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Note: the song is Phil Collins - You'll Be In My Heart

Part 7

A couple of days later Giles boarded a plane to Sunnydale by himself. Tara had decided she wasn't ready to face Willow or the consequences of her decisions yet. She thought it was better for her to stay in England with Ariel, Simone and Faith. Things had gone back to normal between the blonde and the slayer, and all the tension from the past weeks were replaced by a nice and peaceful environment. Faith had decided not to tell Tara about her feelings, but she decided to stop running from them as well, she just had to learn to cope with the situation. She liked Tara, but she didn't believe she stood a chance with the blonde, so she decided to settle for friendship.

"Hey, I'm home" Tara greeted entering through the front door

"Hi…you late" Faith responded from the couch where she was lacing her boots

"yeah, sorry" the blonde put her material at the study room and returned to living room "I got stuck in a meeting" the nanny got in the room with a crying child in her arms

"Hey sweetie" she moved to take the baby "what's wrong?"

"Somebody is cranky today" Faith said standing up

"I think she must be coming down with something" Simone offered watching Tara trying to calm her fussy baby

"Mama" Ariel whimpered

"shh…shh, it's okay" Tara rocked her softly "mama is here" the witch nestled the baby on her chest and snuggled her head against the front of her neck, she then draped her chin over the little blonde's head and started humming a low-pitched melody while walking towards the bedroom

"Are you going patrolling?" the nanny asked seeing the slayer dressing her coat

"Yeah…why, need a piece of demon nail or something?" she teased

"No" she rolled her eyes "it's just that I have an important meeting at the coven today" she explained "I can't miss it…but I wouldn't like to leave Tara alone"

"Oh, don't worry…I'll be home early" she promised

"Nice…I'll go get dressed then" Faith walked to the bedroom where she heard Tara singing sweetly and swaying Ariel from side to side

"Come stop your crying

It'll be alright

Just take my hand

Hold it tight

I will protect you

From all around you

I will be here

Don't you cry…"

The slayer seemed enchanted by the melodic rhythm of the blonde's soft voice. Tara sensed the brunette's presence and turned to look at her

"She's almost asleep" she whispered and Faith nodded in acknowledgment

"I'm going patrolling" she informed in a low voice "but I won't take long…call my cell if you need anything"

"Okay…be careful"

The night seemed calmer than the slayer had anticipated which she was very thankful for once she was planning to go home early.

She was about to call it a night when she saw this ugly demon with gooey skin and weird marbled eyes charging at her; the demon took a swing and she leaned back to avoid it. She blocked a punch and punched him in the stomach; she then kicked his chest forcing him to take a few steps backwards. She attacked him but he grabbed her and threw her against a tree. The demon went to punch her but she rolled over and he punched the tree instead. She spun around and hit him again. They traded some kicks and he swung and hit her with a roundhouse kick sending her to the floor. The demon raised his hand and a blade shot out from the inside of his wrist, he slammed his hand and impaled the knife into her lower back

"Ahhhh" she screamed in agony. The demon prepared to strike again but she managed to block it. She grabbed his arm, twisted it and stabbed him across the chest with his own weapon. The demon fell dead and the slayer stumbled against the tree grunting in pain, she put her hand at her lower left side and pulled back to see it covered in blood. Breathing shallowly and feeling lightheaded, she used the tree for support and stood up, she needed to get home.

At the house, Tara had put Ariel down on her crib. The baby had finally fallen into a deep sleep after a couple of songs and a few massages her mama had given her in order to calm her down. The blonde witch had just turned out the lights and gotten into bed when she heard a noise coming from the bathroom. She knew it could only be Faith so she decided to see if everything was alright. The bathroom door was closed but the light was on

"Faith, are you okay?" she knocked lightly

"Yeah…I'm fine" she winced and clenched her teeth

"Are you sure?" Tara insisted, she could feel something wasn't right "Faith…I'm coming in" the brunette didn't have the strength to argue, so Tara opened the door and gasped at the sight of a panting and sweaty Faith leaning against the sink with her shirt soaked with blood "oh, my God…what happened?" she rushed to her side, wrapped one arm around the brunette's waist, passed one of the slayer's arms around her neck for support and helped her to her room

"Got stabbed by a demon" she explained and groaned in pain "I need stitches, but I can't reach the damn cut" she continued breathing shallowly and unevenly. Tara laid the slayer down on her stomach, lifted her shirt to exam the damage and gasped again

"Goddess, it looks bad…you need a doctor" she looked anxiously at the wound and then at the brunette's face seeing that she had passed out. The blonde witch rushed to the living room, grabbed her agenda and the cordless phone and started dialing frantically. Two hours later a doctor from the council was standing next to Faith tending to her wound with Tara standing beside him.

