A Wish on a Full Moon
Hey everyone, sorry for the longer wait than usual. Long story short: My grandpa got a major surgery done and we only had a week to prepare. He got it done last week, and we've been taking care of him and my grandma, and will be for a while probably.
So, I haven't been able to work on it very much. But the good news is that while taking care of them, I have been able to write it some and was able to get a few chapters ahead these past couple of weeks. Still need to edit them (a lot) and some updates might take a little longer than usual once I have edited the written chapters and posted them. However, I will let you know once everything goes back to normal.
Thank you for reading this story and thank you for all the reviews and follows. I love working on this story and hope y'all enjoy it as well! 😊
I do not own H2O: Just Add Water or any of the characters.
Chapter 8: Catch of the Day (part 1)
[It's nighttime at the Sertori household, where most of the family, besides Cleo, are watching sharks on the television. Don and Kim are sitting on the couch, the former with his feet propped on top of the table, while Bev scrubs a dish next to them.]
Don: points with the remote towards the television. "Nasty. You don't want to mess with one of those."
"Who would want to?" Neil questions, Lisa shuttering at the sight of them. Charlotte feels nervous, thinking that sharks are worse than the dolphins.
Kim: "Have you ever seen a great white, dad?"
Don: "Only once. Took half my catch for the day and shredded my net." He nods. "You don't mess with them. They'll rip you to bits. Tiny bits." Holding his hand out, he shows her how small of bits he is talking about. "Little, teeny weeny bits."
"Were you trying to scare her?" Bev asks, looking over to him with a stern look. Don looks her way and replies awkwardly, still not used to her being around them again. "No." "I wasn't scared!" Kim yells.
"Really?" Zane asks, a little impressed. "Yep. That was a long time ago though." He laughs as another thought pops into his head, forgetting about the previous interaction. "You know it's strange how one showed up at the coast the next day." The girls giggle softly to themselves, not soft enough, however, after Don hears them. "What's so funny?" This causes them to laugh even more, confusing the parent as he shrugs, ignoring their antics.
Cleo: walks in from the kitchen, standing beside the couch, rag in hand. "Kim. Kim." Kim looks at her. Cleo tilts her head toward the kitchen, signaling for them to talk. Kim gets up and follows Cleo, where she points the rag at the sink. "Uh, dishes."
Kim: "Ten dollars."
Cleo: puts her hand on her hip. "What? You only charged five to do them yesterday."
"That's a little pricey," Ash says, surprised by the amount. "Extra work, extra cash," Kim says, folding her arms over her chest, smiling at her negotiation skills.
Kim: "You want me to keep on doing your chores? Well, my price has gone up." Cleo crosses her arms. "Besides, I want to watch TV. Ten dollars." She smirks.
"Ok, good point," Ash shrugs. "Still high though," Cleo mutters.
Cleo: shakes head. "No way."
Kim: "What's up with you, anyway? I know you're scared of water, but this is ridiculous."
Cleo: feeling stressed, she gives in. "Fine. Ten. Pay you later." She shoves the rag into Kim's hand and walks back into the living room and stands next to Don.
"Sorry about that Cleo, I shouldn't have kept pushing," Kim says, wincing at her sister's reaction. Cleo doesn't respond, shocked by her apology, only nodding to let her know she is forgiven.
Don: "Cleo. Check this out." He smiles, still watching the television. "This is the best part. Feeding frenzy." TV shows a swarm of sharks tearing apart their food.
Cleo: disgusted by what she is seeing. "How can you even watch this stuff?" Looking at him, she walks away. Don and Bev watch her walk off, clueless by what just happened. Bev stops scrubbing and looks at him.
"Sorry," Cleo apologizes as well, feeling awful about her on-screen mood. "I shouldn't have taken my stress out on you two." "It's alright, sweetheart," Don replies, smiling.
"Yeah, probably not a good idea to show that to a mermaid," Lewis warns. "Agreed," the girls say, causing the others to laugh.
[The next day, people are jumping in the waves to surf. However, further out, Emma and Rikki are underwater swimming side-by-side with a breathtaking view of the ocean below.]
"Stunning," Sam says, enjoying the scenery.
[Emma and Rikki are sitting at a table outside of the Juicenet Cafe, juice on the table when Lewis walks towards them and sits across the table with a drink in his hand.]
Emma: "You won't believe it. We timed ourselves and guess how long we can hold our breath for?"
