Mera wasn't sure why, but she felt unsettled walking back up to Tannyhill. She forced herself into a pair of Kie's shorts and a short sleeved, collared shirt, praying silently to herself that no one could sense her discomfort. No one except John B, who was taking the entire cousin thing to heart. It seemed that he could already sense how she felt and what she was thinking.

So, as they made their journey up the incredibly long driveway toward the house, he tapped his elbow against her arm, drawing her out of her own consciousness.

"You look good," he said, not even glancing at her. "We get you some jewelry, maybe a tattoo or two, and you'll fit right in here with everyone else."

The thought made Mera smile. She wanted to fit in, whatever way she possibly could.

"You really think our plan is going to work?" She asked, tucking her hands into her back pockets. Modern pockets weren't as deep as she was used to. Mera wondered why some clothes even had pockets if they weren't going to be of any use.

"I think it already has." There was a confidence in John B's voice that was contagious. Even if Mera didn't believe truly that they were going to succeed, she believed the smile on John B's face. And that was enough.

"I trust you, cos," she said with a smile, bumping into him with her shoulder.

"John B, Mera!" Ward walked toward them with his arms open and a smile on his face. "Ready for your first day of work?"

Mera managed a smile, nervously rolling onto the balls of her feet.

"Yes, sir," she said.

"Great." He clapped his hands together, making Mera flinch ever so slightly. "John, you know what to do. I'll take care of Mera."

"Sure. See you in a few hours?" John B looked at Mera and she hummed quietly and nodded her head. Being apart from him made her feel uncomfortable all over again, but she was going to have to deal with it.

"Follow me, Mera."

She would never have described herself as timid in her past lives, but that was definitely what she was feeling like now. There had always been a feeling of uncertainty when she crossed into enemy territory, but now she didn't have her parents or an entire ocean of man eating sirens for backup. She was on her own.

Ward walked toward his house, talking about something or another that Mera wasn't really listening to. They didn't go into the house, but just kept walking past it. Mera spotted Sarah in her bedroom window. The girl threw her window open and hollered.

"Mera!" She said with a smile. "How are you?"

"I'm good, Sarah," Mera replied, squinted up at the girl.

"Sorry, Darling," Ward interjected, putting an uncomfortable arm around Mera's shoulders. "The girl's here to work today. Why don't you bring out some water for her? We'll be in the pod in the back."

"Sure thing," Sarah said, her smile never once falling.

"The pod's just back here," Ward told Mera, dropping his arm back to his side. He had been nothing but kind to her since she arrived, so why did Mera feel in so much danger every time he was around? Her mother would tell her that was her intuition speaking and that she should listen to it. Her dad would tell her that she should be more trusting of people, that not everyone was going to stab her in the back.

That left Mera in a very uncomfortable place of not knowing what to do at all.

"You might feel overwhelmed at how much there is," Ward said as they walked up to the pod. "But I don't expect it all done at once."

He laughed. Mera must have missed the joke.

The "pod" was more a warehouse than anything else. Mera let out an unintentional sigh before Ward even opened the door. She let out another when she was actually inside.

Mera had spent much of her time cleaning things as a pirate. There was a lot of cleaning that took place, especially when she was in trouble. But this ? This seemed impossible.

"I had Rose bring out all the supplies I thought you might need. If you want anything else, just let me know." Ward didn't even step a foot inside the pod. "And, remember, don't mix the bleach and the ammonia. I can't have you dying on your first day."

He laughed again. Mera managed a half of a chuckle, but her mind was elsewhere, wondering how long it was going to take to clean even half of the things that Ward had stored away in here. It didn't matter, she supposed. The longer it took, the longer she was employed. And having a job was all part of the plan to keep her here.

"If something is too gross or unusable, just call me or Rafe and we'll take it right out of your hair," Ward said. Mera noticed that he had taken a step back.

She wasn't sure who she would rather call if she needed help. Rafe, who she had punched in the face and seemed to hate her an incredible (but understandable) amount or Ward, who gave off the weirdest vibes that Mera had ever felt.

