A/N: Graduate school is a pain in the ass, and is making writing and updating very difficult. Thesis is not helping either… Anyway. Short, sweet and to the point, and interestingly philosophic… Enjoy!

"…": characters talking to each other

'…': characters talking to themselves

(…): extra facts about something in the story

(Takes place a few weeks after "Mystic Fate II")

Theme 46: Smile

Rock Porium, June 1, 2007, 5:30 pm – Briarwood, CA, USA

Even though Xander knew that his being jealous of Matoombo was irrational and unfounded, he also knew that he had one thing that the ex-Terror would never have: Vida's smile.

Granted, Vida had never really and truly smiled at anyone besides Maddie and, at times, one of Chip's antics. That had all changed when she'd become a Ranger. She'd matured and begun to realize that life was never permanent; it could be stamped out in an instant. Therefore, it was better to take life by the horns, so to speak, rather than stay on the sidelines (and since when did Xander himself become so philosophic and sagacious? Must have been somewhere between almost loosing Vida to Oculous and that feline Terror's decision to send him to help Vida).

When Vida smiled, her entire face lit up, her eyes sparkling and the atmosphere lightening up significantly. When she smiled at Matoombo, Xander, too well-versed in her body language to miss it (and boy, wouldn't Vida love to know how he got to be an expert at reading her body language) noted that it was the smile of a friend, one that she commonly gave to Chip, Nick, Toby, Leelee, and scores of other people. For Maddie and her dad, the smile was one of genuine love and concern, protection evident in her eyes, the desire to protect those important to her.

Of course, the smile that she gave him was so different that it was no wonder Matoombo would never get it; that was why he had no need to be jealous of the reformed Terror. When Vida turned her smile on him, Xander felt like the whole world was his oyster shell; he could do anything and not fail. Her love for him (at least, that's what he hoped the emotions shining in her eyes were), the friendship and protection that she knew he offered her, the foundation upon which she had built a deep dependency, it was all there in that one smile. But, that was just one smile for him. The other one was only for him, and as she had told him would forever only be for him. It was one full of promise for the future, fears that she wouldn't be good enough for him (he allayed those fears as best he could), affection shining in its depths... and spirits, wasn't he getting all poetic?

Xander grinned as Vida called him back to the DJ stand to have him listen to a piece of new music, wanting his opinion before she played it for the entire store. Matoombo had been shooed away by Vida to make room for Xander (reality: Phineas had called him over for his opinion on something), and as the new manager of Rock Porium made his way back to his girlfriend's music station, he could only revel in the fact that Vida saved her best smiles for him.