One More Time: Normal Again
by Sulks
Rating: PG-13

It'd been over a month since Buffy found Faith in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and while the Slayers spoke almost nightly on the telephone, Faith still hadn't returned to Sunnydale. She gave her reasons: she had a lot to deal with, things she needed to take care of from her "old" life as Sarah Rowe, and she was also dealing with the Watcher's Council who had many questions for the dark-haired Slayer. Buffy wished Faith would let her help, but Faith insisted that everything was "five by five," and their conversations mostly revolved around the things that went on in Sunnydale and vampire slaying. Buffy was glad that Faith was even talking to her, considering their relationship had been very nearly destroyed because of her infidelity.

It was February again, and Buffy thought wistfully of the previous Valentine's Day, when everything between she and Faith had been so perfect. Anya and Xander were back together now, and they were just *so* happy to have each other back. Dawn had a boyfriend who was constantly doting on her. She didn't appreciate the fact that he was a *senior* in high school, but Buffy could tell the guy really cared about Dawn. He and Dawn had gone out, of course, and Buffy felt truly pathetic for walking home from work, alone on Valentine's Day. More than likely, she'd end up eating one of the Stouffer's microwave meals for dinner. She remembered the French restaurant she'd gone to with Faith, the year before and learning that Faith had lived in New Orleans for a while, picking up a little bit of French. It was tiny things like that that made Buffy fall in love with Faith.

She walked morosely into the house, and up the stairs, seeing that her bedroom light was on. She rolled her eyes, "I'm going to have to talk to Dawn about going into my room without my permission and about leaving the lights on when she leaves," Buffy muttered, somewhat crossly. She was jealous of her younger sister, and she felt once again, positively pathetic. She opened the door to her room, and her mouth dropped open.

"Faith..."

Faith grinned at her. "I got your flowers," she said simply.

Buffy hadn't even realised that it Valentine's Day was near until the day before. She ended up ringing five different flower shops, begging them to deliver a bouquet of flowers to Faith. She finally found one that would, and paid an exorbitant amount of money for them to deliver a bunch of red and yellow roses-- the red symbolising romantic intentions, of course. Yellow roses were a symbol of friendship, and Buffy wanted to let Faith know that whatever happened between then, Faith would always have Buffy's friendship.

"Aahh!!" Buffy yelled happily, leaping into Faith's arms. She really hoped it wasn't a dream. She pinched herself just to be sure.

"Come on," Faith said softly, pulling on Buffy's hand. "Get packed, we're going on a trip."

"What?"

"We're going on a trip, I made some reservations at a hotel in Montecito. We'll spend some time on the beach, and then we can come back here..."

"But..but...Dawn and..."

"Dawnie knows, and Anya said she and X-man would check up on her, and make sure she's okay. Spike said he'd make sure Dawnie came home by midnight tonight and that he'd do the patrol, so we're in the clear, B. Unless...I mean, unless you don't want to go?" Faith said tentatively, biting her lip.

"No, that's not it! I want to go," Buffy said quickly, combating the wave of insecurity she saw in Faith's eyes. "I'm just...I'm surprised...I can't believe you were really here. When we talked on the phone last night, you said you weren't sure when you were coming back..."

"I was trying to *surprise* you," Faith said, wrinkling her brow. "I guess I did it too well, huh? Like that episode of Friends when Chandler tried to make Monica think he never wanted to get married, but that freaked her out and then Richard came back."

Buffy laughed gently. "God, you and that show."

Faith laughed with her. "I've missed watching it with Dawn. I can't wait to start again..."

"Does that mean you're moving back in?" Buffy asked hopefully.

"I don't know," Faith said honestly, "I still have some stuff to take care of...why don't you just get packed, and we'll go to the beach and have some fun? We'll be back in a few days, and all our problems will still be here..."

"Okay," Buffy agreed happily. She grabbed a duffel bag from her closet and began packing.

An hour later, they were on the road towards Montecito, a town near Santa Barbara known for its rather posh tastes. They grabbed an intimate dinner along the way, and Buffy couldn't quite believe her luck. They checked into a cosy hotel, and spent nearly an hour in the large bathtub, eating the fruit basket that had been left there.

