Chapter 6
Note: The chapter after this one, I'm skipping ahead several days to move the story along.
Caution: Heavy content reference.
Today is Neri's birthday, and mostly likely the first time since her arrival on Earth it's being celebrated on the actual day. Neri wakes up early, climbs out of bed, and goes outside on the balcony. The sun is just peaking over the horizon. Neri usually wakes up to the chirping birds and daylight, so she doesn't see the sunrise often. She takes in the nice sea breeze and thinks about her father. He used to pick a day, which he believed was near his daughter's birthday. He would wake her up early and carry her to the beach (until she became too big to carry) to watch the sunrise. He would have a special breakfast made for her, a piece of each of the fruits that grow only that time of year along with a special fruit and honey blend. They would take a special swim, looking for nearby areas and islands to explore further from their home than usual, as well as collect new shells, rocks, broken coral, and seafood that migrated through the area only that time of year. Then her father would cook a special feast, shared a story, song, game, prayer and blessing shared only on her birthday, and give her a new toy he made for her.
Neri would also make a wish at sunset. Once she wished she could fly, which has now come true with the helicopter ride. Another year, she wished for a true friend and companion other than her father and the island animals. A few days later, she fell from the cliff and was rescued by Charlie. She can remember one of her earliest wishes, a pink, blue, and green sea shell. Her father found one and gave it to her a few weeks later, not knowing of her wish. That shell remains one of her most precious treasures.
Then there was that one wish, made when she was 10 years, to meet other people. Father told her later that would happen one day, when the time was right. Her father died before that time, telling her to hide and trust nobody, unless Charlie said otherwise. He would know.
Now here she was. Destiney assured that Brett would end up on her island and she would meet him and Jason, and eventually their mother, Winston, and a few others. Along with Charlie, they are her family. Neri looks up at the heavens. She knows her father's up there looking down on her, and she knows he's proud of her.
"I love you Father."
Later after breakfast, Neri receives her gifts. Diane gives her one of her childhood treasures, a large Scaphella junonia shell, which is cream colored with about 12 spiral rows of squarish brown dots, kind of like a leopard print. Diane had found two of them one summer on a trip in Florida with Jenny and her parents, the summer before they died. The junonia is a hard shell to find, and it's rarer still to find two of them on the same beach within several months. The odds of both girls finding two a piece, on the same beach, same day, unheard of.
"Sure you want to give this to me, Mother?"
"Of course my darling;" answers an emotional Diane; "I still have the other one. It's like giving a part of myself to you."
Neri, in tears, hugs Diane; "Thank you Mother."
"Why not give the shells to us?" Brett ask Jason.
Jason gives him the shoulder; "Really Brett, that's all you can say?"
"Sorry."
"Besides;" Jason whispers; "It's a special thing for mothers to give cherished things to daughters, or daughters-in-law or somebody like a daughter, especially if they don't have their own."
Brett sort of understands. Sort of.
Later Neri opens the children's books (Jason's saving the mermaid book for later), and spends the next hour looking at them, especially the landmarks on Earth, asking numerous questions about them. Among the pictures is the Sydney Opera House, the Great Barrier Reef, and even Ares Rock. Other man-made locations include the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, the Roman Colosseum, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Great Pyramid of Giza, Petra, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Panama Canal, and the Eiffel Tower.
"Why is called Awful Tower? It's beautiful."
"Not Awful Neri, "I" ffel Tower;" answers Jason; "That used to confuse me too. Brett called it Awful Tower until a couple of years ago."
"Did not!" protest Brett; "It was 'three' years ago I finally got it right. Not my fault I didn't hear it right all those years."
Diane can't help but chuckle; "And the number of times I tried telling you that you had it wrong."
Natural wonders in the books included the Grand Canyon, the Harbor at Rio de Janeiro, Mt. Everest, the Northern Lights, Paricutin Volcano, and Victoria Falls among others.
Neri had no idea at all that Earth was so vast, with so many, many wonders in it.
"These are just a few;" says Diane; "there are far more things then what is in these books."
"Yea;" agrees Jason; "we could spend our entire lives just exploring Australia and we'd never get to see half of its wonders, at least that's what I've heard."
