Part Four

"You're heading home already?"

Luna nodded. "I kind of need to go home. I can visit another time."

"I hope so. I'd like to see you again." Dexter waved to the twins and once they were out of sight, he hurried to a bus stop that came before the one they were waiting at. He knew all the bus routes and would be certain that all three of them would be on the same bus. He made it to the stop and took a seat in the back of the bus so he could see where Leo and Luna got off.

He saw them get on and softly talk as the bus drove down the road. The bus stopped a few more times and when it pulled up to the one near the beach, the twins got off and he followed. He kept his distance as he followed their path. Soon, he would know what Luna was hiding. He could feel it.

Luna kept glancing back, but saw nothing unusual. Leo noticed her actions and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I feel like we're being watched, but I don't see anything strange or anyone looking at us."

Leo glanced back too. "You're right. No one there. Maybe you're just nervous or something as this was your first time being human and this will be the first time changing back to mermaid."

Luna smiled. "Yeah, maybe. I do plan to visit again. Perhaps in a couple of weeks?"

"I'll be right here to help." Leo led Luna into the cove.

"Of course. I can't be human without you." Luna headed for the water's edge and sat down. As soon as the tide touched her feet, they became fins and her legs formed a tail, her clothes vanishing. She smiled at seeing her tail again.

Leo was also happy to see it as it meant that once he was in the water with Luna and took her hand, he would be a merman until he returned to land.

"You're a…mermaid!?" gasped a voice that made both freeze and whip their heads around to see a dumbfounded Dexter, his mouth hanging open.

Luna's tail swished slightly while Leo said, "Dexter!"

"I thought Luna was different," he said, easing into the cove. "I just never thought she was a mermaid."

"You won't tell, will you?" Luna begged. "Humans shouldn't know we exist."

"If so, why reveal yourself to Leo?"

"Because he's my twin and since he's human, our relationship is special, very special."

"Special, how?"

"If we show you, will you keep it a secret?" Leo asked.

Dexter looked at Luna's pleading face before looking at Leo. "All right. I swear I won't tell another soul."

Luna pushed herself further into the water and Leo followed until the water lapped around his calves. Luna held out her hands and Leo took them. This time there was no flash, but Leo fell back as his legs became a tail again. He shifted around to see his friend's mouth hanging open again.

"How did you become a…merman, Leo?"

"That's what makes our relationship special. If we're both in the water and we hold hands, I become a merman until I return to land and if we're on land and Luna takes my hand, she becomes human until any kind of water touches her."

"Any kind?"

"That's right," Luna said. "We wanted to see if Leo can speak to water creatures like I can if he became a merman. That's why we left when we did."

"Sounds like fun," Dexter said wistfully. "Let me know what happened."

"Promise," Leo said as he kicked his tail and followed Luna under the water as Dexter left the cove. He looked around as he swam. He had been so upset at becoming a merman at first that he had taken no notice of the life around him. Now, he saw lots of sea creatures around him and wondered which one to try to talk to first.

"Leo, I see a pod of dolphins," Luna said, pointing. "Focus on them and say, hi."

Leo focused his gaze on the pod and called, "Hi!" Leo's eyes went wide when he heard clicks come out of his mouth instead of the word. "Oh, wow! I can speak dolphin!" he said, his words coming out as squeaks and clicks.

Luna giggled at Leo talking dolphin. "Look away and blink several times to stop speaking dolphin," she instructed.

Leo followed her instructions and exhaled. "Whoa. That was so cool. I can talk to water creatures. So, you have to focus in order to speak their language?"

"Only the first time and looking away and blinking breaks the steady stream of the language. Now when you see dolphins while you're a merman, you'll automatically speak dolphin to them but words to me. That goes for any language."

Leo's eyes lit up. "Luna, can we find a whale? I'd love to speak whale."

It didn't take long to find a whale and soon Leo was speaking whale and did so for several minutes before breaking it. Luna enjoyed watching Leo speak many languages as they swam for the cove. Some of them were accidental acquisitions while others were intentional. When they reached the shallows, Leo could speak dolphin, whale, turtle, shark, fish, and jellyfish.

"I had no intention to speak jellyfish," Leo said as they surfaced.

Luna laughed. "Leo, I speak all languages. It's part of being a merperson."

"Yeah, well. I won't understand them while I'm human." He crawled onto dry land and became human. He stood and said, "Can I visit next weekend?"

"Sure. See you then." Luna headed to deeper water and dived while Leo left to head for the bus stop.

"You can talk to sea creatures?" Dexter asked over the phone.

"Only when I'm a merman. I tried to talk to a turtle on the beach, but I spoke normal words."

"You learned turtle?"

"Uh-huh. I also learned dolphin, whale, shark, fish, and jellyfish."

"Wow, six languages. Impressive. So, when will Luna visit again?"

"In two weeks. I'm going to visit her next weekend."

"Okay. Well, good night."

"Night." Leo went to bed and smiled as he fell asleep, dreaming of Luna and he swimming in the sea, talking to sea life, and playing as only mer-children can.

Akiza laughed. "He spoke jellyfish, did he? That is a rough-sounding language to speak, as we well know."

"He picked it up by accident. He almost swam into one and ended up focusing on it when he chose to talk to it."

"Well, he was going to learn it anyway. So, he's coming next weekend?"

"Uh-huh and I can't wait. I'll be visiting him and Dexter the weekend after that."

"Be very careful, Luna. You got lucky this Dexter is trustworthy, but don't draw attention to yourself like that again."

"I promise, Akiza." She hugged her guardian and then swam off to bed. She had found her twin and had been human herself. She had enjoyed her day and looked forward to the next time she would walk on land.

The End