Okay, I know it's been forever and I hope you forgive me, but here's the beginning of the next part of this story. I hope you enjoy it and I hope you forgive me for it taking so long….enjoy!!

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As the plane made its final descent, Peyton looked out the window at the crystal clear water surrounding the island that belonged to the Council. She felt relieved and excited that she could finally start enjoying some real time with Brooke that didn't involve dying and prophecies and big bad evils. Ever since they had gotten together it had been nothing but chaos, pain, tears and insanity and it was beginning to get on her nerves. She needed this. They needed this.

As excited as she was, the other half of her brain wouldn't release the knot of tension that had somehow found a near permanent home in her belly. Something was wrong and she didn't know how to make it go away. Normally in situations like this she'd talk to her best friend about it and it would make her feel better because Brooke just always made her feel better, but she couldn't with this. Brooke had been put through so much already and Peyton didn't want to add to the burden on her shoulders. They had talked for countless hours after everything had gone down with the First taking over her body and she was beginning to get tired of talking because all it did was scare her and worry Brooke.

Ever since that night in the Council something had been different. Peyton couldn't really put her finger on it but she felt weird. Different somehow. It was like she wasn't quite herself. Not long after that night she started having nightmares and feeling strange.

A warm hand slipped into hers and she glanced at the sleepy hazel eyes of the girl next to her.

"You okay?" Brooke asked quietly, her voice raspy from sleep.

Peyton instantly reacted to the rasp in the other girl's voice; it drove her crazy. She smiled and nodded. "Just ready to get off the plane."

Brooke regarded her carefully and finally nodded and kissed her gently. "If you wanna talk about it, you know I'm here, right?"

Peyton nodded. "I know."

The landing strip for the plane was just about as close to the villas on the island as you could get without literally landing the plane on top of them and Peyton could see the tops of several of them as they looped around to land. Everyone on the small plane started to stir and there was a buzz of excitement in the air as they landed.

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The teens were led to their private villa once they exited the plane and as they opened the door they both gasped. It was like every five star vacation spot they'd ever seen on tv and in magazines. The layout was spacious and open and as they wandered through they noticed that the back opened out to their own private hot tub and stretch of beach. Palm trees swayed in the breeze and Peyton noticed a hammock strung between two of them that definitely looked big enough for two. It was absolute paradise.

Once they were alone, the two of them wandered out back and leaned against the railing to look out on the ocean. Brooke watched Peyton out of the corner of her eye and finally turned towards her.

"You okay?" she asked softly. She watched as the other girl turned to face her and she was taken aback by the look in her eyes. Brooke could see in that moment how haunted Peyton still was by everything she'd been through. It had been a few weeks and Brooke thought it would get better, but she almost seemed to be getting worse. She pulled Peyton into a warm hug.

"Hey, sweetie, come here," she murmured softly as she pulled the other girl's body close to her. Peyton hesitated for a moment before wrapping her arms around her girlfriend and Brooke noticed but tried to not give it a second thought. Brooke held her close for a few minutes and pulled back, still keeping a light grip on the blonde's hands.

"I'm sorry," Peyton mumbled, still looking troubled. "I just can't seem to shake this feeling like something bad is stirring around inside of me."

Brooke stood up a bit straighter. She had never mentioned this before. "What do you mean?"

Peyton shrugged and sighed heavily. She turned and made her way back inside and flopped down on the bed. She was so tired. Brooke followed and snuggled in close to her, wrapping her up in a comforting embrace. "I can't explain it. I just feel like I'm not quite the same."

"Well I can't imagine you'd feel the same after saving the world and getting stabbed by a friend and having the First evil take over your body," Brooke told her gently as she brushed a strand of hair from Peyton's face.

The blonde nodded and sighed again. "I just feel like there's a part of me that won't let me be totally happy. Like there's a little black spot on my heart now. I've seen pure evil, how can I go back from that?"

"You let pure love heal it," Brooke reminded her with a kiss to the temple.

Peyton smiled and gazed at the other girl next to her and for a moment she was just a girl in love and everything inside felt totally normal. She was suddenly jarred with a vision of her stabbing Brooke in the stomach as a residual First vision took over her brain and she flinched and backed away from her girlfriend slightly.

"Easy," Brooke murmured, her insides twisting with anguish suddenly, "what did you see?"

Peyton screwed her eyes shut tightly and she shook her head as if trying to physically shake the vision from her memory. "More of what it would have made me do to you."

Brooke reached a gentle hand up and wiped a stray tear from Peyton's cheek. "Peyt, maybe we should talk to Buffy and Faith and Willow about all this."

Peyton shook her head and took a deep breath. She wasn't about to let Brooke know that the visions had started to physically hurt…she was determined to give her girlfriend a vacation of a lifetime. "Sorry. No, I'll be fine, Brooke. I'm just tired."

Brooke nodded hesitantly and kissed Peyton softly. "Will you at least let me talk to Willow about her sleeping herbs?"

Peyton nodded reluctantly and shook her head to clear it finally. She squeezed in a little closer to Brooke and breathed in deeply, loving the way the other girl smelled. She placed a gentle kiss to Brooke's neck and slid a hand under her tank top.

Brooke smiled but under the surface she was still incredibly scared for Peyton. She had known the blonde long enough to know that she was hiding something and it hurt that Peyton would hide something. Her thoughts were interrupted when Peyton allowed her finger tips to trail up her inner thigh and she was suddenly very wrapped up and her other thoughts were pushed aside as they got their vacation going in a very fun way.

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Faith dropped her bag on the bed and then dropped herself ungracefully next to it and let out a content sigh. "I love it here."

Buffy smiled lovingly as she watched the other slayer close her eyes and revel in the feeling of complete freedom and relaxation. She loved to see all of Faith's defenses down and see the other girl so unguarded. It was so rare.

"I love you," she told Faith quietly.

Faith suddenly opened her eyes and propped herself up on her elbows. Her head tilted to the side slightly as she gazed at the other girl lovingly. "I love you too."

Buffy reached down and grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head slowly and unbuttoned her skirt and slid it to the floor leaving her in her white bikini and leaving Faith drooling.

"Swimming?"

Faith shook her head slowly, never taking her eyes from the other slayer. She suddenly grinned wickedly and rolled herself over onto her belly and drew herself up to her knees. She slowly crawled towards the blonde who was watching her with a sly grin of her own.

"With you looking like that, not so sure I wanna leave, B," Faith mumbled lowly as she reached the other girl. She righted herself and kissed Buffy languidly.

Buffy's eyes closed instantly and she wrapped her arms around Faith's middle and shuddered as Faith's fingers grazed her back. "What's in it for me if we stay here?"

Faith pulled back slightly and locked gazes with the other slayer for a moment, an absolutely wicked glint in her eye and she leaned forward slowly and brought her lips to Buffy's ear.

Buffy's face slowly broke out into a grin as she listened to Faith whisper in her ear. She giggled a bit and nodded her head. "Okay, no swimming."

"Glad you see things my way, B," Faith told her as she took a firm hold of Buffy and pulled her down to the bed on top of her.

Needless to say, it was hours before the slayers did any sort of swimming.

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A.N.

I hope you enjoyed this intro to the new story we have the girls on…please let me know what you think and if you think I should continue. Thanks for reading!