Author's Note: I'm going to reiterate what was in the author's note of She Who Was My Love. This is one of those times.

Buffy's POV

I have to do something.

I take a deep breath as I make my way to Faith's motel.

There has to be a way that I can get Faith to talk to her mother so they can patch things up. I have so many things I wanted to do with my mom. We didn't spend that much time together over the last few years. I was so busy with school, and then everything with Faith and Omega and then dying and coming back and... Dawn.

My feet and I come to a dead stop in the middle of the sidewalk as I close my eyes to remember Dawn's face.

Sweet little Dawnie... we never had the time to be anything more than sisters. We never had a chance to be mother and daughter like we should have been, like Mom and I should've been. I spent so much time yelling at her as a kid, causing her all kinds of stress and pain on top of that. Making her wonder where I was all the time when I was out slaying and couldn't tell her.

I open my eyes and wipe at the tears formed in the corners as I make my way to Faith's again.

Then I went and made her worries worse by telling her I was a slayer. I had so much I wanted to do with her. So much I wanted to share with her. There are all sorts of things that I'll never be able to do with her because she's gone. I can't let that happen to Faith. She still has the chance to do with her mom what I'll never be able to do. Faith can still say what I can never say. I won't let Faith lose that shot. There HAS to be something I can do to make it happen.

I stop in front of Faith's motel door and take a deep breath. Knocking softly, I wait a few moments for an answer. The door opens and I see Faith standing on the other side.

"Hey B..."

I smile weakly at her and she returns it.

"Hey, can I come in?"

She moves out of the way.

"Come in..."

I go inside and she closes the door behind me. We face each other and a moment of silence falls on us.

"So... how are you?"

Me?

"I'm okay I guess... today feels like a good day so far. What about you?"

"I've been better. Can I get you something to drink or something?"

I hold up my hand for a second and smile.

"No, but thank you..."

"All right..."

A deafening silence follows her last statement for a few moments.

Okay then, I'll start.

"So... your mother's in town eh?"

Faith turns away and starts slowly pacing.

"Not if she knows what's good for her."

What?

"You shouldn't talk like that about your mother Faith. I mean, she did raise you didn't she?"

She stops and faces me.

"More or less..."

"What does that mean?"

"It's a long story B."

I lessen the gap between us.

"I don't have anywhere else to be."

She takes a long breath.

"You've listened to me for the past couple weeks. I'd like to return the favor. Maybe I can help."

After a few moments, she smiles weakly at me.

"It's not the greatest idea."

"Why not?"

"Because, when I think or talk about the people who raised me I tend to get really angry. And you and I have yelled at each other enough for a few lifetimes."

I move into her personal space and take her hand.

"Faith, even if we did yell at each other, it wouldn't be about us. Whatever it is, you can talk to me about it."

We stare at each other for a moment.

"I wouldn't know where to start exactly."

"Well, you could always start with the more and move on to the less. Come on, let's sit down."

I move over to the desk and grab the chair, bringing it next to the bed. I sit down in the chair and she sits on the end of the bed.

"So... what was she like? Before she, well, died."

"That depends on when you ask me."

When I ask her?

"I'm sorry?"

"My parents were okay people some times, but not all the time."

I should probably just let her talk.

"During the day, we were a pretty normal family. We'd all have breakfast together, then Dad would go to work and I'd go to school. My mom would stay home and take care of the house. We were your typical nuclear family that way. But things always changed come nightfall. It was like they became completely different people. There'd be booze and drugs all over the place, people were coming and going almost non-stop. I didn't really understand what was going on until I got older, but I knew I didn't like it before I was 10 years old."

Her eyes drop at whatever memory was brought up by her last sentence. She looks more sad and angry than anything else. I take her hand in both of mine again and squeeze it a bit.

"Do you mind if I... can I ask what happened?"

Our eyes meet and she looks like she's wondering whether to tell me or not.

"You don't have to if you don't want to. I'm just trying to help."

She tries to smile at me.

"I know B, and I appreciate it."

I smile back.

Okay, I gotta take the chance.

"Maybe you could talk to your mother about it."

Faith pulls her hand away from mine.

"That isn't gonna happen B."

Sitting back in the chair, I sigh heavily.

"Why not? She said she wants to talk to you. She said so. Maybe if you talked about what was bothering you with her, things would get better. You might feel better if you cleared the air."

Faith stands up and moves away from the bed.

"I'm not gonna talk to my mom B, even if that was really her. I'm still not convinced it was."

"When I had a problem, talking with my mom always helped."

She faces me with an angry look.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but my mother and I don't have the greatest relationship like you did with yours B. We never got along like you guys. And I don't want us to."

I get up from my chair.

"She's still your mother Faith. She still loves you, and you still love her whether you'll admit it or not. So you have to at least try."

"No..."

"Why not?"

