What if after falling in the moon pool, with the spell being broken that gave him legs, Zac finds he can no longer transform back into a land boy. He knows nothing of moon rings or how mermen have the power in them to change between forms. In his panic he now finds himself stuck with a tail and no way back to the only life he knows. A twist from the middle of episode one on how the series could have gone.

-m k0-

Zac sat up on the beach, blinking the sun out of his eyes as he rolled over. What the heck was he doing on the beach? He sat up brushing the sand out of his hair and tried to think how he possibly could have ended up asleep near the water's edge. There was a strange light and some rocks, he thought. And a cave…? His head pounded as he tried to think and as his face contorted in confusion. Cam would be wondering where he was. Rubbing his head as the veins pounded he trudged back through the trees, getting hopelessly lost for an hour or so until he finally heard cam's heavy movements as he blundered about the camp.

The two of them sat around the fire and Zac tried to tell Cam all that he remembered and what had happened, but it wasn't much. Just the same stuff he had remembered when he had been sitting on the beach. It was so strange – this whole island was just strange.

Zac looked over at Cam's face after he finished telling him what he saw. "You don't believe me, do you?"

Cam gave him that familiar smirk. "No." He shook his head and smiled.

"Come on, I'll show you. I think I know where it is."

The two friends trekked back through the jungle until they reached the rock face – but there was no opening.

Zac stood there puzzled. "There was an opening here." He stared up at the solid rock and vines. "I know what I saw."

Cam gave his mate a skeptical look. "Well there's nothing here now." He paused for another second. "Come on, let's go."

Shaking his head Zac followed after him, wondering if it all really had been some sort of strange dream. When they reached camp Zac didn't even give Cam the chance to respond before he started packing everything up. Despite Cam's protests and saying they had just gotten there, he was still determined to leave. He had an uneasy feeling about Mako, and all he wanted now was to get as far away from it as possible.

A few hours later, Cam was dropping Zac off and the uneasy feeling had left him. That was until Zac tried to wash off his fishing gear. He gripped the reel in his hands and moved it toward the water. But the water moved away. He tried again and once more his hand seemed to repel the water in the opposite direction. What in the world? Did something really happen then?

Cam! He needed to show Cam! Ditching his fishing equipment he ran for David's Ocean Café where he knew Cam would be getting breakfast. And a few minutes later, there he was. And so was Evie. He kissed his girlfriend good morning and gave her an endearing hello.

"Hey, Zac." She smiled at him.

Zac smiled and turned towards Cam. "I really need to show you something."

Cam looked puzzled.

"Are you okay?" Evie took Zac's hand in hers. "Cam said you felt weird and bailed on the camping trip."

Zac mustered up the best smile he could, not wanting Evie to worry. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine now."

Evie nodded in reassurance. "Are you up for a run once I'm done with my shift?"

Not a bad idea, Zac thought. "Sure," he responded out of habit. But he had to clarify if he was going crazy or not first. "I just," he turned back to Cam and lowered his voice. "I just really need to talk to you."

Without another word Zac grabbed Cam from his seat and they walked briskly away from the table, Zac ignoring Evie's odd and worried look.

"What is it mate?" Cam was getting annoyed with Zac. First he makes him repack all the camping gear, now he won't even let him finish his breakfast.

"Something happened to me last night." Zac walked briskly down the pier, not wanting to lose Cam's short attention span.

"Yeah, I know. You had a crazy dream." Seriously? This again? Cam smirked at the overly serious expression on Zac's face.

"I can make water move!" He looked so serious about it that Cam couldn't help laughing out loud.

Zac didn't appreciate this. He shook his head. "I can show you. Come on." They had reached the end of the pier and Zac handed Cam the hose. "Well, turn it on."

Deciding that the only way to get his friend to stop the nonsense was to play along; he turned the hose on and let the water spill back into the ocean.

Just like he had with the fishing rods, Zac held his hand out to it, squinting and concentrating as he did so. For a split second he thought he saw the water move again. But then it poured out straight as ever. He knew Cam was giving him that indulgent smirk of his.

"I could make it move! I could make it bend!" He threw his hands to his sides in frustration.

Cam turned off the hose and set it down. "You dragged me away from breakfast for this?" He finally gave Zac a serious don't-interrupt-me-when-I'm-eating kind of look and stocked back the way they had just come.

Confused and feeling chagrined, Zac watched him go and then stared back down at the hose. He had to try it again. He just had to prove one more time that he hadn't really made the water move. Determined he picked the hose back up and thrust his free hand at it. In a quick, forceful burst the water squirted off the top and splashed all over him. He let out a small yell as the surprise of it knocked him off balance and sent him tumbling off the pier and into the ocean below.

