My eyes opened as the light from the suddenly drawn back curtains fills the room. I vaguely make out a shape standing silhouetted in the brightness, but my drowsy eyes couldn't make out the figure was Dawn until she moved to the foot of the bed where she stared down at us with her hands on her hips. Beside me Buffy groaned as she instinctively rolled away from the light, still asleep. I wiped my eyes with the hand that wasn't currently pinned by the weight of the Slayer and looked back up at Dawn's face, trying to make out her expression. I decided it was definitely a frown and decided to start out with a general question.

"What's up?"

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" I looked around quickly and down at my watchless wrist before flicking my eyes to the open window again.

"Day time?" I could see the smile war for control of her face and almost win before her cute scowl returned in full force.

"It's almost a half hour after you told me we could get started with our-"I cut her off with a my hand as I gestured at her still (I hoped) sleeping older sister in my bed. Carefully and very slowly I extracted my pinned arm from beneath her and rolled out of bed to pull on my sneakers. I motioned for Dawn to follow me quietly out of the room and around to the grassy area next to the pool. We stretched out quickly and squared off against each other.

"Now remember, I'm not going to hurt you, but you will get hit. For this, our first time, I want you to use everything you have to try to hit me. Don't worry about hurting me; I think I can take it." She giggled a little at my sarcasm until she caught my glare and sobered up quickly. I nodded for her to begin and she took a quick breath before launching her attack. She started with a punch; I blocked to the outside, stepping forward to body check her and wrap my other arm around her neck. The application of a little leverage and my forward momentum brought her body parallel to the ground to be stopped in an abrupt position similar to a dancing dip, accompanied nicely by her sharp intake of breath. We froze there in tableau for a long second of her surprised eyes looking up into mine before I helped her back to her own balance.

"You overreached yourself. Keep your jabs short and fast, sometimes it's better to stun an opponent and set them up for your next attack than trying to knock them over outright. Understand?" She nodded quickly and reset herself as I took a step back. "Try again." Her next try was a lot better, leading with a quick jab aimed at my nose which I dodged with a quick sideways motion of my head only to have to block her right knee trying to find my sternum. She pulled it back quickly and brought her left leg up to prevent my coming after her as she stepped back but then put it back down when I didn't follow up. She held her hands up and waited. I moved in, leading with my left and following with my right in a simple one two combination, she dodged and rebalanced quickly, but her footwork needed work. I brought my right leg up in a kick and watched her block it with both hands, we'd need to work on that too. We sparred back and forth for a few minutes while I evaluated what she already knew and what she still needed work on. What really surprised me was how well she did, both with taking a few hits and in her overall speed and coordination. Maybe a little bit of her sister's Slayerness got included in the package. I'd have to think about that later.

We covered a very few improvements and going over how to work them into her technique. I decided the best plan would be to take it slowly, one step at a time. We stretched and cooled down before bowing formally to each other and making our way back to the hotel to get ready. I was worried about Buffy being awake and waiting for us, but she was right where I'd left her. Dawn took her turn in the shower and changing and I woke up Buffy before taking my turn to hurry in and out. While Buffy got cleaned up I was packing up and it wasn't long before we were checked out and enjoying the free continental breakfast in the hotel lobby. We made our way back to the car and were soon on our way down the road.

"So where's the first stop, captain?" I glanced back at Dawn who was spending more time looking out the window than down at her book before answering Buffy's teasing question.

"Why, got to use the bathroom already?" She put on indignant Buffy face and slapped my arm lightly as she answered.

"No, silly. I just want to know where I'm going to work off my stress today. Is that too much to ask?"

"Not at all; but why ask when you can read." I pointed to a road sign we were about to pass.

"California redwood forest? Sounds exciting." Gotta love sarcasm.

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course."

