Willow and Anya each a little present." Dawn said, an evil smirk on her face, unnoticed by both Willow and Anya who both scampered over to her holding out their hands in unison.

"Oh gimme, gimmie!" Anya said excitedly.

Dawn pulled out 2 stuffed animals from behind her back and both Anya and Willow shrieked so loudly that they could have both put an opera singer out of business. They both backpedaled furiously before turning and running to their respected partners. Anya nearly jumped into Xander's arms as Willow ran and hid behind Tara. Xander and Tara looked at each other and shrugged, before looking over to what Dawn was holding out. In Dawn's hands were a stuffed bunny and a stuffed frog.

Dawn smiled innocently. "What, you guys don't like your prezzies?"

"What are you doing holding that revolting creature!? That's pure evil! Evil I tell you!" Anya shrieked at Dawn who continued smiling. Xander stood, trying to calm Anya down.

Willow, not as hysterical as Anya kept standing behind Tara, not saying anything, but simply glaring at the offending creature.

Tara patted Willow's hand, before turning and giving Dawn a look of mock anger. She held it only for a few seconds before giving up and giggled helplessly. Willow gave Tara a disbelieving look. "Are you laughing at me?"

"What?" Tara backpedaled. "No, no, of course not honey. I'd never laugh at you." She tried to straighten her face but she failed again. She sobered quickly after seeing the look on Willow's face. Willow suddenly grinned, signaling to Tara that she was just teasing. Tara let out a sigh of relief as Willow started giggling with her.

Dawn had wiped the innocent look off her face as she went over to stand next to her older sister who just stood there laughing.

Xander had finally calmed Anya down, after several minutes. "Calm down Hon, it was just a stuffed animal."

Anya nodded. "Just keep that thing away from me."

Xander gave Dawn a look as she stuffed the animal into her backpack. Her eyes widened. "Hey it was Buffy's idea, she's the one who won both of 'em."

"Sure she was." Tara told the teen. Dawn quickly changed the subject. "So, where are we headed?"

"Water-rides. Log Flume." Willow replied.

"Oh goodie." Buffy clapped. "Well what're we waiting for? Let's go."

She picked up her caterpillar and started moving away but stopped when Xander coughed loudly. "Uh, Buff, you forgetting something?" he pointed to the large bench where the rest of the prizes were scattered about.

"Uh huh?" Buffy stared blankly at him. "What about them?" she asked.

"You just gonna leave 'em there?"

"Of course not silly." She replied, flashing her white teeth. "You're carrying them." She said matter-or-factly.

"What?" Xander asked, baffled.

"You heard me." Buffy stated clearly and began walking away, Dawn on her tail.

Willow rolled her eyes and grabbed the two koosh-balls, shoving them in her backpack along with the alien. She also picked up the owl, while Tara took possession of the stuffed Dalmatian and the bunny.

Xander stuffed the nasty-looking Furby thing and the nonrealistic snake into his backpack and he carried the frog. That left Anya with the basketball. After collecting all the items the group stalked off together, heading towards the Log Flume.

TBC.



Chapter 4: The Log Flume

After making their way to the ride the gang all stopped to take a quick breather while Xander, Anya, and Dawn made a bathroom break. As soon as they got back they headed into the line. Fortunately for them, they had found a stand where they could dump their stuff during the ride.

The line for the Log Flume was not a long one so there was little complaining from Anya. During the wait Xander, Anya, and Buffy talked about what they had done so far, while a cute blonde guy flirted with Dawn. That left Willow and Tara in their own little world. Willow leaned over to Tara and whispered something in her ear and they both giggled. Then they grabbed each other's hands and raced around the corner where they could have a little privacy.

After a while, the guy Dawn was talking to left and left Dawn gazing after him with a sultry gaze. Dawn turned around and began a conversation with her sister.

"I'm bored. How long is this stupid line gonna take?" Dawn asked.

"I don't know." Buffy shrugged. "Hey what happened to that guy? He certainly wasn't hard on the eyes."

"His girlfriend came back." Dawn said dully.

Buffy's eyes widened. "Oh." She said simply.

Dawn's eyes turned to Xander and Anya who had been making-out for the last 10 minutes or so. "Do they ever come up for air." She asked puzzled.

Buffy shrugged again. She had in fact been wondering the same thing.

"Hey, where's Willow and Tara?"

"I don't know. Tara dragged Willow of somewhere a couple minutes ago. She didn't say much, just said they'd be back in a sec and then they bolted."

Dawn smiled a knowing grin. "I bet I know where they went."

"DAWN!!" Buffy shrieked.

"What?" she asked innocently. Buffy just glared at her as Dawn tried hard not to burst out laughing. Buffy sobered as her thoughts turned to how much she wanted someone to be with. Willow had Tara and Xander had Anya. She wanted her significant other. I hate being the 5th wheel.when do I get to meet my night-in-shining armor? Buffy sighed.

"You'll find someone Buffy."

"What?" she asked startled, turning to Dawn.

"You heard me. You'll find someone. It wasn't Angel, and it wasn't Riley.but he's out there. You'll find him.or her." She added as an after though, thinking of Willow and Tara.

"You think?"

Dawn gave her sister a hug. "I know it."

