Prologue: Many years after Cleo, Rikki, Emma and Bella graduate High School the girls still have their mermaid powers; even after finding their soul mates, getting married and settling down they all still carry the power with them. Around the same year they each have a child, a daughter; Cleo and Lewis named theirs Kayla, Rikki and Zane named theirs Roxie, Bella and Will named their Becka (short of Rebbeca) and finally Emma named hers Elayne.

However tragedy truck when the children were only a year old, the parents were all at a reunion party together, the first time they had all seen each other (along with a few other old friends) in over a year, and they were all killed.

Becka was left in the custody of the same person who had been taking care of her the night it happened, Sophie Benjamin.

Kayla was left in the custody of Cleo's parents and her sister Kim.

Elayne also had been left in the custody of the very same person who had her the night it happened, Emma's younger, yet highly mature and responsible brother, Eliot.

The fourth and final child however, Roxie, was unaccounted for, no one was quite certain where she had been when it had happened, save for her parents of course.

Chapter 1: The One That Got Away

Charlotte Watsford sighed deeply as she thought back over everything; the years that had passed, the wrongs she had committed when the power of being a mermaid had controlled her. She had to make up for all that she'd done or at the very least try, she hadn't been around much in recent years, she had returned to the Gold Coast when she heard about the tragedy, Lewis…gone and those poor kids orphaned, she and the girls had had their differences but she was going to do all she could to help. As far as she knew she was the only mermaid left alive, she'd learned about Miss Chatham, her grandmother, Gracie's friend, since she had lost her powers as a mermaid. Unfortunately Louise had recently passed away too, sickness and age apparently. She was also the only one left who knew about the secret; the girls were gone as were their husbands…she had never met Emma's, unless it was Ash, in which case he might still be around, apparently Emma wasn't with her husband at the reunion.

Now she was off to try and find the children and convince their guardians to let her take them in, she knew it was going to be hard, particularly when it came to the Sertori's but she was determined and stubborn, but this time to do right.

Charlotte parked outside the Sertori's house, same old house her parents had lived in all their life, and walked up the drive to the front door sighing may as well get the hardest one over with first.

She rang the bell and a young tall girl answered the door, Charlotte recognized Kim almost immediately, older, more woman than girl but otherwise she looked pretty much the same.

'Hi, Kim right' she started 'I don't know if you remember me, Charlotte Watsford.'

'Oh we remember' Kim said 'what are you doing back on the Gold Coast, Cleo thought you left.'

Charlotte nodded 'I did, but Cleo is the reason I'm back.'

Kim crossed her arms 'well it's your lucky day Charlotte, she's…' but Charlotte cut her off.

'Gone…I know, I heard about the whole thing, that is why I'm here, to give my condolences' Charlotte said quietly 'may I please come in and speak with you and your father?'

Kim didn't look overly pleased with the idea but let her in anyway, as she did Mr Sertori came down the stairs 'Charlotte…my goodness is that you, it's been a long time.'

Charlotte smiled 'I'm sorry for your loss Mr Sertori and my mother also sends her regards.'

'Oh well, thank you' said Don gesturing to the living room 'so what brings you here?'

Charlotte sighed 'it's about…Kayla, Lewis and Cleo's daughter.'

Don nodded 'she's upstairs sleeping right now, what about her?'

'With all due respect Mr Sertori, Lewis, the girls and I…I admit we had…our problems at one time but that is all the more reason why I wish to make up for them' Charlotte said slowly, wanting to take this with caution.

'What do you mean exactly' Don frowned.

'She means the way she and Cleo fought over Lewis' Kim chipped in.

Don nodded 'and how exactly do you want to make up for this?'

'I want to raise Kayla, I want permission to be her legal guardian' Charlotte said quickly.

'No way' Kim said 'Cleo has told me nothing but nasty things about you and Lewis…well he thinks you learned your lesson and often felt my sister exaggerated but still…'

Don was looking thoughtful 'I really don't know…I'm trying to think what they'd say if they were hear right now…but I just never understood what went on between you kids enough.'

'Then I need you to trust me' Charlotte said 'I'm trying to make up for what I've done, you know what Lewis meant to me and I'm over my jealousy of Cleo.'

Don sighed 'alright, but only if you agree to keep us involved too and if I so much as hear anything bad I'm coming round to take her back myself, understood?'

Charlotte nodded 'yes, I promise you you've made the right choice, thank you Mr Sertori.'

Don nodded again as they headed to the front door 'I'll arrange the paperwork and you can pick her up soon alright goodbye for now.'

