Hey, guys! Sorry for the extreme delay for this chapter. I'm a gluten for punishment and have decided to go back to Uni for my masters, move and start a new job. But this story shall continue! Please enjoy this chapter and be rest assured that another one is on its way, and hopefully much sooner rather than later!

A/N: I do not own The Thirteenth Year, just my own ideas and characters that my mad muse likes to plant in my head.

Cody's first thought, as he woke in a small glass tank, was that it was probably his fourteenth birthday. By human standards at least. As he stared at his cramped and aching tail, he could feel deep within his bones that he'd lost his last chance to get his old life back. All he had wanted was to go home, to finish middle school, and maybe convince Sam that they could make it work.

Now…now he could feel a difference. Before, when he had first left with his mom, it had felt like his legs were still a part of him. Like they had been resting under the surface of his tail. Now his tail felt sold and strong. It was even hard for him to picture his legs or imagine the feelings of his toes in the sand. Such sensations seemed so foreign. A tail was meant for swimming and chasing around the waves. Legs, that was something young merkids had, not grown mermen like himself. His perspectives were shifting, leaving him feeling uncertain and off-center.

He most certainly was a merman, there was no doubt about it. Even if he tried, he would never to able to live on land again. Looking at the glass walls that surrounded him, Cody couldn't help but give a shudder. He felt just like a fish on display. In the corner of his eye, he could see the cluster of scientists who stood around, gawking. Most of them were going about whatever it was scientists in a secret facility went about. A few stood around his tank with clipboards and pencils in hand. He could only guess at what kind of notes they were taking. His mind flashed back to the diver with the video camera. They had seen everything. They had recording everything. They were probably still recording him as he floated there. His head dropped in shame as a deep, not fully realized terror, began to ache in his chest. He was exposed. He was no better than an experiment. Not only had he endangered himself but his pod and all of his kind. What had he done?

Through his building horror, he remembered what Jess had told him. Was it true? Were all the people in this place like Sean? Had they all, somehow, been affected by a merperson? Jess seemed to think so. Staring at his hands, Cody turned them over and let his charged dance briefly over his fingers. Now that he had his tail back, he was more in control, but he still felt rattled and unstable. His charge could do a lot more than he had thought. He felt dangerous. Sean now…well…he had a tail. Shaking his head, he tucked his hands into his armpits. There had to be some mistake…right? Glancing up briefly he watched the various people move around the cluttered room. There were other tanks near his, but Sean wasn't in any of them.

Cody had to wonder if his former teammate was being treated the same way. Were they also studying him? He was a merman now, as hard as that was to believe. Wouldn't they also want to use him to learn more?

Maybe. Maybe not.

Even if he asked them, he wondered if anyone would be willing to answer his questions. They knew he could talk to them, but did they care? He had never thought of his kind, merpeople, as being something to be feared. Perhaps there was a reason the Elders and his mother were so apprehensive about him coming back. Did they know something like this could happen? Did they know that their kind could harm humans? Make them merpeople? Cody didn't think so. His mother would have warned him.

For the umpteenth time he thought about how different he was, even among his own kind. He was so torn between what he was, what he had been raised as, and what he thought he wanted to be. Merpeople didn't interact with humans. That was a simple fact. Even the young mers, who hadn't gotten their tails yet, never went on land. They could swim and breath underwater so there was no need. Cody had lost that ability as a baby because he'd been removed from the ocean. He was the anomaly. The stranger no matter where he was.

His terror was becoming more realized. His heart was pounding, and his head pulsed with the blood rushing to his brain with his rising panic.

His mind kept circling back to that one question - how could all of these people be like Jess? Jess who claimed to be able to hold his breathe for eight minutes. Was that true? Jess didn't lie, it wasn't a part of his character. Before last night, Cody would have trusted his best friend with his life. In fact, he had already trusted him with far more than that. Yet, here he was, in a tank. Jess… had Jess told them everything? He had nearly implied as much. He'd been betrayed. All of his secrets were out in the open.

Cody's stomach churned and more sparks danced on his fingers as his charge built with his apprehension and fear.

Feeling his charge, Cody pulled his hands in front of him, staring at his fingers. When had he hurt Jess? He thought about it carefully. There was really only one time that he shocked Jess - when his friend had nearly drowned. Cody had shocked him to save his life. Had Jess been able to tell he was different right away? Was it just recently? Had he known something was wrong but hadn't been able to say anything?

