Elliot Gilbert wasn't born yesterday, everyone knows that. He's not a genius but he's not one of those guys who flunk phys ed because they just 'don't wanna'. Even if he hadn't joined soccer, he'd still be doing something that gave him exercise. His sister once told him that even if you're involved in a sport or hobby, using swimming as an example, you should still make it a routine to do some stretches and jogs to keep up your stamina and pacing.
He understood why they kept it a secret, the fear in his sister's eyes stopped him from throwing water onto her, even if it was just the two of them in the house. Over time, he realized the icy shower was an accident and she meant no harm. She just wanted to be a regular teenager and wondered, his stomach heavy, how much it must have hurt to stop swimming competitively.
He didn't drop the mermaid thing because realistically, Cleo couldn't have avoided the shower of water without some sort of power because everyone around her got wet. Also, they did consistently act weird around water. He wished he could ask about the full moon because that's when things got super weird. He used to think it was funny, but realized that maybe they don't have control over what they do when it happens and thought it was scary. This literal celestial body somehow had caused them to essentially become zombies.
There was also the icy strip on the soccer field that was most certainly not there when they started to trip up Nate's obnoxious brother, Billy. And Rikki's super fast swimming plus the fact that she complained about mascara when she seemed like the last person on earth who would care about makeup being ruined. Then that whole day where they pretended to be sick during a downpour. He found it amusing how it all went down.
Does Emma know that he knows? Elliot thinks so, but neither of them acknowledge it for sure, so maybe she thinks he came up with a medical conclusion. He just didn't want her to freak out.
Maybe telling her earlier would have been a good idea before their parents decided to bring their children with them on their father's work trip. He supposed that it now was a good time because it started to rain and their parents really wanted to go to a restaurant in Paris as a family.
To her credit, Emma really tried to get them to accept a romantic dinner for the two of them while she and Elliot had a sibling bonding night and watched movies. Elliot backed that idea, but the relief on her face was only temporary. Neil Gilbert put his foot down. This was their last night in France and he and Lisa already had a date night.
Their dad had to run to a meeting before dinner, promising to see them at the restaurant. There was still a heated argument between Emma and their mom about the dinner. It hurt Elliot to see how much Emma was hurting. She probably already felt like a burden and with a huge secret, she must feel like she's ruining the experience. Elliot winced, remembering that he once said that to her too.
Emma was invited to go shopping to try to calm her nerves, as their mom thought it would help, but she said no.
Emma waited a couple minutes before picking up her phone and dialing. She gave Elliot a fake smile, her tear filled eyes betraying her, and said she was calling her friends to talk about 'girl stuff' before going into the bedroom. He took that to mean Cleo and Rikki about mermaid stuff.
Elliot couldn't help his curiosity and he inched closer to the door, keeping as quiet as he could.
"-they won't take no. Please...help me." Emma said. Elliot felt his stomach clench at the desperation in her voice. He wanted to help her, but his attempts had already gone in vain.
"-Rikki, that's illegal." She gave a sad chuckle. "Yes, I've done everything else...well okay, but you said Bella was nine or something. What if my parents...what if they think I'm some sort of monster now? I-I know, they're my family but...You're not suggesting-? I guess I could...but where would I go? Swimming home would be difficult...you really think I could live on Mako? It would hurt them, but maybe running would be easier in the long run. I wouldn't have to hurt them so much anymore, especially Elliot."
Elliot wondered if hearts actually shattered and what it would sound like, because the one that sounded in his head was a replay of a cartoon, but the pain was something no age appropriate show ever prepared him for. He let out a choked whimper.
"Elliot?" Oh. He hadn't realized how loud it was. "Elliot are you okay?"
She was concerned. A monster wouldn't be concerned. She's still his sister and he's her brother.
"Hold on, something's wrong. Elliot!" He jumped as the door was wrenched open. Emma looked over him with concerned eyes that were still red from tears. She carefully took his shoulders and looked at his face, he wondered why. "Elliot, can you breathe?"
He let out air he hadn't realized he was holding and started panting.
"What happened? Do we need to call for Mum or an ambulance?"
Elliot shook his head.
"Can you say something, I'm worried."
"Y-you're my sister..." Elliot finally wheezed.
"Yes, do you know my name?" Perhaps she thought he got amnesia somehow.
"Emma, you're not a monster. You're my sister."
"What?" Emma's face was a mix of emotion. Relief that her brother was okay, confusion at what he was talking about, sadness and fear from the conversation, but also fear at what he may have heard. She didn't need him to repeat it.
"Em...I know. I've known it since that day even though I wasn't being such a good brother."
Emma was speechless. Elliot went to her bed and picked up the phone.
"I don't want you to feel like you have to run, but if you feel it's safe I'll help you. I really have known."
