"I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean.
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens."
Lee Ann Womack - "I Hope You Dance"

Johnny sat quietly, fiddling with his shoelaces. Dally finished his Coke in silence. The sun was making it very warm outside, even though the November breeze was still a bit cool. Johnny took off his sweatshirt and laid it on the sand. Dally wanted to laugh at the clinking sound it made when Johnny set it down from all the shells in his pockets, but he just wasn't in the mood for laughing. Johnny had slipped off his wet shoes too and was heading down to the water again. Once he reached the spot where the waves dampened the sand, he rolled up his pant legs and waded a little ways into the water.

After a few minutes, Dally joined him. They both just walked in silence for a few minutes, moving further and further away from their original spot.

And then Johnny stopped. He stared out at the spot where the sea and the sky converged and marveled at the vastness of the body of water before him. He thought about Tulsa. He remembered the gang. He thought about all the good times he'd had with them and how they had looked out for him. He would never stop missing the group of boys he'd grown up with as family.

Then he thought about the harshness of life in Tulsa, of life as a greaser. How sad he had been there... and how angry Dally had been.

He glanced at Dally now. He was poking around in the water with his bare foot, staying a few steps back from Johnny, giving him space. As Johnny watched him things began to become clear.

Something was different about Dally now. The blazing anger and hatred of the world was not in his eyes anymore. It hadn't been for some time now. Johnny had noticed its abscence a few days after Dally came to visit him the first time. Dally had come all the way out to see him, and Johnny knew full well the purpose of Dally's first visit. He had come to take Johnny home.

Then Dally met the family. And he stayed a while. He experienced family from a different perspective. Here, Dally was no longer a parental figure. He was not the protector, but the protected. It was something Dally had never known. Johnny had seen a side of Dally over the past few days that he'd never seen before. He was relaxed... playful. Back home, the gang was always playing around, wrestling, goofing off. And Dally did these things too, but there was always something different. The playfulness was not there with Dally. There was always an aloofness to his goofing off. Always and edge, like he didn't want anyone to know that he wanted to play too. He would never show that.

And Johnny had seen something else in Dally that he had always sensed existed, but he had never witnessed. It was a kind of protective loyalty that was fierce one minute but could be gentle too. A kind of devotion that would drive him to step in front of a loaded gun and take a bullet for someone else. It was a characteristic that sometimes Johnny thought only he knew about... and maybe Mr. and Mrs. Curtis. It went so far beyond the angry, hatred of the world that everyone else saw in him. When Johnny watched Dally fall by the river that day, the image of the cold, mean hoodlum who didn't love anyone or anything shattered. Johnny would never doubt the depth of Dally's character again. There was a catch in his throat as he thought about that.

The funny thing was, Matt, Wendy, Will, Tom and Grandma Cade all saw Dally's true character the minute they met him. They had trusted Dally immediately and accepted him as family. And that was when the look in his eyes had disappeared. Dally felt safe enough in this new place around these new people let his guard down. He trusted them. More importantly, he trusted them with Johnny.

And now, more than Johnny's own experiences with these people, more than the opportunities this new life afforded him, it was the visible emergence of this previously hidden side of Dally that helped Johnny to make a decision. If Dallas Winston, the toughest hood in Tulsa could feel safe and comfotable enough in a place to let himself be vulnerable, to let go of his anger, to let himself be a kid, possibly the first time, then there was something almost magical about this place, these people. Something not to be taken lightly. And something not to be dismissed. God had opened a door for him and it was time to walk through.

Dally was a still a few steps behind him, and he watched as Johnny took a deep breath and looked way out to sea. When Johnny finally looked at Dally, he knew he'd made a decision. And inside Dally felt incredible joy and pain at the same time, because he knew that Johnny had made the right choice. He could read it in Johnny's eyes. He could read the sorrow and the fear... and the hope.

Johnny took another deep breath. "I'm... really gonna miss you guys."

Dally gave him a weak smile. He took a few steps forward and threw his arm across Johnny's shoulder as they walked back to the spot they'd come from.