He shook his head and flicked his tail, accidentally hitting it against the glass. A sting ran up from the delicate membrane of his fin and he winced, curling in on himself. He was getting more agitated and scared by the second. His parents didn't know where he was. Sam didn't know where he was. How long until these scientists would start poking him? He already had sore spots on his tail where he could tell some scales had been taken. Probably after they had knocked him out in the pool. What else had they done while he was knocked unconscious?

His heart racing and his head spinning, he could feel his charge building more rapidly as his fight instinct began to kick in. He tucked his hands back under his armpits and tried to breathe deeply. He was panicking. With each shallower breath, he could tell he was losing it. His hands twitched and the charge within reached a breaking point as his heart sped. With an agonizing holler he lost control. Electricity surged from his hands with a brilliant flash. The water in the tank popped and splashed as he thrashed with the release. Tiny, cracks raced through the surface of the thick glass as it still held but now strained with the weight of the water. After only a few seconds the charge dissipated with fits and small plumes of steam rising from the surface.

The burst only left him feeling antsy and still absolutely terrified. Worst of all, Cody knew another charge was building. Glancing up he desperately shot a thought out to the scientists gathered outside his tank. It seemed everyone in the room was now very focused on him.

'Please,' he yelled, pushing his though as hard as he could, 'Help me!' All the terror he could feel traveled with the thought as his charge began to dance unbidden around his hands.

A pop sounded in the water just as he felt a sting at the back of his shoulder. The surprise caused him to spasm again and the terror and energy he had been trying to hold in burst from him in a second brilliant flash of electric blue. He heard sharp cracking and then shattering. With a great sweeping motion, he began to rush out of the tank as it burst apart.

Within seconds Cody was laying on the cold concrete floor, flopping half heartedly as his muscles went limp. They hadn't knocked him out this time, just paralyzed him with the dart. His tail flicked weakly as the drug took full affect and his charge emptied. Gasping, he writhed, trying in vain to get away. He knew it was no use. A merman was never meant to go on land.

Gasping again, he realized he was having a hard time breathing. Was it from the drug coursing through his body? Was it from the terror he still felt? Whatever the cause, he couldn't breathe. He heard himself wheezing as bodies began to rush around him. Hands were quickly on him, lifting him and pulling him from the floor. Multiple stings along his backside told him he'd cut himself on the broken glass from the tank.

Time seemed to blur and float around him as his breathing became labored. Why weren't they putting him back in the water?

'Please!' He called out again. 'I can't breathe!'

A cold metal surface greeted his back and he realized with more horror that he had been placed on a long, cold table. His charged danced around his arms and hands and the scientists had to jump back. But he was too tired, and his body was succumbing fully to the paralysis. His charge quickly died off and he was once again surrounded. Scientists poked him and he winced as he was turned onto his side. They seemed to be treating his wounds, but his head was spinning, and it was getting harder to think. Pain coursed through him and his lungs squeezed.

'Water!' He thought out, but it was weak this time. He wasn't used to trying to communicate with this many people at once and he wasn't sure if any of his thoughts were getting through.

Black spots were swirling in his vision as he was once again lifted. He gasped as he felt himself fall briefly and then splash down into a new tank. With a large gulp he took in a huge lungful of water, feeling it cycle through his double lung system as it greedily stole the oxygen from it. Like a gaping fish, he took in one large mouthful after another, desperate to not feel like he was suffocating.

Still unable to move, the scientists worked on securing him in the new tank. The water surrounding him was barely deep enough to cover him. As soon as they had him laying down and straightened out, one scientist grabbed his arm and secured it to a metal bar that ran along the top of the tank. A needle was injected into his forearm and secured in place with medical tape. Cody balked as the tube, connected to a nearby bag full of a viscous liquid, began to seep into his veins. His body, already immobile, now felt heavy and disconnected. Unable to even control his buoyancy, he lay listlessly against the cold metal bottom of the long tub, his right arm sticking out of the top of the water far enough for the tube to feed chemicals into his blood stream.

They had him sedated. Whatever this drug was, it clouded his mind. He tried sending thoughts to the scientists around him, but his head pounded, and the effort made his vision flash and go wavy. Blinking, he could make out a figure, oddly still against a nearby lab table. It was Dr. Wheatley. Jess's mom. She was watching him with cold eyes, her chin raised in apparent disdain. People ran up to her and she nodded and talked with them briefly, but her eyes never left him. Only when Dr. May appeared at her side did she finally release her icy glare.

