That next day I followed Mistress Allovette's advice. We made our way down the highway for another few hours before finding the park I was looking for. This one was a little more formal and involved a walk around the park on cemented and guard railed trails. I was surprised at first to see it so empty, but the temperature must have been keeping the tourists away. The park was almost deserted as we parked near the bathroom and bundled up before heading down the start of the path. We rounded a turn, walking silently together in harmony, and stopped at the wondrous view before us. The waterfall started above where the path wound down and behind it to curve around below us and continue away from the falls. Dawn pulled out the disposable camera I'd gotten her when I designated her picture gal and snapped the shutter. We moved down the trail slowly and I started talking through the grounding and centering mental exercises that would start the mind control process. The idea being to identify stressful influences on your mind and set them aside to embrace the void beneath the sound.
We stuck to the path, more or less; as we walked down to a particular waterfall I had in mind for a demonstration. I finished up the talk and both women were still looking around in awe at how perfectly green and white the entire woods were around us. We stood in front of the small pool surrounded by smooth stones formed by the falling water, water too turbulent to form ice but definitely cold enough. I smiled at Buffy as her breath misted into my face and I dropped my bag and took off both my jacket and the long sleeved shirt beneath it before she got past the quirked eyebrow stage and asked me what I was doing.
"Demonstrating." I was shrugging out of my t-shirt as I answered.
"Demonstrating what?" I took off both boots and undid my belt.
"Mind control." I pulled my pants down and then my socks off to carefully pile everything away from the water. Buffy bent to touch the water after she removed her glove and jerked her hand back from the chill.
"Are you crazy?" I could only smile as I walked into the water, careful not to splash them, wearing only my shorts. The water went up to my knees, and then slowly up to my waist as I approached the falls. I took a breath to steady my control and then stepped beneath the plummeting water. I stood beneath the freezing shower, my face looking upward, my eyes closed in satisfaction. The energy in the water was amazing, the thoughts of others were gone from my head, and I was with two of my favorite people in the world; bliss was mine to be had.
"How long is he going to be in there?" I stepped out of the water at Dawn's words to see Buffy shrug out of her warm winter jacket, the heat from her body visible as the temperature change created mist. I walked back out to waist level but clear from the falls so I could hear her more clearly when I asked her what she was doing.
"Coming in. You don't think I'm going to let you have all the fun, do you?" I made my way out of the water and pushed away a shiver as the chill wind found my skin but I made it to her side as she was unlacing her boots.
"I'm sorry; I thought you said you were coming in." She nodded her head and thought her response at me.
'I am. Don't you think I can do this?' I rocked back on my heels at the inherent questions involved in her simple query. If I told her no and she came in anyway her resolve might be weakened and send her body into shock. On the other hand, if I told her yes and she wasn't she might still be in danger. In a split second I felt her resolve to do this thing and went for it, stepping closer to her as she stood again to pull off her t-shirt to reveal a tank top beneath.
"You don't have to do this."
"I know." Her voice was quiet and she kept her eyes on my face, her blond hair blowing gently in the wind.
"I mean, if you'd rather wait..."
"I'm ready. I want to." She unbuttoned her jeans and slipped them off to reveal cute little pink shorts that matched her top; figures. I almost shook my head at that but instead we clasped hands and turned, keeping eye contact, to walk slowly into the water. I watched her face for any reaction as her toes touched the liquid ice but her face was firm and with the quirky half smile that usually accompanied her mischievous face. We walked together up to her waist and then up to my waist, our eyes never wavering. We stopped before the falls so we could turn and look back at Dawn who was dipping her own fingers into the water only to jerk them back again. Buffy waved at her sister with a smile on her face as we stepped forward into the cascading falls. I stood holding her from behind as she spread her arms wide to catch as much of the falling water as she could. The water washed over our barely touching bodies until she pressed back against me as I slid my arms further around her waist, pulling her closer to me. She turned her face over her left shoulder to find my lips with her own. We stood lost in that kiss for a long and perfect moment, the sounds from the falling waves drowning out the entire rest of the world.
'Thank you for taking me on vacation.' She broke her kiss to turn fully in my embrace keeping her body pressed against mine.
'It's not over yet.' We turned as one to make our way out of the fall and back into less troubled water. I turned my face from Buffy's to see Dawn step barefoot with her pants pulled up into the freezing water with a wince.
"Dawn!" At her sisters cry Dawn looked up in shock losing her footing in the process to fall onto her back into the very shallow water. We raced to her side as she sat up and crawled frantically backward out of the water.
