Californian Quandary
One shot sequel to A Meeting of Mermaids - What do you do with your best friend after becoming a mermaid?
Standard disclaimer: the settings is not my own, the characters from H2O: Just Add Water are not mine, the but the Yanks are.
"So what made you guys decide to stay for those extra months?" Melanie asked Rowan as the two friends sat in the great room at Rowan's house.
It had been a couple of weeks since Rowan and Paul had gotten back from their Australian trip and things were definitely not back to normal. Rowan was feeling a little uncomfortable talking about the trip, a fact that was not lost on her best friend, Melanie.
"Well, that's difficult to say," Rowan replied.
"You're not mad at me, are you?" Melanie asked suddenly.
"Not at all; whatever gave you that idea?"
"Hey, it's me!" Melanie said. "You know, your best friend!"
Melanie and Rowan had been friends for years, having grown up going to the same schools from kindergarten all the way through high school. And Melanie was right; something was bothering Rowan but it wasn't Melanie's fault. Rowan wasn't quite sure how Melanie would react to her new status as a mermaid. Both Tanya and Jackie had suggested going nice and slow; Rowan was bothered because she wanted to tell Melanie the truth.
"Yes, you're my best friend," Rowan said. "It's just, well, things got really complicated!"
"With you and Paul?"
"No, it's Tanya and Jackie; things have gotten a little weird, I guess you could say."
"Man, something really bad must have happened on that trip; I've never seen you like this before," Melanie exclaimed.
Melanie and her husband Jake were originally going to go to Australia with Paul and Rowan and their friends Stephen and Tanya; sadly a business event had popped up and Jake had had to cancel. Instead of going without her husband Melanie had opted to stay and told their other friends Seth and Jackie about the trip. Jackie had jumped at the chance because not only would it be a great vacation but she had heard stories about mermaids from that part of the world and wanted to check them out. The success of that trip for Jackie was beyond measure; she had discovered not only another 4 mermaids in the Gold Coast but Rowan and Tanya had become mermaids as well. That left one big problem for the friends: Melanie.
"No, it was a good trip," Rowan replied.
Melanie looked at her expectantly but when nothing more was forthcoming gave Rowan a little frown.
"Well, maybe when you think you can confide in me you'll call, okay?" Melanie said, annoyed. "You won't talk, you don't want to hang out, you won't come over and swim in the pool like we used to; it's like you're a different person. Hey, I've got to go."
Melanie grabbed her things and left, leaving Rowan behind speechless.
Seth and Jackie hadn't left the area yet to go back down to LA; instead they were renting a house in Muir Beach. The house was right on the ocean giving the girls quick access to the water for a swim. It was different from the reef around Mako; the water was quite cold and the visibility was low. But at the northern end of the beach, below the rocky cliffs, was the hidden entrance to the pool where Jackie had become a mermaid. Rowan and Tanya, along with their guys, had been spending a lot of time there as well, a fact also not lost on Melanie. Something had to change
"I can't do this anymore; we've got to tell Melanie," Rowan said to the other 2 girls.
They were relaxing in the moon pool after a quick swim to the Gate and back. Their pool was bigger than the one at Mako but similar: there was a shelf perfect for resting their upper bodies on with plenty of room for stretching out their tails.
"How do you think she'll react?" Jackie asked.
"She's my best friend; she'll be okay with it," Rowan replied.
"You know, there's another solution to this," Tanya said. "Instead of just telling her about the moon pool and the magic there, let's show her. The full moon is in 2 days; who knows what might happen?"
"You mean have her become a mermaid as well?" Jackie asked.
"Sure; at least give her the opportunity," Tanya explained. "Even if she chooses not to she'll understand."
"None of us really had a choice; it happened to us before we knew what was going on," Rowan mused. "Of course I wouldn't change my decision!"
The three mermaids thought about the change and each one of them knew they wouldn't have had it any other way. They decided to at least give Melanie the choice.
