Your POV:
"Sofi, slow down. We're not all as fast as you," Camila shouts from behind me as I run down the beach.
We were all in Los Angeles while the girls had their break from touring and traveling and I was able to come to visit her and the girls. We decided to go to the beach and explore the boardwalk of Santa Monica and Venice.
I come to a halt when a street vendor's shop catches my eyes. Necklaces, rings, and earrings lined the old woman's blankets and table. The different gems and patterns quickly caught my attention, but the one that held onto my attention was the one with a jade lion dangling upon a simple leather band necklace. It's simple yet still captivated me.
The girls finally caught up to me and were catching their breathe.
"Dawg, you have got to slow down," Dinah breathed.
"Yeah, you have way more energy and stamina than your sister, and that's saying a lot," Ally adds.
Camila notices my lack of attention on the conversation and walks over to me and bends down to see the necklace that has caught my eye. The other girls were in their own world of conversation.
"It's pretty isn't," she says as she grabs for the necklace and places it over my head. "How much for the necklace, ma'am?"
"You don't have to buy it, Kaki," I state while trying to take off the necklace but she gently slaps my hand away.
"Ahh, the lion, you must be a strong and courageous young lady," the woman says to me.
I nod my head in agreement and Camila simply smiles down at me.
"You know, the lion is a strong independent creature," I nod for the woman to continue. "But lions are known to travel in packs and to lean upon their pack to survive the chaos of the jungles." The woman nods towards the girls behind us. The woman leans behind her and starts to grab things from her bag and hands something to Camila. "Remember, a pack of lions, or lionesses, are a force to reckon with."
Camila looks down at what the woman hands her and sees that it's a bundle of lion necklaces similar to the one around my neck.
"A gift," the woman smiles up at Camila.
Camila immediately tries to offer her money but the woman simply shakes her head.
"Nonsense, you saved my daughter's life. It's the least I could do for her saviors," the woman says.
Camila is baffled from what the woman says and doesn't know what to say or how to respond. The woman notices and simply chuckles, knowing she was being a bit cryptic.
"My daughter constantly battles with depression. I've tried all I could to help her with it but it's just something that she battles mostly within herself," a sad expression crosses the woman's face. "But ever since she found about you guys, she's been the happiest I've seen her. When she talks about you guys it's like I see my little girl again. The same little girl that would laugh and smile at the simplest of things in life, so thank you for giving her that hope and happiness.
The woman wipes away the tears that escaped her eyes and so did Camila and I. Camila quickly disappears and talks to the other girls. The girls come over and quickly give the woman a hug and start to say that she was a wonderful mother and her daughter was happy to have her. They even made a video with the woman's phone so that the daughter would see it later on. They said various things but the underlying tone was to keep strong and keep fighting. The girls were true role models to look up to.
After the little cry fest, the girls helped each other with their new necklaces and took a picture with the woman before we left to explore more of Venice. Camila holding my hand probably to make sure I don't run off again. With my other hand, I caress the little lion dangling from my neck. I turn to the other girls who were laughing and giggling at whatever Dinah had said.
"What got you all smiley, little one?" Camila asks, pulling me away from my thoughts.
"It's just something the woman said," I tell her. She looks at me, wanting me to continue. "You guys are my pack now. We will lean on each other to survive. We're a family."
Camila pulls me into a side hug and smiles down at me.
"Yes we are. We're a family no matter what."
Family is something that I always envisioned as a younger kid. With a father who would take his kid to the park and play catch or basketball with. With a mother who would teach her kid how to cook the simplest of foods but make a mess no matter what. A family that sat down at a table together and ate their food while talking about their life apart. That was the family I always wanted but never got and as I sit down at the long empty dining table for breakfast, I couldn't help but think back at the dream I had before I woke up to reality.
