{btvs} a question of faith & forgiveness
Title: A Question of Faith and Forgiveness
Author: aaronlisa
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Pairing/Characters: Faith Lehane, Caleb
Rating: FR13
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and company.
Prompts: Written for day 7 at mini-nanowrimo where I signed up to write 250 words a day for the month of November.
Notes: There is some Catholic and religious imagery in this story.
Summary: Faith ends up in a Catholic Church in Sunnydale trying to find her lost faith.
Word Count: 667
Faith crosses herself as she enters the church, a habit ingrained from her childhood back when things were still normal before her mother had found drugs and everything had spiraled out of control. She’s not really sure why she’s here. It’s not as if she’s believed in God in a very long time, she’s been without faith for so long she doesn’t know what to expect anymore. Yet once she steps further into the church, a sense of calm seems to envelope her. The scent of the incense and the candle wax brings to a mind when her life was much simpler, before she knew of the things that went bump in the night, before her whole life went to Hell.
Faith sinks down in the pew at the back, over-awed by the stained glass and the ornate design of the church. It’s nothing like back home in Boston, but still this small Catholic Church in Sunnydale is something to be awed by. She closes her eyes as a prayer comes to mind, one that her Sunday school teacher had taught her.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Before she can even process how she feels once those words come tumbling out of her lip, Faith notices that the priest is standing next to her pew. She looks up at him and when he asks if she’d like to take confession, Faith nods and follows up. It’s been so many years since she’s done this but the ritual easily comes back to mind, yet she finds it hard to list all of her sins to this priest. Before she can begin, he begins to talk.
“Cat got your tongue, little girl?”
The words are uttered in a cruel and mocking tone and suddenly Faith doesn’t feel so at peace anymore.
“That seems rather improper way to start confession, Father,” Faith quietly states.
“Well let’s be honest Faith, it’s not as if God will ever forgive you so why should we bother going through the motions.”
The door to the confessional is yanked open and the priest doesn’t look as pleasant as before, instead there is a maniacal grin on his face as he leers down at her.
“You’re worse than the lot of those dirty girls combined, Faith.”
She recognizes him now: Caleb. The First’s twisted and demented holy solider. He’s one to talk about being tainted. She doesn’t say anything; instead she stands up and shoves him with all of her might, smirking as he goes flying backwards. Caleb seems imbued with superhuman strength, instead of staying down, he’s back up as soon as she’s hopped out of the confessional.
He throws a punch that she just barely counters and she gives him a roundhouse kick to the head. Caleb staggers but remains standing and advances forward, he trips her and Faith falls to the ground. She catches sight of the glint of a dagger and manages to roll over before he can drive it home. Faith throws another kick and manages to fell him. She quickly jumps to her feet and kicks him again, this time kicking his body up towards the back row of the pews. The wood splinters and cracks as his body hits it but she doesn’t stay around to check if he’s still alive. Instead she runs for the doors and bursts through them.
She keeps running until her chest is burning from exertion. And only then does she stop, certain that she’s put enough distance from Caleb and herself. What bothers her the most isn’t the attack in the church; it’s his words about her. Faith wonders if perhaps he’s right in his assumptions that she’ll never find forgiveness again. It’s not even a question of forgiveness from her victims but self-forgiveness, she’s not certain that she’ll ever be able to forgive herself for her fall.
((END))
Author: aaronlisa
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Pairing/Characters: Faith Lehane, Caleb
Rating: FR13
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and company.
Prompts: Written for day 7 at mini-nanowrimo where I signed up to write 250 words a day for the month of November.
Notes: There is some Catholic and religious imagery in this story.
Summary: Faith ends up in a Catholic Church in Sunnydale trying to find her lost faith.
Word Count: 667
Faith crosses herself as she enters the church, a habit ingrained from her childhood back when things were still normal before her mother had found drugs and everything had spiraled out of control. She’s not really sure why she’s here. It’s not as if she’s believed in God in a very long time, she’s been without faith for so long she doesn’t know what to expect anymore. Yet once she steps further into the church, a sense of calm seems to envelope her. The scent of the incense and the candle wax brings to a mind when her life was much simpler, before she knew of the things that went bump in the night, before her whole life went to Hell.
Faith sinks down in the pew at the back, over-awed by the stained glass and the ornate design of the church. It’s nothing like back home in Boston, but still this small Catholic Church in Sunnydale is something to be awed by. She closes her eyes as a prayer comes to mind, one that her Sunday school teacher had taught her.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Before she can even process how she feels once those words come tumbling out of her lip, Faith notices that the priest is standing next to her pew. She looks up at him and when he asks if she’d like to take confession, Faith nods and follows up. It’s been so many years since she’s done this but the ritual easily comes back to mind, yet she finds it hard to list all of her sins to this priest. Before she can begin, he begins to talk.
“Cat got your tongue, little girl?”
The words are uttered in a cruel and mocking tone and suddenly Faith doesn’t feel so at peace anymore.
“That seems rather improper way to start confession, Father,” Faith quietly states.
“Well let’s be honest Faith, it’s not as if God will ever forgive you so why should we bother going through the motions.”
The door to the confessional is yanked open and the priest doesn’t look as pleasant as before, instead there is a maniacal grin on his face as he leers down at her.
“You’re worse than the lot of those dirty girls combined, Faith.”
She recognizes him now: Caleb. The First’s twisted and demented holy solider. He’s one to talk about being tainted. She doesn’t say anything; instead she stands up and shoves him with all of her might, smirking as he goes flying backwards. Caleb seems imbued with superhuman strength, instead of staying down, he’s back up as soon as she’s hopped out of the confessional.
He throws a punch that she just barely counters and she gives him a roundhouse kick to the head. Caleb staggers but remains standing and advances forward, he trips her and Faith falls to the ground. She catches sight of the glint of a dagger and manages to roll over before he can drive it home. Faith throws another kick and manages to fell him. She quickly jumps to her feet and kicks him again, this time kicking his body up towards the back row of the pews. The wood splinters and cracks as his body hits it but she doesn’t stay around to check if he’s still alive. Instead she runs for the doors and bursts through them.
She keeps running until her chest is burning from exertion. And only then does she stop, certain that she’s put enough distance from Caleb and herself. What bothers her the most isn’t the attack in the church; it’s his words about her. Faith wonders if perhaps he’s right in his assumptions that she’ll never find forgiveness again. It’s not even a question of forgiveness from her victims but self-forgiveness, she’s not certain that she’ll ever be able to forgive herself for her fall.
((END))