Chapter Three (Faith is insane, But Willow is a loony.)
"Willow! Will you slow down!" The redhead had seemingly begun to channel Buffy, as Xander had to jog to keep up with her power walk. It was lunch the next day, and Willow was in full blown panic mode. Not only had she not seen Buffy all morning, she had also left her cellphone at home.
'It's okay,' she told herself that morning. 'Just pretend you're living in a different decade.'
It was now Willow's firm opinion that previous decades sucked.
It was hard though, lack of cellphone and lack of Buffy during class meant that Willow had no idea what in the world was going on. That in of itself was a new feeling. Even now, she was trying to piece together what fragments of information she had.
'Dead demon…gorgeous eyes…wait, no. Little kid claiming to be a Slayer…Very little kid, smaller than Buffy, even. Was Airhead her older sister, or something? Oh nice, Willow. Airhead? Really? Oh god, please don't let Airhead be her mom, that'd be so weird…'
"You look," Xander paused. "So intense right now." He had been watching his best friend think, observing how the thoughts flitted through her head and how her face changed. This went beyond simple Resolve Face. This was, Willow-has-no-idea-what-is-going-on-and-it's-upsetting-her-to-the-point-of-mental-distress-and-she-will-headbutt-someone-if-she-doesn't-figure-it-out-soon Face.
Xander took half a step back, just to be sure.
"Hey, I've seen that face before!"
Xander whirled around. "Faith?"
The dark haired Slayer was standing by her open locker, sling backpack in one hand, brown paper bag in the other. Though it had been months since Giles convinced the girl to start up school again, it was still surreal to see her on campus. Even weirder when they found out she was only a Sophomore.
"Yeah, she totally looks like those lions I saw on Animal Planet." Xander chose not to ask. He knew the girl had been bedridden for several days, and that Giles' TV only got basic. "The ones who kill all the cubs so their moms can go into heat and they can mate with them? Same face, I swear."
"Faith, I hate to break it to you, but you're insane."
'Muahahaha I am Willow and Pride Rock is mine!' "Oh, um hi Faith," Willow jolted, having finally noticed the other girl. Wait. 'Faith injured...Fruit Snack Lizard…two weeks…new Slayer.'
"!"
Xander and Faith stared at her blankly.
"!"
"…how are you doing that?"
Frustrated, Willow stomped her feet and made a sound that could only be described as a keyboard smash. Grabbing the other two, she pulled them down across campus till they reached the library. Pushing the doors down, Willow could not hide her excitement. She had figured it out.
"Giles the Fruit Snack Lizard killed Faith but its electricity got her heart pumping again but she was dead for a little while and so that's why there's a new Slayer but she's tiny so I'm kinda worried!"
She stopped, gasping for breath, chest heaving and leaning heavily on the doorframe. Willow was babble-master and could go on for far longer, but the sheer volume she forced into the run-on sentence expelled her lungs faster.
Giles cleared his throat. "We are…quite aware of this, Willow. But thank you."
The redhead blushed. There, sitting around the table and chatting amiably were Buffy, Giles, and Airhead.
The even had tea.
Faith brushed past her and plopped down next to Buffy. "'m back. Brought my lunch. And Xander. And the lunatic."
"You knew?"
Faith shrugged. "We've been discussing it all morning."
"Didn't you get my message, Wills?" Buffy was waving her own phone around. "'Come meet us in the library at lunch, we have news'?"
"Oh."
"Well come on and sit down then, you two," Giles Pulled up two more chairs for Xander and herself. "There are introductions that need to be made."
Xander plopped down in his seat and Willow turned to Giles. "So you all already know about that eleven year old Slayer?"
"T-twelve." 'Jesus Christ, Tara. Did you just stutter?'
Willow's head whipped around like a dog's. "Huh?" 'Ohmigod cute stutter!'
"Artie. She's twelve."
"Oh."
Faith and Buffy locked eyes and tried to contain guffaws. The fact that Willow was gayer than Liberace at the Playboy Mansion was a bit of an open secret. It was obvious, though everyone had seemed to unanimously decide to keep quiet about it unless Willow spoke up first.
Giles cleared his throat.
This seemed to snap Tara out of her trance. "Oh, um sorry. That was rude of me. I'm Tamara Tiler, but," she offered Willow a lopsided grin and the redhead looked like she was about to faint. "You can call me Tara. I'm Artie's Watcher."