Hokus Pokus?
by Lil\'Witch
[reviews]
TITLE: Hokus Pokus?
AUTHOR: Lil'Witch
RATING: PG-15
SPOILERS: All through Season Four as well as a little one for Season Six's Finale, but you won't be spoiled if you haven't seen it, yet. Story takes placed just before 'Hush'.
SUMMARY: Children can fly.
STATUS: Complete
DISCLAIMER: Me: Owns nothing. Joss, Mutant Enemy, Fox: Own all recognizable characters and places.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: So, my second BuffyStory... And I didn't even finish the first one, yet! At least this ain't a WIP!
~*~
(Mini-) Prologue
~*~
It had all been right.
The right candles in the right places. The right herbs, rightly measured. The right words, rightly spoken and a wicca girl sitting in the right place.
Only the outcome was completely wrong.
~*~
Part One
~*~
Buffy and Xander were laughing and joking when they climbed up the stairs to Buffy's and Willow's dorm room. They'd spent the evening at The Bronze laughing and dancing. Willow had left early due to an important exam the next morning. All three friends had had a great time, first with a quick patrol and then with extra-fruity cocktails and dancing at their favourite club. Both Buffy and Xander had been glad to see that their witchy friend seemed to have recovered from her Oz-induced depression. It had taken some time, some tears, some chocolate and some cursing but she seemed to be over Oz's abrupt departure and the whole Veruca mess. Well as 'over' as any girl can be about those things, anyway.
So it was with lighter hearts and lifted spirits that they made their way to the thin wooden door of the girls' home. Buffy was praising the CD she'd promised Xander as a belated birthday present (Willow had made her a copy a few days ago) until suddenly her slayer hearing picked up on something unusual. Soft crying. Crying wasn't actual unusual, hadn't been of late, but this was not the kind of tears the slayer had been hearing the last few weeks before her best friend had felt better. So who sat in their room crying?
Carefully, because if living on the hellmouth teaches you one thing then it's to be careful, Xander pushed open the door and Buffy rushed in. The room was dark except for a circle of candles on the floor which flickered hysterically until Xander finally closed the door after him. He switched on the light. In the middle of the circle were a bowl and herbs and something that looked suspiciously like... something Buffy didn't want to think about. The setting screamed Spell with a capital S, but where was Willow?
Buffy followed the cries that had gotten louder since they'd come in and walked around the circle of candles to her room mate's bed. Half behind and half under it a small body was hiding. Buffy didn't know much about kids apart from what she remembered about being one. She estimated the kid's age to be something between three and five years old and judging by the cries of the little girl she was scared.
"Hello? Are you alright?" Buffy asked cautious. It wouldn't be the first time that hellmouthy things had used a childlike form as disguise. She shuddered as images of the Anointed and Hansel and Gretel threatened to fight their way to the forefront of her mind. Two things distracted her. A tiny voice answering her question and a gasp from Xander.
~*~
I opened my eyes and all was dark. That's not right. There's light from a lot of candles, but I can't see the things around me, so it is dark. I'm frightened in the dark. And in strange places, too. I'm in a strange dark place and I'm frightened.
I think I was sleeping, but I don't remember going to bed. There is a bed next to me and I crawl onto it. I can see better now. There's another bed not far away from me. I'm in a big room, much bigger than my room at home. Where's my home? How can I get back?
I start crying. I cry a lot. The other kids in kindergarten make jokes about me ever since I broke the yellow crayon on my first day and couldn't stop crying. I wanna know what happened to me and I want somebody here to hold me and make the tears go away.
I stop crying when I hear voices. They come from behind the door, which I haven't even seen before. Maybe they're bad people! Maybe they are the ones who brought me here or the ones mommy always said no to take candy from! I have to hide. I'm really afraid now and I can't stop myself from crying again as I quickly jump down from the bed and try hiding under it. I'm too big, though. The door opens and I cry even harder. There's more light and I blink through the water in my eyes.
What are they gonna do to me? Will it hurt? I wanna go home!
