"Mail's here!" Kennedy called, tossing the pile of letters onto the dining room table. She knew to grab her own letters before announcing that to the house, though. With twenty people living in one house, well, you had to make sure you got yours first. She also grabbed Willow's stuff before heading upstairs to the room she shared with the witch. As she reached the top stair, the thirteen other Potentials began exiting their rooms to go downstairs. Most of them were spending the day in their rooms. Downstairs in the living room were Faith and Buffy, having managed to snag the TV to watch a movie. Seeing as they were actually in a common area of the house, they kept their displays of affection to a minimum… sadly.

Buffy waited for the crowd to clear before getting up to grab the rest of the mail. Faith gave a disapproving groan. The blonde laughed at the response and slapped the younger Slayer's hand away when she tried to hold her there.

"Naughty girl," Buffy said, going to the dining room. Faith chuckled in response, turning her head to look at the elder Slayer.

"I've been here all of five seconds. You should be spending 24/7 with me," the brunette replied teasingly.

"You're the one who left me for Boston," Buffy said in a somewhat sing-song voice.

"Yeah, well," Faith began, adjusting her position. She let out something between a moan and a strained breath as her back arched from the couch, causing her lover to look back at her. "As much as I regret it, I can't say it was a mistake. It was a necessary trip."

"Babe, you have mail," Buffy said, looking curiously at the large envelope. She picked it from the table and looked it over. It seemed like your average 10"x13" envelope, looked official, too, and she could tell there wasn't much in it. What was strange was that it was for Faith. The main reason Faith never checked the mail was because there was no one in this world to send her a letter.

"Probably junk," Faith said, looking at the paused movie on screen. "Hurry up so we can finish this. I'm only watching this for you and it's long as hell."

"Of course, Titanic's long. It's James Cameron. And this looks official, baby. I don't think it's junk."

"Well, it's even longer, because I wanna put in Terminator. When I said James Cameron marathon, I didn't think you'd make me watch Titanic. And just bring it over then."

Buffy returned to the living room, still looking at the envelope. She sat down on the edge of the couch. Faith glanced at her.

"Of course I'd make you watch Titanic. It's one of the most epic romances ever."

"Yeah, whatever." Buffy handed the envelope to Faith who immediately opened it. She pulled out several sheets of paper and read over the first two. Her girlfriend watched intently, curious as to what was in it. The brunette reached in again, pulling out an average sized envelope. She quickly dropped everything back into it. "Trash it. It's junk."

"Junk?" Buffy said, taking the envelope. "I can't believe that." The blonde took the documents out of the envelope and read them.

"B," Faith sighed.

"These are letters from the government, saying that you have an inheritance from your father and Professor Dormer," Buffy said quite monotonously, still reading. Faith sighed again, looking toward the back of the couch. "Did you know this?"

Faith nodded. She had found out while in Boston. The house had had all of her former Watcher's possessions in it as well as some of Faith's old things. Her former sensei had informed her of the news as well as of her father's death. She just chose to ignore it all.

"Why didn't you tell me? Better yet, why didn't you get it settled?" Buffy asked, looking back at her. Faith sighed again, shrugging.

"I don't want it. I didn't know my dad until I was 18 and I thought he was dead until then. He was in jail. I doubt there's anything worth claiming. And the professor-" Faith paused. She swallowed down her emotions. She had to appear strong. It had been years since that fateful night. There was no use in crying over it. "I don't deserve anything she has to give me."

"That's not true. She felt you deserved what she left you. Which looks like quite a bit. Her whole estate in Boston. If you're not gonna use it, the Slayers could. Training grounds, a base. We could use the space and the books since we lost the Watchers' Council."

Faith nodded.

"Take it. No problem. I'm not going back to Massachusetts. Not again." Faith looked at Buffy with puppy dog brown eyes. "I'm not going anywhere." Buffy smiled softly, caressing Faith's cheek.

"I know," she whispered. She looked back at the envelope, placing Dormer's will back in. She pulled out the smaller envelope, reading the writing on the front. It simply read Faith, but a lot could be seen in the handwriting. The messiness that usually came with the handwriting of a man, but it was also shaky. The man was suffering when he wrote this. "Please read it," Buffy said sadly. She held the letter out to her lover. Faith looked at the plain envelope, almost glaring. She shook her head. "Faith, please." Her voice cracked slightly, causing Faith's brow to knit together inquisitively. "I would give anything to get in contact with my dad. Yours left you a message. Please. For me."

