"I'm fucking freaking out, Cat-Hands," Faith announced for the fifth time as she was pacing back and forth in Miyoko's room. She glanced at the clock on the wall. It seemed to be working oddly. Sometimes it didn't seem to be moving at all for long periods of time and then suddenly appeared to have jumped fifteen minutes ahead in a blink. It was now showing 7:30 p.m. 30 minutes until the start of her date with Rowan.

The Japanese woman looked at her sympathetically from her bed.

"Faith, you worry too much," she tried to soothe the agitated Slayer in her soft voice.

"Come on. I'm so far out of my comfort zone right now. What am I gonna say when he comes to pick me up? What should I wear? What if he takes me to a fancy restaurant and I make a fool of myself?"

"Come here, sweetie," Miyoko prompted and tapped the mattress next to her. With a shuddering breath, Faith laid down beside her friend and threw her arm around Miyoko's waist.

"He asked you out," Miyoko reminded her. "Not someone you think you ought to be. Just be yourself."

Faith felt her anxieties evaporate as Miyoko sneaked her arm around her back. She briefly rested her head against the older woman's shoulder and kissed her cheek.

"Thanks, Cat-Hands," she whispered and stood up. She went back to her room with fresh determination.

"Faith! Rowan's here," Pauline called her from downstairs at 8:03. Despite them living under the same roof, Rowan had insisted on actually picking her up.

"Just a sec," she yelled back, hoping her voice didn't waver too much.

She had opted for tight black jeans to go with her combat boots. A white top which left her belly button exposed and a blue denim jacket completed her outfit.

Her make-up was light, at Miyoko's suggestion. Just cherry-coloured lipstick, some eyeliner and a few dabs of powder on her cheeks. Looking at the mirror, she shook her head with a small laugh. As little as a year ago her makeup had been part of her armour. Now, it accentuated rather than screamed out.

Taking a deep breath to get her pulse under control, she stepped out of her room and waved at Miyoko through the open door to the Japanese woman's room.

"You look very sexy and beautiful, Faith-chan," Miyoko beamed at her and held up two thumbs. "Go get 'im, tiger."

On the stairway her pulse quickened again and she almost stumbled. Rowan was leaning against the front door's frame with his arms crossed, wearing leather pants and a white button-up shirt with rolled-up sleeves. The few opened buttons in his shirt revealed he wasn't wearing anything underneath.

When he saw her, he gave her a radiant smile. And when he uncrossed his arms, there was a single rose in his hand.

"Sunray, you take my breath away," he smiled at her, holding out the flower.

"Ummm... thanks," Faith managed to get out of her mouth as she took the flower. "It's, uh, beautiful."

"I once compared you to a perfect rose," Rowan shook his head. "But I see now that there's no competition."

"All right, all right," Pauline chuckled from the dining room door saving Faith from inserting a foot in her mouth. "The taxi's waiting and the meter's running. Now, I expect you to bring her back by 1 a.m. at the latest, young man. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," Rowan nodded. "Coming, Sunray?" he asked and held out his hand.

On impulse, Faith hugged Pauline briefly and whispered a "thank you" in her ear. Then she took Rowan's offered hand and they stepped outside and into the waiting taxi.

In her head Faith believed she had made a fool of herself several times over before their dinner was even half-way finished. She had dropped her salad fork ('Who the fuck needs a separate fork for salad anyway?'), raised the glass for red wine for a refill of champagne, and all around handled the various utensils like they were farm tools.

Opposite her, Rowan had just smiled at her and kept the conversation light. He was handling the numerous forks, knives, spoons and glasses with an ease that made it look like he was born with them. The restaurant they were dining at wasn't anything too fancy, but they did have linen tablecloths and a very professional and discreet staff. Also, no-one had requested to see their ID's when Rowan ordered the champagne.

The place was maybe half-full but none of the tables adjacent to theirs were occupied. They had received a few not-so-discreet glances from the other diners when they were escorted to their table. When her courage almost faltered there and then, Rowan had squeezed her hand encouragingly and whispered in her ear. "You're the Slayer, Sunray. If you can't do it physically, do it figuratively. You can't hide your beauty, so you might just as well flaunt it."

Her anxiousness evaporating in a flash, she had grinned evilly and straightened her posture. Like stalking a vampire, she had walked confidently to the rest of the way to their table.

But then, at their table, her newly found confidence had left her again. In front of her on the table lay more cutlery than she had had in her previous apartment in Sunnydale. She had just stood there beside her chair until a subtle clearing of the throat by the waiter holding back her chair had finally made her take a seat.