I wait for the bad people to come and hurt me and I'm still afraid. Then there's a girl's voice.
"Hello? Are you alright?"
And then I see her for the first time. My angel.
~*~
Buffy didn't look away from the girl when she spoke again, this time addressing Xander. "You know something, Xander?"
"I... ah- That's... She's," the Mighty Xander stuttered and Buffy sighed before she turned her attention back to the girl entirely.
She took a few steps forward so she could crouch down in front of the little redhead. "Hey there. I'm Buffy. Who are you?" she asked in what she hoped was a soothing voice.
"Are you an angel?" the little girl asked instead of answering. Green eyes looked at Buffy from their hiding place and Buffy knew... something. Her subconscious was screaming at her to the point of pain. Ignoring her brain's antics she instead answered her new friend.
"No, I'm no angel. But I know one."
"You do?" the girl asked with wonder and it seemed like all traces of fear were gone except for the tear tracks down her face.
"Yeah," Buffy answered as she watched the girl come out from under the bed and even before Xander spoke again she knew who was standing before her.
"She's Willow."
~*~
At Xander's words the kid's head whipped around and she stared at her tall and for her unrecognizable version of her friend. With a loud "Eeek" that eradicated even the last remaining doubts towards the girl's identity in Buffy's mind the small body slammed itself into Buffy's arms. Hadn't she possessed slayer-strength and reflexes Buffy would have fallen at the sudden weight in her arms.
Xander came over to them trying to reassure the little girl he'd known a long time ago, but all that happened was another, this time muffled, "Eeek" as Willow hid deeper in Buffy's awkward embrace.
"I think it'd be better you left, Xand. Go tell Giles what happened, see if he has a clue how we can reverse it. Hit the books, do research... whatever, okay?"
"Sure. You're gonna be okay with LittleWillow? She cries easily."
"We'll be okay. I think it would be best if there weren't so many people here. She doesn't seem to know any of us, probably better no to overwhelm her or something." Buffy could see that Xander was hurt by the fact that Willow seemed to mistrust him, but Buffy was sure he'd get over it. Willow was her priority at the moment.
"I'll tell Giles to call you," he said and got up. He took samples from everything that seemed to be connected with Willow's spell and turned to the door. Before he left he turned back to them. "She likes stories, you could read something to her," he said softly. "Bye, Buff. Bye, Willow."
Both girls remained silent until the door clicked shut, then Willow's head appeared in front of Buffy's face. "How did that boy know so much about me? He looks like Alex."
'Alex must be what Xander was called in kindergarten,' Buffy thought. "He's... ah... he's Alex's uncle." Willow frowned and Buffy knew that Xander wasn't very old compared to your average uncle. Willow obviously had thought the same.
"I guess if Xander's mum or dad has a really young sister or brother who had a child kinda early..." the kid mused out loud and Buffy was amazed both at the similarities to the girl she knew as well as the already obvious intelligence the child possessed.
"Are you Alex's aunt?" Willow suddenly asked and Buffy shook her head before she had fully recovered from the unexpected question.
"Uhm, no. Xander and I are good friends."
"Like Alex and me?"
"Yeah, like you and Alex."
"Cool. I have something in common with my angel." Buffy's heart nearly stopped as she felt the adoration both in Willow's gaze and words. Willow had never looked at her this way. There was nothing held back, nothing protected. Willow's eyes held pure love and Buffy suddenly understood how parents could loves their children so much.
"I'm not an angel. I'm just Buffy."
"Your name is funny." Buffy was surprised at the hurt that squeezed her heart, but she was even more surprised at the relief that washed over her at Willow's next words. "Just like mine!" Willow giggled and Buffy soon joined.
"How about we sit on the bed instead of the floor," Buffy suggested after they'd both calmed down somewhat. She felt Willow nod against her chest where the girl had rested her head, but she seemed to have no intension to get up anytime soon.
