Faith had been lying on the mattress up in the loft since Buffy carried her there. She drifted in and out of sleep, never able to keep her eyes open for very long. Her energy felt as if it were draining with every breath that she took and only when Buffy was near her did she feel stronger. All she wanted was to go home and with every minute that passed, she was starting to let that hopelessness take over. She couldn't even look at Jackie anymore. There were just too many emotions that hit her, blindsided her already wounded soul. Just being there, trapped in a world between worlds, a dimension that might as well be Hell itself, was pulling her apart inside and nothing Buffy did or said would pull her out of it.

In the short intermissions from her dreams, Buffy would come to her with water and with soup, trying to no avail to get her to drink and eat to keep up her strength. By the fifth time, Faith finally gave in, almost too weak to feed herself. She saw the same hopelessness she felt in Buffy's eyes and it made her look away in shame. Buffy just moved closer to her and placed the bowl of warm potato soup on the floor.

"Come on, Faith. You can't do this to yourself. I don't know if I can be strong enough for both of us," Buffy whispered as she laid down next to her and ran her fingers over her tearstained cheeks. "You haven't said a word to me in what feels like days. I hate this."

"Sorry," Faith muttered as she closed her eyes, not feeling strong enough to turn away from Buffy.

"I miss you," she said softly, her lips barely brushing up against Faith's as she spoke. "I miss the way you'd kiss me, the way your eyes would light up whenever you smiled. I miss your touch," she sighed as she trailed her fingertips down Faith's arm and slipped her hand into hers. "I miss the way you'd hold me and the way you'd whisper into my ear all those naughty things you wanted to do to me next."

Faith let a small smile slip out as Buffy took her hand and placed it on her hip, encouraging her to touch, to hold. "You miss the naughty things?"

"Yeah," Buffy smiled as she kissed her lightly before she opened her eyes to look at her. "Ever since we've been here, I've become so attached to you in ways I've never been attached to anyone before. Just one look now and I can see the depths of your soul and I can feel it reaching out for mine. It is yours, you know."

"What is?"

"My soul, my heart," she sighed as Faith pulled her closer, holding her. "I never thought I could give myself to someone else, much less you, but its different now. Everything is different."

"You trust me with your heart?"

"I really do."

"What changed, B? You never used to trust anyone so easy, 'specially me."

"Can we not talk about this?" Buffy asked, pouting when Faith only responded with a frown. "I honestly don't know what changed. I keep asking myself that and none of the answers are ever the same. I don't want to keep asking myself those questions anymore either. I just want to be with you. Is that too much to ask for?"

Faith shook her head no. "Not too much to ask for, B. Sometimes I just like to ask questions I know there ain't no answers to."

"Come on," Buffy said with a smile as she helped her sit back up. "You are losing your strength, Faith. You need to eat. It doesn't taste all that bad this time."

"Right. This?" Faith said as she took a deep breath. "I've felt worse than this before."

"Well nobody should—"

"Buffy? I...never mind."

"You were trying to tell me something you weren't comfortable telling me before, weren't you?"

"Yeah."

"And I ruined it, didn't I?"

"Not like that's been the first time," Faith said, letting out a weak laugh as she reached for the bowl on the floor. "I was sayin' I've gone a lot longer than this without a solid meal in my stomach. Feelin' this weak's not the worst I ever felt before. Ain't nothin' I can't deal with."

"When we get home, I'm gonna cook you a nice big dinner," Buffy smiled as she watched Faith take a tentative sip of her soup. "I'll spend all day in the kitchen if I have to."

"You can cook?"

"A little bit, yeah."

"And what'll be for dessert, B?" Faith asked, the first playful smile in what felt like weeks slipping out as Buffy shrugged and smiled shyly. "You?"

"There's the Faith I've been missing lately," Buffy chuckled softly as she took the now empty bowl away from her. "Feeling any better now?"

"Yeah, but you didn't answer my question," she smirked as she laid back down and took in a deep breath as she waited for Buffy to answer. "I get a little B for dessert? Y'know, a little whipped cream, chocolate syrup...dripped all over your body..."

