Epilogue

Zack leaned against the rail in the back of the sailboat, looking down into the dark blue water and waiting impatiently for Sciella to come back. His brow furrowed in worry. She'd been gone for quite some time.

Finally, he caught a glimpse of a blonde blur a split second before it became clearer and Sciella surfaced. She took in a breath of air and used a webbed hand to removed a stand of hair that worked its way out of the ponytail, while the other held onto the ladder.

He smiled at the sight of her. "Hey there," He said, moving down the rail to where the opening was, and crouching down to give her a quick kiss. "I was getting worried, where were you?"

She grinned up at him. "Grab your goggles and jump in." She commanded excitedly.

Zack blinked at her. "What? What for?"

"Zack, hurry before they leave!" She pleaded, not wanting him to miss out on what she had seen.

Still confused, but now willing to listen, Zack quickly stood up and ran to get his diving goggles. Stripping off his navy blue T-shirt and being left in nothing but a pair of red swim trunks, he did as he was told and dived in beside his wife with a splash.

Coming back up for air, he grabbed onto the steal ladder connected to the hull before putting his face back in to get a good look at what had Sciella so excited.

His eyes widened slightly at the sight. 'Oh wow.'

There, swimming about fifty some odd feet below them, were hundreds of sea turtles, all of which were heading for the coast.

Sciella looked at him beneath the water, trying to keep her giggling under control with how funny he looked. Wide eyed behind thick goggles that made him look almost like an owl.

She swam in his line of vision, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him fully beneath the water.

It was better to stay with him and enjoy the view from where they were anyway. She didn't want to risk scaring them off course and preventing them from laying their eggs by swimming amongst them. Sea turtles were rare enough without her interference.

Sciella suddenly felt him pulling away from her lips, and it was then that she remembered that he still needed to breath the air as he surfaced. She decided to go with him, surfacing next to him.

"Woah," He said as he took the goggles off to get a clearer look at his wife. "That was amazing."

She giggled, giving him another quick kiss while hanging on his shoulders. "Next time maybe you'll ask fewer questions and just do as I say." She teased with a grin.

Zack rolled his eyes playfully. "Fine, fine, you win for now." Was all he would allow before letting his curiosity get the better of him "I wonder where they're going?" He asked, putting the goggles back over his eyes to take another quick look at them in the water.

"To lay their eggs."

Zack looked up at her. "You can tell that?" He asked, and she nodded.

"Yeah, it's about that time of the year for them anyway, and the beach is only about ... what is it? Five miles away?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, about that." Zack said, inwardly grinning in slight surprise. He thought for a moment that she only knew where they were heading because of her own unique abilities, when in fact it turned out to be just her own intelligence at work.

But then a thought struck him. "We should get you out of the water." He said quickly, looking at her with worry in his dark eyes.

She blinked at him, a little taken back with his sudden change of attitude. "What? Why?"

Zack let her go before pulling himself out of the water, grabbing a towel and a pair of summer shorts for her to wear when the tail was off. "Sea turtles are always being studied," He explained. "I don't want to risk that there are any people tracking them who could get a look at you."

Sciella, while she understood, was still left a little disappointed. "Damn." She muttered, getting ready to shed her tail.

Zack smiled down at her. "Don't worry, we'll just find another place to park this thing." He said.

She sent him a grateful smile. "Thanks, but can you turn around?" She asked, getting a little shy.

He grinned and rolled his eyes, but still did as he was told. Turning around to give her the privacy she wanted while he held the towel and shorts in his hands for when she would need them.

It had been three years since they'd gotten together, and a year since he proposed to her again and married her. But even after all that time, she could still be just a little shy, even though her lower half was covered by water, and he couldn't help but find it cute.

Of course, she lost all that shyness when they were alone in their bedroom. Maybe it had more to do with the removal of the tail and less to do with him seeing her naked.

"Can you hand me a towel?" She asked.

Zack, not turning around, rolled the towel into a ball before tossing it over his shoulder for her to catch.

After a few seconds, she gave him her permission to turn around now that she was covered.

