Disclaimer: I do not own any Buffy the Vampire Slayer plotlines, characters, etc.
Chapter 5
Tara rushed from the language arts center, clutching a relieved four-year old to her chest out of the sight of others. The last thing the witch needed was to spread more rumors. Now that Cale, the school gossip knew about her untimely predicament, there was no telling what he would do.
Searching the grounds for some privacy, Tara found a secluded area beneath a bushy evergreen tree, where she promptly removed her charge's arms from around her neck and placed her on the ground. It was time for a serious discussion.
"Willow, why did you run away like that?" Tara asked the little girl, staring into her wide eyes.
"I didn't!" The child protested, shaking her head forcefully.
"Okay," the witch put a hand on the girl's shoulder to calm her down, "Then just tell me why you left my room."
"I was following you." Willow stated, "You wowe my favowite shiwt-the yellow one-and I saw you go with it."
Tara smiled. She knew her girlfriend always loved that color. Like that time when she was in kindergarten, and she wouldn't write with anything but a yellow crayon, and then she broke it-
Tara's reminiscing was cut short. How did she know that, anyway? Willow barely ever spoke of her early childhood; she only discussed supernatural stuff from her past. So how was it possible that the witch had remembered something she had never been told? Tara was seriously weirded out.
"Will, honey," Tara tried to hide her growing fear, "What do you remember about...stuff?" The witch ended her question pathetically.
"What 'stuff'?" The adorable child cocked her head, not understanding.
"You know, uh, memories about, um, us?" The young woman smiled encouragingly, "Like, what's your best memory of being here?" She offered.
The preschooler thought for a moment, squishing her index finger into her cheek as she contemplated, then responded, "My favowite memowy of hewe is when you took me to youw cwass about science, and the teachew let me hewp with the lesson."
Tara remembered exactly that. They had been discussing the effects of gravity, and when her professor saw Tara busy keeping her daughter occupied, he let the little girl come demonstrate Newton's Laws by tossing a ball in the air and watching it come down. But how could that have happened? Willow had only been a kid for a few hours; there was no possible way-unless it was a spell.
Tara smacked a hand to her head. Of course it was magic! Something must have gone wrong with the spell her girlfriend was attempting when she burst in the night before. The witch couldn't believe she didn't realize it before.
"Willow?" She turned to red-head, who was happily digging up soil from the ground, "We're going to make a quick stop at your room, okay?"
"Okay!" The kid grinned, her teeth stained a dark brown.
"Baby," Tara questioned, concerned, "What's that in your mouth?"
"A mud-pie!" The child held out her dirt-filled creation, which had a small, Willow-sized bite mark on the side, "Do you want some?" She offered generously.
"N-no thanks sweetie," Tara tried to keep from reprimanding the girl, "Um, why don't you spit that out?"
"Why?" The preschooler asked, her mouth stuffed with the brown gunk.
"Um…" The witch tried to come up with a good explanation, "Because mud-pies are made of dirt!" Tara nodded her head, trying to convince the little girl of her error.
"But I like diwt." Willow stuffed more soil into her mouth.
"But it has germs." Tara countered, her face serious and foreboding.
"Gewms?" The red-head looked scared.
"Yeah; you know; the things that make you sick that you can't see?"
"Sick?" Willow did not like being sick. When she was sick, she couldn't go to daycare, and when she couldn't go to daycare, she had to stay at her grandpa's. And that was definitely not something she wanted to do.
"Ith i' aww gome?" The little girl asked hopefully as she sat on a sink, sticking out her tongue for Tara's inspection.
"Yes, honey. It's all gone." The college student breathed a sigh of relief when the child finally closed her mouth. They had spent approximately half an hour in the women's bathroom, while Willow insisted her mouth be cleaned with water, then toothpaste, then soap, at which point Tara drew the line. Who knew what they put into such products these days? Tara wasn't about to shove some unknown chemicals down her girlfriend's throat just so she could 'feel clean'.
"So, are you ready to go?" Tara prompted, wiping the last droplets of water off of Willow's face.
"Yeah!" The child cried eagerly. Now that she was germ-free, she was ready to do anything. In fact, the kid felt so invincible that she decided to jump off of the sink. While Tara, who had previously kept a firm grip on the girl, had her back turned, patting at her damp shirt with a paper towel, Willow made her move.
"Mommy! Mommy! Look at me!" Willow shrieked. At this moment, she promptly stood up, lost her balance, and was about to smack her head on the linoleum when Tara, at the last possible second, caught her. The witch's heart was pounding.
"On second thought, honey, I think we'll stop by your room later. I think it's time we go visit Giles."
Buffy groaned, pushing down her comforter. Trying to get back to sleep had been no use; when the Slayer was up, she stayed up. Slipping into a pair of fluffy slippers, the young woman went about her normal Friday routine. Specifically, Friday meant 'cleaning day'. Despite this being so-called 'normal', it didn't happen often, as schedules weren't usually important when compared with the slaying of vampires and other baddies. Nonetheless, Buffy wasn't about to let her room turn into a pigsty, and at the rate she and Willow were going-it would be beyond that in another week. Thus, picking up the plastic, hand-held vacuum-cleaner, Buffy set to work banishing crumbs and dust from the floor. The Slayer grumbled while going about her arduous task, wishing her roommate might, for once, actually show up in time to help her. She didn't see that happening anytime soon. However, the young woman did notice something else; some candles and a bowl of herbs covered in something greatly resembling blood, as well as a torn, blurred, brownish piece of parchment. Picking up the dilapidated object, Buffy tried to make out the words, but they were either in a seriously blurred language, or, which the Slayer banked on, the sheet was just too damaged to read. The young woman stared at the phenomenon, contemplating her next action. She could either save the parchment, leaving it on its owner's cluttered desk to be forgotten amongst the disorder, or throw it out. The Slayer decided on the latter, tossing the unsalvageable object into the trash. Turning back to the task at hand, something dawned on the young woman; Willow's desk was cluttered, messy, even unkempt! That was so not Willow.
"It must have been that kid." Buffy mused, "How'd she get in here anyway?" The Slayer shrugged, getting back to vacuuming. She and Willow usually kept the door locked, so there wasn't really a possibility of the kid getting in at night, and when she left, Buffy remembered the child unlocking it. And what about Willow? Buffy's best friend didn't appear to have left the room at all, though Buffy was pretty sure she had seen the witch when she came back from patrolling. Or had she?
The Slayer paused to think, going into investigator mode. Maybe she hadn't seen Will. It was late and dark when Buffy came to the room-maybe her roommate had spent the night out with Tara. But on a Friday, when her earliest class began at eight? Unless there was a major crisis, Willow never went out on Thursday nights. The Slayer was getting nervous.
"I hope Will's cell is on." The worried woman murmured, dialing her friend's number into their phone.
'Hi! This is Willow Rosenberg! I'm not really here right now, so leave me a message! Thanks for calling! Bye-'
Buffy hung up, spotting the aforementioned cell vibrating on Willow's desk.
"Well, I guess the whole calling thing is out." The Slayer's face shot up, her eyes widening as a great revelation dawned upon her. The kid in her room looked awfully familiar. The matching eyes, the identical looks-it all made sense!!
"No wonder Will was unreachable!" Buffy rolled her eyes at her own stupidity, "Willow must be stuck babysitting her cousin!"