Yes, thank you all, I do in fact know what year it is. The creative juices just weren't flowing on this one until recently. But here it is, the final chapter of The Secret Girl. There will be a short Epilog later today, as well. I don't own Thunderbirds. As well, this chapter has a lot of characters being invented. Just as a warning.
Chapter 7 – Thunderbirds
The next day did not go as planned. Kally woke up to three ill boys and one ill Tin-tin. Even if she had attempted to leave the island with Scott and Virgil (Gordon was too sick to move), she would have only succeeded in being drawn back every few minutes.
It was unfortunate, Kally thought, that humans had developed the body-shyness they had. Now that she remembered herself from before, she realized that she, too, had once had that body-shyness. After so many decades of not being seen, however, it had ceased to matter. Still, in order to take someone with her when she Walked, both she and her passenger needed to be naked. That was a state not even Gordon frequented. It would make it so much easier if she could take Luke directly to the person who needed him the most.
Kally felt as if she didn't breathe until Alan's fever finally broke, eighteen hours after he had initially become sick. His was the last fever to break, as the youngest Tracy had always been prone to illness. He'd been a month premature, and the pregnancy had not been easy for Lucy. It sometimes surprised Kally Alan was as healthy as he was, most of the time. Kally collapsed onto the bed beside Alan, who was now sleeping peacefully, and was out like a light.
The night they had come back from London had prompted some difficult questions that Kally hadn't actually anticipated. She'd spent the night in the infirmary because she didn't exactly have her own room on the island—though long ago she had claimed a remote corner of Thunderbird 1's silo for her own. Her boys had been outraged when they had heard that, and even more so when she told them she used the jungle as a bathroom and a refuge.
She'd immediately been given use of one of the three guest rooms and told that she would be able to decorate it the way she wanted. Still, it was weird to be seen after so many years of being invisible. She was supposed to be the watcher, but now her boys were watching her.
Two days after the bout of sickness swept across the island, Kally hoisted a purple duffle onto her shoulder as she boarded Tracy One. Scott slid into the cockpit of the plane, and Gordon poked her a little in the ribs when she turned back to wave at the rest of the Tracys. In response, Virgil poked him. The two brothers nearly dissolved into a poke fight, but Kally dematerialized and rematerialized right in between Virgil and Gordon, shrieking a little as both boys got her ribs.
In theory, Kally didn't even need to be on the plane with the three brothers. One could just need her when they reached London. In Kally's mind, though, it was unfair to leave her boys to fly all the way to London for her, without her.
It was just past dawn in London when Tracy One touched down a Heathrow. The landing jarred Kally awake in her seat. Beside her, Scott and Virgil also jolted awake. The three boys had taken turns flying the plane to London so that the others could get some rest. Her boys had gotten her so far, but from the airport, Kally needed to continue alone. The Tracys would be much too recognizable in the city that their machines had wreaked havoc on only just over a week earlier.
Kally started the last place she had seen Annah—Jubilee Gardens.
She needn't have worried about finding her sister—it was as if there was a magnet inside her, drawing her towards Annah. From Jubilee Gardens, she walked all the way to Baker Street. Standing outside the Sherlock Holmes Museum, she waited.
"It's my favourite place in London," a voice spoke from behind her. Kally spun to face a young man with raven hair and piercing blue eyes, "Forgive me, you do not know me, but I know you," He spoke with a strong British accent, "You are Allennah Nesbit. I'm Henry Carter. My wife is your sister."
Kally stared at him, "Annah's married? Her four generations are up?"
Henry smiled, "I see, you've remembered. No, Annah's in her fourth generation, just as you are. I was merely bonded to Alyssa Snow when she married into the Doyle family that Annah is bonded to. It was only luck that brought us together."
"You are a Generation Walker?"
"Yes, in my fourth generation, just as you are."
"Where is Annah? I thought I was being pulled towards her."
"You were. She's just a little further on, inside the museum. She's with Char and Jenn—that is, Charlotte and Jennyfer Doyle. They are the great-grandchildren of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This is their turn to put in a surprise appearance at the museum—but Jenn is very shy. You see, Jenn was born Justin Doyle. She's transgender with a little gender fluidity. Today she's Jenn, but sometimes she has appeared at these gatherings as Justin. It sometimes confuses people, so Char and Jenn go together, and Annah is always there in the background."
The door to the museum in front of Kally and Henry opened, and two young girls virtually flew down the steps. Both were teenagers, probably about thirteen. The first had a pixie cut of shocking red hair, while the second wore her hair long and chocolate-coloured, "Henry!" The pixie-cut girl cried, running towards him. Behind the two girls were two more figures, one of which was Annah.
The two girls pounced on Henry, while Annah approached Kally. The second figure turned out to be a small boy, about five years old, "Lennah, I was wondering how long it would take you to find us again."