"Carry me?" Willow asked as if she'd read Buffy's thoughts. The weight in her arms was no problem for the strong slayer, she'd carried the grown-up Willow on occasion and she hadn't posed a problem for slayer muscles either.
"Here we are," the blonde said and with Willow still in her arms she jumped and landed in the middle of the bed. Willow squealed in surprise, but then grinned at Buffy like the blond had hoped the kid would.
"You like?"
Willow's head bobbed up and down emphatically. "Wanna jump some more?"
"Yay!" was Willow's answer before she left Buffy's arms to start jumping on the bed. Buffy grinned openly at Willow's antics as the small redhead jumped over Buffy's legs laughing the whole time.
With an idea in her mind Buffy got off the bed and stood between both her and Willow's bed. The other girl had stopped jumping in favour of observing the older girl. "Wanna try something else?"
"What?"
"You'll see," Buffy said and smiled encouragingly.
"What do I do?" Willow asked intrigued.
"Jump as high as you can, in my direction."
Again Buffy was in awe at Willow's complete trust. No arched eyebrow - no questions. She knew grown-up Willow trusted her with her life, but this was a whole new level. A quick bending of knees and Willow launched herself into Buffy's arms. The slayer caught her midair, but instead of setting her down she spun around in half-circle and gave Will another push. The little girl landed on the other bed all the while squealing with laughter. She bounced a few times before she came to rest flat on the mattress.
Two seconds later she was on her feet again and shouted for 'more' and 'again' just before the little was airborne again.
~*~
"Again. Again!" Willow squealed as Buffy let herself fall back onto the currently empty bed. Air left her lungs in laboured gasps and her arms felt as if she'd gone ten rounds with dozen of former-box-champion-vampires.
"I." Gasp. "Need." Wheeze. "A." Deep breath. "Break." Buffy closed her eyes and concentrated on breathing. Her ears were still following every move Willow made.
Squeaking of the mattress. Slowing. Coming to a stop. Silence.
Buffy could picture it easily: Willow standing in the middle of the bed, completely still. Probably with a crestfallen-expression on her face. Buffy's mental image alone nearly broke her heart.
A single last squeak. A thud. A series of small taps.
She opened her eyes and saw Willow standing next to the bed.
"Are you tired?" the small redhead asked.
"Yeah. You youngsters must go easy on the elderly," Buffy said with a smirk,
"You're not old," Willow said with conviction.
"I know, honey. But it's late and I've been out all night. We should probably try to get some sleep. We've been at this for... over two hours!?" Buffy was surprised at the amount of time that had passed during her play with Willow. Immediately her thought turned to Xander. She was concerned about the fact that neither her nor Giles had called.
With life's usual accuracy the phone rang. It was Giles.
He told Buffy not to worry. From what Xander had told him he believed that Willow hadn't performed an actual spell, but had done some deep wiccan meditation that required the herbs and setup Xander had described. Giles explained further that he'd just been on the phone with an old friend of his. Apparently there'd been a massive magical disturbance in town that night and inexperienced magical folks might have been caught in the crossfire. The friend, Giles had talked to, was also the one responsible for the disturbance. He was really sorry, but all that happened was harmless and the effects would wear off in a day or two.
Buffy made the mistake to ask what kind of magical disturbance it had been...
After half an hour of detailed explanation Giles finally stopped talking and with a sigh of relief Buffy wished him a good night and hung up.
During her talk with Giles Willow had started yawning and with Buffy distracted enough not to protest, the girl had crawled into bed next to Buffy. The small girl was sleeping soundly and Buffy had to smile. She was sprawled over as much space as possible not unlike the grown-up Willow. For the first time since they'd found Willow in her transformed state Buffy took a moment to really study her friend.
