The next morning, the girls met at the docks. Emma, Cleo, and Rikki were already there when Elena, Rebekah, and Bonnie arrived. "Nice of you to meet us here." Emma said.
"Did we have to schedule this for eight in the morning?" Bonnie asked.
"Well, I figured the earlier it was, less risk of people coming down here." Emma said. "That, and it was already worked into our schedule."
"Our Emma is hyper-organized." Rikki explained.
"You haven't changed a bit." Elena smiled.
"Neither have you." Emma told her.
"Okay, let's go over the rules first." Cleo said. "Just so you're all aware of them."
"Well, I'm guessing the first one is be careful around water." Rebekah said. "Otherwise, we turn into fish girls."
"Actually, that is rule number one." Emma said, looking surprised and impressed. "Anyone else want to take the lead on the next one?"
"When it's the night of the full moon, don't look at the moon or it's reflection." Cleo said. "It's incredibly dangerous and you'll wake up as though you've blacked out."
"So, how do we do that?" Bonnie asked, looking worried.
"That brings us to the next rule, stick together." Emma said. "Even though it's hard, you three really have to stick together, especially during the full moon nights. Stay over at each other's houses, cover all the windows, and most importantly stay inside."
"And if you do have to out, make sure to wear those really dark tinted sunglasses we got on that shopping trip." Cleo added. "It should help."
"Also on full moon nights, don't touch water." Rikki added. "That first time, Emma ended up stuck with her mermaid tail and didn't change back until the moon set."
"Any questions so far?" Emma asked.
"I have one, how long before you become immune to the full moon's influence?" Elena asked.
"For us, it took two years." Rikki answered. "But we still have to be careful not to be out for too long."
"That's just our luck. It'll be that much harder to keep this secret, especially since I'm not part of the main group." Rebekah said.
"To be fair, you kind of brought that on yourself." Elena pointed out. "You've flirted with all our boyfriends, you've attacked us, you're the reason I'm a vampire…"
"That last one was self-defense. I was trying to save my family from a murderer who could've killed us." Rebekah said. "If it's any consolation, I'm glad you're not really dead."
"Okay, before this gets out of hand, any other rules?" Bonnie asked.
"No, I think that covers it." Emma said.
"Good, now we can get to the fun part." Rikki said. "Each of you three will be paired up with one of us after you show us what you've got." Elena, Bonnie, and Rebekah looked at each other.
"She means show us your mermaid powers." Cleo explained. "I'll demonstrate." She bent down and waved her hand over the water. As soon as her fingertips were a little above the water, it lifted upward slightly, then went down again, like a very tiny wave.
"You can control water, too." Bonnie said. She bent over and created a small wave similar to the way Cleo had. The two looked at each other and smiled.
Elena waved her hand over to water under where she was sitting. It instantly started to bubble and steam. "Wow," Emma said. "I guess your powers reflect your personality, unlike ours."
"That was my guess too." Elena said. The water stopped bubbling.
"I always figured you were a warm person." Emma said.
Rebekah put her hand just an inch away from the water and concentrated. A small patch of water instantly froze over. "Somehow, this doesn't surprise me." Emma said, using her powers to break up the ice into little snowflake patterns. She and Rebekah looked at each other.
"Well, I guess you're with me." Rikki told Elena. She pointed at the water and created a small steam herself.
"Okay, now that we know who's with who, let's get in there and show them some techniques." Emma said.
"Wait, we're going into the water?" Bonnie asked.
"It's okay." Cleo assured her. "No one's around here."
"Okay." The six of them jumped into the water. When they surfaced, the Mystic Falls girls were surprised they were still human and turned to the others.
"It's only been six seconds." Emma told them.
"Wait, how…" Rebekah began.
"Three…two…one…" Cleo counted, then got cut off as a blue light surrounded all of them.
The next thing they knew, they had changed into mermaids. "Whoa."
"I know. It takes getting used to." Rikki said.
"And apparently changes more than our bodies." Elena said, looking at Rebekah. The blonde Original's hair had been pulled into a tight braid (like in the flashback in Ordinary People). Multiple white, pearls held it together. Somehow, it still looked natural in this form.
Rebekah touched the back of her head, realizing it. "This going to happen every time?"
"Yes." Emma said. "But it'll go back to normal when you're human, or whatever it is you are."
"This would be a good time for you to stop talking." Rikki told her. Emma nodded, for once agreeing with her.
