Fruition 2.0

By Penmom

As you well know, the usual things apply. This is my sequel to my other D/X fic - Dawn's Hero. It is post-BtVS; so it is obviously AU. You may or may not know that this is my second version of Fruition. I really liked how the piece started out but as I continued I felt like I was losing track of Dawn and Xander's characters. I thought to myself - it's your show (for once) just change it and so I have begun again. The story will be similar but hopefully cleaner and clearer. Premise - Dawn and Xander find out more than they wanted to know about the Key and its implications about their future. Let me know what you think, especially if you read Dawn's Hero or Fruition 1.0.

Chapter 3 - The Monk

The trek to their door had never seemed so long to Xander. He felt as if every one of his senses was tuned razor sharp. The dense fog seems thick against his skin and Dawn's breath echoes in his ear.

Finally the door! The lights muted, it is difficult to see the brightly colored door through the fog. Putting the key into the lock, his feet hit something solid on the ground in front of the doorstep. He pushes the door open to provide more light. Through the beam of light, he immediately recognizes the shape of a man.

"What? What is it?" Dawn cries out behind him.

Turning he addresses her tersely, "Dawn get in the house, NOW."

Recognizing the warning in his voice, she skips over the rumpled figure and into the relative safety of the hallway. Xander quickly enters behind her and bends to pull whomever it is into the house with them before slamming the door shut.

Only once the lock slides into place, does he turn his attention to their guest. Turning the body, he checks for a pulse while Dawn peers over his shoulder.

The man has a very faint pulse. He is a slightly built man wearing some kind of brown robe, with the hood drawn up over his head. Xander pulls the hood back to get a better look at the man.

God, but this guy's got an awful haircut! Before Xander can try to rouse him, the man's eyes open abruptly. For a moment it seems that he sees nothing but finally focuses on Xander and then finally on Dawn kneeling behind him.

At the sight of Dawn, the man smiles and murmurs something in Latin. While neither understand the phrase, it is clear that it is some sort of thanksgiving.

The man seems to realize the neither of the young people looking down at him understand him, he gathers what little energy that he has and tries again.

Dawn's voice - a little shaky - breaks the silence, "He looks like --- a monk, I think".

Xander answers, his voice more resolute, "He is --- I remember Buffy telling about the one she met. He seems --- like the real deal."

Neither Xander nor Dawn needs to voice their trepidation at finding a monk at their door.

The man gasps, gathering what air he can before he speaks, "I have come to warn you. There are those in the Order who are frightened by what has become of the key."

Looking at their blank faces, he tries again. There is so much they don't know. "Your marriage --- your joining --- has changed the nature of the key's energy. It is now in both of you and growing stronger. It was thought that when the --- the girl expired that the key could be returned to its keeping to the order. But, we have been watching. There are many that fear that the key cannot be returned that the key is beyond us. That it is to longer ours to guard but yours. Many fear this, the key, it's keeping has been their only reason for existence for many, many centuries. Without it, they feel lost, our numbers are dwindling. There has been much debate. Some have decide to take the girl and try to release the key."

Xander interrupts the man's words, "They already have."

"Yes, I know. But I see they could not."

At this fact, both Dawn and Xander look down. Even in self defense, it is hard to know that each of them killed someone.

The monk coughs a rattling cough before continuing. They also tried to stop me. In that my brothers may have been successful. They found that I was coming to warn you." Another cough shakes his body.

Dawn draws herself out of her stupor, she crawls closer to him, "Let us call a doctor."

"No!" The man's voice is forceful in his answer. "There is not much time. There is a prophency. That the key, its energy --- would come to fruition. That it would evolve into something else not just energy but an entity of some kind. The Order fears that this will soon come to pass and they wish to stop it. Their fear, their greed --- they want the key back."

The man's emotional plea seems to have affected him further and his grasps for air increase. He looks to Xander. "I --- I am the one --- who helped to make this child --- this beautiful child --- a good person, a good --- heart --- but --- much more ---you must protect ---." He coughs some more, his body shaking and then suddenly, his robes collapse. He is simply gone.

He leaves silence and dismay in his wake, as they kneel beside the empty brown garment. Looking down, Dawn sees something and picks it up. "What's this?" she asks wearily, holding the box toward Xander.

It is a small, crudely made wooden box. Xander takes the box but hesitates to open it. Laying the box aside, he stands, wanting to take some kind of action but not knowing what.

He checks the locks again. He turns to Dawn and sees that she is clearly overwhelmed by the whole encounter. Taking her by the hand, he leads her up the stairs and into the bedroom.

******************************

She lies down on flat on the big bed. The ceiling seems to spin, it continues to spin even after she closes her eyes. She feels the bed shift as Xander comes to lie beside her in a similar fashion.

While they are not touching in any concrete sense, the aura of energy they share begins to merge. It merges until the two are encased in a shell of light and energy. The aura seems to hold their true selves within it and these selves slide and weave over and through each other again and again until it is like a blanket enfolding them both. Both willingly slide into sleep as their subconscious minds rebound from the shocks of the last hour.