"I think you are definitely feeling a lot better than you did a few minutes ago," she said, laughing uneasily as she moved to lie down next to her again. "We should get some sleep while we can."

"Think of how...erotic it'd be," Faith whispered into her ear as she trailed her fingers over Buffy's stomach, ignoring her as visions of whipped cream and chocolate syrup poured all over Buffy's body filled her mind. "I'd take my time licking it off, teasin' ya 'til you're about ready to pop and all I'd have done was lick it off of you, barely touching you like I am now. And you're right, B. I'm definitely feeling better now."

"You are feeling horny now," Buffy laughed as she stopped Faith's hand from roaming under her shirt. "I'm serious, Faith. We need to sleep while we can right now. Those shifts are becoming more frequent and you heard what Jackie said during the last one—"

"I don't give a flyin' fuck what she said, B."

"She's your mother."

"Blood-relation only. My mother was a deadbeat drunk who let child services take me away from her without even fighting for me. She didn't care, not for a second, when they came to the apartment and dragged me out of there."

"That wasn't your real mother, Faith."

"Yeah, but she was the only one there until she wasn't. God, what a fuckin' way to ruin the mood, huh?" Faith scoffed as she rolled away from Buffy slowly, still feeling a little weak, but not as bad as before. She sighed as Buffy slipped an arm around her and gently kissed the back of her neck.

"So…" Buffy whispered into Faith's ear as her fingers travelled over the other Slayer's stomach. "I want to hear more about me being dessert," the blonde continued, digits pausing at the hem of the shirt.

"I know what you're tryin' to do, B."

"Is it working?"

"No."

She fought off the smile even though Buffy couldn't see her face. She couldn't let her mood shift for very long with Buffy there so close to her. It only shifted dramatically when she was left alone and that in itself felt dangerous to her. She was becoming dependent on Buffy a little too much and rather than fight it she'd been letting it take her over completely. She'd never been dependent on anyone in her whole life, always telling herself she was strong enough to look out for herself above all others. Buffy had been right about one thing. Everything was different now.

She tried not to slip back into the state of mind she was in before. She tried just to focus on the feel of Buffy's soft breath against her neck and her warm hand gently caressing her stomach with every breath they took together. The memories, her thoughts, every emotion she'd ever felt was going through her all over again in the last few hours, days—however long it'd been. While she dreamt, she could almost feel the edges of their world and this one blurring together and someone reaching out for her, trying to get her to listen. All she ever heard was breathy whispers, never able to make out the words.

"Girls?" Jackie called out from the bottom of the stairs. "Something is happening."

Faith and Buffy both got up quickly and ran down the stairs. They found Jackie standing by the door staring outside. She stepped to the side so they could walk out and what they saw felt like a long lost memory. Above the sky was blue, the sun was shining and the heat was no longer borderline unbearable.

"What the...hell?" Faith asked as she stepped outside and took in a deep breath of the surprisingly fresh air. "This ain't normal, is it?"

"Never happened before," Jackie said slowly as she stared up at the sky. "I almost forgot what it looked like. The sky," she whispered as she pointed up. "Henry told me this could happen when someone tried to reach into this world from another."

"Willow?" Faith asked as she turned to Buffy. "You think it's her, B?"

"Maybe," she shrugged in reply as she stepped outside and inhaled deeply. "Whatever it is, it's changing everything."

"It's not like the sky in the place I took you," Jackie muttered under her breath as she stayed in the doorway almost as if she was afraid to step outside. "It's almost real. Too real. Have we gone home?"

"No, Jackie. We're still here," Buffy said softly as she went back and led her outside slowly.

It hurt Faith to see Jackie so out of it, so lost and confused. It reminded her too much of herself and she walked off alone, leaning against the side of the building out of the bright sun. Buffy came over to her and stood in front of her, trying to catch her eye to no avail.

"What's wrong?"

"It's bright," Faith said under her breath. "Blinding almost."

"Okay, you are starting to sound a little too much like her," Buffy chuckled as she stood next to her and leaned against the wall. "We're going home soon."

"How do you know that?"

"I can feel it. Can't you?"

"Feel what?"

