Oni or Tenshi?

[Stormforce]

Egnalos - Even in the anime I thought it was great they were using comic's to plot their plans, and I thought it would be great for Willow and Anya to use it, also. Yep, Willow and Anya would have found out that their feelings are shared by Tara, and Xander. But having them running off is to keep them from knowing just yet. Here's the update



Ceridwenfaylinn - Hey sweetie, yep things are moving at least a little for the girls. I'm glad you liked Miss Kitty, hopefully I've got her just as cute in this update By the way, L or A?...lol, I like that



Viximon - Yep, they have evil minds, and here's where they put their evil plan into action Oh, and I really wanted Nikko to do something to get Willow's butt in gear I'm happy you're still liking the fic



WickedReds - Glad you liked the cake, and it could possibly have been Dawn's missing slug monster



Oni or Tenshi?

Pairing: Eventually W/T, B/F

Rating: PG-13-R

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em



Chapter Twenty-One: Getting Rid of the Galaxy Police Officers



The demon, and princess hurriedly left the bathing house, Willow heading toward Nikko's home, and Anya toward the house. It was time to put their plan into action. As the two girls washed off, they had came up with the plan.



Willow would go up to Nikko's house, and use the phone to call the Maclay house at the bottom of the stairs. Anya would be waiting for either Buffy, or Faith to answer the phone, and suggest how to get the officer's spaceship back.



Willow fazed in front of the older woman's house, Here we go, let's get those girls out of our hair. she smirked and fazed through the door, "Tara's grandmother, may I u-u-u..." she stuttered, and hit the side of her head with her palm, "Can I use your phone?"



Nikko never once looked up from sipping her coffee, and nodded, "Sure."



Back at the Maclay house the phone began ringing "I'll get it!" Buffy bounced over to the phone, "Maclay home." she said and giggled, "That sounds as if I've married into the family. How embarrassing. Do you think is sounds that way?"



On the other end of the phone Willow was giving the phone a death glare, wishing Buffy could see it. Married into the family? As if! "Get a grip!" she shouted into the receiver with narrowed eyes.



Back at the house the force of Willow's scream caused Buffy's hair to be blown back, as she held the receiver away from her head, and stared in wonder at it.



Willow took three deep breaths before raising the receiver up, "This is your nasty superior at the Galaxy Police." Willow said in a deep voice, and didn't see Nikko move to a chair closer to her.



"Oh, hello." Buffy sounded surprised, "But how did you know where I was?"



"An unimportant detail." Willow quickly said, she really couldn't explain that, now could she? "Now, I want you and Faith to hurry back to make your report!"



"Yes, ma'am!" Buffy saluted, "First-Class Detective Buffy, and First-Class Decetive Faith is on the way!"



"Okay, good." Willow said and hung up the phone before laughing, "Gullible is an understatement." she said pumping her fist, and giving Nikko an odd glance. Wasn't she two chairs over? Whatever, at that moment Willow didn't care. "Thanks for letting me use your phone." she grinned at the older woman, and fazed outside.



Back at the house Buffy grabbed Faith as she passed by, "We need to get back and make our reports!"



"Well, I knew that B, but how the hell we gonna get there without a ship?" Faith asked, and saw Anya step behind Buffy.



"I'm sure Dawn could get you a spaceship or two, if you need them."



"Really?" Buffy jumped, wrapped her arms around Anya's waist, and squeezed. "Oh, thank you very much!"



"Not...a problem...but...need to...breathe!"



Five minutes later, after screaming for Dawn from the lab entrance; the girls were outside watching as Dawn stood next to the lake with Buffy and Faith next to her, "All we have to do is find your ship. You said it fell into subspace somewhere around here, right?"



"Yeah." Faith said as Buffy nodded, and glanced over at Willow who had her hands behind her head, and Anya standing next to her staring over the lake.



"Can you really find it?" Buffy asked excitedly.



Dawn held her hands in front of her, calling up her transparent computer, and began typing, "Police ships are rare in this area... So it'll be easy to locate... There it is!" she smiled.



"Sweet!" Faith grinned, "Gonna be nice to see my baby again."



"Yeah, I can't wait to see Yukinojo!" Buffy bounced up and down, as Willow and Anya clapped happily.



Red electricty sparked as a black portal bega opening in the sky, and the silver ship emerged, but it also had a rider. Everyone gasped when they saw the demon Willow had summoned at the hot spring riding on top of the ship. Buffy grabbed on to Faith, as Willow and Anya screamed and ran toward the woods when the demon flew forward.



"Oh, on! This isn't good!" Buffy screamed hiding her face in Faith's neck.



Dawn stared up at the demon and lifted her right hand up causing the demon to disappear, "Having a foolish sister means more work for me." she sighed, as Willow and Anya poked their heads up from behind the bushes.



"Well, that was simple." Anya cut her eyes toward Willow, who was directing a glare toward Dawn.



"Shut up." Willow cut the glare toward the princess, "If only I had all my gems."



A few minutes later, after calming Tara and Xander down, and explaining what was going on; the group watched as the siblings and Hallie stood next to the officers, "I'm going to miss you." Hallie said sadly.



"Tara, Xander, I would like to thank you for everything." Buffy smiled, and gave the siblings and princess a hug, never seeing the glares she was getting from Willow and Anya.



"Yeah, if it weren't for you, we would have had no place to stay." Faith shook their hands, and picked the princess up, "Keep an eye on your sister, and Willow." she winked.



"You're welcome." Tara smiled, "Good luck to the both of you."



"We won't forget the time we spent here..." Buffy stopped as tears came to her eyes.



"Are you really going home?" Hallie asked looking up at the officer, and held back her own tears.



Faith nodded, "We have to because of our work."



Hallie stepped forward, grabbing both girls' hands, "I don't want you to go."



"I'm sorry. I don't want to either...but..." Buffy began crying as Hallie's tears also began falling.



Tara kneeled next to the princess, "Hallie, let's not make it difficult." she wrapped her arms around the girl, and rocked her back and forth when the princess turned in her arms.



"Tell me, can't you both come back once you've finished?" Xander asked, he knew he'd miss the girls if they did leave, and didn't want them to. These girls, all of these girls were his and Tara's only friends, besides their father and grandmother.



Buffy's eyes lit up as she smiled, "You won't mind if we come back?"



"You're welcome to come back, I won't mind, and I know Tare won't, will you?" he glanced at his sister and saw her smile.



"No, I won't mind, I would love to have you girls back."



"Then as soon as we're finished, we will come back." Faith nodded to Buffy. She couldn't believe it, they had made friends on Earth that really wanted them to come back. And truth be told, Faith really wanted to come back, how else was she going to see the trouble Willow and Anya caused?



Both officer's saluted, "We'll see you again." Buffy said, and once more embraced them.



On the porch Willow and Anya blinked, "I don't like that at all!" Willow growled as she leaned forward.



Anya turned toward the demon, "Well, at least they won't be back for a while."



The ship's engines roared to life and the ship shot forward causing the water to split in the middle, as it raised into the air, and was out of site in just a few seconds. Hallie ran forward hollering for the girls to come back soon, and didn't see what was going on on the porch.



Anya was waving her right hand, and Willow had a small cloth in her right hand as she waved it in the air, "Bye-bye, now." Both girls said in unison, and with sugar-laced voices, "Don't come back for a long time."



Up in space the ship was quickly approaching its destination, "Miss Buffy, Miss Faith, we will reach the rendezvous point with the main ship shortly." Yukinojo was saying as both Buffy and Faith stared off into their own worlds. Neither girl could believe what Tara and Xander had said. They really wanted them to come back, and to both officers, it was the best thing that could have happened.



Faith remembered how she and Buffy had met when they were partnered together, and had became the best there was. But she also remembered what had happened when the other officers had found out they were lovers. Both girls had had a ton of both men and women chaising after them, and all had been angry when they'd got together. Buffy's mother, Joyce had welcomed her into the family no questions asked, but had said she'd be neck deep in trouble if she ever hurt her baby girl.



The dark haired officer smiled at that, and suddenly frowned. It was then that the other officers had started to shy away from the two, and most of the time be down right rude. Really, Faith didn't give a damn about what the others thought, or how they had felt toward her.



The only thing that did matter to her was Buffy, and it hurt her when Buffy had began crying when an officer had told her to never speak to him again. If the blonde hadn't of stopped her, Faith would have beaten him into the ground, and shoved him into space.



After that everything had went down hill from there. Losing her friends because she was with the girl they'd wanted made Buffy daydream most of the time, and in doing so, destroyed things un-noticed by the blonde. Faith would become angry, and destroy everything in her path, just to let her anger out. Sure it caused their perfect record to become no-so-perfect, but no matter, as long as she had Buffy; Faith knew she had everything she'd ever need. Even if she sometimes got pissed at the blonde for being too much of a ditz.



Yukinojo piloted the ship toward a much larger ship, and began docking, six beams of red lasers shot from the larger ship, and pulled the crusier down. "Docking complete. Super-Interspace Hot Line open." Yukinojo said, as a large satellite rose up, "Miss Buffy, password, please."



Buffy was still staring off into space and didn't hear the computer; Faith shook her head, and waited, if Yukinojo couldn't get Buffy to respond, he'd ask her. "Miss Buffy, your password, please."



"Yes?" Buffy looked surprised as Yukinojo moved in front of her face.



"We are ready for Super-Interspace Hot Line." Yukinojo said as he moved closer, "Please say your password."



"Uh..." Buffy lifted her eyes toward the ceiling, as Faith snorted, had Buffy forgotten her password, again? And it was so easy, too! "I dunno... There was an old woman who lived in a shoe?" Buffy asked more than stated, as Yukinojo processed the words.



"Password confirmed." Yukinojo's eyes blinked, "The line has been connected." There was a stedy beeping for a few seconds as the girls' report was transfered, "Report transfer complete."



"Great!" Buffy chirped, "Let's go back!"



"Yeah, it's time to head back to Earth!" Faith agreed, ready to leave.



"You still have to make a verbal report to your superior." Yukinojo reminded the girls.



"Really?" Buffy asked, and fell back in shock as a screen popped up in front of her with Cordelia on it.



"You did it!" Cordelia shouted, causing Faith to join Buffy on the floor, "I had a feeling it was you girls! Two days ago, there was a report from the special unit assigned to rescue you. They detected a shock wave, and an electromagnetic wave caused by a huge explosion. The headquarters did an energy spectrum analysis, and concluded the explosion was from the Souja. Then I received your report. Now my job is safe and you can go back to the Central Office."



Cordelia stopped and looked down at the two officers, who were still lying on the floor in shock, "Is there something wrong?"



"Ouch." Buffy replied as Faith's hand shot into the air.



"I'll agree with that." Faith rubbed her head as she stood, and helped Buffy up. "We're not going back to the Central Office." she said turning toward the screen.



"What?! You're not going back?!" Cordelia's voice could have been heard on Jupiter, if there was anyone living there.



"No." Buffy saluted, "We wish a reassignment to patrol a special area of the solar system."



"B-but... How come?" Cordelia asked as the screen moved back, "You're turning down the Central Office! Your mother-- I mean, the Marshal is looking forward to seeing you both!"



"I'm not a child anymore." Buffy crossed her arms, "Don't worry about my mother."



"Please," Cordelia said worriedly, "Won't you reconsider?" she knew her job would fly straight out the window if she let those two work the solar system, "Besides, the Earth is Jurai's territory. Not ours. Galaxy Police can't go there without Jurai's permission."



"We alrealy have permission." Faith smirked.



"What?!"



"Tara and Xander said we could come back, and that's what we want." Buffy smiled as she and Faith began bouncing around the ship's bridge.



The screen turned toward Yukinojo, "Yukinojo, please tell me, who is Tara and Xander?" Cordelia asked the computer.



"They are related to the Jurai Royal Family." The computer responed.



"What?!" Cordelia shouted as her eyes grew wide, and she began reading over the report, again.



"But due to some missing data even I can't be certain." Yukinojo continued.



"Hey!" Cordelia shouted once more as the screen turned back to the jumping pair, "Hey!" getting no responce the screen shot forward, "Listen you two!"



Both girls stopped jumping around, and turned, "I'm sorry, but our report is finished." Faith said, and saluted.



"First-Class Detective's Buffy, and Faith are one their way." Buffy saluted cutting the link as Cordelia screamed. "Let's go, Yukinojo."



"Yes, ma'am."



In her office, Cordelia was still screaming at the screen, and sighed. She knew there was no way she'd get either of those two back. "This is unbelievable!" She said glancing at the report, "I guess this takes priority for now."



Back on Earth...



Willow slowly crept up the stairs, and stopped at the top, "You awake, Tara?" she asked, as she fazed into two seprate selves.



"What's up?" Her second self asked as she sat on the floor, "It's really late, you know."



"Tell me, Tara," Willow asked kneeling down on her knees, "Do you love me?"



"Well..." Willow number two said folding her arms in her lap, and fell back when Willow moved in front of her.



"Please, answer me." when her other self didn't answer, Willow lowered her head, and moved back to where she'd kneeled down, "You don't love me, do you? It's because I punch holes in the ceiling, and go through walls, and fly around."



Her other self fazed behind her, and grabbed her shoulders, "I don't mind that."



"Then answer me, do you love me?"



"I love you." her other self said, and both began laughing.



"Beautiful." They both said before turning toward the other, "Shh."



Willow fazed back into one person, and approached Tara's bedroom door, "Tara, baby, you're not gonna get any sleep tonight." she smirked as her hand covered the knob. Willow didn't notice the small half log at the top of the door, as she slowly opened the door, "Tonight, we're going to get really wet."



And wet she got. The small half log teleported her out to the lake. Willow took a deep breath as her head rose above the water, "Huh? Huh?" she quickly glanced around, and growled when she saw she was in the lake, "The force field?" Willow screamed when a frog croaked and jumped from the top of her head.



"Anya!" Willow shouted again as she rose out of the water, and fazed back inside the house, leaving behind a swirling spiral of water.



"What the hell are you doing?" Anya asked when Willow appeared soaking wet.



"Me? Why the hell did you have that force field set up on Tara's door?" Willow shot back as she stepped forward.



"What do you mean? I did no such thing!" Anya growled, raising her head up.



"It had to be you! We were the only ones who knew about it!" Willow growled back as she stepped forward.



Both girls grabbed the others hands trying to push the other back, "Just admit it! You're the one who put it there!"



"I was not!"



"Tara! Xander! Anya! Willow! Miss Kitty!" Hallie shouted as she walked through a dark area, "Where did everyone go?" she asked, and screamed as the floor broke away, causing her to fall through the air. The little princess's screams were cut short when her head hit something hard.



Hallie saw Tara kneeling down to help her up from the blood surrounding her body, "No! Stay away!" she shouted as a giant hand wrapped around Tara, and began pulling her away. "No! Don't take her away!" she shouted as she began sinking in the pool of blood.



