DISCLAIMER AND AUTHOR'S NOTE: All Buffy The Vampire Slayer stuff belongs to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and Warner Brothers. No copyright infringement was intended in the writing of this fiction. All other characters that appear belong to me. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies may be made for private use only and must include this copyright notice and disclaimer. There is some subtext in this story. If this kind of stuff is not legal where you live, if you're under 18 or if you don't like the notion of two women being in love, then you should find something else to read.

Reason to Live
By Kristjan Brezovnik

Faith was pumping away at the gym when a guard came and told her to go pack her stuff, that she was free. Faith just stared at him for a few moments, confused. How could she be free already? She didn't deserve it yet. Hell, she didn't think she'd ever deserve to be free, not after what she had done. Then again, this was her chance to make it better, though she wasn't sure she was ready to face Buffy yet. Or if Buffy was ready to face her. Or willing. Or if she even cared.

When she saw the guy that was waiting for her, she had a bad feeling about who he was. Her feeling was proven right when he told her who he was once they got outside. Since he didn't look like a threat and he was alone, she went with him. Though, when he mentioned that he was taking her to Sunnydale, she started having second thoughts, she wasn't sure whether she should go. After thinking about it for a while, she decided to go and see where she stood with Buffy.

When they got to Sunnydale, Faith looked out the window. Nothing had changed since the last time she was there, people were still as clueless as before. She was a bit worried when she noticed that he wasn't taking her to Giles' or any other place she knew, but she decided to go with him. When they got to their destination, she let the man go ahead. He entered some store. She carefully approached the entrance and once she saw the Scooby Gang inside, she followed him in.

The man talked to Giles, but Faith didn't listen. She looked around and saw that all the Scooby Gang was there, except the person she most wanted to see. Well, and Riley, but he didn't matter. Willow and Xander were trying to kill her with their looks, Tara was a bit afraid, Anya glared at her and hanged on to Xander possessively and Giles was glancing at her, worried, as he talked to the Council man. Only Dawn smiled at her when she met her eyes. That surprised her, but she didn't have the time to think about it as the Council man left.

Once he was gone, Willow and Xander started to yell at her and at Giles and Anya told her that Xander was hers.

"Nice to see you too," Faith said. She looked around. "Where's B?"

Suddenly everyone became quiet and looked away, uncomfortably.

"She's dead," Dawn finally said.

Faith suddenly felt very cold, it was far worse than when Buffy stabbed her. She was shocked and she just stared at Dawn for a few moments. Buffy, the very reason she went to the dark side and then came back, the only reason she wanted to come back and redeem herself, was dead. She never thought Buffy would die before her, she always thought she would die first. And now she was gone. She couldn't believe it. Now what was she supposed to do? Still try to redeem herself? What was the point of that if Buffy wasn't around?

She turned around and left. Willow and Xander started yelling something, but she didn't listen.

She walked for a while, when she finally realized she didn't even know where she was going. She looked around to see where she was. Then she thought about where to go and finally decided to go to the apartment the Mayor had gotten her.

"I just knew it," Xander said when Faith was gone. "How could the Council think she would help us out? She doesn't care. And who knows what she's gonna do now."

"Xander's right, Giles," Willow said.

"Maybe we should call the cops, tell them that she escaped from jail," Xander suggested.

"You guys are so clueless," Dawn said, disgusted, and left.

Everybody stared after her, confused.

"What was that all about?" Xander asked, confused.

Outside, Dawn looked around, wondering where Faith had gone. She had seen the direction she took when she left the shop, but now she was gone. She knew Faith didn't leave because she didn't want to help, she was just shocked that Buffy was dead. And unlike Buffy and the rest of the Scooby Gang, she knew how Faith felt about Buffy. She decided to go look for her and make sure she was alright.

After several hours of searching, after she had checked out every cemetery and every bar she dared enter, Dawn still hadn't found Faith. Which meant Faith had either gone some place to spend the night or she just disappeared, maybe even left Sunnydale. She knew of two places where Faith could most likely have gone.

She went to the motel first, but the motel owner hadn't seen her. Then she went to the apartment the Mayor had bought for Faith. When she got there, she considered knocking, but she didn't want Faith to slip out the window while she was waiting. She slowly opened the door and peeked inside. Nothing stirred, so she walked in, hoping some demon hadn't made it into its lair. She relaxed, when she saw Faith lying on the bed.