"Cass has been to the Grand Canyon;" adds Brett; "she said they rode down into it on mules. She was sore for days. They camped in it and it was freezing. They also went rafting; she fell into the river twice."
"Sounds like fun;" says Neri; "I want to do those things. What is a mule?"
"A four-legged animal that's not very smart;" says Brett; "Cass says next time she goes, she's staying in the hotel and going down by bus."
"Mules are smarter than you think, son;" replies Diane; "although I think I'd rather hike myself."
Neri's about to say that she wants to see it all, then realizes that'll probably never happen. As much as she'd love to see as much of the world as possible, she doesn't want to be away from the sea, her island, and especially Charlie too much for too long. A trip like this is good sometimes, but there's still no place like home.
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Sunday morning on ORCA is always fairly quiet. For many faculty, it's the only day of the week they take off, although a few, such as Cass's workaholic parents and sister, still work. Some take Sunday shore leave to the mainland to attend church, then usually spend the rest of the day enjoying themselves. Some just hang out in their cabins and relax in the mornings then socialize in the afternoon, or watch a movie or game or something.
Cass usually sleeps in at least until 9:30 or 10 AM on Sundays, but she's up and waiting in the galley at 9:00 AM. Morgan wants some quite time with her before the brunch crowd starts pouring in. Morgan never used to take breaks at all, definitely never spent time with her sister unless she was supervising her punishments and making her work. Now, Morgan takes at least a 15 min coffee/tea break every day just to chat with Cass, which they never used to do. Morgan remains strict and non-nonsense, if a little less mean and arrogant, on the bridge, but towards Cass, and her friends somewhat, she's mellowed, really trying to be nice and let go of her normally arrogant attitude, which hasn't been easy for her. Her almost death, along with counselling, made Morgan realize how important her family, especially her sister, really are. She certainly hasn't changed overnight, but she's been taking baby steps, and is slowly but surely making progress.
Morgan's already made more progress this past week then in the past 2 months, just being around Dr. H again, whom she was actually very nervous about seeing. She admitted to Cass that she never bothered treating her old mentor with any respect, and that Dr. H didn't deserve that. Morgan always felt vulnerable around her, because Dr. H was usually right and could put Morgan in her place, which she hated. This time around, things are going to be different.
Morgan arrives; right on the button, grabs some coffee, and takes her sit.
"So;" says Cass, "I saw you looking at Cadet Russell again."
Morgan almost spits out her coffee; "How dare you. Stop saying that."
"Oh come on;" replies Cass; "I know you like him."
Morgan almost blows up, but catches herself; "Let's talk about something else. Why do you always have to be so, annoying?"
"Hey, I'm your sister;" smiles Cass; "It's my job to annoy you."
"Not about that, please."
Despite trying to keep a stern face; Cass notices a slight smirk behind the coffee cup. They talk a little about what they both are working one, as usual. Morgan then puts her cup down, straights up, and looks Cass right in the eye.
"I was wondering, if, maybe, you would like to go diving with me next Sunday?"
Cass is quite shocked to hear that; "Ah, sure, I guess. What are you researching?"
Morgan looks uncomfortable; "Nothing. Just…for…fun."
"Did I hear right?" ask a shocked Cass; "Did you just; 'Fun'?"
"I did;" Morgan can tell what Cass is about to ask next; "No I'm not sick. It's, been a long time since you and I just, hung out. I thought maybe we could just dive, like we used too."
"Really Morgan. No research, no work. Just 'Fun'?"
"Cass, do you know how hard it is for me to ask you this?"
"Sorry sis;" replies Cass; "If it'll make you happy."
She just doesn't quit; "I'll take that as a yes."
Cass smirks. This is shocking indeed. She wonders who gave her the idea, the phycologist or Dr. H. Probably the latter. This is such a big step for Morgan, and for Cass as well.
The food is ready and the brunch crowd will start coming in momentary. Morgan excesses herself, claiming, as always, that the brunch food is a heart attack. Morgan likes to appear invincible, with no weaknesses. Yet before she leaves; she goes over to the buffet and hides a cinnamon roll in a napkin, which she places underneath her arm pit. Cass giggles, Morgan giving her the "Don't you dare saying anything" look, then leaves. Cass shakes her head, Morgan Clayhorn does have a chink or two in her double steel armor.
