The older girls had taken Ava back to the moon pool with them to sleep. The other girls had fallen asleep but Ava hadn't. She was trying not to cry and wake everybody up. She wanted her mom back, she wanted her mom to not have left her. She tried waking up Lyla, she had been kind to her earlier, but barely woke up to comfort her.
The moon pool gave off a faint glow, something she liked a lot. But being the only one awake made her feel afraid none the less. She left the moon pool and the water was dark. It took a few minutes for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. She felt a tightness in her chest, feeling like something bad was going to happen. She felt like she swam faster than she ever had before. Ava came up out of the water in Rita's house, she pulled herself onto the land and waited until her legs appeared.
Rita woke up in her bed. It took a few moments for her eyes to make out a figure standing next to her bed staring down at her. What the… the figure steeped closer to her and she could see that it was Ava. "Rita" Ava choked out, "can I sleep here? Please." She begged. Rita slid over to the over side of the bed and patted the part she was just in, inviting Ava to lay down. She got into the bed and curled up under the covers, "Thank you" Rita heard Ava whisper before she fell back to sleep.
When Rita woke up the next morning she was the only one in her bed. She lay staring at her ceiling for a few minutes trying to remember if the events during the night had happened or if they had just been a dream. She was sure that it had happened but wasn't sure where Ava had gone. She got up and got dressed preparing herself for her morning swim.
On her way down the stairs to her own private cave, she heard noise coming from her mermaid room. She peaked in and there was Ava. She was looking through all her stuff, examining her shells and running her fingers over the treasure chest. "Well good morning" Rita said folding her arms over her chest and smiling. Ava was startled, but her deer in the head lights look faded into a sheepish grin.
Ava shrugged, "You have so many beautiful things, I've never seen them before."
"You've never seen them before?"
"No, my mom and I spent half our time on land and when we were in the water she never…well she never taught me or showed me these things."
Rita held out her hand to Ava who walked over and took it tentatively. Rita led Ava over to the pool, "why don't you join me for a swim, maybe we can find you some shells of your own." Ava's face brightened and she had a huge grin on her face. She nodded enthusiastically. She held onto Rita's hand as they both jumped into the water.