Faith
"We should be arriving at Sunnydale in 10 minutes folks!" The bus driver declared proudly.
Faith sighed and looked out the window, wondering why she had agreed with Angel's suggestion to come and help Buffy in Sunnydale. What was the point? Buffy was just going to try and kill her as soon as she saw her. She briefly considered staying on the bus and going wherever it would take her, but then, Angel had called to give Buffy the heads up, so there was really no escape. If she didn't arrive, Buffy would come looking for her.
"Sunnydale!" The driver called, opening the door.
Faith grabbed her bag off the seat next to her, stepped off the bus and started for Buffy's house. She reached it in less than 20 minutes, the whole time cursing Sunnydale for being so small. She stood on the porch staring at the door, unable to raise her arm and knock.
What's the big deal? Come on, you can knock on a stupid door, Faith thought to herself.
She knocked on the door, regretting it as soon as it was opened. Buffy stood in the doorway, looking unimpressed, but nonetheless, stepping back to let her in. Faith followed her into the lounge room.
"Hey, B. How've ya been?"
"Dead. You?" Buffy frowned, and Faith wondered if she was ever going to remove the stake from her behind.
"Jail."
Suddenley Buffy let loose and caught Faith off guard with a right hook. Faith retaliated by spinning and knocking Buffy to the ground with a powerful roundhouse kick. Buffy stared up at Faith for a few seconds before flipping up onto her feet and raising her fists. Faith reached out and put them down.
"Now that we've gotten that out of the way, can we talk like normal people?" Faith sighed again.
"You're not normal, Faith, you're a killer."
"Oh and you're just the poster child for normal, ain't ya, B? Look, I didn't come here to fight with ya, I came to help. And, God, get over it... I thought you might've changed over time, but apparently not. You're still the same holier-than-thou Buffy. Don't you ever get tired of behaving like this?"
"Let's get this straight, things are still not ok with us. But... I'm willing to put our differences aside and work with you."
"Thanks, B. You're real mature. So, where do I crash?"
Buffy led Faith into Dawn's room. "You stay here for now, Dawn... she's not here for awhile. We'll work something out when she comes back."
"Thanks. Oh and B... nice hair."
Buffy gave a small smile and closed the door. Faith threw her bag on the ground and jumped onto the bed.
Buffy/Willow
Buffy was pissed. She just couldn't accept that Faith was trying to make amends. She just had this feeling, deep inside, that Faith was just trying to play them again. She walked into the living room, and sat down, not even noticing that Willow was watching her.
"You just don't think it's possible, do you?" Willow asked.
"Huh? What now?"
"You don't think it's possible that Faith honestly has changed. You just see her as a murderer, someone who betrayed you, and nothing else. I'm right, aren't I?" Buffy sighed.
"I guess so. I mean, I know that Angel and everyone keeps saying how Faith has changed, how she's working for redemption and all that, but I just can't see it."
"Have you looked for it?"
"Huh?" Willow took a deep breath. She didn't want to upset Buffy. Buffy was stubborn and hot-tempered, and had a habit of thinking that she was the only one who could ever be right.
"Listen, I understand Faith a lot better than you do. The same way I understand Wesley, and Andrew and Anya and Spike. We've all gone into the darkness. We've all made mistakes, we've killed. Well, except for Wesley, he jkust chained a girl in a closet for a few months, but anyways, we've all made mistakes, unforgiveable mistakes. We're all equal, in our sinning. You need to see that. Can't you see that?" Buffy tried to speak but Willow held up her hand, cutting the other girl off.
"Listen, we've all made the same mistakes, Faith, Andrew, Spike, Anya and I. We're all feeling insane guilt for what we've done. So, if you have it in you to forgive me, and to forgive Spike, and even Anya, and Andrew, you can do it for Faith. You've helped me, helped to bring me back from the dark, given me a second chance. I'm just asking you to extend Faith the same olive branch. PLease, just think about it." And with that, Willow got up and headed off to bed, without letting BUffy justify her mistakes or her stubbornness. Hopefully she would come around, and fast. Faith needed their understanding and their acceptance. She needed love.