"What do you think?" Naomi asked with a smile. "One more run?"

Trish sighed loudly as she shook her head, "Honestly Mimi, I'm beat."

It was late Tuesday afternoon and the light was already fading from the sky. Brian and Trish would be checking out tomorrow and heading back home, but Naomi was staying on with me until Friday. After we checked out, I'd drive her back to Toronto with me and drop her off at her and Trish's place.

She'd already moved all her stuff into my room on Sunday, after introducing me to Trish and Brian. The four of us spent the past three days skiing, hanging out, we even did some touristy things in town on Sunday.

This whole vacation was like a dream come true. I'd come up here alone hoping to make some friends, and that's exactly what happened.

All four of us were students at U of T, we were all about the same age. Brian was in the law program, Trish was a sociology grad student. And of course Naomi was on track for a PhD in chemistry, and I was in my third year working towards my doctorate and living my dream of becoming an archaeologist. The four of us even had plans to hang out together after our vacation ended, and Naomi and I already had a few dates set up for after we got back home.

Brian put an arm around his girlfriend and asked, "Are you sure? We probably won't have time to do any skiing tomorrow babe. Check-out time's like noon I think? We'll be busy packing."

"Seriously, I'm done." Trish shook her head again then looked back at Naomi. "If you and Ra-Ra still have the energy then go for it, but I need to relax and get a drink or something."

"I'm good for more," I smiled.

Naomi grinned back at me then told the others, "We'll catch up with you two later. Maybe see you in the bar for drinks?"

"Have fun!" Trish smiled at us, then she and Brian turned and headed towards the resort together while Naomi and I got back in line for the lift.

A couple minutes later we were on our way back up the mountain. With the two of us alone on the lift I glanced at Naomi and commented, "I still don't understand why she keeps calling me Ra-Ra."

She giggled, "You should feel honoured, Ra-Ra. That's a certified Trish Patterson nickname. Some people have to wait years to get one, you jumped to the front of the line and got yours in two days."

Naomi glanced at me then giggled again at my lost expression. "Don't worry about it Rachel. It just means she likes you, she considers you one of her besties. The only downside is she'll probably never call you Rachel again."

I rolled my eyes but smiled, "I suppose I could have done worse. Ra-Ra makes me sound happy."

"Like a cheerleader," Naomi giggled once more.

I just grinned as we got to the top of the hill, "C'mon Mimi, let's ski!"

She and I got another half dozen runs down the hill before it got too dark and started getting too cold for my taste. An hour later the two of us were seated at a quiet table in the restaurant, enjoying a nice meal together.

As we ate, she commented "I haven't wanted to pry, but I assume your mysterious trip into town on Saturday went well? I haven't seen any of the anxiety you had on Friday. And no nightmares since then either, I think?"

"It wasn't quite what I expected," I replied quietly, "But in the end everything worked out perfectly."

"Will you ever tell me what it was about?" she asked as she gave me a curious look.

I had a sip of wine as I thought it over. Finally I sighed, "I'm honestly not sure you'd believe me if I told you everything. For that matter, I'm not even sure I believe it myself now? It all seems sort of distant and surreal."

Naomi frowned "Well you have to tell me something. You can't just tease me like that then leave me hanging."

After a moment she added, "You don't really have to tell me, Rachel. I don't want to press. I'm very curious, but whatever it was I'm glad you're happy. I mean that, you seem so much happier and more relaxed since you came back Saturday."

I nodded slowly, then in a soft voice I replied "You remember what I said on Friday? A week ago I was in a bad place. I was depressed. Maybe I wasn't actively suicidal but passively... Let's just say if a car was coming at me, I probably wouldn't have got out of the way. I was ready to give up. Then Wednesday night I found a miracle."

I had another sip of wine then continued, "I don't know if it was luck or chance or fate or whatever, but I stumbled onto something truly magical. It turned my life around, it fixed things I didn't even know were broken, and set me on the right path. The thing on Saturday was... I didn't know if my miracle was forever or if it would disappear. I needed some answers, I needed some help with it. I got my answers, I got the help I needed, and now I know it's forever."

I smiled, "I never have to go back to that awful place again. I'm happy, I'm on the right track, and I know whatever happens next things are going to be ok."

Naomi was quiet for another minute or two after I stopped talking. She watched me with a sort of thoughtful look, and I figured she was still processing everything I just said.

