To conquer a fear and learn to love
This is a prompt that was sent to me by Parimalik. She sent it a while ago, but it took me a while to figure out exactly how I wanted to write it and how I was going to end it. The prompt she sent me was 'The guys consider Kayo their sister, and they help her to get over her worst fear.' Well, here is the fic. Hope you like it Parimalik.
Ages:
Scott: 19
John: 17
Virgil: 16
Gordon: 15
Alan: 11
Tanusha: 10
Tanusha sighed as she sat on her balcony, looking down at the Tracy brothers playing around on the pool deck. She and her father had moved to Tracy Island a month ago and they were settling in, but Tanusha was still unnerved. The Island was surrounded by water. It was everywhere she looked. She knew that the boys were confused as to why she had never joined them in the pool, but she couldn't tell them the reason why. They wouldn't understand.
She liked the Island, especially the jungle. She could lose herself for hours in there before showing her face again. The Tracy's had welcomed her and her father with open arms, something she wasn't used to. Since her father used to work for her uncle, his brother, they never stayed in one place long enough for her to make friends, which was one of the reasons she was afraid to let the Tracy boys get too close to her. Everyone she got close to left her in the end.
"Hey Tin-Tin!" Gordon shouted, using the boy's nickname for the young girl. "Come join us!" They boys all nodded and tried to wave her down to the pool where they were currently floating.
"I'm good, but thanks." She replied, only to receive frowns. She was closest in age to the youngest Tracy, Alan, who was a year older than her. Scott, being 10 years older than her, had tried to come across as extremely mature and sophisticated, but Tanusha saw right through it. She ignored the frowns that the boys were still throwing her and went back into her room of the villa she shared with her father, slightly separated from the main villa.
"Tanusha, I brought you some cookies." Grandma Tracy said as she walked into the room, a plate in her hand.
"Oh, I'm fine thank you, but I think the boys might like some." She replied, trying to hide her panic.
"Don't worry, your father made them." The older woman replied, setting the plate on the desk. It was no secret that Grandma Tracy couldn't cook very well, which was one of the reasons the boys were so happy to have Kyrano, Tnausha's father, cooking instead. "What's wrong?"
"What? Nothing. Why does something have to be wrong?" She asked, used to getting asked this question.
"Tanusha, your father told Jeff and I about your mother." She said, making the young girl's head fall. "It's ok. Just tell the boys. They will understand and stop badgering you."
"I can't tell them. They'll think I'm weak." She said, sitting on the bed.
"That is the last thing they will think. They were raised better than that." She replied, sitting next to Tanusha. "They lost their mother too. They will understand."
"I think I need to go for a walk." She said, standing up and leaving the room. She headed towards the jungle, but as she got to the pool deck, she realised her mistake.
"Hey Tin-Tin!" Virgil shouted from the pool. "Come join us!"
"No thanks." She said, trying to sound polite.
"Oh come on! We don't bite!" Alan said. Before Tanusha could do anything, someone picked her up from behind.
"Time for a swim!" Gordon said as he lifted Tanusha into his arms and started walking towards the pool. Tanusha's eyes widened and her heart started to beat faster.
"No! Gordon, put me down!" She shouted.
"Come on! Just a little swim!" He replied, walking even closer to the pool.
"Gordon! Let me go!" She shouted even louder, attracting the attention of Jeff, Grandma Tracy and Kyrano, who came running onto the pool deck.
"Gordon!" Jeff barked, making the blonde Tracy stop dead. "Put her down this instant!" Gordon quickly complied and before anyone could do anything, Tanusha sprinted into the jungle, not waiting around for the questions.
"What was that?" John asked, pulling himself out of the pool.
"You boys have gone too far this time." Jeff said, looking at his sons.
"What did we do?" Alan asked, frowning at his father.
"Tanusha is scared of water!" He snapped, making their eyes widen.
"We didn't know!" Virgil said. None of them noticed when John pulled a shirt and shoes on and walked into the jungle.
Tanusha stopped running when she reached the top of one of the large hills on the Island and sat down, trying to control her breathing. She sighed and looked up to the sky, noticing that it was starting to get dark and the stars were beginning to shine.
"Tin-Tin?" She turned to see John slowly walking up to her, his swim shorts and red hair still wet. "Are you ok?"
"Fine. Just fine." She replied, making John frown as he sat down next to her.
"You know, I am probably the most observant out of all of my brothers. I can tell there's something bothering you. Something to do with your fear of water." He said, making her head snap round to look at him. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want. But I'm here if you want to talk." They sat in silence for a few minutes before Tanusha spoke.
