Tara, not Clara

The guy named Xander just looked at the spectacle of a naked present Rose Tyler bowing down before a naked Tara Maclay and said, "Okay. What just happened?"

"Apparently young Rose Tyler decided to make Tara her new Mistress," said the man named Giles.

"Okay, I got that," said Xander. "But why?"

"Who knows?" asked Giles. "I've been preoccupied with more important matters to spend much time pondering the nature of the spell that has been put upon Ms. Tyler."

Meanwhile, Tara could not help feeling more than a bit awkward. She had had no intention of becoming present Rose's Mistress but apparently present Rose had other ideas. And why not? Whenever poor present Rose had been overwhelmed by the commands of Amy, it had been Tara who had helped her out. No one else.

Still. That blue dress that present Rose held in her hands did look pretty tempting. After all, Tara was getting tired of being naked and it would be so good to have something to cover herself with.

But there was no way she could accept it in good conscience after Willow had said that Buffy and Amy had no right to take it. True, present Rose was giving it to her voluntarily and not because of a command but still Tara wanted to be able to look herself in the face whenever she looked in the mirror.

So Tara said, "Okay, Rose, I accept. Now put your dress back on."

"Okay, Mistress," said present Rose, smiling as if she had just opened her favorite present on Christmas morning.

"And from now on, obey me and only me," said Tara. "No one else. Not Buffy. Not Willow. Not Amy. Not anyone else. Only me. If you can get a call for help that involves a life-or-**** situation, you have my permission to do anything you can to save the person involved, but unless that happens, you obey me and only me."

"Okay, Tara," said present Rose.

"Wait a minute," said present Clara. "What about me?"

"What about you?" asked Tara.

"Rose is mine, not yours," said present Clara.

"Oh, really?" asked Tara. "Let's ask her. Rose, please tell me who your Mistress is."

"You are, Mistress Tara," said present Rose.

Tara resisted the temptation to smirk but present Clara threw a fit anyway.

"Wait a minute, Rose," said present Clara. "What happened to 'Clara is my Mistress'?"

"Clara was my Mistress," said present Rose. "Now Tara is."

"But we both saw future you repeatedly declare that I was your Mistress," said present Clara.

"I don't know what to say," said present Rose. "Perhaps that was one of those timey wimey things."

"Timey wimey?" asked present Clara.

"After all, if it was a real big change in the timeline, those darn Reapers that showed up when I tried to rescue my father would show up here as well," said present Rose. "Though come to think of it, I rarely see those things anymore. It's almost as if somebody rebooted the universe."

"Don't be silly," said present Clara. "Who could reboot the universe?"

"The Doctor, maybe," said present Rose. "Or perhaps one of his companions like, say, -- Amy! What are you doing over there?"

"Trying to cast a spell to make you take your dress off," said Amy.

"Wait," said Xander. "There's a spell that can do that?"

"Yes, there is," said Willow. "But no one here will ever teach it to you."

"Stop that, Amy," said Tara. "Don't **** me to turn you into a rat."

"Wait," said Amy. "You can do that?"

"Of course I can do that," said Tara. "Don't you think I've heard your transformation spells enough times to memorize them all by heart?"

Amy put her spellcasting hands down and said to Tara, "You're no fun anymore."

In return, Tara said, "I'm not trying to be."

Then she turned to present Rose and asked, "I don't suppose you can find us all some clothes?"