Here's the last chapter. It's short, narrative, with the aim to build the bridge between the first three chapters and "Wintertale". Hopefully you'll like it nevertheless.

Chapter 4 – Back to Normal?

One week later …

It's been basically an uneventful week since the terrible storm in which Cameron almost perished. Well, at least there have been no new leads discovered, no news about possible TDE events, no assaults that could be regarded as the work of a terminator. However, despite lacking the usual frenzied activities, it has been an interesting week for John as well as for Cameron. John was very carefully watching Cameron and was glad to see that her assumptions about the time she'd need to heal completely were correct. Four days after the storm, she healed completely and even her hair was back to normal. But there was something that John didn't expect and it surprised him a lot: her behavior changed … he noticed subtle and sometimes also not so subtle changes in it. She was acting more human than before. He often caught her staring at him with some inexplicable gleam in her eyes. Which, by the way, were also back to normal but John could have sworn that the golden flecks in her brown irises got even more visible and that they somehow appeared deeper and even more mysterious than they were before the storm. Even her face, normally so stoic and expressionless, was beginning to show how she felt. She's acting just like I always wanted her to. I can finally see behind her scary robot façade and see the real Cameron.

Yes, John finally accepted the fact that Cameron was quite obviously feeling things, experiencing emotions, as the inevitable truth. After the night in which she almost left him, and which still caused him nightmares, he suddenly realized how valuable each minute that he could spend with her was. He finally admitted quite clearly that she was someone with whom he could stick together and with whom he could be himself. When he was with her, he didn't have to pretend to be John Baum, he could be John Connor. Slowly, they began to build a normal relationship. He started to teach her things again, he explained to her what she didn't understand and he could see in her eyes clearly how much she appreciated it. And then there was her puppy dog look; every time he explained something to her, she gave him her best puppy dog look and he always melted at it. He caught himself longing to have another chance to explain something to her, just to receive that look again. He always admired her beauty, but now he was overwhelmed by her behavior too.

But he noticed one other thing too: when they were alone, she was acting human, but the moment his mother or uncle walked in the room, she instantly reverted back to her terminator self: blank face, flat voice, expressionless eyes. He was even beginning to feel proud that he was obviously the only one who could wake her human side. His frustration upon her being not enough human, slowly dissipated just like the morning fog on the sunny day. It was replaced with eagerness to spend as much time with her as possible and he didn't care if his mother sometimes looked suspiciously at them when they once again had their heads together over something, seemingly oblivious to their surroundings.

He did a lot of thinking after that frightening night, about Cameron, him, their relationship, her lies … Gradually he realized how much he felt for her. After few days he was finally ready to admit to himself that he needed her by his side. Not just as a protector, but also as a friend and, maybe, someday, even more. He also ended his actually not close at all, relationship with Joanne. OK, he was still friends with her, but he didn't even try to hang out with her anymore, or at least not more than anyone else. Sometimes he caught himself in comparing Joanne with Riley and came to the conclusion, that they both, even though they were completely different personalities, shared something in common: they were both his way out of reality, they both represented his hopeless try to lead a normal life. He should have realized that he'd never have a normal life right then as Riley died. But his rebellion against everything still didn't die completely at the time and for a while he receded into his blind stupor again. Luckily, the nature obviously decided that it was time to wake up and sent him a message in form of almost dying Cameron to finally open his eyes wide. He stepped back out of his close friendship with Joanne even without Cameron having to say anything at all, which she, to be honest, wouldn't do in any case, since she got treated so badly once she tried to reason with him. The overheated reaction that sent Cameron into the storm was still something John wasn't able to forgive himself. As strange as it may seem, Cameron was obviously able to forgive him, while he still beat himself over it occasionally. The results of his uncontrolled reaction were too grave to be forgotten so easy. He almost lost Cameron, he almost lost the one, who was slowly creeping into his heart as the most important person in the world. The feeling as he saw her lifeless body crumpled on the driveway was something that finally shook him back into reality and showed him, written in burning letters, that he should open his eyes and accept the inevitable reality that his life was empty without Cameron.

Cameron on her side was still trying to cope with her new unlimited emotional capacity which occasionally even frightened her. Sometimes she even asked herself if it was a curse or a gift. But when she looked into John's now constantly kind eyes, she immediately decided for the latter, no matter how difficult it was for her to accept her new sensations. She was experiencing things differently than before the storm. Her sensations were more profound, more detailed. Her understanding why humans valued emotions and feelings so much grew very fast. But she still didn't dare showing that she changed in front of Sarah or Derek. Somehow she believed it wouldn't be wise to do so. She remembered all too well how she woke in the wrecked car, covered with white dust that she recognized as thermite. So her human side remained hidden for everyone but John.

