A/N: I apologize from the bottom of my heart for the cliffhanger in the last chapter…but I'm trying to make up for it by uploading twice in one day! Now I'll shut up because (hopefully) you're dying to keep reading!
Disclaimer: NO I DO NOT OWN H2O! Darn it. :)
CHAPTER 8
Will's POV
I yelped in surprise as I hit the water.
Water.
Oh my gosh, I wasn't supposed to TOUCH water, much less be COMPLETELY SUMERGED in it. I fought my way desperately to the surface and tried not to panic, but I wasn't very successful. I was starting to run out of air when I started to feel strange. My entire body was tingling, a little bit like the way I felt after my fall into the moon pool the night before, but this time…it was different. It felt good. I was suddenly no longer out of breath; I felt my legs go numb and my heart jumped into my throat. I couldn't swim; I was sinking. In panic I thrashed about with my arms, not even noticing that my shirt had disappeared, and then my eyes happened to dart down. I almost passed out. My legs were gone. In their place was a long red, scaly tail, like the girls. So Zane was right.
I had become a merman.
Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and there was Bella. She stared at my tail and gaped at me. Then grinned she grinned. I shrugged my shoulders and gave a weak smile. She motioned for me to surface. Using my tail, I propelled myself upward and we surfaced together. Zane was already there and had pulled himself up on the dock. His jaw hit the ground when I broke the surface. Sure he had suggested the idea initially, but I guess actually seeing it was different. No kidding. I looked at Bella in shock. "Okay, this is –" I started to say, but Cleo cut me off.
"Guys, dive swim, go! There's someone coming!" she warned urgently. I turned and saw some people walking by the shore. Bella grabbed my hand.
"We have to go, NOW." She ordered, diving beneath the water and pulling me with her. Once underwater she let go of my hand and motioned for me to follow her. I tested out my tail for the first time. I thought that I had been at home in the water with my legs; this tail was even better. I swam faster than I had thought possible. I couldn't help but grin. This was as fun as I had imagined; no wonder Bella loved being a mermaid so much. I finally could understand how she'd been feeling all these years, and it felt great. I figured that we were heading for Mako, and I was right. We swam through the tunnel and surfaced in the moon pool. I wasn't sure what to say. I looked at Bella. The expression on her face was priceless. I smiled and she did too.
"Nice tail." She commented.
I laughed. "Thank you." I responded proudly. I stretched out, resting my weight on the rock shelf and turned my head so I could see for myself.
"It is nice at that, isn't it?" I said, swishing it from side to side.
"So, you're okay with this?" Bella asked cautiously.
I went serious and thought for a few seconds.
"Yeah, I guess so, I mean, there's nothing that I can really do about it right?" I said logically.
Bella nodded slowly.
"Then yeah, I think I'm okay with it." I paddle a little closer to her and leaned in. I kissed her hard, savoring this moment. Her arms wrapped around my neck and my hands found their way to her waist. Both of our tails paddled furiously to keep us afloat.
"Oh please, get a room!"
We broke apart in a flash to see Rikki enter with Cleo. Rikki was glaring at us and Cleo was blushing slightly. I turned bright red, as did Bella.
Rikki swam under water and examined my tail. Cleo swam over to Bella and waited for Rikki to surface. She finally did with an awed look on her face.
"That's one heck of a tail you got there." She said, leaning back against the rocks next to Cleo.
"Thanks…?" I said, not quite sure how to take that.
We heard an "oofh!" come from near the back of the cave and pretty soon, Zane appeared in the chamber.
He grinned when he saw me.
"When I called you fish boy, I apparently was closer to the truth then I thought." He smirked.
"Apparently." I echoed dryly.
Rikki started to ease herself out of the water, "Zane, a little help please!" She said, irritated. Zane grabbed her arms and pulled her up onto the sand.
"Thank you." She said as she dried herself off. Her legs appeared a few seconds later and she stood up and hugged Zane.
He looked surprised, but then hugged back, "why are you being so nice?" He mumbled into her ear.
"No reason, I just felt like it," she whispered back.
