xxiv

Lewis couldn't remember a time in his life when he had been so miserable. He hated missing school, not so much for a perfect attendance record but for the fear that he would miss something vital for skipping a day of classes. Asking other students for notes didn't do any good because no one had the same concerns as he when it came to the lesson content, especially in Biology.

On top of that he was missing school because of a horrible, debilitating virus that left him shivering and sweating in turns, confined to his bed, and unwilling to let anyone help him since anytime he perspired his tail would appear. Not that his brothers were the greatest nurses in the first place, but it would have been nice to let his mum in to worry over his sickbed with heated soup and a thermos of water. As it was, he'd barely managed to toss Logan's pillow and sleeping bag outside and hang his "Danger: Contagion" sign on the door. They'd all mocked him for making it, but after the two-week-long influenza outbreak that spread through the house from Lenny and Logan disregarding Lewis in order to fraternise willy-nilly, they'd begun to take it seriously. No one would be intruding for the duration of his illness.

To add misery upon misery, he hadn't heard from Cleo since he'd come clean with her. It hadn't been too long. A few days? Less? Was it only yesterday? Time was blurring. All he knew was that he missed her, she was probably hurt, confused, and unhappy, and it was unlikely she'd be willing to even speak to him for a while, let alone cover for him while he got a bite to eat and found something to reduce his fever with.

He was sweating again, and that meant... yep. His tail had made another appearance. Lewis turned over in his bunk, uncovering half of the blue monstrosity and not caring in the least. At this point the empty pit in his stomach, the unflagging nausea, and the intense boredom meant that he'd rather be seen in this state and offered some relief than continue to keep his secret and perish.

A sudden rap on the door made him instantly change his mind as he remembered he was not the only one with a secret to keep. If he was found out it would put the rest in danger. He knew even the dopiest of his brothers would wonder if there were others like him out there. Zane... Rikki... they would be in more danger of discovery than ever before.

Mustering up some energy he called, "I'm okay, Mum! I don't need anything!" It was a terrible lie and it pained him both emotionally and physically to say it.

"Lewis?" the voice of concern coming from the other side of his door was not his mother's. "Could... Could I come in, please?"

"Cleo?!" he barely recognised his own voice it was so distorted by thirst.

"Yeah, it's me," she answered softly, "Rikki told me you didn't come to school 'cause you were sick, and I know you must be really sick, because you never skip class... unless..." a long sigh escaped her. "Um... could I come in? Talking like this is a bit awkward."

"I'm contagious!" he rasped out. "And... I'm not sure you'll want to see me like this."

The door was carefully swung open and Cleo poked her head in. She had the uncanny knack for opening the door just enough without letting in too much of the hallway light, and her voice was measured and soothing, even as she dismissed his warning. "That's silly. I've seen you sick befo... Oh," she ducked her head in embarrassment when she saw his tail showing from under the twisted blanket.

Cleo hurried in with a quiet shuffle and shut the door behind her. Lewis was about to apologise for his appearance, but before he could make out another word, Cleo was barraging him with worried questions. "Lewis! Have you been like this the whole time? You look so awful! Have you eaten anything? Is it moon disease? I didn't think it was a full moon tonight. Why didn't you call me? Where's your thermos?"

"Uh..." Lewis forced a half smile, "which should I answer first?"

Disregarding everything else, Cleo asked very seriously, "Does anyone else know? I mean, other than Rikki and Zane, of course."

Lewis shook his head. "That's why I haven't felt safe leaving the room. No one can know. It'll make them suspicious of the others."

Cleo bit the bottom of her lip and frowned in thought. "Okay, just give me a minute or two."

She left him then, but came back shortly with a large bowl of hot soup, a thermos of water, an array of tablets and pills for Lewis to decide on a concoction from, and several damp rags on a tray. "The soup is just microwaved," she said dubiously, "Anything else would take too long."

"It's fine!" he said briskly, forcing himself to sit up straighter so he could accept the steaming bowl. The unmistakeable smell of chicken broth wafted to meet him, and his stomach felt emptier than ever. "I would've eaten it cold out of the can if I had the chance to get to it."

Cleo watched him devour his soup, her frown deepening all the while. "You've been stuck in here all alone since this morning?"

