Summary: They never made a season five so this is what I like to think what would have happened next after the last episode of season four.

Disclaimer: Ocean Girl/Odyssey and all associated characters, places, institutions and ideas are the property of Jonathon M. Schiff. I loved this TV show and I wish they had continued and made many more seasons of it but in a way I'm glad they didn't because I can now write my own interpretation on what might have happened after season 4.

Chapter Three

Meanwhile, as Jason, Cass and Brett were heading towards the island, Neri was swimming in the opposite direction, out towards the Mako Abyss. She darted in between the little passageways of the reef, a feeling of contentment filling her at the knowledge that for now the oceans were safe. Fish of all different colours and sizes darted around in a dizzying array that made her smile. She could hear Charley singing far out into the ocean and caught a glimpse of the outline of a familiar boat passing overhead in her mind. She smiled to herself at the sight of it because she hadn't expected to see Jason until later on this evening when he finished helping Mother. It was a nice surprise, maybe he might have brought Brett along with him.

She called out to Charley, letting him know where she was as she headed towards him. He seemed happy enough, searching the ocean for food and singing away quite happily. There was another humpback in the area and the two of them were chattering away quite happily. As she drew near to where he was, she herself saw the boat pass overhead and was tempted to swim up to greet them, or swim back to the island to meet them on the beach, but then she changed her mind. She was on her way to the pyramid, anxious to contact her sister and mother and find out if they'd made it safely back to the Ocean Planet and if the boat was heading out towards the island then Jason would probably be staying all day and she might not get a chance to return to the pyramid at all today if she went to meet them. They would be safe enough on the island until she got back.

Reluctantly she turned and swam away from the boat, heading out into deeper water where there were fewer fish. For a while she stayed near the surface, watching the bright light of the sun shimmer through the waves. It was such a nice day that she couldn't resist doing a few summersaults through the water, twisting and turning like a dolphin before rising to the surface to literally jump out into the air before slicing back through the waves. The sense of freedom was amazing as she started diving deeper and deeper towards the spot where the underwater pyramid lay.

It felt welcoming as she drew nearer too it, no longer the dangerous weapon that could have been used to destroy everything she loved and held dear in the wrong hands. It was once more dormant, switched off, a silent relic that had born witness to some of the most extraordinary events, all those weeks ago. Queen Shalamorn had wanted to send it back into the depths of the seabed before she left in case any human was tempted to visit the pyramid and try and bend it's powers to their own ends, but Mera and Neri had begged her to leave it there so that they could continue to use the power of the central power of the structure to allow them to communicate, even when they were so far away from each other.

The steep sides of the ancient stone structure rose steeply up out of the seabed, its straight edges and crisp angles looking completely alien to the jagged, uneven rocks around it. Every inch of the outer surface was carved with figures and words which represented so many different myths and legends from the Ocean Planet that when Mera had tried to explain them all, all the stories seemed to blur together in Neri's head to the point where she kept getting the stories mixed up. It had been magical for Neri to sit and listen to these stories that reminded her of the ones her father had told her when she was a little girl, but also it saddened her that she couldn't remember clearly which of the stories her father had taught her and which ones he hadn't.

Neri swam towards the point at the very top of the pyramid and tapped it once with her hand as she swam past. Brett had told her that many years ago, people visiting the pyramids in Egypt used to try and climb to the very tops of the pyramids as they pointed to the endless blue sky which she thought was rather funny when she had to dive down to get to the bottom of the pyramid in order to get inside it while she was surrounded by endless blue water. It was a thought that always made her smile when she visited the pyramid.

She swam down the face of the east facing wall of the pyramid, searching for the triangle panel that would allow her to enter the pyramid. It was about halfway down and she dived down quickly towards it, laying her hand over it in order to activate the opening mechanisms. As always the stone blocks parted easily, revealing a gloomy rectangular opening where mere moments ago there had been no sign of any entrance. Neri watched the opening warily for a moment, still unable to shake off the irrational fear that one of Malakat's commandos might appear from the shadowy hole and attack her, before she swam inside, heading towards the first large chamber.

