Title: Winter Wonderland

Series: Destiny Found, part 9

Affiliated Series: Destiny Lost

Authors: Sonya and Erin

E-mail: sonyajeb@swbell.net OR carynsilver@yahoo.com

Rating: PG

Category: A/F, B/X, C/D, G/J, O/Other, AU, relationship oriented

*Disclaimers and Timeline Info in Part 1!!!!*

--------------------------

"Deck the halls with boughs of holly, tra la la la la, la la, la, la... Tis..."

"Um, Mom?"

Joyce stopped singing and looked down at her daughter Buffy from the top of a step ladder. "Yes, dear?"

"I think it's *fa*."

"Excuse me?" Joyce stretched over to put the angel on the top of the Christmas tree. It was a family heirloom, sort of. Her mother had bought it for Joyce's first Christmas, and given it to Joyce for Buffy's first Christmas. The little angel had blonde hair, like the two Summers women, and held a tiny, blue cross in her small hands. A set of gauzy wings adorned the angel's back, giving the tree a proper crowning.

"The song," Buffy clarified. "It's fa la la la la, not tra la la la la."

"Really? I've always said tra..."

Maybe it was a tiny earthquake, or a default in the ladder. Or, perhaps, it was the shock of finding out she'd been singing the beloved Christmas carol wrong all these years. But, somehow, the ladder tipped and Joyce started to fall.

"Mom!" Buffy reacted as quickly as her Slayer instincts would allow. From where she was standing, there was no way she could get there in time to catch her mother, but she could do something else.

Buffy launched herself into the easy chair she had been standing next to. The chair moved easily enough, for her anyway, and Buffy slid it into the couch. With extra oomph, the couch moved enough so that Joyce fell on it instead of the floor. But the couch kept going after Buffy straightened up. It was as if, once freed from its motionless state, the sofa didn't want to stop. It hit the tree, and the big evergreen started to wobble.

Joyce had her eyes closed in anticipation of hitting the floor. She opened them in time to see the tree plummeting toward her face. Buffy jumped the coffee table and grabbed the tree. It didn't hit Joyce's face, but there was a crash as the tiny angel slid off the top of the tree and hit the floor. It shattered into several pieces.

"Oh, no!" Buffy cried. Joyce moved and Buffy dropped the tree. Pine needles showered over the couch, but the mother and daughter didn't care. They hurried to the angel and started picking up the pieces.

"It's not so bad," Joyce said, putting on a brave face.

Buffy started to cry. Joyce hurried to put the pieces on the desk and then went to give Buffy a big hug. "Sweetie, don't cry. It will be all right."

"I broke the angel! And the tree!" Buffy opened her eyes and stared at the mess that was their living room. "Look at this place..."

"But you saved me," Joyce told her daughter firmly. "Thank you, Buffy."

Buffy's tears slowed, but did not stop completely. "It won't be Christmas without the angel..."

"It's just a thing, Buffy. A special thing, yes, but just a thing. Besides, if you have to feel badly about it, blame me instead. I'm the one who fell off the ladder and started this whole mess. I'm just lucky you were here to save me from breaking my foot, or worse."

Buffy allowed herself to be consoled a little by her mother's words, but she still couldn't quite stop crying. Joyce went into mother-mode instantly.

"What else is bothering you, honey."

"Xander."

Joyce looked at her daughter with concern. "What happened? Is he hurt?"

Buffy shook her head. "He can't come. By the time Giles got the Council to approve the money for the tickets, the flights were all sold out."

"You knew it was a long shot." Joyce rubbed Buffy's back in a soothing motion. "Convincing the Board of Directors that the trip had business aspects was iffy at best. But at least they tried."

"I know." Buffy leaned into her mother's shoulder and let the comforting smell of Joyce's perfume surround her. "But I just wanted it to happen so badly. Normally, I'm OK with us being apart. We've been apart for so long, that, scarily enough, I'm almost getting used to it. But when Xander wrote and said this might happen, I guess I just decided in my head that it *would* happen."

