Title: Courage to Change

Rating: PG - Will change eventually, but they start off little kids. Not much with the naughtiness at 10 years old
Summary: Let us flip the buffy verse around. Willow leaves Sunnydale at 8. why? Read. Tara comes to Sunnydale at 10! Why? Again read! We are throwing Tara into Willow's original place when Buffy arrives. We are changing the lives of characters that arrive later in the buffy story by introducing them to Willow before they get to Sunnydale. Eventually Willow ends up back in California, after a mess of adventures and danger at such a young age. Just in time for her twenty second birthday and a war to break out from The First. Should be interesting. Oh and by the way, I'm taking some ideas from the cartoon "Avatar: Last Airbender". No characters, just some basic ideas. Why? You already know the answer! Read.
Disclaimer: Buffy and characters not mine. Avatar ideas not mine.

Finally: Reviews! Ask questions, compliment, suggest, or just plain tell me I suck. I don't care. It's fun to write and these two girls make me believe in love. You can't hurt me! But every review is read and appreciated. Enjoy!

It was a new life. A new start for them. The abuse and lies were all gone. Her mother had packed them up and left. Tara couldn't believe how fast everything had happened. Even at ten years old she started to realize how difficult being an adult was. Starting life out new was definitely something difficult for her mother. She could already see the hardship she was facing affecting her mom and the extra stress that was brought on by beginning at step one all over again. Tara vowed to do everything she could for her mom. Help with all the chores around the new apartment they had, do well in school so she could get a scholarship and avoid her mom paying for college, and help out in the shop. Not that Tara didn't already help with all the chores, do well in school, and was already excited at the prospect of helping out in her mom's new magic shop, but for the most part her father had forced all he could on her and if she got less than an 'A' he made sure by his hand that she did better next time. All she asked for now, in this new life, was a friend. Just one person who didn't believe she was a freak or made fun of her stutter. Of course that wasn't going to be easy. She never really could talk to other kids and when she did, they couldn't understand her.

Out of everything she was worried about though, her brother had to be the top of the list. Donny had always tried to look out for his little sister, taking some of the beatings, that he normally didn't have to deal with, away from Tara and onto himself. He was almost fourteen. Leaving his dad behind was not as big as it could have been because Donald Sr only treated is son slightly better than his wife and daughter, but it was hard for Donny to leave his hometown. Unlike Tara. he had friends there, and he was comfortable. Tara and him had nothing in common, and he didn't have any super connection with their mother. She loved him very much, but they never really bonded. He was angry at his mother for taking him away from the only thing he felt he had, but it was passing slowly since they got to their new home in a small California town called Sunnydale.

It had already been two days since their arrival and tomorrow was the start of school. Tara was nervous, while Donny seemed hopeful about finding new friends and starting high school. Her mother had been going over the inventory of the shop she had used every penny of savings to buy, and now it was time to relax and sleep before a whole new world was going to start for them. However, Tara couldn't sleep. She hadn't been sleeping much at all since their arrival. Something in her gut was wrenching, like she could feel the balance was off in this place, this town. She closed her eyes tight, hoping sleep would come soon.

"Now lit'l bit, someone your age out this late obviously has no problem breakin' the rules. Why you worried about talking to me? How's about I tell you my name? You can call me Spike. What's yours? Why are you out here?" His blue eyes shot through her like lightening, fear building by every second.

Willow couldn't move. She stared straight at him, trying desperately to hold her ground. She couldn't be afraid. She was only on her own for less than an hour, she would have to do better than this to survive on her own. She took a deep breath, her bright green eyes full of resolve, face straight, and spoke with a clear and serious tone (as serious as a ten year old could sound anyway...). "I'm Will... Yah. Will. I'm out here to find my own life and no one is going to stop me. No one can find the time to take care of me so I am going to do it myself." That sounded convincing, right? Willow hoped she would live to even start her new life as she kept his steely gaze.

