Authors Note:
A big thanks to all my readers and reviewers. I'm glad you've all stuck with me this long. Sometimes it's a bit of a winding road to get from start to finish and it can be easy to loose the way.
Anyways I need your help now. Last chapter had Byron and Laura make an agreement. Problem is I'm kind of drawing a blank on points for each side of the debate. So I'm asking all of you to submit reasons for one side or the other, or both if you want, and I'll use the best ones and you get your name added to the credits too.
I hope a lot of you will participate. I think it could be fun. Now on with the story.
Chapter 2:
Countdown: Tuesday
Sophie pulled her rental up next to her brothers boat house. She turned off the car, grabbed her coffee from the cup holder and finished it off, then, after a quick glance at the clock, she got out. It was just after 6:30 in the morning and it had been a week since she'd last talked to Will. She wanted answers.
Setting her self she strode purposefully towards the door. She grabbed the handle and shoved it open.
"Morning, Will. We need to... Oh God!" She broke off as what she saw finally registered on her mind. Clothes were strewn all over the floor, not all of them belonged to her brother. No, most, she realized, belonged to the young woman that was curled up in bed next to him. The blanket had slipped down and only came up to their waists, and barely at that.
Both of them had snapped awake at her sudden entrance and now stared at her in wide eyed horror.
"Sophie! Get out. OUT!" Will practically yelled at her as he recovered first. Bella was trying to grab the blanket to cover herself.
Sophie stumbled backwards, somehow, despite all reason, unable to turn away. Once outside and her view blocked she staggered over to the car and leaned over the hood. She tried, and failed, to shake the horrible image from her mind. Eventually she heard footsteps approach her from behind. They stopped a short distance away and who ever it was just waited.
She turned slowly her eyes half closed and a hand ready to cover each of them if needed.
"I have shorts on now. You can turn around." Will said.
"I'm so sorry." She said. "I swear I will knock from now on." She meant that too. After today it wasn't something she was ever likely to forget.
"So why did you come so early and unannounced?" He asked. His arms were crossed, she noted absently, and he was scowling too.
"Well it concerns-" She finished with a gesture towards the beach house. Will was smart and he understood she was referring to the girl inside and not the house.
"Ah." He said. "And I suppose that with her here we can't talk about this?" She shook her head. "If you really want to know then stay by your phone. I'll call you later."
"Okay." She let out a breath. "I guess I should go now before I make things any worse." She didn't wait for a reply as she quickly got in the rental and drove away. She planned to head back to her hotel room, after a quick stop at the local corner store. Early morning or not, after what she'd accidentally seen, she really needed a drink.
Will stood and watched as his sister drove off. He waited until she was out of site before finally relaxing and heading back inside. He noted that Bella's hands were shaking as he came in, and it was making it hard for her to get dressed again. He came up and put his arms around her, holding her gently.
"You OK?" He asked softly. "I know that was a bit... unexpected."
"How can you be so calm about it?" She asked. "I'm still shaking."
"Because," he said tilting her eyes up to his. "You're not the person I'm upset with."
"Oh." She said. He could see it in her eyes as it sunk in and she calmed down. After all she wasn't mad at him. "I guess that makes sense."
She gently pushed away so she could finish getting dressed. He helped by picking up her clothes and holding them out to her. Once she was finished they sat down.
"So aside from that rather startling wake up call, how are you feeling?" He asked her.
"Better. Thanks to you." She said and then let out a deep breath. "I'm still not sure what to do though. I love my life, really I do, its just that..." She paused. "I just feel like I'm loosing my past."
"Well," he said thoughtfully. "You could always try it. Unlike the others you wouldn't feel the need to stay that way so it wouldn't break your pact."
"You think I should?" She asked looking distraught.
"Maybe. Maybe not." Will smiled at her. "I don't think you should rush into this. Unlike the others you're not doubting if this is the life you want. So you have to decide if reclaiming a bit of your past is worth a week of your life."
"I guess you're right. I'm not wondering if this is the right thing for me like the others. I just don't know if it's worth it." She looked over at him. "I really need to think on this one."
"Well if you need advice or support I'll always be here for you." He gave her a half grin. "Never doubt that."
She kissed him. It was all the answer he needed. Suddenly her kissed changed, turning hungry. "Didn't you just finish getting dressed?" He asked between her kisses.
"So?" She answered as she started to push him back on the bed.
Well at least they wouldn't have Sophie barging in again, he thought as he gave in to her.
It was just before 7 am when I finally dragged myself out of bed. The coffee was already brewed and I quickly helped myself to it. I sipped it slowly, giving it time to kick in, and headed out to the kitchen. I figured I'd have breakfast now and get dressed after.
"Bella you awake?" I called. I had the fridge open and was looking for something when I realized she hadn't answered. I put my cup on the counter and headed to her room. "Bella?"
First thing I noted was her door was open, and the second thing was that her bed was too neat for her to have slept in. I chuckled to myself as I went back to the kitchen. I could guess where she'd been all night. Looked like it was breakfast for one today.
After eating and getting ready I headed over to Emma's. I needed to talk to her before work. I had a few things about how to pitch needing next week off to Laurie that I could use her help with. I wouldn't be up this early otherwise.
I got to her house and politely knocked. I know it was early but Emma was usually already up by now. However it wasn't Emma that answered the door.
"Oh good morning, Laura." Neil said. "If you're looking for Emma she never came home last night."
"Never came home?" I asked stunned.
"She sent a message saying she was staying at a friends place." Lisa called from the kitchen.
"Okay. Thanks." I said. "I guess I'll ask around and see where she is."
I waved politely as I headed away. Now where would she be? I doubted she'd be with Bella and Will. She wouldn't be over at Rikki's. She might be at Cleo's. Well only one way to find out. I walked around Emma's house to the water. This way would be faster and I'd get stared at less.
In short order I was pulling myself out of the water behind Cleo's house. I wasn't easy, never was, but we'd gotten used to it. I was so focused on that task I didn't realize I wasn't alone until my observer spoke.
"What are you doing up this early?" I looked up at Cleo.
"How did you know I was here?"
"Saw you from my window." She said and pointed to the second floor.
"Oh right. Some help please?" I held out a hand.
"And end up down there with you?" Oh right. I guess the coffee could only do so much. I yawned.
Cleo held out her hand, fingers spread and curled, and the water pushed me the last bit of the way out onto the dock. Another twist of her hand and I was suddenly completely dry. "I guess that works to."
"So what are you doing here this early." Cleo asked me.
"Looking for Emma." I said. "She wasn't at home last night and she left a message for her family that she was staying at a friends."
