Willow shouldn't have been as surprised as she was to wake up in a good mood. Since coming back from a very relaxing trip in England with Giles, her friends had some how found it possible within themselves to forgive her and she even got her old room back. The blood had been cleaned out of the carpet, or more likely it had been re-carpeted, but she had sat in that place for days, running her hand over the spot where the blood would be if they hadn't. Like she couldn't believe it just wasn't there any more. None of them held a grudge. They were a little cautious, but she expected that, and they were far less skiddish than she expected them to be- with Dawn and Xander still coming in to tell her good morning and each of them insisting that they didn't forget her when making breakfast. In the past few weeks, they'd even let her drive Dawn to school a couple of times, and the teen had just sat and chatted senselessly- like nothing had ever happened. She had killed a human being and they still opened up the door into their home.

"...you're kidding." Buffy had said when it was brought up. "Think of every thing that's ever happened with us, Will. Like not a single one of us has ever tried to kill you. "

"Yeah, just don't do it again." Xander mentioned jokingly; "It gets kind of old after the first time."

They were trying to accept her. Let her back in. Acting as though nothing had ever happened. Was that forgiveness? But still, perhaps her good mood was related to some thing else.

Willow had always been smart. The things she could do with a computer would stun, shock and amaze the people around her. It was almost like she had fused into the computer. Things like robotics and mechanics came naturally. She knew every gear, every motion, every sensor, and how they must be placed. Even before she was a witch, this was the magic she could create. And even without magic, she could do it. That had been her goal, to do it without magic. And she almost had. The skeleton had been built, and every organ fitted to it's proper place. It would do such things as a human would; eat, sleep. She would be different from every robot ever created. Willow had programmed every thing into the brain; vocabulary, eye sensors, ear sensors, replies, nerves in her body. Just like Buffybot, she would be programmed to return to Willow if she was ever injured. All she had to do was work out a few kinks, and turn it on. She never expected that she was in a good mood because perhaps she wasn't entirely alone in this room...

"When you get in trouble, and you don't know right from wrong~"

When did that song get stuck in her head? "Give a little whistle! Give a little whistle~" she opened her closet door, grabbing a wrench she had put there for convenience. It was odd to use instruments like that on some thing...some one... so human. "When you meet temptation and the urge is very strong,"

"Give a little whistle! Give a little whistle~"

"Not just a little squeak, pucker up and blow," she found herself laughing at...well, herself. "And if you're whistle's weak, just yell..?"

"Jiminy Cricket?!"

"Take the straight and narrow path, and if you start to slide, give a little whistle!"

"Give a little whistle! And always let your conscience be your guide!"

"Well, looks like some one's in a chipper, sunshiney mood today." Buffy's rather amused, semi-sarcastic tone rung from behind her. Willow panicked to stand, grabbing a shirt randomly to look as though she had been looking for some thing in there and casually shut the door.

The redhead tried not to look as though she was being accused, but she couldn't help it. What was she doing in a good mood, any ways? "Yeah, sorry..." she managed, somewhat quietly.

"You're in a good mood and...you're....sorry?" Buffy didn't look entirely confused, more...good-humored. "Some one in this house has to be, we've been having a miserable time so far while you were up here....serenading....your closet."

"You want me to come down and help?"

"Yes. Please." she turned, pausing for a second and- without turning around, said; "Since when do you need to ask?"

It wasn't fair that they were just acting like nothing happened. She was sure she deserved a large deal more of a grudge, or...some thing. But how can you say some thing like 'I think you guys are being too nice to me'? Willow shut the door, quickly changing into whatever shirt she'd grabbed and a pair of jeans that were easy to find so she could just get out and see how she could help. It was the absolute least she could do, after all.

"Alright, what's going on?" she asked whoever might answer downstairs. Although, she could see partly what was going on; Anya was doing one thing or another next to Xander in the kitchen, the pancakes had burnt, they were talking and sounding rather bitter but not raising their voices, and...where was Buffy? She looked around, but only one thing could answer her question- the screaming in...the bathroom.

