A/N: Sorry about the long break. As promised this story will be completed.

The Red Witch

Chapter 20

Willow had begun to feel guilty about her romp with Faith earlier. Together the two had decided to delay going back to Buffy's as Willow was emotionally exhausted and Faith was physically drained, and neither woman was eager to go back and deal with the battle's aftermath just yet. However this left Willow with too much downtime in which to think about recent events. Her thoughts started taking a downturn as she was washing up the breakfast dishes. Having had some time to digest everything that happened she was in a much better place to analyze events, but not enough so that she could see the positives. As much as she wished for more from her parents and resented their neglect, the news of their deaths hit her hard. Much harder than she could have ever expected. That combined with the still aching loss of her lover and mother figure was too overwhelming for someone still trying to re-adjust to Sunnnydale and the friends and ex-lover she'd left behind years before, though not by choice.

That is what led to her impulsive decision to bed Faith and now she had to deal with the consequences. Namely the guilt of taking advantage of Faith when she was vulnerable and not physically 100% and also the guilt of a perceived unfaithfulness to Sidonie even though they had separated with the understanding that they wouldn't see each other again. Not to mention guilt due to Tara, who had not yet had a chance to let Willow go and would be hurt to learn of what happened between her and the Slayer.

Faith and Willow sat on the living room couch after breakfast. No one else was in the house as everyone was still at Buffy's. Faith lay with her head in Willow's lap and the red head rubbed the Slayer's overfull stomach while filling her in on what she knew of the current situation (Buffy kept her updated while she lay under the tree), though she wasn't quite sure how they ended up in the position they were in. Buffy was only mildly injured and so had already healed by now, Spike's introduction to the wrong end of a wooden chair leg was in the end non-lethal as it missed his heart and so he was fine after feeding on pig's blood. Xander's wounds had already been taken care of and of the surviving Slayerettes only Kennedy was still in bad shape.

Kennedy's surgery was successful and she'd eventually regain full use of her arm or close to, if she made it through the infection raging within her body. One that required IV antibiotics among other things and made the once vivacious and bold Potential appear weak and pale. Claudia as ordered has yet to leave her side and Faith got a real kick out of hearing that Claudia was pretending to be Kennedy's loving wife. She was less amused to find that Claudia had cast her as Kennedy's older sister and that she was expected to play that role when she and Willow went to the hospital later. Even knowing that she was playing the role only as long as it took for Willow to heal the brat and get her discharged didn't soothe Faith's grumpy glare. Still one had to admit that there was a strong resemblance between the two and having more "caring family members" would make signing Kennedy out easier as it would ease the minds of the Doctors and nurses even more along with Kennedy's soon to be miraculous full recovery.

Willow's main worry, aside from her guilt, was for the child that had been brought back from the vineyard. Willow had yet to see the girl since rescuing her and knowing that the child would not be able to communicate with any of the other Scoobies and would be highly unlikely to trust them given her previous circumstances, this would make handling her harder for them until Willow got there. But before any trips outside of the house took place Willow wanted to clear up a few things with Faith and hopefully avoid damaging whatever amity they managed to build in the time since her return.

"Faith there are some things I need to tell you about what has been going on since I healed you. What happened between us since I took your energy to heal myself. It starts with Sidonie..."

"Ok Red. So, who is Sidonie?" Faith asked.

"Sidonie... Sid was the one who rescued me from the demons that attacked me that night when Buffy and Dawn left. I thought she was you for a moment there until she looked at me. She fought the demons and killed them all, then burned the bodies before she took me away. The place she took me was... um, not on Earth exactly. It was a different dimension, a demonic dimension and Sid was able to get me there only because I was technically dead. She took me to Ysandre, who was like her mother, and together they made me whole again. Sid is a skilled healer and she taught me a lot of what she knew. I was really bad off and the only way they were able to heal me or to resuscitate me at all was because Sid shared her essence with me."

"Essence?"

"I guess you could say she shared her spirit with me and some of her physical being. Because Sidonie is by our definition a demon, I suppose you could say I am part demon now or at least that I have demonic attributes. If I wasn't the one who set the wards on the house I'd have to be invited in like Spike, but I am still mostly human and I am alive."

"Is that what you did to me? I've been drawn to you ever since the sweaty mattress incident and that isn't something that I can say I felt for you before. Of course you are much hotter now than you were before I went to prison." A sexy grin formed on the Slayer's face drawing a teasing and flirtatious response from the witch.

"Did prison teach you to appreciate the female form Faith? What else did you learn in the big house?"

"I was with a couple of girls before prison. I don't know if you'd noticed but I was kinda wild back then. Boys, girls, boy and girl at the same time, even a couple of way older guys who should have known better, but in prison I stayed to myself. I was trying to turn a new leaf, stay outta trouble you know. But we're off topic."

"Yes I did share a bit of myself with you, your Slayer healing wasn't going to kick in fast enough even after I healed you up as best I could. So you needed a little something more to help you hold on until it could fix you up. But you aren't part demon at least not anymore demon then you were before, Slayer powers and all. What's more, when I took your energy to heal myself I also took a bit of your essence as well, it was unavoidable but it doesn't seem to have caused permanent damage to either of us. One thing it did do was form a bond between us."

