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Lance and Rikki's Conversation

A fair distance away from where they had met, Lance let got of Rikki's hand. There was not a hint of clouds, the sea was calm, there was not even any wind. Rubbing the back of his neck, he stared at her for a moment while Rikki stared back, as she took a seat on a lounge chair.

Clearing his throat, Lance said: "Well, we probably should start with the elephant room… Thinking I might have been crazy and wondering whether or not I have merrow blood, I went to Cleo and told her everything."

At the mention of merrow blood, a look of confusion spread across Rikki's face. Once Cleo was brought up, she asked: "What did she tell you?"

"Everything. She told me about you, her and Emma, assured me that I have no scales or webbed fingers or toes, assured me that I really did see what I saw, that I wasn't going crazy. Before Cleo told me everything, she asked me what I was going to do if you were a mermaid and I told her that I would keep it to myself. I don't want to see you in a lab, I don't want to see any of you in a lab, but especially not you." Taking a moment to breathe, Lance looked out to see for a moment, half expecting this to be a dream and that he'd be seeing a green sky, a purple sea and two suns or some such thing. He then looked at himself. Still no scales, still no webbed fingers or toes. This was real, he was here, they both were. Returning his gaze to Rikki, he then added: "While learning you three are mermaids has given me hope of solving some of the mysteries of the sea, maybe even joining in your adventures to some extent, what matters most to me is that you are you, not something that until today I had thought as being purely mythological. I didn't fall in love with you when I saw you as a mermaid, I had fallen in love with you before that. I'm in love with you, not what you are… Of course, you are you so I mean to say I am in love with you because you are Rikki Chadwick not because you are a mermaid… But you are Rikki Chadwick and you are a mermaid, so, uh…" Growing nervous, Lance began to wonder where he was going with this.

Rikki could only give a smile while holding back a laugh.

Rubbing his forehead, Lance wondered what to say. He looked aside, hearing the sound of the ocean, when he suddenly felt Rikki take him by the hand.

Gazing down at her, Lance saw Rikki's smiling face. Growing calm, Lance got down on one knee, an action that caused both him and Rikki to blush. Quickly, he switched to just sitting down next to her, Rikki moving over to give him room.

For a few moments, nothing was said between them. Lance merely held Rikki's hand until finally the former said: "Thank you, Lance."

Quietly, Lance said: "You're welcome."

"Lance…"

"Yes, Rikki?"

"When you told me that you love me…"

Swallowing nervously, Lance uttered: "It probably could have waited."

"No, it was probably better you did say it. I'd been having some doubts recently… About my attraction towards a certain boy…"

"Zane?"

She nodded. "Yes… Zane… The day I met you, I had been thinking about my doubts, wondering if they were justified or not. Zane has some good qualities, but his bad ones sometimes seem like they outnumber them."

Lance listened and when all was said, he stayed silent, merely looking at Rikki. He did not want to ask about his own qualities, outside his throwing water at her that one time, he thought he had been alright, but no one was perfect. Everyone had their good and bad qualities, yet as Rikki observed sometimes one outnumbered the other.

"I suppose I was a good distraction then." Lance said, selling himself short.

"You're more than a distraction, Lance." Rikki commented, giving his hand a light squeeze. "In the short time I've known you, you've been a good friend and while I do feel the same way about you, I am still trying to figure things out. I'm torn between you and Zane and I must make a decision."

"And have you?"

"Not yet, although I acknowledge Zane's bad qualities might outnumber the good, he is also capable of improvement."

Lance felt his heart sink for a moment before cheering up. "I won't force a decision, Rikki. You have a right to make it freely and if you do choose Zane, I will honour your decision."

Smiling, Rikki gave Lance a light kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Lance."

Letting go of Rikki's hand, Lance looked out to sea and to his surprise saw something in the distance. It wasn't a boat or one of those strange surfboards with a sail on it. It looked almost like a dorsal fin.

Standing up, Lance stared out and remembered what Mr. Lambert had told him. It was impossible! Had he read about this in a work of fiction he would have considered it extremely contrived! It could not have been! It just couldn't!

Feeling Rikki's hand on his shoulder, Lance turned and asked: "Uh… Rikki, just how many sharks are there here in the bay?"

"Trust me, Lance. That isn't Berk."

"Berk?" Lance asked in confusion.

"The bay's resident shark. He's a hammerhead and he isn't as big as that!"

"I doubt he would be…" Lance quietly uttered. "Even from this distance it looks like we're seeing the second biggest fish in the ocean."

"What?" Rikki asked, now as confused as Lance had been.

"Mr. Lambert told me there were sightings of a basking shark in the area." He was still having difficulty believing that he was actually seeing what he was seeing. This all felt too contrived and yet there it was.

"Would you like to swim out to meet them?"

Lance turned and looked Rikki in the eye. She was smiling at him and had taken him by the hand. He then looked over at the basking shark and replied: "I'm not wearing my swimsuit."

Giving a small laugh, Rikki said: "Then why don't you go home and get it? I'll swim out to meet the basking shark and talk with them for a while."

Talk with a basking shark? If only he had such a gift. What wonders that marvellous sea beast must have seen… What horrors it must have seen as well, after all there was no jungle more dangerous than civilization and it was because of fisheries that the basking shark was on the endangered species list.

Smiling back at her, Lance nodded and said: "I'll be back ASAP." He realized what he said sounded a little bit dorky with the inclusion of "ASAP." He could have said "I'll be back as soon as possible", but no, he'd be back "ASAP."

Rikki could only giggle. Lance may have found what he said dorky and she did as well, but she also found it dorky in an endearing way.