Chronicle Three: The Rat's Tale

Disclaimer: Joss owns ‘em, I don’t. I think there are others who have a stake in them too, but I don’t, nope, not one single claim. It doesn’t stop me from playing in the sandbox though. I promise not to make too much of a mess. : )

The Love Shack: Is a little old place where… Oh, yeah, hi : ). Anyway, the lovin’ thing that happens finally… yes, yes, I know there are those of you who are just itchin’ to get readin’ so lemme be brief here. There be lovin’ of the female/female kind in this story. (Of course, if you’ve read my other writing, you know this, but for you new folks…) If this isn’t your special blend of relaxing tea, please chose another tea bag. I’m sure you’ll find what you’re looking for.

Continuity: Because my Buffy muse has decided that my brain is a good place to live, this story is now the third in an arc that started as a late night speculation regarding Tara’s origins. The first of the series is "Her Little Secrets", the second "Prison of Choice". If you’ve somehow missed those, I suggest giving them a read through, as you may be just a tad bit lost during this story, though I will attempt to make it stand alone. Enjoy!

Notes: Okay, I’d better get this out of the way now. I in no way, shape, or form condone the teasing, degradation or insulting of differently-abled persons. Period. End of discussion. This is a story; it is fiction and not my opinion. Thank you. : ) I now return you to your regularly scheduled enjoyment of fan fiction.

As always, comments and constructive criticism are more than welcome at: shaych3@yahoo.com.

Buffy Summers closed her door, locked it and collapsed on her bed in a boneless heap. Today had been the absolute last day of classes for spring semester and she was exhausted.

It had been hard to continue going to school in the wake of the battle between her friends and the demonoid Adam, but she had struggled through, somehow finding the strength to crawl out of bed one day at a time. Now that school was over, she could finally take the time to deal with the aftermath of that battle and mourn the death of Riley, her lover and close friend.

In the morning, her mother would be there to help her pack and move everything that she had collected since she had started UC Sunnydale. For a short while, her things would live in her mother’s garage, moving from there to their permanent home once it was ready. She scanned the room and sighed.

Amazing the kind of junk you can collect in just one year. Her gaze touched upon posters, clothes, paperwork, all the impedimenta of a first year college student.

Buffy rolled over on her bed and stared at the ceiling, closing her eyes and replacing the white sameness of the paint with an imaginary picture of her new home.

Just a few days after the horrible battle between Adam’s demons and the Initiative, Tara Walsh, Buffy’s best friend Willow Rosenberg’s girlfriend, had purchased a house. Willow and Tara had shown up on Buffy’s doorstep the Saturday following the fight… and Riley’s subsequent death… and had dragged her out to house hunt. Willow had even borrowed her mother’s car for the day, something that amazed Buffy because the hacker rarely, if ever, drove. The gesture was not lost on Buffy, who found it easy to, for a little while at least, leave her grief behind while they went from house to house, looking for just the right place.

The slayer was not at all surprised by how many houses were on the market, what amazed her was the amount of money Tara was willing to spend to find the perfect place. After several hours, they found it. It was definitely worth the search.

Just outside of the city limits they came upon what was touted to be the remains of a movie set. At some point in Hollywood history, someone had built a mock stone castle, complete with towers and a surrounding ten-foot wall.

Tara bought it, almost sight unseen. Once the place was hers, they all trooped over to see the inside and were pleasantly surprised at the livability of it. After being empty for so many years, the place did require quite a bit of work, but the basic structure was intact and stable. Best of all, it was large enough to house the entire Scooby gang, plus guests.

After purchasing the castle, Tara gathered the Scoobies at Giles’ place and unilaterally declared that they were all welcome to live at her place. When everyone protested that they wouldn’t be able to afford the rent, the young woman held up a hand, saying that she didn’t want their money, that giving them a place to live was just one way for her to pay them back for welcoming her into the group.

At first, Buffy had resisted, not knowing if she could share space with the others, but the idea grew on her, especially after she realized that she would not be alone. Two nights spent in her empty dorm room with only Amy for company had been enough to show her that she had a long road to travel before she could let Riley go.

Even Giles seemed amenable to the idea of moving in, once Tara explained that one of her goals was to eventually have the largest occult library she could amass. Xander and Anya leaped at the chance to share living quarters, the former vengeance demon calling the opportunity a "golden moment in their lives, for now they would have more time than ever to practice being orgasm buddies".

Buffy wondered if Anya would ever get to the point where she wanted more than sex from Xander, and if Xander would ever care. A metallic clatter pulled Buffy from her daydreaming and she sat up to see Amy rattling around in her cage.

The slayer laughed as she stood, then walked over to the cage. "Hungry, Amy? Or just bored?" she opened the cage, letting Amy out, who immediately ran out onto Buffy’s palm and then up the slayer’s arm to settle on her shoulder. Buffy didn’t know why, but having Amy near was a comfort she had not been able to deny herself since the night they had snuggled up and slept so soundly that there had been no nightmares.

Cleaning the cage took only a few minutes, as did giving Amy her daily bowl of fresh fruit and vegetables. Next, she surreptitiously took the rat into the bathroom to give her a quick bath. Judging by the loud sighs of pleasure that vibrated through her little body, Amy the rat enjoyed this immensely.

After bathing Amy, Buffy returned to her room, microwaved a prepackaged meal and ate while the rat napped on the bed beside her. No homework meant that Buffy was at loose ends, but she wasn’t really bored. The rest of the gang had made plans to go to the Bronze for a post-semester party, but Buffy didn’t feel like celebrating and had used slaying as an excuse to get out of going. The slayer sighed and tossed the remains of her dinner into the trash. Time to gear up for patrol.

She hated patrol more than ever now. The lonely hunt through Sunnydale for the walking dead had become more like the chore it had been when she had first learned she was the Slayer. Without Riley to compete with, there just wasn’t as much fun in dusting vamps and beheading demons. Willow and Tara had joined her a couple of times on the nightly rounds, but recently, she had done the rounds alone. Buffy’s overprotective streak had surfaced with a vengeance, causing her to bite back angry words whenever one of her friends would place themselves in danger. Rather than harm their friendship, the slayer asked the wiccans to stay home. Fortunately, the two wiccans had understood and had left Buffy to her solitary patrols.

Tonight would be no different. Buffy changed into a comfortable pair of sweats, a tank top and a light jacket. Under the jacket, she wore a specially designed harness - one side held a stake, the other a wicked looking dagger.

From the bed, Amy watched Buffy dress, her beady little rat eyes following the human as she moved around the room. The rat could remember what it had been like to be human. Her daydreams were filled with memories of time when she had legs, hands and a voice. She hadn’t always had these memories, but lately, they had crept back, reminding her once again that she was meant to walk on two legs, not four. For a while, all she could do was be a rat, in fact, being a rat had been rather enjoyable, because she didn’t have any worries or cares other than where her next meal would come from, and Willow had always been good about providing - until college.

Once the hacker had moved in with Buffy, everything had changed. Suddenly, Amy began to remember what it was like to be human and to have friends, and most especially, to have the ability to communicate with those friends. She had tried - oh she’d tried so hard to project her thoughts, but it had only given her poor rat brain a headache. Amy gave up on telepathy and started working on figuring out how to become human again.

It had happened once, just briefly, when Willow had cast some kind of spell, but that same spell had transformed her back before she could actually say anything to the hacker. Since then, Amy realized that she had more access to her human side, and her human memories. She started watching her friends, learning about their lives and all that had changed in the time she had been gone.

Lately, the rat had been very concerned about Buffy. Her friend had lost someone very special to her, someone who had held Buffy’s heart so gently, that even Amy the rat could feel his tenderness. Amy was afraid that Buffy’s spirit would dwindle away to nothing if no one stepped forth to offer her the comfort she so desperately needed.

Willow had tried - the whole Scooby gang had tried, but Buffy had spurned them gently, unable to let them see the depth of her pain. Only Amy bore that burden, only Amy knew the saltiness of tears shed until there were no more to fall and only Amy knew the terrible, strangled sobs that were torn from the slayer when she slept.