A bright flash of light suddenly filled Buffy and Dawn's vision and a small click was heard, signaling that someone had taken a picture. They turned and saw Xander standing there, camera in hand. "Xander Harris! Private sister bonding moment here!" Buffy said in mock anger.

"Sorry Buff, but Will brought at least 3 cameras and she swore to me that if I didn't fill at least 2 of them that she'd have my head. Now who am I to argue with that?" Xander explained. He looked around and realized that 2 of their group were missing.

"Speaking of a red-hair powerful lesbian witch, where is our little Willster?" He was looking at Buffy, but Dawn was first to answer. "Tara dragged her off for some private smoochie-time." She told him. "Which you should look into by the way."

Xander stood there, pondering this for a moment. A slight bit of drool could be seen coming from the left corner of his mouth as he imagined what exactly his best friend and her golden-haired witch could be doing at this very moment. A furious looking Anya snapped him out of his daydream as she hit him hard on the shoulder.

"Oww!" Xander yelped. "And might I add a big 'yeow' to that notion." He rubbed his shoulder gingerly, grimacing slightly. He was sure there would be a bruise their tomorrow.

"Xander! You're only supposed to be thinking those thoughts about me! Not Willow and her lesbian!" Anya shouted at him, getting several weird looks from a few people standing nearby them.

"Hey guys, what'd we miss?" Willow asked cheerfully. She and Tara had come back from their mini-make out session and they were both still a bit flustered.

"Oh nothing. Just Xander drooling over the image of you too doing the kissy face thing." Dawn told them. Buffy stared at her, God she's full of surprises today.

"Okay, that's the end of this little ditty," Buffy said, holding her hands up, leaving no room for discussion.

*** The car in which the ride was ridden in could seat up to 4 people if 2 sat in one large seat. The first one came and Xander and Anya took the front, Xander sitting behind Anya so Anya could lean on him, and Buffy and Dawn in the back, Dawn sitting behind Buffy because she had finally grown slightly taller than her sister. There were no seatbelts on the ride and nothing to strap them in by, so they just held onto the metal bars that were placed on either side of them. Willow and Tara got into the one after them. All 6 of them buckled down, in their own separate logs, and enjoyed the ride.





Chapter 5: Alpengeist

"Where to next gals?" Xander clapped his hands together and looked around at the 5 girls surrounding him. I really need male friends.

"Something fast! Xander, you never took me on something fast and you said you would!" Anya complained.

"Well we were going to Ahn, but then you had to go on the kiddie bumper cars, remember?" He reminded her, patiently.

"Oh yes, that was fun!" she said brightly.

"Kiddie bumper cars?" Buffy asked Xander quizzically.

Xander sighed. "Yep."

Dawn looked up at him. "But the kiddie one? Why not just the regular one?"

"Well, Anya wanted to go on the kiddie one," he grabbed Anya around the waist and spun her toward him. "And my Anya gets what my Anya wants." He kissed her.

When they broke it off Anya had a huge grin on her face. "I love you Xander. You're so much better than the scum I used to torture back in my vengeance days." She sighed thinking of her demon days before turning to Xander once again and grinning even wider, recalling some of her more glorious moments. She began to open her mouth to tell some of the more gruesome stories before Tara, who knew what was coming, cut her off.

"So, Anya, by fast you mean roller coaster right?" Willow, Buffy, and Dawn gave her a tiny smile of thanks.

"Of course. What else is faster than a roller coaster in this pathetic excuse for a park? I'll tell you, I've been around and this isn't all you guys think it's cracked up to be. In fact, when I was a demon -" Xander clasped his hand over Anya's mouth.

"Ahn, could you please - OUCH!" he yelled, yanking his hand away from Anya's mouth. "You bit me!" he stared at her disbelievingly before examining his hand further. Willow, Tara, Buffy, and Dawn all sniggered lightly.

Anya just looked at him and shrugged. "Now as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by Xander." she stopped talking when everyone around her groaned. "What?"

Before anyone could say anything Dawn jumped in. "Hey, Anya, what coaster did you say you wanted to go on?"

"I'm not sure. What's a good one? A fast one, I mean?" Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as Anya's attention was diverted to roller coasters instead of 'old times'.

"Well, the Big Bad Wolf is a good one." Dawn said.

"No, that one's too puny, it doesn't go upside down." She suddenly brightened. "OH! How about Alpengeist!" it wasn't a question, but a statement. Everyone agreed except Willow who slowly raised her hand.

"Um, guys?" she said uneasily. "Um, are you sure we should go on the roller coasters? I mean, they're all.big, and scary and stuff. And, and, I read in an article once that they weren't safe." She shook her head back and forth. "Yeah, and it said that chances are you could get stuck up there, and then there could be a storm, and then we'd all get hit by lightning, and then probably die, cause ya know, lighting would probably kill you and all, and then-"

"Will! Breath." Xander told her.

Willow stopped her babble and looked down sheepishly. Dawn grinned and stepped closer to Willow. "Oh my God, Willow are you afraid of roller coasters?"

Willow nodded and turned slightly red. Dawn and Buffy chuckled and shook their heads.

"Well you guys can go on it and me and Tara will wait for you guys. You don't like the roller coasters either, do you Tar?" Willow turned to her girlfriend expecting to see her nodding her head, but instead saw that Tara had a sorry grin on her face and slowly shook her head. Willow stared at her disbelievingly.