"Like something is trying to reach in and pull us out," Buffy said as she let out a soft sigh. "And can I just say how happy I am that I can actually just...breathe now?"

"Funny how quick you adapt to whatever environment you're stuck in, ain't it?" Faith said bitterly as she pushed herself off the wall, peering around to look at Jackie as she stood there near the door and stared up at the sky looking deliriously happy. "I'm goin' back in."

"Faith..."

"Don't, B."

Buffy didn't listen, instead grabbing Faith and shoving her hard against the wall. "Can you drop the attitude, Faith? You know I hate being here as much as you do. I'm just trying to..."

"Trying to what?"

"Survive," she said firmly but softly. "Your mood swings are really a pain in the ass, too."

"Right," Faith chuckled dryly, unable to find enough strength in her to push Buffy away. "B, back off, will ya?"

"No."

"B, I'm really in no fuckin' mood to fuck around right now. What if all this is just...somethin' out there fucking with us?"

"That was a whole lot of fucks in one sentence," Buffy chuckled as she tried to keep things light between them and tried to keep Faith from shifting into one of her darker, depressive moods. Faith gave up then and sighed as she shook her head and slid her hands over Buffy's waist. "Do you really think if something out there is fucking with us that they would send fresh air and sunshine?"

"Probably not."

"And look on the bright side, literally," Buffy said as she leaned over to look at Jackie. "Your mother—Jackie is really happy about this. Don't you think we should be too?"

"She's a fucking loony bird, B. Anything that's fuckin' bright 'n shiny makes her happy."

Faith suddenly felt like she was punched in the gut as she realized how she was speaking about the woman who was her mother. Buffy didn't look very happy with her for saying that either and she half expected Buffy to slap her across the face for being so cruel. She was still having mixed feelings with how to approach the whole subject of her mother being Jackie. She couldn't look the woman in the eye; she couldn't think of a single word to say to her even though she had a million questions she wanted to ask. She knew that most of her questions would never be answered, not with the state of mind that Jackie was in.

"I'm so tired of this place, Buffy. It feels like its draining me and turning me into someone I don't wanna be."

"I know."

"No, you don't know," she groaned as she found a bit of strength to push Buffy away from her. "I'm starting to get what the whole ghosts of the past bullshit is about. It was this place and now that we're here, it's really fucking with us. Thought for sure maybe it was a onetime occurrence since it didn't fucking happen again."

"Fight it, fight them, and fight whatever is inside of you, Faith. You might be weak physically, but deep down inside you are strong. You want to know how I know that? Because I feel it. I've always felt it."

"Whatever. Not up for some heart-to-heart, soul-searching bullshit talk right now."

She saw the punch coming just a split second before she felt it. It woke something up inside of her, something she'd buried before. It was the passion that came along with being a Slayer and it burned through her, creating an endless bound of energy she thought she would never get back so soon. She retaliated, throwing a hard punch at Buffy, slightly surprised she ducked out of the way fast enough. She smirked as Buffy stood there, cockily raising an eyebrow at her as they stared each other down.

They began to circle each other slowly, moving out into the open where Jackie still stood staring up at the sky. Faith cracked her neck before she made the first move, a perfectly timed roundhouse kick that sent Buffy flying across the open space. Faith was right by her, pulling her up by the front of her shirt and trying to duck out the way as Buffy's fist connected with her jaw once again in a backhanded punch. The punches they continued to exchange along with the kicks were hard, but not hard enough to hurt them too badly.

"Come on, baby," Faith snickered as she spit out a mouthful of blood. "You hit like a girl, y'know that? Show me what ya really got."

"Oh, we're going all out, are we?"

"Bring it on."

Buffy sent her stumbling back with a side kick square to the chest, nearly knocking the wind out of her. She was on Faith in an instant, her punches and jabs too quick for her to block all of them. Faith finally got the upper hand and pinned Buffy up against the wall, grinning as they both struggled to catch their breath. Faith tilted her head to the side, searching Buffy's eyes, seeing if she wanted to keep this going. They needed this—they'd needed it weeks ago, actually, but in Faith's mind it was never too late to work out the tension of the non-sexual variety.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Jackie watching them, shaking in fear and confusion as she tried to figure out what was going on between them and why they were fighting. She took her full attention off of Buffy for that fraction of a second too long and doubled over in pain as Buffy raised her knee into her gut. She swept Buffy's feet from under her and they both toppled to the ground, laughing as Faith grabbed a hold of Buffy and kept her on top of her.

