I won't keep you waiting! Enjoy the conclusion to H2O: Just Add Mermen

A/N: I don't own H2O, but I sure as heck enjoyed writing about it.

To the human world, Mako Island is a mangrove and shark infested blight of land best left to the wildlife. But to the inhabitants that call it home, there has never been a more magical and resplendent patch of earth.

Miss McCartney sat on the edge of the pool with her feet dangling over the ledge, and laughed full heartedly. Lewis was telling about the shark he'd managed to scare into a patch of stinging jellyfish. She couldn't help but think how handsome of a young man her strange son had become. In the past three years a light scruff of a beard coated his face, but it fit his lean and muscular features. His brilliant blue tail waivered under the water.

Cleo lay quite contentedly on her back in the clear water nearby, her hands wrapped protectively over her extended belly. She felt a light kick under hand and gasped with joy. It had started just the other day and she couldn't get over how wonderful and strange it felt at the same time. She and Lewis couldn't tell if it was little feet or fins yet that pressed against her stomach and it made the expectant parents nervous.

The rekindled scientist in Lewis was trying to convince Jeremy to run some tests, but so far the older merman had refused. As a natural born merman, Jeremy seemed to always conspire with Miss Chatam and tell them to trust the magic. Lewis always translated such answers as they had no idea and didn't want to go through the hassle to figure it out.

Cleo drifted in and out of a nap as her husband finally said goodbye to her mother-in-law. He gently swam over to her and tugged her into his arms. He kissed her temple and placed a gentle hand on her protruding stomach.

"Oh, wife of mine." It was a simple, happy phrase filled with all the love the world could hold.

They'd been married for exactly five months, eleven days and some odd hours and Cleo had never been happier. It had taken two long years for him to regain most of his memories and his former self. She knew they were lucky as it could have, and should have, taken much longer.

There were still horrible days where he'd remember his time in the lab and he'd spiral into an unshakeable terror. But Cleo loved him through it. Then there were the perfect days like this where she could kiss her husband, swim with dolphins, and let the past stay where it belonged.

Another flutter came at Lewis's touch and he laughed. Tenderly he kissed Cleo and she turned in his arms, laughing on his lips as she kissed him. They clung to one another and let the night and magic swirl around them.

-h-2-o-

Will blew his whistle and the three boys dove off their starting blocks into their lanes. He noted their strokes and tracked their time as each finished their laps. He wheeled in his sport chair along the pavement, tracking his team with the expert eyes of a coach.

"Good job guys!" He yelled for the next set of boys to take their places. Regionals for Gold Coast High were only a week away and he intended for his team to win.

The sun lit up the sky as practice ended. He sent the team home with positive encouragements and see-you-bright-and-earlies. When the pool area was clear, he wheeled as close to the water edge as he could and closed his eyes. It was always this way that Bella would find him.

With practiced precision she climbed into his lap and kissed her husband of three years.

"Hey Babe." He kissed her gently back and wheeled towards their parked van.

"Hey you." She sounded nervous and he stopped his chair.

"Hey." He looked into her anxious eyes. "What's wrong?"

Bella sighed and rested her forehead against his. "Our lawyer called."

"Oh." Will knew exactly what this was about. "And what is Sophie saying this time? Still pleading insanity?"

For the last three years the Benjamin vs. Benjamin case had been tossed around in the court system. Sophie, at first, had plead innocent in what she had done, saying she had been trying to save her brother. Really, she would have been convicted within a few months had Will or Bella testified against her. But neither had.

To convict Sophie would have meant them being libel. Too much of what she had done had been when he was a merman. Will knew it was Denman that should have been in his sister's space, but she had effectively disappeared. So, Sophie became the scape goat. Zane had been found in Canada, but there hadn't been any supporting evidence but Sophie's word to convict him.

So the courts tried to decide what to do with this woman who was guilty by admission and evidence but with no one to testify against her. It had finally been Bella's idea to go see her. Sophie wanted to be out of prison, but frankly Will and the rest of the pod didn't trust her to have her freedom. What if she somehow knew where Denman was? She was a risk that they couldn't take. They'd finally put all their lives back together. Sophie was not going to be the monster that tore everything apart.

So Will and Bella went to see her once. Will told his sister to plea insanity. They'd move her to a psych ward where she'd never be allowed in the general public again. Personally Will thought it was much more than she deserved.

Bella nodded her head. "Yes, and it look like the judge and jury are finally going to rule in favor of this final plea."

Will nodded. "Bella, that's good news. Why so nervous then?"

