"Who Am I?"

Chapter 5

*Sam's POV*

It was only a matter of time before Danny was going to turn eighteen, so I spent everyday preparing for what was to come. Although we weren't entirely sure that the transformation was bound to happen, I didn't want to risk it.

That night, Danny stayed curled up by me with his head in my chest. During the next few days, Danny and I gradually became closer. He no longer kept his distance or hid in the shadows. I felt like I could tell him anything. It was the same for him, too. As Danny became more comfortable with me being around the cove, he began to say more than just a few words at a time.

But, to be honest, there was still something nagging at me constantly. Every time I saw Danny, my heart began to pound loudly. Sometimes, I wondered if he could hear it whenever he was near me. Whenever I gazed into his soft, green eyes, I felt my body melt into goop. When Danny would sit close to me, a deep blush would always appear on my cheeks.

I wasn't oblivious to what all of these feelings were telling me, but I didn't want to believe it. Days passed, and that longing feeling I had for him only grew stronger.

"One week," I thought to myself as I looked up at Danny. "One week was all it took for me to fall for you."

Right now it was nightfall. Danny was setting up more driftwood for a fire. Once he was done, he put the extra firewood down in another pile. Danny went over to the unlit fire and bent down. I saw a small spark before the entire pile of wood went ablaze.

"There, all set." he said.

"How do you do that, anyway?" I asked. "I mean, how did you start that fire?"

"If I told you, you'd freak out."

I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms.

"Try me."

Danny chuckled.

"All right, I'll tell you. But I'll only tell you if you promise that you won't get scared."

"I promise."

"Okay well…the truth is, I have these weird, freaky powers,"

Suddenly, Danny's hands began to glow a bright green.

"I can also turn invisible, intangible, and bend water at will."

"Wow, that's amazing!"

Danny smiled as he released the energy from his palms. He came over to me and sat down.

"Thanks, Sammy-Er, Sam! Sam! S-Sorry…um…"

I blushed and smiled.

"T-That's okay, Danny. Y-You can call me that…if you want to."

"But I thought that you hated being called Sammy?"

"I think I can make an exception." I replied.

Danny smiled and hugged me.

"Thank you…S-Sammy."

I blushed again when he called me by his new nickname for me. Gently, I allowed my head to lean back and rest on his shoulder. From the corner of my eye, I could have sworn I saw a tint of red on Danny's face.

"It's tomorrow, isn't it?" asked Danny. "T-The transformation…"

"It'll be all right, Danny. I'll be right there with you, just as I promised.

"I'm scared, Sammy. What if something bad happens?"

"No matter what happens, you won't be alone. I'll make sure everything will be okay. Just trust me."

"W-When exactly is the change supposed to happen tomorrow?"

"Let me check."

I pulled out the book and flipped to the page on the manual transformation.

"It says here that the transformation starts on the midnight of the individual's eighteenth birthday."

Danny gulped.

"M-Midnight? But it'll be midnight in a matter of minutes!"

I pulled Danny in closer and wrapped my arms around him.

"Remember what I told you, Danny. I'll be right there with you."

Without a second thought, I lifted my head up and gave Danny a quick kiss on the cheek. After I pulled away, both of us blushed. Danny placed his hand on the spot where I kissed him and smiled.

"S-Sammy?"

I smiled back at him.

"What was that for?" he asked.

My blush deepened, and I put my head down so that he couldn't see my embarrassment.

"I…I think…"

"W-What is it?"

"I think…I think I'm in love with you, Danny…" I said, my voice barely a whisper.

Danny's face was now as red as a tomato. At this point, I don't think my face could have gotten any redder, either.

"Y-You're in love with me?" Danny asked, still in shock.

I nodded because I had lost the ability to speak. I couldn't believe that I had admitted something like that to him. I regretted my inability to keep my mouth shut. Fearful of rejection, I put my head back down.

"Danny, I'm sorry. I-I shouldn't have-"

Suddenly, I felt one of Danny's warm hands cup my cheek and lift it up so that we were no staring in each other's eyes. His lips were no more than an inch away from mine.

"D-Danny…?"

"I think…I think I may be in love with you, too, Sammy…" Danny whispered.

"W-What? R-Really? Y-You're kidding!"

Danny shook his head.