"Well feel like it more often; I like it." Zane whispered. He pulled out of the hug a little and cupped her chin in his palm and kissed her. They broke apart and just stood there rubbing noses with each other.
I felt Bella swim a little closer to me and I put my arm around her.
Cleo looked uncomfortable, and she began to pull herself out of the water, "Rikki, dry me please." She asked.
Rikki reluctantly broke apart from Zane's embrace and squatted down next to Cleo, moving her fist back and forth along her body.
"I wonder if you have a power?" Bella said suddenly.
I shrugged, "I don't know, how would one find out anyway?"
Bella gestured towards my hand. "Try moving you hand in different positions over the water and see what happens."
I held my hand out and started to copy some of the moves that I'd seen Bella do. Nothing happened. I was starting to feel self-conscious when I tried the flick-of-the-wrist/palm-up one. Suddenly the water in the pool began twirling like a little cyclone. I jumped in surprise, making a "stop" sign with my hand without even realizing it. The water stopped twirling and was still.
"Whoa, Will, do that again!" Cleo cried.
"Yeah mate, that was really weird." Zane added.
I looked at my hand; it looked normal enough, "I'm not even sure what I did," I confessed.
"Try flicking your wrist again babe; I think that's what you did before," Bella encouraged.
I nodded and flicked my wrist, turning my palm up and holding the position. Immediately a small whirlpool formed in the center of the moon pool.
"Whoa," I breathed.
"Try moving you hand up, as if you were pulling something," Rikki urged. I did what she said and a small tentacle rose out of the whirlpool. My eyes were fixed on it. This was almost too crazy.
"Make as if you were throwing something at the rock over there," Cleo said excitedly. I pulled my arm back a bit and flung it out towards the rock. The tentacle immediately snapped around and struck the wall.
"Oh. My. Gosh." Rikki gasped.
I shook my head in wonder. "I can't believe all of this is happening." I said in awe.
"You're not the only one." Zane said, shaking his head.
I looked at Bella. "You want to get out?" I asked, motioning towards the others. "I think I need to feel my legs under me again before I can start processing this.
"Okay," she smiled. "I think I feel the same."
I hoisted myself up and out of the water. Rikki dried me off, and my legs returned. Bella started to drag herself up too and without thinking, I reached to help her.
"Will, don't! You're going to– " Cleo began, but she was a little too late. I transformed again, but in the wrong place this time. I flopped painfully down on the sand, hitting my elbow on the rocky side of the pool.
"Ow!" I yelped, rubbing my arm where I had hit it.
I looked pathetically at Bella. She looked strange, and she made a noise that sounded like a snort.
"What?" I asked indignantly, feeling a bit hurt. She suddenly started laughing.
"You – look – so – cute," she managed to sputter between burst of laughter.
I rolled my eyes as the rest of them erupted in laughter as well. "Great, just great." I muttered. I tried to look angry, but it wasn't working very well. I finally gave up and started laughing with the rest. Zane, still laughing, came over and helped Bella out of the pool. Rikki dried us both off, and we stood up. I stretched and then wrapped my arms tightly around Bella and held her close. This was freaky and yet amazing all at the same time, and I was so lucky to have a girlfriend who understood exactly what I was going through.
"So, how do you like having a merman for a boyfriend?" I teased her.
She smiled. "Let me see." She leaned in and we kissed. When we finally pulled away from each other, she giggled.
"I think I like it just fine."
A/N: Awwwwwww! :) How sweet! 3 (That's supposed to be a heart, but the little arrow doesn't show. Sorry!) Anyway, as I promised, I updated twice today. A special thank you to my friend gabi and liveonpurpose for giving me the ideas for Will's powers. I couldn't have written this chapter without you two. I got several other ideas and I'm so SORRY that I couldn't use them all. I wanted to, but it wouldn't have been fair to the girls for Will to have more powers than they did! I had a completely deferent idea, but then I changed it last minute. SORRY! I hope no one's mad at me! :) :) :) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this and please review! I appreciate your reviews more than you know. Thanks for reading! :) :) :)
P.S. I just want to confirm from the last chapter that I do not in ANYWAY promote a Zane/Will relationship. Only a friendship. NOTHING MORE!
