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Date Posted: 18:46:54 11/10/01 Sat
Author: jade_angel86
Subject: Dawning: Prologue and Chapter One

Well ok, so we can post our fanfic here so I've decided that I wanted to show you guys my fic before I post it on Butterfly Kiss. Kind of like a collective beta reading thing. ^_^ It'll be a three part story... that's if I don't get swamped with real life. The over all theme of this fic is family. The first part is Angel's relationship to his sister... I just had to write a story about his sister since I love Liam and Kathleen stories. The second part is Darla/Angel and it contains spoilers for S3 and then the third part is still in the works when it comes to the storyline. So feedback would be welcome, especially feedback about grammatical and spelling errors. So with that done with, here's my story:



Dawning

Author: jade_angel86

Spoilers: The Prodigal, S3

Characters: Angel/Liam, Kathleen, Darla, the FG, Original Character

Setting: LA, after Billy, before Offspring, Galway (in flashbacks)

Category: AU

Disclaimer: Usual applies-Angel doesn’t belong to me.

Summary: With a past as bloodstained as his, it is hard to find forgiveness when those you have wronged are already dead. Redemption seems far for Angel but no matter the time or distance, he will continue on fighting for the innocent. Unbeknownst to him, they are now entering the countdown for the End of Days and Wolfram and Hart are racing against time to take away the one thing that matters in the prophecy. Using whatever tactics they can play, the evil law firm has given Angel a second chance to make amends with his old family while he must prepare to protect his new one.



Prologue:

Galway, Ireland: 1753

It was hours past dawn when the small village of Galway came to life with activity. The unusually sunny weather of the season was a blessing to all families as children ran out of their homes to play. Even though Galway was a small village compared to cities such a Dublin, it did have its own personal charm that many people enjoyed.

Sometimes though, Galway could seem like a prison. A place that kept the dreamers trapped as they were burdened with a duty to their family and to society. Some accepted their duties while others rebelled and went their own way to express their dislike.

Liam had always thought of his village of birth as chains that kept him bound to the place. As a child, the world seemed filled with so many sparkling promises that were so easy to reach. Now as he grew and reality sunk in, those promises still sparkled, but the distance between him and those promises had grown immensely.

Even with that distance, Liam never gave up on dreaming, which was the reason why he was the last villager to still be in bed when it was noon. Neither of his parents bothered to awaken him since they both knew that the boy would just disobey them. Occasionally Anna would creep into his room to collect the dirty laundry and each time she slipped out as quietly as she’d slipped in. Liam didn’t stir when the household servant had drawn his bedroom curtains wide open after her last visit to his room.

It was only the youthful whisper in his ear that began to pull him out of his dreams. The whispers were soft, barely audible but they eventually began growing louder in volume. The voice soon began shouting his name and finally ended with a sigh. Liam began to settle back into dreamland once more when a sudden pain jolted him awake.

Liam woke with a start and flailed about before he got his bearings. He groaned and leaned forward when he realized where he was. He squinted momentarily as the sunlight that filtered into his room became unbearable. The brown haired Irishman rubbed his temples trying to not to succumb to a headache that was threatening to take over.

His throbbing cheek soon reminded him that someone had inflicted pain on him and thus he had to be alert and aware of who had done it. Liam’s first assumption was proven correct when he glanced down beside his bed and found the source of his pain kneeling on the floor.

His younger sister, Kathleen, sometimes called Kathy, had her head bowed trying vainly to cover an impish grin on her face. Her elbows were propped up on the bed while she folded her hands together; she looked almost innocent in that position-as if in prayer.

When she realized that he was staring at her, the young girl glanced up, gauging his reaction. Liam himself was confused at how to react before finally relented into the chuckles that were locked inside his chest. Perhaps it was leftover drunkenness from last night’s drinking binge that had him chuckling or the fact that he was truly amused at his younger sister’s prank, either way he didn’t know why he was laughing.