This Sofia had everything a little girl could ask for. Her parents loved her unconditionally. Even with the amount of money they had, Sinu and Alejandro never complained about showering their daughters with the best they could muster. Camila was Sofi's best friend and confidant and tried her best to keep her little sister from feeling the harshness of the world. I would be lying if I said I wasn't jealous of my dream self. She had everything I ever wanted in life.
"Penny for your thought?" Charlie asks as he sits down beside me at the table.
"Did my parents ever visit me? You know, while I was in a coma?"
There is silence that had said it all.
Charlie sighs, "You know they care about you."
"Yeah, just in their own special way," I chuckle. I clear my throat and push away the empty plate. "What do you have planned today, Charlie?"
"I was going to do some chores around the house and then do some errands your parents wanted to me to take care of while they were gone," he replies, picking up the plate and washing it at the sink.
I thought comes to mind and it has nothing to do with chores and errands for my parents.
"Forget the chores and forget the errands. I have something much more better and fun we could do," I smile.
Charlie looks at me like I just suggested we should rob a bank.
"You have got to be kidding me?" Charlie says as he parks the car. "This is what you want to do?"
I nod my head as I get out of the car, taking in the ocean breeze against my hair and the salt water smell.
"What if somebody notices you and you get mobbed? We didn't bring any bodyguards and you aren't fully recovered yet," Charlie exclaims as he makes his towards me, staying close to my side in case something was to happen.
"Haven't you read the tabloids, Charlie? The heiress of the McKenzie enterprise is dead," I chuckle, reminding him of the tabloid covers and rumor mills that filled the airwaves and internet for past couple of weeks. "Stop worrying so much, Charlie. This is Venice beach. There's various characters out here for people to stare at. We'll just blend with crowd," I tell him as I slip on a pair of shades.
We walk down Venice for at least an hour or so without a single bother. We are actually enjoying the beautiful day and the people around us. Charlie and I check out some of the vendors and even buy some of the art pieces that caught my eyes. Of course, Charlie insists on carrying the things because of my injuries, not that I'm complaining.
We come close to the end of the walk when a woman selling necklaces and bracelets caught my eye. She looks too familiar and I instantly know why. I almost think I am about to have a heart attack because she was from my dreams. A figment of my imagination. The woman with the lion necklaces.
"Excuse me, do you by any chance carry any necklaces with a jade lion?" I ask the woman.
"No, I don't. I'm sorry," she says, bringing me a sigh of relief. "I used to though. Would you like a jade bear instead? It would help you in your journey of healing."
The woman extends the jade bear necklace towards me. If she was anything like my dream, she is going to be persistent for me to take it so I do as she says.
"How much would you like for it?"
"On the house. Like I said, it'll help you with your healing journey," she tells me.
I smile as a thanks and she replies with a warming smile of her own.
I want to ask her more but someone pulling on my sleeve turns me away. A little girl with bright blue eyes stares up at me with sadness and fear. I squat down to the little girl's height, against the protest of my ribs, and give the little girl a small smile.
"How can I help you, little one?"
"I-I do-don't kn-know wh-where my si-sister is," the little girl starts to cry.
Crap... I search the crowd to find anyone that looks a little panicked like I am at this point. I have a crying little girl and no idea what to do. I wave off Charlie who was about to head over here, but I am sure I could handle this situation.
"All right, let me see if I can help you find her. Do you know what she is wearing?"
I hold out my hand for the little girl to take, which she does, and we start our walk down the boardwalk as I continue to scan the crowd for someone who would look like this little girl's sister.
"She's wearing a white long dress." Great. No help there. "She has long blonde hair." Another great distinguishing clue. "She has a hat that says a five in middle of a circle." Perfect. I haven't seen a lot of those hats around, so that should be a good indicator.
As I scan the crowd, the little girl's hand tightens around my own as if she was scared of losing me too. I try to think of ways to calm her nerves.
"Hey, we were never introduced to each other. My name is Alex. What's yours?"