"Well she's not here." Cleo said. "I would assume by the fact that you're looking she wasn't with you and Bella either."
"I doubt she'd be at Rikki's," I said. "I guess I'm out of options."
"She couldn't be at... could she?" Cleo looked doubtful.
"What are you thinking?" I wasn't awake enough even after the coffee and the swim to follow her trail of thought.
"Ash. She could be with Ash." Cleo said. "But I can't think of what she'd be doing there all night."
I started laughing. "I can think of something." I said. "It's the same something that is why Bella didn't come home last night either. And you don't know about that?"
"More like I was trying not to think about it, you know." She looked a bit uncomfortable.
"I guess I can understand that." I said reining in my laughter. "So you and Lewis..."
"None of your business." She said primly. "I could ask about you and Byron if you like."
"Not yet." I answered. She squirmed and looked even more uncomfortable then before.
"How can you answer that so easily." She asked confused.
"Probably because there is nothing to say. Not that Bella hasn't suggested I try." I shuddered remembering that conversation. "On second though forget about that."
We both shared a laugh. "So do you know where Ash lives?" Cleo asked.
"No. I have his number in case I need to send out a group message but I didn't think it was proper to ask where he lived. I'm not his girlfriend."
"Well then I guess you better message Em so you have time for us to talk to her before work."
"Us?" Now I was confused.
"Yeah. I assume you wanted her advice on talking to Laurie today?" I nodded. "Well I did too. I was about to over to her place before I saw you in the water."
"Ah." Guess Emma was the go to person for planning. I pulled out my phone and sent her a message.
Emma was curled up around Ash. She was sleeping in a bit, something she rarely did, when her phone buzzed.
"Someone's messaging you, love." Ash told her. This close she loved the way his voice rumbled in his chest and she curled closer. "Do you at least want to look? Before they resort to calling?"
She sighed. "I might as well. Where is my phone anyways."
"I think you put it on the nightstand after you sent the message to your family."
"Oh right." She reached across him to find her phone.
"Mmmmm... I like that." Ash said.
"Oh don't go starting anything just yet." She told him. "It is far to early for that."
She grabbed her phone and opened the message. It read: Hey Em. Know you're with Ash. Hope you had fun. Need to talk. L/C
She groaned. "What is it?" Ash asked. She handed him the phone so he could read it. He had turned bright red by the end. "How ever did they figure out you were here all night?"
"I don't know. But I do know it's from Laura. She never bothers with shorthand."
"I guess you'd better go talk to them before they find a way to track down where I live and just show up here."
She groaned again. "I think you're right." She thought for a moment. "It's around 7:30 now. They don't have to be to work for a while, Cleo especially since she has an afternoon shift. I think they have time to meet me at Mako." She quickly sent the reply and started to get dressed.
"Think you'll have time for breakfast?" Ash asked her while she typed.
"Probably not." She said. "But we both have the day free so I can be back for lunch."
"Let's have lunch at the cafe. We do need to work out things with Rikki for next week no matter what you chose to do."
"Good point. I'll meet you there for lunch." He kissed her as she went past. "Don't keep me waiting."
"I won't." He said. She smiled and headed out.
Cleo didn't enjoy the swim to the moon pool as much as she usually did. Her mind was too full of worry about how everything would go next week. With Lewis, with herself, getting time off, and more. At least meeting with Emma would help with some of that.
The were almost to the moon pool when Emma caught up to them and took the lead. Neither Laura or she bothered to challenge Emma on it. Rikki was the next most competitive one after Emma.
Emma pounced on them as soon as they surfaced. "So how did you know where I was?"
"Well you weren't at home when I stopped by," Laura said.
"You weren't at my place when she came there next and we both know you weren't over at Rikki's either." Cleo added starting to feel a bit worried about how Emma would react.
"And since you were the one looking you knew I wasn't at your place." Emma said looking at Laura.
"Well yes. I knew you weren't at my place and I'm very sure you weren't with Bella either." Laura said then realizing what she'd said her eyes got wide and she clamped her mouth shut.
Cleo watched as Emma's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait? Bella wasn't at your place last night?" Emma asked. Laura started to turn red.
"Nope. She let that slip to me earlier." Cleo told her. Laura looked away.
"Oh I can guess where she was." Emma practically sang.
"I'm sure you can. Let's just drop it for now." Cleo said..
"Will's." Emma said anyways.
"I agree with Cleo," Laura said finally. "This is not the time for that."
"OK." Emma said. "So what did you need to talk about?"
"We need..." she and Laura started at the same time then stopped.
"You say it." Cleo offered.
Laura nodded and turned to Emma. "We need some advice on how to talk to Laurie about next week."
Cleo watched as Emma turned that over in her head. It took a while. It was a bit of a tall order after all so she hadn't been expecting a quick answer.
"Well I guess you should just be straight with him. He's read the reports so he knows a lot about us." Emma said.
"And mentioning the switch?" Cleo asked nervous.
"Only mention that if you end up having too. The less that know about that the better." Emma turned to Laura. "That goes for you too."
Laura just stared back with her right eyebrow raised.
"She means your friend and our bane." Cleo clarified.
Laura sighed. "Trust me she'll notice. Even if I say nothing. And really can't you let the past be the past? She knows you can't forgive her, but can you try and make a fresh start?"
Emma just stared at her.
"Ease up Em." Cleo said. "You know it's not her you're mad at."
"I know." Emma said with a sigh. "I just don't understand how you can be friends with her."
"Well to put it like Bella did." Laura explained. "We were never locked in a cage so we've had a much different experience."
Emma finally relaxed. "I guess you're right, from that point of view. You actually worked with her for over a year and she even helped you get set up here too."
"It's no wonder you like her." Cleo finished. "She's been nothing but helpful to you." She let out a breath. "But we can't ever forget."
"She knows." Laura said softly. "She's not asking for forgiveness, she knows she won't ever get that, but just a chance to put that in the past and start over, the right way this time."
"We'll think about it." Emma said. "But you understand that there are no promises. Right?"
"Right." Laura tilted her head to the side. "How did we get from help talking to Laurie to talking about Linda?"
"Linda?" Cleo had to admit she was shocked that Laura was calling Denman by her first name now.
"I'm not her student or assistant anymore. Now quit changing the subject you two." She tried for a sever look but both of them knew it was just that: a look.
"OK. OK. Easy." Emma said. "Just talk to him and keep it simple. Tell him only what you need to for it to all work. The less questions the better."
"Sounds good." Laura said.
"What are you going to do about next week?" Cleo asked.