"Good." We drove on, holding hands after I leaned back and tapped my finger on Dawns open book making her jump and glare. Shortly we were pulling through the entrance of the national park and then beyond the edge of the side parking lot through the temporarily removed barricade. The girls both perked up as we ignored the 'authorized vehicles only' sign and drove down the unpaved road to a remote park office and storage area. I parked in that lot and made sure the girls had comfortable shoes before making my way to the office to shake hands and thank the only man in the office. Back at the car I pulled on my hiking backpack and led the way down a partially obscured and obviously rarely used path. We hiked for a good half hour at a pretty light relaxed pace, surrounded by the gentle sounds of nature and the deep greens of the thick vegetation. Looking around, it almost reminded me of the jungle where... I shied away from those thoughts and concentrated instead on the blond beside me barely sweating and absently tucking a stray strand of hair away from her face. Glancing back at Dawn was a different picture. She walked with her head down trying not to stumble or trip on a root. She seemed to be enjoying this part of the trip less, but I was sure she too would relax when we stopped.

The clearing I had in mind was found easily enough after finding my landmark and I dropped the bag as Buffy stretched and Dawn suppressed a yawn with her hand. From the bag sprang first bottles of water to be tossed at the girls and then the portable radio/CD player. I prepped it to play the CD quietly and waited till they were ready to get started. I walked them through some tai chi like motions and then into some gentler, more soothing motions. After they got the rhythm, we kept moving as I walked them through a mental journey leading from the woods to the place they felt the most safe, their 'cave' if you will. I joined them on the journey toward freeing the mind from earthly concerns and we spent hours like that on end before I slowly brought them back out of their self induced trance and back to the world. Buffy's eyes fluttered open and I could feel through our link her new appreciation for the natural beauty surrounding her. Dawn kept her eyes closed and though I couldn't tell exactly what she was thinking, I sensed a reluctance to leave her fantasy world behind. I took a sip from my water bottle and stopped the repeating CD to begin packing it away. The bag packed I looked back around to see Buffy bent over admiring a pretty flower and Dawn looking around at the massive trees as if seeing them for the first time.

"Ready to go back?" I kept my voice gentle, as I had during the fantasy walk, but not as soothing as both girls looked at me and shook their heads as one to the sound of my gentle chuckle. "Good." I left the bag there and led the way a little further into a thicker and darker part of the forest, giving way to a larger clearing and the small lake within it. I heard the soft intake of breath from Dawn behind me as she saw the collection of wildlife gathered for water. I'm no expert at fauna in the area, but a few of what looked to be deer were gathered at the far edge of the, I'll even call it a pond it was so small. There were a few birds in the trees around despite the chilly air and some smaller animals like rabbits and even a chipmunk or two, or maybe they were squirrels. I gestured for them to sit and watch for a while as they unwound and adjusted themselves into their new way of looking at the world. Almost another hour was spent beneath those trees and admiring that world, apart from and free of our normal world of violence, malcontent, and stress.

Eventually a very earthly concern, hunger, prevailed over any desire to stay removed from the world that also involved fast food. We made our way back to the car, picking up my bag on the way, in much less time than we'd taken getting to our little clearing. It wasn't long before we were a few exits down the highway chomping down on some rather good tacos, considering how far north we were from the border. It wasn't too long before we were back on the road heading for parts unknown, to them anyway. The highway stretched on before us and Buffy and I spoke only a few comments about songs on the radio or 'hey did you see that's'. It was a comfortable silence, shared by all three of us. We stopped at a gas station to fill up and for other necessities, but I noticed the looks the girls gave the bright commercialized world and how they took their time to re-immerse themselves in it. I reminded Dawn about her homework and she griped about it, saying she had plenty of time, until I pointed out that the sooner she got done, the more enjoyment was to be had.

We made one more stop of note in California, well a small note anyway. The store was small and off the beaten path a bit, but well worth the trip. I held the door open and let the girls precede me into the small and earthy smelling shop. I watched them from a place near the door as they browsed through the shops inventory, their fingers lightly brushing against some hanging pendants on leather straps or running through real fur coats and other apparel from animals hunted and killed in the old and honorable ways. The owner came out of the back and smiled as she saw me.