She surfaced in the large pool and propelled herself towards the sides, quickly pulling herself out onto the side. All around her, reflections of the rippling water of the pool cast shadows around all the walls and large columns that surrounded the pool as somewhere inside the pyramid, the sound of loud drip echoed through the empty rooms. There were no other sounds apart from her footsteps as she padded quickly over the large steps that would lead to the rest of the pyramid.

She'd intended to head straight to the heart of the pyramid, to speak to her sister and then leave, heading back to the island and her friends but she couldn't help but enter the Great Chamber, to stand in front of the statue of her mother. She gazed up at her mother, awed as always by the beauty of the woman who had given birth to her. She longed to reach out and touch the hand of the statue that clutched the ankh in the hope that Shalamorn might had left her another hologram behind for her to see, but previous visits had shown her that that wasn't the case.

A mixture of love and pride filled her as she looked up at the statue. This was her very own mother, a person who she'd never in her wildest dreams ever thought that she would meet. She'd known, naturally, that she must have at one point have had a mother, but when her father had died, she'd lost all link to her, all chance of knowing anything about her. Jason and Brett's mother had taken on that role for her but there was nothing like the feeling of meeting her real mother.

She touched the base of the statue, hoping to feel some link to Shalamorn but all she felt was the cold marble of the statue. A wave of sadness followed the love and pride, regret that she hadn't been able to spend more time with Shalamorn before she'd left to go back home to the Ocean Planet. They'd missed out on so much time already and now, neither of them knew when they'd see each other in person again. When the spaceship had left, carrying her sister and mother to a far away planet that she didn't even remember, it was hard for Neri to stay behind. Part of her had really wanted to go with them, to see the strange planet where she had been born.

But there was too many things tying her to earth and she couldn't leave. One day, maybe, she would travel to the Ocean Planet and see her family again, but for now she was content to stay on earth with Jason and Charley. They were the most important people in her life right now, closely followed by Brett, Mother, Winston and Cassandra, as well as all the other friends she had made on earth. She wasn't ready to leave them all behind, to possibly never see their faces again. She didn't know if she would ever be completely ready to leave this planet where she had lived so happily for as long as she could remember for a strange new place like Mera had been willing to do.

With one last glance around the chamber, she headed out of the room and followed the passageway to the very centre of the pyramid. It was a strange room, similar to the HELEN's central nervous system but infinitely more complex and advanced. It was bathed in a soft blue light in contrast to the harsher lighting on ORCA. Power hummed through many thousands of tubes as the pyramid laid quietly resting all around her.

She reached out and touched one of the tubes, focusing on an image of her sister as she had last seen here. "Sister? Mera?" She whispered, not wanting to talk too loudly and disturb the piece of the pyramid. "Can you hear me?" She called, a strange feeling of vast expanses of space and time filling her.

An image of Mera seemed to materialise out of thin air, similar to the hologram that used to appear out of the statue. "Yes sister, I can hear you," Mera's voice sounded clear in Neri's head, as though she was stood in the same room and not somewhere on another planet, light years and galaxies away.

Neri smiled, feeling close to her sister despite the physical distance between them. Her heart felt lighter and everything was fine in her world. "You made it back safe?" She asked, needing this little bit of reassurance.

She heard an answering snort in reply and could almost see her sister rolling her eyes in response. "Yes, we made it back safely," Mera replied. "The journey was quick and event-free. Our people greeted our mother back with open arms, shocked at what Malakat had done,"

"That is good. People should not blame her for what Malakat did. She was a victim too," Neri agreed with her. "And the red virus?" Neri was curious to know how fast the virus was cleaning up on the Ocean Planet. It was slowly retreating in size on earth and while she knew she had to be patient, she wished it would go faster. Every day it lingered, even with the antidote, more damage was being done to the sea and the plants and animals. Every island and reef that she visited, every beach, still dead fish and plants were being washed up on the shoreline.

