Complement

XXXII – Breathing & Everything
(Part C)

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Over the next few hours, everyone finished exchanging gifts with the exception of the Slayers and Dawn. Faith sat down on the couch, pulled Dawn down next to her and then Buffy onto her lap a little sideways. She wrapped one of her arms around Buffy's waist and smiled when she felt Buffy entwine their fingers; she reached over and held Dawn's hand with her free hand, then looked over at Willow and Tara and nodded.

"This gift is for you and Gamin, B, from me." Faith stated softly, but loud enough for everyone to hear her. "There is actually two, one for each of you, they're identical."

When Faith finished speaking Tara turned on the TV and hit play on the DVD player. Soft music started playing in the background as a black and white photo slowly appeared on the screen. It was of a young woman holding a newborn. Faith gently squeezed Buffy's hand when she heard the slight gasp that escaped her.

Buffy turned her head and looked at her sister, "Dawnie, that's Grandma holding Mommy when she was just born."

Those were the last words spoken in the room by anyone for the next hour and a half. They watched as one photo faded into the next, sometimes mixed in with 8mm film, then later with camcorder film, to digital pictures and movies. They watched as Joyce grew into a gawky, awkward adolescent then into a beautiful young woman. They went to her prom with her, to her first sorority dance and then watched as she and Hank Summers walked down the aisle on their wedding day.

Then they watched with joy as Joyce was handed her eldest daughter, Elizabeth Anne Summers and held her for the first time. They watched with Joyce as Buffy learned to crawled, to walked, then speak for the first time. Then they watched with a little bit of amazement and joy as Joyce held her second newborn daughter, Dawn Summers for the first time. And with Joyce they once again watched as her second daughter learned to crawl, to walk, then to speak. They watched as not only Buffy and Dawn grew, but as Joyce grew as well, from a simple housewife into the strong, caring, independent, loyal, protective, loving woman and Mother, the Scoobs, with the exception of Gary and James, Giles and the LA crew had all come to know and love. The DVD ended with a slowly fading picture that had been taken a month before Joyce hadsed sed away, of Dawn, Buffy and Joyce laughing and hugging each other.

The others retired to the kitchen quietly at the end of the DVD to give the three a chance to be alone. Faith gently wiped away first the tears that were silently falling down Dawn's face, then Buffy's quiet tears. She received a fierce hug from Dawn and ended up with two crying Summers' women in her lap.

"Thank you..." Dawn whispered so softly that if Buffy and Faith weren't Slayers they would have never heard her.

She was overwhelmed by Faith's gift, it was, in her mind, a beautiful tribute to all that her Mom was, and had been. Dawn had never even seen a quarter of the pictures before, hadn't even known they existed and something inside of her had broken free when she saw all the pictures of her with her Mom and Buffy. It made all her memories of her life, not just with her Mom and Buffy, but also with all of them somehow just more real. "Thank you Faith," she whispered again, feeling as if words were simply inadequate and could never express what this gift meant to her and made her feel.

"That was... it was just..." Buffy tried, but like her sister she knew words couldn't ever hope to express how this gift made her feel. While they had watched the DVD, Buffy could almost sense her Mom in the room with them. Smiling, laughing and remembering along with her and Dawn, with all of them. She could almost catch the scent of the perfume her Mom had always worn and feel her hand resting lightly on her shoulder, brushing her hair back off her face. Whispering how proud she was of her daughters, how much she loved them both.

For Buffy, Faith had brought her Mom's spirit here to share this Christmas with them. The love that Buffy felt for her mate with the bad girl look and attitude knew no bounds. And because, like Dawn, words seemed to escape her, were inadequate, Buffy just whispered softly, "Thank you Faith."

And Faith whispered back just as softly, "You're welcome."
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Everyone came barreling out of the kitchen at Faith's first screeched shout of, "STOP! They ran into the living room wondering what the hell could have possible happened, only to stop short causing a twenty-four person collision at the sight that greeted them.

Faith was flat on her back giggling hysterically as the Summers' sisters sat on top of her tickling her without mercy.

"Take it back Fai..." Buffy yelled.

"Gonna pay... Have to pay..." Dawn chimed in.

"Stop... s..to...p... ple...a...se!" Faith managed between giggles.

"Then say it... Say I didn't look like a little red, wrinkled, old dwarf..." Buffy threatened then went for Faith's most ticklish spot right under her ribs.

