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Heart's Desire	By : PencilNeck Category: -Buffy the Vampire Slayer > FemmeSlash - Female/Female > Buffy/Faith Views: 9582 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 26
- 27
- 28
Chapter 27: �Talking In Your Sleep

Kennedy sits in the chair.� This room, so familiar.� But so different without Faith�s caustic
energy.� She thinks this must be how it
was when Faith was in a coma.� Kennedy
wasn�t there for that.� That Faith was a
girl she never knew.�

�So, I�m here.��
Kennedy looks at the ceiling.� �Dunno what good it�ll do.�
You can�t hear me, or see me.� But
you�re still my best friend.� Hell,
you�re my only friend.�� She snorts out
what passes for laughter these days.

�I figured this is where I�d come, you know.� To talk.��
Kennedy rolls her eyes, turns away to the wall.� �This is so stupid.��

Kennedy stands, looking at the flowers and cards
propped up all over the room.�

�Looks like everybody misses you, Faith.�� Kennedy checks out the inscriptions on a
few.� �Everybody�s grateful.�

�Don�t get me wrong, I�m not jealous or
anything.�� Kennedy waves away that
idea.� �They�re giving me the hero
treatment too.� For what I did.�� She air quotes that last part.

Kennedy puts the card back on the shelf.� Turns back to the chair.

�Thing is, I didn�t do anything.� And I don�t understand�� Kennedy closes her
eyes.� Remembering.� �I left you.�
And Buffy.� I ran through those
tunnels scared outta my mind, knowing you would die
because I couldn�t do anything to save you.�
And because I couldn�t save you, I tried to save everyone else.� And then��
Kennedy trails off for a moment.�

Kennedy turns to the sleeping figure in the bed.

�How, Faith?��
Kennedy grabs Faith�s limp arm, shaking it roughly.� �How the hell did you get out of there?�

********************

�Hey.�� Buffy
slips through the crack in the door.�
Stands at the threshold.� Stares blankly
at the stacks of boxes piled neatly against the walls.� She knows what they are.� To whom they belong.

�Hey.� You can
come in.�� Dawn rolls her eyes, sitting
up on her bed.� �I�m not as crazy as everyone
thinks I am.�

�Nobody�s thinking that.�� Buffy sits beside her sister.� Reaches up to ruffle her hair.� Stops halfway.

�It�s okay.��
Dawn grabs Buffy�s hand, pulling toward her head, moving it up and
down.� �It feels nice.�

�Yeah.�� Buffy
gently strokes Dawn�s short cropped hair.�
�Different, but nice.�

�So, what�s with the awkward?�� Dawn pulls her head away.�

�Nothing.� Guaranteed
awkward-free over here.�� Buffy puts her
hand in her lap.� Takes a breath.� �I see you�ve got everything packed up.�

�Yeah.�� Dawn
grinds her teeth.� �No big.�

�Dawn, if anything is a �big�, this would totally
qualify.�� Buffy reaches out to
Dawn.� �It must have been hard.�

�Nothing I haven�t done before.�� Dawn�s voice is getting growly.� �A few times, even.�

�Hey, I understand��
Buffy doesn�t get to finish.

�No, you don�t.��
Dawn rolls away and stands up.� �You
can�t understand.�

�How can you say that?�� Buffy does too understand.�

�Because you�re a Slayer!� Because you always get it right!�� Dawn points an accusing finger.� �You never fail, Buffy!�

�That�s not how it feels.�� Buffy feels like she�s failing now.� �I don�t want to fight with you.�

�Good.�� Dawn
walks to the door, opens it.� �Here�s how
we can avoid that situation.�

Buffy stands and reluctantly follows Dawn to the
door.

�Dawn, I love you.�
And I�m sorry�� Buffy blinks back
her sadness.� �I�m sorry I can�t help you.�

�I don�t need any help.�� Dawn quietly closes the door in her sister�s
face.

********************

Willow carefully closes the door, and pads over to
Faith�s bed.� She sits cross-legged at
the end, careful not to disturb its occupant.�
A soft gray light flickers through the drapes.� The moon is out.

�Hey there,� she whispers, �I couldn�t sleep.� Figured I could come hang with you.�

Willow gives Faith a thin smile in the dark, closes
her eyes.� Places her hands palm up on
her knees.� Slows her breathing.� Reaches out, feeling for the energies that
she can channel into Faith.�

We�re gonna
work on some of the small stuff, I think. Willow figures it�s only polite to make
conversation.� Makes it less creepy that
Willow sneaks in here every night.� Less
lonely too.� Your bruises are a little better, and I think your bones should heal up
nicely.

Willow catches the thread of energy from the earth
and pulls it up and into her.� She places
her hands on Faith�s shins, over the blanket that covers her.� She channels that power into Faith�s body,
directing its flow.� She can feel it
working.� From the root, pushing out through
the gums.� New pearly white teeth. �Filling the gaps that fists made.

The pain Willow feels isn�t hers.� It�s part of the healing, every time, with
every girl.� Willow can take it, she�s
strong.� And it�s not like there�s
another option.

