The Coming Dawn   Standard Dis: Not mine. Fraser, Ray K, Dief, and
the rest of the gang belong to the geniuses who created them. However
Anne, Ivy, and anyone else you don't recongnize are mine, so please don't
use them without permission. 

Rating: Pure, unadulterated sap. *grin* The Coming Dawn  By: Morgan
Peterson   

Baker sat by Anne's bed, holding her hand and praying. 'Oh goddess.
Please, please let 
her pull through. I don't...' 

 His breath hitched with pain, almost a sob. 'I don't think I could manage
without 
her...I love her.' 

 He wished there was something within his power to do. That he could
somehow 
heal her, or take her pain into himself, but all he could do was hold her
hand, waiting for 
some sign that she was going to make it through the night, and into the
coming dawn. 

 'Why do these things happen? It isn't fair. Anne doesn't deserve the
suffering she 
goes through. Why...?' 

 "Anne? They said talking to you is good. Talking...You know, we never
really 
talked. About us, I mean. I've never been certain how you feel. You're
kind of hard to 
read." He laughed a little. "Bet you love that. You've always said you
wished you were 
half as mysterious as Ivy. She's okay, you know. She and Ray are fine. 

 Benton knows. About me, I mean. He's always known. Isn't that a kick in
the 
rear? You were right about that. You always said that his finding out
wouldn't be the 
horrible thing I thought it would be. That he was my friend regardless of
shape. You were 
right. Now wake up and tell me 'I told you so'." 

 There was nothing. Just the slow rise and fall of her chest, in time with
the 
respirator, for she wouldn't breathe on her own. He stared blankly ahead,
watching the 
green line spike up and down with her heart beat, and wished, more than he
ever had 
before, that he could hear. Hear the reassuring hiss of her breath, or the
beep of the heart 
monitor. And most of all, that he could hear _her_. Her voice...He
remembered what 
Benton sounded like, and somehow not knowing Ray's voice never bothered
him, he 
knew their scent, their movements, even the rhythm of their footsteps,
their heartbeats. 
But Anne...He wished more than anything that just once, he could hear her.
Besides, for 
her to talk to him, she'd have to be _awake_! That there was a part of her
that everyone 
else knew, yet he could never have...It rankled. He wanted...well, _her_
for lack of better 
phrasing.  He loved her. 

 He sighed. He was tired. The bone-deep kind of tired that made him feel
like he'd 
tried to stuff a lifetime's worth of living into one night. Still holding
Anne's hand, his eyes 
began to drift shut. 
  *** 

 He was standing in a snowy forest. Just like the one in which he'd grown
up. He 
could feel the sun on his back and see it sparkle off the snow, and he
could _hear_. He 
could hear birds, and the rustle of wind in the trees. And a voice. 

 "Baker? Baker-love? Why the long face?" 

 He turned. There was Anne. He blinked. "Anne?" 

 "Yes?" 

 Her voice was husky, and had a slight thrum underneath it, like she was 
humming even as she talked. It was the kind of voice that ought to be
singing blues songs 
in old black and white movies. To Baker, it was the most beautiful sound
he'd ever heard. 

 "Anne? Where are we?" 

 "Dreams. Anything can happen in dreams. Won't you stay here? With me?" 

 Dief was tempted, he truly was, but... "Anne. If you stay here, if _I_
stay here, 
we'll die. We have to go back. We'll be able to return here someday,
but...I'm not ready 
to let you go. Not yet." 

 Anne frowned at him. "But it _hurts_ there. I don't want to go back." 

 Baker felt desperate. Somehow he knew that if he didn't convince her
she'd be 
dead before he woke up. "Anne. I can't stay here. I'm only sleeping. If
you stay here, 
you'll die, and I'll disappear, and we will be separated for a long, long
time. Anne, 
please. I don't want to lose you, I love you too much to have you gone so
long. Please 
Anne!" 

 Anne blinked at him, and tears gathered on her lashes. "You love me?" 

 "More than anything. Please, don't leave me." 

 Anne dashed the tears from her eyes, and nodded. "I won't. I won't leave
you." 

 She vanished. *** 

 Dief awoke with a gasp, to find his hand being held in a tight grasp.
Anne's eyes 
were open, and she was staring up at him with a pain-glazed look. Her lips
moved slightly around 
the tube that was feeding air into her lungs. "Love you." 

 Dief felt like laughing aloud. He knew, somehow, that now everything
would be all 
right. His heart was back, and staring up at him. He hit the call button
for a nurse, smiling 
brilliantly down at Anne. "I love you too, Anne. I love you too." 
  

  

Author's note: So? Total sap? Maybe, but I felt that I had to add a little
cheer to counter act the rather depressing end to Blood Moon. Sometime I
might go into the Ray K/ Ivy angst, but not at the moment. Almost done
with the next long story, probably post it by next week. *grins* 

C&C is welcomed, cherished, joyfuly added to scrap books that I pull out
when guests visit. I _love_ getting e-mail from people. ('specialy if
they're saying _nice_ things!) so please send some. The address is
morgan_peterson@yahoo.com.