Lapis Lazuli: the Lost Mermaid 2 Save the Oceans

Chapter 2: Friendly Gossip

Princess Lapis was swimming through Iridesca's main city, in search for at least some of her friends. And as luck would have it, she saw Amethyst, Pearl, Peridot, Smoky Quartz, and the twins: Padparadscha and Sapphire talking to Stevonnie and Ruby outside a store. The blue mermaid happily swam up to them.

"Hey, everybody." she called, waving as she arrived. "Did you guys miss me?"

"Oh my gosh!" Pearl gasped dramatically as she and the other mermaids rushed to give Lapis an enormous group hug.

"Welcome back, Lapis." Peridot smiled.

"It's so good to see you guys again." said the blue princess. "We have a lot to catch up on."

"Tell me about it." Smoky Quartz commented.

"So, how was time with your dad?" asked Stevonnie.

"It was eventful." Lapis simply answered, before telling her friends this crazy story. "So this one time, my dad got invited to a party being hosted by this rich friend of his and Steven and I got to bring Jamie and Connie along. And this guy was loaded, let me tell you. His mansion was about as big as my school and he even had an indoor swimming pool. So, we got all changed into our bathing suits and I kept my birth locket on because it was too precious to me and I didn't want it to be stolen."

"Understandable." said Peridot.

"Anyway, Steven suggested that I take off my locket so that I wouldn't accidentally transform while I was in the pool, but I didn't believe that would actually happen." the young princess continued. "We got in the pool and I swam over the edge of the deep end, and it was a scorching hot day. I was just relieved to be in cool water. I started relaxing like the water was massaging me and I guess I must've fallen asleep because I woke up to Jamie tapping on my shoulder. He gestured me to look down and I saw that my tail had appeared and I started freaking out!"

The other mermaids gasped because they feared that her secret about being a mermaid had been blown.

"So Steven and Connie noticed what happened and joined Jamie to block the view of me from the other swimmers." Lapis carried on. "I alerted Dad of the situation and he yelled aloud that he saw a water snake and everyone scurried out of the pool, back into the house. As soon as it was just me, Dad, Jamie, Steven, and Connie left; everyone helped me out of the pool and I had stay in a cocoon of towels until my legs came back."

The mermaids were all stifling laughter and giggling when their friend when finished the story.

"I guess that's what happens when you refuse to heed a warning." said Pearl.

Lapis only rolled her eyes in response and then, Sapphire brought up, "Since your talking about Jamie, how have the both of you been faring?"

"Oh, Jamie and I have been doing great." the blue princess responded. "We've done a lot of things together like taking walks in the park, sunbathing on the beach, going out to dinner, and a lot of other stuff. Jamie is just so sweet, he even gets me a bouquet of flowers whenever he hears that I'm sick and bedridden."

"Wow, you two have a pretty good relationship going on." Ruby commented.

"No doubt about that." agreed Stevonnie.

"So when is Jamie gonna propose to you already?" Amethyst asked the blue princess.

"What?" Lapis said, raising an eyebrow.

"Come on, you have guys have known each other since you were seven years old." the purple mermaid told her.

"But we've only been dating for about a year and a half." she replied. "Don't you think it's a little early for a marriage proposal?"

"He promised to have an engagement ring ready for you in the near future, didn't he?" Smoky Quartz inquired. "He's probably shopping for one as we speak." Some of the other mermaids nodded in approval.

"Please, that's ridiculous." Lapis lightly scoffed. "Unless, you really think he might?"

"It's possible." the beige mermaid said. "I wouldn't be surprised if he proposed to you the next time he visits you."

"Lapis! Is that you?" a familiar voice sounded off happily. The young princess turned around and saw Rhodonite and Opal coming down the way.

"Hi, Rhodonite. Hi, Opal." she said, waving to the oncoming mermaids. "Yes, it's me."

"So glad to have you back in Iridesca." Opal told the blue girl. "So what's going on?"

"Well, these guys think that my boyfriend is shopping for an engagement ring to propose to me the next time he visits." she clarified.

"Really?" Rhodonite asked, getting excited. "Well, it's about time."

"Ugh, why does everybody think that Jamie is going ask for my hand in marriage?" the blue mermaid groaned, feeling slightly annoyed.

"Lapis, remember? You're the one who told Jamie that you wanted him to be your groom instead of Jasper." Peridot reminded her.

"Don't even mention Jasper when I'm around." Lapis shuddered, reminiscing the horrific things the male sea witch did to her. "May I remind that he's still out there in those waters? He's probably plotting some sinister scheme to kidnap me right now."

"Lapis, Jasper is several thousands miles away from here." Opal said to her. "It would probably take him weeks or even months to get here from wherever he is now."

"That's right." Stevonnie agreed. "He is not going to lay a finger on you anytime soon, especially if it means having to get through all of us first."

Lapis still felt a little unsure. She never meant to shift the conversation to Jasper, but after Peridot mentioned his name; the memory of him began to plague her mind.

"I'm sorry I brought you-know-who up." the green mermaid apologized as if she read the princess's mind.

"It's no big deal." Lapis told her. "Besides, you guys might be right. Jasper is literally nothing but a distant memory now. Why don't we go back to talking about Jamie."

"Aha!" Amethyst exclaimed. "So you admit that you want him to propose to you!"

"I didn't say anything like that." the mermaid princess argued, her eyes looking down. "Jamie is just more pleasant to talk about."

"Pleasantly romantic she means." Padparadscha murmured to Sapphire, prompting her twin sister to giggle.

"Oh, I can just hear the wedding bells now." Pearl added, teasingly as she began to hum the Bridal March. The other mermaids laughed at Pearl's statement.

Lapis felt herself blush in embarrassment and it showed for all her friends to see.

However as much as she disliked her friends teasing her about her romantic relationship with Jamie, she couldn't help but think about what the future may hold for the two of them. Maybe the mermaids were on to something when they said that her boyfriend may be looking for an engagement ring to surprise her with. At times, she often fantasized things from Jamie popping the big question to what their wedding might look like. If Lapis' friends were right about being proposed to, she wished it would happen soon.