"It's a good look on you, though." Bonnie pointed out. Elena nodded in agreement.
"So, you girls ready to swim?" Emma asked.
"I guess." Bonnie said.
"Just follow us, girls." Rikki said. They all ducked under the water. The new mermaids were really struggling behind them. They re-surfaced beneath the dock.
"Wow, it's hard swimming with fins." Elena said.
"It takes getting used to and a lot of practice." Cleo said.
"Would you believe I've never went swimming in my life?" Rebekah asked.
"Actually, I can believe it." Elena said. Rebekah's swimming was even worse than her own when they were down there. Even Bonnie was slightly better than the two of them combined.
"You weren't doing so hot either." Rebekah pointed out. "Did that accident damage your swimming ability?" Bonnie looked worried. The water around them started to bubble and steam.
"It's not me!" Rikki said automatically.
"Elena." Emma realized. "Elena…" She began to call out.
"You were the reason I drowned after going over that bridge, or did you forget that?" Elena said to Rebekah, sounding more angry with every word. "I know you wanted to defend your family and all, but at the cost of my life?! If Dr. Fell hadn't given me vampire blood, I would've been dead because of you!"
Emma grabbed her cousin's hand, stopping the steam instantly. "Enough! People are going to stare under here if you keep it up." Elena looked down. She hadn't realized she'd been using her powers.
"Sorry, Em."
"It happens to the best of us sometimes." Rikki said. Rebekah and Bonnie turned to each other as the others spoke with Elena.
"Look, she lost her parents on the same bridge two years ago." Bonnie told her. "Being around there, it doesn't exactly bring good memories for her."
"Oh…I didn't know that." Rebekah said. "I just thought…"
"Well, you should think of how your plans effect others besides you and your family." Bonnie said. "Especially now that we're all mermaids." Rebekah nodded, understanding. She'd never been much of a team player, but she knew she was going to have to learn how to be a good one if they were going to keep their mermaid status a secret.
"Okay, maybe it would help if you watched us in the water first." Cleo suggested. "It might help."
"If we have to, we can help you adjust your position, too." Emma said.
"Okay, let's do it." Bonnie said. "Ready, you two?" Elena and Rebekah glanced at each other, then turned to her and nodded. They all ducked back underwater. This time, Elena, Rebekah and Bonnie stayed in place, floating just above the bottom of the lake as they watched the others.
After what felt like ten minutes, they swam over to the girls and helped them out. Bonnie was starting to get the hang of it easily. Emma was getting the feeling Elena was still holding back. She touched her shoulder, giving her a questioning look. Elena pointed up and they both broke the surface of the water.
"I'm sorry, I know I can do better than this." Elena told her after taking a couple breaths.
"It's okay, Elena. But if this is because of what happened to them, you're going to have to get over it." Emma told her.
"I'm trying."
"Well, you're going to have to try a little harder." Emma said. "I miss them, too, but you're letting it get the best of you. You're subconsciously blocking your ability to swim."
"I try not to think about it, but sometimes it creeps back in. Especially when I'm around water." She admitted.
"You remind me of Cleo in the first few days of our change. But you'll be okay. Just trust me on this one. It's time to let go." Elena closed her eyes and pulled herself underwater. Emma followed her under. She offered her hand to her cousin. Elena took it and they started swimming together. She still wasn't quite getting it, but it was a slight improvement.
After a few seconds, Emma let go and helped her adjust her form. Afterward, she had no problem swimming around.
On the other end, Rebekah was still floating in place. Cleo and Rikki went over to her. Cleo took hold of Rebekah's arm, then gestured to Rikki. The strawberry-blonde mermaid swam through the water. Cleo helped Rebekah get into the proper swimming position, then encouraged her to go.
Rebekah was surprised and impressed when she found herself swimming-actually swimming-for the first time in her life. After a few minutes of swimming around, the group resurfaced to take a break. Rikki used her powers to dry them off quickly.
"Never thought I'd be glad to have legs again." She said.
"I'll say. That was the hardest time I'd had in the water since before I was a junior lifeguard." Bonnie said.
"How's it going, guys?" They all looked up.
"Lewis, you're early." Cleo said.
"Figured I'd check in before playing look-out duty." He told them. "So, how are the new girls doing?"
"We can hear you, you know." Rebekah said.
"I think they've really made a big improvement." Emma said. "As far as swimming goes."
"She's right. We're going to have to really practice in order to get these powers under control." Elena said.
