FIVE: FAITH
Faith
Chosen One. Forgive me?
B
Faith breathed in deeply and looked down at the short message written on it. Her stomach was still feeling unsettled, but at least now she understood why. Buffy, the real Slayer, was dead. Which meant that Faith was exactly what Buffy had said to her in the short letter.
Chosen One.
Faith was it. The Slayer. The only Slayer now. Faith could still remember the torn feelings she'd had when she'd discovered that she wasn't the only Slayer in the world. She'd felt incredibly slighted to know that there was another one that she was being compared to. Not only that, but she knew that compared to the other Slayer, she fell short.
After meeting Buffy, she'd still felt jealous, but then the two of them had begun to fall into a friendship that was bonded because of their callings.
We're Slayers girlfriend, the Chosen Two.
They'd worked as a single synchronous unit until Faith had made the mistake of not admitting her own guilt in the accidental murder of Alan Finch. If she hadn't taken the darker path, they could have ruled over Sunnydale together and had a blast while they did it.
Faith read over the second part of the letter.
Forgive me?
Faith recalled the conversation that she and Buffy had had when Buffy had visited the prison after her resurrection. Faith had been absolutely flabbergasted to see the blonde Slayer for two reasons. The first being she hadn't been expecting any visitors at all, and the second being that no one had told her that Buffy had been back.
B! Holy shit! Angel said…I mean…he told me that you were…well…dead.
Buffy had just given her a tiny smile, and Faith had known automatically that Buffy wasn't happy about her encore performance as the Slayer. Faith had called her on it and had been on the receiving end of a tale that had left the unbreakable Faith in a sobbing mess for her 'sister'. Buffy had admitted to Faith the truth about her resurrection, every ugly detail from being ripped painfully from peace, to waking up in her coffin, to lying to her friends about where she'd been.
After Buffy had finished explaining, she'd looked at Faith with a completely sombre expression and apologised to Faith who'd promptly said that Buffy had nothing to be sorry for. Buffy had left without hearing the words 'you're forgiven' and even though Faith had assured her there was nothing to be sorry for, Buffy had wanted to hear them. Having Buffy now ask for forgiveness as her final words made Faith wonder whether Buffy had stewed over it for the last few months. Faith hoped not.
Faith couldn't help but smile at Buffy's signature. B. Faith folded up the paper and looked towards the sky, even though she was met with a white ceiling rather than the heavens. "I forgive you B."