"Faith?" she said, but Faith didn't respond.

Dawn slowly approached the bed. She noticed Faith had been crying, though her tears had dried up by now and she was just staring at nothing. Dawn hesitated for a few moments and then kneeled in front of her.

"Faith," she said and gently shook her.

Faith's eyes slowly focused and she blinked the wetness from her eyes.

"Dawn?" she asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Dawn said, a bit nervous. "How do you feel?"

Faith stared at her, surprised.

"What do you care?" she snapped.

Dawn hesitated a moment.

"I do."

Faith stared at her for a few moments and then looked away, sighing.

"I always thought I'd go down first," she said quietly after a few moments. "Now I'll never get to…"

She trailed off, biting her lips.

"The demon can wait," Dawn said.

Faith looked at her and remembered the reason she was released early.

"What demon?" she asked.

"It can wait," Dawn said. "You need to grieve and…"

"Bullshit," Faith snapped and sat up. "They brought me here to kill a demon, so I'll kill it. End of story."

She got up and walked out. Dawn stared at her, surprised, but she quickly followed her.

When they got to the shop, the Scooby Gang was still there, doing research. They all glared at her.

"So, you decided to come back," Xander said.

Faith stared at him for a few moments, wondering if she should bother acknowledging him. She decided against it and looked at Giles instead.

"So, what's so scary about this demon you want me to kill?" she asked.

"You really think this is a good idea?" Tara asked Willow as they shadowed Faith, using a concealing spell so Faith wouldn't notice them.

"Yes," Willow said. "I don't trust her. I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up helping the demon."

Faith patrolled the cemeteries and the park, trying not to think about the fact that Buffy was dead and that she basically didn't have a reason to live anymore. Being a Slayer used to count some, but not any more. She was just thinking about Dawn's friendly behavior, when she spotted the demon. She took a deep breath and then attacked it.

It was big and it was tough and its hits hurt like hell, but Faith didn't care. She pounded it with all her strength and fury and frustration and when it was dead, she kicked it some more. Then she stared at it for a few moments as its body quickly degraded. She stared at the empty spot and she realized she was empty as well. All her emotions were gone. Well, obviously not all emotions, she realized when she fell on her knees and cried. But she didn't cry long and when she stopped, she knew that was the end of the road, she had nothing worth living for and she didn't really care if she ended up in Hell, after all, she deserved it. She slowly got up and looked around. She spotted a bench and went there. She sat down, leaned her head back and pretended she was asleep. She hoped some vamp would find an easy meal appealing.

Willow and Tara observed the fight and Willow had to admit that Faith was a good fighter. She was a bit surprised when Faith continued kicking the demon even after she had killed it. And then Faith fell to her knees and cried. Willow just stared at her, astonished, Faith and crying didn't mix as far as she was concerned. Then they watched as Faith went to a bench and sat down. Willow wondered what she was up to.

She didn't have to wonder long as they saw a vamp approach Faith. She guessed that Faith was luring the vamp, but when Faith didn't react, she started to get worried, especially when the vamp leaned in and started to drink.

"Maybe we should go…" Tara started, also worried.

Willow didn't like the idea of helping Faith, but she didn't want to be responsible for her death either, not if she could prevent it. She started running, readying her stake, and Tara followed her.

"Hey!" she called as she approached the vampire, but the vampire obviously felt that Faith's blood was special, so he kept drinking.

When Willow got close enough, she didn't hesitate and she plunged the stake into the vamp's heart. The vamp started to turn, surprised, but he quickly turned to dust. Faith didn't move.

"Faith?" Willow asked, worried, but Faith didn't respond. "Faith," she said and nudged her.

Faith's body fell off the bench and she yelped, surprised.

"Is she alive?" Tara asked.

Willow hesitated for a moment and then checked Faith's pulse. It was weak, but it was still there.

"Yes," she said.

"We should take her to the hospital."

Willow sighed and nodded.

"Yes."

"What happened?" Dawn asked when she, Giles, Xander and Anya arrived to the hospital.

Willow hesitated for a moment.

"Well, she went on patrol and she killed the demon." She paused for a moment. "And then she… cried."