Spike's eyes never left hers as he tried to decide what he was going to do. He could eat her, but truthfully he had already eaten a couple of drunk college girls walking home and he really wasn't that hungry. Plus, he liked the little spitfire already. He had gained a reputation as a most ruthless killer in his 100 years, taking out two slayers, and met hundreds of cowering men that ran away at the mere sight of his vampire visage leaving their women to die, but he had to admit that this little one intrigued him. Still, he was never one to ruin the chance to have fun, and if she wanted to survive in the world alone, he would have to give her a lesson on what she would be running from everyday. A little scare was never boring.

He grinned as he took out a smoke and lit it. He offered to the little one, but she shook her head at it and made a face. As he took a long drag and sat down on a nearby park bench, Spike once again took a long, hard look at the young child, with her bright red ponytail and eyes that tried so hard to be brave. Finally, after a few minutes, he sighed, "Well, can't say as I blame you. I've met many in this world that weren't deserving enough to to even look at a young lit'l hellion such as yourself. You should be proud. However..." He took another long drag from his cigarette before continuing, "It might come in handy for you to know lit'l bit, that there are things in this world that you will have to face down with more than just a resolve. Though, I'll tell you now, with an attitude like that, I can see you making yourself into a quite right young woman someday, bent on taking on whatever she faces. Problem is, you'll have to live that long."

Willow's face started to break at his last sentence. He smiled again as he could see the wheels in her head turning fast. Her stance never faltered however, and he knew with a bit of luck, she could survive to make a challenge for him someday. Call it - possible investment in his future killing spree, "Did you know that you were standing directly on a portal to hell the whole time you've been here in this city? A place where all kinds of different monsters, worse than anythin' you could imagine under your bed. Demons aren't fairytales, pet. You want to live in the world, take some time to find out what lurks in the shadows you'll have to hide in to avoid being caught and tossed back to the wankers you're running from." With that said he morphed into his game face, yellow eyes leering at her, but as he suspected, though she stared in horror, she didn't run. Instead, she did what he didn't expect and grabbed a rather large, fallen tree branch from the ground. She was ready to fight.

"I'm not afraid of monsters. My dad taught me that monsters are just strong bullies. What kind are you anyway? Is that a polite question to ask a monster? Is it like asking an older lady's age? I was told that was rude but I don't know why. And why am I bothering to ask? You're going to try and hurt me or eat me, but I'm not going to back down." She gripped the stick like a bat, ready for the swing for when he would make his move, but it never came. His regular face came back, sickening yellow eyes giving way to dangerous, electric blue ones again.

"I'm a vampire lit'l bit. I drink blood, have better strength and speed than even the strongest or fastest human, and I haven't a bloody care in the world for anything I do. If I wanted to kill you, a lit'l stick isn't going to stop me. But I like you. So here's a piece of parting advice for you Red. Demons and vampires, witches and ghosts, trolls, and anything else you think is a bloody fairytale or nightmare. They all exist. Some demons are good, some are bad. Some witches are good, some aren't. I'm one of your worst nightmares. You just happen to catch me on a good night s'all. I've already eaten, and all is well with my unlife. Make no mistake though lit'l bit. We meet again, you better have more than a little stick and your words of what you think is courage. Get on then. You have a whole world of things to discover and nightmares to live. I'm sure I'll see you again. It's a small, bloody world." His emphasis on the world 'bloody' had done what he wanted. She flinched, and he could smell the slight fear she had. He took the last puff of his smoke, before standing up from the bench and gave another grin. Little Willow searched his eyes for any sign that this was a trick, finding what she believed to be her last chance, she took away into the night, in search of a place she could figure out her next step, and how she was going to be able to survive alone against monsters in the dark.

Spike stood their another minute longer, watching the young girl run into the night. Maybe someday he would run into the little girl again, and it would be a more challenging meal. He liked the fight all to much, and he was sure she would have it someday. He smiled as he started his walk again. He couldn't wait to see his beloved Drusilla in a week. When she was back from her girls holiday with Darla feasting on the lovelies in the beauty pageant they had so wanted to ruin. She would have loved this little girl.