It was then that Amy resolved to be human again. She had to find a way to have hands, so that she could brush away the silent tears that tracked down Buffy’s face. She needed to have arms that opened wide for the slayer, and closed against the pain that haunted Buffy’s dreams. Most of all, she wanted to have a voice to say that Buffy would never be alone again, not so long as Amy was there to lean on.

Waiting was tough, though. Especially when she couldn’t share her frustrations with anyone but the spider in the corner of the bedroom. Not that Amy spoke arachnid, but that was all she had to work with. The spider had obviously never heard of Charlotte, or her famous web, for no eerie messages of, "Some Rat" appeared in the cobwebs that lined the ceiling of Buffy’s dorm room. Soon, Amy hoped, someone would find the way to break the spell that had her locked into a rat’s body and return her humanity. Until then, she would bide her time and do all she could to comfort the slayer.

Finally ready for patrol, Buffy started to return Amy to her cage, but something made her stop and stare at the animal thoughtfully. Amy wiggled excitedly, racing around and trying to scramble up the slayer’s arm to her shoulder, making it about half way before Buffy cracked a half smile and caught her.

"What are you doing?" Buffy murmured, though whether it was to herself or to the rat, she wasn’t sure. The slayer shrugged and gently slipped Amy into her pocket. There was something very comforting about knowing she wasn’t about to face the darkness alone.

Surprised, but not unhappy, Amy settled down inside of the pocket, poking her nose out over the edge so that she could see where they were going.

Willow snuggled up against Tara, rubbing the blonde’s tummy lovingly. The party at the Bronze had been fun, but she was glad to be home and in her girlfriend’s arms. "I can’t believe you went out and bought Chesley Manor," the hacker said sleepily.

Tara covered Willow’s hand with her own, then trailed her fingertips up and down the redhead’s arm. "I guess I just liked it," she said, after a long moment. "I mean, it’s perfect, really. It’s large, comfortable and private - all the things we were looking for in a home," she said in a distracted tone of voice.

"Yeah, that’s true," Willow agreed softly. "It’s so unreal though. Who would have thought that we’d be living in a legendary Hollywood mansion?"

"I guess not," Willow said, kissing Tara’s jaw. "It’s going to be weird, though."

"How so?" Tara asked, turning her head slightly to brush her lips over Willow’s temple.

"Well, I’m not really used to a lot of room and that place is so big and scary…it’s like something out of a Hitchcock thriller," Willow admitted ruefully.

"I didn’t get that feeling at all," Tara said, thinking about the walk through she had done with the realtor. "Actually, there was something kind of…special…about the place. Welcoming, almost."

Willow lifted herself up to look down at Tara. "Yeah? Did you sense something witchy about it?"

Tara shrugged, a movement that seriously distracted the hacker. "I don’t know, it was just…different from a normal house. Kinda like Spaz is different from a normal cat, even though we haven’t figured out why."

"I’m sure we will," Willow said, giving Tara a speculative glance. Their eyes met and Willow raised a curious eyebrow. "How goes the craving?" she asked tenderly, referring to Tara’s one-time addiction to an enchanted drug. Tara’s mother, Professor Maggie Walsh had created the drug and then given it to her own daughter, telling her it was to control the demonic side of her vampirism. In reality, the drug had been a leash, binding Tara to her mother’s control.

"It’s not as bad," Tara admitted. "In fact, I’m almost not thinking about it."

"Do you ever worry that, well," Willow paused uncomfortably, trying to find the best way to word her question.

"If I’ll go completely vamp? If I’ll start eating my friends for dinner?" Tara supplied helpfully in a too cheerful tone of voice.

"Well, I wouldn’t have said it that way," Willow said, sticking her tongue out at Tara.

Tara laughed. "Well, I’m not really worried about the going totally vamp part; Gran assured me that the spells she cast would hold for eternity plus a thousand years." the wiccan sighed heavily. "I have noticed that I’m craving iron a lot more though."

Tara whapped her with a pillow. Willow grabbed her own pillow and fought back. Soon, they were both laughing and giggling, enjoying their pillow fight, their conversation forgotten.

"Whew," Willow said a bit later, wiping her brow and snuggling against Tara’s chest happily. "That was fun."

"Yeah, it was," Tara agreed as she played with the hair at the nape of Willow’s neck.

"Mmm, I feel like a kitty cat when you do that. It makes me wanna purr and nuzzle you," the hacker said in a deep voice.

Willow exhaled raggedly, sliding up Tara’s body to look the wiccan in the eyes. "Oh, yeah," she drawled, dipping her head down to kiss the wiccan passionately. Tara responded by slipping her hands up under Willow’s shirt and stroking the hacker’s back slowly. Willow purred and brushed feather-light kisses across Tara’s face and neck, stopping when she came to the neckline of the wiccan’s shirt. "Off," she growled, grabbing the sides of the fabric.

"You too," Tara replied, as they helped each other remove their shirts. Topless, they laid back down, shivering excitedly at the sensation of their skin touching. Tara kissed Willow slowly, stroking the back of the hacker’s neck until she moaned with pleasure.

"I don’t know how far…" Willow said between kisses, her voice an odd mixture of desire and uncertainty.

"Shh," Tara said, stopping Willow with a soft kiss. "I won’t push," she added, pulling away. Willow smiled and allowed her hands to wander freely over Tara’s upper body, stopping to savor the smooth skin on the slope of the wiccan’s breast.

The redhead smiled wickedly. "Nice," Willow said, letting her lips follow her fingers in their explorations.

"Yes, oh…oh, yes," Tara babbled in breathless agreement as Willow found a nipple and began to gently suckle it.

Strange things generally happen for a reason in Sunnydale. Something about the town’s being situated square on a mouth to Hell made it a nexus point for weirdness of all shapes and sizes. Sometimes, it took the weird things a while to manifest. This was true for the cat named Spaz.

Spaz considered himself a warrior of some repute. All the toms knew of his legendary exploits against the dreaded invisible dust monsters; after all, it was how Spaz had earned his Name, Chaser-of-Nothings. The Humans called him Spaz, and he was content with that.

When his current Humans had taken him from the Place of Cages, Spaz had rejoiced, thinking that maybe he had escaped the dreaded dust monsters forever. This was not to be, for as his new "mommies" were mating, several of the horrible creatures launched an aerial assault on poor Spaz’s head.

What was a poor warrior to do? It wasn’t that he wanted to interrupt the mating Humans, but if he allowed the monsters to defeat him, they would take over the invisible world, filling the corners of the house with their awful children and their pets - dust motes and dust bunnies.

So he attacked, unleashing all of his considerable power on the monsters, chasing them around the room, hissing at them nastily, trying to frighten them away. The monsters were on the run! Spaz let out a terrible yowl, proclaiming his superiority over the creatures, and took up the chase once more, lashing out at any monster that got in his way. Finally, the monsters retreated, leaving behind the exhausted, but victorious warrior.

Spaz laid down on his Willow-mommy’s back, purring happily. He had done well and protected his humans against the horrors of the dust creatures!

"Spaz!" Willow growled while wriggling her shoulders, trying to dislodge the cat. "Ouch!" she cried out as Spaz slid off, raking his back claws deeply into her back in a failed attempt to maintain his perch. The cat toppled helplessly to the floor, landing heavily on his side. The cat pulled himself to his feet and washed a paw casually, as if he had meant to land the way he did. Finished with his ablutions, Spaz gave Willow a disapproving look, then sauntered away.

Willow sat up and sighed. "I guess someone’s trying to tell us something," she muttered grumpily.

Tara laughed, a deep, rich sound that did nice things to Willow’s flagging libido. "I don’t know, I think maybe that someone has a marvelous sense of humor and was just trying to show us that there is a reason for Spaz’s name," the wiccan said, sitting up and turning on a light. She hissed in sympathetic pain when she saw the four deep scratches that the cat’s claws had left in the center of Willow’s back. "Okay, I’m going to have to take care of those," she said, leaning forward and dropping a few gentle kisses along the hacker’s shoulder.

"Oh yeah," Willow said, twitching away as a sharp prickle of pain skittered across her flesh, "those. Yeah, owie."

Tara smiled and kissed Willow’s shoulder once more, then climbed out of the bed and walked over to her desk. She dug around in it for a moment, looking for her first aid kit. Willow just watched her girlfriend, a gentle smile of desire creeping over her face as her eyes panned up and down the wiccan’s body. Tara looked up and noticed Willow’s intense gaze. Raising one eyebrow, she returned the favor, cocking her head sideways and giving the hacker a long, lascivious look.