"Four minutes?" Ash asks, attempting to guess correctly. "Five minutes," Bella says quickly, trying to throw off suspicion from her earlier comments; obviously knowing the real answer. The girls shake their heads, smiling. "Seven?" Will asks, throwing in a random guess, knowing that it was not possible though considering even he can't hold his breath for that long. "Nope," Rikki smugly replies.
Lewis: "Um –."
Emma: "Fifteen minutes." She and Rikki high-five each other, proud of themselves.
"Fifteen?!" Elliot yells amazed by his sister's special abilities. "No way," Will says, jaw dropped, surprised that someone could hold it a lot longer than him. Several others murmur in shock, surprised by this newfound information. An expanded lung capacity? Denman theorizes, wide-eyed.
"That's impossible," Harrison says. "We all thought mermaids were impossible at one point, but look where we are now," Zane states, rolling his eyes at his father's disbelief of their other powers.
"That's around the same time as you three were, right?" Max whispers to Chatham, who smiles in reply.
Lewis: "That's impressive."
Rikki: smiles joyfully. "Yup, it's pretty cool." A flashback occurs of the two underwater in the reefs from earlier.
Emma: "We could probably stay down for longer if we really tried."
Rikki: takes her response as a challenge. "You're on!" They look at one another.
Emma: "You think you can beat me?"
Rikki: "I know I can. Bring it on." Emma laughs.
"Uh oh, Emma's competitive side is showing," Elliot jokes, his parents smiling at their daughter's joy. "A trained swimmer versus an inexperienced mermaid. I wonder who will win," Ash says sarcastically. "Me. Every time," Emma exclaims proudly.
Lewis: "You guys must be jumping out of your skin about this stuff."
Emma: They both nod happily, then look over to Lewis. "Yeah. Well, two of us are." They see Cleo heading for their table.
"We are too," Kim mutters excitedly, her parents overhearing, smiling about their daughter's newfound eagerness.
Lewis: speaks loudly to her. "Hey, Cleo, guess what?" Points at the two blondes. "These guys can hold their breath for fifteen minutes." He hits the table, as Cleo sits down.
"A little too excited there, don't ya think?" Zane jokes, looking at him. "I was trying to get her to perk up a little" he shrugs.
Emma and Rikki: "Lewis!"
Lewis: "Sorry."
Cleo: "What's going on?"
Emma: "We've been, you know, swimming." Cleo nods.
Rikki: "It's the best thing. The reef is out of this world."
"It sure looks like it," Charlotte admits, a little envious of their powers, knowing she would be unable to do so due to her fear. Cleo looks over to her, a bit curious as to what is running through the redhead's mind.
Cleo: fakes a smile, trying to change the subject. "That's great. So has anyone been able to finish that calculus homework?" Lewis nods, Rikki looks bummed out. "Question seven's a nightmare."
Emma: leans in closer. "We missed you this morning. Why weren't you answering your phone?"
Cleo: "And that project on geography, that's due Thursday." Emma sighs, looking away. "We really need to get together on that one."
"Were you even listening?" Ash asks. "Yes," Cleo sighs.
You sure tried to dodge a bunch of the mermaid conversations, Bella thinks, deciding best to keep her mouth shut for now.
Rikki: "Listen, Cleo, whatever's happened to us is incredible." Cleo rolls her eyes. "You've got to come out with us. The water is amazing."
Cleo: "I'm not doing it, ok? I didn't ask for any of this to happen to us. So stop bugging me about it, ok?" She jumps up from her seat and storms off; Lewis watches her, rubbing his neck. The girls sigh.
"Well, at least you tried," Bev says, trying to cheer them up.
"You didn't want it?" Denman asks surprised by her outburst. "No. Back then, I just wanted to be normal again," she admits, causing the scientist to feel slightly guilty about all the problems she caused from her 'discovery'. Mrs. Chatham and Max immediately think of Gracie after hearing that, knowing how she felt when she had a whole new life.
"So, if you hated it so much back then, when do you begin to enjoy it?" Kim asks impatiently. "Later," Cleo replies.
[Later at school, Cleo is heading to the locker area when Byron calls for her, causing her to turn around.]
Byron: "Hey, Cleo! You've got to come down to the beach." He walks up to her and she snaps at him.
Cleo: "Why? Why does everyone want me to come down to the beach?" She walks away angrily, Byron following her, continuing the path to the lockers.
"Wow, Cleo, I didn't know you had it in you," Charlotte teases, reminded a little about her diary incident and forgetting her fear for a second. "Yeah, I probably shouldn't have released my anger at him," Cleo winces, not getting the hint.