He sank a few feet as the salt water sucked him in and then he floundered for the top with his arms, his legs seeming to have gone momentarily numb from the impact. Strange bubbles rose up with him as he groped for the surface. Gasping he spat water from his mouth and opened his eyes. Great now his clothes were wet and his phone was probably ruined.

But as the water fell down his face and his eyes cleared he noticed something. He still couldn't move his legs properly and he couldn't feel his wet shirt clinging to him. He blinked rapidly to clear the remaining water and then looked down.

"Wha…wha…!" Words were beyond him. Where his gangly, muscular legs should have been was a long, white and blue fish tail. He tried to kick his legs and the tail splashed in response. His mind registered this movement instead and he was even more shocked to realize he could feel the fin of his tail pushing through the top of the water, working to keep him afloat.

In panic and shock he looked around. Had anyone else seen this? With wide eyes and a gaping mouth he looked back down at this new strange appendage attached to his hips. Was he suddenly a…he couldn't think the word! He was not part fish. But the tail continued to waver in front of him and he continued to feel every movement that the new and strange muscles made. Flailing his arms in the water he glanced around one last time and came to a decision. He could not let anyone see him like this.

Taking a huge breathe he unceremoniously flipped himself over and plunged his body below the surface. At first he didn't open his eyes. It was earie, as he worked his arms to propel himself forward he could feel his tail trailing behind him. He gave a testing kick and spurted forward and to the side. The movement shocked his eyes open and he looked back once more.

Now that he was safely a few feet below the surface, he could look more closely at what had become of him. His eyes landed on his waist first. There where waist turned into pelvis, it instead tapered into a muscular tail. There was no seam where skin met scales and as he touched his fingers to the scale line he was shocked to find the transition was so well blended. It was hard in some places to determine where human ended and fish began. Along the back of the tail he could see a slight ridge that ran down the middle of it, flattening as it met the fluke at the end. It was quite a vibrant cobalt blue and it shone as the light filtered down to it.

Remembering the few times he had swam with a monofin, Zac kicked out from his core, rolling his hips and letting the movement move all the way down his tail. This time he glided forward smoothly. Shocked at the power he felt from that small movement, Zac tried again. Once more he gracefully swam down towards the seafloor below. A small, unwarranted thrill built in his stomach, sending a tremor down his tail. He felt strong and confident. Ten times more so than in his swim meets where he had almost always been the best swimmer.

This confidence was different. It was as if some part of him was telling him this fish tail meant speed, precision and power. With this tail he could go anywhere in the ocean. A new sense of freedom seemed to be calling him and he wanted to answer that call.

Until reality harshly slammed back into his brain and he shook his head in horror. He had a fish tail attached to him! His legs were gone and he was pretty sure he'd been underwater for quite a while now. He needed to get home. His parents would be to work for the day and he'd be able to figure out what happened to him without them seeing. Yes, home. He would make his way there.

For a moment he looked around, trying to get his bearings. He'd never tried to swim to his dock before and it took him a moment to determine which way he should go. Making up his mind he put his hands in front of him and took off, reveling guiltily in the power he felt and the ease he could move with this tail. Compared to his legs, he had been such a slow swimmer before. Part of him wondered, as the minutes passed and he drew closer to his dock, if he'd be content with swimming as a human again after feeling so free in the water.

Finally his dock came into view; at least he was pretty sure it was his. He wasn't used to seeing it from the bottom. With a great thrust he pushed up through the surface and latched onto a wooden board above his head. Grateful that he had built up his upper body because of his training, he heaved himself up onto the dock, resting momentarily on his stomach as his blue fish tail hung below him. With a wincing pull he managed to get all of him onto the wooden planks. He realized, in strange fascination, that he was longer with the tail than he had been tall. The tail seemed to stretch out two more feet than where he thought his feet would have ended.

Feeling suddenly exposed and vulnerable Zac reached for his towel hung to the side of him and began to rub vigorously all over his body. His hands shook slightly as he brushed over the scales. He could feel them and feel his fingers through them. His tail was so sensitive. He began to notice how the wood poked into it uncomfortably and he fidgeted as he stretched to reach the end of the tail and the hard to reach places on his back. Would drying off make any difference? After all, he was pretty sure it was the falling into the ocean that had triggered the change. It was logical to assume that removing himself from water would reverse the situation.

When he was sure he had gotten ever last drop of water he dropped the towel down beside him. He waited a few more seconds but still nothing changed. The blue and white tail stretched boldly out before him as the warm breeze ruffled his dry hair.

As a few minutes ticked by Zac felt a cold rock take residence in the pit of his stomach. He, Zac Blakely, suddenly had a tail. He was somehow now a merman. And most of all, he wasn't changing back.

-M K0-

TADA! Poor Zac! What is to become of him? Please review and comment and let me know what you think. I definitely plan on adding another chapter. Just trying to work out a few of the crucial details for scene two. Happy swimming!