Dearly Beloved

*****************
Chapter 1
*****************

Faith had always hated waiting, even if it was for the most beautiful woman on the planet. She especially hated waiting in front of a large group of people, all of whom it seemed were watching her.

“Wes, how many grooms do you think have ever tortured the bestman?” She inquired of the man to her right in a matching tux.

“Literally?” She nodded “Not many, but then this is an unconventional wedding in pretty much every respect. How many brides do you think have ever arrested and jailed the groom? How many people invite as guests to their weddings, mostly people that they’ve tried to kill at one time, or another?”

“Yeah…”

*****

As Faith took her first free step in three years, she was finally pondering her future. She’d never really bothered before because she didn’t plan to have one. Now she had to find a job, become a useful member of society, or her hard won freedom would be short lived.

Her first priority was to find her ride, cause Angel had promised to have someone meet her, to bring her to his new offices.

That’s when she spotted the beautiful blond waiting beside what looked like Angel’s car.

“Faith?” the woman asked.

“That’s me. Why do you look familiar?”

“I’m the detective who took your confession. I’m Kate”

“Oh!”

“Don’t worry, I’m not a cop anymore. I’m actually your parole officer, and on the side I help Angel out.”

“You’re my parole officer?” The blond nodded “Cause I was told I had to meet my PO next tuesday, at her office.”

“Yeah, that’s when our first appoinment is. I’m here cause Cordy and Wes had meetings, and Gunn doesn’t know you. Angel wanted you to be met by someone that knew you. Anyway get in the car, and I’ll take you to see Angel.”

*****

Angel had hired Faith as a “Receptionist” which meant that she answered the phone and killed demons, not necessarily in that order. Six months passed with Faith silently pining for Kate, but not wanting to wreck the friendship that had developed between the two women.

Then one day as they were having lunch at a cafe down the street from the office she decided to follow the old advice that fate and fortune favour the bold.

“Kate?”

The ex-detective looked up from her burger and said “Yeah Faith?”

Faith reached into her pocket and grabbed her wallet, and got out a 5 to pay for her lunch, preparing herself to bolt from the restaurant if the old philosophers turned out to be wrong. Then looked into Kate’s beautiful blue eyes and said “Kate, I have this wicked serious attraction to you, and wanted to know if you’d come out with me friday evening? Like to a movie, or a club, or something?”

“I can’t Fai…” Kate realised that she was alone at the table, Faith having followed through on her plan to bolt if she got rejected.

*****

Ten minutes later in the offices of Angel Investigations

“Faith we need to talk.” Kate said seriously.

“About what?” Faith asked like she had no idea, like nothing had happened.”

Kate just grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and dragged her out into the courtyard, then spun her around but stayed well within Faith’s personal space.

“You really should let someone finish telling you why they can’t date you before bolting from the table.” Faith continued to glare sullenly at the blond “Faith I can’t date you, because you’re under my care as a parole officer, it wouldn’t be fair. And I can’t arrange for you to get another PO by this friday.”

Faith’s jaw made a sudden plummet to somewhere around her belly button. “Next friday should be no problem though”

*****************
Chapter 2
*****************

Monday morning Kate walked into the office that she used for her day job, looking for all the world like a woman on a mission.

“Ken?” she inquired of one of her co-workers “could you do me a favour?”

“Sorry Kate, but like I’ve told you I’m married.” Ken joked. Then he noticed the serious look in her eyes “Like what?”

“I have a parole I need to get someone else to take care of, and I was wondering if you could do it. She’s a good kid, you’d only have to see her once a month.”

“Why would you want to pawn off a kid that it sounds like you actually think might make it as a real member of society? I mean, normally when you get a person like that you try to keep them on the straight and narrow path to success, not put them under my damaging care.”

“The girl and I have developed a friendship that seems to be heading towards being something more, deeper. But for that to happen I can’t be in a position of power over her, right now I’m stuck in a semi-parental role with her, and she didn’t have a good childhood.”

“So lemme get this straight. You want me to be her PO so the two of you can date? Damn, Kate you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Definitely” Kate said with a smile that lit up the room.

