Even if I didn't have a power, swimming as a mermaid was amazing.

While the girls raced each other I loved investigating the maze of coral reefs, watching the different ecosystems beneath the waves was fascinating.

At school later on I found Cleo slumped in her chair beside me, "They try to convince you again?"

She nodded.

The girls had been pushing Cleo too much lately. I knew she'd find herself as a mermaid she just needed time and space.

"I'm sorry things have been so rough for you lately, Cleo."

She leaned forward on her desk, her head turned away, her mind elsewhere and I gave her the space she needed.

Despite their fire and ice personalities Emma and Rikki often banded together with a common goal. If it was convincing Cleo to give being a mermaid a chance or telling her it was her father who caught a turtle; they stuck together.

"Maybe he doesn't know, Cleo." I tried to soothe her.

"Why wouldn't he?" Cleo furrowed her brow, "I need to investigate this."

Later on in the day, Cleo met us at the Juice Net. I was already there drinking a tropical fruit concoction having saved them a seat earlier.

Cleo sat down beside me while the other two sat across from us.

"I still can't believe my dad would willingly do something like this."

I offered my drink to her but she shook her head.

"He denied everything."

I swirled my straw, "What are your instincts telling you, Cleo?"

Cleo slumped, "I don't know. What could I say? I know your lying because my mermaid friends saw you fishing near the nesting beaches?"

"I mean technically they only saw his boat."

"He was using illegal nets, too." Rikki added more fuel to the fire.

Emma supported Rikki's statement, "It's true. There were no grids in them to help a turtle get free.

Cleo covered her face, "This just keeps getting worse and worse."

"Ember is right though we didn't actually see your dad." Rikki looked at me with a nod acknowledging what I said earlier.

"Still it was his boat, his responsibility."

"Cleo you never know what might be happening. Your dad could have been tricked to believe a lie." I tried to help her see the truth.

We parted ways shortly after that and I could only hope it would work out fine.

———

The next day arrived with Lewis all pent out of shape.

"Cleo...she's in the water!"

"Finally!" Rikki grinned.

I came down the stairs, "She's gone after the boat hasn't she?"

Lewis pointed at me as he gasped for air, since he'd run all the way from the marina.

Emma eyes widened in worry, "Everyone is hunting for that shark."

"That's the least of our problems what if Cleo gets caught in those nets?" The girls were quick to start running toward the water after that.

We zoomed through the water heading toward the nesting beaches when we arrived we found Cleo already caught up in the fishing boat's nets. She had stopped struggling because she had gotten so tangled up. I pointed to Emma then pointed above. She nodded before heading up to freeze the net reel. Rikki and I tried to untie the nets, we nearly got Cleo free when Emma came and freed the last bit of net that was around Cleo's tail.

We rose from the water, a distance from the boat.

"Cleo, are you alright?"

She nodded her eyes nearly sparkling, "I might have panicked at first but then I remembered what you guys said about breathing underwater. After calming, I could breathe just fine!"

"We should go." Rikki looked nervously back towards the boat a distance away.

--

Cleo got over her fear after that, and her new mission after that was figuring out what my power was. She was confident I had one and that I just hadn't discovered it yet.

"You helped me, you know."

I looked at her from my desk, to where she was sitting on my bed hugging one my throw pillows.

"I did?"

"If you hadn't helped me improve my gift, I wouldn't have been able to take the leap." She giggled.

"I don't know about that, I'm sure you would have found your way."

Cleo shook her head, "I've been thinking about this for awhile, you don't give yourself enough credit. I believe you are capable of great things if you put your mind to it." Cleo's smile was contagious and I couldn't help but smile back.

"Maybe."