"Thank you," Mera said finally, turning to look at Ward.

"If you need anything, just shout." With that, he turned to leave.

Mera let out a heavy breath as she turned to face her task at hand. It was better to let her mind go blank and let her hands do all the work.

The pod was mostly filled with furniture, but the ground was filthy and there was trash here and there. So that's where Mera started. She picked up the bigger pieces of trash and shoved them into a large, black trash bag, before sweeping the floor that she could see.

When she finally got to the chemicals, she didn't know what half of the things were. She was used to water and sometimes soap. Ammonia, bleach, windex, she didn't have the faintest idea what they were. After reading the labels of every single chemical, bottle, and other cleaning supply that Ward had provided, she felt like she had enough knowledge to get started on the closest thing that needed cleaning, an oven.

She pulled her hair back into a ponytail, sitting cross legged on the floor. She had barely pulled all the racks out and sprayed them with something to soak with the door opened. Half expecting Sarah, Mera turned with a smile, only to find Rafe standing in the doorway. Her smile fell, even as she saw the glass of water in his hand.

Blowing a stray piece of hair out of her face, Mera felt herself slouch.

"What do you want?" She asked. Rafe gave her a sneering smile.

"Careful, Mera. I'm your boss now."

"Your dad is my boss."

"Same thing."

"What can I do for you, Rafe?" She asked, her words dripping with sarcastic sweetness.

"Oh, nothing."

Rafe set the glass of water next to Mera and lowered himself to the ground beside her. Her stomach knotted and she instinctively brought her hand to her hip, where her dagger would have been if she still had her dagger.

Damn . She thought to herself. Why did daggers ever go out of style?

"Are you just going to sit there and watch?" Mera asked, irritated. Rafe leaned back, a smirk on his lips.

"I'll do as I damn please," he said. Mera rolled her eyes and got back to work, leaving the cup of water untouched. She scrubbed the racks until scrubbing did no more good. She repeated the process with the burners on the top. She was sweating and covered in grime by the time she started searching for a tub to soak the burners and the racks in.

"What're you looking for?" Rafe asked, pushing himself to his feet.

"I don't need your help," Mera said in a sing-songy voice as she struggled to climb over all of Ward's junk.

"Woah there," Rafe said, putting out his hands to steady Mera as she stumbled over something. With a glare, Mera tried to pull her arm from his grip, but he held fast.

"What do you want from me?" She asked him, her eyes narrowing even further and tugging on her arm again. "If you don't let me go, I'll scream, I swear to God."

"And what would that do for you, huh?"

"You don't think your dad wouldn't believe any lie I told him about what you were doing here with me? He hardly trusts you as is. To him, I'm ten times more trustworthy than you are."

The coy smile on his face faltered for just a moment, the facade almost crumbling.

"You don't know that."

Mera scoffed and pulled her arm away from him as his grip loosened.

"Look, Rafe, your daddy doesn't like you. I'm sorry about that, but if you push me, I'll use it to my advantage."

Rafe huffed and took a step backward.

"What the hell did I do to you to make you hate me so much?" He asked and Mera almost saw an ounce of humanity in him. She suddenly felt the familiar pang of guilt in her stomach.

"You made assumptions about me because of how I looked, who I hung out with. You were hostile first," she defended, taking a step away from him.

"You punched me."

"You touched me without my permission."

"You act like I assaulted you."

"Yeah, well, you-" Mera closed her eyes and let out a heavy breath. They were running around in circles and getting nowhere. "Why don't we start over? I won't judge you based off of your daddy issues and your anger management problems and you won't judge me based on my family or my anger management problems, alright?"

Rafe narrowed his eyes, considering this for a moment. Mera wasn't really sure why she had offered anyway. She had given him a partial olive branch once and he didn't take it. He was even more hostile than ever after that. What made her think he would take one now?

"I can do that."

Mera was almost taken aback. Her shock increased when Rafe attempted to smile at her. After a few moments she gave a short nod.