�See?�� Willow
opens her eyes, releasing the thread.�
�Who needs dentists?�� She pats
Faith�s leg gently.�

Her work done for the night, Willow quickly shores
up Faith�s sleeping spell.� She�s really
very proud of it.� It keeps a person
unconscious until the pain level subsides to something they can handle
physically and mentally.� She�s used it
on some of the other patients too, but she made it especially for Faith.�

The light in the room has gone from gray to
pink.� The sun is warning everyone of its
arrival with streaks of colour against the sky.

She doesn�t leave right away.� Kennedy will be getting up in an hour or
so.� She can sneak in a few minutes
before that, pretend she was there the whole
time.�

�Is it cool if I stick around a while?�� Willow whispers out the window.� �Keep you company?�

Nothing.

�Thanks, Faith.��
Willow smiles.� �You�re a
pal.�� Curls her legs up and hugs them
with her arms.� Stares out the window.

The sun is coming.�
Willow will wait for it.

********************

Xander throws his pen across the room.� It hits the wall with a thunk.� Homework, he�s never been good at it.� And this assignment sucks.�

He can�t do it.�
Maybe he can copy someone else�s.�
He looks at the slim pile of ignored reports on his desk.� He hasn�t read them.� Same reason he can�t finish his own.

Because they�re a lie.� What he tried to write was a lie.� Sure, he got the facts straight.� The time of every event, the battles, the
strategy.� The injured, the dead, all counted.� The names are all spelled right.�

But it�s not even close to what happened out
there.� Nothing he puts down seems
real.�

Buffy hasn�t written hers yet.� When Xander asked Kennedy, she sent him a
scrap of paper with some choice words written on it.� Dawn hasn�t come out of her room and he�s a
bit scared to ask.� Giles, well�� Giles wasn�t there.� His was perfect, and completely useless.

There needs to be a record of this.� Even if the outside world never knows what
happened�� In this world, the people that
come after, they should know.

Xander reaches across his desk.� Grabs another pen.�

Someone else can write the report.

He�s going to write the truth.

********************

Buffy knocks, peeking in before she gets a
response.�

�Oh, is that my hour?�� Vi is startled,
dropping her book on the floor.� She
picks it up.� �I was reading to her.�

�What book?��
Buffy is curious.�

�Unh��
Sleeping Beauty.�� Vi blushes.� �I
thought it might be� inspiring?�

�Cute.�� Buffy
takes the book Vi�s offered.� Flips through the illustrations.� �Ooh, pictures.� Pretty.�

�I stole � borrowed it from Giles� office.�� Vi giggles.� �I figure it can�t hurt.�

�Did you finish?��
Buffy looks up.� �I hate stopping
in the middle, you know?� Even if I know
the story.�

�Just started, really.�� Vi takes the book,
flipping through from the start.� She
stops and points.� �I got to here.�� Vi hands the book
back.

�The Princess, being young and foolish, was too
eager to try the spinning wheel for herself.�
She seized the spindle, and it pierced her finger.� A drop of red blood stained the wool.� The Princess fell to the floor�� Buffy keeps reading, unaware that she�s
slowly walking to the chair beside Faith�s bed.�
Unaware that a smiling Vi has discreetly let
herself out.

�You would have thought her an angel, she was so
fair to behold.� The trance had not taken
the lovely colour from her complexion.�
Her cheeks were delicately flushed, her lips like coral.�� Buffy sits, crosses her legs.� Takes a quick peek at Faith before returning
to the words.� �Her eyes, indeed, were
closed, but her gentle breathing could be heard, and it was therefore plain
that she was not dead.��

Buffy keeps reading, almost as much for herself as
for Faith.� She reads slowly, studying
and describing the illustrations, turning the book so Faith can see.�

��He placed upon her lips a kiss of such purity,
such selfless love, that as his lips touched hers, her
eyes fluttered open. The curse had been lifted.�
The Prince scarcely knew how to express his joy.� He declared that he loved her better than he
loved himself.� His words were faltering,
but they pleased the more for that.� The
less there is of eloquence, the more there is of love.�

�Erm� Pardon�� Giles haltingly interrupts.

�It�s time already?��
Buffy checks her watch.� �I�m
almost at the end.� Can you give me a few
more minutes?�

�Of course.��
Giles closes the door, leans against the wall.

�Okay�� Where
were we?�� Buffy scans the page.� �Ah��
As the princess awoke, so did the world around her.� The thorns withdrew into the earth, and in
their place grew beautiful trees and flowers.�
In the thicket, birds sang and the animals of the forest once again
played. �Inside the castle the people
awoke, and from King to cook they smiled and sang and hugged one another in
relief and joy.� Soon, life at the castle
returned to what it had been.� To the
delight of all around them, the Prince and Princess were soon married, and
everyone lived happily ever after.�

With a sigh, Buffy closes the book.� She looks over at Faith.� Up to Giles.

�Happily ever after.�� Buffy stands up.� Stretches.�
�Where can we get some of that?��

�In time, Buffy.��
Giles gives her a gentle smile.�
�It took one hundred years for this Sleeping Beauty.� I think we shall see ours awake much sooner.�

She hugs him.�
Presses the book into his hands.

�Thanks Giles.��
Buffy feels better.�

She leaves quietly, and he takes his position on the
window sill.� He looks absently at the
book.� Recognizes it as his.

�Cheeky buggers.�
- 26
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Heart's Desire