The sky was a clear blue and the sun was shining brightly, nearly reaching its highest point of the day. On the seventh floor of a hotel in the center of Portland, Oregon, a pair of curtains was still drawn.
This room was nevertheless bathed in a sweet light, allowed through the thin cream-colored net curtains. A large armchair under the window was covered with scattered clothes despite the beautiful dresser standing against the opposite wall. On the perfectly made king-sized bed in the center of the room, lay a young woman figure with a book between her elbows.
The room was silent, save for the low sound of the blonde's breathing and the soft noise of the flipping pages.
The silence was suddenly disrupted, as a door on the other side of the room burst open. Faith barged into the room, wrapped in a yellow towel and another one hanging on her shoulders.
"God! That was neat!" she exclaimed, addressing Tara who looked up to her upon hearing her voice. "This bath is so huge! I'm sure there's enough space to do naughty things in there for way more than two people!"
As Tara rolled her eyes, Faith could help giggling.
"C'mon Blondie!" she happily exclaimed. "That's not the only good point of this bath. Those whirlpool jets are a blessing, you should give it a try."
"I'm willing to," Tara answered. "I've just waited that you FINALLY get out of there!"
"I'm done, bathroom's free," Faith said casually.
She went to the bed and plopped down on the mattress near Tara.
"So, found something in your new book?" she asked.
The blonde nodded and pushed up herself on her right elbow to face the brunette.
"I think so," Tara answered. "There're a lot of things to see around here actually."
"So, what did you pick?"
"I'm not sure yet. Maybe you could make the final decision?"
"Spill," said Faith, standing again before heading to the armchair.
She rummaged through the pile of clothes and starting to dress while Tara sat up cross-legged in the middle of the bed, putting her book on her knees.
"I really like this book," she commented. "Giles was really nice to give it to us."
"You mean to give it to you," Faith grumbled.
"He gave it to US. You're the one not willing to read it."
"Yeah, I'm so much into reading, Giles knows that."
"You're not making any effort," Tara chuckled. "There're a lot of pictures inside y'know!"
Faith ignored the blonde's tease and finished to dress in silence. When she was done, she came back to the bed and literally jumped beside Tara.
"So?" She asked. "Something on your mind?"
"You're okay then to go and visit some place?" Tara asked carefully.
"Y'know, it's not like we had something planned," Faith shrugged. "I guess we can see."
Tara pushed her "Travel Oregon" book toward Faith for her to read and pointed the current page.
"There're two places in particular I'd like to see. You know, or maybe you don't," she corrected herself. "I like water a lot: falls, lake, river, that sort of things. So, I was thinking about going either to Multnomah Falls or Trillium Lake. Both aren't really far."
Faith shrugged and took the book from Tara's hands to get a better view of the Oregon's map the blonde was showing her.
"We can do both if you'd like to," She said after a minute or so examining the page. "Multnomah Falls are close to Portland, we can go there first and then head for Trillium Lake to spend the night."
"That'd be great," replied Tara with a sweet smile.
Flipping the pages of the book in Faith's hands, she added:
"I saw a pretty hostel in a village near the lake. I'll try to book a room for a few days if you're okay," Tara suggested, showing pictures of said-hostel to Faith.
The brunette glanced at the page and immediately nodded.
"It's fine with me," she answered. "We can leave as soon as you're ready."
Tara jumped to her feet and handed the book back to Faith.
"Take a look inside," she said. "And I'm going to try out this wonderful bathroom."
Faith sank against the headboard and chuckled.
"I guess we're not likely to leave any time soon then!"
Tara chuckled as well and disappeared in the bathroom.
***
The road to Multnomah Falls was rather short.
It took the girls about an hour to reach the falls from Portland, after leaving their nice and comfortable hotel room. It was not 1 am yet when Faith parked the car on the lodge's parking.
The air was cold and snow was covering everything around them, except for the road. The place looked charming and a delightful smile appeared on Tara's lips when she caught sight of the lodge and got out of the car, Faith following her close.
"Oh!" the blonde exclaimed, looking around her, pleasure obvious in her eyes. "This place is so pretty! Must be a good place to spend a night!"
