Characters: Nick, Nat, LaCroix, Tracy, others Author's Note: This is the second story in the "Sons of Lilith" series, and is a follow-up--but not a sequel--to "A Shroud of Crimson." The term 'interlude' in my series refers to a story that's quieter than the main parts. Just as important as the 'big' stories, but dealing more with the interactions of the characters we know and love, not with earth-shattering issues. Kai, Julian, and Miranda are mine; so are the Corvina and Black Falls. Everyone else I'm just borrowing from the TV people. I'm not making any money, or if I am, it's news to me. Warning: this is a story. Kind of. It takes place at Christmastime... there's a carol... there's churching... much giving and receiving of presents... and cookies! I was going to wait until after Thanksgiving... but if I sit on this much longer, it's gonna burn a hole in my laptop. Any comments, criticisms, praise or kudos will be gratefully devoured. All flames will be put into Sidney's litter box, where the smell will not be noticed. Once completed, this story will be archived at my website, http://www.geocities.com/runeshard/fkficindex.html. Permission is given to archive this story at the FK fanfic site, the FKFIC2 site and at the FTP site. All others must first bribe me with blood-flavored chocolate and little pewter dragons. ~~~ Ubi Amor... (1/4) "Ubi amor, ibi fides." -- Italian ~~~ Toronto: December, 1996 "So you think she'll like it?" Nick asked, running a paint-stained hand through his blond hair, tousling it badly. His whole frame was wriggling with anxiety. Natalie studied the portrait intently, first head on, then from the right, and then from the left-- "I can hold you upside-down if you think it'll help. Come on, Nat, what's the verdict?" "It's..." "It's what? Not lifelike enough? A poor likeness? Bad?" "It's perfect." Natalie slid her arms around Nick's waist. "Tracy'll love it." They shared a few kisses before Natalie broke away. She grinned up at him. "She may even forgive you for the whammying." Nick frowned. "I don't think I like having mercenary motivations attached to my Christmas presents." "Nick, you've got mercenary motivations for everything you do." "Hey, I'm giving LaCroix a gift out of the goodness of my heart." "Okay," Natalie conceded. "There's that." "Not that he'll appreciate it..." "But almost everything else." "Nat, I resent that!" Nick darted in and nipped her earlobe. "How about I prove you wrong, eh?" *** "What is it about this time of year," the Nightcrawler mused, "that brings out the madness in both the blessed and the wicked? The godly become almost nauseatingly generous, while the forsaken devote all their time to making one person as miserable as possible. I have never understood what it is about the 25th of December that makes men take leave of their senses." *** "I would not have thought you still in possession of enough mortals to warrant a Christmas card," said LaCroix by way of greeting, brushing the snow from his shoulders and seating himself without invitation before Kai's fireplace. "And many compliments of the season to you as well, General," Kai returned, setting the card on the mantle piece. "It's from my daughter." LaCroix raised an eyebrow. "You have no fledglings," he reminded his 'grandson' uncertainly, conscious of Kai's occasional lapses of sanity. "My sanity has never once been in jeopardy," the American vampire retorted quickly. "Only your perception of it. In any case, Miranda is not my fledgling, she is my adopted child." "You took in a mortal child and raised it? And you claim to be a sane man." Kai shrugged. "I took in her pregnant mother, about twenty years back. Diana wasn't much more than a child herself. To anyone else in the town, she would have been lunch." "You have truly earned the title of St. Kai." "You're right, my mind is going. I can't come up with anything crude enough to counter that insult." "Insult?" repeated LaCroix, surprised. "But it's so appropriate." "I hate that nickname," Kai confessed. "You're the last person I should probably be telling... This is going to sound incredibly hypocritical of me, but I dislike religious trappings of any sort. Technically speaking, I'm an agnostic." He smiled sheepishly. "But everything you have done... Everything you've taught Nicholas--" "Could be done by anyone in the Family, including you, LaCroix, if you'd a mind to learn. I was a severely lapsed Catholic in my mortal