The boys all had matching expressions of pure joy on their faces. They're eyes widened with excitement, making them look like kids on Christmas morning.
"You mean..." Will started.
"We get to make..." Lewis turned to Cleo.
"A wish?" Zane put both hands on Rikki's shoulders.
The boys didn't move a muscle as they waited for the girls to confirm what they had said.
The girls exchanged looks with one another before nodding.
"You may each make one wish." Bella confirmed. "Just one."
The boys cheered so loudly the girls worried that the neighbors would begin pounding on the walls. The three of them immediately began chattering as they discussed the possibilities.
"This deserves a beer!" Lewis shouted dopily. The boys shouted excitedly to one another as they bustled into the kitchen. the door closed tightly behind them as they talked over one another.
The girls were left alone in the, now silent, living room. They sat there, staring after the boys.
"You're welcome!" Rikki called at the door sarcastically.
The girls giggled slightly. "I don't think we've made them that happy since..." Bella thought hard. "I don't think we've ever made them that happy, actually."
"I think you're right." Cleo couldn't believe how excited Lewis was. "Are we sure about this?"
"I'm not sure we have a choice anymore." Rikki said practically. "I mean, they'll probably just wish for something silly. Right?"
The girls exchanged slightly nervous but mostly excited looks.
"Think they're ever coming back?" Bella gestured to the kitchen door.
"I think they've forgotten we're even here." Rikki laughed.
"Well let's go remind them." Cleo stood. "I think I could go for a drink. Lord only knows what Lewis is going to wish for."
The boys talked with one another nonstop for what seemed like the next two hours. They came up with idea after idea for their one wish.
"I could wish for a new car..."
"-The new game system I've been wanting..."
"I've always wanted to meet Heidi Klum-"
On and on they went, debating about what would be the best way to spend their one wish. Eventually they began to settle down a bit, and take a slightly more practical look at the opportunity they'd been given. Their conversation began to roll in circles as the girls watched on, amused at the enthusiasm with which the boys spoke.
"Ok, I think I've decided on mine." Zane said nervously.
"Me too." Will grinned.
"And me." Lewis couldn't stop from beaming.
"Ok." Rikki stood, holding her hands out. "Write them down first." She slid a pad of paper to the boys. "We get final approval before you guys wish for anything. We need to make sure everything is worded right."
"And that we're ok with it." Bella added, shooting a look at Will.
"Darn." Will scrunched up his face. "I should probably wish for something different then."
Bella rolled her eyes as she playfully smacked Will on the arm.
Zane wrote furiously before pushing the paper towards Rikki. "It's not very exciting," he said sheepishly. "But I think you'll probably approve."
Rikki read quickly. "You want to make a wish for the cafe?" She raised her eyebrows. This was not at all what she expected.
"Yeah." Zane shrugged. "You know business has been down, I want to know we'll be stable for a while."
"You wish for takings at the cafe to increase dramatically." Rikki read aloud. Her face screwed up slightly. "I don't know, Zane."
"What don't you know?" Zane said indignantly as he stood and walked over to his girlfriend. "This is a perfectly legitimate wish."
"I'm not saying it isn't." Rikki said smoothly. "My only objection is to the wording. If you wish to increase takings that means money. We can't have unexplained money showing up all of a sudden, how will we explain that?"
Zane nodded. "Fair enough. How should I word it then?"
Rikki wrote down a few words and handed the page back to Zane. "Go for it." She said with a grin.
"You sure?" Zane looked to the other two girls, who nodded. They trusted Rikki."
"Ok..." Zane took a deep breath as the three mermaids closed their eyes and concentrated. "I wish for more people to crave juices, music, and everything else the cafe has to offer." He finished strongly before shooting a sideways look at Rikki. "You're sure you wrote that right?"
"Positive." Rikki cracked one eye open to answer him.
The girls could feel it. Maybe it was because all three of them were there, eyes closed, but this time they could definitely feel the magic leaving them. The feeling passed after a few seconds.
"Did it work?" Will asked excitedly.
"We'll have to wait and see, the cafe is closed now." Rikki answered. "So who's next?" She looked to Lewis and Will expectantly.
"Me." Will stepped up. "I've known what I wanted to wish for since the moment I found out about Bella." He said with certainty.
"Ok..." Bella pushed the same page of paper over to Will. "Write it down."
Will did so and pushed the paper back to Bella, a hopefully look on his face.
"You want to be like me?" Bella raised her eyebrows.
"Not forever, just for a while." Will clarified.
"Wait, what exactly does he want?" Cleo asked.
Bella read aloud. "He wishes he could be like us. Transform like us." She looked to the rest of the group. "Is that ok?"
"Of course, it's a wish." Rikki shrugged. Cleo agreed.
"Ok then." Bella handed the paper back to Will and took a deep breath. All three girls closed their eyes and concentrated.
Will spoke aloud. "I wish to transform the way the mermaids do when they touch water."
Again, they felt the power move through them. They opened their eyes slowly, examining Will.
"Well, did mine work?" Will didn't want to wait any longer before finding out.
"I'm sure it did." Bella said comfortingly. "But let's go ahead and grant Lewis's wish before we test it, ok?"