"Tara!" she almost yelled.

"Sorry baby, but I love roller coasters. They're my favorite thing about amusement parks." She moved towards Willow and lifted her chin up. "But I'll wait with you, okay? They can go on the ride and we'll just wait here. Doing nothing." She looked down for a moment, before looking up, and mock frown on her face, clearly signifying that she wanted to go on the ride with the rest of the gang.

"No, it's okay, baby. I'll just look in the gift shop while I wait." She told her, but Tara still had a slight frown on her face. "What?"

Tara looked at her pleadingly. "Come on it with us! Please, sweetie, there's nothing to be scared of." Willow looked at Tara, not convinced. Tara leaned close to her, wrapping her arms around Willow and leaning her forehead against Willow's. "I'll protect you." She pouted again.

Willow gave in. "Okay! Fine!" Tara turned and grinned victoriously at Buffy, Dawn, Anya, and Xander who were all clapping. She bowed, still beaming at her accomplishment of getting Willow to bend to her will.

***

They all filed into line and waited. And waited. Then they waited a little bit more.

It wasn't a crowded day at the park, which was actually kind of surprising as it was the park's 10th year anniversary. Usually there were a ton more people but today it seemed a lot slower, however, it seemed as if all the people were going on this one ride.

They had been waiting at least 30 minutes before they were finally through the turnstile. Xander wanted to ride in the middle, where there was a smaller line, but Anya insisted that they all ride in the front. They agreed, knowing they'd never get anywhere if they argued. So Xander, Anya, Buffy, and Dawn all went to the first row, while Tara and Willow got the 2nd row.

Everyone piled into his or her seat and the ride began.

In the 2nd row.a commotion began. As soon as the cart started moving towards the first big drop, Willow started freaking.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!" Willow hyperventilated. "I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die! I just know I'm gonna die!"

"Willow, honey, I'm right here, you're gonna be fine." Tara said soothingly, taking Willow's shaking hand into her own, brushing her fingers over Willow's knuckles again and again.

After a few seconds, Willow's breathing slowed a little and as soon as Tara thought she had calmed Willow down.

"Oh Willow," Anya turned her head as far as the bar holding her in would let her manage, "did I mention how big a drop the first drop is?"

Willow froze, lip trembling.

Dawn went along with bantering. "Yeah, Anya isn't it like, a 150 foot drop or something?"

Buffy cut in, "You guys, stop freaking Willow out." She grinned mischievously. "And it's a 170 foot drop, not 150."

All color drained from Willow's face as she clung painfully to Tara's hand, which had started to lose all circulation.

Xander cringed; for he knew from experience how loud Willow could scream. He for one, felt somewhat sorry for Tara, who was going to be right next to the screaming witch once they went down that first drop, which was rapidly coming nearer.

Tara shouted at Buffy, "Buffy Summers do not add to this insanity!" Buffy just laughed

"What? It's true. And Willow's scientist-gal, I just though she'd wanna know how far she's plummeting."

"BUFFY!" Willow shrieked.

Suddenly, they were at the top of the coaster and the cart went down.

Willow screamed so loudly, Tara thought for sure she wouldn't be able to hear for at least a week. She would have, in fact, yanked her hand away from Willow to cover her ears if the other girl didn't have such a tight grip on it.

***

As they got off the ride, Tara cradled her left ear with both her hands.

Willow, who had screamed bloody murder the entire time, looked at everyone and grinned. "Lets do that again!"

Tara grimaced. "Oh no!" she moaned.

Willow turned to her, "Oh, baby, I'm sorry!" she quickly apologized, remembering how she had yelled in Tara's ear the entire time.

Tara smiled at her. "It's okay sweetie, see, the ringing is already going away." Tara took her hand away from her ear. Willow brushed a stray strand of hair that had fallen out of Tara's messy pony-tail out of her face, before moving her hands down Tara's body and resting on her waist. They grinned stupidly at each other, for what reason, they did not know. Just being together made them smile at each other.

"Come on, let's go see the pictures!" Anya broke the tender moment.

They all followed a retreating Anya to where the pictures were. As soon as the gang saw the picture they were all in, everyone started howling with laughter.

Each, Buffy, Dawn, Xander, and Anya had their hands in the air. Buffy and Dawn's hair was sticking straight up so they looked like Alfalfa on a bad hair day, while Anya's tongue was flopping out of her mouth, her eyes squinted shut but still partially opened. Xander had his arm in an awkward angle and his face was screwed up in puzzlement. He had attempted to make a funny hand signal, but had only accomplished in getting his hand stuck.

Meanwhile, in the 2nd row, it showed Willow and Tara with two empty seats near them. Luckily the picture had been taken at a left-viewed angle so the two witches could be seen clearly. Willow had her hand clutching madly at Tara's while her mouth was open so wide it looked as if her entire fist could have easily fit right into the gaping whole. Tara, on the other hand, had her eyes tightly shut, trying to block out Willow's scream while her mouth was twisted into a laughing grin.

Willow, Xander, and Buffy each went up to buy their own picture, granted that it was the exact same one. They put the pictures away and set out for their next ride.

TBC.



