Welcome to my first season 3 based story! Can't believe it myself, season 3 is actually my favorite but so far I guess I've been distracted by other ideas :)

Anyway, this is based on episode 7, I always thought it was so weird how in this episode Cleo's family just walked away after seeing her disappear in the water so I thought I'd try a different approach to it. I'd recommend (re)watching the episode for context before reading

It was a beautiful sunny Saturday on the Gold Coast of Australia, the sun was sparkling on the water and the laughter of other families was all around. It was the perfect day for some family time, but why, just why, did it have to be a day out on the beach? Cleodidn't have anything against Sam, she was nice and Cleo knew her dad had felt a little lonely since her mom left the family. She would have loved to join them having fun, even Kim was starting to have a good time but all Cleo could do was sit on the sand hoping nobody would assume she was mad about Sam making her way into the family. But unfortunately that was exactly what Kim was starting to make it look like.

"Stop playing hard to please! Dad's not gonna get us both gifts." she said, assuming Cleo was waiting for Sam to try a little harder to persuade her to come have fun.

"I don't want any gifts Kim and neither should you, so stop acting like a little brat!" Cleo argued.

Kim answered by hitting her with one of the beach towels and Cleo frustratedly threw it back, unintentionally hitting Sam right in the face with it.

Cleo noticed her dad looked really angry when it happend but Sam didn't really mind, assuming Cleo needed a little more time to get used to the idea of her being around. She sat down on the sand next to her and tried to engage her in a light conversation. But Cleo really didn't feel like talking right now, all she wanted was to get out of this situation.

"Cleo, if something's bothering you -" Sam started but she didn't get to finish that sentence. Her wet hand had touched Cleo's leg

"Uhm...you know what, you're right...the water looks great..." was all Cleo managed to say before running into the water and speeding off towards Mako, the only thing in her mind being the fact that she needed to get away from the public beach as soon as possible.

"Cleo?" Don called, but his voice was drowned out by the crashing of waves.

Cleo reached the moonpool within minutes and really hoped she'd be alone right now but unfortunately Bella was there as well, noticing the panic on her face right away.

"Cleo? What happened? You look like you saw a ghost," Bella asked, clearly worried.

Cleo wiped a hand over her face, still trying to catch her breath. "Not a ghost, just my dad's girlfriend getting me wet front of my whole family!"

Bella's eyes widened. "Wait, what?" Cleo sighed, hugging her arms around herself. "It was an accident. She was just trying to talk to me, she couldn't have known."

Bella let out a sigh. "That's rough. Did they see anything?"

"I don't think so," Cleo said, though doubt lingered in her mind. "But I ran off in the middle of everything, they probably think I've lost it." She groaned, rubbing her temples. "I just… I don't know what to do. I can't exactly go back and say, 'Oh, sorry for the weird behavior, I just spontaneously felt like a swim!'"

Bella gave her a sympathetic look. "Well, at least you got out of there in time. And hey, maybe they did assume you just wanted to swim?"

Cleo let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, I'm sure that's exactly what they thought when I sprinted into the ocean in the middle of a conversation."

Bella cracked a small smile. "Okay, fair point." She hesitated for a moment, then added, "Do you want me to come back with you? Maybe having someone else there will make things less weird."

Cleo considered it. Going back alone felt daunting, but with Bella by her side, maybe she wouldn't have to face all the questions on her own.

"Yeah," she said finally, exhaling. "That might help. But it won't be easy, Bella. To their knowledge I don't even know how to swim."

Knowing they had to think this through carefully, Bella and Cleo spent the next half hour making up a story that sounded somewhat convincing, hoping it'll work.

"Okay, let's go over it one last time: You thought you saw a snake in a bush at the beach and panicked so you ran into the water out of instinct. But you can't swim well and the currents ended up pulling you away. I saved you and now I'm walking you back to make sure you're okay, right?" Bella asked.

"Yeah...I guess," Cleo responded, already feeling sick from the thought of facing her family and the possibility of them making her see a doctor or something.

Bella and Cleo were just getting ready to head back when they saw someone else joining them unexpectedly.

"Cleo...tell me what on earth is going on, right now!" came Rikki's unmistakable voice.

"What are you talking about? Why are you even here?" Cleo asked, acting surprised.

"Oh, I don't know," Rikki said with a dramatic eye roll. "Maybe because your entire family is searching the ocean for you? They've got rescue boats out there, Cleo. Actual. Rescue. Boats."

Cleo's stomach dropped. "What?"

"You heard me!" Rikki threw her hands up. "Your dad must've thought you drowned or something because now he's got the whole beach involved in a search party! People are calling your name, scanning the shoreline, there's even a guy with binoculars on a jet ski, for crying out loud!"

Cleo's face went pale. "No, no, no—this is bad. This is really bad."

Bella winced. "Yeah… running straight into the ocean probably wasn't the best look."

Cleo groaned and buried her face in her hands. "What was I supposed to do? Just sit there and grow a tail in front of my whole family?"

"Well, now you've got a bigger problem," Rikki pointed out. "Because if you don't show up soon, they'll probably call the real authorities and then you're packing your bags for a one-way trip to a research facility,"

Cleo exhaled sharply. This was a disaster, far worse than she initially thought. If she didn't show up soon, people would start panicking even more. But if she just strolled back onto the beach after disappearing into the ocean, that would look suspicious.

Rikki looked at her impatiently. "So, what's the plan, genius? Because you have to go back. And it better be convincing."

Cleo then told Rikki about the story her and Bella just made up. Rikki rolled her eyes at how unconvincing it sounded but it was all they had right now.