Finding Daybreak – Poppy and James.

Disclaimer: None of the characters or ideas are mine, all belonging to L. J. Smith. However, the sequence of events is my own portrayal of the story and should not be copied without permission.

Author's note: I don't normally write fanfiction, but I think some of the stories need to be continued; I also think that Poppy and James, one of my favourite couples (along with Keller and Galen, Jez and Morgead and Thea and Eric :D), aren't wrote about enough, so this is what I think happens after Secret Vampire. Feel free to rate, or to express constructive criticism. However, if you're going to say something about my writing, please justify it with a reason. Rating is T but it might go up, there will be warnings for any 'M' rated content.

"Dad, I know you're surprised to see James and me here, I mean, I know you think I'm dead; you came to my funeral and all, so you must think I'm dead, but I'm not… I'm a vampire…" Poppy shook her head thoughtfully, "no, I can't break it to him like that, he'll lock the doors and bolt…" Poppy sighed, then reached for the CD player in the car. Although she and James usually agreed on their taste in music, she drew the line at this…stuff… whatever it was…

"Hey!" James slapped her hand away, and she stuck her tongue out at him, "Oh very mature." She hit him, even though she was now a vampire and had considerable strength, it didn't make him flinch, "Oh, and Poppy? I've found that people wont believe anything you tell them unless you show them first."

Poppy was aout to indignantly argue that she believed everything he'd ever told her, (including that the teacher was a dragon who ate human kids) without him having to prove it first, but then she remembered a certain time, in the darkened hospital room, knowing that she was going to die, when he first announced he was a vampire. What had she done? Something awful, she didn't doubt…

"You called me a bastard and threw a stack of trays at me, I seem to recall" James said, reading her mind, or was she just projecting? Poppy hadn't been able to tell the difference yet. James was planning to take her back to meet Thea for real after they'd gotten settled at Poppy's dads. James told Poppy that Thea didn't hate humans anywhere near as much as the other night people, but that she did hold them in some contempt because of the burning times – no witch could forget them. However, since Poppy wasn't strictly human, he thought Thea would be able to help her with her witch powers.

"Why not Blaise?" she had asked at the time, and James had shuddered at the thought.

"using Blaise to teach you to use your powers would be like using a meteor to kill a fly – it would work but you'd have a disaster after."

"what, you think she'd turn me over?" Poppy had asked, confused.

"No, I think she'd teach you to seduce human boys and drive them mad, conveniently letting you forget about that guy: James Rasmussen."

"James who?" Poppy had laughed, now she wondered just what he had meant. She'd met Blaise, and she'd seemed to like attention, but surely she couldn't be that bad.

"Okay. Hi dad, I'm your daughter. The one that's dead; only, obviously I'm not dead, because I'm right hear talking to you," she peeled back her lips and showed her teeth, "and that's how. Jamie – who happens to be my soulmate – changed me so I didn't die. Well, I did die, but now I'm back… no…forget it…stuff it… send it flying off a cliff – Jamie, you can do the explaining."

Oh joy, James rolled his eyes upwards, how many lost witches have I broken cover to in the last few days? Well…first there was Poppy, then there was Phillip when he decided he just had to be an arsehole, and now there's Poppy's father – if any Nightworlder's find out about this, I'm history."

"Jamie," Poppy's voice broke his thoughts, "I just had a…a vision, like the one I had in my coffin," he looked up and stared at her, "Ash?"

"No, no," she waved her hand dismissively, "there was that…that Elder – the one who had a party at his house, and he was in charge of…well…it looked like a meeting, I couldn't be sure. Thea was there, and so was Ash and a lot of people I didn't recognize, they were talking about the soulmate principal, and we were there. There were a lot of humans, and vampires and witches too."

James stared at Poppy, not sure whether this was some kind of trick of her imagination, or whether it was serious, he had heard rumours that Thierry Descouedres was turning away from the Night World and setting up Circle Daybreak again. After all, everyone knew that he had a human soulmate – Hana, from Hellewise and Maya's time – who also happened to be an Old Soul and kept popping back up.

"what was the meeting called?" he asked in a croaked voice, hoping for some strange miracle that it might be true. In Circle Daybreak, no one would care whether Poppy had originally been human, it would all be perfect and…hold up…he didn't even know whether it was true.

"Circle something," Poppy said, eyes clenched shut, trying desperately to think, then they opened, and intelligent green light shone from them, " Daybreak. It was Circle Daybreak."