[IC] Hearts in Captivity (1 x 1)

[Mistress Dizzy]

Kassandra nodded as Kathy told her that they'd try to get her home. "You have my eternal gratitude. I don't know how you will get me out. There are so many people, and not all of them are kind." She sighed and rubbed at her face. "I wish I could say that someone is looking for me, and will worry after me now that I'm not home, but there is no one." She reached for the fish as they floated down, and she smiled brilliantly at her friend.

"Thank you, as always, Hiro."

To Kathy, she spoke: "Maybe you can convince them to give me some entertainment? A scroll maybe? Your people do use these, right? I would love something to read."

[karamonnom]

Kathy, once again, translated for Hiro what Kassandra has said.

He thought about it for a moment. "Is there anything that Kassandra could read? I can't imagine we would have anything entertaining to read that was also in Latin. Also... the books would get ruined in the water," he thought aloud.

"I could start translating some books into Latin in my free time and then we can laminate them or something so they can withstand the water," said Kathy, also musing aloud.

"Wouldn't that take forever?"

"True...Oh! Why don't we just look up books in Latin online and print something out and then laminate the pages," Kathy exclaimed.

"That could work," Hiro nodded.

"I'll do that! You can keep Kassandra company in the mean time," Kathy said as she ran off.

Hiro smiled as she watched Kathy run off. He was glad that he was able to trust her and that she was so willing to help Kassandra. But now that he was thinking about it, maybe he should've been the one to go get the book because he wasn't sure how good of company he would be since he and Kassandra couldn't even speak the same language. Did he even know any Latin?

"Per aspera ad astra," he said to the glass, absentmindedly.

[Mistress Dizzy]

Kassy tipped her head, puzzled at what Hiro had said. Most of it was right, but that last word... What was that? It just didn't translate. Maybe she'd have to ask Kathy when she came back. But to show she was pleased, she smiled and clapped for Hiro. "That is very good, but I think you have a word wrong." She nibbled at the fish again.

Now she had to think. The two of them were showing her such kindness... How could she show her appreciation? She had nothing, not even her favorite fishing knife. It must have been lost when the strange metal whale took her away. There had to be some way, but she'd have to get creative.

Maybe... maybe something she hadn't done in years?

Kassandra opened her mouth and began to sing softly, dancing and weaving in the water. Her voice had always been beautiful, but it had become a point of contention over the last several years. But she sang for Hiro anyway, a joyous song full of praise.

[karamonnom]

Hiro stood, stunned at the beauty of Kassandra's voice and dance. He also felt a little guilty that he felt so happy that he was the only one there to watch it. It was like his heart was swelling in size yet also racing faster? He couldn't recall another time he felt like this. But he has never seen or heard anything as beautiful as this either.

Sometime in the middle of her performance, he found himself reaching for his camera in his backpack and taking a few shots. He had turned off the flash so the sound and light wouldn't interrupt the song. There was enough light in the room anyway.

After her performance and after a moment to process exactly what had happened, Hiro clapped. He didn't realize there were tears streaming down his cheeks until now so he took of his glasses to wipe his face.

Of course, this was the time when Kathy came running back into the room. "I got... woah. What happened, Hiro? Are you okay?" she asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Oh.. yeah.. I'm fine.. haha.." he stammered awkwardly. He had forgotten about Kathy a while ago.

Kathy looked at Hiro then at Kassandra and then back at Hiro. "Okay.... Anyway," she said, changing the subject. "Here are some books! Sorry it took a while, there were a lot of pages to print and laminate." She dropped in a laminated, Latin copy of the first book of the Harry Potter series. "Good thing there are a lot of Latin-knowing Harry Potter nerds," she whispered to Hiro.

"Aren't you one of them?" Hiro teased.

"...Shut up."

[Mistress Dizzy]

Kassandra smiled warmly as she finished her song. She took no notice of the camera during, not that she would have known what it was to begin with. She simply sang her heart out, to an audience of one. Honestly, she hadn't meant for it to be just Hiro. But there was a piece of her deep inside that was so happy that it was. Hiro had started it all with his kind and gentle nature. So maybe this sort of praise was just for him.

Once she finished, she looked rather pleased with herself. Hiro had tears running down his face, and that was unexpected to her. It was supposed to be a happy song. She tilted her head at him, but before she could try to comfort him, Kathy was back.

She dropped in some kind of flat scroll covered in something shiny. Kassandra hadn't been expecting it to be that quick. Maybe she had been singing longer than she thought.

She plucked it up as it floated down, and took a look at the first page. It was in her language! She was delighted. "Thank you, thank you! Thank you Kathy! You are wonderful." She beamed a brilliant smile, and settled down on the floor of her tank. She looked just like any reader, stretched out with some wonderful words in front of her. "This will be good. I can tell." And she started reading, letting the strange and scary world around her slip away.

[karamonnom]

Kathy and Hiro both stopped arguing and smiled as they saw Kassandra look so happy now. "You're very welcome!" Kathy said back as they watched Kassandra began to read.

"But what are we going to do now?" Hiro asked, more determined and nervous than ever about helping Kassandra out.

"Uh... I don't know... but as long as they are not hurting her, maybe they will let her go eventually when they have finished their research," Kathy said wistfully.

