Buffy
"Tara? What's wrong?"
Tara doesn't respond. Her head is cocked oddly as she seems to be following the movement of something with her eyes. Buffy reaches for the crystal, hoping to see whatever it is that has mesmerized the witch. During all of their training with the crystal, Buffy had always done her best to ignore the energy she saw between Tara and Faith. Now that she had her memories, and she knew how Faith felt about her, she finally had the confidence to let herself look. She was surprised to see that the energy was different now, it was stronger and not only that, she was connected to Tara as well.
"B? What do you think is happening?"
"Maybe that's Willow?" Buffy nodded towards the energy she saw getting closer, but then she noticed a steady stream of energy from all four of them heading in the opposite direction. "But there's something else. Something further away, that's not moving."
A few moments later, the Willow essence is at the door and knocking. Buffy hops up to let her in.
Willow looks confused and disoriented, "Sorry, I don't know why I came back here... Something was telling me to. I tried to resist, but I just couldn't anymore." She rubs her head and finally notices Tara seems to be in a trance. "What happened to her?"
"Tara was showing us some stuff with our auras, and then she kinda started staring off into space." Faith offers with a shrug.
"Tara? Are you ok?" Willow moves to Tara's side.
"What? Yeah. I'm ok, that was weird." Tara smiles and leans into Willow.
"You don't seem OK."
"No, I'm ok, just…" She cast her eyes to Faith. "How exactly did you get sent back in time?"
"I was brought to this place, there were these women there, and they offered me a second chance." Faith shrugged, hoping they wouldn't ask for any more details.
"Do you remember where it was?"
"No, I think it was somewhere near here, but I don't know exactly." Faith looked to Buffy, who shook her head. She had tried to remember where they had gone, but she hadn't paid enough attention at the time. Only Willow had known where they were going.
"I think something wants us to go there now. All of our auras are combining and being drawn together, heading in the same direction." Tara says.
"Great, I've been wanting to ask them why they didn't send me back further. Could have avoided killing that guy. And maybe a few other things I would've done differently." Faith turned towards the door.
Willow stiffened and let out a little gasp.
"What is it, Willow?" Tara asked.
"I.. can't believe I didn't tell you." Willow stammered and looked at the floor, shifting guiltily.
"Tell me what?" Faith turned back towards Willow, taking a menacing step forward.
Willow looks nervously at the other three women in the room but doesn't speak.
"Tell me what!?" Faith takes a step forward. Anger and frustration are pouring out of her, and Buffy is gasping at the assault and the sudden shift in Faith's emotions. Willow and Faith had been getting along pretty well lately, she was sure having to remember what Willow had done was not helping whatever was happening now. She was struggling with it herself and had to work hard not to compound the anger that Faith was feeling.
Willow looks around sheepishly. "When I hacked into the Mayor's stuff, I found out that Finch had been prolonging his life. I don't know if he was entirely human or not, but he had been working with the mayor for over a hundred years. He only turned on him when he found out that the Mayor wasn't going to keep him on board after the ascension."
"Are you fucking kidding me? You've known that for months, and you didn't tell me?"
"I was going to tell you, but then the thing with the book happened. Then I sorta forgot." Willow could not meet Faith's eyes and had her arms wrapped around her stomach.
"You forgot!" Faith is now inches from Willow. Her entire body is clenched, her face locked in a furious snarl.
"How could you do this, Willow?" Buffy's voice is soft. She's reaching for Faith, trying to pull her away. Putting together that the Willow from before might have known this too. If they had known about this the first time around, maybe none of the terrible mistakes that Faith made would have happened.
Faith
"I'm sorry I never told you. We all knew he was part of something evil, and you seemed to be over it anyway, I really did just forget." Willow offers softly. Faith looks long and hard at Willow. She thought I got over killing someone? She frowned, knowing she was mostly upset because she couldn't stop remembering what Willow had become. No matter how good Willow seemed to be now, Faith would still get flashes of the black-haired monster that opened the Hellmouth and almost killed Buffy.
