A/n: I came home from school and went to bed and just got up at like 9:00. And I'm still tired. But I updated just for you guys!
Faith stared with wide eyes as the bathtub began to slowly fill with water. Joyce's brow furrowed slightly at the child's wonder. Hadn't she ever been in a bathtub? Faith experimentally stuck a finger in the rising water, biting her bottom lip in concentration. Buffy, who at the moment was sitting on a towel playing with Mr. Gordo, grinned at her sister slayer who gave a small smile back. Joyce crouched next to her daughter.
"Buffy, sweetie, you cant bring Mr. Gordo in the tub,"
"But, he wants to be clean," The child argued, clutching the stuffed animal to her chest. Joyce smiled a little and reached out for the toy. Buffy jerked back, almost hitting her head on the toilet behind her.
"Buffy, you have to take a bath now. Mr. Gordo will be here when you get out," Joyce explained, watching the other slayer out of the corner of her eye. Faith was still standing by the tub, dipping a small finger in every few seconds. Buffy shook her head, her pigtails swinging. "Buffy," Joyce's voice got a little sterner as she held out a hand for the ancient stuffed toy.
"NO MY MR. GORDO! You're mean mommy!" Buffy yelled, tears springing to her green eyes. Joyce, who had experienced many Buffy tantrums, was slightly surprised. 'I'm out of practice,' she thought to herself, sighing out loud as the blonde child continued to scream.
"Buffy, please calm down," The mother had resorted to begging, praying that her daughter would just stop crying and take a bath so she could put her to bed.
"Buffy," Faith whispered, standing in front of her. She grabbed her hand instinctively. Buffy's bottom lip was stuck out and tears streaked her baby face. Faith frowned and her eyes went from Buffy, to Mr. Gordo, to the tub. Buffy sighed, and handed her mother the toy. Faith smiled, and Joyce was stunned, to say the least.
"Well, I guess we should get you guys all clean," Joyce slowly unbuttoned Buffy's dress, slightly in awe at how tiny her daughter was. Once undressed, she carefully undid the pigtails and lifted the child into the warm water. She giggled in delight. Faith watched, her eyes clearly stating that she had never had someone handle her with such care, before beginning to try undress herself. Joyce smiled and carefully helped the rogue slayer out of her tattered outfit. The first thing she noticed was that the child wore no underwear, just the ripped pieces of cloth sewn into a makeshift dress. She instantly felt pity and began to help Faith step out of it. Scars lined Faith's back, randomly criss-crossing. Each scar was about seven inches long, and it was obvious that they were from a belt. Joyce felt tears spring to her eyes as she gently ran her fingers over the abrasions. Faith's eyes were on the floor again, and Joyce slowly turned her around. Then, she embraced the girl, allowing some of her tears to fall onto her dark hair. Faith used a small hand to brush away Joyce's tears and smiled reassuringly. "Come on," She carefully lifted her and placed her next to Buffy, who was splashing away excitedly in the water.
"Warm," Faith stated, smiling slightly.
"To warm?" Joyce asked, concerned that she was hurting one of the girls. Faith shook her head.
"Nice," Only good girls got warm baths. Bad girls had to use the rain to get clean. Buffy giggled as Faith gently splashed her, just enough for the water to barely make contact with her skin. She splashed her in the same way, before Joyce began to massage shampoo into her daughter's blonde locks. Buffy used two fingers to pinch her nose shut and submerged herself under water. Faith screamed.
"No hurt Buffy. Please, hurt me. Not Buffy," With each word, Joyce's heart shattered. Buffy resurfaced and Faith flung herself at her, hugging her tightly. "I thought your Mommy was playing "Drown" and I was so scared," She explained at the girl's confused look.
"What's playing "Drown", sweetie," Joyce asked, terrified of the answer.
"When Faithie bad, Mommy get mad, and Faithie has to stay under water for a really long time," She explained quietly, her eyes staring at the water.
"I promise, we never play "Drown" here," Faith looked up, as though making sure that Joyce had said what she thought she had said. The woman smiled and Faith gave a half smile back. Joyce slowly shampooed her hair, noticing the differences between the two slayers. Both were small boned, but Buffy was well fed while you could see Faith's ribs threw the thin layer of skin. Joyce told Faith to close her eyes and gently poured water over her head, rinsing out the shampoo.
"Drip-dry!" Buffy squealed, standing up and pulling her arms in the classic "pick-me-up" position. Joyce took a fluffy pink towel from the cabinet and enveloped her daughter in it, lifting her in the air and spinning her around once.
"Drip-dry," She laughed, delighted by her daughter's giggles. As Buffy dried herself, Joyce reached for another towel and turned to Faith, who sat in the tub. She motioned for Faith to stand up and the child did obligingly. Joyce wrapped the towel around her frail body and lifted her in the air, repeating the Drip-dry ritual.
"Drip-dry," Faith stated, smiling a real smile for the first time since she had arrived. Joyce grinned and placed a kiss on each of the girl's heads. She dressed them in the clothes she had packed once Buffy had outgrown them, and took one of each of their hands in her own. She lead them to Buffy's room and tucked them both into the queen sized bed, using pillows as a make shift rail so that they didn't fall off. Faith yawned widely, which caused Buffy to yawn.
"Story," Buffy whispered, her eyes half shut already.
"Well, once upon a time…" Joyce began; knowing well that both children were already asleep, and yet she continued taking them threw the adventures of two warrior princesses in their dreams. She laid a kiss on each of their foreheads and closed the door behind her.
A/n: Oh right, two updates in two days!! Gimmie some praise here people! Thanks so much for all the reviews and I'm sorry about the angst of this chapter but it's necessary. I hope this was long enough for all of you who requested it longer. I'm thinking of moving this story to my highest priority. Review and maybe I will :-D. I was really hoping to show then differences between Buffy and Faith, but I'm not to sure how that all got across. Any comments? Oh and Im sorry i didnt adress the crossbow issue but I promise it will be the center of next chapter. Umm..yeah..REVIEW!
-P.d