*****

Cordelia thought that this was one of the strangest things that she’d ever done, which was odd since for the first seventeen years of her life this was what she did for fun. This was of course picking out and buying clothes. The part that made it weird was the fact that she was shopping with Faith.

“No!” She scolded Faith. “Kate told me to make sure that you wore something not too dressy but not too slutty, either.” The ‘dress’ the brunette was rejecting could barely be a shirt on the slayer, not to mention the amount of skin it showed on her torso. She picked up a nice summer dress, held it out to Faith and said “Try this”

“My grandmother wore dresses like that.”

“Do you want my help, or do you want to screw things up with Kate already? Cause personally I don’t care, but I would like to see both you and Kate A) Stop mooning over each other from across any room you’re both in and B) be happy. So listen to me, and try this dress on.” Faith looked at the former cheerleader, re-evaluating her analysis of her character. She still tended to think of Cordy as the rich bitch from sunnyhell. This new strong independent Cordelia had was a force to be reckoned with, Faith thought as she took the dress into the change room.

*****

Finally the familiar wedding march started playing, and Faith turned her head trying to see her beloved in the wedding dress that she’d heard so much about. Leading the procession was a niece of Kate’s looking incredibly cute as the flower girl. She was followed by Cordelia and Kate’s sister, Julie, the bridesmaids.

Faith thought she was going to feint when she caught sight of Kate in her dress. It felt to her like all the air had been sucked out of the church.

“Breathe, cause I’m not ready to get married” came the whispered command from Wesley. In the dress Kate could be called stunning even heart stopping, even though, as usual, she was having the opposite effect on Faith’s heart rate. Her heart was racing, and her breathing was fast and furious.

“Calm down, you still have to actually get married. If you feint she’ll never let you live it down.”

At those words Faith started doing a meditation Wesley had taught her, as a way to help her control her anger when it started to push at a Faith. She decided that it was also good for anxiety attacks.

TBC I just don't know how or when........
*****************
Chapter 3
*****************

*****
Kate had been very happy with the dress that Cordy had chosen, saying that it was perfect for her plans for the evening.
Which turned out to be a dark little blues club, with a live band belting out the slow sensuous beat. After getting a
table, and ordering a plate of nachos Kate looked Faith in the eyes and said, “So toots, ya wanna dance?” with an raised
eyebrow, and a smile.
“Sure but don’t let my old man catch us, cause he’s a cop and he’ll make both our lives a living hell.” Faith said with a
laugh, as Kate pulled her to her feet and onto the dance floor.
Faith hadn’t danced with another woman, at least not really danced since that night with Buffy, the night everything
started to go wrong. But she wouldn’t dwell on the past, not even the similarities between her dancing partners. She was a
new woman, and though she wouldn’t forget the past, nor would she let it determine her future.
As she and Kate moved in sync to the slow almost erotic beat, Faith felt something she’d not felt in years. Safe.
Completely safe, even knowing that she was giving her heart to another didn’t diminish her feeling of safety.
*****
As she waited for Kate to get to the alter, Faith scanned the pews seeking out her friends faces. There was Buffy, sitting
with her sister Dawn on one side and her girlfriend Amy on the other, Willow sitting very close to her lover Tara, Giles,
Xander and Anya, Faith wished Joyce could be there, she’d loved the woman way more then her own mother. She really
couldn’t understand why they had come.
She’d invited them cause they were the closest thing she’d had to real friends before going to prison, but after the very
literal bad blood between them she’d never actually thought that they’d come.
She remembered the first time Buffy’d come to see her after her release…
*****
Walking into work Faith looked around, taking in cordy and Wes arguing in one corner of the lobby, Gunn sharpening his axe
on the couch, and a blond sitting with her back towards her.
“Why you here, Kate?” She inquired of the blonde putting her hand on the person she thought was Kate, only to have her hand
shrugged violently off.
“I’m not Kate” Came the cold reply.
//Oh God it’s Buffy. I can’t fight her again, but I don’t want to die. Please God I just found Kate, don’t hurt her by
taking me now.// Faith panicked.
The blond turned to look Faith in the eyes, and saw her panicked expression.
“Don’t worry. I’m not here to hurt you. I just want to talk.”
“B, the last time you and I communicated in a meaningful fashion, I took an eight month nap.” Faith, falling back in to her
old pattern of attacking first, said.
“I don’t have a weapon, Angel already checked. I just want to make sure that you’re not still dangerous. Cordy, Angel,
Wesley and Gunn, is it?” She inquired, and getting a nod, continued “Say that you’re different, more open, sane, and in
control. I’ll trust their judgement on that. But I really need to talk to you.” She looked at Cordelia, who was pretending
not to listen. “In private.”
“We could go to my room, or the gym if you’d like to spar.” Faith offered, a challenge in her voice. Plus she knew that the
closed circuit TV system in the gym would allow the others to watch but not listen in.
“The Gym sounds like fun. Giles is no fun to spar with, so I haven’t had a good sparing partner since Riley left.”


