A/N We've got a Sapphire POV for the first time! Never done from the POV of one of the kids, but I thought it would suit best this time. Hope you enjoy it

Sapphire POV

I opened the front door. As I came round to the hallway I was puzzled. Harry was usually here to greet me, but he was nowhere to be seen.

I went to the living room, hearing some sort of commotion. Something must have happened.

"What's going on?"

"Tracy's back!" said Tee excitedly.

"She's back? Since when?"

"She just wanted to come for a visit today. I think they've gone down to the kitchen."

I gave a smile of thanks, before I went down.

I gave another smile as I saw her. She'd been here a few weeks ago, and had run straight back out again. But though she still looked a little drained, she was definitely looking a lot better than she had been then.

"Tracy!" I ran over and gave her a hug.

"Oh Sapph!" Tracy hugged me tightly back. She felt a little tense, but was obviously pleased to see me.

"Sorry I didn't say anything, Sapphire." Mike began to speak as we pulled away. "I knew you were coming today anyway, so I just made sure Tracy would be here when you came. It was all a bit last minute."

"I never know when I'm going to be feeling good at the moment," Tracy explained, "so I just waited for a good day and decided I'd come and say hi."

"It's so good to see you." I looked to Tracy, then to Mike. "Could we go into the garden?"

Mike looked to Tracy. She nodded.

"Only for a short while, but yes." He looked at me closely. "Come back if anything happens, please. Tracy's already been here quite a while."

"I will." I took Tracy's hand. Cam gave her a kiss, then we went outside.

We stopped at the car seats. Tracy took a seat on the double, and I took the single.

"How are you? It's been ages."

Tracy sighed. "I'm sorry. I know how much you've all wanted me here."

"I didn't mean it like that. I just meant we haven't seen you. How're you doing?"

"Better, I guess. Well I'm not in hospital, I'm managing more, I haven't immediately run away from everyone..."

"Why did you do that last time? Mike said it was just a bit much."

Tracy sighed again, looking at me. "I developed a noise sensitivity in hospital. I'd forgotten just how much noise everyone makes here. After the quiet of the flat it was just a bit much."

"Oh."

I wasn't sure what else to say. For some reason there was an awkwardness between us. I took a moment just to listen to the birds.

"Mike and Cam are being quite protective, aren't they?"

"Very protective." Tracy gave a small smile. "I can't blame them. Mike turned up at the hospital to, well, that, and Cam had to fly all the way back from New York. They don't really let me out of their sight at the moment."

"What was it like?" The question was out of my mouth before I even realised.

Tracy looked at me.

"Sorry. I'm just curious, I didn't mean to ask."

"No, you're ok." She sighed. "What's Mike told you?"

"He said you were very sad and took something that made you sick. Us older ones worked out you'd attempted suicide."

Tracy nodded. I noticed how she seemed to withdraw slightly.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She sniffled slightly. "Just... Was that the night I got the cards?"

"Yes."

Tracy brought her knees to her chest. As she began to cry I realised she'd been through far more than I could imagine, far, far more. I sat on the seat next to her, and hugged her tightly.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made you talk about it."

"It's ok. Every time I think about it, it gets a little less painful."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't think Mike would be impressed with me telling you that."

"I've moved out. I think you'd get away with it if you wanted."

Tracy rested her head on my shoulder. "I was just so ill. When Mike spoke to you I was nearly in liver failure, he told you, didn't he?"

"Gus asked a question. I think he overheard Mike talking about your test results."

"I just couldn't keep anything down, blood draws were a nightmare because my veins had all but closed up." She closed her eyes for a moment. "Those first few days in hospital were the worst of my life."

I gave her a squeeze.

"And then I developed the noise sensitivity as I began to get a bit better physically, and that was a whole other nightmare. They gave me my own room in the end. I think they were glad to be rid of me; I was certainly glad to go home. That first night was good." She gave a small smile, as if remembering.

Then she sighed. "I've still got a long way to go though. I've been so tired, I struggle to sleep but I've got this fatigue that just won't go away. On bad days noise makes me want to scream. It just doesn't end sadly."

"You got here today. That's a good thing."

"Yeah, I do have some good days. And they're getting more frequent. I just don't think I'll be out of bed tomorrow after this."

My eyes widened slightly. "That fatigued?"

She nodded. "I just feel heavy after something like this. I'll need a long sleep."

I hugged her tight. It hurt to hear what Tracy had been going through, and I knew that wasn't even the half of it. She rested on me, allowing me to take some of her weight. I could feel how tired she was.

"Did you want to go back?"

"Give me a minute. It's nice and peaceful out here."

We sat for a few minutes. I could feel Tracy relaxing to the sounds of the garden. It really was peaceful. Gentle birdsong, some far off laughter, soft footsteps in the grass...

Mike gave us a smile as he found us. "There you are. Just wanted to check you were both ok." He looked a little concerned at Tracy, laid on me the way she was.

"I'm ok." She gave him a smile. "Just tired. I think it's caught up with me a bit."