"And it hurt that much more when it didn't." Joyce nodded with understanding. This was the first she'd heard of the cancelled plans, so she felt the sting of regret as well. She didn't want to burdon Buffy with it, though. The girl didn't need any more problems to think about. "Well, how about this. I was going to save it for Christmas, but..." Joyce hopped up and walked over to her desk. She pulled out a white envelope and handed it to Buffy. "Early Merry Christmas."

Buffy opened the envelope without much enthusiasm. Inside she found a long-distance calling card.

"That's good for a whole hour's worth of trans-atlantic calling. You can use it to call him on Christmas!"

Buffy summoned up a wan smile for her mother's benefit. "Thanks, Mom. It's great, really." She stood up. "I think I'm going to go upstairs for a little while, OK? I'll help you clean up this mess after dinner."

"It's fine," Joyce said. "Go on. I'll call you when my famous chilli's done cooking."

Buffy started to walk out of the room and paused by the desk. She picked up the the little angel's fractured head and gave it a small kiss. "Merry Christmas, angel," she whispered.

Joyce watched her go, and knew that she was going to have to make an extra-effort for Christmas this year.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Oz..." Sonya gasped and giggled a little, shivering in pleasure as Oz nibbled on her neck.

"You like?" He raised his head and smiled at her.

"I like!" she affirmed whole-heartedly.

"Good." Oz leaned down and started nibbling again. As his wandering teeth made their way up to her earlobe, Sonya moaned a little.

Then the phone rang. Oz pulled back.

"Ignore it," Sonya whispered, stretching her hand along the back of the couch in a luxurious gesture.

The phone rang again.

"You sure?" Oz asked. "It might be something important. Faith and Angel might have found something out on patrol."

"Then they'd call Buffy."

"Maybe Buffy and her mom are still at the Christmas tree farm."

The phone rang a third time.

"Oh, fine! I'll get it." Sonya gave Oz a small smile to show that she didn't mean her words in a harsh way. Then she reached over the arm of the sofa and picked up the phone during the fourth ring. "Hello? Oh, hi, Joyce. What's wrong?"

Oz went from relaxed to attentive in a mere second. When something was wrong in Sunnydale, you learned to react fast. Especially when one of your best friends was a Slayer, your girlfriend was a former Slayer and her roommate was a potential Slayer.

Sonya murmured a few yesses, and then said, "Yes, I'll spread the word. Don't worry. We're on top if this one." Then she said good night and hung up the phone.

"What happened?" Oz asked.

Sonya stroked his rigid arm. "Nothing lifethreatening. Just heartache."

"The plane ticket money didn't come through, did it?"

Sonya shook her head. "It did, but they can't get a flight out now. It was too late when they got the OK from the alchemist penny-pinchers."

"Buffy must be bummed."

"That's what Joyce said. But Joyce has a plan. She needs our help. All of us."

"Let's call in the troops."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Patrol was slow that night. It was like all the ghosties, goulies and li'l vampires had taken the holidays off this year.

"So." Angel turned to look at Faith. "What do you want to do now?"

A half-smile curved her lips. "Well, there's always shuffle board." She sat down on a swing in the park. The park had been their last patrol stop for the night.

Angel reached around the chains, encircling Faith and the swing. The he started to back up. "Yeah, I'm always up for a good game of shuffle board." He leaned down and rubbed his cheek against hers. Faith closed her eyes. Then he let go of the swing and his presence was gone.

"Loser." Faith jumped off the swing and glared at him.

Angel glared right back. "Wench."

"Ooo... bet you haven't used that line in a couple hundred years!"

Angel just knew he was about to come up with a really good come back line, when a buzzing noise from his pocket made him jump. He pulled out a black, vibrating rectangle and looked at it with horror. "I hate these cellular things. I just know..."

"An evil warlock invented them, yeah, you told me," Faith finished for him.

