A Fishy Tale, The Sequel - Fanfiction for H2O Just Add Water

Chapter 113

Chapter 113

It was another regular day for the mer clan.

Zane and Lewis had already left for work, taking one of the boats over to the mainland. The mainland house had a lot of cars parked there – two in the garage, two on the street, and one 8 seated people-mover on the driveway, along with the big minivan. Jessie and Alan were on their honeymoon, so Anna had left earlier to start on the extra work, so that she would not have to stay late. Ben swam over with her, going to his own work. Rikki was staying home, looking after the babies, Fi and Hayden. Bella, Cleo and Emma were making sure the kids were ready, and would be leaving with them to go to school. Once at the mainland, as Emma worked at the primary school the children attended, she would drive them in the 12-seater minivan, Bella would head to the high school, and Cleo would head to the marine park. Will and Ash loaded the pre-schoolers Natalie, Amelia, Madeline, and Stefani into the boat, and drove them over to the mainland for preschool, before heading to work. They all looked very cute in their oversized raincoats.

Emma quickly looked over the dining hall for anything the kids had left behind. Okay, they all had their lunch boxes, drink bottles... homework. Emma rushed over and grabbed the papers from the counter, checking the name. Charlie must have left her worksheets here last night. Emma rushed out to the rest of the group, and put Charlie's homework in her waterproof bag (which the contents of would be transferred to regular backpacks at the mainland house).

"You forgot this," Emma said, as she put it in the girl's bag.

"Oh yep, thanks! I would've got in trouble," Charlie laughed.

"Are we all ready to go?" Bella asked, looking across the group of ten children.

"I think so," Cleo said.

"Great," Bella said with a smile. "C'mon kids, let's go for a swim,"

When they all got to the cove, Emma dived in, followed by the children and Bella. Emma was in front, and Cleo would be last to make sure everyone made it (particularly the younger children). One child didn't jump in like the others. She stood on the sand, wringing her hands.

"What's wrong, Andy?" Cleo asked her daughter, kneeling down.

"I don't want to go," the six year old replied.

Andy had been very excited to go back to school when they got back from their trip to Fiji, and had been one of the first in the water every other school day.

"What happened?" Cleo asked worriedly. Andy made a noise and shook her head.

Emma poked her head out of the water.

"Are you coming?" Emma asked concerned.

"Be right there," Cleo said.

"Why don't you want to go, Andy?" she asked.

Andy said something so quietly, that Cleo couldn't hear. Cleo changed tactics. She asked the question again in mindspeak.

'I just don't want to go, mum,' Andy said, frowning.

'I'm sorry honey, but you have to – I'm sure you'll enjoy it when you get there. Don't you get to have sports today?'

'Yeah,'

'I'm sure that will be fun, come on,' Cleo smiled encouragingly, offering her hand.

Andy took her hand, and they walked into the sea together.

'Hey Jenny,' Cleo said to her older daughter while they were swimming, 'Can you keep an eye on Andy today?'

'Okay, I'll check in with her at lunch time,' Jennifer replied.

'Thanks honey,' Cleo said.

When they got to the mainland house, the kids picked up their backpacks, and loaded into the minivan with Emma.

Cleo gave Andy a big hug.

"I know you like playing with your friends, but if you need to, your sister and cousins are there. Talk to them or Auntie Emma if you need to," Cleo said.

Andy nodded.

"Okay,"

"Have a good day, sweetie"

OoOoO

The bell rang for lunch time at the school. Leila, Charlie, and Jennifer sat together to eat. Jacob was sitting with his friends further away. The girls finished eating.

"We're going to play on the playground now," Leila said, "Did you want to too?"

"Yeah that sounds fun," Jennifer said. "I need to check on Andy first though – Mum asked me to,"

"Okay, we'll see you later then," Leila said. Jenny smiled as the twins ran over to the monkey bars. The ten year old walked over to where the year ones were having lunch. She waved at Alex, Jay and Daniel when she saw them. Andy wasn't sitting with the boys, which wasn't surprising – Andy was part of a friend circle to them. Jenny scanned the crowd of six and seven year olds, but couldn't see her sister.

'Where are you, Andy?' Jenny reached out with mindspeak.

'In the bathroom,' Andy replied. 'Just coming out now,'

Jenny waved at Andy as she saw her emerge from the bathroom. Andy gave her a smile that didn't meet her eyes. Something didn't seem right.

"Are you okay?" Jenny asked her sister as she came over.

Andy nodded quietly, wringing her hands again.

"Did you want to tell me anything?" she asked seriously. Andy shook her head. Jenny would tell Mum about this tonight.

"Well, Charlie and Leila are playing on the playground – did you want to come with me and join them?" Jenny asked. Andy's eyes lit up and she nodded eagerly. Andy adored the twins – they were just as tomboyish as she was.

"Okay, let's go," Jenny smiled. She took her sister's hand, and they walked over to the playground.

OoOoO

After school, the children waited for Emma to finish tidying up, and she then drove them back to the mainland house, to set out back to Mako. When they got back to the island, Andy went home and read a book. The rest of the children were building a hut out of water their powers in the nearby trees. Andy would normally be an active participator, but this time, she withdrew inside.

Cleo got home a little bit later.

"I don't know what's wrong, but something is definitely off," Jennifer reported to her mother. "Andy seems sad, but she didn't want to tell me anything,"

"Okay," Cleo nodded. "You didn't notice what the cause might be?"

"No," Jenny said, "But she didn't seem to want to go near her usual friends,"

"Thanks honey, I'll talk to her," Cleo said.

Andy was reading her picture books on her bed. Cleo sat down on the bed beside her.

"I'm home," Cleo smiled. "How was your day?"

"Fine," Andy said, "I don't really want to talk about it,"

"You can tell me anything," Cleo said, "I want you to know that you can talk to me,"

There was silence.

"Was someone mean to you at school?" Cleo asked.

Andy looked up from her book with tears in her eyes.

"Oh honey," Cleo said. "Come here,"

The little girl moved onto her mother's lap, and snuggled in closely.

"They say mean things and don't let me play with them anymore," she cried.

"I'm sorry baby," Cleo hugged her tighter, giving her a kiss on the cheek. As she comforted her daughter, Cleo made a plan to talk to Andy's teacher tomorrow, and get the kids to look after her in the breaks.

OoOoO

'Rikki's café,' Ryan thought, 'Zane and Rikki obviously still live in the area. Of course...Mako Island...'