Title: When it all Hits the Fan

Rating: K

Summary: While traveling the world Emma goes to places that she'd rather not go to. This includes in the middle of the boat in the middle of the gulf of Mexico. Emma finally tells her parents and Elliott about her being a mermaid. Oneshot.

Authors note: I had this written for a very long time and decided to add the missing parts. 2,779 words not counting the added parts or the authors note!

Emma looked nervously around before biting her lip. They were crossing a wooden plank over water and into a boat. A small boat that was going to hold her family and another family. Inside sat her parents and said family watching as she carefully crossed the plank of wood. Her blue eyes were trained on the people and not what could potentially expose her. Finally, her sneakers had made contact with the metal boat.

As of right now, Emma Claire Gilbert was in the Gulf of Mexico of northern Florida the U.S. of A. The area they were in was called Destin, and they were getting a private dolphin tour. It was only eight in the morning and supposedly the dolphins weren't too far away. She actually swam with dolphins but no one could really know how. Emma only hoped that she wouldn't fall into the water and risk getting caught. The fleeting thought of bailing out crossed her mind, but she couldn't just let her family have all the fun.

Once again she eyed the small boat. It was larger than Lewis's tinny but it wasn't a large tour boat either. They were going to go slow through the clear part of the ocean so she couldn't get accidently sprayed with water.

Each of them were then handed a bright red lifejacket to put on. Emma actually smirked at the thought that if she fell in the water, she wouldn't actually need it or anything.

"And this is my daughter Emma," said her mother snapping Emma out of her thoughts. The family then started to introduce themselves as the Porters to the Gilberts. The family only had one daughter who was about ten years old, who introduced herself as Katelyn. The girl's parents had introduced themselves as Judy and Michael. She smiled politely at all of them and hoping they were going to get done soon. She hated the secrecy but it was completely necessary.

It wasn't like she didn't want to be here. On the contrary, traveling with her family had been so much fun. They had a chance to see and do so many things. While they were in Egypt they had seen the pyramids, in China the great wall, in Russia they had seen the Tavricheskiy Palace, and in India they had seen the Taj Mahal. They had traveled in America and tried foods like Skyline Chili in Cincinnati, New York style pizza in New York, and homemade barbeque ribs in Texas. After Florida they were heading straight to California and Emma was going to visit her friend Lewis. She had recently gotten a text from her friend Bella that he was going to a college there. Surprise, surprise he was studying marine biology at the institute. Her family was then going to travel north to see the giant redwood trees. Needless to say, if she wasn't having fun, none of this would be possible.

Thoughts of her travels were soon stopped as soon as she noticed that they were surrounded by nothing but water. For a little bit Emma felt at peace, when she was in the water she felt as if nothing could hurt her. Her parents were already deep in a conversation about business. Judy was helping Michael with a case of sea sickness. Elliot was already searching for the dolphins. Across from her Katelyn started to shake in her seat some.

"Are you okay Katelyn?" Emma asked sympathetically. The girl looked a little scared since they had untied the boat.

"Not really, I'm afraid of the sharks and falling in, I don't know how to swim," she confessed. Her green eyes looked ashamed to her hands.

"Don't worry if you fall in Emma will save you. She used to be a world class swimmer and has tons of medals and trophies," bragged Elliot. Emma had the decency to blush at her brother's compliment. She didn't want the attention or remember her old life that she had given up.

That was when her eyes caught site of a dorsal fin in the water. It was slicing the water to them and Emma only pointed. In the rising sun they saw dolphins having fun in the water. The adults had stopped talking to watch the show they were putting on. High arches and water was splashing as they dove back into the water.

The sight was beautiful and she only wished she was in the water with them. To keep her secret a secret she couldn't even touch the water. The picture perfect moment and feeling was quick to go as it came. Behind her Michael was starting to get sicker from the motion of the boat. Her mum was taking pictures a mile a minute.

Tours were only an hour long but it felt longer as they headed back to the dock. Elliot and Katelyn were talking on the way back of what they had just seen. Elliot was replaying the entire show he took from his phone. They talking about going to wade in the water later and catch minnows. Emma found herself thinking that she could call her friends. Cleo and Rikki would be too busy working but she could probably get a hold of Bella easily.

