The Moon Dances and the Tide Changes

Chapter One

…

Author's Note:

This is my first ever attempt at writing fan-fiction. I have been a long time reader and have always wanted to try writing some of my own but the inspiration never truly struck until I watched the entire series of Frasier for the second time. I was so inspired by Daphne and Niles' relationship and all of the possibilities for stories that I couldn't stop thinking about it until I finally sat down and wrote it. I hope that I have done it justice.

Just for reference, this story is based on Season 3, Episode 13 "Moon Dance". The first few chapters are a bit dialogue heavy but then it becomes much more AU. Also, for the purpose of this story, Niles and Maris were already divorced by this time.

…

As Daphne entered the apartment with a basket full of clean laundry under her arm, she saw Mr. Crane sitting in his chair. As soon as he saw her come through the door he called out to her.

"Hey, Daphne. Bring that laundry over here, will ya?"

"What for," she replied.

"I was just reading about an intelligence test you can give your dog. You throw a towel over its head and see how long it takes him to shake it off."

As she handed him a towel he yelled,

"Eddie!"

The dog came right away and sat patiently while Mr. Crane placed the towel over his head. Daphne looked back and forth between the dog and his owner with a slightly bemused smirk on her face. The hours that man could spend entertained by the silliest things as long as they had even the most remote connection to his beloved companion. It was sweet really and she was happy that he had something that brought him so much joy.

"Oh, and the faster he takes the towel off, the smarter he is," she said in an attempt to keep the conversation flowing.

"No, the faster he folds it," he replied sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes and thought to herself how lucky he was that she had developed such a soft spot for him over the last three years because he really had a knack for pushing people's buttons and he certainly had the role of the crotchety old man down pat.

As he picked up the stop watch, he said, "All right. Now they ranked all the dogs and the smartest was a Border collie. He did it in seven seconds."

His eyes went back and forth between the dog and the stop watch and he said,

"All right. Come on, boy. Take it off. Six…" he paused to look once more at Eddie who sat stock still with the towel exactly where Mr. Crane had placed it. He continued,

"…seven…okay."

Eddie still sat in the same position but Mr. Crane refused to give up and as Daphne smiled to herself he said,

"Well, the next fastest one was a poodle. I know he's as smart as a poodle."

Despite Mr. Crane's confidence in him, the time ticked on and Eddie remained beneath the towel.

"Okay, so he's no poodle," he said, beginning to sound a bit defeated. "He's not a beagle, either. Or a German shepherd…or a Labrador. Oh for God's sake, Eddie!"

Daphne found herself feeling a bit sorry for him so she offered up the best comfort she could think of.

"Yes, well if you ask me, he's refusing to do that trick because he knows if he does it right you'll have him doing it every time we have company."

And just like that Mr. Crane's smile returned.

"Hey, I'll bet you're right," he exclaimed. "Nice going, Eddie!"

Daphne chuckled to herself and the thought occurred to her that if everyone loved someone or something as much as Mr. Crane loved Eddie, the world would be a much better place.

Just then the doorbell rang and Daphne went to answer it. She was pleased to find Dr. Crane on the other side of the door. She always loved when the elder Dr. Crane's younger brother decided to drop by for a visit. He always managed to brighten her day with his kind words and soothing presence.

She gave him a big smile and happily chirped,

"Oh, hello, Dr. Crane."

Much to her surprise, he didn't respond with one of his usual "Hello, Daphne's", followed by a compliment. Instead he entered the apartment and replied,

"I appreciate the false cheer Daphne, but I'm sure you've seen this. Today's society page?"

As Dr. Crane neared his father, Mr. Crane covered his ears and shouted in mock horror, "Don't tell me! Don't tell me! Don't tell me! I'm saving it for after dinner."

Daphne rolled her eyes as the elder Crane's sarcasm decided to come out to play for the second time that day.

Dr. Crane was hardly rude to her when she had answered the door - in fact he was as polite as he ever was. But his departure from the usual attention and almost adoration that she had become used to him bestowing upon her, as well as the nervous energy emanating from within him, had her a bit worried. She didn't have to wonder for long about the cause of his angst though, as he then spoke up and said,

"Apparently, Maris is going on a three-week cruise. Her friends threw her a 'Bon Voyage' party. Look at the photo," he pointed to the newspaper. "Maris on the arm of Pierson Broadwater."

