Title:
Accidental Pen Pals
Chapter
Title: Blessings Of The Season
Author:
Restive Nature
Disclaimer:
I do not own the rights to BtVS or Dark Angel. They belong
respectively to Whedon & Mutant Enemy and to Cameron/ Eglee. No
infringement is intended and this fiction is for private enjoyment
only.
Rating:
PG-13
Genre:
Crossover
Type:
Friendship/ Humor
Pairing:
Dawn/ Joshua (as friends)
Summary:
All she asked for was a little help on a school project... but this
IS Dawn we're talking about here.
Spoilers/
Time line: This is Season 7 for BtVS and Season 2 for Dark Angel. But
things have been skewed for BtVS so that the show fits into the Dark
Angel format of Post-Pulse.
Feedback:
Always welcome!
Distribution:
Ask first please.
A/N:
This is a response to the Pen Pals Challenge. For challenge details,
please see the first chapter.
Chapter
Eleven
Blessings
Of The Season
“Wow,”
Buffy murmured. She was still recovering from her fight with the
uber-vamp that she and Giles had discovered just prior to Christmas.
Dawn had, in the ensuing events, her concern for her only close
family left, forgotten about Joshua's present that he had sent her.
Worry and fear for her sister's condition was what pounded through
her day and night. But Buffy was on the road to recovery, even though
her spirit still seemed not quite broken, but brooding. Determined
and unsure depending on what time of the day you saw her.
So
Dawn had arranged for a quiet private time just for them to open some
gifts. They were sitting in Buffy's room, the one that had belonged
to their mother before Willow and Tara had moved in that long ago
summer. So many bad memories could be associated with this room, and
Dawn found herself concentrating on the painting a little harder.
“It's
amazing, isn't it?” she asked a little breathlessly. The painting
was large, but not too big and Joshua had found an old frame for it.
Somehow the used frame, that had been through who knew how long and
what, lent a quiet seriousness that was echoed in the painting. The
blues and browns were not what she had expected at all, but felt
familiar inside her so that when she thought Joshua
it felt like the painting vibrated with his words and his jokes. It
was just so right.
“I love this, right here,” Buffy
smiled as she stretched her hand out, not touching but gesturing to
the painting. Her finger traced in the air over the section she
meant. “It's like, there's his heart,” she chuckled. Dawn tilted
her head and then nodded after a moment.
“Yeah, it is, but almost hidden so
that you only see parts of it,” she noted.
“I think that was the point,”
Buffy mused. “That he's showing it to you little by little, but you
can see how big his heart is because it echoes over here and here,”
she gestured to more areas. The color was in more areas and Dawn took
a step back.
“Oh yeah,” she giggled. “There
it is.” She sighed happily. “And the brown, his eyes are brown.
It's like how much he sees, but he's still looking for more. Like he
wants to see everything.”
“And the blue,” Buffy agreed. “All
those different shades. Some of them make you sad, some are happy.
Like he's sad by some of the things he sees, but maybe later
something else gives him hope.”
“This is just amazing,” Dawn
sniffled. Her sister glanced curiously at her and then gingerly
wrapped her arm around Dawn's waist. The younger girl didn't
reciprocate, knowing instinctively that Buffy's ribs were still too
tender for that kind of affection and solidarity.
“You okay?” Buffy whispered.
“It's
just, this is the most amazing thing that someone has given me,”
Dawn continued to sniffle. And then coughed. “Well, I mean aside
from giving me your DNA however unknowingly or unwillingly and then
saving my life and accepting me as your sister and-!”
“Yeah, I think I got the idea,”
Buffy retorted dryly. “What was the point?”
“Well, just that I gave all those
little things to Joshua and he gave me something that's... that's
like priceless,” Dawn half whined. “How can I-?”
