"Hey, stranger." Zane greets with a mischievous smile as he walks towards the jetty, where his girlfriend is standing, looking out towards the ocean. Rikki turns around as she hears Zane speak, her eyes lighting up a little bit; Zane's heart skips a beat, though he would never admit it to anyone. Zane admires Rikki for a moment, gazing into her sapphire blue eyes and watches as her curly blonde hair flies about in the wind. She's so beautiful.
"Hey yourself," Rikki smirks as she makes her way over to Zane, wrapping her arms around his neck. Zane the places his hands on Rikki's waist, pulling her in close.
"How's my favourite mermaid?" Zane asks quietly as he presses a kiss to Rikki's neck. The mermaid in question rolls her eyes and pulls out of Zane's grasp, beginning to walk down the jetty steps and onto the sandy beach.
"Same old, same old. Still struggling to get through school, trying to deal with you, and of course I'm still a fish. So, pretty normal circumstances, if you ask me." Rikki replies teasingly as Zane follows her down onto the beach. The two of them begin walking along the sand side by side, the cool sea breeze rushing past them, rustling their hair around.
"What do you mean, trying to deal with me? I'm perfect, and I make your life complete." Zane smirks at the blonde mermaid walking along next to him, who scoffs and rolls her eyes in response.
"Mmhm, okay, Zane. I don't know about that one. Might need to tone your ego down by, like, a thousand." Rikki says, nudging Zane's arm playfully.
"Come on, you know you love me." Zane teases as his puts an arm around Rikki's shoulders and pulls her in close to him, which the mermaid gladly accepts.
"Hmm, do I really know that?" Rikki responds, raising an eyebrow at her boyfriend mysteriously.
"Maybe I'm just with you because I feel sorry for you, since no other girl would ever want to go out with you." Rikki adds, continuing the banter.
"Wow. Harsh." Zane laughs in amusement, and Rikki joins in shortly after. Zane then suddenly comes to a stop and grabs her by the waist, lifting her up into the air with a wild grin on his face.
"Zane, what are you doing?!" Rikki gasps in surprise.
"I'm not letting you down until you say you love me." Zane replies with an evil smirk.
"Well, you'll be waiting a long time then." Rikki replies with her own stubborn smirk. In the next moment, Zane starts spinning around, causing Rikki to cry out in surprise, laughing all the while.
"Zane, put me down!" Rikki laughs as she tries to struggle out of Zane's grip. This only makes him drop her a little bit so that he can readjust his grip and is now holding her bridal style.
"Never." Zane grins determinedly as he continues to spin around while Rikki grabs onto Zane's shoulders. After a few more moments, Rikki relents.
"Alright, Alright. I love you. There, I said it. Happy now?" Rikki eventually says, impressed that Zane can be just as stubborn as she can be sometimes. Zane finally stops spinning around and places Rikki back on the ground, but continues to hold onto her waist. Rikki doesn't let go of Zane's shoulders either.
"I love you too," Zane replies seriously as he stares deeply into Rikki's eyes, something he never thought he'd do with someone. And sharing feelings? Until he met Rikki, Zane had believed that to be impossible. He hates being vulnerable with anyone, why would he want to show his weak side? With Rikki though, it's different. She was the first person Zane finally could be himself around, and Zane will always be grateful for that.
"Ugh. I think Lewis and Cleo are rubbing off on us. That was so cheesy." Rikki complains, but she can't help but smile and her cheeks heat up a little while her heart swells at Zane's words.
"No one has to know," Zane shrugs, a grin appearing on his face.
"Sounds good to me." Rikki agrees before leaning in and pulling Zane into a kiss. She cups the side of his face and closes her eyes as the kiss becomes more passionate. Zane kisses back happily, never wanting to leave this blissful moment. Eventually, the couple manage to pull away from each other enough so that they can breathe again, as both of them are breathless. They open their eyes and stare at each other with dazed smiles on their faces.
"We need to do more of that," Zane states, still not quite having his breath back yet.
"Lots more of that," Rikki agrees with a nod. Zane begins to lean in for another kiss, and for a moment it seems that Rikki is intending to follow suit, but just before Zane's lips touch hers, Rikki smirks and pulls away. She starts walking down the beach again, looking over her shoulder and laughing at Zane's disappointed and slightly shocked face.
"Just not right now," Rikki says through her laughter.
"You're such a tease, Rikki Chadwick! It's not fair!" Zane groans in complaint before he starts walking after his girlfriend.
