"Oh my Lord, Ben, thank goodness!" Anna exclaimed wildly as she surfaced in the cavern on Phoenix Island.

Her husband was sitting cross-legged on a rock, frowning intently at the water which Anna now pulled herself out of.

"Honey, are you okay?" Anna asked him frantically as she waited for her tail to dry, "What happened last night? Why didn't you come home? Are you alright?"

Ben turned his gaze slowly from the water to Anna. His eyes were vacant and distant and he studied her curiously.

"Who are you?" Ben asked quietly.

oOoOoOoOo

Rikki just loved watching them.

She sat peacefully on her bed, drinking in everything about her little boys, who lay wriggling on a blanket at the head of the bed. Zane had cleverly suggested dressing them as dissimilarly as possible, so as to avoid a recurrence of their first few days of life, when it was quite possible that the two boys had swapped names several dozen times.

Harry wore a deep blue onesie decorated with dancing elephants; Ethan a creamy yellow of the same style with brown bears. They gurgled happily, opening and closing their tiny hands playfully.

Rikki suddenly became aware of a breeze tousling her hair. That's odd, she thought, and looked behind her to find the source of the air flow.

"Oh my gosh!" Rikki yelled, as she noticed that the wall behind her was gone. A puddle of water remained on the ground behind the bed.

Rikki blinked, trying to figure out what on earth was happening. Then it came to her. She turned back around and looked at her boys. Rikki pursed her lips.

"Okay dudes," she said with a groan, "In this household we have some rules. First and foremost, no using your powers to melt the house."

Harry and Ethan cooed obliviously.

oOoOoOoOo

"Hey Rikki, what's up?" Ash said uncertainly, as the blond barged through his front door. She had a baby boy in each arm and an annoyed expression on her face.

"Emma around?" Rikki snipped.

"She's taking a nap at the moment- still exhausted from being moonstruck," Ash laughed.

"Bedroom?" Rikki asked.

"Well, yes, but really I think it would be better to let her rest," Ash tried to stop Rikki as she trotted down the hallway.

Rikki wheeled around and stared at Ash, her hair flying in all directions. "Ash," she said quietly, scathingly, "My house has been melted. I'm exhausted. Bella's at work, Anna and Ben are goodness knows where, and I need someone to re-freeze my bedroom wall so that I'm not sleeping in the middle of a forest. I'm sorry if that interrupts your wife's grandma-nap, but deal with it!"

Ash, too stunned to speak, gestured toward the door, and walked back towards the kitchen. Still carrying her twins, Rikki used her foot to open the door knob and entered without knocking.

Rikki's dramatic entrance pierced the quiet air of Emma's immaculate bedroom. Emma stirred in her sleep and slowly woke.

Rikki grimaced at Emma's ashen face, and immediately felt guilty for waking her so selfishly.

"Y'okay Em?" Rikki asked, her tone softening.

"Oh, Rikki," Emma said confusedly, "Hey! Whatcha up to? Why are you in my bedroom…?"

"The boys melted my bedroom," Rikki said sheepishly, "And I was wondering if you could re-freeze it for me?"

"Oh… okay?" Emma raised an eyebrow. She swung her legs out of bed and stood up. Immediately, she put her hand to her forehead as the world swayed in front of her.

"Are you alright?" Rikki asked concernedly, frowning at Emma's distant expression.

"Yeah," Emma said unconvincingly, "Just headrush I think." She forced a smile and headed off in the direction of Rikki's house.

oOoOoOoOo

"Okay, Ben," the girl said quietly, "It's not funny anymore. Come on. You know who I am! I'm your wife for goodness sake!"

Ben frowned, trying to remember the face, which did seem vaguely familiar. He knew the hair, certainly. Red hair.

Ben blinked. The woman had a tail. That wasn't normal, Ben thought. It also wasn't normal that she thought she was his wife. He must be dreaming, Ben decided, and this strange, red-headed, tail-woman was just a figment of his imagination. That was the only possible explanation.

He wasn't too sure how he'd gotten here, either. It was a strange place, with blue crystal everywhere. Ben had never seen anything like it before. It was all just too odd. Then again, Ben thought, dreams are like that.

"Ben," the tail-woman's voice was tinged with anxiety, "Come on! I…" she faltered, her breathing sharp and shallow.

"Are you okay, miss?" Ben asked, slightly worried about the tail-woman. She didn't look well at all. He got up off the rock and walked towards the water. Wow, the water was really shimmery, Ben thought, his eyes widening. It seemed familiar too. Ben watched it for a while, noticing some faint rainbow hues dancing amidst the blue.

"Ben!" The voice snapped him out of his trance. "Alright sweetie," the tail-woman said quietly, "I think we should go home now."

She extended her hand, and Ben hesitated. He wasn't sure whether or not to trust this strange girl. But then again, he thought, since this was a dream, it didn't really matter. He accepted her hand and let her pull him into the water.

The tail-woman waited for a moment after Ben landed in the pool, as if she was expecting something to happen. Nothing did.

She nodded, her expression somewhere between sadness and relief.

"Hold on to my hand," she said, and swam out of the cave and back to Mako Island.

oOoOoOoOo

Author's Note: Hi everyone! Sorry it's been so very very long. I haven't had any time to write lately! School is swamping me, as well as a mountain of extracurriculars, but yesterday was the big choir competition, so now that that's over I might have a bit more time. Thanks for continuing to read and review in spite of the gap- I really appreciate it! I will try to keep updating at least (once a week/fortnight/ month/ year/ century?), so please bear with me. Many thanks! Kate x