"Cried?" Xander asked incredulously.

"And then?" Dawn asked.

"Well, she went to a bench and sat there. We thought she was resting, but then a vamp showed up and started to drink her blood and she let him."

"She let a vampire drink her blood?" Giles asked, worried.

"Yes. We staked him."

"Why would she do that?" Xander asked.

"She wants to die," Dawn said.

"What? Why?"

"Ah Doctor," Giles said when the Doctor came out of Faith's room. "How is she?"

"Are you her family?"

"Em, no."

"Yes," Dawn said. "How is she?"

The Doctor looked at her.

"Well, she lost a lot of blood, but I think she will be okay."

"Can we see her?" Giles asked.

"You may, but she's still unconscious."

"Thank you," he said and Dawn immediately entered.

Faith was having a nightmare. She dreamed that Buffy was dead and that she wanted to kill herself. Just as the vampire sunk his fangs into her neck, she woke up. For a moment she thought she was back in her cell, but when her eyes adjusted, she saw Dawn. She realized that the nightmare was real and that Buffy really was dead. She looked around and saw that she was in the hospital and that the Scooby Gang was also in the room. Great, just what she needed.

"So, you completely lost it," Xander said.

Faith glared at him, angry.

"Shut up, Xander," she said.

"Hey, don't talk to him like that," Anya protested, pouting.

Faith glanced at her.

"What's the matter, Xander, can't stand up for yourself?"

"Very funny," Xander said. "Good to know you're still your happy psychopathic self."

"Yes and if you continue to open your mouth, I'm just gonna have to finish what I started. And this time Buffy isn't around to stop me."

Xander's eyes went wide and he gulped.

"Okay, I'm officially regretting saving you," Willow said.

Faith looked at her.

"And I officially regret being saved."

"Okay, that's enough," Dawn said. "Everybody out."

"Dawn," Giles started.

"Out! All of you."

As Dawn herded the Scooby Gang out, Faith leaned back and closed her eyes. She felt even more depressed than before. She sighed.

"Faith?"

Faith opened her eyes and saw that she and Dawn were alone in the room.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"The truth," Dawn said. "Why did you try to kill yourself?"

Faith stared at her for a few moments.

"What do you care? You should be happy to see me gone."

"Well, I'm not. And you're avoiding the answer."

Faith sighed and looked away. She wondered whether she should tell Dawn or not. She finally decided to tell her.

"Ever since I turned myself in, I was hoping that perhaps someday I could make it up to Buffy. But now she's gone."

"That doesn't mean you should just give up," Dawn said. "You still have the rest of the gang to make up to."

Faith snorted.

"I don't give a rat's ass about the rest of the gang."

Dawn thought for a moment.

"You could do it for yourself."

Faith laughed.

"Myself? I deserve to rot in Hell for what I've done," she said, disgusted.

Dawn was taken aback by Faith's negative attitude.

"You could do it because it's the right thing to do."

Faith chuckled.

"Since when have I ever done the right thing? Every time I tried, people ended up hurt."

Dawn stared at Faith, thinking. Faith obviously didn't care whether she lived or died. The only thing that seemed to matter to her was making up to Buffy, which she now couldn't, since Buffy was dead.

"You need a reason to live? How about me?"

Faith looked at her, puzzled.

"You?"

"Yes. Buffy died to protect me and to save the world. You could continue to protect me."

Faith stared at Dawn, finally knowing why Buffy had died. Then she frowned.

"Why would anyone try to kill you?"

"Oh yes, you don't know."

"Know what?"

"Well, I'm not really Buffy's sister."

"What do you mean?" Faith asked, confused.

"I'm actually something called the Key. Some monks turned me into a human and changed reality so I became Buffy's sister. Some goddess from Hell wanted to kill me so she could open the portal to Hell and go home. Buffy defeated her, but I got wounded. The only way to close the portal was for me to die. But since I was a part of Buffy, she jumped instead."

Faith looked away, disturbed. This was all very confusing. But while she didn't care to make up to anyone else but Buffy, she also didn't want Buffy's death to be in vain. Which meant she had to protect Dawn. She sighed.

"Okay," she finally said, quietly.

Dawn smiled.

"You'll stay?"

"Yeah."

"Good. How do you feel?"

"Exhausted."