"Better than being stuck in here with Logan since this morning." After swallowing another few mouthfuls of soup, Lewis chuckled darkly. "Maybe I should have called Zane. He seems to have some sort of healing abilities. But I'll bet his microwaving skills don't come close to yours."

Cleo's slight giggle took a weight off his chest he hadn't known to have settled there. "Zane would be better than no one. To not eat this whole time or have anyone bring you water..." she sighed and gazed at her feet. "You didn't call me. I could have come and taken care of you."

"I didn't think you wanted to see me right now. What with the whole 'Lewis the Fish' thing."

"It's not... you I didn't want to see," Cleo said with feeling. "No," she amended, "I guess in a way that's true. It's complicated," she despaired.

The bottom of the now-empty bowl had the image of a baby turtle painted on it, and like so many of the household items that surrounded Lewis, the majority of the memories attached were of Cleo. Lonny, the most blatantly pestiferous of his brothers, used to make fun of the way Cleo always asked for this bowl in particular whenever pudding was offered in dishes. She was central to all the happiest of his memories, and he couldn't imagine making any more without her, so he swallowed his fear and asked, "Are you angry with me?"

Much to his surprise, Cleo grew teary-eyed at his questioning and shook her head with vehemence. "I'm scared," she hiccupped. "I'm scared you won't need me or want me anymore because you've got a tail and... and powers. I don't like the water, Lewis. I never have. It's so dark, and it goes on forever, and there are so many things living in it that want to hurt you. But I do like you. I like you a lot and... I'm afraid that if this is really you now I've already lost you to the water."

"Cleo..." Lewis set the empty bowl aside and took her hand. "All this... crazy stuff that's happened; the transformation on Mako, discovering we grow tails and have powers, finding out Rikki and Zane are going to have a baby... all of it is like some alternate reality that doesn't make sense with how our lives were before. But you do make sense." He tried to reassure them both with a gentle squeeze of her hand. "Maybe not the way you think sometimes, or the reasons why you're upset, but you and me together... it's the only thing I don't need to question the rightness of. Like one plus one equalling two. It doesn't get any more obvious than that." Cleo exhaled sharply, on the verge of either laughing or crying harder—he wasn't sure. "I didn't get to choose whether or not I'd be stuck with a scaly flipper the rest of my life. A series of totally crazy events led me to Mako Island at just the right time—or wrong time, depending on how you see it—and what's done is done. I didn't get any visions of the future in that moon pool to see how things might play out or learn how to make any second chances at taking it all back. But if this was us, right here and now before all that happened, and I had to choose between the tail and the powers and keeping you in my life, there's not even the tiniest doubt, Cleo Sertori. I would choose you. I would always choose you."

For the longest time, Cleo said nothing. By the conflicted sighs she made and her failure to remove her hand from Lewis's clasp, he knew she was only choosing the right words to say.

"I'm sorry," she lifted her head just a bit. "For putting you through all of this while you're sick, and making you say all that when your voice is tired. But I'm glad you did. I'm glad... so glad that we're in this now, when I know that you like me and share your darkest secrets with me. Could we... forget about all the sad bits before now when I thought you were with Rikki and especially the last day and a half when I left you to be sick and miserable all alone?"

Lewis smiled teasingly. "So are you asking if we can create a new now? Like... another now? Because the laws of time and space dimension dictate..."

"I'm asking if you can shut up with the nerdy stuff for a second so I can kiss you," Cleo teased, glad to find a way to dissolve the heavy tension.

"Not a good idea."

Her face fell. "Why? You already have a tail."

"Yeah, but I'm sick! Don't want you catching it."

Cleo pouted, but rebelled and planted a kiss atop his forehead. "There. And now I'll go brush my teeth and drink a tall glass of orange juice which will make me completely immune to all disease."

"That's my girl," Lewis grinned and sighed back contentedly into his pillows.

And Cleo's returning blush said nothing to the contrary.

A/N: D'aaaw. I missed them being cute together. :) I also want a glass of orange juice every time I reread this chapter, which is odd, but... maybe it'll keep me immune to all disease! Do y'all like how I slipped the title in there with Lewis and his rambling? It made my Beta snork in amusement. :P