Zane took a deep breath as Lewis's robots whirred their way toward each other. The room was dead silent as they met, casting an electric blue glow that filled the room from ceiling to floorboard.

Lewis's eyes darted over to Cleo and Bella, who had immediately gone moonstruck. They stood frozen, arms dropped to their sides as their eyes stared at the stones, transfixed. Lewis cleared his throat before speaking quietly. "Y'know, they're hardly affected at all by the real moon nowadays. But these stones...gets 'em every time."

"Should I-" Zane attempted to speak, but he was silenced immediately by Lewis.

"Shut uuuup…" Lewis frantically shook his free hand in Zane's direction. "DUDE, how many times do we have to go over this?"

Zane closed his mouth, though he wasn't happy about it. He exhaled forcefully, rolling his eyes toward the ceiling as he anxiously rolled the stone in his warm hand. He knew he was supposed to wait to get the cue from Lewis before saying anything, but he was ready to be finished with this whole thing. He didn't know how much more of this he could stand.

"Ok." Lewis checked to make sure he had the controller ready in case of emergency, then pointed at Zane. "Speak."

Shooting a smirk in Lewis's direction, Zane took a breath as he turned to face the girls. "Sit down." He followed the script as he shot a look at Lewis. Bella and Cleo immediately took a seat on the floor.

Lewis held up his hand, making a 'be quiet' gesture as he adjusted the remote control. The blue light dimmed but held steady as they stones remained just barely connected. He nodded to Zane, gesturing for him to continue.

"Stand up." Zane spoke clearly, crossing his arms as he watched Bella and Cleo.

The girls instantly stood, their faces still somewhat foggy. "Yes?" Cleo asked, her face clearly waiting to hear what Zane would say next.

Zane waited for the go-ahead from Lewis before continuing with their prepared command. He cleared his throat as Lewis tilted his head forward. "Ok, um..." He paused as Lewis hissed in his direction.

"The script Zane. The script."

Zane gritted his teeth. "I command you, Bella and you, Cleo to stop obeying my commands and recover from the spell of the moon." He held the stone tightly in his hand as he finished speaking.

The girls blinked at him, not moving in any other way.

Lewis leaned in slightly, squinting slightly at the girls. "Cleo? You ok?"

"I feel fine, Lewis." Cleo addressed her fiancé, but her eyes never left Zane.

"Bella? Knock knock?" Lewis made sure to set the remote out of the way in the back of the counter before moving towards the blonde.

"It didn't work." Zane stood, but Lewis's iron-grip on his shoulder directed him right back into his seat.

"We don't know if it did or didn't" Lewis wiped his hands on his shorts as he took an unsteady step backwards. "Now sit still and stick to the script."

Zane sighed, closing his eyes briefly before continuing. "The script. I'd already commanded you girls to stop obeying me." He swallowed, his eyes darting around the room. "So...just stop it." He ignored Lewis's frustrated waving, rubbing his eyes. He knew this wouldn't work.

He watched closely as Cleo and Bella looked at each other, their eyes not quite focusing on one another.

"It did." Lewis breathed, his eyes darting over the room. "It did work."

Cleo blinked in rapid succession, looking around the room in confusion. "What happened?"

Bella burst out into hysterical coughing. "I'm sorry." She said once she'd composed herself. "My breath was caught that whole time, but I couldn't do anything about it. It was torture."

"He didn't say anything about you not breathing-" Lewis began.

"I know." Bella breathed, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "It's like I shut down or something. I stopped."

"Yeah." Cleo was nodding rapidly in agreement. "Me too."

"Maybe it worked?" Lewis raised a shoulder, shooting a fiery glare in Zane's direction before looking back at Cleo. "Maybe that's all it took to break it."

"Cleo." Zane spoke clearly, returning Lewis's scowl before continuing. "Cleo, sit down." He closed his eyes as he said the words, almost daring to pray as he waited.

Cleo looked almost as surprised as Zane did as she began to take a seat at the dining room table. She froze halfway, standing back up after a few seconds of indecision. "It's like… it's like I want to do what he's telling me to... but I can talk myself out of it now." She looked up at Lewis, who nodded as he jotted notes.