"I meant to come days ago," Kally said, "The boys were sick."
"And the family comes first," Annah confirmed. She reached out and took Kally's hand, "I have missed you, Sister, so much. You remember now?"
To answer, Kally threw her arms around her twin sister, "It's good to have my baby sister back. I am so sorry I forgot you."
Annah pulled back and held Kally at arm's length, "In the last 70 years, we've figured out what causes some Walkers to forget themselves. Turns out, it's caused by an enzyme deficiency during pregnancy, that and a genetic predisposition. But it's likely that this will never happen to any Walker again. Oh, you must have so many questions, Lennah, and I will answer them in due time. First, though, I want you to call up your boys, and I will gather my family, and we will go to the country house. You've already met my husband, Henry. This is Charlotte Doyle," Annah gestured to the chocolate-haired girl, "And this is Jennyfer Doyle. Henry explained, right?" At Kally's nod, Annah continued, "And this," she lifted the young boy into her arms, "Is my son, Lucian."
Another jolt of memory snapped into place, "That's Father's name."
Annah held up a hand, "I will explain everything. But that conversation is not for this place."
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An hour later, Kally sat in a well-decorated but unfamiliar sitting room, surrounded by more people than she had ever seen in one room. There had been a whirlwind on introductions—she had thought that the Tracys were a large family. They had nothing on the Doyles.
From what Kally could gather, Annah had been bonded to Megan Chandler, who had married Septimus Doyle. The pair had only had two children—Arthur and George Doyle. Arthur had been married to his work, a lot like his famous character, Sherlock Holmes. George Doyle, however, had married Mary Traverse and had a brood of five children, Matthew, Riddick, Sage, Helena, and Jenna. Jenna had unfortunately died as an infant, before her first birthday. The other four Doyle children, however, had produced nine children to date, including Charlotte and Jennyfer, with three more on the way. Matthew and his partner, Eric, had adopted twins Cadence and Scarlett. Riddick was newly married to Meredith Green, with two sons, Rhydian and Rhys, and a daughter on the way. Sage was recently divorced from her second husband. She was Jennyfer's Mother, and was pregnant with twins. Helena and her husband, Jeffery, had four children in their ever-growing family, Mia, Tilda, Saffron, and the oldest girl, Charlotte.
Then there was Henry and Lucian. Kally couldn't get over the fact that Annah had managed to find time to have a child while she was a Walker. Henry had been bonded to Septimus Doyle in his first generation. The family was important enough to warrant two—now three—Generation Walkers protecting them.
Their parents had not had Annah and Kally until after their generations had finished. Their parents—Kally jolted a little as she remembered what Annah had told her. Her parents had died, thirty-three years ago now. They had died, not knowing what would happen to their daughters and whether Kally would ever remember them. They had died knowing that it had been their fault Kally had forgotten herself. Kally shook her head, no, that wasn't true. They didn't know any better, and she was okay.
A warm hand landed on her forearm. Scott looked down at her from his perch on the armrest of her chair, "Let's get some air, Kally?"
She followed him mutely into the yard behind the massive house.
"Nice place," Scott commented, kicking the head off a dandelion. The seeds spread everywhere in the low wind.
"You shouldn't do that—"Kally started.
"One dandelion is not going to make that much difference, Kally. They've already taken over the world."
"Didn't the incident with the Hood teach you anything, Scooter? There is power in just one voice—in just one presence, even."
Scott smirked, "Isn't that true, Kally?"
Kally smacked his head when she realized what he had done.
"Honestly, Kally, I'd never seen you look as small as you did in that room. I could barely feel you, and I can always feel you. Even when I didn't know you were there."
"You never really notice something until it's gone," Kally muttered under her breath.
Scott sighed, "Please don't start this again, Kally."
"Have you heard Annah? She's been introducing me to everyone she knows. But she's been introducing me as Allennah Nesbit. Scooter, I haven't been Allennah Nesbit in nearly 70 years. I've only had my memories of being Allennah Nesbit back for a few weeks. I came here to meet my twin sister, and I came here expecting the girl I left behind 70 years ago. But now she's got an entire family, a son and a husband, an entire life without me in it."
Scott was about to respond, but a new voice beat him to it, "That doesn't mean I don't have room for you in my life, Kally."
Kally spun towards her sister, "I think that's the first time you've called me Kally."
Annah looked out over the yard, "Maybe I didn't do this right. It should have been just me at first. But I wanted you to meet everyone. Kally, I'm not the girl who was your younger sister seventy years ago. And you're not the girl who was my older sister, either. We've lived nearly four generations apart, we're bound to be different people. I have my bonded family, and you have yours, and we have both had different experiences. No matter the years between us, and the experiences, we are twins. And nothing is going to change the fact that I have missed you for longer than I had you at my side."