Ignoring her, Angel just hit the green button on the phone Aidan had forced upon him, and said, "Hello?"

After a few minutes, Angel hung up and looked out at the deserted playground.

"Who was it?" Faith asked, sauntering closer. She didn't think it was anything too bad since Angel was standing still, not running to save someone.

"It was Sonya. Buffy is... desolate."

"Again?" Faith placed a hand on her black-clad hip. "What's new?"

"What's new is that this that suddenly she can't spend Christmas with the love of her life!" Angel turned away from Faith. "I can't expect you to understand that, but I do."

Faith's eyes narrowed on his face. She felt a funny flutter in her heart at the expression on his face. She pushed it away. She and Angel were just... friends. Friendes with certain extra-curricular benefits. Who he had loved in the past (still loved? No!) didn't concern her.

"So, what's the plan?" she asked. "Group meeting to decide how to help the precious Slayer?"

"We're meeting at your house now to make plans for tomorrow night."

"Christmas Eve. How perfect. How... precious." Faith turned away. "You can count me out. Have fun with your Slayer."

"She's not my Slayer," Angel said, but Faith was beyond the point of caring or listening. Angel almost followed her out of the park, but he knew Faith. She didn't want him to do that. She always hated it when he forced her to talk about what was bugging her, even when it turned out all right, the process was painful for them both. And right now there was someone out there who would actually be apprecitative of his help. He turned and walked off in the opposite direction.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Booksellers was closing down for the night. It hadn't been a particularly customer-filled evening, which was actually good since two of the primary salespeople had been in the back practicing magic for most of their shift. Aidan had closed up shop early, and then spent the rest of the evening stocking inventory, straightening up and listening in on the magic session Jenny, Amy and Rio were having in the back room. The back room at Booksellers was reserved for three things -- inventory, Slayer training and magic lessons.

"You guys about done?" Aidan asked when he went back there for the final time. "The front is set, and I'm ready to head for home."

"Sure, we can call it a night," Jenny agreed.

Amy and Rio made happy noises until Jenny added, "But you two still need to practice your transmogrification spells. You should each do so three times before our next lesson."

The phone rang just then, and Aidan picked up the extension in the back room. "Booksellers, we're closed."

"Good, because you need to come home A.S.A.P."

"Sonya, what's wrong?"

"We're having a meeting. Xander and Giles can't come. The flights are all booked. Joyce needs our help to get Buffy out of her doldrums. She says it's the worst since before they went to England. Oh, and bring Amy and them, if they're still there."

"I will." Aidan hung up and turned to the three witches. "Do you three have time for a meeting at my house?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I can *not* believe I let you talk me into this, buster! Christmas break isn't supposed to be about studying!"

Doyle looked down at the brunette bombshell with mock surprise. "Me talk ye inta somethin'? I doubt that's possible. Yer tha one who needed help to pass that Chemistry exam scheduled for January 3rd. I didnae ask fer the extra tutorial job. Tutorin' Faith is enough."

Cordelia scowled at the Irish half-demon. She sat at the glass-topped kitchen table in her parents' house with her school books scattered around her. She'd given up a prime date to do this. Well, she ammended to herself, not a prime date. Lindsey, now he was a prime date. She'd given up an OK date. And she really didn't want to flunk the Chemistry exam. It would bring down her whole average. As uncool as it was to care about her average, Cordelia actually did. If only she hadn't spent half of the last semester flirting with her lab partner, Percy-the-moron, she might not be this far behind.

"Whatever, professor!" Cordelia said aloud, using Faith's pet nickname for the teacher in the group. Granted, he taught elementary school, but Doyle knew how to get a point across. And he was actually really smart about school stuff. Even high school subjects. Not just anyone who could help Faith get a 'B' in math... And he was really nice about it, too. Not one of those people who yelled at you when you didn't understand.