"Alright. Why don't you start by helping me find a tub somewhere in this mess."

With Rafe's help, it really didn't take very long for Mera to find a tub large enough to fit the racks and the stove burners. Pouring a healthy amount of ammonia into a bag, she placed the racks and burners into the bag, tied it up and placed it inside the tub.

"That stuff reeks," Rafe groaned, pinching his nose. Mera just let out a sigh of agreement. "What now?"

"Now I clean the inside and the top," Mera said, dropping back to her knees.

"What about the stuff in the tub?"

"That stays until tomorrow."

"Oh."

"You've never had to clean like this before?" She asked him, glancing back with a partial smile. Rafe ran a hand through his hair, messing up the perfectly laid gel. He looked better with his hair tousled.

"Um, no," he said finally. Mera found herself giving a small laugh.

"Well, it's pretty boring. You don't have to stand there and watch," she said. She wasn't really sure she wanted to be leaning into the oven to clean wearing as short of pants as she was with a boy watching her. It just didn't seem right somehow.

"Right. Um, do you want music or something? Just so it's not so quiet," Rafe said. All the confidence he was pretending to have before was gone. The barest of a blush graced his cheeks.

"I'll survive, Rafe. Thank you." Mera sat awkwardly on the floor with the scrub brush in her hands just waiting for him to leave.

"I don't really have anywhere else to be. Do you mind if I stay?" He added quickly. "I can help if you want."

Mera felt a small smile creep up her face. John B and JJ would kill her if they heard what she was about to say.

"Yeah," she said. "You can stay. But it would actually be better if you didn't help. The longer it takes to clean everything in here, the longer I have a job, so...."

"Oh, right. I'll, uh, just sit over there, then."

Mera was glad to see that he chose a place to sit where he didn't have a direct view of her ass. She started to clean, the tension weighing heavily on them for a while, until Rafe spoke once again.

"So, how do you like California?" He asked. Mera was grateful that her head was currently in an oven so he couldn't see the way her eyes widened.

"California is, uh-" Mera had never been to California. She had no idea what it was like at all. "It was good."

"Live by the beach?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"I imagine it's not much different from here." Mera shook her head even though he couldn't really see it. "Water's colder I bet."

Mera racked her mind for an answer. The water on the east side of the Americas had always been warmer, she knew that much. She'd never been to the west coast, which was where she was assuming Claifornia was, but she met people who had and they did often complain of cold waters.

"Much," she answered finally, hoping it was the right answer.

"You left a life in California with a rich lawyer mom to live with your pogue cousin in the middle of nowhere?"

"Guess so."

"Why?"

Mera sat back with a sigh, her hands already covered in muck. She brushed her cheek with the back of her hand to scratch an itch, unknowingly leaving behind a black smear.

The best way to lie is mostly by telling the truth.

Two major life decisions had brought her here. The first, avenging the death of her father and becoming a siren in the process. The second, choosing to save JJ's life and leave the ocean for good. But why had she made those decisions in the first place?

"I knew there was more out there," she decided on finally. "More that I could be doing, more that I should be doing. I felt trapped, held in a box, forced to do things that I didn't want to do. I couldn't handle it anymore. So, when I got my out, I took it."

Rafe watched her carefully, noting the distant look in her eyes as she fiddled with the scrubber.

"Do you want to go back?"

The ocean called to her every day. If she listened, she could hear it. She still heard Ira's voice in her head, heard her brothers and sisters calling to her. Her bones ached to be in the water once again, her flesh yearning for her. But Mera wasn't sure that she wanted to, even if her body called out for it.

Going back to The Iron Anchor , to her real mother, was a different matter. It was a duller ache, something deeper within her. To be a pirate once again with no responsibilities, no fears, a family who loved her, a job that saved people's lives. Was that something she wanted? No, not if her father wasn't there with her.

So, her mind made up, she finally shook her head.

"No, I don't think so," she said and looked over at him. She didn't really have much of a choice at this point, but it was still the truth. "This is my life now and I'm learning to enjoy it."