"Did you want to go home?"

"I think soon would be a good idea."

"Did you want me to wait inside?"

"Please."

Mike headed back inside.

Tracy pushed herself up. "Everything's just hard at the moment. I'll be glad when things are a bit more back to normal."

"Is there anything I can do?"

She gave me a smile. "Thank you, but no. I'm ok. Mike and Cam are looking after me." She gave my shoulder a squeeze. "I'll be ok, I promise."

I gave her a smile back. It was hard not to worry about her, having seen her as she was today, but I trusted Mike, and I knew how much Cam had looked after Tracy from reading her book. They'd make sure she got better.

Tracy took my hand as we went back inside. She gave Mike a smile as we got to the door, and he gave her shoulder a squeeze.

"Hey." Cam gave her a smile as we went into the kitchen. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, I think so." She sighed. "I'd love to stay longer, but I don't think I've got the energy."

Cam gave her a squeeze. "You'll be back again soon. We can pop in anytime we like, can't we Mike?"

Mike smiled. "Anytime."

Tracy gave me a hug, rubbing my back as she let me go. "Ill see you soon."

"See you soon."

Tracy turned to Cam, who took her hand. They made their way out of the kitchen, Mike following. I could hear them saying goodbye as they passed the living room.

I went up the stairs myself, watching as Tracy said goodbye to Mike. He gave her a squeeze, then opened the door for them

As the door closed went up to Mike myself. "Mike?"

Mike turned to me. "You ok?"

"I just..." Tears came to my eyes. I shouldn't have asked all those questions of Tracy. I shouldn't have made her cry. I shouldn't have...

Mike steered me to the quiet room, a gentle arm round my shoulder. He sat on the sofa next to me. "What's happened? You'll see Tracy again soon."

"She just, it was strange, seeing her. She's still not well is she?"

Mike gave a sad smile. "No. She's getting stronger, but she's still not well. It's been very slow progress."

"She told me a little bit about what's happened, it sounded awful."

Milke surprised me with a look of anger. "She should know it's not ok to talk to you lot about that. She's got Cam and me to talk to if she needs." He sighed "I'm going to have to talk to her."

"No, Mike, please." I looked him in the eyes. "I asked. She didn't give any details, I promise. I just saw how much it affected her. It was my fault. Please don't be angry."

Mike sighed, looking into my eyes, "I can't have it hurting you. You're still a child, Sapph, despite moving out. You can't take that on your shoulders."

"I'm not." I sighed too. "Please, Mike. It was just a bit of a shock seeing her."

Mike gave me a hug. "I suppose I've gotten used to how she is now. I didn't think about how different she is to how you're used to her."

I hugged him back. It had been lovely seeing Tracy, but being away from her as we had, it had been easy to forget sometimes just what it was she'd been through. I was glad I'd been able to see her though, give her a hug. She seemed to realise now that we loved her, which Mike had hinted at her struggling with when he'd first told us what had happened. And for that I was glad.

After a few moments I pulled away. "Will she be ok?"

Mike gave me a small smile. "She should be. She's doing so much better already. We're looking after her."

I really hoped Mike was right. Tracy had always been so much fun to be around, always there for us when we needed it. I really hoped she'd be back to being well soon.

Mike gave my shoulder a squeeze. "You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm ok."

He gave me a smile. "Good." He stood up, leading me out of the room. "Why don't you go spend some time with Harry, take your mind off things?"

"Ok." I gave him a small smile back.

Harry was in his room when I found him. He was lying on his bed, having a consultation with Jeff.

"Sapph!" He jumped up, hugging me tight.

"Hey little man."

Harry pulled away, picking up a colouring book that was on the floor. "Can we do some drawing?"

"Of course we can."

We sat on his rug as we began to colour a jungle scene. I relaxed, getting into my element, worries of Tracy fading slightly.

Mike had said she'd be ok anyway. And he was always right about things like that.

It was just hard to think about. And about what he and Cam had been through, so many stories I knew I'd never hear...

"You went outside the lines!"

I was brought back by Harry telling me off. I looked at him, and we both laughed.

I watched him as he began to colour again, and then hugged him tight. Seeing Tracy had really reminded me to show those that mattered to me that I loved them.

"You know I love you, don't you?"

"I love you too."

I gave him a kiss. "I'm glad."

As we got back to the colouring (me being more careful this time) I smiled. Life alone was great, but nothing beat the feeling of being surrounded by people that loved you.

Hopefully Tracy would be able to come back to work soon, and we'd be able to turn this place into somewhere she could experience that.

My mind cast back to a time before this, when she'd had a panic attack when Cam had first been in New York. She'd said then that everyone in Elm Tree was linked by troubles, and that that had made her feel like she didn't belong.

I wasn't quite sure she was right about that. Her suicide attempt seemed to have been made because she felt she didn't belong.

But there was one thing I knew about Elm Tree, that I was absolutely certain of, even more so as I glanced back to Harry for a moment. I smiled.

We were all linked by love.