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Barbara is inside her cabin, reading her Bible and devotion. She and Maria were supposed to attend church on the mainland with one of Barbara's new lab partners. However, because of Maria 'ditching the last lecture and causing an ORCA wide search', the commander has banned her form Sunday shore leave. At least they'll get to attend the service this evening in the galley. One thing that doesn't make sense is that when Barbara went to get her coffee, she discovered that Herold, dressed in a smart suit with jacket and tie and holding his Bible; was going to church on shore with his father, Dr. Seymour. That just doesn't seem fair, but at least they'll be off ORCA for a little while. Barbara did try to take the chance to catch Dr. Seymour, but he just ignored her and ran out of the galley as fast as he could, along with Herold. She doesn't know what he remembers from last night, and not sure if he told his father anything. Hopefully he thinks it's only a dream.
Barbara hears a pounding coming from the shower. She opens it, Maria's in mermaid form, in an awkward u-shaped position on the floor, with the shower water hitting her. Her arms are crossed, and she looks at her mother with a sour look on her face. Barbara can't help but smirk.
"No pounding, people will hear you;" Maria gives her mother an ugly look; Barbara smirks again and closes the shower door. Not only did she make Maria sleep in the dry bed last night, she's making her water down in the tiny toilet closet. Maria also needs to come up with a least two alternatives of how she could have handled Herold, and right then down 50 times each and say them out load at least 10 times.
Later, the duo enters the galley for brunch. For Maria, this is punishment. She has to eat in here, surround by dozens of people, in what seems like a cramped space at the moment. A galley lady spots them in line and hands Maria a tray.
"Shrimp and grits, by special request, and special order."
Maria whispers thank you and smiles. After adding toast, a banana, and apple juice to her plate, she and Barbara see both Cass and Winston waving at them, urging them to join them. Both have knots in their stomachs.
"Good morning Dr. H;" greets Winston; "How are you? I though you two were going to church on the mainland."
"Yea well, we got banned from the boat today;" answers Barbara.
"You mean she's banned;" Cass looks at Maria; who's looking down; "Honestly I wished I had ditched too. Don't know why I didn't. 8 hours of lectures! A whole day wasted."
"I wouldn't push it Cass;" says Winston; "Unfortunately, they're not over for me. I was going to go to shore today, but I got volunteered to process all the notes, so I'm stuck here too."
"I hate to hear that;" replies Barbara; "Back in FL almost nobody worked on Sunday, nor was anybody expected to work. It was still a day of rest. Whatever happened to that?"
"Workaholics in a fast moving world;" Cass replies wearily; "like my Dad says. The world doesn't stop for Sunday, or Christmas. I can't remember the last time I didn't spend Christmas by myself. Maybe that will change since we're all in counseling. At least now they're actually stopping work early on Sundays and we're having dinner together. And Mom has stopped assuming I'm in trouble every time I try to say anything to her."
"Unfortunately that's a common problem for parents in these kinds of careers;" says Barbara; "Our careers demand so much from us."
"I take it that is why you home-school Maria and take her on the boat with you;" says Winston.
"Partly;" she looks at Maria; "What time is the service tonight?"
"About 7:00;" answers Winston; "they serve light refreshments before it starts."
"Hey;" says Cass; "Winston should be done with those papers by 2:00. Why don't we all take a boat and go snorkeling. We should be able to take wave runners. That would be fun. And I haven't skied in a while."
Shocked, Winston nearly chocks and coughs; "Yea, I guess. But uh, coffee's still fine, since you're not much of tea drinker, anyway, Dr. H."
Actually, Barbara would love to do those things, but either alone or with a much larger group. Cass would be fine, but she really doesn't know Winston at all. Plus, Maria and water are a serious issue. Besides, she's being punished.
"Well, now's probably not..." Maria kicks Barbara. As long as they are in a public place, she shouldn't have to worry about Winston hurting her mother. Maybe he's one of those rare too good to be true ones. Everyone seems to love him, especially the kids. Although that means nothing. At least maybe it'll get him, and especially Cass, off her Mom's back.