"Really? And how does that work?"

"Right after I was healed by Sid I was extremely attracted to her, beyond anything I'd felt before even for Tara. It's not something that I could explain properly but it was very intense. It died down after a while, became less intense, but it never went away. It was very confusing especially since I was still deeply in love with Tara then and I had not even looked at another girl or guy for that matter, since we got together. That and the fact that I felt so strongly for someone I've never even met before. Sid explained to me that it was a side effect of the method of healing she used on me and that so long as I lived, I would feel that need for her that attraction even if she died. It is a matter of her essence within me resonating (for lack of a better word) with her. Even now I feel it. Something different from me missing her and our relationship but just as strong."

"When I woke up I needed to see you so badly that I didn't care that Buffy had me in her fluffy bird pajamas. That definitely isn't me. This, what we're doing now isn't me..."

"It's because you knew that I was badly injured which caused you to feel that way, to need to be close to me. I feel it too, knowing that I took so much from you at one time. But we can stop this if it bothers you. The need will not be so overwhelming in a few days." This Willow said while her rubbing motions ceased and she made to get off the couch.

Faith stopped her by grabbing her hand and holding it close, refusing to allow the witch to move. "I didn't say that I didn't like it Red. Just that it isn't something I normally do. But I guess it really isn't as bad as any of the other weird shit we've seen. It's actually kinda nice really, I don't mind it so much."

"I'm sorry Faith" Willow spoke with a mournful tone, while settling back into the couch.

"Sorry for what Red?" Faith asked confused.

"I took advantage of you before. I knew the effects of the healing, I've gone through them myself. And I should not have touched you knowing that..."

"Hey, hey, hey" Faith said breaking into the beginning of Willow's ramble. "There was no taking advantage ok! If anything I'm the one at fault because I let it happen knowing that you were not yourself. I should not have done that, but I can't take it back now. I allowed it Red. I know that if I had said stop or no you would have, but I didn't."

"Still I should not have initiated sex, especially when you were still recovering from me draining you. You do not deserve me treating you like that and it won't happen again."

Faith thought back to the hours she spent naked and tangled with the red head and she could not label them as mere sex. Faith was far from a virgin, but those hours were beyond anything she'd ever experienced before. No one had ever made love to her before, but she knew without being told that that was exactly what had happened. Willow had made love to her, had reached out to her of all people for comfort, and it made Faith angry to see the witch regretting any part of that experience.

"Red I going to say this only once so you listen and listen well. I enjoyed every single moment and I regret none of it. I would happily allow it to happen again anytime you want it and that is because it is my choice and not because of some weird bond thing. If you wanted me right now you'd only have to say the word. Of everyone here you are the only one I'd label as a friend and if you need me in that way or any other way, I am willing. Now, just so you know I am going to be free this evening so if you wanna come by..." Faith finished with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle which caused Willow to laugh.

"I'll keep that in mind." She said hesitating before speaking again cautiously. "You know that I'm nowhere near ready for a relationship right? I need time..."

Faith cut her off before she could finish. "I get that Red and I'm not asking for you to be my girlfriend. I just like the way you make me feel when we... I've never got off with another person before, I always had to finish myself. And I know you liked it too, so it doesn't have to be more than that." Faith said leaving out all the revelations about emotions and her needs that she'd had while lying under the witch.

"You want to be fuck buddies?" Willow asked saucily, sobering quickly once she heard Faith's response.

"NO!" Faith shouted involuntarily. The phrase rubbed her the wrong way immediately though she was not willing to say why out loud. Calling their relationship, or whatever it was, fuck buddies would cheapen the act and lessen the experience. "Friends. We're friends, close friends and there are some benefits to that."

"Friends with benefits?" Willow asked while carefully studying the Slayer and watching closely for her reaction not forgetting the three words from earlier which still lay between them unacknowledged.

"Friends who are close." Faith stated decisively while looking at the witch not wanting Willow to object or come up with a another phrase.

Willow knew that this was a bad idea even before this conversation, but now she was certain. Faith wasn't asking for a true relationship... yet, but without a doubt that is what she wanted. Willow wasn't ready but she felt the attraction just as strongly as Faith now that it was no longer one sided due to recent events and she was lonely and hurting. For various reasons the other Scoobies were as of now unapproachable, especially Tara. She and the blonde were not yet at the point where they could discuss Willow missing Sidonie or her attraction to Faith. Then on top of that there was Willow's permanent loss of her parents, who despite not being as big a part of her life as they should have been, were still important to her.

Perhaps one day after she, Buffy, and Xander all had time to hash out their issues then she could once again confide in them and take comfort from them. She and Tara had never been "just" friends so she had no idea how long it would take the two of them to reach that state.

But Faith, while having her own baggage from a past that included Willow, was without any barriers that Willow found problematic. So though it was a bad idea and not likely to end well Willow was inclined to allow them to be "close friends". Because part of what Willow was missing was not just sex but the feeling of being close to another person, of sharing a high level of intimacy, which allowed her to ground herself and her demonic nature. Faith would not and could not replace Sidonie but she could help Willow be less lonely, less hurt, and untethered to this plane.

"Okay." Willow said briefly with a nod at the pleased looking Slayer.