Low-key.

That was how, as a group, they'd decided to spend Valentine's Day. No fancy meals, no bouquets of flowers, no cheesy decorations; nothing. Though Buffy and Faith - and Willow and Kennedy - were paired up, everyone else in the house was, as Xander described it, painfully single, so it was only fair that the couples not flaunt it on what was supposed to be the most romantic day of the year.

With that in mind, Buffy had planned the most low-key day that she could. They would have a wide array of take-out for dinner, which they could eat out of the cartons and containers as they laid around in comfy clothes and watched action and/or horror films. Everyone seemed game, even Giles who promised he'd wear the fuzzy blue and yellow slippers she'd bought him for Christmas.

Everything was going to plan until she woke up from an unexpected nap before dinner to find the house completely dark and deserted. She walked from room to room, finding no clues left behind as to where everyone had disappeared to. Slightly irritated that their non-plans were going awry, she walked into the kitchen and picked up the phone, quickly dialing Faith's mobile number. Hadn't Faith been napping with her just two hours ago?

Leave one at the beep, Faith's voicemail answered without even a single ring.

Well, that was just perfect. She was officially alone on Valentine's Day.

Buffy could handle low-key. Hell, she'd been in on the idea to begin with. But this was even less than low-key. It was no-key. And . . . was that even a thing?

She hung the phone up and turned around, ready to head up to her room and brood, when she spotted a pink post-it note stuck to the door to the backyard.

Bundle up, it read.

Buffy wondered whether she should heed the note or not; didn't she have the right to be upset that their non-plan plans had fallen through and she'd been all but abandoned? But when she noticed the shine of white lights coming through the otherwise darkened windows to the backyard, her curiosity was piqued. Deciding that she could be upset later, she grabbed her puffy white jacket from the hook near the door and put it on, followed by a ridiculous bubblegum pink matching hat, scarf, and glove set that Faith had bought for her the day before. There were tiny fake diamonds on the front of the knit hat in the shape of a heart, and . . . wait. Buffy pulled the hat from her head and looked down at it, running her thumb over the sparkly diamonds.

Had she been duped?

Quickly pulling the hat back on and fixing her hair so she looked somewhat presentable, she slid her feet into a pair of boots and opened the door without any further ado.

What she saw outside took her breath away.

The entire backyard had been transformed into an ice rink. Strands with thousands of tinkling white lights criss-crossed over the area above and around it, making the ice shimmer and sparkle perfectly. Silver tinsel was thrown over any object that wasn't the actual ice rink and the sound of soft music and laughter filled the air.

Willow and Kennedy were holding hands as they slowly skated around the rink, trying to keep upright as Xander passed them by and gave them a little shove. Dawn was on the other side of the rink holding hands with Andrew as she skated backwards, pulling him along with her while holding him upright. His knees were firmly stuck together and his ankles were wobbling, but he was smiling and laughing regardless. Giles was sitting along the side of the rink pouring hot chocolate from one of several shiny silver thermoses. He smiled when he noticed her but she didn't hold his gaze for long. Her eyes immediately moved to the center of the rink where Faith was standing, one hand in her coat pocket and one holding a single white rose with a silver ribbon on it.

Non-plan plans totally forgotten, Buffy smiled and slowly made her way to the edge of the ice rink. Faith skated over and held out the rose, her cheeks pink from the cold.

"You're a real fink, you know that?" Buffy said as she took the rose and held it to her nose, breathing in the fragrant scent.

Faith laughed. "Just the kind of thing a girl likes to hear when she pulls something like this off in less than two hours."

"Magic?" Buffy asked as she looked around in wonder.

"Mostly. Xan and I flooded the yard, Red froze it over. Dawnie and the nerd helped decorate. Giles made the hot chocolate."

"And Kennedy?" Buffy asked, finally finding Faith's gaze again.

"Went out and sprung for new ice skates for everyone," Faith replied, nodding down to Buffy's feet.

Buffy looked down and noticed that her boots had suddenly transformed to a new bright white pair of ice skates with bubblegum pink laces. She looked up to see Willow and Kennedy skating by, Willow smiling and giving her a wink as they passed.

"I love magic," Buffy replied giddily as she stepped onto the ice and into Faith's waiting arms.

"And I love you," Faith replied. She pressed a kiss to Buffy's temple and then to her lips when Buffy looked up at her. "Happy Valentine's Day."

"You're the best girlfriend in the history of ever, you know that?"

Faith laughed and looped one arm through Buffy's as they began to slowly skate around the rink.

"Yeah?" she asked. When Buffy nodded, Faith continued. "You're not so shabby yourself."

"So romantic," Buffy joked, nudging Faith with her elbow.

"Romantic? Baby, you ain't seen nothing yet. Check this out!"

Faith clapped her gloved hands together twice and looked up, smiling as giant snowflakes began to fall around the rink.

Everyone gasped and laughed with delight as the giant flakes began to land all around them. Buffy smiled as they slowly skated to a halt. Faith turned in front of her and used her thumbs to wipe a few flakes from Buffy's cheeks before leaning in to give her the softest, sweetest kiss known to man or woman.