“Real friends don't count the cost
of things,” Buffy pressed gently. “Not like that. And I bet that
Joshua is thrilled with all the stuff you gave him. It wasn't just
things,” she reminded her sister. “You put a lot of thought into
those. Things that you like, that you think he likes and stuff that
meant something to both of you. That's a better gift than just buying
something expensive.”
“Yeah, I guess that's true,” Dawn
nodded. She smiled brightly. “I mean, Mom always adored those
little chintzy things we made in art class, right?” Buffy nodded
along with her sister.
“So now here's the big question,”
Buffy sighed and Dawn paused in her perusal of the painting and
musing once more. “Where are we going to hang it?”
“Oh, I was thinking maybe over the
mantle,” Dawn grinned. “Or maybe in the dining room. By the
mirror?”
“Ehhh,” Buffy hedged, grimacing
slightly.
“What?” Dawn demanded, her tone
rising in pitch. “You like this picture. You said so!”
“Exactly,” Buffy nodded with a
sage wisdom radiating from her. “And how often has Xander had to
repair the living room or dining room over the last... how long?”
“It hasn't been... that bad,” Dawn
winced. “Okay, yeah, I see your point.”
“Sooner or later, everything comes
looking for a fight with the Slayer,” Buffy grunted. “Or a fight
with someone in this house. Sometimes even those in the house go
looking for a fight,” she added with a mirthless chuckle.
“That's true,” Dawn sighed. “So
what are we going to do?”
“Well, I see five options, three of
which I doubt you'll like,” Buffy chuckled, suddenly light hearted
again. Or at least, as light hearted as she could muster herself up
to be. “One, we could hang it in my room.”
“Color scheme isn't right,” Dawn
denied that request instantly. Her sister smirked at her, having
already deduced what the answer would be. “Number two?”
“There's Willow's room, which no,
right?” Buffy shrugged one shoulder. “And the bathroom, which
would be cool, but I wouldn't want people to think that we don't like
it and are sticking it in there because... well, whatever.”
“Yeah, no to those,” Dawn shook
her head. “So that leaves...?”
“Your room or the upstairs hallway,”
Buffy declared. “Now, the hallway offers everyone that comes up the
chance to see it and appreciate it, you'll see it every night before
you go to bed and put a little smile on your face. Put it in your
room and you take away the everyone else seeing it.”
“Uh,” Dawn groaned. “Dilemma.”
“I know,” Buffy smirked once more.
She clapped one gentle hand on her sister's shoulder before turning
away. “And it's your painting so it's all on you. Just let me know
when you're ready to hang it. I'll borrow Xander's level.”
“Oh!” Dawn half shrieked suddenly.
“I have to show it to them. You know, in case I decide it's going
in my room forever!”
“All right,” Buffy nodded. “I'll
send them up. Sorry, but I'm not up to lugging it down the stairs and
then back up again.”
“Okay,” Dawn nodded, her stomach
twisting at the abrupt reminder of how close she had come to losing
her sister yet again and in a more permanent manner than ever before.
Seattle,
WA
Earlier
in the day
“Merry Christmas!” Max called as
she pushed the door open to bring her motorcycle in with her. She
took an appreciative sniff as Alec ambled along to the hallway. He
reached for her bag, just like every time she stopped in, but this
time she let him take it.
“Gah,” he muttered through a yawn
as he carried her loaded back pack to the table. She had already
brought over the bulk of her presents earlier in the week and had
found an old tree for Joshua to decorate as he would. “Big guy was
up at five this morning, couldn't get me to his level excitement so
he started cooking and wouldn't let me get into anything until you
got here,” he complained. “Hope you brought something edible.”
“There's some donuts in there, so
shut up,” she offered good naturedly as she removed her coat and
threw it on the back of the sofa. “It smells good in here.”
“That's the aborted mulled cider,”
Alec rolled his eyes as he dug through the pack for the bag of donuts
that Max had carted along. His stomach was grumbling appreciably.
“Scalded it, so he poured it off into a new pan and it's apparently
now potpourri.”