"Well, that's my job. To endlessly torture you," Rikki grins playfully.
"Besides, I'm meant to be catching up with the girls at Mako soon anyway. They won't be impressed if I'm late because of you." Rikki adds as the young couple continue walking down the beach together, enjoying the sunshine, cool breeze and the sound of the waves in the distance.
"Ugh. Fine. Just as long as we can spend all day together tomorrow. We haven't done that in ages." Zane agrees as he takes Rikki's hand in his.
"It's a deal. I'll be all yours tomorrow, I promise." Rikki replies reassuringly with a small comforting smile on her face.
"Speaking of the girls though... is there something going on between Lewis and Cleo?" Zane enquires curiously, remembering the strange run in he had with Lewis earlier that day at school.
"Uh... I don't think so? They seem as happy as usual to me. If you ask me, they're too sickly sweet and head over heels with each other." Rikki frowns, stopping in her tracks and turns to face Zane, who also stops walking.
"Why do you ask?" Rikki questions worriedly, knowing Zane wouldn't bring this sort of thing up for no reason.
"Well, Lewis was acting weird today at school. I know Lewis is always weird, but this was... extra weird." Zane begins to explain.
"Acting weird how?" Rikki asks, her frown deepening.
"He ran out of his chemistry class, pushed me and a couple other people over in his haste, and then shut himself in the storage room. There was a loud crash, but Lewis wouldn't open the door, nor explain what he was doing. I had no idea what to make of it." Zane continues, shrugging cluelessly. There's a couple moments of silence as the two teenagers contemplate what to do, wondering if there is actually something going on, or Lewis is just being his weird self.
"Yeah, that's definitely... strange. And not like Lewis at all. I'll ask Cleo about it when I see her. If anyone would know what's going on with Lewis, it would be her." Rikki eventually answers as she crosses her arms across her chest and chews the inside of her mouth as she tries to figure out what could be going on. What if Cleo and Lewis were really having problems in their relationship? What if it's something worse?
"Let me know why you find out, will you? Not that I'm worried about Lewis at all, but I just want to know why he shoved me into the ground." Zane speaks, pulling Rikki out of her thoughts.
"Sure, Zane, whatever you say." Rikki rolls her eyes while a grin forms on her face, knowing that deep down, Zane has started to somewhat care about Lewis and the others, as much as he adamantly denies it.
"Anyway, I should get going. I'll call you later." Rikki continues, leaning forwards and kissing Zane on the cheek.
"Alright. Have fun, talk to you soon." Zane replies with a soft smile. With that, Rikki nods and then turns around and begins to make her way towards the ocean. Zane watches in awe as Rikki races down towards the shoreline and dives into the water, disappearing from view.
"Awesome." Zane mumbles to himself in amazement.
"Rikki! Why are you late?" Emma frowns as she and Cleo, who are setting on the underwater ledge of the moon pool, watches as Rikki emerges from the underwater entrance.
"Sorry. I was with Zane, if you really must know." Rikki replies as she swims over towards her friends, resting her arm on the side of the moon pool's edge.
"Of course you were." Emma rolls her eyes, not surprised in the slightest.
"He really isn't as bad as you think, Em. I know we can trust him." Rikki says, a little annoyed with Emma for still being so uptight and distrusting about Rikki and Zane getting back together. It's one thing for Emma to not trust Zane, but it also seems like Emma doesn't trust her either.
"So you keep saying. But he's sold us out before." Emma retorts snappishly.
"And what makes you so sure that Ash won't blab, huh?" Rikki retaliates as her frustration continues to build. Already, she's starting to regret coming to Mako. She should have just stayed with Zane instead.
"Not telling the world about us to begin with would be a great start!" Emma replies, almost in a shout.
"Guys! Cool it! Let's not argue, okay? I didn't come out to Mako just to listen to you bicker the whole time. Both of you need to trust your boyfriends more, as well as each other. Okay?" Cleo interrupts loudly and firmly, before anything can escalate further. The brunette glares at her two friends, whose angry expressions are starting to soften a little bit.
"Sorry Cleo... you're right." Rikki sighs, hating that Cleo always has to be in the middle of her fights with Emma. It's definitely not fair to Cleo.
"Yeah, we'll have to work on it, I guess. I'm sorry, Cleo." Emma apologises.
"It's okay. I'm glad this argument didn't need to drag on longer than it needed to be." Cleo says, smiling in relief.
