”Ringing? What the…huh?!?”

The piano-like ringing of Buffy’s cell phone drew her from her thoughts. She didn’t know exactly how long she sat curled up on the couch reading the letters from her father, but she was surprised to find that it was well past noon. Getting up and walking to where her purse lay on the stand by the tissues, she opened it up and pulled out her phone, flipping it open before she brought it to her ear.

“Lo?”

”Heya B. What’s goin on,” and for the first time that morning Buffy smiled a bit, recognizing Faith’s voice on the other end of the phone.

“Not much. Just doing some reading. What are you up to?”

"Reading? On a day like today? Gawd girl, you need ta get out of the house.”

“I’m thinking about it. Might run out and have some lunch since everyone here is out and about.”

”Sounds like a plan. Do you think you’d mind a bit of company? I could stand to grab a bite to eat too,” Faith asked, uncertainty lacing her smoky voice.

“Hmm. Well, I was looking forward to maybe doing a bit of shopping too…”

”Comon B. Think of it as doing me a favor. The guys just got back from fishing and they stink to hell and back and I'll so owe you bigtime for this because if Andrew shows me his stupid catch one more time, I’m going to beat him with it,” Faith replied, almost pleadingly and sounding more and more annoyed with all the commotion in the background.

Laughing at the image that came to her mind of Andrew being beaten with his fish, Buffy took pity on her sister slayer.

“Actually, wouldnt it be Andrew that would owe me for saving him then?" Both girls laughing, Buffy continued "Really, I’d love the company. Want to pick me up in 20 minutes?”

Breathing a sigh of relief, Faith said quickly ”I’ll be there in 10. Later.”

Smiling, Buffy closed her phone and tucked it back inside her purse. Turning towards the living room, she gathered all of the letters in her hands, making sure to keep them in order before tucking them back inside the large manila envelope they were delivered in. Staring inside at the various letters, Buffy sighed deeply, a small smile turning up at the corners of her mouth as her eyes filled with tears again. The one thought she carried with her since her father left; the one that left a hole inside her heart deep enough to drown in was finally put to rest.

He doesn’t hate me.

Walking up the stairs to her bedroom, Buffy’s heart felt a little bit lighter than it had in a very long time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

10 minutes later, standing in her bra and panties, Buffy contemplated what to wear. Pulling out a black tee shirt, she smiled at what the silvery little studs spelled out across the front. Memories of Spike singing, not knowing that she was just outside the door to his crypt listening, made her tear up again.

'Twenty twenty twenty four hours to go-o-oh, I wanna be sedated. Nothin' to do and no where to go-o-oh I wanna be sedated. Just get me to the airport put me on a plane. Hurry hurry hurry before I go insane. I can't control my fingers I can't control my brain. Oh no no no no no.'

Peeking in at him she watched him dance around and play the air guitar. Giggling, she closed the door quickly when he spun around towards her, looking startled when the door suddenly was yanked open. She played it off of course, saying she was just about to knock and wanted some information about some demon she made up on the spot.

Smiling, she pulled the tee over her head and smoothed it down over her tummy. ”I miss you so much you goofy pain in my ass.”

Pulling open her lower drawer, she pulled out a denim skirt that ended about 4 inches above her knees when she pulled it on. Searching for a pair of knee high nylons, Buffy found a black pair and tugged them up over her calves before heading to Dawn’s closet hoping that her little sister hadn’t worn the footwear she had in mind. Finding the black knee-high suede boots in the bottom of her closet, Buffy pulled them on and headed back to her room and into the connected bathroom. Undoing the clip she used earlier to pull her hair up, she heard the door downstairs opening up and Faith’s husky voice shouting out “Hey B. I’m here! You ready?”

“I’m upstairs. Come on up,” Buffy called back, hoping she heard her. Brushing her hair with long, quick strokes, she gathered it up in one hand and searched the drawer for a ponytail holder with the other. Finding one, she secured her hair on top of her head, leaving a few tendrils loose to tickle her cheeks on either side of her face. Hearing Faith coming up the stairs, Buffy poked her head out of her bathroom and waited for Faith to appear in the open doorway of her bedroom before telling her she’d just be one more minute. Ducking back into the bathroom, Buffy opened another drawer and pulled out a new makeup bag that she hadn’t even bothered to open since she bought it a few weeks ago. Digging inside, she pulled out her mascara and applied a few coats to her lashes before selecting a raspberry coloured lip-gloss and applying it to her lips. Standing back and looking at her face in the mirror, Buffy looked at her reflection, studying it for a moment before crossing her eyes at herself. Stepping back, she met Faith inside her bedroom, surprised at how similar they were dressed.

“Whoa. Faith. A skirt?!?”

Blushing bright pink, she smiled shyly, ducking her head a bit and looking at Buffy from behind a curtain of dark hair.

“Robin was threatening to send all of my jeans and stuff to the Goodwill place if I didn’t buy a skirt or two,” and she gestured at her low slung back mini. “So, yeah, here I am,” she said pressing her lips together in a small smile.