days. Like Nicholas. For the longest time, a cross had an effect on me only because I was told it would. I don't celebrate Christmas. Honestly, LaCroix, I hate this holiday. It's so... symbolic of the two-faced nature of mankind." He shrugged. "I only acknowledge it for Miranda's sake." LaCroix looked around the living room. "You have no photographs of her." "No. She's... camera-shy." "And the mother?" "Diana... died. Miranda was five." He worried at his lower lip with a strong white canine, and was silent. Then Kai studied LaCroix for a moment and found him to be in a half-way amiable mood. "Has Nicholas informed you of his plan?" "Yes." "And?" "And what?" "Are you willing to allow this?" LaCroix shrugged. "He knows my feelings on the subject, but after all that has happened, it would be foolish to try and stop him over one of my pet ideologies." *** Natalie propped herself up on one elbow, brushed her hair out of her eyes, and spent a good few minutes watching Nick sleep. Once in a while his chest rose and fell, in sync with his occasional heartbeat, and his expression was relaxed and peaceful. She hadn't noticed it herself immediately, but since she and Nick had become intimate, Natalie had had ample opportunity to study Nick's face more closely than he would normally allow. And she had discovered something: since starting on the 'Kai Program,' the appearance of his face had changed. When she had first met Nick, his physical condition had been incredible, lean and hard with fine muscle tone. A vampire's physical strength was not linked to its actual appearance; therefore, if a woman was one hundred years old when she was brought over, or a man was 250 lbs overweight, the vampiric condition would not take that into effect. Natalie grinned at the idea of a 100-year-old great-grandma tossing someone across a room. She hadn't immediately realized, however, that a vampire's appearance was not static. Hair and fingernails grew, skin cells shed, and as with mortals, living conditions, diet and emotional state had a direct effect on what a vampire looked like. Nick's appearance had gradually changed over the time she had known him. Particularly since beginning the search for a cure, and then LaCroix's return, but especially since Schanke's death, Nick had actually looked like he was seriously ill. He had developed bags under his cobalt eyes, the skin in his cheeks and under his chin had sagged, his face looked puffy in general, and although she didn't think Nick knew, people at the precinct had begun to ask about his health. Drowsily, Nick opened his eyes and looked up. "Hmm. Bright and shiny," he said, his voice still husky from sleep. "Who let the sun into my room?" Natalie smiled. "You did, DeBrabant, and don't you forget it." Nick sat up and kissed her hungrily, his fingers dancing over the punctures on her throat. "Did I hurt you?" he asked, letting her come up for air. Natalie shook her head. He always asked, no matter how many times they made love, but not once, even in his passion, had Nick's fangs caused her more than the slightest discomfort. "Now why were you staring at me so intently?" Nick rubbed his forehead against hers and thought it might be his wounds. The first few nights after the fight at St. John's, Nat had been wary of touching his face at all, for fear of hurting him. But though the two round holes and the straggling wounds had long since healed, she was still hesitant about them. "The scars again?" "No. I was just thinking. Your face has changed a lot since May." Nick smiled lopsidedly. "I know. It's thin again. My good looks tend to sag when I'm overly stressed. And I don't think the cow blood was helping very much. This is what I looked like when you zipped open that body bag, isn't it?" "Yeah. Well, minus the gaping hole in your throat." Natalie kissed the tip of his nose. "No more stress?" "Only of the sweetest kind," he murmured, letting his lips roam down her throat, over her collarbone-- "Nick..." "My love?" asked the vampire. "Your wish is mine to grant..." "We have to go to work tonight." Nick's head came up quickly. His eyes were saffron--and very annoyed. Natalie giggled. First Interlude: Ubi Amor (2/?) Reese looked up when he heard the knock on his door frame. "Nick? What's up?" "Mind if I come in?" "No." Joe Reese watched his star detective carefully. Nick Knight's whole attitude had done a complete 180 in the past couple of months. He'd taken more personal