Faith sighed. She didn't want to disappoint her girlfriend. She'd already been gone for weeks. For now, pleasing Buffy was the best thing to do and was Faith's top priority. So, she took the white envelope and tore it open. She pulled out the letter and unfolded it slowly. She didn't give Buffy the satisfaction of reading it out loud, though.

The blonde watched her intently, curious, but she knew she shouldn't pry. Several times, though, she noticed that Faith closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was pretty sure her eyes were watering up, too. Tears.

Faith got up when she finished reading.

"Like I said, junk." She pulled her lighter out of her jeans pocket and held it up, flipping it open. Buffy immediately stood and grabbed her elbow lightly. The brunette sighed, being turned toward her lover. Buffy noticed a tear escape from her eye which shocked her. She quickly wiped it away.

"Hey. What is it?" Buffy said gently, grabbing the brunette's shoulders. Faith pulled out of her grip, backing up until she hit the wall.

"I'm a horrible daughter," she squeaked, sliding down. She sniffled, bowing her head in order to hide her face. She was ashamed. Not only because she was crying, but because of what she had said. She buried her face in her knees, wrapping her arms around them as she dropped the letter. "I knew he was alive and I never saw him. Not once in nearly a decade. I didn't want to, I didn't want to hear him. I just wanted to hate him and my mom for everything!"

Buffy stared at her as she ranted. Soon she realized that she couldn't just stand there, though, and that she needed to comfort the girl who was breaking in front of her.

"And yeah, they deserved it. My mother just didn't care or whatever. Made me look out for myself and her. Sent me around to different relatives, because she couldn't stay out of jail. Dated horrible men who tried to screw me more than her." Buffy's eyes widened at the statement, stopping her approach. "And my dad was a low life who gambled, drank, and did drugs. No wonder mom wanted me to think he was dead. I'm not even sure if I can say that's the only good thing she's done for me in my life.

"All they wanted was for me to be their saving grace, a way to shine their rusty halos! Look at me. I became just like them. A murderer like my father, going to jail like both of them. But at least they weren't diagnosed as being crazy." Faith stopped there, her tears taking over. There were even a few sobs. Buffy knelt down next to her, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Faith?"

"They're dead. Both of them are dead and I didn't go to the funeral for either of them. I just bailed on my mom's and my dad… I would've bailed on him, too. Not like I knew 'im or nothin'." Buffy rubbed her back, trying to comfort the brunette. "He asked for my forgiveness and I lied. I told him I did, but deep down, I was cursing him. I hated him and he was so upset that he had nothing to give me, but he left me something that I will always remember."

"And what's that?" Buffy whispered, wrapping her arms around Faith. The brunette paused, silence taking over the room except her small tremors of melancholy.

"Five by five." Faith shook a few more times with quiet sobs. "He said to me and taught me what it meant. And I took it with me… I've tried for so long not to become like my parents and I failed."

"No, you didn't," Buffy said immediately. "You're redeeming yourself. You're making up for what you've done. You have been dying to gain a new soul and you've done it. You spent time in jail. You saved Angel's soul. You've taught me how to completely give myself to another person." Faith looked up at her with red, puffy eyes inquisitively. "You taught me that my gift isn't only death. I can give love, too," Buffy whispered.

"I lied to him, Buffy. The one time I met him, I lied to him. My halo is just as rusty as his was."

"Then shine it. There's still time to forgive him."

Faith stared at her with emotion Buffy couldn't even pinpoint. There was so much in her eyes, too much to read, but she could see the pain. Faith was dying on the inside from this, from something that had happened so many years ago. It was obvious that this was bound to happen. It'd been a long time coming. She'd been running from this and had never known when it was coming to catch her.

"Let go," Buffy whispered. Faith glanced down at the hardwood floor, unsure of what to do next. Her mind didn't seem capable of comprehensible thought. But then three words escaped her lips, quiet as a soft wind.

"I forgive him."