"You'll still see everybody. You're doing the right thing, kid." Dally said, forcing his voice to sound confident. And he was... confident that this was the best thing Johnny could do for himself.

There was a long silence as two friends accepted the fact that their paths were diverging.

Always known for being tough as nails, Dally was surprised at how little ability he had to handle emotional pain anymore. He decided that now would be a good time to bring up some good news. "I think Caroline will be really happy about this."

Johnny looked up, his eyes hopeful for a fleeting instant. But then he shook his head. "I don't think she'll care."

"Oh... I wouldn't be so sure about that. I saw her yesterday."

"You saw her?"

"Yup."

"Well, did... did you talk to her?"

"Yeah." Dally said trying to sound bored. But he was loving this. He felt better already.

Johnny did not want to look to eager, but he was very obviously restraining himself from grabbing Dally by the shirt collar and demanding information. Dally let the silence drag on, just to see how much Johnny could take. It wasn't much.

"What... what did she say?"

"Nothin'."

More silence.

"So... what did you guys talk about?"

Dally shrugged. "Ahh... you know... stuff."

Johnny stopped then and grabbed his hair with both hands as though he had a splitting head ache. "AAAGGHHH!" he yelled and then looked at Dally with pleading desperate eyes.

Dally doubled over laughing.

"Dal..." Johnny laughed weakly.

"Ok.. ok..." Dally straightened up and tried to stop laughing. "Uhh... no... this is way too much fun. You wanna know what she said?"

"Yes!"

"How bad?"

Johnny stared at him in indignant disbelief.

Dally was taking out a cigarette and still laughing. "Bad enough to wade out in that freezing cold water?"

Johnny glared at him and turned towards the water and waded in up to his knees. Then he turned back and glared at him some more.

"Come on, that's all you got?" Dally asked.

Johnny looked tense, but went in a little further.

Dally followed down to the edge of the fridgid water, wading in up to his ankles. "Huh... I guess you really want to know..." he put his hands on his chin as though he was thinking over whether to tell Johnny or not. But before he could answer, a large wave came up behind Johnny, knocking him down.

"Dal-" Johnny cried out just before he went under.

Dally swore. "Johnny!" he yelled. He went in after him, and dragged him to the sand. "Johnny!" Dally shouted, shaking him.

Johnny opened his eyes and grinned. "Got ya!"

Dally swore again and sat back. He closed his eyes and let out his breath. "Don't ever do that again!"

Johnny propped himself up on his elbows, his teeth were chattering, but he was still grinning. "You gonna tell me now?"

Dally was shivering too as he glared at him. "Now I'm NEVER gonna tell you! You can just go ask her yourself-"

And then Johnny lept up and pounced on Dally. Dally was too taken aback to defend himself.

Dally struggled for a moment, but then gave up. Johnny's eyes lit up. He had finally done it- he had wrestled with all the guys in the gang before, but he'd never won. NEVER. But now here he was. He had pinned, of all people, Dallas Winston to the ground and was hovering over him, a mound of wet sand balanced precariously in his hand. Though he would always wonder if he had really won. Did it count if your opponent was laughing so hard they really couldn't fight back anyway?

"Johnny," Dally gasped through laughter. He didn't know why he was laughing. Ordinarily, something like this would have just fired him up and he would've fought back like a rabid animal. But this just cracked him up for some reason. Perhaps it was the fact that he'd never seen Johnny so desperate before. Johnny had a crazed look in his eye like he might actually let Dally have it if Dally didn't tell him what he wanted to know. He had a sudden image of quiet little Johnny working for the mob, getting information out of people. They'd call himThe Sandman. And with that thought, Dally just lost it. He couldn't stop laughing. "I swear, if you do that, you will regret it for the rest of your life." Dally tried his best to sound threatening, but he found that laughter did nothing to help instill fear in his opponent.

