Buffy's POV

What the heck happened?

I lean back in the chair I'm sitting in at the hospital. I look around Anya's room and sigh as we wait for Xander and the doctors to finish so they can bring Anya back from her latest therapy session.

I was up most of last night thinking about it and I've been thinking about it most of today but I'm still not totally sure what happened. I don't know why I kissed her. It just felt like the thing to do at the time. It felt right. I'm not really sure why it felt right though. With everything that's happened, I haven't felt that way about her in a long time. Ever since Dawn died, I've felt differently towards her. She hasn't given me that horny feeling since what happened to Dawn. And I didn't feel that way last night either. Yet for some reason I felt the need to kiss her. It was a strange feeling, but not really a bad one. I have no idea why it happened.

I look over at Faith for a second, but look away before she notices.

For so long I hated her guts. I felt like ripping her guts out. I really couldn't stand the sight of her. But things have changed now. We've become friends, and it's a really great thing. We aren't more than that. I still don't know why it felt so good to make out with her. No matter how short it was. I don't know what happened. At least we won't be doing any jumping if there is anything between us, which I don't think there is. We can't go jumping into anything.

I take a deep breath.

"You okay?"

I turn to Faith at her question.

"Hmm?"

"Are you okay?"

"Oh, uh yeah... I'm good."

"I just asked because you looked deep in thought."

"Yeah, I was just thinking about... life."

She smiles at me.

"Wanna talk about it?"

I pause for a few moments.

"No, it's all right. It was just random thought stuff, nothing all that important."

"Okay..."

Just then, the door opens and Giles walks in with three cups of coffee in hand.

"Hey Giles... thanks for getting the coffee."

He hands both of us a cup and keeps one for himself. He looks around the room.

"It's my pleasure. Xander hasn't returned with Anya?"

"They should be here any minute."

The door swings open and Xander wheels Anya into the room.

"Well speak of the devil."

Anya scoffs at Faith's comment.

"Oh please, the devil is so much scarier then I could ever have even hoped to be."

Wait...

"The devil? You know the devil?"

"Duh, anyone who's anyone in the demon community meets him. He makes a point of meeting just about every demon he can, just in case he needs them for his big end of the world. He's all about his big war for humanity, it gets kinda dull after the 200th time you hear it. But don't worry, from what I last heard it'll be at least a thousand years before he can pull it off. You'll be long dead before anything remotely hellish breaks loose."

Well that's a comfort.

Faith and I look at each other.

"Okay, that's a good thing I guess."

"He's still one REALLY scary guy, even as a demon I was afraid of him. Now that I'm human, I'd run screaming from the room at the sight of him, assuming I could run at the time. And I've seen some scary things in my life. Sometimes he gets bored and decides to try and tries to kill a whole bunch of people... hence The Crusades, both World Wars, and a couple things I'm not supposed to talk about. Make sure to avoid him at all costs if you can. He really doesn't like good guys... or charades."

"Duly noted, now perhaps we could get down to the business at hand?"

Giles never was a fan of Anya's weird tangents, even the educational ones.

"Sure Giles, what did you find?"

"I have discovered some information regarding both topics that were raised at our last meeting. Faith, if you like, we can discuss the topic of your mother in private."

I look at Faith and she's quiet for a moment before responding.

"It's fine. You guys are like family to me. Kinda makes sense that you'd be here to hear all about my mother. What did you find out?"

Giles pauses for a moment before speaking.

"I contacted The Council's Boston office, which is your hometown is it not?"

Faith nods her head.

"I asked them to look into their records from that period of time. Apparently, around the time of your mother's death the police reported a rash of mysterious grave-robbings. Unlike those of a vampire nature, these appeared to be ritualistic. The Council investigated but it proved inconclusive. The ritual used was in fact a combination of several different rituals. They were able to identify a few of the rituals. Some were resurrection rituals, others involved zombification and reanimation. A number of the rituals were completely unknown to The Council's records at the time. They are still undetermined to this day. Even the darkest of magical beings are hesitant to combine the rituals that were identified because the consequences of even one can be disastrous."

As Faith and I both found out after I came back.

"Given the oddity of this, The Council was unable to determine who the culprit had been, and the bodies were never recovered so the trail went cold. They did however keep a record of the names on the graves in case the bodies did eventually turn up somewhere. I'm afraid that a Mrs. Fray Helena Lehane was one of the victims."

There is a chance then.

"So it's possible that my mother was brought back from the dead."

"Yes, though for what reason I can't be certain."

What if it's already done?

"Well, maybe it was just a bunch of teenagers messing around with magic they shouldn't have. It's happened before."

"Perhaps..."

"Or it could be that she already did whatever she was brought back to do. Now she's just herself."

Faith looks at me for a moment.

"Maybe she is, maybe she isn't."

She turns back to Giles.

"Any ideas on what's going on? What Omega's guys might be up to?"

Giles takes a deep breath.

"Unfortunately on that front I have been unable to find anything conclusive. I did find one reference that may be of note. The Book of Karameth seems to indicate that it may happen in the near future. It speaks of 'she who was at the beginning, shall return for The End', however there is no indication of who 'she' is."

"It could be anyone."

"It might be my mother."

"Or it could be you Faith."

Faith, Giles and I look at Xander.

"Well its possible isn't it? You said that whoever this person is, she 'returns for The End'. You came back to town about a month or so ago Faith. Maybe that's what it means."

"Xander is correct. Given that the previous prophecy seemed to be about Faith and Buffy, I think it's reasonable to assume that they might be involved in this one as well. Though I'm afraid we do not have sufficient information at this point to draw any definitive conclusions."

Damn...

We fall into silence for a little while.

"So why not get some?"

Our eyes fall on Anya.

"Some what honey?"

"Information..."

"How?"

"From Faith's mother, she's either in on it or not. Just ask her and find out."

The direct approach... could be dangerous if she is involved, even though I'm not convinced she is, but it might be the best way to get more information on what could be going on... plus it could get the two of them talking.

"Maybe Anya's right."

Everyone looks at me, though my focus is on Faith.

"Look, Faith..."

I reach out and touch Faith's arm.

"I know you're suspicious of your mom and I understand why. But she's been nothing if not good when we've seen her. It might all be an act, but the only way you'll ever know for sure is if you talk with her. Maybe you should think about getting together with her and talking. It could be our only chance to get more information. I'll go with you if you want."

Faith looks at the floor for a few moments.

"You're right. At the very least we can figure out if she's a suspect."

And at the most I can get them talking to each other.

"Do you want to call her or should I?"

She smiles at me.