"Goddess brought you to my door again, blessed one." Her speech was precise and had the rounded tones of the intelligent or maybe the nobility.

"Goddess does have a way of watching out for me, learned one. How've you been?" We bowed to each other, her with her hands together and me with my left hand covering my right fist.

"I am well. How could I be otherwise, doing what I love so much; what the Goddess has chosen for me? And what brings you to my door again, my friend?" I indicated the two girls still browsing lightly through her shop and found myself speaking with a smile on my face.

"I come on behalf of my temporary charges. I'm taking them on a vacation from their normal world, their everyday stresses. I thought I might find them a focusing item here. Think you can give me a hand?"

"I think that can be arranged." I called the girls over and introduced them to Mistress Allovette who smiled and shook hands with each in turn. As she touched Buffy's hand with her own there was small flash of light and an invisible jolt surged through her body. I stepped to her side, but it was over as soon as their skin parted. Buffy seemed unaffected but more than slightly surprised.

"That was a bit of a shock. I cannot help you with her, blessed one. She is of a power almost as old as mine, a power laced with darkness." I nodded; I'd forgotten to tell her what she obviously already knew now.

"She is the Slayer." The holy woman took in a long slow breath and sighed it out again just as slowly.

"I cannot help you with her, but I can tell you where to try. Give me a moment." She reached out hesitantly to Dawn's held out hand and the jolt that shook her matched the much brighter flash of light. She did almost fall that time and I reached out to steady her. As she opened her eyes she looked up at Dawn with awe in her almost wary gaze.

"Are you alright?" I was asking both women, the younger hadn't felt anything and nodded at me before I turned back to the holy woman still leaning on my arm.

"It is the same with her, blessed one. I cannot provide what you seek; only you can help center them. So much darkness..." Her voice faded away as she looked back to Buffy whose answering face grew cold and I almost felt her draw herself apart from those thoughts. Allovette removed her arm from mine and she excused herself to the back of the shop and I turned back to the questioning and demanding looks from the two younger and much better looking women.

"I forgot to explain, I'm sorry. She's a holy woman I met years ago before I believed in what I recently learned to be true. She tried to set me on the right path and out of my destructive one, and she almost succeeded. I brought you here for a centering object, something as simple as a feather, a stone, or even just a grain of sand. She can attune herself to people to see what they still need to be complete. I've never seen that happen before, though." Buffy was still withdrawn, hugging herself with crossed arms, and her voice was quiet as she asked her question.

"We didn't hurt her, did we?"

"No, I think she'll be alright." As though taking her cue from my words Allovette came back into the room with a cloth bag which she gravely handed to me.

"These may help you, blessed one, but they will not be all you need. You're chosen task is greater than you might imagine." I accepted the bag with equal gravity and we bowed again formally before I reached out to take her hand for myself. We'd done this before, but not with the unexpected built in fireworks. My flash of light couldn't compare with Dawn's, but it was almost as big as Buffy's.

"That wasn't supposed to happen. What's different? What did you do?"

"I did nothing. The change is in you. You have found your path and changed yourself into the man you need to be to do what you now have to do." Cryptic answers have always been her thing so I thanked her again and with another bow led the retreat to the car. We chose not to speak of the incident in the car; in fact we spoke of nothing at all, letting the radio choose our words as we all contemplated what her reaction to each of us might mean to the rest of our trip. I held out my hand to Buffy and she placed her cool one against mine as we rode together in silence.