"You’d better get over here and fix these things up before I decide to walk over there and grab you," Willow warned teasingly.

Tara slowly sauntered over to the bed, slowly sat down and slowly began to clean the scratches.

"You are such a tease!" Willow complained good-naturedly, leaning over to steal a kiss.

Willow waited patiently until Tara was finished, but before the hacker could turn to take her beloved into her arms, Tara pushed her down on the bed. "Wh-what are you doing?" Willow blurted as the wiccan settled herself on Willow’s bottom.

"Giving you a massage. You’re all in knots. Just relax, it’ll be okay," Tara said soothingly.

Willow had never been one to turn down a Tara back rub and she wasn’t about to change that, so sighing happily, she settled down against the sheets. Tara reached out and captured a bottle of lavender scented lotion, poured some onto her hands and slowly began to rub Willow’s back, careful to avoid the scratches.

"Oh, I like that," Willow said, groaning with pleasure, "and it smells so good, too."

"It’s lavender," Tara said, showing the hacker the bottle. "My grandmother’s recipe."

"It’s wonderful…it reminds me of you," Willow said, yawning a bit. Tara smiled and continued the massage.

With the dust monsters vanquished for now, and his Humans happily engaged in their mating ritual, Spaz curled himself up on his pillow and fell into a deep sleep, snoring happily.

Tara looked over at the cat, whose whiskers were twitching in time to his snores. She chuckled and was about to point it out to Willow, when a second set of snores echoed the cat’s. Smiling wryly, the wiccan leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on the back of Willow’s neck, murmuring, "I love you little witch, sleep well." Then she rolled off of the hacker and spooned herself around her sleeping girlfriend, snuggling close and closing her eyes to sleep.

Willow and Tara arrived at Willow’s old room in time to meet up with Buffy and Joyce, who were toting several bags and boxes of the slayer’s things down to Joyce’s station wagon.

"Will!" Buffy exclaimed happily, almost dropping her bags in her haste to return the embrace.

"We came by to get my things," Willow said, looking at the stuff Buffy had packed. "Looks like we got here just in time."

Buffy laughed. "Yeah, that’s mom for you - the Seven of Nine of moms. Mrs. Efficient and all that."

"That’s Ms. Efficient," Joyce piped up. "It’s nice to see you, Willow, and Tara, it’s nice to meet you without there being a crisis."

"Oh, hey Mrs. Summers," Willow said, waving at Joyce while Tara just grinned. "Anyway, we’d better get started. Um, do you want us to take Amy?"

"No! I mean, no, I’ll take her, I don’t mind, mom doesn’t mind, right mom?" Buffy shot a pleading glance toward her mother. She really, really didn’t want to give up her new-found nightly snuggle buddy. Strange as it may seem, the slayer found comfort in letting Amy sleep next to her on her pillow. It was the only way she had been able to sleep at all in the past two weeks.

Joyce shook her head. "Of course not Buffy, you know how I feel about that," she said sadly. Buffy’s mother felt completely responsible for the events that had led to Amy’s transformation. Even though Joyce had been under the influence of a demon, she was still the one who had organized the parents of Sunnydale’s children against those who practiced the occult. "Amy will always be welcome in our house, no matter what form she wears," she added with a heavy sigh. "I just wish there was something we could do for her."

Willow’s eyes widened as a bit of memory kicked her in the butt. "Yeah! I had a," she scratched her head, "a dream, or something, where someone told me that you might know a spell that would fix Amy."

Tara nodded hesitantly, brows furrowing. "I think I do, I’ll just have to look through Gran’s books for it."

Willow smiled happily. "We can do that later, after we’re all moved out and settled in at the manor." The two wiccans were going to stay at Tara’s new place while it was being remodeled.

"If you girls could find a way to bring her back," Joyce said raggedly, then dabbed at the corners of her eyes. "Well, it would be a great thing," she finished lamely, then walked out of the building.

Buffy blinked a few times, digesting the idea. She wasn’t sure she wanted Amy de-ratted, at least, not right now. Who would she cry on then? No one else really understood, not even Faith, who was in Los Angeles and far too happy in her newfound relationship with Cordelia. Yet who was she to deny Amy the chance to be human again? Damnit, it’s never easy to be me, is it? she asked the uncaring gods who had chosen her to be the Slayer.

"Buffy, we’ll call you and let you know when we’ve found the spell, okay," Willow said, snapping the slayer out of her internal pity fest.

"Yeah, sure, okay," Buffy said, pasting a happy grin on her face. She gathered up her bags as Willow and Tara headed off to the dorm. Maybe it won’t be such a bad thing, the slayer told herself, trying to be positive. Amy will have her humanity back and Willow will have her friend back… and … I’ll… get a dog, she told herself with a resigned sigh.

It was early in the morning when Tara found the spell that would restore Amy’s humanity. Hours of research, using what Willow recalled of the incantation Amy had originally used had led the blonde wiccan to one spell, buried deep in one of her grandmother’s oldest spell books.

"Okay, here it is, I think," she said, holding out the grimoire to Willow. The hacker looked over the spell and nodded.

"Yeah, that looks like it," Willow agreed. They read the list of ingredients they would need and shuddered in mild disgust. "You know, once we de-rat Amy, what say you and I try to steer her away from Hecate as her patron deity? I mean, can you say, ew, frog’s eyes? That’s wicked gross! I much prefer your famtrad style of magick - it’s much cleaner and less gruesome."

Tara smiled, happy to share the knowledge that her Gran had taught her with Willow. "Sure, I bet after two years as a rat, Amy will be more than happy to look elsewhere for magickal teaching, if she’s even interested in continuing to practice. She might decide to become a Buddhist or a Christian," she said, taking the book back and pulling out a sheet of note paper to copy the list of ingredients on.

"Should I call Buffy?" Willow asked, reaching for the cell phone Tara had purchased earlier that day.

"No, it’s late, she’s probably sleeping. We’ll call her tomorrow," Tara replied, scribbling out the last of the list. "I’ve got better things in mind."

"Yeah, come on," she reached for Willow’s hand and took it, leading the hacker out the door to the rooftop. They emerged on the edges of an overgrown garden.

"Whoa!" Willow said, ducking out of the way of an overly friendly bush. "Guess we’ll have to hire a gardener," she said, laughing at the moonlit sight.

"Yeah," Tara said, "but this isn’t all that I wanted to show you, come on." She dragged Willow along a path until they reached another gate. Beyond it was a pool and a hot tub. Both were illuminated by internal lights, giving them an eerie glow in the darkness.

"Wow," Willow said, looking at the cozy surroundings. There was a large round table with several chairs stacked up next to it and opposing doors that led, she guessed, to two of the towers. She discovered that another door opened into a large bathroom, complete with showers and a storage area where the pool and garden supplies were kept. "Tara, this is just… too cool," she said breathlessly.

Tara shook her head. "Nope, this was all here. I saw parts of it when Barb took us on the tour, but it was the contractor who found that everything was still intact. All that needed to be done was some cleaning." Her eyes caught sight of a wildly growing bush and she chuckled. "And maybe a bit of judicious pruning," she added wryly.

"Wow. That’s just so amazing. I never knew that there was a pool up here," Willow said, walking out to the deck and circling the pool, stopping to admire the decorative tiles every so often.

Tara wandered out and stood near the garden fence, inhaling the fragrance of the night blooming jasmine that was growing somewhere on the roof. "Me either. It’s a nice surprise. So, wanna join me for a late night skinny dip?" she asked in a low drawl.

Willow looked up from her examination of a mosaic and smiled mischievously, "You bet!" They quickly stripped, tossing their clothes into a pile just inside of the bathroom door. "Last one in is a rotten egg," Willow chanted gleefully, running for the pool.

Tara joined her and simultaneously, two slim forms arced into the water, surfacing with much splashing and laughter. They good-naturedly chased each other around the pool for a while, then, when they started to feel the chill in the water, moved to the hot tub to cuddle.

"There’s definitely something to be said for this skin on skin thing," Willow said when they’d settled down on a bench. Tara wrapped her arms around her hacker and nuzzled Willow’s neck.