time off then the entire precinct had coming to it, 'officially' gotten together with Natalie Lambert (finally...), and gotten a couple chunks ripped out of his face. And he refused to explain the scars. "What's on your mind?" "Captain, I was... well, I was wondering if I could have Christmas Eve off?" Reese sighed. Of all the questions... "You actually have time left?" "I've got a couple of days. Look, Cap'n, I know I've taken a lot of time--" "I almost forgot what you looked like." "I had some old business to take care of, okay? Just give me one night. I won't take any vacation time for the rest of the year." "The year's only got a month left. Nick, I know you like your privacy, and I know you don't like to talk about yourself, but this time, I need to know." Nick dropped his eyes. "Nick, I hate to be blunt, but you're usually the one person I can count on to be in the office on Christmas Eve 'cause you've got no family to spend it with. You--" Reese drummed a pencil on his desk. "This wouldn't have anything to do with a certain ME, by any chance, would it?" Nick didn't say a word, but Reese could have sworn that his pale skin turned slightly pink. "Okay," Reese sighed. "Just Christmas Eve. And don't tell anyone that I'm a hopeless romantic." Nick grinned. "Thanks, Cap'n." "Hey, Nick?" Knight turned back. "You ever gonna explain that?" Reese motioned to Nick's face. Nick was careful to keep his expression blank. "Wild animal," he said simply. *** "Are you sure it's not going to be a problem?" Nick asked for the seventeenth time. He cupped his hand around the mouthpiece of the phone. Natalie had taken up permanent residence in the loft back in September, and very quickly they had both discovered that the acoustics of the building allowed for voices to carry into the entire apartment. Thankfully, she was upstairs, decorating the two newly-built rooms and making lots of noise, so it was unlikely that his conversation would be overheard, but Nick wasn't taking any chances. " Nicolas!" Étienne swore. "Yes, I am sure." Nick watched Sidney bathe himself in the light of an open window. He himself could not stand the sunlight without holy water in his system, but just knowing that he made him slightly giddy. "I know it's on short notice, and such an unusual request, but I'll pay whatever you want--" "Nicolas, Nicolas. Shut up." Nick could almost see his 'brother's' sardonic, knowing grin. "Coming from you, nothing is unusual. You will have them by the 23rd, I promise you." "Good." "And never mind about the payment. You know how much I love giving presents." Nick smiled. As a mortal, Étienne had been the essence of depravity or the soul of generosity when the mood was on him. It was one of the things LaCroix had enjoyed about the dour Parisian gentleman, along with his skulking ways and love of opera. Nick had always found it sadly ironic that the only way for Étienne's enormous heart to find expression was for him to be brought across. "Étienne, you're an angel." "Please don't burst into song; you know how much I detest baritones..." "I'll remember that the next time you invite me to see 'Faust.'" "Nicolas..." The Parisian hesitated. "I've heard nothing but the best of this lady of yours. If there are gods out there, may they give you and her nothing but joy." "Merci, mon frere. My best to Shosha and the boys, and tell the Prince and the Pauper I said hello. Joyeux Noël." "And to you, Nicolas. Bring her around the next time you're here." "I'll do that. Good-bye, Étienne." Nick hung up the phone just as Natalie came down the stairs, with styrofoam packing peanuts stuck all over her clothes. Nick gave her a visual once-over. "You--" "Don't even say it," Natalie warned. She brushed the stubborn things off her sweater. "I can understand building the guestroom, but I still can't believe you decided to put a in your attic. The realtor's gonna be real suspicious when you finally have to move." Nick shrugged. "If Julian can have a laboratory, a working clinic and a dormitory for non-existent severe cases at the Corvina, then you can have a research lab in attic." He very deliberately put the emphasis on 'our' and didn't fight the grin that came onto his face when he said it. "It's a little small for an electron microscope, but it ought to be easier to keep your classified information hidden here that at the morgue." "Still... I don't like to think what this cost you." Nick took her hands. "Hey. Just