'Emma, Princess, breathe for Daddy.' A younger Neil knelt down holding the shoulders of a small blonde girl. 'Slower. Slower. Focus on me.'

'She was fine earlier! I don't know what happened!' A young brunette in a swimsuit stood by watching them.

'It's okay I'll take care of it.' He spoke to her before looking back at his daughter. 'Princess just copy me. In... and then out...in...out'

After a moment she was mostly back to normal. 'What happened princess?'

'Teacher wanted us to swim all the way to the wall. I couldn't do it. I kept getting water up my nose. Teacher said I should just keep trying. But don't think I like swimming anymore.' She managed out through hiccoughing.

'Your teacher's right Emma. You have to keep trying. It's not about being the best, it's about being your best. Don't let a little water up your nose stop you. You get back in that pool, because you know you love swimming.'

'Really Daddy?'

'You keep trying your best Princess and one day you'll do something truly amazing. And Mummy and I will be right there watching when you do.'

A million thoughts flew through Emma's head all jumbled together. A caged lion in a zoo pacing and growling, desperate for release. A lone ship far out at sea tossed by churning waves. Ornate crowns and lavish thrones marred in blood. Human children playing on the beach with merchildren with no care in the world. A clash of lightning heralding an ocean storm. Standing on a cliff hearing a baby's laughter on the wind. A medieval ball with fast music and catching eyes with a brown eyed stranger. A shining full moon in a pitch black sky. An edge of fear and the quickness of her own breathing.

"So tomorrow then?" Zane asked shaking Emma from her panic.

"Wait we aren't seriously talking about doing this are we?" Emma asked in disbelief struggling to keep her breathing in check. "It's not a done deal yet, we can choose to walk away."

"Em just think about it for a second-" Rikki began.

"-No, she is right. You do have a choice." Arethusa interrupted. She looked to all of them with her head bowed a little. "I must first apologize for pushing you Sons of Land to this point. I must also apologize for hiding my true intentions from all of you. This is a big decision and you need to know everything."

Lewis piped up, "Well if it works, we'd be Royals with stronger powers. First servants to the Moon Goddess. Leaders of merpeople all over the world. And we'd be willing ourselves to fight for and potentially even die for said people. Am I missing anything?"

Arethusa smiled, "All of those are true. In addition you would eventually come live here in the palace. Perhaps not right away, but you would also be giving up your lives on land. Oh, and your unions with your mates would be confirmed."

"What does that mean, 'our unions are confirmed'?" Ash asked.

"You don't mean we'd be married, do you?" Rikki deduced. Arethusa merely nodded.

"Okay then we really can't do this!" Emma practically shouted clearly struggling to keep calm. "We can't rule a nation! We can't get married, we're seventeen!"

"Seventeen-year-olds get married." Rikki pointed out unhelpfully.

"Yeah when they're stupid enough to get themselves pregnant not when… guys this is insane!"

There was a long pause. Her breathing noticeably quickened. Emma looked to the faces of everyone in the room. No one could argue with her. This was insane. She kept her eyes on Ash hoping she hadn't hurt him. It's not that she didn't want to marry him. Just not before she was a legal adult… not tomorrow!

"I say we do it."

Emma looked to the source of the quiet voice: Cleo of all people. "What?"

"I say we do this." Cleo spoke up now. "Tomorrow we come here and present ourselves."

"Who are you and what have you done with Cleo?" Rikki joked.

"Yeah, haven't you been the one wishing you'd never become a mermaid?" Emma asked completely perplexed and breathing faster. How could Cleo just be okay with all of this?!

"Yes. But I talked with my dad the other night. I told him the truth. Not that we're mer," She clarified quickly, "but that I had a secret. And… he gave me some advice."

Cleo stood up from the couch she had been sitting on. Then before her eyes Emma watched her young innocent friend age decades and received a sneak peek of the incredibly wise woman her friend would become. Cleo then looked directly at Emma, and for perhaps the first time, Emma felt small under her friend's gaze.

"Emma, I know how hard this has been for you. You were going to be an Olympian. You had plans for your future made all the way through grad school. Then you became a mermaid and a lot of those plans went out the window. But you were able to focus on something else: Rikki and I needed you; you kept us safe."

Emma looked over to Rikki who put up no argument to that, simply nodding in agreement.

"Emma all this time you've fought to control the situation, to have control over your life. But that's just it." Cleo sighed and walked toward her placing her hands on both of Emma's shoulders. "You cannot and you never will control it. And that's okay. It's going to be okay. Let go."

