I sank down, hitting the bottom and tried to swim up. But my legs wouldn't obey, as they felt now like they were bound together. I started panicking, until I realized I needed to move the tail somehow. I moved both my legs up, then down, using my hips and who knows what muscles. I now slid slowly along the bottom of the pool, so I used my hands to push away from the bottom, as I swept my legs again. A second later I broke the surface and gulped in fresh air. Quinn stood on the side, clapping and screaming.

Controlling the move of my tail was hard, but anytime I did it right, I sliced through the water. After a while I managed enough to not have the feeling anymore that I was gonna drown. But how tiresome it was. I needed a break.

That's when Quinn pointed at a contraption she had just thrown in the pool. It looked a bit like a platform and with one push of my tail I landed on top of it, with my face and upper body mostly out of the water, but my tail was still covered. When I relaxed I realized I could rest this way. When I closed my eyes, the exhaustion of the day took me out.

I opened my eyes again when I heard a whisper in my ear. It took me a few seconds to realize why I felt wet and why I couldn't move my legs. But then my eyes fell on Quinn, who was leaning on the platform next to me, and I gasped. She was a mermaid again, and her tail covered almost her whole body like an evening gown. It was the purest white, with glittering scales and beautiful fins and an enormous fluke. She was simply stunning.

She laughed at my surprise, then in one move she flipped herself back in the water. I mimicked her move, and followed her. She pointed out how she moved her body, how she kept her arms while swimming and where the motion of the tail started. Again, replicating her moves, I slid through the water behind her. She went slow, showing me how to change directions left and right, but also up and down.

When we added more speed, we went underwater longer, and I learned that unlike at land, moving in water is a 3D experience.

All exercises were aimed at knowing where the surface was, no matter what move you made. But also to regulate the air in your lungs, trying to stay under longer. When I got tired again we surfaced on the platform once more, and I realized how it was getting darker quickly, while the lights in the pool and on the side had come on.

Quinn had pushed the platform against one side of the pool, and I noticed there were trays with food on them. As awkward as it was I managed to eat some of the food, while she looked on. "When's the last time you had something to eat?" she asked. "I just had breakfast this morning. Then I went out to visit the volcano and I figured I'd be back within two hours. So I only brought a bottle of water and a banana. It took hours before I found your house and I was really dehydrated, when I took your drink in one gulp. If I hadn't found you, I think I could have died. The island is much bigger than I thought."

"Not much of a hiker, are you? Doing the volcano is a day trip. You should have brought lunch and dinner, and way more water."

I nodded, knowing that I was a city boy, where every attraction is in walking distance.

"But", she continued, "I'm glad you're here. It has been very lonely here by myself. And swimming with you made me realize how much fun it is to have another mermaid around. Even though it's a guy."

I nodded. "Thanks for taking care of me. And sharing this experience. I had no idea how fun it is to learn to swim again. And by the way, that outfit looks amazing on you."

She smiled, happy with my compliment. I wanted to get to know her better, so I asked, "I noticed my cell has no service here. Is yours working?"

She shook her head. "I have an old fashioned phone line here, which I used by the way to call your hotel, and I have electricity. But no cell, no internet, and not many people I can call. No international calls."

So, she was very isolated from the world. Taking a loner like me in. I gave it a try... "Soooo, you can't call your boyfriend?" It sounded so obvious, but she took it with a good sense of humor. "No time for boyfriends. I use my time here to study, before my last year."

Ok, no pushing any further here, except.. "Can I ask what you're studying?" And I should have expected it was marine biology. But I was impressed and she was happy I showed it.

"Listen", she said, "we have to make a few decisions. Are you okay with sleeping here? Otherwise we have to get you out of that tail." I felt comfortable, with not feeling any pain in my ankle, so I told her I'd stay in the pool. She warned me that it could get quite cold at night. She had like a foil blanket, but she suggested I'd wear the matching top as well. I actually felt quite powerful the way I was, so I told her I'd manage.

