A/N: My goal this summer is to either finish writing the themes and post them all or just finish writing the themes. In that respect, I need to update more often, hence this lovely theme for your reading pleasure. By the way, the holiday mentioned here has already happened, but I figured, eh, why not release this now? Enjoy!

"…": characters talking to each other

'…': characters talking to themselves

(…): extra facts about something in the story

(Takes place after "The Hunter")

Theme 19: Gift

Rocca Residence, February 13, 2007, 8:00 pm – Briarwood, CA, USA

Xander shifted from foot to foot nervously. He shivered; the temperature had dropped to 40 degrees Fahrenheit, remarkably cold for Californian weather. 'Odd how our Ranger suits don't let us get too hot or cold...'

Earlier that day he and the other rangers had been rescued from Oculous by Nick and his Mystic Battilizer. For what seemed to be the zillionth time in a few hours, he thanked the Mystic Spirits that Nick had decided to stay in Briarwood. It was nice to have someone who'd have your back whenever needed, and Nick did that... even if he sometimes didn't realize he was doing it.

'Enough about that. He's not the reason I'm here,' Xander thought, banishing thoughts over the overwhelming fear that had taken over him as he watched his friends disappearing one by one, and how weak and useless he'd felt. Instead, he turned his attention to cradling a small, pink-wrapped package in his arms. The package was small and square but plainly wrapped; no bow or sparkles were seen.

Xander took a deep breath before raising a hand and knocking on the door. After a minute, the door opened and Xander found himself staring at the Rocca twins' father, Kevin Rocca.

"Uh, hi, Mr. Rocca. Is, uh, Vida home?" Xander asked, internally cursing when he stumbled over his words. 'Nice way to make myself seem confident.'

Kevin's chocolate eyes raked across Xander's form, with focus given on the pink-wrapped gift in the young man's arm. Leaning against the door he said, "Xander. How are you?"

"I'm fine, Mr. Rocca," Xander replied, checking his nervousness as best he could.

"Dare I ask why you wish to speak with my daughter?" Kevin asked arms crossed. Personally, he had no problem with either Xander or Chip, having known them for years. However, that new kid... Nate or Nick or something... now he was shaping up to be a problem. Yet, despite how much he did like his daughters' friends (and there were few and far in-between that he liked) there was one thing he didn't like about Xander, and that trait seemed to be rearing its head...

"I wanted to, uh, give her a gift. I gave one to Madison earlier (not a lie, Xander comforted himself, as he had given Madison a gift card for a camera upgrade earlier in the day) and I didn't get a chance to give Vida hers," Xander responded, mentally crossing his fingers.

Kevin examined Xander before abruptly nodding and called inside for his daughter. A minute later, Vida came to the door and only the blinking of her eyes gave away her surprise at seeing Xander on her front porch at eight in the evening. Standing on her toes she whispered something to her father and after a moment, he nodded his head and, shooting one last glance at Xander went inside, closing the door.

Vida breathed a sigh of relief before walking towards Xander and hugging him in greeting. Xander returned the hug, made awkward by the package in his arms.

"What's up, Xan? We already exchanged gifts earlier," Vida asked. She, Maddie, Chip and Xander had always exchanged gifts on or around Valentine's Day; it was tradition just like it was to watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade or personally set off fireworks outside of town on the fourth of July. The tradition now, of course, included Nick and Clare. It was intended to destroy the greeting-card, mushiness of the holiday and just enjoy it with friends.

"Well, I, uh, just wanted to give this to you privately," Xander responded. He thrust the package into Vida's surprised arms before stepping backwards to watch her unwrap it. As Vida did so, he hoped that she liked it; he'd already gotten her Kira Ford's latest hit CD. This one, however, was special.

Vida ripped off the paper and found a plain white box. Shooting a glance at Xander, whose face remained neutral she opened the lid and, digging through the tissue paper gasped in shock. She proceeded to lift out a pair of black and pink-striped headphones.

"Xander, this is, this is great! How did you get these?! They were sold out two months ago!" Vida exclaimed, admiring her new headphones.

Xander shrugged, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets. "'S not a big deal, V."

Vida looked at her friend incredulously. "'Not a big deal.'?! Xander, these are only the best pair of Djing headphones in existence, the ones that I've been wanting forever and that were sold out when I drove to Reefside to get them two months ago. How did you get them?!"

Xander shrugged again. "I have my ways," he muttered, embarrassed. Vida tilted her head in confusion. Xander would usually be bragging about how he had done this task when she couldn't, yet here he was, practically embarrassed that she liked his gift and wanted to know how he got it.

Vida gently placed the headphones back in the box and closed the lid. After brushing snow off the top porch step (snow was not unheard of, but Vida knew that for it to snow in California, something had to be going on atmospherically… or magically), she glanced at Xander, signaling that he should join her. He hesitated for a moment before doing as she suggested.

A few minutes of silence passed between the two normally talkative people before Vida leaned over and gently pressed a kiss to Xander's cheek. "Thanks for the gift, Xan."

Winking, she picked up her gift and reentered the house, the door shutting quietly behind her. Xander sat on the step, shocked until he slowly raised a hand and touched the cheek where Vida had kissed him.

"Thanks, V. Happy Valentine's Day," Xander muttered before getting to his feet and walking away, a small, genuine smile flitting across his face as he thought of the gift Vida had given him just now. 'Maybe I should do something like this every Valentine's Day…'