Aww, thanks for the reviews, guys. Lots of reviews make a happy author, which leads to faster updates. Haven't heard from some of you in a while, so it's good to see you back in action. In any case, here's the next one.

Oh, and check out "Always In My Heart". It's a new fic. F/B as always; different type of POV.

Review!

There was a knock on the door.

"Faith? It's time."

She turned to face the door, the only thing between her and Kennedy, who she could only imagine was feeling rather nervous. Everyone was nervous.

"I'll be right there." She called softly. She could almost see Kennedy nodding and backing away, to give her some space.

She had been getting quieter over the past few days, ever since her blow up at Giles. Angel and Kennedy tried to get past the silence, but she insisted she was just tired; that she'd been busy getting ready for the fight. She'd told them that today was the day. That it was exactly this day. How she knew, she didn't really know. It was just a feeling. Everybody else accepted it calmly, knowing better than to push the Slayer's buttons when she was in such a mood. Her reputation receded her. Her nightmares had gotten worse, had been digging deeper and deeper into her past, into her wounds. She hated it, but somehow she managed to survive past the night. She didn't enjoy going to sleep at all, but she knew she had to, in order to keep up her strength. It kept her in the down low that she was at, and nothing seemed to break through her. Not even Anya's revival.

Willow and Faith stared at the unconscious ex-demon before them.

"So I'm guessing the spell worked, right?"

Willow nodded.

"I'm pretty sure, yes."

Faith grinned widely, for the first time in the last day or so, and lifted her hand for a high five. Willow complied, and winced. At the loud noise, Anya snorted and awoke. Blinking a few times, she gazed about her, looking rather confused.

"Where am I?"

"Back in action, that's where you are." Faith helped her up, holding her steady before she could fall.

"Not with this dizziness, I'm not."

"Oh, that'll pass after a couple minutes and maybe if you just take a couple glasses of water it'll pass even faster. Or maybe not, but I'm sure you're thirsty anyways, and water's good for the body, yes it is and it's pure and clean and nice and-"

"Yada yada, sugar and spice. Enough with the babbling, Red, and get her the water."

Willow flushed and rushed out the door to the kitchen.

"Yes, thank you for stopping her. I thought my head would fall off."

"And have us do that spell again? I don't think so."

Anya tilted her head and stared at Faith. Faith stared right back.

"I'm alive."

"Yea, you are."

"How in the world did that happen?"

"Magic. Literally."

"I guess that makes sense."

"Yea."

Willow dashed back into the room with a cup of water, handing it to Anya with a hint of bravado.

"Your water."

The newly revived girl took it and chugged it down in one gulp before handing it back to the redhead.

"I thought you didn't like me."

Blushing, Willow fumbled with the glass. Faith came to the rescue.

"Bullshit, An. Red was happy to bring you back. Anything to get Xander back up on his feet."

"Aha! I knew it! Both of you still have feelings for him!"

Faith groaned.

"For Christ sake, Anya. We don't want him like that. We're his friends, and we're allowed to be concerned for his well-being." She lifted her eyebrows up.

"Besides, Red's still with Ken and I've been getting down and dirty with Buffy. We don't have any room for Xander." She winked. Anya's mouth opened in shock.

"Buffy?!"

"Yea, I know. She's got a thing for bad guys gone good."

Anya recovered swiftly. She had a tendency for it.

"Well, at least your heart's still beating."

"I'd be pretty unhappy if it wasn't."

"We'd all be, Faith." Willow said softly.

Undoubtedly, she was worried for Faith just as much as the rest of the gang. This plan of hers was borderline reckless, and very much dangerous. Who wouldn't be afraid for her?

Faith glanced at her briefly, but said nothing.

"When do I get to see him?"

"Red's got them all gathered. I think now's a good time as any, yea?"

They all nodded, and walked towards the lobby.

The reaction was nothing less than phenomenal.