Five minutes later the two slayers were finishing stretching out in the gym. “So B what did you want to say to me.” Faith
asked as she took her fighting stance.
Buffy launched a kick at the brunette’s midsection. “Actually this is going to sound strange but I want to apologize for
stabbing you in the gut.”
Faith easily blocked the kick, and threw a spinning back fist which Buffy caught and turned into a hip toss.
“Aren’t you going to say something?” Buffy asked as she swept the landing girl’s feet out from under her.
“I’m still trying to decide what to say.” Faith threw a punch “I mean I’ve never had someone apologize for stabbing me in
the gut before.” She executed a fast roundhouse kick that caught Buffy in the shoulder. “I mean do I have to accept your
apology?” She asked as Buffy rolled around and kicked her in the back of the knee.
“I don’t know, I just know that Giles once told me that to forgive was an act of kindness, given not because the person
deserved it but because they needed it. I came here today to tell you that I forgive you, and to ask you to forgive me.”
Buffy said as she punched at Faith’s head.
Unfortunatly Faith’s mind chose that moment to process the blonde’s words, and her body froze. Which meant that the fist
hit Faith unblocked in the jaw. Faith flew five feet and lay on the mat, stunned more by the idea of being forgiven then
the punch.
“Oh God Faith.” Buffy yelled “Are you Ok?”
“I’ll be fine, did you get the number of that truck?” Faith joked looking into the other slayer’s eyes and seeing genuine
concern.
“Let’s get an ice pack, and a cup of coffee for the rest of our conversation, OK?” Buffy said with a smile.


As the two slayers walked out of the gym and into the lobby, the door opened and Kate walked in.
“What the hell happened to you?” She asked looking at the bruise forming on her girlfriend’s cheek.
“Buffy hit me” Faith offered weakly.
“What?” Came the enraged cry from Cordy, Wes, Angel, Gunn, and Kate.
“I forgot to duck.”
“Buffy!” Angel growled.
“Really Angel, we were sparring, I told her something and she froze, just as I threw a punch.
“She’s telling the truth, Boss.” Faith said as Kate led her over to the couch, where Wesley met them with an ice pack.
“What could possibly make the slayer freeze in the middle of a fight?” Kate asked the woman she loved.
“She told me she forgives me, and asked my forgivness.” was Faith’s whispered reply, as she tucked her face into her
beloved’s shoulder and started to cry.
“Why did Faith freeze.” Cordy asked because no one except a vampire, or a slayer could have heard the young woman’s reply
at a distance of more then two feet. Ange;l leaned over to the former cheerleader and told her what he’d heard. Cordelia’s
jaw hit the floor.
“Could you guy’s give Faith and I a couple minutes, we still have to finish our conversation.” Buffy asked when Faith had
stopped crying.
 

*****
*****************
Chapter 4
*****************

Looking at Buffy sitting all snuggled up to Amy, Faith still couldn’t believe those words she’d
heard. After all she’d at most expected Buffy to warn her to stay out of Sunnydale, and away from
her friends. But the blonde slayer looked her right in the eyes and forgave her. Forgave her for
stealing her body, fogave her for sleeping with her boyfriend, forgave her for trying to kill her
mother, forgave her two murders, forgave everything. The conversation after that point had been a
bit awkward…