Long red hair, smooth skin painted with freckles, delicate body... all Willow-attributes were there and Buffy wondered how anyone could miss this beautiful little girl or the beautiful woman she would become. She looked too cute in the small peasant top and long soft leather skirt. Buffy found it funny that the girl's clothes had shrunk with her, but that also reminded her of another problem. Willow couldn't sleep in the clothes she wore and finding suitable nightwear for a four-year-old in a dorm room proved to be more difficult that one would imagine. In the end she took a shirt of an oversized teddy baer Willow had won at a fair a couple of weeks ago and after twenty minutes of pulling and sleepy squirming little Willow slept undisturbed in only the shirt and her panties.
Exhausted and with a mix of sweat and dirt on her skin from the day's activities Buffy decided to take a shower. Willow was fast asleep and she'd be back in less then ten minutes since she didn't feel like washing her hair. Buffy grabbed her shower-kit, a towel and some sweats to sleep in, and quickly left the room.
~*~
Exactly eight minutes and thirty-four seconds later a clean slayer opened the door only to find a distressed Willow sitting in the middle of the bed with big tears crawling down her cheeks.
"Willow! What happened? Are you hurt?" Buffy asked after she'd thrown her stuff in the general direction of the laundry basket. She sat down next to the quivering girl and put a hand on the small shoulder. Willow instantly stopped trembling as she leaned into the slayer's touch.
"You-" she started and the hiccupped. "I woke and- and you weren't there and I thought I was alone again and then I thought it was like before and I was afraid and-"
"Shh. I'm right here. See?" Buffy pulled the girl's head up so she could see into her eyes. "I'm not going to leave you alone. I just went to take a quick shower. I thought you were asleep and didn't want to wake you just to tell you. I'm sorry."
The girl looked so small and lost and at the same time so hopeful and so full of trust in Buffy. All the slayer could do was climb into the bed beside her friend and let her snuggle up to her, at the moment, much taller frame. As Willow's arms closed around Buffy's middle in a loose embrace the blonde felt content for the first time she'd become the slayer.
There was still the occasional hiccup or sniffle coming from the girl in her arms so Buffy stroked her back soothingly. Again there was an immediate reaction as Willow seemed to calm down some more.
"Wanna hear a story?" Buffy finally asked to break the silence. She'd remembered Xander mentioning Willow's appreciation of storytelling.
"'kay," Willow whispered.
Buffy first rearranged the covers around them so they were tugged in before she started speaking. "Okay, I'm gonna tell you the story of the angel I know." An excited squeal let her know that she'd made the right choice. "The first day I met my angel was my very first day at a new school. She was standing next to a water fountain and when I looked into her eyes for the first time I knew she didn't need wings to fly. She had her own magic..."
~*~
Chapter Two
~*~
Buffy woke and the feeling of the soft body in her arms hadn't gone away. In fact, the body in her arms felt distinctively larger than it had last night, it also seemed to wear less clothing...
'Woah!' Buffy practically yelled, except that she never moved her lips. Her eyes were wide open staring at the naked shoulder before her. A piece of ripped shirt soon solved the mystery of her sleeppartner's nakedness. Obviously the shirt Buffy had put on Willow wasn't big enough for the grown-up Willow and when they change had happened the shirt had been ripped. 'That must've hurt Buffy thought as she tried to imagine what had happened.
'Willow is back,' the thought hit her like Bloloch demon's axe would at full speed. She watched her friend's back. They were spooned together much the same as Buffy had been with LittleWillow. She'd miss the kid-version of her friend, Buffy realized. Willow's easy acceptance of Buffy's affections, the ultimate trust, the simplicity of the things that made the young girl happy, the impact Buffy's mere presence had had... As the slayer, Buffy was strong and powerful, but never had she felt more powerful than when one word from her made Willow's eyes light up or a simply caress calmed deep-rooted fears in an instant. 'I loved loving her,' Buffy thought only to stumble over her own thoughts and feelings. Of course she loved Willow, she was her best friend! Still, there was something about that argumentation that wasn't right. And it had to do with the fact that Buffy had woken up with her hand cupping her best friend's breast. And she liked it.