Of course it was something to do with his ex-wife. She seemed to be the cause of most of his worries for as long as she'd known him. She knew it wasn't her place to have any thoughts about his divorce and it certainly wasn't her place to have any feelings about the ex-Mrs. Crane. After all, she hardly knew her outside of the snippets of conversation she'd overheard. But nonetheless, she couldn't help but feel a bit relieved that Dr. Crane had managed to break free from this woman who had caused him so much heartache.

Dr. Crane was so different than every other man she had ever known. Of course, the elder Dr. Crane was a wonderful man as well and she could very easily see that much of their greatness had come from being raised by Mr. Crane who, from what Daphne had learned over the time she had known him, was quite possibly the most exemplary man and father she had ever met. But there was something else to the younger Dr. Crane. Aside from all of the wonderful qualities that had been both inherited from and instilled in him by his father, he possessed the most beautiful soul of anyone she had ever encountered. He was truly a unique and amazing person and she felt it a great honor that he counted her among his closest friends. She didn't believe she would ever be able to wrap her head around the thought that someone could be lucky enough to be married to a wonderful man like Dr. Crane and not count their blessings for it every day.

Her heart ached for him as she saw the look of sadness on his face and she traced his line of sight until her eyes landed upon the photograph that he was referring to. In reality, the photo seemed to be innocent enough and so in an attempt to cheer him up a bit she said,

"Oh, Dr. Crane, look. She's just standing there barely touching him with just the tiniest bit of a smile on her face."

"I know," he replied. "You can practically hear the zing, zing, zing, of her heartstrings."

"Oh, Dr. Crane," she sighed.

His desperation and sadness were very apparent and she felt a pang in her heart at the thought of him being so upset. She felt as though there was nothing else she could do for him as she had run out of ideas on how to cheer him up, but she thought perhaps Mr. Crane would be able to give him some good advice that would help him to feel better. She hoped that was the case as she walked past him to bring the laundry basket back to her room.

…

As she returned back into the living room she saw that Mr. Crane was indeed talking to his son but he didn't quite seem back to himself yet. She spotted some leftover dishes from lunch on the table so she went and picked them up and brought them into the kitchen. From her spot in front of the sink she found that she could hear the conversation that the two men were having with one another. She wasn't trying to eavesdrop but she couldn't help what she overheard.

The first voice was that of Mr. Crane.

"It wouldn't hurt you to go out a little bit every once in a while, too," he said to his son.

Well, that wasn't exactly the advice that she had in mind.

"If you're suggesting that I start dating you can save your breathe," she heard Dr. Crane reply.

She breathed a sigh of relief. Apparently, despite his grief, he still had his good sense and even he knew that dating at that moment in time would be a bad idea.

"Women don't exactly find me irresistible," he continued.

She felt awful for him. She wished he could see how special he was. She also marveled at the fact that he wasn't being chased by every woman in Seattle and then she briefly wondered what in the hell was wrong with all of them for not being able to see something so great right before their eyes. Then she heard Mr. Crane say,

"Oh come on Niles. You've had lots of girlfriends."

"Oh," he replied. "Let's count. There's Maris," he paused. "Oh, Dora, my childhood pen pal from Costa Rica. I seem to recall a little girl in the fourth grade who lured me to a stairwell to show me her underpants."

Daphne knew that he was being completely serious but she couldn't help but chuckle at that one. Just imagining Dr. Crane and how adorable he must've been at that age and then trying to picture what shade of red his little face must've turned. Knowing how sensitive to potentially embarrassing or uncomfortable situations he was at this point in his life, she could only imagine how much worse he was at that age.

She was pulled out of her daydream and back into reality by Mr. Crane's voice saying,

"You know, Niles, I think your problem is, you still picture yourself as that same geeky kid you were in high school. But you've come a long way since then and you're not doing yourself and favors sitting home every night. Now just think about it."

"Oh, there he goes again with the dating thing," she thought to herself. She decided that she should probably come up with a way to change the subject before Dr. Crane actually began to consider his father's well-meaning, but nonetheless, poor advice. She spotted a bottle of wine on the kitchen counter and grabbed it on her way into the living room. She held it up and said,

"Wine, Dr. Crane?"

"Well, wouldn't you," he replied.

She gave him a bit of a confused look and then decided that since she hadn't the foggiest idea what he was talking about, maybe it wasn't the right time to return to the conversation after all, so she turned around and went back into the kitchen to finish her work.