Chapter One

Hey guys, this is my first long-term-plot-heavy-continuation story for H2O! I know, Season 4 stories are so common that they deserve a category in itself, but I couldn't help myself. There was so much left unsaid and undone within the TV series, I just really wanted to fill the gaps and add my own head canon in it as well. I'm hoping that if this story heads in the right direction, then you can expect around 15-20 chapters, each chapter having approximately 3,000 words. Hope you enjoy!

Oh, I forgot to add this. I am not by any means connected to or own H2O: Just Add Water. They belong to their respective producers (mainly Jonathan M. Shiff) and producing companies. This is only my take on what happens after the events of the series finale, and is no way the actual canon continuation. So take it with a grain of salt.

Cleo, Rikki and Bella were having a blast at their End of Year Party at the café. Bella sang several of the new songs she and Will composed together, Cleo was spending time with Lewis, and although things were tense between Rikki and Zane, Rikki found herself conversing with him once or twice. While Bella and the Band were taking a brief break from performing, Cleo heard a rustling sound from the café's beaded curtains, and turned to lock eyes with Ryan, formally dressed for the event. He reluctantly ushered for her to come speak with her, obviously about the events that had occurred at Mako Island yesterday. Cleo had been avoiding Ryan ever since, staying in her bedroom when he had come to visit Sam concerning work. She heard herself let out an involuntary groan, and she excused herself, as Ryan led her outside.

Lewis watched as her and Ryan walked out of the café.

That must be Ryan. Lewis mused to himself, recalling the conversation they had beforehand. It came as quite the shock when Cleo explained that the tentacle that was previously attacking them was actually warning them about a comet that was to hit Earth, that Sophie, Zane and Ryan had found the Moon Pool and began stealing crystals embedded within the rock walls, and that Bella, Cleo and Rikki used their powers to deflect the comet, saving the world. It was definitely a mouth full.

Idly standing, Ryan glanced at the canal, before turning back to Cleo, who stared him down bitterly.

"What do you want Ryan?" she asked, impatiently.

"Cleo, I really just wanted to talk to you.."

"About what? About how you destroyed Mako just for some silly crystals?" Cleo blew up, grasping the blue stone around her neck. She usually considered herself a rational person, but when it concerned Mako and her secret, she couldn't help but act unreasonably.

"Look, I really didn't mean any harm, I only wanted to go out there to run some tests, examine the area, to-"

"Ryan, you and I both know that this was about more than just tests…" Cleo was fully aware of the fact that Ryan had been to the Moon Pool, leaving it in ruin.

"Sure, I did go out to excavate the crystals, but it would've been a scientific discovery! There are no accounts of that rock anywhere on Earth! It's unknown to man!"

"Don't you understand how dangerous that was? You could have done much more damage than you've already done. That island means so much to-" She trailed off.

"To whom? To you and your friends? Kim told me that you always seem to be going there." He paused, then continued.

"What's so special about Mako to you anyway? I know that you have some sort of connection to it. You're… always acting mysterious about it, like you're apart of sort of inside…group.."

Cleo furrowed her eyes, but refused to answer, trying not to give away anything. However, this only made Ryan more suspicious. He'd get the answer out of her somehow. He decided to keep pushing.

"You won't tell me, will you? I know you are keeping something from me, Cleo. About the rock's origins, your necklace… And it all leads back to Mako Island.. " He searched for an expression on her face, and found anguish. It suddenly dawned on him. There was a reason she acted so strange around him. "You knew…"

"I'm sorry?" She raised her brow.

"You knew about the crystals, the moon rock, their relation to Mako, their rarity. And as soon as I caught on, you closed up about it. Why?"

Cleo was at a loss for words. Anything that she would say would end up revealing more of the truth. She messed around with her hands, acting as though she didn't hear him. He could tell that she was vulnerable.

"Fine, but I'll let you know, I will find out. I will find out what is so different about you."

Cleo exhaled. She could not believe what she was hearing. "I-is that a threat?"

"Maybe, maybe not."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Before he could answer, someone that was coming up from behind them, holding a drink, bumped into Cleo, spilling a bit of it on her bright pink dress. The person tried to apologize, but before they could, she let out a huff, and immediately ran towards the canal, tripping over herself in her heels.

"Cleo?"

She didn't look back until she reached the edge of the water, dived in, leaving a clueless Ryan behind.

