Preface: Hello, again! Boy, I have a problem with leaving this vacant for a whole month! Better work on that! Anyway, let's get back into it. This chapter is where another theme previously shown in Blue Dreams comes into play.

This fanfiction of Bluey is called:
"Beach Doggies"

Previously...on their vacation in Hawaii, Chloe and Indy decided to partake in a game of mini-golf. There, they met Nohea and his sister Lani.

Now...Nohea waits for the two to return from their nature tour...

Roll Call

Chloe - Charlotte Stent: Soft-spoken dalmatian. Bluey's best friend.

Indy - Actress Name Withheld: Hippie afghan hound. Bluey's other best friend.

Nohea - Jacob Tremblay: Hawaii native. Chloe and Indy's new friend.

Lani - Tia Carrere: Nohea's older sister. An expert at activities.

Chapter 3:
Mermaiding

[Character Selected: Nohea]
[Current World: Bonegea]
[Current Location: ʻīlio Hotel, Pool Area]

[BGM: Asu01 - Mum Saves the Day]

It was another hot day in Hawaii, perfect for a dip in the pool. That would be what Nohea was doing at this moment if he wasn't so shy about joining in with how Lani was currently doing so. So he settled for lying on a beach chair and watching his sister instead.

Lani poked her head out of the water. "Are you sure you don't want to join in, Nohea?" she called over.

"No, thank you!" said Nohea. "I'm good." Secretly, he wanted to say he did want to join in, but he was afraid of looking silly. When was the last time you saw a boy pretending to be a mermaid, after all?

At that moment, Chloe and Indy came by the gate. "Nohea!" Chloe called, her tail wagging. "Could you help us in?"

"Oh! Sure thing!" said Nohea. He got up from his beach chair and ran over to the gate to open it. Indy and Chloe walked inside, happy to see him again. "How was the nature tour?"

"It was fun," said Indy. "We saw so many pretty animals and plants, and we even took photos!" She then took out a scrapbook she got at a gift shop to show Nohea the pictures.

"Ooo, fantastic," said Nohea. "It was hot out there, right?"

"Yeah, so Mum let us come down to the pool while she watches us from our hotel," said Indy. She looked up and saw her mom waving at her from the balcony. "Hi, Mum!" she waved back.

That's when something caught Chloe's eye. Lani peeked her head out of the water, waved to her, then vanished back into the pool. But she was wearing a lavender top that seemed to have a scale pattern on it, and when she headed back underwater, Chloe saw…a lavender tail. And not a dog tail. A fish tail. "Nohea?" she asked. "Is your sister a mermaid?"

"No, of course not!" said Nohea. "Well, right now she is. She's mermaiding."

Chloe and Indy looked at each other in confusion. "What's mermaiding?" they both asked.

At that moment, Lani poked her head back out of the water. "Mermaiding is when you dress up as a mermaid and pretend to swim like one," she explained. She pulled herself out of the water and sat on the edge of the pool to show off her tail.

"Whoa…" said Indy and Chloe, amazed by the sight. "I've always wanted to be a mermaid…" Indy confessed.

Lani thought for a moment. "I could teach you, if you like," she said.

"Oh, yes, please!" said Indy. "Chloe, do you wanna learn how to be a mermaid?

"Yeah, that sounds like fun," said the dalmatian. "How about you, Nohea?"

"Uh…no, no I'm okay," Nohea insisted. Chloe noticed the small bit of hesitation in his voice but brushed it aside for the time being.

Lani took off her mermaiding gear for a moment and put it on the beach chair where Nohea was. "Come on, I'll get you your own mermaiding gear," she told the pups, and left to help them get some.

Before long, Chloe and Indy were slipping into their own tails. Chloe chose a light blue one and a pearl necklace like Lani's, while Indy chose a rainbow tie-dye tail with a matching top, alongside pearl braids for her hair. "The fins are designed to help you swim like a mermaid," Lani explained. "You just do a dolphin kick!"

"A dolphin kick?" asked Chloe. She slid into the pool. "Is it like this?" She took a deep breath and sent her feet out, rushing forward underwater.

"Yes! Good job!" said Lani. She put on her own mermaiding gear, and she and Indy slid into the pool.

"Look at me! I can swim across this entire pool!" said Indy. She went underwater and used her tail to go from one end of the pool to the next one. "Whee! That was fun!" she said when she returned to the air. "Too bad we can't breathe underwater like real mermaids."

Chloe pointed downward to signal going underwater, and she and Indy did so. "We can still talk underwater, though," she said, her voice sounding garbled due to the water. The two giggled and returned to the surface.

"It's lovely being a mermaid, isn't it?" asked Lani, doing a backstroke by the two.

"Oh yes," said Indy, pulling her tail in tightly. "Can we keep these?"

"Well I paid for them, didn't I?" said Lani, and the three giggled. For a while thereafter, the three just swam around while Nohea watched, secretly yearning to join in. But he didn't want to look silly, especially in front of his new friends.

After a while, Chloe decided to ask him again. She poked her head out of the water and asked, "Nohea, are you sure you don't want to join us?"

"Huh?" said Nohea, having fallen asleep. "Oh, yes, I'm sure." But this time, Chloe wasn't buying it.

[BGM: Asu01 - The Real Pickle]

"What is it, Chloe?" asked Lani, swimming over.

"Mermaid meeting," said the dalmatian, pointing downward to signal the others to go underwater. The three dove underwater and began to talk. "I think Nohea secretly wants to be a mermaid like us."

