Once the Doctor and Rose were onboard the rescue boat, the captain was very suspicious about why they were on the island without a boat, and why Rose was soaking wet.

The Doctor tried to fool him somewhat by making up a story about how they were just tourists from London visiting the island and their boat got wrecked, stranding them there.

The captain didn't seem very convinced, but he decided to leave it alone. He walked away grumbling something about limeys.

Rose glanced at the Doctor. "Should I be offended?"

He just laughed and shook his head. "Don't mind him, he's a seaman. Common lingo."

She just harrumphed and then wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to keep warm, as she was still soaked. The Doctor came up behind her and wrapped his own arms around her.

"Thanks," she mumbled, embarrassed.

When the boat finally reached the mainland, Rose was somewhat dry and much warmer.

They thanked the captain and told him they could find their way to a hotel.

Once they made it to a busy street, the Doctor managed to hail a cab passing by. He told the cabbie to take them to the nearest hotel.

A while later the cab stopped in front of a small hotel and the cabbie held out his hand for payment. Rose gave the Doctor a quick glance and whispered, "All I got is a few quid. I don't think they'll accept British pounds here."

The Doctor reached into his seemingly bigger on the inside pocket and pulled out a blue credit card. He handed it to the cabbie who then swiped it and handed it back. "Universal credit card. Only for use in emergencies," he explained.

"I could think of a lot of emergencies we coulda used that in," Rose grumbled.

He grinned. "Oi, it racks up a lot of debt! It is a credit card, after all."

Rose laughed. "I'm just teasing."

The Doctor got out of the cab and held the door open for Rose. She stepped out and he shut the door behind her. They walked into the hotel and went up to the receptionist desk.

The duo caught a lot of stares from other guests in the hotel. They must've looked a sight; Rose still quite wet and wearing a much too long trench coat, the Doctor still scuffed up and a bit dusty from the cave, and neither of them carrying any luggage.

The receptionist greeted them with a forced smile. "Ah, hello. How may I help you tonight?" she asked looking a bit annoyed.

"Yes, do you have any available rooms for tonight?" Rose asked the woman.

She typed something on her computer keyboard and looked at the screen. "Yes, it looks like we have one room available on the second floor," she informed them. "It's AU$108 per night."

The Doctor said, "We'll take it." He handed the receptionist the universal credit card.

The woman swiped the card and gave it back. "And I'll be needing a name," she told them.

Rose looked up. "Oh yes, that'd be Rose Tyler."

The receptionist typed the name into her computer and then forced a smile again. She pulled out two key cards from the drawer and slid them across the counter. "Alright Mr. and Mrs. Tyler, we hope you enjoy your stay."

The Doctor and Rose both blushed. "Oh, we're not together," Rose explained.

"Of course. My apologies," the receptionist replied.

The Doctor was smiling as the walked up to the lift. Rose hit the up button and raised her eyebrows at him. "What's so funny?" she asked as they stepped into the lift.

"Oh nothing," he answered. "Just that everywhere we go people assume we're a couple."

Rose felt herself blushing again. She was relieved when the lift doors slid open again and she stepped out into the hallway quickly, not wanting him to see her flushed cheeks.

They found their room, which just happened to be room 221, and Rose unlocked it with the key card. She walked in and paused. The room was small and in the centre of it was one queen sized bed. "What's wrong?" the Doctor asked as he walked in the room.

He saw the one bed and paused for a moment as well. But then he shrugged. "I could sleep in the armchair if you'd like," he said, gesturing to the little chair in the corner of the room.

Rose shook her head. "Nah, it's alright. It couldn't be very comfortable sleeping in a chair all night." Although it was a bit awkward, she would feel bad if he had to sleep in a hard chair all night. Plus it wasn't all that strange, as sometimes on the TARDIS when Rose was upset the Doctor would lay next to her for a while and comfort her. But then again that was on the TARDIS, and they weren't stranded in a foreign country.

Rose was so exhausted, she climbed into bed still wearing the Doctor's coat. As she was starting to fall asleep, she heard the Doctor crawl into bed as well and the click of the lamp being turned off. She managed to mumble, "Goodnight."

She heard him whisper, "Goodnight, Rose." And then she fell asleep.