think of it as an early Christmas present." He brushed a light kiss across her lips. "You're spending Christmas with me, I hope. Unless you already made other plans," he amended quickly. "But I had something... special... in mind." Natalie raised an eyebrow. "You're going to bake cookies." "Well, that wasn't what I was thinking of... But if you like," Nick chuckled. "I may even eat one." He sobered, tracing the line of her eyebrows, down her cheek. "No, I... was hoping you would come to Christmas Eve Mass with me." Natalie was speechless for a moment, then nodded, smiling. "Sure," she agreed, blinking back tears for which she had no explanation. Nick, face alight with triumph, leaned in and kissed away the salt water. "Have I mentioned today how much I love you?" "Seven or eight times, but you're welcome to say it again." *** Nick even let Natalie buy a Christmas tree for the loft. Granted, it was a small one--"Do you have any idea how hard it is to get rid of all those pine needles?"--but it was a tree nonetheless. Natalie was delighted, and she and Tracy planned to spend a very happy day putting up decorations. Nick declined. He downed a pint of holy water-laced blood and reached for his coat. "I'm going Christmas shopping," he said delightedly, rushing out into the daylight. Natalie and Tracy giggled. "He's like a little kid," Tracy said, tacking up a string of red berries. "Not that I can blame him; if I hadn't seen the sun in 800 years, I'd be hyper, too." She looked down at Natalie from her perch on the ladder. "Have you gotten Nick anything for Christmas?" "Nothing serious. I couldn't think of anything." She had worked with Julian for days on her one gift. It had been unbelievably gruesome and, as Julian had said, 'horribly funny. Blood-flavored chocolate. Sounds like Willy Wonka gone wrong.' She mentioned this to Tracy, who nearly fell off the ladder laughing. "That's so... wrong!" But those were just gag gifts. Anything more was a little bit difficult. Natalie wanted to get Nick something personal, something meaningful... but she couldn't think of anything. "The problem is, he's already got ! I mean, what do you give a guy who's seen the rise and fall of civilizations?" "A date book?" Tracy scrambled down from the ladder. "Personally, I'd get him some typing classes. Get his paperwork done sooner." "What are you doing for Christmas, Trace?" Natalie asked, putting pine boughs on the windowsills. "Have you decided which parent?" "Oh, I'm not seeing my folks for Christmas," said Tracy with studied nonchalance. "No?" "No. They both asked, but Mom and I aren't really comfortable in each other's company right now. And I don't think I'll be able to deal with my father's new... friend. Besides, um, Kai and Julian asked me over." "Kai and Julian." Natalie smothered a smile. "What is it about you that keeps attracting vampires?" "Oh, come on, Nat!" "I've seen Julian sneaking peaks at you whenever you and Nick visit the morgue and he thinks you're not looking." "Maybe, but you haven't seen the funny faces he makes at me whenever not looking. He's maybe seventy years old, but he can be like a little kid." She smiled down at Natalie. "Have you ever seen him around Kai? He acts like..." "Like he's Kai's son. Like Kai can act like he's Nick's son." Natalie pursed her lips. Maybe that was the answer she was looking for. *** Nick strode down the sidewalk, not really caring if he had an idiotic grin on his face. It was cold; Canadian winters generally were, and one of the tricks Kai had neglected to mention was the fact that doses of holy water had an annoying tendency to negate some of the more useful abilities of a vampire. One of which was the healing factor; hence the puckered brown scars. Another was the immunity to extremes in temperature. Nick wrapped his scarf more tightly around his neck. But it was daylight, and he was out in it, and that was reason enough to smile like a farm boy. What to get Nat for Christmas? After having the upstairs redone and the lab put in, he was pretty sure that anything else expensive would be pushing his luck, and of course there was the gift Étienne was procuring for him (Étienne knew some of the best craftsmen...), but Nick just wanted some little thing to give Natalie before they went to Mass... Nick looked briefly at a shop window he was walking past, and stopped short. Blinking, he stepped closer, examining the item through the glass. "Perfect." First