"My mother died when I was 6." She said, making him look back at her. "My Uncle wanted her to do something, but she refused. He got angry, so he threw her into the ocean, and drowned her. Right in front of me. He told me that he would do the same to me if I ever disobeyed him. That's why I am afraid of water. I don't want him to drown me like he did my mother."
"What did he ask your mother to do?" John asked.
"I don't remember. My father was working for him at the time in his diamond mine. Once he found out what happened, he took me and we ran. We were running from him for 3 years before your father found us and brought us here." She said.
"Why didn't you just tell us? We wouldn't have tried to force you into the pool." He said, putting his arm around her shoulder.
"I didn't want you to think of me as weak." She muttered, only just loud enough for John to hear.
"Tin-Tin, we wouldn't have thought you were weak. We lost our mother too. I was 8 when the avalanche killed her. It took me 5 years to be able to go near snow again. It took the others even longer! We understand more than you think." He said, his tone soft. "But I know that isn't the real reason for you not telling us."
"I don't want you to get hurt. Everyone I get close to either dies or gets hurt like my Dad! I can't let it happen to any of you!" She said, standing up.
"Tin-Tin." A voice said, making her spin to face the rest of the Tracy boys as they emerged from the jungle. "We're not going anywhere." Scott said.
"You have to let people in. You can't hide away forever." Virgil said, smiling at her.
"You're like a sister to us, Tin-Tin. Don't shut us out." Gordon said in one of his rare moments of maturity.
"Guys, I just don't know." She said.
"Tell you what, you can tell us absolutely anything and we can help you get over your fear of water and letting people get close to you." John said, always the voice of reason.
"Yeah! It'll be fun!" Alan said, smiling brightly.
"How do you plan on doing that?" She asked out of curiosity. The Tracy boys all flashed brilliant smiles in her direction.
"Tin-Tin, a Tracy never reveal their secrets." Gordon said, making them laugh.
"Thanks guys." She said, leaning her head on John's shoulder as he put his arm around her shoulders.
"Come on then. We have some swimming lessons to do." Virgil said, pulling her up and walking back through the jungle, the rest of the Tracys trailing behind.
2 weeks later
Jeff and Kyrano wondered out to the pool deck to see what all the shouting and cheering was about, only to be shocked by what they saw.
"Tanusha?" Kyrano said, making the Tracy brothers and Tanusha look up.
"Hi Dad." She said, smiling back at him.
"You're…." Kyrano didn't know what to say.
"Tanusha, I thought you were scared of water." Jeff said slowly, looking at the girl who was lounging in the pool with his sons.
"I was." She replied, smiling and letting Gordon help her to the side of the pool. "The guys helped me overcome my fear."
"Tanusha, you have been scared of water since your mother's death. What changed~?" Kyrano asked, kneeling next to the pool.
"Well, Scott and John helped me to realise that I can't be scared of Uncle for the rest of my life, and Virgil helped me to be able to go in the water again." She said.
"I'm teaching her to swim!" Gordon said, smiling brightly. "And Alan is helping as well."
"I am so proud of you boys. And you Tanusha." Jeff said, smiling at his sons.
"Tanusha, you have made me extremely proud." Kyrano said before he and Jeff walked back into the villa to make drinks.
"Thanks boys. I don't know how I could have done this without you." Tanusha said, holding on to the edge of the pool.
"Now we just need to conquer your fear of letting people get close to you." Scott said, smiling at the girl he considered a sister.
"No need." Tanusha said, trying to hide his smile.
"Tin-Tin, you cannot go through life not letting people in. You need to learn how to accept people in your life." John said, frowning slightly.
"Already done that." She smiled, making the boys frown. "These past 2 weeks, I have gotten closer to you boys than anyone since my mother died. You boys are truly the brothers I never had." She said, making them pull her into a group hug.
In the space of 2 weeks, the Tracy boys helped Tanusha to overcome her 2 worst fears, water and letting people into her life. As they hugged, none of them knew the significance of this accomplishment. None of them imagined that in a few short months, Kyrano would become increasingly ill before passing away, leaving the Tracy family the only family that Tanusha has. None of them knew that she would grow closer to them, and they to her, and that their bond would be the exact thing that holds them together through all the rough times and all of the hardships that they will face. And this bond, is the very connection that will help them stay together when Tanusha reveals her biggest secret of all, the identity of her Uncle.