"Cleo!" Ryan regretted what he said, he realized how harsh he had been to her. He was certain she was keeping something from her, but even so, he knew he overreacted. He noticed Rikki, Bella, Will and Lewis walking over towards him, questioning what had happened to their friend.

"What did you do?" Rikki demanded, accusation in her eyes.

He held his hands up. "I didn't do anything. She just ran off and dived into the ocean. Look, I don't know what has gotten into her lately, but I only wanted to talk…"

Bella spoke up. "We know what you did Ryan, and we're not going to forget it."

They went off and searched for Cleo, splitting up. Lewis and Will went to Cleo's home, though they didn't have high hopes. They knew that their best bet would probably be Mako, so Bella and Rikki headed towards the underwater entrance.

They found her staring blankly at scattered bits of rock around the sand and ash bank that bordered the body of water. She heard them swimming up behind her, but didn't turn her head until their concerned voices greeted her.

"I can't believe they did this. This is our place, our sanctuary." Cleo whimpered, refusing to let Rikki and Bella see her eyes. Her vision was blurred, it hurt so much to even think back to the conversation she had a few moments ago.

"What happened?"

"Yeah, what did Ryan say to you?"

"He's catching on." She said, a flurry of emotions caught in her reply.

"What do you mean?" Bella asked softly, reaching the edge of the pool.

"I-I… the incident at the café made things worse, he said that we won't stop until he understands why I'm so… secretive.. I knew that letting him in was a risk, and I still took it, and now he's going to figure it out. I only made things worse, and I'm really sorry. I-" Her voice was clouded by grief. Deep down, she was horrified by the possibly of Ryan finding out everything. She understood firsthand how strong-willed Ryan could be. Even after Cleo had said she had given back the rock sample, he still pushed her for more details. It would be the exact same case, only now, Ryan knew that Cleo had a secret she was keeping, so she knew he wouldn't quit until he knew. She just hoped that she could find a way to keep Bella and Rikki from being in the crossfire.

Rikki cautiously hushed her, and reminded her that she didn't intend for him to find the Moon Pool, that she did everything she could to keep him off the trail, and that is what matters. Usually, Rikki found that comforting others and their emotions wasn't her strong suit, but she felt implied to reassure her friend as best she could. She could draw a few parallels to her and Zane's relationship before he found out her secret, and ultimately, she herself couldn't control how Zane found out when he did.

"Yeah, it'll be alright Cleo. Whatever happens, we can deal with it. After all, if we can save the world from a comet that threatened to destroy everything we knew, and handle water attacks on full moons, we can get through this. Together." Putting a hand on Cleo's shoulder, she started to giggle a bit. Even though the Moon Pool was a wreck, it still held the magic that had made it so memorable in the first place. It was still their place.

However, she still wasn't entirely sure they could handle this..

Cleo woke up at 8 AM to the sound of her alarm clock going off, blaring through her ears as it normally would on a school day. She figured that she must have forgotten to turn off her alarm when she went to bed last night, the idea of it being summer vacation still hadn't been processed through her head. She felt around aimlessly until her hand pressed the snooze button. After a few minutes, she realized that she was wide awake, so she pressed through the urge to stay in bed. Her eyes slowly started to flutter open, sunlight glaring through her bedroom window. Even though it was summer, she still needed to get to work, regardless of the fact that she would be there two hours ahead of time. It gave her more time to work with Ronnie and his tricks. Grabbing her phone, she texted Lewis, not bothering to call Rikki or Bella, they'd probably be asleep, but Lewis would normally be awake this hour.

Hey Lewis, I'm heading over to the Marine Park early, would you like to meet me there?

Sure. What's up? Something happen?

What? Do I need an excuse to spend some quality time with my boyfriend before he leaves for the States again?

When it interrupts my early morning fishing, yes.

Oh hush. I'll see you there at 9.

Sounds good. I'll bring the towels.

Lewis, I've had this job for over a year now. I'll be fine.

Hey, there's always a possibility.

…

Cleo?

…

I see how it is. I'll be there.

After changing, she went down the stairs and approached her father and stepmother, who were making breakfast and reading the newspaper respectively.

"Morning Cleo!" Sam smiled as she made scrambled eggs.

"Good morning, Cleo! I didn't expect you to be up so soon." Mr. Sertori greeted his daughter as Cleo poured herself some coffee and sat at the dining room table.

"Morning. Yeah, my alarm woke me up and I couldn't get back to sleep. I'm going to head out to the Marine Park early."

"Sounds good! Don't forget to have some breakfast before you go."

