Rose was humming a little Christmas tune early that morning, the smell of the rolls filling her apartment. It was the only thing in the world she knew how to bake and that was only because she had helped her mom do it every Christmas for as long as she could remember. She kept checking the rolls every minute, terrified that she'd burn them. That would be just her luck to serve Dende burnt rolls on Christmas morning. Her fireplace was still crackling merrily. She frankly didn't know how to turn it back off and she hoped she'd figure it out before spring came or she was really going to feel silly. She kept pacing back and forth from the oven to her door, looking through the peephole, looking for Dende. She wondered if he remembered his promise to come see her that morning. She checked the rolls again and went back to the door. She jumped and gave a little scream when she saw his face on the other side of the door. He hadn't even had a chance to knock yet. 'Good job, Rose, you stalker,' she mentally scolded herself. She rolled her eyes to the ceiling and squeezed them shut, hoping he hadn't heard her cry out like that and waited for him to knock.
Dende knocked on the door, hearing a small shriek on the other side. He smiled as she opened the door, "I hope I didn't scare you?" He chuckled and pointed to his ears at her questioning look, "Those rolls smell amazing." He looked around and shrugged off his robes. He handed over a small box, simply wrapped. A cookbook with vegetarian recipes. He had bought Goten a similar present, but a larger cookbook with a variety of tasty recipes. Jenny had given him the idea when he had said he was coming over there for Christmas morning, "I still have another gift, but I hope that you will not need it today."
Rose blushed. "I looked through the peephole right as you walked up. You startled me," she said sheepishly. She took the gift from him, "You didn't have to do that." She opened it quickly, excited to get a gift from him. The heavy, hardcover book was glossy and smelled like a fancy bookstore. She threw her head back with a laugh. "You're bound and determined to turn me into a cook, aren't you?" She froze and gasped, "The rolls!" She set the book on the counter and flew to the oven, yanking it open. She breathed a sigh of relief as she pulled them out. They were a perfect golden brown. She set them on the counter and grabbed the little packet of icing to drizzle over the top. "Thank you for the gift, Dende. I love it." She sucked a bit of icing from her finger and hurried over to her tree, picking up a small package and brought it to him. "I got you something, too. It isn't much, but, I thought you might like to have it. You know, in case we decide to go sidewalk ice-skating again."
Dende laughed and accepted the gift, "You really didn't have to." He eagerly tore into the packaging and pulled out a beautiful scarf, warm and soft, "Oh Rose, this is wonderful. Thank you so much!" He wrapped it around his neck, snuggling his face into the softness, breathing in the scent. It smelled like Rose's detergent. She must have washed it after she got it. He looked up at her and tossed the wadded up ball of wrapping paper at her, "Thank you. It's a lovely gift."
She shrieked and ducked as he threw it at her. She grabbed it off the floor and threw it back, giggling like crazy. It bounced off his nose and he threw it again as she tried to hide behind the kitchen bar. "Dende!" she cried in a warning voice, throwing it back at him again.
Dende grinned and smiled at her as it bounced off of him, he laughed, "So yes, I might be convinced to cease fire if I could have one of those delicious smelling rolls." He took a deep breath, the air was warm and fragrant with good smells. Hint of pine, wood smoke, it was cozy, "Then maybe a Christmas movie? We can be lazy today."
"Sounds fantastic," she said, and went to the cabinet, grabbing two small plates and placing rolls on each. "Here, I'll even give you two," she smiled. She led the way over to the couch and sat down cross-legged. She bit into one of the warm rolls, the sweet, tangy icing dancing on her tongue. Just a hint of orange. "I think this is one of my favorite parts about Christmas," she said, pointing at the rolls on her plate. She chewed and swallowed. "I'm glad you came over. I might've eaten the whole pan by myself," she giggled. "I think I'm developing a sweet tooth like you."
