A Wish on a Full Moon
I do not own H2O: Just Add Water or any of the characters.
Chapter 5: Metamorphosis (part 2)
No gasps, no movement. Nothing. Not a single sound was made as the image above them on the screen shows Emma, no longer as a human, but as a mermaid. No movement or anything happens, as people stare at the screen wide-eyed, faces filled with a mixture of so many emotions: fear, shock, surprise, and so much more, that it is almost impossible to comprehend all their feelings themselves as their mind finally starts to process it all: Emma was a mermaid.
The girls struggle to breathe. Their secret was finally out there, and there was nothing they could do to stop it. Lewis tries to think of any plans on how to explain this or to help, ready to defend them in any way possible.
Zane looks over at Rikki, worried for his girlfriend, but knows that he cannot possibly do anything about it. Although she would love to have a comforting hug from him right now, she would not want to jeopardize her relationship with him since the girls do not know yet. And they do not need any more stress and other emotions running through them right now, as their walls of secrets start to crumble. The girls cling to each other, holding each other in tight hugs as if they were never going to see each other again after this was over.
Finally, someone breaks the silence. "Oh my gosh," Charlotte says slowly, covering her mouth to keep from shrieking in shock. "Is – Is this real?" Sam asks, rubbing her eyes several times as if to make sure she was not dreaming. "Mermaids are real?" says Will, his voice cracking from the surprise. "No way," Elliot says, looking over at his sister, the realization finally kicking in his head, along with his parents, as they also look over at her, faces morphed into a mixture of both shock and confusion, trying to understand what they are looking at, who they were looking at.
"Emma?" Lisa questions, as if she were making sure it was her daughter she was speaking to. Turning towards her family, she looks at each one of them, seeing their surprised facial features, not liking at all how this is going to be turning out. They finally know the truth, about who she really is, about who she was now, about what she has been hiding from them for so long. After taking a couple of seconds to take deep breaths, she finds the courage to finally reply to her. "Yes, mom?" tears forming in her eyes.
Lisa looks back and forth at Emma and her mermaid self on screen. Pointing at the two, she finally asks her the question. "You – You're a –?" Gulping each time, unable to finish the question, struggling to say that 'word'. Emma nods slowly, knowing exactly what she is trying to say: Their daughter was a mermaid. They look back at the screen, still trying to process it, to process what to think, and how they feel.
She looks back at her friends, all three of them finally letting the tears flow, sobbing completely now, letting all their emotions out from this drastic turn of events. They lower their heads, not wanting to look at anyone. They knew what was going to happen next. They knew what everybody was thinking. They were going to be called weirdos, freaks, abnormal, monsters. Their families and friends will turn their backs on them. They would no longer be loved or anything. They were monsters, they were – "Cool!"
They fling their heads back up, staring at each other as if what they heard was true, before looking at Emma's brother just to make sure, and sees his face filled with an ecstatic, shocking smile.
"Wh-wha-what did you just say?" Emma stutters out, as if unsure that what he said was real, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I said that is so cool!" he says, swinging his arms up and down with excitement. Lisa and Neil look over at him, surprised by his reaction. Did he just accept it that quick?
"That's amazing!" Kim yells astonished. Cleo looks over at her, surprised by her reaction as well. Never in a million years would she have thought her sister would be excited about that. The fact that she is not calling Emma a freak right now is extremely surprising as well. Maybe, just maybe, she won't react so badly when it comes to my reveal as well, she thinks smiling a little, grabbing onto her last bit of hope.
"Cool," Ash whispers, smiling at Emma in her mermaid form. An overwhelming sensation feels the room, as mostly everyone replies positively about her secret. The girls do not know how to react, this was not what they were expecting. Max and Mrs. Chatham smile, glad that there is another that shares the secret, glad that their families weren't emotionally tearing them apart for this. Denman smiles, glad to know that she is getting more information about their secret life. Charlotte and Sam just chuckle to themselves, kind of happy about the whole mermaid life they see before them.
