Hey guys! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! As promised, here is the first chapter of the sequel to 'No More Secrets.' It picks up about two months after the last story left off. I hope you enjoy! :) As always, thanks for reading!

The misty coastal air smelled unbelievably fresh as Rikki and Zane stepped out of the car. They peered up at the smallish looking house in front of them, at the end of a quiet neighborhood street. The house in was painted a nondescript light brown and had a white mailbox out front.

Zane walked around the car and put a tired arm around Rikki's shoulders. "What about this one?"

"You already know I love it, we've been here three times." Rikki said wistfully. I don't know, Zane, are you sure we're ready for a house?"

"The apartment is too small." Zane recited. "We know we can afford to move, and we'd both be glad for the extra room."

"It's further away from the ocean." Rikki said sadly.

"Only by a few miles." Zane reminded her. "And you hardly ever go into the ocean nowadays."

"I don't want anyone to see me." Rikki shrugged, trying to act like it didn't bother her to live so close to the sea and not be able to go out in it.

"We aren't going to be caught." Zane gently tucked a strand of brown hair behind Rikki's ear. His own had grown much longer. "No one has a clue who we are."

Rikki turned back to look at the house. "Maybe we'll be ready to move in a couple more months. I just hope this place is still available."

"It isn't available now." Zane cleared his throat. "Someone already bought it."

"What?" Rikki's heart sank. "Well then why did you bring me here? Why..." Her voice faded as she looked at the smirk spreading across Zane's face. "You didn't." She accused him.

"I did!" Zane's face burst into a grin as he picked Rikki up and spun her around. He pulled a set of keys from his pocket. "Welcome home, Rikki."

"Zane!" Rikki smacked him playfully as she ran up the front walk. "I can't believe you would do something so-"

"Romantic?" Zane caught her at the front door and nipped gently on Rikki's ear. He unlocked the door and held it open for Rikki to walk inside.

Rikki looked around the familiar house, hardly believing that they got to live there. They'd been casually visiting open houses for about a month now, and for some reason Rikki had always found herself drawn to this one. It had a warmth that reminded her of home. Maybe it was the layout, which was very similar to Cleo's house. It had come fully furnished, and Rikki already felt more at home here than she had in their apartment. She walked over to the living room window, peering up the street.

"And not a reporter in sight." She exhaled.

"See?" Smugness was evident in Zane's voice as he stood beside her. He took Rikki's hand in his as his tone softened. "I told you. We've done everything right, Rikki. Fake names, fake histories, our neighbors won't even know we're Australian." He said in a perfect American accent. "This is going to be perfect."

Rikki couldn't help but agree with him. The money Laurie had collected for them had made all of this possible. The first thing they'd done after they landed in America was change their appearance. Rikki had died her hair a chestnut-brown and cut it into a choppy, short style. She donned a fake pair of glasses as well. Zane had lightened his a bit and went several days without shaving. Add a pair of sunglasses wherever he went and he was unrecognizable.

Too both of their surprises, it seemed to have worked. No one spared a second glance for the couple as they walked down the street. On Laurie' advice, they'd landed in Atlanta, Georgia and then rented a car to drive to North Carolina. There was a much closer airport to the Wilmington coast, but this would do an even better job of erasing their trail.

"Ah..." Rikki sighed with pleasure as she dropped down onto the bed in their new room. "I've never been so comfortable." She rolled onto her stomach, looking up at Zane with deep eyes. "Join me?"

"Don't tempt me." Zane stood in the doorway, a grin playing at the corners of his mouth. "Come here." He said softy.

"Why?" Rikki said slowly as she walked towards him.

"Close your eyes." Zane turned her so that he was guiding her steps. "I have something to show you."

"Ok..." Rikki obeyed and timidly walked in the direction Zane was pointing her.

Zane spoke as they walked. "We agreed that this house was even more perfect because it was at the end of a street, do you remember?"

Wordlessly, Rikki nodded.

"Less traffic, nobody really pays that much attention to the house at the end of the road." Zane continued. "And as you know, there's an empty two acres of land attached to the back of this house. The realtor kept telling us it would be the perfect backyard if we ever decided to have children." Zane laughed slightly as he guided Rikki through a doorway.