"Ya finished yet, B?"

"Just getting started," she breathed heavily as she reached up and wiped away the small trickle of blood from the corner of Faith's mouth. "Did I hurt you?"

"Nah," Faith smiled, feeling as if she had new life, new energy breathed into her over that short fight. "Shit."

"What?" Buffy asked before following Faith's gaze to a very shocked Jackie. "Oh."

"Why are you fighting?" Jackie asked, cautiously approaching them as they stood up.

"We were just fuckin' around," Faith said as she used her shirt to get rid of the rest of the blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. "Its okay, Jackie. This is normal shit between me and B."

"Normal? Fighting like that is normal?"

"Coulda been worse," Faith shrugged. "Actually, it has been worse. That was nothing."

"The way you two move…," Jackie said in awe as she stood there and stared at them. "I guess you weren't joking when you told me you were Slayers."

Faith shrugged again as she headed back inside, the bright sunlight beginning to give her a headache. That was her excuse, trying to convince herself that the blows to the head she'd received from Buffy weren't the cause of said headache. Her body was aching for more and she knew it would have been full out between them and then some if Jackie hadn't been there watching them. She grabbed the smaller jug of water off the floor and poured some in the glass that was sitting on the table. She listened as Buffy tried to explain to Jackie why they fought the way they did—that they weren't fighting because they were angry, they were fighting to get out the tension between them.

Faith couldn't stand to overhear that conversation, so she took the glass of water with her and headed up to the loft. It was a lot cooler inside now and she stripped out of her sweaty clothes and laid down on the mattress, watching the dust that shifted catch in the few beams of sunlight that shone through the boarded up window. She was laying on her side with her back turned when Buffy came up, so she could only hear as she stripped out of her own clothes and laid down behind her.

"Everything cool with Jackie?"

"Yeah, I think so. Still not too sure if she gets the whole Buffy and Faith history I tried to lay out for her in a nutshell down there."

"It's a pretty heavy history, B. Can't expect someone to just get it and understand it when ya try to explain it in a nutshell," Faith said softly as she turned so she was facing Buffy. "Shit, I can't help but wonder how fuckin' long we've been here for. Doesn't feel like too long, but ya heard what Jackie said before about how time isn't the same here."

"It isn't like time back home. Every dimension is different. God, I hope like a hundred years haven't passed. I don't think I could handle going back home to find everyone got old and died."

"I'm kinda hopin' we're not stuck here for what feels like a hundred years and by the time Willow gets us outta here we're all old and wrinkly with saggy tits and god knows what else and then find out it's only been a couple days."

"Nice visual, Faith," Buffy laughed as she poked her in the stomach lightly before sliding her arm around her and pulling her in close. "That's all I want, though, sometimes."

"Saggy tits?"

"Shut up," Buffy laughed harder as she slid her hand down to pinch Faith's ass to try to get her to stop laughing too. "No, I want to grow old. I want to live a full life. Always thought before when I died that I was finished, but things changed and it wasn't until we came here that I realized my life is so far from being finished. It's far from being over. It's just beginning."

Faith didn't know what to say to that and figured not saying anything at all was the best way to go. She didn't want her mood to shift drastically again and all she wanted was a moment with Buffy where everything else just slipped away and all she felt and saw was her. She wanted to let Buffy be the one to break the silence between them and she knew if she gave it a minute, she'd do just that and keep on talking. It never failed to amaze her just how easy it was for them to fall into any random conversation now. It felt like the most natural thing in the world just to lay there together, talking about almost anything and everything as if it was something that they'd always done together. It had gotten easy, almost effortless, and she knew it would get even easier over time.

"Outside, when we got into it," Buffy whispered as her hands traced random patterns over Faith's lower back, "I felt the power just turn on inside of us. It feels like I've gone too long without feeling that way."