I knew it, Bella thinks, smiling widely at the thought of a new possible mermaid friend. Will sits there, face still frozen in shock, loving the thought of there being mermaids, another person that loves the water, just like him. Rikki looks around, enjoying the positive feedback, letting herself breathe normally again. The other parents are still in a state of shock, still not believing what they are seeing.
"Well, that explains everything," Neil says, shaking himself out of his silent shock. He looks at Elliot, surprised that he took the news so well, yet not quite understanding why he is so okay with this: she lied to them, she kept secrets from them, she was completely different. He looks at his wife, knowing that she does not understand his excitement as well. He finally looks over to his daughter and tries to get some answers. "Emma, why didn't you ever tell us about this?" he says waving his hand towards the screen. She looks down at her feet and quietly speaks, but loud enough for her family to hear. "It was so new to me. I didn't know what to do. I was scared of it, about my future, of what would happen." Looking them in the eyes, she continues. "I'm so sorry. I wish I could explain it to you, but it's such a long story, that I am sure you will know about soon." Sighing, she finishes her comment. "It's … complicated."
This was not the answer he was expecting to hear, tensing up he looks over to his wife, deciding what to do next. They were family, they were to never keep secrets from each other. So why would she keep something so big from them?! Eventually, Lisa nods, letting him know that they should just drop the matter for now, and deal with the situation later. He huffs and looks over at his daughter. "Fine. We'll talk about this more later." She looks at him, noticing his stern stare, with a hint of disappointment and anger. Nodding, she reluctantly speaks. "Okay." Everyone finally turns back toward the screen, ready to see more of this secret unfold.
[Emma screams and looks around, making sure no one else sees her.]
Lisa and Neil look at her, realizing that she did not like the idea of it as well. As if she did not know what happened, as if she was terrified of it just like they were.
[It then shows Cleo in a bathtub, wide-eyed, in an orange top and tail also, looking at it up and down.]
Don and Bev gasps, clearly not expecting this. Cleo sighs and buries her head into her knees.
"You too?!" says Charlotte, looking over at her somewhat nemesis, shock covering her face, along with everyone else.
"But, Cleo," Don says, trying to form words. Cleo looks at her dad and speaks nervously. "You've been hiding this all along? Why?" Hesitating, she avoids the question. "Can we talk about this later, dad? Please?" begging for this conversation to end. He looks at her daughter as if he did not know who she was anymore. Bev puts her hand over her heart, so worried about what happened to her, tears also starting to form as well.
Lewis holds Cleo's hand, tightening his grip to let her know that he was there for her. For them.
"I was right," Kim whispers, staring intensely at the screen like it would go away. "I was right!" she yells even louder this time, jumping out of her seat in excitement and points at her sister, completely getting over her anger from earlier. "I was right about the diary!" she says triumphantly, before her victorious smile vanishes, realization hitting her. "Wait a second. The diary showed three. Since Emma is one, and now you, that could only mean that…" she doesn't finish as looks at Rikki, and in return, she narrows her eyes at Kim as if she were saying 'don't push your luck, kid'. Kim sits back down, hoping that her theory was correct.
"What diary?" Zane asks. "Oh, you will definitely find out about it later," Kim laughs nervously, a bit embarrassed by what happened. Shrugging, he turns back towards the screen.
Kim: "Come on, Cleo, you can't stay in there forever. Cleo!" She knocks on the door annoyed.
"I could try," she mutters, trying to cheer herself up again.
Elliot laughs. "I can't believe you were that close to your sister as a mermaid." "I can't believe we both live with one," she says, staring at the screen awestruck. Shaking herself out of the daze, she tries to get back to normal and pretends to pout about the situation, hoping that Cleo did not notice how she first reacted. But she did and is now staring at her little sister with surprise and a bit of a smile.
[Rikki walks across the grass when the sprinklers turn on. Drops of water splash on Rikki as she tries to shake it off. As she does so, she turns into water herself for a second, before turning into a mermaid as well still standing.]
"Rikki?!" Terry yells. Looking at his daughter as if to make sure she was still human, he continues questioning her. "Why didn't you say anything?!" Sighing, she rubs the back of her neck, not even daring to look her father in the eyes. "It wasn't easy to say. Look, can we just talk about this another time?" she says, trying to stay away from this topic for as long as possible.
