Author: okay so like...I don't know how to describe this chapter. This is something I've always imagined would happen in H2O (for I do roleplay as Rikki on Tumblr) and I just really wanted to write it out.
You can prollie skip this chapter if you want. As the author, I discourage you to skip any chapters and encourage you to read the whole thing, but I understand that you may not have much interest in this. It doesn't do much for plot, doesn't really have our two favorite demigods, but it does a lot for character.
I will take a moment to reply to reviews again here though:
YoloMcSwaggins: you know, I've thought about this! I'm on the fence of how to handle Percy racing against Emma's time. I can promise it will happen. And he might beat her time (but if they were to have a race now with Emma as a mermaid, that'd be a different story). I haven't quite made up my mind yet, but I really like your idea and appreciate your input!
"So, Rikki, how have you been?" Harrison Bennett asked. He sat at a dining table, with Rikki and Zane sitting across from him. Dinner wasn't served, but everyone munched on appetizers laid out.
"Good, good. Just the...you know...same old, same old...I guess." Rikki replied sheepishly. "How's it going with you?"
"I've been doing well myself. Thank you for asking." Harrison paused. "How's school going?"
"Good, I guess." Rikki shrugged.
"Are you working?"
"Nah, not really. Just a little bit here and there."
A silence settled between the three. Harrison just nodded at Rikki and contemplated how to keep a conversation going with her to diffuse the tension.
"So. No Candy tonight?" Rikki questioned. Zane rolled his eyes, but kept his mouth shut.
"No. No, Candy won't be joining us. She had a previous engagement."
"Huh." Rikki didn't know what else she could say at this point.
"Can I get you anything to drink?" One of the Bennetts' workers asked. It was impossible to tell if this guy was the chef, waiter, butler, but Rikki either way was still impressed that they could hire such workers to attend to their personal needs.
"Ma'am?" Rikki blinked. The worker, Harrison, and Zane were staring at Rikki expectantly. She was spacing out.
"Just a water for me." Rikki responded.
"Get her the sparkling." Harrison said. "You'll like the sparkling. It's very good."
"Okay. And I'd like a straw, please." Rikki added. The worker nodded once and left, while Harrison raised his eyebrows at her. Rikki just remembered the relationships and situation and inwardly groaned. "It's out of habit at this point."
"Can't say that I blame you. Experiencing something as life changing as that would force you to change your habits." Harrison agreed. "You really aren't..."
"A mermaid? Not anymore. Gave it up a long time ago." Rikki answered.
"If you don't mind me asking, but...how were you able to...revert to normal? How were you able to lose all that power?"
"Dad. Let's not talk about this." Zane said in a warning tone.
"No, no, it's okay." Rikki slipped her hand into Zane's under the table. "It's no big deal. I don't really know, Mr. Bennett. Things just lined up and we just were at the right place at the right time that was able to take away our powers. I guess it's like magic or something."
"It's fascinating. But it must have been a difficult decision. One that had to be made. Power comes with a price, and in this instance, that price is dealing with people like Denman. And...myself. Or how I was." Harrison explained. "I made a mistake back then. You were put in a very dangerous situation and I almost lost my son. I'd like to apologize and hope we can put this all behind us."
Rikki and Zane exchanged looks. Zane squeezed Rikki's hand reassuringly. Rikki began to feel less tense and a little more relieved. It'll take more than a dinner to have complete trust in Zane's father, but Rikki cared about Zane so she should give it a try.
"Well, there's no resentment here." Rikki said. "Denman did trick you too."
"I should have been better. I should have known exactly what I was getting myself into. If I had known she was going to kidnap you-"
"Yeah, well, it could have been worse." Rikki shrugged. "Its in the past."
"And because it's in the past, we don't need to talk about it anymore." Zane gave Harrison a look. Harrison acknowledged the message with a nod and leaned back.