And Johnny wasn't backing down so easily. He knew Dally would get him in a big way if he really let him have a face full of sand, but he could at least threaten him with it. "Maybe..." he agreed. "But if I do this, you are definitely going to regret it for the next half hour or so. Now tell me what she said!"

"Put down the sand!"

"You swear you'll tell me? No more messing around?"

"Yes! Fine!"

Johnny dropped the sand and sat back, a look of triumph on his face. And then he actually got up and jumped up and down, his own form of a little victory dance.

"This doesn't count, you know." Dally said, trying in vain to brush the sand off his wet clothes.

"Yeah, yeah. Spill it!"

Dally's teeth chattered. "She ss-said, that she misses you. And I promised her you'd be back in school on Monday."

Johnny's eyes widened. "How... how did you know?"

Dally shook his head, his face growing serious then. "You're not supid, kid. I knew once you could clear your head, you'd make the right desicion." Dally got up and started heading to the car. "C'mon, let's go get some dry clothes. I'm freezing, man."

Johnny followed. "Dry clothes? Where-"

"What do you think I was putting in that suitcase?" Dally asked. "I figured somebody would get soaked. I wasn't planning on it being me, but fortunately I brought enough clothes for both of us."

Johnny shook his head and laughed.

"Don't forget your shells," Dally said, pointing to Johnny's sweatshirt. "Those are hard to find."

Johnny gave him a shove and ran down the beach to get his sweatshirt.

Dally chased after him.

On the car ride home, they put the top up on the car and turned on the heat.

As promised, Johnny returned to school on Monday. He and Caroline only had a couple of days to see eachother at school before she went away for the Thanksgiving recess. But things seemed to be ok between the two of them suddenly. She even came to the house a few times. Dally wondered how much of it had to do with Will.

And Johnny started being civil to Will again. Not social, but civil which Dally figured was the best he was going to get for now.

On Thanksgiving day everyone gathered around the diningroom table. Matt even brought his girlfriend to dinner. It made Johnny and Dally feel even more at home now that they weren't the "new people" anymore. All attention was diverted from them to Linda.

The table was filled with the most food Dally had ever seen in one place at one time. He figured Johnny was thinking the same thing when his eyes widened at the spread set out before them. The only odd thing that both of them noticed was that there was no turkery. There was everything else under the sun, but no turkey. Dally of course was the only one without the good grace to keep quiet about it. He asked as soon as everyone sat down.

Grandma Cade rolled her eyes dramaticly and put down her napkin as though she were preparing to tell a tale of epic proportions. "My son and daughter find it barbaric."

Dally looked confused. "I've seen you serve turkey before," he said to Wendy, though not at all accusingly.

Wendy blushed slightly and Will grinned.

Grandma Cade continued. "Only on Thanksgiving, does she refuse to serve turkey."

"Mother, we've been through this. I don't think a holiday should revolve around a dead animal, as this one seems to have begun to do. It is barbaric. It's a day to be thankful for family... for life... the focus should not be on a carcass."

Grandma Cade shook her head again and looked to Will.

"Hey, don't look at me, she's right. It's a little out of control, don't you think?"

But Dally recognized the look that Grandma Cade was giving them. She saw their point. In fact, she probably agreed with them. But she liked to argue.

Johnny paused and then nodded. "Yeah... I guess that makes sense. That's tuff enough, huh, Dal?"

"Sure. As long as there's food on the table." he said, reaching for more potatoes.

"Exactly!" Wendy said.

Grandma Cade was convinced that one day Wendy would become vegetarian. She made a few more comments and Will jumped to Wendy's defense. Even Linda got into the coversation a little, but very obviously didn't want to step on any toes.

Johnny and Dally watched the exchanges curiously and then grinned at eachother and kept eating. There was plenty of food and neither one of them cared that there was no turkey. Not even Coal who sat quietly staring at Johnny throughout most of the meal until Dally started feeding him broccoli under the table.

"Dallas Winston!" Wendy scolded. " Are you feeding that dog at the table?"

Dally just grinned.

Matt shook his head. "Boy, Johnny, you really came a long way with him."