"Maybe it's wearing off?" Bella almost didn't want to hope. "Try something else, Zane."

"Scriiiipt." Lewis swatted rapidly at the notepad in Zane's hand.

Zane pushed Lewis away as he cleared his throat to address the girls. "Cover your eyes with your hands."

Neither girl moved, save to cast excited looks at each other.

Lewis clapped his hands, a smile spreading across his face. "I can't believe it's this simple." He said amazedly. "This was the key all along? Just commanding them not to take commands anymore?"

"Didn't someone suggest it? I feel completely normal." Cleo was turning her hands over, rolling her head to release the tension in her neck. "Bella?"

"Completely." Bella nodded, looking to the others. "It's worn off."

"Right." Lewis made several heavy marks on his page before looking back up. "So, if every full moon Zane makes the same command to not obey him, we could be alright."

"It's a pretty big 'could.'" Zane was standing leaning against the wall, his arms crossed tightly in front of him. "I just don't know about this." He shook his head grimly. "What if it wears off? What if this only works on the night of the full moon for an hour or two? How do we know how effective the one command will be?"

"We keep testing it." Lewis answered immediately, several of the same questions already pinging around in his head. "Then, this full moon, we'll be ready. Again?" He reset the stones, flipping to a clean piece of paper. "Zip it." He pointed at Zane as he handed him his script pages. "We'll run three more tests before we go to the café, alright? Then we can practice after we close up tonight. Or tomorrow." He added, wincing as he rubbed his ribs where Cleo had jabbed him. "I'll be in touch." He sighed, looking to the group. "We will be ready for the full moon."

The café was bustling as Sophie pushed her way through the beaded entrance. She quickly zeroed in on Nate, who was on the stage tuning his guitar for that afternoon's band practice. "So..." She began without preamble. "I hear Zane's made you the new manager of the cafe? She eyed him carefully, mulling over the best way to bring up the topic she really wanted to discuss.

"That's right, babe." Nate winked at the redhead before wincing at a sour note from the guitar. "Guess my man Zane trusts me pretty solidly."

"Yeah, he trusts me too." Sophie said thoughtfully, cocking her head to one side. "Could I have a word with you? In the back office?"

"The lady wants to see me in the back room, guys." Nate announced to the room as he swaggered off the stage. "After you." He gave a mock bow to Sophie, gesturing for her to lead.

Sophie waited for the door to click closed behind him. A thought occurred to her as her eyes darted into the corners. "There aren't any cameras in here, are there?"

"I don't think so." Nate shrugged, raising an eyebrow. "Why? Just what did you have in mind that you don't want footage of?" He started to walk toward her.

"I know about Zane." Sophie planted a hand firmly on Nate's chest, stopping him in his tracks with her statement.

"I, I mean," Nate stuttered, completely thrown off. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do." This time it was Sophie who took a step toward Nate, who backed away warily. "I know what Zane is. And I know you know too."

Nate's face dropped into a rare seriousness as he looked at Sophie. "I don't know what you're talking about." He spoke firmly before turning to almost dash back into the main café.

"No, Nate, wait-" Sophie ran after him, catching him in the hall by his elbow. "It's ok!"

"Go away, Sophie." Nate wrenched his arm out of her grasp as he made his way back to the stage, a fake smile plastered across his face.

"You're not listening to me." Sophie followed close behind, hissing in his ear. "I'm just trying to tell you that we both know, alright? I'm not going to tell anyone or anything. It's okay."

Nate met her eyes. "You're not?"

Sophie shook her head.

"You're cool with it?" Nate was still wary as he looked Sophie up and down.

"Absolutely." Sophie nodded eagerly. "I think it's excellent."

Nate raised and dropped a shoulder. "It's alright. I always preferred guitar skills to fish scales, but whatever-"

"Shhh!" Sophie cast her eyes around the room. "You can't be so casual talking about it."

"You're the one who followed me on stage to chat the subject, lady." Nate went back to tuning his guitar, a grin playing at the corner of his mouth. "So, um, how did you find out?"

"He told me." Sophie couldn't keep the cocky tone out of her voice as she made the proud announcement.

