The next morning, Emily was kissed awake by her fiancé. She rolled over and smiled at him. Light trickled in through the window and bathed the room in a golden light. The smell of olive trees and hot red soil was carried in on a maritime sea breeze. They heard cutlery and dishes being put on a table and muffled voices. The smells of nature were disrupted by a faint smell of toast. Ben marvelled at her beautiful face, kissed her once more and sat up. As did she. He helped her into a different, dry bikini – the other one was still drying on a drying rack outside. He put on a fresh pair of swimming trunks and a clean shirt, before he helped Emily in a clean top of hers. Then he opened the door and they both headed downstairs.

They found Lily and Hanna, who were just getting done setting the breakfast table.

“Good morning you two”, said a cheery Hanna.

“Hi guys”, said Lily as she was hopping past them.

“Morning guys”, said Emily.

“Did you have a good night?”, asked Ben.

“Yeah, slept like a baby”, said Lily.

“Me too”, added Hanna.

“Good”, said Ben, seemingly satisfied with their feedback. “Did you see James and Lena yet?”

“No, their door was still closed when we left the guest house. We didn’t want to wake them, so we just started setting the table ourselves”, Hanna replied.

“Thanks for that, that’s very kind”, said Emily.

“No worries.” Lily grinned. “Should we wait some more, go and wake them or just get started without them?”

“Let’s wait some more. If they don’t show up, you guys can start and I’ll go and check on them”, said Emily.

A few minutes later, the door on the guest house opened and Lena hopped outside, followed by James. James, like Ben, was dressed in new swimming trunks and a fresh shirt. His short blond hair was not styled and looked like he had just gotten out of bed. Lena was wearing hotpants and a cute short-sleeved top, her hazel hair was pulled in a neat ponytail.

“Morning everyone”, said James and Lena said her greetings. They all sat down and had breakfast together.

After everyone had eaten and was content, Ben spoke up: “So, I hope you all had a good night.” Everybody nodded. “Good.” He smiled. “I wanted to tell you what you can do around here in terms of activities. Other than the obvious beach day, there are multiple boat rental companies two towns over. I highly recommend it. There’s this whole area to explore with the boat. If we were all complete, we could do water-skiing, but even in our current state, we can probably have fun with a surfboard and a rope. I suggest we do it and plan with a whole day for that and rent two boats.” The others nodded eagerly. “Great, I will make some calls to see what ca be arranged. There’s also scuba diving in the same town for those who are certified, but since we are all technically disabled, they will probably demand we take their classes to learn how to dive with limitations, or at least show them that we know how to. You can also get certified. I don’t know if they let all of us do it. It probably depends on the reduction. I guess that Lily for example could easily do it. The legless folks probably too. I guarantee that if you can learn how to scuba with your reductions, you can definitely do it once you are restored. So, if anyone is interested in that, just let me know.” Lily and Hanna exchanged smiles. “Other than that, there are two more surf boards and fitting sails in the garage, so if anyone wants to try their hand at windsurfing, let me know, we can get those out. There’s also a small dinghy and a 2.5 PS engine. I will set that up later, so whoever wants to take short boat trips can do that”, James continued. “Any questions, suggestions or other things you’d like to address?”

“Lily and I would love to get certified”, said Hanna.

“Okay, no problem! You’ll have to work through the theory during the week and do some scuba dives. The cost will probably be around €500 each. Are you guys okay with that?”

Both nodded.

“Great, I will make some calls. I can drop you off at the scuba school and pick you up afterwards on each day. To the others, should we make today a calm day at the house with the small boat and surfboards?”

Everyone agreed.

“Wonderful. One more thing…” He smiled at Emily and she nodded.

“Ben and I got engaged last night”, she announced.

“You did what??” Lena practically screamed.

“We got engaged.” Emily beamed.

“Congratulations, you guys”, said Lena. She got up and hopped around the table to hug first Emily and then Ben. Everybody congratulated them and many hugs were exchanged.

