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

Chapter 96

Chapter 96

The next day, the mers enjoyed their time at the resort, relaxing, playing beach volleyball, building sand sculptures and swimming, away from the sight of other people.

It was Arieta's lunch break and the women were sitting and lying down on the sand in their swimsuits, enjoying the sun while watching their kids run around on the beach, laughing at their game. She waved when Bella spotted her, and walked over, sitting on the sand next to them.

"How is everything going?" Arieta asked.

"Great," Bella replied with a smile. "We love it here."

There were murmurs of agreement from the sun-drowsy women.

"How are you?" Jessie asked, her eyes still closed.

"Fine, thanks," she smiled. "I'm enjoying the fact I have a break for the next hour."

"Fair enough," Rikki said.

"So what are your plans for the next few days?" Arieta inquired.

"We don't have any set plans, but I think we all want to visit the Blue Lagoon Caves but we'd need to know when and if we can go without being seen," Cleo said.

"I've seen the photos and it looks incredible," Anna said.

"It truly is," Arieta replied. "My cousin is actually one of the tour guides from the resort to the Sawa-i-Lau Caves and he has taken me many a time. I know them quite well. Tours only run there during the day – we don't want tourists navigating the caves at night. I guess you would either have to go early, like before eight in the morning, or at twilight."

The women seemed to ponder this.

"I could take you to Sawa-i-Lau tomorrow morning if you would like – I start work at eleven tomorrow –Emele has the early reception shift. We would have to leave early if you want lots of time there. The sun will be risen by 6.30am, and there should be some light at 5.30, so we should leave at five. I know you could probably swim there quickly, but if you want my guidance, we need to allow half an hour for the boat to get there." Arieta explained. "We will take waterproof lanterns and torches so we can navigate the caves. If you don't want any light at all, then we can go earlier..."

"No, no, five is early enough," Rikki interrupted. It was going to be a shock to the system to wake up that early after a few days of luxurious lie-ins. That being said, she was extremely excited to see the caves. The photos they had peered over in the tourism booklets were stunning. The caves had cathedral like ceilings and there were underwater passages to other caves they could discover.

OoOoO

The following morning, the troop were heading out to Sawa-i-lau Island. Arieta had cleared it with her superiors – mainly with her cousin, and she had one of the tourism boats. Her cousin, Sitiveni, had been puzzled as to why the tourists needed to go so early, but he trusted Arieta. Arieta had promised not to tell others about the mermaids' secret, so she reluctantly held her tongue. Sitiveni would have been so excited if he knew that she had found people just like Nana Levu.

They sat in the boat, knowing that if they got wet they could just jump out to swim and follow. Fortunately, this was not necessary and they arrived and docked without incident. Arieta had called in a favour and said that her guests would pay the ten-dollar visiting fee when they left.

The yellow steps and railings surprisingly complimented the grey rocks and green forests, then land contrasting with the bright blue of the warm sea. They were early enough to bypass the locals selling their merchandise to the tourists on the beach. The lack of people caused a deserted peace. This was soon disrupted by the excited chatter of their children. When the followed the steps up and along the dusty path lined with limestone rock, the sun was just peaking over the horizon; the dawn broke through the landscape providing them with a fuzzy light to go by. Soon, the path headed downhill, amongst the trees and rock archways with signage saying 'Mind your head. Do not damage rocks.'

Walking along the path turned into climbing down darker steep and slippery steps, beautiful limestone formations surrounding them. They ducked their heads to avoid the overhanging rocks as Arieta led them down the well-worn path.

Cleo took in a breath when she took in the first cavern. Light from the steadily rising sun was dappled on the water, falling down from a whole in the towering ceiling. It truly was remarkable.

"Welcome to the caves of Sawa-i-lau," Arieta said, she grinned at the awestruck faces on her guests.

"The water looks amazing," Jennifer said.

Arieta took off the clothes covering her swimsuit.

"Come on," she said with a smile, jumping into the water. When she surfaced, she was surprised to see her guests all jumping in still fully clothed. Mermaids and little mermen suddenly surrounded her. Actually seeing them transform and swim around was an amazing experience. She watched mesmerized by their natural grace in the water. They looked like they belonged here. Rikki swam over to tread water beside her.

"This is amazing. Thank you," Rikki said.

"Thank you for trusting me enough to experience this," Arieta replied.

They all had waterproof torches they were exploring the underwater nooks and crannies of the caves with. Eric shot up excitedly from the depths.

"I found a tunnel to another cave," he said excitedly.

Arieta smiled.

"Shall we go through?" she asked.

OoOoO

The next cave had an even higher ceiling if that was possible. The tunnel was thin but short and tourists could easily get through it. There was much less natural light in this cave, so the light from their torches was vital. Arieta had grown up in the water and loved free diving and swimming out on the reef. Whenever they visited Sawa-i-lau they explored every inch so she knew each tunnel well. While the mermaids swam around the cave, she climbed up the rock walls and jumped down into the pool, causing Bella to shriek. She laughed and climbed up again. The kids wanted to try it. Cleo flicked the water off the route and Charlie and Leila dried everyone who wanted to try. There was a small ledge above the water level, which allowed them to do this. Once back in their human forms, they climbed up – with more difficulty than Arieta, but managing nonetheless, and they jumped off, once again becoming mer again. Their guide watched amazed; they had powers just like Nana Levu. She did a double take as the kids climbed up the rocks. The parts of the limestone they were touching was glowing slightly. A faint blue glow following their touch. She looked at the mermaids still in the water.

"Did you see that?" Emma asked her. Arieta nodded mutely.

"Is that normal?"

Arieta shook her head.

"I've never seen that happen before..." she trailed off. The children were all back in the water again, giggling with excitement. They dried themselves off and did it again. The children were not aware of the glow beneath their touch, too involved with their fun.

"Have you touched the limestone while you have been in this cavern?" Arieta asked the women. They shook their heads. "Would you...?"

Rikki swam over to the nearest wall and placed her hands against it. Sure enough, blue glowed beneath her skin.

"I feel like we may have found the place your Nana Levu changed," Rikki said. "The magic is alive here. I can feel it."

____________

A/N: Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter :D Look up the caves of Sawa-i-lau on the internet - man it is pretty and amazing, and it has inspired so many plot ideas...It seriously looks like a place full of sea magic, don't you think? Also, you guys and your reviews have given me many ideas recently.

Please tell me what you thought or any ideas you might have for the future, even though I may not use them the way you suggest, often it inspires another idea or something similar, or change my initial plan.

Thanks so much for reading! I'm sorry If the next update takes a while - I am balancing a lot in life.

And thanks to redranger, Meredith175, BrightnessWings19, camila1495, Trouble-neglects-me, chloeic11, girlygirl01052004, Eternal_Flame, kennarocks11, _jaynapotts_, Percy_got_style, Mermaidsandspells, and E3SStoriesOfficial for commenting on the previous chapter. I love you all!