As Buffy slammed the front door loudly behind her, Tara and the potentials assembled in the back yard, all except one.

From her bedroom overlooking the yard, Kennedy watched as Tara guided the potentials through a gentle warm up, each one responding to her guidance immediately.

Gritting her teeth as Tara rushed to aid Louise, a new potential who had arrived the day before, and who had just mistaken an instruction and turned into the swinging fist of Rona, Kennedy strode away from the window and made her way down the stairs.

Opening the back door, she stood on the porch and continued studying the training method of the blonde.

Louise joined her at the small garden table and wiped at her bleeding nose gingerly.

“Why are you up here?” Kennedy asked.

“I got punched, I’m bleeding.” Louise said sadly. She was still trying to adjust to her calling and the craziness of the new life she had found herself a part of.

Kennedy turned to her, a quizzical expression on her face.

“So what?!” she said quietly, causing Louise to turn and stare at her.

“S-sorry?”

“You got punched, so what?” Kennedy repeated. “You think that the vampires and demons and bringers are going to stop once you get punched? You think you’ll get a ‘time-out’ in the upcoming fight?!”

Shaking her head, Kennedy returned her gaze to the training session going on before her.

“But, Tara said….”

“Oh, the great and wonderful Tara said!” Kennedy cut in quickly, her over dramatic gesture hushing anything else the new potential had to say.

From behind her, a voice cut Kennedy off quickly, its location and tone startling her. “Yes, I said. And what I said is that we will work more on her technique!” Tara injected.

Turning in her seat, Kennedy glared at the blonde before getting to her feet and facing up to the woman before her. “You think you’re so great don’t you, think you can walk in and take away everything that was mine!”

Tara rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Kennedy, look! I’m not going to keep going over and over this with you. I haven’t taken anything away from you. I never asked to come back and I never asked or expected Willow to come back to me.”