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

Chapter 94

Chapter 94

A few minutes later, Arieta dropped another bomb into the peaceful night.
"What do you think about mermaids?"

"About mermaids?" Emma choked out. Rikki, who had caught up to them, felt herself go cold. How stupid could she be? The boys' situation had really taken her into mummy brain mode. She chastised herself.
"Why the question?" Bella asked.
"There is a local myth in my village about them, about what they are really like," Arieta replied. "I just wondered your position on them."
"If they did exist, I would say they would be awesome," Cleo said carefully. "But they are mythical for a reason. What is your position then?"
"I think they're real," Arieta responded, somewhat wistfully. "No, I know they're real." her tone changed.
Rikki swallowed.
"Why do you say that?" she asked.
"I believe in the supernatural. I believe that there are intelligent beings other than humans in the world. I believe that in magic, all things are possible. I have seen it," Arieta said.
"I have too," Andy piped up. Cleo nudged her daughter gently in a silent warning.
"What have you seen?" Anna asked the woman, curious. Arieta hesitated a moment, before speaking.
"When I was a girl, my mother's older sister would do extraordinary things. She would squeeze papaya juice into a bowl, take it from my sight, and return with it frozen, vertically. It was as if she had manipulated the juice before it had frozen. It was an amazing cold treat in the warm climate of our island. It wasn't for a few years that I began to question the logic of it. In the village, we have no electricity, and no way to freeze things like at the resort. My Nana Levu would perform tricks with water for us when the adults were not around. One day, her if she was magical," Arieta explained. "She just winked, and continued to make the dinner. Nana Levu never went swimming with us, ever. Mama told me that it was because Nana Levu was scared of the water, after a boating incident when they were children. Very early one morning, I snuck down to the beach – I was like a fish you know, in love with the water. I knew Papa was going to make me do many chores at sunup, so I wanted to relax first – I was about ten at this stage. I was surprised to see Nana Levu walking into the water. She dived under and I could have sworn I saw a tail. I panicked naturally when she didn't surface, and ran to get my mother. She ignored me, telling me to stop lying. The following year, the pool we got fresh water from for the village became stagnant, and many people were getting sick. A dead animal was rotting in it. Nana Levu told everyone to stop worrying and that she would fix it. My cousins, Lela, Mata and I followed her to the pool. She stretched her hand out," Arieta was deep in the memory, imitating the story, by stretching her own. "and we saw a pillar of water rise up, carrying the dead animal out and into the forest. We watched with wide eyes, in awe. Lela and I did not notice Mata when he left to get the villagers. Using both hands, Nana Levu lifted the water of the pool up and out in a beautiful spiral, shimmering against the sky. Mata managed to get the attention of some of the adults, and they all arrived to see the poisonous water being carried, spiralled, into the jungle, dispersed there. The crowd continued to grow. Nana Levu knew that her secret was exposed, so she continued her work. My people watched in awe as she drew water, seemingly from nowhere, from the skies, and filled the pool once more. Let me tell you that that water was the best we had drawn from there in a long time. She was a hero. We all cheered. She turned around, and spoke, asking that no one tell any outsiders about the feat. The elders all agreed. Nana Levu tried to go back to life as usual, but she was treated different, as if she was some kind of angel. She never revealed to us what she really was. A few days later, she disappeared. No one has seen her since."
"Why are you telling us about this?" Emma asked.
"I don't believe you are going to run and get scientists," Arieta replied with raised eyebrows. "In fact, I believe that some of you are just like my Nana Levu," she continued, looking pointedly at Rikki.
"Do you think that your aunt was a mermaid?" Jessie asked. Arieta nodded. "She controlled water and I am sure that I saw a tail once – Mata told me that she had run off once when she was splashed. That sounds like a mermaid, right? The other mythical creatures I read about were not even remotely like Nana Levu. Using the resort's internet access, I researched mermaids quite thoroughly and found some information amongst the useless sites that confirmed my theory of mermaid behaviour,"
Coming out of her story, she focused her vision back on the women she was walking with.
"Why do you think that we are?" Bella asked, stopping her movement.
"I don't know about all of you, and I didn't at first, but..." Arieta stopped too. She seemed to have a revelation, as if she had remembered something. "Just a question, how did you arrive on the island? You arrived quite a bit before the scheduled plane."
The women shared a look with each other. They had over-looked that part. How would they explain this?
"Um, you must be mistaken," Cleo said.Arieta shook her head, lifting her eyebrows.
"The plane was delayed in leaving," Arieta said.
"We were dropped off by boat," Emma supplied.
"I didn't see one dock – I could swear that you swam here, as unbelievable as that sounds,"
"You're right, that is pretty unbelievable," Rikki said, her tone daring Arieta to prove her point. Arieta sighed.
"I believe you are mermaids," Arieta stated. "You can deny it, but just know that I wouldn't tell anyone. I just want confirmation. Shall we?" Arieta smiled and resumed walking.

The women looked at each other. 'She let us into her culture; why not let her into ours?' Jessie said.
'No.' Rikki
'Jess has a point,' Bella admitted.
After rationalising it in their silent debate, Jessie spoke up.
"Arieta," she called out. The woman turned to face her."You're right."

A/N: Nana Levu is the address term for mother's elder sister in Fijian.

A/N: Hey everyone! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. Due to your amazing support in the form of lovely reviews, I've uploaded this chapter sooner than usual :D I hope you like it. Tell me what you think ;)

Thanks so much to the following people for commenting - I love you guys, and really appreciate the time you take to let me know your thoughts on the chapters.

Thanks to SarahLC, redranger, Trouble-neglects-me, chloeic11, camila1495, E3StoriesOfficial, Eternal_Flame, Dustyrider_01, multifandomssss, girlygirl01052004, and, _jaynapotts_ for reviewing the previous chapter! You guys helped in speeding me up :P Thanks again!