"This storm is horrible." Tara said, after coming back from the window. Send feedback to Tiara
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Cordelia sighed, before looking at the very silent vampire, "Angel? Are you okay? You've been super quiet again."
"Buffy never liked thunder or lightening." Angel said, "She said it reminded her of a time when she was young, when her father forgot to pick her up from gymnastics' class, and she wondered off from the there and into down town Los Angeles."
"It's getting really bad out there," Oz said.
Angel moved away from the wall he had been leaning against with a push of his foot, "I'm going out." He said simply, and before anyone could protest, he was gone.
"I just know he's gonna get himself hurt," Cordelia said.
Spike rolled his eyes, "Bloody hell! I'll go after him," And ran off.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Anne squealed and ran as fast as her tiny, sore legs could take her, but all too soon did the witch find her and snatch her up like fresh mushrooms.
"Let me go!" Anne cried, "Let me go, you mean old witch!"
Crystal cackled, actually cackled, and it frightened Anne to no bounds, "You little brat! Where's you're brave fairy to save you now?"
"He is not a fairy!" Anne snapped, "He's a elf! And when he finds me he's gonna kick your sorry buns!"
"Unlikely," Crystal sneered, preparing to render the tiny child unconscious when she heard that horrible pipe start to play, "No!"
But in a second flat, Crystal was thrown back into an open crypt, just before the heavy door snapped onto her. She screamed and banged on the door. Anne glanced around and saw him, "Leo!" She shouted, and ran into his arms, crying, "Leo! I was so scared! It was scary!"
"It's okay, Anne. I'm here now." Leo said, before producing a lime green rain jacket and putting it on her.
"Thank you, Leo." Anne said, before she stood on her tippy toes and kissed him on the cheek. Leo blushed, and looked at her again.
He was about to tell her that they should go back for fear of the storm, when the lid of the crypt flew off and revealed a very vicious looking creature.
Part 14
Crystal was no longer in the shape of a woman, but a horrible looking monster. Her face stretched to look like a lion's, while her skin shifted into that off battered looking leather. Her hair was now gray and oily looking, and her eyes glowed a frightening blue.
"Give. Me. That. Brat!" Crystal hissed before attacking.
Leo shoved Anne away, just before he was thrown back, his pipe leaving him. Leo shouted for Anne to run away as he struggled to get her off of him. Anne stuttered, then glanced around. She spotted his flute, laying in the mud as rain trickled down on it. He needed that
flute! It was the source of his powers!
Anne hurried toward the flute, and prepared to grab it when quick fingers snatched it from her grasp. Anne gasped and slowly looked up. Standing in red dress, and women with blond hair and blood red lips gazed down at her. She held the flute in one of her hands while her other arm was crossed over, supporting the arm the held up the pipe.
"Looking for this?" The women hissed before her face changed.
Anne screamed, jumping back and falling into a puddle. She cried out, and glanced toward Leo. He was laying on the ground... a pool of blood...
The blond laughed, "You don't remember me, do you little Buffy?"
"I'm not Buffy," Anne choked out, "I--I don't even know who she was..."
"Don't play with me, little girl!" She snapped, "You! You're the reason he's not beside me! You're the reason why he isn't loving me! You're the reason he tossed me aside like trash! You're the reason why he isn't here now!"
"Who said I wasn't here?"
Anne watched as the blond women looked up, her horrible face changing back to normal. Her face playing a sweet smile, "Angelus..."
"Darla." Angel growled.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"I thought I told you to never come back again." Angel snarled out.
Darla batted her eyelashes, "You said never to come back to L.A. Not to sweet Sunnydale."
"She's just a child," Angel said.
"You're a liar," Darla said, "But no matter. She'll be gone in a mere moment."
"Think again." Angel growled.
Anne shook from her spot. For the first time, Angel actually scared her. She didn't know he could make noises like that. Before she could crawl away, Angel had attacked that lady. Anne cried out, stumbling back. She hurried forward and grabbed the flute discarded by that
lady.