"You think you can get out of here?"

Faith looked at her.

"Yes."

"Good. I'll get the Doctor back." She turned to leave, but then she remembered something. "You promise you won't run?"

Faith stared at her for a moment and then sighed.

"I promise."

Dawn smiled and left.

Faith thought that Giles and the gang would come in, but they didn't. And she was glad they didn't, because she wasn't sure what she'd do if Xander or Willow started throwing their hate at her.

Dawn soon returned with a doctor and he quickly examined her. He was reluctant to let her go, but when Faith got up, he realized that she had obviously fully recovered. And her glare reinforced his belief that she could leave.

Once outside, Faith looked around. It was still evening, probably close to midnight. She sighed and looked at Dawn.

"Come," Dawn said and started walking.

Faith followed her.

When they got to the Summers house, Faith stopped.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she said.

Dawn looked at her, puzzled.

"What?" she asked.

"I'm going back to the apartment."

"Oh no, you're not," Dawn said. "You're coming home with me."

Faith, blinked, surprised.

"Em, I don't think your mom would appreciate me being around," she said.

"She's dead."

Faith felt cold again.

"What?" she asked.

"She died."

Faith stared at her for a few moments, shocked.

"How?" she finally asked.

"Tumor."

Faith turned away, feeling sad. She didn't know Joyce well, but she knew she could've grown to like the woman.

"I'm sorry," she said. "She was a great woman."

Dawn raised an eyebrow, surprised.

"Yeah," she said. "Come."

Faith looked at her.

"Look, Dawn, I appreciate you being on my side and all, but I don't really think…"

"I insist," Dawn said. "You used to live alone in the motel and look where it got you. You need to be around people."

"But not in her house," Faith said and looked at the house.

"That's precisely where. That way you'll always remember."

Faith sighed.

"I don't know."

"But I do. And besides, I think Willow and Tara would appreciate some time on their own."

"What do you mean?"

"They moved in with me after Buffy died."

"Oh."

When Dawn saw that Faith was hesitating, she took Faith's hand and started to drag her to the house. Faith struggled a bit at first, but then she let Dawn lead her.

When they entered, Willow and Tara came to greet Dawn, but they stopped when they saw Faith.

"What is she doing here?" Willow asked, eyeing Faith suspiciously.

"I invited her to move in with me," Dawn said.

"What?" Willow said, surprised, and looked at Dawn.

"Look, I appreciate you and Tara helping me out, but I think it's time we moved on. You two need some time on your own and Faith needs a place to stay, somewhere where she won't be alone. And…

"Faith, Slayer, enemy."

Everyone looked at the owner of the voice, who came in through the door. Willow, Tara and Dawn weren't surprised, but Faith just froze, staring at Buffy wide-eyed.

"Oh, I forgot…" Dawn started when she saw Buffybot, but Buffybot attacked Faith, who was too shocked to even defend herself.

"Buffy, stop!" Dawn called when she recovered from surprised.

Buffybot looked at her, puzzled.

"Faith is enemy," she said.

"Not anymore," Dawn said.

"Oh." Buffybot looked at Faith and released her. "Friend?" she asked and looked at Dawn questioningly.

Dawn smiled.

"Yeah, I guess so."

Buffybot looked at Faith, who was still staring at her, shocked.

"Friend," she said and got up.

"Faith," Dawn said. "Faith!" she repeated when Faith didn't respond. "She's a robot," she explained when Faith looked at her.

Faith looked back at Buffybot and then slowly started to get up, still staring at Buffybot like it was really Buffy.

"Go to your room, Buffy," Dawn said when she saw that Faith kept staring at Buffybot.

"Okay," Buffybot said and left.

Faith stared after it until it was gone. Then she looked at Dawn.

"That was a robot?" she asked, shaken.

"Yes. Spike had her made, but we reprogrammed her. She now goes to school instead of Buffy. She slays too."

"Really?" Faith frowned. "Then why didn't the Council send her after the demon?"

"She's not that good."

Faith shivered involuntarily.

"I… I need to go to the bathroom," she said and quickly went upstairs.

"Are you crazy?" Willow asked when Faith was gone.

"No," Dawn said. "Look, she won't hurt me, okay? Right now she needs time to recover and you're not helping any."