He leaned forward and tugged one of her braids, causing the young girl to squeal and inch away. She batted playfully at his outstretched hand and giggled. Her laughter was a sweet sound to his ears after a long night of vulgar grunts and shouting.

“Now, what do ye think yer doin’?” Liam questioned. “Yer brother was havin’ a nice time dreamin’.”

“I know,” Kathleen replied. “But I thought it was high time ye awoke.”

Liam chanced a look towards the window and quickly turned his head away from the bright sunlight that poured in. He was careful not to make more jerky movements with his head when the headache began to surface again. Despite the headache, Liam was able to discern the fact that bright sunlight meant it was no longer morning.

“Is it that late?” he asked.

“Late enough to get father hoppin’ mad,” Kathleen answered. “He was very angry when he left this mornin’.”

“Ye mean he’s out?” Liam asked. His countenance brightened at the thought of his father being away even if it was for a few hours.

“Aye, father left for the shops this mornin’,” she paused before adding. “An’ mother’s out payin’ a call to Aunt Levia.”

“So we’ve got the whole house to ourselves,” Liam deduced. He grinned and bounded off his bed. His bare feet slapped against the cold hard floor and it took him a few minutes to register the fact that he didn’t like the cold. He quickly jumped back onto the bed acting as if he were a child and not the young adult he really was.

“It’s a relief for both father an’ mother to be out,” he said solemnly. “An’ with father out I don’t haf-te be worried about another of his long lectures.”

Kathleen silently agreed with her brother. Their father had a tendency to drag out his speeches and usually they were repetitive. Though mostly she wasn’t the one on the receiving end of his tongue-lashings.

“I thought I’d wake ye up,” Kathy said. “I got bored in me room with nothin’ to do but readin’.”

“Ah… my simple little sister,” Liam said with a chuckle. “Readin’ is one of the best things te do asides from travelin’. Readin’ lets yer imagination loose and educates ye in a way no school teacher could.”

“I’ve had enough of readin’,” his sister huffed. “All the books in the house I’ve read already save for the borin’ ones of course.”

“Of course,” Liam solemnly agreed.

His sister shot him an irritated look before slapping his thigh with a loud ‘crack’. Liam yelped and shied away from his very much-amused sister. He couldn’t believe how he was letting such a young girl have that much power over him.

No… it wasn’t just him giving her that power; she was also taking it. His Kathleen was strong spirited, taking after her brother more then she did her parents. Neither of their mother nor father were the ones that raised the two. Liam himself had grown up alone, educated himself, and formed his own personality. His father was usually away making the money and his mother off to some female gathering. Both of their parents ignored him unless he acted up, which he most often did.

He’d been alone for 15 years of his life until Kathleen finally made an appearance. A small babe really, but since the first time he’d held her, he knew he wanted her to love him the most. He was more her parent then the two adults that had brought her into the world. Their father usually ignored the young girl, disappointed in the fact that she’d been born a female and their mother ignored Kathleen because she knew their father disliked her.

If it weren’t for the fact that they had each other, they would have led a very loveless life. It was Liam that Kathleen ran to when she had a cut and it was to Kathleen that Liam confided to when he had a problem.

It’d been like that until the day Liam discovered the joys of drinking and spending his time with the tavern wenches. He’d never meant to go so low, but sometimes one couldn’t help but to just let it happen. While in one of his more sulky moods, his friends had decided to cheer him up by dragging him off to a nearby tavern. This led to him becoming drunk, and sleeping with one of the wenches. After that it became a way to escape reality and soon it was a habit.

When his drinking binges started, he began building himself a reputation that soon everyone in the entire village knew about. Most of the villagers were careful enough to keep the gossip to themselves and so his family never knew. Liam himself, knew of the rumours that went about, most of them were said right into his face. It was believed that he was going to meet his end in an alley, dead as a drunken mess.