Charlotte sighed as she headed back to her car, that was slightly easier than she thought, but Kim might be a problem; she'd gone from being her sister's enemy to her sister's supporter. But then that was only natural considering what has happened, she was slightly worried how much Cleo has told Kim though…surely she hadn't revealed anything, had she?

As she got into her car she saw Kim watching her, narrow eyed, from the living room window…yup, Kim was going to be, as always, a problem.

Next on her list was Eliot Gilbert, guardian of Elayne Gilbert; he had moved out of his parent's house and was living in an apartment not far from where he used to live. She parked on the curb, got out and went to the door. She looked for his name on the list of people living in the apartment and rang the appropriate bell.

After several moments a voice came on 'hello?'

'Eliot Gilbert?'

'Yeah, who is this?'

'My name is Charlotte Watsford, I don't know if you remember me, I used to be friends with Lewis and Cleo (it was the most likely time he'd remember, when he'd asked Lewis for girl advice).'

'Uh…yeah I remember, come on in' he replied and buzzed her in.

When she got to his door she knocked and he opened it, wow had he grown and changed he was much more muscular but still very blonde 'hey, what brings you here Charlotte?'

'Um…what happened to Emma actually, I'm really sorry about that by the way?'

Eliot closed the door then opened it all the way 'yeah…me too, god, my parents are devastated, their still taking time off, trying to deal, but I'm ok taking care of the kid…Emma did so much for me, I'd gladly repay her.'

A thought occurred to Charlotte then and she said 'um…I have a couple of questions, if you don't mind my asking.'

'Sure' he said 'what do you want to know?'

'I've looked over everything and…there is no mention of who the father is…Elayne's father I mean' Charlotte said 'do you know?'

Eliot shook his head 'he wasn't at the party?'

'No, she was there alone, unlike the others, wasn't she with Ash?'

'She and Ash broke up years ago, it was a mutual thing I think, shame, I really liked the guy' Eliot replied.

'So when did she get pregnant?'

'She came back from holiday one year and within a few weeks it was pretty obvious' Eliot said casually.

Charlotte frowned 'that doesn't sound like Emma.'

Eliot shrugged 'even my sister can be impulsive on occasion, so we don't know the father, she's the only one that does, unless she told Rikki and Cleo.'

'Also…no one knows where Rikki's daughter is, have you heard anything about that?'

Eliot shook his head 'nope only know about the other three.'

Charlotte nodded but then stopped, taking a moment to register what he'd just said 'three…don't you mean two?'

Eliot shook his head 'four kids were orphaned, I don't know much about the forth one…uh Benjamin something or other, friend of mine knows the lady who looks after the kid.'

Charlotte nodded, making a mental note to check that out once she was done here, it could be nothing, completely unrelated but she still should check it out 'look Eliot, your only a young adult…don't you think someone older should look after Elayne?'

Eliot raised his eyebrow 'not really, like who?'

Charlotte shrugged 'like me, look I got off on the wrong foot with the girls…and Lewis but I want to make it up to them, make up for my own mistakes, can you allow me to do this?'

Eliot thought it over 'well, I will be getting busy with studies soon, but I don't know how much Emma would have liked this, I would prefer to leave her with my parents.'

Giving him a card Charlotte said 'think about it, I promise you I will do the right thing, and I won't exclude you and your parents from her life, call me when you make up your mind. Oh one last thing, what was the address of that woman who has the fourth child?'

Eliot wrote down some directions and handed them to her 'good luck.'

Charlotte drove along the coast, following the directions, wondering as she went who this woman might be, she didn't want to turn up on the doorstep a complete stranger; she needed some sort of reason for being there.

She finally arrived, hoping her plan would work and knocked at the front door, the woman who opened the front door looked slightly older than her, with medium/short red hair and a slender figure.

'Can I help you' the woman said, a slight frown on her face.

Charlotte offered her hand 'hi I'm Charlotte Watsford, I used to know Cleo and the others?'

'Sophie, really, I don't re-call seeing you around, what do you mean by used to?'

'Um…can we talk inside, it's getting dark out here and I'd rather speak more privately about this' Charlotte said.

Narrowing her eyes Sophie said 'I guess' she opened the door and let Charlotte in, once she continued 'tell me Miss Watsford what exactly is it that brought you hear to my door?'

Charlotte sighed 'I may be in the wrong place entirely, I apologize if I am, but it is kind of a long story.'

'I have time' Sophie said 'a proper explanation would be…fitting at this point.'

Sighing Charlotte sat down 'well, it all began when I first moved to the Gold Coast, many years ago, I was 17 and first met Cleo and Lewis and through them Rikki and Emma.'

