I was picking out a new plant for my room. I couldn't pick between an ivy or a succulent when my phone beeped in my pocket.

An emoji of a fish, glasses and a house.

More Lewis research it would seem.

"Have you decided which you'd like?"

I turned to see the shopkeeper behind me, I nodded and pointed to the vine above me on the top shelf. "That one and this one." I lifted a rose looking succulent in my hand.

--

By the time I got home...Home, how odd, how that had changed. Anyways the girls, minus Cleo who was still at her new job at the marine park, and Lewis were all in Emma's room.

I ducked my head in, "I'll be right back."

Rikki followed after me into my room.

"Whoa! Don't you think you have enough plants already?"

I looked around at the succulents lining my shelves, and the fiddle leaf in the corner and shrugged.

"Plants make me feel calm and happy."

I brought a stool over to put my new ivy at the top shelf above my desk, the vine handing down prettily over the side of the shelf. Then placed the new succulent on my side table.

"Have you always..." Rikki gestured around the room.

"...had a green thumb, I think so."

Suddenly Rikki let out a laugh. I looked at her in confusion.

"What?"

"What if that's it?" Rikki laughed harder before clearing her throat.

"What is?"

Rikki pointed at all the greenery then me, "Green tail equals..." She gestured to me.

"What...oh." My eyes widened, "Could it be that simple?"

"One way to find out." She gestured at the vine.

I looked up at the vine above my head and put my hand out out turning it slowly until my palm faced up envisioning the vine growing towards me...and it did.

"Knew it!" Rikki thrust her arms up in the air in victory.

"What's the ruckus about...whoa!" Lewis came around the corner and with my connection broken the now lengthened vine fell gracefully down my shelves' sides.

Emma peeked in, a smile on her lips. "You figured out your power."

"Well technically Rikki did, but yeah."

———

Cleo came over later after work and was quite chagrined when she found out Rikki figured out my ability before her.

"I should have seen it. All the animals gravitate toward you."

"That would imply my power is less plant manipulation and more nature in general." I wrinkled my nose, "I'd much rather they come to me because they want to not because..."

"They are not people, Ember, they don't think that much." Rikki spoke up.

Cleo looked like she was about to disagree, only for another idea to pop in her head before she could.

"There was a strange woman at the marine park. She seemed to know something. She knew it was dangerous to get water on my skin."

It would seem Chatham had come into the picture then. I wondered what she would think about there being 4 mermaids instead of the usual 3.

"You got water on yourself!" Emma flinched realizing she got too loud, "I told you we should have discussed this together."

"What would that prove?" Cleo looked at Emma straight in the eye not backing down, "You are just scared."

"I'm not scared."

"You are." Cleo pursed her lips, "I remember being scared, paranoid that anything could expose me, but that's no way to live. Right, guys?"

Rikki and I nodded.

"I can't live like that anymore. Scared of every drop of water I see and neither should you."

Emma sighed before flipping open her phone and calling her mom to send out the invites for her yearly slumber party.

———

A knock on my door came later that evening.

"Ember, dear, if you haven't already put on your pjs and join the girls downstairs."

I didn't have much of a choice as Emma had convinced me to change my room into the quiet room for the girls on the swim team who had to get up early.

"Well better go out and face the sharks." I whispered.

I honestly would have preferred sharks over a gaggle of giggling girls. I looked longingly back at my oasis before leaving and heading downstairs, only to find all the guests surrounding Zane as he told exaggerated stories in the corner of the living room.

I went over to Cleo and Rikki who looked bored.

It was quick to devolve as Rikki went off somewhere and the girls started swatting each other with the towels placed around the room.

When Cleo went to help a girl with refilling her water bottle, I held her back and whispered. "Cleo maybe you shouldn't."

Only for Cleo still be in range when the water spattered and Cleo ran from the room only to return a little longer after 10 seconds with a confused expression.

She whispered in my ear, "It just slid off."

I knew she had been practicing but to have figured it out so soon. I smiled at her, "I'm glad."

The girl who'd spilled the water earlier had already cleaned it up and I whispered, "One crisis adverted."

Emma came back and showed off her necklace, the locket she'd found at the bottom of the moon pool. She left it on her sweater for the girls to continue looking at it before she went back upstairs to change into her pjs.

I saw Miriam inching toward it and I grabbed the necklace just in time, "Emma probably shouldn't have left this out. I'll go give it to her."

Emma looked at me still at the foot of the stairs as I rounded the corner. I handed her the locket.

"Miriam was looking to steal it, thought you might want to keep it safe for tonight."

Despite my interference, Emma still ended up giving the locket to Cleo, saying it matched her tail.

Cleo would tell us the next day of her run-in with the mysterious older woman who spoke of a Gracie that had lost the same locket at the bottom of the moon pool.

Emma would research the moon pool with Lewis determined to find out how we turned and meanwhile I looked into getting a job.

The Gilberts would never ask me to pay them back but I didn't feel comfortable only taking from them.

I went back to the plant store where I'd gotten most of my greenery. It was a quaint shop in the mall at the end of the marina. A middle-aged woman with wise eyes smiled as I gave my speech.

"Hello, I would like to work here, if you'll have me. I don't have any experience, but I'm good with plants and I'm a hard worker and..."

The woman raised her hand to stop me from rambling further, "Can you start Saturday?"

"Thank you." I nodded, "Thank you so much."

"Everyone needs to start somewhere. I always believe in giving someone a chance. Plus I have a good feeling about you."

After that I met the girls and Lewis at the moon pool.

"I've tested everything. Lichen. Rock. Water." Lewis listed off.

"And?" Rikki encouraged.

"All normal."

I pursed my lips, I knew later on there would be more to find out.

"When you say normal, what do you mean? And is there any magnetism in the rocks?"

"Magnetism, why?" Lewis asked.

I shrugged, "Just an idea."

Lewis looked around him at the others before looking back at me, "Ever get the sense Ember knows more than she lets on?"

"I'm right here, Lewis."

"Ooh maybe she knows the future. Oh Great Ember, will Lewis ever grow into a man?"

"Rikki!" Cleo scolded.

Despite the teasing nature of her words, I answered. "I believe Lewis will be able to achieve great things one day."

"I was just teasing him, Berrie."

I wrinkled my nose, "Berrie?"

"Well I can't call you Em that's taken."