Waterfalls

I've wanted to do a Gordon one shot for a long time, but I didn't have the right motivation. But then I heard the old TLC song again, and I had to write it. You know what I mean, right? Anywho, I don't own Thunderbirds, yadda yadda, if I did, I'd make episodes! With zany plots! Anywho, R&R!

~*~*~*~

I heard a song a long time ago that told me not to chase the waterfall. I shrugged it off, considering it a mere catchphrase for some old girl group's career.

But now I know better.

I have always loved the water. It's cleansing, calm….but at the same time, it can be wild and unruly. All life came from the water…How can anyone not love it?

My life was always connected to it, for as long as I can remember. I remember soft hands helping me learn to swim, feminine laughter floating above me. I remember diving straight in, swimming as fast as I could as the yells of the coach careened beside me. And then, standing on the top of the podium, the anthem flowing around me as the crowd roared for me.

And then the water showed it's darker side.

I remember water-skiing behind the family's first boat…

And then the sky lit up with fire.

The Olympic victory was my first, and after the accident, I knew it was my last. I hated the water after that. It took away my escape, the one thing I shined in. The one thing that made me feel accepted by my father. I was the only one who didn't do what he did, and I was dead sure that he hated me for it. I know better now, of course…but the belief shook me up. I lost a piece of me, and I never thought I'd get it back. I'd chased the waterfall, and I'd suffered for it.

I thought that I'd learn…

But then my father told us of his greatest intention of all.

International Rescue.

I was to be the aquanaut—when the water was to be an innocent's grave, I would save them.

And I fell in love with the water again

And even more than that, I felt needed. There was something I could do that no one else could, something that wouldn't only benefit me, but the whole world.

But after a while, the glory fades.

There are some people that I couldn't save, and there are some things I've seen that remain in my nightmares forever.

You win some, you lose some. It's an old saying, but it's true. But in my mind, it's something sinister. To lose someone…it's a sin to me. That's why I fight so hard—why we all fight so hard.

The people think of us as heroes, and it's an honour to be held in that regard.

But sometimes it just makes me feel sick.

Haven't they noticed that we don't always win? Haven't they noticed that we can't save them all? Haven't they noticed that their loved ones don't always make it?
But despite it all, I'll keep chasing waterfalls.

It's all I know how to do.