"Your reflexes are amazing," Giles said. He was holding a quarter staff and taking swings at Tara. She easily dodged each swing he took. He had insisted on some physical and mental tests so he could assess the best way to proceed with training her in the use of her powers.

"Really?" she asked in surprise as she dodged another swing. "I always kinda thought I was a klutz."

"Yes, well everything you've thought about yourself has changed," Giles said. He took tried to sweep her feet out from under her but she jumped over the staff. He thrust the staff forward, she grabbed it and spun him around. He lost his grip on the staff and tumbled to the floor. "Good. Good work. It seems I'm quite the novice compared to you. Perhaps when Buffy arrives later she could better test your skills."

"Oh, I don't know if I'm ready for that," Tara said nervously as she helped Giles up. "Fighting the slayer? That's moving kinda fast. I'm still not sure if I want to fight at all."

"Of course," Giles said. "Don't want to rush you. Just a suggestion."

"S-so, what's next?" Tara asked.

"Next we test the extent of your supernatural powers," Giles said. "This will all seem rather boring to you at first I'm afraid. It will be similar to a lot of things you already know through witchcraft."

"Well, it's a start," she said, nodding her head. "Better than fighting."

For about thirty minutes Giles discussed methods of meditation and control. Tara sat and listened as he lectured about emotions. She almost felt like she should be taking notes. Willow had mentioned that feeling tended to happen when Giles got into one of his lectures. Finally he stopped talking.

"Okay, let's see what we're dealing with," he said. He motioned for her to sit on the floor in the center of the training room. She sat cross legged and waited for his instructions. When he spoke she did everything he said as best she could. "Close your eyes and clear your mind. Let your senses take over. No thoughts. Only feelings and sensations. Attune yourself with your surroundings and make a connection with them."

She did as he said, freeing her mind from all thought. After a moment her skin started to tingle. She could hear the sound of a heartbeat, and at first she thought it was her own. Soon she realized that the heartbeat belonged to Giles. She could hear it as well as she could hear his voice. There was no breeze in the room but she could feel air brushing her skin—air from Giles as he spoke, air from the wings of a fly as it passed her. She could smell Giles cologne just as well as she could smell some incense from out in the shop. The chirping birds from outside the shop were chirping in her ears. A block away somebody was cooking steaks on a barbeque and she could smell it. She could feel the spray of sprinklers across town where children were playing in them. She could hear earthworms burrowing in the ground and the sound of an argument in the lobby of her dormitory.

"Now, use what you feel and channel it," Giles said. "Channel all these sensations into your power."

Tara concentrated on the argument. It was a couple. A guy was arguing with his girlfriend. He thought she had cheated on him. Soon she started feeling their emotions as well. She could get into their minds. She moved her hands from her lap and placed her palms flat on the floor on either side of her. She concentrated on the girl. She hadn't cheated on her boyfriend. She was telling him the truth. Tara then moved to the guy.

Their argument stopped suddenly when the guy became confused. He looked at the girl and was stunned. She waited for him to say something. She could tell he wanted to say something.

"You didn't cheat on me," he said. She was shocked at his sudden change of heart. "I know you didn't cheat on me. I'm sorry for yelling at me."

"What?" she asked, confused.

"I'm sorry. Forgive me for being jealous?" he asked. She smiled and nodded her head. Tara concentrated on the girl again.

"You love me?" she asked.

"I do love you," the guy said. He had just been thinking that.

"You've never said that to me before," she said. She smiled. "I love you, too."

Tara retreated from the argument and her mind started to pick up Giles' voice again. But that wasn't the only thing she picked up. There was a rumbling sound. She felt herself shaking.

"Tara!" Giles shouted. She opened her eyes and saw him standing in the doorway of the training room, trying to keep from falling over. She removed her hands from the floor and the shaking stopped. She looked around confused.

All the weapons that had been hanging on the walls were now on the floor. A set of shelves had fallen over and a glass case had shattered. The attack dummy had fallen over and was lying in front of her. She stood and moved toward the door. Giles stepped aside and they both looked out to see Anya climbing out from underneath the table. Books had fallen off their shelves. The glass case near the register had shattered and many things had fallen off the walls.

"You just caused an earthquake in the shop," Giles said in amazement. "What were you doing?"

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't know I w-was…" she stammered. "I d-didn't mean to do that."

"Well, that's something we'll have to work into your training," Giles said with a shrug of his shoulders. "What were you doing?"

"Uh, I was settling an argument," she said with a sheepish smile. The two of them walked out into the shop. Tara started picking up books while Giles moved toward the center of the shop to help Anya clean up. "A couple was fighting in my dorm. I-I made them know the truth."

Giles turned and looked to her in confusion. "Made them know the truth? How exactly?"

"Well, he thought she cheated on him, but I could sense that she was telling him the truth," Tara explained. "So I caused him to feel from her what I was sensing. I made him know."

"Extraordinary," Giles said.

"Extraordinary?" Anya asked. She picked up a broken statue. "She broke merchandise."

"It's all right, Anya," Giles said. "We can replace that."

"The display case is shattered," Anya said.

"I-I might be able to fix that," Tara offered. "You know…kind of like I made the plant grow."

"That's quite all right," Giles said with a smile. "I think for now it would be best to rely on traditional methods of repair. Although we would appreciate your help with the clean up."

"Of course," Tara said as she continued to reshelve books. She looked over when Willow walked into the store.

"Wow," Willow said, looking at the mess. "What happened?"

"Tara caused an earthquake and broke stuff," Anya replied.

"Caused an earthquake?" Willow asked in confusion.

"It seems she was channeling her power and the earthquake was a side effect," Giles explained. "It's something we'll work on, of course."

"Well, as long as nobody got hurt," Willow said.

"The merchandise got hurt," Anya said. "Can't you train her somewhere else, Giles? Somewhere far away from the merchandise?"

Giles chuckled and exchanged a smile with Tara. "That's something we'll take into consideration, Anya."