"We've stopped." Rikki noted. "Can I open my eyes now?"

Zane took a couple of steps away from Rikki. He wanted to have a perfect view of her. "Open them." He whispered, barely able to contain his excitement.

Rikki gasped as she looked at what had once been two acres of nothing but grass and trees.

A glittering pool of blue water sent flashes of teal onto the back side of the house. But it wasn't just an ordinary swimming pool. It was like an oasis, the perfect memory of home. The pool was enormous and oddly shaped, not a perfect oval. It curved in and out, and in the middle was a small island-like structure. The whole thing was lined by a tall wooden fence, so that no one could see through.

"Come on." Zane dove into the water and swam for the sandy-colored structure in the middle.

Rikki followed him, relishing the feeling of freedom as she changed for the first time in a week. Zane appeared to swim underneath the small island. Curiously, Rikki followed him.

Sure enough, the island floated on top of the water, suspended in place by heavy cabling. Rikki surfaced underneath,gasping as she looked around. Inside was a miniature version of the Moon Pool at Mako Island.

"Zane..." Rikki breathed. She had never felt quite so touched. She put a hand over her mouth, trying not to tear up.

"I just thought you could use a touch of home." Zane pushed Rikki's now-blonde hair off her shoulders. He looked around at the water. "It's fully heated, you can go swimming even in the dead of winter." He chuckled. "The real estate agent thought I was nuts, but I just decided-"

Rikki stopped him, effectively silencing him with a long kiss as tears of happiness ran down her cheeks.

Back in Australia, Laurie, Bella, and Will were just leaving the grand opening celebration of a new marine museum in town. Cameras snapped as they waved and made their way out to their waiting limousine. They were still photographed everywhere they went, but there didn't seem to be as many cameramen anymore. Or maybe they'd just gotten used to it. The three of them had settled into something of a celebrity status to the whole world, but their town seemed to slowly be getting used to having them around.

They settled themselves into the limo and directed the driver to take them to the marine park, where they'd left their cars.

"Thanks." Laurie tipped the driver as they stepped out.

The driver politely accepted before directing the car through the heavily guarded exit.

"We set a date." Bella aid excitedly, unable to keep it a secret from Laurie any longer.

"Sh..." Laurie aid immediately, casting a wary eye around the empty park. He hadn't heard anything further from the sender of the cryptic letter, but he had to be careful. He quickly unlocked his office door and ushered them inside before giving Bella the 'ok' to continue.

"June 10th." Bella blurted out, unable to stop giggling excitedly.

"And you're sticking with this one this time?" Laurie raised his eyebrows.

"Absolutely." Will nodded proudly. "And we altered the guest list again too. Everything is going to be totally low-key. We don't want the media to find out about our plans."

"Not again." Bella said guiltily. She'd already accidentally told a reporter the wedding details of the first wedding they'd planned. He was posing as a florist and Bella didn't think for a second that he might be secretly recording her.

Laurie swallowed nervously. Someone out there knew something, or at least claimed to. Laurie just didn't have any idea who that person was. If the media found out about the girls' abilities they might not be quite so accepting of them. Laurie forced himself to refocus on Bella, who had been chattering away in the meantime.

"So that's why we decided that teal and ivory would make the perfect wedding colors." She gushed.

"I'm happy for you two." Laurie said genuinely as he checked his watch. "The park opens for evening session in just a few minutes. Are you two hanging around today?"

Will and Bella frequently spent time at the marine park greeting fans and posing for pictures. Security was so tight that it was one of the only places they felt completely safe doing so, and the kids loved getting to meet a real life mermaid.

"We'll stay for a couple hours." Will looked to Bella, who nodded enthusiastically.

The pair finally headed for home after staying a total of five hours at the park. There had been a lot of people wanting pictures tonight. Bella and Will knew that their presence was a huge draw for the crowds, and they liked to help out the park as much as possible. They fell happily onto their cream colored couch and flipped on the television.

"Did you send the new date and location to Rikki and Cleo yet?" Will asked.

"Not yet." Bella laid her head on Will's shoulder. "I wanted to talk to you about the location."

"And?" Will looked down at her in surprise.

"What if we got married on Mako Island?" Bella asked. "I know it's kinda out of the way for you humans, but it's a pretty special place to all of us."