"That kinda makes it sound like it wasn't your choice to leave."

Damn. She really wasn't very good at this whole lying by telling the truth thing.

"I thought we weren't going to talk about my family." Mera leaned back into the oven before he could see her grimacing over her mistake.

"Right." She could hear the interest in Rafe's voice, but he didn't push.

They talked about simple things for a few more minutes before Sarah came in with a bottle of water. Rafe stood quickly and said something mildly rude before practically running out of the door.

"That was weird," Sarah said with a partial laugh. "So, Mera, how are you?"

***

She felt absolutely disgusting as she walked back to the Chateau. Covered in grit, sweat, and old food Mera was a little grouchy as she stepped out of John B's van.

"You got a bathing tub?" she asked, holding her arms out to the side of her so the sweat on her arms wasn't touching her skin. John B's lips quirked up into a little smile.

"I've got a shower if that's good enough," he told her. She scowled but nodded her head. "I'll show you the way."

Mera followed John B back into the house, where Kiara and JJ were lounging on the couch.

"Hey, Mera," Kie said with a smile. Her eyes were drooping ever so slightly. The look on Kie's face and the smell of the air, Mera guessed she and JJ had just finished smoking. The smell made her nose scrunch.

"How was work?" JJ asked as he lifted his head.

"Good," Mera said, eager to get in the shower.

"Rafe give you any problems?"

Mera felt herself clam up. She gave a shrug of her shoulders, refusing to look him in the eye. She somehow felt like she shouldn't tell them about her civil conversation with Rafe. They definitely wouldn't approve.

"Nope," she said. "I'm gonna go to the...shower? Yeah, the shower."

"Water's probably cold," John B said once they got to the bathroom. "Hope that isn't a problem."

Mera simply shook her head. She grabbed a new set of clothes, John B's sweats and JJ's sweater, before locking herself in the bathroom. Peeling off her clothes was like peeling of skin. The denim shorts especially clung to her skin and by the time it was all off, Mera couldn't have been happier. It finally felt like she could breathe.

Stepping into the tub, the water cascaded down her body and washed away everything that was weighing her down. The feeling of water against her skin was refreshing and familiar. It wasn't the same as the salty, ocean water she was used to, but it was almost close enough. If she closed her eyes and tried hard enough, she could almost imagine that she was back under the surface, deep in the depths of the sea.

The ocean was always dark unless you were near the surface during the day time. Dark and deep and unknowable. It was just something you had to get used to as a siren, the darkness and the numbness.

But even the darkness couldn't hide the smell of the blood or the muffled yet terrified screams of the sailors as they drowned. Nor could the darkness cover up the look of the light draining out of their eyes.

350 years worth of killing, 350 years worth of lost souls pined on Mera's back.

All those people, all those families who lost someone to Mera's own teeth, they haunted her every waking second. Even if she tried to cover it up, drown it out with any distraction she could find, she saw their faces in everything. The ocean call distorted into the sounds of their screaming.

Mera snapped her eyes open. If her heart still beat like a normal person's, it would be pounding, throbbing in her ears and in her chest. She supposed she carried an ounce of numbness with her still.

If her heart didn't beat, how human could she really be?

Pulling a shuddering breath in through her nose, Mera turned off the shower and stepped out. She wrung out her hair before twisting it up into a misshapen bun. A heaviness still hung on her shoulders as she pulled on the sweatshirt and sweatpants. With her hair dripping wet and now fully dressed, Mera felt a thousand times better than she did before, but her mind was full of fuzziness. Maybe it was a desire to sleep, maybe it was thinking about her life as Apa.

It didn't matter either way. Mera pushed the bathroom door open to find that the sun was starting to set, the world covered in a smoky blueness. All of her friends were outside, sitting by the hammocks. She paused for a moment at the door, watching them in the light of dusk.

