Chapter 14

The trio piled into Cleo's van and drove back to the Sertori household – they would walk to the beach from there.

"Hey Dad! The keys are on the counter," Cleo called out. At that moment, Sam came inside from the garden.

"Hey Cleo, Rikki," she greeted. "And who is this?" she gestured to Emma.

"Sam, this is Emma - she just got back from her travels. Em, this is Sam, my step-mum," Cleo introduced.

"So you are the Emma I've heard so much about," Sam said shaking the girl's hand with a smile.

"I guess so," Emma replied. Emma had heard about Sam from Cleo via email, but it was a very different thing seeing the woman in person – it reminded her just how much she had missed this year.

"Do you have a favourite place you visited?" Sam asked Emma.

"Well, everywhere was awesome in its own way. Each place was unique. I dunno, I can't pick just one," Emma replied somewhat awkwardly.

"Fair enough," Sam smiled in response. "What are you girls doing now?"

"We're just heading to the beach," Rikki said.

"Yeah, so I'll be home later," Cleo said.

"Dinner is at seven," Sam said. "Have fun!"

The three girls began walking the familiar trek to the private bay that allowed them to launch themselves to Mako without prying eyes. Again, Emma was reminded about the amount of time it had been since she had done this – everything felt surreal but normal at the same time.

When she heard a voice re-entering her mind, she realised that she had zoned out.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" Emma asked Cleo.

"Oh, I was just saying that we'll introduce you to Bella tomorrow,"

Emma nodded. She was excited to meet their friend – and nervous; she hoped that she and Bella would get along.

OoOoO

As soon as they transformed and began swimming, Emma felt overwhelmed by the sense of freedom that she had missed so dearly. A year of keeping her secret to herself, having to sneak off for this release was painful. She had missed this so much. Her cheeks had begun to hurt from the amount of smiling she had done that day. Sure, she had loved travelling and seeing new places, but there was something joyful about being home – a sweet reunion of sorts.

After swimming over and around the reefs, enjoying the water, the original trio surfaced.

"Can we go to the moon pool, now?" Emma asked. Cleo and Rikki shared a sad look.

"About the moon pool…" Cleo began.

"What?" Emma inquired.

"Ah, it was blown up," Rikki stated bluntly.

"Blown up?" Emma exclaimed, incredulous. "What do you mean?" They were treading water.

"We figured it would be better to tell you everything in person," Cleo said. "Keeping our secret safe and all that, but also…we knew you'd be upset."

"Enough stalling, Cleo. What happened?" Emma asked anxiously.

"Sophie, that conniving troll we mentioned a while back…" Rikki started.

"Will's sister," Cleo interjected.

"And Ryan, another snooper who we hope to never see again, blew it up. With explosives. Sophie wanted to sell the moon pool rock. She claimed it would make them rich," Rikki shook her head. "Of course, Zane was involved somehow, but he helped in the end… kind of,"

"Did you hear about the comet that came close to the planet a few weeks ago?" Cleo asked.

"Yeah, read it in a newspaper when we first arrived in New Zealand- we'd just missed it. Apparently, this was the best place to see it. Why?"

"Well, it actually began to enter the earth's atmosphere and the moon pool was supposed to create a tower of energised water to knock it off course again. But the moon pool was too damaged. Instead, Rikki, Bella and I created it. We pretty much saved the world," Cleo laughed. "It was dang terrifying at the time."

Emma's eyes widened. "What…! Wow, I missed a lot,"

"Anyway, the moon pool is full of rubble. It's not the same as it used to be," Rikki said apologetically. "We've cleared most of the rocks to the sides and it seems like the cavern is stable, but yeah. Not ideal."

Emma sighed. "It's our place. I'll have to see it for myself,"

The other mermaids nodded. Solemnly, they began to swim the short distance to the underwater entrance.

OoOoO

Bella was floating on her back in the moon pool. She smiled thinking over the amazing date she had had with Will the previous evening. The girls would want to know all about it. Once again, she thanked God for having such great friends. Best friends for life. Friends that knew and understood her completely. At the beginning of the year Bella would have scoffed at the thought of achieving this level of friendship; she had never been in a place long enough to establish solid friendships – definitely not ones that could stand the test of time. This time, she knew it was different. Letting her tail submerge again, she floated over to one of the natural stone seats beneath the water. She wondered what Rikki and Cleo were doing. She knew that Emma was back in town. Over the course of the year, Rikki and Cleo had mentioned the girl in passing – sharing stories about school in particular. From what she gathered, Emma was kind, caring, bossy, stubborn, independent, loyal, and apparently a stickler about homework. Bella imagined that they would be introduced quickly- Cleo and Rikki probably wanting to spend time equally with both Emma and her. She hoped they would get along well. She hoped that Emma was mature enough to not see her as some kind of replacement. She also hoped that Cleo and Rikki didn't ditch her in favour of their old friend's return. She chastised herself for that thought; her friends were bigger than that. But honestly, Bella knew that she had a connection with Cleo and Rikki deeper than a normal friendship; they were of the same kind. That had to count for something. She hoped Emma wouldn't be jealous of the connection they shared – as she of course was a human. Cleo and Rikki had told her that Emma knew the secret a while back, but never explained how. In fact, in thinking about it, Bella realised that she still didn't know the full story of how they became, and their time as, mermaids. When she first found out their secret, Rikki said they'd been 'doing this for ages.' Bella could not believe that she had not pushed it further. All she knew was that a while ago, they were transformed at Mako Island, in the moon pool. The same kind of transformation as her own in Ireland.

Bella felt a ripple in the water, before seeing Cleo enter the moon pool. She smiled. Just who she was thinking about. Cleo actually looked surprised to see her there. Rikki was next. She too looked a little surprised but then smiled.

"Hey Bella," Rikki greeted.

Bella had a quick thought: Where was their friend Emma? Her question was answered as quickly as it was asked. An unexpected and surprising third head emerged from the water.

"Hey guys, I see what you mean about it looking different – there are lots of boulders around the entrance…" Emma trailed off when she noticed the other person in the moon pool.

Bella's mouth dropped open. Of course.

Emma's eyes widened when she noticed the fourth person in the moon pool. She had never seen the girl before. What was she doing here? Emma looked at the girl's waist, submerged beneath the water. She gasped inaudibly. A mermaid? She looked at her friends. They were un-phased by the girl's presence, as if it was a regular occurrence. A revelation hit her. This was Bella. And she was a mermaid.

A/N: Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I think it was one of my better written chapters - I think inspiration shows :P What do you guys think? Emma and Bella finally meet! Next chapter will show their interaction. Thanks so much for reading and for all the support. It means a lot. Without you guys, there would be no point in writing this.

Soon I am going to edit the prologue/first chapter of 'A fishy tale' (remember that story I wrote back in 2011 :P) to fit with this story. Because, in my mind, all my stories link together. Also, I think that it needs to be spruced up anyway :P It won't change anything within either story themselves though - it'll just be for peace of mind in my universe :P

Thanks so much to the people who reviewed the previous chapter. You guys are amazing! And you keep me inspired. Thanks especially to WannabeeAussie, sammiloveschocolate, HybridsRose, Starlightdreamer12, frostydog09, M.I. High and Unicorns, ObsessedwReading, and NotJustAShadow. I love you!

Please tell me what you think! I'll see you all next time, on this story or one of my others :D