A/N: Chapter 19, up much sooner than I expected! Haha, I'm working as hard as I can for you guys : ] Lewis talks to Cora… what happens? Do they end up together, or will Cora leave like she planned? Keep onnnn reading! I'm hoping to get to 74 reviews before chapter 20 comes out! I've actually decided to add more chapters than I originally had planned, so even though this story is coming to a close, it's longer than I had planned already! = D I'm just having so much fun with it. Take care guys, read, enjoy and review!

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Lewis stared at Cora for a brief time before mustering up the courage to start talking.

"I guess you already know, but… I want to talk to you."

"I thought you might…" She replied quietly. Her smile was still there but it had fallen a little and looks sad as she looked down at her hands in her lap.

"You thought right. Well… it's nothing bad – I hope not, anyway. There are a few things really, but I think I should start with something I'd been meaning to tell you before this whole mess started. Max and I figured out the differences between your powers and the girls' powers, Cora. In a nutshell, you're what's called a Protector – you're hardwired to keep everyone around you safe, especially other mermaids. The girls are Defenders, whose goal is to keep each other out of harm's way and to trust each other unconditionally. What I'm trying to get to, is that I know why you felt so strongly that you had to keep Cleo, Emma and Rikki safe, and why you take care of everyone around you." He explained, knowing that it would be simple enough for her to follow even though she was exhausted. He watched her smirk sadly and she continued to fumble with her hands.

"Another score for the freak-show."

"Hey, don't talk like that. You're not a 'freak show' at all; I just wish I could have told you about what was compelling you to do what you did before you did it rather than now. You could have been killed, and I know that you know that. But what you said to Cleo before… you said that it was okay." He said, trying to piece his words together carefully.

"Well…Yeah." She replied slowly, but confidently – wasn't that much obvious?

"You were going to die for people that treated you like that?" He questioned. He knew she was a Protector and that should have been enough – he was a scientist, and that was the 'scientific' explanation. But it wasn't enough.

"It's hard to explain, Lewis. This…mermaid thing," she started, gesturing at her legs where her tail formed, "it's bigger than me; it's bigger than a lot of things. What I did was just something that I was meant to do. It was my job."

"But if you just dropped off the face of the Earth, what would people say?" He asked. She glanced up at him briefly and smiled tiredly before letting her gaze fall again.

"People wouldn't say anything, Lewis." She began. He stared at her hard and raised an eyebrow. Seeing that he wanted an explanation she shifted slightly in her seat and bit her lip and began to explain herself methodically, "See… I thought about a lot of things before I went to Denman, and that was one of them. But think about it this way: My family is gone. I'm new here. I don't really have any friends, here or back in California. At work, once I didn't show up for a week or two they'd just take me off of the payroll and hire somebody else. So, there wouldn't have been anybody to say anything." He kept staring at her as he listened and shook his head slightly, turning to the side on the couch to face her. Her voice was clear despite how tired she was as she explained what she assumed was obvious logic. She really thought that nobody would notice she were gone, but he knew that at least one person would.

"Well, what about me? I noticed right away that you were missing, Cora. I was worried sick – you don't even want to know what I was thinking. Once I told the girls you were missing, they were worried, too." He raised the question curiously and found himself surprised again when she picked her head up and stared at him with a look of complete confusion on her face.

"But that wouldn't have lasted forever, Lewis."

"What do you mean?"

"Well… I figured that after a couple of weeks that you'd just assume that I moved again and left town."

"You think that I'd forget about you just like that?" Lewis stared blankly at her, and she raised her eyebrow slightly in response, blinking at him curiously.

"Well… yeah." Her words were slow and deliberate – these things that seemed obvious to her were far from clear to Lewis.

"How could I? Why would I? I think I made it pretty clear that I like you, Cora - a lot. I care a lot about you, why the hell would I just forget all about you?" His voice had raised slightly. He wasn't yelling, he didn't have a reason to. But he badly wanted to understand what was going on in her head. She was quiet for a second and let her head rest tiredly against her arm which she had propped up on the back of the couch. Finally, she sighed quietly and briefly let her brown eyes close.

"Honestly…? I was thinking that you would come to your senses." Her mouth had twitched up slightly on one side into the slight half-smirk that Lewis loved, but knew was a strain for her at this point. Regardless, he hadn't liked or understood what he had just heard.

"Come to my senses?"

