Later that night, after convincing Ben to take a walk on the beach and go to the rock pools when they had gotten back home by using many misinterpreted hand signals, Lily smiled serenely as she dipped her feet into the cool water of the pool, bathed in the moonlight that was seeping through the willow trees surrounded the rock pools.

Ben sat next to her, careful not to slip on the rocks, and also dipped his feet in, while the former mermaid leaned against him and he held her close, stroking her hair and breathing in her ocean scent and enjoying the serene and calm atmosphere with the only sounds coming from the waterfall and the fireflies humming in the air and shining their lights on the young couple.

Looking at Lily while she was absorbed in the beautiful place where both of them had spent many happy times in their childhoods, Ben's heart beat crazily in his chest as she was really breathtaking, the moonlight illuminating her beauty and he couldn't believe how much his life had changed for the better ever since he had found her on the beach.

He was now truly in love with Lily, even though he still had the the mystery girl on his mind, the one that he had been unable to find and whose voice was still in his head but he was starting to think that she was nothing more than an illusion, like his father and friends had led him to believe.

After all, he knew absolutely nothing about that girl, other than her voice and he couldn't deny his feelings for Lily anymore and the two had truly formed an inseparable and loving bond in only three days, yet it felt like he and Lily had been together forever.

Senna, watching from behind a rock, smiled at them, knowing that her plan would soon come to action and the mood was already encouraging, as she listened to Ben talking to Lily and telling her about his hobbies and his likes and dislikes with her listening and nodding eagerly and smirking when Ben told her about his old school and the teachers that he disliked and doing rather crude impersonations of them which made her giggle silently.

So far, so good, Senna thought to herself, now all Lily has to do is to find the moment to kiss him.

'I'm glad that we came here, Lily,' Ben said, 'especially on a nice, still night like this. It really gives you the feeling that you are in your own little world, that you can forget about all your troubles and just sit there, lost in your own thoughts while dipping your feet in the water.

I already mentioned that Mum and I used to come here and swam in the pools, pretending to be mermaids and hunt for their treasures but did you ever come here, Lily? I'm just curious, since you seem to know the pools so well.'

Lily nodded as she pictured her five-year-old self riding on her father's back in the water, the gentle sounds of music in the air, playing splashing games with her sisters and Bluebell being the main target as she sat on the rocks reading rather than joining in and laughing when Daffodil grabbed Bluebell by the wrists and pulled her in and her father tossing her up in the air and catching her playfully.

Ben was imagining the same as he remembered swimming in the pools with his mother, pretending to be a merman and looking for mermaid treasures and leaving little trinkets for them to collect and sitting on the rocks eating ice-creams and watching the sun set from his mother's lap as they watched the world go by.

He felt the pang of sadness as he did whenever he thought of his mother but being in this beautiful, peaceful place with Lily eased it as they sat in the serene silence, watching the waterfall trickle into the pool and the fireflies flying about still shining their lights on them.

Ben, while Lily was looking at the lights, slyly raised his foot from the water and gently splashed her which surprised the former mermaid but she coyly splashed him back and the two were like naughty children, as they kept splashing each other playfully, getting their clothes wet but they having too much fun to care.

Senna also got splashed which made her frown but she was too much in a good mood to reprimand them as her heart warmed at the two and the budding romantic atmosphere they were creating and the couple then went back to sitting in comfortable silence, watching the lights and the night go by.

Elsewhere, Aurora and Sandy were bobbing in the water and watching the couple from a short distance, or at least trying to as they were fighting for space to see, since Sandy was blocking Aurora's view with her wings.

'Sandy, move your big feathers, I can't see a thing!' the little fish whined, pushing Sandy's wings, so that she could get a better view.

'What's happening? Have they kissed yet?' Aurora then said.

'Nope, nothing's going on, they're just sitting and staring at the sky,' Sandy said, neatly folding up her wings for Aurora, 'only one more day left and that boy hasn't puckered up once! No kiss, no peck on the cheek, nothing, nada, zip!'