She ran away, but was snatched up again. She cried out, squirming in Crystal's arms before she felt herself being dropped. Anne touched her sore bottom, and looked up again. Angel was fighting that blond lady and that clown man, Spike, had taken Crystal.
"Beat it lil' bint!" Spike shouted toward her. Even as a child, Spike couldn't believe how stubborn Buffy was.
He managed to get Crystal off of her and looked at her. She just sat there, staring at him. She mumbled something.
"What?" Spike shouted.
"..." Anne said, then screamed, "No!"
"What?!" Spike yelled just before being tackled by Crystal again.
"I can't leave Leo." Anne said, looking down at him. She touched his forehead, then sniffed. She glanced around. Spike was fighting her, and Angel was fighting that other one...
At that moment, Anne's heart felt like it was about to bust. She cried out loudly, horrible little sobs that shook her tiny body that left her hiccupping.
She looked down at Leo's hand.
Tentatively, she touched the pipe from his hands.
Part 15
Anne touched the pipe ever so carefully, and gasped when Spike suddenly pinned Crystal down in front of her. She trembled, and instinctively drew back. She bit her lip, and edged forward again. Ignoring the shouts and hits of the fight.
She grabbed it quickly, and looked at its oddly curled shape. The tiny little sparkles on it she never noticed before. The strange familiar way it fit into her hands.
Slowly, ever so slowly, she brought the flute up to her lips.
Glancing around, she saw that Angel was losing ground.
Her large eyes widened.
Taking in a deep breath, she blew into the pipe, as loudly as she could. As hard as her tiny lungs could let her.
She could hear the noise over the sounds of the unnaturally growls, and over the rolling thunder and dripping rain.
It sounded horrible, but she kept blowing, kept breathing into the flute until she started to feel dizzy. Her body shook.
Suddenly, she felt that earth shaking light come over again. The light that came whenever she was frightened to death. But she continued. She swore she wouldn't stop until Leo woke. Her head was hurting, and the world around her shook. The hammering began in her head and in her heart, and finally, it took her over.
The light shined so brightly that it seemed to last forever. Until she finally let the flute slip out of her hands, and fall back onto the earth with a tiny thump....
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Anne..."
"Mmm." Anne groaned.
"Anne..."
"No, mommy..." Anne murmured, sleepily, "I wanna sleep s'more."
"Anne... come on sweetie... wake up..."
Anne wiped at her little eyes, moaning as she got to her feet. When she opened her eyes, she gasped.
Standing in front of her, in a white silk dress, was her. She stood with her blond hair down, her hands clasped in front of her. She smiled softly down at her.
"You're... you're... you're..." Anne stuttered
"Hello, Anne."
"Buffy..." Anne whispered.
Part 16
Anne watched Buffy, then glanced around them. All she could see was white. The whitest room she had ever seen, and the brightest to boot. She glanced down and found herself wearing the same dress as Buffy's only in her size.
Buffy smiled, "I've been waiting for you for a long time, Anne."
"Who are you?" Anne asked.
"I'm Buffy." She answered, "I'm you're memories, Anne. I'm you're heart. I'm you."
"Are you here to make me go away?" Anne asked softly.
"No..." Buffy said, "No... I'm here so you can come back to me..."
"I'm scared." Anne muttered.
"I know." Buffy said.
"I'm not good enough to be you." Anne confessed sadly. Looking at Buffy, she could already see the bright glow of her aura around her. In this room, it shone brightly. She hung her head.
"Says who?" Buffy lifted Anne's chin so she looked up at her. "Anne... you're such a brave little girl. You may not think you're important, but you are. You're important to Leo, to Angel, and to me..."
"Really?" Anne sniffed.
"Really." Buffy said.
Anne ran forward and wrapped her tiny arms around Buffy. Buffy hugged her back, kneeling down so they were face to face.
"What do I have to do?" Anne asked.
"Nothing." Buffy said, leaning down and kissing her forehead, "You've done enough."
Anne's eyes widened before everything went white again.
And then, she gasped, and Buffy opened her eyes, all alone. She glanced down to see a red ribbon on the floor. She picked it up and glanced around again. She tied it around her wrist before she smiled and hugged herself.
