I do not own H2O: Just Add Water or any of the characters.
Chapter 2: Kim's Wish (part 2)
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There was so much noise going on after the blue light faded. So many voices, that she knew should not be there right now. Some of them she has not heard for an awfully long time.
She should have been at home right now, in the bath, with Kim bugging her as always, while her dad watches tv downstairs. But that was not the case for Cleo. As soon as her eyes opened, she knew immediately that she was going to have a lot of explaining to do to a few friends of hers, who were currently staring down at her.
"Cleo, why are you on the floor?" Emma asks questioningly. "I – I was in the bath," Cleo stammered out, "when Kim, made a –" but stopped explaining quickly after realizing how many people were around the group of friends. Her family was there, including her mom; but Emma's family, Lewis, and Rikki's dad were here too, wherever here is. There were also some people she has not seen or spoken to in a long time: Mrs. Chatham, Zane, and his father, and Dr. Denman. It was terrifying to see her there, so close to her family, but also close to her friends, thinking that she might be up to some of her devious plans again. Cleo looks around a little more, only to discover Charlotte with her mother, along with a few new faces as well that she has never seen before.
Slowly, Cleo gets up from her place on the ground and takes in her surroundings. Everyone was in a humungous theater room, with chairs taking up most of the middle area to her left. To her right was a giant screen on the wall. Behind her were two doors: one labeled 'DORMS' and the other labeled 'BUFFET'.
She was standing next to the first row of seats with Emma and Rikki looking at her with worried looks in their eyes. Everyone in the room begins chatting fearfully about what was going on in their own little groups, while the group of mermaids huddles closer together.
"What happened? Why are we here?" Emma crosses her arms, narrowing her eyes at Rikki, and starts berating her. "Rikki, what did you do?" "I didn't do anything! Why do you think it was me?" Rikki spats out angrily. "You're always getting into trouble!" Emma retorts. Rikki whips her head back and sighs "It could've been you. Maybe you were moon-spelled! I'm not the only one who makes mis –"
"Calm down. It wasn't Rikki, and it wasn't Emma" Cleo explains to them. "It was," She looks at the floor nervously, before she whispers the last part so quietly, they could barely hear what she says. "me." Tears form in her eyes, on the verge of being released. Cupping a hand over her mouth, she slowly explains to them what happened. "It was my fault. I tried to make a wish, but before I could, Kim interrupted me, and I accidentally granted it."
Shocked, the two girls try to ask more questions, but Lewis joins the group in a hurry. "Guys! What is going on?! People are freaking out, thinking they've been kidnapped or something!" "Well, technically they have," Rikki sarcastically replies. Rolling his eyes, he argues back. "Now is not the time Rikki! We need to figure out how this happened and hope we can get out of here somehow."
"Actually Lewis, Cleo was just explaining to us how this happened. Apparently, this has something to do with a wish Kim made." Eyes wide with shock, Lewis lowers his voice angrily. "What?! Cleo! How is that possible? You said that was the last of the potion at the Juicenet! I told you not to use any more of it!" Cleo chokes back on her own words, throwing her hands down to her sides, as the tears begin to flow down her face. "I know, and I am so sorry Lewis. I shouldn't have lied to you. But you, dad, and Kim got to make a wish, so why couldn't I make one too? I just wanted a little bit to myself, so I could make a wish of my own. I was so selfish." She wipes away the tears in her eyes and continues. "I was going to wish for mom back. For my family to be whole again like it used to be."
The three friends begin to look apologetic. They never realized how hurt their friend was when her mother left, splitting the family into fractures. "Cleo, I am so sorry. We never knew you felt this way." Emma hugs her friend and continues talking. "Maybe we could continue this on later at the moon pool once we get out of here. I don't think this is a place we could talk privately. But we are here for you if you ever need anything." Cleo smiles and looks at her other two friends who nod along with what Emma says.
However, Rikki brings something back up, changing the mood. "Cleo, you said that Kim made a wish before we got here. What was her wish?" Cleo's smile suddenly falters as she realizes that she would have had to tell them eventually, fumbling her hands together nervously, looking anywhere but at her friends. "Her wish was ... for them. To know. The truth."