"Alright." Will agreed reluctantly. Secretly, he had always wanted to know what it would be like to swim as a mermaid. Well, merman. He would only need to wait a bit longer before he could get his wish.
"Alright Lewis." Cleo said with a smile. "What is your wish?"
"Well," Lewis flushed, slightly embarrassed. "Mine is really easy." He handed the paper he'd written the wish on to Cleo."
Cleo read it to herself before looking to Lewis with appreciative eyes. "Are you sure this is all you want?" She asked gently.
"Absolutely." Lewis didn't even pause before answering.
Cleo showed the page to Bella and Rikki, but neither of them had any corrections for it. She handed it back to Lewis and nodded. "Go ahead."
"Ok." Lewis took a deep breath. "I wish to be totally accepted by the decision panel for the biological research group." He closed his eyes as he finished the wish.
Once again, the girls felt the power flow through them and out into space. They slowly opened their eyes and looked to one another.
"Now what?" Cleo was the one to speak first.
"I don't know." Bella pondered. "But we should all stay here tonight."
"Fine by me." Zane said with a slight grin as he pulled himself closer to Rikki.
"Oh hush." Rikki said with a silly tone. "Come on." She gestured for Zane to follow her back to her room.
"You don't have to tell me twice." Zane practically skipped past Rikki back into her room.
"And there he goes." Rikki watched as he fluttered past. "I should follow him." She whispered to the rest of the group. "Don't do anything without telling me about it first!" She instructed.
"I may take Will out to Mako." Bella called. "Is that alright?"
"Sure is." Rikki said with a wink. "You two kids have fun."
"I would offer to join you, but I'm betting you two want a little privacy." Cleo said delicately. "Though I will expect a phone call. Let me know if it worked."
"Are you sure you don't want to test it here first?" Lewis raised his eyebrows.
"No." Will said definitively. He wanted his first transformation to be in the ocean. He looked to Bella with bright eyes. "Let's swim to Mako."
Bella giggled as she entwined her fingers in her boyfriend's. She was so incredibly flattered that his one wish had been to swim like she did. She looked to Lewis and Cleo. "Are you guys going to try anything tonight?"
"Not much to try." Lewis raised his shoulders. "I'll give the panel a call tomorrow and see if they've changed their mind about my application."
Cleo yawned, stretching her arms over he head. "Ready for bed?"
"Don't you know it." Lewis and Cleo headed back towards Cleo's room, leaving Bella and Will alone.
"Ready?" Bella squeezed Will's hands in hers.
"Since the day I met you." Will said cheesily as the pair hurried outside towards the dock.
Rikki and Zane were laying in the bed, arms wrapped around each other in the darkness. "Zane?" Rikki said quietly.
"Hm?" Zane stared blankly up at the ceiling.
"Why did you wish for what you did?" Rikki looked up at him. "You could have wished for anything, and you just wished for business to pick up at the cafe?"
"The cafe is ours." Zane said simply. "If business keeps going down we'll have to close eventually." He kissed the top of Rikki's head thoughtfully. "I don't know what I'd do if that happened. It's the first thing I've been in charge of. I don't want to let you down."
"I'm in charge too," Rikki reminded him. "If the cafe goes under it's just as much my fault as it is yours."
"But it isn't going to." Zane said with a smirk. "Because we have your magical mermaid mojo."
"Mojo?" Rikki raised herself up on her elbows with a laugh.
"And what would you call it?" Zane wrapped his arms around Rikki and rolled over playfully so that he lay on top of her. Their laughter faded slowly as they looked into each other's eyes. "I love you." Zane said without a trace of laughter.
Rikki heard the truth in his words. "And I love you." Was all she said before she pressed her lips to his.
Bella and Will stood at the edge of the dock, hand in hand.
"You ready to do this?" Bella looked up at Will.
Will took a deep breath. "Yes." Was his answer. "Should I, uh, take off my shoes?"
"You've seen how it works." Bella answered. "When you change back everything will be the same as when you jumped in the water. You don't need to take anything off."
"What if it doesn't work?" Will asked worriedly.
Bella gave a light laugh. "Then you climb back out and we go home. We'll try to wish again tomorrow."
"Ok." Will took a deep breath. "On the count of three?"
Bella nodded. "One... two... three."
They stepped off the dock at the exact same time and sank down into the water. Will held onto Bella's hand tightly as he waited. At first it didn't seem like anything was going to happen. He was just getting ready to give up and swim for the surface when he felt it. A weird tingling started at his navel and moved down all the way to his toes. The sensation was almost overwhelming. Will tried to wiggle his toes and realized his toes weren't there anymore. He looked down through the dark water. Instead of two legs, a long deep gold colored fin had appeared. Will inhaled in surprised excitement, causing water to flow into his lungs. Sputtering, he pushed himself up to the surface to gulp in fresh air.
"Will!" Bella surfaced beside him, her eyes opened wide. "Holy hell!"
Will was unable to speak as he looked down at himself. It was just like he'd imagined it. He felt more powerful than he ever had before. He turned to Bella, a look of childish excitement on his face. "Let's swim out to Mako." He said quickly.
It only took Will a few minutes before he could power himself through the water just as Bella did. The two swam out to Mako in record time. Will had never been happier in his entire life.