"I'm not kidding, Sam. You're the first human to ever show any level of kindness and compassion towards me. You're the first person who has ever accepted me for me."

Danny moved in closer and rested his forehead against mine. His green eyes, beautiful pools of emerald, were locked on my violet eyes as we gazed into each other's stare. I noticed that his fin ears were folded back slightly, and the blush on his face hadn't disappeared.

"I never felt this emotion before. It doesn't matter, though. If this is what love feels like, then…then I'm willing to take that risk of venturing out into the unknown. That is, if you'd be willing to take that chance, too, Sam."

I smiled.

"Me too, Danny…I…I love you."

"I love you, too, Sam." he whispered back with a soft voice.

Right as Danny was about to lean in and kiss me, I heard a bell toll in a distant city. The droning sound, which startled us both, continued for a few seconds before fading away to nothing.

"Oh no…m-midnight…" I gasped.

And after the sounds disappeared, that's when all Hell broke loose. Danny pulled away from me and fell backwards. After landing on the ground, he let out a blood-curdling scream.

"AHH!"

"Danny!"

Quickly, I helped him get to the mattress inside the cove. After helping him lay down on the soft matt of leaves, I rushed to his side. Danny's inhumane screams of pain sent chills up and down my spine. Each scream sounded more agonizing than the last. Danny flung his head backwards and arched his back as his bones began cracking. My eyes watered with tears as I sat there helplessly while the one I loved more than anything writhed in agony.

"S-Sammy…" Danny croaked with a weak voice.

I took his hand and held it in my own.

"I'm right here, Danny. It's going to be all right. This will all be over, soon."

Danny looked up at me, and to my surprise, he was smiling.

"Y-You're always there for me, S-Sammy. I don't know what I'd do without you."

I gave a sharp nod.

"Danny, when the pain intensifies, I want you to squeeze my hand as hard as you can. Don't worry about hurting me because I'll be fine."

Danny gripped my hand loosely.

"O-Okay…"

Danny laid his head back down before letting out another loud scream of pain. The sound reminded me of nails on a chalkboard. I felt my heart ache as I heard Danny cry out from the agonizing transformation. In between his outbursts, I could hear the sounds of his bones cracking and finally shattering into a million tiny pieces. I flinched every time I heard it. The unholy metamorphosis tore apart Danny's strong skeletal structure as if it were made out of thin glass.

Danny's forehead was very warm and covered in sweat, as was the rest of his body. To try and make it easier on him, I pulled off both of his shirts and covered the lower-half of his body with a black blanket. Then, I took a damp rag and wiped his face.

"Is that any better?" I asked.

"A l-little…" Danny whispered.

The remaining bones in his waist, legs, and feet crumbled to nothing but dusty remains and fragments. Danny squeezed my hand tightly and dug his fingernails into my skin. The deep claw marks he made in my hand started bruising and bleeding. I could see blood trickle down my arm like a river of crimson red. It hurt, but I knew that this pain was nothing compared to what he was going through.

Danny stopped screaming, and then there was silence.

"The rest of your bones must have just finished breaking down."

Danny didn't say anything. His eyes were closed and his body was still.

"Danny? Danny? Danny!"

I placed my hand on his chest, but I didn't feel anything. I didn't even feel a pulse or feel his chest rise up and down.

"D-Danny…Y-You can't be…Y-You can't!"

I gently brushed the hair out of Danny's face and kissed his cheek. As soon as I did that, Danny groaned loudly.

"Danny!"

I sighed with relief, grateful that he had survived.

"The worst part is over, Danny, but you're not out of the woods just yet."

Danny's chest began rising again, but slowly. I could tell that he was having a hard time breathing. Each breath was weaker than the last, but at least he was still breathing.

"S-Sammy, I c-can't take this anymore…It hurts…Please, m-make it stop!" he begged.

My heart shattered when Danny looked at me with sad, moribund eyes filled with tears. The once bright-green glow that lit up the entire cove was now like an uncharged, dead battery.

"The next phase of the change shouldn't hurt. It's just going to feel a little weird." I said reassuringly.

"W-What is it this time?"

"Your legs will fuse together, which they probably already have. It'll start to feel a little funky when your scales come in."

"S-Scales?"

I nodded.

