Author: JustSkipIt
Rating: PG
Feedback: Please leave feedback on the Survivor - Ash Island thread on the Kitten Board.
Disclaimer: I own none of these characters nor do I own Survivor. And believe it or not, I also don't own any small islands. On the other hand, this island is fictional so let's say I own it. I'm making no money from this fiction and intend no copyright infringement.

Tara switched off the TV and leaned forward to pick up the popcorn bowl from the coffee table. She glanced at Ariel, expecting the girl to immediately mirror her actions to pick up her glass of milk and carry it to the sink. She picked up the bowl and her own glass and took them to the sink before returning to find the girl still sitting on the couch.

Quietly Tara sat down next to her daughter and waited. When a few minutes had passed without Ariel saying anything Tara quietly said the girl's name: "Ariel?"

"Mommy," the girl said, "do you still think Willow is nice?"

Tara nodded her head slowly as she realized where this was going. "Yes," she answered, "I do. I think she's very nice and I like her very much."

"But she tried to beat you in the guessing game," Ariel argued.

"She did," Tara agreed, "we were both trying to win."

"And you wanted to beat her?" Ariel asked. "But I thought you like her?" Ariel continued, obviously confused.

"I do," Tara insisted, "but that was the way the game we were playing worked. We b-both tried to win."

"Then both teams kicked off someone?" Ariel bit her lip as if she was thinking about something. "What if they kick you off?"

Tara smiled as she answered, "Then I'll be done playing and I won't win the game."

Ariel thought about it for a while. "I hope you don't get kicked off but I don't want you to lose either."

Tara smiled at her daughter's understanding of the game. "I hope not either baby," she said, "but the game already happened. I can't get hurt anymore." She held up her arm in a tentative bicep and winked at the girl. "See, I'm strong like an Amazon."

Ariel smiled at the old joke and held up her arms too. "Me too!"

"Come on, Amazon," Tara said as she patted her daughter on the leg and handed her milk glass, "It's bedtime."

Ariel jumped up and carried her glass to the sink and rinsed it out. When she finished doing so, Tara noticed she was standing at the sink for a long time, again obviously thinking. As she dried her hands she turned back toward Tara and held her mouth a little sideways as if really thinking about something. "Mommy, I want to ask you a question but I think I heard a bad word," she finally said.

"Ok, sweetie," Tara said walking over to take the girl's hand. "Do you want to get ready for bed and then we can talk?"

Ariel nodded before walking with her mommy toward her room. A few minutes later the girl had brushed her teeth and gotten into pajamas. She got into bed and Tara sat on the side of it. "Mommy," Ariel started, "what's dyke?"

Tara nodded immediately. "Did someone at school say it?"

Ariel looked down at her bedspread like she thought she might be in trouble. "Jared," she whispered. "He's the one who said that other bad word about daddy and I that time."

Tara nodded again. Of course! "I remember," Tara assured her, holding the small girl's hand. "You remember how we talked about how some mommies love daddies and some mommies, like me, love other mommies and we call them lesbian?"

"But you love Daddy," Ariel protested at Tara's explanation.

Tara nodded. "Yes, baby girl. I love your daddy but not like this. I love your daddy because he's a very good friend and a good man and a wonderful daddy." Ariel smiled as her mommy said such nice things about daddy. "But you also know that I don't want to be married to daddy. I want to be married to another woman," she explained in very general terms.

"Like Miss Turner," Ariel suggested.

Tara again grinned, "Miss Turner and I dated which is what grownups do before they get married but we didn't want to marry each other."

"Maybe you can marry Willow then," Ariel followed up her first suggestion.

"Willow and I are dating," Tara responded with a smile, "but I don't know that we want to get married to each other."

"Maybe when I meet her, I can tell you if you want to marry her," Ariel said.

Tara could hardly keep from laughing but contained it as she remembered the original reason for the conversation. "We'll see, baby," Tara responded. "But you asked about that word?"

"What does it mean?"

"It's a mean word that people use for lesbian if they want to hurt feelings," she explained. She certainly didn't want to go into the entire political pride issues the word sometimes carried.

"Does it hurt your feelings?" Ariel asked.

Tara smiled as she explained: "Mostly it makes me feel sad for people who have such meanness in their hearts."

Ariel thought about this for a long time. "Ok," she smiled and hugged Tara. "Can I meet Willow once she leaves the island so I can tell you if you should marry her?"

Tara smiled back at her daughter, wondering at the way a child's mind worked. Ariel could understand that Tara was no longer on the island but apparently still thought Willow was there. "I'll see if she can visit," she told the girl. She looked at the clock and said, "Now it's late but if you want a short story I think we can do one before bedtime."

Ariel clapped her hands together and settled back to listen to the story.

Tara pulled Ariel's door mostly closed and exited her room, letting out a huge sigh. Much as she tried to feel compassion, she also felt anger at the Jared and his stupid parents. She could never see why they would care about how she chose to live her life.

