Day Off

Buffy and Willow were walking through the cafeteria of UC Sunnydale, debating points from a lecture they had just left. "Willow, you're totally missing my point." Buffy said, "I agree that Marat wasn't a real martyr, but the death in the tub, neck wound, all that blood…just seems a bit more fangy than knifey to me…"

"Buffy," Willow says excitedly, "Listen to us, we're having a debate about a lecture. I've dreamt about this day since…forever! You are turning into quite the student. Should I be watching my occipital lobe?"

Buffy's face changes from a smile to confusion as Willow's joke falls flat. "Your what?"

"Occipital, the lobe in the back of your brain. You know, should I be watching my back, but you know, back of the brain…"

"Apparently not, you're clearly still the smart one Will."

"You have been studying a lot though, I'm proud of you."

"Yeah, but between classes and studying and training…I'm beginning to think this working hard thing is hard work."

"Life's crazy that way." Agreed Willow, her red hair bouncing as she nodded.

"I'm actually heading to the Magic Box right now to train, wanna come with?"

"I'm in, maybe we can even argue some more about the French Revolution."

"Who put the monkey head next to the Styx water? Do we wanna be picking exploded monkey head out of everything?" Anya asked in exasperation as she bustled around the Magic Box, trying to get the store ready for its reopening after she and Giles had pooled their money to buy it.

"Hey you." Tara said as she saw Buffy walk into the shop. "Buffy smiled and gave her girlfriend a wave.

"Are you ready to train?" Giles asked as he removed his work gloves from helping Xander build new shelves.

"Yeppers!" Buffy replied.

"Shall we then?"

"We shall then."

Dawn walked in from her day at school, "Wow! I'm really liking what you guys have done. It looks nearly ready to open." Dawn enthused.

"Yeah, I can't wait til we finally are making money, not just spending it." Anya replied.

Giles and Xander followed Buffy into the back room, where she was immediately tackled by Faith, who had been waiting just outside the side door to the alley. "What the Hell, Faith?"

"Just keepin ya on your toes, B."

Buffy was about to reply when she and Faith both noticed the room around them. "My God! Look at this place."

"Damn, B, this is like and honest ta God training room. Y'all did awesome work by the way."

"I'm the dummy man! I mean, I made the dummy, the thing you hit, but doesn't hit you back." Xander cut in.

"Thank you guys so much! You're like my fairy godmother, Santa, and Q all in one."

Xander and Giles exchanged a look. "I think she means Q from Bond, not Star Trek. And it's ditto for me too." Faith said.

"Oh, off topic, but I've been meaning to ask. Dawn okay after that spell? Any side effects?"

"Nothing I've noticed, and she hasn't said anything to me." Buffy replied, looking to Faith for confirmation.

"If there's anything, she's maybe more athletic and a bit better coordinated." Faith said, "I haven't noticed anything bad though."

"Alright, we can talk to Dawn later just to make sure. Let's get training over with, cause I dunno about you, but I got a crapload of homework waiting for me."

Later on, Buffy, Faith, and Giles rejoined the others after their training session. They entered the main part of the store to see all the others, Joyce included, putting the finishing touches on the shop. "Buffy! Tara's gonna teach me how to read fortunes! I mean crystal ball, Tarot cards, palm reading…everything." Dawn said excitedly before grabbing Faith by the hand and dragging her unassuming girlfriend to the table she and Tara had set up.

"You know, I'd almost feel bad for Faith…if it weren't for the bruises she leaves on me after our sparring sessions." Buffy stated with a grin as her mother walked up. "If everyone's gonna hang out here for a while, I'm gonna do some homework. Giles, Anya, if you need anything heavy moved, I'll be sitting at the research table."

"Shall I order us all up some pizzas then?" Giles asked.

"No, I'm tired of pizza, let's do Chinese." Joyce said.

"Kung Pao chicken!" Dawn yelled in her order from the other side of the store.

"Szechuan beef for me please!" Tara added.

"Make that two orders of the Kung pao, G-man." Xander added as the others proceeded to place their orders, causing the Brit to scramble for a pen and paper.

"I just wanna make it clear that I'm not paying for everyone!" Anya clarified.

"Really? You're not even gonna buy for me?" Joyce asked sweetly.

"Depends, will you be giving me orgasms tonight?"

"No!" Dawn exclaimed adamantly, "At least not in our house with the thin walls. I so do not need to hear that and I'll say again, EW!" She added.

"So did you end up making the track team Dawnie?" Joyce asked when their dinner arrived.

"Yeah!" The teen replied excitedly around a mouthful of food, she swallowed the bite and continued, "I'm doing the 1600 meter, 1600 meter relay, and cross country events. Oh, and javelin too."

"That's awesome sis! When's your first meet?" Asked Buffy, feeling extremely proud of her younger sister.

"Actually, Hemery High invited us and a couple other schools for an informal meet to start the season. It's gonna be Saturday at 10:00 a.m."

"You're gonna blow away the competition D." Faith said to her girlfriend with sultry smile.

Dawn blushed, "It isn't gonna be that easy Faithy, Hemery is well known in the whole west coast for their track team."

As Dawn got ready for her first event, the 1600m relay, she scanned the crowd, seeing almost all of her friends were there cheering her on. The only person missing was Anya, who had told them before they left that she might be late. The announcer called for the runners of the first leg of the race to take the starting blocks, Dawn took her place as the anchor for her team, the first time in her school's history that a freshman was trusted with the final lap of the relay.

The teen scanned the stands again, but there was still someone missing, she sighed and started to turn back toward the track, wandering if her mom's girlfriend would even be there. Then a smile crept across her face when she heard a familiar roar over the stadium announcer. "Detroit muscle." She muttered under her breath.

The girl's smile deepened when she saw the ex-demon slide into the bleachers to sit next to Joyce, she waved up at the stands now that all her friends had made it, adding a wink for Faith.

"Did I miss anything?" Anya asked.

"No, babe, this is Dawnie's first event." Joyce answered.

"Did y-you get the-the shirts?" Tara inquired the newcomer.

"Oh, yes…" Anya pulled a stack of red t-shirts out of her bag, "Tara ordered these and asked me to pick them up."

The shirts Tara had ordered were the basic Sunnydale High track team t-shirts, but on the back they all read "Dawn Summers" across the shoulders. "These are so cute!" Buffy enthused as she quickly pulled the shirt on over top of what she already wore, the others quickly followed suit.

Everyone's attention was directed back to the track when the starting gun went off. The cheering from the Scoobies was only half-hearted until Dawn stepped on the track and took the baton, then Buffy, Faith, and Anya held an impromptu competition to see who could shout the loudest.

At the end of the meet, Dawn had won the javelin throw, helped her team win the 1600m relay, and placed third in the 1600m individual. It was a happy, but tired teen that was met by her friends and family in the parking lot. "Great job D!" Faith praised, hugging Dawn and spinning around in a rare public display of affection.

"You really were amazing out there Pumpkin Belly." Joyce added, using a nickname from Dawn's early childhood.

"Mom!" Dawn protested, blushing from the praise as well as the nickname.

"How bout we get some ice cream to celebrate Dawn's wins? My treat." Xander suggested and was met with enthusiastic agreement.