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ANOTHER Chapter dedicated to @ApplesAreAwesome1800 for the AWESOME edit she made for Willow's Legend!

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Chapter 31:

"Come on, Ara, you can do it!" Willow said, reaching her hand out for her little sister' hand.

Ara looked down at Willow her thin, dark eyebrows scrunching together in worry, "Willow, I am scared."

"Do you really think I would drop you?" Willow asked.

"Yes." Ara replied, then laughed.

That's good, Willow thought. Distract her from the real problem.

"Now," Willow said. "I have always caught you."

"No!" Ara laughed. "Remember at the pool, you said you would catch me and then Jasper called your name and you looked away and missed!"

Willow laughed, her voice ringing through the forest, "That was an accident."

Ara rolled her eyes and laughed again, her voice like wind chimes. "You promise to catch me?"

Willow bit her lip and looked up at how high she was up in the tree. It had been a foolish game of who can climb the highest. One of the branches cracked and the only way down for Ara was to jump.  Even though she wasn't showing it to her little sister, Willow's heart was beating inside her throat and she was clammy all over. Ara was only a child, only six years old, Willow was only twelve! How would she catch Ara? Especially from up so high! Willow gulped, "I promise." She whispered.

"What?" Ara said, leaning forward.

"ARA!" Willow shrieked, but it was too late, Ara had leaned to far forward and was spiraling down the air full speed, her scream for Willow echoing through the woods.

Willow started running, but she knew it was too late, she was too far and Ara was going to hit the ground hard. Death-blow hard. It was too late.

Too

Late.

There was a flash of black and a boom. It took Willow a moment to get oriented again, she blinked as a man dressed in all black set Ara down on the floor gently. Another person dressed in black came out. Like the man who caught Ara, he was covered head to toe in weapons. He was a little boy with a halo of blond hair that stood out next to his black clothing.

The boy's emerald eyes scanned the man, Ara, then landed on Willow. Willow looked back for minute, he looked to be about her age, twelve years old. But, what would a twelve year old be doing with weapons? He wasn't a Faery? What was he? He stared at her with the most peculiar expression, Willow couldn't quite place if it was awe or confusion or both.

The man who caught Ara looked at Willow and said, "Be careful next time." He then looked over at the little blond boy, "Michael,  go get your sister and brothers, we're going home."

The boy -Michael- nodded and took one last long glance at Willow before disappearing.The man then walked up to Willow and Willow froze as he injected something into her with a shot that had appeared out of nowhere. Her arm felt numb momentarily and her mouth dry. She licked her lips and asked, "What did you put in me?"

The man smiled, "You won't remember to care in a few hours." He injected into Ara, too. Willow was too scared to move, a man with weapons was not  a man to disagree with.

And with that, the man disappeared into the woods right where the little blond boy had disappeared.

Willow looked over at Ara and Ara stared back for a moment. "The little blond boy was cute" She finally said. Willow burst out laughing and grabbed her little sister's hand directing her towards home.

And the next morning, not remembering anything of the  encounter....

Willow woke up, without a jolt, without being covered in sweat. It must have been the first night she hadn't had a nightmare. It had started a nightmare, a nightmare she somewhat was familiar with. She never lived this. Never did she remember Ara being stuck up on the tree and a...a Ganash saving her.

We'll inject memory serum into you so you don't remember anything about us.

You won't remember to care in a few hours.

Memory serum.

A Ganash had saved her little sister's life and she didn't even remember it. Neither did Ara. This had been real and the man and the little boy-

Michael.

"Oh, my God." She whispered. Michael. The little boy was Michael! The green eyes, the blond hair!

I was twelve.

Michael's parents died when he was twelve, was this before their death? After?

Go get your sister and brothers.

His parents weren't dead yet, his sibling was alive! Was that man, the man who saved Ara's life, was that Michael's dad?

She hastily kicked out of bed and ran to the closet, throwing on clothes at random and running out. She looked up and down the hallways for a moment and then decided the best bet was to knock on his door.

She took a deep breath and hoped she wouldn't sound crazy. On the third knock, Michael opened the door. He was fully dressed, but his hair was a mess probably from the night. "I've seen you before." Willow blurted out.

Michael laughed, "Why yes, Willow. You saw me yesterday."

Willow rolled her eyes, "I meant before this whole sha-bang."

Michael leaned against the doorway, "I knew you would remember at some point, seeing you're actually here."

"You knew?" Willow asked. "Did you know I was the same girl?"

"Yes, I did." Michael replied casually. "And I also heard your sister's comment, tell her I said thank you."

Willow was perplexed for a moment, then understanding clicked at his amused eyes. "How did you hear? I thought you went home?"

"Father wanted to see that you got home."

"Why would I not get home?" She asked, completely distracted from her original questions.

"The memory serum knocks some people out," Michael said. "He wanted to make sure you guys won't knocked out in the middle of the woods and I followed."

"So," Willow summed up. "You knew, all this time, that I had met you before?"

"Yup."

Willow was quiet for a moment, the picture of the little boy in the woods came up in her mind. Michael hadn't really changed much, still the same halo of blond hair, his eyes still as bright. "Your father?" She finally whispered. Michael didn't respond. "I met your dad? Your dad saved Ara's life!"

"Let me ask you something," Michael said. "What was Ara doing so high up in a tree anyway?" \

Willow  flushed and looked down. After a moment she mumbled, "Nothing."

Michael let it drop.

"And your sister?" Willow asked.

He smiled a little at that, "Adeleigh." He whispered.

"I remember now," Willow whispered, her eyes taking a distant look into them as she replayed the entire dream. "How did you know I was the one you saw when you were twelve?"

Michael laughed, "You aren't very easy to forget, Willow."

Willow looked up at that, and this time, Michael looked right back. Usually when he complimented her like that he would look away as if he hadn't meant it. But, this time he stared steadily back. It would've been awkward in other situations to just stare at each other, but nothing was really awkward with Michael.

"This is interesting." Katrina said, walking up to them.

Willow hadn't realized she was leaning into Michael quite far, at Katrina voice she jumped back far. "I'd better go." She said, and silently took one more glance at Michael before disappearing into her bedroom.

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"Are you trying to get us killed?" Katrina snapped. She sat at the edge of his bed and he sat of the window sill. "Do you have a death wish for all us that I don't know about?"

"We weren't dong anything." Michael replied, his voice flat and emotionless. But then again, Michael did a good job hiding his emotions. Except around Willow,  Katrina thought. When he's around Willow his emotions are an open book. And of course, the one person he can't hide his emotions for is the one person he should (more than anything) hide his emotions.

"You know," Katrina said, messing with the edge of the blanket. "I thought you cared so much about Willow you would avoid her."

At that Michael turned, "Don't you think I try?" He asked. Katrina stayed quiet as he turned back towards the window.

"Do you want me to threaten her?" She asked. "Be the crazy girlfriend?"

Michael shook his head, "I don't want her to avoid me."

Katrina sighed, "I'd better start building our coffins, then."

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So sorry for all these non-cliff hangers! I really hope you stick with the story, though. Even without all the cliff-hangers!

Don't forget to vote ;)

Comment your thoughts from the blasts to the past!

-I.B.