"Are you okay?" I was more worried about her having hit her head as she had a hand clutched back there, but as I reached for her she pulled her hand to the front of her face to examine the stone she was clutching tightly. I helped her to her feet and checked the back of her head anyway, but she was fine; only freezing to death. I grabbed my bag and pulled out the towels and the blanket I'd packed inside at the hotel this morning. Wrapping the blanket directly around Dawn I handed Buffy a towel and told her to get dressed. I started rubbing Dawn's feet to keep them warm and reached again into my bag for the small thin bottle inside. Buffy caught a flash of the label as I twisted off the top and handed it to Dawn.
"You're giving her booze?"
"One drink won't hurt her but it will warm her up. Just a small sip, Dawn." She did as I asked and swallowed quickly to gasp for air before coughing through her dry throat. I quickly took the bottle back from her and offered it to her sister as I thought about what to do for dry clothes. Buffy took it warily and sniffed it only to pull back with a cringe and quickly put the cap back on it. She put it back in my bag, now fully clothed, and handed me the dry towel to take over with Dawn.
"Will she be okay to get back to the car like this?" I shook my head and tossed Buffy my jeans and over shirt.
"Put these on over her other clothes, they'll keep her out of the wind until we get back to the car." I put on my socks and boots, wrapped the towel around my waist, and pulled on my jacket to help with getting Dawn dressed.
"I can't feel my toes."
"Let me know if they start to really burn." She'd only been in the water a few minutes, but getting out of her warm shoes into below freezing water without enough mind control to force her body to work could cause some difficulties. We pulled her jacket on over my shirt and got her to her feet so we could start walking back to the car. I picked her up so we wouldn't have to fight her stumbling numb feet. We made it back up to the parking lot in record time, uphill most of the way, and went directly into the enclosed lobby type area of the information office. A cup of hot chocolate and five minutes in front of the fire later and Dawn was once again smiling as she admired the stone that hadn't left her hand since her fall.
"What is it?" She grudgingly held out her hand to me as if letting me into her most sacred secret and then leaned forward to catch my reaction to her treasure. The stone was small, but polished smooth by the water and the outer edge had reflective bits that caught the flickering light from the fire giving it a dancing effect. As I looked closer I could see that from one particular angle you could see all the way through the stone to her palm, but the view was tinged with a greenish cast. I leaned back again with a smile on my face and she responded at my pleasure.
"I think some good may have come from your fall after all."
"What's that?" Buffy sat down next to me on the arm rest of the large chair I was in to hand me one of the two mugs of hot chocolate in her hands.
"I think Dawn might have found her centering object. I'll check it out a little later. Can you feel your feet yet?"
"Oh yeah, sorry I forgot to tell you. Yeah they're fine; just kinda tingly is all."
"Let's check you out then." We unwrapped her from the blanket and tugged off her shoes and socks again so I could check their color and her feeling. She was fine so she sent her sister out for some dry clothes and then changed into them in the bathroom. She came back out to hand me mine only to see my staring into the stone she'd reluctantly left with me.
"What do you think?" I looked up at her, almost surprised she was there, and then back down at the somewhat damp towel still wrapped around my legs.
"I think I'd better get dressed." I gravely handed her the stone before taking my clothes from her and making my own way into the bathroom. I came back out feeling much more like myself, my still wet clothes wrapped in the towel, to find Dawn curled up on the couch still contemplating her stone in the firelight. I went directly out to the car so I could put the wet clothes into a plastic bag and then reached into the trunk for the cloth bag Allovette had given me the day before. I admired it again on my way back inside. It was of a neutral tan color with fanciful beading worked into patterns of shapes and colors. I sat down on the floor with it between the small table and the fire. Buffy came out of the bathroom still toweling her hair dry and stood behind the chair as her sister came to join me at the fire.
"Normally we'd do this outside, but I think this will be fine. Now I just want you to hold the stone in your strong hand with your weak hand cupped over top." She nodded and did as I said and I opened the flap and pulled out a smaller bag. Opening this bag gave a gentle pungent aroma to the room and I used only a small pinch as I sprinkled it over the top of Dawn's closed hands. Putting that small bag away I pulled out a perfectly round stick about a centimeter thick and red in color. I reached the far end into the fire and pulled out the smoking end of the stick to wave beneath her outreached hands. Without warning the powder was still clinging to her skin burst into a short flash of green flame. Dawn looked at it fascinated and then opened her hands to see the stone gently glowing with its own internal flame.
"What was that?" Buffy's soft voice broke through the silence and I thought I heard retreating American Indian drums, but it was probably just my heart. I stood slowly, my knees popping, and offered my hand to Dawn who looked, startled, away from the stone to my face before she took it and rose to her feet.
