Chapter 7

"Giles?"

"Yes Buffy/"

"Why are there no vamps anywhere?" Buffy asked as they patrolled.

"I believe all of the vampires are in hiding."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure." There was a silence for a while before Buffy spoke again.

"Tara told me something today."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Her dad didn't use just that stupid demon story to keep her family 'in line'."

"Oh dear Lord," Giles said, cleaning his glassed as they sat on a bench to take a break.

"Yeah. She said it went on for a while."

"Is she all right?"

"I think so. I think she told me so I know I'm not alone, you know?" she asked, looking at the stary sky.

"I believe that is something someone like Tara would do," he replied, squeezing her hand.

"I think we cried more then talked."

"That's understandable."

"She said she's gettin' afraid of Willow," Buffy admitted, shocking her Watcher.

"P-pardon?"

"Tara. She said Willow's getting too dangerous and is scaring her."

"Yes, she is."

"She said that Willow's not gonna last much longer is we don't stop her."

"And things just keep getting worse when it deals with Willow, doesn't it?" he muttered under his breath. Buffy's Slayer healing picked it up though.

"Giles, what are we going to do about her?" Buffy asked just as something behind some overgrowth hissed, scaring the Slayer. Giles picked his sword up from the ground and followed her behind the overgrowth.

"Aww," Buffy said, lowering her weapon. "It's a kitten."

"Buffy, be careful!" Giles snapped as she reached and plucked the kitten from the branches it was stuck in.

"It doesn't seem like it's got rabies. I think I'll take it to the vet tomorrow."

"You mean your taking it to your house?" he asked.

"Yeah. If there's nothing wrong with it, I'll keep it. Dawn always wanted a cat." She looked at him before ducking her head and petting the cat the was nestled between her breasts inside her jacket. "You don't care, do you?"

"It's not my decision."

"You live with us. I mean-if it's not ok-" she broke off, blushing. He chuckled and looked at the tiger looking cat.

"I think it would be beneficial for Dawn to have the responsibility of raising a pet," he answered in a neutral, British tone.

"Translation: you think the little thing is cute and want to keep it."

"Quite," he said with a blush. Smiling, she looked at the abandoned kitten with love in her eyes. He thought she looked like a new mother.

"Come, we should head back anyway. You can give the kitten some milk and let it sleep in a towel lined box." She started to protest until he continued. "Just until you're sure it has not illnesses or anything else of the sort." She grinned again and stated petting the kitten once more.

It was ten the next morning when Buffy and Giles arrived at the vets office. After Buffy explained she'd found the kitten abandoned in the part the night before, the receptionist quickly ushered her into the back, sending the first available vet to them, regardless of the scheduled patients. "Rabies" was all over the town, or so everyone claimed. No one wanted to admit there were demons.

It took nearly a hour, but once the exam and x-rays were complete, the vet stated the kitten was fine except for dehydration and slight malnutrition, which explained the skinniness.

"Any sooner, and I think the little thing would have died. She's lucky she doesn't have any diseases or worms."

After picking up a bag of kitten food from the store and a container of kitten milk, Buffy and Giles sat in the living room, watching the kitten bat nervously at it's saucer of milk.

"She's so cute," Buffy said with a smile.

"I agree."

"Giles, do you...never mind."

"What is it?" he asked, turning to her, but carefully not touching anything save her hand. Tara and Dawn were the only ones she'd give hugs.

"Nothing." And they went back to watching the kitten.

An hour later, Tara arrived home. Afternoon classes were canceled because of a water contamination in the teachers lounge that made all campus coffee drinking teachers ill.

"Hi Buffy, Giles." Tara noticed the kitten and her smile flickered before returning double the strength. They'd forgotten she'd lost her cat...

"We found her during patrol last night."

"She's cute. Looks like a tiger," Tara said, watching the kitten as it jumped after a piece of lint in air.

"I was gonna let Dawn have her, but I can't now." Tara smiled and sat beside Buffy and squeezed her hand knowingly.

"I got Miss Kitty a month before I left home. No one knew I had her until after I left. She was supposed to be a present for my sister, but I couldn't give her up.

"So, what are you going to name her?" the witch asked, changing the subject away from painful memories.

"I'm not sure. I'd let Rupert decided, but he'd pick something weird and hard to say," Buffy said with a grin.

"I'll have you know, I've chosen a very sensible name for the feline." Both women raised their eyebrows. "Soma."

"And how did you get that?"

"Our kitten on the floor looks similar to a Somali cat," he said, somewhat embarrassed. Tara and Buffy laughed as they watched the kitten curl up to sleep in a batch of sunlight.

AN: Four pages, and it didn't take me that long! Mabey I'm getting my element back. My Harry Potter stories seem to be calling me though.