"Yes, there is," she whispered, daring to nibble on the redhead’s ear, causing her to inhale sharply.

"Tara -" Willow turned slightly to face the blonde wiccan. "If you start, I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop."

"Okay," Willow said raggedly. The last time they had gotten frisky, they had been interrupted by their cat; this time, there might not be such an easy out. Not that Willow wanted out, not anymore. The hacker’s heart was hammering away in her chest, but it was excitement, not fear that drove it. This time, she wouldn’t back away. The hacker took a deep breath and closed a mental door on her last fears. "I won’t," she whispered, brushing her lips over Tara’s eyelids.

Their foreheads touched briefly, long enough to establish a gentle connection that reassured both wiccans. Tara smiled happily then leaned in to kiss Willow. Slowly, she nibbled on the hacker’s lips, flicking her tongue over them gently until Willow’s mouth parted in a sigh of desire.

"Hmm," the blonde purred, deepening her kiss. Willow melted into the embrace, running shaking fingers over Tara’s skin in nervous patterns as their kisses made her heart beat faster and faster.

Ten minutes later, a breathless Tara said, "I think there’s more water on the deck than in here."

"I agree," Tara said, slipping out of the water, then reaching down and lifting Willow up easily.

"Whoa! Vamp strength! Woo! Oh!" Willow babbled as Tara carried her back to the room, then laid her down on their bed. "Mm," she added when Tara began covering her with kisses.

"Like that, hmm?" Tara drawled, nipping the flesh above the hacker’s collarbone.

"The bed’s gonna get all wet," Willow whispered breathlessly as the wiccan’s mouth continued down her chest and covered her breast.

Tara looked up, gently raked her teeth over the hacker’s nipple and said, "So?" Her voice was deep and filled with so many overtones of sensuality that Willow completely forgot what she had said.

"Nothing," Willow replied, running her hands through Tara’s golden blonde hair. "Nothing at all."

Spaz, who was patrolling the new house, making certain that there were no invisible dust monsters anywhere to be found, stopped in his patrol to listen as the very faint sounds of his Human’s mating ritual reached the library. A feline smile crept over the orange tabby’s face as he let out a happy purr.

Buffy collapsed into a chair, looking at her box-laden bed and groaned. It had taken most of the day to get packed up and moved out of the dorm. The only good thing about it was the fact that she’d never have to move back into the place again. Afterwards, she and her mother had gone over the room with a fine-toothed comb, cleaning and making sure that nothing important got left behind.

There had been one moment when she nearly lost it, and that was when she had moved her bed and found one of Riley’s shirts. Reverently, she had picked up the drab green fabric and held it to her chest while silent tears scalded her cheeks. Joyce looked up from sweeping and noticed her daughter’s distress and set aside the broom. Calmly, she walked over and pulled Buffy into her arms, rocking her soothingly.

"I miss him," Buffy said as she wept, burying her face in the shirt and trying to remember what it had felt like on his body.

The shirt slipped from the slayer’s fingers as she reached out and clung to her mother. Neither woman said a word, just stood there holding each other until Buffy was able to calm down. Afterwards, Buffy carefully folded the shirt up and packed it away.

The rest of the packing went quickly, and when they were done, Joyce took Buffy out for pizza. Now she was fed and tired, and she still had to get ready to patrol.

"I wish Faith were here," she said to the empty room. Amy the rat woke upon hearing Buffy’s voice and started playing in her wheel. "Hey Amy," Buffy said, turning around and sticking a finger through the wire mesh of the rat’s cage. Amy stopped running on the wheel and toddled over to investigate, wiggling with ratly joy when she realized that it was Buffy who was reaching in to pet her. Buffy laughed and opened the cage, allowing the rat to scurry onto her palm and up to her shoulder, where she settled immediately. The slayer lifted her hand up and slowly stroked the rat from the top of her head all the way down to the tip of her tale, causing the animal to shiver with delight.

"You know, this might be your last night as a rat, Amy," Buffy said, after a few minutes of petting the animal. She pulled Amy off her shoulder and cradled her in the palm of her hand. "This might be the last time I get to do this," she said, bringing the rat up to nuzzle her gently. The slayer felt a strange sense of nostalgia rush over her and she swallowed back tears. "Great, I’m such a mushball - I’m getting misty-eyed over a rat."

Amy somehow sensed Buffy’s distress and rubbed her nose against the slayer’s palm. Buffy smiled at the rat, stroking her gently while the animal continued to nuzzle her hand. Amy sighed at Buffy’s inability to understand. She was trying with all her ratly might to say that no matter what form she wore, she would always be there for Buffy. It was very unfortunate that Slayers couldn’t understand Rat, because Amy would have loved to tell Buffy just how much she cared. Instead, she had to settle for one more nuzzle before Buffy set her down on the desk.

"Now stay still, I’ve got to get ready to patrol," Buffy said, stroking the rat’s fur one last time before digging out her patrol gear. She kept an eye on the rat while she quickly changed, then, as she’d done the night before, she picked Amy up and slipped her into her pocket.

The telephone woke Buffy from a sound sleep. "Mmph, hello?" she said, blinking wearily while trying to find the right end of the phone to speak into. Amy had to scramble to stay on the bed as a very uncoordinated Buffy finally untangled the phone cord.

"Willow?" Buffy said, staring at the clock on her nightstand until the numbers made sense. "It’s 7:30 in the morning, can’t this wait?"

"Rise and shine, my slaying friend, it’s a wonderful day!" Willow sing-songed.

"Oh God, you and Tara didn’t sleep much last night, did you?" Buffy asked as she rubbed her eyes and struggled to wake up.

Buffy chuckled mischievously. "Well, it’s about damn time! Tell Tara I said ‘way to go!’." The slayer was certain she could hear the hacker blush as she relayed the message to her lover.

"Heh, heh. My revenge is had. Now, why is it that you scrape me out of bed at this ungodly hour?"

Amy the rat had finally gotten purchase on the bed and was now working her way up Buffy’s leg to sit in the blanket hollow formed by the slayer’s crossed legs. Unconsciously, Buffy reached down and began to pet the rat, to Amy’s delight.

Buffy’s fingers halted in their stroking and she swallowed heavily. "Oh, well, that’s… great," she said dully. "Really…that’s so wonderful. So, um, when did you want me to bring Amy by?"

"How about you come over for dinner? I’ve discovered that Tara’s a better cook than Giles." Willow suggested.

Buffy shrugged, then, realizing that Willow couldn’t see her, said, "Okay, we’ll be there. About um," she thought a moment, "sixish?"

Buffy sat on her bed, staring at her closet door silently, just breathing and thinking about the fact that by this time tomorrow, the only living thing to bring her even a moment’s solace was going to be taken away from her.

"It’s not fair," she said petulantly, startling the dozing Amy, who gave off a surprised squeak. Buffy soothed the animal with a touch. "Why did I have to get so attached to you so quickly, Amy?" She scooped up the rat and nuzzled her nose. Amy reached her little paws out and grabbed Buffy’s nose, causing the slayer to laugh. "Hey! That tickles!" The rat didn’t stop, continuing to reach for Buffy’s face. "Hey now," Buffy said crossly, pulling Amy away. "That’s no place you need to be sticking your paws."

Amy sighed, defeated, and looked at Buffy with her beady little rat eyes and waited to see what the slayer would do next.

"I can’t believe she knew!" Willow said, turning off Tara’s phone. "I’m so mortified!"

Hurt flashed across Tara’s face. "Y-you don’t want your friends to know?" she asked, suddenly very aware of her nakedness. Nervously, she started to pull the sheet up around her.

"No! It’s not that," Willow said quickly, leaning over and kissing the wiccan soundly. "It’s way not that…it’s, well it’s just kinda weird having your best friend guess what you were doing the night before," the hacker explained, pushing Tara down on the bed and snuggling up close.

"Didn’t you always know though, with Buffy?" Tara asked, running her fingers through Willow’s hair.

Willow grimaced. "Oh yeah, always. I mean, even when I didn’t want to know, I knew."
"Did that hurt you, when you knew?" Tara asked softly, continuing to stroke her girlfriend’s hair.

