BTVS and Angel characters do not belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for a while.
Spoilers: Up until the Season 5 episode The Body (just to be safe).
Giles passed Buffy off to Wesley as they ran up the stairs of the Summers porch. He wasn't sure what they would find inside but he knew Buffy well enough to know that she would not follow any instructions of waiting in the car. He was not, however, prepared for the chaos they found inside. Anya was standing on the coffee table, screaming and gesturing to a rather large white rabbit that was staring up at her from the floor. Lorne was chasing, unsuccessfully, a squealing pig, which was heading for the dining room.
"Mr. Gordo!" Buffy exclaimed as she tried to wriggle free from Wesley's arms.
A frazzled Joyce exclaimed, "Rupert, thank god. Can you do something with Willow?"
The four year old Willow was floating about a foot off the ground, her uncontrolled magic sparking around her. Xander cowered on the floor frightened by his floating friend.
"Willow, please stop what you are doing." Giles said as calmly as he could as he edged closer.
"No!" Her refusal was accompanied by a flying ball which had been discarded on the floor.
Giles brushed aside the ball and tried a sterner approach. "Willow! Stop this at once!"
"NO!" This time she sent multiple items flying. Joyce yelped as she wasn't quite fast enough to avoid an errant book.
He took advantage of Willow's diverted attention and covered the remaining distance quickly. "Morpheus," he said as he touched his left hand to Willow's forehead. He caught her as her levitation spell was broken.
"What did you do to her?" Joyce asked shakily.
"I cast a spell to put her to sleep. It was a last resort. I would have preferred not to use magic on one so young, but she was endangering herself and the others." He looked around the room. Xander was sobbing near his feet. Anya was still shrieking over the rabbit and Lorne was still trying to corral the pig. Wesley was struggling to keep Buffy in his arms but there was no sign of Tara or Dawn. "Where are Tara and Dawn?"
"Upstairs. Tara is hiding in my closet and Dawn has been trying to coach her out of it," Joyce answered as she tried to soothe Xander.
Giles placed the still sleeping Willow on the sofa and cast a few reversal spells. The fleeing pig was immediately transformed back into Buffy's beloved Mr. Gordo. Lorne picked up the crying Anya whose severe bunny phobia was now exacerbated. "I presume that Willow discovered the Magics?"
"Actually Tara was the first one to bring one of Buffy's old toys to life. I don't think she meant to. She started crying and saying she was sorry right away. That's when she ran upstairs and hid in my closet. Then Willow changed Dawn's Mr Rabbit and Anya screamed she was a bad girl. I tried to get Willow to calm down but she was in full tantrum already. That's when I called you. I didn't know what else to do and I was afraid she was going to hurt someone, or herself."
"You did the right thing, Joyce. Unfortunately, I don't have any experience with coping with a child who has magic. I'd like to call someone in Devon for some advice on how to proceed."
"The Council?"
"No. Every effort should be made to keep this from the Council. I fear what they would do if they discovered Buffy was now a child. This is a group of magic users, a coven, that have been of great assistance to me in the past."
"Mom! Is that Giles? Maybe he can get Tara to come out! I can't seem to." Dawn called down from upstairs.
With one last check to ensure that Willow was still asleep, he went upstairs to Joyce's bedroom. A frazzled Dawn was pleading with Tara to come out of her Mother's closet.
"She won't come out. I think she's afraid she's going to be in trouble. I keep trying to tell her that no one is mad with her."
"You did fine Dawn. It is not your fault." Giles tried to reassure the teen.
"This is because of her family huh?"
"I believe so. She seemed rather frightened of her Father in particular." Then in his most reassuring tones, "Tara. Its Giles. You can come out now. No one is angry with you, I promise."
Tara peeked out from behind Joyce's bathrobe. She looked past Giles and her eyes went wide. Giles turned to see what she was staring at and found that Buffy had come upstairs and was holding the once again stuffed Mr. Gordo.
"Buffy, could you come here please?" Giles asked as he held out his hand.
Buffy gladly complied and hugged the now kneeling Giles.
