---

Sarah awoke feeling confused. Her bed felt odd, but then so did everything else. The only thing that felt familiar was Vash lying nestled up against her. Vash, what's going on? she asked.

Remember, you switched places with Willow. You're at Charlotte's home, in one of her guest rooms. You are currently wearing Willow's form. Vash replied.

Oh yeah. What are you doing here? Sarah asked.

I said I'd watch out for you. I also checked on your father. I do not know what the problem is yet. He is fighting to ignore or forget it. But I think it is a battle he is losing. Soon both he and I should know what the problem is. I'm sorry I couldn't find out more. Vash said.

That's fine, at least it sounds like something might give soon. I guess I need to get up and find out what I'm doing today. Sarah thought.

Don't worry, I'm not going to leave you alone either. Erica sent lovingly.

Erica! I didn't think I'd be hearing from you so soon! Sarah thought happily.

I knew you'd be stressing out. Besides, I have to make sure this Nathaniel guy doesn't hurt you. And don't worry, my classes today are mostly review stuff. Erica replied.

Okay, thanks. I was starting to feel kind of lonely. Sarah sent.

You won't be alone, even if you appear to be at times. We'll make sure of it. Vash added.

A knock at the door startled Sarah. "Willow, are you awake in there?" Rose called through the door.

"Uh, yeah." Sarah replied.

"Charlotte's making breakfast downstairs if you're interested." Rose said.

"Okay, I'll be down in a minute." Sarah said. She got out of bed and looked through the bag of Willow's clothes. There were only a couple more days worth of clothes, all of it pretty much the same as what she'd been wearing the day before. She reluctantly changed into the tight fitting, to her, clothes and went to look for the kitchen. Having already scouted the house, Vash easily led her down to it.

"Good morning Willow. I hope you slept well?" Charlotte said when she saw her.

"Uh, yeah, I did." Sarah said, still uncomfortable answering to Willow's name.

"Have a seat, breakfast will be done shortly." Charlotte said.

Sarah sat next to Tina with Rose on the other side of the table. She avoided their gaze and stared at the table.

"Uh, what would you like to do today Willow?" Rose finally asked.

Sarah shrugged, "I don't know."

"We could go to the mall, you always like that." Rose said, forgetting for a moment that Sarah wasn't really Willow. Sarah shrugged.

An uncomfortable silence descended, broken only when Charlotte brought breakfast to the table. Sarah picked at her pancakes in silence, painfully aware of three sets of eyes on her. Four, if she counted Vash.

Try to loosen up. They are not hostile. They are very glad you are doing this, in fact., Vash said.

I guess. But I don't know any of them, not even Tina really. What am I supposed to say? Sarah asked.

Vash had no answer to that, and the silence stretched until Tina got up and said she had to go to work. "Be careful today Willow. I'll see you later." she said, waving as she walked out the door. Sarah waved back weakly, feeling even more alone now that the only person she even partially knew was gone.

I'm still here, you know. Vash said in a mock-grumpy tone.

Sorry. Sarah said.

"Why don't we get going, too?" Rose suggested. Sarah shrugged, but got up when Rose did. Charlotte waved goodbye as they went out the door.

"So, which store do you want to hit first, or do you want to just cruise the mall?" Rose asked.

"Uh, I guess cruise?" Sarah replied uncertainly.

Rose led Sarah over to her car. They drove silently to the mall and walked in. Sarah tried to actually look around at the stores, something she hadn't really done as a girl yet, but still felt very awkward around Rose. For her part Rose seemed uncomfortable as well. Neither said much until Rose looked at her watch after they'd been cruising the mall for a couple of hours. "Oh no, I forgot!" she said.

"What?" Sarah asked.

"I have a doctor's appointment today. I'll be late unless I leave now. Do you want to come with me, or stay here?" Rose replied.

Nathaniel probably won't show himself until you are alone. You might as well let her go. Vash suggested.

