Melissa's bond with Stefanie led her to a coral reef. It was a practical maze of colorful structures, like a garden of rocky plants. Fortunately, Melissa knew right where to find her sister's friend. Emily followed closely, still in disbelief how she was breathing underwater and being propelled by a shimmering tail of copper scales; thoughts only broken by the elegance of her best friend's movements, and her own shimmering tail of pink.
"Stefanie!" Melissa called out. Suddenly, Emily's mind snapped back to the task at hand.
"Stefanie!" Emily called out. "It's no use hiding, Melissa knows where you are!"
"She's right, you know." Stefanie said. Emily swam over to Melissa to find Stefanie sitting down in a patch of pink coral.
"Stef, you can't keep doing this you know." Emily said.
"You never let me do anything on my own!" The teenage mermaid said. "You always keep me from doing cool things, or you have to hover over me when I finally get to."
"I don't do that all the time."
"Yes, you do!" Stefanie looks up. "See, even now, you're literally hovering over me."
"Okay, then, come on up out of that coral and we can talk, face to face."
Stefanie swam up out of the coral and floated in front of her big sister. "You wanted to talk?" Stefanie said. "So, let's talk."
"Stef, you know I'm only just trying to look out for you. Our parents were away almost all the time on business trips and such. I swore to take care of you while they were away, to protect you; That's the main reason why I kissed Melissa."
"It wasn't because you wanted to steal her from me?"
"She was my friend first, you know; so, if anything, YOU were stealing her from ME."
Stefanie looked down. "I-I'm sorry, Emily."
"It's okay." Emily put her hands on Stefanie's shoulders.
Stefanie looks at Emily's mermaid body. "Your tail is pretty."
"Thanks, you don't look too bad yourself." Emily said with a playful grin.
Melissa swam up to the sisters. "Well, I'm glad you two managed to patch things up."