Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Wheldon, and Nip/Tuck belongs to Ryan Murphy. The songs Believe by Josh Groban (from the movie The Polar Express) and Where Are You Christmas? by Faith Hill (from the movie How The Grinch Stole Christmas) belong to the songwriters who wrote these amazing songs. Please don't sue me, I'm completely and utterly broke and it's for entertainment purposes only.
Timeline: Post season 7, Buffy, and post season 2, Nip/Tuck
Rating: PG for swearing
Categories: Angst/Drama
Main Character(s): Christian, Dawn
Pairing(s): Dawn/Christian (friendship)
Author's Note: So sorry for the delay, I was away for the holidays so I wasn't able to upload both this chapter and the last one. Anyway,thanks for the reviews!!! This isn't the first time I attempted a Buffy/Nip/Tuck crossover. My other BtVS/Nip/Tuck crossover Underneath It All is currently on hiatus untiltheend of Januaryand the same with two of my stories Conviction Of The Heart, a Buffy/Angel/Charmed/Lord Of The Rings/Harry Potter crossover and Reign Of Fire, a Buffy/Troy crossover. Anyway, I also added another song just for this chapter and based the chapter on a very cute scene from the movie Home Alone 2: Lost In New York so I hope you enjoy this story (especially the conclusion, which is the next chapter) Anyway, enjoy.
Summary: Dawn met Christian in a park and comforts him after she found him crying and he told her his story of his ordeal with the Carver.
So this is Christmas
And what have you done?
Another year over and a new one just begin
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones
The old and the young
A very merry Christmas and a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one without any fear
As he wept on Dawn's shoulder, Christian thought about just how much her kindness meant to him and how she was beginning to accept him as a friend despite his badly scarred face. He could see it in her eyes when she told him that she could see the 'real' him and hear it in her voice. Dawn extended a hand of friendship to him and Christian gladly accepted it for the first time in a very painfully long time. After all the things he went through, he was glad that he met the young woman who unknowingly gave him back something that he thought he lost forever.
My self-respect and my life.
Then after a few minutes, Christian stopped crying and gently pulled away from Dawn who glanced at him with a gentle smile on her face and a shine in her eyes.
"Feeling better yet?" Dawn asked.
Christian smiled at her. "A little." He admitted. "Thank you."
Dawn grinned. "You're welcome." Then she glanced at her watch. "I better go. I think I still have one more gift to get." She got up from the bench and picked up her bags but then she turned around, bent down and planted a soft kiss on Christian's forehead.
"Merry Christmas." Dawn said.
Christian smiled, placed something in Dawn's hand and replied. "Merry Christmas."
As she was leaving the park, Dawn opened up her hand to see that Christian had given her his address and phone number. Grinning from ear to ear, she placed it in her jacket pocket and hailed a taxi to see if there were any stores open. After close to an hour, she found a jewelry store was starting to close with an elderly man starting to pack up and she jumped out of the cab and ran inside the store.
"Excuse me!" she exclaimed expecting for the elderly man to angrily tell her to leave but to her surprise, he smiled and said. "Can I help you?"
Dawn took a deep breath. "I'm sorry to burst in like that …"
"No, no, that's all right." The elderly man replied cheerfully. "It's Christmas, after all. So what can I get you, young lady?"
"Well," Dawn hesitated. "I need a silver chain that is long enough for a man to wear." She said. The elderly man smiled at her.
"Oh, yes. I might have something that could be what you need." He said and he went over to a glass cupboard and took out a very long silver chain and took over to Dawn.
"This chain is close to thirty cm long and any man can wear it." The elderly man replied.
Perfect!! Dawn thought and she said to him. "I'll take it."
The elderly man took the chain, put it in a small box and gave it to Dawn. Then he punched the price in what Dawn saw an old-fashioned cash register.
"That will be 97 dollars and 85 cents." He said.
Dawn took out five twenty dollar bills out of her wallet and gave it to the elderly man. Then she glanced at a plaque that said "J.K Logan" Then she looked back at the elderly man.
"This is a nice jewelry store." She said. "It must be very nice that the owner doesn't close it early on Christmas Eve."
The elderly man smiled at her. "Mr. Logan loves Christmas. The whole Christmas season." He said. "As a matter of fact, all of the money in the cash register that Mr. Logan collects from every purchase goes to the Christmas Foundation For Children and Families. Tonight on Christmas Eve, Mr. Logan takes all the money from the cash register and takes it down to the Foundation."
Touched and remembering what she had done for Christian, Dawn took out another twenty-dollar bill out of her wallet and handed it to the elderly man.
"I'm not supposed to spend this money other than for Christmas gifts." She said. "But I want you to give this to Mr. Logan to add this to the rest of the money he collected. I think he and the families he's helping need it more than I do."