"Lewis," She began, letting her eyes droop closed briefly again, "I know you know that I like you a lot, too - and I care a ton about you. But, I care enough to know that you deserve a lot better, and I know that you'll realize that soon if you haven't already." She was amazed at her ability to even be able to talk about this with him; she was usually so nervous around him that any romantic implication, no matter how slight would make her face flare up with heat and give her the urge to run away and hide from embarrassment. At this point, however, she was too exhausted to let it matter. If she made an embarrassment of herself now, it was okay. The way she saw it was that the damage had already been done at this point. She had done what she had come to do, and as strongly as she felt for him, the sooner Lewis moved on the better.

"'Better'? Better how, Cora?"

"I'm a side-show act, Lewis. You… you deserve somebody wonderful, somebody normal without all this chaos around them and without all the problems that I've been causing between you and your best friends."

"Cora that's not true, don't say things like that. You aren't a side-show act, you are wonderful and you are normal, and I wouldn't change you for the world," Lewis side and propped his elbow up on the back of the couch and pushed his hair back and sighed. He was just going to come right out and say it, there was no other way, "I know you don't believe it, but there are people here that care about you and we don't want you to disappear again. I don't want you to disappear again, Cora; I want you to be with me." The room was dead silent for a full minute before Lewis realized what was happening. Cora's head was still propped up against her arm, but there was something wrong; her shy smirk had gone sad and her eyes were cast down but there was something wrong. They were brimming with tears. Lewis stiffened a little bit and his nerves peaked – he had finally managed to ask the girl out, and he made her cry. He scooted closer carefully, looking down at her, "I'm sorry… Did I say something wrong?" She bit her bottom lip and shook her head once.

"It's not that, Lewis."

"Then what's the matter? Are you okay…?"

"5 years ago when I became a mermaid I accepted a lot of things would change. I told myself that there were a lot of things that would never be the same, and that there were some things that I wouldn't be able to do that I had always really wanted to do. I wanted to be normal; I wanted to have friends, and go to parties. I wanted to have crushes and go on dates, I wanted to get older and be able to get married and have a family. I wanted all of that, but after I changed I realized that it wasn't feasible anymore. At first, it hurt to know that I would be on my own – it hurt a lot. But as the years went by it just became life, you know? I got so used to it. I'd always had a job, and when I wasn't working I was studying so that not having friends didn't make me feel like such an outcast. I learned pretty quickly that getting crushes on anybody was pretty pointless, too. Since dating was out of the question it only ever ended in me getting upset, which was dumb. I never figured it would be an issue – I've made it this far without anything happening. I've never had a boyfriend, I've never been asked on a date - nothing. This is horribly embarrassing and it was probably obvious, but that was my first kiss. I thought that maybe this time getting a crush wouldn't be so bad since it's been 5 years and I know that I can't have anyone and it wouldn't be a big deal. I never thought in a million years that somebody would want me back, but…" She spoke very slowly, trying to form her words and ideas carefully and forcing through the exhaustion that had crept into every nook and cranny in her body. He deserved an explanation, he deserved the truth and she didn't want anything to come out the wrong way – not for somebody like him.

"But what?" His voice was much softer now, but he had taken in every word of what she had said. He may not have agreed with it, but he wanted her to finish.

"But, I'm no good to you or the girls anymore. Or to anyone, now." She said quietly, finally bringing her eyes up to look at him. Lewis hadn't known what he had expected her to say, but it certainly wasn't that.

"What do you mean by that?"

"My powers aren't working, Lewis. I did my job, so I think… I think they're gone. There's no way I would be able to look after you anymore, or the girls." She explained, looking down again. Her sad smirk had returned, and there was something in it that Lewis had seen in his own face before – regret. Despite what she had just told him about her powers not working, he felt a slow smile spread onto his face. This girl was unbelievable - she thought he only wanted her around to take care of him, and now that her powers weren't working he was supposed to change his mind? He shook his head slightly and let his smile grow. For as brilliant as she was, there was so much that she didn't understand. It was a shame that the reason why she didn't understand was because she had isolated herself from so much for so long, but not anymore. He was beaming now as he lowered his head a little to be level with hers and sat up straight, taking his arm off of the back of the couch and faced her again. Grabbing her was out of the question; she looked delicate right now, and he realized that she couldn't hold herself up – that's why she had been leaning across the back of the couch, not because it was more comfortable. To him, it looked like she were about to evaporate into the air around them any second. His smile faltered a little sadly when he realized how weak she really was at that moment, but he reached out very carefully and put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her gently to help her sit upright.

