"Tara? Tara? Where have you gone? Come on. I'm not playing any more. Come out please." I heard a giggle from a bush nearby. So that's where she was hiding. I started to walk away, singing a little nursery rhyme that I had made up when I was about ten years old.

"Around the corner and by the fence
the fence
Collect the wood for a bonfire
a bonfire."
I stepped carefully behind the bush and pounced on it. I felt someone beneath me and, just as I had thought...Tara was there. I started to tickle her, feeling her wriggling beneath me, breathless from laughing. She kept wriggling, trying to roll out from underneath me. I let her go after about five minutes, feeling bad that I had tortured her for so long.

"Willow that's not fair. You gave me no chance to retaliate. That's childish." She was calling me childish? She was the one who wanted to play Hide and Seek. We were sixteen for gods sakes. I allowed it only because Tara had never really had a childhood so had never really had a chance to play these kind of games. I was broken out of my thoughts by a rather heavy...something, launching itself at me and knocking me back to the floor. Dammed. I knew I shouldn't have dropped my guard. Now I was the one being un-mercifully tickled. I could feel the bracken underneath me cracking as I tried my very hardest to roll out from underneath my best friend.

"I give in! Tara okay! I give up!" Tara gave me a celebratory smile before standing and helping me to my feet. "We should get back to our Dorm. I have coursework to do." Tara pouted but nodded. We started walking back, occasionally purposely bumping into each other, trying to knock the other person off their feet. Tara pushed me into a bush at one point and I succeeded in knocking her over. Once.

"Willow! Tara! Are you out here?" Wonderful. I thought, mentally rolling my eyes. Just what we needed. Buffy and Dawn all worried about us.

"Tell them we got lost." I muttered to Tara out of the side of my mouth. She nodded discreetly. Buffy and Dawn worried about me constantly. I was Bi-Polar so they worried about me losing control completely and hurting someone. Or myself again. Tara was the only person who was completely comfortable with me. She could stop me doing anything to stupid when I'm in a good mood and calm me down when I'm in a bad mood. She was the only one I truly felt comfortable with as well. I didn't have to hide my problem and I didn't have to worry about stressing her out. She took everything in her stride.

"Yeah we're here. Sorry we're late. We went for a walk and got lost." Tara shouted back as two figures approached us. Buffy was in our year in and Dawn was in the year below. All four of us pretty much hated this boarding school. Luckily we were all in the same dorm. Along with another girl called Anya. Anya was alright but...we weren't all that close to her. Our family dynamic worked well. We all looked out for Dawn. Tara looked out for me. Buffy made sure that none of us were picked on and I kept everyone reasonably sane...by being insane. It was a little bit odd but it worked. I was an only child so I enjoyed this feeling of family and I knew that Tara didn't have a very good home life so this was a break for her. Buffy was the first to reach me. She wrapped me in a hug then held me at arm's length to take a look at me. I was trying so hard not to roll my eyes.

"I'm fine Buffy. Honestly. Tara would never let me get hurt. You should know this." Buffy nodded and let me go. Dawn caught up just then. Buffy held her back with one arm to stop her from doing the same thing that Buffy herself had just done. She must think I'm in a bad mood. I did roll my eyes at that point. I was not in a bad mood. But I was beginning to get in one. Tara placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Relax Will. There just worried." She whispered. I felt all the tension drain from my body. Goddammit how did she do that?
"Come on guys. We have to get back before Joyce locks the doors." Joyce was our housemother. She locked the doors at Ten every night. I looked at my watch. It was 9:45. It took ten minutes to get back to the dorm. We should make it if we started walking now. I started walking, knowing that Tara and Buffy would follow me and Dawn would follow Buffy. We did get back in time but we got a rather disapproving look from Joyce. I just shrugged. I may have been a good student but I rarely ever followed the rules. I just didn't get into that much trouble mainly because I was a good student and because I was Bi-Polar. So sometimes my actions weren't my own. By the time we managed to get to our room Anya was snoring, Dawn was yawning and my bad mood was returning. I stripped off and got into my tank top and shorts that I wore to bed. I lay down and felt sleep sweep over me, grasping at me and pulling my deeper and deeper into its black embrace.

When I awoke it was still dark out. I looked at my watch again. It was half past one. I tried to remember what had woke me up. It was a strange noise. Not a normal noise for around here. I strained my ears. There it was again. It sounded like...someone crying. Wait. Not just someone. Tara. Tara was crying? Why? What was going on? I threw my covers off and sat up. Tara sobbed again. I stood and began walking carefully over to her bed. She was facing away from me, curled into a tight little ball, shaking due to her tears. I placed a hand on her shoulder and she jumped, flipping round.

"Willow?" She whispered, her voice still all shaky.

"Yeah it's me. What's wrong Tara?" I sat on the edge of her bed and rested a hand on her hip. She didn't speak but she snuggled up to me.
"You want me to stay?" I asked. I knew her so well. She nodded and I climbed into the bed and let her lie as close to me as humanly possible without us being the same person.
"You wanna talk Ta?" I asked her, running my fingers through her blonde hair.

"My dad sent me a letter today...Saying that he is gonna pull me out of here...He says it's cause he can't afford it. He says unless my grades improve I'm going home. I don't want to go back there Will. I don't want to go back to them." She was sobbing again now, wetting my shirt. I let her cry it out, still finger combing her hair.

"Shush. It's okay Tara...I'll talk to my parents. If your Dad truly tries to pull you out of school then I'll get them to pay your tuition. My parents like you remember. Especially after they watched you calm me down the first time they met you." I told her, rubbing her back now. Tara sniffed and I felt her nod into my shirt.
"Now go to sleep you silly goose.

Come stop your crying it will be alright
Just take my hand, hold it tight
I will protect you from all around you
I will be here don't you cry

For one so small you seem so strong
My arms will hold you keep you safe and warm
The bond between us, can't be broken
I will be here don't you cry"
She had fallen asleep. She let out a little snuffly noise as I stopped singing but didn't wake up. I lay there and let sleep reclaim me, hoping that we could sort this problem out.

Em - There you go. The prolouge. I hope you enjoy.