It was a nice day out, sun was shining, birds were singing and the youngest Summers girl was walking straight towards the Magic Box, getting a shortcut through the park, so that Buffy did not worry too much for her. It was tiring, really, knowing everyone treated her as helpless, clueless little Dawn. She wanted to be treated like an equal, not a three-year-old. Was it that much to ask? She wanted them to listen to her, really listen to what she had to say. She could help if they let her.
But it was always the same: 'Maybe when you're older'.
And the only person that treated her like an equal, like a real person, was... right there.
She was just looking around, watching the kids on the playground, the parents and nannies on the benches and a few people sitting under the shade of the trees. And one of them was Ally.
The older brunette seemed to be engrossed in a book, one that immediately repelled the youngest one as she approached: A Brief History of Time. Really, a science book? But then she remembered that Ally actually liked to study, god knows why, and she had even been excited when she had helped finish her homework at Spike's place.
"Hey." Dawn sat next to the other girl, who looked up and smiled at her. That's another thing she liked about Ally. She was always happy to see her. It was not the compulsory smile for her best friend's little sister, it was an actual friend's smile, just because she liked her.
"Hi Dawnie. What's up?" She closed the book, focusing her attention fully on the teen.
"Not much. I was going to the Magic Box to do my homework. Buffy always wants me under control, somewhere they can watch me," The young girl rolled her eyes, leaning back against the tree and aiming her big blues at her. "but, pretty pretty please, I have to write a stupid essay for biology class and..." She bit her lip, letting her puppy eyes to the rest of the job. "Could you help me?"
"You need to go to the Magic Box, your sister will be worried if you don't get there soon." Ally had to admit that saying no to Dawn was very difficult. She knew what the kid was doing, she had done that same thing plenty of times over the years, but still. "Know what, why don't I go there with you, I can meet more of the Scooby Gang or whatever and try to convince them I'm not a demon? I mean, coming during the day will rule out vampire, right? Even some demons." The teen eagerly nodded, standing up quickly and waiting for her friend to pack her books before resuming her previous path.
They stopped in front of the magic shop, near a couple girls, one redhead and one brunette drawing a strange pattern on the pavement with colourful dusts. If she didn't know better, Ally would think they were just playing, but she knew it was a spell.
"You guys doin' a spell?" Dawn looked at the weird shapes, unaware of the witches staring nervously at the new girl. Their silence made her gaze at her two magical friends, noticing their slight anxiety. "Oh, this is Ally. But you already know that. Ally, these are Willow and Tara. They are witches."
"Kinda had that figured out already." She shot a friendly smile at the couple, not wanting to have more people scared of her. "Hi. Nice to meet you."
"Same here." Willow's hand shot up on its own accord, another sign of the witch's agitation. "Uh, y-yeah, we're doing an early warning incantation. If anything hellgodishly powerful comes within a hundred feet of the shop, then screechy siren things will, you know, screech." Her eyes moved from the teen to Ally, not sure of how much she could disclose.
"She knows. Don't worry." The young Summers assured, standing by her friend so she felt less awkward.
"This should give us a heads-up so we can hide ... the, um, key." Tara explained, giving the supposed Potential a friendly look.
"We already put one up around your house." Willow added for extra reassurance.
"Cool." Dawn gestured at the building while glancing at Ally so they walked inside, leaving the witches to their witchy-things.
Aside from a few customers, there were two young adults near a round table, and Dawn headed straight toward them. She quickly introduced her friend to the couple, getting similar reactions as with the witches: nervous looks and a jittery attitude.
"We on the case?" The youngest asked, looking at the books littering the table.
"Yeah. Right on top, perched, ready for action." Ally couldn't help but notice that the woman looked extra uncomfortable while dusting the objects in a crystal shelf, yet she didn't comment on it. "How's my sweet fancy Dawn doing?"
Xander reached over to tickle Dawn's stomach, making her giggle and try to fight him off, while Ally watched, amused.
"Fine. What's up with you?" She asked, making him abruptly look up. "Did you get into the sugar again?"
Anya suddenly turned, putting on an extremely fake and cheerful face. "You make a very pretty little girl!" Well, if that wasn't weird...
Xander jumped up from his seat, putting an arm around his girlfriend. "Anya, you wanna help me with that thing?" They were terrible actors, their false excuses making Ally frown. What was going on? Was that normal?
"Xander needs help with his thing!" Anya agreed, just further confirming Ally's theory that they were into something. Dawn's expression basically reinforced her opinion.
The young teen looked at her and her face fell once the couple was behind her. Ally just wanted to take her out of there and have some fun together.
Voices coming from the back of the store gained her attention, though, looking over just in time to notice the old man and Buffy going into the shop. "I'm not sure our regular workout is ... challenging you any more. Perhaps we should make it harder." The old man was saying, unaware of the presence of the already renowned Potential in his store until Dawn cleared her throat. "Oh. You must be A-Ally. I'm... Rupert Giles, Buffy's Watcher." He softly smiled at her, nothing like the rejection the Slayer had shown in their first meeting. "Uh... Pleased to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too." She glanced at Buffy, behind the man, and nodded in her direction. "Hey."
The Slayer responded in the same manner, clutching her bottle of water firmly.
"Uhm, we thought it would be good for her to meet the Gang, you know, with her skills and all..." Dawn explained, burying her hands in her pockets. "She is going to help me with my homework, too. I... uh... We better get to it."
"Yes, of course. You-you should start you homework right away." He agreed, moving the little notebook in his hands to point at the table. "I... I would love to talk to you later, though, if-if that's okay with you, Ally."
"Sure." She smiled widely at him before joining Dawn at the table, Watcher and Slayer going to the other side of the counter to talk.
Even though she didn't say a thing, Ally saw Dawn following the Watcher with her eyes for a few moments, taking her things out of her bag very slowly.
She would have to talk to her some other time, when they were alone.
Ally stayed in the Magic Box well into the evening, chatting with Giles after helping Dawn do her homework. The man was very nice, a fatherly kind of vibe to him, and definitely a scholar. He had an old book air to him, and she would swear he even smelled a bit like old books. The Watcher was very curious about her, her life and her training. She didn't feel very comfortable talking about the past, and merely informed them that she had left L.A., her previous residence, after breaking up with her boyfriend. She did tell them that she had been interested in martial arts from an early age and had been taught how to use a few weapons in her early teens, thus making her training later easier. Ally wouldn't talk about the specifics of who trained her or who taught her about vampires and demons, only letting them know that she had known of their existence since she was around fifteen, and she soon after started an intense regime to prepare herself to fight them.
They ended up having a passionate discussion about Brachen demons. The Watcher noticed her eyes got watery a few times, but she never let that stop her. He could only imagine that she had been close to one sometime before coming to Sunnydale.
The Gang had approached them during their conversation, the witches even sitting on the table next to them to listen, without intervening once, thoroughly interested in the exchange.
Once it was time to go home, Ally hugged Dawn and bid goodbye to the rest of them, knowing they trusted her a bit more than before. Buffy had stopped threatening her after she picked up her mom and sister from Spike's place, but she was still wary of her.
All in good time.