"Did he?" Nate raised an eyebrow, unsure of exactly how to react. Part of him was hurt; Zane hadn't told him, he'd made the discovery by accident. The other part of him was more than a little piqued to chat things over with Sophie. "Why?"

"Because I'm going to help him when he goes public." Sophie practically hissed the words in excitement as she leaned in close to Nate, eyes sparkling.

"Zane's... what, telling his secret to everyone?" Nate frowned.

"Mm hmm." Sophie nodded her head slowly. "He's going to be famous."

"Wow." Nate wasn't sure what to do with the information. He'd never been best friends with a celebrity before. "Cool."

Sophie rolled her eyes. "I hope you're more eloquent once the interviewers get ahold of you."

"Interviewers? Why would they want to talk to me?" This conversion was making him more and more bewildered.

"Duh, because you and Zane are besties." Sophie clapped Nate on the shoulder. "With a little luck, you'll make some money too. You're welcome."

Sophie spun to look at the door as a very tired-looking Zane walked through the front door of the cafe. She made a beeline for him, hooking him by the elbow to practically drag him to the office. She could barely wait until the door clicked shut behind them to start talking.

"Where have you been?" She asked anxiously, eying Zane up and down. "Are you ok? You look weird."

Zane shrugged. " Rikki still won't talk to me. "

Sophie couldn't help but laugh slightly. "She's that mad you told me? Damn. She needs to chill."

Zane grunted. "She's still furious." He dropped into his office chair with a sigh.

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Well, she won't be furious when you start raking in dough, dude. Buy her earrings or something."

"Earrings. " Zane muttered to himself as he kicked his feet up onto his desk. "Right."

"I'm just saying... " Sophie sidled up to the desk. "It's done. I know about you. I can't un-know it. She has to get over it at some point."

Zane raised his eyebrows. "You obviously don't know Rikki very well." He muttered.

"Well I know girls, and Rikki is just another one of them." Sophie crinkled her brow as she examined a scratched fingernail. "So what's the plan for today?"

"The plan?" Zane echoed, his face vacant. "What are you talking about? I'm working."

"Here?" Sophie dropped a hand to her hip. "Do you really think that's wise?"

"Oh shut up, Soph." Zane shook her off as he pushed his way out his office door. "Someone's got to run this place."

"And that someone should be me, not you." Sophie hissed as she followed close behind him. "Nate has band practice all the time, it makes so much more sense to make me manager of the café."

"No." Zane shook his head as he grabbed a clipboard off the counter. "I gave the job to Nate, I'm not screwing him over."

"Then make us co-managers." Sophie jumped to block his way, one arm barring him from moving on. "Seriously, you need me here to keep an eye on things for you. "You know." She lowered her voice even further, casting eyes side to side. "In case anything happens."

Zane opened his mouth to refuse once more, but deflated. He pursed his lips, crossing his arms as he debated on what to say next.

A grin spread over Sophie's face as she realized she'd won. "So I'll just start now, shall I?" She plucked the clipboard from Zane's hands and began marking inventory. She looked up at Zane after a few seconds, an impatient look on her face. "What are you waiting for? Get away from all this juice!" She shoo-ed Zane back down the hall, almost laughing as he retreated.

Lewis arrived at the café moments later, looking even more frazzled than he usually did. Sophie watched him look around the café, presumably for Zane, before dropping behind his drum kit. Nate immediately began fussing at him for his tardiness, but Lewis left the conversation mid-word to walk straight down the hall to Zane's office.

"Did you see that?" Nate shouted across the restaurant to Sophie, making several customers cover their ears. "What an asshole."

Lewis reappeared a few moments later, followed by Zane. The two shared a brief, tense exchange before Lewis stormed up to the stage and Zane slammed the door to his office.

The staff was more than capable of managing things on their own for a couple moments. Sophie needed to know what was going on with Zane and Lewis. She hurried down the hall, slipping inside Zane's office before locking the door behind her.

"Go the fuck away, Sophie." Zane said tiredly as he dropped into his office chair.

"What was that about?" Sophie ignored him as she approached the desk. "Lewis seemed even more stressed out than usual. Is he mad at you for telling me too? Like Rikki?" She waited almost patiently for his answer.