"Really?" asked Indy. "Why-" She poked her head out to get some more air. "-do you think so?"

"He seemed kinda-" Another gulp of air for Chloe. "-uncertain about saying no."

Lani poked her head out for hair before coming back down. "I had a feeling," she said. "He always watches me with amazement, but quickly says no when I ask him. And this is the same kid who wears grass skirts like everyone else at the luaus!"

"Ooo…luau…" said Indy, excited, but she quickly returned to the task at hand. "I have an idea…"

After Indy explained her idea to the others, they set their plan into action. "Nohea, I think Dad's calling," Lani said to her brother.

"Oh, is he?" said Nohea, falling for it. "Coming, Dad!" he shouted, running off.

"Okay, now's our chance!" said Chloe. "Go!" Quickly, Lani got out of the pool, took off her mermaiding gear, and ran to get what they needed. Thankfully, she returned before Nohea got back.

"Okay, is this right?" she asked the puppies. "A green tail and a net?"

"Perfect," said Indy, a devilish look in her eyes.

Chloe smiled, picturing Nohea in the tail that Lani bought. "I think he'll look amazing," she said, blushing a little. Indy took notice of the blushing but decided to put it off for the time being.

When Nohea returned, the three rushed to set things up. "Nohea!" Lani called. "We need your help!"

Nohea rushed over to the pool and saw the plight that Indy put herself into. She had put the net around her, pretending to be trapped in it. "Oh, no! That poor mermaid is trapped!" said Nohea, playing along.

"Please, save her!" said Chloe. "You're the only one who can do it!"

Nohea nodded. "I'll do my best," he said, and he hopped into the pool and swam towards her wrangling about, he pretended to take out a knife and cut the net before throwing it away.

Indy took his hand and swam back to the surface. "Thank you so much for saving me," she said. "You shall be rewarded with my mermaid magic!" She waved her hands in front of Nohea and started making weird noises. As she did so, Chloe secretly slipped his legs into the tail. "Ba-shoom! Now you're a mermaid!" said Indy.

Nohea gasped. "I really am!" he said, looking at his tail. That's when he realized what was going on. "D-Does this mean…?"

[BGM: Asu01 - Eternal Friendship]

Chloe swam up to the surface. "Yeah, we knew you wanted to be a mermaid all along," she said.

"So you don't think it's silly?" Nohea asked next. "That I'm a boy who likes mermaids?"

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "Why would it be silly?" she asked.

Nihea swam up to the ledge of the pool and pulled himself up onto it. "Well…mermaids are a girly thing. I'm a boy. I shouldn't like them. But when I watch Lani…she looks so pretty. So free…"

Chloe pulled herself onto the ledge, sitting next to Nohea. "I don't think it should be silly how you like that sort of stuff," she said. "Like it shouldn't be silly to be a girl wearing a man's suit."

"So I can be a boy who's…a mermaid, not a merman?" asked Nohea.

Indy joined the two on the ledge. "My mum's told me that boys can be princesses. And girls can be knights. So I think boys can be mermaids, too."

Nohea smiled. "Thanks, you two," he said, his dog tail wagging. Chloe put her arms around him, and he and Indy embraced in the hug.

That's when Chloe thought of something. "Lani, could you go get my camera?" she asked, pointing to the beach chair where she left it.

"Ah, so I can take another picture," said Lani. She swam over, got the camera, and returned. "Everyone say, 'mermaids'!" The three puppies said "mermaids" and Lani took the photo before bringing it back over to place it in the scrapbook.

"So, mermaid, do you want to swim with us?" Indy asked Nohea.

Nohea looked down at his tail. "Yes, I would like that very much," he said, no longer afraid to let his interests be known. And so, he joined his new friends and sister in swimming around, enjoying the lifestyle that comes with being a maiden of the sea.

To be continued...and next time: back to Bluey and Rusty!

Next chapter: "Spooky Stories" The moon's down, the fire's still crackling, and the grownups have gone to sleep. The perfect setting for a spooky story! But it seems the older kids' stories are better than Bingo's...but that's because she hasn't found her inner scarer yet!

Postface: Chapter complete! I really like this chapter because it helped me practice the use of gender nonconforming kids, which is a theme I want to tackle with bigger projects when I'm older.

Trivia time! just like the idea of Indy's love of Hawaii, this chapter's theme was previously touched upon in Blue Dreams. Of course, in that case, they actually did become mermaids because it was a dream. Here, they're merely participating in mermaiding, which is an actual sport that seems to be popular in Australia. The idea of Indy liking mermaids is just something that I felt suits her as a hippie. Of course, what about Nohea? Like I said, I wanted to try featuring gender nonconforming themes, similar to what Fancy Nancy and Muppet Babies on Disney Junior have done. I also sorta based it off of my own shyness with some of my interests, such as Bluey. I never intend to teach a lesson with my stories, but if I had to teach one here, it would be that you shouldn't be afraid to let your interests be known, even if it goes against "gender roles". Unless it's dangerous, of course, in which case...keep it in! But also, what's with Chloe's blushing around Nohea? I'm sure you can figire that out...

That should be it! Please read, review, and share around, and I'll see you all next time for our second and last check-in with Bluey and Rusty! Stay diamond, everyone!

-Alfred

~Characters, ideas, etc. from Bluey are properties/licensees of Ludo Studio PTY., LTD., the Australian Broadcasting Corp., and BBC Studios Dist., LTD. No copyright infringement with any of these companies nor financial gain was intended in the making of this story. Any resemblance to real-world people or events are either coincidental or done fictitiously.~