"Well, maybe a small chat, about our research."
"I'd sure love to hear more of your stories;" says Winton; "You may not remember Dr. H, but I saw you speak in Brisbane 6 years ago. Your passion and enthusiasm for marine life really touched me and inspirited me to switch my field from land geology to marine geology, and marine biology in general. I've kept up with your work these past years and you continue to inspire me. As they say, 'It only takes a spark to get a fire going."
Barbara is amazed; "Oh my goodness. I can't believe you remember that. It was my first presentation. I was so nervous I was sweating bullets from my palms. I really hated at the time that my professors made me do that. I thought I sucked."
"I didn't think you sucked. You were wonderful."
Cass looks over at Maria. Aside from just glancing at her mother, she's spent the whole time looking down at her plate, quietly eating. It's only now that Cass notices that Maria's dipping her raw shrimp in the grits, with her hands, without removing the head, tail, nor outer layer, and sticking it into her mouth. This girl is weird.
"Hey you, look at me."
Maria slowly looks at Cass, then starts to looks down again.
"Maria, look at her;" orders Barbara. Maria looks at Cass again, clearly very uncomfortable; "Are you fine with giving them some space? We can hang out. What do you say? I know you're shy. You don't even have to talk to or look at me. Just, let me be present."
Maybe, Maria should give the adults some space. As long as they stay around other people, Barbara should be safe. Cass should know if Winston can be trusted. Maybe Maria should talk to her. It's not like Cass is that much of a stranger.
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Half hour later, Cass and Maria have checked on Barbara and Winston, again. They're still talking. Cass realizes that Maria's apprehensive, and keeps urging her to calm down. Maria hasn't said a word this whole time, although her body language speaks volumes. She's trying to get up the courage to speak to Cass. While walking the halls, looking out at the sea, she finally succeeds.
"Cass, tell me about Winston?"
Cass is taken aback; "Why do you ask? Hey, you've finally spoken to me!"
"You spend time alone with Winston, right?"
Cass is puzzled; "What do you mean?"
Maria finally looks at her; "Are you ok with that? Does he, do anything, unappropriated too you?"
Cass is baffled at first, but then she thinks she knows where this is going; "Wait, are you asking if Winston has ever, abused me?"
Maria nods her head. Oh my! Cass can't believe what's she's being asked? She's heard of this, but has never come remotely close to such a thing.
"Look Maria;" Cass places a hand on her; "Winston would never hurt anybody. I can't believe you're suspecting such a thing. Winston's the kindest guy you'll ever meet. Give him some slack, will ya?"
Maria seems surprised by the answer; "You mean I can actually trust him?"
Cass shakes her head; "Of course you can trust him. No bull. Why so suspicious? It's not like it's happened to you."
Maria looks down, trying to maintain a poker face. Cass realizes she shouldn't have said that. Can it be?
"Oh my Maria. I'm so sorry. So, so sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I won't do it again. Please don't be sad. It's ok. Your Mom's in good hands. Trust me."
Just then, Ariel swims right in front of Maria, looking at her through the glass. She gasps. Ariel shouldn't be diving this deep. She can only hold her breath for up to ten minutes at the most. Ariel nods at Maria and points her snout downward.
Cass is amazed; "Wow. Is that an Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphin? I've never seen a pink dolphin in person before."
That gets Maria's attention; "No actually. That an Aussie Humpback. Take a closer look."
Cass does and sees that Maria's right. She is shaped like an Aussie Humpback, except:
"But the Aussie isn't supposed to be pink, or so I thought. I thought only the Indos' were pink."
"Actually," replies Maria, "there are a few pink Aussie's. Not very common, but they do exist. She hates being confused for her cousins." Oops. Too much info.
Cass is amazed in wonder. She waves to the dolphin, who waves back. She also notices a small tag on the dorsal fin. This dolphin sure does seem to have an interest in Maria. Then she seems to be pointing down and swims that direction. Maria gasp again.
"Something wrong?" Before Cass knows it, Maria points and says; "Look at that." Cass looks at a common school of mullet. The next thing she notices, Maria's gone. Cass is now embarrassed. She can't believe that she feel for that old trick.