We stopped again for dinner and then once more for the night. We brought the bags in, changed, and made our way together to nightly centering exercises. I could feel Buffy getting edgy with the lack of combat and that she needed to try and beat something up. After a glance at Dawn where she was stretching out to make sure she was watching, Buffy and I squared off and bowed before moving into an intricate and violent dance. As before with the tai chi and yoga exercises, the other patrons had a few comments to make. They were soon silenced except for a few appreciative sounds when our attacks came close and our moves became flashier. High flying kicks, throws and twirls using your opponent's momentum, and some exceptionally fast moves that couldn't be discerned for what they were by anyone watching. I could feel Buffy's growing frustration at her inability to stop me and she picked up the pace, aiming full force blows at my body and it was all I could do to not let her break me. She had quite a lot of anger built up and almost all of the good we'd done that morning was almost forgotten. Not too much longer she overreached herself almost as her sister had that morning but didn't give me the full opportunity to throw her so I launched a chasing jab of my own and winced as I connected with her jaw and felt her momentum begin to carry her backwards toward the ground. I stood looking down at her in shock for a flash of a second before she rolled to her feet and launched her own two legged attack aimed at my chest and my face. I was caught flat footed as I blocked with both hands the foot aimed at by chest, but her right foot connected with my nose and I felt it crack... again.

I heard a combined gasp and realized I was bleeding where I lay on the ground. Buffy raced to my side with one hand covering her mouth.

"Oh my God, Jake! Are you alright?" I shook my head to clear it and regretted it instantly.

"I'll be fine. My nose is broken again, isn't it?" She nodded mutely and helped me to my feet to the applause of the assembled guests. I waved with a smile on my face and asked if someone in the crowd had a mirror. A middle aged woman reached into her purse and pulled out a folding compact mirror which she obligingly held at eye level for me as I first admired the break, flattening my nose almost to touch my cheek and then grasping both sides I applied the appropriate practiced pressure to pop it back into place. I would tell you it felt better to be fixed, but I'd be lying; that thing hurt. I thanked the woman with the mirror and then, with a sweeping bow to the audience, made my way back to our room flanked by both girls trying to take care of me. I got Dawn to run by the ice machine to fill a small bag and had a few moments alone with her big sister.

"Jake, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to, it just kind of happened."

"It's not your fault; I left myself open when you went down. We still had a good run, though, and I know what I need to work on for next time." I looked around the room for my bag and went to stand up from the bed to get it but was pushed back down with one hand.

"Don't get up. What do you need?" I looked up at her genuinely worried face and couldn't help but smile at the caring I saw there.

"It's just a broken nose, babe. I'll be alright in a few minutes. I just need to get some aspirin." As I spoke I was again moving to get up only to be held down easily with one hand.

"You are not getting up until I say so. Which bag is it in?" I indicated the small black bag I kept my hygiene and medical stuff in and she bounced off her perch on the side of the bed to get it for me. She handed me the bag and went to get a glass of water which she set on the bed stand next to me before resuming her place at my side, her worried expression never wavering. I fished out the bottle of extra strength migraine pain killer and swallowed two with the water before finishing the little cup and putting the bottle back in the bag. She took it from my hands and put it back where it belonged. Her sister walked in to find her like that, holding my hand and stroking my hair. Dawn's face was almost as worried as her sister's as she handed me the bag of ice and I applied it to the bridge of my nose with a wince. I felt the pain meds kick in about ten minutes later as we lay there listening to the TV showing more cartoons. I pulled the bag off of my face and stood, shrugging out of Buffy's grab for my arm, to walk over to the mirror and survey the damage. Not too bad, I decided, I'd had worse. I'd set it correctly and it would be tender for the next few days but the bleeding had stopped and I wiped away the drying blood from the rest of my face. I glanced at the clock and decided we still had plenty of time.

"Get ready, guy's; we've still got exercises." Buffy immediately protested and Dawn sat up with a start.

"You can't be serious. You're hurt and the pain is making you delusional. Now come back here and lay down." Buffy had her resolve face on, but after seeing Willow's it just wasn't quite up to par. I shrugged of its effects and put on my own resolve face, though I called it something different; a throwback to my days training snot nosed agent wannabe's.