"I have to talk to Rikki and Zane about that." Emma said. "Can't have all four of us off for a whole week so we're all gonna have to work out the details. I'm meeting Ash for lunch at the Cafe. I know Rikki is working today so we'll talk with her some then."
"That's good." Cleo said. "But you need to go. It's almost 9 now." She said turning to Laura.
"I know. I know." The redhead said. "I was wondering if you would come with me so we can talk to him together and all."
"Okay. But why?"
"It was easier last time we had something big to talk about with him and we did it together is all." Laura said. "I figured to stick with what works."
"OK. I'll meet you there. I just need to talk to Emma a bit first." Cleo looked over to Emma, only to find she wasn't there. "Where did she go?"
"She left the moment you reminded me I needed to leave. She obviously didn't want to stay and answer questions." Laura said.
"I was going to talk about Denman actually but I suppose that can wait. Laurie and work are two much bigger issues right now."
"Yeah. Swim to work?" Laura asked.
"Sure. Might as well. We're already in the water."
Laurie was making his usual morning rounds when he noticed a crowd forming near one of the open pools. He made his way over, already suspecting he knew what the cause was. He wasn't disappointed. With the first shows not being for at least another 2 hours he'd let Ronnie out into his public showing tank, and, as usual when the girls chose the water entrance, he rounded them up and tried to get them to play.
"OK everyone move along." He yelled out. "Let's go." He waived over one of the security officers the park kept on hand ever since Ronnie once got loose, somehow.
The guard just nodded and after a call on his radio began to get the crowd of people to move along. Once things were quite Laurie turned to the pool only to notice a flash of orange heading towards the back tanks. Ronnie was also following them. Laurie just sighed once again thinking about how much more interesting things were these days now that the girls weren't hiding what they were.
He quickly headed to the back to see why they were here so early. By the time he'd taken the time to go around all the fences the girls were out of the water and trying to convince Ronnie they'd be back later. Laurie just laughed softly to himself as he watched how well the girls worked with the dolphin.
"So what brings you in so early today, girls?" He called out as he walked up.
"We needed to discuss something with you," Cleo began.
"And we wanted to do it before we started work for the day." Laura finished.
He thought for a moment. This spot, while out of view from the general public, was still too open. He guessed they needed to talk about something regarding mermaids from their tone. He sighed to himself as he realized the best place would be his office.
"Let's go to my office. I assume you don't want this conversation to be general knowledge." He said as he led them towards the office buildings.
"No we don't." Laura said.
"Thanks for understanding." Cleo added.
He just gave a quick smile over his shoulder and continued on. Once they got to his office they all got seated and the girls began to explain.
"We were wondering if there was any way we could get next week free?" Cleo asked.
"Both of you?" They nodded. "For the whole week?" Another nod. "I have to ask why only due it being such short notice."
"It has to do with the partial eclipse." Laura said.
"What does that have to do with anything?" He asked confused. He didn't remember anything in the publications mentioning anything like that.
"I guess we'll have to explain about how the moon can effect us and our powers." Cleo said after a short wait.
The explanation that followed was one that left him with a lot more questions then ever.
"So let me get this straight," he said. "The moon can make you act oddly?"
"Just the full moon." Cleo said. "And it's not something we want to be generally known."
"And a full eclipse can return you to being human for twelve hours." He stated.
"Yes." Laura answered. "Or so I've heard. I've never tried it but Cleo has." Cleo was nodding.
"So the partial eclipse shouldn't be that bad. You'd be fine by morning." He said.
"Not exactly." Cleo admitted.
Now he was curious. He tried to not let it show, but after finding that he'd leaned closer over his desk he realized he'd completely failed.
"I guess we have to tell him." Laura said to Cleo who just nodded.
"You go for this one." Cleo told her friend.
"The partial nature of the eclipse both pulls our powers away and puts them back." Laura said. "On it's own nothing would change, but if we are in contact with someone else, that is not a mermaid, they sort of..." She paused a moment to think. "Borrow I guess is the best way to describe it, our powers for a while."
"One week actually if Lewis' sources are correct." Cleo added.
He leaned back stunned. He needed a moment to think over all this. After a while he spoke again. "So you plan to do this?"
"I do." Cleo said. "The other are still thinking about it."
"But we agreed that it would be best to get things set up now in case we did, and so that we could keep an eye on the guys." Laura said.
"They guys?" He blinked. "You can loan you powers to a man? I though only girls could be, well you know."
"I guess for this it doesn't count." Cleo said. "Not that we truly understand any of this."
"I see." He said. "Well I guess it should be easy enough for you Cleo. You've worked here for almost three years now and you haven't taken any time off. So you have a lot of vacation day's saved up."
"Thanks. That's good." Cleo said sounding relieved.
"But I missed three weeks back when I got found out and I only just started this year." Laura said.
"Yes. But I can give you a few days if you only need to keep an eye on someone. If you do go for it we'll have to figure out something." He said.
"Just so long as I can avoid water completely during that time. I won't have my powers and that might be difficult to explain." Laura said. "That's why we wanted to be off to hopefully avoid the problem completely."
"Hmmmm..." He nodded as he considered the girls logic. If Laura didn't make up her mind till the end of the week then it really would be too short of notice to get any time off. Also there were the duties she was expected to perform, most of which involved being in or around the water. "Okay. But it'll be on the books as a time deficit. You won't be able to take any more time off after this until you earn it back." He said at last.
He liked the girls. They worked hard and truly cared about the marine life. Their being part marine life themselves was another reason. He loved all sea life, and wanted to do anything he could to help it along. That often included finding a compromise for the odd situation the girls invariably found themselves in.
"I can accept that." Laura said. "It sounds completely fair."
"Good. I'll take care of the paper work." He sighed. He hated paperwork, but it came with the job. He glanced up at the clock. "And you need to get started for the day." He pointed at Laura.
The girls both hopped to their feet and hurried off. He made a quick note in his log book then he hurried off to get ready for the first show of the day.
Cleo left the park by the more normal route of the main gate and quickly hurried to see Lewis. She tried her best to ignore the stares by people that recognized her as a mermaid and again wondered how Laura had put up with it for so long. She knew this would only get worse because at this hour of the day Lewis wouldn't be at home. No he'd be fishing at one of his favorite spots.
She hurried towards the closest of them hoping he'd be there and she'd have a short search. No such luck as it turned out. She'd ended up having to check more then half of them and after the third one she had given up on walking and just dove into the water. It was both faster and avoided crowds.
In truth she found his lure first. She wondered once again how any self respecting fish would ever go for it but for some reason they did. She surfaced near the dock he was on. He noticed her immediately.
