The group took a collective breath as each couple leaned in to meet lips.

Lewis found himself nearly shaking as he kissed Cleo. He so desperately wanted this to work. He wanted to be back to normal, he wanted Cleo to be back to normal.

Cleo held Lewis tightly, reassuringly. She broke the kiss for just a second to tilt her head up to his ear and whisper. "It's ok, relax. I love you."

At Cleo's words, Lewis found himself calming. She was right. It was ok. He resumed the kiss, focusing all of his energy on how much he loved this girl. In a few seconds he managed to put his worries behind him, and just focus on Cleo. He wanted to be with her forever.

Will and Bella felt completely uncomfortable as they kissed. It was as if they were kissing a stranger.

Bella's thoughts were racing. She kept telling herself to pretend as if the last few days had never happened. That she was here, with Will, the boy she loved. But as hard as she tried to convince herself, she couldn't quite manage it. So much had changed. Will had admitted that he was in love with her best friend.

'Stop it.' Bella thought to herself silently. 'It doesn't matter how you feel right now. This will work or not work regardless of you. It's up to Will.'

Still, Bella knew that acting like she didn't care couldn't possibly help him feel for her. She would try her hardest to make him feel love for her, whether it worked or not.

Bella kissed Will hard, trying to help him have feelings that, deep down, she knew he didn't. She wrapped her arms around his neck and ran her fingers through his hair.

Will raised his eyebrows a bit, but didn't pull back as Bella kissed him. He was having a hard time focusing. It was like when you tried to make yourself forget about something. Impossible. The more he tried to make himself focus on Bella and think of loving her, the more he found himself worried and preoccupied and unable to concentrate. Will forced himself to breathe deep. He raised his arms out of the water to pull Bella closer, tightly wrapping his arms around her waist. He closed his eyes tightly and tried to forget everything and just enjoy the moment. Here he was, kissing a beautiful girl. What was there for him to be uncomfortable about?

Zane and Rikki were the only couple to be truly enjoying themselves. Rikki felt the tiniest bit guilty about it, but Zane couldn't be bothered in the slightest.

He and Rikki had fought so much, especially since this mess had happened. He was more than glad to relax and enjoy this moment. He kissed Rikki deeply, hotly.

Rikki was the slightest bit preoccupied. She felt a bit guilty being so happy when her friends were not. But, she reminded herself, the most important thing she could do right now is to love her boyfriend, right? She smiled as she leaned in even closer, enjoying being with Zane.

Zane let go of Rikki just long enough to hook his fingers onto the edge of the pool. Without breaking the kiss, he slowly pulled himself on his stomach to the very edge of the pool.

"Can I come in?" He whispered hoarsely in Rikki's ear.

Rikki thought about it, and she couldn't see any reason why not. She reached for Zane's hands and pulled him gently into the pool with her.

Zane and Rikki sank other the water, locked in a deep kiss. They held each other tightly and lost themselves in the moment. Within seconds, they found that it was easy to pretend that they were alone, sharing a special moment with just each other.

Several minutes had passed with nothing happening. Lewis had set an alarm on his watch before jumping into the pool. They had decided on twenty minutes, that seemed like a reasonable amount of time. The group tried not to be discouraged that nothing had happened right away. Deep down, no one had really expected anything to. There were too many factors against them. Rikki was a mermaid again, and Will didn't love Bella. Still...

Each of the three couples kissed each other just a little bit harder.

Will and Bella found themselves warming up to each other. Bella's mind was far away, remembering the best times she'd had with Will.

Will had spent several minutes kissing Bella and not feeling anything. He was just starting to be able to let his mind drift without feeling stressed about things. It felt so good to let his head relax.

He thought about Bella. how he'd first met her. He'd always thought she was a beautiful girl. And she was always so nice to everyone. He'd known she'd had a crush on him for a long time but he'd held out because of... Rikki.

Lost in the kiss, Will let his mind wander to Rikki. He thought about how she had saved his life when he had been drowning. How she'd pushed her lips against his, breathing in oxygen that revived him. He wouldn't be here today if she hadn't saved him.

At that moment, a light flashed through the pool. The wind kicked up and blew around rapidly. All three couples focused hard. Lewis focused on Cleo, Zane focused on Rikki, and and Will made himself concentrate on Bella.

In a split second, practically before it had begun, everything stopped. The wind died so quickly it barely made a wave.

The three couples instantly broke their kisses and looked around anxiously, but nothing had changed.

"Damn." Lewis looked down at where he had hoped to see his legs. His heart dropped as he saw the golden fin below him.