"So what's the big secret?" Melanie asked.
The four girlfriends were all sitting around the front room of the guesthouse Jackie and Seth were renting in Muir Beach. The guys had actually gone on an overnighter down to LA to attend one of the championship basketball games there, leaving the girls by themselves for a "girl's night out".
Jackie looked at the clock; there were only a couple of hours until the full moon would be in position.
"Why don't we go for a walk and show you," Jackie replied.
"Great; I'm tired of not knowing what you guys know," Melanie said.
"And we're tired of you not knowing," Rowan added.
Jackie led the way out of the house and onto the beach circuit trail that led towards the rocks to the north of the beach. At first the girls were quiet but Melanie was too curious.
"So what did happen to you guys in Australia?" she asked.
"You aren't going to believe it," Rowan said.
"Try me," Melanie replied.
Tanya and Jackie nodded at Rowan.
"Okay, here goes," Rowan said. "Right before we were supposed to come back after the conference the four of us decided to go do something that Jackie could do."
"Oh, right, your condition," Melanie said to Jackie.
"Uh, yes, Jackie's condition," Rowan continued. "Well, we decided to go for a boat ride and ended up an island off the coast there. Mako Island. We went exploring and found a cave."
"Sounds pretty tame so far," Melanie said.
"Yeah, well, we all went in to explore the cave, even though it was starting to get dark. The moon was full and bright, though, so there was plenty of light, both at the entrance and then inside."
"Even in the cave?" Melanie asked. "How was there light in the cave?"
"I'm getting there," Rowan explained. "In a side passage from the entrance we found a pool, right below the extinct volcano that makes up the island. There was light coming from the opening way up above us, and there was also an underwater passage that led out into the ocean, that was lit up by the moon. It looked so cool that Tanya and I decided to swim out and take a look, while Jackie waited for us by the pool."
"Why didn't you swim?" Melanie asked Jackie. "Oh, your condition."
"Yes, exactly, my condition," Jackie said. "But it's not what you think. Patience, we're getting to it. And we also need to head over this way, towards that notch in the cliffs."
The four girls led by Jackie turned off the beach circuit path and followed the faint trail that led towards the cliffs. The full moon had risen and gave enough illumination to see where they were going.
"Where are we going?" Melanie asked.
"There's a pool similar to the one on Mako inside these cliffs," Jackie explained. "I actually stumbled on it months before the Australia trip. It, uh, caused my condition."
"And the pool on Mako gave us the same, uh, condition," Rowan said.
"What, none of you can stand going in the water anymore?" Melanie asked, incredulous.
"No, we can go in the water," Tanya replied. "There are side effects, though."
Jackie led the girls around a couple of boulders and in front of them was a crack that ran into the cliff. There was a faint glow from inside the crack.
"In there?" Melanie asked.
"In there," Jackie replied and slipped in, followed by Melanie, Rowan, and Tanya.
Inside the crack Melanie found a sandy passage leading deep into the cliffs. There was a faint blue glow coming from little pinpoints in the rock walls that illuminated the way. After climbing over a rock shelf Melanie found worn steps leading down, and after descending found herself in a cave with a pool of water. There was a source of light coming into the pool underneath the surface of the water. Looking up Melanie discovered that there was a crack in the rock ceiling that went all the way up to the top of the cliff; through it Melanie could see stars.
"So how did you get your condition; some type of fungus in the water?" Melanie asked.
"No, it's not a disease," Rowan said. "It's, well, when we get wet we change."
"Change?" Melanie asked. "Change how?"
"Let me ask you a question, Melanie," Jackie said. "What do you know about mermaids?"
"What's that got to do with your condition?" Melanie asked.
"Well, um, that is our condition," Rowan said.
Melanie figured her friends were going nuts.
"Maybe the water affected your brains; did you just say you're mermaids?" she said with a slight grin.