Pope had showed up sometime when she was in the shower. He rested his head in Kiara's lap as she strummed her ukelele. Her soft voice, carried by the wind, was sweet like milk. She sang what almost sounded like a sea shanty, just with words that Mera didn't recognize. But she had a voice that would make even a siren jealous. That thought made Mera smile. Just picturing Ira's face when she heard Kiara sing....

Pope hummed along to Kiara's song, John B tapping his fingers against the beer bottle in his hands. It was a song they clearly all knew. Mera wondered if she would ever be able to recognize songs they knew someday. Maybe she would be able to hear their songs and not be reminded of her own. Or maybe she could teach them some of the ones she knew and then the songs no longer had to be hers versus theirs, but they could share them all.

Mera liked the thought of that.

Taking her first step out of the house, she felt that weight on her chest evaporate. JJ saw her first and a lazy smile pulled across his lips. He moved over even though there was already plenty of room between him and John B, so Mera took that as an indication that he wanted her to sit next to him. Pulling at her sleeves, she lowered herself to the ground as quietly as she could, not wanting to interrupt the jam session.

JJ leaned back, setting his hand a few inches behind Mera. She was painfully aware of how close he was to her, heat radiating off of him.

"Have a nice shower?" he whispered. Mera nodded her head slowly, not trusting her own voice to respond. He watched her carefully, his eyes narrowing. She could feel his gaze ghost over her body. If it was anyone else, it would have made her stiffen up, but for some reason, she didn't.

"Mera?" Kiara stopped strumming and looked up. Pope carried the tune for a few more moments before realizing his muse had gone silent. Shaking away her thoughts about JJ, Mera looked to her friend with a soft smile.

"Yes?"

"I've been wondering...you don't have to answer, but, I just wanted to know why you chose to leave the ocean when you did. I mean, I know you said that you didn't like the...killing....anymore. But why now? Why now after all this time?"

Mera felt her breath hitch in her throat and she resisted the urge to look back at JJ. Part of her wished she could tell a lie and just pretend that it had nothing to do with him, but what point was there in that? Why lie to her only friends?

"I was always waiting for the right time." Mera spoke slowly at first, her mouth going dry. "I'd seen you guys surfing there before, all of you. When I saw JJ floating in the water, I waited for you guys to come, hoping that it wouldn't have to be me. Stories of rogue sirens were used as a way to keep us in line, along with the nets. They were meant to keep us from even thinking about going to the surface and for so long, it worked." She finally turned to look at JJ just out of the corner of her eye, her voice going soft. He struggled to meet her gaze.

"I saw you there in the water and I knew what I had to do, but I waited until the last second and for that I'm sorry." JJ twitched like he was going to say something, but decided against it. "I couldn't just let him die. He was my way out, the linchpin that gave me the courage to finally do what I should have a long time ago."

"Did it hurt?" JJ asked. His voice was soft, barely audible even though she was right there next to him. She looked back at him again and when he glanced up at her, Mera could have sworn he saw something like tears shimmering in his eyes.

"No," she said as firmly as she could, but her voice broke.

"Don't lie," John B said from her other side. He wasn't looking at her, his eyes fixed on a patch of grass by Pope's head and his jaw tight. He absentmindedly picked at the blades beneath him.

Mera let out a heavy sigh and her shoulders sagged.

"Yes, it hurt," she said again, all confidence gone from her voice.

"What was it like?" Pope asked. His eyes were glued to her, wide and soaking in her every word.

"It was like...." Mera brought her knees up to her chest, wrapped her arms around her legs. The air felt suddenly cold against her still drying skin. "It was like breaking through a thousand layers of glass. Like claws were just...." She ran her fingernails gently over her arm, lungs tightening in her chest. "And that was just getting out of the water. I barely got JJ to the shore before everything else hit me. My gills were fading and I couldn't breathe, my tail was dissolving, the webbing in my hands was going and it was cold, so cold. I don't think my words are enough to explain it, but I was falling apart physiologically and being put back together again. I didn't feel it the first time when I became a siren, but I felt it this time. I felt every single thing."

