Complement

by Michele D

This is the first fanfiction I wrote. I began it in 2000 & completed it in 2002. I will mark it complete once all chapters are up. I'll be posting a few chapters at a time. Just a heads up, it is long. Starts in the future that only lives in my head (Prologue). Takes place right before & during Judgment (Part I).

14. XIII - Breathe

XIII – Breathe

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Faith snuggled deeper into the warm arms that were holding her. She was so liking this dream. Slowly as she came fully awake, the reality that the warm flesh she felt beneath her hand, the heart she could hear beating steadily in the chest on which her head lay, the scent she was surrounded by; which Faith could only describe as just 'Buffy', wasn't a dream. And she was so liking this much better than any dream.

"Morning," came to her softly as she felt Buffy's hand slide up her arm and gently brush the hair back from her face.

"Morning to you, too."

Faith slid up the bed and turned on her side so she could see Buffy. Still a little - hell, a lot, amazed that she was here. She had expected when Buffy had said she would take her home that she would bring her back to the Mansion. Faith had almost blurted out as much when they had pulled up in front of Buffy's house. Buffy had used the excuse that the doctor had told her to keep an eye on her for at the very least two days, because of the seriousness of her head injury. Further, the doctor had only released Faith after Buffy gave him her word, she would stay with her.

Buffy had surprised the Dark Slayer further when she insisted that Faith stay in her room with her. Faith had agreed shyly, and wondered once again where the shyness was coming from. Shy was not a word she would have ever thought to use to describe herself. Brash, cocky, aggressive those were more like it. Shy? Not in a million years. Then again, these last months had been full of surprises, she had been discovering things about herself that she still couldn't believe.

Buffy was already awake when Faith woke. She had been listening to Faith's steady and even breathing as she had for most of the night. She had been afraid to sleep, after coming so close to almost losing her. Losing her before they even had a chance to begin again. She knew they would need to talk about what happened, they had let themselves get distracted by each other, and they both could have ended up dead. Buffy once again gave silent thanks to whoever had granted them both another sunrise and had just spent the night listening to Faith breathe.

She propped herself up on her side, bending her elbow and resting the side of her head in her hand. Looking into Faith's deep, dark, brown eyes, Buffy let herself fall into them. Lifting her other hand she traced along Faith's hairline over her forehead, down between her eyebrows, along the bridge of her nose, down the side of it, to follow the line of her cheekbone, then finally came to a stop at the corner of her mouth. Buffy's paused for a second then let her fingertips continued their journey, tracing around the outside of those slightly pouting lips, then dipping in to trace along the line that separated them.

Faith stared back into Buffy's open gaze. Letting herself tumble into the tantalizing faint touch of Buffy's fingertips as they explored the contours of her face. She couldn't remember anyone ever touching her this way. She struggled to think of a word to describe the feelings it created in her and then gave up, and just allowed herself to feel. She captured Buffy's fingertips between her lips. Her breath caught as she felt Buffy's fingertips continue their exploration, running along the inside of her lower lip, grazing along her teeth.

Buffy couldn't resist any longer she had to taste what her fingertips were exploring. Slowly she leaned down and captured Faith's mouth. Softly, so softly she kissed Faith, her mouth a mere whisper, her tongue tracing delicately, following along the same path her fingertips had taken on their exploration of Faith's mouth.

Faith let herself get caught up in the intricate spider web of feelings Buffy's kiss was stirring in her. So many different feelings, desire, lust, passion, joy, too many to count; all from those fingertips that had touched her so gently, and now from this light as air kiss. She began to tremble, the desire building up in her slowly, smoldering like a burning ember, so different from anything she had ever felt before. And Faith knew Buffy was feeling it too, could feel the trembling start in Buffy. Then Buffy was pulling away, and Faith wanted to scream at the loss. She opened her eyes and saw the soft smile on Buffy's face and the promise in her eyes that there were would be many more such kisses.

The kiss left Faith wondering why everyone always rushed off in the morning. It certainly didn't explain the whole ta-do about morning breath, because as far as she was concerned, Buffy's breath was like roses, and her kiss tasted better than even the sweetest wine. The smile Faith bestowed on Buffy was brilliant, this was her very first, 'Spend-the-night-wake-up-next-to-and-share-a-morning- breath-kiss-with-someone.'

This was the second one of Faith's secret wishes that Buffy had made come true for the Dark Slayer. Actually the second and third, because part of that secret wish was that the 'someone' be Buffy.

Buffy saw the innocence in Faith in that brilliant smile and the breath caught in her chest. Her soft smile turned into a very large grin, then a giggle when Faith's stomach chose that moment to growl.

"Come on let's feed you. I think I'm scared of the way that stomach of yours growls."

It was a good thing Faith's stomach broke the moment; otherwise Buffy knew, if they stayed there a few seconds longer, she would have forgotten what slow meant. More than anything Buffy wanted to show the Dark Slayer how it should have been between them from the beginning. How it could have been if they both could have kept their innocence.

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I can feel the magic floating in the air ~ Being with you gets me that way ~ I watch the sunlight dance across your face ~ And I've never been this swept away ~All my thoughts just seem to settle on the breeze...

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Buffy was still amazed by the amount of food Faith could eat and still keep that luscious, mouthwatering, delectable body.

Easy there girl. Slow. Sister here. Hurt Slayer. Down girl. Slow, remember slow. Recite the alphabet, count sheep... Go crazy.

"Do you want more to eat Faith?" Buffy was almost afraid to ask.

"I don't think there's any more food left, except maybe a few crumbs left in the bottom of the bread bin..." Dawn said mischievously.

"Real funny kiddo. Good thing for you I'm hurt or there would be some serious tickling going on right now."

"I'm not the one who's ticklish. Remember Faith?"

"You're ticklish Faith?" Buffy said with a cunning grin.

Oh this wasn't good. Faith didn't like the evil look that was in Buffy's eyes. Nope not good at all. Faith threw Dawn a, 'Thanks-a-whole-lot-for-telling' look. Dawn just smiled at her. She liked having the Dark Slayer around. She was fun and she made Buffy smile.

"Don't know what she's talkin' 'bout B. Not ticklish. Nope not me. Not a ticklish bone in this body. Lots of healed broken bones, but no ticklish ones. Not a one." Faith knew she was snagged; the 'Willow babble' mode did it. She never used to babble, lately she had become a babbling idiot, in fact, both her and Buffy had become babbling idiots. Even if she wasn't snagged she certainly was after Dawn's comment following her babble.

"Liar. You're such a liar. You know you're ticklish. If you weren't hurt I'd show Buffy just how ticklish you are. Even Mom knew you were ticklish. 'Sides it was the only way I ever won at Mortal Kombat!"

That evil gleam in Buffy's eyes just grew larger. Dawn had just given away one of the Dark Slayer's most well kept secrets. Being ticklish did not fit in with her whole Bad Girl image, not at all. Question now was; Was Buffy ticklish as well? At least that would even the playing field.

"So... Buffy... Are you ticklish?" Faith asked with a sly look. She didn't really expect Buffy to answer, she did expect Dawn would though.

"Buffy is..."

"Dawn! We're sisters remember?" A little desperate.

"No fair B. That's sooooooo not fair." Faith tried out her best pout on Buffy. It didn't work.

"Who said anything about fair? This is tickling we're talking about here. There is nothing fair about tickling."

"True. Just be warned though. I will find out B. Ya coulda made it easy. But noooooo... You are gonna make me find out the hard way. Just remember that simple fact, when all is said and done. "

This time, it was Buffy who didn't like the evil gleam in Faith's eyes. Faith wiggled her eyebrows at Buffy when she saw the evil gleam replaced by an 'ut-oh' look.

Dawn started giggling at how silly the Chosen Two were being, Buffy joined her. Neither Summers' sister had felt this happy, carefree or young in a very long time.

Faith tried to keep the pain she felt when she wiggled her eyebrows out of her expression. She had forgotten the stitches she had gotten on her left temple and the large bruised lump. While she was healing faster than normal because of her Slayer healing, she was still in the 'It-hurts-like-hell' stage of healing. Faith didn't care though because it was worth the pain just to hear the joyous sound of the two Summers' sisters giggles.

"Dawn do me a favor."

"What?" Dawn asked suspiciously.

"Run upstairs grab my wallet and car keys. We'll go rent some movies and do an all-day movie, pizza and popcorn day. 'K?"

"Yay! I like those!"

Buffy waited until her sister was out of earshot to speak. She didn't want to worry Dawn, she had been hysterical when Faith hadn't woken up right away at the hospital. The doctor hadn't helped when he told Buffy, in front of Dawn, the next morning, considering the seriousness of Faith's head injury, he didn't know how long or even if Faith would wake up. They would have to wait and see. Dawn was afraid Faith had slipped into another coma, or worse she was going to die on them like their Mom had. It had taken all of Buffy's powers of persuasion to calm her down, especially since the same thoughts were echoing loudly through her own head.