The phone rang just then, pausing their argument. Cordelia pasted a smile on her face -- she fully believed that smiling on the phone made her sound happy and confident to whoever was on the other end, and she was still hoping that Lindsey would come back to town and look her up -- and chirped, "Hello?" Her smile vanished, and she handed the sleek cordless phone to Doyle. "It's for you."

"Thank 'ee kindly," Doyle replied. After a quick conversation, Doyle hung up the phone and put it on the table. It made a small clank against the glass. "I've got ta go. Somethin's come up."

"Something more important than me passing Chemistry?" Cordelia cried.

"As surprisin' as that is, yes." Doyle paused. "But, if ye wanted to, ye could come. If ye brought yer book, maybe we could get some more work done."

"Where would we be going?" Cordelia asked. "Not on another life-or-death mission, I hope. That wouldn't be very chemistry-friendly. Unless you were going to teach me how to build a bomb. But I don't want to know how to build a bomb, so now we're back at square one."

Doyle started at her a second, trying to wrap his mind around her circular logic pattern, then he said, "We're goin' to plan a Christmas Eve party to end all parties."

"Oh. I'm good with parties..." Cordelia paused, unsure if she should commit.

"That ye are, lass. An' yer welcome to come." Doyle was already putting on his black leather jacket.

Cordelia made a split second decision. Sonya had sounded worried on the other end of the line, and Cordelia had bonded with Sonya, Buffy and Amy at the mall that time. She would go. "All right, I'm in."

"Good." Doyle smiled and held her fashionable suede jacket so she could slip her arms into it. "Then let's go."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Buffy lay on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She tried to count her glow-in-the-dark stars, but she couldn't keep her mind on the task. It kept wandering across the ocean. What was Xander doing right now? Was he missing her? Was he in class? Was he hanging out with his friends? Were he and Giles doing Christmas-y things in Giles's apartment? It was probably already Christmas in London. She hadn't quite gotten the time difference down yet, but she did know that when it was evening in California, it was past midnight in London, if not later.

She knew her mother wanted her to come downstairs and put on a happy, Christmas face, but Buffy just couldn't summon up that kind of facade right now. She knew it was stupid and spoiled of her to ruin her mother's holiday like this, but somehow she couldn't seem to lighten up. It was as if all the cheeriness she'd forced or gained over the time Xander had been gone had just vanished. Was it because of Christmas? Buffy didn't know. She sighed and rolled onto her side. She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them.

"Rise and shine, sleepy-head!"

"Yeah, Joyce says you've been in bed all day!"

Buffy looked up to see Sonya and Amy standing in her doorway. The two girls walked in and plopped down on the bed next to her.

"What are you doing here?" Buffy asked.

"You'll have to come downstairs to see," Amy said mysteriously.

"I'm not in a real girl's night kind of mood," Buffy complained, but the other two girls wouldn't take no for an answer. Sonya grabbed Buffy's arms and hauled her into a sitting position.

"Ug," Amy muttered.

"What?" Buffy reached a hand up to her head and felt a wad of hair over her ear. Her hair always did that. It was so strange. "Oh. Funny bed hair. Oh well, it doesn't matter."

"It matters to me!" Amy exclaimed. She snapped her fingers, and Buffy's brush floated over from the dresser. Sonya, who had a better angle, took the brush and smoothed out the tangles.

"Neat trick," Sonya commented, as she put the brush back on the dresser the old fashioned way, using her feet to walk over there.

"Rio taught me the easiest levitation spell," Amy said, a smile lighting her face. "It isn't hard to remember, and it doesn't use a lot of power so it doesn't need a lot of control. Of course, it means I can't levitate big stuff, but that's OK. Rio calls it his couch-potato spell, you know, because you can use it to get another soda or the remote control without leaving your chair."

Buffy's gaze slid over to Amy. The Slayer got interested in the conversation inspite of her determination to stay in bed and mope all night. "You and Rio sure have been spending a lot of time together lately."

Amy wagged a finger at Buffy. "We're just friends. Don't go seeing romance where there isn't any."