Then James and Lily began to clear the table and clean up, while Ben made a few calls to various scuba schools. He managed to find one that would start lessons just for Lily and Hanna on the same day and hopped to tell them the good news. They would have an intensive course over four days and afterwards they would be certified. They got in the car, and he dropped them off at the scuba school before returning. Then he hopped to the garage and retrieved the deflated dinghy. He brought it to the beach before he returned to the garage to fetch the engine. After that he built a long line with multiple extension cables that led all the way to the beach. He fetched the electric pump, plugged it in and inflated the dinghy. James helped him install the engine and the benches and after about an hour, dinghy was completely set up. Lena and James got in and soon disappeared around the edge of the bay.

“So, it’s just us for now”, said Emily and turned to Ben, who was standing next to her on the beach.

“Seems that way! Wanna head back to the bedroom and have some fun?”

“You got it!” She grinned, then turned around and led the way.

At the diving school, Hanna and Lily had met their instructor, Georgios. He had handed them their learning utensils for the theoretical part of the certification and fit them each with a wetsuit.

He hesitated and eyed the dangling empty legs of the suits. “Will have to see if it works. But dangling is not good. Will keep eye on it.” He also handed Lily a fin and looked at Hanna. He thought for a second, then handed Hanna a fin as well.

“Do you think you can fit this?” He had a thick accent, but he was a friendly bloke and managed to convey his intentions well enough. Hanna looked a bit puzzled. “Over your longer leg, you think you can fit?” He motioned towards her right leg stump, the one that ended below the knee.

Hanna finally understood. She turned the fin upside down, slid her stump in and fixed it with the strap, which she tightened over her knee. “You mean like this?”

Georgios smiled. “Yeah. Is it comfortable?”

“I think so.”

“Okay, will see!” He nodded.

After the suit fitting, he motioned to two young men, and they began to load pre-filled air-tanks and weight belts into the trunk of his car. Meanwhile, he showed Lily and Hanna how to efficiently pack an equipment bag, complete with their suit, fins, mask, buoyancy jacket and regulator. He had them try multiple times. Once he was satisfied with their work, he brought the two temporary amputee ladies to his car and placed the bags into the trunk and soon they drove off.

Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at a semi-secluded beach with a small beach-bar, where a sunroof had already been set up by Georgios’ assistant, Jack. The beach was almost completely empty. On the far end there were a few swimmers and three other divers, but apart from that, they were on their own. Hanna wondered how the bar made profit, but was brought back from her thoughts as Jack introduced himself and helped the girls out of the car. Jack was a twenty-something year old English scuba instructor in training, and he would assist Georgios in his classes. He brought them to a plastic sheet, which had been spread out on the sand, and a mobile whiteboard, which stood directly next to the sheet.

First was a little theory lesson. He taught them about pressure underwater, about their equipment and about the sign language they were going to use under water, all under Georgios’ watchful eye. After the short lesson, Georgios nodded with a smirk. Jack left them on the plastic sheet to fetch their equipment bags for them and told them to suit up. Meanwhile, Georgios delivered a full air-tank to each of them, and Jack began to brief them on their first ever dive while they were suiting up. Once they were in their suits, he showed them how to put the equipment together, how to fix the tank to the jacket and how to connect the regulator to the air-tank and the jacket. He had them try multiple times again. Then Georgios came with the lead and asked them each how much they weigh to determine how much lead to put on their weight belts. He prepared their belts for them and then he and Jack assisted the girls in putting them on.

And then it was time. The two instructors brought the fully prepared jackets with the tanks and the regulators to the water, while Hanna and Lily took their fin into their hands and made their way to the water. Then the two teachers helped their students to put on the jacket, and Jack taught them about the buddy-check, while Georgios went to fetch the mobile white board.

