The next few days passed without incident and Friday came before any of them realized it. Bella, Nate, and the rest of the band practiced hard for their audition. They prepared several new songs and worked late on them every night. They were excited to practice their new work at Cleo and Lewis's engagement party that night. Will had been at every single rehearsal. He brought the band drinks and food and was a huge help to the group. Bella appreciated all of his work, but she still couldn't feel comfortable with him yet.

Rikki and Zane were hard at work in the cafe, getting it decorated for the party. They draped silk tablecloths over the cafe tables and set out delicate white candles around the room.

Zane had been unusually quiet that day, and Rikki had noticed. She had been keeping a concerned eye on her boyfriend. She worried that he was having second thoughts about being a merman. Over the past few days he had had to dash into the office several times after being accidentally splashed. He hadn't been seen by anyone, but Rikki knew he was getting a little stressed out because of the recent changes in his life.

"Are you ok?" Rikki asked Zane for maybe the tenth time.

Zane looked up from his desk. He had been tapping his pen nervously on the desk top for several minutes, but he stopped when Rikki spoke.

"It's just..." His voice trailed off as he broke eye contact.

"What?" Rikki hated to see Zane so worried.

"Well..." Zane sighed before looking at Rikki sheepishly. "It's just, the next full moon is only a week away." Zane nervously checked his calendar as he spoke.

Realization hit Rikki like a brick. "Oh..." She suddenly got it.

The last full moon had hit while Zane, Will, and Lewis were all mermen, and it had hit them hard. Lewis had become more than a little, well, enthralled with Cleo. Will had become obsessed with telling Rikki how much he loved her (a memory that still made Zane grit his teeth.) And then Zane had been taken over with the urge to find Rikki even though she had been furious with him at the time. All three of them had been completely moonstruck and the night had almost gotten out of hand. Everything had ended up working out, thank goodness. In the end, everything had worked out without too many consequences. Zane had found Rikki and they'd shared a sweet reunion in the moon pool that night. In fact, in a way it was the full moon that had brought them back together.

Zane flushed a bit as he shook himself out of his memories of that night. He was embarrassed to have lost control of himself that night.

"Hey." Rikki wrapped an arm around Zane's waist as she knelt beside his desk chair. "It will be just fine. You will be just fine."

"Uh huh." Zane did not sound convinced. "Since I handled the full moon so well last time, right?"

"Don't be sarcastic." Rikki ran her hand up and down Zane's thigh, giving him chills. "Last time was different. We're totally ready for it now. Plus," She grinned. "Even after everything, things sure didn't end too badly for us after the last full moon, did they?"

Zane couldn't help but crack a small smile as he thought about that part of the night. He began to pace the room, once more focused on the impending moon.

"Where should we go? For the full moon?" Zane fretted. "My Dad is home, so my place is out. There would be no way I could explain to him why I've taped up all the windows. We maybe could do it here, but the full moon is on a Friday and I really don't want to close the cafe on a weekend night. Maybe we could-"

"Zane." Rikki spoke firmly, laying one finger across Zane's lips to silence his rambling. "It's going to be absolutely fine, it's not a big deal. We'll find somewhere. Just breathe."

"Ok."Zane let out a long exhale. "It's just, we only have a week. I want to make sure there are no... accidents this time."

"We could always use the boat shed..." Rikki spoke quickly. "I mean, it's small and there aren't many windows-"

"No way." Zane's tone became colder. "There is no way I'm hiding from the moon in fishboy's boat shed. I'd rather go moonstruck."

"Ok." Rikki hadn't expected Zane to go for the idea, but it was certainly the simplest solution. "How about I ask Lewis then? Maybe we can use his house?"

Zane's face relaxed dramatically. "Yes. Lewis. Much better." He reached out and pulled Rikki in for a tight hug. "Sorry for freaking out."

Rikki kissed Zane's neck gently. "Don't worry about the moon. Nothing crazy is going to happen."

"Pick up, Lewis." Cleo muttered as she clicked her phone shut. They were to leave for their engagement party in half an hour and she couldn't seem to get in touch with her fiance.