Dinner and drinks were served. It was steak with a fancy sauce with potatoes and other vegetables. Rikki never had such a nice meal before, never a steak so big and well-seasoned, cooked to perfection. She never had such a sauce but she has got to find out the name of it so she can use it again.
The dinner was kept casual. The three all had enjoyable conversations. Harrison asked Rikki about her family. Zane grumbled to his dad. Rikki talked about her dad some, but not too much. Harrison then asked about the wildlife at Mako and if she had a real interest in it. Rikki wasn't sure, and Harrison asked what her interests were. Rikki said she enjoyed picking on Zane as much as she could, and they all laughed. Rikki asked for a funny story about Zane, and she got one, and Zane got embarrassed, which as masked by a snarky comment.
"Would you like me to take your plate? Dessert will be served shortly." The server asked Rikki. Rikki blinked and looked up at him surprised.
"Me? Yeah, sure. Knock yourself out." Rikki shrugged.
The server smiled and reached to take her plate and silverware. When withdrawing his hand back, however, he knocked Rikki's glass over and it spilled right onto her lap.
Rikki inhaled sharply and jumped to her feet. Zane's eyes widened and he was at his feet.
"I'm sorry-I'm so terribly sorry-"
"It's fine!" Rikki pushed herself forward and ran out the dining room.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Zane snapped, stepping towards the server. He was getting red in the face from fury. "Do you realize what you have done? Have you forgotten that Rikki's my girlfriend and an important guest to this household? What the hell were you thinking?"
"Zane." Harrison rose to his feet. "You're dismissed, Walter." Walter the server nodded once and scurried off. "Zane, is everything alright?"
Zane struggled to find a decent lie to his dad.
"It...it's going to stain her dress." Zane said. "She loved that dress and now it's ruined."
"I thought she was only drinking water."
Zane's jaw dropped. His jaw clenched, but he was at a loss of words. Harrison just nodded and shifted his weight between his feet.
"So, when were you going to tell me?"
"It's not my secret to tell." Zane growled through gritted teeth. "Dad, I swear to God, if you do anything to her-"
"I won't, Zane." Harrison cut in. "Look, mermaid or not, I think Rikki is quite the young lady. And I know how happy she makes you. Her secret is safe with me."
Zane said nothing and didn't relax. He couldn't meet his father in the eye and Harrison sighed.
"I think you need to go cool off." Harrison suggested.
"I'm going to check on Rikki." Zane turned away, but Harrison grabbed his arm.
"Zane, you're a mess right now. Go cool off. You and I both know Rikki isn't one to take help anyway."
Zane yanked his arm away. He silently left the dining room, but did not go to the bathroom where Rikki hid.
Inside the bathroom, Rikki was lying on the floor, transformed into a mermaid. She was recovering from her fall, for she hit her head on the way down. Rikki pulled herself together and rolled onto her back. She let out a frustrated sigh and then groaned.
"Great. Now I'm the one with the most recent incident." Rikki grumbled. She propped herself up on her elbows and extended a hand over her orange tail. Slowly, she curled her fingers and steam began to come off her.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the bathroom door. Rikki panicked and her heart started racing. She squeezed her fingers even more, forcing her body to painfully heat up in effort to dry quicker.
The door opened, and Harrison walked in. He was carrying some towels and had shut the door behind him. Rikki's eyes widened and her face paled like a deer in headlights. She was in so much shock that her body stopped steam drying.
"Mr. B-Bennett-I-I can explain-"
"No need." Harrison set down the towels beside her and leaned against the sink. "I figured as much. I thought you could use some towels to dry off with. But it looks like you had it covered."
Rikki had a lump in her throat. What was she supposed to do? Does she keep drying? Does she say something to him? What if he suddenly turns on her for more profit? No, that seemed unlikely. Zane trusted him.
Harrison noticed Rikki was hesitant to accept the towels. And she looked terribly frightened, still and unmoving.