"Buffy, I was a better mother to Dawn then my mother ever was to me. And I KILLED Dawn."

What? God how could she say that?

I sit down in the chair as my knees go weak and I feel the need to cry my eyes out.

"How could you say that?"

I feel the tears coming, as Faith kneels down in front of me.

"I'm sorry Buffy... I shouldn't have said it like that. I'm sorry."

She pulls me into a hug and I put my chin on her shoulder.

"I loved Dawn, you know that. I didn't mean to say that. I was just angry, Dawn meant so much to both of us."

I pull back from the hug as I sniffle and wipe the tears from my eyes. I look at Faith for a few short moments and I know that she really means it. Reaching out, I put my hand on her shoulder.

"I know you did... just like your mother loves you Faith."

She closes her eyes and her head drops to the side.

"I'm not asking you to forget what your mother did to you. Obviously it's a really bad memory, whatever it is. All I'm asking is that you give her a chance to explain."

Looking up at me again, she puts her hand on mine against her shoulder.

"I don't know that I can. It's not so much what she did, even though she did some bad things... both to me and in general, it's what she didn't do that hurt the most."

She gets up and sits back on the bed, taking a deep breath.

"You remember how I said that I didn't like what was happening before I was 10?"

I just nod my head.

"Well there's a reason for that. A couple weeks before my 10th birthday, my dad went away on a business trip somewhere. I don't remember where. And the second he left, my mother started inviting men over on an almost hourly basis. It went on like that for the whole time my dad was gone. I met more than a few of them. Any time I had to leave my room, one of them was there."

I lean forward and rest my hand on her knee. I don't say anything.

There isn't anything I could say that would help right now.

"They used to tell me I was so cute. A lot of them talked about how much they liked me even though we'd never met. Some of them would joke around with me and try and play games with me, some times it was fun but most of them were just annoying. None of them would leave me alone, and my mother never seemed to be around when they would bother me. Then one night, after they were done with her and she had passed out, one of them snuck into my room and... and then the jokes weren't funny anymore."

She stops talking and I'm not sure how to respond to that.

God, that's horrible. I can't imagine her having to go through something like that. I know that this kind of thing happens in the world, and that any person who could do it is 100 times worse than any demon I've ever been up against. But what do I do? It happened so long ago, I'm not sure what I can do to help.

I get out of the chair and sit next to her, putting my arm around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry..."

She leans into me and takes a deep breath.

"It's okay. It's not your fault. You're not the one who invited him into the house. It was a long time ago. You never completely get over something like that, but after all the things I've seen and done as a slayer, it's become just like them. My dad came back a couple days later, just before my birthday."

"Did they ever catch the person that did it to you?"

She shakes her head.

"No, I told my mother about it and at first she didn't want to believe me. I had to show her the bruises before she did anything. We called the police and they tried to investigate, but it was too dark and I was too traumatized to remember what he looked like. My mother said she never even asked his name. That's all she had to do and chances are he would've been caught. But she didn't, so there was no way to track him down."

Faith sits up and faces me slightly.

"So... you understand why I'd rather not talk to my mom."

I take her hands in mine.

"I do, and I'm not going to press the issue. I know that the words 'horrible experience' don't even come close to describing what it was like. I can't imagine what you must've gone through. But I'd like you to think about one thing."

I wait a moment for her to respond.

"Okay..."

"I'm not saying it's the same because it isn't. Nothing can really compare, but... you and I have been through a lot in the time we've known each other, and we've made it through. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that we've been to hell and back. But we've managed to survive it all in one way or another and made our peace. Isn't it at least possible that you and your mother can find a way to work through things? Some way that you can find some common ground? Maybe move beyond the past and make peace? The way you and I have."

She looks down at the bed and a long stretch of silence hits us.

"I don't know..."

I reach out and touch her cheek, making her look up at me.

"Just think about it. Maybe there isn't, but maybe there is. It's your decision to make, and no matter what you decide, I'll be here to help you with it."

She smiles at me and I can't help but smile back. Faith leans forward and we hug.

"Thanks B."

"Of course, it's the least I can do."

We keep hugging for a few minutes before pulling back.

We should probably do something a little less painful after all this. I know...

"Hey, you know we never did do the whole movie and pizza thing we were planning last night. What'd you say?"

"Sure B, but we should go by and see Giles. Those vamps were acting really strange last night. They were too organized."

She's right.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's meet at the hospital though. I'm sure Xander and Anya will want to know what's going on with the remnants of Omega's cult, after what they did to her. Anya's still staying at the hospital for her therapy."

"Good idea, I'll give Giles a call and then we'll head over to the hospital to see if Xander's there with Anya. If not, we'll call him. After we give them an update, we'll go out and get some pizza."

Great...

"Sounds like a plan."

Faith moves down the bed towards her phone, picks it up and starts dialing.

I know I can get Faith and her mother talking again, I just have to try.