It wasn't until Bayley pushed back her bedsheets that Dean saw just why Bayley didn't sound quite like herself.
His jaw almost dropping at the sight before him, Dean asked "Um, Bayley? Wha... What did you do to yourself?"
So, just what was that Bayley did that's got Dean so tongue tied? Read on to find out, and enjoy, my loves. =) (Also, I hope you all enjoy the new character intros here. ^^)
Tilting her head to the side, Bayley asked "Huh? What are you talking about, Dean?"
"You...uh... Let me show you," Dean said, still trying to fathom just what was even going on.
Bayley was still feeling pretty confused by why Dean seemd to be acting so weird. Her confusion was added on to by Dean lifting her up with ease from her bed and carrying her from her "bedroom" to the bathroom. It wasn't until Dean pushed open the door and said "Take a good, long look at yourself, Bayley" that the brunette was able to see why Dean seemed so freaked out. Looking in the mirror over the bathroom sink, Bayley saw herself in Dean's arms, and...needless to say she was surprised by what she was seeing: She was bundled up in her pajamas, and she looked a few years younger than she actually was. Starting to feel a bit afraid herself, Bayley slowly lifted a hand, leaned over, and touched the mirror; when she saw that the smaller and younger Bayley in her reflection was doing the same thing, she quickly pulled her hand away, and, without a moment's hesitation, screamed in a bit of a panic.
Rubbing at his right ear, Dean said "Bayley, Bayley! Calm. Down." Seeing the younger brunette had calmed down a tiny bit, Dean asked "OK. Now. Do you have any idea how or why this might have happened to you?"
"No! I...I didn't even know I could do this," Bayley said, looking down at her hands and at her clothes that didn't even fit her at the moment. "Is this something you and Seth and Ro can do too?"
"So to speak, yeah, we can. It's more shapeshifting what the three of us can do. We'll explain that to you some time soon," Dean explained.
"I don't think you have to do that, Dean," Bayley said. Seeing the slight look of question on the sandy blonde Gem's face, Bayley said "Seth showed me how he shapeshifts a few weeks ago, so I know a bit about that."
"Oh! Well...good for Seth for giving you a Gem lesson," Dean said, grinning as Bayley giggled a bit. Upon realizing the Gem he mentioned, Dean said "Oh, d...crap!"
"What? What is it, Dean?" Bayley asked, curious about why Dean suddenly seemed a bit worried.
"...Seth's going to freak when he sees you like this," Dean said, a slightly terrified look coming over his face.
"Oh, no. I forgot about Seth," Bayley said, worry of her own starting to settle over her. Looking Dean in the eyes, Bayley asked "What are we going to do?"
Before Dean could say anything, knocking at the door could be heard followed by Seth opening the door and saying "Well, it's about time you two showed up." Not saying a word, Dean and Bayley shared a silent look of slight terror before Dean pushed the door closed until just a bit of a crack was left open and the duo listened to Seth talk with their visitors.
"We would've been here sooner, but someone just had to stop and stuff his face somewhere," a female voice could be heard saying.
"Jimmy, I swear you and Dean are just like each other when it comes to eating," Seth said after a bit of a laugh.
"Hey, I'm no worse than someone wanting to stop at almost every store they saw to try to find a little gift for Bayley before we got here," the other male voice, Jimmy, said.
"Well, it'd make me a bad aunt if I didn't show up with something for our girl," the woman said.
"I thought you said you were going to wait to get Bayley something after you guys got here anyway, Naomi," Seth said. "And, besides. What took you guys so long?"
"Well, we were finding it a bit hard to...split from home this time," the woman, Naomi, said, after a bit of a pause. "I guess it's because we've just been nervous about trying to figure out when we'd all tell Bayley about us."
"There's that. And, we had a bit of a close encounter of the crawly kind with a millipeedle. But, no worries. We took care of it," Jimmy said.
"That's good," Seth said. "At least, we're getting a bit closer to taking care of that particular infestation we have."
"OK, enough Gem beast talk," Naomi said, changing the subject. "Where's the birthday girl? Where's Bayley?"
"Well, she's not in bed, which is kinda weird. Usually, she sleeps in on Saturdays," Seth said, confusion a bit apparent in his voice.
"That is a bit weird," Jimmy said. "You think maybe she's in the bathroom?"
"Maybe," Seth said. "If she is, we can all just wait for her. That way, you two can surprise her together."
"That sounds like a plan to me," Naomi said. "I can't wait to show her what I brought for her on our way here."
Pushing the door closed as the three in the living room sat down, Dean said "OK. Houston, we have a problem."
"I think it's safe to say that we do," Bayley said, worry clear on her face. "This is bad, Dean. How are we going to let Seth, Aunt Naomi, and Uncle Jimmy know about...this?"
"Only option I can think of is just walking out of the bathroom to greet them, and let them know that way. Just plunk the news on them, and see how they handle it," Dean said.
"You sure this'll work?" Bayley asked after hearing Dean's idea.