"B..bb...bu..t... u... ddd..id..."

"Yeah and I didn't look like a little bald monkey either!!!" Dawn shouted.

"O...k... o....KKAAAYYYY...." Faith gasped out.

Both Buffy and Dawn stopped tickling her, big grins on their faces, they both looked at her and waited.

"Okay..." Faith took a few gasping breaths and thought evilly to herself they should have known better.

"GIZyouDIDlooklikearedwrinkledolddwarfandGaminyouDIDlooklikealittlebaldmonkeywhenyouwereborn!" Faith smirked at them, proud of herself that she had managed to get it all out and clearly to boot. She saw the evil glint in Buffy's eye and thought, 'OH SHIT!'

"That's it!!!! Dawn grab her feet!"

Both Summers' sisters moved quickly. Dawn, grabbed Faith's feet and Buffy was behind Faith's head, reaching under her to grab her by her armpits before Faith even had a chance to try and scramble away from them. Without a word, the sisters both stood up and headed towards the doors that led out to the garden with the over two feet of snow.

"Xander door!" Buffy snapped, now she was the one with the big smirk gracing her face.

"B you wouldn't..." Faith looked up at Buffy and knew she would. She couldn't fight to get loose without worrying about hurting Dawn, so for all intent and purposes, she was stuck between a rock and a hard place, and both Buffy and Dawn knew it.

"Gamin..." Faith implored, giving Dawn her best puppy dog eyes. They didn't work and Dawn just smiled back at her with the same evil twinkle in her eyes as Buffy.

"Ready?" Buffy asked Dawn, who nodded, they started swinging the Dark Slayer from side to side.

"Okay you've had your fun now put me down..." Faith tried again.

'I'm not gonna beg... I'm not gonna beg... I'm not!!!'

"On the count of three, Big sis?"

'Still not begging!!! No way, no how!!!!'

"On the count of three, Little sis!"

'Nope... no begging coming from these lips!!!'

"Okay this isn't funny..."

'Gonna bite my lip and take it like a warrior!!!! I AM SO NOT GONNA BEG. I, FAITH, BAD ASS ME DOES NOT BEG!!!!

"One..." Buffy started.

'SHIT! SHIT! All RIGHT!!! I'm gonna beg. I'm so gonna beg! Shit! Me an my big mouth! Shit, shit, shit!'

"B... Buffy... honey... sweetheart??? Heart o' mine. Light of my life... Please put me down???"

"Two..." Dawn counted.

"D... little sister... Gamin please... Sister of my heart please," Faith was most definitely begging now, she had voluntarily swallowed her pride in one large gulp; she knew that snow was going to be cold. "Anybody????? Help me... ??? " she squeaked out, then wanted to kick herself in the ass for making that sound. She did not squeak, then again she didn't beg either. Did she?

"What's the matter F? You said you wanted to play in the snow..." Buffy teased her, the smirk growing larger.

"Yeah but... I..."

"THREE!" Buffy shouted cutting Faith off. They sent Faith flying high through the air into the garden.

"SSSHHHIIITTTTTT!" Faith screeched like a girlie-girl as she flew through the air. She landed in the snow sending a shower of it up into the air around her.

She was up on her feet and running at Buffy before she even finished falling. She reached Buffy before she even had a chance to try to run away. She grabbed Buffy around the waist and behind the knees then she tossed Buffy through the air like a caber towards the snow. She twirled around, not worried about Buffy getting hurt, she knew the two feet plus of snow would cushion Buffy's landing. She caught Dawn around the waist before she had a chance to scramble behind Crow for protection. She ran back to the garden and then jumped into the snow with Dawn still in her arms, twisting in mid-air so that she would take the brunt of the impact upon landing.

Luc looked at Mars, who looked right back. Atropos looked at both of them then around the room at the rest of them.

"Snowball fight?" Luc asked Mars politely.

"Yes that certainly seems to be in order," Mars answered Luc just as politely.

Within ten minutes, they had all piled outside into the snow. The teams broke up into the men against the women. And before the men knew it, the girls were kicking their asses, while yelling out their battle cry of, "Girls Rule!"
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They all made themselves comfortable in the living room again after they changed into dry clothes. Mars' pretended to be grumpy since his team had been totally decimated and out classed in the snowball fight, by a bunch of girls, no less! All their male prides, egos were in the toilet! As Faith watched Mars' huff and puff, she decided that they definitely needed to find someone for him. Not just for him, but for Zane, the Incarnate of Death too. She recognized the loneliness in Zane, she herself, not too long ago, had been all too familiar with it. She imagined it was hard for him to find someone considering his job, she guessed anyone would be a little put off to be dating the living personification of Death.

