The next morning, Lois stopped by to greet her little sister for the first time in six years, she was nervous to say the least. On her way she had stopped by the gas station and brought a big bar of chocolate to give to Rikki…she would have spent a bit more, but she just didn't have the time to go anywhere else.

She had already stalled enough, it's now or never she thought to herself as she pulled up outside the kent's house. She sat there for a couple of minutes trying to think of something she could say to Rikki, but her mind was blank, she couldn't believe that all this was happening. It was strange to think that after all this time her sister was mere yards away in a house she had visited on many occasions, but never had she felt nervous, dare she say scared to enter. C'mon Lane you can do this, you're strong…just think how you must look to the General right now…get outta the car…now Lois closed her eyes, took a deep breath and opened the car door.

She was now out and all she had to do was walk up to the door and knock, nice and simple…so why was she still holding her car door as though her life depended on it?

"Dam-it Lane what's wrong with you…its not like I'm going to be alone, Clark and Chloe are in there" Lois muttered to herself, taking another deep breath she closed her door and started her ascent to the front door.

She stopped a couple of inches away from the door, her hand raised and ready to knock, but before she could the door swung open and she found herself face to face with her little sister.

"Rikki…" was the only word Lois could find in her mind to say, as she stood with her hand still held up in the air.

"Lois?" Rikki questioned as she too stood mesmerized holding the door open with her right hand, blocking the entrance.

"Can I come in?" Lois managed to ask; her throat was becoming dry as she took in the sight of her little sister. Her first impressions reminded her of herself when she was Rikki's age. She wore knee-length cargo pants with a red cameo top underneath a black short sleeved shirt. She definitely bore the army brat style dress code which ran in the Lane family genes.

"Sure" Rikki stuttered as she moved aside for Lois to enter, closing the door slowly behind her.

Lois sat in the living room, looking just as uncomfortable as everyone else. She had sat in the far corner of the room, in a small arm chair, which she now regretted as every time she moved it made a terrible squeak and was enhanced in the deathly silence of the room. Rikki sat in the middle of the sofa, with Cleo and Emma either side of her, sneaking a glimpse over at Lois every now and again as she examined her appearance, spotting similarities between Lois and herself each time, but she wasn't sure if she was just imagining things, formed by false hope of finally having a role model in her life that was actually related to her. Clark sat in the larger arm chair which was in the other corner of the room, with Chloe sat on the arm, her fingers entwined with his own, as she felt the same tension in the room as everyone else.

"So…" Clark was the first to break the silence as he tried to get a conversation going, but he had no idea what to talk about. Looking to Lois to follow his lead.

Everyone looked at Clark as though he were their saviour for breaking that dreaded silence, Rikki then looked over at Lois and accidentally caught eye contact, and she couldn't bring herself to look away. What she saw surprised her, she didn't see anger of hurt…she saw love and well, her sister.

"So Lois…how old are you now…I understand if you not uncomfortable saying your age but I honestly can't remember how old you were when…you know" Rikki rambled on much like how Lois would when she was nervous…they have a lot more in common than they think Clark thought to himself as he watched them basically mimic each others posture.

"I'm not that old cheeky…I'm 27" Lois answered finding herself genuinely smiling fort the first time since she had arrived.

"Oh sorry" Rikki quickly responded, feeling her cheeks burn with embarrassment as everyone in the room chuckled at her question.

"Don't worry about it…so how about you, I mean I already know your age, but what are you like…I…I mean what kinda stuff are you into?" Lois asked becoming nervous again.

"Well what can I say, I like the beach, but then there's no surprise there seen as I practically live on a gigantic beach, I enjoy hanging out with my friends Cleo and Emma obviously and I love to go swi-...I mean shopping, with the girls" Rikki abruptly finished as she mentally kicked herself for almost letting slip the opposite to what she had told Clark and Chloe and also hated herself for saying that she loved shopping when the truth was she hated it, especially with Emma and Cleo, they always tried to pick her out girly clothes, but they never manage to succeed in turning me Rikki thought as she giggled to herself.

"It must be nice having a beach at your door step, I would love to be able to wake up and go for a run along the beach, and maybe even swims…do you like go swimming often?" Lois asked, mentally imaging herself lying on a warm sandy beach in South Coast Australia, with Rikki by her side…perfect.

"Well…erm…I…" Rikki hesitated and became fidgety and looked towards her friends for help as she tried to think of a suitable answer.

