A/N: I am not sure how long/short this chapter will bed. It's going to be a mish-mosh of their travels through the UK.

As with the European tour chapter, I decided to sort of "skim" through the day-to-day tours and sight-seeing. Again, part of it was because of length, part because I was too lazy to do the amount of research it would take to do a total UK tour justice.

Xoxoxoxoxo

Chapter 29 – London, Wales, Scotland, Ireland

They had decided on a week in London, four days in Wales, a week in Scotland and just over a month in Ireland.

They did the normal "touristy" stuff in London: Tower Bridge, Big Ben, and the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. They spent a day at the London Zoo and a night at the ballet. They saw a stage show on the West End and walked around Piccadilly Circus. They spent a day at Stonehenge (which Brittany felt oddly in tune with).

On their third night in London, Brittany woke up at three a.m. drenched in sweat and shivering.

"San?" Her voice was barely whisper but Santana heard her.

"Britt?" Her voice was sleep soft and a little slurred. "What's wrong, baby?"

"Dunno. Can you … can you hold me?"

Santana sat up and reached to pull Brittany close.

"Baby, you're drenched and shivering. Come on, let's get you in the shower and get some dry clothes on you; I don't want you to catch a chill." Santana got out of the bed and pulled Brittany up with her.

She led Brittany into the bathroom and helped her strip down; she adjusted the water and put a towel on the radiator to keep it warm.

"Are you okay on your own while I get you some dry clothes and call down to the front desk to see if we can get some dry sheets?"

Brittany looked at Santana, her ocean-blue eyes dull.

Santana moved to her and pulled her into a hug. "Hey, if you want, I can shower with you."

Brittany nodded. "Please," she whimpered.

Santana quickly stripped down and helped Brittany get in the shower before stepping in herself. She washed the sweat from Brittany's body before gently washing her hair. She took her time; making sure Brittany was completely warmed up before shutting off the water and stepping out of the shower. She grabbed the warm towel and carefully dried Britt off before wrapping her in the towel. She quickly dried herself off and redressed.

"Stay in here and keep warm, okay? I'm gonna get you some dry clothes and call down to the front desk; I'll be right back." She offered Brittany her pinky. "Promise."

A slight smile graced her lips as she looked up at Santana from her seat on the toilet lid. She wrapped her pinky around Santana's and Santana gave it a squeeze. "Be right back, love."

Santana slipped out of the bathroom, closing the door to keep the steam and heat in so Brittany wouldn't catch a chill. She picked up the room phone and called down to the front desk asking if it was possible to get some clean sheets. The front desk said they'd send housekeeping up right away. While she waited for housekeeping, she grabbed some clean clothes for Brittany and went back into the bathroom. She helped Britt get dressed and told her to wait in the bathroom until the sheets were changed.

Housekeeping came in and Santana tried to take the sheets from the woman who just waved her off.

"Och, lassie," the woman waved her off, speaking with a such a thick Scottish accent that Santana had to think about where they were (we're in London, right? Yeah. We are.). "tull take me nought but a minute ta change 'em." The woman moved efficiently; she'd been right, it would have taken Santana much longer to change them. "Yer lass 'ad a bit o' a night terror? Me Timoty used ta get 'em somethin' fierce. Put 'er in a ot shower?" Santana nodded. "Best ting fer it. 'elp 'er relax and stave off ta chills. There, ull done. Get 'er back in a warm bed, at'll 'elp." She nodded to Santana. "'ope ta rest o' yer night is peaceful."

Santana followed her to the door and slipped her a twenty Euro note.

"Och, lassie! 'at's too much!" She tried to give the money back to Santana.

Santana just shook her head. "It's the middle of the night and you saved us from having to put down towels to sleep on. And, you were right, it would have taken me a lot longer to change them out. So, it's not too much to me knowing that Britt won't have to sleep in her own sweat. Thank you."

The woman's eyes softened. "Aye, lassie, yer a rare one. Thank ya kindly."

Once the woman left, Santana went back into the bathroom. Brittany looked up and smiled slightly. Santana smiled back and noted that Britt had dried her hair.

"How ya doing?"

"Better." Brittany nodded. "Tired but not freaked out anymore."

"Good. Come on," Santana offered her a hand, "housekeeping put some fresh sheets on the bed. Let's try and get some rest."

Brittany took the offered hand and followed Santana into the bedroom.

Once they were warm and cuddled in bed, Santana asked in a soft voice, "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"I'm not sure what to say, honestly. I don't remember dreaming. I think, though, that that guy this afternoon may have triggered something in my memory."