Then there was Giles and she hadn't a clue as to what kind of woman he would like. She knew he had, had a one time only thing with Joyce that they both had tried to off off and blame on, the candy and the Hellmouth. But she couldn't help thinking that if things had been different for them all, that Joyce and Giles would have eventually gotten together again. As for Wesley, Gunn, Lily and Fred she hadn't a clue what was going on between the four of them, she didn't think they did either. There was something there though and she figured they would figure it out on their own sooner or later.

"Before you three finish exchanging gifts, there is one last gift for the two of you from just us Fates'." Atropos waved her hand and a very large needlepoint tapestry was suddenly hanging over the mantle of the fireplace. Everyone shot her a look, "What??? So, I'm lazy and anyway that thing is heavy, so don't say a word. Any of you! Now where was I? Ah yes, Clotho spun the threads 'specially for this, while Lachesis wove in the background and I did the needlepoint for the finer details."

The tapestry was another of Atropos elaborate life-like creations. It depicted the lush greenery of the combined Immortals domains. You could almost smell the sweet fragrance of the honeysuckle, orchids, and the roses in the tapestry. Smell the musky scent of the earth and deep green grass, see, feel each blade in the thick carpet that covered the ground. Almost feel the breeze that was blowing through the mighty oaks and smaller pines that dotted the forest on the edge of the tapestry, almost hear the leaves rustling. The crystal-clear sapphire lake seemed to be gently undulating, the light from the sun and the moons shimmering across its length. The sun was just beginning to blaze a path into the morning sky over the lake, while the two moons were slowly sinking into it. It was breathtaking, though there seemed to be parts of it that were blurred on the thick green grass around the edge of the lake.

"It's beautiful... Isn't it Faith?" Buffy turned to look at her mate and saw that Faith was staring hard at the tapestry, a puzzled look on her face. "What's wrong Faith?"

Something was tickling the edges of Faith's mind. The tapestry looked so familiar and not because it was the Immortals' domain, it was as if she had seen it before.

"It looks familiar..." Faith mumbled under her breath.

"Well it is the lake within our domain Child," Atropos teased her.

"I know that Elder... I mean, meant, familiar like I've seen this tapestry before but somewhere else." Faith spoke more to herself than to anyone else in the room.

"Really?" Atropos queried, a small smile playing around the corners of her mouth.

"Yes really and... and I know I've seen it before and the only place could have been at your house in the sitting room. And there's stuff missing from it. I know it... I can almost see it in my head..."

"Indeed." Atropos smiled and placed her hands behind her back, standing in military at-ease.

Atropos smiled a small secretive smile; Faith had seen the tapestry before. It was the night she had appeared on her own within the Fates' domain and had surprised Atropos for the firste ine in eons. Only Atropos had cast a spell that night that had made Faith forget. What Atropos hadn't realized at the time, was that even she hadn't known what the finished tapestry was to depict, she had thought she did, but in the end she hadn't. It wasn't until the night the Slayers' had spent at the enchanted clearing that the vision of what might be, the possible future for them all, had been revealed to her and that was what was hidden within the tapestry from everyone's eyes but hers.

Faith tore her eyes away from the tapestry and looked at Atropos, who just cocked an elegant eyebrow at her and tilted her head slightly to the side. Faith smiled back at her, raising her own eyebrow.

"You can't fool me. I know I'm right and sooner or later I'll remember. And further, you've been dimension hopping and sneaking here to watch Voyager reruns again, haven't you Elder? I know you have, 'cause you're doin' your bad imitation of Seven of Nine right now!"

Atropos' eow wow went up another notch; she tilted her head a little further to the side and gave Faith a small smile. Then her smile grew a little bit wicked and everyone knew that she was going to give Faith an answer that really wasn't an answer at all.

"Indeed, Child. It is as you say and yet all I can tell you is that all will be revealed when the time is right."