"That was a sign of her new balance. Dawn's going to keep the stone on her for the next few days at least and it will be a focus point for her connection to the rest of the world. It will help in her learning process." I gathered the mystical devices back into the cloth bag and checked to make sure we hadn't made a mess of the table or floor. I looked up at Buffy who was gazing lovingly at her sister who still was engrossed in the stone in her hand. "Ready to go?"
"Where now?"
"There's still one more fall I'd like to see before we go. If you're up for it, that is." The sisters exchanged a glance and it was Dawn that answered for them.
"Let's do it." We stopped back by the car to deposit the bag and Buffy's wet clothes and I made the suggestion of a hat for her still damp hair. She pulled out a knit cap and a scarf to wrap around her neck and told Dawn to find her own scarf. We all held hands as we took off down another trail that bisected the one we were on before but further down the way. The walk was very pleasant and Dawn snapped a few more shots of smaller falls we passed on the way to the huge double falls you definitely heard before you saw. We stood together on the overlook and were still close enough to breath in the mist from the kicked up water. I stood with my left arm around Buffy's shoulders as she stood to my left with Dawn wrapped in both arms. My right hand rested on Dawn's shoulder as she snapped a picture of the breath taking scene in front of us.
"How did you find this place?" I gave kind of a half chuckle before I answered and I carefully kept my eyes on the falls to not give her the wrong impression.
"I lived about a hundred miles from here when I was a kid, before we moved south. I used to sit up there and watch people watch the falls." I pointed to the ledge behind us and a good hundred meters up the slope of rock looking down on the water. "Then one day I saw a very happy couple get married right here and looking back at all the places I've been there still aren't too many other places I'd like to do the same. It's like a perfect metaphor for a union. Think about the air around us and the water chasing gravity only to be stopped by more water. Instead of giving up and fitting in, it kicks itself back up to join instead with the air, an element not too unlike itself but unique in it's own way. And here it is together all around us, the finished product, and it can either go back down together and form bubbles only to do it all over again down there; or it can float it's way up and over to land on some plant and bring it life." I fell silent as I surveyed the falls and let my eyes follow the water down below my feet before turning to meet Buffy's gaze.
"Wait, you've already thought out where you'd like to get married at?"
"Well, it's just an idea I used to have and it's still something I might like to do someday, if my partner is amenable of course."
"Wow." She caught my defensive look and quickly clarified. "No, I mean really, like, wow. Not many guys I know ever think about such things until the wedding and even then it's not something they've planned out ahead of time. I think it's kinda sweet." I smiled down at her and leaned down slightly to share a gentle kiss before we were interrupted.
"Guys, I am kinda right here, you know." We broke contact with a sigh and Buffy squeezed her sister again before we started on our way back up the trail. Down is the easy part but up wasn't really a problem. All of the trails in this park were designed to be accessible to just about anyone so three agile young fighters (well...) had no problem. The car was waiting for us and it started up readily and the heater kicked in soon after. We made our way back to the highway and set out for northern Oregon. A long drive and a few stops later and we arrived at the lodge I'd arranged reservations with and were escorted to our rooms. I'd gotten us two rooms thinking that Buffy and Dawn could have girl time and I could have some privacy, but it became clear that Buffy had no problem letting her sister have the room across the hall as she put her bags down next to mine. Buffy started exploring the suite, squealing loudly as she found the private hot tub before rushing back to where I still stood in the middle of the room and jumping on me, her legs wrapping around my hips as her lips found mine happily.
"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." She punctuated her exclamations of appreciation with quick kisses, letting the last one last for an exciting moment before I put her down.
"Hey, this is my vacation too, you know." I kissed her again where she stood with both feet on the floor. "So, would you like to do the exercises inside tonight? It's a little chilly outside." We both turned as if on cue to see the first of a long fan of snowflakes make their way past our window. Buffy ran to the other room to get Dawn and show her the snow, obviously a big deal for these two. It had been a bit of a while since I'd seen snow falling, but I grew up with it so the romance wasn't what it was for the girls. They stood close to the glass looking out and I watched their faces in the reflection from the glass. I poked at the fire in the small but capable fireplace and tossed another log on top before turning back and asking my question again. We got started in my room and then moved to the indoor workout room when we ran out of space.
As usual we acquired a variety of onlookers both guests and employees as we moved from one form to the next with only a minor change. This time I wanted Dawn to lead the exercises and she did so almost perfectly. As we moved through the motions and the forms slowly and precisely, I allowed myself to get lost in the rhythm. I finally woke up to realize I was standing balanced only on my head with my hands folded across my chest. I looked around at upside down Buffy and upside down Dawn and an assortment of other people standing around behind them. I put a hand to the floor before me and flipped onto my feet slowly.