"How? I mean when? I mean...what do you mean not such a good brother?" Emma seemed to rethink her question. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I don't think I fully understood until I connected all the dots, honestly. I never really let go of what Kim said. I just knew that you weren't evil, it didn't make any sense. Also, Rikki, I can't buy you having the mascara excuse." He said the last part into the phone. Rikki laughed.
"Alright, that's fair."
"I promise I'll keep the secret. I mean I already promised myself, but I thought you'd all feel better hearing it from me."
"Thanks." He heard multiple voices, one probably being Lewis, and he thought he heard an extra girl. He'd ask Emma later. "May I hang up?"
"Uh...okay, hold on." Emma took the phone and said she'd update them later.
The two siblings sat in silence for what felt like forever until Emma broke it.
"Are you alright with keeping such a big secret?"
"Well, as much as you are the one who has it."
"Well that's a cheeky response."
Elliot grinned. "Em, you're my sister and I care about you, so I'm helping you."
"Thanks." She hugged him. "What do we do now? How do we sort out tonight?"
"By making a plan...but first...um...if it's not too much of a bother, can I see the tail?" Elliot tried to say nonchalantly, but his excitement was too much. Emma smiled and went to the bathroom, running water on her fingers.
"Ten seconds." Emma said, sitting back on the bed. She put a towel next to her. He tried not to blink when suddenly in a weird sparkly light, his sister's lower body was replaced by an orange, scaly fish tail.
Elliot's eyes widened and he let out an audible 'whoa'. It was a little longer than her actual legs, but he suspected it must be so much more powerful than legs.
"Was it actually a mermaid who rescued Zane?"
"Yep. I witnessed it...as the mermaid who did it."
"And he never found out?"
"He found out we were mermaids when he accidentally helped his dad and this crazy marine biologist capture us, but never asked which one of us saved him."
"You were captured?!" Elliot looked terrified. "You could have been killed and-and I wouldn't have known why." He choked out.
"You were eleven and there were literally muscular men who were expert divers. Lewis and Zane couldn't take them one on one. But they did save us."
"I guess." Elliot looked at the tail and then blushed. "Er...weird question...may I touch it?"
Emma tried not to laugh. "Sure."
Elliot touched the base of the main tail, near the fin. Then the fin. Emma started drying herself off when he stood up straight.
"Realistically, how long would it take you get from here to Australia?"
"I have no idea...my longest distance has been Mako and back."
...
They started brainstorming ideas as the rain outside continued, a bit heavier than when it started.
"Maybe it'll rain so much they won't want to go out."
"This isn't going to be enough to convince them. Besides, I think it's supposed to be on and off showers tonight. I don't think Mum and Dad will let me take a towel. I'm not about to cause damage with a hailstorm."
Finally, they decided on a plan that neither of them were extremely fond of, but felt it had to happen. It went against every fiber of Emma's being and against their family's honesty policy, then again, she hadn't been honest with them since she grew a tail, so those rules were sort of out the window.
Their parents had given Elliot permission to go to the play area and arcade in the lobby by himself as long as they or Emma knew where he was and he kept checking his phone. That eliminated a plan because Elliot wouldn't be in much trouble for 'forgetting' to tell Emma, they'd just give him a disappointed look for a few seconds, tell him to try to remember next time, and still go out together.
"I don't feel good about this." Emma stated for the twentieth time.
"Me neither, but it beats growing a tail in front of the hotel. Besides, I'll be safe."
"Crashing a party feels horrid, and it's supposed to be a wedding reception."
"We could go with the other plan where I actually leave the hotel to go to the game store down the street."
"No, they'll wonder why I didn't chase after you in the rain and they already said it's okay if you had permission because you're thirteen now. It would be like the plan we already turned down. Alright, let's do this."
The plan was that Emma was 'taking a bath' and had given permission for Elliot to go to the arcade for a while. Both she and Elliot texted the plan to their mother who responded with an 'okay, have fun and be safe'. Emma actually took a bath so that she was technically not lying about that. She missed her home bathtub where her tail could be out and she didn't feel cramped. But she was doing this for good reason, so she could bear it.
Elliot felt bad, but he was willing to risk his reputation if it meant his sister would be safe. He saw a group of blond people with kids of varying ages walking in. He snuck in behind them, keeping his head down. No one questioned him and he felt a little relief. But where should he go now? The family would notice immediately if he sat with them. He broke off from the group after seeing that the person at the entrance wasn't looking. He stood by a planter off to the side, hoping no one would notice.
"Young man, would you like to take your seat?" Shoot, the man who spoke sounded American. If he spoke they'd bust him and kick him out before he could get into the kind of trouble he wanted. Elliot stayed silent and shook his head. "Well all right, just don't cause trouble."