Byron: "Hey, chill, alright?"
Cleo: "Sorry. I'm a bit tense. What's going on?"
"Ya think?" Rikki says as if it were obvious. "It's more than a bit," Emma says, using her fingers to show the amount, Cleo huffs playfully.
Byron: "So the first of the season's turtles was laying eggs this morning at the beach. It was amazing."
Cleo: "Wow! That's wonderful!"
Byron: "Yeah, but I heard a rumor that one of them got caught in a fishing net heading back out to sea."
Cleo: looks at him, shocked and upset. "Oh, poor little thing."
"Who would do such a thing?" Annette says, upset about it. Don sits up, getting the idea of where this whole thing started when Cleo first brought the conversation up later that day. He looks over to Cleo, who awkwardly shrugs it off, feeling guilty about the whole thing.
"So? Like he said, it's just a rumor. It's probably nothing," Zane says. "You need more proof than just what someone else says." "Oh, there was proof alright," Rikki mutters quietly.
Byron: "See ya." He waves goodbye to her and splits off, passing Lewis. Cleo walks to her locker, opens it up, and grabs a textbook inside, turning the pages. Lewis walks up to her.
Lewis: "Hey, Cleo, you want to go hang out at the mall later?"
"The mall? Doesn't seem very manly," Ash jokes. "She likes the mall," Lewis explains, Cleo nods, agreeing with him.
Cleo: shutting her locker, she looks away. "Busy. Sorry." She leans against her locker, seemingly annoyed.
Lewis: getting the hint, he presses on. "Cleo, I know these recent developments have hit you pretty hard, but you can't hide forever. And just because you're," looking around, he leans in and whispers. "A mermaid –."
Cleo: gets angry. "I'm not one of those things. I've never liked the water, and I never will." Glaring at him, she walks past him.
Her parents feel sorry for Cleo, knowing how much she feared the water, hoping Cleo will get over her fear real soon like she says. Kim huffs, tired of hearing her sister's debate with this whole mermaid situation as she impatiently waits to finally see her in action.
"He's right, you can't hide forever," Max says to her, hoping that she will never turn out as his beloved Gracie did.
"Uh, excuse me. 'Things'? I'm a little offended," Rikki jokes. Likewise, Bella thinks, smirking.
Lewis: he turns around as she walks away, questioning her. "What are you going to do? Hide from water for the rest of your life?" Cleo stops, looks at him for a second, before leaving.
"He's got a point there. You can't hide from your fears forever. Sooner or later, you just have to face it," Sam announces, hoping this would encourage the girl a little, even though she knows this is in the past. Although it does not encourage her, it does catch someone else's attention. Charlotte looks over to Sam, taking in her words, thinking it over.
Will feels bad for Cleo, unable to imagine having a fear of water, something that he loves so much.
[After their classes end, Emma and Rikki walk out of the classroom along with the other students. They meet Lewis outside near the classroom windows.]
Rikki: "You bummed out, right?"
Lewis: shrugs. "She's just taking a little time to –. Yeah, I bummed out." Rikki nods.
"Knew it," Rikki smiles, others giggling at her guess.
[They look towards the stairs where they see Cleo walking down them, standing by the railing, watching them. Lewis turns back to the two blondes.]
Lewis: "Uh, I am pretty sure she doesn't want to talk about it."
"Gee, what makes you think that? Because she was avoiding the topic earlier?" asks Zane sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
Emma: "Forget it, Lewis. We can deal with this. It's a girl thing." She pats him on the shoulder and the two girls walk up the steps. Lewis looks at Cleo from his place on the ground floor. Cleo walks to the other side of the stairs and looks at the view of the schoolyard.
"I wouldn't call it a girl thing," Lisa says. "It's not exactly a human thing either," Denman mutters, Mrs. Chatham and Max hear, looking at her and sighs.
Emma: "Cleo," She leans back against the railing, lowering her voice so the students passing by cannot hear their conversation. Cleo turns around, looking at them, also leaning against the railing. "About this whole mermaid business."
Cleo: "There are more important things in life than seeing how long you can hold your breath for and frolicking with the dolphins."
Rikki: "I don't frolic. I glide."
"Oh, so you were listening to them," Ash teases, Cleo rolling her eyes.
"What's the difference?" Will asks, confused. Rikki shrugs, not knowing herself. Charlotte shivers a little, just at the mention of dolphins.
Cleo: shakes her head, rolling her eyes. "Whatever. It's not important. I don't want to talk about it."
