When Lia arrived back at the house she found Jen sitting at the table with Nikki, who, Lia was unsurprised to find, was devouring yet another large plate of fish. They both looked up when Lia entered and Nikki even seemed slightly happy to see her.

"Hi Jen, Hi Nikki." Lia said as she walked over to the table.

"Hello Lia! How was it with Irene?" Jen asked. Nikki made a face at the mention of Irene. Lia almost laughed. Apparently Nikki still didn't particularly like Irene, though Lia couldn't blame her. Irene had been pretty insensitive and rude to Nikki.

"It was good. We actually managed to get a table which was surprising considering the weather. It's always really crowded there when it rains. We just had a nice conversation. Oh, but there was this one girl. I've never seen her around before. She wears a ton of makeup and revealing clothing. And she has dyed hair and everything. She seemed really unusual. Everyone was staring at her." Lia said, thinking of how everyone seemed unable to tear their eyes from her.

"Huh. I wonder if she's new to town? This is a college town, so new people aren't that unusual. Maybe she's going to attend the college. Or she could be a tourist, but it isn't exactly the season they usually come." Jen mused, leaning back in her chair slightly.

"Are you okay?" Lia asked, noticing that Jen looked like she wasn't feeling very well.

"Uh, yeah. I'm sure I'm fine. Just a bit tired." Jen replied. "I'm going to go lie down for a bit, now that Nikki has you to keep her company." She continued, standing up and taking Nikki's empty plate to the sink before heading down the hall to her room.

Nikki leaned toward Lia, her dark eyes alive with an excitement that had not been there before. Lia noticed she looked a little happier, and less scared than she used to. There was something conspiratorial about the way she leaned toward Lia as she whispered, "she's going to have pup."

"What?" Lia asked, not sure if she'd heard right, and also very confused even if she had.

"Pup." Nikki repeated, looking at Lia as though she really should be understanding.

When Lia still looked confused, Nikki grabbed Lia's hand and pulled her into the living room. She seemed to be more proficient at walking now as well. She pulled Lia over to the wall with all the photographs and pointed to the picture of the mother seal with her baby. Nikki pointed to the small seal. "Pup." She said, showing Lia.

"A baby?" Lia asked. Nikki nodded. "Wait, Jen is pregnant? Did she tell you?" Lia asked.

"She is. But she doesn't know. Just I know. Now you know too." Nikki said.

"Wait... how do you know?" Lia asked, frowning slightly in confusion.

"I am right. You will see." Nikki said, going to the window and looking out at the sea. Her expression became slightly forlorn.

"You miss it don't you? The ocean?" Lia asked, going over to stand with Nikki. Nikki nodded.

"Here. I know it's not the same, but this might help." Lia said, and opened the door, walking down a set of steps into the sand. She turned back and saw Nikki looking at the stairs uncertainly.

"It's the same as walking on flat ground except you step down." Lia said. Nikki still didn't look sure, so Lia came back and offered her a hand to steady her. It took a few minutes, but Nikki eventually decided to trust the stairs and walked down them with Lia's help. Together they walked down to the shore and stood in the rain as the waves lapped around their ankles.

Nikki stared out at the waves and seemed to be thinking.

"It's... different here. Looks empty." Nikki said, pointing to the dark blue water that seemed to stretch endlessly from the beach.

Lia nodded. " I'm sure my world looks very different from the ocean as well." Lia said. Nikki nodded.

They stood in silence for a while. Then Nikki spoke "it's so different... but it's also a little bit the same"
"Yeah. I guess it is." Lia said, and Nikki smiled.
"We both eat fish." She said with a grin.