When Danny woke up, he felt disoriented. And chilly; but not uncomfortably so. It was then that the events of yesterday all but slapped him in the face. Sitting up with a startled gasp, the first thing he noticed was that he was underwater, somewhere that he didn't recognise. The next thing he realized was the tail that was lying lifelessly in front of him. Experimentally, he tried to move it. It felt weird, but he managed to life up the fluke and bring it towards himself. Gently, he took the fluke in his hands and rubbed it experimentally; shuddering at how well he could feel it. Setting it back down, he brought his attention to all of his protruding fins. He tried experimentally flapping them. Surprisingly, it worked; while the movement was awkward, it followed his mental command.

Turning away from his new appendage, Danny brought his attention once again to his surroundings. For the first time, he noticed Sam and tucker lying next to him, asleep. Sam on one side, Tucker on the other. Despite his current situation, he definitely felt better knowing that his friends were with him. Smiling to himself, he layed back down and went back to sleep.

_LINE BREAK_

When Sam woke up, she decided to wake Tucker up first.

"Tucker. Tucker!" Despite it being in a harsh whisper, it still did the trick. Stretching, Tucker set his groggy eyes on Sam.

"Sam? What's up?"

Putting her fingers to her lips in the universal 'shushing' gesture, she gestured to the sleeping black and white mer beside them. A look of understanding overcame his features.

"We let him sleep?"

"We let him sleep."

_LINE BREAK_

When Danny woke up next, it was to the worried faces of his friends. Sitting up and rubbing his eyes, Danny started slowly waking up.

Putting a gentle smile on her face, Sam addressed him. "Hey, Danny. How are you feeling?"

"Better."

"Good." Aaaaaannnndddd the awkward silence is back. Sticking a hand out, "Come on. we promised your parents we would bring you back."

Hesitating for only a second, he took her hand, as she hoisted him up; Danny wobbling in the weak current. Without missing a beat, tucker rushed to the side of his friend and held his arm to stabilize him in the water. Still holding onto Sam's hand, he looks to her uncertainly, while she just gazes back with an encouraging smile. Gently, she starts swimming away backwards, still holding onto Danny's hand, consequently dragging him with her out into the reef.

"Danny, I want you to look at Tucker and copy what he does, ok? I'll keep you steady." Nodding his head in agreement, Danny looks over beside him to see Tucker swimming while quite obviously exaggerating his movements. Danny appreciated the effort. Copying his friend, Danny was able to move forward on his own, though without Sam, he would have long since gone tumbling into the reef. It isn't long before Danny feels like he has the hang of it. And then his hopes and dreams are crushed.

"Ok, Danny. I'm going to let go now." Gulping nervously, he nodded his head.

"Ok."

Slowly, Sam released her hold and backed away. With his support suddenly missing, Danny wobbled for a few seconds before he was able to stabilize himself again, only just barely.

"There ya go. You're doing good." Despite himself, and everything, Danny smiled. His clumsy ass has somehow avoided taking a nosedive into the reef. That's always worth celebration in his book.