"Thought you wanted to see the T-something lake too?" Faith grinned at her.
"Yeah, we'll go," Tara answered. "But it would still be a nice place to spend the night,"
Tara closed the door of the car and took a few careful steps in the snow on the roadside. Faith watched her with an amused glimmer shining in her dark eyes.
"If I didn't know you were born in Minnesota, I'd think you never walked in snow before," she said playfully.
Tara shrugged and turned to her, melancholy written over her pale face.
"It's just…" the blonde began softly. "It's been a long time… It's so pretty here…"
"You know, we went through cool places before." Faith informed her. "But I guess you didn't notice at the time." She added after a short wavering.
Tara did not answer and resumed her slow walk in the snow, her back to the brunette.
"It's Trillium Lake," she said bluntly.
"What?" Faith asked, puzzled.
"The lake," Tara clarified. "The T-something lake, it's Trillium Lake."
"Oh!" Faith exclaimed, remembering her previous expression. "Yeah. Whatever."
The Slayer turned back to the car where she picked up a tiny backpack on the back seat; then she followed in Tara's footsteps and caught up with her. She handed the blonde her book about Oregon from the bag and the girls walked quietly along the trail for several minutes.
"See," Tara said a little later, her book in her left hand, her right hand showing something on the page. "We've got to follow this trail, cross Benson Bridge, then turn on our right to get to the top of the falls."
Faith shrugged but nevertheless glanced at what Tara was showing to her as she replied: "Go ahead, I'm following you."
"I don't want to get us lost," Tara explained. "You'd be angry."
"I don't think we can get lost in here," Faith remarked. "We're not in those freaking mountains in Montana chasing a dragon."
"As night is falling," Tara added with a sly grin.
"Yeah!" Faith emphasized, rolling her eyes. "Let's not forget the night-falling part!"
Tara let escape a small laugh and Faith grinned back at her.
"Why are you grinning?" Tara asked.
"It's nothing," Faith shrugged. "I was just wondering if I could remember hearing you laugh before today," she explained quickly the second after.
Tara's smile vanished off her face and she frowned at Faith.
"What?" the blonde asked in a low voice.
"I didn't mean it was a bad thing," Faith said. "Just wondering. Got nothing against you laughing y'know."
Tara shrugged and remained thoughtful for a few moments, staring at the book without really seeing it while Faith was not paying attention at her anymore, looking around her at the beautiful peaceful snowy landscape.
"You must be mistaken," Tara suddenly said, snapping Faith out of her silent reverie.
"What?" The Slayer asked, her focus returned to the blonde.
"You must have heard it before," Tara explained.
Faith arched a questioning eyebrow, having already forgotten what the witch was talking about, as distracted as she was by the enjoying sight and silence around them.
"Maybe," she answered distractedly. "I don't remember,"
Tara did not add anything, though she wavered for a second. But she decided to drop the matter, Faith being more interested in their surroundings than in the current conversation. Tara could not blame her for that. She herself always loved nature and water and she could not help finding the falls somehow majestic.
They reached Benson Bridge, which allowed visitors to cross the falls between their lower and upper cataracts. The girls stopped there to admire the sight over the waterfalls.
They remained there quietly, leaning on the bridge guardrail and staring at the water flowing from dozens of feet above their heads, down dozens of feet beneath them. The falls bed was surrounded with snow and here and there, stalactites were hanging on the borders of the running water. Occasionally, little clumps of snow were falling from their place into the falls.
Minutes went by in a comfortable silence, only disturbed by the trademark waterfalls noise.
Faith looked to her left, to the other side of the bridge, where the trail they had followed continued between the saplings, winding its way up to the top of the falls.
"Wanna go on?" Faith finally asked, turning back to Tara. "You're not too tired to go up there?"
Tara looked at the path in turn and shook her head.
"I'm fine," she said. "I really want to go. The view must be beautiful from up there."
"Let's go then," Faith approved, already walking toward the path. Tara went after her and the girls followed the trail leading to the top of the falls.