"My name is Belle and I know who you are," she tells me. I'm a little shocked by her response. Usually her age group doesn't really care about who I am. It's usually boy bands and television stars they care about. "My sister has pictures of you on her wall. Your her fashion icon. She always wants to buy whatever you're wearing," she explains to me.
Makes sense now. I was the face of a handful of popular fashion boutiques. Mother's idea, not mine. She thought it was a good idea for me to be more out there. Little did she know, she opened the window the influence of others and the gateway to night life of Hollywood.
I spot a young woman, around my age, searching drastically for something. One point. She has long blonde hair and wearing a long white dress. Two points. Clasped to her bag is a black snapback with a white outline of a five and a circle. Three points. We have a winner.
"Is that your sister?" I ask, pointing towards the woman I think is her sister.
"Jessie!" The little girl shouts as she runs towards the taller girl.
"Belle! Oh gosh, don't you run off like that. You have the energy of an energizer bunny, I swear," Jessie says as she scoops her sister into her arms.
I slowly approach, not knowing what to do with this kind of situation. Do I slowly disappear into the crowd like I never existed? Do I stay and look like a creeper watching the two girls reunite? What's the protocol for this kind of thing?
"Alex helped me find you," Belle tells her sister, who's back is still towards me.
When Jessie finally does turn around, the blood in her face immediately dissipates and her eyes are wide. It's as if she has seen or ghost or something.
"Oh my gosh, you're Alexandra McKenzie," she states. "You're supposed to be dead," she almost whispers to herself, but I heard it and so did Belle.
"She's not dead. She's right there. She even held my hand while we searched for you. She's really nice. She's not mean like you-" Before she could finish, Jessie covers her mouth and tries to fake laugh it off.
"Well, as you can see, I'm not dead," I chuckle. "I better get going. I kind of left my friend back there while trying to find you."
"Wait, do you think I can take a picture with you? My friends will not believe that I met you."
I pause for a second. I use to get annoyed by those who used to always hound me for a picture and would go to great lengths to get my picture, but Jessie was being nice about it and actually asked instead of trying to creep a picture.
"Sure, as long as Belle's in it as well," I smile up at Belle who smiles back at me.
We pose for a selfie, which I take because Jessie is holding up Belle. I could tell Jessie is hesitant to put her free hand around me, so I do it instead and pull her in for a closer pose. We take a couple more before we pull away.
"Thank you."
"Of course, not every day I get to help out a princess in distress," I say as I stroke Belle's long hair.
"Not just that, you really made my day, probably my life. Best day of my life so far," Jessie explains. "You're like my idol."
"Don't mention it, but yeah, I do have to go. I can see my friend getting a little too anxious back there. Here," I hand her a piece of paper and write down a simple sentence. "Write this down on a twitter, instagram post or any social media where you follow me, and I'll follow you back." I turn my attention towards Belle. "Now, don't go running off and giving your sister a heart attack, okay? You don't want her to worry about you and think she's a bad sister, because she's not, right?" Belle shakes her head. "Right. So be good for her, promise?"
We do a pinky promise and with that, I leave them and return back to Charlie. When we return home, I go on my laptop and see articles about me and my "rebirth", which makes me chuckle. I go on my twitter account and see the trend #Alexisalive and #miraclealex. A post catches my eye and makes me smile.
"It's not every day where I get to meet my idol and it's not every day where she gets to be the hero of the day. @AlexMcKenzie thanks for today. You seriously made my day. Oh. Forgot about the sentence. One lion is a challenge in itself, but a pack of lions is a force to reckon with. I'll take note of that. Belle won't leave my sight again. Thanks again."
Under the post is a picture of Jessie, Belle and I from earlier. I actually look happy.
A/N: Here's another update... There was one fifth harmony link. FINALLY! I know it's a little slow paced with the relationship part. But it's coming, don't worry. If you want it to come faster, please tell me. I'll rework things. :) Anyways. Let me know what you think.