"I've done these exercises in the rain, in the snow, drunk, hung over, sick, and with broken ribs. I'll be damned if a little broken nose is going to stop me from doing them now. And since you both volunteered to do them with me on a nightly basis, and it is night, we're doing them together." I stood with my hands on my hips and blood on my shirt as I gave them a half force glare. I think Buffy decided it would be better to go along than to argue and have me go myself, so she glanced at Dawn and nodded. Both of them were stretching on our way back to the grass, but I wouldn't need to, I was still good from before. We bowed formally and started the exercises from the night before in almost perfect unison to the appreciative comments of the scattered audience, some of whom had been there for the fight. Buffy and I again went into some advanced moves including the one handed hand stand during which my nose started throbbing and then bleeding again. Finally I lowered myself to the ground in time to stop the blood from running into my eyes and heard Buffy's exasperated gasp as she saw my face. I smiled and started some cool down stretching, letting the blood flow unimpeded. Shortly we were heading back to the hotel room, with Buffy held back for a few words with one of the guests about what we'd been doing. I did hear one comment that made me grin even more.

"Very nice looking, but you got yourself a stubborn one there, honey. Watch out for him."

"I intend to." Buffy responded over her shoulder as she walked quickly to catch up to the two of us. Back at the room I cleaned my nose again in the mirror and washed my face and hands in the sink before taking a quick shower and changing into something I could sleep in. Buffy let Dawn take the next turn and sat with me on the bed, her frustration coming through plainly.

"Why do you push yourself like that when there's no need? I could have really hurt you tonight, I'm only lucky you're strong enough to take a hit. And then instead of taking the time to fix yourself up you had to climb right back up on the horse and push yourself harder."

"I have to push myself, Buffy, especially when I don't have to because that means I'll be able to do it again when I do. As for you hurting me, I could tell you were pulling back a little on that kick." Her face kind of twisted sideways and I couldn't tell if hurt pride was what I saw battling with her worry for me, but in the end the worry won out and she spoke again softly but with conviction.

"No, I wasn't. I'm sorry for that too. I guess I just got pissed off when you got a hit in on me and I couldn't touch you. I knew you weren't ready and I still attacked you. I'm so sorry; I didn't really mean to hurt you." My mind was stuck on something else: I knew I wasn't really hurt.

"Wait, so what you're saying is that your full force kick, which should have sent me flying into the pool, only broke my nose and put me on my back? Something isn't right here. Are you sure you were going full out and didn't pull back at the last second?" She just nodded, her eyes shining with unshed tears more from her shame at really trying to hurt me than any worry she had for me. I leaned back against the headboard and pushed a few thoughts around in my head for a minute before coming to a quick decision: wait until later, comfort Buffy now. I reached out and pulled her into myself, drawing her down next to me.

"Do you know how many times I've broken my nose? I don't. I lost count a long time ago. Hell, even a cheerleader broke my nose one time. I mean when I was cheerleading, like a regular cheerleader, not you. It happens, babe, and I got used to it a long time ago. Besides if I let a little thing like a broken nose slow me down I wouldn't be the high speed, hardcore, protector of the Slayer I am, right?" I could feel her smile against me before I saw it break through to her face, but there was still a little worry clouding her eyes. I opened myself more fully to her and with a flash of insight I realized it wasn't just about what happened but what she had been thinking about beforehand. She was still worried from Allovette's comments about her inner darkness. I looked into her eyes and she knew I'd figured out why she was really upset. She hid her eyes from me, laying her head on my chest and looking out the window.

"What is it about the darkness that makes you worry, love? You know we can fight it."

"That's not it; I've been fighting it since I was sixteen. It's something Spike said... about me." Her words came slowly and she felt me stiffen at the mention of his name.

"What did he say?"

"He talked about my darkness, how I belonged in the dark, how my darkness helps me fight... and love, like him." She shivered against me and I wrapped her more tightly in my arms.

"All I can tell you is that your darkness makes you strong. Everyone has their own darkness to deal with, their own demons to slay, ours just happen to be the literal type. Being dark doesn't mean you came back wrong and it doesn't mean your darkness makes you a bad person." She pulled back slightly from me as the bathroom door opened and Dawn came out in her PJ's. I kissed Buffy on her forehead and she got up to get ready for bed.

