She was flying.or was she swimming? The air was warm and humid. Everything
around her was soft. It was like being on the inside of an orange.
Everything was smooth and clear. Fragile and perfect. The air hummed with
life. She began to forget. She knew that there was something missing, but
gradually she was losing touch with it. The sense of disorientation was
dizzying for a second but she felt her mind washed clean and pure so she
let go. The dizziness dissolved and she felt her limbs stretching
impossibly, fading at their tips, till her fingers were turning to air and
the world around her enveloped her like a warm hand in water. She smiled
and spun what was left of her physical self around and around like a top
until she could feel nothing but the pulsing orbit of the centre of the
world. She embraced the air.
***
The pretty things are going to hell
They wore it out but they wore it well
***
"The Council knows by now that I've been in contact with Faith. They'll assume that we're harboring her." Giles lifted his eyes skyward. Exhaustion was apparent on his face.
Faith had left, temporarily, with Spike to find a place to sleep. She was naïve if she thought that she wasn't the topic of conversation in the Magic Box. Giles couldn't fathom why she'd leave herself so vulnerable at a time like this, but there was no time to question these things.
"But we're not harboring her! I don't want anything to do with Faith!" Willow's voice was weak and a little whiny. Giles tried not to let his annoyance show.
"Indeed, and I'm sure that if you tell them that, they'll just pack up and go for a round of beers at the local pub. It's not that simple, Willow. I'm afraid that I may have made a rather grave error in alerting Faith at all."
"So will they come after us?" Xander was fingering the ticket to Pittsburgh in his pocket.
"I should think so. If they think that Faith's been in contact with us, they'll want all the information that we've got."
"But can't we just turn her over to them?" Willow's eyes were bright. She was overtired and it was starting to show. "It's not like we owe her anything, anyway. She's never done one good thing for us. I say we let 'em have her."
"That hardly seems honorable, Willow. I don't like this any better than you do, but what the Council is doing is nevertheless wrong. Consider if it were Buffy in this position. It could easily have been."
"Honour be damned! It isn't Buffy! It's Faith. Remember Faith? Little evil minion, big evil snake? Body switching, mind messing, boyfriend stealing bitch?" Tara's arm shot out as Willow faltered a little. Willow clung to her.
"Calm down. We must decide this rationally. I understand your motivation, Willow, but what about the next Slayer? If Faith dies, another will be called. She will be completely under the Council's control. At least for a few years. I honestly think we will have a better chance of surviving if we don't come into contact with the Council just now. They have good reason to want every one of us dead. Buffy was our safeguard." Giles grimaced and sat down, lost momentarily in though. With Buffy gone, there was really no reason for any of them to still be here. Meeting here, making plans.this was all so familiar and yet there was no reason for it anymore. Dawn was with her father, safe if not happy. They had been unable to do anything about that. It didn't matter anymore.
"Perhaps you're right. If we were wise, we would all just leave town now as planned and leave Faith to fight her own battle." Giles sat back down. He was so weary. The past two weeks had been a fight for mere survival. There had been little time for grieving. All of them seemed to sense the finality of the situation. There was nothing left but to accept it and move on.
"Anya and I are still leaving." Everyone looked at Xander. Giles nodded. Anya held his arm and stared coolly around the table. Xander looked down at his hands. Willow and Tara looked at each other. Giles glanced searchingly at each of them.
"Giles. This isn't all there is. Leaving isn't giving up. It's moving on. Nothing really ever ends."
Funny that Tara, this wise, quiet, beautiful girl should be so comforting when no one else felt able. Willow was lucky to have her. Giles watched the way they looked at each other like they shared some mysterious, perfect secret. She was right.
"All right then. Now what shall we tell Faith?" Giles let it go. With that, he unchained himself from this town. Freed himself of Buffy's memory.
"You don't." Spike had returned. He stood in the door, his face as unreadable as a block of salt. "Just go. Leave now. She wont find out, I swear it."
***
The pretty things are going to hell
They wore it out but they wore it well
***
"The Council knows by now that I've been in contact with Faith. They'll assume that we're harboring her." Giles lifted his eyes skyward. Exhaustion was apparent on his face.
Faith had left, temporarily, with Spike to find a place to sleep. She was naïve if she thought that she wasn't the topic of conversation in the Magic Box. Giles couldn't fathom why she'd leave herself so vulnerable at a time like this, but there was no time to question these things.
"But we're not harboring her! I don't want anything to do with Faith!" Willow's voice was weak and a little whiny. Giles tried not to let his annoyance show.
"Indeed, and I'm sure that if you tell them that, they'll just pack up and go for a round of beers at the local pub. It's not that simple, Willow. I'm afraid that I may have made a rather grave error in alerting Faith at all."
"So will they come after us?" Xander was fingering the ticket to Pittsburgh in his pocket.
"I should think so. If they think that Faith's been in contact with us, they'll want all the information that we've got."
"But can't we just turn her over to them?" Willow's eyes were bright. She was overtired and it was starting to show. "It's not like we owe her anything, anyway. She's never done one good thing for us. I say we let 'em have her."
"That hardly seems honorable, Willow. I don't like this any better than you do, but what the Council is doing is nevertheless wrong. Consider if it were Buffy in this position. It could easily have been."
"Honour be damned! It isn't Buffy! It's Faith. Remember Faith? Little evil minion, big evil snake? Body switching, mind messing, boyfriend stealing bitch?" Tara's arm shot out as Willow faltered a little. Willow clung to her.
"Calm down. We must decide this rationally. I understand your motivation, Willow, but what about the next Slayer? If Faith dies, another will be called. She will be completely under the Council's control. At least for a few years. I honestly think we will have a better chance of surviving if we don't come into contact with the Council just now. They have good reason to want every one of us dead. Buffy was our safeguard." Giles grimaced and sat down, lost momentarily in though. With Buffy gone, there was really no reason for any of them to still be here. Meeting here, making plans.this was all so familiar and yet there was no reason for it anymore. Dawn was with her father, safe if not happy. They had been unable to do anything about that. It didn't matter anymore.
"Perhaps you're right. If we were wise, we would all just leave town now as planned and leave Faith to fight her own battle." Giles sat back down. He was so weary. The past two weeks had been a fight for mere survival. There had been little time for grieving. All of them seemed to sense the finality of the situation. There was nothing left but to accept it and move on.
"Anya and I are still leaving." Everyone looked at Xander. Giles nodded. Anya held his arm and stared coolly around the table. Xander looked down at his hands. Willow and Tara looked at each other. Giles glanced searchingly at each of them.
"Giles. This isn't all there is. Leaving isn't giving up. It's moving on. Nothing really ever ends."
Funny that Tara, this wise, quiet, beautiful girl should be so comforting when no one else felt able. Willow was lucky to have her. Giles watched the way they looked at each other like they shared some mysterious, perfect secret. She was right.
"All right then. Now what shall we tell Faith?" Giles let it go. With that, he unchained himself from this town. Freed himself of Buffy's memory.
"You don't." Spike had returned. He stood in the door, his face as unreadable as a block of salt. "Just go. Leave now. She wont find out, I swear it."
