Summary - Joyce Buffy Harwood-Summers, the daughter of Dawn and Teddy Harwood-Summers, follows in her mother's footsteps as she trains for New England Figure Skating Regionals Competition.

Disclaimer - Buffy is owned by Joss Whedon, Sarah Lawson owns On Edge, the first e-book in the Ice Skating Series.

Pairing - Dawn/Teddy Harwood - Buffy/Thomas Springer (divorced) - Joyce/None Currently

A/U - Set in my Ice Princess - Dawn universe, approximately 17 years after the conclusion of that story.

Chapter 1

Joyce Harwood-Summers took another lap around the deserted rink at the Summers and Summers Skating Rink, her blades carving into the ice as she gained momentum. Turning backward, Joyce skated three more hard strokes and planted her toe pick into the ice, feeling the burn in her quadriceps as she propelled her body upward into a triple Lutz. She knew she was in trouble after only two revolutions. While her brain willed her body to keep twisting in the air, somehow her skates didn't get the memo. She crashed hard, gasping as her hip hit the ice.

"Joyce," called out her coach and aunt. Buffy Summers skated toward her and glided to a stop, concern evident on her face. "You're a million miles away today, Joyce."

A strand of hair had slipped free from her ponytail and she tucked it behind her ear. "What do you mean, Aunt Buffy?"

"I know you can land that jump," Buffy said. "I've seen you do it many times. Why are you distracted?"

"I'll keep trying, Aunt Buffy." Joyce planted her hands on her hips and looked past Buffy. On the other side of the rink, Joyce's mom, Dawn Harwood-Summers, skated alongside a beginning blind skater.

Dawn had been largely blinded in an accident a few years before Joyce was born and now taught blind children how to skate using her other senses as well as what little sight Dawn still had in the process. Joyce sighed as she thought of how all her mother could see was light and shadows.

"You haven't answered my question." Buffy leaned into her field of vision. "What's on your mind?"

Joyce shrugged. "That camp was full of incredibly talented skaters. I guess I'm kind of intimidated."

Buffy nodded with a smile. She, Dawn and Teddy had agreed it would be good for Joyce to go to a skating camp. See what she could pick up from other skaters. "I understand. But that's what camp is for, remember? You spent two weeks with the best and most promising skaters in the whole western United States. Very few girls your age get to do that."

"You got to do that, Aunt Buffy," Joyce reminded her aunt.

"That was only because your Grandma Joyce wanted the best for me," Buffy reminded her niece. "Or did you forget I trained for the Regionals before I became a Slayer."

Joyce nodded as she thought back on her introduction to the supernatural. It had been when she herself had been called as a Slayer and Aunt Willow had come and done a spell at her aunts request to confirm that she was indeed a Slayer. It was then that Buffy took to training, not just in skating of course but also in reigning in her Slayer abilities so that she would not hurt anyone else.

"Anyways skating is in your blood. Your mom, your Grandma Tina, your Aunt Gen and I all did it when we were younger. You can do it too.

"Thanks, Aunt Buffy," Joyce said with a smile as she leaned in and gave her aunt a hug.

"You're welcome," Buffy said as she returned the embrace. "Show me a triple flip and a double Axel, and then grab some water."

Pushing off, Joyce skated away from Buffy, looping around the rink as her t-shirt rippled in the cool air. Twisting backward, she skated a series of crossovers effortlessly, the familiar cadence of her blades carving into the ice sending a rush of adrenaline through her. Gliding on one leg, she jammed her other toe pick into the ice and jumped into the air, she came down hard as her blades tangled and she landed in a heap on the ice.

She didn't have to look at Buffy to know her aunt was disappointed. Joyce got up and skated toward the edge of the rink, where her father, Teddy, waited on the other side of the boards.

"It's going to be okay." Teddy passed her a water bottle and offered a sympathetic smile. "Just be glad your Grandma Tina is not the one training you. She would have told you to do it again till it was perfect."

"I know," Joyce said as she twisted the cap off the bottle and took a long pull, watching as Buffy skated toward Dawn and her blind student. "Aunt Gen and mom told me some of the horror stories of when grandma trained them."

Teddy followed his daughter's gaze and smiled. "Don't worry about Buffy," he said. "She knows you are capable of landing these jumps and she just wants you to do your best."

"I'm really trying, dad. I don't know what's wrong." Joyce told her father.

"I remember when your Grandma Tina sent your Aunt Gen to camp. Gen came back exhausted. That's probably what you are is exhausted. It can take a lot out of you."

It was at that moment that Buffy and Dawn skated over to them. "That's it for the day," Buffy said. "Why don't we all head home."

After Teddy and Dawn had gotten married Teddy had moved into their house so that Dawn would not have to learn the layout of a new home. And when Joyce was born they built Buffy a little cottage on the property so that Buffy would always be on hand if Teddy, Joyce or Danielle – Joyce's younger sister – were not around and Dawn needed someone for any reason.

"I'm really trying, Aunt Buffy," Joyce said.

"She knows, sweetie," Dawn said. "And from what Buffy told me, you had a good first day back. So, what was your favorite part about camp?"

Joyce loosened her tights and tugged at the laces on her skates. "I had a chance to meet Michele Kwan during a break-out session. That was pretty sweet."

"Did you tell her that she had met me once?" Dawn asked as she remembered her Regionals and meeting Michelle Kwan afterwards.

"I did," Joyce replied excitedly. "She remembered you. She even inscribed a couple pictures, though I don't think I want to say what she wrote though."

"What did she write?" Teddy asked.

Joyce hesitantly pulled the pictures out of her bag and handed them to her father.

Teddy looked at the pictures and laughed. "To the second generation of Summers family skaters, may you outshine your mother."

Dawn smiled and laughed.

Joyce cleaned her skate blades with a cloth she kept in her duffle bag. Tucking them inside, she pulled on her tennis shoes and checked her smartphone for messages. A text from Hannah illuminated the screen.

I've got big news. Can you, mom and Aunt Dawn meet me and dad at Ray's for pizza later?

"What is it, Joyce?" Buffy asked noticing the look on her niece's face.

"Hannah wants us to meet her at Ray's for pizza."

"First tell her I am disappointed that she missed her session," Buffy said. Hannah was not only Joyce's best friend but also her daughter. She and Hannah's father, Thomas, had gotten divorced when he had found out about the supernatural. Even though Buffy repeatedly had told him she was retired from that life, he had been afraid that a demon or a vampire might still come after her. So much so that he had petitioned the courts and had won custody of their only daughter, Hannah. "Then ask her why."

Joyce did what her aunt asked and texted Hannah back. Soon a new message appeared:

Dad has some news.

"She just says that Uncle Thomas has some news," Joyce said.

"Alright tell her we'll be heading that way as soon as we stop at home and get your sister," Buffy said with a glance at Teddy and Dawn who nodded in agreement.