Two days later, Sarah sat under a tree, on the two seated swing set at the latest safe house. She had simply been enjoying the summer night sky.

Cameron missed the 132nd, but it was oddly calming to be back to being only four. There was a sense of a return to being a family, no matter how dysfunctional that family might be.

It was also a good time for finding Sarah. Cameron wasn't interested in the screaming match going on between John and Derek over the latest units gained.

Cameron had studied fifteen separate American medical disciplines to date, taking the time to sneak into cutting edge hospitals for training. She had studied four separate forms of alternative medicine as well.

The reason was a gnawing fear that grew worse by the day. Sarah didn't have cancer yet, but her body was becoming the environment that would one day kill the woman Cameron admired most.

Sarah could read Cameron's face like book. So, she simply made Cameron space on the swing.

Cameron sat closely so their arms touched. She could feel Sarah's defenses rising.

Sarah simply asked, "Is it time?"

Cameron offered, "Not yet, but soon."

"Then there is nothing to worry about." Sarah grinned.

"I'd like to talk to you about options again."

Sarah almost angrily responded, "No, I'm not going over the medical crap again, until it's time."

"I have something more radical than that I want to talk to you about."

"What would that be?"

"There are three single use time stations left that we could use. If there is no other option, I'd like you to consider letting me download you into a terminator body."

Sara looked at Cameron in shock. Cameron withered silently under her look.

Cameron offered, "We're still going to need you. John is still going to need you. I'm still going to need you, Sarah."

Sarah answered, "No offense Cameron, but I'd rather die."

Tears started streaming from Cameron's eyes, she offered further, "There is another option. Skynet has developed something called nanites. They're microscopic machines that can repair mechanical and biological damage, if we were able to capture a sample in 2027, we might be able to scrub the cancer out of your body without pain."

Sarah frowned, saying, "It still sounds like a lot of unnecessary risk. Skynet had implied that timelines might not even be as stable as we thought. What if timeline we've been working on is lost because of what you're suggesting Cameron? What if John and Derek die from going there or staying here alone?"

Once again, Sarah was slipping out of any argument Cameron could make. It was becoming terrifying obvious to Cameron that Sarah might actually be resolved to die when the time came.

Exasperated, Cameron simply confessed, "Sarah Connor, I think you might be the most stubborn woman ever born."

Sarah smiled at that. She offered, "Quite possibly."

"We'll need you in whatever is ahead."

"Have a little faith, Cameron." Sarah put her arm around Cameron's back.

"That's a metaphor I don't think I'll ever understand."

"Yes, but I recall it's one you made a promise over." Sarah had actually seen that conversation on Cameron's chip over a year ago.

Cameron confessed, "I'm not sure that's one I'll be able to keep."

Sarah offered, "Take it from me, it’s the hard promises that define you in the end. They're the ones that are often worth keeping."

"Then promise me you'll let me know if you change your mind, Sarah."

"That's a promise I'll make you." Sarah patted Cameron's back in a motherly fashion.

Cameron sat next to the Hero she had known once only in her imagination. Sarah had become someone she didn't want to live without.

Sarah changed the subject, "Someone has a built day coming up soon."

Cameron smiled and said, "September 2nd isn't that close."

"And how old will you be?"

Cameron ignored an exact calculation and just rounded the days down to be personable. She replied, "Two."

"How old is that in terminator years?"

"Based on average life expectancy for a fighting Skynet unit? It's probably about 200."

"What about for someone looking for hope?"

"I'd have to guess just two."

"Give it time Cameron. Life is subtle and it takes a while to figure out the big stuff."

Cameron sat on the swing with Sarah and just looked at the stars in the sky. She knew enough about Sarah to know tonight's conversation was over.

Tonight's battle was lost. At least there was hope, the war to save Sarah Connor, from her fate, wasn't over yet...

Posted on X in case anyone wants to comment either to the positive or negative:

https://twitter.com/LaylynofHAUNT/status/1956751860523561083

Part 2 is in progress as it was never originally finished: https://haunt2003.com/index.php/community/scribbles/skynets-prodigal-daughter-terminator-the-sarah-connor-chronicles-tscc-fanfic/

/salute