A/N: It's been too long since I've last uploaded, well, anything. But I am very much still active on this site and will not abandon my stories. I just take a long time, that's all. On the plus side, however, I'm going to be updating WAHBL (When All Hell Breaks Loose) right after this! And I'm super excited to see what you guys think, so I highly encourage you to check it out.
As for this little one-shot here, I've had it for a while but could never perfect it until recently. So I thought I'd give two updates as consolation. It's the least I could do! :)
Enjoy the story and review! I would love to know what you think!
Rolls of thunder rocked the plane as heavy rains slashed against the windows. Thick, black clouds filled the sky, illuminating darkness onto Flight 273 to Dublin, Ireland.
Emma Gilbert saw this as a sign, representing the dark times she was going to have to face in Ireland. Since her parents had announced her father's new job enabling a tour of the world, life had been miserable for Emma. Leaving behind Rikki and Cleo had been one of the worst. There was crying, hugging, and promises of keeping in touch every few hours. Saying a final goodbye to Mako Island and the moonpool gave her memories of fun and magic in the past. But now was the present. And everything she loved was now thousands of kilometres away.
And Ash. Her heart sunk just thinking about him. It took so much to tell him she was leaving. After finally finding happiness with a guy Emma really liked, she had to say her goodbyes. There was even more crying then. Promising to stay with each other over a long-distance relationship, Ash vowed to visit at least a couple of times during her travels.
Travels. Scoffing at the thought, she crossed her arms. Believing she could have done more to stay, Emma scolded herself for not trying more or being persuasive enough. Yet even with all of Emma's campaigning to stay, no amount of offers to stay at the Sertoris or renting a place could get her parents to budge with their decision.
A tear rolled down Emma's cheek. She wiped it off quickly and continued to sulk. Looking at the storm outside of the plane, she felt another tear fall down her cheek. She did not want to go to Ireland, where it rains almost every day. That's a mermaid's worst nightmare. "Might as well stick me in the rainforest for all I care." Emma grumbled under her breath. "Today couldn't get any worse though, right?"
A flight attendant then came over the monitor. "Please pardon the interruption. Due to unfavourable weather patterns, our flight has been ordered to land at the nearest airport for safety reasons. Our apologies for any inconveniences."
Emma covered her face with her hands. "I stand corrected," she mumbled.
"Dad, where are we going now?" Elliot moaned, taking his headphones off.
"The nearest airport I suppose." Neil Gilbert said with a smile as Emma just slid down in her seat.
"Don't be in a mood, Emma." Lisa Gilbert gave her daughter a disapproving look.
"The fasten seatbelt sign has just been placed back up. Everyone prepare for a bumpy landing. We will be arriving to the Los Angeles International Airport shortly."
Emma rolled her eyes, fastened her seatbelt angrily, and pouted for the rest of the flight.
"I thought we were going to Australia, dad." Bella said, looking at her father, who was busying typing an email on the phone. "Unless you actually meant America." He didn't respond. "Um, dad?"
"Sounds great, Bella." Her father replied, not acknowledging what his daughter had said.
"Darling, we're in Los Angeles—the City of Angels." Her mother smiled. "We're on a connecting flight, so we'll get back on the plane to Australia. You'll be living here soon anyway as a world-class musician."
Bella smiled. "The world-famous Isabella Hartley. It has a nice ring to it."
"And I'm glad we did stop." Her mother continued. "Just take a look at the weather outside. It's terrible, isn't it?" Bella looked towards one of the windows to see the storm. She felt panicked for a second but realised she was safe inside the airport.
Then she glanced over at the windows again. The rain pounded against the glass windows and was smashing against the planes. However, the heavy rains rendered her to grin, as the weather had reminded her of Ireland. The rains and the storms sometimes made her stay indoors for days. But sometimes she was able to stay in the Sea Caves longer, since she could not return to the mainland. Bella longed to stay for another year as they had only been there for six months.
A roll of thunder broke Bella of her thoughts. Yet she tried to reminisce in it again. "Doesn't this weather remind you of Ireland?" She asked her mother, who looked like she was bored.
"The constant rain?" Bella's mother smiled. "Oh, yes, it certainly does."
"Do you miss it?" Bella asked, hoping she could somehow convince her mother to go back.
"It's beautiful there. I'm happy we were able to go back for some time." Bella looked disappointed at her mother. "I know you loved it there, darling, but you know as well as I do we can't go back. Your father's been moved to manage the hotel on the Gold Coast."
"It's still not the same." Bella sighed longingly.