"What's going on?"
"We finished the form, but you moved into a different one and then stayed like that for like five minutes." That would explain the stiffness in my neck. I looked once more around the room and shrugged my shoulders.
"What can I say? Sometimes I can't help myself. What's next?"
"That's it, we finished."
"Oh, alright then. Shall we?" We walked back to the room to change into swim suits for a dip in the heated pool. Dawn knocked on our door as I was still waiting for Buffy to come out of the bathroom. How much time did a girl take to get ready for a quick dip in a pool? As if answering my question for me, the bathroom door opened as I stood with my hand on the front door handle. The light blue bikini was framed at her shoulders with her pert blond hair. It looked like she'd touched up her makeup and her dazzling smile sparkled with her dimples perked up in amusement at my frozen stance. With my own answering grin and a wink I opened the door to let Dawn in.
"Aren't you ready to go yet?"
"Why don't you to go on ahead and I'll be down in just a minute." Dawn shrugged and turned to her sister. Buffy grabbed a towel from the rack next to the door and kissed my cheek on her way out the door with her sister. I sighed and leaned against the door for a second before straightening and pulling off my shorts in exchange for swim trunks and a towel of my own. My flip flops on the deck probably would have given me away, but the sounds of loud music from the other end masked my approach nicely. I sat on one of the many poolside chairs as I watched the sisters together. Dawn stood in the water next to the wall, her elbows propped on the edge behind her, as she talked with her sister and was routinely distracted by college aged guys in the water near where the music was being played. I focused in on Buffy from my seat at her back and in an instant I heard what they were talking about; me.
"So, you and Jake are pretty serious now, huh?"
"Yeah, well, what can I say? It's nice, having someone to look out for me for a change. Plus he's sweet and really romantic."
"Romantic, huh?" Dawn's tone eager for more gossip from her sister, but would have been more effective if she hadn't been eyeing the guy about to dive into the water.
"Oh yeah. Like for my birthday, he took me to a lake and used magic to freeze it for me so we could skate together. Then he cooked me dinner, and we made smores with extra chocolate, and that night he wrapped his arms around me and told me all the things he loved about me and he was still talking as I fell asleep. I felt bad about it the next morning, but he was just so darned happy I couldn't say anything." The girls giggled together, an awesome sound by any means.
"So how long have you guys like really been together? Like, I know you've been spending all that time together with training and patrolling and everything, but you've kept it kinda quiet."
"Well... remember that first night, after the Magic Box and the whole memory thing?" At her sister's wide eyed nod she continued in a conspiratorially quiet voice. "Well that night he spent the night on the couch... and I spent it with him."
"Buffy!" To say that Dawn was surprised would be an understatement, but I also detected some excitement too.
"Not like we slept together or anything, we just... slept together. Like with the sleeping."
"Oh. Well, I see how you can like him. He's a really cool guy and he always listens, you know? Still, I can picture what mom would have said, almost like what she said when she found out about Angel being a vampire."
"That he's way too old for me and we could never have a real future together? Believe me; the thought has crossed my mind. Still, even though the two are more alike than I like to think about sometimes, he's not Angel. He's different, but in a good way. Angel will always have a place in my heart, but we could never really work out and I know that. Jake and I may not live happily ever after, but it could happen. Provided we make it through whatever danger brought him here." I pulled back from Buffy's mind and felt her recognition before she turned around to glare at me playfully. She pushed herself through and then out of the water to jump on me, sopping wet, as I stood up from my chair and forced me back down.
"How long have you been listening in?" She now sat on my lap looking down on me with her hair dripping on my chest.
"Not long, but long enough." I wrapped her in my arms so she wouldn't escape and leaned back in the chair, taking her with me as I tickled her. She squirmed against me and giggled as she fought back, finally winning her way out of my grasp only to pick me up and start dragging me toward the pool. I thought I had her and went for my final push only to be caught off balance and thrown sideways into the water with a smack and a splash. My head cleared the water to the sound of applause from the far end and I waved an acknowledgment as Buffy dove gracefully in after me.
"You cheated." She broke the water beside me and I swooped my arms around her and dragged / floated her in the direction of her sister. She responded with a very convincing innocent face that made my grin widen.
"How could I cheat? You started it."
"Super strength ringing any bells?"
"Well... it's not my fault you tickled a super hero." We pulled up next to Dawn and I released Buffy to float with one arm holding the wall.
"You tickled my sister? You monster." I wondered how long ago Dawn had mastered that impudent grin.
