Author's Notes

A few notes concerning my chronic lack of respect for canon..

Mako

As you know, Sirena is in this, transferred to Storybrooke.

Lyla will be in this story, making the relationships between Zac, Evie, and Lyla...and maybe not in the way you think.

Evie keeps her tail.

Nixie returns

Rita will be in this a well, with a relationship that can put her closer to at least two of the characters

Cam/Carly and Sirena/David still in effect, Erik returns, Ondina will not trust him...in the beginning. Weilan is also in the house.

Everyone is 18+. Except for Neppie. You remember Neppie., don't you?

Four villains, one from H20, One from Mako, two from OUAT.

OUAT

Since this will be in my At The End Of The Day universe (and I will work on that soon), WickedWolf and BlueCora will be in effect, hopefully.

SwanQueen and maybe EvilSwanQueen

Rumple runs the town again. Belle is with him again and old friend might appear.

More explanations forthcoming.

The usual disclaimers...

Gold Coast, Queensland (Australia)

The home of former high school principal Rita Santos

Two young women, aged 18, we looking over the railing of the lowest of three balconies, looking out over the South Pacific. Both were thin and athletic, though the blond was much taller than the brunette. If one could look at their faces, both women would definitely have streaks of tears in their faces.

The brunette at the blonde. "Lyla?"

"Yeah, Evie?"

"Will they ever find her?

"They will...we will. I have to believe we will. Sirena is too resourceful just to disappear without a trace. I have to... believe that..." Evie McLaren collapsed in tears as the taller blonde, Lyla, held her friend.

Both were mermaids. Lyla was born one, Evie became one through accident, and through an accident lost her tail, but regained her tail again through recreating the incident. Also, the two mermaids were not as close as they are today. There were initial suspicions based on the the fact that Evie was still, as her mermaid friends would call her, a land-girl.

Then there was Zac. Evie had known him since they were little. They had become boyfriend and girlfriend since junior high. They were there for each other through everything...including their mutual transformations into merpeople, Zac discovering he had another family...everything.

Lyla was there for Zac's transformation. In the beginning she and her companions, Nixie and Sirena, had one mission: to turn Zac back from merman to land-boy. But as Lyla got to know Zac, her feelings changed. She drew closer to Zac. And she fell, hard.

There was the expected initial jealousy, but that soon turned to friendship. And then, after she came back with Nixie from searching for a new home (never found one), she drew closer to Zac again. Surprisingly, she was drawn closer to Evie as well. Much closer.

Or as Lyla said to Evie one night, "One of the reasons I love you is that we both have similar fine tastes in mermen." That got the taller blonde a kiss from Evie and a blush from Zac as he laid between them.

That close.

But there was one other thing that linked the two: Their best friend Sirena.

Sirena was given that name because she had a beautiful voice, beautiful to either a merman or a land-woman. She had been friends with Lyla and Nixie since they were hatchlings...the merperson equivalent of children. In fact her voice is so beautiful, it was frightening. Especially since mermaids used a certain song of enchantment to lure fishermen, whalers, and pirates...as well as mermen during the war between the genders...to a watery doom.

But that wasn't Sirena. Not someone like her with a heart larger than the Pacific. She loved everyone, but she was only in love with one person: the quirky guy who ran the Gold Coast Ocean Cafe. The guy who gave her a shot at singing every night. The gangly guy who wrote songs for her almost obsessively. The one person who, when Sirena did have a chance to use her vocal powers for evil, instead used them to try to make him hers...not that it mattered, she was his already, and vice versa.

The one land-man she would give her life for if she had to. David.

And though it had only been three days since she vanished, David had been inconsolable. His manager, Carly and her boyfriend Cam had been running the cafe along with Evie. Carly stood in as the house singer.

And David was very appreciative of all that. But he still was in grief. David still wanted his Sirena back.

And David wasn't the only one. Sirena loved everyone. And everyone loved Sirena. And that's is why they were all going to find her and find out what happened to her.

Lyla wrapped her arms around Evie and gave the novice mermaid a long kiss on the side of her head, and then they both went inside. They knew that Zac, Ondina, and Weilan would back from their search for Sirena. Hopefully, there was good news.

Hopefully...

Granny's Diner

Storybrooke, ME

Sirena still was looking for the other shoe to drop. This strange place that she had been in for the last two days was so...friendly. Not to mention the fact that here she was, a mermaid. And everyone knew it. And she wasn't thought of as an outcast or strange or anything like that.

And so many people reminded her of the folks back home. The sheriff...Emma...reminded Sirena of her fellow mermaid Ondina, headstrong..but with a good heart. The mayor...and Emma's girlfriend...Regina, was a little like Rita Santos, her mentor...regal in stature, sure of herself.

The plate of fish'n'chips were set in front of her. The waitress flashed a toothy, almost flirty smile. Her name was Ruby, but substitute black hair for blonde, and she could have been her fellow mermaid Lyla...tall and confident, but she'd fall for anyone. Lyla already fell for both of her friends Zac and Evie...

She sat there, looking at a plate of fried cod and potatoes that she would normally devour like a madwoman. But she just sat, mainly because this did not be real. The first thing they teach in mermaid school is not to show yourself to land-folk. But then, her David knew. Cam and Carly knew. Evie's dad knew because she told him. But now, and entire town knows.

And such a town. They nicknamed the Mayor the Evil Queen. Ther sheriff sometimes refers to this one couple as Snow White and Prince Charming...and in some cases Mom and Dad. This Snow...or Mary Margaret or whoever...reminded Sirena of another fellow mermaid, Mimmi, Zac's sister by blood...sweet, intelligent, inquisitive, or as she and Ondina often said, "Mimmi has to know everything!"

