CHAPTER TWO

Title: "Salvation: Forever and Always: Elusive Dreams – PART III"

Author: Michelle Heath

Rating: MA for adult situations and language

Summary: Story #9 in the Salvation series. The bonds of family bring the Five-0 ohana even closer.

Disclaimer: I so do not own Hawaii Five-0; unfortunately! All original characters are the property of the author!

Date Written: October 27, 2012

(The little blond-haired girl leaves her new bedroom and walks down the curving staircase on her way to the kitchen where she hears her mother's voice. They've just moved into the big, beautiful house in Alexandria, Virginia because the little girl's father, Capt. Jonathan Murdock, has been assigned to the Pentagon. Her mother, Anne, was so excited to leave San Diego and move to Virginia because her very best friend in the whole world, Libby Thrasher and her husband, Mike, also a Captain in the U.S. Navy and also assigned to the Pentagon, were going to be living close by and the two women could see each other all the time. Samantha Murdock, however, was definitely not happy to leave San Diego. She didn't want to leave her friends or the beach or the house she had loved since they were first stationed in San Diego six years ago. Both her parents had explained that they were really moving back home as they had been stationed in Virginia when Sam was born, and she would love it there if she only gave it a chance. Her mother had then told her that Capt. and Mrs. Thrasher also had a daughter named Caroline and she was sure that Sam and Caroline Thrasher would become very good friends. She knew they would because she was such good friends with Mrs. Thrasher. Having just turned twelve and experienced her first "crush" on a boy, which was another reason Sam didn't want to leave San Diego, hasn't brought the maturity in accepting the move that her parents apparently think she should have, so Sam is determined that she's not going to like anyone or anything in Virginia; including Caroline Thrasher. Stepping into the kitchen, Sam realizes that her mother is on the telephone and the genuine delight on Anne's face makes Sam smile. That smile is quickly erased, however, when her mother ends the call and, turning to find Sam sitting at the table, excitedly tells her that Mrs. Thrasher and her daughter will be arriving at the Murdock's home in about ten minutes. Drawing her mouth into a tight line and fixing her mother with a glare, Sam crosses her arms over her chest and shakes her head.)

"I don't want to meet a new friend, Mom. I want to go back to San Diego to my old friends!"

"Now, Samantha, you know that isn't possible. Your father has received an appointment to the Pentagon, to the staff of the Joint Chiefs, and that means that he's probably going to be promoted in the not too distant future to Admiral. That wouldn't be possible if we had stayed in San Diego."

"Fine. Let Daddy get promoted to Admiral! Why can't I live with Lucy and her parents in San Diego?"

"Sam, you know that Daddy and I wouldn't be able to live without you, Sweetheart. We love you so much. Besides, Lucy and her parents aren't in San Diego anymore. Her father was transferred to Italy, and they left two days after we did."

"I HATE the Navy!"

"Of course you don't hate the Navy, dear."

"Yes, I do, Mom! I don't want to live in a new house, I don't want to go to a new school, and I don't want to make new friends! I want . . . "

"What, Sweetheart, what is it you want?"

"I just want to go home!"

(Anne Murdock looks at her daughter, all golden-blonde locks and emerald green eyes and a mutinous expression on her beautiful little face, and knows in her heart that Samantha is going to be a great beauty one day and will probably break many a heart before that one, special man comes along. Sitting in one of the chairs at the kitchen table, Anne gathers her child close to her in a warm hug and kisses the top of Sam's head.)

"Sam, Sweetheart, you are home. It doesn't matter where we are, as long as you and Daddy and I are together, we're all home. I know you miss Lucy and the rest of your friends from San Diego, but you'll make new friends here. In fact, I'm hoping that you and Caroline Thrasher will become the best of friends just as her mother and I are."

"How can you and Mrs. Thrasher be best friends when you haven't even seen each other in years?"

"Because we talk to each other on the phone a lot and there have been a few times when Daddy and I went to Washington and you stayed with Lucy that we were able to see the Thrashers. But it doesn't matter how many miles are between you or how long it's been since you've talked, when you truly care about someone, and they truly care about you, the bonds of friendship between you are so strong they can never be broken. Libby Thrasher and I met when your father and her husband were stationed together in Virginia Beach. They were both SEALs, you see, and their team deployed from the East Coast. Libby and I knew from the moment we met that we were going to be become best friends."

"How?"

"Because, Sam, we hated each other on sight!"

"Why?"

"Because I saw Libby with all that gorgeous, long, golden-red hair and that peaches and cream complexion and those curves in every place ladies should have curves, and I thought that, next to her, I'd look like a lumpy sack of potatoes. I thought your father would take one look at her and cast me aside in a heartbeat."

"You're beautiful, Mom! No one is as beautiful as you are, and Daddy loves you more than anyone or anything!"

"Thank you, Sam, and I know that now, but at the time, I was a naïve, inexperienced eighteen year old who didn't understand just how much power I had over your father. "

"So why did Mrs. Thrasher hate you?"

(But another melodic, female voice from the direction of the back door answers the little girl's question as Libby Thrasher and her daughter Caroline walk into the Murdock's kitchen.)

"Because I looked at your mother and saw a tall, slender, blonde goddess who had quite a few curves of her own to go along with her emerald green eyes and was sure that Mike Thrasher was about to ask me for a divorce. "

"Libby!"

"Hello, Anne. Goodness, but I'm glad you're finally here! I've missed you so much!"

"I've missed you, too."

(And while Anne Murdock and Libby Thrasher are hugging each other and catching up in a flood of quickly asked and answered questions, their daughters are sizing each other up. Both little girls have mutinous expressions on their faces, both of them cross their arms over their chests in a show of defiance, and they are both glaring at one another while their oblivious mothers get reacquainted.

Sam awakens with a start, sits straight up in bed, and is not the least bit surprised to find that tears are running down her face. Pulling her knees up and resting her head on her arms, she takes a couple of deep breaths in an effort to calm herself. The sensation of Steve's large, warm hand on her bare back as he sits up and slides an arm around her slightly shaking shoulders is one which is very welcome and Sam allows him to pull her closer.)

"What's wrong, Beautiful? You have a nightmare?"

"No. I was dreaming about the day I met Caroline. I knew we were going to be best friends and I think she did, too."

"Yeah? How'd you know?"

"Because we hated each other on sight."