"You okay? Do you want one of those pills?" Buffy hadn't missed the pain that flashed across Faith's face. She even had sort of sensed, almost felt an echo of it in herself. Odd.

"Nah. Don't like pills, no drugs. I'd rather be in pain." A shadow passed for the briefest second over the Dark Slayer's face and then it was gone. If Buffy didn't know better she would have thought she imagined it.

Buffy took in Faith's droopy eyes and knew Faith was getting tired and was in pain, the food and the conversation having sapped most of her energy. Not that Faith would ever admit it Buffy thought, wouldn't fit her whole 'Bad Girl' image.

"My shoulder and head hurt a little and I am kinda tired though B." Faith smiled when Buffy's mouth dropped open. First though, she had to close her own because it had dropped open the second after she said it.

It was a first for her, she never admitted to any weakness, showing weakness made you vulnerable. With the exception of 'The Incident', she hadn't shown any weakness, not even to Angel, he had just always seemed to know. Most of the people she had met in her life took advantage of the vulnerable, the weak. But deep down inside Faith knew Buffy wasn't one of those people and by showing her vulnerability to Buffy, Faith had just taken the first baby steps in giving her trust to her.

Buffy decided it was time she stopped making any assumptions about the Dark Slayer, and instead just take the time to get to know the woman who was sitting in front of her. The woman who had been surprising her left and right since her return to Sunnydale. Had she done that in the first place, the whole 'General B's got a new toy' mess would have never happened.

Buffy made sure Faith was comfortable on the couch in the den before she and Dawn went out to get movies. She leaned down and gave Faith a quick kiss on the cheek before she left, whispering in her ear; "I miss you already."

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The doorbell woke Faith from her nap. Grumbling she staggered to the front door, thinking Buffy had forgotten her keys, and wondering why she would even bother to lock the door anyway. She could kick the shit out of anyone who came in uninvited, so what was the point? She was cranky, her head and shoulder were throbbing, as well as another part of her body, thanks to the dream she had been having about Buffy.

Faith wasn't a happy camper and she became even more unhappy when she saw who was standing on the doorstep.

"Hello. We came by to wish that you, Get Well Later."

"Soon. Not later. It's, Get Well Soon."

Faith stood with her mouth hanging open, another thing she noticed she had been doing a lot of lately. Right now, she really wished she was dreaming.

"Oh. Are you sure?"

"Trust me it's Soon."

"Okay then Get Well Soon... Faith! These are for you. Traditional Get Well Soon gifts. I wanted to keep the Teddy Bear but Xander wouldn't let me." A card, a little teddy bear, a basket of candy, and a first aid kit were shoved into her arms.

Faith juggled the four items in her good arm, snapping her mouth closed before she started drooling like an idiot. 'Please oh please,' she thought, 'let me be dreaming.'

"Ah... Thanks?" Faith let out a sigh of relief when she saw Buffy and Dawn pull up in front of the house.

"Xander didn't want to come here. But I told him it wouldn't be proper. You are after all Buffy's Orgasm Buddy!"

"Anya," Xander groaned.

"What? It's true. Tell him that it's true."

"Tell him what's true Anya?" Buffy asked as she walked up with Dawn.

Faith frantically shook her head no at Buffy. A sharp pain went through her skull, it felt like someone had just jabbed her through the eye with an acupuncture needle. She hissed in pain, a wave of dizziness swiftly washed over her and everything started to spin. She reached out blindly with her good arm seeking something to keep her from falling on her face. Her, Get Well Soon gifts went flying, as well as Anya when Buffy shoved her out of the way to get to Faith.

For the second time in two days, Buffy caught Faith before she could fall.

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A few hours later Faith was almost wishing she had stayed at the hospital. Their movie, pizza and popcorn day had turned into a Scooby Fest. Willow and Tara had shown up a few minutes after Xander and Anya. Didn't these people have jobs, school, something, anything?

The only good thing about the day was that she had spent it on the couch with her head cradled in Buffy's lap. Relaxing into the feel of the hand that stroked her hair and the fingertips that ran random patterns across her neck, shoulder, and arm. There was comfort in those touches, a secure warm fuzzy feeling, of those 'just because' touches. Faith was beginning to think getting hurt wasn't such a bad thing after all.

The absolute best part was that Buffy didn't care what anyone thought either. When they had first sat down to watch a movie, Faith had tried sitting on one end of the couch, but Buffy wasn't having any of it. She sat on the couch with her and gently, but firmly, pulled the Dark Slayer towards her, until Faith lay with her head in Buffy's lap.

While Faith didn't care what anyone else thought - which really wasn't true - she just wasn't going to let it stop her from being with Buffy, she did, however, care about what Dawn thought. It was one thing for Dawn to know that she and Buffy were like Red and Blondie, but did she really understand what that meant? Faith would have known at fourteen, but Dawn wasn't her.

Dawn had seemed fine though, had even offered to get Faith a pillow to make her more comfortable. Even Dawn knew that while Buffy may look all soft and petite, it was deceptive; she was hard as a rock underneath. Faith declined the offer, preferring to lay her head on Buffy's warmth rather than a pillow any day.

This was a completely new type of P.D.A., Public-Display-of-Affection, for Faith. Her previous experiences with it were more all the shove-your-tongue-down-someone's-throat-and-go-get-a-room, type P.D.A.'s. Holding hands, an arm around the shoulder, soft kisses, things that lovers did, they were new to her. And she found she liked it, oh she liked it a whole goddamn lot.

All these new sensations, these new types of emotions, feelings, Buffy had aroused in her in just one day, amazed, and overwhelmed her a little. One thing they did not do was scare her. No, not at all, not even a little. She couldn't wait to see what tomorrow would bring.

As Buffy continued to stroke her hair, the raven-haired Slayer drifted off once again to sleep.

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For the second morning in a row, Faith woke to the feeling of being cradled in Buffy's arms. This time it was she who just lay listening to Buffy's even and steady breathing, her heart beating slowly. The Scoobs had left around nine the night before, when Tara had ushered them out after seeing how tired Buffy was.

Tara took one look at Buffy and figured she hadn't had much sleep since Faith had gotten hurt. Faith was already asleep; her head still on Buffy's lap, and Buffy seemed more asleep, than awake. Faith was so deeply asleep that she hadn't woken up until Buffy had tucked her into bed, and didn't crawl right in beside her. She mumbled a protest, and Buffy was immediately by her side, soothing her, telling her she would be gone only for a second, she needed to get ready for bed. Both Slayers fell to sleep seconds after Buffy crawled into bed beside Faith.

The Chosen Two both jumped when Buffy's alarm clock went off.

"Nonononononono." Grumbling, she didn't want to wake up. "Damndamndamndamn"

One of them had to move and shut off the clock or at least hit the snooze button. Supporting herself with her good arm Faith reached over Buffy with her injured arm, it still hurt, but the pain wasn't quite as bad as yesterday. She slammed the clock's snooze button.

Buffy's arms came fully around her pulling Faith down and closer to her. Faith leaned down and planted a light butterfly kiss first on one closed eyelid and then on the other.

"Mmmmmm. Like this."

Faith continued to place light butterfly kisses all over Buffy's face. She was liking this morning thing. Finally after a dozen or so kisses Faith leaned in and claimed Buffy's mouth with her own. Giving to Buffy that same light as air kiss, Buffy had given to her yesterday. Pulling away, she traced along Buffy's jaw line with her tongue up to her ear. She caught Buffy's earlobe with her teeth and nibbled it gently.

"Morning." The sound of Faith's voice, low, raspy, and laced with desire, sent a shudder through Buffy.

Buffy pulled Faith down onto her and gently pressed Faith's head into her shoulder. 'Slow, remember slow,' she thought.

"Morning. How are you feeling today?"

"Better. Less pain in my shoulder. Throbbing is gone in my head." Faith left out the part about other parts of her anatomy throbbing. 'Slow, slow, want to take this slow,' she thought, echoing Buffy's sentiments.

"Good morning." Dawn yelled from the hallway in a voice that was way too cheerful for either Slayer. Morning people they were not.

With a groan, both got up.

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...When I'm lying wrapped up in your arms ~ The whole world just fades away ~ The only thing I hear ~ Is the beating of your heart...

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When Buffy got back from driving Dawn to school Faith was nowhere to be found. She climbed the stairs up to her bedroom thinking that maybe she had gone back to bed.

"Goddamn, son-of-bitch! This sucks! Ahhhhh..."

Buffy went back down the hall when she realized that Faith was in the bathroom.

"Faith. You all right?" Buffy asked through the door.

Faith had run herself a bath after Buffy left. She had thought it would be easier than taking a shower since she wasn't supposed to get her stitches wet. She was wrong, she couldn't figure out how to get her hair wet without drowning herself and she really, really, wanted to wash her hair.

"Faith?"

"I...um..."

Fuck this is embarrassing.

"B, I kinda need some help."