'Emma, Princess, breathe for me.'

Emma let out a sigh and few tears that had been building up through this stressful week. Cleo pulled her into a hug shushing her in a reversal of what she commonly did for Cleo. It felt nice. Ash had stood up and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. Here between the two people she loved most in the world she could not have felt more secure. More tears fell, and as they did Emma could swear the wall she'd built for years began to as well.

After a few minutes and after the tears had slowed, Cleo backed out of the hug. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I think so." She sniffled a little before straightening. "Okay Cleo. Convince me. Why should we do this?"

Cleo looked to all of them. "The way I see it we have two choices: present ourselves tomorrow willing to be royals or walk away forever."

Rikki spoke up, "That's assuming the guys won't choose to be human again."

"We won't." Ash spoke up. Emma turned her head toward him in mild surprise. "The three of us talked about it and we're going to stay mermen. The decision right now doesn't change anything."

"Cleo you're forgetting we could always just wait to become royals." Lewis interjected. "I mean the full moon will be back every month."

"And you forget what we'd really be doing. We're not choosing to be royals. We're choosing to be willing!" Cleo sighed, "I know how this would go, we decide to wait and full moon after full moon goes by because we always find a reason: convincing ourselves we're not ready. But we aren't the ones to decide that! You're not mer because Arethusa cast a spell on you; you're mer because Moon Goddess wanted you to be!"

"She's right." Zane chimed in. "It's the moon's decision."

Rikki spoke up, "And you have to think that there's a reason all this has happened, that Ash felt drawn here when he did."

Emma looked over to Ash who nodded in agreement, and she couldn't help but think about how far back his feelings had gone to lead him to this moment.

"Exactly." Cleo resolved, "This is now or never. And if I get to choose nothing else but the person I get to be at the end of it all, I want look back knowing I was brave enough to do this."

"You'd marry Lewis tomorrow?" Emma asked surprising herself that she might be giving in to this lunacy.

"Please, we all know if this hadn't happened, we'd have been almost thirty before he got enough courage to ask me."

"Hey, I resent that!" Lewis shouted in indignation.

"Rikki?" Emma uselessly pleading for a little sanity.

"Zane and I were probably gonna elope sometime next year anyway."

"We were?" Zane asked clearly not getting that memo. "I mean… Yeah. Course."

"Don't any of you want a normal wedding?" Her breath hitching.

"Oh I'm having a wedding." Cleo answered, "I mean I don't think the government views a moon officiated marriage as legally binding."

"That's the problem isn't it? You don't want to marry me." Ash spoke up from behind her.

"What? No, of course I want to marry you! I just thought I would enjoy being engaged and that my parents would be there, that dad would walk me down the aisle. No, I promise, I want to marry you. It's always been you Ash."

"Then put the idea of marriage aside for now, Ocean's Daughter. Focus on everything else. Are you willing to take on the responsibility of being a Royal? Are you willing to be used by the Moon Goddess?" Arethusa asked with gentle firmness.

"Being queen of all merpeople and guardian of the ocean?" Emma sighed.

'Emma, Princess, Breathe. Focus!'

"You're right Cleo. It has to be now. If we don't do this, I think I'll always wonder about what we could have done, what we could have been. If this really is fate or destiny and we're here right now for a reason it means something big is about to happen. I'm terrified by it because I can't control it. I can't control any of this. But I can give up and pretend this never happened, or I can try." She looked into Ash's eyes. "We can try."

"That is all I am asking of you." Arethusa smiled softly.

"I think we all need to agree." Lewis spoke. "Yes: we do this. No: we forget this ever happened."

"Yes." said Zane followed shortly by a "Yes." from Rikki.

"Yes." said Cleo.

"Yes." from Lewis.

"Ash?" Emma looked up to him conveying volumes without words.

"I'm with you. No matter what."

"Then let's do this."

A/N: Hey Friends!

I'm hoping this wasn't too OOC. One thing I did appreciate from season 3 was seeing Cleo grow into a wise young lady once she had come to accept herself. I want to really explore that growth in her and this is the beginning of it.

As for Emma, I believe we have a similar personality. I've struggled with perfectionism and trying to hold myself to standards that exceed the expectations of everyone around me. When I fail to meet them I can have a panic attack. Emma is losing control over the situation and as a result is on the brink of one. She manages to pull herself back with the help of her friends around whom she feels safe enough to release bottled up emotions.

I hope during these strange times you are all taking care of mental health as well as the physical health.

I truly appreciate all of the love!

Thank You and Much Love,

Odd Lady :)