See disclaimers from section one
Saving Faith
Part 9
As the sun came over the horizon two figures lay sleeping on a bench in the middle of the park. The heat from the morning rays tickled at the redhead's nose. She awoke to find herself nestled safely in Faith's arms as they lay side by side on the bench. She couldn't remember falling asleep, but she could vividly recall making Faith shudder as she came.
Willow didn't want to move from her spot. She hadn't felt this cozy and protected since before Tara had left her the first time. Since Tara had died she just assumed that she would never get a second chance at love. Who ever gets to be that lucky, she thought. She could hear Faith lightly snoring behind her as Faith's breath tickled the back of her neck.
At that moment she couldn't believe there could be any evil in the world. Not when she felt this wonderful, but she knew this daydream couldn't last. They both had jobs to do and reality would come calling soon enough. She felt the slayer's arms tighten just a bit around her torso and she decided that reality could wait awhile longer.
As she was about to drift back into sleep, she saw the figure of a woman moving quickly toward the bench. With the sun in her eyes, she couldn't quite make out the woman's face but she seemed awfully familiar. As the woman came closer she realized that it was Buffy, with a very concerned look on her face.
She pulled herself begrudgingly away from Faith. She hoped not to wake her companion by doing so, but she knew she needed to get to Buffy before she reached them. Something big must have happened for Buffy to be so frantic.
As she stood from the bench Buffy had increased her gait and was headed right for them. Before Willow had a chance to move, Buffy reached the bench and sat down beside Faith's feet. She seemed lost in thought and didn't notice either of the women next to her.
"Buffy, hey, what's up? Did something happen? Is Dawnie alright?" Willow couldn't speak fast enough. She had seen the look on Buffy's face before and it couldn't be anything good. "Buffy, talk to me, it's Willow, you can tell me anything!" Willow was practically screaming this at Buffy. She knelt down at Buffy's side facing the older slayer. She reached out to touch her just as Buffy's face contorted with tears. She began to sob uncontrollably and Willow felt herself begin crying just because Buffy was.
"Buffy, please tell me what's wrong? Don't shut me out!" The witch couldn't understand why this was happening. She had just had one of the best nights of her life. Why did reality have to be so damn real all the time?
Buffy began to mumble between sobs. At first Willow couldn't make out what was being said, as she listened harder it all became clear to her.
"Why do they always leave?" Buffy's voice was pained. She had been through so much loss she didn't know if she could face much more. "First Angel, then Riley, next my Mom, then me. Oh, and the icing on the cake was Tara." Buffy's voice rose as she stood up. "Why?" She looked up toward the sky. She seemed to be taunting the heavens to give her an explanation. "Why? If there is a God, why, tell me that. Why does everything I love go away? Weren't the others enough?" She raised her hands above hear head, tears streaming down her face and said, "Did you have to take my best friend, too? And Faith, you brought her back here just to take her away again! If you are up there, I am so gonna kick your ass when we finally meet!"
Oh, crap! Willow realized that this was all her fault. She and Faith had stayed out all night. No one had expected them to be gone this long. They must have all gone out looking for them once the sun came up. She never meant to worry anyone; she just wanted some alone time with Faith.
Now her best friend was lamenting her death and raging against the world. And worst of all Willow forgot to turn off the spell from last night. Buffy couldn't see or hear anything that Willow had been saying. Murmuring the words underneath her breath she released the spell just in time to catch Buffy as she was collapsing to the ground.
"Oh my God! Willow, Will, is that you? Are you a ghost or something? Why is the ghost of Faith asleep on a park bench?" Buffy's voice was getting higher and higher as she grew more hysterical.
"No, Buffy, calm down. We are both very much alive. I am so sorry we worried you. I did a spell so no one could see or hear us." Willow's face grew more and more red as she kept talking.
"Oh." Buffy's expression went from one of relief to just a little bit of anger. "So, you stayed out all night doing God only knows and kept us all worried sick!" Buffy finished with a huff. "And I have had Xander and the others out looking for you since sun up. I thought the First had gotten to the two of you. Willow, you can't just do this kind of stuff."
Willow felt bad about causing Buffy any undue pain, but it also felt warm to her heart that her friends really were concerned about her and Faith's well being. She looked over at the bench wondering how Faith could sleep through all the commotion. She saw Faith slowly open one eye and look toward Buffy. She then focused on Willow giving her a small grin. She closed her eye and acted like she was still asleep. She knew when to keep her mouth shut around Buffy having learned the hard way.
"Will, I could just smack you for doing this. I won't but I could." Buffy sat back down on the bench with a pout. She turned toward Faith noticing the girl was still asleep.
"And as for you, miss slayer sleep through everything I know you are awake so you might as well open your eyes." And with that Buffy gave Faith's thigh a resounding smack. They younger slayer shot up from her prone position and leapt to her feet.
"Hey, what was that for?" Faith couldn't believe Buffy had hit her for no reason.
"Well, I can't hit Willow, so you get the brunt of it. Besides, you should no better than to keep her out all night."
"You're right, B. We're really sorry, we just lost track of time and then kinda fell asleep." Faith looked at the ground because she didn't want Buffy to see her smiling at the memory of the night before.
"Okay, you two, you're forgiven, now let's get home. We can make breakfast and you can tell me all about your date. Oh, and Faith, you might want to button and zip your pants. You might catch a chill."
Willow and Faith both turned red as they followed behind the older slayer walking hand in hand.
