A/N: Enter Dani and Elliott "Starchild"! They are going to be important later on

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.


Chapter 22

Time passed without Finn reappearing and the gleeks desperately tried to move on with their lives. Santana found a new friend, and later even girlfriend, who worked at the Spotlight Diner as well. After a rocky start, Rachel, Santana, Dani and Kurt also befriended Elliott "Starchild", a passionate musician. "Can I ask you something? What are you two?", Rachel asked Dani and Elliott one day. After Dani had accidently seen Santana as a mermaid when she got splashed, she didn't even blink. Instead, she confessed that she was also like her, but in a different way. Shortly after, Elliott also confessed that he was special after he absentmindedly used his powers in front of Kurt and Rachel. The five of them were now gathered in the living room after band rehearsal, eating pizza. "Have you ever heard of selkies?", Dani asked. "Selkies…I think my mom told me tales about them when I was little. They are seals who can turn into humans when they shed their skin or something, right?", Kurt answered, frowning. Elliott shook his head and laughed. "Humans and their tale-telling…We don't shapeshift like that; we can turn into seals at will other than hybrids like you who change every time you touch water. But on full moons, it gets harder to control our shape shifting", he explained. "What is it with merfolk and full moons?", Santana huffed. Dani cocked her eyebrows. "What do you mean by that, babe?", she asked. "On full moons, Rachel, Santana, another friend of ours and I turn into sirens and all our other friends act weirdly as well", Kurt explained and grimaced when he remembered how his three friends discovered their siren powers. Elliott frowned. "I didn't know that the full moon affects mermaids too", he said. "And what are your special powers?", Rachel wanted to know. "Selkies in general have heightened senses; we can see or hear better than normal humans. But there are also individual powers for each selkie. Dani has super strength and I have super-fast reflexes", Elliott grinned. "That's so cool", Santana said in awe. "And what about you?", Dani wanted to know. "Our powers are more elemental-based. Santana has earth-manipulation, Kurt has control over water, and I can manipulate and turn things into glass. Other than that, we can use each other's powers to a certain extent and telepathically communicate with each other, which comes in handy while underwater", Rachel explained proudly. Elliott's and Dani's eyes widened. "That is awesome! And your high school friends are also like you?", the male selkie asked. Santana nodded. "Yup, also Hummel's fiancé and my ex and Berry's ex…" She trailed off when Rachel flinched after she mentioned Finn. "Everything okay, Rachel?", Dani asked, concerned. "My stepbrother and her ex-boyfriend disappeared after a tsunami in Thailand. He wanted to make a gap year at a Thai college and help poor children as a teacher. Until now, there is no life sign of Finn", Kurt explained, his voice was cracking. "I'm so sorry", Dani whispered with tears in her eyes. "Don't be. We don't know where he is now, so there is still hope he is alive", Rachel said softly. She took a deep breath and tried to smile. "So…do you have any new song suggestions?", she said, quickly changing the topic.

Finn's eyelids fluttered. He knew that he was not awake, but he could tell that he wasn't dead either. Somehow, he was not strong enough to wake up. It was like he was trapped underwater and couldn't swim to the surface, like that gay kid was with the surfboard back then. What was his name again? Why was everything so blurry in his mind? Why was it so hard to wake up? Was he hurt? He was aware that he needed to fight, but for some reason, his body was too weakened. Finn sighed inwardly. Today wouldn't be the day he woke up. Maybe tomorrow…

-One and a half years later-

Rachel was sitting on her bed, crying quietly. She had lost everything: Her TV-series, NYADA, Finn,… Right now, she felt more alone than ever before. She was devastated. How could she get things right? The brunette smiled faintly when she looked at the photo of Finn in her hands. He would have known what to do. She needed him more than ever before. With the photo in her hands, she finally fell asleep, thinking about nothing but Finn. She would give everything to talk to him right now...

Something formed in his mind. Finn looked up. All the time, he had been alone. The woman was beautiful with brown hair and hazel eyes. Her singing voice was stunning, but she had a sad expression on her face. Finn didn't know why, but he would do anything to make her smile. He tried to touch her, but she vanished every time he reached out for her. The woman turned to him. "I miss you so much, Finn. I need you more than you can imagine. Please come home to me", she pleaded. "I can't. I tried but I can't.", he answered desperately. "You need to fight it whatever keeps you asleep, Finn. Please, do it for me", the woman pleaded. The merman grimaced. He really tried, but it was so hard, and he felt so weak. "I'm sorry", he just said and walked away. The even sadder face expression of the woman tore his heart apart.

"Rachel! Rachel, wake up!" Kurt shook his friend who was fast asleep on the desk in the teachers' lounge of McKinley High. Rachel opened her eyes, feeling dizzy. What was that? "Why do you always fall asleep in the daytime lately?", he asked her, looking concerned. "Kurt, I've dreamt of Finn again. He is not dead, he is somewhere out there and needs help!", she said excitedly. Kurt shook his head, sad. "Finn is dead, Rachel. It's been one and a half years since he vanished and there is still nothing." Rachel got up. "But I've talked to him in my dreams. I can't remember a lot of it, but he told me that he was weak and couldn't do whatever he has to do to come back." Kurt sighed. "Maybe you are making this up in your head in order to deal with the situation" Rachel grabbed him by the shoulders. "No, I don't, Kurt. You have to believe me, okay? You really need to trust me with that" Kurt softly put her hands away from his shoulders. "Glee starts in a couple of minutes. We need to prepare everything." With that, he left the room. Rachel sighed deeply. Nobody believed her that she communicated with Finn in her dreams, not even Kurt. So, she had to deal with this alone in order to bring him back.


A/N: Sorry if this is about Finn and Rachel lately, but this is really important for the storyline ;)

And also sorry about the time gap, but that's necessary because I don't want to beat around the bush...

The coma sequences are based by a real, former coma patient's experience, I'm not makin up everything ;)