When Faith was next able to take in her surroundings, she was lying in the bed with Rowan lounging next to her, drawing figures on her exposed lower belly with a finger. He wasn't cuddling her – something she was not yet ready for – but still showing her intimacy and closeness in just the right amounts she was able to take in right now.

"Did you make all this happen?" she asked quietly, closing her eyes again.

"Me? No. It was all you, maybe with some assistance from... higher above. How do you feel?"

'Ask me the easy ones, why don't you?' "I... I don't know. Now that I've seen it all – now that we've seen it all – in perspective – I kinda realize none of it was my fault."

"You're right, it wasn't."

"I guess keeping it all hidden and kinda festering inside has been the main reason I've been so fucked-up in the past. Now... all that feels sorta pointless in hindsight. But..." She opened her eyes and looked into Rowan's eyes which showed only trust and care. She had to get this out of her system, even at the price of making him loathe her.

"Yes, Sunray?"

"Before the Box of Gavrok thingy, when I thought I was gonna become a murderer, I... Xander saved me from a few vamps... I was totally trashed. I... he took me to the motel... this motel... a room next door. I thought he was you. I-I wanted to hurt you, really hurt you... and I... r-raped him... almost choked him."

When Rowan stayed silent, Faith took a deep breath and continued.

"Then, a little while ago, in a bar, a guy bought me a drink. I just wanted a quick release, so I dragged him into the restroom, then fucked and dumped him."

Still silence.

"Then... oh, fuck... I got these nightmares... Miyoko helped me at first... then they got worse... I pushed her... them away. Got drunk and stoned with some college guys in a park. They expected me to fuck them... I ran and drove away. Rode the bike while still wasted... crashed it... and they... they just supported me without hesitation."

Ongoing silence.

"Do you hate me now?" Faith asked quietly. This was the final step.

Slowly Rowan's face split into the brightest smile Faith had ever seen, taking her breath away. "Hate you, Sunray? How could I? What you have done here and leading up to this, all of it, shows what an amazing person you are. You are not just the sum of your past experiences but much, much more. You were willing to sacrifice yourself for me and Gwen, you are Chosen by the Powers, twice, and you undertook this spirit walk to let yourself face the ugliest parts in your life that have haunted you for so long."

'I'm not gonna cry... I'm not gonna cry...'

"But, so that we are both on the same page. Did you ever wonder about the change in Gwen? After the battle with Balthazar and the Eliminati, we had a little one-on-one talk at Angel's mansion. After the talk, I tied her up, and she managed to get the things that had been eating her up out of her system. Afterwards we had sex in one of the bedrooms. When she returned to London after her recovery, I took her for a dinner after which we went my quarters in the Council HQ and slept together again that evening and next morning."

"Gwen?"

"Yes."

"My Watcher?"

"Mm-hmm. I seem to recall someone telling me how a certain brunette Slayer once called another Watcher in Sunnydale 'young and cute'."

There was a brief internal struggle until the balance tipped and Faith practically bounced on Rowan, straddling his waist. "You horn-dog, you!" she was practically roaring with side-splitting laughter. "Fuck, I should have realised it back then, in the basement... So, B once said that a vampire would feel cold inside that woman. How was it?"

Rowan circled his arms around Faith's back and pulled himself to a sitting position. He moved his legs so that he was sitting cross-legged with Faith basically perched on his lap. "She was not-so-surprisingly very warm..." Rowan slid his left hand under her top.

"Yeah?"

"Very wet..." Rowan caressed her lips with the index finger of his right hand and slipped it into her mouth when she slightly parted them.

"Uh-huh?"

"Very eager..." Rowan leaned in so that their lips were only a hair's width apart.

"I see..."

"Came immediately when I slid into her..." Rowan brought their mouths together and slipped his tongue in her mouth.

"Lucky her," Faith managed to mumble.

"Came twice more in about half-an-hour...," Rowan continued after having explored the roof or her mouth for nearly a minute.

"She... had... it... coming...," Faith gasped. They had not reached even second base and she was already ready to pop. If this was taking it slow...

"But..."

"But...?"

"She is not mine and I'm not hers." Rowan dug his nails into her back and bit down on her lower lip hard enough to almost pierce skin.

"No... You're MIIINEEE!"

Time had lost its meaning, but eventually the two lovers disentangled from each other and lay down on the bed again, side by side. They didn't cuddle but still managed to feel closer to each other than when being physically wrapped around each other. For Faith it felt like a perfect moment where everyone stood still, in absolute balance. Then one little thing that had been nagging her in the back of her mind occurred to her.

"Does all this count as you seeing me next?" she asked, hoping her voice didn't tremble.