Emma: "How can you say that. This is the most amazing thing that's ever happened to us. Probably the most amazing thing that's ever happened to anybody."
Mrs. Chatham smiles, reflecting on the fun times she had as being one herself once before, missing the good ole days. Emma looks over to the elderly lady, knowing what she was thinking, glad that she has gotten to know her, and glad to know that there was someone else who understood.
"Really? Because just a moment ago you were hating it as well," Elliot brings up, snapping Emma out of her thoughts. "It took a bit, but just like Cleo, it eventually grew on me. Literally," she chuckles.
Cleo: tries thinking of something else to say. "Well, what about the turtles?" Rikki looks on confused.
Emma: feeling the same way, shrugs. "Turtles?"
"Cleo, word just got out that morning. I highly doubt that they heard about that," Bev remarks.
Cleo: "Apparently, a sea turtle got caught in a fishing net this morning. That's important." Leans in, raising her eyebrows, as if she were proving her point.
"We don't know if it was true," Elliot says. "Yeah, still no proof on that statement," Zane reminds.
Rikki: shakes her head, smiling. "I don't believe this. You're such a hypocrite."
Cleo: confused, she squints her eyes. "Why?"
Rikki: "Cleo, your dad's a fisherman. His nets are the ones trapping the turtles."
Shocked by this statement, they all look over to the fisherman who was being accused: Don. "What?!" Neil yells, not believing his friend would do that. "That's not true! Dad would never hurt a turtle," Kim defends him, upset about the idea. Others begin to murmur, hoping that they can believe the girl and that he was not harming them. "Don?" Harrison asks, confused as to whether it was true or not. "No, I didn't do it. However, it was my boat. They were caught by someone who I thought I could trust. He was my closest fisherman: Eddie," he admits, looking down ashamed.
Cleo sighs, deciding to speak up for her father. "Dad's right. He wasn't the one catching the turtles. The whole thing was just a big mix-up."
Don suddenly begins to laugh. "So that's where you got the idea from." "Sorry, Mr. Sertori," Rikki says, flinching. "It's alright, Rikki. It all got cleared up eventually."
Cleo: feeling hurt from her words. "That's not true. My dad would never do that."
Rikki: tilts her head. "Really?" Cleo looks her up and down angrily then walks downstairs. Rikki watches her then turns back around.
"Why didn't you defend him, Cleo!" Kim points out angrily. "Because it kind of made sense," Cleo admits shamefully, crossing her arms.
[In the kitchen at Cleo's house, Don offers some coffee to Cleo as he sets the mugs down on the bar.]
Don: sits down at the bar. "Cleo, coffee."
Cleo: walks into the kitchen, she hesitates before sitting down next to him while Don takes a sip of coffee. "Dad, have you ever caught any sea turtles?"
"Cleo! You actually questioned him?" Kim says, feeling hurt by her sister's question. Cleo sighs. "I know, I know, I should've found proof before I did."
Don: looks at her confused, holding his mug. "What kind of question is that?"
Cleo: "It's simple. Have you ever caught a turtle in one of your fishing nets?"
Don: he smiles at her. "Cleo, you know me. I do what's right, ok?" He continues drinking his coffee.
"Exactly," Kim huffs angrily.
Cleo: "That's not an answer."
Don: thinking, he sets down his mug and turns to her. "We do everything by the book. We have nets with grids in them. If a turtle comes in, it's directed to an opening." He moves his hands around to show where while he explains it. "Plus we fish miles away from the nesting beaches." Picking his mug back up, he drinks some more.
"As it's supposed to be," Lewis agrees.
Cleo: looks worried. "Well, some of the turtles are still getting caught."
Don: "Not by me." Cleo looks down. "And not by any fisherman who's doing the right thing." Don nods and takes another sip.
"Who would want to harm such a cute little thing anyway?" asks Elliot, as if the answer were obvious. People like Eddie, Don thinks sadly.
[Out at sea on Don's boat, Jake prepares the nets and lowers them into the water. Emma and Rikki speed quickly through the water, bubbles surrounding them, going in circles, enjoying their new power before halting to a stop.]
The audience grows silent, stunned by the new power discovered, then they finally find their voices. "You have super speed?!" Elliot yells, amazed. "Yep," Emma chuckles as she looks at the rest of the group's reactions of excitement, especially from Kim. Looking over to her parents, she notices a small smile beginning to form on their faces.
"Does it work on land as well? You know, with your legs?" asks Will, loving the thought of being able to swim so fast. "Nope. Just only with a tail," Rikki informs, "but it makes racing so much more fun."