Chapter 6: The Merry-Go-Round

After making a quick restroom break, the gang headed over to where they had dropped off their stuffed animals. They collected the gear and started off.

"Where to next guys?" Buffy asked, repositioning her caterpillar, whom she had dubbed the name Rufus, back onto her shoulders into a more comfortable position.

"Another roller coaster!" Willow said instantly, hopping up and down excitedly.

"Well what's the closest one?"

Tara looked down at the map she was carrying and found the nearest coaster. "Um, the map says the closest one is Apollo's Chariot."

"Okay then, off we go." Dawn trudged off, leading the way to the ride.

They had been walking for about 3 minutes without incident, when suddenly Anya screeched to a halt. Xander, who had been walking behind her, ran into her.

"Ahn?" Xander asked questioningly after regaining his balance. Anya pointed somewhere to her left, a giddy smile set on her face.

Everyone followed to where her finger was pointing.

"What?" Dawn asked.

"What do you mean what?" Anya told her, "it's right there, we have to go on that."

Dawn raised her eyebrows. "You're kidding right?"

Anya shook her head, "No I'm not."

Dawn looked at her, "The merry-go-round?"

Anya looked at her with an expression on her face that suggested Dawn had gone slightly mental. "Of course! You can't not go on the merry-go-round when you go to a place like this. It's a tradition! Everyone must go on it." She said this as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Tara and Willow giggled at the look of skepticism on Dawn's face.

She sighed dramatically, "Fine, whatever."

They all headed toward the line before Xander stopped them with a cough to get their attention.

"What?" Buffy asked as she stopped.

"Um, ya know, as much fun as the merry-go-round sounds, I'd rather just stay here and." he thought momentarily to come up with an excuse, "and guard the stuffed animals!" he finally told them. "You don't want someone coming and stealing em all so I'll just stay over here and watch over them."

Anya rolled her eyes, "Fine, stay here and miss out on the tradition." She shoved the basketball she had been carrying into her fiancé's arms before heading to the line.

Everyone handed their things to Xander. They had to stop every one in a while to rearrange things in his arms so that nothing would fall on the ground. Once they had succeeded in this task they all laughed lightly in Xander's suspense and began to head over to join Anya before Willow stopped them.

"Hang on guys, lemme just do something real quick." She went over to Xander, whose face wasn't visible behind the load in his arms and reached into his pocket. Xander jumped a little.

"Will?" he questioned.

Tara, however, knew exactly what her girlfriend was doing and she giggled quietly. Dawn soon caught on and joined Tara in her laughter. Buffy, however, who was surely the slowest of them all to catch onto things, looked at both of them blankly.

Willow fished around in his pocket, obviously looking for something before grinning wildly and pulling a small camera out of his pocket.

"A-hah!" she said triumphantly.

Buffy smiled. Oh, I get it.

Willow took a few steps away before turning back to him, and aiming the camera. Right before she took the shot, Tara intervened. "Wait a sec."

She walked over to Xander and moved the basketball slightly to his right so his face was remotely visible before quickly heading back to Willow's side, who's hands were up poised, reading for the perfect moment. Xander's eyes widened when he figured out what Willow was going to do.

"Will, no -" he began to protest, but it was too late.

Click. Flash. The picture had been taken.

Willow bounced over to Xander happily and put the camera back into his pocket. She grinned as she told him plainly. "Payback."

Then the four girls, still giggling, headed over to where Anya stood in line impatiently.

***

As the gang, minus Xander, climbed onto the ride they each wandered around, pondering which horse to sit on. They clambered up to the 2nd level of the ride and searched for the perfect seat.

"Oh, there!" Dawn pointed to 5 empty horses, all near each other. Dawn clambered onto a brown horse with a white mane, while Buffy got onto the one beside it, which was pure black. Behind them, Anya sat on a tan horse with a white star on its forehead. Beside her, Willow and Tara both occupied the same horse; it was a tight fit, but they managed it.

Anya looked at them and raised her eyebrows, before shaking her head and muttering under her breath, "Lesbians."

The ride began.

In front of them, Dawn and Buffy were striking silly poses and faces while mocking one another and Anya just sat on her horse, a look of glee on her face, waving to Xander furiously and sticking her tongue out at him. Unfortunately for her he had his camera out and was at a perfect angle to take a picture of her, tongue sticking out and everything. She scowled at him as she went out of view and when she came back into view, her grin was back on her face.

***

Not much happened over the next 30 minutes or so. They had ridden Apollo's Chariot after waiting in line for about 20 minutes, only this time it was Willow, Tara, Buffy, and Dawn who sat in front, and Xander and Anya who sat behind them. After riding the 210 foot roller coaster they had decided to head to one or two more rides before taking a break and having lunch. They couldn't choose which ride to go on next so instead they decided to just walk around and go on whatever they passed. So far, nothing of interest had come up. Until.

"Oh, we have to go on that!" Willow pointed to a sign with great enthusiasm.

"What?" Xander said looking to where Willow was pointing, "I don't see anything."

She rolled her eyes, "There, right there! It's the LaMans!"

Xander looked at her blankly, clearly not knowing what she was talking about.

Willow sighed exasperatedly and put it into terms he would understand, "The car ride, Xander. You know, the one with the track and you get in the old fashion cars?"