"Hey, you okay?" Dawn sat down on the other bed facing me as she questioned me.

"Yeah I'm fine, kiddo. How about you, feel better about training now?" She thought for a minute before nodding her head and delving off topic.

"You got a lot of scars, huh." I self consciously tried to hide my hands from view as she asked and tried to look around the room without seeming unwilling to talk about it.

"Uh, yeah, I guess you could call them a lot."

"I only mean. Well, I saw you with your shirt off yesterday and again today and I was just wondering how many you really had."

"I don't know, I never really counted." 42, if you didn't include the small ones. Time to change the subject a little. "You know, in the old American Indian lore, they say a scar tells a story and a warrior's entire life can be told from the marks on his body. A scar can be a great battle or a worthy hunt, an honorable duel or even the marks from a spirit journey."

"Spirit journey?"

"Yeah, where they get high and stumble around searching for enlightenment from a spirit guide. Sometimes it can involve starvation or sitting in a tent or a cave for days on end. The visions they get are amazing, or so I'm told."

"So you've never done one?"

"No. I've been more into the eastern and Celtic religions. They have their own ways to determine someone's destiny."

"So back to the scars. Where do they all come from?" I reluctantly pulled out my hands and stared down at them contemplating what to tell her.

"Alright, well you see this one here? I started training in martial arts back in middle school. I was sixteen, I think, and we were training for a tournament with a buddy of mine who was the same level as I was. We were going to perform a sword exhibition, choreographed of course. We were practicing and I turned aside his thrust to my left and his sword found my off hand, leaving this long mark. It actually went deep enough through this finger to cause some nerve damage and I can't even feel it when you pinch it like this." I demonstrated, pinching the end of my middle finger feeling nothing as promised.

"Wow. And that was just from training?"

"Sometimes training hurts, babe. Especially if you're doing it right." She moved across to sit down on the bed to look more closely at my hands.

"So what's this one from?" She took my left hand in hers and traced a thin and short line on the back of it. I shook my head at her choice.

"Pick another one."

"Why?"

"Bad experience, I don't want to talk about it." She examines my hands for another long moment before she moves to trace a curved one just beyond the webbing between my thumb and forefinger.

"Ahh, that one is the mark of a desperate man. I had him in a hold similar to a naked strangle, kind of- you know what, come here. It was like this." I started to demonstrate a loose kind of hold on her and showed her the mistake I'd made of hand placement. "It was like this and he couldn't break my hold on him. Go ahead and try if you like." She squirmed around a little bit and quit when she realized she couldn't escape. "He couldn't get out either and he bit me to try and get me to let go. I kept still and let him bite down, but didn't pull away so it didn't tear too badly. A few stitches later and I was good to go."

"And what happened to the guy?"

"This." I put my right hand by her jaw to simulate the bite and brought my left hand from pinning her arm down to the back of her head and gave a quick jerk that didn't even pop her neck.

"Oh, so I guess that means he didn't send you a get well soon card."

"Nope. Taliban aren't too big with the card sendage." Buffy came rounded the corner coming out of the bathroom and stopped with her hand still in her hair.

"What are you doing to my sister?" I looked down, quickly letting free my hold on her as she sat up.

"He was telling me a story about some of his scars." Buffy's eyebrow rose to an impressive angle. "I asked him about how many he had and he told me about some of the ones on his hands." Buffy looked up at me and I nodded soberly. Dawn moved back to her bed and I moved over as Buffy took her place, curling against me. I glanced at my watch before taking it off and throwing it at my bag.

"It's time for me to crash. You about ready?" Buffy nodded and Dawn stood up to shut off the light as I pulled back the covers to slide my legs beneath the sheets. I yawned once as Buffy curled herself back up against me as I lay on my back, my arm wrapped around her. She pulled her head up and kissed me very lightly on my nose before shutting her eyes.

"Good night."

A/N: Good night to all of you, must get some sleep tonight. And you must review first. Thanks.