"This is very cliché but it's nice to see a young lady have a healthy appetite," Rowan winked at her as she started chewing on an enormous piece of lamb chop – now on more familiar ground, being able to grab the bone with bare hands. Lamb dominated the restaurant's à la carte menu, and both had opted for the chef's lamb shank platter, Faith with a few extra side orders.

"What can I say?" Faith winked back, now more relaxed – the heady Cabernet Sauvignon they were drinking with the lamb more than helping on that front. "I'm a girl who likes her meat."

"And can I just say how much I appreciate that," Rowan chuckled and raised his glass in a semi-mocking toast.

"I also like pie," Faith added, testing the waters as carefully as possible. Even though she knew she could trust Rowan with everything, it was still somewhat new to her. Besides, this was a first date – almost literally in her case – and nervousness was an essential part of one, right?

"Yes, that's perfectly obvious," Rowan nodded. "And you'll get no complaints from me."

"I must be fucking dreaming," Faith shook her head in disbelief and emptied her wine glass. Immediately, Rowan moved to refill it. "It's all just so unreal."

"You're still not used to the pieces falling where you want?"

"Fuck, no!" Faith snorted. "You, the Scooby stuff, the Faithful with all the studying and training, the Champion gig, the M..." She bit her lower lip in sudden indecision. After signing the required papers, she had not spent too much time on thinking about the sudden massive wealth that had been bequeathed to her. Would this sudden... financial inequality cause problems between them?

"Yes?" Rowan prompted her with that adorable little sideways tilt to his head.

She wet her lips with the wine before continuing. "I find it still hard to process but, fuck, Wilkins left me all his shit – like millions." She waited for a reaction... An eyebrow! He just lifted a perfect fucking eyebrow a fraction of an inch.

"So, my beautiful Slayer girlfriend is rich too? Why doesn't that surprise me the least? But remember this; I fell in love with you before I knew any of this." While Faith was still gaping, Rowan produced his credit card and laid it on the table before Faith. "Besides, I already have a sponsor."

Faith was still somewhat shaken by the ease with which Rowan casually called her "his" and "girlfriend", so she had to blink a few times before she could focus on the piece of plastic in front of her. "What's this?" she asked suspiciously.

"Oh, just a Council-issued credit card without a spending limit," Rowan answered off-hand. "I was left with it after the fight in Scotland and I'm fairly sure Travers won't be in any hurry to revoke it."

Ok, that explained quite a lot, starting from the expensive but damn sexy leather pants. Faith knew quite well that Rowan had no real income yet, but this was... unexpected.

"Aaannnd... since this seems to be a night of revelations, there's one thing that happened in Scotland that I haven't told you about," Rowan continued.

"Yeah?" Faith commented while absentmindedly munching on her fourth lambchop.

"You have heard the outline of what passed between me and Morgaine, but, actually, there's one thing more. She offered me a title of nobility. By the Covenant she follows, that would have extended to you... had I accepted the offer."

"What?"

"It's a bit complicated, but by our mutual promise to each other that would have made you a Countess as far as the High Priestess and those who follow her are concerned."

There was a shocked silence as Faith picked up her jaw from the floor. The she started laughing. "Fuck, Bright Eyes, for a moment there I thought you were serious. Just how much have you been drinking?"

Faith's laughter was cut short when Rowan just looked back at her with a slight smile caressing his lips. "Fuck me, but you are serious," she stated flatly.

"Perfectly serious, Sunray," Rowan nodded. "And since I don't see you running away..."

"Don't count on it, buster," Faith growled.

"... we can just keep pretending that nothing has changed. But, just to give some food for thought. Don't you think all this... balancing of the scales, so to speak, between us means that we should just accept the fact that the other shoe is going to be permanently suspended in the air? Think about it. First, I helped you with the Council, then you made your own deal with the Powers. Now, you're the rich heiress and I was offered a title – an offer which may still stand. Cheesy but true."

Faith kept on munching in silence for a while, deep in thought. "So, how about them Patriots?" she tried hopefully, eliciting a merry and carefree laughter from Rowan.

It was already dark outside when Faith and Rowan exited the restaurant. The dessert cheesecake with some sweet but delicious white wine had been a crowning end to their excellent dinner. Rowan had naturally paid for the whole thing with his credit card but not before Faith drew a shocked breath at seeing the figure on the bottom of their bill.

Faith's heart skipped a single beat when Rowan took her hand into his and started leading them down the few blocks to Lake Terrace. Walking hand-in-hand with someone was not something she was too much familiar with – or at all, really. But the hand in hers was warm, firm and felt nice, so she decided to let it lie – just for now of course. Powers forbid she should be turning into a softie.