Not to mention deputy who calls herself Tinkerbell, and just today she swore she saw the woman who owns the ice cream store whip up a canister of Rocky Road by just waving her hands.

There is so much going on in this small town, it would make anyone's head swim. But for Sirena, the fact that she can be open about her tail and everything, after a lifetime of being told she had to hide...

The mermaid's contemplation was interrupted by the arrival of three plates of dinner (one, double cheeseburger, fries, and a large Dr Pepper, another being chicken salad and water, the third lobster and a large Diet Pepsi), and the subsequent seating of the Sheriff, the Mayor, and the redheaded mermaid named Ariel.

The conversations were easy in the beginning. The four women seemed to be a lot of fun: Mayor Regina had a regal air to her, but she wasn't that stuffy. Sheriff Emma was animated and more than a bit ribald. Their banter reminded Sirena of Ondina and Mimmi's occasional playful bickering. Ariel talked about her human husband Eric. That reminded Sirena of another Erik...the mermaid's Erik seemed more faithful than Ariel's.

The mermaid was also struck by the connection between Mayor and the Sheriff. Even through their bickering, it was the looks and the side smiles that got Sirena's attention. She had definitely figured out that these two were close.

The conversation eventually turned to how Sirena wound up on the shores of Maine. Sirena was nervous about it all, but in the scant three days since she has been to this small town, the mermaid began to trust the people that she had met here. They seemed willing to make her a friend. And willing to help her get home.

It was just Emma and Regina and Ariel. She guessed she could trust them. She began...

"It was a beautiful day under and above the ocean. I loved swimming with all of the creatures in the sea. They are all friends to me. Well, I started to notice the angelfish and yellow tang were acting weird...like they were swimming away from something. Then more and more fish were frantically swimming away. I should have listened to them...but we were charged with protecting Mako...that's the island we live on. I had to see what was going on, to let the others know...

It all happened so fast. There was...it looked like a tunnel of water. It was enormous..the biggest thing I've ever seen in the water. It started spinning...like a waterspout, only sideways...it was going faster and faster. It pulled me in like one of your vacuums. I could not fight it. I went in...I blacked out...and now I'm here..."

Sirena hid her head in her arms on the table. Then the attention of all seated was captured by a rather audible argument that had generated between the innkeeper, Granny, and a rather severe looking woman with a British accent, leaning on Cockney. They were arguing about meat deliveries or something like that. The younger, severe-looking woman caught a glimpse of the mermaid. It was an extended view, but the dark-haired woman said nothing, but said her goodbyes and stormed out of the inn.

"What was that?" asked Sirena

"That, my dear, was Bo," replied Regina. "Local hometown butcher and bitch deluxe..."

"Would that be like...Little Bo Peep?" Sirena was getting used to a town filled with DIsney denizens, as much as Storybrooke was getting used to a second mermaid.

Emma: "She's not that little, the..."

Regina: "Emma...language..." Sirena and Ariel first, followed by Emma and Regina covered their mouths to hid their attempts to quell a laugh.

As Granny walked out with a determined look to her office, leaving things to a tall, dark-haired Goth wearing lipstick that could only be called blood-red. The assembled quartet resumed the munching and conversation.

"That thing you mentioned, Sirena," said Regina, "Sounds like a classic waterborne portal..."

"We've had a lot of experience with things like that," added Emma. "My question is what was it doing starting in Australia?"

Ariel chimed in, "And who or what was it intended for...I mean that's a long trek from Australia to Maine, not to mention a lot of land you have to go through."

The conversation was interrupted again, by the goth-waitress who came by their table. "Hi, my name is Ruby, I'm your server tonight. Is everything fine?"

"As usual, Rubes," said Emma with a mouth full of burger, while Regina pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head, the directing her eyes to the mermaid. "Now," the Mayor said, faux-complaining, "you see what I have to deal with everyday..." That elicited a chuckle from three of the four. Sirena just gave a small smile. It was obvious the newcomer still had home on her mind. Ruby simply smiled that big smile of hers, told the four to call her if she needed anything, the turned and walked away to wait on the table next to them.

Ariel understood what it meant to be a merperson in a world of land people...she married one after all. The redhead took the blonde mermaid's hand and told her that things would work out. Especially in Storybrooke. "Miracles are an everyday thing here. We'll try to get you back home, don't worry..."

Sirena sighed with a bit of frustration. "I just need to get back home soon. The full moon is in a few days and I need to be in the moon pool..." She then looked at Ariel. "I guess you don't know what that is..."

"Know..?" Ariel said in mock incredulity, "We have one!"

And as Sirena's eyes opened wide at the news, the voice of a certain waitress spoke up...

"Did anyone say anything about a...full moon...?"

Bo's Butcher Shop

Storybrooke, ME...a few moments later...

The severe-looking woman entered her shop after walking out of Granny's. There was something...or someone...that she noticed at the Inn that caused her to cease her weekly argument with Eugenia Lucas and head back to the shop. She sat down at the computer and composed a hurriedly-thought out e-mail.

From bopeep

It seems that the net we cast out is reaping rewards. The first one came in three days ago. Serena, I think.

Please advise.

Bo.

The woman waited for a reply. It did not take long.

From DeloresT

Excellent. And I think we hit the jackpot. The most powerful once outside of the Blakely boy.

Good! Keep an eye out. Update me soon.

Trumble.

TBC

So, the plot develops. I was going to do more, but I wanted this posted as soon as I could. So, do you recognize one of the villains? If you watch closely, you will notice a baddie that should have gotten a lot more screentime on MM. Tell you more in the next chapter.

And your comments, likes, and kudos are very welcome. How am I doing? Let me know.