Dende laughed before he bit into one, sweet and flaky, they melted in his mouth and he had to stop his eyes from rolling back in his head, "Oh wow. These are really good. You might even give Sabriena a run for her money with these." He took another bite and chewed slowly, pausing to lick the orange glaze off of his fingers, "Delicious. See? You do have talent. I'll have to come over some time. Show you the best recipes in that book. There's a fruit tart in there that looks absolutely divine." He smiled and grinned over at her, "I see you got the fire going again. Its perfect. We will have to figure out something for dinner. Take out perhaps?" He laughed.
Rose nodded. "I've done my share of cooking for the year. I'm good now. Take out it is!" She giggled again. She just couldn't stop smiling. Something about Dende just made her so happy. She turned on the couch to face him, not responding to his comment about the fire. She didn't want to lie to him, but she didn't want to admit she didn't know how to turn it off, either. "So what Christmas movie should we watch? Have you seen Christmas Vacation? It's so funny."
Dende shook his head, digging into the second roll on his plate, "I must admit, I haven't watched many earth movies. I think I could use something funny. Please do start it up." He leaned back in the sofa, tucking his feet up and into the cushions. He was used to the cold, but the warmth was too good to pass up, "My apologies if I fall asleep. This is an extremely comfy couch."
Rose popped the movie in and settled back into the couch, poking Dende in the ribs. "Don't you dare fall asleep on me. It's Christmas! And I'm wound up for some reason." Rose pulled her feet up onto the couch again, her knee barely resting against Dende's. She was giggling before the movie even started. She leaned over to Dende, "You know, I kinda hope Goku doesn't show up today. I'm having too much fun with you already. Shh! Don't tell him that." They laughed through most of the movie, making it about halfway through before Rose's phone rang. She paused the movie, her smile fading from her face and she answered. "Hello?" Her face went pale as she listened to the person on the other end of the line. "Oh god... I... I'll be right there." She hung up and looked to Dende, "Dende, I'm so sorry. I have to go." She jumped up and ran to the door as she grabbed her purse frantically and slipped on her shoes.
Dende paused the movie and sat up. Her feeling of horror was too strong for him to block out. He stood and went to the door, slipping into his shoes and pulling on his cloak, "Let me come with you. What is it? What has happened?" She was scaring him how serious she was. He was hoping that she would have another day of peace, but the world waited for no one and it was people like him. Like her who answered the call no matter what, "The hospital?" He picked it up, "Sorry. You are thinking loudly."
"Yeah. That's okay, I know. My mind's going a mile a minute," she said, panic in her voice. "Come on." She grabbed his arm and practically drug him out of the apartment. Rose was so upset about what she'd heard on the phone that she could barely think straight. She knew she was probably driving Dende nuts if he could hear her thoughts now. "There's a little boy, he's unresponsive..."
They arrived at the hospital a short time later and Rose ran inside with Dende on her heels. Rose recognized her co-worker standing in the wide hallway, speaking to a doctor. It was the heavy-set lady who'd responded to the Son case. "Barb! I got here as quick as I could. What's going on?"
Barb turned to Rose, "I'm not sure yet. The ambulance just got here. We'll have to wait and see." She gave Dende a sweeping look, but said nothing, obviously too concerned with her work to even bother with him.
The doors burst open and the EMTs wheeled in a gurney, a tiny child laying on it. He couldn't have been much more than a year old. Rose flattened herself against the wall, her arm pushing Dende against it as well, to make room for them to get by. The poor baby's face was covered in bruises, there was a large dip in his skull as though it had been bashed in. Rose gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.
The EMTs took him into a room, but were only there for a few moments. One of them spoke to the doctor, there was nothing they could do. The call had come too late, the child was gone.
Barb cursed and Rose felt like she could cry.
"We understand there's another sibling in the home," the EMT said. "The whole family is on the way here."
Dende felt the life force leaving the child as they wheeled him past. The caved in portion of the child's head, the fear, the pain. He grasped at the wall behind him, closing his eyes against the onslaught. There was much pain here in this hospital. There was hope and love, too, but here in the ER the fear and negatives were strongest. He opened his eyes. Not even he could help the little one now. He felt sick. "What kind of monster does that to a child?" he breathed out, staring after the EMTs that had taken the child into the room. He looked at Rose, feeling her anguish. He felt inside of himself, his hand turning a golden color and he offered it to Rose. "My other gift, I had hoped you wouldn't need. Tt will help keep the cold away of these heartless people who would do so much harm to one who is defenseless."