When they reached Lake Terrace, Faith felt Rowan stiffen briefly beside her and the hand holding hers tighten its grip to almost painful. "Are you ok?" she asked a bit nervously. "'Cos we can go back if you want."

"No," Rowan shook his head. "It's just not easy seeing this lake here in real life when I know that a massive mountain used to occupy its place."

Faith gnawed on her lower lip for a moment in indecision. She herself had never been very forthcoming as it came to her past, but the spirit walk they took together had left basically nothing hidden. Similarly, Rowan had not divulged much of his previous life before the Sealing. All that was just fine with Faith but... just maybe she should take a more active interest in him now that they were...

"So, where did you used to, ummm... live?"

As if having expected the question, Rowan answered immediately. "Aryane and I lived in a villa south of the mountain, quite close to the place where I was born. Where exactly, doesn't really matter anymore. Once the conflict leading to the Sealing started in earnest, I was mostly moving from place to place anyway."

"What was she like?" Faith asked, a bit self-consciously and not really certain she wanted to know.

"Beautiful, regal, brilliant, very proud, had absolute belief in herself," Rowan answered simply but without hesitation.

This was also new territory to Faith – that someone had enough self-confidence to not have to worry about their own image in the eyes of others. 'She's not the only one with absolute belief in themselves,' Faith thought briefly. "Did you love her?" Asking questions she wasn't sure she wanted answers to was also something she was only now starting to experiment with. And this was a big one as questions of that nature went.

"Yes, with all my heart and spirit, until she betrayed all that. But like everything else about this place, it's very much in the past."

Stopping in his tracks, Rowan turned to face Faith. He took her other hand into his as well. "And now I love you, Sunray. Is it still so hard for you to believe?"

"Kinda," Faith muttered, fidgeting a little. "First time and all in real life. The spirit walk was sorta unreal – more like a dream, yunno?"

Rowan leaned in for a quick but passionate kiss which left Faith breathless. "So," Rowan winked at her. "If I've understood the social norms and dating rules of American society correctly, the first date usually involves a dinner and a movie. But, how about we skip the movie and patrol the beach instead?"

"Fuck, yeah," Faith grinned eagerly. "After you."

"Hmmm?"

"I've yet to see you properly move in those leather pants of yours. Gimme something to ogle."

"You mean this," Rowan winked and ran his hands up and down his leather-covered ass.

"Oh, yeah," Faith practically purred and licked her lips.

They patrolled along the beach for about an hour and a half. On hindsight, Faith realized later, what they were doing didn't much differ from a romantic night-time walk – except for one lone vampire she had quickly dusted and a weird aquatic demon which she almost beheaded with a single slash from the Spirit Blade.

Back on Lake Terrace Faith turned to take one last look at the dark waters of Lake Taupo before they'd have to take a taxi back to Oruanui. Immediately she felt Rowan's arms around her waist as he embraced her from behind. "Close your eyes, Sunray," he whispered in her ear as he held her close to his body.

Faith narrowed her eyes briefly and shook her head slightly before complying.

"How do you feel right now?" Rowan asked her, pressing his cheek against hers. When he saw Faith's eyes flutter briefly, he continued. "Keep them closed and just feel."

Faith didn't answer for several long moments. She let herself relax into Rowan's arms, feeling his warmth and the soft, sweet breath against the side of her face and neck.

"I feel... safe," she answered quietly. She opened her eyes and turned her head lightly to look over her shoulder. "I feel right."

"Yes, me too," Rowan nodded slightly.

They stayed like that for several minutes until a lingering worry got the best of Faith.

"But what if we're wrong? What if all this is wrong? Doesn't that worry you at all?"

Rowan shook his head. "You can spend all your time worrying about the future and regretting the past – not really living. All that truly matters is the here and now."

"Is that how you'll be spending your eternity?"

"There are worse places to be spending it in than the here and now."

"So, what do you want in the here and now?"

"You," Rowan answered and turned Faith around in his arms so that they were facing each other. "In every possible way. But I'll settle for one of those special kisses. You know, the likes of which you gave me in Sunnydale harbour and Miyoko's room when I woke up."

"That's a tall order," Faith grinned and felt herself melt a little inside. "And then?"

"I want to get to really know you, Sunray. I want us to take this slow, like you wanted. I want to know what makes you laugh, what makes you cry, what makes you angry, what makes you happy." With a wink Rowan lowered his voice to a husky purr. "I want to know what makes you wet, what makes you horny, what you fantasize about."

"Yeah, me too," Faith replied without really thinking and attacked Rowan's mouth with a spirit-tingling kiss.