Sonya exchanged a glance with Buffy. "I don't know, Buff. Amy's been pretty quick to deny it. That's usually a telltale sign..."

"What is this, gang up on Amy night?" the blonde in question demanded. Amy stood up and went over to the door. "Come on. We've got to go downstairs."

"Why?" Buffy reluctantly allowed herself to be dragged to the door. She stopped long enough to trade her sleepshirt -- an old shirt of Xander's -- for jeans and the white sweater with silver sparkles on it that her mother had given her for Christmas last year. If she was going to go downstairs, she might as well do something that would make her mother happy. She glanced in the mirror and decided she didn't look completely horrible. Then she let Sonya and Amy drag her down into the living room.

The living room was dark when they got to the threshhold. "That's strange," Buffy muttered. "I thought Mom was down here." She reached out for the light switch and flipped it.

Suddenly, light flooded the room from several different angles and a crowd of voices chorused, "Surprise!"

Buffy blinked and tried to take it all in. The living room had been decorated and turned into a Christmas paradise. The tree had been properly lighted and ornamented -- Buffy averted her eyes from the empty spot on top where the used to sit. Poinsettias were placed around in festive locations. Tinsle rimmed every possible surface. And under the tree were heaped piles of gifts in festive colored paper. But, best of all, were the faces smiling at her from all around the room. Jenny and Aidan were there, standing in the doorway to the dining room like they had just finished setting up whatever food was sending the wonderful aroma into the room. Oz grinned at her from a seat on the couch, and Sonya went over to her customary place next to him. Rio lurked next to the window, looking a bit uncomfortable. Angel was doing a bit of lurking himself next to the piano. Buffy could tell that neither guy was used to attending parties. Cordelia, in a bright red dress, stood next to the tree with a huge smile on her face. Her yell of "surprise" had been the most enthusiastic. Doyle stood near the stereo, and when he flipped a button, Christmas caroles filtered into the room. Amy gave Buffy a hug and then slipped off to draw Rio fully into the room.

Lastly, Buffy turned to her mother. Joyce's smile was warm and loving, like it always was. "Merry Christmas Eve, honey."

"Happy Christmas Eve to you, too, Mom," Buffy replied, giving her mother a huge, grateful hug. Immediately she had known who was behind all this. It screamed Mom-idea, but Buffy thought it was wonderful. Leaning in so her mouth was next to Joyce's ear, Buffy whispered, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Joyce replied. "I'm just glad to see a smile on your face again. And you should be smiling at this time of year."

"I'm sorry if I've been a pill the past couple of days," Buffy said in a sincere tone. "I didn't mean to be..." Her gaze dimmed a little as the reason for her unhappiness reasserted itself in her mind, but somehow, with the presence of her mother and all her friends, Buffy found the strenght to move on. That's what Xander would want her to do, anyway. He would never want her to mope around over him, especially when people cared about her enough to do something like this for her.

As she looked around, she felt the warmth of tears in her eyes. "I can't believe you guys did all this."

"It was no problem," Angel said with a shrug. His shoulder jostled one of Joyce's knick-knack cabinets and the little figureines rattled. Angel jumped back. Nothing fell, luckily, but he looked mortified.

"Yeah, it was all stuff we had lying about," Aidan said quickly, to divert everyone's attention from the near accident.

"I tell ye what," Doyle said suddenly. "I'm starvin'. I don't know about the rest o' ye."

Joyce laughed. She was well-used to Doyle's appitite. Since moving into their garage apartment, Doyle had eaten dinner at their house at least once a week. "All right, everyone, have at it. Everything's ready."

There was a mass exodus toward the dining room. If there was one thing teenagers flocked to, it was free food. Buffy hung back. When the room had emptied, she moved over to talk to Angel. Not needing to eat, he was the only other person who hadn't jumped toward the buffet when given the chance.