The moment she revealed what the wish was, she immediately regrets saying it. "Oh no," Lewis's face faltered into fear, knowing exactly what that means. Every person there, in the theater room, every single one of them will soon know the girls' secret. And there was nothing they could do about it. Rikki felt like her breath was taken away, her face going pale. Emma shakes with fear, taking a seat into one of the many chairs within the room, looking blankly at a wall. They have kept this secret hidden for so long, and now it was about to be revealed all because of a stupid wish?
After a while, Rikki was the first to speak. "We couldn't keep it quiet forever. Sooner or later, we were going to have to tell our families." Emma looks up at her. "Maybe, but why now? Why in front of everyone like this? Why in front of our enemy or in front of people we don't even know? How could such a wish even cause this to happen?!"
"Maybe, it's because of the full moon," Lewis theorizes crossing his arms and rubbing his chin in thought. "we know that the full moon is very strange, yet extremely powerful. You three saw that blue light, correct?" Nodding their heads yes, Lewis continues. "What else could make such a powerful wish come true?" None of them can reply to that statement; that is, except for one person.
"Very good Lewis." Each of them jumps back in surprise as Mrs. Chatham makes a surprising appearance behind them. They were so distracted in their conversation that they never heard her come up. "The full moon is always full of mysteries. It may seem strange at times, but it is powerful in its own ways."
Cleo perks up as an idea pops up in her head. "Mrs. Chatham?" She looks towards Cleo's way smiling. "Has this ever happened to you? Is there any way we can get out of here?" Instead of the smile she once had on, she stares sadly before finally giving her an answer. "No. It has never happened to us before. And I'm afraid, that there is no way you can get out of this. I am so sorry girls. But the wish was granted, and that is something we cannot stop. Especially when it has been granted under the power of the full moon. The wish ... will come true."
The hope in their eyes as they listened to Mrs. Chatham speak suddenly fades away. It stays quiet in their little group for a few more minutes until Cleo speaks up again. "Rikki is right. We would've had to tell our families eventually. We would have needed their help. Even though this is not how it should have gone, at least now they will know. We could not keep it hidden forever. I mean, come on! We couldn't keep it from Dr. Denman!" she jokingly claims.
As soon as the words left her mouth, the devil herself walks up to the group with a curious smile on her face. "Hello girls, Lewis. Couldn't keep what from me?" The girls stood still froze trying to think up an excuse when Lewis beats them to it. "Actually, we were reminiscing about old times on how we couldn't keep that old cell sample from you" he claims, stating out the facts while putting his hand on Cleo's shoulder. Dr. Denman nods her head while crossing her arms, understanding his little statement. "Ah yes, speaking about those 'old times', this little incident here wouldn't be caused by any of you would it?" Cleo's heart begins to beat faster as they all shake their heads no. "Why would you think that?" asks Emma worriedly. Dr. Denman looks at Emma curiously and smirks at her reaction. "Oh well, it's just that you girls used to have experience with magic. And since this seems to be a, well, a magical place we are in, it only seems that something magical could only be responsible for this."
"Dr. Denman. We don't have our powers anymore," Cleo remarks, stating the obvious. Denman eyes each one of them; seeing that they may not be lying and do not have any tails sprouting at the moment, she gives in, sighing. "Very well. Then will it be alright if I ask you all a few questions while we are all still stuck here?" The group hesitates, opening their mouths to speak, but nothing comes out.
"Actually, I was wondering if you could help me out Dr. Denman," Mrs. Chatham speaks up smiling, scaring everyone in the group, completely forgetting that she was there. "Do you think you could help me find a place to sit, I'm afraid that at my age, you can't just stand for very long anymore."
After thinking it over for a second, Denman sighs and reluctantly holds out an arm for Mrs. Chatham to take, smiling at the elderly woman as she graciously accepts it. "I would love to. I guess we will talk later girls." After Mrs. Chatham takes her arm, Denman gives them one last look, before they walk away. As they are walking, Mrs. Chatham turns around, smiles and winks at the mermaids. The group sighs all at once, taking deep breaths now that the marine biologist has left them alone for now.