"Cleo," he had a genuine smile of pleasure upon seeing her and it made her feel good. "Hi. How are you today?"
"I'm good." She answered. "Could you give me a hand here?"
"Sure." He quickly reeled in his line and put his fishing rod aside then offered her a hand. "You're not gonna try and pull me in are you?"
"I'd have just looped you up with water if I was going to do that." She told him. She would too; it would be far easier after all.
"Right." He answered as he helped pull her out of the water. "I think I have a towel around here somewhere. Just give me a moment to find it."
"Don't bother. I'll get dry myself. I still need more work on drying myself." She told him as she began to focus.
"You can?" He sounded surprised. "Wow! You really can!" He added as he saw her get herself dry.
"Still takes me a few tries to get it right though." She told him but was secretly glad it had only taken her three attempts this time. She was slowly getting better.
"So what's up?" He asked. "I thought I wouldn't be seeing you until it was time to talk to your parents tonight."
"Well I wanted to work how we would go about doing that." She looked at him. "You know."
"I though Emma was the one that planned everything out." She laughed.
"I can too. Ya know." She said.
"I know." He said as he put an arm around her. "I'm just not looking forward to this no matter how we go about it. I fully expect to be running for my life before the end of it."
"My Dad's not that bad." She told him. "He actually likes you."
"He liked me more before we started officially dating and you know it." They shared a laugh at the ironic truth of that.
"I was thinking we'd be better off explaining about the moon and that I'm going to do it and I chose you to loan my powers to."
"And then get to it's best to keep me near by so you can keep me out of trouble?"
"Basically. I figured that would be the safest approach. What do you think?" Cleo asked.
She watched his face as he though about it. She loved to watch him think. The way he looked as he turned something over in his head was something she never got tired of seeing. She watched closely waiting for the moment he finished thinking. By watching closely she could often tell what kind of choice he'd come to.
He turned to her about to say something. But she could tell from his expression that he'd come to agree with her. "Thanks Lewis. You're the best!"
"But I didn't say anything yet." He looked confused.
She kissed him. "You didn't have to. I know you well enough to just know."
"Not sure how I feel about that." He admitted. "But yeah I do agree that is the safest plan to go with. He's still going to set some limits of his own though."
"I'm hoping to stall him on that a bit." She said.
"And how do you plan to accomplish that?" He asked doubtful she, or anyone, could pull that off.
"I'll ask him to make up a list of rules and not lay them out until Sunday when you bring your stuff over. That should keep him from making them in the heat of the moment. Plus I'm hoping that way Sam might be able to keep him in check a bit."
"I go away to study abroad and when I come back this lovely girl I'm fond of has grown in to the most beautiful genius I've ever known." He told her.
She felt her face get warm as she blushed. She didn't know how to answer that kind of honesty so she just stared at him. He took the opportunity to kiss her.
"I wonder what would happen if I went away again?" He asked her.
"I'd follow you. Even if I had to swim the whole way there." She said. "I'm not going to loose you again."
"Thank you." He said. She looked at him curiously, his expression said he'd come to some kind of decision but she couldn't remember asking him a question.
Emma had hurried away as soon as Cleo had gotten distracted talking to Laura. Cleo was one of her best friends but she wasn't ready to go into the whole night at Ash's place with her. She knew she'd have to answer her questions eventually, but she wasn't ready to just now. So she'd fled.
Now she found herself with nothing to do until lunch. She didn't feel like going to the cafe early and she knew the others would be heading to the park to talk to Laurie. She could visit Rikki, but seeing as she planned to catch her at the cafe later that seemed a bit needless. So she decided to go visit with Bella and Will. They, at least, couldn't hassle her about spending the night with Ash.
She took off. She dove under arches of coral and swerved around outcroppings of rocks. She enjoyed the thrill of swimming faster then anything else.
But something felt off today. Not one to let something like this sit she thought it over while swimming. It didn't take her too much time to figure out what was bothering her. She missed swimming competitions. For all her speed she had only her sisters to race, and most of them weren't into racing.
She sighed to herself as she approached Will boat house. She slowed down so she wouldn't hit anything this close to shore and started looking for some loose stones. She found a bunch of small ones and grabbed them up. She planned to use them to knock on the door.
She surfaced and started tossing the stones at the door. She only had to toss a few before Will stuck his head out the side window and waved.
"Morning Emma." He greeted her. "What brings you out here."
"Just came to talk for a bit before I go meet Ash for lunch today." She answered.
Will pulled his head inside in response to something she couldn't hear. He said something and after another moment he stuck his head out again. "Bella want's to know if you want to come inside or stay out there?"
"I have no way to get dry unless you can help." She told him.
"I'll be right out Em." Bella called out.
"No problem. Not like I'm going anywhere." Emma said as she pulled herself out of the water.
She didn't have to wait long before Bella came outside. For a brief moment Emma wondered how she planned to help get her dry with out towels until Bella made all the water on her fall off as gel. Emma tried to not let her aggravation with being the only one who's powers didn't accommodate self drying show.
"You'll figure something out." Bella said. Emma suddenly understood Laura's impulses to hit her head on things. Sometimes you just needed too.
"If I tried I'd be a fishcicle in a second." Emma told her.
"So how did you know I'd be here?" Bella asked.
Emma wasn't surprised by the question. They didn't make a habit of visiting each others boyfriends on a whim.
"Laura let slip you didn't go home last night. Don't worry I won't say anything. I didn't go home last night either." Emma said.
Bella spun around suddenly, her eyes were wide in surprise, even more so when her sudden spin caused her to slip and fall off the short boardwalk over the water that lead to the front door. Emma thew up her hands in reflex to freeze the splashes of water that came her way.
"You OK?" Emma asked her friend as Bella resurfaced.
"Is everyone alright?" Will blurted out as he ran out the door and came to the edge.
"Yeah. We're just fine." Bella said from the water. "Could you push her in please?" She asked with with an overly sweet grin.
"What did you say to her?" Will asked with a sigh?
"Nothing." Emma said.
"When Bella gives that look 'nothing' doesn't cut it." He told her.
"It's girl stuff." Emma told him. "Now are you going to help her out or not?"
"Me?" He asked surprised. "I didn't cause this, and …" He didn't get to finish as Bella had twisted to the side and used her tail to spray them both with water.
"Now you have to get in." She said.
"Ugh!" Emma groaned but she dove in all the same. "Was that completely necessary?" She asked Bella once she got back to the surface.
Bella just smiled.