"Oooooh! So that's what it's called! I get it now!" Xander perked up.

"Well ya learn something new everyday," Willow muttered under her breath so no one could hear her, however, Tara caught exactly what had been said and gently nudged Willow.

"Be nice," she told her, receiving a small pout as a reply.

"Lets go then." Buffy said, leading the way.

There was no line to wait in so they just walked through the empty rows to the turnstile.

Dawn, Anya, Willow, and Tara had somehow managed to get in front of her, and as she raced through the turnstile to catch up with them something jerked her back. "Ow!" she yelled. Rufus's head had gotten smashed between the bars of the turnstile, yanking her backwards. She growled and muttered some non-PG comments as she untangled him and stormed over to where her sniggering friends waited for her.

Each car seated two people, which was perfect in Willow and Tara's mind. However, as Willow clambered into a blue car, Tara was yanked back from the car by Buffy, who sat in her place.

"Oh no you two don't. You both get in the same car then none of us will ever get through the ride. We'd be stranded behind you while you guys do the smoochie thing under some random bridge." Buffy said defiantly as the employee working there gave the three of them a very bemused look as he strapped Buffy and Willow into the cart.

Willow's bottom lip was sticking out in a full-fledged pout as she looked at Buffy, who just grinned at her and stepped on the gas as they zoomed away. Willow turned to look at Tara who looked as if someone had just stolen her puppy, before they turned a corner and went out of site.

Xander climbed into the next car, soon followed by Anya. They speed off, following the path that Willow and Buffy had taken. That left the last car to Dawn and Tara.

***

Willow glared at Buffy, "That was just plain mean, missy."

"What? Will, come on, you know it was true!" Buffy told her, "We both know that if you and Tar had gone together there would be no fun had.well," her brow furrowed slightly, "Not the kind of fun your supposed to have." She shook her head, trying to clear it, "My point Will, is that we both know if you got into the same car it would just be a repeat of the merry-go-round." Willow's eyes widened and she blushed.

Buffy grinned as she heard Willow mutter a few inappropriate comments toward her. She was about to say something about where they had disappeared to in the Alpengeist line, but she didn't have the change because just then the car they were riding in suddenly lurched forward.

"What the -" Buffy turned around and saw Anya, a gleam in her eye, in a car not but a few feet behind them. "Anya!" Buffy shouted as Anya smashed into them again.

"Anya!" Buffy shouted, looking over her shoulder while also trying to accelerate further to get away, "This is NOT the bumper cars!"

Anya's face fell into a pout. "Ruin my fun." She said as she slowed down, letting Buffy and Willow speed away.well, not speed, but gradually get farther in front of them seeing as how slow the cars were.

Behind then, Tara and Dawn had witnessed the whole thing. They looked at each other for a split second before bursting out into fits of hysterical laughter.

"Oh.my.Goddess!" Tara said between gasps, "Did you see the look on Willow's face? If only we had gotten a picture of that!"

Dawn shook her head and smirked, holding up a camera and shaking it in front of Tara's face as Tara drove on. "I guess it's a good thing I took one then." She said composedly.

"Dawn! You sneaky thief! I didn't even see you take the picture!" Tara said, laughing once more.

"Well, it's not my fault you were too busy watching Willow." She told the older witch. "But you might want to get a napkin to wipe the drool off your face."

Tara glared playfully at Dawn, who just smiled up at her and pocketed the camera, before continuing driving.

When Dawn and Tara finally finished the ride, the rest of their party greeted them. Tara got out of the vehicle and instantly went to Willow's side, "Miss me?" she asked. Willow grinned.

Dawn, who had been watching the exchange, made a loud choking noise, "God, can you guys go for 3 seconds without each other?" Dawn rolled her eyes, "Geeze! You two would make Martha Stewart throw up." Willow rolled her eyes and they followed the rest of the group, heading to lunch.

TBC.



Chapter 7: The Effects of Previously Eaten Baby Back Ribs



After spending an hour to each lunch, it was around 1 o'clock. The Scoobies, all with very full stomachs collected their things and headed onwards slowly.

Xander walked with a bit of a hunch. "Oh boy.I think I ate to much." He told them, holding his stomach.

Willow laughed lightly, "Aww, poor lil' Xander. Guess you ate one-to-many baby back ribs." Dawn snorted, instantly thinking of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.

Buffy rolled her eyes at her little sister, knowing exactly what she was thinking.

Tara looked at them, somewhat confused by the little outburst from Dawn, before shrugging and realizing that she really didn't want to know.

They walked along, Xander moaning every once in a while, before Dawn veered away from the group.

"Dawn? Where ya going?" Buffy called. Dawn waved the group over and nodded towards the ride that was in front of them.

"Please tell me you're joking," Xander asked her looking at the ride she wanted to go on next. It was the Teacups. He clutched his stomach even tighter, as if it would somehow lessen the pain.

"Nope. I love this ride!" Dawn said. "Come on, you're telling me you don't?"

Xander shook his head, "Oh no, I do, I'd just rather leave my shirt clean for now, instead of having to change it due to the supreme barf that would get all over it. And I really can't stress how much I don't want to see my lunch again, as good as it was." He explained.