After she accepted the 'new' John, who obviously immensely changed for the better, she decided that she should probably tell him about the changes to her programming, which occurred in that night. She wanted to tell him that she was feeling everything; she wanted him to understand that she changed, although she suspected that he already realized these changes. At first she hesitated, not knowing how he would react to her revelation, but then, as she finally reached the decision, she never found the opportunity to tell it to him. Either Sarah was somewhere near, or Derek lingered around.

John was again explaining things to her … something she liked so very much. Gradually she noticed that she began reacting to John's presence differently. She didn't know why; was it because he acted so differently, because he was being really kind to her or was there something else involved? When he was close to her, she felt warm inside and her emotions began to go slightly haywire. It confused her a lot and yet she had absolutely no idea what it was and why it was the way it was. She even realized that she was eager to spend more time with him that she wanted to be as close to him as possible, that she even wanted to touch him. Every fleeting touch sent shivers down her spine and caused her to feel warm inside. Her behavior was changing quickly and she often caught herself staring at John, wishing he would turn to her, talk to her, touch her …

She spent quite few night hours watching TV in hope to see something that would help her understand what was happening to her. As she in the movies and TV shows first noticed similar behavior like she experienced she couldn't believe what it obviously was. But gradually she began to accept the fact that she was probably beginning to fall in love with John. It seemed to her as completely impossible. A terminator, falling in love! Something unheard of! And yet, all the signs were there. Being almost ashamed of it, she hid her feelings effectively from John and the others. Even if she accepted the fact that she loved him … it was in her eyes almost impossible that she, a machine, could be interesting for him, a human as someone whom he could love. Gradually she also realized that she actually wasn't lying to John when she was caught between the trucks. True, she was trying to deceive him, but she never understood why she used the exact words, why she said she loved him. Until now. Now she understood that she was probably already then falling for him, although in her own, machine way. Now, however, she saw the difference to before … she was acting much more human, she felt much more human even though the final result was almost the same.

Their little discussion about lying changed her way of experiencing the lying act completely. She carefully analyzed everything what happened between them before and came to the conclusion, that she wasn't as innocent as she believed to be and she was also to be blamed for their deteriorated relationship. She lied to him too often and she was the one to lose his trust. Seeing how different their relationship could be if she stayed honest, she consciously decided not to lie to him. Ever! It was a difficult decision for her, but as she saw how things between them developed since the night she almost lost her life, she made a solemn vow that she would always tell him the truth. It was too nice the way it was now and she really didn't want to go back to the way the things were before. She enjoyed his attention too much to allow it to slip through her fingers.

In spite of everything, for the last two days John seemed a little distracted and not paying her as much attention as only few days ago. Cameron sometimes caught him staring through the window into nothingness. Sometimes, when he thought she wouldn't notice, she nevertheless noticed him gazing at her thoughtfully with some strange softness in his eyes that always sent waves of warmth through her systems. Each time she gave him a questioning look, but didn't insist on getting an answer. She knew now that she should left him some personal space. It was a costly experience, but she learned from it. He would tell her what was going on if he found it necessary. She trusted him with that decision. She knew that he was up to something, but she could be patient and wait for him to tell her.

The fact was that John was trying to find a way to redeem himself. Not only considering his relationship to Cameron; that was absolutely his first priority. He also had to redeem himself in his own eyes. He knew he would have to do something really nice for her to show her how much he appreciated her being around, to show her how much he regretted that he treated her so bad. He simply KNEW that he HAD to do it. But the more he thought about it the less usable ideas he had. Until his mother, without any knowledge that she with her decision also solved her son's problems, said something that John accepted gladly as a gift from heavens … or from his mother.

About two weeks after the incident, Sarah and John sat together with Derek and Cameron in the living room and discussed Sarah's plan to finally do something what normal families did all the time: to make a winter vacation in some, if possible, more remote resort. It was definitely a security risk, what Cameron, sitting beside John on the couch, pointed out bluntly immediately after hearing Sarah's plan. But for once in the history, Sarah didn't want to hear anything about security risks or lurking terminators. One look into the bright eyes of her son gave her all reassurance she could ask for; he so wanted to have at least one normal week that she simply couldn't ruin that now. Little did she know that John was more eager to spend a week together with Cameron and would do anything to grant her any wish she might have than to have one normal week like his mother believed.

THE END

A/N

I hope that this short story explained satisfactory why John and Cameron changed so much in "Wintertale".

The first two stories of this little series showed them what they mean to each other and brought them together. Normally it's easier to admit to your feelings, than living with them on a daily basis, which can be something quite differently and definitely not as easy as it might seem in the beginning.

Coping with real life, solving the problems as they arise … that's exactly what awaits our friends in my next story, which will be a sequel to "Wintertale". It is already 'under construction' and I hope to start posting it in late summer.