"Did you want me to dive in too or should I leave you girls to figure this out?" Will asked still dripping.
"Oh. Sorry honey. You can go inside. We'll be right there." Bella told him.
"We will?" Emma asked her.
"Yes. We're even now. We'll talk later. Just us."
"Okay. I guess that's good enough for now."
A short while later they were dry and had joined Will inside. He was still drying off and so the girls made sure to keep a good distance from him.
"So what brings you out here?" Bella asked.
"I wanted to talk some about this whole thing." Emma said. "I'm not sure what to do. I like being a mermaid and I've come to accept it..."
"But?" Bella prompted her.
"But there are things I'm starting to realize I miss. Like racing at swim meets." Emma said.
"But you don't know if those are more important to you then what you have now, right?" Will guessed.
"Yeah."
"I think I understand." Bella said. "I love this but ever since last night I've been worried that I was so young when this happened that I'm loosing part of myself to it. I don't know yet if I want to do this just to recover a part of myself I've almost completely forgotten."
"You have doubts?" Emma said shocked.
"No. Not doubts." Bella said calmly. "Just a fear that I'm loosing a part of myself. Remember I've been a mermaid for over half my life. I was only nine when I first changed. It's been so long now I don't remember my life from before."
"And she isn't sure yet if it's worth taking a week to remember that." Will said. "But what ever she decides to do I'll support her and I don't doubt for a moment that you guys will too."
"He's right about that Bella." Emma told her. "We will."
"Thanks." She said. "That's good to hear. Even if I already knew it."
"So you came to ask for advice then?" Bella said bringing the topic back to why she'd come to visit.
"Yeah. I just hope I'm not interrupting your time together." Emma told them.
"Oh no. Sophie did that just fine this morning." Bella said.
"Which reminds me I told her I'd call later." Will said.
"Well it's after 10 now. We could go to the cafe and all have lunch." Bella offered. "You did say you were meeting Ash."
"Would you stop grinning like that." Emma told her. "I shouldn't have told you."
"Too late now. So we going or not?" She asked.
"So is this something I should know about or what?" Will asked.
"Ummm..." Emma looked to Bella. Bella started to say something but ended up just shrugging.
"Let's go to lunch. Will, you can join us if you like." Emma said instead.
"Ooookaaaay..." He said looking completely lost. "I'll call Sophie and then meet you there."
Emma pulled out her phone and quickly sent a message to Ash to let him know they were going to the cafe a bit early and he was welcome to show up early too. Then she and Bella headed out side and dove into the water.
The phone rang several times before someone answered it. Will had been starting to worry that Sophie wasn't going to answer. Though after he heard her voice he began to wish she hadn't.
"Hello?" His sister's voice slurred.
"Sophie? Have you been drinking?" He demanded
"Hey! After what I saw I have every right to." Her voice was definitely slurred.
"Maybe this isn't the best time for this." He said.
"Hey. You put yourself in my shoes." She told him. He heard something being poured.
"What ever do you mean by that?" He asked with a resigned sigh.
"Imagine, for the sake of argument," a pause as he heard her swallow something. "And tell me what you'd do if you'd accidentally walked in and it had been me like that."
Okay he had to admit to himself that even underage he'd have wanted something to help him forget such a horror. "OK you do have a point."
"Thought you'd see it that way." She replied. "But just in case you wanted to know. It won't work."
"Yet you're still drinking." He said.
"I switched to water to try and sober up a while ago." She swallowed something again. "The beer wasn't working anyways."
"Right." He said pinching the bridge of his nose. "So you wanted to know about the ring if I remember right."
"Yup."
"It will be finished next Wednesday and I plan to ask her a few days or so after." He said. "That work for you?"
"Yup. That works." She said. "And again I swear that I will never again forget to knock."
"Don't worry, I also plan to get a lock for that door." He told her.
"Good. Now if you'll pardon me I don't feel so good." She hung up before he could respond.
"Yeah. Definitely time to get a lock." He said to himself.
Rikki arrived at the cafe early. She planned to grab a quick lunch before having to take over for the afternoon. She hadn't expected to see Bella, Emma, and Ash. She really didn't expect them to wave her over.
"Hey Rikki, you got a moment?" Emma called out.
"I guess I might." She said as she walked over. "What's up?"
"I wanted..." she began.
"We wanted," Ash corrected.
"Right. We wanted to talk about next week." She said. "You know."
Rikki gave a slow nod and looked around. "Office." Was all she said.
"Meet you there." Emma said.
"I'll wait out here for Will." Bella said. "He should be here soon."
"Okay. This shouldn't take too long anyways." Emma told her. "Save us a seat."
"This better not take too long I have to work today." Rikki huffed as she followed Emma and Ash to the office.
"So we need to figure out what to do next week." Emma said as soon as the door closed.
"Already worked it out with Zane." Rikki said.
"You?" Emma said looking stunned. "You already planed it out?"
"I can do that too you know." Rikki said. "You're not the only one that can plan things."
"Easy girls." Ash said. "Please don't argue."
"Fine!" Emma exclaimed. "But I still don't buy it."
"We worked this out a while ago just in case Zane or I ever wanted to take some time off." Rikki told them. "We'd have to have one or both of you take over some of the office work that we normally do."
"You sure you didn't just come up with this last night?" Emma asked looking suspicious.
"Of course not." Rikki told her while trying to keep a straight face. "Why would you even ask?"
"Because you never told us about this until now." Ash said.
Rikki thought fast. She had no idea how to get out of this one. She'd forgotten for the moment just how logical and organized Emma was, and Ash was not that far behind her in that aspect either. Furthermore it had been Zane's idea, not hers, and he had only come up with last night. Not that she would ever admit either of those things to the two in front of her right now.
"Well. Neither of us needed time off before now so it wasn't an issue." She told them. Emma's expression said she still didn't believe that but Ash took her hand and just gave her a look.
"Fine. It's not really important when you figured it out, only that you did." Emma said. "I can't come up with anything better so I guess we'll have to make it work."
"So we'll be trading shifts of office work and avoiding the spill hazards of the sales floor then." Ash summed up.
"Yup." Rikki said. "Cause I'm thinking I should go for it. I've been thinking about it all morning, and I even talked to my Dad about it too."
"Really?" Emma said. "This seems rather sudden. You were the most eager back when this all started."
"I know, but," Rikki wasn't sure how to explain that she needed to know if all the good stuff in her life was because of the change or if it was really just from her. "I just need to find something out. I realized that my doubts about being a mermaid stemmed from something else." She said instead.
"And you need to know about that something else to know something? Right?" Ash asked.
