By Minim Calibre
Notes: For The Green Chick, G.
“Tell me a story.”
“Dawnie, you’re too old for stories.” Still, Buffy sat down on the edge of the bed with a sigh. “Okay, once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess, we’ll call her Umad.”
Dawn snuggled contentedly under the covers. “Go on.”
“Princess Umad was the little pumpkin belly of the family, and a pain in the neck of her big sister, Joan.”
“Wouldn’t that be Princess Joan?”
“Dawn, do you want me to tell you the story or not?” Buffy glared at Dawn, and amended the last line. “A pain in the neck of her big sister Princess Joan.”
“Much better.”
“No more interruptions, or I stop telling the story. Deal?”
“Deal.”
“Princess Umad watched from the stairs every night when Princess Joan would go out to battle, even though it was usually way past her bedtime, and she should have been sleeping. Time went on, and the queen died. So did Joan, but she got better.”
“Wouldn’t Umad be Queen Umad at this point?” Dawn grinned, and Buffy stuck her tongue out at her.
“No. She’s still Princess Umad, because I said so. Anyhow, Joan got better, and started teaching Princess Umad to fight, but then a Big Evil came, and with it, a whole bunch of young, hormonal, potential fighters that Joan got stuck having to train into an army. Princess Umad felt left out, like she was stuck watching from the stairs all over again.”
“How’d you know?”
“Xander told me.” Buffy stroked Dawn’s hair. “Joan and the potentials saved the day, and the potentials suddenly weren’t potentials anymore, and even though the Big Evil was defeated, Joan still had her hands full with training them, and Princess Umad was still lonely. Then one night, Princess Umad did something she hadn’t done since she could still count her age on two hands, and asked Joan to tell her a story. So Joan did, all the while remembering how nice it was to just be a sister once in a while, and not a general or a warrior or teacher. Then she smiled at Umad, and asked if she wanted to go shopping in the morning.”
“And what did Umad say?”
“Joan’s kind of hoping she says yes.”