Mera laughed. "It is almost gone," A feeling of joy filled her heart, an echo of what her sister was feeling. "Our scientists came up with a way of copying the antidote and accelerating its powers. Within a few more days it will completely vanished and the oceans will start to recover,"

Neri nodded. "That is good."

"What about on earth?" Mera asked. "How are the oceans doing there?"

Neri sighed. "Jason and I monitor the virus every day," Neri admitted. "It is not spreading anymore but the antidote works slowly and there is much still to heal,"

Mera heard the sadness in Neri's voice and decided to try and lighten the mood. "And how is Jason?" She asked in a sing-song sort of voice that she'd learnt from Brett. He used it as an extremely effective weapon to wind Jason up when Jason was being particularly overbearing as the older sibling. "Has he been over to the island recently?"

"He is fine," Neri ignored her sister's insinuations. "Charley saw him heading back to the island. I go and see him soon,"

"You mean you let him go to the island alone?" Mera asked incredulously. "You chose a cold, empty underwater pyramid over spending time with Jason?"

"I needed to talk to sister, make sure you and Mother were safe," Neri shrugged. "Jason is safe on the island. He will wait till I get back."

Mera couldn't believe her ears. Only Neri, who was used to doing what she wanted when she wanted could get away with making a statement like that and know that she was right. Jason would probably wait forever for Neri and even though he was probably worrying sick about her and that something might have happened to her, when she did make it back to the island he'd put his impatience aside and just revel in the moment with Neri. He adored her and it was obvious to anyone looking at him how he felt. She'd heard about how Jason had been when Neri had been kidnapped and when he thought she had died, he'd nearly fallen apart from grief from Brett. She wasn't sure how Neri felt about Jason though. Neri was used to keeping her thoughts and feelings to herself and it was hard to read her.

"Do you love him?" Mera asked curiously, needing to know. "He cares deeply for you. He was willing to die with you in the pyramid when you thought that there was no other way,"

"I know, I feel the same for him," Neri said awkwardly, not knowing the words to adequately explain how she felt about Jason. She'd never felt like this for anyone before. She loved mother and Brett, Mera and her real mother and had been extremely close to her father, but what she felt for Jason was more than that. Like Charley, he was like a part of her soul; she couldn't imagine living without him.

"Then go and see him," Mera smiled. "You'd rather be with him right now,"

"Not true! I love my sister too," Neri argued.

"I know, but now you know I'm fine you can go and find him." Mera smiled. "Besides, Mother is calling for me now. I need to go,"

"Okay, sister," Neri answered quietly. "Tell Mother I miss her,"

"I will do," Mera told her. "Farewell sister,"

Before Neri could reply, the connection was broken and she was left feeling alone in the pyramid. She shivered, feeling a little cold. She whispered "Farewell," to herself and let go of the tube, severing any connection with her family so far away. She quickly turned and left the room, wiping a tear from her eyes as she left the room, slipping as quietly through the passageway until she came to the antechamber where the pool was and dived in, swimming out, letting the cool water of the ocean enfold her in it's embrace, providing some comfort for the ache inside her heart where she missed her mother and sister.

The thought of seeing Jason again so soon made her swim faster than ever, her long legs kicking hard to propel her through the water, so fast that when Winston tracked her progress via the satellite dish they'd placed on the island he couldn't quite believe what the monitors were telling him and gave them a sturdy thump in an attempt to correct the problem. When nothing changed on the monitor he wondered if something could be chasing her or if was some kind of boat or submarine, but when HELEN analysed the data and concluded that it was in fact Neri, he was astonished at the speed she was travelling at.