It hadn't even been an hour before Tara felt the horrible dread of being an outcast again. Maybe if she hadn't stuttered her name when the teacher introduced her to the rest of her new class, she could have at least had a day without being called a freak. Another girl, Cordelia, had already made it clear that things weren't going to change at school just because it was a new one. Tara sat quietly on a swing in the corner of the playground. It was an older set that most of the other kids seemed to avoid. They were all off playing on some of the newer equipment the school had apparently just gotten. She tried to kick start herself so maybe she could forget about her troubles for a bit and focus on what she could do to become invisible when a hand dug gently into her back, giving her a slight momentum forward. Gasping in surprise, and twisting all to fast to figure out who it was, she fell off the swing and into the small gravel pool under the set.

"I'm sorry! I just saw you trying to swing, and I thought I would try to help!" She looked up into kind brown eyes as his hand reached down to help her up. As she stood, she immediately looked down at her feet, her honey blonde hair masking her face. The boy couldn't help but feel guilty.

"Its o-okay. My f-fault." Tara couldn't bring herself to move. She waited for another snarky comment like Cordelia's earlier ("going to get that sentence out before we get to the next grade?"), but the boy just kept looking at her.

He couldn't believe he had made the poor girl fall. Xander felt bad. The other new girl Cordelia had already scared Tara, and now he had almost pushed her off her swing. He shook his head and decided to try a different approach. He liked this girl. She reminded him of Willow in a way. Shy, scared. He missed his best friend. And he didn't have anyone else he liked. He was the outcast of his class. He had to try and make this girl feel better. She seemed so sweet and maybe she could make him feel better about missing Willow so much.

He put his hand on her arm, "Hey. I really am sorry. But at least I helped you get to know the play ground more... Get it? Cause you hit the 'ground' and got closer to it..." He heard a small, almost inaudible giggle at his horrible joke and he smiled a big goofy grin when she lifted her head, "I'm Xander. And you're Tara, right?" When she nodded, he continued, "Don't worry about Cordelia. She just moved here too. Apparently we were just to short on mean girls around this school. It was her duty to volunteer." Tara smiled again at him. He liked her smile. The little half smile had warmth and was comforting.

Tara looked back down to her shoes, once again hiding behind her curtain of long hair, "I think t-that the mean academy k-k-kicked her out." She smiled again when he laughed, though he couldn't see it. They continued making small jokes about Cordelia's evilness until the bell rang. Tara waited for Xander to comment on her stutter, but he just continued to talk to her as though he didn't notice a thing.

Xander couldn't believe how long it had been since he had made a friend. He liked this new girl. She was smart, and though she stuttered, she didn't seem to let that stop her from talking with him. It had been two years since Willow had been taken from him. Since then, he had received letters at random times, and even a phone call from her newest family's phone, but he wasn't able to talk long. He missed her so much, and just went day by day waiting for the next call or letter. His parents made it clear they were worried about him, but they also had started having problems of their own. His dad started drinking more since losing his job, and mom was trying her best to keep his dad's drinking from Xander. He looked into Tara's blue eyes for the first time, and with a slightly scared tone, he asked, "I know you just got here and all, but I like you. You're cool and you remind me of someone I miss. And you're not like all these other kids. Would you be my friend?"

Mwhaha! So many questions! Tara's mom! Will she die in my story?! Will Donny be a jackass when he's older like the show? Why the hell didn't Spike at least attempt to kill Willow? After all he is a royal asshole. Well... Mostly that last one was because I saw Spike as something of a different kind of Vampire. Where his urgency to kill was spurred by Dru and Pride. Neither were in danger in this particular predicament, and i like to think his character really would have liked the metaphorical "balls" little Willow showed... But still the other questions remain! (No I'm not crazy... You can't prove it!) hope you enjoyed the chapter. Next one will probably be either tomorrow or next Saturday (my only day off) since I am writing this in tiny spurts on my iPhone during my 15 minute breaks on my 12-14 hour work shifts! Blech. Ahh, Willow and Tara you are my peace. Goodnight folks!