All in the room gave a collective groan, their curiosity having been piqued. They all knew better however then to try to get a real answer out of the Fate known as the Crone, knew that it would be a futile endeavor indeed.
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"These are for you two." Dawn handed an identical box to both Buffy and Faith almost shyly. She tried to walk away but both Buffy and Faith grabbed her and pulled her down onto the couch between them.

Faith once again had that big silly-ass grin on her face was wasn't because of the gifts though. It was all of it, the warmth, the love that was in the room. It was because they were a family, because 'she' had a family and to her that was the greatest gift anyone could have ever given her.

It was, if nothing else, amusing to watch not just the Slayers, but the vampires and Immortals open gifts. With their strength and speed, it was nothing more than a blur of shredded, flying colorful wrapping paper. Buffy got her box opened first, quickly followed by Faith. They each lifted identical gifts out of the boxes. Dawn had given both Slayers sterling silver Gothic Vampire Cross necklaces. The crosses were about four to five inches long by three to four inches wide and the silver linked chain welded to it was very heavy and thick.

The design of the crosses was elaborate, intricate, with the etched lines burned to black. The top and the horizontal or arms of the crosses flared out almost diamond like. The bottom of the crosses came down into a point and could be used if need be as daggers. In fact, as the Slayers looked closer at the crosses they could see that dark wood had been inserted into the middle of the vertical line or body of the crosses while the silver was still liquid, and just the sharp point of wood showed through at the bottom. So in fact, the crosses could be used as impromptu stakes and daggers. What made the crosses, vampire crosses were the two fang-like points that dropped down, and curved in off the edge of each side of the horizontal line, or arms of the cross. The crosses the Slayers saw as they followed the intricate lines and detail, weren't just jewelry, they really were designed to be weapons or rather stakes.

"You guys like?" Dawn asked not quite looking up at either Slayer. "I figured you know with what you guys do at night... um when you're patrolling that is, they would... well you know..."

"It's beautiful, Gamin. Thank you." Faith caught Dawn up in a tight hug, which she eagerly returned.

Dawn sent upilenilent prayer again, that she had not destroyed her relationship with Faith after all the horrible things she had said to the Dark Slayer while they were in the Immortals' domain. She felt Buffy's arms come around and hold both her and Faith tightly as well.

"Dawnie it's beautiful and totally kick-ass. Thank you." Buffy whispered to her little sister.

"They have a snap chain too, so you can pull them from around you're neck to use them as stakes without breaking the chain." Dawn's muffled voice came to them from between the Slayer sandwich she was in. "Can't breathe here..."

Once they let her loose, Dawn jumped over to the other side of her sister so that the Slayers could sit next to each other when they exchanged their gifts. "Okay... your turn to exchange gifts now!"

Faith's palms started to sweat. What if Buffy didn't like what she had gotten, had done for her? She decided to be brave and take the bull by the horns, so to speak, and rose from the couch. She picked up two boxes, returned to the couch and with trembling hands, gave them to Buffy. Buffy reached out and pulled her nervous mate down next to her, she leaned close and whispered for Faith's ears only, "Don't worry baby, I'll love anything you give me. Simply because it's from you. You've already given me the best gifts I've ever gotten. You and your love..."

Buffy didn't give Faith a chance to reply as she tore open the first gift with a vengeance. She opened the box and moved the tissue paper aside. Inside of the box lay a fairly large, black wrought iron frame with a picture of she, Dawn and Faith on one of the many picnics they had while they were staying within the Immortals' domain. In the picture, Faith was leaning back against a large oak tree; Buffy was sprawled out on her side, her head in Faith's lap. Dawn was sprawled out on the other side of Faith, facing them. One of Faith's hands was on Buffy's waist, the other was stroking Dawn's hair, all three were smiling.

"Look Dawn..." Buffy handed the large framed picture to Dawn, "It's beautiful Faith. I'm gonna put it right next to our bed, so I can see it every day. Thank you baby, but when, how, who..."

"Zane took it at the BBQ Mars' had the night before Gamin left. It seems the Incarnate of Death is a hel a p a photographer." Faith looked at Buffy who was just staring at her with a sort of dazed look in her eyes. Neither looked away or said anything for long minutes, the rest of the crew thankfully remained quiet, then Faith finally broke the spell, "You gonna open the other one B?" She was back to being nervous again, she began gnawing on her lower lip worriedly.