"I'm all pruney," Buffy said unhappily, rubbing at her fingers. "Gross!"

Faith laughed, and took one of the digits into her mouth, sucking gently. "I kinda like you like that, makes me think we'll grow old together."

"Really?" Buffy asked softly.

"Yeah." Faith looked away. "I wonder if we'll get porn in here."

"Faith!"

"I'm just *kidding*, B. Geez. Mellow out."

Buffy hit her with a pillow, and the two of them fell giggling into the bed, eventually falling asleep.

The blonde awoke to something tickling her nose. She swiped at her nose, and then heard Faith softly chuckling. Buffy cocked open an eye and saw Faith grinning at her, holding a feather that had come out from the pillows. "Morning," Faith greeted.

"Mmm...morning," Buffy said, smiling contently. She reached over and pulled Faith to her, "God, I missed doing this," she murmured, softly stroking Faith's arm. She traced her fingers over Faith's tattoo, before she brought her face down to kiss it and run her tongue over it. "I've missed you so much..."

"I've missed you too, B." Faith said.

Buffy placed her hand over Faith's stomach and rubbed it gently. Faith's eyes pooled with tears.

"What's wrong?" Buffy asked, alarmed.

"I lost my baby," Faith choked out. "Two weeks ago."

Buffy sat up. "What? God...are you okay?" she breathed. She laid back down and hugged Faith closer to her, relieved that Faith didn't push her away. There was a time when Faith would have, even in the best of times.

"I'm fine," Faith said, "doctors said it was stress-related or something...it's no big deal...it's just...I...it's been a hard year." Faith's voice broke on the last part.

"I know it has," Buffy crooned, "oh, honey..."

Faith began to cry. "So much for being strong, huh?" she joked, her voice tinged with self-loathing.

"You are strong," Buffy said firmly. "But you don't have to do it all on your own. You have me."

"Enough of this crap," Faith said, with a smile, "it's *our* weekend. Let's go get breakfast, and then we'll go sightseeing, okay?"

"Okay," Buffy said, not wanting to push her girlfriend who so obviously wasn't ready to talk.

They went to eat breakfast, and then changed into bikinis, and went to the beach. Buffy watched and laughed as Faith stood on the shore and waved at the ocean. Later they drove around the picturesque town. "One good thing about being Chris' little bitch is that I got compensated pretty well," Faith joked as she bought Buffy some silk flowers. Buffy didn't laugh with her.

"You're not laughing," Faith said softly.

"It's not really that funny," Buffy sighed. "I hate what he did to you..."

Faith waved her hand dismissively, "it's five by five, I'm over it."

"I don't really think you are, honey. I wish you'd just *talk* to me about it--"

Faith placed a finger over Buffy's lips. "I'm over it," she said softly. "But I'm not ready to talk about it yet. But you know you'd be the first I tell it to, okay? I just need time."

"Okay," Buffy relented.

They came back Monday evening, just in time for a re-run of Friends on the WB. "Hi," Faith said, dropping her duffel bag on the floor. Dawn snapped her head in Faith's direction.

"Faith!" Dawn leapt on her friend. "You're back! Yeay!"

Faith laughed, and ruffled Dawn's hair. She wrapped her arm around Dawn's slender shoulders and reached out with her other arm to bring Buffy close to her. "Watching Friends?" Faith asked, grinning.

"Yeah! Sit down!" The three of them huddled on the sofa.

"Let's order a pizza," Faith said, grinning lazily.

"Yeah, let's!" Dawn said, reaching over and throwing a handful of popcorn in her mouth.

Buffy laughed in exasperation, as she reached for the phone.

"How was your trip?" Dawn asked.

"It was good," Faith said softly, yawning. "Tired though."

"It's so good to see you..."

"It's good to see you too, kiddo."

Buffy gazed at both of them with a broad smile, it felt like things were normal again for the first time in almost a year. There were still lots of things to work out, but she hadn't felt so happy in a long time.

...continued in Breakable...