"Sure have. Haven't had a chance to kick some ass since we've been here."

"Which got me to thinking," Buffy continued, causing Faith to pout just a little since she knew what was coming next. "We should really start using whatever time we do have to keep training. Just because we're stuck here doesn't mean we can slack. We can't afford to fall behind when we don't even know what could be waiting for us by the time we do get back home."

"Maybe all the baddies will take a fuckin' year off and decide the whole 'end of the world' bullshit is just not worth it anymore. Too much to ask for, ain't it?"

"A little too much to ask for, yeah," Buffy nodded then let out a soft sigh. "It would be nice, though, finally getting a break like that. Even a month. A month isn't too much to ask for, is it?"

"If we had a month, what'd you do with the time off?"

"I don't know. I've never given myself the luxury of thinking of that because I know it's never going to happen. What would you do?"

"Take Xander up on that offer to go camping. Nothin' beats sittin' around a fire, drinkin' beer and shootin' shit with friends in the middle of the woods somewhere."

"I nearly forgot about you two talking about that," Buffy said softly. "So much has happened since that night."

Buffy shivered slightly, the drastic change in temperature having started to affect both of them. Faith reached for the sheet and draped it over them, smiling at Buffy as she held her close and tried to keep her warm despite the chills running through her own body. She found it harder and harder to sleep without Buffy there with her and she smiled contentedly as she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. She'd never be able to go back to the way things had been once they got home. She knew she'd never be able to be apart from Buffy for too long.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been sleeping for, but when she emerged from a dreamless sleep it was to Buffy lightly running her fingers over her stomach and tracing over the scar near her bellybutton. The sheets were thrown off and she felt a little cold as she looked down at Buffy's hand. She wanted to stop her, tell her it was done and over with. How she knew Buffy was thinking of that night, she wasn't so sure other than that subtle little feeling she had. She decided not to bring up that part of their past, knowing there'd be plenty of time to talk about those things in the future. Now was not the time for that talk. She wasn't ready for that talk.

She listened for a minute and heard the soft snores coming from Jackie down in her room. The sun was still out and streaming through the gaps in the boards over the window. She looked over at Buffy, watching as the sunlight streaked over her face and body. It never failed to amaze her how beautiful Buffy was to her. She'd always thought Buffy was beautiful, but now she saw a different kind of beauty in her whenever she laid her eyes upon her. Nobody had ever filled her the way Buffy did, nobody had ever made her feel so much, and nobody had ever made love seem very possible instead of the impossibility it had always been before.

The words 'I love you' were whispered almost silently from her lips as Buffy turned to look at her, smiling as she leaned in for a kiss. If someone told her when she came back to Sunnydale that she'd end up with Buffy like this, that she'd be in love with her and that Buffy would feel the same, she would've laughed in their faces and called them crazy. Now she couldn't imagine it being any other way and she wondered how she'd gone through so much of her life without her, without knowing what it was like to be in love with someone like her and without knowing what it felt like to be loved right back.

"Always thinking," Buffy chuckled softly as she swept her hand up Faith's back slowly. "You're thinking about me, aren't you?"

"Mm-hmm."

"What are you thinking about?"

"How...amazing this feels," she whispered, smiling shyly as Buffy's eyes lit up in the way that made her heart melt. "Thinkin' and wondering how I went so long without knowing how this felt. Don't even fuckin' care how fast things went for us. All I know is," she smiled again as she laid a gentle kiss upon her lips and pulled back, "I wouldn't trade any of this for the world."

"You can be so sweet sometimes," Buffy smiled as she ran her hand up to Faith's neck and twirled a few strands of her hair around her fingers. "I feel so at home with you like this and sometimes I think that if we never get back home, I'd be okay because I have you here with me and you make everything okay."

"Just don't tell anyone 'bout how sweet I can be, got a rep to protect," Faith chuckled, wiggling her eyebrows when Buffy just glared at her. "This ain't gonna change once we get back home, is it?"

"No, it's not going to change, Faith. Just as long as you don't start pushing me away again."

"Gonna try not to, B. Can't quite promise ya anything, though."

"What's going to happen once we get home, with Jackie I mean?"