"Dad can I play with Elliot after lunch?" asked Katelyn looking at her father. Her dad just nodded as he looked relieved as they touched dry land.

"Emma would you like to babysit them? I'll be happy to pay you as I have to get Michael here to the doctor," said Judy.

"Sure."

The sun was just getting to be over head to be noon. It was only ten thirty in the morning when it happened. Elliot and Katelyn were just talking and Emma playing on her phone. While she tried to get a hold of Rikki and Cleo, she just tried to update her blog. Thankfully, she could just type it and send it in an e-mail to herself to post it later. So far she had 10 people following it.

Then the boat started to rock as she slipped her phone back into her pocket. At least if she transformed her phone would be okay. Nothing happened before when it happened. Emma wasn't sure what exactly caused it, but the boat was starting to title sideways.

"Guys hold on," she said before Katelyn starting to panic.

"I can't swim, I don't know how to swim," she nearly shouted hyperventilating. Where was the first aid kid? Surely it had a bag for the girl to breathe into. Before Emma could stop the girl, Katelyn stood up, which caused the boat to shake more. Which unfortunately caused the standing girl to topple into the warm gulf waters.

A shiver and tingle ran down Emma's spine. She had to save Katelyn, but Elliot was standing right there. Her brother's eyes grew wide as he clutched the side of the boat still heavily rocking. Gathering all of his courage Elliot meet his sisters eyes.

"Emma I know you're a mermaid and I'm sorry for not telling you that I knew. But you've got to jump in and save her. I can get the boat back to the dock and get the first aid kit ready."

A little stunned at Elliot's confession Emma jumped into the water after the girl. Forget the secret she had to save Katelyn from drowning. She saw Elliot look at her tail as it formed before turning the engine on and heading toward the beach.

Elliot only glimpsed at her tail slightly unimpressed before putting his hands on Katelyn's chest. Then her pressed down and pumped trying to get her to breathe again. Emma used the blanket and put it over her body to keep her warm. Then proceeded to use the beach towel to dry herself. Thank goodness it was still early for people to see her like this.

"Do you think we need to do mouth to mouth?" asked Elliot with worry in his voice.

"I don't think so I can feel a pulse," she said touching the redhead. As soon as she said the word pulse Katelyn sputtered her life. She looked wildly around at Elliot and Emma as she through her arms around Elliot. Then the girls green eyes looked at Emma with her orange tail still. Elliot had grabbed the girl and hugged her real hard. Emma forgetting she had the tail herself also gave them an awkward side hug. Thank goodness she was still alive.

"You're a mermaid!" she said at loss for words as soon as she could properly breath. Emma quickly finished the job of drying her tail, wishing that she had Rikki's powers so bad. Then Katelyn turned stepped back and looked at Elliot who clearly had no tail and dry. She minded her manners as she thought for a second. "You both of you saved me, thank you."

"It's no problem but we have to tell your parents," said Emma suddenly dry and standing up. "Then we have to get you to a doctor to make sure you're okay. Do you think you can walk?"

Katelyn nodded and put her arm around Elliot who was helping her stand. Emma picked up a second blanket and put it around her brother who only smiled at her. They had just saved her life because Emma was a mermaid by pushing the girl toward the beach. Then Elliot had just performed CPR on the girl.

"Mum, dad there is something I need to tell you," she said looking at her parents. She shared a brief look with Elliot who only nodded. He was encouraging her to tell her parents before something horrible happened. All kinds of terrible things had popped into her head when Elliot had brought that part up.

She thought of being caught in the water and never return home. Then popping up on the international news and her parents see her. The thought of being some science experiment wasn't a pleasant thought.

"Come in and sit down Emma," said Lisa looking at her daughter. She looked up from her souvenir collection to notice the worry in her daughters face. Neil looked up from the American newspaper and paid attention to his daughter.

Emma sat down on the small couch in the suite and Elliot leaned against the door. There was going to be no easy way to tell them about this. And that's exactly how she started her confession. "I've been wanting to tell you for a long time, but I couldn't until I realized there was no way to go back to normal. I had to give it time to get used to and gain control of it. There was nothing I could do about it."