Interlude: Ubi Amor... (3/?) "Natalie!" Kai's voice sounded weak but pleased. "This is a surprise. What can I do for you?" Natalie shifted the phone from one ear to the other. "Kai, I need your help. I can't think of what to get Nick for Christmas!" She could've sworn she heard him chuckle. "I know, it's stupid, you guys don't celebrate Christmas--" "No, no, it's not that." Kai didn't tell her that Nicholas had come to him with the same problem only a few days ago. "Nothing at all?" "Nothing comes to mind. Kai, honestly, I've never had this problem before. It's not like Nick's easy to buy for, but I've usually had good luck." "Julian did mention the blood-flavored chocolate bars..." "Something else, Kai!" "Something meaningful. Personal." Natalie sat down at her desk, not seeing the unfinished report. "Yes." Kai reached out carefully and examined Nicholas's current state of mind. Then, through Nicholas, he touched the link with Natalie. He pursed his lips thoughtfully. "The only help I can give you," he said finally, "is that whatever gift you decide to give him should have some special meaning for you. You said it yourself, he has nearly everything. Whatever you give Nicholas, he will cherish it, because it came from you." He grimaced. "That isn't much help, is it?" "Actually... that was incredibly helpful. Thanks. Merry Christmas?" "You make that sound like a suggestion." "Just a thought." *** "Well, well, here we are again. Another year come and gone and it's Christmas Eve once more. And what are you doing tonight? Are you spending time with your family? Giving back to the community by cooking a 'homemade' meal for those who have no home? Perhaps you are worshipping your chosen god, whose birth is commemorated tonight... at least since the 4th century. You're certainly not listening to the Nightcrawler on this 'holiest of nights.'" LaCroix popped in a tape and turned off his microphone. He was in no mood tonight for fiddling with the minds of the unwary. In fact, his mood was remarkably foul. He made his way down to the wine cellar, and nearly walked into Miklos, on his way up with stock for the bar. "Sir!" The dark-haired Hungarian looked closely at his employer. "Something, sir?" "No, nothing, Miklos," returned LaCroix irritably, relieving the bartender of several bottles. "Nothing is wrong. All is right with the world, after all. It's Christmas Eve, Kai is still dying, Nicholas is happy--what could possible be wrong?" Miklos didn't respond, just nodded curtly and went up to the bar. LaCroix stared at the bottles in his hands. Let Nicholas go through with his folly, if it was what he wanted; it was of no concern to LaCroix, not anymore. He had given his word. LaCroix mounted the stairs to his apartment, with the full intention of getting himself royally, grandly drunk. *** "Come on, Nick, or we're going to be late!" Natalie shoved a last chocolate cookie into her mouth and picked up her coat. "Not a bad job on the cookies, by the way! Where'd you get the recipe?" "Good Housekeeping!" Nick came down the stairs, buttoning his shirt. "But don't tell anyone." He looks good, thought Natalie approvingly. His hair was freshly combed and he smelled of aftershave and... "Bay rum. You like it?" Natalie rolled her eyes. "Yes, definitely." She hugged him, breathing deeply of the scent. "You smell yummy." There was a wicked gleam in her eyes, Nick noted with amusement. "Good enough to eat." Nick grinned. "I'm gonna hold you to thank," licking her lips before he parted them with his tongue. Natalie leaned into his kiss with a will and a little regret. Much as she wanted to give him his gift now, before the service, she forced herself to wait. "Patient for what?" "You know, it's getting really hard to keep anything from you. And now I can't get anything from you unless you want me too--" "Nah, you're just broadcasting really loudly. It'll get better, I promise. I'll help you work on it." He pressed a kiss into her hair. "Hey, come here, I've got something for you." He sat her in the big leather chair and pulled a flat package out from under the couch. Nick studied it and brushed a dust bunny off the wrapping paper, before placing the package ceremoniously in Natalie's lap. "Go on, open it!" Carefully, Natalie unstuck the paper and tugged the lid off the flat cardboard box. "Oh, Nick... it's gorgeous..." She allowed him to pull her to her feet and artfully drape the shawl around her