I do not own H2O: Just Add Water—that is rightfully owned by Viacom. I, however, own the storyline. Because if I did own H2O: Just Add Water, I probably wouldn't be sitting here at my computer writing this, now would I? ;-)

Summary: When a rare full moon takes a dramatic turn, causing the girls' powers to go haywire, can they make it through the night with friendship prevailing? Or will things take a turn for the worse?

Author's note: Takes place post season two. Season three has not occurred yet.

Chapter 2

"The Calm Before the Storm"

"Back in a jiff," Rikki said with a wink and disappeared through the sliding glass door of the small caravan she and her father occupied. Cleo set down her small duffel bag and removed her pillow from under her arm and— throwing it on top of her belongings—turned and allowed her eyes to wander in the meantime whilst Rikki grabbed her own things. Compared to her own home in the suburbs, the caravan park Rikki lived in was rather crowded with medium-sized, rather ragtag white trailers all clustered together as if you could never get close enough to your neighbor. At least borrowing a cup of sugar is only a stroll away, Cleo thought amusingly.

At first, Cleo hadn't understood her friend's reluctance when it came to showing where she lived, seeing as how much time the three spent at both her and Emma's house, but she could see the debate in Rikki's eyes as she compared the two different kinds of living spaces. Sure, she sympathized with her towards the matter, but Rikki had made it quite clear some time ago that she and her father—Terry, she believed was his name—didn't take charity. But hey, a crate to the head to remember, huh?

Cleo couldn't quite remember a scene quite like the one on that sunny day, to see one of your close friends lying unconscious in the white sands of Mako Island, bleeding from the head and not responding to the begs and pleads of those around her. It had definitely been a wakeup call that the trio needed to rely on each other through thick and thin, to see eye-to-eye, despite the difficulties of this, as Emma had pointed out, if rather bluntly. Emma and Rikki didn't always agree with each other—heck, they're powers were complete opposites by nature—but friends were friends, and friends look out for each other. Lucky Lewis had been there, Cleo mentally added, then sighed somewhat blissfully.

Lewis. He and Cleo had always been great friends since they were little, but there had always been something more. If only Charlotte—Cleo frowned at the name—hadn't intervened, they could've hit things off a lot sooner. Not to mention Charlotte becoming a mermaid had been one of the most dangerous things to ever threaten their secret, second to Denman—Cleo mentally cursed that name, too. Plus, all the mermaid powers in the hands of one person... There was an unbalanced feeling to it all. But when it comes to three-on-one, three always wins.

Cleo had been getting so lost in her own thoughts, she didn't pull out of her own mind until Rikki waved her fingers in front of her face. "Earth to Cleo; you have Call Waiting."

"Huh? Oh, right. Sorry," Cleo stammered and picked up her things from where they were on the ground.

"Something wrong?" Rikki asked casually, the smallest hint of concern in her usually carefree voice.

"No, nothing's wrong. I was just thinking, that's all," Cleo said honestly as they took off along the beach, heading for Emma's. Rikki's sharp blue eyes seemed to piece right through her, and it didn't take long for her to put two and two together.

"Let me guess... Lewis." It wasn't a question. Or a guess, for that matter.

Cleo rolled her green eyes. "Well, yes, but other things, too." Nodding wordlessly, Rikki shoved her hands in her pockets and gazed outwards towards the sea, watching the waves crash and spread across the fine sand before receding, only to return once more. Breathing in the fresh salt air and feeling the wind run along and through her feathery light bangs, she felt strangely at home, and she didn't think it had anything to do with being a mermaid either. It was fun to just let her mind wander sometimes, or for a few moments, simply think nothing at all.

Not to mention the dull throb of a headache had been pounding nonstop behind her eyes since this morning, and it was driving her up the freaking wall. Some silence might help.

Cleo and Rikki trekked along to the Gilbert house in comfortable silence, Rikki already lost in her own world, Cleo thinking of what to say to break the silence, among other things. Then Cleo thought of something sufficient to say to the girl walking next to her.

"So how are you and Zane?" she asked, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. While at first she and Emma definitely DID NOT approve of Rikki and Zane going out—him at one time being The Great Mermaid Hunter or something—the events since then have straightened that ordeal out. Plus, he made Rikki happy, and who was she to disapprove of that? Zane had proved himself on occasion, and they trusted him to keep their secret.

"Fine," Rikki said briefly, not taking her eye off the shoreline.

Cleo noted the monotone note in her voice. "Doesn't sound like it."

"No, no, we're great, really. He's just been busy going to corporate conventions with his dad and stuff, but he'll be back on Monday." It appeared some of her usual chipper attitude had been revived.

Cleo grinned and nudged her playfully. "Well that's only two days away. I'll bet he's got something special planned. Like a surprise gift or a romantic dinner or—"

"Hello?" Rikki said, folding her fingers to form something of a phone shape and holding it up to her ear. "Yeah...yeah, she's here...sure, I'll ask her..." She paused in her imaginary conversation and lowered her hand. "It's planet Earth—they're wondering when you're coming back, Cleo."

Cleo, slightly offended, started laughing. "Oh, shut it," she said, shoving her playfully again. Rikki took no offence and starting laughing along with her friend, feeling slightly accomplished with herself. Cleo's such a romantic, Rikki thought. No way would Zane go that far...right? I mean, sure, I took his engraved iPod gift, but that was a one-time thing. Surely he wouldn't—

But then a sudden flair of head pain interrupted her thoughts and she grimaced, faltering ever so slightly in her step. But it faded as soon as it had started.

