| WARM SUMMER RAIN |
| DISCLAIMER: Not mine, Joss's. "Ready or not, here I come!" The little boy called out, taking his hands off from over his eyes. He immediately began checking out the area, determined to find his friends. It wasn't often that he was ‘it.' He could run faster than Jesse, and especially Willow, any day. But his buddies had tricked him this time – made him think the game was over – and he'd be Santa's elf if he'd let them win again. Still, after a couple minutes of searching, he had to admit that they were good. And he was getting impatient. "Where are you guys?" He called out, looking behind a bush, and then up a tree. He had thought that it would be a good idea to play "Hide and Seek" in Jesse's huge front yard, but now he wasn't so sure. *Too many places to hide. It isn't good for us.* Finally, however, the suspense proved too much for his eight-year old pals, and the little boy distinctly heard two giggles coming from underneath Jesse's rosebush. "A-ha!" he cried, charging for the bush. "I knew I'd find you!" With that, he rolled underneath the bush, and placed a hand on each of his friends arms. "You're both ‘it!'" he informed them cheerfully. "No fair!" Jesse cried, a grin plastered to his face. "You took too long!" "It isn't my fault your yard is so big." The little boy turned to the little girl. "Tell him, Willow!" "Uh . . . well . . ." the little girl stammered. "Um . . . You DID find us." "See?" The little boy turned to Jesse. "Willow says it was fair and square." "No, she didn't" "Yes, she did." "No, she didn't." "You're just mad ‘cause I always win!" "Come on, you guys," Willow tried, intent on stopping the argument. She didn't like fighting. "I don't wanna play anymore, anyway." Jesse opened his mouth to reply, but just then his mother came onto the porch. "Jesse!" She called. "Jesse, it's time to come in now, honey!" Jesse groaned. "Ahhh, man! Do I hafta, Mom?!" His mother laughed. "I'm afraid so, dear. It's time for dinner. Tell your friends good-bye." Jesse turned to his pals. "Okay, guys . . . I'll see you tomorrow, right?" The little boy grinned. "Of course. It's summer vacation," he replied happily, relishing the thought. He really didn't like school. "Cool," Jesse replied. He rolled out from underneath the rosebush, and headed inside. The little boy turned to his redheaded best bud. "Hey, Willow, you wanna come to my house? We could play Nintendo." Willow nodded. "Okay," she replied. The two rolled out from underneath the rosebush, and headed toward the little boy's house. Half-way there, it began to rain. The little boy felt the first raindrop as it cascaded down his cheek, and he raised his head to see if it really WAS raining during the summertime. "Hey, Willow, look!" he cried, pointing up to the sky. "It's RAINing!" Willow looked up at the sky. Sure enough, it WAS raining. "Wow," she breathed. "But . . . it's the summer." The little boy shrugged. "I guess the plants got thirsty or somethin' . . . Come on, let's go to the park instead!" "But . . . what about Nintendo?" The little boy looked at his pal as if she'd grown a second head. "We can't go inside when it's RAINing during the summertime! We hafta go play!" Willow shrugged. "Okay," she replied. They rounded the corner to the park, and the little boy immediately pulled his friend out to the field. "We can squash around in the grass," he informed her. "And then later we can play in the puddles." The little girl didn't really like playing in muddy fields, but she was happy to see her friend so excited. Following him out onto the field, something occurred to her. "Hey!" she exclaimed. "The rain is WARM!" The little boy hadn't thought about that before. "Cool!" he cried, his brown eyes crinkling up at the corners. "It's warm summer rain." Willow nodded. "That's pretty neat, ‘cause rain is usually cold and during the winter." "Come on!" the little boy called, running the rest of the way onto the field. He began to squash around on the wet grass. Willow stood back and watched, grinning at her best friend's ways. Sometimes she wished she could be more like him -- outgoing and playful, instead of shy and quiet. *But,* she told herself, *If I was more like him, then there would be two of him, and none of me.* In her eight-year old mind, this made perfect sense, and she came to the conclusion that it was better that there was two of them. Together. Forever. Willow grinned. Friends forever. That's what she had written in her diary. She and Xander would be friends forever . . . and someday, they would get married. If he said yes, anyway. It was still raining an hour and a half later when the friends decided to head home. The now incredibly muddy Xander was grinning widely, while the much cleaner Willow was incredibly contemplative. After a few moments, Xander realized how much his pal was not talking. "Earth to Willow," he said, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Come in, Wills!" Willow shook her head, coming back to reality. "Oh, sorry," she replied, blushing. Xander grinned. "S'okay. What were you thinking about?" Willow's blush deepened. "Oh, um, uh, I was . . ." Suddenly, her expression turned into what at sixteen she would term her resolve face. "Xander," she said suddenly. "When we grow up, will you marry me?" It was Xander's turn to blush. Stopping in his tracks, he turned to look at her. "Wh-what?" he stammered. Willow looked down at her feet. "When we grow up, will you marry me?" "Oh, gee, Wills . . . do we really have to talk about this?" Though he had always thought he and Willow would get married, at eight it wasn't exactly something he wanted to talk about. Willow's face was now red as a tomato, and the warm summer rain that beat upon it made it even hotter. "Oh, sure," she replied, replacing the resolve face with the ‘I'm crushed' face. "I just . . . never mind." She began walking faster than before, trying to put some distance between herself and her best friend. Xander's heart took a nose-dive when he saw the hurt look on his Willow's face. "Aw, Wills," he replied, moving quickly to catch up with her. "I'm sorry." He reached out and grabbed her arm. Willow stopped walking, but couldn't bring herself to turn around. She didn't want Xander to see that she was crying. "Willow," Xander said softly. "Aw, Willow, please don't cry," he moved around so that he was facing her, and used his finger to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Willow . . .?" "Yes?" She whispered, still unable to look him in the eyes. He leaned down and pecked her on the cheek. "Of course we're gonna get married when we grow up. I just . . . I didn't want to talk about it s'all." Willow looked up at him hopefully. "Really?" Xander grinned what would one day be known as the official Xander grin. "O'course." He moved his arms around his best bud to give her a hug. "Okay?" Willow nodded, smiling happily. "Okay," she replied. "Good. Now come on. Let's go play Nintendo." |