Knowing his daughter does not like talking about her feelings and would rather talk in private, he decides to drop it for now and deal with it later. "Alright," he says, although she can hear the tone of hurt in his voice, hurting her to hear him speak like that.
She doesn't seem like the mermaid type though, Will curiously thinks.
"Where did your clothes go? The same happened with Emma," asks Denman, the curiosity flowing from her mind. "We're not sure, we just chalked it up to magic at this point," Lewis says rubbing his chin.
"You knew?!" yells Don, looking at the boy and Cleo in surprised anger. Lewis's eyes widen, realizing his mistake. "Oh, uh, whoops," he says nervously, accidentally spilling the beans.
"Okay. Who else knows?" Neil says, rubbing his forehead, hoping to make the oncoming headache go away from all the new information about his daughter and her friends.
Zane, Denman, Harrison, and Mrs. Chatham raise their hands. The parents look at them surprised, then look at their daughters, waiting for an answer. In return, they shake their heads and give them the same answer as last time. "Later." "You three have a lot of explaining to do," Bev says.
[Rikki looks at herself, wobbling, and falls. The sprinklers turn off. Sitting up, she turns around and looks at her brand-new tail.]
A couple of laughs are heard, some getting over their initial shock of the past few minutes. "What did you expect? Can't stand on tails," Rikki says as if it were obvious to them, starting to feel a bit better about their secret coming out.
[In Cleo's house, they decide to talk about what happened to them. Walking from the kitchen to the living room, they discuss their new 'features.']
Cleo: "It was orange and covered in scales."
Emma: "The minute I hit water –"
Rikki: "I was water for a second."
Cleo: "I was a fish."
More laughter goes around. "Well, that's one way of describing it," Will says.
"Half fish technically," Lewis says jokingly, earning a slap to the head from Rikki.
Bella chuckles to herself, remembering her having the same reaction when she first transformed.
Emma: "What's going on?"
Rikki: "That's what I wanna know."
"Well, you turned into mermaids and now you're discussing it. It shouldn't be that hard Emma," Zane says, stating the obvious. Emma rolls her eyes.
[Emma and Rikki look around.]
Rikki: "Is there anyone else here?"
Cleo: "No, dad's at work, and my sister and mom are shopping."
"We just had to go shopping that day," Kim says annoyed, Bev laughs at her youngest daughter's remark.
Emma: "Okay, what happened to us?"
"Do I need to repeat myself?" Zane laughs. Emma scoffs at him, annoyed by his remarks. Why is he here?
Rikki: "About ten seconds after we touch water we grow these…"
Cleo: "And it vanishes when we're dry. And that's the same with you two right?" The two blonde's nod.
"No, they're still mermaids, they're tails just happen to be invisible," Kim says sarcastically, causing Cleo to smile at her sisters' comment, starting to forget about the whole incident from before.
Cleo: "The tails are like…"
Emma: "Exactly like…"
Rikki: "We look like mermaids."
"Well, that took a bit to admit out loud," Bella snickers, startling everyone around her since she was so quiet most of the time.
Only ten seconds? That's interesting, Denman thinks, taking in as much information as she can.
Emma: "I've told you before, you're not funny. Mermaids don't exist, that's just too weird."
"Denial won't help," Bella says. Rikki looks at her strangely. "How would you know?" "I-I don't," she stammers out quickly, almost slipping out her secret.
Elliot laughs. "That's my sister alright." His parents look at him, beginning to realize that he was right. Although she grows a tail, she is still their same old Emma, in some ways. This is going to take a lot of getting used to.
[They hear someone knocking at the door.]
Cleo: "Oh no, it's Lewis. I forgot he's helping me with biology today."
Charlotte perks up at hearing his name. Attempting to strike a conversation with him, she asks a question. "Is this how you figured it out?" "No, I didn't find out until another time."
[Cleo gets up from her position on the couch and opens the door for Lewis.]