Cass then wonders about that dolphin. She's never seen one stare through the glass so intently at somebody. What's going on here? This is strange, that's for sure. Come to think of it, all the odd things happening on ORCA started when the Hernándezs came aboard. Could they possibly have something to with it? Is Maria hiding something? What about the pink dolphin?
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The Bates are on their way to one of the more seclude beaches. Neri wants to spend the day "snorkeling" the Great Barrier Reef. Jason has surprised plans later for a private hike and sunset picnic nearby, and he'll give her the mermaid book as well.
On the way, Neri recognizes a street as the one with the mermaid museum. She insists they stop there. When the Bates try to object, Neri reminds them it's her birthday and she should do whatever she wants. Diane rolls her eyes. Sometimes Neri can act just like any other teenager.
In the tiny museum Neri looks at the pictures, then she spots the sea blue stone. She'd almost forgotten about it. She just stares at it, not knowing why.
"Aw Neri;" says Jason; "we need to go now."
"Wait." Neri spots a young man at the desk; "Hello. Tell be about stone."
He looks at her strangely; "Excuse me?"
"Please tell me about the stone over there;" Neri points.
"Oh, that stone. Well, I don't know much. I just work here." They walk over to the stone; "Pretty isn't it? Well, aside from the description, the owner said it may be a type Agate stone from the deep sea, extremely difficult to find." Neri touches the glass while staring intently.
"Please Miss, no touching."
"Sorry. I feel strange power from it. What else do you know?"
Diane's about to say something about Neri questioning the guy, but he continues; "Well, I do know that the owner purchased it from a museum auction in Alaska. He said that mermaids supposedly wear rings made from those stones. Don't know why."
"Where is owner?"
"Neri, come on;" urges Jason. However, the employee answers.
"He won't be back for a couple weeks."
"That is fascinating;" says Diane; "Neri, we really do need to go if you want to explore the reef."
Neri relents. She'd love to know more, but Diane's right. Maybe she can find out more later on. What is this strange feeling about this stone? Neri can't help but feel that it's important. Maybe there are mermaids out there who stay hidden from humanity, just like she does.
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Maria enters the diving level. Her guess was right. There's Ariel at the water opening, chirping away. Maria squats and speaks dolphin.
"Ariel, what are doing? I told you not to come down here. You'll get us both in more trouble."
*Look Maria. I can breathe;* goes Ariel; *what trouble? I'm lonely. I need to play. Please.*
Ariel splashes Maria. She hears the door open; "Oh no." She transforms and falls down. Tails aren't meant for upward support.
"Somebody in here;" comes a voice. Maria quickly drag herself into the water. Morgan hears the splash and runs over to the opening. She sees the splash ripples, but nothing there.
"What was that?" wonders Morgan; "It sounded like dolphins." Morgan shakes her head and leaves.
Later, Charlie's enjoying some salmon. He doesn't have to eat quite as much during winter months with his fat reserves, but still enjoys opportunity feedings. Missy and other females with nursing calves hardly remember to eat at all during the winter, and Charlie makes sure that she does.
Something catches Charlie's eye, it's the pink humpback dolphin! She's seems to be after some mullet. Charlie hopes that she won't scare the salmon away with her seemly aggressive cheekiness, but what's she doing over here? She's better not get any closer towards the canyon. Dangerous, aggressive sharks gather in that area, as well as some of the saltwater crocodiles that live on Neri's island. Neri and Charlie themselves don't go to that area, unless it's an emergency.
Wait. This dolphin was seen with…..could it be? YES! There she is, THE CREATURE! Charlie can't believe it! He's seeing her. He's so exciting she could just sing, which he does. The creature hears and looks towards him, but she immediately turns her focus back to the dolphin. She seems to be trying to calm the dolphin down and direction away, towards the shallower waters. Charlie hopes so.
The dolphin finally follows the creature, or is she? Seems as if she's chasing the fish towards the shallow. The creature follows her. Whoa, she's getting pretty close to shore. While intelligent, some silly dolphins will get themselves beached from time to time. Wait, that's Neri's island!
