A/N: Oh my God, I have so many suggestions for this story! It's crazy! I have a lot of writing to do! I have about 15 to do (rofl.) So here's a suggested story from Marril96!

Story 4: What if it was Emma instead of Bella that came in season three?

(Suggestion by Marril96)

Rikki POV

Ah, the beach. There was no place like it—the sand, the ocean, no place could duplicate its serene and tranquil feel. Maybe that's why I was here today—for that peaceful feel that covered up all your worries, even though they were right under that fake shell, and that you could easily break that shell if you so much as slipped. That's why I couldn't think about it.

I felt the sun warm me with its UV rays on my back. The hot Australian sun simply washed away your troubles also. And I had a lot of them.

School was right around the corner, and even though I was pretty good in some subjects, my grades were slipping in the others. I was pretty proud when I learned three months ago that I would be moving on to becoming a senior, which was quite an honor for me. Frankly, I highly doubted I would make it to high school.

Grades weren't the only part of that relaxing façade I built up between those problems I had and me. Bella, one of my two best friends, had recently moved away. It was a nightmare coming to life. She moved away because her father had to manage some hotel in Italy for around a year. New country, new home, and new attitude…I felt more sorry for her than me. What was it like to go to a new school? What was it like to make new friends that probably took pity on you for how little you knew about anything?

I guess I could answer that question myself. I had once been the new girl, and I once had to make all new friends. Of course, my other friends turned out to become better friends that I had imagined, ever since we became mermaids together. What if Bella found a clan of mermaids that had the same interests as her? What if they liked singing as much as her? What if she liked them better than Cleo and I, and refused to move back to Australia once it was time? What if…slow down Rikki, slow down. She wouldn't do that. Of course not. There was no way she'd like any other mermaids better than us, the ones she transformed with. And she promised us the day she said she had to leave that once they were set to move back, she would make sure to take an earlier plane than her family just to swim the whole day with Cleo and I and be with us with no interruptions.

I heard a thump by me. I glanced over to the pink towel next to me to see Cleo situating herself next to me. My head had been resting in my arms, so I unfolded them and propped my head in my hands.

"Tanning?" asked Cleo with a small and teasing smile dancing on her lips. She knew that I could never get a good tan, and was constantly joking about it. There were only two levels to my skin: pale and burnt.

"No," I said, not mimicking her smile. Cleo's grin dropped as she realized that whenever she cracked one of those jokes, I would laugh or smile, or like last time, stuff a pillow in her face. "I'm thinking." Truth be told, I wished I was tanning.

"About Bella?" asked Cleo. I bit my lip, not replying at first. Was it weird to think of your friend who moved away? It always amazed me at how easily Cleo could read my mind—kind of like ESP.

"Yeah," I said softly. "Managing a hotel my foot. I would have gladly shared a room with her in my cramped trailer if that meant keeping those midnight swims with her, and sharing those memories still. Now she's off in Italy, probably meeting other friends to share the secret with." It felt extremely good to get that off my chest and share it with someone.

Cleo sighed. "I know. I'm already missing her so much, even though she only left last week."

Last week? It felt like last month! How could I possibly go a whole year without Bella? Next thing you know Cleo is probably going to end up moving too…what then? I wondered if Cleo missed Bella as much as me. Probably, considering they knew each other before I came along.

"I know," I said, sighing. "How could she possibly move during our senior year? This is the time to celebrate the last year of school, not get shipped off to an entirely new country! We were supposed to stick together throughout this year, considering we'll be separated next year."

I could sense deep down that she knew exactly what I was talking about. Cleo just didn't want to bring it up to focus. "What are you talking about?"

I glared at her. "It's hard enough to think about, please don't make me talk more about it. College is what I'm talking about, Cleo! You know that once Bella gets back, she'll be going away again for a great college. You, you're pretty smart, so you and Lewis might make it to the same college somewhere far away. And I'll end up stuck here, skipping college altogether."

Cleo rested atop of her towel. She frowned, and bit her bottom lip. "Listen Rikki, we won't think about being separated or Bella leaving again, or even college! Right now is about our senior year, all about us, and—if you've already forgotten—our amazing secret!"

I snorted, burying my face again in my utterly pale arms. "You're just saying that because you know I'll never make it into a college."

Cleo returned my snort, and joined me in just relaxing under the sun. I wished I could have been as relaxed and nonchalant as Cleo. Or was she? Could she possibly be as stressed out and worried about the future, or further things, like Bella?

I traced the fuzzy towel pattern with my pointer finger. I traced over its red swirls, and tried to get within its pattern. Exactly what did each pattern mean? What did polka dot or zebra print mean? What about just regular stripes, or how about plaid? I think such random thoughts at times….

I pretty much had enough of just lying here, so I started to pack up my things. Cleo watched me do so, and mimicked my actions. She must have felt sorry for me, and wanted to cheer me up. Well, newsflash for her, I couldn't be cheered up. Why couldn't there be some 'cheer up' button for me to press, and all my problems would be solved, and happiness would regain in my body once more? A couple hard presses of that button would do me some good right about now.

I walked across the endlessly sandy beach, trying to reach some invisible goal. But exactly what was that goal? For Bella to be back in our lives? For this stupid drama to be over?

I heard a squeal of a little girl nearby. I looked up to see a little girl of about four proudly hovering above a half crumpled and poorly built sand castle. A smiling brunette with a stripe of sunscreen on her nose that looked to be the girl's mother proudly snapped a photo from a disposable camera.

The beach was near full today. Maybe it was the extremely hot weather out today that was perfect beach weather, or maybe it was the fact that school was only about two weeks away, and people wanted to get in their summer fun as quickly as they could, and what better way than a beach trip?
After walking a while, I was about to ask Cleo if we could go to her house and grab a quick drink, because I needed a beverage. A nice iced tea would most likely hit the spot then.