That woman, thought Cody, would never let him go. She would use him to get all the answers she needed. He was nothing better than a creature to her. Terror coursed through him again, but this time he couldn't react. That was a good thing. With how scared he was, he knew his charge would have been building for another small explosion.

Unable to do anything else, he closed his eyes against the nightmare. He was a prisoner. More importantly, he was a prisoner to scientists who were going to most likely experiment on him.

He was never going home.

-TSLOF-

With a sandwich clutched in his hand, Sean let his tail dangle in the pool. He had pulled himself from the water and was casually sitting on the pool ledge as he ate his lunch. While it itched a little, he preferred hanging outside the water. He had discovered he could talk when he wasn't underwater, and he didn't like losing that ability by staying in the pool so he could be a little less itchy.

Dr. May and Dr. Wheatly had yet to explain why he could talk but Cody couldn't, but Sean was sure they were working on some sort of theory. They were very interested in the two differences between them, but Sean couldn't have cared less. He wasn't their toy to play with. He would let them test his scales and draw blood, but he wasn't about to be gawked at inside of a tank like Cody was. Just because he had a tail, he still considered himself human. He was going to fix this. Even if that meant getting help from a bunch of nerds.

Speaking of nerds, Sean couldn't help but think about the role Jess had to play in all of this. From Sean's perspective, Jess was a turncoat. He'd betrayed Cody so the scientists could bring the merman here. Grateful for that, Sean still didn't like him. He just couldn't deny the fact that if Jess hadn't, he would probably have died yesterday. He was still trying to process that. Heck, he was trying to process a lot of things. Looking down at his green and silver tail, he shuddered and then promptly looked away. If he pretended he had legs, it was easier.

Finishing off his sandwich, he pushed the plate away and stared around him. Other people were milling about, some eating lunch and a few scattered tables, but swimming in the pool. He'd been informed that everyone at Sea Haven was like him, to some extent. He was the most severe case, but everyone there had come in contact with a merperson and had been affected by the charge they gave off. Apparently, Jess had been affected as well. Sean knew it would have been because of Cody. Was that why Jess had betrayed him? Did the small nerd resent what Cody had done?

Now that his food was gone, Sean watched the people swimming around. His tail twitched involuntarily, and he almost slid back into the water. Almost. Dr. May had said they would talk when lunch was over. He was going to fill in all the annoying gaps that Sean had about his condition, or at least what they knew. The objective, now that they had a live merman specimen, was to begin working on a cure for all of them.

That was the goal of Safe Haven. To give a safe place to those affected by merpeople and find a way for all of them to become human again. Dr. May and Dr. Wheatley had been looking for a cure for years. Now a merman had fallen into their laps and the excitement was palpable. A brief pang of guilt towards Cody hit Sean, but he shook it off. Cody had destroyed his life. As far as he was concerned, the scientists could do whatever they wanted to his former swim rival if it meant he would get to go home.

"Hey," a soprano voice rang out to Sean. Glancing over his shoulder, he watched Lindy walking towards him.

"How are you feeling today?" Lindy sat down next to Sean; her short blond hair tucked under a swim cap. A stray wisp poked out on her forehead

Sean shrugged his shoulders. "As well as a fish-freak can be. How are you nerds coming with that cure?"

Lindy gave him an unamused frown. "Is that how you start all conversations?"

Slightly chagrined, the young man looked away, muttering half an apology.

Shaking her head, Lindy slid into the water and pushed away from the wall. Seeming to forgive him, the young scientist smiled and then dove under the water, soon popping back up from halfway across the pool. Sean blinked. How had she gotten over there so quickly?

Lindy disappeared under the water again, only to pop back up yards away. "Come on in Sean. That tail is looking way to dry."

Sean scoffed. He felt fine. He had been glancing at the entrance to the natatorium when he felt slight hands wrap around the base of his tail, just above where his fin began. Before he could even let out a yelp, he was yanked forcefully forward. His scales scraping lightly, and then dropped into the pool. Cool and refreshing water covered him, and he couldn't help the little sigh as the itch he'd been feeling in his tail faded. Water rushed into his lungs and he coughed involuntary as air was pushed out and his second, water processing lungs opened up.