Lewis: "Cleo. Cle-oh. Oh." Looking at his watch, he walks into the kitchen. "Do I got the time wrong?"
Cleo: "No, we said nine. But, sorry, Lewis, something has come up."
"Yeah, definitely something," he laughs.
Lewis: "Like what?"
Cleo: "Just something important." She looks at the other two girls who shake their heads no. "But … not so important that you need to know about it. Sorry, Lewis, I have to cancel." They head back towards the door.
"Ouch, that must've hurt," Zane snickers, annoying Lewis.
Lewis: "Oh. Maybe some other time."
Cleo: "Lewis, your smart. Do you know anything about mermaids?"
"Cleo!" Don and Kim yell, the latter smacking her head. "What were you thinking?!" "That I needed information?" she shrugs. "I know, I shouldn't have don't it, that it could have gotten us in trouble. Trust me, I've heard this speech plenty of times," she claims, looking at the other two mermaids who smile smugly.
[Emma and Rikki look aggravated, trying to hide their annoyance about the question.]
Lewis: "No, not really."
Cleo: "Okay, sorry bye." Shoving him out the door, Emma and Rikki get up from their positions, looking at her seriously. Cleo walks up to them confused.
Cleo: "What?"
Don and Kim hang their heads at their family member's obliviousness, while Bev just laughs quietly to herself, enjoying the show.
Rikki: "'Do you know anything about mermaids,' are you crazy?"
They laugh at her mimicry. "Yes, she is," Rikki mutters to herself, cheering herself up a bit as the laughter eventually gets to her.
Emma: "Cleo, this is really serious. If anyone found out about this, we could be in big trouble."
Lisa sits up in her chair, listening to her speak. Is that what she thinks? Is that what they think will happen? That we will rat them out or throw them in a lab or something? Looking over towards her daughter, she yearns to have a chat with her but knows it is probably best to wait to do it in private.
Bella's smile falters, as she thinks the same things.
Mrs. Chatham looks at the screen sad, memories flooding her of the time when they all thought the same thing.
Cleo: "Well, maybe –"
Emma: "Look, something very strange has happened to us. We don't know how and we certainly don't know why."
"Yeah, no kidding," says Ash.
"Did you ever figure it out?" Annette asks. "Sort of," Emma says.
'Sort of', what does she mean by that? Denman thinks, looking more confused than ever.
Rikki: "There is a way for us to find out more."
Cleo: "How?"
Rikki: "Go back in the water?"
"Rikki, that's dangerous!" says Terry. "Well, we needed to find out," she argues back. "There are other ways for you to get answers." "Not exactly," she says, sighing, looking at the marine biologists.
Cleo: "No way, not me."
"Are you kidding me?" Kim says, irked by her sister's fear. "You're a mermaid and still afraid of water?" her anger returning. "I used to be," Cleo looks away embarrassed.
[They sit back down on the couch, and chair arms.]
Rikki: "I'm going. I just don't think I should go alone. Any volunteers?" Emma looks at her.
[In an empty spot on the beach full of rocks, Emma and Rikki stand there watching the waves.]
Terry feels relieved, glad that someone decided to go with her. "Thank you, Emma," he says. "You're welcome," she says quietly, still feeling uncomfortable about the revealed secret.
"I don't think this is a good idea," Neil says, still unsure about his daughter's new life.
"Oh, trust me, I think you'll enjoy this," Rikki replies for Emma, smirking at the thought of their reactions to the next scene, knowing very well that they will like it.
Emma: "I'm not so sure about this."
Rikki: "It's all right, I am."
Emma: "That gives me no confidence whatsoever."
"Well, that was rude," Charlotte says, Emma's parents nodding along with her. "Do they always argue like this?" Bella asks. "Like cats and dogs," Cleo says annoyed at their bickering.
[They walk into the water, hand in hand, ready to find out more information.]
Rikki: "About ten seconds right?"
Emma: "Yup."
"Wouldn't the time be halfway up if you are already in the water though?" Ash points out. "Yeah, we didn't really think that through," Rikki says wincing at the memory.