Finally she pointed out "That still doesn't really tell me anything, but I won't press more. Whatever really happened to you last week, and whatever you did Saturday, it must have been something amazing. And whatever it was, I'm grateful for it. Because it brought you and I together."

"Like I said, you wouldn't believe me if I told you." I sighed slightly. "And as amazing as it was, I almost want to forget about it? Remembering the miracle means I also have to remember what my life was like before, and those aren't very happy memories."

Naomi gave me a sympathetic look, "Ok gorgeous. I'll let it go. I don't want to upset you by making you think about unhappy things."

She was only quiet for another minute or so before she came up with another question. She grinned at me and asked, "I hope this is a safe topic but I've been dying for the answer since Friday. What's the deal with your initials in your handle and your email address? You said there was something to it and you'd tell me later. Now it's later and I have to know!"

I finished my wine and grinned back at her, "You're right there's more to it than just my initials."

She watched me expectantly as she drained the last of her wine too.

I continued, "So you know I'm interested in archaeology, especially underwater archaeology? That means studying a lot of shipwrecks, among other things."

Naomi nodded "Ok? And?"

"So what's the biggest, most famous shipwreck of all?" I asked with a smile.

She shrugged, "Titanic I guess?"

"Right," I nodded. "The Titanic's official designation was Royal Mail Steamer, because it was contracted to carry British mail across the Atlantic."

"Ok?" she asked with a confused, curious look on her face.

I grinned, "See, I was kind of a huge disaster when I was a teen? But I was also a geek for shipwrecks and marine archaeology too. So, RMS Titanic was a big maritime disaster? And RMS Rachel was a big teenage disaster. And it just sort of stuck with me ever since."

Naomi stared at me with wide eyes and a wider grin on her face. "Oh my God Rachel that's beautiful and tragic and silly all at once!"

I blushed but I had a pretty big grin on my face too.

"What sort of disasters did you get into as a teen?" she asked as her curiosity returned a moment later.

I rolled my eyes, "Ok, like seven years ago when I was fifteen? My high-school did an annual skiing thing, a bunch of us came up here for a day-trip. I did one run down the easy hill with a bunch of classmates, then I overheard a couple people talking about a better run they were going to do? So I went and tried that one next. Boom, wound up with my leg broken in two places. I spent the rest of the day in the local hospital. After that I was on crutches for the next four months, and I never ever mastered them. So I was constantly falling over or crashing into things. I ended up with so many bruises that winter. I even managed to sprain my wrist on New Years eve! And that's literally just one example."

Naomi fought to keep herself from giggling as I told the story.

Once she regained her composure she said with a smile "Well I'm so happy you finally decided to come back and give it another try. And I'm even happier you did it when I was here to meet you and help you conquer your fear of skis."

I blushed, "It was more like a fear of trees but yeah. I'm happy it worked out like it did too."

She tried to act serious again as she said "And you're going to go and study shipwrecks? That means spending time on and around water. With a name like RMS Rachel I hope you'll stay out of the path of any icebergs!"

I was still blushing as I grinned, "I'll do my best. Anyways at first I want to do some research around here? There's over three hundred known shipwrecks in the Great Lakes you know? We have like four hundred years worth of ships sailing these lakes. Then there's several thousand years worth of indigenous history ontop of that? There's more than enough stuff to study that'll keep me well clear of icebergs."

"Good," Naomi stated. "No more disasters for you!"

I giggled and the two of us continued our dinner.

After dinner we went into the bar as planned and met up with Brian and Trish. They had a little table, and we dragged a couple more chairs over so we could sit with them.

The four of us stayed up a little too late again drinking and talking, before we all went back to the lodge together.

We parted ways at the second-floor landing, Trish and Brian continued on up to their room on the third floor while Naomi and I went to our room. We took turns in the washroom and got ready for bed, and soon enough we were cuddled together under the sheets.

"What do you want to do tomorrow?" she asked quietly.

I shrugged slightly, "We can have breakfast with Trish and Brian, then I guess we could hang around to see them off? Then hit the slopes again. That's why we're here right?"

"Sounds perfect," she smiled. Her grin faded slightly after a moment and she sighed, "Still, only two more days and we'll have to pack up and head back home too."

I leaned closer and gave her a kiss. "I know two days doesn't seem like a lot, but we can still make the most of it."

"You think so?" she asked softly.

"I know it," I nodded. "If you do it right, two days is enough to change your whole life."

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