She grabbed a piece of toast and kissed both of her parents goodbye, before running off to join Lewis at the Marine Park.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself." Cleo grinned as they walked off towards the entrance of the park.

"So, what are we planning on doing?"

"I was hoping that we could go see Ronnie, I wanted to show you what I've been working on for the show."

"Alright. Also, I may have brought these." Lewis pointed to several colored towels in his bag.

"You didn't!" Cleo play fought, nudging Lewis in the arm. She took his hand and walked over towards the entrance, scanning a key card she kept in her pocket. The park wouldn't open until 11 AM, so they had a little bit of time to themselves.

Bella went to visit Will in his boat shack a little later on. She still hadn't informed him of the events that happened last night, and wanted to tell him as soon as possible.

"Hi Bella." Will subtly blushed at his girlfriend. He wasn't expecting her this early, but always seemed to enjoy her company, so he didn't mind.

"Hi, I was just around the area and wanted to drop in. We need to talk." Bella's serious tone made Will drop his playful mood, he knew what they were going to talk about, and something told him that it wasn't entirely good either.

"About last night?"

"Yeah."

"So what happened after Lewis and I went to search for Cleo? You sent me a message saying that you found her, but nothing else."

"She was at Mako, and she wasn't really in a happy mood."

"I saw her talking to Ryan last night, did he.. say anything?"

Bella nodded. "All she said is that Ryan is drawing connections between her and Mako Island, and that he's getting closer."

Will sat up in his chair, alarm in his expression. "That isn't good."

"Yeah, I know. I was hoping, that since your Sophie's brother, that maybe you could try to lead them both off the trail."

"How is Sophie close to your secret? She gave it all up for me, she wouldn't be going back to Mako anytime soon."

"It's just extra precautions. Sophie could be going back to scavenge the crystals from the excavation behind your back, and if she and Ryan try to-"

"And what about the tower of light you guys used two nights ago? That might keep them from going back if the place is 'too dangerous'."

"It could also draw them in further. Look, I'm only asking to see if you can try to find out what they know and what they want to know. It's for all three of us."

"….I know. I'll do it."

"Thanks, for sticking up for us." Bella said softly, starting to embrace her boyfriend in a heartfelt hug.

"You know I always would."

Sophie was just coming in from Rikki's after seeing a flyer for a free-diving competition held locally. Even though Will had said he was tired of competing, she still hoped that he wouldn't mind doing a rather small contest, just for fun. She was about to knock on the door, until she heard Bella and Will talking, very quietly, but still enough for her to hear. She put her ear against the door, and heard the entirety of their conversation. About Ryan, the Tower of Light, everything. She knew she had to tell Ryan about this. They had to go back to Mako.

"So where is this dolphin area?" Lewis asked as Cleo dragged him behind her.

"Just a little ways past the penguin exhibit. We're almost there."

"How could you have memorized this entire park's layout? The dolphin show tank is towards the back of the park, it must take you forever to get there."

"Not if you swim through the tanks." She grinned mischievously.

"You SWIM there?! Cleo, do you know how many people could-"

"Relax Lewis, I was just messing with you."

They made it towards the back of the park and were immediately bombarded with the eager sounds and clicks of dolphins as they flew through the air, trying to put on a show for their audience of two. A smile spread across both of their cheeks.

"Are they normally this energetic?"

"Dolphins are very social creatures, they love the attention."

"Of course you would know that."

Ronnie was in an individual tank from all of the other dolphins. As soon as Cleo came by, he swam towards the edge of the pool and flicked his tail in pleasure. An array of squeals flew from the bottlenose dolphin.

"Nice to see you too, Ronnie, this is Lewis." Pointing over towards her boyfriend, who awkwardly waved. "I wanted to show him a few tricks that we've been practicing."

In an instant, Ronnie went towards the center of his pool, awaiting Cleo to start. She made different hand signals, to which Ronnie responded with several flips and tricks. Cleo blew the whistle around her neck as a sign of praise. Lewis stared, impressed by his girlfriend's ability to take lead and communicate well with Ronnie. He soon swam back to the dock, satisfied with his morning exercise. Cleo chuckled at the aquatic mammal's awareness, he was obviously expecting a little treat of squid. She began walking towards the small building where the dolphins' food was kept, when she heard a high-pitched voice from behind her…

"That was so much fun! Let's do it again!"

She turned around, puzzled, as to where the voice was coming from. Lewis was sitting near the edge of the pool, but it wasn't his voice, and nobody else was around, because the park was still closed.