Both: "One, two, three, four, five …" Before they could finish, they turn into water and transform into mermaids, screaming and falling into the shallow waves. They look at each other and laugh, looking at their tails.
"I'm never going to get used to that," laughs Bev, amazed once again by their tails.
"It's alright. It took us a while too. Some longer than other," Rikki says, shifting her gaze to her brunette best friend, who laughs also.
[The two mermaids swim underwater in the ocean, with Emma swimming upside down.]
"Emma," Lisa sighs, but cannot help but smile while Neil laughs at her antics. Elliot crosses his arms, still smiling. "Show off."
[They swim around the reefs, popping up and waving at each other, doing more tricks, watching the many beautiful fishes and the ocean around them. A dolphin comes up joining in the fun, swimming alongside it.]
Everyone looks in complete awe, especially Kim. "You swam with a dolphin?! That is so amazing! Cleo, why wouldn't you want to try this out? It's so cool!" she exclaims, looking at her sister in hope that she would one day try it out. Cleo looks surprised but responds to her anyways. "You know why I wouldn't, Kim." Kim looks down in annoyance, tired of her sister's fear.
Charlotte shrinks back in her chair, terrified of the dolphin. Annette hugs her daughter, trying to comfort her. "It's okay sweetie."
[Strange photos of mermaid drawings pop up on the screen that Lewis looks up.]
Jumping in fright, everyone turns to the blonde nerd, looking at him strangely. "Research," he sums up, shrugging.
[Cleo enters the Juicenet Café and spots Lewis.]
Cleo: "Lewis, what are you doing?"
Lewis: "Oh, well, you asked. So, I don't know. I thought I'd do some research." Putting his glasses on, he begins to read some more.
"Aw, that's so sweet," Sam says, admiring his kindness towards Cleo.
Charlotte looks at the two with a tad bit of jealousy forming. Max smiles at them, knowing that the two would have a great adventure together.
Cleo: "That's really nice, Lewis. It's just you didn't need to do that."
Lewis: "I know, but I've got way too much time on my hands."
"Well, he did get blown off," says Zane. "Hey, I didn't blow him off!" Cleo claims, getting offended. "Yes, you did," Rikki and Emma say, defusing the situation, making Cleo quiet down.
Lewis: "Hey, look, I found this really cool stuff." They walk together down the sidewalk. "Mermaid myths have been around for at least three thousand years."
Cleo: "And people really believe in that stuff."
"Well, we do now," laughs Will.
Lewis: "Yeah, apparently. Sometimes they were good omens, sometimes they brought trouble with them."
Max laughs intrigued by what he found so far. Impressive.
"More like a lot of trouble," Rikki scoffs, "but sometimes it's good."
Cleo: "What kind of trouble?" Zane drives up on his motorbike, stopping in front of them, and takes off his visor on his helmet. "Oh no."
"That kind of trouble," she points out, replying to her own question.
"Zane, you better not do anything stupid," Harrison warns. Zane looks down in shame, knowing what is about to happen. "Too late," he mutters, glancing towards Denman.
Lewis: "Just ignore him."
Cleo: "Let's go back." They begin to leave, but Zane flips his visor back down and charges forward on his bike right between them, forcing them to dodge out of the way.
Lewis: "Watch out! Whoa!"
"Watch it, Bennett!" Don yells, Bev glares at him.
"It's okay dad, I got my revenge," Cleo says with a wicked grin. "How?" asks Charlotte. "Just watch."
Harrison begins scolding him. "You idiot! You could've hurt them and then got yourself ended up in jail or something!" Zane tries to ignore him, having heard this already before.
[Cleo gets close to Lewis while Zane gets off his bike, taking his helmet off.]
Zane: "Nervous?"
Cleo: "What do you want, Zane?"
Zane: "My father didn't appreciate having the water police knock on his door."
"Harrison?" Don says, demanding an answer. Harrison sighs aggravated with his son's actions on screen. "I wasn't upset with Cleo or the girls, I was upset with my son since it was his zodiac, it was supposed to be his responsibility." Don nods, understanding the problem now.