"That's about it." Rikki said. "I just don't know how to explain it, but I just need know."
"Well if you're sure?" Rikki nodded in answer to Emma's query. "Then you should do it. We've planed for worst case so we already have a plan to work with."
"Thanks Em." Rikki said.
"Now you just have to tell Zane and everyone else." Emma said. Rikki paled, she wasn't looking forward to that part. "If you don't mind we'll step out for now. Ash promised me lunch and you said you needed to get ready to work today."
"You suggested lunch." Ash told her.
"Yes, but as an alternative to your offer to get me breakfast." Emma said with a smile as they stepped out.
Rikki didn't get to hear Ash's reply to her as the door had already closed behind them.
"Oh what have I done now?" She asked herself realizing that now that she'd made the choice she couldn't back out. It wasn't in her nature to.
It was the last dolphin show for the day and Cleo had decided to test going out in the water with the dolphins. She'd talked it over with Laura all afternoon and she had suggested using the last show of the day as the test run. Laura's most decisive argument had been that the last show usually had the smallest crowd so there would be less people there.
This had been aided by the fact that during every other show the crowd had been using various chants to try and convince her to get in the water. So she finally just figured she do it and get it over with.
She was currently hiding out of sight in the water with the dolphins in the backstage waiting tank. Both Laurie and Laura were there with her.
"We start in five minutes." Laurie said. "You really ready for this."
"Sooner or later it's going to happen. I'd rather just get it over with." Cleo said.
"You know I had a thought." Laura said. "Don't do this every show."
"Why not?" Laurie asked.
"Suspense." Laura said. "If they don't know when they'll get to see her it will improve the crowds."
"Not a bad idea. But that's up to you, Cleo." He said.
"Let's get through this one and we'll see." Cleo offered. She was beyond nervous, but felt she had to do something to balance things in her life. And to get her mind off of next week as well
"Two minutes boss." One of the other trainers called out from the door to the stage area.
"Alright." Laurie said standing and turning. "Have everyone get in their places and cue the techs that we will have a special treat for our audience tonight. See you out there Cleo." He hurried out to the stage area.
"Oh what am I doing?" Cleo said.
"Want me to join you?" Laura offered.
"No." Cleo let out a deep breath. "I have to do this alone."
"I'll be at the door then. The crowd won't see me but I won't just run off." Laura smiled down at her. "I be here for you."
"Thanks that helps some." They heard the show start and Laurie begin his opening speech. "He's going to do introductions soon so I'll be up shortly."
"Have a good show." Laura said and hurried off to the door where she could see without being seen.
Cleo took one more breath as she listed to the introductions of the other trainers. Finally she heard what she'd been waiting for.
"And finally we have a special treat for you all tonight. Newly promoted to full trainer, our very own Cleo Sertori will be joining the dolphins in the water for the first time. Please give her a warm welcome."
"Here we go." Cleo said to herself and swam out to the front.
The show went on. Cleo had the dolphins do tricks. She swam next to them. Waved to the cheering crowd. Even joined one of the newer dolphins in a jump, as encouragement, and forgot for a moment all the things that worried her. The crowd stayed back, thankfully, and she found that overall she had a great time.
Laura was waiting for her in the back once she was finished. The redhead had a huge smile on her face and was practically bursting with excitement.
"Cleo! You were amazing!" She said as soon as Cleo surfaced.
"That was actually a lot of fun." Cleo said back. "I didn't think I'd enjoy being in front of the crowd like that but I actually enjoyed myself."
"Cleo!" Laurie called out as he came through the divider between the front and back. "How do you feel now that you've done it?"
"I feel great actually." Cleo told him. "Strangely I enjoyed that. Can you help me out though?"
"Laura why didn't you help her already?" He asked as he hurried over to give Cleo a hand out of the water.
"Probably because if I helped her I'd have just ended up in the water with her." Laura reminded him.
"Oh. Right." He said sheepishly. "I'll remember that one of these days."
"Not like we can ever forget though." Cleo said as she was pulled clear of the water.
"I'll get you some towels." Laurie said rushing off.
"Want some help getting dry?" Laura asked.
"You using one of your smaller powers or your main one?" Cleo asked her while trying to focus her powers grip on just the water on her skin.
"The main one." Laura said.
"No thanks. This is more an issue of precise focus then raw power." Cleo explained as she tried again.
"Too bad we can't combine my powers precision with your powers strength." Laura complained.
"I know what you mean." Cleo said as she got her focus right and felt the water slid right off her skin. "I just don't get why it is so much harder for me to focus on the water on myself then on you guys."
"I think if you can figure that out you'll be able to get yourself dry faster." Laura said offering Cleo a hand to her feet.
"I guess you don't need the towel after all." Laurie said come to a halt. "How did you do that anyways?"
"Practice. Lot's and lot's of practice." Cleo told him since he already knew about her ability to manipulate water.
"Well it has to be kind of handy for you." He said. "So will you be doing this again?"
"I think I will." Cleo told him. "But for now I should get home and get stuff ready for next week."
"Right." He agreed. "See you tomorrow and good luck."
"Thanks Laurie." She said. "You want to walk with me?" She asked Laura.
"I can part of the way." She said. "I was going to go for a swim before heading home. I'd ask you if you wanted to join me but you really need to take care of the arrangements."
"Well then let's swim to my house." Cleo offered. "You think I should invite Lewis over so he can help explain what's going on to my Dad?"
"Might be handy." Laura answered as she led the way to the storage room for employees so they could pick up their stuff. Cleo took the time to send a quick message to Lewis letting him know to meet her at her place and that she'd be swimming there so he should hurry.
"I do have to admit that being public does make getting around easier. Not having to find a secluded place to get dry is really nice." She said.
"I know." Laura agreed. "But I do wish people, especially guys, would just not stare."
Cleo just rolled her eyes in answer to that. They all hated that. Though Rikki was the only one that actually did anything about it. They grabbed their stuff and headed out. The quickly found a place where they could get into the open water and dove in.
They swam quickly to the small dock behind Cleo's house. Cleo got out and, after a few tries, got herself dry. She waved goodbye to Laura promising to let her know how it all went and then watched as her friend swam off. She took a deep breath and headed inside.
"Cleo." Her Dad said surprised. "You got home fast."
"I decided to swim." She explained. "I also need to talk to you. It's something to do with mermaids."
"Okay." He said.
"I asked Lewis to come over. For some support." She twisted her hands nervously. "That's OK I hope."
Her Dad let out a sigh. "I guess so."
"Will he be staying for dinner?" Sam asked.
"I don't know." Cleo said honestly. "I didn't think to ask."