"What do you mean?" Willow asked, looking up at her lover. My lover, Willow thought, shivering in delight. A gentle smile of wonder crept over the hacker’s lips as she looked at Tara.

"I mean, did it hurt that she was, you know, out - with someone else, not…not you," Tara said haltingly, as if suddenly unsure of her thoughts.

Willow blinked several times, swallowing convulsively. "I, wow, I didn’t think you knew…" she said, turning her head away.

Tara gave Willow a sad smile. "I knew. I knew the moment I saw you and her together in the same room. There was so much…energy and unfulfilled longing between you. It’s okay though, I understand," she said reassuringly.

"No, it’s not okay. You need to know that you’re not some kind of replacement," Willow said, lifting herself up so that she could look Tara in the eye. "Tara, I love you - you, darn it all - not Buffy. Buffy is my best friend, and that’s three words away from what you are - you are the center of my heart, my beloved and the other half of my soul." The hacker finished her speech by dipping her head down and gently kissing Tara over and over until the kisses overwhelmed them both.

"No," Willow said softly, stroking Tara’s body with one hand, while pushing herself up with the other. "I’m about to show you all over again why I’m here, with you."

Tara’s eyes filled with tears. "I love you, my crazy redheaded hacker," Tara whispered as Willow covered the wiccan’s body with kisses and nips.

"Ditto, my vampish blonde wiccan," Willow returned, painting kisses across Tara’s bare chest.

Because Buffy didn’t want her mother to get her hopes up, she didn’t tell her that Willow and Tara were going to attempt to break the spell that held Amy to her ratly form. When Joyce asked why she was going over, Buffy replied, "Oh, they want me to have first pick of the rooms. Slayer’s first, I guess."

"Oh, well all right," Joyce replied, obviously not really understanding, but willing to go along with it.

Buffy smiled tightly and surreptitiously made certain that Amy was still safely tucked away in her pocket, taking every opportunity to stroke the rat’s soft fur before it was possibly gone forever. She was also trying to keep the rat calm, giving the animal something other than the motion of the car to focus on.

She needn’t have bothered. Amy was so wound up, not even valium would have calmed her down. Yes! Someone had finally heard her pleas! She was going to be human and have hands and feet and a face and a mouth and a…a…voice! She would be able to tell Buffy all the things she’d been wanting to say since Riley died, heck, since she first stopped looking at Willow and started looking at Buffy as more than just her source of food and drink. If she could have, Amy would have danced a little ratly jig. Unfortunately, there just wasn’t that much room in Buffy’s pocket, so she confined herself to joyous little wriggles of absolute pleasure.

Buffy pursed her lips thoughtfully as she secretly petted Amy’s fine fur. If she didn’t know any better, she’d say that the rat was excited - almost as if she knew exactly why they were heading out to the Manor.

Maybe she does know, Buffy thought sadly. Maybe she’s so happy to finally be away from me and all my blubbering that she can barely contain herself. Heck, I know I’d love to get away from me!

"Don’t forget to call when you’re ready to come home, dear," Joyce said as she pulled up in front of Tara’s home. Joyce ducked her head out of the window to look at the stately old building. "It really is something, isn’t it?" she said with awe. "I see that the workers have already started the facelift," she added, noting the scaffolding around the west tower as well as the huge piles of new stone. There were already several areas of the facade that had been repaired and the old castle was beginning to look less like a ruin and more like a place where people lived.

"Yeah, Tara hopes to have it ready for us by next month," Buffy said as she got out of the car.

"That’s wonderful," Joyce said, smiling at her daughter. "Have a good time, dear."

"I will. See you later, mom," Buffy said, waving as Joyce drove away. "Okay, time to find out what kind of a cook Tara is," Buffy muttered, walking up to the huge double doors that marked the entrance to Chesley Manor.

Willow met her at the doorway, the tiny hacker easily pushing open the ponderously huge door. Buffy walked in and squinted owlishly as the darkness of the hallway blinded her momentarily. "Wow, medieval, much?" she said, noting the decor. Old fashioned hurricane lanterns lined the walls. Each was lit, yet the hall was still incredibly dim.

"Yeah, I know. We’re going to install track lighting all along here," Willow said, leading Buffy down the hall to the tower that she and Tara shared.

"Cool," Buffy said, stopping to stare at the intricate carvings that adorned the oak paneling. "Gaudy, much? Mariah Chesley must have been quite the character," she said, speaking of the actress who had been the last person to live in the house before Tara had purchased it.

"Not really - from the documentation we’ve been able to dig up, the house has always looked like this. We think Matthias Chesley built this place for his wife, Grace, in the hopes that she would come to love America as much as she did England."

"Did you have a little research party that I didn’t know about?" Buffy asked, looking up at Willow and cocking an eyebrow.

Willow blushed a little and laughed. "Well, yeah, I mean, you didn’t expect that I’d move in here without some foreknowledge, did you?"

Buffy laughed as well. "Nope, not my wiccagirl. So, what else have you found out about this Casa Gothic?"

"Not too much else, actually. Most of the records are still with the family in England, and they weren’t very forthcoming I’m afraid. You’d think they’d be happy to share their knowledge - especially after they practically gave this place away!"

"Nope, no ghosts here. Giles, Tara and I checked last weekend," Willow said as they rounded a corner and came up to a solid oak door.

"Well, here we are," Willow pushed open the door and Buffy gasped in surprise. The interior of the tower was beautifully decorated. The walls were covered in thick tapestries woven of multicolored threads depicting several pagan symbols. Buffy stepped in, still slightly dazzled by all the things the two wiccans had done to make the place their own.

On the floor was a braided cotton rug made of muted browns and greens that had been woven into the form of a pentacle. There were redwood bookshelves everywhere, some holding actual books, others nearly overflowing with crystals, talismans and other things necessary to your average practicing wiccan. On the mantel was Willow’s photograph shrine, containing all her treasured images. Buffy was drawn to a picture of her, Will and Xander in high school and she reached out to caress it.

"We were so young then," she said sadly. Next to it was the last known photo of Amy and as she looked at the image, Buffy was struck by the depth of hurt in the girl’s liquid blue eyes. Sighing, she gently reached into her pocket and withdrew the rat, waking her. Buffy set Amy down on the mantel in front of her picture and said, "Hey Amy, this is you. If we’re lucky, we can take a new photograph of you tonight."

Willow silently approached the slayer and put a hand on her shoulder. "We’re going to do it, Buffy. I can feel it."

Buffy turned her head to the side and allowed a bittersweet smile to cross her face. "That’s great, Will. I’m keeping my fingers crossed, you know?"

Willow, sensing that all was not as well with her friend as Buffy would have her believe, squeezed the slayer’s shoulder and said, "It’s going to be all right, you know."

"I know," Buffy forced a cheerful smile onto her lips. "After all, nothing could withstand a spell cast by you and Tara."

Tara chose that moment to come into the room, carrying a heaping platter of stir-fry. "Dinner’s ready," she said, setting the food down on a table. "Hey Buffy," she said, coming over to give the slayer a welcoming hug.

"Hey there," Buffy replied, returning the hug one-armed, using the other hand to keep Amy from falling off the mantel. The rat had started to investigate the pictures, touching each one with her nose, leaving little wet smudges all over the glass of the frames.

Willow laughed and reached over to capture Amy in her hands, and said, "No, no Amy, you mustn’t get the pictures all moist."

"I’ll take her," Buffy offered, reaching for Amy almost possessively. Willow handed her over without comment, but Tara cocked her head to the side and frowned momentarily. Then she smiled and gestured to the table.

"Shall we eat? Spell work always makes me hungry." The blonde wiccan pulled out a chair for Willow, who shot a thankful smile up at her lover before sitting down.

"Better than slaying," Buffy said, sitting down and setting Amy on her lap. The rat promptly scrabbled up her shirt and settled on her shoulder, curling up and falling asleep.

"Yeah," Buffy said, taking a sip of her drink. "Slaying always made me hella horny. Faith too, as I recall."

Willow choked on her water. Tara laughed and drawled, "Well, actually…erf!" The wiccan shot her lover a pained look and Willow smiled sheepishly.

Buffy chuckled wickedly. "Oh Willow…why am I suddenly getting the sense that I’m going to be sleeping with the pillow over my head a lot?"