Rose took Dende's hand and squeezed it harder than she should have. She felt the calming energy flood through her and she drew a long breath through her nose. It didn't quite ease the pain, but it cleared her mind enough for her to face these people.
The next few minutes were a blur as police officers arrived, the family arrived. The doctor went to the waiting room and addressed the family, making the announcement. Wails of anguish and shouts of outrage erupted. The sounds of a scuffle broke out. A family member had attacked the boyfriend of the child's mother.
Rose squared her shoulders. She knew who she was speaking to first. The mother, who had let such a monster into her home, who let her child die. "Dende, you can go if you want. Thank you for the gift. I understand if you want to leave."
Dende shook his head, "I'm not going any where." He leveled a look at the family from where he stood. "You shouldn't have to face this alone." He crossed his arms, listening to the wailing from the family. A couple of them were faking it. He shook his head and looked at Rose. She was suppressing her feelings now. His magick had helped a bit. She was all business now. She was definitely the one for the part. She knew what she had to do. He wanted to know what happened to that poor child, what excuse they had for the dent in the head of that little one.
"Just wait here," Rose said softly to Dende before she stepped forward, speaking to a woman about her own age with stringy, dirty blonde hair and a glazed look in her eyes. Rose sighed inwardly. Another one of THESE people. She gestured to a room and she and the woman disappeared inside.
It took a couple hours for everything to be straightened out. At first the couple claimed that the toddler had run head-first into a heavy table and appeared to be a little dizzy and they had put him to bed in his crib. When they awoke the next morning, they found him unresponsive and had called 911. But as the workers and police pressed the two individuals, the story began to change. Finally, Rose got the mother to admit that the baby had gotten a hold of the boyfriend's cell phone and dropped it, cracking the screen. In a rage, he had beaten the child and slammed his head against the table. They then put the baby in his bed to sleep, thinking he would be fine in the morning and that they could hide what had happened.
It was quickly agreed upon that the mother's daughter, a girl of about three years old, should be immediately removed from the home and the boyfriend was charged with second degree murder.
Rose looked weary as she finally returned to Dende, who had mostly gone unnoticed in all of the commotion. She frowned and shook her head. "I suppose you heard most of that?"
Dende nodded, opening his eyes to look at her with a new respect for her. His words were calm, quiet, and calculated, "I don't know how you do it. Usually when one is exposed to so much anger it poisons the soul. But not you." He sighed and looked around, watching as the police led the boyfriend away in handcuffs. The violence didn't make sense to him, especially with a young one. What infuriated him the most was that the child could have been saved if they had brought him in when it happened. Not that he would have walked away; the dent in the child's head was too big, there would have been permanent brain damage. But to think that the poor little soul had gone all night, alone, in pain, his head slowly filling with blood until his little body had to shut down. He closed his eyes and swallowed, feeling ill. He reached out for Rose, not aware of it until he had her hand in his, feeling the pain abate. He looked at her, "What do you need me to do?"
She closed her eyes and swallowed harshly. It was still only mid day, and Christmas at that. "Come home with me?" she asked, her voice soft, vulnerable. She didn't want to be alone right now. She couldn't get the image of that baby's face out of her mind. She needed Dende in that moment, her heart aching. The family was leaving, the doctors returning to their rounds, the EMTs had gone already.
Dende reached and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, taking the paperwork from her hands and tucking it under his other arm. "Of course." He honestly didn't know what to say in this situation. He wouldn't apologize for this, it was not his fault, but he was sorry her Christmas had been interrupted. But if she hadn't responded, there would still be one child in danger of having the same thing happen to her. A blessing and a curse. "You did good work today, Rose. That little girl will have another loving family and she will live to see another Christmas, thankful for the work you did to protect her and her little brother. Yes, he is dead, but he is in a better place now. His soul stayed until you found the truth of what happened. He was happy that you saved his big sister."