"Oh, don't be such a baby," Buffy smacked him lightly in the stomach, rolling her eyes. Xander doubled over and groaned loudly.

Realization dawned on Buffy, "Oh, sorry!" she cringed. Xander held up a hand and stood up, giving her a small smile that look much more like a grimace. "So kay."

"If you guys don't mind I think I'll just sit out of this one," he told them, slowly walking toward a bench that was nearby before Anya stepped in his way.

"Oh no you don't mister." She grabbed his arm and yanked him away from the bench, "You're coming with us even if I have to get Buffy to carry you on!"

Buffy nodded, "And you know I will, Xand."

Xander groaned, giving up. "Fine," he huffed, before following them, hands still over his stomach.

As they waited in line, they decided who would be sitting where. Four people were able to sit in one teacup, so it was decided that Buffy and Dawn would sit in one, and Willow and Tara another. Anya and Xander, however, were a different story.

Anya shook her head, looking at Xander who was had turned a little green. "No way, I'm not sitting next to him!" she stepped away from them, over to Buffy and Dawn. "I'll sit with you guys." This meant that Willow and Tara were forced to share their teacup.

"Damn," Willow mumbled under her breath.

The time finally came where they were all allowed to go on the floor and find their teacups. Buffy, Dawn, and Anya claimed one in the middle of the floor, while Willow, Tara, and Xander clambered into one right next to it.

As the ride began, Dawn, Buffy, and Anya looked like they were having a grand ol' time, while Willow and Tara were doing the best the could to stay out of Xander's line of fire if he all of a sudden blew.

He looked as if he was trying very hard not to throw up on the two witches, whom had both scooted as far away as possible from him.

Tara looked worriedly over to Willow, "M-maybe it wasn't such a good idea that we went on this.particular ride." She gulped as she saw Xander swallow hard, trying to keep his lunch at bay. "Oh boy."

The teacups, which were spinning around and around, had begun to make Willow feel slightly dizzy and she leaned into Tara. "Uuuuh," she moaned, "I think your right." She closed her eyes, trying to stop the blurs that were coming from all angles. Willow buried her face into the crook of Tara's neck, hoping to lessen the headache she had gotten from all the blurs as the spun faster and faster. She looked up at a particularly loud moan from Xander and realized that he must feel at least ten times worse than her.

As the ride finally slowed, Tara was looking quite terrified. Both people in her compartment looked particularly sick, and she for one, did not want to get thrown up on. Willow placed her head back into Tara's neck until the ride had come to a complete stop. Buffy's teacup passed theirs and Tara saw that all three people looked completely unfazed.

***

"Oh my God, you guys look at Tara!" Dawn pointed out as they passed Tara's teacup when the ride finally slowed. She had a look on her face of complete misery mixed with concern. Anya laughed.

"Oh, poor Tara!" Buffy said, chuckling. "I wish we had Xander's camera! That would make such a great shot!"

Dawn grinned hugely and reached in her pocket. "You mean this one?"

Buffy's eyes widened for a moment before grinning widely and yanking the camera out of Dawn's hands. She made sure the flash was on before raising it to her eye, poised, waiting for their teacups to pass again so she could get the perfect shot. It was a good thing the teacups were slowing down; otherwise when she took the picture, it would have surly been one big blur. Tara's teacup came from the left side of theirs and turned at the perfect angle and Buffy took the picture.

It had Tara looking completely miserable, with Willow's face buried into her neck, eyes scrunched up tightly. Xander was looking particularly sick, looking so green he could have been confused with ripe lettuce. It looked as if he was trying very hard to keep his previously eaten baby back ribs in his stomach for at least a few more minutes until he could get off the ride and find a bathroom.or a nice bush.

Tara looked up wearily when a flash of bright light obscured her vision, causing her to blink a few times to clear the stars from flashing in her eyes. She saw the camera Buffy was holding and glared at her, sticking her tongue out. Buffy returned the gesture playfully and handed the camera back to Dawn.

***

"Uuugh!" Willow moaned again as their teacup jerked to a stop. She looked up from Tara's shoulder. "Everything's all spin-y." She said, blinking.

Tara rolled her eyes and helped her out of the teacup door, which had been opened by Xander as soon as the ride had stopped. Tara had seen him fumble with the lock momentarily before putting both hands over his mouth and bolting from the ride to the nearest bathroom, which, luckily for him had been right next to the ride.

Tara took Willow's shaky hand and escorted her slowly out of the teacup and out the exit, to where Buffy, Dawn, and Anya were waiting for them.

"Where's Xander?" Dawn asked.

"Bathroom," Anya answered. She too had seen him run to the bathroom.

"Oh."

Willow groaned, leaning on Tara. Buffy trotted over to them and helped Tara guide Willow over to a bench.

"Ride getcha sick Will?" Buffy questioned.

Willow nodded, "Dizzy ." She blinked a few more times. After a few more seconds, the dizziness slowly left. Willow sat a few more moments before finally getting up, shaking her head. "Okay, all gone."

"Good," Buffy nodded. "Now, lets go collect barf-boy from the bathroom." And with a flip of her hair, she began heading towards the bathrooms.

TBC.



Chapter 8: Finding Xander

Buffy, Willow, Tara, Dawn, and Anya had been sitting in front of the guys bathroom for at least 5 minutes, and they were all getting mildly restless.