"I doubt it Lois, earlier we found out that she doesn't like getting wet…at least that's what we were told" Clark answered for her stepping in before Rikki could embarrass herself with the truth, he knew how embarrassing it must be to tell someone that you are afraid of water, he thought he would make it easier for her.

"Oh right, sorry I didn't know, but then again there's probably a lot I don't know about you" Lois responded looking over towards her sister.

"What makes you say that" Rikki abruptly asked, becoming cautious that they might know her secret.

"Well the fact that I haven't seen you in six years might have something to do with it" Lois laughed standing from her small chair and moving to sit on the coffee table in front of Rikki.

"But that's gunna change; I want to know everything there is to know about you, starting with the most important thing…have you got a boyfriend?" Lois had been dying to know ever since she had arrived, now she had seen her in person and had seen how beautiful she is, she was sure she would have a boyfriend already, what boy wouldn't want this beautiful young woman?

"Well…yer…"

"What's his name?" Lois asked before Rikki could say anything else.

"Zane…Zane Bennit" Rikki shyly answered growing all the more embarrassed now that she was discussing Zane in front of not only her friends and sister but complete strangers.

"Wait…Bennit, as in Harrison Bennit's son? The rich jackass who's just teamed up with LexCorp in producing a new water purification system?" Chloe forcefully jumped in, shaking her fingers in quote marks at her last words.

"Yer…how do you know that? And why did you say it like that?" Rikki threw back just as fierce, having way too much hassle from just about everyone about her relationship with Zane, but she knew first hand that his father had given up dodgy deals months ago, ever since his discovery of the girls secret, which Rikki mentally reminded herself that he no longer thought they bore must bare that in mind.

"I knew he was holding back the other day Clark…I knew it! Lois this has just added a completely new opening for your story, we now have inside connections…" Chloe ranted on, her excitement at the thought of an interesting story growing each second.

"Excuse me…before you continue ahead planning how to use my boyfriend in your little 'story', can I just remind you that you still haven't explained anything you are talking about to me and I haven't agreed to bringing my boyfriend or his father into all of this!" Rikki almost shouted as she rose from her seat in frustration and made her way over to the front door.

"Rikki…I'm…we're sorry" Lois desperately alleged apologetically as she watched as the sister she had longed since seen was just about to walk out of her life…she wasn't going to let that happen again.

"Forget it…I knew this was a mistake coming here" Rikki answered trying to fight back tears as she left the Kent's house, slamming the door behind her sorry Clark was all she thought as she ran down the gravel driveway, heading anywhere away from here.

"Well that went well" Clark almost whispered, receiving glares from everyone in the room.

"Good one…you know Rikki wasn't going to come her at all, it was us that convinced her that she still had family here that loved her and that's all she wanted…no that's all she needed, love…but none of you would know anything about that would you, especially you Lois" Emma snapped her anger growing as her heart ached for her best friend who had lived so long alone, until now.

"Me? All I have done here is try and get to know my sister…don't blame me if she has issues" Lois retorted, her typical 'Lane' attitude surfacing as Emma dared her to react.

"That's rich…why do you think she has these issues, maybe she wouldn't if you had been there for her for she needed you! She doesn't talk about it much, but it's obvious that she looked up to you when she was younger and she still does…but you need to prove that you are worth looking up to"

"Don't you think I want to? For the past six years I have thought about picking up the phone and calling her, but did you ever think how I must have felt. For a start I didn't even know if she would remember me…I thought she would have hated me for leaving her with the General…I was scared that she wouldn't accept me and let me in her life and now that she is here, I can't…won't let her leave again…I need her" Lois choked out, hot tears now daring to make an appearance any second.

"I'll go look for her…" Clark started as he stood from his chair.

"No…let us…we know Rikki, we will find her faster…plus I have a good idea where she could be, we'll be back soon" With that Emma and Cleo stood and left the house.

Chloe was lost for words; she couldn't help but feel responsible for the sequence of events that had just taken place. She gave Clark a knowing smile as she made her way over to sit besides Lois, before she could say anything Lois crumbled into Chloe's embrace, no words necessary. Lois never dropped her tough façade but everything was building inside of her and she felt that all she could do was let it out, she didn't care that Clark would never let her live this down. All she needed was her cousin to tell her it was all going to be ok and that is exactly what Chloe would do.

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Emma and Cleo walked in silence down the driveway until they reached the crossroads, then they stopped and tried to decide which way Rikki would have gone.

"Right or left?" Cleo questioned as she looked to Emma for all the answers.

"I don't have a clue to be honest" Emma replied laughing slightly.