“Okay, ladies, this is super important. The buddy check is your way of making sure you haven’t forgotten anything”, said Jack. “You are going to check each other’s equipment, piece by piece. Start with the buoyancy jacket. Does it fit well? Is it tight enough? Is it slightly inflated? Do the inflators work? Seriously check the entire set-up. Next are weights. Does your buddy have a weight belt? Does it sit well? Can they reach it in an emergency? After that, check the releases. Is everything closed and tight? Go over the jacket and the weight belt again, it’s better to triple check than to forget and have a problem while at 40 feet or something like that. Do all the releases work? Is the air-tank installed correctly? After the releases, you check the air. Inflate and deflate your jacket, take a few breaths. Do the air releases work? Check again if the bottle sits correctly and if the air supply is completely open. If you look at your barometer and put some air in your jacket, the needle shouldn’t move at all. Lily, your tank isn’t completely open. See how the needle jumps? And while you are at it, check the barometer. Is your bottle full? If you use PSI as your unit, you should have 3000 in your tank. We use bar. You should have 200. Are both tanks full?” The ladies checked and nodded. “Good! Finally, another final check. Ask your buddy if they are okay. If you are okay, show your buddy the okay sign. You can remember all these points with a very simple mnemonic: Bruce Willis Ruins All Films.” Hanna giggled and Jack grinned. “What? It works.” He scribbled the phrase on the whiteboard, drew a circle around each of the first letters. Then he wrote the letters down:

“B

W

R

A

F”

Next, he wrote the check points next to the letters:

“B BCD/Buoyancy

W Weights

R Releases

A Air

F Final Check”

“Got it?”

The girls nodded.

“Good. Do the check together once more, then we can finally hop in the water.”

The girls did so, and five minutes later, Jack helped Hanna and Lily put on their fins while Georgios brought the whiteboard back.

Jack inflated their jackets and they lay in the water comfortably while they waited for Georgios.

Once he was there, he asked the girls to try using their fins. It was hard using a fin without a second leg. There was no counteraction from a second leg, nothing to bring stability. Hanna in particular struggled, because she only had half a leg to use with the fin. Georgios quickly realised that both his students had to use their arms to stabilise themselves, something he usually tries to avoid with able-bodied students. He also had another look at the empty legs where Lily and especially Hanna had no leg to fill them with. He was approached by Jack and they had a short but seemingly agitated conversation in hushed voices, before Jack turned to them once more.

“The situation with the suit is less than ideal. It’ll do for today, but usually you really don’t want anything dangling down from you while you dive. You are less streamlined that way, and things can get caught up and get stuck somewhere, possibly creating dangerous situations.” The girls nodded. “I had a quick chat with Georgios, and we came up with two possible solutions. One is a bit better than the other, but both work fine. Option one: we fit you with a ‘shorty’. That’s just a short-sleeved wetsuit. This option has a few advantages, but also major disadvantages. It would allow us to just make use of equipment we already have at the dive shop without additional cost or improvisation. The problem is that it’s a thinner suit than the one you are wearing now. It would probably be fine in the summer, but it’s still spring. The water is not yet at its warmest point, and especially below 10 metres – that’s 40 feet if you prepare that unit – things can get chilly, which we don’t want for you.” The girls nodded again. “Option two is better, but would require you to pay additional charges. Not much, I promise! The suits you are wearing right now are, to put it mildly, not the newest we have. They are nearing the end if their lifespan, especially in a scuba school environment. They would however be good for casual diving for folks like you, and then for another few years. So, here’s what we came up with: For another €50 each, Georgios has agreed to let you have them. They are used and it shows, but as you will see today, they do their job excellently. Georgios can sew them to fit your body shapes, and he can do it until tomorrow. All we would need from you is for you to stay at the dive shop for a little longer when you get back later today, so that Georgios can take measurements.”

“Wow, that is awfully kind”, said Hanna. “Can we have a second?”

“Sure, talk this through”, Jack replied. He left them where they were and moved away with Georgios.

“Well, what do you think?” Hanna seemed excited.