“Well, that's the whole purpose
then, isn't it?” Max frowned in that special way she had. “To
make the house smell good.” She winced slightly and hunched her
shoulders as if preparing for catastrophe. “How's the chicken?”
“Hasn't put it in yet, but he's been
fussing over it,” Alec chuckled. Turkey or ham was usually the
choice of the day, they all knew that. Unfortunately there had been a
dearth on pork that summer and fall. And turkey was extremely pricey
with it's lack of commercial availability. So Max had gotten the
closest thing she could, which were several five pound chickens, all
dressed according to directions that Logan had helpfully written out
for them. She had helped Joshua figure out the menu for that day and
figured that mac and cheese from a box would be easy enough. And all
he had to do was defrost the pie and put it in the oven to warm. She
knew about corn and green bean dishes as well, but those came out of
a can, easy peasy. Some boxed mashed potatoes maybe and that boxed
stuffing and they had little to worry about.
“Well, stay out of the rest of my
bag, okay,” she muttered as she turned and headed to the kitchen to
greet her friend. She found him just inside the door of the kitchen.
“Hey Joshua, Merry Christmas.”
“Happy Holidays!” Joshua boomed
back. “Max just in time. Put chicken in for hour. Then eat.”
Max's gaze roamed over the counters.
Joshua had everything laid out in various degrees and seemed quite
ready to go. “Smells good in here. Is the oven heated?”
“Yes,” Joshua nodded. “Just wait
few more minutes for Max. Vegetables right?” he asked, gesturing to
the two pans on the stove top that each contained a chicken as well
as some cut up potatoes, onions and carrots. There was a light
dusting of something that held the heavy aroma, thyme, Max thought.
She breathed in heartily, catching that as well as the potpourri.
“Exactly right,” she nodded. “Is
there some liquid in there? And where did you get the potatoes and
stuff from?”
“Chicken stock from can,” Joshua
nodded. He pointed at the discards in the trash bin. “Alec call in
favor,” he chuckled, answering the other question.
“Excellent,” Max nodded. “Let's
put them in.” They busied themselves for just a moment doing so and
when the oven door was shut, she checked her watch. “Okay, we come
back in 45 minutes to check on it and put the rest of the vegetables
on. Is the pie out?”
Joshua once again gestured to the
counter and Max saw the boxed dessert with a light rime of frost
still on the edges. She nodded and patted his shoulder blade. “Ready
to open presents now?” he asked hopefully and Max chuckled.
“Of course,” she nodded. “It was
so nice of you to wait while I dropped off Logan's to him.”
“Yes,” Joshua nodded. “Logan
like gifts?”
“He loved them,” Max assured him.
“He hung that painting up right away, in the front hallway. He is
so proud to be one of the few people in the world that own an
original Joshua!”
“He's been making enough of 'em,”
Alec scoffed through a mouthful of donut. He held the bag out to the
bigger man as he passed by but Joshua shook his head in the negative.
“Already ate breakfast,” he
grunted as he took a seat right next to the tree. “Save appetite
for lunch now.”
“You already ate?” Alec's eyes
went up in disbelief. “What? When!”
“In morning, make eggs scrambled and
toast,” Joshua grinned. “Offered to Alec, but didn't want to wake
up.
“Maybe if you had offered him coffee
first,” Max chuckled. She was the same way some mornings.
“Out of coffee,” Joshua informed
her easily. “Had green tea instead.”
“Oh, why didn't you say,” Max
complained gently. “I can get some more for you. If you want.”
“Or I have a can stashed,” Alec
explained. “Might as well use it, since Josh doesn't drink that
much of it.”
“Okay,” Max nodded. “I'll head
over tomorrow. Anything else you want?”
Alec, not wanting to question her good
nature or spirit or whatever it was shrugged. “Maybe just a small
list. We can haggle later,” he offered carefully. Max gave him a
small smirk.
“All right,” Max agreed. “Okay,
Joshua, present time!”
