The Dawning of Faith
Chapter 29
"Will somebody please explain to me how Dawnie is a vat of tar?" Buffy asked."
"Not a vat of tar, an Avatar," Willow corrected. "An Avatar is the living embodiment of a belief or principle, in this case, the magic of teleportation and its fellows like levitation and telekinesis. Dawn not only understands this magic, she is this magic. It has just awakened in her; all I did was to show her how to tap into it. Giles, she understands more about it than I do, and she has already shown me that at least some of what I thought I knew was wrong."
"How so?" Giles asked.
"She and Faith arrived together, at the same time."
"Good Lord, that's not possible! Is it?"
"Dawn believes it is, obviously, and we all saw it," Willow answered.
"Is this me being a key again? " Dawn asked. "Because I'm kind of tired of that."
"I can't say for sure one way or the other, Dawnie," Willow told her, "but does it matter? You are who you are. You're Dawn, and that seems pretty okay to me." Dawn smiled in gratitude.
"Which one of you is Dawn?" asked a woman in a smock.
"Me," Dawn answered firmly.
"Dr. Blake says that you can go to Faith now, the rest of you will have to wait for a while. She's going to be just fine, though. Don't worry." She wheeled Dawn away.
"I can't decide whether to get drunk or just sleep for a week," Buffy admitted as she sank into a chair.
"You can't sleep for a week," Willow told her, "but if you want to spend a week in bed…"
"Help me, Giles," Buffy begged.
"I'm afraid that in this instance you are on your own, Buffy. I'm not about to try and put this fire out, I am not Red Adair, after all," he said with a grin.
"This is what you get for taking so long to surrender," Willow said as she licked her lips.
"Oh my God," Buffy sighed.
"That would be Goddess, lover," Willow corrected her, "that would be Goddess."
"I'm here baby, I'll always be here," Dawn whispered as she kissed Faith's forehead.
Faith's eyelids fluttered.
"Dawnie?" she breathed.
"Bet your ass, who else would it be?"
"The Vamps…" began Faith.
"Less than nothing, now. You're safe love, I'm with you, and you're safe."
"I'm supposed to protect you," Faith whispered huskily.
"You did, you're alive," Dawn told her, "everything else is just noise. Besides, I'm an Avatar. That means I kick ass."
"Yeah you do," Faith agreed. "Yeah. You do."
Dawn held Faith in her arms and let the tears of relief flow.
"I don't think they need us," Buffy whispered from the doorway. "I'll tell Dawnie we'll bring the car in the morning."
"Hey B," Faith greeted her sleepily.
"Hey yourself, Marty's fine, just a little shook up is all. Good call sending her away. We'll be back in the morning to pick you two up," Buffy told them.
"Not too early though," Faith requested, "I'd hate to miss a hospital breakfast." Buffy kissed them both and left.
"I happen to have a bottle of exceptionally fine scotch that somehow escaped the attention of you and Faith, Buffy. Are either of you interested?" Giles asked his two passengers.
"Make Willow's a triple and I'm in," Buffy answered.
"Are you trying to get me drunk, so you can seduce me?" Willow asked with a sly smile on her face.
"I'm trying to get you to pass out, so I can sleep," Buffy confessed.
"Where's the fun in that?" Willow asked huskily, her finger gently tracing Buffy's lips.
Dr. Blake quietly entered Faith's room to find Dawn snuggled to her side, both of them sleeping soundly, their IV bags hanging together. He stood for a long moment, thinking of his own daughter, and how Faith had saved her as well as himself. He saw the contentment on Faith's face and found to his surprise that his cheeks were wet. A nurse entered the room.
"I'm sorry, Doctor, I'll get the young lady moved to the other bed," she told him as she stepped around him.
"Don't you dare," he countered, "she needs her more than she needs anything else."
It turned out that when the Chief of Staff of the hospital personally ordered breakfast for a patient that the food could be pretty good. Faith was also grateful that he knew Slayer metabolism, so there was plenty of it.
