Chapter Five
"Buffy….." Faith screamed as she ran outside trying to catch Buffy before she went too far. "Buffy would you please slow down and listen to me." She yelled from behind. Buffy turned and waited for Faith to catch up to her. "Faith, please go back. I certainly didn't come to disrupt your life here as Piper put it." "I know, where you are coming from. But you have to understand Piper's position here too." Faith paused to take a breath and continued. "You gave us no warning here."
"I know. But I didn't know how else to approach you guys." Buffy confessed.
"Look, don't go back yet ok. Let me talk to Perfect. We'll come up with some solution if not agree with yours. Are we five?" Faith proposed. Buffy just nodded and started to walk away. "Hey", Faith yelled once again. Buffy half turned; "Congratulation" Faith said with a smile. Buffy smiled back and continued walking.
Piper certainly had come a long way since that day when Buffy had shown up in there door almost five months pregnant. Of course Faith had completely understood her girlfriend's reasoning as well as Buffy's thoughts, and so it had been up to her to find a solution that pleased both the women. And she had been doing that more often than she wanted since that day.
Faith finally finished painting the last of the tweedy bird on the wall and she took a step back to admire her work when she felt dizzy and lost her balance. She was collapsing when she was caught by Buffy's strong hands and lowered on the floor. She opened her eyes slowing to find Piper right in front of her. "Baby you ok?" Piper asked. "Yeah, I think so." Faith replied sitting up. "I told you not to paint." Buffy said as she watched Faith get up using Piper as support. "It's the toxic fumes of the paint that made you dizzy." "I told her the same thing." Piper agreed. "Baby, you should not be painting in your condition." Piper added. "I know." Faith said as she tried to hide away from Piper's 'you should know better' glare. "You wanted the baby to have tweedy birds and I wanted to give it to her." She confessed. "But you should think about the health of the baby before you do anything sweetheart." Piper said as she put her hands on Faith enlarged stomach. "Whatever you eat or smell is going directly to her?"
Buffy silently watched the two women as she gathered the paint cans and slowly walked out of the room.
Faith opened her eyes and walked towards the wall that had been staring at her. She touched the bird on the wall and finally let the anger finally subside and tears take its course. She traced the outline of the bird as she let her body fall to the ground and sobbed. "Why Piper? Why?" She screamed as loud as she could.
"Stop! Stop the car." Fred said as Wesley made a sudden stop. "Fred we are finally not lost and now you want to delay us more."
"No, you go to manor. I'll get off here." Fred said as she undid her seatbelt. Wesley put his hand on Fred's to stop her. "No, Fred. She tried to kill me. She is certainly not going to listen to you. Our best chance is to go to the sisters."
"Wesley, you and I both know that that is how she deals with grief. Let me go to her. Let me try. And anyway, as you said the sisters have lost their memory so it'll take you some time to get them updated. They'll not help us till they know everything, and you have to prove it to them that what you are saying is the truth. They'll not take your words for what happened." Fred pushed Wesley hands gently away from her.
"That is exactly why you need to be there, so that we could bring their memory back. Not just tell them the past." Wesley insisted. "Wes, even Willow could not counter their spell. You know better than to suggest that I or anyone could bring their memory back. It's their spell, they have to break it. You just have to make sure they trust you." Fred got out of the car. "Fred, going to Faith at this time will not make Faith love you." Wesley voiced the real reason. "I know, but she shouldn't be alone right now." Fred lowered her eyes as she spoke. "Don't do this Fred. Don't set yourself up for hurt." Wesley warned his friend. "I know she is in a really dark place right now. Especially with Buffy gone, she needs someone to hold onto. If the sisters do get their memory back, and Faith and Piper can get past this, which I don't see how, but if they do, you know I'll never stand in the way." She was telling this to herself more than she was telling Wesley. "They will get past this. They love each other." Wesley stated.
"But can you count on love?" Fred asked.