They had been walking around Piccadilly when a man accidentally bumped into them. The man had apologized and they'd gone on their way.

"What do you mean? He didn't say anything, did he?"

"Just apologized. It wasn't the words, I don't think. It was the tone? Timbre? Of his voice. I shivered but didn't really think anything of it; now I'm wondering if it just … I dunno … unlocked something?"

Santana nodded and pulled her closer. "You're safe. I'm here. I love you."

Brittany smiled and curled in tighter to Santana's embrace. "I love you, too."

Santana waited until she was sure Brittany had fallen back to sleep before joining her in dreamland.

Xoxoxoxoxo

They spent their four days in Wales exploring Cardiff; they hadn't done much research on Wales so they weren't really expecting there to be as much to do as there was. As a result, they saw some of the "big" things in Wales such as Cardiff Castle and Millennium Centre. They decided that, along with Spain and Portugal, Wales was a must re-visit site.

Xoxoxoxoxoxo

In Scotland, they made a point to take as many "unicorn hunting" tours as they could. They enjoyed finding all the unicorns in the various cities, pubs, on castles, and in churches. They laughed at all the different places and disparate types of unicorns they found. They enjoyed Scotland quite a bit.

Brittany was a little disappointed that they never found a living unicorn but, as the locals pointed out, they were elusive and shy beasts and didn't like to show themselves.

Xoxoxoxoxoxo

They decided to spend a month in Ireland because it was a magical place. They looked for leprechauns, fairies, and other fey folk. They sought out the end of the rainbow and hunted pots of gold. They never actually found a leprechaun but they did run into Rory Flanagan in a small pub outside of Dublin. They chatted over lunch and a few pints and Brittany was proud of Santana for being cordial.

They toured castles and museums, took electric bike tours, and toured Kilmainham Gaol. They booked a two day, hop-on, hop-off bus tour that took them to sites such as Ha'penny Bridge, Phoenix Park, and Guinness Storehouse.

They had been in Dublin a week and had spent the day on a walking tour. Footsore and exhausted, they fell into bed.

Sometime in the middle of the night, Santana woke up (for no apparent reason) and realized that she and Brittany hadn't been truly intimate since The Attack on Lesbos (seriously, she thought, by the time we finish we'll have an entire library of Agatha Christie-ish novel titles). They'd kissed a bit but no heavy make-out sessions or … anything, really.

It had been almost a month, she realized with a jolt.

"Britt?" She whispered.

Brittany grumbled a bit but didn't wake up.

Santana reached out and gently shook Brittany shoulder. "Brittany?"

Brittany woke up with a start. "What's wrong? You okay?"

Santana bit her lower lip; she wasn't sure why she felt the need to wake Brittany right then but it had seemed important.

"I'm sorry, honey, I just …"

Brittany reached over and turned on the bedside lamp. She looked at Santana worrying her bottom lip and could feel her wringing her hands under the blanket.

She reached out and pulled Santana into her arms, tucking Santana's head under her chin.

"What wrong, baby?" She gently skated her fingers up and down Santana's arm and kissed the top of her head.

"It's just … we haven't been intimate in almost a month and … I'm sorry."

Brittany pulled back to look at Santana's face.

"Oh, honey, what did we say about unnecessary apologies? You have nothing to apologize for."

"But …"

"Honey, you were attacked about a month ago; the bruising on your boob didn't fade until last week." She gently stroked Santana's cheek. "I wasn't even thinking about it. You needed to time to heal and, yeah, I like sex but … you're more important to me than sex." Brittany paused for a moment. "Do you remember what you told me after Brussels?"

Santana shook her head.

"You said: If we weren't able to ever have sex again, I would still love you and want to be with you. You are my best friend, my lover, my one true love. I don't know what I'd do without you. I feel the exact same way, sweetheart. You're my soulmate and our relationship means so much more to me than sex. It happens when and if it happens. I love you, Santana. You're my everything." She gently thumbed away the tears that had started slipping down Santana's face.

"I love you so much, Britt," Santana took a deep breath and huffed it out. "Thank you."

Brittany smiled. "No thanks needed, my love. I'm here. You're safe. I love you. None of those things have changed or will change. Come here." She pulled Santana back into her and kissed her forehead before tucking Santana's head under her chin again. "Sleep, baby. It was a long day and I think tomorrow we should just hang out by the pool. Maybe a little rest and relaxation will do us both some good."

Santana nodded against Brittany's chest. "'night Britt-Britt."

"G'night, love."

This time, Brittany was the one waiting until Santana's breathing had deepened and evened out before following her into that land of dreams.