"What? I thought you said you knew where she would have gone?"

"Well, not exactly…all I know is that Rikki would have gone looking for somewhere to clear her mind and calm down…where is the one place she would go to do that?" Emma asked Cleo knowingly as though the answer were obvious.

"The sea…she went looking for somewhere to swim, of course…so where would that be?" Cleo asked as the novelty of her realisation wore off, which was almost immediately, after she realised that they were no better informed of where she was than when they first set out looking for her.

"Ok right…just go with me here…we're mermaids right? Shouldn't we be able to like, maybe sense the sea or something?" Emma wearily suggested.

"Actually, you know what, that almost might work" Cleo agreed, tightly shutting her eyes, scrunching her face in concentration as she attempted at sensing the sea as Emma had proposed.

"What are you doing?" Emma blurted, cracking up in hysterics as she watched the many faces Cleo was pulling.

"I'm trying to sense the sea…well let's see you do any better smarty pants" Cleo snapped back, her face reddening with embarrassment.

"Fine…just be quiet" Emma closed her eyes and took one deep breath, concentrating all her thoughts and energy on hearing or feeling the call of the ocean, much like the connection she had felt to Mako Island when she was affected by the full moon.

As she exhaled it seemed endless, as her mind swirled with noises, but much to her surprise they weren't noisy noises for the lack of a better word, they were almost therapeutic, hypnotic even. She found herself swaying as she could almost feel the current of the tides pulling her, calling her. She didn't want to stop, the sounds of the ocean were beautiful, and she could hear all of the sea life singing in harmony. She had never really listened to the sound of the sea before in all the times she had been swimming across the ocean floor, never again would she take what a wonderful place the sea was for granted again.

"Emma…Emma…" Cleo repeated as she watched her friend smiling peacefully, looking completely tranquil and calm and dare she radiant?

Emma could hear Cleo calling her back but it was more like a distant echo in the back of her mind, she almost forgot what her sole purpose for doing this was, until she heard Cleo say Rikki's name and then she immediately jolted her mind back to reality, as the beautiful sound of the ocean dissipated into ordinary sounds of everyday life.

"Did it work?" Cleo eagerly asked watching Emma adjust her sight and hearing.

"Yer it worked…it was amazing…but I'll tell you about it later…now we have to find Rikki and I know where to go, follow me" Emma stated as she began to march towards the nearest ocean.

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Rikki hadn't known where she was going, all she knew was that she needed to find some water and soon. She was going to lose it completely if she couldn't find somewhere to swim, she found that swimming was the only thing that calmed her down and made her feel…complete. Though the quality which mainly led her to the ocean was its ability to accept her no matter what, she always felt as though the sea was the only thing that didn't reject her…it made her feel safe.

"This would be a lot easier if I knew where I was going!" Rikki forcefully muttered to herself as she ploughed along a never ending dusty road.

She remembered passing a sign labelled 'Crater Lake' on the drive to Clark's house, she just couldn't quite remember where, all she did know was that it wasn't too far away and she only hoped that if she kept going she would find it.

Much to her surprise her determination paid off, turning one last corner and was happy find she was face to face with the very sign. Feeling relieved that she had finally made it, without hesitation she continued onwards until she could almost smell the ocean. Taking another turn she exited the overgrown masses of trees and found herself looking out onto a beautiful lake.

"Finally!" Rikki added cheerfully once she had reached her destination.

All she remembered thinking was how beautiful the lake looked with the glow of the almost set sun descending on the horizon, as she took off running towards the end of the small pier jutting over the edge of the lake. She propelled herself forwards, diving into the sun kissed warmness of the lake, just as the sun dipped below the sea line, leaving the small Kansas town of Smallville engulfed in darkness.

Feeling her mortal body change into the exotic form of the mermaid within, for the first time since arriving in Smallville, she felt completely at home. She peacefully swam across the bottom of 'Crater Lake' taking in the magnificent sea life below the surface, enjoying the freedom she felt as she embraced her gift and became one with the water.

She ventured further out to sea, feeling the temperature of the water change now that its source of heat had disappeared and the moon had absurdly taken its place. Further out she watched the magical glow of the moon flicker off of the fragments of meteor rock lodged in the sea bed oh…so that's why they call it 'Crater Lake' Rikki thought as she remembered hearing about the recent meteor shower here in Smallville on the news and the mysterious green rocks which fell to earth along with it.

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Cleo continued to follow a confident Emma along, what seemed to be an endless dusty road, but she had complete confidence in Emma and truly believed that she knew where she was going.