A single tear drops from Mera's eye. She didn't feel like she wanted to cry, but the tear came anyway. She swiped away the trail of water the tear left behind and looked up, pressing her lips together in an attempt to smile.

"My god," Kie breathed.

"Hey, anything is better than where I was before. Besides," Mera gave a real smile. "All that pain brought me here, to you guys."

There was a moment of silence. The wind blew, rustling the leaves in the trees.

"Well, shit, Mera," JJ said and gave a playful pout. "You did that for me?"

She could tell it was a joke in attempts to lighten the mood, so Mera laughed, but she didn't find the words to respond. Another silence followed.

"You ever seen Pirates of the Caribbean?" John B asked. Kie looked at him with her eyebrows pinched together. Mera wasn't sure how to answer his question. She had no idea what he was talking about, but she presumed the answer would be no.

"It's a movie," Pope said when no one else said anything. "A...a series of moving pictures. We can watch it sometime if you want."

"What, you think just because I'm a pirate I want to consume anything and everything that pertains to pirates now?" Mera asked with a raised eyebrow. Pope stammered a few things before Mera laughed. "Because you would think right. I would love to watch it sometime."

"Oh, if we're catching you up on pop culture, you gotta watch Lost Boys," JJ suggested.

"Lost Boys, J, really?" Kie scowled at her friend. "Of all the movies, that's the one you want her to see first?"

"C'mon, Kie. Vampires in Santa Cruz? Twilight would never exist if it wasn't for Lost Boys. It's iconic."

"We have very different opinions on what 'iconic' means."

"We should make a running list," John B suggested, leaning forward with a smile on his face. "All the books and movies and music and whatnot that you should see."

Mera nodded fervently. She needed to be up to date on everything "pop culture" as JJ called it so she could blend in, but she also wanted to be able to fit in with these people, her friends.

"I like that idea," Mera said. Her voice was quiet as she tried to cover the fact that she was near tears once again. That they would do this for her, introduce her to all the things that they love to her, open themselves up to her, it meant the world. It was like she found her crew and she never wanted to lose them again.

"Wait, Mera," JJ said. "Do vampires exist?"

She turned her head toward him as John B scooted toward Pope and Kie to start compiling a list of things to introduce Mera to.

"I don't know," she said to him. "I've heard rumors though from some of my crew, but if vampires do exist I wouldn't know."

"What about werewolves?" He asked. There was a giddy look in his eyes and a partial smile.

"I couldn't help you there either," Mera said, disappointed in herself for letting him down. His smile faltered for a moment, so Mera spoke quickly. "But ghosts are real! And the undead too, skeletons and things of the like."

JJ's mouth fell open and his eyes widened. For a moment, Mera thought she had said something wrong, but then a smile broke across his face. He threw one of his arms over her shoulders and pulled her in closer. Mera let out a quiet laugh.

"Why didn't you say that sooner?" He asked with a laugh.

"You didn't ask."

"What else is out there?" There it was again, that look in his eyes.

She told him as much as she could before they were roped into the other conversation. Mera listened and laughed as the four shouted out all the different things that Mera should be introduced to. At some point, it went from books and movies and music to surfing and roller skating and beer pong. The more they talked, the more excited Mera got.

"Hey, tomorrow we should go to the Wreck!" Kiara said suddenly, perking up.

"What is that? An abandoned ship or something?" Mera asked, remembering how they had named their party spot "the boneyard" even though there were no bones.

"Oh, no," Kiara laughed. "My mom and dad's restaurant. We hang out there a lot."

"I have nothing other than work tomorrow," Mera said, her smile holding fast.

After their brief interlude, the conversation went right back to what it was before with the addition of food. Mera couldn't help the laughter that flowed from her mouth. It was comfortable here, with her friends, her new crew.

And all the while, she didn't realize that JJ had never dropped his arm from around her shoulders or that every time she laughed, his eyes were on her and only her.

Mera could only think about how right this felt. Sitting with these people laughing about nothing and everything, it was just right.

This was safe. This was home.