"You see Tara it is alright. Mr. Gordo is back, to his um, usual self. No harm done." As if she understood what he was trying to do, Buffy proffered the stuffed pig to Tara.
Tara looked uncertainly at Giles, as if she was trying to decide if he was angry. Satisfied that he was not a danger, she crawled out of the closet. Giles held out his arms and Tara rushed to him, letting out the last of her fears in gentle sobs.
"Shh, It's alright, Tara. No one will hurt you. You're safe." Giles comforted as he rubbed the child's back. Much to everyone's surprise Tara returned to her normal size, her additional weight causing Giles to topple backwards onto the floor. When she realized that her toddler sized clothing no longer covered everything, she ran back into the closet and slammed the door.
"Well that was strange." Dawn said.
"Dawn, could you please fetch Tara her clothes?" Then to the closed closet door, "Tara? Are you uninjured?" At her muffled reply he continued, "Dawn has gone to fetch your clothing. I am going to go downstairs so you can change. When you're ready you can come down and tell me everything you remember. Perhaps we can find something common to both you and Dawn, as you are the only two that have returned to normal." With that he scooped up his Slayer and gave her the piggy back ride she had been asking for.
"Didn't know that Watcher duties included piggy back rides," Dawn teased as she passed them on the staircase. The Watcher glared at her but much to his dismay the teen merely giggled.
Joyce smiled at the Watcher as he put Buffy back down on the ground. He's certainly good with the children, and it has been too long since I've seen Buffy this happy. But what if he can't change her back? No, I have to trust in him like the children do. He will find a way to fix this. "Dawn said that Tara is back to her normal self. Is she alright?"
"Um, yes. I believe so. She, um, was a bit embarrassed at the state of her clothing. She said she'd join us as soon as she's changed. I'd better check on Willow and then make that phone call."
Joyce watched her daughter follow after her Watcher and sighed. She recalled a conversation with her daughter from the morning she was changed into a toddler.
"Sometimes I think Giles still sees me as that sixteen year old teenager that defied him and disobeyed him and generally drove him nuts." She sighed and sipped at her hot chocolate.
"Oh Buffy, you may have drove him 'nuts' on occasion, but he is extremely proud of you. He adores you. Even I can see that."
"Like a daughter you mean." Buffy muttered.
"Buffy? Sweetheart, you know you can tell me anything. Has something happened?"
"No. Well, not really. Its just that when Travers threatened to deport him, I was so scared. At first I thought it was because, well he's my Watcher and I need him to be my Watcher, which I kinda do, but, I also need him just because he's Giles. I know I'm probably not making any sense." She stirred her hot chocolate miserably.
"No, I think I understand. Buffy, you and Rupert have always been close. It doesn't surprise me that you love him. But do you love him like you love Xander and Willow? Or does he make your heart skip a beat when you see him?" Joyce schooled her face into a neutral expression. Buffy was an adult now and for once she was not going to judge.
A slight blush crept into Buffy's cheeks as she mumbled, "I think I like him, but I'm not sure if he could ever see me that way."
"Well, Buffy. I think you need to talk to Rupert. Tell him how you feel. Find out if he might feel the same."
"What? No way. Mom, thanks but … its probably just transference or something. Yeah, that's it." Buffy was building up a good head of steam with her denials when the doorbell rang signifying the arrival of her friends and the end of the conversation.
A little later when it was apparent that all the guests had arrived she asked, "Where's Rupert? Isn't he coming for the movie fest?"
"Nah, Giles would probably be happier cross-referencing his books or something equally boring," Buffy answered rather flippantly. The same sentiment was echoed by the rest of the group.
"Buffy! Did you even ask him?" Joyce was rather appalled. Sometimes the children took Rupert entirely too much for granted.
"Mom! He wouldn't want to come."
Noticing the rather stubborn look on her daughter's face, Joyce decided to let it drop. But as she went to the kitchen to get the popcorn she thought: I wish the children would show Rupert how they really felt about him.
In the present, Joyce gasped, "Oh NO!" She wrung her hands. "No, I mean I didn't say it out loud? Did I? Oh God. RUPERT!"