30th April 2019

Bella and Anna sat by the edge of the moon pool, dangling their tails in the water.

Bella sighed.

"What's up?" Anna asked her.

"I don't know, it's just…" Bella trailed off.

"Tell me," Anna persisted.

"I just feel so… restless," Bella admitted.

"I get what you mean," Anna said, "Sometimes I feel like I need to escape for a bit."

Suddenly, Bella sat up. "Do you want to swim to Ireland with me?" she asked Anna abruptly.

"What?" Anna laughed, "We can't swim all the way to Ireland!"

"Why not? I did it a few years ago when I went to my aunt's funeral, remember? I bet that with our swimming ability as mermaids we'd make it easily in a few days. I just need to escape for a little while, return to my roots."

"Well," Anna said, "It would be a nice break. But we couldn't just up and leave like that! What about the kids?"

"Cleo and Emma can take care of them! And you're forgetting we both have very competent husbands," Bella persisted, "Come on, Anna, it'll be fun! It won't be for long, just a week or so."

"Well…" Anna said uncertainly.

Bella looked at her with pleading eyes.

"You're insane," Anna said, "But okay. We at least have to tell everyone we're leaving."

Bella smiled mischievously. "Yay!"

oOoOoOoOo

Early the next morning

"I love you very much," Anna said tearfully to Matthew, "And I'm very proud to be your mother."

She hugged him tightly, then kissed Thomas' sleeping forehead. "Love you, Tom!"

Saying goodbye to Ben was hardest. "We'll be back soon!" she promised, "I'll miss you so much though. I love you."

"You too," he said softly. They kissed, and then Anna lowered herself into the moon pool and transformed.

Bella clung to Jake and Dannie for a few minutes. She kissed them both and squeezed them tight. "Love you guys!" she said sweetly.

She stood up and took Will's hand. "I love you," she said sadly, "This is just something I have to do."

"I know," he said, "I love you too. Be careful." They kissed tenderly, and then Bella joined Anna in the moon pool. As she transformed, the two girls waved to their families.

"You ready?" Anna asked Bella. She nodded, and the two swam out of the moon pool and into the sea. The sun was going up on the horizon.

It would take them a full 48 hours to get to Ireland if they swam non-stop, but they planned to rest on an island near Chile that evening before going around the bottom of South America, and again in Morocco the next night. The journey would be long and hard, but Anna and Bella were experienced and had the motivation to make the trip easily.

oOoOoOoOo

Isla Mocha

It was evening. The night breeze tossed through the long grasses on the coast of Mocha Island. There was not a soul in sight. Ironic, this being the island where the ancient Mapuche believed dead souls traveled to be resurrected.

Suddenly, a human head surfaced in the choppy sea. It shook out its blond hair and looked toward the black sand beaches.

Another girl bobbed up next to her. The latter, a redhead, breathed in deeply. "Hey Bella! Is this Mocha already?"

"Hi Anna. Yup, this is it," Bella replied, "I'm so tired."

The two mermaids swam to shore and collapsed, exhausted, on the sand.

A few minutes later, Anna got up and began to search for a place to sleep. A hollowed out cave by the shoreline provided adequate refuge, and the two girls, having dried off and transformed back into humans, built a small campsite.

It was a cool evening with a brisk wind, so Anna heated some water to beyond boiling and the two mermaids sat by the makeshift 'fire'.

"We have to be back in time for Will's birthday on the 9th," Bella mused, somewhat to Anna, but mostly to herself, "So that means…. We'll leave Ireland on the 6th…. And we'll get there about noon on 2nd… Which means…. We'll have three and a half days… hmm… Oh, but we crossed the international date line, so today's the 30th not the 1st, which means we'll arrive on the 2nd, but we'll have to leave on the 5th because crossing the international date line on the way home means we go forward a day."

Anna was half asleep and curled up in a wooly sweater. "Uh-huh," she said sleepily, not really listening to Bella's ramblings, "Night, night, Isabella."

Bella looked up and realized Anna was asleep. She rolled her eyes. Too exhilarated to sleep herself, Bella got up and began to wander along the coastline.

Standing up on a cliff, she could faintly see the lights of the mainland in the distance, and imagined the sounds of South American music floating through the air.

Bella thought about the real reason she wanted to go to Ireland, and shook her head at her impulsiveness. At least she had brought Anna along with her for safety's sake.

Bella thought about her kids, safe and warm in their beds at home. She missed them already.

Bella thought about Will. How he would have discouraged her from going if he'd known her motivation. How much he cared about her.

Bella thought about home, her home with the mermaid village, and her home in Ireland.

Bella thought.

She shivered and hugged her fleece tighter, and walked back to the campsite.

oOoOoOoOo

Mako Island

"What would I give if I could live out of these waters?" Cleo sang dramatically, pretending to swim through the living room.

"What would I pay to spend a day warm on the sand?" Emma joined in melodically, falling back and pretending to sunbathe on the recliner.

"Betcha on land, they understand, bet they don't reprimand their daughters!" Rikki crooned, well out of tune but enjoying herself immensely.

"Bright young women! Sick of swimming! Ready to stand!" the girls sang theatrically.

The three collapsed into giggles on the floor of Rikki's living room.

"How come we never watched this before?" Emma exclaimed, beside herself with laughter.

"I know, it's so fitting!" Cleo said jubilantly.

Cleo and Emma, intent on cheering up the bedridden Rikki, had come over for an all-girls sleepover, and the three of them were watching the Little Mermaid, huddled up in Rikki's living room with sleeping bags, popcorn and licorice.

"Oh Ariel," Rikki sighed, "We know your pain! But the seaweed isn't much greener up here on our lake!"

Cleo and Emma laughed hysterically at Rikki's melodrama.

While Ariel sang away in the background, the three girls curled up in their sleeping bags.

"This is just like old times," Cleo sighed happily, "Before all the weddings and babies and islands and stuff."

"I miss it," Rikki said sadly.

"Hey," Emma said softly, coming over and hugging Rikki's shoulders, "I know it's hard, and I know you've got it the hardest of any of us, but I also know how much you love Leila and Charlie, and little Thing One and Thing Two. You wouldn't give up your current life to be sixteen again, would you?"

"Noooo…." Rikki said slowly, "But I do wish that I could have a few days that don't revolve around sonograms and finger painting."

"Haha, don't we all," Cleo laughed.

"I wonder how Anna and Bella are doing?" Emma mused, "It was weird them leaving so suddenly."

"I know!" Rikki agreed, "It's not like either of them to take off so quickly, with almost no warning."

"I think it was Bella," Cleo said pensively, "Have you guys noticed that she's seemed a bit… aloof… these past few days? Weeks, even."

"I'm not sure what's up with her," Emma agreed, "She just seemed so lost in thought. I hope she's not going to do anything rash."

"Come on, Em!" Rikki exclaimed, "Not everything in life has to be safe and calculated and risk-free!"

Emma pouted. "I was just saying."

Cleo laughed at her two friends. "Just watch the movie," she giggled.

They turned their attention back to Ariel, whose longing for liberty had now led her into danger's path. The girls spoke no further, but all had the same thought- what if Bella was falling into the same situation as Ariel?