*****
“How can you forgive me, B?” Faith asked looking Buffy straight in the eye. “And what about your
friends? How are they going to take the news that you came down here to forgive and forget
instead of punch and kick.”
“Who said that I was going to forget?” Buffy asked, “Cause it wasn’t me. I forgive you but I know
that I will remember for the rest of my days the hurt you caused, the names of the people that
you killed. What I said was that I forgive you. I’m tired of being angry at you, of feeling
betrayed by you. I need the closure, I need to move beyond that part of my life. I have a sister
to take care of, and a beautiful girlfriend that needs my love, I just don’t have the energy it
takes to hate you anymore. I want to try to be friends again. It’ll take time, but I want to get
to know the new you.”
“Why?” Faith said tears starting for in the corners of her eyes. “Kate, she never saw me at my
worst, Cordy and Wes accept me cause Angel does, but you saw everything, you were there when my
madness happened. You saw me kill Finch. You saw me about to murder your mother. You have more
reason then anyone to hate me, so why offer forgiveness.” Then Faith saw the hurt in Buffy’s eyes
when she mentioned her mother. “Shit, I forgot, Angel told me she died. I’m sorry Buffy, your
mother was one on the kindest people I ever knew. I wanted to send a card, but didn’t think it
would be appropriate.”
“Thank you. It’s so hard, taking care of Dawn, going to school, making sure the bills are paid. I
don’t know if I’d get through it without the gang, and recently Amy.”
“Amy?”
“I don’t think that you ever met, she was a witch that went to our high school, but she turned
herself into a rat, and it took a while for Willow and Tara to find a reversal. Her father had
been killed by vampires, and she had nowhere to stay so I took her in. She helped around the
house while finishing up at high school, making up for the semester that she disappeared. Over
time we fell in love.”
“I’m happy for you, B”
“So what’s going on with you and the blonde. Wait a sec, isn’t she the one who took your
confession.”
“That’s her. She got fired, then got a job as a parole officer, and that’s how we met again. It
turned out that we both had feelings for eachother, so she got me transferred to another PO, and
we started dating two months ago. I think I’m falling in love with her.”
Faith was startled when the blond grabbed her and pulled her into a fierce hug. “Congratulations
Faith, I hope the two of you are very happy.”
“You and Amy too!”
*****
As Kate got closer to the front, Faith’s left knee started to shake, just a bit.
“Stop fidgeting!” Wesley ordered. “For Kate’s sake stand still, and be the beautiful woman that
she wants to marry, show her that you can be an lady.”
“I’m the groom, I’m supposed to at least think about making a dash for it.”
“You’d never make it. Willow, Amy, and Tara supposedly promised that you’d leave this church
either married, or dead, and those three can back that statement up. So Stop Fidgeting”
*****
*****************
Chapter 5
*****************

Thanks go out to BayBeeJune who took a look at a chunck of this. I still don't really like the Dialog between Willow and
Faith, but it'll have to do. Thanks also to Carol Clarke, Laurie, Lisa, Tera Hourie, WlfGrrl(Who offered suggestions for
the wedding vows, if I ever get that far), Charlotte, Eos, and anyone I managed to forget who replied to my shameless
begging.



