Shoo, so I was reading through all of my old fan fictions and dear goodness, I wrote a lot of cringe-worthy, not too good stuff, didn't I? With that in mind, I do think I came up with decent plot lines; it's just that my writing, I was roughly sixteen/seventeen at the time, left a lot to be desired. But now, years later, I've grown and I do intend to rewrite my fics one by one. Bare with me.

Summary: AU Season 7. Faith and her family are back to help fight the First but the past keeps getting in the way of everyone working together. Can they move on from the pain of their younger years, or is it all completely pointless? THIS IS A REWRITE OF Seasons Change, People Don't.

Disclaimer: I own only the storyline and the original characters. Heck, I only own part of the storyline if I'm being honest.

Warnings: Mentions child abuse, violence, and cursing. And OCs.

Note: If you've read the original, you will notice some major changes I've made to this one! I hope with the changes, better spelling and overall better grammar, the story keeps its appeal but gives a more polished vibe to it. Please review and leave constructive criticisms? It would be much appreciated!

Chapter 1

Kennedy couldn't believe what she was hearing. She didn't want to believe what she was hearing. Some guy had shown up on her parent's doorstep almost a week ago, talking nonsense about Slayers and The First Evil and how the world was in danger. She knew all about demons and boogiemen, but she'd never heard of The First. She was sure her watcher would have mentioned it by now.

"Mom?" she looked at the woman before her. The woman who'd been her watcher, her mother figure for most of her life.

"Yes sweetie?" Diane responded. Kennedy bit her lip.

"This is real, isn't it? I'm really going to have to go and do this, aren't I?" she asked. Diane nodded with a half smile.

"Yes." She said. "But look on the bright side," she started.

"What possible bright side?" Kennedy asked before she could continue.

"Your sister will be there." She said. Kennedy's eyes widened.

"Really?" she asked excitedly. Diane nodded with a light laugh.

"Yes. And your brother is going with you. The three of you will finally be together again." She said. Kennedy let out a whoosh of air.

"Alright…" she trailed off, her smile growing a little. "Alright." She said once more. She made her way up the stairs to pack; she was going to Sunnydale.

Three weeks later, Willow stood off to the side watching as Faith said her goodbyes to the Angel Investigations group. She watched curiously as Faith ducked her head and Angel scooped her up.

"I'm going to miss you." Angel said softly into her ear. Faith nodded, smiling a little bit and hugging him tighter. "You will keep in touch, right?" he asked pulling away finally. Faith nodded, looking down at the ground most of the time.

"Yeah, sure." She said taking a few steps back. "I'm just…gonna…" she pointed over her shoulder. Gunn frowned, holding out a hand to her. She hesitated before letting her hand rest in his and he pulled her closer.

"I don't know you all that well, but you seem like you're trying to do good." He said clapping her on the back. Faith smiled uncomfortably.

"Just trying to make amends." She said quietly. "Even though some things I'll never be able to make up for." She said, shooting her eyes nervously to Wesley. The older man just fixed her with a hard stare.

"No, but you can try and move forward." He said plainly. Faith nodded, swallowing and looking around. She offered a little smile to Fred as she tried to step away again.

"Well, seems I have a thing for you tortured soul types." Cordelia said with an eye roll. She fixed Faith with a bored stare before shrugging. "Come back in one piece and we'll talk." She said before walking away. Faith nodded again, finally looking up and meeting everyone's eyes.

"Thanks…for this last chance." She said. Her eyes connected with Wesley's and he just looked away.

"All you can do is try and do good. You'll never be absolved for what you did; your heart will always remind you." Angel said gently. She nodded, swallowing heavily before finally walking away. She met Willow at the car and nodded to her.

"So, we're on our way home, Faith. You ready for this?" Willow asked, trying to sound chipper. Faith shrugged a shoulder with a half smile.

"As ready as I'll ever be." She said softly. Willow smiled at her, getting in and finally setting off toward Sunnydale. They were silent for almost half an hour before Willow spoke up.

"I get it now, yunno?" Willow asked. Faith turned confused eyes to her,

"Get what?"

"What it's like." Willow continued. "That feeling of-of power you get when you taste the dark stuff. It's good." She explained. Faith looked confused.

"Really? How would you know?" she asked. Willow cleared her throat.

"Well," she started. Her eyes burned with tears. "When T-Tara died, I lost it. I was already losing myself, yunno? Like, I felt it slipping and she tried to help me but…then she died and I just… nothing mattered anymore." She said. Faith swallowed hard.

"Because you lost a part of yourself; she died, and you died with her." she said, already knowing the answer. Willow nodded.

"While I was away, I thought about you." She said. Faith raised an eyebrow. "I thought 'Hey, what if Faith felt this when Allen died? God, she must have been going through hell.' And I realized how scared you must've been." She said looking over at her. Faith set her jaw.

"That doesn't excuse what I did." She said. Willow shook her head quickly.

"No! O-of course not." She said. She licked her lips quickly. "B-but it does give a whole- a whole new dimension to what happened. Something I don't think Xander or Buffy will ever understand fully." She added.

"And you do?" Faith asked tilting her head. Willow nodded.

"I…I tortured him, Faith. Mentally and I- I took his life because I thought I had too. I would have ended the world. There's only one difference between you and I." Faith waited. "I had people around me who I knew would help me. Somewhere, under all of that…that darkness I always knew people loved me." She said. Faith didn't say anything back; she just looked out the window.

"How do you sleep?" Faith asked finally. Willow smiled sadly.

"Sometimes, I don't. I can't get the smell…or the feeling out of my mind." She admitted. Faith nodded.

"Or the fact that you went from being out of control to in control. You had him at your mercy and he was begging and you knew you could but your begging didn't stop anything, so why should his? And you liked it, right?" Faith asked. Willow flinched.

"At the time…" she trailed off. Faith nodded in understanding.

"But sometimes, sometimes somethin' goes wrong and you go back to that feeling and…you see the appeal." She whispered. Faith looked at her, brown eyes swimming with pain before looking back out the window. "But then you remember there's something out there more important." She added. The rest of the ride was spent in silence as Willow thought it over.

"Faith!" Kennedy ran from the house and wrapped her arms around Faith immediately. She hadn't seen her sister in years; it felt good to just wrap her arms around her.

"Dude, it's been forever. I hate you." Their brother Braden said walking out to join the hug. Willow blinked and stood off to the side, confused as to how her girlfriend knew Faith.

"I'm sorry guys, I'm sorry." Faith whispered over and over again. Kennedy just hugged her tighter and breathed deeply.

"It'll be okay." Braden said. "You can make it up to us when this is over, okay?" he said tapping his fist against her chin. She swallowed and shook her head.

"I can't...I've gotta go back to prison." She said.

"What? Why?" Kennedy asked. Her watcher never told her where Faith was.

"I…hurt people." Faith said stepping away from her younger siblings. "I killed people." She corrected. Kennedy stepped away in disgust while Braden wore a blank mask.

"You're joking and it's not funny." Kennedy said. Faith wrapped her arms around herself. "Why, Faith?" she asked, her heart breaking. Faith shrugged, looking away and willing her emotions down.

"Do I need to explain it now?" she asked. Kennedy looked at her and hugged her again.

"I love you, okay? I love you." She said. Braden stood off to the side, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Well, guess we gotta get inside. Apocalypse and all that shit, right?" he asked turning on his heel and stalking inside. Faith hung her head and Kennedy nudged her.

"We'll be okay, I promise." She said grabbing Faith's hand and leading her inside. Into the lion's den it seemed.