Terry laughs. "So, Rikki, I guess that means you can go all the way to Fiji." Rikki smiles at her father's reply before it falters after his next words. "But not without permission."
"How many more powers do you three have?" Lisa asks. "Yeah, what else are we missing?" Elliot includes. "Oh, there might be a few more things up our sleeves," Rikki hints, smirking, causing an even bigger enthusiastic reaction from the two younger siblings.
Bella chuckles to herself. Yeah, pretty much the same reaction I had when I first discovered it.
"So that's how they got to Mako so fast," Denman whispers, but not quiet enough as Max overhears giving her a strange look.
[Looking ahead of them, they notice a fishing net in the water with no grids. Emma points to where a turtle is stuck in a net.]
"Oh no," Annette gasps. "So, the rumors were true?" Zane asks worriedly. "But dad. That's your boat," Kim points out sadly. "Eddie was skippering for me that day, he was using my boat while I was on the Esmeralda," he explains. Kim sighs, a bit relieved that her dad was not involved in the crime.
"Those are illegal nets. They don't even have grids!" Ash yells. "Sad to see a fisherman sink so low," Max says, shaking his head.
[Rikki and Emma swim closer to the net. Rikki surfaces by the boat, checking to see if the coast is clear.]
"What are you two planning?" Terry asks suspiciously. "Just trying to save a fellow friend of the sea," Rikki admits.
[Eddie exits from the inside of the boat, looking at his coworker, who is cutting some rope with a knife.]
Eddie: "Come on, Jake. We're going to be caught if we don't move it." Jake sets the knife down on the edge of the boat and they both head inside.
[Rikki jumps up, grabs the knife, and looks around once more before diving back under when Eddie looks outside. Cutting the net, the turtle gets set free. A few seconds later, Jake pulls the net back up while Rikki puts the knife back in its original position and dives back under. She and Emma see the big hole they left in the net and watch their new friend leave. They leave smiling, and swim side-by-side.]
"Rikki, you have got to quit stealing things, it only seems to make things worse," Terry says, rubbing his forehead, hoping that the oncoming headache will go away. "Sorry dad, but we had to help him," Rikki says sheepishly. Most of the audience, except for the two blondes, smile at the heroic stunt they just pulled.
"Hmm. Wait a second," Don gasps as the realization hits him. "You two were the shark?!" The others, mainly the new people, look over at him, deeply confused. "What?" asks Sam, raising her eyebrow. "It's a long story, which you're definitely going to be seeing so don't even bother asking," Rikki reminds. Emma looks over to the other woman and shrugs.
Don laughs, another realization hitting him. "Well, that explains how it left so quickly."
[At the Juicenet, everyone gathers around, watching the news broadcast on the TV. Emma and Rikki are having a drink at a table, with Byron sitting at the bar behind them.]
News Anchor: "Local fishermen today have been confronted with a possible menace from the deep. Commercial fishermen have reported incidents that may involve a rogue shark. They were lucky to escape injury, but –."
"You thought a shark did that?" Harrison questions. "Well, it was more believable than a mermaid doing it," Don replies. Harrison nods, agreeing with him.
[Cleo walks in through the beaded curtains and sits down at the table with her friends.]
Cleo: "Hey, guys. What's going on?"
Byron: "Hey, Cleo, your dad's on TV." She looks at him then turns toward the television set on the wall.
"Wow, he knew your dad, but not Miriam. That's just sad," laughs Zane. Cleo for once agrees with him.
Don: on the television. "I've fished these waters for a long time. And there's only one thing that causes damage like that. A huge, rogue shark." Emma and Rikki look guilty, the former shifting uncomfortably.
"The news appearance must've felt great," Cleo says, hoping to make him feel better. "Well, not anymore. Kind of feels embarrassing now that I know what really happened," he says, looking over at the two blondes, neither one daring to make eye contact, afraid that they might burst out laughing.
Cleo: "Poor dad." The two of them look at Cleo.
Rikki: "Sorry to have to tell you this, Cleo, but your dad didn't catch a shark. It was a turtle. We cut the net to set it free."
"But it wasn't me!" Don sighs, Rikki feeling guilty.
Cleo: shakes her head in shock. "No way. My dad wouldn't catch turtles."
Emma: looks between the two before sighing. "It's true, Cleo. I'm sorry." Cleo gets upset, looking down at the table.
"Oh, so you believe her and not me?" Rikki asks, faking the hurt look on her face. Cleo smiles, nudging the blonde.