As if he had been waiting for just
that moment, he dove into the relatively small pile and began
divvying up the packages of various sizes. Both Max and Alec were
surprised to see that they had each gotten the other something,
perhaps it was manners or Joshua's influence. But their interest in
their own was pushed to the back as they saw Joshua running his
fingers over the present that Dawn had sent to Joshua. The box was
the largest there, though still not too big. He chuckled then and
glanced up at Max.
“Want
to save specialness a little longer,” he explained before moving
his hand to a different present. And though Alec kept examining
with pleasure, the gift he had in his hands. Max waited to watch
Joshua open his first gift, which turned out to be Cindy's. It was a
two fold gift. One part was a very special, hard to find, really
expensive hair conditioner. It was to be used twice a week and Cindy
had written out the instructions for him. The next was a boxed set of
books. Joshua was over the moon about it and carefully folded the
paper away after studying it for a moment. When he saw Max watching,
he grinned.
“Need
palimpsests,” he explained wryly and Max smiled indulgently. She
quickly encouraged him to open more as she carefully tackled her own.
Joshua was impressed when Logan gave him a nice box full of wafer
crackers and cheese spreads with little pots of jam. And a jar of hot
chocolate. The entire package was carefully put together with new
things mixed with familiar, in a basket that Joshua could use later
somewhere in the house.
They continued on, until at last was
Dawn's solitary package. Alec leaned forward with the pocket knife
that he had received from an admiring Normal who had sent it through
Max. Joshua used it to open up the packaging and let out an
exclamation when he opened the flaps.
“Little little presents!” he sang
out and began removing each from the box. No package was wrapped in
the same paper twice and everyone's eyes grew wide when Joshua handed
one of the gifts to Max.
“Why don't you just open them one at
a time?” she suggested gently, but Joshua's answering grin was
wide.
“Not for Joshua,” he replied and
Max glanced at the shiny foil sticker that had her name written on
it.
“Oh, wow,” Max breathed out and
noted that Joshua was holding one out for Alec, who looked completely
mystified. “Is there a card or anything?” she wondered, surprised
that a teen girl that she didn't know but barely, through the letters
she had written to Joshua that he had allowed her to see, would be so
sweet.
“Aha,” Joshua nodded and held up
the slim card that had been tucked in the side. He carefully worked
the square envelope open and pulled out a festive card. He opened it
and several things slid out. He glanced at them and laughed. “Picture
of friends! Dawn promised.” He looked it over carefully and then
laughed again. “Dawn say she have to sneak it from her sister's
photo frame and make copy. Then sneak it back. There is Buffy, Willow
and Xander. Says it was her mother's favorite picture.” He passed
it over to Max who studied with interest the trio. The redhead had to
be Willow and Xander was the male, so that left the petite blond as
Dawn's elder sister. They looked so young to her jaded eyes. She
glanced at the back and saw that someone, Dawn probably had written
in small letters, Sunnydale, spring 2015
to explain at least part of the picture.
She glanced up, handing the picture to
Alec, who was leaning in her direction. He took it and gave a low
wolf whistle that had her rolling her eyes, before turning back to
their larger friend who was opening another envelope. “What is it?”
she wondered.
“Oh, explains gifts for friends,”
Joshua nodded. “Wanted to thank everybody for helping with her
project and helping us become friends.”
“That's so sweet of her,” Max
cooed with surprise.
“Might want to wait about saying
that until after we open them,” Alec quipped and ducked back before
Max's hand could shoot out. Her eyes promised retribution later. He
smirked and turned to opening the flat package that Joshua had handed
him. But he seemed to rescind his opinion automatically as he lifted
out a pair of leather riding gloves from the box. “Oh man, these
are top of the line!” He turned them over in his hands several
times, obviously stunned before noting a small detail. “And look,
she stitched something in the lining.”
“Uh huh,” Joshua nodded. “Dawn
say, Gaelic blessing to protect the wearer and keep hands warm when
working.”
