As she walked away from the school, Willow pulled out her cell phone, quickly dialing Buffy's number. She and Dawn were still in California, looking for new Slayers. The team had all split up after defeating the First, and Willow had created new Slayers, and all over the world they were searching and finding them. Willow had opted for Australia, but not for the reasons everyone thought. When she had started scoping out for the new Slayers, she had felt something in this particular part of Australia.

Somewhere, off the coast of the town, Willow had felt an immense, concentrated amount of magic. Mako Island it was called, she had learned. It had an inactive volcano, but that wasn't what kept people away. That would be all the sharks that surrounded the island. When she was scouting for the girls, she had felt the magic, and of course volunteered to go to Australia. Willow didn't know why she hadn't told her friends, it wasn't like she was lying though, just omitting the details.

After a few rings, Buffy Summers answered,. "Hey, Will."

"Hi Buffy. How's it going back home?"

"Oh, it's fine, picked a few more girls. But this is gonna take forever, Wills, they're hard to convince." Willow heard the tiredness in her best friend's voice, even though she knew Buffy was trying her hardest to mask it. "How's it going with your girl?"

The night that Willow had met Charlotte and took back to her house, she had been sure to call Buffy about Charlotte's first accidental Slaying. Buffy had been surprised, but didn't think that it was a bad thing, hoping that it would make it easier to convince that the demons were real.

"Really well. After I explained about magic, she really believed me. Charlotte said that she's had experience with magic before, but wasn't a witch or anything. She had to go to school before she could explain more, though."

"Okay, that's good. Well, I've got to go, this girl's parents are convinced that we're part of a cult or something."

"Geez, good luck with that."

"Yeah, you too."

Willow hit the end button, and tucked her phone into her pocket. Now that that was done, she had about eight hours to kill. What better to do than to find out about Mako Island?

0x0x0x0x0x0

Charlotte sat at the cafeteria table, picking at her food. Truthfully, she wasn't that hungry, but she ate anyway, when suddenly a familiar blonde head came up to her.

"Hi, Charlotte."

She looked up warily at her ex-boyfriend. "Hey, Lewis. What's up?"

"Nothing, just wanted to talk for a bit."

"About?"

Lewis smiled in a friendly manner. "I just wanted to see how you were doing. It's been a while since we talked."

"You mean ever since I tried to hurt the others, and ended up losing the best thing that's ever happened to me?" Charlotte didn't say it bitterly, rather in a matter-of-fact tone that said a lot more than she wanted. "You mean since then?

Lewis sighed. "Yeah. Since then." He indicated the seat in front of her. "Can I sit?"

"Won't that make Cleo upset?" She looked over to the others, who were seated a few tables away, just in time to see them hurriedly look away. "They wanted you to see if I was planning something, didn't they?" She opened her bag of chips and offered one to Lewis, who took it. "Not that I blame them or anything, I'm just wondering."

"No, they didn't. I'm just a little worried about you, Charlotte. I know these past few weeks can't have been easy for you..."

Under the table, Charlotte dug her nails into her palms nervously. She had wanted to talk to Lewis about this whole Slayer business, but now she wasn't so sure. Because if she told Lewis that she was suddenly a vampire-killing superhero, then he was sure to tell the others. And if they others knew, then they might see her as a threat or something. Who knew that being a mermaid would be simpler than what was going on right now?

"And you've just be really quiet lately."

"I've had a lot on my mind," she muttered when he paused. Charlotte looked up and saw genuine concern in his eyes. She wanted so badly to confide in him, to tell him that she needed help, that something incredibly scary was happening to her. What Charlotte really wanted was forgiveness, to be assured that what was happening was ao second chance to redeem herself. Her mouth opened, ready to spill her secrets, but instead what came out was, "Do you believe in vampires?"

Lewis looked startled, but quickly composed himself. "I'm sorry?"

"Vampires, Lewis," she repeated, "Demons, bad things under the bed. Do you believe in them?"

"Well, I suppose if mermaid exists, anything's possible. Why?"

Charlotte didn't even answer his question, instead just kept talking. She wanted to stop herself, but it was like her mouth wasn't even attached to her brain. "And what if those vampires were pure evil, and someone needed to fight them?" She leaned forward, whispering, "And let's say, hypothetically, that person was me?"

Lewis moved back a little, and Charlotte could tell that he was regretting this conversation. "What are you asking me, Charlotte?"

Charlotte leaned back in her seat, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "I guess I'm just asking if you trust me."

"Why are you asking me that?"

Not even realizing it, Charlotte held his hand, gently this time, her eyes boring into his. "Just answer the question, Lewis, please. I know I haven't done anything to earn it, but please trust that I'm okay now."

"I... I do."

Her heart fluttered happily, and Lewis quickly continued, "But something is going on, Charlotte, isn't there?"

Charlotte snuck a look over at the trio, who weren't even bothering to be subtle about their stares, and quickly let go of Lewis's hand. "Yeah, there is."

"Well, that trust has to run both ways."

The bell rang, signaling that lunch was over. Charlotte quickly packed her stuff up. "Come over to my house tomorrow, okay, Lewis? You and the girls come over, and I'll explain everything, I swear."

She stuck out her hand and Lewis shook it, a smile one his face. Charlotte hoped that this could possibly bridge the gap between them all, assure them that she was on the level. With a slight nod, Charlotte broke away.

"Alright, tomorrow after school, don't forget," Charlotte waved to the girls and walked out the cafeteria. She hoped Willow wouldn't get mad about her wanting to tell about being a Slayer, but it certainly wasn't going to stop her.