The Dawning of Faith
Chapter 22
"That's what I keep telling people, but do they listen? Enjoy your pushups, and trust me Dawn, things will work out before too long. I believe that it would be wise for you to marshal your strength, just to be on the safe side, you understand…"
"You're late, Summers," announced Kennedy, "drop and give me twenty."
"Let's make it thirty," Dawn said as she hit the grass.
"Hi Dawnie," Willow greeted her, "how's it going?"
"Great! Faith slept like a baby, and holding her in my arms was more wonderful than I'd ever imagined."
"I'm glad, I've never seen her look as beautiful as she did this morning, you're good for her. Ahhh, you know you can always ask me anything at all, if you have any questions about… anything, right?" Willow told her.
"Thanks Will, and there was something worrying me, but Giles explained it to me."
"Giles?" said Willow in surprise.
"I decided to take him up on what he said at the club. Turns out he really does know an awful lot about love, and people too."
"But, Giles knows about lesbians?" Willow asked further, clearly confused.
"I couldn't say, I didn't ask about lesbians, I asked about love, and sex and stuff," Dawn explained. "I'm not even sure if I am one. I just know I love Faith."
"Did he give you any pointers?" Willow asked hesitantly.
"Huh? Oh, no! I wasn't looking for a how-to manual. I'm sure Faith and I can figure it out between us when we're ready for that. This is still new for both of us."
"I can see that now, I think. Giles explained that to you?"
"It was really beautiful, the way that he explained about love and sharing, and trust, and how Faith had never known any of that before me. I'm the luckiest woman in the world!" Dawn told her, her face shining with joy.
"May be, but Faith has to be a close second," Willow told her as she hugged her.
"I kind of noticed that you and Buffy didn't get much sleep last night though," teased Dawn, "does Buffy snore?"
"Beats me, we sort of didn't around to trying actual sleeping, but Buffy doesn't seem like the sort to snore. I snore though; I hope she doesn't smother me in my sleep."
"Faith doesn't. Snore, I mean," gloated Dawn.
"Okay, so you are the luckiest woman in the world, no need to rub it in." Dawn stuck her tongue out at Willow.
"Smartypants," Willow said as she picked up a large envelope. "Care to guess what's in the envelope?"
"My test results!"
"Yup, they missed the part about you being clairvoyant though, I'll have to send them a memo. Ready to hear 'em?"
"Quit teasing!" Dawn protested.
"The scores indicate that your magical affinity is strongly biased towards teleportation and telekinetic magic. Audra said that you scored higher in those areas than anyone ever has," Willow told her proudly.
"Really? Does that mean I can send stuff around like you can?"
"It means that you have the potential to, that and other neat stuff like moving things without touching them. Actually the two things are kind of the same at the core, and they depend, like all magic does, on the reality that everything is connected." Willow walked over to a large globe, and it began to spin. She touched it with her finger, and a thin line of light spun onto the surface of the globe. As she moved her finger at random, the line formed intricate patterns, and when she stopped the globe its surface was covered in a web of glowing light.
"Neat!" exclaimed Dawn.
"It is, isn't it? One line," she said, "unbroken, and it can touch any point on the globe. Do you see that?" Dawn nodded. "Then take it further, below the surface, above the surface, it's all the same. Everything is connected, and being a witch means that you are a part of everything. The deeper your understanding of that becomes, the more powerful you grow. You can move bigger things, move them farther, faster, and with more precision. There is a teleporter at the coven who can send a glass of water from England directly to my hand and not spill a drop."
"You said it's harder to teleport people than things, but why would that be? I don't see the difference," Dawn asked.
"And that's one reason why you scored so highly, there is no difference, unless you think that there is. Most witches can never truly believe that. For magic to work, the practitioner has to believe absolutely that it will, and be completely open to everything. People being what they are, trust-wise, it's extremely difficult for most of them, there is almost always a tiny seed of doubt. You have to have faith," Willow grinned.
"That's not a problem," Dawn assured her, "faith is the one thing that I know I have."
"It does take more magical energy, or power if you want to call it that, to 'port more mass and more complexity. Living things, of course, are the most complex of all; you would need to know someone well to be able to 'port them, even if you had the skill and power to do so. So in addition to belief, you have to have enough strength. The more familiar you are with the subject of the 'port, the easier it is to do. Make sense?" Dawn nodded.
"We'll start with pencils; it's kind of a tradition, at least with me," she smiled. "The first magic Buffy ever saw me do was pencil-floating. To do this, you see the pencil where it is, and in your mind you follow the connection to where you want it to be, and then you see it there. Hold my hands and try and pick up on the feeling…"
The pencil on the table between them vanished.