“Cool,” Alec nodded. “I'll be
wearing the hell out of these this winter.” He affected a shiver
over the thought of the rainy Seattle weather. He carefully worked
one of the gloves on and whistled again. “Man, I thought they were
gonna be a little large, but whoa, perfect fit.”
“Like a glove,” Joshua barked a
laugh and Max joined in. “Now Max. Dawn say Max and Cindy's gift
similar.”
“Okay,” Max nodded. “Does she
say what yours are? Or do I need to take that list from you?”
“Dawn explain how she made or why
she chose my gifts, no specifics,” Joshua explained as Max opened a
very small jewelry box.
“Oh, an anklet,” she breathed out
as she worked it out of the box and her eye zoomed in on the links.
“It's like a miniature charm bracelet.”
Joshua nodded as he and Alec both
leaned over to examine it as well. “Dawn says she used handmade
silver charms. Uh, pentagram means protection, not Satan worship,”
he continued as Max turned it in her hands.
“I actually knew that,” she told
them. “And those are... ankhs? Egyptian cross of life, isn't it?”
“And some other arcane symbols that
mean life and protection,” Joshua agreed. He then lifted up Cindy's
package. “Cindy has necklace in silver, like Max's. Dawn thought
Max like for when riding motorcycle, not lose it as easy as
necklace.”
“Oh either way, it's an extremely
nice gift,” Max decided as she started working her shoe off so that
she could attach it around her ankle and then twisted her foot this
way and that to admire it. Joshua chuckled and when she glanced up,
Joshua was reading the list again. “What is it?”
“Dawn get Logan a key chain,” he
told her and Alec snorted. “Logo of Sunnydale newspaper. Dawn
thought he'd like the motto.”
“Well, we will definitely note his
reaction,” Max nodded. “Now,” she leaned forward in
anticipation, holding her hand out, “let me see that and you get to
opening!”
Alec scooted a little closer so that
he could see over Joshua's shoulder the four gifts that were left for
the big guy. The first that he chose, Max understood as soon as she
saw the disc in the case. It was listed as the one she promised she
owed him for all his help. The title that had been printed on a
label, was the presentation that had been recorded for her school
assignment.
“This
is what she needed your help with?” Alec wondered as he read the
title. Joshua
nodded.
“Three places in Washington to
research,” he grinned and settled the disk on the side and reached
for the next one as he explained. “Dawn tell Joshua she do the same
for Sunnydale so Joshua know her home like she know ours.” He
glanced down at the gift in his hand. “This number three, where's
two?”
“It's okay,” Max soothed. “You
don't have to open them in order. I think she did that just so you
knew which gift corresponded to which explanation. This one says that
this one commemorates a once in a lifetime phenomena. Go ahead and
open it Joshua.”
He paused for only a moment before he
was ripping into it. When he removed the gift from the box, he found
a snow globe. With a wondering smile he studied it as the tiny flurry
from the motion of being opened settled and then saw a picture of
Dawn's sister sitting with a man. They were smiling lovingly at one
another and didn't seem to be aware of whomever took the picture.
Joshua shook it up carefully and admired the way the snowy like
substance swirled around the happy faces.
“Hey, there's a note on the bottom,”
Alec noted. Joshua grunted and turned the snow globe carefully. He
worked his finger under the tape and opened up the small note.
'This
is Buffy & her boyfriend from high school, Angel. Angel had a
very hard life & when he was at his lowest, Buffy tried to
convince him that life was more than pain & suffering. There was
beauty & surprises around the corner. They were up on the cliffs
above Sunnydale when it began to snow the first & only time in
the history of the town. She brought him home & he's grown into
one of the strongest men that I know.'
Joshua read out, squinting a little to make out the tiny print.
“Oh that's beautiful,” Max sighed
happily. “She made that herself?”
“Looks like it,” Alec nodded. “You
can see where she had a little too much material there,” he
gestured, pointing between the wooden base and the actual globe.