shoulders. The velvet and crepe were deliciously soft and warm, and the muted colors of jade, purple and gold went so surprisingly well with Natalie's dark blue dress... Nick drank in the sight of her, his cobalt eyes bright and shining. "It thought it was beautiful when I saw it," he said huskily, "but you bring out its true beauty." He slid his hands down her torso and pulled her closer. "You are exquisite," Nick whispered before kissing her. Natalie moaned into his mouth. Natalie pulled back and smacked his arm lightly. "Greedy." Nick planted a kiss on the tip of her nose. "Please?" he wheedled like a little boy. Natalie pretended to consider. "Okay." She pulled a small box, like a ring box, from her purse. She started to say something... "Forget it," she said finally, shaking her head. "Merry Christmas. Just open it." It was a black ring box, as Nick had surmised, and he worked very hard to squelch an ironic grin. Nick glanced at his lady and opened the box. Nestled snugly inside was a beautiful cabochon-cut blue sapphire, set in a wide gold band. "Natalie," he said softly, "you... you shouldn't have." This was a genuine gem, and he was appalled to even think what she might have spent on this. "It's too much." "No, it's not," Natalie argued, taking the ring from the box. She grasped his hand. "It's just enough." Gently, she slipped the cool metal onto his ring finger. Bringing his hand to her lips, she kissed the jewel and then each of his fingertips. Nick put a hand under her chin and lifted her eyes to his. "Do you know what sapphires meant, in the Middle Ages?" Natalie nodded, smiling. "They were used as a protection against evil." It was why she had chosen it, as a symbol for her as well as for him to believe in. Tenderly, Nick kissed her again. "Come on," he said softly, pulling away. "We'll be late." First Interlude: Ubi Amor... (4/5) "Are you sure you don't mind?" Tracy asked. Julian shook his head. "If you ask again, I'm gonna start thinking you really want to leave." "It's just, I didn't get you or Kai anything. I couldn't think of--" "Sounds like a common problem these days. Tracy, look. I'm Jewish, this ain't my holiday. Kai's an agnostic and he doesn't like Christmas all that much, but he loves being around people and seeing them smile. He's doing this for you and me, and for his kid back home. She'd kick him from here to Prince Edward Island if she found out he spent Christmas alone." Julian took her hand. "Now, come on." A table was set up in the living room, which had been transformed into something resembling a Victorian drawing room, all bathed in golden light. Holly leaves and crimson ribbons were draped around the walls, and a covered easel stood off to one side. "This is gorgeous," she said, breathing in the scent of the fragrant apple wood burning in the fireplace. Kai looked up from lighting one last set of candles. The soft light made his ill, grey face look healthy and whole, and he smiled warmly. "Good evening, Tracy," he greeted her, bowing slightly. "You like?" "It's beautiful." Julian pulled out a chair for her and she sat down at the table. He was nicely turned out in a suit and tie, but Kai was dressed to the nines in a snow-white shirt, gray waistcoat and cravat, gold cuff links and emerald tie pin. "Very Charles Dickens." "I loved the Victorian era. I lived in England for the last decade of it, and saw the elegance that is the hallmark of my Family die away forever. Christmas gives me an excuse to... resurrect it now and again." He blew out his match. "It's one of the things Kai loves about this time of year," Julian interjected. "Indeed. Winter is such a time of rebirth." Tracy smiled thoughtfully. "I've never thought of it like that." Kai's grey eyes sparkled. "Neither had I, honestly, until I began to die again. Until my daughter came into my life. One must face death in all its forms before one can truly appreciate life, in all its infinite diversity." From his waistcoat pocket, he took a small box and placed it in front of Tracy. "From Julian and myself," Kai said simply "Oh." Tracy felt herself beginning to blush. "No, I can't, I didn't--" Julian reached across the table and took her hand. "Trace," he said in a friendly tone, "just shut up and open it." Hiding in a soft cocoon of cotton was a little pewter egg. Carefully, Tracy lifted the top off the egg--to reveal a gently smiling baby dragon, with eyes of blue topaz. Tracy looked up, delighted. Kai