Faith had never really gotten over what happened with Finch, but she had eventually figured out that it wasn't the accident that was where things went wrong for her. It was how she reacted to it. Panicking and pushing everyone away was her real mistake. If she had been able to accept Buffy's help the first time around, things might not have turned out the way they did.
"Let's go." Faith says, not yet willing to give Willow forgiveness.
Tara is staring off into space, her eyes unfocused. Without saying anything, she grabs Willow's hand, motioning for the slayers to join in. In a flash, the four women are standing in the structure where they had met the women who sent her back in time.
The slayers move to the wall and Faith touches it like she did before, and watches as the stone falls away. She and Buffy enter the tunnel, and the witches follow. They move in silence, approaching the pedestal and watching as the floor breaks away to reveal the stairs. Faith pauses at the top of the stairs and turns back to look at the witches
"Can you wait here? We should talk to them first." They nod, and she reaches for Buffy's hand to guide her down the stairs.
"You've returned." The keepers are standing side by side in the center of the room.
"You're observant." Faith replies, she was agitated and angry at these women. Faith had felt a significant change in herself since she was given her second chance. She now believes that she does deserve happiness and the enormous invisible weight she'd been carrying her whole life was gone, that didn't mean she wasn't still pissed off. She was still Faith. She still drew strength from her anger.
"I know you're upset with how things happened, but it wasn't our doing. We could not control the circumstances of your return." The blue keeper offered.
Faith scoffed.
"There have been forces aligned against you since your birth, Faith. We've done what we could to get you here. I wish we could have done more and that your path could have been less painful." The burgundy keeper moved closer. Her voice was soft. Faith again felt a calming familiarity with her presence. She knew she felt it before, and not just the first time they met, it was something further in her past. It increased her annoyance that she couldn't remember where she knew this woman from.
"Why did you give B her memories?" Faith asks, now realizing this is where her current anger is coming from. She hated that Buffy remembered the place Faith had driven her to. It was one thing for Faith to tell her what happened, it was entirely different for Buffy to have to actually remember what it felt like when they fought, when Buffy stabbed her, and when she almost let Angel kill her.
"That wasn't us. Her stubbornness returned those memories."
"Just before you were sent back, I remember focusing, trying to make myself remember how I felt about you. That must be why I trusted you all this time too." Buffy reached for Faith's hand, "don't be mad. I know you didn't want me to know about Willow, but it's ok. It'll be ok."
Faith only shook her head, sighing deeply and focusing on the calm and reassuring energy she felt from Buffy. She didn't want to point out why she was really upset. She knew they should probably talk about it but now wasn't the time.
"Why did you bring us here now?" Faith asked, trying to stay calm. She knew these women were her allies. They had given her a second chance. Even if they couldn't erase all the terrible memories of Faith's mistakes, they still gave her a chance to be who she was meant to be.
The burgundy keeper moved closer to the slayers, "you have a great purpose, we are here to provide you with the tools you will need."
"What is this great purpose?" Faith asks, feeling much calmer now. Letting herself be lulled by the calming energy of both Buffy and the keepers. She had always drawn strength from her anger, but now she realized she had a much more powerful source to draw from. The love she shared with not only Buffy but her friends as well, would give her far more strength than her anger ever could.
"The witches are part of your purpose. They should join us."
Tara and Willow descend the stairs without anyone calling up to them.
"Who are you?" Tara asks once she takes in her surroundings.
"We are known as the keepers." The blue keeper replies. "We watch over the warriors for good and provide guidance when we can."
"What are your names? Why did you bring us here?" Tara asks.
"We go by many names, but you may call me Alice." The Blue Keeper answers.
"You may call me Scarlett," the Burgundy keeper adds.
"We brought you here because you are now joined." Alice answers.
"All four of us?" Faith asks.
"Yes, the four of you are meant to be together to help keep the world free of evil." Scarlett supplies.
"Why now, though?" Buffy asks, "because Faith finally told me what happened?"
"Not exactly," Scarlett answers.
"Are you going to tell us why exactly?" Faith asks after neither keeper speaks. Faith groans a few moments later, "of course you're not going to tell us. What fun would that be?"