"Um... hey." Buffy stood stiffly. She was always unsure of herself around him for some reason. And when she caught him staring at her -- not so much any more, but still occasionally -- it made her feel strange. She wrapped one arm around her stomach, and clutched at her shoulder with the other.

"Merry Christmas," Angel offered with a half-smile.

Buffy returned the expression and said, "To you, too."

"Thanks." Angel shoved his hands in the pockets of his black pants. His black trench coat had been taken hostage by Joyce and hung in the closet. Underneath it had been revealed a deep, maroon silk shirt.

Buffy nodded toward the colored fabric. "A nod to the holiday season?"

"Something like that." Angel shifted back and forth.

"I'm... I'm surprised you came," Buffy finally admitted. "I mean, we aren't... close."

"I wanted to." Angel looked up then, and something in his eyes took her breath away. She didn't know how to describe it, but there was so much feeling in them. Something she couldn't, or didn't want, to put a name to. It wasn't something that she wanted, but that didn't mean it wasn't there.

Readjusting her arms, Buffy stammared. "So, uh... where's Faith tonight."

Angel shrugged and the tense moment was broken. "I haven't seen her."

"You two seem to be... pretty close."

"Sometimes. Faith... she's a hard girl to be close to."

The ghost of a smile flickered across Buffy's lips. "I can imagine."

"Yeah." Angel's gaze turned toward the windows. Buffy couldn't see out of them because it was dark outside. She wondered what he was thinking about. His expression was intense again, but, now that it wasn't directed at her, she felt more compassionate about it.

"Is there something I could do? I could call her or something."

Angel shook his head. "Thanks, but no. She'll come if she wants to. Thus is her way."

Buffy nodded. "Well, I guess I'm going to go get some food."

"OK."

Buffy turned. Then she turned back for a second. "Angel. Thanks."

"For what?" He looked genuinely surprised. Something that didn't happen all that often.

"For being here all this time, for me, and for Xander." Her face softened, as it always did when she thought of him. "You've saved the lives of everyone here, practically. I... I admire you, Angel." She wanted to say more, to make that sad expression leave his face, but she somehow doubted that was in her power. If only she knew where Faith was, but that probably wasn't a good idea either. After a second of standing there speechless, Buffy turned and went into the dining room.

Angel watched her go.

"Bye, Buffy."

She had changed a lot since the first time he saw her, all those years ago on the steps of Hemery High School. She was more serious, more confident, and if possible, more alluring. Though, somehow, he didn't have quite the hankering for blondes that he used to.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After the yummy Christmas Eve buffet -- complete with fruit cake, egg nog (sans whiskey), and a cheese log, among lots of other tasty treats -- everyone moved back into the living room for what Doyle termed "the orgy of greed" -- gift giving time.

"How should we do this?" Aidan asked, glancing at the mound of packages under the tree. In honor of the occasion, everyone had brought their presents for each other to the Summers' tree this evening.

"Well," Joyce said, "we need someone to play Santa."

"Maybe two people," Oz commented.

"That sounded like you volunteering," Sonya teased her boyfriend.

"That sounded like you volunteering to help him," Amy replied before Oz had the chance to say anything.

It took some persuading, but Oz and Sonya finally donned the Santa hats Joyce had ready, and began passing out brightly wrapped packages. It took quite a while, but eventually they finished the process and everyone ended up with at least two or three gifts to open.

"Now what?" Sonya asked, plopping back down on the couch, her packages at her feet.

"Well, now we open them," Joyce said. "Have at it, every body."

The sound of ripping paper and exclamations of delight filled the living room as gifts were opened and displayed. Buffy opened her boxes slowly. There was a warm, fuzzy sweater from Amy. A protective charm from Jenny. The new pair of shoes she'd drooled over at the mall from her mother. A delicate silver watch from Aidan. Buffy kissed him on the cheek to express her thanks. It was a beautiful piece, with intricate swirls and twirls. Her name was engraved on the inside of the wristband. Oz got her a book -- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainance. Buffy ran her fingers over the cover fondly, remembering their first lunch together in the cafeteria at school. She found a perfectly carved stake in a box, and knew immediately who it was from. She looked up at Sonya and exchanged a delighted grin. Sonya held the box Buffy had given her, which contained a perfectly carved stake.