Elliot stayed silent as the newlywed couple started talking to the room. They both sounded like they were from the United States. They mentioned grandparents who were in the room that were from Paris and couldn't fly out so they flew out here. Now Elliot felt worse. His French accent was worse than his British one. He definitely couldn't do their accents. The best he could do was a stereotypical southern drawl, but the chatter around him didn't sound like that and he'd watched animal documentaries in class with southern people and he sounded nothing like them.
The meal wasn't a buffet, they were serving what people had preordered. Elliot saw the blond family get up and excuse themselves to the restroom, leaving two of the children behind. They looked around his age. He walked over to their table, feeling eyes on him. He sat and started to mess around with the plate. He wasn't going to eat anything, just swirling the fork around the plate.
"What are you doing? My brother's not going to like that." The teenage girl said. "Who are you?"
Elliot smirked, saying nothing. The boy looked at him curiously.
"Young man, where are your parents?" The speaker was behind him, but Elliot ignored her.
"Dude, that's not your plate, go get your own." The boy finally said.
Elliot shot him a glare and pushed the salad off the plate onto the table.
"Dude!" The kids shouted, drawing attention.
Elliot stuck his tongue out at them. He hoped his parents were back by now. He felt his phone buzz. Then two more times. He stood up, shoved his chair back forcefully, and retreated to the planter. He heard a buzz of concerned chatter and saw people throwing glances and glares his way. He looked at his phone. His parents asked where he was and Emma had said they were in the game room.
A couple of adults started approaching him with concern and he bolted to the dance floor, much to the surprise of the wedding party. He started dancing wildly, ignoring the consistent buzz that started in his pocket.
"Kid, what are you doing?" Someone asked.
"The couple hasn't even had the first dance yet." The DJ said as he stopped the background music. "Does anyone know this kid?"
No one claimed him among the chatter. The newlyweds looked upset. Now Elliot was in the grounding zone. He planned to stop once he'd genuinely upset people but he started getting into the groove of the music in his head. Kids laughed at him, even the kids whose table he disturbed. The adults, however, were extremely peeved and angrily approached him.
"Get off the dance floor, kid!" The DJ said.
Elliot ducked under someone's arms and made a beeline for the wedding cake. He reached his hands out to touch it when a voice rang out.
"ELLIOT GILBERT, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"
Oops, too far? He may have entered 'grounded for life' territory.
Elliot shoved his hands inside his pockets and walked over to his family, his eyes firmly locked on Emma's. He'd feel the shame of what he'd done later. Emma tried to hide her amusement for the sake of the children in the room.
His parents immediately fired a bunch of apologies, the wedding party said they wouldn't press charges if he just left now.
Elliot felt like his ears were going to fall off from the lectures he got from his parents. Emma said her one thing about lying to her and let her parents take the reigns as they planned.
"What has gotten into you?" Dad asked once they were in the room.
"Elliot, if it's something bad, you can tell us." Mum said. "We promise we still love you. What made you want to do that? You know we were planning to go out tonight."
"I dunno, teenager stuff, mood swings." Elliot shrugged. He definitely felt the guilt though, he hoped his face wasn't too pink. He actually felt a little chilly and realized Emma's hand was up. She was making sure he didn't flush by keeping his temperatures low.
Mum put her hand on his head. "Goodness, you're freezing. Why didn't you tell us?"
"I didn't want you to think I was trying to get out of dinner." Elliot said. Emma put her hand down.
"I have a feeling that Emma's put you up to something so we don't go out." Dad said, raising his eyebrow.
"How would I have done anything from the bath, Dad?" Emma asked, her face showed hurt.
"By telling him to do something that would get him in trouble."
"No, I really did tell her I was going to the game room. That was the plan, then I just...felt like going to a party." Elliot said. "Also how do you think she'd make me cold? Magic?"
Emma rolled her eyes when their parents weren't looking.
"The room is a good temperature, Neil." Mum said.
"So what do you suppose we do now? Obviously, Elliot's grounded. We'll just order out, I guess."
"But your reservations." Emma said.
"I don't feel we should leave Elliot alone, so maybe Emma should stay with him."
"It's not a full moon, so I'll be fine." Elliot said.
Emma's eyes widened.
"No werewolves to eat me."
"O-kay...well, we'll come up with a suitable punishment later, meanwhile we're getting food for you two."
...
"No full moon, seriously?" Emma said, half exasperated. They had pizza and their parents just left.
"I thought it was funny." Elliot said defensively. "Besides, they don't even know what I meant."
"Thank you for that. I know it must have been tough."
"Yeah, but it's our policy. Maybe not the family honesty one, but a sibling one. We'll protect each other."
"I like that idea."