Author's Note: Thank you all so much for the lovely reviews. This quick note is to answer a question posed by one of my reviewers who asked about tears being water. The answer to that is that any fluid that is part of the body's natural function (like tears, saliva, etc.) does not have the ability to turn the girls into mermaids. You see this in the episode "To Have and To Hold Back", as well as back in season 1 in "Sink or Swim". However, I think in excess (like in "Love Potion #9) it could potentially be a problem, but that's somewhat of a gray area. Hope that answered the question!

Contains major spoilers from Season 3.


Emma moved over in the booth to allow Byron to sit next to her, and when he wrapped his arms around Emma and kissed her forehead, everything finally clicked.

"When did you two get together?" Cleo asked excitedly, moving her drink out of the way so she could stretch her hands out on the table.

Byron smiled as he moved Emma closer to him. "Funny thing. I was with my family in Sweden during the holidays and we saw Emma and her family there."

"We got to talking and realized that we both still had really strong feelings for one another." Emma added.

"We only had a few days to hang out, her family moving around so much and all, so I asked her to be my girlfriend."

"And then two days before I was set to leave, I told him about my being a mermaid."

"And when she told me, I said 'Cool'. And on the last day she let me see her tail." He looked at Emma, and both smiled warmly at each other.

"Aw, that's so romantic. I am so happy for you two." Cleo said, completely gushing over the fact that Emma and Byron were a couple. She always liked Byron and somehow knew that if he ever found out about mermaids that he would be the least likely one to care or be inclined to tell anyone else.

"Yeah, yeah. Super romantic. The finishing each other's sentences thing, though? That's got to stop."

"Ah, same old Rikki. I knew she would come back after a while." Emma smirked.

"Oh, you'd better believe it." Rikki replied and threw a piece of napkin at her. "So Byron, if you know Emma is a mermaid, you should know that Cleo and I are too."

If Byron was the least bit shocked, he never let on. In fact, he merely smiled and pretended to zip his lips and throw away the key.

"I think it's so cool that you all are mermaids, and that you get to share it with one another. I always wondered why Emma would never swim with me when I asked her to, back when I joined the swim team. I remember watching her at meets and she was so good, then she stopped and I never got to see it again."

"Well, I'm sure you'll see us in action one day. You've just got to keep up with us." Emma squeezed his hand as he laughed, promising that he would try.

"Ok, so on with it. What happened after Will found out about you guys?" Emma urged on, wanting to hear more, and relaxed now that Byron had arrived and they knew that they were together.

Cleo continued the story, telling her how Will was a free diver and liked swimming with them. She went on to speak about how Bella had feelings for him, but that he was too dense to figure it out at the time, and that his sister Sophie was very inhospitable. Cleo then began to tell about her father's wedding to Sam when she started tearing up.

Rikki rubbed her back, reminding her that everything was alright now, and Emma looked concerned as she raised an eyebrow.

"What happened, Cleo?"

Cleo wiped her eyes with a napkin and took a deep breath. Even now, she hated thinking of that day; the day Lewis told her he was leaving.

"Lewis had applied to a marine biology school in America and I didn't know about it. He told me the day of the wedding that he'd been accepted and that he was leaving the next day."

"Oh no, Cleo." Emma was so sad for her friend. She couldn't remember a time that she'd known them where Cleo and Lewis had ever been apart. "That must have been awful for you."

"It was, but something good came out of it. He told me he loves me—"

"And always will." A voice called from behind Emma and Byron, causing them both to turn. Lewis stood there, his hands in his pocket, and his gaze moving between Emma and Cleo.

"Lewis, it's so good to see you!" Byron moved so that Emma was able to stand and hug him. Lewis hugged her back before shaking hands with Byron. Rikki too stood up so that the seating arrangements could be modified. Rikki entered the booth, followed by Cleo and Lewis on one side and Emma and Byron on the other.

As soon as Lewis sat, he kissed Cleo before both of his hands grabbed hers. Cleo couldn't keep the smile off her face, causing Rikki to fake-gag.

"Honestly, you all are pathetic!" She commented with a smile, and they all laughed. Leave it to Rikki to make sure the mood didn't get too lovey.

"Rikki, how are you and Zane?" Emma asked curiously, and at seeing Rikki's face darken slightly, she guessed the answer wouldn't be too good.

