DISCLAIMER: Not mine… never will be mine… only the words belong to me
SUMMARY: It's been four years since Eden Hall, and the Ducks finally return for the first time all together. But for two Ducks, this will be more than a simple reunion. (A Julie/Adam story, inspired by Alexi Murdoch's song "Orange Sky")
RATING: PG-13… just in case
NOTES:
This is my second piece of fanfiction ever, and the first one I've done in the Mighty Ducks realm of things. But since I've read every story about Julie and Adam on here… (more than once) I thought I'd take a stab. Song lyrics at the beginning are from the song "Orange Sky" by Alexi Murdoch. The story is mostly written in Julie's POV, though it may change and will be noted. Please enjoy… and reviews make authors happy and then they will write and update more.
Orange Sky
By Aislinn Haligh
Chapter 1: Brother Standing By
"Well I had a dream
I stood beneath an orange sky
Yes I had a dream
I stood beneath an orange sky
With my brother standing by "
Home...it's only four letters...made up of two consonants and two vowels...just a simple one syllable word, and yet it means so much more than what it is made up of. You can't see it, can't taste it... but you can feel it. It's in something someone says, or the smell of something familiar. It's memories of times past. It's the embrace of protection, the flow of routine and normalcy. Home is safe. Home is warm. It comes in many forms, a place…a person. No one else feels the same way you do about your home. They see just as that place…that person, but to you, it is so much more than words can even describe. Some people classify a house as a home. A house is only a place where you put your stuff, where you come back to when the day is done. A home is where you put your heart. My home is my friends
Every holiday I watch people fly back to their families, to their mothers and fathers, brothers, sisters and the like. They go back to where they grew up, where they were born, and where they probably will return to when they decide to start a family of their own. It took no thought to who they would fly home to when the time came to take that vacation between semesters. Then of course, there was me, always the black sheep in the flock.
It was hard enough being one of two girls on an award winning hockey team, even harder seeing as I was the number one goalie. Then I began to date an upperclassman, a varsity player. Tensions ran high, and as much as I would like to say everything turned out for the best it didn't. First came the ignoring, the ostracizing from my friends, and if it wasn't bad enough, after a year of fake smiles the relationship came to a stand still and my heart got broken. It was inevitable, I knew he had been cheating, that his father didn't approve of me in anyway. I knew I was just revenge. But it still hurt when the words "It's over" came from him.
Yet there was my family, open arms and apologies. Apologies for my misfortune, apologies for the jerk who used me, and apologies for their behavior. Of course things never went back to the way they had been before, but they were better, and I'll take better any day. It was hard to forgive them at first. I always wondered how he did it so easily. Out of all of us he got abandoned the most. First by the Hawks, twice by the Ducks, but he always forgave in the end. At the time I thought I could never do that. But then hit it me why he could. They were family, and family always forgives.
That day was when I realized where my home really was. Yes, I had a real family, almost picture perfect. I had a supportive mother, a loving father, and a protective brother back in Maine. But even when I came home for holiday breaks in my teenage years, it didn't feel like my home. It never felt like home after the Junior Goodwill Games. My home became Minnesota, it shortly became Eden Hall, and it permanently became with my brothers and sister on the ice. My home became the Ducks.
Four long years have flown by in a flash. I wake up today and find that I am now twenty-two years old, graduating from college, and heading out into the real world, alone and scared. In my whole entire life, I never thought anything would be as difficult as this day. I first thought leaving my team in Bangor to join Team USA was the hardest. I was fourteen years old, traveling across country to compete for the United States with a team I had never played with before, a team that had been together longer than some families, a team that was a family. Before long, that family became mine, and I was declared a Duck. Then there was the day I accepted my scholarship to Eden Hall. Leaving my family behind was so hard, but it was for the best. The only thing that can compare to today is the day the Ducks flew for the last time together.
For four years, more for others, we were a team. We won championships, dealt with grief, heartbreak, joy, and romance. It was time to part ways, and we all knew it. The time of the Ducks as a team came to an end in a flood of tears, a shower of hugs, and a torrent of declarations about keeping in touch. The sky was orange as I boarded my plane back to Bangor. Most of the Ducks from out of state had already left, and those from Minnesota saw us all off. Teary goodbyes were exchanged as I hugged my brothers. I became even more emotional when it came time to say goodbye to Connie. She was one of the two people who meant the most to me. Next came Charlie. He was the most heartbroken by the split that time eventually had to deal. I made a promise that I would come out and visit whenever possible. I gave him a hug as my flight was called. One last farewell needed to be said.