"That's exactly what she said," Jackie replied. "First me, and then months later Rowan and Tanya there in Australia."
"She doesn't believe us," Tanya said to Rowan.
"I guess we'll have to show her," Rowan replied. "But we had better hurry; it's almost time for the full moon."
"What happens with the full moon?" Melanie asked.
"The pool becomes magic," Rowan said. "That's how we all changed."
"Well, show me what you're going to," Melanie said.
The other three girls nodded and dove into the pool, without taking off any of their clothes. They surfaced and looked at Melanie as they waited.
"Wow, you guys must be cold…" Melanie started to say when about 10 seconds after they dove into the pool there was a bubbling that surrounded the girls. As Melanie watched a ripple ran through each of them and it looked like they turned to water for a moment.
"What was that?" Melanie asked.
Then she looked at the girls a little closer. Gone were the tops they had been wearing; instead each of her friends was now wearing a seaweed bikini top. And as the bubbling faded Melanie saw something that blew her mind; each of her friends had what appeared to be a golden fish tail from waist down.
"What the hell?" Melanie asked, not believing her eyes.
The three mermaids rested their upper bodies on a shelf that ran around the pool and extended their tails behind them. Melanie had to admit it; they were mermaids.
"Believe us now?" Rowan asked.
"I have to," Melanie replied. "Does it hurt?"
"Not at all," Jackie said. "Melanie, this is the coolest thing that has happened to me and I think the others would agree."
"Yeah, we can stay underwater for long periods of time, swim faster than a motorboat, and except for having to worry about getting wet, can live pretty normal lives on land," said Rowan.
Tanya looked up and noticed that the crack above them was getting brighter.
"Hey, looks like the moon is getting closer; we'd better get out," she told the others.
"What happens if you stay in the pool?" Melanie asked.
"Depends on planetary alignment, but anything from temporarily losing the mermaid powers to not being a mermaid permanently," Jackie answered. "But the latter only happens once every 50 years."
"Hey, help us out, would you?" Rowan asked Melanie.
As Melanie helped pull the others out of the pool onto the sand next to it a question came to her mind.
"How did you find out about the planets?" Melanie asked.
Rowan looked up; the moon was still not visible.
"Remember how we took those extra couple of months after the conference?" Rowan asked. "Well, we wanted to see if we could find anything out about mermaids and the Island. So we got temp jobs while we snooped around."
"I take it you found out about mermaids," Melanie said.
"That we did; it turns out there were other mermaids there and the owner of the café we were working at was one of them. 3 friends of hers were also mermaids. Of the four we met 3 were changed by the Mako pool, same as me and Tanya, and the other by a pool in Ireland."
"And about 50 years ago there was another group; we met the daughter of one of them who had been a mermaid for a while but lost her powers permanently when the planets aligned a few years back," Jackie explained.
"Why these pools?" Melanie asked.
"Something about the rocks surrounding the pool; even Lewis doesn't know why," Tanya replied.
"One of mermaids' boyfriends is Lewis; he was helping them figure out what was going on," Rowan explained. "Like more about their mermaid powers."
"What powers?" Melanie asked.
Jackie smiled and clenched her fist towards first Tanya and then Rowan. There was a burst of steam and Melanie saw that once each was dry there was a ripple and they were back in human form with dry clothes. Tanya then did the same for Jackie and then the three mermaids stood there next to Melanie.
"You can all make water steam?" Melanie asked.
"Actually, I can move water and freeze it; Tanya can heat water and move it, and Jackie can just heat it," Rowan said.
"The Mako pool is stronger, I guess," Jackie added.
"This is really weird, but also pretty cool," Melanie said.
Just then the edge of the moon appeared overhead in the crack, sending a beam of moonlight down into the pool. The water started to bubble around the moonbeam. Slowly the beam got larger as moon continued to rise and soon most of the pool was bubbling.
"Looks like its magic time," Jackie said to Melanie.