"She held a dagger at my throat," Willow pointed out.

"And she hurt my sister over and over, yes, I know. But she went to jail for that. Isn't it about time you gave her a chance?"

"A chance? She had all the chances she wanted."

"Yeah, right. She was always an outsider and you never really made an effort to include her."

"You didn't either," Willow reminded her.

"I wasn't there then, remember? I'm only a year old."

"Oh," Willow said, frowning.

"Look, she's trying to deal with Buffy's death right now, she needs some space."

Willow stared at Dawn for a few moments.

"You want us to leave?"

Dawn sighed.

"Not right away."

Willow hesitated for a moment and then nodded.

"Okay," she said and she and Tara went upstairs to their room.

Dawn wanted to say something, but she changed her mind, sighing. She decided to go check up on Faith.

In the bathroom, Faith just stood for a while, trying desperately to control her emotions. Seeing Buffy again after she thought she was dead shocked her. Okay, so it was a robot that looked like Buffy, but still, it shocked her and it made it even more clear that Buffy was dead. She sobbed. She tried to stop, but she couldn't. She finally sat on the toilet seat, buried her face in her hand and sobbed. She didn't hear the knock on the door.

When there was no response to her knocking, Dawn slowly opened the door. She peeked inside and saw Faith sitting on the toilet seat, sobbing. She stared at her for a few moments and then slowly approached Faith. When she got to her, she hugged her. She felt Faith lean into her and sob even harder.

When Faith calmed down and she realized she was being hugged, she pulled back. She stared at Dawn, surprised.

Dawn smiled at her.

"Feeling better?"

Faith stared at her some more. Then she got up and started to leave.

Dawn realized this was a crucial moment and she grabbed Faith's arm, stopping her. Faith turned around, giving Dawn an angry look. Dawn guessed that it wouldn't be good to talk to Faith right then.

"Let me show you your room," she said instead and smiled when Faith's angry look changed into one of confusion.

She took Faith's hand and led her out of the bathroom. Faith was too surprised to do anything about it and she followed her.

"Here," Dawn said when they got to the spare room.

Faith looked around it and then sighed. She looked at Dawn.

"Why don't you take a shower and then go to bed," Dawn suggested. "We can talk in the morning."

Faith stared at her for a moment and then nodded.

"I'll get you something to wear in bed and some clothes for tomorrow."

Faith opened her mouth to object, but she changed her mind and simply nodded. Dawn smiled and left. Faith looked back at the room and took a deep breath, wondering why the hell she was letting Dawn treat her like that and why Dawn cared. And why the hell was she crying, crying was for the week. She shook her head, too tired to think. She decided to take that shower and then sleep it over.

When Faith came downstairs in the morning, she saw that Buffybot, Willow and Tara were watching TV. She stared at the robot for a few moments and then quickly ran outside, causing Willow and Tara to glance at one another.

Outside, Faith stood still for a few moments, her eyes closed. She wanted to scream, but she managed to control herself. She considered running away, but then she remembered giving Dawn her word and she decided to stay. She took a deep breath, disgusted, and decided to go for a run.

"Morning," Dawn said when she came downstairs.

"Morning," Willow said.

"Where's Faith?"

Willow and Tara looked at one another.

"She left," Willow said.

"Left?" Dawn asked, slightly worried.

Willow nodded, glancing at Tara.

"I don't think she's coming back," she said.

Dawn gulped.

"She'll be back," she said. "She promised."

She took a deep breath and went to the kitchen.

An hour passed and Dawn became more and more worried. Faith had told her she wouldn't run away and she believed her, but her long absence was starting to make her doubt.

But finally, the door opened and Faith came in with a duffel bag. Dawn heaved a sigh of relief and smiled.

"Where've you been?" she asked.

Faith shrugged.

"I went for a run and I stopped by the Mayor's place to pick up my stuff," Faith said and lifted the bag.

"Oh," Dawn said and looked at Willow.

"We'll go now," Willow said and got up.

Tara followed suit.

"Thanks for being there for me," Dawn said and smiled.

Willow nodded.

"Any time," she said and Tara nodded in agreement.

They picked up their bags and left. Dawn then looked at Faith.

"Let me show you how to do the laundry."

Faith frowned.

"Laundry?"