~*~
Willow was dreaming she could fly. She was happy, laughing, screaming with delight as she moved through the clouds as a surfer would along the waves of an angry ocean. Nothing could happen to her, she was perfectly save. She knew that for certain. And then, as abrupt as a surfer who'd fallen of his board Willow woke up.
"Huh?" Willow said with all the intelligence that had gotten her into more ivy colleges than she could remember. She blinked against the brightness and leaned back into the body behind her to seek protection. Buffy would protect her. Buffy?
She turned around to find her best friend who was blinking just as Willow had done a few seconds ago. "Willow, you alright?" Buffy asked.
"Uhm, yeah. Buffy what happened?"
"Oh, some whacky spell thingy mixed up a lot of things in town tonight. Some sorcerer did a spell wrong and you were caught in his magicks. Turned you into a kid."
"A kid?" Willow asked in wonder. She didn't remember much after sitting down for some meditation.
"Yeah, about four or five years old, I think. Xander and I found you here alone and scared. We played some before falling asleep," Buffy explained as she settled back down to snuggle up to Willow again.
"Uh, when exactly did I lose my cloths?" The most pressing question had an amazing effect on Buffy. The blonde sat up as if somebody had fired a gun next to her ear, her whole body tense.
"Your cloths? Oh, uhm, well we didn't have anything for you to sleep in so I put you in that shirt from Mr. Teddy and when your body changed back it must have ripped the too small shirt and I swear you were dressed when we went to bed and-"
"It's okay, Buffy. I get it. I'll just go get a shirt," Willow said amused by her friend's babble attack. She slipped out of bed and went to get a shirt when she heard a sharp gasp from behind her. Out of reflex she turned back to Buffy searching for the evil that had the slayer staring ahead with an awe-struck expression on her features. "What's wrong Buffy?"
At first their was no reply and Buffy's body seemed to tense only more before suddenly air rushed out of the slayer's lips accompanying a sentence that Willow had never heard quite like that before.
"You're so beautiful."
As if she'd only now realized she'd spoken Buffy's eyes widened before she flung her body back onto the bed to hide her face in the pillow.
Willow felt as if a pillow was pressed to her face as well. Her eyes didn't seem to work right and all sounds were muffled, breathing was hard as she had to suck oxygen through a very thin straw. "You're so beautiful."
The words had burned themselves into the witch's mind and the flame licked up the insides of her head burning all common sense to ash. She sank back down onto the bed and Buffy's hand shot out to grab the blanket. In a move very suited for slayer courage, the blonde was now hiding under the covers.
"Buffy?" No answer came forth and Willow was confused. What was happening? Buffy had told her countless times that she was beautiful, what was different? 'She's never gasped it while she was staring at you half-naked body,' the voice, that didn't want to go into denial, explained to her.
"Buffy, please. You're scaring me."
Slowly a part of the blanket moved to reveal the slayers head, silent tears already streaming down her face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I just, I... can we just not talk about it, please?" Buffy squeezed her eyes tightly shut, trying to forget what she'd seen while another part of her tried desperately to hold onto the image of her best friend's beauty. 'Why did I have to fall back asleep? I should have just gotten out of bed when I first woke up,' Buffy thought and in a flesh another memory claimed her thoughts. The feel of soft skin, the excitement of forbidden flesh, the intensity of the feelings coursing through her.
Willow saw Buffy fade into somewhere inside herself and desperately wanted to follow. To know what was going on behind those usually expressive orbs and find what she hoped for. Willow knew that this moment was important, so important that she couldn't worry about her partial nudity or consequences or the grander scheme of things. She leaned over and quickly kissed her best friend's lips. Wherever Buffy's thoughts had been a minute ago, right now all of them were focused on Willow.
"What?" the slayer asked confused.
"I don't know," Willow answered truthfully. "I only feel." And then, for the first time in her adult-life Willow Rosenberg looked somebody directly in the eye. At that moment Buffy realized that the love in Willow's eyes was just as unconditional as the love in a child's eyes and that the redhead once again trusted her to catch her as she jumped.
Buffy opened her arms.
~*~
The end.
~*~