'But if Lily doesn't kiss him tonight, then by tomorrow…she'll be a mermaid again and Sharla will…' Aurora gulped, not wanting to think the worst.

'Don't you worry, Aurora,' Sandy said, ruffling her head which the little fish scowled at, 'they'll get their kiss, the boy's just shy, that's all but it's pretty obvious that he's absolutely, positoovity ga-ga for her!'

'But they need a romantic atmosphere to do that!' Aurora said.

'Ah, you leave that to me,' Sandy said, winking at the little fish, 'if there's one thing that I excel at, is creating a vocal simulation that's so romantic, it'll make the human goddesses of love green with envy!'

'Oh, no,' Aurora moaned to herself.

'Stand back, Aurora, let the expert work her magic!' she then said and Aurora groaned, anticipating the worst as the seagull cleared her throat, which caught Senna's attention as Sandy's caterwauling soon shattered the quiet night air and ruined what little romantic atmosphere there was and the crab screwed up her face and placed her claws on her head.

'Oh, bollocks,' Senna muttered.

'Strewth, someone should really put that animal out of its misery!' Ben chuckled when he heard the awful caterwauling from the seagull, 'it sounds worse than Anna when she auditioned for Belle in our combined school's production of Beauty and the Beast!'

Lily gave a small smile and looked over her shoulder to see Aurora and Sandy waving at her and she smiled and waved at them while the latter kept caterwauling and for Senna, it was really too much, although Lily and Ben were finding the whole thing amusing.

'Ruddy heck, I'm surrounded by blooming amateurs who can't sing their way out of a seashell!' Senna said, sighing heavily, as she jumped into the water to find some sea creatures.

'Well, if you want something done properly, you've got to do it yourself and I've got to round up some proper musicians instead of that ghastly seagull!' she said and managed to gather up a group of eager sea creatures who wanted to help.

'First, we've got to create the mood,' Senna said when they emerged to the surface and swam near the rocks. The animals smiled and nodded eagerly and the fireflies fluttered around, their lights shining brighter than ever.

'Percussion?' she then said and a few baby turtles leapt up on the low rocks and settled themselves down while a few fish drummed on their shells which made them giggle.

'That tickles!' one of them said.

'Strings?' Senna asked and some jellyfish curled the ends of their tentacles around some more rocks and more fish came and strummed them softly like a harp.

'Ah, the sweet sound of a jellyfish playing such a lovely melody,' Senna said, sighing happily, 'now, winds,' as she jumped back on the rocks and got closer to Ben.

'Words…now this I can do, far better than that featherbrain who has the singing talents of a strangled octopus.' Senna said, feeling the excitement buzz in her shell and she leaned towards Ben's ear and started to sing,

'There, you see her, sitting there across the way. She doesn't have a lot to say, but there's something about her…'

Ben's eyebrow raised at hearing the voice that had been following him around for the last three days..a voice only he could hear and it was in that posh English accent. Was it coincidental that it was there at this very time? That it knew that he and Lily would be here and was it telling him something?

'And you don't know why, but you're dying to try..you wanna kiss that girl.' Senna sang.

'There it is again!' Ben said, 'that nagging voice that has been following me and it seems that I'm the only one who can hear it! Lily, are you sure that you don't know about this, because it seems to be telling me something!'

Lily had noticed Senna singing but simply shook her head and focused her attention on the streaming waterfall and the shining lights that the fireflies were providing and Ben couldn't help but stare at the beautiful girl who had captured his heart without saying a single word.

'Yes, you want her, look at her, you know you do. It's possible that she wants you too, there is one way to ask her..'

Ben particularly didn't want to listen to the voice, but he knew that it was right and Lily blushed and smiled at him as he held her hand and fingered the charms on her bracelet which made her tingly inside and he was feeling the same way.