The nurse from last night entered the room to take Faith's vitals, and was astonished to find her dressed and standing by the window. "I guess Dr. Blake was right," she thought.
"They're here," Faith announced when she saw the car pull up. "Let's blow this pop stand. Nothing personal lady, but hospitals kind of give me the willies."
"Sometimes they do the same thing to me," confessed the nurse. "I suppose that I would be wasting my time to remind you that regulations require us to roll you out in a wheelchair, wouldn't I?"
"Nah, I'll play along, just get me a fast one, will you?" The nurse left the room.
"Just so you know, Faith," Dawn told her, "when we get home, you're going to bed. I know all about Slayer healing, and I can tell that you need to."
"Sorry I messed up our first night together in our place, Dawnie."
"We were still together, and there will still be a first night in our room." There was a knock on the door, and then it swung open.
"One racing-spec wheelchair as ordered," said the grinning volunteer, "my name is Rapid Rodney Williams, and I will be your chauffeur this morning…"
Marty was waiting outside when they arrived, nervously wringing her hands. She diffidently approached the door and opened it for Faith.
"Faith, I – I'm-" Faith cut her off.
"You did exactly what you should have done, exactly the way you should have done it, Marty. I'm proud of you. I know you didn't want to leave me, but sometimes the situation calls for it. It was a rough first patrol for you, but you dealt with it; okay?" Marty nodded in gratitude. "Give me a day or two, and we'll go back out, or one of the other instructors will take you if you don't want to wait."
"I'll wait for you, and thanks."
"Bedtime, Faith," Dawn reminded her, and taking her by the arm she led the way into the house and to their room.
"I know you want a shower, but should you get that wet yet?" Dawn asked.
"I wouldn't try the tub, but a quick shower won't hurt, it's closed up pretty good now."
"Need any help?" Faith looked troubled for an instant, but realized quickly that Dawn meant precisely that, help.
"Actually, yeah, I could use a hand getting this top off, and I'm not gonna be able to get a couple spots on my back."
Dawn reached into the shower and gently washed Faith's back, being careful with the newly healing wound.
"Finish up and I'll do your hair," Dawn told her.
"Thanks babe," replied Faith.
Dawn's pulse was racing, and she was flushed. She had seen Faith nude before, well, brief glances while they were dressing, but the proximity of her completely naked, with the warmth of the shower… It was a tiny bit unsettling.
Dawn thought that was very nice, really.
Dawn dried Faith's hair for her, and brushed it 'till it shone, by which time Faith was nodding off in the chair.
"Come on, love," Dawn told her as she helped her into bed and covered her with the sheet. Dawn kissed her on the forehead, and thrilled to the smile that curled Faith's lips as she fell asleep. Dawn went to her dresser and got a sheet of paper on which to write a note to Faith, in case she woke while Dawn was gone.
"Gone to the gym, back by lunch – Love, Dawn"
Wednesday found Faith at the morning workout, seemingly none the worse, and the afternoon class with Dawn went well.
"That's it for today," Faith said as she pulled off her goggles. "Good session. How are your martial arts classes coming?"
"Ryuki has been working with me on Judo, she thinks that since I don't have Slayer strength that that is the training that will help me most," Dawn answered.
"She's right, and I can already see a difference. I was swinging pretty hard today, and you handled it just fine. Leave the Tae Kwon Do for later. But as long as you have your scythe, you can deal with anything, I think. Just try and keep it close," Faith suggested.
"It's never more than a thought away, no matter what," Dawn said smiling, a smile that Faith echoed as she caught her meaning.
"Oh yeah! That's a handy little power you got there, kid. Now let's get out of this room so I don't have to be your instructor, shall we?"
After dinner that evening, Faith and Dawn met with Buffy, Willow, and Giles, in the study.
"Willow has an announcement," Giles began. All eyes turned to Willow.
"I've got a spell to use on Dawn's scythe. It's based on the magic used in the creation of the original, I finally figured out what book to ask for."