As Kate took another step, Faith’s eyes stopped on Willow and Tara. It’d taken a long time for willow to even talk to her,
and the forgiving process was not complete. But still the redhead had agreed to attend the wedding and, if the smile on her
face meant anything she was going to cry. Faith thought of the last time she’d seen the hacker in tears.
*****
“I want to forgive you Faith, to trust you again, but when I look… When I look at you I see the woman who held a knife to
my throat and brought me to her boss!” Said the redhead as she leaned against her girlfriend, studiously inspecting the
table top.
“If I could take back what I did, make it so it never happened. The only good thing I got from my time with the mayor is
her.” Faith replied quietly looking at Kate with absolute love and adoration in her eyes. “Really all my life until the day
she picked me up outside the jail was a waste. I did some good, and a lot of bad, but until I met Kate I never knew how bad
my life had really been. I regret so much. Tara, I’m sorry for what I said that night in the Bronze when I’d stolen Buffy’s
body. It was true, but I could have been a lot more sensitive. I could see the love in your eyes and I think part of me was
jealous, because no one had ever looked at me that way.”
“I look at you that way.” Kate murmured into her ear.
“Yeah but you love me, before I met you no one had ever really tried that.”
Willow decided to say what she’s come to say, before the couple opposite them started making out. “We… We could have done a
better job of being friends with you, Faith, and I know why I never tried. I was.. I was jealous. I saw someone who was all
the things I wasn’t, things I thought I could never be. Strong, sexual, confident, and direct. I thought that you’d make
Buffy realize what a… What a mistake she was making being friends with me. So I tried, I’d like to say it was subconscious,
but it wasn’t, I tried to drive a wedge between you and Buffy. I made snide comments, I implied things, and I eventually
forced Buffy to choose between us. She didn’t realize the choice she was facing. I.. I…” Willow stopped her babble when
Tara put her hand on her arm. “I’m sorry about how I treated you, back in Sunnydale.”
“I’m sorry for a lot of what went on between us too. The trying to take over the role of Buffy’s bestfriend, sleeping with
Xander, trying to kill Angel, and the major thing being the whole knife to the throat, and taking you to my boss,
expecting, to be honest, hoping he’d tell be to kill you.” Faith shook her head, to clear the images. “I won’t, no, can’t
ask you to forgive what I did, all I can do is ask you to give me another chance. Please?” Faith looked Willow in the eyes,
trying to show how sincere she was.
“I can see the sincerity in your eyes, and I want to believe you. I’ll give you your new chance, but if you try to harm the
people I care about again, I’ll destroy you. I’ll burn your skin off, I’ll turn you into a mosquito, I’ll, I’ll…”Again
Willow was halted mid-babble by Tara’s light squeeze of her hand. “Please don’t betray my trust again, I would like us all
to be friends. I want us all to be able to gather as friends for birthday parties, Christmas, whatever.”
“Thank you.” Faith said quietly. “I’ll try to be worthy of the trust you’re showing me.”
“May the Goddess guide you to your redemption, and grant you happiness along the way!” With those words of blessing, and a
smile the witches left the diner
*****
Faith continued to scan the pews, as Kate drew closer, next stopping on Xander. When she’d seen him for the first time
after being in prison, she’d been surprised how well things had gone. After all she’d slept with him then thrown him out,
then tried to strangle him.
*****
“I forgive you Faith”
Faith’s jaw hit the table. “Wh… Wh… What?” She stammered. She’d been expecting hostility.
Xander pointed at the woman he’d brought with him to the Hyperion. “See my girlfriend?” Faith nodded eyeing the woman who
was dividing her time between glaring at faith and Xander, and glaring at Cordelia. “She spent eleven hundred years as a
vengeance demon, avenging the wrongs men committed against women. I forgive her, how can I not forgive you. I don’t like
the things she did, and I don’t like what you did, but I forgive you both.”
“Really?” Faith asked still sure this was some sort of trick.
“Yeah, I forgive you.” Xander said, then switched to a stage whisper “So where’s this gorgeous blonde Buffy and Willow were
raving about”
Anya was halfway across the room by the time Faith looked up, and Xander was protesting his innocence. “Honest honey I
love you, I never even look at other women.”
“And if caught him looking at my Kate, I’d have to hurt him, just a bit. I’m sure Willow’d understand.”
Anya grabbed Xander by the ear, then started talking to Faith as if nothing strange was happening, totally ignoring
Xander’s protestations of pain. “Willow said you were happier, and Tara said that your aura was a lot less conflicted then
the last time she saw you. They said you didn’t seem about to go on a killing spree, at least not killing humans. So I’ll
just drag Xander here back to Sunnydale so he can give me orgasms. Bye Cordelia!”
“Bye Anya!” The former cheerleader said. “Bye Xander”
Bye was the last thing Xander said before being dragged out the door by the ear, right past Kate who was coming to pick up
her girlfriend for lunch.
“What’s that about.” Kate asked chuckling.
“That was Xander and his girlfriend leaving.” Faith said as she gathered Kate in for a long Kiss.
“Get a room” Cordy shouted across the foyer.
“We have a room, we just don’t have the time right now. Kate ahs to be back at the office in less then an hour.” Faith said
winking at the seer.
“Then knock it off, and go get lunch.”
“Yes Ma’am!” The lovers said snapping to attention and saluting.
“If you two are still here in 5 seconds, I’ll find you some work to do.”
By the time she got to three she was alone in the foyer. “Works every time”
*****
*****************
Chapter 6
*****************

With one final step Kate arrived at the alter. As the priest began the ceremony, Fith couldn’t help thinking about Giles,
the man who’d been her watcher, and her friend. The man she betrayed. The man who forgave her without even being asked.