"Stop that S.O.," Buffy ran her finger along Faith's bottom lip gently extracting itm bem ben hen her teeth, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "I wouldn't want you to damage that there lip, I've got plans for it and you later." Buffy whispered low, throatily to Faith.

"Do you now?" Faith whispered back.

"You bet your sweet little ass I do!" Buffy answered low, her now trademark wicked, downright fucking evil smile gracing her face.

"Enough already! You two act like you're still dating instead of living together! Stop with the flirting, open the second gift!" Queen C commanded them.

Buffy tore open the second gift at the speed of light. Snuggled inside the box were two pieces of paper. She quickly scanned the first one and turned confused eyes up to Faith, "I don't understand. I got a rejection letter a few weeks ago."

"I know. Willow hacked me an appointment with the Dean. I told her what happened this year, she didn't know all the circumstances and I sort of convinced her to give you a chance. She said you would need time to adjust to taking care of Dawn and working and stuff so the best she was willin' to do was give you part-time matree..."

"Matriculation." Willow interjected softly.

"That's right, part-time matriculation with academic probation. The Dean said once you complete two full part-time semesters she'll review your status. If you do well she said she'll return you to full time status, matriculation. However that works. It was weird though, she kept lookin' at me funny the whole time I was there. I guess she thought it was odd that I was there instead of you, I'm just glad I brought Willow and Tara with me, otherwise I'm not sure if she would have changed her mind. I'm just sorry I couldn't talk her into letting you go back full-time, B."

"I can't believe you did this. I thought I was going to have to wait another year. I'd better start saving my pennies though. Hopefully I'll have enough saved by summer for a few classes..." Buffy rambled out.

"Look at the second letter B," Faith told her softly.

Buffy quickly read the second letter, too stunned to say anything. Faith started babbling again, anything to break the silence, "And... and the Dean will even let you in the Winter Semester session if you want. You can do late registration for classes, for ah... what's still available. Only you have to do it within the next two weeks."

Buffy looked up at Faith with confused eyes, her thoughts still focused on the second letter, "But... but... Faith how?"

Faith wasn't given the chance to answer, Willow answered for her.

"She's hasn't been working two part-time jobs Buffy. Faith's been working two full-time jobs and picking up every single extra shift that she could get her hands on, she worked so much it was almost like she had three jobs. Not to mention that she was studying with Tara or me, every free minute she had to prepare for her GED. AND Slaying every night too. I don't know how she did it, she hardly ever got more than two hours sleep a night. She was either working or studying while you were at work, not sleeping like she told you. I know I couldn't have done it. But she did, happily, with a smile on her face and she managed to save enough money to pay for a full year's worth of classes and had enough left over for your books and stuff too. She was determined that you would go back to school and nothing was going to stop her. She knew you couldn't afford it this year and she knew how much you really wanted to go back despite what you said. That and she knew that it was what your Mom wanted for you as well. And she made us all swear not to tell you about the second job and the extra, extra, extra shifts she was working." Willow finished her babble and then looked at Faith who was glaring at her in a sort of embarrassed, angry way.

Tough shit, Wilthouthought to herself, she knew Faith would have played the whole thing down and Willow was just as determined that Buffy knew how hard Faith had worked to accomplish this for her. Willow was just glad that the tuition was reduced for Sunnydale residents or Faith might have actually worked herself to death.

"Sorry Faith," Willow gave Faith an impish smile that let Faith know, in no uncertain terms, that she wasn't sorry for telling Buffy at all.

"I can't believe you did this for me Faith. I really wanted to go back to school, I was disappointed when my request for re-admittance was rejected."

"I know B," Faith mumbled, she was blushing from the tips of her toes to the top of her head and she was uncomfortable under the intense gaze of her family.

"I can't even begin to tell you how much this means to me Faith. Thank you so much." Buffy captured Faith's mouth in a soft, sweet, but short kiss.

"It wasn't... I was happy to do it for you B..." Faith mumbled again, she had definitely trashed her bad girl rep today without a doubt. There was no way that any of them would ever not see through it again. Somehow though it didn't seem to matter to her much anymore, at least not with Buffy and not with the people here in the room with them, who were now and forever her family.

Buffy gave Faith another quick kiss and whispered another thank-you against Faith's mouth as she rose from the couch. She retrieved the one large gift that she had for Faith from underneath the tree. Now it was her turn to be nervous. She handed the box to Faith with shaky hands then sat down next to her again.

