Wherever You Go [Katy Perry Fan fiction]

Chapter Seventy-Six

I never actually believed that I would have the strength and guts in me to go off into the world on my own. Sure, I always said that I would do it. I always looked in books and magazines of all the places I would love to visit. The beautiful and inspiring culture of countries in the world that I found so intriguing. I always said it, but never truly believed I would have the guts to do it. That was until I found myself at the front door of my family home, with a suitcase of my belongings, a passport in hand and a mother with tears in her eyes as she held back what she really wanted to do - drag me back into the house and insist I wasn't leaving.
My Grandmother always says it takes a courageous spirit to live freely and well, a person who walks the paths in the world in order to find their true desires and happiness. She always said I was a courageous spirit, just like my mother. But growing up, and looking at who was once my sister, but is now my mother, I knew I looked like her, and I knew we were alike, but I never believed that I had her strength and her courage. I guess I was wrong. My grandmother was right, all along. This past year as a whole had proved that. I had managed to withstand a hell of a lot, and I still stood here, smiling, ready for my adventures around the world whilst achieving my dreams. To follow in my mothers footsteps, to have half of the career that she has had, would be more than I ever could have dreamed. It would be a blessing.
"Have you got your passport?" A quiet voice says through an almost quivering lip.
I nod, holding up my left hand, "right here."
Her blue eyes turned away after she had saw it, and she nodded back. Suddenly something towards the other end of the room became oh so fascinating to my mother, and looking me in the eye became very difficult for her. My dad threw an arm over her shoulder comfortingly. The brave face she was trying to put on wasn't convincing in the slightest, but she was trying, and I appreciated that.
"If it helps, Katy," Louis clears his throat, "you know I'll look after her."
My mom just smiles, and I know that she's working too hard to hold that lump in the back of her throat for her to speak. She just folds her arms across her chest and leans in closer to my dad.
"We know you will, Louis. I'm glad she has you - we," he gestures to him and my mother, "are glad she has you."
"We make a good team," I grin, nudging Lou in the stomach. He just looks down at me with a wink and nods in response. I turn back to my mom, the pure innocence in her eyes enough to make me want to sob. The woman I knew would move heaven and Earth for me and my happiness. I guess she knew that I wasn't a little girl anymore. No longer did I need her to stand two steps behind me, waiting to catch me when I fell. I would always need her, of course. That worked both ways. I needed her like she needed me. But the time had come in our relationship that we had to be separated for a while. A mother can't cradle her child in her arms for the rest of its life, right? As much as she wished she could, she knew deep inside of her heart that she had to let me go. I looked at the world in pursuit of something massive, something amazing, and she knew I had to go and find that. She knew that the time had come for mommy to let her baby go, and that time, was today.
"Same goes for us," I say to mom, seeing her eyes flick back to me. "We make a good team, too. Always have, and always will."
"Damn right," she finally speaks, and I hear the crack in her voice.
"Thank you, mom. For everything. For being there, for giving me the best life I could ever have imagined, for everything you do for me - day in, day out. I don't say it enough, I guess because I'm just so used to you being around and at the other end of a phone, but these past few months have opened my eyes. I nearly lost you, and I wasn't ready for that. God, I never will be ready for that, but now we focus on the future, right? After a hurricane comes a rainbow?" She giggles at my quote. "I guess, what I'm trying to say is...I just want you to know that I appreciate you. I admire you. Everything you've done for me my whole life, ever since you were eighteen years old, it hasn't gone unnoticed. Thank you for the strength you've instilled in me. You're my inspiration, and I love you."
"What happened to you not being allowed to make me cry before you left?" And with that, she stepped forwards and pulled me into one of the biggest hugs I had ever received from her in my life. The smell of Chanel hit my nose straight away - the smell that would cause me to turn around in the streets if somebody passing me was wearing it, because my mind had linked it with my mother. Her hair smelt like coconut, mixed in with a bit hint if the sea breeze. That was probably from the walk across the beach she took early this morning on her own. I knew it was difficult for her, so I let her go alone. That's what I knew she needed.
"My girl," she whispers softly into my ear, through her quiet sobs of tears. "You're more amazing than I ever could have dreamed. I love you with all of my heart."
I knew that it wouldn't be that long before I, too, was crying in her arms, and that was exactly what had happened. Anyone would think one of us were dying, or that we would never see each other again, but they didn't understand how difficult this was for us. We had always been close, as sisters. Then our bond and love just got even stronger after finding out that really, she was my mother. Sure it was difficult in the beginning, but I wouldn't change it for the world. We have become closer than ever, and separating was difficult for us, because this was our normal. College was hard enough, and that was just an hour away. In the same city. This is a different City. Differed country. Different continent! And that, we struggled with.
"Call me when you land?" She asks, as finally we pull out of our embrace. She keeps her grip on my arms though, not losing her touch just yet, and I nod in response.
"Of course."
She smiles, a beautiful smile. An accepting smile. She continues to look at me, deep in the eyes. I knew she was worried. 'It's not that I don't trust you, Sammie. It's the other people in the world.' She would say to me. I guess I understood though.
"And I'll see you in..."
"Two months," I breathe out, feeling the reality of that hit me like a shot. Two months without seeing my mother.
"Two months," my mom repeats through a small breathe of air, until finally she lets me slide out of her grip. Her hands fall to her sides and she pines closer to my dad. "Eight weeks, I can do that." She says, more to herself than anything. "Alright."