*****
Giles and Anya both looked up when the bell over the door, rang, announcing customers. Then they recognized Willow, Tara,
Buffy, and Amy, and realised that there would be no sale, and went back to what they were doing. That is until one of the
newcomers they hadn’t noticed spoke.
“Swanky digs Giles!” Faith said, looking around.
“Faith, it’s good to see you.” Giles said sincerely. “But if I may ask why are you here?”
“You see, it’s like this. When I came to Sunnydale, you became the closest thing I’d ever had to a father. And so I’m here
seeking you approval.”
“My approval? Of what?” Giles inquired perplexed.
“My fiancé, of course.” Faith replied with a huge grin.
“Faith, are you telling me that you’re getting married, and that you want me to approve the gentleman in question? I
thought Buffy mentioned a gorgeous blonde, or some such thing.”
“Gorgeous? Really?” The other woman that had entered the store asked. “Thank you Buffy.”
Buffy smiled, then got elbowed in the ribs by her girlfriend. “She’s not as beautiful as you aims, but she’s still way
cuter then faith deserves.”
“Nice recovery.” Willow commented
“Back to the point. Giles I’d like you to meet my intended, Kate Lockley. Kate, meet Rupert Giles, my former watcher.”
“Hey Faith, I bet I can make you cry uncle, if you’ve got the guts to spar with me that is. Plus that’ll give Giles and
Kate time to settle on a dowry.”
“You’re so going down, B” Faith replied, following the other slayer into the back room. They were quickly followed by the
rest of the gang, leaving Giles and Kate alone.
“So you’re the woman who’s helped Faith regain her sanity.”
“That’d be me, although she did do most of the work. All I did is fell in love.” Kate replied honestly.
“I’m still not sure what we’re supposed” Giles was interrupted by a loud crash “to be talking about?” Giles said as if
nothing out of the ordinary was happening.
“What was that?”
“Oh one of the girls threw the other into the wall, nothing really serious.”
“Nothing serious?”
“Yes, well, I’ve seen each of those two girls break a quarterstaff across the other’s back, so I’m fairly certain that
unless they start using swords, there’s very little chance of any serious injury.” As Giles finished his statement the
sound of two swords clanging against each other rang out through the store. “Ok, maybe we should go take a look.”
As the two entered the back of the shop, they stopped in amazement. The two slayers were fighting with fencing foils, at an
amazing speed. And yet neither was winning or losing. Each parry, cut, and thrust was blocked and returned. Suddenly Faith
kicked Buffy’s foil from her hand, then drew back her arm to score the winning blow when her sword joined the first,
hovering in mid air.
“Hey no fair using magic in a sword fight.” Faith exclaimed, looking over at the crowd, where Amy was holding a hand out
towards the two floating swords. “Hey B, you need your girlfriend to do your fighting for you?”
“No, I don’t” Buffy replied shooting a dirty look at her girlfriend “But she does do it so well.” She continued her gaze
softening as she looked at the woman she loved. “Hey Aims, she her how to fly.”
“Shit” Was the first word out of Faith’s mouth as she felt her feet leave the ground. Then she saw Buffy start a
roundhouse, and knew she’d be unable to block it.
“Buffy!” came the stern reproach from Giles, which stopped Buffy’s kick, just before contact.
“Fine, spoilsport.”
“Amy, put her down.” Faith slowly lowered to the ground. “Faith what can I say, if she makes you happy she meets my
approval, so long as I’m invited to the wedding.”
“Thank you Giles.” Faith Shouted as she crossed the room in the blink of an eye to gather the watcher in a bear hug.
“So are the rest of us invited?” Buffy asked as she pulled Faith off of her oxygen starved watcher.
“Of course, B, of course.”
“So which one of you is getting the wedding shower, which one gets the bachelor party? Anya asked. “I used to get so much
work because of bachelor parties.” Her eyes glazed over, as her mind drifted into the past.