'It doesn't take a word, not a single word, so go on and kiss the girl!' Senna sang, almost shouting it out loud and climbing down to where the waiting sea creatures and Aurora were, the latter wanting to join in and help her best friend and the crab beckoned to them,

'Sing with me now,'

Smiling, the animals and Aurora swam to where Lily and Ben were and formed a circle in the water and the fish and Aurora started spraying water like fountains as the animals sang,

'Sha-la-la-la-la-la, my, oh my, look at the boy, too shy. He's not gonna kiss the girl. Sha-la-la-la-la, ain't that sad?'

The English leader added, 'Too bad he's gonna miss the girl,' and Ben sighed heavily. Those voices, as annoying as they were, particular the nagging English one who had been so persistent that he couldn't ignore it, were right.

Sitting in front of him, staring and speaking to him through her beautiful sapphire blue eyes was the girl that he was in love with but didn't have the guts to tell her until now as his courage, as shaky as it was, was slowly starting to build up inside him as the firefly lights and the moon illuminated her even more.

'Lily,' Ben said, 'I was wondering that…it's been on my mind recently but..will you go back home? I mean, you have a family and all but I couldn't bear the thought of you leaving now. In the three days we've known each other, you've become the best friend ever apart from Ruby and my mates and it'll be so dull around here without you.

I can't imagine my life going back to the way it was before you came, being alone in an nearly-empty house with Dad being away a lot and you have definitely brought me the good luck and happiness that my mum said would come to me.

And being here with you in the rock pools in this peaceful and serene atmosphere with the strange voices singing to us…

I can only say that these three days have been the best of my life, Lily,' Ben said, his eyes misty as he said it while Lily smiled at him and he stroked her cheek.

'But if you do decide to stay here at Mermaid Beach with me… and if I asked..would you?' Ben said and the former mermaid nodded. All she needed to make it happen was for him to kiss her and Senna and the animals were giving them encouraging smiles.

The crab was chuffed that her plan was going smoothly and with Lily and Ben looking lovingly at each other, she saw this as the moment that she and Lily had been waiting for,

'Now's your moment, sitting here in the blue lagoon. Boy, this night's the night; no time will be better.

She doesn't say a word and she won't say a word until you kiss the girl.'

The sea creatures joined in, 'Sha-la-la-la-la-la, don't be scared, you got the mood prepared, go on and kiss the girl.

Sha-la-la-la-la-la, don't stop now, don't try to hide it how you wanna kiss the girl.

Sha-la-la-la-la-la, float along and listen to this song, song say 'kiss the girl'. Sha-la-la-la-la-la, music play, do what the music say, you gonna kiss the girl.'

Heart beating madly in his chest, Ben was feeling the same way as his father did when he was about to propose to his mother in front of thousands of his loyal fans, already delirious about the Broncos winning back-to-back Premiership titles and were about to see their favourite son propose to the glamour model girl.

But he was in front of Lily rather than a huge crowd, if he didn't count Senna, Aurora, the sea creatures and Sandy who were watching eagerly and Ben took a deep breath and reached out and took Lily's hand into his, feeling the soft skin against his clammy palms.

Lily turned around and smiled, her sapphire blue eyes, the colour of the ocean, twinkling in anticipation of the long-awaited kiss from her love, the boy whom she sacrificed her voice and tail for, as Ben swept a lock of her shiny blonde hair, soft to the touch, from her eyes which were focused on him and him alone.

'Go on and kiss the girl…' the sea creatures echoed, leaning forward to get a closer look with Aurora happily flipping her fins in the water and Sandy had the biggest grin on her face as she flew in and peeked through the willow branches.

Ben reached round and gently cupped Lily's head in his hand and let his fingertips brush against her cheek and the former mermaid closed her eyes and leaned forward, getting closer to him, so close that he could almost feel the ocean breeze on her lips.

Never before in his life had he felt like this, not even for the voice that eluded him and he was about to have his first kiss that wasn't from his mother or a friendly peck on the cheek from Mia and Grace.

