Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer nor its characters, and I don't make money out of this.
The sun was very bright at first, almost blinding Faith, who wasn't sure where she was. Then, the light became weaker, until it accommodated for her to see properly. It was warm, and she felt the sand beneath her feet. It was a beach. And before she could explore properly to find where exactly she was, and why she was there, she realized something important: she was not herself. Or she was not her normal self anyway, but an 8-year-old self.
"Great." She thought "Great age to be lost in the middle of nowhere."
She didn't have to walk more than ten steps to notice another girl about her age playing on the sand, and who she thought was her mother sitting near her. As soon as the blonde girl turned around to notice her, Faith knew unmistakably it was Buffy. But what was this all? Faith thought, and before she could ponder, Buffy ran merrily to meet her, as she waved.
"Buffy?" the last time they had seen each other had not gone great, so Faith couldn't help feeling skeptical "What is this? Is this your mind or mine?"
Buffy stood there, smiling at Faith "We don't know each other…"
"Yes, we do" Faith interrupted "You're Buffy and I'm Faith."
"…Yet." Buffy continued, and suddenly, Faith frowned wondering why there were ominous notes starting to play, as if it were a background sound, growing to take the form of a song she couldn't still identify.
"What's up with that sound? Why is there even music here?" Faith asked, still skeptical.
"Don't look for logic here, it's a dream; it's my mind this time. Just follow the script. This is when we meet for the first time. I'm on vacation with my mom, and this is where you smile and I invite you to join us."
The frown upon Faith's face faded, opposite to Buffy's smile never fading from her face. The weak music in the background became distinguishable. Background music to life? Yeah, Faith thought ironically, this could only happen in dreams. Suddenly, Faith stopped worrying and, as if it actually were scripted, it felt she had just been brought then and there again, except that this time, her gut guided her to trust Buffy, who stood there in front of her. They still acknowledged each other, the back of their minds not forgetting their memories, yet Faith and Buffy looked into each other's eyes, feeling as if this was truly the first time they had ever met. Smiles of innocence appeared on their faces, as if obeying Buffy's words. The blonde girl gestured to Faith that she followed her, as they walked towards Joyce.
"B?" Faith inquired, and Buffy nodded "what's up with that song?"
"Oh, it's a song I used to listen to because of my dad."
"Who's your new friend?" Joyce smiled as they both got where Joyce sat.
"Mom, this is Faith" Buffy introduced her to Joyce, and Faith waved merrily.
"Are you girls hungry? I could have lunch." Joyce offered.
Buffy nodded, Faith thanked the invitation, and they walked towards a small, nice, rustic restaurant in the inn they were staying at. It was a very nice place with cottages and gardens just steps from the beach. As they did, Buffy held Faith's hand in hers, and it didn't feel anything but natural.
"My mom and I liked to come here on vacation when I was, well, around this age." Buffy chatted with Faith, both girls and Joyce at their table in the restaurant "Do you like it?"
Faith nodded, not making much conversation, rather waiting for the food, that didn't take very long to be served on their table.
"So, Faith, where are you from?" Joyce asked to make small talk with the girl.
"Boss-town" she replied playfully as she tried the different kinds of seafood on the table. Buffy giggled at how Faith was barely showing manners, though she knew the girl's intention was not to be rude.
Faith hoped Joyce didn't ask her what brought her there or who she was with, because she obviously wasn't going to be able to answer to that, but the question was never made. They just had a nice lunch chatting from time to time. Silence was never awkward, it all happened naturally, even if Joyce and Buffy shared jokes only they knew from their everyday life as mother and daughter. It was actually refreshing, and nice for a change, since Faith had never had that herself before.
After their lunch Faith dared Buffy to race a mile that they had put off for later after Joyce suggested they waited forty minutes since they had just eaten lunch. The suggestion took Faith by surprise, her being used to do as she liked and no one really caring about it, but out of respect and appreciating the attention Joyce gave them, she did as she was told. After they raced and were left panting after competing in whatever game they could think of, Buffy and Faith walked excitedly towards the ocean. Their steps were long and hurried, sometimes kicking the water, so they were soon soaked even before they actually dove into the waves. Joyce warned both not to go further than the point where the water was at the level of their waists, which was barely possible for them since all they wanted to do was playing.
"See, you have to jump into the wave before it curls, so it won't hit you and drag you with it." Buffy showed Faith, jumping at an oncoming wave.
Time didn't seem to exist, because before Faith could notice they passed from being swimming in the ocean, to be in what seemed a road trip with only Buffy, who was her 18-year-old self again, just like Faith herself. They were in a bus, and the faces of the few people there, including the driver, were blurry. Through the window, green was the color that could most easily be seen in the landscape. Not a very deep green, but green as Buffy's eyes, Faith thought. There were fields, and ponds almost entirely covered by such abundant vegetation that the water of those ponds could be noticed thanks to rays of sunlight of the dying day.
"B, what is this…" Faith wanted to ask, but was interrupted by Buffy, who already knew she'd ask.
"This place? I've seen it a lot growing up, when my mom and I traveled from town to town to visit relatives."
"Why?" Faith inquired.
"Why do people visit relatives? Well…" but this time, Buffy was interrupted by Faith.
"Why am I here, in your dream? Why were we kids? Why am I seeing all this?" Faith clarified.
"Back in Sunnydale, before things got bad with the deputy mayor," Buffy started, Faith hesitant of where this conversation could lead to "you and I were friends. I did consider you my friend, I genuinely wanted to gain your trust, Faith. I don't know a lot about where you come from or what your life was like, and I don't need you to tell me. I just wanted to give you something that maybe you didn't have back then."
"Well, I'm not yours or anyone's charity case, y'know-" Faith pointed out, beginning to get defensive as usual.
"No, Faith, this is not what this is about." Buffy claimed searching for Faith's eyes, she sighed and continued "We were kids because I wanted you to understand that I care for you in a way that's not bound to how old we are, or if you were a guy or a girl." Faith was still looking through the window avoiding Buffy's gaze, as the older slayer continued, this time with a hint of nervousness in her voice "…I cared for you. I even loved you. I wanted to love you regardless of-" Faith turned to look at Buffy, surprised by her words "I wanted to love you like two souls could. I wanted to able to hold your hand and that it could be the most normal and pure thing, like kids do. I wanted to talk to you, really talk to you, and have you talk to me, but we settled for the superficial things. I wish things would have happened differently the Christmas Angel came back, so I could spend it with my mom and you. I wanted you to know what it is like when someone actually cares for you. I wanted you to know you had me, before you went to Mayor Wilkins and things happened the way they did."
Faith was silent for Buffy's words had taken her by surprise. She didn't know what to do or what to say, there were still many things to take in consideration, there was a lot in her head, but the walls she always built up around herself were finally coming down. Buffy had reached her long ago, but this time she was letting herself admit that. Reaching out, she took Buffy's hand in hers, caressing it with her own fingers. It wasn't anything like her, but then again, she didn't even know how to be herself at the moment.
"Faith," Buffy almost pleaded, as she requited Faith's hand "you are going to wake up soon, I feel it." She paused for a moment "What's going to happen now?"
Faith would've argued herself about having some tenderness inside her, but if there was anyone in her life who'd earn it, that was Buffy; so she took both of Buffy's hand and kissed them, then caressed the side of Buffy's face, and before the dream faded away from both, she promised "Things will be different this time."
A/N: I know the song as backgroun music was a very goofy thing, but I wanted to make it clear that it was a dream by adding ilogical details, another example is that there were things, that because it was Buffy's head, were meant to happen as if it were "scripted".