“Makes it all the more special,”
Joshua defended, but the other two just nodded their agreement. He
sniffled slightly before reaching for the present listed as number
two. Max dropped her eyes to the list in her lap.
“This is the one that you need to
have, because she wouldn't dare leave you out,” she read. “And
she did the braiding herself. Willow was the one that suggested the
material. Huh. Whatever that means,” she added. Though she was far
from annoyed, more amused by the words she read out.
Alec gave her a puzzled look, but Max
thought that she might already know and nodded to herself when Joshua
opened a braided cord necklace. There was a strange gold symbol at
the bottom.
“Wicca protection,” Joshua
declared as he swiftly looped the necklace over his head and
carefully threaded his still slightly bushy mane out of the way
before settling it on his chest. “Dawn told me, Willow practising
Wicca ways since high school. Cord made specially in Wicca rite
probably.”
“Exactly,” Max smiled. “Probably
blessings and protection.”
“Long life and all that jazz,”
Alec chuckled. “Now, what's that last one?” He gestured to the
slim, flat package.
Max remained quiet, not listing what
Dawn had written for this one as it seemed very personal. Joshua
stripped the wrapping paper away and lifted up the book that Dawn had
sent. Joshua gasped as his hands cradled the book and then hugged it
to himself, glanced up at Max once and then back down to the book and
carefully opened the cover.
“A book?” Alec asked doubtfully.
But Joshua was shaking his head.
“Second edition Peter Pan,” he
explained. “Belong to Joyce, Dawn and Buffy's mother. Favorite
story to read when little.”
“Oh man,” Alec seemed surprised.
“That is a nice gift for you big guy. What're those?” he
wondered, gesturing to where bits of paper were sticking out. His
question caught his friends curiosity and Joshua turned to where the
first was sticking up from between the pages. It turned out to be a
picture of young Dawn in bed, her mother reading to her, both with
soft smiles on their faces for the picture taker.
“Joyce beautiful,” Joshua nodded.
“Like Dawn said.” He carefully inserted the picture back in and
turned to the next one. As soon as he saw it, he started laughing.
Dawn was dressed up as Peter Pan and Buffy was Tinkerbell. A man that
was not familiar stood behind the girls, looking proud and happy.
“Must be their father,” Joshua decided. He continued roaming
through the book, finding the copies of pictures that had Dawn, her
family or friends, reading or being silly. When he closed the book,
Max chuckled. “What?”
“Dawn wrote how many pictures there
were,” Max explained. “You haven't found them all yet.”
Joshua nodded and quickly explained.
“Leave some for when I read,” he announced. “Find new pictures
like new gift each time.”
“That sounds like fun,” Max
agreed. “It was a really good idea to share her pictures that way.”
“Oh Alec, look,” Joshua chuckled
as he turned back to one of the girl's friends. He had seen what was
written on the back and it featured Xander, his face pinched up
happily, his hands down by his sides and his legs were blurred.
“Xander do Snoopy dance.”
“It's an epileptic seizure dance?”
Alec teased as he smirked at the photo. Both Joshua and Max looked
and burst out laughing.
“Maybe,” Max wheezed slightly. She
might have said more, but her watch beeped, reminding her of the
dinner that was cooking in the oven. She laid her hand on Joshua's
shoulder. “You sit, enjoy your presents. Alec and I can get the
veggies on.”
“Yeah big guy,” Alec nodded
quickly, feeling the glow of Christmas good will. “You've been a
gracious host, so my turn, right?”
“All right,” Joshua nodded. “Thank
you.” He turned back to looking over the first page of the book,
his finger sliding against the golden edged pages, absorbed
instantly. Max hovered in the doorway for a moment, like a prideful
mother watching over her young pup, before Alec's touch at her
shoulder brought her back to the moment. She smiled up at him, glad
that for once, they all finally had a family to share the true
meaning of the holidays with.