raised his glass. "In all its infinite diversity." Dinner itself was a quiet affair, but companionable. Tracy couldn't remember the last time she had felt so comfortable not talking. Kai picked at a little of everything, but Julian ate nearly as much as Tracy did herself. Turkey, mashed potatoes, all the trimmings... "That was delicious. Who cooked?" she asked over coffee. "We both did, actually, though I have to confess, Julian did the delicate work." Kai shrugged. "He's got more sensitive taste buds than I when it comes to mortal food." There. Someone else had brought up the subject. "Um, Julian?" "Yes?" "You ate." Julian snorted. "No, I didn't, I tasted. Far be it from me to speak of such things at table, but while I can taste and chew and swallow, I can't actually digest. So whatever I eat--" "Comes back up. I get the picture." Kai snapped his fingers. "Speaking of pictures..." He pointed to the covered easel. "Nicholas left that here for you a few days ago," he told her. Tracy approached the easel curiously. "Said to tell you Merry Christmas, and that he has a damn good reason for not giving it to you in person." Tracy pulled off the cloth. There, in living oil, was Javier Vachon, surrounded by candles in the basement of his church, tuning his guitar. Her vision swam as she reached out to stroke the painted canvas. "Oh, jeez... I hate crying. I'm gonna have to pummel Nick for this. Right after I give him a big wet kiss." Kai and Julian just traded a smile, and clinked their glasses. *** They sat in the very front of the church, near the place where Nick had fought with Sperling back in September. St. John's was beautiful in the light of a thousand candles, but Natalie was not paying as much attention to the service as she should have been. Not one of those candles shown more brightly than Nick's face. She was sitting on Nick's left. His eyes were closed in what Natalie could only describe as spiritual ecstasy. She didn't blame him; Father Rochefort was a wonderful speaker. In the dim light, Nick's scars looked almost painted on, coppery-brown lines against flame-gold skin. Natalie began to trace the outline of his face with her eyes, starting at the crown of his head, moving down the plane of his forehead, the slope of his nose, the curves of his lips-- Natalie jumped slightly, startled. Normally, Nick confined his little telepathic jabs to the bedroom. He opened his eyes and smiled, grasping Natalie's hand as the congregation stood to sing. "Could you really feel that?" she whispered. "Yes. And it was making me think thoughts most inappropriate for church." Before Natalie could think of a response to , the music began. Fall on your knees O hear the angels' voices O night divine O night, when Christ was born O night divine O night, O night divine Nick really had a very nice voice... *** LaCroix lay on his back on his couch. Stone sober. He had come up some time ago, with the sole intention of consuming every drop of alcohol-laced blood he could get his hands on. And then, he had felt the unmistakable psychic evidence that once again, his son had been in and out of his home without LaCroix's knowledge. "Getting rather sneaky in your old age, Nicholas..." And once again, Nicholas had left something behind. On the couch this time, instead of on the bed. A plainly wrapped, palm-sized package. LaCroix's lips curled back in a sneer. A Christmas present. LaCroix grabbed a bottle from his fridge and sat down heavily, on the opposite side of the couch from the offensive object. "Nicholas, why do you bother?" He had drained two more bottles before finally reaching for the gift, with every intention of discarding whatever it was as soon as it was open. It was a painting, one of Nicholas's paintings. A portrait. The sweet face that he had never forgotten, that he had been heart-true to for eight centuries. The blond hair, the enormous blue eyes, innocent and soul-searching. "Damn you, Nicholas," LaCroix murmured without malice, in fact with the most immense gratitude. Now he lay on his couch, arms crossed over his chest, the small portrait between his hands. He was still sober. And awake. And his only thought... was *** First Interlude: Ubi Amor... (5/5) Nick didn't stand up when the service was over. Instead, he leaned back in the wooden pew, eyes closed once again. Natalie waited, sensing that there was something that Nick wanted to do. She waited until the church was empty, then