01.

It was three in the morning when suddenly Cleo's mobile started ringing. She groaned and pulled her cover over her head, but eventually when the phone continued ringing she picked up.

"Hello?" She murmured.

"Cleo, I've got some amazing news!"

"Em, for goodness sake, it's 3 a.m. here, couldn't you wait a couple pf hours more before you call?"

"No. Because I couldn't wait to tell you that after a couple of days by this time I'll be awaking you personally."

"What?!" Cleo sat up in her bed in a flash. "You're coming back! When?"

"After three days." The other girl smiled.

"Oh my god, Em, I can't wait to see you again! Just wait, 'till I tell Rikki, she'll freak out, she missed you so much too!"

"I don't think calling her at 3 a.m. is a good idea." Emma laughed in the phone. "You know her, she's ready to kill anyone who dares to disturb her sleep."

The two girls laughed.

"I've got to rn now, Cleo. Bye for now and I can't wait to see you and Rikki again!"

"Yeah, I can't wait to see you too, Em!"

The two said their byes and hung up.

Cleo lay down again, but she was too excited and tossed a lot before going back to sleep, thinking and dreaming about her breaking the news to Rikki and Lewis about Emma's return.

{ * }

Meanwhile in another part of the town two people were out in the night.

Rikki was at one of her favorite places, sitting on a swing and watching the ocean. She'd tossed a lot in her bed and after she'd realized she wouldn't get any sleep at all, she'd went out for a walk and had come here to just stare at the dark waves and think.

So much stuff were going through her mind. She thought about her friends, about their amazing secret, and about a secret that she had from them all.

Her secret was one of the reasons she became what she was now - one of the strongest people her friends had ever known. It was a secret that was concerning her life maybe a bit too much, but she'd never tell them until the very end.

She leaned her head on one of the chains of the swing, while the wind was twisting her hair. She sat there for hours, thinking about all of that and so much more.

Zane was walking along the beach, staring somewhere beyond the waves, thinking and aching about Rikki again.

He missed them being together so much. He missed her shining blue eyes, the smiles she once used to give him, he missed holding her in his strong embrace, he missed burring his face in her mess of blond curls, he missed her kisses, her perfume, her warm body pressed to his in the darkness of the night. God he missed her.

He moved his eyes absent-mindedly and spotted her sitting on a swing a few meters away from him. His heart fastened a bit. Before he could stop himself, he was walking in her direction.

After sitting on the swing for a while she heard quiet steps, but didn't turn around, because somehow she already knew who the steps belonged to.

He sat on the swing next to hers, but none of them said anything. After a few moments of awkward silence, he said, "Couldn't sleep too, huh?"

Rikki looked at him and slowly nodded, still nit saying anything.

"Listen, Rikki, I behaved like a complete jerk and I'm so sorry for that. But I love you with all my heart and I can't stop my feelings for you."

She turned to look at him. Even in the dim light of the street lamps, she could see the look in his eyes that was giving all his emotions.

Rikki turned her head to the ocean again. "You didn't accept who I really am. And you never will."

"I can try. I will try."

"You've already tried two times. It didn't work."

"This time it will. I promise you!"

"No, Zane, it's too late."

"No it's not. Please, all I'm asking for is one more chance. One last chance."

Rikki bit her lip. Giving Zane one more chance meant that she had to hide her personal secret from him too like she'd done before. And she didn't want to have to lie to him again. Though she hated to admit it, her love for Zane was still alive in her heart, and the last thing she wanted to do, was to lie Zane who she cared for maybe too much and whom she knew cared for her the same way, regardless of all his mistakes.

She looked at his warm, brown eyes and could immediately feel the comfort they were giving her. She longed for that comfort, now more than ever, but at the same time she was a bit too cautious and most of all she didn't want to drag Zane into the shit her life was bound to come.

Hell, she did love him.

"If I accept you back, would you try to accept my other self? Would you promise not to get jealous from Will again? Would you promise to be there for me when I ask you for help? And can you swear that the kiss with Sophie meant nothing to you?"

He smiled to her. "Of course, I promise! I swear that stupid kiss meant nothing. Actually I was disgusted when she kissed me." And Zane winked playfully to Rikki. "And about the Will thing, I promise to try."

She smiled, the way she hadn't for a long time, and it felt good. "Well, in that case...we're a couple again, I think."

He gently took her hand in his. "You won't regret it, I promise!"

"I hope not." She sighed and turned to look at the ocean again.

"I guess the first thing I have to do tomorrow is to fire Sophie, so the cafe can have its original and best manager then."

Rikki turned to him and smiled and then turned back to the ocean again. She felt he held her hand tight as if he was afraid she would change her mind.

After staying there a couple of minutes more, they shared a small kiss and went home. They both knew tomorrow was going to be a big day for both of them.

{ * }

In the morning Cleo and Rikki were racing again on their way to the moon pool. Cleo was again far away, but she didn't care. She couldn't wait to tell Rikki the amazing news of Emma's return.

"You know, there's no much fun in racing when you already know the result, Cleo." Rikki teased her as soon as they surfaced in the moon pool.

Cleo who couldn't keep the smile off her face, ignored her. "Well, very soon you'll have the chance to have a race with someone who always beats you."

"What?" Rikki's eyes suddenly went wide open as she stared at Cleo.

"Yep, Emma's coming back!" Cleo dropped the news.

To Cleo's amusement, instead of lighting up from happiness, Rikki's face darkened and there was a worried expression in her eyes.

"Rikki, aren't you happy that she's coming back?! You were the one who missed her so much."

"Of course I'm happy." The other girl said. "It's just..."

"Just what?" Cleo asked.