Charley too, saw her swimming past, darting through the water like a hungry shark as she headed back towards her island. He called out to her, asking if they would swim together today. She sent a message back telling him that maybe later she would come and find him, but that she had a visitor on her island. Maybe if Jason had brought his snorkelling equipment with him, they could swim with Charley together. The few times Jason had gone swimming with her out on the reef, Charley had been busy swimming for food. Maybe this time Jason could see him up close for the first time in his own habitat, not beached on the sand or peering down the scope of a crossbow.

She reached the beach, noting the boat pulled high up above the high tide mark and headed towards it. Normally Jason would wait with the boat until she arrived but he wasn't there. She noted three sets of footprints though heading towards the forest and followed them. Jason must have brought Cass and Brett along with him. She started running up the beach, excited to see them all. It had been a while since they were all able to make it out to her island just to relax and she was glad to see them. She would have to gather some fruit and berries, and maybe go fishing so that they could have a feast to celebrate.

Just before she reached the cool shade of the forest, Jason appeared through the trees, his face troubled. It lit up, though, when he saw Neri as she ran over to him and threw herself at him, hugging him tightly. He wrapped his arm around her and buried his face in her wet hair, not caring that his clothes were getting soaked from her own wet clothes. It was very sunny and warm outside and they'd soon dry off. His kissed her hair gently, marvelling not for the first time that such a special and amazing person existed.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, before they pulled away. She reached up to gently touch his face. "Jason," She smiled, her eyes lighting up with happiness. "It is good to see you. I did not expect you today,"

He leaned down to kiss her gently on the lips. "Neither did I," He told her with a smile, though Neri noted that it didn't quite reach his eyes. His eyes looked sad and troubled and her heart went out to him. "Mum said I'd been working too hard and changed my roster so that I could have four days off," He explained, wrapping his arm around her waist.

"You stay overnight?" She asked, hoping that he would. As much as she was used to being alone a lot, she hated it. It was a part of her life that she accepted without any complaint but she wished it wasn't so. She loved it when her friends stayed over, especially Jason.

"Yeah," He grinned. "I brought enough stuff for the next three nights. I bet by the end of it, you'll be sick of me and wishing I'd go back to ORCA," He joked.

Neri shook her head. "Never," She said firmly. "I love you staying over," She told him. "Come on, let's go and find the others, I haven't seen them for so long,"

"How do you know I brought the others with me?" Jason asked.

Neri smiled and pointed to the footprints in the sand. "Three sets of footprints," She laughed. "Come, we'll gather fruit and berries on the way," She told him.

Jason sighed, reminded of the reason why the others were here. For a brief moment when he saw Neri running towards him he'd been able to block it out of his memory but there was no escaping from it. "Neri, you should know, Mum, Dad and Winston will be coming out to the island today as well," He said heavily. "As soon as Mum can get away from ORCA,"

Neri frowned and took him by the hand. "I will go fishing then and catch more food," She said calmly looking at his face. "You look troubled. Has something happened?" She asked worriedly. Had Malakat escaped and come back to try and steal the power of the pyramid again? Where PRAXIS back and still looking for her? Fear welled up in her heart.

"Something has happened," Jason admitted, his heart sinking. He grabbed her hand gently, lacing his fingers through hers and giving it a gentle squeeze. "But Mum wants to explain it to you so we wait till she arrives." He told her seriously, grateful to be able to put it off for a bit longer but feeling a little bad for making the worry and fear that had been in her eyes all too much during the past few weeks and he never wanted to see her worrying about anything again. "It's nothing to worry about, just a message Madame President sent for you," He lied, downplaying the seriousness of it.

Neri wasn't convinced. "You are sure that is all?" She asked sceptically.

Jason nodded, "You're not in any danger at all," He couldn't lie to her again so he avoided the topic, going for reassurance. "I promise I won't let anything or anyone hurt you, Neri," He promised her, letting go of her waist and leading her towards the forest. He wasn't sure how he'd keep up this charade if it was just the two of them on their own, but at least with the other two here, he could probably make a good go of convincing her that everything was fine.