"No!" Hallie said in her sleep as tears rolled down her cheeks, "Don't take her away, Tokimi!" Hallie shouted as she woke, and had no way of knowing the small triangle on her forehead glowed blue for a moment as she sat up. "Anya, where are you?" she asked, frightened, and hid her face in her blanket.



Back in the hallway, Willow pushed Anya up against the wall, and growled, "I know it was you! You don't want me having Tara! You damn royals from Jurai hate me!"



Anya pushed back forcing Willow back, and down the hallway, "I may hate you, but why would I care if you got Tara? I want Xander!"



Neither girl noticed when Hallie walked passed them with tears in her eyes, but they did notice when she knocked on Tara's door, and heard it open. "What's wrong?" Tara asked kneeling down.



"I had a bad dream, can I stay with you?"



"Where's Anya?"



"She's fighting with Willow."



"Again?!" Xander asked, causing both Willow and Anya to turn, what was Xander doing in Tara's room?



"I don't think those two know how to do anything else." Dawn said from inside the room, thus causing Willow and Anya to narrow their eyes.



"Come on, Hallie, you can stay in here."



"Meow!" Miss Kitty happily meowed when the princess entered the room.



"Miss Kitty! You're here, too!" Hallie shouted running over.



"Yeah, we're having a slumber party!" Xander said excitedly as the door closed.



Willow glanced at Anya. Anya glanced at Willow. They both shot forward, and grabbed the door slamming it open, and both were teleported outside, and into the lake. "What was that?" Tara asked looking up and down the hall.



"Two wet fools that forgot to knock." Dawn smirked, she'd finally remembered the camera's in her lab, and had watched them. That was when she'd seen Willow and Anya freeing her subjects, and had devised this little plan to get them back. She'd been in the bath and heard them talking, and why not use it against them?



"What?" Xander turned and cocked his head to the right.



"Oh, nothing, it was probably just a gust of wind." Dawn smiled as Hallie snuggled next to her.



"So, Hallie, what was your dream about?" Tara asked as she slipped into her sleeping bag next to her brother.



"A woman I don't know took you away."



"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." Tara smiled, and saw Xander nod.



"Got that right, I won't let anyone take my big sis away."



Outside the girls slowly walked out of the lake, turned their backs to one another, and leaned back, using the other as support as they slid to the ground. They only sat there for a few seconds until they both looked up at the sky, when a loud whistling sound began softly at first, but soon grew louder.



"What's that sound?" Xander asked sitting up, and glancing around Tara's room.



"It's Buffy and Faith's ship." Dawn said from the bed.



"What?!" Tara shot up, and stared out the skylight in her roof, "This doesn't look good."



In the ship Buffy was reading another one of those Shoujo Manga, as Faith snored softly next to her, "Miss Buffy?" Yukinojo spoke as he moved forward.



"Yes, what is it Yukinojo?" Buffy looked up.



"We should be applying the reverse brake."



"The auto-control should do that." Buffy said, and went back to reading her comic, "Don't worry about it."



"I still don't see the beacon from the Earth."



Buffy lowered the comic, and stared up at the ceiling, "Oops I forgot."



Yukinojo moved closer to Buffy's face, "What is it?"



Buffy giggled nervously, "They don't have anything like that on this planet."



Again, the computer began to worry.



On the ground Willow and Anya watched as the ship sped closer to them, and began laughing like maniac's, as the ship crashed, and totally destroyed everything around it. Several hours later the sun began rising on a new day, as the birds landed on Adam and Oz.



"Looks like another beautiful day." Oz said as his burnt wooden body held up the right side of the gate; the rest of the fence gone.



"Yes, such wonderful spring-like weather." Adam replied as his equally burnt body held up the left side of the gate.



The only thing standing where the Maclay house once stood, was the door leading to Dawn's lab, it's where Tara and Xander had rushed everyone as the ship crashed. And it's where everyone had beded down, well, they had beded down in the unit growing Ryu-Oh's seed.



Dawn and Hallie had grabbed the pink sleeping bag, and settled in before anyone could protest; Buffy and Faith had took the orange one, and quickly fell asleep, but only have Faith had yelled at the blonde for a good ten minutes. That left only Xander's blue sleeping bag, and Tara's yellow one. Seeing an opportunity Willow and Anya had crossed their arms, "I am not sharing a sleeping bag with you!" Anya had said, causing Willow to snort.



"As if I'd want to sleep next to you."



Tara and Xander weren't fools, and saw straight through the words, they knew the girls wanted to sleep next to them. "Anya, you can share my bag." Xander had grinned, "No problem." he said and waited for the princess to slip inside before he lay next to her.



"Come on, Will, you're with me." Tara ducked her head to hide the smirk when Willow had almost jumped in joy. When Tara had slipped next to Willow, she'd turned on her side, and wrapped her arm around the demon's waist, "Night, Will." Tara had whispered, and drifted off to sleep with a very happy Willow following soon after.



It was now morning, and Miss Kitty was meowing as she sat in front the area Ryu-Oh's seed was growing. The meowing woke Anya, causing the princess to sit up, and look over, her scream woke everyone up, not to mention Xander -who'd nearly jumped out of his skin when Anya bolted from the sleeping bag.



"Get away!" Anya screamed as she ran forward, and fell into the small moat circling the dirt area, Miss Kitty turned, and leaned back as her hair stood straight up when Anya leaned in, "I told you that isn't a carrot!" she shouted.



Miss Kitty looked up and meowed happily as she pointed a furry paw over her small shoulder, to where a small sapling with two leaves stood. "Ryu-Oh." Anya smiled, and glanced at the kitten, when she meowed, and saw a small beam of light touch the gound -coming from the left leaf. Miss Kitty hopped into Anya's lap, and turned around, meowing again.



"I see, you're talking with Ryu-Oh." Anya said and watched more lights appear and touch the gound under the leaves, as the kitten meowed.



*******

There's 21 and I'm working on 22, hope ya enjoyed

To be forgotten is worse than death.

[Viximon]

hey! You doubt me

Of course I still like and enjoying the fic. Silly.



Willow and Anya's trick didn't work that well, did it?

On the good hand, they come to sleep beside their beloveds.



You're going to continue following second ovas or what you have in that twisted mind of yours?



Keep it up you have my support still

[ceridwenfaylinn]

Hey koibito



Wow, that was a cool and long chapter



So many things happened that i dont even know what to say



Well, Willow and Anya are just funny sometimes working together and sometimes fighting, its just like in the show



And Dawn's revenge she deserved what Willow and Anya did to her, she shouldnt get to do stuff to get them back!!!



But i'll forgive you, just cuz it was funny



And poor Hallie i wonder what her dream means



And Buffy is such a ditz i wonder how she's managed to stay alive so long



And Nikko, she's so smart, its really cool, i like her a lot.



Well sweetie, i guess by now you can tell that i really liked the update



Next chapter soon!!



Bye baby

Edited by: ceridwenfaylinn at: 12/15/04 8:33 pm

[Stormforce]

Viximon - I can say that the girls' little trick didn't work as well as they'd liked it to, but then again, nothing can ever be that easy. And yep, I'm going to continue following the second OVA's, but I'm sure I can think of things to add in



Ceridwenfaylinn - Hey darlin', glad you liked the last chapter. Yes, I know Dawn deserved what Willow and Anya did, and she shouldn't get to have her own revenge... but at least it was funny ^_^ Hallie's dreams will be explained, but not real soon. And I guess you could say Buffy is just lucky



Oni or Tenshi?

Pairing: Eventually W/T, B/F

Rating: PG-13-R

Disclaimer: Really, has anyone ever gotten sued for not putting this in?



Chapter Twenty-Two: A Baby?



The Maclay house was bigger now that Dawn had used small robots to rebuild it after Buffy crashed the ship. Where the attic once was, was now a large play room for Hallie, and Miss Kitty, and had eight large beanbags that looked like carrots. She'd also made the rooms just a bit bigger, but kept the entrance to her lab in the same place, especially seeing as how it had been the only thing standing.



Anya was sitting in her and Hallie's room by the balcony -Dawn had been nice enough to program the robots to build- and was knitting. After having knitted the too long sweater for Xander; Anya had decided to study the art of knitting just to pass the time. The phone began ringing, and the princess rose to hurry downstairs.



"Hello, Maclay residence." Anya spoke into the reciever, and waited, "Oh, hello, Tara and Xander's aunt. I must thank you for being so kind to Hallie. Oh! And that dish you taught her to cook the other day..." Anya waited as the woman spoke, and nodded, "Yes, we all enjoyed it very much. What? I see. Yes, I'm on my way now." The princess hung the phone up, and left out the front door.



Later that day as the sun was just setting Xander looked up from sweeping the walkway, and saw Anya, Hallie, and his aunt crossing the small bridge over the lake -another thing Dawn had added- and smiled, "Welcome home." he hollered as he ran over to meet them.



"Xander." Anya smiled, and was surprised when Hallie hid behind her.



"Thanks for taking the trouble, Auntie." Xander gave the older woman a boyish grin, and scratched his head. "I mean, coming all this way to walk the girls home."



Hallie hid her face when she saw Tara approaching, "Hello, Auntie." the girl smiled and saw the little princess peeking around her sister, "Hey there, Hallie, how was the baby doing?"



"Well, he was cute." Hallie said, and ran past the others toward the house.



"Oh," The siblings watched her go, and wondering what was wrong before turning back toward their aunt, who at that moment handed Tara a small box wrapped in cloth, "A present?" Xander's eyes lit up, as a huge smile crossed his face.



"Is this to celebrate the baby's birth?" Tara asked as Xander took the box, and tried to peek inside.



"Something like that." The older woman chuckled, "I should be getting back, now."



"Please come back with the baby next time." Xander said and opened the box. "Wow! This looks good!"



"What is it?" Tara peeked into the box, and saw several pieces of cake, "You're right, it does look good. Come on, time to start supper."



The next morning the doorbell rang twice, followed by another ring after a few seconds, "Yes? I'm coming." Xander said walking out of the living room. "Oh, Auntie." the boy smiled, and started to say something else but was cut off, as the older woman hurriedly placed a small baby boy in his arms.



"Here are the diapers, formula, and the toys!" His aunt said quickly as she shoved those things in his hands, "Thanks. You see, his mother just became ill all of a sudden, and I knew you wouldn't mind taking care of the baby. And it's only for a few days, and with so many girls around the house you'll have nothing to worry about."



"Take care of the baby?" Xander looked at the smiling baby in his arms, "Look, Aun--" When he glanced up the older woman was already halfway across the bridge.



"Bye, good luck." Auntie waved and hurried away, perhaps to get some peace and quite from the screaming child.



"T-TARA!" Xander shouted causing everyone to run outside.



"What? What is it?" Tara quickly asked, worried they were being attacked again, and stopped dead still when she saw the baby, "Umm...Xander, why are you holding a baby?" Tara took the child from her brother's arms, and gently rocked him.



"So, you see, it's up to us to take care of him for a while." Xander said after having explained what Auntie had said, as she shoved everything in his arms.



"Wow, he's so cute." Buffy said tickling the baby's cheek, as the other girls -besides Tara- stared down, and blinked. The baby boy grabbed Buffy's finger, and tried to pull it into his mouth making Buffy giggle, "He's so adorable."



"Well, hell." Faith sighed, she just knew Buffy was going to want a baby. And right now, she didn't want one...actually she wasn't sure if she wanted one at all.



"Well, I can say Tara was much more adorable when she was little, and I have to say so was Xander." Willow said sitting on the back of the couch,



"Wow, really?" Buffy looked up at the demon, and didn't notice the blush forming on Tara's cheeks.



"Please, don't tell her how adorable anyone was when they were a baby." Faith pleaded, but went unheard. Great, just friggin' great. Why can't they shut up? Buffy's gonna want a baby! Don't they know that?



"Yep." Willow nodded, and watched as Anya picked the boy up, "What do you think, Princess?"



"Obviously they're related." Anya said holding the boy close to her chest, "What's his name?"



"Taro." Xander said watching Anya with the baby, and thinking she'd make a good mother. Hey, at least he wasn't crying.



"Nice name." Anya smiled, and turned toward Willow, "See, his eyes look exactly like Xander's."



"Huh?" Xander's head shot up in surprise, he couldn't see it, how could she? "Do they, really?"



"Yes." Anya nodded, and nearly had a stroke when the baby disappeared from her arms.



Willow was holding the baby by the back of his shirt and was studying him, "Hey, Princess, you missed something. His ears are like Tara's." she said causing Tara to blush, and duck her head.



"Umm, Willow, you shouldn't be holding him like that." Tara said raising her head, but couldn't hide the blush that had, once again, appeared.



"Ouch!" Willow shrieked when Taro grabbed a lock of hair, and pulled, "Let go!"



"A monster like you can't be trusted with babies." Anya said taking the boy from Willow's hand, "There, there. You were just scared, weren't you?"



"What's that mean?" Willow narrowed her eyes, and glared at the princess, "You!" she growled standing, and grabbing the boy back.



Anya raised her hand to her cheek, as the baby's drool dripped on to her purple robe; Willow was laughing at the look on Anya's face, and quickly stopped. Cutting her eyes to the baby in her arms, Willow could feel the wetness seeping through his pants, and handed him back to Anya before fazing away.



Anya stared at the air where Willow had been standing in confusion, and screamed when she felt the wetness soak through her robes. "Shit!" she shouted throwing the baby into the air.



"Oh, no!" Tara and Xander shouted as they ran forward to catch the baby, at the same time as Buffy and Faith. Xander collided with the blonde just as Tara and Faith collided, and all four hit the floor.



"Xander!" Anya covered her mouth in worry, but sighed when the two officers rose up, revealing the baby boy sitting on Tara's stomach.



"Well, hello there." Tara chuckled, "Did you enjoy your trip?"



Hallie was sitting on her knees in the play room with Miss Kitty on her lap when she heard the baby cry. "Huh? Little Taro." Hallie smiled as she glanced at the stairs. Miss Kitty's ears perked up as she meowed at the princess, before she jumped off her lap, and on to one of the carrot beanbags. "It's a baby." Hallie giggled as the kitten bolted down the stairs.



Downstairs, Tara had taken Taro's pants off, and was now rolling up the cloth diaper, and was wondering why it was cloth? Why didn't Auntie give them store-bought diapers? Tara shook her head, the older woman was living in the stone age.



"Buffy, will you change his diaper, please?" Tara stood, and started toward the door.



"Huh?" Buffy's eyes went wide, "Okay." she chirped, causing Faith to slowly back away. Whatever Buffy screwed up, she didn't want to be pulled into it, and knowing Buffy, she just knew she was going to screw this up.



"Oh, and Anya, I'm sorry about your robe getting wet."



Anya shrugged and pointed to the diaper, "What's that?"