Cleo noticed her very brief moment of pain and became concerned. "Everything all right?"

Rikki, as hard as she tried to hide it, knew Cleo had seen her slight hesitation. So she did what she did best; she lied. "Yeah, I'm fine." Evidently, her little white lie wasn't as convincing as it had sounded in her head because Cleo narrowed her eyes.

"You're sure?"

Rikki opened her mouth to respond, but sure enough, another short jabbing sensation hit her behind the eyes. Damn brain, she thought venomously. Fine, abandon your own maker; see if I care. Finally she sighed.

"Yeah, it's just this small headache that's been bugging me all day. It'll go away soon, though."

Cleo looked skeptical, but Rikki gave her her signature look that said, "Just drop it. I'm not dying."

Cleo sighed. "If you say so." Deciding to let the matter slide, she turned the doorknob to Emma's house and stepped into the threshold.

Rikki shut the door behind her. "So are we gonna get this party started or what?" she called to the room at large. A roll of black duct tape flew at her from the corner of her eye and she caught it hurriedly.

"Depends," said the voice of Emma quizzically. "If your definition of a party is putting yourself on house arrest once a month or else all sanity breaks lose, then yes; it's a party."

Grinning at the remark, Cleo and Emma descended the two steps from the entryway and wandered into the kitchen to where Emma had climbed onto the counter and was securing a last slab of cardboard onto the windows with another roll of said duct tape, effectively blocking all sources of light from the outside. She slid down and stepped back to examine her handy work.

"I think you missed a spot there, Em," Rikki joked, receiving a look from the other blonde.

"Well you're more than welcome to fix it yourself."

She tilted her head. "On second thought, great job."

"That's what I thought."

Finding a comfortable spot on the lush couch, Cleo rolled her eyes and started picking through the pile of magazines on the coffee table in front of her. "So where have your parents gone off to?" she asked.

"Another crystal wear convention," Emma replied evenly, then looked sidelong at Rikki, who just so happened to have done the same thing. After a moment of tension, Rikki snorted and rolled her eyes to the ceiling.

"If you even think of going rebel again, I swear to God Almighty I'll catch your hair on fire." Emma glared at her.

"You wouldn't."

"Oh, but I would." The two laughed subtly in remembrance of the heated conflict between them. While Emma's parents might've somewhat thought of their daughter being a rebel, it sure as heck didn't fool Rikki, who knew that Emma was anything but.

"Well, there was that one time you offered to take out Miriam and Zane when they crashed Em's sleepover that one time," Cleo told her, and Rikki shrugged nonchalantly.

"And who's to say I wouldn't have been capable of such a selfless deed?" she replied dramatically.

"Everybody." Rikki raised an amused eyebrow at Emma, but before she could spit out a carefully orchestrated and witty comeback, the doorbell rang and echoed through the otherwise empty house. "I'll get it," Cleo said quickly, throwing down her magazine of choice and making a beeline for the door before she could end up in the middle of the headstrong pair; where she often found herself. But before she could even reach fully for the knob, the door opened and the newcomer walked it. Only, newcomer wasn't the right word...

"Lewis!" Cleo sounded surprised, but she really wasn't. It was only natural Lewis would drop in to "watch over them" for the night, even though they were completely capable of taking care of themselves.

Lewis waved once. "Hey, guys," he greeted, fumbling awkwardly with both a large telescope and his white laptop in one arm. Emma glanced up at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know me; I love a good party."

"And I love having you around to tell me a bunch of random facts while secretly I ignore you and don't take in a single word you say," Rikki sang. "Now that I've told the truth, your turn, Lewis."

"Well, I'd just thought I'd come make sure you guys were alright—"

"Which we are," Emma stated impatiently.

"—and I also wanted to do some research on the planetary alignments while I was here. You know, gather some data. I brought my telescope—" he jerked his head in the direction of the large cylindrical object under his arm, "—and figured I could set up outside. That way, I'll be right outside if you guys need me—"

"Which we won't," Rikki added.

Lewis merely nodded meekly, but Cleo interjected. "Well, better safe than sorry. Right, guys?"

This was met with a mumbled chorus of "Uh huh," and "Yeah, I s'pose."

"Great," Lewis said cheerfully. "Remember that preparation is nine-tenths of the battle. This way we'll be ready for anything."

Rikki looked up at him in mock surprise. "Anything? Wow, and here I was all worried about the year 2012. That's a relief, yeah?"

"Well aren't you full of it today," Emma remarked. Rikki shrugged.

"I have my days." Cleo glanced at her in an all-knowing sort of way, but Rikki's pointed look told her to keep quiet. After all, it was just a headache.

Wasn't it?

Yeah, nothing to worry about.

To be continued...

Well, if you missed the major foreshadowing attempt, you're obviously blind or naive; one of the two. So I didn't particularly get anywhere with this chapter, but wanted to throw in some jokes and whatnot before the main plot starts to pick up, which should be next chapter. So look forward to it!

Also—as many of us know and dread—school is going to be starting up again soon (approximately August 22nd for me), so between homework and studying, I might not have as much time to work on my stories as I had this summer vacation, but I'll still try my hardest to update as frequently as possible. I won't let you guys down!

Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to review! It really means a lot to me. It's because of awesome people like you guys that I'm motivated to continue writing for both your and my enjoyment.

Question for readers: Should I add more or less detail? Or is the amount I'm currently producing just right? I feel like I need a second opinion on this, and I'd appreciate if you'd help me out. CURSE MY SELF-CONSCIOUS SELF! *shakes fist angrily at the ceiling*

Thanks for reading and feel free to review! ^_^