Buffy rushed through the door; her first thought was that Faith was hurt. She stopped so abruptly that she slid on the bathroom floor and almost fell. There was Faith smiling at her, sitting in all her naked glory in the bathtub and Buffy felt herself turning beet red.

OHMYGOD! Control! Control is goooood! OHMYGOD!

"Help... ah... help with what?"

Help with touching... That would be... Touching help... Hope it's touching help...

"I want to wash my hair but I can't seem to..." Faith trailed off when she felt the desire that was radiating from Buffy reach out and wash over her. A low moan escaped from her lips.

Buffy moved towards Faith in a trance. She knelt down besides the tub. Reaching past Faith, she grabbed the plastic cup off the ledge of the tub.

"I can help with that," Buffy leaned towards Faith and placed her hand behind her neck and under her hair. "Lean back."

Faith leaned back into Buffy's hand, her eyes never leaving her face. Buffy dipped the cup into the water filling it. She wanted to dip her head down and capture one of those tantalizing breasts that were jutting up out of the water just begging for the touch of her mouth. Instead, she poured the water over Faith's hair, refilling the cup time and again until Faith's hair was thoroughly wet, just like Buffy was.

Buffy stood and took the shampoo off the shelf. She sat down on the side of the tub and poured some of the shampoo onto Faith's hair. Leaning into her, Buffy began to massage the shampoo into Faith's scalp, careful to keep it away from the stitches along her hairline. How many times had she run her hands through Faith's hair and never let herself notice how thick it was, how much like raw silk it felt beneath her fingers?

She applied pressure with her thumbs and fingertips, rubbing in small circles. Sliding the pads of her fingers from Faith's hairline down to the nape of her neck, then using just her thumbs she massaged all the way around Faith's hairline. The warmth of Faith's breath caressing her neck and chest with each exhale of air, causing even more heat to flood through Buffy's veins.

Faith closed her eyes and relaxed into Buffy's touch. A tingling sensation ran down the length of her spine with each touch of Buffy's fingers against her scalp. She gasped in pleasure when Buffy touched a sensitive spot behind her ear, sending a bolt of fire running down her back.

Buffy washed Faith's hair for what seemed like hours. Then her hand was once more behind her neck. Faith leaned back without being told, as Buffy rinsed the shampoo from her hair.

Faith ran her hand up Buffy's arm, over her shoulder to reach behind her neck and draw her down, bringing Buffy's mouth to her. Kissing Buffy with raw desire, her tongue deftly gaining access. Buffy moaned into Faith's mouth, and Faith deepened their kiss. Running her tongue along the length of Buffy's, then retreating, only to have Buffy's follow. She pulled Buffy's tongue deeper into her mouth sucking on it gently.

Faith's whole body was quivering with desire, a fire burning inside her, reaching down into her core.

Buffy felt like she was on fire, she felt Faith quivering beneath her hand and it only added more fuel to the fire. She was going to go over the edge just from the kiss.

The Chosen Two broke apart, both breathing heavily. Buffy slowly opened her eyes and found Faith's were still closed.

"Faith?" Was that her voice, so deep, so low, so husky?

With every part of her being Buffy wanted to make love with Faith, and she had no doubts that Faith wanted that too. But... Slow, Faith had asked her to go slow... And Buffy wanted that too. How much longer either one of them could go slow Buffy didn't know. Was she waiting for some sign? Some sign from Faith that she had finally given up the foolish notion that she wasn't good enough. A sign that Faith had given her, her trust? A sign that Faith no longer saw her as General B, but as Buffy. Somehow, Buffy knew they would both know when the time was right.

When they finally did make love, Buffy wanted it to be perfect. Without ever being told, she knew Faith had never made love... So, she remained silent and waited for the raven-hair Slayer to look at her; her eyes would tell Buffy if the time was now.

Faith slowly opened her eyes. She was physically ready to make love with Buffy, her body was demanding it, but emotionally she wasn't ready.

She wanted a little more time...

...to separate these new emotions...

...to experience what it was like to be innocent...

...to move away from the bad memories...

...to build good memories...

A little more time because, she was truly beginning to believe that she was good enough...

A little more time for that light in the dark tunnel that had been her life to get brighter...

Buffy looked in Faith's eyes and searched for her answer. It was what she hoped. She smiled and let out a shaky breath.

"B... I want to... But... I'm..." Buffy stopped her with a brief, light as air morning kiss.

"I know... I do too... I hoped though you would feel the same..."

Faith let out a sigh of both relief and frustration. Relief because Buffy understood and frustration because her own body didn't.

"I think I better let you finish your bath now..." Buffy rose from the side of the tub. She wasn't quite sure how she made it to the door her legs were so weak. She turned around before she left.

"If you need me I'll be in Mom's bathroom taking about an hour long cold shower." She closed the door to the sound of Faith's light laughter and a grumbled, "I know exactly how you feel."

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...'Cause I can feel you breathe ~ It's washing over me ~ And suddenly I'm melting into you ~ There's nothing left to prove ~ Baby, all we need is just to be ~ Caught up in the touch ~ Slow and steady rush ~ Baby, isn't that the way that love's suppose to be ~ I can feel you breathe ~ Just breathe...

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After her cold shower Buffy went downstairs and found Faith sitting at the kitchen table, a cup of coffee in front of her. She poured herself a cup and joined the Dark Slayer at the table, and they shared a comfortable silence as they drank their coffee.

The scorching fire that had been running through both Slayers' veins was still there, only now it was more like a steady stream of warmth flowing through their veins. Both knew that a single touch would set the fire ablaze in seconds. Both knew that if they wanted to go slow staying in the same house, sleeping in the same bed every night was not going to work. Both knew the time would come soon enough for that, for now they were both in perfect accord that they wanted to take it slow, for as long, well not too long, as they could. Now all one of them needed to do was find the courage to say it aloud.

Fear. Not gonna let the fear own me anymore.

"Thanks for washing my hair B." 'Not the best way to start this conversation,' Faith thought as she felt herself blushing.

"It was my pleasure..." There was so much more implied in that simple phrase and Buffy joined Faith in blushing.

"B?" Buffy looked expectantly at Faith and she knew that Faith was the one who had found the courage to bring up the subject of her going back to the Mansion.

It dawned on Buffy that over the last few weeks it has been Faith who, despite any insecurities, any fears she may have, had always been the one to tackle the difficult things, the stuff that was really important. The Faith Buffy had known would have avoided them, played them off. The Faith sitting in front of Buffy now didn't avoid the hard stuff, she tackled it head on and tried to resolve it. And Buffy was proud of her, proud because Faith had managed to pull herself out of the cesspool that had been her life and rise above it.

Faith had her feet squarely planted on the road to redemption, to making a better life for herself, making a better, safer world, and no matter what anyone threw her way, she wasn't budging off that path. Buffy was finally beginning to truly see the woman Faith was, the woman Faith was becoming, the woman that Angel had seen that Faith could be, the woman that she had always been in her soul. The light that shined from the Dark Slayer was blinding. And Buffy felt honored and fortunate that Faith wanted to share it with her.

Buffy smiled encouragingly at Faith as she watched her struggle to find the right words.

"B. This morning... The bath... Shit, I'm not sure how to even say this." Faith paused trying to make some coherency out of her jumbled thoughts. She knew what she wanted to say but not how. This talking about things was hard, it was going to take some practice and she was sure that she would screw it up a lot, she just hoped that Buffy would understand her meaning behind the words rather than what the words themselves said. She had a funny feeling this was never going to be one of her strong points.

"It was nice... Well, it was more than nice, way, way, more, ya know?" Faith felt the heat rush to her groin just at the thought. If she kept this up, they would be celebrating their one-year anniversary by the time she finished what she wanted to say.

Whoa! One-year anniversary! Me and Buffy. Woo Hoo!

Buffy watched as a... the only way she could think of it was as a dreamy far off look came into Faith eyes. She wanted to know what that look was for, and she fervently hoped that whatever it was for included her.

"What ya thinking about Faith?"

Faith was so caught up in the fantasy of her and Buffy and a future together, that without giving it a second thought she answered Buffy, and said exactly what was on her mind.

"That at the rate I'm going trying to tell you that I should probably go and stay at the mansion if this whole slow thing is going to work, we'll be celebrating our one-year anniversary."

The sound of her own voice shocked Faith's own right back into the here and now. She looked directly at Buffy and for once Buffy saw that the Dark Slayer's eyes held not the slightest hint that Buffy would reject her or the idea of a future of them together. Instead, what Buffy saw was hope, and Buffy knew that her eyes held that same look. Hope that given their short lives as Slayers they would both still be alive.

As they continued to look at each other there was no need for them to speak to understand what the other was thinking. Because in both their heart of hearts they both now truly believed that whatever time they had left would be spent together.

