So, after all of the feelsy moments from Seth last chapter, get ready for some more this chapter with Bayley getting her fair share of feels sharing, too. Enjoy, my loves.

(Teeny side note: This is actually going to be the next to last chapter of the Bayley's Birthday arc of this story, with a new arc coming soon. A new arc that I'm hoping will fit into this month pretty well. =3 )

Yawning as she woke up from her nap, Bayley sleepily sat up in her bed as she found that the house was fairly quiet, save for the TV playing just downstairs. Carefully climbing out of her bed-seeing as how the distance from the floor to her bed was a bit higher than she was used to, seeing as how she was still stuck as a four year old-Bayley made her way downstairs and was surprised to see that it was just Naomi sitting on one of the couches.

Turning her gaze from the reality show that was playing on the TV, Naomi smiled upon seeing the now-awake brunette. "Well, well. Look who woke up from her nap."

"Hey, Auntie Naomi. Where are Seth, Dean, and Uncle Jimmy?" Bayley asked, rubbing her eyes as she looked around.

"They had to go attend to some Gem stuff. But, don't worry. I think they'll be back soon," Naomi said, hoping to quell any worries Bayley may have. Seeing that her words seemed to have a calming effect on the younger brunette, Naomi asked "So, Bayley. Can I...talk to you about something?"

"Sure, Auntie Naomi. What is it?" Bayley asked in spite of the slight jolt of worry she felt.

"How have things been for you lately? You haven't really been worried about anything, have you?" Naomi asked.

"N-no. Not really," Bayley said, looking down at her feet as she tugged on her shirt.

"Bayley. Don't lie to me, boo. You should know that you can't lie to me," Naomi said, a stern note in her voice. Her voice softening, Naomi said "Bayley. Come on. You know you can talk to me about anything, right? I mean, I might not see you all that often, but you should know that I'm an open ear for anything you may need to talk about."

Hearing Naomi say all of this, Bayley knew the older Gem was right. There was something really nagging at her thoughts, but...she just wasn't quite sure how to really get what was on her mind out there to talk about. It wasn't until she looked up and saw the look on Naomi's face that she knew it was okay to talk about what had really been on her mind for the past few days. So, taking a breath in and letting it out, Bayley launched into telling Naomi what had been bothering her so much. "If it hasn't really been all that obvious, I haven't really been looking forward to my thirteenth birthday. I mean, I was at first. But, then seeing how upset it was all making Seth and hearing one of my friends say that made me the oldest in our group, it just made me feel all...weird."

"Weird? How so?" Naomi asked, although she felt that she might have a good idea about what Bayley might be getting at.

"I dunno. Like...like I was growing up a bit too fast. I've always been the runt out of me, Dean, Seth, and Ro, so me getting older...it just feels weird at times. I just...I just don't want to see the guys get sad about all of this." At this point of Bayley's admission, the young brunette was wiping at her face to try to stop the tears that seemed to flow without relent. While Bayley was always one to let people know just what was on her mind about stuff, that wasn't to say that she had a good handle on her emotions at times. So, to be talking about how she had been feeling about something that was weighing pretty heavily on her as of late was making the not-currently-ponytailed brunette feel fairly emotional. It was after a few minutes of her silent crying that Bayley calmed herself down and looked at Naomi as she wiped her face. Around a few sniffles, Bayley said "Sorry you had to see me like that, Auntie Naomi."

"You don't have to apologize for that, boo," Naomi said in a calm voice. Rising from her seat as she walked over to the younger brunette, Naomi knelt down so that she could be at Bayley's eye level. "Bayley. Like we've told you before, you don't have to worry about feeling bad about things like this. Yes, you're half human and you're going to get older. But, that's nothing that you should feel too bad about. We've all just been so happy to be a part of seeing you grow up that you feeling so down about turning 13 just doesn't seem like you. You shouldn't be feeling so down about something that naturally happens to you. I hope you start to feel better about all of this soon."

Bayley was all set to answer the older woman when the front door swung open and Seth walked in, carrying something that looked like it was inside of a glass ball. Not even saying anything, Bayley quickly dashed over to the two-toned Gem and wrapped her arms around Seth's legs.

Trying to keep his balance, Seth said "Whoa, Bayley! Where's the fire?"

Looking up at the Gem, Bayley said "Seth, I'm so sorry for all of this! I didn't mean to make myself younger or anything. I've just been feeling kinda bad about stuff lately."

"Stuff? Stuff like what?" Seth asked while looking over at Naomi as a way of saying "Can you take this?" while he held out his hand with the ball.