"It'll have to. After all, I'm pretty sure that you don't want to spend your birthday in the bathroom, do you?" Dean asked.
"No. No, I don't," Bayley said. Taking a breath in and letting it out, Bayley said "OK. Let's do this, Dean. Let's go see everybody."
Grinning a bit, Dean said "Attagirl, Bayley" as he ruffled her hair. Taking a breath of his own and letting it out, Dean opened the bathroom door as he readied himself for what was about to happen next. Walking out of the room, Dean said "Hey, guys. Uh, Bayley's awake. Met up with her on the way to the bathroom."
"That's good. I was wondering why I didn't see her in bed," Seth said before turning around and seeing the sandy blonde Gem holding the much younger Bayley. Seeing the brunette, Seth asked "Bayley! W-wha-what did you do to yourself?!"
"We don't exactly know, Seth," Dean cut in before Bayley could say anything. "All I've really been able to figure out from Bayley is that she woke up like this. She doesn't even know how this happened to her."
"He's not lying, Seth," Bayley said, feeling a bit bad. "I didn't even know anything was wrong with me until Dean came and woke me up. And now that I'm like this, I don't know how to turn back to my regular self."
"This is a bit worrying," Seth said, biting one of his fingernails. "And, since you're half human, I don't even know how we'd even go about trying to help you return to normal."
Looking around Seth, Bayley shyly waved and said "Hey, Auntie Naomi. Hey, Uncle Jimmy."
"Hey, there...baby girl," Jimmy, a man with shoulder-length wavy dark brown hair and lightly tanned skin, and was wearing a white tank top and jean shorts, said, offering a bit of an uneasy wave of his hand to the younger brunette.
Unable to hold in the bubble of panic that was rising in her, Bayley blurted "I'm so sorry I did this! I just...I've been feeling kinda bad ever since Dean said that Seth's been feeling upset about me turning 13 soon. And then I was talking with my friend Becky yesterday and she said I'm the oldest in our group of friends, and...and-"
"Bayley. Calm down, boo," the woman beside Jimmy, Naomi, a woman with dark skin and long black hair that was in braids, and was wearing a blue sleeveless blouse and a pair of white capris, calmly said.
Hearing the older woman say this, Bayley took a few breaths in and let them out as she could feel herself calming down. Taking her last breath and letting it out, Bayley said "Sorry, Aunt Naomi."
"It's okay, Bayley. You don't have to be getting so wound up about this," Naomi said.
"But I'm a kid again! I'm like four or five years old! How can I not be worried about this?!" Bayley asked in a panic.
"Because. This is just one of your powers that we all have," Naomi calmly explained. "But, in your case, I'm not all that sure how yours may work."
"Well maybe..." Seth pondered before saying "Since Bayley's half human, do you think that maybe her emotions may have something to do with how her powers work? Something kind of similar happened when Bayley first summoned her shield a few weeks ago."
"That could be it," Naomi agreed. "After all, she did say that she's been feeling bad ever since hearing you say that her turning 13 has made you feel upset, Seth. And then there was where she mentioned talking with one of her friends. Maybe this is just her gem's way of trying to help her with her aging."
"But, why is this happening to Bayley now?" Dean asked. "We've never had to deal with this happening to Bayley before, so...why now?"
"Maybe...maybe it's just because, like Naomi so nicely pointed out," Seth began, cutting a slight glare over to the dark skinned woman before continuing "That I'm just reluctant about accepting Bayley growing up. I just...part of me wasn't expecting to get so invested in watching Bayley grow up and get older. And to know that she probably won't need us for anything when she gets older, it just..." At this point, Seth had to stop himself because tears started to stream down his face.
Seeing one of her guardians in tears was something that scared Bayley a bit; this being because she had never seen Seth, Dean, or Roman cry about anything before. So to see Seth actually crying was really hitting Bayley quite hard. "Seth. Seth, don't cry," Bayley said, tears of her own starting to roll down her cheeks. Managing to fidget her way out of Dean's hold, Bayley bounded over to Seth and, leaping up into the two-toned Gem's lap, wrapped her arms around Seth's neck. And, like with yesterday, Bayley felt like this was working because she didn't feel any more of Seth's tears hitting her clothes or her shoulder. Pulling away as she looked up at the two-toned Gem, Bayley said "Don't be sad, Seth. And, Dean, Auntie Naomi, Uncle Jimmy, don't worry. I'll figure out some way to make myself normal again. And I'll figure that way out soon."
I think someone should probably tell Bayley that making yourself younger won't exactly help others that are a bit upset about you getting older get used to you getting older (if anything, that'll just make said people get even more worried). But, at least Bayley seems to have firm resolve to make herself normal again. We can only hope that Seth, Dean, (and introduced in this chapter) Naomi, and Jimmy (Uso) will be able to give her some kind of help. So, until then, don't forget to R&R please. =)
(I feel the need to point out that as a bit of a hint, keep in mind something Naomi said up above. It's going to be a very important clue for something that happens in a coming chapter of this arc. =3 )