"Oh, you'll make friends in no time!" Her mother reassured.
"No. It's not that."
"Well, there's plenty to do there. There are fantastic surfs and reefs and heaps of sun. At least there's not as much as rain!" Bella still looked glum. "Look, I know you haven't been back home in Australia since you were very little, but at least give it a chance."
"Fine." Saying it half-heartedly made Bella seem even worse. Nothing would ever be able to compare to Ireland and the Sea Caves. The only thing she was looking forward to was swimming in the ocean. At least she could visit the reefs. But there still wouldn't be any magic like there was in Ireland.
"I'm going for a walk around." Bella said to her parents, who did not even acknowledge her. She walked away, looking for something to do. "Maybe they won't notice me swimming back to Ireland either," she thought to herself.
"Now what?" Elliot asked, slumping down in a chair outside of the gate.
"Well, our flight won't resume until the weather clears up." Neil said, just as a crack of thunder rumbled in the sky. "And I don't think that's anytime soon."
Emma continued to pout. Things just kept getting worse. "How about we just go back to Australia, leave this stupid 'holiday', and call it a day?" She surprised herself with that comment. It sounded like something Rikki would say. But the thought only made Emma homesick. She missed them.
"Emma!" Lisa exclaimed. "Your attitude today is terrible."
"It wouldn't be so bad if we hadn't left everything behind back home!" Emma scowled, turning to walk away. Although she knew she was being especially bitter, she brushed it off, since she only wanted to go back to Australia. Everything would be a mess on her family's travels. Her secret was in danger, the constant rains, and having no one to be there with her on full moons. Not only that, but there would be nothing like Mako Island. There wouldn't be any moonpool or anything near magical.
Everything wouldn't be the same.
With a long sigh, Emma decided to explore the airport and get the farthest away from her family as possible.
"Why can't I get service here?" Emma mumbled to herself, holding her phone in the air. She had been given a new one—an iPhone—as a consolation gift just a few days before. It was the only thing that had brightened her up, knowing she could FaceTime the girls. But it would not help her if she had no reception.
So she walked slowly with the crowd, continuing to look for service to call Cleo and Rikki in Australia. Looking at the time on her iPhone, which read two thirty, she calculated the time difference. "Seventeen hours." Emma concluded, and then knew it would only be eight thirty in the morning. She sighed, knowing that Cleo—and maybe even Rikki—would be willing to take the call that early if it was her.
If only she could find some sort of signal.
She brought her iPhone back down, trying to see if she had gotten into an area with service. Still nothing. Emma put it back up, walking forward. Still nothing. She kept walking forward. Suddenly a small bar came up on the screen. "YES!" She beamed in delight.
Stepping out of the crowd, she still had the small bit of reception. It filled her with so much hope, giving her the happiness she so desperately longed for since leaving Australia. Letting out a small squeal, she couldn't wait to hear her friends again. She missed them already, understandably since all three had become inseparable over the past two years. And now they would be apart for a whole year.
But one phone call could change that. Emma dialled Cleo's number as fast as she could. She smiled when she heard the first ring. The second ring.
And then three beeps indicated that the call had ended.
"No!" She cried in disappointment, realizing that she had lost the small signal she had found. "No, no, no, no, no!" She sighed wondering what to do then. Going back to the gate this early didn't seem like an option. A bright flash of lightning lit up the sky, causing Emma to look over towards the window. They would not be leaving anytime soon.
In front of her, Emma saw various shops, which captured her interest. There was also a seating area with tables, most of which were occupied by people waiting for flights to resume. People who were using their phones.
She needed to find a table over there, but it seemed like every one was taken. About to turn around to find another seating area, a couple sat up, leaving one of the outer tables available. Seeing this opportunity, Emma raced for the table and quickly sat down before anyone could take it.
Happy with herself, Emma took out her iPhone and held it up again, looking for a signal that will last long enough to make a call to Australia.
Bella eventually found herself near some shops and quick-service restaurants, which had taken her mind off everything. But the airport had been especially crowded, since many people were stranded by the storm, and was very hard to move through and stop.
Annoyed with all the people, Bella had found her way through and ended up near some of the restaurants. Quickly, the coffee shop Starbucks caught her eye and went to buy a cup to keep her awake from the time difference. Taking a sip through a straw, she smiled in approval. "At least they have good coffee here."
Now the only thing left to do was sit. The seating area to her right was nearly filled and it seemed like getting a seat would be nearly impossible. All she needed was a chair and her coffee to try and relax until flights resumed. If that was even possible.
