Face in a crowd

A/N: Set when Jarra is 4 and Gemelle is 16.

Intellectually, Gemelle knew that there was no way she'd end up meeting her sister while she was on Earth. Of course not. Her sister was 4 years old and a ward of Hospital Earth, and her name had probably been changed. Besides, she could be anywhere on any of Earth's five continents.

That didn't stop her from signing up to go on a trip to London Fringe Dig Site. The point was to give them experience with Impact suits and the dangers someone might face on Planet First by taking them to the one planet which had never been chosen by humanity.

Still, Gemelle found herself searching the faces of everyone she saw on Earth, Of course, there were no children on Dig Sites, and she felt like a nardle for hoping that she might see her sister.

She was assigned to one of the Heavy Lift Sleds on their first day, and she found her mind wandering. It wasn't particularly taxing- all she had to do was wait for the Tag Leader to tell her what to move. So, while the rocks were being tagged, she allowed her mind to wander. Earth was known for the Triple H- Handicapped, Hospital and History. The Tell clan always tended to attract trouble, everyone said that, and most of them went combat Military. With that blood running through her veins, would Jarra end up heading for one of the most dangerous professions on Earth? Maybe Jarra would work on a dig site just like this one day.

That was when she got yelled at by her teacher for not paying attention and decided to stop daydreaming for the rest of the day.

On their last day on Earth, they were allowed some free time. Gemelle smiled and waited for her friends to leave, portalling off to the nearest shopping centres, before she took a portal to one of the many Intercontinental transits. She'd chosen at random, not having the slightest idea where her sister might actually be, and she knew it was stupid. She just wanted to see a little of the planet where her little sister would be growing up.

Once she was in the Transit area, she sat and watched for a while. Despite all the jokes she constantly heard, none of them looked or smelled any different from anyone else. They sounded just like regular people.

She mentally slapped herself on the head. Of course they were just like anyone else! Anyone who said otherwise was just prejudiced, she knew that, but somehow she'd still expected...well, to be able to tell.

She stood there for nearly an hour, just watching and wondering if any of these people worked in the residence where her sister would be growing up. She could hear snapshots of conversation from those around her.
"..five new children into our Next Step, and…"

"...Ross is getting married, look, he sent a mail.."

"...That awful child, did I tell you she locked me in a cupboard when she was 2?..."

"...trip to Ark, don't know about you but the dark scares me…"

Gemelle stood and let the words wash over her. Did that man who mentioned a Next Step know Jarra? Were any of these people walking by one of Jarra's ProParents? Was Jarra the child who had locked someone in a cupboard? She giggled at the thought, but it didn't get rid of the empty, wistful feeling inside her.
A hand fell down on her shoulder, making her jump and turn to see who it was. Her teacher stood there, a compassionate smile on his face. He was of the Tell clan, too, and she could tell that he knew why she was there.

"Time to go back, Gemelle. Your classmates are waiting to portal back home."

Gemelle nodded and cast one last look around, just in case.

"You know she's not here." Her instructor said softly. "She'd be in a residence."

Gemelle forced herself to turn away, blushing red.
"Yes, sir. I just...I just wanted to see." She couldn't explain it any better, but her teacher didn't ask her to. He just nodded and led her towards the portal that would take them home.