"We understand your frustration, but we are bound by strict rules." Scarlett offers, sadness clear in her voice.
Faith frowned but quickly knew the futility of asking more questions. These women wouldn't tell them anything, and she knew it. "If you can't tell us anything, why bother bringing us here?" Faith asks.
"You will face many trials, we can not tell you what will happen, but we can provide you with tools to aid you in this mission." Alice swept her arm over the room, gesturing to the many cases filled with weapons and other magical items. "You each may select one item."
The slayers were instantly drawn to the central case that held the Scythe.
"It is not yet time for that," Alice suggests calmy.
Faith shrugs and begins searching the remaining cases, she spots a plain looking dagger and retrieves it.
"What's so special about this? And why the hell can't I put it down?" She tries shaking her hand to release the item, but it stays firmly attached to her hand.
"Will it away." Scarlett moves to stand by Faith's side. It irks Faith that she had yet to reveal her face, but she still found herself calmed by the women's energy.
Faith looks at her hand, and the item is gone, the looks down again and it's returned. "That's neat, I guess."
The keeper chuckles. "You can will it to be any weapon you wish."
Faith looks at her hand again, and now she's holding a short sword, she thinks again, and now it's a stake. "Ok, that's fucking awesome." She says with an enormous grin as she tries several different weapon types.
"There is no limit to what type of weapon you can summon."
"Meaning what?"
"Meaning any foe you face, if you imagine you are holding a weapon that can defeat it, you will be holding that weapon."
Faith grins wickedly, "Ok so that's even more awesome than I thought. What did you get B?" Buffy holds up the item in her hand. "Jewelry? Come on, all these badass weapons and you chose Jewelry?"
"What? It's pretty." Buffy pouted as she admired the ornate golden item in her hand. "What is this, anyway?"
"It's an ear cuff. It belonged to a slayer ancestor of yours from 400 years ago. It will allow you to detect evil in the hearts of man." Scarlett explains, showing Buffy how to attach it to her ear. The intricate design wrapped itself around the top of her ear and stayed firmly in place.
"Man? Like humans? As in non-demony people? Why would I want to be able to do that? Isn't it enough that we have to fight demons?" Buffy whines at the keepers.
"Can't Tara already do that anyway?" Faith asks, not at all liking what she was hearing.
The keepers look to each other and nod.
"Tara sees much, but not all. This item will allow you to see what she cannot."
Faith starts to speak but stops herself. Maybe she could only see the first in Willow because of whatever magic Willow was using to keep her alive. She couldn't ask without revealing more than she wanted to.
Scarlett continues to explain, "Together, the four of you will have the power to push evil out of humans. That cuff will help you identify the humans who need your help."
"What do you mean? We're supposed to go around getting people to stop being so shitty to each other? Are we going to have to go door to door until we've made all the humans less awful?" Faith's earlier pleasure is being erased by this new information.
"It's for those who are influenced externally. Primarily by the first evil. Those who have let evil into themselves, willingly." Faith and Buffy share a meaningful look.
"What happens to the humans after we push the evil out?" Tara asks.
"It will depend on how influenced they are and what they have done. It will be a forced redemption. Some will handle it better than others."
The four women are silent as they contemplate this news. Faith isn't sure she likes what this may mean, but she gets the sense that it is very important to the keepers, like maybe it is their primary reason for existing.
"What does this do?" Willow asks, holding up a ring with a small green jewel in the center.
"That will allow you to call upon deep earth magic, allowing you to heal most injuries," Alice responds.
"Can it be used for medical conditions?" Faith asks.
"I'm afraid not. It cannot be used to affect the natural order of things. It can be used to prevent death and heal significant physical injuries, but it can not cure sickness."
"Right, of course not." Faith frowned, and Buffy moved to hold her. They hadn't yet discussed what they were going to do to prevent Joyce's death, but she knew it was on both of their minds.
Tara
Tara gave out a small cry. "I don't want that." She dropped the item she was holding back into the case.