She just sighed, walking towards it only to see a rather intense sister-fight going on. Over...a shirt.

"Dawn, I told you to get your stuff out last night! We're going to be late!"

"I had it out! You took it!"

"Why would I take it?"

"I don't know! I'm not a devious criminal!"

"Do I even need to coment on that one?"

Hm...how could a Willow possibly break up this kind of fight? "Hey guys, I know a spell--"

As expected, they both turned her direction at once, saying "No." in a flat, firm, unison.

It didn't occur to her until afterwards that...well, it was a little mean. "Sorry," she said, smiling sheepishly; "I was trying to get your attention. And now that I've got it, Dawn, you can't go to school topless so I'll help you find a shirt. Buffy, I'll drive her to school, and there's cereal in the pantry if she doesn't want to eat pancake ashes off a plate." the blonde couldn't respond before Dawn had ducked out of the bathroom and the two were running upstairs to find clothing. That left her open to deal with the Xander-Anya-pancake issue they seemed to be having.

After a little squabble about the shirt, Willow managed to get Dawn in some decent clothes and run her downstairs with enough time to get some cereal before they ran out the door, Willow taking the responsibility since Buffy and Anya couldn't and Xander didn't seem to be available.The teen was even on time, if you can imagine that. She drove back and went in to see that the pancakes had either been stomached by some one or thrown out, the burnt smell was gone, and Xander was the only person left in the house. She wanted to go upstairs, but the poor guy looked like he could use some company.

"Xander?" she said, opening the fridge to get the milk out; she hadn't eaten yet, either.

"Hm?" he replied, less than half-heartedly.

"I thought some one should point out that it's only 8 in the morning and you're drinking by yourself." she poured a bowl of cereal and milk, put the milk away and walked into the living room. "Don't you have a job or some thing?"

"I'm off today,"

"How come?"

"We finished the last project and they're trying to wrap it up. Paperwork. "

Willow set her bowl down, hesitantlywrapping an arm around his shoulder. She didn't know if she should really do it, considering every thing that had happened, but she was the only one around to ar it and he deserved to have some comfort at least. "Do you want me to say some thing now?" she asked gently.

"If there's some thing you want to say."

"Maybe you should apologize to her."

"How do you apologize for what I did to her?"

"It's easy. You open your mouth and say 'I'm sorry.'"

"Will, she knows it. She's gotta know it."

"But maybe it would help her if you open your mouth and say it." there was a little bit of silence in which Xander set the bottle of beer down, only half-drunk, and sat back, letting her hug him. "Xander?"

"Yes?"

She hugged him as tight as she could, only saying; "I'm sorry."

He wasn't sure what exactly it was that she was apologizing for, but whatever it was, he forgave her, returning the hug; "It's okay."

Xander eventually left, said he could probably find some thing to do. Willow hoped that he would stay out of trouble. But trouble might just find any one of them at any moment, and he obviously hadn't wanted her company. She convinced herself he would be fine and returned to the work she'd been creating. The house was quiet and lonely on days she didn't have class to go to. Not that she didn't have enough homework to do. She had to shake the thoughts that started flooding her head away, but the saddening thoughts actually served to make her happier. She tried not to think about it any further, though.

When it came to robotics, the smallest, simplest problems to fix could take hours. They were simple, but time consuming. By the time she had finished, every one (except Anya, of course) had come back. But she was finished, which meant that all she had to do was turn it on and see if it worked. That she would have to save for later, as Buffy was calling for her down the stairs. Willow made sure she was free of any thing that might look like she had been doing some thing other than reading, and ran down quickly. Help make dinner- definitely some thing she could do. She opened up the fridge and, in all honesty, just picked some thing cookable and got to work. Dinner was ready shortly and it seemed whatever craziness was going on decided to settle itself down long enough for them to eat.

"So, Dawn, how was school today?"