When she awoke the next morning, she saw the Doctor sitting in the chair wearing his glasses and reading a pamphlet on places to visit in Australia. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Good morning, Doctor," she said after she finished yawning.

He glanced up from the pamphlet. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

Rose nodded. "What are you reading about?" she asked him.

"I was doing some research. Found out the island we were on is called Mako Island. There's lots of myths surrounding the place."

Rose staggered out of bed and took off the Doctor's coat that she was still wearing. She realised that she probably smelled horrid. "Hey, I'm just gonna take a quick shower," she notified the Doctor.

He nodded and went back to reading about Mako Island. She entered the bathroom and a few seconds later he heard the water running.

Suddenly, the Doctor heard a crash and Rose scream from the bathroom. He threw the pamphlet to the ground and rushed to the bathroom, ready to fling the door open and destroy anything that was trying to hurt Rose in there.

But then he realised that it might not be an attacker and he shouldn't intrude on her privacy. He anxiously knocked on the door. "Rose!" he called. "What's wrong? Can I come in?"

"Yes!" he heard her yell.

He threw the door open and his eyes widened at what he saw. Rose was lying spread out in the bathtub with the shower still spraying water. But hanging over the side of the tub were not legs, but a bright orange tail. She seemed to also be wearing a matching orange bikini top.

"Oh my god, Doctor, what happened to me?" she asked, freaked out. "I have a tail!"

The Doctor whipped out his sonic screwdriver and scanned Rose's body. He sucked in his breath.

"Rose," he said, trying his best to be calm. "Tell me exactly what happened."

Rose was still quite shocked, so she was a bit hard to understand. "I, I, turned the water on in the shower and my hand got a bit wet, and then my legs just went out from under me and I fell in the tub and then, oh gosh, I have a tail now!"

The Doctor scanned her again. "The water must have triggered a complete biological transformation of the cells..." he muttered.

"Doctor, what's wrong with me?" Rose asked.

He looked at her with worry on his face. "Rose, your entire biological makeup has been changed."

Rose was still utterly confused. "And that means...?"

"It means you're not human anymore. I don't like to say it but the only term I can think of is a mermaid. You're a mermaid, Rose."

Rose was shocked. "But they're just myths, right?"

He shrugged. "I would've thought the same, but you're sitting here in front of me."

Rose's expression was blank. "Will I be like this forever?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. But I have an idea." The Doctor turned off the shower. "If water is what triggered your transformation, perhaps if you were dry it would reverse," he explained.

Rose gestured to the water that was still in the bottom of the tub. "It'd take ages to dry, though. I need to get out of here."

"Right..." the Doctor said. "Um, see if you can pull yourself up to a sitting position," he told her.

Rose nodded and struggled to pull herself up. Finally, she was sitting on the edge of the tub, her tail still flopped in the tub.

"Okay, I'm gonna try to carry you out in the room," he said. He managed to get one arm under her tail and the other around her torso so that he was holding her almost like a baby. He heaved her into the room and sat her down on the bed. "Oi, having a tail makes you a lot heavier," he gasped.

She frowned at him but then cracked a smile. "Shut up, you," she told him jokingly.

The Doctor ran back into the bathroom and returned with a little white hair dryer. He plugged it into the wall outlet and turned it on, grinning.

He began to blow dry Rose. After a few minutes, she seemed to start drying. In no time, her body shimmered, momentarily turning into water, and then she had legs again.

Rose looked down at her body, relieved that she had legs, and also relieved that she still had her clothes on. That would've been awfully embarrassing.

She got to her feet shakily and patted her legs just to be sure. "Thank God," she sighed.

The Doctor frowned. "It must've been whatever happened at Mako last night. That's probably the source of this."

Rose nodded. "We've gotta go back today. I want to find out how this happened."

The Doctor shook his head. "I don't want anything bad to happen to you again, Rose," he told her firmly.

"Well as long as we're stuck here, we have no choice!" she argued. "And since we'll be on the island looking for the TARDIS anyway, why not check the cave out?"

The Doctor gave in. "Alright. But if anything suspicious goes on again I will personally drag you out of that bloody cave."

Rose smiled. "Well, let's go then!"

The Doctor sighed and followed her out the door.