Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

And so, they continued to research. The Angel, Spike, and Riley kept quiet for fear of losing their cool and attacking each other, and therefore facing Willow's wrath, again. Willow, however, was completely focused on her research, as was Tara, sitting close beside her. Baby Lily was sitting across both her mother's laps, contentedly sucking on a teething ring. Anya had fallen asleep, her head resting on Xander's shoulder. Sophie and Illyria shared a book, staring uselessly at its pages since neither one of them could read properly. A few hours passed. Sophie looked up suddenly, a small gasp escaping from her throat.

"I gots to go the bathroom!" she cried, standing and running towards the stairs.

"Okay sweetie, but try to be quiet" said Tara. "And don't bother your Auntie Faith."

"I won't" Sophie replied, and she wasn't lying. She wasn't going to bother her Auntie Faith, she was going to help her.

The little girl climbed the stairs and quietly crept into Buffy and Faith's room. Faith's slayer senses would normally have registered Sophie approaching the minute she had reached the top of the stairs, but she was so wrapped up in talking to Buffy (she'd heard that talking to people in comas could help bring them out of it), that she did not notice the little girl's presence until Echo yipped happily at the foot of the bed.

"Oh, hey Little Red. Did your moms send ya up here to check on me or somethin'?"

"Not ezackly" said Sophie. "I comed to tells you that you need to go to sleep."

"I can't go to sleep, Little Red" Faith frowned. "What if Auntie Buffy wakes up?"

"Auntie Buffy wants you to go to sleep" said Sophie.

"How do you know that?" asked Faith, confused.

"Don't know, I just do" Sophie shrugged. "Anyways, you've got to go to sleep, 'cause Auntie Buffy can talk to you if you're asleep. Faith looked puzzled for a moment, but then her eyes widened in realisation.

"You mean in a slayer dream?"

"Uh-huh" Sophie nodded.

"Well, it was really nice of ya to come and tell me that, Little Red" Faith sighed, eyes drifting back to the pale, motionless Buffy. "But I don't think I could sleep right now even if I wanted to."

"I can help you" said Sophie. She climbed onto the end of the bed, sitting cross-legged beside Echo. "Close your eyes, and try to relax."

"I don't think that's the type of thing that's gonna work in this situation, Little Red" Faith frowned.

"It will, just close your eyes" Sophie repeated. Faith sighed, then obeyed. A few seconds later, the Dark Slayer cracked open an eyelid, seeing Sophie with her own eyes closed, obviously concentrating very hard on something. "Auntie Faith!" the little girl snapped. "This isn't gonna work unless you keeps both your eyes closed!"

"Okay, okay they're closed! But what are you.. whoa, I actually feel really drowsy all of a sudden.." The last thing Faith thought before she'd drifted off completely was that there was really something valid in Illyria's theory that Sophie was more powerful than any of them realised.

Faith's eyelids fluttered open, and the first thing she saw was the golden hair of a familiar slayer who was snuggled against her chest.

"It's about time you got here" Buffy looked up at her, smiling, and giving her a quick kiss. "Actually, I'm kinda surprised that Sophie managed to get you to go to sleep so quickly. You'll have to thank her for me when you go back."

"Yeah.. yeah I will" said Faith. She had gotten so used to looking at the pale, sickly, Buffy that it had taken a few seconds to recognise the seemingly healthy one with her now. "Uh, where are we B?"

"We're on a picnic" said Buffy, gesturing to the rug they were sitting on, the basket that lay nearby, and the park surrounding them. "We've never been on a picnic before, and if this ends up being our last time together then.."

"Don't say that!" Faith cried, backing away.

"Faith.."

"No! You promised me, B, remember? Back when we first started dating, you said you couldn't promise you wouldn't die, but you promised you'd do your best to live. You promised me, but it doesn't look like you're tryin' Buffy!"

"I am, believe me" said Buffy sadly. "I'd wake up and be with you in a second if I could. But I think we have to face the fact that.."

"You can't die, B!" Faith cried. "You're not supposed to die! We're supposed to have a kid, I saw her! We're supposed to have a kid Buffy!"

"I know" said Buffy, tears filling her own eyes. She hugged Faith tightly, trying to calm her down. "I know."