"It was your fault," Will says. "Rikki stole the sparkplug," Zane points out, hoping to gain an advantage, but ends upsetting Rikki. "You shouldn't have pushed her out to sea and said to keep it!" she yells at him, making him wince.
Cleo: "Well, you shouldn't have told me to keep the zodiac."
"See?!" she yells again.
Zane: "I don't like people making me look bad, Cleo. Especially chicks like you."
"Like what?" Cleo says firmly. Don and Bev glare at him, proud that she is standing up for herself. "Like nothing," he says shrinking back.
Lewis: "In front of your dad you mean, Zane? Sounds like your scared of him."
Zane stays silent, refusing to look at his father.
Harrison looks over at him. Is he really scared of me?
[Cleo starts drifting off, staring at a fire hydrant nearby.]
"What are you doing?" Kim asks curiously. "You'll see," she says, sighing, knowing another secret is about the be revealed.
Zane: "You think you're better than me, Lewis, is that it?"
Lewis: "Almost everyone's better than you, live with it." Zane walks closer, and the fire hydrant begins to shake from Cleo's hand movements, while Lewis steps in front of her.
Bev smiles, thinking that was sweet of Lewis to do.
Kim stares as she notices the hydrant shake. "Are you doing that?!" she yells. "Yup," she replies. "No way!" yells Ash. "You have powers?!" Elliot yells. Emma smiles at his excitement, nodding.
"Thanks, Lewis," Cleo says, smiling at him. Returning the smile, he replies. "You're welcome."
Zane: "Tough guy. Got yourself a protector, have you, Cleo? You and whose army? It's not gonna do you any good." Focusing on the hydrant more, the lid begins to come loose by her twisting hand.
Everyone leans in closer, watching what is about to happen. Denman stares intensely, eager to learn more about her power.
Zane: "You know, Cleo, one of these days, with or without Lewis, something really bad might happen to you."
"It already has," she murmurs, staring at Denman.
"Is that a threat?" Don says through gritted teeth. "No sir," Zane says shrinking further back.
[The lid pops off, water spraying Zane, sending him flying over the edge of the hill and into the water below.]
Laughter fills the room hysterically along with clapping from the amazing performance done by Cleo. They watch her use her power with excitement in their eyes, excited about these girls' newfound lives.
"You can control water!" Kim gasps, smiling as she figured it out. Cleo giggles at her sister's excitement towards her power. "Yup." Ironic, a mermaid who can control water, yet is afraid of it. Bella snickers at the irony.
Denman smiles, remembering the time her coworker got blasted into the cave wall by Cleo's power that night on Mako, knowing that it can be immensely powerful.
"So much better seeing it in person," laughs Rikki, out of breath.
[Cleo and Lewis's mouths gape open. Cleo moves her hand once again, making the hydrant stop spraying. She runs away, leaving Lewis there shocked.]
"Way to leave me hanging," Lewis jokes. "Sorry," Cleo says awkwardly.
[Emma and Rikki walk to Emma's house.]
Emma: "So we climb out of the water, and everything is back to normal when we're dry, like nothing ever happened."
Rikki: "But it did. Ah, it's got to be the best experience of my life. I mean, are there even words for that?"
Emma: "I don't think so."
Terry smiles, glad that his daughter was having fun, it has been a long time since he has seen her have a good time.
Denman is quietly trying to hide her excitement. So, 10 seconds and they transform after a drop of water and normal when they are dry. Just like the cell sample! Ah, so much in one day! Now how to figure out how it happened. Does it have to do with that weird pool?
[Before walking inside, Cleo yells for them running up.]
Cleo: "Wait! You will never believe what just happened." She shoves them towards the door.
"After today, I'm pretty sure we'll believe anything," says Sam, everyone nodding in agreement.
[In Emma's bedroom, Cleo has a cup of water at the ready and begins twisting her hand, the water following her command, trailing upwards. The two girls are shocked as it grows even taller.]
Cleo: "And it grows even more."
"Where's the extra water coming from?" Denman asks amazed. "Don't know," Lewis says hesitantly. "Magic," Mrs. Chatham says, smiling. Great, another problem to figure out, Denman huffs, aggravated that she cannot figure it out.