"Did you hear that?" Cleo asked, confused.

"No.. I didn't hear anything.."

"Come on! Don't leave me hanging!" the voice continued, as Cleo struggled to find an owner.

"There it is! Again!"

"Well, I can't hear it. What's it saying?"

"To, come play with me or whatever? Who's saying that?"

"I don't really know. I don't hear any voice for miles. The only thing I can hear is this dolphin."

"You don't think…"

Cleo and Lewis looked towards Ronnie, who continued swimming around in circles. Lewis heard squeals and clicks from the dolphin, however, Cleo heard something else..

"Cleo! Let's do it again!"

Rikki was enjoying a wonderful morning swim. The water was colder than it normally would be, but considering the sun had only been up for two hours, she didn't mind. It was both a privilege and a pleasure for her to be able to swim like this, and she practically did it every hour of the day. Something about the colorful reefs and flurries of different types of fish made her feel a sense of inner peace. She could leave behind her worries about Zane, Sophie, Ryan and the café.

Speaking of the café…

She figured that she should probably head over there. Bella was about to go over and start practicing for her gig, and Rikki promised her she would be there for moral support. She turn abruptly and began swimming in the opposite direction, feeling as though time itself flew with her through the ocean.

"Endlessly searching for an answer,

To problems that I tried to leave behind.

I shunned away from the whole picture,

But even so, you never left my mind.."

Bella paused as Nate attempted a solo on his keyboard, but ended up messing up the notes, muttering under his breath. The rest of the band huffed in frustration- they had been working nonstop on this new song, but couldn't pull it off as quickly as they had other songs they previously practiced and performed.

"It's okay Nate, we can take five for now."

The band disassembled, and Bella went to the counter as Rikki handed her a strawberry and mango smoothie, her favorite.

"Thanks." She smiled, sipping through her cup.

"Don't mention it, I though you'd need it after all that singing. Really liking the new song."

"You'd probably like it even more if I could get the notes right."

"Stop being so modest. It sounds great."

"Coming from the girl who never is modest."

Rikki began a response, but stopped as soon as she saw Bella slightly gazing off to another part of the café. She forced her eyes to follow her glance, and saw it. Ryan and Sophie were talking, not taking notice to Rikki and Bella. As soon as they did, Sophie whispered something, to which Ryan nodded, and they exited the café.

"What do you think they're saying?" Bella wondered.

"Don't know, probably isn't good though. I'll check it out."

"Rikki! Wait!-"

She went off, taking a risk of following where they were going. She wanted to get out of Rikki's anyway, the thought of having to confront Zane would have been too much to handle. They were on speaking terms, however, it would have been awkward just being there, since it used to be her place after all. Sophie took Ryan to Will's boathouse, carefully checking to see if Will was in there, before opening the door and disappearing from Rikki's view.

"You can talk!?" Cleo asked him, astonished. She figured she must be hallucinating right now. There was no way she could be talking to dolphin, one she knew for three years at that!

"Of course I can! I've been able to do it since birth!" The hyper dolphin exclaimed, before continuing. "You've just never been able to understand me before."

"H-how? How can I do this? I've never been able to do this. Lewis can you-?"

Lewis didn't answer Cleo. He just stared wildly between her and the dolphin, eyes wide open.

"It's probably because you're a mermaid, I know plenty of dolphins who were able to speak to mermaids. I was wondering when you'd be able to speak to me."

"How in the world do you even understand perfect English? I mean, it's impossible, but then again, being a mermaid is basically impossible, but.. How?"

"Oh, you're not talking in English. I'm surprised you haven't heard it yourself."

"What?"

Before she even said that, she saw the crystal on her necklace begin to light up, and her words translated into dolphin instinctively. She heard herself making various squeaks and clicks, and quickly put her hands over her mouth, gasping.

"L-Lewis?" She heard herself squeak again, desperately trying to get his attention. Lewis was staring miraculously at Cleo, but still said nothing. She only realized then that it wasn't because he was in shock, even though she knew he was.

It was because he couldn't understand her.

Sooo this was the first chapter! What do you think? Will Cleo be able to speak normally again? What plans do Ryan and Sophie have? What other powers do you think our trio will develop? Also, please review! It lets me know how I'm doing on the story, what I can improve on, and what elements I need to change. And let me know if I should continue. I have around four chapters done ahead of time, so after I have those posted it might take me a while to update again.