Tara couldn’t help but immediately get red in the face when Lucy had come back in and said what she said.  Being called ‘cutie’ pushed a button deep inside her.  Her face immediately reddened and she started giggling for a moment.  It felt incredibly cute and warm to have a little nickname like that.  Although she knew that she was older than Lucy was, she loved the name she’d just been called.  Her reaching hand ran across Lucy’s face and she nodded, a smile coming across her own face, symbolizing that she had, indeed, missed her tall friend.

Deep down, she had missed her.  After the dream they’d both had the night before, the idea of being separated from her big friend was all over Tara’s mind.  She had wanted to break down just as much as Lucy had from the nightmares, but after she’d seen the deep sorrow in Lucy’s eyes, she knew she couldn’t.  She was the older one of the two.  Although she was a lot smaller than Lucy, she knew that she had to be the one to comfort her that time.  She had to show that she could be there for her and make sure Lucy felt comforted.

Since she had taken it upon herself to comfort Lucy, she hadn’t let all of her feelings out about the dream, so, naturally, she missed Lucy from the moment she’d walked out of the room minutes before.  Her arms were stretched out just before the woman had walked back into the room, mentally calling out to her and she was overjoyed when she’d come back into the room moments later, calling her a ‘cutie’ no less.  She continued to rub her hand over Lucy’s cheek, so long as that big face stayed close by.

 Lucy could see the comfort she’d instilled in Tara and it made her happy as well.  She almost didn’t want to move her face at that moment.  For a moment, she wanted to just keep herself in that position and let little Tara rub on her cheek for the rest of the day.  However, they’d come into the bathroom for a reason.  They needed to find out alternate ways for Tara to get everything done that needed to be done, like brushing her teeth and taking a bath.  If they were to settle in with one another with their size differences, Tara would need ways to get all of this done, and Lucy was excited to help her with this.

“I missed you too, Tara” said Lucy, winking at the tiny girl.  After she’d shut her mouth, she backed her face away from the girl and got on her knees, still looking at her at eye-level.  She fumbled with a few things she’d brought into the room with her, as Tara curiously watched her digging into both the pockets of her clothes and a cabinet that was below the sink.  After a moment, she pulled out a few things and softly set them down next to Tara, the most noticeable one being a toothbrush.

After putting the cabinet stuff away, she looked back up at the sink, at Tara and started to softly speak to her.  “Now then, my little Tara…if we’re to get you doing the things you need to be doing, we’re going to have to experiment a little bit.  We need to still have you brushing your teeth and eating and bathing and all of that normal stuff.  But!  I don’t want you to rely on your magic for this.  I’m sure you can do amazing things and clean yourself with that magic, but, well…I asked you not to, because, well…”

Tara tilted her head as Lucy stopped mid-sentence.  She knew that Lucy wanted to be able to provide Tara with ways of doing these things on her own, without using the Arte, but was a little confused at Lucy’s reaction just now.  Her face was growing red and she was looking to the side.  Reaching forward, Tara’s arm barely reached Lucy’s cheek.  Softly rubbing it again, she smiled and inquired about what Lucy was talking about.  “Because what, Lucy?  What’s the matter?”

Lucy felt a chill through her face as her eyes went back to Tara as she saw the affectionate, little sorceress trying to help her get through the conversation.  Having those little fingers on her and that little voice, trying to calm her and help her through this made her warm inside.  Raising her left hand into the air, she started to softly stroke Tara’s hair again as she continued her statement, whispering right in front of Tara’s body.  “Because…I’d like to help you.  I want to…”

Tara was even more confused now.  She already knew that Lucy wanted to help her, but she seemed so nervous about this.  What was this thing that she wanted to do that was making her fidget so much?  Tara had closed her eyes and leaned her head into the finger that was stroking her, but she’d re-opened her eyes when Lucy was sounding so nervous.  Was there something wrong with what she was going to ask?  Tara had no idea, but she aimed to find out. Lucy obviously wanted to say something, and Tara wanted to help her get through the statement.

Putting her other arm forward, she touched Lucy’s other cheek.  Rubbing them both, she smiled up into Lucy’s eyes and locked gazes with her.  She started blushing again and called up to her, wanting her to know what she thought.  “Lucy, please don’t be nervous around me.  Whatever it is that you want, just say it.  It’s not good to see you nervous like this!  You don’t have to be afraid!  Just…tell me.  Tell your little Tara all about it”  As she finished her statement, she turned and planted a soft kiss on the finger that had been stroking her.

Feeling that kiss and those words, Lucy was feeling a wave of emotions.  Her smile grew wider and her face blushed even worse.  Taking a deep breath, she nodded towards her, trying to make sure the girl didn’t lose her grip on her cheeks as she continued.  “I want to take a bath…with you.  Can we…can we do that, Tara?  Do you want to take a bath with Lucy?”  Lucy’s face maxed out on blushing and she looked down for a second, embarrassed at the question she’d just thrown at Tara.