Rowan answered with a face-splitting smile that made his eyes sparkle. "Yes."

"I love you," Faith finally admitted. Her heart was beating a mile a minute and she started shaking all over with all the emotion coursing through her. "I've never said it to anyone before but, shit, now that I have, it doesn't tell even half of what I feel. I don't expect you to..."

"I love you – body, heart and spirit. I'm yours and you're mine, my Sunray."

"I'm yours and you're mine. Fuck, it feels so easy to say now. What's wrong with me?"

"Absolutely nothing. I think you'll be very much fine from now on."

They both felt the same tug simultaneously.

"I guess that means our time's up," Rowan yawned, stretching.

"Yeah? What's up next?"

"We'll return to... where we were and go on from there."

"When will I see you next?"

"Soon, Sunray. I promise you that. Then..."

"Then?"

"I'll take you on a real date."

"What?"

The motel room started dissolving around them, leaving the bed last.

"Faith?"

"Yeah?"

"Look for happiness wherever you can find it. For a Slayer that's not something that happens every day. You're mine and I'm yours, Sunray, but I don't own you. I love you with all my heart and spirit, and I want you to be free to be yourself."

"I heart you too, more than anything, Bright Eyes. You're mine and I'm yours."

They had time enough for one final kiss before they were yanked apart. And then, reality returned.

Returning back to her own body didn't feel much like anything. One moment Faith just knew she was "back", lying in her own bed. She opened her eyes and found herself alone which was a more than a little odd. She would have thought someone to have kept vigil during her spirit walk. Her limbs also felt surprisingly stiff as she raised herself to a sitting position.

After a few stretches, life returned to her arms and legs, and she left the room in search for the others. She found Pauline and Miyoko in the downstairs living room, both reading a book. They both gaped at her when they saw her standing in the doorway with a goofy look on her face.

"What?" she blinked.

"Faith?" Miyoko gasped and stood up after seeing look on the Slayer's features. "Are you ok?"

"Five-by-five or better," Faith grinned, showing her dimples. "What's the sitch?"

"You've been 'gone' for three days!"

"Huh?" Faith gaped in turn. "No fucking way. It couldn't have been more than..." 'How long exactly?'

"Intense?"

"You could say that."

"Did you...?"

"Yeah, he was there." Faith's goofy look returned with a hint of dimples.

"And...?"

"He made me come twice and all we did was fucking kiss!"

"And...?"

"I told him I love him," Faith heard herself say.

"YESSS!" Miyoko pumped her fist in the air.

"And...?" Pauline prompted further.

"He said he loves me back."

"YESSS!" Miyoko shouted again, doing a little happy-dance in the middle of the room.

"Hey, Cat-Hands!" Faith tried to get the giddy woman's attention. "How about that sleepover thingy you mentioned a while back? You still on?"

"Tonight?"

"Why wait? And, Cat-Hands?"

"Yes?"

"After I tell you what went on, I might try to seduce you for real this time. Gotta take care of the hungries first, though."

With a wide grin, Faith turned around and strutted away to the kitchen, swinging her hips. The two women in the living room were left looking at each other speechless.

When Rowan felt his spirit and body re-unite once more, there was the familiar tingle as everything settled down. As he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see Sophie Lambart sitting in a chair close to his bed with a sketch pad in which she was drawing intently. They seemed to be alone in his room.

Acting on instinct, Rowan wrapped the young Watcher-in-training's arms with Air, eliciting a surprised squeal from the woman.

"What are you doing here?" he asked before raising himself to sit against the headboard.

"I... we...," Sophie stammered in shock. "We... that's Mr Wyndam-Pryce, Konoe-sensei and me. We've been watching over you... taking turns. It's been... it's been three days since the Mistress of the Coven initiated the Spirit Walk. I... volunteered..."

Taking a few controlled breaths, Rowan released the ashen-white Sophie. "What's that?" he asked, indicating the pad on her lap.

Sophie's face flushed to crimson red. "I... I was drawing you."

"Can I see?" Rowan requested and moved to sit on the edge of the bed, facing the young woman.

Before Sophie could answer, there was a knock on the door and Wesley entered the room.

Wesley kept his eyes on the young trainee as he entered Rowan's room, on occasion flicking his gaze to Rowan as the Lehaïr stood up to keep himself in control of the situation. Seeing Rowan check him with the same controlled gaze, a sudden reflection hit him. 'After everything, I'm still just a threat until proven otherwise. The kind of control that takes. Does she and the others see this?'

He saw Rowan's penetrating gaze focus on the young trainee.

"Why?" he asked Sophie.

"I still don't really like you," she admitted hesitantly but truthfully. They were of equal height and able to look at each other eye-to-eye. "But you risked your life for your girl... the Slayer. I respect that, despite of what I may privately think."