"No kidding. We don't need another incident like the heating pool disaster a few months ago." Cleo said.
"It was an accident!" Rikki said. "You really think I meant to do that?"
"Maybe we should take a break before we get back in the water." Emma said. They group split up then. Elena, Rebekah, and Emma headed under the shade of a big tree, while the rest went the other direction.
"You really did well down there." Rebekah told her.
"So did you." Elena said.
"Look, I'm sorry about…well, everything. I didn't know about your parents. And I've been pretty horrible to you all these months."
"Well, you had your reasons." Elena pointed out. "After all, I'm the one who daggered you at Homecoming. And for the record, I felt awful about it."
"I always hated that dagger." Rebekah said. "But I get why you did it. My brother, on the other hand, would've done it if I'd just looked at a guy. You at least had a good reason."
"That still doesn't make it any more right." Elena pointed out. She got up. "By the way, I wasn't pretending to be your friend back then." Rebekah seemed surprised. "The weird thing about all this is that even when you threatened me, I never saw you as the bad guy. Except maybe those first few months after I turned, but I'm past that now."
"Well, to be honest, I've always sort of envied you." Rebekah told her. "But I guess we're not too different inside. I wish I could make things up to all of you."
"It's never too late to make up with someone." Elena said, holding her hand out. Rebekah took it.
"Sorry to interrupt this moment, but we should probably catch up with the others." Emma told them. "Looks like they just jumped off the dock again." They got into the water and found them.
"What happened?" Rebekah asked.
"Rikki tripped off the pier, so we went after her to make sure she was okay." Bonnie explained.
"I'm more resilient than you think." Rikki said. "And Cleo, you can let go of my arm now. I'm fine."
"Sorry." Cleo said, letting go of her.
"Anything else you want to teach us today?"
"Well, there is one more little thing." Emma said. "Now that you've got swimming down, let's see if we can increase your speed."
Minutes later, the girls found themselves swimming really fast. They resurfaced near a small hill, not too far from Wickery Bridge. "Wow. That was intense." Bonnie said as they made their way to shore.
"Yeah, there's nothing like that feeling of going fast underwater." Rikki said. "It's a real rush."
"It's almost like using vampire speed." Elena said. Rebekah nodded in agreement.
"We normally only use that for emergencies or if we need to get somewhere really fast." Emma told them. She noticed Lewis, Ash, and Zane coming over to them.
"Need a hand, girls?"
"Thanks." Cleo said as they helped the few remaining girls in the water onto the grass.
"It's no problem."
"How'd you even know we'd be here?" Emma asked.
"Lewis called." Ash said.
"And I had the scanner with me." Lewis added, holding it up.
"Well, let's get back to normal." Rikki said. She concentrated on her powers and used them on herself, turning back into a human instantly. Then, she helped Emma and Cleo dry off. Elena did the same with herself, Rebekah, and Bonnie.
"Thanks." Rebekah told her.
"You're welcome."
"Man, it is weird swimming without legs." Bonnie said as the group started toward the road back to town.
"Yeah, but you're better at it than us." Elena said. "Besides, you were a swimming champion back when we were kids."
"Really?" Rikki asked. "That's news."
"Before lifeguard training, she was one of the best junior swimmers in our town." Elena told her.
"Yeah, she was pretty amazing." Emma said. "We used to swim together all the time that summer she tagged along on the Gilberts' vacation."
"True, but that was nothing compared to how awesome you were in the water." Bonnie pointed out.
"Anyone feel like hanging out later?" Zane asked.
"I can't." Rebekah said. The others turned to her. "It's not because of your friends. My brother wants me to look into something. Whoever else was after that fake cure almost had some girl killed."
"Be careful." Elena told her. Rebekah nodded.
"I'm guessing this happens a lot?" Cleo asked.
"Not really." Bonnie said. "It's rare for them to target someone for no reason."
"True, but something about this doesn't add up." Emma said. "First you guys go searching for some fictional cure, then a random stranger is attacked."
"I get the feeling these two events are somehow connected." Rikki said.
"We need to find some answers. Remember, we weren't the only ones on the island that day." Elena said.
"I think it's time we had a talk with Shane." Bonnie said. "And we might need to do some more investigating on that island."
"And we'll be helping you every step of the way." Emma said. "Mako Island's practically a second home to us and if something's going on there, or if this Professor of yours is up to something, you can count us in." The rest of her group agreed.
"Okay, then it looks like we're in this together." Elena said.