Early posting in 'honor' of the ice storm and in case the power goes off.

The Dawning of Faith

Chapter 10

"pleaseletitbeme…"

"I'll make my own popcorn Will, I feel much better. Thanks. I'll let you and Faith work things out for Dawnie, let me know if there's anything I can do, kay?"

"Sure thing Buff," Faith told her, "relax, Dawnie's in good hands." Buffy smiled and left the room.

"Is she, Faith?" Willow asked plainly. "Is Dawn in good hands?" Faith stared at Willow for a long moment.

"How do you mean?" was the best that she could do.

"Dawn is in love with you. She told me. She told me, and she's scared that you don't love her. You aren't obligated to love her in the same way of course, nobody owes anyone that. But you should let her know how you feel, however you feel."

"I'm scared too," Faith said, "I suddenly realized that I had been denying how I felt for a long time, because she's Buffy's sister, and she's younger than me, and I'm – well; me. I don't deserve her."

"None of us really deserve the love we get, Faith, love is a gift. Dawnie wants to give herself to you, and that's just as much as she has to give. I'm glad you aren't trying to take advantage of her; but frankly, I would have been surprised if you had. You're pretty special when you get right down to it, Faith. And Dawn loving you just makes you that much more special."

"Buffy would never go for it, she'd kill me all over again," protested Faith.

"It's not up to Buffy, it's up to you. Dawn has told you how she feels. How do you feel?"

"I don't really know, maybe I do love her Will, but I'm so scared. I've never felt anything close to this, it's so - big!"

"Yes it is," agreed Willow, "but what are you scared of? You already know that she loves you."

"I know that she thinks she does, but what if she changes her mind? What if I screw up like I always have? What then?"

"Then you hurt. Love doesn't come with a guarantee, it's a risk. You have to decide if it's worth taking, personally, I think it is," Willow assured her.

"I'm not ready to take that step," Faith said frankly, "it's not so much that I doubt how I feel about Dawn, it's that I doubt myself. Do you understand?"

"I do, and you may be right not to tell her until you feel surer of yourself. It's okay to take things slow, but if you think you might be in love with her, try not to let your opinion of yourself stop you, Faith. It's up to Dawn to decide where she puts her heart," Willow stood. "I'd better go and keep Buffy from setting the kitchen on fire; she can't really be trusted with a microwave on a good day. I'll see you, Faith." Willow turned back when she reached the door.

"And don't get too hung up on thinking that you're scared of screwing things up, either, Faith. If you really look inside yourself, what scares you most is that you'll let Dawn into your life, open your heart to her, and then she'll leave. Everybody fears that. No guarantees, remember?"

"Reading minds now Red?" asked Faith ruefully.

"Maybe. Just this once, for a good cause," Willow said with a small smile. She stepped through the door, and then leaned back into the room

"One more thing, I won't carry messages between you two. I'll listen to you both, but I've butted in too much already. The rest is up to you guys. I hope you make it."

"Thanks Willow," Faith replied. Willow left her there in the study, and the towels were quite dry before Faith made her way back to her room.

"It can't be me," Dawn told herself as she stood under the cascading water. "I need to get a grip and get on with it. At least she didn't laugh at me." The water from the shower washed the tears away, but the ache remained.

"And I'll get to train with her," she consoled herself.

"Okay ladies, listen up," Buffy announced over breakfast several days after the Great Scotch Revelations. "Today is Saturday, and Faith and I have some scheduling changes to announce. Faith?"

Dawn glared fiercely at the looks of hunger on the faces of a few of the Slayers as Faith strode to the head of the table.

"Amanda will be handling the initial training for all of the new arrivals. She'll set up her schedule with those of you in her group, Buffy and I will handle the advanced classes, along with Giles. Morning workouts will be together as usual, light calisthenics and a run. We are going to move the start time to 9:00 in the morning starting Monday so we'll all have a little more time to get going." There were a few scattered cheers at this, and Faith grinned at the group. Dawn felt a lurch in her middle.

"Dawn will be joining us in the mornings from now on, and then working with the advanced classes with Buffy and I. Dawn, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons are with Willow, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons you're with me for your weapons training, and on Saturdays we'll have most of the day together to take care of whatever needs the most attention."

Lurch.

"Lucky you," Karen whispered to Dawn.

"Now then," Buffy began. "You've all worked hard, and you'll continue to work hard, we all will. What we do is dangerous, and the training is critical to survival. We'll be handing out patrol assignments tomorrow to the field teams, this time out you'll all have decent places to stay, we promise. Giles has been working very hard to get us the funding so that we don't have to eat out of dumpsters anymore." The new girls looked anxiously at one another.

"That was a joke," Buffy told them, "kind of."

"Further, on Wednesday and Saturday scheduled classes and workouts will end at three in the afternoon so we can all have a little bit of a life beyond slaying." There was wild applause at this news.

"There's a great dance club in town," Faith told them, "for any of you who like that. Keep your heads on straight though, just because you're Slayers doesn't mean you can't get in trouble. I mean me and Buffy trouble, the locals buy the story that this is a Girl's School of some kind but we don't want any attention drawn to us. Remember that Vamps like to prowl around places like that, and protect the civilians, but try not to dust one on the dance floor unless they start the party."

"Giles?" asked Buffy, and Giles rose at his place.

"Regular schoolwork will be handled as usual, but there is simply no use pretending that your lives are normal. We are making progress towards securing grants that will enable you all to be compensated financially. Historically, Slayers were not paid, which made no sense at all, really. Now that there are quite a few of you that system is simply untenable. You will be able to make a comfortable, if not extravagant living, for so long as you choose to work with us."

A shocked silence greeted this revelation.

"Or until you get killed," Buffy added.

"Last thing," Faith spoke up, "Sundays will be open if you aren't in the field. If you need help in any particular areas, feel free to ask your instructors, but don't get bent out of shape if they're busy with their own stuff. Being a Slayer requires sacrifice, you all know that." The girls nodded seriously. Faith burst out in a huge grin, and said, "But it doesn't suck, does it?"

"See you on the field in 20, ladies," Buffy told them.

"Dawnie, got a minute?" Faith asked her.

"Sure, what's up?"

"You and I are gonna skip the PT this morning and get a start on your Scythe training, okay?"

Lurch.

"Anything you say, you're the teacher."

"I'll meet you in the gym at 8:30. Bring your scythe," Faith touched her lightly on the shoulder, leaving Dawn staring after her as she headed to her room to prepare for the lessons.