"Neat!" exclaimed Dawn.
"Oh, it's not gonna be neat," Willow told her, "it's gonna be pretty messy."
"How so?" Buffy asked.
"The spell that the Sisterhood did long ago was based on love. Their love of womankind, and their love of the Slayer, whoever she might be. In magic of this type, blood is an essential element, and in this specific case, the blood is used in the tempering of the weapon while the spell is cast."
"That stands to reason," Giles said, "but does it have to be tempered entirely in blood? That might take a fair bit."
"There's more," Willow inserted.
"Do go on then," Giles requested.
"Well, since the spell is entirely woman-oriented, we aren't gonna be able to just use the stuff from the freezer. It has to be…"
"Menstrual blood," finished Faith.
"Yup," confirmed Willow.
"Well God knows that's not a problem, not here," Buffy said bluntly. "House full of young women, all synched together? We could paint a barn, and the Red Tide is right around the corner."
"Tastefully put, Buffy," groaned Giles, his face cradled in his hands.
"Deal with it," Buffy told him, "all of us have to."
"Word," agreed Dawn, who was prone to cramps.
"There's more," Willow spoke up.
"Proceed please," Giles said.
"We can't use just any Slayer's blood for Dawn's scythe; she is outside of that magic. She does not share in the bond that all of the Slayers have, not in the sense required here. We have to use Dawn's blood, and the blood of a woman who loves her beyond everything else in the world."
"I'm in," Buffy said.
"Not that kind of love, Buff. It has to be Faith."
"Well last I remember, I'm not gonna have any trouble coming up with the necessary. We talking quarts or gallons?" Faith asked Willow.
Giles turned a little pale, but he kept silent, he just wasn't in this club.
"No, the amount needed isn't that great, it's the love that matters, and the source of the blood. Ain't nothing more womanly than Aunt Flo."
"Okay, so we're good to go then?" Buffy asked.
"Couple things left," Willow told her.
"Let's have 'em," Buffy said.
"Right, first, since we have to re-temper Dawn's scythe, we need Yoshi. And since his forge is in Japan…"
"I see," Giles interjected, "we need how many tickets to Japan?"
"Four, minimum," Willow said, "Faith and Dawn have to be there of course, it's part of the spell, I have to be there to cast the spell, and Buffy needs to be there because even though her blood won't work for this, her love for Dawn will reinforce me while I cast it."
"Well, I think that we can swing that well enough, but we'll need passports for you all, and in today's world that might take some time, I'm afraid, although I may be able to pull a few strings."
"We don't need an airplane," Dawn said calmly.
"Dawnie, are you sure?" Willow asked her.
"It's no different than with Faith, at least not with any of you. You are all firm in my heart and mind. That's all I need, that and the energy."
"It will take a lot, won't it?" Willow asked, concerned.
"A good bit, yes, and we shouldn't arrive indoors, just to be polite; there will be some disturbance. And I can piggyback on your power, Will. Your reserves are much greater than mine; you've been in the stream longer. And I won't use as much energy as I did going for Faith, that was three 'ports in a row. Also, I might have gone a bit overboard with the vamps, but I was pissed off."
"This flies in the face of everything I thought that I knew," Giles protested.
"If Dawn says she can do it, she can do it," Willow said flatly. "Heck, she can do it because she says she can do it."
"My Dawnie kicks ass!" bragged Faith as she hugged Dawn tightly.
"Well, I'm forced to agree, based on what I've seen," Giles said, "and I can't deny that I would like to see Yoshi again, and Japan."
"Not to mention saving the ticket money," Buffy said guilelessly.
"Not to mention that," agreed Giles with a smile.
"There's more…" Willow said hesitantly.
"Do you think you can tell us today Will, or do we need to come back tomorrow?" Buffy asked her.
"There is a risk with this spell," Willow began, "I mean, I'm sure it won't come up, but…"
"Spill it, Red," Faith commanded. Willow swallowed.
"Well, if the love is anything less than absolute and complete…it won't work."