A/N: Does it look like I own Andromeda? I didn't think so. So don't sue me. The only thing I own is Pearl, Shamus (kinda), and my own imagination.

Title: My one and Only Pearl

Author: Fox of the Nova

Chapter 9: Embarrassing Moments

The entire planet was all in a hustle and bustle. Almost everyone was either running up and down the streets or all in the docks.

Today was the day. Today was the day when the Omega Orion will launch towards the Eclipse Gateway and travel to the other dimension.

They had been counting the days, and today when the two moons and the sun became one, everyone knew it was now or nothing.

Pearlana Orianna Harper was not among these busy people. She was sitting calmly on the roof of Shamus' warehouse.

She was wearing a silver shirt with short purple pants that had purple spandex resting over her shoulders. Her hair was tied into two buns, looking more like two cinnamon buns on either side of her head.

Her eyes were fixed on the Orion, which was now standing horizontal on a platform that was hovering above the sea.

Her legs were pulled up to her chest and her head resting on her knees.

This was it, the day that she had been training for four years. Time flies when you're not realizing it. A lot has happen since last year.

Pearlana was still having trouble separating her languages, but in her other classes she had been flourishing.

In her fighting classes she was at the top of her class. She had completely mastered the use of a forcelance as well as standard martial arts. Doing back flips and other athletic abilities were of no sweat to Pearlana.

She had turned sixteen a couple of months ago and had finally gained respect from the other crew members.

Shamus was in the Orion, making sure that everything he needed as ships medical officer was all there.

All her things we all ready packed. Everything she owned was all organized in her quarters on the Orion.

Half the planet was already evacuated to Seefra-1. Sheesha and Avineri were all ready on one of the planets of Seefra. Her mother was waiting at the docks. She was packed and ready to go, but she wanted to see her two children off.

Everything was going as planned, so why was Pearlana here all by herself scrunched up like a bug.

This is it…no turning back now.

Pearlana looked up towards the sky and sighed deeply. She was wearing sunglasses and was not affected by the rays coming from the eclipse.

This morning she watched as the two moons and the sun joined as one. The instant they became one, the planet shook. A flash of crackling blue light erupted from the eclipse as it became whole.

The Gate way was opening.

Now as Pearlana looked up towards the eclipse, she watched as the two moons and the sun slowly began to shift away from each other.

But they were still connected by the electric blue light. In two hours, they will completely be separated from each other and would make the shape of a large triangle in space.

Pearlana shifted her eyes from the eclipse and looked around her. It was funny to think that for four years, Pearlana could not wait to travel to the other dimension. And now, well it felt like she had butterflies in her stomach.

Carefully making sure to keep her balance, Pearlana slowly get up and spreads her arms out to either side of her. She then begins to walk towards the end of the roof.

She reaches it and sees the pipe running up from the ground below. She slowly gets down on her hands and knees and grabs for the pipe. She then looped her legs over and without another thought slides down the pipe.

When she reaches the bottom, after dusting herself off, she puts her hands in her pockets and slowly walks down the brick road.

Suddenly she heard a loud horn blowing in the direction of the docking port.

The Orion is about to launch! I'm LATE!

With that, Pearlana sprinted at top speed down the street. She took a sharp turn and went up an alley. She could see the docking bay, but her path was blocked by a high fence.

Pearlana pressed a button on her boots and waiting a second until the boots were activated. She then walked towards the wall and began climbing up it.

It's not as easy as it sounds. It takes a lot of practice. For one your body has to be completely straight or you will begin to bend backwards.

Pearlana walked up the wall until she was over the fence. As she stepped unto the top of the fence she balanced herself until she was in the position of a cat balancing.

She then jumped down to the floor below. When she landed, she didn't wait because she immediately sprinted down the alley until she came up to the docking port.

Millions and millions of people were all standing on the docks. Some were wearing uniforms with the insignia of two moons and a son on the back of the shirt, while others just wore civilian clothes.

Pearlana squeezed through the people as she made her way to the Orion. She was just about to reach the front, when she suddenly slammed face first unto someone who had moved to block her path.

She looked up, and immediately her mouth dropped. She had rammed right unto a man, and not just any man, but the Captain of the Orion.

She knew who the Captain was…a little too well.

The Captain looked down at her and gave her a knowing smile.

"You're late." He said as he folded his arms and gave her a comical yet serious frown.

"Well yeah, I mean…me…I." Pearlana just kept on stumbling for words to explain why she was late.

