For anyone wondering about the "M" rating, I reviewed the ratings, and while there is no explicit sex there is language and violence as well as sexual situations in the upcoming chapters that warrant the rating in my judgment. My thanks to those of you following the story. This one is a bit angsty.
The Dawning of Faith
Chapter 17
"We play the cards we have; I just want to see them happy. They both deserve to be happy."
"Great workout Dawn, that's enough for today," Faith announced as she stepped back and removed her goggles. "How's the shoulder?"
"Sore, but I'll live. My fault for missing the block."
"You didn't miss many, I think I'll see if we can get Yoshi to come here and work with us all for a while. You should see him with a sword. Besides, if he sees your scythe in use, he may come up with an idea or two. He can show you how to maintain it at the same time."
"I didn't protect the edge well enough," Dawn said, ruefully observing the number of severed sticks lying around.
"Don't sweat it, I probably shouldn't have told you to do that anyway. That technique takes time to master, and I think at least two of those bruises are from you trying to cover the edge. Screw it; the wood won't hurt it any and I can't have you thinking of it when this is for real. Next time don't think about it at all, it's a tool, use it how it works best. Deal?"
"Deal. Do I have a black eye?"
"No, just a red spot on your cheekbone where the goggles dug in a little, don't worry Dawnie, you're still beautiful," laughed Faith. Dawn knew that it was just something that people say, but it thrilled her nonetheless. "Man, I need a shower, you really put me through it kid," Faith admitted. "Oh shit, sorry Dawn I-"
"It's okay," Dawn assured her, "I don't mind it from you. If you thought I was a kid you wouldn't have hit me so damn hard."
"True thing. You up for Wednesday night? I can't wait to see the looks on those girl's faces when Giles cuts loose!"
"You bet! Go ahead and shower, Faith, I'll clean up the mess." Faith went over to a chart on the wall.
"Nope, Karen and Rita will, their turn, let's go get cleaned up and get some ice here and there."
"Did you run it all out, whatever it was?" Buffy asked Faith when the latter joined her and Willow in the living area.
"Just working through some stuff, we've all got stuff, don't we?"
"Ohhh yeah, we do," agreed Buffy.
"I spent most of Sunday meditating like my first watcher taught me. It helped, kind of got me centered, but I wound up with a load of energy to burn off. Dawnie had a great session today though, even with the mistake I made," Faith told them.
"Giles and I watched for a while, and it looked good to us, he was really impressed with how well Dawn responds to you. You're a great instructor. So what did you do wrong?" Buffy asked.
"I tried to get too fancy," Faith admitted, and she explained what had occurred.
"A natural mistake, you wanted to teach her the right way, I'm sure it won't hold her back."
"No, she's good enough to shake it off. That's part of the trouble in teaching her, she has so much natural talent that it's tough to remember that she's really kind of a beginner at this," Faith said.
"Better to push too hard in training than not hard enough," Buffy said. "That's from the Gospel According to Giles."
"Yeah, well I'm just glad she didn't get too beat up to go out Wednesday. We can't have a bunch of battered-looking girls showing up in town," Faith said with a sigh.
"That would be bad, yeah. You gonna take your girl with you? Or meet her there?" Willow cast an anxious look at Faith, but Faith was smiling.
"Nice try, B, but I'm still holding on to that one. I'm not sure how that's going to work out, anyway."
Dawn had picked that particular moment to walk into the room. Willow looked at Faith with dismay plain on her face, and saw Faith go pale when she noticed Dawn.
"You okay Dawnie?" asked Buffy. "You look a little weepy."
"Just bumped my shoulder," Dawn answered, her voice remarkably steady. "I guess I just moved too slowly. I'll put some ice on it." She headed to the kitchen.
"I'll give Dawn a hand," Willow said as she left the room.
"Damn," said Faith, "that meditation is some serious shit! I'm gonna go for a run, maybe work out for a while." She trotted towards the rear of the house.
"Is it my breath?" Buffy said aloud.
"Dawn honey, I'm so sorry," Willow said as she enfolded the younger woman in her arms.
"That's okay," sniffed Dawn, "I guess she just doesn't feel that way about me, that's all."
"She's just scared," said Willow, "just scared, that's all."
"No, not her. I'll be okay, I mean, it's not like we ever had sex or anything, she didn't dump me, she just doesn't want me. Happens all the time, right?" Willow could not come up with a reply. "Let's go back, I've got an icepack. I can't avoid her, she's my instructor. At least I still have that, right?"
"Where's Faith?" Willow asked when she and Dawn got back to the living area.
"Gone to work out. I swear, I wish I had her energy, what the hell does she run on, rocket fuel?"
"No, I think it's something a lot more powerful than that," Willow said.