Chapter One

Franklin D. Roosevelt Military School was bustling with activity when Buffy arrived. Giles had already been on campus for a few days, but this was the first time she was seeing it. Girls and boys alike were arriving, some newbies like herself and some old-timers, greeting each other happily and heading for their barracks.

Buffy shouldered her duffel bag and headed toward the building she'd been assigned. She'd asked one of the friendlier-looking girls who had politely pointed her in the right direction. She walked quickly to the aforementioned building and went inside. She found an empty bunk and realized from the other girls' stares that she probably looked a little out of place since she was in street clothes while they were already in uniform. She sighed and climbed onto the available top bunk, sitting cross-legged on top of it and beginning to search through her bag.

Buffy was surprised when a redheaded girl suddenly appeared on the ladder, a friendly smile adorning her pretty features.

"Hey," she said. "New?"

"How'd ya know?" Buffy asked sarcastically. "Buffy Summers." She held out a hand which the other girl eagerly took.

"Willow Rosenberg. Nice to meet you." She eyed Buffy's clothes once again. "I take it you're new to military school in general."

"Yep," Buffy replied, surprised that she was beginning to regain some of her old cheerfulness. "Always been a public school girl."

"Willow, we've got Lehane!"

Willow turned around and jumped off the ladder. She gestured for me to follow, and I climbed down the ladder.

"Buffy Summers, Anya Jenkins. Anya, Buffy's new here."

"Cool," Anya said shortly.

Anya was small, -- about Buffy's height -- with short blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. She had an fake smile and an overly-obnoxious voice. Buffy didn't exactly like her, but she didn't dislike her either. She was just wary of her.

"So, um, who's Lehane?" Buffy asked.

"A hard-ass Cadet Captain," Anya said. "She's very by-the-book. Can't step a toe over the line with her."

"She's not that bad, Anya," Willow said. "But she is very strict. Cross her and find yourself in big trouble. She'll probably find a way to send you to the Commandant after only one infraction if she really hates you."

Buffy raised her eyebrows.

"Is there really a new Commandant?" Anya asked.

"ATTEN-SHUN!"

The girls around the room scrambled toward their beds at the sound of another girl's voice sounding through the room. Buffy felt Willow grab her wrist and yank her over to the bed. Buffy stood silently at her new friend's side, completely confused.

She looked down toward where the yelling had come from and saw two girls heading her way. One had long, thick, wavy brown hair which was tied back in a ponytail, a few tendrils hanging down her forehead. The other had dark hair pulled back in a tight bun and otherwise concealed under a hat. The brunette was also decked out in full uniform, though her hat was tucked under her arm. She walked slowly -- her black boots shining in the sunlight flooding through the window -- and glanced over each girl.

Buffy zoned out for a bit and was only brought back to earth when she heard Willow clear her throat. The brunette was right in front of Buffy, her lackey standing off to the side, eyeing a girl a few bunks down with a shy smile on her lips.

"How ya doin', maggot?" the brunette asked. "I'm Captain Lehane; I'm sure you've heard of me from your new friends here. Nice to see you're back with us. May I ask why you aren't in your uniform?"

"I-I-I'm new here, ma'am. I just got off the plane from California. I was about to change. I'm sorry," Buffy said, her cheeks turning pink; she wasn't used to being put on the spot. It wasn't a total lie. She was new.

Lehane's expression softened considerably. "All right. I'll let you off the hook this time..." Lehane raised an eyebrow inquiringly.

"Oh, um, Summers. Buffy Summers."

Lehane grinned. "Summers. Got it. Just be ready for the next afternoon inspection, all right?"

Buffy nodded. "Absolutely, ma'am. I will be."

Lehane nodded and moved away from her. She beckoned to her lackey, inspected the rest of the girls and left the barracks.

As soon as the door closed, the girls burst into chatter. Buffy noticed that most of it was about how she had "softened up" Lehane.

Buffy wasn't sure that she'd "softened up" anyone -- Lehane seemed fairly nice to her. By-the-book like Anya had told her? Sure. But she still seemed capable of being nice.

"Willow!"

"Tara!"

Buffy watched in slight astonishment as a fairly womanly-looking blonde girl came up to Willow and pulled her into a crushing hug.

"Where were you, baby?" Willow asked. "You said you'd come to see me before inspection." Willow pouted.

Tara grinned. "I-I got h-here l-literally t-t-ten seconds before Captain Lehane. I didn't have time," Tara explained. "S-sorry."

"It's okay," Willow said. "I understand."

She kissed Tara softly on the lips then turned to Buffy.

"Tara, this is Buffy Summers. She's new here. From Cali," Willow said.

"R-really?" Tara asked.

Buffy nodded affirmatively and smiled warmly at the stuttering blonde. "Los Angeles."

"San Francisco. I lived with my grandmother."

"Cool," Buffy said. "Um...I guess I better go change. Bathroom?"

"Out the door, down the hallway to your right. It's the first door on your left."

"Thanks."

Buffy climbed the ladder to her bunk and searched her duffel bag until she found the uniform the rest of the girls were wearing: a short-sleeved, light green, collared shirt, dark green pants, a black belt, and a pair of black boots.

