Chapter One

The huge farmhouse looked impressive to the casual passer by, the plant life in the garden was thriving and the windows winked brightly in the mid-morning sunlight. Buffy flicked a stray strand of her long blonde hair from her face and threw the last suitcase haphazardly into the back of the car; she slammed the door shut and locked it. Standing up straight, she looked at the view from the front yard; there were fields for miles in one direction and in the other was a clear view of the urban area on the lake. She was going to miss coming out in the morning just to look at the view she could never have had in California. She glanced down at her watch and sighed before turning on her heel and heading back inside the house, looking up at it as she walked and smiling at the memory of them all wanting to paint it red.

Everyone had already gathered in the vast entrance hall; Faith was leaning casually on Robin's shoulder, Dawn was holding on to Xander's waist as if she would never let go while Willow and Kennedy had both stepped forward to be the first to say their goodbyes to Buffy. She had thought she could get away from the farm without getting upset, she knew that she would see her friends, her family again but there was still something pulling at her and asking her to stay. Kennedy handed Buffy a brown paper bag and smiled childishly, Buffy frowned and peeked inside. Two wrapped sandwiches and some fruit lay in the bottom of the bag; Buffy let out a surprised laugh and pulled Kennedy to her.

"Thanks for lunch," she smiled; Kennedy nodded and accepted Buffy's hug graciously but when she turned back, tears were streaming down Willow's face.

"Do you really have to go?" she sniffed, moving forward and slowly embracing Buffy, pulling her closer. Buffy nodded and closed her eyes tightly, feeling the stinging sensation of her tears but willing them back. She held on to Willow tightly, inhaling the smell of her henna shampoo and feeling lonely already. She pulled back from Willow and looked at the gathered group.

"I'm sorry we're leaving you all but I just think it's time to go. I want Dawn to spend some time with Dad and I want to catch up with everyone in LA," said Buffy, Faith raised a questioning eyebrow and Buffy smiled, knowing instinctively what she meant. "I'll probably see Angel at some point but that's not why I'm going. I just think now's the time for me and Dawn to start over and see what the world's like. And I really want to spend some time with Dad,"

"We know, Buff. Don't worry about it," said Xander, trying to move forward but Dawn was still clinging. It was at times like this that it was hard to see her as seventeen, despite the fact that she now towered over everyone and could look Robin in the eye. Though as far as Xander was concerned, she would always be a little girl. He knew the memories were false but they were a comfort, he would always be her Uncle Xander. Dawn grinned sheepishly and let go, allowing Xander to go to Buffy. She placated herself by joining Willow and Kennedy for more hugs and goodbyes.

"You should get going, you're gonna miss your flight," said Robin, running a hand through Dawn's hair, she looked up at him and smiled.

"Yeah, get outta here, B," said Faith quietly; Buffy leaving was hurting her more than she wanted to admit. "Don't forget to call and write and stuff; if you're not fighting LA nasties that is,"

"I will," whispered Buffy, moving closer and holding Faith. The two slayers stood awkwardly in each other's arms, they had been the only slayers at one point, then enemies and now they were friends. A lot of history lay between the two women but they seemed to leave it all behind them as they said goodbye.

"C'mon Buffy, it's time to go," said Dawn tearfully. Buffy walked towards the door and grabbed her bag from the table, Dawn checked she had her bag with her and looked back at everyone before running out of the door. Buffy fished her car keys from her pocket and held them up for all to see.

"Guess I'm really doing this," she sighed.

Everyone joined her as she walked out to the car; Dawn was bravely trying to fight back the tears as she struggled with her seatbelt. Buffy gave Willow and Xander a final hug and kiss before climbing into the driver's seat and turning the ignition. She looked out at her friends and rolled her window down.

"Xander, you've got the spare keys, right? Don't forget to pick the car up from the airport,"

"It's all arranged, Buff. Just get out of here," he grinned, she nodded and blew them a kiss before speeding away from the farm, the car kicking up dust and mud as it went. They stood together, watching it turn onto the main road and disappear from view. Faith was holding on tightly to Wood's hand, she wasn't going to cry; Buffy had made this place into a home for them all, something that Faith had never known but she couldn't shed a tear over Buffy leaving. She would never forgive herself for such an outpour of emotion. Willow had stopped sobbing but silent tears were still falling down her face, Kennedy placed a comforting hand at the small of her back and smiled. Willow nodded and wiped her face with the back of her hand, it hadn't really helped but she knew Buffy and Dawn would be back at some point. They started to move indoors, leaving Xander alone in the front yard, looking out to where Buffy and Dawn had just disappeared from their lives. His favourite girls were gone, a solitary tears rolled down his cheek but he sniffed it away and turned to follow the others inside.