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...In a way I know my heart is waking up ~ As all the walls come tumbling down ~ Closer than I've ever felt before ~ And I know, and you know ~ There's no need for words right now...
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There were clothes strewn all over the room. Across the bed, on the floor, over the back of the chaise lounge, a trail from the closet into the bathroom, there was even a pair of underwear hanging off the chandelier.

"This... nothing... skanky... who... never... gonna... now I'm gonna be late... shit... sucks... not a fucking thing... tramp wear... should of went shopping... dumb ass."

Willow and Tara were sitting on the chaise lounge watching the Dark Slayer as she mumbled under her breath. Pulling out her clothes and quickly flinging them across the room. She was running around in a silk robe, her hair still dripping wet, no make-up on yet and Buffy was due to pick her up in an hour for their first ever, real date. It was an understatement to say that Faith was a fucking nervous wreck.

Faith turned and looked at the two witches when she heard a snicker come from their direction.

"This ain't funny!" Faith started ranting, and rummaging through her closet again, throwing clothes. "I can't go out lookin like a skanky whore. Who the fuck taught me how to dress? Look at these clothes. Fucking A! I can't go. That's it! I musta had a screw loose. Who am I kidding..." Faith trailed off when she heard the witches out and out giggling. She turned towards them again.

"It's not funny! Who invited you here anyway? You're no help. Come on it's not funny! Stop laughing."

Oh my god! I'm whining. I don't whine.

Willow and Tara started laughing even harder, tears rolling down their faces. As she watched them, she started to see the humor in the situation. Faith started laughing herself, she couldn't help it. How stupid was she being, it was pretty obvious by now Buffy could give two-shits what Faith wore. The last three days with Buffy had been the most amazing of her life, and she had been in sweats and a tee-shirt for all of them, and Buffy didn't seem to mind at all. Still Faith wanted to look nice; they were, after all, going out to dinner, making their first public appearance as a couple. She didn't want anyone wondering why the golden-haired Slayer was out with the skanky slut. Faith didn't give a damn what anyone thought of her, but she did care about what other people thought about Buffy.

"This issss just tooooooo cute..." Willow choked out between fits of laughter.

"This is not cute. It's not funny. It's, it's, it's..."

Willow got up from the chaise lounge deciding to help Faith now that it looked like she had calmed down. She had tried before but had practically gotten buried under clothes as the Dark Slayer rejected just about everything in her closet, her dresser drawers, and the boxes that up until an hour ago had still been unpacked.

"Okay let's see what we've got here."

Faith turned towards Willow ready to start ranting again until she saw Willow standing less than a foot from her, hands on her hips in total Resolve Face...

Even Faith knew better than to fuck with Resolve Face Willow.

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"Hi Buffy. Dawnie." Tara had run downstairs to get the door while Willow helped Faith finish getting ready. "Faith will be down in a minute."

Tara had to suppress the smile that was threatening to appear. Buffy was rocking from foot to foot; it was obvious that she was just as nervous as Faith. You would think that these two barely knew each other, but the more Tara thought about it, in a way they really didn't. Having sex with someone didn't mean squat when it came to knowing who a person was. Both Buffy and Faith had changed a lot over the last year or so. Granted Faith had changed a hell of a lot more, but Tara had a sneaky suspicion that Buffy's soul had always recognized who the real Faith was. It had just taken her a while to understand and accept that.

It was so cute that they were trying to start over; both witches knew that it couldn't be easy. Hell you couldn't stand too close to either of them when they were in the room together without getting scorched by the heat that was between them. Secretly both witches were glad they were taking this time to get to really know each other instead of trying to pick up where they had left off and change it from there. While Faith might still have a hard time believing it, both Willow and Tara were pulling for her, pulling for both her and Buffy. The witches knew, had absolutely no doubt that the Chosen Two belonged together.

Tara and Willow had volunteered to watch Dawn. It was Faith suggestion that they do it at the mansion since Glory didn't know about her. They all thought it would be safest here. Neither Buffy nor Faith liked the idea of leaving Dawn alone for too long, it had taken quite a lot of doing to get them to go out alone tonight.

"So what movies did you get for us to watch Dawn?"

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Buffy rose from the couch and started walking towards the stairs when she heard Faith and Willow coming down. She stopped moving the second Faith came into view, she stopped breathing too.

Faith had on a pair of glove leather, dove gray hip-hugger pants, with black platform 'Muro' boots. A silk gray v-neck sleeveless shirt, which had an even lighter stitched paisley design running through it. She wore a full-length woman's lightweight black silk blend duster. Her raven hair was its customary wild 'finger-running' through it look. Her eyelids were done in brown and green tones of eye shadow to bring out the little specks of emerald that were almost invisible in those dark brown eyes. White pencil eyeliner was used with a thin-line of dark brown liquid eyeliner drawn over the top of the white. The combination of dark on light made her eyes appear even larger. Her black eyelashes seemed almost impossibly long. Instead of her customary red lipstick, her lips were outlined in a dark chocolate brown and glossed with a very light bronze.

Faith walked hesitantly towards Buffy, the whole shyness thing kicking in again.

Damn shoulda never let Red dress me, do the make up! What the fuck is with this shy thing?

Faith stopped in front of Buffy, feeling a little awkward, not really sure how to stand, what to do with her hands. Buffy saw the shyness in Faith's eyes, and if she could stop gawking long enough she could maybe say something.

"Is a... this all ri..."

"Beautiful. My god. You are beautiful... Not that you aren't all the time... But... Wow!"

"Thank Red she..." Faith nervously looked around for Willow and saw that everyone else had disappeared from the room. She wasn't used to anyone telling her she was beautiful, other not so nice things yes, and those she knew how to respond to, but not beautiful.

Buffy had one of Faith's hands in hers, and was removing the lifting glove from it before she had a chance to stop her. Faith had refused to remove them even when Willow had pulled Resolve Face on her again. Buffy saw the panic flare up in Faith's eyes when what she was doing sunk in. Buffy didn't want to ruin the moment, the date by starting it off this way, but she didn't want Faith to feel like she needed to hide her hands or the scars, just because she wasn't ready to talk about them.

When Buffy had seen, or rather acknowledge, their presence in the hospital, she had wondered how Faith had gotten them. Then over the course of the next two days when she had gotten a better look at them when Faith was sleeping, she began to get a very good idea of how they had gotten there. Her heart broke a little when she realized they were self-inflicted and once again, Buffy silently thanked Angel for seeing in Faith what she had refused to let herself see. Buffy knew he had gotten Faith through it, had gotten her to stop inflicting upon herself the self-mutilation.

"B don't! I like them. Want to keep them on..."

"It's okay Faith. I've seen the scars. I refused to acknowledge them when I saw them before. And I'm ashamed of that. Then at the hospital I... You don't have to tell me about them if you don't want. When you're ready you can tell me. You don't have to hide them. I promise not to ask. I can wait." Buffy paused and smiled at her.

"B... I want to tell you... I... its just... It's still too hard... And my hands... they're ugly... they..."

Faith was struggling she wanted to tell Buffy about it, she just couldn't yet. Didn't know if she could explain it. Was a little afraid to travel back into that quiet, dark place to tell her about it. She could look at her hands now, she still saw, sensed, the blood, but just acknowledged it presence, accepting it as part of her. Though, every once in a while she still had nightmares about it. The damage though she had done to her hands was ugly and she didn't want to let anyone see it. Didn't want to see that pitying look in anyone's eyes when they realized how the scars had come to be.

"There is absolutely nothing ugly about you Faith. Nothing ugly about the scars." Then Buffy raised Faith's hand to her mouth and kissed the back of it very softly.

Still holding the Dark Slayer's hand Buffy said a little shyly, a little embarrassed;

"I like the warmth of your hand in mine. I know that's selfish of me. I can't help it. I just like the feel of you."

Faith looked into Buffy's eyes, eyes that did not stare back at her with any pity. Eyes that stared back at her with so much more, but pity wasn't any part of that more.

Faith took off the other glove herself. For the first time since Angel had bought them for her, she went out into the world without them and it wasn't because she had momentarily forgotten about the scars upon her hands.

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They went to a nice little 'Family,' as in gay, restaurant and dance club that Red and Blondie had told Faith about right outside of town.

They had a quiet dinner, just being together was enough, they held hands through most of it. Both of them got a good laugh, first at the look the waiter had given them when they ordered so much food, then later when he came back to clear the table and saw they had eaten it all. The look, however, he gave Faith when she asked him what they had for dessert was priceless. Faith swore to Buffy after he left that he was ready to look under the table to see if they had hidden any food under there. They weren't laughing so hard though when the bill came. Unless one of them hit the lottery both Slayers knew that they wouldn't be eating out a lot, it was just too expensive with the amount of food they ate. Then again, they could always eat a big snack before they went out to eat.

Money was going to become an issue soon for Faith. The money she had made while working for Angel wasn't going to last forever, she was going to need to find a job. A real job. Had Faith ever bothered to look at the balance for her checking account instead of just always throwing away the slips from the ATM machine, she would have been surprised to see how much money was actually in there. Without telling her Angel had taken a portion of her pay each week and given it to Wesley to invest for her, and as it turned out the investments had been good ones.