“I don’t know! These reductions are not permanent, and if we buy the suit, it’s probably €50 wasted. Besides, €50 is a lot.”

“A lot? Lily, do you know how much these cost?” Hanna motioned to her suit. Lily shrugged.

“Hundreds. This is a bargain. We get another few years of diving out of them”, Hanna said.

“Not if Georgios sews the legs shut”, Lily pointed out.

“Unless we always go diving like this. I’m having fun like this, don’t you?”

“Yes, to be honest, I’m having a blast”, Lily admitted.

“See? So, what of you only go diving like this? I mean, at least until you have to replace the suit.”

“I don’t know…”

“I’ll come with you. My life hasn’t been great lately, with my relationship ending and all, and meeting you is the best part of the trip so far for me. So let’s think about the future. I’ll go reductive diving with you”, Hanna said and grinned. Lily’s face lit up.

“Deal! I’m happy to have met you too. If this is what will make us keep doing stuff together, I’m in.” She smiled.

“Good”, Hanna chuckled and gave Lily a quick hug. Lily turned towards Jack.

“We’ll go with option two.”

“Fantastic”, Jack grinned. He said something to Georgios, who in turn smiled and gave the girls an approving nod.

Jack came back over to them. “Well then, shall we?” The girls nodded.

At last, they put their regulators into their mouths, deflated their jackets and descended. The lesson was fun. They learned about basic buoyancy and how to control it with their jackets. They also learned how to recover the regulator if slipped out of their mouths. The learned how to take off their masks underwater, and also how to put it back on and get the water out of it.

After almost an hour in the shallow water, they resurfaced. Hanna and Lily exchanged a broad grin and let Jack help them out of their jackets and suits. Georgios brought their stuff to the plastic sheet, where he spread out the wetsuits to dry. Jack carried Hanna, so that she wouldn’t get sandy, while Lily hopped alongside them. Once they were back on the plastic sheet, Georgios handed them towels.

“You can dry off here and we will get lunch from beach-bar”, he said. It was already four in the afternoon, but Hanna and Lily hadn’t eaten all day and only now realised just how hungry they were.

Jack carried Hanna over to the bar, and Lily hopped with them. ‘I guess that’s how this bar survives. The scuba schools come here for their lessons and the hungry students get their lunch here. Ingenious’, Hanna thought to herself.

Jack placed Hanna in a chair and motioned for Lily to sit next to her. He sat down opposite of them, while Georgios went to the kitchen and very loudly and heartily greeted the owner of the bar in rapid Greek.

“He’s a good bloke”, said Jack. “Sometimes a bit odd, but he’s a fun guy and his heart is in the right place.” He smirked. “So, I heard we will do this entire class in four days. Tough program, but, hey, you were both very promising today. Once we figure out a rhythm for your arms and fin, Hanna, you’ll do great. And Lily, we’ll work on your breathing. Once we figure that out, you’ll be set.” The waiter came, and they ordered their food. Since it was already afternoon, and they were going to have goat later on with the others, Lily and Hanna ordered a Greek salad and a coke light each, while Jack went with the “Club Sandwich”. They heard loud laughter from the kitchen.

“How come you are here in Greece?” Lily looked up from her salad.

“Have you ever been to England? And especially in the ocean there?”, Ben asked. “Only advanced divers want to go diving up there. Greece from spring to autumn is a great spot full of scuba students. I want to learn and become a teacher myself, so this is where I am at. I am done with my studies at university, just completed my master’s degree in maritime biology at the university of Lancaster. I just figured this is what I should do next.” He smiled.

“Well, you are certainly good at teaching”, Hanna said, and Lily nodded eagerly.

“Well, thanks guys.” Jack blushed a bit and smiled again. “You are easy students. I rarely get people who are as quick to comprehend what I tell them as you are. To be honest, I find you guys inspiring. Other people might not deal with that…situation as well as you do.” He motioned below the table to Hanna’s and Lily’s reduction.