Up ahead, Lindy was casually floating beneath the surface, smirking at him. Her eyebrow was quirked in a challenge. Returning a scowl of anger, Sean kicked his tail, slicing through the water as he raced toward her. He was within inches of her ankle when she corkscrewed and flipped, dropping lower in the water and swimming smoothly away from his grasp. Even with his speed, Sean was horribly uncoordinated with his new appendage. As he turned to see where Lindy had swum off to, his tail faltered, and he was suddenly somersaulting and flipping head over fin. In a flurry of bubbles, Lindy was at his side, tapping his shoulder.

Sean tried to right himself and spin to see her, but she easily swam out of reach. Bubbles drifted up from her mouth as Lindy gave a garbled, underwater laugh. Sean was horrified with his lack of ability. He was the best swimmer on his team. No one had out swum him until Cody beat him at the state finals. Even now he knew that was only because he'd become a merman freak. He kept his scowl firmly on his face as he righted himself. He had a freaking fish tail attached to his waist. Some nerd was not about to beat him at his own sport.

Lindy laughed at him again, seeing how angry he was. She was teasing him! Straightening out his tail, Sean chased Lindy all around the pool, trying to understand how the subtle flicks of his fin, or even pull of his fin arms, caused him to move underwater. Swimming laps the night before had been child's play. Anyone could swim in a circle. Lindy, obviously used to the quirks of her small arm fins and webbed toes, showed true grace in the water. She understood how her body moved and used that to her advantage. It looked as if she had been born to the water.

After ten minutes or so, Lindy pointed towards the surface and lazily kicked her way up to where she still needed air to breathe.

As both of their heads broke through, Lindy laughed and gave Sean a light punch to the shoulder.

"You seem to be getting the hang of it," she said, an endearing, full tooth smile on her face. She had lost her swim cap at some point, and her short blond hair had turned into a wavy mess.

"Sure," said Sean. "I'm one of the best swimmers in the state and you just owned me. I've never felt so uncoordinated in my life.

Lindy smiled again and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You've just had your whole life turn inside out. Trust me when I say everyone here knows exactly how that feels. Many of us haven't seen our family in years. You're one of us now, but you'll want to be a little nicer if you expect anyone to be nice to you."

Sean hung his head. She was right. Old habits were just hard to break.

Gently she tapped Sean's tail with her foot. "Give it time. It's terrible what's happened to you, but we're going to help you get through it. Adjust your attitude a little and you'll be alright."

Giving Sean one more smile, Lindy pulled herself from the water, fetched her towel and then walked towards the changing room.

Sean watched her go, his heart doing a strange little dance. She was amazing. Lazily he floated on his back in the pool, trying to stay out of the way of all those who were there for a swim. Did life suck right now? Definitely. But, maybe, he'd just found a reason to see the bright side of things.

The new merman was still swimming lazily on his back, not knowing what else he could do with his time, when Dr. May finally came for him. The doctor was happy to see that Sean was getting better at controlling the subtle movements of his tail

Sean, however, still felt woefully inept at something he'd always been so good at. This was nothing like wearing swim fins. His fin was sensitive and moved in ways his legs never could. It was like trying to learn how to walk all over again.

After a moment Sean acknowledge Dr. May and was surprised to see he wasn't alone. Jess stood by him awkwardly. While the nerd may have gained some height and lean muscle in the last year, his shy demeaner said it all. He was not comfortable in this situation and would rather be tucked into a book somewhere.

"How are you doing, Sean? Dr. May, dressed in his usual lab coat, looked a little out of place.

"As well as a freak can be." Sean snarked, unable to help himself. Sarcasm was his default. Lindy's admonition to be nicer was going to take a lot of effort on his part.

Jess's eyes went wide, and he took an unconscious step forward. "You can talk?"

Rolling his eyes, Sean was half tempted to splash the duo with water but thought better of it. Dr. May probably wouldn't appreciate that, and he knew it was best for him to stay on the doctor's good side.

"How is that possible?" Jess took another step forward and then froze.

Sean glared at him, pushing away from the two. "What are you looking at?"

Jess didn't respond, his eyes darting around the pool as his hands twitched. "But that doesn't make sense. I saw the flash…" He pushed his glasses up his nose.

"Lindy told me that you're getting a hang of things. Are you sore anywhere?" asked Dr. May.

Shaking his head, Sean kept a wary eye on Jess. "I'm bored. You guys can't get a TV in here or something?"

"I'll ask Bryce to set something up," said Dr. May. "Dr. Wheatley and I are working on something that we think might get us that much closer to a cure. While this situation is, well, uh, unfortunate, your being in this predicament is going to help us get the answers we have been searching for."