"Very well", she said, "I will leave the rest of your outfit in your reach. You will need it anyway once we go swimming in the ocean. I will be studying the rest of the evening, but I'll bring breakfast as soon as the sun comes up. I should probably show you where the bathroom is, and how it works."

She swam towards a corner where the water was more shallow, and concrete stairs leading out of the pool. There was also a full length mirror, mostly underwater, and when I saw myself in it, I thought it was quite impressive.

Sitting on the stairs, she grabbed a plastic hose from the side, which ended in an awkward tool, almost like a vacuum cleaner. And in a way it was. She showed me how it fit over a slit in the front of her tail, the internal part pushing in. She demonstrated a number one, but it worked the same for a number two, as she flipped a switch, and a pump started, sucking her pee straight from her tail. She showed me how to clean it, dipping the end in a bucket filled with water and some bleach, as she briefly flipped the switch again.

I had to go indeed, both ways, but she saw on my face I liked some privacy. Before she left me, she made sure I had identified my own slit, then she said goodnight. I learned real quickly that you don't flip the switch, unless there's something to suck away. But after a bit of experimenting I had to confess the system was simple and brilliant. Would I just let go once we're in the ocean?

I spent a few more hours practicing swimming like a mermaid. Indeed, it had cooled down at the surface quite a bit, so I stayed under as long as possible. But when I settled eventually on the platform, I shivered, even under the foil blanket. Most of the lights had shut off, but after an hour I gave up being stubborn and I searched for the top half of my mermaid outfit.

It was really like a tight sweater, made from the same material as the tail, and when I had finally pulled the turtle neck opening over my head, and my arms in the long sleeves, which left me with webbed fingers, that I used to pull the sweater down, I almost felt like Aquaman. Except...

Except for the fact that the top was clearly meant for a woman. It had soft cups to cover breasts, that for me hang down very sloppy on an otherwise beautiful, tight, and warm, top.

I decided that warmth was more important than fashion, as I checked out the rest of what Quinn had left behind. I saw something that looked like a wig, and then I gasped. A box held two very realistic breast forms.

I realized that with the waist cincher my body had already adopted a noticeable female shape, roughly disturbed by the loose flaps on my chest. If I just tried.. just to see.

I had to roll up the sweater again, until my nipples were visible. Then I took one of the breast forms, which felt like it belonged on my left side. It had a slight indent on the back to fit over my nipple, and I pushed it down, right over it. It had a slight sticky feeling that kept it hanging while I quickly pushed the other breast down. Then I pulled the sweater down again, to make sure they stayed in place.

It was like a complete changeover. My new skin, because that's really what the sweater was, perfectly covering every piece of my body, not one spot loose anymore. And in the light of one of the lamps that were still on, I noticed how the top scales of my tail hooked nicely into small slits in the top, making the two pieces a perfect one, leaving no skin exposed. Except for my face of course.

I swam to the corner with the mirror, where the light was still bright, and what I somehow had suspected already, turned out the full truth. My body was that of a very sleek female mermaid. Fully covered in green scales, even my hands, and of course ending with the webbing between my scaled fingers. My breasts were very pronounced and if it wasn't for the way Quinn had taped my male member, I knew I would have grown hard, just looking at myself. The only odd thing was my male face sticking out.

I figured I had said A and I might as well say B. I swam back to where I'd seen the wig, which turned out to be a complete face mask, as I saw a few green scales as well. It made sense. Swimming deeper in the ocean would quickly turn colder, and like a diver completely in a neoprene suit, a mermaid needed protection all over her body, including her face.

I didn't hesitate anymore and I started pulling the mask over my face. It was again extremely tight. It actually had lenses over my eyes, so the salt water would not hurt. It had plugs going up my nostrils, but I could breath through them. My guess was they would close off once underwater. It completely followed the shape of my ears, so I wouldn't look like I had none. But the weirdest was the contraption in my mouth. It settled completely around my teeth, keeping it solid in place. But again it seemed to work like a valve, for free breathing while above the surface, but blocking while below. Eventually the material wrapped under my chin around my neck, and I pushed the material under the tight turtleneck. Every inch of my body was covered now, and I did indeed no longer feel any of the cool air.