Buffy followed Willow's instructions to the ladies' room and changed into the clothes she'd brought with her. She tied her hair back in a ponytail. Now she was in uniform and hopefully wouldn't be stared at by the others anymore.

When Buffy returned to the barracks, Willow invited her to come along with Willow and Tara to get their academic schedules at the administration building. She accepted their offer, and they all headed outside.

Willow and Tara pointed out some of the activities people were already engrossed in. There was a drill team, some weight-lifters, some marching practices and a huge obstacle course.

Willow named each of the academic buildings. There was the History building, the Mathematics building, the Sciences building, and the Arts building. The other buildings were devoted to classes about military tactics, battle strategies, and so on. Buffy couldn't remember them all.

As they passed the Arts building, Buffy swore she saw Captain Lehane sitting there on the front stairs, drawing in a sketchpad resting on her legs. She couldn't be sure, of course. She'd only been on campus for maybe an hour and a half, and she didn't know a lot of people. Perhaps she'd mistaken someone else for Lehane.

When the trio received their schedules, they examined them together. Buffy discovered that she had her first two classes with Tara, her lunch period with Tara and Willow and her last two classes with Willow. She also noticed that her classes ended at one o'clock instead of three o'clock like they had at her public school. She asked Willow about it.

"Oh, that's because you have free time from one to two and then military training activities -- like the obstacle courses and stuff -- from two-fifteen to about five-forty-five. Dinner's at six."

"It's not too bad when you get used to it," Tara said. "Just don't do anything too taxing during free time and you'll be fine."

"Your stutter...?"

"Only appears when I'm nervous or meeting someone new. I know it's kind of odd," Tara said, laughing lightly. "It shocks a lot of people at first, I know. It just disappears when I become comfortable with someone. Ask Will. She's the one that figured it out. I thought it was permanent."

Buffy looked over at Willow, raising her eyebrows.

Willow blushed. "Let's get back to the topic at hand, huh?"

"Okay, well, what kind of activities do we have to do?" Buffy asked.

"Whatever your captain gives you," Willow said, shrugging. "And with Lehane's mood swings, you never what'll come your way."

Buffy smiled weakly. Willow's ominous tone was making Buffy think twice about her assumption that Lehane could be nice. She knew she definitely wouldn't feel as relaxed around Lehane. Willow made her sound like she was capable of anything, even murder. Buffy almost shuddered at the thought.

"We better get back," Tara said.

The three girls walked back to the barracks together, talking about their home lives and how much they'd miss their respective parents -- or guardian, in Tara's case. Buffy didn't mention that her step-dad was the Commandant and that he and her mother lived in a house on campus. She'd just starting making friends and didn't want people treating her differently because she was the Commandant's step-daughter.

When they got back to the barracks, Buffy decided to take a nap before dinner. So she climbed the ladder to her bed and got settled, laying on her side. She glanced at the two girls laying together in the bunk next to hers and closed her eyes.

After a moment, what she had seen registered in Buffy's mind. Her eyes shot open, and she looked at them a little closer. She recognized the face of Lehane's lackey from earlier, but she didn't recognize the brunette underneath the lackey.

Buffy watched as the two girls kissed gently. The lackey's grip tightened protectively around the other girl's back.

Buffy closed her eyes again and laid on her back. She felt as if she'd invaded a private moment between those two girls. Sure she hadn't cleared her throat or tried to get their attention or in any way interrupted them, but she'd looked at them while they were kissed. They hadn't known she was watching, but she'd basically ogled them.

Butterflies suddenly erupted in Buffy's belly as she wondered what it would be like to kiss a girl. She felt her body begin to relax, and her eyes closed again.

This felt good, Buffy decided, as her dream partner's warm, strong arms closed around her back. Buffy reached up and stroked her partner's soft cheek, cupping the firm chin in her hand. Her partner moved Buffy's from her cheek and grabbed Buffy's hand, lightly kissing her knuckles. Buffy looked up to meet her partner's eyes and saw that the girl's face was clouded. The only reason she knew it was a girl was that she could feel her partner's breasts pressing against her own. Her partner pulled her closer and leaned in, brushing her soft lips against Buffy's and...

Buffy woke up to a loud clanging sound, hurting her currently sensitive ears.

Willow came up the ladder. "Dinner," she explained, gesturing toward the window.

Buffy sat up and sleepily met Willow's eyes. She nodded.

"You'll need the hat," Willow added, tapping the hat she was wearing.

Buffy nodded again.

"Tara and I will wait for a minute but no longer. You have to hurry. Lehane gets pissed if we don't get to dinner on time. Trust me, I know."

Buffy smiled and watched Willow climb down the ladder.

Buffy sighed. She couldn't believe what she had been dreaming. It hadn't been bad, far from bad, actually. It had cut off just as it was getting good, and she couldn't help wondering what would have happened if she'd been able to sleep just a minute longer.

Buffy looked over at the bed the lackey and the brunette had been smooching on. They were gone, of course, probably on their way to dinner together.

Buffy searched quickly through her duffel bag and found the hat she was looking for. She looked at it and reluctantly put it on. She then climbed down the ladder and joined Willow and Tara on their way to the dining hall for dinner. Yet another experience to learn about at her new military school.