Epilogue

Nixie twisted about, and flashed a winning smile to the man on the other side of the glass. The suited land man chuckled, and shook his head before returning to his mate's side at the private booth in the back. She did a few more turns around the perimeter of the restaurant, and found Nate waiting for her at the end of the cove past the sunken ship. He knocked on the glass, and pointed to his wrist, meaning he'd join her a little later in the tank for their show. Nixie nodded, and swam off, knowing it was soon time for lunch.

Zane waited at the top with a bucket of her favourite fishes. He chuckled when she popped up with a splash above the surface.

"You look excited to see me."

"It's not about you," Nixie huffed, "I just want my lunch. Not gonna ask if I'm doing okay this time?"

"I learned a long time ago to stop asking if you were sure about this. I'll never understand how you could like it in there, but I guess I'm not a mermaid, so what do I know?"

"I can be close to Nate this way," she supplied, reaffirming what he was already aware of. "It's just downsizing a bit for the sake of my mate. I once knew a pod that was so scared of seahorses, they lived together in a tiny cave off the coast of..."

"Whoa! Sorry... not interested in tales of the deep. I just stopped by to make sure you were still as bizarrely happy with this set-up as last time. Now that I know you are, and Nate's not making too much of a fool out of himself, I can go home."

"Hey," she said before he turned away, "Thanks, Zane. I know your father's an old barnacle, but this restaurant was actually a great idea."

"Yeah. Too bad he's in jail for scamming—"

"Let's not spoil a perfectly good meal. The point is, I'm grateful. Besides," she said, smacking her lips together at the fish she was about to consume, "You need the extra... money for your secret underground merfolk enterprise."

Zane scoffed at her elaborate name, but she wasn't far off. He'd used the savvy business skills taught—and inherited—by his father and put the money he made into the start of a secret network made up of people who knew their secret, and not only could be trusted to keep it, but counted on for help with anything merfolk related. He started with a rehabilitation centre for the mermaids who were hit the hardest by Denman's failed serums. Most of them were making progress, but Charlotte was as savage as the day the girls had spied her in the tank.

Some girls had rejoined their families, feeling strong enough to deal with the questions regarding their disappearances, and continual burden of hiding their tails. Rikki didn't have the heart to go back, but followed Zane wherever his ventures took him.

Cleo and Lewis managed to avoid any outside medical intervention, once Cleo convinced Mr. Sertori that they just needed food, quiet, and sleep. He was wise enough not to make a fuss when it was made clear that Lewis was now Cleo's husband in every sense but legal matters. They had been through something he would never understand, and it was partially due to Lewis's constant care of his daughter that he let them be without pressing therapy.

With Zane's financial help, Lewis was able to finish medical school through correspondence, and incorporate his own discoveries into the advanced education he received. He was now heading up a team of medical professionals to rival Dr. Denman's, but with a very different purpose in their research. Zane was more than impressed when the team proved their worth by the easy way they handled his wife's unexpected pregnancy, and the birth of their little Sophie.

His wife had her own role in the network, acting as a tutor to merfolk who struggled with their powers. Having such a focused participation allowed her to blow off steam in a healthy way, and still have plenty of time in the day for snuggling up with Sophie to watch cartoons and drink far too much tea.

Cleo would watch Sophie on the rare days Rikki had an especially difficult student and had to stay late. She had two boys of her own, and was more than used to being covered in paint, bogeys, and food particles. Lewis had developed several spray-on forms of water resistance, and Cleo was able to enjoy life as a fulltime mum without exposing her secret before the boys were old enough to understand it was a secret. Rikki, too, made good use of the protective mists, waiting for the right time to explain her history to Sophie.

Not one of the babies had been born with a tail, and for that, they all were grateful.

Emma's baby was born a healthy but quiet girl. Her family, being the close unit that it was, made the decision to support her and the baby until she'd recovered enough to finish school, and get established in a place of her own somewhere.

The clincher was that she wasn't recovering. Emma insisted she was fine; she tried to pretend life would somehow mend itself, but as the months, and then years went by with little to no progress, Rikki insisted on an intervention.

It would do absolutely no good to send her to someone that didn't know their secret—they knew that well enough—but Zane had some difficulty locating a mermaid therapist.

