Two words had long since been etched into the brain of Rachel Winchester: Gumball Isle.

She'd first seen the commercials when she was 5 years old, seated in front of the television in an otherwise darkened living room one Saturday morning, watching as she ate cereal directly out of the box with her bare hands. It had come on during the cartoons, and from the first second it popped up on screen, she was entranced. And from that moment on she spent the next 5 years begging, pleading, with her parents to take her to Gumball Isle. The problem was...it was states away and fairly expensive. Not that they couldn't have afforded it, but between school for her and work for them, the opportunity just never really arose. So Rachel did the next best thing...she printed stuff from the internet about it, she studied everything she could from Youtube walkthroughs of attractions to asking her parents for souvenirs on eBay when a holiday or her birthday rolled around.

She went to school with her backpack covered in pins, her closet full of t-shirts baring logos and characters from the park, she had plushies they'd managed to snag online and while she still asked to go, in the end, this seemed to at least somewhat satiate her desire a bit. And then, on Christmas morning, before her 11th birthday, her parents Rob and Emily gave her one final gift. Tickets. Tickets to Gumball Isle. Rachel screamed like they'd never heard her scream before, jumping around the house, so excited. She couldn't believe it, her dreams were finally going to be achieved! And then...

...and then, two months after she turned 10, she got her diagnosis.

And everything else paled in comparison, even Gumball Isle.

                                                ***

"Mom," Rachel asked, "what is beef jerky made of?"

"Well, beef, sweetheart," Emily said, "it's..it's in the name. It's cow. Like burgers."

"Oh," Rachel said, "I thought maybe it was like hotdogs, where it's a bunch of different meats together."

"Where did you learn that?" Emily asked, laughing as she dug through her purse for her card to pay for their purchases in the airport shop.

"Dad," Rachel said.

"Of course, that doesn't even surprise me," Emily said, paying, as Rachel gathered their bag of snacks. Emily and Rachel headed out of the shop and back into the big open area, heading back to the boarding area where Rob was waiting. When they arrived, Rachel and Emily each took a seat on opposite sides of Rob, who was reading a magazine.

"What are you reading?" Emily asked, opening her candy bar.

"This story about this guy who grew an ear on a mouse," Rob said, "some kind of medical miracle."

"I don't think the mouse considers it a miracle," Emily said.

"Why would someone grow an ear on a mouse?" Rachel asked as she situated herself in her seat and pulled her face mask off to eat a beef stick.

"Well, it's for people who need transplants, so they grow things that they can then surgically remove and put on someone who maybe needs an ear graft. It kills the mouse, but someone gets a new ear, so," Rob said.

"Wait so they grow an ear on a mouse and then kill it to remove the ear?" Emily asked, "This poor fucking mouse."

"They can just do that?" Rachel asked, "they can just grow things and you can have new things? Like Kidneys?"

Rob looked up from the magazine and glanced at Emily before they both looked towards Rachel.

"Well, nobody is trying to grow a kidney on a mouse, first of all," Rob said, "frankly that mouse has suffered enough, but second, no, not like that. They can't just do anything. Kidneys often come through transplants from family members or donors, and even then they have to be a match, and you have to be able to afford it, or be high on the list."

"...oh," Rachel said, looking back at her shoes. Emily wanted to cry. Rob reached out and rubbed his wifes back, but she shifted uncomfortably so he rescinded his hand and let her be alone. Each went back to their solo activity and nobody really said a word again until they boarded the plane. This happened on occasion, where Rachel would think she found a loophole, something doctors had somehow overlooked, and she'd be okay. But it was never the case. She was terminal, and it broke her parents hearts because she clearly so badly wanted to live.

                                                 ***

Rachel and her mother were in the doctors office. Rachel had been feeling sick for two weeks, and by now it had become somewhat of a concern, so after numerous visits, Emily felt like, if this doctor couldn't fix it, they'd look into a specialist. Could be Gluten related, they'd been told, could be digestive, could be numerous things but thusfar nobody had given them anything concrete. Rachel was sitting on the table in the doctors office, swinging her feet while her mother looked through a pamphlet. Rachel glanced over at her and squinted.