"So what's happening tomorrow?"
"Well, I'll try not to get your sister killed again."
"Hey! I resemble that remark."
"Sorry, babe. Tomorrow we ski."
"Ski?"
"What's the matter Dawn, never been?" She shook her head at me and I smiled sympathetically. "Don't worry, neither have I. But that'll change tomorrow."
"Sounds like fun." Buffy put her arm on my back and I turned toward her as she dunked me under the water. I stayed under, looking up at her for a second before pulling her down with me. My lips found hers and she smiled against me for a second before my fingers found her sides again and air spurted from her lips as she pulled away. I found the surface first and took a breath in before diving at Dawn. She squealed and tried to get away, but I pulled her under and instantly released her. Buffy dove onto my back on my way back up and we spun around together, carried by her momentum a good ten feet underwater. We broke together into the air and took in big breaths but didn't let go. My left hand found the wall but my right tightened my grip on her, pulling her lithe body against me as our lips met in a long and sweet kiss.
We broke contact and I happened to glance up to see a woman probably in her forties looking down at us shaking her head as she walked past us to her girlfriends sitting together at a table with fruity drinks. My eyes followed her, feeling more than a little affronted, as she sat down and immediately started gossiping and waving her hand in our direction. Buffy looked from her sister as Dawn joined us, to follow my gaze and then back to my face in mild concern.
"What's up?" I looked down at my beautiful, strong willed, and amazing but still almost inappropriately young girlfriend and forced a smile onto my face.
"Nothing, babe. Don't worry about it." I could tell she didn't buy it for a second and was about to ask me again, but I did not want to make a big deal about this now.
'We'll talk later, in the room.' She hesitated but decided to save it for later. Of course, I spent the rest of our time at the pool trying to distract her from the subject. Unsuccessfully I might add. Right after Dawn stifled her first yawn Buffy announced that we had an early morning if we wanted to hit the slopes before the crowds and as soon as the door closed between us and the hallway she turned with her hands on her hips.
"Well?" I sighed, knowing what she was asking but decided to play dumb for as long as I could; I did not want to have this discussion.
"Well what? Join me in the hot tub?" I kept walking toward the already bubbling water and was easing into the heat as Buffy was forced to walk around the corner to keep me in sight.
"You're not getting out of it that easily." I smiled and held up my trunks.
"Already did." She smiled brightly and turned her head to the side rolling her eyes as she laughed. Her expression sobered quickly though, replaced by her resolve face, and I put the swim suit down on the deck next to me.
"What was it? What were you thinking about in the pool after that woman walked by? Did you know her?"
"No, I don't know who she was. Look do we have to do this? It's not really something I want to think about on vacation."
"Well you already thought about it and now my curiosity is too piqued to let me forget about it. Spill." I took a breath and let it out again as I thought about how I could explain what had been troubling me. I waved for her to get in with me, which she did grudgingly and then sat there staring at my face waiting.
"I don't know. After we kissed I just happened to look up at her face. I don't know if I looked because of chance or if she was really thinking about us, but it happened." She was silent, patiently waiting for me to tell her the whole story before deciding what she thought about it and I appreciated that as I prepared to open the entire can of worms. "I think she has to be a mother, probably of a girl as young as you can look sometimes when you're happy. Now, I couldn't hear what she was thinking and I didn't need to feel what she felt; her disapproval and disappointment was pretty clear on her face. Anyone looking at her could tell exactly what she felt about us being together. Of course, that didn't stop her from explaining to her friends, in detail, for several minutes, exactly what she felt and why. I don't know, I guess it just made me feel... self conscious. Like the whole world thought it was wrong for us to be together." I waited for her response, which started with her head down. I found that I couldn't meet her eyes myself, when she did look up at me.
"How long have you felt this way... about us?"
"I don't know. It's not usually something I think about, if that's what you're asking."
"Then why are you thinking about it now? Look, I know that not everyone is going to approve of you and me being together. I guess that's why I've kinda held off from telling my friends about us. But it doesn't matter what the rest of the world thinks. Do you love me?" The last line was delivered with her head cocked slightly to the side.
"Of course I do." I looked into her eyes and she smiled again.
"Good. Then don't worry about anyone else but me." She'd moved closer to me and leaned in close to my face, her eyes closing as our lips met. I jumped as her fingers found my leg and worked their way up. I pulled her down to me, my arms wrapping around her as her snaked up my chest and around my neck. We made love as the water swirled comfortingly against us, moving onto the cool tile when the heat got too much for us. We did finally get some sleep that night, dried and wrapped in each other's arms, with her head against my shoulder; where it belonged.