Then the bright light came again.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Angel fell to the ground, exhausted. Spike had been knocked out by Crystal and now he wasn't fairing any better with facing off with a very pissed off ex-vampire girlfriend, and a raged demonic witch.
He grunted as he tried to get up, the rain soaking him worse. But Darla sent her heeled foot into his side and snarled down at him, "You wasted you're life on that cheerleader! Like I said before, Angel... you're sick, and you'll always be sick. Where is you're precious cheerleader now?"
"Right here, hooker."
Both Darla and Crystal looked up to see Buffy, standing with her hands crossed over her chest.
"Well, if it isn't' little ol' cheer queen." Darla sneered.
"How's life been, bitch?" Buffy asked sweetly.
"Much better since you've been gone," Darla answered, "Get her, Crystal!"
Crystal leaped at her and in one second flat, she was on her back, withering in pain as Buffy glared down at her. She tried to get up but in minutes flat, Buffy had produced a stake out of thin air and slammed it into Crystal's heart.
Buffy, then stalked toward Darla, grabbed her by the arm and yanked her off of Angel. In the next few minutes, she was pummeling Darla with kicks and punches and a series of new moves she had picked up before she had died.
Within minutes, Buffy had Darla on the ground, muddy from head to toe. Looking down at her, Buffy snapped, "And this time, I'm gonna make sure you stay dead." And before Darla could speak, Buffy sent her flying into a tree, a large branch piercing her heart.
Buffy watched the ash fall to the ground, and shook her head, "Oh, no. You don't get off that easy." Buffy stared down at the ash until it started to sizzle like hot acid, and then it dissolved.
Buffy turned around and ran right into Angel. She almost fell if he hadn't caught her arm.
She gazed up at him, her eyes wide as he gazed down at her in amazement. He brushed his hand over her cheek, then touched her hair, and her forehead. He started to shake before he crushed her little body to his chest, breathing her in, crying in relief.
Buffy kissed his neck, and moved to look up at him. She smiled before eyelids grew heavy and she went limp in his arms.
Part 17
"I want you to have this." Leo said, outstretching his hand.
Buffy gazed at Leo, face to face. It had been three long days after she returned back to normal. All in which were filled with sobbing with her friends, talking with her sister, and fixing up the problem at her college. She was surprised when Leo came down the stairs that night at Giles house, his wound gone, and instead of it, he had wings.
Gorgeous transparent, rainbow colored wings. He used them now as he stood before Buffy, offering his flute to her. She took the object, then looked back up at Leo, "I guess this means you're leaving."
Leo nodded, "I protected you when you were in child form, and I protected you when you really were a child. But you no longer need my protection."
"I'll miss you," Buffy said, "I know that my child side will."
Leo smiled, "I'm a dream elf remember? I'll always been in your dreams. And you'll always be in mine, Anne... Buffy." He had wrapped the ribbon he had gotten from her around the one that Anne had given him before. It was now braided into the hem of his shirt.
Buffy smiled, and walked forward and light kissed him on the cheek. He blushed again before flying higher in the air. "Goodbye Buffy." He started to take off when he whirled around to look at her again, "Oh, and say hi to Liam for me."
Buffy frowned, "I don't know anyone named Liam."
Leo grinned, "You will." And took off into the night.
Buffy smiled, and waved like a little kid, "Goodbye Leo!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"You're not dumping me for a nine-year-old are you?"
Buffy giggled at the sound of his voice as he came up behind her and draped his arms around her shoulders. He rested his head on her shoulder and looked at her.
"Why?" Buffy asked, looking down at Angel, "Are you jealous?"
"Of that elf?" Angel scoffed, "Please."
"You've turned into quite that goof ball while I was gone." Buffy commented, referring to the time that had passed before she had died.
"Yeah, well, you turned into a really wise women." Angel turned her around in his arms, "How'd that happen?"
Buffy shrugged her shoulders, "I dunno."
"You know what." Angel started, "I think you were much more trouble when you were a toddler. A little imp"
Buffy arched a brow, "You think so?"