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Maria follows Ariel towards the shoreline. Ariel is trying to corner some tiny fish. Maria's trying to convince her not to get to close to the shore, but Ariel's in full feeding mode and before they know it, they are in up and down two to three feet of water, with Ariel happily feasting. Both of them are near the low tide line.
"Watch it girl. Don't beach yourself;" unfortunately, it's not uncommon for humpback dolphins to do so while feeding. Ariel nods and tosses a fish to Maria, who catches it.
"Oh, thank you." Maria eats the fish. Ariel tosses another. They'll be ok as long as Ariel doesn't move any closer to the shore line. Maria looks at the island they've landed on. At first glance, it seems like the other islands in the area, not that Maria isn't interesting in exploring it. As she looks at it, she gets the feeling that something's different here. The trees some to be more, greener, kind of like they're dancing. The birds even seem to be more cheerful then on the other islands they've visited. Maria feels drawn. She catches herself when Ariel tosses another fish. She really doesn't have time to be exploring an island right now. She has to return to ORCA before Barbara discovers she's gone. She's not supposed to be out free swimming right now, she's grounded.
She's about to turn her attention back to Ariel when something catches her eye. It looks as if there might be footprints further up on the dry sand towards the trees. They appears to be human patterned. Interested, Maria informs Ariel that she's going ashore for a few minutes, to wait on her, and firmly, sounded like her mother, to go back a couple feet further and not to beach herself. She then drags herself out of the water and activates her Hydro-Thermokinesis to dry herself off.
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Charlie is SHOCKED! Did he see what he thinks he just saw? The creature dragged herself out of the water, a steam cloud appeared around her, and she stood up, on LEGS. Human legs. Not only that, she went from (mostly) naked to fully clothed, with shoes, her freely flowing hair now pulled up, everything. What just happened? How did she do that? Where's the dolphin? Oh, there she is. Dancing on the water and waving.
Strange. What kind of creature is this? Did she just go from fish-like creature to human, or human-like? What's she doing on Neri's island? Did she plan this, or did she just happened to end up here? Is it a good thing, or a bad thing, that Neri's away? Charlie's not sure. He's better keep his eye on her, and that cheeky young dolphin.
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Maria leaves her shoes and socks on the beach. She prefers to be barefooted at every possible opportunity. Yes, the footprints are definitely human. There are a few sets, some over lapping each other. Some head towards the water, some seem to be coming out of the water. Interesting. Who's been here? Has somebody been here exploring, perhaps another mermaid? She doesn't find any boat or drag marks, but those were probably washed away by the tide.
She follows the tracks into the jungle, until she come across what looks like a campsite, a very primitive camp site. The tools, including a knife, spear, and bowls, look like they're made from the jungle, living off the land. Maria and Barbara do this a lot, but never to this extreme. She looks around noticed what looks like a nest in the tree. She climbs it and it does look like somebody's been sleeping up here. She's never sleep in a tree before. Who's been here? Another mermaid/merman perhaps? The footprints appear to be belong to an adult female. Maybe a "real" natural-born one? Not likely, as natural mermaids rarely venture on land unless they have a mission, and if they do, they'd have to be able to access the light of the full-moon, or store it, like in a moon ring, and know how to use right. If they did, they wouldn't sleep on dry land, not voluntarily.
Maybe it's a human turned mermaid (or land-girl born) like herself, or a hybrid, like Gabby, whose gone wild. Maybe a part-time wild. Maybe it's even a merman, although he'd have smaller, slender shaped feet.
Maria takes in the beautiful, peaceful surroundings wanting to feel the fresh water of the pool and the water fall. Suddenly she gets intense, brick-pounding headache, unlike anything she's ever felt before. She grabs her head, screaming in pain, then it starts to ease. Breathing heavily, Maria tries to gather herself. What happened? Where did that come from? Is that what a migraine feels like? The pains just about gone when she gets it again, more intensely, and hears a sound, like a melody scream.
"What…..was….that?" Maria hasn't been this freaked since her first metamorphosis. That sounded like it was coming, from inside her head. It sounded like….a humpback whale?
Scared, Maria takes it as a sign she'd better get out of here, at least for now.