The walk was silent and short. Only a few miles separated the Slayer and the witch from their goal and they covered the distance rather quickly, though they did not really on purpose. They only met one young couple halfway and exchanged a polite greeting.
Once at the top, none of them could quite hide their admiration at the sight around them. They remained there, perfectly still, their faces swept by the chilly wind now blowing, watching quietly.
"I feel like we're doing nothing but looking around," finally said Faith after a while, making Tara turn to her. "And as weird as it is, I'm kinda enjoying this." She added casually.
"It's a change," Tara answered, grinning slightly at Faith. "Just quietness, nature and peace. We can use that after the vampires, monsters and prison things."
"I guess," Faith answered distractedly.
"See?" Tara went on. "Sometimes, I have good ideas."
Faith turned to her and an amused grin forming on her lips.
"That's the first time Tar," she giggled.
"And this is new," Tara answered surprisingly.
"What?" Faith asked, puzzled at the blonde's lack of reaction, expecting her to protest on the first time part.
"Tar," Tara clarified, her trademark smile on her lips. "This is new,"
"Oh, sorry," Faith apologized. "Blondie," she corrected.
"I like Tar better," the blonde asserted.
Faith did not answer for a moment, staring silently at the witch with an unreadable expression on her face, half-hidden by her dark locks.
"I'll try to remember that," she finally said.
Tara did not answer and just kept smiling at the brunette before her attention came back to the falls.
"So?" Faith asked in a resolute tone. "We going back?"
"Yes," the blonde replied simply, already stepping toward the trail.
"I think I've got enough of quietness for today," Faith explained as she strolled at Tara's side.
The blonde rolled her eyes and giggled.
"I would have been surprised if it has lasted any longer," she teased. "You this calm, never thought I'd get to witness this!"
"'Bout this, I forgot to tell you that you can't tell anyone that I sometimes like standing still at the top of some falls in Oregon," Faith replied in the same tone. "'Got a rep of action girl to keep."
"I'll try to remember that," Tara answered, her smile growing wider at repeating the Slayer's own words.
"You really should!" the brunette exclaimed as she suddenly walked quicker, leaving Tara several feet behind her.
"Faith, don't walk so fast!" the blonde protested, trying to keep up with the Slayer. "I can't follow you!"
"Doesn't matter!" The brunette shouted over her shoulder. "You know the way!"
She quickened her pace again and was soon out of Tara's sight. The blonde sighed and gave up to follow her friend, slowing her steps instead, to get back to a normal pace.
She went down the meandering trail, heading back toward the bridge and the parking. She expected Faith to appear at the next bend of the path, waiting impatiently for her. What she did not expect at all though, was the snowball she received in full face as she reached the last curve to the left before Benson Bridge. She was so surprised that she toppled over as the snow hit her nose and fell flat on her face. She immediately sat up and did not search her aggressor for long: standing a dozen feet away from her, Faith was laughing heartily, her eyes twinkling with mischief.
Tara's mouth puckered up in a slight grimace of protest and the blonde got to her feet with all dignity she had left. She brushed the snow off her coat and trousers and finally looked at Faith indignantly.
"It wasn't f…" she began, but was interrupted by another snowball she had hardly time to dodge.
"Faith!" she shrieked.
But the Slayer was obviously really happy with her idea and had no intention to listen to the blonde.
"C'mon!" the brunette called happily. "Defend yourself, witch!"
As Faith carried on throwing snowball after snowball at her, Tara had to make up her mind to comply with the Slayer's expectations. She bent down and gathered some snow she threw clumsily at Faith, only making her laughing even harder than previously.
"Oh, c'mon Blondie!" Faith exclaimed. "I'm sure you can do better than that! You grew up in Minnesota or what?"
Saying so, she sent another snowball at Tara, hitting her target in full face again.
"I'm like an expert!" she concluded gleefully.
"Of course you are! You're a Slayer!" Tara protested. "What can I do against a Slayer?"
"Oh, it has nothing to do with my Slayerness!" Faith countered, collecting some more snow in her hands. "It has everything to do with living in Boston for a while! Minnesota should compete!"
She threw another ball at Tara who managed to avoid being hit in her face again, this one brushing lightly her right ear.