Angel nodded.
Buffy let a mock laugh escape her lips as she started toward Giles' house. Willow came out, "Hey, Giles is almost finished with dinn--"
"Hold that." Buffy said, shoving the pipe into Willow's hands before turning around and sprinting toward Angel. In one quick movement, she jumped onto his back and tied her hands around his neck, "Imp, huh? You think I was trouble then? Ha! You should have seen me in my pre-teen years!"
"What? Did you sneak into the boy's bathroom during gym?" Angel asked while twirling, trying to shake her off.
Buffy didn't budge, "Close. I used that air vents and saw them all naked."
"What?!" Angel snapped.
"It was a dare!" Buffy giggled, "Besides, its not like there was much to look at!"
Willow sighed, placing the flute on the window while watching the two wrestle.
"Hey, Wills! What's going on?" Xander asked as he came up from behind her, "What's taking Buff so long?"
Willow gestured to the wrestling pair.
Xander looked up, and grinned, "Dog pile!" He shouted loudly, and ran forward. As Buffy got Angel to his knees, they immediately fell to the grass as Xander jumped on them.
Willow laughed.
"What's going on?" Dawn asked, followed by the rest of the gang.
"Yeah, we heard screaming," Cordelia said.
Willow smiled, a large one that nearly hurt her face. She looked at the others who were wearing worried faces, then screamed, "Dog pile!" And ran off toward the wrestling three.
"No!" Buffy shrieked as Willow added another set of legs and arms to add to the twister of a not they were already in. Buffy giggled when she heard Xander make a `Omph!' sound. Then followed by a "Hey! Will, you've been eating a lot lately?"
"Shove it, Barbie Kidnapper!" Willow said, poking the side of his chest. "Ow! That hurt!"
Dawn giggled and ran forward. "Hey!" Anya said, "Hey! You better not be hurting my Xander!" She shouted and ran after them.
Oz glanced at Tara, then back at the laughing mass of people on the ground. "When in Rome." Oz said before running off, Tara smiled and trailed behind.
"God, are we like the only mature people in this house?" Cordelia asked.
Gunn shrugged, "I don't know, but you can well count me as not a mature person." And with that, he ran off, too.
Cordelia stamped her foot, "Wesley..."
But he was already gone, "Wesley what are you doing?!"
"I want to make sure they don't kill Angel." Wesley said.
Then Cordelia's eyes widened, and she started to stalk toward the group, "Hey! Hey! You be gentle with Angel! That vampire is worth some serious money, which I won't be getting if you break him!"
"Here Cordy, hop in!" Xander shouted as he pushed Cordelia into the mass of people who quickly swallowed her up, "No! Get off me you nerd bombers!"
Spike rolled his eyes by the door, taking a long drag, "I never understood the point of that."
"Well," Giles started, "For boys, it was to show off their masculinity. For women, it was in the fit of rage. For man with women, it was for the sheer pleasure of groping and getting away with it."
Spike turned to the group, "Hey! Hey, Buffy? You in 'ere?"
Giles rolled his eyes as another one joined the fray. His yard was promptly turned into a wrestling frenzy, and he didn't do a thing to stop it. He glanced at the gift Buffy had gotten and took it into his hands to bring inside.
As he started in, he listened to their loud cries,
"Hey, who coped a feel?!"
"Don't look at me!"
Laughter...
"Guys, I can't feel my legs!"
"Eew! This grass is covered with bugs!"
Laughter...
"You're smashing my arm!"
"Ow! Hey, somebody just elbowed me!"
"Oh! Oh, holy monkey! You can touch me anywhere, but not there!"
"Wasn't there another one of these?"
Laughter...
"You just elbowed me right in the face!"
"I love you."
"Hey, get off me ya hippo!"
Laughter....
"I love you, too..."
"Hippo?! Who the hell are you calling a--"
Giles closed the door, "But as I like to say... you're only as old as you feel..."
Giles placed the pipe down and moved back into the kitchen.
And from the open window, the laughter and the shouts continued on as the pale moonlight hit the pipe, and it twinkled.