You just could not think clearly when you were in front of the hottest guy around. The old saying comes to mind, 'all the right stuff in all the right places'. Well that is how you describe this fellow.

He was wearing a uniform with a red sweater and grey pants, which in Pearlanas point of view looked very good on him. And to make matters worse was the fact that he was the Captain of the Orion and Pearlana had a crush on him since she had first met him.

Her cheeks turned pink as she tried to speak, while at the same time to keep herself from staring at his fantastic light brown eyes.

Oh yeah, she had a serious crush.

"They are waiting for us." He stated. And with that he scooped up Pearlana into his arms and turned towards the platform that was standing in front of the Orion.

If Pearlanas cheeks couldn't get anymore redder they would be flaming now. Deep embarrassment could not come close to what Pearlana was feeling right now.

I mean, here she was in the arms of a guy that she has a major crush on. And she didn't know what to feel, either excited or abashed.

Well the Captain carried Pearlana through the crowd without so much as a word to Pearlana. If only Pearlana knew that the Captain was enjoying all of this.

They reached the platform and the Captain gently placed Pearlana to stand on her legs.

"There we go, now you won't have to go through the mob of people." With that he did a slight bow and moved the other side of the Platform, leaving a stun Pearlana behind.

Suddenly Pearlana felt hands on her shoulder, and immediately jumped a foot into the air.

"Easy Pearlana, it's me." Pearlana heard the voice of Shamus speak.

Pearlana gripped her chest and turned to face her brother.

"Don't do that!" Pearlana screeched out.

Shamus just smiled and shifted his eyes towards where the Captain had gone.

"So, who made the move? You or him?" Shamus asked while mentioning with his head towards the Captain.

Pearlana replied by punching Shamus in the arm. "Shut up!" With that she walked up the stairs leading up to the platform.

Shamus laughed and followed his sister. He knew all about Pearlana and the Captain, actually it was Shamus who gave the idea to the Captain to 'bring in' Pearlana.

When are those two going to get it that they were meant to be together? Shamus thought to himself.

He shrugged his shoulders and stood beside his sister on the red carpeted platform. The platform was now filled with the main crew members of the Orion, all standing side by side with their hands behind their backs and with their backs straight while their eyes looked straight ahead.

A hush fell over the crowd of people as the Captain followed by his second in command stepped unto the platform.

There was a podium in the middle of the platform and the Captain stepped up to it.

He turned around and wicked towards his fellow crew, including Pearlana (who blushed).

He then turned to face the mass of people.

"People of Meladeen, friends, family; today is the day when our mission will begin." The Captain spoke out in a clear voice.

"On our shoulders lies the future of us all." He began.

No pressure. The crew men and woman thought to themselves.

"As many of you know, our beautiful planet will not last forever. That is I and my fantastic crew members have all rounded up to enter the other dimension and explore the other worlds for a new home for us all."

The crowds go up in cheers as the Captain finishes his statement.

"I would now like to introduce you the following crew members, each of them the best of the best." He then turns away from the podium and waits for each crew member in turn to step up to the podium and say their thank yous and their goodbyes.

Pearlana was third to the first up in speaking, and she was shaking. The speeches she was ok with, it was the goodbyes that she hated.

Soon it was her turn. Pearlana slowly walked towards the podium. She placed her hands on either side of the podium and took in a deep breath.

She then looked up towards the mass of people. She spotted her mother waving at her and Pearlana had to smile.

"This morning I got up thinking that this is it. No turning back. And I'll admit it, I was reluctant to go." Pearlana began.

"I mean, I grew up here. I made friends here, and…my gills activated here." Pearlana got some laughs out of the audience as they all remembered that time.

"But then I thought of all the things I'll be missing if I don't go. For one, how could I not pass the chance in not being the youngest crew member on board the Orion?" Pearlana stated with a laugh.

The crew members behind her laughed at her comment. It was still true.

"Second, you all know better than I do of how much I want to explore the other dimension. I mean, can you imagine what it would be like to meet new people? To talk with them, trade with them, even make friends with them.

So yeah, I would not pass up that chance for anything." Pearlana paused for a bit before she continued.

"Everyone is to say their goodbyes today, but I can't." A hush fell over the crowd.

"The reason for this is because there are no goodbyes. One way or another, we will see each other again. You can count on it!" Pearlana spoke out in a clear and strong voice.

"Maladiote!" Pearlana screamed out with her arms straight up in the air. The crowd screamed and cheered as they too yelled out the word that Pearlana yelled out.

