This is a continuation of rachelisafallenangel 's story House of H2O. The beginning of the story can be seen here: s/8106578/1/House-of-H20

Jerome's POV:

Walking away from Mara is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. Harder than going to see my Dad in jail, harder than eating that bucket of mashed carrots. But it was also the right thing to do. Keeping Mara safe matters more than us being together, and someday, hopefully, we'll get back together.

"Jerome, hey, wait!" Lewis's voice called. I stopped, and turned around. Lewis was jogging towards me, and thankfully, he was alone.

"What's up, Lewis?" I asked.

"What did you say to Mara? She came back to the cave, and I was told to leave so they could have girl talk." Lewis replied.

"I told her that I would rather she stay in Australia, because it's safer, and that someday, we will hopefully be together again." I said.

"Oh. I understand. You've done a great thing, Jerome, even though it sucks that you'll be apart." Lewis stated.

"Sucks is a bit of an understatement. I finally get together with the girl I've been interested in for years, and now she's a mermaid, and we're going to be separated? How is that fair!" I said, raising my voice.

"Jerome! Please calm down, Jerome. I know it's not fair." Lewis replied. I turned my back on him, raking my fingers through my hair.

"I've got to get off this island." I muttered, and started walking towards the beach. I could hear Lewis walking behind me, but didn't pay him much attention.

"Jerome." Lewis said, interrupting the silence.

"What is it, Lewis?" I inquired, trying not to sound angry.

"Well...I was wondering if you knew which way the beach is." Lewis replied.

"Am I going in the wrong direction, Lewis?" I asked.

"Actually, yes. But it's okay. The beach is just ten minutes in that direction." Lewis answered, pointing to his right.

"Alright, then." I said, and started to walk in that direction. After what seemed like twenty minutes, the beach came into view. I sped up, hoping to get off this forsaken island as soon as possible. I wasn't paying any attention to where I was going, and the next thing I knew, I had slipped and I was falling...down a tunnel? I heard a splash, and found myself staring up at a ceiling, which had a sun moving across it. The sun moved up to the top of the ceiling, and the water around me started to bubble. I watched in wonder, until a loud splash caused me to turn around. The water was still bubbling, but then a blond head popped up.

"Lewis! Did you purposefully come down here?" I asked.

"No. I called down after you, but you didn't reply, and I leaned forward and lost my balance." Lewis replied.

"Alright. Well, let's just figure out how to get out of here." I said, looking around. There was a ledge around the pool, and the walls were full of small gems. I pulled myself out of the water, with Louis following suit. I peered up the tunnel that Lewis and I had fallen down, and decided it was too steep to climb back up.

"We can't climb back up the tunnel-it's too steep. I'm going to try the water." I said. I eased back into the water, and ducked underneath. I swam forward, and there was an opening. I continued to swim, counting as I went. When I reached the open ocean, I turned back around and counted until I reached the pool. I surfaced, and gasped for breath.

"It's ten meters." I gasped out. Lewis nodded, and got into the water.

"Ready?" I inquired.

"Ready." Lewis replied, and we ducked underwater. I looked to make sure that Lewis was coming, and when I saw he was, I started to swim forward. Halfway through the swim, I felt an aching, tugging pain go through my legs. I glanced at Lewis, to see a pained expression on his face. I made a thumbs up motion, and Lewis shook his head. We continued to swim, and after what seemed like an eternity, we reached the ocean and surfaced for air.

"Did you feel that, Lewis?" I asked.

"The aching, tugging feeling in my legs? Yes." Lewis replied. Lewis looked down at my legs, and jerked away in surprise.

"Jerome! What-your legs-they're..." Lewis trailed off, and then glanced down at his own legs, and I swear, I thought he was going to pass out. I looked down at my legs, and they were gone-and so were Lewis's. In their place was a green tail. A ruddy tail-and I had one as well!

"What did that cave do to us?!" Lewis exclaimed.

"Lewis, alright. I know this seems completely horrid, but please calm down." I said.