There was a knock at the door. Cleo hurried to answer it hoping it was Lewis. She wasn't disappointed.
"You got here pretty quick." She said as she kissed him.
"Enough of that now." Her Dad said with a scowl.
"Hello Cleo." He said with a smile. "Mr. Sertori."
"Lewis." Her Dad replied a bit stiffly.
"Lewis it's good to see you again." Sam said. "Come in. Come in. Don't hover by the door."
"Thank you." He said to the room. To Cleo he quickly asked, "So you ready?"
"No." She said. "But I don't think we have much choice."
"True." He replied.
"So, Lewis, will you be joining us for dinner tonight?" Sam asked.
He looked to Cleo. She took his hand and pulled him forward. "I guess that's a yes." He answered.
"Don't worry Cleo," Sam said. "We'll have that talk you want after dinner. Unless you don't want to wait."
"I'd rather not." She said. "It's important and I really want to get it over with."
"OK. Let's sit. Dinner will keep and Kim's over at a friends so it's just us tonight." Sam said taking the lead.
"Lewis if you wouldn't mind giving the back ground like you did for us yesterday?" Cleo asked him as they all found a seat. "I think that would be the best place to start."
Lewis agreed and started in. He kept the explanation simple. He covered quickly how the full moon could have different effects on the girls based on different things. He gave examples using the full alignment and the full eclipse.
"Now this Sunday there is a partial eclipse and that works a bit differently." He said at the end. "It will allow them to transfer their mermaid nature to someone else for a week."
"And I've chosen to take this chance and see if this is really the life I want to have." She finished. "I've also chosen to have Lewis be the one I transfer them too."
Her Dad and Sam sat stunned for a moment. Cleo let them have a moment to let it all sink in. Finally they seemed to come to a decision.
"Well this is surprising." Her Dad said. "You sure about this."
"No. But that's why I'm doing this." Cleo said. "So I can be sure."
"I think what your Dad meant was: Are you sure doing this thing is a good idea." Sam corrected.
"Oh." Cleo said. "Yes. I am. I have to know for sure if this is what I'm supposed to be."
"And living with out it for a short while is a way to test." Sam said. "I get it."
"There is something else." Cleo said.
"There's more?" Her Dad asked.
"Only that we agreed that during this time I'd have to keep an eye on Lewis as much as possible. To keep him out of the trouble he's bound to get into." Cleo explained.
"On account of me not being used to it all like she is." Lewis finished for her.
"So he's going to stay here?" Her Dad said starting to look mad.
"Well I figured I could sleep on the couch down here, but yes." Lewis said quickly.
"Oh." Her Dad said immediately calming down. "I guess that's not too bad."
"We know you are going to have some rules for while he stays here." Cleo said. "I was hoping you could take the next few days to think them over and let us know on Saturday or Sunday."
"I supposed that's acceptable." Sam said. "We'll talk them over."
Don caught her look and nodded. "Right."
"But for now, let's have dinner." Sam said.
"Thanks guys. For being so understanding." Cleo said as they sat down and started to eat.
Rikki looked at her Dad in shock. "I just told you that when I do all this I'm going to have to stay over at Zane's place and all you can say is 'Okay'?"
"I'm not going to fight you on this." He said. "That's part of why your Mom left. I won't do the same with you. Even if it's something I don't like."
"I'd rather have you be honest with me." She told him.
"Okay then. Yes I don't like the idea, but I know you. More importantly I trust you. I know you can take care of yourself." He smiled. "It's why I never worry when you go out and about."
Rikki rocked back in surprise. She'd had no idea those were the reasons he'd given in so quickly.
"Thanks Dad." She said in a more normal tone as she sat down. "It's nice to know."
"It doesn't mean I'm not going to like you doing this. I just means that I know I don't have to worry about you. You can handle that boy if he tries anything. I know you can." He said with a grin. "You're my daughter after all."
They shared a good natured laugh. Rikki had always had trouble expressing her softer side. But she had to admit, if only to herself, that she did have one, and right now she really loved her Dad.
"You're right about that." She said instead once they calmed down a bit.
"So you gonna tell your friends?" He asked.
"Well Em already knows and I'm not sure how to tell the others. I haven't even told Zane yet." Rikki said.
"Well just call them all to that pool you're all so fond of." He said. "Isn't that what you girls usually do?"
Rikki smiled and quickly kissed her Dad on the forehead in a moment of impulse. "That's a great idea. Thanks Dad." She grabbed up her phone and headed for the door. "I'll probably be back late."
"No worries." He said with a laugh. "Have a good swim, sweetie."
Rikki gave him an over the shoulder wave as she sent off a message to everyone, even Ash and Emma, to meet at the moon pool. Once done she put her phone in her pocket and made a quick dash to the canals. She knew if Emma was anywhere near water she'd need the best head start she could get.
As soon as she got her tail she took off as fast as she could. She reveled in the speed and strength, she would miss them for the week, but she felt she needed to do this. She needed to know if her life was better because of being a mermaid or not.
She slowed a bit as she approached the underwater cave. She didn't feel like slamming into the rocks after all. She was pleased to see that she was the first one to arrive though. Emma did arrive less then half a minute later though so Rikki was glad she hadn't delayed in departing.
"You must have been really close to the water already." Rikki noted. "I only just got here."
"I know." Emma told her. "I could see the bubbles from your trail as I came here."
"But yet I still won." Rikki told her.
"I'd have caught you if it had been a longer swim and you know it." Emma shot back.
"Really! This again?" Cleo said as she surfaced. "Can't you two ever give it a rest?"
"No." They both said. Rikki watched as Cleo just rolled her eyes.
"Hey guys." Laura said as she and Bella arrived.
"What did we miss?" Bella added
"Just them arguing over who's the fastest swimmer again." Cleo told them.
"And that's me." Rikki said with a smug grin.
"Any time you want to go I'm ready to prove you wrong." Emma said.
"Well what's the reason for us to come here?" Bella asked before Rikki could take Emma up on the challenge.
"I called the guys here too." Rikki told them. "So we have a while to wait."
"Well then you've got time to settle this." Laura said. "First one to the main land and back."
"Please don't encourage them." Cleo said.
"You're on." Rikki said looking at Emma "Unless you're afraid of loosing."
"In your dreams." Emma said. "In three...
"Two..." Rikki counted.
"One!" Laura yelled startling them both in to suddenly taking off.
They dove down and took off out of the cave. They set a course for the closest point of the mainland from the island. Neither willing to give any ground to the other. They cut a fast loop as close to the shore as they could and headed back. They didn't even notice when they shot past the boats the guys were in, each more focused on winning then anything else.