I dove underwater and was surprised how well I could see suddenly, even in the low light, now that my eyes were protected from direct contact with water. I was right on both the things in my nose and mouth, which would save me from taking in accidental gulps, like I already had happen earlier. Looking in the mirror again I was shocked. An alien, yet beautiful woman looking back at me. My face had different shades of green. My lips were bright and contoured very sexy. My cheeks and eyebrows showed some of the scales like my suit had. My eyes were visible but had a green tint because of the plastic covers. And my hair was quite long, dark green, almost black. Somehow it stayed nicely framed around my face. If I had to be a female mermaid, then I was quite happy with how I had turned out.

I swam around in the dark pool for another half hour or so, and when I surfaced on the platform again, I did not feel any chill. I was so comfortable, I fell asleep in minutes.

I woke up from a cry. I opened my eyes and saw Quinn staring at me, in very sharp focus, although with a slight green filter. I knew exactly where I was and what I was. I had a bit of trouble talking, with whatever was in my mouth, and with the way the air moved out it sounded a bit nasal, with the effect it was almost a female voice. "Quinn! Are you okay?"

She started laughing and in a delighted voice she said, "Xavier. You put on the complete outfit. Even the breasts! You look beautiful!"

I explained how cold I had been and how easy it was, covered up completely. And if I was going to be a mermaid, I'd better look great. And she totally agreed with that. She had never worn the face mask I had on, as she had a perfect one, looking like herself. But she just loved what it did to my looks. An alien mermaidish look, similar to what I had thought before. But...

"I can hardly call you Xavier anymore, with your current looks. How about Xandra, if you wanna keep the X. Or something completely different?"

I hadn't given it any thought, and couldn't think of anything better, and thus I became Xandra.

We had breakfast together, and although the thing in my mouth was partly in the way, my teeth were razor-sharp. Capable of eating raw fish, Quinn explained, but not while underwater, as the water pressure would cause what opening I had in my mouth to close. I could suffocate but not drown, she joked. Then she asked if I had tried the Oxymins, which were small soft pouches, about the size of my thumb. When I shook my head, she explained that they would fit exactly in a space within the contraption in my mouth, and if I'd close my teeth on it, it would get punctured, releasing oxygen, about the amount of a deep breath, but enough for another minute or so underwater.

"It won't save your life when you get stuck, but if you need a bit extra, for example when getting back to the surface, it will give some relief." She wanted me to try it out, before going to the ocean, and after cracking two while at the bottom of the pool, with the pouch immediately dissolving, I realized this little trick could definitely safe my life as well.

I realized that since wandering in the day before, I never had gotten past the pool. There were paths going down to the ocean, and one was covered with a tarp. Quinn watered the tarp and told me to get out of the pool. I flapped my tail and easily landed on the tarp. From there I actually slithered down the wet tarp towards the ocean. Except...

The ocean was below us, a straight drop down of at least fifty feet. Was I supposed to swing myself over the edge? "Don't even think about it", Quinn said, "there's a lot of rocks down in the water. But here is the solution."

She pushed a button and what looked very much like the top part of a crane moved over our heads, a platform swinging on four ropes toward us. Quinn loaded boxes with food onto the platform. Then she pulled what looked like the seat of a swing set into my direction and told me to sit on it. It was more like a wide leather strip than a seat, and when she pushed a button it wrapped around me, then slowly dragged me to the platform, and then into the air. It came to a stop a few feet above the platform as my tail hung down onto it.

Quinn took place on the platform itself and connected a safety belt around her, then pushed another button and the platform lifted up a bit and then moved outwards until we hang above the water. Then slowly it moved us down. I was so wrapped by my seat that I couldn't go anywhere, but I held on to the rope carrying me, so I could see what was going on.

We landed softly on a tiny patch of beach and she pushed my swing set toward the water, while the rope holding me gave way and I sank into the water. The moment my body could float, I could escape from the seat and I was free in the ocean.