She changed her clothes and looked to note that the light on the answering machine was blinking, smiling as she did. She pressed the button and heard the voice she expected: "Hey baby. It's me. Willow. Again with stupid things to say. I hope I'm the only one calling you and saying 'hey baby' although maybe I'm not and that's ok if I'm not." There was a pause as Willow obviously attempted to recover from her babble. "If you have a chance to call me, I would love to hear from you tonight... well or any night... or I guess any day... you know the number."

Tara called Willow's cell phone surprised that the redhead didn't pick up immediately. Finally she left a message and reached for the book she was reading. Just as she picked it up, the phone rang.

Tara answered the phone on the first ring, "Willow?"

"Hi, I was in the bathroom," Willow said breathlessly, "Thanks for the necklace. "

She could hear the smile in the blonde's voice: "That's what the c-card said too. Thank you for the flowers, Willow."

"I would have rather delivered them myself but it seemed a bit stalkerish," the redhead joked.

"How did you get them to deliver them a-at the commercial break?

"It's amazing what a little money and a little celebrity will do," Willow answered, glad to hear that the flower shop had in fact delivered the flowers she had sent immediately following the broadcast of the tribal council. "Is everything ok?" Willow asked, "You didn't answer the phone right away."

"I was talking to Ariel," Tara explained.

"Is she ok?" Willow worried.

"She's ok now," Tara said, "first she wanted to know why you tried to beat me if you are my friend." She took a breath. "Then she wanted to know what 'dyke' meant."

"What?" Willow exclaimed.

"This mean fourth grader said her mother was a dyke and she was u-upset," Tara explained. "Small-town thing. You can imagine what he said about Kent."

"What does the school do?" Willow asked.

"Oh you know," Tara explained, "I go down and talk to them. They call in the parents who pretend that they can't believe what their child said and he gets a few detentions. And of course, r-really the fake-appalled parents are the ones who said it in the first place."

"I'm sorry, baby," Willow said. "How did you explain it?"

"Well," Tara explained as she settled back into her pillows, "she already knows I like women so I explained that it's a mean word for lesbian."

"So you're out to Ariel?" Willow confirmed. "I mean I was hoping that you were but we hadn't really discussed it."

"Oh yeah," Tara answered, "I've been out to Ariel always and I went out with one of the teachers at her daycare last year so she remembers that and understood what it meant."

"A teacher at her daycare," Willow echoed, "am I going to have to come up there and get all large with the butch?"

Tara laughed at Willow's jealousy. "No, sweetie," she answered, "that's been over for quite a while. Anyway, you're the playgirl or at least that's the impression I've gotten."

"So what was wrong with Miss Wrong?" Willow attempted to steer the conversation from herself.

"Oh she was nice enough generally," Tara explained, "but a bit m-m-militant."

"They have militant lesbians in Reynoldsburg?" Willow asked incredulously.

"Maybe militant isn't the right word," Tara speculated. "She was just all 'PPP'. You know, penis pure and proud." She took a breath, "Which I don't mind but she was really offended that I wasn't. And as if that wasn't a stupid enough attitude, she was especially offended that I'd been with Kent."

"Wow," Willow said, "that's stupid alright." Tara could hear the smile in the redhead's voice as she said, "But it's nice of her to be such an idiot so that you're available incase you meet any cute chicks while stranded on an isolated island."

"Yes, convenient isn't it?" Tara chuckled.

"And your mom and Kent?" Willow asked.

"Mom and Kent rarely go to islands," Tara joked.

"Are you out to them?" Willow explained.

"Oh yeah," Tara answered, "I'm all kinds of out. And now out to a national broadcast audience it would seem. I mean I thought you were the one who is all out, not me."

"Well," Willow teased, "you tweaked my gaydar. Why not a national broadcast audience?"

"Speaking of tweaking," Tara intimated, "would you like to come visit?"

"Oh," Willow said, "definitely sounds interesting."

"Definitely," Tara teased back. "Seriously," she said, "Ariel wants to meet you."

"Tough audience?" Willow wondered out loud.

"She wants to t-tell me if I should marry you," Tara giggled.

"Wow," Willow answered, "and then we skip the whole continue dating, romantic stuff part?"

"Definitely not," Tara answered firmly.

"What a relief," Willow said, "I like the mushy romantic parts."

"Mmm," Tara said dreamily, followed by a loud yawn. "Oh, sorry," she apologized.

Willow smiled. "That's ok," she said. "Why don't we talk tomorrow about my visiting?"

"That sounds good, Will," Tara agreed yawning again.

"Thanks again for the necklace," Willow said.

"Well, it seems to be paying off for me," Tara said.

"For both of us," Willow agreed. "Good night, baby."

"Good night," Tara said. She waited a moment before hanging up the phone and turning off her lights. She smiled as she began moving into sleeping thinking that she would be seeing Willow soon.