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"Magical blast? You mean, some kind of attack, then?" Charlotte asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I guess." Sarah agreed.

"Well, that does fit, somewhat. If you were with Willow when she was attacked you could blast Nathaniel. But she's alone in the vision, so that still doesn't quite fit. There has to be more to this." Charlotte said.

"Did you use this blast on John?" Tina asked worriedly.

"...no." Sarah said quietly.

Sarah's, girlfriend?, put her arm around her and said, "Her blast is unlikely to kill someone, if that's what you're thinking."

Tina nodded, "Okay. I just wondered because the police don't seem to have gotten anywhere finding out who killed him." Tina said. That statement required an explanation for Rose, Willow and Charlotte. Tina had forgotten that they didn't know about the stuff that had gone on at work before she started there. She explained about how John had attacked Sarah and been killed.

"I think we've got the problem solved." the second woman said, startling Tina. She turned to look at her, but stopped when she saw Willow standing among the others. But when she turned back Willow was still there next to her.

"Willow?" Tina said, looking back at the second Willow.

"No, I'm Sarah. We were thinking I could switch places with Willow." Sarah said, still looking, and sounding, exactly like Willow.

"You're a shape shifter?!" Charlotte exclaimed. "I thought they were long extinct!"

"Um, not exactly." Sarah said, reverting to her normal appearance. "I've never done anything quite like this before."

"What do you mean?" Rose asked.

"This is a new use of an old ability for her. When she first discovered it she could only change a person's gender." the second woman explained.

"Oh, is that how you changed?" Tina asked in awe.

"Something like that." Sarah said. "I might be able to use it to change Willow to look like me. Then we can switch places until Nathaniel is caught."

"Why switch places? We could just keep Willow here until you find Nathaniel." Rose said.

"Yeah, I guess that would work, too." Sarah said.

Charlotte shook her head, "I don't think that's a good idea. How does Nathaniel find Willow in the first place? If he's watching this shop and sees two Willows, then we're in trouble. It's safer if you two switch places. Besides, if Sarah suddenly disappears for a day or two after meeting us, it will look suspicious. Do you think Willow can handle going to work in your place for a day or two?"

"Well, Tiffany and Tina will be there, so I guess that could work." Sarah said.

"Are you okay with that Willow?" Tina asked.

Willow nodded, "Sure, no problem!"

"Are you sure you can handle Nathaniel?" Rose asked doubtfully.

Sarah shrugged, "Should be able to. Mike's been teaching me to defend myself, and I've got my blast power. And it doesn't sound like Nathaniel has any magical weapons to work with anymore, so I should be okay."

"When are we going to do this?" Charlotte asked. "Do you have anything going on tomorrow that would be disrupted by switching places, either of you?"

Willow shrugged, "I don't have anything going on. Sarah?"

"Uh, actually, I kind of do." Sarah said awkwardly.

"What do you mean Sarah?" her girlfriend asked.

"Taking you to the airport?" Sarah replied.

"Oh, yeah." she said. "If you two switch before that then we wouldn't see each other again until after this is over."

"We should do this before Monday, so how about after her flight leaves?" Charlotte suggested.

"I guess so. But what would I need to do as Willow?" Sarah said.

Rose snorted, "Not much! Willow isn't working right now, or going to school. She seems to think she can make a living with magic."

"Hey, I can! I just haven't figured out how to do it yet!" Willow protested.

Rose rolled her eyes and looked at Sarah, "Don't worry, she spends all her time with me. You'll have an easier time than Willow will."

"Okay, so where should we make the switch? We don't want to tip off Nathaniel." Sarah's friend said.

"I suppose it should be somewhere public, where we can meet up without seeming to meet up." her other friend suggested.

"When's your flight again?" Sarah asked her girlfriend.

"Three." she said.

"Pizza?" Sarah said hopefully.

The guy groaned, "I should have known!"

"What?" Tina said.

"Sarah loves pizza. She never gets tired of it." he explained.

"That could work. If we go to the same pizza place at about the same time, you two can just 'happen' to go to the bathroom at the same time and make your switch." Charlotte said thoughtfully.

"So...five?" Sarah said happily.

"Okay, five o'clock it is." Charlotte agreed after glancing at the others and receiving no argument.

"Okay, we'll see you then." Tiffany said. Sarah and her friends all stood and walked back into the shop with Charlotte.

"So, I guess we have a plan. Don't worry Willow, Tiffany and I will help you at work." Tina said.

Willow smiled, "I know, I'm not worried! I just hope Sarah knows what she's doing."

"We're doing what the vision said we needed to do to keep you safe, so I'm sure she does." Rose said.

"Yeah, somehow I feel that Sarah can take care of herself. I'm sure they were holding back on what she can do. And I wouldn't be surprised to find out one or more of her friends are magical, too." Tina said.

"Why would they hold back? We're all magical here?" Willow asked curiously.

"For the same reason Grandma was holding back on what I can do." Tina answered with a look at Rose.

Rose blushed and looked down, "Yeah, sorry about that. I wasn't thinking."

"That's okay. They might find out later, anyway." Tina said, not feeling particularly worried about it. She couldn't call Sarah and Tiffany friends, exactly, but she trusted them.

"Did you see that one girl's hair?!" Willow said. "That was awesome! I should have asked her who did it."

"That was Tiffany. I was amazed when I first saw it, too. I asked her then and she just said a friend did it." Tina replied.

"Maybe Sarah did it with her cool shape shifting thing?" Willow said.

"She just said that she had never done anything like that before." Charlotte pointed out as she walked in the room. "I think it's safe to say she didn't change Tiffany's hair."

"Oh yeah, good point. So, Tina, you were telling us about barrier glyphs, right?" Willow said.

"I'll leave you three to it, I'm going to get started on dinner." Charlotte said. The three of them went back up to Tina's room and she continued explaining how glyphs work. She was talking animatedly about some new spells she was trying to put together when Charlotte came up and told them dinner was ready.

They talked about glyphs more during dinner and her grandmother cautioned Tina not to try and teach anyone actual glyphs until they'd gotten a better handle on their use, themselves.

After dinner Tina started explaining what Sarah did at the store. They all had a good laugh at some of the silly questions people came up with.

Charlotte didn't want anyone too tired to keep up their end of the charade, so she asked Tina and the others not to do anymore trance work until Nathaniel was dealt with. They ended up watching a movie before calling it a night early. Willow was almost asleep on her feet as Rose helped her to bed.

"I know she seems so upbeat all the time, but she just gets worse when she's nervous or scared. She tires herself out a lot when that happens." Rose explained to Tina. "Please keep an eye on her, okay? She's not as carefree as she pretends."

Tina nodded, "Of course! I kind of wondered about that. I'd be a nervous wreck, at best, if someone told me I might die in the next couple of days."

"Exactly. It's the way she copes. She didn't use to be so bubbly all the time, but she's been coping a lot lately." Rose said sadly.

"What do you mean?" Tina asked worriedly.

"I'm not sure what the problem is, but something has been bothering her. Before the death vision, that is. Obviously that's stressing her out. But she's been a little better since we met you." Rose replied.

"Why would that make a difference?" Tina asked, confused.

"I don't know. Maybe it's because she didn't have any other friends but me? Or maybe it's because you seem to love magic as much as she does?" Rose said.

"You don't?" Tina asked.

"Not the way Willow does. Magic is part of my religion. It's not an end to itself for me. Willow is different, like you. She loves magic for itself. I don't think she really believes in the religious side of things." Rose explained.

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To Be Continued…

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