Hiro didn't think that was very likely, but it didn't hurt to have a little, tiny bit of hope. "Yeah... I guess," he said for now. Wanting to change the subject, he held up his camera and looked at the photos that he just took. He was extremely pleased on how it turned out, though he believed that it was more due to Kassandra's beauty rather than his own ability. He wondered whether he should show her the photos... but realized that he forgot to ask her for her permission first. This wasn't like taking pictures of fish after all... he hoped he didn't intrude on her privacy.

"Can you ask her if it is okay that I took pictures of her?" Hiro asked Kathy as he held the camera display so Kassandra to see.

Kathy does such.

[Mistress Dizzy]

Kassandra pulled herself away from the book about the orphan boy, when Kathy started to speak again. "Take a picture? What does that mean?" But then she turned to Hiro, who was holding a tiny, shiny device in his hands. And to her shock, on that device was a miniature her. Just there, like the smallest portrait ever!

"A tiny painting! But how is this possible?" Hands and face were pressed to the wall as she peered through for a better look. "That's me! But when did you have time to do that?" She was immediately fascinated as Hiro poked the device and showed her another tiny portrait in a different look. They all had to have been done around the same time.

"Yes, it's alright, I suppose. But how does that work? How did you do that? I want to know." The book was suddenly forgotten for a time. What was this marvelous thing?

[karamonnom]

"It's a camera," Kathy said as she began to talk about how it works as simply as she can. "It allows us to capture images and we can print them on paper."

She then turned to Hiro and said, "I think she's okay with you taking her photos. She's more interested in how it works."

Hiro nodded and smiled. He then took his camera back and started to look for some other pictures. He began to show her some of this other photos that he had taken over the past couple of weeks. He has various types of sea creatures in the shots, including jellyfish and whales. Remembering that he had some photos printed as well, he took those out too to show Kassandra.

"Oh wow, I never realized you were such a good photographer," Kathy said as she looked over at some of the photos too.

Hiro blushed. "Ah... well.. I mean.. It's just something I like to do for fun and.. you know, it earns me some extra cash sometimes if anyone decides to use it for their journals," he said, looking at the ground.

[Mistress Dizzy]

Kassy pressed herself against the glass, eyes wide. A camera. What an invention! She immediately wanted one. Of course, she wasn't entirely sure what she would capture with it, but she wanted one anyway. She looked at the pictures of the jellyfish and whales, and marveled at them. The pictures were so clear and vivid, that it looked like the real thing.

"Oh, they're beautiful, Hiro! They remind me of home. Though both of those are to be avoided. That jellyfish stings a nasty poison, and the whales, well, if you're alone and their hungry, you might have a swim for your life!"

Settling back, she picked up her strange scroll and started to read again. But after a moment, she set it down. Looking out earnestly at the two of them, she smiled. "I want to learn your language. Will you teach me?"

[karamonnom]

"Oh, don't worry," Hiro explained to Kassandra. Well, he explained in general and then Kathy translated for Kassandra. "I took these pictures from a safe distance through glass. Though that does remind me that I want to go out and dive for some more photos soon too." It has been a while since his last scuba dive. Maybe if they help Kassandra escape, they could hang out when he scuba-ed. But the odds of that seemed slim, and even then, he would probably be fired and never allowed to come down to the base ever again.

Meanwhile, Kathy was listening to Kassandra as she spoke. Afterward, she clapped excitedly. "She wants to learn our language!" she said to Hiro.

Hiro smiled and said, "That's great. And I can learn some Latin too so we can both learn something together."

"Of course, I will teach you," Kathy said to Kassandra. "And I will teach Hiro your language too, just to make it a bit easier for all of us, maybe. I've never really taught a Latin to English or the other way around before... So it'll be a process..." Kathy began to chuckle somewhat nervously.

Hiro placed a hand on Kathy's shoulder. "We appreciate the help, Kathy. Thank you."

[Mistress Dizzy]

Kassandra clapped happily when Kathy said she'd be teaching the both of them to communicate with each other. "Kathy, you are wonderful! Thank you from fingertip to fin!"

She watched them interact, Hiro laying his hand on Kathy's shoulder. She wondered if they were mates. Perhaps; if they weren't then Hiro was likely missing out. Kathy seemed very kind and intelligent. "I will be here, when it's time to learn." She unearthed the book from in between some kelp they had put in her tank, and started to read.

-
A day passed in peace. No testing, no people in white coats. Kassy read, swam around and ate unbothered, but she couldn't help feel nervous. It was too quiet, like the sea before a storm.

"I wonder what is going to happen. Maybe they will decide to let me go? I will miss Hiro and Kathy."

It was almost midnight when the stranger showed up. Her steps were loud and striding, giving Kassy enough time to hide away her treasured book. She strode right up to the tank, looking down at Kassy with cold gray eyes.

"Hello. I am Dr. Helena Price, Subject Ariel. My team tells me that you can speak. Go on, say something."

Kassy swam backward, a little intimated by this woman. From her bearing, she must be someone used to giving orders and having them followed. She looked up at the woman but did not move, as one would do with a shark. You did not move until you were ready to swim for it, and she couldn't leave.

"Mm. Shy, are you? Let's see if we can summon up your speech." With a snap of her fingers, her tank was wheeled away.