Chapter 74

Rikki sat up straight in bed, screaming. It took her a second to register that it was just a dream. She had just witnessed Zane's death; he fell to his death because of her. Because he did not remember her, and she scared him. Into his death. She was thoroughly shaken. She took a few deep breaths, her heart beat racing. Zane stirred and opened his eyes. Rikki silently prayed that he had not backslidden.

He saw Rikki sitting up, clutching her knees fearfully and immediately had his arms around her. He felt her relax slightly.

"What's wrong, love?" he asked dazedly.

"It was just a nightmare," she said shakily. He drew her close, Rikki snuggling into his chest.

"What happened?" Zane asked tentatively.

After a moments silence, Rikki drew a deep breath and spoke quietly. "I lost you, and it was my entire fault,"

"You won't lose me,"

"How do I know that Zane? You already have me on edge every day," a tear escaped her eye. "What happens if one day you can't remember anything again and I scare you away? I don't know if I would be able to cope,"

Zane had no reassuring words. His mind was hazy.

"What is the last thing you remember?" Rikki asked. A thoughtful expression came onto her husband's face. Then one of shock. Rikki waited in anticipation.

"I remember getting into bed last night after we came back from….the hospital? Why was I hesitant about getting into bed with you? We've been married for ages!" Zane exclaimed. A round of happy sobs wracked Rikki's body this time, as she clung to him.

"You remember everything," she sighed happily. "You've been having relapses of amnesia,"

He ran his fingers through her loose hair. "I remember it. The feeling of not knowing anything is like hell, Rikki. An emptiness that swallows you up. The endless questions," he trailed off. "Just know that even if I don't remember at the time, it's still me and a part of me will always love you."

The couple drifted off to sleep once again, in each other's embrace. Rikki hoped that this Zane would still be there in the morning. Unfortunately, it was not to be so. When Alex and Jay came into the bedroom the following morning, Zane stared at the children in shock. Rikki's heart sank again. She did not know how much more of this she could take.

"Come on, boys," she said. After fixing them breakfast, she returned to the bedroom. Zane was sitting on the edge of the bed staring into space.

"This is like one of those movies where I've been transported forward in time, isn't it," he muttered. "Would you mind explaining to me who those kids were and why they looked so much like both of us, Rikki?"

"Well, they are our boys," she replied bluntly, her arms folded.

"I thought we had twin girls?" he said, puzzled. "Charlie and Leila had their first birthday a few weeks ago, I thought,"

"We still have them," Rikki smirked, "They're a lot older now though. You have amnesia, Zane."

"Amnesia? That would explain my pounding headache,"

OoOoO

While Rikki was explaining everything to Zane for what felt like the hundredth time, Lewis was bathing Fi and Cleo was bottle-feeding Hayden. As Lewis did so, he began to notice the water heating up. As he looked more closely, the water was bubbling around the baby's hands, as Fi balled her hands into fists and then released again.

"Cleo, come and look at this," he said quietly, washing Fi's feet. Still holding Hayden, she came closer to look into the bathtub.

"The bubbles, is that what I think it is?"

"What's the temperature of the water?"

"Thinking about it, it has felt much hotter than what it was," Lewis replied.

"But…she has legs? No tail!" Cleo said in shock.

"Maybe it is a rare genetic makeup? A mutation maybe? Inheriting both parent's qualities equally? Human and mermaid?"

"Maybe this explains how Zane got electrocuted while bathing her?"

"And why she seems to set off triggers for him now," Lewis continued Cleo's thoughts. "Hey, do you think that Fi can swim?"

"I don't know if I want to risk it, honey," Cleo replied. Lewis picked Fi out of the bath and Cleo passed him one of his trademark folded towels to dry the baby. Suddenly, the towel erupted into flame.

"Oh God!" Lewis yelled. Miraculously, Cleo did not drop Hayden in surprise. She quickly doused the flame, Lewis and Fi in a bath load of water.

"Thanks," said a soaking wet Lewis. Fi was giggling as if it was the funniest thing in the world. The towel was smouldering.

"This is a serious problem," Lewis said.

"She hasn't learnt to use her powers like the others," Cleo said.

"She's not even supposed to have powers," Lewis said in disbelief.

"We need to tell Rikki."

OoOoO

"This all feels like a strange dream," Zane said, as Rikki lead him into the dining room, to see his now grown up girls and the boys he had only just met. Emma was escorting the kids to school that morning. Rikki kissed the four kids goodbye, and Zane did the same, still a little overwhelmed.

After Lewis and Cleo had sent Jennifer and Andy off, the two knocked on the Bennett's door. Lewis was holding Hayden, and Cleo, Fi.

"What's up?" Rikki greeted them.

"We have something important to tell you," Lewis said seriously.

A confused and worried expression came over Rikki's face. "Come in,"

They all sat down on the couches.

"How are you doing this morning, Zane?"

"I found out I have three more kids than I remember," he said with a smirk. "Feels like Time Travel – kinda like in Back to the Future Two," he took in the babies. "Who are these little ones?" Cleo looked hesitant.

"This is Hayden, our son," Lewis said gesturing to the boy in his arms, "and this is Fiona," he pointed to the girl. "She is yours,"

"The fifth, "Zane said quietly, gazing at his daughter in awe, taking her in for the first time. Rikki felt like she was falling in love all over again watching Zane's face soften as he took in his child. At the same time she was worried; she was staying with Cleo and Lewis for a reason.

