| Dancing Part 2 by Kass Shakespeare Buffy sighed deeply. �So Spike is back in town.� �Yes he is,� Dawn said smiling. �What is he doing here?� her older sister asked and got up from the couch, on which she had been sitting all the time. �He said he wanted to go back home.� �Home? So he is gonna stay for longer?� Dawn shrugged. �Well, I don�t know, but he rented a motel room.� �He told you that?� Buffy asked. �I mean you talked to him?� �Of course I did. Man, it was so cool seeing him again after such a long time.� Buffy sat down again and looked at her sister, who was sitting across her. �Is he still chipped?� �Oh, I don�t know.� Dawn answered. �You don�t know? You talked to him without knowing if he is a danger to you or not?� Buffy sounded angry. �Who is a danger?� Angel came down the stairs and entered the living room. He walked to the couch and gave Buffy a kiss on her cheek. �Spike,� she said, �he is back.� �Oh.� Angel made a thoughtful face. �What is up with you guys?� Dawn asked. �It is so cool that he is back. I wanted to invite him in but he said he would talk to us later.� �You what?� Buffy freaked. �I wanted to invite him in our house, to talk.� �Are you crazy? We don�t know anything, why he is back, if he still has the chip and what he is planning.� Buffy almost screamed at her sister. �Cool down Buffy,� Dawn said, rolling her eyes. �He was nice. I don�t think he is planning anything. Besides that, he saved my life, remember?� �Yes I DO remember that, and I am very thankful for that, but�� Dawn interrupted her. �Thankful? You don�t sound thankful.� �Dawn, it�s been four years�� �Five.� Now Buffy rolled her eyes. �Okay, five. But we don�t know what happened to him in five years. Maybe he turned all evil again and wants to kill me.� �How can you think that?� Dawn was upset. Buffy looked at Angel who remained silent. She just sighed as she got no reaction from him and continued to talk into her sister. �Dawn, look, we really need to find out if he is dangerous or not and what he is doing back in Sunnydale. But don�t invite him in our house, okay?� Dawn wanted to say something but nodded instead. �Good,� Buffy smiled. �I just don�t want anything bad to happen, that�s all.� �I will go to bed now, it�s been a hard day.� Dawn got up from the sofa. �How did it go?� her sister asked. �It went fine. Jim and I are getting better every day. I think we might have a chance with the contest.� �I wish you luck. When is it?� �In less than two weeks is the pre-selection. The real contest in one week later.� Dawn didn�t feel much like talking now. She was tired from the training and also a little angry about Buffy�s reaction towards Spike. She had been happy to see him again and Buffy acted as if her worst enemy was back in town. Well, Spike had been her worst enemy for long. But in the last one and a half years before he left things had changed. And Dawn could never forget that he had saved her life. �I�m going to sleep now.� �Good night,� Buffy said. �Night,� Angel said too. �Night!� Dawn went upstairs to her bedroom. �You could have said something,� Buffy told Angel. �Said what?� �About Spike, you didn�t say a word.� �What should I say?� �Well, how about �Dawn, are you crazy? Spike is a killer!� You could have said something like that.� Angel shrugged. �You said that already.� �Yes I did. But you could have helped me.� Buffy pouted. �Sorry.� He sat down beside his lover and put his arm around her shoulders. �It�s just, everything was so perfect here. And now he has to come back. Spike means trouble.� �Yes he does. Maybe we better call Giles to warn him,� Angel suggested. �Not that Spike is necessarily a danger. He most likely still has the chip, but we can never know.� �Am I being unfair?� Buffy asked. �Unfair? Why?� �Well, Spike did save Dawn�s life, but I can�t trust him. He is a vampire.� Buffy said and Angel sighed. �Oh, I mean a vampire without a soul. He is not like you.� She caressed his cheek and kissed him softly. �No, you aren�t unfair. We can never know what he is planning. He left for five years and we don�t know what happened to him in that time.� �Right.� Buffy got up from the couch. �I will call Giles.� ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dawn was woken up by her alarm clock early in the morning. She was very tired but she had to get ready for training. It�s been late until she got to bed last night. She read in her old diaries from the time when she still was the key. She had started writing new ones after she had burned her old ones when she had found out that she was. It was funny to read what she had thought and felt when she was a teenager. Some parts were very sad too, especially when her mom died, but she mostly read what she had written about Spike. Dawn had had a crush on him then, but he had been into Buffy. Even if he hadn�t, she would have been too young for him. But with fourteen, she didn�t think about the age-difference between them. Okay, he was still 113 years older than her but she was older too. Dawn rubbed her sleepy eyes and finally got out of the bed and went to the bathroom. After taking a shower she got dressed and put her dancing shoes in her back. She went to the kitchen to have breakfast and coffee. �Good Morning Dawn,� Angel said, who was sitting in the kitchen with a cup of blood in front of him on the table. �Morning,� she replied. �Got training today?� Dawn nodded. �I will train almost every day now until the contest.� Dawn quickly poured herself some coffee and out butter on a toast. �What a luck it�s in the holidays,� he said. �Yeah, I don�t know how I would manage training and school all together.� �So what will you do today after training?� he asked and took a sip of his blood. Dawn remembered that he never wanted to feed in front of them at the beginning but now it was as normal as watching someone eat. �I think I will visit Willow and Tara. Haven�t seen them in a while,� Dawn said, chewing her toast. �By the way, is Buffy still sleeping?� �Yes, she is.� Angel answered. �Okay, just tell her it will be late tonight.� She quickly sipped the rest of her coffee and headed out. �Good luck!� she heard Angel from the kitchen. �Thanks!