Of course the rumours hurt, but he never showed it to people, he couldn’t confide to Kathleen about his pain since he didn’t want his sister to know so he kept it to himself. The hurt remained in his heart, but he kept it locked away along with the horrible memories of his fights with father.

He glanced over towards his sister who was playing care free as the young girl she was with a ribbon. She twirled it around in the air and grinned when he noticed her brother’s stares. He grinned back and wished deeply that his sister would forever remain this innocent, unaware of her brother’s profane activities.

“If father’s goin’ to be gone for quite a while, then I’d like to make most of me afternoon,” Liam scratched the back of his neck. “What do ye want to do Kathleen?”

His sister stopped twirling her ribbon to give him an incredulous look. Her brow creased in deep thought as she considered their options. It was obvious Kathleen had an idea when she broke out into a grin.

“I want te go out,” she replied.

Liam frowned at the thought, but if that was what his sister wanted, then he would deliver. It was just a simple request that could be easily fulfilled. He finally nodded coming to his decision: he was going to let Kathleen have her way, as she always did.

“Alright, then out it shall be,” he said. “Out past Galway… inte the fields just like when we were young.”

Kathleen’s eyes lit up at the thought of going back to the old days. Childhood memories were always the sweetest when it was with Liam in the fields. Together they would run, play and just lay in the grass staring at the sky. How many hours had she and Liam been out in the fields just gazing at those fluffy white clouds? Kathleen was unsure, but she knew that it was more then she could count with both her hands and feet.

“Just like the old days?” she asked. “When ye’d tell me stories of princesses that were trapped in castles?”

“There are so many stories like that, my wonderful girl,” Liam replied. “I’ll tell ye those stories an’ more.”

Liam felt his heart warm when he saw the look of adoration in his sister’s expression. He quickly decided that he and Kathy would have to leave soon so not to be caught by their father. If that old coot knew of their intentions then there would be hell to pay. Sneaking out of the house was certainly easier if the ones guarding the gates were absent.

He stood and shuffled towards his closet when opened the door. Liam frowned and wondered what would be best for an outing. He had many different clothes for many different occasions but it’d been a long time since he’d worn some of them. He usually found his slacks and white shirt much more comfortable to wear.

“An’ can we eat out in the fields too?” Kathy asked.

“Certainly,” Liam answered. “I’ll have Anna prepare us a basket lunch.”

“Make sure she puts in lots of food,” Kathy added. “Ye’ll most likely be hungry since ye’ve missed both breakfast an’ lunch.”

Liam chuckled and pulled out a clean shirt and examined it carefully. He supposed that it would do, it wasn’t like he was going to a formal gala. Upon deciding his outfit, he quickly dug through his closet looking for the wanted articles of clothing.

“At least,” he said and pulled out a pair of blue pants. “Yer around to make sure I’m awake by the evenin’ meal.”

Kathleen grinned and approached her brother. “What else will we do then stories an’ eatin’?”

“Maybe I’ll teach ye how to dance,” Liam teased.

Kathleen wrinkled her nose at his suggestion. It was obvious that she had a strong dislike at the idea of dancing. “I already know how te dance… an’ I don’t want te learn more.”

“But dancin’ is something every lady should know how te do,” Liam protested. He fought hard to keep on a straight face. “It makes the women graceful an’ elegant.”

“Well I’m not dancin’!” Kathleen replied with vehemence. She folded her arms and lifted her chin in such a way that it reminded Liam of mother when she was upset. Despite the rift between parents and offspring it was still hard not to become like them.

“Fine, fine,” Liam laughed. “No dancin’. Now get, yer brother needs te get dress properly for the outin’.”

“I’ll tell Anna te make that basket lunch!” Kathleen suggested. She shot him a grin before bounding out the room. Liam made sure the door was locked before going ahead to change. He didn’t need to be told to know that it was going to be a pleasant afternoon.

End Prologue.

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