This time it was Faith who leaned close to Buffy and whispered for her ears only, "I already have everything I could ever want B. I have you, Gamin and the rest of our family. You loving me is the greatest gift anyone has ever given me..." she paused for a second and though Buffy couldn't see her, she knew Faith eyes were sparkling impishly. "But I still can't wait to see what's in the box, B."

Faith tore open the wrapping paper. It flew in every direction possible, covering both her and Buffy in almost confetti size pieces of festive colored paper. She stuck the big silver bow on the top of Buffy's head with a smirk and kissed her quickly on the cheek. The top of the box went sailing across the room; she delicately moved the tissue paper to the side so she could see what lay inside the box.

There were five smaller wrapped gifts inside of the large box, "Does it matter which I start with B?"

"Open them from left to right." Buffy's voice trembled a little with nervousness, maybe these gifts hadn't been such a good idea after all.

Faith picked up the medium sized square flat gift first, she knew it was a picture frame the second she touched it. With care she unwrapped the gift and much to her delight, it was her missing GED certificate in a simple black frame and the letter congratulating her on passing her GED.

"You know you can go to jail for stealing and opening other peoples mail B." Faith smiled at Buffy and Buffy smiled back with a secretive smile. She knew Faith had only noticed that she had passed her GED and had missed the second most important thing about the gift. That would be rectified soon enough.

The second gift in the box was a letter from Sunnydale U catulatulating Faith on her acceptance for the fall semester of Two-thousand-two as a full-time matriculated student, majoring in Psychology, with a minor in Child Development.

"Well now I know why the Dean was giving me a funny look. Looks like I wasn't the only one Willow hacked an appointment for. Was I?" Faith managed to get out, her mind reeling over the fact that she was actually going to go to college and with Buffy, Willow and Tara, no less. She had realized when she was studying for her GED just how much she actually liked learning. She had always thought she was too stupid for even kindergarten, let alone college. Slowly but surely, over the time that Willow and Tara had tutored her, both before their trip to hell and then after, they had managed to convince and show Faith that she wasn't stupid at all. They had even started teasingly calling her, The Sponge during their study sessions. She could never thank either Wicca enough for all they had done for, and still did for her; with their encouragement, they had helped her to find a newfound confidence in herself that she had never possessed before.

"Nope... The Dean must think we're both nuts. First I had to convince her to let you put in your application for admittance after the deadline, since you still had to take your GED. But it was Willow, Miss Number-One-On-The-Dean's-List herself, who really got the Dean to say yes. She told the Dean that she was tutoring you and all about how smart you are. By the end of the conversation she had the Dean convinced that you were a Mini-Me-Willow."

Buffy's last remark garnered a chuckle out of everyone in the room, including Faith who was feeling a little overwhelmed. Willow and Tara exchanged a secretive glance. They had made a solemn vow to each other never to tell either Slayer that they had caste a little spell on the Dean of the college to make her more amenable to talking with both of them about the other and allowing Buffy to return to college and Faith apply late. Considering how much it meant to both Slayers to do this for the other, there was no way the Wicca's could have left it up to simple fate or chance. So they had agreed between them to lend a magical helping hand.

"There's a little more and, well, it will mean that you have to quit your jobs. I mean that is if you want to... I sort of... Remember when we went on our first date and you said you wanted to work with underprivileged kids? I sort of, well... not sort of... I did... I went down to the center and talked to the lady, Sharon who runs the place and I kinda told her all about you and how you are with kids and how you've been with Dawn. She's been looking for someone to help her out down there, especially with the teens. Someone who can relate to them and she wants to meet you, she said if you're half as good as I made you out to be, the job is yours..." Buffy decided to stop rambling at her feet and looked up at Faith. She was greeted by the biggest smile she had ever seen on the Dark Slayer's face.

"Thank you... you just made two more of my secret wishes come true B." The words were spoken softly, but Buffy heard them loud and clear, they made her heart leap with joy.

"Open the rest of your gifts S.O.," Buffy urged Faith, hoping she liked the rest of them as much as the first two.

