"Bet you can't catch up!" La'gaan shouted over the roar of the waves. He dived.

But Gar wasn't resisting a challenge like that. He filled his huge dolphin lungs with air, and followed. They went deep, until there was barely enough sunlight for Gar to see the the huge feet kicking powerfully at the water in front of him. But that didn't matter to a dolphin; a burst of clicks gave him a sharp image of the peaks and troughs around him. La'gaan led the way under rock ledges and through coral arches. Deeper, deeper. Gar began to feel like the world was crushing him. Taking a couple of breaths was starting to sound like a good idea.

It slowly dawned on him that La'gaan could breathe just fine in water. That was cheating! He darted forward and grabbed the Atlantean's leg. He dragged him several feet before La'gaan recovered from the surprise and freed himself. "Hey! You..." La'gaan grabbed at Gar's nose, but Gar was already racing for the surface. He could feel La'gaan keeping pace behind him as he darted for the surface, then launched his whole body out of the water, taking in a fresh lungful of air. La'gaan leapt after him, managing almost as much height. They landed, not the clumsy flop of a human falling into the water but a delicate slice under the waves. La'gaan glanced at the sky. "We should head back."

As they neared the shore, Gar shifted back into his half-monkey form. "Do we have to go yet?"

"Angelfish will kill me if I keep you out past curfew, even tonight."

Gar bit his lip. It was getting late. Soon it would be midnight. The day would be over. People in the cave would stop glancing worryingly at him and speaking in hushed voices, stop putting quite so much effort into avoiding the subject that for one day in the year it was just too painful to bear. Soon, he could take those precious memories out again and treasure them like they were meant to be treasured, he could face the photos in his room again... he could go and leave her present on her grave. One day late. She wouldn't mind.

"Thanks for coming out with me, La'gaan. I needed it."

"Any time, minnow. Any time."