Taking in Buffy’s choice of attire, Faith straightened up, thrusting her chin out at her as she read Buffy’s shirt.

“You wanna be sedated huh? Since when do you like the Ramones?”

Blushing just as pink as Faith had moments before, Buffy grinned.

“Since I caught a certain peroxided vampire singing and dancing to this particular song.”

Both girls standing there looking at each other, grins on their pretty faces, it was hard to know they once didn’t get along much, or at all really. Right about then they heard a gurgling noise and they burst out laughing.

“Was that your stomach or mine,” Buffy asked looking down at her tummy before looking back at Faith.

“I’m not sure man, but since I know mine was doing that on the way over here, it could just as well be mine again. Ready to go?”

“Yeah. My purse is downstairs. I just have to grab it and leave a note for Giles so he doesn’t wig out in case he comes back and we’re not here,” Buffy said, rolling her eyes in that he’s-such-an-overprotective-pain-in-my-backside way.

Stepping back and giving her the once-over, Faith replied in a more serious tone.

“You’re lookin alright today Buff.” Cocking her head to the side, her dark hair swinging, she continued in the same tone. “We were all getting kinds of worried there for a bit. You looked like you were kind of lost there for awhile.”

“Yeah. I know. I’m feeling a little bit better since…you know.”

“He was a good guy Buffy. Kind of a pain in the ass, but he was one of the few good ones out there. The night you left, he came by looking for you and was pretty pissed at how we all treated you, making you think you weren’t wanted in your own house and all.” Faith glanced down at the floor, the smile fading from her mouth as she lifted a hand to push her hair out of her face.

Absentmindedly rubbing her cheek, remembering the fight between them, Faith’s voice dropped a few octaves, before she finished what she was saying. “He and I had a bit of a round about and I remembered thinking about how pissed her was and at the same time how worried her was about you, ya know? Was thinking the guy had to be pretty crazy about you because he looked as if he was going to take on the whole lot of us before he left to go look for you.”

Her eyes filling with tears, Buffy nodded, agreeing.

“Yeah. He was one of the few good ones left.”

Taking a deep breath, the two slayers looked at each other for a moment and shared a sad smile before they turned in unison and walked out of the bedroom.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Walking to the front door, Angel stood to the side waiting and listening. Hearing the car doors slam shut and the car starting up before driving off, he cracked open the front door and peeked out to be sure they were gone. Seeing the curb in front of the house clear of any cars, he closed the door and thumbed the lock. Turning and heading up the stairs, he made his way to Buffy’s room walking directly to the tall dresser that sat just inside the doorway. Opening the drawers, he dug through them a bit before closing and opening the next one. Not finding what he was looking for, he walked over to the nightstand by her bed and bent down, checking the drawer there.

‘Nothing dammit!’

Straightening up he went to the wide dresser that sat near the closet. Rifling through the drawers there, he found the package of letters that Buffy received that morning in her middle drawer. Pulling it out, he went and drew the curtains at her window, protecting him from the sun that would be spilling through it within the next hour or so and went and made himself comfortable on her bed. Pulling out the letters, being careful not to disturb the order they were in, he opened one up and began to read.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


“I’ll have a grilled-chicken ceasar salad and do you have any bottled flavoured waters,” Willow asked the pleasant looking man at the counter of the café she and Giles decided to lunch at.

“We have tangerine and raspberry and peach,” the man replied cheerfully.

Smiling, the pretty redhead nodded. “I’ll have a peach water as well please.”

Turning and looking around the café as Giles placed his order, Willow spotted a table outside beneath a big yellow umbrella. Gesturing to the table, Willow looked at the Watcher and waited for his nod before she made her way to sit at one of the empty seats.

Resuming the conversation they had been having before they decided to find a place to eat, Giles leaned back in his chair and looked at the powerful witch thoughtfully.

“So what do you think your dreams mean? Do you think they are pointing you to something specific or giving you a warning of sorts,” he asked her, his soft british accent doing a lot to soothe the worry knotting up in her stomach.

“I don’t know exactly, but something is compelling me to go back to England. Out of everything that I’ve been dreaming about, that is the only sure thing I do know. I need to go back to England,” she responded quietly.

“Well, then, I assume you’re going to listen to your inner voice and are planning a trip abroad then,” he asked, knowing the answer already.

“I’m not sure when exactly, but yes for the most part. I think sometime in the next few weeks, after everyone is really settled in. Besides, it will be nice to see the Coven again. Danethe is eager to read my aura after the glowy white-haired Willow thing.”

Pausing in their conversation as the waiter arrived at their table, Giles and Willow both took sips of their drinks as their meals were placed before them.

“Right, then. Maybe I’ll accompany you on your trip if you don’t mind.” Pausing to look at her, she shook her head no saying quietly ‘Of course not’, Giles cleared his throat before continuing. “Good. There are a few things I need to clear up there and hopefully I can re-establish some contacts and meet with the Council to talk about this new hellmouth in Florida.”

Picking up his spoon, he stirred the contents of his soup, scooping up a bite and pausing at Willow’s next question.

“So. When do we tell Buffy?”