Faith paused, closing her eyes for a moment and letting the cool night air fly past her eyelids. As she walked through the deserted cemetery, her only company was the sounds of crickets chirping, the crunch of leaves upon her footfalls and the millions of stars in the sky above her. She loved this time of day. The solitude, the quiet, the dark of the night lit up a little by the stars and moon above.

Her solace was broken, however when she heard a desperate scream not too far away.

"Help!" came the frightened, desperate scream of a young woman, which caused Faith's sharp slayer senses to kick in and she whipped around, staking the offending vampire in a single movement.

A smile on her face as the vampire dust fell to reveal a pretty blonde sitting on the ground looking back at her, Faith offered her hand to help the young woman up. Nervously, the young blonde settled her hand carefully in Faith's, allowing the brunette slayer to help pull her to her feet.

"What's a pretty thing like you doing out so late in a dark deserted place like this?"

Blushing, the young woman shrugged. "I… I was going home," she said, "thank you.. for saving me…"

"Faith."

"Faith," The young woman smiled, "I'm Buffy."

"Tough sounding name for a delicate petal like you." Faith commented flirtatiously, causing another, small blush from the blonde. "You're lucky I was here, Petal, otherwise he would've got you good. You could've been toast."

"Thank you." Buffy said quietly, her eyes falling to look at her feet.

Wistfully, Faith watched the young woman wander away into the night, lingering a few moments after her figure had disappeared before continuing on her nightly trek. After that chance meeting, Faith performed her duties almost robotically. Unusually, her thoughts were completely caught up in the young blonde she'd saved. She couldn't stop thinking about her. Her thoughts may stray, but they'd always return to the pretty blonde she'd met…