"Something happened." Cleo said, also looking at Lewis's fin, disappointed.

"Yeah but it was too quick." Bella spoke, looking around the cavern. "Last time the wind and the lights lasted so much longer. This time it was barely enough to count, wasn't it?"

"Still, we did it!" Rikki was so excited for her friends. "Let's try again, everyone concentrate."

Each couple quickly kissed each other hard on the lips. Will desperately thought about Bella. 'I love Bella, I love Bella, I love Bella.' He thought repeatedly to himself.

The couples kissed each other for another ten solid minutes before Bella broke it.

"It isn't working," She said brokenheartedly. "Something worked, it started to. Why won't it work now?"

"Was everyone focused?" Lewis asked.

The group nodded. Will felt a tingling feeling in the back of his head. At the time the wind had kicked up, had he been thinking about Bella... or Rikki?"

The group was still chattering worriedly. Will watched them talking, but deep down he had a feeling.

"Hey guys?" He spoke up quietly.

All eyes turned to him.

"Let's try one more time." Will said timidly. "Give it one more chance."

There was silence in the cavernous room.

"Will, we've already tried twice." Zane said, as if he were speaking to a child.

"I know." Will spoke quickly. "But just give in one more try."

"Alright." Zane didn't look convinced. He locked eyes with Lewis, who shrugged.

"I guess we can give it one more shot." Lewis said, turning back to Cleo.

For the third time, the three couples kissed each other. Zane remained focused on Rikki. Lewis remained completely consumed by Cleo. But this time, this time Will didn't think about Bella.

He thought about Rikki.

He pictured her blonde, curly hair flowing in the water. He thought about swimming with her, and the talks they'd had together. He, once again, thought about the underwater kiss they'd shared months ago.

In an instant, the wind kicked up. This time it got more and more powerful, whipping the girls' hair around their heads rapidly. Lights flashed in the cave, disorienting the group.

It lasted for several magical seconds. Eventually the wind died down, and the natural light of the cave resumed.

Will tilted his head to look down at his legs. His... LEGS. "It worked." He gasped.

Lewis was still frozen with his eyes closed. He was afraid to open them.

"Lewis!" Cleo was so excited she tackled him around the waist, knocking him head over heels into the water.

"Heels!" Lewis shouted excitedly as he surfaced, sputtering in the water. He coughed as he laughed, holding Cleo so tightly she couldn't breathe.

She was sooo excited for Lewis. She found that she didn't mind celebrating with him, even though she had legs as well.

"Hey- we don't have-" Bella was confused The boys had their legs, but so did the girls.

"No, remember?" Cleo managed to gasp between hugs. "The guys didn't get their fins until later that night. Give it a few, they'll come." She went back to celebrating with Lewis.

Focus shifted onto Rikki and Zane, neither of whom had a fin.

"Rikki, are you?" Will asked.

"Human." Rikki answered, confused. She had expected her and Zane to switch fins, but still end up with both of them as mers.

"Give it time." She said calmly. "Bella and Cleo don't have fins either. We'll just wait and see"

"What now?" Zane spoke up as he adjusted to having legs in the water again.

"We head home?" Cleo suggested.

The words had barely escaped her lips before Lewis had grabbed her by the hand. Practically dragging her along behind him, he dashed out of the water.

"Let's go home!" He shouted behind him as he ran.

Zane and Rikki shared a fast kiss before climbing shakily out of the pool, each of them readjusting to having legs. They followed Cleo and Lewis out of the cavern.

Bella had been looking at Will out of the corner of her eye. The magic had worked Which could only mean that he loved her. At least, h had loved her for that moment. Still, the way he had been kissing her hadn't felt fake. Was there hope for them? Did she want there to be hope for them?

Will turned to Bella and opened his mouth, ready to speak. He shut it. What was he supposed to tell her? He had made an important discovery. Yes, the mers needed to give their hearts to someone else, and the kiss triggered the magic. However, it didn't look like the mer necessarily needed to feel the love for the person they were kissing. They just needed to feel it for someone close by.

But how was he supposed to explain to Bella that, at the time the magic took place, he had been picturing Rikki and not her?

"Bella, I-" Will began.

"Stop." Bell laid one finger on Will's mouth, silencing him. She didn't know what he was about to say but right now she just wanted to enjoy what she was imagining. She and Will, back in love. She didn't want him to say anything to spoil it.

"We'll talk later," She said as she pulled herself from the pool. She extended one hand to Will, who took it.

Will nodded. "Yes, we will." He said quietly as he followed Bella out of the cavern and back out into the trees.