Both keepers moved to her side. "You are a being of pure light and magic. You will know when and how to use it." The blue keeper slides the small item into a box and hands it back to Tara. She accepts it reluctantly and nods.
"Why are you giving me this? Why does this awful thing even exist!?" Tara looks up at Alice with sadness.
"Everything is a cycle. Death, and rebirth. Without this, without you and your friends, there would be no rebirth when the end arrives."
Tara frowns as she looks down at the item in her hands. The box prevented her from feeling the power, and she felt slightly better about holding it. She was not at all happy about the prospect of the end arriving.
"It will hopefully be a very long time before you need to use it. Keep it safe until it is time."
Tara fights the tears that are threatening to fall. When she had touched the item, all she felt was emptiness. A complete void of all magic. She didn't understand what the keeper had meant about rebirth, but she had some guesses. The fact that they had been speaking telepathically let her know that the others weren't meant to know.
"Who are you?" Tara had felt a very strong and familiar connection to the woman before her.
Alice smiled at her, "I am your family. All the witches from your line are part of me."
Tara looked over at Faith, finally realizing why she has always felt so connected to the slayer, "Is she...?"
"It is not the time to reveal all truths. She is not ready to know."
Tara frowned, "wouldn't it make her happy to know she has a family?"
"Not now it wouldn't. It would tear her apart. She must find her own way, in her own time. It is not possible to force her."
"Here, you should take this as well." Alice hands Tara a small red item that had been concealed in her cloak. "She will need this, you will know when."
Tara nodded, not at all understanding, but fully trusting Alice.
"You should return to your lives now, find all the happiness that you can with each other. Learn how to use your gifts."
The four women nod, and suddenly, they are back in Tara's dorm room.
Buffy
They stand awkwardly in Tara's dorm room, everyone seemingly afraid to speak.
"That was… heavy." Willow sighs and sits down on Tara's bed.
"Yeah, a lot to think about," Tara adds, sitting next to her.
"Maybe we can think about it tomorrow? This has been the longest day ever." Buffy is mentally drained and desperately wants to be alone with Faith. "We should probably do a quick patrol, too." She throws the last bit in, hoping it will lead to a quick exit with no more questions.
The witches nod, and Buffy is dragging Faith out of the room before anyone can say anything else.
"So… patrol?" Buffy asks Faith as they walk out of Tara's building.
"Seriously?" Faith asks with an incredulous look.
"Oh, thank god." Buffy knew they had a lot to talk about, but she really wasn't interested in talking right now. She ran to her dorm room, Faith just barely a step behind. They entered to the sound of Willow's voice on the answering machine - explaining that she planned to spend the night in Tara's room. Despite knowing they had the room to themselves for the night, Buffy stuck a chair under the handle of the door.
"You got plans, B? Worried about being interrupted?" Faith whispered into her ear as she leaned her body into the smaller slayer from behind, wrapping her arms around her stomach and holding her close. Buffy did have plans, but the chair was mostly to make sure Willow didn't surprise them again.
Buffy moaned into the contact, Faith began kissing her neck, and Buffy couldn't possibly put words to how good it felt. She turned in Faith's arms and began moving them towards the bed. Hands on each other's hips as they kissed passionately. Faith's legs hit the side of the bed, and she was forced to sit, Buffy moved to straddle her without breaking the kiss.
Buffy felt hands on her hips and lips kissing her neck. She was pretty sure this is what heaven might feel like. She fought through to regain control of herself. Pulling back slightly and pushing Faith, so she was laying down.
"Something wrong?" Faith asked.
Buffy smiled and stared down at Faith, shaking her head. She moaned and arched her back as Faith ran her fingers along the outside of her thighs. Nothing was wrong, but something was missing, and she wasn't sure what it was.
Her memory drifted to the last time she was in this position with Faith. The newly recovered memory of the night they slept together was very confusing for her. She had a strong feeling that Faith had been trying to hurt her, that she had been trying to prove just how dark she was. She knew that what was happening now wasn't like that. She knew that Faith truly did love her now, and wanted this just as much as she did.