"Why are you reading about cosmetic surgery?" Rachel asked.

"Cause it's here, frankly," Emily replied, "not really cause I'm interested. I'm happy with my body."

"You should be! You're pretty," Rachel said, making her mother smile. Emily had done a lot of work to make sure that their household was body positive, and that Rachel never ever felt bad about the way she looked. This meant being confident in her own body...even if she didn't mean it. The door finally opened, and the doctor entered. Emily tucked the brochure back into the wall holder with the others and turned to face him.

"Please tell me you have something for us," Emily said, "she can't miss much more school."

"I can miss lots more school actually," Rachel said, "that's okay with me."

"Um, Mrs. Winchester, please sit down," the doctor said, "you don't need to be standing. We have plenty of seats. You're in high heels, must be uncomfortable."

Emily knew he was reaching for any other reason for her to sit because it was bad news, and now her guts were tied in knots. How bad could it possibly be?

"Let me tell you folks a story," the doctor said, "um, when I was in medical school, I was dating this woman who would later be the wife I have today. She was studying sociology, and I was, obviously, studying medicine. We used to go for these little lunch dates and talk about classes, courses, whatever. One day though, I showed for it and she could tell I was a mess. I'd been interning at a hospital and...and I had to help inform a family that their child was....was going to die. It was the single hardest thing I'd had to do up to that point and...and I told her I didn't know if I could be a doctor if I had to deliver news like that to children. There's...a difference, between telling an adult, who's at least had a good portion of life lived, and a child, who's barely started life. But she told me that I was stronger than I gave myself credit for, and I could handle it. I'm telling you this story because I want you guys to believe the same thing, that you're stronger than you give yourselves credit for, and you can handle it."

A long pause. The room filled with somehow loud silence. Emily finally cleared her throat and tossed her hair from her face.

"What are you saying?" she asked, "Are you telling us we have something we need to work through?"

"There's no working through this. No," the doctor said, looking from Emily to Rachel, his eyes watering, "sweetheart, I'm sorry."

And 'I'm sorry' was really all he had to say for them to understand.

                                                ***

It was called CKD, or Chronic Kidney Disease, but that was just where it started. It had progressed to End Stage Kidney Disease.

Rachel's kidneys could no longer adequately filter waste and maintain her bodys chemical balance. It was caused by Nephronophthisis, a group of genetic kidney diseases that typically cause failure in childhood, characterized by scarring and cyst formation in the kidneys. It is an autosomal recessive condition, meaning both parents must carry the gene for the child to be affected. After doing a lot of research, reading and learning, Rob and Emily each had....well...different reactions, but somehow similar conclusions. Sitting in their bedroom one night about a week after learning what Rachel had, dozens of books and articles, medical documents, scattered across the bed before them, neither one knew what to say. Rob was pacing as Emily sat cross-legged, smoking a cigarette, something she had stopped doing when they'd had Rachel but now had picked back up due to the stress of the situation.

"Even then dialysis can only do so much," Rob said, "and insurance will cover it, thankfully we're well enough off but...but she shouldn't have to..."

Emily just wouldn't say a thing. She was far too engulfed in her own thoughts.

"Emily!" Rob said loudly, snapping her out of it, causing her to look up as her cigarette ashed onto her leg, making her quickly wipe away at it out of surprise; Rob sighed, "sorry, I didn't...I'm not yelling at you, I'm just trying to get your attention and I'm stressed and-"

"We killed her," Emily said, causing Rob to look at his wife.

"What?" he asked.

"We killed her," Emily repeated, her voice wavering, shaky, "we...we killed her. This is our fault. We gave this to her."

"No, Emily, you can't let yourself go there," Rob said, climbing onto the end of the bed and reaching over the papers, putting one hand into his wifes hair, knowing that always comforted her, causing her to look at him as he added, "you just...you can't, okay? First of all, it isn't true, and-"

"It is, Rob, we did this. She got it from us," Emily said, crying now, "she got it from us. If we weren't her parents she wouldn't have it. She would be okay."

"You cannot go down that road, baby," Rob said, "please, don't do that. Come on, Emily, don't do this."