"All right, I think I got her stabilized" he said removing his surgical gloves "I gave her a shot to avoid infection and as she's a slayer it must work a lot faster" Tara nodded and looked at the bandage wrapped around the slayer's back "somebody needs to keep an eye on her tonight though" he informed "do you want me to send a nurse here to do it?"

"No…I'll do it" she assured him "she'll be fine, isn't she?"

"I believe so" he answered packing away his stethoscope and the rest of his stuff "but you must watch her tonight" Tara nodded and pulled a blanket up over the slayer's back.

After the doctor had left, Tara moved Ariel's crib to the slayer's room, this way she could keep an eye on both of them tonight.

The slayer's condition didn't improve a bit throughout the night; on the contrary it only got worse. Faith developed a fever which the doctor explained as her body fighting the infection.

Tara was sitting on the bed next to the sleeping slayer, she reached over and started stroking the brunette's damp hair, something about the rogue slayer didn't add up to all the stories she'd heard from the gang. She had experienced up-close and personally how mean the brunette could be, but this Faith lying here so vulnerable tonight, this wasn't the same Faith from their stories.

Since she started hearing about the rogue slayer, she'd never considered why she would act the way she did, she never questioned her motivations she only knew Willow hated her and absorbed that as a universal truth. That's why she got a little uncertain when Giles told her about her moving in with them, she didn't trust the brunette.

But now, six months later, she had learned that Faith was capable of so much more, but in a good way more. She could be gentle and thoughtful, considerable, loyal and even sweet; there was an adorable person hiding under the tough-bitch mask she wore.

The blonde took a piece of cloth and pressed gently against Faith's forehead, the brunette was in a restless sleep, her breathing was unevenly and she was dripping with sweat and shivering with cold. Tara was scared; she alternated her looks between her peaceful child and the agitated slayer, the doctor said there was nothing she could do but waiting for the slayer healing to start working.

She looked anxiously at the slayer's pained face and felt her heart tightening in her chest; she needed to help her somehow. Suddenly, just like magic something clicked inside her; she was a witch and there was for sure something she could do to help her friend.

She stood up, checked her baby and got back to bed. It was almost dawn when she sat against the headboard of the bed, stroked the slayer's hair and slid her hand down her bare back.

She pressed her palm firmly against Faith's body, took a deep breath, closed her eyes and started chanting something under her breath. Suddenly her hand started glowing and she could feel the heat emanating from the white light shooting out of her palm straight into the slayer's body.

Ten minutes after the infusion of Tara's energy, Faith's breathing rhythm had evened out and the fever broke down, she now looked as peaceful as Ariel. Tara breathed a sigh of relieve; she stood up, got a new blanket and covered up the now resting slayer. The witch smiled pleased, moved to the armchair and closed her eyes for the first time that night.

Simone came to work early in the morning and found the witch asleep in the armchair in Faith's room with Ariel sleeping beside her and the slayer on the bed. She tiptoed inside and noticed some bloody clothes and a damp blanket on the floor

"What in god's name happened here?" she asked aloud making the blonde stir. Tara opened her eyes and saw the scared nanny checking her surrounds

"Hey" she rubbed her sleepy eyes "busy night"

"Are you okay?" she asked concernedly and checked on Ariel

"Yeah, I'm fine" she stood up rolling her neck and shoulders. She moved to the bed, bent over and used her hand to feel the slayer's forehead. She pulled the blanket over her gently and moved away quietly in order not to disturb the brunette "but I need some coffee"

"What happened?" Tara was about to explain when she saw Ariel standing up in her crib

"Hey…morning baby girl" the witch whispered and lifted the baby "come on Simone…brew me some coffee and I'll fill you in"