"So this is ice cream?" Connor's tone was skeptical as he held the cone of French vanilla in his hand and gazed at it, as if it would bite him any second instead of the other way around. Dawn nodded, slightly amused at the expression on Connor's face. This was a guy they had nicknamed the 'destroyer' in Quartoth, one of the most feared hell dimensions out there and here he sat before her, made uneasy by a single scoop of ice cream.

"It's ice cream all right. Don't worry, it's not cookie dough fudge mint chip or something scary like that. I figured since you've never tried it before then plain vanilla was the best way to go." She smiled as if to reassure him that the vanilla was indeed harmless.

"Is it supposed to be this cold?" Connor wondered, watching as the ice cream began to drip down the cone. Dawn instinctively reached out an caught the offending drip, putting it to her lips and licking it off her finger. Connor watched, completely mesmerized by the beauty of the gesture. Even though she lacked her sister's slayer abilities, her fluidness of movement was almost flawless.

"That's why they call it ice cream Connor." Dawn told him, totally oblivious to Connor's awed stare. "You might want to hurry up and eat it before it melts again."

"I don't know that I would mind watching that," he murmured. Then, after realizing what he had just admitted, blushed and attempted to save the statement. "I mean when you licked the ice cream off your finger, you looked so pretty...so graceful."

"That's me," Dawn said softly, her eyes downcast and a faint blush colouring her cheeks. "Dawn Summers...little miss swan."

"You are beautiful Dawn." Connor insisted. With the hand not holding the melting cone, Connor touched her chin gently and raised her gaze to meet his. "And I'm not talking about just physical beauty either. All of you is beautiful, your spirit, your courage, your compassion. Everything I was ever taught was of value, but was lost to me in Quartoth I found in you."

"That's not me you're describing." Dawn whispered, tears in her eyes. "That's my sister. She's the courageous one. She's the hero, the one with the sacred birthright and the bravery. I'm just her little sister who tags along and gets into deadly danger."

"You're wrong." Connor insisted, angry that she couldn't see what was so blatantly obvious to him. "You're more of a hero than you'll ever know. You taught me that I was worth something. You showed me that there is good in everyone. You were the first girl to ever kiss me."

"I think technically you kissed me." Dawn clarified, tearfully smiling and wholly unnerved by the intensity of his words and his gaze as it bore into her, unmasking all the frightening emotions she had tried to keep hidden.

"Did I?" Connor echoed, smiling that cocky half smile that he and his father seemed to have a patent on. "Let's just test this theory." Leaning in, his kissed her once more. It began softly, then soon grew into a kiss that floored Dawn's every being like nothing else ever had. When she finally pulled back, she was breathless.

"Well?"

"I think it's a tie." Connor told her with a wink. Looking down at his dripping ice cream cone, he used the napkin he held to wipe the cone, then took a tentative taste. His eyes widened as the ice cream touched his tongue and a large ear to ear grin spread across his face. "Wow! You weren't kidding! This is amazing!"

After their ice creams, Dawn and Connor headed towards a local park and proceeded to walk slowly through the wooded forests and paths, completely oblivious of time and place.

Connor no longer felt as if he were doing something forbidden by allowing himself to enjoy his time away from saving the world. Something about being with Dawn made him feel as if he were entirely at peace. She made him feel as if just being himself was enough for her, and nobody had every done that for him before.

When he was with Holtz, he always had something to prove. He was always tested, or trained to be stronger, faster, better. Each moment they spent together they were either fighting for their lives or learning how to do so. There was no peace.

Even around his father, Connor had felt that he had to prove himself. To whom, he wasn't quite sure yet. A secret part of him yearned for his father's admiration of the talents Holtz had so painstakingly taught him. He would never consciously admit this, but part of him also wanted his father's approval of the man he had become in Quartoth. He had no idea if his father even really knew him, but that wasn't entirely Angel's fault. Connor had spent most of the time he knew his father trying to kill him or being bitter and hateful towards him.

Dawn was changing everything however, including how Connor regarded his father. She had told him before how caring Angel was, how he fought almost tirelessly for the greater good and the more she said it, the more Connor stopped seeing only the man Holtz had described to him and started to see the man that Dawn's older sister was clearly still in love with.

He genuinely seemed like a good man, but pride and loyalty towards the only person who had kept him alive in Quartoth prevented Connor from apologizing for his actions towards his father. He wanted to move past the anger, the hate and the mistrust, but life long teachings were difficult to abandon all together, no matter what Dawn insisted.

"Some serious thoughts going on in there?" Dawn questioned, noticing Connor's sudden quiet and preoccupied expression.

"Just thinking about some things." Connor replied vaguely.

"Like what?"

"Life, death, loyalty, good and evil." Connor rattled them off quickly. "Things are so confusing here."

"Thos are some pretty heavy thoughts for such a beautiful day." Dawn admonished teasingly. "Anything in particular though?"

"Why does he do it?" Connor wondered aloud. "It's not part of his nature to help people. His nature is to kill."

"You mean Angel." Dawn clarified. Connor nodded, while Dawn took a fairly large breath. "The demon within Angel is the one who comes naturally to killing the innocent Connor. Angel himself, the man, he is a good man. He wants to make up for Angelus' crimes by helping others, by fighting for the side of good."

"And you really believe that you can separate Angel from Angelus so simply? That they are two different people entirely and therefore must be judged separately?"

"I don't think any human person should be judged at all." Dawn answered honestly. "People make mistakes. We screw up, that is beyond any doubt in our nature. A vampire can't help the desire to kill and to hurt. Evil is all it knows. Humans know so much more though and it is through that choice that we have to acknowledge our soul or ignore it, that our choices are made. Angel is more aware of his own soul than anybody because of the suffering it brings him. It drives him to do what he does. Yes, I do think he should be separated from the demon, but not judged. Never judged."

"You're so wise." Connor said simply.

"Tell that to Buffy," Dawn replied with a laugh.

"Maybe I will." Connor joked. Dawn grew serious.

"Try to get along with Buffy Connor." Dawn said to him, "for my sake at least. She has a lot of issues with Angel and although none of them are your fault she may treat you unfairly because of them. Don't let that discourage you. It's not your fault, OK?"

Connor nodded gravely and the two of them continued to walk in silence until finally Connor impetuously grabbed her hand and turned to her excitedly.

"Look! Another ice cream truck! Come on, let's get some before we have to go back to the hotel!"