Before long Cleo watched as Emma took a hard right and found that she had in fact found the only place within miles that could pass as somewhere natural to swim.

"Here we are, I knew I could sense the sea" Emma proudly announced as she continued forwards through to 'Crater Lake'.

"Well done…show off" Cleo threw back, feeling slightly jealous that she couldn't sense the sea as Emma had, but soon forgetting that when they came to the pier over the lake.

"Come on, she's probably in there…let's go" Emma proposed as she dived into the lake without a moments pause, her determination to find her friend only heightening her confidence.

"Well ok then" Cleo agreed as she dived in after Emma.

It didn't take them long to spot Rikki casually swimming ahead, taking in the sights of a surrounding completely foreign to all three girls. this is definitely different to the ocean we have back home Cleo thought to herself as she noticed the roughness of the sea bed, compared to the soft, sandy bed of Mako Island.

Once she spotted Rikki, she gave Emma a knowing nod as they both super-swam towards her, catching up almost immediately.

Rikki jumped when she felt something touch her shoulder, raising her hand in the water ready to defend herself if necessary. Although, to her surprise she found herself looking into the eyes of her best friend and she almost felt relieved that she was no longer alone in this strange place.

Rikki made her way to the surface, as Emma and Cleo followed suit, all three best friends addressed one another, thankful to be together.

"What are you guys doing here? How did you find me?" Rikki asked, somewhat surprised to see them, but sounding thankful at the same time.

"Well…it was Emma really, she done this really cool thing and listened for the sea and it called to her" Cleo excitedly explained watching Rikki's face changed multiple times within minutes from happy to surprised to confused.

"I'll explain it later" Emma shyly added as she started to blush from all the attention.

"Thanks for finding me guys; I'm sorry about what happened earlier…it was all just too much, I had to get outta there"

"Don't worry about it Rikki, were just glad that your ok…but what a strange lake…did you see the green rocks underneath…I wonder what they are?" Emma questioned her mind reeling with the possibilities.

"I think they are meteor rocks…you know, from the meteor shower that happened a few years ago" Rikki answered, receiving funny looks from her friends, as they were surprised at her knowledge.

"What? It was on TV"

"I miss Mako" Cleo glumly stated after having her few minutes of laughter with her friends as old times came flooding back to her of when they first became mermaids.

"I know what you mean, this place is so…different, I miss being able to go for midnight swims to the moon pool and…Zane" Rikki admitted for the first time in arriving.

"Wow…I think that is the first time you have ever admitted to missing anyone let alone Zane…you must really care for him" Emma said surprise evident in her voice.

"Guess I do…well enough of dwelling, you up for a swim here…it's all we got" Rikki half-heartedly cheered as she twirled around in the water.

"Sure why not…let's go" Emma agreed ducking under the surface, when without warning she jumped back up and splashed her friends, laughing so hard she almost choked as she saw the look on their faces.

"Right your gunna get it now!" Cleo retaliated lifting her hand and using her powers to create a huge floating bubble of water, dropping it directly on top of Emma's head.

"Hay! That's it…" Emma squealed as she pulled her hands back ready to make a tidal wave, but before she could act Cleo had swam over ten yards away, shouting back to her friends.

"Catch me if you can!" With that she ducked under and swam as fast as she could…it didn't take long for Emma and Rikki to catch up, as they stopped mere inches in front of her combining their powers to make a wall of bubbles in front of Cleo, stopping so they could tap her on the shoulder from behind making her jump.

After their moment of fun, all three friends swam side by side, cherishing their friendship and enjoying the time they shared together.

A couple of hours later, they decided that they best make their way back before Chloe and the others began to worry. Before long they were back home and trying to convince Lois that they were fine and had just lost track of time…Rikki constantly reminding her older sister of the time difference and how it was still the afternoon for them and that's why they didn't feel as though it was as late as it had become.

Lois soon dropped the argument; Rikki assumed it was because she didn't want to cause any more of a rift between her newly acquainted sister if she could help it.

Regardless the girls went up to their room and chatted amongst themselves into the late hours of the morning. Of course with multiple interruptions from Chloe and Clark reminding them that they were trying to sleep and asked them to keep the noise down, even though they would keep it down for a few minutes, they soon forgot and would become lost in their conversations to realise how loud they all were. It wasn't until four in the morning that they managed to fall asleep and it was then that Clark eventually got to sleep himself…the only down side to super-hearing, teenage girls gossiping…it was the only weakness to his power.

Well...what do you think? Hope your enjoying it :D