Melanie noticed that the others were waiting for something and suddenly realized they were wondering what she was going to do. Grasping that there wasn't much time to decide she quickly weighed the pros and cons and took her friends' word that being a mermaid was better than not.
"I'm jumping in," Melanie announced to the others.
"Are you sure; we don't want to pressure you!" Rowan said.
"As sure as I'm going to be; heads up!" Melanie exclaimed and jumped feet first into the pool, sending a splash of water out which Rowan promptly froze.
As Melanie surfaced the moon's light shone full on the surface, causing the entire pool to bubble. Looking up she could see it framed in the crack; it was large and round and bright. A strange glow seemed to spin around her from the water and she felt a tingle through her body. Expecting a change she looked down but could see no noticeable difference other than the fact that she was soaking wet. As she waited the moon started to pass beyond the crack and the visible part slowly shrunk. As it did so the bubbling in the pool lessened until the moon was completely past the crack and the pool was still.
"Nothing happened," Melanie said, climbing out onto the sand next to the other girls.
"That's because the moon is still up," Jackie explained.
"Yeah, we didn't actually first change until the next day," Tanya remembered. "When we first got wet."
"I woke up when the moon went down, though," Rowan said. "Something felt different but yes, I didn't notice until getting into the bath tub the next day."
"Same for me," said Jackie. "I jumped in the shower and, oh, hello tail!"
"Ok, I'll be patient," Melanie replied. "But somehow I get this feeling you're pulling my leg."
"Tomorrow once you get wet you won't have any legs," Rowan replied.
On the way out of the pool Jackie stopped and picked a crystal out of the wall.
"Here, this is for you, Melanie," she said. "We'll get you a setting made."
Melanie looked at the other girls and noticed that they were wearing identical necklaces with blue stones in a silver setting. She had seen them on the others; now they made sense.
"Ah, I thought those were just things you picked up on your vacation; I was feeling sad you didn't get one for me."
"Yours and mine are from here; Rowan and Tanya's are from Mako," Jackie explained.
Jackie led the way back out of the cave onto the rocks near the crack. Then the four friends headed back on the beach circuit path. The moon was still high although it was now out over the ocean instead of over the inland ridge. It made it easy to walk back.
Back at Jackie's house Melanie asked the other girls to recount the trip in detail. After making themselves comfortable Rowan started the story.
"Well, after snorkeling for a while we decided to see how Jackie was doing…"
After recounting how they met the other mermaids in the Gold Coast Jackie suggested they go to sleep.
"Melanie's got a big day tomorrow and I think we all need to be well rested," she explained. "I'm going to wake you up and we'll all go down to the little beach near the tidal pools; there won't be anyone about yet. There we'll see if we're pulling your leg."
With that the four girls said goodnight to each other and headed back into the guest rooms. After getting ready Melanie found that she was feeling quite nervous. Looking out the window she could see the full moon still well above the ocean. Trying to get some sleep Melanie lay on her bed and instead thought about everything she had been told that evening. After tossing and turning for quite a while she suddenly felt that something was happening.
Melanie looked at the clock and noticed that several hours had passed. Melanie again approached the window and discovered that the moon had started to set; it was about half-way down. As she watched it continued to drop and then sunk out of sight. At the instant that the moon's light vanished Melanie felt light-headed and a little dizzy for a moment. Not wanting to fall over Melanie went and lay back down again. This time she felt sleepy and her mind was clear and after a couple of minutes fell into a deep sleep.
"Hey, sleepyhead, up and at 'em!" Jackie yelled through the door, startling Melanie awake.
After falling asleep Melanie had slept soundly and was surprised that the sun was already up. She grunted and rolled out of bed and started to head down to the bathroom to wash up.
"Nope; we're going to stay away from the sink this morning," Rowan said, intercepting Melanie on the way down the hall. "We don't want you flopping over in the house."