Zane took in a deep breath, ready to tell Sophie that she was absolutely right, that Lewis was at odds with him because he'd told his secret to her. It was an easy lie, one that Sophie had all but fed him. But for whatever reason, this time he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Telling lie after lie to person after person was exhausting; he didn't know how the girls had done it for so long. Zane's heart was pounding in his ears as he exhaled, leaning forward on his elbows as he felt himself beginning to calm. He gestured for Sophie to sit down, meeting her eyes as he chose honesty.

"No. Lewis isn't upset that you know. Not anymore, anyway." He paused briefly before continuing. "Not long ago, I found a rock out in the ocean. It... affects me. Affects my behavior in weird ways. Merman ways." He spoke casually but quietly, not seeming quite as at ease as he wanted to appear. It was weird to talk about things so casually. "Lewis and I have been running a lot of tests on it and he wants to continue. I don't." Zane shrugged slightly. "And he's pissed at me for it."

"Whoa..." Sophie's curiosity outweighed any pretense she might have put up. "What does the rock do exactly?"

Zane pondered for only a second before speaking. "There's... a weird thing that happens to me when the full moon is up. Makes me act strange. Loopy, I guess. The rock kinda does the same thing, has the same effect." He raised one shoulder. "It's hard to explain."

"So cool, though." Sophie was lost in thought. "What's the rock made of? Is it one of the rocks from Mako Island?"

"I don't know, it's nothing valuable, I'm sure." Zane answered dryly, rubbing his temple with one hand.

"That's not why I was asking, asshole." Sophie replied haughtily, standing. "I was just wondering if the rock had magnetic properties. I happen to know a fair lot about them, you know. Plus, I have connections. Rock connections. I just thought maybe I could help you guys."

"I... thanks, Sophie." Zane lost any momentum that might have been loading. "It's nice of you to be interested, but Lewis likes to handle these kinds of things."

"Things like what?" Sophie's ears perked up. "Have there been other weird things?"

"Wha? No." Zane held up a hand, shaking his head firmly. "Look, you asked me what Lewis was pitching a fit about, and I told you." He stood, walking around the desk to face Sophie. "I'm trusting you. I'm telling you what's going on." He met her eyes briefly, warmly, before clearing his throat as he moved past her. "I think the co-manager of this café should be on the floor, don't you?" He held the door open, gesturing for Sophie to walk through.

"You got it, boss." Sophie grabbed an apron from the supply box before pausing in the doorway to look sideways at Zane. "You be careful." Sophie continued through the door, almost walking straight into someone.

"Excuse me." Rikki jumped out of the way, shooting a steely look at Zane.

Sophie hurried out of there, very aware of the sudden frigidness in the air. Rikki waited until Sophie had disappeared, her eyes locked onto Zane's. Wordlessly, she breezed into the office, waiting for Zane to close the door behind them before turning around to face him.

Rikki took in a long breath before speaking. "Sophie?" It was all she could manage for the moment.

Zane didn't know if he'd ever felt so mentally exhausted in his life. He dropped to the couch, gesturing for Rikki to sit beside him. "She already knows." He paused as Rikki hesitantly took a seat. "And she wants to look out for me at the café. It only just happened, Rik. Look." He reached out to take Rikki's hand, which she allowed. "I need you. I miss you. Please." He moved closer to her, dropping his head to rest on her shoulder.

Rikki moved somewhat stiffly, though her arm softened around Zane's shoulders.

Zane explained everything. He told Rikki about how he'd come to the conclusion that he needed to tell Sophie what he was. He explained that they were reasonably sure they'd figured out a way to outsmart the stone. Then, he finished by telling Rikki the full account of how Sophie had come to be wearing a Rikki's apron once more.

"She's... not been that bad." He finished weakly, turning his head to rest his forehead on Rikki's shoulder, breathing her in. "I'm so sorry for everything."

Rikki chose to ignore his last sentence, though she spoke gently as she let her head rest on his. "Sophie hasn't been that bad because you're doing everything she wants." Rikki made an effort to keep her tone soft, though it was difficult. "Wait until you go against her will, then tell me about how not bad she is."

"She is letting me decide when I'm ready to go public." Zane raised a shoulder.