"Where is he?" Anya wined, "It can't take him that long!"

No one had an answer so they all just shrugged.

"Well, I'm not waiting around any longer." Anya said, standing up and began walking away.

"Anya, where are you -" Anya strutted right up to the boy's bathroom door and went into it, banging the door open as she went.

"- going?" Buffy finished lamely.

The four remaining ladies could her some muffled yells behind the still- open door, and then a loud "Xander?" could be heard from the inside. Doors opening and shutting loudly could be heard, which was undoubtedly Anya searching for her missing fiancé.



About a minute later, an angry looking Anya stormed out of the bathroom, huffing. "He's not in there!" she glared at the door, "I opened every single stall door and he wasn't in any one of them!"

Buffy, Dawn, and Willow chortled at Anya's display.

She turned to them, "What's so funny?"

Dawn looked up at her from where she sat and choked out a "nothing" before raising her hand to her mouth, trying to muffle her very loud and obvious giggles. This however, did nothing but make Buffy and Willow laugh even harder.

Tara sat with a small smile on her face. She, for one, wasn't going to engage in the wrath of Anya. "Anya, I'm sure we'll find him. Why don't you just go in the bathroom.uh, the-the other bathroom, and just splash some water on your face, okay?"

"Okay," Anya sighed dejectedly.

"We'll be right back," Tara told the others, who were still in fits of giggles.

Tara led Anya around the shop separating the boys and girls bathrooms, and she opened the door for Anya. They were no other people in the vicinity, which Tara thought, was a little odd. Anya wrinkled her nose at the smell of the bathroom and went over to the sink to splash some water over her face. She repeated the process a few times while Tara walked to where the mirrors were.

She frowned at her reflection. Some of her hair had come undone from the ponytail she had hastily put up after going on the log flume. Tara blushed a little when she remembered the ride as she undid her ponytail and put it into a new one, which was much less messy. All of a sudden she heard a toilet flush, and whipped around to scan the area. She had though the only occupants of the bathroom were she and Anya. Apparently she had been wrong. She shrugged it off and turned back to look in the mirror, examining herself and trying as best she could to fix her hair, which, at the moment, seemed nearly impossible to do.

Anya had finished washing her face and called to Tara. "You coming?"

"In a sec. Let me just freshen up a bit." Tara answered.

"Whatever," Anya called, before Tara heard the door close, signaling that Anya had left. She turned away from the full-body mirror and went to the sink where Anya had been moments ago and washed her hands. She looked up to see her reflection once more.



The end stall opened suddenly, as Tara saw in the mirror, and a large shape backed out of it. Tara studied the figure in the mirror. Hey, that looks a lot like -

"Xander!" she said, rushing to him. He looked rather winded as he leaned against the stall door, breathing heavily.

"Remind me never ever to get ribs again.or at least." his cheeks puffed out a little, "not so many of 'em," he finished. Tara nodded.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

"Yeah, I'm better." He shook his head before moving his jaw up and down and making a face of disgust, "my taste buds are telling another story though." He looked at her for a moment before asking.

"Hey, what are you doing in here anyway?" he asked her looking around. Tara bit her lip to try and keep herself from laughing.

Xander looked around, his eyes widening in horror. There are no urinals on the walls! "Oh, God!" he moaned, banging his head against the stall door lightly before stopping because well.it hurt. "This day just can't get any worse." He moaned, putting his hands on Tara's shoulder to steady himself as they began walking towards the door.

The door to the bathroom opened.

"Tar, honey?" Willow called, "You okay?" she walked into the main part of the roomy bathroom and stopped dead when she saw Tara and Xander, Xander's hands on Tara's shoulder.

Her eyes widened before she decided to mess with her best friend a little, "Xander Harris! Are you trying to steal some alone time with my girlfriend?" she scowled playfully at him, "Is that why you went into the girls bathroom? Cause lemme tell ya mister, this one here," she pointed at Tara, "she's taken." She walked over to where they were and stopped right in front of Xander, standing next to Tara who had backed away after making sure Xander could steady himself, "Xander, Xander, Xander.what would Anya say?" she shook her head, lightheartedly.

Xander rolled his eyes at her. "You're never gonna let me live this down are ya Will?"

Willow grinned. "Nope." Xander turned around and threw his hands up. When he turned back around a bright flash filled his vision, signaling that Willow had taken a picture. He blinked and glared at Willow through the stars as he patted his pocket where his camera should have been. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't there.

"Willow! What was that for?" he asked, slightly peeved.

Willow just grinned at him innocently, waving the camera she had taken off of Dawn in front of him.

Xander huffed, "Fine, whatever, let's just go." He opened the door to let Willow and Tara out. They stepped out, giggling at him as three girls appeared and went into the bathroom, looking at him strangely.

He followed the two Wiccans. "Oh, and by the way I'm fine Will, thanks for asking," he called to her sarcastically. Without turning, she lifted the arm that wasn't around Tara and gave him a thumbs up sign behind her back, before putting it down again, and snuggling farther into Tara, as they both walked back to the group.

Xander shrugged, helplessly, and trotted after them.

TBC.