"I apologize for Walter. He can be rather clumsy, but that's no excuse." Harrison said. He paused, but Rikki didn't say anything. She swallowed thickly.
"Listen, I understand that you don't trust me. I don't blame you. But I truly want to earn your trust. I know it'll take some time and I will not try to buy your trust, because you're a respectable woman. But I'd like to try by promising you that you have nothing to worry about. Your secret is safe with me. I am willing to help you whenever you need it."
Rikki blinked. Suddenly, she remembered when Zane rediscovered her secret.
"Listen to me. I can handle it."
Rikki supposed the apple didn't fall far from the tree sometimes.
"Thank you, Mr. Bennett." Rikki said.
"You're welcome."
Neither said anything else. They just sort of nodded to themselves.
"It seemed like you had things under control. I'll just leave you to it. If you excuse me, I have to go make sure Zane didn't commit a homicide."
A small smile tugged on the corners of Rikki's mouth. Zane got on her nerves sometimes, and sometimes because he was being overprotective. But she guessed that having someone care so much for her was nice too. Unusual, but she appreciated Zane.
When Harrison left, Rikki resumed boiling the water off her body. She transformed back to normal and rejoined Harrison and Zane in the dining room. Zane was in a terrible mood and wanted to take Rikki home immediately, but she insisted in staying for dessert.
While eating dessert, Zane didn't say much. He picked at his cake and occasionally sent a glare at Harrison or Walter, whoever was present and closer. His sour mood hung in the air, making it feel heavy, tense, and awkward for the three. Harrison himself was quiet, embarrassed with himself and for once in his life, unsure of what to say out of fear of offending someone.
Rikki was, surprisingly, talkative. She felt the tension in the room like it stuck to her skin, so she tried to lighten it up. She shared a few stories, gave some jokes, made some sarcastic comments, and tried to pull Zane and Harrison into conversation by asking them questions. It helped, and for a few minutes, it was as if the tension disappeared, like there wasn't a secret they should have known about.
Zane was more impatient and persistent in taking Rikki home after they finished their desserts. Rikki was unsure, but Harrison found it best to agree with his son.
"Rikki, I know we never exactly got off on the right foot initially. But you're always welcome here anytime." Harrison said as he outstretched a hand.
"Thanks, Mr. Bennett." Rikki accepted his hand and shook it. "And I'd like you to know that even though I really didn't like you at first, you're a much better person now and my opinion of you has changed."
"Glad to hear that." Harrison leaned in and lowered his voice, "I want you to know that I'm truly glad you're with Zane. You're very good for him."
Rikki beamed. "Thanks, Mr. Bennett. I try."
"Rikki? Are you ready to go?" Zane called. He frowned. "What are you guys even talking about anyway?"
"Nothing." Rikki assured as she walked over to Zane's side. She took his hand in his.
"I'll be back later." Zane said without emotion. Harrison just nodded.
"Have a good night."
Rikki and Zane left, but Zane didn't take Rikki home. Instead, they walked to the docks. Zane hopped onto his Zodiac and started it up.
"How about I give you a head start?" Rikki asked jokingly. Zane smirked.
"Yeah, yeah. We all know you're the fastest there is."
"Do me a favor and mention that to Em next time you see her." Rikki had a mischievous glint in her eyes. "I'll give you a ten minute head start, okay?"
"And if I manage to beat you there?" Zane questioned. Rikki shrugged. "Well then, I'll choose what I win. I'll think about it on my way there."
Zane then drove off on the Zodiac. Rikki counted down ten minutes from her phone, while watching Zane cut through the dark ocean until she couldn't see him anymore. After eleven minutes, Rikki dived into the water. With the flick of her now-transformed tail, Rikki launched herself into super speed.
On Mako Island, Zane stumbled into the dormant volcano. There, Rikki sat against the wall, completely dry. Zane frowned but approached her.
"Took you long enough." Rikki teased with a smirk. Zane rolled his eyes.
