Faith secretly watched Willow under her lashes. The girl had really blossomed into a young woman....<A beautiful young woman.> While Faith had hardly changed the last three years, Willow had become someone else.

Gone was the insecurities that Faith remembered. The woman who sat before her was completely aware of who and what she was. Her green eyes shone with a knowledge and wisdom beyond her years, yet held the sweet innocence Faith always found intoxicating. She didn't wear the fluffy clothes her younger self wore. Instead, she had on a nice tailored dark green dress suit. Her hair had grown and rested just below her shoulders.

It was that soft silky hair Faith found herself wishing she could run her fingers through.

Willow knew Faith was watching her, and enjoyed every moment of it. If you stripped away all the anger and hate that the red head felt for the second slayer, all you could find was a curiosity. When Willow first met Faith, she never noticed the woman in *that* way; but after meeting the vampire version of herself, she noticed Faith for more than just a gal pal.

Willow would have even attempted to satisfy her curiosity about Faith, but loved Oz too much to cheat on him. Then Faith went crazy on the Scooby Gang, and Willow pushed aside all that attraction and devoted her emotions to hating the girl that hurt her best friend so much.

And now, three years after her Freshman year in college, the first female object of her desire sat before her.

"So," Faith said, trying not to think of how silky Willow's skin would feel, "Your Slayer-In-Waiting..... is B gonna die soon?"

Willow chuckled. "No, of course not. The Council found some old scrolls right after you woke up. Apparently, if a Slayer lives to be twenty-five...."

"Which none have so far," Faith volunteered.

"Right. If they live, at twenty-five, they retire. They still have all the strength of a Slayer, but another is called."

"So you mean in two years, we will have two MORE Slayers?"

Willow looked up at Faith. "At least one, the thirteen year old I'm watching. We don't know about you. Since you turned your back on Slaydom, the Council isn't aware of what will happen when you turn 25."

Faith shivered. "I'm not going to die, am I?"

"Of course not. We just don't know if another will be called forward."

"Oh. What's she like? The girl, I mean?"

Willow shrugged. "Not like Buffy was. She's a loner, stays to herself. Her family moves around a lot, Toronto is the third place I've been to in the last year. I think they are staying here though."

"Until she gets called to Sunnydale."

Willow nodded her head. "Until Sunnydale."

*-*-*-*

"Nice place," Faith said, looking around Willow's apartment.

Willow took her bags from Faith. "Yea," she said. "The Council treats me well. Somehow, they know where her family will move next, and I have an apartment waiting for me when I arrive."

"Do you like it? Being a Watcher?" Faith sat down on the couch.

Willow shrugged. "It's ok. Since I don't have a Slayer to technically keep, I'm able to finish school."

"How long have you been one?"

"It happened a year and a half ago," Willow said. "Right after Buffy and Giles went to England and demanded to know what the scroll said. Word had gotten around that they had it, and Buffy was intent on discovering what it said about her future. The Council *finally* told her, after making her promise to put me on the next plane to England to start my training. They wanted me all along, but didn't know how to approach me." She chuckled. "It was no surprise to them that I detested them."

"Then why did you join?" Faith asked.

"Because Buffy promised. She wanted to know what her future held, and I wanted her to. I wanted to make sure that if she married Riley, she'd have a long life to enjoy it."

"Do you regret it?"

Willow shook her head. "Actually, I don't. I didn't think I would enjoy it, but once you get around all the red tape, and the idiots who *think* they know what they are doing, they aren't that bad."

Faith smiled. "I can see you as a Watcher."

Willow's eyebrow rose. "Certainly you don't think I'm that stuffy and uptight?"

"Well...not...stuffy," Faith fidgeted, "And not so much uptight..."

"Naive," Willow supplied.

"Well..."

Willow laughed, her voice low and husky. "Faith, just as you've changed over the years, I have too." She got up and started walking towards her bedroom, stopping to run her finger down Faith's cheek. "I'm going to take a shower. As long as you are in Toronto, you are welcome to stay here if you want."

Faith stared up at Willow, surprised to see a flicker of lust in the green eyes of the red head. "Ok..." she said softly. "Thanks.."

Willow went to her bedroom. Faith sat there, dumbstruck. <Could I have *really* seen lust in Willow's eyes? Could she be...interested in me?> She glanced back towards Willow's room. <Would she mind if I got in the shower with her?>