"Emma what is it?" asked Lisa with concerned look on her face. She could tell something was wrong with her daughter. "Emma, I can tell this is important, please talk to us."

"I'm a -" she started. "Don't freak out."

She took the water bottle that Elliot handed her and took a deep breath. She flipped the lid of the bottle and hesitantly held it over her hand. As soon as the water hit her skin there was no way back. Elliot only nodded again. With a boost of confidence, she dropped the water on her skin. Emma was unware of the breath she was holding until she let it out.

5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Then the tail came as she pronounced, "I'm a mermaid."

Her mother looked shocked and a bit bewildered at what just happened with her daughter. Her father only stood and looked stonily at her. Elliot was positively beaming that there were no more secrets between the entire family. Her father was the first to speak.

"How? What? When? Where? Why?"

This surely wasn't some kind of joke, as there would have been no time to change into a tail. Her skin had got wet and the tail appeared. Neil studied it for a moment just taking his daughter in. The tail was long and looked really strong. The long copper-golden-orange tail had a matching top just covered in scales. There was also a fluke like some other sea creatures he had seen in the water.

"This isn't possible and none of this makes sense," he said finally. "We'll take you to a doctor and maybe a psychologist if it helps. The best money can buy if it can help you get better, this is wrong."

Elliot and Emma's face dropped at what their father was saying. He was going to send her to be experimented on. This was going too far and it no longer was relaxing that everything was said or this time rather shown. Emma had grabbed the towel from Elliot and only frowned.

Her father must have been scared about this possibility. Her mother had said nothing since showing her the tail. Maybe she was just as upset about it as her dad was. This was horrible idea and she was better off just letting Elliot know.

"No this make sense, Neil you wouldn't know but I can tell because I'm her mother. Was this the reason why you quit the swim team? The craziness around the time of the full moon? I could tell because the moon controls tidal waves and such. Emma why don't you tell us the full story, including every detail and no lies otherwise, we will find out."

"Mum you don't think Emma's crazy," said Elliot sitting on the floor now. He had crossed his legs staring up at them. He really wanted to be close to his sister again.

"Of course, I don't think Emma is crazy. And Neil I hope you are not honestly thinking of taking Emma to some kind of doctor or a marine biologist. She is our daughter and it is not necessary, clearly she has full control over this. Now go on and tell this story."

Neil only looked at his wife who only smiled. She had every right to believe Emma and what she was saying. She had friends that clearly cared for each other and they had everything under control.

"Alright, it all happened the night that we were stuck on Mako Island - "

"Em that was a year ago."

"Mum I'm sorry but I had to get used to it and the idea. But we were at Mako when Cleo fell down this hole and Rikki and I followed her down. Inside was this cave and there was a pool of water inside that connected to the ocean. The only way to get out was to swim out and into the ocean. When we all were in the water the moon was above us. And well the next day we all of a sudden had tails."

"So Cleo and Rikki have tails too? Does Bev and Don know about this? Terry?" Lisa Gilbert was flabbergasted at this. Their daughters had managed to keep this a secret for such a long time.

"No, we all swore to keep it a secret you're the first to know outside of our little group. The only person that knows is Lewis and he's been helping us try to get rid of it for a while."

"And I knew but I didn't tell Emma though."

"That's what I was curious about, how did you know about me Elliot?"

"Well, that one time Kim almost found out, I was taking a shower and you said I was hogging it. Which I probably was and all of a sudden it started to hail in my shower and I came out freezing. That's how I knew but I didn't say anything because you were probably going to tell us at a certain time."

Neil and Lisa Gilbert only listened to Emma's story enthralled and shocked at what their daughter was telling them. There was no possible way that this could all be true but it was. This wasn't the kind of stuff that she could have made up. Emma was too practical and too serious to make such stories. Elliott only listened with rapt fascination.

If you had focused on the clock the entire time. It took nearly 3 hours to describe what happened up until she got to Dr. Denman. It would take another 3 to describe Charlotte. Emma cleared her throat before she could meet her parent's eyes again.

"You're not going to tell Cleo and Rikki's parents are you?" asked Emma nearly crying.

"Oh Emma of course not. I'm just happy that you decided to tell us," said Lisa hugging her daughter and not letting go.