A/N: This story is based on an idea I had I filed away and forgot about. Then the other day I stumbled across it again and decided to see how it turned out. Hope y'all like it.

Prologue

When Dawn woke up that morning she did not know what to expect or even what she thought of the situation the group she considered her family found themselves in. So much had happened in the last few weeks. Willow and Tara had broken up, Willow had fallen deeper into the black magic scene, Tara had hooked up, and Dawn had honestly been shocked by this, with Buffy. Dawn hadn't even known Buffy, her older sister and guardian, liked women like that, I guess we have something in common after all, she thought as a small smile worked its way across her full lips. Buffy and Tara getting together was pretty much the only good in recent weeks. She had gotten caught stealing and was now working on paying back the stores she had ripped off. As well as Buffy now finally becoming involved in her life, Better late than never I guess, Dawns says to herself.

Things with Willow had finally come to a head a few days ago when Willow, who had been left with watching Dawn, practically no privacy when your sisters catches you committing a crime, had taken the younger girl with her to get her fix from a magic dealer named Rack. When all was said and done that night Dawn and Willow had nearly been killed by a demon, Dawn got a broken arm and a mild concussion from a car wreck, Willow found herself in danger of losing all her friends, Xander, Tara, Anya, and Buffy were extremely pissed at her for endangering Dawn. In fact if it hadn't been for a long conversation full of much debate and some begging on Dawn's part, Buffy would've kicked Willow out. After a couple hours of arguing, begging, and reasoning Dawn had convinced Buffy that as long as Willow was truly seeking help that they shouldn't push her away.

The real reason she had fought so hard on Willows behalf was due to some other things that had happened that night. Willow claimed to not remember anything between arriving at Rack's and the car crash, which may be true, but Dawn had a feeling that the redhead knew something else had happened between them. It wasn't anything inherently bad or evil or anything like that. It was actually something that had crossed Dawn's mind more and more frequently over last several months. She had felt things before when she had caught herself staring at various people, both male and female, but recently Dawn's dreams had been invaded by a certain red haired witch that she could not stop thinking about. She knew that nothing could happen between them for several reasons. With one of those reasons being Dawn being underage, she knew that was a line Willow would refuse to cross, assuming the witch felt the same way.

The youngest Summers girl was torn as to whether she should tell someone what she was going through or if it would be better to allow things to run their course. She knew it was not the right time to say anything to Willow and Buffy would most likely freak and turn more of her anger toward Willow, Xander would space out with his mind wandering to naughty places, Giles would hem and haw and furiously clean his glasses, Anya would somehow make the conversation about either money or orgasms. That left Tara, Dawn had grown close to the blonde witch over the last couple years, she had really become like a sister and surrogate mother and if Buffy managed to not fuck things up maybe sister-inlaw. The problem was Willow being Tara's ex and Dawn had no clue as to how her sister's girlfriend would react. Though she knew Tara had a kind and caring soul, she had even been able to forgive Willow for her mental rape, but Dawn could not help the nervousness she felt building up inside.

What bugged Dawn the most was that Willow had been strung out on the dark magic when she had kissed her. It hadn't gone further than just a kiss partly because of the demon that started chasing them and also because Dawn did not want to take advantage of Willow in that situation. She was having trouble not feeling bad about having kissed the witch when she was not fully in control of herself. Sighing and forcing those conflicting thoughts and emotion to the back burner for the time being as she made her way downstairs Buffy and Tara were still asleep and Willow had not left her room for the past week. So Dawn was somewhat surprised to see the Jewess sitting on a stool in the kitchen apparently staring at the wall. Dawn quietly took in the woman before her it was obvious that the redhead had not slept well with the bags and dark circles under her eyes. As she stood in the kitchen doorway she noticed how drawn Willow's face had become.

Seating herself on a stool across from the redhead, "Hey Willow. How you doing?" asked Dawn a little worried over the witch's appearance.

"Oh! Good morning Dawnie." Willow responded a little startled by the younger girl. "I'm doing, well not good, but better I think. I mean I came out of my room so that's a good sign right?" She ended with a half-hearted smile.