touched his knee. "Nick?" "Nick, you know I can't--" Nick squeezed her hand. Leading her, Nick walked quietly to the back of the church, and opened an unobtrusive door. "Where--?" Still tugging at her hands, Nick pulled her up the stairs. Natalie's head was beginning to ache from the unfamiliarly large amount of contact, but she followed him anyway. At the top of the stairs, Nick let go and stepped behind her, covering her eyes with his hands. Tentatively, she did so, until Nick said He took his hands away. Every electric light, save the ones in the choir loft, had been extinguished, leaving the church in darkness, with only the candles to light the building. Natalie looked down over the railing at the altar and saw the representation of the Nativity surrounded by a sea of softly flickering lights. "It's so... lovely," was the only word that Natalie could find, not only to describe what she was seeing but what she was feeling. And yet, mere loveliness was inadequate. The perfection, the simplicity... the sheer namelessness of the moment, and with Nick at her back-- he thought softly, putting his hands around her throat. Natalie didn't move; her trust in him was so implicit that she felt disappointment when Nick stepped away, taking his skillful fingers with him. He left in their place a thin chain, with a simple cross that rested in the hollow of her throat. She twisted the necklace in her fingers. The chain was of old silver, with blue-grey pearls every few inches. The cross itself was barely an inch long. Natalie could make out words running the length and widths of the cross, on both sides, but she could not quite read them. Natalie looked up to see Nick fiddling with a similar chain around his own neck. It was the same sterling silver, minus the pearls. He had been hiding it under his sweater, Natalie realized. He grinned. "Well?" "Matching set. Where did you find them?" "Oh, I had an old friend in Paris hunt them up for me." "Is the inscription Latin?" "Italian. 'Ubi amor, ibi fides.'" Nick took her face in his hands. "'Where there is love, there is faith.'" Natalie tilted her head up to kiss him thank-you, but met Nick's fingers instead of his lips. "Natalie..." Nick swallowed. "You know how much you mean to me. To all of me. The man loves you, the vampire cherishes you... I know a cross isn't the usual offering, but I thought it would have more meaning. For both of us. Besides," he said, managing a lopsided grin, "you already gave me the ring." His expression grew grave. "Nat, will you marry me?" Natalie gasped. She tore her eyes away from Nick's face, toying with her new necklace. "Nick... Nick, are you serious?" "I am in desperate earnest. I love you, Nat." "I love you, too, Nick, but... are you sure? Are you sure this is what you want? I mean, what about when you finally have to move on? And... I'm not going to be this way forever. I've had no luck finding a cure. Nick, are you sure you want to tie yourself to someone you're eventually going to lose?" Natalie was going to say more, but her sentence was abruptly cut off by Nick's mouth, his long, hot, reverent kiss. Natalie pulled back. Misreading her, Nick almost let go, but Natalie didn't let him. Her eyes darted across Nick's face, searching. Her expression... lightened suddenly, and she wrapped her arms around Nick's neck and hugged him so tightly she would have broken several critical vertebrae in a mortal. "Will you?" he whispered. "What do you think? Of course!" Nick picked her up and swung her around the choir loft, laughing. When she was breathless, he set her down and kissed her again. "If I hadn't brought the Caddy, I'd fly us home." "I'll take a rain check." They settled for floating gently down to the aisle to collect their coats. Nick tucked Natalie's hand under his arm, and they walked out of St. John's as normal and seemingly mortal as you please. Natalie's breath steamed in the post-midnight air; Nick's barely made itself known. They exchanged another kiss, this one slow and time-stopping. As they walked to the car, Nick began humming. A thrill of hope The weary world rejoices For yonder breaks A new and glorious morn... ~Finis - Winter 2002~ Happy Holidays! April French daomir_darkfell@yahoo.com ===== "And we shall exist by amusing ourselves, by dreaming of monstrous loves and fantastic universes, by complaining and quarreling with the pretenses of the world..." --"The Flash of Lightening" by Arthur Rimbaud