"Fine." she replied. A one-word answer that wasn't entirely normal for the teen.

"Nothing exciting happen?"

"I fell down a flight of stairs."

Willow was glad Dawn's outfit had consisted of jeans. "Oh, no! Did you get hurt?"

"No," she said sarcastically, obviously irritated by some thing; "it was the fun kind of falling down stairs." Dawn was a lot like her sister in that she got sarcastic when she was irritated. Seeming to realize what she was doing, though, she added; "I'm fine now, though."

"How about you, Buffy?"

"Oh, the usual." she said in a far more upbeat way than Dawn had added. "Troubled teens. I think I've heard my fill of...certain things...though." she proceeded to eat, as though she wasn't at all as bothered as she...seemed? she was.

"I understand." the redhead laughed. "Hey, Dawnie, how did you fall down the stairs?"

The girl hesitated. "I fell."

"Actually," Xander piped in; "some one pushed her."

"Xander! ...Hey, how did you know?"

"Do you want the honest truth? I had nothing better to do."

Silence. It seemed like it had been a bad day for every one. Willow decided not to talk any more, as it seemed to make every one even more upset. No one minded the silence at all, surely. The rest of dinner was quiet, Buffy did dishes and they did the usual steps of winding down for the day. Eventually, they all landed on the couch for a break.

"You guys," Willow tried, hoping maybe her good news would spread some cheer and crazy with anticipation; "I have some thing I've been working on and I want to show you."

"Okay, what?" Buffy was at least putting forth effort into sounding cheerful.

"I'll be right back," and, at that, she practically ran up the stairs- taking at least two at a time. The trip to her bedroom felt like a journey of a thousand miles. If she could have teleported there, it wouldn't have been fast enough. But at last she was there, approaching the sleeping machine. All she had to do was flip a switch, which she didn't hesitate in doing. Neck lifted, eyes opened, Willow watched in a nervous awe.

"Good morning," it finally said, much to her complete relief.

"It's not morning, but that's alright, you just woke up." she placed her hand inside the closet, and the figure's hand grabbed her's. "I want my friends to see you."

The robot didn't speak, only followed her down the stairs- into the light, where she could be seen.

"Tara!" Dawn clutzily stood up off the couch. Actually, Buffy had as well- and Xander. "Willow, how did you do this?"

"Did you use magic?" they all seemed panicked.

"Guys, no." she laughed; "I actually did this with out magic. She's a robot."

"Good morning, every one. Buffy, Xander, Dawn." she said, looking at each as she said their names; "I'm right, right?"

Willow nodded. "Yes, you did a very good job."

No one was quite sure of what to say, or even think or feel. Was it a good thing? Or a bad thing? What did it mean?

"You did a great job building her, Wil." Buffy finally commented. "She's not annoying or creepily chipper, like the one's Warren made."

"She isn't dangerous, is she?" Xander questioned, clearly a bit more freaked out than he wanted to let on.

"Nope, not at all."

"Can she make pancakes?"

"Sure, Dawnie."

"Initiating pancake sequence--"

"Deactivate. Not right now, in the morning."

"What time of day is it?" it was the first thing she said on her own.

"It's night. It's going to be time for us to go to bed soon."

Xander spoke next. "You really built this from scratch, huh?" he said, looking the robot up and down. She looked so real, sounded so real. Willow must have taken straight days to program her voice to be exactly like the original Tara. "It's really good," was all he was able to say. "But I have to get home. I'll see you all...probably some time soon." he walked to the door, waving slightly to say goodbye.

"You did do a good job building her, Wil. And hey, we could use the extra hands around the house." the blonde had to bite her tongue to keep from expressing her fears over the redhead's mentality. She would have to contact Giles about it the next day. "But, Dawn and I should get to bed." the blonde hugged her friend, as did Dawn, both muttering good night as they went upstairs. Willow was unsure of their reactions, but didn't care; her bed wouldn't feel so empty any more.