"Nothing is going to change how much I regret forgetting you, Annah," Kally hugged her sister harder than she ever had.
"It was no one's fault, Kally," Annah searched Kally's face, "Names are a powerful thing to a Generation Walker. I trust you remember that."
"I have," Kally nodded.
"Your birth name has power. That is why I gave my son our Father's name. Lucian will be able to draw on every Lucian that came before him. I call you Allennah because that is the name that gives you power. Kalypso was a placeholder only, a means to an end. Only the knowledge of your true, birth name, would allow you access to all of your powers. That is why I was drawn to you at Jubilee Gardens—you needed to know your name. And now, Kally Lennah, you need to own your name, because it is yours. You are the Secret Girl no longer. Your boys need Allennah Nesbit, not Kalypso Noname. So who are you, Sister mine?"
Kally raised her head to look directly into Annah's eyes, "I am Allennah Kalypso Iestil Nysa Nesbit."
"Hell yes, you are."
#####
A few days later, Lennah sat on the edge of the main pool in the middle of the mansion on Tracy Island. Her nephew, Lucian, slept contentedly in her arms. Annah bobbed in the water in front of Lennah, in the arms of her husband Henry.
Annah smiled, "He hardly slept on the flight over here. He couldn't wait to see you, Lennah."
Lennah had spent three days in London with her sister, gradually getting used to her crazy new family. They'd just been agreeing on plans to visit Tracy Island when Lennah had been called home immediately by John falling and nearly breaking an ankle. Charlotte Doyle and her cousin Jenn had been on break from boarding school, so the two of them had offered to make it possible for Annah, Henry, and Lucian to visit the island. At present, the two girls were lounging in a hammock, talking to Virgil.
The barbeque was impromptu, but it still managed to include Penny and Parker, as well as Luke and his wife of three months, Alyssa. Kyrano and Omaha had whipped up a delicious feast. The remaining four Tracy boys were in the water, with the exception of Alan (who was at the food). John was floating on an air mattress, and Scott was playing catch with Gordon, who was simultaneously teaching Fermat to swim.
Lennah looked down at the boy in her arms. Her sister's boy looked so much like the twins themselves had looked at that age, Lennah almost couldn't believe it. It was uncanny, the resemblance. Looking around, Lennah realized that she had yet to see Tin-tin. She handed Lucian off to Annah as she felt herself being pulled in Tin-tin's direction.
Lennah rematerialized in Tin-tin's room. Tin-tin stared at herself in her full-length mirror. She was wearing a brand-new floral blouse and a beautiful skirt. As Lennah watched, she nervously smoothed down the skirt. Lennah caught her hands and stilled them, "Tin-tin, what is it?"
The Malaysian girl looked up at Lennah, "What if he doesn't like it?"
Lennah smirked. She sounded exactly as Annah had before her first crush had arrived to take her to the seventh-grade dance. Lennah said the exact same thing she had told Annah, all those years ago, "Then he doesn't have eyes, Tin-tin. And I know for a fact that he does. He'll love it, but what's more important is that you love it, silly girl."
Tin-tin laughed then. Without warning, she threw her arms around Lennah, "I'm so glad we can see you now."
"As am I," Lennah laughed, "Now, go on, Tin-tin. Alan's waiting for you—go knock him out of the park."
Tin-tin turned towards the door, even as Lennah dematerialized. Lennah ended up in the middle of the pool, just as John was dumped off of the mat he was lying on, "Johnny!" Lennah sputtered as the larger man landed on top of her. He fished her out, pulling her against his muscular torso. She kicked away from him, flailing just a little bit, "Thanks so much!" she exclaimed.
"Sorry, Lenny," John smiled as he said that, showing that he was not sorry at all.
She spat water at him.
"Lennah, you're supposed to be above that!" Annah laughed, "Don't let my son see you doing that!"
Lennah pulled herself out of the water, sopping wet. Penny laughed as she handed her a towel. Lennah, however, had other things on her mind. It was time for something Jeff had been wrestling with for the past day or so—the real reason Lennah had been called back to the Island early.
He was letting Alan, Tin-tin, and Fermat join the Thunderbirds.
Lennah stood back as she watched Lucy's youngest finally take his place beside his older brothers, his best friends by his side. Alan's pride radiated off his face, his smile a beacon of light. Then the older boys tossed Alan and Fermat into the pool, and Tin-tin would have gone with them if Lennah hadn't grabbed her at the last possible minute.
Lennah saw her then, an apparition standing beside her roughhousing boys. Lucy Tracy didn't do anything but smile as she looked at her progeny. Her clear eyes locked with Lennah's, and she mouthed, thank you, Kalypso. And then she was gone.
It was the last time Allennah Nesbit would ever be called Kalypso. She still had many years ahead of her, years where she would watch her boys grow up and die, but at that moment, she was okay with that.