"Still can't get a hold of him?" Don walked into the kitchen, straightening his tie.

"No." Cleo sank into a kitchen chair. She was wearing a beautifully shimmery purple dress that hung just above her knee.

"He'll turn up." Don didn't seem concerned. "Is my tie straight?"

Cleo walked over to her father and gently set his tie in a straight line. "Are you nervous?"

"Me?" Don chuckled. "My daughter is going to get married. To Lewis. Why would I be nervous?"

Cleo looked at her dad closely, trying to see if he was joking or not. She guessed it was a little bit of both.

"Ok." She smoothed her dress. "I'm going to try Lewis again."

Lewis's phone lit up on top of his bag, which lay on the sand. He was in the water of the moon pool, where he'd been for the better part of the last hour. He'd been updating all of the data he'd ever collected from the moon pool. Every measurement, every temperature, he wanted everything to be absolutely accurate.

Lewis pulled himself, dripping wet, out of the pool. He shook his head, trying to shake off the excess water as he recorded the last bit of data he'd gotten. He noticed something odd out of the corner of his eye as he knelt to pick up his thermometer. It was a sparkle of blue, glimmering from just beneath the surface of the rock wall of the cave.

Lewis sat on his knees as he examined the blue stone that lay just under the surface of the rock.

"I knew it." He said under his breath. There was more magic at the moon pool. And he needed to figure out what it was.

Bella adjusted the height of the microphone in front of her, making sure it was just the right height. The band had exactly one week to fine tune their act, so tonight was kind of like a test run for them. The party was just getting started and the cafe was beginning to fill with family and friends.

"Did you get all of the key changes I sent you?" She pulled Nate aside.

"Of course I did." Nate said with a grin. "Want to go over them?" He put one arm around her shoulders. "In private?"

"Yuck." Bella shrugged away from him and walked over to where Will stood waiting.

"He doesn't give up, does he?" Will chuckled at Nate's attempt.

"I think I need a taser." Bella grumbled.

"Excited?" Will smoothed Bella's hair behind her shoulders.

"You betcha." Bella smiled brightly. Performing at the cafe felt like second nature to her now. It was like being at home.

"When do the guests of honor arrive?" Will scanned the cafe for Cleo and Lewis.

"Um," Bella checked her watch and frowned. "They were supposed to be here five minutes ago."

"What? Cleo and Lewis aren't here?" Rikki had just walked out of the office in time to hear Bella talk.

"We don't see them." Bella gestured to the cafe full of people.

Rikki pulled out her phone and stepped to the side to call Cleo. The phone was picked up on the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Cleo, where are you guys?" Rikki spoke above the noise of the crowd. "People are here already." Rikki looked at the entrance. "Your Dad and Sam just walked in."

"Yeah, I figured they'd get there around now." Cleo sounded far away.

"Ok, well your parents are here, but where are you?"

"I'm waiting for Lewis." Cleo sighed. "He's been out at the moon pool for hours. He was supposed to pick me up an hour ago to head over. He isn't answering his phone."

Rikki furrowed her brow. "Well that sucks. You could still come down yourself?"

"Right." Cleo's tone was bitter. "I could come to my engagement party without the guy I'm engaged to. Awesome."

Rikki felt terrible for her friend. "I'll take care of it." She said confidently. "You just be ready to come down here."

Rikki snapped her phone shut. "What is Lewis thinking?" She muttered as she quickly marched to the office in the back of the cafe.

Zane looked up as Rikki breezed in. "What's up? Has the band started?"

"No, not yet." Rikki said absently. "I have a favor to ask you."

Lewis sat on the floor of the moon pool looking at the piece of rock he'd managed to break away from the wall. It had taken a long time and a lot of muscle, but he'd managed to chip away the chunk that held the blue stone. He could see the shimmery stone, but he was afraid to try to break the blue stone out of the rock. He didn't want to break the blue gem.

A slight splash from the water in the pool caused Lewis to look up. He squinted his eyes slightly. "Zane?"

"Yeah." Zane awkwardly pulled himself, tail and all, out of the water.