"That's not how relationships work, yanno. I don't want you around because of your powers, Cora." He muttered quietly enough for her to barely hear him and smiled a little. Being careful not to hurt her, he picked her head up in his hands gently and leaned down lightly pressing his lips against hers. He was glad that even though she was literally collapsing in his arms, she kissed him back; they finally had each other. After a few moments they cautiously pulled away and Lewis helped her back into her position leaning on her side facing him. He sighed quietly and looked down at her, "You need to get in bed. I shouldn't have kept you awake for this long."

"Soon." She replied softly. Her eyes were closed now and her head was laying sideways on top of her arm. He examined her still form briefly and wrinkled his forehead. He didn't want to keep her awake any longer, but there was something else he had been wondering about that could be making her weakness worse.

"Did they let you eat while you were there?" Lewis asked quietly. He was met with silence. He sighed and decided that since he had already been to this low level a few times, he might as well go there again. If this worked, it meant her Protector status was still in force, which meant that possibly her powers weren't gone forever, "It would help me out a lot if you would tell me. Did they feed you?"

"No, but I'm good." She responded tiredly finally after a few seconds. It had worked and though that was a good sign, Lewis let his blue eyes widen in disbelief and anger wildly swam in his head as he watched her slumped against the back of the couch. She still hadn't moved and her eyes were still closed.

"You can't move, can you." Lewis said. It wasn't a question.

"I can, I just need a minute..."

"I don't believe you." He raised an eyebrow and watched her carefully. He was nervous – he had thought the hard part was over, but she looked really out of it now and he hoped that she'd be able to make it.

"I can, really. You should go home, Lewis. You need to sleep more than I do." Another blatant untruth. Cora was barely conscious at this point; their conversation had been emotionally draining, and it had taken up the last of what she had left in her.

"Prove it." It was mean, he thought, but again… effectiveness was the most important thing. He kept watching her; she didn't move one inch, not even a twitch as she appeared to be fighting to stay awake. He stood up, getting off of the couch and looked down at her. She must have felt the shifting of the cushions because her eyes slid open slightly and moved around curiously when she realized that Lewis was no longer sitting next to her. He leaned over to pick her up, and the second his hands slipped under her body he felt her tense and grip weakly onto the back-cushions that she was leaning against.

"No no no no. No. Nooo. I'm okay on the couch, I promise. Comfortable - I'm good." Her words were a little bit slurred now, and her eyes bulged slightly. She winced a little bit; she hadn't thought she would have been able to move, but if he thought he was going to try to move her himself then he had another thing coming.

"Why not?"

"You haven't slept in days, Lewis, and it's my fault. I don't want it to be my fault when your back and arms break, too." She mumbled, putting her head back down on her arm and speaking into the pillow letting her words come out muffled. Lewis rolled his eyes and smirked, ignoring her and slipped his arms under her body, picking her up and making his way across the living room to put her in her bed.

"You know, sometimes, women are absolutely ridiculous…"

Cleo

I've been doing a lot of thinking since we all left Cora's condo yesterday. I had called Lewis after my date with Nate today to see how his talk with her had gone, and when he told me what she had said about the things she thought she couldn't have I got to thinking. She thought she didn't and couldn't have friends… so what is the best way to let Cora know that we are her friends, and that we want her around us, too? That we do want her to be one of us – with us and not off on her own, especially now that she was powerless (though hopefully only temporarily)? Then it came to me, and I made a phone call and an hour later here I am, off to visit to Max.

I knocked on the door happily and Max let me in and we walked back into his workshop. I must have been smiling, because he spoke first.

"You've got something up your sleeve, haven't you?"

"How did you know?!" I asked, my smile must have been huge by now so I decided to just get to the point, "Max, I need to ask a favor!"

"Sure Cleo. What can I do for ya?" He asked. I grinned and reached for the pendant the hung from my neck and held it up – my third of a matching triplet set that Rikki and Emma had.

"I need you to make one more of these."

I watched a smile spread onto Max's face and I watched the happy wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepen. Hopefully, this would do the trick! I reached for the back of my neck and unclasped my necklace, taking it off and dropping it into Max's hand.

"Brilliant, Cleo! Coming right up!"

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A/N: Cute idea from Cleo! She's having a necklace made for Cora – what will Emma and Rikki think, and what happens when all four girls meet up again? What's next for Lewis and Cora? Find out in chapter 21, up soon! 74 reviews for chapter 21 my lovelies! Take care and be well everyone, you're all so wonderful!