"The closest of a snow battle I ever got involved into, was my brother and his friends having me for target when they knew I couldn't fight back!"
"Why the hell couldn't you?" asked Faith in a bewildered tone, avoiding easily the snowball Tara had just thrown at her.
"Oh, first, they were four or five and I was alone," Tara explained. "And second, if I fought back, Donnie would have told dad I used magic and I would have got punished, whether it was true or not."
"Sounds unfair," Faith commented.
"It was," Tara answered, bombarding the brunette with little snowballs, as quickly as she could.
Faith plunged to the ground to avoid the blonde's attack and gave her opponent an appreciative glance.
"You're getting better Blondie!" she exclaimed and struck back immediately, throwing a fast snowball at Tara that did not miss its target this time.
Tara roared in displeasure and replied almost as fast as Faith just did, making this one chuckle with excitement.
"My name's not Blondie!" Tara growled while bombarding Faith with snow, eliciting a fit of giggles from the brunette.
Faith did not answer and just threw more and more snowballs at Tara who was doing her best to avoid the Slayer's attacks and to fire all at the same time. Despite her best efforts, Tara was soon soaked to the bone and forced to beg mercy from her opponent, who granted her request between two bursts of laughter.
Tara was looking at Faith wide-eyed, wondering if she would ever get to see the Slayer in such a good mood again. Faith usually wasn't exactly the laughing type. Witnessing the brunette laughing so heartily was somehow fascinating for the blonde.
Faith held her hand out to get the laying down witch to her feet and Tara took it with good grace. She brushed her clothes off the snow under Faith's amused glance and both girls resumed their walk along the path.
"Was good, wasn't it?" Faith merely asked.
Tara nodded in approval, before tilting her head to the side in a dubious gesture.
"Well, except the fact I'm going to catch a cold because I'm completely wet," she added after a pause, and wrappedher arms around her chest to keep whatever warm she had left.
"You'll slip into something dry when we get to the car," Faith said, now completely serious again. "We're not that far, we're already back at the bridge,"
Benson Bridge appeared indeed in front of them just as Faith was finishing her sentence. It was not deserted this time. A young woman with long curly brown hair was taking photos of the falls from the other side of the bridge.
"Oh!" Tara exclaimed when she noticed the woman and what she was doing. "I've completely forgot the camera Giles gave me before he left!"
"We should take photos," she added, holding her hand for Faith to give her said-camera from the bag she had over her shoulder.
"You know you have better photos in your book, it doesn't…" Faith began.
"It's not the same," Tara said matter-of-factly. "Would you please give me the camera?" she added in a pleading tone.
The Slayer rolled her eyes but nevertheless obeyed and handed Tara the small camera. Tara took it from her with a grateful smile and walked up to the middle of the bridge where she started to photograph the falls.
"Come on Faith," she called the Slayer a few seconds later. "I'll take you in front of the falls."
"What?" Faith grimaced. "No way! Do your things without me."
"Please Faith!" Tara insisted.
"I can take you if you want," Faith replied. "But I won't…"
"I can take both of you," offered a new voice.
Tara and Faith turned sharply all at once at the young photographer who was now standing just two feet away from them with a kindly smile on her face. She was probably around Tara's age, with long brown curly hair, dark almond-shaped eyes, full round lips. She looked charming to say the least.
"I can take both of you," she repeated, her smile growing wider. "The sight is beautiful here, would be a pity to miss keeping this memory."
Tara smiled back and nodded in agreement.
"Thank you," she answered, handing her camera to the young woman.
She grabbed Faith's arm and pulled her along with her as she headed to the opposite handrail. Surprisingly, the brunette hardly protested and let Tara lead her, as she seemed unable to tear her eyes off the new comer.
"Here?" Tara asked, settling against the handrail, with the falls slightly on her right.
"This is perfect," the girl answered.
"What do you think Faith?" Tara asked the brunette.
Faith turned to her and gave in the protest she was about to deliver when she saw the pleased expression on Tara's face.
"I guess it's okay," she simply answered.