� she shouted and got outside. When she arrived at the dance school, Jim was already there. �Hey Dawn,� he said and kissed her on the cheek. �Good morning Jim.� �Okay, we will have to start alone. Ms. Rodriguez called and said she didn�t know if she can make it here today.� �Okay,� she said. �The best is we just go through our program we got so far again,� the boy said and pushed the play-button on the stereo. They danced to some classic Latin-American songs. Dawn didn�t like this music a lot, but it was the best for training. �Ouch!� Jim cried as Dawn accidentally stepped on his foot. �Sorry,� she apologized. �Okay, again from the double-side-step.� Jim swirled her around the room to the fast rhythm of the music. He was a real good dancer and knew the steps better than she did. Dawn had a feeling for the music and the rhythm, but not today. �Ouch!� he said again. �I am sorry.� �What is wrong with you today?� he asked worried. �It�s just, I didn�t get enough sleep,� she said with a sorry face. �Okay, let�s try that again and this time you follow me and don�t push against me, okay?� She nodded. Jim pushed the play button again and the song started from the beginning. The first few steps went really good but then Dawn almost stumbled over her own feet. �Sorry,� she said and frowned. �Maybe we should stop for today and continue when you feel better,� Jim suggested. �Oh, I feel good. I just didn�t sleep enough, that�s all.� Dawn looked at him with her big blue eyes. �Okay, once more,� he said and they took positions. �Forget it,� Jim sighed as Dawn stepped on his foot the third time. �I really don�t know what�s up with me today,� she said, embarrassed for her lack of ability. �We can train tomorrow. Just relax a bit and then it will work again.� Jim was really nice. He always understood when she didn�t feel well, although that didn�t happen so often. She was glad that he wasn�t angry. He kissed her on the cheek again and they said their goodbyes. After she had left the dancing school, Dawn decided to make a walk in the park and then went to a coffee shop to get a proper breakfast, or lunch even because it was already twelve. Then she took the bus and went to Willow and Tara�s house. She knocked at the door on the first floor. Willow and Tara had rented an apartment in a nice old villa after they both had finished college. �Hello Dawn!� Tara opened the door and hugged her. �Hey,� she said, returning the embrace. �Come in,� Tara said smiling and Dawn stepped inside. �Where is Willow?� she asked and sat down on the couch. �She is still at school, but she will be here in about an hour.� �Oh, remind me on asking her to give me some extra lessons with my computer. I think I messed some things up seriously.� It was good having a computer science teacher as friend. �I will. Would you like anything? Tea? Coffee?� Tara asked and walked to the cooking corner of the big living room. They didn�t have a real kitchen. �Tea would be nice.� After a few minutes Tara returned to the couch with a plate with tea and cookies. She sat down beside Dawn and poured her some Earl Grey. �You have luck that I was home already. Someone took my shift today.� �Oh, I forgot that you always have different shifts in the hospital,� Dawn said and drank some tea. �Yeah, you have to be very flexible when you are a nurse,� Tara explained and poured herself some tea too. �How does dancing go?� Dawn suddenly frowned a bit. �I thought good until today.� She told her about the total disaster of today�s training. �Oh, don�t worry hon, I am sure it will go better tomorrow.� �I read my old diaries last night. I felt like stirring old memories now that Spike has returned,� Dawn said. �Spike is back?� �Yes, I met him last night.� �Oh my, do the others know?� Tara asked, looking a bit concerned. �Buffy and Angel know.� �This is no good.� �Why is everybody freaking when I tell them about Spike?� Dawn wondered. �I was happy to see him again.� �To see who again?� Willow just came through the door. �Hey Dawnie.� �Hi Willow.� Dawn got up and hugged her. �Spike is back in Sunnydale,� Tara told her girlfriend. �No?� �Yes, he is,� Dawn said, �Please don�t you freak out too.� �What is he doing here?� Willow asked as she sat down beside Tara and kissed her. �Hey sweetheart,� she whispered softly. Dawn told them about her encounter with the vampire. �Well, from what you said, it doesn�t sound as if he was dangerous. Maybe he really just wanted to come home again. But we can�t be sure,� Tara said. �Why is everybody acting like this? I mean he saved my life and then left. Why do you think he could plan something evil now?� �Dawn, it�s Spike, big bad, remember?� Willow looked worried. Dawn sighed. �I thought at least you would be happy too.� �Well, I am happy,� Willow noticed how ridiculous that sounded. �No, I am not. But if you think he isn�t evil we should find out what he is doing here. Do you know where he is?� �No, he just said he rented a motel room,� Dawn told them. �Maybe we shouldn�t worry about Spike too much. I mean he most likely still has the chip and is no danger. Besides that,� Tara said, �Dawn is right. He saved her life and we should be thankful for that.� Willow smiled at her lover and kissed her again. �Okay, no worrying. So what�s up with our little Dawnie anyways?� �I am not little anymore, I am almost twenty.� Dawn said a little annoyed. �Okay, so what�s up with out BIG Dawnie?� Willow smirked and Dawn rolled her eyes but then laughed. The afternoon with Willow and Tara had been nice. Dawn always liked them and could talk to them about everything. They were like sisters to her, except for the being a sister part. Dawn loved Buffy, but she felt always treated like a little baby, even when she was an adult now. Willow and Tara treated her like a young woman, most of the time at least. Dawn didn�t feel like going home yet so she decided to go to the dance club once more and watch the others dance. It was too early and there weren�t many people but the regular crowd was already on the dance floor. Dawn watched from the balcony and tried to learn something from them. The people from Middle and South America had much more feeling for the rhythm. Dawn wished she could dance like them. But she never ever would, if she always was as clumsy as today. She sighed and continued to watch. |