"Yeah, which just gives her more time to make her plans." Rikki could feel her tone tightening. "So she'll be even to make even more of a bang. You're just a paycheck to her, Zane."

The pair sat in relative silence, the only sound coming from their breathing as they each waited for the other to speak.

"I don't want to fight anymore." Zane said finally, after a full minute of silence. "Ok? Can we please just make up?"

"I'm still mad at you." Rikki murmured as she pulled Zane a little closer to her.

"I know." Zane wrapped an arm across Rikki's lap, closing his eyes as he felt a sudden wave of exhaustion hit him.

The café exploded with popularity for the band that night, keeping the staff on their feet. Cleo was even helping out, although Rikki suspected she was only waiting tables to give her an excuse not to talk to Lewis. Lewis couldn't manage to keep himself behind his drum kit, sometimes leaving mid-song to ask Cleo a question about that day's testing results. Finally, after two encores, the band took their final bows.

"You guys are getting too popular." Sophie swatted at Nate with a rag. "We had to turn people away."

"I guess being Battle of the Bands participants has it's perks." Nate said haughtily as he swaggered out to chat to a group of girls who looked way more interested in where Lewis was going.

"Good job." Bella patted Lewis on the shoulder tiredly as she took a long pull from her water. "Only a few days until the competition."

"I know." Lewis shook his head, craning his neck to look for Cleo. "And I've been thinking, Bells, but I just don't think I can be there. And I don't think you should either."

"What?" Bella screwed up her face. "What are you talking about?"

"Battle of the Bands is the night of the next full moon." Lewis began hastily packing his things. "We can't risk something happening, if anything goes wrong with Zane I'll need to be close by to help out. And just think about what would happen if something Zane commanded affected you while you were onstage, I-"

"You... do know that we've managed on our own before..." Bella crossed her arms, unsure of the best way to proceed.

"I do." Lewis paused, breathing heavily. "But Bella..." He held up his hands. "If anything goes wrong with the gang that night I'll be the only one unaffected by the moon. You, Rikki, Cleo, Zane..."

"You could always ask Will back." Bella said stiffly. "He's a lot of things I don't care for right now, but he'd have your back so that you can be at the competition. With your band. That you committed to." She finished pointedly. "It doesn't have to be all you, Lewis." Bella saw Rikki walking out of the back office.

"Rikki!" She shouted, pushing her way through the exiting crowd to meet her. "Where have you been?"

"Took a nap." Rikki rubbed her eyes sleepily. "What's up?"

"Now Lewis is saying he won't be at the Battle of the Bands." Bella leaned over the counter on her elbows. "He's much to valuable to the cause, apparently. At least, he thinks so."

"Jesus." Rikki rolled her eyes. "We need to hold an intervention. What are you going to do?"

"Hope he changes his mind?" Bella raised a shoulder. "He was going on about how he's the only person who can help if anything goes wrong."

"I just don't get it." Rikki crossed her arms, her face deep in thought. "I mean, Lewis has always been a little obsessive with his science stuff, and... our stuff, but this just seems..."

"A little much?" Bella finished the sentence, raising an eyebrow. "I was thinking the same thing."

"Is he still getting over his..." Rikki made a swimming gesture with one hand. "His stint as a merman?"

"I don't know, but I'm pretty worried about him." Bella shook her head. "He wants to run more tests with the stone." She shrugged. "I feel like we're in pretty good shape, you know?"

"Hey guys." Cleo dropped onto a stool next to Bella. "You ready to head out? I'm beat."

"Sophie?" Rikki called across the café. "We're heading out, you good?"

"You bet!" Sophie flushed, hoping her tone hadn't seemed too overeager. It was the first time Rikki had spoken to her in a half-way kind tone. "I'll handle everything."

"Great." Rikki still wasn't sure how she felt about the situation, but there wasn't anything she could do to change it at this point.

Zane walked up behind her, wrapping one arm around her waist. "Everything alright? Lewis wants us to go to his place for-"

"More tests." The three girls said in unison.

"Yup." Zane exhaled.

"The only thing I'm testing right now is the ocean temp." Cleo said exhaustedly.

"Cleo's right." Bella nodded. "We're going for a swim. Tell Lewis for us."

Rikki followed her friends, casting one more look back at Zane before she left.