"Yep definitely of the good Will." Dawn replied as a smirk worked its way across her face. "Um, Willow I don't mean to overstep my bounds or anything like that, but when was the last time you ate something?"

Willow turned her head down to stare at the counter top, "Not since I almost killed you." She muttered so that Dawn barely hears her.

Dawn stepped away from her stool and went to the refrigerator and rummaged around for a few moments. "I'm not much of a cook so you'll have to settle for a bagel with cream cheese for now. I was planning on having Tara teach me how to cook, but that'll probably have to wait until I get the cast removed."

Willow let out a whimper as Dawn said "cast" and just stared at the bagel set in front of her. Dawn sighed and sat next to Willow placing her uninjured hand gently on the back of Willow's hand. Raising her casted arm she cupped Willow's chin with her hand and turned the witch's head to look her in the eye, "Look Willow, I don't like how that night ended, I thought I was gonna go see a movie with a friend. No please don't start crying, let me finish or you'll start me crying, then we'll both end up being useless blubbering messes," she said as tears started forming in Willow's emerald eyes, quickly converting to a sad smile as Dawn continued, "I'm not going to say that I'm sorry for being mad at you cause I probly had a right to be, but I'm sorry I hit you, no matter what happened I shouldn't have slapped you. I'm still kinda confused as to what's gonna happen now and I hope you do seek out help, but I do know this, I don't want to lose you as a friend. Right now it's still difficult because it's fresh in my mind and I still haven't sorted everything out yet, but I hope to be able to forgive you in the near future. Remember that even though we haven't mended everything yet I'll still be here if you need me." Dawn finished placing a gentle kiss on Willow's forehead.

Willow just sat there quietly thinking over everything little Dawnie had said, Not really such a little girl anymore. She's really matured a lot, in more ways than one…Whoa there Rosenberg! Let's stop that train of thought before it gets started we're talking serious trouble if you go down that road, I mean hello jailbait, plus the fact that she's your best friends little sister and said best friend happens to be the slayer and good God I even babble in my thoughts. The red head thought to herself as she watched Dawn fix herself something to eat, noticing for the first time how Dawn had started to fill out. Shuddering as her body began to heat up she forced those thoughts out of her mind. I think from now on I'm going to have to make sure Dawn and I aren't alone together. Damn couldn't these feelings have stayed away for a couple more years? "You've obviously been hanging out with Tara a lot; you've taken on her caring attitude." Willow said as she took a bite out of her bagel.

Dawn walked over leaning in close to the red witch, "Or maybe I'm just growing up." She said softly in Willow's ear. Causing the Wiccan's breath to catch and her eyes to close, "So do you know what you're going to do to get the magic under control?" Dawn asked as she took a bite out of a blueberry pop tart after taking her seat across the island from Willow.

Willow slowly opened her eyes as she tried to calm her senses and re-center herself. Looking at the teenager sitting across from her, "Well I have a few options, I could stay here and have Tara try to help me, but there are obvious problem of possible emotional control issues, I could have a group of witches completely remove my ability to do magic, but my chances of surviving that are slim so that would be a last resort, I think my best bet is to get training from a coven. I've actually been in contact with Giles recently and he told me that the coven in Devon offered to take me in."

Dawn nodded quietly as she listened to all Willow said, "I agree you should probably take the coven up on their offer. Devon is in England right?" Willow nodded, "We'll definitely miss you while you're gone Will. Do you know how long you'd be there?"

"I dunno for sure Dawnie," Willow shrugged, "probably at the shortest by the end of the upcoming summer."

Dawn felts a bit sad realizing she wouldn't see her friend for quite a while. "Well you better make sure to write and definitely call if you can. Otherwise I'll kick your ass when you get back. Do you know when you're leaving?"

"Giles said he could have the ticket ready as soon as I decided to go. So I think I'll leave tell him to arrange it for Saturday. That'll give me a few days to say goodbye to everyone."

Dawn suddenly dashed around the island and quickly hugged Willow, "I know we still have some things to work out, most likely after you get back, but I can't let you leave without knowing I forgive you. Kinda funny all it took was hearing that you were serious about getting help."