Faith was much better at shielding her emotions than Buffy was. When Faith opened herself up earlier, Buffy couldn't believe how incredible it felt. Faith had finally let Buffy all the way in, but she was closed off again.
Faith stopped what she was doing and sat up a little to lean on her elbows. "Something is wrong. Tell me."
"Nothing is wrong, I just.. I need..." Buffy closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "I need to feel all of you."
Faith grinned, "I thought that's what we were working on."
Buffy looked down to explain that wasn't what she meant when Faith opened herself up entirely to her. All of the love and desire that Buffy needed to feel was everywhere. Buffy couldn't believe it. She could never have imagined how this would feel, it was even more intense than before. She wasn't aware of anything or able to form a thought until Faith must have regained control of her emotions. When Buffy opened her eyes again, she was laying on her back, and Faith was smiling down at her.
"You ok?" Faith asked.
All Buffy could do was moan lightly in response, pulling Faith in for a needy, desperate kiss. She was finding herself lost again, drifting back to that heavenly place, running her fingers under Faith's shirt. She felt the edge of the scar and froze. Her past memories colliding with her current burning desires causing her to lose the moment. Flashes of dark Faith filling her mind, the agonizing memory of what it felt like to drive the knife into Faith's stomach.
Faith growled and rolled onto her back.
"Did you just growl at me?" Buffy whined.
"It wasn't exactly at you." Faith sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "Look. I get it. I can't imagine how confusing this is for you. "
"I almost killed you. I wanted to kill you." Buffy sighed, struggling with the mass of swirling emotions she was feeling.
Faith was quiet for a few minutes, and Buffy probed her feelings. Expecting to find frustration or anger, all she found was an odd resolve and contentment.
"It wasn't me you were trying to kill. Not this me. Not the me that I'm supposed to be."
Buffy sat up and looked down at Faith.
Faith smiled and sat up too, "I'm going to try to explain this, and I hope you get it. I hope you can understand. Because I want to move forward, I want... need us both to be free of everything that happened before." Buffy nodded and waited for Faith to continue.
"I always thought there was something wrong with me, some reason why I could never make the right choice. I would know what the right choice was, it was even what I wanted to do, but somehow I could never let me make that choice. I thought that was just what I was - a broken, worthless thing, that wasn't capable of not screwing everything up. Today I finally realized that it wasn't true, that it was never true."
Buffy raised an eyebrow, having no idea what Faith was talking about.
"OK - here's an example. When I first came to Sunnydale, every time I saw you or Giles, I wanted to point out that I was just a kid, living alone in a shitty motel. A place where vamps could just walk in anytime they wanted. Every time I went back to that place alone, a voice was screaming in my head for me to ask someone for help." Buffy gasped, Faith only shook her head and grabbed her hands. "Don't feel bad, it's not your fault. Even if you had offered to help me then, no way would I have accepted it. I couldn't have, no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't have let you help me." Buffy knew Faith was right, it still hurt beyond belief to know that she had not even taken the time to think about what Faith's life in Sunnydale was.
Tears were starting to fall on Buffy's cheeks, and Faith wiped them gently away. "The first chance I got, I asked to stay with you, like I had been wanting to for months. It was like that for everything, every situation. I knew what the right thing to do was, I even wanted to do the right thing, but then I would do the opposite." Faith held Buffy's face gently in her hands, staring into her eyes. "When you stabbed me, you saved me. You set me free."
Buffy knew the truth of what Faith was telling her, not fully understanding the hows or whys of what happened, but knowing that the Faith before her now was not the same Faith she had tried to kill. Faith had once told her that she used Buffy's emotions to help guide her, Buffy had felt seriously conflicted when she found that out. A little weirded out by the idea of Faith using her that way. But now, she realized how much she had learned from Faith, how much she herself had changed.
"I think I set us both free." She whispered and leaned in to kiss Faith once again. No longer feeling haunted by those past memories. She didn't think it would be this easy, she knew she'd always remember what happened and it would weigh on her. For now, all she wanted to think about was how good it felt to be loved by Faith.