Will nodded, mulling it over in his head. "If that's what you want, that's where the wedding will be." He said finally.

"Excellent." Bella settled in, moving closer over next to Will. "You know what else I want?" She said mischievously, playing with Will's belt buckle.

Will jumped up and raced for the bedroom without another word. Bella laughed as she ran after him.

"Excuse me, Mr. McArtney?" A petite redhead poked her head into Lewis's office.

Lewis looked up wearily from the stack of papers in front of him. "Yes, Lindy?" His floppy blonde hair fell into his eyes as he stifled a yawn.

"I just have a few more case study reports for you to read over." Lindy said apologetically as she set a thick folder on the top of an already full inbox.

"Yippee." Lewis grimaced. "It's going to take me months to get through all of these."

"People are anxious for your opinion, I guess." Lindy offered. "Oh, and this came for you." She held out an official looking manilla envelope.

Lewis snatched it out of her hand, making her jump. "Yes... yes... yes..." He murmured excitedly. He ripped open the envelope and furiously read the letter inside. His eyes were bright with excitement as he looked up at his assistant. "Do you have any idea what this is?"

"Um, no sir, I don't." Lindy shook her head.

"I need to go." Lewis threw on his jacket, grabbed his keys, and ran out of his office, leaving paperwork fluttering to the ground in his wake.

"See you later then?" Lindy called after him.

Lewis ran down the familiar paved path until he reached the lake in the center of campus. "Cleo!" He shouted out over the water, drawing a few bemused looks from passing biologists. Lewis dashed around to the other side of the small body of water. "C'mon, Cleo, where are you?"

"I'm right here, silly." Cleo surfaced a few feet away, propping herself up on the sandy bank with her elbows. "What's going on?"

Lewis ran to her, sliding down on his stomach in the wet sand. "You'll never believe-"

"Lewis, your suit!" Cleo gestured for him to stand up. "It'll be ruined."

"I don't care!" Lewis laughed. "Cleo, I got it." He held up the letter.

Cleo's eyes widened as she realized what he was talking about. "You got the lecture tour?" She said excitedly.

"Yes!" Lewis leaned forward to kiss Cleo, not caring that he was in 3 inches of murky lake water. "We leave in 3 weeks."

"Lewis, I'm so proud of you." Cleo kissed him hard, twining her fingers in his hair.

About two weeks ago, notice had gone out that Brian Helmsley, Lewis's favorite Marine Biologist in the entire world, was going on a lecture tour of the seven continents, and that he would be holding satellite interviews to find a research assistant/fellow presenter. Lewis had interviewed five days ago and had been anxiously waiting for a reply ever since.

"I've got to call Laurie." Lewis jumped back to his feet. "See you at home?"

"You got it." Cleo smiled up at him before ducking back under the water. She needed a few minutes to herself. Against her will, a knot had begun to form in her stomach. They'd only just gotten really settled here in California, in a huge facility specifically altered for their comfort. And now they would be going on a three month tour, touching on every continent. Never being settled anywhere. Cleo tried to be happy, but she was more than a little tired of the moving around. It was hard for her to make friends because of what she was. She'd only recently become close with one of the daughters of a teacher here at the center. She and Toryn spent most of their free time together when Lewis and Toryn's father were busy working.

Cleo had been all too happy to follow Lewis to America. She had felt somewhat like she owed him for all of the help he'd been during the great mermaid revelation. But now... it just didn't feel as right. Cleo was painfully homesick, and though she loved Lewis, she was afraid he might have to make this next voyage on his own.

"Here we are." A beautiful blonde girl stepped out of a taxi. "It feels good to be back, doesn't it?"

"This was always my favorite home." Her companion said, pulling two large suitcases out of the taxi.

"The town who brought mermaids into the world." The blonde read the subscript on the town sign. "I don't think I really believed it until we got here. They're all out in the open now. Well," She corrected herself. "At least the three of them are."

"I'll follow you to the house?" The brown haired man gestured to the neighborhood in front of them. "It's been so long, I don't remember which one is yours."

"Follow me, Ash." Emma said as she pulled her sunglasses down over her eyes. She started walking down the street, a smile across her face.

"You're right, you know." Ash breathed in deeply. "It is awfully good to be back."