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The Dawning of Faith
Chapter 30
"Well, if the love is anything less than absolute and complete…it won't work."
"Oh…" breathed Dawn.
Giles' brow knitted in concern, Buffy looked thoughtful, Willow looked apologetic, and Dawn looked frightened.
Faith started laughing; purely howling with laughter.
"Oh, Oh, " she gasped as she bent over and coughed, waving her hands to show that she was okay, "oh Jesus! Phheewww, oh, AHHAHAhaha!" She finally managed to compose herself, and wipe the tears from her eyes. "Dudes, that is positively the only thing in my life that I have no doubt about. Zero. Nada. So what's next?"
"I shall set things up with Yoshi, assuming that he's willing," Giles told them. "After that I presume that we just wait for the tide to come in, so to speak."
"Yoshi will likely want to see Dawn use the scythe too," Faith added. "He checked me and Buffy out on the original when we consulted about making some more."
"So I need to bring the training scythe along then?" Dawn asked. Buffy's eyes met Faith's.
"No, Dawnie, if Yoshi wants to see you use it, it will have to be real. Faith and I fought demons. Yoshi is a true Ninjutsu Master, with all that that means. He is quite revered," Buffy explained.
"He even wanted to see me do some magic, magic is a part of Ninjutsu," Willow told her.
"Okay by me," Dawn told them.
"You'll do fine," Faith assured her, "and you might get a neat name out of it, Buff, Will, and I did."
"What are they?" Dawn asked interestedly.
"We can't tell you," Buffy replied, "but you'll hear them when we meet up with Yoshi. The first greeting is pretty formal, and you should call him Yoshi-Sama, out of respect for his rank."
"Not Master Yoshi?"
"Nope, not unless you're one of his students," Faith confirmed, "and unless there is something you need from me besides blood and love, I should get set to take Marty back out."
"Take the Scythe," Buffy suggested, "just for luck."
"Deal," grinned Faith, "I won't be late, Dawnie," she promised. She kissed Dawn briefly and left the room.
"Dawn, are you okay with this?" Willow asked gently.
"How can I not be? And yes, I know what you mean, and if the spell fails because she doesn't love me enough, it will hurt, but I have to believe in her. She's earned that," Dawn replied. Willow exchanged an anxious glance with Buffy, and then proceeded.
"Dawnie, the spell will also fail if you don't love her enough, and I'm not sure Faith could handle that," Willow explained.
"I'm not worried," Dawn insisted. But she didn't laugh.
"I need to use the car again," Dawn announced, "anybody want to come with?"
"I'll go!" Buffy said instantly.
"I'll be waiting," cooed Willow.
"Right then," Giles said briskly. "Let me just see if I can find a good home for the rest of that scotch…"
"Dawnie," said Buffy hesitantly, "are you sure it's fair to Faith to wear this? I mean, I know it's not really my business. Or have you two already…"
"No, we're still waiting. I just want to look pretty for her, you know?"
"I get it, and you're always pretty, even when you're being a brat. But I have to say, the color works for you," Buffy admitted.
"You're worried about Faith, aren't you? Worried that I'll make the spell fail," asked Dawn.
"I'm concerned," Buffy told her plainly, "love is based on trust, but in this case it is going to somehow be objectively measured. Who knows how that will go? Faith has really grown since you entered her life, she's happy, she's open, and she depends on your love for all of that."
"And she can," Dawn told her. "No doubt about it." There was a worm of unease gnawing at her heart, however, there was so very much to lose.
"Great job, Marty!" Faith told the young Slayer as the vampire puffed out of existence. Marty was elated.
"That was fun! Can we get another one?"
"Our shift's about over," Faith told her, "next time out you can go on a later shift, more chance of action then. I'll tell Kennedy to work you in on a regular rotation. You passed." Marty threw her arms around Faith.
"Thank you!" she gushed. She loosened her hold on Faith enough to be able to look at her face. "I'd much rather go with you, though," she whispered.
"Marty, I'm your instructor, and a fellow Slayer, but I belong to Dawn," Faith said firmly.
"Okay, I understand," Marty answered, "but just so you know what you're missing…" She kissed Faith firmly, undeterred by the lack of response, until Faith gently pushed her away.
"It's easy to get stirred up after a kill, Marty. All good Slayers do. But you have to keep your mind on business, and you can't ever do that again, clear?"
"Yes boss," Marty replied, but she didn't look sorry about it.
Kennedy arrived with Candace.
"How did she do?" Kennedy asked Faith.
"Got her first solo dusting," Faith told her, "how about she takes another shift with you guys? She seems to have plenty of energy left; she won't hold you back, either."
"Sure thing," agreed Kennedy as she looked at Marty.
"You might have even better luck with these two, Marty," Faith said meaningfully, looking levelly at her student. Marty got the unspoken message clearly. There would be no gossip about her indiscretion with Faith.
Apparently you could blame a girl for trying.
Dawn watched through a front window until she saw Faith pull into the drive, and then she quickly went to their room.
"Hey babe!" Faith greeted her as she entered.
"Welcome home, how did it go?"
"Pretty good, Marty got her first vamp; she'll do okay," Faith told her. "She's one of those that gets real worked up after a kill, though, and that's good, it means she has a solid connection to the source. But I did have to kind of smack her down a little."
"How do you mean?" Dawn asked.
"She just got a little juiced up, and I was handy," Faith shrugged. "Won't be happening again, I stuck her on a double shift with Kennedy and Candace and told her to try her luck there."
"She made a pass at you?" Dawn asked, feeling something uncomfortable behind her ribs.
"Not much of one, just adrenaline. Everybody knows I'm yours, and I made sure she got the message."
Dawn thought for a minute.
"Why did you tell me about it?" she asked. Faith looked puzzled.
"'Cause you asked me how things went, why wouldn't I tell you?"
"She really does love me," Dawn thought in wonder, realizing that it had never occurred to Faith to try and hide something from her. Dawn could surely understand Marty's reaction in the light of recent events, but she did find herself hoping that Marty would overindulge the next time at the club. She and Willow had found some habanero pepper sauce that was brutal.
"No reason at all, love," Dawn told her. "How's the wound?"
"Gone, not even a scar now, good as new."
"Can I get you a snack?" Dawn asked her.
"That would be great, I'm just gonna hit the shower, then we can go to the kitchen," Faith replied.
"Okay, have fun," Dawn told her. Faith grinned and entered the bathroom.
Dawn set to work.
Faith emerged from the bathroom and stopped dead in her tracks.
The room was lit by the soft glow of candles, flowers abounded, on Dawn's dressing table were a selection of light foods, and a bottle of wine rested in a bucket of ice.
But that was nothing.
Dawn stood with a small candle in her cupped hands, a gown of emerald silk clinging to her, her hair spilled loose around her and she looked at Faith with love plain on her face.
"I'm not pushing you," promised Dawn, "I'm not really ready myself, but I wanted to be pretty for you. To make things special as we begin."
Faith could not speak, and with tears streaming down her face she gently took the candle from Dawn, set it on the table, and enfolded her life in her arms.
"I'm sorry Dawnie," Faith said through the tears, "seems like all I do lately is cry."
"That's okay love," Dawn told her as she stroked her hair, "I understand, and I've cried too. It's new, and it's big, and it's real."
But tears could also be healing, and Faith had so many years of pain to be healed.