"I should start looking for a job. Especially since I doubt the council is going to put me on the payroll."

"Do you know what you would like to do?"

"Never really thought about it much. Figured it didn't matter ya know, being a Slayer and all... I never even finished high school. I guess I really won't have many choices in any case 'cause of that."

"What about getting your G.E.D. first. Willow could help you. Then maybe college."

"G.E.D. hmmm... That I could do. College? Don't know about that B. Me and college. Not really the book smart type. Street smart type is more like it."

"I don't believe that for a second. I think you can do anything you set your mind to."

"You're just saying that 'cause you want to get in my pants." Faith turned beet red. Christ how the hell could she have said that?

Real smooth! Way to go. Way to impress B. Sure can dress me up but can't keep the trash out.

"You're right about that. Get in them. Oh yeah. Get them off too..." Faith swore Buffy was purring as she spoke. Before Faith had a chance to react, Buffy got all serious on her again. "You can do whatever you set your mind to. You've already proven that. You turned your whole life around Faith, not many people can do that."

"I had help. Angel helped me. I could never have done it without him." Faith saw guilt flash across Buffy's face, in a weird way she kind of almost felt an echo of it in herself.

"B... I didn't mean to... Ah fuck!"

"It's okay Faith. He was the one that helped you. We both know that, we talked about this. I'm glad he was there for you. Glad someone was there for you. When I couldn't, wouldn't be there for you. In the long run though it was you who did this for yourself. You who had to want to change. You could have had a hundred people helping you, but if you didn't want to change it wouldn't have mattered. Give yourself some, no, a lot of credit. It was all you in the end."

What do you say to something like that? Say to someone that has that much belief in you. It kind of scared Faith in a way that Buffy believed in her so much, scared her because she was afraid to disappoint her. The more Faith thought about it ,the more she realized that Buffy was right, in the end it all came down to her making the choice to change. To take back control of her life, going to Angel had been the first step. The second had been asking for his help, so trying to kill him as a way to ask for it wasn't the best way she could have done it, there were better ways for sure. Faith finally realized that asking for help didn't make you weak, wasn't something to be embarrassed about, it meant simply that you just needed help, and there was no shame in that.

"Maybe tomorrow we can go find out about me getting a G.E.D., not promising about the college thing though. But I kinda always thought I would like to do something that helped deprived kids ya know. I suppose I would have to go to school for that. What do ya think B?"

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They sat at the table holding hands and talking for hours. At first Faith was uncomfortable with Buffy holding her hands, with having her scars exposed, so out in the open. Expecting, that despite her promise, Buffy would ask her about the scars, but Buffy surprised Faith, she didn't ask once or even hint around about them. It was like she accepted them as part of Faith, much in the same way that Faith had accepted them herself.

It wasn't like Buffy was ignoring them either. She was just waiting for Faith to tell her about them. Faith realized after a while that for most of the night while Buffy had been holding her hands, she had been running her thumbs lightly across the scars. Tracing them as if to soothe away the hurt, the pain, as if she understood the how and the why they came to be.

On some level Faith knew that Buffy did understand, did know the how and why. Like Faith, Buffy had blood on her hands, only the blood on her hands was Faith's. And Faith knew that Buffy still hadn't forgiven herself, and didn't really believe that Faith had forgiven her either for what had happened on the roof that night that felt like centuries ago. But Buffy had to believe Faith forgave her and she had to forgive herself, otherwise the past would always haunt them, they would never really move past it. She had to figure out a way to get Buffy to really believe within her heart that she had forgiven her and then Buffy would finally be able to forgive herself.

"Hey," Faith pulled herself out of her contemplation. She smiled at Buffy. "Want to dance Faith?"

"Sure," Faith said before she realized it was a slow song. Slow dancing wasn't something she was really experienced with, but Buffy was already pulling her towards the dance floor. Faith tugged at her to stop, and Buffy turned giving her a quizzical look.

"B... I... well I don't really know how to slow dance."

"I do." Buffy pulled a semi-reluctant Faith out to the dance floor before she had a chance to protest further.

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Buffy pulled Faith close to her, sliding her arms around her waist under her jacket. She began to move them as Faith's arms came up and around her neck. Their bodies brushing intimately against each other, thighs brushing thighs, hips pressed to hips, breast to breast. Buffy could feel Faith's heartbeat against her chest.

Faith leaned her forehead against Buffy's, her breath caressing Buffy's face. She let Buffy move them slowly around the dance floor and not once did the thought occur to her that this would be the last time, like it had the only other time they had slow danced.

Faith ran her hand up the back of Buffy's neck to tangle in her hair. Buffy tighten her arms around Faith in response. Her other hand ran down to Buffy's shoulder lightly massaging the muscle there, sliding up to her collarbone with slight, almost non-existent touches, then back again.

Buffy's own hands were wandering in random patterns over Faith's back. Liking the way the silk felt under her hands, cool and smooth in contrast to the heat she could feel coming from Faith, awaking in her a similar heat. She ran one of her hands along Faith's side, her thumb grazing along the outside of Faith's breast and was rewarded with a low gasp from her.

Buffy's other hand moved lower down Faith's back pressing them closer. A low moan escaped Buffy as she felt Faith's lips graze her ear, down to right below it to kiss her softly, her tongue sneaking out for a quick taste. Buffy continued to move them around the dance floor her feet having a will of their own; dancing was the last thing on her mind.

Faith pulled back a little from her, her gaze traveling down to Buffy's mouth. Buffy's lips parted slightly in anticipation as Faith began to lower her head towards her. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest; she closed her eyes waiting, wanting that kiss. Wanting, needing that delectable mouth upon her, wanting, needing to taste the sweetness that was Faith.

Faith lowered her head towards Buffy her own heart beating an erratic cadence in her chest. She saw as Buffy's lips parted slightly in anticipation, as her eyes closed waiting for her kiss. Her hand slid once more up the back of Buffy's neck to tangle in her hair, she moved Buffy's head towards her to meet her halfway. Then she found Buffy's mouth with her own.

The rest of the world ceased to exist for the two Slayers. There was nothing but the feel of being in each other's arms. Nothing but the feel of their mouths upon the other's in that delicate, tender, sweet kiss. The sensation of tasting each other's breath, a feeling of breathing in each other's soul. The call of the other, as tongues touched, explored and tasted. The warm flow of passion that was running through both of their veins, the current of electricity that flowed between them. Knowing that for right now this was enough, this slow building fire, this anticipation of what would eventually come, this feeling of falling in love all over again. Of at last falling in love with the other they had both finally allowed the other to see. Each knowing that what they had felt before did not even come close to what was beginning to happen between them now.

Now that they had finally learned to see.

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...'Cause I can feel you breathe ~ It's washing over me ~ And suddenly I'm melting into you ~ There's nothing left to prove ~ Baby, all we need is just to be ~ Caught up in the touch ~ Slow and steady rush ~ Baby, isn't that the way that love's supposed to be ~ I can feel you breathe ~ Just breathe...

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"There is no way that all of us, and all of them are going to fit in the car!"

Faith, Buffy and Dawn were standing by one of the rides at the fair they decided would be a fun date for not only themselves, but something they could do with Dawn. The fifteen stuffed animals Faith had won surrounded them; there would have been more had Buffy not stopped Faith.

They had spent the night going on the rides, eating cotton candy, hamburgers, hot dogs and more cotton candy. Buffy had fun watching the Dark Slayer all night; it was inconceivable to her that Faith had never been to a fair before. Inconceivable that no one had ever taken Faith to one ever. All night long Buffy watched as Faith and Dawn giggled like little kids. How Faith seemed to find joy in the simplest of things. From the thrill she got from going on her first ever roller coaster, begging to go on it again and again. How she blushed when Buffy wanted to go on the Tunnel of Love ride, how she seemed almost shy when Buffy took her hand into hers and held it the whole ride. How Faith dragged Buffy and Dawn from ride to ride, food stand to food stand. The sound of her laughter, so young and carefree in the house of mirrors, to her later grumbling under her breath when she couldn't find her way out of the maze. The way she clutched Buffy's hand in a death grip when they went through the Haunted House.

Then Buffy had made the mistake of saying how cute the stuff animals were, and Faith had found herself a mission. She was determined to get every single different one for Buffy.

"Ah B, come on look how cute they are!"

"I didn't say they weren't cute. All I said was that we all can't possibly fit in the car."

Faith knew Buffy was right, what the heck was she going to do with them? She looked around and an idea came to her. She picked up the little black teddy bear. She walked over to a little boy who had been staring at all of the stuffed animals. Faith smiled at his mother, who in spite of herself smiled back at the Dark Slayer. Bending down low so that she was at eye level with the little boy, she held out the teddy bear to him.