"Your clothes are probably dirty and it would be nice if you knew how to sort them and stuff."

"Em…"

"Look, you don't have to pretend you're all tough and stuff, because I really don't care. Oh, I almost forgot. You're not replacing Buffy, but I'll listen to you the same way I listened to Buffy." She frowned. "Even though I didn't like it. But on the other hand, I don't want you hanging around bars all day long." She smirked. "As a matter of fact, I'm gonna teach you how to be a housewife."

"What?" Faith asked, surprised, and Dawn chuckled.

"You don't expect me to clean the house all by myself, do you? At least you'll have something to do. Hey, you could go back to school."

"No fucking way," Faith said, and Dawn laughed.

"Like I said, you need to have something to do, something useful. And don't tell me you probably won't live long enough to finish high school, not to mention college, that doesn't matter. You have to be optimistic. Suppose you do live that long, you're gonna need a job and you can't get a job without education."

Faith opened her mouth to protest, but then she closed it and sighed.

"I'll have to think about that," she said.

Dawn smiled.

"Good. Now let's go do the laundry."

Several weeks later.

While Faith was on patrol, looking for a gang of demon bikers, Dawn was at home. At least that's where she was supposed to be. When Faith returned home and saw that Dawn was not there, she got worried. She decided to wait for a while, but when Dawn still wasn't there half an hour later, she decided to call the Magic Box. There was no answer and she got really worried. She decided to go look for her.

Two hours later, Faith returned home and saw Dawn was there. She glanced at the Buffybot, shivering a bit, and then looked back at Dawn.

"Where were you? I was looking all over town for you."

"Sorry," Dawn said. "But Buffy's back and I went to find her."

"What do you mean, Buffy's…" She trailed off as her alarms went off. She looked at Buffybot and her eyes went wide. "Buffy?"

"Yes," Buffy said, equally surprised to see Faith.

Faith gulped, scared. She opened her mouth to say something, but no sound came out, so she closed it again.

"She's real," Dawn confirmed. "Willow, Tara, Anya and Xander resurrected her.

Faith just stared at Buffy. A part of her wanted to hug her, happy that she was back, but another part wanted to run, ashamed of what she had done to her.

"I'm sorry," she finally croaked and looked down, ashamed.

Buffy stared at her for a few moments and then looked at Dawn.

"What's she doing here?" she asked.

"The Council got her out of jail because some bad demon was causing trouble and Buffybot couldn't handle it."

"And what's she doing here? In this house?"

"I invited her."

"What?! Are you crazy?"

Dawn sighed.

"Faith, why don't you go to your room while I explain things to Buffy."

Faith nodded and left, avoiding Buffy's eyes. Buffy stared after her until she was gone and then looked at Dawn expectantly.

"Well?"

Dawn thought for a moment and then took a deep breath.

"Like I said, the Council got her out of jail because of the demon. When she found out you were dead, she was shocked and she left. I was looking for her for hours, until I found her at the Mayor's place. She had been crying. I talked to her and she went after the demon. She killed it, but then she let some vamp drain her. Fortunately, Willow and Tara were there and they staked the vamp and took Faith to the hospital. I talked to her and then I invited her to move in with me."

Buffy thought for a moment, puzzled.

"Why?"

"Look, I know you cared for her, but you gave up too quickly. You offered her your help, but when she started to act all tough, you gave up and left. Did it ever occur to you that she was just pretending and that she was actually scared and hurt?"

Buffy opened and closed her mouth.

"Okay, I know this is going to sound corny," Dawn continued, "but you're the light of her life, her reason for living. She wants to redeem herself because of you. And you know why? Because she loves you."

Buffy stared at Dawn like she was some kind of monster.

"Are you crazy?" she finally asked.

Dawn rolled her eyes.

"Didn't you ever notice? I mean, hello? She wanted you to respect her, she wanted to hang out with you. Hell, she invited you to the Homecoming and she spent the Christmas with us. Of course, your mind was always somewhere else, usually with Angel. And when she needed help, she was too scared to ask, because she thought you'd think she was weak. And you just gave up when she said no."

"So now it's my fault that she went bananas?"

"Partly, yes."

Buffy wanted to object, but she realized that Dawn had a point. She sighed.

"Damn."

"You should talk to her," Dawn said and Buffy nodded.