Willow’s face turned four shades of scarlet. "Oh, Willow isn’t noisy," Tara said nonchalantly, taking a bite of food, chewing and swallowing. "But I am," she added, to Willow’s complete dismay and Buffy’s delight.

"Who let you out of your shell?" Buffy asked Tara after she’d enjoyed a good laugh.

Tara shrugged. "I don’t know. I just feel - free. I’ve felt this way since Willow and I moved in here."

Buffy put her fork down and stared at the wiccan seriously. "Oh my God," she said, voice tinged with worry, "you must be possessed! Willow, quick! Call Giles! Tell him we’ve got a case of steel ovaritis."

"Oh no!" Willow spun to face Tara and put her hand on the wiccan’s arm. "Hang in there honey, I’m sure we’ll fix this."

"Actually, I think this case may be permanent," Buffy said, causing Willow to gasp.

"No! It can’t be! There’s got to be a spell…" the hacker got up and ran to a bookshelf that was overflowing with books on the occult. Buffy and Tara could barely contain themselves. Small gasps of mirth kept popping out of both of them at odd moments. Just as Willow reached for a book, she stopped, then turned to look at Buffy. Her face got all serious for a second, then she pursed her lips. "You’re funning me, aren’t you?"

Buffy spread both hands out and said, "Guilty as charged. You may take me away."

Tara couldn’t help herself, she burst out laughing, her great peals of joy echoing off the wooden beams of the ceiling.

"And you!" Willow stalked over to her girlfriend, shaking her finger menacingly. "Allowing her to get away with it!"

Tara tried to put an appropriately repentant look on her face, but didn’t quite succeed. "I couldn’t help it?" she tried, hoping Willow was in a forgiving frame of mind.

"Hmph!" the hacker harumphed, crossing her arms acting like she was deeply hurt by Tara’s actions.

Tara pouted and Buffy marveled. The blonde wiccan was a master, nay an adept at the quivering lower lip combined with just the right amount of moisture in the eyes look. Willow took one look at Tara’s face and crumbled. "All right, I forgive you," she said, walking over and kissing Tara soundly. Tara hugged Willow close, peering over her shoulder and winking at Buffy. The slayer solemnly returned the wink and added a thumb’s up for good measure.

The three young women finished their meal in silence, pausing only to refill their plates at least twice before settling back and belching happily.

"Tara, I’m going to have to agree with Willow. That was far better than any stir-fry I’ve ever had at Giles’ place," Buffy said, rubbing her belly with one hand and feeding bits of cooked veggies to Amy with the other.

"Thanks," Tara said, blushing. "Gran was really into food, so she taught me everything she knew."

"Well it’s a good thing!" Buffy enthused, contemplating the mostly empty platter of stir-fry and wondering if she could possibly stuff a few more pieces of chicken into her stomach. She decided that it would probably be a bad idea and stuck to sipping her iced tea. Even Amy was sated, too heavy with food to crawl from Buffy’s lap back up to the slayer’s shoulder.

Willow got up and cleared the table while Tara went over to a shelf and gathered what they’d need for the spell. When the hacker was done with the table, she walked to the center of the room and rolled up the rug, resting it against the foot of the couch. Once the stone floor was bared, she sketched out a pentacle in chalk, adding mystical runes and glyphs, but not completely closing the circle.

Tara placed candles at the five points of the star, and added a brazier and cauldron to the center. Various ingredients were tossed into the pot; things that Buffy couldn’t and in many cases, didn’t want to name. When everything was mixed into the pot, Tara chanted a few words and the fire lit. Soon the coals were glowing and the pot was bubbling merrily.

An acrid odor began to fill the room and Buffy wrinkled her nose. "Pew!" she said, waving the fumes away from her face.

Tara nodded and grimaced. "I’m sorry about the smell, but the type of magic that Amy used demands that we follow certain formulae." She shrugged apologetically. "I wouldn’t have chosen this way, but I think if we are to succeed, we need to use the same style of magic that Amy did."

Buffy nodded blankly. "Uh-huh. That’s why I leave the wicca stuff up to the wiccagirls. I’m just a Slayer, I understand vampires and demons, not spells and curses."

Tara smiled and continued to stir the noxious smelling stuff in the pot. A little while later Willow stood up from her scribing and said, "Okay, I’m ready for Amy now."

Buffy picked up the rat and gave her one final stroking, then kissed her gently on the head. "Good luck, my friend," she whispered, then handed her over to Willow.

The hacker placed the rat on a cushion next to Tara, then knelt down opposite of her lover. She tossed a stick of chalk over to Buffy and said, "Here, close the circle."

Buffy nodded and stood up, then walked over and found where Willow had left one line unfinished and closed it off. "You’re in," she said, feeling like they were in high school all over again, when Willow was first experimenting with minor spells like levitation and divination. Even though the slayer professed to know little about magic and wicca, she did know that a transformation magick of this caliber would be a huge undertaking. Quietly, she retreated to the table to watch as her friends attempted to return Amy to her proper body.

Willow gestured, and all the candles lit. Buffy was impressed. Tara chanted something in a language Buffy didn’t know and Willow responded in the same language. Together, they wrapped their hands around the spoon Tara had been using to stir the potion and began to chant,

Three times they repeated the chant, stirring counterclockwise. Buffy watched in awe as the liquid started to bubble, then take on a strangely purplish hue. When the chant reached its third repetition, both wiccans stopped stirring, lifted the spoon out of the cauldron and allowed three drops of the liquid to drop onto Amy’s fur. When there was no immediate response, Buffy selfishly allowed herself a little sigh of relief. She would not lose her friend after all!

As the two wiccans placed the spoon back into the pot, something began to happen. First Amy’s eyes, then her nose, and finally her whiskers began to glow an eerie purple. Her fur began to mottle and started to ripple. The air around the rat shimmered; there was a horrible tearing noise, followed by a moist popping sound and suddenly a bright flash of light burst from the area around Amy. The three women blinked painfully, rubbing at half-blinded eyes. Buffy was the first to notice that the rat’s body had vanished and had been replaced by one nude, unconscious young woman.

"Amy," Buffy whispered, choking back tears. Her friend was gone and in her place, a stranger.

"Amy!" Willow exclaimed, smiling happily, then she toppled over, followed soon after by Tara.

Buffy broke the circle and carefully lifted up and carried out first Amy, then Willow and Tara. Thankfully, there was plenty of overstuffed furniture to lay the young women on. A throw blanket solved the nakedness problem for Amy, allowing Buffy to start begin cleaning up after the spell. She had no idea what to do with the remaining liquid in the cauldron, so she left that for the wiccans to deal with, but the rest of the mess - the chalk and candles - were easily swept away and tossed into the trash can. She moved the brazier and cauldron back to the hearthstones of the fireplace and rolled the carpet back out. As she was finishing, Willow and Tara started to come around.

"’Fridge, upstairs…" Tara said softly, as if each word caused her extreme pain. Spell casting was a lot like running a marathon - leaving the caster exhausted and drained.

Buffy ran up the stairs into what was obviously the bedroom/study and spotted a small refrigerator on the far wall. She grabbed the bottles of the brightly colored sports drink as well as a handful of granola bars. Juggling the bottles and bars, she headed back downstairs and delivered the goodies to the two reaction-shocked witches.

Both Tara and Willow were appropriately grateful, nodding happily as they rapidly consumed the food and drink. When they were done, Buffy looked over at Amy, who was still unconscious.

Tara nodded. "Transformation magick, any magick, really, isn’t an exact science. I can’t say with certainty that she’ll wake up any time soon." At Buffy’s crestfallen frown, she added, "But I can’t see any reason why she wouldn’t, either. The spell worked quickly, which is all to the good. She must have really wanted to be human again."

There it was. Confirmation that Amy hated being Buffy’s crying buddy. The slayer sighed heavily, looking over at the girl, no - a young woman now - and smiling sadly. Good-bye my friend, she thought, then turned away and found a chair to curl up in.

"So, do you want to see the house? At least, the parts that aren’t all blocked off?" Willow asked, tucking her feet up underneath her.

Buffy shook her head. "No, I want to be here when she wakes up," she said, looking at Amy.

"It could be some time," Tara said, giving the slayer a sympathetic smile. "Why don’t you let Willow show you around - I’ll call you if anything changes." She stood up and retrieved a cell phone, which she tossed at Willow.