"What did you need to talk to us about?" Rikki asked.

"It's about Fi," Cleo began.

"What about Fi?" Zane asked.

"Ah, Zane, would it be okay if you left the room for a few minutes?" Cleo said carefully.

"Why?"

"Well, it seems like Fi is a trigger for your amnesia, we wouldn't want you to get worse," Cleo said.

"Okay then," Zane said dejectedly, standing up. Lewis placed Hayden gently on the couch and got up with Zane, leading him outside.

"Just tell her everything I said," Lewis told Cleo as he opened the door. "It's nothing major Zane, don't worry about it,"

"You sure are making a big deal out of it if it isn't…" Zane retorted, his voice fading as the two men walked away from the house. Cleo passed Fi to her mother, and picked up her own son.

"We made quite a startling discovery when we bathed Fi this morning, Rikki," Cleo began. "I have a feeling you may have had your own suspicions but…"

"Just spit it out Cleo! The suspense is killing me!" Rikki interrupted.

"Fi is not completely human. She must have some mermaid genetics. She made the water bubble and her towel catch on fire."

"What! How? Are you guys okay? Is your house okay?"

"We're fine, Rikki," Cleo smirked.

"But she doesn't have a tail? How is this possible?"

"It's beyond us," Cleo replied. "It might be a mutation – remember how strange and dangerous your pregnancy was? Maybe that was something directly linked to this?"

"Maybe,"

"I want to try something, but it might be dangerous,"

Rikki urged her to continue.

"If we put Fi in a deep bath or in the moon pool and don't hold her up – we could see how she would react – if she can swim. We've always been too scared to because you would never do that with a human baby."

Rikki nodded. "A few seconds would be fine right? We could do it in the moon pool – then we could be surrounding her to pick her up again,"

"Yeah. If we are right and she does have powers, just no scales, then that explains how the electricity was created and the link between Fi and Zane's memory loss. You actively helped to train the others in their powers early, right?"

"Yeah," Rikki agreed.

"Well, maybe Fi was showing signs but you didn't notice because you weren't looking for them, like you were for your children with tails?"

"I never thought about it like that," Rikki said. "This definitely a lot of theoretical ideas, we won't know until we test it."

Cleo's phone began to ring.

"Hello?" she answered. "Yep, you can come back now. No, well…I don't know…" Cleo paused. "Are you shocked? Lewis is asking,"

"A little bit, but I mean, once you're a mermaid, what can scare you?" Rikki replied. Cleo grinned.

"No, she's handling it like a champ…right, see you in a few," she hung up, and replaced the phone in her pocket.

"What am I going to do with you?" Rikki sighed, asking her daughter. Fi cooed.

Rikki found the prospect exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. Fi was definitely one of a kind.

A/N: Hey everyone :-) Yay! An update! I hope you enjoy it. I am now officially on mid-semester break! Between Semesters A and B. No work, wahooo! Hopefully I might be able to update a couple of times - no promises - but I'll try my best. I do still have a life. But again, the more reviews I get, the more I feel like updating/ gives me inspiration/ makes me feel guilty for not updating so, long story short, reviews equal new chapters faster. I know waiting for updates is probably horrible, I know what its like from reading other stories, but I hope you are proud of me - I am a straight A student except for one pesky B plus :P with Six A plusses. This is what focusing on study has got me ;-) (exam results are still to come out so who knows what my end result will be haha :P)

Wow, long authors note. (I have extra time today so...here comes spiels haha)

Thanks so so much to all my reviewers, favouriters and followers. Thanks to HybridsRose for being a great penpal friend, a faithful reviewer and the SIX HUNDREDTH REVIEWER! I am on the moon :P Thanks also to all my other faithful reviewers, I really do appreciate you - I know I say it a million times.

Thanks to:

Mermaids Forever: I love how eager and faithful you are! Thanks so much! I try to update as often as possible between balancing life and four stories :P

YaleAceBella12: I will! Thanks for reviewing.

zikki 3: Thanks :-) (thanks for feedback too, love it!)

Acgisme: Thanks! I think I did alright. I hope you do well/did well :-) Good luck.

The Writer Es: I love them to - so good to write. Rikki is a great character - I feel like I understand her the most.

CrazyHayniac: Thanks so much! I hope they went well too :P Thanks for the feedback.

Julia: Prequel: Do you mean prior to my story? (Fishy Tale) [or do you mean prequel to the series?] I may write a prequel to a Fishy Tale someday. - in the three years I missed out. I think it will probably be the project once this story is finished. Unless, I continue on with the kids in this story and their lives as teenagers - that's another story I've thought over. Time will Tell is set between season 2 and 3 if you haven't read that. (Since you're a guest, I can't tell) Thinking about a Firey Mermaid focuses on Zikki throughout season 3 - I think I will continue it eventually, past season 3 - the get back together story. That in a sense could be considered a prequel. But it is definitely a prospect, but I am not writing one just yet - too many to balance already :P I hope that answers your question :P

Sjolsen12: Yay! Thanks!

Phew! That was long. If you made it to the bottom, you're a legend (because you can put up with my dribble - you may have found the replies interesting :-) Future insight.)

Anyway, see you all next time. I hope it won't be too far away. Review quickly and you never know what might happen! :P