Epilogue

Two Days Later

1998 Cedar Grove Cemetery 2.53 pm

The light afternoon breeze brushed their faces as two figures, solemnly walked along the stone paths, passing grey headstones as they slowly walked, both with their heads bowed deep in their own thoughts. The two could be two friends, mother and daughter but in this case they are Watcher and Slayer.

The younger of the two, Faith the vampire slayer had a stony look on her face, deep in thoughts about what she must now do. Her entire demeanour was different, she was no longer the vibrant young slayer, at this point in time she was simply a grieving daughter. Her dark hair was pushed back into a ponytail; she wore black denim jeans, a plain white t-shirt and a jet-black denim jacket. Her clothes not having any of the usual bravado or plunging necklines that she usually wore. The older of the two Elizabeth, the watcher had a similar look on her face to that of her slayer, whilst her thoughts were on her mother; Elizabeth's were about her young charge. A Watcher must never become too attached to the slayer they were charged with, but Elizabeth always had a rebellious streak. And when it came to Faith Elizabeth looked on her as if she was her own, how could you not, her young eyes had seen so much and hid behind them so much pain. Faith did her best to hide this but Elizabeth always knew, she could see behind the mask, and she would stand by her slayer until she was trusted enough by Faith for her to talk openly about her pain and her past.  Elizabeth was dressed in a similar tone to her slayer, her suit was black and her blouse was white, she had her hair up in a bun and her eyes half-hidden by her dark rimmed spectacles. The Pair continued to walk until they arrived at a certain grave; the pair then stopped and looked down at the headstone.

… And this would be the site of one of my mistakes, I thought by visiting my moms' grave, by letting her go, it would clear my past up. I thought I could move on to my new life as the slayer. But what I didn't realise is that its not that easy, if you bury your problems and feelings, eventually one day they will come back to bite you, I wish I had grieved properly and had talked to Liz, maybe I would have dealt with my past with her help, with somebody like her I might have got rid of my trust issues and my pent up emotions, If only she had been around longer…

Faith interrupted the silent moment, "Thanks for this Liz." Slayer and watcher shared a moment between themselves; Liz then softly smiled and asked, " Would you like a minute alone?"

Faith silently shook her head as she knelt down beside the grave. The slayer simply knelt there staring at the headstone thinking.

…At the time I can remember kneeling by that grave feeling bitter, angry and hateful towards my mom, only sitting there to try to put her behind me and it is until only recently that I have changed those views. I feel sad for her and I now can understand why she wanted to die, I went through something similar myself. I also feel regretful that we never got to be a proper family, her and me, you only get one mom and in that sense I have missed out. But now I have finally dealt with my issues regarding my mother, I will never forget her and now I don't hate her. It feels different not carrying hate for your mom around with you, maybe after over four years I can finally move on…

Faith silently removed an object from her jacket it was the photo that her mom gave her for her birthday. She put the photo at the base of the headstone. Faith then felt the reassuring hand of Elizabeth on her shoulder. "Lets go Liz," the young slayer uttered. As Faith rose the other present her mother brought her, the necklace glinted around Faiths neck as the sun caught it. The two began to walk off; Faith then took one last look at the grave before continuing on her way with Elizabeth.

Elizabeth's concern got the better of her, " You ok Faith?" She asked.

"You know me Liz, Five by Five." The slayer replied. The slayer and watcher continued walking an awkward silence between them, concern etched on the watchers face. Faith then suddenly chirped up, " So what's next then?"

Elizabeth looked puzzled for a second before she began, " well you have more training to go, we have to harness more of your raw power so that we may take on Kakistos and his minions…"

Faith gave Elizabeth a look and raised her eyebrows as she interrupted "Get your mind off the big evil Liz and me being this super slayer" Elizabeth was now totally lost and her face didn't hide this. "Oh come on Liz, I'm a sixteen year old girl who needs cheering up…I Want Pizza and ice cream" the slayer stated with a huge grin. Liz simply sighed and replied, " You know you are always, hungry"

Faith answered, " Well it's the Slaying Liz it makes me hungry and…oh it doesn't matter."

"Hungry and what?" Liz enquired

Faith simply smiled and answered, " You don't want to know."

Faith wore a wide cheeky grin and Liz was even more confused as the two left the graveyard.

…I had finally found my niche in life, at the time my path with Liz would feel so right, I was wanted and needed, and I had someone who cared about me. My big mistake was that I chose to bury my past, not deal with it, and I thought as long as I had Liz none of that mattered. What would happen if I lost Liz, what would happen if I lost even more trust in people, what if I ended up alone again. Tragedy, Loss, Betrayal and even Love would happen in my life in the coming weeks and this was even before I hit Sunnydale where I would make all the wrong choices that would eventually land me in here, in prison, where I would have to face myself…