A slight smile briefly caressed Rowan's face. "Anyone who can put aside their personal issues for the right cause gets a pass from me. If you ever want to let it loose in the dojo, we can ask Shinzo's permission to have it just for ourselves."

Wesley immediately recognised the double-entendre for what it was, a test.

"Not bloody likely," Sophie eventually muttered. That released the tension in the room and both Wes and Rowan laughed heartily as Sophie's face turned to several shades of interesting colours.

"Ms Lambart," Rowan asked suddenly, making the young woman almost jump in the air. "Your picture. Let me see it."

"It's not very g...," Sophie started and hugged her sketch pad tightly.

"Let me see it," Rowan repeated evenly.

Reluctantly opening the pad at the correct page, she handed it to Rowan with Wesley looking at them in interest.

Rowan didn't know what to expect but the pencil drawing by the young woman really managed to surprise him. There were no photos of him, yet (except for the mystery one in his passport and it showed his glamour form), and all portraits had most likely been in ashes for multiple millennia. Looking at Sophie's impression of himself was the first time he had seen himself in anything except a mirror since the Sealing.

The picture showed him from the shoulders up, facing a little bit to the left and leaning against what appeared to be a shoulder-high wall. His right arm was pictured splayed on top of the wall with his chin leaning on his wrist. His left hand was raised in a gesture that made it apparent he was just about to run his fingers through his hair. The look on his face was both grim and contemplative which was apparent by the way his face was tilted ever so slightly downwards but with his eyes looking straight forward, partly hidden by his upper eyelids. Even though the picture was not finished, most of the shadowing was already in place, giving a good impression of his dark skin.

A hesitant, "Ummm...?" brought him out of his reverie and he blinked a few times. Looking up from the sketch he saw Sophie fidgeting in place with her hand outstretched. With a nod he handed her the pad.

"You're very talented," he admitted freely, looking at the young woman in the eyes. "When you're finished with the drawing, I'd like you to provide me with a few high-quality prints. I'll pay you, of course..."

"Oh, no, no," Sophie shook her head, practically in shock. "I'll be happy to do it."

"You will leave me in debt, Ms Lambart, and that's not something I want to do."

"There will be no debt, ummm... Sir, but...?"

"Yes?"

"With your permission, I'd like to do more of these."

For once, Rowan was very much left speechless as now Wes and Sophie laughed good-naturedly.

Miyoko giggled quietly but very girlishly as Faith tried to inconspicuously slide her foot up and down her calf. Both women were lying on their bellies on Miyoko's bed with their bare feet in the air. They had a huge bowl of popcorn between them, and a few empty beer bottles littered the floor by the foot of the bed. Faith had made a promise to Pauline to limit her intake to only two. A promise she fully intended to keep. Kobayashi Masaki's Seppuku was playing from a Laserdisc on Miyoko's widescreen TV with English subtitles.

"What's gotten into you?" Miyoko demanded playfully and nudged Faith's foot away. A second later it was back.

"I'm trying to seduce you," Faith winked with a sideways glance which she let slowly follow the elegant curve of Miyoko's back to her sweat-shorts-covered butt. "Is it working?"

Miyoko let out a resigned sigh. The younger woman was obviously trying very hard to play by the rules set by her. 'Maybe we can go for subtlety later. The spirit walk was obviously the right thing to do. There's still anger in her – and probably always will be – but it's no longer controlling her. It's like a reserve, to be directed and used at will like any other emotion. Hmmm... What was it about Leading Change and the Eight Steps at that business class...? Ah, yes, "create short-term wins".'

"Could be, could very well be," Miyoko grinned. "How can I tell?"

"Weeelll..." Faith drawled, moved the popcorn bowl to the floor and scooted closer to Miyoko. "Your voice would be lower and huskier." She kissed Miyoko softly on the lips. Soft still required control. She was mostly used to attacking and claiming. "Your pupils would be dilated." She kissed both of Miyoko's eyelids. "You would be secreting pheromones." She inhaled deeply through her nose. "And..." She left that hanging.

"And?" Miyoko asked huskily. Faith was doing a pretty damn good job of being seductive.

"And," Faith continued and turned sideways a little. She laid her hand on Miyoko's lower back and slowly slid it under the loose waistband of her light grey shorts. Her fingers met fantastically firm butt cheeks under soft and smooth skin. Her heart started beating noticeably faster as Miyoko spread her legs a little to allow her more room for exploration. Continuing her journey, she could feel the heat emitted by her ultimate goal. Then her hand found swollen flesh that was very, very... "Wet," she groaned. "You would be so... damn and deliciously... wet."