Zack grinned as he helped her out of the water and sat her down into a foldout chair, handing her another towel and the pair of shorts for her to slip into. Her legs would be a little tender for another hour or two, so they both just decided to sail around and enjoy the sea air.

"Do you have my ring?" Sciella asked, the thought that she still wasn't wearing her wedding band striking her now that the webbing between her fingers vanished.

"Just a second, I'll be back." He ran below deck to go and get it for her. Having tucked it safely in one of the drawers in their small room.

Sciella hated that she was forced to take it off whenever she changed forms, but if she didn't then the webbing's wouldn't form properly, and even sting terribly in the water. She knew because she'd tried it before.

She didn't know why, but ever since that day on the beach three years ago, when she was forced to change into a mermaid for the first time in years in order to save Zack, there was a sort of yearning to continually change. To go back into the water and just be what she was born to be. Like an itch that needed to be scratched. So whenever she and Zack took their boat out on the water for some alone time, she made a habit of going below as her old self.

Zack didn't mind, and after some coaxing, neither did Mitch, and she had their full support about going below once she explained to them her situation. And for that, she was grateful.

"I got it." Zack called, reappearing with the ring in his hand, and kneeling before her as he gently slipped it on her finger.

Sciella loved it when he did that. She rewarded him with a kiss.

He grinned at her devilishly when they pulled away, kissing her again before picking her up bridal style. Sciella squealed when he did. He brought her with him to the front of the boat where he could start the engine and head out of there.

After speaking with his father about his plans to try and start his fishing business back up, Zack was talked out of it. His father told him that even if they did get it back, it would never be the same with the lack of fish, as well as a complete waste of money. And so Zack ended up keeping the money he'd saved long and hard for.

That was how their boat came to be. Zack was glad to have it, even if he couldn't start the fishing business back up again. It made Sciella happy at least.

Once every month or so, Zack would even take Mitch out on a few fishing trips, the two having gotten along much better since the wedding, were now practically best of friends.

In a way, even though those days were over, Sciella missed life back on Sunset Cruises. But as long as she was able to see her friends again, even if it wasn't all that often, then she knew she could cope. After all, she couldn't stay on that boat for the rest of her life now could she?

The last time she even saw Peter was at her brother's and Claudia's wedding two months ago, and he seemed to be doing well for himself. Having finished college to become a music teacher, he seemed happy with his new life partner, and liked his job a lot more than playing for a crowd on the yacht.

He said that teaching music was a better way to share it than playing it for people who barely listened.

Both Sciella and Zack finished their courses in college easily as well. Zack having become a marine biologist and Sciella a writer.

In fact, she'd just finished her first novel, "The Wind Beneath The Sea." And she was currently working on her next big project. So with the money coming in from her books as well as Zack's line of work, they were able to take enough time off to be out on the ocean for another solid week before having to return to land.

One more week of heaven!

Zack gently set her down in another chair, kissing her gently before pulling away. "I'm going to pull up the anchor and get this thing out of here, and then we'll get something to eat."

Sciella grinned up ay him. "That sounds great." She responded, watching him walk away from her to set up the sails which were down on the masts.

Looking off into the horizon, she was only just a little shocked to find that the sun was getting ready to set, not having noticed that it was that late in the day. And she couldn't help but smile.

It was another beautiful day with her husband, and she couldn't wait to see what the next one with him would bring.

~The End~

Thank you to:

OneMinutePrincess(16): I love mermaids too! aren't they cool?!

Red Soul (16): Sorry, I know you wanted the wedding, and at first I did too, But I figured that a mermaid story where she's only a mermaid once wouldn't be too much fun, so I had that changed a bit

Lizziepadmegirl(15, 16): Heh, don't worry about it, I'm just glad that you liked it, and yeah, I think every girl would wish for a guy like that! ^_^

Jegan(16): I updated as fast as I could, hope you liked it!

Mythstify

Storytellergrl9191

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BalineseCitty

MermaidLover

Lola Sue

Lillie Chan

Meitora

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Hadellie

Cougar2k2

yvonne

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THANK YOU! ^_^