"This?" Tara held the cloth up, "This I have to go wash." she smiled, "You should go and change."



"Really?" Anya asked surprised, she thought you just threw the diapers away. At least that's what they did on Jurai, "You mean, you're going to wash it?"



"Yeah, I think Auntie needs to be told washing diapers are a thing of the past." Xander grinned walking back into the room, and had heard what the girls were talking about.



"Why don't you leave it up to me, please?" Anya said, if she was going to be a mother, shouldn't she learn these things beforehand? And this was perfect, she could show Xander she'd be a great mother.



"Okay, then." Tara smiled thankfully, she knew having a baby around the house was going to be tiring, and the more help, the better. "Thanks."



"No problem." Anya stepped forward barely missing stepping on Miss Kitty as she ran by.



Buffy looked from the baby boy to the diapers, and giggled, "Wow, that was thoughtful of her." she said picking up a 'How To' book on changing diapers, and didn't see the kitten sniffing around. As the officer flipped through the book Miss Kitty heard Taro's crying, and hopped up next to him.



"Now, first you take this..." Buffy mumbled taking a cloth diaper and folding it, "like so..." she covered Taro's private area, and giggled when the kitten sniffed the cloth. Miss Kitty let out a frightened meow when Taro grabbed her tail, and pulled her back. She continued growling and howling as the baby tossed her around, hitting the poor kitten on the couch.



"Oh, I don't think I'm doing it right!" Buffy cocked her head to the right, and studied the diaper that was wrapped around the baby's legs, and tied into a large bow in front. By this time Taro was swinging Miss Kitty around in circles to the point she was getting dizzy.



"Oh, Tara." Willow said happily as she fazed back into the room in a clean set of cloths, her eyes went wide when she saw Buffy's hands moving franticly as she tried to put the diaper on correctly.



"Maybe this goes here or that goes there..." Buffy said once again tying the diaper.



"Guess she isn't here." Willow said to herself, and spotted the bag with the baby's formula, she didn't see the tears in Miss Kitty's eyes as Taro began pulling on her ears, and drop her on his chest before grabbing her back leg, and once again waved her in the air.



Tara walked down the stairs after changing her own wet shirt, and began wondering if it had been a good idea for her to ask Buffy to change the diaper, "Umm, Buffy, you doing all right?"



"Hmm...haa! Yeah! I'm doing great!" Buffy smiled, she did not want Tara to know she couldn't change a diaper, "I'll be done in a second, don't worry!" What Tara couldn't see was that Buffy now had both of the baby's legs wrapped up, right along with another wrapped around the boy's waist. And by now, little Taro was holding a worn out Miss Kitty to his chest as he sucked on one of her fuzzy ears.



"Oh, and Buffy, don't forget to put the diaper cover over it." Tara said walking over to get the formula, as the officer looked back at the 'How To' book.



"Hmm? Diaper cover?" Buffy mumbled as she read, "Oh, I see! That's why it didn't work!" she giggled, and didn't notice the worried look Tara was giving her.



Tara shook her head, and entered the kitchen not seeing Willow faze through the wall with a bottle in her hands. The demon girl floated over and held the bottle out, "Here ya go, little one." she grinned when Taro let go of the kitten, and took the bottle. Miss Kitty, thankfully, hurried away from what she was thinking was a demon-child, and hissed with her back arched before running up the stairs.



Willow smiled, and picked the boy up, "No, Will, don't!" Buffy said trying to stop her, "HIs diaper cover isn't on yet."



"Don't worry," Willow sat on the couch, "He won't pee so soon."



"But Tara told me to put it on."



"Tara was much, much cuter when she was a baby." Willow said just as the boy started to suck on the bottle.



In the kitchen Tara was spooning the formula into the warm water, and noticed another can of formula sitting on the far counter, "Huh? Someone must have made him some already." she said, before her eyes went wide at hearing Taro begin crying.



Back in the living room Willow was holding the bottle, "Come on, drink."



"Willow! Wait a minute!" Tara half shouted as she ran out of the kitchen, "What are you trying to give him?" she asked taking the bottle, and unscrewing the top.



Willow glanced up, "It's the formula, I swear."



"I thought so." Tara sighed pouring the powder out.



"What? Something wrong?" Willow asked, she thought that's what she was suppose to give him.



"Willow, you have to put a small amount in the bottle, and then fill it with warm water. Otherwise he can't drink it." Tara explained, and saw Willow lower her head, "Come on, I'll show you." she said taking Willow by the hand, and leading her into the kitchen, and leaving Taro with Buffy -who she hoped would put the diaper cover on the boy.



Outside, Anya was washing the diaper the old way, by using a round tub, and a wash board to scrub the cloth. Xander shook his head, before heading off to the fields, knowing Tara would more than likely be inside for a while. Truth be told, he really wasn't all that happy about leaving Taro in the care of the girls.



Well, maybe Hallie since she'd already helped with him, but the others, Anya, Willow, Buffy, and Faith? And not to mention Dawn. He didn't want the scientest within twenty-foot of the baby. No telling what she'd do to him! The boy gave Anya a small smile before he headed off toward the fields.



********

There's 22, and I'm working on 23 at the moment. Hope ya enjoyed

To be forgotten is worse than death.

[ceridwenfaylinn]

Hey babe



Hehe, this was a funny update.



Poor Miss Kitty, being the victim of the "demon child"



And it was cute how Willow and Anya were trying to help, and Buffy... well, what can i say about Buffy, she's just herself.



But im also confused, it feels like i missed an update or something. I mean, who's this mysterious aunt?? and who's this baby??



Oh well... hope to get the answers soon



Keep it up koibito

[Egnalos]

Mmmhhhh... what did I missed?... what did I missed?... well I guess I actually didn't missed any details about from where this baby and aunt come from and why Hallie was being so shy, so I'm kinda confused...



But apart from that, this was a really funny update, what with Buffy trying to change the baby, and poor Miss Kitty...



Update soon please.

[Viximon]

jajajajjajajja

Waiting for more, I am. You're doing just great.

[Stormforce]

Ceridwenfaylinn - Hey sweetie. Yeah, poor Miss Kitty, but at least she got away The reason about the aunt not being around will be explained in this chapter, so not to worry. Yeah writing Buffy trying to change the diaper was fun. But I know how she feels though, I've done it before, and it wasn't all that easy.



Egnalos - Nope, you didn't miss anything, I'm going to explain why the aunt hasn't been around in any of the other chapters. As for why Hallie was being shy, that will be explained in a few chapters ahead. Here's the update



Viximon - Thanks, and here ya go, here's the update



Note: The next update may take a little longer than this one did. I got my hand smashed in the truck door, and it's still swolen, and I can't type too good, or even very fast right now.



Also, I'm going to try explaining why the aunt hasn't been around in the other chapters, or even mentioned. It was never explained in the anime. As for Taro, he's her grandson.



Oni or Tenshi?

Pairing: Eventually W/T, B/F

Rating: PG-13-R

Disclaimer: I don't have anything you'd want, only a few pennies, and a case of Mountain Dew.



Chapter Twenty-Three: A Baby Can Be Tiring



The demon girl watched as Tara mixed the formula, showing her how it was done. How was she suppose to know that you had to mix it in water for it to work? She had been stuck in a cave for 700 years, and had no contact with any child except for her and Xander -even then she was in her astral form, and couldn't touch either one of them. And then there was the question as to why she'd never seen this aunt, why was it she'd seen every other person in the Maclay family except for her?



"Tara?"



"Yeah?" The blonde glanced up, before going back to mixing the formula.



Willow hesitated for a moment debating on whether or not to ask, but shrugged, "Why is it that I've never seen your aunt?" she asked and saw Tara's head lower a little, "I mean, I was in that cave for 700 years, and saw everyone in your family, including you and Xander when you were babies and children. I watched the both of you grow up, but I never saw this aunt of yours."



Tara glanced up again, and sighed, "That's because my dad and her was never on that great of ground with the other. Neither one will speak of what happened between them, but at times they will visit each other. The rift grew bigger after my mother passed away. Even though they weren't related by blood, she and my mother were like sisters, and she blamed my dad for my mother's passing."



"But it wasn't his fault, was it? I can remember you coming to my cave and crying, and even though you couldn't feel me, I tried to comfort you as best I could."



"No, it wasn't his fault." The blonde felt tears stinging her eyes, "Mom was...she was sick, and near the end she couldn't even get out of bed. Me and Xander did everything we could to help, but the only thing we could do was help around the house."



Willow lowered her head, she could feel her own tears threatening to fall, "What was wrong with her?"



"The doctors never did find out, it was like she just lost her energy and slowly left us." A teardrop fell to the counter, and Tara found herself wrapped in a pair of strong, but gentle arms, "I remember, mother would always wrap me and Xander up when it was cold, and she would race us outside to play in the snow, we'd laugh, and have fun making snow angels, and snowmen... The school had let us out early that day, it had began to snow, and we raced home, hoping mom would have the energy to come out and play with us."



"Tara you don't have to." Willow whispered, as her own tears began to fall.



It was as if Tara didn't hear the girl, and continued, "We ran through the door, and dad caught us before we could go upstairs, he had been crying, and we didn't know what was going on. Dad told us to go outside, and play in the snow, and he'd be out in a few minutes. Five minutes after we'd been in the yard he came out, and told us mom had passed away. We watched the doctor leave and ran inside, and up to her room. She looked so peaceful, like she was just sleeping, but we knew she wasn't coming back."



Willow hugged Tara closer to her body, and felt the blonde shake, "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have asked... I just made you remember something that hurts."



"After her funeral I ran away from auntie's screaming at dad, and ran to your cave...where you watched over me... I could feel something, an energy, if felt as if it was protecting me. I wondered how could I feel the energy of an angel when I was in front of the demon's cave."



The demon girl -to say the least- was surprised. Tara had felt her that day? After getting to a certain age neither she nor her brother could even see her, so she had figured they couldn't feel her either. Why hadn't Tara said anything about that? Was she scared to tell her? Or was it that she just didn't want to remember that day? Really Willow couldn't blame her, it was one of the worst days the demon had seen the girl, and she wasn't going to push...much.



"Why didn't you say anything?"



Tara raised her head from the crook of Willow's neck, and gave her a sad smile, "Cause I didn't know what it was, all I knew is it felt safe...and comforting, I didn't know it was you, or I would have said thank you." she stopped and let a bigger smile cross her face, "Thank you." she whispered and placed a soft kiss on the demon's cheek.



Willow blushed, and ducked her head, she wasn't used to the affection, but she could seriously come to enjoy it, "You're welcome." she replied, and instead of the kiss Tara knew was coming, she hugged her closer, "You are very welcome."



"I did it!" Buffy's excited shout floated into the kitchen, causing the two girls to grin.



In the living room Buffy had grabbed Faith, and was dancing around, "I did it! I did it!" she sang and twirled her lover around in a circle.



The dark haired girl was getting dizzy, and suddenly knew what the kitten had felt like when Taro had had her. And she really couldn't believe the blonde was this excited about getting the diaper on the right way. But seeing as how it had taken her nearly half an hour, she wasn't going to stop the happy dance, and just enjoyed being close to Buffy.



Tara and Willow walked out of the kitchen just in time to see Faith pick the boy up, and nod. "Now he's okay."



"Yes!" Buffy shouted, and continued dancing around. She was about to grab Willow and spin her around when she stopped dead still, and sighed along with everyone else. The front of Taro's pants turned dark, and Faith shook her head when urine dripped on to the floor, "Looks like we need another diaper."



"We're lucky to have such nich weather." Buffy smiled looking up into the blue sky as she washed another diaper in a second wash tub next to Anya.



"Yes, indeed." Anya sighed, and glanced at the growing pile of dirty diapers two-foot tall, that were between them.



"The spring mist is in the air." Adam said from the back yard.



"What is it we're doing exactly?" Oz asked, a few minutes before Anya had called them, and told the guardians to stand ten-foot apart while she and Willow had tied a rope around them. After that she Willow, Buffy, and Tara had began hanging the clean diapers on the rope to dry.



"Exactly what you think we're doing." Adam deadpanned, and hand to wonder just why was his princess doing something like this to him and Oz. Hadn't they been good guardians? Hadn't they done everything she had asked? And now here they were being poles for a clothsline!



Back inside the house, Willow tossed Taro into the air, and flew up to catch him, before she fazed through the ceiling, "Hurray!" she laughed, and flew into the air causing the boy to giggle. Willow did a flip in the air, and smiled right before a pained look crossed her face when Taro grabbed her hair, and pulled.



"Hey! Ouch! That hurts! Please stop!" Willow said gently taking the baby's hands from her hair, and landing next to the princess, "Here ya go, you can feed him now." Willow grinned and fazed away.



Anya watched Willow faze, and sat the boy on the porch before picking up a small bowl of baby food. She blew on a small spoonful of food and smiled, "There you go." She said slowly leaning forward, with the spoon hovering around Taro's mouth. He clapped, and threw his hands in the air knocking the spoon back, and into Anya's mouth, causing her face to turn bluish green, "Yuck!"



After Anya had feed the baby, and had gotten more all over her than in his mouth, she gave him to Buffy before running off to change, and brush her teeth. Faith joined her lover on the porch and shook her head when the boy began to cry, "Don't cry, for me please." Buffy said to the baby as her own tears welled up in her eyes.



Faith sighed, and looked up toward the sky when Buffy, too, started to cry. The dark haired officer knew this was going to be a long day. Don't these girl know how to take care of a child? Well, Buffy I can see not knowing since she hasn't been around them, but what about Anya and Willow? Even Hallie did a better job than they've been doing, or at least that's what I've heard...maybe I should show them how it's done.



An hour later Willow and Anya began fighting over who was going to give the boy his bottle, Anya shoved Willow away; the demon glared at the princess as she inched her way over, and smiled at the baby as she elbowed Anya in the face. Anya got up and glared at the demon as she shoved her again, Taro laughed as the two girls began shaking the bottles over the others head.



Ten minutes later Tara carried a stack of clean diapers in, and saw Willow walking around trying to stop the baby from crying. "Change him." Anya said walking by with another stack of diapers.



Willow put the boy on the couch, and pulled his pants off before once again taking a wet diaper off him. Willow laughed, and gently poked the boy's stomach make him giggle. Tara stopped running back and forth, and was going to warn the demon girl, but it was too late; Willow was suddenly hit in the face with a stream of urine.



Xander had finished the days work in the field, and was relaxing in a nice hot bath, "Man, what a job with Tara not helping...but then again, I'm sure she's going to be just as tired from helping with the baby." Xander started to get up but choked back a strangled scream when he heard Buffy's voice.



"Now it's time for a bath." she said said happily, and causing Xander to wonder how he was going to get out without being seen. "Are you ready? We're going in." The officer sat in the water with Taro in her arms, "There! Nice and warm. Babies feel so good, so soft and bouncy." she giggled.



