“You are gonna be shocked when you see her work Giles. It’s amazing! Who would have thought that little thing could be so deadly?” Kennedy winks at Willow as she describes the previous night’s events with the Watcher.

“So, in your opinion she passed the tests?”

“With flying colors! We’ll send her off to the bus station after she gets a little rest. It was a big night for her.”

“It really is amazing that the Slayer powers would enable her to see vampires… it makes me wonder about demons…” Kennedy could picture Giles stroking his chin in thought. “Well, none the less, we can certainly test for that here. When will she arrive?”

“What time is the bus gonna get there?” Kennedy asks directing her question at Willow.

“Noon tomorrow,” answers Willow while she fiddles with a digital camera.

“Noon tomorrow. Oh, and Willow is emailing a picture of her so you’ll know what she looks like.”

“Very good. And congratulations on a job well done. Our first trainee! The girls are really excited!”

Smiling, Kennedy replies, “Thank you Giles. One down, thousands to go. I’ll let you talk to Dawn about our next assignment. I’m exhausted and going to bed.” Kennedy hands the phone to Dawn and then walks over to Willow. Leaning down, Kennedy whispers in her ear, “We need to talk…. alone.” Kissing her on the cheek, Kennedy then heads towards their room. Pausing at the door, she glances back at her first recruit, fast asleep on Dawn’s bed. “One down…” she says softly to herself and turns away.

By the time Willow joins her, Kennedy is showered and looking at what remained of the broken skin on her scraped knee. “See, banged up but in one piece,” she says smiling up at Willow from the bed.

“Thank goodness! Here, let me look at that.”

“Thanks baby,” Kennedy sighs as she lies back on the bed. “Her hands are magic…” she thinks to herself.

“So what do we need to talk about?” Willow asks with a hint of apprehension in her voice.

Sitting up on her elbows, Kennedy just looks at her Willow for a long moment.

“What?” Willow squirms and blushes.

“I love you Willow.”

Willow’s hands stop moving on Kennedy’s knee. “I love you too Kennedy,” she says amazed and tearing up a little. “What… what made you decide to tell me this now?”