"Well... It's mostly all about me getting older," Bayley said, releasing her hold on Seth's legs. "Look. I know that me getting older is something that's normal for me since I'm part human. And...I haven't exactly been handling it all that well. But, I just want to let you know that I'm okay with it now. I don't mind it that I'm going to grow up. I just hope you and the others don't mind it, either."

"Bayley, of course we don't mind you getting older. After all, watching you grow up is something that we've been happy to be a part of. If anything, I think I should be apologizing to you," Seth said as he handed off the ball to Naomi before he knelt down to Bayley's eye level. "Look. I have a feeling that maybe your recent bad feelings have been kinda thanks to me. And, I just want to say that I'm sorry for that. I know that it's been me, Dean, and Roman that have all equally been raising you your whole life, but I just want to say that raising you has been one of the best things I've done in my whole life. Getting to watch you grow from the baby that was left in our care to the girl you are today has been something that I never thought I'd enjoy as much as I have. I just don't want you to think that I, or any of us, have anything against you growing up. If anything, that'll just give us more to look forward when you're not so small anymore."

"Yeah. I guess you're pretty right about that. Plus, as I get older, I've got you guys to help teach me how to better summon my shield and a lot of other cool Gem stuff," Bayley said, starting to feel excited. "Thanks for talking with me about all of this, Seth."

"Hey, it's no big deal. After all, as one of your guardians, that's one of my jobs," Seth said, smiling as he caught Bayley in his arms in a hug.

Still holding the ball Seth had given her, Naomi smiled as she watched the sight before her. She knew that a lot of why Bayley had been feeling so bad lately was because this was all a talk that Bayley and Seth needed to have. After all, Bayley reaching a milestone like her thirteenth birthday was something that the Gems had all been looking forward to as it would mean that she was growing from the naive youngster she was into someone who was confident and sure of herself. And it was moments like these that made Naomi happy that she, Seth, and the others had been chosen to be Bayley's guardians. The braided Gem was all set to take care of what was within the ball Seth had handed to her when a bright pink light coming from Bayley and Seth's direction caught her eye. Turning back to see what was happening, Naomi was surprised by what she was seeing: Right before her and Seth's eyes, the illuminated form of Bayley could be seen growing in height from the four year old she was up to where her normal height as a 12-soon to be 13-year old normally was.

Feeling that how she was hugging Seth seemed a bit different than how it was, Bayley opened her eyes and was very surprised to see that she was slightly looking down at the two-toned Gem. Blinking, Bayley asked "Um, Seth? Did you get shorter or something?"

Releasing his hold on Bayley, Seth now looked up at the brunette and, not stopping the smile that seemed to split his face, said "No, no I didn't, Bayley. It's more like you grew!"

"Wait, really? I did?" Bayley asked, surprised to hear this.

"Yeah, really! Go look at yourself in your mirror upstairs, and you'll see for yourself," Seth said.

"OK!" Bayley chirped before taking off at a dash upstairs to her "bedroom". Heading over to the mirror that was positioned on the wall, Bayley was delighted to see that she could actually see herself in the mirror now. Looking down at her body, Bayley did a spin in place as she saw that she could normally fit into her pajamas again. Unable to hold it in, Bayley let out a happy squeal as she bounced in place a bit. Running back downstairs just as the front door opened and Dean and Jimmy walked inside, Bayley stopped in front of the other two Gems and said "Dean, Uncle Jimmy, look! I'm me again! I'm back to myself!" as she spun around in place.

"That's great, runt," Dean said, smiling as he ruffled Bayley's bedhead.

"I gotta agree with Dean there," Jimmy said, a smile of his own on his face. "How'd you manage to get back to yourself?"

"I'm...still not really all that sure. I was talking with Seth one minute, and the next thing I know, I'm looking down at him." Bayley scratched her head in thought. "Whatever helped things, I'm just happy that things are back to normal as normal is for us."

"Can't say I disagree with you about that," Dean said. Looking around at everyone in the house, Dean said "Now, then. How's about we get things prepared for Bayley's birthday party?"

Hearing Dean mention her party, Bayley couldn't in the excitement that had been building inside of her as she threw both her hands in the air and said "Oh, yeah!"

Yay, Bayley's back to normal now! =D Looks like all it really took was both Bayley and Seth really talking about what had been weighing on their minds and how they were feeling about things as of late. Now that the two Gems have worked over their own sets of worries and Bayley's returned back to her normal self, she and the others can get ready for her coming birthday party...which will be coming next chapter (and which will probably end this little arc out). So, until next time, don't forget to R&R, my loves. =)