Maladiote means, "Strength to all of you."

With that Pearlana waved towards her mother and towards the entire mass of people before turning around and walking back to her crew members.

Shamus gave her a high five as she stood by his side. She smiled proudly as she got pats on the back by her fellow crew members. In way, these crew members were her family.

After the other crew members spoke their speeches, they were allowed to personally say good byes to their families.

Shamus and Pearlana turned towards their mother.

"I am so proud of both of you." Alenna said as she kissed each one of her children on the forehead.

"MOM! Not in public! There are girls around." Shamus said as he took a look around to make sure that no one had seen that.

Alenna and Pearlana both cracked up. Alenna then turned towards her daughter.

"My little girl is all grown up. She is a chief engineer of the Omega Orion at the age of sixteen. I could not be more proud of you." She then squeezed the life out of Pearlana.

Pearlana returned the hug just as forceful, and for a time they stayed this way. Never letting go of each other and just enjoying the closeness of each other.

Suddenly Shamus cleared his throat and whispered into Pearlanas ear.

"Your crush is coming at twelve a clock." He whispered into her ear.

Pearlanas eyes popped open and she just seized up. Alenna let go of her daughter and smiled down at her, completely oblivious to her daughters hyperventilating.

"May I have the honor of meeting the mother of my Chief Engineer?" The Captains voice asked behind Pearlana.

'My chief engineer'?

Alenna looked over Pearlanas shoulder towards the voice and her face expressed that of surprise.

"Why if it isn't Gaheris! I did not know that you became the Captain!" Alenna said as she came up towards the Captain.

Gaheris smiled down at Mrs. Alenna. He then bowed towards her.

"Yes, it's me. A little school boy who use to deliver your tundra flowers every day." He stated.

Alenna nodded her head while smiling. "Yes yes, and you use to play with Pearlana when she was little. She was four at the time, and how old where you?" Alenna asked.

"I was elevan." Gaheris stated.

And so for a total of six minutes, Alenna and Gaheris talked to each other about when he was a little boy; and much to Pearlanas embarrassment about when she was a baby.

Of all the times to talk about this!

Shamus was long gone, giving an apologetic smile towards Pearlana as he left. Pearlana could not move by the face of her mother still holding on to her and of Gaheris blocking her exit.

He's doing this on purpose! Pearlana thought to herself.

"You know, you are not much different from Pearlana; with that fact that you are the youngest Captain every to be chosen." Alenna stated after a while of conversing.

Gaheris was about to answer when the horn for boarding was heard.

"Well, it's been nice talking to you Mrs. Alenna. And don't worry; I'll keep an eye out for your Pearlana." He stated.

Since when did mom give him the permission to watch over me?

"Thank you Gaheris. I trust Shamus, but I believe that Pearlana needs two pairs of eyes looking out for her." Alenna said.

MOM!

The horn for departure was heard again and Gaheris once again bowed towards Alenna and turned towards the ship; but before doing so gave a wink towards Pearlana.

But this time, Pearlana did not blush but gave if the coldest stare possible. He didn't notice it though as his back was already turned.

"He is such a good man. I would not have chosen a better Captain." Alenna stated.

Pearlana and Alenna then said their goodbyes and one final hug before Pearlana turned towards the ship.

As Pearlana disappeared within the ship, Alenna spoke out to no one in particular.

"And I could not leave Pearlana with anyone better then with Gaheris."

My friend pushed me to do this, to introduce Gaheris. And just for some un-mix ups, Gaheris is actually Telemachus' dimensional double.


So there, chapter 9! I'll post the next chapter soon.

A special thank you to Reviewers:

Kaitins – Thank you! As for interactions between the dimensional Shamus & Seamus, I'm thinking close to the ending chapter. Thanks for the prank idea. Did you enjoy the chapter? Sit tight for the next!

Prin69 – When I write a warning I mean it. But I'm glad I got some emotion out of it from my reviewers. I'm glad you reviewed and enjoy my fic. Thanks again!

LittleRedhead – Yes, all sad. (Sniffles) I had such a hard time writing that chapter. The fact with crying over it made it less than easy to write. Thanks again for reviewing.

ALL REVIEWERS!

Do you have any ideas for Pearl do go through in next stories to come?
Or
Do you have an episode that you wish Pearl to be a part of?
Or
Do you have any prank ideas to do the crew members?

Just send in your ideas in your reviews, so that I may start forming a new fic. Thank You!