Buffy looked from Amy, to Willow and back. There was no change, not even the slightest twitch. "Okay," Buffy said, closing her eyes and praying she wouldn’t regret it. "I’m all yours, Will." She stood up and held out a hand to the hacker, who took it gratefully. Together, they walked upstairs while Willow pointed out different bits and pieces of the tower that were of interest.

They’d been walking around the manor for almost an hour when Willow’s phone gave off a little ring. The sound seemed odd, echoing through the formal dining hall hollowly, and Willow’s voice was even stranger, almost vanishing in the after-echoes of the phone’s ring. The hacker spoke for a few brief minutes, then hung up. "C’mon," she said to Buffy, taking her hand and dragging her toward a wall.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Tara said that Amy’s starting to come to, that’s all," Willow said, reaching out to grasp a bit of elaborate carving and give it a little twist. With a slight groan, a portion of the wall slid away to reveal a dark passageway.

"Yeah, Giles spotted it. He thinks there might be more, but he wants to wait until the house is declared completely safe before going off to explore," she explained as they raced along the passage, then emerged in the living area of the first floor of Willow and Tara’s tower.

Weird sounds filtered down to her, causing her to twitch and raise her paw up and rub her ear. Strange, her claws seemed awfully dull. Had someone clipped them? And her fur, it was longer, not as soft and a different color, she discovered as she opened her eyes and looked around. Cautiously, she sat up and blinked, amazed. It had happened! She was Human again! Uttering a cry of joy, she hugged herself gleefully.

Buffy stood in the doorway and watched as Amy slowly woke, then realized her new state of being. The young woman looked around, spotting Willow and Tara immediately and smiled happily, but kept searching until she found the person she wanted to see. Finally, she spotted Buffy almost hiding in a doorway.

"Yes!" she cried out, reaching for the slayer and laughing. "Yes, yes, yes, yes…" Amy babbled, standing up, blanket forgotten. The young woman tried to take a step forward, and discovered one very important thing - she didn’t know how to walk.

Buffy saw Amy stand, saw the blanket fall away to reveal the young woman’s naked form and saw her attempt to take a step. She watched the flicker of emotions that played across the young woman’s face as she started crumple to the floor, unable to walk.

"Amy!" she shouted, making a heroic leap for the girl, catching her, and landing with the former rat gently cradled in her arms.

"Yes!" Amy crowed happily, clutching Buffy to her and clinging tightly. For just a moment, Buffy allowed herself to revel in the embrace, holding Amy close to her heart, then she sighed and cleared her throat.

"You’re going to have to let go now," Buffy said, trying to disengage the young woman.

Willow chuckled. "Looks like we’re going to have to re-teach Amy a few things," she said to Tara, who nodded.

"I was afraid of that. She spent too much time as a rat and forgot a lot of human stuff. It shouldn’t be too hard though - it’s just a matter of ‘reminding’ her of what she once knew," Tara explained as she went upstairs. The wiccan returned shortly carrying some clothes. "Here, these should fit," she said, handing them to Buffy, who was still trying to get Amy to let her go. The former rat had no intention of releasing her slayer though, not after she’d waited so long to hold her.

"How am I supposed to get these on her?" Buffy asked, looking at the tee-shirt and shorts Tara had brought.

"You’ll figure it out," Willow said as Tara walked up to her lover’s side and wrapped an arm around Willow’s shoulder.

"Thanks," Buffy said drolly, trying to put Amy’s arm through a sleeve. "Come on Amy, put this on for me? Please?" she begged, after fighting the young woman for a few minutes.

Instantly, the girl was docile, allowing Buffy to dress her. Once she was clothed, though, she launched herself at the slayer and held on for dear life.

Willow cocked her head to the side and watched Amy for a moment, then said softly, "Buffy, I think she’s trying to hold you. You know," she demonstrated by pulling Tara around and cuddling her close, "like this."

"Yes!" Amy said looking at the two wiccans, then nodding fiercely. "H-hold!" she added, in a gentler voice, looking at Buffy with pleading eyes.

Buffy shook her head, frowning. "I don’t think so," she said, trying once more to push Amy’s hands away.

Buffy looked away, swallowing convulsively. This was what she wanted, right? Her friend, her Amy to snuggle up to. As a rat, Amy had always been willing to cuddle, why would the human be any different? The slayer turned her head back to the young woman, who had finally given up, dropping her hands into her lap and sighing disconsolately. "Amy," Buffy said gently, "do you want to cuddle? Like… like we did when I was sad?"

"Yes! Sad!" she said, nodding emphatically. "Hold Buffy! N-no sad!" she said proudly, as if she’d just answered the $1,000,000 question correctly.

"Amy…" Buffy whispered, as understanding washed over her. The rat had understood, had known what was going on and now, as a human, she was trying to accomplish what she could not do before. The slayer’s eyes teared up and she coughed, then reached for Amy. "Okay, you can hold me," she said softly.

"Buffy," Amy said, opening her arms so that the slayer could crawl into her lap, then closing them around her and rocking her gently. "No sad," she sing-songed soothingly.

Buffy sniffled and replied, "No, no sad." She shifted slightly, then whispered, "Thank you."

A little while later, Buffy looked up to see that Willow and Tara had settled onto the couch, Willow with her head in Tara’s lap. The slayer stood up, and Amy let her go, sighing sadly, but realizing that Buffy needed her space, too. Amy sat on the floor, uncertain what to do next, and looked around.

Buffy stretched, moaning in pleasure and pain when her back cracked loudly. "Oh, I needed to do that," she said, yawning. She reached her hand out to Amy and said, "Come on, I’ll help you up."

Amy hesitantly held her arm up and Buffy slowly pulled the girl upright, then quickly wrapped her arm around Amy’s waist, steadying her. With sure, even motions, Buffy moved behind young woman and said, "Okay, we’re going to try walking now, ready?"

Amy nodded, biting her lower lip in concentration. It took everything she had not to fall to her hands and knees and just crawl away. Slowly, carefully Buffy wrapped her arms around Amy’s waist and positioned her knees behind Amy’s legs. A strange shiver ran up Amy’s spine, and then, Buffy pushed out with her knee and Amy had no choice but to swing her own leg forward. This odd technique seemed to work and soon, Amy was staggering around the room, only needing to lean on Buffy occasionally for support.

Willow and Tara talked quietly, allowing Buffy to help Amy, since the young woman seemed to be fixated on the slayer. At first, Willow was a little hurt, but Tara leaned down and whispered something to the hacker that caused her to smile, then giggle a little. After that, she was happy to leave the re-education of Amy in Buffy’s capable hands.

Buffy, on the other hand, was less than thrilled to be Amy’s one and only tutor. The young woman, after regaining her mobility, had a tendency to wander about aimlessly, picking up objects, then discarding them when she was through with them. Currently, Amy was playing with a crystal, looking at its facets as the light refracted off of the silicate, tossing rainbows all over her face. Suddenly, she dropped the rock and said, "Grrr."

Buffy stood up from her quick dive to save the crystal from shattering and frowned curiously at Amy. "Grr?" she asked, confused.

Amy nodded. "Grr. Grr, grr, grr, grr," she continued, rubbing her stomach. A loud gurgling noise erupted from the young woman’s abdomen.

"I’ll get it," Willow offered, jumping up and running upstairs. The hacker returned a few minutes later with a steaming plate. She set it down on the table and Buffy led Amy over to a chair and helped her to sit down.

Immediately, Amy stuck her hands into the food and brought a double handful of the noodles and vegetables to her mouth.

"Amy, no!" Buffy blurted, far too late. The fork in her hand dropped with a metallic thunk back to the table. Amy happily munched on the food, taking delicate bites of the stringy mess and chewing with gusto. "Oh-kay, no restaurants for a while," Buffy said, pushing the fork aside and sitting next to Amy, who smiled a noodle and veggie filled smile.

"No, but thank you," Buffy said, resting her head on her fist and watching Amy as she ate. As soon as she was done with her first handful, Buffy said, "Wait! Try using this," she offered the fork.