"This is for you." The little boy looked up at his mother who nodded her head it was all right. He turned and gave Faith a toothless smile and took the teddy bear eagerly from her.

"Take good care of him, 'K."

"'K, thanks."

"You're welcome." Faith waved goodbye and walked back over towards the Summers.

She was rewarded with beautiful smiles from the Summers' sisters when she reached them. She snatched up a few more of the stuffed animals and looking around again headed off towards other little children to give them away. Buffy noticed that the children Faith gave them to were the ones who seemed to come from poor families. Whose parents didn't seem to have the means to waste twenty dollars trying to win a five-dollar stuffed animal for their kids.

Faith continued to amaze Buffy every day, this caring side of her, the way she noticed the little things, there was so much more to her than Buffy ever imagined. It awed her how much Faith gave back to a world that had never given her much of anything at all.

Faith returned for the last time and held out her hands for the white and black stuffed panthers that Buffy was holding.

"Not these. I want to keep them." Something about the way Buffy said it aroused Faith's curiosity.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you want to keep them B?"

"Because."

"That's not an answer B."

"Well that's the only answer you're gonna get F!"

"Really..." Faith started to advance on Buffy, and Buffy didn't like the evil gleam in her eyes. Buffy turned and started to run, she knew that evil gleam.

Dawn chased after the Slayers, thinking, 'Oh here we go again! Dawn knew what that evil gleam meant as well, it didn't matter which of them had it.

Faith caught Buffy on the field outside of the fair grounds and tackled her, twisting so that it was she who fell to the ground, Buffy on top of her. Faith quickly reversed their positions. Kneeling with a knee on either side of Buffy's waist, she looked down at the beautiful woman who was still holding the two panthers tightly to her chest.

"Last chance to tell B!" Buffy shook her head no at Faith. "Okay, don't say I didn't warn you."

Faith began tickling Buffy, who started yelling for her to stop, or she was going to pay in between fits of laughter. Buffy could get out of this, but she loved the almost childlike joy Faith got out of it. She seemed so young and carefree, and in return, it made Buffy feel the same way. In a way, it made them both feel like they were just two ordinary people.

Faith continued to tickle Buffy, until Dawn, who had finally caught up, tackled her. Now it was her turn to be tickled by the Summers' sisters, begging them to stop in between shrieks of laughter. Then Buffy and Faith ganged up on Dawn, then Dawn and Faith on Buffy, until they were all gasping for breath, their sides hurting from laughing so hard, and tears rolling down their faces.

Faith never did find out why Buffy wanted to keep the light and dark stuffed panthers.

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The next evening found Buffy pinned up against the padded wall in the training room. Faith was holding both of Buffy's wrists with one of her hands above her head. She leaned the upper part of her body into Buffy's, using her foot she placed it in between Buffy's, and applying a little pressure, widen the distance between Buffy's legs. Then she moved between them and brought her lower body into intimate contact with Buffy's.

Starting at her thigh she delicately raked her nails up the length of it, over Buffy's hips, up her torso, the side of her breast. Faith then changed to using the pads of fingers to run up the sensitive underside of Buffy's arm, reaching her wrists, she switched hands and did the same in reverse down the other side of Buffy's body. The sound of Buffy panting low in her ear, sent a vibration of heat straight down to coil in the pit of Faith's stomach, then reach down and add more heat to Faith's already overheated center.

When she could reach no further, Faith slid her body down Buffy's just far enough to kiss along the top of Buffy's workout shirt. Tasting with her tongue the sweat that was there, both from their training session, and from desire, there was nothing else in this world like it.

Faith could feel the heat and the moisture from Buffy's core hot upon her stomach. She felt an answering moisture in her own core. She slid her free hand up the back of Buffy's thigh, and slowly slid her body back up Buffy's, trailing her tongue, raking her teeth along her skin on her way up to Buffy's neck. She placed little love bites there, sucking on her skin, leaving little tiny marks. Her hand came up to cup Buffy's ass and she pulled Buffy into her even more tightly. Buffy bucked up into Faith, this exquisite torment driving her crazy. Faith pressed back into her, moaning...

Her hand came round to slid over Buffy's stomach and teasingly dip below the waistband of Buffy's shorts, making a promise that neither Slayer was ready to fulfill just yet. Buffy's whole body felt like one hot current, there wasn't a part of her that wasn't tingling, oversensitive to the slightest touch from Faith. At this point, a kiss on the cheek caused both Slayers to get soaking wet. Neither could count the number of cold shower they took each day, but still they continued to torture each other. Living each day in a haze of desire, lust, passion, in the heat that was between them waiting to be fulfilled.

Faith's hand slid further up Buffy's torso, over the top of her shirt to play with a painfully erect nipple. She ran her fingers around it, raking her nails over it through the shirt. Then using the palm of her hand Faith raised Buffy's breast to her, dipping her head down to capture Buffy's nipple with her mouth through the shirt. Biting it, teasing it with hard flicks of her tongue, across its sensitive tip, causing Buffy to moan with each touch.

Buffy struggled to get her hands free, needing to touch the Dark Slayer. Wanting to feel that hot flesh beneath her hands.

"Faith..." She moaned, and Faith felt herself get even wetter from the husky sound of her name falling from Buffy's lips.

Faith relented and let go of Buffy's wrists, wanting to feel her touch. Every part of her body had become an erogenous zone over the last few days. Faith had never experienced anything like it before. Her other hand came down to torture Buffy's other nipple, until Buffy grabbed her forcefully by the arms. She brought Faith up to her, leaned in and captured Faith's mouth with her own.

Their kiss was wet, hot, wide open, each trying to devour the other. Their tongues dueling, running over each other's teeth, lips, sucking them into each other's mouth like candy. Faith moaned into Buffy's mouth, the vibration of it ran straight down into Buffy's core making her even more impossibly wet. She pressed her hips up even harder into Faith who pressed back down in return, starting a rhythm between them. Neither Slayer knew how they were still standing.

They had been torturing each other like this for days now. They still hadn't made love, they weren't quite sure why they were waiting. Both wanted to more than anything they ever wanted to do in their whole lives, but still they waited. Waited for something to tell them that the time was right, that the past had been completely forgiven, would not rise up to haunt them. Would not be used as a weapon to hurt each other. So they tortured each other with the kissing and the touching, with the promise of more, the promise of a release that was yet to come.

They made out on the couch at night after Dawn went to sleep like high school kids, a new experience for Faith and one that Buffy was more than happy to teach her. They had their hands on each other every second they were alone. They were driving each other crazy and enjoying every minute of it. They had found each of the other's hidden, non-obvious erogenous zones. They were learning each other's likes and dislikes; they were taking their time with each other.

Buffy had taught Faith over the last few days the difference between a sexual kiss and the 'I'm-happy-to-see-you' kiss, to the slow building passionate kiss, to the out and out 'I-want-you-now' kiss. The difference between I want to touch you 'just because' caress and the 'I want you' touch.

But they also spent hours talking, learning about each other. Surprising each other, having fun, giggling, laughing, even having a few quarrels over what to watch on TV. They spent time alone with each other, time with Dawn, time with Willow, Tara, Anya, and Giles as they all started to get to know each other. Discover who the real person was beneath the surface. Only Xander was still reluctant to give Faith a chance. She knew she needed to talk to him, but she was too caught up in the whirlwind that was Buffy right now to do it.

"I can't take much more of this. God..."

Faith pushed herself away from Buffy, after all this waiting she didn't want the first time they did make love to be on the floor of the training room. They stood staring at each other, their bodies pulsating with unfulfilled desire, a little bit unsteady, breathing erratically, but smiling.

Then Faith stepped in close to Buffy again and gathered her back into her arms, just holding her, loving the feel of her there. The way it just felt right. They held each other tightly waiting until their bodies calmed down enough so they could go face the rest of the world. That was how Willow and Tara found them.

"S-s-s-sorry."

"No problem."

The Slayers moved apart, but remained holding hands. They were comfortable showing their affection for each other in front of the witches and Dawn now, well not quite as affectionate in front of Dawn.

"Buffy, Dawn is out front she needs to talk to you."

"I'll meet you out front I just want to wash up. 'K, B?"

Buffy gave Faith a quick kiss and went into the shop to see what her sister wanted.

"So guys everything set for tomorrow morning?"

Faith had finally come up with an idea on how she might be able to get Buffy to forgive herself for stabbing her. She just hoped it didn't backfire on her. She had discussed it with Willow and Tara and they seemed to think that it was worth a shot. Faith then enlisted their help.

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They talked for about five minutes; the witches seemed to have everything under control. Faith started to walk towards the bathroom to wash up when a wave. No, not a wave, an echo of fear hit her, followed quickly by anger, only it wasn't hers, it was Buffy's. Without even giving a second thought to how she knew this or why she was feeling it, Faith ran for the front of the Magic Shop.

She skidded to a stop when she entered the store and she saw who Buffy was facing off against. Faith didn't know them personally but she knew who they worked for. Fear rushed through her like wild fire, panic was hot on its heels.