“Thanks”, said Hanna. “It’s not always easy, but it is what it is. And there’s plenty of fun to be had regardless, so that’s what we do.” She smiled and Jack chuckled.

Their food arrived and with it came Georgios. While they were eating, they were debriefed by Georgios and Jack.

After lunch they had another short theory lesson and Jack gave them extensive homework.

“Sorry to send you home with so much, but since you want to be done within a few days, we need to cram a lot in the few days we have.”

After the lesson, Georgios handed them their mostly dried wetsuits and told them to pack their equipment bags again, which they both did expertly. Then it was time to go. Jack helped them into Georgios’ car and said goodbye, and Georgios drove them back to the driving school.

Once they were back at the driving school, Georgios led the girls to his dive shop next door and brought them their equipment bags. He told them to get out the suits and put them on. The girls obliged. Once they were suited up, Georgios carefully marked the spots where cuts had to be made, before he let the girls get out if the suits again.

“Tomorrow I will be done”, he remarked and brought the girls back to the front, where Ben’s car was waiting already.

In the dinghy, Lena and James were enjoying the cool sea-breeze in the sun under a cloudless sky. The little engine putted happily as they made their way across the neighbouring bay. The bay was multiple times wider than the one at Ben’s house. There were a few small islands and they drove across a small bit of open sea to get to the closest one. It was small, too small to be inhabited by humans. In the centre, a hill rose. The island was drawn out long, but narrow. The two friends drove around the edge of the island to the backside and discovered a long, sandy beach.

“Should we go and have a look over here?” Lena’s voice easily penetrated the humming of the engine.

“If you like, sure”, said James. He slowed down and steered the dinghy onto the shore, where he got out and waddled to the front of the boat. He pulled it out of the water. Then he helped Lena climb out. They hopped down the beach to a spot where some olive trees and palm trees threw a shadow. Here, Lena sat down.

“This is idyllic”, she commented.

“Absolutely”, James replied. “I had never actually been to Greece before now, but damn, have I missed out. The country is gorgeous!”

“Is it okay with you if we pause here for a while? All this hopping on soft sand is exhausting.”

“Sure!” James waddled up next to Lena and sat down.

Lena leaned back until she was on her back and closed her eyes. “I am having fun like this, though right now I wish I hadn’t told Ben to get rid of my leg. Not having arms is fun, especially with you around to take care of things, but missing the leg in addition is a lot of work sometimes.”

James blushed a bit at that, but Lena’s eyes were still closed, and she didn’t see it. “Well, I’ll help you. And in seven days you’ll have your limbs back.”

“Not my leg, remember? I told Ben to leave it as is after he accidentally forgot to set the timer. Oh well… I guess it’ll be easier once I have my hands back. Though I enjoy this!” She opened her eyes and waved her arm stumps around.

“I’m glad you’re having a good time”, said James. “Believe it or not, so am I. It’s fun getting this perspective for a while. I was a bit…sceptical about this whole thing, losing limbs and stuff, but this is way more fun than I have ever imagined.”

They lay in silence for a few minutes, before Lena opened her eyes again and sat up. “Wanna swim back to the boat?”, she asked.

“Sure”, said James. They got into the water and swam back. Back at the boat, James helped Lena in and then pushed the boat into the water. He climbed back in – not an easy task with half-legs – and lowered the engine into the water. A few seconds later, they were on their way again.

Suddenly Lena spoke up. “James, do you find me attractive?”

He was taken aback. “S-sure! You are a very attractive woman, objectively and to me.” He blushed.

“You have been a perfect gentleman so far. You are sacrificing your holiday to make mine nice, and I chose this form.”

“Well, I told you, I find it interesting to get this perspective on life. And you are fun, so there’s really no drawback here.”

“You could’ve gone scuba diving with the others or stayed with Ben and Emily.”

“I am already certified, and I told you, I enjoy this. Don’t worry, okay? Besides, I think Ben and Emily enjoy the fact that they have some time to themselves, if you know what I mean.” He shot Lena a knowing look and she giggled.