Amy took it and stared at it for a bit, perplexed. Buffy had a brief flashback to "The Little Mermaid" and prayed that Amy wouldn’t try to comb her hair. "Buffy, yes?" Amy said dejectedly, looking at the fork sadly.

"Here, like this," Buffy said, showing the young woman how to use the utensil. Amy smiled and happily started eating. She fumbled a few times, but soon was using the fork easily.

The slayer sighed. One good thing could be said, and that was that Amy learned quickly. It was as Tara had said, just a matter of "reminding" the girl of what she’d forgotten.

As Amy ate, Buffy allowed herself time to watch the young woman who, as a rat, had become so important to her. It was a little odd to see a human in place of her animal friend but Buffy found herself adapting. When Amy was a rat, it had been easy to forget what the human had looked like, but now, as she watched Amy experiment with different utensils, the slayer wondered how she could have forgotten all the wonderful details that came together to create the face of Amy Madison.

Each feature that Buffy looked at seemed to trigger a host of memories. The bounce of Amy’s long, wavy reddish blonde hair brought back their first cheer practice. Pale blue eyes invoked an afternoon of laughter at Willow’s during midterms, and Amy’s cute little nose all wrinkled up in concentration was exactly the same as the scowl Amy had worn for English finals in their sophomore year.

It didn’t take Amy long to demolish the plate of food. Soon, she pushed it away and yawned, then burped. Buffy chuckled. "Are you full now, Amy?"

"Yes, Amy full," Amy said, rubbing her belly. She started toppling over toward the slayer, forcing Buffy to catch her. The young woman snuggled up against Buffy’s chest and Buffy realized that Amy was only imitating what she’d done as a rat - fall asleep in her lap after eating. "Oh no," she said, propping Amy up, "if you want to sleep, we’re going home."

"Yeah, home, to my place, since your dad moved away," Buffy replied, her voice filled with overtones of sadness and anger. Sadness that Mr. Madison had hope of ever seeing his daughter again and anger that he had given up.

Not too long after Amy had turned herself into a rat, her father had come by Buffy’s place and dropped off the cage containing his daughter. The only thing he said was, "I can’t take this - she’s your problem now. If she…comes back…tell her I said good-bye." After that, Mr. Madison had packed up and moved to parts unknown.

"Daddy?" Amy said sadly, then sighed. "Bye-bye," she whispered in a tear-stricken voice. Then she yawned again.

"Okay, Will, where’s that phone?" Buffy said, startling the two wiccans, who were necking quietly. The slayer turned and looked at the obviously mussed girls and snickered. "Don’t you have a room for that?" she asked.

Willow stood up and carried the phone over. "Sorry Buff. You were busy and, well…"

"You couldn’t help yourself, I know. Remember? I was that way too," she said, and surprisingly, it didn’t hurt as much as she thought it would.

Willow smiled sadly and put a hand on the slayer’s shoulder. "Hey, it was great of you to come over," she said.

"Well, yeah, there is that," Willow said, and turned to look at Amy. "Amy, I’m so glad you’re back with us." She hugged the sleepy girl gently.

"Yes," Amy muttered sleepily. "Willow," she added, looking up at her friend. "Magick!" she said, suddenly, smiling hugely.

Willow nodded. "Yup, that’s me, magick-girl. You too, Amy. You’ll see, Tara ‘n I will teach you how to do the mojo again."

Buffy hung up the phone. "Okay, mom’s on her way. I didn’t tell her about Amy though - I want to surprise her."

"I know," the slayer replied, blowing on her nails and scuffing them across her shirt. "But someone has to be." She looked at her watch. "Oo, it’s after midnight and I still have to patrol tonight. Yuck."

"Patrol?" Amy said, recognizing the word. "Amy go," she said, giving the slayer a look that plainly said that she wasn’t going to take "no" for an answer.

"Amy…" Buffy said warningly. She leaned forward and whispered, "Amy, you’re not a rat anymore, I can’t just stuff you in my pocket."

"We’ll talk about this later," Buffy said, getting up and heading for the restroom. Amy followed her. Buffy stopped and looked at the young woman. "No Amy, you can’t come to the bathroom with me." Amy gave Buffy puppy dog eyes. Buffy sighed and rolled her eyes. "Do you have to use the potty, Amy?" Buffy asked, exasperated.

"Oh, come on!" Buffy grabbed the girl’s hand and dragged her into the bathroom. The slayer showed Amy the facilities, turning away when the young woman pulled her shorts down, and sat down to go. Just as Amy finished up, Buffy remembered her cousin’s potty training days, and she said in clear, confident tones, "Very good, Amy. I’m proud of you."

Buffy turned around just as Amy tugged up her shorts. The slayer sighed. "Yes, Buffy potty."

"Yes," Amy nodded sagely, and walked over to where Buffy was standing. "Buffy go," she said, nodding knowingly at the toilet.

Nervously, Buffy did what she’d come to do, while Amy imitated Buffy by turning around. When Buffy was done, Amy said, in the exact same tone of voice that Buffy had used, "Very good, Buffy. I’m proud of you." Buffy almost choked. By the time they finished washing their hands, Joyce had arrived.

Buffy and Amy exited the bathroom just as Joyce walked into the tower. "This is a very nice place, Tara," Joyce was saying to the blonde wiccan as she led Mrs. Summers through the door. "Are you ready to go, Buf-" Joyce’s voice dropped off when she saw Amy.

"Hey mom," Buffy said, putting her most innocent expression on her face. "Surprise."

"Buff… Amy?" Joyce said wonderingly, coming up and almost touching the young woman. Amy looked at Joyce, then at Buffy, then back at Joyce and started to back away.

Joyce’s body seemed to deflate. She lowered her head and said, "Yes, Amy, I was bad. I was very bad to you and for that I apologize from the bottom of my heart."

"Yes, I’m very sorry," Joyce said, her voice tinged with horror and regret. "There are no words to heal what I have done," she whispered brokenly.

Buffy stepped over to her mother’s side and put a hand on her shoulder. "No…mom, it’s okay. She’s…she just has to learn a few things over again."

"Really?" Joyce asked, hope creeping back into her voice. "She’ll be okay? Normal?"

"We think so…she’s been learning things really fast, too," Buffy said, a touch of pride in her voice.

"That…that’s wonderful," Joyce said, tears running down her face. Amy reached out and touched Joyce’s face, bringing her hand back to look at the moisture on her finger.

"Bad sad?" she asked uncertainly. Her brow furrowed in concentration as she tried to figure it out.

Buffy reached out and covered Amy’s hand with her own. "Yeah, Amy. Mom’s really sorry for what happened. She’s not bad, she was under a spell."

"You got it!" Buffy said, smiling. "But call her mom or Mrs. Summers - otherwise I think she might turn into a Michael Jackson song."

Joyce put on her most dazzling smile and said gently, "That’s it, Amy. I’m not bad. I’m just an adult. And I’m very, very sorry." Amy considered Joyce’s words, then nodded happily.

Flabbergasted, Joyce returned the embrace. When Amy let her go, she said, "Okay, ready to go?"

"Okay," Amy repeated, coming over and grabbing Buffy’s hand. "Amy go," she said.

Buffy ran her free hand through her hair. "Yeah, we’re ready to go. Uh, mom, I hope you still don’t mind…" she nodded her head toward Amy.

"Of course not," Joyce said warmly. "Didn’t I say that Amy is always welcome in our home?"

"Let’s get together tomorrow for lunch," Willow suggested as Buffy and Amy walked out, "we can reintroduce Amy to Xander and Anya and Giles."

"Okay, I’ll give you call," Buffy said as Amy pulled on the slayer’s arm, chanting, "Amy go, Amy go, Amy go…"

Willow looked at Tara. "I should feel sorry for her," she said, grinning wickedly as Buffy fought with Amy to get the seat belt on, "but I don’t."

"Shame on you," Tara said playfully, "they both have a long road ahead of them," she added in a soft voice. "I hope they both have the courage to see it through."

"I think they will," Willow said, slipping her arm into Tara’s. "Now, shall we - retire - for the night?"

"Neither was I," Tara returned, closing the door behind her. "At least, not yet."

~Part Two~

Prison of Choice

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all related characters, history and storylines are copyright to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, the WB and who ever else owns a piece of them. Elizabeth Blaine is copyright to Wes Craven and whoever else owns her.