“I think she meant who’s going to be the groom, and who’s going to be the bride.” Tara volunteered.
“I’d have to agree with Tara.” Willow put in.
“Big surprise there!” Faith commented sarcastically, then said to Buffy “Do you think Will’d agree with Tara, if she
suggested gutting Willow, cause I’d put the odds somewhere around 50-50.”
“More like 60-40 in favour of her agreeing with her better half.”
“Hey” came the somewhat angry exclamation from the witches.
“I’d never want to gut Willow. I like her parts just where the are.”
“Really cause I like Kate’s parts here, but they look better stretched across my bed, wearing nothing but a smile.” Faith
said, making everyone blush, except for Giles, who being British is incapable of blushing.
“Faith, sweetie” Kate said.
“Yes my love.” Faith replied.
“If you ever say something like that in public again, you’ll never see me in that position again.”
“Gotcha!” Faith said, then looked at the group, and apologized “I’m sorry if I offended any of you.”
*****
Faith snapped back to reality as the priest said “The groom will now present her vows.”
*****************
Chapter 7
*****************
Oh God the vows, Faith thought, remembering the day she drove down to Sunnydale, to ask her friends to help her write them.
*****
“I can’t do this” Faith practically wailed, sitting at the table in the Magic Box.
“Yes you can, and you will.” Willow said determined to help her new friend. “I’ll sweat blood if I have to, but you will
get married saying beautiful words, and I will help you write them. Now look at this picture of Kate.” Willow held the
picture in front of Faith’s face. “Now tell me why you want to marry her.”
“Because I love her, because she accepts me for who I am, because she’s beautiful, because she makes me happy, and because
the alternative is unimaginable.”
“Good.” Willow congratulated the girl sitting next to her, “Now let’s turn that into sentences, give it some flow, and
you’ll be married in no time.”
*****
“Kate” Faith started “You make me want to be a better person. I don’t feel worthy to spend time with you, to love you. And
as I stand here the biggest fear in my life is that one day you’ll look at me and realise the mistake that you’ve made,
realise that you’ve married the wrong person.” As Faith looked into Kate’s eyes she saw only love, caring, and desire. “I’m
afraid that one day you’ll find your true love, find the person who can really make you happy, and that you’ll leave me all
alone, with no one to help me face my demons. And I’m afraid that if you leave me, I’ll die, because no one can live
without their heart, and I’ve given mine completely to you.” Faith paused for a moment, noticing out of the corner of her
eye Tara handing Willow a handkerchief to dab the tears from her eyes “I love you and will cherish every day with you ,
every day that I can spend with you by my side, every day that I can see the keeper of my heart.”
“And now the bride will present her vows.” The priest said, after a moment of silence, well except for the light sounds of
crying coming from the congregation. Then Faith noticed a tear in Kate’s eye, and had to fight down the urge to take her in
her arms and kiss the tear away. ‘Later you can kiss any part of her, you want, just don’t spoil this for her’ she told
herself.
“Faith” The blonde former detective began “I spent a long time after I stopped being a cop existing, going from day to day
without any real goal, without any close friends, without really ever being happy. Then I met you. A woman who’s smile gave
birth to my own, who’s struggle gave me the courage to begin my own, who’s happiness came to mean my own. I love you, and
want to be with you forever. I want to be able to see you smile everyday, see you laugh, see you live. I want to be by your
side as you make your way through life, I want to protect you, I want to help you find your path in life. I want you to
know that I’m yours, that I’ll always be at your side through the good days and the bad.”
“I now pronounce you wife and wife.”