If saying goodbye to Connie was hard, saying goodbye to him was even harder. His blue eyes looked into mine, and no words were said. Just a hug, and a kiss on the cheek were. He was my other best friend. We were kindred souls in a way. Most of conversations were held without words, because we just understood one another. Finally the last call was made. I picked up my bag and didn't look back. If I had looked back, I would have never left.
Most of the team fell out of contact, me most of all. I'd call Connie and Charlie a couple times, visiting on vacations keeping my promise with Charlie. I always kept a stack of articles I found in the newspaper any time one of our names showed up. It wasn't enough though. I wanted my home back. For the first time in four years, I was going home. All the Ducks would be together after four long years. A little older, maybe a little wiser, but hopefully never changed.
I threw the last of my belongings from my bedroom into the open box to be shipped back home to Maine. One thing remained, taped to my vanity mirror. A single solitary picture stared back at me in the bare blankness of the room. Smiling, I traced my finger over the edge, looking at each face wondering how much they might have changed. Wondering if they were at all the people I had left behind. We were so young then, so naïve. Our diplomas in hand, taking the world in stride, with excited smiles plastered on our faces, thinking that nothing could get in our way. Slowly removing the picture, I folded it up and placed it in my wallet. Taking one last look, I turned and walked out of my room.
Grabbing my suitcases, I exited the apartment I had lived in for the last two years. It wasn't home. It was just a place I kept my stuff. After fighting Boston traffic, I finally made it to the airport. "Attention all passengers for American Flight 448 to Minneapolis, Minnesota, please report to gate 37A." With those words my heart skipped a beat. I was finally going home. I knew as soon as my plane landed, that I'd see faces from the past. I'd see my sister and brothers standing by, awaiting for me like I had waited for them.
Never in my life had I felt time go so slowly. I am positively sure that the people who sat next to me would have liked the opportunity to throw me off of the plane if they could. Antsy, excited, gleeful, many words could describe how I was acting, but I think annoying is the most appropriate to them. Whoever said that plane travel was the fastest way to get to a place never realized how relative time is when you want something. Finally that hopeful ping of the seatbelt light went on as the captains announced that we were going to begin landing procedures. My smile grew a mile wide as I held my breath in anticipation.
Jumping out of my seat, I nearly knocked down an elderly lady and a few small children. I practically ran to the front of the gate, only to exit and find no one there. Maybe they forgot, maybe I gave them the wrong date… maybe they are picking up someone else…maybe this is a joke…maybe they aren't my friends anymore. My internal dialogue kept me occupied as I listed about a million different excuses for the Ducks to not be standing there waiting for me when I got off.
Slowly I walked to the escalator that would take me to baggage claim. Usually I'm the most aware of my surroundings, but when I get into my little world, I become completely oblivious. There are times that I am surprised I haven't been hit by a bus. That's the best comparison I can say for what I felt when I stepped off of the moving stairs. It was like a bus hit me as I looked straight ahead. There, holding a sign reading "Welcome home Jules" decorated in purple, green and yellow, were the smiling faces I had longed to see. Dressed in uniform blur of Mighty Duck jerseys, they beamed at me yelling their welcomes. I was lost in a sea of friends. Of course they all accompanied me to baggage claim where the boys persisted in helping me with my bags, which always translate into me not carrying a thing.
I noticed that something was strange; something was different. Walking a little behind the group with Connie, it finally clicked. "Where is he?" I asked, wondering if he was even coming. "Oh he's here, who do you think is getting the house ready for the 'surprise' party?" Connie knew that I had already figured out a week before I came that the team was throwing a surprise welcome home party for me, so I laughed at her use of finger quotation marks at the word surprise. Smiling I nodded. I could not wait to see him again. Out of everyone, I missed him the most, and by the grin Connie had pasted onto her face, she knew. Smiling and shrugging we continued to walk. Looking up into the sky, I smiled to myself. I had a dreamt last night that I stood beneath an orange sky, with my brothers, the Ducks, with me. Here I was, home, underneath that same sky. Next to me stood my brothers, and my sister, I couldn't help but smile thinking that the next part was going to be the best. I'll have to ask Connie to pinch me later, just to make sure I'm still not sleeping.