"All I'm saying is that in a fair fight, a Kraken would destroy Godzilla."

Ash scoffed and leaned back in his chair. It was a quiet day at Rikki's, the restaurant, and so he'd left the cashbox and food to Sophie only to find himself caught up in an old fight with Lewis.

"How is it ever a fair fight if one of the monsters can shoot energy beams of electricity at the other?"

Cleo and Rikki were both rolling their eyes at the silly argument as Lewis started defending his position once more against Ash. The group had decided to meet up for a quick breakfast that morning to enjoy one more lazy day before the start of their final term at school. It was just getting to be noon and there were still not many customers. Business would probably pick up in the afternoon when everyone had gotten all the sun they could stand and needed something cold to recharge. Ash waved goodbye to Sophie as she finished her shift and took off. He could handle the few random orders until another server, Jacob, came in to start his shift at two.

"-and when the Kraken drags it's lizard arse down to the bottom of the sea then we'll see who's in trouble mate!" Lewis finished passionately and grinned when Ash didn't have an immediate comeback.

He tossed his cleaning rag onto the table and pointed at the other teen, "Right, there's only one way to settle this! We're watching all of the Godzilla movies and 20,000 Leagues at next month's full moon movie night and the girls can decide a winner!"

Lewis started to agree when Rikki cut in.

"If you two think we're going to be watching any of those old movies, you can forget it!" She held up a hand to stop their protests while Cleo just shrugged when her boyfriend turned to her with a pleading look.

"Sorry Lewis," she smiled apologetically. "It'd be boring. Besides, we already decided to do a zombie movie marathon, so you'll have to choose something in that category." Lewis sighed, but smiled at her and nodded.

"Well, I guess we can always enjoy some good old fashioned brain eating instead." He leaned back then to get into his bag and pulled out his laptop. "Sorry Ash, I'd better get going on that written report for my boss. She gets picky when my sea turtle counts arrive late."

Although his new boss was a bit of a stickler, at least she was no Denman, and he was getting some great experience working with her. After his first month in America, an apprenticeship with a marine biologist opened up back on the Gold Coast and Lewis, missing Cleo, had snatched it up right away.

As he had explained when he showed up unannounced on her doorstep, the chance to learn was still there and he could be closer to the people he loved. Cleo hadn't even given him the chance to ask if she'd still like to be with him, too busy kissing him fiercely.

Ash stood up with a sigh as a new customer walked in, "Another time then for that Godzilla movie night, eh?" Lewis waved his agreement, already engrossed in the screen as he planned how to word his report.

The girls stood as well to get ready to leave, with Cleo giving Lewis a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll come by later to catch up with you. Think I'll go for a swim. Do you want to come with me?" This last bit was said to Rikki who shook her head as she stretched.

"Sorry, maybe tomorrow. I promised my dad I'd go to the mall with him in a while. I'll catch you later."

Cleo sighed as they walked out the door together, "Sounds fun. Dad and Samantha took Kim out on a fishing trip. They wanted me to come as well but..." Rikki grimaced. There were too many chances to get wet on a fishing trip. She was glad her dad usually liked to stay on dry land. It made it much easier to keep their secret from him that way.

"That's bad luck. Ah, well. At least Samantha is on your side right?" Cleo nodded. Her new stepmother had been very helpful keeping the peace in their family since the wedding. Or at least since Kim had decided it was too late to try and sabotage things now. Things weren't perfect, but they were getting better.

"Yeah, she has my dad convinced it's just a normal teenage girl phase to not want to get stinky fishing. He hasn't bothered me about it since." It made her a little sad not to be able to spend more time with her dad like she used to, but it was better than explaining how she was practically a fish herself! Coming to the boardwalk they parted ways, Cleo to find a private spot to dive in, and Rikki to enjoy a little sun as she walked back home.

It was a perfect day; blue skies with a few white clouds. The beach was crowded worse than usual as everyone traveled to spend a few more days swimming and surfing before school started up again. Rikki wouldn't miss it once tourist season ended. It made it hard to walk around, let alone get in a nice swim with so many boats and people nearby. At least in another week or so, all the foreigners would be flying back home and they'd have their beaches to themselves again.

At least no one ever went out towards Mako other than the occasional random boat. The reputation of the sharks surrounding the island was enough to keep most people from wanting to swim or surf the beaches there, and it was just seen as not scenic enough to warrant any tourist boats when there were prettier reefs along the coast.

But that was alright with the three mermaids. The island truly was all theirs.

Rikki huffed as she got off the beach and had a rude sweaty woman in dark glasses almost knocked her over as she staggered her way onto the sand.

"Excuse you!" Rikki called after her, then stomped away as the woman didn't even turn to look at her. Shaking her head, Rikki made her way passed the docks and waved at Will and Sophie. She hadn't much liked Sophie when they moved in just a month or so ago, but Will was alright. Being a mermaid she had a lot of respect for someone that could dive and swim like he did. As for Sophie, at least she was a hard worker.

"Hey Rikki!" he called and waved. Sophie smiled as well, although she was packing a few iceboxes onto their boat and their diving gear.

"Hi Rikki. Will, are you going to help me with all this food you've packed? I swear, I know you work up an appetite, but we don't need this many sandwiches or water!" He just shrugged, "Well, what if you drop your food overboard again? Then you'll be thanking me for the extras."

Rikki waved back, but left the two siblings to bicker with a shake of her head. If she had a sister like Sophie she wouldn't be nearly as patient as Will.

Thanking her single child status, she let the arguing fade behind her and continued on her way. Rikki let out a long content sigh. Life was good at the moment, and she intended to enjoy it.

Authors notes:

And so it begins! I hope you've enjoyed this so far, and I'm excited to see what you think!

I love H20, and a while ago I stumbled across a story that mixed that universe with zombies. I liked the idea, but the story didn't really go where I was hoping it would. (I'm hunting for the story so I can credit it here. If you know which one it is send me the link!) The first couple of chapters will be more mild and slow to get going, then we'll be earning that higher rating. So be warned if you don't like mentions and scenes about violence, this might not be the story for you.

Last of all I want to give a huge thank you to Kittenamos for helping me polish this story so far. Also, thank you Asphi for giving me feedback as well! Go check out their own works too!