NO! NO! NO! Why can't they just leave me alone? WHY?

Buffy turned towards Faith the second she came into the room. This time Buffy got the echo of emotions, Faith's fear and panic reverberating in her. It was odd this echoing thing, but she didn't have time to dwell on it now. Buffy walked towards Faith, smiling at her reassuringly and Faith started moving to meet her halfway. The Chosen Two stood side by side facing down the three members of the Watchers Council.

"Tell the others to get their asses in here and to stand where I can see them Quentin." Buffy demanded.

Quentin Travers nodded to one of the other men with him who looked more like hired muscle than a Watcher. The man left the shop and returned quickly with four other well-muscled Watchers. Although Quentin hadn't said why he was here yet, there wasn't a person in the shop that didn't know the reason. They were here for Faith and they were going to be in for a big surprise.

They had been searching for her since she had gotten out of jail, but Angel had kept her well hidden. Had kept the fact that a Slayer was working for him in L.A. when she had been well enough to do so very quiet. Kate had set up a fake paper trail for him that led to the East Coast, which was where they had been looking.

It was only by sheer luck they had found out that Faith was here. They still had a spy working for them at the hospital, and she had called them only yesterday to let them know that Faith was here in Sunnydale. They had arrived on the first flight in, and had come here to speak with Giles and Buffy about helping them capture her. The Council was still under the mistaken belief that the two Slayers were enemies. They didn't want a Rogue Slayer on the loose.

"Since I doubt you are all here for tea and bisques, mind telling me what the hell you are doing here? We had a deal. Remember Quentin?"

Buffy folded her arms across her chest. She had gotten control of her initial anger; there was a cold calm detachment to her tone. She was trying to, in the same way that they shared their aura with each other while they practiced Tai Chi together, share her calmness with Faith now. Buffy visualized it surrounding them both, and again felt that odd little echo of Faith's emotions come back to her, and this time knew that Faith felt it too from her. Knew because, Faith had whispered low only for her ears, "Thanks B. Okay now."

"I think you already know the reason we are here."

"Why don't you tell me, tell us, so that we're all clear on it. I would hate for us to be on different pages, you know what I mean? Especially since we were all just beginning to play so nicely together again."

"Perhaps, you, Giles and I, should talk about this privately."

"Not happening."

"But I think..."

"Well I don't. It's not gonna happen. So speak."

"We've come for Faith to take her back to England."

"You mean like you did the last time?"

"Well, no. We want to reeducate her. She needs to atone for what she did." Quentin was clearly uncomfortable now. He had been expecting assistance not resistance.

"She has already atoned for what she did. I guess even the mighty Council couldn't get to her when she was in jail. Lucky for her. As for your reeducation, I know firsthand what kind of reeducation you people believe in."

"Ms. Summers you have to understand, to know that she is unstable."

"I understand nothing and for the record Faith is not unstable."

"After all she did to you? Did to your family, your friends. She sided with the Mayor. She stole your body."

"Your point is?"

"You can't possibly expect that we would let her run free. She needs help. She needs to be trained properly. Only we can provide that for her."

"Faith has everything she needs right here. There is nothing that you can provide for her, nothing she even remotely needs from you! She isn't going anywhere with you. Not now! Not ever!"

"I am afraid that it isn't your choice Ms. Summers"

"No you're right it isn't B's choice. It's mine! And I'm not going anywhere with you people! I kinda like breathing."

"I am afraid that it isn't your choice either young lady." This was not the way he wanted to play this. One uncontrollable Slayer was enough, two were unacceptable. He was still chafing over his last meeting with the Chosen One not that long ago, still angry she had managed to get the upper hand on him.

"Think long and hard before you do something stupid Quentin. Especially since it hasn't been that long since we all kissed and made up. So that there is no misunderstanding between us. Faith is not going anywhere with you people. She is part of my family and no one. NO ONE touches my family. You'll have to go through me to get to her. So if you think you can beat me give it your best shot."

"And me," Dawn moved over to stand beside her sister and Faith.

"As well as me," Giles joined the Slayers.

"And us," holding hands the witches also joined the Slayers.

"Us too," Xander came and stood next to Faith. He smiled at her, he was still angry but this was his family come hell or high water and he was one-hundred-percent behind Buffy when it came to family. No one touched his family. Anya stood next to him.

"Don't forget me Luv," Spike came out of the back where he had been hiding and watching, to join the gang in their unified front.

Faith's eyes widen in amazement and gratitude as they all surrounded her. Once again, the Dark Slayer was humbled and awed, but not just by Buffy, but by all of them. These people who she had caused so much pain, had hurt, had threatened to kill were standing up for her. Thought that she was worth fighting for, thought she had something to offer. Any doubts that Faith had about her own self-worth, what she had to offer to others, about not being good enough were destroyed in that moment.

Quentin knew when he was beaten, at least for now. He would let them think this was over, but for him it was far from over. He looked at Giles.

"She is your responsibility."

"One which I am honored to accept."

"We will be monitoring you and your new charge." Quentin nodded to them and turned to leave. Just before he walked out the door, Buffy stopped him.

"Quentin," Buffy waited for him to turn back around before continuing. "One or two minor things. Since Giles now has two Slayers to watch, I believe his salary should double. Faith will be put back on the payroll. It also seems she might be going to college next fall, I'm thinkin' the Watchers Council should pay for that as well." Buffy waited for Quentin's nod of agreement, which he finally gave.

Quentin started turning once more to leave only to be stopped by Buffy again.

"Oh and one more thing. Do your watching from across the ocean. And so I am very clear. If anything should happen to Faith. Anything out of the ordinary, an accident perhaps? Anything that I even think smells of the Council well I... I just might have to tell Glory that this key she is looking for... well that the Council has had it all along. That if she wants to know where it is she should talk to you personally... She would believe me, funny thing she seems to know about our previous history... And if by chance something should happen to Faith after we take care of Glory. Something that I think smells like the Council... It won't be vampires I hunt anymore..."

Quentin left the Magic Shop with the sound of Buffy's threat ringing in his ears. He had just seen for himself firsthand the dark side of who everyone called the Light Slayer and it scared him. No one in the shop really believed that it was completely over. For now though, they had a cease-fire. At least until the threat of Glory was gone.

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"I... I don't know what to say..."

Faith had to stop herself. She was in awe of them, and even though she didn't want to she started to cry. She was used to having to fight for herself. She didn't doubt that Buffy and Dawn would stand beside her but she never expected the rest of them too. She knew the L.A. group would have if they had been here, but the Scoobs, and even Spike. It overwhelmed her. She wiped the tears away with the back of her hands and tried again.

"I... thank you all... For standing up for me... I can't believe... after all... I just never..."

Willow took pity on the Dark Slayer, not in the sense that she felt sorry for her, but in the sense of how hard she was struggling to find the right words to express her feelings.

"No biggie. I mean you're part of our happy little family now. This is what family does for each other. You know stand up for each other. Save each other from vamps and evil things. Annoy each other. Get on each other's nerves. Lend money. Do favors. General nice things. You know family things. Of course now that means you're stuck with us. Which is a good thing and a bad thing. But not a bad thing in a bad way but in a good sort of way. You know like..."

"I get it Red. Thanks. Thanks all of you." Faith smiled at them. They thought of her as family, she was a little shell shocked by it. There was still one member of the family though that she had to make things right with.

"X-man we gotta talk." Faith walked over to Xander, grabbed him by the arm and dragged him towards the door to the training room not giving him a choice.

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"Thank you for what you did. I know things still aren't right between us. I can understand that. I can appreciate that now. What I did was wrong. I'm not even sure if I can explain to you why I did it. Even if I could it still wouldn't make it right."

"Why don't you try to explain it to me Faith? I think I deserve to know why." There was less anger in Xander's voice, but the hurt was still there. Somehow Faith knew it had more to do with the way she had used him as opposed to her trying to strangle him.

"I used you and treated you like trash. I treated you how I was treated my whole life. I didn't know any better, was afraid to know any better. But you kept coming back. You tried to make me see myself in another way and I was afraid of that. Afraid of what you were offering and I knew that you would keep on trying. I didn't believe I was worth it. I was afraid if I even tried, that in the end I would end up destroying you. So I did the only thing I could think of to finally get you to see me the way I saw myself. I can never tell you how sorry I am for that. You were the only one who really tried wholeheartedly... Not even B did that. I'm sorry I hurt you Xander, I really am."

Faith held Xander's eyes with her own, hoping that he would see the truth in them. See all that she was trying to tell him.

"Apology accepted Faith."

Xander looked at her. He was starting to see her for the first time. He had thought he had known her two years ago, but he really hadn't. He understood what she had been trying to tell him without actually saying it out loud. He wondered how she had managed to make it this far, survived this long all alone. The hurt he was feeling, the betrayal began to ebb, the anger was gone. He had changed, hell he was dating a twelve-hundred-year-old ex-vengeance-demon. Anya had caused more damage, more hurt to others than Faith could hope to in three life times, and he had forgiven her. Hadn't he?