TBC
Saving Faith
Part 9
As the sun came over the horizon two figures lay sleeping on a bench in the middle of the park. The heat from the morning rays tickled at the redhead's nose. She awoke to find herself nestled safely in Faith's arms as they lay side by side on the bench. She couldn't remember falling asleep, but she could vividly recall making Faith shudder as she came.
Willow didn't want to move from her spot. She hadn't felt this cozy and protected since before Tara had left her the first time. Since Tara had died she just assumed that she would never get a second chance at love. Who ever gets to be that lucky, she thought. She could hear Faith lightly snoring behind her as Faith's breath tickled the back of her neck.
At that moment she couldn't believe there could be any evil in the world. Not when she felt this wonderful, but she knew this daydream couldn't last. They both had jobs to do and reality would come calling soon enough. She felt the slayer's arms tighten just a bit around her torso and she decided that reality could wait awhile longer.
As she was about to drift back into sleep, she saw the figure of a woman moving quickly toward the bench. With the sun in her eyes, she couldn't quite make out the woman's face but she seemed awfully familiar. As the woman came closer she realized that it was Buffy, with a very concerned look on her face.
She pulled herself begrudgingly away from Faith. She hoped not to wake her companion by doing so, but she knew she needed to get to Buffy before she reached them. Something big must have happened for Buffy to be so frantic.
As she stood from the bench Buffy had increased her gait and was headed right for them. Before Willow had a chance to move, Buffy reached the bench and sat down beside Faith's feet. She seemed lost in thought and didn't notice either of the women next to her.
"Buffy, hey, what's up? Did something happen? Is Dawnie alright?" Willow couldn't speak fast enough. She had seen the look on Buffy's face before and it couldn't be anything good. "Buffy, talk to me, it's Willow, you can tell me anything!" Willow was practically screaming this at Buffy. She knelt down at Buffy's side facing the older slayer. She reached out to touch her just as Buffy's face contorted with tears. She began to sob uncontrollably and Willow felt herself begin crying just because Buffy was.
"Buffy, please tell me what's wrong? Don't shut me out!" The witch couldn't understand why this was happening. She had just had one of the best nights of her life. Why did reality have to be so damn real all the time?
Buffy began to mumble between sobs. At first Willow couldn't make out what was being said, as she listened harder it all became clear to her.
"Why do they always leave?" Buffy's voice was pained. She had been through so much loss she didn't know if she could face much more. "First Angel, then Riley, next my Mom, then me. Oh, and the icing on the cake was Tara." Buffy's voice rose as she stood up. "Why?" She looked up toward the sky. She seemed to be taunting the heavens to give her an explanation. "Why? If there is a God, why, tell me that. Why does everything I love go away? Weren't the others enough?" She raised her hands above hear head, tears streaming down her face and said, "Did you have to take my best friend, too? And Faith, you brought her back here just to take her away again! If you are up there, I am so gonna kick your ass when we finally meet!"
Oh, crap! Willow realized that this was all her fault. She and Faith had stayed out all night. No one had expected them to be gone this long. They must have all gone out looking for them once the sun came up. She never meant to worry anyone; she just wanted some alone time with Faith.
Now her best friend was lamenting her death and raging against the world. And worst of all Willow forgot to turn off the spell from last night. Buffy couldn't see or hear anything that Willow had been saying. Murmuring the words underneath her breath she released the spell just in time to catch Buffy as she was collapsing to the ground.
"Oh my God! Willow, Will, is that you? Are you a ghost or something? Why is the ghost of Faith asleep on a park bench?" Buffy's voice was getting higher and higher as she grew more hysterical.
"No, Buffy, calm down. We are both very much alive. I am so sorry we worried you. I did a spell so no one could see or hear us." Willow's face grew more and more red as she kept talking.
"Oh." Buffy's expression went from one of relief to just a little bit of anger. "So, you stayed out all night doing God only knows and kept us all worried sick!" Buffy finished with a huff. "And I have had Xander and the others out looking for you since sun up. I thought the First had gotten to the two of you. Willow, you can't just do this kind of stuff."
Willow felt bad about causing Buffy any undue pain, but it also felt warm to her heart that her friends really were concerned about her and Faith's well being. She looked over at the bench wondering how Faith could sleep through all the commotion. She saw Faith slowly open one eye and look toward Buffy. She then focused on Willow giving her a small grin. She closed her eye and acted like she was still asleep. She knew when to keep her mouth shut around Buffy having learned the hard way.
"Will, I could just smack you for doing this. I won't but I could." Buffy sat back down on the bench with a pout. She turned toward Faith noticing the girl was still asleep.
"And as for you, miss slayer sleep through everything I know you are awake so you might as well open your eyes." And with that Buffy gave Faith's thigh a resounding smack. They younger slayer shot up from her prone position and leapt to her feet.
"Hey, what was that for?" Faith couldn't believe Buffy had hit her for no reason.
"Well, I can't hit Willow, so you get the brunt of it. Besides, you should no better than to keep her out all night."
"You're right, B. We're really sorry, we just lost track of time and then kinda fell asleep." Faith looked at the ground because she didn't want Buffy to see her smiling at the memory of the night before.
"Okay, you two, you're forgiven, now let's get home. We can make breakfast and you can tell me all about your date. Oh, and Faith, you might want to button and zip your pants. You might catch a chill."
Willow and Faith both turned red as they followed behind the older slayer walking hand in hand.
TBC