At lunch, we arrange to swap partners. I come out of the ladies' room to find Reece already waiting for me, two mermaid-shaped ice creams starting to melt in his hands. He grins when he sees me, like for a second, he's forgotten where we are and what we're here for. He's just happy to see me.

He hands me an ice cream before looping an arm around my waist. "Are you okay?"

I try to smile back, taking a lick of the sour blue ice-cream before wincing at its coolness. "I'm fine, just nervous. I keep thinking somebody is going to recognize me."

"I know," he says, taking me by the hand. "It will all be over soon."

We continue to stroll through the rest of the park. The sun glares down as we walk, not in the torturous way it did when I was in the enclosure, but in a way that feels comforting, a friend now instead of an enemy. The long branches of palm trees cast parts of the street in shade, and every so often Reece and I will hover in their shadows, carefully scanning the crowds.

Already things look different from the last time I'd been here. I begin to notice things I'd somehow missed the first time round, like the different coloured signs and the mermaid shapes carved into the concrete.

In the far distance stands a large, white wheel with several small carriages, and Reece turns to look at me before nodding towards it. "We should head toward the Ferris wheel. We'll be able to get a good look at the whole park."

He takes my hand before I can protest, leading me to the spinning wheel with his calloused fingers clasped tightly around mine. The Ferris wheel sits tall and sturdy against a backdrop of blue, its narrow, white carriages swaying gently in the breeze.

We patiently wait in the short line outside, and I'm grateful that Reece is still holding my hand. Once it gets to our turn, we slide into a carriage. I fix my eyes on the window, my heart rate quickening as we rise into the air.

Things are silent as the Ferris wheel starts its rotation, elevating us until the people on the ground look like nothing but specs. Every so often Reece catches my eye, studying me in a way that causes my heart to skip a beat.

At the top of the Ferris wheel, the excitement of screaming guests seems to quieten, and all I can hear is the sound of my breathing. From up here, the guests look like ants, so small and insignificant now that they're not pressed against the enclosure. And yet they're not small or insignificant, despite my new perspective. These guests, their happiness–it's still the most important thing of all.

Reece and I share a smile as I kick my feet out at the open air, feeling as if I could take flight. Briefly, I find myself thinking back to the little bird I'd once seen balancing on a palm leaf, wondering if this is how it feels to fly.

Once we reach the wheel's peak, it begins to descend towards the ground again. By the time our carriage shakily stops in front of the booth, the high I'd felt at being so unreachable has begun to subside. Reece takes my hand and we stroll towards Sealand, my legs feeling shaky.

Yet for a fleeting moment, when I'm holding Reece's hand, things feel right. And even though we're here in Marine World, a place I've been desperately trying to forget, a part of me wants to keep this memory safely stored away in my mind forever.

I squeeze Reece's hand as we stroll along the pathway, able to see the entrance to the mermaid enclosure. I am desperate to see the girls again, to be able to tell them I'm getting them out. They must have spent the last week resenting me for not taking them with me; I hate the thought of them spending another second thinking all hope is lost.

"I know what you're thinking," Reece says, following my gaze, "but you can't see them, Aura. Not until it's time to get them out."

I take a deep breath, dragging my eyes to meet his. "How do we even know they're still in there?"

"Ben and I already checked this morning," he says, glancing at his watch. "It's nearly one p.m. What do you want to do now?"

I grab his hand without another word, pulling us down the blue cobbled paths towards the main enclosure: the show is about to start.