Deciding to walk around to find an open seat, Bella seemed to wonder around aimlessly looking for any chair. After all, no one knew how long they could be standing there for. And with no empty tables, standing would be the only option.
However, she saw one girl—Emma—who looked to be around her age, sitting at a table for two. The girl was busying on her phone and seemed to want to get in touch with someone. Bella looked down at her phone; she didn't have much signal either. But she wasn't sure if she wanted to go over there. The other girl could be waiting for someone to come back. Then she decided to go ahead and try. "The worst she could say is no." Bella told herself, walking over.
Bella stopped in front of Emma. "Um, hi." She felt her cheeks burn from embarrassment. "Is it alright if I sit here?"
Emma looked up from her phone and looked at her. She smiled as friendly as she could. "Oh, yeh, of course. It's no trouble." Bella sighed in relief and sat down. "I don't suppose you have any signal in here, do you?" Emma asked with high hopes, pushing her phone away.
"No, sorry." Bella replied. "But it's nice to hear an accent I recognise."
"Yeh, I really don't think I could get used to these American accents. But it just makes me miss home—Australia I mean."
"I haven't been there since I was little." Bella explained. "But I'm going back there now actually."
"Please take me with you." Emma said. "I'm being forced to go to Ireland for a few months."
"No way! I was just there."
"That's so strange—well, it's actually more ironic, but it's like we switching places."
"You want to switch back?" Bella replied with a laugh but was almost serious.
"Please."
"I'm Bella by the way."
"Emma."
Four cups of coffee with four straws were lined up on the table where Emma and Bella sat. A couple hours or so had passed and the two girls were talking as if they had known each other forever. They were laughing, smiling, and getting along really well.
"Surfers Paradise has the best looking guys? I knew it." Bella smiled.
Emma laughed. "I reckon any beach has plenty of them. But I met my boyfriend, Ash, at the stables, so that's where the best ones are."
"Ooh, sounds romantic. Maybe I'll have to try the stables and the beach just to make sure." Bella laughed.
"You are bound to find someone. I'm sure of it." Emma replied.
"I'll take that as a compliment." Bella nodded. "But I've moved around so much that I don't know if I can find a stable relationship."
"That's the opposite of me actually. I've been in the same place my whole life and now we're just getting up and moving." Just then, Bella's crystal caught Emma's eye. "Wow, that's a beautiful crystal." Emma complimented. "I've never seen anything like it before."
Protectively holding onto her crystal, Bella only said a small "thank you" before she noticed Emma's locket. "Your locket is really nice too. It's so unique, which is why I love it."
"And we both have good taste in necklaces." Emma noticed. "This keeps getting more interesting."
"Definitely." Bella nodded. "Really odd."
While talking, the two girls had not even noticed the sun breaking through the black storm clouds. Everybody in the airport cheered, startling both of them.
"Oh, look, the sun is out." Bella and Emma said in unison.
"Maybe you're like my twin in a different life." Bella teased.
Emma laughed. "You wish!"
Attention all. Most of the major flights will be resuming shortly. Please return to your main gates to wait for new schedules. Thank you for your cooperation and enjoy your flight.
"Well, this is our cue." Emma said sadly.
"You are not going anywhere until we exchange numbers. And you better send me pictures of Ireland." Bella smiled and they swapped phones to put their numbers in.
"Well, this is goodbye. It was great meeting you." Emma said with a friendly smile. While she did not get to talk to Cleo or Rikki, she found friendship with a girl who basically understood what she was going through. And she could finally talk and have fun with someone who would not get caught with any mermaid business. It felt normal. She liked this change and would miss this new friend. "And hey. The Gold Coast is beautiful. You will love it. Good luck finding that special guy!"
"And you keeping yours, Emma!" Bella replied. It surprised her that she begun talking to someone, who was practically a stranger, so easily. Moving almost every year made her reluctant to form a friendship or basic relationship because of the fear of just having to leave again. But in two hours, she had made a friend that she connected with. It was like she understood what she was going through. But maybe going to the Gold Coast would not be so bad. She had a good feeling. "Ireland's great too. It's the best place I've been to, and I've travelled every year."
Saying a final goodbye, the two girls embraced.
"May our paths cross again." Emma smiled, heading to the right towards her gate.
"You can count on it." Bella also smiled, heading to the left towards her gate.
Two different girls with the same magical secret unexpectedly crossed paths with each other. At an unexpected place at an unexpected time. Their time together was short but had formed a bond that could not be forgotten.
Two paths had unexpectedly intersected and were left wondering if they will ever reach that same crossroad again.