"Dunno, B. Figure it's gonna be pretty hard for her to adjust to the world as it is now considerin' she's been gone for so long now. Kinda worried someone's gonna see her and think she really is fuckin' crazy and wanna put her in a home or somethin'. Don't think I could handle that."

"We'll take care of her. All of us. Giles will make sure nobody takes her away from you, from us."

"Sometimes it's easier just to keep tellin' myself that my mother is dead and gone, but then I know now it ain't true. Kind of a fucking head-trip, y'know? Don't even know how to talk to her, B. Don't even know what to fuckin' say to her sometimes."

Buffy just nodded, smiling in understanding as Faith sighed heavily and looked up at the ceiling. They laid there together in silence for a while, both falling away into their own thoughts. Faith just tried to stay focused on the soft caresses of Buffy's hand over her stomach. As much as she ached for a little release after their fight outside, she just wasn't in the mood to do anything but lay there with her. She was just a fraction of her old self now, part of her world no longer revolving around fucking another whenever she had an itch to be scratched. Although it was tempting, she just wasn't feeling it.

Everything was different and everything was still changing. It was a never-ending cycle now and one that always affected her mood. It was more than just a struggle to keep herself in a state of mind that kept her happy, mellow, and relaxed. Being stuck where they were and having gone so long dealing with it as well as she had at first was tearing her apart. She needed to go back home, they both needed to. Those whispers she heard almost constantly now were starting to become clearer. It sent chills through her body when she picked up on bits that didn't make any sense. The darkness still lingered inside of her, begging to come out, but shut out by the light she felt coming from Buffy.

Buffy's own darkness was there, she could feel it when she really let herself. It wasn't as strong as her own was and it didn't taste as bitter as her own did either. Buffy's darkness was different; it led her in a different way than her own had. Her darkness didn't make her bad, it just made her hate herself. She started to see that they were each other's anchors. They were keeping each other from giving in to the darkness that was like a drug, so tempting and so easy to fall into if they let themselves. She knew now why it was so easy to love once she'd let down her walls and let Buffy in.

"Shouldn't there be another shift by now?" Buffy whispered softly as she lifted her head to look at her. "It's been long enough."

"Maybe things changed? I mean shit, there's sun now when there wasn't none before. Maybe with the sun the shifts stop? Dunno," Faith shrugged. "Nothing makes complete sense here and even Jackie doesn't know what's goin' on, right?"

"She has no idea what's going on. She's confused, disoriented and that fight we had outside made her afraid that things are changing in a bad way. There was only so much I could explain before I lost her completely," Buffy replied as she moved away from Faith a little and laid back. "Don't you hear it?"

"Hear what?"

"Those voices," Buffy said softly as she looked over at her. "Always there, always whispering and yet never making any sense at all. But," she sighed as she turned back on her side and draped her arm over Faith's torso just below her breasts, "I hear them less when I'm close to you."

"Keeps the darkness away," Faith said under her breath, closing her eyes as Buffy's fingers trailed up over the soft curve of her breast and circled an already hard nipple. Even if she wasn't feeling in the mood before, just that one touch got her libido racing.

Buffy slipped her leg between Faith's, the undeniable wetness streaking across her thigh as Buffy leaned in to kiss her. "I don't want to talk anymore," Buffy whispered as she pressed her thigh hard into Faith's already throbbing, wet pussy. "I just want you. I want to be consumed by you. I'm addicted to your touch, to the feel of you."

She couldn't think clearly enough to speak and instead pulled her in for a hard, deep, and passionate kiss as she pulled Buffy more fully on top of her, their bodies flush against one another's. She gasped softly as Buffy pulled away from the kiss and began to lightly kiss over her bruised jaw. She raised her hips into Buffy's, trying to get some kind of friction as Buffy trailed light, wet kisses down her neck. It made her so wet whenever Buffy took the lead since she'd never trusted anyone enough before to do just that. She knew Buffy got off on being able to have complete control over her, but the sudden need and the words Buffy had uttered before about being consumed by her made it impossible to let Buffy have her naughty little way with her.