"I fucked up so much Dawnie. What I did to Tara, taking away her memories, I won't blame her if she can never forgive me. Then the tabula rasa spell, that could've been so bad, I honestly believed I was doing the right thing then, yes I was selfish for trying to make Tara forget, but I wanted to take away Buffy's memory of being in heaven, cause I know that's affected her attitude toward everyone since I brought her back. Then I almost killed you the other night. Goddess Dawn I've been so foolish, I'm so sorry." Willow cries as she finally breaks down in Dawn's arms.

Dawn stood there holding the witch tightly stroking her hand through Willow's hair and telling her over and over that it's going to be okay and that she forgives her. She looked up and saw Buffy and Tara standing in the kitchen doorway with tears in their eyes.

Saturday came all too quickly for the group of friends in Sunnydale. Even Spike was a little sad to see the red head leave, not that he would let any of the Scoobies see him emit any emotion aside from anger. Dawn, Buffy, Willow, Tara, and even Anya were all huddled together hugging and crying. Xander apparently had something in his eyes and was rubbing them furiously to get it out and Giles was violently scrubbing his already clean glasses. It had been decided at a Scooby meeting after Willow's conversation with Dawn, a Scooby meeting that Dawn had officially been invited to as a full-fledged member that Giles would go with Willow to the coven so there would be someone that she was familiar with. Finally all the goodbyes were said and the luggage was loaded as Giles and Willow climbed into the rental car. "Bye guys I'll miss you all. Hopefully I'll be back at the end of the summer!" Willow yelled out the window with a final wave as the car went around the corner and out of sight.

The group all stood there on the sidewalk for a few moments, except for Spike who was confined by the sun to the porch. Eventually they went back to their normal Saturday activities. Xander and Anya went to do business at the Magic Box. Spike grabbed a blanket and took off running back to his crypt. Buffy, Dawn, and Tara walked quietly back into the house. "Do you have to work today Buffy?" Dawn asked as she flopped down onto the couch.

"Yeah." Buffy sighed, "But I can call in sick and stay if you want me to be around today."

"No, that's okay I just wanna stay informed of what's going on. You know I hate being left in the dark."

"I know Dawn." Buffy responded sitting next to her sister and looking to Tara who gave her a nod. "I know I haven't been here for you like I should have been and I know that people give me an out for how I've acted since I was brought back from heaven. And while I realize that as good an excuse as that may be I don't wanna be a person who lives their life with an excuse for everything that they do. I want you to know that from now on I am going to be there for you whether you need a shoulder to cry on, if you need advice, if you need someone to vent to, or even if you need a punching bag every now and then, no matter what Dawnie. When I thought about it I realized that there are many people out there worse off than me. Sure I'm the slayer, I have to work a crappy job to pay the bills and I need to take care of my sister, which in itself is huge choir." She said nudging Dawn playfully with her shoulder, "But there are people out there going through college, working multiple jobs, and raising newborn babies on their own. I have it so easy compared to them, I have a great group of friends, who have been there with me through so much, a father figure who has done so much more for me, for us than dad ever did, I have a wonderful girlfriend who has helped me see where I've gone wrong and showed me how to make things right again," she glanced at Tara with a smile before turning back to Dawn, "and maybe most importantly I have a wonderful sister who despite my many fuck-ups is turning out to be an amazing young woman and even though there were times when she probably should have she didn't clock me upside the head with a baseball bat for my mistakes." No sooner did she finish speaking than Dawn tackled her backwards on the couch in a vice-like hug.

"Well I certainly didn't make things easy. I'm just glad you didn't give up on me over all the stealing. Don't just stand over there Tara get in here." Said Dawn pulling the blonde Wiccan into the hug.

After Buffy had left for her shift at the Double Meat Palace, Dawn and Tara went about doing whatever chores they could find to keep themselves busy. Eventually Dawn found herself standing in place thinking about Willow. Tara walked in the room after observing Dawn rooted in place for a few moments. "What are you thinking about sweetie?" asked the blonde witch. Cause the tall brunette to jump in surprise. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

"That's okay; I guess I just spaced out a bit."

"Yeah you seemed to be lost in thought. Anything you wanna talk about?" Tara asked hopefully.