Chapter 9: That Ride With the Cables

"We so need to go on something less spiny next time." Xander told everyone once he, Willow, and Tara had gotten back to the group. After, of course, Willow told Anya, Buffy, and Dawn about his little visit to the lady's room. After their fits of hysterical laughter had calmed, he had turned the conversation away from him and his minor puke fest.

"Like what?" Dawn questioned.

He thought a moment before shrugging, "I dunno."

Tara pulled out the slightly soggy map, for it had still not completely dried after the trip to the Log Flume, and opened it carefully to keep it from tearing around it's damp edges.

"Oh, here!" she said, pointing to a small designation on the map. "What about this one?"

Dawn and Buffy leaned forward to get a better look at where the blonde witch was pointing.

"The Battering Ram?" Dawn asked. "Never heard of it."

Buffy gave her a look, "Yes you have."

"No I haven't."

She sighed exasperatedly. "Dawn, yes you have. Remember? Oh come on, you used to love that ride! It's that boat one that swings back and forth."

Realization dawned over Dawn's delicate features, "Oooooh!" she looked at Buffy grinning. "I love that ride." Buffy rolled her eyes, throwing her arms up in frustration.

Willow took a closer look at the map. "Guys, it's half way around the park. Shouldn't we, ya know, go on other stuff as we gradually make our way towards it? Cause then -" Willow's mini-babble was cut off by Buffy's finger silencing her.

"We can take the Astroway." She told her girlfriend and friends. As she looked at their blank faces she explained, "You know! It's that ride on the cables that takes you to places." Everyone nodded, signaling they understood. She pointed once again at the map, "See, if we take the Astroway to there," she indicated another point on the map, "then when we got off we'd be right next to the Battering Ram." She looked up grinning. Everyone, for lack of a better plan, agreed.

As they all gathered up Buffy and Dawn's winning's and began walking towards the Astroway, Xander ran up to Willow and asked her a question that had him slightly confused.

"Hey, Will," Willow turned to him, "When did you get my camera?"

Willow grinned, "That's for me to know, and for you to never find out," she grinned.

Tara giggled, "She had very sneaky fingers," Xander's eyes rose as he waited for her to realize exactly what that sentence had implied, but was baffled when she just gave him a devious grin.

During Xander's few seconds of shock, Willow leaned into Tara and whispered so only she could hear, "Only I wasn't the one who took it."

Tara smiled, "I know." She paused, "But he doesn't." Willow grinned at Tara's playfulness.

Buffy, who had been standing next to Tara and had heard the whole thing, rolled her eyes. "You guys, give poor barf-boy a break." She laughed.

Xander narrowed his eyes, "Will you stop calling me that?" he asked, knowing fully well what the answer was going to be.

"No." Buffy said, looking at him like he had lost his marbles, "Why would I ever want to do that? Takes the fun out of mocking you." Xander rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Hey!" Anya stepped closer to Xander, defending him. "Stop making fun of Xander!" Xander looked slightly shocked at Anya's display of trying to stand up for him, but it was quickly shot down by her next words, "Besides," she continued, "he's my barf-boy, only I get to tease him." Anya patted his shoulder as Buffy and Willow chortled loudly at the look on Xander's face.

Flash. Click.

Another picture had been taken by the crafty Dawn, who had gladly taken the camera away from Willow when she had offered it back to her. Xander blinked and turned to her where she stood a few feet away, waving his camera mockingly. She giggled, "Nice shot Xander. Loved the look." She squealed as Xander took off after her, undoubtedly to get his beloved one- time use camera out of Dawn's clutches.

Buffy whistled innocently as Dawn came whizzing around Tara, followed closely by Xander, before sticking her foot out nonchalantly, making Xander tumble to the ground in the soft grass he had thankfully fallen into. "Ow!" he said, pulling himself off the ground, brushing grass off of his shorts. "What was that for?"

"What was what for?" Buffy asked, innocently.

"Oh come on!" Xander replied hastily.

"I didn't see anything," Willow told him, before turning to look at Tara. "You see anything Sweetie?"

Xander looked up at Tara hopefully before Tara shook her head, "Nope." She said, before turning to grin simply at Xander. "Not a thing." Xander's face fell.

Buffy turned to Anya, "You see anything Anya?"

Anya shook her head vigorously, grinning up at her fiancé, who had a look of defeat on his face. "What's wrong Xander? You look as if someone had just stuck out their foot and made you trip." Xander looked at her disbelievingly.

"What is this?" he asked the five girls who had positioned themselves all around him, so that he was trapped and had no means of escape. "Torture-the- Xander Day?" The girls just grinned at him, before finally easing up on him.

"Oh, we're just playing with ya Xand." Willow slapped him on the shoulder playfully.

Xander grumbled good-naturedly, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, where've I heard that before?" before they continued their trek to the Astroway.

***

Because only 4 people could fit in one cart, it was decided that Willow, Buffy, and Anya would take one cart and Tara, Xander, and Dawn would take the other.

As the cart came around, the employee opened the door for and waited for Dawn, Tara, and Xander to get in before shutting it and sending them on their way.

"See ya!" Xander called to the 3 remaining people as his cart was leaving.

"OK!" Willow shouted after him. When the next cart came around it was Willow, Buffy, and Anya who got on. With a slam of a door, and a small click, ensuring that it was locked, they were off.

TBC.