The newbies squeaked, Dawn shrieked, Giles beamed, and Andrew almost passed out. Anya received their tearful greetings gratefully, but her eyes were on Xander.

He'd paled visibly, and his legs had shaken so much he had to sit himself down onto a chair. Tears began to fall unchecked from his good eye, and he couldn't find any words to fill the emptiness in his mouth.

She walked right up to him, and stood there for a moment.

"Xander?"

Silence.

"Is it really you?"

A look of annoyance flitted across her face before she crossed her arms with a scoff.

"Here I am, the love of your life, standing in front of you as real as that silly little patch over your bad eye, and you're asking me if it's really me?"

"I..."

"Of course it's her, Xander! Who else would it be, her twin sister?" Dawn said excitedly. Anya stared at her in confusion.

"Dawn, I don't have a twin sister."

Xander then laughed so hard through his tears, he nearly choked on his spit. It was Anya, his honey bunny was back, and he pulled her towards him with such force she landed on top of his lap. He didn't care. He was busy squeezing the life out of her.

"It's you...it's you...you're back..." He was crying, laughing, and everything in between.

"Well thank Willow and Faith. They're the ones who brought me back."

Everyone turned to look at the two, standing further away, silently basking in the joy of their accomplishment. Willow smiled before nodding towards Faith.

"Don't thank me. It was Faith's idea."

There were no words to describe the way Xander looked at her then.

His eyes were full of thanks and joy and all the good things in the world that meant love and happiness. Something inside Faith sparked and came alive, and the squeeze of Buffy's hand on hers completed it. Everyone gave her similar looks. They all had a new respect for her, seeing a side of her that brought life, instead of ending it. A part of her that revealed her hidden compassion, though they knew inside it had to have existed anyways. Now they could see it, they saw the evidence of it right there in front of them. Faith, through all the problems she was dealing with right then, had taken the time to fulfill the needs of one of her companions, because he needed love just as much as any of them did.

Buffy kissed her on the cheek.

"You did a good thing, Faith. I'm so proud of you."

Faith smiled, ever so softly.

She was happy, sure. It wasn't everyday she was anybody's hero. And that's what she was to Xander. She no longer had to doubt his loyalty again. He made sure she knew that she had his vote, eternally. Anya as well, made it rather clear that Faith was completely forgiven for taking Xander's virginity and that she was now Anya's best of friends. Faith gladly accepted the position.

But of course, being Anya, she had to make sure that nobody else would claim the spot, so she ran around, clearing it with everybody in the whole building that she - and she alone - held the title of Faith's bestest friend. She broke the news to Buffy one night while she and Faith were busy with the making out in Buffy's room. Anya just strolled in casually, ignoring the fact that they fumbled around in the sheets, trying to cover themselves up and spoke directly to Buffy.

"Buffy, I know you're Faith's orgasm buddy, but just so you know, you can't be her best friend."

"Wh-what?!"

"I'm her best friend now, so all you're allowed to be now is her sex friend."

"Okay. I'll keep that in mind, Anya, thank you." Buffy couldn't keep the sarcasm out of her voice. As it had been before, it was completely lost on Anya.

"I'm glad we could come to an agreement. Alright, I need to go let Kennedy and Angel know, too. Goodnight."

Anya left hurriedly in search of the two top champions of Faith's friendship. Faith made a nervous face as Buffy giggled.

"If I know Kennedy, she won't let that go easy."

"Well if a fight breaks out, at least Ken doesn't have her Slayer powers. That could cause a lot of problems."

"You're the cause of a lot of problems, it seems."

Faith swatted her arm.

"Sure, blame me. I'm always the scapegoat."

"Well who else is there to blame?"

Grinning, Faith rolled over and pinned her down against the bed. Slowly but surely she began to grind her hips against Buffy, who unwillingly let out a moan.

"Gee, B. I'm really kind of horny right now. And I can tell you right now that it's not my fault." With that, she leaned down for a kiss.