Lewis hurried over to offer him a hand. He helped pull his friend the rest of the way out of the pool and sat down to watch while Zane dried himself off before speaking. "What are you doing here?"

"I've been sent to bring you to your party, slacker." Zane marched over to Lewis's materials and began tossing them into the bag.

"Hey, hey!" Lewis ran over and scooped up as much of his equipment as he could hold. "This stuff is fragile, stop tossing it."

"Yeah, well Cleo is pretty fragile too." Zane kept throwing things into the tan bag. "And if you don't get to the cafe now her Dad will probably murder you."

"The cafe?" Lewis's face was completely vacant. "Why? the party doesn't start til 7:30."

Wordlessly, Zane picked up Lewis's phone and held it in front of his face so that he could see the brightly lit time display.

Lewis's eyes flew open. "What?" He exclaimed. "How did it get to be that late?" Lewis began to pack his things quickly but carefully.

Zane stood by, watching with his hands in his pockets. "You need to get it together, man." He said conversationally. "Cleo thinks you're going loopy."

"Yeah, well I'm doing it for her." Lewis spoke hastily as he finished packing his back and slung it over his shoulder.

"Hey." Zane stepped in front of his friend, blocking his exit. "Don't say you're doing things for Cleo when you know you're really doing them for yourself."

Lewis looked Zane up and down. It was rare for Zane to speak with him that honestly. Normally Zane would make a joke and carry on.

"Ok." Was all Lewis said.

Zane stepped aside so that Lewis could pass and followed behind him out of the cave. "I'm following you the whole way back." He said. "Rikki sent me after you and I'm not going back to the cafe empty handed."

Cleo was sitting glumly at her kitchen table when her doorbell rang. She dragged her feet over to the front door and pulled it open.

Lewis stood on the other side, dressed in a black suit and holding a bouquet of roses. "Before you say anything," He began, "Let me say... I'm sorry."

Cleo swallowed hard as she listened. She was trying really hard not to be upset with Lewis.

Lewis stepped closer towards Cleo as he spoke quietly. "My priorities have been out of wack." He said. "I promise, I'll do better. He took Cleo's hands in his. "I love you."

Cleo's mouth managed a small smile. "Ok." She said simply as she looked into the eyes of the boy she loved.

"Alright, alright." Zane called. "Enough mush, let's get this show on the road."

Lewis rolled his eyes as he led Cleo to the car Zane was waiting in, parked in the driveway. Now that was the Zane he knew best.

"Sh everyone, they're almost here!" Rikki dashed around the cafe handing out glasses of champagne. It wasn't a surprise party, but she figured why not?

The room hushed as they waited for Cleo and Lewis to walk through the entrance.

A cheer filled the room as the pair stepped slowly through the beaded doorway. Cleo glowed as she hung on Lewis's arm.

The night ended up being a huge success. Bella's band played all of their new songs to rowdy cheers. Will stood just beside the stage all night, cheering and calling out to the crowd. Whenever Bella felt butterflies in her stomach she would look offstage and feel better at the sight of him. Everything went completely perfectly that night. .

Bella stepped off the stage after their last encore, wiping sweat off of her forehead. She was greeted with a tight hug from Will. He spun her around. "You were wonderful!" He laughed as he set her back on the ground.

Bella didn't even hesitate. She grabbed Will's face firmly in hers and kissed him hard. Several seconds later she released her grip. They both stood there for a moment, breathing heavily, eyes closed. Bella blushed as she pulled her eyes open to look at Will. Will's eyes opened a seconds later. They burned into Bella's. For a moment they felt like they were the only two people in the world.

Zane sat in his office later that night, after most of the crowd had headed home. Cleo and Lewis were still dancing out on the floor along with Will and Bella. Rikki was humoring Nate with one dance before he left for home.

Zane couldn't take his eyes off of the calendar on his desk. He could feel his pulse quicken as he looked at the full moon marked for one week from today.

"One week." He said to himself. The full moon was also the night of the Battle of the Bands audition.

"Everything will be fine." He exhaled, trying to convince himself.