"Me too," Emma agrees, while Rikki nods in agreement as well. The three mermaids float in peaceful silence for several minutes, enjoying the way that the moon pool feels like their home, a soft energy seeming to crackle through the air around them as their tails gently swish about in the water. No matter what their mood before reaching the moon pool, it is always softened and calmed once they arrive. It's a comforting feeling that all of the girls experience, but never have to describe to each other. The three mermaids continue to lie in silence and listen to the gentle sound of the water lapping up against the sides of the moon pool. Everything just feels so magical in here.
"Do you think the boys can feel the magic in this place? Or is it just a mermaid thing?" Cleo asks curiously, finally breaking the silence.
"I don't know. I highly doubt it though. They aren't connected to this place like we are, and never will be. They'll never truly be able to understand it. As much as Lewis wants to understand this place and continue to try to scientifically explain the mysteries of this place, he will never be able to. As Ms Chatham has said before, magic and science don't mix." Rikki replies with a half hearted shrug. She wishes that Lewis would just listen to her and give up on trying to find out how Mako works, as it's a fruitless effort. Maybe if he was apart of the magic himself, he would understand that. As it so happens though, Lewis is not magically connected to the island.
"It doesn't mean he can't figure out some answers," Cleo responds back to Rikki with a defensive tone. Emma nods in agreement with Cleo.
"He has helped us through a lot, Rikki. We gotta give him credit for that, and for never giving up on trying to help us." Emma adds, backing up Cleo.
"Whatever. All I'm saying is that our boyfriends will never truly know what any of this is like, and they will only ever have theories. It's just the way it is." Rikki sighs, not having the energy to continue on with this conversation right now.
"Speaking of Lewis though, has anyone seen or heard from him lately? I swear I've hardly seen him in the past few days and barely answers my calls or texts." Cleo asks worriedly, deciding to move onto a more pressing topic that has been on her mind.
"No, not really. I just figured he was at home catching up on his schoolwork." Emma shrugs in response.
"Well... I haven't personally seen Lewis, but Zane apparently ran into him at school today." Rikki answers hesitantly. She was going to bring this conversation up, but she had hoped Cleo would have known what was going on, but Rikki is starting to think that Cleo actually has no idea.
"Really? Did Zane say anything else?" Cleo asks hopefully.
"Yeah, he said Lewis was acting really weird at school. He ran out of class, pushed past people and hid in the storage room. Zane didn't get any answers out of Lewis." Rikki replies honestly. There's a silence among the group for a couple of moments.
"Wait... what? He ran out of class and locked himself in the storage room? Why?" Cleo frowns in concern.
"Don't ask me, I'm just the messenger. Besides, Zane doesn't know anything else because Lewis didn't say anything other than telling Zane to go away." Rikki states as she raises her hands out of the water as a sign of surrender.
"Maybe he was having a panic attack?" Emma suggests, knowing all too well what that's like. She used to get them a lot when she was little. Swimming helped her through it, and now Mako Island, her friends and Ash have replaced the role swimming once had.
"Maybe... but why wouldn't Lewis tell me? I know he has been struggling lately, but I never realised it was to the point of panic attacks. I need to talk to him..." Cleo sighs sadly, worry settling in her stomach for her boyfriend.
"Look, Cleo, we don't know anything for sure. Maybe he's just being his usual weird self. Maybe he had a scientific epiphany of some sort and went to try and find a quiet spot to test his theory, or least write it down. I don't know. Just don't jump to any conclusions until you talk to him, okay? Worrying unnecessarily doesn't do anyone any good." Rikki advises as she looks over to her distressed friend.
"I guess... but I'm definitely going to meet up with Lewis tomorrow to try and get to the bottom of all of this." Cleo decides firmly.
"That's a good idea." Emma agrees.
"Is that enough of the serious chat now? Because I want to race you both back to shore, even though it won't really be a race because I will obviously win." Rikki asks with a smirk.
"Ha, you've never beaten me before, so I don't think you'll beat me now!" Emma scoffs.
"If you guys stopped cutting me off, I would beat both of you." Cleo interjects, pouring a little bit.
"Yeah, sure, Cleo. You're gonna have to prove that." Rikki replies, sounding very unconvinced.
"Oh, you're on!" Cleo challenges as she moves away from the moon pool's ledge and dives back down underwater, with Emma and Rikki closely following in pursuit.