She casually leaned to Tara's left and put down her left hand on the guardrail behind her while Tara folded her own hands in front of her. Not really knowing what to do with her right hand, Faith finally put it lightly on Tara's left shoulder, barely touching it.
The other girl centered them and pushed the shutter release two times. When she was done, Tara crossed the distance between them as the woman handed her the camera back.
"Thank you very much," Tara said with a light smile.
"'S' no big," The brown-haired girl replied. "Have a nice day." She added and started to leave.
"You too,"
And with that, she got away toward the trail leading to the top of the falls with a last wave to the Slayer and the witch.
"So, happy?" Faith asked when Tara gave her the camera for her to put back into the backpack.
Tara did not answer but nodded and finally mouthed a "thanks".
"We should get back now," Faith announced as the blonde was watching the falls again. "Before you freeze to death," she specified, gesturing to Tara's wet hair and clothes.
The blonde approved and Faith put the camera away before the girls took back the path leading to the parking.
***
Tara's hair was still wet when the girls entered the small village where they had decided to spend the next few nights.
They followed the road around the frozen Trillium lake before reaching the village, but they did not stop, Tara still freezing from the snow battle at the falls.
"We'll go later," Faith said as Tara suggested they could make a short pause by the lake. "You'd better dry yourself before, or you'll catch a cold."
As Tara was giving a hint of a smile at Faith's almost scolding tone, the Slayer went on:
"Not that I'm worrying about you or something. But if you get sick, I'd have to play nurse for you!" she explained ironically. "And I'd rather avoid that."
Faith looked at the blonde out of the corner of her eye and seeing her rolling her eyes, she couldn't help but adding:
"And believe me, you'd rather too!"
Tara chuckled and did not answer, looking outside instead at the few houses forming the village.
"Hey! Look at this!" she suddenly exclaimed, pointing something in the street.
"What?" Faith laconically asked. "See the hostel?"
"There's an occult bookshop!" Tara explained. "There might be magic books in there!"
"Lucky us!" Faith scoffed, rolling her eyes exaggeratedly. "Only ten blocks but a magic bookshop! Looks like you've found yourself some distraction if there's no monster to slay around here!"
"You know that distraction doesn't always mean slaying monsters, don't you?"
"Well, that's the only way I know," Faith thoughtfully said. "Well, going at the fair could have been another one, but you know how that one turned out!"
"We were not lucky," Tara softly answered. "But it will be different this time. It looks like all peaceful here."
"Yeah," Faith replied dejectedly. "Like I never heard that one before…"
"Hey, look, here's the hostel," Tara interrupted, pointing at a building slightly ahead on their right.
"Don't worry Blondie," Faith said impatiently. "Can't miss it. There's just it around here."
She parked the car behind the hostel, in a little parking whose ground was covered in a thin layer of brilliant white snow. The girls went out, picked up their belongings and headed toward the hostel main entrance. A middle-aged man welcomed them and gave them their room's key after Faith announced they had booked a room.
They quickly climbed the stairs to the second floor, and the second Faith had closed the door behind them, Tara stripped her wet clothes off and went to take a warm shower in the room's private bathroom. Faith watched her, dumbfounded, and grinned before slumping on the queen size bed with a satisfied sigh.
"You're THAT cold?" the brunette chuckled. "You'd better make it quick, Tar! Wanna grab a good shower too! I'm all covered in snow myself!"
Tara answered something but Faith could not clearly make it out from the noise of the shower. She shrugged and lay back on the mattress. She did not have time to get bored. Tara complied with the Slayer's plea to be quick and indeed, she was out of the bathroom only a few minutes after entering it.
"We could go for a walk to see that bookshop?" the blonde suggested, still drying herself energetically. "What do you think?"
"Why not," Faith replied, stripping her clothes off in her turn. "We'll see when I'm done with the shower."
And she disappeared in the bathroom.
The Slayer was almost as quick as the witch to complete her shower and Tara teased her, asking if she wanted to compete with her for the quickest shower ever. Faith answered in a light tone that if she did, she would not have taken a shower at all. After a few minutes rubbing down their hair to get them dry, they were ready to go back outside.