"Well, great, what do I do now?" Xander whispered to himself.



"Ah, see, it's no use doing that. I can't breast-feed you." Xander's eyes went wide as he sunk down in the water, and his face going red, "Hey! Leave them alone." That was all it took, Xander bolted from the bath with a bleeding nose.



Xander had grabbed his cloths and dressed as he ran back to the house, stumbled inside, and crashed onto the couch. Hallie had watched him speeding from the bath, and knew he'd probably seen Buffy. The little princess hurried over to the boy, and covered his face with a wet cloth, as she took a paper fan and tried to cool him off. "Thank you, Hallie."



"No, problem, Xander." Hallie sighed.



Ten minutes later Buffy hurried inside, and was holding Taro at arms length as more urine dripped on the floor, "Oh, my, oh, my!" She couldn't help but wonder, did she really pee this much as a baby, or was it just the boys?



"Diapers, diapers!" Willow said running forward to help change him.



"Milk, milk." Anya hurried out of the kitchen.



"Oh, no. What shall we do?" Buffy asked holding a now naked baby boy, as Willow hurried outside to help Tara with the wash.



Buffy smiled when Anya stopped in front of her with the bottle, but frowned when she unscrewed the top, and drank the formula herself. "'Scuse me."



After everything was finished Willow was using Tara's shoulder as a pillow, and was softly snoring. Buffy was holding Taro, as she began dozing with Anya using her as a backrest, and sleeping. Taro let out a cry causing Willow and Anya to rise, half asleep, and run into each other, knocking them to the floor.



That night the girls were sprawled out on the floor asleep, Taro began crying causing Willow to sit up, change his diaper so fast her hands looked like a blur, and plop back on the floor. The baby rolled off the couch, landed on Willow's stomach and crawled up. The baby patted her face before crawling off. He used the wall to stand and side step his way over to the lab entrance, where the door opened causing him to fall inside.



Faith caught site of him falling through the door, and hurried over, if Dawn got ahold of Taro there was no way in knowing what she'd do.



******

There's 23 and I'm working on 24, but it's going slower than usual. Anyway, hope ya enjoyed

To be forgotten is worse than death.

[Egnalos]

This chapter was hilarious (except for the first when Tara explains what happened to her mom, so that's why we didn't know who this aunt was.) I could picture them running around with diapers, Buffy crying along with the baby, Taro peeing on Willow...



But the end left me kinda worried, what with Taro in Dawn's lab...



Sorry to "hear" you hurt yourself, gotta be more careful honey. I hope your hand is better.





Waiting patiently for the next update.

[ceridwenfaylinn]

Hey koibito



This was a great update and it cleared up things a lot.



It was just hilarious how crazy this baby is driving all the girls



Dont worry about the update sweetie, take your time and just let your hand heal, we're not going anywhere



Bye sweetie, take care

[Viximon]

jajajajja. How much fun. So Taro is ahead in Dawn's terra. That will be a prob...or not



Lovely part the first, with Willow comforting Tara about her mom's death and Tara thanking the redhair. So cute.



Still reading and enjoying so please continue soon

[Still Waters T]

I don't leave feedback very often...bad me so I finally had an overwhelming urge to say I'm lmao over this fic, it's sooo funny!!! And thou I don't leave feedback often, I love it and I check for updates for this fic and FF X-3 every day. It's soo funny and sweet, keep up the wicked writing!



Liv

[Stormforce]

Egnalos - Thanks, my hand is getting better, I can move it around and type a little faster, but not much. Don't worry, Faith will be getting Taro out of the lab in this chapter Here's the update.



Ceridwenfaylinn - Hey sweetie, glad the update cleared up things for ya. Yup, a baby can drive anyone nuts (me included) but babies will be babies.



Viximon - Glad you liked the first part, I've been trying to make Willow more soft, and I thought that would be a good way to bring it out Taro won't be in Dawn's lab for long, Faith'll make sure of that. Here's the update



Still Waters T - I'm glad you like this fic, and don't worry about the feedback, I'm just happy to know there's people reading this and FFX-3



Oni or Tenshi?

Pairing: Eventually W/T, B/F

Rating: PG-13-R

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em



Note: I finally got this chapter done, (thanks to pain meds) anyway, the next chapter is being worked on, but like FFX-3 will be a couple of days since my hand still hurts when I type too much. And Merry Christmas



Chapter Twenty-Four: A Little of Faith's Past



Dawn sat on her floating pillow, and was typing away on her transparent computer when she heard the lab door open and close. The scientist couldn't even begin to think who was coming into the lab, especially after what'd happened with Tara and Xander.



"Come back later, I'm busy now." Dawn said, and quirked her eyebrows when she recieved no answer. Turning around she found no one there, and shrugged her shoulders before turning back to her computer.



The door opened again, but this time quietly, and allowing Faith to enter. The officer nearly had a stroke when she saw Taro right behind Dawn, she slowly creeped over, and quickly picked the boy up before he could grab Dawn's pillow. "What are you doing?" Faith jumped a foot in the air when the scientist spoke.



"Umm...nothing. Nothing at all." Faith sprinted toward the lab door, "I, umm, thought I saw something come in here, but I guess not. Well, gotta go, see ya." The officer quickly bolted through the door, thanking any and all gods and goddesses that was listening that she'd gotten away.



Once outside she leaned against the door and gave a sigh of relief, she'd just known Dawn was going to try and test her. Glancing around the dark living room Faith shook her head; Buffy, Anya, and Willow were all lightly snoring, and hadn't even known Taro had left. The boy gently tapped Faith's cheek causing her to look at him and grin, "Okay, let's go." she whispered and headed into the kitchen.



"Let's get you something to eat." Faith sat Taro on the counter and mixed up some formula, before helping him hold the bottle. After he'd had his fill, Faith washed the bottle, picked the baby up, and quietly made her way back into the living room where she sat on the couch, and fell asleep with Taro in her arms.



The next morning Tara yawned and rubbed her eyes as she walked down the stairs, and froze with her mouth open, and her right hand paused at her right eye. "What?!" she shouted when she saw the three girls lying on the floor, and no baby on the couch, "Where's Taro? Where is he?!" Tara paused again when she heard a knife on a chopping board in the kitchen, and sighed hoping that he was with whoever was in the kitchen.



Tara smiled when she saw Faith standing near the stove, and chopping onions, and ham for an omlet, and Taro was sitting next to her, "Faith." she spoke causing the officer to let out a frightened shout.



"Whoa! You scared the hell outta me!" Faith turned and smiled.



"You're taking care of the baby."



"Really it's annoying." Faith lowered her head, she hated lying, but she didn't want anyone to know about her soft spot, or...best not go there. "I saw him fall into Dawn's lab last night, and I went and got him before Dawn could do anything."



"I'm sorry Faith." Tara grinned, she didn't believe what the officer was saying about him being "annoying", but wasn't going to push.



Faith turned and went back to chopping the onions, "Nobody else was taking care of him, so I had to."



"You got a good morning kiss for me?" Willow asked as she fazed into the room, and wrapped her arms around a blushing Tara.



Tara for her part was trying to stay calm, but as soon as Willow's hands grazed the sides of her breasts, she knew she was going to lose, and felt the begginings of a nosebleed.



Faith held the baby out, casuing Willow to let go of Tara with a sigh, "So, Faith's been taking care of you, I see." she said taking the boy.



"Well, someone had to." Faith said waving her hand around.



Willow watched the boy hold his left hand out, as he made little noises in his throat, even Tara didn't know what he was doing, "What is it? What do you want?" Willow asked confused.



"Milk, of course." Faith said handing the demon girl the baby's bottle, and watching her as she cocked her head.



"How do you know?"



"Never mind." Faith replied not wanting to get into how she knew, "Just give him the bottle."



Willow took the bottle and shoved the bottle in his mouth, "Here, have some milk."



"Hey, crazy girl!" Faith shouted taking both the baby and the bottle away from Willow, and glared at her, "Are you trying to suffocate him?" she asked and placed Taro on the counter, "You have to give him a break so he can breath." Faith smiled as she let the baby suck on the bottle a few moments before pulling it away. "See? That's how you do it."



"Well, sorry, how was I suppose to know?" Willow hung her head, "I've never done this before."



"Wow, everyone's in here." Buffy said in a perky voice, much too perky to be six in the morning, "Looks like everyone's taking care of Taro." she giggled and saw Anya nod as she stepped into the kitchen.



Faith seeing the others up tunred around, and headed for the door, "Okay, he's all yours."



"Just leave it to me." Buffy said walking over to Taro, and picking up the bottle.



Tara smiled as Faith started for the front door, "Thanks, Faith."



The officer turned around and gave the girl a grin, and shrugged her shoulders, "No problem."



Faith hurried outside, and grabbed the broom sitting beside the porch before walking to the steps, and began sweeping. Three hours later found her on the sixth step as she stared off into the distance. The officer sighed shaking her head, "Geez, why can't I just work?" she asked herself before starting back to the house deep in thought.



Placing the broom where she'd found it, Faith stepped into the house, and into the living room, where she let out a strangled scream. Willow was lying on the floor and Buffy and Anya were proped against each other, and all were sleeping from being worn out, and Taro was sitting in the middle of them with a can of formula in his tiny hands. Faith hurried over just as the baby poured the powder out, "You girls!" Faith shook her head picking the baby up, and heading for the floating bath.



Inside the bath, she'd stripped off her cloths, and the baby's before sitting down in the warm water, and leaned against the wall. Faith was gently splashing the water on the baby's back, and grit her teeth when he pulled her hair, "Don't pull, okay?" she pulled his hands away, "Hey, calm down." she chuckled when Taro began waving his arms, and tried bouncing up and down.



Faith's smile faded when she saw a brown haired baby girl crawling on the green grass of her home planet. A pair of masculine hands picked the baby up, and held him close to his chest, "Huh?" the officer shook her head trying to clear the memories, and smiled pulling Taro closer to her chest.



After getting out of the bath, Faith carried the baby back to the house, and gave him to Xander to hold while she got the baby food. Willow and Anya watched as Taro happily ate for her, and had to wonder why he didn't do it for them. Both girls let out a sigh, and went back outside to help Tara and Buffy with the diapers. They now had ten, ten foot long clothslines full of drying diapers. After feeding the baby the officer held him and started up the stairs, now was the time for Miss Kitty to learn not to be afraid of Taro.



"Hey, Hallie." Faith grinned and bounced Taro in her arms, "How 'bout reintroducing Miss Kitty, and Taro?"



Hallie nodded happily, and kept the kitten in her arms as she turned around, and sat down on one of the carrot shaped beanbags, "That's a great idea!"



Faith sat down in front of her, and Taro reached for the fuzzy kitten. Miss Kitty saw those little hands getting closer, and turned, trying to get away. She did not want the "demon-child" to get ahold of her again, and twirl her around in the air. Faith held Taro by the waist, making sure he didn't get too close to the kitten, and chuckled as the kitten's eyes widened to the sized of plates.



There was a small piece of carrot on the floor that caught Taro's attention, picking it up the baby looked at it, and put it in his mouth. "Taro!" Hallie shouted worriedly when she saw his face turn blue.



Faith hurriedly picked Taro up by his ankles, and held him upside down, before gently tapping his back. The baby coughed, causing the carrot to fall to the floor, allowing Miss Kittly to jump from Hallie's arms, and pounce on top of it. When she'd seen the baby grab it, the kitten had became worried, that was her carrot, not his!



"He's alright, don't worry." Faith gave the princess a small grin, and stood with the baby in her arms, "I think he needs some fresh air."



Hallie nodded, she'd been worried that Taro was hurt, and was glad that Faith knew what she was doing. But how did she know? As far as the little princess knew, Faith was never around babies, or children. Even though she was young she still knew when something wasn't right, and to her, Faith wasn't telling something. But Hallie also knew that the officer would tell if they gave her time.



Outside Faith had to cover her smirk when she heard Willow and Anya mumble something about babies, and too many diapers. A butterfly flew in front of her face, and she watched as Taro held out his right hand, and make a nosie, "Hey, Anya, can I borrow Adam and Oz?"



Anya looked up perplexed, "Huh? What for?"



"Well, they can fly, right?" At Anya's nod Faith continued, "I was just wanting to take Taro for a ride."



Anya took a moment to think about it, and couldn't find any harm in it and nodded, "Okay, sure. Adam! Oz!"



"Yes, ma'am?" The guardians appeared.



"I want you to take Faith and Taro flying."



"Yes ma'am!"



"Thanks, Anya." Faith nodded, and climbed on Adam's back.



Tara and Xander watched them rise into the air, and glanced at one another, "Umm, Anya, is that, you know, safe?" Tara asked worriedly, and almost had a stroke when Adam did a barrel roll, "Oh, goddess, tell me that is safe!"



"Don't worry, if they fall off Adam, Oz will catch them." Anya shrugged going back to washing the diapers, and didn't see Tara's face pale, right along with Xander's.



"Taro is safe with Faith. She won't let him fall to the ground... Well, unless she's falling too." Buffy said in her usual perky voice, never looking up, so she didn't see Tara go even paler.



Willow had to shake her head, neither of those girls knew how to keep their mouths shut. Sure she'd been thinking the same thing, but was she going to tell Tara that? No, she wasn't. And now look, Anya, and Buffy's words had not helped the siblings one bit. Both looked as if there was no blood in their bodies.



"Hey, don't worry," Willow winked at Tara, and smirked when the blood rushed back to her face in the form of a blush, Ah, now she looks better, "If anything happens, I'll faze up and grab him, okay?"



It felt as if a ton had been lifted from Tara's chest, not to mention Xander's, "Okay." Tara nodded. She was glad Willow was there, even if she -half the time- didn't know what she was doing; Willow was still a big help. And it was finally hitting Tara just how much Willow had been helping, even when she was a child. Tara didn't know what she would have done if it hadn't been for Willow comforting her the day her mother had passed away, "Thanks, Will." she said and gave Willow a heart-melting half smile.



"Yeah, thanks, Will!" Xander sighed, he was thanking anyone who was listening that they had someone there that could faze and fly. Even though Willow usually gave him stroke when she appeared out of nowhere, or when she just came through a wall.



The sun had began to set before Faith had asked Adam to lower them to the ground, she thanked the guardians and went inside to get Taro's baby food ready. As she sat down at the table, Faith ignored the stares she was getting, and gave Taro a spoonfull of applesauce before she took a bite of her own food. Once Willow was finished with her plate, she wordlessly took the spoon from Faith, and gave her a smile as she began feeding Taro with Anya holding him. Faith watched for a moment, making sure they would feed him right, before giving her plate her full attention.