Rikki slowly began to notice that a small gap was forming between her and Emma and she wasn't the one in the lead. She had to repress the urge to snarl as she tried to go faster. She managed to make up the gap and they reached the cave too close together to call.
"Well?" Laura asked as soon as they surfaced in the pool.
"It was a draw." Emma said as they both caught their breath. "Fair?"
"Yeah." Rikki allowed. "A draw."
"You two must have really been going all out to be taking such deep breaths." Bella commented.
"There and back on one breath might have had something to do with it too." Cleo said. "Why do you two always have to compete?"
"I've given up trying to figure that one out." Laura said. "You didn't happen to see the guys while you were racing."
"Uh..." Rikki said. "Were we supposed to be looking for them?"
"I was too focused on the race to notice." Emma said.
"Well we'll just have to wait for them." Rikki said. "Let's get out of the water and dry off."
One by one they did. Between Cleo, Bella, and Rikki herself they were able to get dry quickly. After that they had nothing to do but wait for the guys. It was a bit of a wait until they heard a splashing from the pool.
"Hey guys." Will said. "I figured this way would be faster."
"Hey Will." Bella beamed. "The others swimming in or walking."
"They chose to walk." He said.
Rikki couldn't hold back a groan. That meant about another ten minutes of waiting. It would only be made worse by Bella and Will going all sappy on them too.
"Mind helping me get dry here?" Will asked. "Or would you prefer me to splash all of you?"
"Bella. All yours." Laura said.
Bella caused the water to fall off Will with a twist of her hand, and Cleo was quick to sweep it back into the pool to prevent any accidents. Will and Bella went off to the side and started talking quietly with each other and Rikki found herself pacing with impatience.
"Why didn't they all just swim in?" She eventually burst out.
"Because most of us weren't in the mood to swim so late in the day." Ash said as the rest of the guys arrived.
"And here I though it was because only Will came dressed for it." Zane said looking like he'd just been biking. He quickly hurried over to Rikki and gave her a quick kiss. "Hey love. Sorry it took us so long."
"Biking Zane?" She asked.
"Well you did say that I could have the day to myself since you had to work." He replied.
"I did." Rikki said. "Yet I noticed that you came anyways."
"Well your message said to meet here. That usually means it's something important." He smiled. "At least that's the assumption I'm going to work with."
Rikki smiled inwardly. He had been enjoying some free time, but he hadn't hesitated to come the moment he'd gotten her request. The old Zane would have turned his phone completely off to avoid any interruptions to his fun. She was secretly pleased with how he'd changed.
"Ahem." Sounded from behind her. She flushed as she realized that she'd gotten lost in her own little world of just her and Zane.
"Well I guess you all want to know why I called you out here?" Rikki said.
"Uh, yeah." Emma said with a knowing smirk.
"Well everyone other than you and Ash." Rikki snapped back.
"You've decided to go through with it?" Cleo guessed.
"Yes. After thinking about it some more, and talking with my Dad, I realized I don't really doubt my choice to not give this up." Rikki explained.
"Then why?" Bella asked.
"There is something that I do need to know." She looked at Zane. "And the only way to figure it out is to go for a week with out being a mermaid."
Zane met her gaze and nodded. "If that's what you need to do, then I'm here for you. As promised."
Rikki let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Thanks Zane."
"Well I support you too." Laura said.
"Me too." From Bella.
"And me too." Sounded one by one from all the rest.
"Thanks guys." She turned to Zane again. "I'll be staying at your place. You can handle that I hope."
"Sure. I'll sleep on the couch. It's not a problem." He said.
Rikki blinked a few times? "Wait a second. Why? It's your place!"
"What kind of man would I be if I forced my girlfriend to sleep on the couch while I slept on a nice comfy bed?" He said with a grin. "I've done some bad stuff in my time but even at my worse I wouldn't do that."
Rikki wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that. So for the moment she chose to let it go. She'd take that up how she felt about that with Zane one on one at a later time. For now she was just glad the others supported her.
"You know. I don't really have any doubts either." Emma suddenly said. "But I guess there is something I might want to know too."
Rikki, and everyone else too, turned to regard Emma. Most faces showed variations of surprise.
"Really?" Cleo said.
"Yeah." Emma answered. "But I still want to think on it a bit more. I'll make my choice tomorrow."
"And Byron agreed to help me figure out things for myself." Laura said. "I'll let you guys know for sure on Tuesday."
"If I don't say anything by Friday just assume the answer is no." Bella added. "If I don't know by then it will be too late to get things set up if I do choose to do it."
"Well I guess that gives us a time line to work with." Lewis noted. Everyone laughed.
"Who would have ever though the ten of us would one day be sitting here discussing this." Byron said. He was smiling so Rikki guessed he wasn't upset about it. "My life has been far more interesting since I came back home that's for sure."
"And I'm very glad you chose to." Laura said kissing him.
"Oh like you didn't protest up a storm for months on end." Rikki said.
"Like you didn't do the same." Laura counted.
"What's this?" Zane asked.
"Uh..." Rikki hedged. "Let's just forget I said anything."
Everyone broke out in laughter.
"Well unless anyone has something else to add," Emma said. "I should get home and get some sleep. I have to open for you tomorrow after all."
"So that means I won't have to hunt you down again if I need to talk?" Laura quipped.
"I swam with the dolphins in the show tonight." Cleo burst out. Rikki didn't miss Emma turning to her and mouthing a thank you. She'd corner Emma about that later.
"Yeah. She was amazing." Laura said letting Cleo's change of topic stand. Even Bella had a strange look. What did they all know that she didn't. Then she noted that Lewis and Zane seemed just as confused as she did.
"How did that go?" She asked Cleo instead.
"Better then I expected. I had so much fun I forgot that the crowd was even there." Cleo answered.
"You'll have to tell me all about it." Emma gushed. "But tomorrow. I really do need to get home. Night all."
One by one the girls jumped into pool and swam off. Will did too. Lewis, Ash, and Byron all headed out of the cave on foot. Soon only Rikki and Zane were left.
Rikki smiled and looked at him. "I guess I should go now too."
"Your Dad is OK with all this?" He asked.
"He knows that I can take care of myself if you try anything funny." Rikki told him. "And I know you won't be that foolish."
He held up his hands. "Fair enough." He laughed. "Besides if there was anything left of me after you got done he'd make sure to finish me."
"Good night, Zane." She told him.
"Good night, Rikki." He said as she jumped into the pool. She had a pleasant swim home.