"I'll get to that part later." Emma nodded, and Rikki took over for Cleo and launched back into what happened after Lewis left. She continued to talk about the mysteries of Mako, going into what the sea tentacle looked like and explaining about the weird blue crystals they encountered, along with the magical properties they discovered. Rikki especially went in depth about how she felt connected to the tentacle after it listened to her, and how she was more connected to Mako than Cleo and Bella were because of it. Everyone, including Lewis listened attentively while Rikki continued, and soon Cleo took over for her.

When the topic turned to Ryan, Emma could feel tension.

"Who is Ryan?" Emma asked.

"Some loser who works as a park ranger. Not only was he a little too interested in the rocks on Mako, but he also thought he had a chance with Cleo."

Lewis's eyes widened as he looked from Rikki to Cleo.

"He's a geophysicist. It's his job to be interested in rocks. You'd better let me tell it from here, Rikki." Cleo insisted while rubbing Lewis's hands.

After Lewis had told Cleo he loved her and left for America, their contact with one another was very limited due to being in different time zones and the very limited use of their mobile phones. Because of this, there was a constant worry that- despite Cleo loving him- someone would come along that she would be more attracted too. He did his best to always make time for her through emails and video chats, and he was just glad that their combined efforts paid off and they were still together and more in love than before.

Cleo told Emma about details from when Ryan first looked at the rock, to his frequent trips to Mako, and then to his curiosity and discovery of the crystals.

"And this is where we get to Zane and one of the reasons why I called it off with him." Rikki finally said.

"You called things off with Zane?" Byron and Lewis asked simultaneously, both not expecting that.

"I didn't have a choice. He was being a jerk. If it wasn't him making out with Will's sister, it was him making the entire mermaid situation a huge joke. I couldn't deal with it anymore."

Lewis and Byron stayed quiet, sensing that Rikki really didn't want to discuss it any further. Emma wrapped her arm around Rikki's shoulders, though.

"I'm really sorry, Rikki. I knew Zane was a jerk, but not that much of one."

"Despite all that, he has been trying to make it up to her." Cleo added while looking at Rikki, who nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I know he's been trying. It's going to take me a while to even consider him a friend again. If we are meant to get back together, it won't happen for a very long time."

The table became silent again for a few brief seconds before Emma broke it with a question.

"So, when will I get to meet Will and Bella?"

"You won't. They're gone." Rikki answered. "Bella's parents move around a lot, and she told us that they had to go to Egypt. Will's parents move around a lot too, and he asked them if he could go with her. They just left a few days ago."

"Oh, alright. I actually have to confess that I probably wouldn't be thrilled to meet them. It just seems like they weren't as careful with the secret as we all were, and it put you in a lot of danger."

"I understand how you feel now. We both felt that way originally about Will." Rikki said.

"Yeah, but if he hadn't been so curious, then we might not have known about the tentacle or its intentions until it was too late." Cleo argued.

"What do you mean 'too late'?" Emma frowned. "What happened?"

The last part of the year was now revealed to Emma. Both Cleo and Rikki told everyone at the table about the crystal projection, the comet, and how all three of them stopped it from colliding with earth. By the time they finished, Emma's head was spinning, and Lewis and Byron just looked in awe.

"You know, I can't believe you girls." Lewis brought Cleo closer to him. "You all saved the world. Your powers are so much more than we ever thought."

"Yeah. Three girls saving the world? Sounds so hard to imagine." Byron added.

"It felt so…" Cleo didn't know how to describe it.

"…surreal." Rikki finished for her. "Like the mermaid side of us just took over and we were like…one with the universe or something. Everything was resting on our shoulders and we just… we somehow knew what to do."

"And that was our year." Cleo ended with a smile, causing everyone else to return it.

"Wow, that was some year you had. Shame that I missed it. I missed you girls so much." Emma looked at Cleo and Rikki as she spoke.

"Em, you have no idea how much we wished you were here." Rikki told her.

"Yeah, between missing you and Lewis, I was going crazy some days." Cleo added, and glanced at Lewis when she spoke.

"Well, we won't have to miss each other anymore. I'm home to stay, and I've finished up school while away, so that means we'll all be going to university together." Emma replied.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Rikki smiled.