Tara glanced at her brother, and grinned at him. She was happy that the girls weren't fighting, and were actually working together. Now, if it would stay that way, but she sighed at knowing it wouldn't, but, hey, at least there was quite for now. Tara stood and began taking the dishes into the kitchen with Xander's help, and began washing them; if Hallie was going to do most of the cooking, she and Xander could do most of the washing.



That night instead of sleeping upstairs in her room; Faith stayed downstairs and sat on the couch holding Taro as she dozed off. Sometime after supper, Buffy, Willow, and Anya had sprawled out on the floor, and were now quietly snoring away. No one noticed as Tara and Xander walked into the room, and grinned at the girls before sitting down next to Faith.



"What's up?" Faith whispered, not wanting to wake anyone, especially the baby.



Tara glanced at Xander and watched as he studied Faith and the baby, "Well, we were wondering what it was like."



"What is what like?" Faith cocked her head to the left, what were these two up to now?



"You see, we lost our mother when we were very young," Xander lowered his head, before giving the officer a goofy grin and scratched the back of his head, "And we were wondering if this was how our mother was."



Faith nodded, she could understand their being curious, "Yeah this was how your mother was with you."



"Really? You think so?"



"I know so." Faith gave Tara a smile.



Xander chuckled, "I just hope we weren't as much trouble for our mom, as Taro is for us."



"Yeah, you're a selfish little thing, aren't ya?" Tara let out her own soft giggle.



"It's all he can be." Faith shifted so she could face the siblings, "He can't talk yet, so he has to use his body to speak, telling ya I want this or that."



Tara watched and listened as Faith spoke, and couldn't help but wonder how she knew that much about babies. As far as she knew the officer had never been around them, or at least that's what she led you to believe. Tara startled when Taro began crying, "Looks like he's hungry." Faith chuckled, "You guys best get some sleep, he'll be fine with me."



"Okay, good night." Xander said, and wondered if he should take Anya to his room with him, but decided against it, remembering what had happened last time. Instead he gently brushed the hair from Anya's face, and kissed her forehead before returning to his room.



"Night." Tara rose from her seat, and stared down at Willow, seeing as how the demon had bolted last time; Tara decided to let her sleep where she was. Crouching down, Tara leaned down and left a soft kiss on Willow's cheek before following Xander up the stairs.



Morning dawned quickly and found Faith in the kitchen starting breakfast as Tara stumbled down the stairs. She really needed to start getting more sleep, but how could she when Willow wasn't in her room? Tara had grown use to having the demon girl in her room, and it now felt odd when she wasn't there. "Morning, Faith."



"Tara, good morning." Faith nodded just as the doorbell rang.



"Wonder who that could be?" Tara mumbled and yawned as she started for the front door.



"Yes, it's coming." Faith tapped the tip of Taro's nose when he reached toward his heating food.



Tara stepped back into the kitchen a few minutes later, "Faith," she spoke looking between the officer and Taro, "Auntie is here."



Faith nearly dropped the knife in her hand when she heard, and hung her head; Taro was going home. Tara woke everyone up, and helped Faith pack the baby's things before everyone met the older woman on the lake's bridge. Anya and Willow were leaning against one another, and yawned as their eyes closed half way; Buffy was fighting to stay standing up, but was beginning to lose and leaned toward Willow.



"I must thank you for taking care of him."



"It was not a problem ma'am, with the others helping there wasn't that much to do." Faith grinned, as she handed Taro to the older woman.



"It was fun having him around, Auntie." Xander smiled, and coughed to cover up his laughter, fun, right.



"Well, thank you again."



"Anytime you need help just bring him here." Tara smiled causing Willow, Anya, and Buffy to stand straight up with wide eyes.



"Yeah, just warn us next time." Willow grumbled causing Anya to nod in agreement.



Xander watched Faith take a deep breath like she was trying to hold back her tears, "Faith, how do you know so much about babies?"



"Because," Faith walked to the edge of the bridge, and stared into the clear blue water, "I had a baby sister once. She was my half sister, but a sister nonetheless."



"What happened?" Tara asked and felt Willow's arms wrap around her waist, and she could see Anya hugged Xander from the corner of her eye.



"My our parents were Galaxy Police officers, and saw danger everyday, and were most of the time right in the middle of it. One day they arrested one of the galaxy's most wanted, and he swore revenge." Faith said and watched the water ripple from her teardrops, "Our parents took it serious enough, and moved us to another city, but that didn't...there was no way to stop what was going to happen. He was what you'd call here on Earth a Godfather in the mafia, but on where he was from everyone called him Master. And he made good on his threat."



"What happened?" Buffy quietly asked wrapping her arms around her lovers waist, and rested her head on her shoulder.



"One night when I was ten I heard something downstairs, and went into my parents room to wake them, but they'd heard it too, and were up. My parents had their guns ready, and quietly moved out of the room after telling me to run into my sister's room and keep her safe. I did as they asked, and waited, it was only a few minutes later that I heard the sound of gunfire, and grabbed my sister before hiding in the closet. A few minutes later two men came into the room, and began searching, one of them opened the closet, and grabbed me. The other took Jenny from my arms, and hit me in the head."



Faith raised her head and stared up at the light blue sky, "When I woke up I couldn't find Jenny, and I ran downstairs...I found my parents lying on the floor in a puddle of blood, but they were still breathing. I ran to the phone and called the only two people I could think of, their partners, and told them what'd happened. Larry and Kendra told me to stay inside, and wait until they and the police got there with medical help. My parents lived, but we never did find my sister."



"I'm so sorry, love." Buffy whispered with a tearful voice, "Why didn't you ever tell me?"



Faith shrugged, "I...it's just painful to talk about, I guess. But there's not a day goes by that I don't think about her, and that it was my fault for not trying harder."



"Don't say that!" Willow growled, startling Tara and the others, but mostly Faith, "Don't you ever say that again! It wasn't your fault, you were just ten, and you couldn't have taken on two full grown men."



"Willow is right." Anya agreed, shocking everyone by agreeing, not to mention calling her by her name, "It's that bastard's fault, he's the one that gave the order to take your sister, not you. But know this, Jenny is still alive, and out there somewhere."



"How can you know?" Faith asked, she didn't even know if her sister was out there somewhere, so how could Anya know?



"Simple." Willow said glancing at the princess, "Master did not murder children, he had always wanted a child, and your sister was most likely what he'd been thinking when he threatned your parents."



"Again, Willow it right. Master my have been meaner than any hell hound, but he always loved children."



Buffy grinned, she finally figured out what the girls were saying, "What you mean is, Master raised her as his own, right?"



"That's exactly what we're saying." Anya nodded along with Willow.



Faith didn't know how to feel about that, sure she was happy to know that her sister was alive, and out there, but she couldn't say how she felt about her being raised by Master. So, instead of feeling anything about that, she decided to feel hopeful about seeing Jenny again, "Thanks, guys."



As the group carried on their conversation no one noticed Hallie staring at them from the playroom window. And by not noticing her, they didn't see the sadness in her eyes as she looked at her sister. Miss Kitty looked out at the group before she looked up and meowed softly and sadly.



The little kitten knew what was on the girls mind from having Hallie always talking to her, and it was something she had to keep from Willow and Dawn since they all had a mind link. Miss Kitty was just worried how Hallie was going to tell Anya, and how the older princess would take what Hallie had to say.



******

There's 24 and I'm slowly working on 25, it'll be up in a couple of days Hope ya enjoyed.

To be forgotten is worse than death.

[ceridwenfaylinn]

Hey baby



Cool chapter, very revealing but now you've left me wondering about what Hallie has to say to Anya



Is Anya Faith's sister????



Well, i guess i can only wait.



And you know me, i have a lot of patience... NOT!



Update soon!!!!



Bye baby

[Viximon]

Wowow!

Jajaja, Too good you keept Taro out of Dawn's pawns.

Seeing Faith all mother-y was cute and fun, although her story is so sad

And Xander and Tara are more afextionate with their "girlfriend" by the time. Awww.



UOhh, Hallie secret s about to come out. Yay!

Enjoying the fic as ever. Go on.



PS: MERRY X'MAS

[Egnalos]

So Faith had/has a sister uh? no wonder she's so good with Taro.



I'm still curious about what's up with Hallie, but I guess I'll find out sooner or later (hoping it'll be sooner).



Cool chapter. more soon?

[Stormforce]

Ceridwenfaylinn - Hey sweetie. It'll be another chapter before Hallie tells Anya what's on her mind...and I can say Anya isn't Faith's sister, nothing's that easy



Viximon - Glad you liked seeing Faith act all mothery, it was fun to write her like that. Yep, Hallie's secret is about to come out in another chapter or so.



Egnalos - Faith having a sister was an idea I had been playing around with when I started this fic, and I thought it'd be cool to use. Anyway, the thing with Hallie will be out soon, so not a long wait. Here's the update.



Oni or Tenshi?

Pairing: Eventually W/T, B/F

Rating: PG-13-R

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em



Note: Sorry it's not that long a chapter, but one of our water pipes broke, and I had to spend time fixing that.



Chapter Twenty-Five: Back to the Hot Spring



Tara sighed, and Xander rolled his eyes, why couldn't Willow and Anya not fight? Or at least not in the small enclosed van, and especially when said van was moving. Right now the girls were shoving at the other, and causing the siblings in the center to be caught in the middle.



Mr. Maclay watched through the rearview, and had to stiffle a fit of laughter at the look on his daughter and son's faces. Tara had started to blush when Willow unknowingly -or was it knowingly?- rubbed her breasts against Tara as she reached across to push Anya. Xander's eyes had glazed over when Anya had turned, pressed against him, and shoved back at Willow, causing her breasts to rub against his shoulder.



"Stop that you monster woman!"



"Oh, and what're you gonna do about it Prissy Princess?"



Now it was Xander's turn to sigh, and Tara's turn to roll her eyes when the girls began to argue. Why couldn't their father speed up, oh, wait, maybe it was because if he drove too fast on the small dirt road, they'd end up missing a curve, and flying off the mountain road. But would that really be a bad thing? If that did happen, at least Willow and Anya would quit fighting long enough to save them.



Tara began rubbing her temples, she could feel a headache coming on. Xander leaned back as far as he could go, it was almost as if he was trying to become part of the seat, and closed his eyes. Maybe if they ignored the fighting girls they would quit. Hallie's excited shout caused the siblings to force down the urge to get up and do a happy dance, but since they were in the van, both decided to just sigh in relief. They had finally made it back to the hot spring.



Neither Tara, nor Xander could believe that the old woman called them, and asked if the family would like to visit the spring again. Mr. Maclay happily agreed, he'd said they all needed a break, but anyone could guess why he had that certain smile on his face, Break, yeah, right, and Tara wants a boyfriend, Xander thought sarcasticly, he just wants to sneak into the girls bath.



But why had the old woman asked them back? The spring was still closed down due to half of it being destroyed by a demon. Tara couldn't figure it out, when they'd left the old woman had still been most certainly pissed off at them, and Tara thought she'd be glad to be rid of them. But either way they had still got a phone call from her asking them back. Even so, Tara couldn't help but think the old woman had something up her sleeve.



Everyone including Nikko -who'd thought it was a good idea and decided to come along- stepped out of the van, and laid their eyes on the destruction of the main house. The demon Willow had summoned certainly had destroyed most of the spring; the roof of the main house was broken, with two by fours sticking up, the walls had holes in them the size of a person's head; the windows had all been broken out, completely, and that was just what they could see from the outside.



Tara had to wonder what it looked like on the inside, and just where were they going to sleep? The last time -which wasn't long ago- the group had to sleep on the floor...in a half-destroyed room, same as Xander and their father.



"This is quite a mess." Nikko said standing beside her son-in-law, and staringat the destruction.



"What a dump." Willow fazed beside Tara, and continued staring at the broken building.



"I agree, are we really going to stay here?" Anya stepped beside Xander, and like Willow, stared at the main house as if it were going to bite her.



"Hey!" Xander shouted, "You both helped make this mess!"



Anya clasped her hands together, "Oh, my, you think I had a part in this?"



"How sweet, I didn't know you cared." Willow grinned causing Xander to sigh, as the owner walked out to meet them.



"Welcome back." The old woman smiled, "It's a long trip, thanks for coming all the way here."



"Well, thank you for inviting us back." Mr. Maclay said stepping forward, and rubbed the side of his head while he chuckled.



"Here you go." The old woman spoke holding out a bag of nails, and a hammer. Mr. Maclay took the items and stared at them making a "hmm?" sound as he looked back at the old woman, "Boys, you get to work repairing the damage. Girls, you start on cleaning, laundry, and cooking."



"What?!" Anya and Willow shouted in unison as their jaws hit the ground. They had to clean? Didn't they get enough of that at the house?



So that's what she wanted, Tara thought, now it clicked together like a puzzle.



The old woman was known for hating to spend money on repairmen, and only called for one if she couldn't fix what was broken. And since it had been Willow's summoned demon that had destroyed the hot spring, it was their fault in the woman's eyes, so, she'd make them fix everything back to the way it was, and she wouldn't have to pay them a dime.



Xander lowered his head, If I don't work at home, I've gotta work here! Dammit, and I thought this was going to be a break!



"Can't we rest a little first?" Mr. Maclay asked lowering his voice to a whine, and stepped back when the woman took a threatening step forward.



"What did you say?"



"Uh, nothing, nothing at all."



Nikko side stepped, "We should probably do as she says." she whispered into her son-in-law's ear.



"That's right." The woman nodded, "Now, let's go, come on."



Dawn moved past the others and came to a stop in front of the old woman, "Excuse me, ma'am. What's my assignment to be?"



"You're new, aren't you?"



The scientist nodded, "Yes, I am. How do you do? My name is Dawn, and I am at your service, great respected one." she said and bowed to the woman.



"Well, you're a good, and polite girl for being so young and all, and I like that." The old woman smiled, out of everyone in the group Dawn was the politest one there, except for Hallie, and Tara and Xander, but only before they'd met Willow and Anya, "I'm not planning on making any children work, so why don't you run along and play with Hallie?"



"Yes, ma'am." Dawn grinned, she'd escaped having to do any work. Doing work by hand was not something the scientist liked doing, she would rather have he bots do the work. But that wouldn't be a good idea here, at least not where the old woman could see.



Willow watched the small scientest walk past her, and turned clenching her fist, "Dawn, you slacker!" she shouted, and shouted again when the old woman slapped her on the ass, "Ouch!" the demon turned giving the woman a glare, "Just what the--"



"Quit wasting my time."



Willow kept her mouth shut, that old woman looked even scarier than Anya did when she just woke up, and cast a glare at Dawn -who was smiling and waving from the side of the van.



"Ah, James, you told me there were ten altogether, but now you've got another guest, huh?" the old woman spoke causing Mr. Maclay to look around.



"Huh? Eh? What are you talking about? There are only ten of us."



"That's strange," The old woman said looking at the group, "I could swear I saw a young lady resembling me as a young woman." she shrugged before turning, and starting toward the main house.