Her last present from the group was in a small, plainly wrapped box. Buffy thought it looked almost like a jewlelry box, but it didn't have a card on it. She opened the box and looked inside. Lying on a bed of cotten was a beautiful silver cross. It wasn't extremely ornamental. Just plain silver with a plain silver chain. But the beauty was in the simplicity. Buffy picked it up and examined it. She examined the cross, the chain, even the box and the wrapping paper, but there was nothing to indicate who the cross was from. Buffy ran her fingers over it, and then slipped it around her neck. It felt strange at first. She was unnacustomed to its weight. All her jewelry was much lighter. But she left it on, hoping whoever had gotten it for her would realize her thanks because she was wearing it.

After finishing with her presents, Buffy sat back and surveyed the room. The others were still engrossed in the unwrapping process. Even Rio, who hadn't had many packages to open, was sitting next to Amy, helping her with her boxes. It made Buffy smile contentedly to see presents from her in front of most of the people there. The only people she hadn't gotten at least a little something for were Angel, Rio and Doyle. She just hadn't been able to think of anything they would like. She didn't know them well enough.

Her gaze drifted to the large front window. Outside she could see the edge of the brilliant winter moon as it shone down on the neighborhood. Even all the sparkling Christmas lights paled in comparison to the natural beauty.

Something dark moved outside. Buffy couldn't make out what it was, but she knew she had seen something real. Something lurking out there. Her Slayer senses started to ping. Quietly, she got up and walked into the kitchen like she was going for a drink of water or a pair of scissors. She didn't want to interrupt anyone's festivities if she didn't need to. But her new stake was firmly in her waistband, just in case.

Buffy exited the back door and crept around the side of the house. She could move practically silently when she tried. Not even the crunch of leaves or the snap of a twig gave her away. When she rounded the corner, she saw something, no, someone standing near the window. The light from inside illuminated his or her silhouette.

"Who are you, and what are you doing spying on my house," Buffy demanded suddenly.

The person turned around calmly to face her and stepped closer, away from the window.

Buffy lowered the stake when she recognized the person's face. "Faith. Why didn't you just ring the doorbell."

"Because I wasn't sure that I wanted to come in," Faith replied with a sneer. "I just had to check the place out, find out what was so important that everyone I know came trotting over here because you were down in the mouth."

Buffy frowned at the other girl's acerbic comment. "I didn't ask them to come, but I'm very grateful that they did. Is there something wrong? Something with you and Angel? He seems more broody than usual tonight."

Faith actually looked surprised for a second, before she covered it up. "More broody, huh. Well, with him, you never know. He's probably just remembering something from his past."

"Maybe so..." Buffy hesitated and then decided to say what was on her mind. If it worked, maybe she'd have gotten Angel a present after all. "But I think he misses you."

"Why would he miss me? It's not like we're an 'item' or something." Faith tossed her hair back over her shoulder. "I'm a free agent, and I like it that way."

"You're not?" Buffy arched an eyebrow. "Maybe you should look a little closer. Come in any time you want to." With that, Buffy turned and went back into the house the way she'd come.

A few seconds later, she heard a tapping at the front door. Her mother started to get up, but Buffy stopped her. "I've got it."

Buffy put a huge smile on her face, and opened the door. She ushered Faith into the living room and announced her with, "Look who's here, everybody!" People waved and said hello.

"Aren't there some more presents?" Buffy asked.

"We put 'em over there." Oz pointed to a small stack of unopened boxes next to Angel's chair.

Faith walked over and sat down near the boxes, looking shocked beyond belief.

"I'm glad you made it," Aidan told her with a smile.

