This chapter is much shorter than the ones before. Maybe it could even be regarded as a sort of interlude, just few insignificant things happening before we go on with the spa experience. However, some of the issues, addressed in this chapter are IMO necessary to build a foundation for the future chapters.

Next chapter should be of a 'normal' length. What is going to happen in the spa … ?

Chapter 24 – Confessing Mistakes

All the way from hotel lobby to her room Sarah kept on smiling in memory how she managed to irritate Cameron with just one question. It honestly wasn't her intention to do it, but as the occasion arose, she couldn't help but grab it. One to zero for Sarah Connor! However, even while she enjoyed that she succeeded to irritate the cyborg girl, she realized that she didn't enjoy it because she would want to humiliate or otherwise beat Cameron. She enjoyed it like she'd enjoy making innocent fun of someone, belonging to her family. At the thought she shook her head in disbelief over her own feelings. How did tin miss manage to creep into my mind so quickly? How could I have turned into my almost exact opposite in only a day or two? Yesterday I wanted to separate her from John and today … Well, to be honest; she still hated the thought of her son being involved with a cyborg and she still couldn't accept it. But she began to look at Cameron with different eyes. She saw a trace of what John obviously saw in her and it made her uneasy. Sarah Connor, the ultimate warrior in the war against the machines, was beginning to accept a machine as a person. She sighed again and noticed that she already arrived to her destination.

After entering the room, she noticed Derek, sitting in a chair seemingly lost in his thoughts. His eyes stared unfocused into nothing in particular and he didn't acknowledge her arrival at all.

"Derek?" She asked after he failed to look at her.

Derek shook his head slightly and his eyes began to focus. After a second, he finally turned to look at her: "Sarah. I didn't notice that you're back." Suddenly he looked terrified: "Damn! What if you were a machine? I'd be history by now."

Sarah smiled at him: "I guess you're right. However … it's not a big deal, since I'm not a machine. But I see that there's something bothering you. Mind telling me what?"

Derek was now definitely fully awake and concentrated: "I had a little talk with John."

"Really? And what did you two guys talk about? Women? Sex? Booze?" Sarah couldn't help but smirk a little at him.

"Oh, nothing like that. Well … perhaps there were some words about the females." Derek accepted the playful tone and answered with a small grin.

"Now … let me guess … you were talking about Cameron. Right?" Sarah stepped to Derek and set down on the same seat in which John sat before.

"Yeah, you're right." Derek chuckled humorlessly. He looked Sarah straight in the eye. "He told me some things that I still haven't digested fully."

"What things? That we should accept Cameron? That he's not going to let go of her? That we made a mistake?" Sarah returned his humorless chuckle.

Derek slowly nodded: "Yes, something like that." He paused, looked Sarah in the eyes and continued: "Sarah, would you say that it was a mistake … what we tried to do … separating them?"

Sarah's eyes went out of focus and for a moment she stared into nothingness. Then she slowly lifted her head and looked into Derek's questioning eyes: "Yes, I think that it was a mistake, Derek. I had my doubts from the very beginning, but now I'm definitely sure." She sighed and as she saw that Derek opened his mouth to answer, continued: "However, that doesn't mean I'm OK with them being together. But I won't try anything to separate them. It's John's decision and … frankly … I'm also starting to look at Cameron with different eyes. In the last few days she changed so thoroughly that I can't even believe that it's the same tin miss that hunted me through L.A. a while ago." She waited to see if Derek would explode, but was surprised to see that he just nodded absentmindedly. She smiled slightly at him: "What? No objection? No preaching about killer machines from the future? Nothing at all? What happened to you, Derek?"

"John happened to me. And seeing Cameron since we arrived here." He finally looked into her eyes again: "I saw how she behaved today and I couldn't find a trace of a machine in her. I don't know: either she's so good at infiltrating or she's really not acting."

Sarah smiled: "I believe that it's simply her. I don't believe that any programming could be so sophisticated like she behaves the last few days."

Derek shook his head unbelievingly: "I can't believe that I'm saying such things about a terminator. Maybe I'm getting too soft."

Sarah laughed: "I don't think that you'd be getting soft. Perhaps you only learned how to face the facts and accept the truth. Just like me."

Derek seemed, if it was possible at all, even more lost in his thoughts as he nodded barely visible: "Maybe you're right, Sarah. Maybe you're right."

"So, how did the shopping go?" Tim's eyes peered over the top of the book, he held in his hands while lying lazily on the bad." While Andrea was out with Cameron and Sarah, he had absolutely nothing to do, so he rummaged through the books, Andrea brought with her. Not that he'd be a reader at all. It was probably the first book in last five years he took in his hands with more serious intention than to place it somewhere else.

