Emma Gilbert was enjoying her morning shift at the JuiceNet Café. The early Saturday rush was over, and people had settled into calm conversations. She was taking the slow moment to clean up a few of the vacated booths when an unexpected tap on the shoulder caused her to jump.

"Ash! You scared me!" she mock yelled at her boyfriend.

"Sorry," he apologized while chuckling. "I was just wondering if you had any plans after your shift."

"No plans. Are you asking me out? I thought you worked a full day today?"

"I told Wilfred that I've owed you a date for two weeks now. He gave me the rest of the afternoon off."

"Cool. What did you have in mind?"

"What would you say to exploring Mako?"

"Mako? Why?" she asked tentatively.

"You guys know the reefs around it like the back of your hand, but you've never really explored the island itself."

"Sure, but, why now?" She wasn't trying to be rude, realizing he probably had deeper motivations. She was curious and concerned.

Since telling Ash her secret, it had been a wonderful, albeit, strange roller coaster ride. The first couple months were great: no threats, no secrets from the boy she loved. And even though the full moon hadn't affected them much over the last few months, it was sweet how the boys wanted to look out for them. Oh how quickly the tables turned.

She can't remember whose idea it was to camp out on the island that night, (probably Lewis'), but it made some sense. The only reason their last Mako camp-out went awry was because of all the extra people that were there. This time it would just be the six of them. If anything went wrong, they were already in the safest place they could be. At least that was the idea. Well, things of course went wrong.

It wasn't like being moonstruck. She remembered everything, but still felt inexplicably drawn there. Maybe the feeling of being called to that place on the full moon would never go away. They told the boys that they were going to spend the night in the pool. The boys initially objected, but finally relented with the condition of supervision. That's how they ended up all six of them there: the night their boyfriends were gifted by the moon.

That was almost four months ago, but somehow it felt so far away. So much had happened; so much had changed. And yet, so much had stayed the same. Ash was still here. He had kept her secret. He had kept his own secret.

And their relationship? She was almost afraid to admit it, but she liked him better this way. Somehow it seemed more normal. Instead of a boy dating a girl with a foot in two worlds, it was now the two of them, navigating this strange way of life together.

"Ever since… recent developments… I've been feeling drawn there. It's almost like there's something there, calling me, something that I need to find. Have you ever… felt that?"

"A bit, but I've always just been drawn to the Moon Pool, not really the island."

"Maybe it's a merman thing?" He shrugged with no better answer to offer up.

"Maybe," she mirrored his shrug unconvinced. "Fine. Let's do it. 2 o'clock at the cove. Swim over together?"

"It's a date." Ash smiled as he backed toward the cool room.

"What's this about a date?" Rikki asked teasingly as she walked over to her friend.

"He wants to explore Mako with me."

"Ooh romantic. But why?" Rikki asked with far less tact than Emma had previously inquired.

"He says he's feeling called there."

"It's not a full moon. Why's he feeling that?"

"Who knows? Maybe it's a merman thing?" She responded similarly to Ash before. "What about you? Going out with Zane?"

"Just hanging out. We planned to meet up in 5 minutes. So it'll be 15 if I'm lucky."

"You never know. Maybe he'll surprise you this time?"

"That'll be the day," Emma watched Rikki's eye roll and let out a small chuckle.

Emma sobered and then sighed. "He has a point though," Emma said quietly, returning to the original subject.

Rikki cocked her head in confusion.

"We've spent most of our time exploring the ocean around the island but haven't really checked out the island itself. When we do go, we go straight to the land entrance."

"We're mermaids. We're supposed to be in the water not on land. Plus, I've always found it a bit creepy."

"Where's your sense of adventure Rikki?" Emma teased. "I'm going. We'll let you know if we find anything interesting."

A/N: Hey Friends!

Thank you for checking out this story!

Just a few notes:

- This replaces season 3 though references may be made to some season 3 events and characters

- Similarly, Mako Mermaids may be referenced, though the storylines and lore are completely different

- The tails seen in Mako Mermaids were the most beautiful (in my opinion). I imagine their tails to be more like those.

- Finally I intend to take this story in a more mature direction. Though it may have some darker moments, it is not meant to be a dark story. I hope to capture the feelings and emotions teens feel as the world throws more responsibility at them and that necessary transition to adulthood.

With that, I hope you enjoy the rest of this story!

Much Love,

Odd Lady :)