Sophie frowned and raised her hand to pause her 'I'm sorry I'm not familiar with that last one…Emma…'

'Emma Gilbert' Charlotte explained 'she was Cleo and Rikki's best friend, they did everything together, they were utterly inseparable most of the time.'

'Don't you mean Bella, Isabella Hartley, she was always hanging with Cleo and Rikki, when she wasn't flirting with my brother that is' Sophie replied.

Charlotte shook her head 'no, I've never heard of Bella.'

'But she was at the party when they all died, along with my brother, her husband' Sophie said 'if you knew these girls how could you not know Bella?'

'I could say the same of Emma' Charlotte argued 'Emma was at the party too…' she stopped then, they both seemed to have realised something at the same moment. The four girls knew each other but…somehow she and Sophie had never crossed paths with Bella or Emma.

'Well, this is a very interesting discovery' said Sophie, though her voice didn't exactly express excitement, more exasperation.

Charlotte sat silently for a moment 'tell me about Bella?'

Sophie frowned at her 'I'm not entirely convinced by your story, do you have proof?'

Charlotte couldn't quite believe this woman but sighed and pulled out a picture, probably the only picture of the four of them that existed due to their problems with each other, the photo taken after their beach volleyball game.

She handed it to Sophie 'there, you see, that's me, Cleo, Rikki and Emma.'

Sophie frowned she pulled out a picture and showed it to Charlotte 'and here we have Cleo, Rikki and Bella, little older perhaps, but no Emma…so what are we missing' but she was speaking more to herself than Charlotte.

'When did you arrive on the Gold Coast' Charlotte asked.

'Oh…I can't remember exactly, it was the same summer Rikki's opened' Sophie said.

Charlotte looked puzzled 'what is Rikki's?'

'You know, the place Zane and Rikki use to run together, I helped manage it, Bella was a singer there too, it used to be called the…JuiceNet or something I think' Sophie said with a wave, dismissing the old name.

'The JuiceNet went out of business? Zane and Rikki running a club…what else changed around here?'

Sophie gave a small laugh 'how am I supposed to know? I don't know when you were here do I?'

Charlotte sat thoughtfully, so maybe this fourth child was a mermaid too, if Bella was a mermaid 'did Bella ever seem, strange to you' she asked Sophie.

'Strange…no, she was pretty and a talented singer I'll give her that but that is as far as her abilities went I think, never knew much about her family or background, she just showed up on the Gold Coast and never left' Sophie explained.

Charlotte looked at the picture of Bella again, she was indeed pretty 'the necklace's, the ones around their neck, any idea where those are now?'

Sophie shrugged, uninterested 'they never took them off, never, so I suspect their gone.'

Charlotte nodded sadly 'guess so, that brings us to the discussion of Bella's child then I guess.'

Looking at Charlotte Sophie frowned 'excuse me?'

'I had a close connection to these girls Sophie, I know you think you understand them but…believe me you don't' Charlotte started but Sophie didn't let her get very far.

'Let me get something very clear to you Miss Watsford, I may have had my problems with Bella but I tolerated her for my brother's sake, Becka is my niece, I have every right to her' Sophie said angrily.

'I'm not talking about Becka, I'm smart Sophie, you said you worked for Zane and Rikki…Roxie has been missing for sometime, care to explain that one?'

'I have no idea what you are talking about' said Sophie, but she looked guilty.

Charlotte nodded 'well I could call the police, let them handle this.'

'Alright, but it won't make any difference if you did' Sophie said, she pulled out a file and some papers 'here, read them.'

Charlotte looked through the papers, it was pretty obvious Zane had been well prepared and had a back-up plan for Roxie…but what concerned Charlotte was she saw no signature of Rikki's anywhere.

'As you can see Zane has left specific instructions that were anything to happen to him and Rikki, I was to take care of Roxie.'

'Funny' said Charlotte 'I don't see any mention of Rikki in these papers.'

Sophie laughed 'you seriously think they make such decisions alone, I'm sure they were in agreement' Charlotte wasn't so sure.

'It says here that the condition to this is that you hand her over to someone at the age of 16' Charlotte frowned, wondering who on earth that could be.

Sophie nodded 'yes, Becka also has to visit the same person when she reaches that age; it was left in a note from Will and Bella.'

Charlotte looked at Sophie 'so there is nothing I can do to convince you to let me adopt Roxie?'

'Absolutely nothing' Sophie said 'now, I think it is time for you to leave' she got up and guided Charlotte out to the front door.