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Charlie's exhausted. He's been trying to make contact with the creature. After several attempts of nothing, he thinks he finally made connect, hearing only a scream. The talk is that she communicates with dolphins, and she clearly was, with actual dolphin sounds coming out of her mouth. That's different from how he and Neri speak, inside each other's head. Henry and Missy both also said that she doesn't, or hasn't, spoken whale, at least their language. However, Charlie decided to try, being that he has Neri's gift. Did he just succeed?
Charlie just about misses the duo, swimming away frantically. He calls out to her again, but no reply. They don't look back, just they just keep going.
Oh, so she has a tail again. No clothes (except her top), and hair freely loose again. How did she do that? Does she do that every time she goes on land? Is she magic or something?
Charlie follows quietly from a distance. He wants to see where they're going?
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After several hours of exploring the reef, Jason tells Neri he has a surprise for her. With a picnic basket and bag in tow, all four set off, then Diane and Brett break off, leaving Jason and Neri to go the other way. It hadn't quite occurred to Neri that the date would be just her and Jason, she'd forgot. The hike was only a couple miles, but the scenery was breathtaking, with some planets and even a couple winter blooming flowers that Neri's never seen before. Also on the trail, the saw an echidna, another first for Neri. It's not shy around them. Neri is amazed by its spikey fur, but especially my it's long, skinny beak and tough. When Jason tells her they lay eggs, Neri can't believe it at first.
A little further down the trail, Jason says he wants to make a stop. He's only learned of this from his grandparents the other night. He takes Neri's hand and leads her to a small cave.
"Jason, wants in here?"
"Wait for it." They'd better be right about this. And apparently, they were. Glowworms light up the cave. Neri and Jason are equally awed. Jason thinks it looks just like white Christmas lights, Neri thinks of the stars.
"Beautiful. Feel like I'm in sky. More beautiful then light bugs."
"I know." Jason then gets an idea; "Neri, want to dance?"
"Dance? No music."
Actually, Jason brought his little tape recorder. Neri giggles, then joins Jason in a little slow dance as soft music plays. By the end of the music, without realizing it, Neri has leaned her hand on Jason's shoulder. It was a magical moment.
"Thank you for bringing me here."
"You're welcome."
They leave the cave and finish the hike. They arrive on a beautiful white beach with an amazing view of the Sydney Harbor and bridge. They are the only ones there, just as Jason hoped. The sun will be setting soon. Jason lays out the picnic and food. He even brought a couple little candles. Neri smiles, even though a fire would be great, the candles will do. They eat mostly in silence, taking in the perfect ocean breeze, the crashing of the waves, the breath taking view, and the seagulls flying over.
Before it gets to dark, Jason gets out the book and Neri unwraps it. She looks at the drawing on the cover.
"Jason, this book of mermaids?"
"Yes, Neri. It is."
"Nice. What it say?"
"Haven't read it yet. Wanted to read it too you?"
"Please start."
"It's getting dark. I will back at the hotel. Besides, it's sunset."
Neri looks. It is indeed sunset. The sky is a pink and orange, reflecting off a few small clouds, the Sydney skyline, and the bay. Neri almost cries. She can almost feel her father's arms around her again.
"Isn't it time to make a wish?"
"Yes." Neri closes her eyes and makes her wish. She can't tell Jason, but she wishes to stay with her family, especially Jason, forever. Even though she'd love to see her birth world and her own people, her heart is with her family. If only Mera was here, then it would be perfect.
Neri looks in Jason eyes; "Thank you Jason, for everything." They start to kiss. Then there's a cheer. Brett comes up behind them, followed by Diane.
"HEY! Perfect timing you Knucklehead;" says an annoyed Jason; "What are doing here?"
"How do you think you're getting back to the hotel?" answers Brett in his cracking voice.
Neri shakes her and actually says "Knucklehead" underneath her breath. Brett hears her.
"Hey, only Jason's allowed to call me names."
"I like a sister, am I?" replies Neri.
"Ok Brett;" says Diane; "give them a few more minutes. Let's go back up."
"All man."
Jason shakes his head; "Knucklehead. Where were we?"
"Here." They kiss again. Diane takes a photo of them with the Sydney sunset sky behind them.