"Fish scales that will cover your tail, Danny."

And sure enough, I soon heard the sound of scales scraping against each other. Danny loosened his grip on my hand, but he still didn't let go.

"It doesn't hurt, does it?"

Panting, Danny slowly shook his head.

"N-No, it doesn't. It just feels really weird, like you said."

A few moments later, the odd noise ceased and never restarted. I glanced over at the end of the blanket where Danny's feet would have normally been. To my surprise, there was a white and silver fin sticking out from underneath the blanket. I pulled the blanket completely off of him and gasped.

Like his eyes, Danny's tail was a sparkly emerald with various shades of green mixed in. His tail was so long that the very tip of it was partially in the ocean. I blushed slightly when I saw how low-cut the tail was. It started just a few inches below his waist. His scales shimmered beautifully under the light of the dim fire.

"Unbelievable…" I whispered in awe.

Danny looked over at me in concern.

"What? What is it?"

I covered Danny with the blanket again and smiled softly.

"Relax, Danny. Your tail has just finished forming, the scales have grown, and your tail fin has just appeared."

Danny then started scratching his neck.

"Man, my neck is itchy! What is this? Why does it feel all scaly and weird?"

"Those are your gills. They're what will allow you to breathe underwater. Don't itch them or they may start bleeding."

Danny stopped scratching and put his hand back down.

"S-Sorry…"

"It's okay. I just don't want you to hurt yourself."

I reached into my bag and pulled out a couple of extra rags. I drenched them both in water, placed one on Danny's forehead, and one on his neck.

"You're a water-breather now," I explained. "That's why I put a wet rag over your gills. The rag on your hand is just supposed to cool you down."

Danny nodded and smiled.

"T-Thank you, S-Sammy."

"It's no trouble at all." I replied with a smile.

"So, it's finally over?"

I opened the book again and read over the information.

"Yes, Danny," I said after shutting the book. "It's finally over."

Suddenly, Danny sat up. Alarmed, I tried to coax him to lie back down.

"Danny, you need to rest! You shouldn't be sitting up now!"

I looked at him and my eyes widened in shock. Aside from the tail and gills, Danny had another shift in appearance that I was not aware would happen. His hair, which was once so short and rested just above his shoulders, was now down to the middle of his back. His bangs, which covered the area between his fin ears and cheeks, had grown down to right below his collarbone.

"Holy shit, that's some long hair!"

Danny pulled his hair into his hand and gently stroked it.

"Why did my hair get so long? How did my hair get so long?"

I shrugged.

"I honestly don't know. Maybe it's just a part of the transformation. Mind if I-?"

Danny nodded, and I took a bundle of his hair in my hand. His hair was soft as a cotton ball and smoother than silk. I ran my hand through it a few times and smiled as it flowed freely through my fingers. I also noticed that Danny's hair had a god-like feel to it. The way it framed his face reminded me of the way Poseidon was depicted in the Atlantian book.

"Wow, that's amazing."

Danny smiled and lay back down on his back.

" You must be really worn out from the pain, Danny. Why don't you get some sleep?"

Danny yawned.

"O-Okay Sammy, I-I will. And thanks…f-for everything."

I curled up next to him underneath the blanket. I could feel his scaly tail brush up against my leg, but I didn't mind.

"You're welcome, now shut your eyes and get some rest."

I kissed him on the cheek and snuggled close to his body.

"Goodnight, Danny."

I felt Danny shift and rest on his side. Gently, I pulled him in closer and allowed his head to rest in my chest. I loosely wrapped my arms around him and rested my hands on his back.

"Goodnight, Sam…"

Danny's eyes fluttered shut as he buried his head in my chest. I pulled the blanket over us and stroked his long, silvery hair until I was sure that Danny had fallen asleep. It wasn't long before I, too, had drifted into a peaceful slumber.

Okay, so the change wasn't AS GRAPHIC as I thought it would be, but I'm still happy with it. Sorry to those DxS fans hoping that Danny and Sam would finally kiss in this chapter. It's just like Mother Nature to get in the way of things XD ^^;

I promise there will be some lip-action soon so be patient.

As for Danny's long hair as well as the references to Poseidon, that information will be key in future chapters, so that's why I added in detail about it. I will try to update very soon. So, what did you think? :3