"Hi? Hi?" Xander stepped forward hugged Buffy. "Oh god Buff, after four months of you being gone, that's all you can say."
"It doesn't faze you all that I'm standing here, after dying?"
"You've come back once before, who's to say you couldn't do it again." Xander released Buffy and Dawn came up next. She smiled then kicked Buffy hard in the shin. Buffy shouted out in pain then fell to the floor. Faith reacted fast by pushing Dawn away and crouching down to help Buffy up.
"You okay B?"
"Yeah, it's just gonna leave a bruise. Have so many now, don't think it'll matter if I get one more." Buffy smiled and Faith helped her up. The others watched this all with shocked expressions. After she helped Buffy up, Faith got in Dawn's face.
"What the hell was that about? You see your sister for the first time after she sacrificed herself to save you, and you beat her up."
"Faith. Stop." Buffy pulled on the slayers arm, and moved in between them. "She doesn't know." Buffy turned and smiled at Dawn. "In fact, I think it's fitting that she did it, I mean I left her without a guardian, without a sister."
"That doesn't give her the right to hit you when you..."
"Faith!" Buffy turned and glared at her.
"Okay, does this make sense to anyone?" Xander looked around at his friends.
"No. No, it doesn't." Dawn moved closer to Buffy. "What's going on?"
"Why don't you all sit down." Buffy watched as her friends moved around her to sit in the living room, Faith went and stood in the doorway, watching the others. Once they were all quiet and listening, Buffy took a deep breath and began
"Last spring, when I jumped through the portal, my soul was trapped, my body falling, was a shell. I spent three hundred years the equivalent three months here in the hell dimension Kytosiea, kept 22 forever, tortured forever. For reasons that I don't know or understand I was brought back. I don't know how either. I was brought back to the Hypreion Hotel in LA, Wes, Cordy, Gunn, Fred and Lorne spent two weeks helping me, adjusting me. At the end of those two weeks, Angel came back from Tibet. He then helped me get Faith out of jail, with the help of the council, and clear her. We then prepared to come here."
Buffy looked around at her friends who stared back at her. "I know it's hard to accept, but it's all true."
"Wow." Anya pretty much summed up everyone's thoughts, then they all burst out laughing. Faith's mouth dropped open while Buffy just smiled. Her friends all got up to hug her, Spike just ruffled her hair. They finally all sat back down.
"Wait. What did Faith mean?" Asked Dawn. "When she got mad about me kicking you, I mean you're a slayer. I thought you could handle it."
"She's not a slayer anymore." They all looked up as Faith said this.
"What?" Willow was as shocked as the rest of them.
"She means that some how, I don't have slayer abilities anymore. I am a normal person." Buffy smiled.
"You're kidding." Giles took off his glasses and started to clean them.
"No. In fact that was the reason the council agreed to get Faith out. There is, only one, slayer, Faith. Actually, the council requested that Giles become Faith's watcher and that they be posted on the hellmouth." the room became quiet as Buffy said this. "I have the papers in the jeep, I'll get them later."
"Alright." Giles smiled at the two girls. "But you know Faith, I will make you train like you've never trained before."
"Looking forward to it G-man."
"Please don't call me that." Giles groaned and the group laughed.
"What about you?" Spike looked to the tiny blonde sitting across from him. "Now that you're not a slayer, what are you going to do?"
"I." Buffy looked around at her friends stopping at Dawn. "Am going home."
"But you're home is here." Tara spoke up for the first time.
"She means Spain." They all looked at Dawn then back to Buffy.
"What's in Spain?" Willow questioned the two sisters. Dawn spoke again.
"Dad."
****
After getting her affairs sorted out in Sunnydale, Buffy boarded a plane to Spain. Any business or person that questioned what had happened, she told them she had faked her death to get away for a while. It worked nicely. Buffy paid off debts, the mortgage, put money in an account for Dawn for college and said goodbye.
All her friends understood. Spike promised to take care of Dawn and work with Faith. Faith moved in Willow, Tara and Dawn taking Buffy's room. Spike moved into the basement to watch over to girls. Xander and Anya announced their engagement and Buffy promised to come back for the wedding. Giles and Faith were already bickering about music and that was a good sign.