Faith opened the third gift, which held a yellow legal sized envelope. Inside was a document from the state of California declaring that Faith's last name had been legally changed to Liam. Also inside of the envelope was a new driver's license and social security card with her new last name on them. Her eyes flew to the admittance letter from the college and her GED certificate and she saw that both documents reflected her new last name too. She flashed back for a second to the argument she had with the man at the testing center when he refused to let her just use her first name only or Liam as her last. She had been pissed at the idea of her GED certificate showing the last name of the scum who had adopted her, but her determination and desire to get her GED overrode her anger, so she had relented and written down his last name for the first time in over five years. Hell, she hadn't even used his last name while she was in jail, she had used Smith, not even the courts could find out her real identity and she had absolutely refused to tell them.

Buffy took a deep breath and started another Willow-like babble. "I know how much you hated having his last name, Faith. And I saw how honored you were that Angel had given you his real first name for your last name on your gravestone. That made sense didn't it? Which reminds me that we really need to knock them down 'cause we're not dead! Anyway, I went to Wesley, then Giles but neither of them knew your last name... so then I asked Angel and he knew it. He helped me to get a lawyer and the lawyer got everything changed, and I mean everything. From your birth certificate to all your school records, even kindergarten. Which was why I took your GED out of the mail, I wanted to make sure that it got changed too. And before you ask, I still don't know what your old last name was, Angel only told the lawyer, not me. But... Idoknowyourmiddlenamenow NI..."

"Don't say it B!!!!" Faith's hand was over Buffy's mouth in a flash stopping her from telling everyone her middle name. She ignored the puppy dog eyes that Buffy was giving her and turned her head to glare at Angel. "You promised Soul-boy!"

"I didn't tell her I swear!" Angel shot back moving a little closer to Cordelia as if she could protect him from the Dark Slayer. Hell, he knew better than to try to call Faith by her middle name. Personally, he thought it was a pretty name, so he was puzzled why Faith loathed it so much, she had never told him and he had never pushed her to tell him.

Faith was just about to say she didn't believe him when she noticed that Tara was suddenly finding the ceiling of living room very interesting.

"Blondie..." She snarled.

"What?" Tara asked, giving Faith her all-time best shy, innocent look. It failed miserably. This time it was Tara not Buffy who decided to channel Willow, "It's on your SSN card and I was the one who got it in the mail, I kinda opened the letter and accidentally saw it? I told Buffy that I thought that your name was really cute now, has a nice ring to it... You know, Faith Nic..."

"OKAY! OKAY! I get it!!! You're forgiven... Okay!" Faith shouted, cutting Tara off, she knew sooner or later someone would slip and everyone would find out her middle name. It was inevitable with her family. "I'm gonna open the rest of my presents now... Okay?"

The fourth gift was a leather travel pouch, inside of which were two passports, one for Buffy and one for her. There were brochures for Ibiza, Spain and a vacation club bankbook. She didn't say anything she just looked at Buffy in amazement and waited for her to start babbling again.

"We don't have to go there, we can go wherever you want S.O. We still have a few months to decide. I haven't finished with the club payments yet, but I should be done by the end of the summer. They say late May or September is the best time to go there before it gets too crowded. So either, before you, we, start school in the fall or next May we can go or whenever you want. And like I said we can go wherever you want if you don't want to go there. I just... with Willow's help I found out that the author who wrote that poem you gave me with my pendant, wrote it when she was watching, what she said was the most beautiful sunset she had ever seen." Buffy paused and took in a big gulp of air before she continued.

"She had been sitting on the beach in the Cala D'Hort part of Ibiza watching the sun go down behind another smaller island that rose out of the water only a few hundred feet from her. The smaller island is called Es Vedra and it's surrounded by mystery and legend and as far as anyone knows the island supports no living thing, never has. Not animals and not plants. In the tenth century, a Carmelite priest recorded mystical revelations and meetings with unearthly beings that had been surrounded by light. To this day, fishermen refuse to fish there, saying they see gigantic circles of light emerging from the water surrounding the island. I figured it would be cool to go and see it 'cause of us being Slayers and all. But mostly I thought that you would like to see where she wrote the poem. See if we couldn't make all those things in the poem come true for you..." Buffy whispered the last part, intending for only Faith to hear her. She was grateful too that she had remembered the name of the beach and the mysterious island of Es Vedra and its history.

"You already have B... And I would love to go there with you and try to make them come true for you." Faith dipped her head down and softly kissed Buffy.

"You already have Faith..." Buffy voice held so much love for Faith in it that it was almost a physical caress in and of itself, "You have one more gift S.O.," she whispered softly.