"There might be someone..." he mused, pouring over his computer notes.

"Who?" Rikki demanded. "Someone we can blackmail?"

"No, someone more clean-cut than that," he chuckled. "He was a good mate back in the day, but he works with special needs and traumatised kids, now. I'll give him a ring."

"Traumatised kids. Sounds like us."

Within the week, Zane had met up with the doctor over several cups of coffee, and felt comfortable enough to share their predicament with him. When Rikki brought the photo and credentials to show Cleo, it gave her a start.

"He's the guy who waved to me at the water park! I thought he looked familiar... do we know him?"

Rikki shrugged. "Zane used to be friends, but I've never seen him before."

"Well, whoever he is, I just hope he helps Emma."

Emma had the greatest reservations. "I know what you're both doing, and I don't need this!"

"Please, just talk to him! That's all we're asking," Cleo pleaded. "One conversation. And if you hate it, you never have to go back!"

"Do you swear?" she directed her ire to the both of them.

"Of course!" Cleo said.

Rikki shrugged. She wasn't making any promises she didn't intend on keeping. Someone had to save Emma in spite of herself.

His office was clean and orderly, and she found the horse paraphernalia scattered amongst all of the medical school certificates to be comforting—more human. The last thing she needed was to speak to a harsh and clinical head doctor that thought she was crazy, no matter how her friends prodded her into coming here.

"Hello, Miss Gilbert," he greeted her warmly. "I'm Dr. Dove. But please, call me Ash."

It didn't hurt that he was also cute, in a boyish, charming way.

Not that she would ever allow him to see that she noticed. She voiced her suspicions, instead. "You used to be friends with Zane Bennett?"

Ash nodded. "As soon as I came to realise he was less of a prick than I assumed, it wasn't too difficult to like him."

He gestured for her to take a seat on the sofa. She wrinkled her nose thinking of all the videos she'd seen of patients pouring their hearts out to doctors as they scribbled notes and deemed them worthy of an institution. She chose the chair beside his instead.

"So..." he said, settling into his own seat. "I assume this all started for you on Mako?"

She didn't know why she was so comfortable with him. There was something about his eyes, so warm and sincere that made that conversation turn into consistent sessions, each with him easing her through the process of healing. He never pushed too hard, never judged, and gently prodded her into talking about the things she resolutely avoided, even with Rikki and Cleo.

Their experience had brought them closer with their now husbands.

Hers had only left her feeling more alone.

They discussed her daughter, how she chose to keep her even with the dubious matter of her conception and how at times her little one was the only thing keeping her together.

And they discussed her future.

For the more she talked, the more she divulged over the months of their meetings. He never used her secrets to hurt her, never gave one inkling of betrayal. He was only the calm, steady presence in her life that she had so desperately needed.

And when a few more months had passed and she felt more confident that her life could be made into what she had always hoped for, she regretted that her recovery would mean no more weekly chats with the man she had come to consider a very dear friend.

He walked her outside after their final session, and for the first time he looked nervous. "Emma, you've come so far since we first met. And, while I know this might skirt some ethical boundaries..."

She felt a fluttering in her stomach that had not been there since her high school days and Byron would smile at her. "Yes?"

Ash took a deep breath and glanced at her hopefully. "Would you like to meet me for a juice sometime? Or maybe coffee? After all, I'm not your doctor anymore."

It was a testament to her recovery that she didn't hesitate. She didn't wonder if he had some hidden motive as he looked at her so bashfully, and she couldn't contain her wide smile. "I think I'd like that."

She met up with the girls that day, still feeling light and happyfor the first time in ages. The menfolk had been left in charge of the little ones, leaving them free for their weekly girl's night which generally consisted of a trip to the JuiceNet and stories of their daily happenings.

And for the first time in a long while, Emma felt like she had something truly exciting to share.

Cleo and Rikki squealed and congratulated her in turn for landing the "dreamy doctor that they just knew would be perfect for her" as they sipped Strawberry Surprises and Mango Freezes.

Their experience with Dr. Denman had changed them all, in some ways for the better and others for the worse.

But now with all their lives moving forward as each of them found their own footing in this world that held more darkness than they had previously known, Emma decided it was time to really let go.

"Who fancies a race to Mako?"