"Well, there's no one like that with us at all."



"I guess she's getting senile." Nikko whispered, causing the old woman to stop, "Watch out." Nikko leaned back, allowing her son-in-law to get hit on the head with a hammer.



"I said get to work!" The old woman growled, "And I mean it!"



"Yes, ma'am." the group droned out.



"Shall we go?" Dawn asked Hallie and got a nod before stepping on the path leading into the woods.



Hallie glanced up, and saw her sister slowly walking toward the house, and thought now would be a good time to tell her, "Hey, Anya."



"Yes?" Anya turned toward the little princess.



"Ah, um, nothing. Never mind." Hallie smiled sadly and shook her head.



Why couldn't she just say it and get it over with? She always had to chicken out at the last second, didn't she? But how would Anya take it when she found out? Would she still love her, or would she hate her? If Anya was going to hate her, then the little princess didn't want to tell, but didn't she also have a right to know? Yes, she did, but Hallie was still afraid to tell her.



"All right." Anya said softly, wondering what her sister was going to say, but shrugged it off as nothing important.



"Come on, Hallie. Let's go see what's out there."



"Okay." Hallie nodded and followed Dawn.



******

There's 25, again I'm sorry it isn't as long as they normally are. Anyway, I'm working on the next chapter, hope ya enjoyed

To be forgotten is worse than death.

[ceridwenfaylinn]

Hey sweetie



It was funny how poor Mr Maclay got hit and everything by that woman and how Willow and Anya were fighting in the van, hehe.



Short chapter but i understand. Im sorry you had to work fixing that pipe, especially with your hand still hurting.....



I hope next chapter is longer



Update soon



Bye sweetie

[Viximon]

Agh. I almost miss the update. Sorry about that. The thing is this holidays my cousin came to stay for a while and I'm kinda out.

I'm sneaking a few minuts to review you. You're doing very well, continue. On a week or so I will be back to comment better. Meanwhile take care



Happy New Year by the way

[Stormforce]

Ceridwenfaylinn - Hey sweetie. I'm sorry it was short, but it would have been longer if that pipe hadn't of busted...but anyway, glad you liked the first -short- part of the Hot Spring. And here is the longer update



Viximon - Thanks, and don't worry about a thing, I know how it is when family comes to visit.



Oni or Tenshi?

Pairing: Eventually W/T, B/F

Rating: PG-13-R

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em



Chapter Twenty-Six: A White Ghost?



"These flowers are called yarrow." Dawn said nodding to a group of tall white flowers in a group along side the small path, "They're grown for their decorative and medicinal values."



"They're pretty." Hallie whispered as she looked over the flowers.



Dawn walked a few feet in front of the little princess, stopping at the edge of the mountain the scientist let out a gasp. Her eyes scanned over the green fields where large gardens of corn, carrots, tomatoes, radishes, peppers, and other vegetables were growning. She could also see the green pasture land with cows, goats and horses grazing, pins where pigs were being lazy in the mud. The large farm houses stood tall and proud in front of the barns where chickens were pecking at the ground.



"This is beautiful." Dawn whispered to herself, and turned, "Hey, Hallie, come and look at the view, it's beautiful." she turned and stared over the fields again.



After having studied the Yarrow flowers, Hallie had began looking at the purple, yellow, blue, flowers next to the others when Dawn called out to her, glancing at the scientist, Hallie lowered her head, before she glanced into the darkened forest.



Dawn stretched, "Hey, Hallie--" she stopped as she turned, and found the little princess had disappeared, "Where'd she go?" she asked aloud then shrugged, "Oh, well, Miss Kitty is with her so she'll be find I'm sure."



Back at the house Xander, Mr. Maclay, Tara, and Nikko -who'd decided to help the boys- were on the roof, nailing one by fours, and two by fours in place, "This must be what she had in mind when she called us." Mr. Maclay said hitting another nail, "I was so stupid."



"Let's just say naive." Nikko said not even glancing at her son-in-law, and continued hammering the nail into the wood.



"Humph, you were excited about coming here, too." Mr. Maclay mumbled, not knowing he would surely piss the older woman off.



Nikko cut her eyes toward the man, "Did you say something?" she asked in a deadly voice, her son-in-law was pushing it. She'd never know why her daughter loved the man so much, but knew that she had, and, well, she got two of the best grandchildren she could ever ask for.



Mr. Maclay raised up giving his mother-in-law a goofy smile and shook his head, "No, nothing." he giggled, and brought the hammer down totally missing the nail, and hit his thumb.



Nikko shook her head as Mr. Maclay gave a pained groan, "I told you to be careful." she said, and brought her own hammer down, and doing just like her son-in-law, hit her thumb.



Xander looked over at the sound his grandmother made, and saw her holding her throbbing thumb, and watched his dad blow on his own throbbing thumb, "Boneheads." he rolled his eyes, and raised his hammer up.



Shouldn't have said that little brother, Tara thought, and kept her mouth shut, she knew Xander was in for it, and she wanted nothing to do with anything her grandmother could dish out.



"Hey, Xander, look!" Nikko shouted, and pointed toward the woods causing Xander to look up as he brought his hammer down, and just like his father, and grandmother before him, hit his thumb. Xander grit his teeth, as he clenched his right hand over his left.



"Now who's a bonehead?" Nikko chuckled as Mr. Maclay grinned.



Yep, I was right, he shouldn't have said it. Tara stiffled her giggles, and kept her eyes on her work. She knew if she was to even show her amusement, she'd end up like the others, with a throbbing thumb, and she didn't want that.



In the house, Willow, Anya, Buffy, and Faith were peeling patotoes, well, Willow was taking off chunks as she brought the knife across the current patoto in her hand. Looking in her bowl a person could see small pieces, it was as if the potatoes were the small baby potatoes, and not the large ones. Anya was barely putting any pressure to hers, and thus only taking off half inch sections of the skin, growing annoyed the princess squeezed her patoto.



"You're a big help." Anya turned her head toward the demon, "With the way you're peeling them we won't have anything to eat."



Willow sent a glace at the princess, "Is that right?" she said holding her knife up, "Well, with how slowly you're peeling them you'll never finish, and we'll starve!"



Anya let out a soft growl, and jerked her head up, "Hah! Well, at least I have a talent for not wasting food."



"What are you saying?" Willow growled.



"The truth!" Anya shot back.



"Settle down, both of you." Faith said from Buffy's left, as she set another perfectly peeled patoto in her bowl.



"Yeah," Buffy agreed as she placed her own perfectly peeled patoto in her bowl, "Let's not argue over nothing, okay?"



Willow and Anya stared at the officers bowls, and groaned as they looked at their own, and the potato they were currently holding. How could Buffy not be screwing up? Faith, the girls could actually understand, but Buffy? They thought sure as hell Buffy's potatoes would look worse than either of theirs. With a sigh both girls glanced back at the officers, and their eyes widened when they saw a transparent form walk by.



"What?" Anya whispered, and narrowed her eyes as she glanced at Willow causing the demon to jerk her head back in surprise.



"Hey! I didn't do anything!" Willow shouted, causing Anya to sigh as she placed the knife, and potato on the wooden floor as she rose, "It wasn't me, I tell you." Willow said getting on her hands and knees, "I really didn't do anything, and you'd better believe me." she watched the princess for a moment longer before stealing some of Anya's peeled potatoes.



Out in the hall Anya saw Hallie walking toward another hall to the right, "Hallie." she spoke causing her sister to stop and turn around, "Was it you?"



"Oh, Anya."



"Hmm?" Anya looked up and down the hallway, "Did you see someone else here just now?"



Hallie shook her head, "No, I didn't." Miss Kitty gave a small meow from atop of Hallie's head.



"Odd, I thought I saw someone."



"Sis, I need to tell you--" Hallie stepped forward, and was cut off when Willow's voice filled the small hallway.



"Well, what was it, Anya?"



"Oh, nothing." Anya called back before stepping toward her sister, "What were you going to say?"



Hallie stepped back, not allowing Anya to get close to her, "Uh, nothing really." she said and hurried down the right hall, leaving a confused Anya behind.



Meanwhile...



"Please hold it tight, grandma." Tara said as she began nailing another one by four to the wall, hoping to cover the holes.



"I know, hurry up." Nikko replied watching Xander and Tara.



Mr. Maclay kneeled down to grab another board, and glaced up, his eyes going wide as he saw a transparent woman walking down the hall. "Hmm?" he straightened up, "That--that white figure is...did you see that?"



Nikko had also seen it, and nodded, "Yes."



An hour later the group was taking a break, Willow and Anya had grabbed Tara and Xander, and had pulled them into a darkened room, with them and the officers. The siblings were now standing in front of the girls with wide eyes, and shaking their heads.



"I'm telling you what we saw." Willow said narrowing her eyes, and holding her knife up, "We saw a vague, ghost-like figure." she fazed half way going transparent, before she was back to normal.



"Okay..." Xander closed his eyes, "You guys..."



"Y-you're j-just trying t-to s-scare us." Tara stuttered, "R-right?"



"No," Anya shook her head from behind Willow, "We actually saw it." she said in a low voice void of emotion, as Willow nodded with narrowed eyes.



"Y-you...really?" Xander had backed up and was trying to merge with the wall, as Anya stepped forward.



"Yes."



Buffy was holding on to Faith, and had her face buried in her neck, "Come to think of it," Tara started, "Dad and grams said they saw a white figure or something."



"Ahh...stop it, please!" Buffy shouted, squeezing Faith tighter, "I can't stand it!"



No one noticed the room filling with fog as they talked, "What are you afraid of, Tara?" Willow asked leaning forward, as Anya grabbed Xander.



"Hey, do I look afraid?" Tara snapped at the demon, truth be told, she was afraid, but she wasn't going to show it.



A light filled the room causing the group to look over, but only after Buffy -once more- screamed, and squeezed Faith, causing the dark haired officer to gasp for air.



"Buffy!" Faith shouted prying her girlfriend's arms from around her waist, "I need to friggin' breathe!"



"Grams!" Xander shouted peeking over Anya's shoulder.



The older woman was sitting on the floor with her legs crossed, and holding a candle as the fog circled around her body. If the group would have looked closer they would have seen Mr. Maclay kneeling behind Nikko with a paper fan, and fanning the steam rising from a large chunk of dry ice, so that it covered the entire room to give it a creepy feeling.



"Listen..." Nikko spoke in a low voice as she raised her head, and causing her shadow to grow bigger against the wall, "It begins over 600 years ago. When I was but a young woman, the person who lived here told it to me. There was a house on a mountain, far away from civilization. In it there lived a couple, people respected and admired their good relationship because they were so much in love. However, the wife had been sickly since childhood, and had become bedridden for quite awhile. It is said she probably knew that her time was running short. They did their best trying to care for each other, and lived their lives to the fullest, and to treasure their remaining time together." she paused to stiffle the laughter she felt building, before she continued.



"And one calm beautiful day had turned in to a very stormy, and windy night. They heard a voice through the howling wind. It wasn't their imagination, the voice was real. They were compelled to listen," Nikko raised her hand and pointed to the west as the fog covered her body, "'Head to the west, go over three mountains, and you'll find an herb that can cure any kind of sickness' the wind spoke, and then fell silent. The husband believed the wind's words, and decided to go search for the herb. She begged him to remain and not leave her alone, but he left and set out for the west."



Willow glance over at the officers, and shook her head; Buffy was squeezing Faith so tight the dark haired officer was turning blue, and trying to get her off of her. Deciding to be nice, and help the girl to breath; Willow grabbing Buffy's shirt and pulled her off. Faith nodded her thanks before wrapping her arms around Buffy from behind.



"For six months she waited for his return, fighting against death with all her strength, and she spoke to herself, saying, 'I wish that I were healthy, then I would be able to look for him.' But, alas, her hopes were in vain, and she passed away the very next day." Nikko said softly as the candleflame died out, "After that day, around this place,people began to see the white ghost of a woman. So, you'd better watch out, children. Her spirit wanders aimlessly, searching for her beloved. She may even come for one of you!"



"Hey!" A high-pitched scream filled the room as the door flew open, causing the girls, and Xander to scream as they jumped in fright. "Haven't you rested long enough?" The spring owner asked, glaring at the group, "Get back to work!" she shouted kicking Willow and Anya out the door, right before Faith and Buffy followed.



"Yes, ma'am!" all four girls shouted as they ran down the hallway.



"Kids today!" the old woman growled and turned around, only to see Tara and Xander hugging each other and shaking, "Hey that goes for you, too!"



"But...but I..." Xander shook his head.



"T-the w-w-white gh-ghost!" Tara stuttered wishing the old woman hadn't kicked Willow out of the room. She could really use her right now!



The old woman shook her head, "Not the white ghost again!" she growled before cutting her narrowed eyes toward Nikko and Mr. Maclay at the back of the room, "That old story of yours again?" she deadpanned.



"You--your story?" Xander asked standing, and hoped he could regain his manlyness.



"You made it all up?" Tara shouted as she stood, and cast a glare toward her father, and grandmother.



Nikko chuckled, "Yup, not mad, are you?"



"Cut it out!" The old woman growled.



Mr. Maclay laughed, and was promptly hit on the head with a flashlight, "Ouch!"



"Go fix the lights or something." The old woman said before walking off and mumbling about stupid ghost stories.



"Geez! Can't they grow up?" Xander growled, as he and Tara walked down the hall.



"I don't think they will." Tara replied, carrying a tool box, and opened the door leading into the storage room with the electrical box.



Xander turned the flashlight on as he entered the room, "Tell me, why are we the ones who has to fix this? Dad and grams are always sitting around doing nothing!"



"I know," Tara nodded grabbing a screwdriver from the small red toolbox, "But if we don't, grams'll work us double hard, you know."



"I know, but it still sucks." Xander opened the breaker box, and shined the light in, "Well, hell, so what if that story was made up..."



"Yeah, we all did see that ghost...or whatever it was...but then again, I'm not sure I saw anything." Tara nodded firmly, "I think you'd better stop thinking about ghosts, little bro."



"Yeah, or I might just see one." Xander laughed nervously, and jumped when something began rattling around.



"Ahh!" Tara shouted, spinning around, and running along side Xander when whatever it was hit the floor, and crashed into the wall a split second after her brother.



Both slid to the floor moaning in pain, and quickly turned when the noise got closer; Xander shined his light across the floor, and let out a giggle, "It was just a can..."



"Yeah," Tara nodded while she giggled, too.



Neither Tara, nor Xander saw the white ghostly hands reaching for them, that is until they touched their shoulders. "Ahh!" Xander screamed dropping the light just as Tara's eyes turned to the size of plates.