Senna grinned and rubbed her claws in glee as Lily and Ben got closer, their lips almost touching and she said, perhaps a little too loud and eagerly for her liking,

'GO ON AND…'

'Kiss the girl,' the animals echoed over and over again and Ben could feel his heart beating wildly in his chest and Lily felt like a thousand butterflies were fluttering in her stomach as their lips brushed against each other, not noticing that two slimy tails were slithering up from the water and wrapping around their ankles while four beady eyes peeped out and chuckled sinisterly.

'Alright, Neale, this is it,' Teale's voice whispered from under the water, 'time for these lovebirds to go for a little midnight dip!'

'Ha, ha, good one, Teale,' Neale whispered while chuckling, 'it's funny, because they're about to go into the water and it's midnight..'

'Shut up, you imbecile!' Teale hissed, 'just pull them in!'

He then signalled to his brother by blinking his eyes twice and their tails wrapped around the young couple's ankles firmly and just when Lily and Ben were about to kiss, they were suddenly pulled quite forcefully into the pool, landing with a huge splash which sent the sea creatures scattering back to the ocean.

'Oh, strewth, they were so close and yet so far,' Sandy said, from the willow branches while Senna smacked a claw to her forehead and muttered several curses under her breath.

'OH, FOR POSIEDON'S SAKE!' she then practically shouted out, 'My best laid plans have gone awry and it was going so well! Who could've have done this?!'

'Awww, that's not fair,' Aurora moaned as they watched the young couple resurface, soaked to the skin with Lily flailing her arms uselessly in an attempt to stay afloat. Noticing that his terrified friend couldn't swim, Ben quickly swam over and held her close.

'It's alright, Lily, I got you,' he said, soothingly as Lily held on to him tightly, his arms firmly wrapped around her.

'I guess we did end up going for a midnight swim, after all, didn't we?' Ben then said, chuckling slightly, 'come on, let's go home before we catch cold,' as both of them hurriedly made their way to the steps that had led them down to the pools.

Ben was certain that it had been an accident since the rocks had been slippery but Lily had a sneaking suspicion that it was anything but and she had a pretty good idea who was behind it.

Under the water, Teale and Neale high-finned each other, pleased with their work as they headed back to their mistress's dark and miserable lair to tell her the good news.

'Nice work, boys! That was a close one!' Sharla praised from her lair as she watched Lily and Ben climb up the steps while slugging down her disgusting seaweed drink before throwing the mug away, which shattered as it hit the wall and her smile turned into a frown and she slammed her fist against the arm rest of her throne.

'A little too close, I feel… ugggh, that little tramp! I badly underestimated her; I thought that she's nothing more than a delicate and weak little flower but she is better that I expected her to be!

Oh, why did I EVEN give her that extra day? At the rate she's going, she'll be kissing him before the sun sets tomorrow!' Sharla shouted as she rose from her throne, swam to her cupboard and grabbed a range of ingredients.

'Well, not if I have anything to do with it!' she then said, dumping the bottles near the cauldron and then caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. To anyone, she looked like a bogan sea witch with a personality to match, but she thought that she looked beautiful and a wicked smirk appeared on her face.

'Besides, I have the one thing that Lily doesn't…HER VOICE!' Sharla cackled as she held her necklace where Lily's beautiful voice was imprisoned and she turned to her eels as they re-entered the lair, grinning triumphantly.

'You know boys, it's time that I took matters into my own hands,' Sharla said, dumping the ingredients into the cauldron and stirred them together as Teale and Neale chuckled menacingly.

'With Lily's voice and my looks, Daisy's precious little daughter will be MINE and I'll make her writhe! I'll see her wriggle like a worm on a hook!'

Sharla cackled again as the spell took hold and her tail turned into human legs, her teal hair grew longer and turned a light sandy colour and her cackles softened into a young woman's voice…