"He... His soul stayed?" she asked in a breathless whisper, looking around as they walked out of the hospital as though she could see it.
"I said his soul stayed until you found out what really happened. He's moved on from this world Rose. To a better place. He may have even been reincarnated. It just depends on what they decide to do upstairs."
A knot formed in her throat that she couldn't swallow. She ducked her head and pressed her lips together as they made their way to her car she'd left uncapsuled in the little parking lot. She drove them back to her apartment in silence, her eyes fixed on the road, driving as if she were on autopilot. They reentered her apartment and she kicked off her shoes and hung up her coat. She was home. She numbly walked over to her couch and flopped down on it, tossing her glasses onto the coffee table, and covered her eyes, fighting the urge to cry.
Dende toed off his shoes and hung his cloak on the rack before he walked over to her. He tilted his head at her and against his better judgement, reached out and rubbed her back. "Go on and cry. I won't think any less of you. Crying means you are still human. Still yourself. I don't want to meet the person who can't cry after seeing something like that. Come here." He leaned back on the couch, tugging her to him, and let her relax against him.
Rose wrapped her arms around Dende's middle and gave in to the pain she felt. She sobbed into his chest, curling her fingers in the back of his shirt. "I feel so useless," she sobbed. "If only I could have saved him, too." She was so angry at that mother who had sat there and lied to her, trying to protect the murdering bastard who'd killed her own baby. "Dende, what is WRONG with people?!" She wiped at her eyes before hugging him again. The pain in her heart seemed to overwhelm her. She was grateful for the peace he'd offered her earlier, but now it seemed to be wearing off. "There's too many," she whispered. "Just too many. How can I ever save them all?"
Dende pressed his lips thin as he thought, "You need help. You are but one person who does all that she can to help those in need. You do what you can, Rose. It's never easy. Its just fate. Things happen the way they do so that we help out when we can; to let us know we are needed. To make a terrible situation better even if just for one person. There has been a great many evils to befall this earth and not everyone knows that. I have had to watch from afar, feeling like my hands were tied, knowing I couldn't do anything to stop the lights from going out in the world. The best thing you can do is to have someone there, reminding you that there is good in what you do, that it is worthwhile. It's not your fault that child died, Rose. It's the fault of the loved ones who were supposed to protect him, but ultimately failed him."
Rose's crying calmed as she listened to Dende's words. The little girl was safe. At least she'd saved one life that day. "I'm sorry our Christmas got messed up, Dende," she muttered into his chest. Something about him calmed her, soothed her emotions as she held onto him. She closed her eyes as she relaxed against him. Something about him just felt right. He made it better for her, made it bearable, made her feel like someone finally understood this overwhelming need to protect others even at the cost of your own sanity. Her right arm slipped back around to wipe away the last of her tears and she laid it on his chest, her palm resting over his heart.
Dende chuckled, rubbing her back, leaning on the couch, feeling content, "You didn't ruin it. I was needed here. If I hadn't been here, you would have been alone. I would have been alone and we both would be in a worse place." He looked up at the ceiling, "How about some chocolate chip cookies and let's order out?"
Rose nodded and reluctantly withdrew from Dende. She grabbed her glasses off the table and headed for the kitchen. She called in an order for their dinner and grabbed a package of cookies from the cabinet. "I think I should'a bought you chocolate instead of that scarf," she said, trying to smile, and poured him a glass of milk to go with the cookies.
Dende gave her a small smile and took a cookie, "Chocolate lifts spirits almost as good as my magick does."
She sat back down next to him, not feeling particularly hungry. She leaned her head on his shoulder and whispered, "Thank you for being you. And for being here with me."
He chuckled softly, "You're welcome, Rose. I'll always be here for you. Always."
Author's Note: This chapter is a true story. My friend was working in the ER the day this little boy was brought in. The whole town was outraged. GreenSaiyan, I agree with you. I don't know how someone could harm their own child like that. My friend was beside herself for days after it happened and she couldn't sleep; and she was just the phlebotomist who was working that day. People fucking suck.