With a shaky hand she pulled a little oblong box from her purse and handed it to him.

"I know we wanted to wait until I was done with school, but it seems the world has a different plan for us."

Curious Will opened the box and pulled out a white stick. Two little stripes displayed prominently on the little screen. With a holler of joy he squeezed his arms around his wife in a tight hug and kissed her shoulder.

"We're pregnant!" He yelled it as loud as he could.

Bella laughed and kissed the love of her life, all nervousness gone. She should have known how happy he'd be.

"We have to go tell the others!"

Bella laughed again. "Let's start with my parents first. And since it's a full moon tonight, we can tell the rest of the pod at the moon ceremony."

Will nodded. With the goofiest of grins he wheeled him and his wife to their soon to be less roomy van.

-h-2-o-

Ash skyped with the other as they all gathered around the moon pool. Emma held the tablet in her lap, laughing with him like the good friends they were. She and Ash had stayed together for another year of long distance relationship before they realized their lives weren't heading in the same direction.

Ash had moved to Brazil and had been there for the last two years, having started up a training business. Emma had since started dating a banker she'd met at school. She was taking things casual with him, biding her time before she really let any man into the most important part of her life. On the other hand, Ash was very much so a bachelor, but he did date. He was just as cautious as Emma but had plans to seek out the South American pod in the next month to see what the dating was like with Latina mermaids. All in all both were happy and good friends, always remembering the experiences that their friendship was built on.

Rikki was in the pool, talking to Jeremy about her latest find on the ocean floor. She had begun making quite a name for herself as a relic diver. She'd already recovered some very important pieces and had donated them to the Queensland Museum. She'd gone to school long enough to learn how to manage her finances and how to start a non-profit.

She and Jeremy had become fast friends, but he seemed to date any mermaid that would flick her tail at him so friends were how they stayed.

Jeremy had told his new found friends who he was a couple months after their escape. Apparently he was a descendant from a merman who had saved Mako and convinced all mermaids that not all mermen were bad. According to him there had once been a large pod of mermaids and mermen that had protected and lived in the waters of Mako. But fifty years before a single human had threatened everything and they'd fled.

He was a part of that pod and had come to see if Mako was safe again. To his surprise he'd learned about all of them. He'd watched them and learned of Denman and what she was planning. He'd worked his way into her staff and then to being one of Briston's head scientists. It was the only way he knew to save the land people turned merfolk. And to help the Mako pod finally return home.

It took another year before his pod did finally show up. Only fifty of them, mostly younger mermaids and mermen, who wanted to experience the word, but they embraced their new found friends. The Elders of the Mako pod had even helped Cleo and Lewis, in a way. When they saw their appearance they'd been shocked. Apparently the gills and webbing were present on all hatchling merchildren when they were born, but disappeared after their first full moon. Together with their moon rings, as Cleo had learned they were called, they had been able to restore them back to normal looking merpeople.

Yet, no matter how they tried they couldn't get legs. The Elders had tried all the magic spells they could think of but nothing worked. They had even tried to help Will and Bella, only to discover that the magic was permanently gone from them. What had been done was done and everyone had accepted it and moved on.

-h-2-o-

The full moon rose that night and a special group from the Mako pod gathered within and around the moon pool. Will and Bella sat together on the ledge in the water. Cleo and Lewis sat next to them, Rikki, Emma, and Jeremy sat next to them, and Ash still on Skype on the tablet propped up in the sand. They were all eager to watch the amazing event unfold.

As fate would have it, this moon was a blue moon. Three years ago the six of them had learned to never resist the moon and to respect the magic of Mako. Around them the water began to gently froth and bubble. Little lights danced around them as the moon reached its zenith overhead. Together they made their way to the center of the pool and clasped hands in the circle.

Wonder filled the air and they smiled up at the moon. The future held mysteries, surprises and adventures – there was no denying it. But with certainty they knew they could overcome anything. The world was full of magic, and that made everything possible.

And that's it! Please let me know what you thought about this love of labor of mine. 5.5 years and finally, it's over. It may not have been the perfect ending some may have wanted, but I think life is learning to live what happens to us and still be able to smile and laugh when it's all over.

And…. There will be a sequel! I'm not going to give any spoilers, but if you want to follow (or, you know, favorite ;p ) me on here, that will ensure you don't miss it.

Thank you everyone for reading, reviewing, following and everything else over the years. It has meant the world to me. It is because of all of you that this story was brought to fruition. Happy swimming everyone! Catch ya on the waves!