Melanie giggled as some of the nervousness from the night before returned. She returned to her room and put on her swimsuit; the girls had recommended dressing in normal beachwear for the walk to and from the ocean. The other three were already waiting for her in the sand room, all wearing their own swimsuits. Melanie gave them all a big smile.
"Nervous?" Rowan asked as Jackie led the way down the beach towards the tidal pools.
"A little," Melanie replied. "I guess you guys weren't nervous; you didn't know you were mermaids until you got wet."
"Hey, you had a choice," Tanya replied. "I think you made the right one."
Not too far from Jackie's house was a rocky section with tiny patches of sand that led down into the water. A nice thing about the area was that the rocks helped block the view from the main part of the beach. Luckily there was no-one out yet; but that could change quickly. The girls threaded their way through the rocks until they stood on a patch of sand wide enough for them all to stand and run into the water.
"Ready?" Rowan asked, grabbing Melanie's hand.
"Ready," Melanie replied, giving Rowan's hand a squeeze.
Once Melanie was had said she was ready Jackie nodded.
"Okay, let's go!" Jackie said and they all ran down into the surf.
It wasn't really deep there, but sloped down rapidly.
"8, 7, 6…" Rowan was counting down and the others joined in.
"3, 2, 1…"
Right about as the count reached one Melanie felt the water under her feet bubble and she felt a ripple go through her. For a moment her arm appeared to be made entirely of water. Suddenly Melanie couldn't stand anymore and fell forward into the surf. Looking back Melanie saw that from her waist down she now had a golden fish tail. Also her red bikini top had vanished and had been replaced by a golden one made of seaweed.
"Oh, wow!" Melanie exclaimed as she attempted to wiggle her tail and found that it was easy to do so and felt completely natural. Looking around she found the other three girls, wearing the same top that she was, a little farther out in the water.
"Come on, Melanie!" Rowan called.
"Just use that tail and swim!" Tanya said.
Melanie got herself turned towards the deep water and tried to swim and was surprised by how easily she darted forwards into the water to join the other girls. Melanie then found it easy to keep her head out; a little tail action and she floated just fine.
"Okay, follow me!" Jackie said and dived under the water with a flick of her tail. Melanie took a breath and dived. Under the water she found that she could easily see forward, even with the lower Northern California surf visibility. She also discovered that she didn't feel the urge to surface to breathe; instead found that she could swim around on the bottom with no discomfort.
The other three mermaids joined her near a rock and Rowan made a fast motion with her hands. Rowan then counted with her fingers down from three. Melanie knew they were going to take off but was surprised how quickly the others darted away. Melanie tried to swim faster and suddenly found herself jetting through the water surrounded by a tunnel of bubbles. The others allowed Melanie to catch up and then Jackie led the way through some underwater rocks until Melanie found an undersea tunnel that led right to the pool from the previous night.
"Not too bad, right?" Rowan asked after surfacing and resting her body on the shelf.
"That was so cool!" Melanie exclaimed, letting her tail float out behind her as she rested next to the others. "Let's go swim some more!"
"We've created a monster!" Rowan exclaimed as Melanie dove ahead of them into the underwater tunnel.
After swimming for a couple more hours Rowan led the way back to the tidal pools and the patches of sand. Surfacing Rowan checked that the coast was clear and not seeing anyone about propelled herself up onto the warm sand between the rocks. Melanie followed, finding it easy to drive herself forward with strong flicks of her tail. Once on the beach, though, she felt quite awkward.
"Be ready to take off, in case we see anyone," Jackie warned as Melanie relaxed on the sand.
After several minutes, during which Melanie turned over a few times to help dry herself off, she found herself dry and with a ripple changed back into human form. The other three mermaids changed shortly thereafter and they picked themselves up off the sand.
"Hey, I wonder what power Melanie has?" Rowan asked.
"Melanie, let's see what you can do," Jackie said. "Try to do something to that pool over there."