A crash could be heard, and two screams echoed up and down the halls, and into the woods, as two sets of footsteps could be heard pounding on the wooden floor. Both Tara and Xander laughed nervously as they saw a jagged opening in the hallway just ahead of them. With a scream both jump through, and landed in hot water with a huge splash. Even when they surfaced the siblings still ran forward, that is until they saw five very naked young woman, and felt a nosebleed coming on, as their face turned a new color of red.



"Chil...dren!" Mr. Maclay moaned as he slowly poked his head around the doorframe, with a flashlight under his chin, "Huh?" glancing around the older man was confused, "Where'd they go?" he asked him self stepping over to the breaker box.



"You really seen it?" Willow asked holding Tara close to her.



"Yep." Tara nodded, trying to keep her eyes off of Willow's breasts.



Buffy gasped and sunk into the water, "I'm scared." she whined wrapping her arms around Dawn, seeing as Faith was too far away at the moment.



Dawn shook her head as Buffy sobbed with her face buried in her stomach, "Where was it exactly that you saw it?"



"There..." Xander and Tara pointed to where they'd crashed through, and into the water.



"Huh?" Everyone went wide-eyed when they saw a white figure standing at the water's edge, and seven screams echoed into the night, scaring the owls away from the main house.



"Huh?" Mr. Maclay glanced around and shrugged, "My imagination...?" he shrugged and flicked the switch to on turning the lights on.



Back in the small spring, Willow was holding on to a nearly passed out Tara, as Anya fanned Xander's face with her hand to keep him from passing out.



"Hallie?" Anya stopped fanning Xander when the lights had come on, and she saw her little sister standing at the water's edge.



"Ha...Hallie?" Tara raised her head, and saw Hallie calmly standing there with Miss Kitty on top her head.



"Not so tight!" Dawn gasped out pushing on Buffy's head, and trying to get her to loosen her grip, causing Faith to smirk, she was glad she hadn't been in the blonde's reach.



Buffy glanced over, "Oh, Hallie, it's only you."



"I can't breathe!" Dawn once again gasped out clenching her fists, and was wishing someone, anyone, would get the blonde off her.



"Oh!" Buffy shouted letting Dawn go, and watched the scientist sink into the water, "My, that was really scary... I thought it was..." Buffy paused, and quickly rose up pointing toward the little princess, and startling everyone -except for Dawn, who was still under water- "Look! Hallie's reflection is..."



The group looked over, causing Hallie to cock her head, and glance down. She gasped and jumped back, "Tsunami?" Xander shouted surprised when it was Tsunami's peaceful reflection in the water and not Hallie's.



"Oh, my, Hallie, you are..." Anya started, and watched as Hallie turned and ran from the spring, "Wait!"



********

There's 26 and I'm working on 27, I'm hoping that it'll be out in a couple of days. Hope ya enjoyed

To be forgotten is worse than death.

[ceridwenfaylinn]

Throbbing thumb!!!!



Peeling potatoes!!!



White ghost!!!!!



*clears throat* HI baby!! Great chapter!!



And what is it with Hallie?????



UPDATE SOON!!!



Bye koibito

[Viximon]

Love the peeling potatoes part. Scared Buffy is so suffocating fun too.

I want to read Hallie whatabouts (is that a word?) too.



Continue

[Stormforce]

Ceridwenfaylinn - Hey sweetie Glad you liked the last chapter, as for what's going on with Hallie, you're fixin' to find out



Viximon - The peeling potatoes scene is one of my favorites, -besides scared Buffy- Glad you liked it, and I use "Whatabout" as a word when I'm with my friends, so yeah, I guess it could be used as a word And here's the update.



Oni or Tenshi?

Pairing: Eventually W/T, B/F

Rating: PG-13-R

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em



Chapter Twenty-Seven: Nine Hundred Years Ago



The group had stood from the water and started forward, only to fall when the lights went out. In the small room with the breaker box, Mr. Maclay groaned painfully as the electricty sparked around a pair of wire cutters he was holding on to, which caused his hair to stand on end.



The group hurriedly stood, and grabbed their cloths before rushing outside, "Hallie!" Willow called out, and heard Tara's voice join hers, as she shinned a flashlight around.



Near the front steps, Dawn was typing on her transparent computer while Buffy, Faith, and Anya stood by her sides, "She's not around here anywhere." Willow said fazing next to Anya.



"I looked, she's not inside the inn." Xander said running up with Tara beside him.



"I couldn't find her either." Tara shook her head.



"Dawn?" Anya asked quietly.



"Hmm... Nope, I've checked." Dawn said glancing at the princess, "My instruments can't seem to find a trace of her."



"I can't communicate with Miss Kitty now, either." Willow said shrugging.



Dawn hopped off the steps, and stretched, "We'll just have to spread out, and search."



Tara nodded, "I'll go this way," she said and took off toward the right, as Buffy and Faith headed toward the right. Anya nodded, and watched as Xander headed toward the back of the inn, and followed only to turn and go deeper into the wood.



"Heh. Let's see..." Willow looked at the sky, "I'll go this way, too." she said and began floating the way Tara had left.



Dawn grabbed her shirt, "You! Go this way!" she said and pointed toward the small mountain path in the center.



How could I be so stupid as to stand next to the water when I knew whose reflection would show? Hallie thought as she sat on a rock next to a small pond, and stared at the peaceful reflection of Tsunami, Anya is going to hate me! She'll never want to be near me again. I should have told her eariler, but I couldn't, how could I, when I know she'll hate me? The small princess wrapped her arms around her legs, and silently cried as Miss Kitty meowed sadly.



"Hallie!" Anya called out shinning her light into the trees, "Hallie, where are you!" she called again and leaned against a tree next to the path, That reflection was of Tsunami. Then what is happening to Hallie? she thought, and sighed before taking a step forward, and stopped turning to her right. Hallie was sitting on a rock with her arms wrapped around her knees, and Miss Kitty at her side.



"Meow." Miss Kitty's ears perked up as she turned her head, causing Hallie to look up, and see her sister standing a few feet away from her. Anya smiled and started forward, and stopped again when she saw Tsunami's reflection in the lake water.



Neither girl saw Tara and Xander step off the path, and start to wave, before they were pulled into the bushes, "Ouch..." Xander groaned, and looked up, Dawn "shhed" the siblings and winked.



"Let's leave them alone." Dawn whispered as Tara and Xander rose to their knees.



"Okay." Tara nodded and glanced behind her when she heard mumbling, her eyes went wide when she saw Willow, Buffy, and Faith lying on face down on the ground, tied and gagged.



"I'm sorry, sis." Hallie said softly, "But I am not the real Hallie!"



Anya jerked her head back in surprise, "Wh-what do you mean, Hallie?" she asked, as her sister began to cry and bury her face in the crook of her arms.



"700 years ago..." Tsunami spoke causing Anya to stare at the reflection, "Yes, it all happened 700 years ago," she spoke again, and began to remember.



[900 Years Ago on Jurai...]



Willow was sitting on a section of a broken stone fence and was laughing as fires burned and smoke rose into the air behind her. The black smoke covered the area where she was sitting, allowing her red glowing eyes to shine bright.



"That day when the space pirate Willow attacked the planet Jurai."



"Intruder in block 194." A male voice called over the intercom, as both men and women ran about trying to close the hatches. One of the men ran into a brown haired woman, causing her to stumble, "Princess Hallie! Where are you?" The woman hollered out.



"A-1 formation, D-4 mode 12." The same male voice said over the intercom as a blast exploded outside the window sending the woman to her knees.



Deep down under the palace sat the tree garden, where thousands upon thousands of trees stood, and had two green teleporters, one was on the end, and the other was in front of the tree. A little brown haired girl of three years old gasped, and smiled brightly, "Wow!" she laughed as the large fifty foot tall blue doors with golden leaves opened for her.



Princess Hallie ran inside the garden, and looked down from the top, and giggled when she couldn't even see the bottom. Turning she ran to a blue teleporter, and appeared in front of a tree, "How do you do?" she asked, and laughed brightly as the tree answered her with several streams of bright lights. Seeing another teleporter, the little princess ran toward it, and could never know of the danger she was in the middle of.



Outside a Juraian ship crashed into the side of the palace and causing it to shake, the explosion that followed caused Hallie to slip from the walkway, and fall several hundred stories down, where she landed on a large round rock in front of a large tree in the center of a small lake. A small stream of blood rolled down from the rock, and into the water where it rippled, causing Hallie's body to disappear and circle around the large tree.



A spiral of water shot into the air around the rock and died down allowing a beautiful brown haired woman to be seen. The goddess of Jurai, Tsunami, opened her eyes and stared forward, as her reflection showed that of Princess Hallie.



Upstairs the woman was still calling for the little princess, and shouted happily as Hallie ran out of the tree garden, "Mama!" Hallie shouted as she ran forward, and was engulfed in a hug by her mother.



"Is my little princess all right?"



"Yep!"



"Oh, good!" the queen smiled with tears in her eyes, and couldn't see the twin dots on her daughters forehead, turn into two separat triangles.



[Back at the Hot Spring...]



"I've tried to tell you many times." Hallie sobbed as the marks on her forehead glowed bright green, "The real Hallie died that day. Therefore I am... I am not your real sister!"



Anya was listening to her sister with wide eyes, and gasp as she turned her head and remembered walking in the fields on Jurai, with Hallie chasing after her, "Anya! Sister, please wait!" Hallie shouted.



Anya stopped and turned, before smiling and began walking again, "Sister, please wait for me!" Hallie shouted with tears in her eyes as she tried to catch up. Anya giggled as Hallie kept shouting for her to wait, and stopped, and turned when Hallie fell to the ground.



"Hallie!" Anya called out worried, and kneeled next to her baby sister, "Are you okay?" Hallie stared up at her sister, and began crying loudly, "It's all right, Hallie." Anya smiled wrapping her arms around the younger girl, "I'm sorry, sis."



Anya grinned, and tapped her head with her knuckles before turning her back on Hallie, "Why are you saying this, Hallie? You don't like me anymore, do you? That's why you're telling me this story, isn't it? To drive me away."



"No, Anya." Hallie shook her head, "You're wrong, I love you so much!"



"Really?" Anya asked having a hard time controlling her giggles.



"Really I do!" Hallie stood, "Yes, I do!"



"Well, I love you, too, Hallie." Anya turned, causing Hallie's eyes to grow wide, "We love each other, that's what counts."



Hallie lowered her head sadly, just as Tara and Xander grunted when they were shoved out of the bushes, and glanced over to see a grinning Dawn.



"Xander? Tara?" Anya asked turning in surprise, and watched them stand.



"Umm...I feel the same way as Anya." Xander grinned.



Tara nodded, "Hallie, we like you just the way you are."



"Right." Anya smiled, "Whatever happens, you are my sweet little sister."



"Anya..." Hallie said tearfully, and ran forward. Anya opened her arms, "Oh, Tara! Xander!" the small princess shouted wrapping an arm around each of the siblings.



Anya was standing frozen in place, staring forward, and her arms outstreatched, "Hallie, you silly girl."



"Let's see..." Dawn giggled and walked away, totally ignoring the mumbling coming from the tied up girls.



"Looks like she's fallen asleep." Xander whispered, and smiled down at Hallie who was leaning against Tara.



"I guess she was afraid after we found out about her secret we would leave her." Anya said shaking her head, "She...she told me that the real Hallie died, though."



"Princess Anya." Tsunami said as she appeared standing over the water, "Hallie didn't die that day. She thinks of herself as my creation, but she actually survived by assimilating with me."



"Why didn't you tell her bout it?"



"Even if I had told her, she wouldn't have believed it." Tsunami smiled, "Besides, Hallie didn't need to know the truth about her identity, only your feelings for her. Princess Anya, she truly is your real sister." the goddess said as the lights came on and she disappeared.



"This is where you are." Nikko said as she and the others walked down the path carrying boxes, everyone sat up a small fire and began a small cook out.



"Way to go Miss Kitty!" Buffy clapped as the kitten changed into a red crystal and back again. Happy that Dawn had come back and untied them, before she used a power like Willow's, and had hurriedly disappeared, before Willow could grab her.



"You're the best Miss Kitty!" Willow shouted leaning against a tree with Tara by her side, "Hey, come on, Tara, have a little sake."



"I'm still a minor." Tara shook her head, and had to wonder just why her father brought that stuff with them.



"Go right ahead!" Nikko and Mr. Maclay shouted raising their own glasses, and causing Tara to blink.



"We got permission," Willow smirked, "So let's liven things up." she said downing the rest of her sake, and leaned forward, trying to kiss Tara. Tara began scooting back, and ended up falling off the rock and on to the ground with a crash. Sure, Tara wanted to kiss Willow, but not like that, not in front of everyone, and especially not when Willow had been drinking.



"Hmm?" Willow opened her eyes and looked down, "Oh, man!" she growled seeing Tara lying very confused on the ground, and spoted Anya sitting by the lake, and fazed over, "You feelin' kinda blue?"



Anya rolled her eyes, and looked forward, "You know, I didn't know that Jurai had trees that could take on human form." Willow said picking up another small bottle of sake.



"You don't understand anything." Anya said snatching the bottle away from the redhead.



"Meaning?"



"Tsunami and Hallie are the same." Anya said after she'd downed her shot glass of sake, "There, get it?"



"So what?"



Anya growled, "They are assimilated! That means that Hallie and Tsunami are identical, which means that when Hallie grows up..."



"She'll look like Tsunami?" Willow asked leaning toward Anya, and watched the princess take another drink from her shot glass, "Hmph. It can't be."



"Yes, she will be like me." Tsunami said, once again appearing over the lake water, "We have separate minds right now, but when we are joined in one form, you can call me Hallie, or Tsunami, whichever you perfer."



"What?" Both Anya and Willow stared at the goddess, and turned to look at the sleeping princess.



"You needn't worry. When we are united, she will have a complete memory."



"That's not why we're worried!" The two girls snapped causing Tsunami to jerk back in surprise, "So Hallow will look like you." Willow growled pushing Anya to the side to stare at the goddess.



"Yes," Tsunami nodded, "I am the image of Hallie in the future."



Willow cut her eyes to the side with a frown on her face, Damn! I didn't think about this. I thought Hallie was nothing to worry about from seeing her sister. But now, I'm afraid Tara'll want her! Shit!



Hallie's beauty will surpass mine! Anya growled in her mind, I didn't plan on this...damn! What if Xander will want her? Dammit!



Both Willow and Anya cut their eyes toward each other, and scooted back with a "humph", "Well, she's a lot prettier than you are." Willow smirked at the older princess.



"And at least she's better-looking than you."



"What'd you say?" Willow growled as she turned to face Anya, and had the princess get in her face.



"I'm simply stating a fact!"



"Ahem." Tsunami cleared her throat.



"Shut up!" Willow growled turning to face the goddess.



"Yeah, you stay outta this!" Anya growled just as deep as Willow.



Tsunami gasped in shock as her mouth dropped open. "You never were as pretty as me! You never were!" Willow shouted getting Buffy's attention from covering Hallie with a small blanket.