Andrea's eyes widened uncontrollably as she saw her brother reading the book. "Tim? Is something wrong with you? I haven't seen you with the book since we were little kids."

Tim closed the book and put it aside, relieved that he had something better to do now than to read a boring book. He grinned at his sister: "Well, there was absolutely nothing worth watching on TV; I had no wish to go out and so I had to do something to survive until your return. By the way … are you really reading such literature or are you just fooling everyone?" He pointed at the book with his thumb.

"Of course I'm really reading it!" Andrea's voice revealed her irritation over her brother's insinuations.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it so harshly." Tim grinned apologetically.

"Well, my dear brother, then you should finally learn how to control your long tongue. I know that you have no bad intentions, but your words are sometimes, no, most of the time, far more insulting than your intentions." Andrea pouted a little. Then she strode towards the small table and sat on the chair in front of it. "As for shopping: well, it went OK. Cameron bought nice trunks for John and a bikini for herself that'll cause major disturbances in the spa." She grinned at the memory of a shopping trip.

Tim smiled: "Does she really look that good?"

"Better!" Shot Andrea without even considering her answer. Then she felt silent for a second and gazed into wall. After a while, she turned towards Tim again: "I can't help but to think that there's something strange about her. Sometimes she's a sweet girl from neighborhood, but in the next moment she acts like … like …"

"Like a robot?" helped Tim and Andrea just nodded. "Yeah, I've got the same impression. She's really sweet and nice and all that, but I believe that she's much more than just a simple girl. I've got impression that she extremely intelligent but, don't get me wrong, sometimes she acts like she wouldn't have a clue as what a human society is."

Andrea nodded again: "Exactly my point. But…" She shook her head resolutely and smiled at Tim, "I like her very much. You should have seen how she irritated Sarah while shopping." She giggled as she remembered the interaction of those two. "I perfectly understand why John's fallen for her so completely. I can only wish to someday find someone who'll love me so completely like John loves her."

Tim smiled a little sour: "Me too." Then his face brightened: "So, when are we to meet them for our visit to spa?"

"Few minutes before six. We should be on time." Andrea explained and continued: "Well, I must say that meeting John and Cameron was the best thing that happened during this vacation. At least we're not alone anymore like before."

"Exactly. They're quite nice although sometimes creepy. If I remember John's reaction as he found out that Cameron's been missing…" Tim grinned and shook his head.

"John! We have to go! I don't want to be late. Your mother pointed out specifically that she trusts me to be on time." Cameron's voice was soft, but a slight note of annoyance could clearly be heard. She stood in front of bathroom door and sighed impatiently. John has been in there for the last 15 minutes and she was getting anxious to go down to the lobby to meet the others. "We've got four minutes and …" She hesitated for a second: "Four minutes to meet the others."

"I'm coming, Cameron. See?" The door opened and John grinned at Cameron.

Cameron looked him up and down and a slight smile appeared on her lips: "Are you deliberately dressed like me?" She wore black pants, a yellow tank top with a black shirt over the top. As usually, she put on her favorite combat boots. And John was dressed in almost the same manner; just the nuances of the colors were different than hers.

John grinned, pulled her close to him and kissed her on the lips: "Yes, Cameron, deliberately. I thought that everyone should know that we belong together … not only in the wellness."

For a second Cameron allowed herself to get lost in her sensations, but after John pulled away, she smiled at him: "We should get going, John, we have only about three minutes left."

"So what if we are a little late? It's not the end of the world." John protested not quite seriously.

"Exactly! The Judgment's day isn't due for another …" Cameron recited in a monotone but was cut off by John's impatient sigh.

"Cam! It's only an expression. You don't have to be so literal about it."

"I know it John." Cameron smiled at him mischievously. "I'm just pulling your leg." Her smile widened and she stretched to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Why, you …" John smiled back at her. "You're getting far too good at this."

"At what John?" Cameron wasn't prepared to end the game just yet.

"At making fool of me." John grinned.

"Am I? I can remember that you told me less than an hour ago that I'd have to work on my sense of humor." Cameron tilted her head and looked into his eyes curiously. Then she frowned: "Are you mad at me for making a joke on your expense?"

"Absolutely not, Cameron! If you want to make a joke, just do it." John smiled at her reassuringly and hugged her tight.

"I'm glad that I haven't done anything wrong." Cameron smiled while gently stroking the back of his head. Then she leaned back in his arms and looked into his eyes: "But now we really should get going."

"Sure. Just let me take our bag." John released her from his embrace and stepped to the bed, where he grabbed the bag with their baggage for the wellness. "So, now, we are ready to go. Lead the way, honey!"

TBC