Faith unwrapped the last small thin box with shaking hands, she had truly hit overload and was positive she was about to make a total ass out of herself when she burst out crying any second now. Her crying binge was stopped dead in its tracks when she pulled out a wide, studded, black leather collar. She lifted her head up and turned towards Buffy so fast that had anyone blinked they would have missed her moving. A wicked gleam was in her eyes and a small almost sultry smile played around her lips.

"Gettin' kinky on me B????" She had barely finished speaking, when she heard a low growl coming from the other side of her. Before she had a chance to turn her head she was hit from the side by a fast-moving, small, black, furball. A long, cold, wet tongue began to bathe her face sloppily. Then her lap was full of a six-week old bundle of joy in the form of a midnight-black, piercing blue-eyed, Siberian Husky furball known as Dusk.

"YOU GOT ME A PUPPY!" Faith shouted, bouncing up and down on the couch, Dusk decided it was a game and started to play tug-of-war with her shirt. She lifted the squirming furball up, buried her face in his thick fur and was rewarded again by sloppy wet kisses.

Faith turned a brilliant smile Buffy's way and then, as if they had read each other's minds, both Faith and Dusk decided to reward Buffy with sloppy wet kisses too. It was Buffy's turn to have a lap full of both the Dark Slayer and the Dark Furball, as Dusk was to become known as.

"Enough! Enough you two..." Buffy giggled, "I guess this means you like this present too S.O."

"I loved them all B! But how did you know I alwa..." Faith trailed off and for a timeless minute, she journeyed to hers, Buffy's and Angel's shared past and heard and saw their ghosts there.

Faith wasn't alone though, both Buffy and Angel took the trip with her.

**
"Angel?"

"Morning, sleepyhead. You know what I just can't believe? All our time together, and we never tried chains. But you can't dwell on the past. Especially with the future we have ahead."

"Bondage looks good on you, B. The outfit's all wrong, but hey."

"Faith, you don't know what you're doing."

"Really? Weird. 'Cause something about thi this just feels so right. Maybe it's one of those unhappy childhood things. See, when I was a kid, I used to beg my mom for a dog. Didn't matter what kind, I just wanted, you know, something to love. A dog's all I wanted. Well, that and toys. But Mom was so busy, you know, enjoying the drinking and passing out parts of life, that I never really got what I wanted. Until today."
**

"Faith baby?" Buffy questioned softly.

"It's okay B, it's all good. Funny thing is, I wasn't lying, ya know. I really did want a dog. But I was wrong about one thing. I didn't get what I really wanted that day. I didn't get that until the day you, 'til all of you let me back into your lives and showed me what it was to love and be loved." Faith's words touched Buffy like a loving caress.

The Chosen One's slowly leaned towards each other. Their mouths met in a delicate, loving embrace. The world for them narrowed down to just the two of them while they kissed. They forgot it was Christmas, forgot about presents, forgot about their family who was watching them and smiling indulgently. They kissed until a discreet cough finally broke into the private world they created for each other. They broke apart and saw that someone had poured champagne into the oddest assortment of mismatched flute glass any of them had ever seen and had passed them out to everyone. Mars' handed a glass to Buffy first, then Faith.

"I'd like to make a toast..." Mars' stopped, cleared his throat and Faith couldn't help but notice the slight blush that was coloring his cheeks. She decided not to tease him, she knew he was searching to find the words he wanted to say, it was something she often struggled with herself. It was funny how they were so much alike when it came to dealing with others, speaking their minds, even showing emotions, it was almost as if they truly were Father and Daughter. Mars' cleared his throat again then straightened his shoulders and began to speak.

"To all of my family, both old and new, I want to thank you for sharing this day with me. And thank you for helping me to open my eyes and see what has always been right in front of me waiting patiently all these years. For that, you all have my eternal gratitude; because of you, my life has been enriched in so many ways. I can never hope to thank you enough for this. Because of you all, I have been given a precious gift I never thought I wanted, needed or would have, the love of a family and the love of a young woman I am proud to call my daughter. Thank all of you. May every holiday or special occasion... Nay... May every day for all of us, be as full of warmth, laughter, joy and love as today has been."

His toast was greeted with loud, "We love you too," from all, and no one ever mentioned the few tears that escaped from all of their eyes that every single one of them tried to hide.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Continued in Chapter XXXII – Breathing & Everything (Part D)