Serious

Emotions

I don't own any part of Phineas and Ferb not these characters, where the story is set or anything else, just the idea.

"From the information we've gathered, the Lil' Sparks group made our job easier and harder at the same time by splitting up and heading to each of the Fireside Buildings. Gretchen and Ginger, you head to the Clubhouse after Trish. Adyson and Milly, you guys go to the Annex for Sally. Katie and Holly, you'll find Amber at the cupcake factory. I'll go and get Emma from the Lodge. Meet back here as soon as possible for some team building exercises."

Isabella looked around at her team and knew that they would make short work of this nightmare allowing the dance recital to go on at the planned time and the mayor's speech soon after. A part of her longed to ask Phineas and Ferb (but mainly Phineas) to help with the set up of the team building. At the moment all they had were a couple of games designed to increase communication and teamwork. If the boys had been arou they probably could have created an entire machine to achieve the same thing but most likely in the time it took for her to come up with just one idea.

But this was no time to be thinking about Phineas. She had a job to do and she refused to let him stand in the way of her completing it. The others had split into their assigned pairs and were heading off. Isabella watched them go before turning and starting towards the Fireside Lodge.

She remembered entering the lodge for the first. The girl scouts had buildings all over Danville but the lodge was their main base of operation. Tucked away as it was between the two taller buildings, it was easy to miss to a casual passer-by but every Fireside Girl loved and cherished the little wooden cabin. It was where Isabella had proudly sewn the first patch she'd earned as an official Fireside Girl onto her sash. It was where she'd first met her team and where they'd first bonded over doing something they loved. It was where she'd first confessed her feelings about the boy across the street and the safe space where she could talk about him whenever she needed to. The Fireside Lodge was undoubtedly the place where Isabella felt most happy and that happiness came with a sense of duty to protect it at all costs.

And it was this protectiveness that was making her worried about the next generation of Fireside Girls. To be fair to them, she didn't have many opinions about Trish, Sally and Amber yet, but if they were fine with someone like Emma being their Troop Leader then Isabella had a problem with them. Before Isabella had been a Fireside Girl, she'd thought that the only way a girl could been seen as anything more than a girl was by being associated with a boy. But being part of a scout group consisting entirely of headstrong, independent girls completely changed that. It had helped her realise that there was a place in the world just waiting for her to claim it as her own.

That was a reason why she was so upset over how hard she had fallen for Phineas. Despite all that she had achieved, she had been fooled into thinking that it wasn't enough. She'd reverted to her childhood and believed that despite all her efforts and accomplishments, none of it would mean anything unless she was with Phineas. Nothing could have been farther from the truth. Being with Phineas wouldn't have made Isabella complete. It was something she wanted but not something she needed. If there was one thing her break from his had taught her it was that she didn't need someone else to make her feel special. It was true as long as she herself believed it.

If it hadn't been for the Fireside Girls and Lil' Sparks before them, she wasn't sure if she would have been able to realise it. And with that in mind, she strode into the Fireside Lodge to confront Emma.

***

"Hey Emma." The little girl spun around from where she was staring up at the list of achievable patches upon the wall. "Whatcha doin'?"

"How did you find me?"

Isabella sat leaned against the wall. "I had some help."

"This is a lot of patches," Emma said quietly. "Is it really possible to earn all of these?"

"Of course it is," Isabella replied.

"That seems like a lot of pressure."

"It is." Isabella gave her a hard look. "But it's easier if you have a team to help you out."

"I don't need a team," Emma insisted. "I can't afford for them to hold me back."

"Why would you think they'd hold you back?"

"I don't I guess." Emma glanced at her briefly before turning away. "But I can't risk it."

Isabella said nothing, waiting for her to go on. After a few moments, Emma sighed and sat on the floor, wrapping her arms around her legs in a protective ball.

"When I was younger, my mom died and my dad tried his absolute hardest to replace her. He showered me with love and affection. I spent years being the centre of his attention until he married Sylvia and suddenly, I had a step mom and sister. After that, it seemed like I had to earn my dad's attention through achieving. The easiest way to do that was to join a group that's sole purpose was to achieve."

"You only joined Lil' Sparks to impress your dad?" Isabella was shocked. When Emma had brought up being the centre of her father's attention, she'd assumed that Emma was just a spoilt little brat but it was much deeper than that.

"I thought that if I became a scout, he would realise that I had value. But he only took notice when I earned a patch since it was an actual marker of my achievement. So I started earning more and more patches. Every time I earned ten, Dad took me out to dinner and it would be like it was before Sylvia came into our lives. The supervisors at Lil' Sparks thought that I had a talent and a burning urge to help people. But it's not true. All I want is for my dad to love me again."

"I'm so sorry," Isabella sat beside Emma and wrapped her in a hug. "That's a really hard thing to go through."

"I didn't want to be troop leader," Emma admitted. "I'd spent so much time looking out for myself, that I didn't trust anyone else to do it. And also... I guess I didn't trust myself to live up the name I'd made for myself. Even if it was all fake."

"I also thought I wasn't worth anything unless someone noticed me." Emma raised her head and met her eyes.

"Really? You?"

"Yeah," Isabella laughed slightly. "But you know what?"

"What?"

"The only person I need to prove myself to is me. I know exactly what I'm worth and I don't need someone else to validate me. The same can go for you as well. I know it can be hard to let it go but it doesn't have to happen overnight. It can and will take time, but it will be easier if you let someone in. Having a friend support what you're going through makes it so much less difficult to cope with. I was lucky because I had an entire group of friends to help me through it."

"The other Fireside Girls?"

"Exactly." Isabella smiled. "It's ok to want something. Especially since you entitled to have your father's love. But you can have a family in the Fireside Girls. They'll love you when it seems no one else does."

"But it's hard to just start trusting someone. And what about Amber?"

"It'll take some time for you to form a bond with the rest of your team but once it's there it's unbreakable. Amber is a different matter I suppose, but you're sisters. There're two boys I know that are step brothers but also the best of friends. And having you can trust at home with also make it easier for you to be around your dad and Sylvia."

"How do I start?"

"Well, the other Fireside Girls went after Amber, Trish and Sally. When you're ready we're going to meet them and do a couple of teambuilding exercises."

"Team building?"

"I know it sounds childish, but they're designed to help you come together as a team. I think you'd be surprised how fun it is to do things as part of a group."

"I'm ready to go now." Emma allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. "Thank you for this Isabella."

"That's ok," Isabella smiled. "Hopefully, you'll be earning patches not just because you feel you have to but because you enjoy it. And with a team backing you up, you'll be able to earn them even quicker."