"With who, Dally?" Johnny asked jokingly.

Dally threw a piece of broccoli at him.

Matt laughed. "No, with Coal. Remember how he was when we found him? I really wasn't sure he was ever gonna be ok, but now look at him!"

Johnny patted Coal's head proudly.

Coal kept staring at Dally, hoping to get something besides broccoli.

"He was a real diamond in the rough, wasn't he?" Tom asked. "Kind of appropriate that you named him Coal."

Dally's ears perked up. "Why?" he asked, wondering if that comment had anything to do with what he thought it did.

Tom looked up. "Well, it's a reference to how diamonds start out as a piece of coal. You know, first they're just this dirty old rock, then one day, after millions of years under lots of pressure, they become a beautiful diamond, very valuable."

"Did you say millions of years?" Dally asked remembering his piece of coal buried back at the lot.

Tom looked at him and grinned. Almost like he had suspected what Dally had done. "Yep. Millions of years."

"Aww, man!" Johnny interjected.

Tom turned his attention away from Dally then and looked at Johnny.

"Ponyboy and I heard about that once in church and we buried a piece of coal in the lot. The minister never said it took that long. I guess that was a waste of time."

Dally's jaw dropped.

Fortunately, Tom didn't notice. "He probably didn't mention how far below the ground these diamonds form either, did he?"

Johnny shook his head. "Nope."

Dally rolled his eyes. "Kids!"

Tom, still smiling, shot him a knowing glance and Dally quickly focused his attention on cleaning his plate.

At the end of the Thanksgiving dinner, there was another surprise... Wendy brought out a big birthday cake for Dally.

Everyone sang and Dally groaned and glared at Johnny who just shrugged and grinned innocently at him.

There were even presents. But the one that surprised Dally the most was Tom's. He had wrapped up the keys to Buck's T-bird. Dally opened the little box and looked at Tom, puzzled.

"I figured I had three choices," Tom said with a sigh. "One- send you back to Tulsa to return it. Two- bring it back myself. Three- buy it. We're not done with the barn yet and we really need your help, I don't have time to be driving out to Tulsa, so happy birthday."

Dally just stared at him. "You bought me a car?"

Tom grinned, "Well, we all did."

"You bought me a car." Dally repeated. He shook his head. "Wow. Uh... thanks."

"How did you know it wasn't his?" Johnny asked.

"I was talking to Darry the other day and he said that some guy named Buck was ready to head out here and get his car back from Dally. Oh- I guess that was my fourth option, but I really didn't want anyone getting hurt over a car."

"It would've been Buck!" Dally said with conviction.

"Back in my day they'd have hanged you for those types of crimes." Grandma Cade scolded.

"Good thing that was a really long time ago!" Dally shot her a grin.

She shook her head and started clearing the table.

Dally just sat there grinning over the keys.

Days passed and the weather got a little colder. Johnny talked to the gang almost every other day on the phone. They were all very concerned about him and wanted constant updates on how he was doing. Ponyboy had been keeping his grades up and Johnny begged him to come out for a visit. Ponyboy promised to work on Darry.

Johnny was sleeping a little better for the most part now. He still had an occasional nightmare, but they were getting less vivid. One night he awoke just feeling a little unsettled. He sneaked downstairs and got a glass of milk and sat down at the kitchen table.

Moments later, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs and Wendy appeared in the kitchen.

"Johnny! What are you doing up, honey?" She asked coming over and feeling his forehead. "Don't you feel well?"

"I just couldn't sleep... Sorry I woke you up."

Wendy bent down and kissed his head. "You didn't. I was already awake. I was hiding Christmas presents. Are you all right? Why couldn't you sleep?"

Johnny shrugged. He felt funny telling Wendy he still had dreams. And things were definitely getting better, so he saw no real sense in discussing it.

She just smiled at his silence. "Well, you finish up you milk and go on back up to bed. You'd better try to get some rest because we're going to get a Christmas tree tomorrow."

Johnny perked up a bit and Wendy smiled inwardly.

