He kept falling and falling faster than she could get to him, he had such a head start that she wasn"t sure her hands would reach him in time.

She pushed and pushed herself but it just wasn"t enough. Through the water, she saw streams of Marty"s blood floating up towards her. This was much worse than she thought. Kicking her feet harder and harder she just seemed to be barely out of reach and then something amazing happened.

Scales erupted over her legs and quickly sealed themselves together creating the tail and fin she hadn"t seen in years. Looking back for a few seconds she saw the pearl white scales glistening in the water around it. She took no more time watching it and instead used it to propel herself through the water in nearly an instant. Her body caught up with his quickly and as she looped her arms under his armpits she pulled him with her up towards the boat again.

She wanted to check and make sure he was alive but they were on borrowed time at the moment. Kicking her tail harder she rose towards the bottom of the boat, but not even that could be easy for her.

The blood that had come from Marty"s head earlier had attracted a shark to their location. Darya froze for a second and then realized Marty didn"t have time for her to pause or freeze he needed to be on the boat. Wasting no more time, Darya forced herself up to the boat and ignored the shark for the time being. Once it was within reach she broke through the busy waves and pulled him along with him.

She gasped for air and while it burned through her lungs since her gills were still open she pulled on the edge of the boat and stretched to pull Marty up to the side. She didn"t have the strength to fully get him on the boat with that tail behind her and she wasn"t sure on how to go back to normal. Plus now she could see the fin of the shark starting to circle the boat. Taking a burning deep breath she used all of her strength to push his body as far up as she could.

Once Marty was just at the edge of the boat she gave him one more heave and felt his body roll onto the floor of the boat, now she had a tail and shark to deal with.

Sinking back into the water to see what was going on. She tried to remember how she got rid of her tail before and what she could remember was that she just needed to concentrate hard enough. With her sights set on the shark that was cautiously circling the boat, she thought hard about the tail going back into legs. The shark created a horrible distraction for her but she thought back to the day in the small pool with her father.

How it was only a few strong thoughts that turned her back into a full human. The familiar tingles crawled up from her fin to her back and when she looked down she watched her tail split into two long legs. Kicking them before the shark had time to visit her closer to the boat, she pushed herself to the boat"s edge and pulled herself into it where Marty was still lying unconscious.

She fell to his body and turned him over. She placed the crossed fingers of her hands on his sternum and began to pump his chest. Turning his face to the side she made sure he could spit the water out of his mouth when he woke up. She pumped and pumped until she felt a joint from his body and the second she heard coughing she pulled him up on her lap and helped him get the water out of his throat and lungs.

"Owe...G.o.d, what happened, Darya?" He asked with a raspy tone while he continued to cough out the water that lingered in his throat. Once she knew he was okay she quickly pressed her lips to his overly dry ones for a few seconds before letting him go and helping him to sit up completely before dashing off to start the boat so they could get out of the storm that was only progressing.

"Hold tight, Marty, I"ll get us home." The boat revved and as she spun it around towards their home sh.o.r.e she tried to fight the waves that threatened to rock their boat to the bottom of the ocean. She took the waves as they came and rode the boat over and over them until she could see the sh.o.r.eline in view.

The dock wasn"t much further and she breathed a sigh of relief, they were nearly home. She looked back at Marty who had his head resting on the side of the boat, she wasn"t sure if she needed to tell him about the shark that nearly closed in on us and that he nearly died. Hopefully, their parents wouldn"t ask about that too much either.

She pulled the boat next to the dock, not really caring that it was parked backward. They could fix that later. She jumped off the control platform and hurried over to Marty. Looking at the sky she noticed the storm was nearly over them again. Pulling Marty up and helping him to his feet she looped his arm around her shoulders and helped him walk out of the boat and to the dock that led to the sh.o.r.e and Darya"s home.

Suddenly, Darya heard shouting coming from the house and when she looked up she saw Ramon and her mother running through the sand to their aid.

"We saw the storm coming in and tried to call you on the radio for your ship but you two wouldn"t pick up! What happened?" Denise shouted as she helped Darya pull Marty"s weight along the sh.o.r.e. "We were going to turn back since we saw the storm overhead, the waves became too rough and it rocked the boat. Marty fell overboard and I dived in to get him. I think he hit his head before he fell." Darya told them as her mother and she pulled him to the house over the wet sand.

"I"ll check him out we need to get him in the house. Did he get the water out of his lungs and wake up completely?" Ramon asked her as they dragged him to the house. "Yes, I was able to turn him over and push the water out of his lungs. He coughed it up and opened his eyes and everything but he fell back to sleep or something before I got to the dock." She explained to Marty"s father who was glad to celebrate his son"s graduation and to have a break from the hospital.

The three of them got Marty to the couch and instantly Ramon was checking his son over while Darya and Denise informed Michael what was going on. Once Marty woke up for the second time and Ramon cleared him of any internal damage before he gave him a gla.s.s of water and a few extra pillows. Darya crouched down next to him by the couch and took his cold hand in hers.

"You scared the c.r.a.p out of me Martin." She gave him a pointed look while his eyes met hers as he remembered the kiss and his beautiful mermaid best friend coming to save him. "I saw your tail, it was for a second before I blacked out, but I saw it. You are so beautiful, Darya." She blushed instantly before pushing him over on the couch to make room for herself.

Minutes later they were both fast asleep on the couch telling their parents that they would have to save the cookout for the next day. Right before they would have to send them off to college.