Melanie concentrated on the pool. Nothing happened until she made a motion at it with her hand and suddenly the pool froze over.
"Ice power, nice!" exclaimed Rowan.
"Can you do anything else?" Tanya asked.
Melanie tried but nothing else seemed to happen.
"Told you; this pool is different from that one on Mako," Jackie said.
"Hey, it doesn't bother me at all!" Melanie said. "It's just awesome to be able to do this!"
"Hey, Jackie, where are you?" came a male shout from across the beach. Rowan peered around one of the view-blocking rocks.
"It's Seth and the other guys," she told Jackie.
"Now the part where you have to be creative," Jackie told Melanie. "What are you going to tell Jake?"
"Oh, I hadn't thought about that since you mentioned how you told the guys last night," Melanie said. "How 'bout I just show him right here and be done with it?"
"Sounds great to me," Rowan said. "Let's go get him."
The four girls walked out from the rocks and saw Jake and the others standing above the sand next to the path, not far from Jackie's house. The guys started down and met them halfway up the beach.
"So what have you guys been doing?" Seth asked, indicating their swimsuits.
"We've been swimming," Jackie replied. "All together."
"Together?" Paul asked.
"Together," Melanie replied.
"Did you guys know that last night was a full moon?" Rowan asked.
Paul and Stephen exchanged knowing glances and Seth smiled.
"You know, I had forgotten," Seth said.
"Jackie, are you able to go in the water now?" Jake asked. "You know, that condition you told us about?"
"Oh, it comes and goes," Jackie replied with a wink at Melanie.
Melanie grabbed Jake's hand and pulled him towards the rocks.
"Help, I'm being waylaid!" Jake exclaimed with a grin.
"Come here, I've got to show you something," Melanie told him as she led him back down towards the tidal pool.
"See you later, Jake!" Seth called out.
"Yeah, we'll talk later!" Paul added.
Jackie, Rowan, and Tanya went back up to the house with their guys while Melanie walked with Jake down towards the water. Once the pair got to the rocks Melanie stopped them and gave Jake a kiss.
"This is important and you need to have an open mind!" Melanie explained.
"Um, okay, what's up?" Jake asked, puzzled.
"I caught Jackie's, uh, condition last night and need to explain," Melanie said. "Here, come around these rocks so we can have some privacy."
"What, you can't go in the water either?" Jake asked.
"That's not the problem," Melanie explained. "It's what happens when I get wet."
"What happens when you get wet?" Jake asked.
"Just watch," Melanie said and gave Jake a quick kiss.
She then ran down and dove into the water. Moments later she surfaced and faced Jake.
Jake saw a cloud of bubbles surround his wife and a ripple like she changed into water for a moment. Then he saw it: a golden fish tail had replaced Melanie's legs. Not only that but her red bikini top had changed into a seaweed top.
"That's a mermaid tail," Jake said.
"Um, yes it is," Melanie replied.
"Does that make you…"
"Yes it does."
"How is this possible?"
"You're not freaking out on me, are you?"
"No. It's just hard to believe. But it's pretty cool."
Melanie explained all about the previous evening, about the other girls and how she had been introduced to the pool. About their swim that morning and about how much fun it was.
"Well, that explains a lot about Rowan, Jackie, and Tanya," Jake said. "I wondered why I never saw them go into a pool since they got back from vacation."
Jake got a big grin on his face.
"Hey, can you take me swimming?"
Melanie smiled back.
"Sure, get a suit and I'll take you to the pool!"
Jake blew Melanie a kiss and ran out of the rocks back up the beach to the house. He passed Rowan and Paul in the back room on his way back after changing into his swimsuit.
"Where you going, Jake?" Rowan asked.
"I'm going swimming, with a mermaid!" Jake exclaimed and took off out of the house towards the beach.
The End. Now that all the characters are in place, look for my next story, "The Camera Doesn't Lie" to be posted soon...