Faith
Faith woke up alone and instantly began to panic. She remembered falling asleep with Buffy in her arms, but now Buffy was gone, and her side of the bed was cold. It didn't take long before she felt a reassuring response from Buffy, she did her best to slow her breathing and not let her insecurities overwhelm her. Last night had been beyond what she had imagined it would be like. Now that she was more awake, she realized how ridiculous it was to worry that Buffy had left her.
"Did you forget I told you I had orientation this morning?" Buffy says as she comes in, carrying a bag of bagels and two coffees.
"I didn't expect to wake up alone." Faith frowns and pouts, crossing her arms over her chest in a way she hoped would convince Buffy to climb back into bed with her.
"You didn't. We had a whole conversation this morning before I left." Buffy grinned handing Faith one of the coffees and sliding into bed next to her. "Though your side of the conversation was mostly grunts." Buffy kisses her and touches her cheek lightly.
Faith relaxes as she remembers the conversation, "oh yeah… guess I forgot." Taking a sip of her coffee and then snuggling into Buffy's side. She puts the coffee on the side table and begins to slide her hands under Buffy's shirt.
Buffy moans but then stops Faith's hands. "Everyone will be here soon."
"What, why?" Faith pouts, she had been really looking forward to spending the day together, preferably in bed. Though she hadn't really thought through how that was going to work with Willow sharing this room.
"To help me move back home."
"What?"
"You can't think I'm going to stay in the dorms now?"
"I tried to convince you not even to come here. But you had to have the college experience." Faith rolls her eyes, remembering the absurd excuse Buffy used to explain why she wanted to move into the dorms. Faith had come close to telling Buffy about her mother to get her to stay, she had decided against it in the end. Deciding she would just continue to make sure Buffy made time for her mother.
Buffy looked embarrassed and backed away from Faith.
"What? What's wrong?"
"It wasn't so much the college experience… It was just getting a little too hard being close to you all the time without... "
"Having me?" Faith grinned and renewed her efforts to slide her hands under Buffy's shirt. She had known that was why Buffy wanted to move out. She had been struggling with the same issue herself. The constant contact since her 18th birthday had activated her libido and it had been starting to drive her crazy. It didn't help that she knew Buffy had been feeling all the same feelings. Now that they were together, she had no plans to continue trying to bury her desires.
Buffy moaned and leaned into Faith's hands, letting out a small growl when she discovered Faith was still completely naked. "I guess we do have a little time."
"Holy moly!" The sound of Xander exclaiming and dropping the coffee he had in his hands disrupted the slayers.
"What?" Anya pushes past him and smacks him on the arm, "I told you they were giving each other orgasms! You never believe me about these things."
"Yeah.. but.. naked and... " He starts blabbering, and Anya pushes him back out of the room.
Buffy groans and rolls herself away from Faith. "I guess we didn't have as much time as I thought."
She pulls her shirt back on while Faith continues to lie in bed, watching her. "Are you going to get dressed?"
Faith pulls the sheet down slowly, revealing herself. "Are you sure you want me to?"
Buffy rolls her eyes and throws Faith's shirt at her. "The sooner we get me moved, the sooner we can be alone again."
That gets Faith going. It only takes her a moment to throw her clothes on. "Is your mom going to be ok with us being together?"
"My mom knows."
"You already talked to her?" Faith started to panic a little. She had grown close to Joyce and began to worry that she would be kicked out once she found out about their new relationship.
Buffy blushes, "No, but apparently there's this thing I do whenever you're about to enter a room. I kinda space out… everyone calls it my Faith haze. She's been asking me for months when I'm going to ask you out. She's definitely ok with us being together."
Faith looks shocked and then smirks, she moves closer to Buffy, pulling her tight and kissing her gently. "Faith haze, mmm, I like the sound of that."
"Don't look so smug. You have a Buffy haze too. Everyone is just too afraid of you to say anything." Buffy laughs at Faith's pout, pulling her in for a quick kiss before opening the door.
"We're very excited to help you move again!" Anya cheered with very fake enthusiasm.