Faith smiled tentatively at Xander and for the first time he smiled back at her. The hurt was still there but he wasn't angry anymore.

For once when Faith exited a room with one of the Sunnydale crew after a heart to heart, the rest of them weren't hovering around waiting for some kind of disaster or brawl. They had all finally given her their trust, finally no longer thought of her as a threat. She was family after all and family didn't hurt family. At least not their family.

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The Chosen Two woke up on the couch the next morning a little over an hour before dawn. Buffy had insisted that Faith spend the night at her house after what happened with the Council. Faith had not protested, she didn't want to be alone anyway. In any case, she didn't need an excuse to spend the night with Buffy, just wanting to be with each other was enough excuse for both of them.

"Come on sleepy head we need to get dressed before Red and Blondie get here."

Faith jumped up off the couch before Buffy had a chance to distract her. Which wasn't hard at all these days. Buffy mumbled some kind of protest, but Faith knew better than to get within arm's reach of the golden-haired Slayer.

"Not gonna work B."

They had barely finished dressing when a quiet knock came from the front door. Faith opened the door and found two very sleepy witches standing there.

"Big time. Owe us so big time Faith." Tara mumbled at her as they walked in and headed straight for the couch.

They were asleep before the door closed behind the Chosen Two.

"So you never did tell me where you were taking me Faith." Buffy said as they walked hand in hand through Sunnydale.

"Um... Not gonna B." Try as hard as she could Faith couldn't keep the nervousness out of her voice, they were getting close to their destination, and she wasn't sure how Buffy was going to react.

Great plan. What if it backfires? Maybe I should have thought about this more. Gotta do this. We gotta get past this. Have to. Otherwise...

Faith stopped her musing when her arm was almost torn out of its socket. Buffy had stopped walking and had tightened her grip on Faith's hand, while Faith had continued walking.

"Faith?" There was a tremor in Buffy's voice. Faith didn't have to ask, she knew Buffy realized where she was taking her.

Faith turned around and faced Buffy, closing the distance between them. She grabbed both of Buffy's hands into hers and looked deeply into her eyes.

"You know I would never do anything to hurt you. Hurt us. Don't you B?"

"Yes," Buffy answered her without the slightest hesitation, and Faith knew she was speaking the truth.

"Then can you just trust me? Trust me 'cause we need to do this. Need to, to make it finally all right."

Buffy nodded her head, again without the slightest hesitation. They started walking once more in silence to where the last of their bad memories lay, to where Faith hoped that by the time the sun rose in the morning sky they would finally be laid to rest.

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They walked into Faith's old apartment, the one the Mayor had given her. The apartment where one Slayer had wanted her life to end and the other had been there to end it.

Buffy stood just inside of the entrance. The memory of that day still fresh, like the guilt, the regret, the loss and the remorse. She saw the ghost of Faith reclining on the bed, reading a comic book, saw her own ghost shut off the stereo. As the ghost of Faith rolled off the bed and faced her, locking eyes. As Buffy's own voice reached out to her from the past:

"Thought I'd stop by."

"Is he dead yet?" Ghost Faith smiled at her, while Buffy's, Faith came up behind her and wrapped her arms around her.

She was listening too, could see this day as clearly as Buffy, could hear their voices from the past whispering to her too. They were once again sharing the odd echoing of emotions from each other. Faith knew now that coming here was the right thing to do, knew Buffy hadn't forgiven herself. Knew that Buffy didn't truly believe that Faith had forgiven her either.

"He's not gonna die. Good try, though. 'A' for effort. Your plan?" Ghost Buffy's voice was hard, cold.

"Uh-huh. Mayor got me the poison. Said it was wicked painful." There was almost a gleeful sound to ghost Faith's voice.

"There's a cure."

"Damn. What is it?"

"Your blood." A flicker of surprise went across ghost Faith's face as she took in what ghost Buffy told her. Then a flicker of understanding was there. "As justice goes, it's not un-poetic. Don't you think?"

"You come here to get me? Gonna feed me to Angel?" There was almost the sound of relief in ghost Faith's voice. A knowing that it was finally going to be over. Ghost Buffy nodded at her. "You know you're not gonna take me alive."

"That's not a problem." Ghost Buffy said.

The Chosen Two watched and listened as the ghosts of themselves finish playing out the past. As they began to fight, exchanging blows, hurting, punishing each other. They followed their ghosts out onto the roof terrace. Then over to the edge of the roof by the ledge where the last of the nightmare played out.

Ghost Faith moved ghost Buffy closer to the edge of the roof, she clearly had the upper hand. With sincerity she said;

"Man, I'm gonna miss this..."

Ghost Buffy wrenched her arm free with the knife and buried it into ghost Faith's stomach. She watched the shock spread across that beautiful face, a tiny stream of blood coming from her mouth, and she pulled the blade free and watched as ghost Faith clutched at her stomach as she started to sag, then threw an uppercut sending ghost Buffy halfway across the roof to land on her back.

"You did it..." There was both confusion and pride in her voice as she looked at ghost Buffy. "You killed me." The ghost of Faith looked over the side of the ledge. "Still won't help your boy, though." She smiled at ghost Buffy there was a numbness to it, a dead look in her eyes. "You shoulda been there, Buff. Quite a ride."

The ghost of Faith leaned back and in a slow, graceful, perverse way fell over the side. The ghost of Buffy ran over and heard a skull crushing impact, as she looked over the edge of the building she saw the twisted, bleeding, unnaturally still body of ghost Faith laying on the bed of a moving truck.

"No..." She said in an empty small voice.

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The Chosen Two stood holding each other as the memories faded. Faith could feel Buffy trembling in her arms. Heard her as she kept saying 'I'm sorry,' over and over under her breath. Buffy pulled free of Faith and fell down to her knees, sobbing. Faith walked around her and knelt in front of her, she gathered Buffy's hands into hers, as her own tears fell to join that of the golden-haired Slayer.

"Buffy." Faith whispered softly, and Buffy looked up at her in surprise. Faith smiled at her softly seeing the surprise mixed in with all of the other emotions that Faith was all too familiar with herself. "Yeah B, I know your whole name."

And despite everything that she was feeling Buffy couldn't help but let out a soft laugh at that inane statement.

"I'm sorry Faith." It sounded so inadequate to Buffy. There would never be a way to express fully the guilt, the remorse she felt.

"I know that B. I'm sorry too. But you have to forgive yourself. You have to let yourself move past this. So we can move past this. You have to believe that I've forgiven you."

Buffy looked down at her hands that were clasped in the Dark Slayer's, and when she raised her eyes back up to Faith, Faith knew exactly what Buffy had seen when she was looking at her own hands. Faith saw it on her own hands every day.

"I don't know if I can Faith. There's blood. I see blood on my hands... your blood. I feel dirty inside. Like something sick has moved in there and it's eating me alive. Haunting me. I hurt you, I tried to kill you. How can you ever forgive that? How can I?"

"I'm not going to lie to you. You did hurt me. You tried to kill me. And I have forgiven you. And you can forgive yourself. I know you can, because I've learned to forgive myself. I can help you if you'll let me. It's not going to be easy. You may forgive yourself, but you will never forget. It will be something you'll carry with you forever. But if you don't forgive yourself the guilt in the end will destroy you, destroy us, destroy any chance for us. You'll carry the blood on your hands just like I do. The sickness you feel inside is the guilt and you're right it will keep on eating you alive if you let it. I know. I know what it can do to you. It's how I got the scars on my hands. If you'll let me I'll tell you about them."

Faith drew Buffy up to her feet. Holding her hand, she walked them over to the other side of the roof terrace, where a blanket was spread out on the ground, a small basket sitting upon it. Faith silently thanked the witches for doing this for her. She sat down on the blanket and opened her arms to Buffy. She waited, holding her breath, waited for Buffy to decide. Her breath came out in a whoosh of relief when Buffy move down onto the blanket and crawled into the waiting arms of the Dark Slayer.

"When I was in jail there was this woman Ridge..." Faith began softly.

Faith told Buffy the tale of how she began to forgive and heal herself. There were things she left out, things Buffy knew that went further back from before any one of them knew Faith. As Faith told her story of how she learned to forgive herself and to heal, Faith gave to Buffy the courage to begin to heal and forgive herself.

As the Chosen Two sat upon the rooftop dispelling the bad memories, creating a new one of trust, the sun rose into the sky, bringing with it the promise of hope for the new day. This time it also gave a gift to the Chosen Two as it crushed that last of the walls that separated them.

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...Caught up in the touch ~ Slow and steady rush ~ Baby, isn't that the way that love's suppose to be ~ I can feel you breathe ~ Just breathe ~ I can feel the magic floating in the air ~ Being with you gets me that way

~ Faith Hill

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