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

The others, Willow with the Vervain plant clutched triumphantly in her hand, returned at exactly that moment, finding Anya staring down a slightly shocked Riley, and Angel looking like he wanted to beat the soldier to a bloody pulp.

"Well.." said Tara, plucking a sprig from the plant her wife was holding. "I'm uh, just gonna go make this tea for Buffy now. Willow, why don't you go get a pot or something to plant that in, it might come in handy again one day." Willow was currently staring at the scene the group had walked in on, wondering whether or not this was a situation in which she needed to follow through on her promise to seriously harm Riley. "Willow" Tara repeated firmly.

"Right, a pot" said Willow, shaking her head as she headed out the back to find the object in question. "I can do that.." As the two wicca's left, Xander made his way over to Anya.

"Ahn, honey, I think you should sit down.."

"But he.."

"I know" said Xander gently. "Riley's been kind of an ass to everyone since he's been here. But whatever he said is just words, and a few words aren't as important as the baby being safe, are they?"

"No" said Anya, slowly backing towards the couch, then sitting down. "No, they're not." Xander sat beside her, then looked up, startled and confused when Angel clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Welcome to the Dad's club, kid" he said. "All our past differences aside, I think your going to make a fine addition." For the first time, Xander feelt himself genuinely smiling at the vamp.

"Thanks, Angel."

A little later, as Tara was just about finished preparing the tea, Willow crept up behind her wife, wrapping her arms around her waist.

"The Vervain is safely planted" she grinned kissing Tara's cheek. "You were the hero today, you know. We couldn't have done any of this without you."

"Well, I couldn't have done it without Cordelia.."

"That's not true" came a familiar voice once again.

"Cordelia!" Tara snapped as she and Willow spun around, startled. "Seriously, how many times have we asked you not to do that? This is the second time today!"

"Sorry" said Cordelia, crossing her arms. "But I had to come. I may have been a stuck up bitch once upon a time, but nowadays I'm not one for taking credit where it's not mine to take."

"But Cordy.."

"You could have done it without me, Tara" Cordelia cut her off. "All I did was give you a little push to help you remember it faster." She began to disappear, but not without leaving one more nugget of wisdom. "You better get that tea up to Buffy soon, it works best when it's warm."

Tara made her way into Buffy and Faith's room with the tea, finding her de facto little sister still cradling her comatose girlfriend in her arms.

"Hey" she whispered, making her way over to them.

"Hey" Faith whispered back. Her gaze came to rest on the teacup in Tara's hands. "What's that?"

"If it works the way I hope, then it's the thing that's going to save Buffy's life."

"Really?" asked Faith, hope swelling in her chest.

"Really" Tara replied, nodding. "Could you hold her mouth open for me?"

"Sure" Faith obeyed, holding her girlfriend's mouth open as Tara let the tea slowly trickle down the fallen slayer's throat. "How long until we know if it worked or not?"

"Not sure" said Tara. "We'll just have to wait and see."

Faith did wait. Or at least, she tried to. But the whole ordeal had left her extremely exhausted, and the chance that her girlfriend might possibly be okay had made her relax just a little, and so, against the wishes of her heart and mind, her tired body drifted off to sleep. However, she was woken again not too long after when a pair of soft, oh-so-familliar lips pressed against hers. For a few seconds Faith kept her eyes squeezed tightly shut, hardly daring to believe that this was really happening, that it wasn't just another dream, but eventually let them flutter open to find Buffy smiling down at her.

"B!" she cried happily. "You're okay!"

"I'm okay" Buffy repeated, grinning, as though she was still trying to convince herself. She squealed as Faith leapt at her, kissing her fiercely. They spent what felt like an eternity this way, tackling and squealing, and laughing, and kissing, and more I love yous than either of them could count. But in amongst all the tackling, squealing, laughing, kissing, and I love yous, two more slightly unexpected words slipped out of Faith's mouth.

"Marry me."