"It won't work." She looks up, wodnering where the voice came from, confused. "What?" she asks. "You won't solve it. Believe me, I have searched for years. Nothing," Max says smiling, bewildered. "You knew for this long?" she says shocked. Max nods. "Not about them, but they aren't the first mermaids I've ever seen," he says. She stays shocked, looking back at the screen, while he winks at Mrs. Chatham.
Rikki: "Where's the extra water coming from?"
Cleo: "I don't know." She accidentally releases the tentacle of water, it almost falls on the two blondes before Emma freezes it, holding her hand up flat.
Gasps fill the air. "Another power!" Kim yells. "You can freeze things?" Neil asks. Emma nods, glad that they are starting to talk to her again. "So cool!" Elliot says, amazed, her laughing at his excitement. Elliot's smile gets even wider, thinking that his sister couldn't be cooler than that.
That's similar to my power, Bella thinks smirking. Ash stares, smiling at the icy mermaid.
Emma: "Did I do that?"
Cleo: "It wasn't me."
Rikki: "Okay, this is over the top. I'm getting tingles now."
Emma: "All I did was …" Holding her hand out flat again, she freezes a flower vase full of water, smiling.
"So, all you do is use your hands and that's how you use your power? All of you?" asks Annette a little confused. "Yeah, pretty much," replies Cleo.
"What's your power, Rikki?" Will asks. "You'll see soon," she says smiling devilishly. Mrs. Chatham smiles at Emma proudly, especially since they had the same power.
[Rikki smiles at their new powers then decides to give it a try. She uses several hand motions including the Spiderman move, then both, but nothing happens.]
"Was that Spiderman?!" Zane bursts out laughing, along with others.
"But nothing happened," says Ash. "Do you not have a power?" Bella asked confusedly. Rikki says nothing but smiles wickedly, letting it ride out.
Rikki: "Not fair, why don't I get to do the cool stuff?"
Cleo: "I don't think cool is the word. It's scary."
"Doesn't seem scary to me," says Will. "It was at first," Cleo replies. That is understandable, it takes a while to get used to, Bella thinks.
Cleo: "But you should have seen the look on Zane's face." Her and Rikki begin to giggle.
"Yes, ha-ha, very funny," he sarcastically laughs.
Emma: "This isn't funny. We've got to keep this a secret from everyone."
"Even from us? Your own family." Lisa says hurt, Neil nodding while Elliot looks down. Emma begins to feel the guilt building up. "I'm so sorry mom. We will explain everything later, I promise."
Emma: "We could end up dissected or in the circus or something."
Denman and Harrison look away from the screen ashamed.
Cleo: "So this secret … it's just between the three of us?"
Emma: "Our secret, our responsibility. Whatever happens, we're in this together."
They smile at each other, remembering that one word: together.
"Wise words, Emma," Mrs. Chatham speaks.
Rikki: "Doesn't mean we're married, does it?" They chuckle at the comment.
Emma: "Now that was actually funny." The screen goes black.
A few laughs at the joke. Some are still in shock after everything they have seen, especially the families. "Wow. That sure was something," Ash says.
"So, you really are mermaids?" asks Will, pointing at the three. They hesitate before finally nodding their heads simultaneously.
"So now that you know, don't blab, got it? Or else," Rikki threatens. Everyone nods, scared of what the mermaid might do but the people who know her closely knows that she would not harm them, unless absolutely necessary.
We will see about that, Denman stares at the fiery blonde, her glaring back.
"So, girls, can we talk now about this?" Don asks, getting up. The girls look at one another, trembling so bad from fear over a talk they do not want to have. They shake their heads no, not ready for this conversation. Emma speaks up for the group. "Not right now, please? I don't think we're ready for that 'topic' yet." The parents look at one another, sighing, before giving in, realizing that they are not ready to talk about it either, and get back in their seats. The girls sigh in relief, glad that they were saved from one awful conversation for a little while longer.
After everyone gets ready to continue, Neil picks up the remote and pressed play.