"Really?" Faith retorted sarcastically.

"Really," Aidan confirmed.

"Me, too," Doyle called from his position near the tree.

"Now I know this is bull," Faith said. "I get on your nerves, professor."

"That ye do, but in a good way." Doyle chuckled. "But if ye don't like yer present from me, just don' throw it at me, OK?"

Angel reached over as the other started going about their business again and touched Faith on the shoulder. "I'm glad you came."

"Really?" Faith asked, no sarcasm this time.

"Really," Angel replied.

Buffy sat down in her chair and smiled, glad her gift had brought people some happyness.

Just then the clock began to chime. Everyone counted out loud, making a silly game of it. Doyle was declared the winner for most ridiculous counting voice.

Aidan looked around at everyone when the laughter had died down and announced, "Merry Christmas to all!"

Understanding dawned on Cordelia's face. "Wow, it is Christmas now."

"Yep," Oz said, putting his arm around Sonya, "right now." He winked at the brunette. The two were an interesting combination, but their friendship worked.

The doorbell rang.

"Who could that be?" Joyce wondered, starting to stand up. "Everyone we know is already here." Her eyes flashed to Faith with a smile.

"Don't get up, Mom," Buffy called, springing to her feet. "I'll get it." She wanted to save her mom the trouble, since Buffy knew she'd been such a problematic child the past few days.

Buffy walked to the door and opened it. She looked outside, but no one was there. The cool wind blew into the entryhall, raising goosebumps on her exposed arms.

"That's strange," Buffy muttered. She moved to close the door when something red caught her eye. She looked down, and in the door latch, someone had placed a single red rose. Buffy reached down and picked it up. She brought it to her nose and inhaled the sweet smell.

"Merry Christmas."

She knew that voice. She knew it very well. Her eyes moved up to meet a familiar pair of chocolate brown ones. "Xander! How...?"

"Shhhh." Xander stepped inside, and pulled Buffy into a long kiss. She wrapped her arms around him, and held him close. So tight that he grunted with pain, but he didn't tell her to let go. He, too, had longed for the closeness.

"Buffy, who was at the door?" Joyce walked into the doorway and looked at the scene before her. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "Xander!"

The word echoed back through the living room, and everyone pushed into the door way or the entryhall to see for themselves. Buffy and Xander de-clinched to find that they had an audience. They both blushed.

"Harris!" Sonya cried. "How did you get here?"

Xander shut the door, and moved forward to give Sonya a friendly hug. "Giles and I finally managed to get standby tickets. One of the Council members knew a guy at the airport."

Joyce's eyes sprang to the closed door. "Is Giles out there? Let him inside. It's cold out there."

Xander shook his head. "Only one seat opened up. He let me have it."

"That was very sweet of him," Joyce said, completely hiding any disappointment she felt. Her daughter was glowing. That was enough of a Christmas miracle.

Buffy grabbed Xander's hand. "Come in here. Let me give you your present." She pulled him into the living room. There was one present left under the tree -- the one she'd saved for Xander before finding out he wouldn't be able to come.

"I don't have your present," Xander said sadly. "I mailed it yesterday."

"I don't care about presents," Buffy told him. "You being here is all the present I need." They sat down on the couch, and she leaned in for another kiss. She'd meant for it just to be a quick one, but it lengthened into a long, passionate kiss.

Aidan and Joyce herded the others into the kitchen and the dining room.

"Come on guys," Aidan said. "Let's give them a minute alone."

Faith noticed Angel looking back at Buffy and Xander one last time before following the crowd. Doing her best not to freak out, she asked, "You OK?"

Angel looked at Faith and nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine. I'm just glad he managed to get here."

Faith reached out and squeezed his hand. Then she dropped it. Holding hands was not her thing.

"I'm glad you got here, too," Angel said quietly.

"You know," Faith replied. "Me, too. Merry Christmas."

Angel didn't smile very often, but he smiled at that. "Merry Christmas to you, too."