"There's just no beating you. Name your prize." Zane sat beside Rikki. Rikki leaned over and pressed her lips against his. It was unexpected, but appreciated by Zane so it was happily returned. Before anything else could happen, Rikki pulled away.
"A kiss would do. Thanks for being a loser." Rikki said, giving Zane a playful nudge. Zane snorted.
"I'm sorry about what happened tonight."
Rikki shrugged.
"Bound to happen."
"I really wanted this to go well. For all of us. But the damn-"
"Zane," Rikki cut in. She placed a hand over his. "It happened, and I'm okay. But honestly, I still don't trust your dad. But I trust you, so I'm not worried. But let's just not tell Emma or Cleo in the meantime."
"I'd hate to get a lecture from either of them." Zane grumbled. "When I get home, I'm going to set some things straight with him.
"Don't worry about it. We worked things out. Did I want your dad to know? No. But now he does and what can I do about it? Actually give up my powers for forever?"
"If you could, would you do it?"
"Would you want me to?"
"Like you ever listen to me about anything anyway." Zane joked. Rikki smiled but watched the water move in the pool.
"I'd never give it up. This is the best experience of my life. I'd never throw it away." Rikki informed. "I just have to throw away the people who know about it."
"You're going to have to do better than that to get rid of me." Zane wrapped his arm around Rikki, and she rested against him. "You can get rid of Lewis if you want."
"Someday, maybe." Rikki joked. "I think Em's going to tell Ash."
"What? Seriously? Him? No way. She can't tell him."
"And why not?"
"The less people know, the better. Besides, the guy isn't any good. He kicked me out of the JuiceNet when I tried to cover for Emma!" Zane complained. "It's a huge secret. Your families don't even know them."
"She said it's been getting harder to keep it from him. He knows something's up and she thinks it'll be easier to tell him. But then again, she's been back and forth on this. Probably won't do anything for a while now."
"Good. Nobody should know."
"It's not your secret, Zane. We can tell whoever we want to tell." Rikki said firmly.
"No, you can't. If you did that, Rikki, you'd end up under a microscope."
"I would not!"
"Okay, fine. You wouldn't be under a microscope. You'd be in a fish tank at an aquarium. Or in a circus."
Rikki crawled away from Zane and glared at him.
"You don't think I can't handle myself? I got powers too, you know! I can start fires and make lightning! What can you do?"
"Rikki, I'm not saying you can't handle yourself! But there's people out there like Denman. They'd trick you and manipulate you and do whatever they can to get their hands on you because mermaids aren't supposed to exist. The whole world would lose it's shit over this." Zane explained. "And if anything ever happened to you again, I'd never forgive myself. Rikki, I just want to protect you."
"I don't need your protection." Rikki snapped.
"No, you don't at all. You're strong and independent. You can overcome anything. But I just...I just really hate what I had done to you...I just really want to make sure nothing bad ever happens to you again."
Rikki sighed and crawled back to sit beside him and leaned back against the rock.
"You need to let that go, Zane. It's done, it's over. I don't like thinking about it so let's just forget it."
"We can't just forget about it! I did something horrible and now the dinner happened-"
"Which was fine too, Zane." Rikki insisted. "Really. Just let it go. It went way better than I had expected it to anyway. It probably went better than Emma's family dinner tonight. But let's just enjoy the rest of the night together, okay?"
"Okay."
Zane pressed a kiss to Rikki's head. She leaned against him and rested her head on his shoulder. Zane wrapped his arms around her and rested his head atop Rikki's. They sat quietly for a moment, in each other's embrace and with their legs tangled. They watched the water in the moon pool flow and drops drip from the cave walls into it.
"Do you think I went in the moon pool during a full moon I'd become a merman?"
Rikki snorted and burst out laughing with Zane.
"Dear God, I hope not! That'd be the worst thing that's ever happened! For one thing, you can't even handle yourself when there's a shark nearby!"