*****************
Chapter 8
*****************
By the time the priest got to the word kiss, his instruction was unnecessary. Faith was kissing Kate like there was no
tomorrow. She only stopped when the cheering from the congregation rudely, in her opinion, shoved it’s way into her sphere
of awareness.
“Faith!” Kate said scoldingly as she removed her wife’s hand from her butt “as much as I don’t mind what you’re doing we’ve
got the reception to go to, so cool your jets.”
“I’d rather heat yours up!” Faith whispered huskily into her wife’s ear. Her wife! God she loved that word. ‘She’s mine,
forever’ Faith thought.
*****
Angel had rented Caritos for the reception, and the place was jumping. The reception line had made Faith annoyed, she
wanted to dance with her wife, then drag her into the bathroom, and make her scream her name.
As she took her love into her arms and led her towards the dance floor, she walked by Buffy who was holding Amy, and from
the look of it trying not to laugh. “I can’t believe they chose wind beneath my wings for the first dance.” Faith heard
Buffy say to her lover, knowing full well that Faith would hear her. Faith almost burst out laughing when she heard Amy
reply that she’d always found the song romantic.
Faith pulled Kate in close and leaned her head on Kate’s shoulder, smiling when she heard the heart below her ear speed up
at the contact. The room seamed to melt away, leaving the two of them alone, just the music flowing over them and their
bodies trying desperately to get closer to each other.
“I love you” Kate whispered in Faith’s ear.
“You’d better, you’re stuck with me now.” Faith replied with a slight laugh, looking up into her beloved’s eyes “You’ll
never get rid of me. You’re my wife, the woman I love, the other half of my soul. I love you too.”
As the song finished, Faith pulled her bride in for a kiss, then whispered in her ear “Now you and I are going to the
bathroom, and we’re not leaving until you’ve screamed my name while you have a fantastic orgasm.”
“And what if I refuse to scream in a crowded building?”
“Then I’ll keep trying.”
Faith pulled Kate by the hand towards the washrooms in the back, and opened the door just in time to hear a very loud moan
from one of the stalls.
Faith with her enhanced hearing heard Amy’s voice moaning almost too softly to be heard “Oh yes Buffy!” followed by a
string of ‘Oh Goddesses’ coupled with a few ‘yeses’, and finally a high pitched moan, followed by a thump.
“Um, Buffy, is everything OK in there?” Faith inquired hesitantly.
“Uhh, yeah Faith, everything’s fine, why?” Buffy replied, with a slight stammer.
“Cause we heard a thump like someone’s head hit the wall, after a lot of moaning.” Kate inquired, a little slow on the
uptake.
“Yeah, um, Amy and I were, um, kinda…” Buffy continued to stammer.
“Getting a little physical?” Faith asked laughing.
“What? We’d never…”
“Yeah, Buffy, right. Anyway Faith and I’ll excuse ourselves for a while, but the cake cutting’s in less then ten minutes.”
Kate said looking at her watch., then her new wife. “Sorry Honey, but we’ve got work to do.”
“Damn!” Faith moaned lowly, as she followed her bride out the door, only to be greeted by Xander and Anya wrapping up a
karaoke performance the Beavis and Butthead version of ‘I’ve got you babe’.
Faith almost collapsed she was laughing so hard. Xander was actually doing the snoopy dance. In public. At her wedding
reception. When Xander was still dancing 30 seconds after the music ended, Willow dragged Tara on stage, pushed Xander off,
and grabbed the microphone, just as Nancy Sinatra’s ‘These boots are made for walking’ started.
“I helped write this!” Faith heard Anya exclaim just before she joined Tara, who was singing backup.
Just as the trio were finishing up, Faith noticed Amy and Buffy scurry out of the washroom, looking flushed, hell they were
practically glowing. She elbowed Kate lightly, and asked “Why can’t I be making you glow like that right now?”
“Cause this is my one and only wedding, and I want it to go perfectly, which means we have to cut the cake.” Kate said, a
dreamy look in her eyes.
“Sweets, as long as I end up taking my bride, my wife, to bed tonight, this day will be absolutely perfect.”
The rest of the reception went off without a hitch, but in Faith’s estimation took far too long. About three hours after
the cake cutting, Faith sidled up to her wife, and whispered in her ear “If we’re not in the limo to the hotel in 15
minutes, I’m gonna get a cab, go to our suite, and start without you.” Her voice was husky, and Kate could tell she meant
it.”
“Wouldn’t want that, now would we honey? Let’s Go!”
Five minutes later they were out the door and in the limo, where Faith decided that she’d waited long enough. She started
running her hands all over Kate’s beautiful body, covered by a beautiful dress.
She was startled when Kate pulled away from her. Kate saw the shock in her eyes, and said “Soon Honey Soon! But my first
time as a married woman will not be in the backseat of a car. All good things come to those who wait.”
Faith resigned herself to the fact that she was going to die of lust on her wedding day.