Disclaimer: I don't own the Tracys, International Rescue, or the Thunderbirds. I am also unable to claim the beautiful and heartfelt poem included in this one-shot. A very special, dear friend of mine wrote it for me and gave me permission to use it in this story.

A/N: Three years ago today, this site lost a talented writer and I lost my baby sister. Time hasn't healed all the hurt and myriad of emotions I've dealt with during those three years but I'm finally able to smile more when I think of her. Lissysue, you're never too far from my thoughts. Love you, baby sister.

Even the Strong Break

As I gaze out on this cold November night

My heart is touched

By a star that shines so bright

I know this star is you, reminding me you're there.

You shine over all of us

It's a light that never wavers no matter how stormy the night

In the same way you loved when beside us.

My heart may not be broken by your loss

But forever will a part be lost

But for you I will be strong and I won't give up.

For you I will keep walking that path

And one day we'll meet again.

Never will we forget the love you gave us.

On any given day, I stand strong and able but even the strong will break eventually. I stand here and feel the weight of the world on my shoulders and the pressure is breaking me. Tears of frustration begin to slowly form in my eyes until every rapid blink pushes them free. Free to slide down my face to drip onto the hoodie I wear to fight off the bitter chill of the darkness surrounding me. Internal and external, the results are the same as I feel as if I'm suffocating. Drowning in my fear that I've let you down by being weak.

I want so much to be the person you thought me to be but I feel that I'm failing in everything I do or attempt. My mind has become my haven to scream and shred my fragile psyche until all that remains are tattered remnants of who I wanted to be. It is far easier to withdraw into myself than to vocalize just how fucked up I truly am. A fake smile that people to believe is genuine when all it does is hide from them what I don't want them to see. I'm afraid to let them see the real me.

I joke around to hide just how alone I am since you left us. Since you left me. I wrap my arms around myself and imagine that you're hugging me. I feel so damn weak to break like this when I recall all the pain you went through and the chagrin adds to the dark feelings within.

You weren't perfect in your eyes but to me you were…you were everything I wish I could be. You were everything that I never figured out how to emulate.

"You never figured it out because it was never necessary. You are perfectly you and that is more important than copying anyone."

I knew you loved me even if at times I doubted that I was all that loveable.

"Without a doubt, I loved you. I love you still and nothing will ever change that."

Would you have loved me if you knew how angry and hurt I was with you when you shut me out?

"I knew how hurt you were but I was trying to protect you."

Standing on a precipice, the ocean breeze whips my hair away from my eyes just as a twinkling light shows itself in the evening sky. The sun sinks lower over the horizon, blending day and night. Light and dark. Lower and lower it sinks and I finally feel that balance that has been lacking since you left us. Not just me but each of us who loved you more than we could ever put into words.

A sudden resolve stiffens my spine and I understand that I'm not broken. Your spirit has merged with mine and given me the strength to overcome anything. It is now that I know that even though you've left us physically, you'll live on in our hearts and memories. No, I'm not broken. I'm just bending so as to continue this life until we meet again.