"Do you think we should tell Giles that she's gone? Maybe he'd want to know what's going on here," said Willow, collapsing onto the sofa in the living room next to Kennedy. She instinctively reached out her hand, entwining fingers with her lover as she spoke.

"Maybe we should leave it for a while, maybe she wants to tell him herself. I mean, he is still her Watcher," said Kennedy.

"Yeah, but he's also Watcher to a whole bunch of Buffys. I think he's probably got bigger things to be thinking about right now,"

"Besides, he'll call on Thursday. He always does," smiled Xander.

"He only does it to check up on us," said Willow, defending Giles and not admitting that she actually looked forward to his Thursday evening phone call. "Plus, all those teenage girls are driving him mad; he needs to hear familiar voices every now and again,"

"Did Wesley give in yet?" asked Robin, still unsure as to who Wesley was but knowing that the 'Slayer School' Giles had intended to set up had depended on him a great deal.

"He did. They found a few other Watchers who were on sabbatical when the Council was destroyed; only three or four though. Nowhere near enough for the amount of girls they've found so far,"

"I'm not surprised Wes went along with it," said Faith, fidgeting in her seat, unable to get comfortable. "All those extra Slayer-types running round LA; they would've been a big thing for Angel's lot as well as us. He could afford to leave them for a while,"

"It's not like he just left them though, he just went to help Giles," said Kennedy, disliking the ides that Wesley would have just given up on one team to join another.

"I know, it was just a figure of speech," said Faith. "Wes is a good Watcher, he was good to me; I was just a bitch back then,"

"Now Faith, don't talk like that," smiled Xander sweetly. "You were a complete bitch,"

"Keep it up Harris and you'll lose the other eye," she laughed, Xander feigned terror and soon everyone joined in with their laughter. It was easy and it kept their minds off Buffy and Dawn and the fact that they now had two empty bedrooms, two empty seats at every meal, two extra hands during a fight.

"It's gonna be really weird without them now, isn't it?" said Willow, breaking the half a minute they had gone without thinking about Buffy and Dawn.

"Yeah, but we can manage without her," said Robin. "We've still got two Slayers left, and this Hellmouth isn't nearly as big as the last one,"

"For now," said Faith ominously. "As soon as the really big evils get a whiff of us camping out here then we'll be swarmin with vamps and nasties,"

"I can't wait," sighed Kennedy, staring dreamily out of the window. Faith nodded in agreement; there was nothing worse for a Slayer than to be pent up in a house with ancient texts and day old coffee when they could be out there in the real world, kicking some ass and feeling great about it.

"I've gotta get to work anyway," said Xander, standing up and checking his pockets for the usual; keys, wallet, cell-phone. "I've already had half the day off; can't set a bad example for the crew,"

"Like you could do anything else," grinned Willow.

"Thank the Lord for the weekend is all I can say," smiled Robin; he had been working as deputy principal at a small school for the past nine months. Xander laughed quietly as he walked out of the farmhouse. Kennedy waved at him through the window and grinned, turning back to face the room.

"I'm glad he got that job; he needed to be back doing something he loves," said Willow, Faith nodded in agreement. It had taken Xander a while to pull himself out of the depression that had set in after the loss of his eye and then Anya. He never thought he would be employed as a builder again with his sight compromised but with his experience; he was signed up as site foreman on the spot. Willow turned to face Kennedy but she was back to staring out of the window, her dreamy gaze had hardened and a frown was set on her face.

"What's up baby?" she asked.

"I don't know… Something weird," she said quietly, looking across to Faith for confirmation. If she had been the only one to feel it then she could write it off as just another weird feeling.

"I know what you mean, it's like something just changed. Like it flipped or something, something big," said Faith, looking up at Robin. He placed a hand on her knee and squeezed gently; his comfort move. He always did it when Faith became agitated about something; it annoyed her because she thought it made her look weak but he did it anyway.

"If it was mystical," he said. "Then Willow would've felt it too,"

"I don't think it is mystical, not like that anyway," said Kennedy, squeezing Willow's hand. "It's something else,"

"Something familiar," said Faith, finishing Kennedy's thoughts for her. Willow looked at both of them, the frown deep-set on her face now; they needed to find out what was happening and whether it was going to be good or bad.

"Maybe you're finally getting some action after all," said Robin, Faith smiled at Kennedy. She hoped it was true; the vamps and demons they had been fighting recently were pathetic in comparison to the Sunnydale batch. She was dying for some good old-fashioned throw-down fights; vamps, demons, she was ready for it. She had been waiting for it.