She took control, holding on to Buffy as she rolled them over slowly. Their lips met in a fierce kiss, tongues fighting for dominance as Faith pinned Buffy's hands against the mattress just above her head. She knew everything Buffy loved, the way she liked to be touched, be taken. She knew every spot on her body that made her squirm, made her cry out in pleasure, made those soft, breathy moans that drove her completely insane with want, lust, need, and desire.

She broke away from the kiss, just for a moment, so she could stare down into Buffy's eyes. There was never any reason to rush these moments they had together. It was all about passion, about just feeling one another and falling away from the rest of the world, becoming consumed by one another and letting all thoughts, all worries, and those whispered voices fade away. It was about forgetting, forgiving, moving on, and doing it together; no longer alone and never having to be again. So much could be said and felt with just one look and she knew she wasn't the only one who felt that way.

"She'll leave you."

"She says she loves you, but you know it's not true. How can she love someone like you?"

"You're bad. Evil. She can never stay with you when she realizes this is just a façade."

"She only thinks she loves you because you are stuck here with all of us. Lost souls, once lost, always lost, never found, and never loved."

"Faith?" Buffy asked as she reached up to gently cup Faith's face. "What's wrong?"

Faith shook her head, hovering over Buffy slightly, their bodies barely touching now. Those whispers were coming in loud and clear and she wasn't sure if they were the whispers that lingered there or if they were the voices in her head she'd learned to tune out while she was in prison. Tears burned her eyes as she stared down at Buffy and leaned into her soft touch, closing her eyes, feeling the tears spilling out slowly.

"Faith, what's wrong?" Buffy asked again, her voice wavering as if she was holding back her own tears. "Faith? Talk to me. Tell me what's going on."

"The voices," she whispered. "God, I can't—I don't want to do this anymore, Buffy."

"Do what?"

"Listen to them. How do I make them stop? I want them to stop. They ruin everything."

"Shh," Buffy said softly as she pulled Faith down fully on top of her, forcing her gently to lay her head down on her chest before she wrapped her arms around her. "Just ignore them, Faith."

"It's getting harder."

"I know," Buffy sighed as she kissed the top of her head softly. "It's getting harder for me too. The longer we're here, the louder and clearer the voices get. Don't let them in."

"I'm sorry," she whispered against the soft skin on Buffy's chest just below her collarbone. "I should've ignored it," she sighed out as she leaned up to look at her. "I should've just..."

She trailed off as she dipped her head down and caught a hard nipple between her lips; sucking gently as she tried to get back to the feeling she had before, the need and the desire to consume Buffy. To make her feel as if her whole body was being worshipped and devoured by her lips, her tongue, her fingertips, and her body itself. She inwardly cursed the voices she'd heard, trying to stay strong and stay in the moment she had created with Buffy.

She took Buffy soft and slow, her fingers dipping between her folds, seeking out her pulsating clit as her lips sucked and nibbled on the skin just below the underside of her pert breasts. Buffy's nails dug into her shoulders, alternating between trying to pull her up and push her down, not knowing what she wanted, how she wanted to be taken, to be consumed.

The torrential fire of emotions she felt not only from herself, but from Buffy, flooded through her, causing both of them to gasp and cry out in pleasure and not just because of the physical touch, but because of the way their souls began to mingle and intertwine. It filled her, warmed her, and fuelled her need for more. She felt Buffy clench around her fingers as she trailed her lips in hot open-mouthed kisses back up her body, over her breasts and up her neck slowly. She pulled back to watch as Buffy closed her eyes and bit her lip, the first waves of her orgasm flooding through her.

All it took was one soft touch from Buffy and she was right there with her, riding along the endless waves of pleasure and passion that flooded through their bodies. Even as the sun disappeared and the crack of thunder ripped through the sky, all she could see in front of her was Buffy, crying out her name ever so softly and holding Faith's emotions with her own. Keeping her steady, keeping her from flinging herself off that cliff into the unknown.

She would always have Buffy and she'd never let go. The voices knew nothing. They knew not the truth that spilled over in their hearts and in their very souls. Nothing could touch or break apart what they had now and she'd fight to the ends of the earth and beyond to keep Buffy as hers for always.