A/N: This is the rejected version of the chapter Hanging Out in the Middle of the Ocean. I cut off the first half since nothing changed until near the end.

Prompted by the question of why Kaiko didn't just call Fontaine before leaving her spot to search. Okay, granted, she left to find Fontaine, but this happened when I was trying to figure out Kaiko's logic.

Eventually, Fontaine said, "I think we're getting close."

Finn blinked back to the present. Without warning, he released the rowboat and ducked beneath the surface.

"Finn!"

Fontaine leaned forward, just catching herself from standing in time. She twisted, expecting to see the White Knight watching.

The ocean was empty, though. Fontaine checked the map, then Professor Fiction's island. She was straight out from a small cove she'd been using as a landmark on the west side of the island. Though, the sun rising behind the island obscured details. Was it the wrong cove?

Fontaine double-checked the map. No, she should have been far enough north. Maybe she needed to go further out.

Finn popped back to the surface. "No Knights in sight."

"So that's what you were doing," Fontaine said, relieved Finn hadn't left. "Hang on; I think we're in the wrong place."

Fontaine picked up the sextant, but the north star was long gone. By the time she got her bearings, Fontaine had a sinking feeling that she'd taken too long.

"Well?" Finn asked when Fontaine lowered the sextant slowly in defeat.

"Mum should be that way," Fontaine said, pointing further out. "But it's too late."

"Too late?" Finn asked.

"I'm pretty sure my hour is up. The sun is too high."

Fontaine glanced at her communicator, but didn't have the heart to turn it on and see how far past the time she'd gone. As she did, the screen lit up. Fontaine's eyes widened with an incredulous laugh.

"Hey, I've still got ten minutes!" Fontaine lifted one oar and shoved the other, turning the rowboat. "I can still make it!"

Finn laughed. "You really should watch more sunrises."

Fontaine grinned. She checked her comm, and was startled to find a message from Kaiko asking where she was.

"Almost there, Mum," Fontaine murmured, then sent her mom a quick message that she was on her way. "Come on, Finn!"

"Only until I see the Knight," Finn warned, but he was grinning, too.

Fontaine's comm buzzed with another message, but Fontaine ignored it. She could respond in person, very soon!

With Finn swimming around and under the rowboat, Fontaine happily paddled toward the White Knight's coordinates.

When she guessed she'd gone far enough, she checked the sextant and found she was close enough. She stopped the boat and stood up.

Fontaine scanned the ocean with a broad grin. It gradually dropped when no Knight appeared, then vanished completely when Finn surfaced.

"No Knight?" Fontaine asked.

Finn shook his head. "Are we there?"

"I thought…"

Fontaine snatched up the sextant and checked her calculations. She was right; she should have been right on top of Kaiko!

"Maybe she didn't see me," Fontaine wondered.

Fontaine tore off her life vest, took a huge breath, and dove. Finn followed her beneath the waves and helped check until Fontaine had to rush to the surface for air.

Fontaine clutched the rowboat with shaking hands. She scanned the water again, ignoring her dripping hair.

"This has to be right!" Fontaine exclaimed. "Finn, what did I do wrong?"

"I don't know; let me check."

The teens helped each other into the boat, then Finn took over the navigational tools. Fontaine held her breath while Finn checked her numbers. He looked through the sextant three times and muttered to himself as he calculated.

"We're right there," Finn said. "Kaiko should be right here!"

Fontaina leaped to her feet. Only Finn's frantic efforts kept the rowboat steady.

"Mum!" Fontaine screamed across the water.

Nothing answered her but the splashing water against the rowboat.

"Did they get the wrong coordinates? Or did she go to the wrong spot?" Finn suggested.

"The Knights are too sophisticated," Fontaine said. "And even if I ran out of time, Mum would have waited to show me what I did wrong! Where is she, Finn?!"

"Call her," Finn said.

Fontaine exhaled sharply. She'd been so panicked that she forgot about her communicator! She lifted her wrist and turned it on, ready to call Kaiko, when she saw Kaiko's returning message.

"Ant and Griffin have gone missing. Sorry, but we're going to have to do this another time."

Fontaine sat down hard.

"Fontaine?" Finn said. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she… the test was cut short," Fontaine murmured.

"Are you okay?" Finn asked.

"I'm fine." Fontaine cleared her throat when her voice cracked. "She just had to leave early… Why didn't I check that first?!"

"Fontaine!"

Fontaine jerked her head toward Finn, glaring through blurry eyes. She blinked, confused. When had she started crying? Why was she…

"It's okay," Finn soothed. "Kaiko's okay."

Hot tears flooded down Fontaine's cheeks. "I-I know that, Finn. I know that… so why am I crying?"

Fontaine swiped at the tears, embarrassed to be crying in front of Finn. Finn startled Fontaine by leaning forward and grabbing her in a hug.

"Finn?"

"You were scared for your mom," Finn whispered. "Never be ashamed of that."

Fontaine sniffed, then gave up and hid her face in Finn's shoulder.

A/N: There was another version where Fontaine blames herself for failing the test and Finn has to talk her down, but that version was never saved.