The walk to the bookshop lasted for just a few minutes. The shop was at the beginning of Main Street when the hostel was at the end, but as the afternoon went by, it was colder and colder outside and the girls walked quickly along the deserted street to keep themselves warm. It started to snow again before they reached their destination.
Even Faith was happy to push the door of the shop to find shelter inside. The bell hung above the door, rang softly as they entered.
"God, it's fucking cold out there!" exclaimed the Slayer as she closed the door behind them.
Tara nodded and brushed the snow off her coat, already gazing around. The shop was small. And dark as the afternoon was fading away. Rows of shelves were covered with books of various sizes, colors and shapes. Three young girls were gathered around a book, standing near a shelf, and were giggling quietly together.
"Witches?" Faith asked in a low voice, bending toward Tara's ear.
Tara could not help a little snort and shook her head.
"No, they're not," she answered simply.
Faith picked randomly a book on the shelf in front of her and started to flip distractedly through the pages of 'Opening your mind to magic'. She rolled her eyes and put the book back in place.
"Don't think you'll find anything magic-y around here," the Slayer grumbled.
"Maybe not," Tara approved, flipping herself through another volume before putting it back quickly. "But it's not…"
"May I help you?" a female voice asked then.
In the back of the room, a woman stood now behind the shop's counter.
"I am Mrs. Applefresh. I am the shop owner." She announced.
She went round the counter to get closer to the girls with a warm smile on her face.
"Are you looking for something specific?" she asked, clearly addressing Tara.
Tara smiled back, though she looked slightly overawed.
"No, thank you," she answered. "We've just arrived in town, we've seen the shop and we just wanted to take a quick look."
"Well," the woman nodded, starting to retreat. "I'll be right here if you need me."
The girls watched the woman getting away and meet up with another woman they had not noticed at first in a corner of the shop.
As the shop owner was starting her polite introduction with the other customer, Faith looked away from her and sighed while gesturing to the books in front of them.
"I really don't get what you see in this," the Slayer said dejectedly. "This is all crap. But what do you expect of an occult bookshop in a place like this?"
"Actually," Tara replied. "This woman might be the real thing."
"Her?" Faith grimaced, turning her head to the woman again.
She considered her long large denim skirt, her pale pink shirt with puffed sleeves and her pair of sandals despite the freezing cold outside.
"Well, looks like a freak anyway. So I guess there's some potential here."
As Tara gave her an odd look, Faith tried to back-pedal as best as she could.
"Not that I meant that any witch must be a freak or that you're a freak or anything like that," she said in her most convincing tone.
"So why do YOU think that she's a witch?" She quickly added in a casual tone, seeing how lame her efforts sounded.
"I'm not sure," Tara explained, Faith's previous blunder being already forgotten.
She watched Mrs Applefresh talking to the other woman out of the corner of her eye and focused a few seconds on the pair, before carrying on:
"It's just a feeling, an impression I've got. There're some weird fuzzies around her. But I could be mistaken."
"Whatever," Faith shrugged. "Are you done?" she asked impatiently.
Tara smiled softly at the Slayer's demeanor and shook slightly her head.
"Goddess, five minutes in a bookshop and you're already bored."
"Well, there's not much reading for me here I think," she explained, pointing at several books one after the other. "Well, I'm not that sure after all," she interrupted herself, picking up a book and showing it to Tara.
The title read "The Magical Guide to Enhanced Sex". Tara stared at the book in disbelief, wondering for a second if the Slayer was serious or not.
"You're kidding me, right?" She finally asked, a hint of exasperation in her voice.
Faith looked at the cover for a brief moment, then put the book back on the shelf.
"Yeah, you're right, I don't need this, I've got mad skills anyway!"
Tara rolled her eyes and jumped when she heard the three young girls giggling louder than previously. Looking up, Tara saw that the teenagers had seen the book and heard Faith's comment.
"Time for dinner I guess?" Faith chuckled at Tara's embarrassed look.
"Yeah," The blonde replied. "I'll come back another time."
"We'll come b…" began Faith.
"Alone." Tara clarified as they exited the shop.