The elderly man smiled. "That's very sweet of you, young lady." He said. "As a token of gratitude, you pick any decoration from this small tree and take it home with you." He pointed at a small Christmas tree filled with decorations.
Dawn couldn't believe it. "For free?" she asked.
"Of course." The elderly man replied. "But may I make a suggestion?"
"By all means." Dawn replied.
The elderly man took two small decorations off the tree that to Dawn looked like white birds. "Take the turtle doves."
Dawn's eyes widened. "They're beautiful." She said. "I get two of those?"
"Well, two turtle doves." The elderly man said. "Here's what you do. You keep one and you give the other one to a very special someone. You see, turtle doves are the symbol of friendship and love."
"As long as you each have your turtle dove, you'll be friends forever." He added.
Dawn was touched. "Wow, that sounds so wonderful." She said. "Sounds like a poem or song."
"It is very touching." The elderly man replied. Then he looked at his watch. "Oh, dear. I'm afraid I have to close up."
"That's okay, I have to go home and get all of these presents wrapped for tomorrow." Dawn said. She took the turtle doves and her purchase and went to the door to get to her waiting taxi. She turned around and said. "Merry Christmas and thank you."
"Merry Christmas to you too, young lady."
Dawn rushed out of the door and into her cab. After telling the driver to take her home, she spent the rest of her ride thinking.
I know exactly who I'm giving the one turtle dove to.
8:00 pm …
So this is Christmas (war is over)For weak and for strong (if you won it)
For the rich and the poor ones (war is over)
The war is so long
And so happy Christmas (war is over)
For black and for white (if you won it)
For the yellow and red ones (war is over)
Let's stop their fight
Dawn spent a better part of the half-hour wrapping all of the gifts she bought except for one. The gift she was going to give to Christian. She took off a bracelet she was wearing around her wrist and looked at one of the charms on the short chain. On the charm, it said "Friends Forever". She remembered the day she got that from one of her friends in L.A before moving to Sunnydale. Now she was going to pass it on to someone else who needed a friend and got one in the form of her. Dawn took the charm off of the chain and then she took the other chain she bought at the jewelry store and she placed the charm on the long silver chain turning it into a necklace. Then she carefully placed it back in the small box and then wrapped it in a beautiful red Christmas wrapping paper and then she took a tag and wrote:
To Christian, from Dawn.
Smiling that she was done her task, Dawn placed the tag on the small gift and put it in her purse. Then she remembered the turtle doves that the elderly man gave her at the jewelry store that were on her bedside table. She took one of them and put it in her purse along with her gift for Christian and kept the other one on her bedside table. Then just as she was about to clean up, a soft knock on the door stopped her in her tracks.
"Yeah?" she answered.
"Dawn, it's me." Buffy's voice rang out from the other side of the door.
Dawn went to her bedroom door and opened it to reveal her sister who had a small smile on her face.
"Hey, finished wrapping gifts yet?" Buffy asked.
Dawn nodded. "Just finished the last one." She replied. "Now all we need for Christmas is snow." She added jokingly.
Buffy laughed. "Dawnie, this is Florida. The chances of getting snow is from slim to none."
"Wishful thinking." Dawn said also laughing. "Man, tomorrow's going to be great."
Buffy grinned. "Yeah, it's going to be awesome." She said. "We haven't celebrated Christmas for like years and it feels good to actually celebrate it without having to worry about any Big Bad hanging over our shoulders."
"You're telling me." Dawn said. "Or fight any wars with any Big Bads."
Buffy nodded. "Just a normal Christmas in Miami with presents, tree, egg nog, the usual things." She said.
Except giving a gift to someone you barely know who you already consider a friend. Dawn thought but didn't dare say that out loud. Her thoughts were interupted when Buffy spoke again.
"Anyway, I just came to see if you were done yet." Buffy said.
"Yeah." Dawn said. "I think I'll call it a night and go to bed."
Buffy grinned. "See you bright and early Christmas morning." She said and then she closed the door behind her. Dawn nodded and then she got ready for bed. When she got her nightclothes on, brushed her teeth and put her purse in a safe place, Dawn got into bed and laid there thinking about Christian and about the day that was about to come.
A very merry Christmas and a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one without any fear
So this is Christmas (war is over)
And what have we done? (if you won it)
Another year over and a new one just begin
And so happy Christmas (war is over)
We hope you have fun (if you won it)
The near and the dear ones (war is over)
The old and the young
A very merry Christmas and a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one without any fear
The new song is Happy Christmas (War is Over) by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. The final chapter of this story is the next chapter so go on ahead and enjoy the rest of the story.