"What do you want to do first?" Dean smiled at his brother, "Get some grub or get on some roller-coasters?"

Sam cringed a little.

"Can we just walk around for a little bit? Look around?"

"Sure," Dean said agreeably.

The brothers left their room and headed down the stairs onto the grounds of the resort.

The heat and humidity were just as oppressive as they had been in the little town the hunter had left but somehow, being at Disney World, made them almost bearable. There were a lot of shade trees and benches to rest on.

Sam wanted to go down to the river that flowed past their hotel, where duck and boats glided by.

"I wish we had some bread," Sam muttered as a group of mallards flocked towards him as he stood on the edge of the river, begging for food.

"We'll get some tomorrow," Dean told him.

"I wonder if they have alligators in here," Dean wondered, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Sam glanced at him, "Don't say that."

The ducks had climbed up onto the bank and were waddling around Sam's feet, completely unafraid of him.

"I'm kidding," Dean waved a hand, "Let's keep going."

Sam followed Dean as he made his way back onto the paved path that ran along the river. They walked slowly- they were in no hurry- and presently came upon the next closest resort; Saratoga Springs. The Victorian-style buildings modeled on the New York spa and horse racing retreat drew the brothers like a beacon.

"I don't know about you, Sammy," Dean began, wiping his sleeve across his forehead, "But I could use a nice cold drink."

"Me too," Sam agreed as they approached a building called 'The Artist's Palette' and stepped into air-conditioned Heaven. The eatery was crowded with families talking excitedly over slices of pizza, sandwiches or salads, the atmosphere warm and welcoming.

There were plenty of places to sit, tables crammed a little too close to each other, surrounded by display cases of ice cold drinks of everything from water to soda to wine, shelves of snack foods, deli counters where staff members made sandwiches or pizzas to order. There was also a section where families could pick up produce if they wanted to make their own meals.

Sam's gaze lit upon a make-your-own salad bar and he made a beeline towards it, Dean following behind him. While his brother busied himself with construction his salad, Dean wandered over to the sandwich counter to see what they were offering.

Kids of all ages were running around, laughing, screaming, and shouting to one another. Dean couldn't help but smile- the happiness was contagious- and picked out a sandwich he thought he'd like.

After receiving and paying for his food, Dean found his brother sitting at a table near the wall, as far from the commotion as possible, a large bowl of salad in front of him.

"Are you really gonna eat all of that?" Dean asked as he slid onto the chair across from his brother, staring at the pile of Romaine, feta cheese, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, and croutons drizzled with what looked like Greek dressing.

"What'd you get?" Sam asked, pointing his black plastic fork at Dean's sandwich, surprised his sibling didn't get a burger.

"Grilled Buffalo Panini," Dean told him and took a large bite and groaned in pleasure.

Sam stabbed his salad and paused before bringing the lettuce to his mouth.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked, lowering his sandwich.

"We forgot drinks," Sam smiled.

Automatically Dean stood, "What do you want?"

"Just water."

He nodded and headed towards the first drinks display he saw. Although he would have liked something sweet and sugary, Dean knew that in the Florida heat, it would only make him feel more thirsty, so he grabbed two bottles of water, paid for them and headed back to the table.

"Want to go into the parks after we eat?" Dean asked, twisting the lid off his bottle of water.

"Sure," Sam told him through a mouthful of food.

"Anyone in particular?" Dean asked, taking a sip of water.

"Animal Kingdom," Sam replied without even having to think about it.

Dean chuckled. Sam had always loved animals; when he was a kid, he'd come back to their motel room with his pockets full of snails or frogs or bird's eggs that he found on the ground, insisting to their Dad that he had to save them. Dean was sure if Sam hadn't gone to law school he would have been a veterinarian.

"Sure, we can go there first," Dean finished his sandwich and took a swig of water.

He waited patiently for Sam to eat his salad, watching the families coming and going around them.

It was kind of hard to believe that they were actually at Disney World. He had wanted to go so badly when he was a kid, but knew there was no way their Dad would take them, and now that they were here, Dean kind of wished it were under better circumstances.

He felt great. For someone who had less than a year to live, it seemed ironic that very little- if anything- had changed. He was as healthy as he ever was and knew that he could spend the entire day riding roller coasters, eating junk food, standing in the sticky heat with the sun beating down on him.

Sam, on the other hand, was a different story. Still sickly, he most likely would not be able to run around the park like a five-year-old with a sugar rush. Dean knew he was feeling pretty shitty, and would probably need to take frequent rests to keep up his energy. Dean didn't mind, they would go at Sam's pace. This was as much for him as it was for Sam and he didn't want his brother to miss a moment of it.

Smiling, Dean turned back to look at his brother, now spearing the last lettuce leaf in the bowl.

"All done?" he asked and Sam nodded, taking a drink of water before standing.

"Then lets get started," Dean said, unable to keep from grinning with excitement.

They left 'The Artist's Palette' and wandered down the path, back towards Port Orleans. Instead of stopping at the French Quarter, they continued on for another ten minutes until they reached the Riverside hotel, where a bus would pick them up and drive them to the park.

They were, surprisingly, the only ones waiting so Sam sat down on the bench to rest for a minute or two.

"How're you doing?" Dean took a seat beside his brother, taking note of the red spots high on Sam's pale cheeks and the sweat beaded on his forehead.

"All right," Sam told him but smiled, "Excited to be here. Can't wait to go on the rides."

Dean nodded, "You need a break, you let me know, okay?"

Sam looked up, "Bus is coming."

Dean turned and saw the large white bus with tinted windows and the Disney World logo on its sides come trundling up towards them. It stopped and idled right in front of them. With a hiss, the door slid open and a young family of four stepped out, two little girls in their parents' arms, one wearing a Snow White dress and the other a Cinderella dress, both fast asleep.

Once the family had disembarked and was making their way into the Riverside hotel, Sam and Dean climbed aboard the bus. It was air conditioned, with flush seats and small television screens hanging from the ceiling at intervals.

The brothers sat at the back of the bus and sat down. An overhead speaker announced the next stop, another resort to pick up more passengers.

"This is going to be fun," Dean told Sam, grinning.

Sam grinned back.

Author's Note:

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed the previous chapters. Your support is greatly appreciated.

It has been a few years since I have been to Disney World. My family stayed at the Port Orleans, French Quarter resort and one of our favourite things to do was, around lunchtime, was to walk to ten minutes down the river to Saratoga Springs and have a huge salad. I don't remember exactly if this was at 'The Artist's Palette' or not but I do know it was at that resort. They had a salad bar with a wide variety of lettuce types, toppings, and dressings. We'd all make our own preferred salad and then go back on the bus to take us to the parks again.

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