"Where is it?" Dawn asked.
"Where do you think it is? Remember what you felt, where did it feel like it would go?" Dawn closed her eyes, and let out a deep breath.
"The seat of the toilet in your bathroom," Dawn told her. Willow's face registered shock for an instant, but she recovered quickly.
"You're right. Did you follow the path of the pencil, or did you read it from my thoughts?" Willow asked.
"I don't know," Dawn answered, "I pictured the pencil where it was, and then tried to recall the feelings I had when you moved it, and then I saw it on the toilet seat. Why did you move it there?"
"Because I didn't think it would be a place you would guess," admitted Willow, "but you weren't guessing, you knew."
"And that's important, right?"
"It's critical. I think you're a 'tracer', that means that if you witness a teleportation that you can find where the object went. It's a rare ability, and very useful. What do you suppose would have happened if I had had the slightest doubt where the pencil would go?"
"I guess it wouldn't have gone anywhere… no, not that, it would have gotten lost, kind of," Dawn answered.
"Almost, but more than lost, it would have been everywhere, and yet unknown, which is the same thing as what?" prompted Willow.
"Everything is connected," Dawn whispered as she thought, "so, so… I think I'm crazy, Willow, because what I'm thinking can't possibly be true." Willow felt a tingle of excitement run up her spine.
"Let's hear it, Dawnie, we're talking about magic, impossible means different things now," Willow encouraged her. Dawn swallowed.
"Since everything is connected, everything is already everywhere, but if a thing is not perceived as being, then it's nowhere at all?" Willow broke out in a huge smile.
"What is the key word in what you just said?" she asked Dawn.
"Perceived," Dawn said confidently. Willow threw her arms around Dawn and laughed with joy.
"And that is the key to all magic of this kind, because perception really is reality. And that is why so few can do things like this, especially when it comes to large objects, and most especially when it comes to people. And that is why it is so dangerous, because should you try to teleport yourself then the tiniest bit of doubt will cause you to cease to be."
"So really, teleportation does nothing but change the perception of something, then."
"A-plus, Dawn."
"That doesn't seem so hard to me." Willow arched an eyebrow.
"All right then, bring the pencil back," Willow told her.
"But suppose I do it wrong; come to think of it, was it yellow, or orange?"
"Did I hear doubt?" Dawn laughed at herself.
"I guess I'm going to have to walk to supper after all, aren't I?" Dawn asked.
"For a little while longer, yes," Willow told her with a smile, and then her face turned grave. "Dawn, a lot of witches are never able to understand what you just got in a few minutes. Can you imagine even Giles really believing what we've just been talking about?" Dawn shook her head slowly. "This sort of magic is extremely dangerous, so I need you to promise me some things before we go any further at all. Will you do that?"
"If I can," Dawn told her honestly, "I won't lie to you about it, but I won't know if I can promise until I hear it, will I?"
"Fair enough," Willow allowed, "first, until I say different, do not attempt to 'port anything other than small inanimate objects, okay?"
"I promise."
"Next, never work on this around anyone but me, not Giles, not Buffy, not any other witches who may visit, not even Faith. No one at all but me, also until I say different. Can you understand why I require this? "
"Their doubt might influence me," Dawn answered.
"Correct, and the closer they are to you, the more influence they might have, so will you promise?"
"I promise."
"Finally, do not even discuss this magic with anyone other than me, or the teleporter from the coven, her name is Rachel, and I'll show you her picture. Not even that this magic exists."
"But everyone knows about teleportation, don't they?"
"Before this lesson, did you? Really?" Willow asked her
"I guess not, and if people knew about it, and just started randomly trying it out…"
"Oh, it's happened, people disappearing, the Bermuda Triangle… the possibilities for disaster are endless."
"I can see that, no problem here, I promise. But doesn't Audra know about it? Isn't she a teleporter too?"
"She does know about it, but she has never been able to put aside her doubt, and she is a very powerful witch who fully embraces the one-ness of all things. Dawn, it is very seldom that training like this is countenanced; you are being trusted with a knowledge of the basic workings of all existence. It's a very heavy responsibility. I want you to think carefully about it before we go any further at all; you have a lot going on in your life right now with your other training. And Faith, of course," Willow smiled and relieved the tension.
"You're right Willow; I do need to think about it. This isn't a party trick at all, in fact it's pretty scary," Dawn said gravely. Willow nodded in appreciation.
"Take your time, and remember, you have to be certain. Now fortunately there is a good bit of magic that does kind of fall into the party trick category, so we'll have a little fun with the rest of the afternoon. But first – " Willow's eyes were twinkling brightly, "go ahead and tell me all about how Faith looks when she's sleeping. I know you're dying to!"