"Have you ever gone out to the woods to get a Christmas tree?"

Johnny shook his head. "We usually didn't have a tree. Except once or twice, I think. A long time ago."

Wendy hid her shock.

But Johnny was actually sounding a little excited. "The Curtises had trees, but I never went with them to pick one out. They just bought them from some guy downtown. You really go out to the woods?"

"Yes! You'll just love it. And we'll get out all the decorations and spruce up this whole house!"

Johnny laughed a little. "You don't need to spruce up this house."

Wendy smiled at him and then got a mischevious look in her eyes. She tugged at Johnny's sleeve. "C'mon, I want to show you something."

Johnny followed her to the hall closet.

"There," she pointed. "Can you reach that box?"

Johnny stood on his toes and carefully pulled the box down off the shelf and handed it to Wendy.

Wendy carried it over to a table in the corner of the room.

"What is it?" Johnny asked.

"Oh, it's something very special, Johnny."

Johnny pulled back the cover and moved aside the papers that protected the contents of the box. Inside were several wooden figures of people and animals. There were kings and shepards and an angel. And a tiny baby in a manger.

"The manger scene?" Johnny asked.

Wendy nodded. "Yes, Johnny, but someone carved these all by hand."

Johnny pulled out one of the kings and studied it carefully. "Wow..." he said, admiring the detail and craftsmanship of the piece. "Who did all this?"

"Your grandfather."

Johnny's eyes widened. "You mean... your dad?"

Wendy nodded.

Johnny went back to studying the wooden figures, but with a new interest. It was as though, in some way, he was meeting his grandfather. He took each piece out of the box one at a time and looked at it. When he got to the angel, he looked a little more carefully... she looked familiar with her beautiful dark hair and big brown eyes. "Hey," he said looking at Wendy curiously. "This one looks just like you!"

Wendy laughed. "Yes, Dad carved her to look like that. When I was little we would get out the pieces and each play a part in acting out the Nativity as we were setting it up. I always wanted to be the 'Wendy Angel'."

"I can see why," Johnny said, gazing at the angel in his hand. "Hey, there's a crack... on the wing."

"Mmm...yes." Wendy nodded, but seemed hesitant to explain.

"What happened?"

"Uhh...well..." Wendy looked away from him. "Robert got angry at me once and broke it."

Johnny nodded knowingly. "Yeah, he used to do stuff like that to me too. You know, break stuff... or..." Johnny trailed off.

Wendy's heart felt like it was being ripped from her chest. She touched Johnny's hand. "Nobody will ever do anything like that to you again. Or to me...or Will."

"He used to be mean to Will too?" Johnny asked hesitantly. Part of him didn't want to talk about Robert Cade, but part of him really did.

Wendy nodded. "But we're all ok, aren't we? Our broken wings are all fixed," she said tapping the wooden angel's wing.She looked thoughtful for a moment and then shook her head. "It's ok anyway. It turned into a really special day with Dad. He took me down to his little work area in the basement and we fixed the angel together. Then he took me out for lunch to make me feel better. And I learned a little bit about forgiveness that day too," Wendy said hesitanty. "Dad said that was the only thing that would really make me feel better, and he was right. It's not always easy to do, but it really does work."

Johnny scowled a little. "You probably had a lot of opportunities to practice that with Robert around."

Wendy nodded sadly. "Yes, I did. We all did. It wasn't easy. Well, I'm sure I don't have to tell you that."

Johnny traced the crack with his finger. "Yeah, well, I'm sorry he broke your angel, anyway."

She smiled a little then. "Don't be. When I see that mended wing it just reminds me of that great day that I spent with Dad. I always say a little prayer everytime I look at her, you know, to thank God for the time that I had with him."

Johnny looked at her with admiration. She had a way of taking the bad and turning it into good. "He sounds like he was pretty cool."

Wendy nodded. "He was."

Johnny handed the angel to Wendy and gave here a bit of a smile.

The two of them set up the Nativity scene quietly. Outside, a few snowflakes began to fall from the sky.