Emily started sobbing and Rob climbed fully onto the bed, shoving everything to the floor as he pulled his wife into him, taking the cigarette from her hand and putting it out, placing it on the bedside table. He held her as she sobbed and he rubbed her back, but eventually he too started sobbing because, despite not wanting to go down that path himself...he felt the same way. He didn't want to admit it, but he did. Emily was right. They had given their daughter an unintentional death sentence. And that's when Rob had his brilliant idea.

                                                 ***

"How often do planes crash?" Rachel asked, sitting next to her mother on the plane by the window, her father across the isle.

"Not often enough for you to worry about it," Emily said, buckling her daughters seatbelt, then stroking her face, "don't worry, okay? Dad and I are right here, so even if anything does happen, we won't let it happen to you."

"I'm not gonna stop a plane from crashing, I'm not Superman," Rob said, making Emily and Rachel laugh.

"I kinda hope it happens," Rachel said, "cause then...we'd be together."

Ever since her diagnosis, and the reality of sinking in, Rachel realizing her mortality, she'd made so many statements like this and it broke her parents hearts every time. She so badly just wanted to stay with them. Emily took Rachel's water from her hand and opened the cap so she could take a drink before putting her breathing mask back on. Travel hadn't been exactly considered a great idea, but they didn't care. This was something Rachel had wanted for years, and goddammit they were going to give it to her come hell or high water.

"Are you excited?" Emily asked, trying to regain the lighter mood, "soon enough we'll be there."

"I'm so excited!" Rachel said eagerly, and she meant it. This had been a lifelong dream, and now she was finally having it come true. When her parents told her they were going, she just couldn't believe it. Sure they'd gotten the tickets before that, but now the need to go had been greatly exacerbated.

"Are you excited to see all your favorite rides and characters?" Emily asked.

"I really hope Neko Chaton is there!" Rachel said, making Emily smile. Neko Chaton had always been Rachel's favorite. She was an anthropomorphic cat woman in a cute french dress, and she'd been the one character Rachel had really obsessed over. Most of the merch, most of the images she'd printed, they'd all been of Neko Chaton, and now, her chance of maybe finally meeting her was a possibility. She couldn't believe her luck, because even in the midst of her teminal illness, she might meet her hero. Unfortunately for Rachel Winchester, the woman who portrayed Neko Chaton was kind of a mess herself.

                                                   ***

Monica put the cat ears back on and readjusted her stockings as she finished getting re-dressed. She picked up her drink from the nightstand and finished it in one gulp, then clunked it back down. She looked back at Jeff, buttoning up his shirt, before looking ahead at Axel, pulling her dress back up over her shoulders. Monica exhaled and grabbed her small backpack, pulling out a bottle of pills and popping a few.

"Monica, can you help me?" Axel asked, and Monica nodded, getting up and walking up behind her as Axel held her necklace clasps behind her neck. Monica took it and did it for her, before holding onto her arms and leaning in, kissing her on the neck and making her blush. Jeff smiled as he walked over to get his shoes.

"You two are so cute," he said.

"You're just saying that so we'll keep sleeping with you," Axel said, "where is my tiara?"

"By the television," Jeff said, pointing.

The three of them had been having trysts like this regularly throughout the weeks for years now. They went, on their break, to the nearby hotel for the park and checked into a room together, ordered food, and then had sex. Axel, who portrayed the parks resident princess, Princess Frolic, and Jeff, who worked in ride operations, were really the only friends Monica had out here, but she loved what they'd made together. Monica quickly redid her facial makeup, putting on it on her nose, around her eyes, adding her whiskers and then had Axel put her collar with the bell on it around her neck.

"I'll see you guys back at the park," Monica said.

"Are you alright?" Jeff asked as she headed for the door.

"Yeah, never better," Monica said, but that was a lie. She was not alright, and she had, in fact, been better. It's just that this wasn't what she had meant to do. This job. It had been sort of an accident that had turned into a career that she now resented immensely. Whereas Rachel Winchester saw Gumball Isle as a place of enchantment, Monica Dawes saw it as a place that trapped people. But maybe, just maybe, if the two were to meet, they could find something in the middle. Something that would make being at Gumball Isle worthwhile for them both. After all...

...they do call theme parks the happiest places on earth.