"Yes."

"Then don't just stand there. Go to her before she runs away."

Buffy nodded again and went upstairs. When she got to Faith's room, she hesitated for a moment and then knocked.

"Come," came the response a few long moments later.

Buffy entered.

"What are you doing?" she asked when she saw that Faith was obviously packing.

"Leaving," Faith said.

"Why?"

Faith frowned, puzzled.

"You're back, she doesn't need me anymore."

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked, puzzled.

Faith sighed.

"Didn't she tell you?"

"Some of it."

Faith sighed.

"She told me that she was the Key and all and I stayed because I didn't want your death to be in vain." Then she reached for the photo of Buffy on her nightstand. "Here," she said and gave Buffy the photo. "Dawn thought I might want it," she explained.

Buffy took the photo and stared at Faith for a few moments, thinking.

"I need to understand why you did what you did, Faith," she then said. "And I want the truth. If you don't want to tell the truth, don't say anything."

Faith gulped and nodded. She thought for a few moments and then turned away, nervous. She hesitated, not sure what to say. She didn't want to lie to Buffy, but telling her about her innermost feelings, well, she wasn't sure she could. But if she didn't, then nothing would change. And she wanted things to change, especially now that Buffy was back. Which meant that she would have to tell the truth. She took a deep breath.

"You were my… I admired you even before I came to Sunnydale," she started and Buffy, who was about to leave, thinking that Faith didn't want to talk, stopped. "And when I met you, I liked you even more. I tried to be as good as you, but nobody seemed to notice me. And I felt excluded." She hesitated for a moment. "I fell in love with you," she said quietly. "I tried to get you attention, but at the same time, I didn't really feel I deserved you attention. And that Post woman's betrayal hurt even more." She paused for a moment. "After I killed Finch, I wanted to run away, I couldn't deal with it. Everybody thought I was bad, so I went to the Mayor. I'm not sure what I expected, but I definitely didn't expect to be treated like I was his daughter. He always had time for me and he made me feel safe and… loved." She paused for a few moments to collect herself. "It was nice for a while, but he was evil and I knew that what I was doing was wrong. I poisoned Angel because I was jealous of him and because I knew it would piss you enough to kill me." She paused and took a deep breath. "And when I woke up and you were with Riley, I was pissed off. I mean, you nearly killed me over Angel and now you were dating someone else." She sighed. "The Mayor left me a gift and I was able to switch bodies with you. I wanted to run away and start over, but I couldn't. And when we switched bodies again, I was so scared and disgusted with myself and I ran away." She paused for a moment. "I ended up in LA. I didn't know what to do, until those lawyers hired me to kill Angel. At first, I wanted to kill him, but then I wanted him to kill me. He didn't. After that, I just didn't know what to do. I wanted to make up, but I didn't know if I could do it. It wasn't until I turned myself in that I knew I could. If you'd let me."

She took a couple of deep breaths to calm down.

Buffy stared at her, thinking. What Faith just told her sure cleared up a few things and she also realized that Dawn was right, she did give up too quickly.

"I'm sorry," she said and Faith looked at her, surprised.

"What?"

"I gave up too quickly, I should've seen through your act." She sighed. "Damn."

Faith stared at her, surprised. The last thing she expected from Buffy was an apology.

"It wasn't your fault," she said.

Buffy smiled sadly.

"It was, partly." She looked at her picture and then offered it to Faith. "Here, keep it."

"Why?" Faith asked, puzzled, as she took the photo.

"I want you to stay."

Faith frowned.

"Why?"

Buffy took a deep breath.

"Like I said, I gave up too quickly. It won't happen again." She sighed. "Perhaps we could be friends again someday." She thought for a moment. "Maybe more." She smiled. "I'm going to Dawn now so she can fill me in on what's been going on." She turned to leave. "Oh, and Faith?"

"Yes?"

"You don't have to pretend anymore."

Buffy left and Faith stared after her, feeling hopeful again. She was more than ready to settle on Buffy tolerating her presence, everything else was pure luxury, but Buffy mentioned the possibility that they could be more than just friends. She wasn't quite sure that was a real possibility, but she hoped that she and Buffy would be friends again. She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. She put the photo back on the nightstand and then looked around the room. It was time to unpack.

The End