Just then, we passed someone lying on her back on a sea foam green towel. She appeared to be our age, and had long blonde hair and was wearing a blue bikini. Her eyes were covered with burgundy colored sunglasses. I wouldn't have given the girl a second glance, but what happened in the next second changed all this.

A most likely six-year-old boy came running up to her. His lime green swim trunks reflected a lot of light, and caught my attention. He was carrying a dark blue pail filled to the brim with water.

The boy came running up to the girl, and in one motion, just dumped the entire bucket full of water on her stomach. That caught her attention. She gasped, bolting upright and taking off her sunglasses to examine her soaked stomach.

"Tyler!" A woman yelled. She scooped up the boy in her arms and turned to the blonde girl. "I'm so sorry…"

But she wasn't interested in apologies. "No, it's okay," she stammered, and immediately bolted onto her feet. Deserting her pretty towel, she raced to the ocean, and dived in. I looked out to see that she hadn't surfaced.

"Huh," said the woman. "Where'd she go?" Then she turned to me. Tyler began to wiggle in her arms, so she let him loose. "Do you know her?"

I really didn't listen to her. I was just merely staring at the ocean. I slowly shook my head. "No. But I intend to."

Then I went sprinting to the ocean. No other words were exchanged after that.

Please don't be a dream, I mentally hoped. I dived into the ocean, really not caring about who saw me not surface. Oh, please…

Find her, find her! was the only thought that raced through my clouded head at the moment. I ignored the colorful reefs and fish and even the playful dolphin that came squealing up to me, asking if I wanted to play with its eyes. I just left it behind in the dust.

I speed swam throughout the whole ocean scene, just looking for one thing in particular.

I finally came across a huge collection of red reefs. I grabbed onto it, and, spotting something ahead, I ducked down under the reef.

I watched the blonde girl with a long, bronze tail in front of me swim away. When she was about a few yards ahead of me, she stopped, and slowly turned around. Her baby blue eyes searched the ocean for the thing that made her turn around.

I slowly and guiltily came out of hiding from behind the big, red reef. Her eyes widened then narrowed as she looked over my long tail and my face, as if inspecting if I was good enough for her. My own eyes narrowed as cat-like and intimidating as hers looked, and I scanned her. Her eyes immediately returned to normal and shot me a look as if to say, I'm sorry, I was in shock. I wanted to know who you were. Forgive me?

I then felt something squeeze my tail, and I spun around to find Cleo. Her brown hair was swishing along with the waves, and her mouth was set in a hard line, as if she was mad about something. But her eyes were filled with sorrow, worry, surprise, and something else that I could not define. What was it? I had no idea why, but I was overly curious.

I broke the surface of the ocean, and took my hand and swept back the loose strands of wet hair that clung to my face. I saw Cleo and the mysterious girl surface too, each taking good, deep breaths. Cleo then opened her chocolate brown eyes and looked at me.

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. I originally planned for them to just come tumbling and pouring out, but that dream never became a reality. All that came out was, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" asked Cleo, eyes trailing down into the water. She gazed deeply, as if she could find something hidden beneath its waters.

She was right: for what? I had practically every right to chase this weird girl around the ocean for hours on end, so why was I apologizing now? I decided to tell her what I originally planned I would be sorry for. "For trying to replace Bella. Yes, I know that she had a special place in our hearts, but I wanted—or needed—someone to take that place. Or…replace her."

"Oh, Rikki, you're not replacing her!" Cleo said. "It's okay that you miss Bella. Its normal, and having another mermaid friend wouldn't replace her."

"Hello?" asked the girl. I turned to her. "I'm still here!"

"Right," I said, mildly embarrassed. "Where are my manners?" It sounded corny and cliché, but I still said it, and moved on. I invited her to the moon pool, where we could all get acquainted and talk. My chest felt another pang of longing for Bella, but I quickly brushed it aside. I now wish I hadn't.

Once we all had gathered ourselves and were situated in the moon pool, I said to her, "Nice tail. What's your name?" I felt embarrassed that I hadn't brought it up before.

"Isn't it?" she asked, looking at her tail. "I'm Emma."

"I'm Cleo, and this is Rikki," Cleo said, motioning to herself and me. "So, what do we need to know about you?" Cleo said, with a laugh. Emma smiled.

She told us about her family, consisting of her mother, father, and younger brother named Elliott. She told us about how she transformed into a mermaid in the sea caves of Ireland, then demonstrated her really cool freezing power. After that, we showed her our powers.

"Well, I have to run. I'm unpacking boxes, and my mother said, and I quote, 'It's a job that requires four people.' I just think that she's suspicious of me, ever since I quit swim team. Which was what, like, nine years ago?" she said to us with a laugh, as if we knew the answer. We just laughed along.

"And trust me, I do not need my mom on my case with the whole mermaid thing in play. Plus, I'm pretty responsible, I get straight As, so she should quit pestering me." Emma rolled her eyes. "Bye guys. See you later?" she said, as if it were a question.

"Of course," Cleo said, smiling. I hoped it wasn't a fake smile.

Emma smiled back and nodded, then ducked under the water. Cleo and I were silent for a few minutes.

"I'm going to go now, too," Cleo said, pushing herself away from the edge of the moon pool and towards the underwater exit.

I nodded to her, as if giving her permission to go. She nodded back, and before going under, said, "Rikki?"

"Yeah?" I asked, turning to her.

"I miss her too." And with that, she ducked under.

A/N: Thanks to those who will read & review. Thanks a bunch! Watch out for the next addition of this story.