Disclaimer: I do not own any Buffy the Vampire Slayer plotlines, characters, etc
Chapter 6
'Bang! Bang! Bang!' The sound of someone frantically pounding on the front door roused the watcher from his research.
"Just a moment." Giles called, rubbing his glasses as he moved to greet his visitor. The visitor didn't wait.
"Giles-help!" Tara pleaded, struggling to keep hold of a squirming, crying, child. The walk over had been anything but pleasant.
"What happened?" Giles asked, concerned for his favorite of the scoobies.
Tara put the kid down on the couch, where she continued to scream, and joined the older man.
"I-I'm not s-sure." Tara stuttered, "We were just walking over here, and everything was fine, and then there as this big dog-"
"A dog?" Rupert questioned.
"Yeah-it was just passing us on the street, but Willow completely freaked out when she saw it, and then-"
"Then she turned into a toddler?" The graying man cut her off.
"What?" Tara give Giles a look of puzzlement, "I'm just telling you why she's upset-I don't know how she turned into…" The witch nodded towards her miniature girlfriend, "that. Though I guess a dog could have played a part in it."
"Quite," Both adults stood in silence, listening to the sound of Willow's wails, "Um, could you possibly, well, maybe, make her…stop? The crying is extremely aggravating."
"Oh, sure." Tara picked up the red-head, assuring her that no dogs or any other four-legged creatures were permitted in Giles's house. As the screeching gradually stopped, the watcher lifted the book he had been studying and brought it over to the girls.
"This is what I've found so far," Rupert started, reading off the possible spells and curses that could possibly have caused Willow's evident change. Meanwhile, the little girl in question was getting bored, and very, very annoyed. No one seemed to realize how difficult it was to move around when covered in clothes ten times too big, which happened to be the current state of the young witch's wardrobe. The Green T-shirt she had been wearing as a full-sized woman had, unfortunately, not shrunk with her, much like her jeans, and her various…undergarments. The child tried to deal with this fact by shedding all clothes but the initial top, which reached a good five inches past her toes. But Willow was about to change that; if only she could find some scissors…
Tara paid no mind when the preschooler wriggled out of her grasp, caught up in a deep discussion with Giles, and still having no real clue as to how this whole thing had happened.
"But what about the memories?"
"Memories?" The watcher furrowed his brow.
"Yeah-the ones Willow and I both have." The young woman confirmed.
"The memories of when you were adults, or of Willow now?"
"Memories of Willow when she was little; things that didn't happen in real life, that we both remember." Tara clarified.
"Hm. That is strange." Giles agreed, "Perhaps I should look into memory-altering spells as well…"
The two were interrupted when a high voice interrupted, saying, "Look at me! Look at me Mommy!"
"Willow, what did you do?!" The child's 'mother' stared, appalled at the sight before her. Willow had apparently found the tool she had searched for, having used it to trim her over-sized robe. This, in itself, would have been fine, had the girl not went on to cut random circles out of the cloth, making, amongst other things, her bottom bare.
"Willow-don't use scissors if I'm not there to help you!" Tara scolded, grabbing them out of the kid's clenched fist.
"Why not?" The child questioned, truly not understanding the risk she had taken.
"You could have cut your fingers off!" The college student spoke harshly, "You could have killed yourself!"
'Kill'. That was a word little Willow had heard a lot. You didn't really live in Sunnydale and not understand its meaning. And that was a scary one. So scary, in fact, that Willow, much like with dogs, was terrified, and, Tara being a 'villain' for having said it, rushed into Giles's arms, bawling for the second time.
"Gwanpa! Mommy was mean! Tell hew to say sowwy!" She sobbed into the Englishman's vest.
"Grandpa?" Giles gave a questioning glance to Tara, "Is that what you told her?"
"N-no." The witch shook her head, "S-she just comes up with names for people. I-I didn't tell her to call me 'Mommy' either."
"I see." The watcher thought deeply as he absentmindedly rubbed the four-year-old's back, "Indeed."
Tara observed the two; the standoffish elder and the adorable child. It was so…familiar. The scene reminded the young woman of Christmas last year, when everyone met up at Buffy's house, and Willow refused to sit on anyone's lap but Giles's, because, as she stated, 'I love him the best'. The witch smiled at the memory. She had been a little offended that her own daughter didn't want to stay with her mot-wait; 'daughter'? Since when had Tara thought of Willow that way? And how could she possibly remember Christmas with Willow? It never happened! The girl seriously needed to get out.
"So, Giles, it looks like Willow's going to need some new clothes." The witch suggested.
"Oh, yes, quite." The watcher agreed, pulled from his musings.
"Maybe I could go out and get them, since Willow doesn't really like me right now. And you guys look so comfy-"
Rupert cut her off, "Yes, yes. You can go."
"Great! Thanks Giles-you're the best!" Tara called, rushing from the apartment complex before the Englishman could argue.
"Well, I suppose it's just you and I now, Willow." The older man smiled at the child on his lap.
Willow's face distorted in rage at his remark. The watcher had no idea what he was getting into.