"Woah", Brett sighed as he threw himself on the coach in the big hotel suite. "What a day! I thought we would start lightly. Instead, it felt like being interrogated."

"You insisted", Jason replied. "I told you, it's not as easy as it looks."

"Yeah, it's really heavy. Like every word can change things for the better or the worse. I take it all back. You can keep the responsibility for yourself."

Neri and Jason exchanged a quick grin.

"You did very well, Brett", Shalamorn said as she entered the room and Brett got quickly on his feet, obviously surprised by her presence since she had been staying back to talk to the councillors.

"Thank you, Your Majesty", Brett replied. "But I feel I could have done better if I had been better prepared."

"Quite the opposite: you are a very honest person who wears your heart on your sleeve", Shalamorn said and Brett blushed. "I think many of them think of politicians as manipulators and unfortunately, I might have given them the same impression. But you were sincere with your words and your illuminating of the events through the eyes of a child certainly had a lasting impact. You made it very clear that you never feared us but even as a youngster understood the necessity to help us."

"Thank you", Brett murmured.

Shalamorn gave him a smile. "I can never emphasize enough how grateful I am for you. All of you and for everything you do for us no matter how much you endanger yourself along the way", she said while looking at Jason.

Diane crossed her arms and Shalamorn nodded. "I wish it was different as well, my dear."

Diane grimaced. "Don't even get me started. But I don't have much to say in these matters anymore. I'm just glad this day ended well for the most part. By the way, I think De Souza was unwillingly impressed by your performance."

"Yeah", Jason added, "you did the right thing today."

"Thank you. Hearing that from you, Jason, is the greatest compliment I could ever hope for."

Neri touched his hand. Brett grinned and rolled his eyes at the gesture.

"She so wants to jump your bones right now," he whispered so close to Jason's ear no one else could hear him. Jason so wanted to kill him right there.

"We should water up", Mera said and took Neri's hand. "We see you soon for dinner."

"Well", Brett drawled as only Diane, Jason and he remained. The tension between Jason and his mother was still tangible. "I also should take a shower."

Jason crossed his arms, now faced with Diane alone and somehow feeling this was intended.

"I'll freshen up, too", Jason finally said into the uncomfortable silence but before he could leave the room, Diane put a hand on his arm.

"Jason, I understand that you are still angry with me for what I said to Neri and that I left you", Diane started. "I don't expect you to forgive me anytime soon and believe me, I don't let myself go off this matter lightly."

"Fine", Jason replied harsher than he had intended. "Are we done?"

"No", Diane said, her tone suddenly just as hard. "I will not ask for your forgiveness any more but did it ever occur to you that you might ask for mine? That I – for any reason – could be angry with you, too?"

Jason blinked. "Ok", he said then. "Hit me."

"You never told me all those details you told the scientists today. I really had to pull myself together hearing what you have done all on your own. It seems you put your lives at stake on several occasions but I was never told once! You blame me for not understanding how you feel or your engagement with Neri at that young age or why you're putting yourself in harm's way every day you are so deeply involved with the Oceanpeople. But that's because I never got the chance." Diane took him by the shoulders, her tone now softer. "You left me out of the loop, Jason. I get it now. I get that there was never a point of turning back. Not once. But you left me out of the loop. And I am very angry at you for not trusting me. Did you really think I would have held you back? When was I ever to able to keep you from doing what you thought you had to do?"

"Brett made the reasons very clear today, didn't he?"

"A stubborn assumption of a child. Do you have any idea of how often I spoke with Winston about what we would risk for Neri? I always thought of Neri and Mera as part of the family. Neither Winston nor I would have had any concerns breaking laws or get in trouble with the authorities as long as you are all safe. And we'd never tell." Diane shuddered. "Can you imagine something happened to you and we would never know? Not even where you went? Lying somewhere injured or dead, on the other side of the globe or deep down at the bottom of the ocean and we would never even know where to start looking. Now you tell me again you`re angry at me for snapping!"

Stricken by the horrible picture, Jason folded. "I`m sorry, Mum", he said quietly. "You`re right. We should have trusted you more, tell you about our whereabouts more often. It rarely occurred to me what would have happened if we had failed at some point. Or worse."

"We would have come for you. Any of us involved."

Jason took a step forward and pulled his mother into a tight hug. Diane's eyes were shiny when he pulled back.

"Engaged?" he wondered then.

"Are you not?" Diane asked confused.

Jason shrugged. "It is definitely a forever thing but labelling us with words in the English language always seemed … off. Too much. Too less. Nothing felt like the way I feel about her."

Diane smiled. "Well, there was never anything ordinary about Neri or the both of you." She hesitated a moment before speaking on. "You … you take precautions, do you?"

Jason moaned. "I`m not discussing that part of our relationship with you, Mum!"

Diane held up her hands in a defensive gesture. "I'm just saying."

"There was never anyone else for the both of us and we are different species."

"Well, I had more than one conversation with Shalamorn about the physical part … not just because of you", she added quickly. "I'm a biologist, remember? It's fascinating that even though our DNA structures are so different, the biological processes still work similarly on many levels."

"Yeah, I guess there will be new branches in biophysical sciences in the upcoming years."

"It will keep me busy and get me over the fact, that you won`t make me a grandmother", Diane smirked. She froze when Jason frowned. "Honey?" she asked carefully and touched his arm. "Is that an issue? Sorry, I didn't …"

"No, Mum. It`s okay", he replied quickly. "I never gave that much thought hence our differing origin. And even if we could, we are way too early in our relationship and way too young."

Diane looked relieved but not ready to let this go. "But if are ready at some point", she emphasized, "the Oceanpeople have technology beyond our imagination. Maybe there is a way for you …"

"We kind of have other problems right now", he cut her off. "Just, you know, the end of the world. Stuff like that."

His mother grinned. "Yes, just the usual."