The former ball of energy sighs letting her shoulders sag a little, "In a way I do, but I don't know how it'll change things. I mean if things change a certain way it would be so cool, but there are so many other ways it could go. I'm not even sure how you'll react."

Tara sat on the couch worriedly, motioning for Dawn to do the same, steeling herself and hoping she can handle whatever it is the girl has to say, "It sounds to me like this is something you NEED to talk about, but I'm not gonna force it out of you. So whenever you're ready I'll be ready to listen." She said placing her hand reassuringly on Dawn's knee.

"Okay just promise you'll save any freaking out until I've said everything I need to." Once Tara nodded Dawn continued, "Well I guess it really starts with something not so bad. I mean I'm sixteen so of course I'm going to be attracted to people right? Well I thought it was just that cause I've had thoughts about all my friends really, Xander, Willow, even Anya, and you too." Dawn blushed a deep shade of red as did Tara, "But lately one of my...attractions? ...infatuations? Anyway it's gone beyond that and the thing is on top of not knowing how this person feels I don't know how the rest of you will feel about the possibility of me being with them, more so than the normal nervousness."

"Dawn I don't know what I can say to alleviate your fears, but I promise to do my best to accept whatever you tell me." Tara said with a caring smile on her face.

"Okay, now this is the part where you need to hold back the possible freak out. The person I have these feelings for…it's…it's Willow. And before you say anything, she hasn't done anything that could be considered inappropriate, aside from taking me when she went to see her dealer, and I've tried ignoring how I feel thinking it was just a typical teenage infatuation, but the night my arm got broken before we got in the car, we were walking down an alley talking, surprisingly she was able hold a decent conversation. Anyway I know it was wrong and probably taking advantage but I pushed against a wall and kissed her. Don't worry it was just a kiss, not even any tongue. But it was the most amazing thing I've ever felt. The biggest problems I'm facing is the fact I'm underage, she was out of it and I don't think she remembers the kiss, I don't know how she feels, and on top of that I have a feeling that Buffy is gonna be majorly wigged." Dawn finally got it all out then just sat and waited for Tara to process it all.

Tara sat there with her eyes closed as she took in every word that Dawn said. Her first instinct was to be angry at Willow, but that passed quickly as she sensed the truth in Dawn's words that Willow hadn't done anything wrong. Then she realized that there was really no reason for her to be against it. "Oh Dawnie," She said looking the teenager in the eye, "I see no reason to stand against this. Obviously you need to find out if your feelings are returned from Willow, but first you need to talk to Buffy and I agree that she'll probably freak. However since you're still a minor, things can turn out bad, mainly for willow, if you try to see her without Buffy being in the know. If you want I'll be there with you when you talk to your sister."

Dawn sat and just nodded not convinced that things were going to go well. Seeing the look on the young woman's face and sensing the unease coming from her Tara tried to reassure her that it would not be as bad as she feared, "Look Dawnie it really will be alright. If it's meant to happen it will."

Three weeks later Buffy was still somewhat unsure how she felt about what Dawn had told her. On one hand she had the whole big sister vibe that told her to protect Dawn from people that could potentially hurt her whether intentionally or not. On the other hand if this was really what Dawn wanted…She picked up the phone her mind made up, "Do it. Now."

As soon as she finished speaking Buffy found herself in a dimly lit musty smelling room, with the three witches that transported her there. "Where is she?"

"Outside in the garden." Replied one of the three. "She really has been doing well Miss Summers. She should be ready to return to you by the end of summer."

The slayer paused on her way out the door and gave the witches a slight nod then continued out to the garden. Finding Willow sitting cross-legged in a sunny corner of the garden, meditating among the flowers. She stood there watching her friend for a while basking in the warm sun. "Are you just gonna stand there and stare, or are you gonna say hello to your best friend?" Willow asked still facing away from Buffy with her eyes closed.

"Okay Wills, that's just freaky. How'd you know I was here?" Buffy responded with a question of her own.

"Meditation Buffster. It does wonders. So what brings you to jolly old England?"

"I came to see how my best friend was coming along in her training of course. Plus there's something else we need to talk about."