"What? You just try and name one advantage you have over me!" Anya snapped back.



"Everything!" Willow shouted clenching her fists.



"Don't argue like that." Buffy said as she stepped forward, only to trip on Tara's outstretched legs, and fell forward, pushing Willow and Anya into the lake. Only Willow and Anya's eyes could been seen glaring up at the officer, "Oh... Are you two okay?"



"Of course we aren't!" Willow growled as she rose, and helped Anya to stand as Tsunami watched on with wide eyes.



"What do you think, you simpletion?" Anya shouted as she and Willow walked forward.



"Oh, I'm so sorry."



"You come here, now!" Willow shouted grabbing Buffy's left arm, as Anya grabbed her right, causing Tsunami to giggle.



"W-wa-aah!" Buffy screamed when she found herself flying through the air, and made a huge splash in the water.



********

There's 27 and I'm working on 28, hope ya enjoyed

To be forgotten is worse than death.

[ceridwenfaylinn]

Hey sweetie



Well, this was a cool chapter.



You can always count on Buffy to make you



Im a little confused about some things, but since i know you'll explain everything to me, i dont worry



Please continue



Bye koibito

[Egnalos]

So that was Hallie's secret... was that why she was so worried about? Well now that things have been cleared up we go back to the normal life with Willow and Anya fighting and Buffy making us laugh.



Keep wondering though... when do we get some kisses between the girls, or at least Tara letting Willow know that she likes her too... sorry but I'm kinda impatient.



Anyway... cool chapter. More soon please.

[Viximon]

Quote:

---

"Heh. Let's see..." Willow looked at the sky, "I'll go this way, too." she said and began floating the way Tara had left.

---

What a cute chapter with Anya being so sistery. The rest of the gang was nice too with Hallie's secret.



Funny thing between. You're very good making people laught



Continue

[Stormforce]

Ceridwenfaylinn - Hey sweetie, thanks glad you liked the chapter, and true, Buffy's always good for a laugh,



Egnalos - Yep, that was Hallie's secret, and it's why she was so worried, thinking that Anya and the other's wouldn't like her anymore, once they found out what had happened. Tara letting Willow know she likes her too will be coming up pretty soon, not to mention the kisses will follow, just another couple of chapters And here ya go, the update.



Viximon - Glad you liked the last chapter, as for making people laugh, I can only try, and I've been told that I don't have to. But either way, I'm happy that I can work it into the fic. Here's the update.



Oni or Tenshi?

Pairing: Eventually W/T, B/F

Rating: PG-13-R

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em



Note: Once again, I'd like to give credit to Ceridwenfaylinn for helping me figure a few things out for this chapter, and the next. Thanks koibito,



Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Blue Dress



It had taken the group, minus Dawn and Hallie, four more days to finish repairing the Hot Spring, and was now back home, resting, but still working around the house, in the fields, and at the once shrine. Or if you were Willow you'd be sitting on the dock with a fishing pole in hand, as she was at this very moment.



The demon had rose eariler than either Tara or Xander, had grabbed an old cane pole with five foot of fishing twine, and headed for the lake, but only after picking up a couple of must haves. Something she'd thought of, and figured it'd be easier to use for fishing.



"Hey, Willow!" Hallie shouted, as she and Buffy ran out on to the dock. After learning everyone still loved her, especially her sister, the little princess was happier than ever.



"Whatcha doing out here, Willow?" Buffy asked looking from the old pole to Willow and back again.



"Isn't it obvious to you?" Willow glanced up.



"Ah, well...no, not really." Buffy shook her head, causing Willow to sigh and turn toward the princess, "What's up?"



"Are those for Miss Kitty?" The princess asked staring at the three carrots sitting beside Willow.



Willow was stopped from answering when her fishing pole began to wiggle, "Oh! Eureka!" Willow shouted as she jerked the pole up, and revealed Miss Kitty in an orange rubber suit with black flippers, a glass fish bowl on her head -for breathing- and a fish in her paws. Hallie smiled and giggled as Buffy stared wide-eyed at the kitten.



The fish began to wiggle, and jumped free, falling back into the lake, "No carrot unless you catch a fish." Willow said causing the kitten to meow sadly as she was lowered back into the water.



"Um, 'scuse me, Willow," Buffy blinked, "But I think you maybe asking too much." she said stepping away from the demon when she caught the glare being sent her way.



In the house Tara was going through some old cloths in her closet, and putting them in a small blue box, "Don't think I'll wear these anymore." she put an old red shirt in the box and turned to another, "Hey, I didn't know this shirt was here." Tara said opening the box, and seeing a white shirt with blue stripes, "Oh, yeah, I left it at grams' last vacation." shrugging she started taking the clothing out of the box, and stopped when she saw an old paper umbrella her father had gotten her mother on one of his trips to Japan.



"Huh? What's this?" Tara whispered, and could feel tears welling up as she took the umbrella out of the box, and found an old blue dress. Carefully taking the dress from the box she grabbed a hanger, and hung the dress in front of the window, "Mommy." she said barely above a whisper, and remembered when her father had given the dress to her mother.



It was Tara's birthday, and her father was late, the little blonde lowered her head and stared at the floor, and didn't see the amused smile Mrs. Maclay shot her way. Yes, her husband was late, but he had a very good reason, and she just knew Tara was going to love it. Xander came running down the stairs and hopped into his sister's lap, causing Tara to grin.



"Happy Birthday, Tare!" a seven year old Xander shouted, and kissed Tara's cheek, "Hope you like my present!"



Tara ruffled her brother's hair, "I'm sure I will." she smiled, and watched Xander hop down from her lap and run over to their mother.



"I'm home!" Mr. Maclay's voice filled the room as he opened the front door, "Where's my birthday girl? I have something for her!"



"Daddy!" Tara and Xander shouted, running to meet the older man, and both were picked up in a hug.



Mr. Maclay lowered both of his children to the floor, and smiled, "Now, are you ready for you present, Tara?"



Tara nodded, "Yes!"



"Okay, close your eyes, that goes for you, too, Alexander." It didn't matter who's birthday it was, everyone in the house always got something, so, Xander was getting a gift too, as was Mr. Maclay's wife, she just didn't know it yet.



"Aww, daddy, you know I like Xander better." The little boy giggled and closed his eyes.



Mr. Maclay winked at his wife, and opened his breifcase, "Hold out your hands, Tara, you too Xander." When his children did as was asked, he place a small square shaped box in their hands, "Now, open your eyes."



Two happy screams filled the room when the siblings had opened their eyes, in Tara's hands she was holding Super Mario Bros. 3, a Nintendo game she'd been wanting. She'd always thought the Mario games were fun, and had been asking for the new game for a couple of months now. Xander was holding another Nintendo game, the one he'd been almost pleading for since he had first seen it, Shinobi, a ninja game. The siblings jumped forward, embracing their father, and kissing his cheek, all the while thanking him.



"Well, I see you both like them, now, if your mother likes her gift, I'll be on a roll." Mr. Maclay smiled up at his wife, and stood, placing hit breifcase on the table beside the door. "Love, close your eyes."



Mrs. Maclay giggled, but did as was asked, and heard her husband step toward her, "Hold out you hands, my beautiful wife." he said and placed the item in her hands. The woman gasped when she opened her eyes, and looked down to see a baby blue dress, with white lace around the neckline, "Do you like it?" Mr. Maclay asked softly, and hoped he'd picked the right dress out.



"I love it, and I love you." she whispered, leaning in to kiss her husband, and heard her children laughing quitely, "Don't you two have new games to play?"



"Yes, mommy." the siblings answered and ran off to play their new video games, giggling, while their mother whispered what would be waiting for their father in their room later that night. Mr. Maclay smiled goofily as his wife smirked and walked up the stairs to put her new dress up.



"Tare, let's go!" Xander shouted from the bottom of the stairs, startling Tara out of her memories. With one last look at the dress she turned and hurried down the stairs to join her brother. Giving Xander a smile, Tara hurried outside, grabbing the hoe sitting beside the house, and took off toward the fields with her brother.



Willow sighed for what seemed like the tenth time as another fish wiggled free of Miss Kitty's paws, and jumped back into the lake. She'd been sitting on that dock since early morning, and had been torn between rushing over to give Tara a good morning hug, or staying where she was and not letting Miss Kitty sink to the bottom of the lake. She'd finally stayed where she was when Tara had smiled as she passed by, and winked at the demon girl, causing Willow to smile like a goof for the next two hours.



"You know, you're doing that wrong." Willow sighed, here came the princess, and Willow really didn't want to deal with her.



"Go away, Princess, I'm busy."



"Busy with what?" Anya snorted rolling her eyes, "Using that poor kitten to catch fish, only to lose them?"



"What do you want?" Willow growled, and cast a glare at the princess.



"As I said, you are doing that wrong."



Willow snorted, "And how would you know? Did the high and mighty first princess of Jurai go fishing?"



"Of course not. What do you take me for, some peasant on my planet, or one of these Earthlings?" Anya stool in a regal stance, with her head held high, "I would not touch one of those nasty fish, let alone the things, "she shivered, "that you use as bait."



"They're called worms, grasshoppers, crickets, or you can also use chicken liver." Willow smirked seeing Anya give another shiver, "I asked Mr. Maclay, and he said that's what you could use, but I figured Miss Kitty could catch them, and I wouldn't have to take the fish off the hook."



"Is the monster woman afraid to touch a fish on a hook?" Anya laughed, causing Willow to pull the kitten out of the water, and let her run off with a carrot in her mouth, as she stood.



"No, little-miss-prissy-princess! I am not!" Willow shouted.



"Oh, well, I just thought that since Tara wasn't with you to take the fish off the hooks for you, you were afraid to touch them."



"I don't need Tara to do that for me! And you can ask her yourself!"



"Fine, let's go!" Anya spun around on her heel, "But I know she'll say you're afraid."



As Willow and Anya stormed through the front yard, and into the house, both Buffy and Faith blinked, "This is not gonna be good." The dark haired officer sighed, shaking her head, and wanted no part of what was going on.



"Really." Buffy agreed, "And over fishing? Geez! Even I know how to fish!"



Faith stared up at the sky and could just see Buffy sitting beside the lake, pole in hand, and screaming as she was pulled into the water as she fought with a fish, "Yeah, but how 'bout you don't." she said, I don't wanna have to save you from drowning, she thought as Buffy glanced at her.



"And why not?" The blonde officer asked, turning to fully face her lover.



Faith's eyes went wide, that was another thing she didn't want to see, Buffy angry, "Well, right now, what with Will, and Anya fighting over how to fish, it would just make them worse." Faith said quickly, "And you wouldn't wanna be the cause of them getting into another fight involving energy blasts, and Anya's log things, would you?"



Buffy nodded, she could see where Faith was coming from, "Yeah, you're right, I wouldn't want to be the cause of one of those fights. Last time my hair nearly caught fire." she said remembering one of Willow's energy balls exploding behind her. If it hadn't been for Tara and Hallie, her hair would be a lot shorter now.



Inside the house, Willow and the princess stormed into Tara's room, having forgotten she was still in the fields, and stopped, "That's pretty." Willow was staring at the dress Tara had hung up in front of the window.



"I have to agree with you." Anya nodded as she and Willow stepped closer to the window, "Don't touch it!" she growled when Willow had held her hand out, "I'm sure Tara wouldn't want you're grubby paws on it!"



"Bite me!" Willow growled, taking the dress from the hanger, neither girl knew Tara and Xander had just entered the house, and were now on their way upstairs to wash up for lunch.



"Get your hands off that!" Anya shouted reaching for the dress, only to have Willow dance away to stand in front of the door, just as Tara stepped into the room.



"What are you two doing in here?" Tara asked, then stared at her mother's dress in Willow's hands.



"I am sorry, Tara, but this monster woman won't listen to me," Anya spoke lunging forward, and grabbing the dress. All three women froze when they heard a loud "Rip". Willow slowly looked to her hand and saw she was holding one of the sleeves, while Anya had the rest of the dress. Anya's jaw hit the floor as she stared at her own hands, "Tara, I'm so sorry."



Tara was clenching her fists, and didn't see Miss Kitty enter the room, "I hate you!" Tara shouted with her eyes squeezed shut, "I hate you! Get out!"



Miss Kitty's eyes grew wide and filled with tears, why did Tara hate her? What did she do? The kitten let out a soft, sad "Meow", causing Tara to stare at her, "Miss Kitty, I didn't mean you!" she said as the kitten ran from her room, and down the stairs, where she ducked into Dawn's lab through a small kitten-size door.



"No, Miss Kitty! I wasn't talking about you!" Tara shouted running from her room, and hoping to catch the kitten.



"What's wrong, Tara?" Hallie asked stopping Tara on the stairs.



"Miss Kitty." Was all Tara said, and that sent the small princess sprinting to the stairs, behind Tara.



Neither Willow, nor Anya had moved after hearing Tara yell at them, both were frozen to the spot, and could only think of one thing. What had they done?



********

There's 28, and I'm working on 29, it should be out in a couple of days. Hope ya enjoyed

To be forgotten is worse than death.

[ceridwenfaylinn]

Hey baby



Nice chapter.



Poor MK being used as bait... or something like that



And again, poor MK thinking Tara hates her



Please, fix it soon



And do itashimashite koibito.



Sayonara

[Egnalos]

This...

Quote:

---

Willow was stopped from answering when her fishing pole began to wiggle, "Oh! Eureka!" Willow shouted as she jerked the pole up, and revealed Miss Kitty in an orange rubber suit with black flippers, a glass fish bowl on her head -for breathing- and a fish in her paws. Hallie smiled and giggled as Buffy stared wide-eyed at the kitten.



The fish began to wiggle, and jumped free, falling back into the lake, "No carrot unless you catch a fish." Willow said causing the kitten to meow sadly as she was lowered back into the water.

---

And this...

Quote:

---

"I am sorry, Tara, but this monster woman won't listen to me," Anya spoke lunging forward, and grabbing the dress. All three women froze when they heard a loud "Rip". Willow slowly looked to her hand and saw she was holding one of the sleeves, while Anya had the rest of the dress. Anya's jaw hit the floor as she stared at her own hands, "Tara, I'm so sorry."



Tara was clenching her fists, and didn't see Miss Kitty enter the room, "I hate you!" Tara shouted with her eyes squeezed shut, "I hate you! Get out!"

---

I was frozen too, but for different reasons. Willow and Anya are always causing trouble...



Anyway; I'm getting used to you leaving your fics in the most interesting part. Yeah right...



Update soon please.

[Viximon]

Hahahahha. Fishing part was hilarious, really you had easy hand to make laught.

Buffy is just so great being "blone"



Poor Miss Kitty, this chap was hard on her.

Hope all get better soon.

Willow and Anya are still in shock?



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