Title: Haven't Changed A Bit

Author: mistymidnight

Rating: PG-13 (for Anya's sex-talk)

Disclaimer: What should this disclaimer contain?

a.) The author explaining she is in no way affiliated with Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, BtVS, etc. and does not own the characters, etc.

b.) The author crediting gidgetgirl for the plot.

c.) The author claiming everything else as her own.

d.) The author making a desperate pun or joke to cover up the fact that the disclaimer is a boring, if necessary, piece of fanfic.

e.) All of the above.

See end of chapter for the answer!!!

Timeline/Spoilers: Same as the last chapter, up to season seven's "Selfless".

Summary: Anya I reverted to her former self…that is, herself at age six.

Author's Notes: Challenge response…no! Don't run away yet! …from gidgetgirl. An Anya throwback. Click on over to the previous chapter to read the options, requirements, and basic plot for the challenge.

Picks up exactly where the last chapter left off.

The Beginning of the Trouble

"No." Buffy said to the smiling little brunette. "We do not."

Anya's smile dropped off her face like ice cream falling off a cone. "Well," she said. "You must be very boring adults. Adults should have—"

"Anya!" Willow interrupted. "Why don't you watch some cartoons?" She pointed to the television. Anya realized she was in a living room.

"Okay!" she said. Willow promptly turned the television on and Anya settled down with the remote control in hand. Buffy, Willow, and Xander made their way to the kitchen as unobtrusively as possible.

"What are we going to do about it?" Xander asked. "We can't leave her like that!"

"Think of it, though," Willow said, rather dreamily. "Big Anya versus Little Anya. One, Little Anya is more easily distracted from sex talk. Two, we can punish Little Anya when she…" She trailed off under Xander's glare. "I'm not suggesting that we keep her this way or anything," she mumbled.

Xander turned to Buffy. "You were there when she…when this happened. What was going on?"

"She was drunk," Buffy began.

"Oh! I know this one!" Willow exclaimed. "Bad beer! Instead of devolving her into a cave-Anya, it made her into child-Anya."

"I don't think so, Will," Buffy said. "She made a wish that thing were 'the way they were before' or something like that. And then—poof."

"So we're thinking spell?" Xander asked.

"Probably," Buffy agreed. "Vengeance demon, probably, seeing as she wished it. God, you'd think she'd know better by now."

"Well, I'm just glad she didn't do something horrible to all of us, like turn our significant others into snakes or something."

"That was a worm," Buffy corrected.

Willow looked confused.

"Long story," Buffy muttered.

Xander, meanwhile, was looking rather nervous. "She didn't wish for anything else, did she?" he asked. "There was no 'I wish things were like they were before and…'?"

"Nope," Buffy replied. "I believe she was too busy going bach in age. Time. Whatever."

From the other room, the TV blared, "Silly Rabbit! Trix are for kids!"

"Anya, turn it down!" Buffy shouted. The volume of the TV went down, but only slightly.

"It's still the same Anya, all right," Buffy remarked, sitting at the kitchen counter.

Suddenly the back door burst open and Dan came rushing in. "Hey, guys!" she said excitedly. "You'll never guess what…" She stopped, looking around the room at the worried faces. "What's going on?"

"Anya's a little kid," Willow said.

Dawn scrunched her eyebrows together. "Uh, Willow, Anya's over a thousand years old, last time I checked."

"No," Willow rushed to clarify. "A spell made Anya a little girl."

"No way!" Dawn said. "Weird."
"Speaking of Anya, could you go keep an eye on her?" Buffy asked. "She's watching cartoons in the other room."

Dawn walked to the living room, stuck her head in, and announced, "Was."

"What do you mean, 'was'?" Buffy asked.

"She was watching cartoons. She's not in here any more," Dawn reported.

The Scoobies looked at each other and all said simultaneously:

"Uh oh."

Another chapter done.

I was trying something new: an interactive disclaimer.

The answer is E: All of the above.

Oh, and the link to Chaocolate Covered Strawberries (where I picked up this challenge) can be found in my user profile.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. And John, you don't need to remind me that you're taller. I see you often enough to remember on my own. =)

mistymidnight