"Um, I guess I'll stay." Sarah said.

Rose looked relieved, and a little guilty, "Okay. I shouldn't be long. I'll meet you in the food court, okay?"

"Sure. See you later." Sarah said. Rose nodded and walked back towards the parking lot.

Sarah looked around her, trying to decide if there was anything else in the mall she really wanted to look at. She realized she could hardly remember what they had looked at and figured she might as well take a walk outside of the mall for a while. She remembered seeing a park across the street so headed that way.

Good idea. Nathaniel is more likely to make a move when you aren't in such a crowded place, anyway, and I don't think you want this to drag on anymore than necessary. Vash said.

Sarah tensed up at his words, looking around fearfully. She couldn't see anybody that looked out of place, but she'd forgotten to ask what Nathaniel looked like.

I have a feeling you won't have any trouble identifying him when he arrives. Vash told her, hopping up on her shoulder and wrapping his tail around her neck. His purring served to calm her a little as she approached the park.

---

Tiffany was awoken by Sarah, or rather Willow, jumping onto the arm of the couch where she slept. She jumped out of bed, the shadows in the room quickly coalescing around her and she looked frantically around the room.

"Oops, sorry!" Willow said apologetically, "I didn't mean to frighten you. Um, would you like some waffles?"

Slowly Tiffany relaxed, letting the shadows melt away. "Uh, sure, that would be nice. Thanks." Once her heart had stopped pounding she walked over to the closet where most of her worldly possessions lay and pulled out some clothes. A quick shower and change later she was in the kitchen slathering butter on her waffles.

"So, when do we need to leave?" Willow asked. Tiffany could tell she was trying to remain calm, but her excessive energy made itself known in small movements and excessive hand gestures.

"We've got thirty minutes or so." Tiffany replied. Willow soon joined her at the table and they ate in silence. Once finished they began cleaning the dishes, which felt odd to Tiffany to do the mundane way after seeing Sarah and Jill use their powers to do the dishes over the last few days. Once finished they walked out to Tiffany's car in silence. On the drive over Tiffany went back over what Willow would need to do at work.

Once at work Tiffany reluctantly left Willow to do Sarah's job and went on to do her own. She was rather surprised at how well Willow seemed to do. At lunch she ate with Willow and Tina and answered some questions from Willow about the job, but she seemed to have gotten the hang of it remarkably well.

Willow noticed them both looking at her in surprise. "What, you thought this would be really hard for me? I'm pretty good at talking to people, most of the time. And I'm real comfortable with computers and electronics and stuff. This isn't that bad."

Tina shook her head, "You're full of surprises. I wonder how Sa...I mean, Willow is doing."

"How did she seem this morning?" Tiffany asked.

"Tense. Withdrawn. Or maybe just nervous. I don't know her that well." Tina replied.

"I meant to warn you, she's really depressed over her fiance going back to Harvard. She's also had a rough time lately in general. We're all worried about her. She's a lot stronger when Erica is here. If you could keep an eye on her, and ask Rose to do so as well, I'd really appreciate it." Tiffany said, mentally kicking herself for not saying something sooner.

"Sure, I'll call Rose right now." Tina said.

"Will she be okay with Nathaniel?" Willow asked while Tina stepped away to make her call.

Tiffany shrugged, "I wouldn't worry too much about that. Without a magical weapon he's not that dangerous. At least, not to someone like Sarah."

Tina returned a moment later, "I told Rose. She promised to keep an eye on her, but she's at a doctor's appointment right now. She should be back with Willow in an hour or so."

"Thanks, I'll feel better knowing somebody's watching out for her. She's kind of fragile." Tiffany said.

They went back to work after that. Tiffany was still worried about Sarah, but she had no way of contacting the others. Even so, she made sure to keep her mind as open as she could, so they could contact her if they needed to.

About an hour later her caution was rewarded when she heard Vash in her mind, Tiffany, we need you!

---

To Be Continued…