“James, could you imagine something more happening between is?”, Lena asked bluntly.

“Uh, s-sure. As I said, I think you’re hot. I just wouldn’t want to take advantage of you or the situation we’re in…”

“James, I created that situation for myself. And I can take care of myself..” She noticed his look and scoffed. “....usually! What I’m saying is I like you. And you being cute like this isn’t helping.” She indicated towards his legs with her stumps. “If you’re up for it, let’s have some fun.”

James blushed again and smirked. “O-okay!” He turned the boat around back to the inhabited island.

“What are you doing?”, Lena asked.

“Going to have some fun”, he replied. Lena giggled.

Ben and the scuba-girls arrived back at the house just as Lena and James landed on the beach. James pulled the dinghy back on land, helped Lena get out and gave her a peck on the cheek, which made her giggle again, and they both headed up to the house. Lily and Hanna went to take a shower while Lena went to talk with Emily and James helped Ben prepare dinner. The goat had been rotating over the fire since before Ben went to pick up Lily and Hanna after their scuba lessons, and the air was filled by the smell of delicious roast meat. Once Hanna and Lily came out of the shower, they took over from James and he went to fetch Lena and helped her clean herself. Emily went to join Lily, Hanna, and Ben in the outdoor kitchen. She watched as they set the table and listened to the recollection of their day.

When James and Lena were done, they joined the others and brought Retsina with them to the table. They had dinner together and told of each other’s day. Emily and Ben mostly listened and left out the details about their adventures in the bedroom. Lena on the other hand was pretty blunt about her and James’ exploits, and everyone laughed when James blushed. In the end, he shut her up by kissing her mid-sentence, much to everyone’s amusement. Emily grinned at Ben, and he put a hand on her bare armless shoulder.

“Well done”, she whispered. Lena had been alone for quite some time. It had not always been easy for her. She had told Ben multiple times that she thought Lena would be great for James, who had been in a similar place as Lena. It was because of Emily’s insistence that Ben had proposed asking both James and Lena to come along for this trip. Now that their hopes for the two had panned out, Emily finally seemed satisfied. She leaned towards Ben and kissed him.

After dinner, everybody helped clear the kitchen, before Hanna and Lily excused themselves to their room to work through as much scuba-theory as they could, so it would occupy less of their time in the coming evenings. The others played a boardgame, which Ben had dug out of some cupboard in the main house. Once the game had ended and Lena and James had been crowned victors, they headed for the beach to stargaze again. This time they prepared. They covered themselves in mosquito repellent and Emily reminded everyone to put on a sweatshirt as well.

Once they arrived at the beach, Emily and Ben shared a deck chair. Lena and James took one each. James extended his arm over to Lena and she gave him a stump, which he held on to. As they lay there, marvelling at the stars, James stroked her stump. She turned her head. As they locked eyes, she smiled at him. On the other deck chair, Ben had slid his hand and stump into Emily’s hoody and was massaging her armless shoulders.

Eventually, James and Lena said their goodbyes and headed to the guest house. On their way back, they ran into Lily and Hanna, who were going the opposite way. They wished each other a good night and the four continued on their ways.

When Hanna and Lily arrived on the beach, they took Lena’s and James’ now vacant deck chairs. They enjoyed the night sky, but soon Hanna realised just how tired she was. She told Lily and they both said goodnight to Emily and Ben and went back to their house. Emily cuddled up to Ben, and he embraced her. They stayed like that enjoyed the spectacular night sky again. Finally, they got up and headed to the main house.

Lily and Hanna got back just as Lena and James left the bathroom. The four said their goodnights again, and Lena and James went into their room. They moved the side tables out of the way and James pushed the two beds together to form a double bed. Then he moved the side tables to the other sides of the bed again. Lena grinned and slipped into the bed with James, where they cuddled up and soon fell asleep together.