Sean was beginning to rethink wanting to stay on this man's good side.

"You wanna switch places, doc?" Sean gritted his teeth.

"Young man, the data we have collected in the last twenty-four hours is more than the meager findings we've had in the past decade. Being able to examine your scale structure has greatly increased our chances of finding a cure. A cure that applies to you just as much as everybody else here." Dr. May crossed his arms over his chest. They stared each other down for a minute until Sean finally conceded and looked down.

"Jess is here for a swim," said Dr. May. "Bryce will be by soon to join you as well. If you need anything, let him know and we will see what can be arranged. We will need to have that talk soon, but a situation has come up and I am needed in the lab for the rest of the day. Tomorrow, most likely." With a nod of his head, the doctor walked away, leaving Jess standing there awkwardly.

Sean groaned. So much for putting the pieces together. He glanced at Jess, still standing there, and rolled his eyes. Jess was dressed in simple swim shorts and a thin, slightly too large, white shirt. Seeing his mocking smirk, Jess quickly removed and placed it on a nearby chair with his towel.

Without a spare glance in Sean's direction, Jess took a running jump and dove into the pool. Sean waited for him to resurface, but he didn't. Slightly curious, but mostly bored, he let himself sink to look for him.

At the bottom of the pool, with his arms crossed, and his eyes closed in concentration, Jess sat.

What in the world? Sean shook his head, noting once again how strange the other kid was. No wonder he and Cody had become such good friends.

After a few minutes, Jess opened his eyes and then began lazy laps, still hovering at the bottom of the pool. Sean leaned against the pool wall, his tail flicking unconsciously, with his eyes trained on his classmate. Jess was methodical in his movements. Even when Bryce slipped into the pool, nodding in Sean's direction, Jess still ignored them.

Motioning to the surface, Sean followed Bryce to sit on the ledge of the pool.

"What's with him?" asked Sean. "Did you guys break him or something?"

Bryce gave a short laugh. "Who knows. He doesn't really talk much to anyone. Can't say I blame him. He's kind of had it rough since he got here. Dr. Wheatley gave us all directions to not befriend him."

"He's always been weird." Sean absentmindedly itched is left arm-fin.

"Can I ask…"began Bryce, pointing at Sean's tail. "What does it feel like?"

"It's gross," said Sean.

"But is it kind of amazing being able to breathe underwater?" Bryce almost looked…envious?

Sean hadn't thought about it. He'd been trying to steer his thoughts away from thinking about all the strange ways in which is body had changed.

"Can't other people here breathe underwater too?" asked Sean.

Bryce shrugged. "Only a few of us. Most of us can just hold our breath for really a long time and get scaly when wet." Bryce pointed down at his feet.

Sean felt his eyes go wide. The guys toes had elongated and were now webbed, much more so than Lindy's had been. His feet had turned into separate fins. He also had scales going all the way up his calves and nearly to his knees. On his wrists were his own, smaller fins. He turned over his palms and those also had scales on them. "I've been known to hold my breath for over an hour, but if I try to actually breathe water, it's a definite no go."

They both heard a little splash and then a gasp as Jess resurfaced on the other side of the pool, far away from them. They waited until his head disappeared back below the surface.

"What about the nerd?" Sean tried not to stare at Bryce's feet.

"Dr. May says he can hold his breathe for around eight minutes. Nothing much else. He's one of the lucky ones. You know, in a way, you two remind me of Lindy. She was only a year or so older when we found her."

Sean was intrigued. Lindy must be in her mid-twenties. "How long have you both been here?" he asked.

Bryce hesitated and then stared down at his feet. "I grew up here. Dr. May is actually my dad. He and I were in the same boating accident that made us the way we are. I was just a kid, so it I guess it affected me sort of differently. That was twenty-five years ago. Lindy's been here for nearly nine years."

"How old were you when you became like this?" Sean couldn't believe it. How could they do this to a young kid?

"It was my seventh birthday, actually. Dr. May was taking me fishing so my mom and sister couldn't get the house ready for a party that night. A sudden storm hit our boat and we capsized after being pushed into some rocks. I'll never forget the panic I felt as I sank deeper and deeper into the water. I could see my dad trying to reach me, but the water was too rough. My life vest had come off, and I wasn't the best of swimmers. He took his off so he could try to grab me."