Rikki bit her lip. "Everything's changed since Emma left." She said eventually.

Cleo didn't quite understood what Rikki meant by that. "So?" She asked her.

"So, she is not going to like it. When she finds out about Bella and Will and everything that happened while she was away, god knows what she'd do." Rikki concluded.

To her surprise Cleo smiled. "So that's what it is all about, huh?!" She asked her softly and put her hand on Rikki's shoulder. "I promise you everything will be just fine!"

"I wish I could be that sure." Rikki sighed heavily. "Come on, let's get back, it's getting late."

And the two swam out.

{ * }

The next day Rikki was sitting in her and Zane's office, filling some papers, while Zane was working on the desk.

Her friends weren't happy when they found out Rikki had finally taken Zane back, but she however didn't care.

Zane lifted his eyes and took a look at Rikki. She had stopped filling the papers and was now staring somewhere into the empty space. Even if it was dumb, in that one moment, he couldn't help, but admire how beautiful she was and how happy he was that she had let him back in her life.

"Are you ok?" He asked her after staring at her in awe for a moment.

"What?" She turned her head to look at him. "Oh, yeah, sorry, I'm fine." She said and looked down to continue with her work.

"No, Rikki, you're not." Zane insisted. "Something's bothering you.

She didn't respond to that. He stood and walked over to the sofa. He sat next to her, taking the papers out of her hands and leaving them on the desk. He then took her hands in his.

"Please, tell me what's going on."

And he looked straight at her eyes. She took a deep breath and looked at him with sad expression.

"Emma's coming back."

Confusion spread across his face.

"Shouldn't you be jumping from joy all over the place?!"

Rikki couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Yeah, maybe I should."

"But you are not. Why?"

"Everything's changed so much since Emma left. What is she going to do when she finds out nothing's the same? Besides...the worst part is that I myself don't know what I'm feeling anymore."

"I don't think I understand." He said.

She sighed. "Yeah, I know. Even I don't understand myself."

"I said I don't understand. Because I know. I know that Emma's your best friend. Hell you, her and Cleo are soulsisters. She loves you and Cleo more than anything and I'm sure you feel the same way, you're just confused. Besides only time will show what will happen from now on. With all of us."

Rikki looked him in the eyes and he saw the sadness in hers. "I just hope you're right and I'm wrong. But we'll see."

"Yeah, we'll see." Zane nodded. "You know what? Let's take the rest of the day off. We can go to the moon pool, then we can go to see a movie... Whatever you want."

"Zane, we can't. What about the cafe?"

"You're more important." He said and placed a kiss on her forehead.

He made many mistakes in the past and one of them was not giving enough attention to Rikki. Now he willed to give her all his attention.

"Fine then." She nodded. "I really could use a break right now."

"So, it's settled, then." He smiled at her getting up and pulling her up too, still holding her hand in his.

He put his other arm around her shoulders and she let her head rest on his shoulder, walking out of the office and of the cafe with him.

They spent the rest of the day having fun on the beach and it really helped Rikki clear her mind a bit.

{ * }

Meanwhile Cleo was with Lewis at the marine park. They were walking around hand in hand.

"I can't wait till she's back!" Cleo said joyfully.

Lewis smiled to her and gave her a kiss.

"Can you believe it, Lewis?! Em is coming back and finally everything's fitting in place!" Cleo said, her face glowing.

She was so terribly happy. And so terribly wrong.

Lewis put his hand around her shoulders. He just wished he was as sure as Cleo was, but he had the same doubts as Rikki.

"Do you want some ice-cream?" He said with a wink trying to distract himself. "My treat."

"Sure." Cleo smiled.

Two minutes later they were eating chocolate ice cream in silence. Cleo couldn't help but smile, while Lewis was deep in his thoughts. What would Emma do when she sees Bella? Will she try to accept her or will she hate her like Rikki hated Charlotte? And what would Bella do? Again and again he tried to ignore the bad feeling he was having since Cleo told him that Emma was coming back.

"Cleo, have you told Bella that Emma's coming back?" Lewis asked her and her smile disappeared.

"No, I forgot." She said.

"I think you should do it as soon as possible, then." He sad absent-mindedly.

"Yeah...maybe." She sighed.

That's when she realized for the first time nothing was going to be the same again. Rikki was right, everything has changed maybe too much, and Cleo too wasn't sure if she liked it...

"Lewis?"

"Yes?"

"Please tell me everything's going to be alright."

"Yes, everything will be just fine." He tried to reasure her.

"Promise me."

"I promise."

But that promise wasn't meant to be.

{ * }

"I'm afraid, Will."

Bella and Will were in the boatshed, curled on Will's bed and Bella opened her heart in front of him.

"I'm afraid she'll hate me. She'll probably think I replaced her or something."

"That's not going to happen. Besides Cleo and Rikki will always stand by you, just like me."

"I hope you're right." Bella gave him a smile and a small kiss.

Will couldn't have known it, but he was so horribly wrong.

{ * }

The next day the small group of 3 girls and two boys gathered in the cafe.

Cleo couldn't hide her excitement about Emma's return after two days, Rikki was still worrying about Emma's reaction and Bella was a little scared of what would happen when the other mermaid comes back to have a reunion with her two best friends.

Zane joined the little group, taking his seat next to Rikki, when someone entered the cafe. They all stared at the girl and when she cheerfully shouted "Surprise!" to them, Cleo was the only one who stood up and hurried to hug her. When they released and the blond's look fell over the two new blonds sitting next to her friends, her smile suddenly disappeared and her face darkened.

The others noticed that and looked at each other worry visible on their faces.

They all knew: the moment of truth had finally come.