Title: Fully Qualified

Author: mistymidnight

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Spoilers/Timeline: Post-Chosen.

Summary: Same as the previous chapters. Duh!

Author's Notes: This is gonna be a short one. I'm sleepy. =)

Chapter Three: Sleepy

"And that's a home run by David Ortiz! This doesn't look good for our Toronto Blue Jays!"

Willow sat on the balcony with a full caton of ice cream and watched the tiny people run around the baseball field. She wasn't a big baseball fan, but it kinda grew on you. And it was completely free to watch from her balcony. Who wouldn't take advantage of a free ballgame?

She shoveled another spoonful of butter pecan into her mouth and focused her attention back on the field. It was hard to see the players themeselves, but the huge TV screen in the stadium helped her follow the game. The Jays were playing the Red Sox tonight. The Red Sox were winning. Must let Faith know somehow, Willow thought. Didn't she live in Boston as a kid. This'll be music to her ears.

A little butter pecan dribbled down her chin and she wiped it roughly with a paper napkin. The Jays' mascot was inspiring the team by breakdancing on top of the dugout. Don't see how that inspires the team, since it's kind of hard to watch what's going on over your head. Willow was amused nonetheless. Having the talent to breakdance in a bulky Blue Jay suit was talent.

Her spoon scraped the bottom of the ice cream container and Willow looked down in surprise. She hadn't meant to finish the carton off tonight. She shrugged. It wasn't like one slip-up would kill her. She'd just skip the ice cream tomorrow. No biggie.

Maxwell meowed at the screen slider, begging to be let out. Willow refused. Someone on the third floor had let their cat on the balcony once and it had fallen three stories to the ground, stood up, licked itself, and sauntered around until its owner came to retrieve it. Willow had a feeling that Maxwell would not fare so well from the twenty-second story.

Anyhow, she was getting tired anyway. It was the bottom of the eighth and the Jays were down by nine runs. The outcome of the game seemed fairly obvious. Willow yawned and stood up, stretching. "Okay, snuggle-kitty," she said playfully. "I'm coming." She gathered up the stuff from the balcony and opened the slider. After putting it away she washed her face, changed into an oversized T-shirt, and crawled into bed. Maxwell jumped up beside her and lay on her other pillow, purring and slowly sweeping his tail back and forth. Willow drifted off to sleep.

Somewhere, a girl sat up in bed and screamed in grief.

Willow didn't hear.

TBC...next time (as promised for three chapters), Willow goes back to work!

Thanks to all who reviewed! You're all so sweet. This is me being happy for no flames or 'you stink!' reviews.

mistymidnight