Bryce paused in his story, closing his eyes a small look of wonder turned up his smile. "She was so beautiful, the mermaid. At first, I thought I was hallucinating. My head pounded from trying to hold my breath. She swam up from the deep and gently grasped my hand in hers. There was another one, a young merman, who had my dad, but my dad had gone limp. That was when I gasped and began to drown."

Looking at Sean, the young scientist smiled sadly. "I woke up on a pebble beach next to dad, who was shaking me. I was sore and could barely move. My dad couldn't walk, and I was terrified when I looked down at my feat and saw fish fins there instead. He held me as I cried. We sat there, shivering, wondering what we were supposed to do. Luckily the people from Sea Haven found us first. They have a system in place for finding people like ourselves. I help them out a lot with that. Most of us who are severely changed can do it."

Disgusted, Sean shook his head. "So, Cody's kind is just going around turning people into freaks?"

"That's exactly what I want to ask Cody," said Bryce, a hard look in his eyes. "While I'm grateful to be alive, I lost the rest of my family that day. Obviously, my dad staid here with me, even though his only change is being able to hold his breath like Jess. If I don't stay close to water, and go swimming a few times a day, I get really sick. Plus, the scales on my legs never go away."

With a shake of his head, Bryce pulled himself out of the water and then patted his legs down with a towel. It was true, even after his feet and arms had returned to normal, the scales were still there.

They sat there, watching Jess come up for air every once in a while. After half an hour Sean was feeling sick himself so slid all the way back into the pool. His tail flicked in the water, and he squirmed at the feeling of it.

"That's enough, Jess!" Bryce hollered out as Jess poked his head up for air one more time.

Startled, almost as if he'd forgotten he wasn't alone, Jess nodded his head and then swam toward a pool ladder, quickly pulling himself out. Sean was angry to see how completely human he looked. How had he gotten so lucky?

As Jess dried off, Bryce placed a waterproof bag on the pool edge and nodded at it.

"That's snacks for tonight as well as some dinner and breakfast stuff. Most people don't swim at night but there will probably be a huge crowd in here in the morning."

Sean thanked him and then watched as Bryce escorted Jess from the natatorium. It occurred to him in that moment that Jess wasn't free to come and go as he wanted. Any time Sean had seen him, he had been escorted by someone. Was Dr. Wheatley's own son a prisoner? Maybe he wasn't as much of a turncoat as Sean had originally believed.

Even if he was under lock and key, Jess still had one thing Sean didn't. The freedom to walk around. Sean flicked his tail in agitation and then glanced around at the very empty large room. Then he thought of how Bryce had dried his legs off and they'd been able to return to relative normal. Since he'd been changed, Sean had been in the water or somewhat wet while being moved from a tank to the pool. Bryce had left his towel near the bag and Sean had a thought.

Could he do the same? No one was like him here. No one knew what Cody had really done to him. Just that fact that he could still talk made Sean think that his change wasn't nearly as permanent as everyone was assuming.

With a grunt he pulled himself out of the water and onto the pool deck. Wincing as his scales scraped the wrong way, he grabbed the towel and began to dry himself off. It itched and his lungs ached. But he kept scrubbing and scooting. He was just towel drying his hair when the first spasm hit his tail. Then his stomach twisted, and he turned to his side to throw up. A wave of dizziness struck him, and he collapsed onto his side, instinctively reaching for the water. This was a bad idea, a very bad idea. He had almost died once already, and now he was tempting fate again.

He had almost reached the pool when a stabbing, shooting, nearly electric pain raced from his navel and down his tail. Crying in pain, Sean flopped onto his back and writhed in horrible agony. Was he going to die like this? Had he gone through all of this to shrivel up like a fish?

He lay there as his legs burned and his lungs heaved.

Wait...his legs? Gritting through the pain, Sean glanced down in time to see his toes forming out of a split and shrunken tail fin. The split continued upward, and his tail looked more like conjoined legs sheathed by a thin covering of scaled membrane. Pain ebbed and flared as his knees formed and the split deepened. He squirmed in agony and bit his lip as his body nearly ripped in half. Then, with the pain settling to a throb in his bones, Sean sat up, sitting on the pool deck in his birthday suit, brand new human appendages stretched out in front of him.

He did it. He had legs.

I hope this chapter did not disappoint and that it was well worth the wait. I hope to have another one posted soon, but I appreciate your patience in the meantime. A big, huge, warm shoutout and deep thank you to all those who review, follow, and favorite this story. Your kind words and gestures mean the world to me.

Happy swimming!